Chapter one

~3rd person Pov~

Pain. Pain is shooting through her arm, her shoulder, her head; she feels like each individual body part has been twisted around a cork screw and thumped up and down a few times for good measure.
"Mmfffhg..." the girl murmurs incoherently, and her one good arm flops onto the ground next to her. She fingers the soft newborn blades and digs her nails into the damp turf, wondering why she is lying face down on the grass. She pushes her elbow in and tries to lift herself up, arm quivering with exertion and eyebrows drawn as she concentrates. With a pained grunt she gets herself into a sitting position and almost screams when it feels like her neck is being broken. Even as she fights back her scream, tears trickle down her pale cheeks and she can taste the salt on her tongue. Breathing heavily, she cradles her wounded arm to her chest. It is most likely broken, and her shoulder...definitely dislocated. She holds out her arm and, with great discomfort, takes care of her dislocated shoulder.
"That hurt..." she hisses through clenched teeth after she sets it back in its socket.
The sound of a twig snapping makes her head jerk, and she begins to take interest in her surroundings. She's sitting in the middle of a small forest clearing, encircled by wild, rugged looking plants and low-hanging purple(?) moss. The cause of the abrupt sound is emerging from the thicket; a small yellowish-green...elephant? The creature stops in surprise then jogs over to the wounded girl, the bow on its tail flashing around wildly in a blur of pink. Confused and disoriented, the girl can do nothing but stare.
"Oh dear, oh dear!" Says the elephant in an old woman's slow drawl as she dances from foot to foot.
…A talking miniature elephant?
"Somthin' must've got you good, poor girl. Let 'ol Tree Trunks take a look at that arm. Easy now." The elephant, now known as Tree Trunks, gently wraps her trunk around the girl's arm.
"Ahh!" A shooting pain flares through when She moves it, and she immediately let's go.
"Oh my, I'm sorry! What to do, what to do...oh!" She cuts off suddenly, and her eyes flash. "I know! Don't go nowhere, now." Then the little elephant disappears back into the bushes. "FFIIIINNNNN! FFFFFFFIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNN!" Come her cries a second later.
"Huh?" Asks a faint voice that the girl can barely hear. "TT, what's wrong?"
"Finn! I found...injured...the woods...help her!"
The girl's vision begins to fade and the sounds are getting hard to comprehend.
'Am I...fainting..?' She wonders before she promptly falls onto her back and passes out.
'...weird...'

