The sun was barely beginning to rise of the land of Ooo, its first rays cresting the horizon in the earliest form of dawn. The storm had passed, and it was looking like it would be a beautiful sunshiny day. However, the sun would not be fully risen for another hour and many dark things still slithered about in the pre-morning twilight. One such creature of the night moved silently towards the hero's home, not a sound could be heard as there were no footsteps to hear.
The latch to the camper's door popped quietly enough as not to alert the occupant, the door swinging open and the entity floating inside. It's dark eyes, which were well adapted to the lack of light, fell upon the bed. It could feel the pounding of the sleeper's heart, the slow rhythmic thump thump as their delicious blood flowed through their veins. The creatures target was hidden beneath a large pile of blankets and furs, with nothing but a patch of blonde hair sticking out. A silent chuckle was released as an evil plan formed and the creature moved closer to her target. With a hand she grabbed the edge of the blankets and tore them back letting out a demonic hiss.
Bronwyn had been having the loveliest dream, a never ending skatepark and her shredding skills. All that was interrupted when she felt the warmth of blankets leave her body, she jolted awake, and her eyes fell upon the visage of a hideous demon staring down at her. It's grotesque features and razor teeth causing the hybrid girl to let out a terrified scream as she scrabble away hitting her back against the wall.
Instead of attacking, however, the demon jumped away letting out a scream of its own before shrinking down into the form of a tall, pale woman. She looked to be about Finn's age dressed in a grey tank top, black skinny jeans, and red cowboy boots. A look a confused shock was stretched across her face as gears turned in her head before she finally pointed at Bronwyn and asked. "Who the hell are you?"
"I should be asking you that?" Bronwyn said exasperated, her heart was beating at a thousand beats per minute. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
"What in Glob is going on?" Came Finn's calm but concerned voice. The two women turned from staring at each other to find the seasoned adventurer standing in the doorway of the motor home. He was dress in a simple pair of shorts and a tank top drenched in sweat. "Oh hey Marceline. What's up?"
"Finn?" Marceline said confused.
"That's me." He said as he walked over to the small ice box and pulled out a carton of juice to drink.
Marceline's gaze switched from the hero to the girl in the bed and back several times as her mind computed the situation before her. She'd been expecting him in the bed for her little prank to wake up, not some random girl. Wait. There was a cute girl in Finn's bed, dress in one of his t-shirts. Two plus two equals four. A smirk formed on the vampire lips as she floated over and planted a small punch on his stumped arm.
"Dude, glad to see you back in the game." She said with a teasing grin and wrapping an arm around his shoulders like a proud older sibling. "I didn't expect you to throw your hat back into the ring so soon after the Huntress Wizard incident."
It took Finn a few seconds to figure out what in the world his friend was going on about, a simple read of the room and how it looked had a lightbulb going off in his head. A younger Finn would have been blushing furiously and fumbling words, but he had matured over the years. Bronwyn on the other hand who'd been following the conversation silently was ready to die from embarrassment. Finn just gave the vamp a deadpan look before saying. "She's my great niece."
"I don't judge." Marceline shrugged, she after all was in a homosexual relationship with a sentient piece of bubble gum. Not to mention the girls appearance made it obvious that she wasn't from Finn's human side of the family. A few context clues like fur color and Bronwyn's horn definitely put her in Jake's and Lady's descendants.
"No Marcy, I-" Finn began but paused to collect himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Marceline. This is Bronwyn, Jake's granddaughter. She wants to be an adventurer, so I've taken her on as my apprentice."
"Good cover story." Marceline teased now just finding the situation funny, especially since Bronwyn's face was bright pink and steam was practically pouring out her ears. The look on Finn's face however told her not to continue down the route she was on. It was rare to see the usually jovial and laid back hero have such a look on his face and it sent a shiver down the vampire's spine.
"Alright, I'm just teasing." Marceline said floating over to Bronwyn and extending a hand. Now that she'd got a better look at the girl, she couldn't help but get a vibe of familiarity from the girl. She knew she'd never met her before, but she'd definitely seen her somewhere. However, she couldn't place her finger on where. Oh well. "Nice to meet you, I'm Marceline the Vampire Queen. Sorry for scaring and teasing you."
