Chapter Four

Sapphire Trollzawa sat in the library of Trollane University, whose campus was just outside the Trollzopolis city limits. She was going through a catalog, trying to decide on a major.

She had decided to become a research scientist, and later teach. The problem was that she wasn't interested in any particular thing, she was interested in EVERYTHING! She had always maintained an "A" average in high school, despite the distractions of having to learn magic on her own time as well as in class, and the occasional crisis she and the rest of the BFFL had faced.

She turned a page, and the answer slapped her in the face. "General Specialist"! The perfect major for her! Most people chose a specialty to work in for life, but it had long been recognized that some simply did not fit the mold and were far more valuable as a "troll of all trades, master of none".

She opened a pad of paper and started making notes about what was required, and was pleased to see that the extra courses she had taken in high school made her easily qualified.

Then she looked over the list of courses she would have to take. Oh... that wasn't so easy...

Her spell phone vibrated against her hip, and she pulled it out on the second ring. It was Ruby.

"Hey, Ruby, what's up?" Sapphire asked, going back to looking at the list of courses.

"We're having a meeting here at seven. I don't know what it's about, but all of our Ancients will be here for it," said the redhead.

"Mmmm..." answered Sapphire.

"Saph, did you hear me?" asked Ruby, looking annoyed.

"Uh...I..." was the distracted answer.

"SAPH!" said Ruby in a loud voice, prompting dirty looks from the few other trolls in the room.

"Ruby, shh! I'm in the Trollane library!" said Sapphire in a hushed voice, looking at the small screen.

"Well, did you hear what I said?" asked Ruby, lowering her voice just a bit.

"Meeting at Obsidian's tonight at seven. The Ancients will be there, but you don't know the subject," she answered without hesitation.

"Uh... right..." said Ruby.

Sapphire gave her a smug look.

Ruby shook her head. "You really scare me, sometimes. See you tonight." And she hung up.

Sapphire grinned to herself. She had always prided herself on her excellent memory.

"Hello, Amethyst," said a familiar voice. She looked up to find Mr. Trollheimer standing there.

"Oh, hi!" she said, sitting back in surprise.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

She gestured at the chair opposite, and he sat down. "Well, any luck on finding a major?"

"As a matter of fact, I have. I'm going for General Specialist," she answered, "If me and the others are going to help you and the other Ancients with trouble, it would be a good idea to have someone who knows at least a little about a lot."

He nodded thoughtfully. "You're right. I had that position myself, and know how useful it can be. But of course back then there weren't any degrees in it. In fact it hadn't even been defined."

"According to the catalog, the courses will teach abstract thinking and problem solving, along with learning to use all kinds of scientific instruments," she said.

"Mmm... what about magic?" he asked.

She looked at the degree description. "Learning the system of magic for trolls, goblins, ogres, and other beings, creative spellcasting, correspondences... wow, this is going to be a lot of work."

"I'd imagine so. But I know you can do it!" he answered, "In all my years you're the smartest young troll I've ever met."

Sapphire blushed and lowered her eyes. Such praise from her Ancient was unusual. She decided to change the subject. "So, what's up with the meeting tonight?"

"Oh, you already knew about it?" he asked.

"Yeah, Ruby called a bit ago," she answered.

He glanced around, but nobody was paying them any attention. He hesitated, then shook his head. "Better not. This isn't a secure area, and we can be seen and heard. I will tell you it's very important."

"All right. But why are you here? Checking up on me?" she grinned to show she wasn't serious.

"No, I came by to catch up on the latest chemistry periodicals. I heard another step toward cold fusion has been made," he answered.

"Wow, I hope they can make it work. It would change the world," said Sapphire.

"Me too," he said, and stood up, putting his chair back under the table. "I'd better get going. See you tonight."

"Yes, sir!" she gave a wave and went back to the catalog.

bffl bffl bffl

After another hour she left the library to find her skoot where she had parked it. Like the others she had upgraded to a bigger, more adult model. She had really wanted a car, but Mr. Trollheimer had pointed out that a skoot wasn't confined to the paved roadways.

Heading back toward home, she watched traffic while thinking about going to college. Registration didn't start for another month, so she had plenty of time to pick her courses. She would, of course, consult with all of the Ancients first, to get their views of what would be the most useful.

Sudden activity on the sidewalk caught her attention. A troll stood there, obviously choking. A spilled bag of popcorn was on the ground by him. His female companion was slapping him on the back, but it wasn't doing any good. She was starting to panic, and the one choking was turning blue.

Sapphire quickly turned into the T-Mart parking lot and parked as close as possible to them. Pulling off her helmet she dropped it and ran over to them.

Pushing the woman out of the way she got behind him and performed the Trollnich Maneuver. Once... twice... third time was the charm, as he spit out a wad of popcorn and took a deep breath.

Sapphire let go and stood back, ready to catch him if he lost his balance. But there was no need. The woman with him took his arm and steadied him while he recovered.

"You okay now, sir?" Sapphire asked.

He turned to her. "Yeah, thanks!" He smiled, and the woman did as well.

"It was no problem. Glad to help!" she said. "Well, I need to get home, so stay well!"

She headed for her skoot, but was stopped by the woman.

"Thank you so much! You saved my husband's life!" she said. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up."

"Well," Sapphire said, thoughtfully, "If he eats a lot of popcorn, you might want to consider taking a class to learn the Trollnich."

"That's a great idea!" she said, "And he DOES eat a lot of popcorn. I've been worried for a while something like this might happen, and now I know what to do about it! Thank you again!"

Sapphire nodded and turned back to her ride.

On the way home she thought about what had happened, and decided she had made the right decision. Wanting to know everything about everything had led her to take classes on CPR, the Trollnich, and First Aid, and here she had saved a life!

bffl bffl bffl

Once home she found her parents there and updated them on her college plans and the popcorn incident. They were both very proud of her, and told her so several times.

Finally she had to tear away to get ready for the meeting.

In her room Ya-ya lay on the bed. He raised up to look at her, and she gave him a pat or two. He had been slowing down as he got older, and her mom had warned her she may not have many more years left. Intellectually she knew and accepted that, but the tiny chipmunk had been part of her life for so long she could hardly think of not having him around.

She got ready quickly, and headed for the mall.