Fish was many things, but music lover was one thing he never knew he was. He knew music, I mean, who didn't? But his passion was tinkering and picking up trash to reuse, like his fellow Boxtrolls. It never occurred to him trash could make beautiful noise until one night, when he was looking through a trash can dangerously close to a house, he heard something strange and attracting coming from the building.
It wasn't like clanking bottles, or rattling cans or any other kind of noise he'd heard from the trash. It was…different. He peeked from the corner of the window, unsure of what he'd expect, when he saw one of the most beautiful items he'd ever seen. A man was playing a sort of…box, with strings that shook and sang with every stroke of a weird looking stick he used to play it. His family was around the fireplace, the children looking up to him in wonder and the woman with a twinkle in her eyes Fish recognized but really didn't want to dwell in its meaning at the time.
Suddenly, the man stopped playing and the beautiful noise stopped and in a matter of seconds, Fish was being chased by an angry family of six back to his sewer hole. With a slide that cost him his nose, Fish slipped down a sewer and closed the lid with a gigantic thud, the sounds of rocks banging against the metal lid echoing through the tunnel as he climbed down and slid back to his home.
~ o ~
The next day (and I strictly emphasize the word "day") all he could think of and dream of was the sweet sounds of that…thing he'd seen the night before. He could practically see the musical notes dancing around him and he imagined his self, dressed in a nicer box than the one he had on, in front of millions of other Boxtrolls, with that musical thing tucked under his neck, playing it for all of them to hear. It was exciting.
With his heart racing in his chest, Fish got up, as quietly as he could to not wake his fellow Boxtrolls, then raced back to the tunnel he'd been chased down from, and climbed until he was only a lid away from going outside. He could hear the other people walking just outside the sewer, but he heard nothing of the musical thing he'd heard the other night. Just cheese, for a change…
"Fish! Fish!"
Fish looked down and it was Shoes who was whispering his name as he climbed up the staircase up to his friend.
"Shoess?"
"Why are you up? It's late!" Shoes scolded him, the slur of sleep still dragging his words and covering his eyes just a little.
"Why are you up, then? I'm just…looking out." Fish said, turning back to the sewer lid and lifting it up a little to see better.
Fish took a peek outside and saw a huge cart with nothing on it but beautiful music boxes with strings and a sign that read "Violins". A very tall, very skinny, very well-dressed man was driving the cart, yelling at the top of his lungs,
"Violins! Violins for sale! Get your violin! Handmade, guaranteed to last a lifetime!"
Violins… Fish thought, the same twinkle he'd seen in the woman's eyes now shining in his. He gave a small excited gasp and jumped, banging his head on the lid of the sewer and laughed.
"Violins!"
"Vaio-what?"
"Vio-lins, Shoes, violins!"
"What you talking about?"
"I saw one! Last night! They sound beautiful…" Fish explained, with the excitement and joy Shoes only found in trash. The smaller Boxtroll raised a brow and tilted his head, not understanding what was so exciting about "vaioleens". That is, until Fish lifted the sewer lid a little more,
"Fish, no!"
"BOXTROLL!" a woman screeched, and suddenly, the whole town was stepping on the sewer lid and banging it against Fish's head.
"Fish, get down!" Shoes hissed, pulling Fish back down through the sewer tunnel to escape the rocks and gunshots of the terrorized people of Cheesebridge. They slid through the cardboard covered tunnel and arrived to where the Boxtroll's were sleeping. Correction, angrily waking and growling at the two young ones.
"What's the ruckus?!" Specs snarled, grumpy from the lack of sleep.
"Nothing! We swear! Sorry for the noise, go back to sleep." Shoes instantly said, observing that Fish was looking into space, like he was in a dream. The army of Box trolls grumpily did as they were told, getting back to their sleep and forgetting the sudden noise the two young ones had started at such hours of the day. Shoes laughed nervously as redemption and then glared at Fish, who was getting ready for sleeping as well.
"Happy, Fish? You woke up all sewer!"
"Shh, Shoes! You wake them up again!" Fish whispered, putting a finger to his mouth and getting inside his box. Shoes stormed over to his friend and opened his box, looking in just to scold him,
"We almost got killed, Fish! Why you so into those… "vaioleens"? What is it?"
