(( Due to this chapter being much longer than I intended it to, Chapter 6 has two parts now. I also returned btw -v -;; ))

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You sat in your backyard, moonlight falling down onto the dry grass.
Before you stood a tall green troll with blades around his neck like a large collar, his slim back facing to you.
And before that green one loomed Bular, glaring down at the smaller troll with a conflicted but very much pissed off expression.
You had no idea what was happening.
It felt like they were about to start a western styled shootout with how tense the atmosphere was.

How this happened in the first place?
Well, allow me to take you back to the morning of this day.

---

Weeks had passed since your dinner with Barbara and Jim and it was the last day of winter break.
You had spend it with your friends during the days and with Kanjigar during the nights.
With your father only checking by a few days and mainly staying out of the house, you had all the time you needed to do whatever you wanted.
On this day however, you had taken a look at the exams that you had gotten back shortly before the break started and realized that one of them was... well, not something to be proud of.
Although you had passed nearly all subjects quite ok-ish, aside from Spanish and English, which you had aced like always, there had been one class where you just barely scraped by failing with a last bit of luck and probably the favour of the teacher too.

Damn History.

So, you had decided to ask for a bit of one-on-one tutoring. After all, you didn't want to repeat everything by yourself only to get it wrong again and fail the class for sure next time.

Thomas was busy today so you couldn't ask him and Jim and Toby weren't really good in history either.
Aside from these three, there was only one more person you could ask. Even though it was probably uncommon to ask a teacher during the holidays to tutor you.

It was quite surprising to you that Mr.Strickler actually answered to your e-mail within an hour and even agreed to help you out too. He mentioned something like it being 'a strange request but also a great way for him to take a break from his rather annoying relatives' or something of the sort.
Weird, you didn't know Strickler had any relatives in town.
Oh, well. If they were annoying, maybe he preferred to keep them secret.
Not like that was any of your business either.

And so it came that you were sitting by the kitchen table with the tall man, drinking tea and reviewing the last semester's topics together.

It was a lot more comfortable than you had imagined it to be. The black-greyish-haired man was quite relaxed and seemed glad to have some more casual interactions with one of his favourite students.

He made a few jokes here and there while you tried to explain something to him that you didn't understand and some of his comments had you chuckling quietly.
But the older man was also quite serious, giving you small tasks to do so you would remember what you had learned in his lessons while stopping you whenever you said something wrong -which was kinda very often- and then making you rephrase it until you got it right.

It seemed he was enjoying your enthusiasm.
After all, no one had seen you this willing to study for years now. On the last day of winter break no less!
You were quite the weird kid.
But not a bad weird. A subtle, cute kind of weird.

If anyone told you that to your face, you'd probably introduce your knuckles to their nose though.

So maybe 'cute' wasn't the right word after all.

Sitting up on your chair and stretching your tired arms into the air, you let a yawn slip. Even though Kanjigar had only agreed to teaching you if you went to bed early, you still stayed up till at least till 1am every night with him simply because you kept on asking about all kinds of things and wanting to know more.
Perhaps that's why you suddenly felt like brushing up your history knowledge.

Either way, the private lesson was quite useful.
There were still a bunch of topics left but you had went through most already and understood a lot more than before.
Just as you had finished the roman chapter, Strickler's phone vibrated and buzzed.

He frowned and sent you an apologetic look before taking the ringing device and getting up from the table to talk in a more private area of the house, near the backdoor.

You simply waited. It wasn't your business who called him and it's not like you couldn't need a little break.
Using this time to make some more tea, you could pick up some words from the conversation out the door.
Strickler sounded fairly impatient, nearly angry as he whisper-yelled into his phone.

"No, Nomura," you heard him say, "tell him I'll be there later. I'm preoccupied."

You hoped he wasn't making those mysterious relatives of his wait because of you.

"Of course. You don't need to tell me that," the tall man continued speaking while you waited for the tea to be ready, "another one?... Yes, yes, I know."

