The following takes place during "Flute Spell."
"Listen," commanded the voice from behind him. "Shut your eyes, and reach out with your senses. Feel your thoughts flowing past like the water of the stream."
Finn was trying. He really was. But there were several things in his way.
First, his thoughts were way too awesome to ignore. He'd realized he had to ask Jake how small he could shrink and if he could find out what an atom looked like. From there he'd realized he only knew about atoms from one of PB's science lectures, which led to trying to remember anything else from those lectures, which made him remember that plate tectonics was like the world colliding with itself forever and that was way way too awesome to ignore.
"Finn, you look distracted," the voice said, from much closer in front of him. Feeling some warmth close to his face, he opened one eye.
Huntress Wizard was crouched in front of him, staring for any sign of his mind wandering. He jumped, yelping, and scrambled back.
Far enough to look into her eyes and remember the other thing that was in his way. They'd spent enough time together over the last week for him to learn what that tilt of her chin, that slight widening of her eyes meant. She was amused. And trying not to show it.
Donk everything, man. She totally knows I like her.
It wasn't Finn's fault. He'd been trying really hard not to fall for HW. Not only was she laser-focused on the Spirit of the Forest, but…well, Finn's last relationship had been over a year ago, had lasted for 45 minutes, and had involved Lumpy Space Princess. He didn't feel at all ready to date again without blizzing himself right off the proverbial bicycle into a thornbush that represented heartbreak. Right now was Finn Time.
And yet. Huntress Wizard smelled like honeysuckle and fresh pine. Yesterday she'd told a grizzly bear to piss off because she was busy. Every word she said to him was like the freshest beat he'd ever heard.
Right now, that beat went like: "We can stop for today if you like."
"Are you sure?" Finn stood and brushed his pants off. "I don't feel like we got much evoking done."
"Awareness is like a muscle. Practice it too hard and you'll just hurt yourself."
"I guess so. I don't wanna sprain my astral soul or nothin'."
Huntress Wizard waited while Finn retrieved his flute, then strode to the edge of the river. "So long, Finn. Same place tomorrow?"
She was about to shapeshift into a fish and swim home without waiting for answer, when something strong within Finn-maybe even his grass bits-made him say, "Wait, HW. Do you wanna…I dunno, hang for a bit?"
Huntress already had some scales. She shook, and they vorped back into skin. "Huh?"
"It's just…" I'm helping a friend. That's what heroes do. It's strictly hero biz. "You always disappear pretty fast after we're finished every day. We've been hanging out for almost a week and I feel like I don't know you at all. I'd like to. I've never met anyone like you before."
He was proud of that. Totally chill, not romantic, unlikely to lead to any goblins getting set on fire. Now, the moment of truth…
Huntress cracked a smile. For the first time since they'd met. It would have filled Finn's soul with sunshine if he'd had any feelings for HW which he absolutely didn't and furthermore never would. Because Glob dang it, it was Finn time right now.
"I'm pretty sure the same's true of me, Finn," she said. "Are you hungry? There should be a gummy-apple tree around here someplace."
Huntress Wizard let Finn pick the gummy apples. Partly because he was so eager to help, partly because he looked really cute jumping between tree branches. Unlike the human, though, whose feelings could not have been more obvious if he'd shouted them, she was going to keep that last part to herself.
They had a task here. She knew all too well what happened when feelings crept in where they didn't belong. Still, she and Finn were spending an awful lot of time together, and it couldn't hurt to establish a...a courteous professional relationship. Like work buddies. That would be fine.
They took the apples to a grove under a nearby stream, where the long branches of a mustache-willow spread shade over a field of flowers. Huntress shed her hood and cloak and lay back to enjoy the cool. Why had she ever moved away?
Finn took a bite of the gummy apple, and looked pleasantly surprised at how chewy it was. His excited exclamation gave rise to a few more feelings within Huntress that were not appropriate for a work buddy.
She closed her eyes. Discipline.
"Hey, Huntress Wizard," Finn said, "there's something I've been meaning to ask you. It's cool if you don't want to answer, I'm not sure if this'll be upsetting or anything, but I'd like to know."
"What is it?" She propped herself on one elbow.
"Well…" Finn set down his apple. "You're not a human."
HW chuckled. "What gave it away? Was it the antlers? Or the fact that this mask is part of my face?"
