"-the wastlands seem to be recovering from the mushroom war, finally. Maybe within a decade we could begin properly exploring it." Bonnibel sipped her tea as she looked over her reports.
Peppermint Butler sighed and took the papers from her. "When I suggested that you spend some time outside, I was hoping that you would leave work behind for the day."
"I know, but-" She froze. "Did you hear that?"
The pair of Candy people remained silent for a moment, before a quiet sob broke through the trees. Bonnie quickly stood and rushed off to find the source of the noise while her butler sighed and began to clean up the uneaten picnic. She found herself stumbling into a clearing, a crying child sitting on the ground. "Oh, you poor thing." As she moved to pick up the child she realized why nothing had attempted to eat the unattended infant. "Where are your parents? Why would they leave you alone in this state?"
The baby opened its brilliant blue eyes at the sound of her voice, reaching out its tiny hands. Bonnie picked them up, forcing herself to ignore the smell. "Lets get you somewhere safe..."
She walked back to where she knew Peppermint Butler was just finishing cleaning up, not noticing a pair of green eyes watching her leave from the nearest shrub.
"Peps!" Bonnibel held the child very carefully as she walked. "We may need to stop by the orphanage on the way back..."
"Oh my Glob! Princess, that thing could have some sort of disease!"
"It's fine peps, it just needs a bath and some warm clothes. It's odd though, I've never seen a creature that looks like this..." The child giggled as Bonnies hand brushed its forehead. She jolted in surprise as what she thought was its head peeled away to reveal soft golden hair. "It's... a Human!"
Peps gasped, almost dropping the picnic basket.
Options ran through her head a million miles a second. The Orphanage wouldn't be capable of caring for a human, it wouldn't be able to account for any unique circumstances that might arise from the rarity of this species. Documents on humans were hard to find, especially medicine related ones. They were said to be incredibly violent, what if it hurt one of the other children? The only person she knew had first hand experience with humans was...
"I... think it'd be better if I took care of this for now..."
--
His name was Finn. There was a little tag inside the animal hat with his name written in. After he'd been bathed and dressed, he'd quickly fallen asleep in Bonnie's arms. She called the Turtle Queen, requesting any information regarding humans that she could spare. The other royal agreed and promised to have them ready for her as quickly as possible.
"Someone else came in today asking for the same thing, but once they return the rests I'll be sure to give you a call."
Bonnie blinked. "What? Who was it?" She asked.
Turtle Queen sighed before speaking. "They asked me not to tell anyone. But they only checked out a few books about them so I'm sure whatever you need isn't missing."
She twisted the cord of her phone out of frustration. Finn was fast asleep in the crib beside her, so she tried to keep her voice level. "Could you at least tell me if they mentioned... finding one?"
"A Human? In Ooo? Princess, there hasn't been any sign of humans in Ooo in almost... 800 years! If one did show up it'd probably come from some alternate universe or some nonsense. They're most likely extinct. Good riddance I say, they did enough damage on their way out."
Bonnie looked over the sleeping child, he was so content in his crib as he sucked on his thumb. He seems so harmless... She jumped as she realized that Turtle Queen was still rambling about humans on the other end. "Haha yeah! Anyway, I'll send someone tomorrow to pick those up. Thanks a bunch!" She hung up before the royal had a chance to respond. "What am I gonna do with you..?"
His face scrunched up and his body tensed for a moment in warning as just a few seconds later the child began to scream and sob in distress. She flinched at the sound. So loud...
"Hey it's ok, I'm here. What's wrong?" She picked up the child and tried to soothe him to no avail.
"He's hungry, princess. I'm surprised it took him this long to express that." Peppermint Butler strolled in carrying a tray of food. "Does he have teeth or should I go warm up some milk?"
They found that Finn did have teeth and was a fan of mushed apples. He also was capable of walking short distances on his own but seemed to prefer crawling. Oddly, he didnt seem like he could or wanted to talk yet.
"Maybe it takes longer for Humans to learn how to talk..." Bonnie muttered to herself.
She was torn between her desire for companionship and her scientific curiosity. A live human would provide a wealth of information about the nearly extinct species, especially one that seemed to be very young and healthy. But Humans were also said to be very intelligent and as much as she adored her Candy citizens, they were not they were not the brightest creatures. This was a chance to have an intelligent companion she could revel in scientific research with. One that she wouldn't have to feel guilty about creating if he went sour.
--
Marceline strummed her bass as she flew, not really trying to string anything together. Her frustration with Ash was starting to become unbearable. She had decided to bear the daylight for a while if only to get a few hours of solitude.
Nearby a bush rustled, seeming to respond to her music. She froze and the bush stopped. As she began to play again the shrub parted slightly, a face peeked out.
"What? Are you trying to peep my creative methods? Sorry lil guy. I'm just going with the flow."
Green eyes blinked in response, but they didn't speak. The bush split as the tiny person stepped out, scratched up and dirty. They plopped backwards and yawned.
"You bored already?" They began to chew on their fist in response. "Wait... are you a baby? Who leaves a baby in the woods?"
She picked up the child, picking twigs and leaves from their hair. "How long have you been out here? Geez, you're covered in dirt. Come on, I have a buddy nearby that can help."