All things considered, afternoon was a nice time in Truce. The temperature was cooling down, and so was the noise, meaning that back home would be nice, quiet and cool. A perfect night for sleeping! Though, Finn couldn't help but lament the lack of someone's presence as he takes his time heading home. "The Cleft is nice and all," he hums to himself. "But man.. I really miss you.. I wonder what he's up to.."

"So then he was all 'I've seen more wars than you can count, bub!' and then he pulled this bomb out and BLEW the guy up! Aaaahaaahaahaha!" laughs Jake as he begins to stroll in from the south, one of his arms stretched around a chainless Chain Chomp. The chomp doesn't seem amused by Jake's story. "C'mon man, it was funny! You should have seen it!"

Jake then stops to look around, noticing the new setting was not the place he was expecting to be. "Aww man, did we miss your house? I gotta get you back home man, your mom sounded pretty serious about being back soon."

It's almost like the music of angels! Finn pauses as he hears the tell-tale laughter of his best bud in the whole world, and a part of him wants to consider it simply him just strongly considering his friend. Another part of him wants to consider that it's actually you, and not, y'know, him just imagining things. He slows to a stop, and peers about.

It's not until he turns around does he notice a familiar yellow form. Finn's eyes go wide, and he reaches hands up to rub at them, before looking again. Surely, the fates could not be so kind to him.. right? He jogs a little to get a better look, but, as he gets closer, it's undeniable. "Oh my GROD! JAKE!" It should come as no surprise that Finn breaks into a full-out run by this point!

"Hey! Did I tell you about the time I had to catch that frog for that guy? He was all 'Bluh bluh I'm hungry! So I had to--" Jake stops after hearing a familiar voice. "Finn?!" he shouts as he turns to see Finn running towards him. "Finn! Hahahaha! THERE you are!"

Once Finn gets close enough, naturally, he dives in and practically tackles the poor bulldog. "Jake! Man, I missed you BIG TIME! Where the glob have you been, man?!" The Chain Chomp is ignored for the moment in favor of reuniting with his best friend. "I thought I'd never get to see you again, man." A fair assumption, considering what he knows about the Cleft so far.

As Jake is tackled by Finn, his body stretches slightly away from the chain chomp as his grip loosens a little. "Ah I knew you had to be SOMEWHERE, man! I wound up in this weird dark city and had to escort this moogle chick and save this girl from a forest and all kinds of stuff dude. Then I met this crab and he was all 'You should go to Truce. Many people wind up there.' So I then I had to walk like 1000 miles on this highway and--"

As Jake rambles on, his grip begins to loosen more and more. "--and help grow these plants then help this guy get pelts to feed starving children then I wound up in this little village where this old lady asked me to walk her dog and then I wound up here!"

Finn settles in and chuckles as he listens to his friend explain all that stuff. "You've been to Viorar? I've been there, too!" Fate is a strange thing, really.. how many times had they narrowly missed each other on the dark streets of Viorar simply because they had been too late by mere seconds? It's an interesting thing to consider.

"But yeah, I first wound up here in Truce. Fell face-first into a fountain. Then I did all sorts of crazy stuff, too.. heck, I managed to rebuild the ol' Tree Fort," Finn brags, grinning a bit at his friend. "So, y'know, you've totes got a place to chill and sleep, now. I mean, there's no BMO or NEPTR, but.. y'know, it's kinda like home. As close as I could get it."

"But, man, I'm relieved you're here," Finn adds quickly, slowly moving to a stand, dusting himself off. "I've got a ton of stuff to tell you."

At this point, Jake's grip has loosened enough that the chain chomp has begun to roll off on its own. "No way! Really? Sounds like we've both been busy, man! Do you think anyone else made it here?"

"I dunno. I haven't heard of anyone else showing up, but.. maybe," Finn smiles at Jake, reaching a hand up to rub at his chin thoughtfully. "First thing I did when I got here was look for you, but when I didn't find you, I decided to just explore and work on getting a place to sleep. I hadn't considered if anyone else we know is here. But I met some weird lady that kinda reminded me of the Ice King."