~? Pov~

"Hey, wake up! Come on, I know you can hear me!"
'Why is there some boy yelling at me?' I wonder, unable to muster the will to open my eyes and find out. My body feels stiff and sore; I can't even begin to explain how much my arm hurts.
"Aw man, Jake, why isn't she waking up?" The boy asks again, sounding more so impatient than worried.
" I dunno dude." A different voice replies. I decide I may as well humor them. I crack my eyelids open with great difficulty, my vision blurry. I can only make out three brightly colored blobs; one blue, one yellow, and one orange. They are leaning over me, well, orange and blue are; the yellow one is too short and I can only see the top of their head.
"Darlin', are you ok?" Asks the yellow blob.
...Her voice sounds really familiar.
" I...I think so, but I can't see anything. I need my glasses."
"Oh, those are yours? Woopsie. Heh heh." Laughs the orange blob guiltily.
"Jake, we've talked about this!" Mr. Blue blob chastens, and the orange one ducks as if blue has tried to hit him.
"What?! They're nice glasses..." There is a brief silence. "Oh fine. Here."
"Thanks." I say warily, wondering who these people were and hoping they didn't look as weird as they sounded. I bring the glasses up to my face and put them on; blinking against the transition as blue, orange, and green begin to take form. I yelp as the little elephant from before jumps onto my stomach and starts dancing around.
"What-!"
"Oooh, I'm jus' so happy, I thought you were a goner!" Sings the creature as she practically tap dances on my stomach.
I gape in confusion, only vaguely recalling what I'd thought was a dream. A yellowish-green elephant. Tree Trunks?
I tear my gaze away from her and look at who had been the blue and orange blobs.
"Are you...a dog..?" I ask in a confused manner. I am so certain he had talked before, but the only orange in front of me is a...dog? Why does it feel like-
"That's right! My name's Jake. And this-" He says, jerking his thumb towards Mr. Blue, "-is Finn."
"Hello." Says Finn politely, and I find myself frowning at his hat as I sit up. It is more of a cowl, really, white in color with two little nubs on top. Something about this seems awfully familiar, but I just can't put my finger on it.
"Um, anyway, where am I, exactly?" I inquire. "You're in our house." Said Finn, gesturing to the room we were in. It was spacious, though rural looking, with a low oak table and booth seat, a rather beat up painting of a woman hanging over our heads, and a kitchen. "We found you passed out in the woods near here and have been waiting for you to wake up."
"Pardon me, but are you really the dirt princess?" Tree Trunks interrupts, drawing my attention away from him.
"Um, no. I'm not a princess, but...I am apparently covered in dirt. Is there anywhere I can get cleaned up?" I ask, inspecting my mud-stained clothes and dusty skin.
"I told ya!" Jake snickered, elbowing Finn In the side, and the boy punched him in return.
"Sorry about him, he's an idiot. I'll show you the bathroom." He says, inclining his head and exiting the booth.
"Ok, thank you."
"No prob." Then he turns and I get up to follow him, stabilizing myself on the table when I begin to feel a little light headed. I take a deep breath, slide around Jake and follow Finn to the bathroom.
"There should be some towels in there, and soap; don't touch my shampoo." He adds hastily, and I raise an eyebrow.
"O...k..."
" Um, I'll try and find something for you to change into. If you need anything else..."
"I'll ask."
"Right." He begins to walk back into the main room, and I reach out and grab his shoulder.
"Um, Finn? Thanks. "
He smiles, a slight tinge to his cheeks, before high-tailing it out of the hallway.
I stare off after him in confusion, shrug, and go in the bathroom.
It is small, a little dirty, and smells funny, but at the moment I can care less. I peel off my clothes and drop them on the floor, scrunching up my nose at the horrible smell they give off. I then inspect the tub. It has a worn, wooden basin and a hand pump instead of a faucet, but otherwise seems ok. I work the pump furiously, careful to keep my bandaged arm out of the water, and keep filling it up as quickly as I can before testing the temperature. To my surprise the water is warm, and I smile thankfully as I climb in. I soak in the tub for a long time; at one point I even have to drain and refill it because the water got too gross for me to handle. How had I gotten so filthy in the first place? On second thought, where the heck am I ?! I must have fallen into some sick alternate reality, where colorful animals can talk and people live in trees. Wait, trees? I look out the small window again, and indeed, the very house I'm in is ensconced in the branches of a large willow tree. From this vantage point I can see only a limited view, but it's enough to make my skin crawl.
Talking animals.
A boy with a stupid hat.
A treehouse home.
A human named Finn.
A dog named Jake.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" I let out a bloodcurdling scream and jump out of the tub. I grab a towel and wrap it around myself as I start to hyperventilate, throwing open the door as I found out into the hallway. Tell me it isn't true. Tell me-
"Hello, guest. I am BMO~" sings the little robot that suddenly appears on my shoulder.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I scream even louder, and BMO screams and jumps off my shoulder.
"Sorry-!" It cries, disappearing.
I hold my hand to my chest, feeling the thumping of my heart beneath my fingertips and knowing I was having a panic attack.
'Gotta calm down, calm down!' I tell myself as I rush back into the bathroom and slam the door. 'It's Impossible, I'm just dreaming, I-"
"Hey, what's wrong? Why are you screaming? Are you ok?!" Finn asks, pounding on the door with his fists.
I lean against the door for support and draw a deep breath.
"Sorry Finn. I startled her with my mad ninja skills!" Chirps BMO.
"Oh, oh my glob. I thought something was wrong." He gasps, out of breath.
"S-sorry. " I whisper, not trusting myself to say more.
"Hey, its ok. Here are the clothes; I'll leave them out here. Come on BMO, leave her alone."
"Coming!"
I look vacantly at the still-steaming tub and smack myself upside the head.
It stings, but I'm still here.
It's not a dream.
This is really happening.
I've somehow woken up in the only cartoon I've ever hated with a passion.
I'm somehow in*violent shiver* adventure time.

