"Jake, have you seen my other shoe? I can't find it," Finn called as he looked under his bed.
"No, man. Why are you in such a hurry, anyway? Your date isn't for hours," came the reply, drifting from downstairs.
"Dude, it's gonna be our three month anniversary. I need to find something special for her before our date." Now Finn was looking through the cupboards by his bed. "Found it!" he cried, pulling the black shoe out from the dark drawer. "Now what was it doing in there?" He shrugged, pulled it on, and bounded downstairs. Jake was there, cooking breakfast.
"There you are, man. You look great," he said. Actually, Finn looked exactly as he always did: white bear cap, blue eyes, a shirt, shorts, and sneakers. Only the look of excitement on his face betrayed the importance of this day. "So," Jake asked, his eyes narrowing slyly, "what are you going to get her?"
"I dunno, man," Finn replied. "I thought maybe some flowers. They'll burn up, but it's the thought that counts, right?" He chuckled, slightly nervous.
"Yeah, you could get her some ordinary plain-Jane flowers," Jake said casually, his back to Finn. "oooooorrrrrrr," he turned, stretching out his torso until he was barely an inch from his brother's face, "you could get her the greatest flowers ever seen in Ooo, fiery spectacular flowers, the only flowers that can grow in fire and be fine!" His eyes grew as big as saucers. "You could get her the Heart of the Sun!"
"Woah," Finn said, his mouth making an O. "Where can I find it?"
"I got you covered, bro," Jake replied. He pulled his bacon pancakes from the stove and walked over to a familiar-looking book. "I thought you might need some help picking out that perfect gift for FP. So I looked through this here book" - he opened it - "and found this flower. It is extremely rare, and can only be found in places where a piece of the sun has crashed onto Ooo."
"And it can grow in fire?" Finn asked, entranced. This would be the perfect thing to get Flame Princess.
"Yep. In fact, fire is the only thing it can grow in. Which is why I rigged this" - he pulled something that looked like a glass jar with leaves in it from under the table - "it's a glass jar with leaves in it, see? Put it in this to keep it alive until you get it to the princess."
Finn took the jar with reverence, and put it into his pack. "Thanks, dude. Now, where can I find a piece of the sun?"
"I found that out, too. I asked around, and it turns out a piece of the sun crashed down at the edge of the candy forest, not far from here," Jake replied proudly. He'd had this all planned out. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to prepare for my date with the Lady." At the last word, his voice grew deep, and he puffed up his chest, looking almost twice as big.
"Thank you so much, Jake!" Finn cried, bounding out the tree house door. "I'll be back in a little while!" He hit the ground running. Soon, he would have the Heart of the Sun, and then to see Flame Princess. Everything was going mathematical. Adventure waited!
Meanwhile, Flame Princess was getting ready for Finn's arrival. Even though she knew he couldn't come in, she straightened out her house, carefully arranging the burning pillows on the burning couch, and making sure that the embers were swept off the floor. She paused, checking her reflection in the mirror shard she had. Carefully, she adjusted the flaming tongues of her hair just so, only to have them spring back into their original positions. She sighed, blowing a lock of flames out of her face with a puff of superheated air. Oh, well.
The fire girl turned to her wardrobe, and chose a red (what other color?) dress from it. It fell down around her legs like a robe of fire, which was exactly what it was. She smiled ruefully at her reflection. The past three months had been the best of her life. Since leaving the fire kingdom, she had seen and experienced more than she thought possible. And Finn was the best part of all. He had opened a new world to her, and she couldn't wait to see him again. She knew their one month anniversary would be a night to remember.
Finn climbed the final hill, and he saw it: the edge of the candy forest. And there, a little ways in, a faint glow. Could that be the object of his quest? Forgetting the soreness in his legs, Finn ran forward, and plunged into the forest. He tore through branches, weaving through boulders of rock candy and ribbon ferns until he finally came into a clearing.
It was a small clearing, maybe 20 feet across at its widest point. Sugar grass covered the ground. But what drew Finn's eyes was the object in the center of the clearing: a flaming-hot molten mass. And perched on top was a single, burning flower. It was vaguely tulip-shaped, except that it had flames rising from the middle of the flower and a thorny, white-hot stem.
Finn approached it, feeling its heat. How to get it? He looked around for inspiration, and his eyes lit upon a candy cane nearby. After checking to see if it was a person (it wasn't), Finn grabbed it and turned around. Pulling an oven mitt from his pack, he put it on his hand, and holding the cane in his other hand, ran towards the molten mass. At the last second he dug the cane into the ground, soaring nearly two meters into the air. As he passed, he grabbed the flower with his mitted hand. The mitt immediately began to smoke. Finn landed, and quickly pulled out the jar. His hand already beginning to burn, he stuffed the flower into the jar, and closed the lid. The flames on the flower spread to the leaves, burning them with unnatural slowness. Finn hoped there would be enough fuel to get it back to Flame Princess. He put the mitt and the jar back into his pack, and turned to leave.
"Help!"
Finn whirled around. A cry for help! This sounded like a job for a hero! He scanned the clearing, but no one was there.
"Help, help!"
There it was again! It was coming from deeper inside the forest. Finn dove in without a moment's hesitation. He ran through the trees, listening as the cry for help got louder and louder. He looked around, and spotted an opening in the trees. He burst through, and found himself in another clearing.
It was smaller than the one that contained the Heart of the Sun. It was also much more interesting. For what Finn gazed upon was a tiny city. It looked just like a normal city, only minuscule. The tallest buildings were barely one foot high. And the people were no bigger than dancing bugs. Finn quickly realized the problem: a huge boulder had fallen in the middle of their city, crushing several blocks.
Carefully, so as to not squish anyone, Finn approached the city. The denizens of the tiny town turned to look at him as one. "Um, hello," Finn said awkwardly. "What happened?"
One of the people pushed his way out of the crowd, and ran into a nearby building. After a few seconds his voice, amplified many times, emerged from the structure. "Greetings, traveler! This rock abruptly fell on us from the sky, and we don't know what to do about it. If you could help, we would be very grateful!"
"Sure, I can help!" Finn responded enthusiastically. He carefully walked into the city and placed his hands on the rock.
"Forgive us, traveler," the voice inquired meekly, "but we were wondering: are you not Finn the Human, hero of Ooo?"
Finn's chest filled with pride. "Yes I am! And I'm here to help." He pulled on the rock with all his might, but it didn't budge. He tried again, but still no luck. "Maybe if I get a better hold on it..." He tried to adjust his hands, but they didn't move. "What the..." he muttered, trying again. It was almost as if he were -
"Stuck?" asked the voice mildly. "Oh dear." The speaker took on a more sinister tone. "We'll have to help you with that." Back beyond the clearing, opposite of where Finn had entered, something shifted. Something definitely not the size of the tiny people. It moved lightning fast, and before Finn could even cry out, something heavy hit him on the back of the head, and a deep and certain blackness descended on him.
