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Chapter Text

He tried, he really did.

But when it came down to the choice between starving and protecting his pride, Hisirdoux decided starving probably wasn't the best option.

Surviving in the Darklands was brutal. He had known that when he decided to leave the protection of the Gumm-Gumms and to try to make it on his own. He did a pretty good job of it too, at least for a century or so? He couldn't be sure. He gave up trying to keep track of time ages ago, it only made things feel more bleak. Of course, he told himself, it was the starvation that had done it, it was certainly a factor, but it was probably more so the crippling loneliness that had driven him back to Dictatious.

"Well this is a surprise!" Dictatious said when the Gumm-Gumm soldiers dropped Hisirdoux off at his feet. "I thought for a while there, you must surely have perished. I guess you're scrappier than I thought."

Dictatious always underestimated him; the weak little human, the errand boy, the stupid fleshbag. Hisirdoux wanted to gloat with pride that he'd proven to be none of those things, but he knew how stubborn Dictatious could be. He was also too exhausted to deal with Dictatious' ego. He followed behind the troll, flanked by two Gumm-Gumm soldiers, as they began to lead him to the crystal dungeon. In the past, he usually had free reign of the place, but he supposed since his long absence there was some element of distrust.

"You've come at such an auspicious time, boy," Dictatious said to him as they walked.

Hisirdoux didn't have the faintest clue what the troll was on about now, some new discovery perhaps? He had often insisted to Dictatious there must be more out in the Darklands than whatever small corner of it Gunmar had decided to reside in. Waiting around for the bridge to be opened again seemed like a waste of everyone's time. In fact, Hisirdoux had gained more information on the ruins and artifacts of the ancient, giant trolls that once resided in the Darklands while he had been away, than in the collective time he had spent with Dictatious. He left all of his findings behind of course, when he chose to come back. He wouldn't give Dictatious the satisfaction of taking what he had learned.

It was the little things, Hisirdoux told himself.

"I know you were skeptical of Gunmar," Dictatious said, "but it turns out he was right all along. Through tireless efforts we managed to collect all of the pieces of the bridge."

Hisirdoux didn't bat an eye at this, he knew the bridge was useless without the Trollhunter and the amulet. He also knew Merlin's magic would never allow a troll stupid enough to open the bridge to be chosen as the Trollhunter. Why did it matter if they managed to build the bridge back on Earth?

"And lo and behold, Merlin's folly will become our salvation!" Dictatious exclaimed triumphantly.

Hisirdoux now glared at the troll at the mention of his old master's name. He didn't know what the old wizard had to do with any of his ramblings, but they had reached the crystal dungeon, and the Gumm-Gumm guards pushed him into a cell before he had a chance to ask.

"If you play your cards right boy, we might just take you with us," and with that Dictatious let out a raucous laughter that echoed through the halls.

When he got to his feet he called out, "Dictatious wait! What do you mean?" his question went unanswered however, Dictatious and the Gumm-Gumm soldiers were already on their way out of the dungeon and had no intention of coming back just to humor him. "They could have at least given me something to eat..." he muttered under his breath. Even though the trolls had completely different dietary requirements than he did, they would still manage to keep him fed. It was almost worth it to be called, 'pet,' if it meant he didn't have to suffer the pangs of starvation.

He walked to the far wall of the cell and sat back against the cold stone. It had been ages since he last saw these dark walls, the glow of the orange crystals. Despite being mostly free to do what he wanted, there were times he managed to piss off Dictatious, or one of the soldiers, and even on occasion Gunmar himself. The Gumm-Gumm's had no reservations about tossing him in a cell and letting him, 'contemplate his future,' whatever that meant. He was almost convinced these cells were there just to keep him in line specifically, since they almost never had anyone else fill them.

"Hey, my name's Jim, what's yours?" the voice on the other side of the wall was gentle, but the effect it had on Hisirdoux was as if someone had screamed in his ear.

Jumping to his feet, the only thing he could manage to say in response was; "what?" There had been times that he'd considered it before, but perhaps now he was finally starting to lose it.

"I said; my name's--" came the gentle voice, only louder this time.

But Hisirdoux interupted, "--No, no I got that, it's just..." he struggled to find the words. It didn't feel like he was losing his sanity, but maybe that's what everyone who's minds were struggling to hold onto reality thought. "How did you get here?" he finally managed.

"That's kind of a long story, actually," said the voice, Jim's voice.

Jim. Not exactly the name of a troll, not exactly the voice of a troll either.

"You're not... You couldn't be human? Could you?" Hisirdoux wasn't sure he was ready to believe this was real, and not some trick that Dictatious had planned for him this whole time.

"Last time I checked, yeah," Jim said with a hint of playfulness.

Hisirdoux felt a smile creeping up on his face. This was so unexpected, yet something he didn't realize he was desperate for until this moment. The difference between a troll and a human's demeanor was like night and day. There was a feeling growing inside his chest he wished he could grab ahold of and never let go. "So am I..." he said in response, unsure if the shaking in his body was audible or not.

"What's your name? How did you get here? I didn't think there would be any other people in the Darklands." Jim's voice was eager and full of energy and life.

It was nostalgic.

"Hisirdoux," he said, "and that's also a long story," he figured it was probably a much longer story than this other boy could imagine.

They didn't have much time to get into it before a couple of Gumm-Gumm soldiers returned to the dungeon. They were here for Jim. Hisirdoux felt the frustration of the moment deeply, he craved more information about the boy, how he came to be in the Darklands, how he found himself in Gunmar's clutches. He wanted to know everything about him.

Jim struggled against the Gumm-Gumm's but it was a wasted effort. Hisirdoux moved to the front of the cell, just as close as he could get without touching the crystals. The Gumm-Gumm's pulled their captive along passed the front of his cell, and Hisirdoux was able to catch sight of the boy. He was wearing a very familiar looking set of armor, the memory of how it was so familiar escaped him as he tried to soak in as much as he could. Black hair, young, probably shorter than he was. The boy's face was defiant, yet soft, Hisirdoux wasn't sure the boy had seen much of war or fighting based on what he could tell, but they were bringing him to Gunmar.

His heart sank.

Would this be the only time he ever saw another human? Would Gunmar eat him? Gunmar would often speak of the delicacy that was human flesh, it was one of the Dark Underlord's favorite threats to throw at him.

"I wouldn't have to devour you all at once, I could savor your tender flesh, bit by scrawny bit. How long could you survive like that I wonder?"

He pushed the memory down in anger, starting to pace. If he ever did see this Jim boy again, he would vow to get him out of here, far away from the clutches of that dark and disgusting old troll.

He wasn't sure how long he waited, an hour perhaps. An agonizing hour.

Hisirdoux finally heard the struggles and grunts of the boy as the Gumm-Gumm's finally returned. At least they hadn't killed him, Hisirdoux thought. As they passed by, the two boy's eyes met for a brief moment before the trolls pushed Jim on, tossing him back in his own cell.

"Are you okay?" Hisirdoux called over to him, "What did they do to you?" Hisirdoux let the curiosity and fervor show in his voice. He had never been very good at concealing his emotions, even when he wanted to.

"I mean, I've been better," Jim replied, his voice sounded slightly strained. "Just, Gunmar thinking he can wear me down."

"Why would Gunmar be trying to wear you down?" Hisirdoux asked. He was staring at the wall that separated them, desperately wishing he could talk to the boy face to face.

"Maybe he thinks he can use me as the Trollhunter in order to escape through Killahead?" Jim said, "but he's wrong if he thinks I'll help him, I'd rather die than help Gunmar escape!"

Hisirdoux's mind was racing at what he'd just heard. "Wait... You're the Trollhunter? But you're human!" He was ready to laugh off the ridiculous idea until the thought of why he'd recognized the boy's armor came back to him. It was clear now that the design of the armor was Merlin's own. It had been a long time but he still remembered helping his old master with his work. He'd seen the scrolls and the designs Merlin had laid out for the Amulet enough times working as his apprentice.

Jim let out a heavy sigh, "Yeah, I've heard that one before."

Hisirdoux didn't have a response. Instead, he started looking at the wall trying to find a weak point in the rocks. There had never been much of a drive for him to break out of the dungeon before. The Gumm-Gumm's would always eventually release him after he had been sufficiently disciplined. Although he had once tried to break the crystals by kicking them in anger, which ended up just hurting a lot, so he knew that wasn't going to be a likely route of escape.

His fingers ran along the wall trying to find anything he could pull at or break loose.

“So why did they put you in here?” Jim asked.

“I dunno…” Hisirdoux said, and he didn’t really know, but he was too distracted with the wall to really get much deeper into it.

“How long have you been here?”

“A long time,” Hisirdoux replied absentmindedly as his fingers caught hold of something that felt loose. He pulled on it, which caused a large part of the wall to come apart near his feet.

“What are you doing?” Jim asked, he’d obviously heard the crumbling of the stone.

"I thought there might be a way for me to break through this wall, maybe we could find a way out?" There was some desperation in Hisirdoux’s voice.

“I could try from my side too,” Jim said, “what exactly is your plan for getting us out though?”

Hisirdoux couldn’t quite figure out in his mind how he could explain what he was hypothesizing, “I have an idea, but I’m not sure it will work. Guess we will figure that out if we can get through this.” He managed to find another, smaller, crumbling place close to the floor of the cell. He dug at the loose stone as much as he could, but the path he was carving was rather small.

“Nothing seems to be really loose over here,” Jim said.

“Try closer to the floor.”

“Ok, but- oh,” there came a small crumbling on Jim’s side of the wall.

They worked like that for a while, until finally they were actually able to break through. It started as a pinpoint but eventually the hole had become large enough they could reach across to each other.

It was a bit uncomfortable to lay on the ground and reach his whole arm through the small hole. But when his fingers connected with the gauntlet of Jim’s armor, Hisirdoux felt a huge rush flow through him. He started to think his plan might actually work.

“Ok, just, give me your hand for a second,” Hisirdoux said to Jim. The other boy compiled without question, which was good because Hisirdoux had to concentrate if this was going to work. It had been a while since he’d last used magic, but the feeling of using it never left him. He tapped into the rushing feeling that the armor sent him, concentrated on it, formed it, made it bend to his will.

After a moment he was able to shoot a blast of energy at the edge of the crystal door, effectively shattering them to pieces. Hisirdoux scrambled to his feet and ran out of his cell and over to Jims.

“WOW! What did you just do!?” Jim said running up to meet him.

Hisirdoux was more concerned with how he was going to blast Jim out of his cell without hurting either of them with flying crystal shards.

“Give me your hand again,” Hisirdoux said as he reached his hand through one edge of the crystal bars. By standing on one edge and blasting at the other, he was going to put as much distance as he could between them and any flying shards. Hopefully it would work out okay. When Jim reached out and took his hand again, Hisirdoux said, “shield your eyes.”

“Uh, ok…?” Jim manifested his helmet as he reached for Hisirdoux’s hand.

Hisirdoux himself closed his eyes and turned his head away. He was able to send another blast out, shattering more of the crystals.

“Woah, that was awesome! Was that magic?” Jim asked. He had to climb a bit awkwardly out of the cell, but managed to avoid being shocked by the remaining crystals.

“Yeah, it was…” Hisirdoux trailed off as he looked around, seemingly lost in thought, “I think I know a way we can get out of here, to somewhere Gunmar can’t get us.”

“Alright, it might give me the upper hand if I’m not a prisoner… What’s your plan?” Jim asked.

Hisirdoux replied by motioning for Jim to be quiet, and started to lead him away. Jim seemed to understand enough and followed closely behind. Exploring was something Hisirdoux did a lot of, it was one of the few things he had to ease boredom around the Gumm-Gumms, as well as escaping Dictatious from time to time.

After leaving the dungeon they started to sneak carefully around the rocky outcrops. They came to a certain point that Hisirdoux paused and waited, trying to listen for the sound of lumbering trolls.

This part must have escaped Jim’s understanding as he asked, “so, what’s our next move?”

Hisirdoux turned around planning to hush Jim, but his eyes met with a Gumm-Gumm soldier who had turned the opposite corner of the outcrop they had hidden behind.

There was a short pause while the soldier processed what he was seeing. Then he pointed at them and started yelling.

So much for getting out of there quietly.

They started running, Jim following close behind Hisirdoux. He trusted in him to know where they were going, and for the most part he did. But now it was just a matter of getting there without the Gumm-Gumms catching them.

They came by one of the stone bridges that spanned the length of the chasm below them and started across, the Gumm-Gumms lumbering behind them. It was easy enough to outpace the large trolls, but if they were going to hide they would need to put enough distance between them so they couldn’t be discovered.

They were halfway across the bridge now, Hisirdoux turned back to see how much distance they had already gained. It wasn’t much.

“WAIT!” Jim called to him.

But it was too late.

The bridge narrowed so much near the end that footing would be precarious even if his full attention had been on where he was going, but his distraction cost him. He’d just barely missed planting his foot on solid ground. As he was sliding off the edge of the bridge, Jim was able to grab his arm, but it wasn’t enough to stop the two of them from falling off entirely.

