Kill The Princess
-A Trollhunters Fanfiction-
-By Crystallion12-
The Trollhunter is alone in the Darklands. Bular was slain. Now his three siblings fight for the Throne. As tensions rise in the Human World, and a new race of terrifying Gumm-Gumms threaten to kill every last baby and child, the Trollhunter faces new challenges all on his own. Gunmar's eldest daughter, the Princess- Vulzala the Shadowbringer- is never far away.
[Rated T for gore, violence, dark/mature themes, possible use of explicit language. Reader discrimination advised.
-Season 2 AU.]
Part One: Depths of the Darklands-
Chapter I: Abandoned.
Three days passed, and none of them had truly recovered from the initial shock alone. Blinky glumly stated that he was dreading the aftermath. When it all began to settle, like sand in an hourglass- when the time for pure grief ran out.
Being best buds with the Trollhunter, the saviour of a hidden world of trolls, and also humankind to boot? Well, nasty shocks and horrible truths, betrayal, and despair- it was practically insured, and with a stamp to prove it, once that 'first experience' shook you. And that 'first experience', that first true moment you're simply confused, and terrified, and so lost, the feeling of being shaken to the very core…
Toby and Claire took it badly. Sure, they'd seen some pretty horrible things so far, and then Arrrgh had died…
Then Jim had abandoned them all, and ventured into the treacherous Darklands…
Alone.
This was, perhaps, what terrified them all the most. Alone. The word couldn't hope to match up to what it was implying, as they were huddled around in Blinky's Library, surrounded by books, silent, feverishly praying and searching for hope- a hope that might save Jim. Alone. He was alone. How would he survive?Jim was alone, in the equivalent of hell…
Growling, Toby crumpled up a piece of paper from his notepad, scribbled with ideas and suggestions, and it was chucked across the room.
They barely looked up. Blinky patted young Tobias' shoulder in a half-hearted way of reassurance.
"Nothing," Toby muttered. The chubby boy buried his face in his arms, eyes weary and bleary with a lack of sleep. "Nothing at all."
"We must be vigilant," Draal the Deadly rumbled. It was the first time he'd spoken up during the last couple of hours. "If we persist- there must be some way for us to reach the Darklands without the Amulet of Daylight…"
Both the human teenagers looked somewhat dopey, faces full of doubt, their expressions upset and their hopes dim. Claire leant against the wall to her right, hugging her knees, propping her thick text against her thighs. Her eyes darted over the large pages and the Trollish writing.
Sometime later, Draal resigned to their state of loss, and bowed his head mournfully as well.
It was Toby's turn to walk the perimeters of Trollmarket, his crystallised orange Warhammer hanging at his side, and he felt more lonely than ever.
After everything, Jim had left them. Alone. Cold. Scared. Lonely. Grieving.
Toby was growing more and more restless, occasionally snapping or glaring when Jim was mentioned. Technically, Toby wasn't truly angry- he was just frustrated in many ways. With Jim, with himself, with everything…
Of course now, they were all also quite worried. Or, more like frantic. Blinky was going half-mad, and spent just about every waking moment buried under books.
They all still paid due to their regular duties, though. Claire and Toby took it in turns to patrol Heartstone Trollmarket. Everyone was still a bit nervous and edgy, after Angor Rot's devastating attack. Often they'd both pause, looking down, choked up when they reached Arrrgh's fallen stance.
Not much had happened lately.
Right now, he was on patrol, and Claire was at her house, her parents expecting her to watch her little brother (who was actually a Changeling).
Well, in that context, NotEnrique was being rather nice, considering he'd chosen to play a Board Game with Claire, rather than 'entertain' her with a 'exciting and in-fashion' look of all the latest socks in his magazines.
Yawning, Toby mechanically reached down and extracted his phone from his pants pocket.
He pressed the House button of his phone, flicked past the Lock screen, and glanced at the text Claire had given him twenty-two minutes ago.
Hey, I was wondering if u would like to catch a little break from everything, go out and get some dinner. Would Tiki Tacos be OK? Meet me at my house at around 7 tonight?
Tobias glanced around, and held the phone downwards for about half a minute while he walked. The teen sighed and lifted the phone to text Claire back. K. Thx for thinking of me, Claire. Ttyl, on patrol –and after sending it, he turned it off, proceeding to continue his guard, feeling just a little better, and somewhat less lonely.
