The party continued, the guests all laughing, dancing, and playing games together, while Poppy just sat in the corner completely alone, tears beginning to form in her eyes as the day went on and on, the sun slowly beginning to set from the sky...
The young princess hadn't even touched her cake, she was so upset... all she could think about was Branch... why hadn't he shown up?
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Up on a tall hill, Branch hid behind a tree, watching the party stealthily, making sure to not be spotted by anyone. Especially not the princess who he secretly had the biggest crush on...
His ears drooped down in sadness as he saw Poppy sitting alone instead of having fun at her own party. It was his fault... she was sad... because of him...
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'Maybe... I could just go down for a minute and... no Branch!' he thought to himself, quickly shaking the idea out of his head. 'You can't get too close. It's better for her to hate you... that way... no one gets hurt...'
And yet... he still wanted to go down there and join in on the amazing looking party... he wanted to have fun... he wanted to be happy... he really wanted to be with Poppy...
"You can't, Branch..." he told himself in a soft whisper, looking over at the love of his life one last time. "I'll only make things worse... just like I always do..."
With a sigh, he slowly turned to head back to his bunker, his head low in sadness.
"It's better this way..." he muttered softly. "For everyone..."
"Watcha doing there, mate?" a sudden voice rang out, causing the little grey troll to jump back slightly in surprise.
He looked up, horrified to see the one troll he hated more than anyone else in the world, standing right in front of him... Creek...
"Ahhh!" Branch screamed out in shock, as jumped back a bit in pure fear, startled by the purple troll's presence. "C... Creek? Wha... what are you doing here?"
"I'm attending my girlfriend's birthday party," Creek replied in a matter of fact way, beginning to circle around Branch, his hands folded together behind his back as he looked at the grey troll suspiciously. "And... what are you doing here, mate?"
"Oh... you know... just..." Branch said as he frantically looked around for an excuse, suddenly spotting a stick laying on the ground right in front of him, which he quickly picked up to show off to Creek. "Just collecting sticks," he continued. "You know... like I do." He chuckled softly, smiling innocently at the purple troll who stood in front of him.
"Really?" Creek asked suspiciously. "Cuz it kinda looked like you were spying on Poppy's party."
Branch gulped at the sound of Creek's words, backing away a bit in fear.
"N... no," he stuttered nervously. "I... I wasn't... spying." "You weren't thinking of going to that party... were you?" Creek asked, getting all up in Branch's face.
"What? Psh... no. Party's are lame," the grey troll scoffed, rolling his eyes slightly as he crossed his arms in 'annoyance'. "Too much noise. It'll attract predators. Possibly even..." He looked around for a moment before finally whispering his next word. "Bergens..."
"Good..." Creek said with a smirk, poking Branch's chest harshly. "Cuz you're not welcome."
"Psh... please..." Branch scoffed, looking back up at Creek in anger. "If I wanted to go to that totally lame party... which I don't... I could. I was invited."
"Please... Poppy doesn't actually want you here," Creek chuckled, crossing his arms as he gave Branch a smug smile. "She just invited you to be nice. She knew you wouldn't actually show up. In fact... she was planning on it..."
Branch's ears drooped a bit at that statement, as he looked away sadly, knowing Creek was probably right. Why would she want to be around him? She probably hated him... just like everyone else did...
"Now..." Creek continued, shoving Branch softly so that he stumbled away a bit. "If you know what's good for you... you'll leave."
The grey troll looked back up at Creek, his sadness turning back into anger at the way he was being spoken to.
"I don't have to go anywhere, Creek," he stated firmly. "If I want to stay... I can stay..."
"Well then..." Creek said with a slight chuckle. "I guess I'll just have to make you leave. In an ambulance!"
Suddenly, the purple nuisance pounced, roughly tackling Branch to the ground, as he punched at the grey troll's face, and kicked him in the stomach. Hard...
Branch wasn't about to allow this jerk intimidate him, so he fought back against the purple troll, quickly gaining the upper hand, and ending up on top.
"Don't mess with me, Creek!" he warned harshly, pinning the jerk troll to the ground.
Creek looked up at Branch in shock, his eyes wide in fear, knowing he was doomed...
Of course... Branch wasn't going to hurt Creek however... he was just defending himself... but he sure did want to punch that guy's head right off his shoulders...
Slowly, Branch stood, dusting himself off, but before he could walk away, back to his bunker, Creek jumped up to his feet, shoving the grey troll with all his might.
"AHHH!" Branch screamed out in shock, stumbling backwards as he began to tumble down the steep hill behind him...