I frown as I stare into the full-length mirror propped up against the wall, dissatisfied with the clothes I am wearing. Finn had given me a pale yellow sweater and a pair of blue shorts. They are both clean, thank goodness, but the sweater hugs my chest a little too tightly, and the shorts are very snug around my hips. You can also kinda see my bra line through the sweater, but at least I'm covered, so whatever. I sigh as I open the door and tuck my soiled clothes under my arm. Slowly I pad down the hallway back into the kitchen.
"Um, hey. Sorry I took so long." I say, tucking a stray strand of damp hair behind my ear. Tree Trunks has apparently already left, so only the other two look up when I speak. Finn's mouth drops open and his cheeks turn a million interesting shades of red. Jake emerges from the kitchen holding a casserole, sees me, and proceeds to drop the dish, and his jaw, in shock.
I follow their gaze and blush, hurrying to cover my chest with my arm.
"H-hey! Not cool." I stutter, for a moment forgetting everything but my embarrassment. "Sorry!" Finn shrieks, hiding his eyes with his hands.
Hold on.
Does that kid only have four fingers on each hand?!
That reminds me-
I try to follow that train of thought, but get distracted when Jake starts gasping.
"No way, no way, no-Finn! Open your eyes! Seriously Finn!"
Finn shakes his head rapidly, hands still covering his eyes. "Dude, no! She's- holy cow!" Says the boy when Jake grabs his hands and makes him look at me in shock and...awe?
"Whoa, man. You're creeping me out." I state, backing away from them slowly.
"You're...you're...you're-"
"Human!" He and Jake exclaim at the same time.

After that I find myself back at the table, suffering through an intense interrogation.

Where am I from?
-What is my favorite food?
Am I good or evil?
-What's my favorite color?
Have I ever killed anyone?
-What's my name?

