Darkness.
Cold.
Fear.
Pain. Oh gob, so much pain. She ran frantically, trying to get as far away as possible from the source of her terror. Crying out, she fell heavily to the ground as she tripped over an unknown object. It was so pitch black that she could barely see her lower body, not that she would've been able to see anything anyway through the tears streaming down her face. Slowly, she brought her legs around and tweaked her foot, wincing as the motion added a whole new stab of pain to the hurt already wracking her body. She collapsed, giving up and sobbing hopelessly. How could this happen to her?

Marshall-lee froze, his fingers stiffening on his bass guitar as he finally noticed a tinny ringing noise sounding throughout his house. It was like, one am. Who would be calling him right now? Carefully setting down his bass and flicking the switch on his amp, he drifted over to the kitchen bench and picked up his mobile, answering it curiously.
'Uh, Hey.. Marshall.'
'Oh thank Glob. Marshall, it's Cake. I need your help.' Marshall-lee frowned, running his fingers through his hair.
' With what? Kitty, it's pretty early in the morning, shouldn't you and Fi be asleep?'
' That's just it,I have no idea where Fionna is. She went out earlier, and I haven't seen her since! I've been looking for almost three hours and I still haven't found her!' Cake sounded really panicky, and Marshall could hear a slight interference in the static.
' But what do ya need me for? She'll be fine, It's Fionna we're talking about. She's pretty much indestructible.'
' Marshall, please! I haven't been able to get Gumball, and I can't search all of Aaa by myself!'
' Okay, fine. Where are you?'
' I'm in the east woods, over by-'
' That's all I need Kitty-cat, see you in a few.' Marshall ended the call and dropped his phone back on the bench, sighing heavily. This was so pointless. Wherever Fionna had ended up, she'd be fine. The girl had bigger biceps than he did.

A few minutes later, Marshall-lee coasted into the dark and scary woods. He sniffed the breeze a couple of times, trying to pick up the cat's scent, and wrinkled his nose as he caught her familiar whiff on the wind. She reeked of fear. He drifted between the trees easily, following her trail until he spotted the calico cat carving deep notches into the side of an old oak tree.
' Woah, Cakers. What did that tree ever do to you?' Cake jumped at the sound of his voice and spun around, heaving a sigh of relief when she spotted the vampire.
'Jeez, Marshall! You're so globbin' quiet! And I scratch things when I get all stressed up, okay? So y'all better watch out.' Marshall-lee shrugged lazily. Cake couldn't hurt him.
'So Bunny's missing, eh? What's got you so worried this time? She can handle herself, Cakey.' Cake shook her head at him frantically, digging her claws into the fabric of his shirt.
' She left hours ago, and she said she'd be back before bedtime, and when she wasn't I tried to call her and she didn't pick up. She always picks up her phone, Marshall!' The vampire raised an eyebrow, extricating Cake's claws from his shirt.
' So she missed a phone call. That's hardly a death sentence, Kitty. What was she doing while she was out?'
' Gumball dropped by for her help with something, and she wouldn't tell me what. I called him too, but he didn't pick up either.' At this information, Marshall-lee narrowed his eyes. That sounded a little dodge. Both Gummy and Fionna ignoring Cake? Fionna was a ditz sometimes so that was understandable, but not Gumbutt. A thought flashed through his mind and he grimaced, annoyed with himself for even considering it. But...

' Uh, Cake? How old is Fionna now?' Cake looked confused, and scratched her whiskers thoughtfully.
' Um, she's fifteen, sixteen in two months... But I don't see how-' Marshall-lee shushed her.
' Cake, have you considered that they might have been- um, busy? It's a little suspicious don't you think?' Cake looked at him for a few moments, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, before suddenly coming into line with his suspicions and gasping.
' Marshall-lee! How could you even think that!? Fionna wouldn't, for starters, and even if she had, she still would've come home!'
' Unless they're still at it.' Cake's jaw dropped and she stared at Marshall-lee in horror. Marshall was actually slightly surprised at himself at how nonchalantly he had given that particular comment. The idea of Gumball and Fionna together was not one he liked at all. The idea of him and Fionna though... That was a very, very attractive idea. Marshall-lee blinked himself back to reality and glanced cynically at Cake, who was still glaring at him in open-mouthed disgust.
' C'mon Kitty. There's a chance.'
' Not if I can help it! Marshall, you keep looking for her in here, I'm going to the Candy palace.' Cake said, turning away from him and stalking out of the trees, cracking her knuckles as she went.

' Wait C-... Dammit. Who ever said Fionna was even here?' Marshall-lee sighed in annoyance, before continuing to drift through the forest. As he ventured deeper, occasionally sniffing the breeze for traces of Fionna's scent, He mused on what he would do If Fionna actually was with Gumball. It did seem quite unlikely. Who knows if Fionna even knew about any of that stuff? Besides, Marshall had always kind of thought that when Flame Prince didn't work out, Fionna might've finally taken a second look at him. Instead of annoying, prissy, Mr. Always-needed-saving Gumball. Gob, Fionna had kept him in the friendzone since forever. He didn't really mind that much, but Fionna made him laugh. She interested him, and entertained him. Not to mention that she was pretty damn gorgeous. Girl was fit. She'd come around eventually. Or at least, that was the attitude he'd hold on to until he got news of the wedding.

He sniffed the wind casually, having forgotten to as he was considering the adventuress in his head. Suddenly, he stiffened slightly, and inhaled again, this time concentrating on the various notes held within the burst of air. That smelt like blood. Not nearby, but not too far either. And that wasn't animal blood either.
' Fionna?' He called uncertainly, starting to follow the scent with a certain air of apprehension. It was still too far away for him to tell whether it was Fionna or not, but a sinking feeling in his gut told him that he probably ought to pick up the pace.
' Fionna, are you hurt? Can you hear me? C'mon, talk to me baby.' There was no reply, and Marshall continued to edge closer to the source of the worrying smell. Maybe Cake had been right. Gob, how could he have been so careless? Fionna wasn't immortal, she could get hurt. It was just his own laziness talking. He wanted to believe that she was fine just because he didn't want to have to do anything.

He inhaled deeply, and froze. There was absolutely no room for error. He had never been wrong about something like this. That was Fionna's smell. That was her blood. She smelt like... pain.
'Fionna!?' Marshall-lee called out desperately, streaking towards the scent, letting his nose guide him. He could see through the blackness, but just to be sure, he morphed into a bat and began echo-locating the various objects around him, swooping back and forth between the tree trunks as he chased her trail. He called again and sensed a small disturbance in the mostly uniform forest floor, a lump of sorts. He flipped over, morphing back into a vampire, And squinted into the darkness for a moment before the demon in him took over. He could see perfectly in the night.
That wasn't Fionna.

Marshall-lee drifted over to the deer carcass, feeling himself blush at his mistake. He sniffed the air again and was confused to find that he could still smell Fionna all over this area, her unique scent and her blood. Maybe he was just jumping to conclusions because the blood from the deer corpse was so fresh. But he had never been wrong before. He knew Fionna like the back of his hand, her shape, her feel, her smell. The only aspect of her he hadn't had the privilege of experiencing was her taste. How could he be wrong?
Marshall-lee sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. It was late, he couldn't be bothered with this. He was bound to make a mistake at least once. He reasoned with himself as he left the forest, trying to convince himself that of course Fionna was fine, and that she was probably with Gumball after all. Cake would call him in the morning and tell him that everything was fine, right?
Right?