"Those poor Trolberg kids live in fear of bells, not Trolls." said Hilda as she petted her deerfox companion.
"No, they don't. It's just a school bell, it's normal," replied Johanna with a smile. "Those were around when I was your age."
"Those were a large number of kids there," added Hilbert with a frown before checking to see if he had any bruises from being stepped on. "Socializing isn't as easy as I thought."
"Like I said, we can't all accomplish everything on our first try," Johanna responded.
Suddenly, Woodman invited himself into the house, collecting everyone's attention to Hilbert's relief. "Ugh, you let the Woodman in again." Said Johanna, clearly displeasured by the sight of Woodman casually entering the house.
"I bet we won't have neighbors like this in Trolberg." Said Hilda cheerfully as Hilbert went and sat on the couch.
"That's my point," Replied Johanna as she gestured towards Woodman. "Civilized neighbors don't enter your house without asking first."
"Yeah, that only happens with robbers," Hilbert joked, earning a scowl from Hilda.
"But he's like a part of our family,"
"No, I'm not." Woodman spoke.
"You're pretty much the only one who thinks that, Hilda." Hilbert added.
"Nobody asked for your opinion!" glared Hilda angrily, causing Hilbert to glare back.
"Hey, when you guys leave, can I have this?" Woodman held up a book that was on the couch.
Both blue-haired children glared at the wooden character.
"…Never mind." Woodman placed the book down.
"Might as well get some shut eye," Johanna yawned while heading to her bed.
"I second that," added Hilbert as he followed Johanna, ignoring the glare his sister was giving him. "C'mon, Spark. Let's get some rest for the night." Spark let out a few zaps before making their way up the stairs with their creator.
Hilbert checked some things with Spark before resting. "You got any bugs or glitches I should be worried about?"
Spark made a few buzzes to ensure that everything was under control. He would still inform his master of any possible problems he would encounter. Spark wondered if normal beings had similar issues when encountering their own kind of glitch. Nevertheless, both went back to sleep.
After a trip to Woodman's house, Hilda returned home. She entered the twins' room, where she found her brother sleeping on his bed. The girl was already angry enough at Hilbert for not doing anything to prevent the move. He's not even trying to change Mom's mind! Why can't I have a better brother instead of him? Hell, even Alfur makes a better brother than Hilbert does.
The next day, Hilbert noticed Hilda left the house. "Oy, I always got to do everything, do I?" He inspected a backpack and Spark gave a zap of approval. Hilbert smiled and tried to lift the bag, only to fall flat on his face. "I should probably unload."
Spark nodded as his master unpacked various things from his backpack. After putting on warm clothes for their snowy adventure, Hilbert ran outside and barely managed to see Hilda from his location. She didn't look like she had any intention of waiting for him. Hilbert grumbled before running after his sister angrily. Soon enough, he made it.
"It's about time you got here," said Hilda, who was wearing clothes for the cold climate they were about to head into, with clear dislike.
"Hey, I had to unpack stuff to get here," Hilbert got annoyed. "What's the idea taking off without me?"
"Oh, it's just that you looked so okay with living in the city, I thought you wouldn't want to come." said Hilda with venom in her voice.
"Well, I'm here now. Let's head on so we can beat traffic," said Hilbert as he glared at his sister.
Alfur nervously laughed from inside Hilda's hair. "Well, let's go!
And with that, the three began heading towards the mountain. Some time later, they were halfway through.
"Damn, how much more do we need to travel?" asked Hilda as she caught her breath at the lowest point of the mountain covered in snow.
"Yeah, I need rest," said Hilbert as he flopped onto the ground.
"Uhh, 15 hundred elf miles," said Alfur with an awkward smile as he pointed at his map.
Suddenly, some woffs started flying. Hilda felt a lightbulb light up above her, even though it was risky. After angrily looking at her brother, her face changed into determination. She jumped off a cliff...falling onto a Woff that was flying by. Hilbert jolted his eyes into action when he saw that. He believed Hilda and Alfur would be fine. He believed that they'd crash into the snow and shrug it off. That was not the case, as Hilda slipped off the Woff, screaming. Hilbert was scared since his sister would die from a long fall.
"Come on, where is it, where is it?!" The boy rummaged through his backpack. He pulled out a small thick metal disc and immediately threw it at Hilda. It became a small platform with 5 metal cores that Hilda and Alfur fell on. Sadly, Hilda didn't know how to pilot the platform and managed to crash it into some snow. Hilbert used a second disc as a platform to fly his way to Hilda.
"Huh? Never knew you could make something that can fly like a Woff," said Alfur in surprise.
"It doesn't. It uses magic and magnetism to fly around because it'd use less magic that way. Anyway, I'm getting off track," replied Hilbert as he got off the platform. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! JUMPING OFF OF A CLIFF?! REALLY?!"
"I didn't need your help," replied Hilda angrily as she threw away the platform and threw away Hilbert's platform as well.
"Is that how you thank someone for saving your life?" Hilbert crossed his arms while hissing. "Mom would have been very upset if something happened to you!"
"I don't need help from a coward who can so easily give up on our home!" Hilda yelled out angrily while tears came out of her eyes.
"What?! You think this is all a game?! I'm being realistic!"
"You should know that it is 'realistic' enough for us to save our home! For once in my life, I thought I could count on you, but I guess I'm an idiot for thinking that. You're still a coward who hides behind a screen and gives up without any effort."
