Finn was pleasantly surprised as he walked through the Candy Kingdom's streets with Jake and Isabela with either shoulder in the mid morning light. It had this air of joyful familiarity, like one would feel visiting there childhood home full of great memories or a forgotten spot that you claimed as your own. He twirled his threaded cane in his right hand , the cane quickly becoming a blur with his aquired dexterity as he walked, the weight of steel and silver of the shaft feeling comfortable and, if he was being honest, a tad fancy. it also helped to ease the mild paranoia as he passed threw the giant kingdom's wall, his heart hammering and senses going into over drive before stepping foot on the streets. 'This isn't Yharnham, this isn't Yharnham' he would repeat in his head till he got somewhat comfortable around the sweets the further in they got. He didn't sense any malice or madness, just people going about their day. Just very happy candy people in a very happy candy kingdom, offering polite waves and nods as they passed by. It was going to take some time to get oriented and find his footing in the land of Ooo, but the surprising amount of politeness did help if a little worrisome. It'll take time to figure out what and whom he could relax around.
He opted to not dress in more formal attire he scavenged yet, wearing nothing more than the pants and boots he was training in earlier and a tattered grey coat he picked up from a dead fellow hunter somewhere along his journey, blood and hole free now thanks to the helping hands of the Messangers and the Doll. Candy people were quite the cute and innocent sort, yet there was such a thing as too sweet, too defenseless. The best part of these people is that they didn't look at him in aversion and suspicion, the worse he received was a frown and raised eye from the older ones, parents most likely not sure what to make of him. The banana guards they passed seemed nice enough, though a bit slow, never once lowering their spears at him or glaring. The difference between here and Yharnham was like night and day, blood and wine, and beast from man.
Well... the last one was up for debate as he learned the line got very blurry in some cases.
The smell of food being prepared invaded his nose as they passed by a bakery as they continued on to the castle, hunger starting to form in his gut. The hungry grew when he now smelt ham being cooked, the sweet aroma drawing his attention away from the bakery window they were passing to find the source. He turned his head to a cart on the side of the road, the smell of honeyed ham, as well as other forms of cured and cooked meats over a fire behind it with a hint of strawberries. A large strawberry with legs and arms was leaning against their cart, face resting on their hands looking disappointed as candy people walk on by, not giving a glance to the ham being slowly cooked on a spit nor the sausages and ribs on the counter of the cart. A sign rested right under the table top in red paint, 'sweet Berryman meats'. They sighed sadly, as more potential customers walked by them. "Marry was right" they lamented quietly, " I should've went to the Fighting colosseum, but the Bad Lands are more dangerous now than ever. Stupid bandits. If Finn was still around..."
Finn's stomach let loose a loud noise, a starved beast desperate for its meal, drawing looks from everyone around him . Finn scratched the back of his head, the hunger now gnawing at him, his eyes darting over the little food cart on the side of the street, the meat, both cooked and raw, making him slightly drool. He locked eyes with the sentient strawberry, a glimmer of hope in their eye. He gently smiled at them, quickly wiping off the drool off his lips that he just noticed. his hand reaching into his satchel, Jake and Isabela keeping an eye on the bag as they heard the they clinking of coins as he pulled out a handful of the coins he picked up from Yharnham, making his way towards the cart. He gently laid the coins down on the table, the golden coins shimmering and glinting in the sun, the strawberry's eyes widening at the amount laid before them, looking at Finn with a wide smile and a shine in it's eyes as a customer has finally arrived and had some coin to spend. Finn smiled back, feeling good that he can eat something and actually bring a smile to a strangers face for a change. "What can I get for all of this?"
Finn was happily munching on the 2nd boneless honey glazed ham in his hand, the tin foil wrapped around the bottom crinkled as he quickly tore apart the meat, gulping it down with gusto as they continued their walk through the kingdom.
"You can let it cool first you know" Jake said through a mouth of cooked sausage" and slow down a little. Enjoy it, it ain't going anywhere." Isabela hummed in agreement, nibbling on some raw meat that Finn was going to assume bear, specifically the heart. Heart, liver, and tongue were the best parts she claimed but he can't believe tongue was any good in his experience.
