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It turned out that walking for hours every night was exhausting. Claire huffed but kept going, careful not to stumble on a rock or a root; the moon was almost full in the sky but barely filtered between the branches of the dense trees, leaving her and her companions in a thick, cold darkness. They had been walking for a week by now, travelling from dusk till dawn and camping during the day, always making sure to keep away from inhabited areas. Her Trollhunter training had helped her to keep going until now, but she wasn't used to hiking this long.
At her side, Blinky walked carelessly, showing no sign of tiredness. He kept his eyes fixed on the map he was holding, brows furrowed. She considered asking him when he planned to stop, but she quickly discarded the thought. To stop they first had to find a place where the Trolls could camp comfortably, protected by the daylight. That was the reason why Jim had left the group, an half an hour before, to explore the wood that extended in front of them. Besides, Claire didn't want Blinky to worry about her. She was perfectly able to walk another few miles, despite the aching of her legs. Well, or so she hoped. Sighing, she looked down. Her first days had gone better, but then her feet had started to hurt and now her leg muscles contracted painfully every time she took a step. She had even taken out the armour Merlin had made for her - she loved it, really, but it wasn’t made for long trips.
Luckily, her caravan didn’t move too fast. She soon found out that Trolls didn’t tire easily and could keep walking for hours without much effort, but they were slow and there was always someone who got lost or stayed behind, forcing the whole group to slow down or even stop to find them. Out of curiosity, she glanced behind her back, but the thick mass of trees prevented her from seeing much of the long column of trolls. Hopefully they were learning to stick together.
"I found a place!" Claire jerked and almost stumbled as she turned around, just in time to see Jim emerging from the wood. She hadn't heard him approaching - how was he getting so good at sneaking up? He smiled at her before turning towards Blinky, "The branches are tight, so the sun shouldn't be a problem, and I found water!" He moved closer and bent over Blinky's map, "It should be ... ah, here," he said, finger brushing against the paper. "A little farther, keeping on the right. We will surely be there before dawn."
"How long will it take?" Claire asked, moving forward to reach for his hand and lace their fingers.
He immediately squeezed her hand back. "At this pace, a little less than an hour." She nodded, holding back a sigh. Her calves would have hated her.
“That will do,” Blinky said, folding the map. His eyes lingered for a moment on the couple and their joined hands, a faint smile curving his lips. “I will inform the rest of the group while you start leading them,” he said, turning around, “I have no intention to waste other time looking for lost fools! Not again!”
Jim chuckled, “Good luck with that.”
“You know you are helping me when it happens!” Binky’s voice faded in the night as he disappeared behind the first group of Trolls. Jim and Claire exchanged a look and giggled, then walked away, still holding hands.
“I guess we are going to spend some quality time chasing gnomes later,” Jim said.
Claire let out an exaggeratedly heavy sigh, “Please, not again! I didn’t bring with me my entire wardrobe, I can’t get another shirt ripped because one of them has decided to hide among brambles. I'm sure he did it on purpose!”
“You could stop by the next town, you know,” Jim said softly, “I could get you close enough before the sunrise and come back for you at dusk. You could buy new clothes, have a proper meal, sleep in a real bed -”
“Hey, I’m perfectly fine sleeping with you guys! And I’m not that sick of camping food yet. Besides, I don’t want to leave you alone during daylight hours.”
“We can handle ourselves for a day,” he made her a confident smile, “no one is going to move anyway. I … I am very happy that you came with me - with us,” he added, his eyes full of affection and warmth, “and I don’t want this to feel like a torture for you.”
“That’s not possible! I -”
“Just think about this, okay? Soon or later you’ll have to get supplies anyway.”