"…it's different." Fish said, and then he closed his box permanently. Shoes huffed and hid into his box as well, growling and muttering stuff under his breath about his friend…
~ o ~
That night, Fish was the first to get up and run up to the surface. Shoes wasn't far behind, making sure his friend didn't scare any more humans, as the Boxtrolls made their nightly round collecting trash. Fish was desperately running from trash can to trash can, throwing everything out and searching, then ending with an annoyed growl and going to the next one to repeat the process. Shoes tried his best to scavenge something out of his friend's work, but Fish was going so fast he couldn't catch up!
"Fish, slow down! You going too fast!" Shoes panted as he saw Fish was taking his time with one trash can.
"I don't get it…no violins."
"Oh, I see, the "vaioleen" thing again." Shoes said, disappointed and irritated. Suddenly, the two heard some girly giggles coming their way, and the two quickly hid inside their boxes.
"Told you!
"Shh!"
"You really are crazy, Nina!" one of the giggles said, making the other giggle, giggle again.
"I was just being honest! Have you seen the stranger that just moved here? The one who sells violins?"
"Oh, yes, he seems very nice, although his violin's look mediocre…"
"Of course not! I wish I could buy one, that way I could leave it at James' doorway and he could play it for me…"
"You mean the Portley's child? The kid's a cheese addict!
"Oh, shut up! He's brilliant."
"But if you want a violin anyway, you could go to the violin seller's concert tomorrow and buy it there. Then we'll see the true quality of his violins!"
"You're right! Now let's get out of here before Boxtrolls catch us!"
"I agree!"
The two giggles ran away, leaving the two Boxtrolls behind in the scene.
"Ew! Girls…" Shoes shuddered, shaking his head and blubbering. When he saw Fish gong frantically from can to can again, he rolled his eyes.
"Explain why you acting weird, Fish…" Shoes demanded. When his friend merely shrugged, he sighed,
"Is it because of those…"vaioleens"?"
"Yes!"
"Fish, are you in love?"
"No! No, no, no, you no idea! I have to have a violin…" Fish explained, picking up a piece of metal and putting it on his face, like a mustache.
"Wait, now? What are you planning?!" Shoes said, stopping Fish from whatever he was doing. Fish grabbed a hold of Shoe's shoulders and smiled,
"I'm going to dress as human and get one." he explained, letting go and continuing his work.
"What?! No, Fish…" Shoes sighed and poked Fish's box. Fish looked back at him, at first joyous but then confused as he saw his friend displeased.
"…what?"
"Fish, you can get a "vaioleen" later. Human's throw everything away! Just wait…"
"No, Shoes, I can't. I need one! Violins are beautiful, there's nothing like one! It's like…wow." Fish breathed, so obviously star-struck Shoes couldn't deny any longer his friend was thoroughly in love. He knew Fish for long enough to know what the twinkles in his eyes meant. And because he knew Fish for so long, he gulped down his pride and put his hands in his hips.
"What's plan, then?"
"What?" Fish said, looking back.
"You want "vaioleen", yes? Then, what's plan? I want to help."
Fish stared for a little while at his friend, and then smiled.
~ o ~
The very next day, and hiding their plans from the other Boxtrolls, Fish and Shoes got up and got ready for the violin concert in a few hours. Fish climbed on top of Shoe's box, and then the two put on their huge coat, huge hat, fake mustache and weird mountain boots to complete the look of a human. Then, they walked over to the most hidden sewer in the city and walked out, following the crowd of civilians going precisely to the same concert.
"Ow! Careful with feet, Fish!" Shoes hissed
"Shh! People will notice you." Fish hissed back, looking up to admire the crowd of people in front of the violin-selling man's cart. The man was on top of his cart, dressed even nicer than the day before and a violin tucked under his neck, just like Fish had dreamed himself to be.
"Wow…" he breathed, as the man cleared his throat and greeted his audience,
"Good morning, citizens of Cheeebridge! I apologize for waking you all so early in the day, but the music contained in these violins cannot wait any longer than now. In this concert I bring you joy, I bring you peace, I bring you emotion and I bring you hope. Enjoy as it drains from my instrument."