Finn swallowed another mouthful of ham." I know, I know,that's why I bought a couple more. You never know when you'll find any normal food that hasn't gone bad" he took a glance at their respective meals, a slight worry crossing his eyes, " you sure you guys got enough? That doesn't look like it'll hold you over for long."
Isabela finished the heart she was eating, licking her hand clean of blood, the display making Finns heart skip a beat for reasons lost on him. She licked the last of the blood off her finger before looking at Finn with a tiny grin of her own, pleasantly noticing the air around Finn changing slightly from her display" it will. If need be i'll go hunt something."
" I'm good." Jake interjected as he toss the last bit of sausage in the air, opening his mouth wide to finish it off. While midair, a bird swooped down from a building's roofing and snatched the sausage and flew off towards the castle, all the while making its calls, as if mocking the dog. Finn and Isabela looked at jake, his head still tilt back, mouth wide open and waiting for the last morsel that will never come. Jack snapped his mouth shut, grinding his teeth, narrowed his gaze at the fleeing bird, his fists clenched tightly as his face grew red and, Finn was probably hearing stuff again, a sound of a tea kettle blowing hot air came from Jake's ears. "Globin! Damn! Bird!" Jake cursed loudly, throwing his fists in the air, growling as the Pigeon took off with yet more of his food as the candy people gave the irate dog some extra space, well accustomed to this song and dance.
"Was that someone's pet?" Isabela wondered out loud, watching the plump bird fly off with its stolen meal. She looked over at Jake, still fuming and possibly imagining terrible fates on the bird" you two seem to have some history."
" yeah, history. That bird had it out for me for the past three months. It Only steals from me!
A snort escaped from Finn, drawing the attention back to him as he quickly covered his mouth with the back of his right hand, trying to hiding his growing smirk from Jake's misfortune. It just seemed so silly and light hearted. He failed at this endeavor as Jake gave him the grumpiest look possible, steam rising off of his red face. Finn held out the last bit of ham for Jake as he shook his head. "Guess you'll think twice before throwing food in the air."
Jake grumbled as he took the offered ham, taking a bite and chewed angrily. His face lit up, the taste of the ham helping to improve his mode as he took another bite. Finn took out another ham wrapped in tin foil from his satchel, still steaming like when he bought it. He was midway through unwrapping it when he heard a soft, almost non existent muttering come up around a corner on a four way road they were coming upon. It grew louder the closer they got, the candy people looking nervous and quickening their pace away from the area. The muttering grew louder still as a voice, rough like gravel, A harsh foreign tongue that seemed to grate on the ears was easy to distinguish. Jake shivered, the sound making him feel disgusted, his body motionless to the sound. Isabela glared at the corner as a low, almost inaudible growl escaped her scowling lips as she quickly armed herself with her bow, an arrow knocked an arrow from her quiver as another floated midair, enveloped in her glowered, narrowing his eyes and dropping the ham on the street, his hand sliding into his satchel slowly as he gripped his threaded cane tighter, the shaft breaking apart slightly as individual segments turned out wards, a heavy metal cord holding them together like a whip. The thing muttering in the cursed tongue rounded the corner.
Half of their body was hunched over making them close to four foot tall, wrapped and bundled in varying cloaks, robes, and shaws of varying degrees of decomposition being dragged along like a snail. Their hands were gnarled and grey like ash as they repeatedly tapped there large teeth in a permanent open scowl, the only defining feature as the rest of their downward face was covered by overlapping crimson shaws . They stopped at the stop sign, the muttering making the people still around treated them like they were a rapid dog, frightened that any sudden movements will lead to an attack. The figure took one step and completely stopped any and all movement like stone, the sudden silence brought with it an eeriness that did not belong here. slowly, their covered face looked to Finn, and Finn knew it was looking at him despite it's covered eyes. Its scowl slowly morphed into a sick smile as its crack lips split as dark grey blood swelled on out the sudden cuts. They began to slowly resume taping, hitting teeth now with there long grisly fingers. The sound was like a thin metal wall being tapped with a pen.