Jim managed to pull Hisirdoux closer to him as they fell. It was as if Jim thought his armor could protect the both of them as they plummeted, but Hisirdoux had something else in mind. Holding tight to Jim, Hisirdoux used the power of Jim’s armor once again, he was able to form a barrier around them. It was just in time as they hit a lower bridge seconds after he had it formed. After landing, the spherical barrier started rolling them down and along a pathway, most likely created by a nyarlagroth burrowing through the rock, and down through a tunnel. It twisted and turned down, down, down, until they were finally launched out of the end, landing in a shallow pool of gray water. The barrier that protected them disappeared upon impact, as well as Jim’s armor.

They laid in the water for a few moments before Jim finally asked, “this wasn’t part of your plan was it?”

Hisirdoux let out a long sigh, “not… exactly…” He sat up and looked around, the pool was surrounded by a myriad of glowing green crystals. He knew where they were, roughly. He stood up and walked over to Jim, mostly ignoring the scrapes and bruises he acquired on their journey down, “are you okay? Can you walk?” He asked, reaching his hand out to help Jim up.

Jim grunted as he sat up, “yeah, I think so…” he reached up and took Hisirdoux’s hand, letting himself be pulled up.

Hisirdoux noticed the Amulet in Jim’s other hand, but Jim quickly hid it away inside his pocket. He wanted to ask about it but decided not to just yet. “I know some place we can go from here,” he told Jim instead.

Jim nodded in response and followed closely behind Hisirdoux.

Chapter Text

The ashen water that flowed deep in the crevices of the Darklands had a way of making you feel like you were wading through sludge, and it soon began to take its toll on them. Jim was clearly exhausted. Hisirdoux wasn't sure if the power of the Amulet had faded from Jim's lack of energy, or if he had drained it with his magic. Either way, he didn't think Jim had much strength left in him.

"It's just a little further," Hisirdoux said, hoping his encouragement could have some impact on the boy.

"I... I can't," Jim said as he fell to his knees. Hisirdoux quickly reached out to grab his shoulders and stop him from falling further into the water. "I'm sorry..." Jim leaned against Hisirdoux, his full weight suddenly against him.

"Jim?"

No response. He must have passed out.

Hisirdoux shifted his weight around to get a better grip. He sat there in the water holding Jim for a moment to catch his breath. He'd have to carry the boy the rest of the way now, which he wasn't really looking forward to. But while he crouched there contemplating this, his attention shifted to the physical sensations of the moment. Aside from the wet and the cold of the water seeping into his clothes, he could feel the warmth radiating off of Jim's body. It was such a foreign feeling, seeing as how the creatures of the Darklands were either hard, cold, or slimy. Jim's skin gave where he held it, soft and thin, it almost seemed as if he could feel the blood rushing underneath. Hisirdoux felt almost transfixed, the push and pull of Jim's breathing against his chest, the almost burning warmth of the boy's face against his neck. He was really warm, almost too warm.

Hisirdoux reached a hand up to feel Jim's face. Putting aside his curiosity of the experience of touching another human this way, his limited knowledge was telling him this wasn't normal. It was likely Jim was more than just exhausted. Hisirdoux pushed aside his selfishness to explore the moment further, and lifted Jim up out of the water. He'd get Jim to the safety of his little hovel, where he could get him dry and comfortable. There was no way he was going to let the only human he'd seen in nearly a millennium die like this.

~~~

Throughout the years there had been times Hisirdoux would leave the trolls for days, weeks, or months at a time. The last 100 years or so had been the longest stretch he'd ever spent away from them. It had been rough. In-between hunting, cooking, and anything else he had to do to survive, he had slept a lot just to avoid dealing with anything else; his feelings, his loneliness, his boredom. He started the years off excited, he would often make things for himself; jewelry made mostly out of bones and crystals, paper for drawing and making notes, leathers for clothes and bedding. He'd even managed to carve a lot of intricate tools and weapons out of horns. Despite all he had managed, in the end he had to admit to himself he needed the company of the Gumm-Gumm's. As dull and obnoxious as they often were. He'd even missed talking to Dictatious about his half-baked theories.

He had found an incredible spot for all of these activities not long after he and Gunmar's army had settled where they were now. There must have been a long dead tree of some sort, who's roots had twisted around a softly glowing, champagne colored crystal. The middle of the root had hollowed out, possibly by a steady stream of water that once flowed through it. It was great protection from the creatures of the Darklands, as well as a warm place thanks to the energy of the crystal. He'd filled it full of everything he had managed to make over the years, as well as keeping it stocked with clean water and rations. If there was ever a time he had thought the whole excursion was pointless, it was replaced now by his overwhelming gratitude for its existence.

How he'd managed to get Jim inside, along the rest of the dark ravine, up the craggy cliff that led to the opening in the root, was a blur to Hisirdoux. He had been entirely too focused on the task at hand; get the boy warm and safe. He removed Jim's shoes, socks, jeans, and blue jacket, bundled him with his softest leathers and laid him down next to the crystal. Hisirdoux usually slept in the deepest part of the root, where the crystal's light barely reached, but this seemed like a better idea since it would be warmer. Once he had Jim settled, he changed out of his own wet clothes.

Then he tore into the place he kept his rations, suddenly realizing how incredibly hungry he was. There wasn't much left of his stock, but there was at least enough to tide him over for now.

Turns out, it was a thousand times easier, and faster, falling down into the ravine to his home away from the trolls , than it had been to climb up to where they lived. It might have been at least a day and a half since he'd eaten anything. Starvation would usually have his mind focused solely on food; kill, gather, prepare, cook, ration. He figured the excitement of finding another human temporarily distracted him. He looked over at Jim sleeping as he nibbled on what was left of his rations.

It wasn't a dream.

The only reason he knew for certain it wasn't, is because he spent a long time dreaming of something like this. At first his fantasies were about escaping the Darklands, but that idea faded from him a long time ago. Now, if he found himself daydreaming about anything like that, it was about some faceless figure, maybe hunting, or exploring with him together. These daydreams were always comforting, predictable, perfect. The reality felt strange and terrifying.

Once he finished eating, he got closer to Jim to check on him. He knelt down beside the boy, who seemed to be struggling to fight the effects of his fever. Hisirdoux wished he had something more to help him, but he himself rarely got sick, so trying to figure out if there were any remedies that existed in the Darklands was never a priority. He could only hope Jim was strong enough to fight this.

He felt the boy's forehead again, it was damp from sweat and still warmer than he thought was normal. He let his fingers trail up to push aside the boy's bangs. Wandering further, his fingers trailed through the boy's hair, pushing more of it off to one side, and resting them around Jim's temple. The boy stirred slightly, only enough to move his head in the direction of Hisirdoux's hand where it then cradled his face.

Then Jim muttered something about his mother.

Hisirdoux didn't quite understand the feelings that suddenly stirred up inside him, other than the fact that they seemed unpleasant. He backed away from Jim, and shifted his attention to the rest of his dwelling. He'd have to find more food for them both to eat once Jim woke up, so he decided to prepare for a gathering mission.

He put some supplies in a small pack. There were some things he had in mind to get, such as some herb-like plants that grew nearby. He didn’t know if they had any medicinal properties, but at least they were edible. Their location was a short hike away from the top of the cliff where his tree stump was rooted. There was also some edible fruit around the same location, so he would gather the herbs along with some of the fruit. If he managed to pass an animal along the way he could try and hunt for it, but he was mostly focused on the easy stuff.

After giving Jim one more look over he headed out.

It didn’t take him long to reach the area where the herbs grew. He started to collect them in a habitual manner, as they were easy to gather. His thoughts went back to Jim, and the feelings he had after hearing the boy mumbling in his sleep.

It wasn’t surprising that the boy had a mother, so why the negative sort of feelings?

The fruit he was looking for grew just above the area where he gathered the herbs. It was a bit of a climb to reach them and it wasn’t much effort, but he would have to be careful. His mind however, was still on Jim. It wasn’t long into his climb that his foot slipped on a loose portion of rock. Hastily, he managed to regain his footing. Then he felt a pang of anger with himself for allowing his absentmindedness to make him reckless.

Also fear.

It wasn’t the first time he’d made a blunder like this, there had been much worse things happen while living on his own. There was something different about it this time though. The anger wasn’t new, but the fear was. Fear, because now he had someone else who was relying on him to return.

That’s when it suddenly hit him, why he had felt the way he did about Jim mentioning his mother. Jim had people who were waiting for him. Hisirdoux stopped climbing, clung to the cliff side, and leaned his forehead against the rocks. He wanted that thought to sink in.

Ever since coming into the Darklands, Hisirdoux felt alone. The company of Dictatious or the Gumm-Gumm’s was just something to fill that void, but it never felt like enough. They didn’t care about him, not truly. If he had never returned to them today, they wouldn’t care if he’d ever came back.

There was no one out there waiting for him.

He wanted what Jim had, people who would look for him when he went missing, people who would care if he was hurt or lost or alone. But he had no one.

Well, maybe now…

But Jim would surely go back to the people who missed him. What was Hisirdoux to Jim but a random stranger in the Darklands, who fumbled their escape plans and almost got them killed? Why would Jim give a second thought to him? He would probably leave once he got better and go back to his family, maybe even forget Hisirdoux ever existed…

It was hard to pull his mind out of that spiraling dark hole, but it also felt really stupid to be hanging on the side of a cliff. So he pulled himself the rest of the way up, collected the fruit, and scaled back down. He’d gotten pretty good at suppressing dark thoughts in favor of doing what needed to be done.

His mind was still hazy after he returned to his dwelling. Jim was still where he’d left him. At least he wasn’t alone for now, even if Jim was still unconscious. That small, but pleasant thought pushed Hisirdoux to unpack his cargo and begin making something that would be easy for Jim to get down even while in his condition.

So he set to cooking.

There was a small runoff of water that he’d redirected along one wall. The top of the redirect was full of rocks and some other materials to create a filter. He gathered the water from this makeshift tap into a large wooden bowl and set it next to a small pit where he then started a fire. The smoke of the fire escaped through a hole further up the root, possibly a branch of root that had long since crumbled away. Since Hisirdoux had no metal containers to boil water, the method he used to do so was a bit complicated, but it worked. Instead he heated an iron bar, which he’d insulated by fashioning a handle of wood. Once it was hot he would then dip it into the water, which had to be done several times to get it boiling. While the fire heated the metal, he got out a makeshift mortar and pestle, using it to turn the herbs into a paste. The fruit which he collected had a similar consistency as potatoes but had a mild lemony flavor. The herbs had a harsh and bitter sort of spice, but if he boiled it with the fruit, their flavors tended to blend together into something pleasant. He skinned the fruit and cut it into small pieces and put them in the water, then scooped out the herb paste into the water as well. He finished boiling the water, the heat softened the fruit, and he mashed it as he stirred everything together. It was a lot of work for a simple soup but it didn’t bother Hisirdoux if it helped Jim.

The taste of it in the end was pretty much what he had planned, so he poured some into a smaller bowl and brought it over to Jim’s side. He took a moment to study the boy’s face as he slept. He’d never had someone else to care for before, the idea made him feel both elated and afraid. Swallowing that fear he reached out to Jim’s face again.

“Hey,” Hisirdoux said to the boy softly. There was very little response to the gentle prodding, so Hisirdoux tried to lift him into a sitting position to make it easier to feed him the soup. This caused Jim to stir a bit more, he made soft noises in response to being moved. That was a good sign, Hisirdoux told himself.

Jim’s eyes fluttered open a bit, though he still seemed on the edge of passing out.. Hisirdoux used his own body as a prop to keep him sitting upright as he brought the bowl to Jim’s lips.

“Can you drink?”

“Mmmm..” Was the response Hisirdoux got, but Jim parted his lips when he felt the bowl against them.

Hisirdoux tipped some of the contents of the bowl slowly into Jim’s mouth, waiting till he swallowed. Which he did, and then Jim moved his hand up to hold onto Hisirdoux’s wrist, pushing the hand that held the bowl against his lips again to swallow the rest. Hisirdoux was about to get some more but Jim slid himself out of his grasp and laid back down. However, he didn’t let go of his wrist. Hisirdoux transferred the bowl to his other hand and set it aside, then he laid down next to Jim. It was a weird position, but this way Jim could keep holding his arm. Hisirdoux wasn’t sure why that seemed so important, but he didn’t mind the slight discomfort for it.

The moment felt oddly calming. He watched his arm resting over Jim’s chest as it moved up and down with his breathing. Hisirdoux’s mind seemed devoid of worry, which was unusual, since normally his mind being empty meant he was trying to ignore something painful. It was nice.

Hisirdoux closed his eyes for a moment, letting himself relax. Not wanting to fall asleep just yet, he shifted his thoughts over to hunting. He wasn’t sure if his presence in this part of the Darklands was the reason for the lack of game he’d been experiencing lately, it had just seemed difficult the past few months. Maybe he had over-hunted? If that was the case, they would have to move on from this spot if they wanted to survive. But he wasn’t sure what Jim would say when he woke up. He seemed grateful for Hisirdoux’s help, but maybe he had to move on as soon as possible.

The need to get up and begin a hunting trip was plagued by the desire to lay here as long as Jim would hold onto him. He was finally able to pull himself away, but only with a large pang of guilt. Hopefully hunting would be easier than that had been. After taking a swig of his now cold soup, he switched his gear from gathering to hunting. There wasn’t any way to know what he would or wouldn’t find out there now, big or small, he hadn’t seen anything on his way to the gathering spot. He might have to travel further down the ravine, which would make for a much harder hunting trip, but he hadn’t been down there in a while. If it was his presence here, then going somewhere that he hadn’t been much made the most sense. He decided to leave the larger hunting weapons behind, climbing through the ravine would be easier without them.

Hisirdoux knelt down beside Jim just before he was ready to head out, his mind was a tangle of thoughts. They hadn’t said much to each other, or even known each other for more than a day, but it seemed to make a world of difference for Hisirdoux, even as Jim slept. Having someone near, a human someone, who needed care and attention. Someone more like Hisirdoux, someone who could be vulnerable. There was a strange code among troll soldiers to always be afraid, but they never seemed afraid to him. They were stoick and unrelenting, they weren’t vulnerable like this.

He couldn’t help himself from reaching out and touching Jim’s face again. Jim seemed to have relaxed a little since being brought here, but he was obviously still recovering. He didn’t stir this time from being touched, though his eyes were moving visibly under his eyelids, possibly dreaming about something. Caressing his cheek lightly, he vaguely wondered what the boy would think if he were aware of what Hisirdoux was doing. The guilt of that thought made him stop. He longed for the touch, but wouldn’t want to disrespect Jim in the process.

He made sure Jim could easily access water or the soup if he woke up, and put the leathers back over him. Hisirdoux didn’t want to be away for too long in case the boy woke up, but he had a feeling the hunt for game would be a challenge. With one last look over everything, he headed out again, his feelings dancing a thin line between uncertainty and elation.

Chapter Text

There wasn’t a good way to measure the passage of time in the Darklands. Gunmar and the other trolls managed to have limited contact with the outside world, so they were aware of how many years had passed since becoming trapped. But the minutes, hours, days-- they could all pass by in a blurry uncertainty.

Hisirdoux didn’t know how long he was gone, his determination to find something edible he could bring back for Jim drove him on. He was relieved when he spotted something moving behind the rocks ahead of him. It was starting to feel like a mistake heading out so far, but the feeling subsided as he made quick work of the small pair of creatures. Although it wasn’t much, it was at least enough for a small meal.

As he trudged back to his encampment he caught a glimpse of something in the distance. It was likely remnants of the lost troll civilization, but he didn’t have time to explore it now. Perhaps after Jim was feeling better, Hisirdoux thought perhaps he might like to explore it with him.

Upon returning to the dwelling, he began to immediately process the creatures. They consisted mostly of unusable parts, a hardened hood which had no practical use, as well as thin skin that couldn’t stand up to the process of becoming leather. At least it was edible, he thought.

As he rekindled the fire, he noticed the supply of burnable wood was getting low. It frustrated him to think about, since he had grown tired of surviving alone. It was a big part of the reason he had decided to return to the Gumm-Gumms. Survival was tedious and monotonous, he worked hard and was good at it, but he was ready for a break. As he looked over at Jim, however, he figured if the boy's company was the price he had to pay for leaving the Gumm-Gumms again, it was beyond worth it.

The fire was at a steady blaze now, so Hisirdoux took the time to check on Jim. As he looked down at the boy, he wondered how long this affliction would last. He could only hope it would be over soon, there was so much he wanted to talk about.

He had hung Jim’s clothes on a leatherworking rack to dry earlier, but decided to bring them closer to Jim in case he wanted them when he woke up. In doing so, something fell from the garments, making a sharp metallic noise as it hit the floor. It was the Trollhunter Amulet. Hisirdoux knelt down to pick it up so he could look at it closely. Something was odd about it though. Turning it over he tried to remember back those many long years to when he’d helped Merlin to create it. It took a while before he finally realized the Daylight stone was missing from it, as well as the entire face of the Amulet. He was too busy inspecting it to realize Jim had been watching him.

“Thank you,” Jim said in a groggy voice.

Hisirdoux almost dropped the Amulet in surprise. He tried to pretend like he hadn’t just spent the last several minutes looking at Jim’s belongings. “Hmm? Oh… Sorry?” he said, feeling like a complete idiot.

Jim let out a weak chuckle, “I never thanked you for rescuing me.”

“Oh, o-of course. You’re welcome,” Hisirdoux replied sheepishly. He got closer to Jim to hand him his clothes, shoes and the Amulet. Jim motioned for him to place it down beside him while he moved to sit up. Hisirdoux took hold of his shoulders to help him up. “How are you doing?”

“Why do I feel so tired?” Jim asked as he leaned gently against the older male.

Hisirdoux didn’t really know how to answer, as well as being distracted by the sudden heat filling his insides, independent of the warmth the other human was giving off. “Hmmm…” was all he could manage.

“I have to go to the bathroom…” Jim said quietly.

“Right!” Hisirdoux helped Jim to his feet and showed him to the area he used for such occasions. There was a small area against the wall that would let liquid run to the outside, it was used for wastewater that was more than just bodily functions. There was also a container nearby that was used for anything that needed to be taken out, but Jim wasn’t in need of it. Afterwards, they went back to where Jim had been sleeping and he crawled back into the covers to lay down.

“I’m cooking some meat for us,” Hisirdoux said matter of factly. He went back to the pit to start cooking the meat, using the hot stones around the fire as a means to roast it.

“Thanks again…” Jim picked up the Amulet, looking over it as he laid there. “Are you alone here?”

The question hit Hisirdoux harder than Gunmar’s fist. He wasn’t expecting to suddenly feel the weight of the fact that he was indeed alone so hard. He was grateful for the fact that his back was towards Jim as his face contorted in an effort to hold back from crying. The tightness in his throat was cutting off anything he might want to say.

Jim must have understood when there was no reply to his question, the crackling sound of the fire was the only thing breaking the silence.

It took a while to properly roast the meat, and as Hisirdoux turned to bring it to Jim, he saw that the boy was once again asleep. As he approached Jim with the meal he’d prepared, Hisirdoux noticed that he was still holding the Amulet. Asking Jim about how he became the Trollhunter was near the top of his list of questions to ask, but there were other things to take care of first.

Gently taking hold of Jim’s shoulder to wake him back up, he offered him a small piece of meat. Jim clearly didn’t care for the taste, that much was obvious by the look on his face as he ate. Hisirdoux didn’t blame him, this particular creature's meat was soft and grainy. It didn’t lend well to preservation either, and normally he would try to improve the terrible texture with other food but the meat was all he had and he didn’t want it to go to waste.

Before Hisirdoux could apologize for the terrible meal, Jim was suddenly laughing, “this is what I would expect from Darklands food.” Hisirdoux wasn’t sure why, but Jim’s laugh made his stomach twist in a pleasant sort of way. He simply smiled in response before finishing the rest of his food. Jim also finished and picked up the Amulet again. “I guess I should rest a bit more, I don’t think I could summon the Eclipse Armor right now even if I wanted to. Let alone try to fight Gunmar.” Jim sighed heavily, and laid his head back down. “I really screwed this up…”

“Eclipse?” Hisirdoux was fairly certain the Armor which normally manifested from the Amulet was called Daylight, but maybe this would explain why the Daylight stone seemed to be missing.

“Yeah, it’s what the armor I was wearing is called. It’s supposed to help me defeat Gunmar…” Jim trailed off and didn’t meet Hisirdoux’s eyes.

“We could both use some rest,” Hisirdoux said, he wanted to ask more, but it was clear how tired Jim was. He felt exhausted himself. “You’ll have to explain this to me in more detail when you’re feeling better.”

Jim’s eyes closed but he smiled, “yeah, I think we have a lot to talk about.”

It was a relief of sorts to know Jim felt the same way about wanting to talk more. He got up and smothered the fire before getting comfortable himself next to where Jim was laying. It appeared as though Jim had already fallen asleep in that short period of time. The chatter in Hisirdoux’s mind was threatening to keep him up for quite some time however.

