For all of Toby's fears, the day following Jim's selection as Trollhunter proved entirely unremarkable. He spent the entire day expecting Stricklander to summon him into his office to demand why he had not been informed of Jim's new calling, but the older changeling continued to ignore him as usual. Jim on the other hand… was still freaking out…
"They'll be here any minute now," Jim said, throwing his arms in the air. "What am I supposed to tell them? Sorry, I can't be your chosen one, I've got homework to do?"
Toby shifted to get more comfortable on the couch as he watched Jim pace back and forth.
"I thought you wanted some more excitement in your life?" He joked trying to calm his friend.
"Yeah! But I meant maybe like a fun contest or going on a date with someone or a roadtrip! Not being hunted down by a killer troll!"
Well that didn't work. Toby sighed and glanced warily at the window. On one hand he really wanted to get Jim to relax a bit, on the other Jim needed to be scared. If he underestimated any of his foes he would be dead. The worst part was that Toby knew Jim hadn't even grasped exactly how much danger he was in yet.
"And what if he does get me? What about…" Jim's rant was cut off by a flash of blue.
Toby stared with fascination as the armor came into being around Jim. He had been much too freaked out to appreciate it last time. It was actually super cool looking.
"Oh come on!" Jim pried at the amulet on his chest. "What's it doing now?"
"I believe it's reacting to your emotional state," A voice stated from their left.
Toby and Jim both yelped and spun toward the sound just in time to see Blinky coming in through the back door. Toby put a hand to his chest and tried to will his breathing back to normal. Something that big had no right to be so quiet… Toby grimaced, he needed to be more attentive as well. There was no way he was going to be able to keep them safe if a non-combatant like Blinky could sneak up on them.
He glanced at the window again as Aaarrrgghh began to force his way inside. They really needed to keep the curtains closed when there were "guests" over.
His attention was jolted back to the situation at hand when Blinky clasped a hand on Jim's shoulder with a loud clank.
"Are you prepared to come with us for your training, Master Jim?" The six-eyed troll was asking.
"Not really?" Jim said weakly.
Aaarrrgghh gave him a sympathetic look before wandering over to Toby. The changeling just barely managed to clamp down on his reflexes and avoid flinching away as he sat down next to him.
…
Actually now that he thought about it that probably would have been considered the normal reaction. He hid a grimace. Usually he didn't even have to think about acting human, it just came naturally.
Before he could dwell on it any farther the large troll turned and smiled at him. It was probably one of the nicest, gentlest smiles he had ever seen. Maybe this is fine after all, Toby decided as he smiled back.
"Right now?" Jim yelped and Toby returned his attention to the matter at hand.
"Well, I assume you want to get started as soon as possible," Blinky said. "There's no way to tell how soon it is before Bular starts coming after you."
There certainly wasn't, but it was going to be a lot sooner if they started parading him all over town with two trolls, a changeling, and glowing blue armor…
Toby stood up and inserted himself between his friend and Blinky.
"Now, now… I don't want Jim to get eaten as much as the next tr… person… but we've got to maintain our secret identities… you know?"
"No… I don't know…"
"It's like Spider-man," Toby said, making web shooting motions with his hands. "We have to figure out some sort of disguises or else this Bular guy could just follow us home."
Blinky tapped his chin with one of his hands, expression thoughtful.
"I do not know who this 'Man of Spiders' is, but you do have a good point… Your human dwellings are weak and flimsy, certainly no protection against Bular… or even a goblin."
Toby choked on his own spit and started coughing.
"Are you all right?" Jim asked, slapping his back.
"Great," Toby said weakly, giving him a thumbs up.
He really needed to figure out a way to make sure the trolls and goblins did not run into each other. There were so many ways that would end badly.
"The amulet can produce a helmet," Blinky said after a moment. "That should prove sufficient in concealing your identity."
"It can?" Jim asked.
"Indeed! Almost all of your predecessors wore one."
"So how do I get it to do that?"
"It's simple," Blinky said, pressing two of his hands together. "You merely have to will it."
"… And I do that how?"
Blinky fumbled for a moment his eyes darting in different directions as if the answer might be written on one of the walls.
"You must try visualizing what you want," He said after a moment, nodding more to himself than them. "You must picture a helmet appearing."
"Okaaay," Jim said slowly, clearly resigned to not getting the answer he wanted.
