Bubblegum's eyes were sore from being rubbed, her throat rough from crying.
Her father had hugged her, told her to leave the settlement and go for a walk to clear her head.
So she had, hands stuffed in pockets, boots crunching through the light snowfall on the ground, and deeply engrossed in thoughts of death.
Mom.
The word had become so painful, so raw, so incredibly hard to hear. It referred to someone who wasn't there anymore and would never be again. Someone who had read her stories as a child, played with her and soothed her when she was upset. Someone who was always there to listen when she was angry or hurt. Someone who was kind and loving. Someone who was gone.
Mom.
Far above, Marceline sat on a thick tree branch and stared out into the night sky.
Mom.
What did that word even mean anymore? A woman who had died one hundred and forty-nine years ago. A woman who had cared for her like so few others had, bandaged her up when she get hurt, sang to her, played with her, loved her.
Marceline bowed her head. Since becoming immortal, she had learned that there were many, many things one didn't just lose to the ages.
One of those was memories of the people who you cared about, and who had cared about you.
Mom.
She'd had a dream last night with her mother in it, laughing her old carefree laugh and smiling at her little girl.
The vampire smiled sadly. It had been nice to see her again.
Mom.
Far beneath her on the ground, a human shape turned into that of a wolf.
Bubblegum was so engrossed in thoughts of her mother that she didn't see the werewolf glaring at her through the trees. She didn't hear the twigs snap under its feet as it positioned itself.
She only heard its irreverent snarl when it pounced.
The young woman whipped around in time to see fangs bared, claws outstretched and a huge, hairy body springing towards her.
Instinctively, she threw herself to the left.
The beast sailed through empty air and landed with a clump against a tall redwood tree. Bubblegum tried to pick herself up off the ground quickly. Even though her legs suddenly felt rubbery. Even though even the adrenaline pumping through her couldn't stop her feeling petrified. Even though she knew the chances of outrunning a werewolf were -
Then she felt it.
That terrible weight bearing down on her, smashing her to the ground. The horrific growling mere inches from her ear. The creature had leapt again. It was all over now.
Or so she thought. As soon as she felt the heavy weight of the beast on her body, she felt another more forceful weight...shove it off?
Impossible, unless – She flipped onto her back and looked up. And couldn't believe what she was seeing.
A tall, beastly demon-like creature was wrestling with the werewolf, shoving its strong body down onto the ground. But the werewolf fought back, kicking out its legs and snapping its jaws. The demon being then grabbed its snout, clamped its jaws shut and leaned down swiftly, biting the werewolf's neck in one quick motion.
The dog-like beast let out an ear-splitting whine of defeat as it shrank back into human form.
A thin, brown-haired man lay shivering on the ground in nothing but a worn pair of briefs.
Just then, the demon transformed...into the shape of a tall, lean -
"Vampire," Bubblegum whispered.
She had been right. Only a vampire had the strength to take on a werewolf.
It was like a rock-paper-scissors thing. Ghosts beat vampires, vampires beat werewolves, werewolves beat ghosts.
"Hey dude, you gotta be more careful," the vampire girl was now telling the bony man on the ground. "You could get yourself killed doing things like that!"
He looked up at her, face flushed.
"You're right man, sorry," he said and began to shakily climb to his feet. "I was locked in feral mode, y'know? I had to get my eats on!"
"Yeah, I understand," Marceline said in a considerate tone. "Just try to have your next meal on time and not have to go hunting for flesh, alright?"
"Alright, I hear ya," the man then turned to Bubblegum. "Sorry lady, I didn't really want to hurt you."
"That's OK," said the princess, even though her heart was still hammering. "There's a clearing up that way full of ra-ra bushes if you keep going north."
"Oh man, ra-ra bushes? A werewolf's favourite alternative to flesh!" the man grinned excitedly. "Thanks lady! Bye other lady."
And with that, he trekked into a clump of trees and out of sight.
Marceline watched him go, Bubblegum watched the vampire. Then she stepped forward.
"I don't know what to say!" she began. "Thank you so much for what you did."
The taller girl turned around at the sound of the other's voice.
"Huh? Oh! No problem, werewolves are pretty easy for vampires to take on. It was kind of no big deal."
"Well it was a big deal to me," Bubblegum replied. "Without you, I'd have been the dude's lunch meat! So thanks."
