Chapter Text
What crimes did he commit in his past life?
Did he do something to piss off the muses above to warrant one of his storage rooms collapsing?
AND during the worst winter the village has seen no less!
It's a good thing the storm has already passed, the sky is clear of any clouds and it's looking like a nice enough day ahead, 'small mercies' he thinks as his paws sink into the crunchy snow.
He doesn't think he would have lasted another day inside with a broken down room, it was slowly driving him insane, no matter how well he sealed off the door freezing cold drafts snaked through the gaps and into his bunker anyway, so much for his plans to hide away all winter long.
Since he's lost a part of his supplies, even though it isn't the most crucial of his stashes, he'd rather get to restocking what he's lost early, you never know when you'll need holly leaved or extra building supplies, he would usually he'd only come out once the flowers started blooming but that's not for another couple weeks.
While he could have waited it out till spring he'd much rather not push back something he can do now than later when his spring cleaning and reorganisation began, he wont be caught dead being behind on his schedule, especially if there's still a chance that one of the dreaded Bergens will show up.
Just thinking about those monsters made him shiver and want to turn around to run back to the safety of his bunker, it's much safer even with a collapsed room than any pod in the village.
Pulling out a clipboard from his hair Branch looked over his impromptu list of things he'll need to restock on: twigs and branches, pine needles, holly leaves, tree sap, a water jar or two, he doubts any edible berries have started growing yet, some herbal roots, and finally he needs to get some bigger rocks to keep the storage room blocked off until it gets warmer. Everything on the list is still buried under the collapsed ceiling, the rocks and branches were the very back of the room so he wouldn't have time to dig them out anytime soon, thankfully not a lot rare or seasonal items were lost as it was one of the smaller storage rooms he made a long time ago when he was only just digging the bunker and working on the plans for the lift, though he supposes he should've done more thorough inspections to the support beams recently.
After his small check stop the gray troll went on his way into the large wild forest that surrounded his bunker and village.
It was still early in the morning and he doesn't think anyone would be out before sun, no one even started singing the morning song yet, which usually meant that most of the trolls in the village were up and partying.
Which also meant that a certain princess was out and about being overly energetic as always, which he was trying to avoid, she was insufferable! Always singing and hugging everybody in sight way too long for what he deems acceptable, which is to say none.
For someone who's going to be Queen she is way too immature, not to forget irresponsible as well, he heard how Poppy managed to set up loud and colourful parties after any big snow storm to 'make use of the fresh snow', their colours stood out like a huge sore thumb against the bright white snow, they were like beacons for the Bergens to find them!
Did she not care that the amount of weight and pressure the snow puts on the branches is enough for them to snap and break off? Or was she just that ignorant? What if it landed on someone! What would she do then, hugs and glitter won't heal a broken leg, they wont heal a concussion, and they definitely wont bring back someone from the dead.
He would bet that she would panic with a loss for what to do in such situations, if he remembers correctly she freaked out over a scratched up knee Cooper got when he was still learning to walk, the King had to throw a party for her to calm down!
He picked up the pace hoping to get away from the village faster dwindling any chances he would be spotted by any morning trolls, Poppy was the last person he wanted to see today... well he could think of a few more worse individuals, but she was still on the list of people he did not want to interact with, if only she was more down to earth he might even consider talking with her, mainly to ask how to get the stupid glitter out of everything and to please stop putting it in the invitations he gets, he doubts he could convince her to stop giving him those or to give up on a lost gray cause like him but that would probably make her more determined to change his mind, she's always been so incredibly stubborn when she sets her mind on something, if it weren't so annoying he'd even think it was admirable how determined she was.
Poppy tended to plant herself somewhere in his day, she sought him out like a bloodhound bug on a fresh trail!
Maybe it was because she always popped up when he was least expecting her to did he learn to always expect her, she was always somewhere in his head whether he wanted her to be or not, clouding his thoughts if he lost focus, her and her incredibly pink self and her snowy white glitter freckles and-
Shaking his head to dislodge the thought of her, Branch went along the trail to where he knew he would eventually find what he was looking for, brooding and grumbling about how he shouldn't let his mind wander expecting the princess to jump out without a moments notice that he was sent into a nosedive as his foot caught on a rock jerking him out of his thoughts.
