Never Feigning Never Fading

Chapter 16

Flame Princess rubbed her temples and looked down to the map of Ooo in front of her. Even after all the debating and meditation there was part of her that was ready to just pack up and head home. But a deeper, more steadfast part of her also remembered the years spent in the lantern and it demanded she explore Ooo as much as she could.

Next to their position on her map was a little circle. This marked her desired final stop on their trip. It was a moderate sized town by a great sea. Finn pointed it out to her earlier that day. Around the campfire he told her and Marceline of how he got his magic scimitar and the many people who inhabited the town.

Apparently the town held a fair amount of water elementals. This fact both terrified and excited her.

"There's nothing worthwhile to stay for." Sol repeated his point of view he took for the entire conversation when he grew tired of the silence.

FP shook her head. "There's plenty to see-"

"With all respects, my queen, this isn't a vacation." Sol was quick to point out.

Her knight's words stopped the young woman thoughts and nearly dredged her old insecurities of ruling the Fire Kingdom. She knew at least a little of her decision was influenced by the addicting sense of freedom this trip had gifted her. She had thought of this long and hard beforehand however, and she was ready to justify her thoughts.

"Do you remember all the things you taught me when we first met, Sol? After I regained control from my father?"

"Of course." Sol nodded. Choosing between the two potential rulers was one of the most difficult choices Sol had ever made. But he allied with who he felt was the best for the kingdom.

"Well I remember you telling me that if I want be a successful leader, I need to make the most of my time, resources and situation."

"That's correct."

"Well we're here, we've got just enough money and the time. That's more than enough reason to offer the olive branch to one more town before we head back."

Sol stood up while grunting in confirmation.

"Sol, is there something wrong?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned about, my queen."

" Are you sure? Homies are supposed to help homies if they're down." FP smiled, sincerely hoping that some of the silliness who lighten his mood.

Sol raised a curious eyebrow at the young lady's vernacular. "I'll be alright. I'll let the others know of our final destination."

Flame Princess gathered up her map and worried about her knight as her mood slowly sobered again.. Maybe this trip was weighing heavier on him than she once thought. She quickly decided that once they got back she'd convince him to take a vacation of his own. Certainly she could find some warrior hero to help look after the palace for a week.

But for now she put her future plans on hold. She needed to meditate on the trip at hand. For the first time in decades, fire elementals were going to cross paths with water elementals. Not even her father in his most war mongering mood took a stab at other elementals. And thanks to her studies of Fire Kingdom history, she knew it had been a few hundred years since they tried to forge any sort of peaceful relationship. Even if she wasn't going to meet any water elemental royalty this felt like a daunting task.

Her chest grew tight as she wondered how it was all going to turn out. Being made of fire, water all its own made her a bit nervous. Having water that could walk around, talk to her and potentially get angry and extinguish her got her jittery on a whole other level.

"I know someone who's totes math that can show us around." Finn said as he took lead of the group.

For many residents of the quiet seaside town the arrival of Flame Princess was a rare spectacle. The royal put on her best with a warm smile and graceful waves. Even the excitement of having Ooo's hero visit was dwarfed by having the trio of fire elementals in tow. There were a few nervous looks among the citizens but, much to FP's delight, no one fled in fear.

Finn was visibly nervous as he approached the docks, sure this wasn't quite an ocean but the vast body of water was enough to get the human sweating. He scanned each one and his pace quickened to a jog when he found his mystery contact.

"Hey, Karin!" Finn shouted to the lone woman working on the ship while waving his arm wildly.

The woman straightened up and looked for the owner of such a familiar voice. Upon seeing the human her grey eyes lit up.

"Finn, is that you?" The woman asked excitedly, dropping her work and heading down the plank to the docks. Rushing up to the human she lifted him with a giant hug.

