A year after the events of Hilda and the Mountain King, a new normal has settled over Trolberg with Trolls, now at peace, freely coming and going from town and peaceably interacting with humans. Things are hunky-dory at first, until the trolls start actively avoiding the woods, fearing something prowling in the dark.
Meanwhile, Hilda herself finds what appears to be a large blue wolf spying on her bedroom one night. Things only get more frightening from there, as not only does she have to contend with a new monster, but a monster in the mirror.
Hilda and the howling woods
is a Hilda fanfic by levi2207 centered around Hilda's latest misadventure and self-discovery as she learns of a previously unconsidered mystery of her past, as well as the identity of the Bellkeeper who helped her in Season 2.
Tropes found in this fanfic:
- Alas, Poor Villain: The Two-Headed Troll was canonically a bully, and he's attacked Hilda unprovoked multiple times both in canon and once more in the story itself. Hilda still feels awful when she sees him badly wounded from her accidentally releasing The Yule Cat during their fight.
- Disappeared Dad: A mystery that Hilda has at the beginning of the story, though it is sidelined for a while due to the werewolf problem. It turns out that the werewolf is her father, and it is also the Bellkeeper.
- Made Myself Sad: In the first chapter, Ms. Hallgrim pulls aside Hilda to point out her project to write about both sides of her family is incomplete, since it includes no information on her father's side of the family. When a confused Hilda points out that she's only ever known her mom, Ms. Hallgrim looks over to a photograph of her younger self and her own mother and becomes far more understanding.
- Named by the Adaptation: The Bellkeeper is named Gerald Dahlman in this story. Trundle's brother is also named Dormer.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Werewolf Hilda inadvertently frees The Yule Cat from its imprisonment in her fight with the Two-Headed Troll, setting one of the story's main conflicts into motion.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: They're thought of as violent savages, but before long most of the cast realizes that they thought the same thing about Trolls, forcing them to challenge conventional wisdom and figure out the nuances of lycanthropy in the setting.
- They can tap into some of their abilities, like super senses or Super-Strength, in human form, but this is not recommended due to risk of sensory overload and headaches or injuring themselves due to their bones not being strong enough to support their strength.
- They have unusual hair colors even in human form.
- They're very, very good at jumping.
- Silver does not physically harm them. Wearing silver charms instead suppresses involuntary transformations to help them live normal lives.
- They more closely resemble South American Maned Wolves than any Eurasian or North American wolf breeds.
- Rage Breaking Point: While she's able to keep it under control for a while, Hilda finding out that the werewolf stalking her in the early chapters was The Bellkeeper and her father pushes her over the edge and causes her to throw off her silver bell charm in a fit of rage, which causes her to wolf out on the spot.
- Transformation Trinket: Inverted, The Bellkeeper gives Hilda a silver bell necklace specifically to prevent her from turning into a werewolf.
