PART 3 SPOILERS IN THIS STORY! WATCH ALL OF PART 3 BEFORE READING!

Chapter 3- Means of Survival

The group traveled through the tunnels, getting farther from the wrath of the sandstorm. Blinky was still in shock over what happened. He had no idea where Jim and Claire could be. There was no telling if they were alive or not. Nomura noticed how distraught he was. She took control of the group. The tunnels became darker as they ran deeper into them. A few seconds later Blinky noticed a light further down the tunnel.

"I believe there is some sort of light further down. We should follow it." Blinky said, pointing towards the direction of the light. Nomura wondered if it was a smart idea to follow it. She nodded, having no choice in the matter.

"This way!" Nomura said. They all began to follow her.

Jim and Claire were still battling the winds of the storm. The wind and sand hit their faces so hard, Claire's face started to turn red. Jim didn't have a problem because of his stone skin. However, It was difficult for them to see. Jim tried looking desperately for shelter but couldn't find anything around him. He held Claire tightly, trying his hardest not to let her go. He tried to think of something to help them out, but he started to lose the strength to fight the winds. Suddenly, he remembered something that Merlin had said to him when he first became a troll.

He is now capable of feats we never thought possible.

Jim looked at his free hand and called his sword. He examined the sword and noticed that words were lining up with the blade. He raised the sword aloft and having no clue what he was about to do, said the words that were inscribed.

I call upon an ancient isle

to serve me in my darkest hour

to endure my trial

I bid thee Avalon

Hear me and grant me power.

He began to concentrate. His suit and the sword began to glow a deep crimson. A flash of light erupted at the tip of the blade. It traveled around them, touching down to the ground. He looked around him and observed what just happened. He had made a force field with his blade. He was now able to see the end of the storm through the force field as he held the sword up.

He began to grunt and sweat, struggling to keep the force field around them. It was hard to hold it due to the fact that he was using all of his energy. Yet, if it meant Claire was going to be safe, he would keep it there until he literally passed out. Suddenly, Jim heard moaning. Claire was waking up.

"J...Jim? What's going on?" Claire asked with a dry throat. She looked around her noticing the red force field surrounding her. She heard Jim's grunts and painful yells as he held it up. She couldn't believe her eyes. He was using up all of his energy to combat the storm; all for her life. She was speechless. She noticed the force field was weakening. She took a look at Jim and realized he was getting tired. She held him to give him strength. "Jim! Keep going! Don't stop!" Claire said as an encouragement.

Jim looked behind him and saw her face right next to his. She was all battered and burnt from the sand hitting her delicate face. Due to his weakness, he had trouble speaking. "Claire...I can't….do this!"

"Yes, you can Jim! You can do this! Keep that force field up!" Claire said. She could tell in his eyes that he was starting to give up. She moved in front of him and held his face. His eyes locked on hers. "Jim, focus on me. I know you can do this." Jim began to gain courage. The force field became stronger once again. Gathering all of his strength, he screamed in desperation. Claire looked towards the storm, noticing that it was beginning to weaken.

"Just a little more Jim! The storm's weakening!" Claire cried out. Grunting with the effort of maintaining the force field, Jim let out a loud yell as the storm dissipated. The force field gave out. Exhausted, Jim fell to the ground out of breath and weak.

"We're...alive….whew." Jim said once he was able to catch his breath.

"See, this is why you should always believe what I say." Claire giggled. Jim did the same. She noticed he was too weak to stand on his own. She put her arm around his back and helped him stand. They took a look around. Everything looked completely different after the storm. They couldn't see where the tunnel was anymore.

"Well, now I have no clue where we are." Jim said.

"Me neither…" Claire responded, before realizing what was still on her back. "Wait a second, I still have my pack! Everything's still in it, including…" She reached in and took something from her pack. "...my phone!"

"That's such a relief! So what does it say?" Jim asked as she brought up the GPS on her phone. Jim looked over her shoulder.

"Well, we are apparently in Sandy Valley. We aren't far from Jean." She said, looking straight ahead of her. "Buuuut we have another problem." Claire said fearfully.

"What is it?" Jim asked. Claire pointed to the sky. The sun was starting to come up. "Oh no no no! Shelter! I need shelter!" Jim panicked. He looked around, not having any luck. He didn't know what to do. He was to the verge of burning to death. Claire, whilst in a panic, began to think. She checked to see if the sleeping bag was still on her back. Unfortunately, it was not.

"Oh fudge knuckle! My sleeping bag got lost in the storm!" She wondered if she had anything in her pack. She dumped everything out onto the ground and looked through what she had available. "Okay, let's see, let's see...Oh, thank you Papi!" She exclaimed as she lifted two umbrellas, a throw blanket, and a thermal blanket out from the pack. "We have shade!"

Blinky and the group headed towards the light in the tunnel. Once they arrived there, they came across fire-lit torches and a room that resembled some kind of hideout. The walls were made of stone and the floor was made out of faded wood. It seemed that it hadn't been used for a long time, judging by the cobwebs and the dust residing in it. Blinky observed everything; the walls, the floors, the ceilings, and even the torches for some useful information as to where they were.

"Why does this place seem familiar to me…" Blinky pondered. He had a strong feeling he knew what this place was. He just couldn't put his finger on it. He began to mentally go through all of the hundreds of books he had read on troll history.

