"What do you mean by the future?" Toby asked in confusion, the boy pulling his hands away and crossing them. "I mean exactly what I said. I'm from the future." Jim answered, and then motioned for them to sit on the couch. "It's probably better if I start from the start."
Toby was unusually quiet as he looked at Jim expectantly.
"Today, I was chosen as the Trollhunter-" Jim got cut off by Toby. "What's that?" The other asked, but quieted as Jim narrowed his eyes at him. "Sorry." Toby said with a nervous grin, and Jim could only sigh. "It's fine, Tobes. The Trollhunter is someone who protects trolls and humans from mostly evil trolls, and well there's been also changelings, wizards and-"
"Woah woah woah, pause- You're telling me that trolls, wizards and changwhatever they were exist?" Toby said in disbelief, but well. His best friend was blue right now, so it could be easily possible.
"Yeah-" Jim got cut off. "Wait? The Trollhunter! You?" Toby realized.
"Yup." Jim answered calmly. "So in the future I was the Trollhunter, you were always by my side through all of this and eventually got your own weapon and began fighting by my side-"
"What weapon?" Toby asked in excitement. "A war hammer." Jim answered to the other.
"Awesomesauce~~"
"Anyways, eventually we had to fight against Gunmar, who was the leader of gumm-gumms, which were evil trolls by the way. And that is the reason why I look like this right now. A wizard called Merlin-"
"Merlin? I thought that guy was a myth!" Toby exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah, me too until I met him. He's a real jerk. Turned me into this, and let us do all the work during the war, he only showed up when we had defeated this evil witch Morgana and fixed the damage she'd done."
"Merlin sounds like a real jerk. But what even are you by the way?" Toby asked curiously, he wasn't judging. He was only curious, which was a huge relief to the half-troll.
"I'm a half troll, I think. That was at least what Merlin said. Even he isn't very.. sure." Jim explained. "How would he not be sure if he turned you into a troll?" Toby asked with a
"No idea dude." Jim answered with a shrug, he was about to continue explaining, but he heard a thud upstairs. Jim's eyes widened and he sat up at the same time as Toby did. "I forgot mom's home!" Jim whisper yelled.
"What are we supposed to do?" Toby whisper yelled back at the half troll.
"Hide!" Jim whispered as he sneakily crept towards the basement, luckily his mom hadn't heard them talking, she'd probably slept through the conversation. "Right behind you." Toby whispered as he followed Jim closely, and then you guess what? Toby tripped. If for not Jim, he would've faceplanted, but before he could do so, Jim caught him and threw him a stern look. Toby only chuckled nervously in answer as Jim set him back on his feet, and finally the two crept into the basement.
"She shouldn't hear us if we're here." Jim whispered quietly to Toby.
"Soooo~ you explained the troll thing, but how'd you end up time travelling?" Toby asked with a curious voice.
"We had to fighta trio of primordial demigods-"
"GODS?" Toby yelled, but immediately his eyes widened and he apologetically covered his mouth-
A sigh. "Yes, demigods. Let's just say things didn't go according to plans, too much was lost, too many people died, and here I am. I came back to hopefully fix things, but things are already ruined." Jim mumbled the part of ruining things, and looked down in shame. Soon he felt a hand on his shoulder though.
"Jimbo, you haven't ruined anything. None of that has happened yet, we have plenty of time to plan how to fix everything." Toby reassured Jim who looked down at Toby.
"We?" Jim asked with a surprised look on his face. "Yeah, what did you think? That I'd leave you on your own? Nah, I'm your sidekick, now and always." Toby said with a gentle smile. Jim couldn't do anything, but smile at his friend. He scooped up Toby and hugged him tightly.
"A little tight there Jimbo-" Toby grunted, but hugged the other back.
"Sorry." Jim said sheepishly as he set Toby back down.
"So what's the plan?" Toby asked as he set his hands on his hips. Jim was quiet for a moment, but then began speaking again. "I think we should go looking for Blinky and Aaarrrgghh, they're good trolls, they were also in the Trollhunters team."
"Alright then, when are we leaving?" Toby asked.
"At evening. Trolls can't walk under the sun, if they do then they turn into stone." Jim explained.
"Ooh- so trolls are sort of like vampires?" Toby asked in excitement.
"Eh- I guess." Jim answered with an unsure voice. Suddenly, he perked up and his ears slightly flicked. He was listening to his mom's footsteps, which were approaching the front door. "I think mom's leaving." Jim spoke.
