A Trollhunter turned King

Black and Blue

Toby's training was coming along great, as it had been a few weeks since their first visit to trollmarket. if Jim was being completely honest, he thought his best friend was a lot better at being the trollhunter than he was. with his prior knowledge of gems and minerals, Toby was able to better understand troll culture from the start. he also hadn't been caught by Bular or any of the changelings in Arcadia, so he had more time to prepare before he truly had to fight anyone. unlike Jim, who had ranted to his history teacher about the night before and was found out before he truly even knew what was going on. on top of that, the slim teen had never understood trolls in their way of life until he, himself, was one. 

said black haired boy was currently at play rehearsal, on stage with his crush. god, he never thought he would have to call her his crush again. going over their lines, Jim was pretending to read off the script, but he was really just spacing out at the paper as he already had everything memorized. not too long after, their curly haired teacher called it a night and everyone started to pack up to go home. Jim was stuck in his thoughts as we wondered what trollmarket would bring tonight, he didn't notice the Latina approach him.

" hey Jim." the once trollhunter visibly jumped as he was pulled out of the void that was his mind. "sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Claire tried to apologize.

" no, no, you didn't scare me. i just-uh- " Jim stuttered to find an excuse, but ended up shaking his head with a sigh. he smiled with a small laugh, accepting his fate. " It's ok, I'm not always lost in my thoughts. did you want to talk to me about something or were you just trying to see how high i could jump." Jim teased, a cheeky smirk plastered on his face. Claire laughed, covering her mouth with her free hand and shaking her head.

"no, i really am sorry about that." she huffed out still giggling. "i wanted to thank you. for being in the play. it means so much to me and you're actually taking this seriously. plus you sound like you already have a lot of it memorized. i didn't really take you for a Shakespeare fan." Jim knew Mrs. Janeth wouldn't have noticed when he said his lines mindlessly, but being right next to him on stage gave Claire that advantage. Jim didn't mind though, it just gave him more credibility. the conversation continued as they started to walk out of the school. it took every ounce of will power the blue clade teen had to not kiss her. his hand had swung down a couple of times to try and hold hers, but Jim caught himself before it became obvious.

Jim grabbed his bike from the rack, and the two of them headed to the front gates to find the Nuñez already there and waiting. the stage partners said their goodbyes and went in their respective directions. Arcadia didn't truly have a night life, well a human one. so the streets were pretty empty and quiet. letting Jim's thoughts roam free. he was so happy everyone was back and alive, and he would make sure it stayed that way. sure, they had to deal with all the world ending battles again but this time he would be more prepared. he loved his friends, even if some of them would consider him their next meal at the time, but he missed his friends. the ones that knew him as he knew them. the ones with bonds no one could forge or try to recreate. ones like Drall, his brother in arms, who now again hated his guts. or like Blinky, his surrogate father, who Jim thought would never see him in that way again now that he wasn't the trollhunter. Claire was probably the only reason he got that far in life. her powers saved the day countless times and without her, they would all be dead. the once powerful shadowmancer now doesn't even know magic is real.

Jim was violently ripped from his sad thoughts as his heart started to pulsate again. almost crashing his bike, he was able to keep up right as he stopped on the side of the road. he dropped his bike on the sidewalk and sat down with his back on the wall of a closed shop. grabbing at his chest, viciously trying to get the pain to go away and trying to calm his breathing. It hadn't done this since his first visit back to trollmarket, why was it doing it now. well it had but they were very small. so small it was barely noticeable to Jim, but nothing like this. not even the first time was this bad. his eyes shut tight with the pain, focusing on not screaming at the top of his lungs.