Yay! A longer chapter than usual! Instead of my usual 7 or 8 pages, this one is 10. I just couldn't find a good stopping point for this one. Also, I'm going to be on vacation this week and I won't be getting back until Thursday, so you guys probably won't be getting Chapter 11 until next weekend.

Thanks again to Awes0me 0ne, who did an amazing job as my beta :)))

Chapter 10: Shameful Admission

"Marceline," Jermaine called as he caught up with the vampire. They had been combing the river for a half an hour and if they didn't find anything soon they were going to have to turn back and search the other direction.

The vampire sighed. "What do you want now?" She wasn't hostile; she just sounded tired, and worried…

"No—not like— that's not what I wanted to say…" Jermaine began awkwardly. He was glad they were far enough away from Jake and the candy princess that they wouldn't be overheard.

"Well, what is it?" Marceline asked impatiently, stopping her search for a second to stare down at him.

"I wanted to say I was sorry," Jermaine admitted, hanging his head. From the corner of his eye, he could see Marceline's eyes widen in surprise. When he looked back up at the vampire, she quickly regained her composer. "I'm sorry I told you to stay away from my brothers. I was wrong. I was just scared for them because… because I didn't fully trust you. But now you're helping us find Finn and… and you really care about him… and the entire time I was trying to chase you away. I'm really sorry, Marceline."

The vampire shook her head and put a hand on her hip in amusement. "Relax, Jermaine. It's not really your fault. I didn't exactly give you the best impression when we met. The idea was to freak you out a little."

The dog chuckled. "Well, you did do that," he agreed. Jermaine sighed. "But I still shouldn't have said those things to you…"

"Don't worry about it. I thought it was pretty awesome, actually, how you tried to protect your brothers. But we can start over if you want?"

Jermaine's ears perked up. "Really?"

Marceline shrugged with a grin. "Sure. You're pretty hardcore, Jermaine. I don't see why we can't be friends."

Jeramine smiled as Marceline turned back to search the muddy ground. Friends with a vampire? He wanted to laugh. That had not been something he ever thought would happen.

"Hey, Jermaine," Marceline called. Her voice was different… excited.

He looked up to see her flash him a wide smile.

"I got the trail," she announced, and as she pealed the bushes back Jermaine could barely make out a set of foot prints. He would have never been able to spot that on his own. "We're going to find Finn."

The Earl-guy Finn had met earlier lead at least ten burly lizard men into the campsite. His men were gruff and they didn't look like royal guards; Finn suspected they were swords for hire. Finn could probably take them on, especially if he had a sword, but not when he had civilians to protect. They would get in the way and probably get hurt. Instead, Finn had to find a way to sneak them out quietly.

The first issue, however, was how to get out of the cage.

"Ah, my newest attraction is awake. How are you feeling, Finn?" The Earl asked as he approached the cage. It was weird; the Earl's voice was so polite and nice, like he was just being a good host and everything was normal.

Finn sat cross-legged on the floor of the cage, the rest of the cage's inhabitants stood together behind him. They were all watching the Earl warily. "Dude, not cool. Let these people go. You can't sell them. That's against the law!"

The Earl just smirked. "Whose law? If you haven't noticed this land is divided into kingdoms. In my kingdom, the selling of individual persons is completely legitimate."

Finn jumped to his feet angrily. "It's wrong and you know it!"

"My kingdom is an agricultural kingdom. It's sustained by forced labor. If the slave trade stopped, thousands of my kingdom's people would starve. You wouldn't want that, would you? Try to understand, I'm not the bad guy here."

"You have eight people in cages. Nothing justifies that," Finn snarled.

"Oh, do we still have that many? I thought we were feeding that goblin to the vampire?" the Earl said to himself.

Behind him, Finn heard the Goblin squeak in terror.

"We don't really need him, and the vampire would be worth more…"

Finn ground his teeth together. He was dying to get out of this cage and kick this guy's butt.

The Earl seemed to notice his expression. "Oh, don't worry, we still need you. The last human would be a big collector's item, or a snack item, depending on who's willing to pay more."

"Come in here and say that!" Finn challenged, gripping the bars of the cage with his hands.

"No, I don't think I will. You better save your energy. It will still take us a few days to arrive at your new home."

