Trollhunters: The Decent into Ragnarök

There’s this place no one knows about. A place that no one will ever comprehend; but dear God help them if they ever do. Where the line between light and dark, right, and wrong, good and evil blurs into grey; where chaos reigns.

The ending of mankind echoes into the decaying walls, scratching like starving rats. Voices overlapping in disorder, where destruction rules. Where harmony does not exist, only the unalloyed intensity of insanity.

A touch of silence.

The violence of the dark.

A musk of decay and time.

The heart that beats the wrong way.

Where you face your greatest fear.

Yourself.

Your mind is the playground of discord. Flashing images of annihilation and self-destruction project themselves like a silent horror movie. The rats of mental distortion gnaw away at your psyche. Leaking psychosis, flooding the chambers with the crimson hell that plagues you with every waking moment. Infecting you.

Being aroused by the unrelenting chaos and burning pain; you feel powerful. In the deep abyss of your mind, it screams for release. Bearing down, bearing down on you; the weight starts closing in on you.

The walls crumble away like nothing, the infection is released.

Spreading.

Crawling.

Scratching

Chewing.

Gnawing.

Ripping.

Tearing.

Devouring you whole.

Engulfing you; the vibrant colors spray upon your mind, the blood on your hands is your own. You are tired, you are worthless, you are insignificant, you are nothing.

You must end it.

End it.

End it.

End it.

End it.

End it.

End it.

End it.

END IT.

Death lingers, you want nothing but destruction, everything hurts. Everything itches. SCRATCH IT. SCRATCH IT. SCRATCH IT TILL IT BLEEDS. SCRATCH AWAY TILL THERE’S NOTHING LEFT. PEEL AWAY AT THE ROTTING FLESH. EAT IT. EAT IT. EAT IT.

Seeing blood pour from your body fills you with pure maddening ecstasy. Screaming with euphoria.

No one will understand you but yourself and yet you don’t understand anything at all.

This place is frightening when you are alone.

It is always there, like a starving, rabid animal.

The confusion lies in all your words, mad is the soul. Barricading yourself in the void of your crescendo. Deceiving yourself of comfort and healing, the infinite fall of innocence is left behind to rot with your memories.

The plan is overthrown, the red dawn of a new age rises amongst the war-scarred land like flames swallowing up the earth.

Everything is said and done, the weight of the air is torture.

You don’t know who you are anymore.

Where are you?

Who are you?

What are you?

The angry sound of an alarm clock blares itself awake as it provokes the pile of worn-out blankets to shift. A groan of unrelenting distaste muffles through the thick fabric beneath as a pale hand slithers out like a zombie to silence the god-forsaken noise. Hitting the snooze button with a slight irritated force the blankets were forcefully kicked off as if the being were trying to break free from its binds.

“Ugh…another sleepless night.”, mumbled the being in the cold darkness. The hand moved over to a switch laying on the floor connected to a black cord. Flipping it on the room softly brightened up with a warm yellow glow of an antique bulb hanging from a cord on the ceiling. The yellow light revealing the true features and details of the languorous creature.

Long slender legs rest themselves along with the shabby mattress, the skin covered in old scars leading up to her hip hiding beneath small black shorts. Her skin was pale as snow, draped in a moth holed faded black t-shirt. Stretching outward she reveals a soft-toned stomach, as well as a burn scar the size of a small dinner plate left lumbar region. Her messy short medium hair covering her eyes like waves of volcanic ash. Brushing them away to show eyes of pale blue-greys, like old gravestones. Rubbing her head in pain, she went to grab her phone to start some music to play as she got up to get ready.

“Ugh, my head is fucking pounding.”, grumbling to herself as she covers her eyes with her palms.

“I need something to listen to…something to drown out the pain.”, she said with aggravation.

“Oh, some H.P. Lovecraft music sounds good to me.”

As the music played in the background lifting her spirits like a conjuring, she sat up fully and stretched her back out. Looking at the four walls that surround her, the chipping sheetrock with patches of faded black and poorly covered up holes. Only a few art pieces of hers adjourned the walls, presenting emotions from the darkest corners of the psyche. A small sink off to the left of the room, accompanied by a small trashcan down below.

“A few more pieces could help cover up the holes.”, she said as she did her stretches.

What a degenerate college freshman can afford these days, thankfully working her ass off at the local café helps her keep the room, and with the help of the owner she can afford the luxury of a phone.

Two weeks earlier

“I don’t want to have to find you when you don’t show up for work. So, here’s a phone, it’s not the latest model, but at least you can text, call and listen to music.”, said the owner as he handed her the phone. Looking at it with confusion and utter disbelief, she didn’t know what to say.

“I expect you to work with initiative and to-oof!”, he said right as she hugged him. “I-I never received a gift before, let alone a phone. Thank you!”, she said as she backed away quickly.

“Well, I can understand not having things available to me. So, Ashka just let me know if you need anything, food, clothing, or just someone to talk to. Nari here is a great listener here as well, aren’t you Nari?”. A small girl with odd green colored skin, wearing an oversized hoodie, a beanie with what looked like two large antlers protruding out appeared from behind the counter. “Ah, yes Douixe! I am a great listener.”, Nari said in a gentle tone. Then she looked right up to Ashka and seemed slightly startled.

“Everything alright Nari?” Douixe asked as he went to touch her shoulder. Nari blinked back into reality, “Ah, I’m sorry you just looked like someone I’ve seen before. Oh! I forgot I must check the-um-the biscotti’s! Hope to see you at the café Miss Ashka!” Toddling off behind the kitchen doors. “That’s odd, but anyway please let me know if you need anything. Your starting date is three weeks from now at about 8:30 am, we don’t open until 11:00 am though. I want you to be there early so we can have a run down and what-not.” Ashka nodded her head in agreement. “Fuzz buckets! I forgot I have something to give Jim! Gotta go Ashka, see you later if not then!” Douxie ran off in a jiff waving as he ran.

“These people are weirder than where I’m from but much nicer I’d say.”, whispering to herself walking in the opposite direction. Not seeing something else watches from the corners of the building.

The cracked window on the right of her was nailed shut with wood panels in replace of clear glass. She didn’t care for the sun or its intense light, but she would like to at least see-through. Getting up slowly as the wooden floor creaked, she walked over to the window and pressed the back of her hand against the old, cracked wood.

Feeling the icy air seeping through, a smile crept upon her face. “Finally, some real cold temperatures. Living in the dead south just wasn’t worth the sweat.”, saying this as the condensation creeps out of her mouth like smoke from a dragon. She wrapped her fingers around the top panel, seeing it already dry rotted as she yanked on the board. With a quick crack and pop, it came off with ease. Letting the cold autumn air flow in and the moonlight filter through. “Ah, much better. Some light and airflow wouldn’t hurt no one.”, saying this as she walks over to the other side of the room.

Going to some of the packing boxes in the corner of her room she dug out a large black shirt riddled with moth holes, worn black skinny jeans that were also riddled with more holes, fishnet stockings, black socks, and a large black hoodie that had a picture of a wolf skull inked in white on the back of it. Laying the clothing on the bed she went to grab her black knock-off converse, worn from time and use. “I seriously need new clothing.”, sighing to herself.

Then something hit her thoughts as she was about to change, “I just gave the world a free ticket to a show by ripping the panel off…damn it Ashka. THINK! Well, at least it’s still nighttime. I’ll have to get curtains or something to block that out soon.” Putting the clothing on with eagerness and almost tripping from her pants, she got everything on. Taking a few steps in front of her to her small wooden desk that looked like it was picked out from the side of the road.

There laid two individual black stone gauges, putting them in she looked next to where they were sitting. There laid a singular light grey baby sock with a picture of a teddy bear on it. Letting out a deep breath she turned away quickly to grab her black canvas bag. “No sink, no toilet nor a bathroom in general. Will have to make do with the gas station’s restroom.” Putting her toothbrush, toothpaste, a spiral, and a black ink pen in the bag.

Before walking out of her room, she made sure she had everything. Her bag, phone, earphones, wallet, and the key to her room. Going over to the door to lock it from the inside and sauntering over to the window she sat on the edge resting her feet underneath the dormer. “Nice, quiet, and dark.”, she smirked. Then she slowly slid down and hopped over to the front porch and stopped at the eave. Jumping down with grace like a cat but with a hint of an accident-prone panda as her ankle suddenly gave out. “Ah, shit…ow…fuck, next time let’s just use the column and slide down.”, saying this as she winced in slight discomfort.

Limping slightly into the darkness of the outside, the air was cold as it nipped her nose more so than her ice cave of an apartment, nipping her nose and turning her lips slightly blue. “Oof, this air seems a little chiller than I anticipated.”, she said as she pulled her headphones out of her pockets.

As she connected them to her phone she scrolled through her history, “Let’s change this up a bit, perhaps some heavy metal.” Letting the metal blare through her buds letting the world feel the music, her emotions.

This was her first fall season in an environment she was unfamiliar with, a place with structure, a place where no one knows who she is…. Arcadia University to be exact.

You would think that perhaps she would be nervous?

Scared, perhaps?

Yes, but it was overridden by a sense of change. A sense that gave her peace and freedom from what resides back at the dwelling of darkness and dread, her past. “I hope this will be an easy fresh start. Maybe try to make friends? Ugh.”, she grumbled under her frigid breath. Tightening the drawstrings of her hood around her face to block out the nipping air or perhaps the thought of extroverts.

She was at least two hours ahead of schedule, looking at the still very dark sky as it twinkled with stars. Realizing that her headache has gone down slightly from the cold she decided to help it further along with caffeine, seeing a gas station nearby with its lights up and running. “Ah, thank you!”, she said as she closed her eyes and clasped her hands together.

As she walked closer, she could see what was inside, all the snacks, treats, drinks, and the tacky gas station novelties. Walking in she sees the cashier in the corner of her eye, a medium-built man, with a long greyish beard wearing a puffy dark blue jacket hemmed with black. His hands wear worn fingerless gloves, his eyes watching her closely.

“Weird looking dude.”, she mumbled as she walked into the public bathroom.

After brushing her teeth, she went over to the cold drinks. “Hmm…I feel like…red bull…definitely 20 oz.” Grabbing the large can she walked over to the register to pay for the drink.

“It’s awfully early for a young girl like you to be out wandering around. Especially in this town, some unusual characters are up at night. It’s not safe.”, the cashier said with his raspy voice furrowing his brow as he glanced at the girl. She looked at the old man, noticing that his left eye was glazed over with possible cataracts. His skin was old and shriveled from wear and tear of time and weather.

Taking her buds out, she didn’t change her expression but responded with a little spice, “And you look awfully old to be working in general, sir. I can take care of myself.” The old man looked at her with the face of curiosity that plastered it and let out a small chuckle, “You can call me Mr. Wodan, and that was very witty young lady. What’s your name child? Where are your parents?”.

She looked at him with slight irritation for asking too many questions this early. “My name is Ashka, and I’m 19. I left my parents after my 16th birthday, so I don’t need to worry about parental supervision for being out at night. Thanks.” Ashka handed the money to pay for her drink, but the cashier swayed his hand away. “It’s on me today, you’re going to need all the energy you can get today. Trust me.”, he said with a cryptic tone. She looked at him in confusion but shrugged away. “Thanks, old dude, see you around!”

“Tsk, oldie? But dear you are far older than the stars, where there is snow the darkness follows…isn’t that right Huginn and Muninn?”, a large black two-headed raven appeared on his shoulder out of black smoke. Both heads gwahing in response, “Huginn, go follow her and observe.”, the man said to the right head. The raven separated into two bodies, Huginn flew off and phased through the glass window.

“Muninn, let’s head back to the tree there’s someone I need to discuss things with.” Vanishing in a plume of black smoke as the real cashier came out from the bathroom. “Why is there so much smoke?”, saying as he scratched his bald head looking at the residual smoke floating around.

Trotting out of the store she opened her drink and took some inhuman gulps as if she were dying of thirst. “Phew, I needed that.”, saying this as she wiped away a few stray drops from her chin. She kept walking and drinking her way to the school, but a mere halfway there a sudden crashing sound of rocks and glass broke the silence of the morning and causing her to choke on her drink and drop the can.

*Cough* *Cough* “What the fuck!?” she yelped out between breaths as she banged on her chest. A loud shout came from the southeast of her around the corner of a building, as if someone were pushing against a heavy force. The shout morphing into an animalistic roar of anger then a voice that seemed human followed suit from within that snarl.

“Why are you here and who the hell are you?!” a voice screamed.

“What the fuck is going on?!” Ashka yelped with heavy concern. Jumping behind the wall and peering around the corner to see what was happening. Thinking that her eyes were deceiving her or that something was wrong with her drink.

A large beast, the size of a truck, made from what seemed to be ice and rock was fighting what looked to be human but not.

The smaller being was deep blue in color, covered in a few light blue what looked like cracks especially one across his face. He also was covered in what seemed to be onyx-colored armor with ruby accents but seemed to be pulsating with life or possible anger. They both had tusks and horns but in size difference and color, the blue one had onyx-colored horns that curved almost like an impala but thicker and heavier. The bigger icier one had horns that resembled a moose, or perhaps an elk, laced with lichen and other plant outgrowths that went down forming a long beard gently frosted with ice.

He resembled a mountain almost with not just his sheer size but his features as well. The smaller one looked more like an angry wild animal, but the big one seemed to be enjoying himself slightly even though the smaller one surprisingly had him severely cumbered.

“So, it is true! The Trollhunter whelp has become his true self! Ha-ha! This is good!”, the big creature bellowed after brushing off his arm that was covered in shattered ice. Seemingly to have a thick Swedish or Norwegian accent, reminded her of a Viking especially with the sheer excitement over the battle.

“Who are you!? Why are you in Arcadia!? Answer me damn it!” the small one roared, seeming to have the upper hand as he was holding a sword that matched his armor.

The large one suddenly sat down, with such force that the ground shook. Almost causing Ashka to fall over, “Geeze! How heavy is this big guy? Wait the other guy didn’t even flinch!”, she whispered to herself as she watched the scene unfold. The beast sighed quietly with relief, “Flott Freya, ég hef ekki sest niður í alder! (Great Freya, I haven't sat down in centuries!).” Then bellowed with a burst of hearty laughter, “I'm no threat son. I just wanted to see how strong you were!”.

“Don’t call me son, especially when you are in another troll’s territory uninvited.”, the small one growled baring his teeth as he held his fighting stance.

“Mikill Ymir! Calm down Trollhunter, I’m not here to take ya territory or harm ya. Those weren’t even real! Just some magic I whipped up. Are all young whelps so emotionally driven these days?”, letting out a big sigh releasing a large cloud of condensation. “My name is Ívar. I'm what you call an ice troll per se but where I'm from, it’s Jötnar. I came a long way to find you and warn you of what’s to come for all of the nine realms.”, he said as his voice turned serious.

The small one stopped and looked like a mix of irritation and sheer distress, “Son of a…what…what do you mean nine realms? And what is a Jötnar?”, the Trollhunter asked in confusion.

“Jötnar means giant, we’re a separate branch of species of troll. Bigger and hardier with a touch of Æsir like qualities, but without the heartlessness, no?”, Ivar said as he gestured towards Toby sitting Indian style surrounded by a force field in the building. Toby just trying to say something, but only frustrated muffling came forth but saying, “You threw boulders at us you crazy yeti!”.

“Oh hush! You’re clearly unharmed young dvergur!”, Ivar shouted.

“Me and my friends we’ve defeated Bular, Gunmar, Morgana, and the Arcane Order. What else is there?”, the Trollhunter asked as he still held his sword at Ivar, unsure of what to do.

“I don’t think I should be eavesdropping on this convo, I need to leave,” Ashka said but suddenly she was forced down into a sitting position with her mouth shut. Her eyes got big as she glanced over to Ivar to see him side-eyeing her with a smirk. “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!”, she screamed in her head. She couldn’t move or say anything, only to breathe, blink and listen.

“The Arcane Order was defeated by the young Trollhunters, yes…but did you ever destroy the roots?”, Ivar said as he made a long churchwarden pipe out of ice, lighting with magic he started to smoke. The Trollhunter looked at him confused, “Explain Ivar.” Letting out a puff and a sigh he continued to explain, “When you kill a weed do you pull out just the plant or the entirety of said weed?” The Trollhunter looked down thinking then his eyes got big, “The...the entire plant because it’ll grow back from the root system.” “Precisely, young Trollhunter. Something far more powerful than you can imagine, strong enough to destroy the very existence of life is coming.”, Ivar exclaimed as he clenched his fist as he let out a big puff. “What!? There’s no way something like that would exist. Blinky would’ve told me that or I would’ve read it in the troll texts.”, the Trollhunter said as he took a step back and lowering his sword in disbelief.

“Aye, young Trollhunter…I came from the realm of Jotunheim, the gate of giants if you may warn you. But as for the force of great destruction, it was birthed from Ginnungagap. From the depths of the shadow realm’s bosom, it brings rot, decay, and utter chaos. It was already there before the stars.”, Ivar spoke with seriousness and a dash of fear.

Ashka looked at his eyes, they were full of uncertainty and terror. “Ginnungagap? Shadow realm…this sounds serious. Almost terrifying.”, thinking to herself as she ate every word he said like it was a really good book.

“So, what does the Arcane Order have to do with any of this? And why are you telling me…is this true?”, the blue one spoke as he shifted his stance to more of a relaxed position.

“Aye young one, I’m afraid so. The Arcane Order’s spiritual power over this world, Midgard is like a conductor. So, this force of chaos is finding its way to Midgard by using this said conductor.”, Ivar said as he looked down casted. “James Lake Jr., Trollhunter, son of Barbra Lake and successor of Kanjigar the Courageous. You and your friends will not be able to stop this unless you find those who were born from fire and ice.”, Ivar bellowed as he glanced back over to Ashka.

“Hm, so this troll guy needs to find those who were born from fire and ice? Sounds unreal and yet here I am being magically forced to sit down to watch two trolls talk about the apocalypse. I don’t know if Trollhunter boy here should trust this Ivar, it’s a lot to process, especially-ah!.”, she said as she clenched her head in sharp sudden pain.

She recoiled in pain. “Young one, I know you are confused and scared. But you must listen and focus, I can not say much but be aware of the eyes in the sky. In places you least expect the ravens to be hidden.”, a loud voice echoed in her head. Her body suddenly getting hot and her skin was flushing red from the pain. “Ugh! What? Eyes…in the...sky?”

“I am aware you are missing an important member of your party. I’ve heard she fought courageously against the Order and defeated them with a fire still burning in her.”, the giant ice beast said with grief and compassion towards the smaller one.

“So, he lost someone dear to him too?”, Ashka said as the pain dulled.

Jim looked towards the ground with downcast, his fist clenched with anger and regret. “Please don’t go off the subject at hand. What exactly do we need to do to defeat this…mysterious force.”, he said between his clenched fangs.

“Forgive me, I know how painful it can be losing someone you love. But with what is at hand is that you need to find both of those power sources, there are only two of them. You will have to find them yourself and train them to be ready. They are the first creations of Ymir the Creator of Worlds; you must find them and rescue them from their own darkness and destruction. Reignite their flame before it grows any colder!”, he shouted as he got up with force and passion.

“Why can’t you do it? I already have so much on my plate, to begin with! College, trying to find what little normalcy I can get!” Jim shouted.

“Because young one…I’m a mere ghost of the past. The Jötnar were destroyed by the Æsir a long time ago.”, he said with desolation. The blue troll jumped back with shock and confusion. “What do you mean…”, he said as he almost dropped his sword from shock.

“I cannot tell you more for the time of daybreak is near, but you must find her. Her name is where ash meets snow. His name means when flame meets water, you must tell this to your mentor. He will understand, but you must be…” as soon as the light hit his body he turned into fresh snow, glistening in the light.

“Shit! What the hell is going on!”, Jim ran to the forest to get away from the light. The mysterious spell that held Ashka down was lifted, she got up and watched Jim run off into the woods.

“What in the actual fuck just happen? What exactly were those things? Why did the blue one seem as if he was human, but I…GAAHHH!!”, Ashka shouted in frustration, grabbing her hair like a crazed crack head. Realizing that she only had 30 minutes to get to school she got herself situated.

“Okay, Ashka…you can’t figure out what happen or why this giant ice troll yeti named Ivar did this funky magic spell on you but you need to find this nightcrawler boy and make him explain. Because this seems far more serious than what you can handle, but first we need to get to school!”, telling herself this with determination she started to sprint towards the school with full speed.

Trollhunters P.O.V.

“Come on Tobes! We need to finish up our nightly run-through before it gets too late.”, Jim remarked out to Toby as he was catching up to him.

“Hey! It’s not my fault I still can’t keep up with your long troll legs!”, Toby exclaimed in between huffs.

“This would be easier if we had another person.”, he said between huffs. Jim looked away towards the night sky, watching the stars twinkle like glitter. “Yeah…”, he exclaimed with a hint of sadness. “I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking, here I brought a Diablo Supreme Breakfast Burrito. You can have it all or half if it’ll make you feel better.”, Toby said as he was pulling out the burrito from his backpack. Jim looked at him with a smile, “Thanks Tobes, but you know how that would react with my troll stomach.” Toby winced at the flashback with Grotto two years ago, “Oh…yea…no burrito for you then.”

As they walked Toby seemed to be preoccupied about something. “Hey, Jim. This is our first year in college! I’m glad we were able to stay in Arcadia after you came back from finding a new heart stone, us battling the Arcane Order, and finishing summer school twice! I thought Senor Uhl was going to turn you into stone!”, he said with a cheerful tone.

Jim chuckled as he went to look down an alleyway, “Ha-ha, yeah. I thought he was going to go easy on me after everything, but man was I wrong! Man, all of that was just in one year. Then just last year we finally finished off the Order!”

“I’m pretty glad you can still even get to go to college, with you being trollish and all.”, Toby said as he poked Jim’s armored arm.

“Yea, the Mayor of Arcadia was really appreciative of us for what we did. So, letting me have a free ride into college to polish up my studies seemed to be a fair trade as well as making it comfortable for my new features.”, Jim sighed with relief as he stretched out his four-fingered hand towards the full moon.

Tobes looked over to his right and noticed a black-cloaked figure walking by, “Creepy hooded person on the right.”, he whispered to Jim as he pointed at the being. Jim looked over at sniffed the air, “It’s just a girl, blaring music through her headphones.”

“Great Deya! I can even hear it over here!”, Toby exclaimed with his eyebrows raised.

“Her scent seems off though like there’s something else there.”, Jim said with curiosity as he followed her in the shadows. “Hey! Wait! Let me know that you’re going to follow some angsty girl before you start walking away!”, Toby shouted after Jim.

As they followed suit, the girl walked into the gas station, and they stopped behind a brick wall 30 feet away. “Seems to be pretty normal to me, if you call wearing all black like some criminal normal. She could have cats if that’s what you’re smelling.”, Toby said as he shrugged.

“Yea, I guess…but I didn’t smell cats and I don’t care for cats, Tobes. It was more like something I’ve never smelt before…inhuman almost. I don’t know, I could be just smelling something else around.”, Jim said as he gestured his hand in the air with a sigh. Walking back towards the direction of the school, Jim picked up an empty can of what seemed to be beans off the sidewalk.

“You’re going to eat that aren’t you?”, Toby asked with a slight chuckle. Jim tossed the can up in the air and with an ear-bleeding sound as he crunched it to bits in his mouth. “AAUUGGHH!”, Toby shouted as he covered his ears. “Yes…yes, I am going to eat this.”, Jim said through his mouthfuls of metal.

As they kept walking, checking every dark corner and alleyway from any possible enemies, Toby seemed to be confused, “Huh, it’s unusually quiet. I thought we would find at least a goblin or two.” Jim halted, “Yea…like there’s something in the air.” Suddenly a whirlwind of polar temperatures blew through them like daggers, “GREAT GAGGLETACK!”, Toby shouted wrapping his arms in his body wincing as the wind burned his face turning his cheeks and nose red.

“Augh! This wasn’t a part of the forecast! I can feel it trying to cut through me! This isn’t a normal gust of wind, Toby get behind me!”, Jim shouted as he winced in discomfort. “Dude! I’m trying but the wind is too strong!”, shouting Toby as he tried to move to the side. The wind stopped as abruptly as it blew through, covering the small area with ice.

“W-what was th-that? M-magic?”, Toby said as he was still shivering. “I... I don’t know, but we aren’t alone.”, Jim said slightly shivering as he got his sword ready sniffing the air.

Toby gulped in fear of not knowing what was going to come at them, as he was about to pull out Warhammer. In a blink of an eye, a giant ice-covered boulder came hurdling towards Jim. “Jim, look out!”, Toby shouted at Jim, but it came in so fast that he couldn’t react.

Crushing him into the nearby brick wall with a sheer force that it broke through into the building. Jim rolled the boulder off himself, coughing up some blood but not enough for any concern. “Fuck! Where did that come from?”, he said as he held his side. “Jim are you alright?! That was the fastest snowball I’ve seen!”, Toby exclaimed with his Warhammer ready for action, reaching out a hand to help Jim up. Jim reached for the gesture, but another boulder was hurdling straight for both of them.

Toby raised his hammer like a bat ready to swing. “I got this Jim!”, he shouted. As the boulder came within range, he swung his hammer causing the boulder the shatter like fresh powdered snow. “Whoa, I didn’t think that was actually going to work!”, Toby shouted with surprise. Jim looked shocked and a little concerned from that remark.

Suddenly a booming voice echoed from the wind, “Trollhunter!”. A colossal-sized troll almost bigger than Gunmar appeared out of the trees, with an outgrowth of ice-like crystals along its back and shoulders. Instead of the usual stone skin, it had white fur like a polar bear, and antlers that rivaled any moose beyond its prime.

“What the…”, Toby exclaimed but before he could finish Jim let out the loudest snarl that sent Toby’s neck hairs to stand on end.

“Who are you and why are you here?”, he growled with authority. The troll chuckled as he manifested another boulder at Jim. Jim roared as he jumped up at the flying stone and cut it clean in half midair, the large ice troll raised his eyebrows with satisfaction but wasn’t paying attention to Toby running at him with Warhammer in tow.

He swung the hammer straight into his stomach but only to be stopped by the sheer heaviness of the troll. “Geeze! It’s like trying to move a mountain, what do you even eat dude!?”, Toby said as he huffed.

The troll raised his hand and without touching the young adult knocked him into the hole in the building. “Vertu þar inni og vertu kyrr.”, the troll exclaimed and suddenly Toby couldn’t move or speak. As he was forced to sit inside the building and not to peep out any little word from his mouth.

Jim looked insulted, “What the hell did you do to Toby?!”.

“Nothing to hurt the lad, just to get him out of the way of our fun umbreyting.”, the troll said as he swayed his hands towards Toby. Jim suddenly started to barrel roll with sheer speed, sword out like a shredder straight towards the troll. The beast readied himself to catch Jim but didn’t ready quick enough as he was knocked 60 feet across the way.

Shouting with a clear sense of irritation and anger Jim shouted, “Why are you here and who the hell are you?!”.

“So, it is true! The Trollhunter welp has become his true self! Ha-ha! This is good!” the large troll bellowed after brushing off his arm that was covered in shattered ice.

“Who are you? Why are you in Arcadia? Answer me!”, Jim growled.

Jim waited for him to answer, to his surprise the ice troll sat down instead of launching another ice boulder at his face. With a large thud he shook the ground around him, “Flott Freya, ég hef ekki sest niður í alder! (Great Freya, I haven't sat down in centuries!).”

With a huff causing his mossy mustache to blow about he spoke with a slightly humorous tone, “I'm no threat son. I just wanted to see how strong you were!”.

“Don’t call me son, especially when you are in another troll’s territory uninvited.”, the small one growled baring his teeth as he held his fighting stance.

“Mikill Ymir! Calm down Trollhunter, I’m not here to take ya territory or harm ya. Those weren’t even real! Just some magic I whipped up. Are all young whelps so emotionally driven these days?”, letting out a big sigh releasing a large cloud of condensation. “My name is Ívar. I'm what you call an ice troll per se but where I'm from, it’s Jötnar. I came a long way to find you and warn you of what’s to come for all of the nine realms.”, he said as his voice turned serious.

Jim stopped and looked like a mix of irritation and sheer distress, “Son of a…what…what do you mean nine realms? And what is a Jötnar?”, he asked in confusion.

“Jötnar means giant, we’re a separate branch of species of troll. Bigger and hardier with a touch of Æsir like qualities, but without the heartlessness, no?”, Ivar said as he gestured towards Toby sitting Indian style surrounded by a force field in the building. Toby mouthing something, but only frustrated muffling could be heard.

“Me and my friends we’ve defeated Bular, Gunmar, Morgana, and the Arcane Order. What else is there?”, the Trollhunter asked as he still held his sword at Ivar, unsure of what to do. But he was distracted by something else in the air, somewhat blending in with the ice trolls. “Is she nearby? Where could she be?”, he thought to himself but shook his head to focus.

“The Arcane Order was defeated by the young Trollhunters, yes…but did you ever destroy the roots?”, Ivar said as he made a long churchwarden pipe out of ice, lighting with magic he started to smoke. The Trollhunter looked at him confused, “Explain Ivar.” Letting out a puff and a sigh he continued to explain, “When you kill a weed do you pull out just the plant or the entirety of said weed?” The Trollhunter looked down thinking then his eyes got big, “The...the entire plant because it’ll grow back from the root system.” “Precisely, young Trollhunter. Something far more powerful than you can imagine, strong enough to destroy the very existence of life is coming.”, Ivar exclaimed as he clenched his fist as he let out a big puff. “What!? There’s no way something like that would exist. Blinky would’ve told me that or I would’ve read it in the troll texts.”, the Trollhunter said as he took a step back and lowering his sword in disbelief.

“Aye, young Trollhunter…I came from the realm of Jotunheim, the gate of giants if you may warn you. But as for the force of great destruction, it was birthed from Ginnungagap. From the depths of the shadow realm’s bosom, it brings rot, decay, and utter chaos. It was already there before the stars.”, Ivar spoke with seriousness and a dash of fear.

“So, what does the Arcane Order have to do with any of this? And why are you telling me…is this true?”, Jim spoke as he lowered his sword.

“Aye young one, I’m afraid so. The Arcane Order’s spiritual power over this world, Midgard is like a conductor. So, this force of chaos is finding its way to Midgard by using this said conductor.”, Ivar said as he looked down casted. “James Lake Jr., Trollhunter, son of Barbra Lake and successor of Kanjigar the Courageous. You and your friends will not be able to stop this unless you find those who were born from fire and ice.”, Ivar bellowed as he glanced back over to his right.

“What is he looking at?”, Jim pondered as he tried to look over that way, but the brick wall was cutting off his sight.

“I am aware you are missing an important member of your party. I’ve heard she fought courageously against the Order and defeated her with a fire still burning in her.”, the giant ice beast said with grief and compassion towards Jim.

Jim looked towards the ground with downcast, his fist clenched with anger and regret. “Please don’t go off the subject at hand. What exactly do we need to do to defeat this…mysterious force.”, he said between his clenched fangs.

“Forgive me, I know how painful it can be losing someone you love. But with what is at hand is that you need to find both of those power sources, there are only two of them. You will have to find them yourself and train them to be ready. They are the first creations of Ymir the Creator of Worlds; you must find them and rescue them from their own darkness and destruction. Reignite their flame before it grows any colder!”, he shouted as he got up with force and passion.

“Why can’t you do it? I already have so much on my plate, to begin with! College, trying to find what little normalcy I can get!” Jim shouted.

“Because young one…I’m a mere ghost of the past. The Jötnar were destroyed by the Æsir a long time ago.”, he said with desolation. The blue troll jumped back with shock and confusion. “What do you mean…”, he said as he almost dropped his sword from shock.

“I cannot tell you more for the time of daybreak is near, but you must find her. Her name is where ash meets snow. His name means when flame meets water, you must tell this to your mentor. He will understand, but you must be…” as soon as the light hit his body he turned into fresh snow, glistening in the light. “Shit! What the hell is going on!”, Jim ran to the forest to get away from the light.

Not realizing he was being watched he reached to the nearest dark corner of the forest and shouted, “Toby! Are you alright!? Are you able to get out?!”. Toby popped out from the back door of the building, “I’m fine, just a little shaken up from what just happened.” Walking over to Jim as he was putting his Warhammer back into his bag. “What was that all about?”, he asked as he pulled out a black umbrella to handed it to Jim. “I’m not completely sure, but I know that our world-ending days aren’t over.”, he said as he relaxed enough to retract the armor. Toby let out the loudest groan he could muster, “WHEN WILL IT ENNNNDDDD!!!”

Exposing his long sleeve dark blue hoodie, reaching over to grab the umbrella. “Jim! Look! It’s that creepy girl!”, Toby shouted as he pointed at the black-cloaked girl running in the direction of the college. “Do you think she saw everything?”, Toby exclaimed. Jim sighed, “Well the existence of magical beings isn’t weird in this town, but something about her seems off. I think she might be new around here; it would be best if we explained things to her. And ask her a few questions.”

“So, she was there...why didn’t Ivar say anything?”, thought Jim as he opened the umbrella.

Toby and Jim started to run towards the college. Toby took another deep breath, “This is going to be a loooonnnggggg year.” Jim rolled his eyes and sighed.

A large black bird flew across the fire-lit sky-…. bringing forth dark clouds from the north.

Ashka quietly opened the door to a classroom hoping nobody was in there yet, “Man, I hope this is the right class, what was it again…room 2035…history.” She looked at her schedule on a crinkly piece of paper, then glancing at the empty lecture hall.

The rows of endless empty seats, the freedom to choose wherever to sit was overwhelming her. “Ugh, I don’t know where to sit! I would like to sit far up top so I wouldn’t be seen but I wouldn’t be able to see anything from that far up. Especially if this professor has shitty handwriting or worse those projectors.”, she said with distaste. Not realizing that there was a hand reaching towards her shoulder.

“Hey! How about you sit with us! Jimbo here and help you write anything down if you miss something, he has great eyesight and hearing!”, said Toby as he grabbed her shoulder. Startling her so badly that she yelled and whipped around with such speed that it caused her to get dizzy as she tried to swipe away his hand causing her to stumble. “Ah! Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!”, Toby reacted with regret as she hit the floor on her butt with a thud. Groaning with pain she said, “It’s fine…” when it wasn’t as she already was sore from her migraine and being forced to sit down by Ivar. “JESUS OF FUCKING NAZARETH MY HEART!”, she screamed in her thoughts. “Sorry about that, but Tobes is right. You can sit with us if you would like to, you don’t seem to be from around here.”, a tall figure said right behind Toby. The dark looming shadow gesturing his hand over to help her up. The classroom light lit up the shadowy hand to reveal blue skin with only 4 fingers, “My name is Jim by the way, as you can see, I’m not entirely human more so troll than anything. It’s pretty normal around here…but I guess for you it isn’t.”

She was slightly shocked but remembering the Ivar incident she went ahead and grabbed the stone hand anyway. As she was helped up, she could see Jim up close. His eyes were blue with an ethereal glow to them, almost enchanting. His black locks pushed back out of his battled scarred face. The rest of his hair grew longer and longer as it got closer to the hem of his collar underneath his shirt. Two large dark grey horns rested on his head like a crown, his ears long and pointed. His skin was a dark blue-grey tone like storm clouds, to the touch it felt like stone…living stone soft but firm. His face showed a couple of glowing blue scars, especially a big one across the face. His smiling seemed genuine but was hard to tell with two tusks that protrude out from his lower jaw. Standing at least two maybe two and a half feet taller than her.

Seeing him this close made her turn slightly pink from his handsome ethereal features and quickly pulled her hand away, “So, you’re a troll? Not what I expected for something to live under a bridge to look like, to be honest.” Jim raised an eyebrow as Toby looked at Jim with the same feature, “I don’t live under a bridge, well I didn’t exactly….”.

Jim wasn’t sure how to answer that, but Toby looked at him and said, “Dude you kind of did for a short while considering Troll Market was under a bridge.” With a slight indigo hue dusting his face Jim exclaimed, “Toby, you aren’t helping!”. Ashka snorted slightly at this but gestured her hand over to Jim, “My name is Ashka, I normally don’t like people, but I think I can handle you two. Y’all don’t seem to be the normal type of people I’d rather avoid.” Jim slightly shocked that she didn’t seem to be afraid of him considering she wasn’t used to anything like him.

He grabbed her hand and shook it happily, “Nice to meet you Ashka, I guess we can sit up top if that’s more comfortable for you.” Ashka sighed with relief, “Yes, that would be nice. I honestly hate being upfront and especially in the middle it makes me feel trapped!”

“Oh! You already kind of met me but my name is Toby or Tobes for short. I’m a human but I have a ton of magical potential. As you can see!”, the stocky boy with orangish-red hair suddenly whipped out what looked like a tack hammer with a lizard face but then suddenly increased at least 50 times its size and lit aflame with orange light. Then he started to float up with the hammer, “See!” Jim grabbed his leg before he could reach the ceiling. Ashka chuckled and looked amazed seeing the magic being displayed before her. “It’s a cursed hammer.”, Jim mumbled to her.

As they found their seats up top Ashka sat on the outside after Toby and Jim sat down beside her, with Toby sitting on Jim’s right and Ashka sitting on his left. “So, I have a million questions to ask you, but I think I can wait till after classes. My mind still buzzing around this morning.”, Ashka said rubbing her temples.

“I understand, we can meet up at your place or maybe somewhere else you prefer?”, Jim asked as he grabbed some paper and a pen from Toby. “You need to remember to grab your bag next time, your lucky this is the first day. I don’t have a lot of pens to spare due to Chompsky discovering his artistic side.”, Toby said as he handed more paper to Jim.

“Sorry, I was distracted this morning from someone waking me up an hour early before our patrol just to get an ‘early start’.”, Jim said with an eyebrow twitching with slight irritation. Toby chuckled slightly with an apologetic smile. “I would prefer anywhere but my apartment, it’s still not fully unpacked and it’s very…um…confining for someone your height.”, she said with pink dusting her face looking down at her spiral.

“That’s fine, I live at the male dormitories with Toby. It’s across from the Hollow Oaks apartments and to the right of the library.”, Jim said as he leaned back with his chair resting his head against the back wall slightly banging his horns.

“Oh, I live at those apartments.”, Ashka smirked as she looked down below watching the students trickle in. Jim quickly fixed his chair back and Toby turned to look at Ashka with shock, “You live at those apartments?! Those are the worst ones in the area, I heard that the tenor cut off the heat to save money!”. Ashka chuckled with slight worry, “Yea, but it’s okay. I can’t afford to live at the dormitories or a better apartment complex. I can survive though, just need more blankets.” Jim looked at her with worry, “I don’t think that’s healthy. If you need anything we can help, my mom sent me extra bedding. But with my body, I don’t particularly need them, so you can have them.” Shocked from the kind gesture, “Uh, thanks.”

“My nana also sends me a bunch of stuff too. I can give you some of the stuff or better, yet I can ask her if she could send anything you would like or want.”, Toby gestured to the container of chocolate chip cookies. “Um, thank you. Not completely use to getting help, so I’ll try to consider the gestures.”, Ashka exclaimed.

“Alright, class! I’ll give you a few minutes to settle down and talk amongst your classmates, but after that, we’re going to jump right into our syllabus for the semester!”, the professor exclaimed as he pulled out his papers from his briefcase. He was an average-looking man in his late 40s, with black hair fading slightly grey. His beard is medium length and well-trimmed, but his face holding a scar across his face from the corner of his left temple to the bottom right corner of his chin. Jim was looking at him with intent, his eyebrows furrow in curiosity, “Our professor has a wicked-looking scar on his face, I wonder what caused that.”

“Hm, kind of like you but more grotesque? I do want to know how you got that scar on your face if it’s okay with you?”, Ashka gently gestured to Jim. “Yeah…heh, probably not. It’s a long story and it’s pretty dark.”, Jim shrugged with a smile. “It’s fine, I can deal with the dark stuff. Also, I love stories, but if it makes you uncomfortable then I won’t pester.”, Ashka said as she started to doodle on her spiral. Jim leaned over to watch her sketch, moving her pen slowly then frantically.

His eyes followed her movements as she was creating a tree lacking in leaves, the branches outstretch themselves like in search of light. The bark was dry and withered with a single head protruding out from the center. It had two small horns, a long beard with only one eye. “Who’s that?”, Jim asked as he hovered over her shoulder. “Ah! Um, I don’t know just something I dreamt up a couple of days ago. I’m not used to people being interested in my drawings.”, Ashka said as she showed him the sketch. “It just looks really good, the poor guy looks distraught almost.”, as he watched her go back to sketching.

“So, what kind of music do you like listening to? Classical? Pop...Metal?”, Toby asked as he was leaning over to talk to her with his eyebrow raised. Her eyes shone with excitement, “OH! I love metal! I do enjoy bouncing around in different genres like Scandinavian folk music, anti-pop, and anything that grasps my heart. But my go-to would be BMTH, Overdose, Signs of the Swarm, and Thy Art is Murder. To add I have been dabbling in fantasy-style music that helps me write or draw.” They looked at her with a shock of the excitement that seemed to be infectious as they both started smiling. She realized how she was acting and quickly put her hood up as her face flushed with embarrassment.

“Sorry…I don’t get to talk to people about things enough…so when I do it I just kind of explode like a volcano.”, almost tearing up a bit from the sheer embarrassment she was feeling. Jim put his hand on her shoulder, “Hey, it’s okay if you get excited over something you enjoy. Give Toby as an example, when he is talking about Geology, he never shuts up about it. Like it’s a part of his biological build-up.” Jim chuckled as Toby pulled out a very shiny crystal the size of a fig, with tones of pink and purple almost looking like candy. “Let’s not forget Jim’s obsession…. Vespas.”, Toby remarked as he stared into his crystal.

“Hey! It isn’t an obsession, but a healthy desire.”, he snorted at Toby as he grabbed the crystal and threw it in his mouth with a loud crunch. “You’re lucky I was going to give you that anyway and also that I have a ton more.”, Toby said as he rolled his eyes. Ashka looking at Jim with shock as he bit through the hard rock as if it were candy, “You can eat stuff like that?!”

Jim responded after swallowing his snack, “Yea, I can eat many things that humans can’t. But it goes the same way the other way around, can’t enjoy normal food.”

“Dang, that sucks but at least you can practically bite through anything.”, she said as she got her pen ready to write. Jim replied as he wiped his mouth, “Hmm, I haven’t thought of it that way.”

Ashka noticed a feline, long-haired and the color of cinnamon waltzed in and jumped on the professor’s desk. He gently patted the feline as it sat on the corner like an owl, it was staring straight at them. “Dude…why is there a-wait, hey…Jim what’s wrong?”, Ashka asked as she was seeing Jim’s leg bounce aggressively. Sudden fear started to fill up her senses, the headache was back with a vengeance and a high pitch ringing sound raped her ears. She covered her ears and winced in her seat to try to not make it look too suspicious, unlike Jim who was starting to glow red with an animalistic look in his eye. “Jim, you don’t eat cats. You never had that craving, what’s happening?”, Toby asked Jim with worry.

His claws started to dig into the desk, “I-I don’t know, but I’m not craving it. It smells so...sinister…Toby…Ashka do you have anything to plug up my nose? Please hurry.” They were digging around frantically, then Ashka through her pain remembered she had a box of earplugs just in case if she wanted to mute out anything. “Hurry! I don’t think I can stop myself!”, Jim growled as the cat was staring straight at him mockingly and the professor was too busy writing on the board to notice.

He was about to lunge forward until Ashka shoved the foam plugs up his nostrils, he was startled by the sudden feeling of her touching his face but eased back down to his seat. “Fast work Ashka, but I think you don’t want those back.”, Toby said as he sat back down. “I have a whole box in my bag, here you can have them. I believe preventing murder is more important than easing a headache, it would claws for concern.”, Ashka said as she handed Jim the box with a small smile.

Jim was shocked by the pun but even more shocked as he can see that her ears were bleeding. “Hey, your ears are bleeding!”, Jim said with shock. “Oh, no wonder I was hearing a high pitch ringing sound.”, she chuckled slightly as she went to grab some tissue from her bag. Jim and Toby were both in shock at how nonchalant she was with the blood. “Dude are you okay? You need to go to the first aid center.”, Toby asked. “Ah, I wouldn’t worry about it. I’ve seen crazier things than my ears bleeding, and I can hear fine right now.”, she said as she tried to clean herself up but missing some spots.

“Here let me help, since you won’t go to the nurse I’ll go ahead and help you. My mom is a doctor, so I know a thing or two in the medical field.”, Jim said as he grabbed some tissue from her and gently wiped away the blood from her ear and neck. Ashka sat there frozen like a statue, shocked but also screaming on the inside that he was touching her. “I…um...th-thank you.”, she squeezed out from her mouth. Jim noticed how thin she was, perhaps the lack of proper nutrition and kindness as he noticed some heavy scarring peeking out from underneath her collar. “Well, since you want to know about my scars perhaps maybe I could learn about yours?”, he asked with curiosity as he finished wiping her neck.

She quickly grabbed the back of her lower neck to cover it up a bit, “Um, I guess...it seems fair but I’m not sure you would want to hear it.” “I’m not even sure if I want to hear it out loud.”, she thought. “You can think about it, if you don’t want to right now that’s okay.”, Jim said as he rested his hand on her small thin shoulder.

“Alright everyone, settle down! Welcome to World History and Folklore, this semester we will be discussing the links of history and folklore between the North Germanic ethnic groups. The Danes, Icelanders, Norwegians, Swedes, and Faroese. My name is Professor Smitaðu, but you can call me Professor Smit if it’s easier.”, Professor Smitaðu said as he pointed at the board with his wooden ruler. “So, basically Vikings, right?”, one of the students in the middle row asked.

The professor closed his eyes and let out a sigh of annoyance, “No, Vikings is just a derogatory term used to describe the American romanticization of the pillaging and plundering northern Europeans from 793 AD – 1066. We will be discussing things beyond that veil, the history and mystery of Íslendingar, the Faroese, Swēon, and much more.”, he shouted as he scratched the chin of the cat. “But before we begin, I would like to introduce everyone to two very special students this semester.”, the professor looked up at both Jim and Ashka shrinking into their seats.

“The Trollhunter, hero of Arcadia and the first troll in Arcadia University! James Lake Jr.!”, he shouted ecstatically. Jim wanting to die in his seat, waving at every turning head. “James, tell us one thing about yourself! I insist, considering I for one never met a troll before let alone a mixed breed.”, Professor said with his eyebrow raised leaning on the desk. “Uh, I’m a half-troll and I like Vespas.” Some people giggled in the background, “Ah, Vespas the icon of Italian culture and of "made in Italy" itself. They have been featured endlessly on the big screen in movies like Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" or "Roman Holiday". Such an odd thing for a magical being derived from Icelandic folklore to be fascinated by you think?”, Professor Smitaðu exclaimed as he waved his hand around mockingly. Jim’s eyebrow twitched with irritation but before he could say something Ashka rose from her seat, “It’s not that weird. And he’s a half-troll so yea, it’s not that weird my dude.”

Professor Smitaðu came around from his desk with his pointer and looked up with a face of irritation, “Ah, our other new student. Ashka, our out-of-state student hailing from….it looks like you didn’t put down an address or anything? Oddly, you didn’t even put down a last name in your application. Were you derived from nothing? Perhaps you just aged out of foster care with that nasty attitude I’m not-.”, he was cut off by a deep low growl from Jim. Looking at them with a sly smirk as he noticed Jim about to get up as he saw tears slightly running down Ashka’s cheek. “Not as odd as me eating this entire taco in one bite!”, Toby shouted as he tried to stuff the taco in his mouth. Breaking the tension in the air, Professor Smitaðu straighten up and walked back down to his blackboard.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know?”, Ashka said as her fist relaxed. “Well…I don’t think…clobbering a Professor… in the face…would be…wise. Neither…eating… he would be too.”, Toby said as he tried to finish up the taco without choking. Jim readjusted himself and looked at Ashka with worry, “Hey, none of what he said is true. And it’s none of his business to know where you are from. Honestly, I will have a talk with Mayor Nunez about this new professor.” Ashka didn’t say anything but laid her head down to try to vanish into nothing.

Professor Smitaðu started writing on the chalkboard, “Alright, grade category weights are presented here on the board. Homework is 20%, projects 10%, tests 40% and the final exam is 30%. I expect no less from all of you, if you start to slack, I will not hesitate to kick you out of my class.” Everyone shifted around with shock and protest. “Isn’t that a bit much Professor Smit? We have our own lives to deal with, what if something happens and causes us to slack but it’s out of our control?”, a student asked from the front row. The professor walked over to her with his pointer in hand, smacking on her desk causing her to jump in fright.

“This is my class; I expect the utmost competence from all of you. You are adults, am I right? This is the real world, where people here will not guide you but pummel you to the ground without a second thought. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, you must survive to meet your goals. Suck it up and keep going or stay in the dirt where you belong, festering like worms.”, Professor Smitaðu said as he looked up pointing at everyone. “Holy fuck, I think this class is going to be worse than Senor Uhl’s.”, Toby whispered with fear. “Yep, even worse than having Strickler as a Principle.”, Jim murmured in response with eyes of disbelief. Ashka’s right foot was aggressively bouncing in heavy anxiety, “Shit.”

Professor Smitaðu continued the rest of the lecture for 20 minutes until the end of the class, slapping his pointer on his desk when he notices some of the people dozing off. Ashka started to nod off, but Jim notices it before Professor Smitaðu notices. He gently nudges her shoulder to wake her, causing her to slightly jump awake. “Thanks, I didn’t get enough sleep last night.”, she murmured to Jim. “No problem, I’m glad I caught you in time before Professor Shit saw you.”, he said as he also nudges Toby awake with drool hanging from his face. “Professor Shit? Love it.”, Ashka giggled quietly. Jim smirked, “It fits his personality well.” Toby nodded in agreement as he wiped his face.

“Alright class, you have 15 minutes till I let you all continue your day. In this time, I would like to go ahead and assign everyone in groups of three for a project.”, Professor Smitaðu stated as he gathered a pile of papers and handed them out to the front row. Everyone groaned as the front row passed the papers behind them. “Hush, it’s not that difficult of a project, to begin with. You all will be assigned to work with people in your row in groups of three, research about any mythical…well magical creature in one of the following countries on the paper. Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, etc. I expect creativity, originality, and accuracy since most of these creatures do in fact exist. Also, if you chose trolls, I expect all of you to not crowd James hence he will have to be working on the same project. It is due in 3 weeks! No procrastinating!”, he declared as he petted the cat now laying across his desk lazily.