"Time sure flies while we talk about trolls, wizards and stuff like that." Toby commented, and soon they both heard a door slam upstairs.
"And sheee's gone." Toby said. Jim didn't answer and began going up the stairs with Toby following him closely. He noticed that his mother had opened the curtains and he hissed as sun got him a little bit.
"Woah! You good Jimbo?" Toby asked with a worried tone. "Yeah, can you shut the curtains though?" Jim asked.
"Sure." Toby answered and went to close the curtains. Jim sighed out of relief as he could already see the sun going down. "Wait- We both missed school! We're gonna get detention for life." Toby groaned.
"You can say that you were just sick, I don't know about me though. I think I'm going to be spending a lot of time in Trollmarket if everything goes well." Jim said calmly. He already felt back, because he knew his mother would panic, but he couldn't drag her back into this. He did once, and she almost died.
Finally, the sun had set, and the two boys left through Jim's backdoor. They were sneakily hopping fences and going through bushes as they headed to the canal. "Rig... righ... right... behind you-" Toby panted heavily as he hopped a fence, and fell on his face. Jim winced and offered Toby a hand, which was taken. He pulled the other up, and then they began walking on the path which led to the canal.
Jim suddenly froze, and Toby walked into his back.
"What's up Jimbo-?" Toby asked, but Jim shushed him. The half troll was unmoving like a statue, and his whole body was tense.
"We're being followed." Jim whispered as he summoned his armor without saying anything. Toby's eyes widened at the lightshow, and at the sword which appeared out of thin air into Jim's hand. The bushes to their right shook slightly, and Jim turned to face the darkness with his sword raised high, ready to strike at any moment. Something, or rather someone suddenly came out of the bush, and Jim was already swinging down at them.
"Wait!" The troll yelled in panic as he raised all four hands above his head. Jim paused as he recognized the troll. It was Blinky. Aaarrrgghh also came out of the bush seconds later, and glared at the sword which was still pointing at his friend. Jim quickly made the sword disappear, and quickly backed off next to Toby who was chanting "oh my god... oh my god..." repeatedly.
Blinky cleared his throat akwardly as he straightened up. "We have found you, Trollhunter! And whoever you are-" Blinky glanced at Toby. "I am known as Blinky, and this is Aaarrrgghh." He continued with a small bow. "Hello" Aaarrrgghh waved with a smile.
"Sorry about the sword, I am Jim and this is Tobias D." Jim introduced himself and Toby, and then respectfully nodded his head at the two trolls.
"May I ask, why are you accompanying a human? It's strictly forbidden to even be seen by them." Blinky asked curiously.
"Uh- It's a long story which you won't probably believe even if I explain it." Jim said sheepishly as he rubbed his head. As they had spoken, Toby had crept towards Aaarrrgghh, and now he was poking him. Aaarrrgghh only looked at the boy curiously, before grabbing him. Toby yelped in fear. "Oh my gosh- oh my gosh- he's gonna eat me!" Toby yelped in fear, and Jim snorted in amusement.
"No he's not, Tobes. Calm down." Jim reassured.
"CALM DOWN?" Toby asked loudly as he struggled in Aaarrrgghh's hand. "Smell like cat, yum." Aaarrrgghh said, and Toby's heart dropped. "You hear that?!" He exclaimed to Jim who was just staring at him in amusement.
"This is exactly why we avoid being seen by humans, Master Jim. They have a tendency to panic, like your friend here.. what was it uh- Theodore." Blinky explained.
"Toby!" Toby corrected as he dangled upside down in Aaarrrgghh's grip, now being used to it pretty much.
"I assume you know what the amulet is?" Blinky asked from Jim, who nodded. "Yes, and I have a lot to explain. Should we head to Trollmarket? I believe Vendel should hear this too." Jim spoke with a serious tone of voice.
"Ah yes-" Blinky got cut off by a very familiar roar, you can probably guess who..
Bular was standing menacingly a good distance away, and he clearly had eyes on Jim who was armored up.
"Trollhunter! Merlin's creation." Bular roared and began charging at them rather quickly.
"Follow me! We'll be safe in Heartstone Trollmarket!" Blinky quickly yelled as he began running with Aaarrrgghh quickly following with Toby now on his shoulder. Jim scoffed, but quickly followed them. He still kept an eye on the massive troll which was quickly closing in on the group. At the edge of the canal, Jim stopped with a growl and turned around to face the charging troll. His sword appeared out of thin air just when Bular was about to punch him. Jim blocked the punch with his sword, and got sent flying like in the past when he had first fought Bular.
