Mixed Signals

Freedom is sweet

You wake up to the sound of shouting as you quickly get up and run out of the den. You make a clicking noise to see what is going on. Gumm-gumm soldiers have entered your cavern, you sniffed the air smelling the gumm-gumm lord somewhere here as well. You see Nomura and Jim protecting Dictatious from the soldiers as they slay them. You roar into the air as the soldiers turn to see you charged at them. You smashed the soldiers while some tried to stab you with their spears. The spear shatters as you blast a sound wave at them.

"Run my friends, I shall distract them." you said as Dictatious and Nomura made a run for it. You can smell Jim is still fighting with you.

"I will not leave you, you have helped me so much already I won't abandon you here now!" Jim says as he slices a soldier in half. The soldiers stop charging as they make a pathway, Gunmar appears around the corner as he stares at you.

"Gunmar! I can easily eradicate all of your army that you spent so long to build. What makes you think you can challenge me now?" you said as Gunmar chuckled.

"That may be true but something has changed now, you will fall to your knees Warden of the darklands!" Gunmar said as he pulled out a red sphere like object, it had flame like carvings in it as Jim looked at it with concern. Gunmar starts chanting something in trollish as the ball in his hand floats up and makes rings of fire that wrap around you. You roar in pain as you try to free yourself of the binds but your body aches from the heat as you fall to the ground.

"No y/n!" Jim says as he charges at the soldiers. Gunmar swiftly grabbed the boy as he pinned him to the ground.

"You can not escape me trollhunter, no beast shall save you from my wrath." Gunmar said as his soldiers bind Jims hands together as they walk him out of the cavern. Gunmar turns to look at you as his gaze seems to soften but quickly returns to its cold glare when you growl at him. Gunmar helps you to your feet as the gumm-gumm soldiers lead you out of the cavern as well. Arriving back at the castle Gunmar tosses Jim into a cage as he takes you to the throne room. The guards leave the two of you soon as you enter the throne room. Gunmar stops in the middle of the room as he pushes you making you lose your footing and fall. a deep growl emits from you as Gunmar responds with his own growl. He circles you as his eyes examine every part of you.

"What do you want? You have no blade that can pierce me and you can't win against me." you said as you managed to get back on your feet.

"Oh I know I can't kill you, but you have. . . other uses, you're far superior than my soldiers. Not even I can match you at my current state. Why hide in such a desolate place, you could escape this cursed place with me all you have to do is help me break the trollhunters will." Gunmar said as he lightly touched your horn. You jerked back as you took a breath and blasted a sound wave at him. Gunmar dogged it as he grabs your jaw and closes it shut. You struggled to open your mouth as the brute kept it shut,"Bring me a muzzle!" Gunmar shouts as a couple of guards run into the throne room, they grab your head to stop you from moving as you feel a cold metal clamp around your mouth. They all get off of you as your muffled roars can be heard beyond the mask,"Leave." Gunmar said as the gumm-gumm soldiers quickly left.

"You will never escape this place, you will rot here as I grow stronger." You said as your words sound muffled. Gunmar growls as he goes to punch you but stops, unaware of what the dark lord is doing you growl at him as you hold your ground. Gunmar looks at his fist as he scoffs, while he walks up to his throne and sits down in it. Gunmar pulls out the red sphere as his gaze lands on you as he watches your head turn side to side, trying to pinpoint where he is.

"Bring me the Trollhunter!" Gunmar said as a couple of minutes passed by, you eventually calmed down as you were sitting on the ground. The soldiers entered as you scurried to your feet. They toss the Trollhunter into the room as they guard the door,"If beasts can't break you perhaps a friend will." Gunmar said as the flame orb in his hand began to glow. The flame binds moved to your neck as they freed your range of movement to your arms,"A battle to break your will! If the Warden cannot break your armor, their death surely will. You shall be mine!" Gunmar said as the flame binds around your neck tightens. You hiss in pain as the flame collar pulls you closer to the boy.

