#thank you for stucking here with us mere mortals uwu

[janeaustenlover]

I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley’s like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger.

happy valentine’s day, doc

[im-abanana]

-Eternity-

There you go folks, here’s one of the Broppy (Branch x Poppy) One-Shots I wanna write, as I promised. I will write the other prompts that people sent me, no worries. :)

I shamelessly took inspiration from the videogame “Unforgiving - A Northern Hymn” to write this: it’s a game that shows a lot of mythological creatures from the Scandinavian folklore. Really, it’s awesome and I loved it.

Also, thank you @geekgirles for the song you sent me, it helped me during the writing process. uwu

Genre: Angst. tbh, A LOT of angst.

She’d be back. 

Deep inside his mind, or what was left of it, he knew that girl would show up again, at the same time every single night. But did time actually exist in that world of pain and damnation? Darkness was all he was, sorrow was all he felt, and screams of horror were all he heard. Everything was so… static.

“P… Pop…” he silently whispered with a cracked tone and tried to remember, the coarse bark that was covering his form glowed red as he tried to move his dead body. Body… but what body? For too many decades now, he was trapped inside that cursed prison, trapped inside that unholy tree while his bones and flesh were still rotting in the mud, between his own roots.

Branch couldn’t recall his past life or his death, he wasn’t even completely sure he was a human, but he could remember her name: “Poppy.”. Her name, her beautiful name that now was flowing in the cold wind like a beautiful music; every night Poppy would happily introduce herself to him, she would remind him her name, and every night she would ask his. Trapped inside a never-ending loop together. If only she’d known the truth… Well, at least Branch could recall something: Poppy named him the first night they met, a decade ago. Maybe even more, it’d been so long. 

“You can’t remember your name? That’s sad… but it doesn’t matter, I’ve got one for you!”  the pink haired human gasped in genuine excitement, pointing a finger at the monstrous creature in front of her face. “Branch!”. “Br… Branch?” the tree confusedly repeated, his vermillion orbs blinking for a moment as he spotted Poppy nodding with enthusiasm and clapping her hands with joy. She wasn’t afraid of him or of the other things around? “Yes!” Poppy declared with pride, tilting her head and giving an explanation. “You’re a tree. I think it suits you, right? Don’t you like it?”. 

Of course he did. After all those centuries trapped in that frightening nightmare completely alone, he finally had something unique for himself, something to hold on to, something that made him feel different from the other tormented souls stuck inside that forest: an identity. 

No matter if he had his real identity and his life ripped from him a long time ago… he was Branch now. Nobody could have changed it or taken it away from him anymore, not even the Skogsrå.

As expected, silent footsteps coming from afar caught Branch’s attention and the unholy tree felt a warm sensation spreading underneath his thick bark as he realized it was finally time to see her. She had made it through again, but to what end? Everything would start all over again. 

When her bright magenta eyes locked into his lifeless ones, he quickly reassured the human girl before she could scream in instinctive terror and attract the Skogsrå, like the first night they met. “Don’t be afraid of me.” the dead spirit declared with a weak and cracked whisper, finding it difficult to even talk or move. “I mean you no harm, Poppy.”.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?” Poppy questioned with a rather scared tone, her messy pink hair covering the sides of her face and her right hand holding her left wrist, trying to stop its bleeding. She slowly approached the mysterious tree, putting a safe distance between them. “Are you a spirit?”.

“I’m dead… that’s all I’m allowed to know and say.” Branch struggled to reply and used all his strength to lift his index finger, pointing at open wound she was hiding. The surprised girl followed the direction of his finger and pressed her arm against her chest, conflicted and worried, realizing what the strange creature was looking at. “You’ve been kissed by the Skogsrå, human girl. Her poison will infect your blood system and rot your soul. You will become a monster, an unholy tree… just like me, poor you.”.

“You mean the lady who bit me in the woods? Is she a Skogsrå?” the pink haired girl gasped and stared at the bite mark on her pale skin, noticing black veining around it and perceiving a sharp pain that took her breath away for a second. “Is there a way to stop it? Please, you must help me, I just want to go home and reunite with my dad.” Poppy begged the monster before her, dropping on her knees and sniffing, warm tears streaming down her cheeks. 

