Curse of the Weretroll (rewrite)

Chapter 79

     "Whoa!" Biggie couldn't help but gasp in surprise, instinctively pulling Mr. Dinkles closer to his body as a big black shadow suddenly shot straight past him mere inches away from where he now sat, the drowsiness of sleep having just barely worn off as he awoke from his sweet dream to the sounds of a vicious struggle. "What was that!?"

The large blue troll quickly rubbed his eyes in hopes to help them adjust to the darkness surrounding him... but by the time he was finally able to see properly... the source of his panicked concern had already disappeared around the corner it had been bolting towards...

"The wolf!!!! The wolf got in!!!!" Smidge cried out in terror, the tiny girl still by her best friend's side, her hands frantically gripping the young princess' arm as if holding her in place so she wouldn't take off after hearing her next words. "It ate Branch!!!!"

     "WHAT!?"

     Everyone in the room was now wide awake... not even a spec of heaviness in any of their eyes...

"That's impossible!" DJ quickly denied, the orange haired troll simply unable to believe that the former village grump could truly be... gone... "The bunker is impenetrable! How would it have gotten in!?"

"I-I don't know..." Smidge cried out in a fiercely trembling voice, still freaking out from what she had just witnessed. "I just... woke up and it was in his sleeping bag! It was chewing something and had Branch's vest in its mouth! And Branch isn't here!"

"That-that doesn't mean he was... eaten..." Biggie gulped, hugging Mr. Dinkles tightly in his suddenly trembling arms. "He... he could have... gotten away..." There was a twinge of hope in his words, the large blue troll desperate for his theory to be true.

"Branch wouldn't have just run away..." Guy denied with a heavy heart, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that Smidge's words had to be true... "He would have fought that beast to the death... just like he has before... and he would never just leave us to be eaten... he would do everything in his power to protect us... especially Poppy... no matter what..."

     That was true... no one could deny it... everyone in that room knew that though the survivalist may be a tad bit grumpy at times... he truly did care about them... and he was no chicken... he wouldn't have left to save himself... if it meant dooming his friends to that awful fate in his place...

     But... that fact could only mean one thing... and none of them wanted to accept it...

At the realization which had just been thrown straight into their faces, everyone instantly turned to Poppy, expecting to see their princess absolutely distraught over loosing her boyfriend the very day he finally came back into all their lives... but... instead... she seemed more... worried... her eyes still locked directly on the corner the wolf had just disappeared beyond only moments ago, the young girl almost seeming to have blocked out the entire conversation around her in her intense focus...

     "Poppy...?" Chenille began in a worried tone, her sister quickly continuing her thought. "Are you... ok...?"

     Her eyes blinking into focus, Poppy finally seemed to snap out of her trance as she looked to her group of friends in worried concern...

     "We need to go..." she quickly instructed, the young princess immediately heading for the bunker elevator only to be stopped by Smidge, her best friends grabbing firm hold of the young princess' wrist to hold her back. "Poppy... what are you doing...?"

She had to think fast... she had to get her friends out of there... she had to protect Branch... she didn't know what would happen if they were to find him down here in his wolf form... and she didn't want to find out...

"The wolf," she finally stated shakily, trying to convince her friends that they needed to get out of the underground bunker immediately... "He's still in here somewhere! We need to leave before he comes back!"

     Again, Poppy tried to lead her friends away, rushing towards the elevator while pulling Smidge in her grasp, desperately hoping the others would follow suit...

     Branch just needed some time... he needed time to calm down and change back to normal... she knew that... but she also knew he wouldn't be able to do that with the Snack Pack rampaging his home on a wolf hunt...

Despite the desperate need to be by her boyfriend's side in his ultimate time of need reeling the young girl in and making her want to stay put... Poppy knew leaving now was the only option she had to ensure the Weretroll's safety... that would have to wait until after she had gotten the rest of their friends home...

"Poppy's right!" Guy suddenly announced, his face falling into a deep frown of pure
D E T E R M I N A T I O N . "The wolf is still in here... and we need to stop it before it hurts anyone else!" Reaching up into his hair, the silver glitter troll suddenly pulled out a sharply pointed pitch fork, holding it up into the air with honor. "For Branch!"

     "Wait... what...? Where did you get that pitch-"

     But... before Poppy even had a chance to finish her question... the young princess was promptly cut off by the rest of the Snack Pack following suit... pulling out pitchforks of their own before shouting out triumphantly; "FOR BRANCH!"

     "WHAT!? No, guys!" Poppy yelled out, desperately trying to stop the oncoming rampage before it could undoubtedly begin. "This isn't what I meant! And why do you all have those!?"

"Get the wolf!" Smidge screamed at the top of her lungs, everyone letting out a loud battle cry before immediately rushing off deeper into the bunker in hot pursuit of the so called 'vicious beast'.

"No!" Poppy cried out helplessly, reaching out in one final attempt to prevent the oncoming disaster... but... it was too late... "Guys! Stop!"

Oh no... oh no! This wasn't good! This was the complete opposite of 'good'! This was bad! Terrible! Awful! Horrendous! She had to do something... and she had to do it fast! She needed to save Branch!

     Quickly, without giving the situation a second thought, Poppy immediately ran off in the direction she had seen Branch take... she had to find him before their friends did... otherwise...

     ...

No...

     She didn't even want to think about what would happen if she failed... she just needed to hurry... no one would hurt Branch... not on her watch...