A Fighting Chance: A Trolls Fanfiction

Chapter 16

It had been over a month since poppy had been bitten by the snake, as well as been attacked by creek. He was still being held prisoner in the palace. And as usual, trying to charm his way out of both confinement and punishment, trying to convince the other trolls everything was a 'mistake'. King peppy allowed poppy to be  the one to come up with his punishment. Branch thought that was fitting, because if HE had that opportunity, creek would be dead. Poppy stayed a few more weeks in bed after branch gave her the gloom blossom mixture. She was still weak from the venom being in her system so long, sometimes feeling sick with nausea. Branch let her choose if she would rather be in her own room at the palace, but she wasn't comfortable knowing creek would have been so close by. Branch understood, and so he let her stay for as long as she needed. Branch practically waited on her hand and foot, helping her with walking and massaging her muscles to help with blood flow. She was grateful for all he was doing. However, she sometimes got annoyed that he wouldn't let her do the most simply of tasks the first few weeks. Such as lift anything over 5 pounds, walk up stairs on her own and moving too quickly. During the night, he held her tenderly in his arms, caressing her body as she slept, sometimes while she was awake. She enjoyed the feel of his big hands over her skin. Her favorite thing, was laying on his chest at night, listening to his heartbeat as she dozed off to sleep. 

Over time, her strength returned, bit by bit. Her friends came to visit her everyday. Bringing gifts for both poppy as well as branch. Branch was happy to see such loyalty and love from her friends. He thought that she was fortunate to have such loyal friends, although, she was the kindest and most warmhearted troll in the village. So it was easy to see that she was the most well loved troll in the village. With several weeks of recovery under her belt, she was finally well enough to walk around troll village without the help of another person. She never would have dreamed that a snake bite would take so much out of someone, let alone take so long to recover from. But with the help and her friends and from branch, she felt like the luckiest troll in the world. She had noticed that other than taking care of her and helping the king with needs around the village in her stead, branch had been off doing something on his own the last few days. She wondered where he could be, perhaps he was taking extra precautions and planting some extra firebell plants? She had no idea. As she traveled around the village, she was greeted by her loving subjects, all asking her if she is feeling well or happy they were that he was doing so well after her attack. She was glad to see that everyone was back to their happy carefree ways. They all felt a higher sense of safety since she and branch had planted the flowers. They had already sprouted, but it will still take some time for them to fully bloom. Still, it made the people feel so much safer. Poppy looked around the square, looking for branch. He had been acting particularly strange the last few days. It was dusk, she had spent most of her day conversing with the trolls in the village and enjoying the fresh air. She missed the warmth of the sun on her skin, the feel of the wind in her hair. But since it would soon be dark, she wanted to find branch. And so, she headed to village center, looking for navy blue hair and a green leaf vest.

As she passed the square and headed towards the palace, she saw a tuft of navy dark blue hair walking into the palace. She would recognize that hair anywhere. She speed walked to the palace, being sure not to do anything too strenuous just yet. Walking in to the great hall, she looked in all directions, finally, she saw him talking to king peppy int the far end of the great hall. Both looking rather happy, peppy looking particularly cheerful. "Branch! Hey, there you are"! She yelled across the room as she walked towards them. Branch and peppy look over to her direction, both smiling. Peppy smiles wide as he enthusiastically shakes branch's hand, walking away to give his daughter a hug. "Poppy, how are you feeling my dear? It's good to see you up and walking around". He beamed. "Thanks dad, I actually feel pretty good today. I thought it was about time I tried walking on my own, I must say, it feels good to walk under the sun. I never thought I would miss something so simple". She said as he looked out the windows to the village square. Looking eagerly to branch, peppy bid his farewell. "Well, I'm going to go and handle another pod construction matter, one of the pods on the end of the district is damaged from a fallen tree branch, I'll see you later". He finished with a wide smile as he left.