The Earl turned away and addressed his men. "Did you cover our tracks?"

"Yes, Sir," one of his men spoke up. "We also planted fake ones and doubled back. It would be impossible for anyone to figure out which way we went."

"Good," the Earl praised. "I wouldn't want that sugary princess's guards to find us."

Finn heard a groan behind him, and he turned to see the goblin had curled himself into a ball.

"I knew this was going to happen," the goblin, Xlander, whimpered. "I should have known I was the one who was going to go first! Who would even want to buy a Goblin?"

The vampire spoke up, his voice smooth and confident. "I can't say I'm complaining."

The goblin moaned and hugged himself tighter. "This can't be happening… this can't be happing."

"Hey Xlander, chill out," Finn soothed as he gripped the goblin's shoulders. "No one is getting fed to Dorian."

Xlander pulled away from him in disgust. "That's easy for you to say! You're valuable. They won't let anything happen to you!"

"And me," Dorian said, sitting up for the first time and facing the little group. The goblin scrambled backwards in fear and Finn watched as the other inhabitants of the cage flinched away from the piercing red glare of the vampire's eyes. Finn finally had a clear view of the vampire, and Dorian actually didn't look that scary. He was a scrawny kid, probably turned when he was sixteen, with pale skin and brown shaggy hair. He wore a pair of black pants and a dark red shirt.

"They won't let anything happen to me," Dorian continued. "That's why you're going to be my snack, my little goblin friend, and why this hero here won't be able to do anything to stop it."

Finn glared at the vampire. "If you're so hungry then why don't you just eat your shirt!" Finn snapped at him.

"Ex—Excuse me?" The vampire asked, raising his eyebrow in amusement.

"Your shirt is red," Finn explained, "Why can't you just eat the color?"

"What are you talking about?"

Finn's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Vampires can eat the color red instead of blood."

Dorian gave him a disbelieving look. "I've been a vampire for over a hundred years, I think I know what a vampire can do, and I've never seen one of us do that."

"Finn, that's enough, you should stop talking to it now," Nathan, the soy person, ordered as he placed a firm hand on Finn's shoulders.

The fourteen-year-old boy shrugged his hand off. "One of my best friends is a vampire and she does it all the time," Finn countered.

"Your best friend is a vampire, really?" Dorian scoffed.

Finn sighed. "Just try it. She said vampires started doing it because there was less blood around or whatever. She can suck the color red out of anything, and she doesn't have to hurt anyone when she's hungry."

Dorian looked down at his shirt unconvinced. "How would I even suck the color out of something?"

Finn shrugged. "I don't know. But I knew if I was hungry enough I would try anything."

Finn looked back at the other people in the cage who were currently staring at him like he had lost his mind. He took a closer look at the bars of his cage and then the bars of Dorian's cage. They looked exactly the same.

"Vampire's are really strong," Finn continued. "Why can't you just break out?"

Dorian gave a humorless laugh. "They put wards on my cage to enforce it against vampires. Plus, I'm weaker than usual because I haven't eaten in a couple of months."

"You've been here for months?" Finn asked in shock.

"Don't tell me you… you feel bad for me?" The vampire laughed; a real laugh this time. "You're full of surprises, kid."

Jake knew Finn was okay. He knew Finn could take care of himself. Finn was probably coming up with a way to escape right now if he hadn't already… but that didn't stop Jake from worrying. If only he had given Finn his present right away, then they would have made it out before the Earl had time to plan a kidnapping.

However, it didn't matter now. Marceline was picking up clues on the trail faster than any dog could, and they were right behind her. However, the longer they followed Marceline, the more Jake's chest tightened into a constricting knot. Shouldn't they have caught up with them by now, especially if they had made camp? Why was it taking so long? Did Marceline find the wrong trail? That wasn't exactly a mistake Jake could see her making.

A few second later, Marceline groaned to herself.

"What?" Jake asked instantly, fearing the worst.

"They must have known we would follow and backtracked. They've been leading us in every direction but the right one."

Princess Bubblegum cautiously stepped over the roots of a large tree and came to stand next to Marceline. She squinted into the darkness, trying to see what the vampire saw.

"Can you figure it out?" the princess asked. "There must be some giveaway for what the right trail might be."

