Pyris sunk another fiery claw into the mountainside, climbing ever closer to the top of the icy peak. It was rather difficult, considering Flame Princess was clinging to her back. The girls had decided on a more stealth-like approach, so as to not draw attention from the irritable wizard living atop the structure. Frankly, FP was astounded by how strong her companion was.
"How in Gob's name are you able to support me and pull yourself up this thing?"
The golden-haired elemental smirked.
"Don't forget, I hunt and fight monsters and beasts every day. Plus, sometimes I journey to the edge of the Fire Kingdom for some strength training or wrestling with the fire wolves."
Flame Princess was stunned.
"What?! I thought you start degrading if you stay in your native environment."
Pyris grunted softly after another hoist a few feet higher.
"True, but, if I moderate, it isn't that bad. Besides, I'm not gonna let something as dumb as nature stand between me and what I love."
FP nearly gasped at that sentence. Her friend felt the tension in the grip on her shoulders.
"You ok?"
The young king nodded briefly.
"Yeah. I'm good."
Pyris resumed the climb, now quite close to the triangle window serving as the entrance to Ice King's home. Once the strange fire elemental grabbed the edge of the opening, she tilted her head to look at Flame Princess.
"Ok. This next part won't go well with your flames and all."
Using the one that wasn't holding them to the mountain, Pyris held up her free hand and began to chant in a strange language. At first, FP thought it sounded similar to a flame shield spell, but noticed the tone was much less of a hiss. Next, floating runes, with more curved and softer edges than those of the fire protection chant, appeared around Pyris. Finally, she gently tapped the red gem on FP's forehead.
Instantly, a reddish shroud enveloped the girl. She curiously studied her crimsoned skin, wondering what had just happened. Pyris just smiled.
"Aqua shield. Pretty cool, right?"
Flame Princess silently nodded.
"Yeah."
Her friend prompted the king to climb up over her into Ice King's crib.
"It works with ice too, so don't sweat it."
FP nodded and reached up to take hold of the edge, pulling herself swiftly into the interior of the frosty cave. Upon getting to her feet and quietly taking a few steps forward, she was pleased to see that her protective spell was doing a great job of stopping the potential pain and melting that came with the hazardous element just beneath her feet.
Pyris soon joined her, carefully taking off her bag and kneeling down to remove some of its contents. She smiled mischievously at Flame Princess.
"Ready?"
The young ruler nodded, grinning back. FP then stood up, snuck over to the edge of the room, and peeked around the corner. Sure enough, Ice King was there, lightly humming to himself while making a tuna fish sandwich. Gunter was beside him, supporting the plate that was to hold the wizard's lunch on her head. FP smirked before turning to Pyris and giving a thumbs up.
The blonde elemental pulled out a strange cube of gel-like substance from her bag, setting it gently on the floor and then pulling out a tiny vial from within a pocket of her dress. After uncorking the container, she carefully dripped some of the substance inside onto the glob, which reacted by shuddering. A split second later, it ballooned into a full-sized chunk a little bigger than Pyris.
The fire elemental began using her hands to mold and shape the mass, humming quietly to herself as she worked. Every once in a while, she'd look back to FP and ask for her opinion. The princess would frown and shake her head, prompting Pyris to keep trying. Finally, after a few dozen attempts, Flame Princess gave her the hand gesture that meant 'perfect' and the golden-haired girl smiled triumphantly.
The last step was another vial, which FP had happily provided, containing a liquid that Pyris herself did not know the identity of. The only thing that Flame Princess would say was that the result would be worth seeing. Shrugging, she poured the solution onto the gelatinous form, allowing it to be absorbed into the object's composition.
Seeing that her friend was finished, FP scampered back over to her and helped Pyris push the life-sized replica of Princess Bubblegum into a darker corner of the room, where its falsehood was unlikely to be noticed. The two elementals then giggled while dashing back over to the window, where they climbed out and hung off the edge, leaving just their heads above to watch their scheme.
Flame Princess cleared her throat.
"Oh Ice King?" she said endearingly, doing her best to mimic PB.
Nicely enough, it worked. A gasp of surprise was heard in the kitchen, soon followed by the wizard himself emerging from the doorway and looking around.
"Was that you, sweet Bubblegum?"
He suddenly had a giddy smile on his face after spotting the silhouette in the corner, clapping his hands.
"Ooo! You did come! All on your own! To see me!"
IK walked closer to the gel-statue, staring eagerly at the fake princess. FP spoke out another line.
"I was just in the area, and decided I wanted a smooch from the most handsome king in the land."
Ice King blushed.
"Aww, well, who am I to deny a beautiful lady such as yourself. Here I come!"
The looney old man made a run for the replica, quickly running into and wrapping his arms around it while planting his lips on the imitation's. For a second, he didn't realize it wasn't actually Princess Bubblegum, but that quickly changed once FP's special ingredient took over.