"Oh yeah, that's right. What is your name?" Jake asks.
"Miranda."
"Miranda..." Finn echoes, sounding out the syllables.
"I dunno, meatloaf, good (sometimes), blue, no, Miranda." I answer quickly when Jake glares at me.
"Sometimes?" Inquires Jake, but before I can comment Finn starts talking again.
"Meatloaf is my favorite food too!"
"Oh, um, that's, um, nice." I say carefully, backing away from the boy as he starts to get a little too excited for my tastes.
"This is so...mathmatical! I've never met another human before!"
"Woah, Finn, calm down! You're freaking her out, man."
He is hunched over, a crazy-happy expression on his face, with foam in his mouth. Of COURSE I'm gonna be freaked out.
"Huff...huff..."
I look at him warily and take another step back.
"Ok, I'm chill. I'm chill, see?" Finn said, his lips still fighting the crazed grin and fists shaking with the effort of holding down his excitement.
"Ok, back to buisness." Jake said slowly, shooting Finn a concerned look. "You don't know where you're from?"
"Oh I know, it's just, at this point in time, I'd rather not tell you." I take another step back, this time hitting a wall. I glance behind me and notice the wall is right next to a door. Not sparing it another thought, I fling it open and take off running.
"Hey wait! Where are you going?!" Jake calls after me, but I slam the door in his face and keep running. I quickly find a ladder down and descend, plodding down the rungs and coming out into a large room at the bottom. It almost makes me stop. The room is filled with gold and jewels, crowns and necklaces, y'know, all that fancy treasure stuff. I ignore the urge to stop and look, however, and make a mad dash towards the large heavy oak door that bars my exit.
"Miranda! Don't go outside, it's gonna knife storm today!"
Knife storm? How ridiculous!
It isn't until I flee the house and am quite a ways away do I remember.
Adventure Time... is a cartoon.
The ridiculous is quite possible.
And that means-
"Ahh!"
The first few knives are already falling from the sky.
Real knives.
Kitchen knives, butcher knives, butter knives...but the majority are daggers or other weapons with short blades that can be classified as knives.
In all, my nightmare has just gotten worse. Much worse.
I look around franticly for shelter, but their house is located on a large, open plain. There is nowhere for me to hide.
Can I outrun the storm?
A knife slices through the tender skin of my shoulder, which I grab immediately and wince when I feel warm blood between my fingers.
"I can't." I say aloud, tears running down my cheeks; but I keep running anyway.
More knives make contact with my skin, but the full onslaught of the storm has yet to break loose.
Suddenly my eyes land on a small outcropping of rocks in the distance.
"Yes!" I run faster than I ever have before to get to those rocks. Once I arrive, I'm relieved to find a crevice in the rock with a large slab covering the top; an accidental Stonehenge. I dive inside to avoid further injuries, biting my lip to keep from crying out in pain when my broken arm bumps the wall. I can still hear Finn and Jake in the distance, calling for me. I can't quite make out what they say after that, but Jake's voice gets louder and Finn's disappears. A moment later I find out why, as a shadow darts towards me from the mist of the knife storm. It's Finn. He's covered with blood and cuts, with knives sticking out of his back and a black eye. He's still soldering on, even though he must be in great pain, and it doesn't look like he sees me.
I hesitate to move.
Should I save him? He risked his life to come after me, and could die from a fatal blow at any moment.
I HATE the show Adventure Time; I hate the animation, the story, the characters. I always told my brother to shut up whenever he was talking about it.
But... do I hate it enough to let him die...just because he's... Finn..?
Wait.
He's just a cartoon.
He can't die anyway, right?
I don't have to risk anything.
He's not even real.
Is he..?
Am I willing to risk it?

Ugh...No.

I can't just let him...die.

I'm not a coward like that.

This is real enough, even if it is a cartoon; My own blood smeared on my hand can prove that to me.
I step out and run to him, grabbing his shoulder and getting stabbed in the thigh with a silver dagger for my heroism.
I gasp in pain; Finn is leaning on my injured shoulder for support and I am pulling us both back into the crevice, ignoring the dagger in my thigh. I let go of him and we both roll to the ground.
"You...you-"
"Idiot. I know." I sighed.
He doesn't say anything else, so I take that as agreement and begin ripping apart the yellow sweater.
"What-"
"We need bandages. Hold still."
I start by tearing off the sleeves, then tear long strips off the bottom. I tend to Finn first, as his injuries are far worse than mine.
By the time I'm done wrapping his major wounds there's nothing left for the minor, nor for my own. My sweater is already reduced to a very short crop top; it isn't covering that much of me anyway, so I pull it off and make the required bandages. It's too dark in the crevice for me to see much, but by the way his head is angled Finn seems to be blushing profusely. He blushes a lot for a guy, it seems.
"Relax, I'm wearing a sports bra." I say bluntly as I wrap a bandage around his wrist. He makes a weird sound; kinda between a hiccup and a cough. I roll my eyes, fighting the urge to slap him, and begin taking care of my shoulder and thigh.
...some time later...
"...so, how long do these storms usually last?"
"I don't know- this is the first I've ever been in." Finn answers.
"Oh joy." I sigh and lean back against the wall.
"Favorite color?" He asks abruptly, and we return to our game of 100 questions.
"Blue. You?"
"Same. Favorite food?"
"Meatloaf. Don't you remember?"
"Oh yeah, sorry Miranda. Um... favorite smell?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"I-I don't know! A question."
"Um, old book smell?"
"Algebraic!"
"Pardon?"
"Erm..."
"My turn. Favorite superpower?"
"Flight. You?"
"...same...how old are you?"
"Twelve."
"No way! Impossible, liar!"
"Hey, I'm not a liar!"
"Then why are all your answers the same as mine?!"
"I don't know! Wait- you're twelve too?!"
"Erm...yeah..."
"Ha! Still the same."
"Oh yeah? Favorite animal!"
And we go on and on; both of us intrigued and I annoyed at how much we have in common.
"Alright, I give up. Is the storm over with yet?" I ask, ending the game.
"I don't think so-oh. Yeah, it's done now. "
"Thank goodness. Here, give me your arm." I grab his arm and help him to his feet.
"Woah, Imma woozy!" He says, shakily taking a step forward.
"Let me help." I drape his arm over my shoulder and help him walk out.
"What-?" I say when we step outside the crevice. "What happened to all the knives?!"
"Oh, they only hit people. Trees and other natural stuff, like dirt, they pass right through."
I frown and think about the silver dagger that had embedded itself in my thigh. After I removed it I'd tucked it into my shoe when Finn wasn't looking. Would it pass through a tree if I took a stab at it?
What a weird thought.

