Man, I literally wrote 12 pages for this chapter. Hyperfocus is real. Or it is very liberating to just write without pressure of making money out of it. *grabs microphone* we live in an society, whaaat?!
Warnings and such: There is some violence in this chapter and there will be alot more in next chapters, so I have to give a warning I guess. Rated M now, you know the drill.
Chapter 6:
'You need my assistance for the prison house, again? I'm starting to think just killing them is a better solution!'
Merlin, stood over different, suspicious potions and brews, glowing in all kinds of colors and shades, staring at Draal with great annoyance.
'Would save me a lot of time, that's for sure.' he added to his complaint.
Draal decided to ignore the old mans opinion. He'd only met him a few days ago, not having the pleasure to get to know him before, because he… well, he literally died moments before they reached Merlin's resting place.
It didn't take Draal long to realize this man lived in a whole other plain of existence. There was no doubt about his intelligence and magic knowledge, living up to the legends told about him, but he seemed to forgot to practice his empathy. It didn't matter, as long as Merlin could help him with what he needed. The safety of the other guards, Angor and himself depended on it after all.
After leaving the Prison house he met Nomura at the entrance, having a conversation he could only describe as highly uncomfortable. They hadn't had the chance to talk to each other since he'd returned, making him uncertain to how to react to her after their history together. After the escape from the Darklands, they kind of had a moment, but immediately after that, she skipped town. He expected to see her one day again, but that was before his life came to an end. And now that they finally were standing face to face, he didn't quite know what to do with it.
So, after a few awkward 'Hey, how are you?', 'Yeah, I'm alright, how are you?', they quickly went their own ways, both fleeing the entire situation. Draal embarrassingly sighed at the thought. He didn't fear fighting Gunmar, but apparently having an honest conversation with Nomura was a different story.
He'd gone to Jim's house, where he temporarily stayed in his usual spot in the basement, now upgraded with a bed and a closet for clothes and sorts, to catch some hours of sleep. It wasn't ideal, but Draal wasn't one to complain having a roof over his head. He felt quite at home in there, having good memories of the place.
In the afternoon, he'd gone to Merlin's house, to ask for assistance. If he planned it right, he'd make it just in time for his next shift. That is, if Merlin was going to comply.
'If you could just find me something to keep Gunmar under control.' Draal replied, trying to convince the wizard. 'Or restrain him in some way. It would save us a lot of troubl-'
Merlin had just put in a mysterious, purple egg in one of the potions, creating a big cloud of smoke, hitting Draal right in the face. He coughed, the fumes making his eyes water. It didn't seem to faze Merlin in any way, as he continued brewing.
'We have trouble in plenty! While you are playing guard, I am trying to search for Morgana.' the old man grumbled, stirring in one flask, mixing the egg within the potion. 'While Gunmar and Angor Rot are trapped inside a house, Morgana roams free, proceeding whatever insidious plan she is already having!'
Waving away the thick, smokey cloud, Draal tried to take his breath under control. Those fumes reeked of an awful odor he could not even describe.
'If-' Draal said, taking one more breath of fresh, fumeless air. 'you can find a way to help me out, Jim wouldn't have to waste time on the Prison house. He'd be at your disposal, speeding up the process in finding the witch.'
Not that Draal kept in account if Jim actually wanted to help Merlin, but the wizard didn't have to know that.
Merlin gave him a stern look after he said that, different shades of luminous potions, reflecting in his eyes. The old man turned around and crouched down, roaming through different items Draal couldn't see from behind the other side of the brewing table. Hearing the wizard mumble under his breath, he tried to bent over the table, to see what the man was doing. The wizard suddenly popped back in his face, making Draal jump back in shock.
Merlin was holding a long, silver chain, glistering in the many colored lights.
'This' Merlin said, shoving the chains in Draals arms. They were heavier then they looked. 'is obviously to chain him up. Silver is a weak material, but perfect for holding enchantments, like the spell of indestructibility.'