They cease after the fifth quick tap, seeming to relish what it was causing, and spoke clearly in their strange tongue, the words making everyone grimace and blanch as they were spoken except for Finn. his eyes started to glow slightly, his pupils shifting into predatory slits, his hair bristling more and more as he heard the sickening jiberous flow through their mouth as the words, ones he has never spoken nor heard before, were becoming clearer and clearer to him as a blood drunken Hunter wanting to kill him. He felt an anger smolder inside, the beast thrashing at each word, each unnatural twist of a tongue not ment for this world. The words brought an urge to kill them. An urge to rip them apart. An urge to leave them nothing less than a bloody smear just how Alfred left the vileblood queen. An urge to drain them of their blood.
"-#%$ ^( Devourerer."
"Grinding teeth was heard as Finn dashed for the creature, the things smile stretched even more as it saw the sudden enlarged fangs, the sound of teeth grinding heared within the silence of the road. Finn returned the smile with his owned crazed and bloodthirsty smile. The candy people fled as fast as their feet could carry them from the scene, screaming and calling for the guards when they saw the blonde and grey blur rush to the stranger. To Finn's eyes they were slow and sluggish but the thing before him seemed quicker than the average prey. It moved at a speed he has seen with other experienced hunters, a faint silver gleam instantly drawing some of his attention, wriggling about under its covered left arm. Finn allowed a quick thought before be reached striking range ' Is that a tentitcle' ? Finn pulled a slab of steel from his satchel, his fingers sliding through holes to be used like a crude form of brass knuckles as he forgo his usual gun, the desire to smash this thing into paste winning over rational thought once more. He pulled the threaded cane back, the segmented blades extending into a serated whip as he swung in a wide arc from right to left. The thing flattened its body to the ground on three limbs, looking like a long bug as the Threaded Cane sliced through the air, bits of cloak and robe stuck to the segmented blades. It pulled its left arm back, the silver item slithering and convulsioning faster till they let loose a quick jab aimed for Finn's chest as a large, multi barbed, silver tipped tendril shot out like a bullet, growing larger and larger the further it shot out till it was the size of a beach ball, the barbs branching out and reaching for Finn. Finn deftly dodge to right from the sudden assault, the barbs lightly sticking and tearing parts of his jacket, watching as the unnatural weapon quicky receded back into the folds and bundles of clothing, a dark chuckle escaping its lips as it scurried around on all fours, trying to get to the right side of Finn to flank him. Finn circled with them like a dance, both swinging and jabbing at the other, their weapons a blur to all but each other, flashing and glittering in the sun. The thing dodged and weave through the blows how a Hunter would, keeping up with Finn as they dash and danced about without tire and continuing to infuriate Finn as it kept on yammering in that despicable tongue, the walls of his mind beginning to peel ever so slightly.
The threaded cane's segmented whip flew faster and faster through the air, cutting through air in a silver shine like a whirlwind but the thing still dodged with that giant toothed smile on its large face. Finn's smile widen as he brought the whip in a vertical swing, finally managing to cut deeply into the things shoulder as it made the error of dodging backwards, underestimating the cane's reach. Grey blood gushed out of the deep wound, showing grey muscle, sinew, and miniature eyes of varying color inside the grisly wound, the visual organs quickly locking onto Finn with a ravenous hunger and maddening truths he was all to familiar with. The blood splashed across the ground and showered Finn, the grey blood greedily absorbed through the bandages and exposed pores of his skin like a parched desert wanderer reaching an oasis. The things smile seemed to somehow grew even larger despite the large open wound, relishing in Finn's sudden shocked expression as his body locked up.
Finn's glowing eyes widen as he suddenly froze in place, his body refusing to operate as a wave of horrible alien and twisted and unworldly screeches and moans entered his mind, the sound making him want to pierce his eardrums as he struggled to push the sudden maddening sounds into the far murky depths of his mind. He was fully conscience of the danger the position he was left in, his eyes tracing his prey as they quickly slipped over to his exposed side like a slithering centipede, pulling their arm back as the tendril straighten and harden, the barbs shifting in a way to rip out more flesh once it pierces its victim. The smile on their lips grew as its skin continued to crack and split further, grey blood now dripping down its chin. He couldn't avoid the attack till he could move his body. He would take the full force of the attack, feel it lance through him as the barbs tear out whatever they catch . The screaming and roars were growing quieter as he continued to drown them, but his body still refuses to move even a hair! That fact alone put a tiny drop of fear into him, that one drop piercing his bloodlust and rage. Not once has he ever been a prisoner in his own body, trapped yet conscience and wide open for whatever the thing had in mind for him.
