On The Other Side - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Take Me In

“Mmph… nah.” Finn swung his arms back and forth a little, not looking up.

“OK, then let’s… Oh, let’s go find a dungeon! Yeah, a dungeon crawl always cheered you up!”

Finn raised his head, looking at Jake with watery, bloodshot eyes. “I took Flame Princess on a dungeon adventure once… I think she hated it.” He dropped his head down on the table with a painful sounding ‘thunk’. “Ow, now my head hurts, too. I hate May 8ths.”

“Look, dude, you have to get over her, you have to move on! It’s been three years, you can’t keep getting all moopy every year on the anniv- I mean, the day she broke up with you.” 

“And why not?”

“Because, bro, it’s not natural! It’s not right, you need to get on with your life. You can’t keep sitting here bathing in your jacked-up thoughts, whacking out your melon-heart. Look, you go out and get some fresh air, bring me back some basil. I’ll make some spaghetti for dinner.”

Finn sniffed. “Can we have apple juice, too?”

Jake nodded. “Tree Trunk’s finest!”

Finn stood, stretching his back. “Maybe a walk will help… yeah. I’ll go over to the Stock Woods, there’s tons of basil plants over there.”

“OK, just be careful around the Mudscamps’ Swamp, I think it’s suppose to rain later.”

“Yeah yeah… I won’t melt.” Finn grabbed his sword and backpack, and climbed the ladder down to the front door of the Tree Fort.

“I meant be careful you don’t smooch another magic dude-prince. And wipe your shoes when you get back!”

Finn sighed as he left through the front door. “Whatever what-evs.”

Flame Prince breathed in slowly. The world around him was dark, but he felt warm… hot even. Fire licked his sides, and he smiled, trying to remember where he was. The flames against his back were strange, though. They were tiny and sharp, like bendy little hot blades.

He suddenly remembered his visit to Marshall Lee’s cave, and the… what was it called? The something-form? The stone that would bring him to his true love. Flame Prince slowly opened his eyes, trying to orient himself. Before him was a strange wall of smoke, seemingly frozen in place… no, not frozen, just moving very slowly. The wall must be very far away, he reasoned. He turned his head to look sideways, and found that he was standing against a wall of some sort, a furry wall…? No, it’s grass! He was laying on his back, looking up at the sky.

Laughing to himself at his inability to recognize clouds, Flame Prince sat up, rubbing his hand over the toasty green grass, and pocketed the warm stone he held in his fist. He wondered briefly why the ground, and the air for that matter, was so warm, before he realized exactly where he was.

“No… no!” he groaned, standing and walking in a small, frustrated circle. He looked back up at the Tree Fort, just to make sure it really was Fionna’s home. Flame Prince growled at himself. “It can’t be Fionna! I won’t let it be Fionna. I won’t believe it.” He turned, and ran away from the Tree Fort, his chest aching. Seeing her house was almost physically painful, bringing back memories of her shouting at him, their endless fights, the half-hearted making up that came after, the Cake-mandated ‘dialogues’ that never really resolved anything… He wished it would all go away.

After a while, his legs began to hurt. Looking around, Flame Prince realized that he was lost. He seemed to be in the middle of a bog, or maybe a marsh. Fog was rolling in from all sides, and the trees above him all looked identical and endless. He sat down on a log, removing the small orange gem that was stuck to his forehead. “A lot of good you’ve done me,” he muttered, scratching the small pale patch on his head where the gem used to be. He looked deep into the orange stone, only half-believing the old mystic tales of Balancing Manipura. Closing his eyes and holding the gem in his hands, he breathed in slowly, then whispered to himself. “Give me the will to carry on. Provide the strength to move foreword out of this… this gunk. Send a message, something… please?”

He opened his eyes and looked down at the gem in his hands. A single drop of water splashed on the stone. Flame Prince looked up and gasped as rain began to fall. Although not as painful as it normally was, the water still stung like acid, damping his fiery hair and causing grey spots to appear on his skin wherever it landed. He stood, stuck the gem back on his forehead, and took off at a run, desperately looking for shelter. 