~~~

Upon waking, Hisirdoux noticed that Jim was no longer there next to him. He looked around frantically before finally spotting the other boy, he was on the other side of the dwelling looking at some of his things on a shelf. Hisirdoux got up and walked over to join him.

“Hey,” he announced calmly.

“Hey,” Jim replied, looking up from the shelf. He was holding one of the many blades Hisirdoux had carved while staying there. It was one he felt proud of; it was made of a charred bone, the black outside and the white underneath made for a really interesting contrast in his decorative carving of the blade.

“How are you feeling?” Hisirdoux asked.

“Better, I think…” Jim said while he considered it further, “I still feel a little weak, but I was tired of just laying around.”

Hisirdoux simply nodded.

“So… Is this where you live?” Jim asked motioning at everything that surrounded them.

Hisirdoux gave a coy laugh, “I’ve made it my own anyway.”

“Did you… Make this?” Jim held up the decorated piece of bone.

“Well, yeah,” Hisirdoux took it from him and looked at it, suddenly struck with a feeling of nostalgia. A lot of the things he made that were more decorative mostly sat around, hidden among the clutter. “I made everything here.”

“Wow! Everything?” Jim exclaimed. His face was alight with awe.

Hisirdoux wasn’t sure how much Jim had been poking around before he’d woken up. Not that he had anything to hide from the other male, he just wasn’t used to having company. It was almost like feeling exposed. The look on Jim’s face however, felt like Jim was more accepting than judgemental, and that helped a little. He still felt a bit shy, he started to rub the back of his neck to ease his tension over the whole thing. “Pretty much everything I guess…”

Jim looked around, almost as if seeing it all for the first time. There were shelves Hisirdoux had built, baskets, tables, alcoves dug into the walls, everything filled with the things he’d made or collected over the last century. Jim’s face went through a myriad of emotions, from awe, to confused, to an odd sort of sadness. “You’ve been here a long time haven’t you?” Jim asked in a somber tone.

Hisirdoux stood awkwardly, not sure what to say, instead he just nodded.

“Sorry if I wasn’t supposed to be looking around,” Jim apologized.

“No I’m sorry,” Hisirdoux said hastily, “I’m just… Not used to… People?” and by people he meant humans, and by used to, he meant in his personal space. Trolls tended to keep their distance, even from each other. Unless they were fighting of course, things were already very different when it came to Jim.

Jim’s face took on a mild look of surprise before he asked, “were you born in the Darklands?”

“No, I arrived here with Gunmar and his army when they were sucked in through Killahead.”

Now Jim really looked confused, “wait, that doesn’t make sense… That was hundreds of years ago, and you’re like… My age?”

“Well, how old are you?” Hisirdoux asked, age wasn’t really something he thought about since he and the trolls were too old to think about things like that on a regular basis.

“I uh…” He seemed thrown off by the line of questioning, “I just turned 16 not long ago.”

Hisirdoux looked at himself in relation to Jim and said, “I think I might have stopped aging at around… 17, 18, 19… I’m not sure really.”

“But how?” Jim was genuinely confused.

“I-I dunno, magic I guess?” Hisirdoux wished he had more of an answer for him, but the truth was he didn’t really know. He did know magic sometimes had that effect on the living, granting them immortality, or as his old master used to say, ‘mastery over life,’ but he didn’t understand it. There was only more confusion on Jim’s face at this point. “Sorry… I don’t really know, it does have something to do with magic though.” He tried to think of something to change the subject, “I can.. Show you around a bit more if you’d like?”

“Ok, sure.” Jim responded. There was clear hesitation in his voice and Hisirdoux assumed it was frustration and not being provided better answers.

He began to show Jim around, the place they started was near the entrance to the root dwelling. It was something of a storage area, since it was the biggest section. It held most of the excess things, half-worked leathers, large pieces of wood, bits of fabric and rope, some crystal shards and various other things.

Next up was the area around the crystal where they had both been sleeping. The fire pit was at the start of the break in the root, which was actually raised to about waist height. The walls of the root that had broken away from the crystal, making a decent working area. Around the place for the fire was most of his utensils, bowls, spoons, extra rocks, his mortar and pestle, the fire starting materials.

Jim suddenly asked, “is anything in the Darklands actually decent to eat?” he gave a face as Hisirdoux was showing him around his makeshift kitchen.

Hisirdoux thought about it before he replied, “you weren’t keen on the soup? I didn’t think it was that bad?”

“I-- Oh, I don’t actually remember.” He had been rather out of it then of course. Hisirdoux wondered if Jim remembered holding onto his arm.

Within eyesight of the fire pit, they walked by the area where they had been sleeping. Hisirdoux stopped to gather up the leathers so he could put them in their place at the end of the tour. This area was the brightest, it was the area the root had broken away most around the crystal. “And over there is, well you know…” the area for relieving oneself was opposite the crystal and against a slight bend, it was only slightly shaded from the light of the crystal, not exactly the most private of places. “Maybe I could build some sort of… Cover for it?” He thought aloud. He never had to worry about shame much these past few hundred years, but part of him still remembered humans liked their privacy.

