Chapter 2: Elder of the Woods

Finn ate the breakfast that Jake had prepared in silence. The yellow dog had finished his pancakes earlier and was now using his long tongue to lick the empty plate clean, despite the fact that he had more than the human.

The morning routine had gone as usual. Finn got dressed, sat down, the two brothers shared a few laughs as they ate causing Jake to nearly choke. Beemo and Neptr were both busy playing cards in the corner of the room, paying no mind to the two adventurers on the table; everything was going as well as always. And yet, deep inside Finn's mind, he could only focus on the memories of the nightmare he had the night prior.

Normally, Finn would forget most dreams a few seconds after waking up, but this particular one was carved into his mind. He could remember everything that happened clearly, and he shivered when he remember the feeling of nearly being suffocated to death by the strange faceless replica of Flame Princess. But the thing that stuck with him the most was the haunting melody he heard in his head during the ordeal. That eerie tune that seemed to take hold of Finn's entire being.

Jake must have noticed the human got lost in thought because he tilted his head in confusion. "Finn, you there?"

Finn came back to reality and finished swallowing the piece of bacon that was still in his mouth. "Yeah, I am. I guess I must've dozed off for a second there."

"Oh," was Jake's only response.

"So, what were we talking about?"

Jake took another lick of the plate before replying. "It wasn't that important. Anyway, you're eating a lot slower than usual. And you always chow down on my bacon pancakes! Is there something bothering you?"

"No," Finn replied after taking another bite. "I just had a weird dream last night and I still haven't wrapped my head around it."

"Is there ever any logical reason to try and find the meaning to a dream? They're just gibberish. Wait…was it a prophetic dream?"

"The Cosmic Owl wasn't there."

"Then what are you getting worked up about? Eat your pancakes. We've got a long day ahead of us."

Finn raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Man, you really are jacked up this morning." Jake stretched his arms and placed his plate all the way in the sink before explaining. "Last night, PB told us to go check out the woods near her kingdom on account of some 'weird readings' or whatever science mumbo-jumbo she went on about. Probably just another monster to beat up."

"Oh yeah. I remember."

"Right? And I wanna get it over with as soon as possible. I promised Lady I'd be back home by noon today, otherwise she's gonna kill me."

Finn said no more and just focused on finishing the remainder of his food. There were still a few scraps left when he was done, but he was as full as he could get without getting sick later on from traveling. Once Jake had made sure all of the dishes were placed in the sink and Finn grabbed his sword, the two adventurers set off from their treehouse after saying farewells to Beemo and Neptr, with the yellow dog stretching to his large form as the human rode on top of him.

Along the way, Finn continued to think about the dream he had the night prior. He wanted to tell himself none of it was real, but it felt that way. The pain on his hand was carved deep into his memory and he could remember every agonizing second that "Flame Princess" burned and crushed it with seemingly no mercy. There was also her skin becoming what looked like smoke and nearly choking him to death. But the thing that stood with him the most were the words that she told him beforehand: "Find me where skin burns but there is no fire."

It made no sense to him whatsoever. What could possibly burn skin that was not fire? Finn could think of a few things, but none of them helped in narrowing the search. Could it be some kind of acid? But there was no place in Ooo that Finn knew had any acid in it. Except PB's lab, maybe. Or maybe Jake was right and he was thinking way too much into it.

'It was only a nightmare,' Finn told himself. 'Nothing else. Your brain is just donking up because you keep thinking about Flame Princess. Just stop it already!'

He shook his head furiously and his hat nearly fell off his head, but Jake was too busy paying attention to where he was going to notice the human's ecstatic movement. It was hard to tell how long they had been riding but they were already out of the Grasslands, trekking through the yellowish fields of the Candy Kingdom. The yellow dog took a sharp turn into the woods filled with pink-leaved trees. Now it was only a matter of finding anything out of the ordinary.