IK's eyes flew wide open as his mouth turned a burning red and his ducts began releasing a stream of tears.
"H-HOT!"
The wizard released the gel-impersonation and began frantically running in circles, trying to find some way to cool off his searing lips.
"AGH! AGH! AGH! Gunter! Help!"
The penguin slowly emerged from the kitchen, eyeing the panicking wizard as he ran around like a maniac. Instead of doing as requested however, Gunter calmly walked over to Ice King's recliner and sat herself into it, watching her master suffer the effects of the spicy potion.
Back near the window, the two devious fire elementals were uncontrollably snickering, too sucked into the hilarity of it all. Eventually, they fist-bumped (which Pyris had grown used to) and nodded to one another. Both girls let go of the window, beginning a heavy plummet down the towering mountain castle. As they reached the halfway point, Flame Princess readjusted her fall and swung over to catch Pyris.
The fiery king then formed a huge upward arc, using the momentum of the fall to swing upward and blast the two of them in the direction of the ice-fire border. They laughed the whole way, still highly amused by Ice King's hysteria at their prank.
"Wow, that was the best one yet!" Pyris exclaimed.
FP grinned turned focus to her flying, holding tightly to her friend's hand so as to not allow her to fall. She sighed, rather sadly.
"Yeah, I got a lot of practice on pranking from Finn."
Pyris looked up to her companion.
"Oh? You've pranked the old fart with him before?"
Flame Princess smiled.
"Yep. Lots of times."
She then frowned a bit.
"Well, we kinda stopped. It got too dangerous."
The blonde furrowed her brow.
"Dangerous? Around that dumb-head? How?"
FP gazed down at the snow as they flew.
"Well, last time, we ended up caught in an avalanche after being discovered."
Pyris nearly gasped.
"I went out like a light. Finn had to carry me until he found this cave where we could rest."
The young king's friend tilted her head thoughtfully.
"How did you survive?"
"Finn had that crazy spice stuff we just used on Ice King. That warmed him up in a hurry. And…"
She blushed.
"…he…gave me air."
Pyris was lost for a moment, before understanding what FP meant and growing a grin.
"Did you like it?"
Flame Princess struggled to stabilize herself for a second, before her face was saturated a far greater red then a moment ago.
"What! No, of course-"
Pyris raised an eyebrow, noticing the girl had hesitated to continue.
"Having some problems breaking your own rule?"
FP shifted her expression to one of frustration, clearly being gotten to by the other fire elemental.
"I…fine. Yes."
Pyris snickered.
"Was that really so hard?"
Flame Princess stared aimlessly at the land ahead, now beginning to show signs of the approaching Fire Kingdom. Giving in, she realized there was truly no need for being so reluctant with the girl.
"It's just…my flames, they were too weak to make me 'flip out' and explode or whatever. I could actually…feel it for more than a second. And without horribly burning him."
Pyris frowned a bit, now feeling a touch guilty for teasing the king earlier.
"I see. It must be hard, being stuck without someone to show affection to."
Flame Princess briefly closed her eyes, allowing the smallest of lava tears to slip off her face and fall down to the snowy earth below.
"Yes."
Suddenly, Pyris felt something in the back of her mind, some divine force that was ushering her to act, or at the very least, take the initiative and help her new friend, who suffered a similar fate to her own, and more so than the fiery king knew.
"Flame Princess."
"Yeah?"
"Next time you see Finn, express your true feelings. Ok?"
FP was blindsided by the question.
"Wh-what? Why?"
Pyris shared the young ruler's stare into the depths of the border of the two elemental kingdoms.
"If you don't do something, you'll lose each other forever."
The blonde was being stared at intently by her companion, who was in utter shock.
"Pyris…"
The mysterious girl had a solemn look upon her face, apparently not too focused on the conversation anymore.
"Please, just trust me."
FP hadn't trusted many people in her life. Finn was among the few, and even he had lost it for a time. But now, the faithful human was always with her, eager to help or have fun and relieve some of the stresses of running the Fire Kingdom. But now, without even him, all she had was Pyris, a very strange fire elemental haunted by a past she was unwilling to speak of. This girl was similar to her, in a way.
"Alright. I'll…try."
Pyris nodded slightly.
"Thank you. I don't want you to be alone all your life. I know how that feels and believe me, I have never regretted anything more than abandoning a chance at happiness; no matter how impossible it may have seemed."
Flame Princess was confused.
"What do you mean?"
Pyris didn't answer at first, just gazing at the red cliffs of the nearing kingdom.
"I want to go over there."
FP was upset that she was attempting to change the subject, but was also curious as to her companion's request.
"But…your condition."
The golden-haired elemental hardened her expression.
"If you don't run at life with full force, then there's no point to have ever lived."
