Quest for Life Chapter 16

Jake sat down on a protruding rock, ready to keep watch. Every so often he pricked up his ears as a sound from the undergrowth reached him. More than once he thought he saw a pair of eyes watching him from a gap in the trees. Every sound seemed magnified a thousand times over. A twig snapping in the dark sounded like a gunshot and the beat of wings overhead sounded like a sheet flapping in the wind.

Suddenly something rustled into the undergrowth. Jake morphed one hand into a club, ready to confront whatever should appear. A small creature with large eyes, the body of a squirrel, a beaver-like tail and a pair of small branched antlers growing out of its head scampered out of the undergrowth towards Jake. It froze, furry belly pressed to the ground as it caught sight of Jake’s club hand. Jake morphed his hand back to its usual form once he caught sight of the strange creature.

“Hey little dude,” he said gently, “What are you doing here, huh?” The creature made a low chittering sound in its throat. Jake slowly reached into Finn’s backpack so as not to startle the creature. He brought out a biscuit and held it out, coaxing the creature closer. It scampered forwards in short spurts, still not sure what to make of him. It stretched out its neck and sniffed at the biscuit. It grabbed it in tiny dark brown paws and darted back a few paces before taking a cautious nibble. It chirred happily, quickly devouring the rest of the biscuit before sitting back to clean itself.

“Heh, cute little guy,” chuckled Jake as he watched the creature combing its ears. He sat back down on the rock to resume watch. A few moments later he caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. The strange creature was sniffing at Finn’s backpack. ‘It must’ve smelt the rest of the biscuits,’ Jake reasoned. He stretched over one arm and fished out another biscuit for the little creature. It happily began nibbling at the biscuit, glancing over at Jake every once in a while. When it had finished and combed the crumbs out of its whiskers it curled up on the ground next to the sleeping bubblegum princess, beaver tail over its nose.

The following morning dawned bright and early. Princess Bubblegum was the first to wake up. She looked at the beaver-squirrel hybrid that was still curled up next to her, ears twitching in its sleep.

“Huh?” she murmured sleepily. She nudged Marceline. “Hey, Mar-Mar, wake up.”

“Mmm?” muttered Marceline, yawning, “What is it, Bon?”

“Look,” replied Princess Bubblegum, pointing at the creature.

“What is it?” asked Marceline.

“I don’t know,” replied Princess Bubblegum, “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“He showed up here last night,” said Jake from where he was gathering together their supplies, “Just came scampering out of the bushes, looking for food. I gave him a couple of biscuits and then he fell asleep next to you.” Princess Bubblegum reached out and petted the curious creature. It woke with a start, darting back a few feet before stopping, staring up at the Princess with big round eyes.

“He’s cute,” smiled Princess Bubblegum, holding out her hand. The creature slowly hopped forwards. He nuzzled the Princess’ fingers, chittering softly.

“I think he likes you,” observed Marceline, holding out her own hand to the creature. With sudden daring he scampered up her arm where he sat on her shoulder.

“Seems like he likes you too,” laughed Princess Bubblegum. By this time Finn, Flame Princess and Lady Rainicorn had woken up and were gathering together their belongings. Marceline picked up the creature and set him down on the rock.

“We have to go now, little guy,” she said gently. The little creature tilted his head to one side, regarding her with large dark eyes. It continued watching as they made their way out of the clearing. Marceline stared at her compass, keeping the group on track as they made their way through the forest.

Suddenly Princess Bubblegum felt something scamper up her leg, tiny claws digging into her trousers. She jumped, letting out a startled shriek.

“What is it, Bonnie?” asked Marceline. Then she caught sight of the furry stowaway clinging to the Princess’ shoulder.

“Do you want to come with us or something?” asked Marceline, picking up the creature where it sat on her palm. In response to her question the creature scampered up her arm where it perched on her shoulder.

“I think you got your answer,” observed Jake.

“You sure gave poor Bonnie a fright though,” commented Marceline, flashing the princess an impish grin. The princess pouted but didn’t look too serious about it. Now with one extra member the group continued on.

As the sun reached its peak they came to a river. The water was deep and the current swift. Marceline looked at her compass in dismay. The little needle was pointing in the direction of the opposite bank. “We’ve got to cross it,” she said finally.

“But the current’s far too swift,” replied Flame Princess, looking uneasily at the water.

“No problem,” said Jake, “I’ve got this. He looped one arm around a rock before jumping into the river, morphing into a large boat. “All aboard,” he cried, “The S.S. Jake will be departing soon.” One by one they climbed in. Flame Princess sat down in the centre of the Jake boat, as far from the water as possible. Finn sat down next to her, smiling reassuringly.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “Jake does this all the time.” Flame Princess nodded, smiling as the yellow craft left its moorings. Princess Bubblegum looked over the edge at the swirling water beneath them. She could see small fish darting beneath the surface. The water, like everything else here, was teeming with life.

Before long they had reached the far side, Jake looping his arm around a tree trunk while the others got out. He stretched onto the land next to them and they continued onward.