Just as he was about get a rather unpleasant kiss from mother earth, he felt something quickly wrap around his torso and under his arms as his nose stopped just a hair from the ground, as he let out a breath in relief looking down he saw a very familiar shade of pink hair he was just thinking of.
Getting his paws steady under him allowing his claws to dig into the frozen earth, he stood up straight and only when he glared at the hair still wrapped around him did it retreat back to its obnoxiously pink owner and unlikely saviour of the day.
"Have a nice trip there Branch?" giggled the same princess who just invertedly got him in his predicament, he would have been annoyed at the joke had he not been a little shocked at Poppy's own situation. She was stuck hip deep in snow and judging from the snapped twigs laying around, a lack of low branches and claw marks around her that her escape attempts weren't very successful, her blue button dress was all wet and there weren't any pawprints in the snow so he came to the natural conclusion that the princess must've fell from real high up for whatever reason she was up there to begin with.
Knowing her she probably saw a bunch of clear snow and jumped into the pile from excitement.
"What were you doing to get yourself stuck out in the open? Don't you know how big of a target for predators you are right now!" Branch decided to ignore the poor ice breaker in favour of scolding her, to her credit Poppy looked a bit sheepish which surprised him, he expected her to try and defend herself with some weird eccentric and dangerous game she was making up trying to get him to join.
"The snow did not look deep at all when I landed in it, not that I meant to anyway! Can you help me out now that you're here though?" She asked putting on the best cuddlepup eyes making him groan.
"Ugh fine, but don't even think that I'll be help you the next time you get yourself stuck." He warned as he extended his hair in a similar manner Poppy had just done and started pulling her out of the snow, which proved to be a lot more difficult than he apprehended, she must've been there a while if the snow was this compacted around her, he grunted and grabbed an unearthed root to give himself a steadier surface and yanked even harder than before sending the princess flying at him. The two collided and hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of them both.
Neither moved while they regained their breath, Branch shut his eyes and tried to breathe the headache he got from the impact of Poppy colliding into him.
"Get off." Branch demanded after he realised that she was still laying on top of him, a faint blush warming his face.
Poppy rolled off of Branch with a huff and the pair spent a little while just laying on the ground trying to recover their bearings further, when the gray troll finally sat up he sent a glare to Poppy.
"I'm counting that as a hug by the way," She chuckled, propping herself on her elbow, "I'll tell everyone that you 'squeezed me breathless'."
"Don't go jumping in snow without testing it first, the critters could have left it untouched for a reason." Rolling his eyes he stood and began to walk off, prompting Poppy to jump up and quickly follow after him.
"So what's got you so pumped that you left your bunker early?"- she gasped "Or did you change your mind about the Winter Appreciation Holiday?! I knew you'd come around I worked extra hard on that invitation!" She laughed excitedly as she ran up front to face him.
"Definitely not." He was quick to put a stop to her musings.
He debated whether to tell her about why he was really out here, or if he should just let her make something up in her mind. She would probably make up some crazy tale and spread it around the village like wildfire, probably something crazy like 'he went out to make a super big snowtroll to prep for next years' contest' or 'Branch went out looking for a massively huge hill for the village to sled down it'...
Actually... that would just bring more stragglers to his doorstep asking him to share his findings.
"An old storage room got a little damaged and I lost some supplies." He told her, not everything, just enough to excuse his early appearance and answer her question, hopefully she will leave him be.
"I'm just gathering everything I've lost before spring starts, just boring stuff, I'm not going to let a Bergen catch me unprepared" His tail swished in agitation when he noticed that Poppy was still walking alongside him, why couldn't she leave, he helped her and told her everything she wanted to know.
She didn't answer, just hummed in acknowledgement and kept pace with him.
Even when he started to dig up some moss to rehydrate and patch up the storage room later, Poppy was still right next to him, messing his her bracelet and looking around.
"Why are you following me?" He finally broke the silence once he packed up the moss and was ready to venture deeper into the forest, deeper than any villager usually goes.
"I'm just excited that I get more time to spend with you, now that you're out of the bunker early!" Poppy chirped, though if she really was happy that she gets to bother him, she would have been chattering his ears off, but something was bugging her.
The smile she wore did not reach her eyes, and he still haven't heard the morning song.
Also it very much isn't in her style to lie, Poppy never lies and he isn't going to tolerate her trying to so blatantly, especially if she was going to try lying to him.
While he might not like the princess much because it's more than that but he likes her even less when she's upset.