Flame Princess was admittedly shocked by the lady's tone. It was much more definite and serious. Regardless, she steered them both towards the Fire Kingdom.
Aqua Prince had finally calmed down enough to not shout like a madman while the flying reptile soared over the ashen peaks of the molten kingdom below. He had never experienced the Fire Kingdom, making it very interesting to study the intricate lava streams and lakes infesting the landscape.
"Pretty cool, right?" Finn asked with a grin.
AP smirked.
"More like hot."
The two guys laughed.
"That was terrible."
"Yeah, but you set yourself up for that one."
Finn chuckled and faced the oncoming valcano.
"I guess so. Ok, get ready to jump."
The prince was confused.
"For what?"
The human smiled excitedly.
"For the fall to the lava flow. Duh."
AP looked down, eyeing the extensive height from which Finn was expecting them to drop.
"Uh, are you sure this is safe?"
The young hero smiled at his nervous friend as he reached into his pack and pulled out his board.
"Wait, won't you burn up?"
Finn pointed into the distance, about halfway down the volcano. One could just barely make out the shape of a sleeping flambit on a rock sticking out of the stream.
"I just have to make it halfway without dying."
Aqua Prince was beginning to question his friend's sanity.
"Are you out of your mind?!"
Finn just grinned.
"Totally. Now let's go!"
With that, the human tugged on the pterodactyl's wing, imploring it to release its hold and allow him to begin the rapid decent towards the lava river below. Aqua Prince acted on instinct, also tugging and going after his friend.
"You're insane!" he shouted as they fell.
Finn laughed.
"No point in making life boring. You've got to live it to the fullest!"
As the lake approached, Finn placed his feet on the board, leaving the temperature resistant side to splatter into the molten rock. The impact wasn't as bad as AP had thought, as his self-made board gave him the proper momentum to keep up with Finn, who was happily racing down the volcano.
Eventually, after seeing it wasn't so bad, and rather fun, AP grinned, catching up to his human bro-ham and beginning to experiment with the various moves he performed on sand dunes. The pair gradually started a legitimate race, seeking to be the first ones to reach the snoozing flambit below. Without warning however, the fiery mountain began to rumble.
"Is that bad?" Aqua Prince asked.
Finn smiled wider.
"Depends on how you look at it. Do you like extreme sports?"
AP shrugged.
"Sure."
The human snickered.
"Then get ready. It doesn't get more extreme than this."
Another rumble, followed by a crashing noise as the entire structure of the mountain shuddered and buckled. AP snuck a peek behind him to witness what was happening. What he saw made his jaw drop.
"Oh my Grob…"
A fountain-like spring of fresh magma was fired out of the top of the volcano, cascading down the older flow and beginning to catch up to the two fellows surfing down the side.
"Uh, Finn?"
Turning back, AP saw that the hero had already begun accelerating.
"Not cool." He frowned.
Finn had his sights set on Flambo, chilling in his usual spot and surrounded by the comforting temperatures of his native elemental. However, as the thundering mountain's roar reached his ears, he yawned and sat up, sleepily looking around.
"Flambo!"
Hearing that someone was calling his name, the fiery sprite turned to look behind him. Instantly, he was completely awake.
"What the nuts!?"
Finn reached out his hand and swiped the flambit before he had a chance to shout in fright. However, he certainly didn't hesitate to freak out as he watched the incoming lava from behind. In the meantime, Finn struggled with the burning starting on his hand.
"Uh, Flambo, could you give me a flame shield?"
The tiny elemental was so panicky that he didn't bother replying. He just began frantically chanting the spell, soon enveloping the human in a blue shroud and instantly decreasing the pain and discomfort all over his body.
"Thanks, buddy."
Flambo still wasn't paying much attention.
"Just get us out of here!"
Finn finally accepted that the guy was utterly terrified, pushing his board faster down the mountain by leaning forward. Luckily, Aqua Prince caught up to him, still freaked by the gaining lava wave. The hero rolled his eyes at how much of a ninny his companions were being.
"For crying out loud, you two are the least likely to get hurt by this stuff!"
The two elementals registered his comment, suddenly dropping their fear and swapping it for embarrassing realization. Satisfied that the two had shut up, Finn began scanning the lower volcano for any means of escaping the dreaded lava behind them. Even with his shield, he could feel the creeping heat of the substance.
After a moment, the human spotted a fallen cliff edge jutting out from the old flow, aimed at just the right incline to potentially rocket the three of them to a safe location. He turned to AP.
"You see that ramp?"
The water elemental nodded.
"We're gonna jump it."
Aqua Prince didn't argue. He'd learned not to underestimate the degree of his friend's spirit. The two boarders progressively made their way toward the ledge, aiming carefully so as to hit it at the right angle. Just as the lava clipped the back of AP's ride, both surfers were launched high into the air by the altered trajectory, letting out a whoop of joy, for being alive and for the incredible sense that they were flying momentarily.
