By Jim's calculations, he had been in the Dark Lands for 5 days now.
There was no sun, his phone was out of battery and he didn't have a watch, but: he could tell by his need for showers.
And being in need of showers, wasn't a good thing when you're facing unknown monsters who have an extraordinary sense of smell and teeth three times as big as you are yourself.
"I'll never take soap for granted again..." Jim said to himself as he smelt the air around him in his small hideout he made himself as he waited for the Tassleworm egg he managed to get to cook.
As he did he looked up at the map he had roughly drawn on the wall of the Dark Lands, seeing all the X's on it and sighed.
Five days and he still hadn't found the Changeling Nursery – which was exactly the reason he was there.
He had come through the portal of Killerhead Bridge to find baby Enrique Nunez, his friend's baby brother who about a month ago got switched for a Changeling.
Blinky told him that Enrique would be safe, but Jim still wanted to rescue him.
Sighing again, Jim's eyes drifted from the map to the child-like sketch of himself and his friend's (human and Troll) including Arrrgh who last he saw was turned to stone.
That was one of the reasons why Jim came through the portal all by himself.
So that no-one else close to him would be lost either.
He looked at himself, Arrrgh, Blinky, Claire, and Toby – his best friend.
The one who was there with him when he found the Amulet. The one who saved him from Bular when he came face to face with him in the sewers because he was being a dick because he was wearing the Gritshaka. The one who was crying out and pleading the most, when Jim shut and locked the doors from his side of the room where Killerhead Bridge was placed.
He then looked to the fire, which was almost the colour of his mother's hair, wondering if she was up and about yet, after being placed into Arcadia Hospital after Stickler (and Angor Rott) used magic on her, to which she needed to go to Trollmarket to have that magic and her memories erased. Just when she found out her son was the Trollhunter.
As he thought about all of this, the amulet on his chest 'Dinged' and gave a small pulse of energy as if the fallen Trollhunters inside it were trying to comfort him.
"I'm fine," he said quietly, not sure who he was saying it to, them or himself. "It's only been 5 days right? And although I haven't found anything yet, hey, nothing's found me either, right?"
There was a silence as he waited for a reply that wouldn't come.
"Ok, so a few things have seen me, but being seen and getting caught are different things," Jim told himself as he remembered a pack of vicious white goblins spotting him when he searched the one of the crossed off area's on his map the day before.
"But I am not giving up," he said firmly trying to add more wood to his flame-of-hope "The Dark Lands are huge, and it's been less than a week, right? Enrique has got to be here somewhere. And I am not going back without him."
Hearing the thuds of Gum-Gum soldiers' feet walking along one of the bridges, outside, Jim risked taking a look though the gap in wall wondering why they were over here.
The first few days here was spent trying to work out the patrols so he could set up a save camping spot/hideout.
It was a small brigade of about 6 huge dark green armour covered Gum-Gum's all carrying spears in their left hands.
Thankfully, they walked passed, going in the direction of where the Tassleworm's nest was.
'They must be going to see what happened' Jim thought thinking that he did make a lot of noise when trying to get this egg that was in the make-shift cauldron he got from what he gathered was a Gum-Gum black-smithery.
The water in it, boiling the egg, came from a lake Jim found earlier that day as he was running away from the Tassleworm.
Jim wasn't really looking forward to trying a boiled Tassleworm egg, but he needed to eat something if he was to keep his strength to survive the Dark Lands and find the Nursery.
Silently calling for Eclipse, his new sword, Jim scooped out the egg and gently tossed until it was cool enough to touch, he then cracked it over his knee, almost throwing up at the smell.
Scrunching up his eyes, and nose, Jim slowly brought one half of the egg to his lips and sipped.
"Ugh..." he said shivering "This tastes worse than Chicken Surprise and mum's mushroom soup combined."
Not really wanting anymore, but reminding himself he needed it, Jim tipped his head back and drank it 2 gulps, before he put the eggshells down.
"I really hope I'm not here too long," he said looking up at the map again to try and pick a spot to search tomorrow.