"He speak like politician." Shoes growled, utterly irritated by the fancy words of the man. Fish kicked his head from inside the coat and looked back at him, fascinated not by his words but by the talent he began to demonstrate.
As a beautifully soft melody began to play from the violin, Fish gave a soft sigh and smiled. That's what he most loved: the music he never heard from bottles, nuts, bolts or cans. He couldn't think of any sound better than the sounds of the violin's strings. They transported him to places he couldn't reach, they reminded him of things he thought he'd forgotten and they made him feel things he thought he'd never feel again. If Shoes could only imagine what it was… maybe he was right! He was in love…
And so was a woman not far behind Fish. The woman was big, in all the sense of the word, and she batted her eyes in Fish's direction. She fanned her face and walked closer to the troll, tapping his shoulder,
"Excuse me, sir." She sweetly sang, smiling at him. Shoes turned Fish around so that the Boxtroll faced her, and instantly his cheeks got red.
"Uh…yes?" Fish said, trying to imitate a man's voice.
"I see you're not from around here. May I have the honor of knowing your name?" she said, getting loser with every word. Fish stuttered and looked back, noting that the violins were starting to sell quickly.
"Uh, uh…Fi…uh…"
"Fergus!" Shoes chimed in, pulling both of them away from the woman.
"Ooh, a foreign name! Tell me, where do you come from?"
"Can't tell! Bye!" Shoes continued, taking the words right out of Fish's mouth. The woman gasped, rather offended by the rudeness of the "man", and when the two were about to leave, she pulled his shoulder back,
"Now, see here!"
"Look there!" Shoes was starting to get on Fish's nerves, but the two managed to slip from the woman's grip and run to the violin cart.
"Come back here, coward!" the woman argued, following behind them. The faster they ran and pushed against the crowd that listened to the violin-selling man play, the faster the violins sold, until only one remained.
"No…" Fish gasped, his heart racing. He couldn't let the last one go! At a moment's heartbeat, Shoes tripped on a rock and clumsily tried to balance himself and the Boxtroll on top of him.
"Whoa-oa-oa-oah!" he squeaked, falling on the ground. The man the woman knew as "Fergus" was now lying on the ground, broken in two with his mustache flying elsewhere and the hat flying away. She, along with the rest of the crowd and the violin-selling man gave a terrified gasp as Fish and Shoes got up and revealed their true identities…
"BOXTROLLS!"
"Run for it!"
"Boxtrolls?" the man cooed, more curious than frightened with the small, awkward creatures. Shoes gave a frightened squeal (like a pig, actually…) and made a run for it.
"Fish, let's go!" he said, racing to the nearest sewer. But Fish didn't run behind him, but instead ran in the direction of the crowd.
"My violin!" Fish yelled, jumping on the cart and grabbing the last violin. Suddenly, a human hand grabbed his own Boxtroll one, and soon he found himself staring at the face of the man he admired for playing violins. Fish gave a scared gasp and held on tighter to his love, as the man growled at him,
"Let. Go. Of. My. Merchandise."
"Never!" Fish growled back, biting the man's hand so he would let go.
"Aaargh!"
"Fish, come on!" Shoes encouraged, keeping the lid of the sewer open as he ducked rocks and avoided any cheese the citizens threw at him. Fish ran back towards his friend, the precious item now in his hands. As he raced towards the sewer, he thought of all the joy he would bring to the underground sewer world; all the melodies he would play, all the emotions he would bring up…it was enough to bring some tears to his eyes.
But all of a sudden, a man took out a gun and pointed at Fish's feet.
"FISH!" Shoes yelled.
Bang!
The bullet ricocheted dangerously close to Fish's feet, hurting him but not breaking him. He tripped on the ricochet and by accident let the violin go. Fish fell face first on the concrete, but he quickly snapped his head back and saw the violin fly over him.
"No!"
Crack!
"My last violin! You disgusting vermin from hell, you shall pay!" the violin-selling man said, racing to get to the troll and do as he said.
