Four times Draal caught him, and once he was to late (Trollhunters)

Chapter One

A/N – Plot bunnies at 1 am... Gotta love 'em, right?

Being a teenager, Jim had thought about suicide a lot. He'd planned out the hows and wheres and whens, but could never bring himself to actually do the deed. He couldn't leave his Mother, or Toby, or.... Nope, he only had two friends. And one of them was his own Mother. That was kinda sad... But, Toby didn't even have a mother, so he had to be there for him. So, every day, Jim would make meals for a mother that he rarely saw for any extensive amount of time, and put on his brave face for his friend. He would always talk about how he craved more adventure in his life, how there had to be more to life than this. What no one else knew, though, was that he simply needed a reason to keep going. Everything was so dull, his life was so bland, and he was about to give up.

Things changed the day he found what he perceived to be a simple, glowing amulet, calling his name amid a pile of rocks under a bridge. Although weary, he picked it up, for at the very least, it could provide a few hours of entertainment, right? He made it through school that day, his mind constantly wandering back to the amulet in his bag, fantasizing about the adventures that it may have seen. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that it had been to such beautiful, amazing places. No, his thoughts were focused more on old museums, and ancient tombs from faraway lands. Still, though, he lost himself in the scenarios in his mind.

When he got home that night, he skips his usual routine, turning on the TV before doing homework, not even bothering to empty his bag. The amulet started glowing again, but stopped soon after, leaving him looking at it in wonder. Something happens outside, causing him to rush out, still clutching the amulet in his hand. It glows, and something inside changes. There is now writing on the solid metal, where previously, he had noticed none. Jim reads it aloud, and out of the amulet come glowing, pulsing orbs, which enter his chest. He is encircled by chunks of metal, which, once they shrink, he realizes that it forms a protective armor over his body. There is a sword in his hand, and for something that didn't exist just moments ago, it weighs a ton. It shrinks though, forming to his hand. He feels a spark of joy, an odd sensation after so long without, and lifts the sword over his head in triumph. It is short lived, for he overbalances, sending the sword into a boulder, which only illustrates how sharp it is.

He was sitting back on the couch when he heard a noise from the basement, he simply assumed it would be raccoons, for what else would it be at this time at night? He sighs, wishing he didn't have to do this, yet at the same time glad to be given something to do and glad to be rid of the raccoons that have been causing him so many problems.

He opens the door, grabs a broom, and clicks on the light. His motions are mechanic, yet, even alone, he puts on the mask that seems to have become a permanent accessory, and tries to make himself look bigger, more intimidating than he really is. There is a scuttling noise, and the light goes out. Of course, it lets him down right when he needs it the most. No matter, he can do without. There's a noise behind him, and another to his right. He jerks around, searching through the dark. Something he can describe as nothing other than as a monster appears in front of him, and he tries to run. He has no luck, for there is another standing directly behind him. It manhandles him, while the smaller one tells him of another land, a land of trolls. It introduces itself as Blinky, and says that the amulet, the one sitting upstairs, has chosen him to be what they call a trollhunter, that it has called him to protect both the troll world and his own. He doesn't believe it, tries to escape again. The larger troll, Arrrgh (with three r's), stops his attempts. When he is placed back on the floor, the smaller, Blinky, asks him if he will accept this responsibility. Instead of answering, he faints, falling to the floor.

It is morning when he wakes up, and he immediately tries to call Toby to his house. He answers, but is unintelligible, which could only mean two things. Either he is eating, or he is at the dentist. Considering his newfound 'diet', Jim assumes he is at the dentist. He rushes over, only to be kicked out of the office. He goes to school, talks to his favorite professor. He nearly tells Strickler about the trolls and what they said, but catches himself and speaks of a chess club instead. School is over, and he has waited for Toby, for what seems like days, when it is really has only been eight hours. He drags his friend to his house, where his kitchen is raided. His friend doesn't pay attention to his excitement, simply eating his pizza until the armor comes out. Toby is awestruck, speechless for a moment, before he begins jumping around excitedly, already planning how Jim can help to save and protect the world.

Chaos ensues then, the two trolls coming inside his house, and Toby trying to call animal control. Yet, oddly, he is okay with everything once he is calmed down and sees that the trolls mean know harm. Blinky and Arrrgh decide to take them to see Troll Market, so the four set off across town, with the boys on their bikes. Of course, Bular decided that this would be a prime time to attack and chased them through the town. Then, after they all arrived in Troll Market, everything was calm for a while.

Then of course, Draal found out that his fathers replacement was a human, a tiny fleshbag, he was furious. Surely, this wasn't acceptable, right? So he decided to 'help' Blinky with the training of this pathetic excuse for a trollhunter.

When Jim realized what was happening, he wasn't super excited. It wasn't the fact that he might die... No, it was that this made it harder to go out on his own terms. He'd thought all about his death before, and had already decided that when he did die, he wanted it to be on his own terms, and not anyone else's. Yet, now he had been voluntold to spar with this giant troll, who was easily twice his height. The fact that it only took one of Draal's hands to immobilize the majority of Jims body only made him more nervous, although he shook with a kind of nervous anticipation at the thought, and every thought was colored with exhilaration at the mere mention of the upcoming spar. And, although there had only been little more than a day since the invitation was extended, there had even been the odd moment or two when the raw emotions running through him caused some rather odd, although not entirely unwelcome reactions in his body, even if there were plenty unwelcome reactions that more than made up for those, as they were few and far between.

As the fight was about to start, he informed Blinky that he never before done so much as even thrown a punch, which only caused to increase his panic levels. He was glad that there were not many spectators, for that would have made his upcoming loss even worse than it was already guaranteed to be. Jim was fully prepared to throw the fight, to not even make a half attempt, so that he may get it over with as soon as possible, but he was worried that Draal would just kill him flat out rather than allow him to do that. Perhaps, if he allowed this to happen, it would be close enough to an accident to be able to be ruled as an accident rather than a suicide? He didn't want to hurt Toby or his Mother with the fact that he had been driven to take his own life.

Draal entered the arena with the intent to kill. From the look on the humans face, he was anticipating death. With every punch he threw, Draal felt his anger calming, although he was still fully prepared to... 'Finish the Fight', so to say. When he threw the kid across the forge, he expected him to simply fall off of the edge, causing him to win and allowing him to end it without to many questions from the trollhunters companion. Despite his intentions, the fleshbag called Jim rolled to a stop just short of the edge. He strode over, then picked him up, his fist constricting the small body. When he looked at the face, however, he knew he couldn't do it. He could not bring himself to kill the small trollhunter. The kids eyes were weary beyond his short years, and when he recognized that Draal would kill him, he had given a half smile. It had haunted Draal to no end. One so young should not feel that way, should not wish to end their own life. He had said a few things to the boy, although later he could not recall what was said, and he dropped him, just short of the edge.

Draal was thankful that he was able to establish that the mock fight was just for training, rather than a real duel, for, if it was otherwise, it was inevitable that one of them would have ended up dead. He knew that, although it was most definitely not his responsibility, he was beginning to care for this brave soul, and knew that he would have to watch to ensure that no harm came for him. He could only hope that Jim did nothing stupid that could endanger himself further.

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