A/N: So, this fic take place after season 3 for Trollhunters and after season 2 for 3Below. As for the HTTYD side, due to me not having seen all the seasons (six? Eight?), it is placed somewhere in Race to the Edge, though it could be anywhere. Not very important, though, because I will probably not focus on whatever plot there was in the show.

A/N2: Friendly reminder that English is not my main language and that I have no beta reader. Expect errors, wrong phrasing, missing words, and general grammatical weirdness.

Odin's Eye

by Az The Dragon

...

One thing that had become apparent with living on Earth was that 'alien' technology and ancient troll magic didn't mix well together.

Sure, such combination would yield interesting results. New discoveries even. Unfortunately, the risks were too high without first involving experts from both fields, lots and lots of virtual simulations, a controlled environment, and possibly a very isolated location.

As it turned out, throwing together an active portable black hole generator, an ancient time manipulating troll totem, and an old, rickety fusion generator was not the way to do things.

The resulting explosion should have ripped him to shred, core and all, leaving nothing behind to burrow.

Krel sighed deeply, leaning against one of the many trees in the forest. He knew he should feel lucky to be even alive, but most of him just missed home and his family. The only consolation was that he was not alone in this, for while he had been the only one within the range of whatever spatial distortion was happening, another one had willingly jumped in.

Just to protect him from most of the energy released in that single moment. Even if they were nothing more than casual friends at the time.

"Are you alright over there?"

His companion's voice sounded strangely soft compared to his new appearance. One might think that a seven foot tall creature would have a much deeper voice. That it would always be booming no matter what. Thankfully, whatever had changed Jim Lake Jr. into a troll, it had spared his voice.

Mostly.

Krel could hear some guttural growling when Jim was either frustrated or angry.

"Yes..." the Akaridion pounded his two left hands against the tree, wishing his own frustration could leave with the impact. "I just... this..." One of his free hands went up to tug at his hair. "I can't do anything! My tech is all gone after that explosion! I would have lost my life too if you didn't jump in and shielded me! I...! I...!"

Jim laughed, and Krel turned around to look at the only person he could count on right now. The half troll was walking towards him, skirting the patches of sun that filtered through the dark canopy far above their heads. It was impressive how quiet he could be with that armor of his.

"How can you laugh at a time like this?"

Jim gave a shrug and widened his smile. It wasn't one of those 'I'm-smiling-because-it's-fun' smile, though. It was more of a gesture meant to ease someone's inner turmoil. Something that Krel found himself appreciating very much.

"Desperation is never a good company," he replied, placing one large hand onto the Akaridion's shoulder. "I know it's hard. I miss everyone, too! Still... as Blinky once said to me, 'even the word hopeless is not devoid of hope'."

Krel took a deep breath and kept it in for a moment, then let it out as he slid down to sit against the tree. "I suppose..." he mumbled. "I mean, it's a great advice and all, it's just..."

His eyes found the ground and a small part of him wanted to count how many pine needles there were between his feet. Perhaps it was a really stupid way to spend his time, but it would occupy his mind for a while. Keep him from falling into thoughts he wished to not think.

"Here, I found this." Jim stood in front of him now, and a moment later his large, blue hand appeared. It was holding something rectangular and flat, with a shiny black surface that reflected his face as if it was a darkened mirror. "I know it's nothing much, but..."

The Akaridion took the small object in his upper hands while the bottom ones held onto the ground for stability. "This... this is..." Krel could not believe what he was seeing, yet there was no denying it.

Somehow, his phone had followed them to this place without getting damaged. Granted, the battery had died sometime during the past week, and there was some dirt on the bottom half, but even a dead device was better than having nothing at all.

This also meant that there could be more out there. And if there was enough, maybe he could come up with something that could really help. Maybe even something that could send a distress signal with their current location.

Krel stood up, holding the phone as if it was made of the most delicate glass. He looked up at the smiling Jim and couldn't help but return the gesture. "You found my phone..." he whispered, hope finally coloring his thoughts. "You found my phone!"

His smile widened into a grin and he threw all his four arms up into the air as if to praise the heavens. "This is glorious!"

Jim's laugh echoed along his words, and Krel finally felt happy for the first time since waking up in a strange and unknown island. He let himself dance to a tune that only he could hear, twirling and jumping, moving his arms in a sort of wave and drawing circles around the Trollhunter.

He let this heightened state of being last a few minutes, then he forced himself to stop because he needed to focus. And while he wanted nothing more than to bask into the excitement this finding brought him, there was work to do.

"Where did you find it?" he asked, his free pair of hands grabbing his friend by the forearms. "There was nothing where we woke up!"

Jim's smile was as wide as Krel's, just more toothy. "On the other side of the woods," he replied. The only reason why he wasn't as excited as the Akaridion was that said feeling had toned down during his trip back to him. "I was looking for something to eat, and... well, I picked on a familiar scent. Turns out that technology has a distinctive... flavor, I guess? I never noticed until now."

It was probably due to the fact that the scent of metal and plastic was too widespread back home, while here it was just ground, pines, and the sea in the distance.

"Alright, hop on! I'll take you there "

Jim was crouching now, with his back turned towards him. Usually he carried his sword there, but Krel had seen him being able to summon and dispel the weapon with nothing more than a thought. Chances were that the blade was being stored in the amulet right now.

He threw his upper two arms around his friend's neck, while his bottom ones found purchase around his torso along with his legs. Frankly, he felt more like one of those koalas than an Akaridion right now, but the possible humiliation was worth it if it meant being able to travel at the speed Jim was capable of.

So off they went, running across the uneven ground of the woods and jumping over obstacles as if they were nothing. Their path was straight, deviating only when the Trollhunter was forced to go around a large patch of sunlight or a large tree, and it took them barely half a hour to get where they needed to be.

"This is it?" Krel asked, disentangling himself from his friend's back once they came to a halt.

The place was no different than the rest of the woods, with the only distinction that Jim had scratched the bark of one of the trees for better identification. "This is it," the Trollhunter replied, following him through the undergrowth. "Right by the marked tree."

Krel stopped and hummed. One of his hands mindlessly played with the phone while the other three rested against his sides. "This is somewhere south-west of where we appeared," he mused. Without instruments to measure directions, he and Jim had to rely on the sun, the stars, and memory alone for navigating the land, and while this setup was not bad, it wasn't precise either.

"I checked around for more." Jim moved a branch out of the way and looked into the distance. The sea was not too far from them, but the trees were so thick that it could be barely seen. "Nothing. I'm guessing that whatever stuff is here, it's all over the place. I can smell things way better than a human now, but I'm not as good of a tracker as Aaarrrgghh is."

The Akaridion looked up and saw how tense his friend was. He too was refusing to think about the possibility that his phone might be the only thing that had survived the trip.

"This would be so much easier if we could just go out and talk with someone." Jim banged a hand against the tree, splintering the wood and causing it to shake violently. "I'm sure that someone in the nearby settlement could help."

Krel shared both sentiment and belief. More eyes meant more chances that something would be found.

"Maybe we can sneak in after sunset? You know... check things out?" he offered.

He wasn't very keen in walking into the village even with the favor of the darkest of nights. After all, there was so much that could go wrong in so little time. Still, the people living there could prove useful in their search for a way home.

Jim sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "Wort a try," he mumbled, looking in the direction he knew the village was in. "In the worst case scenario, at least we can figure out where on Earth we are."

"Or if we are still on Earth," Krel corrected. "That distortion could have landed us on the other side of the universe for all we know..."

Jim's reply was a long sigh that ended in a displeased rumble.