Chapter 3: The Fossegrim

It was somewhere between breakfast and lunch when Hilda was reading the book Kaisa gave her about familiars. She really enjoyed what she was learning, especially the section about shapeshifting. Alfur was reading the book with her and enjoying it almost as much.

"Woah! I didn't know that human familiars can have a mental connection to their witches just like animals. That's so cool!" Hilda said.

"Indeed." Alfur agreed. "This is such a fascinating new world of magical knowledge. The fact that each familiar ability has it's own set of rules makes me want to read more!"

"Hilda!" Johanna called. "Your friends are here!"

"Looks like reading more will have to wait, Alfur." Hilda said as she placed a bookmark and closed the book.

She placed Alfur on her shoulder and together they went to the living room where Johanna, Twig, Frida, David, and Tontu all waited.

"Now it'll be a little longer before we can get going. I just have to finish up our lunch." Johanna said.

"Okay, Mum." Hilda acknowledged.

Johanna then went to the counter where a picnic basket was and the kids and creatures all sat on the couch together.

"Thanks for inviting us to your picnic, Hilda." David said.

"You're welcome." Hilda replied. "Wait until you taste what Mum made for us. It's the best."

"So, how's your reading coming?" Frida asked.

"Better than I thought." Hilda answered. "I never knew there were so many different types of familiar magic. One can get you anywhere faster than a translocation spell while another allows you to summon plants and objects in case of missing ingredients."

"That's amazing! But what about yours?"

"I actually got some answers this morning. It turns out that a familiar's first form comes for free based the circumstances of when it happens. After that however, I have to earn whatever else I could turn into. Unfortunately, the book doesn't say how."

"Wait. If you have to earn them, shouldn't you have multiple forms already?" David asked.

"I thought about that, but the book says that anything I did before my first form doesn't count."

"That's probably for the best since having too many forms to begin with could be a hassle." Alfur commented.

"You say that like you're an expert." Tontu said.

"Of course I'm not, Tontu, but think about it. That would be like putting too much food in your mouth. It has to be a little bit at a time."

"Alfur's right. It makes sense." Hilda said.

She stood up and placed Alfur on the coffee table. Frida noticed that Hilda was staring off at nothing.

"Are you okay, Hilda?" she asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking about what I would've picked if I had gotten to choose a form instead." Hilda replied.

"What might that be?" David asked.

"A deerfox, of course."

Twig's ears lifted at that answer.

"Back when it was just us and Mum, I sometimes wondered what Twig was thinking and what it was like being a deerfox. I bet we'd have more fun than ever if I could do that. I've always considered Twig as family, but then it would be like having an actual brother."

Twig then jumped into Hilda's arms for a hug, which he got.

"I think you'd make a great deerfox, Hilda."

Hilda looked around the apartment in confusion.

"Who said that?"

"Who said what?" Frida asked.

"You didn't hear that?" Hilda looked at her friends.

All of them shook their heads. Johanna overheard and came to check on her daughter.

"Hilda, are you alright?" she asked.

"I know I heard someone." Hilda said.

"Wait. Are you talking about me?"

"There it is again!" Hilda was starting to worry. "I think someone my age is trying to talk to me."

"Hilda, there is nobody else here." Johanna assured.

Hilda took a moment to calm down. Then a thought struck her. She curiously raised her deerfox to her eye level.

"Twig?"

"Hilda?" Twig said.

*Gasp* "I can hear you talk!" Hilda hugged Twig once again and spun in a couple circles.

Everyone else was just as surprised as her. But then Hilda looked confused again.

"Wait. If I can hear you now, then why haven't I changed?"

Suddenly, Hilda felt something come out from behind her. The room was filled with gasps at what happened. Hilda put Twig down and looked behind herself. Just as she had guessed, she had sprouted a tail exactly like Twig's.

"I...have a tail." Hilda slowly touched it and smiled.

"I HAVE A TAIL! This is so cool!"

She moved her tail around to see if it was just as flexible as any deerfox tail. It was. All of the others got closer with curiosity. Hilda understood and turned around for them.

"Go ahead and touch it." she offered. "It feels just as soft as Twig."

Frida was the first to take the offer and enjoyed it. David hesitated, but stroked Hilda's tail and found it to be amazing. Twig being a deerfox to begin with sniffed the tail instead and liked it. The rest declined the offer, but still admired what they saw in their own ways.

"Didn't that hurt?" David asked.

"No, but it does feel weird having a new body part." Hilda answered while wagging her tail.

"Hold on. I thought you said you had to earn most of your forms." Frida said.

"I don't know what happened. All I did was hug Twig."

"Maybe that was all you needed." Johanna suggested. "Your love for Twig must've earned you this."

"Does this mean Hilda can just be nice to everyone so she can get new forms?" Tontu asked.

"Not the way you're saying it." Alfur scolded. "That would merely be self-serving deeds. Who would ever do something like that?"