"y/n! We don't have to fight!" Jim says as he raises his hands up in a surrender pose.

"We must trollhunter if not mine then it will be your demise at hand, I can't let that happen." you said as you charged at Jim. he jumped as Jim tried to summon his sword but it didn't appear.

"Yes, his will weakens." Gunmar said. You managed to grab Jim as you threw him across the room. Jim stands back up as his sword appears in his hands. The two of you continue to clash as your muffled roar is heard coming from you, "You're holding back. Kill the warden! This will not end until you take their life." The fight continues as you manage to pin the trollhunter to the stone ground. Your eyeless gaze petrified Jim in fear as Jim looked around to see if he could escape. All of sudden he notices his two friends enter the arena.

"y/n my friends they're here! We don't need to fight!" Jim says as he raises a hand to his friends to tell them not to come closer. You sniffed the air as you smelled more humans, the boy is right! You get off the trollhunter but as you do the flame collar gets tighter as you groan in pain. Jim slices the mask off your face as you blasted Gunmar, causing the orb in his hand to shatter. The flame collar disappears as you grab the boy and toss him on your back.

"This way humans!" you said as you ran through the doors. Running down the hallways you can hear Gunmar's distant roar as you turn to pick up the other humans as you continue running. You feel the three of them gripping on to your fury back as you run on all fours to the exit. You can hear the three of them arguing as you run out of the palace. You then smelt something familiar as you followed the smell to a group of Trolls.

"Ah master Jim!" a troll said as Jim jumped off your back and ran up to the troll. The two other humans jumped off as you felt a stoney hand touch your arm.

"Dictatious?" you said as you lowered your head towards the troll. Dictatious chuckled as he watched Jim and the other troll talk.

"This way!" Blinky says as you and the group run towards the bridge but get stopped by an army of gumm-gumm soldiers. You roar out into the army as you charge, impaling a few with your horns.

"Run, I will distract them." you said but Jim refused to leave you again, the whole group stayed as we continued to fight. All of a sudden I heard a strange noise that sounded like a machine as it came to a stop in front of us.

"Get in!" the troll inside the Machine said as the whole group got inside, you were hesitant to step near it but Dictatious pushed you inside. The machine started up as it drove through the darklands swiftly. You made it through the portal as the bridge crumbled behind you. Getting out of the machine you sniff the air to smell trees grass, the freshness of it all fills your senses.

"Did you miss it friend?" Dictatious said as he stood to the side of you staring at the forest. You hum in reply as three trolls approach from behind the two of you.

"Hello there." a troll said as the two of you turned to face them," I am Blinkous, I am the trollhunters teacher and the brother of Dictatious. Who might you be?" Blinkous said as you sniffed the troll smelling the familiar scent as it kinda reminded you of Dictatious.

"I am y/n, the warden of darklands." you said as the three of them gasped in shock.

I never thought I would be able to meet such a beast in my lifetime. This is Arrrgh and that is Draal, son of kanjigar." Blinkous said as he pointed to the trolls. You grunt as you got closer to Blinkous.

"Sorry but I am blind." you said as you pointed to your face showing as it is mostly empty other than your mouth. The two larger trolls next to Blinkous looked at you as one of them clears their throat.

"I am Arrrgh, with three r's." Arrrgh said.

"I am Draal." Draal said as he lightly bows towards you.

"If I may warden but why did you decide to return to the surface, the ancient books say you left because of the blazing heat, and that it weakens you." Blinkous said.

"That is true but I returned for Dictatious, he really wanted to see you again Blinkous. He talked alot about you." you said as Dictatious covered his face with hands in embarrassment. The Four of you laughed at the old troll as you then felt the heat of the surface hit you..

"Do you perhaps have a colder place where we could talk?" you said tiredly.

"Of course, let's head to troll market." Blinkous said as the group followed Blinkous further into the forest.