Branch wanted to tell her the truth, he wanted to say that all her hopes and faith were just a lie, a mere illusion, and that she couldn’t go home because she no longer existed. Because she no longer belonged to the mortal world. Because she was no longer alive. But he couldn’t.

You belong to me! You’re mine, mine, MINE! You will serve me forever!

That damn voice, her voice, echoed in Branch’s mind one more time to control his thoughts and remind him which side he was on… which side he was forced to serve for all eternity. “There’s only… one way.” he faintly murmured, feeling small and blaming himself for the ill-fated destiny she would have faced soon. While her pink eyes were now filled with new hope and joy, his were empty and cold, because he knew he was sending Poppy towards an inevitable end. One of several. “Find the Näcken, the spirit of the lake… the creature who plays the fiddle. He will relieve your pain.”.

The same play book, the same story, the same tragedy every single time. They were just helpless pawns in a greater game, no prospect of freedom but only pain and suffering. This was their eternal punishment.

“He will?” Poppy asked with a confident smile, getting up once again and wiping her tears, hissing a little because of the unpleasant sensation but feeling a lot better than before. Positive, in a word. “The Näcken, the spirit of the lake who plays the fiddle… got it! Thank you! Oh- what’s your name?”.

After a moment of hesitation, the unholy creature quickly replied: “Branch.”. 

“Branch…” the young woman repeated and tapped her chin, nibbling her lower lip and shrugging it off. “I like it: it suits a good soul like you, my friend.” Poppy sincerely admitted, ignoring the shrill screams of terror and the terrible noises all around her, the dangers that were getting closer and closer. “I know how terrible it feels to be forgotten, but I’ll remember you. When I get back home, I’ll light a candle for you at the altar every day, I promise!”. 

He didn’t immediately respond to that, he knew she couldn’t have kept her word, he knew she wouldn’t have seen her father and family ever again. “Just promise me… something before you go, Poppy.” Branch feebly requested and perceived his force abating, the red glow surrounding his lifeless wood starting to fade, to disappear. “Don’t give up. They might have… taken away our life and our happiness. I might have lost… my hope and will of trying… a long time ago, but… that doesn’t mean you have to do… to do the same.” he rapidly explained and sighed, meeting her puzzled expression but finishing his desperate speech. “Try… and try… and try again. Maybe one day… you’ll make it.”.

“A-alright.” she gently nodded without understanding the real meaning of those words, giving her solemn word. “I promise you, Branch.”.

Branch wasn’t sure if what he said to Poppy was true, if there was indeed a way out of that loop, a way to escape from that never-ending nightmare. For him there wasn’t, and he’d already accepted his fate; there were no more tears left to cry, no more life left in his wooden body and no more weaknesses in his chest to beat: he was truly dead, along with his heart and his humanity. 

But that was ok, because at least… 

At least he was going to see her again.

The end.

-Exaplanation of the story down below-

Branch was a boy who lived many centuries before Poppy, in the Middle Ages. Despite he had been warned about the spirits of the woods by the other peasants, one day he went deep into the forest to hunt, and that’s when he met a Skogsrå, a guardian of the wildlife. The female-like creature, offended by the young man’s harsh words and knowing his intentions, bit Branch and infected him with her poison. After suffering terrifying atrocities and perceiving his own bones being twisted, Branch died the same night; his bones and flesh sank into the earth, his body turned into an unholy tree and he completely forgot who he was. All he knew was that his soul was rotten and no longer inside of him: he belonged to the Skogsrå, whose voice echoes in his mind, now and forever. Branch died at the age of 26.

Poppy is also dead, but she doesn’t know that and never will: she’s under the control of a vicious water spirit, called Näcken, and every night she finds herself lost in the middle of a forest with no clue how she got there. Her impure spirit is stuck inside a sort of purgatory as a punishment for the sins she has committed during her life, mostly because of her addiction to alcohol and drugs, forced to live her worst nightmare over and over again. In this case, her worst fear is being completely alone and forgotten by her loved ones. Poppy died at the age of 23 in 2007, in a car accident, and she’s been reliving the same nightmare for ten years. Her memory is erased every time she succeeds by the Näcken, so the evil creature can see her suffering again and again, so they can play together for all of eternity.