Night was falling, and the sound of the rain drowned out everything else but his own footsteps as he pushed through the brush and the trees. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him. He ran until his throat ached and his muscles felt weak. He ran until he tripped and fell in the mud, where he finally stopped running.
Alone, afraid and exhausted, he pushed himself up, his arms trembling as he crawled into the shelter of a fallen log, where he curled up. And then he cried.
Night passed, minute by merciless minute, the storm raging all throughout until its wrath had been spent. When morning finally arrived, a sliver of shifting light falling across Finn's face roused him from his brittle state of repose. His whole body ached, he was thoroughly exhausted, and his clothes were still damp with rainwater, but as Finn rubbed the sleep from his eyes and crawled from his shelter, he was greeted by the dappled pattern of sunlight filtering down through the foliage overhead.
Now that day had come, the forest was clearer and he observed the glade cautiously as he crept from his shelter. It was lush and green, covered in thick mats of moss and sprinkled with the glittering remnants of the night's rainfall. Finn rubbed his arms as he stood, trying to get his bearings. Daylight offered a meagre comfort but he still had no idea where he was, no shelter, no food and the cold could easily set in with his damp clothes. He'd need to get to work if he wanted to fix any of that by nightfall-
His train of thought flatlined when a rustle from the bushes nearby commanded his attention. He reached instinctively for his sword but found nothing at his hip, promptly grunting in firm resolution as he made fists instead and scoured the clearing for anything he could use to defend himself. He'd set his gaze on a sharp rock and was inching toward it when a black wet nose poked through the brush, sniffling and snuffling at the ground before the pudgy shape of a yellow dog pushed through. It looked up at him, then wagged its tail. Finn raised his eyebrows.
"A dog?" He bent down a bit, holding out his hand as the animal sauntered closer. "Here boy- where'd you come from?"
"I was gonna ask you the same thing."
"EUAGH!" Finn immediately pulled his hand to his chest, stumbling back and tripping over the log. He tumbled into the brush and scrambled to right himself before his head popped up over the wooden barrier. "You-.. You talked!"
"Geez man, don't have a cow- how else'm I gonna communicate?" The dog wagged its tail again as it traipsed closer. "Thought I caught a whiff of somethin' unordinary somewhere out here- don't get a lot of goblins in these parts, didn't know they came in pink!"
Finn stared dumbly, trying to parse what his eyes and ears were telling him. But he couldn't seem to reconcile the concept with his understanding of reality. He shook his head. Maybe he was still reeling from- no, he wasn't going to think about that right now.
"I-" He swallowed thickly. "I'm not a goblin, I'm a human, a human boy." He patted his chest with one hand, as if to make a point but it also seemed to help ground him, in a way.
It was the dog's turn to be astonished, its tail falling still.
"A human? But there haven't been humans in all of Ooo for like.. Wuh-I dunno, three hundred years. How did you even get here? Where's the rest of you?" The dog stepped a little closer, encouraged by the fact that Finn wasn't pulling away anymore- but the sudden look in the boy's eyes was dark with regret.
"I-" His lip trembled so he bit it. He tried to hold it back, but the tears were welling again. "It's all my fault. I should have stayed and fought, I shouldn't have run away, and now I'm alone, again." He balled his hands into fists, screwing his eyes shut but there was no stopping it. A little sob escaped from between his clenched teeth and he turned away, covering his face.
"Whoa, hey kid-" The dog had never met a human before, he'd only heard fantastic stories about their dangerous nature- but all of that seemed unimportant. What was important was the very real child right in front of him who was working his way through some serious damage. "Hey, come here."
Finn could hear the dog shifting but he didn't open his eyes until something warm and soft wrapped around him snugly. Wide eyed, he looked up at the suddenly gargantuan furry shape of the yellow dog that had pulled him into a hug. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been embraced, much less by such an odd creature, but it was nice.. So he chose not to question this development for the time being. Instead, he buried his face in the warm belly of the dog as a fresh wave of tears spilled from him. He wasn't sure how long he cried, only that he was bone-tired when it was over.
".. Th-thanks.." He muttered hoarsely, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, and rubbing snot away with his dirty sleeve.
"Hey, you needed that- gotta get all that stress outta' ya." The dog replied, and Finn's eyes widened a bit as the animal grew even larger still, lifting him off of the ground and placing him on its back in a singular motion. The boy clung tightly to the dog as it started to carry him off through the trees.
"Where-" His voice squeaked. "Where are you taking me?" He asked, leaning forward a bit to look down at the dog's face. He still couldn't quite believe that what was happening was actually happening, and not just the contents of some sort of bizarre dream.
"Home! You look like you could use some breakfast and a long nap." It replied and Finn could find nothing in him to protest to that notion. He was dirty, cold, hungry and oh so very tired. Even in the case that all of this was just a dream, which he was beginning to doubt severely, giving into the pleasant side of it didn't seem like a bad choice.
And in the ever more real case that he wasn't dreaming- he didn't have a choice anyway. He could survive on his own for a good long while in his home environment, but in these new and dangerous lands, the odds of making it on his own were slim, especially if the stories he had been told held any inkling of truth. He needed help for that- and by some magnificent boon of fate, it had come in the nebulous shape of a size-changing dog.