"Wait, Marceline the Vampire Queen?" Bronwyn asked, her mind reeling and her embarrassment fading as she couldn't believe her ears. "THE Marceline the Vampire Queen?"
"You've heard of me?" The pale girl asked with a smug smirk, hand still outstretched. "I'm not surprised, I am pretty famous."
"Heard of you?" Bronwyn asked indignantly as she took the offered hand and shook it enthusiastically. She couldn't believe she didn't recognize the rocker, although in the last few moments she'd went from contently asleep to confused, then terrified, and finally embarrassed as all hell. So she did have a good reason. "You're my favorite artist, I have all your songs. I've always wanted to go to one of your shows, but my dad would never let me. You are the coolest!"
"Heh, always cool to meet a fan." Marceline responded a bit surprised as she looked down into the shorter girls starstruck eyes.
"I can't believe it, I've always wanted to meet you!" Bronwyn continued absolutely fangirling. She'd missed her chance after the elemental incident all those years ago. After LSP had cured the land and returned the residents of Ooo to their normal selves, she'd been standing right next to the Vampire queen but was too caught up in the celebration to realize it. "Grunkle Finn! Why didn't you ever tell me you knew the greatest rocker ever!?"
"Never came up." Finn said with a shrug before he took another swig of juice and returned the carton to the ice box. "Anyway, Marcy. What brings you to my neck of the woods? Isn't it getting close to your bedtime?"
"Nah, I've been staying up late more to spend more time with Bonnie." Marceline chuckled letting go of Bronwyn's hand and floating back over to talk to Finn. "I'm actually here on business. Some construction workers found the entrance to a dungeon while remodeling a building in the old part of town. PB was hoping you'd check it out."
"And you came out all the way out here to tell me in person instead of just calling me because?" Finn asked with a suspicious tone to his voice that had the vampire smirking.
"What? I can't just come visit an old friend for kicks?" Marcy asked, trying to feign an innocent look, to which the adventure just stared at her with an unamused expression. "Ok ok. I was hoping to prank you hard. The candy citizen are too easy, I wanted a challenge."
"Figured, I'm glad to see you're still up to your old antics." Finn chuckled. "Yeah, we'll check it out after breakfast. That sounds like a great first adventure for Bronwyn to get her feet wet. What do you think Bron?"
"I.." Bronwyn began to stammer; she was still a bit starstruck from meeting one of her favorite artists and the nickname had caught her by surprise. She blushed a bit and responded to the question in a shy tone. "Sounds good to me."
"Then it's settled. You wanna join us for breakfast Marcy? I think I got something red stashed around here somewhere." Finn asked beginning to dig around the cabinets for cooking utensils.
"Your niece's face is looking red enough to drink." The vampire responded as she floated back over towards the younger girl, she licked her lips and opened a mouth now filled with rows of razor teeth. The blush quickly faded from the hybrid's face, and she visibly paled as a look of fear overtook her. This had Marceline laughing loudly as she returned to normal. "You should see your face."
"Not funny!" Bronwyn pouted, she was getting tired of being embarrassed so early in the morning.
"I beg the differ." Marcy smirked before turning her attention back to the hero who'd started cooking. "I'll have to take a rain check on breakfast Finn. I gotta get back to the castle and let PB know what's up. Catch you dudes later."
With that she flew out the door which slammed behind her. The trailer fell into an awkward silence, well awkward for Bronwyn anyway. Finn seemed completely content as he continued to make the two of them food. Bronwyn had always dreamed of meeting the vampire queen but that had definitely not gone how she'd always hoped.
"You good?" Finn asked as he plated up a couple of omelets and set them on the table.
"I'm fine." Bronwyn replied in an exhausted tone as she crawled out of bed, the shirt she'd borrowed from Finn was wrinkly now and hung loosely off her thin frame. She sat at the table looking a bit defeated. "I just haven't felt that embarrassed since the time grandpup was trying to act cool in front of my friends."
"Don't let Marcy get to you." Finn shrugged as he sat and began to eat. "She's always like that."
"I'll take your word on it. Where were you so early anyway?" Bronwyn asked trying to make conversation. She was curious, the bed her Grunkle had been sleeping in had already been turned back into a table.