"Eh, don't mention it," the vampire shrugged, looked down, paused, then looked back up. "I'm Marceline by the way."
"I'm Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum, it's a pleasure to meet you," Bubblegum said in her most regal tones.
But the vampire merely smirked, cocked an eyebrow.
"Whoa, wait! Princess? Spit, do I get a knighthood for saving you?"
Bubblegum smiled slightly, amused by the idea.
"We're not exactly a kingdom that can dish out the knighthoods yet, we're still finding our feet as a monarchy."
"Oh yeah? Which kingdom is it?" Marceline asked curiously.
"The Candy Kingdom," Bubblegum reported proudly. "My dad is King Cotton. And my mom - " she stopped and then it stung when she went on, "was Queen Praline. They've been trying to build it into a proper kingdom for over thirty years."
Marceline nodded.
"Funny story about me and the Candy Kingdom," the vampire said, suddenly smiling. "You guys actually sorta helped me out once when I was sick."
"Oh yeah? Did we put you up in our infirmary?"
"No, you didn't have one back then," Marceline laughed. "It was when I was a little kid and needed chicken soup because I was sick. One of the first of you guys gave me some. Well, gave to Simon to give to me."
Bubblegum blinked in astonishment.
"One of the first of us? So that must have been - "
"Oh around a hundred and forty years ago. Maybe more."
"Wow," Bubblegum looked at the vampire in awe. "Do you mind me asking how old you are?"
"A hundred and forty-nine. You?"
"Just twenty-seven. But they've run some tests on my molecular make-up and genetics and discovered I'm immortal."
Marceline was taken aback by that.
"Wait, really? I didn't know any candy people were immortal!"
Bubblegum nodded.
"The naturally born ones, yes," she explained. "Those cloned, grown or otherwise made, no."
"Are there many naturally born candy people?"
Bubblegum shook her head.
"So far, no. I'm the only one."
Marceline nodded, taking it all in.
"What about you?"
The vampire looked up, dragged suddenly from her thoughts.
"Sorry, what?"
"I said, what about you? Where are you from?"
Marceline gave a bittersweet smile to the ground. What a good question.
"That's a complicated one princess. Eh...I guess, right now I'm from the Underworld, hanging out with my vampire buds."
"But...you haven't always been a vampire?" Bubblegum probed.
Marceline shook her head.
"No. My dad is a demon and my mom was a human."
"A demon? Like, from the Nightosphere?"
Marceline smirked.
"Head honcho of the Nightosphere actually."
"Wait. Your dad is Hunson Abadeer?"
"Bingo. I'm Marceline Abadeer."
"Wow," Bubblegum chuckled slightly at the thought that she was having such a civil conversation with the "lord of evil's" own daughter. "And what about your mom? Is she with your father in the Nightosphere?"
Marceline winced internally, then gazed off to the far right.
"Nah, my mom died when I was little. In the Mushroom War."
There was a short, awkward silence.
"I'm sorry," Bubblegum said sincerely. "I lost my own mother just a month ago."
That brought Marceline back to making eye contact.
"Oh wow, that sucks," she said, and not without sympathy. "I'm sorry Bonnibel."
Perhaps it was the newly established familiarity over lost mothers or simply the fact that Marceline sounded so comfortable using Bubblegum's first name but the princess suddenly felt at ease voicing a concern she had been having for a while.
"I'm not looking forward to being immortal right now."
Marceline let out a low chuckle.
"It has its disadvantages, alright," she paused, "But it can also be great."
"Oh yeah?" Bubblegum sounded sceptical. "How?"
Marceline looked up to the sky and cleared her throat.
"There's no limit," she said simply. "Most people have all these ambitions for their life and they're lucky if they get to accomplish even a small number of them. But us? Well, we've literally got forever. And I find that reassuring, y'know? The difference between dreams and plans doesn't matter for us because, well, we've got eternity to figure out the bugs."
Bubblegum let the vampire's small speech wash over her, feeling a distinct comfort at them.
The difference between dreams and plans doesn't matter.
Those words resonated with her for some reason.
"I like the way you think," she said, nodding. "It's optimistic."
The vampire shrugged.
"It's true. We've got forever."
"That we do," Bubblegum said, also looking up at the stars above. "So what do you want to achieve Marceline?"
Marceline let out a small laugh.
"I don't know. Something that means...something."
Bubblegum smiled at the simplicity of the words.
"Yeah," she agreed. "Me too."