#also i wanna see frida wolf out :smile:

[tatersdoesstuff]

love letters doodles n_n

[snellyboi]

Pictures of the Past

I mentioned I’d be making a Hilda one shot, and this is what came out. I figure I ought to start writing for more shows and such so I don’t get totally burnt!

words:1865 Summary: Hilda meets an old friend of her mother, Rolf Sigmundson, who holds some strange revelations about her past... warnings: Sort of a cliff hanger to a one shot I might get around to writing? Also involves an OC, and a bit of headcanon on my end (of course!)

By all accounts, Rolf Sigmundson was a good man. He mostly made a living for himself making nature shows, and indeed, few people were as qualified as he was to do this sort of thing. He spent time with Woffs in his university days, and also spent plenty of time studying trolls, giant birds, and all sorts of flora and fauna. He was mostly known for his show ‘Troll Hunter’, sort of a spiritual successor to Steve Irwin’s Crocodile Hunter.

He was a tall man, with a large, dark beard and short brown hair, with big brown eyes framed by large round glasses. He was popular, that’s for sure...and he was making an appearance for the sparrow scouts in Trolberg today.

“He’s such a sweet man, you��ll like him.” Johanna smiled as she spoke to Hilda, giving her some sandwiches to take to the meeting, as she knew it’d run until at least noon. “If you get the chance, tell him I said hello!”

Hilda took the sandwiches and hopped out the door, Alfur in tow. “I’ll see you mum, thanks for the food!” She was really excited to meet this guy! Not only was he kind of a big deal, but her mother knew him! And not a simple ‘saw him once at a zoo’ sort of thing, either, those two, according to Johanna at least, were really good friends in their youth. Not that Hilda would brag about such a thing...but it was a nice feeling.

“Hello, sparrow scouts!” Raven Leader spoke loudly from the front gate to the Huldrawood. “I’m excited you’re all here, and I’m sure you’re all incredibly glad to welcome today’s guest!” It was a simple idea, drummed up by Rolf himself. What better place to talk about nature than...well, nature? Sure, Huldrawood wasn’t the unforgiving, harsh wilderness, but it was still pretty natural, and had plenty to offer. “Our guest doesn’t really need an introduction, but he’s not here to hunt trolls or teach us how to do it. He’s here to talk about one of the most important parts of our lives...the great outdoors.” It had clearly been prepared, but would you wanna introduce someone without preparing yourself first?

“Let’s all give a warm, Sparrow scout welcome to Rolf Sigmundson!” The kids hooted and hollered, and Rolf stepped out, wearing a black ball cap, vest, beige button up shirt, and khakis, with heavy looking hiking boots.

“Hey, kids!” He smiled brightly and opened the gates, walking in. “We’re gonna hang by the front for a minute, just stick around there and pick a place to sit down.” Lucky them, it had been clear all week...the ground wasn’t too muddy. Hilda, David, and Frida all found each other and sat together.

“Are you excited?” Frida asked. Hilda nodded. “My mum loves his show...I watch it when it’s on.” She shrugged. “He does sound really interesting, though, the way my mum tells it.” Frida looked over at David. “Maybe he can find out why you’re teeming with bugs, eh?” David, at the moment, had a beetle crawling around on him. He looked spaced out.

“...sorry, could you say that again?”

Rolf rubbed his hands together and sat on the ground with them. “Yikes...kids, don’t get old, your knees start to ache and it hurts to sit down.” Some of the children laughed. “So! The woods...we sort of take it for granted, don’t we?” He looked around. “We play in them, camp in them, go on walks in them...without even thinking about what’s here. What sort of things live underground? What worlds go left unseen by most humans?” He looked over at Hilda, Frida, and David. “What if I told you that it’s not just giant things, but little ones as well? Like that...bug...on your shirt...do...do you know that’s there?”

David didn’t really say anything in response, he just sorta...pointed at it. Frida looked over. “He’s always got a bug on him.”

“Bugs tend to pick favorites, I find.” He giggled a little to himself. “Of course, the small world isn’t just made up of bugs. There’s even elves!” Some kids furrowed their brows. “Yep. Seen ‘em. I had to sign paperwork, though, these elves are obsessed with documentation, let me tell you.” He stood. “Of course, we won’t be seeing those today, you have to have permission from the elves themselves, and it’s a lot of papers to sign…”

“It isn’t THAT much paperwork!” Alfur whispered. Hilda whispered right back. “It is for this many kids!”

“Kids love paperwork!”

“Not the human ones.” Hilda whispered back. The group started to move through the woods, as he pointed out birds nests, ant hills, rabbit holes, and even a hole for a good sized bug, which he stopped around. “Phew...now, kids, most of these small guys are actually pretty safe, but this one’s not quite healthy to hang around too long.” he tapped the ground around the hole for a moment. “Hmm...must be empty. Can anyone guess what I’m looking for?”

“A snake?” One child asked.

“No, not quite...I wouldn’t be so close to it if it were a snake hole, those have a bit more...length than what should be in here.” He said. “Although, I have been bitten by my fair share of snakes. Most of the ones around here are pretty harmless.” He knelt down and tapped again. “Anyone?”