They made to jab the weapon into Finn's exposed side, extending their arms fully as the silver tendril snaked out, growing closer and closer, aimed right for his kidneys. Everything slowed to a crawl, his brain going into overdrive, trying to find a way to salvage the situation he was in, the sound of his own heart beat echoing in his ears, slowly drowning the foreign sounds with each loud thump as he started to feel control return to him at a crawl. At the current rate, he would be impaled before he regained his motor functions. This was going to hurt and he would be lucky if he didn't have to spend two of his very limited blood phials to heal the surely mortal wound. He might have to apply an antidote if it had a poisoning effect in those silver barbs
Before the silver barbed tendril could pierce his side, an arrow pierced right through their robe and cloaked covered arm, the arrow head tearing threw the limb and clothing like a bullet threw soggy paper, whipping the limb across their body, sending more grey blood into the air as the arrow imbedded itself into another building across the street. A large yellow fist quickly followed, slamming them into a neighboring wall soon after, spider cracks climbed around the wall, only for the fist to slam again and again before a large yell of pain was heard, reddish blue blood flying through the air as it pulled back away from Finn's field of vision, a large wound easy to see between the knuckles of the retreating fist. The pain-fueled scream belonged to Jake, Finn's dear older brother.
Jake's scream of pain filled Finn with more murderous rage, adding to his already blood lusting state, the sound of blood rushing threw his ears completely erasing the last of the foreign sounds in his mind as he felt control of his body return with a renewed desire for the blood, the life, from the thing that dared harm his brother. He saw them get back up on their feet, hunched over once more, leaning against the wall to steady themselves with that thrice cursed smile. They were laughing giddy now as grey blood mixed with spittle and chips of broken teeth feel to the ground, watching Finn as they manage to knocked a glowing arrow away with their damaged arm, snapping it into two as their unnatural weapon, their hand he realized, quickly darting out to protect its wielder, still speaking in their grating tongue.
""Devourer, Devourer!" They chanted mockingly, opening their arms wide, the tendril finally flopping listlessly, grey blood dripping down the tendril and their shoulder wound bleeding like a river, splattering on the ground. They could've been baiting Finn for a attack, they could've been a distraction for its hypothetical partners, they could've done it just to piss Finn off but no matter what the purpose for its actions, it just signed it's own execution and it wasn't going to be merciful.
Finn lounged after them, his threaded cane returned to its solid form, posed to them through the center of their chest. Finn aimed for the exact center of the things chest, the pointed tip sliding easily through the clothing, then the skin, then the ribcage with a audible crack and crunch, through the spine with another snap, and finally meeting the wall. Finn continued to push against the wall, growling like a feral animal as he pushed the cane deeper into the wall by the cane's handle till it rested firmly to it's chest, pinning it to the wall as they hacked a mouthful of grey blood and spittle through tightly shut chipped and cracked teeth as gurgling laughter escaped from their throat.
""Devourer! Devourer!" They gurgle through a mouth of grey blood before speaking that sickening language once more, the words translated in conjunction with each corrupted syllable spoken.
"Will you enjoy this feast like the last? Will you loose yourself to inebriation?'
Finns steel encased fist quickly embedded itself into the center of its face, the sound of its nose being broken clear to the raging hunter. He pulled back his fist again only to bring it crashing back down onto its large teeth, shattering them while the fist crashed into the back of its throat, a pained gag coming from his prey. Finn saw down its now exposed gullet when he pull his bloody arm out of its mouth, the broken teeth scrapping crossed his arm lost to him as his anger and rage was rising to maddening levels as the world grew a red tint to him. His eyes widened in horror as he saw something unspeakable down inside the depths. He could see the lives lost to this things gluttony, the victims still conscience and in agony in their melted state inside of their warp prison is its stomach. Finn's eyes narrowed in rage, the beast guiding his hand, demanding that this creature's blood is theirs, their maddening echoes theirs, their life is THEIRS TO END!
