Ice and Blood(ch.8)

Chapter 8

The last bit of the road to the kingdom was short, so the duo finished it in silence. The only difference between the two blue travellers was that BMO was silent because he was very excited to see new places and meet new faces, while Finn was silent because he was anticipating the possible dangers and trying to come up with a way to deal with them in a non violent way.

"The last thing I need right now is a battle with the whole fire kingdom while I don't have my crown" thought Finn as they finally reached the kingdom's wall.

The wall that separated the actual kingdom from the land around it was a big and solid obsidian building. For decoration, the wall was engraved to look like it was built from blocks, even though it was a singular piece. No artillery could destroy it and that was probably the main reason why it was still standing after all the wars they had with the other kingdoms.

As they vent to the gates, the duo was greeted by two flame guards that were posted there.

"Halt!" said the guards as they raised their spears at them.

Finn resisted his every instinct so that he wouldn't pull out his sword and beat these guards, because when someone points their weapon at him, that's exactly what Finn usually does. By the time he finally got himself under control, the guard on the left continued.

"State your reason for coming here!" said the guard in the same loud and straightforward manner.

"I am the Ice Prince, and I am looking for a fire elemental, a human and a dog that should have come here" Finn answered and waited for the guards reaction.

The two guards looked at each other, clearly uncertain of what to do, then at him "...okay" the guards replied said as they carefully lowered their spears "you may pass".

After Finn had walked a few meters away from the guards, the little robot that had stayed perfectly still through the little conversation let out a deep breath that he really didn't need to hold in the first place.

"That was scary" BMO said.

"That was scary? Wait till you see the King" laughed Finn, but he couldn't help the nervousness showing slightly in his voice.

Finn had walked around the town, asking the citizens if they had seen the people he was looking for. Fortunately for Finn, the fire elemental was actually a princess so naturally she drew a lot of attention to herself, and the fact that the other two had a contrasting blue flame shield didn't really help the group's privacy at all. So all he had to do was follow the surprisingly clear directions the people gave. Finn managed to reach their target quite easily.

The Flame Princess along with Jake and Pen were sitting on some rocks near a lava lake, talking and laughing with each other. Finn would have probably gotten a bit jealous of such interactions if he wasn't worried about the Ice Prince roaming freely around OOO. Since Finn came here to make sure that Pen was alright and to look for the Ice Prince, he was content with what he saw and was already turning around to continue his search, until a certain blue robot decided to make his appearance known.

"Pen, Jake, Flame Princess! Hi!" shouted the blue robot from 20 meters away while waving his arms around, and the only thing Finn could do was watch BMO with his mouth slightly open.

The group by the lake had stopped their laughter and looked at the direction the sound came from. When Finn had stopped gaping at the robot, he took notice of three pairs of eyes looking at him so he quickly shut his mouth. If Finn had something to say, he wasn't able to because BMO continued.

"It's me, BMO!" the robot shouted again. But he was probably the only one who was who was smiling, the others being too stunned after seeing the one who was holding BMO. Finn was also shocked after hearing the little robot shout.

The one to recover the fastest was Pen "Ice Prince!" he shouted as he took out his blue grass sword and stood in a defending position in front of the Flame Princess "What do you want?" he shouted, snapping everyone back to reality.

"Why ask, let's just beat him up" Jake said as his right fist grew to Finn's size.

Seeing how hostile the dog was, Finn had no doubt Pen told him their encounter at the ice kingdom. Finn wanted to defend himself verbally, but once again he was beaten to it by BMO.

"Pen, wait!" shouted the little robot "He's a friend!".

"BMO?" asked Jake as if only now noticing him "What are you doing here?".

"Finn saved me from a fire, and brought me here!" answered BMO.

Finn was deeply touched by the fact that for the first time in a long time, someone actually stood up for him. He looked at the little robot and pressed him closer to himself, which thankfully nobody noticed.

The tension visibly fell from the group, but Jake still held his fist's size.

"BMO, did you go on another adventure and got caught in a forest fire?" asked the dog in way that suggested that it has happened at least once before.

"No! Our tree house got burned by someone but Finn saved me!" the robot said while pointing to Finn.

"Finn?" asked Pen as he lowered his sword a bit.

Finn was surprised at how well they took it that their house was destroyed and that BMO actually managed to calm them down, but nevertheless, now was his turn to speak.

Finn stepped a bit closer so they didn't have to shout and began "I don't think we have properly introduced ourselves" you can never go wrong with a formal introduction "I am Finn the Ice Prince, ruler of the Ice Kingdom" said Finn with a slight bow.

Finn looked at the trio and saw that they were looking at each other, unsure of what to do. But not Flame Princess, who strangely enough, didn't say a word the entire time he was there. She just stood there, watching.

"I-I'm Pen, Pen the human" awkwardly answered Pen as he lowered his sword even more.

"I'm Jake the dog" proudly announced the dog.

Finn looked over at Flame Princess, hoping for a introduction.l, but it never came.

"What do you want!" she shouted, startling everyone.

"Straight to business I see" Finn joked a little, but he only got a glare in return. Finn then changed his expression from amused to serious "I am looking for a creature that has stolen my crown and I have a reason to believe that you may in danger" Finn summed up his situation in these few words and waited for their reaction. Not sure what to make of the things Finn just said, Pen and Jake turned to look at the fire elemental for an answer.

After a few seconds letting the information sink in, the Princess smiled for the first time and spoke "You think that a single creature would dare to attack us at the most powerful kingdom in all of Ooo?" her smile only grew bigger as she spoke "I knew that you were crazy, but...".

But she didn't get to finish her sentence because she was interrupted by a loud explosion. When they all turned to look for the source, they saw that the castle's front gate was replaced with huge ice spikes that were immediately melting from the heat.

Seeing that there isn't much time to stare, Finn placed BMO on the ground and turned his head to the still staring Princess and said "Yes, yes I do" and with that, he dashed towards the castle.