Hello, so as I was editing, I noticed something. This story is cheesy... extremely cheesy. And this chapter takes the cake!
But I thought to myself "What the heck, I'll keep writing it because it's fun and I have a whole 3 followers (Thanks guys)." Please know that it will probably remain cheesy but the story will be good. Even if it has a few holes or Clichés. Again, I do this for fun, I'm an amateur writer after all.
Anywho: Skinner has a terrible backstory, it's a tad dark. It's for the sake that he had to get transferred. Why? So he could arrest Jim whilst dumpster diving.
I had a point with all this when I started... oh fudge, I'll tell you later.
4 days later... I remembered! MidnightWriter44678, helped me out huge with beta-ing. Also, comes up with the best names. she helped me come up with this one and the name for my Flash+Trollhunters fanfic. Also, you should totally go read that Flash+Trollhunters fanfic. It's called 'Monster's and Metas' And it is amazing!
I don't own Trollhunters. Enjoy!
Chapter 3: Skinner has a sucky past; Jim isn't wearing pants; and Claire want's to know where her scone went.
I wake up an unknown about of time later. Being shaken by one of my horns. Blurry vision focuses on Claire, then on Skinner. Both have wide grins, Skinner's looks more humorous. They sit cross-legged in front of me on the ground.
"Jim, I got a shower, a warm shower. And there was this little cafe, and I got some really yummy home cooked food. And, human interaction!" Claire goes off, I sit up out of my sleeping bag. "If we only had a guide for every city we've stopped in. I didn't realize how much I missed real food. I don't want fast food ever again!" Skinner just laughs at her.
My hopes sink, I was hoping they would bring me back something to eat.
"What's that look for Jim?" Skinner asks.
"Oh, nothing." I lie. Forcing a small smile.
"You were hoping for something like this?" he pulls two plastic sacks from behind him and sets them in front of me. I open them and look. Inside, a bunch of smashed soda cans, tons old utensils, socks, and tacos. I start shoving the tacos in my mouth. There was at least a dozen of them.
"We brought you all your favorites, or what Claire suggested at least. I gathered what I could while Claire was at the B&B showering."
"And while we were in town, I found a little thrift shop. Check this out." Claire pulls out a pair of tan cargo pants, A jet black zipper hoodie, and a large white T-shirt. "Large enough to fit a seven-foot troll, the pants might be a little high on the ankles, but they should fit. I got some clothes for me too, I'm going to go change, and I'll put these in my tent for when you're ready for them."
"Those won't fit, not over the armor," I say trying to push the thought out of my head and just dig into the last taco.
"But you won't have to wear it forever, Claire told me a bit more about your... culture, well, troll culture. And about the armor and stuff."
"Yeah?" I move to the soda cans.
"Yeah, and I think your world is pretty cool."
"Me too. I just wish I could enjoy it from the comfort of pants and a shirt made from cloth." Skinner just laughs, I keep eating.
"That's a great girl you got, make sure you treat her good."
"She's the best. Especially after I got trolled. She stayed right by my side."
"That seems like a difficult choice, how did you know which was the right one?"
"I just wanted to protect my family, human, and troll. I knew I couldn't do it any other way."I glance at Skinner staring at his hands and sighs, frowning. "What was it?" I ask.
"Huh?"
"What was the choice? The one you made, that go you transferred here?"
"Oh, that. It's a long story."
"We've got all day. And I've got snacks." I take a bite of a fork.
"Well, it started a long ago. In New York. at first, it was just a normal case, I was doing the routine paperwork on my last case. I was actually kind of a hotshot detective. When the chief came in with a case file he wanted me to look into. He said that the case has been floating between detectives for several months and no one has been able to catch this guy. He told me that he has been kidnaping children, two a month, random locations and no correlation with the kids. His calling card was different every time, One of the children's toys, with a bullet, placed next to it. He told me I had one week before the next kidnapping."
"Do I dare ask what happened to the other kids?"
