Chapter Text
Everything that followed could not had taken more than a minute, but for Jim it might have as well been eternity. The rational part of his brain was screaming at him to run, turn around and sprint until his legs gave out.
And on any other day he probably would have listened, if it wasn’t for the small frame in front of him of a boy cheerfully adjusting his camera as a beast readied itself to make him its lunch.
Everything slowed down, the air stagnant, the sounds of the forest, ear splitting just a few minutes ago, going silent. It was as if the only thing in the world had been the low rumble of that beast's steady breath and Jim’s own racing heartbeat.
They stood there, two motionless statues amidst the foliage, and one scrawny figure between them, tinkering and mumbling to himself unaware of the two sets of watchful eyes.
They stood there, all three of them.
Until without warning the shape moved. It was fast for something this big.
But Jim was faster.
He pounced, becoming nothing more than a dash of blue. He plunged into his opponent, putting all of his new found strength behind it.
It wasn't enough to knock the creature out, but it did stop it, the other guy was thrown off balance. They both stumbled a little, getting further away from Eli and his stupid camera.
The commotion finally caught the boy’s attention. Jim could swear he heard Eli call something out, and his footsteps were getting closer.
“Run! Get away!”
Eli hesitated, but kept getting closer.
“I said RUN ELI !!” The last word was more of a roar than a shout. That finally seemed to get through to the boy, who turned on his heel and sprinted, clumsily and so, so painfully slow.
Hopefully Jim could keep the big guy's attention long enough for it to not matter.
Up close he could see more of the mysterious figure. It was big, and almost definitely a troll, he recognized the stoney quality to its dark skin.
And it was really big, probably as big as Aaarrrgghh, but appeared even larger as it stood tall on its legs. Its head was adorned on both sides with uneven, worn out horns. They framed its face and the most striking feature were its flowing red eyes. It looked like a demon.
A sharp raspy sound came out of the black troll's mouth. It was unsettling, all of Jim’s senses were screaming at him, DANGER. The night was so disturbingly quiet, besides this awful noise.
Jim could feel his blood freezing over. It was laughter. The creature was laughing.
“You interrupted my meal, whelp, and I am soooo hungry. Perhaps you can at least be of some entertainment foolish one. What was it that you said? Oh yes” he leaned so close Jim felt its breath on his face “Run”
And Jim was so tempted to listen, to turn on his heel and sprint like his life depended on it, because he was pretty sure it did. But he couldn’t risk it, the brute was clearly dangerous, and just because Eli was hopefully getting away, he knew if the creature put its mind to it, it could cross the distance in no time. He knew exactly how inhumanly fast trolls could be.
Jim took what he thought was an appropriately intimidating fighting stance and stood his ground like an object trying its hardest to appear unmovable “Who are you!! Trolls have taken an oath to not eat humans!” He managed to say, without his voice breaking
The rumbling barks of his laugh were vibrating though Jims bones.
“I am Bular the Vicious, the Butcher of Killahead.” He leaned in closer, so that he almost met Jim's face at his eye level. “And this is the last name you will ever learn.”
He violently pushed one of his arms, and before Jim realized what was happening a fist connected with his stomach, sending him flying a few feet away until his body hit the trunk of a birch tree. The wood bended, cracking under the force, until eventually it gave in, sending Jim rolling to the ground.
He couldn’t catch a breath, his lungs refusing to obey desperate mental commands.
Tears started building in the corners of his eyes.
He was going to die here.
Everything slowed once again. He curled his hands into fists and forced himself to take one deep breath. His diaphragm was spasming from the punch, but he managed to catch a little air. Good.
He got on all fours and crawled away, going in a slalom around the trees, still trying to take deep breaths and recover.
The heavy footsteps were right behind him. He peeked over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of his aggressor.
The creature – Bular – picked up something from behind his back. The motion was slow, and the sound of metal scraping leather froze the blood in Jim's veins. The giant unsheathed two twin blades, each almost as tall as Jim was.
“Well this wasn’t much of a hunt”
He didn’t wait for the smaller troll to take in the view and swung. Instincts took over and Jim jumped away, inches away from certain death. His eyes frantically searched for any cover. Another swing, another jump away, the blades kept coming back, kept cutting and missing, but how long could he keep it up?
Bular took one more swing, this time from below. Jim jumped as high as he could, clawing his nails into the bark of a closest tree and pushed up, higher, and higher, away from the monster below.
The brute growled. “Is that all you can do? Run and hide? The cave dwelling made your lot soft.”
Jim climbed, one arm after the other, not daring to look down. Until he heard a snap and fell a few feet before engraving his fingers and toes into the tree. He was almost at the top, the branches were more of fiddle sticks up here and couldn't hold his weight anymore. He steadied himself and dug deeper into the wood. He held onto it like his life depended on it.
Because it did.
The giant was stomping around the tree, aggravated. He was roaring, but Jim took comfort in the distance between them. Until the trunk he latched onto started shaking.
He looked down in horror to see Bular slicing through the base, chipping away at an alarming rate. He then punched the trunk and before Jim could even register what was happening, he began falling. He couldn't hit the ground, death itself waited for him down there. He tore his claws away from the tree, sending pieces of bark everywhere, and jumped, aiming for another tree.
He overshot it, but managed to grasp another branch and keep himself upright. He didn’t wait this time and swung himself further to another branch. Another jump. And another. That troll, he was fast and vicious, but he didn’t seem to have a ranged weapon and that worked in Jim’s favor. Little by little, gaining ground. Until maybe he could lose the giant in the woods.