The trio on the ground looked at Jim flying in disbelief, because his armor was glowing a beautiful blue as he flew. The boy managed to land perfectly, and quickly fell into a familiar battle stance as he watched Bular charge once again with a roar.
"I'll drink your blood out of a goblet made out of your-"
"Skull? I know." Jim cut off Bular, and then it was his time to shine. With surprising speed he charged at Bular, ducked under his hand and sliced his side as he went past. It wasn't enough to turn the other into stone, but it certainly got a roar of pain out of Bular.
"You're cutting him up like a meatloaf Jim!" Toby laughed as Blinky's and Aaarrrgghh's jaws hung open in disbelief.
"For that, i'll have your head." Bular growled and unsheathed both of his swords. Then the raging troll swung at Jim's head, who blocked. It certainly surprised Blinky and Aaarrrgghh when Jim didn't crumble under the weight of Bular, and Bular was even more surprised as he got pushed back, and then a kick to the face which sent him stumbling.
blow,
blow,
another blow.
Bular was getting beaten up, and he certainly wasn't enjoying it. He finally had enough and realized he couldn't win for now, so he stood up, turned his back on Jim and began sprinting away. Jim only watched him as he panted, and then leaned on his sword.
"Master Jim! Great Gronka Morka! You just sent Bular the Butcher running with his tail in between of his legs! Where have you learned to fight like this?" Blinky asked in disbelief as he ran to the heavily panting boy, the others closely following him.
"I'll explain when we're with Vendel. It'll be better if he hears this too." Jim said once again.
"Alright then, follow me then Master Jim and Tobias." Blinky grabbed his horngazel, and gave it to Aaarrrgghh who drew a perfect half circle, and then punched the wall. It began glowing and crumbling away, like a portal. Jim was used to this, but Toby was chanting "oh my god, oh my god!" once again.
The group walked through the portal, and ended up on the other side.
"Uh... Are you sure we went to the right place?" Toby asked as he peered into the darkness, and Blinky answered by stepping into the darkness, which made the glowing stairs made out of crystals appear.
"Whoa-" Toby gasped.
"This way Masters, this way." Blinky motioned for them to follow with a smile, and began going down the stairs.
"Soo we're safe here?" Toby asked with a curious tone of voice.
"Indeed. The incantation forbids entry to the Heartstone Trollmarket by GummGumms such as Bular, for they are the most fearsome of trolls." Blinky explained.
"So they are the evil trolls you explained about, right Jimbo?" Toby asked.
"Yeah, they are." Jim answered.
"Scary ones." Aaarrrgghh commented as he trailed behind the group.
"I assume you have been to Heartstone Trollmarket before, right Master Jim?" Blinky asked curiously.
"Yep, I've been here before." Jim answered sheepishly.
"Well, then. Tobias, come here." Blinky motioned for the boy to come closer, and Toby did. When he was in grabbing range, Blinky grabbed the boy and gently led him to the edge, where Toby could see Heartstone Trollmarket for the first time. "This is Heartstone Trollmarket!" Blinky exclaimed, and Jim stood next to Toby who was clearly in awe. "Woah- This is..."
"Beautiful? Indeed." Blinky finished Toby's sentence for him, and then turned to Jim. "You wanted to meet Vendel, correct?" He asked.
"Yes, I have something to tell you two, and Vendel. It's important, and it'll explain my experience around swords." Blinky nodded, and then motioned for the group to follow.
"This way then, my friends." He said and they all began following Blinky.
"Dang! I thought the only thing underneath our town was plumbing and dirt." Toby said.
"Well, on top of that add trolls and that's pretty much it." Jim grinned at Toby.
"Stay close Tobias, human feet have never graced the ground of Trollmarket before." Blinky said to Toby who quickly moved to Jim's side, who was no longer wearing the armor by the way.
"Human?" A random troll asked. "Friend." Aaarrrgghh answered with narrowed eyes as he loomed behind Toby, clearly ready to protect him if anyone tried anything. Jim was also looming next to Toby, clearly trying to keep attention off the human.
"I'm getting so many pictures." Toby said excitedly as he snapped pictures, and Jim only smiled at his antics. He had missed Toby, even if he hadn't been gone for... more than a few minutes. It felt like years to Jim.
"Shall we head to Vendel immediately Master Jim?" Blinky asked.
"Yes, thank you." Jim said politely as they walked through busy streets.'
"Oooh- Check it out! Peridot, Topaz, Cassiterite! Kornerupine!" Toby named different types of stone, and received a mean growl from a troll. "Hi-" Toby said nervously and quickly caught up with the group.
