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It’s been one minute.
Toby is still screaming into the now inactive bridge; they all are. It’s not too late, Blinky tells himself, although he knows that’s a lie. The amulet is spinning, and it seems to be a sign of hope for the two humans. Blinky tries to hold onto that hope too - after all, he’s not entirely sure what the spinning means - but he knows, now that Jim’s in the Darklands, there isn’t much chance of getting him back out.
As the minutes tick on, Blinky stops pretending, and Claire seems to catch on that there isn’t any point in yelling anymore. Only Toby, tears streaming down his face, is still shouting, coherent words no longer forming. He’s moved closer, to where the portal appeared, hitting the walls as if to somehow jump start the bridge. The more it doesn’t work, the harder he punches, until Blinky stops looking on in pity and moves to stop the boy before he hurts himself. For that, he almost earns himself a black eye, as Toby turns his fury to the troll with a “Why are you giving up?! He’s not gone!”, still managing to sound (and look) menacing even with tears rapidly falling from his eyes.
It is at this point that Blinky is hit with the realisation that Toby has lost not one, but two of his best and closest friends tonight. That’s not to say they all haven’t - Blinky and Aaarrrgghh were close too, remarkably so, but he gets the feeling that Toby’s bond to the other troll is (was) just as strong, albeit in a different way. Claire is obviously head over heels in love with Jim, and the same can be said vice versa; but again, it’s a different way. Toby has known Jim for years, supported him through thick and thin, seen him at his best and worse. The two are inseparable best friends, and Blinky knows the level of trust the two have in each other; a trust that has now been betrayed. As if losing Aaarrrgghh tonight wasn’t enough, Jim has voluntarily left them at a time when they are the most vulnerable. At a time when they are still mourning, still trying to process the loss of one friend. And now another is gone too.
He doesn’t think about how Jim could already be dead, about how dangerous the Darklands can be (and are). For now, he approaches Toby, now sobbing freely, slumped on the floor, the loss of hope weighing heavily on his shoulders. Claire follows suit, and the two of them kneel down to reach an arm out to Toby, bringing him into a comforting hug that they all need. They’re all hurting, all stressed, and all angry. But they’re not alone. They’re not unmotivated. They are going to find Jim no matter what.
The amulet keeps spinning.
It’s been one week.
They visit Aaarrrgghh daily - he still remains in the spot where Angor Rot struck him down, the trolls being unsure of where to move him to, along with all the other casualties. The shock of seeing him as cold, unmoving stone is still large, and often one, if not all, of the trio need a moment when coming to see the statue. They come alone, too.
Claire spends her visits sat next to the statue, speaking with minimal composure about how they’ll make his loss worth it, how they’ll save the babies, how they’ll save Enrique. How they’ll find Jim. Not save him. He’s fine. People who are in danger need saving, and Jim isn’t in danger. Aaarrrgghh doesn’t argue with her.
Blinky’s visits are the longest. He knows, logically, there is no sense in talking to Aaarrrgghh - he’s gone, the statue is a mere mold of him; when Blinky talks, it falls on deaf, stone ears. But he still does it. He speaks to his friend of how his death will not be in vain, of how they will avenge him. As much as he tries to stay strong, stay determined, he always breaks. Midway, he cracks, and he begs him to move, to stop pretending and come back already. Aaarrrgghh doesn’t respond.
Toby’s visits are surprisingly short. He still can’t bear to look at the husk of his wingman, to face the reality that he’s gone. His trips to the statue are brief and erratic, and he often returns to his friends with anger and sadness warring on his face. At the end of each visit, he’ll hold out his hand as if to start their handshake. He hopes to whatever gods are out there that somehow he will revive at the sight of his outstretched arm and initiate their routine, so familiar it’s now muscle memory. Aaarrrgghh doesn’t move.
Away from Aaarrrggh, they each deal with the situation in their own ways. Toby absorbs himself in video games in his down time, and is otherwise training, preparing for the trip into the Darklands that is sure to come.
Claire joins him, also building up her strength and skills ready to face enemies stronger than they have ever experienced. She also helps Toby to maintain the image that everything is ok, informing people that Jim ‘moved away’ when asked where he is. His mother stayed in town, but no one questioned it. (She knows now - knows again, they should say. That had been a difficult conversation). They do their homework, pay some semblance of attention in class, and everything is normal. If only everyone knew, she thinks. She couldn’t care any less about school right now, and she suspects the same for Toby. But the humans can’t know.
Blinky spends almost every waking hour researching. He shuts himself in the library and pours through tens of hundreds of books, searching for a way to find Jim (and, although he tries to keep it under wraps for fear of being told what he already knows, a way to bring Aaarrrgghh back). He knows it’s not healthy, this level of obsession, but he doesn’t know what else to do. With his best friend gone and a boy who’s like his surrogate son missing, he feels he has nowhere else to focus his energy.
None of them are coping well, but that’s more than understandable. They’re trying, and slowly but surely, they’re working towards getting Jim.
The amulet is still spinning.
It’s been a month.
Everyone is tired. They want to find Jim, of course they do, but working constantly, non-stop to do that is taking its toll. At least one of them wakes up every night, terrified by nightmares of what could be happening to Jim - what could’ve already happened. They’re just dreams, they tell each other with a comforting arm around shaking shoulders. It helps a little that they have each other.
Toby and Claire no longer bother to keep up appearances in daily life. They haven’t been to school in god knows how long. Claire has stopped returning home to her parents - it kills her to leave them with no children, even if they think they’ve only lost one, but she can’t risk their suspicion anymore. Can’t risk them halting her - their - search for Jim.