Another what? Another relative? Curiosity perked up as you contemplated the possibilities. Sounded like he was in a fight with someone. Maybe his girlfriend? Did he even have one?
You never saw a Miss Strickler around so maybe he never got married? Or had a divorce? Maybe he even had an affair?

Shaking your head, you stopped yourself. Now you were just assuming dumb stuff because you were tired and curious at the same time.

Taking the hot teapot and carrying it back to the table, you set it down after filling both cups.

"What do you mean he left?" Came the slightly louder voice of Strickler from the backdoor, sounding surprised and a bit worried, "... hunting? Ugh, he's going to do it again, isn't he?"

Ok, that didn't sound suspicious at all.

"Fine. I will try," came the man's response to the inaudible speaker on the phone before he hung up.

You were quietly sipping some of the hot tea, looking at the slim man with raised eyebrows. An expression of confusion and curiosity on your face.

Noticing that look when he came back into the room, Strickler put his phone away and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"I'm sorry, (Y/n)," he said and smiled a bit, "it seems that one of my ... relatives," using the word with a very strange voice, Strickler looked as if it disgusted him to say that, "is causing trouble."

After you set the teacup down, you shook your head to show you didn't mind. Wondering why he seemed so upset about that relative and what they could be doing to make him this angry, you shortly glanced down at your notes on the roman empire.

"Well," you said, "if you need to go, I would understand."

It wasn't really polite to keep him here when he needed or wanted to leave after all.
Even though you rather enjoyed his calm company.
He was fun in his own teacher-way while also having an air of maturity around him that just made you feel relaxed.

The man chuckled and smoothed out his jacket.
"No need. He always causes trouble," said the tall man while taking a seat by the table again.
It looked like he needed a little bit to calm down from that phone call since he took his filled teacup and nearly downed all of it in one go.

Geez. Maybe he was more upset about that than he let on.

"Anyway," he mumbled and then looked up to you, "let us keep going. We are nearly done."

You nodded, threw him one last proving look and then the lessons continued once more. Although he didn't make as many jokes and acted a bit less relaxed than before.

---

Two hours later, around eight pm, you were finally done.
All the topics and info of half a year brushed up within one day.
Your head was fuming and you really wanted to go to sleep now.

With your forehead resting on the cool wood of the table, you gave off a soft groan before lifting your head and sighing.
Strickler had calmed down over time as well and was all himself again.

The middle-aged man couldn't help but laugh a bit at your state. It was quite amusing to see you so satisfied but also exhausted at the same time, with your (h/c) hair messed up from the times you had brushed your hands through it while trying to understand something.

"And on the sixteenth December-"

"-of 1773 the Boston Tea Party happened. The American colonists protested against the British government by throwing tons of their precious tea into the haven.
It is said to be the beginning of the American Revolution."

Strickler stared at you wide-eyed when you interrupted his sentence and continued it flawlessly.
Looks like you really did learn something from him today.

He smiled and began gathering his materials that he had used to teach you.

"It appears to me that you've learned all there was to learn today," he told you with a slightly proud voice, which made you feel proud of yourself too, "you've worked hard so you should prepare for tomorrow and then rest, (Y/n)."

You could feel your lips curve into a light smile, a warm and fuzzy feeling spreading in your stomach.
Maybe it was the hot tea or maybe it was the praise.

Either way, it was nice.

You helped Strickler clean off the table, bringing away the teacups and removing the plates -which you had used for snacks during the study sessions-, to then follow him as he had grabbed his bag and moved to the front door.

Standing by the still closed door, you opened it for him and smiled a bit.

"Thanks a lot for helping me study again, Mr. Strickler," you said to him while he walked past you and out the door, into the fresher evening air.

He turned around, showing you an equally grateful smile with his white teeth.
"I should be the one thanking you, (Y/n). It is nice to know that my students trust me so much."