The blows from Finns strikes came crashing down like a monsoon, the blows heavy on its already pulpy face as Finn kept a firm grip upon the threaded cane, pushing it deeper still as the sound of ribs shifting were faintly heard. Flesh and skull quickly broke apart as it clung in clumps to the flat steel over his knuckles, the wall behind it leaving larger and larger cracks for ever hit, still unbroken as if by some miracle. The thing's laughter stopped after it's brain and eyes were nothing more than paste, but it persisted in Finn's mind, its volume close to that of the beast's, sending Finn deeper and deeper into his blooddrunken rage.'Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!' Finn raved in his mind as he continued punching the squishy and pulpy twitching remains skewered through the wall. He was covered in grey blood, his hair and face drenched in the gore as well as his body as every punch brought with it a gush of more blood. Finn was lost to the rest of the world, only focused on the corpse he was punching, every drop of blood being fuel for his drunken rage, not even Isabela's and Jake's voices were heard over the beasts ravings, the monstrous sounds, and the victims screams of agony as his eyes grew more red, more animalistic the more blood spilled. He was loosing himself more and more to the blood and rage, becoming drunker and drunker with each splash of grey that landed on him, the desire for more blood growing with each splatter across his face.
Isabela sent another arrow at the dazed creature as Finn was beginning to move now before she quickly moved to apply healing tears to Jake's deep wound between his knuckles, shrunken by the use of his powers to try to tide the flow of blood seeping from the opening as it still bled profusely. His face was contorted in pain, teeth clenched as the damaged area constricted itself while he stretched and morph the wound closed as much as possible. The tears worked slowly, closing the wound and not leaving so much as a blemish on his skin and fur. Jake, relieved that the pain stopped and the wound was healed, rubbed the now healed area before pounding a fist into his open hand, a look of determination on his face.
"OK i'll grab that thing's arms and you-" the sound of bone cracking and breaking ranged out followed by the sound meat being pounded, bone crunching. The two quickly focused back to the fight only to see Finn repeatedly smashed his steel encased fist into the things head, blood flying with each punch. Finn was snarling, his punches picking up speed as bits of skull began to fly from the now pulpy and broken head. A rapidly growing puddle of Finn's own blood pooled around his feet as the thing's tendril was lodged deeply into his side, twitching and writhing with each punch. The barbs were whiping and pulling and writhing with each punch, slicing and tearing whatever they latched onto as Finn seemed oblivious to the grieves and mortal wound or his blood cascading onto the ground.
"Finn stop, that's enough!" Jake yelled in alarm at his brother's sudden brutality as he quickly ran to his bloodstained brother's side with Isabela in tow. Isabela latched onto the hand holding the threaded cane in a death grip as she tried in vain to pry it off, all the while quickly getting covered in the gore as a lone, partially squished eyeball landed on her hat as her boots tried to find traction on the slick and sticky ground. Jake wrapped both arms around Finn's other arm, his long limbs coiling tightly like two snakes while Finn continued punching the corpse, slower now with Jake pulling the limb back, still unaware of his surroundings, a red glint starting to grow in his glowing eyes, his teeth growing more bestial, his face growing more wolfish. Jake's mind was racing as he tried to figure out what to do to calm Finn down. His eyes darted around the empty street before resting on a bowed broom stick on the ground when inspiration struck.
"Finn, enough!" Isabela ordered through gritting teeth as she gave pulling his arm away and started cutting into the tentacle limb with her knife. Jake sudden let go of the arm he was holding back as he ran off somewhere. The more blood came from the corpse; she was covered in it as she was about through the limb when a thought came to mind to stop Finn. If she was going to get Finn to stop, then she'll have to knock him out. She didn't like the idea but its the best idea she got in this situation. The limb she's been sawing on finally fell off, the tendril no longer moving as it went limp, still stuck inside Finn. She wipped her blood soaked hands upon a cleanish part of the robe before she grabbed her bow in both hands taking a few steps back to get the full power of her swing. She quickly got into position with her arms pulled back, winding up for the swing. Then the sound of strings being plucked made her look. It was Jake with the bent broom, his arm stretched out like strings on a harp. Jake started to sing.
