Blue Moon Rising

Chapter 11: Wherefore Art Thou Trollhunter (III)

Disclaimer: Don't own Trollhunters or any of its characters. 

He exhaled, tightening his grip on the Sword of Daylight. Before this, he spent his evenings cooking dinner for Stricklander or patrolling Arcadia. Now, as newly designated Trollhunter, he had other duties. However, instead of getting to fight bad trolls like Blinky spoke of earlier, he was doing the one thing he hated most.

Training.

"Widen your stance." Binky said.

AAARRRGGHH!!! and Toby conversed excitedly as Blinky circled around Atlas. They appeared to be growing closer, Toby handing a bag of cat hair to the other as a gesture of good will. Good. His friend needed more friends. Toby was nice, too nice really, and he would need all the allies he could get if he was going to be among trolls.

Sooner or later, Atlas thought, we'll need to figure out a training regime for him. Toby would be deadweight in a fight as of now. They needed to work on his dexterity and strength. Perhaps he could ask Blinky if they had any small weights for Toby to try after the lesson.

"Wider."

"Why?" Atlas said.

The blue troll threw him a look.

He flicked the tip of his tongue against the back of his front two teeth. "Okay, fine. We'll do it your way."

Begrudgingly, Atlas followed Blinky's instructions, moving his legs further apart. He knew how to fight, so why was he even doing this? It felt like his early days at the Order, except no one was trying to kill him. Yet.

"Good, good. Keep your frame," Blinky gestured at his torso. "Much better."

He replied, "You're welcome."

Blinky rolled three of his eyes then motioned upwards. "Raise your sword, Master Atlas."

"Can't I just do this in my other form?" Asked Atlas.

"No, you must learn how to fight in this form. It is your human half that is the Trollhunter after all." He continued to make adjustments on Atlas' form. "Head up, chin out, stomach in."

The teen grumbled, "You don't have to correct me. I know how to do this."

"Apparently I do if you're not doing it correctly. Whoever taught you to fight was either horribly inept or terribly negligent. Proper form is important." The scholar frowned, eyes downcast. "Please do not take any offense, Master Atlas. I'm just trying to help. Whether you believe it or not, I want you to survive."

"I-It's..." Atlas bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Blinky."

Atlas knew snapping at Blinky was wrong, but it was just so hard to accept the truth. For so long he'd considered himself a decent fighter, able to hold his own against Nomura and the other changelings to an extent. Now, he needed to be even better than that, and he wasn't sure he had the capacity to do it.

"Apology accepted." Blinky put up three fingers. "Now then, the Trollhunter lives and dies by three rules."

"Oh dear Pale Lady, I'm getting flashbacks." Atlas muttered, thinking back to his first training session with Nomura.

The troll blinked, taken back. "You're heard of these rules, Master Atlas?"

"No, no, go on. It just reminded me of something." He said, waving his sword for Blinky to continue.

"Posture, Master Atlas."

"Oh, right, sorry." He straightened out his back, legs once again in line with his shoulders.