Jake laughs at the thought of a female Ice King, though it also brings him a strange sense of deja vu. "I wanna see the new house, man!--oh, but I guess we should take this guy home first--" Jake glances over to his arm, now without a chain chomp. As he gasps, the chain chomp proceeds to roll southwards towards a nearby moogle merchant stepping out from a tent. "Oh my--kupo!" the moogle shouts as he barely manages to dive out of the chomp's destructive path.

Finn nods a little bit at him. "I got it pretty close to how it used to be," he admits, before he notes.. oh, right, there WAS a Chain Chomp there. He pauses and looks up, noting the moogle merchant diving back into his tent. "Hey, man, wasn't he with you?" He looks over at you. "Think we oughta go get him?" He chuckles.

At this point, Jake has already stormed off after the chomp. "Aww man! We gotta catch it! That creepy lady said she'd put a curse on me if anything happened to her pet! Don't you remember the LAST time I messed with a creepy old lady who put a curse on me?!"

"Huh. Yeah. In your defense, those donuts looked good," Finn admits, not hesitating to run after his bud, trying his best to keep up. "Speaking of curses.." A pause, and he decides to drop it for the moment. "I'll tell ya later. Let's go get that metal dog!" Well, it's.. kinda a dog, right?

"Hop on, buddy!" Jake shouts as he waits for Finn to catch up so he can enlarge himself. Not much further to the south, a goomba and a coil snake rest for a minute to discuss the morning's spoils. "So I wrapped myself around this esper earlier and he was all 'Ohmygawd, a snake!', which was totally -rude- by the way, and tried to hit me with his stick." The goomba drops its jaw, "D-amn man! That was just uncalled for!"

The snake goes on, "So, yeah, I like, took a bite into him? Mmm, I rubbed my tounge all around those hairy legs and he was still like 'Ohmygawd!' It was -so- fabulous. Hey, do you hear something?" Suddenly, the chain chomp flattens both individuals, leaving behind a lifeless bloody mess.

Finn presses forward with more energy so he can leap up and land on Jake's back. Walking is for chumps, not when you can ride your own magical bulldog! Taking hold so as not to fall off, he has little trouble keeping his balance, as this sort of thing has come naturally. "Almost like we're back home!" He grins, noting.. flattened, bloody messes as they're on the approach. Weird!

"Hahaha! Yeah!" Jake shouts back as he puts on more speed to catch up to the evasive chomp. "I'm gonna wrap myself around him, dude! Hold me back so I don't get stuck rolling on him!"

"You got it!" Finn waits for the right time, before he leaps off of Jake, skidding to a stop. Arms go forward to try to snag his bud, tugging back with all the strength he can muster once wrapping has completed. In this manner, he hopes that he can stop the Chomp's forward momentum! With any luck, anyway. "Where'd you find this guy, anyway?!"

"Some village--" Jake manages to shout in between loops during his wrapping, "--south of here--had this old lady--begged me to--take her dog--for a walk!" With that, Jake successfully manages to wrap himself tightly around the chain chomp. "Alright dude! Give it your best!"

"Awright!" Finn takes hold once he gets a good grip on the ground, and he pulls back as hard as he can, trying to stop the Chain Chomp's forward momentum. Eyes closed, and teeth clenched, as he pulls back with all his strength! "C'monnn..! Zang, this thing is strong!"

"You can do it, man! It's slowing down!" shouts Jake as he tightens his hold around the chain chomp.

Maybe Finn should've gotten up front? Ah, well. Either way, Finn tightens his grip on your stretchy body and pulls even harder! His face naturally turns red as he puts forth the kind of effort he needs to stop the renegade Chain Chomp. "Almost got it!" He can at least feel the slowing himself..

Rather lazily, amid the repeated sound of wings beating the air, a certain fire-maned figure comes gliding down to observe. "I guess you two need help, from Spitfire?"