Frida looked to the side with a face full of guilt.

"Well if this ends up being the only other form I'll ever get, then I'm happy." Hilda while still admiring her tail.

"Uhh, weren't we going on a picnic?" Tontu reminded everyone, ending Hilda's happy moment.

"Oh no. We can't go to the park while this is happening." Hilda said. "I'm so sorry, Mum. I ruined another picnic."

"That's alright, Hilda. You have nothing to be ashamed of." Johanna assured with a hug for her daughter. "Besides, I have an idea."

At the bottom of the stairs, a neighbor by the name of Peter Ostenfeld had just exited his apartment and was about to head outside when he heard several feet coming down. He looked up and saw Hilda, Johanna, and the rest descending the stairs while carrying a few different things including the picnic basket and a big backpack that Hilda was wearing for some reason.

"I heard you were going on a picnic." he said. "But this looks more like you're ready for a banquet. Hahaha."

"I'm not used to preparing food for this many." Johanna said, which was partly true.

"Bye, Mr. Ostenfeld." Hilda waved as she and the others went out the door.

"Have fun." Peter said as he walked down the sidewalk while the group got into the car.

Once he was out of sight and no one else was looking, Hilda took off the back pack that was covering her tail and quickly got in the car. Johanna sat in the driver seat obviously, but Hilda and everyone else sat in the back together.

"Is there more to the plan than just hiding Hilda's new look?" Frida asked.

"Of course." Johanna answered. "If we can't have a picnic in Trolberg, then we'll just have it out in the wilderness like we used to."

*Gasp* "Really, Mum?" Hilda was kicking her legs and swishing her tail in excitement.

"Yes, Hilda, and I know just the place."

Shortly after the car drove off, Hilda then felt something on her head.

"I think it's happening again." Hilda said.

Suddenly, a pair of little black antlers sprouted from her forehead and she wasted no time feeling them.

"I wish I had a good sized mirror. I really want to see how I look with antlers."

"I think I can help with that." Frida pulled out her wand and drew an oval shape while chanting some magic words.

The oval then turned into a floating flat surface and Frida moved it in front of Hilda's face. It turned out to be a magically made mirror and Hilda liked what she saw in it.

"Wow."

"I wonder why you aren't changing as fast as before." David said.

"Well according to the book, this is actually normal." Hilda explained. "Sometimes it happens quickly, sometimes it's slow like now, and sometimes it somehow does something else. I didn't fully read about that yet, but I do know all of the differences only happen the first time. Afterwards, they all work the same way. By the way Frida, is this one of your new spells from your last lesson?"

"As a matter of fact, it is." Frida said. "I've got a few more if you want to hear about them."

"Yes please!"

"Well, I've started learning how to control parts of a tree, but haven't gotten very far. I also learned a couple of protection spells in case of specific situations..."

As Johanna drove out of Trolberg, Frida told Hilda and the rest more of her spells that she recently learned. Tontu and Twig weren't as interested, Hilda, David, and Alfur were enjoying what Frida had to say, and Johanna listened to the happiness in the backseats and smiled.

The car was nearing the groups destination when Hilda put her hands behind her head just for the heck of it. But then one hand felt something on the other. Hilda brought her hands back in front of herself and found that her left hand now had white fur and a black claw.

"Woah. Look, I have a claw." she held her hand out for all to see.

"That's odd." Frida said. "Deerfoxes have hooves, not claws."

"Huh. I guess that's just because I haven't fully changed yet."

A second later, Hilda saw her right hand become furred and clawed too. While she was admiring her changed hands, the car came to a halt.

"We're here." Johanna said.

Everybody got out of the car and the location they arrived at looked beautiful. They were next to a river with a nearby waterfall coming from a tall cliff and there were plenty of trees in sight, but not too close. Hilda and Twig were especially happy to be out there.

"It feels so good to be out in the wilderness again." Hilda said.

"You said it." Twig agreed.

"Is it really safe here?" David nervously asked.

"If it wasn't, I wouldn't have brought any of you here." Johanna said while pulling out the basket and blanket.

"It's crowded here." a familiar voice said.

Everyone turned toward the source's direction and there coming to the river was someone most of them knew.

"Woodman!" Hilda said cheerfully. "It's been a while since we last saw you."

"Apparently a lot has happened since then." the woodman replied, staring at Hilda's new look.

"Oh yeah. I'm a shapeshifter now. It's a long story"

"Not one that I'm interested in." the woodman stopped at the edge of the river and lied down doing nothing.

"So this is the rude guy you told me about." Tontu commented.

"Yes, this is the woodman." Hilda replied. "Woodman, this is Tontu. He's a nisse."

The woodman sat up, said "Hello.", and lied back down.

"Would you like to join us?" Hilda offered. "We're having a picnic."