Toby and Claire met each other outside Claire's house at just 7:08; if they walked at a moderate pace, they were likely to make it to the little diner by the outskirts of the town by twenty-past.
Neither wore anything classy, but Claire's long-sleeved shirt was rather pretty, a light blue, fading with pink and lilac, with silver silhouettes of a tall, pretty elfish woman on one side and an elegant dragon on the other, with its claws and neck and head visible on the front, and the body, tail and wings on the back.
Toby looked her up and down. "Nice T," He remarked. She smiled weakly.
"Thanks. Ready to go?"
"Yeah."
Mostly they were silent, starting off, although the two comfortably dwindled into a light-hearted conversation about insignificant things, things like weird-shaped candies and washing baskets being stolen by their parents (for Toby, being his Nana). This seemed to ease their heavy minds and hearts, and they reached Tiki Tacos in light spirits. They sat down inside, ordering their drinks, sitting in companionable quietness, surrounded by the sounds of people chattering and plates and cutlery clinking, the air scented with the smell of mince and spices and vegetables.
Talking over their dinner, Toby watched Claire closely. She hadn't taken well to sleep, too, he guessed, judging by her sallow, pale skin, the bags under her eyes she'd furtively tried to hide with make-up- her slumped shoulders and slower movements. He wondered how he himself looked; probably not with the usual gusto.
"So… What'ya doing tomorrow?" Claire asked. Toby shrugged.
He stabbed his lettuce leaf with his fork. "Not much. Might go and read with Blinky after school… I dunno…"
The dark-haired girl raised an eyebrow. Toby smiled and continued.
"You should have seen him, earlier. Asleep with his head on six layered books, one eye on each."
They chuckled a little, such a thing being rare these days. Claire set her knife and fork down, wiping her mouth somewhat ungracefully. She smiled sheepishly, noticing one kid- perhaps only six or seven years old- was looking at them with this excited, knowing look, and started pestering his mother that monsters were real. She didn't look all that amused.
"Alright- I'm done." The two team-Trollhunters stood. Toby elaborated with a hand gesture. "I'll pay." The two exchanged a fleeting hug. Claire smiled gently. "See you tomorrow, Claire- and- thanks for this whole thing. It was nice."
Neither could have predicted the events the followed. If they had, maybe things would have been different.
As desperately as she would prefer to walk with Toby home, it'd be horribly awkward and unnecessary. So, she settled for making the trip home alone.
On our own, though, it allowed the tingles of fear and suspicion to cloud her mind. She hugged her chest, nervous, as she scuttled along the path. She wanted to just get home. It was cold, biting at her neck and legs and her skin through the clothes. The air was crisp, with that strong scent to it, almost like rain.
Should've gone for dinner earlier, she thought glumly, kicking the grey-brown pavement that looked like a layer of pebbles. Or got Dad to pick me up. Claire sighed and trooped onwards, thinking that it was a typical Tuesday night.
Cold. Lonely. A good night for brooding. Scratch that. Every day was good for tha-
Shhhisssssssssheeeethhhaaaaa…
Speaking of dwelling on paranoia, the fair-skinned girl froze. That wasn't right. Shivering, she swivelled her head back and forth, pivoting on the spot, looking around. The neighbourhood she was in was silent and asleep. Most lights were out. It isn't that late yet, though, Claire thought, puzzled.
She looked at her phone, half-tempted to call Toby. 8:23. Yeah, no, that was out of the ordinary, for the majority of lights to be out…
Hyyyysssssssshaaaaa…
There it was again. It made a daunting shudder run up her spine, her veins icy to the tips of her fingers and the nails of her toes… It was a chilly, a soulless and menacing sound, like the hiss of a snake over the screech of nails on a chalkboard… It echoed through the night, and she saw the yellow windows of a nearby household flicker abruptly, and go dark…
It was a weird thing- Vyeeetha-Sssssyythaaarrrr… -So it was a troll thing.
Claire sent a frantic text for help to Toby and spun on her heel, planted it firmly, and grabbed the nearest stick for a makeshift weapon.