"No." he stared me in the eyes, his normally warm blue eyes, were cold as ice. "I poured myself into the case, did everything I could to figure out who the culprit was, or a connection between the previously kidnaped kids. I did all I could before the next kidnapping, but there was no way to prevent it. The day arrived, the call came, and another child had been taken.
"I became determined to catch this guy, I got so close to the case he even left a note to back off. After a few months, I was obsessed, I was dead set. I wouldn't take any other cases, I wasn't sleeping or eating. The night I figured the case out, I found the culprit, I found him. I chased him, and I caught him. He told me if I didn't let him go another child would die that night. I made my choice. And I arrested him. And for a short period of time, I had relief and a sense of accomplishment. Until I got home. On my kitchen table, was a stuffed kitten, I knew it well, it belonged to my niece Kaitlyn, and sitting next to the fluffy white cat, was a bullet. At that moment I knew what I had done. I had doomed my beloved niece, I had killed the only girl that cared about me. I saved other children from her fate, but because of me, she was unable to escape that death. And I live with that every day of my life. And will for the rest of my life."
"I… I'm so sorry. I've lost those I care for, some due to my own fault. I know how it feels. The pain, the darkness it brings. How it makes your heart feel hollow."
He looks up at me and our eyes meet. The sadness mirrored in our eyes. But the first time since he found out I was a troll there wasn't a hint of fear in his eyes. He looked at me like a human, not like a kid, like an equal.
A knot of anger, resentment, malice, and guilt that I had felt for three months now suddenly became unbound. I took a deep breath in and my lungs filled with clean cool air, and relief filled my body. The amulet on my chest begins to glow red. From around the amulet, the markings on my armor, like water filling a dry river, slowly begins to glow. And with a bright flash of fiery red light and magic, the weight of the armor on my back is gone.
The warm sticky air in the sewer tunnels touches my skin, It feels cool with the absence of the heavy clingy armor. And I feel the freedom of my limbs without the armor. I once thought that being a troll was ok, being stronger and faster. But without the armor, I feel more powerful and confident than ever before.
I look at my hands, in my five-fingered hand sits my amulet, the metal is dark silver, but the stone inside is now red. My skin matches the color of my face, and… WOW. I am not wearing pants! I quickly climb back into the sleeping bag, covering my bottom half. I turn and see Claire coming out of her tent, just as she spots me.
"Jim! Your armor!" she says. I hold up the new amulet to show her.
"It's off. I can wear pants! Speaking of which, could you bring me pants." she runs back to her tent and brings me the cloths. I skillfully put them on while in the sleeping bag.
Once on, I stand up. I feel like I'm wearing clouds.
"Jim," Claire says. "What was it? What got the armor to come off?"
"It was, I think it was you," I turn and face Skinner. "It was you." He looks taken aback by the statement.
"Wha… What did I do?"
"I… I think it was the way you looked at me."
"I don't have any competition do I?" Claire asks.
"No, you looked at me like, like I was human like you weren't afraid of me like I was an equal. Thank you." I throw my arms around him and lift him from the ground. "Thank you!"
I drop him, as he gasps for air. "Oh, sorry. Well, I… I gotta go tell… no, show. I'm gonna go show blinky these awesome clothes Claire got me. I pocket the amulet and run back to the center of the tunnels.
I got there faster than anticipated. I ran so fast. My legs now have more room to move and I feel more relaxed. And again, these clothes are lighter than air compared to the armor.
"Blinky!" I shout as I slide to a stop. Bare feet on the cement tunnels.
"Ha ha ha, Master Jim! You've done it!" He throws his arms around me and I have real contact with him, nothing keeping me distanced from him or anyone else anymore. Claire and Skinner run up behind me panting.
"And I thought you were fast before!" Skinner says.
"Jim, your so much faster…" I cut Claire off scooping her up in my arms. Holding her tight. I kiss her cheek and hold her tight to my chest. She hugs and squeezes me back. She places one of her small hands gently on my cheek, and the other she reaches up to one of my horns and yanks my head down closer to her face and softly kisses my lips.
"You missed," she said. I'm not sure if I can blush, but my face certainly feels hot.
