Unconditional: A Broppy Story

Part XVII

"I'll kill him!" Branch shouted. "Wherever he is, I'll kill him!"

"Violence will get us nowhere, Dubstep," Synth said. "Right now, we gotta find Poppy, make sure she's safe. And then, depending on the circumstances and whether or not you're still hungry for blood, maybe... just maybe... you may kill him."

"No one is killing anyone," Hyacinth replied. "We don't kill other Trolls, your highness. Whether they deserve it or not."

"Yeah, you're right," he admitted. "I'm sorry. I just can't believe I didn't see it before. This whole time, I thought it was my fault."

"That's how manipulators do their dirty work," Hyacinth replied. "They'll twist your brain so you'll lose focus on them and his outward appearance as a calm, well-rounded Troll was the perfect cover-up to fool us all. Especially Princess Poppy."

Suddenly, the three Trolls saw the baby Caterbus crawl towards them as fast as its little legs could go. Synth ran up to it and picked it up.

"You okay, little dude?" he asked the baby Caterbus, who began chattering frequently. "Whoa, whoa! Slow down! Wait, really?!"

"What is it?" Branch wondered.

"Poppy's in danger," Synth answered. "She's at Guru's Glade!"

"Find her, boys," Hyacinth said. "I'll go back to warn the village about Creek. I just hope it won't be too late."

Elsewhere, Wrinkles the dog-pig-bread critter pressed his flat face against the forest floor and sniffed it until he caught a familiar scent.

"Poppy!" Barb shouted. "Poppy!"

"Oh, Poppy! Where are you?" Lavender called out. Then, she heard Wrinkles barking and found him standing on a rock. "Wrinkles! What is it, boy?"

Wrinkles pulled a pink flower out of the ground, dropped it into a puddle, and stomped on it with his front paws.

"What does that mean?" Barb asked.

"I think it means Creek hurt Poppy," Lavender answered. "Since puddles and creeks are both bodies of water."

"Can you take us to her?" Barb asked the critter. Wrinkles ran off and looked back to see if they would follow. "Lavender, come on!"

"If anything does happen to Poppy or Branch, I'm blaming you," Val said to Holly, who was offended. "None of this would've happened if you hadn't kissed Branch!"

"Am I really the one to blame?" Holly asked. "Because I think you should've told someone what Creek was up to instead of tryin' to foil it yourself!"

"I told Synth, Demo and Blaze!" Val pointed out. "And might I add, they helped me!"

"That's not what I meant!" Holly groaned. Neither of them noticed the turtle approaching them. "You're so impetuous, you never listen to anyone!"

"I don't know what impetuous means," Val yelled, "but you know what I think? I think you are a nosy, chatty, pushy and kissy little sl- OW!"

The pair looked down to find the turtle biting Val in the leg. Once he let go, he started talking slowly. Val tried to translate for him.

"I... saw... a... Troll... wearing... yellow... pants... and... a... pink... Troll... with... pink... hair... and... the... Troll... with... the... pants..."

"Oh, crap, this is gonna drive me nuts," Val muttered. "Let's just follow his footprints."

Holly and Val began to run in the direction the turtle came from and the turtle slowly followed... until Holly ran back to pick him up and take him with her.

💍💗💐🍾🥂🌹💍💗💐🍾🥂🌹

Holly and Val followed the trail until they reached Guru's Glade, where they found Poppy lying on the ground, shivering and clutching the wound on her abdomen.

"Popsqueak!" Val shouted, running to her.

"Oh, Poppy, I'm so sorry!" Holly apologized. Poppy was too weak to respond. Val looked closely at Poppy's wound and noticed the purple liquid.

"That must be the venom," she said, pulling a syringe of repellent out from one of her pigtails. "Luckily, I brought this."

"It won't be enough, though," Holly pointed out as Val injected it into Poppy's arm. "There's only one true cure for this and we don't have it."

"I do!" someone said suddenly. Holly and Val turned to see Lavender and Barb approaching them. "See if you can keep her awake, I'll work on the cure."

While Lavender grinded the ingredients together in the mortar and pestle, Barb held Poppy in her arms with Holly and Val kneeling next to her.

"Poppy, look at me," Barb pleaded. Poppy looked up to her with her eyes barely open. "Everything's gonna be okay. We're gonna make you better."

"I thought..." Poppy gasped. "I thought Creek loved me... That we would..."

"It's okay," Barb insisted. "You're free now. It's okay."

"I've never seen her so pale," Holly whispered to Val. "What if... What if she doesn't make it?"

Not wanting to think about that, Val asked Lavender, "Hey, Lav, you finished with that cure yet?"

"Almost," she replied, pulling one last thing out of her hair. "I just need nectar from the Beating Heart flower, but the only way to harvest it is to sing a song straight from the heart."

"Then start singing!" Val shouted. Lavender flinched and nervously began singing.

I st-still h-hear yo-your voice

Wh-when you sleep n-next to me

"Don't push her!" Barb scolded Val. "I want Poppy to live, too, but it's no excuse to yell at Lavender!"

"I told her she was impetuous," Holly pointed out.

"And I don't know what that means, so I don't care," Val scoffed.

Um... I don't wanna close my eyes

D-don't wanna fall asleep cuz I...

"It means hot-headed," Barb replied. "She's calling you a hot head and she's actually right."

"Well, I can't help being a hot head!" Val said defensively. "I'm a Rocker!"

"Rocker or not, it's no excuse to be a b-"

"QUIET!" Lavender shouted. "All of you! At this rate, I'll never get the nectar! How's Poppy?"

Barb looked down and noticed Poppy's breath shortening as the poison overpowered the repellent.

She only had about five minutes left.

Sorry I had to stop here. I hope the next chapter will make up for it.