((Note: Many thanks to the Trollhunters Wiki ( wiki/Trollhunters_Wiki) for helping me find the name of the Trollhunter that was active during this time, and also explaining to me the use of the phrase 'Deya's Grace.' Though no gender is mentioned, I'm taking a stab in the dark by calling her female. Also, though her proper title is 'the Deliverer' I'm thinking she wouldn't have earned that one until after the Battle of Killahead Bridge, so for now she has a different moniker.
Finally, quite likely Blinkous' chapters will be longer as there will be naturally more direct dialogue. This is not meant to say that Aaarrrggghh!'s chapters are any less important. I truly do love both characters a ton.)
He couldn't get the image out of his mind.
Typically Blinkous Galadrigal enjoyed having six eyes. He liked to think this gave him an enhanced perceptiveness , seeing minute details and grander scopes than those with less eyes could. It made him good at what he did for the Troll forces, nicknamed ironically the Daylight Army after their champion, the Trollhunter's, sword: watching battles from strategic and safe locations and making notes about enemy movements, methods, and forces, so that he could report later to the command ranks about tactics and weaponry of their Gumm-Gumm opponents. In short he was part well-protected scout, part strategist. Tasks he did with talent and a heavy sense of loyalty to the cause.
But tonight... tonight he felt like what he'd seen was burned eternally on each and every eye.
He and a small group of Daylight warriors and scouts were moving quietly through the woods to rejoin a main force nearby when they had stumbled upon what was undeniably the work of Gumm-Gumms. A small human community, almost utterly isolated and previously unknown to them, decimated down to the foundations. Little remained but some smoldering timbers, blood stains, and the churned earth turned to mud. Truly horrifying.
"This is..." he murmured to himself, shaking his head sadly. One of the warriors with him sighed, but nodded in agreement.
"We should move on, quickly," the warrior rumbled. "There is nothing more we can do here, and some of the embers are still warm; the Gumm-Gumms may be nearby." If their enemies had amassed any considerable force the small scouting party would be in danger. So they moved away, surprisingly quietly for creatures of their size, and well before an hour and a half passed had covered quite a bit of ground, reuniting with a larger portion of their forces.
Safe with their allies, Blinkous turned in his report and was given some time to himself to eat, drink, and rest. But he wasn't hungry or thirsty. His mind was racing, distracting him so that he didn't even realize he was being approached until his name was spoken by someone he hadn't expected at all.
"Blinkous, is everything alright?"
"Deya the Dedicated!" Blinkous gasped as he twisted around where he sat to look behind him. Sure enough, the Trollhunter herself stood there, clad in her shining armor with her sword, Daylight, on her back. He quickly scrambled to his feet and knelt in respect. "I – I had no idea you were here as well, or I would have reported to you first!" She patted a hand in the air at the younger troll.
"At ease. I only just arrived myself perhaps half an hour ago, and I have read through your report. Very well done and informative, though I would expect no less from you." Blinkous stood, pleased by the praise but still a bit awed that it was given. Deya's follow-up phrase partially explained it. "Just as your brother always did. I am sorry for your loss."
Dictatious. A month had passed since word had reached Blinkous that he and the warriors his brother had been with had been caught in an ambush, the rock that was all that was left of them pummeled into so many pebbles that identifying any one Troll was impossible. In his heart he honestly hoped that somewhere in all that stone was his brother; the other thought – capture – was one he cared not to consider. Even so, though, the mention of him stung, and badly.
"I thank you for the condolences."
"That is in part why I have sought you out. I noticed while I was reading through your reports that when you mentioned the human village there was a certain level of... emotion in your words. I wondered if perhaps something there may have evoked thoughts of your brother." Blinkous sighed, deeply, his six-fold gaze momentarily seeking the stars so as to mask the tears threatening there.
"I – perhaps it did," he admitted after a moment of thought, "but in a roundabout way. Nothing so direct."
"Care to explain?" When he was certain he had his composure back, Blinkous looked back at Deya.
"My brother and I... we didn't always get along. Only occasionally got along, I probably should say. Both of us were always very opinionated, especially about topics we strongly believed in. As I recall the only thing we both agreed upon with equal fervor is assisting in a direct manner with the Daylight Army. We knew it would be dangerous but... " He sighed again. "Now, he's gone. The last thing I said to him was 'Good luck. Be careful." His to me was a scoffing laugh and 'There shouldn't be any Gumm-Gumms within leagues of us!'" Blinkous paused again momentarily. "Now, he's gone. Just like the village is gone, utterly."
"The offer made when you were told still stands."
"The one to return home?" At Deya's nod, Blinkous shook his head. "No. Though a part of me wants to, I will not lie about that, I know I can't."
"Why?"
"Because... because if I go back, yes I will be safe but what will I have accomplished? My brother and I have no other siblings, nor children of our own. My brother never will, now. When I die I want to leave behind some mark on our world so that our lineage is not forgotten so easily." Deya had always been one of the most perceptive of Trollhunters to date, so that she put two and two together wasn't surprising.
"Like the village." At his blink, she elaborated, "In your report you emphasized how isolated it was. 'Cut off from the outside world and alone' were I believe your words. In other words, forgotten by everyone."
"Yes." Having it said out loud by another crystalized everything. "Forgotten. Quite likely no one outside of that village even knew it existed, or that it was wiped out. Their culture, their stories, entire family lines, just gone!" He started to pace, body trying to help vent his emotions.
"I have always believed that if something concerns one to the degree I am seeing in you," Deya said, her voice quiet yet carrying wisdom far beyond her years, "you should find some way to act." Blinkous stopped and pondered her words, then raised his gaze to her's.
"I – want to go back to the village."
"To do what?"
"To find something, anything, of them. Of their culture, of the people themselves. So that even as the centuries past at least I will remember that they existed, that they were on this world."
"And this will bring some closure to the dead? They are gone."
"I know it is a foolish request, especially in this time, but I feel in my heart that this is the right thing to do. They were innocent in this conflict; the least they deserve is to be remembered by someone." Deya studied him for a long moment, then nodded.
"You will have two hours to get there and back, and we cannot spare any warriors to accompany you. Whatever you acquire there you will have to carry yourself for the entire duration of your service out here. Understood?" Blinkous smiled truly for the first time since he'd laid eyes on the village.
"I understand, Deya. Thank you."
"Be careful." With that final word of caution, she turned and returned to her duties. Blinkous meanwhile quickly got his bag and set off. By his calculations he should be able to get back to the village in about forty-five minutes, which with the return trip would give him around half an hour to find anything he thought would properly honor the slain. And even if he pushed to the absolute limits of his time, he would be back a good two and a half hours before sunrise. Yes, this would be exactly what he needed.