Princess of SugarBlood C1
{It amuses me to see Marshall Lee Abadeer, King of the Vampires, Prince if the Nightosphere, struggling with a small child. So sue me. I didn't make this fiction for nothing.}
A five-year-old Fionna looked around her surroundings fearfully, searching for her sister. "Cake! Cake! Where'd you go?!" She shivered, rubbing her arms. "This isn't funny, Cake! You're scaring me!" Cake was nowhere to be found.
The small girl continued along, coming to the edge of a long tundra of sparkling white snow as the sun set, casting the area into a dim, eerie glow. She peered out over it, searching for the familiar tan spots that would guide her to Cake.
"Well, you look lost." A voice behind her commented amusedly.
She spun to see a teenaged boy in jeans, and t-shirt and a button-up plaid red shirt standing behind her, leaning against a tree, hands hanging carelessly out of his pockets. "I'm not lost!" She retorted. "I'm just trying to find my sister!"
"Then what direction's your house, short stuff?" He questioned, leaning towards her.
She backed away a little, looking frightened. "Um... it's right over..." She looked around helplessly.
"That's what I thought. You're all alone, aren't you?" He cocked his head.
"No, I... yeah." Fionna admitted, hanging her head.
"Look, kid, you wanna spend the night someplace warm and let's you and me talk?" The boy offered.
She paused for a moment before bursting into tears.
The boy jumped. "Whoa, kid, calm down! Just- just cool it, and maybe I can help you find your sister or something?" He groaned as the child continued to wail. (What the hell am I meant to do? I don't deal with kids, that more Bubba's kind of thing-)
"Aha!" He snapped his fingers. "Look, what's your name, kiddo?" He asked, bobbing down to the girl and touching her shoulder.
She sniffled and peered at him past the ears of her hat. "Fionna..." She said in a wobbly voice.
"Well, my name's Marshall Lee. Come on, I'll introduce you to a friend of mine. He's pretty..." Marshall wrinkled his nose. "But he is THE guy to visit if you want advice on 90% of things. You like candy?"
"I love candy!" Fionna beamed, broken from her tears at the mere mention of lollies.
Marshall laughed at her enthusiasm. "Come on, have you ever wanted to fly?"
"Yeah, all the time!" She nodded.
"C'mon, we can fly to him." Marshall smiled, holding out a hand to the little girl.
She hesitated, then grabbed it and squealed as he picked her up and settled her in his arms. "I wanna piggyback!" She demanded.
Marshall paused. "That's not really safe, Fi..."
"I'll hold on tight, I won't fall!" She pleaded.
He shook his head. "Sorry, kiddo. Not happening."
She glared at him, then wriggled out of his grasp and sat on the grass, poking her tongue out at him.
He sighed. "Fi, I really can't... Bubba would kill me, even if you did hang on."
Fionna pouted. "But I really wanna!" She whined.
He facepalmed. "Look, kiddo, what if you do fall?You'd get hurt pretty bad, and I don't think either of us want that to happen. Do you?"
"I won't fall." She repeated. "And I don't get hurt easy. I'll be fine. Trust me? Pleeeaaase?" She made puppy-dog eyes at him.
He raised his eyes, willing himself not to look at the imploring child in front of him. "Fionna... no. I'm sorry, but it just wouldn't be the right thing to do. Okay?"
She scowled. "Come off of it! I can hold on really tight! I'll be okay, I swear!"
He sighed again. "I really couldn't-" he made the fatal mistake of looking at the little girl in front of him.
Big blue eyes sparkled pleadingly, her mouth was set in an adorable pout, and her crossed arms were a symbol of both stubbornness and cuteness. "Please, Marshy?"
He rubbed his forehead. "It's Mar-SHALL. Fine."
She cheered and jumped up to her feet. He picked her up and swung her carefully onto his back, making sure she was holding on tightly before assuming his own grip on the girl and floating off the ground.
Fionna gasped as his feet left the ground and laughed delightedly as they flew towards the Candy Kingdom. They left the edges of the Ice Kingdom far behind as they swooped over The Grasslands and past the Fire Kingdom, shooting past the Breakfast Kingdom and the Junk Kingdom as they went.
When they finally landed at the gates of the Candy Palace, Fionna's eyes were huge as she stared up at the large candy structure. "It's made out of gingerbread... and jelly, and rock candy, and liquorice!" She gaped.
Marshall smiled. "I thought you might like it. And wait'll you meet Bubba." He turned towards the castle, smiled sweetly and let out a demonic shriek that would made Fionna jump.
"What was THAT about?" She questioned.
Marshall grinned. "Three... two..."
The next moment, the gates opened to show a surprised and rather annoyed boy in pink clothing. "Marshall, what do you want?"
"Look at this." Marshall gently ushered Fionna in front of him. "I found her wandering around the edges of the Ice Kingdom."
The boy bobbed down to Fionna's height and smiled. "Hello there. I'm Prince Bubba Gumball. You can call me Bubba, ok?"
She nodded shyly, clinging onto Marshall's jeans.
"Go on, kiddo. Introduce yourself to His Royal Highness." Marshall smiled coaxingly at her, patting her on the shoulder.
"My name's Fionna. Pleased to meet you." She said meekly, looking up at him.
Bubba grinned at her. "That's a nice name. One 'N' or two?"
She smiled. "That would be two. F-I-O-N-N-A."
"Cool." Bubba grinned. "So, did you get lost, Fionna?"
"I can't find my sister, and I don't know where I am." She told him.
"Well, what does the area around your house look like?" He asked.
"Um... there's a forest nearby, and there's a river, and there's a big well, too." She said after a moment's thought.
Marshall bit back a groan. There were literally thousands of places in Aaa like that!
Bubba's face fell slightly, but he perked up for the sake of the child he was talking to. "I'm sure we'll find your sister really soon." He assured her. "But for the meantime, do you want to stay with us? That way, there'll be the three of us and all my Banana Guards looking for her."
She nodded. "Thank you, guys." She said softly, smiling up the two boys.