'Gunmar won't be able to break it in human form, keeping him in place.' Merlin continued. 'That is, if you succeed to get it on him.'
Draal adjusted the chains in his arms, trying to make it a bit more comfortable. 'This is great! I'll put it to good use.'
'You better.' Merlin dryly remarked, turning back to his potions.
Draal thanked him, walking out of Merlin's magical lair, happy to get out of the fumes. Draal breathed in the cool, fresh night air, as he headed towards the Prison house in a good mood. First he convinced Angor Rot and now Merlin! Draal didn't view himself as a smart person, but he certainly was on a roll today.
The stars brightly shined down on Arcadia, showing a clear night sky. Draal took his time walking towards the Prison house, holding the chains tightly in his arms. He was still on schedule, giving him time to admire the constellations, glistering in the black abyss. He could feel the cool, night air on his skin, giving him goose bumps. It were times likes these that reminded him that he was human now. The cold didn't face him as much when he was a troll, stone didn't freeze as quickly, but now little bumps would appear on his skin when the temperature went down. He'd even see little hairs go up on his arms, it was an uncommon sight to see for him. If the night air made him cold now, he would probably have to cover it up when winter was approaching, as now it was luckily still summer.
While he absentmindedly thought about the weather, he almost reached the Prison house. He was just thinking about where he could get some kind of robe that could withstand the winter, when he got ripped away from his thoughts by the sound of the door abruptly slamming open. A figure forcefully fell through it, rolling a few times on the Prison house porch, before roughly coming to a stop.
'Nomura!'
Draal ran towards her and knelt down to check if she was alright. She laid unconscious on the grass, covered in cuts and bruises, but luckily still breathing. Draal looked up towards the house, seeing Gunmar grin wildly behind the opened door, before turning around and dissapearing from view. Draal's knuckles turned white, as he tightened his grip around the chains. He certainly was going to put them to good use, he angrily thought, standing up and marching towards the door. He was going to get Nomura the help she needed after he dealt with this moron.
Entering the house, he held the chains in one hand, drawing his sword in the other, keeping his guard up while he took a few steps into the kitchen. The area was dark, making it hard to see where the wartroll was lurking around. Squinting his eyes, he proceeded further in the kitchen, trying to hear any sign of him. It was remarkably quiet and Draal didn't like it.
A sharp pain hit him in the back, as a heavy object hit him from behind, making him fall forward. He landed on the floor with a heavy thud, dropping the chains in the process. The chains slid out of his reach, as Draal quickly had to turn around to defend himself to whatever was approaching.
Gunmar towered over him, still holding his wicked smile in place. His huge form blocking what the little the streetlights illuminated, casting a long shadow over Draal.
'When will you weaklings learn you don't stand a chance again me?' he roared, letting out an ominous laugh. Balling his fist, he charged towards his target.
Draal rolled to his side, dodging the heaving punch meant for him. Gunmar's fist collided with the floor, wood creaking on impact. One of those punches to his head and he'd surely be knocked out, Draal dreadfully noted, quickly getting up to his feet.
Not wasting any time, Draal shot forward, throwing his weight towards Gunmars knees, trying to get him off balance. Unfortunately this technique wasn't new too Gunmar anymore, while he grabbed the blue haired man, easily picked him up and threw him over the kitchen counter. His sword slipped out of his hand, while the air got knocked out of him. Draal tried in haste to get himself together and get up for the next attack.
Before he could get up though, Gunmar had already reached him, grabbing his ankle. He pulled Draal towards him, lifting his feet above Draals stomach, ready to give him the biggest stomp of his life. Draal's eyes widened, he didn't have enough space or time to dodge it. He embraced himself for impact.
An arm suddenly appeared around Gunmar, making him roared in pain, taking a few steps back. Draal immediately took the opportunity to get up and grab his sword. Taking his distance, he readied his sword, trying to observe what got Gunmar to still scream in pain.
