The rush of water pulled Branch under, holding him down below the surface.
He struggled to swim back up for air, but the current was too strong, yanking him right back down.
—————
"Branch!?" Poppy yelled out in terror, looking frantically for her best friend, but there was no sign of him anywhere. "Branch!? Where are you!?"
She got closer to the raging river, ready to jump in to save the troll she cared about more than anything else in the world, but Barb quickly grabbed hold of her arm, yanking her back.
"Popsqueek! Don't get too close!" Barb warned, pulling her away from the fast flowing water. "He's in there, Barb!" Poppy yelled back, tears flowing from her eyes. "I have to save him!"
She tried again to jump into the river, but Barb held on tight, not letting her go.
"Poppy..." the queen of rock said sternly, looking into the queen of pop's eyes. "It's too dangerous... you can't go after him now..."
The pink troll looked into the water, still seeing no signs of Branch, as she cried hysterically, falling down to her knees despair.
"Branch..." she whispered softly. "No..."
—————
Under the water, Branch was still struggling to swim up to the surface, as he began running out of air, his eyes slowly beginning to blink shut, as he felt his body weakening.
Slowly, he stopped fighting against the massive waves holding him down, allowing them to take him with them, wherever they wanted to go.
He couldn't fight anymore... he was just too weak...
Suddenly... just when all hope was lost... Aqua swam over in the shape of a whale, quickly getting underneath Branch, and lifting him up, out of the water.
Branch gasped for air, coughing up water, as he lay on top of Aqua, his eyes closed, as he struggled to catch his breath, slowly beginning to open his eyes.
His eyes blinked open, as he noticed he was riding the wave, laying safely on Aqua's back.
Slowly regaining his strength, he forced himself to sit up, turning to look at the now destroyed dam.
A smile broke out onto his face, as he saw the dam was gone, the water now flowing freely into the Enchanted Forest.
"Yeah! We did it!" he shouted out in victory, raising his hands into the air. "Woohoo! We did it! Yeah! We did it!"
Aqua squealed in joy, happy that Branch was happy, as she swam with him on her back.
Finally, Branch lay back down, hugging Aqua tight, as he gently rubbed it's watery skin.
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