~ The Other Side of the Storm ~

Chapter 19

Edit: changed up a part because i'm dumb and forgot that the idea had been introduced chapters before

(One of the ideas in this chapter is from GeorgeBeard4 , if somehow you aren't already (who isn't-) follow him, he has good books (I haven't read most of them). It was kind of hard to get the idea to make sense, but I think it worked? I actually seriously hate this but uh- here-

AND WHY IS IT SO LONG WHAT-)

Finally, it was actually morning, the sky was a dark gray, meaning it was going to rain again and there was rumbling in the distance. If they beat the storm, they might actually find their way home that day.

By the time everyone woke up Ash and Archer had found their way to the group. Poppy, Biggie, Guy, and Creek hugged Archer.

Ash took a step away from the group and rolled her eyes at them. "Hi. Hello." She waved at them.

"Hi." Rose and Biggie waved back at her.

"Can we go home now?" Guy asked, as he returned Mr. Dinkles to Biggie. Remember he was there?

"MR. DINKLES!" Biggie squeezed the worm to death, sobbing just as much as Branch and Poppy were yesterday before Poppy shattered his heart.

"Mew." Mr. Dinkles sighed, wishing to be dead.

"Yeah, I can lead you to Misty Meadows, but you guys getting back to your home is all in you." Ash gestured for them to follow her, back through the woods.

They all followed her— except for Branch. He was just lying on the ground, sadly. He was awake, but hasn't moved at all.

Guy grabbed Biggie's arm and turned him around, pointing at Branch.

"Branch-" Biggie sighed and picked Branch right off the ground and sat him on his shoulder, "come on."

"No, just let me die out here, alone. It's not like it'll make any difference in the village. They're clearly better off without me since even Creek is more trustworthy than me." Branch flopped on to his stomach and hung over Biggie's shoulder like a toddler.

"No, we're not better off without you! We love you!" Guy frowned. He hated hearing Branch speak so negatively about himself.

Branch was in mental and physical pain, and they could see it, but they didn't know how to help him much.

"I loved her so much.. and she's abandoned me.." Branch sat up and looked at Poppy. The pink troll looked completely fine ignoring Branch, she looked like she had completely moved on from him. "Everyone always leaves me.. even my parents." He sighed.

Verdana and Acorn stopped walking and looked over at Branch, overhearing the conversation.

"Your parents abandoned you?" Verdana put her hand on her heart, feeling bad. "That's awful."

"I don't really know the circumstances they were in, so I can't be mad at them. I just wish I knew who they were." Branch shrugged and cracked a small smile at the couple. "I saw them for a few days once.. but then .. uh.. my mom fell out of a tree. We thought she died, but then my mom and dad both disappeared the next day."

Acorn hugged himself and looked down, feeling slightly guilty, "When Verdana and I were still teenagers, we found out we were expecting, and we were too young. There was no way we could take care of a child at that age, and we still had so many things to do with our lives."

Verdana nodded, "When he was born, we gave him to his grandma. I'm sure she's taken better care of him than we could've. We spent some time with him years later too, but I also fell out of a tree. In the middle of the night, Acorn and I both left again." She sighed, "I wish we got to spend more time with him.. or even remember what his name is."