Draal gasped in surprise, seeing Angor behind Gunmar, keeping his head locked in place, legs locked around the bigger mans waist, while he had driven his knife deeply into the wartrolls shoulder. Pulling it out, he didn't hesitate to stab the big man once more. Blood oozed out of the wounds, quickly staining a big part of Gunmars grey shirt a crimson red.
Draal wasted no time, his eyes scanning around for the location of the chains. When he spotted them, he quickly ran towards them, picking it up and running towards the room behind the kitchen.
'Where on earth are you going?!' Angor roared from behind Gunmar, stabbing the bigger former troll once more, trying to prevent from getting pulled from his shoulders, receiving another ear thundering roar in return.
Draal didn't have time to respond, scouting the backroom for anything that looked strong enough to hold. He mentally cheered when he spotted that the backroom windows had metal bars on them, firmly positioned around it. He locked one part of the chain around the bars, grabbing the rest of it and racing back towards the kitchen.
Gunmar had enough, walking backwards and slamming the entire weight of his back against the wall under the stairs, knocking the air out of Angor. Refusing to let go, he tightened his grip around Gunmar's neck, lifting his knife for another round. The big man snarled, slamming his back another time with more force. Did seemed to do the trick, as Angor's body couldn't carry the impact of the heavy weight, his chest feeling like it was on fire, trying to get some air. The assassin's grip loosened around Gunmar, which was enough for the big man to yank his arm off. Gunmar rapidly pulled him over his shoulders, throwing Angor on the kitchen counter, holding his arms in place.
'What did I say to you what I would do if you'd cut me again?!' Gunmar screamed in his face.
Angor, out of breath after getting smashed one to many times, still managed to put a grin on his face, fire spitting out of his eyes as he stared at Gunmar hovering over him.
'Bite me, big shot!' He growled back
'You little-' Gunmar roared, lifting his fist high up in the air, ready to smash his victims skull in, before pausing his attack, hearing a heavy 'cling' of metal, down on the floor. He quickly looked down, seeing a silver chain around his ankle and Draal, who just removed his hands. Gunmar's eyes widened.
Once more, Gunmar roared, ready to rip them to pieces. Draal leaped over the counter, quickly pulling Angor along with him, just in time for Gunmar's fist to smash against the tiles, breaking them to pieces. He snapped his head towards the two, eyes filled with rage, pushing himself from the counter to launch himself after them. He quickly closed the distance between them, reaching his arm out to grab whoever he could reach.
'Jump! NOW!' Draal roared, still pulling Angor along his arm towards the other side of the room. Putting their last strength into it, they jumped. Draal didn't care if they hit the wall in the process, it should be enough to do the trick.
Gunmar's right foot suddenly got janked from under him, as the chain tightened into a straight line. His face met the floor with a huge, thunderous thud, dust and pieces of wood flying everywhere.
Draal and Angor collided with the wall next to the door, falling down on the floor with a big 'oof'. His eyes shut, Draal heavily tried to catch his breath. When he opened them, he saw Gunmar trying to get up and reach forward, but the magical chain refused to let him continue. Gunmar roared in fury, pulling on the chain, but it wouldn't budge.
'It worked!' Draal laughed. He almost got killed for it, but he succeeded! Or well, they succeeded, Draal reminded himself, turning to his side to look at Angor. The assassin also had to catch up on some air, holding his chest with one hand. Both of his hands were covered in blood, but Draal assumed it was only Gunmars.
'Are you alright?' Draal asked him, just to be sure. Ignoring Gunmars screams and threats towards them.
'Fine, just-' Angor started, trying to breath slowly, letting his head lean backwards against the wall. 'probably going to have some more of those marks tomorrow.'
Draal chuckled lightly, feeling his own eye painfully tighten when he laughed. 'Yeah, me too.' After being thrown around the room like a rag doll, Draal was going to be decorated too.