"At least I got a brain to keep myself safe!" replied Hilbert with a deep frown before sighing. "Fine, I'll leave you be since that what you want."
"This is what I was talking about. You don't even have the courage or will to argue with me about that!" Said Hilda angrily.
"Don't pin this on me! I'm avoiding making things worse!" Hilbert shot back.
"You ALREADY ARE!"
"Guys!" Alfur yelled out.
"What?" Both kids replied.
Alfur pointed at a tiny castle that was relatively close by.
"Oh," Hilda saw their destination. "Well, I'm going to go save our home from abandonment, with you or without you. Preferably without you."
"Fine, break a leg." Replied Hilbert with an eyeroll.
Hilda ignored him and left to meet the king of the elves. Hilbert sat on a rock and waited. He wasn't wrong, there was no way that either of this would end on a positive note for them.
While Hilbert was thinking these thoughts, he heard his sister yell "You don't even have hands" as hard as she could. Her voice started an avalanche that quickly fell down the mountain.
"Crap!" Hilbert tried to think of way he could avoid dying using whatever he had on him, but he just went out blank...and with that he froze. He looked around him for something to hide behind and saw a rock he could use. He knew he wouldn't make it. He wasted too much time thinking and wasn't fast enough to get there in time. Suddenly, something...or someone slammed into him. It was Hilda! She got them both behind the rock, safe from the avalanche.
"Uh, thanks," said Hilbert, shivering from the cold.
"You're welcome," replied Hilda dejectedly before she sat down, completely devoid of hope. She shed a few tears. "It's hopeless. We're never going to get our home back."
Normally, Hilbert would be cheerful, acknowledging that Hilda finally opened her eyes. But he knew that this wasn't the time for that.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up," said Hilbert calmly. "You can't blame yourself. I'm not good at the advice thing and you probably shouldn't take my words too seriously, but what I do know is this: Failure is what we all experience at least once. Sometimes it is the result of a process, and you just have to find a new way around the problem."
"What's your point?" Hilda sniffed as she dried off tears from her eyes.
"Despite the ridiculous stuff you are doing right now, you are willing to risk your own life so we won't have to move out the wilderness. You're crazy, stubborn, and most importantly, a reckless adventurer who'd never give up, even risking their life for a poorly taken picture of a troll." said Hilbert as he crossed his arms. "Now go be just that so I can hate you for it, you big fat idiot."
Hilda was silent for a few seconds before she let out a small chuckle. "You got terrible advice, you chicken."
"I think we already established that," The boy smirked.
"Like, REALLY terrible." Hilda giggled.
"Hardy har har," her brother playfully punched her arm.
"I've heard bad advice before, but never thought I heard ridiculous bulls-"
"Ssh, don't push your luck." deadpanned Hilbert.
"All right, I'll stop now," said Hilda with a smile.
"Ahh, great to see you two getting along," commented Alfur cheerfully. "Your mom will be happy to hear that."
"Keep dreaming, dwarf," Hilbert shook his head.
"Nope, we're still enemies," Hilda coughed.
"Okay?" Replied Alfur as he scratched his head in confusion.
The twins made it out of behind the large rock and noticed a cave in the side of the mountain. It was time for the giantess to wake up again.
In hindsight, suddenly waking up a creature so gigantic they could camouflage themselves as a whole mountain by accident was a bad idea. Fortunately, they managed to save the elf king.
"Oh, crap!" Hilda was shocked. "The mountain, it's a giant?!"
"Well, that's something new," added Hilbert trying not to be scared as Hilda began speaking to the giantess.
They spoke about Jorgen, the giant from before that she was supposed to meet up with. Hilda told her about what she had told Jorgen. The snow had muffled most of the sound for the giantess, making her unable to hear Jorgen. She put her finger in her ear to try and get some of the snow out, unknowing of our group being there.
They had to jump off, but before they could die; another miracle happened. Jorgen was here and he safely caught them and put them on the ground safely. "Well, I'm spent," said Hilbert tiredly. "I'll go home now."
"Wait! Young lad and lady," said the elf king as he got out of his tiny castle "In light of the recent event; I, the king, would like to declare the conflict between you and my people over. I'll speak with the prime minister and inform him of the news," he said as he held up a parchment.
"You gotta sign it to make it happen," commented Alfur cheerfully.
"Oh, I'm signing it right now," said Hilda as she signed without hesitation. "Hilbert?"
"Got it," said Hilbert before he approached the king and signed the parchment.
The elves cheered for this as Johanna, Twig and Spark got out of the house in a panic to see the two giants. Hilda ecstatically ran up to Johanna, yelling about how she was holding a castle and that they didn't have to move. That was before Jorgen stepped on their house, pulverizing it. Hilbert winced as he stared at the damage. Johanna was stunned at how everything was now gone.
Hilbert got on the ground on his knees and pounded the ground with his fists. "You maniac! You destroyed it all! Damn you! Damn you all to hell!"
Hilda felt guilty for her mom and especially her brother, now realizing he wanted to stay here as much as she did. Hilbert sighed as he got up and wiped the tears from his eyes.
"I could fix it if you want," said Hilbert, willing to make his sister happy by showing he cares about their home.
"That's fine, Hilbert. I think we'll be alright," said Hilda with a smile as she held her mother's hand. She then extended her hand to Hilbert to hold it. Hilbert widened his eyes and felt something he hadn't had before: relief.
And with that, they began moving with Alfur telling them the news that he'd be going with them to Trolberg (if they're okay with it of course, which they were) It was a new chapter for the family's life.
