Call of the Wild (rewrite)

Chapter 12

Poppy sat in her bed, thinking about what her father was doing. Setting traps to kill this creature wasn't the right thing to do. She could just feel it in her gut.

She sighed, hugging her legs close to her chest as her ears drooped in sadness.

     What was she going to do about it though? She couldn't stop her father from hurting this innocent creature... he had already given the orders, and the traps have now been set all around the forest. Any minute now... that poor animal would be killed...

Everyone in the village was asleep by now, but not Poppy. She just couldn't sleep knowing this poor creature might suffer out there all alone. For what? For being in it's home? That creature had just as much right to be there, as the trolls did.

Suddenly, a loud snap filled the air, followed by a quick yelp of pain.

Poppy gasped at the sound, quickly looking out her window in shock.

A trap... something had triggered one of the traps!

Quickly, the young princess snuck out of the pod, making sure not to wake her father in the process, as she ran off into the dark forest.

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As Poppy got closer to where the trap was set, she began to hear whimpering, accompanied by the sound of something clawing at the ground, trying to escape.

She stepped closer to the sounds of pain, moving aside some leaves to see Branch, his foot pinched in a bear trap as he clawed at the dirt, trying desperately to pull away, but the harder he pulled... the more the sharp teeth of the trap bit down on him, digging their way deep into his grey skin, causing him to yelp and whimper in pain.

Slowly, Poppy began to approach the trapped puppy troll, Branch suddenly noticing her, his heart sinking down into his stomach.

     His ears drooped, as he shrunk down, terrified that this creature was going to hurt him. Not that he could possibly be in any more pain than he was already in...

He whimpered, trying to pull away from the pink troll, but the trap was chained into the ground, holding him in place.

Poppy looked at him closely, somewhat confused. He... he was a troll...

"Who are you?" she asked, suspicious of this new troll. She had never seen him before, and she knew everyone in the village. "What is your name?"

     He didn't answer... he just stared up at her, his eyes wide in fear, as his heart raced in his chest.

"Where did you come from?" she asked, trying to get some answers out of this stranger.

     Branch whimpered in fear, trying to back away again, but he still couldn't break free of the trap, the pain in his leg growing stronger and stronger by the second.

Poppy looked at him, seeing the terror on his face. That poor boy... he was almost crying in fear, tears sparkling in his crystal blue eyes.

The puppy troll pulled at the trap again, causing it to dig even deeper into his skin.

"Aooooo!" he howled loudly, shutting his eyes tight to try and ignore the excruciating pain shooting through him... but it was no use... the pain was just too intense...

Poppy looked at the trap, which was now stained with blood from the gash it had made in Branch's leg.

Branch panted heavily, feeling dizzy from the pain and lose of blood, as he tried one last time to break free.

The princess knew just by looking at him, that she had to get him out of that trap right away, or... he would die...

She stepped closer to him, and his head shot up to look at her as he growled, showing his teeth. Poppy could tell, though... it wasn't an aggressive growl... it was a growl saying; 'I'm scared of you. Stay away.'

"It's ok," Poppy said softly, slowly approaching the puppy troll. "I'm just gonna get that trap off of you."

     He looked at her, his eyes wide with understanding, as he nodded slowly.

Cautiously, she approached Branch, looking closely at the trap. It was pretty deep in his leg. She could see why he was in so much pain.

     Her heart ached, seeing the damage it was doing to this poor child. There was a huge puddle of blood dripping from his leg, the ground under the trap stained red. So much blood... all from this one little troll...

Slowly, Branch lay down, his tongue flopping out of his mouth as he panted heavily, too weak to stand any longer.

     His eyes blinked as he could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness. He was losing the fight for his life...

     Poppy noticed this, and acted fast, quickly dropping down to her knees as she grabbed the trap in both hands, pulling on it with all her might to get it open.

The trap finally opened, the sharp metal teeth leaving the poor puppy troll's skin, as she threw it away, but even though he was now free... Branch didn't get up. He couldn't get up...

Poppy looked at Branch, his eyes slowly closing and reopening over and over. He was trying so hard to stay awake... but he couldn't last much longer...

"Don't worry," Poppy said calmly, gently placing a comforting hand on the puppy troll's arm. "I'm gonna get you cleaned up."

Quickly, she reached into her hair, pulling out a first aid kit. Something her dad made her carry around everywhere just incase of an emergency. She always thought that it would be useless, but now... she was glad he forced her to take it.

Branch's vision blurred, as he looked weakly up at Poppy, his breathing getting slower and slower.

Poppy looked down at him, noticing the change, her heart sinking into her stomach as she realized what was about to happen.

"You gotta stay awake, ok?" she told him softly, her voice shaking with worry as she wrapped up the puppy troll's injured leg. "You gotta stay awake."

He tried to listen... he really did... but his eyes just kept growing heavier and heavier... until they finally fell shut...