"Toby-pie!"

Toby quickly changed back into human form before Nana opened the door. It was really just a precaution. Her vision was so poor he could probably lie about in full troll form on the couch and she would remark on how his new outfit was so cute. He had never been quite bold enough to try it. Maybe next Halloween…

Toby threw all of his homework into his backpack and trotted out of his house and over to Jim's. He got there as his friend emerged from the garage.

"We're late for school, Jimbo," He said.

"Sorry busy with the lunches," Jim said.

Oh Toby knew. Even in human form he could smell the delicious sent of meatloaf. Why trolls wanted to eat humans instead of their cooking was always a mystery to him. Bular had probably gotten a bad donut or something.

Jim finished straightening up a garbage can. Toby snorted when he heard him grumbling about raccoons. Arcadia didn't even have raccoons any more. It was no doubt one of the goblins. There were usually a few hanging around the Domzalski house.

Jim handed him a brown paper bag which he made a big show of smelling before listing off the ingredients. Jim had always been impressed by his ability to figure out the ingredients and often made more complex dishes in an attempt to stump him. He had yet to win.

"Hmmm. Balsamic mushrooms, meatloaf, chunky, sun-dried tomatoes aaaannd… cardamom! Taking a chance there, Chef Jim."

Jim shook his head in amazement as he got on his bike. Before he could take off Toby grabbed his shoulder.

"Could we not take the canals?" He asked.

Jim's brows furrowed as he turned back toward Toby.

"But it will save us five minutes."

"I know, but I'm really not feeling that good today," Toby said.

Kracka, a goblin that often stayed over, had told him that the Trollhunter and Bular were fighting under the bridge that morning. If there was any chance that the Trollhunter or, even worse, Bular was still around he did not want to risk running into one of them. The Gum-Gum would probably find Jim tastier than his cooking. He would no doubt eat Toby for good measure too.

Jim's eyes widened with concern. He was always so trusting, Toby almost felt bad for the lies he fed him

"Are you sure you should go to school today? I could collect your homework for you?"

Tempting, but if he didn't show up to history class Stickler would probably put him on Bular clean-up duty. He shuddered at the thought.

"No, I should be fine. I'm just worried that the canals will make me lose my breakfast," Toby said as he mounted his bike. "Come on, let's get going."

It wasn't until gym class that the problem made itself known. Toby and Jim were sitting in the room getting ready when suddenly Jim's head jerked up like a dog that has heard its name called.

Toby stopped struggling with his socks to watch Jim look around with a puzzled expression.

"Something wrong?"

"Did you hear that, Tobes?" Jim asked still looking around.

"Hear what?"

"I thought someone was calling me?"

He trailed off, head tilted, a frown playing across his lips.

"There!"

Okay, now Toby was concerned… There was no way Jim would have been able to hear something Toby couldn't. At least not now that he was paying attention. He finished pulling on his sock and jammed his shoe on.

"What are you…"

"James Lake."

Toby yelped and backpedaled at the voice.

"So you did hear it!" Jim said triumphantly. "I think it's coming from my locker."

Jim opened the locker as Toby peered warily over his shoulder. Bright blue light hit their faces and Toby felt his heart drop down into the pit of his stomach. That was the Trollhunter Amulet.

"James Lake."

The Trollhunter Amulet was calling Jim's name. That was not good. That was the exact opposite of good. Toby could feel himself starting to sweat. His eyes darted around frantically. Fortunately they were the only ones in the locker room.

Jim was looking at it as if entranced. His hand started to drift toward it and Toby grabbed his wrist. Jim blinked and looked at him in surprise. Toby mentally cursed. He needed an excuse fast.

"I think that's a prank. You should definitely not touch it."

"A prank?"

"Yeah people do stuff like this all the time," Toby forced a laugh. "They put something cool looking in a locker and then when you touch it there's a trip cord and you get sprayed with all sorts of nasty stuff. It was probably Steve."

Jim nodded with a frown.

"That does sound like something he'd do…"

"Great!" Toby clapped his hands together. "You get going to gym class and I'll grab a teacher or someone to take care of this!"

"But…"

Toby pushed Jim toward the door.

"Don't worry about it. It'll give me a good excuse to be late. It won't take long."

"If you're sure…" Jim reluctantly left the locker room.

Toby darted back to the locker. He needed to get rid of that thing. He reached for the handle and paused to take a few deep breaths. He had this. All he had to do was grab the amulet and give it to Strickler. It would score him some points in the older changeling's eyes and Jim would stay uninvolved. Easy as pie. He opened the door to the locker…

It was empty. Toby growled and launched into a string of curses in trollish.

"Waaaacki?"

"Nope, go fish," Toby said.

Kracka stared at him with narrowed eyes, his nose wrinkled slightly.

"Chet-wa?" He asked suspiciously.

Toby rolled his eyes.

"Of course I'm not cheating."

After all he didn't have the card Kracka asked for. It was hidden under the rug. There was a difference.

The front door slammed open. He quickly shoved the protesting goblin out the window before Jim came upstairs.