Jake grits his teeth as he can feel the chomp coming to a stop. "Whew! That was close, man." he says as he loosens his grip and forms his body back to normal, leaving a stretched out hand around the chomp. As a voice comes from above, Jake glances skyward. "Whoa! Nice wings!"

Finn is palpably relieved when the Chain Chomp comes to a stop, and he relaxes, looking up as Jake does. He hadn't even heard the wings, but there she was! "Oh, hey, 'Fire," he waves to her, slowly moving over to stand by Jake. "Jake, this is a good friend of mine, Spitfire. Spitfire, this is my best bud, Jake." Might as well introduce while the timing is ripe!

"Nice to finally be meeting you, you." After touching down, and folding her wings closed to let them rest, Spitfire's looking over at the Chomp with a raised eyebrow. "What's with this thing, and all the sharp teeth?"

Jake takes a second to bow as she touches down, "Nice to meetcha, Spitfire!" He then turns towards the chomp, "Eh, it's a bit of a long story. We're on our way to take him home and hope that that creepy lady doesn't put a curse on me."

Spitfire says 'I heard about that, actually...'

"Ha. Yeah. Last time it happened he got kinda useless," Finn admits. It's brutal, really, but.. it's the honest truth. "Anyway. Let's go take this thing home so you can see the Tree Fort!" He turns to motion for Spitfire to follow along. "You should come with us, 'Fire. Unless you've got somethin' else y'gotta do."

Spitfire nods, extending her wings to once again take flight. "I've got nothing else planned for the rest of the night, so I can go and hang out.

"Awesome!" says Jake as he proceeds southwards towards Mabe Village. The chase took them surprisingly close, had they not succeeded in apprehending the chomp, it could very well have smashed into someone's house! Though one must wonder: where was the chomp's chain? Was Jake just using his stretched out hand as a chain the entire time?

Naturally, Finn hadn't really considered that the Chomp lacked a chain.. but then again, it hadn't crossed his mind because reuniting with his bud took prescedence. Plus, he assumed the Chomp wouldn't roll away initially. "Hey, you know.. maybe with any luck, Lady'll show up here," he muses, grinning playfully at you. "She'd fit in well, I think." Especially with the ponies.

Either way, Finn follows along. He's been to Mabe Village on more than a few occasions, so he's at least aware of where they are as they travel.

Spitfire keeps close, gliding along lazily as she takes everything in on the way to the village.

Jake chuckles, "Yeah man. Who else would I play the viola with?" After a short trip, the group arrives in Mabe. Already, the old lady Jake mentioned was waiting for them at the village entrance. "You yellow baffoon! You left BowWow's chain behind! Why, he could have caught a cold! Or got a splinter! Or rolled over on top of his wittle teethy weethies!"

Jake starts to let the chomp go and gradually back off, "Whoa, hey lady, he's totally fine! And we had fun together! Right? Heh-heh? Pleasedon'tcurseme!"

Finn blinks as he follows along, noting the woman already waiting for them. In a way, he's glad that he's not the person getting chewed out, and it shows on his face as he chuckles, making his amusement at the situation obvious. Clearly, the Chain Chomp is perfectly fine.. let's hope she doesn't notice the blood. "Yeah, I totally helped look after him! He's A-OK!"

Of course, Finn's amusement can only go so long. He's gotta stick up for his bud eventually.

Spitfire says '...ok, hold on. It's a ball of solid metal, with teeth. And eyes. And a mouth. I'm not seeing how it can get hurt.'

Jake stretches his arm out to nudge Spitfire while keeping a nervous smile on his face, "Let's not anger the cra--happy lady! Heh heh!" The lady inspects her chain chomp before turning back to Jake, "Curse you? I said I'd reIMBURSE you for taking it on a walk for me! But not anymore since you left his chainy wainy behind! Go on, get outta here!" she screams as she attaches the chain to the chomp and start to head off.