He closed his eyes and there was a very long moment of silence. Toby glanced around. Blinky was looking at Jim expectantly, all four hands clasped together and Aaarrrgghh was yawning as he observed the Lake house. Toby's gaze shifted to the window. Still no goblins. He glanced back at Jim. His friend's face was all scrunched up and starting to turn a brilliant shade of red.
"Hey, Jimbo!"
Blinky shot him a glare, but Jim looked relieved.
"I think you're trying too hard."
Jim frowned, shoulders slumping and Toby immediately felt guilty. He shoved the feeling down and shifted his attention back to Blinky.
"Hey, Mr. Blinky! How about you give Jim some time to work on that and in the mean time we figure out how to disguise me."
"Disguise you?" Blinky frowned. "Are you coming too?"
"Absolutely!" Toby puffed out his chest. "There's no way I'm letting Jimbo do this solo."
"Of course," Blinky said thoughtfully. "I'll have to see if I can find something."
"Cool. Cool… So there was one more thing I was wondering…"
"Yes?"
"Soooooo… Can you trolls smell us? I mean I know most animals have a better sense of smell than humans, but you guys aren't really animals, so…"
"Yes, we can," Blinky said, mercifully cutting off Toby's rambling.
"So is there a way we can disguise that?"
"Possibly…"
"Excellent! How about you guys work on that tonight, and then we'll meet again tomorrow and go to your secret troll lair."
"That does sound like a reasonable solution…"
"Great!" Toby said, trying to nudge Blinky toward the door.
Blinky frowned at him, but then the troll's gaze shifted to Jim and his expression softened.
"Very well… Tomorrow then."
Toby closed the door behind them. Once the trolls were out of sight he collapsed against it with a groan.
"You owe me big time Jimbo…"
"Thanks…"
Toby glanced over to see Jim glaring at the amulet on his chest.
"Any luck?"
"Nope…"
Toby patted him on the shoulder.
"Well I'm sure you'll have it all figured out by tomorrow."
"So how does your mastery of the amulet fair, Master Jim?" Blinky asked as he entered the room the next night.
The two boys were in Tobias' house this time. Blinky had initially been rather apprehensive on the new Trollhunter bringing another human into this but he was beginning to suspect it was unavoidable given how close they were. Besides Tobias seemed to be a calming influence on Jim… Even if he was a bit paranoid…
His train of thought trailed off as he finally caught sight of the two young humans. Master Jim was currently was leaning back with his foot braced against Tobias' stomach. Tobias appeared to be attempting to remove the amulet with a short metal bar.
"What in Deya's name is going on here?" Blinky exclaimed.
Tobias flinched and dropped the bar, while Master Jim gave him a smile that was both guilty and relieved. He rubbed at the back of his neck.
"We were trying to remove the armor. I was trying to get the helmet to appear and now it won't come off." He gave Blinky a pleading look. "It's been three hours, please tell me there's like a magic phrase or something…"
"I'm afraid not," Blinky said at a loss. "The armor simply responds to its bearer's will… I've never heard of your predecessors having a problem getting it off… Of course you are the first human to wear an amulet designed for trolls, so I suppose we should expect the unexpected to occur."
Jim grimaced.
"You mentioned you were working on materializing the helmet… Did you have any luck?"
Master Jim's shoulders hunched and he shook his head. Blinky sighed and tapped his fingers together. He didn't want to rush the boy, but it was imperative they start training immediately.
"I spoke with our elder Vendel today and he gave me these," Blinky said, pulling out pendants with amber stones on them. "These will at least mask your scent…"
"Wait… really?" Tobias asked, sounding excited.
Blinky handed one to each of the boys. Jim took his and put it on while Toby immediately held it up toward the light.
"This looks like some sort of amber," He said rotating it slowly.
"Very astute!" Blinky said, clapping the boy on the back. "Indeed it is! However I can assure you, you won't be finding this particular type in one of your human museums. It's exceedingly rare even for trolls."
"How does it hide our scent," Toby asked still turning it over in his hands.
"It doesn't hide your scent, it masks it."
"What's the difference?" Jim asked.
"Hiding your scent would make it to where no one was able to smell you, where masking it makes it to where they simply cannot identify your scent."
Tobias was nodding, but Jim still looked puzzled.
"It's like wearing a disguise: People can see you, but they won't be able to identify you by your face."
"Okay…"
Blinky decided that was about as far as they were going to get.
