Branch was awoken from his sleep the next morning, by a banging on his door.
"Ugh..." he groaned, sleepily, as he looked at his bedroom door.
He tried to ignore the banging, but it only got louder and more desperate, so eventually, he had to get up, and see who it was.
Slowly, he walked into his living room, passing Gary, who sassed him about his date the night before.
"Shut up, Gary," Branch grumbled, stepping onto his elevator, and riding up.
He reached the top, peaking through his little mail slot to see who it was.
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Poppy's father, King Peppy was standing, looking down at him, a worried look on his face.
"King Peppy?" Branch said, confused.
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Slowly, he opened up his hatch, climbing out to stand in front of the old King.
"Not to be rude, or anything..." Branch said, a little nervously. "But... what are you doing here, King Peppy?"
"Have you seen Poppy?" Peppy asked in a panic.
Branch lowered his head, his ears drooping a bit, as he looked away from the former King.
"Uh... no. I... I haven't seen Poppy," he said, sadly, thinking about how she had stood him up the night before.
"Well, did she mention where she was going after your date last night?"
Branch looked up, confused.
"How did you know about that?" he questioned, confused.
"Poppy told me," Peppy said. "She was so excited for it. It was all she could talk about all day." "She... she didn't forget?" "Heavens no," Peppy said. "I mean... I know she's always enthusiastic... but I've never seen her this happy before."
Branch looked away again, thinking.
If she hadn't forgotten about the date... then why did she not show up?
"What's the last thing she told you?" Branch asked, looking back at the old, orange troll.
"Well..." Peppy said, thinking. "I was helping her get ready for the date. She came to me, and said she wanted to wear something special, so I gave her, her mother's old dress. The one she wore on our first date. Then she left... I went by her pod this morning to see how the date had gone... but she wasn't there. It looked like she hadn't been there all night."
Branch looked away again, thinking.
But... she never showed up... what happened between the time she left, and the time they where supposed to meet?
He gasped, a terrifying thought coming into his head, and refusing to leave.
What if she got hurt? What if she was out there somewhere, calling for help?
"Poppy..." Branch whispered, terrified from the thoughts swimming through his head.
Quickly, he ran off, past Peppy, immediately searching for Poppy.