"No thank you." the woodman said. "I'm waiting for someone. By the way, you've got something on your face."

Curious as she's known to be, Hilda looked into the reflection of the river and saw what he meant. *Gasp* There was fur spreading all over her face. Her ears then grew and became fox-like. Then her teeth sharpened and her mouth stretched out into a snout with her nose turning black. The rest of her head stayed the same.

"This is amazing!" Hilda couldn't resist jumping for joy.

However, she ended up jumping higher than she expected. Due to the surprise height, Hilda started falling instead of trying to land.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"HILDA!" Johanna ran with her arms out and caught Hilda in time.

"Thanks, Mum. I didn't know I already had the jumping part."

"Just please be more careful." Johanna said as she hugged her daughter.

"I will." Hilda hugged back and got out her mum's arms. "So, how do I look?"

"A little scary, but kind of cool." David said.

"The half-deerfox form looks good on you." Frida said.

"I must agree." Alfur chimed in.

"Hmm, not bad." Tontu said.

Twig sniffed Hilda again and rubbed her legs to show he liked her current look. Hilda was so happy that her tail started wagging, causing Johanna to chuckle a little.

"What's so funny?" Hilda asked.

"Oh I just think you look adorable like this." Johanna said. "Now let's eat."

As all of them ate sandwiches and other foods, Hilda started smelling it all which surprised the others. By the time they finished their lunch, Hilda paused and caused some concern.

"Hilda, are you alright?" Johanna asked.

"I think I'm gonna..." Before Hilda could finish her sentence, she changed the rest of the way into a deerfox.

She looked around and saw the surprised faces of everyone around her. She then checked her own body and was certain that she had indeed completed her transformation. While they all stared at Hilda, they noticed two differences between her and Twig.

"Hey, you still have some blue in your fur, Hilda." Frida said. "And your ears don't match Twig's. I wonder why that is."

"Perhaps this is normal for shapeshifters." Alfur guessed.

"I don't mind. " Hilda said. "Now I can play like a deerfox with Twig."

So she tackled Twig and they rolled around and played together. They even chased each other while the kids watched and Johanna put away all of the picnic stuff. During the middle of some antler sparring, Hilda fell over and noticed that the woodman was still lying next to the river.

"Hold it, Twig. I want to see if I can change back yet." Hilda tried and successfully returned to her human form. "Yes."

Then she walked over to the woodman and asked him "Who are you waiting for?"

"Doesn't matter." the woodman said. "He should've already shown up."

"You mean he's late?"

"I doubt it. He lives just behind that waterfall."

"Oh, then we should see if he's okay."

"Hilda, time to go home." Johanna called.

"Wait, Mum. I think something's wrong." Hilda said. "Woodman just told me that his friend is late even though he lives behind that waterfall."

"Technically not my friend." the woodman said.

"The point is I think we should check on him. He could be in trouble."

"I'm with Hilda." Frida said. "We should see if whoever's back there is alright or not."

The rest of the group agreed as well and stood by Hilda's side.

"Of course we're going to check on him." Johanna said. "Did you really think I'd say no to something so urgent?"

"Thanks, Mum. Let's go!"

The group headed for the waterfall and found a path between that and the cliff it fell from. But before they entered, Hilda called back to the woodman.

"Woodman! Aren't you coming?"

"Nope." the woodman answered without even moving an inch.

Hilda rolled her eyes and went behind the waterfall first. The rest followed in a single file. The exact order was Twig with Alfur on his head, Johanna, Frida, David, and Tontu. There turned out to be two stone paths with a second river in between, all heading in a mostly straight line into the dark. Thankfully there was some glowing moss on the walls.

"Wait a minute." David said. "What if something attacked this guy and is still in here?"

"I can take care of that." Hilda said just before she turned into a troll.

Johanna looked at her daughter with concern, but trusted her. Shortly after, the group arrived at a round dead end where the river came to a big pool in the middle. But there was nobody in the cave.

"Uhhhh, shouldn't there be someone here?" Tontu asked.

"Woodman said he was here, honest." Hilda defended.

"Maybe he just moved somewhere else." Johanna said.

"Maybe not." Frida looked at the pool in thought. "I think there's a reason someone lives in here of all places."

Hilda quickly understood what Frida was getting at and knelt down to splash some water with her hand.

"Hello. Is anybody down there?"

Nothing seemed to happen, so Hilda took her hand out. But then she and the others noticed something coming up fast. All of a sudden, whatever it is burst out of the water and got everyone wet. After shaking some water off, the group then saw what came out. It or rather he looked to be human with long dirty blonde hair, pointy ears, and for clothing, just an old fashioned tunic and pair of pants. And to top it off, he was standing on the water.

"I do believe this is what you would call trespassing." he said.

"We're very sorry, sir." Hilda said "We thought you might be in trouble."