'Hopefully this will keep him more restraint.' he said, looking at the other prisoner, who was absolutely livid.
'Merlin's?' Angor asked, seeing the silver chains not giving any sign of breaking under the huge pressure it was receiving.
Draal nodded. Slowly he got up, grunting a bit in the process. He had to check if Nomura was alright. Turning towards the still open entrance, he was relieved to see Nomura was already sitting upright, trying to collect herself. He'd still wanted to take her to the Barbara, just in case.
He turned towards Angor, who was still sitting on the floor. 'I am going to get her some help, but I'll be back soon. Will you be alright on you own?'
Angor just nodded, still having his gaze focused on the silver chains.
Draal almost left, but decided to address one more thing. 'Oh and Angor, thank you. For everything.'
The assassin turned his head to look upwards, to see Draal looked down at him with gratitude, his smile reaching his red and yellow eyes. Angor didn't know how to react, not being used to this kind of appreciation.
'Uh… don't mention it.' quickly looking away again. 'Literally.'
Draal chuckled, before turning and leaving the house, heading towards Nomura.
The assassin still sat on his spot next to the door, keeping an eye on Gunmar. The wartroll had stopped his tantrum and decided to just try and kill Angor with his glare. They stayed like that for while, not leaving each other out of their sight. Gunmar being chained up was a nice improvement, but Angor wasn't going to just dance careless around the house. Gunmar had a way of breaking out of prisons and the assassin didn't know how strong this magical chains were.
'You know what I'm going to do to you, dog…' Gunmar lowly growled after a long period of silence.
Angor grinned at him, leaning his arms on his knees, bloodied hands clear in sight. 'Says the one with a leash.'
This made Gunmars anger return with a vengeance. With a loud roar he once more tried to get to the assassin, but the chain wouldn't move an inch further.
'Just you wait, dog!' he screamed. 'Once I break this chains, you'll be next!'
Deciding he had enough, Angor stood up, trying to decrease the movement in his sore chest. It was probably time to wash the blood of his hands, as it was slowly drying up. Slowly he head up the stairs, leaving a screaming, roaring, chained up mad man behind. The assassin slowly felt some relieve wash over him, knowing Gunmar couldn't get up the stairs anymore. He wasn't so keen on having a truce with the guard, but he had to admit it. Draal was getting things done.
The weeks after Gunmar got chained up, were a lot better to handle. The fact that Angor was still locked up in the house, still frustrated him deeply, but at least he could move around the house more freely, after realizing that those chains seemed to be holding the big troll well enough. The marks on his neck slowly but surely dissapeared and he'd even gotten more sleep lately, making the head aches a lot less frequent. He still kept his blades close, he wasn't going to be thát reckless.
Everyday Nomura or Aaargh would come by, guarding the entrance and at night it was Draals turn. Nomura didn't go upstairs, she had no interest in him. What she did, was pester Gunmar. Draal told him that Nomura and Gunmar had bad history together and added with the last time that she got thrown out of the house, she was out for revenge. She had to promise Jim to keep her revenge to a civilized minimum, warning her to not lower herself to Gunmars level, or she wouldn't be allowed to guard the house anymore.
Not that Nomura seemed to want to do the job, but apparently there was a shortage of skilled fighters and she had a certrain 'debt' to repay the trollhunters, she vaguely explained him once, while he enjoyed watching the show of her shooting wet paper balls through a straw towards Gunmar. The big man sometimes tried to reach out and rip her head off, but as many times before, the chains never failed to do it's task. He had yet to give up though.
Because Gunmar got stabbed multiple times, he needed medical care. Unfortunately for him, no one was taking the risk of actually tending to his wounds and he surely wouldn't let them. The problem was, that if the wounds got infected, it would be his end, so eventually Jim decided to
The other guard, Aaargh, mostly stood outside of the house, guarding the entrance. He was a giant, just as big as Gunmar, but he clearly showed more emotions then only hatred. Aaargh wasn't much of a talker, his choice of words simple and functional, but his big eyes told the rest. He didn't like Angor and he especially didn't like Gunmar. Angor didn't know what his reasons were with Gunmar, but it was certainly justified.