The chomp diligently follows but not before turning back for a brief second and speaking in a manner that would seem completely out of character, "Thanks for chillin' wit me, dawg. We should do it again sometime." Jake drops his jaw as he watches the two leave.

Even Finn flinches a bit when the lady screams at them to get out of there, but his surprise is just as obvious as Jake's when the Chain Chomp turns around, and.. speaks. "Did it.. did it do that before?" He glances over at Jake. Apparently, he's hung with the Chomp before he was around.. maybe he'd know?

Simultaneously, Spitfire's raising one forehoof to her forehead with an exasperated groan, and shaking her head as she flies out the door. "Jeez... Hard to please, much? Learn to relax, ma'am, before you end up killing yourself with stress."

Jake just shakes his head towards Finn. "Ah well. Hey, now we can go check out the tree house!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, that's right!" Finn snaps a finger as he comes to the realization. "It's gonna take way too long to just walk back. We should totally take the Jake Express!" He waits for Jake to ready up, and when he does, it's back-hoppin' time! "This is gonna make adventuring way easier! Way more adventure in the same time frame!" He'd invite Spitfire, but he's well aware that she's an amazing flyer, and liable to keep up easily. "C'mon, 'Fire!"

"One Jake Express coming up!" shouts Jake as he gets down on all fours starts to stretch his legs out.

"Hup!" Finn leaps onto Jake's back, taking hold of him. "Woo! It's to the north of Truce! Just head back the way we came, you'll recognize it no problem!"

With this, Spitfire's pulling her specialized goggles down over her eyes and kicking up her speed to keep pace.

Recognizing the path certainly would not be a problem, considering the trail of destruction left behind by the chain chomp. "Hahaha! Yeah!" shouts Jake as he tries to run faster under the assumption that Spitfire wishes to race there.

A race with Spitfire? That amuses Finn to no end, as he assumes, since Spitfire gets serious, that Jake is going to consider it a race. "Haha. Yeah!" He leans down, not unlike a jockey might on his horse, to make Jake a little more aerodynamic and make the running a little easier. "C'mon, bud! She's fast, but you're totally faster! Let's make her eat our dust!" It's clear that he's enjoying himself quite a bit.

"A challenge, huh...? Could certainly use one." Spitfire turns her focus onto the impromptu race, intent on increasing her speed for a victory. In turn, there are faint wisps of black smoke and the beginnings of a mach-cone surrounding and trailing her simultaneously.

Jake pants heavily as he tries to keep up with Spitfire's sudden increase in speed. "Aw man, I'm too beat for this. Did I already tell you that I had to wait around for days to watch these seeds grow? It was so tiring, man!"

"Huh? Oh, okay, sorry, bud," Finn chuckles a little. "I thought you had more energy than that." He cups hands to his mouth, and yells out to Spitfire, before she gets too far ahead: "You win!" He yells after her, before he pats Jake. "Slow it down, bud. No rush. We're almost there, anyway!"

Despite the building mach-cone and smoke trail, Spitfire flares both of her wings out fully as pseudo air-brakes to slow down and avoid colliding with buildings or other obstacles. "Good effort, guys."

Jake comes to a stop as they reach the entrance of Truce. "Think the peeps here will freak out if I trample past them?"

"Probably." Finn hops off of you as they come to a stop, and he chuckles. "They get spooked pretty easily." And for good reason, all things considered. He glances up at Spitfire, impressed at how she was able to stop so easily, even with her momentum! "Oh, and in case you're wondering, 'Fire's livin' at the Tree Fort, too. We're kinda, uh.." He rubs at the back of his neck a bit. "Y'know. Like you and Lady, I guess."

Naturally, Finn glances up at Spitfire for some support on that one.

Spitfire says 'It's true. I've got no other place to stay, unless you count sleeping on clouds. Staying at an actual house, even if it's made of a tree, sure does beat using clouds for rest, though.'

Jake starts to laugh as he stretches his fist out to tap on Finn's shoulder, "Whaaat? Get out of here! You don't even know how to play the viola, man!"