As they advanced the land began to slope gently upwards. The trees began to change as they climbed. Tall jungle trees with thick canopies and dangling vines gave way to shorter, stockier, deciduous trees. Some of them Princess Bubblegum recognised while others were alien to her. Some had papery trunks with dark green leaves while others appeared to have fur in place of leaves. Marceline swore that one of the trees had eyes in its trunk but when they looked the eyes had disappeared. Every so often a bird flew across their path, its wings beating in the fresh cool air. Cries echoed from in between the trees as the floating island’s wildlife made its presence known.

Suddenly a wail, quite different from the other sounds, echoed through the trees. Immediately the other cries fell silent. Marceline felt tiny claws dig into her shoulder as the squirrel-beaver hybrid pressed close to her, ears twitching.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” she said in a low voice, looking around.

“Neither do I,” replied Princess Bubblegum.

“Where do you think it came from?” asked Finn. Another wail sounded, closer. They looked around, trying to figure out the direction from which it came.

“It’s hard to tell,” replied Jake, stretching his ears up and swivelling them like a pair of radar,

“Somewhere over there.” He pointed off into the undergrowth. Jake morphed his hand into a club in readiness while Flame Princess lit her flame sword. There was a moment of absolute silence.

RAAAAARROOOOOOO!! Something leapt onto the path ahead. It was a large quadrupedal creature with long limbs tipped with three toed feet. It had smooth teal coloured skin and a long whiplash tail. Its head curved back into a bony horn and its electric blue eyes glowed in its head.

The beaver-squirrel leapt down off Marceline’s shoulder and darted into the underbrush, chattering wildly. “What is that?” cried Princess Bubblegum.

“I don’t know,” replied Jake, “But I don’t think it’s in a good mood.” The creature growled threateningly, displaying a set of razor sharp teeth. Finn leapt forward, aiming a kick at the creature. It roared, lashing out with its whip-like tail and sending Finn flying backwards. He crashed into the trunk of a tree and slid down to the ground.

“How dare you hurt Finn!” yelled Flame Princess, flaring up, her usual features distorted by leaping flames as she ran at the creature. It yelled in pain, leaping back from the searing heat that emanated from the Princess of fire. It yelped, darting away into the forest from whence it came.

Flame Princess flickered, resuming her usual form. The distant shrieks of the creature still echoed through the trees.

“Finn, are you alright?” asked Flame Princess, kneeling down next to Finn.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” muttered Finn, getting up and rubbing his head where it had struck the tree.

“We’d better keep moving before more of those creatures show up,” said Marceline. Princess Bubblegum nodded.

“Wait a minute, where’s our furry friend?” she asked. Marceline checked her shoulder but the beaver-squirrel was nowhere to be seen.

“He must’ve run off when that monster appeared,” she reasoned, “Well, there’s nothing we can do now.” They continued through the forest, listening out for any threatening sounds.

As the sun began to set behind the mountains they found themselves on an exposed plateau above the forest. Ahead of them stood the mountains and beyond that, leaping and flickering in the fading light, were the flames they had seen at the beginning of their journey. They were closer than before and this was a welcoming sight to the weary adventurers.

“Is something the matter, Finn?” asked Flame Princess as she sat next to Finn. Since their encounter with the beast Finn had been unusually subdued.

“I’m useless without my sword,” he muttered, not meeting Flame Princess’ gaze.

“That’s not true,” replied Flame Princess, “You’ve helped keep this group together. You’re really brave and when things are looking bad we look to you for bravery.”

“She’s right, Finn,” said Marceline, “Like when we were in the Keeper’s room you had the courage to speak to him.”

“Or like when things looked like they were going sour down in the tunnels,” added Princess Bubblegum, “You never gave up and, because of that, we never gave up either.” Finn smiled.

"We'd better stop here for a bit," said Jake, "It's getting late." Princess Bubblegum nodded, setting her backpack down on the ground. Finn looked up as a rumble of thunder echoed overhead.

“Looks like there’s a storm brewing,” observed Jake. The clouds above them were a sulphurous yellow and the air around them felt tense and charged. Flame Princess began to look a little nervous. Out here on the plateau they were completely exposed.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got an idea,” said Marceline. Fur sprouted on her arms and face as she morphed into her bat monster form. She raised one wing over the other adventurers as the first drops of rain started falling.

“What about you, Mar-Mar?” asked Princess Bubblegum. Marceline laughed.

“Don’t worry about me, Bonnie,” she smiled, “I’m not going to melt from a little rain.

Lightning clawed at the sky and the rain fell in torrents. Something darted over the plateau, seeking refuge from the storm. It spotted the adventurers and made a beeline for them. It reached the edge of camp where it slunk low to the ground, disappearing into Princess Bubblegum's backpack with a flicker of its beaverish tail.

Marceline’s soaked fur clung to her skin and her ears drooped a little in the deluge. She felt something climbing up her back, small hands fisting in the rain soaked fur. Slender arms wrapped around her neck as Princess Bubblegum nuzzled her affectionately. “Thought you could use a bit of company,” she murmured.

“What about the rain?” asked Marceline. The Princess chuckled softly.

“You said so yourself,” she replied, “I won’t melt from a little rain either.” Marceline smiled, lifting the Princess off her back and holding her gently. Princess Bubblegum smiled, burying her face in the damp fur another Marceline’s furry chin. Marceline looked up at the sky, watching as the clouds finally started to recede. Soon it would be time to move on again but for now she just enjoyed the time spent with her princess.