Chapter Text
Water and Dirt
Branch was walking around the forest, even after all this time he still took time to appreciate the quiet and peaceful woods around the village. Specially as it was quite hard to do that now, he was considered an ambassador of the pop trolls by most of the other tribes given his close relationship with Poppy and therefore if she wasn't around he was the one most came to for help, this led to a very very busy life, A far cry from the silent and slow-paced days he had before.
The trip he made with Poppy to Bergen town and the rock apocalypse did make him more outgoing but many times he missed his old routine of reading, completing puzzles and collecting supplies for his bunker
So here he was, far enough from trollstopia and all its noise into the silent wilderness that he came to love throughout the years, collecting a few berries here and there, getting branches for any repairs on his bunker or around town and finding medicinal herbs and roots to donate to the local hospital as they were running short of supplies
God how he missed this, the fresh air, the dirt under his feet, the warm sun on his skin, It just felt natural to him, from a young age he was an explorer just like JD, at least when it came to nature for that matter, he was getting better at social gatherings and the whole singing thing but one step at a time
The life he had before was a lonely one, not in small part because of his actions but still, many nights in his bunker he thought of how things could be if he wasn’t gray, if he was a bit more sociable, or if he had even once taken up on Poppy’s offer to party
But that would not be him would it?
He still liked his time inside that same bunker, the cozy feeling he got being protected inside those walls, the smell of tea or freshly brewed coffee, but as time passed, and he heard from poppy about all the new friends she had made from the other tribes, he became lonely
Thankfully now he had friends too!
That was part of the problem honestly, he now has a lot of friends, well a lot for him, to most pop trolls it would be below average most likely, but he was still the socially awkward and introverted guy, so as to not get overwhelmed with the constant parties or hang outs he always volunteered to go looking for supplies
Which was easy because no one else wanted to do that
All of this finally led him to this moment, being alone and recharging his social battery as he collected the supplies, a designated alone time but not an isolationist one, all his friend would respect it and he would do something productive at the same time! It’s a win-win-win scenario
He was actually getting excited at this, looking as small critters ran and zig zagged around the ground, the open space and the fact that Branch was alone, he could feel his inner child begging to be released for a while, and looking around he deemed that he could afford being a bit weird for now, as a treat to himself
Crouching on all fours he felt his tail swing wildly behind him making a few leaves fly and shift around, he closed his eyes taking a deep breath, feeling the damp, cold morning air fill his lungs and the dew on the ground under his hands, then he bolted leaving the supplies he gathered safely between a few rocks he found. He ran around the trees and bushes dodging them easily as he sprinted around the forest, jumping over boulders and fallen branches
Hearing and feeling the world in its natural state as birds chirped and squawked as he passed by, and the wind whistled rushing his ears
He felt free, from everything, no need to look composed or to stop other trolls from fighting, no random hug times or deafening music, and as heartless it sounded no Poppy
He loved her like a sister, even tough he spewed quite a few harsh words to her for so long he always cared for her, in his own strange way but he did, the only problem was that a lot of times they still didn’t see it eye to eye, so now, here, he felt truly free from everything
Leaves and dirt started to cling to his fur and hair but he didn’t care for it, too entranced on his surroundings to care for such things. As he ran he could feel his body relax in an unexplainable way, as if he had been standing up his whole life and for the first time sat down, quite ironic as he was in fact running around like a mad beast
He then saw a particularly big pile of rocks making a ramp like surface on the forest floor, as he approached he felt the ground shift from twigs and leaves to gravel and pebbles, his claws extended to get a better grip on the rocky surface and once he reached the ledge he jumped
He could hear his heart hammering on his ears, feel hot blood pumping inside his veins as the cold air rushed past him, until he landed on the side of a great tree with a thud
His claws griped the bark with strength and as if he was still on the ground, he continued his mindless happy run across the forest, now jumping from branch to branch in the never-ending natural landscape, dodging random animals, taunting some predators and overall enjoying himself.
He swung around using vines and his own hair all the while taking on his surroundings as not to get lost amidst the jungle he considered a second home. After a while he stopped, laughing at himself, at enjoying a mindless pleasure he loved, at feeling like a small trolling again.
As he panted he looked at the sun, now higher on the sky bathing the world in a golden colour
He should go back now, after all he still needed to bring those supplies back home, and take a bath as sure as hair he would start to stink soon from the sweat and grime
Slowly he climbed down the tree, taking care to not disturb the silence of the forest more than he already did, and also because his muscles were now quite mad at him from the sudden outburst of energy
As Branch approached the spot he hid the bag of fruits sticks and herbs he felt something running down his arm with a sting, looking over his arm he noticed a large gash on it, slowly dribbling blood making his palm wet with the red liquid
This was not very good, he examined the wound slowly as not to worsen it, it was not very deep, but just deep enough to need stitches, He was not that mad about it as most would be, if another pop troll had such wound on them they would most likely faint on the spot or start writing a will on the dirt
But as shown by his excited self running around, he was not the usual pop troll, he had worse wounds before, and doctor Moonbloom had at this point fixed him up more times than she could recall, who would have guessed that a 6 year old could hurt himself using heavy equipment to build an underground bunker?