He didn't know how long it had been. It felt like hours and seconds simultaneously. His ears were twitching at every sound below.
The adrenaline was pumping through his entire body. Nothing else mattered than to just get onto the next branch, the next tree, forward, away away away.
Despite himself he kept looking over his shoulder and down, trying to see the troll chasing him, silently hoping he would not find anybody there.
He was going so fast, dashing between the leaves, jumping higher and further than he ever did in his entire life.
He got into good rhythm, his body carrying him forward, finding balance, holding onto and letting go of trees. He was going fast now, almost as fast as he could run, speeding through the foliage, still looking down trying to spot the figure below.
One jump after the other.
Grab, push, leap, repeat.
Grab, push, leap, repeat.
Gra..
His hand couldn't find bearing. There was nothing there.
He was plummeting to the ground. Nothing to hold onto. Nothing to slow his descent.
He didn't have time to think, instincts took over once again as he braced himself for impact with quickly approaching ground. He managed to land on all fours without injuring himself, rolling when he hit the ground from the force of the fall.
He took in his surroundings. He was surrounded by concrete walls. The canal. At some point the trees ended. He chose the wrong direction. He felt so painfully exposed, out in the open, such an easy target.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
He could hear it before he saw it. The thumps of its footsteps, the entire forest vibrating under them.
He could try running. Climb the wall and go further into the woods. But that would mean going further from Arcadia, getting stranded in unknown woods. And what if Bular got bored and decided to go for another hunt. With no better option he started running right.
He sprinted until he heard a swoosh and came to a halt running into a giant sword.. He stared into the reflection in the steel, and two frantic electric blue eyes gaped at him. He turned his head down involuntarily to avoid their gaze.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Immovable object right? He turned towards the treeline and faced his opponent.
“Nowhere left to run whelp” his eyes locked with twin flames across the canal, and this time he didn’t dare look away.
He had been petrified with fear this entire time, but that was done. A strange sort of calm overtook his body.
He was going to fight Bular.
The whole world didn't matter, it's like it wasn't even there. There was just him, this big thing in front of him, and the terrain he could use to break it into pieces.
It seemed Bular had the same idea. It took advantage of the open terrain and charged straight at Jim. He stood there till the last second, making a leap to his right, behind the sword.
The brute was fast and strong, but it was also big, it took a bit of time to turn and redirect a blow, a time he used to get out of the way by the nick of time.
The brute didn’t slow down and took a swing of his sword, but Jim dodged again. The blow left it stuck in the concrete beside Jim, stunning the beast for a quick second.
Enough for Jim to land a hit of his own right in its stomach. The giant took a step back, more surprised than hurt. It smelled annoyed. And excited.
It boiled the blood in Jim’s veins. He wanted to rub all that smugness right in the beast’s snout.
Jim's mind was racing. His blows weren't enough, it could barely feel them. He turned his head, grabbed onto a thick handle and pulled the blade closest to him out of the concrete. He never held a weapon before in his life, but he knew his way around a knife.
It could not be that different.
He held the sword up and swung. Couldn't give his opponent a chance to react. His blade clung not against stone, but metal. The brute was fast. It didn't wait for Jim to compose himself.
It struck quickly, its sword meeting Jim's. The force almost threw the weapon out of his arms.
Bular struck again, the slashes kept coming, Jim blocking best he could.
“Someone neglected this part of your education whelp”
With a single sweep it pushed Jim to the ground, the oversized sword flung out of his hands.
And then there was that barking laugh deafening in Jims ears, mocking him, taunting.
He gave it his all but it wasn’t enough. Tears started building up the corners of his eyes.
A sunny day years ago. Toby’s nana with a friendly smile, home baked cookies and a grandson Jim’s age come to introduce themselves. Playing in the backyard with his best friend in the world. Mom making him a cake for his sixth birthday and almost burning down the house. Making him pancakes instead he pretends to love to this day. Doing his first trick on a bike. Claire laughs at his stupid history joke in class.
He didn’t want to die.
“I’m sorry mom. I would have never left you, not by choice.” Jim thought, closing his eyes
“Jim!! JIIIIM!!” The screams took Bular’s attention off the smaller troll, enough for him to crawl away.
Two figures, one green and gray, and the other blue entered his vision. Something akin to relief briefly went through his chest, quickly replaced with terror.
This brute was not hurting anybody else tonight.
Bular turned around towards the source of the shouts, growling at potential new opponents.
Jim pounced, grabbing onto his horns like he did branches of the trees. He pulled onto its thick mane, pulling out clumps of hair.
He then jumped as far as he could, rolling on the ground on impact and immediately picking himself up, sprinting on all fours, slowly straightening his back and dashing straight into the wall with force that could have knocked him out.
But it didn't.
The glow of a portal embraced him, letting him inside the barrier and closing as he sped through it, and onto the crystal floor.
He lay there, body still tense, not daring to move an inch, breathing heavily.
“Its okay, master Jim, you're safe, you are safe”
Jim opened his eyes. The voice soothed him enough to start taking in deep breaths, his heart still racing from the adrenaline and physical exertion.
His frantic eyes finally lied down on Blinky and then Aaarrrgghh’s concerned faces. He took in the blue lighting, stone walls surrounding him, the crystal staircase leading down to trollmarket. The scent of Bular was gone, and he couldn't hear him either.
“You’re safe here”
He locked his eyes with Blinky again, and this time, he believed him.