She gripped the wood tightly- it was somewhat short, but thick and sturdy.
It would have to do.
There. A flicker of movement caught her eye, but it was also gone a flash later. But there had been something there, for sure, streaking past a dark green shrub. Maybe if she yelled, someone would notice her alone out here, scared and helpless, and the presence of more people would scare it away?
She thought of Blinky, Draal and Vendel, her fake brother, and Trollmarket. No, she couldn't risk them, or their secrecy, or the lives of these innocent people, who must be thinking there was just a little power outage.
But it couldn't be. Claire stared as another house's electricity- or at least, just the lights- went out. Even the streetlamps were being extinguished, she noted, leaving the street even darker. Only the moon and the stars could provide any guidance now, providing that they too wouldn't crackle and go poof.
How odd that would be.
At last, she seemed to lock her eyes onto something- what it was, though, was somewhat debatable. Was it a blob? A watery blob, constantly changing shape, sliding on the dark grey road?
It was clear in colour. Rather big, too, she noticed, almost as big as she was.
And it was moving towards her.
Panic began to creep into her skin. Afraid, Claire scrambled back and tightened her grip on the stick she held. "What- I mean- who are you?" She asked, although her own voice was quiet and shaky. She didn't like the eeriness of that shifting thing, which didn't even pause at the interruption of her somewhat high-pitched voice. If it was even sentient. Suddenly it seemed to melt back into the road, completely gone.
Just like that.
If anything, it only succeeded in frightening Claire more. What troll could do that? It had to be a troll- or, at least a mythical sort of creature.
"I- I won't attack you, if you don't attack me- or- or my friends! How- how does that sound?"
Well, that was a great way to begin a conversation, if there could even be one. Maybe it hates speaking or it can't understand you. Maybe you just told it to attack you! Claire whimpered. Another voice snapped back at her pessimistic side. Hey, well, it's probably better to try and be civilised and nice and welcoming, too. Did you think of that? Well, without taking sides, Claire did think that intelligence usually won over brutality and strength, so…
Her thoughts were cut off by another alien hiss. Syyyyyggghaarrrraaa… Huh? That sounded-certainly not English, or Troll, but something of a word…
If you could call it that.
If you could call it that- she was suddenly petrified. She had a hunch…
But… Were those names…?
Kill…
That was English.
Tear…
Definitely English, definitely, those had been names-
Rip… Maim…
Horror made her freeze on the path, rooted to her spot, dread making her shake…
Destroy… Murder… Annihilate…
The stick- her weapon- slid through her numb fingers and hit the ground with a thunk.
Keka-KILL…
It happened in a panicked, hazy rush of action. That blob rose from the ground, barely ten feet away, and it grew bigger than her, than Draal, then Arrrgh, and then doubled and tripled, and an outline appeared, until it stood in full view, a beast beyond true comprehension, as she had been forced to take its appearance in so suddenly; at first, all she saw was a spread of murky, polluted dark colours, like dull blues and booger greens and gloopy browns.
The previously camouflaged monster was suddenly very visible.
It was a giant beast with huge, bulging muscles and enormous, truck-crushing arms and a long, sleek, somehow serpentine figure, a short, bulky-snouted, dragon-like head, and thick, yellowed fangs that dripped with a red-tinted saliva, glaring down at her with mean, small yellow eyes. Like the hackles on a dog's back, sharp spikes on its short, thick neck, shoulders, back and long tail bristled and stood upright, and its bronze-coloured massive claws, most likely designed for ripping and tearing, flexed, scraping the road beneath them, leaving these scary imprints, black and bubbling, like boiling scorch marks.
Claire screamed, a sound like that out of a cheesy horror flick, she later thought, paralysed with terror, staring up at the nightmarish, slavering monster towering over her.
Movement seemed to suddenly return to her legs, which felt heavy as lead. By now the monstrous thing was barely seven feet away from her, within the reach of its doom-bringing grasp; the teenage girl scrambled away, heart pounding, makeshift weapon forgotten, and all she could think to do was run.
Admittedly not the best or the most creative of plans.
The beast seemed to think this just a second before Claire did. Its eyes narrowed even smaller, and with a thin, purple forked tongue between its fangs, it hissed, deep and low, and more like a growl, and she vaguely registered that- hey, that was a different voice, for sure. Too deep. It took Claire a millisecond to scold herself silently, as if that mattered at the moment! She could die and be eaten alive in a heartbeat!