There wasn’t much left to show Jim other than another area where larger things were stored, mostly bones and wood for the fire, stuff he’d collected from the ancient trolls, things like that. There was also a shelf that held paper he’d made, and charcoal for his drawing and writing. He didn’t explicitly point this out to Jim, but he wondered if there would be any interest in those things from Jim. The shelf also held a small shard of crystal broken off the main crystal, it worked as a faint torch in the dark of the dwelling. It was cut off from most of the light of the central crystal so it was dark and easier to sleep in.

He dropped the leathers in their rightful place on the floor at the end of the hallway, and held up the shard so it’s faint light could illuminate the area, “aaaaand this is where I sleep,” Hisirdoux said.

“It’s really… cozy!” Jim said, but somehow it seemed like he didn’t believe his own words.

“I’m sure it’s, not what you’re used to.. Earth has gotten pretty advanced from what I’ve heard from Gunmar…”

“Yeah I guess since you were there last. Oh yeah!” Jim exclaimed, startling Hisirdoux just a bit, “I was thinking, how we never officially met!” Jim held out his hand, “my full name is James Lake Jr. but people call me Jim for short.”

Hisirdoux took Jim’s hand tentatively. It took him a moment before he even recalled his full name, “Hisirdoux… Casperan. A friend of mine a long time ago used to call me Douxie,” The memory of his small black familiar made him smile.

“Hisirdoux, Douxie, Doux… Hmm,” Jim seemed to be mulling these options over in his mind. “I guess we’ll see what comes naturally with time.”

“With time?” Hisirdoux was surprised at the implication.

“Well when I figure out how to get out of the Darklands, or my friends figure out how to rescue me, I imagine you’d like to get out too?”

Hisirdoux stared at him wide eyed, nearly disbelieving. Jim wanted to leave the Darklands together with him. It took him a moment before he found his voice, “I-I-I mean, we can… Leave together?” As the words escaped his mouth he felt instantly awkward.

“Of course! You don’t want to be stuck here any longer do you?” Jim asked.

“No I suppose not…” The thought of getting out and seeing what the world has become sent a myriad of feelings through Hisirdoux. He wasn’t sure how to process them so instead he changed the subject, “how did you become the Trollhunter?” He asked hastily.

“Oh,” the question seemed to catch Jim off guard but he was willing to go along with the subject change, “well, it wasn’t that long ago actually.”

They walked back up the dwelling to the lit area and made themselves comfortable on the floor. Jim began to recount how he’d found the amulet with his friend in the canals. Realizing Hisirdoux didn’t know what he’d mean by canals he started to explain them, and then he was explaining cars and electricity. He also had to explain his friend Toby, and how he was his best friend, then he was explaining his friend's home life. He didn’t mean to get so off-topic but Hisirdoux asked a lot of questions and listened intently. At some point one of their stomachs growled, they couldn’t actually decide whose.

Hisirdoux, or Doux, as Jim had already taken to call him, decided it was a good time to go hunting. Despite the backlash he received, Doux insisted that Jim stay behind at least this time. Hunting in the Darklands was a challenge and a steep learning curve. They were both hungry and with Jim still not at his best, it would be easier to do alone. With the promise that he would let Jim help next time, Hisirdoux started packing things to take with him on the hunt. This time he planned on a more serious hunt, which meant more studier weapons and tools. It was going to be tough, not only to find something in the first place, but to process and bring it back. But the thought of Jim relying on him proved to be a really good motivator once again.

Chapter Text

He managed to find a strange creature that looked something like a cross between a spider and a pumpkin. The outer shell of the creature, which was mainly attached to the legs, could fit together like a puzzle, which created a very difficult barrier to penetrate. The best chance he had to get past it’s defences was forcing it to move, usually by scaring it. This would move the shell pieces out of place, exposing the creature's soft body. Hisirdoux learned fairly early on, mostly thanks to the heavy footfalls of the trolls, that vibrations would very easily disturb it.

Despite the creature's bulky appearance, it could actually move very quickly. It took a little planning to figure out where he should position himself in relation to where he figured the creature might move after being disturbed. It was between the crack of a couple large rocks, one of the rocks was higher up than the other. Knowing the creatures as he did, Hisirdoux assumed the creature would head down, since there were often more caverns to hide in lower down in the Darklands. He was right of course, after taking his position, he banged the back of his spear on the rock next to the creature and it took off rapidly. Unfortunately it headed straight for him, Doux’s footing was just awkward enough that he couldn’t avoid a collision. He was pushed to his back as the creature's armored leg came down on his left arm. It wasn’t heavy enough to break anything, but it still managed to leave a nasty gash. Ignoring the pain, Hisirdoux managed to thrust his spear into the body of the creature, disabling it almost instantly.

Regaining his footing, he finished off the creature with another decisive stab of his spear. After the creature was completely imobile, he began to process it for transport.

Standing at full height the creature would reach his waist, but a lot of it was useless to him. He cut and tore away at the armored plating, leaving only the soft body underneath. A lot of organs were also unusable, so he split the creature open and removed them. There were other creatures that would be lurking in the shadows waiting to feast on these leftovers, but for him, he wrapped everything he wanted together using the creature's own skin and headed back.

The creature he killed also happened to have a secondary defence mechanism. Even more of a hassle than the large armored plates, it also secreted a thick black slime, which he was now covered in. It was actually a very difficult creature to process for eating and for leather, but there usually wasn’t an option when it came to hunting. It all came down to whatever he could find, even when pickings weren’t so slim.

As he neared his dwelling he took a detour to the ravine flowing below it. He started to clean the remains of the creature along with himself.

“Doux!” Jim called out to him. It was almost comforting to be greeted in such a casual way, though it was overshadowed by his exhaustion. The noise of the water splashing must have travelled inside to alert Jim to his presence he figured. Jim’s reaction went from excited at seeing him, to mildly horrified very quickly as he made his way down the cliffside. Doux continued his work on cleaning the creature, the slime was tenacious, and he couldn’t cook or preserve the meat without removing it.

“Hey, you’re bleeding…” Jim said as he approached the other boy.

“It’s fine,” Doux said, his tone was dismissive. It didn’t seem worth mentioning when he had other things more pressing to worry about.

Jim took hold of Doux’s arm for closer inspection, “It looks bad, what happened? We should-” He was cut off by Doux pulling his arm forcefully out of Jim’s grip.

“It’s fine, I said!” He didn’t really understand Jim’s worry over him, it was just a flesh wound, it would heal quickly, leave another scar, it wasn’t a big deal. But the look on Jim’s face now made him reconsider his actions. Despite having just been yelled at, Jim clearly still expressed genuine concern for him. He could feel the guilt settling in the pit of his stomach, but he didn’t know what to do about it. All of this was surly plain as day on his own face, so he broke eye contact and stared down into the water.

“Come on,” Jim pleaded, gently touching his wounded arm again. “At least let’s clean it up so it can heal properly.”

Doux looked up at Jim’s face again, who then smiled warmly at him. He couldn’t manage a smile himself, but he did manage a gravelly, ‘okay,’ and he let Jim guide him to where he could do as he wanted.

Why was this so hard?

It wasn’t as if Jim was demanding, like Dictatious would have been. But somehow he felt more comfortable with the idea of Dictatious yelling at him than whatever this was now. All Jim wanted to do was help him, and he yelled at him for it. He felt sick with himself, and couldn’t understand what pushed Jim to try and help him anyway. He didn’t deserve his kindness.

As Jim led him to sit down at the bank of the ravine, Doux could feel himself starting to shut down from the conflict in his head. He was barely aware of what Jim was doing until he suddenly spoke. “I guess the fact that my mom’s… healer,” The pause was part of Jim’s new habit of simplifying words for him. “...makes me more conscious of this kind of thing.” The words barely registered with Doux, but he started to pay more attention to what was going on. He hadn’t noticed at first but Jim had actually brought some supplies down with him, mainly some cloth that he was currently using to wipe his arm clean with. “It doesn’t look too bad actually, I couldn’t really tell with all this… black goo everywhere.”

Jim finished cleaning the wound and wrapped it with another cloth. Jim must have realized Doux was in a weird mood because he continued on despite any tension between them. “I’m going to go start a fire inside. I assume you’ll want to cook that… Whatever it is… when you’re done cleaning it.” He then left the older boy to sit on the bank and headed back into the dwelling.

It took Hisirdoux a few moments to come back to himself enough to move from his spot on the side of the ravine. He reached up to touch the bandage Jim had put on his arm. Some sort of weird sensation was left there from where the boy had touched him, almost like a faint memory of having been burned, but there was no pain. He was used to being cut, broken, bruised-- his pain tolerance was fairly high. At least high enough that he didn’t even realize he was bleeding until Jim mentioned it. He would have realized eventually of course, but it would have normally just been another scar to add to the many, and he wouldn’t have thought much of it. If this wound left a scar, however, he had a lingering thought that he might never forget about it.

He shook himself out of his dark place and finished up with the creature's remains. He took them into the dwelling along with all his supplies which he had also cleaned outside. Jim was there, the fire had been well-built and was burning low, it was a great fire for roasting the meat. Doux was impressed.

“I can help you cut up the meat if you’d like?” Jim offered, and Doux replied with a simple nod.

They worked together to prepare the meat. Doux showed him what was good, what wasn’t as good and could be used for a stew, and what should be discarded. It was obvious Jim had some skill with this sort of thing, he could handle a knife, and he learned quickly. There was also something about working with him together like this that was lifting the dark cloud off of his mind. Conversation seemed easy, at least when it came to what they were doing. Jim helped him roast the meat while he prepared a broth. It was quite a bit of food, and Jim worried about all it going bad, Doux explained that things didn’t really seem to go bad very often in the darklands. At least he had always managed to consume it before it happened. Jim mentioned something that Doux didn’t quite understand, something like there not being a lot of germs in the darklands to make things spoil. He didn’t really feel like asking about that, he was more curious about Jim.

“How’d you get so good at this sort of thing?” He asked Jim.

“Well, my mom works a lot. She never has time to cook our meals so I guess I just learned how. I think I’m pretty good at it, that’s what people tell me anyway.”

“You’re really close with her, I take it?” Doux asked.

“Yeah, she’s really the only family that I got. I mean, I guess I have some other relatives but I don’t see them much. It’s just me and her mostly. Do you remember your family?”

They were sectioning up the broth and meat now for storage while leaving a bit out for themselves. “I was an orphan…” There was a sound of understanding from Jim. “Sometimes I think I remember my moms face though, but I can’t tell if it’s just my dreams making something up.”

They ate together after everything was finished. They talked more about how Jim became the Trollhunter as they ate, and how he met Blinky and AAARRRGGHH!!! in his basement, and making his armor appear for the first time.

“I thought I was gonna lose my mind, I wanted to tell Tobes right away but he was busy… It was torture!” Jim laughed as he recalled the memory.

Doux was trying to let Jim talk this time. He really did want to know how Jim became the Trollhunter, and he figured his curiosity about the surface world could wait.

“After I showed him the armor, Blinky and AAARRRGGHH!!! came barging in and Tobes totally freaked!”

“You guys aren’t used to seeing trolls, I take it?” Doux finally asked, breaking his silent listening streak.

“No! I mean, no one even knows they exist?” Jim took a deep calming breath before explaining, “even I thought it was all a bit overwhelming.”

“But you did what you had to do?” Doux asked. He knew that feeling all too well.

“Yeah, well… at first I didn't exactly want to be the Trollhunter,” Jim said.

Doux finished off the last swig of his cold broth then asked enthusiastically, “oh? Why not?”

Jim explained how Bular had chased him and Toby, and how they had barely escaped to Trollmarket. He talked about sparring with Draal and how it had ended badly.

“It just seemed like something that was too… big… for me? I was facing a world and a problem I didn't really understand, and it felt like so much responsibility on top of what I already had going on. Not to mention it seemed like none of the trolls I was supposed to be protecting even wanted my help.”

“But you changed your mind?” Doux asked eagerly, he was completely enthralled with the story.

“I actually tried to give the Amulet back, but I found out once someone becomes the Trollhunter, they are stuck with the Amulet till they die. If I didn't stand up and take on the responsibility, they wouldn't have a protector.”

“So despite the fact that no one wanted you to help, or believed in you, you decided to help them anyway? That's incredible! I don't think I could have done that…” Doux said, and he meant it. It would be way too easy to turn the other way if the trolls trapped in the Darklands were somehow in danger.

“Well, Toby believed in me, and Blinky, and AAARRRGGHH!!! And even though she didn't know about any of this, my mom believes in me. That was enough to at least try.”

Doux felt his stomach drop at the mention of Jim’s mother again. He was ready to ignore it and ask more about his story, until Jim broke into a yawn. “I guess we should get some sleep,” he said instead, and Jim nodded in agreement.