I set Clare down and stare at the wall for a minute, shocked by the kiss. She stands and just laughs at the stunned look on my face.
AARRRGGG! begins running up to me, "Jim!"
I run on my fours in his direction, faster than I expected, and before I realized the force I put into my leap, I'm slamming my head into the top of the tunnel. I crash into ARRRGGG!'s arms. He looks down at me and smiles.
"Gotcha," he said.
I smile and roll my eyes as he props me up. That gotcha thing has started getting old, but I do appreciate it.
"Thanks, ARRRGGG!" I say.
"Ah, young Trollhunter," Merlin says. A chill runs through my body. "I see you've been able to release yourself from the armor?"
"Yeah, no thanks to you," I say rubbing my head and brushing bits of cement out of my hair. I point a finger at him.
"Why would it be, I can't accept yourself for you. You had to do it on your own. It's not like I gave you your anger issues."
"You're still a jerk," I walk up to him, inches from his face and growl low. "You know that, right?" Merlin shrinks down a bit, his eyes dilate. I tower over him, and even in his armor, with his magic, and all of his knowledge. I could beat him to a pulp, and he knows it. his head is straining to look me in the eye. And for some reason, he grows a backbone.
"Well, you're not getting an apology if that's what you want." He spits his words and walks away, chanting a quick spell, he vanishes in a puff of green. I snarl and wipe his saliva off my face, and snarl.
"I can't stand that guy," I growl through gritted teeth and snarl again, louder.
"I wish I could growl like that," Skinner says, breaking the silence left in Merlins dramatic exit, and the tension.
"I could try teaching you. Or grumpy wizard back there could turn you into a troll."
"Wait, that was him?" I nod. "So, the apology he's referring to?"
"It's about turning me into a troll." I sigh. Or rather growl a breath out, I can't exactly sigh anymore. Fists clenched at my sides, I'm slouched down in a more animal-like position, my head turned away from him, Blinkey, AARRRGGG!, and Claire. I may have accepted this, but it doesn't mean I can't be angry about it. "It's my own fault. I made the choice, I just wish he would show a little bit of… I don't know…"
I let out a blood curdling, demonic, growling scream. They all wince and take a step back, all of them, except Claire. She takes a step forward, slowly yet unafraid and softly laces her five fingers with my four.
"It doesn't matter, Jim. What matters is that you survived Gunmar, Morgana, and the Eternal Night. It matters that you're alive. It matters that you helped these trolls survive. It matters that you've helped them find a new heartstone, a new home." She says. I know it does, and it's true. But how can any of that matter, especially when I'm like this. Some troll half-breed? A human hybrid? Time, again and again, I think about this, I always come to the same conclusion, it's about the only thing keeping me sane.
I am the Trollhunter.
I stand to my full height, I gently cup Claire's beautiful face in my blue uneven hands. I kiss her forehead and whisper, "Thank you!"
I turn and am about to run in the other direction when my ears pick up to Claire about to speak, she barely gets a few words out before I cut her off. "Jim, you mi…"
I sprint back toward her and lowering to her height. I kiss her hard on the lips. "Oops, I missed." I smile and take off down a far tunnel.
I wait at the exit of the tunnel, patiently waiting for the last bit of daylight to make its retreat. Now that I finally have pockets, I can take my phone with me without the glamor mask, And I blend just a bit more with regular clothes. As I watch the shadows from the sun disappear, the shadows of the moon overtake the trees. The moon is full, the sky is clear, the stars are shining, and if this is where we're settling the new trollmarket, I might as well get familiar with this place. And If I just happen to become an urban legend, eh. Why not? Who knows, with a town this small -it's smaller than Arcadia- I might even be able to become a member of this town. Besides, in the small towns, and even some big cities on our journey we've come across some weird stuff.
I jump from the tunnel exit, and to my surprise, I leap over what has to be at least 20' higher than I have been able to in the armor. It suddenly occurred to me, why I have been stronger, and faster. With the armor being so heavy, I was now able to move about without the extra weight limiting my skill. I aim to land in a tree, but instead crash and fall through the branches, and land flat on my stomach.