FP quietly looked over the woman who held her boyfriend in a death grip. She was a tall, lanky humanoid, slightly taller than Marceline even. Her height allowed her to easily hoist Finn off the ground as she hugged him. Strikingly, her right arm was a long, smooth tentacle which snaked its way around the human multiple times.. Her skin was pale lavender and clashed with the rough, worn sailing clothes she wore. Her eyes were bright and grey.

"Finn I'm glad to see you alive" The woman said as she finally letting the hero back on his feet.

"You know I'm tougher than magic nails. You had nothing to worry about."

"Well we had a visitor from the assassin's guild. Your name came up and I kinda mentioned how badly I wanted my sword back from you…"

"You mean MY sword." Finn taunted.

"Whatever. Anyways, I think he got the bright idea to get the sword and ransom it back to me, but I guess you took care of him."

"No, actually he laid me out." Finn admitted unamused.

"Well, to be fair he left town before I knew he was an assassin." Karin explained before chuckling. "So who saved your bacon this time?"

"My girlfriend did." Finn stepped aside and beckoned FP to step forward.

"I'm Flame Princess, the ruler of the Fire Kingdom. A pleasure to meet you."

Karin scanned her visitor from head to toe. "I always thought Finn like the fiery ones, but this… " She mumbled.

"That was horrible man…." Finn deadpanned.

Karin laughed. "Yeah, well…. Welcome! I'm Karin. What brings you all the way from the Fire Kingdom?"

"We've been travelling through Ooo in order to forge more peaceful ties with some other kingdoms and towns."

"Yeah how's granny doin'?" Finn chimed in. The jovial sailor's face fell.

"She passed a few months ago, I'm afraid. I'm overseeing everything now so it looks like your business is with me."

"I'm sorry for your loss." FP said quietly.

"Think nothing of it. You folks want to go on a sail?"

Finn panicked briefly internally and looked to FP who smiled kindly.

"I'd be honored " FP bowed gracefully, masking her own fear of the water.

Finn's knuckles turned white has he held the ships railing with a death grip. The human felt a little silly. None of the Fire elements were as crazy nervous as he was. The knights kept calm and conversed with one another. To be fair, in the event of a ship wreck, he and the captain were the only ones who couldn't fly to safety.

"You going to be okay?" Flame Princess asked as she reproached the railing.

Finn slowly nodded. "How did your formal chat with Karin go?"

"Fine, tomorrow she's going to show us around and have us meet some of the villagers. It looks like she has other business to attend to in the afternoon though."

Finn silently nodded again, vigilantly watching the waves as if they were going to jump him the moment he let his guard down.

"So… would you maybe want to sneak away and spend some time to ourselves tomorrow?" FP asked blushing heavily, playfully bumping Finn with her hips when he didn't respond.

Finn's pale cheeks were instantly aglow as he stammered "S-sure."

"Good. I'll be looking forward to it." FP started to leave. "I'll be with Sol if you need me."

Between the water and his flirtatious girlfriend Finn's heart felt like it was going to blow before long.

Later that night Marceline met up with Finn. The human explained their situation and the two friends joked and laughed as they always did. The vampire's stomach to willed her to hunt something bright and red.

"Wait, Marcy!" Finn stopped her, suddenly becoming very sheepish and blushing heavily.

"Yeah, hero?"

"I need to borrow your fire ward earring."

Marceline gave him a confused look. He had one of his own, why did he need hers as well? She waited for him to explain himself.

"I might need some extra fire proofing for a date tomorrow…"

Marceline's grin grew at how much of a shy man Finn could be. She cackled at him as she removed the earring and tossed it at him.

AN: Three weeks is far too long for such a short chapter I know but after dealing with a flooded basement and running around hunting for jobs and a car writing wasn't coming to me that easily. But here's a little scenery set up for our last chapters. Thanks for your support and hopefully you'll hear from me again in a week or so.

In the next chapter: Away from the eyes of Knights and town folk we were free. Free to wander the forest and gift each other with as much affection as we could afford. The sun would finally set and we'd admire the backdrop as it seemed to set everything ablaze…