"Good morning, Arcadia Oaks. It's 4:30 a.m. If you're still in bed, you are missing the most beautiful sunrise, clear skies and a beautiful morning ahead. And big news…" the very lonely radio announcer said. A disposable cup rolled through the fog and moved into the shadow of a bridge. A dark, heavily armored troll with horns that curled around his head smashed the cup underneath his foot.
"Yield, Kanjigar," Bular said with a fierce growl.
"A Trollhunter never yields," Kanjigar replied, breathing heavily.
"Terms accepted," Bular said, then yelled. Kanjigar slid out of the way and raised a sword, then he swung it at Bular, who dodged it. Kanjigar punched Bular to the ground and pointed his - very sharp - sword at him.
"Your turn, Bular. Yield," Kanjigar said, then gasped. The sun beamed down onto Kanjigar, who stared at his shoulder as it smoldered. Bular kicked Kanjigar, who, in turn, tumbled backwards. His sword slid into the sunlight. Kanjigar's hand burned blue as he reached for his sword. The glow from an amulet embedded in his chest plate flickered.
"There is nowhere left for you to run. Give me the amulet," Bular said. Kanjigar sprinted up the canal and leapt onto the underside of the bridge. He turned and clutched his sword. Bular jumped out from behind a support beam and swung around the beam and kicked Kanjigar, who slammed into a gutter. He jumped away as Bular lunged at him. Kanjigar hopped down and hung from the support beam while Bular followed, he swung back up and glanced around. Bular tackled Kanjigar, his sword fell to the ground as Bular held him over the edge. The sword shattered.
"It all ends here," Bular said to Kanjigar, laughing. The side of Kanjigar's face burned as Bular pushed him into the sunlight. Bular's claw swiped at Kanjigar, who grabbed his arm and held it in the sun. Bular recoiled and clutched his burning blue arm as it smoked. Kanjigar doubled to his feet.
"It's me or the sun. Either way, you're doomed," Bular said menacingly.
"No. The amulet will find a champion. We will stop you, and your master. I may end, but the fight will not," Kanjigar said. Bular's eyes widened as Kanjigar stepped back off the bridge and into the sunlight. His skin burned blue and hardened.
~later that morning~
Just before my alarm clock went off, I slammed my hand down on it. I popped out of bed and took a moment to glance at the alarm clock. The hands displayed the time 5:39 a.m. I put my clothes on as fast as I could (two minutes, forty one seconds) and hurried down the stairs as fast as I quietly could, then weaved around some boxes and into the kitchen.
I dug through some boxes and got out a pot and filled it with six cups of water and placed it on the stove. While I waited for the water to boil, I took out three cups of Quaker's Oats and made some coffee for me and my grandmother, who I call Gammie.
I don't get why we had to move to Arcadia. First we moved to New Mexico, and now here? Why couldn't we just stay in Alaska? Why did we move in the first place? I thought as I poured (aka dumped) the oats into the water. I know Gammie's hiding something from me. I stirred the oats. But what in the world could it be? Just as I finished that thought, I got a call from my half Chupacabra friend, Luna. "Hey Luna," I said, "What's up?" I stirred the oats again.
"Hey Lobo," Luna said, using the Spanish word for my name. In the background, it sounded like she was on a bus. I sighed.
"Well, Moon, why'd you call me at six in the morning?" I asked, having decided to pack my lunch already. On the other end of the line, the bus Luna was on hit a pothole in the road. A muffled "Ow," was Luna's response to the pothole.
"I forgot the time difference. By the way, what are you doing?" Luna asked. I could tell that she actually did forget the time difference. Sometimes, Luna is so forgetful. I sighed for the second time that day.
"I'm making breakfast, lunch and coffee," I said.
Luna sighed wistfully. "I really miss your cooking and coffee. What am I going to do without you?" Luna said.
"I don't know. Hmm.. maybe, make your own coffee for once? Wait, are you actually on the bus?" I said, kind of surprised. But then again, without me, it would probably be a pretty boring ride. In the background of the other side of the call, someone asked what Luna was doing. I started eating my oatmeal.
"Yeah, I'm on a bus, but it's kind of boring without you. That's part of the reason why I called y- Oh shit! Sorry, you know the most spoiled brat?" Luna said.
"Uh- Oh! Do you mean Rini the not so lovely?" I asked.
"Yep! She just threw a pencil box at Roma. I mean Roman," Luna said. I groaned. Poor Roman. He was always bullied for his height. While I was pretty tall (5' 11") for a sophomore, Roman was pretty (really) short for a sophomore (4' 10"). Roman was trans male and I'm proud of him for openly admitting that. Roman was also a Thunderbird, but he hid his wings from society. His height was also pretty (really) weird considering that he was a Thunderbird.
"She's an asshole and we all know it. And poor Roman. He never asked for any of this!" I exclaimed, putting my dishes in the sink and packing up my backpack and heading to the garage to get my bicycle.
"I know, right! And she's been doing this since sixth grade!" Luna said.