Doux showed Jim how he cleaned up everything and how each part of the meal could be preserved. The creature was pretty fatty so the fat was kept for making soap. He explained briefly to Jim how the animal fat could be mixed with ashes to make soap but it was a very unpredictable process. There were some stores of soap already but due to the process being a challenge, he saved the fat whenever he could.

They talked a bit while they did all this, in between explaining everything Doux asked Jim, “what else did you have going on at the time?”

Jim thought for a second before exclaiming, “Oh! Yeah well, aside from the chaos that Trollhunting caused my life, there is a girl I like,” he gave an awkward laugh.

“A girl?” Doux asked.

“Yeah, her name is Claire. I didn’t really talk to her before, I actually got to know her better because there was this play at school...” Jim went on to explain how he pretended to try out for the play, and how it was an excuse for accidentally letting their teacher see him wearing his armor. “Man, everything was such a mess, but… I’m really glad it all happened, I wouldn’t have been able to get close with her otherwise.”

“You want to be close to her because you… Like her?” Doux asked. He knew what love was of course, but it had been so long since he’d heard anyone speak like this about someone else.

“Yeah, I guess so. I mean I liked her for a long time, before she even knew I existed.”

“Why do you like her?”

“I mean, she's smart, for one thing, and she's pretty…” Jim listed off a few other things about her he found endearing. But Doux couldn't help but realize Jim shared a lot of those qualities himself. Jim was smart, and kind, and patient, maybe even good looking, but Doux didn't really have much to compare his appearance to.

Jim continued on a bit about the play and having to kiss at the end of it, mentioning how they had both been shy at first but it felt like the most natural thing when it happened. He then gave a smile to Doux, who was sure it was because he was thinking about someone he had special feelings for. Doux almost wished the smile was for him, and even though it wasn't, he still felt his face get warm as he smiled back. Doux never remembered experiencing these kinds of feelings for anyone, since survival basically consumed his every thought.

They finished cleaning up, including all their dishes. Doux also showed Jim some things he would do to stay hygienic, and after they were both ready they headed down to the darker part of the dwelling to sleep. Doux grabbed the crystal torch to illuminate the sleeping area, and sectioned up the bedding for the both of them. After Jim was comfortable he put the torch under a small bit of leather off to the side to dim it. They both laid there silently trying to fall asleep. They didn't speak to each other much as they dozed off, Doux listened to the sound of Jim’s breathing until he fell asleep.

~~~

Hisirdoux forgot the dream as soon as he opened his eyes, a sensation of choking and the darkness surrounding him replaced the memory of it.

His blood was like ice, sending daggers through his veins and making him feel heavy.

Managing to sit upright, he hoped the feeling would subside. As he struggled to realize exactly where he was or why, he felt a sudden fear of death looming over him. There didn’t seem to be a reason for it, and he didn’t question it.

It wasn’t until something grabbed his arm that he had any inclination as to where he was.

“Are you ok?” Came a groggy male voice off to his side.

Startled, he turned his head quickly to the sound of the voice. A wave of vertigo quickly threatened to take away whatever sense of reality he held in that moment. He couldn’t answer the question, but he was able to find the hand that gripped his arm in the swirling darkness and gather a sense of stability.

“Are you real?” Hisirdoux asked in earnest. If there had been a reply to his question, he didn’t hear it, he was more focused on the hand gripping his arm. He reached out into the darkness till he found the other boy’s body. It was warm, and solid, and felt like a beacon of sanity. He moved in closer and put his face against Jim’s chest, reality slowly starting to come back to him. He was finally able to remember where he was, who he was with, and everything leading up to this moment. It felt then as if the darkness was pushing against his body, stilling everything, numbing him. That was until a strange pulsing sound suddenly made itself known to him.

Upon realizing it was in fact Jim’s heartbeat, something inside him snapped. He couldn’t fight the wave of emotions that suddenly overtook him, his throat tightened. He gasped for air and his hands twisted the fabric of Jim’s shirt as he let out a cry of frustration.

Jim laid there in silence as Hisirdoux cried, noisily, on his chest. He had his arm tightly around the older boy’s shoulder and gave a pat here and there, for whatever comfort it was worth. There wasn’t really anything else that could be done.

There was no way of knowing how long he cried against the others chest, and he was grateful to Jim for allowing it. He was coughing by the end of it, breathing had also been a bit of a challenge, and it exhausted him. The tears still came, slower now, adding to the dampness of Jim’s shirt. He was afraid at this point to say anything, instead focused on trying to regain the sense of his body. Tightening and loosening his grip on Jim’s shirt, taking deeper and deeper breaths, focusing on the sound of Jim’s heartbeat. It shocked him at first to realize what the sound was, but it was comforting to hear now. Being this close to someone that was flesh and blood like he was.

He got up slowly off of the other boy's chest, sniffled, and uttered a weak, “sorry…”

It had been too long since he ever had to worry about what anyone, especially a human, would think about this kind of thing.

“It's ok…” Jim said, still sounding half asleep. Doux wished he knew exactly how Jim was feeling, since it must have been a really strange moment for him. He said it was ok but was he speaking truthfully? He could also hear sniffling and a few deep breaths coming from him. It was possible he had also been crying, missing his mother maybe? But he felt too inadequate to ask, instead he just tried to fall back asleep and forget the whole thing ever happened. If it was even possible.

Chapter Text

Doux woke up before Jim, but laid there quiet and unmoving as Jim got up and headed out of the sleeping area. It wasn’t until he was gone a little too long to just be relieving himself, that Doux also got up. He rounded the bend of the dwelling and spotted the now-familiar figure. Jim’s back was to him, fully dressed, he appeared to be looking at his amulet. Doux watched for several moments before deciding it would be more interesting to talk to Jim rather than spy on him.

“What are you thinking about?” Doux asked, walking up next to Jim.

Jim barely seemed to react to Doux suddenly appearing beside him, “I’m thinking about how Kanjigar, the previous Trollhunter, told me in a sort of… ghost world, that I would basically have to Kill Gunmar in order to escape the Darklands…”

Doux was a bit taken aback by Jim’s forthcoming confession of his thoughts. He’d found trolls typically didn’t have much of a deeper thought process other than fighting, eating, sleeping and whatever else they happened to do to occupy their time. If he’d asked one of them the same thing, he would be lucky to get a grunt in response. He wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to what Jim had said, especially since he’d known Gunmar for so long. The thought of killing the old troll might have crossed his mind a few times over the years, but it was never something he’d planned for.

“I don’t really know if I’m ready, but… I have to try,” Jim looked at Doux with an uncertain expression.

“How are you feeling, I mean, physically?” At least that was something Doux could comprehend.

“Fine, I guess,” Jim said, not sounding entirely optimistic about it. “Feeling fine probably isn’t enough to kill Gunmar though…”

Doux felt helpless, until a thought suddenly crossed his mind, “I’ve had a bit of a go at Gunmar before, maybe… Maybe I could judge your skill?”

“Wait, you’ve actually fought Gunmar before?” Jim asked incredulously.

“Well… I mean… Technically?” Doux searched his brain for a way to explain it to Jim, but the exact words eluded him.

“That’s something at least. Maybe we could have a sparring match?” Jim suggested. There was excitement in his voice now. He seemed to ready himself for the proposed match by suddenly donning his armor.

Sparring was something Doux had seen often among the trolls. Along with fighting, they often would wager important items or food that the loser would have to pay to the winner of the match. He wasn’t sure if that applied to this or not so he asked, “if I win, do I get something?”

Jim looked surprised, “what would you want? It’s not like I have much…” he said as he outstretched his arms to show this undeniable fact.

Their conversation from the day before had been dancing around his mind, and he knew exactly what he wanted. He decided to ask despite how nervous he was. “How about a kiss?”

“Wait, what?!” Jim seemed to lose his will to fight in the moment as confusion overtook him.

“If I win, I get to kiss you, is that a fair wager?” Doux was playing a bit of a confidence game against Jim, and he wasn’t sure how it would go over. But he figured he’d already given Jim a lot, as far as bringing him here and helping him when he was sick. A kiss couldn’t really be that bad for winning a sparring match, could it?

Jim seemed to mull this over quite a bit. Doux’s confidence started to wane the longer Jim stood there thinking about it. He was beginning to think he’d made a huge mistake by suggesting such a thing until Jim finally said, “Huh, sure, why not?” Jim then manifested his sword, twirling it once in his hand, “But I don’t think I’ll lose!”

Doux gave a short laugh before saying, “you know, I’m not a troll, so let's at least make it fair.” He walked over to a stack of long branches that were leaning against the wall. Normally, they would be used to make furniture or whatever his dwelling would need supports for, but they would make decent weapons for sparring. He picked out a couple that seemed suitable and tossed one to Jim.

Jim caught the long and slightly flexible branch Doux tossed him. It was about the same length as his Eclipse blade, which then disappeared in a haze of red smoke. Jim gave a quick slash through the air to get a feel for the new weapon.

Doux smiled as he tested his own weapon. It was smaller than the one he chose for Jim. He felt confident in his chances and smiled to himself. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Jim replied. He gripped his new weapon firmly in both hands, ready to strike.

“Come on then,” Doux encouraged as he kept a neutral stance. He would have the upper hand on Jim if he attacked first. It was easy to assume he would too, judging by his eagerness. .

At being goaded, Jim lunged at him while swinging his makeshift sword as expertly as he would his blade. Avoiding it easily, Doux thought for a moment he had an opening, but Jim was quicker than he anticipated. He used the force of Jim's block against his attack to back away, and was met with another wave of swings. He isn't bad, Doux thought, but he kept his eye out for any leverage he could manage. It became apparent that the boy was used to fighting opponents much larger than he was. It exposed a weakness that Doux took advantage of by crouching down quickly between swings and landing a blow to his stomach.

It wasn't a hard hit, but Jim backed up defensively. They circled around the space of the dwelling, gauging each other and waiting for the other to make a move. Jim lunged at him again after some time, but Doux was able to avoid it. Turning quickly, he used the boy’s momentum against him, pushing Jim’s armor-weighted body even further, causing Jim to almost lose his balance. Using his palm to hit Jim in the vulnerable part of his armor under his arm, he forced the branch out of his hand. In the confusion Doux was able to push Jim to the ground and pin him in place.

“What was that you said about not losing?”

Jim just laid there looking stunned.

Doux was actually surprised at how easy it seemed to take him down. He hopped off the boy and helped him to his feet.

“Wow, you're really fast!” Jim said.

It was true, he had always been rather nimble. If he ever found himself up against a troll, evasion was usually the best tactic.

“Maybe I'm not exactly the best judge of your ability to fight trolls...” He wanted to give the boy some confidence in his own skills, he wasn’t a bad fighter. Doux had just managed to see through his defences easily with his own experience.

“Oh common, that was incredible! You have to show me how you did that!”

Jim’s enthusiasm was contagious, and Doux happily went through some of the things he had done to take Jim down. As Doux showed him a couple moves, Jim seemed to be frustrated with how incapable he was. Though in reality Jim was very observant and Doux tried to be encouraging.

Explaining his techniques and sharing his observations on troll weaknesses with Jim was a strange breath of fresh air. The trolls never cared much to hear his take on anything, not even Dictatious, who was always more interested in being the one who talked. Having Jim's attention made it that much more enjoyable.

Cooking and now fighting… It seemed as if they really had quite a bit of things in common.

Jim removed his armor in a flash of red, taking in a deep breath as he soaked in everything Doux had just taught him.

Before Jim was able to fully regain composure, Doux inquired, “So about my reward?”

“Oh, I had kinda hoped you forgot about that actually. Ah- I don't know why I agreed to that… Listen, it's just… because I don't really have anything else and well, you kinda deserve something? For being so nice, saving my life, feeding me… Just, don't go thinking it means something…”

As Jim rambled on, Doux made his way towards him. His determination was marked only slightly by his uncertainty.

Jim grew quiet as Doux approached. He moved back slightly till his backside was up against the edge of the fire pit. He leaned back almost as if he was trying to move further away as they came face to face.

Doux caught Jim’s eyes with his, and reached his hand up slowly to slide it behind Jim’s neck. The soft hairs parted through his fingers as the space between their lips closed. Jim gave a small gasp just before their lips met, effectively turning the kiss into something a bit more intimate, their lips parted against each other.

It was exhilarating.

A strange sensation spread from their lips and down Doux's spine. The world around them almost seemed to stop existing in that moment. It was just the two of them, and the strange, albeit pleasant feeling, spreading through his whole body.

Doux could feel the tension in Jim's shoulders at first, but they relaxed as the kiss lingered. Jim also gave a long exhale through his nose against Doux’s cheek.

Doux then repositioned his lips to better match the other boys, who stood there unmoving.

He didn’t know how long they were like that, but Jim pulled back eventually. Their lips broke contact and Jim gave Doux a gentle push on his shoulder. Doux took a few steps back and watched for any reaction, good or bad, he didn’t know what to expect.

“Alright, alright, that's...” Jim trailed off seemingly lost in thought. The way Jim looked at that moment was quite odd, one hand in the air, the other on the edge of the fire pit. Doux watched as Jim sucked his lips in between his teeth. There was no way to tell if he was mad or not, his body language was so foreign to him. Then guilt started to set in. He probably shouldn't have kissed him for so long.

But…

When Jim finally decided to look back at Doux he said, “Why don't we start planning how we are going to face Gunmar?”

Chapter Text

“Clean up this mess, boy…”

~~~

“Lemme take a look at your arm.” Jim said to Doux just before they started packing.