"You're lying." He shot her a glare, stopping in front of her, she looked like a swag stag in spotlight, she tried to meet his eyes and challenge his accusation but eventually receded.
Her head hung as she kicked the snow sending a small cloud of white to scatter in the morning breeze, whatever it was she must be really bothered by it if she was so openly out of character.
"Uhm s-so, we had a small party near the critter sanctuary," she started, wringing her fingers and not meeting his gaze, she continued,
"And I guess some of the heavier decorations must've really weighed down the branches above-"
"So a branch did snap in the storm! And after I warned you all that this could happen." Poppy stared at him, mouth still open from the unfinished sentence, he did not notice the frown overtaking her face as he continued to rant.
"The storm last night was not pretty, even I heard it from deep down in my bunker! You guys should've known that those branches won't last under such weight and wind!" He had half a mind to walk off and into the village to yell at them, because yet another one of his warnings went heard and ignored, but before he could even budge Poppy was already blocking his path, arms out and eyes desperate.
"Yes I know, you can chew me out all you want later but listen to me!" she did not yell, she had more self control than that but she did raise her voice more than she usually did.
He was still irritated, but he pushed the feeling back while worry took its place, did someone actually get hurt?.
"A bunch of the critters got injured and some even ran away! I tried to follow one's tracks but I lost them, I tried to use my hair and swing off the trees to find it sooner but..." Her fast ranting fizzled out, 'so that's how she got herself stuck' he thought, the branch she wanted to grab was most likely iced over and launched herself into the snow pit.
Anyway, no trolls got hurt, it was only critters, those things were incredibly durable and could find their way home easily. So it wasn't his problem.
"I told you I'm busy, I really want to get the list done today before I go back to the bunker." he did not want to spend any longer out in the snow than he absolutely had to, he hated how much his gray fur made him stand out.
"That's why I'm coming with! If you can help me find that Catterbug that ran off, I'll help you gather everything you need faster isn't that a great plan!" Poppy stated, making big pleading eyes to try and win him over.
While Poppy was looking at him expectantly Branch was thinking over his choices, on one paw he gets to finish his chores quicker depending on how fast they find the critter, on the other he will still stay out in the snow longer than he planned to and with Poppy at that.
Sure, he did find Poppy's stubbornness to befriend him slightly amusing, but he would much rather not be subjected to endless chatter, and songs, and worst of all hugs.
If he were to decline though, Poppy will be out in the wild on her own, since none of her friends would be heard, and could very well get lost, or found by something she shouldn't...
Not to mention the entire village would be at his tail if anything were to happen to her.
All in all he was seeing more cons than pros, and he really wanted to reject her, but the princess was unlikely to stop pestering him and would tag along regardless, she'd still 'help' him with his gathering, probably extending his stay out anyway, and nag him to help which was arguably worse, especially if her friends found out, he can think of one specific troll he would much rather not give any more ammunition to use against him.
"Ugh." In the end helping the princess would be better for him in the long run. "YES! I knew you would agree not lets go let's not waste time!-" she hurried but Branch had to lay out the groundworks first, he isn't going to let help her on only her rules.
"Only if you stop bothering me after this is over." He may as well try an get something else out of this, and if persuading her to leave him be for a while might make her realise that she doesn't have to waste time looking for him.
"Only for a few days" Yeah, he knew it was never going to be this easy.
"Then stop putting so much glitter on everything around me." He argued.
"I'll try my best to contain it!" Poppy chirped, winking as she spun into a walk, but she walked right into his outstretched arm.
"I doubt it" It's still better than he was predicting she'd say, less glitter isn't better than no glitter, but better than the village's entire monthly stock of it in one invitation.
"Do you have any other requests or can we get going?" She pouted making his cheeks feel a little warm, it always did whenever she did that, he hated when she looked at him like that, he wasn't sure what the heat on his face meant and it bothered him.
"Don't sing and definitely don't hug me." He glared at the hug time bracelet as it went off, the purple and pink flower chiming cheerily.
While Poppy squeezed herself in a one person hug, he started walking before she could try and pull him into one as well.
"Wont hug but you cant stop me from singing, now LET'S GO!." She cheered as she started to run ahead of him.
"It was worth a try at least." And with that he followed after her ventured deeper into the forest to start their search mission adventure or whatever Poppy is going to call it later.