"Yeah! But I'm going to have to end the call. It's almost 6:40 and I don't know what time school starts. See ya!" I said as I hopped on my bike.
"See you later, alligator," Luna replied. I hung up, then stashed my phone in my hoodie pocket and called to the boys down the street who were picking up trash. "Hurry up or you'll be late!" I biked away before either could respond. For some reason, I'd been detecting weird energy since I'd moved to Arcadia two weeks before.
There can't be Trolls in Arcadia… Can there?
~later in class~
"The Peloponnesian War was actually three wars, fought between Athens and Sparta. The first war is known as the Archimedean War," Mr Strickler said, walking around the classroom. "Type that into your search engines. A-R-C-H-I-M-E-D-E-A-N."
I furiously typed it into my search engine. As the results popped up, I heard Mr Strickler say, "Jim! Would you agree?" Apparently, Jim was the skinnier boy who'd been picking up the trash after what appeared to be raccoons had knocked his trash can over.
"Sir?" Jim replied. I winced for him.
"With Herodotus' opinion on his tactics of war, as I've described," Mr Strickler continued.
"Uh.." Jim mumbled. The other boy who'd been helping Jim pick up the trash whistled. Did this kind of thing happen that often? I sighed and looked through the results I'd gotten. "Absolutely!" Jim finally decided what to say.
"Excellent! Which tactics, specifically?" Mr Strickler asked.
"Er.. The winning ones?.." Jim said.
I couldn't help but smile at this. The rest of the class thought that it was super funny or some shit and laughed pretty hard. Though the poor kid. This probably wasn't very funny in his opinion.
The bell rang and everyone left. "All right, all right. Don't forget, Michaelson, chapters four and five.
Jim! May I have a word?" Mr Strickler said as they all left. I left, but decided to eavesdrop. "Jim, you're distracted. You fell asleep between the invasion of Attica and the Peace of Nicias, and your attention wandered for the rest of the class," Mr Strickler said, giving Jim his book.
"Sorry," Jim said, "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
"I know it's just you and your mother and you really want to help her," Mr Strickler replied, giving Jim back his headphones.
"She's just really tired. She's been working double shifts at the clinic," Jim said. Wait. In the future, I bet Jim's mother and Mr Strickler get together.
"I believe I'm overdue for a conversation with her. Have her call me, please," Mr Strickler said, writing down his phone number and handing the paper to Jim. Jim started to mumble something, but Mr Strickler interrupted. "Oh, and, Jim, if you fancy Miss Nuñez, I think that talking to her will be much more effective than staring at," Mr Strickler hit Jim in the head with a book before giving it to Jim. I scurried off before anyone noticed that I'd been listening in on the conversation.
~in physical education (aka P.E.)~
I got up the rope with ease and once I'd gotten there, I climbed into the rafters. But, Coach Lawrence wasn't very happy about that.
"Hey! Kayak!" Coach Lawrence said my last name wrong, so in turn, I decided not to get down before he said my name correctly. Otherwise, I'd stay here until I fell asleep.
"What? I have to get down before I fall? And you said my name wrong! I'm not getting down unless you say my name correctly," I said. And I knew I wouldn't fall. Coach sighed. We were probably giving him gray hairs. I grinned. Exactly what I wanted to do. By the time this school year I'd just intervened with reached its end, all the teachers will have at least one more gray streak.
Coach Lawrence looked at his clipboard. "Kayuq, I don't care. You better get down from there before I give you detention."
"I was going to pretend that I couldn't get down, but since you're one of my favorite teachers, I won't," I said, swinging down. It's true. Coach Lawrence was my favorite human teacher. My actual favorite was Mr Strickler but he's a changeling. Can't put him in the human category now, can I?
I went and sat down in the bleachers. The next person, who I think is Tobias, started to climb the rope I'd been climbing. Only, Tobias was so obese that it was extra hard for him. I winced. "Hang on. Almost there. So close. So close!" Tobias said. Jim encouraged him, "Come on Tobes! You've got this!" "So close!" Toby said again.
"What is that on my rope? Every student here should be able to climb this rope and ring that bell. I want all of you to be made of iron. Iron! You have got to be kidding me," Coach Lawrence said. A couple seats down, Claire was watching something on her phone and laughed. "I don't know who I'm more sorry for. You or the rope." Claire laughed at her phone again.
As Jim tried to start a conversation with Claire in Spanish, Coach Lawrence said, "It's like a flabby pinata, and I'm pretty sure you're filled with candy!" Wait did Jim just say, "Up to egg"?
~after gym~
Honestly, I would've helped Eli, but I didn't really want to hurt Steve. It's best not to get detention on the first day of school. Apparently, Jim decided to intervene. He's an idiot. But I know he'll be fine. I started paying attention again when Jim said, "Yeah. Just go crazy. In 20 years, you're gonna be fat and bald and you'll be working in a muffler shop, & Eli will have a career in software and he'll be a billionaire."
"I do like computers!" Eli said.