Aaargh not liking him, was also easy to point out. Angor killed him after all, first poisoning him with creepers sun, setting his faith and then eventually shortening the due date by killing him anyway. The assassin expected the big troll to rip him to pieces, having enough fuel and strength to do so, but Aaargh never did. He just stared at him, sometimes angry, sometimes hurt, very occasionally fearful. Everytime Aaargh had to start his shift, he'd check on Gunmar and then proceeded to go upstairs to check on him. Angor would receive whatever story the big eyes of him had to tell, before the hairy man turned around and headed downstairs towards the entrance, guarding it for the rest of the day.
Angor didn't like guards around the house, but Nomura and Aaargh mostly left him alone, which he preferred. He could just do his thing, knowing they cared as little about him as he did about them. Draal, on the other hand, didn't seem to share the same opinion. After their little team effort in succeeding to trap Gunmar, he apparently thought that he could just continue marching in Angors room, talking about whatever he felt like. At first, Angor got extremely irritated by this. He was used to being alone, only talking to others when receiving orders or giving death threats. Being locked up for centuries in the Amazon also didn't help his social skills so he would just sit alone, practice his magic, making more weapons, observe his next prey, analyse. He always kept himself occupied by preparing for the next fight. Now, without magic, enough supplies and his troll form, he found himself more and more limited in doing so. He'd train and make enough weapons or gollums, but after a while, there was just too much time left and too little to do. So, he had to keep himself busy with his last occupation: Analyse.
Draal wasn't the smartest tool around, Angor had noted, but what the blue haired man did have was information about the outside world. Draal could get outside. He went to trollmarket, what apparently now is called 'new trollmarket' and he knew things about the human world. So after a few weeks of trying to get Draal to leave, he'd slowly gotten interested in the stories the man had to tell. He hated himself for it, not wanting to actually 'communicate' with someone on a neutral basis, but after a while he'd came to accept it. It was better then being trapped in an Amazonian dungeon, not being able to move or having to repeatedly deal with Gunmar.
Angor didn't get why Draal talked to him so much. The blue haired man must hold some sort of grudge against him, murdering him and all, even Aaargh did. Still, he didn't seem to show any signs of it, which confused Angor. Maybe the man wanted something from him, but the assassin had yet to find out what it was.
So yet another night, Draal came into his room, this time carrying laundry detergent under his arm. 'Guess what? I've learned how to use a device called a laundry machine today!' he proudly announced, presenting the big bottle.
Angor was just laying on his bed, not having anything better to do, his head resting on his arms. He dryly stared at the man holding some sort of big, white, plastic bottle with a big colorful sticker on it saying: 'Spring Sensations.' His entertainment had arrived, Angor sarcastically thought.
'What is a laundry machine?' he asked.
'It's a box where you put in clothes and then it washes it for you. You just put it in it's mouth, wait an hour and then clean clothes come out!' Draal explained, sounding like a world just opened up for him.
'Ok… and you're telling me this because?' Angor questioned him, raising an eyebrow.
Draal pointed towards the end of the hallway. 'I saw you have one of those in the other room too, thought you could make use of it.'
So that's what that box with the round window was for. Gunmar surprisingly hadn't destroyed it and Angor just left it for what it was, a box. It was just collecting dust in the room at the furthest end of the hall way since the beginning of this mess.
The assassin got up from his bed, grabbed some of his clothes and walked past Draal, through the door towards the machine. Maybe it was useful to learn how to use it. He just used water from the shower and whatever soap he could find and that task was extremely annoying. If this thing could do it for him, why not?
Draal caught up with him, taking the march towards the laundry machine as a yes. Arriving in the room, he started his instructions.