“Hello?” he called, feebly trying to shield himself from the rain with his hand. “Please, help! Anyone!?!” Thunder cracked through the swamp, and Flame Prince tripped over an outstretched root, tumbling into a large muddy puddle. The water paralyzed him, his skin going numb from pain. “Help… h-help,” he called weakly. His vision dimming, he heard an echoey, distant voice and saw a blurry white and blue figure standing over him. 

“I’ve got you…” 

Flame Prince blacked out.

“Jake, get a fire going!” Finn called as he burst in through the front door of the Tree Fort, Flame Prince laying unconscious in his arms.

“Did you get the basil?” Jake asked as he stretched down to the lower level to meet Finn. “Oh glob, who’s that!?!”

“I don’t know, I think he’s a fire elemental. I found him near South Woobeewoo, he must have tripped or something. I think he’s lost…” Finn looked down at Flame Prince sadly, hoping that he would be alright. His skin felt far, far too cold for a fire person, and his clothes were muddy and torn. “Start a fire in the den, we need to warm him up and dry him off.”

“No probs.” Jake stretched up to the upper level of the Tree Fort as Finn rubbed his hand over Flame Prince’s now bald head.

“I’ve got you, I’ll take care of you…” Finn whispered, his heart breaking. The poor guy must have been on the brink of death when Finn found him.

An hour later, Finn sat by the makeshift bed, wrapping Flame Prince in a wool blanket. His hair had reignited as soon as Jake had finished building the now roaring fire in the fire place, and his skin had gained a healthier orange glow, although he was still unconscious.

“Hey Finn…” Jake said, sipping on his mug of hot cocoa. “Now that his hair is back, does he look like that guy from Ice King’s whack stories? Y’know, the ones where all the dudes are dudettes and all the dudettes are dudes?”

Finn frowned. “Yeah, he kinda does. FP’s flipped character, Flame Prince. Actually… he looks exactly like him! Jake, do you think this is some sort of beefed-up prank?”

“I dunno, man. This dude looks pretty real… Besides, if Ice King was gonna pull some prank, why’d he choose such a minor character? Princey here’s only been in, like, two or three stories! Plus, I don’t think Ice King would even know how to pull a prank as hard-core as this.”

Finn nodded, taking Flame Prince’s hand in his own. “He still feels really cold. I mean, cold for a fire elemental, he’s actually quite hot.” Jake raised his eyebrows at Finn. “I mean, h-hot temperature-wise. Heated. He’s w-warm, but more so.”

Jake laughed as Finn’s face blushed pink. “Dude, I know what you mean. Although, he is rather studly.”

“Jake!!!” Finn let go of Flame Prince’s hand as Jake laughed heartily, rocking back in his chair.

Flame Prince groaned, his head aching. He tried to open his eyes, but his whole body felt sluggish. Eventually, he managed to crack an eye open.

“Uh… hi?” 

Flame Prince opened his other eye, searching for the voice he heard. It was masculine, yet somehow familiar. The ceiling slowly came into focus, a ceiling that was immediately familiar.

“Ughh… Fionna?” He blinked, and slowly sat up, his vision still blurry. Fionna sat in a chair next to him, leaning forward a little. Wait, no… that couldn’t be Fionna, she’s taller than that.

“Jake, get him something to drink.”

“Like what? We can’t give him water.” Another voice, this one much more masculine, and a little gravelly.

“I don’t know, something flammable. Do we have any gasoline left over from that time we fixed a truck? That bio-diesel stuff?”

“I think so, let me go check.” Footsteps, then a squeaking sound, like rubber being stretched, then the sound of a door being opened and shut.

“Where… what… who are you?” Flame Prince mumbled, his vision finally coming into focus. A short teenage boy, who he originally took to be Fionna, peered at him with concerned eyes.

“My name’s Finn,” he said. “Finn the Human. I found you in the swamp, you must have tripped when you were running from the rain.”

“Am I…?“

“You’re safe now.” Finn smiled. Flame Prince relaxed a little. The boy dressed as Fionna had saved him, so he must be an OK person. “Um… I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what’s a fire elemental doing in a swamp in the middle of the rainy season?”

Flame Prince frowned, the memories coming back to him. “Oh… I was running away.”

“From what?”

Flame Prince sighed. “It’s silly. I made a wish with a magical… thing, I thought it would take me far away, but it took me back to my girlfr- I mean, my ex-girlfriend’s house. I guess I just got really frustrated, so I started running, and I got lost. I just didn’t want to have to look at her Tree Fort any more.”