"Don't be weepy, sleepy puppies"
"Slip your slippers on your footies"
"In the morning, you'll get goodies"
Finn's punches began to slow, the grip on his threaded cane loosened, his eyes growing dimmer. Isabela lowered her bow. Her ears picked up footfalls over Jake's singing. Metal footfalls and faint rattling.
""Puppy hats and puppy hoodies"
"No stripes or polka"
"Heather grey and feather soft"
The punches became sluggish, half hearted. His hand still held onto the cane, but the grip was weak now, limp. The rattling and footfalls were louder now, coming from on top one of the many roofs. Isabela quickly knocked a arrow as Finn began to sway like he was drunk, some of his strikes hitting the wall instead of the chunk of pulp that was once a head. Finn's eyes were now that of a tired boy, no longer that of bloodlust and rage.
"Baby pink or baby blue"
"All the draw strings you can chew"
When the last verse was singed, Finn ceased all attacks as he swayed, eyes struggling to stay open as he was beginning to nod off. He let go of the threaded cane, his hand slowly moving to his impaled side as he gingerly touched the foreign object, wincing as he did so. Isabela reached out for his arm to stop him from pulling it out, the arrow levitating in the air as her attention was all on stopping Finn from killing himself from pulling the tendril out. The sound of rattling balls was right above them drawing her attention to the building above them. Another figure in a cloak came swooping down above Finn, thin metal limbs and red could be seen from the fluttering cloak. Isabela saw the sword in their robot hand, quickly launching the arrow. The arrow was sliced into segments with each swing of the sword before it could even get close. He spun the sword around to the blunt end as he smashed it down upon Finns head. A loud ringing echoed from the blow, Finn's eyes rolling to the back of his head as he fell to his knees then face first into the bloody ground with a loud thud, the figure landing by him with rope held in his free hand. Isabela fired more arrows, but the sword of the stranger simply sliced them apart before he made one distinct swing that left an odd sound to it, not once moving from his spot. The bow was cut into two in Isabela's hands. Her hand instantly went to her pouch to pull put a large dark seed the size of walnut before glowing and shifting into a hunting spear. The stranger swung his sword again with that distinctive sound but this time she dodged, a slash being made behind her. She sidestepped to their side as she jabbed the spear as the stranger jumped away a fair deal. Isabela stood over Finn in a protective stance with her spear, teeth bared in a snarl as a primal growl escaped her lip, her green wolfish eyes narrowing as her leafy hair rustled about.
"Rattleballs?" Jake asked as he ran between the two. The figure nodded.
" Hello Jake. We need to transport the infected person to the princess. Here, take this rope." He said as he held out the rope for Jake. Jake scoffed at the offered rope.
"That's where we were going, and put that up man we don't need that biz, Finn needs help here!" Rattleballs looked at Finn, then at Isabela as she growled at him before dropping the rope. "Very well."
Jake ran towards Finn, asking Isabela to move before he stretched himself into a stretcher and gently put Finn on top, ignoring the mix of his and that monster's blood sloshing around on top as he was careful with the tendril in his side. Huntress tore off her own cloak and put it around the wound as to stop any more blood lost, keeping her eyes on the machine, her spear ready as they progressed to the candy castle with Isabela closely guarding the unconscious hero closely, lowering her spear anytime she thought the robot got to close until they reached the castle while the unconscious hunter dreamed.
"Authors Notes
And done, this chapter took me not one, not two, but three goes at writing it. Guess the saying is true about third times the charm. I took to some fanagling to figure out how I wanted Finn to treat the Candy people as one of my first drafts had him armed to the teeth and making the other Candy people scared of him and the second one involved him getting into it with the Banana guards guarding the kingdoms walls gate but I think I like this route better. I hope you too will enjoy the route I've been taking with this Fanfic.
Shout out to all you guys who seemed to really enjoy this and those who leave a review, you guys leaving me good reviews and favoriting this story makes making this thing all the better. and Like always, any advice and criticism is welcomed and I will be more than be happy to read it. As always, you guys have a good one!/
P.S. I got an Archiveofourown account going cause I thought it would be a cool idea like some of the authors on here with how more interactive I can be with you guys.