"Yes…" Marceline answered slowly, "but it will take some time." She was silent for a moment as she scrutinized the area closely. Then finally… "This way," she decided and led them again through the forest.

"Are you sure?" Bubblegum asked. "We can't afford to waste too much ti—"

"Yes, Bonnie, I'm sure," Marceline growled tersely, and Bubblegum closed her mouth immediately.

Jake shook his head. Tension was running high, and everyone wanted to find Finn as soon as possible; the last thing they needed was for Bubblegum and Marceline to get into a fight. Sometimes they were amazing. When Marceline and Bubblegum were on the same page they worked together almost as well as he and Finn did. However, more often than not they ended up bumping heads, and that's when things between them always fell apart.

No one spoke for fear of braking Marceline's concentration. It was slow going, because Marceline would stop every few minutes to examine the trail closely so not to be misled again.

A rumbling began to form in the distance. Marceline heard it first, and looked up, trying to see through the thick trees. Jake didn't understand why she had stopped until he heard it for himself. Jermaine also noticed it, and since Bubblegum's hearing wasn't as good as two dogs and a vampire, she was the last to look up in curiosity.

"What is that?" Bubblegum wondered out loud.

"I don't know, but it's coming closer," Marceline observed. "I think we're about to find out."

The sound intensified, and the low rumbling began to morph into loud stomping. It sounded like an army of giants were marching through the forest. The sound of trees falling became louder with every passing second, and if they peered deep enough into the forest, Jake could make out a hint of movement.

"Is that—?" Jermaine asked as the first giant creature came into sight, purposefully pushing the trees in its way to the floor.

"They're trees," Bubblegum realized. "Of course! The Migrating Trees move this time of year!"

Jake could seem them clearly now. The giant, moving trees had mouths, but no discernible eyes. They used their heavy roots to walk across the forest floor, and their branches reached out like arms to fall the nonmoving trees that were in their way.

"If they're trees, then why are they destroying these other ones?" Jake yelled over the sound of the stomping.

"Those are different kind of trees, silly." Bubblegum explained. "You see, they are clearing a path through the forests. The Migrating Trees leave the forest at this time every year, otherwise the underbrush doesn't get enough sunlight. The larger Migrating Trees travel at the front of the group and clear a path for the smaller, younger migrating trees to follow. We better get out of their way. Migrating Trees can get aggressive if you stand in their path."

"Hate to break this to you, Bonnibel," Marceline interrupted. "But we can't leave. If those trees stomp over the trail I'll never find where Finn was taken.

There was a switch in Bubblegum's demeanor, and she nodded. "Very well, leave it to me." She walked forward, coming to a stop directly in the path of the oncoming trees.

"Princess, what are you doing?" Jake shouted after her.

"I'm going to try and talk to them. I know they can understand me, and I'm going to beseech them to change their course."

"Didn't you just say something about the trees not liking it when people stand in their path?" Jermaine asked.

Bubblegum ignored him, and when the trees were close enough, she held up her hands to gain their attention.

"Please!" she shouted; her voice was steady and without fear. "My name is Princess Bubblegum of the Candy Kingdom, and we are investigating something very important here. I ask you to please, change your course by just a few degrees!"

The stomping died down as the first tree, perhaps the leader, stopped to stare at the princess. Even though it had no eyes, it still looked like it was watching her. Jake sighed in relief. Maybe Bubblegum's idea would work after all?

The creature opened its wooden mouth, but instead of speaking, a horrible screeching sound assaulted their ears. The hulking tree raised a large branch, and brought it down fast, aiming directly at the Bubblegum.

"Princess!" Jake shouted.

The branch connected with something solid, and was directed away from the princess by a powerful force. Marceline hissed defensively. Marceline had jumped in front of Bubblegum, elongated her right hand until it resembled an enormous, ugly claw, and had used it to deflect the tree's attack. Marceline's other, normal hand was outstretched beside her, shielding Bubblegum protectively.

"How goes the negotiations, Bonnie?" Marceline asked with a condescending smirk.

Bubblegum blushed; flushed from the close call, and because of Marceline's tone. "Shut up. I was trying to prevent a fight. A battle could easily destroy any trail marks left."

