Gentle sunlight lit up Jim's room, the boy asleep in his bed. But even through the thinning curtains of sleep, Jim felt someone's eyes piercing into him. His face created an uncomfortable frown as he felt himself getting closer to consciousness. There was a knock on his door and suddenly, his eyes burst open and he jerked into a sitting position, panting.
"Wake up, wake up!" his mother singsonged as she joyfully entered his room, carrying a tray of his breakfast. "Don't want to sleep through your big day," Barbara smiled as she sat down at the edge of her son's bed. "Big day?" Jim smiled softly, knowing what his mother meant. "The big day you start with.." she gasped as a dramatic pause, "mom's special birthday pancakes!" Jim looked down at the golden stack in front of him. A painted face of syrup and a singular orange candle right in the middle looked back at him. "He looks like he's screaming," Jim chuckled. "He's excited," Barbara excused her extraordinary talent of painting faces on pancakes.
"I know, I know. You always hate your birthday," she began, standing up from the bed. "But you're sixteen! This is a big one. We should do something tonight," she decided. "Oh, mom, you know I don't want to-" Jim began. "This isn't up for discussion. No one should be alone on their birthday," Barbara smiled, opening her son's window. Jim groaned. "But I won't be alone! I have friends, mom!" he protested.
This was a very special day of Jim's. The one day a year that is supposed to be all about him. And in honor of this special occasion, you'd found a way to get the entirety of Trollmarket to help you arrange and implement the most spectacular surprise-party known to Man. And as of now, Tobias was on his way to fetch the birthday boy, telling him there was an emergency - a "Defcon One" situation - in Trollmarket. It would be perfect!
"Everybody, places! AAARRRGGHH, get the machine going! He's about to be here!" you ordered, your voice echoing slightly through the Hero's Forge. The trolls broke off their friendly conversations and returned excitedly back to their places. AAARRRGGHH smiled at you and gave you a thumbs up as he pressed the button on the wall, making the large blades swing out from the walls. You moved over to your place. "Blinky, do you remember your lines?" you yelled as you looked over to the blue troll standing next to AAARRRGGHH. "Every letter!" Blinky replied smiling.
"Everybody ready?" you asked. Thumbs up and enthusiastic cheers came from the trolls, and you took them as a clear yes. "Action!" you shouted. And with that, the trolls began running around in hysteria, acting frightened as they "desperately" tried to dodge the blades. You shot Blinky a look when Toby and Jim appeared at the entrance of the Forge, signaling him to begin. "Hurry, run!" a male troll yelled as he "saved" you from being sliced. "Good job," you whispered to him as he carried you towards AAARRRGGHH and the button.
"It's too late, master Jim. AAARRRGGHH has lost his mind! Save yourself!" Blinky panted in well-played horror. "Go now, big guy!" you whispered, smiling. "I thought AAARRRGGHH was at your house!" Jim told Toby. Just then AAARRRGGHH roared as he reached Jim, towering dominantly over him. Blinky and Toby ran off to their assigned spots. "Oh my gosh. Was it the kitty litter?" Jim backed up until his armor hit another blade sliding up from the ground. He grunted as AAARRRGGHH grabbed him with both his hands and roared right into his face.
That was your cue to push the button, drawing back the blades, and push another, lifting the centre of the ground up, the brim lined with turquoise, blue, red and white balloons. You nearly giggled of excitement as the carnival music started playing. "What the-?" Jim asked, confused and still grunting. As you ran over to Jim, Blinky and Toby pulled on their ropes, making a party horn blow and revealing a banner saying "Happy birthday, Jim!" in Troll.
"Surprise!" everyone smiled as the red light from under the ground turned purple. "Happy birthing day!" you beamed. "What?" Jim frowned, but he was quickly put onto AAARRRGGHH's shoulder. "Good actor," the giant troll proudly grunted.
"Tobias informed us of your surprise birthday customs. Are you not surprised?" Blinky asked excitedly, his six eyes sparkling. "Uh.." Jim chuckled. "That would be one word for it." "I was convincing," AAARRRGGHH smiled, still looking so proud, as he lowered Jim back onto the ground. "Sixteen years! A propitious milestone. Sixteen is when young trolls master command of their bowels," Blinky told as Tobias handed Jim a blue balloon. "I'm so happy for you, James!" you whispered.
"The Hero's Forge!" a familiar voice of authority suddenly spoke. "Sacred proving ground for Trollhunters past, present and future," Vendel continued as he entered the Forge, "reduced to mockery." He stopped right in front of Jim, lowered his headstone staff and popped Jim's blue balloon with it. Jim backed up, looking like a scared child as AAARRRGGHH ate an orange balloon. "Pop," he smiled.
"You will remove all of this post-haste," Vendel commanded sternly. "But father-" you began. "I don't want anything to delay the Trollhunter's training," he interrupted you as he turned around and walked off grumpily.
