"I... what...?"

"Now we have to find somewhere else to go andddd... weeelll.. your bun-"

"No." He walked foward, a serious expression on his face.

"Wait so that's a no-"

"I'm gonna rescue her."

Suki's eyes widened.

"Erm, you? Really? She wouldn't want to be saved by a grey troll." Creek chuckled.

"Well at least, I'm actually making an effort to save her." Branch crossed his arms.

"You'll just get snatched up by a bergen as well bud." He shrugs.

"Wow. You're really a Knight, but you can't be even bothered to stand up to a bergen? What a shame."

"Why you little-"

"Ohhkayyyy calm it down." Guy Diamond interrupted, keeping Creek away from Branch as he growled.

Branch just sighed.

"Everyone stay in my bunker until I get back! You'll all be safe in there. I don't know how long I'll be, but I'll try my best to get back as fast as I can."

Hearing that, the trolls of troll village murmured to each other as they climbed safely into Branch's bunker.

Peppy walked up to Branch, causing him to look at him.

"Branch, I know we don't know each other that well, but I know you know my daughter well. And she knows you well."

Branch stood quiet, listening to what he had to say.

Peppy carefully took his hand and patted it. "I'm putting my trust in you. I'm confident you'll be able to bring my daughter back. Promise me you'll bring her home safe, as well as yourself?"

Branch nodded once.

"Yes King Pe-"

"My son, just call me Peppy." He chuckled and patted his shoulder.

"Uh, okay. I'll do what I can Peppy."

I'm not losing her, I WON'T lose her... she means way too much to me..

"Well off you go then. I have faith in you." He patted his shoulder one more time.

And for the first time in a while, he smiled, justtttt a tiny bit. It quickly went away afterwards.

Branch held onto his bag and started his long but dangerous journey to bergen town.

In the back he could hear trolls telling him "Bye Branch!" or "Good luck Branch!".

Hearing that sent more determination inside of him, and he was officially headed to save Poppy.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Poppy woke up in a dark place, but it kinda felt like fabric around. She also felt movement, like walking.

She looked up and saw a teeny bit of light. She got up and tried opening it more so she could see where she was, finding out what was revealing the light was a zipper. Chef had probably put her into a fanny pack.

Gristle was staring down in his chair impatiently then looked up to see Chef.

"Finally you're back!"

"I apologize sir for the wait. These trolls are really difficult."

"Mhm. So you got the whole village, right?"

"Well.. I-"

Then Gristle swore he could see Poppy lighrly peeking out the fanny pack.

"What?! You only got one?!"

"Sir, I-"

"There's like a gazillion trolls out there and you only got ONE?!"

"S-Sir, wait a minute! This isn't just an ordinary troll." Chef began to reach into the fanny pack.

Poppy whimpered and tried to move away.

"Ugh, come on you stupid troll come out!"

Poppy glared for a second then didn't realize she was being grasped by her fingers and pulled her out the fanny pack.

Chef held her up. "Sir, this, is the Princess of all the trolls, Princess Poppy."

Gristle said nothing and just crossed his arms.

Chef continued. "She is the happiest troll of all, making her to be contained of the most power."

Gristle's glare faded a bit as he began to examine Poppy.

Poppy felt uncomfortable by this "examination" he was performing on her.

Gristle then sighed.

"I guess, it's fine. But I still want all the other trolls. I want all the power!" He added.

"As you wish, sire. But for now, what would you like me to do with the Princess of troll village?" She held Poppy up in her hand.

Gristle rubbed his chin.

"Put her in a cage until I figureout what to do with her." He finally said.

"Your wish is my command, my king." She went to go get a cage and opened it and threw Poppy inside.

She winced as she fell onto the hard metal and rubbed her arm.

Chef carried the cage into a different room and sat it down.

She leaned her face close to the cage, Poppy immediately moving backward until she couldn't anymore.

"Don't worry, you won't be here alone. I'm gonna make sure I grab all your innocent little companions." Chef said darkly with a smirk.

"N-No! You won't find them! You won't lay a hand on my people!" She glared at the bergen, who just rolled her eyes.

"We'll see Princess, we'll see." She moved away from the cage.

She gripped onto the bars as she watched her walk out the room, leaving her all alone.

Hopeless, she sat down on the rough metal.

"What am I gonna do..."

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Branch wandered through the fields very cautiously.

He had just got out of the woods and now he continued making his way through the woods.

After he finally got out the giant patches of grass, the wide area surrounding him made his anxiety grow larger.

Eventually he took a deep breath and continued walking.