He had a point. Claire nodded, murmuring a small “okay” and squeezing his hand a little tighter. They kept walking in comfortable silence, broken only by the creakings and rustles of the forest and by the distant sound of the Trolls moving and chattering behind them. They must have outdistanced them, and it wasn’t hard to see why: Jim’s gait was fast. Claire found herself struggling to breathe regularly and felt her tired muscles contracting painfully; she wouldn’t have been able to keep up that peace for a long time. She frowned, eyes pointed on the ground, and focused only on taking a step after another, and then again, one step after the other, and again, and -
And then Jim was suddenly slowing down and she could breathe a sigh of relief - at least until he asked, voice filled with concern, “Are you alright, Claire?” When she turned, he was bending over her, eyes wide, “Do you want to take a break?”
“No! Well,” she added, “maybe could you slow down a little? We have left everyone behind.”
“Oh?” His eyebrows rose when he glanced back and noticed that the wood was empty. He immediately stopped and gave her an embarrassed smile, rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry, I didn’t notice.”
“It’s alright,” she panted, taking advantage of the break to stretch her legs a little, “We’ll just wait for them, okay?”
“Sure, but what about you? You are tired, aren’t you?”
She bit her lip, looking down. “Just a little,” she admitted, “but I’ll be fine. We are stopping soon anyway.”
He frowned, mouth clenched. “I’m sorry,” he whispered then, “I should have realised it sooner, Since I became … ah, this ,” he vaguely gestured at his body, “I don’t get tired as I did before. But you are human and this is not a simple hike in the woods around Arcadia. I should have thought about it. I’m sorry, Claire. You shouldn’t have to -”
“Jim.” She put a hand on his arm and smiled at him when their eyes met. “It’s alright. You had other things to think about. Leading the Trolls it’s been exhausting! Besides, it’s not that bad. Give me another few days, I’ll get used to it!” Hopefully, she added in her mind. New Jersey wasn’t exactly around the corner.
Jim sighed. “I just wish I could make it easier for you! Maybe I could -” He suddenly fell silent and his brows knitted, as he was thinking about something.
“You don’t have to do anything, I don’t want to slow us down even more, or we’ll take forever," she reassured him.
“You are right but, uhm, I thought I,” he cleared his throat, looking away, “I could carry you.”
Her eyes widened as she stared at him. He avoided her gaze, and even though she couldn’t see it clearly, she would have sworn that his cheeks had taken a slightly darker colour. She couldn’t help but grin - he was taller and well, bluer, but he was still Jim. Then her mind registered what he had said. “Wait, what?”
“It wouldn’t be a problem,” he muttered, “I’m not tired at all and I got stronger - I mean, you know I did, I just - I wouldn’t mind carrying you. If you want to.”
“There is no need!” She could literally feel a blush creeping into her cheeks. “I can walk, for another little while.” Her legs didn’t really agree about that, but she knew she would have made it. She didn’t have any other option - or had she?
Jim finally looked at her. “Are you sure?” He asked, tilting her head.
Claire took a moment to seriously ponder his proposal. Would have it been that bad? She was tired and he was offering and she trusted him. He was her boyfriend! And he was without a doubt strong enough to carry her. “We can try for a while if you are really okay with it,” she carefully answered. “But if you start to get tired, I’m walking!”
“I won’t!” He hurried to nod.
A chuckle escaped her lips, “Okay then, Superman! How do you want to do this - Ah!” In the blink of an eye, Jim’s arms were around her and she was lifted from the ground. She yelped and instinctively put her arms around his neck, seeking stability, but there was no need to. His arms felt firm and strong and she simply knew he wouldn’t have let her fall.
“See? No effort!” He said cheerfully, a spark of pride in his eyes.
This time, Claire laughed. “Great job, Trollhunter!” She patted his armour with her palm and took some moments to make herself comfortable in his arms. When she was finally at ease, she glanced over his shoulder and noticed that the other Trolls were finally getting closer. “I suppose we can leave now.”
He turned briefly to check the group and nodded. “Let’s go.”
