A/N: Sorry for the long wait :3 Here's the next chapter! Marceline should be making an appearance sometime in the near future! Sorry if it seems a little slow, but I think it'll make a better build up. So I hope for reviews and for you guys to stick around to see what happens! :D
Darkness contrasted Princess Bubblegum's pink skin as it contorted, tightening around her. She felt as though she was watching herself this time, knowing full well what would happen next, yet having no control. She saw her self, but appeared younger and much smaller. The child figure sunk down to her knees, curling into a tense ball on the rock candy floor. Visibly shaking her past self cried soundlessly in the void engulfing her. The princess knowing what she dreaded most anticipated the silence sharpening its notes into something terrible. Seeming to leak from the darkness the low hissing rung in her ears. Panic set in as the sound endlessly buzzed in her mind. Trying to change the seemly permanent strand of events, the princess forced her mouth open to yell. Cracking open her eyes she found her self gazing into a night sky through spaces between thickly veined leaves.
Sitting up abruptly Bonnibel whipped her head around, looking in all directions. She had, for a moment, forgotten where she was and all about her impulsive departure; she really had expected wake to familiar pastel walls that she'd woken to so many times before. So when she was confronted rather by countless pear trees, a disorientated shock struck her before reality settled back in; she obviously had not intentionally fallen asleep. The pink monarch remembered reaching the middle of the plantation before settling down into a shallow draining ditch running along the dense trees. It seemed like the safest place to await sundown. She recalled being out breath and over come with anxiety from her narrow escape. Desperately she had tried to keep awake in the cool trench, but eventually had succumbed to her stress-induced exhaustion.
The leaves murmured with a warm breeze breaking the still silence in the tree-enclosed area. Relieving the tension she felt in her back, she stretched to rub her eyes and found them damp. Flashes of her nightmare spilt into her mind turning her stomach into a pit of knots. Sugar cubes. Darn sugar frickin' cubes. The princess stood hurriedly as if she could leave her unwanted feelings on the ground. Turning she glanced down at the spot she had just occupied. The tarnished t-shaped metal sat lightly coated with dust. Her gaze remained focused on the ancient charm as she gathered her heavy pack, hooking it tightly around her shoulders. Bending down she gently scooped it up in her sandy palm and gripped it reassuringly. Dismissing her dream completely she breathed deeply. Time to move forward. She could no longer linger in fear, she really had not the time or the energy.
Pushing past her tight chest, she decided that night travel was the only intelligent option (seeing as her incredulous amount of pink stood out so prominently amongst the green scenery) and gathered herself in several deep breaths. Bubblegum's feet brushed the yellow dirt into a fine cloud as she stepped out from the narrow channel. The low hanging leaves caressed her cheek casting her gaze into the trees upper limbs. Two pears suspended on a somewhat reachable branch caught her attention. Gingerly slipping the metal charm into her hoodie pocket she jumped, stretching her fingers and palms wide. In her first attempt to grab the green fruits she only grazed them lightly with the tips of her chalky fingers, but with the second try she had both with one jump. This sort of produce was considered junk food in her kingdom due to its non-candy bio structure, but any sugar was better then nothing. Unhooking a single strap from her shoulder she swung the pack to her front and unzipped its main pocket unceremoniously tossing both pears in. She knew stealing was always wrong, but the farming town surely would not miss just two small pears that were not even in season. A soft gurgling growl came from the girl's midsection causing her to pause. Hunger curled up and around her insides squeezing in an uncomfortable pulse. Exhaling the princess groped deep into the bags depths searching for a smooth round surface. Digits finally finding what they sought pulled forth a ruby candy apple. The princess's mouth watered as she hooked her arm back through the thin strap and adjusted the pack back into its proper position. There was only one candy apple left and two unripe pears. Not at all enough for her to travel comfortably across the grasslands, but it would have to last her at least the next three evenings. It was then that she would stop to restock at next farming town on the chart's route. She would again have to raid a stranger's garden at the new location, who knew traveling would entail so much stealing. The princess really was not at fault, she had no money of her own. The candy elders always had forbid her to hold common currency because she was of royal blood. She was told her noble blood entitled her to whatever she desired, that is if it was appropriate for a princess to want.
Taking a large bite into the shell of the apple, she relished the fresh tasting sweetness that filled her mouth. Bubblegum stepped forward into the murky darkness of the inky blue shadows moving swiftly. Her surroundings were silent, amplifying even the slightest rustle of her rushed feet and the clicking of her teeth to an uncomfortable level. While the girl did have a flashlight in her pack she thought it foolish to use because if anyone or anything was around it would lead them straight to her. Finishing the last bite of apple she gripped the sticky core tightly in her palm as she quickened her pace away from the farming town. Small, dark seeds dug into her hands center as her hold on the finished fruit grew stronger. She was afraid to leave it behind as evidence of her presence, too cautious of getting caught. The princess glimpsed down at the hands on her round pink watch and quickened her speed to a slow run. She needed to get the plop out of this town, it was almost two in the morning now leaving her little time to escape from any candy guards that may or may not be waiting near by.