"Oh, is that all? Well as you can see..." the man stopped and stared at Hilda. " A troll? In the daytime!? AND SHE TALKS!? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!?"

"Oops." Hilda changed back. "I'm actually a shapeshifter. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I think I've heard of you before." Frida said as she examined the guy. "You're a fossegrim!"

"What's a fossegrim?" Hilda asked.

"Simply put, I am a spiritual being who's kin is naturally great with music and lives near waterfalls. You may call me Sven."

"I'm Hilda, and these are Twig, Frida, David, Tontu, Alfur, and my Mum."

"Johanna."

"You probably can't see Alfur because he's an elf." Hilda added.

"Actually I can. I've signed the paperwork. Salutations to all of you."

Everyone either said hello or waved except for Twig.

"So as I was saying, I am perfectly fine." Sven said. "But thank you for trying to help a stranger anyway. What made you think I was in some kind of trouble in the first place?"

"The woodman said you were supposed to show up a while ago." David answered.

"The woodman?" Sven said with a hint of anger.

He walked past the group and headed for the waterfall.

"I don't think he likes the woodman." Tontu said.

They all followed Sven out of the cave and observed him yelling at the woodman who was now standing.

"You've got a lot of nerve coming back here after what you did!" he shouted.

"I knew I forgot something." the woodman replied.

"You forgot!? Why I oughta..."

"Stop!" Johanna said as she got inbetween them. "Whatever happened, yelling and fighting is not going to solve anything!"

Hilda walked over to the woodman, crossed her arms, and asked "Alright, Woodman, what did you do this time?"

"I may have won his violin in a game of cards." the woodman said.

"And then you lost it to someone else!" Sven added. "I need my special violin to play my music!"

"Wait a minute." Frida said. "If your violin is so important, then why did you wager it?"

"I was low on things to bet and I was so sure that I could win that round."

"Well that's still no way to behave when losing a fair game." Hilda said. "It was a fair game, right?"

"Believe it or not, I do draw the line at cheating." the woodman assured.

There is obviously a problem with his priorities, but that wasn't important right now. Hilda looked at Sven and noticed how upset he was over his violin.

"Your violin must really mean a lot to you."

*Sigh* "Every fossegrim has a special instrument." Sven explained. "It is considered a part of us. Without it, we don't even bother making music. How could I have been so stupid!"

Hilda felt bad for Sven and wanted to do something about it. So she tugged on her mother's sleeve.

"Let me guess." Johanna skeptically said. "You want to help him get his violin back?"

Hilda pulled out her puppy eyes and switched to her new half-deerfox form.

"If I said no... you'd definitely come out here and help anyway." Johanna then smiled. "Good thing I wasn't going to say no."

"You're going to help me?" Sven asked.

"It's what Hilda does." Alfur said.

"And as sparrow scouts, so do we." Frida added.

Sven looked at all of the people he just met and gained a touch of hope.

"Thank you."

"Let's go find that violin!" Hilda cheered as her tail wagged again.

"Have fun with that." the woodman said.

Hilda grabbed his arm and said "You're coming too, since you know where it is."

"Alright." the woodman led the way. "It's a good thing I followed him once and know a shortcut."

Along the way to who knows where, Hilda decided to ask Sven a question or two.

"So, do you always live near the waterfall?"

"I sometimes go up and down the river." Sven answered. "I actually haven't done otherwise in a long time, and doing it now is a little uncomfortable to me."

"I know the feeling." Hilda said. "I used to live out in the wilderness with just my mum and Twig. But then we had to move to Trolberg and I stayed indoors for three days, thinking the city would be boring. Then I saw that it was a cool place too and even made some friends. Come to think of it, Tontu's been in a similar situation. Anyway, going to new places can be a lot of fun, even if you reluctantly end up living there."

Sven admired Hilda's words with a smile. Shortly after, the group came to the edge of a cliff at least seven feet away from another cliff. It wasn't wide enough to be a gorge, but nobody wanted to fall into it.

"We'll have to cross this." the woodman said.

"What!?" David and Tontu cried out.

"This is too wide and too deep!" Johanna stated. "How do you expect even half of us to get across?!"

"I think I have an idea." Hilda said while looking at the other side that was partly covered with big rocks.

She took a few steps back and ran for the cliff. But just as she was about to leap over, someone pulled her back.

"Wah!"

Hilda was sitting on her butt and turned around to see Johanna holding her by her tail.

"What do you think you're doing, Hilda!?"

"Mum, I can jump a lot better now, even more than as a troll."

Johanna realized the good point her daughter made and let go. "I'm sorry. Go ahead."

Hilda then redid her start and leapt all the way to the other cliff perfectly. Twig followed suit as Hilda searched the area.

"What are you looking for?" Twig asked.

"You'll see, Twig." Hilda said. "Aha. Perfect."

She carried a big, but not too heavy rock to the edge. Then she found a second rock with a similar shape and size and took it to the same spot.