'Alright, so you open this drawer and put this liquid soap in it.' he explained, pouring a cup of thick blueish liquid into the so said drawer he pulled out, closing it after.
He turned a button on the machine, explaining further: 'Then you put the temperature to what you want. I don't really know what's good for what, but the Barbara always sets it on this.' setting the turning button on 80 F.
'Then you push this to turn it on.' pushing a button with a round symbol on it. 'This little light will lit up when it awakens aaaand…' waiting for the light to turn on.
Nothing happened.
Draal looked at the machine in confusion. Normally at Jim's house the machine just turned on after pushing the button. He pushed it again, but the machine had yet to respond.
'Huh…' This went not the way he expected.
'Did you break it already?' Angor mused, crouching down to put the clothes inside the machine, closing the window after.
'No! It's just not doing what it's supposed to do.' Draal defended, pushing the button a couple more times.
'Pushing it more is not going to work…' Angor sighed, looking closer to the other buttons. 'I think you have the wrong one.'
'No, it's this one! I'm sure of it!' Draal shot back, dramatically pointing towards the start button.
Angor tried to read what the other buttons said, but he couldn't decipher what it was for. What on earth did it mean with 'Baby care'?
'Maybe it's broken.' he thought out loud, trying to look behind the machine.
'It doesn't look broken to me. Damn it, just work!' Draal stubbornly kept pushing the button. How can something so simple, be so difficult?
Nomura carefully entered the Prison house. Her shift wasn't after the day after tomorrow, but she had left her jacket behind. She had others, but what could she say, this one just matched with most of her outfits.
Peeking through the door, she checked if Gunmar was in the kitchen, careful to not suddenly get something thrown at her. Luckily, he seemed to be lurking in the backroom, not giving her any thought. Nomura entered, looking around the room. Eventually her eyes fell on her jacket, hanging on the balustrade of the stairs. She walked over to grab it, ready to turn around and leave the house, but stopped after hearing voices upstairs. Keeping still, she tried to focus on what the voices where saying.
'Just stop pushing it! It's not going to work.'
'If the Barbara says it is this button, then it is this button!'
Nomura raised an eyebrow. What on earth where they arguing about? This sounded a lot different then the usual hostility in this house. She walked up the stairs to see what the commotion was about. When she followed the voices and reached the end of the hallway, she got greeted by Draal repeatedly smashing a button on a not responding laundry machine. Angors head scowlingly popped up from behind the machine, trying to figure it out in his own way, she assumed.
'Oh, so if she says that you have to jump of a bridge, you jump off?' he asked sarcastically.
Draal look at him with disbelieve, not catching on to the sarcasm. 'How can you compare pushing a button with jumping of a bridge?!'
Angor just blankly stared at him for a moment, before dissapearing behind the machine again. 'Why do I even bother…'
'What?!' Draal bent over the machine to face him. 'What do you mean by that?'
Popping back up, clearly getting irritated, Angor spat back 'What I mean is, after getting Gunmar trapped in those chains I thought you were capable of thinking, but now you'd proven me time and time again, that you have rocks for brains.'
Draal pushed himself of the laundry machine, putting his hands up, taking offense to that. 'At least I know most of how this thing works. You didn't even know it existed!'
Nomura sighed, getting tired of this stupidity. 'If may share my opinion...' she butted in.
Draal and Angor snapped their heads towards Nomura, both surprised by her sudden appearance.
'Nomura…' Draal uttered. 'I, uh...'
Nomura gave him one of her classic 'you're wasting my time' glares, heading towards the other side of the machine. She grabbed the plug and put into the outlet on the wall. The laundry machine magically jumped to life. Nomura pushed the 'start' button and the machine started it's routine, filling with water.
'I think your both morons.' she stated, walking away. This had been amusing, but she had other things to attend too.
'Oh. Uh… Thanks, Nomura!' Draal awkwardly said. 'Bye… I guess.'
Nomura slowly waved her hand behind her, walking down the stairs, dissapearing from view.