"He didn't mention anything about NotEnrique. Haven't you told him yet?" Jim turned to Blinky as Tobias and AAARRRGGHH began popping balloons. "Vendel doesn't believe we have a changeling problem, master Jim. He certainly won't simply take my word that a baby - and possibly several others - in Arcadia are being replaced with those stinky creatures," Blinky replied, seemingly accepting the fact. "But he is right about your training, and what better way to celebrate your birthing day than to work of forestalling your dying day!" he happily said, pulling Jim in by his shoulder.
"Okay, great work everyone! Uh, let's just wrap this up and continue with our days!" you announced, getting grunts and thumbs up as replies.
"You will not always be the quarry, master Jim. The hunted must become the hunter!" Blinky lectured as Jim chased AAARRRGGHH around the Forge as a way of training. "Speed and precision is the goal of our drill, master Jim. You must catch AAARRRGGHH without reliance upon your amulet or the sword it manifests. If you are without your weapon, the environment can be your weapon!" Blinky encouraged. Humorously, as the troll finished his sentence, a shiny blade swung at Jim. You felt your arm grab Tobias' shoulder on instinct and felt your heart caught in your throat as he bent down just in time with a; "Woah!" "A weapon you use, I mean!" Blinky added. You sighed and thanked Deya under your breath as you let go of Toby's shoulder.
AAARRRGGHH hopped onto one of the giant blades on the ground, raising himself far beyond Jim's reach. And without any help from his amulet - except his armor - the task of getting to the troll became much harder for the hunter. He looked around nervously and seemed a tad.. uncomfortable?
"Jim seems off," you thought out loud as he began making his way up the familiar moving obstacles within the centre of the Forge. "Master Jim does not appear to be himself," Blinky agreed, thoughtfully. "I expected the celebration of his birthing day to add some spring to his step." "Birthdays really aren't Jim's thing," Tobias said, shrugging sadly. "For creatures with such a short lifespan, I think they would be cherished. Do you not, Y/n?" Blinky turned to you, looking confused. "I do. I think they're nice," you replied. "Jim doesn't. They always remind him of the day when his dad disappeared," Toby explained, looking at the two of you. "Interesting. I did not know Jim's father was a magician," Blinky said, rubbing his blue chin. "Mm, not 'magic' disappeared," Toby replied, looking pained. You looked at him curiously. "More like 'walked out because he's a deadbeat' disappeared," he told.
Toby kept explaining as the three of you watched Jim struggle at his task of catching AAARRRGGHH. "I'd just moved into the house across the street, and Jim's dad got him this sweet bike kit for his fifth birthday. And then, he just took off. The pieces laid there in the garage for years. Last I heard, the guy ran off with his girlfriend to be a ski bum in Vermont." As Tobias told the story, you could feel your eyes getting wet, but quickly dried them with your shirt before they got the chance to spill. You looked over at Blinky and surprisingly saw the same look in all six of his eyes. "What a horrible tragedy. Made even more horrible that I had no idea," Blinky said, laying a comforting shoulder on Toby's left shoulder. You did the same.
The sad moment was cut off by Jim's grunting. It seemed to have kickstarted Blinky again. "There you go, master Jim!" he yelled enthusiastically. Jim seemed to have managed to mount one of the swinging blades. The spirit of the blue troll mixed with seeing Jim's success couldn't be refused and soon, you and Toby were smiling again. "That' s how you-" Blinky began, but was cut short by Jim's failed dive for AAARRRGGHH, sending him screaming towards the ground instead of triumphantly. Luckily, AAARRRGGHH gently caught him. "Gotcha."
After you all were finished in the Forge, Tobias had a special birthday surprise planned for Jim. You understood that it was a just-the-two-of-us kind of surprise, so you happily stayed behind in Trollmarket. After all, you, Blinky and AAARRRGGHH had a "surprise" for Vendel as well.
"Where did you even store him?" you asked AAARRRGGHH, whom was holding a potato sack. "Hole," the large troll smiled back. You moved your eyes back to their previous view, partly flabbergasted and partly at the verge of laughing. Just then, your eyes met the large, white back of your father. "Ah, Vendel! Just the troll we've been looking for," Blinky called out, approaching him. "Don't stop looking on my account," Vendel replied as he continued walked, clearly uninterested in whatever the three of you had to say. "But it is imperative that you look upon this," Blinky said as the three of you reached your father, AAARRRGGHH dramatically revealing the potato sack.
The old troll turned to face you as AAARRRGGHH reached his hand down into the sack and pulled out the changeling. "Easy on the scruff!" NotEnrique groaned angrily before flipping himself swiftly to a crouching position on top of AAARRRGGHH's large hand. "And wear are you staring at, grandpa?" NotEnrique asked sassily as he crawled his way to AAARRRGGHH's green-furred shoulder. "Have you never seen a changelin' before?" he asked as his yellow snake-like eyes took in his surroundings.