Key word: momentarily.
Gravity snagged their bodies, sending the trio all the way back down, right into a hill nudged between the volcano they'd just escaped from and a second one which was currently stable. The initial thought was that they'd die from the rather painful impact on the volcanic rock, but were mercifully surprised when the surface of the hill turned out to be a deep gorge of ashes and soot, softening their landing to almost nothing.
On the other hand, none of them could stop the loose material from sliding them at high speeds down the side.
Flame Princess couldn't help but look over to her friend every once in a while, making sure that she wasn't struggling. Pyris was walking with a noticeable drag, which the young ruler supposed was caused by the interaction between her and her native environment.
"Are you sure you're ok?" she asked worriedly.
The blonde fire girl grinned.
"Yep. I'm fine. Sure, it hurts just a bit, but I can take it."
The odd elemental gazed around at the surroundings.
"It's been so long. Last time I came out here must have been months ago. This land, it's beautiful."
FP nodded.
"Yeah. I love the way the sunsets break through the ash clouds at dusk. It's so…"
"Romantic?" Pyris grinned.
Flame Princess blushed.
"Jeez. What is with you?"
The golden-haired girl just chuckled.
"Sorry. I can't help it. You're just so bottled up, it's not right to keep it all in like that. You've got some deep passion in that matrix of yours."
FP sighed, pondering her companion's words. However, her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a strange noise growing in her ears. She turned to Pyris, confused.
"Do you hear something?"
The two stopped walking. They were currently at the base of a small hill, covered in ash from the surrounding active volcanoes. Speaking of which, one of the fiery mountains seemed to have recently gone off, evidenced by the fresh surge of molten rock sliding down its slope.
"Hm. Now that you mention it…"
They listened closer. It seemed to be shouting; and it was getting closer.
"I swear, it sounds like a bunch of guys freaking out," Pyris suggested.
FP nodded in agreement, trying hard to figure out where the sound was coming from. Unfortunately, it was too late by the time they thought they had it.
A large, and loud, object suddenly bashed right into Pyris, sending her and itself sprawling into the volcanic dirt. Flame Princess watched in shock, ignoring the second shouting and accompanying impact to the ground. She couldn't believe what she saw on top of her friend.
Pyris groaned, having felt the full force of whatever hit her. That 'it' did the same, cracking its neck a few times.
"Ouch."
The fire elemental's eyes suddenly flashed open, disbelieving.
Her sight fell upon a young man, around his late teens, who had his face scrunched up in pain. When he opened his eyes however, they were instantly locked on hers and gazing with shock.
"P-Pyris?"
"Aqua…Prince?"
FP's expression grew even more confused.
"You two know each other?"
Immediately, the young king noticed that someone else, a male, had spoken the same line in perfect unison with her. Turning to see who had followed the water elemental down the hill, her face fell to a frozen look of shock.
There stood Finn, with Flambo standing by his leg brushing off soot with an irritated look on his face. The human had a mirrored image of her own face. Back on the ground, Pyris and Aqua Prince has momentarily set aside their accidental run-in to gaze upon the pair, waiting anxiously to see what would happen.
Remarkably, after an extensive amount of time just standing there, both teens took one step towards each other. Then another. Slowly, their pace increased. Once only a mere few yards apart, the two burst into a sprint, making it so that it only took a split second for their arms to wrap around the other's back as tightly as possible.
Finn an FP could both feel their counterpart's tears hit their shoulder.
After nearly a full minute of just silently embracing, the pair finally pulled back, although kept themselves in the hold. Their eyes stared back at each other, gleaming with some hidden joy that no one else could ever quite comprehend nor see. The moment Finn cracked a smile, Flame Princess's mind kick-started some unknown reflex in her consciousness.
She threw her mouth forward, catching the human's in hers as his opened in shock.
Time was erased, blinding all existence of sound, touch, and sight, retaining only the incredible heat rising in their hearts. Regardless, there was only a split second of sensory loss, before searing flames ripped casually through Finn's flame shield, and the world around the two teenagers went white.
Man, the preview for 'The Red Throne' is funny. You've got Finn being so chill and casual when someone randomly bursts into his house, through the wall, on a giant wolf. It seems he and Jake don't really care about their house getting trashed. I went through the series and counted how many times the tree got its walls, windows, or doors smashed. I got around 20, half of which the two bros did themselves. Crazy.
JTOM: I think you'll be surprised what characters show up.
Riset36: I'm eager to see if you were.
Holahello: Thanks. I just can't help it. OCD issues and such.
TheMentalAdventurer: Thank you. And yes, I am psyched beyond belief for Monday afternoon.
I am The7: Haha, yeah, just thought I'd put it in there for laughs, cuz it was so random in that episode.
Hope you enjoyed and thanks for any comments/reviews!