Fish's heart was broken in a million pieces, but he managed to drag his hurt self to the sewer and slide down with Shoes, who was screaming scolds and curses about humans, "vaioleens", "vaioleen" selling men and stubborn trolls like his friend Fish. But the whole time they hurried down to their home, all Fish could think of was the moment of joy he had when he held the instrument in his hands and how quickly it had gone…
"…my violin…" he cried, ignoring his fellow Shoes.
~ o ~
The scene was oddly familiar once they arrived at the Boxtroll home: they found all the trolls cross-armed and tapping their feet (and not their boxes in welcome). Shoes got up first and helped Fish get up, because his feet were hurt from the ricochet.
"What did you do?" the eldest boxtroll asked, voice stern and glaring at them.
"We were just…"
"We heard ruckus from here! What were you doing?" another added.
"It was my fault." Fish said, just as stern. Shoes looked up to his buddy, whose eyes had become dark with despair he'd never seen in him.
"I wanted violin: I failed. Shoes helped. Sorry." He explained, holding in tears. Shoes patted his buddy's shoulder and propped him up again, looking back at the elder,
"Yea, he was in love. I helped, sorry for fright." He smiled innocently. The elder shook his head heavily and sighed, seemingly frustrated at the two rebellious Boxtrolls.
"You are both punished: you stay here at night for a week."
"Okay, sure, no problem." Shoes quickly said, surprised they didn't have to tidy up the whole cave or something like that. The elder brushed them off and walked away with the rest of the community. Shoes gave a wolf whistle and chuckled,
"Oof, that was close, uh, Fish?"
"Take me to room." Fish sadly said, still looking depressed. Shoes' smile disappeared and he did as Fish told him, taking him to a special room he had made for himself and Shoes when they wanted to play. Fish took an old cloth from a pile and broke it in slits, covering his feet and curling up.
"Uh, Fish? M-maybe we could look in a week again. Humans throw everything away, so…"
"Leave me alone." Fish cried from inside his box. Shoes bit his lip and sighed, leaving the other Boxtroll to his thoughts.
~ o ~
A week later, Fish was still inside his box, wallowing in his grief despite that he had permission to go up to the surface and look for a violin, when a knock on his box woke him up from his sad thoughts. He hesitated in going out, since he really wasn't in the mood to do that…but he ultimately did. The bright lights of the Boxtroll room were something he didn't remember, and when his eyes adjusted to the light, in front of him was Shoes, looking up at him nervously and with something behind his back.
"Hi, Fish."
"…hi, Shoes."
"I, uh…I thought you would like…uh…oh, just take!" Shoes impatiently shoved a saw and a violin box against Fish's box. The taller Boxtroll let a small "oof" escape his lips before actually looking at the objects Shoes had given him.
A saw.
And a violin bow
"Uh…thank you?"
"Play it. Like violin." Shoes ordered, pointing at them. Fish stared at his friend like he'd grown a second head, but he did as he was told anyway. He placed the saw awkwardly and carefully on his shoulder, because he couldn't tuck it under his neck, and softly passed the bow against the blade.
Eeek! The blade screeched hurting both Boxtrolls ears.
"Aah, careful, Fish! Play it like you mean it!" Shoes scolded, making Fish nervous. Fish passed the box again, earning different screeching sounds for a while, until suddenly the blade didn't screech anymore and instead, it sang.
"Whoa!" Fish gasped, amazed.
"I found it yesterday, when they let us go up. I didn't find a "vaioleen"…but is next best thing, no?"
"Shoes!" Fish laughed, honestly laughed, and threw his arms around Shoe's box and hugged him tight, spinning him around and laughing.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Okay, okay, okay, let go!" Shoes screamed, waving his arms so Fish could set him free. Fish let him down and smiled, the same joy he had felt with the violin in his hands coming back to him as he saw his fellow Boxtroll.
"Thank you, Shoes."
"You're welcome, Fish…now play thing before I change my mind."
A/N: I wrote this about, eh...5 months before the movie came out, more or less, andit was a theory of mine after watching the second teaser trailer of The Boxtrolls, where Fish was playing a saw. Since I hadn't written any serious fanfiction in forever, I gave it a shot and this came out. I had it saved for the day after I saw the movie, but I completely forgot to upload it until now. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed it as I did imagining it and writing it :)