A/N: Hi! This is my first Fanfiction so if you have any questions about my story let me know!

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THE TALE CONTINUES

By AirySeaKnight

Chapter 1: Stuck and Found Part 1

(Radio announcer) "...On Tonight's World News, scientists are still debating on how the unexpected solar flares caused the phenomenal global solar eclipse just two weeks ago. In other news, law enforcement are still working hard to sort out the confusion of the spike in missing person reports around the time of the solar eclipse, in which, many of these cases have correlations with strange creature sightings. These have caused some paranoia to those who were key witnesses to the disappearances…"

A starry night sky glittered above mountains that encased a city. Clanking metal sounded as a freight train chugged into the city's railyard. The train slowed to a stop and two drivers climbed out. A guard exited a small building near the tracks and greeted them. After a short conversation the men separated and the guard was about to return to his post, when a heavy scraping sound came from down the tracks.

The guard turned towards that sound, standing by the opening of two boxcars. He pulled out his flashlight and shined it down the train. Perplexed, he listened. After a few moments the noise started again. He recognized the sound as a boxcar door sliding open. Then one of the boxcars down the tracks shifted side to side.

"Hey, who's there?" He called out. Everything became quiet for a moment.

Suddenly, something jutted past the space between the two boxcars. Startled, he stumbled and fell to the ground, dropping his flashlight. He frantically looked around. Out of sight, a figure with two glowing green eyes, prowled on top of the boxcar above him. The clamor of another boxcar door opening snapped the guard out of his fright. Taking his flashlight, he cautiously stood. From the corner of his eye a blur darted away. The guard spun his beam towards it. Again nothing.

Then, the silence was cut by another boxcar door opening. The frightened guard took a gulp and, remembering his duties, began to jog down the tracks towards the noise. When he got to the boxcars, all was still and appeared normal. Then something caught his eye. A small object dangled off the edge of one of the open boxcar doors. He went over and picked it up. He raised an eyebrow as he held a dirty white tube sock. He caught a whiff of its foul odor and dropped it, wiping his hand on his jacket. Confused, he checked the inside of the box car, but found it barren. As the guard scratched his head, shadows snuck quietly behind him towards another freight train.

But they weren't human. They were trolls.

The trolls hurried past stationary trains to the edge of the railyard.

"Over here." A voice softly called out from under a nearby roadbridge. The trolls ran and reunited with their group.

In the midst of them, a glowing blade appeared in a flash of red mist, revealing the sword bearer, the Trollhunter. His sword illuminated his pale blue skin, horns, and two fangs jutting up from his lower teeth. The glow spread through his blade and armor enough to show the figures that surrounded him. The last remaining trolls from Heartstone Trollmarket under Arcadia. As well as two humans donned in armor. An old man and a teenage girl, Merlin the wizard and Claire a trollhunter.

"Is that everyone?" He raised his sword to see all the trolls.

A troll in the company with 4 arms and 6 eyes counted the newcomers and responded.

"It appears everyone is accounted for, Master Jim." Blinky said.

"Good." Jim relaxed a little and sheathed his sword to his back. He scanned over the railyard and found no trains were departing. "Well, it looks like we'll be here for the night. Wherever we are."

"I'll check." Claire pulled out her phone and brought up a map. Jim looked up and saw Nomura walking to them.

"Hey, thanks for distracting that guard back there."

"It was my pleasure. Such a pity I couldn't toy with him more." She smirked.

"Got it," Claire squinted at the screen. "It looks like we're in Utah." She said curiously.

"Ah yes Oo-tah. I've heard it has the most bountiful salt deposits, which is why you'll never see a Slug-kin here." Blinky said.

"Now we just need to find some shelter." Jim started to search their surroundings.

"Oi, what about over there." A small troll with green skin, NotEnrique, pointed to an abandoned looking building a ways behind the roadbridge. "There seems pretty good." He said confidently.

"Ah yes, probably rotten, falling apart, and abandoned, that'll do splendid." Merlin said sarcastically.

"Hm kinda reminds me of a bloke I know," NotEnrique grinned. Merlin half glared at NotEnrique. "Besides, like you can come up with somethin' better?" NotEnrique challenged. As he and Merlin started a light debate, Jim interjected.

"Claire and I will go check it out."

Merlin and NotEnrique's argument caught many of the trolls attention and no one heard the trollhunter except Blinky.

"Good idea Master Jim, but make haste, I believe this bridge will not stand for long with NotEnrique's quips."

Jim half smiled. "Got it."

He looked over to Claire and she gave a ready nod. They crept their way to the building, sure to avoid street lights as they traveled. After they crawled through an opening under a chain link fence they approached a side door entrance. Jim pulled on the metal door and it was locked.

There was a paper taped to the door which Claire read out loud,

"Condemned: Unstable Foundation?"

"Hope it's strong enough to hold a couple trolls. Step back."

Claire did so as Jim pulled out his sword. All Claire saw was Jim swinging his blade down, it's point close to the edge of the door. The sound of slicing metal hissed through the air, but nothing happened. She was about to ask if he missed until Jim pulled the door open. A piece of metal fell from the door frame. It was the deadbolt sliced clean off.