I'm on my way Poppy...

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

After a few hours or so, Poppy woke up after her slumber, finding herself still in the cage.

"Great, I'm still in here.." She mumbled and sat up, hugging her knees.

Chef walked back in the room, a smirk planted on her face.

Poppy noticed she came in but didn't look up.

"Guess what Princess? I just spoke to the king. And he said before I retrieve all the trolls, he wants to eat you."

Poppy shot her head up. "What?!"

Chef chuckled. "You're lucky you have at least a little time by yourself.

Poppy stood speechless. She had never imagined of being devoured!

"Anyways, I have more work to do, ciao Princess!" Chef perked, then letting out a devilish chuckle and exiting the room.

Poppy sat down again, once again hopeless.

She tried thinking positive thoughts, even through all this madness.

She had hope that all of her people were doing alright, and they were all safe somewhere. She'd hoped nothing was happening to them.

As for herself, she had... no hope. She had little to none.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Branch continued on with his journey, coming to a stop when in front of him stood three huge tunnels.

"Hm?" He muttered to himself.

He didn't know which one was the right one to take.

Good gracious I don't have time for this... which one is the right one?!

He kept glancing at every single one, until he heard a deep, echoing voice.

Choose a hole wiselyyy...

"What? Who said that? Who's there?" Branch looked around anxiously, clutching the arms of his bag.

And one will lead to Bergen Town...

"Show yourself!" The grey troll yelled.

While the other leads to...

When the voice halted and faded, Branch also stopped, clutching the arms of his bag tighter.

CERTAIN DEATH! He swore he could hear a voice exclaim behind him.

"AGH!" He whipped around and slashed to what seemed to be a... Cloud? In half.

Fortunately, the cloud reincarnated himself to his previous stance, a goofy smirk planted on his face.

"Wha..," Branch looked him up and down. "..who are you?!"

"Name's cloud guy buddy. Been sticking around here for many years." Cloud Guy chuckled.

"Ugh, I- wait, many years?"

"Mhm."

"Well... if you've been around here for years, then... you can tell me which tunnel leads to Bergen Town!" He pointed at him.

"Okay, okay. Since when is a troll ever so happy to go to Bergen Town? You donating yourself to them?" He asked, chuckling again.

Branch grunted. "No! I'm saving the Princess of Troll Village whose name I won't say."

"Ahhh, nice. Are you her knight in shining armor?" Cloud Guy smirked once again.

Branch tried to ignore the burning heat flowing to his cheeks.

"No! I- ugh. I don't have time for this! Those bergens could be doing something really bad right now! Tell me which tunnel to go through now!" Branch protested.

"Alright alright, geez, calm down," Cloud Guy chuckled, "before I tell you though, you have to do something."

Branch rolled his eyes. "What?"

"You have to give me a high-five." The cloud rose his hand slowly.

"What? No, I'm no-"

"Hey, ya wanna get there or not?" Cloud Guy interrupted him, smirking.

"Seriously?! I'm wasting so much time right now and you want me to-"

Cloud Guy just stood there, smirking and keeping his hand raised, whispering, "soooo easyyy.."

Branch stopped talking and finally gave up and sighed. "If I high five you, you'll say which one I need to go through, right?"

He nodded. "Yep."

"Ugh, fine!" He tried giving him one but the cloud quickly slid his hand away, afterwards saying, "Too slow!"

"Too, slow?!"

Cloud Guy snickered and burst into laughter.

Branch was about to lose it.

"Okay okay, my bad. Now how about we hug?" Cloud Guy smiled and opened his arms.

Branch just picked up a stick nearby and broke it in half angrily.

Cloud Guy responded by pouring rain out of himself, a frown on his face.

"That's it!" Branch threw the broken stick on the ground and started chasing after him.

Cloud Guy quickly responded and ran as fast as he could, going into one of the tunnels, which was what Branch didn't realize because he was too focused on chasing him.

The cloud yelled as he was being chased up the tunnel by the grey troll, seeing the exit was getting close.

As they got to the exit, Cloud stopped and turned around, a smile on his face.

Branch stopped as well, confused.

"What? Why are you smiling?" He was panting through words.

"We're here!" Cloud Guy exclaimed.

"Huh, wha-"

"Well that was a nice game of chase we played there buddy. I'd like to do it again sometime. If you'll be back that is. I'll catch you on the way back though, unless... you die." He slowly went back into the tunnel, disappearing, his voice echoing once more.

Branch grunted and mumbled, "Good riddance", to himself, when he turned around and noticed where he was.

The troll tree...