"Try to stay close." Jim said with a worried tone.
"You're acting like a mom, chillax." Toby answered.
"Your knowledge of minerals is almost troll-like, Tobias." Blinky commented as they walked.
"Awww.. hey little guy-" Toby said when he saw a gnome.
"Wait Tobes they aren't very-" He got cut off by Toby's yelp when the gnome bared his sharp teeth at the boy.
"Look out! Get out of here vile vermin!" Blinky yelled as he began stomping at the gnomes who began running all around the place.
"What was that?" Toby asked in confusion.
"A gnome. They're vermin, we only tolerate them for their grooming." Blinky explained to Toby, who's attention was caught by something.
"Ooh! Jim, Jim! Check it out! Maximum coolosity there" Toby said and began running towards the Heartstone with the others following a little slower. "Heartstone" Aaarrrgghh spoke.
"The life force of trollkind" Blinky explained to Toby who was watching the Heartstone with a grin.
"Okay.. that's totally the bomb." Toby said with a grin, and Jim could only smile at Toby's excitement. "Yeah, it is." Jim said.
"What is a human doing here?" They heard a voice ask, and then they noticed a crowd beginning to form around them.
"Fleshbag!"
"Puny!"
"I think we've attracted the paparazzi." Toby commented, and Jim stepped in front of him with a small growl. He wouldn't let anyone touch Tobes. "Friends, there is no need to be afraid-" Blinky got cut off by a very familiar voice. Jim froze. Last time he had seen Draal, he died.
"What is this?" Draal asked as he pushed himself through the crowd, and approached the group menacingly.
"I was just getting to that Draal." Blinky explained as he slightly backed off.
"Human feet have never sullied the ground of Trollmarket before. Who is this fleshbag?" Draal asked, and tried to approach Toby, but in his path stood Jim. "Who is this skinny legged whelp?" Draal asked, but then narrowed his eyes. "Move." He growled as he got in Jim's face, who didn't move an inch.
"He is our new Trollhunter's friend! And this my friend, is our new Trollhunter." Blinky motioned at Jim, who was having a stare off with Draal. The crowd gasped as they realized they had this... weird skinny legged troll as their Trollhunter. They haven't even ever met the troll!
"This whelp? The Trollhunter? Bushigal!" Draal tried to smash the ground where Jim stood, but he caught the larger troll's fists, and sent him stumbling backwards.
"Show him Jimbo." Toby said.
Jim sighed and took out his amulet.
"For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command." Jim spoke loudly as he summoned the armor. Draal's eyes widened, but soon he growled in annoyance.
"It can't be. I am Draal, son of Kanjigar, and the amulet's rightful heir!" Draal yelled at Jim.
"The amulet has no heirs." Jim growled at his old friend. He had forgotten how Draal was at the.. beginning.
"When my father fell, the honor should have passed to me." Draal growled, and tried to grab Jim's amulet, but Jim surprised everyone by kicking him straight in the chest, and sending him flying backwards into the crowd.
"If you have a problem with me being the Trollhunter, we can always settle it in the forge." Jim growled at the now surprised troll who was slowly getting up. Draal certainly hadn't expected the whelp to be this powerful.
"Amulet chose." Aaarrrgghh said as he loomed behind Jim, who in return smiled at Aaarrrgghh.
"Tch. We'll see what Vendel says about it." Draal answered to Jim, and finally backed off.
"Draal has trained his whole life to be his father's successor, Master Jim. He will eventually calm down and back off, do not worry." Blinky explained as the group watched Draal leave.
"That's rough." Toby commented as Blinky began leading them again, this time they were approaching the heartstone, and finally entered a quiet hallway which was leading directly to the heart, to Vendel.. Jim was nervous, what if no one would believe him? He didn't have proof of his time travelling, only his skills.
"Vendel! The new Trollhunter has been chosen, and he has something to explain to you, and us." Blinky said loudly as they entered, getting Vendel's attention right away. The old goat turned to them, and approached slowly.
"Blinkous Galadrigal, why is there a fleshbag here?" Vendel asked grumpily as he poked at Toby.
"He's a friend of mine." Jim spoke.
"And who are you? The Trollhunter? I am Vendel, son of Rundle, son of Kilfred." Vendel introduced himself.
"I am Jim." He answered with a respectful nod of head, and looked up to Vendel.
"I told the others that i'd have something to explain to them, and you. The thing is, that i'm from the future."