"Frida, how's your levitation spell coming?"

"Oh. Good thinking." Alfur said, still on Twig's head.

Frida immediately understood and held her hand out. Her hand glowed a teal color and the two rocks began to float. The rocks then moved to the gap between the cliffs and formed a magic bridge.

"A witch too?" Sven said.

"I'm sort of the reason Hilda can change like that." Frida replied.

David and Tontu were still nervous about crossing until Johanna offered to carry them. She leapt to the first stone, then the next, and landed on the other side. Sven and the woodman followed while Johanna put David and Tontu down. Frida was the last to cross and then she brought the rocks back to the edge and ended the spell.

"This way." the woodman said as he started walking, leading the group into the woods.

While the group followed the woodman, Sven noticed David falling behind and keeping to himself. So he decided to check on him.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked, receiving a nod. "What's on your mind?"

"Don't tell my friends, but I feel so useless around them." David whispered.

"Can't do any magic stuff like them, huh?"

"Not only that, but Hilda is a fearless adventurer, Frida is really smart, and I'm nothing."

"Oh come on, there must've been at least one time when you were helpful to them."

"Once in a while I helped a little, but mostly I'm just an unlucky coward." David then said something he really didn't want to say. "I think... they might be better off without me."

Suddenly, something blurred past the group. No, someone. It was Hilda who surprised everyone especially David whom she stopped right in front of.

"What do you mean we're better off without you!?" she hollered.

"Y-y-you heard that?" David stuttered.

"Deerfox ears." Hilda pointed at her ears which wiggled at the same time.

"Then you know why I said it, Hilda."

Everybody was now watching and listening to this discussion.

"David, we've been through this. Frida and I don't care about stuff like that as long as you're a good friend." Hilda assured. "Besides, you saw how I was when I was jealous of Frida. Now look at me."

Hilda gestured to her current form which most of the group couldn't help finding adorable. David even snickered a little at what Hilda last said.

"I think you just haven't found your own thing yet."

Then Frida came up to them.

"Hilda's right. In fact, you should consider yourself lucky. We both have to keep what we can do secret." Frida then looked downward and rubbed her arm. "I can't even tell my own parents. They really don't like witches."

"Thanks. And I'm sorry to hear that." David hugged his two best friends who hugged back. "I still wish I could be more like you."

Hilda thought about what David just said. When her mind went back to the cliffs, she snapped her fingers.

"Maybe you can. I've always been good at jumping because I used to live out here. So maybe if you try to practice jumping short distances, then make it a little longer once in a while, you could at least jump like Frida."

"Good idea." Frida said.

"I guess I could try that when we get home." David said.

Sven was impressed by the friendship of the three kids before him and couldn't help asking something.

"Do you three practically do everything together?"

"Not really." Frida answered. "Sometimes I feel like David and I never get to take part in Hilda's better adventures."

As they all started walking again, Johanna messed with the top of Hilda's head.

"That's my Hilda. Always helpful to everyone." she said.

Hilda just smiled like any innocent child would. A short while later, the group came to a river and the woodman stopped.

"We're here." he said.

Everybody looked around, but they saw nobody nor any home. Just trees and bushes. Then Alfur hopped off of Twig and asked a question someone should've asked earlier.

"Woodman, whom exactly did you lose that violin to?"

"Another fossegrim." the woodman answered. "He said his violin was broken and that he heard I had one."

"But shouldn't there be a waterfall?" Hilda asked. "Sven said all fossegrim live near one. Didn't you?"

"I did, but I don't know this river or anyone who lives here. Unless..." Sven suddenly thought of something bad. "Cover your ears!"

Too late. The sound of a violin was being played. Out of the water rose a man similar to Sven, but with black hair, fancy clothing, and he was playing said violin. Suddenly Johanna, Frida, David, Alfur, and the woodman stood still in some kind of trance. Hilda, Twig, and Tontu were confused by what was happening. Sven quickly grabbed Hilda and Tontu and ran from the river with Twig running behind. Once out of sight behind a bush, Sven let them go and silently warned them to keep quiet.

"Who was that?" Hilda whispered.

"I don't know him, but that was not a fossegrim." Sven explained. "That was a Nacken. Or was it Nikker? Argh, I can never remember the right name. The point is he is very dangerous. Unlike us, his music hypnotizes his victims and he does whatever he wants with them."

"This is why I prefer the city!" Tontu whisper-yelled. "There's less danger there."

"But why didn't we get hypnotized?" Hilda asked.

"His music doesn't effect spirits like me and Tontu or animals such as deerfoxes. Staying as you are now saved you from a terrible fate."

"What about our friends and my mum?"

"He's most likely having them search for us so we can't warn anyone. We'll have to run."

"No!" Hilda shouted before covering her mouth. "I'm not leaving them behind. There has to be a way to save them."