He sat quietly atop the dog's back as it loped along, deciding to absorb his surroundings. The tales he'd heard of the Beyond Lands had always made it sound so dark and fearsome, and he'd taken them seriously. The lands in those tales had always seemed like something dim and distant, but now, bathed in the shifting golden glow of the rising sun, the stories were what seemed dim and far away. The forest was nothing like the forests he'd known at home, which were cold and comprised of pines. Instead it was warm and inviting, and the ancient trees had the widest trunks he'd ever seen. Their limbs splayed every which way far above, forming a high roof through which only the occasional shaft of sunlight broke through as the wind rippled the canopy overhead.
Finn wasn't sure how much time had passed before they suddenly pushed through a thick wall of undergrowth, and the world was promptly filled with light. He sat up straight, dazzled for a moment as he opened his eyes from a squint to take in the green, rolling hills of the grassland before them. The blue sky above was clearer and more improbably blue than he'd ever seen it- he was so taken by it all that when the dog broke into a gallop, he nearly tumbled off. The forest that was quickly falling behind them cut off abruptly at the edge of the hills, the tree line stretching along its border as far as Finn could see- though his eyes were still murky, swimming in the abundance of light he hadn't quite adjusted to yet.
"Whew! Man that's bright. You still alright up there, kid?" The dog asked and Finn nodded.
"Yeah, I'm okay." He replied, though he wasn't sure if that was entirely honest. "How far away from here do you live?"
"Not long now." The dog called back. And he was right- as they ascended a hilltop, the shape of a huge tree came into view. Its branches bowed toward the ground, the long thin tips covered in small leaves that formed a sort of curtain of vegetation around the bulk of its trunk. But as the dog approached it Finn realized it wasn't just a giant tree, it was a giant treehouse.
Small glass windows peered out of the foliage, and a little bridge lead from the trunk to a sturdy branch where another leaf-encased hutch was perched. A little door at the base of the trunk offered an entrance, shaded by the bulk of the leaves rustling over it.
Finn stared in awe as the dog walked up to it, his mouth hanging open. The massive tree loomed over them now, hazy against the intense blue of the sky behind it. He'd never seen anything even remotely alike to it, but the only word he could think to describe it with was nothing short of incredible. "This is your- you live here?"
"Yep, home sweet home- now let's get you inside, brother." The dog's form seemed to give beneath Finn as it began to shrink down, and Finn looked down so quickly his head spun, tighting his grip on the dog's fur a bit in alarm. He relaxed his hold when the dog became small enough to leave him standing in the grass, and let go when it walked out from under him, heading along a dirt footpath toward the door. Finn slowly followed along behind, somewhat in a daze.
The dog opened the door to usher him in, and the first thing Finn noticed was that it was not as dim as he'd expected. The wooden room past the door was a little dusty but surprisingly well lit and mostly filled with chests. A ladder at the opposite end of the room seemed to lead up into another space, and Finn's eyes widened as the dog wrapped an arm-leg?-around him, pulling him close as it stretched up through the hole.. Which Finn was inwardly glad for, as he wasn't sure if he had the strength in him to climb up on his own. His legs were sore, stiff and barely felt useful for walking, let alone anything else- but he didn't see any reason to let on about it if he didn't need to.
The room above was spacious and cluttered with all manner of various objects- mismatched furniture, rugs, knickknacks, treasures, bits of armour and old relics.. Some familiar, some utterly alien- and all of them interesting. For all its cacophony it felt quite comfortable, and the large windows offered a wonderful view of the hills outside. Finn stumbled toward one, looking out into the fields- but when he turned to address his host, he found the room notably void of yellow dog.
"Hello?" He asked, peering around. A rustle from somewhere above him drew his attention to another ladder leading up through a hollowed branch. He stepped over to it, leaning over to peek into the space, but stumbled back in surpise when the dog popped out of it.
"Relax man, I was just settin' up a spot for you. C'mon." He wrapped an arm around Finn and pulled him up to the third floor. It appeared to be a bedroom with a large window and various pieces of furniture, including a large bed that looked as if it could have belonged to a king at some point in time. Finn had spent most of his nights sleeping on straw, a cot, or even just the ground- he was a little dumbstruck when the dog set him down on the bed.
"I-I can sleep on the floor, I don't wanna take up your-" He started weakly, but the dog laughed, wagging his tail.
"I barely use it. It's funny though- took all that trouble getting it only to find I like the drawer more." He pointed to the dresser at the foot of the bed, where a nest of blankets rested in a single pulled-out drawer. Finn smiled in spite of himself- it seemed that a talking, shapeshifting dog was still very much a dog.
"By the way." The dog said suddenly. "You can call me Jake."
The boy nodded in response. "I'm Finn.." He mumbled, but there was obviously more he wanted to say. He thumbed the hem of his tunic, slumping down a bit before giving the dog a meaningful look.
"I- just.." He breathed a tremulous sigh. There was a lot he wanted to say- but how could he possibly find the words to express his gratitude? Perhaps, for the time being, cutting to the soul of the matter was best. "Thank you."
The dog ceased wagging his tail- he hadn't really thought too deeply about the weight of what he was doing for the boy, but the look on Finn's face made it clear just how important his assistance had been, and he smiled warmly. He wasn't sure what was going to come of it all, but he was proud to have extended a helping hand, regardless. ".. Don't mention it."
He disappeared down the ladder, and Finn sat quietly for a moment before stripping down to his smallclothes, laying his damp tunic, leggings and cowl in the patch of sunlight on the floor to dry. He climbed into the bed, settling in under the quilt, and then he slept.