"Yeah well, it looks like they have a different idea—" Marceline barely had time to finish her sentence before the enraged tree brought both its large branches down on them, aiming for their heads.

Marceline grabbed Bubblegum around the waist, and flew her back a few feet before the branches came crashing down on the spot they had just been. Jake grew bigger, ready to protect Princess Bubblegum if necessary. He usually never had to worry about Marceline in a fight, and although he didn't have magic powers, their Dad had also taught Jermaine to hold his own in a fight. Bubblegum was, without a doubt, the smartest of all of them, but she wasn't physically strong and the trees were huge.

"Let's try to make this path too tough a battle for them," Marceline suggested. "We'll make them change directions."

The princess nodded. "Yes, that seems to be the only way."

With an eager grin, Marceline attacked; her punch sent the first tree flying back a few feet before it slammed into the motionless tree behind it. Leaves fell from the tree along with a few smaller twigs. The other Migrating Trees didn't hesitate as they rushed forward.

Jake continued to grow until he was four times their size. He picked the trees up as if they were very large toothpicks, and he meant to throw them as far as he could. However, their branches suddenly become sharper as the trees used their wood to dig into the palm of his hand. He yelped and slammed the trees on the ground with as much force as he could manage. Returning to normal size, he examined his cut up paws. Fighting these trees was like trying to fight Spiky People. However, he couldn't dwell on his scraps now, because the trees he had smashed into the ground were now getting back up and quickly growing new branches where the old ones had broken off.

"Careful!" PB shouted. "They can grow their branches back. Breaking them off won't do anything!"

Jermaine was using an old rusted sword he found on the ground to fend off one of the trees. He was actually doing fairly well, because while the trees were slow and lumbering, Jermaine was quick on his feet. Jermaine was keeping the tree distracted, but his attacks were barely scratching the tough bark. Jermaine, on the other hand, already had a few scratches down his arms and legs, and he probably couldn't keep this up for long.

Jake winced when a tree slammed Marceline against another, normal tree hard enough to break a mortal's spine. Her axe-bass fell out of her hand and onto the ground. Jake stared in amazement as the Vampire Queen actually looked stuck…

Until she morphed into a giant tentacle monster, wrapped her tentacles around the enemy tree, and snapped it in half.

Marceline growled and transformed back to normal. "Great, I'm fighting a giant stake!"

Another tree swung its branches at her, but instead of trying to hit her, the tree let loose giant wooden spikes in the vampire's direction.

Marceline had to do some quick maneuvers in the air avoid getting hit, and even then , she barely managed to dodge them.

"Hey!" she yelled, "Watch the heart!"

"Be careful, Marceline!" PB called worriedly.

"What do you think I'm trying to do? Get hit—oww!" Marceline cursed and looked down at her arm, which currently had a large wooden spike going through it.

"Just fantastic," Marceline mumbled to herself as she pulled the spike out of her arm, wincing only slightly.

"Oh, this isn't working," Jake heard Bubblegum mutter to herself. The dog knew that tone very well; it meant Bubblegum was working on an idea. Whatever it was, she better do it fast, because they were currently surrounded by trees and it didn't look like there was an end to them.

The trees circled them, but they managed to keep Bubblegum in the middle, just in case. The candy princess had gotten very quiet. With Jake's larger form he was able to knock the closest trees backwards, but they just kept getting back up. Nothing seemed to faze them. Marceline had abandoned all humanoid forms, and discovered that if she managed to snap the trees in half at their trunks, they wouldn't get back up again.

They were getting desperate and tired… well, maybe Marceline wasn't, but Jermaine and Jake couldn't fight for as long as she could. Jake kept wishing Finn was here. The battle would be much easier with the two of them; they always worked better as a team.

Suddenly, a spark of light caught Jake's eye in the dim forest. The next thing Jake saw was Princess Bubblegum running out to meet the advancing trees. She had some sort of torch in her hand, alight with a flame.

"Hiyaaaah!" she screamed, as she brought the torch down and stabbed it into the tree's growling mouth; the creature howled in pain.

They all stared as the princess ducked when the tree swung its branches widely at her. The tree aimed for her again, but she rolled out of its reach. When she climbed back on her feet again she was covered in leaves.

The fire spread, and quickly started to consume the tree. The burning tree waved its branches around in panic, but that only seemed to encourage the fire.