"I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. So once the storm stopped, I went out and did the laundry and went for a run." He replied nonchalantly. "Clothes are hung up but won't be dry until probably noonish."
"Told you that bed was too small for you."
"Yeah yeah, stiff too. Definitely need to get a new mattress for it today after the dungeon."
"Wait." Bronwyn had a thought as she finished her food. "If my clothes won't be dry until later today then what am I supposed to wear on this adventure? I really don't want to go tromping around town in your borrowed shirt."
Finn paused, a fork full of omelet inches from his open mouth as he thought about that. That hadn't occurred to him, then again, he'd never been the best about planning a head. His eyes scanned over the hybrid girl as the gears in his mind began to turn. He took his last bite of breakfast and chewed slowly as he thought it over. His niece was about a head or more shorter than himself, she was petite but had some curves on her. A light bulb dinged in the hero's head as he swallowed his food.
"Well along with the mattress we need to pick you up some good adventure clothes in town. Even if you dress was dry, it isn't the best for mucking your way though a dungeon." Finn said thoughtfully. He scooped up their plates and dropped them in the sink before walking over to his bed. With a heave he lifted the edge up to reveal a compartment for storage underneath. Kneeling be rummaged through the contents for a bit until he came out with a small cardboard box. "Until then you can wear these. They should fit you."
Bronwyn took the box and placed it on the table before opening it. Inside was a familiar set of blue shorts and T-shirt. "Are these your old adventuring clothes from when you were a teen?"
"Yep." Was all Finn said as he returned to digging through the storage area. "I also have something else for you. Where in the nightosphere did that thing go? Go get changed, well be leaving in a bit."
Bronwyn nodded and took the box to the bathroom. After several minutes she returned wearing the loaned classic hero's outfit. It definitely fit better than the shirt she'd used as pajama's but her proportions were quite different than teen Finn's had been. She could feel the shorts squeeze her thighs, they weren't restrictive but tight. The shirt was a little short and her midriff peaked out.
While she'd been changing Finn had taken the opportunity to do the same. The large man wore a pair of blue jeans over a pair of brown boots, a grey T-shirt that clung tightly to his muscular torso, and he'd attached his robotic arm. On his back was slung a huge battle axe. His eyes flicked over to Bronwyn who was subtly gawking at him.
"Glad those fit." Finn said walking over and ruffling her hair with his fleshy arm which knocked her out of her absentminded stare.
"Grunkle Finn, you look so freaking cool!" Bronwyn couldn't help but to exclaim. She'd never seen him in his adventuring attire before, usually when he'd visit he would be wearing a more casual outfit.
"Heh, thanks." Finn said scratching the back of his head with his good hand before holding up his metal one to present a long-wrapped parcel. "Here I got a gift for you. This never suited me but I've been holding onto this for sentimental reasons."
Bronwyn took the package and unwrapped it to find a short sword. It had an unusual appearance, the hilt being longer than the actual blade. It had a skull for a pommel and an eye in the guard, the blade was wide and half was serrated on one edge.
"That was Jake's sword, although he never used it much." Finn said as Bronwyn's eyes widened in surprise. This blade belonged to her grandfather, he'd told her about it but she'd never actually seen it before. Her dad didn't want such weapons in his house after all. She couldn't take this, she was about to say so when Finn place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know Jake would want you to have it."
Tears began to form in the hybrid's eyes and she embraced her uncle in a hug. It was weird, she'd never considered herself one who was physically affectionate. She'd always thought that such things would make her less cool; however, in the last twenty four hours she'd shown more affection to this man than any other person in her life. Finn was just too good of a guy not too.
"Thanks Uncle Finn." She said with a sniffle.
"No problem." Finn smiled returning the hug. "It'll do for now anyway. It's rather unwieldy if you ask me, we'll find you something that fits your style more once we figure out your style. Now come one, we got a dungeon to raid.
Author's note: Fluff and development. Now that we've got the set up out of the way we can start getting into the action and adventure! Sorry for the delay on this chapter, life's been crazy. I've also been working on another commissioned fanfic as well as a personal one. And as always to my readers, please leave a comment and/or review. I love hearing from you and the critiques help me improve my writing. Until next time my friends.