"I'm with Hilda." Tontu said.

Twig proudly stood by Hilda's side. Sven just sighed, knowing he couldn't win this argument.

"There is one way that might work. If we can correctly say the name of what he is, he'll weaken. Don't ask me why. It just does. And if we succeed, we then need to destroy his violin to make him powerless. All I know of his name is that it sounds like Nacken."

"Good. Let's get-AHHH!" Hilda was interrupted by something unexpected. "Someone's got my tail!"

They all looked behind Hilda to find a hypnotized David coming out of the bush and holding her by the tail and trying to grab the rest of her. Tontu quickly tackled him, forcing him to let go. They rolled in the dirt and made some of it fly around. Then Hilda realized the music was still playing and got an idea.

"Sven, hold David in place!"

Sven trusted Hilda and did as he was told. While David struggled to break free from the arms that wrapped around him, Hilda grabbed some dirt with grass still attached to it and stuffed it in his ears. After a few seconds, David calmed down and looked around in confusion.

"What's going on?' David asked.

"Everyone but us is hypnotized, we have to say a name right, and don't take the dirt out of your ears!" Hilda shouted. "I'll explain the rest later!"

"Good thinking." Sven said as he let David go. "They can't be hypnotized if they can't hear the music."

The group crept carefully back to the river, making sure the other victims didn't find them. Thankfully, the victims seemed to have spread out to cover more ground. Then Hilda smelled one of them. It was Frida. Hilda silently shushed the others and snuck up on her. Then she grabbed Frida from behind. Tontu came up and jammed some dirt into Frida's ears. It took the same amount of time for her to come back.

"What just happened?"

Hilda loudly explained the basics again. The group continued to find the others and return to the river. Shortly after, Twig sniffed out another one. The group looked around a tree and spotted who it was.

"Mum." Hilda whispered.

Frida pulled out her wand and cast some kind of spell. Then some roots came out of the ground and held Johanna's feet in place. Hilda leapt onto her shoulders and plugged her ears the same way. Johanna soon enough snapped out of it.

"Where am I?"

Hilda surprised Johanna by climbing over her and then hugged her tight. Naturally, Johanna hugged back. After the same explanation, Hilda got back down and Frida set Johanna free. However...

"AHH!" Tontu screamed.

He had been caught by the woodman and tried desperately to get free. Hilda ran to save them both and Frida started casting another spell. But then half-way through, David pulled the woodman's head away from his body and ran with it. The whole group stared at David with wide eyes.

"What? It doesn't hurt him." David said.

The woodman's body released Tontu and tried to find the head. Johanna quickly picked the body up while Hilda grabbed some more dirt. Then Hilda just stopped after remembering something.

"Oh no, I forgot. Woodman doesn't have ears. What do we do?"

"Hold on. I just remembered one of my spells can help with this." Frida held her hands up near either side of her head and started chanting.

When she finished, an almost invisible sphere covered her head.

"This spell can protect us from mental spells." Frida said as she took the dirt out of her ears. "I should've thought of this as soon as I was free."

She then did the same for David, Johanna, and the woodman. David then returned the woodman's head to his body.

"That was a Nixie or something, wasn't it?" the woodman asked. "I always get the two mixed up. And have trouble with that name."

"Yes, now let's do something about his music." Sven said.

"What about Alfur?" Hilda asked.

"He'll be fine as long as we watch our steps." Johanna said. "We can save him faster if we stop... whatever that nix-man is called."

Hilda hesitated, but agreed to the strategy.

The group finally got back to the river where the enemy was still playing the violin.

"Alright Nacker, stop playing my violin and give it back!" Sven demanded.

"I never needed your violin, but it does make a good spare." the evil spirit said. "I just wanted to make sure you couldn't take any potential
audiences from me."

"You mean someone you can murder, Nixie!" Sven countered. "Your kind has given us a bad name for too long!"

"Well it sounds like you can't do anything about it."

"Nikker! Nock! Nix! Nykk! Nykur!" Hilda repeatedly guessed the spirit's name, but nothing happened.

"That's just pathetic. Saying random words and hoping to find the right one."

"Well at least we have the upper hand." Hilda said. "You only have one of us left and he can't hurt us."

"I know. That's why I have a backup plan." the spirit stopped playing and revealed from his pocket Alfur tied up with string.

Most of the group gasped.

"Pretending to be a fossegrim really paid off. But alas, I can no longer see him. I must've violated the contract. Oh well."

"LET HIM GO!" Hilda screamed.

"Step into the river and maybe I-" WHAM!

A rock flew and hit the spirit in the head, causing him to drop Alfur. A floating leaf then caught Alfur and returned him to the group. Everybody looked at a smug Frida who pulled two glowing hands from behind her back. She then cast the protection spell on Alfur and untied him.

"Thank you, Frida." Alfur said before climbing onto her head.

