Adventure Time: Finn the Human Girl 2

To everything, turn turn turn…

There is a season, turn turn turn…

And a time to every purpose, under heaven…

Finn blinked, it was like he’d seen a ghost. In all of his years, he’d never been surprised, truly surprised. Being raised by a family of talking dogs could do that to a person. In that crystal clear second as the emotional tableau came into focus, he truly knew what it felt to forget, to forget what to do, to forget to breathe, or think, or know how to continue. Wind blew, branches rustled, a light blinked on the steel tower, red, white, red, white, and the person in the doorway stood still, watching. The two of them had been standing there for quite some time, with no movement being made by either party.

Then a step, and another, and another, as Finn walked from his vantage point into the clearing, over to the open portal where the figure stood. Slightly taller than him, with a long, flowing scarf over a plaid shirt, with tight grey trousers and black boots underfoot. He would have been considered strangely dressed, but Finn was the one wearing bunny ears on his hat. What was striking though, were the eyes. They were unlike anything Finn had ever seen, they were so much… Like his. There was nothing empty about them, or full of glee and happiness, nor evil or malignant intent like the creatures he encountered on a daily basis back in Ooo. No, they were complicated, and betrayed nothing other than a gruff indifference to the stranger approaching them. The rest of his face was unremarkable, nor the scruffy mop of black hair hanging from his head, Finn could only think of the eyes.

“That’s far enough stranger.”

A time to be born, a time to die…

The lyrics were coming from within, though they clashed with the song being broadcast from the tinny speakers of the radio in Finn’s arms. More music, different, and yet the same unmistakeable human elements. They were raw, the songs, but there was a distinct warmth too. Finn held up the radio to show he meant no harm, suddenly realising that it must have been as strange to the man in the doorway as it was to him. 

“I followed the radio signal,” Finn murmured, hoping against hope this would be an acceptable answer. If he was turned away here, he wouldn’t have been able to cope with the fact that the only other human in the world that he knew of wanted nothing to do with him.

“Radio signal?” the stranger looked puzzled. Finn had always assumed he’d been following a trail of breadcrumbs, but was it possible that this was only a chance meeting? There was a flash of understanding on his face, and he stepped backward, waving slightly for Finn to approach. “Come on in, I suppose there’s some questions I’ll be needing to have answers for.”

The insides of the steel tower were curious indeed. While Finn had been in Princess Bubblegum’s laboratory, as well as some of the more technologically purposed areas of the castle back in the Candy Kingdom, he’d not seen anything like this. Some parts were as to be expected, a home for a human, much like Finn’s back in the treehouse, but other rooms were the remains of something that had come before. A recording studio, apparently, somewhere music had been kept, and pressed into storage, and pushed out into the air. He had no idea how it worked, but he listened intently while he was given the tour.

They ended up back on the lower floor, in a smartly dressed back room, where two leather chairs sat in front of the remains of last night’s fire. The stranger sat first, and beckoned Finn to take the chair across from him. He did as he was bid, studying his host’s features, trying to get a read on him. He was distinctly younger than how he had first appeared, and must have only been about four or five years his senior. It was the way he conducted himself that brought the maturity that Finn had mistaken for age.

“So I’m expecting that I’m the first human you’ve seen in a dog’s age, from the way you’re looking at me,” he began, pouring out a cup of tea from a kettle stowed away on a side table.

Finn nodded, unsure of how to broach the subject.

“Well it’s the same for me, my Pappy went off into the wilderness now fifteen turns ago, and I ain’t seen him since, he was looking for…”

It was clear this wasn’t a particularly happy story for the host, and the memory drifted away in the telling.

“I’m Daimon,” he held out a hand, which Finn shook.

“Finn, the uhh…” he stuttered, thinking it wrong to finish the name as it would have normally. He didn’t think that humans referred to themselves with that term in regular conversation. Besides, he’d never met anyone with a last name, so the idea to give himself one never occurred.

“The uhh?” Daimon grinned.

A time to plant, a time to reap…

“The nothing,” Finn corrected.

There was a second of silence, wonder, before Daimon continued.

“We found this old rig when I was just a kid, the desert’s mighty treacherous on your own, and there’s ground we could plant seed in, some animals nearby, it seemed the perfect place. Once we found the generators and such, we got the old bird singing again…” he motioned toward the control panels in the next room.

“Where did you come from?” Finn gasped, hoping that there was some kind of secret human land he’d never found before.

“Come from?” Daimon shrugged, “Pappy wasn’t much for talking… I was born walking it seems, I spend the first few years doing nothing but.”

It was a blow, though Finn couldn’t help but still be swayed by what he was seeing.

“I always hoped to meet someone, you know, someone that was the same as me.”

Finn nodded, he knew the feeling.