"Alright, Bonnie!" Marceline, now back to her normal form, cheered. The other trees seemed to shy away from their burning companion.

"How did you start the fire?" Jake asked.

"I used the sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz," Bubblegum explained.

"Huh?"

"Flint, silly. Since we aren't that far away from the river bed, and this ground is known for having ample flintstone, all I had to do was look, which was more difficult to do in the dark."

"Well, come on," Marceline said over the wailing cries of the tree. "Let's get these trees to change directions." She broke a burning piece of branch off of the tree and used it to light the leaves of a second tree. The rest of them followed her example.

Finally, they managed to scare away the Migrating Trees, and they could hear the rest of the tree migration following them. Luckily, the forest was damp enough that the normal trees and plant life didn't catch on fire too much, and the ones that did were easy to put out.

Jake took in the surrounding area. He hoped they were able to preserve enough of the trail that Marceline could still follow it. He looked up at Bubblegum, who didn't have a scratch on her, thank goodness, and then to Jermaine. Jermaine had been tossed around pretty badly and his arms and legs were scratch up and bleeding, but nothing too deep or too serious. Jake took a look at his hands, arms and legs, and noticed he was also cut up pretty badly.

Oh.

Oh no.

Jake looked up immediately to find Marceline, but she was nowhere in sight.

"Marceline?" he called out worriedly.

"O-over here," Marceline called out through the trees.

Jake squinted and he could barely make out her distant silhouette in the moonlight.

"I think I'll stay over here." She sounded nervous, and the uncertainty in her voice only made Jake's heart beat faster. He knew Marceline would never hurt them on purpose; he knew she would do all that she could to protect them from herself. However, having one's fur matted in blood so close to a vampire was a truly terrifying place to be, despite being best friends with said vampire.

"What are you doing over there?" Bubblegum asked. "We need you to look at the trail."

The was a long silence before Marceline spoke again. "I-I can't."

"What are you talking about? Why not?" Bubblegum made her way towards Marceline, weaving around the trees until she was right in front of the vampire. "Is it your arm? Are you hurt?" Bubblegum asked in concern, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

Marceline shrugged her off coldly. "Don't be stupid, of course not. My arm is fine."

Marceline glanced back at Jake, and he could see her piercing red eyes glowing in the dark. Marceline's vampire eyes no longer made him shutter with fear like they used too; maybe it's because Jake had learned to pick up the multitude of emotions that filled them. This time, it was pain.

"Then what?" Bubblegum pressed.

"I uhh…" she began awkwardly. "Jake and Jermaine… they are…" She stopped, and instead, focused on the princess in front of her. "You're fine, Bonnie, your candy blood is different than theirs, but they… well, I don't have the best control, let's just say that."

Jake watched PB's posture change as she straightened up with new comprehension.

"Oh, their blood…" Bubblegum shook her head in denial, still trying to keep her voice light. "But I don't understand. I know you would never hurt Jake or Jermaine."

"Yeah, and I thought I would never hurt Finn either and look how that turned out," Marceline mumbled to herself.

Princess Bubblegum froze, her eyes growing wide. "W-what are you talking about?"

Marceline clamped her mouth shut immediately.

"Marceline," Bubblegum demanded in her "ruler" tone, which didn't usually work on Marceline, but this wasn't a usual time. "What are you talking about?"

"They… they never told you?" Marceline croaked out in disbelief, sparing a glance at Jake.

No, they hadn't told PB about the time Finn had lost too much blood and Marceline had and attacked him, almost killing the boy. It was something between Jake, Marceline and Finn, and it didn't feel right to include others.

"Tell me what? Marceline, what happened?" With the stress of the evening, Bubblegum seemed to be panicking now. "Marceline," she pleaded, "what did you do?"

Marceline looked away; she couldn't meet the princess's eyes.

"I tried to kill Finn."

This story takes place before Bubblegum places a tracking device in Finn's ear like the mentioned in the Lady and Peebles episode, just to let you guys know. Otherwise they would have been able to find him by now.

Wow, we are getting to the end of this fic. There is only going to be 13 or 14 chapters in all and a small epilogue scene. Still got a ways to go of course, but I'm starting to be able to see the end.