Here we go! Let the Chaos Ensue...

Chapter 14: On The Move

July 11th, 9:50 pm, Gasquet CA

"I wanna thank you for everything, Kristie. You've always been there for me."

"Of course, Indi. And both of you are welcome here. Anytime," Kristie replied.

"And you guys in Arcadia, just tell Steve that 'Jim Lake is a troll' and you'll be good."

"I feel like I'd be insulting you," Brian said.

"Trust me," Jim grinned and pulled the hood over his horns, his eyes glowing blue. "It's not."

"Bye Jim!" Amara said.

"Bye cutie pie."

"You guys stay safe!" Kristie yelled as they walked further down the driveway.

…

"So," Indi said with a grin. "Where to first?"

"The freeway, southbound," Jim said. "Can you hold on tight?"

"What?"

"I'm gonna have you climb on my back, and I'm gonna run and jump on a semi."

"You're insane! How have you survived this long?" She said angrily, but with a smile.

"Well, I had other trolls to teach me to survive as a human, and I've been pretty invincible as a troll."

"Woah, hold up, story time."

Jim rolled his eyes. "I was human, I took a potion, now I'm a troll. My friends and mom didn't like me as a troll so I left. You know the rest of Atlas' story."

"Wow, you're a strange kid, Jim."

"What I want to know, Indiana, is your story."

"Not much to tell. I came from a broken home. My mom gave custody to my dad, my dad became a drunken abuser and I got the short straw." She had her hands pushed deep in her pockets, her shoulders tight. "You know the rest of the story."

"No I don't."

"What?"

"What's your favorite color?"

She looked up at him with wide eyes, and blinked back some tears. "It used to be black, but now I think it's blue."

"What are your dreams?"

"To get away from this town," she said as they walked toward the freeway.

"What's your favorite song?"

With each question, he stepped closer and felt his heart beat faster.

"Something Wild, by Lindsy Stirling. You know what?"

"What?" He smiled.

"I think you're my something wild."

Jim paused his questions and thought about it for a minute, "Would you sing it for me?" Slowly, almost nervous, she started humming and began to sing.

"You had your maps drawn, you had other plans to hang your hopes on, but every road they led you down felt so wrong, so you found another way."

He took her hand and they started walking faster as a semi approached.

"You've got a big heart, the way you see the world it got you this far," She paused, then whispered to herself. "You might have some bruises and a few scars, but you know you'll be ok."

"Are you ready," Jim asked with a far too wide smile. She nodded and climbed on his back, his tail wrapping around both their waists for security.

She continued singing for a moment before he took off. "Even though you're scared, you're stronger than you know…"

He dashed off at horrible speeds and jumped onto a semi, then climbed to the top. He set Indi down and urged her to open her eyes. Going 80 on the freeway under a full sky of stars was breathtaking.

She sat up and continued her song. Belting into the clear night, the only other sound was the rushing air.

"If you're lost out where the lights are blinding,

"Caught and all the lights are blinding,

"That's when something wild calls you home!

"If you face a fear that keeps you frozen,

"Chase the sky into the open…" she slowed stifled tears, and turned to Jim, "That's when something wild calls you home."

She sat back down and felt the freedom of the open air for the first time in her life.

Sitting next to Jim, she began shivering.

Opening up his cloak, she scooted closer. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and stumbled on his next words.

"Would it be alright if I, uh… May I wrap my tail around you?"

Indi nodded, still sliding closer.

Wrapping his tail around her waist once, he pulled her close and wrapped her up in his cloak to keep her warm. She fell asleep, and he didn't move until they needed to make their exit.

…

"Hey, Indi, wake up. We need to get off."

"Huh? Oh, alright."

He picked her up bridal style and jumped off the semi, landing like no one's business.

"What time is it?" She asked after being set down.

"I think it's like, four something. There's a convenience store a bit away, then I need somewhere to hide while the sun is out and we'll head for Sacramento, then Merced next."

"What's at those places?"

"Friends, and some family."

Still half asleep, she simply nodded and followed him to the convenience store. After he'd gotten her some food, they found a thick plot of forest and Jim let Indi sleep while he did nothing, then they traded as soon as the sun came up.

"I don't get it, why can't you be in the sun if you're still half human?"

Jim shrugged, upside down. "Probably because being a troll is better than being a human. And there's no way I'm only half. Whatever Merlin did to me, I'm way more troll than human."

Indi wrinkled her nose at him. "Better than being a human? Why in hell would you say that?"

Jim frowned at her. "I don't need anything but myself to survive. I can hunt, live, sleep, and travel all on my own."

"What about your phone?" She smirked.

"A phone is optional."

"But what about relationships, haven't you been lonely?"

Jim smirked. "You wouldn't believe the number of people I've met since I ran away."

She frowned at Jim, the look carried deep into her eyes. "But what about your humanity?"

Jim thought for a moment. Slow to answer, he replied.

"I lost my humanity, to save it. And in return I became someone who can help people, with no limitations," he took a breath. "Sure, my family has a hard time accepting me now, but they're safe. And that's all that matters."

Indiana stared at him for several long seconds. Then gave a small laugh and a shallow smile. "How honorable."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," she said in a flat tone.

Jim rolled his eyes and she nodded.

"Why did your mom leave?"

Indi froze, her body went rigid, and her eyes became dull.

"You don't…"

"No, it's fine," she said. "I'd like to say it's because my dad's a drunk, but really I think it was me."

"I don't…"

"No, don't do that." She interrupted. "She never wanted kids in the first place, neither of them did. And when her child has social issues and starts acting out at age seven, and her husband relapses into his drinking habits, she wanted nothing to do with either of us.

