Chapter Text
Jim didn’t mean to go this far into the woods. Mom had started to let him go into them alone at night so he could have some independence since last month. When he went out with her, he always found himself stopping so he wouldn’t be out of her sight but alone he went as fast as he could. Alternating between running around the trees and swinging through the trees he didn’t feel like stopping, at least until he noticed he didn’t recognise where he was anymore.
He started to run back from where he came but nothing looked familiar and Jim remembered changing directions a lot whilst he was playing so just going straight back wouldn’t help. He tried following his footprints in the mud, but they disappeared when he leapt into trees and he couldn’t tell if the prints were old or ones he just made. Jim even tried looking up at the night sky to use stars to find his way him like heroes did in movies, but he didn’t know how, he just saw random stars and clouds. He was well in truly lost.
Jim was just about to give up and curl up by a tree and cry his eyes out when he heard a rustling from a large bush. “Mom?” He called out, going closer to the sound. He walks around the bush but his mom’s not there just a big rock. Jim was just about to walk away when the rock started to move, “A troll!” Jim thought, “Mom always told me to watch out for them just in case they were mean but surely I can just ask for directions, right?”
The greetings Jim was preparing fell short when the troll rose up to their full height. They were big, really big, with stony black skin and giant glowing red eyes, but what terrified Jim the most was the skulls he wore as a belt. Before he could anything the troll let out a mighty roar, their spit missing him by centimetres and Jim was running.
He didn’t know what direction to go in as long as it was away from the troll. Jim could hear them follow him, loud footfalls and sounds of trees being ripped apart but he didn’t dare look back to see how close. Sometimes the troll would growl or laugh, “They’re laughing, maybe this is a weird troll game?” Jim thought before he remembers the skulls, the very human looking skulls, and he carried on running.
Jim was getting tired and sloppy, he nearly tripped over a tree root, then he almost ran into a low tree branch, he didn’t know how long he could keep this up.
CLASH, the sound of metal rang out through the woods, “Stand down, Bular!” Boomed a different voice. “Unlikely, Trollhunter!” Replied the troll, Bular. Hoping that the troll would be distracted with the newcomer, Jim stopped and looked behind him. Before him, the big scary Bular battled the new troll, they were a similar size to Bular but they were clad in shiny silver suit of armour and held a huge and equally shiny sword, Jim couldn’t tell much else about the troll as they both moving too fast for him to see any details.
Eventually the armoured troll won out and Bular started to scamper way, defeated and wounded, growling; “Just wait until next time then I’ll have your head!” Leaving the winning troll’s attention turned on him. “You’re lucky Bular likes to play with his food, whelp, otherwise he would have gobbled you right up.” The trolls, voice was deep but not as gruff as Bular’s and he spoke in a much quieter voice then when he was speaking to Bular. “What do you mean he was playing with me?” Jim asked, still hiding in the shadows.
The troll let out chuckle, which made Jim jump a little, “It means he likes his prey as scared as possible, he finds joy knowing that they spent their last moments in as much fear as possible. But don’t worry youngling, you’re safe now, come out I’ll help you find your parents.” The troll edged towards Jim’s hiding spot holding out his hand.
Now that they were close Jim could get a good look at the troll, he was blue, a shade not too different from his, with two large angular horns and a nose ring? “My parents?” Jim asked, his mom was probably missing him, and he couldn’t find his way back on his own, trusting the troll didn’t seem like a bad idea, they just saved his life after all. “Yes child, you parents. I don’t recognise you from Trollmarket, we haven’t had a new whelp there in years, your family must be travellers, yes?”
“No, me and mom live in Arcadia.”
“Arcadia?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s your name, youngling?”
“Mom told me not to give my name to strangers.”
“Good advice, how about I tell you my name and then you tell me yours, I wouldn’t be a stranger if you knew my name.”
Jim thought about this for a few seconds before accepting, “Ok, that seems fair.”
“Very well, I am Kanjigar, the current Trollhunter and protector of all and you are?”
“Jim, well my full name is James, but I go by Jim.” He answered, at first it looked like Kanjigar didn’t like his answer but then he quickly covered up that look on his face and smiled.
“That’s a nice name, Jim, why don’t you come out of the shadows so I can get a good look at you, make sure you’re not injured from your little adventure?” Kanjigar asked, the request seemed reasonable, Jim didn’t need to hide anymore. When Jim stepped out into the moonlight Kanjigar’s face did the funny thing again before returning to a smile.
“Yes, you look fine, not even a little scratch, say why don’t you describe to me what your mother looks like so I can help you find her, who knows I may have seen her on her way here.” They said, once again Jim thought their idea was smart and complied.
“My mom has red hair, it’s kinda long and blue eyes like me. Oh, and she also wears these big glasses to help her see.”
“Could you be a little more specific?”
“Uhhh, like what?”
“Perhaps her skin tone?”
“Err, I don’t know what colour it’s called but kinda pinky and light.”
“Uh huh, and what about her teeth?”
“Her teeth?”
“Yes, her teeth.”
“Well they’re white.”
“What else?”
“They’re flat I guess, well they’re a bit bumpy but they’re flatter than mine and they don’t stick out like mine does either.”
“Thank you, Jim, that’s very helpful, I think I have an idea of where I can find her.”
“I can give you our home address if you-“
“No no no, it’s fine. I’m pretty sure I have all the information I need, follow me.”
So, Jim did. Every so often Kanjigar would tell him to duck and hide but other than that nothing really happened. They ended up in this weird concrete dip with a large bridge over it. “This doesn’t look like anywhere near my house.” Jim said starting to get worried.
“We’re taking a short cut, you got yourself very far away from home.” Kanjigar said. Jim nodded, what Kanjigar said made sense he felt like he had spent miles running that night. Kanjigar reached into his pockets and then pulled out a crystal, it was pretty but Jim wasn’t sure why Kanjigar needed it. He was even more confused when they started to use it the draw a large semi-circle on the wall. Jim was just about to ask what the point of doing this was, the circle started to glow and then magically opening up to reveal a crystal laden staircase.
“Cool!” Exclaimed Jim, almost forgetting how worried he was. “Was that real magic?” He asked looking up at Kanjigar with awe. “Indeed, and you’re sure to see more if you follow me.” Jim just nodded happily and trailed after Kanjigar down the staircase.