Angor sat in front of the laundry machine, staring at the clothes swirling around in the water. He found it interesting how creative humans became to get things done without using magic. It reminded him of the pink lights, that replicated the sun. The trollhunter had used it against him, trying to turn him into stone, but luckily the trollhunters mother intervened. That could've ended very badly for the assassin.
Draal sat on the other side of the room, leaning against the wall. He had been quiet for a while, looking like he was lost in thought. Angor didn't bother, it wasn't his place to ask what was wrong. He already figured out it was the woman that just left. Draal normally didn't have any problem talking his ears off but everytime Nomura came in, he seemed to be lost for words. Pathetic, he thought, but at least Draal kept his mouth shut about it.
'Nomura and I used to a thing.' Draal suddenly started.
Damn it.
'You don't say.' Angor deadpanned, keeping his eyes on the rotating clothes.
'Well we were!' missing the sarcasm once again, Draal continued. 'We wanted to pick things up were we left off, but then I… well you killed me.'
At that, Angor's shoulders tensed up. Draal may think that talking to Nomura was uncomfortable, but the 'murder' thing was the bigger elephant in the room, in Angor's opinion.
'We haven't talked about it yet and it's getting more and more… awkward to talk about.' Draal kept going, not noticing the bomb he just dropped. 'Maybe I should leave it. Things will figure itself ou-'
'Why are you telling me this?' Angor snapped at him.
Draal looked at him in surprise, not understanding where the assassin was going with this.
'I killed you! I'm the reason you are in this situation with the woman. Why are you casually explaining me this. What do you expect from me, advice?' Angor stopped himself, already showing enough of his thoughts then he was comfortable with. He returned his gaze back to the laundry machine. 'I don't get why you want to talk to me at all…' he murmered.
Draal stayed silent for moment, not expecting this sudden turn of topic. He knew that they were both aware of the fact Angor killed him, but he didn't think that Angor cared enough to mention it. He always seemed so unfazed when it came to murder. The assassin always treated it like 'part of the job'. Draal knew that his choice to reach out to Angor was uncommon. The assassin earned enough points to get locked in together with no other then Gunmar. It would've been expected that Draal just did his job, keep guard over the two criminals and treat them as such: criminals. At first, that was his plan, only having a 'truce' with Angor to keep his own head on his neck. But after working together to trap Gunmar, he saw a side of Angor he didn't expect. It was the side he heard about when Angor attacked the Eldritch queen at the last moment. Angor Rot had the ability to change, if given the chance. Not that Draal understood why. Wasn't he supposed to have no soul?
Draal sighed, putting his hand on his chin as he took his time to think of his answer.
'Yeah, it is a little weird.' he started, rubbing his chin in thought. 'I know I'm supposed to hate you after all that you have done, but…'
He let go of his chin, letting his arms lean on his knees, casting his eyes on Angor. 'I've come along way to be who I am now. I used to be a stubborn, proud troll. I loathed humans, thinking they were inferior to troll kind. But then I met Jim.'
Angor turned to look him in the eye again. He didn't expect Draal to take his outburst seriously.
'The former trollhunter used to be my father, you see, and I was supposed to be next in line. But when a human got chosen over me, I was absolutely livid. I acted reckless, putting Jim in mortal danger, just to proof that I was better then him.' Draal raised his eyebrows in disbelieve, thinking back about his former actions. His eyes were focused on a spot on the wall, trying to recall all the events that had happened to him.
'I challenged him, expecting to easily win, but he managed to defeat me. He was supposed to kill me, but refused.' Draal laughed. 'So, according to the troll custom, I had to leave trollmarket, ending my life in a different matter. After having served troll kind for centuries and training my whole life to become the next trollhunter, I suddenly got thrown out after loosing once. I had to admit that I was pretty devastated…'
The laundry machine starting to increase it's speed, rotating hard enough to get the water out of the clothes. Angor wasn't paying attention to it anymore though, too caught up in Draals story.
