Eclipse: A TrollHunters Fanfiction

Chapter Six: Fixing the Fetch

Claire watched as Toby pedaled up to the school.  She jogged over to stand beside the bike rack, waiting until the arrived.  "Hey, Toby," Claire waved once he got closer.  Toby looked over with a bit of a soft smile.

"Hi Claire." He said, locking his bike onto the rack and taking off his helmet.  He moved his helmet under his arm and ran a hand through his hair. "So...something kind of weird happened yesterday." He walked past Claire, adjusting his bag on his shoulder.  Claire moved to fall in stride alongside him.

"Oh?" Claire asked, leaning forward slightly to look at him.  "What?  Are you okay?" Toby nodded slightly, hiking the helmet farther up on his hip. 

"I'm fine," he reassured with a bit of a soft smile. "But I found Draal in my basement." Claire blinked a few times in bewilderment.

"How did he even get down there?  It was still light out when I dropped you off." She said, straightening up a bit.  He hadn't gotten half-petrified trying to cross the street, had he?  She hoped not.

Toby chuckled a bit.  "Yeah, I know.  He dug a tunnel from Jim's basement to mine, and moved over." He said with a bit of a laugh, completely disregarding the fact that a giant tunnel under a road had the potential to be very dangerous.

"So he's protecting you now?" Claire asked for clarification as they crossed the courtyard and entered the school building.  She opened the door, holding it open so Toby could walk through before following behind him.

"Yup," he agreed with a nod.  "Strickler's been staying at Jim's house full time now, so he didn't really see a need to stay over there." They walked through the halls, ducking and weaving through the crowds, eventually making it to their first period.

"How noble of him," Claire said as they sat down. She took her textbook out of her bag and flipped to the page number that was written on the board.  Toby did the same, then turned to look at her.

"Do you think Blinky has got the fetch fixed yet?" Toby asked, meeting her eyes once she looked over.  

"It's only been two days, but we can check in with Blinky after school if you want," she said with a bit of a shrug.  The bell rang and they stopped talking, they didn't want to get in trouble again, Strickler probably wouldn't come to their rescue this time. 

~~~

The day went by agonizingly slow.  Claire and Toby were both desperate to see Blinky and see if they could find Jim again.  By the end of the day they were both practically vibrating in their seats.  The second the bell rang, Claire grabbed Toby and pulled him into a dark corner so she could cast a portal without being seen.  They stepped through and landed right next to Blinky in his library. He had the fetch in two hands, while the other two were messing about with some tools and the crystals. He had a pair of glasses that went over all six of his eyes, and his brow was creased as he worked.

"Hi, Blinky!" Blinky jumped and nearly dropped everything he was holding.

"Don't do that, Tobias!" He shouted, out of shock more than anything.  "I almost broke the crystal!" Toby frowned softly as he shied away, nearly ducking behind Claire.

"Sorry..." Toby mumbled.  He watched as the Troll sighed, setting the Fetch and his tools down on the table. 

"I didn't mean to frighten you." He explained, taking off his complicated, six-lensed glasses and setting them beside his other tools. "I apologize deeply for raising my voice." Toby didn't reply, keeping his head down for now.  Claire decided to break up the silence.

"Have you gotten the Fetch fixed yet?" Claire asked, moving in front of Toby and getting on her toes to peer over at the Fetch.

"Unfortunately, no," Blinky said with a sigh. "It is a very fragile thing and I haven't even gotten the broken crystal out. If I rush it, I could break even more of the crystals--and we don't need to upset the Quagawumps more than we already have." Toby groaned a little.

"Are we ever going to see Jim again?!" Toby suddenly shouted, tears already beginning to brim in his eyes.  He needed his friend back, every day without him was pure agony.

"Of course, Tobias! All I have left to do is remove the broken crystal, inlay the new one and make sure it's the right cut and shape, and start the calibration process!" Blinky said, smiling proudly with his hands resting on his hips.  Claire and Toby exchanged confused glances before looking back at Blinky.

"...Calibration process?" Claire eventually asked, tilting her head a bit on confusion.

"The Fetch can open anywhere, so we need to Calibrate it to only open in the DarkLands. That will take a month or two, considering this world is a very vast place and the Fetch can be very complicated."

"Jim could be dead by then!" Toby shouted.

"I'm going as fast as I can, Tobias!" Blinky said, holding up his hands defensively.  "I am just as eager to see Master Jim as you are. But if I get hasty, I could damage it even more." Claire moved forward before Toby could start shouting again.  She gently rested her hand on Blinky's shoulder with a soft smile.

"Thank you for fixing it, Blinkous," she whispered, glancing back at Toby.  Blinky smiled and nodded.

"I'll get done as soon as I can, I promise," he whispered.  Claire nodded, knowing that getting mad at Blinky wouldn't make it go any faster and that it wasn't Blinky's fault that it was broken in the first place.  She was mad, but it was at the situation, not at anyone in particular.

"Okay." She reached back and took Toby's hand, giving it a soft squeeze.  "We're going to get headed home.  We've got math homework to do.  See you soon, Blinky." The Troll waved goodbye and resumed his work as she opened a portal and took Toby home.

~~~

Jim was on his knees, panting and wheezing heavily.  His head was resting against the handle of his sword as his hands tightly gripped either side of the guard.

"Th-this is so hard..." he whined to no one but himself.  He opened his eyes just to hurriedly close them, the world still spinning rapidly around him. The sword suddenly disappeared, sending Jim forward.  His face hit the ground and knocked him out before he could see the giant figure rounding the corner in front of him.

(Revised: 12/27/2019)