The Adventures of Azalea and Twig (book 6)

Chapter 6

     "Azalea!? Azalea!? Where are you!?" Synth called out, searching frantically. "Aw, man... dubstep's gonna kill me..."

     "Hey, Synth," Poppy said, she and Branch walking over, while Shimmer ran past, going back to chewing her bone. "Thanks for watching the kids."

     Synth stood up, straight, smiling innocently.

     "Yep. You bet," he answered, chuckling quietly.

     Branch raised his eyebrow, noticing Synth acting strangely. Then he looked around, noticing neither of the kids where with him.

     "Uh... where are the kids?" he asked.

     Synth's fake smile faded, as he looked at them, terrified to tell them the truth.

     "Well... uh... you see... what happened is... oh, would you look at the time... time for our afternoon rave. See ya, Poppy. See ya Branch!"

     He tried to run off, but Branch quickly stopped him.

     "Did you lose our kids!?" Branch yelled.

     "What? Me? Lose the kids? Pft... no," Synth replied, laughing innocently.
"Then where are they?" Poppy asked, crossing her arms.

     Synth gulped, taking a tiny step back.

     "Well... Twig is taking a nap down in the bunker," he said.
"And Azalea?" Branch demanded.

     "Well... um... she..." He sighed. "I didn't lie, you know," he said. "I didn't lose your kids."

     "Synth..." Branch said, slowly, grabbing onto Synth's shoulders. "Where is Azalea?"

     "I didn't lose your kids..." Synth repeated, smiling innocently again. "But... I did... kinda, sorta... lose your kid..."

     "Azalea's gone!?" both Poppy and Branch yelled in unison.

     "Y... yes?" Synth said, shrinking away a bit.

     "Oh god..." Branch said, beginning to pace, as he hyperventilated. "She's lost? She... she could be anywhere! She could be in danger... and..."

     He turned to Synth, glaring at him, angrily.

     "And it's your fault! Get over here fish boy!"

     Branch pounced at Synth, knocking him to the ground.

     "Dubstep! Stop!" Synth yelled, as Branch attacked him.
"I'm gonna kill you!" Branch yelled, in anger.

     "Maybe we can just talk this over!?" Synth yelled, struggling to get free. "High-fives... high-fives make everything better. High-five?"

     He held up his hand for a high-five, but Branch just grabbed onto his wrist, twisting his arm.

     "I'm gonna tear your little fish arms, out of your fish body, and high-five your face with 'em!" he yelled.

     "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Synth cried out in pain. "Dubstep! You need to chillax, bro!"

     "How am I supposed to 'chillax'!? You lost my daughter!"

     Quickly, Poppy ran forewords, grabbing onto Branch, and pulling him off of Synth.

     "Man..." Synth said, finally free from Branch's wrath. "You're more violent then Barb..."

     "Violent!? I'll show you violent!" Branch yelled, pulling away from Poppy, and tackling him again.

     "Branch!" Poppy yelled, grabbing onto him again, and pulling him away.

     Synth sat on the ground, shaking, as he looked up at Branch, who glared down at him, breathing heavily in anger.

     "I'm sorry, bro," Synth said, his voice shaking.
"Sorry isn't going to bring my daughter back!" Branch yelled, trying to pull away from Poppy again, but this time, she held him tight, not letting him go.

     "Branch. You need to calm down," Poppy said, softly, trying to get him to relax.

     "Calm down? Calm down!? How am I supposed to calm down!? Our daughter is out there alone!"

     He looked at Poppy his anger, quickly turning into sadness.

     "She's alone... probably lost, and scared..."

     Slowly, he fell to his knees, covering his face with his hands, as he sobbed.

     "It'll be ok, Branch. We'll find her," Poppy assured, hugging him. "Come on. We'll go out and look for her right now."

     Branch looked up at her, and then slowly looked over to the bunker.

     "Twig..." he said, quietly. "We can't leave him alone..."

     "I'll watch Twig," Synth offered.

     "No!" Poppy and Branch both yelled, simultaneously, as they turned to glare at Synth.

     Synth gulped, shrinking away.

     "Wow... would you look at the time..." he said nervously. "I've gotta be... anywhere but here. Bye!"

     Quickly, he took off, running for his life.

      "Poppy..." Branch said, looking back at her. "You stay here with Twig. I'll go find Azalea."

     "You can't go alone," Poppy objected.
"There's not enough time to wait for a babysitter to get here," Branch said. "I need to go now. You stay with Twig... call Gia... and when she gets here, form a search party, but I'm going out now to look for her myself."

     Poppy nodded, and then hugged Branch.

     "Please be safe," she said.

     Branch smiled, hugging her back.

     "This is Branch, you're talking to," he said. "I'm always safe."

     He pulled away from the hug, quickly running off into the forest to find Azalea.