Jake stretched back down to his normal size since the trees were making it difficult for him to navigate properly. Finn was able to jump of the canine with ease without him having to stop first; he had done this too many times to count and it happened naturally. So far, everything looked the same as ever.

PB had failed to mention where exactly in the woods was the problem. Now Finn and Jake would probably have to spend hours looking around and maybe not even find anything in the end. This only made both of them-especially Jake-annoyed and frustrated.

"Ugh, this is gonna take forever," Jake whined.

Finn placed his hand against the dog's mouth to silence him. "Wait, do you hear that?"

Jake focused on listening in as well and knew what Finn was talking about. It was faint but it was still there nonetheless; the sound of someone playing bongos in the distance.

The two adventurers remained silent as they walked towards the source of the sound. It got louder the more they followed it, meaning they must have been getting close. It got to the point where the rhythm was as clear as day, and that stood between them and it was a pair of bushes. Finn gently moved one of them to the side and took a peek, with Jake shrinking and sitting on his shoulder to get a good look as well.

There was a small wooden shack in the middle of the woods, one that neither Finn nor Jake had ever seen before. It had all of the basics: a chimney, a porch, and several windows. There was nothing peculiar about it, especially since it also looked a bit run down. And sitting on a rocking chair underneath the porch was a purple cloaked elderly man.

His face was mostly covered by the hood of the cloak, but his green colored skin and gray beard were in clear view. He was barefoot and both of his feet were muddy because of it. The bongos that Finn and Jake heard were sitting on his lap, and he played them like a true expert. No doubt he had been doing it for most of his life. There was a wooden staff leaning on the wall near him, and it was taller than the man himself by a full foot. But the most interesting thing about it was the shiny white orb that was merged with the top.

Whoever the man was, Finn and Jake failed to see how he could possibly be any danger, but they decided to step out of the bushes and show themselves anyway. Despite this, the old man paid no mind to them and continued to play his bongos normally.

Finn walked closer to the porch and cleared his throat. "Uh, excuse me. Sir?"

He must have gotten the old man's attention because the bongo playing came to an abrupt stop. "Huh? Who's there? I already said I won't have the pizza! All of you think it's a simple piece of food, but don't let it fool you. It's aggressive."

It was now clear that the old man was blind. The two heroes shot confused glances at each other then turned back to face him. "Our names are Finn and Jake," Finn said. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

"THE PAN!" the old man shouted loudly while smashing his hands on the bongos once.

"Wh-what?" Jake asked, even more confused.

"Those darn raccoons! Nature's thieves, they are! They stole my precious frying pan…Where am I supposed to cook my eggs now?! I may be a wizard, but only the fine art of cooking can create eggs as delicious as mine. I refuse to cook without it!"

"Well, we don't have your frying pan!" Jake said, already getting impatient.

Finn could not blame his brother. There was definitely something off about the wizard.

"Ah, but that can change," the wizard said. "You said your names were Finn and Jake, am I correct?"

"You are," Finn replied.

"Haha! I knew it! The orb never lies." The old man stood up from his chair and jumped out of the porch after grabbing his staff, landing right in front of the heroes with such agility that they were not expecting. "Weimar's the name. Elder of the woods and occasional traveling bongo player across all of Ooo and beyond. Charmed."

"Uh, we're over here," Jake said as Weimar pointed in the wrong direction.

"Oh, of course," Weimar replied and realigned himself. "Charmed."

Finn rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "So what's this about a frying pan?"

"As I said, raccoons took it in the middle of the night. I managed to track the vermin down to somewhere in these very woods, and I refuse to rest until I get my precious frying pan back."

"How are you gonna find it if you're blind?" Jake asked.

The yellow dog briefly howled in pain as Weimar hit him over the head with the staff. "Fool! I'm a wizard unlike no other. My powers are greater than your feeble and tiny minds could possibly understand. However…it seems that I no longer have to do anything."