The evil spirit got back up, rubbing his head and angrily glaring at the group. He then started playing a new tune.

"What is he doing?" Johanna asked with worry.

The spirit completed his melody and shined while changing shape. He was now a horse who looked ready to kill.

"Look out!" Sven shouted.

The horse charged at them with extreme prejudice. All of them managed to dodge in time, some better than others.

"We have to keep guessing his name!" Hilda said.

So everyone tried.

"Nekker!" "Nixe!" "Nokken!" "Nicor!" "Neckar!"

All of them were wrong. The horse charged again.

"I think I remember the name from a book." the woodman said. "It's Nokker!"

The horse suddenly stopped and fell from being hurt. He whinnied in pain.

"You did it!" Sven said. "Nokker!"

The others joined in. "Nokker!" "Nokker!" "Nokker!" "Nokker!" "Nokker!" "Nokker!" Over and over, they repeated his name.

The Nokker struggled, but got up and ran away.

"We can't let him hurt anymore people!" Sven said.

"Don't worry. We got this." Hilda said as she gave Frida a piggyback ride and took off with Twig close behind.

"So, what now?" David asked.

"Sven's violin should be in the river, right?" Johanna said.

Meanwhile, the Nokker ran fast, even for a horse. But the girls, elf, and deerfox slowly caught up.

"Nokker!" it wasn't working due to the horse running too loudly.

"You'll have to slow him down somehow!" Alfur said.

"Frida! The tree thing!" Hilda said.

"Got it!" Frida cast the tree spell again and made some of the trees grow new low branches.

One of the branches managed to trip the Nokker, stopping him in his tracks.

"Nokker!" "Nokker!" "Nokker!" "Nokker!" "Nokker!"

The Nokker screamed and shined again, returning to his true form. He lied there in defeat with his violin and bow to the side. Twig growled at him, making sure he didn't try anything else. Hilda rushed over and picked the instrument up.

"No more music for you." Hilda clawed the violin and bow to pieces. "Let's go back."

Hilda, Frida, Alfur, and Twig returned to the river and found the others in the water.

"He won't bother anyone anymore." Frida announced. "But what are you doing?"

"Sven's violin is supposed to be in this river somewhere." Tontu answered. "But so far, all we have is dirt and water."

"I found it!" David rose from the water, holding Sven's violin and bow.

"Yes! That's it! Thank you so much!" Sven held his beloved instrument once again like a long lost friend.

"And you said you were useless, David." Hilda said.

David blushed a little at Hilda's comment.

"Let's all head back to the car, shall we?" Johanna said.

On their way back, Sven had a word with the woodman.

"Hey, I'm sorry for holding a grudge against you."

"I'm used to it." was all the woodman had to say.

The group returned to Sven's waterfall with Frida's spell no longer needed and Hilda back in human form. Mostly.

"Hilda, why do you still have your tail out?" David asked.

"I like having a tail." Hilda proudly stated while wagging said tail.

"Well we should go home now." Johanna said.

"Yes, please." Tontu said.

"Wait, I'd like to offer you something." Sven said. "Normally I only do this for food, but what you all did for me is payment enough. Would you like to learn how to better play any instrument?"

*GASP* "May I, Mum?" Hilda asked.

"Alright, go ahead." Johanna said with a smile.

Hilda rushed to the car, pulled something out of the big backpack, and came back with it.

"I sometimes bring my flute on adventures and practice playing it, but I'm still not that good."

"You will be soon enough." Sven said.

The music lessons were a lot quicker than expected due to the magic of fossegrims, taking only ten minutes at most. The results of those quick lessons were beautiful. Everyone applauded Hilda's new musical gift.

"Thank you, Sven." Hilda said. "Hey, we still haven't heard you play yet."

"I've been meaning to make up for lost time anyway." Sven grabbed his violin and started playing for the first time in a while.

The tune he chose to play in celebration was very whimsical, yet divine. He then started dancing to his own music, wowing his small audience. Soon something unexpected happened. Water spirits appeared from the river and began to move to the music as well. The random shapes they took as Sven kept playing were breath taking. The entire performance looked like something you would see at a larger than life celebration for a holiday or a big competition. Everyone except the woodman started dancing themselves. Hilda even played her recorder a little. After the perfect sound for a musical finale, Sven was done and the water spirits went back into the water. Another applause echoed through the open land.

"I will never forget what all of you have done for me." Sven said.

"As much as I enjoyed this, can we go home now?" Tontu asked.

"Of course. So long, Sven." Johanna said.

"Farewell, Sven." Alfur said.

"Goodbye, Sven." the kids said.

"You too, Woodman." Hilda added.

"Until we meet again." the woodman said.

"Goodbye, everyone." Sven said.

"Uhhh... bye." Tontu quickly got in the car with the others.

Johanna then drove the group back to Trolberg as the sun began to set. Along the way, Frida had a question.