Coming to the end of the stretched rows of pear trees she found her self confronted with another contrasting group of unorganized, wild dark wood trees. Pausing, she stared from the intense blackness that seemed to emanate from the forests mouth to the east, where the emptiness of endless rolling hills lit by a wide, golden moon stood. Seeming to bounce on the pads of her feet she looked apprehensively from the conflicting landscapes to her watch and back again. It looked unsafe and it was not marked on the map, but she knew she would be unable to reach the next safe zone in the short hours before dawn over the vast, green lands. Finally picking her poison, Bubblegum ventured north into the bold black outline of the intimidating wood.
Branches caught on her coat's hood and scratched her exposed flesh, causing her to drop the candy apple core. She was uncomfortable leaving it, but in the tangled wood it would be impossible to recover without a lengthy search which she had no time for. The brush surrounding the princess caught on to her lose clothing, forcing her to stop several times to unhook it from the clingy twigs. She could not see more then a foot in front of her and was surprised she had not tripped yet. Fishing into her pocket, she let her fingers graze the rusted metal; her heart beat in an unsettlingly fast manner. This place was not pleasant like the candy world she was accustomed to. It smelt like filthy rainwater, musty like the time she had experimented with bathwater which had had been left to sit for a week. Peps was not pleased when he found the mess. Momentarily, she felt some relief as she thought of her experiments and the peppermint man, but all too rapidly she remembered where she was and what she had gotten herself into. This place was much too dim and lacked the sweet colors and smells she was used to. It was a coldness she could not seem to shake no matter what comforting thought came to mind. Taking large, slow steps, she held her arms out in front of her as guides. After what seemed like an eternity of blindness, she saw dusty light pouring from the foliage's end several feet away. Thankful then, the brightly colored girl's feet carried her to the glows source. Bubblegum paused to peek out from the trees' edge. Her plum eyes peered out into a small circular clearing with a tiny pool of clear water and what appeared to be glowing, white flowers.
Faces turned up to the moons yellow craters, the flowers seemed to be angled in alignment with its radiance. Princess Bubblegum could not help herself as she swiftly ventured out from the twisted trees in a new excited fervor. Almost tripping, her flat caught on a root that had grown crookedly out from the earth as she made her way clumsily to the center of the field. Practically falling to the ground in awe, her knees met the grass-covered dirt and caused not only green stains on her knees, but also two slight indentations in the ground as well. This was way too bananamus to pass up, she had only read about such plants in old encyclopedias, well non-candy based flora. She unfastened her pack and after burrowing through it put the book of poetry off to the side, placing a notebook along with it and lastly took out her royal purple pen. Opening the pad she scribed a lengthy description of the many snowy petals whose centers were graced with vibrant gumdrop blue and met at the ends with the same hue. She noted that their cool green stems where long and often split to bare more then one blossom. The princess was sure that the flowers fed from the moons soft light and would definitely stay to see the suns effect on these same buds. After sketching the blooms form to the best of her ability she set the notes aside. Leaning back she allowed her elbows touch the ground as she attempted to relax into a reclining position. Her mind continued to spin with an interest in the plant life around her, but was suddenly assaulted with the recent events that had unfolded: her departure, how she was going to survive and just about everything else she could mange to think about. Her body fidgeted, the purple and dark sapphire sky littered with tiny dotted stars was beautiful, but did nothing to distract her from the unease building once again inside her small frame. Sitting up Bubblegum hurriedly reached for the volume of poetry, flipping it open to random page she read aloud the passage that greeted her worried expression.
"In nightfall she plays
With charred skull and bone,
Versed in horrors ways
Tittering with child's tone
Deceased little girl
Why do you still walk,
Skin now like a pearl
Greying with dark lock
Dreaded little imp
Perilous darling,
Most walk with a limp
But lonely starling
Heed us do not near
No chance is given,
We know what we fear
For bloodlust is driven"
The bubblegum monarch's ribcage seemed to lighten with these verses, but grow heavy in the same instance. It was not as though the words were pleasant because she knew they most certainly were not, but they just seemed so strangely familiar. Her free hand drifted back into her pocket where it rested atop the tarnished charm. Her pink skin tingled in a bizarre sensation that she seemed to recognize though she knew not why. It was a strange feeling she had only experienced two other times in her short life: Once in the dead of winter when she had forgotten to fasten her window shut and had awakened from a blank sleep to the wind ruffling her curtain softly and another instance when she had paused in midst of brushing her hair to gaze through the mirror over her shoulder at an bare room. The heavy warmness in her chest felt like a dream she could not seem to remember. It was a strange combination of enchanted melancholy, which left her weak and confused. The princess would indulge in this emotion because she was unable to force it from her mind. It would have to dissolve on its own like the sugar in her glass beakers at home.
The rest of her short night (early morning) was spent wondering about the poems meaning though little was left to the imagination with "Devils Daughter" etched into the page above it. The princess would finally fall into slumber under the shade of boarding trees after watching the blossoms curl shut with dawns blushing light. Arched into a small ball her knees were pressed against her chest and her hand rested atop the rusted metal, in sleep she appeared childlike, un-plagued. Her worry would be forgotten until moons rise when her excursion would continue and her questions would intensify, but for now she drifted in unperturbed rest.