Finn and Jake exchanged glances. "What do you mean?" the human asked.

"I've foreseen your arrival."

"Seen?" Jake asked.

"Yes, seen! You two are heroes, that much is sure. Then would you be kind enough to fetch an old man his frying pan?"

"Look pal, we're only here to make you leave these woods. Unless you plan to pay the royal tax in order to live here, you should just beat it."

Weimar grumbled as he rubbed his beard. "Such a rude mutt. Very well, I shall leave if you get my frying pan back."

Jake chuckled. "Like heck we will."

The yellow dog stretched his arms and tried to wrap them around Weimar, but the old wizard was immediately covered by a cloud of smoke and disappeared from his position.

"What?" Finn asked, confused. "Where did-"

He was interrupted by loud cackling coming from behind the duo. They quickly turned around to find Weimar standing there. "You're gonna have to try harder than that, boys."

Jake growled. "Why, you…"

Again the dog tried to catch the wizard, and again he failed as another cloud of smoke teleported him away. This time he was on the roof of his shack. "When I said I would not leave these woods without my frying pan, I was being serious. A wizard never lies."

"That's a lie in itself!" Jake yelled.

"Take it whatever way you like. But my decision is final, gentlemen."

Finn placed a hand on Jake's shoulder before the dog tried to stretch again. "Dude, let's just find that frying pan and get it over with."

"But he's using us as errand boys!"

"I don't like this any more than you do, but this isn't exactly the most tedious thing we've ever done. Come on."

"Ugh, fine. But after this is over I'm going straight back to Lady."

"Haha!" Weimar laughed from the roof of his shack. "I knew I could count on you lads. Now hurry back with that pan! And I'll be sure to give you a proper reward when you come back as well!"

Finn pulled on Jake's shoulder to get him walking. As the two heroes began to walk, they could hear Weimar begin to play his bongos from a distance.

"I can't believe we're going to retrieve a pan from some dirty raccoons," Jake whined.

"It's just raccoons, dude. We'll track down where they're hiding and be back with that pan before you know it."

The sun was already setting when Finn and Jake nearly made it back to Weimar's shack. Scratches and small bite marks were present across their entire bodies and both of them were exhausted. The raccoons put up more of a fight than they were expecting, and they were, unfortunately, unable to find the frying pan they were looking for.

Jake was busy licking one of the wounds on his arm as they walked and Finn dragged his sword across the ground behind him, having lost his sheathe to the raccoons. A few strands of hair were protruding from inside Finn's bear hat, which was now tattered and needed repair. The same could also be said for his green backpack when it broke from the bottom and he lost all of his belongings. Needless to say, the entire day had gone horribly for the two adventurers.

"Freaking raccoons, man," Jake said.

"I never knew they could put up such a fight," Finn replied. "They were so fast…"

"We did all of that for nothing! How are we supposed to make that wizard dude leave now?"

"Let's just talk to him and tell him we couldn't find his frying pan. Maybe he'll just accept its loss and buy a new one."

The two heroes made it back to Weimar's shack, and the old wizard was waiting for them on the chair of his porch. He did not have his bongos this time, and was instead humming a low tune while smoking from a pipe. Finn's and Jake's footsteps must have reached his ear because his head jolted when they came near.

"Two brave heroes who have just come back from a glorious battle approach, am I correct?" he said.

"I wouldn't call it glorious…" Jake mumbled.

"Weimar…" Finn began, "we couldn't find your frying pan. We looked everywhere inside the raccoons den but it was nowhere to be found. We're sorry."

Strangely enough, Weimar simply began to cackle loudly. "Well of course you didn't find it." The old wizard reached behind him and pulled out the pan in question. "It was here the entire time."

"WHAT?!" Finn and Jake said in unison.

Jake began to become ecstatic. Gibberish began to come out of his mouth as he flayed his arms in the air, sounding extremely furious. It was not long before he simply turned around and began to walk away.