"Hey, Hilda. Earlier you said that you have to earn your forms now. So do you suppose you earned a fossegrim form?"

"Actually, I forgot all about that." Hilda replied. "But if I did, my ears would've already changed. Also, David found the violin, not me."

"That is true." Frida admitted.

The kids as well as everyone else in the car remained silent the rest of the way home, thinking back about everything that happened today.

That night, David was in his room thinking about what Hilda said to him. He then grabbed his pillow and put it in the middle of the floor. He stood next to one end and jumped to the other. Then he jumped back to the first end and so on. He still doubted he could ever be as good as his friends, but he was going to at least try, even if it does lead to his parents asking about the noise he's making.

As for Frida, she was studying two books at the same time. One about sparrow scout badges and the other about magic. While she was reading the latter, there was a knock on her bedroom door. She quickly hid that book and said "Come in." The door opened and Frida's mother entered.

"Hi, Frida. How are your school studies coming?" she asked, approaching her daughter.

"I already finished them this morning." Frida responded. "Now I'm studying some of the badges I have yet to earn."

"I should've guessed, knowing you. Your father and I couldn't be more proud."

Frida avoided looking at her own mother, her face full of certainty that her parents would no longer feel that way about her or even like her if she ever told them the truth.

And lastly, Hilda was getting ready for bed completely in human form when Johanna came into the room.

"Hilda, there's something I want to ask you." she said.

"What is it, Mum?" Hilda sat on her bed with Twig by her side and Alfur observing from the shelf where his clock-house sat.

Johanna hesitated, but asked "Are any of your adventures as dangerous as today's was?"

Hilda froze, for she really did not want to tell her mother something that could take away her favorite thing. However, she made a promise to be more honest, which she has so far kept. She still had yet to mention her most dangerous ones though. She took a deep breath and answered.

"Sometimes, they do get that dangerous. Other times, they aren't much or at all. And...and...(gulp)and some are even worse."

Hilda waited in fear for the reaction she expected. But instead, Johanna came to her and sat down next to her.

"That's all I want to know." Johanna said.

"You're not mad?" Hilda asked.

"I probably would be if I knew more, but I think it's better that I don't for now." Johanna explained. "I can't make you stop being yourself and frankly, I don't want to. As long as you remember what we talked about, I won't have any problems with how you spend your days. But I'll still worry about you. It's what mums do."

Hilda and Johanna shared a hug before the latter got up. Before Johanna left though, Alfur called for attention.

"Before anyone goes to bed, I have recently received great news from my fellow elves!"

"What is it, Alfur?" Hilda asked.

"Do you remember Adeline from the time I was almost replaced?" Alfur asked.

"Sure. I even told Mum all about that day." Hilda said.

Alfur held out an open letter and said "Well she has been granted permission to report alongside me! She'll be here in a matter of days!"

"That's great news!" Hilda said.

"Good for you, Alfur." Johanna said. "I'll be looking forward to meeting her."

"Thank you. I better get to bed. Good night."

"Goodnight, Alfur." Johanna turned to her daughter. "Goodnight, Hilda."

"Goodnight, Mum. Goodnight, Alfur."

Alfur went into his clock-house for his bedtime routine. Johanna turned off the lights and closed the door behind her. Hilda got out of her bed and made her tail appear. She admired it again for a moment and got back in her bed like so with Twig cuddled up next to her.

"Goodnight, Twig." Hilda said.

And Twig said "Goodnight, sister."

Author's note: You've got to admit, a deerfox form was a no-brainer, especially as a second transformation. In fact, this is part of why I like the idea of Hilda being a shapeshifter. I read someone else's fanfic about a deerfox curse and liked it. Later I found fanart not only of Hilda as a humanoid deerfox, but as other creatures and spirits from the show. Eventually, I decided that I wanted a fanfic of Hilda becoming a shapeshifter. I just didn't know how to make it work yet. If you've been reading all of my notes so far, then you know how I solved that problem. Now for the chapter itself. If there's any norse creature or spirit that deserves to be in season three of Hilda, it's the fossegrim. This is an interesting enough spirit that we're more than likely to see it happen. But if it doesn't, at least we have the next best thing. I actually wasn't going to include the nokker originally, but what I had planned for this chapter before was pretty bad and I couldn't find any better ideas. Also, I had a little trouble with a couple of the characters this time, such as the woodman. I even tried to have Twig say more lines. So please forgive me if I failed to do someone justice. And in case you expected Hilda to also turn into a fossegrim and want to know why I chose not to have that happen, it's because I already have most if not all of her forms planned for this fic. Have fun guessing what the rest of them might be. Fair warning, my next chapter for this fanfic may or may not take the longest time to finish yet. I'll do my best to get it done ASAP.

Fun Fact: In one of the original Hilda books this show is based on, Hilda really does have a flute. If I was asked what type, I'd say a recorder.