"Sarah, I see land! We're almost there!" cried the raggedy man from the front of the weathered, crumbling boat. It had once been a luxury yacht, complete with a small bed and bath, a kitchen, and a lower living space. The perfect get-away vessel. You see, six months earlier, the raggedy man and his expecting wife had fled the toxic environment that had once been England. Even a thousand years after the great mushroom war, the earth was still recovering. The human population had dropped from six billion to 600 overnight, and it had been slowly dropping ever since. The raggedy man, his wife, and their newborn son were among the last 40 or so humans.
Sarah hugged the infant boy in her arms closer to her chest. A storm was chasing them to their destination, the green shore on the horizon. She knew the storm would reach them before they reached those promising beaches, even though her husband did his best to make it appear otherwise. Sarah swore to herself right then and there that she would protect the shivering bundle in her arms no matter what. Her boy had to survive, even if she and the raggedy man did not.
The raggedy man was called that for a reason. Years of wear and tear had reduced his clothes to shreds. His long unkempt brown hair was matted and nearly covered his bright blue eyes. Sarah had tried many times to tame it, and all were unsuccessful. When he sat down next to her, she reach out a frail hand and combed through his tangles, merely out of habit. He watched with sarcastic amusement.
"I don't want our son to take after your messy hair habits, so I made him this." Sarah reached into her pocket and pulled out a white hat with two round ears on top. The raggedy man watched as she gingerly pulled it over her son's blond head.
"Now he won't have wild hair covering his face." She whispered.
Several miles away, the great warrior Billy was donning his trademark accessory, his blue gauntlet. The Lich was loose, and he was angry. Billy grabbed his sword and made his way through the land of Ooo to meet the feared king.
At the peak of mount Glob, Billy faced the lich. He hacked, stabbed, kicked, dodged, punched, and slashed his way to the creature of pure evil, and with a mighty punch of his gauntlet hand, he sent a defeated but vengeful Lich crashing into the sea. The impact was so powerful, that it sent a huge wave out around him. Billy watched in horror as the wave meet the storm and chaos broke free.
Sarah saw the wave first. Rain was pelting the yacht and she had been readjusting her son's blanket when the wave's shadow fell over her. She screamed in terror, and hugged her child tight to her chest. The raggedy man was at her side in an instant, and then they watched with dread as the wave threatened to consume them. But a worse horror had yet to emerge.
The Lich knew Billy's weakness. Billy was a compassionate human who could not bear to see people suffer. Billy would do anything to keep people safe. Especially if they were his own people. So when the Lich saw the battered boat with humans on board, he felt the evil version of joy-sick rage. He would conquer that human yet…
Billy saw the human boat, too. He also saw the Lich ride the dark wave that was about to overpower it. On instinct, he ran forward to the edge of the cliff and lept out onto the raging wave, out to the Lich.
The Lich lept off the wave and land on the boat, causing it to rock violently. With one movement he plucked up the raggedy man and tossed him into the ocean. Sarah screamed and hugged the bundle in her arms even tighter. The Lich laughed a cold, heartless cackle and turned to face Sarah. Just then Billy landed alongside the evil king and socked him in the jaw. The storm rages and swept Sarah and the child into the seas. Billy punched the Lich in the jaw again and dove in after them.
Sarah could not swim. She did everything she could to keep her son afloat. Tears streamed down her face and the salty water burned her throat. She was about to give up when she felt a hand pull her up and keep her head above water. She turned to find a man watching her intently.
"Who are you?" she gurgled.
"I am Billy." he replied. Billy did his best to keep the two humans afloat, but the ocean was wild with the Lich's poison. It rocked them side to side, crushed them with angry waves, and pummeled them with water. Sarah was whisked out of Billy's grasp and yanked under the dark surface. She resurfaced a second later, several feet away. And the ocean was pulling her father away each second.
Sarah looked at her son for the longest time.
"Save him." She yelled at Billy, "The Ocean is his father's grave, and it will soon be mine. Save my son. Save him."
The baby boy was currently leaning in the crook of Billy's arm, crying softly. Even though he was only a few weeks old, he was very perceptive. He was crying because he was wet, his father was gone, the big wet ocean had taken him and his mother was about to be eaten by the ocean too. Overall, he thought the ocean was to blame. He did not notice Billy and he did not see the lich. For the blond newborn, the ocean took his parents. For him, the ocean was bad. The ocean was evil. Which it was.
Sarah smiled at her son. The baby watched as she let herself sink under the black waters. He cried harder.
Billy carried the baby boy and paddled through the storm back to the shore. The powerless Lich was waiting for him. He sat in a wet filthy puddle on the sand, watching Billy as he struggle with his screaming bundle onto land.
"A child? Is that the best you can do? How noble." said the Lich, his voice like gravel. Billy's heart turned cold as the Lich's words sank in. He brought the Lich to the candy palace where a young Princess Bubblegum froze him in amber.
"Thank you Billy," she said. "I trust we can count on you in the future."
"I'm retiring, princess," said Billy flatly. "I give up." And he left her in shocked silence.
Billy left the child in the middle of the woods. He saved the baby, but he could not take care of him. He figured a nice family would find him and take him in. Billy then crawled into his hidden cave and wasted away for thirteen solid years.
A day after the baby was abandoned in the woods, a dog named Joshua and his wife Margret came across him. They took him in alongside their two pups, and raised him as their own.
"We really oughta give him a name." Joshua said that night. He and Margret were sitting by the fireplace, watching the bright flames as their son Jake and the baby boy rough housed. Margret picked up the human and tugged off his hat. Embroidered inside was a name. Margret turned to Joshua.
"It says his name is Finn."