Laughing quietly at that, you leaned on the doorframe and raised an eyebrow at him.
"You are kind of the coolest teacher we have," you told him and then waved your hand, "not that the others are bad. They just don't seem to understand us teenagers like you do."

Now it was his turn to laugh at your words.
"I'm glad to hear that," he made a small pause and grew a bit more serious, "you seem to have opened up more, (Y/n). Keep doing that. It's good to see you smile again."

Oh. That's weirdly personal but also nice of him to say.

Before you could answer to that comment, the taller man had already hurriedly turned with a slightly panicked expression and walked down the driveway, not even turning back to wave at you before he stepped into his car.

You saw him sit at the wheel for a moment, making a weird expression of worry as if he had just said something that he shouldn't have, and then he started the engine and drove off.

Uhm, ok? That was strange.

Maybe he didn't want you to know that he favoured you above other students?
He kind of already gave that away when he agreed to tutor you privately though.
Oh, well.

Turning back around, you closed the door and went to clean up a bit more.

After that was done -it didn't take very long- you plopped down on the porch to your backyard, looking out into the darkened forest behind the low fence.

Even if it was just to tell Kanjigar that you wouldn't be taking lessons from him tonight, you were still waiting for him to appear.
He'd probably worry and throw branches at your window again like he did last time you weren't waiting for him right at this spot.

You had only been in your room on that day because you were getting a thicker hoodie when a whole god dang tree branch hit your window and made you scream because you thought someone was trying to break in.

On second thought, he probably wouldn't do it again, considering how surprised he had looked when you came jumping down the roof to kick his face for that.

Yes. Yes, that happened.

That was the day you learned that noses were one of the trolls' weak spots. Especially if they had rings in them to yank at.

It was also the day that Kanjigar learned that even the small and soft race of humans could hurt trolls with their weak but shockingly precise kicks.
He even contemplated on teaching you how to fight for a while before you followed rule number three on him.

You already knew how to defend yourself enough, he thought after that and since then had stuck to teaching you history and even some bits of his language.

Over the days, you had discovered that the trollish language actually wasn't all that hard to learn.
It was a lot like European languages, mixed with some ancient vocals.

Perhaps you'd try talking to Kanjigar in trollish for one night straight to see how much you already knew?

As you were so deep in your memories and thoughts, you didn't pick up the dull thuds that announced a larger troll's arrival.
Only when your unfocused vision caught a glimpse of a huge shadow moving underneath the shade of the trees, did you perk up and pay attention.

The moonlight wasn't very bright tonight so it was hard to make out anything but you still got up and went toward the fence, waving your hand in greeting.

"Good evening, Kanji," you said and let a yawn slip, "I probably won't be able to stay for tonight's lesson."

Moving closer, your eyes got adjusted to the darkness of the forest while you stood behind the low fence.

The smell of decayed flesh waved over to you and you immediately froze, hand still in the air.

Kanjigar didn't smell like that. He smelled of wet earth and stone. Not like death itself.

A deep and all too familiar growling sounded from the shadowy troll that was just a few steps away from you now and the red eyes of Bular came into view as his lips parted to sneer at you.

"Oh, fleshbag," he said, his voice as gruff and aggressive as it had been the last time you met him, "you certainly won't make it to any lessons anymore."

Shit.

Then the black troll leaped forward and you could feel his claws collide with your shoulders as he quite literally pinned you down onto the earth with one hand.

It didn't look like he needed a lot of strength to keep you down, even though you were struggling with all your might against the rough grip of his claws that were now threatening to tear into your flesh.

He shoved his roughed-up visage into your vision, something that looked like a pleased smirk pulling at his lips and showing you the rather unhygienic fangs in his mouth. The sight didn't do much to calm your poor heart.

"Finally got you, fleshbag," growled the gumm-gumm prince and bared his teeth more, clearly enjoying your struggle.

You weren't sure what he was going to do but you knew it would be hella painful.

Why did you have to be so careless?