"It looks like this was a shelter of some sort." Nomura added. They all continued to search around the shelter to see if there was anything of use.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Blinky said. He began to examine the stones on the walls. He placed his four hands on a few of them until suddenly, one of the stones he touched glowed a bright white light. The wall the stone was on started to slide into the ground, revealing another tunnel. This time, however, it was not made of stone or dirt, but of crystal.

"Now I know this was not made with human hands." Blinky uttered to himself. He headed into the tunnel. Nomura put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him back a bit.

"Why do I feel as if this is a bad idea?" Nomura added.

"I don't believe we have much of a choice in the matter. We must press on." Blinky stated, pointing ahead as he kept walking. Morgana didn't want to cause any suspicion so she went up to Blinky to talk to him.

"What about our Trollhunter and Lady Claire?" Merlin asked. Blinky looked down to the ground, then sighed.

"If I know Master Jim well enough, I believe...he and Claire will make it through." Blinky responded, even though he was slightly doubtful. Merlin's face flooded with anger once again.

Jim and Claire used the supplies they had handy to create a haphazard shelter. They found a mountain that was facing the opposite direction of the sun. They propped the two umbrellas against the mountain and draped the normal blanket and thermal blanket overtop to combat the heat. It was a small space, but they were able to make it work as they huddled together inside of it.

The morning had come and the sun was shining. Thankfully, they made the shelter and entered into it in time before the sun started beaming down. Jim was very thankful that Claire was there with him, or else, he would have been dead by now. All he had in his pack were a bunch of forks and spoons.

Jim and Claire were very thankful that there wasn't a single bit of wind blowing. That meant the shelter wouldn't come down any time soon. They didn't mind the tight fit. If they weren't dating, it would have been extremely awkward for them. Claire had her phone out next to them playing some hispanic love songs. She had no idea how Jim felt about Papa Skull so she didn't want to bug him with all of the hard rock she listened to. Jim was curious as to why she wasn't playing any of it.

"Hey, Claire? Don't you wanna play Papa Skull instead of this?" He asked her.

"Nah, it's okay. I like playing this kind of music when you're around. It kind of reminds me of the Spring Fling, don't you think?" Claire said to Jim with a smile.

"Yeah, now that you mention it." He said. He remembered how great that night was. The stars were shining brightly. He had Claire holding tightly to his back on his old 1955 Vespa. It was one of the best nights of his life. He only wished that he could go through that night all over again, except the part where his kiss was interrupted. "That night was great."

"It was." Claire said as her gaze shifted towards him. Jim gazed back at her. As one of the songs ended on her phone, another one began to play. Jim's and Claire's eyes went wide. Ironically, it was the song that they had danced to the night of the Spring Fling.

Hoy desperté con ganas de besarte

Tengo una sed de acariciarte

Enredarme a ti y no soltarte

Eres tan embriagante

Eres tú

"I can't believe you have this song in your playlist!" Jim happily said to her. Claire chuckled. Of course, she had the song on her phone. It was her first dance with Jim and technically, It was her first date with him too. The song continued to play.

Quiero contemplarte sin contar el tiempo

Dibujarte con mis puros recuerdos

En mi mente marcarme tus labios, tus besos

Estar aquí otro momento

Eres tú

"Well, yeah." She said as she picked up her phone and looked at the album art displayed for the song. "This song holds...so many good memories." Jim looked at the phone. He didn't expect what he saw. It wasn't the song's actual cover. It was a picture of him and her on the night of the Spring Fling. He stared at it for a while. It hurt a bit seeing him as a human and Claire noticed. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Jim? Are you okay?" She could tell he wasn't. He sighed and closed his eyes. She didn't know what to say. Instead, she pressed the home button on her phone and brought up her camera.

"I think it's time I changed the album art for this song, don't you?" She asked him. His eyes lit up. He didn't expect that either. His eyes shifted towards hers. They both smiled. They turned their heads to the camera as Claire leaned her head on his shoulder. The phone took a snapshot.

She brought the phone closer to her to see how the picture looked. She kept her head on his shoulder while checking out the photo. They both smiled at the picture. Sure, they both were all dirty and Claire's face was red from the sand being blasted in her face. Nevertheless, they loved seeing the two of them together in a picture, even if it was taken during a time of survival. Jim was even alright with the picture. Even though he was a troll in it, he could see that Claire had the same exact expression as the picture taken during the Spring Fling. He began to understand how much Claire was accepting of his troll form. He realized that it didn't change a thing in terms of their relationship.

"Claire?"

"Yeah?"

"I never...um...responded to you on...on the roof." Jim told her. Claire was confused.

"What?" Claire said. Jim turned his head to her.

"I love you too." Claire was speechless. She couldn't think of anything to say. She dropped her phone as the song was still playing and hugged him tightly, snuggling into him. Jim reciprocated.

"Eres increíble, señorita." He chuckled. She playfully hit him.

"You and that spanish." She replied as they both laughed, still holding each other. They stayed like that for a while as the song started to come to an end.

Tenemos planes diferentes

Pero tú siempre en mi mente

Pues mis venas tan sutilmente

Disfrutan tanto quererte

Eres tú

Eres tú

Eres tú

CHAPTER 4 COMING SOON