"Barb! Barb stop!" a familiar voice yelled out, as Barb chased Branch, ready to rip his head off.
"Get back here, boy toy!" the queen of rock shouted out in anger, chasing after him at top speed.
Branch looked back, panting heavily, as he ran for his life, staring at Barb with wide fearful eyes.
"I'm sorry!" he cried out, pleading with her to show him mercy. "Sorry ain't good enough!" Barb shouted, still chasing after him with fire in her eyes. "Get back here, so I can kill you!"
Not paying attention to where he was going, Branch suddenly ran right off the edge of a random cliff.
His feet continued moving as if he were still running, as he levitated in mid-air for a moment, looking back at Barb quickly approaching. Why was he not moving!?
Finally, he stopped 'running', looking down to see the giant pit right beneath him.
"Frosting..." he muttered softly, suddenly beginning to fall into the canyon, plummeting quickly towards the ground below. "AHHHHH!" he screamed, terrified for his life, as something suddenly wrapped around his waist.
What ever had caught him, tightened around his waist, stopping his decent just inches away from a sharp rock pocking out of the ground.
He panted heavily, his eyes wide in terror, as he looked at the rock which had almost stabbed right through his body, killing him in an instant...
Suddenly, the thing around his waist jerked him up, sending him shooting back up into the air, as if he were bungee jumping.
"AHHHHH!" he screamed again, as he shot up high into the sky.
As he got higher up into the sky, he stopped again, gasping for air, as he took a break from screaming, until he suddenly began falling back down, screaming once again.
"When does it end!?" he shouted out in fear, shutting his eyes tight.
Finally, he stopped falling, dangling from whatever held him by the waist.
He was still panting heavily, his heart racing in fear, as he looked down at the ground right beneath him, feeling himself to make sure he was still alive.
"I'm ok? I'm ok!" he yelled out, cheering, happy to have not died a horrible painful death.
But... what had saved him?
Slowly, he looked up, seeing Barb at the top of the cliff, knelt on the ground, as she held onto Branch tightly with her hair.
"Don't worry, boy toy! I got you!" she yelled down to him, struggling to pull him back up to safety.
Finally, he reached the edge, grabbing onto the ground as he helped Barb pull him up.
Once he was on solid ground, he plopped down onto his stomach, kissing the dirt frantically, just happy to still be alive.
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"Branch!" a voice suddenly called out from off in the distance. "Branch, are you ok!?"
Quickly, he raised his head, seeing Poppy running towards him in a panic.
"Poppy?" he questioned, confused. Why was she there? Why was Barb there? Why were either of them there!?
He rose up to his feet, Poppy immediately jumping into him, giving him a big hug.
"Are you ok, Branch?" she asked concerned, almost crying with worry. "I'm fine," he assured, hugging her back comfortingly until a thought popped into his mind. "But... what in the world are you doing here, Poppy!?" he yelled, pulling away from her, as he looked at her in anger. "I told you to stay with the others! And Barb..." He turned to Barb. "I told you to keep her there!"
Barb shrugged, and then crossed her arms.
"You ain't the boss of me," she said. "I'm my own queen."
She held up her fist, and Poppy fist bumped it, both of them mimicking an explosion.
💥💥💥💥💥💥
Branch sighed in annoyance, as he covered his face with his hands, shaking his head slightly.
"Why can't you ever listen to me?" he asked softly, his voice muffled a bit under his hands. "Just once...is that so much to ask?"
"She did listen to you," Barb said, defending Poppy, as Branch looked up at her. "She listened to you, and then just ignored what you said," she finished with a smirk. "That means she didn't listen, Barb," Branch grumbled angrily. "Eh. Marshtato Marshtarto," she shrugged.
Branch sighed again, shaking his head at Barb, before turning his attention back to Poppy.
"Please, Poppy," he pleaded, taking her hands gently in his as he gazed into her beautiful pink eyes. "You have to go back. It's too dangerous." "Which is exactly why I need to stay," she responded firmly. "You can't do this alone, Branch."
He looked away from her sadly, not wanting to put her in danger, but at the same time... he kinda knew she was right...
She smiled, gently turning his head to look back at her.
"We're in this together, Branch," she said softly. "No matter what..."
He looked at her, smiling slightly at her words. She wasn't going to give up on this... was she?
"Ok... ok..." he finally sighed. "You can come. But just promise me you'll stay safe." "Cross my heart and hope to dye... my hair... beige," she said dramatically.
Finally, she smiled, leaning over to hug Branch tight.
"Yay! We're going on another adventure!" she squealed with joy, beginning to skip away. "Yeah... adventure... yay," Branch said sarcastically, beginning to follow the two queens into the dark and mysterious forest.
