Trolls

Strickler got home an hour earlier than promised.

He wasn't even sure if Jim was already home. No one was answering the door. Strickler knocked again to be sure. Then he heard it, the stumbling amd thumping inside the house. There was even a small crash followed by a clang then a quiet curse. Strickler raised an eyebrow. He was about to peep in the window when the door opened and he wasunceremoniously pulled in.

Strickler stumbled forward but was able to regain his balance. Walter straightened his coat, a bit concerned at why Jim took so long to answer the door or why Jim pulled him in in such a rush.

"Hold your horses there, Young Atla-"

Strickler's jaw dropped.

He almost didn't recognize Jim in the Trollhunter's glowing armour. In his hand, Jim held the Sword of Daylight. Strickler took a step or two back, not in awe. It was more along the lines of fear of being recklessly stabbed with it.

"J-Jim," Strickler stammered, his expression torn between amazement, fear, and anger. Amazed because he had never seen a human Trollhunter before much more the Trollhunter being his own son; afraid for one of their spies, or worse, Bular might see Jim in the armour and wouldn't hesitate to attack; and angry due to the fact that the amulet did call Jim and now his life was literally on the line. All that work of keeping him and his mother out of this debacle, down the drain.

Jim eagerly faced Walter, extending his arms out wide, waving his sword to show off

Walter forced himself to see past his concerns and gave Jim an impressed grin. "Jim, I didn't know you were trying out for Romeo in the school play."

"No, no, no," Jim denied, waving his free hand to complement his answer. He pointed to the left side of his chest where the amulet was embedded on. "Remember the amulet I showed you? That thing did this." Jim proudly made a 360 degree turn to show his armour.

Walter glanced out of the windows. He felt like they were being watched. In a hurry, Strickler pulled Jim upstairs and into the bathroom where they were less likely to be spied on. Upon slamming the door closed, they basked in the blue glow of the amulet.

"Why are we here?" Jim asked slowly.

Strickler walked to the small window and looked out, his eyes flashing yellow as he searched for any sign of trolls. "I've read about that amulet before," Walter began, trying to weave the most believable story he could make that can't possibly link him as a Changeling. "I thought that its powers were just legend, but this," he looked over his shoulder and gazed at Jim's armour and sword, "this is enough proof to say otherwise."

Jim furrowed his brows. "Okay, but why here in the bathroom?"

Strickler sighed and withdrew from the window. "I meant what I said earlier," Strickler began, pacing the small room with his hands behind his back. "That amulet is priceless. Many creatures would want to get their hands on it which is why you shouldn't be going around in public wearing that."

At this moment, Jim's armour disappeared and the amulet fell onto the floor. He was visibly growing more anxious at Walter's statement. "It's probably not that bad, right?"

Strickler looked into Jim's eyes and said in a low voice. "Some would go to the extent of killing for it."

Jim's eyes widened in fear. Strickler realized his mistake. He shouldn't be inflicting fear on Jim now, at least not in a situation where he hadn't been properly oriented by the trolls who visited him. The last thing he wanted was for Jim to be a cowardly Trollhunter. Strickler knew if he cultivated Jim's fear in a wrong way, he'd end up exactly that.

Walter laughed a lighthearted laugh which startled Jim. He patted Jim's shoulder. "That was back in the old days," Strickler lied, "the 9th century was a barbaric one, after all."

Jim seemed to loosen up after this and also gave a somewhat reluctant chuckle.

Walter picked up the amulet and, once again, the urge of walking away with it washed over him. He gritted his teeth as he cursed himself before begrudgingly handing it back to Jim. "Just take care of it, okay?"

Jim nodded. "Will do." He twirled the amulet in his hand which nearly fell to the floor again if it weren't for his sharp reflexes. He gingerly flashed Walter a smile.

Strickler returned the smile but was truly more worried than reassured. They were more or less in a tight pickle right now, especially Strickler himself. Jim opened the door of the bathroom and walked out, leaving Walter alone with his thoughts, hoping that the Trollhunter could outgrow his clumsiness too.

Walter followed Jim downstairs and, in a tone hinting caution, he said, "Don't go running around telling everyone your secret."

Walter had the urge to check in on Jim the next night. He really needed to meet Bular to check if he'd realized by now that the amulet was gone. Not tonight. He wanted to make sure Jim was safe. Maybe he would stay near his son until he met the two trolls Jim talked about.

He had just stepped on the porch when the door swung open revealing the chubby kid his son always hang out with. Toby Domzalski.