Toby still returns home, unable to leave his grandma all alone. But she’s noticed how closed off he is, and it hurts Toby to have to shut her out when he knows she’s worried. He spends more time in Trollmarket anyway; sitting in his room with the memories of Aaarrrgghh can be too much.
Blinky is concerned about the two of them, to say the least. He knows from his time as a human the basic requirements for staying healthy, and he is ninety-nine percent certain that Toby and Claire are not reaching them. Claire has never experienced loss like this, he realises, and Toby… Oh, the poor boy, he must feel as if everyone is leaving him.
Which is why Blinky isn’t entirely surprised when one day Toby explodes.
He knows the boy tends to suffer in silence, stalking off by himself whenever he needs to cry. It isn’t healthy, they all know, but Toby only isolates himself further when offered help. Today is one of those many days; Blinky knows it will be the minute he sees Toby, eyes downcast and composure slipping as the seconds tick by, so he invites Toby to join him in the library (now more of a permanent residence to him than anything else; not that the two teenagers need to know that - he’s trying to be a good influence, and he can’t tarnish that by revealing his unhealthy habits when he’s so adamant that Toby and Claire must stop theirs). Of course, Toby turns him down, with only a little venom in his tone that Blinky knows he doesn’t mean, but still hurts a little each time it is aimed at him. He had braced himself for this, the rejection being unsurprising knowing Toby’s usual behaviour. And while the next events have been looming ominously for the past few weeks, the suddenness of them is quite a shock.
It starts with angry yelling - distant and muffled, but angry all the same. Blinky rushes towards it, expecting some sort of attacker or the likes, until he realises he’s headed towards Aaarrgghh’s resting place (the hall where Jim trained, along with the remains of the other past trollhunters - after all, the four of them had all been trollhunters, as Jim had said. Aaarrgghh had earned it). Blinky slows his pace as he enters the hall, and stalls at what he sees.
Toby, face too focused and eyes fixed in a glare at both nothing and everything, doesn’t even acknowledge Blinky’s entrance. He’s swinging his hammer without rhyme or reason, hitting the floor and wall while vocalising his emotions loudly - yelling and shouting in time with his swings, no words, but the anger is prominent. It’s a wonder he hasn’t hurt himself yet, Blinky thinks, before realising he should probably step in else Toby actually does.
“Tobias,” he starts, but falters when the boy turns to him. While angry, he can clearly see the despair in his eyes that he’s been trying so hard to hide.
“It’s not fair,” Toby almost whispers, but Blinky catches it. He slumps to the floor, apparently drained from his impromptu ‘training’ session. Blinky shuffles forward, sinking to the ground next to Tobias. He leans against the wall behind them, waiting. After a minute’s silence, the troll is about to encourage Toby to continue, but the boy starts speaking by himself.
“I… I already lost so much, and now…” his voice is soft, and holds possibly the weakest tone he’s ever spoken in front of anyone in his life. “I HATE HIM!” Blinky jumps at that. Toby seems to gather energy, and although not standing up, his arms move ferociously with his fury. “HE KNOWS! He KNOWS I already lost my parents, and he SAW me lose Aaarrrgghh right in front of his eyes! And what does he do?! He runs off! He runs off into the Darklands and now I’ve probably lost him as well!”
With Toby glaring ahead and breathing heavily, Blinky takes the opportunity to placate.
“I’m sure Master Jim didn’t mean to--”
“What, so he just accidentally opened the portal to the Darklands and walked through without us? Without telling us?” His voice breaks under the strain of barely held back tears. “Without even saying a proper goodbye?”
A pause. Toby turns his face towards Blinky, almost as if to blame him as well.
“He did not think about his actions. He made a mistake, yes, a devastating one, but it will do no good to linger on it now. Express your emotions by all means, but do not let them consume you. Master Jim would not want that.”
Blinky offers Toby a smile and open arms. The boy accepts both.
The amulet continues spinning.
It’s been three months, eighteen days, five hours and twenty-two seconds.
After hours upon days upon weeks of endless searching, they’ve found a way to open the bridge.
It’s risky, found in one of the dustiest, oldest tomes in the library, with questionable legitimacy, but it’s a way. Something they didn’t have until now, and probably won’t have much luck finding again.
The page is bookmarked, several paperweights are placed on the edges, and the book is left in the middle of a desk away from the piles of others. They lost Jim; they aren't going to lose the chance to get him back too.
They go as fast as they can, but the preparations, on top of keeping up their normal lives and remaining covert (opening the Killahead Bridge is dangerous, controversial, and suspicious, to name just a few) takes around two days. It’s an incredibly short amount of time compared to the months of trying to find a solution, but now they have a solid plan, time seems to have slowed to a crawl. The trio are bundles of nerves and excitement by the time the second day comes to a close, and although it would perhaps be a good idea for Claire and Toby to get some sleep before beginning an operation as big as this, they have no choice but to work under the cover of night.
And before they know it, they’re stood before the Killahead Bridge, armed with enough supplies to last however long they may be there (“Looks like enough food to get you through the Darklands and back,” some troll they’d ran into had joked, and boy, had that been nerve-wracking). The three glance to each other in turn, determination evident on all their faces.
“Ready?” Blinky asks, but he already knows the answer. Receiving two nods that leave no room for doubt, he activates the portal. They step through, truly beginning their search for Jim...
The amulet stops spinning.