Curse of the Weretroll (rewrite)

Chapter 25

     After the two young trolls gathered up the rest of their friends, the seven of them headed out into the forest without a second thought to search for the village grump...

     "Branch!?" they all called out in desperate tones, searching frantically through the darkness of the forest, seeing no sign of the gray troll being anywhere near them... "Branch!? Where are you!? Branch!?"

     Poppy was beginning to panic more than ever as they continued to search, now having been out in the forest for a few hours... and yet... there was still no sign of him... there was no sign of Branch...

     "Branch!?" the young princess cried out, looking all around for her best friend. "Please! Just answer me!"

     Silence...

     "We need to go back, Poppy," Dj said sympathetically, walking over to the young princess. "It's getting too dark. It's not safe..."

     "No," Poppy denied, looking around in a panic. "We... we can't... we can't leave Branch... he needs us..."

     "With that wolf on the lose again..." Satin started.
"He's probably already gone..." Chenille finished in a saddened tone.

     Poppy wouldn't accept that... Branch wasn't... he... he wasn't...

     "N... no..." the young princess denied, turning away from her friends. "He's alive... I know he is... Branch!? Come on, Branch! Where are you!?"

     The snack pack sighed, lowering their heads at their friend's denial, sure that the gray troll had already been eaten...

     "Poppy!" Biggie suddenly shouted over to them from behind a bush, instantly catching everyone's attention. "I found him!"

     With a silent gasp of hope, Poppy quickly took off towards Biggie, the rest of the group running after her...

     The group of friends pushed through the bush the large blue troll had been standing behind, all of them freezing in place, gasping sharply at what they saw...

     "Branch!" Poppy screeched out in pure terror, the young princess quickly running over and dropping down to her knees beside the gray troll who lay motionless on the ground, his cold skin covered in cuts and bruises, his hip and ear still bleeding fiercely leaving him laying in a puddle of his own blood...

     It looked as if he had been attacked by some kind of animal... but not just any animal... the wolf...

     Dj covered her mouths in shock, horrified by the horrendous sight, the rest of the snack pack also seeming incredibly concerned for the survivalist's fate, none of the young trolls knowing what to do... Was... was he...

     Quickly but gently, making sure not to hurt the severely injured troll any farther... Poppy flipped him over onto his back, carefully pulling the gray troll into her lap as she placed an ear on his chest...

     It was faint... almost completely unnoticeable... but she could just barely hear the beating of her best friend's heart...

     "He's alive!" she shouted over to her friends, tears pouring out of her eyes. "He's still alive!"

     "I'll get a doctor," Guy announced in a panic before quickly running off back towards the village to find help.

     "Branch? Branch, can you hear me?" Poppy whispered, gently stroking her fingers through his thick black hair. No reply... "Branch please..." she begged, trying but failing to hold back her tears. "Please wake up..."

     Not knowing what to do, the group of friends just stood around the two of them, watching on in sorrow, fearing the worst for the little gray troll...

     Sirens began to blare off in the distance as Poppy cradled Branch in her arms, tears falling from her eyes and landing on the survivalist's chest...

     "Please wake up..." she whispered in despair... but still... Branch didn't move, his breathing so slow and soft... it was almost as if he wasn't breathing at all...

     Finally, an ambulance arrived out in the open patch of the forest, several paramedics jumping out of the rescue vehicle and rushing over to the slowly dying troll...

     "P... please..." Poppy begged, looking up at the doctors now surrounding her and Branch. "You... you have to... sniff... you have to save him..."

     Quickly, one of the paramedics bent down, grabbing gently onto Branch's wrist to check his pulse, immediately getting worried by how slow it was...

     "We're losing him!" she announced to the other doctors in a panicked tone. "We need to hurry! Get him in the ambulance, stat!"

     Poppy watched in fear as the paramedics lifted Branch out of her lap, quickly loading him into the ambulance...

     "We can fit one of you to ride along if you'd like," one of the doctors said to the snack pack. "But you need to hurry... he isn't going to make it much longer..."

     Poppy's friends knew that even though Branch acted like he hated her... the survivalist actually had strong feelings for the princess. They could see it in his eyes when he gazed at her, thinking no one knew he was around... They also knew Poppy had feelings for Branch in return... They had to be together... especially now... in his time of need...

     Quickly, Satin and Chenille nudged Poppy forewords, the young princess turning to them in slight confusion.

     "Go," they both whispered to her simultaneously, Poppy nodding as a thank you before quickly climbing into the ambulance, taking Branch's limp hand in hers...

     The rest of the paramedics climbed inside the ambulance along with them, shutting the doors before quickly driving off towards the hospital, the sirens blaring loudly to warn all to get out of their way... this was an emergency...

     "You're gonna be ok, Branch..." Poppy whispered to the still unconscious troll laying beside her, gently stroking his cheek with the back of her fingers... "You have to be ok..."