Recovering quickly, I crouch down and run on all fours, If Skinner could only see how fast I am now. I head through a thick area of trees, dodging and occasionally jumping from trunk to trunk until the trees thin out. I run around in the woods for almost an hour, testing my new prowess. I've found that I am more flexible than before and that doing parkour in the woods gives me a strange amount of pleasure. I run toward a large boulder and use it as a vaulting point, from there I roll myself into a tight ball and do a double front flip. I land perfectly onto my fours. And, at first, what I thought was a growl, turned out to be a purr.
"If Claire finds out about this, I will never live it down," I whisper to myself, and take off toward Corbin City, purring at my speed.
I reach the edge of town, and people are still out. I run behind the buildings, familiarizing myself with the smells and the sounds. I jump atop one of the buildings and crawl low like a leopard ready to pounce. I watch the locals walk around their town, doing business as usual. No Idea I'm watching them. It's kinda fun. I then notice Claire and detective skinner. They act completely normal, but Claire has that one look on her face. The one she gets when she's purposely being stubborn about something.
I cautiously crawl forward, my shoulder blades sticking up from my back, and check to see which building I was on. Just, a little Cafe, probably the one Claire was talking about earlier. They walk inside for a moment and walk back out a few minutes later.
Claire looked frustrated, she also had a scone. I clutch my stomach and think about the last of the utensils Skinner and Claire brought me. But I can smell the scone, and it smells so good. Most of the time, human food doesn't taste good anymore. But the fact that it smells good is a good sign if you ask me.
I check the streets. They are mostly empty, and the rest of the people aren't paying attention. Claire takes a bite of her scone and turns to talk to Skinner. I quietly jump down from the top of the building and snatch the scone out of Claire's hands without her noticing, then silently and seamlessly jump back up to the roof of the cafe. Out of Claire's sight. Now keep in mind, I wouldn't have been able to do that in noisy metal armor.
"Wait," she says quietly. "What on earth? Where's my scone?" She screams. Drawing attention to herself from passers-by. She shrinks at their judging looks, but I just struggle to stop the literal roar of laughter welling up inside me.
I take a bite of the scone, and to my surprise. It's better than socks, and tacos. Claire was right about the home cooking. I quietly purr, and shovel the rest of the scone in my mouth, and lick my fingers when I finish.
I roll off my back and crawl to the edge of the building, Skinner looks puzzled, and at Claire, she just looks annoyed. I watch them walk back into the cafe, and back out with a few more scones. One for Skinner one for Claire, and a large bag in her hand that smells like scones. She looks around the streets, just about empty, and sticks her arm out with the bag toward the roof I'm on.
I jump down, snatching the bag from her hands and sitting on the balls of my bare feet comfortably. I scared the crap out of Skinner. He basically jumped out of his skin. Claire just glared at me. "My scone! And don't you think that it's a bit risky to be out with this many people around?" at that there was an elderly scream that could have woken the dead. I jump up and throw myself flat against the roof once more, only listening to the scene that played below.
"What was that?" an older woman spoke.
"What was what?" Claire asked, sounding remarkably innocent.
"I saw a blue demon! Sitting right here like a… like… ah… a demon! Right here on the street."
"Mrs. Read, There was nothing there," Skinner says in a reassuring cop voice. He could have even fooled me with it.
"A demon, I think I would have known if there was a demon sitting in front of me," Claire added.
"You… you naive bunch. Goodnight Detective. Goodnight Claire." The elderly lady walks back into her cafe, locking the door behind her.
"Goodnight Mrs. Read." Claire waits a moment for the women to enter the back room, she then looks up at the roof. "You need to be more careful."
I peer at Claire and Skinner over the edge, my horns just barely visible in the moonlight. I poke the rest of my head up, checking for anyone on the street. No one.
"Yeah, but I've always wanted to become a legend. Why not an urban one?" I smile a toothy grin at Claire and Skinner, then stuff a scone in my mouth. "Meet me behind the shops." I turn and jump off the roof.