Kanjigar warned you not to be rash and there you went, getting yourself trapped under a stinky big troll with a hunger for human blood.

Awesome sauce.

Dear god, now you were picking up Toby's catchphrases too.

The broad troll raised his free hand and traced one of his short but sharp claws down your jaw as if inspecting a piece of his food.
Oh, shitty hell.
Your stomach dropped and you felt like throwing up all of a sudden.

"Took me quite a while to get the trollhunter out of the picture, I hope you didn't wait too long!" His voice said gruffly and full of hostile sarcasm while he put his claw back down.

Kanjigar had been right, Bular wouldn't stop hunting you down until he had you where he wanted.
And it looked like just that had happened now.

You just hoped that he hadn't done anything to Kanjigar.

Gulping nervously, you tried to pry his thick claws off of your body, your much smaller hands not even making him flinch or acknowledge the attempt.

"You puny little snack have no idea how long I waited for the trollhunter to finally fall into my trap," you assumed he wanted to sound satisfied but it only came off as another aggressive growling, "now I finally got his little pet!"

Narrowing your eyes at him, you couldn't help but feel anger well up in your chest, pushing back the fear just enough to yell out at him.
"I'm not his pet!"
The words had burst out before you had the chance to think about it and now you felt immediate regret for Bular glowered even more at you, his red eyes staring down at your trapped form.

"What else do you think you are!?" He roared right into your face angrily, sending a wave of hot smelly breath over your skin.
Damn, his mouth odor hadn't improved a bit. If anything it had gotten worse.

Looking up at the troll's face, you once more took in his facial details before speaking with a shaky voice.
"I- ... I'm n-not.. his pet."
Really? All you could manage was to repeat your words again?
Well, you were kind of in a stressful situation at the moment.

Bular didn't seem very happy about you voicing your protests and he leaned forward, putting more of his weight onto your body.
The increased pressure knocked the breath right out of you and you could feel your ribcage slowly bend and creak painfully.
If he didn't stop soon, he'd literally crush you.

What to do, what to do?

Didn't Kanjigar tell you something about those three rules of trollhunting?

Uh, always be afraid? No, no, not really helpful right now. You had enough fear to last for the next couple weeks at this point.

Wasn't it...?

That's right! Rule number three!

When in doubt, always kick'em in the gronk-nuks!

You were pretty sure Bular hadn't expected the sudden pain that shot through his body when your foot slammed between his legs and hit, well, a sensitive spot, to say the least.

The large gumm-gumm roared in agony and nearly fell backward, freeing you from your claw-prison.
As you stumbled to your feet, the black troll held his family jewels -or at least, what you assumed to be the family jewels.

Oh, cool, that actually worked.
Looking around for something, anything, to defend yourself, you suddenly saw a green flash from the front of your house but didn't pay it any mind.
You had more urgent matters to attend to.

The scarred troll had regained his composure and he looked even more hateful and aggressive than before -you could understand why-, glaring at you and pushing heated breaths out of his nose like a mad bull that just spotted a red flag waving in front of his nose and that made him want to trample it into the ground.

Unfortunately that red flag was you.

Ok, so, you didn't have any defense but you were smaller than him, much smaller.
If you could just remember the exact way he fought from when you watched him and Kanjigar clash, then maybe you would be able to dodge him?

But for how long? There was no way you could outrun him, win in a battle of brute strength or speed and the only thing you had that could be an advantage was your agility.

You kept your (e/c) eyes on the black troll as he lowered himself just like he had back then, shortly before leaping at the trollhunter, and got ready yourself.

For a moment your eyes met, vicious red and determined (e/c), and you thought you saw the troll nearly hesitate for a split second. It didn't last long though and Bular pounced.

The thing was, you didn't know he could be so fucking fast.

You didn't even have a chance to think about dodging when the back of his large hand was the only thing you saw just before your vision went black with a pang.

And just like that, you were unconscious.

Bular had an easy game now.

At least, that's what he thought.