"Mister Strickler!" Toby greeted with reluctant enthusiasm. Widened eyes, Walter looked at the kid before peeping beyond the slightly opened door only to see Jim in the kitchen gesturing him to come in.

Strickler wanted to crush something, maybe the skull of the kid in front of him would suffice. He disguised the baring of his teeth as a pleased smile. "Good evening, Mr. Domzalski," he greeted back. "May I come in?"

By the time Walter had stepped in, a knock came from the backdoor. All three of them exchanged looks. Jim inched closer to the door cautiously whilst Strickler walked to the knife rack. His hands wrapped around the handle and slowly he drew one.

The door burst open and the monster ran in, teeth bared. "Master Ji-"

The knife whizzed past the troll's face and stuck on the wooden door. Strickler was originally aiming for the troll's head but changed his mind halfway through the throw after seeing his nonthreatening figure.

Toby Domsalvski had scurried behind the counter, dialing up animal control. Strickler hissed and threw another knife at the phone which successfully disarmed the kid of his technological advances. The last thing they needed was to alert other people of what was happening. Or worse - alert the Janice Order of the Amulet's whereabouts.

"Oh, dear," the smaller of the trolls said in concern, looking at Strickler a bit fearfully. There was a loud thump after the second, huger troll slipped into the room laborously. "Master Jim, you told your friends about us?"

"Uh, is that a problem?" Jim asked. Strickler wanted to say yes but bit his urge down. He knew who the huge troll was - a previous general of Gunmar.

The smaller troll who looked faintly familiar to Strickler said, "Master Jim, us trolls have gone to great lengths to keep our existence from mankind, lest there be panic."

Strickler rolled his eyes. Well at least he knew there were these trolls that tried to make contact with him. It was hard to trust these trolls but maybe they might be of some help to Jim. He heaved a heavy sigh and massaged the bridge of his nose, walking to the living room. "I need some time to process all this." He said in a tired voice, though just really looking for a reason to fade into the background so he could eavesdrop on their conversation, after all, he might end up saying that might give away his true identity or even draw suspicion unto him. Also, he needed an excuse to look out the window to keep an eye out for anything or anyone spying on them.

Walter had already left leaving Jim and Toby alone in the house. Little did the changeling know that a goblin had just arrived at the house right after he drove away. The vile creature was ready to return to the museum when it caught a glimpse of the amulet Jim was fiddling with. The goblin grinned before leaving. It had pleasing news to its masters.

Walter came home the next night to Barbara preparing dinner.

"Hello Barbara," Walter greeted, planting a quick kiss on her lips. "How was work?"

Barbara rolled her eyes as she turned the stove open. "I swear, I'm this close to having my late night shifts drag on to weekend shifts."

She went on about how two doctors were about to go on leave. Walter's gaze travelled to the railings of the stairs where the telltale bag would indicate Jim being home, safe. But it wasn't there.

"Hey," Walt interrupted Barbara absent-mindedly, "did Jim say he was going to come home late?"

"No, actually," Barbara replied, looking at her watch only to be surprised with the time. "Gosh, is that the time? He is late. What could he have gotten himself into again?"

There were a thousand possible answers to that, Walter knew. He probably just forgot the time or maybe he was with his friend Toby, or maybe he got involved in a car accident, a kidnapping, or a mugging. Actually, those sounded more preferable than...

Oh gosh. Had Bular found out?

Warm hands wrapped around Walter's own which pulled him back to reality. He looked at Barbara who gave him a little reassuring smile. "Don't worry about him too much," she told him sweetly, "I mean, this isn't the worst this happened, unlike that time." Barbara laughed and in an attempt to go along with the mood, Walter gave a soft chuckle. On any other occasion, it could've been a normal setback - school projects, hanging out with friends, worst case being Jim getting in trouble with Steve Palchuk. But this wasn't any other occasion. Jim was the Trollhunter.

Strickler's train of thought was interrupted when the front door opened and Jim's voice announced his return. Walt practically stumbled out of his chair to greet Jim with the tightest of hugs which Jim gingerly returned.

"What happened?" Strickler whispered into Jim's ear, hoping that it wasn't anything bad.

He didn't know he was gravely mistake and the single word Jim replied with was enough to make his blood run cold.

"Bular."

Author's Note:

Okay so like i got so stressed bc my email's exploding with feedback from this fic and I felt really guilty bc I more or less abandoned this fic after I handled some drama elsewhere and now I need to try and remember how the story would play out bc i more or less forgot the specifics. Dw I remember the general direction of this fic. So pls I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to make more

Thanks for the support xoxo