“Tree Fort?” Finn raised an eyebrow, confused.

“Yeah, it’s where she lives. It’s this giant tree house thing, she calls it the ‘Tree Fort’. I think its in the… what are they called? The field lands?”

“The grass lands?”

“Yeah, that’s it.” Flame Prince sighed, rubbing his eyes.

“Dude. You’re in the Tree Fort right now.”

“What!?!” Flame Prince sat up suddenly, looking around. He gripped the wool blanket tightly, as if he was afraid.

“Whoa, dude! Chillax, your GF doesn’t live here, there must be another Tree Fort somewhere.”

“No, I recognize it now, this is definitely her place. Where is she? Where’s Fionna?” His eyes darted around the room nervously.

“Fionna… as in Fionna and Cake?” Finn knelt down so he was on the same level as Flame Prince.

“Yeah, Cake… she’s the other person who lives here. Where are they? And who are you!?! How’d you even get in here?”

Jake popped his head up from the lower level. “I’ve got gas!” he exclaimed, laughing. “Naw, I’m just messin’. Here’s your gasoline.” He stretched his arm out and handed Flame Prince a cup of liquid.

“Stretchy powers… Just like Cake,” Flame Prince breathed, stunned.

“Finn? What’s he talking about?” Jake sat on the floor next to Finn.

“He thinks this is the Fionna and Cake tree fort. I think… I think he really is Flame Prince!”

Flame Prince jumped a little, hearing his name. “How’d you know who I am?”

Finn and Jake looked at each other quizzically. “Uh, could you excuse us for a moment?” Jake asked, pulling Finn to his feet and leading him away from Flame Prince. “Dude, he’s a fictional character! Fictional! As in, not real.”

“Yeah, but Jake, look at him. He’s cold, he’s scared, he doesn’t know where he is… sort of.”

“But… homie, I’m just worried about you. First you were all mooped out over Flame Princess, and now you bring home a made-up ‘nad-swapped flame top!”

“Psh, please. He’s just another dude who got chummed up. Remember my promise, to always help anyone who’s got ‘problems’? And I think being a not-real person in a real enough world is a pretty big problem.”

Jake nodded, eying Finn suspiciously. “True. OK, just… be careful. I don’t want you getting ‘burned’ again.”

Returning to Flame Prince’s spot by the fire place, Jake introduced himself. “I’m Jake, this is Finn. You’re in Ooo, in the real world. I don’t know how you got here, but we’re going to get you back as soon as possible.”

“Wait, what!?! Ooo? Real world? I don’t…” Flame Prince rubbed his forehead, trying to clear his mind. The gasoline, while warm and replenishing, was clouding his brain and making him tipsy. “Look, I don’t know who you guys are, and I don’t know how you know me, but if I’m not in Aaa, please don’t send me back. I don’t…” He shivered. “I-I need some time to sort my glums.”

Finn nodded. “I totally understand, dude. I’ve had some bad glums in the past. Uh… It’s still raining outside. Do you wanna sleep here?”

Flame Prince blushed, shaking his head. “You’ve been extremely kind and helpful, but I don’t want to impose-“

“Shoosh, dude, we have peeps sleepin’ over all the time! There’s plenty of space here in the den, or you could stay in the spare bedroom downstairs.”

Flame Prince smiled weakly. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

Finn nodded. “Yeah, no worries bro. We gotta get you all warmed up. Besides, I’ve got some things I’d like to ask you in the morning.”

“OK, well, if you need anything, just give a holler.” Finn gently shut the door to the spare bedroom. Flame Prince was much quieter than Finn would have expected, and didn’t act like any royalty he’d ever met before.

Climbing up to his loft, Finn pulled his white hat from his head and set it on his bedside table. “I’m worried about him,” he said to Jake as they both climbed into bed. “He’s still much too cold for a fire person. Like, I can touch him and not get burned! Maybe we should take him to see Princess Bubblegum?”

“Naw, man. Remember PB got all wadded up when you and FP…” Finn frowned at Jake. “I mean… She’s probably really busy, and fire elementals don’t mix well with candy people. I read it in a book somewhere.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Night, bro!”

“G’night, bro.”