"So, this is Trollmarket?" he chuckled. That was when AAARRRGGHH decided the little thing had been out in the open long enough and put him back in his sack. "A changeling?" Vendel exclaimed, his blurry eyes widening. "You called me crazy, but who's the mad troll now, huh?" Blinky said so passionately that he indeed seemed crazy, proving his own point kind of wrong. "So, there's proof! There are changelings in Arcadia!" you added.
"You better keep that thing inside that sack!" Vendel begun, Blinky's excited expression turned into an annoyed one. "What are you trying to do? Incite a panic?" he shunned as he dragged the three of you to a more desolate corner. "I only came here 'cause they promised me socks to eat," NotEnrique's muffled voice spoke. "Shh!" you hissed as you slapped the changeling through the sack to shut him up.
"Do you finally believe me? Changelings, therefore bridge," Blinky explained. Vendel grabbed his shoulders and gave him a stern look. "Bridge, therefore panic. Have you heard nothing I've said?" he asked. "For once you're right. And the horror of it," your father sighed in despair, "Threat of Gunmar's exile right over our heads, and all Trollmarket has to protect it is your human Trollhunter child." "You can trust the Trollhunter," Blinky assured. "Yes, father. He's brave, smart, agile!" you added, smiling excitedly. "In the face of the greatest danger, he will stand steadfast and gallant," Blinky calmly smiled.
Just then, you heard a scream. A very familiar scream.
As you looked past Vendel, you spotted Jim sprinting towards the four of you. Right when he reached you, he tripped over his shoelace, but quickly got back up again. "Blinky! Blinky, you have to save me!" Jim begged, Blinky's eyes going blank. You bit your lip nervously and looked up at AAARRRGGHH. He looked down at you with an expression that said: Oh no. "A huge troll bird, like a jetliner with claws, just tried to kill me!" Jim kept on panicking, waving his arms around and panting. Just when the boy took a break to breathe properly, Blinky covered his mouth and shot Vendel a nervous smile, displaying every single one of his yellow teeth.
"How could I not be put at easy by such gallant bravery?" Vendel asked sarcastically, folding his hands over the book he was holding. "Well, father, not everyone can be as calm and collected as you apparently are when they're met with a stalkling," you shot in bitterly. "Very nasty," AAARRRGGHH agreed. "Stalking?" Jim asked. "Stalking?" Blinky and AAARRRGGHH gasped. "Sounds like it to me," you replied, suddenly feeling a bit nervous with six pairs of eyes on you.
"It was flying in daylight. How could it flying daylight?" Jim asked, his body-language making it very clear that he was in utter distress. "Stalklings are one of the only species of troll immune to the effects of sunlight," Vendel explained, opening his book and turning to a page near the middle that displayed a drawing of an angry-looking dragon creature with horns, a long tongue, claws, a sharp beak and beat-up wings. Next to it was more drawings that explained its talons and skin.
"That looks not nearly as scary as what attacked me," Jim said, looking up at Vendel. "That1s because those unlucky few who are caught alone with it," the old troll slammed his book shut," never live long enough to depict it." "We have some work to do later," you whispered into Jim's ear, wanting to know every last detail of the creature. "I'm curious. How is it that you're not disemboweled?" Vendel asked, standing up straight, a sort of mockingly curious look on his face. "I don't know. I hit him with my sword, I think," Jim replied. "You struck a blow against a stalkling?" Blinky asked rhetorically as he placed his blue hand on Jim's shoulder. "What gallant bravery!" the troll smiled. "Well, it was more like luck-" Jim begun, but this time, you were the one to shut him up. "We're trying to prove something here," you said through your teeth before you removed your hand from his mouth. "Incredibly heroic and braved Trollhunter-ish," Blinky kept on smiling, his two left arms pulling the poor boy close.
"We shall see. Once a stalkling marks its target, it.." Vendel paused and turned to leave for a dramatic effect, "well, stalks it till death." The old troll left the four of you behind with fearful expressions on your faces. "That doesn't sound good!" Jim exclaimed. "Fear not, master Jim. As long as you are not alone, you will remain unharmed," Blinky eased the hunter. "You mean, I can't be alone for the rest of my life?" Jim asked, upset. "Is that a problem? You seem quite social," Blinky replied, smiling calmly back at Jim. "Uh yeah, but not all the time! It does happen that I need to take a shit," Jim said, placing his hands on his hips.
"Just try to stay extra social, okay master Jim?" Blinky smiled. "I think Y/n could help with that? Can't you?" Blinky asked, looking over at you. "Oh sure. I don't mind helping out a damsel in distress," you joked. "Hey, I am not a damsel!" Jim chuckled as he turned and pointed his finger at you.