"Toby!" Jim burst into his room without knocking. "Look what was at my house!"

Toby froze at the sight of the amulet in Jim's hand.

Jim, oblivious to his inner turmoil, continued on.

"It was just sitting on my bed when I got home. I have no idea how it got there. Maybe someone threw it in my window?"

"Maybe it's another part of the prank?" Toby said hopefully.

"No, I doubt anyone would…"

The amulet pinged and Jim looked down at it with a puzzled expression. His eyes widened.

"Woah," Jim breathed.

"What's it doing?" Toby asked, trying to edge closer.

This was bad. He needed to get the Amulet away from the human as quickly as possible, before someone saw him with it and drew the wrong conclusions. They'd probably assume Toby was involved too. It wouldn't be good.

Jim, oblivious as always, continued to scrutinize the amulet.

"The inscription on it just changed." He rotated it in his hands. "It says: 'For the Glory of Merlin… Daylight… is mine to command'."

The amulet pinged again and the air felt supercharged as if they were in the middle of a lightning storm. Toby could feel his hair standing up on end as objects around the room started floating. Several orbs of light shot out of the amulet and into Jim's chest.

Toby watched helplessly as his friend floated into the air. Troll sized armor materialized around him and then he clashed down to the floor with a loud thud. For a second he stood there looking very awkward and then the armor shrunk down to fit him.

"Wow!"

Jim sounded awed and excited. He had no idea what this meant. No idea of the death sentence he had received. Toby's stomach and heart clenched painfully.

There was another flash of blue light and the infamous sword Daylight appeared in Jim's hand. Toby flinched back and fell off the bed.

"Isn't this awesome!" Jim was smiling like an overexcited puppy.

His blue eyes met Toby's. Clearly he was looking for his friend to share in his elation. Toby shoved down his fear and horror and forced on a wide smile.

"This is so cool!" He said a little higher pitched than he really meant to. "You're like some sort of warrior! You must have like a sacred duty or something."

"I know right!"

He was going to get himself killed. He loved Jim but the kid had never been in a fight in his life. He lacked the aggression and drive necessary to be a warrior, let alone the Trollhunter. What was Merlin thinking?

He needed to think up something quickly.

The door slammed open again and he heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. Far too heavy to be human. Toby felt himself start to tremble. Bular had found out. He was toast. He was getting ready to throw himself out the window when the door opened and…

"Master Jim!"

That was definitely not Bular.

Jim screamed. Toby screamed. The strange six-eyed troll also screamed when Jim reflexively threw Daylight at it.

Jim attempted to run away and crashed into a wall going down with a clatter. Daylight vanished with a flash of light and the troll stopped screaming. Another troll, larger with shaggy green fur, appeared and started to force itself through the doorway. Toby contemplated whether or not it would be a good idea to transform and try to fight them off. Probably not… Aside from being outnumbered, the second troll was very big. If he transformed and they captured him…

"We mean no harm!" The four armed one was saying to Jim.

Jim stared at him from his spot on the floor. Judging by the way he was gasping he was very close to passing out.

"I am called Blinky and my large friend here is AAARRRGGHH!"

"Hi!" The big troll, now stuck half-way through the door, gave a little wave.

Blinky waited a few seconds, clearly expecting Jim to return the greeting. Unfortunately he was in no condition to do that so Toby decided to step in.

"What are you guys?" He asked.

He flinched when all the attention in the room shifted to him. A trickle of sweat ran down his neck as Blinky studied him. If they figured out what he was… He nearly let out a sigh of relief as the troll gave him a wide smile.

"Why we are trolls of course. Beings of stone and earth."

"Cool. Cool. So what are you doing in my house?"

After the Trolls had finished explaining the amulet and Toby had convinced them to leave for the night, he sat down on the bed with a considerably less enthusiastic Jim.

"What do I do now?" Jim groaned covering his face with his hands. "I'm not ready to die. What if this Bular troll eats me? What will happen to Mom?"

Toby put an arm around his shoulder and Jim leaned into him. Toby sighed.

"We'll figure something out."

"We?" Jim looked up at him, his eyes already a little red and glistening.

"Of course," Toby said and realized that he meant it.

Toby had grown up knowing he was disposable, worthless in the scheme of things. Nana loved him because she thought he was her grandson. Gunmar despised his kind and Bular would sooner eat him then look at him. The Janus Order only barely cared about another changeling and only if he was useful. Even Mr. Strickler, who knew him personally, would turn on him the moment it suited him. (He wondered sometimes if that was why he related to the goblins so much: No one cared if they lived or died either.)

Jim was different; Jim cared about Toby.

He could be a complete mess and unable to even get out of bed and Jim would be there for him.

Something warm and solid settled in his chest.

"I'm with you to the end of the line. Whether you want it or not."

"Thanks," Jim breathed out and smiled at him.

Toby smiled back. He had something worth protecting here and, Gunmar be dammed, he was ready to fight for it.

Author Note:

Not sure if I'm going to continue this or not. For the moment I'm going to call it a oneshot, but I might come back to it in the future.

Be sure to let me know what you think!