Claire came up beside Jim, "Smart."

"I try," he shrugged. They both looked inside the dark interior.

Jim went in first. He brought Daylight in front of him and let streams of crimson emanate from the blade. Claire followed and used the flashlight on her phone. It looked like it was a storage warehouse. All that remained were a few crates lying around. As Claire went off and inspected the windows, Jim noticed stairs that went to another floor.

He made his way into the dark basement, crates and storage boxes lined the rows of shelves. Jim thought it odd that whoever owned the building left the basement untouched. He walked down one of the aisles. Nothing seemed out of place until he nearly fell into a pit.

Jim gave a yelp when his foot felt nothing but air underneath it. He instinctively jammed Daylight into the ground and stopped himself from falling further in. He pulled himself up and away from the edge of a huge gaping hole which took up the center of the room. He leaned over the edge and kicked a rock into it. It took a few moments before he heard the rock hit the bottom. He looked around the room for any other signs of damage. Only one support beam was missing where the hole's mouth lay. After Jim inspected a few of the other support beams he went back upstairs.

"I think I know why the foundation might be a little unstable. There's this giant hole down..." he stopped when he saw Claire standing a ways off. It appeared she hadn't heard him because she kept looking through the windows to the waxing moon. Her arms were folded tight and eyebrows knit together.

"Are you okay?" he asked watchfully.

Claire blinked and found Jim. She unfolded her arms, letting them swing to her sides.

"I'm fine."

"You sure, because you seem...not fine. What's wrong?" Concerned, he walked over to her side.

"It's just...I've been feeling kinda useless lately. I mean, it's been 2 weeks since we left Arcadia and I haven't been much help." Claire confided. "As much as it pains me to say it, I think I miss my shadow staff." Moonlight shined through the windows and illuminated her face.

"Oh come on, you've helped plenty."

"Buying heaps of socks for troll food isn't the hardest thing in the world, Jim." She chuckled.

Jim holstered his sword and put a hand on her ironclad shoulder.

"I know it's been hard on you to lose your shadow staff, but it wasn't the staff that made you useful." She turned to face him and their eyes connected. His heart picked up a beat as looked into her beautiful eyes.

"You are the smartest, bravest, most caring person I know. You are irreplaceable." He moved his hand to brush his thumb over her soft cheek.

"Thanks." She smiled at him, but it quickly faded. She turned her head towards the direction of the trolls outside. "I just hope it's enough to help get us all to the new Heartstone."

Jim stepped closer to her and tenderly placed both hands on her shoulders.

"You are helping. We would be completely lost without your help navigating and besides, we still have a long way to go. You'll get your chance to show just how amazing you are." He smiled genuinely.

Her brows rose and she half smiled back. His words, and having him so close, made her heart flutter. She couldn't help but reach forward and embrace him in a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek on her head.

After a long moment, Claire remembered something and pulled back enough to place a hand on his chest plate. The damage from the Eternal Night battle had magically faded from his armor but she knew he was still recovering underneath. She looked up and found the healed scar on the side of his cheek from Angor Rot's blade.

"Are you feeling any better?" Claire searched his face.

"Yeah, still sore in a few places, but pretty good."

He appreciated her concern and enjoyed this moment they had together. They haven't had a lot of time to really talk since they left California. Herding cats was hard, but in his mind herding over a dozen trolls across the U.S. was harder. Jim was grateful above all else that Claire came. She made things a million times better. But, his heart felt heavy knowing her feelings of inadequacy. In the past week, his heart was heavy about a lot of things regarding Claire. Like having to put her through this slow journey. Between the train rides and staying in filthy buildings, she hadn't slept much. He wanted to help but now that his armor stayed on 24/7, his metal plated shoulder probably wasn't the most comfortable to lean her head against.

What made things even less helpful was that Merlin as cryptic as ever whenever Jim asked him about the permanence of his suit. All Merlin would say was that he would tell Jim more once they all reached the new heartstone. That aside, Jim was mainly concerned about how his physical changes would affect his relationship with Claire. He was much stronger than before. He had to be a careful not to crush her hand whenever he got the chance to hold it. As his eyes wandered over her face, he thought about his own. Even though she had said otherwise, he felt that his features were still kind of distracting. Whenever he caught glimpses of his reflection he still struggled to recognize himself. He felt like a giant next to her now that he was over a foot taller than before. Not to mention he was a little self-conscious of his how his fangs stuck out when she looked at him. He looked at her lips, perfect as ever-

"Jim?" Claire asked.

Her voice snapped him back to reality. How long had he been staring at her? Embarrassed, he took a step back.

"Sorry, lost in thought." He tended to get lost in thought around her sometimes. Almost all the time now. This was one of the few times she caught him doing it.

Jim rubbed the back of his neck. "We should probably head back." Nervously he started to head towards the exit. Claire raised an eyebrow in concern. She knew something was still going on with him, but she wasn't sure what exactly. She made a mental note to ask him the next quiet moment they got, so with their luck, probably after they reach New Jersey.

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