"Let him go! Let him go! Let him go! Let him go! Let him go! Let him go! Let him go!" Toby started the chant and some others who had gathered around to watch. Something beeped and I realized that it was the alarm that went off ten minutes before I wouldn't look human anymore. "Oh shit-" I muttered. I went and unlocked my bike. I put my helmet on and biked away. I had barely shut the garage door when I turned back.
I sighed and leaned against the wall. I walked inside and called to Gammie. "Do you want anything before I go out?"
"No, Tikaani, I don't," Gammie replied.
~outside~
I'd barely gotten outside when I noticed some trolls in Jim's backyard. "I knew it! There are trolls here!" I said, scampering towards Jim's house. Luckily, I'd brought an extra mask. Jim kept screaming, so I automatically assumed that he'd seen the trolls.
I hid near where the trolls had entered and listened.
"Master Jim, you have been chosen. The Amulet of Daylight challenges you to ascend to the most sacred of offices," the six eyed troll said. "Orifices? What orifices?" the larger troll asked, quite obviously confuzzled. "Offices. It means responsibility. Unbeknownst to your kind, there is a secret world, a vast civilization of trolls lurking beneath your very feet, hidden from view," the six eyed troll said.
Holy shit. I remember! I learned about the trollmarket underneath Arcadia! It's one of the most well sized in North America. But doesn't Gammie have family here? Oh! We've come here because of Gammie's family. But didn't ¾ of them die? Just as I finished that thought, my phone buzzed. It was my friend Jack from the Anchorage Trollmarket. I let it go to voicemail. That wasn't the best time.
"Tro... Tr-Trolls?" Jim asked. I knew it. This guy was stupid. "Trolls. Yes, trolls. And it is now your charge to protect them. For you, Master Jim, are the Trollhunter," the six eyed troll said. Jim proceeded to yelp. "Trollhunter," the burly troll said.
"This honor is yours to accept. So, what do you say?" the six eyed troll said. But Jim had passed out on the floor. I got out of there as soon as Jim passed out.
~later~
I just finished putting my younger sibling to sleep, Jack called me again. I turned off the lamp and walked down the hallway to my own room. My room was forest green with a light green bed in the corner and a desk with a box of papers and old schoolwork on it. The rest of the room was dotted with boxes of clothes, books, paintings and a random assortment of other things.
"Hey Jack," I said.
"TIKAANI! WHY DIDN'T YOU PICK UP THE PHONE?" Jack yelled. I winced.
"What's the easiest way to say that I saw a classmate become the Trollhunter?" I said as a response. There was a moment of surprised silence before Jack replied.
"THEY WHAT NOW?!" I winced. Though I couldn't blame him. If he had just told me that he had just seen his classmate who I'd never even met become the Trollhunter, that's probably how I'd react too. Hell, I barely even knew Jim myself. Actually, that's definitely how I would react.
"They became the freaking Trollhunter. I don't really know him, but if I am to go to the Trollmarket that's here, I feel like something bad is going to happen," I said. As Jack thought about this, there were a few moments of silence. It was relaxing.
"Just remember to stay in adlet form and you should be fine," Jack said. I smiled. Jack was the best cousin in the entire world.
"Oh, and the other reason I called you is to tell you that the Greek monsters have been acting up quite a bit."
"I hear that the Greek demigod Percy Jackson was up there quite recently," I said.
"Oh yeah, I think I made a drawing of him. He's so cool. I'm sad you weren't here to see him," Jack said.
"Yeah. That's unfortunate," I said sadly.
~later that night~
I'd been out looking for some supernatural creatures to make friends with when the trees started shaking. I switched back to human form before I went towards where all the racket was coming from- it was scaring away all the goblins.
A blue spark appeared from an amulet Jim was holding, surrounding him before hiding near his heart as more sparks began to follow into his chest, Jim's body was floating in the air while the blue wave of magic had covered him. Armor appeared and connected to his body and shrunk to his size.
"Jim truly is the Trollhunter.." I murmured.
"This is so fucking cool!" Jim yelled.
The sparks from his amulet appeared once again, this time falling to his hand, creating a sword. The vast sword shrunk to his size as blue smoke poured from the fun of posing and swinging it around, his confidence grew until it wedged into a rock. With the force of trying to pull it out (and rolling off) he finally got it free, only to get it stuck in another rock behind him. I chuckled. Jim was going to be a great Trollhunter, but he'd need quite a bit of training. I left. Jim could probably figure it out on his own. I walked back into the forest and continued looking for supernatural creatures. Before long, I found a group of goblins. One of them flipped me off. I smiled and laughed. "Waka-wak, chawa aka wakec," (Don't worry, I mean no harm.) I said. The goblins muttered from within their ranks before one of them- the one who had flipped me off (he also had a mustache) came up to me and spoke his mind.
"Wakek kaw cakk," (What do you want?) he said (at least I think it was a he).
"I just want to be friends," I said. They all regathered in a group and muttered about it. The leader gave me a thumbs up. I smiled at him. Together, I took lookout duty while they raided some trash cans.