“We’ll have to spend some time getting to know each other,” Daimon smiled, “we’re the last ones I think, the last two.”

The thought made Finn sad, and it was clearly painted on Daimon’s face that the prospect wasn’t one he was keen on.

“Is there nothing left from your Pappy?” Finn tried, “we had this thing back in Ooo, a big room full of books..”

“A library.”

“Maybe your Pappy had..?”

Finn stopped, the look on Daimon’s face was enough to tell him that idea was a fruitless one. 

“I did hear tell, a long way back, back when my Momma was around, that where they met, there was a way to get to other humans.”

“No way…” Finn leant forward, eyes wide with wonder. This seemed to make Daimon happy, and he continued.

“A long time ago, back when my Pappy and Momma hadn’t met even, they were wandering like all the humans are today, but one day, they found each other. I don’t know many details, but from what I gathered there was some magic, or something, that could bring the humans back, only they tried and tried and nothing came of it, or maybe it did and they never told me.”

Finn was standing when the story had finished, Daimon hadn’t even noticed him getting up.

“Daimon, we have to find that magic, we have to bring the humans back.”

There was a slight desperation to the cry, but Daimon couldn’t help but get infected by the strange boy’s charm. He didn’t stand though, but he nodded in enthusiasm.

“Now that sounds to me like an adventure.”

“Good, because adventures are my speciality.”

-

A time to kill, a time to heal…

They spent a week gathering the necessary materials for an expedition of such grand proportions as this. From what Finn could tell, Daimon had been instructed where this magic was, but he wasn’t letting on any of the secrets. It was implied, and nothing was ever stated with certainty. It was just such a strange experience, being around someone else that was a someone else, and he couldn’t help but be swept up in the prospects of finding his people.

Daimon had taken on the role as leader, as he knew more about what the journey would entail than Finn. The lands around these parts weren’t so bad, but once they got far out into the wasteland, then there was no knowing what they’d encounter. All Finn had was his blooden longsword, a dangerously sharp weapon from the astral universe, who’s previous owner had been a particularly nasty anti-angel. But he was used to working security. It was his job to make sure the pair of them got to where they needed to be, unscathed.

They’d been cleaning out some old travelling packs for the most of the day, when Finn had taken a break, sitting back in the ready room they’d had their first conversation in. It was tiring work, and over the past few days he’d been missing Jake, wondering if his friend even knew what was going on.

“Hey, hey buddy…” came a voice in his head.

“Jake?” Finn responded in kind, checking out the doorway to make sure Daimon wasn’t aware of what was going on.

“That’s right, it’s me, your best friend Jake.”

Finn wrinkled his brow, he never knew Jake had psychic powers, never mind telepathy. That would have come in useful in so many different situations.

“Really?”

“No, sorry dude. I’m just your subconscious… It’s weird I know. But if you’re wondering what Jake would be thinking right now, he’d want you to go through with this, find your people, and then make the choice you know you’re going to have to make.”

A choice? Finn hadn’t thought about there being a choice, he just wanted to help out Daimon, and to save the human race from extinction.

A time to laugh, a time to weep...

“Jake, I don’t understand, you’re getting mathematical on me.”

“Finn….” The voice was getting thinner, further away. “I’m not really Jake…”

And with that, Finn was alone again in the room. He took a sip from his ice tea, which was resting on the counter, the tiny cubes rattling in the glass. 

“Well that was weird.”

He didn’t really want to think on it much, in the life he’d led, many of the different parts of his body had struck up conversations with him, just not any voices in his head. It must have meant something, but there would be a time and a place where everything would make sense. In his travels, Finn had found the world did have a kind of dramatic irony to it, but he’d never have put it into words.

Outside there was a sound, Finn climbed to his feet, and raced out of the door to find Daimon on his knees, emotions franking his face, and something resting in his hands, amongst the debris they’d cleared out of the rucksacks. 

“What is it?” he questioned, hoping it wasn’t anything that was going to jeopardise their mission.

“He must have… I found… I don’t know… He must have….” Daimon was trying to get his words out, but they wouldn’t come, not until he’d put his arm to his face, and wiped away the tears.

To everything, turn turn turn…

There is a season, turn turn turn…

And a time to every purpose, under heaven…

Finn stepped forward, unsure whether or not to approach, but did so anyway. Finally, while he couldn’t speak still, he managed to thrust the offending object into Finn’s grasp. He stopped for a second, not knowing what to do, but soon that changed. It was parchment, filthy, and older than anything else he’d ever encountered. It unfurled easily, as if propelled by an outside force.

“Is this what I think it is?” 

Finn couldn’t believe what he was seeing, behind him the radio played and drowned out the sound of Daimon’s sadness, or bliss. It was a map.