"At first he tried to be a good dad, but he just kept drinking, and drinking, and…" she sighed. "I kept getting in fights, and he would drink. I wouldn't do well in school, he would drink. I'd… run away, and he started…"

Jim crawled down from his branch and curled around her, wrapping his tail around her ankle and nuzzled her shoulder.

"My dad left my mom and I when I was five, and I always felt like it was my fault. I don't completely know how you feel," he looked up at her and they locked eyes. "But I understand."

Indi stood and walked toward the small town they'd come from, wiping her eyes. "I'll be at that caffe, I'll be back before it's dark."

Jim nodded solemnly, then jumped back into the tree. Slipping to sleep.

July 13th, 11:49 pm, Sacramento CA

Deep conversations were commonplace over the next few days as they walked most of the way to Sacramento. Jim found quickly, Indi was an inherently violent person, and had no qualms with beating him up (even if she hurt herself more in the process), though also very intelligent.

It was near midnight, and they were walking through a small suburban neighborhood. "So," Indi started. "Why do you think Claire and Toby weren't able to handle you being a troll, if they had been around other trolls and cared for trolls like Blinkey, Arg, and NotEnrique?"

Jim hummed. "Their plan was to treat me as if nothing had changed, because they wanted things to be as normal for me, but more for themselves, as much as possible. Especially my mom, not that she was around trolls that much."

"You know what I think is ridiculous?" She said.

"The fact she can stand Strickler, and not me?"

"Yeeup," she gave a heavy nod. "Where are we going?"

"Here," Jim said, walking up a driveway with a police car parked on the pavement.

As soon as she was on the doorstep, he knocked and jumped on the roof out of sight.

"Hey Jim! What are you…"

The door opened, revealing Officer Kyle Kade. "Oh, uh, hi? Can I get you something?"

Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms and looked up. "Maybe you can get Jim a better sense of humor," she said.

Kade stepped out and looked to the roof. A wide grin spread across his face. "Jim! What are you doing here?"

Snickering, Jim jumped down and pulled the hood down. "Hi Kade, how's the crime."

He smiled and shook his head, gesturing inside his house. "Slow since you put a scare in criminals across the state."

They entered the house and he led them to a sitting room with a finger to his lips.

"My sister is here, so we'll have to be quiet if we don't wanna wake the mostners," he said with a smile. "So who's this?" He asked about Indiana.

"This is Indi, she's…"

"I'm his girlfriend." She stated clearly.

Jim blinked and turned toward her. "This is news to me, when were you planning on telling me?"

She smiled. "I figured it was obvious, unless… you don't…"

"NO!" He accidently snarled, then cleared his throat. "I mean, no. That's not what I meant."

Kade gave a false cough. "You two are adorable. Can I get you anything?"

"Water, please," Indi said.

"Jim?"

"Uh, water's fine." He said. "I wasn't expecting your family to be here, sorry."

Kade came back from the kitchen with two water glasses and set them on the table in front of Jim and Indi.

"Don't worry about it. Though I wish I could offer you a place to stay the night, that's no doubt the reason you stopped by, right?"

Jim gave a shy smile. "I don't really like having Indi sleep outside."

"Well, she can stay here while you go out and do your superhero thing," Kade shrugged. "I'll call my sister up and see if she can stay in the guest room with her."

"In the basement?" Jim asked, Kade nodded.

"Are you okay with that Indiana?" Jim smiled.

"Sure, at this point I'd kill for a bed to sleep in. but call me Indiana again and I'll kill you."

…

July 14th, 10:45 pm, Sacramento.

Jim left to galavant and stop crime while Indi slept. She was going to meet him in the park as soon as it got dark and they'd head to merced.

Walking around alone in the dark, deep cloud cover making it impossible for Indi to see anything in the park. She was yelling Jim's name over and over, the sun had set completely over an hour ago.

Dropping out of a tree with his eyes aglow, Jim received a punch to the gut.

"Gahhh! JIM!" Indi yelled, shaking out her hand. "Don't scare me like that," she said, then pretended to growl.

Jim almost giggled. "Are you trying to growl?" he said, crawling in a circle around her before standing and nuzzling her cheek with a purr.

"What do you mean trying? I'm growling, see… Grrr," she smiled and scrunched up her nose for added effect.

He tilted his head in response and gave a small laugh. Letting out a small growl, Indi shook her head and smiled.

"I guess you'll just have to teach me." She said, then started walking.

"You want me to teach you how to growl?" He puzzled, catching up to her. His tail made it's way around her wrist as they walked.

"Yeah I want you to, you know how cool it is you can make all those sounds? But what's this?" She lifted her arm, questioning his tail.

Immediately, he removed it, his ears fell, and he shrunk as he scooted away. "I'm sorry, I was just…"

She stuck out her arm and crowbarred him to a stop. Then, looking him in his eyes, she gently lifted his ears back to their earlier position, then grabbed his tail and draped it over her arm, letting Jim wrap it back around.

"Jim, I only asked why."

He looked at her, with indigo eyes and spoke. "You said you were my girlfriend, and… I've been wanting to hold your hand since Gasquet," his lips turned up slightly.

She smiled at him, "I don't want you to think, ever, that I don't love the attention you give me. Because I love every second of it. I just don't know that much about trolls yet, so I might ask why. Okay?"

Jim smiled and nodded. "Okay."

Standing straighter, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.

In response, she hugged his waist as they walked.

"So, where are we going next," she asked, looking up at her tall dark, and leather clad boyfriend.

"Merced, I've got something kin to a family there. I think you'll love it."

"I can't wait to meet them."

Jim gave a chuckle. "It will be interesting."

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