Frida jumped at the chance. “A spider? I read that some make trap doors, and sneak out to catch their prey.” Rolf smiled. “That’s an awful lot closer, it’s a sort of spider! Those spiders tend to be in other, warmer places...this is a sort of wolf spider dwelling.” He said. “They aren’t deadly, but I’ve managed to get a bite from one, and it’s bad. Opens up a sore about this big on the bite, and...it’s messy.” He said. The group kept going.

“Here’s another, much larger hole, it looks like it was dug by a-”

“Vittra!” Hilda pointed. “I’ve been in those tunnels...well, not...not those ones.” Rolf and the others looked over, and Rolf crossed his arms. “You’ve been IN a…” He looked at her for a moment. She looked...familiar.

“...how’d you get in? Why’d you go in?”

“We had to rescue some from becoming mulch, but we sort of got them angry.”  Rolf nodded. “Huh...they do like their privacy. Kids, these holes can be real deep, and falling into them can lead to some embarrassing injuries. It’s good to look at the forest floor while you walk around.” The group kept going, stopping for lunch, learning how to spot different types of bee hives and wasps nests, avoiding snakes, and even learning a bit about fishing...though, that was anecdotal, and mostly about Rolf’s bad run in with a rather large catfish in the states. They were back at the front gate. “So, scouts, it’s important to remember that the world isn’t just what’s easy to see...there’s little cities, families, and houses all around us! We just have to look.” The scouts all got pictures, some got stuff signed, and they were on their way out. Hilda couldn’t wait to tell her mother abou-

“Hilda!” Raven Leader went over to her. “It appears Rolf would like a word with you.” Hilda furrowed a brow. “Me?”

“He wants to know more about that vittra hole I think.” Hilda walked over to him. He was sitting near his car, an old beat up jeep he’d driven to the front gate. “Hilda! Hey! She wouldn’t believe that I knew your mother so I had to give her the Vittra hole line...I knew you looked familiar!” Hilda looked up at him. “You knew me?”

“Oh, you were tiny tiny before I got the show and got too busy…” He knelt down. “Agh...gotta get that knee checked on. Hey, listen, I don’t wanna hold the van up, but…” He went into his car and got a box of polaroids. “I was real good friends with your mother, and I liked to take pictures of stuff. I took a lot of pictures of her, she didn’t really own a camera until after I left that neck of the woods. Years ago she got rid of these...I won’t say why.” It was photos of her mother doing...not ‘Johanna-ish’ things; rock climbing, swimming in the middle of a lake, waving from the top of a tree.

“I think it’s time she gets these back.” Hilda nodded. “She was quite the adventurer, huh?”

“Oh, are you kidding me? She was shredded! I bet she could have benched ME back then.” He patted Hilda’s shoulder. “Tell her I said hello, yeah?”

“Of course.” She nodded with determination.

“Thanks so much, I’d stop by but I gotta split...also, Mr. Elf,” he pointed to her ear, and Alfur popped up from behind it, “You look good in red.”

Alfur blushed. “Oh, stop, you’re flattering me…”

“Heh, alright...you run along now, enjoy yourself!”

“Likewise!” Hilda got back into the van they’d used to get there, and got home, just before dark. Dinner was almost ready, and Johanna sighed with relief when she heard the front door open. “Hilda, you’re back...how was it? How do you like Rolf?”

“He’s nice...he gave me these.” She put the photos on the table. Johanna looked flustered. “...I’d been looking for those.” She went through a few of them, sitting on the couch. “That’s...well, I was quite the adventurous type.”

“Got it form somewhere, right?” Hilda winked. Johanna...sighed, and lowered her shoulders. “Well...had to come from somewhere.” They came across one of a tiny, baby Hilda, with a woman with purple hair playing with her. “Oh, look at you! So cute back then!” Hilda thought nothing of who that woman was, probably just some aunt she’d never met...but then she popped up in another photo of them at a campfire. And another of them holding hands. And another of them in flower crowns and soft looking white dresses, kissing under a flower archway somewhere in the woods. “Mum...who’s that woman? The one with the long purple hair?”

Johanna tensed up a bit. She sighed. “...well, she and I were lovers...that was our wedding. Well, it was just a ceremony, it wasn’t legal at the time…” She sighed. Hilda looked up.

“What happened to her?”

“She...went missing.” She said. “After a troll attack. I never saw her again after that.” She rubbed her eyes. “I’m...I got rid of these to cope with the loss, I suppose.” Hilda hugged her tightly. “Sorry I brought it up, mum, I-”

“No, Hilda, it’s alright.” Johanna kissed Hilda’s forehead. “I...needed to see them again. It’s just a bit of closure.” She took the one of the wedding ceremony and placed it on her desk. She went to the kitchen. “...looks like dinner’s ready. Go wash up and get ready to eat, alright?”

“Okay, mum!” Hilda went to look at the woman in the photo again.

She looked familiar.