Adventure time: The Chase

There was once an evil wizard named Ice King who lived in a great tower on an icy mountaintop. His greatest enemies were Finn, a human boy, and his dog, Jake. The wizard would spend days locked in his tower thinking of schemes to destroy the companions.

It was a cold winter night when the Ice King devised his newest plan. He was going to use his spells to distract Finn away from Jake by transforming into a golden rabbit.

The next day the Ice King came down from atop his icy mountain and into the playful groves in the center of the forest near Finn and Jake's treehouse. He cast his spell and transformed into a cute golden rabbit and hopped gallantly across the grove, wiggling his tiny golden nose.

"Oh man! Come look, Finn! A golden bunny is in the grove!" Jake yelled across the room of their treehouse.

Finn ran over and his eyes got wider than wide. "Well, I didn't have anything else to do today. I'm gonna go catch it! Let's go!" Finn exclaimed.

"Oh man, I don't feel like chasing around a bunny today! We go exploring every day, dude! I'm going to stay in today and sleep! Don't even try and stop me," Jake replied and then yawned.

"Whatever, man, I'll bring back the rabbit for when you wake up from your nap, but you're gonna miss out on all the fun. Hasn't anyone ever told you that fun is in the journey, not the destination?" Finn said as he jumped down from the treehouse and towards the grove where the golden bunny awaited.

Finn ran full speed towards the bunny and hopped right on top of him, catching him between his arms.

"HA! That was an easy catch. Guess all this gold makes you heavier than a normal bunny," Finn said.

The bunny went poof and the Ice King plopped on the ground. Finn was used to these sorts of antics from the Ice King and but this time Finn was falling right into his trap. Finn sent the Ice King flying across the sky with a big kick. The Ice King yelled as he flew across the forest, mimicking Finn's childlike voice.

Jake was awakened by the shrill noise and cowered in fear thinking his friend must have been eaten by the evil golden bunny! Terrible images rolled through his head while he contemplated life without his dearest friend. All the while, Finn rolled on the floor laughing at the Ice King's seemingly stupid plan until he fell asleep for a nap in the grove.

Little did he know, the Ice King's plan was in full effect. The Ice King was on his way to capture Jake now that the heroes were separated. Can Finn and Jake foil his efforts once again? To be continued...

Author's Note

I adapted this story from The Chase, a part of the Indian epic Ramayana. This story immediately jumped out at me while I was reading it as a great story for re-telling. It already had a sort of comical vibe to it, with a classic bait and switch protagonist and antagonist plot, so I thought it would be fun to add more comedic relief and outrageousness to the story. I adapted the characters to those from a cartoon I used to watch, Adventure Time. The cast always had zany antics and personalities that I thought would add a fun dynamic to this part of the Ramayana. Maricha is played by the Ice King, Finn is the great hero Rama, and Jake is Rama's faithful companion, Sita. The golden deer is changed to a golden bunny, as I thought that would be cuter for the cartoonish portrayal. I tried to make the dialogues similar to the language of the show and that of the characters' personalities in the show, all the while, keeping the main character traits from the Ramayana as well. Although it seems that the story ends abruptly, the tale isn't over yet, and hopefully you will one day see how Finn and Jake's adventure with the Ice King concludes.

Bibliography

Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie