Jim shook the staff in his hands a few times, frowning at it. He snorted through his nose again a few times, looking to Claire for help. Beside him, she merely shrugged, unsure what to really do with the magical object either. The Trollhunter huffed again and turned his head to the amused wizard standing off to the side. Merlin chuckled a few times at their feeble attempts to get it working.

"Very funny, Merlin," Jim growled, holding the staff back out to him. "You know I don't know how to work the spell."

Claire nodded and crossed her arms. "And I don't know it yet because you haven't taught it to me yet. If you did, it would make this process much faster and easier," she added with a tease in her voice.

The magician shook his head at the two of them and took his staff back. "As I have already told you, fair maiden, you require a staff before I can teach you most spells. Makes the process easier on both of us." He slid his fingers across the cold metal, gazing at it for a moment.

"Alright, alright," she sighed with a pout.

Jim raised an eyebrow at her before turning his head back to Merlin. "Look, we'll find you a staff in a bit, I promise. What does that have to do with you activating the spell?" he asked the man in frustration.

Merlin chuckled again, raising his staff and pointing it in front of the sitting Trollhunter. "I suppose nothing." He spoke a few more words, none either of them knew, and soon a swirling green sphere began to flicker in front of them.

The two teens brightened and scooched a little closer, smiling with anticipation. The spell turned a little lighter green, a lime color, before it sparked a few times. Both of them blinked a few times, but immediately brightened when they saw the image beginning to clear. Merlin watched the spell for a few moments before turning to leave them to their chat.

"Tobes!!" cried the Trollhunter as he saw his best friend turn his head to the vortex in surprise.

"Jim!" the boy called back happily, turning all the way around from where he was standing in the outdoors. "Wingman, look, look, it's them!" he called, waving the huge troll over. Soon, AAARRRGH had joined his friend's side, beaming cheerfully when he saw Jim and Claire.

"Hi, Troll Jim!" he said with a deep chuckle, his face bright and happy. "Hello, Claire!"

The girl giggled and waved her hand a few times, leaning on her boyfriend to get a better look. "Hey, AAARRRGH. Hey, TP! It's good to see you guys."

"Sorry Blinky isn't here," Jim apologized, though he was still smiling. "He's busy gathering up the other trolls before we head out for the day again." He gestured with his head to the forest behind him.

AAARRRGH looked a little saddened, but nodded his head. Toby did, too, though his expression turned slightly thoughtful. "Man, it's kinda hard to believe it's only been a week since you left."

"I know, it feels like it's been a lot longer," Jim said with a laugh. "These guys make it seem like they've been walking for months!"

The group of friends laughed a few times. "Well, it's good to hear that you're doing well over there," Toby said.

Jim cocked him a sideways grin. "What are you talking about, Tobes? We call every day!"

"Not that we don't miss you terribly," Claire added with a chuckle.

Toby beamed, shrugging his shoulders. "I know, but we don't really see each other, so I just like knowing you're okay." AAARRRGH grunted and nodded his friend beside his friend.

The two teens exchanged a look, both smiling when they turned back to the vortex screen. "Well, thanks, TP. Hey, is Darcy with you?" Claire asked brightly.

Toby's face fell a little, shaking his head apologetically. "Naw, not this time. Sorry, she said she had to talk with her dad about a few things. You know how worried a cop dad can get over his daughter's adventurous boyfriend."

"Aw, don't be like that," Jim teased. "I'm sure you and Darcy get along great!"

"And her dad should come around," Claire added. "I mean, you kind of saved her for crying out loud!"

To this, their friend brightened, looking confident with himself as he placed his hands on his hips. "Yeah, I did, didn't I?" he said triumphantly. "Well, she is the love of my life."

The trollhunter laughed. "Glad to see we both found the right girls," he said, looking to Claire, who beamed and reddened slightly.

"Yeah," Toby agreed, before his face turned a bit more serious. "Hey, are you guys missing a troll in your count by any chance?" he asked.

Jim and Claire blinked in surprise, both sharing another look before shaking their heads. "Not that we know of, but I can ask Blinky," Jim said. "Why?"

"Found troll here," AAARRGH said slowly.

"What?" Claire shouted. "You found another troll there?"

Toby held up his hands and shook them a bit, gesturing for them to slow down. "Well, not exactly. Me and AAARRRGH have yet to find it, but it might not be here anymore."

Jim raised an eyebrow and frown. "Tobes, what is this about?"

The teen chuckled nervously. "Well, we heard from Steve and Eli, actually. Or better known as the 'Creepslayerz'," he added with finger quotes. "They said they were 'scanning some wreckage' when this big troll appeared out of nowhere!"

Jim and Claire looked at each other again in surprise, before looking back to their friend. "Did they say what it looked like? Or if it told them its name?"

Toby shook his head. "No, no name. They said it was big, blue, and spiky."

The Trollhunter snorted while his girlfriend rolled her eyes. "That brings it down to maybe one eighth of troll kind," Jim groaned dramatically.

"I know, it doesn't really help much," Toby said with a small laugh. "Me and AAARRRGH here where about to go check it out ourselves, see if he will recognize the smell or something."

Jim nodded, looking up to the sun, rising even higher in the sky. "Well, thanks for the update, Tobes. We should probably get a move on now." His eyes narrowed at the clouds that were approaching from a distance.

Their friends nodded sadly. "Alright. Well, talk to you later," Toby said with a sigh.

"Bye bye," AAARRRGH said sadly as the vortex swirled to a close.

The Trollhunter looked to the teen girl beside him with a small smile. "We should be fine with traveling above the tunnels today. Looks like it'll be cloudy."

Claire smirked. "And I sure wouldn't mind if some of them took a shower today."

~

The large crew of trolls marched through the forest, stepping past trees and underbrush. A few of them delighted themselves in eating a few squirrels as they went on, claiming they tasted almost like small cats. Jim himself just ate some troll food that Blinky had brought along, thanking his mentor and walking while eating. They hadn't had very many breaks today, and the sun was beginning to get lower in the sky. It had been a long day, and several complaints had come his way. Blinky did his best to manage them, but he was still a little nervous himself.

Claire leaned in next to his shoulder. "I think we should stop here for today. I know its not as late as we normally stop, but I've had enough of their constant complaining." She frowned as another cried out about stubbing his foot on a boulder.

Jim sighed and nodded without a word. The girl smiled a little, pecking his cheek before rushing off to spread the word that they were stopping. The Trollhunter grunted as he sat on a rock, his wounds from the battle a week ago throbbing slightly. He was growing frustrated with his recovery. With another huff, he rubbed his abdomen tenderly and watched as the trolls each settled down.

Blinky hurried over to him and sat down beside the teen, smiling brightly. "Well, Master Jim, I've just been informed by your lovely Claire that we should arrive at the boat by tomorrow evening!"

Jim chuckled a little. "Well, that's good," he rumbled. "Wait, did you say my Claire?" he burst out, his cheeks turning red again.

Blinky blinked at him with his six eyes. "But of course! She is yours, is she not, Master Jim?" He crossed one set of arms with a bit of a teasing smirk.

Jim opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when he heard a strange roar in the distance. Both trolls jumped and stared off behind them, wondering what in the world it had been. The two of them were in the back of the pack at the moment, so there wasn't supposed to be another troll behind them. Jim sniffed and stood up, a scent that he didn't recognize wafting into his nose from the distance. He growled slightly when he heard more commotion, Blinky standing beside him.

"W-Who might that be?" he stuttered, glancing back and forth.

The Trollhunter growled and brought out his sword. "I don't know, but I intend to find out."

"Wait, Jim!" Claire cried, running over to the both of them. "I think we should advance first. I mean, what if it's just one who got left behind? We don't want to seem threatening."

Blinky nodded his head as Jim lowered Daylight. "Agreed. And you are still recovering, Master Jim. No need for you to exert yourself just yet."

Jim huffed through his nose, but complied. "Alright, but I'm right behind you guys if there's any trouble," he said, wincing as he heard another roar and then thundering footsteps heading their way.

The two of them nodded, Blinky looking nervous as they hurried away, towards the source of the noise. The daylight was beginning to fade, the night approaching with quiet noises. This made it easier to tell when they were getting closer. The three of them slowed to a near halt as they heard that the thing coming was almost upon them. Jim stood in the back, taking a defensive stance while Blinky and Claire took a few more wary steps ahead of him. The thundering grew louder and louder and they knew it was pretty much right on top of them now.

Claire screamed in shock as a large troll suddenly burst out from the trees and underbrush, Blinky shouting in distress and stumbling back, waving his arms about. Jim was also startled, taking a step back and blinking as the troll rolled to a stop, doing its best to get back on its feet. It looked as though it had been running terribly, as fast as it possibly could.

"What in grumbly gruesome?!" Blinky shouted as he landed into a sitting attention.

The troll panted heavily, raising its large horned head. His half lidded orange eyes drew to Claire and he perked up slightly. "Claire..," he sighed, before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to his side with a groan.

All three of them stared in disbelief, their eyes wide with shock. Jim stood straight but waited, unsure of what to do until he got a better look at the troll. Suddenly Claire and Blinky both gasped, the girl's hands flying to her mouth before she ran over to the troll's side.

"By Daya's grace..," Blinky breathed as he got to his feet again.

Jim watched, in near a panic as he begun to recognize the troll. He gasped heavily and swallowed, looking to his girlfriend to conformation as she looked over the injured blue troll. Her eyes were wide as she swung her head to look up at Jim.

"It... it's really him," she whispered as Blinky approached her side, staring at the troll in near shock and disbelief. "Jim... it's Draal!"

~

Sorry this chapter wasn't nearly as long as the other ones... well, I hope you enjoyed anyway. Here is Draal, back in action!!

Aaaaaaaaaaaand unconscious at the time being...