After unwrapping the bandage, Jim saw that some dried blood had stuck to the bandage. To make removing it easier he poured a little bit of water onto it.

When the clean up was done and Jim could get a closer look, he said, “You were right, it doesn’t seem very serious. There’s more bruising than anything.” He decided it would be ok to keep the bandage off now.

As soon as Jim got up to dispose of the bandage, Doux’s hand moved up to his arm where it used to be. He felt a strange and foreign sensation there, he was sure it was because of Jim. After thinking about it for a moment he asked Jim, “You like helping people don’t you?” It was a simple question but Doux felt something rumble deep inside himself. Something vulnerable was struggling to stay hidden.

“I guess I do!” Jim said, almost as if it was a sudden revelation. Though Doux had a good feeling that it was probably an inherent trait about Jim that he just never thought much about. He just did it. He helped people.

They decided to pack for basically a couple ‘nights’ worth in order to reach Gunmar at the top of the canyon. They went over their plans as they packed, which wasn't anything too extensive. First they had to get back to where the crucible was, then Doux would sneak in and check things out while Jim waited at a safe distance. Once things were clear Doux would get Jim to follow him in.

Of course, Jim was skeptical about the plan, since trying to sneak out during their last escape attempt failed so spectacularly. As well as the fact that Gunmars army would now be on high alert after losing their most important captive. He realized that Doux knew his way around better than he did, it was an important and well-appreciated factor in their plans. There also didn’t seem to be any better alternatives.

“At least we made it out alive,” Doux said when Jim voiced his skepticism.

His statement failed to elicit any response from the boy, who was clearly deep in thought about what lay before them. Jim’s silent demeanor felt a lot heavier to Doux than he would normally sense from trolls. It became painfully obvious to him at that moment how wide the divide between them was. He was used to trolls, not humans, and it stung to realize that he couldn’t properly understand his own species.

Other than their plans they didn't talk much. For Doux, the thought of fighting Gunmar in earnest wasn't something that he ever considered before meeting Jim. It was, however, an obligation for Jim, and Doux decided to make it his obligation as well.

Once they had mostly finished packing, Doux brought over some food from their previous meal. They would eat some now and take the rest with them. He walked up to Jim with their meal in hand, and started to explain how they might be able to find more edible plant life along the way. He was about to give Jim his portion when he noticed there was something already in Jim’s hand. “What ya got there?” He asked.

“I saw this…” Jim held up a small piece of shell Doux had saved at some point, and had wrapped in a small cord of leather to use as a pendant. “...Sitting on the shelf from across the room, it's pretty cool.”

The shell was an iridescent blue, with flecks of gold that seemed to pop out from the shell, but it was an illusion as the surface was entirely smooth. There were often a lot of strange bits Doux found on creatures, and he kept a lot of them just because they could be rather beautiful to look at.

Doux set the food down on the shelf next to them. “You can have it,” Doux said. He took the pendant from Jim, he had an idea in mind and started looking around for something.

Jim held up his hands almost defensively. “Ah no, it's ok! I just thought it was cool is all!”

Doux found what he was looking for; a thin strip of soft leather, which he then put through the loop of the pendant. “I have a million of these things, just take it,” Doux wasn't used to insisting on things from people, but he felt compelled to do this. Maybe it could signify something? Luck? Friendship? He wasn’t sure, he just knew he wanted to give something to Jim.

“It’s, I-uh...” Jim stumbled over whatever he was going to say as Doux brought the now crafted necklace around Jim's neck, securing it with a simple knot. “Th-thanks…!” Jim said as he inspected the pendant now around his neck.

Doux simply nodded in response and then began to eat, Jim followed suit.

After eating, they each grabbed their corresponding packs full of supplies and headed out. Upon reaching the bank, Jim seemed visibly apprehensive, he stopped short of following Doux into the water.

“What if… what if I can't--” Jim started but Doux suddenly grabbed his wrist.

“Common,” Doux said. He tried to pass off his own sense of determination by making stern eye contact with Jim. It was Jim’s fight, sure, but Doux wanted to believe there was something about this that could change everything.

Jim held his gaze for a moment. “Okay,” he said before they began wading out across the water.

They both carried on at a steady pace with Doux in the lead. The water at its highest, came up to just below their knees. For the most part it was like walking through a puddle, and all they could hear was the steady noise of their legs sloshing through the water.

Glancing back, Doux saw that Jim was still deep in thought. He reflected back to his own moments of deep thinking, which didn't take much effort as they could be quite frequent. During his isolation from the trolls, there wasn't usually anything to break the cycle that his brain would lead him through. He could sometimes spiral down so deep it would take days for him to recover.

Despite it only being a couple hours since their decision to face Gunmar, Doux worried Jim was falling deep into those kinds of thoughts. There wasn't much he could do to distract the boy, though one thing did come to mind, he was a bit shy about trying it. His desire to get Jim's mind out of it’s dark place was greater than his own insecurity however; he started to vocalize.

They weren't exactly harmonious melodies, but he did have some nuance in tone and structure. The sound echoed eerily around their dimly lit surroundings.

Slow, fast, louder and softer, there was no real structure to it, just whatever came to him in the moment. He carried on for a while until he heard something loud crash somewhere in the distance. Being fairly certain that it was only a crumbling boulder, he continued walking onward but didn't continue vocalizing.

After a few steps Jim said, “I liked that, what you were doing… singing?”

There was a strange power behind Jim’s soft and kind voice, something he had been noticing more and more the longer he got to know Jim. He had no way of knowing if it was an effect Jim had on every human, or if it was just him.

“I can't imagine it's proper singing.” Doux said, feeling a bit insecure.

“Maybe not, but it made me feel… calm somehow?”

So he was successful! Doux turned to smile at him, and while doing so he caught sight of something rippling in the water some distance behind them.

Jim also turned his head to look as he saw Doux’s expression turn serious. It took a moment for him to spot what it was Doux was looking at, and instinctively he started backing up.

“What is it?” He asked. What he could see was ripples in the water several yards behind them. The water was also slowly pulsing with a myriad of different colors.

Doux brought his hands up to take hold of Jim’s shoulders to stop the frightened boy from backing into him. He gave a curious, ’hmm,’ in response. His tone made Jim second guess his sudden reaction of defense.

Stepping calmly in front of Jim, he knelt down to the water, the glowing waves were almost upon them now.

“Uuhhh, Doux?” Jim wasn't sure what to make of the mysterious thing approaching them.

“It’s ok,” Doux said, “they are harmless.” He reached his hand into the water as the glowing thing came up to meet it. Jim looked on with apprehension. As it overtook them, Doux lifted his hand out of the water to reveal what it was all about; a small creature, almost shaped like a small arrow with a bunch of glowing tendrils waving and pulsing behind it. “It's too bad they taste horrible.” He looked at the creature for a moment as it barely even gave a struggle, then gently placed it back in the water to catch up with it’s friends.

“They’re actually kind of pretty,” Jim said as he watched them lazily glide through the water around his feet.

They watched together as the creatures passed them by, admiring the way they seemed to spiral through the water with a gentle brilliance. It was a nice break before they continued on.

As they went, Doux kept thinking back on his kiss with Jim. What an exhilarating feeling! He never imagined, he guessed but… It was beyond his expectations. It was like melting away into a blissful dream, something he normally never experienced. Even the way Jim responded was unexpected, like the sounds he made when their lips met…. There was some guilt that came along with these thoughts, as well as an irrational paranoia that Jim could read his mind. He kept trying to push away the thoughts but his mind kept sneaking back towards them, and beyond.

He also felt a bit strange being so elated when he was marching to what could be their demise. He wouldn't underestimate Gunmar, and even with the courage Jim shared with him, it wasn't enough to convince Doux that they could actually win. Despite that, he had committed himself to helping Jim, no matter the cost.

It took them about three hours of wading through the thick water, but the other bank finally came into view, and Doux was able to push his thoughts aside. This area had a flat patch of dry rock at the base of the craggy cliff's edge. It made for a good resting place before the climb.

They made themselves comfortable, unloading their burdens and laying out their shoes and socks to dry. Doux managed to find some roots and dried bones to make a small fire with kindling from his pack. It wouldn't last long but it would help things dry and warm them up a bit.

“I guess tomorrow is it then, I have to face Gunmar…”

The red-orange glow of the fire and green of the crystals around them bathed them in a weird mixture of dull light that seemed to reflect the energy Jim was giving off.

“Well, you're not alone.” Doux said after a beat. They shared uncertain smiles with each other, and for the briefest moment. The thought that his words made Jim smile made him feel strong. He believed in that moment that they could beat Gunmar together.

They fell into an uncertain silence after that, however. Doux suggested they try to get some rest before the climb and they both tried to get comfortable on the cold, hard stone.

There was a moment Doux was sure he had dozed off, it had been at least enough time that the fire had died completely. He suddenly realized he had subconsciously memorized Jim’s breathing patterns as he slept. Because he could tell now the boy was not asleep, his breathing was slow and quiet now, as opposed to the louder, longer breaths he would take as he slept.

“Jim?” He inquired softly.

“Yeah, sorry, I can't sleep…”

It was darker now without the fire, but Doux could still see Jim just fine. The Darklands ambient glow didn't have a cycle, it was just always there. The boy was staring up into the canopy of the Darklands, his face blank and unreadable.

“I keep thinking about the first night I tried to sleep in the Darklands. Knowing that Gunmar was out there somewhere... Being away from home. I don't even know if I slept more than an hour.”

Doux didn’t know how to respond. He thought maybe Jim would continue on his own, but when it became clear he had no intention of doing so, Doux felt an overwhelming desire to break the silence.

“What is music like in your world now?” Doux asked. It was the first thing that came to his head, since he didn’t seem to have anything relevant to say.

“Uhm,” Jim said, glancing at Doux curiously.

What was it about Jim that made him feel both anxious and excited at the same time?

Jim was clearly thinking over the question, and Doux waited expectantly for the answer. He normally didn't pay any mind to information about the outside world, but when it came to Jim, he wanted to know everything.

“There is so much to go over I don't know where to start,” Jim said.

Although he didn't know he eventually just dived right in. Explaining different instruments and different genres. He had already tried to explain electricity and digital media to Doux, so was brief about what that meant for music. He went over the different ways music was shared overtime and how all the different places in the world had their own styles and could share it with everyone. As the conversation slowed, they remembered about trying to get some sleep. They were both a bit more successful at it this time around.

As they woke, they were both eager to start the climb, almost as if that were the hard part they both wanted to get out of the way. The climb went better than expected. Jim said he never had much experience with climbing outside of Trollhunter training, but his pace almost matched Doux’s, so they were able to make excellent time. Doux even managed to snag a few small, edible fruits along the way.

“We made it,” Doux said as they reached the top. He looked around a bit to get his bearings. “We aren't far from where Gunmar is now.”

Jim donned his armor and they made their way closer to the place that Gunmar’s army made their base. They then found a good spot for Jim to lay low while Doux did his recon.

“Ok Jim, stay quiet, I'll be back soon and let you know how it looks.”

Jim waited for Doux behind a large craze line in the rocks. It seemed like an eternity to wait for him there. When he finally caught sight of Doux making his return, something didn't seem right.

“They're gone.” He said coming up to meet Jim.

“What?” Jim responded, not sure he really understood what Doux was trying to say.

“Everyone, Gunmar, every last Gumm-gumm, the goblins... They are just… gone…” Doux said, his voice was quiet and somber.

Jim was confused and urged Doux to help him understand, so he began to lead Jim to the crucible through the main pathway.

There was silence the whole way, nothing even stirred as they made their way to what was Gunmars' most recent lair in the Darklands. They reached the Crucible and saw the large throne of stone and bone sitting empty. Not a troll to be seen or heard anywhere.

“What does it mean?” Jim asked, giving Doux a pleading and almost panicked look.

Without meeting Jim's gaze he tried to piece together the information. “I think… if they were going to move locations, it wouldn't look like this. They normally take a few days to pack and organize.” Doux looked around the area, where some weapons and utensils were strewn about, making it look like a hurried evacuation. “I also heard something about the Killahead bridge being put together…” he looked at Jim then with a curious expression, “they couldn't have opened it without you though, could they?”

Jim was about to respond when they heard a large crash of rock coming from one of the walls surrounding the Crucible.

They paused together, expectantly, waiting for whatever the sound was to either be nothing, or reveal itself to them. The latter came soon enough, when an over-sized, greasy looking, shrimp-like creature wiggled it's way out of the broken part of the wall. It's massive scoop shaped claws were bringing it along the ground towards them steadily. It seemed to be exploring its surroundings with its eyeless face.