'But then Jim offered to let me stay at his house. I couldn't believe it. After I treated him awfully and even had all the intentions of killing him in our duel, he took me in. Being stripped away of everything I once had, Jim saw something in me I never showed beforehand and he chose to give me a chance to develop it.' Draal said in admiration.
Angor remembered the time he observed Jims house, when Strickler ordered him to kill the trollhunter. When the mother of the child left the house, Draal sometimes appeared in the living room, talking to Jim or eating some of the garbage left in the garden, before dissapearing again. He remembered wandering why a troll was living in the humans basement instead of trollmarket, but now he finally could answer that question.
'Your past choices aren't to be excused.' Draal continued, his face turning serious, looking back at Angor again. 'But now also you are defeated and stripped away from all that you had before. It only took one person that I've wronged to give me a chance, to set right what I have done. I guess, I wanted to give you that in return. I wondered what would happen if I treated you as an equal.'
Angor was lost for words, staring at the man who gave him a determined smile. A chance? He'd murdered thousands, why would he suddenly deserve something like that? He didn't even know if he had it in him to change.
'And look at us now!' Draal said enthusiastically, patting the laundry machine. 'Instead of trying to kill each other, we are miserably trying to get a laundry machine to work.'
Angor looked down at the floor. Maybe the blue haired man had a point. This is one of the first times Angor had let his guard down, not expecting any fight to come. It didn't even faze him that the woman came in to point out that Draal and he both were fools. Angor had noticed her coming in the house, keeping an eye on his surrounding was an old habit he couldn't shake that easily, but for the first time in a long time, he didn't expect the situation to be hostile. It felt… different.
Noticing that Angor was getting caught up in his own mind, Draal scooted a bit closer, trying to get his attention. 'Does that answer your question why I was talking about Nomura with you?'
Angor turned to him again, being reminded of why this conversation started in the first place. 'I suppose.'
Draal nodded in satisfaction. It pleased him that he was getting through to him. 'Good! Glad we got that out in the open.'
'Hmm…' Angor replied. Wanting to avoid getting deeper into the 'second chance' thing, he decided to continue with Draal's problem.
'You are afraid of what she will say when you finally talk to her.' putting Draal right on the spot.
'What, afraid? No! I just… uh…' he stumbled.
'You just explained to me your entire reason why you talk to me, having a lot more reason not to. Still you avoid talking to her, when it's clear it can be easily done.' Angor continued.
Draal looked at him with wide eyes. The man in front of him didn't bind any ribbons around the situation, feeling himself being pushed face first in the facts.
'What are you afraid she'd say?' the assassin asked.
Draal sighed, regretting starting about Nomura. He did not expect that his real feelings got thrown out in the open. Folding his arms, he went back to lean against the wall. 'I guess I just don't want to hurt her.'
'Because?' Angor urged him to continue. The faster this man understood his own actions, the sooner he'd shut up about it.
'I… I don't love her. Not anymore, I guess.' Draal confessed, guild sinking in as he finally faced the truth. 'Things just changed too much. I've changed to much.'
'Well there you have it.' Angor announced, leaning back on his arms. 'She shouldn't be that far away from here. Now go tell her before you make it even worse. She has access to more blades then I do, you know.'
Draal sighed again. 'You really don't know how to bring things sweetly, do you?' but, Draal did agree with him. Nervously, he got up. If he'd go after her right now, he could catch up. Forcing himself to walk away, he heard the laundry machine beep, having finished it's round and he immediately turned around.
'Do you need help hanging that up? He quickly asked.
'Just go, coward!' Angor shot back at him.
Draal turned around again, grumbling under his breath. He went down the stairs, heading towards the door. He really did not want to do this, but he knew Angor was right. It couldn't wait any longer.
Tip of the day: Communicate. No one will get the opportunity to understand, if you don't give them your view of the situation. Alright, cool, byeeeeee~!