Trolls and the Enchanted Forest (rewrite)

Chapter 14

     Poppy ran towards the sound of Creek's dad's voice, finally spotting him standing in a clearing. He was in a field with a bunch of other trolls, instructing them on how to build the dam properly.

     She smiled, when she saw Creek standing by his father's side. Surely he would help her and Branch. He was always so nice. Why wouldn't he help them now?

     "Cre..." she started to yell, waving to her friend, but Branch quickly grabbed her, putting his hand over her mouth to silence her, as he pulled her back, hiding them both behind a bush.

     "Shh..." he shushed, holding his finger up to his lips, as he looked around, pure terror painted all over his face.

     "What are you doing, Branch?" Poppy asked rather loudly.
"Shhh!" the grey troll shushed, more sternly than before, as he covered her mouth again, peeking out of the bush to make sure they hadn't been noticed.

     Luckily, all of the trolls were still by the dam, none of them having heard Poppy shouting.

     'Good...' Branch thought to himself. 'They don't know we're here...'

     "Branch," Poppy mumbled, under his hand, trying to pull away.

     Slowly, he moved his hand away from her mouth, looking at her in fear.

     "They can't know we're here," he whispered to her, explaining his behavior.
"Why not?" Poppy asked confused, still talking loudly.
"Shhh!" Branch shushed again in complete panic, peeking out of the bush once more.

     "Why not?" Poppy finally asked again, this time in a quiet whisper.

     He looked at her again, Poppy seeing the fear in his crystal blue eyes.

     "Because... well..." he said softly. He paused for a moment, not really knowing the answer. "I don't really know why," he finally admitted. "I just have a feeling we're not supposed to be here."

     She looked at him, skeptical. What did he mean by; 'they weren't supposed to be there'? Creek was there... other Troll Village trolls were there... they could help them find their way back to the Enchanted Forest village. Why was that a bad thing?

     Branch sighed, seeing that Poppy wasn't so sure he was right. But he could feel it... as if someone... or something... was telling him to stay hidden. If not... something really bad could happen.

     "Please..." he pleaded quietly. "Just trust me."

     Poppy looked at him, seeing that he really believed that this was the right choice, and then sighed, nodding her head slowly.

     "Ok," she whispered to him. "We'll stay out of sight."

     Branch smiled, happy that she had listened to him.

     "Thank you," he whispered to her. Then he turned his attention back to the trolls by the dam.

—————

     The dam was almost complete, as the workers put in the final rocks, blocking off the water flow to the river.

     "Perfect," Creek's dad said, smiling with pride. "This is gonna work great..."

     "Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" a voice suddenly yelled out from somewhere off in the distance.

     Chief Tula suddenly came stomping towards Creek's dad, looking very angry, as she glared at him.

     Creek gulped, quickly hiding behind his father, frightened by the troll storming towards them.

     "Hello, Chief Tula," Creek's dad greeted.
"I asked what you were doing!" Tula demanded.
"Building a dam," Creek's dad answered with a friendly smile.
"Tear it down! Tear it down, right now!"

     Creek's dad's happy smile faded, as the Chief of the Enchanted Forest trolls yelled at him, turning into an angry glare as he looked at her.

     "If I do that..." he said calmly, but firmly. "It will destroy the whole forest. Including Troll Village."
"You should have never built it in the first place! You had no right to build on our territory."

     Peppy was standing off near the dam, and heard the yelling, turning to see Chief Tula yelling at Creek's dad, the young purple troll still hiding behind his father in fear.

     He ran over, quickly stepping in between them to break up the fight.

    "I'm sorry, but what is going on here?" Peppy asked firmly.

     "You're people have built on our territory, without our permission!" Chief Tula yelled out in pure rage.

     Slowly, Peppy turned to Creek's dad with a disappointed stare.

     "River..." he said softly. "You said you would ask for permission before beginning the project."
"It must've slipped my mind, King Peppy," Creek's dad responded with a shrug. "I was just so excited about building it."

     Peppy sighed, and then turned back to Chief Tula with an apologetic look.

     "I am so sorry about this. It was supposed to be a gift," Peppy explained.
"Well..." Tula started. She was still very angry, but took a deep breath, continuing her next sentence calmly.

     "We don't want it," she said. "Find a way to take it down safely, and then get out of our Enchanted Forest."

     Without another word, the Chief of the Enchanted Forest trolls turned, storming off.

—————

     "Poppy..." Branch whispered in fear, the two children still hiding in the bush. "We have to go."

     There it was again... the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Something was telling him to run, and he wasn't about to ignore it...

     He started to back away slowly, keeping his eyes locked on the trolls at the dam, but froze in place, as he suddenly bumped into something.

     "Ugh-oh..." he muttered softly, his heart racing out of his chest.

     Slowly, he turned, seeing an Enchanted Forest troll, towering over him.

     Branch's ears drooped, as he backed up, back to Poppy, who stood, staring up at this new troll, her eyes wide. He was huge...

     "What are you kids doing here?" the Enchanted Forest troll asked in a firm, deep voice.

     Branch gulped, beginning to stutter, trying to think of a way to get Poppy out of there safely.

     "I... umm... we... we were just..." he stuttered. "Poppy! Run!"

     He grabbed onto Poppy's wrist, pulling her away, as he ran as fast as his little legs would take him.