"Jake, where are you going?!" Finn asked.

"I'm not dealing with any of this! You deal with this lunatic, but I'm leaving! Otherwise I will snap his neck!"

The dog's ranting could be continuously heard until he was out of ear's reach. Finn narrowed his eyes as he approached Weimar, who just kept smiling while smoking from his pipe. "Why did you send us on a wild goose chase?"

Weimar blew some smoke directly on Finn's face, causing the human to cough. "I needed to see if you truly were as great as my foresight showed me. I can tell it was partially right. You're too easily fooled and should probably work on that."

Finn grinded his teeth and raised his fist to punch Weimar. "No I'm not!"

The wizard simply teleported behind him before the punch could connect. "However, I can also tell that you have a good heart."

"So it was all just a test?" an angry Finn asked.

"Of a sort…But never let it be said I'm not a man of my word. I promised I would give you a reward when you came back, and so you shall receive it."

Weimar walked past Finn and grabbed his staff before reaching for his shack's door. He opened it and gestured for the human to follow inside, even if he was a bit hesitant to do so at first. Nevertheless, he did exactly that while keeping a close eye on the cloaked wizard.

The inside of the shack was exactly what Finn would expect from a wizard's home. Wooden shelves with all manner of jars with strange liquids placed on them; all kinds of alchemical potions and a boiling cauldron to brew them; and an abundance of books placed wherever they could fit. None of the book titles or labels on the potions made any sense to Finn, so he just ignored them altogether. And he did not even bother to try and make out what was inside each jar since they were mostly blurry.

All of the lighting inside the shack was coming from either a few dimly lit candles or the bright purple glow coming from whatever was inside the cauldron. Weimar stood in front of it and leaned closer as the steam covered all that was left to see of his face.

"Come here, boy," Weimar said.

Finn was hesitant for a moment but did as the wizard asked. As soon as Finn came within reach, Weimar took hold of his right hand and held the palm close to his face.

"Hey, what are you-"

"Shhhhhh," Weimar silenced the human before he could finish.

The old wizard removed his hood, showing his hairless head and eyes that had no pupils, only blankness. Finn was drawn back a bit by the sight.

Weimar ran his other hand over the palm of Finn's as he hummed a low tune. "Ah yes, I can feel it. You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

Finn was utterly confused. "What are you talking about?"

"The nightmare," Weimar replied. "You know of what I speak. The spirits don't lie. A long lost lover seeking your help. A girl of flame with no face, and a melody that would send the strongest of men into a trance of pure bliss."

The human's eyes widened in disbelief. How could this strange wizard that he had never know before possibly know all of this information? And it was all just a simple nightmare. Nothing more.

Finn pulled his hand away. "Who are you? How do you know this?!"

"You've gone through so many trials in your life, but all of them simply tested you physical strength. But the one that awaits you in the near future will test both your heart and mind to their fullest extent. And many will suffer, but none more than you will."

"No. No, none of this is true. You're insane!"

"Am I, boy? Your fate has already been sealed. The girl in your dream has made sure of that by placing her mark on you."

Finn was confused until he looked back at the palm of his hand. A black mark was beginning to morph onto his skin. A circle with what appeared to be the sideways head of a crow in the center. And all the while he felt his skin burning as clearly as he did in his nightmare, and his head he began to hear her melody once again.

"GAHHHHHH!" the human screamed. "Get away from me! Get out of my head!"

Finn turned and began to run towards the exit to the shack.

"The spirits have deemed it so, boy!" Weimar shouted. "She will haunt you until she is found!"

The human paid no mind to the wizard's ranting. He kept running through the darkness of the woods, trying to escape the shadows that seemed to envelop him.

Note: Wow. My mind has been in a dark place lately.

-DRAGONNINJAMAN: Thanks. I will.

-CoolDudeAgent: I'm glad you think it's good.

Next Chapter: Crow's Shadow