“We need to go,” Doux said to Jim, not taking his eyes off the creature.

“What is that thing?” Jim asked almost in awe. It’s matte, black carapace was defined only by thin lightning streaks of green, presumably camouflage for the surrounding stone.

“Now!” Doux said with quiet urgency as he shoved Jim towards the towering staircase that led to Gunmar’s throne. It wasn’t the best hiding place, but Doux was desperate. Jim didn't know if he should be prepared to fight, or run even further away. He had no idea just how dangerous the creatures in the Darklands were. He took his cue from Doux, who seemed alarmed at the sight of the creature.

“What do we do?” Jim asked.

Doux gave a hushed reply, “Hopefully it goes away on its own, or else we’ll have a much bigger problem on our hands.”

Chapter Text

Gunmar was roaring, spitting in his followers' faces, cursing out his generals' betrayal.

They had appeared in the Darklands in what looked like a ruined village. There were large, dilapidated wooden buildings and old cobblestone pathways that had been mostly buried in dust.

“It’s… ABSURD!!” Gunmar suddenly screamed as he overturned a large wooden table, which was a little too close to where Hisirdoux was hiding. He figured he should probably look for a new hiding place before he became a part of the rubble. He wouldn't reach his destination however, as his movement caught Gunmar’s single, wrathful eye.

“You…!”

The blood ran cold in Hisirdoux’s body. Paralyzed with fear, he couldn't even get a word out as the hulking troll king picked him up effortlessly by the front of his tunic.

“I knew I smelled something foul,” Gunmar said as he looked closely at the skinny thing wiggling effortlessly in his hand.

Hisirdoux wanted to make a comment about, ‘something foul,’ considering the troll's rancid breath, but the only thing that came out was a squeaky groan.

“Let’s see if you taste better than you smell.”

Hisirdoux was able to find his voice at last, as Gunmar started to bring his head close to his fang-filled mouth. “N-no, no! Please!” Hisirdoux pleaded as he struggled. It felt hopeless but he kicked, and slammed his fist against the brute's massive, stony fist.

“Waaait!” A gravelly, desperate voice came suddenly. Dictatious had emerged from his own hiding place among the rubble and was approaching Gunmar hastily. “Wait, your-your majesty, king of darkness…! Please I beg of you, hear me out!” He tripped over his own words equally as much as his feet clambering over the rubble.

“A Dwoza rodent. This place is starting to smell worse every second.” Gunmar lowered the boy in his grasp, but still held him fast. “I shall grant you the mercy of listening to your words,” he said as Dictatious fell to his knees at Gunmars feet. “But if they fail to please me, I shall enjoy my snack as well as seeing you crumble to stone.”

“Please my lord,” Dictatious gathered his breath as well as his courage to speak, “this place, the Darklands, the Desolate Grimdark, the Hidden Abyss… It’s a death trap!” It took all his effort not to run far, far away as Gunmar only growled in response. “We need all resources on hand if we are to survive here…”

“You're trying to say this pathetic excuse for a flesh sack...” Gunmar started, lifting Hisirdoux up again for effect. “... is worth more to me alive than dead? How?”

The tone of Gunmar’s voice made Dictatious regret ever having his birthing day, but he pressed on. “I saw it, during the battle, using magic!”

Gunmar snorted but he kept his gaze on Dictatious as he continued.

Dictatious struggled to meet that gaze. “This place was created from magic, it would only make sense that if we were to escape, we would need magic.”

“Hmph..” Gunmar seemed satisfied enough, if only because he scarcely knew anything of his new prison. “Very well,” he tossed Hisirdoux lazily in Dictatious’ direction who landed in a heap next to the pleading, four armed troll. “This is your responsibility Dwoza trash. If you get in my way however, don't think I will be so lenient.” He turned his back on them and began exploring the area of the Darklands they had all found themselves in. His army following closely behind.

“I-I thank you! Kind toll, sir!” Hisirdoux squeaked, looking up at Dictatious.

“Listen human, you don't like me and I don't like you-” Dictatious started, but Hisirdoux cut him short.

“I don't have any problems with you.” He said simply.

Dictatious paused to register what the boy said but he continued his train of thought as if he hadn’t. “But we have to work together, okay? Gunmar doesn't trust me, and he certainly doesn't trust you.”

“He wants to eat me…”

“I can guarantee he isn't the only one.” Dictatious said this as he looked around at the various other trolls in Gunmars army poking around. “But if we can prove ourselves useful to him, he will at least spare our lives.”

~~~

The longer the creature snooped around the open area of the crucible, the more agitated Doux became. Jim hesitated taking action, especially given Doux’s nerves, but waiting, crouched down behind Gunmar’s throne was making him feel agitated.

“Doux,” Jim said after a while, but Doux simply ignored him. After fighting the giant snake creature that Gunmar sent after him, this thing seemed like child's play. Jim couldn't quite understand the idea of waiting here hoping it would move along. “Hisirdoux…!”

Using the boy's full name had the effect Jim had hoped for. Doux turned around and leaned in against Jim to listen to whatever he had to say. “We can’t just stay here forever, Doux. We have to do something.”

“If sneaking by fails, we are no match for this thing… Trust me.”

“We came here to kill Gunmar and you're saying we are no match for this?” Jim asked incredulously. He watched for a moment as the creature continued snooping around the area in front of the throne. It didn't seem ready to leave anytime soon.

Jim lost his patience.

He jumped out from their hiding place and donned his armor. Doux tried to grab him but he was too fast. The panic he felt was rising, but he couldn't think of what to do.

It wasn't a particularly intelligent creature but even the trolls struggled to get rid of one of them whenever they would stumble into their encampment. Doux’s small blades, however sharp, were no match for it. All he could do is watch and see how it would react to Jim as he slowly approached the creature.

Once the creature became aware of Jim’s presence, it abandoned whatever it had been investigating to check him out. Slowly it crept towards Jim, who twirled his blade in his hand.

Doux’s panic turned to frustration at this display. There was no practical reason he could think of to agitate the creature.

As it came up to Jim it reached a tentative claw out to see what was there, and Jim took a swing at it. Doux recoiled at the sight of Jim’s magic blade bouncing off of the creature's claw in a flash of green sparks. Jim looked stunned and the creature took that time to continue it’s previous action as if it was never interrupted.

If it hadn't been for Doux pushing him down and out of the way, the creature's claw would have most likely pinned Jim to the ground. “I didn't even make a dent!” Jim exclaimed as he moved out from under Doux and retook an offensive stance.

Doux got up after him and tried to pull Jim back and away from the creature, which had started vibrating and making a strange hissing noise.

Despite this strange display, Jim was holding his ground.

“Jim…” Doux pleaded, but Jim wasn't phased. He was determined, for whatever reason, to stand his ground against the creature.

The only thing that seemed to phase him, was when the docile nature of the creature changed and became terrifyingly aggressive. It charged at them while slamming it’s claws rapidly into the ground, causing rocks to chip and fly through the air.

That's when Jim abandoned whatever idea he had and started to run, but the creature was suddenly beginning to move very quickly. It chased after the two of them, it's claws tearing up the rock as it dragged its body along, hissing strangely all the while.

Jim and Doux headed towards one of the many doorways leading to the crucible, but they didn't make it. The creature cut off their path with its giant claw, forcing them to backtrack towards the throne again. They didn't even have time to reassess the situation because it was right behind them, scratching and banging into the ground.

Doux thought that maybe if he split from Jim, it might at least have to make a choice between them. He pivoted away, hoping the creature would follow him, but instead it followed after Jim. Doux watched helplessly as the creature tailed closely behind Jim.

The creature was able to close the distance within seconds, slamming it’s claws down again, and again, trying to smash the strange red glowing thing dodging around in front of it.

“JIM!” Doux called desperately, his desperation and adrenaline taking a new form in his body. Using that energy he created a glowing blue sphere that he controlled, and he led the sphere towards the creature. Catching its attention it left Jim behind to follow the new blue glowing thing.

There was an open metal grate in the floor and Doux led the glowing light down into the tunnel below, the creature following behind it.

As soon as the creature's slimy tail disappeared through the hole, Doux moved his magic around the metal grate and locked the creature in.

He quickly caught his breath after spending that energy on his magic and looked up to see Jim laying on the ground several feet away, unmoving.

Doux’s panic from before was nothing compared to the feeling this sight evoked inside him. He ran frantically to the boy's side to make sure he was ok.

“Jim! Are you hurt?” Doux asked as he knelt down next to him.

Without making eye contact Jim replied with a dejected, “no,” and removed his armor. He continued to lay there as if he had been however.

Doux got over his relief quickly as a sudden rage burned through him. He shoved Jim, hard, and yelled in frustration. He got up quickly to walk away, he didn't want Jim to see his face. “You're an idiot…”

“Doux…” Jim’s gentle voice came, it only made him more angry.

Despite the twisting in his throat he began to berate Jim. “Why didn't you listen to me? You could have been killed!” The tears came now, and there was a hitch in his voice as he continued, “I told you we couldn't fight that thing, you should have-” his words were completely caught in his throat as he turned and caught sight of Jim.

The other boy's face could be a match for his own, dampened and tinted with red. He was sitting up now but still not making eye contact. Doux walked over to the boy and knelt in front of him once again. “Hey…”

“It's just…” Jim tried to hide his face in his arms but it was all too obvious the boy was still crying. “We came here to kill Gunmar and I couldn't even fight that mindless thing...” His voice was a mix of anger, sadness, and confusion. Doux wasn't sure what to make of it. He sat there staring at Jim as they both fought off their own tears.

“I am an idiot,” Jim said quietly.

“If you are, I must be too,” Doux said, wiping his face. He smiled when Jim finally gave him eye contact.

“What do you mean?” Jim said followed with a sniffle.

“I thought I could fight Gunmar too, as if you and I together could somehow overpower him… but I'm weak, and can barely use magic…” Doux looked at his hands, his useless, grimy hands. He could barely protect Jim from that creature. His diversion tactic worked in the end but it was more luck than skill, and if it hadn't worked then Jim probably would have been killed.

He was startled when Jim suddenly took one of his hands. “You were there for me, and you saved my life, again.” Jim chuckled at that fact.

The entire moment made Doux feel lightheaded. He almost forgot what he was just thinking about.

Jim squeezed Doux’s hand and then stood up. He tugged Doux’s arm a bit to encourage the boy to stand. “We can't keep thinking about what could have happened. Gunmar clearly isn't here.”

Doux thought normally he could have wallowed in his own pity for days following a failure like this. But Jim being so quick to change his attitude about everything was somehow contagious.

“Okay.” Doux simply said. His anger had also completely evaporated. All he wanted to do now was make Jim happy, and that meant moving forward. So that's what they would do.

They decided to start looking around at the various places in Gunmar’s lair, to see if they had missed anything, or could get some idea of where they had all disappeared to.

As they made their rounds, they walked around to the cages for the nyalagroths, which were empty. Food from the makeshift kitchen had been hastily cleaned out. Not that it would do them any good to find anything there, since troll food didn't fit their needs. No prisoners were in the dungeon and no troll soldiers in the barracks. Their last place to look was the goblin’s nursery for the changeling familiars.

As they peered down into the gully, they could see that everything was silent and unmoving. No babies. No goblins. Nothing.

Suddenly Jim let out a frustrated roar, falling to his knees at the cliff's edge. Doux was too startled to inquire as to what this sudden outburst meant exactly. He could make an educated guess though. Without Gunmar, without Killahead, they had no clear path ahead of them. No way to escape the Darklands.

“I don't understand…” Jim said at last. “Where did they go? They couldn't have gotten out, could they?”

Doux went to kneel down next to Jim on the edge of the cliff. Jim was holding his Amulet in his hands, turning it over and over again, almost like a nervous habit.

Watching the Amulet turn in his hand reminded Doux of something. “Where is the other half of the Amulet?”

“I think it stayed on the bridge when I opened it…” Jim looked up to meet Doux’s gaze. “How do you know so much about the Amulet anyway?”

“I used to work for Merlin as his apprentice,” Doux said matter of factly. “I helped him create the Amulet.”

“Wait what? How? How could you not tell me something like that?” Jim said, his tone incredulous.

“S-sorry, I didn't realize it was important?”

“But, I have so many questions! Like, why was I chosen as the Trollhunter? Why--”

Doux answered him before he had a chance to ask any more of those questions. “Sorry, I don't know what the old man was planning, I just did what he asked of me. Mostly getting the raw materials for his experiments and cleaning up after his failures…” His lips felt like they hung onto the word, 'failure’. It was a word he hadn't said out loud in so long, but it was something he used to consider for himself often.

“What do you know about Merlin?” Doux asked Jim. Part of his question was to change the focus away from himself, and the other was curiosity of what became of the old man after he was trapped in the Darklands. There wasn't much more than hearsay from the trolls.

There wasn't much Jim knew about the man, and not much that could satisfy Doux’s curiosity. There were well known stories and fairy tales, none of which seemed to hold any real merit. There were some details Jim had learned through his troll mentors, but the focus of their information was more on Jim learning to become a good Trollhunter and less about Merlin himself.

After listening to what Jim had to say, they were both ready to move on again. There was one thing left that Doux wanted to check out. He led Jim to a small, fairly well hidden room. It would have been really hard to notice the room was even there if you didn't know where to look.

Inside the room was a table with different vessels and gems, there were shelves with books, papers and various other obscure looking instruments. After looking around for a bit Jim noticed Doux standing in the center of the room, he seemed to be looking at a strange mark that stretched across the open area of the room. It almost seemed like something there had exploded and left a scorch mark in the stone.

Doux seemed almost entranced by the marking. “Hey!” Jim called to him, but the boy didn't budge. “Doux!” Jim tried again to no avail. He headed over to see if he could shake Doux out of his trance. This seemed to actually have some effect, so Jim took the chance to ask, “what is it?”

Doux’s simple reply was barely audible.

“It's me...”

Chapter Text

“What do you mean? You mean you did this?” Jim asked Doux calmly. He was clearly confused, but not upset.

No...

This wasn't his fault.

He had been avoiding this place for so long…

But if they had any hope of escape, there might be clues here. Hidden among Dictatious’s notes.

Jim's hand managed to find its way into his again but it had almost no effect. The memory of this place, this mark… He couldn't shake it.

“What is it we came here for?” Jim asked. He was being patient with him again. Would it last?

It was strange. It felt almost like a dream. Or the start of a nightmare. The room was blurring together, shifting in and out of focus. His limbs felt numb and ached all at the same time. He couldn't stop the small flashes of memories that shot through him.

He could still taste the ash and smell the blood…

~~~

Despite Dictatious metaphorically shoving Hisirdoux under a wagon once he earned Gunmar’s trust, he still loved to drag the boy into his schemes. Even if it was just to gloat.