Her thought did have a purpose, though, and it later helped greatly. Running for her life, Claire didn't dwell on it much, but when the beast started loping after her with surprising speed and agility, and followed by three more, she did notice that one was quite different.
The other two, while one was slightly smaller and the other bigger, they generally looked identical.
The last, though, was the fastest, and for good reason, and almost entirely a pitch black, after it formed from thin air. It was more like a snake or a dragon than the other two, with ragged, huge bat-like wings that stretched from its shoulders to the middle of its long, whip-like tail, which easily made up an entire half of its whole length, running like a ghastly, skeletal antelope along the left pavement. Its head was narrow, dragon-like, with two curving horns, its eyes bigger than the others, cat-like with vertical, red slits against startling yellow, orange, and near the pupil, a sudden ring of inky black- these were quite a confusing contrast to the bigger beast's eyes, which were far more human than this one's. They followed Claire's frantic running and occasional (to confuse the hulking beasts) zig-zagging motions perfectly.
It moved with an odd, terrifying grace that astounded her. Its long blueish-purple claws didn't leave any odd 'boiled scorch marks', either, instead, they left in their wake silvery-white scrapes that almost looked normal… It was the strangest thing, she thought. If they were the same species- at least, it seemed like that- then why was this one so different?
Staring at it, into its unblinking eyes, it had a sort of calmness to its gallop, like it knew everything she was about to do…
Tthhhyaaagaarrr-TEEKUAAARR! Claws suddenly streaked past the edge of her vision, nearly shredding her flesh into neat little ribbons like paper. The hollow, loud, grizzly voice of the beast caught her off-guard; when had it gotten so close?
"CLAIRE! RUN! RUN TOWARDS US!"
She spun around, swiftly ducking under the creature's swinging arm, and ran like the wind for a panic-stricken Blinky, who was tagged along by Toby and Draal and two other burly trolls, all hurrying towards them in a great rush.
The four enemy trolls weren't pleased by the new additions to the scene; to an extent, they clearly couldn't stand even the mere voices of them.
Hissing, furious from what she could assume, the serpentine beast released an eerie, high five-note howl, and with household and street lights beginning to flicker back to life, the four took off, galloping towards the vast expanse of forest at the end of the street, and disappeared into the night.
And just like that, they were gone again.
Next Chapter- Part One, Depths of the Darklands- Chapter II: Burnt Bridges.
-Preview-
Bravery was perhaps the only thing guiding and edging his fear. It seemed like everything radiated unease. The ground beneath his feet, the air, which was chilly, and polluted by the scents of death and disease and awful smells- smells that were completely putrid and strange and horrible, so much so that the boy couldn't possibly pinpoint them. They assaulted his senses, making his eyes water, and he forced his feet to move forward.
His vision tried in vain to adjust to the sheer darkness of the realm. How was he meant to see in all this?
Beneath him was a maze of stony formations- ragged bridges, tall peaks of rock and narrow cliff-faces, cracked with vines and crooked lines of a glowing green. The stone that the terrain was made of looked like it was a cold, shiny black, with this eerie blue tint, almost like obsidian.
Behind the Trollhunter, the Killahead Bridge loomed over him, the portal closed.
Jim had a dreadful feeling that it'd take a wild ride through hell and back before he'd be opening that again.
If he survived long enough in the Darklands to do so, that was.
Author's Note: Well, there's Chapter One… Next up, starting from the ending moments of Season Two, and onwards, we have Jim in the Darklands. And, presuming I get there at some point, I must say- I've sure got some ideas for this story. Fair warning- not very many light and dandy themes in this fic.
However! I will say this- Changelings will be prominent in the Darklands.
You can expect to see a heck lot of fantasy, too, along with the trolls. After all- if trolls could eventually hide themselves, and yet they left traces behind, why couldn't creatures like unicorns, or dragons, or gryphons, or gorgons, or basilisks, or sea serpents? (Admittedly some of these would be harder to hide…)
Well… I mean… Trolls, gnomes, goblins, fairies and pixies exist, so, theoretically…
-Crystallion12