"That's part of your-" Finn shook his head. "Huh. That's one less thing I need to ask."
"You want to know what I am, right, Finn?"
"Yeah," the human boy said. "Like I said. You're just kinda…awesome."
All right, Huntress, she thought. In a moment you're going to feel a blush creeping up your cheeks. That is nothing more than the natural pity of a guardian of the forest for a lost bear cub. Just so you're prepared.
Then she blushed. A hunter's foremost virtue was preparation.
"Until a year or so ago, I would have answered 'wizard,' but that's not really a species," she said. "I was raised in these woods. I'm a wood nymph. They're who brought me up. Each nymph is attached to a tree in this forest, and so am I."
"Really?" Finn asked. "Have we seen your tree yet?"
HW shook her head. "It's deep in the forest. Far deeper than we've gone. There's an ancient heart to these woods, groves that were old before the Mushroom War. That's where I grew up."
Spellbound, Finn had given up chewing on his apple. She found the words flowed easier, knowing that she'd started and he was there to listen.
"I was different when I was young. The others raised things, tended to things, but all I wanted to do was fight."
"Sounds like me."
"Yeah, we've all heard the stories." Enjoying Finn's mortified expression a bit more than was healthy, she went on. "It was the Spirit of the Forest who first went to my family and convinced them they could put my energy to work. He said the forest needed a fighter. That's when I became Huntress."
"Did you have a different name before?"
Names. What were names? The river's babble over the rocks that she was enjoying so much right now: that was its truest name. Finn's heroism was his name. One should be called by their actions.
She explained, "Nymphs get a series of names as we grow up. They grow and change with us. My real name right now would take about two hours to say, and your throat would be too sore to play that flute by the end of it."
Light through the willow played over his face. It was close enough to touch, so she did without thinking, then pulled back to run her fingers through her leaves. "Better not then," Finn managed.
"It pretty much translates to 'Huntress Wizard,' though. So that still works."
"So…the Spirit trained you?"
"Yeah. We worked together for a while, and he saw great potential in me, so he said. But I was never content to just be what other people saw. That's why I picked up magic."
"How did you learn?" Finn asked. "I was a wizard for like a day once. I wasn't super good at it. I got the dustomancy down, though."
"Yes, a solid dustomancy is the first thing most new wizards are taught." Huntress nodded. "As for me, I hunted it like I hunted anything else. Grabbed whatever magical knowledge I could find from caravans and travelers. I bought, I traded, I eavesdropped. The Spirit started getting worried. The nymphs weren't too happy either."
"Is that why you moved to Wizard City?"
They both felt it then: an uncomfortable change in the air that suggested Finn had stepped too far. Huntress Wizard shook her head. Good work friend or not, she wasn't ready to talk about that with him yet.
"I'd rather not go there right now, Finn," she said.
"Oh, sure," he replied. "I totally get it."
There followed a moment of silence that veered toward the pleasant, where all the chirpings and buzzings and wind and water converged on the warm peace the two rebuilt for each other. Neither had anything to say. Both knew they didn't want to leave.
Huntress caught Finn staring, and let him. So what? He closed his eyes when he played the flute. She'd been getting some appreciation of her own in. And they weren't at work right now anyway.
"Can you tell me what these mushrooms are?" he asked her suddenly, crawling toward the edge of the grove. "I've been missing out on the world of mushroom knowledge like my whole life."
Huntress perked up. "Oh, these are actually my favorite mushrooms!" She walked toward him on her knees. "They're super poisonous. But it's a magic poison…"
The river rolled on past the mustache-willow, long into a sunset that Finn and Huntress Wizard climbed into the canopy to watch together. It was confident the two would wise up and leave it alone eventually. It had all the time in the world.
Author's note: Wow! I'm really pleased at the response this has gotten so far! Good to know there are so many other people out there that this ship makes happy. I definitely have several more ideas, so you're not getting rid of me so quickly!
I do want to mention that several aspects of this, including Huntress Wizard being the guardian of the forest, are directly inspired by tolliver_j_mortaelwyver's excellent "Artetris Huntress Wizard" fic which you should definitely go read right now.
I also want to personally thank the anonymous reviewer who's leaving in-depth thoughts on every short-since I can't reply to you directly, know that your work is appreciated!
Next chapter will be more (but still not very) explicit, so if you're into that, watch this space!