Two Halves of the Same Heart (FIOLEE)

In Which Marshall tells a kid to go away

*Marshall's POV* 

I turned swiftly after the twig snapped to come face to face with a boy, about fifteen. 
I may have shapeshifted a little to make myself taller and therefore more intimidating. Just a little. 

"Turn around, kid." 
He had dirt on his face, and a torn brown tunic. In his dirty, trembling hands, he was clutching a knife. 
"I said turn around." 
"D-die, demon." He swallowed, raising the knife. 

I looked at it, then at him. "I'm not even going to address that. Bye, kid." 
"St-stop! I-I'm going to kill you!" 
"Why?" I had to hand it to this kid. He was really into trying to be a hero. 
"You-you hurt my brother!" 

"I wasn't aware my music was that bad." 
"No! When he fell. Through the roof of Newman's barn." 
"That wasn't my fault. He was chasing me." I pointed out. 
"I need to get out of there." He whispered. "I can't stay there forever." 

I shrugged. "What do you want me to do about that, kid? Turn around." 
"If I kill you, I'll become a hero, like the Blue Knight." 
"The Blue Knight is a myth." Clearly this was not the sharpest knife in the drawer. 
"I've seen her." 

"You have?" 
"I... well, Jeremiah saw her. That's not the point. She exists, and I'm going to become her squire." 
I rolled my eyes. "Myths don't need squires, so even if she did exist, she's not going to take you on as one." 
I continued for a few more steps, before I realized the kid was still following me. 

I turned, sighing. "Look, kid. Keep doing that and you'll follow me into the deepest part of the woods. You don't want that. There's all kinds of things in here that will actually hurt you." 
"I-I'm not afraid." 
I raised an eyebrow, before stepping forward a little, leaning into his face. "Boo." 
Reflexively, he tried to stab me. 

Luckily for me, and whoever my soulmate was, he missed. Wait... please don't let it be him. 
I quickly checked my watch, smiling softly when I noticed it hadn't changed. Meeting your future partner by way of them trying to kill you is not the best course of action. 

Plus, like I said, it was a kid. That would have been a very  long and awkward conversation. 

"I'm going to get you." Oh, he was still talking. Rolling my eyes, I pulled my face into a wolf's, before turning to face him. 
He squeaked in terror. I might have felt bad for him if he hadn't given me several death threats. 
"Run home. Or don't. Leave your town forever if you want. But killing me isn't going to solve anything." I returned my face to normal, then made a shoo, shoo motion at him. "Come on, kid. I will kill you if you fight me. I doubt even your precious Blue Knight would last against me if I really fought them instead of running off." 

"I don't believe you. You're a coward!" 
"I am not. I'm like the opposite of a coward! I don't fight because I'm worried about my opponent getting hurt, not me. I'm actually kind of desperate for a tussle. See what a nice guy I am?" 

The kid charged me, and I tripped him, grabbing his knife. He watched from the ground as I easily broke it over my knee (from the flat side, I'm not stupid). 
"Go. Home." I told him, throwing the pieces of the knife on the ground. He was off like a rabbit, racing away. I watched him for a while to make sure that he wouldn't be doubling back, then carried on towards my safe house. 

*Fionna's POV* 

Okay, I listened to Gumball. Plus I take my gear seriously. I stopped by a nymph's pool to clean it off. 
"Um, excuse me, but what are you doing?" An irked male voice asked me. 
I looked up to see a nymph. Of course. 

"Cleaning my armor." 
"You're making my water dirty." 
I smiled sheepishly. "I didn't know it bothered you." 
He looked at me for a minute, before swimming over. "Wanna hear a joke?" 
"Sure." Hey, maybe he wouldn't be so mad. 

"Why did one wave say... wait, no. I messed it up." He frowned slightly, his hair momentarily flowing into his eyes. "But it's still funny, right?" 
"I... sure." 
"Now you tell one." 

I quickly glanced at my watch to make sure he wasn't my soulmate. He noticed, of course. "What's that?" 
"My soulmate watch. Don't you have one?" 
"Nymphs don't need soulmates. We're all together, just partying. We don't have children either, we just form with the rain and the pools. So, no. I don't. What does it do?" 

I shrugged. "When I meet the person that I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with, the hands are both at twelve. They're my true love, I guess." 
He bobbed silently in the water for a while, before he finally said, "But you need time for love. Everyone knows that. And what if they're a bad person?" 
"That won't happen." 
"But what if it does?" 

I shrugged. "I guess I'll just... not give into them, then. It won't happen." 
He mimicked me. "If it does, you can come back here and I'll take you to a fabulous party. You said my joke was funny, so I guess you're cool." 
I smiled. "Hey, thanks. What's your name?" 

"Dennis. You?" 

"Fionna." 
He glanced at my wrist. "You better hurry. It's almost 12 for you. Don't miss it because you're talking to me." 
"I won't--" 
"Go." 

I finished cleaning my armor and left. 
When I got home, I stored it in the garden shed (except my sword, which stays with me) and started walking up towards the house. I stopped dead in my tracks when I realized someone-- or, knowing these woods, something-- was in my house. 

*Author's Note* 

Dennis is technically a canon character. He's the genderbent version of the tall pink swimsuit nymph from that episode that Finn was kidnapped by gnomes to power their machine. Her name is Denise.