Finn laughs at the shoulder tap, reaching down to snag you and hold him over his head as he trudges through Truce. This gets him some strange looks from the guards, but otherwise, no-one really seems to care, since it seems Finn is well-known in these parts, by this point. "Yeah, man. I was surprised, too. She's totally into my charm. I didn't even have to play any balloon music, either." He grins teasingly at Spitfire as he says that.

Spitfire just watches with an amused expression, pulling the goggles up off her eyes and touching down lightly on the path.

"Well good for you, brother! Too bad it took falling into a new world and leaving all the princesses behind." Jake comments.

"H-hey!" Seems Jake hit one of Finn's sore spots there. He frowns a bit at that, but he doesn't seem TRULY upset, as he heads out the north gate. "Peebs thought I was way too young, so it was her loss. I'm gonna miss FP, but maybe it's for the better. I just hope she doesn't torch things while I'm gone." He smiles after a moment. "Besides, I've got everything I need now. Got my best bud, someone to call mine, the Tree Fort.. I can't complain."

Spitfire says 'About the only real concern I've got is whether someone from my home world is going to end up here, and how he's going to react if he finds out. Other than that... I'm making the most of life here.'

"Things are really looking up for us now, huh? There's all kinds of cool places to explore here! Maybe we'll find a cave full of monkies or a jungle packed with angry animals or something." says Jake.

"Probably!" Finn grins playfully at Jake, before they finally crest the hill. There, not far off, is the Tree Fort. It's not EXACTLY like Jake remembers it, but it's quite clearly difficult to mistake. "Home sweet home! It took me a while to grow it, and even longer to hollow it out. I can't imagine how long it took Marceline to do it." He runs down the hill, heading for the Fort. "C'mon!"

For her part, Spitfire's just casually trotting along, with her wings extended as she enters the Fort-house behind the duo. "It's going to be something worthwhile, hanging out with the two of you here."

Jake follows Finn to the fort. Just the image of home, or at least a place that looked like home, was an enormous burden lifted from his shoulders.

Finn nods a bit in agreement with Spitfire, heading upstairs into the living room. It, like the rest of the Tree Fort, isn't perfectly as Jake might remember it, but he does surprisingly well in trying to make it look similar. There's even the naked lady painting ripped up over the sofa. Snazzy! He scoops up 'Fire once she's upstairs, and settles down to a sit, hugging her close. He's careful for the wings, of course.

"How's it look, bud? There's a few extra rooms, but I figured if we're gonna have more people hangin' around, it might be a good idea. Y'know, just in case Lady shows up and you guys want your own privacy," Finn grins playfully at Jake.

This elicits, all at once, a contented sigh and small smile from Spitfire as she tenderly nuzzles Finn.

Jake is taken in by the similarities of the house. "Whoa! It's even got the rug! Wait wait, did you put an F for Finn instead of the M that Marceline hid?"

"Heck yeah, bud. This is my tree! I grew it and carved into it with my own two hands!" Finn holds up hands from Spitfire for a moment, as if to show proof. Just callouses.. but proof enough! Arms go back around Spitfire, where he returns her affectionate nuzzle. "Not gonna have any vampires kickin' me outta my tree house," he grins at Jake. "But I tried to get it close to how it was before. It wasn't easy, but it was kinda cheap, at least."

Spitfire says 'And if any decide it's a smart idea to try... Well, they're going to find out the hard way why it's a bad idea to mess with a Wonderbolt.'

Jake runs around the house, exploring the different rooms. Sure is great to be home.

Finn seems amused by both Spitfire's comments and your willingness to explore the home. Most of the fort is empty, except for the crucial rooms: bedroom, living room, and treasure room. And already, Finn's stockpiled an impressive amount of treasure, along with some pretty kickin' artifacts. He's clearly been busy! He tugs Spitfire a bit closer, and chuckles, but keeps quiet for the most part.

Spitfire quietly leans in, turning to one side as she yawns.