“Well, at least he considered that, and looks like it’ll just be us three! Awesome sauce!”, Toby gleefully stated as he put his notebook and project paperback in his bag. “Heh, yeah. I would rather not have the entire class studying me, already had to deal with Colonel Kubritz. And I would rather not have something similar repeated.”, Jim said as he read the project paper. Toby’s eyes rolled, “Ugh, please don’t remind me.” Ashka looked at the paper, “Hmm, I have a few ideas brewing. But who is Colonel Klutz?” “Colonel Kubritz, but I like Klutz more. She was the corrupted commanding officer of the top-secret alien-hunting facility, Area 49-B. She was a ruthless xenophobic bitch that wanted to dissect Jim and our other friends.”, Jim said with a hint of irritation of the memories.

“Yea, she’s also my soon-to-be aunt-in-law. But she’s dead so I guess she’s not anymore?”, Toby stated as he was getting up. “Waa…”, was Ashka’s only words till Jim piped up. “Yea, like we said earlier today we can discuss much more after classes. Trust me you’ll learn everything and the same with us, yea?”, Jim put his hand gently on her shoulder with confirming eyes. She looked up at him with a slight blush, “Um, y-yea.” They all got up and headed out the classroom door and Toby turned around at Ashka with Jim on his opposite side, “Don’t worry you don’t have to answer all of our questions.” Ashka waved as she walked the opposite side, “Okay, see y’all at lunch?” “Yeah! Meet at the college park?”, shouted Jim. “Alright!”

After that let-off they went to their next classes, Jim had Chemistry, Toby had to go to Geology while Ashka had Psychology. Soon after they all showed up for Physical Education, surprised and happy to see each other again. They went to their designated locker rooms, Ashka reluctantly walks into the girls. Hearing their gossip about the next sorority party and who is going to be there. She walked to the farthest locker away from them to get undressed, “I don’t want to wear these, I’ll be exposed, and everyone will see them.” She went to the bathroom to change instead not noticing the tallest girl watching her intently.

Coming back out with her large hoodie on covering her entire upper and most of her thighs, “This should be okay, I hope.” Walking back to her locker to put the rest of her clothes away the girl that was watching her walk up to her, her hair long and extremely curly. The color of auburn and her skin covered in freckles, her eyes green like a snake. “Hey, new girl. You have to wear the appropriate attire for gym, it goes against codes.”, she hollered at Ashka. Ashka’s hair on her neck stood on end at the tone of her voice, “I don’t think it does and this isn’t high school, so don’t think you can tell me what to do.”

The girl scoffed, “I can do exactly that little girl, I’m Hailee Greta O’Connor the Chapter Advisor of Alpha Phi. And I believe that trash bag of a jacket doesn’t suit school codes.”, she hissed and grabbed Ashka pulling off her jacket. “Hey! What the fuck, let go you bitch!”, she yelled out and in the fritz of it all hit the girl in the face. “Oh, now you have done it you-.”, the girl stopped and looked at Ashka’s exposed skin. “Oh my god, you’re a fucking cutter! Ahaha! This is hilarious! Geeze did you slash your back too?”, she yelled out in laughter. Ashka tried to grab her jacket, but the girl threw it to the other girl behind her, “You aren’t getting that back freak. Hey, Heather and Sophie grab her and hold her down. We got a few minutes to spare before gym starts, let’s have some fun.”

The other two girls behind her went at Ashka, she tried to dodge but they cornered her. She started to kick and throw punches, but they were overpowering her in numbers as the others went after her to hold her down, at least four girls held her down. Ashka started to have a panic attack and was about to scream but the leader shoved a pair of dirty socks in her mouth, “That’ll silence you up, you see we have a hierarchy here in this school. You, my freaky friend are at the bottom, below the worms that tremble at my feet. I’m aware of your troll friend, James Lake Jr. I would like for him to be at my party this Friday, so it’ll be a problem if he ever finds out what I did to you. If he finds out then I’ll repeat what’s about to happen seven-fold.”, she hissed out as she put on some rings on her right hand.

“Clench or you’ll lose some teeth.”, she said as she connected her fist on Ashka’s left cheekbone fracturing it slightly. Then kicked her in the stomach, after that the girls let her go as blood trickled down her face, holding her face in pain as she pulled the socks out of her mouth gagging and spitting blood. “I highly doubt that he will even give it a thought, especially since he has more important things to do.”, Ashka spat out some blood on Hailee’s white shoes as she leaned against the lockers. “Bitch, I could easily make you vanish with the connections I have.”, Hailee hissed out. “Heh, sucks for you but I already want that!”, Ashka could muster out before Heather kicked her again in the stomach. As Hailee walked away with Ashka’s jacket in tow, “I’m pretty sure that I could shut you up permanently by taking your silver tongue. Next time we meet, I won’t be so merciful. So, remember your place…trash.”

“I don’t understand why we need Physical Ed when it’s not even related to any of our careers. Also, we already had this in Highschool!”, Toby groaned out as he sat down on the benches. Jim shrugged, “I don’t know. I’m just glad all the time we trained and battled, pretty sure whatever the coach throws at us it’ll be a bre-.” Jim stopped talking as he saw Ashka walked into the gym, noticing that her arms and legs were exposed from the petite gym wear, then his nostrils picked up the scent of blood, her blood. Jim got up and started walking towards her in a brisk movement, worry painted his face. Her pale skin showing more than what her holey pants exposed, her skin littered with scars, and her face showing a fresh cut and a bruise. Ashka tried to cover her arms as she slowly walked over and sat down far away from them, not noticing Jim walking over to her.

Putting her head down to her knees thinking to herself, “I don’t want to be here anymore. I need to leave. Run. RUN.” “Hey, what happened?”, Jim whispered to her with a stern voice making her stiffen up like a rock next to him. She didn’t answer. He gently touched her shoulder, but she just tightened her position like a ball python protecting herself. “Ashka, whatever happened you can tell me if you want to. You can trust us.” She let out a soft whimper as warm tears trickled down her face, instinctively leaned against Jim as he put his arm around her. Toby trotted over, “What happened?” Ashka felt like she just wanted to disappear underneath Jim’s arms. “I don’t know, she won’t say anything.”, he said as he kept his arm around her.

A group of girls walked into the gym giggling away; Jim’s nose flared as he picked up a familiar scent coming from them. His eyes widened as he gathered the information from his nose, he smelled Ashka’s blood coming from the tall one. A low growl emitted from his throat, “What did they do to you Ashka?” Ashka looked up from underneath her arms, the blood still slightly trickling from the semi-deep cut on her cheek. The bruise setting in around the area and her eye. “Nothing. Um, I need to leave. We can catch up later.”, she whimpered as her eyes were red from crying. “Nothing? You’re pretty bad at lying my friend.”, Toby said. “Friend?”, Ashka thought as she quickly got up, but nearly fell back over from the stomach pain. “Hey, take it easy. Do you want me to take you home?”, Jim asked with concern as he went to grab her from falling.

Her voice cracking from the pain, “No, it’s okay. I don’t...ugh…live far. I just need some rest; we can still hang out later after you guys get out from class.” “Okay, if you aren’t at the front of the dormitories by 6 pm I’ll come looking for you.”, Jim said with a smile resting his hand lightly on her shoulder. “Ok.”, she whimpered out. She walked away towards the door, then Toby whispered to Jim, “You gonna follow her?”. “Yep, it’s definitely not nothing. And seeing how she was holding herself; I’d say a few broken ribs. Those girls did something to her, and they don’t smell normal.