So when Dictatious grabbed him by the arm and led him to his study, it wasn't anything to be alarmed about. Hisirdoux just figured it would be another one of those times. “You won't believe what I've managed this time.” Dictatious said, “If Gunmar still had any doubt in me…”

Hisirdoux stopped listening, almost by reflex. He wanted whatever this was to be over soon so he could go back to his fresh kill. He hadn't eaten in days, but he had no choice but to humor the old troll. He certainly couldn't overpower him.

As they got close Hisirdoux could feel a strange sensation lingering in the air. He first started to notice it a few years ago, but he wasn’t allowed to be in the study without Dictatious’s permission. Maybe he would be able to find out what it was now. But the closer he got to the study the more a sense of dread began to fill his insides. He got the urge to run but there was no logical reason for it. That, and Dictatious still held his arm fast. So he braced himself.

Nothing could have prepared him…

At first, nothing looked different. The study was as it always was, untidy and filled with various half-baked ideas and experiments. The only difference was a few trolls that were standing around expectantly.

Gunmar suddenly appeared behind the two of them, starling Hisirdoux. He hadn't even noticed the hulking trolls approach.

“What is it this time Dictatious? If this is about turning rocks into food again-”

“Oh no your Dark Excellency, this is about, the other thing.” Dictatious replied ominously.

Hisirdoux kept looking between the two of them. Usually Gunmar never came here in person to witness whatever it was Dictatious had cooked up, but here he was, and looking suddenly very interested.

“So you were successful?” Gunmar spoke in a low voice. There was an air of shared, unspoken knowledge between the two of them.

“Yes, it was a success, but I fear it is unstable…” Dictatious said, letting go of Hisirdoux's arm. He began to lead Gunmar further into the study.

Hisirdoux followed behind them feeling incredibly nervous. Something deep inside him was telling him to run, but his curiosity was too much. He wanted to know what this was all about.

Dictatious brought Gunmar to the center of the room where another troll was waiting, Karhna. A tall, strangely disproportionate troll. Hisirdoux always felt put off by their presence, they looked uncomfortable when moving and their voice was grating. They didn't seem like a troll that would do well fighting in Gunmar’s army. The other trolls however, considered them to be very exotic. Hisirdoux wasn't even sure if Karhna would be considered male or female. It didn't seem to matter to the other trolls though.

“Ah yes, welcome Gunmar,” Karhna said in their strange voice.

Hisirdoux wasn't sure when Karhna was able to be welcoming to anyone here, seeing as how this was typically Dictatious’s place to do so. But nevertheless they seemed fairly at home, and as usual, speaking to Gunmar as if they were equals. It was all very strange to Hisirdoux.

Gunmar left Dictatious’s side, and as he approached Karhna he said, “Tell me the progress of these experiments, Karhna. You of all trolls should understand the toll it's had on everyone. I want to know that these sacrifices have not been in vain.”

Sacrifices? Hisirdoux felt like he must have really been out of the loop, he had absolutely no idea what Gunmar was talking about.

“Indeed I do, but if it's to grow our army and help you take back the surface lands, I think I can speak for everyone…” Karhna seemed to pause here, their eyes lingering on Hisirdoux for a brief moment before continuing, “...when I say these sacrifices are worth even the deepest heartache.”

Hisirdoux knew what the look was for. He wasn’t trusted so much as he was tolerated by the other trolls. He had never sworn allegiance to Gunmar after all this time, nor had he ever tried to go out of his way to help them with any of their schemes. He had no love for the trolls, and they in turn had none for him. It had always been a sort of unspoken, mutual agreement.

“Show me then. Show me the thing that will help my army to grow.” Gunmar said in earnest.

Despite the way humans talked about Gunmar in Hisirdoux’s past, he was often surprised by the brute’s love of his own people. Whatever he could do to help them he would. But it often came at the cost of something else.

Karhna led Gunmar over to where Dictatious was standing. There was a large sheet of dirty, worn fabric covering something at Dictatious’s feet. He stood there looking prideful with all 4 arms behind his back, sticking his chest out. It made Hisirdoux want to roll his eyes, but he was fixated on whatever could be under the fabric.

“We have made great strides in our progress, milord.” Dictatious said.

“I have a theory,” Karhna continued after Dictatious, “that the host source is to blame for the instability. But I also have a solution.”

Gunmar let out a low growl at these words.

It seemed to have the effect he intended as Karhna seemed more focused now. “We can discuss it at another time of course.” They said hastily. “Now, Dictatious if you would be so kind.”

At their request, Dictatious pulled back the sheet.

Hisirdoux’s expectations, as well as his sense of place in the world, were both torn away the moment the sheet was lifted.

What lay there at Dictatious’s feet was a human body, Hisirdoux recognized it instantly as his own. It was a copy of him, somehow, and it was alive. It was also naked, curled up and hiding its face from the sudden burst of light that came upon removing its cover.

At first his blood felt like ice, but then he felt like he was floating, not really there. All he could focus on was this… Thing… This body-double.

There were voices around him, but he could barely make out what they were saying over the buzzing in his head. There were some words that stood out though… Morgana. Changeling. Blood…

He was lost.

Seeing Gunmar approach his double made him snap out of his stupor, afraid the old troll was going to eat it. But he just sniffed the body and said, “it smells disgusting…”

“Yes, well…” Whatever Dictatious had planned to say was drowned out by Hisirdoux seeing his double move awkwardly on the ground. They too heard the voices and started to peer out from under their fingers.

Hisirdoux didn't know what to do with himself at this point, he stood there in a stupor watching this thing… This changeling? But it was him… Writhing and moaning on the stone floor.

More words met his ears but didn't help the confusion. Host. Children. Goblins...

Some of the trolls were moving back, away from the thing on the ground. This somehow made a shift in Hisirdoux. There was a sudden desire to touch it, to feel another human's warm skin, even if it was the same as his own skin, it would still be something.

He made a move to get closer, and since he didn't see a response from the trolls, he continued till he could kneel down next to it. The thing that was Hisirdoux but not, didn't seem to notice the others' approach. The real Hisirdoux reached out to touch one of the hands by their face.

At the slightest contact it grunted, lashed out, and tried to pull awkwardly back. It was acting as if it didn't understand the world or how to move it's body. Almost like an infant.

Hisirdoux could hear the low, rumbling laughter of the trolls around him. He didn't know, nor did he care, if they were laughing at him. He wanted to help this poor thing, to know more about it, to understand why it was here. He looked up to find Dictatious, for whatever help he could offer in this strange moment. But no help came, only more confusion.

Dictatious came and stood over both of them with what looked like a horse shoe.

“I would stand back if I were you.” Dictatious said to him.

The fear the statement had caused Hisirdoux sent a shock to his tongue, and he found his voice, “Why?!” He demanded.

“Because, I'm not sure what's going to happen.” He brought the horse shoe slowly towards the body.

A protective instinct came suddenly and Hisirdoux grabbed the changeling's wrist.

“WHY!?” He screamed.

But as the metal touched the flesh of the changeling, everything was suddenly engulfed in a dark blue haze. The quiet buzzing in Hisirdoux's head became a loud thrumming. As the ash settled, he tried to focus on the hand that once held the arm of another but it was gone. All that remained was black ash mixed with red blood.

He was covered in it.

His mind tried to make sense of it all, to focus on the once living and breathing thing that was just in his grasp but was no more.

He couldn't.

Instead he just looked at the flecks of ash as it swirled in the drops of blood left on his arms. He wiped some of it with his thumb and focused on the way it held fast to his skin. He wanted to throw up but there was nothing in his stomach.

He was suddenly shoved forward, he wasn't sure how or why, into the rest of the ash and blood left on the stone. It was already cold.

The words, ‘clean up this mess, boy,’ rang in his ears, then they were all gone.

He laid there alone, and as still as the stone. The blood soaked into his clothes, into his skin. Eventually it dried, on his arms, in his hair, and it was heavy.

Dictatious found him there several hours later. He kicked him in the side and scolded him for not having it all cleaned up yet.

Hisirdoux realized it would have been a lot easier to clean while it was still damp, but it was too late now. No matter how much he scrubbed, the mark was left in the stone, as well as pieces of his own heart.

~~~

Doux suddenly moved towards the table nearby, and with a frustrated huff he pushed everything off of it, then knocked the whole thing over.

Jim was stunned for a minute watching the carnage play out. He watched as Doux next moved to a shelf and pushed it over, now he was screaming. He kicked at the shelf, then started to punch it, trying to tear it apart. It wasn’t until Jim saw blood forming on the other boys hands that he decided to intervene.

Then Jim was next to him, trying to reel in his swinging arms. “Doux! DOUXIE! Stop!” Jim pleaded with him.

It wasn’t Jim exactly, or his restraining that made him give up. It was hearing his old nickname. His thoughts were thrown back so far to when the old familiar black cat would call him Douxie. It made him lose all of his will to fight. He wasn't fighting anything but his memories anyway, so what was the point?

He was exhausted now. Jim seemed to be too, as he laid his head gently onto Doux’s shoulder.

They sat there together like that for several minutes before Jim finally spoke. “I'm not gonna ask what all that was about, if you don't want to tell me. But I have a feeling this wasn't what you came here for was it?”

Doux, still not really focusing on anything, shook his head slowly. When Doux moved to get up, Jim helped him, and followed him closely as he picked up a few crystals, some notes, and a haphazardly bound book.

Jim was still trying to talk to him, but he wasn't really in the mood for anything except leaving and forgetting this place for good.

What about the stars?”

~~~~~~
Content Warning Sensitive Chapter Summary:

Douxie takes Jim to a room where Dictatious conducted experiments. Douxie has been avoiding this place for some time and we find out why in a flashback.

The flashback starts with Dictatious dragging Douxie to this room. Douxie is annoyed but curious, he hasn't been allowed here since Gunmar started trusting Dictatious.

Gunmar and other trolls are standing around the room expectantly. We meet an OC troll named Karhna who is working with Dictatious now. They talk cryptically about experiments, growing Gunmar’s army, and sacrifices. There is something covered on the ground and it is revealed to be a changeling which is in the human form of Douxie. The changeling seems infant-like but there is no good explanation given for anything. Douxie is confused and distressed and enters a dissociative state.

Douxie tries to investigate the changeling closely but Dictatious uses a gaggletak to transform the changeling. Something goes wrong and it explodes in Douxie’s face. He is covered in it's remains and pushed down where he lays for hours, alone, on the cold stone.

The flashback ends and Douxie enters a fit of rage and tries to break things in the study. Jim is able to stop him and he then enters a non-verbal state where he feels drained and wants to leave.

~~~~~~

I don't particularly care for how this chapter ends, but I wanted to finish it and post it before I go on a very long hiatus.

I don't have a good outline for things that happen beyond this point. I have a lot of things to organize and plan for which is going to take me a lot of time. I am also learning a whole lot about writing and how to improve from someone I met recently.

I am sorry I cannot give anyone an estimate on how long this is going to take me.

Thanks everyone who has read up to this point so far, you've all really kept me going! It's a story I want to tell, but I also want to do a good job of it.

So far there isn't much there but if I have anything to share about the story you can find the tumblr blog darkistheday for anything like updates, inspiration, art, and anything else related to the story! <3