Most did but that didn't stop him
The only thing he was quite worried about was the amount of dirt lodged in the wound, forget blood loss, he had to clean this fast if he didn't want to spent the next few months taking antibiotics because of infection
How did he even get this cut on his arm? Sure, he got a bit lost on the sauce back there but not enough to not feel such a wound right? Maybe he needed this more than he knew…
The past could not be changed, but the stinging sensation as every move made the debris lodged on the wound shift could be dealt with right now
Branch soon started to walk towards a river on the forest, he didn’t even need a map at this point from how well he knew the surrounding woods of trollstopia, growing up paranoid made it so he got really good at mapping the surroundings and using well his resources.
If anything happened to his bunker he could find sources of food and water in a blink of an eye, most trolls thought of it as a bit weird still, after all they had made peace with the Bergens and the other tribes but Branch at this point just liked to explore nature and be better with his surviving skills
Hearing the sound of water Branched started to walk a bit faster as not to let the dirt sit long on his wound, tetanus was not fun
Reaching the river bank Branch let go of his bag and went to the water
Because of recent rain the river was a tad bit more full than normal, but the current was still slow and peaceful, he quickly took of his clothes as not to wet them getting naked like the day he hatched
While he was not too keen on being full on nude like some trolls he didn’t think much of it, especially now that he was alone in the woods. Getting into the water was a little bit harder than expected, because of how cold it was, Branch slowly got deeper into the water until he was hip deep in the river
In one swift motion he submerged completely to get acclimated to the temperature faster, and as soon as the shock wore off he started to clean himself letting the current take away the dirt and grime off his body
He knew that this was not the recommended thing to do, the water was a bit murky because of the rain and Branch could hear dr Moonbloom inside his head warning about how unsanitary this was, and just like when he was a trolling he ignored it focusing on taking every last piece of debri out of his skin and wound
He felt the sting every time his thumb ran across the gash on his arm, but he didn’t flinch nor hiss at the expected pain, too used to it. Branch took a while to get clean enough as to not look like he wrestled a thorn bush into submission and once he did he started to look at his body
Branch did not really care for his image, after all to a lot of trolls he was still just the weird bunker guy no matter what he did or how many times Poppy said that he was a very important troll and should be respected. Scars littered his body from head to toe, tough most of them were on his arms and close to his heels
He remembers how he got almost all of them, every accident he had with his homemade pickaxes, hoes axes and any other tool he used to build. Some thought that he would feel bad for having so many, but after ears of isolation he came to love them, each was a testament to his commitment and endurance, each a story of how he came to be the troll he is today
Now clean from any leaf twig or mud, he sat at the water’s edge letting the slow and soft waves made by the current splash against his thighs and arms letting the cold water now clean him from the aches of his muscles
He really needed this more than he knew, Branch could feel his tension going away with each splash and wave. Fully laying down as he enjoyed such a peaceful time, wound now forgotten as a minor burning sensation on his arm
Looking at the clouds and the canopy of the trees branch let a sigh escape him, he felt a lot better now, refreshed and free from all the worry and doubt he was plagued all time in trollstopia feeling his eyes close softly not wanting this moment to be over just yet…
*gurgle *
His eyes shot open but he remained still, focusing on hearing his surroundings, that sound came from the water but not as something going in or out, staying on the murky river out of his sight. The feeling of peace now turned in tense calculated focus
There were no land-dwelling predators around, no marks of territory or vocalisations could be heard so this crossed out quite a few animals off his mind
*pop * *pop *
Okay, bubbles, this was definitely aquatic and by the commotion it was doing under there was a big one, maybe some glittergator got displaced by the rain and ended up here. Branch could not do any sudden moves before the right time or the beast would lunge at him defending its new territory
He was about to try to slowly back away from the river until he felt the current shift and the water ripples coming towards him.
He waited the perfect moment
A large shadow started to appear right under the murky water
His heart was beating fast making the wound that had just stopped bleeding open up again
When whatever the creature was got mere inches away to Branch’s foot he used his hair to propel himself backwards and throwing one of his emergency sharpened sticks from his hair towards the creature that jumped back with a yelp
As he fell in the sand of the river bank he got up as quickly as possible, taking another stick on his hands and assuming a defensive position
Focusing on the water he looked at the stick now embedded at the river’s edge and looking at the creature he found…
“Synth?!”