Curse of the Weretroll (rewrite)

Chapter 57

     Up in the sky high above Troll Village, the sun shone brightly through the clouds, it's hot beams of fiery light shinning down harshly onto the little gray troll who was still laying on the ground, now all alone in the middle of the forest...

     The young boy was beginning to get a sunburn as he lay completely motionless in the soft grass, a stream of drool leaking from his mouth and sliding smoothly down his now reddened cheek...

     "Ugh..." Branch suddenly groaned softly, his arm involuntarily reaching up to wipe the drool from his face. "Wha... what's happening... where am I..."

     The poor thing was completely disoriented as his eyes slowly began to blink open, the blinding beams of bright sunlight immediately making him close them right back up with another groan of discomfort...

     His eyes shut tight, a heavy shade suddenly rushed over the survivalist, blocking off the sun completely from harming the poor boy any farther...

     Wait... what?

     Opening his eyes once more, Branch suddenly noticed the large shelter made of twigs and leaves that had been built over him, Poppy tying on the final leaf to shade her friend from the hot rays of light shining down on him...

     "Po... Poppy?" the village grump muttered softly, slowly sitting up as he dizzily rubbed his head...

     At the sound of those weak and almost silent words, Poppy turned, the young princess smiling wide when she saw Branch was up....

     "Branch! You're awake!" she exclaimed, quickly rushing over to help her friend up to his feet. "How are you feeling?"

     "Um... fine... I'm fine..." he said, shaking the last remaining dizziness from his head before looking to Poppy in slight confusion. "What the hair did you do to me?"

     "You were freaking out..." Poppy explained softly, trying to defend herself so that her friend wouldn't hate her, though Branch seemed more perplexed than angry in that moment. "I needed to calm you down, and it was the only thing I could think of... I discovered it with Squishy..."

     "Hm..." Branch muttered softly, looking away as he cautiously rubbed his neck, remembering that moment his friend was talking about...

     Eh... it must've just been a wolf thing... the little Weretroll would just have to accept that some weird things would be happening to him now thanks to his new abilities...

     Finally, the village grump sighed, lowering his head in slight pure sorrow, the poor boy suddenly remembering why Poppy had needed to calm him down in the first place... why he had been freaking out...

     "What am I gonna do, Poppy..." he muttered in a soft whisper, not even looking up at the love of his life as his ears drooped down in despair. "If... if they find out... they're going to kill me..."

     "Branch..." Poppy said in a firm yet gentle tone, the young princess placing a comforting hand on her best friend's shoulder. "They won't kill you... ok?" She forced the survivalist to look up at her, the two of them making direct eye contact as tears of despair slithered smoothly down the poor boy's cheeks. He was just so scared... Poppy could see it painted clearly on his face... "They won't find out... we'll think of something..." the young princess assured. "I won't let anyone hurt you... I promise..."

     With another sigh, Branch lowered his head once more as the little gray troll slowly nodded his head...

     "Ok..." he finally whispered after a few short moments of silence, the village grump slowly looking back up at his secret crush with a slight smile, his eyes still glossy with tears of pure terror. "I trust you, Poppy..."