Adventure Time Story #1 P. III - Sword in the Stump

Adventure Time Story #1 - The Sword in the Stump
Part III - Encounter
Staring: Finn and Huntress Wizard
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She and Finn had split ways earlier that afternoon, and now that has come to bite her on the ass. She was nary more than three miles away, as she wanted to leave Finn to do his own thing without him stumbling on her, and her to him with their dinner. That buck she'll have to come for later. She pushed and pulled branched out of her face as she jumped from tree to tree, before spying a trail used by woodland critters and dropping down from the canopy. The jumping was fine, but running was more her speed; she could invoke the spirits of the wind and blaze through the forest floor. As she was bound in the general direction from which she came, remembering the bits of broken twigs and branches, boot prints and that overturned log, she was getting closer and closer until...

Leaves flew out as she stamped her heels into the dirt, scrapping the dirt and just barely coming to a stop before the edge of that steep hill. Her arms went spinning to try and gyroscope herself from falling, flailing as she nearly lost her footing before lifting and raising one behind her, and sighing out in relief. It was always so easy starting up that run, but stopping was the hassle. At least now she could look for Finn from the starting area. Turning on her heel, she quickly walked down the incline and knelt low.

Footsteps, light and faint, belonging to a familiar size round shoe that only Finn would wear. She'd follow this trail, taking the path Finn had unintentionally made for her until the sounds of combat made her stop, and listen. But that's when she noticed something, what she could not hear; where were the birds? Where were the insects and chittered and skittered amongst themselves? Why had the Blue Jay stopped 'Whooooa-ing', why had the Cicadas stopped their screaming? All in the forced had gone still, quiet.

As if it was afraid.

TUNG!

Another sound, coming over there!

It sounded of iron slamming against wood and groans and shrieks from something far larger than the two of them. She dove into the ground, appearing as nothing more than a raised lump in the grass. This was her blanket, her shroud against wandering eyes, and used this to move closer. She came to a tree and popped her head forth from the ground, emerging like an inquisitive green flower on the hunt for some blood. After scanning, she heard another clang and saw what made it.

There, shirt torn in places, bleeding from his shoulders, neck and upper torso, Finn. Armed with a black-bloodied shovel and looking angrier and angrier by the minute, he has had absolutely enough of things trying to kill him today. But what was he fighting?

Huntress didn't need to look long, for Finn would get punched straight into a tree and her eyes just followed the outstretched fist.

It was...

Good. Glob.
What is that thing?

A huge and rounded bulk, larger than a tree. A mass of pure blackness, devoid of any coloring or markings from light that might give a hint of dimension or form. Seven stumps kept it anchored to the ground, seven stumps rose above like heads, and here and there were a multitude of arms and limbs, forming and reforming. It shimmered and shuddered, groaning and breathing heavily It was as if this thing wasn't meant to be here, that our very world caused it harm. But there was no detectable harm on the creature. Its other-worldliness was such that it just, one couldn't see such marks Finn swung into it. It had been dueling Finn for some time, and while Finn himself was strong, he was only armed with a shovel.

Finn doesn't know Shovel-Technique.

Oh Good Glob he's gonna die, isn't he?

The creature, the beast, was trying to make it so. It had worn down Finn and with that punch, he was now just out of stamina. It would have been the end of him too, were it not for the timely arrival of the Huntress.

She popped out from the ground, arrows drawn forth from the mana within her and around her, and with the bow non-magical hunters needed she let loose a volley of five arrows straight into the side of the creature. All impacted, from the shoulder down to what she assumed was its thigh. The beast was taken off guard, having lifted Finn and lowering one of those Stump-Heads toward him, as if it was intending to deliver a killing blow, when Huntress Wizard's arrows struck true and painfully so.

The arrows then worked their magic according to the gestures of their archer. She drew her arm back and brought it against her side, then punched forth to strike the air for daring to get in her fist's way! At that moment, the arrows sank deeply into the creature, causing further pain and causing it to reel itself up, dropping Finn onto a flower. He groaned - still alive.

Huntress Wizard suddenly splayed out her fingers, and from the heads of each arrow burst forth briar and thorns, erupting out from the wounds of the creature and attempting to bind its arm and leg in a lasso of barbs an inch long. Oh its shriek, its cry loud enough to echo across the valley of trees, and powerful enough to bring out a thunderclap.

She squinted, and gasped.

Her arrows, the shafts - they were, dying!
The living wood she used in her arrows, they had begun to decay; the vines of thorns lost their green, fell into a sickly brown, then finally grey. They crumbled to dust in mere seconds, leaving hundreds of open wounds on the impact sights of this strange, otherworldy creature. Black blood dripped and oozed from its muscles and ruptured skin, but rather than press the attack, the beast fled.

It kept its body motionless as it began to zig-zag backwards into the forest. Screaming loudly, horrifically, as it darted behind trees, bushed, strumps and boulders. Never letting Huntress see nothing more than what she had before. Never turning, never moving. Just screaming, until, it had traveled so far in such a short time that it could not be heard anymore.

It was gone.

FINN!

She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him. It was here that the sky grew darker and, just as they thought, rain would begin to drip. To come down slowly, a light drizzle as the Huntress brought Finn's arm around her shoulder, hoisting him up and looking around. That's when she saw the little burrow he had dug, ironically enough it was the tree she had first engaged the creature by. Go figure for luck. The rain began to come down harder, and, seeing his backpack at the entrance, kicked it in as she ran right into the burrow.

This was going to be a long night.