Claire wasn't used to being carried like that, and at first, it felt - well, new. It didn’t take her long, though, to get used to the pace of his walking and the solid feeling of his arms supporting her body. Resting her head against his chest, she decided that this was nice, actually. And admittedly way more comfortable than using her legs.
During the rest of the trip, they quietly chatted about the people they left behind. Claire showed him some pictures of Enrique she had received from her parents - "I already miss him," she admitted, "he will have grown up so much when we'll come back!" - and then it was his turn to show her all the baby pictures his mother sent him.
"I can't believe your mother and Mr Strickler are really going to raise them all."
"I can't either, but they trying to make it work. Mom texted me to ask if I knew how what exactly she should put in baby food. I've never even tried to make baby food!"
"I'm sure you'd made something awesome if you tried," she laughed, "you are the best chef in Arcadia!"
"You really think so?" He hummed happily before adding with a smirk, "Only in Arcadia?"
She snorted. "Don't get too cocky! My guacamole is still unequalled."
"I've never doubted that!"
Like this, time passed faster. Claire didn’t even notice that Blinky had joined them until the conversation died and she checked again if the other Trolls were still in sight. He nodded at her with a smile and she waved at him before resting her head against Jim’s chest, listening to the comforting thud of his beating heart. This wasn't just nice, it was comfortable, so comfortable that her mind started to cloud and her eyes to close against her will. She tried to keep them open, to keep herself awake tracing senseless patterns on the plates of his armour. With her finger, she followed the edges of his amulet with her finger, again and again, until she knew it by heart and the metal was warm from her touch. She didn't want to fall asleep, not yet. They would have needed help later and she was the only one among them who could walk in sunlight now. So, she definitely had to stay awake. She had to.
She was failing miserably.
When she was about to doze off, her eyes closed and her hands resting on her belly, Jim finally halted. "We are here," he said quietly, probably not to disturb her. Claire heard him anyway and lifted her head, blinking. The wood around her didn't look much different than before, though, she realised looking around, it was a little darker. That would have been helpful at sunrise. “There’s a pool over there,” Jim continued pointing somewhere on their left, “and there should be enough space between the trees for us to sleep.”
Blinky nodded, then let out a sigh, “Now, let’s hope we will be able to camp quickly for once.” Raising his arms he turned around to approach the other Troll. “We have arrived! Now, please, just do as I say ...”
“We should probably help,” Claire said, unable to hold back a yawn. Not that she really wanted to get down, but she knew for sure that Blinky needed all the help he could get.
"Are you sure?" Jim asked, gently putting her down when she moved and supporting her until she stood. "You can go to sleep. I am not tired, I can take care of them alone this time."
"No, it's okay." She stretched and smiled at him, "I feel definitely better now that I got some rest! We will finish faster together."
"Okay, you are right. If you feel like, you can take care of who's already here. I will check the rest of the group to make sure that no one was left behind. What do you think?"
She nodded. "Good plan! But first, let me thank you."
“There is no need to -” he started, shaking his head, but before he could finish she reached for his shoulder with both her hands and dragged him down, making him yelp in surprise. Even like this, she still had to stand on her tiptoes to kiss him.
They hadn’t got many chances to kiss since his transformation. His lips still felt a bit different under hers, not quite hard but somehow solid and cool. She traced the profile of his temple and buried her fingers in his hair until she could scratch the base of his horn. Suddenly he pulled her closer and enveloped her with his arms, lifting her little to reach her better. She smiled against his lip, brushing his cheek with her hand. Yes, she was definitely getting used to this.
When they parted, his cheeks were definitely bluer. He beamed at her, scratching her back with his fingers, “Okay, I like this kind of thank you."
“You better!" She grinned, patting playfully his arm, "Now we should go, they will never set this camp without us.”
He chuckled, “I’ll see you later then! Good luck.” He kissed her forehead before disappearing in the wood, quick as a wild cat. Claire stood for a few seconds, staring at the trees, before heading for the rest of the group. Leg pain or not, she thought, this trip was totally worth it.