"With that sorted out let us make haste to Trollmarket!"
"But what about the helmet?"
"Unfortunately I fear we will…"
"Actually I have an idea."
Everyone turned to look at Toby.
The rubber werewolf head mask looked so incredibly ridiculous with the Daylight armor that Toby just had to take a picture of it. He'd download it onto a flash drive later.
He adjusted the disguise that Blinky had provided him with; a large cloak with thick ruff of fur around the neck, and a horned mask. It was supposed to make him look like a troll… the irony…
"How long until we get there?" Jim asked.
"Soon," Blinky said. "We shall be in sight of the canals in a moment."
"Good, this thing smells… How long has it been since you last washed this, Toby?"
"Hey! You're supposed to call me Warhammer when we're out doing hero stuff!" He really needed to drive that point home. He paused for a moment before adding. "…Also …I didn't think you were supposed to wash masks?"
Jim groaned. The four of them reached to top of the canals and began to navigate their way down. Toby nearly tripped a couple times, unused to wearing a cloak, but that aside they made it without incident.
"Right this way," Blinky said, guiding them toward the bridge.
"Where…" Jim started to say.
A low threatening snarl cut them off.
Toby's heart leapt into his throat as a familiar troll dropped down from the bridge.
"So this is the new Trollhunter," Bular said, stalking toward them. "Pathetic."
He paused, lip curling as he examined Jim.
"Why do you hide your face, coward?"
Blinky turned to Jim.
"Get out your sword, Master –"
Toby managed to unfreeze and kick him hard in the leg before he could finish his sentence. Blinky shot him a glare before clearly realizing his near slip and putting on an anxious smile. He leaned closer to Jim and spoke in a low voice.
"I know you're not ready for this, but if you can hold him off for a few minutes we can open the portal to Trollmarket. Can you do that?"
Jim might have nodded… or maybe he was just shaking that hard. It was difficult to tell with the mask. Blinky, however, took it as agreement.
"Excellent!" Blinky said pushing Jim forward slightly. "Aaarrrgghh…"
Before Toby could register what was happening the large troll had picked him up by the collar and deposited him onto his back. Toby automatically grabbed onto his fur. Aaarrrgghh charged forward and Bular ignored him in favor of going after Jim.
"Wait!" Toby yelled.
Bular was going to kill Jim. He had killed Kanjigar not even a week ago and that guy had been the Trollhunter for ages. Toby desperately wanted to go back to help Jim, but neither of the trolls were listening to him and fear held him in place. Besides… what could he do against Bular? He was just one changeling and the Gum-Gum ate changelings. He'd seen it happen once. Back when he first arrived on the surface…
They stopped under the bridge.
Toby slid off Aaarrrgghh's back and turned toward the fight just in time to see Jim get his sword stuck in Bular's arm. The troll roared at him and Jim dropped to the ground. He turned and started running toward them at a pace that would have made Coach Lawrence proud.
"The horngazel!" Blinky yelled and tossed Aaarrrgghh a chunk of glowing orange crystals on a handle. "Open the portal!"
Aaarrrgghh drew an arch on the wall with the horngazel and punched the center of it. The stone with in the arch cracked with a myriad of glowing blue lines and then swirled away. Toby would have taken a moment to stare in awe if they weren't in mortal peril. Why did all the cool things in Toby's life have to happen when he was in danger?
"Hurry, Master… Trollhunter!" Blinky yelled
Jim, too busy running for his life, did not respond. Aaarrrgghh retreated through the portal, followed closely by Blinky. Toby stepped half through and paused.
Jim was close, but Bular was quickly gaining on him.
"Come on," Toby muttered, shaking as adrenaline coursed through his body.
The portal was closing. Jim's armor vanished in a flash, leaving just his regular clothes and Toby's stupid Halloween werewolf mask. Jim put on another burst of speed, crossing the final stretch of distance, and lunged forward Bular's swords slashing through the air just a breath behind him. Toby grabbed his arm and they fell back through the portal just as it closed.
Author Note:
Okay! So I am turning this into a full length fic!
I have the outline for the first part written out and am working on part two (that way if I can't finish part two I can still stop it at a good place). I will be attempting to update every third week, but I can make no guarantees, life being as it is.
Thank you for all your thoughtful comments and reviews! I love hearing from you all.
(I also accept critiques and constructive criticism on my writing style so let me know if you see something I should work on)