It is dark by the time we make it back to their house. I help Finn hobble up to the door, and there we find Jake who helps me get him inside.
"Are you stupid or something?!" Demands Jake, draping a blanket over my shoulders even as I roll my eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me, missy!"
"Sorry Jake. Finn was freaking me out and I didn't know what you meant by knife storm." I say as cover myself with the blanket. "Didn't know what I-!" He echoed, his voice rising an octave. "How would you not know what I meant?"
"Where I'm from it never storms knives! How was I supposed to know it actually does here?"
"-and that brings us back to WHERE ARE YOU FROM?"
"And once again, I DONT WANT TO TELL YOU!"
"GUYS!" Finn shouts.
"WHAT?" We yell in unison.
"Stop it already! We can talk about this tommorrow, I want to sleep!"
"Oh."
And that was the end of it.

I roll over on my pallet and draw the thick wool blanket over my shoulders. Finn is finally asleep on the bed after much arguing; he was trying to be chivalrous, but with his injuries sleeping on the floor would just be stupid. Jake is curled up inside an opened drawer, his head resting on a small pillow. I yawn and wish I too were asleep, yet I am not. It's strange; I don't feel as ill at ease as I'd expect to, sleeping in a room with two guys I barely know...let alone in a place I hate that shouldn't exist. The pillows that make up my pallet are plump and comfy, the blanket is soft and cool... I feel peaceful and safe.
Why?
Just a few hours earlier I'd been freaking to high heaven. Poor BMO probably thought I was a nutcase. And Finn? I feel as if I know him now, whereas before he was just a fake character to which I directed my hate. This Finn, the one I know, is...real. Everything is shifting; one second it seems like a cartoon, the next I'm sure it's not. If I look too closely, Finns face gets fuzzy. Are we animated or not? The rise and fall of their chests in sleep appear too realistic to be drawn, yet the curve of Jake's smile, the largeness of his eyes, his solid color fur-

Thinking like this can't be good for me if it confuses my brain this much.

I frown and turn over so I face the wall. Perhaps if I just go to sleep, I'd wake up at home. Matthew would run into my room, demanding to know why I hadn't started fixing his TV like I had promised. Dad would be smiling at me from the doorway, shaking his head at my brother's antics as Mom called us all down to breakfast. Then my little brother would regale us over sausage and eggs, relating the newest episode of adventure time and telling us how awesome it was. I'd roll my eyes and focus on my food, deciding not to tell him of the weird dream I had of orange dogs and old yellow elephants.
If only...