Chapter Text
It is too quiet here…
The tree’s innards loomed above him as Pure Vanilla Cookie stared up at the ceiling with little to no emotion about the ever-growing tree.
He wonders if there is any way out of the tree without breaking it apart.
He knows that if there was, the Beasts would have already broken free.
The blonde healer lays his head back, it gently collides with the tree’s bark but with no sound to echo in the cell. There was nothing inside. No plants, no life, but pure nothing which provided little comfort for the healer. The hands of the Ancient hero were clapped together in a mock prayer, his chest slowly rising while he exhaled through his nose. With half-lidded eyes, the blonde wondered if the sprawled-out puppet… thing of Shadow Milk Cookie was going to spring to life to bother him again…
It had been a while since the insane jester tried to bother the healer.
The phantom ache of the claw marks on the cheek flared up for a moment, then followed by a heavy jolt of pain from his left arm, but more specifically around his ring finger. After the interaction with Eternal Sugar and the confrontation with Shadow Milk Cookie, the blonde settled into what he assumed could be the corner of the cell to not only get as far away from the puppet as he could but to also study his surroundings. Again.
The healing hero has looked in every (what he assumes) nook and cranny to see if there is any chance of him finding a way to either leave or contact White Lily Cookie. The dream-like sequence was the closest thing he got to talking with White Lily Cookie, and even when she desperately tried to get him to tell her everything in the tree (her ruby eyes lined with tears as she choked on her sobs, her soul resonating with guilt) and if Shadow Milk Cookie had hurt him. Of course, this was before the blue jester decided to scratch and then lick Pure Vanilla’s clawed cheek.
The Ancient glanced at the ring; it was a soft blue like a star sapphire, the shadows made the color almost pop in the limited light of the tree prison, and as much as Pure Vanilla Cookie didn’t want to admit it- it was a nicely made ring. He only wishes he or someone else had made it. Pure Vanilla Cookie relaxed his shoulders as he looked around again, his chest had been edging on aching and constricting his lungs, a sign he learned that Shadow Milk was the cause of (or at least the cause of his lungs constricting. He wonders if the tree is contributing as well). Speaking of…
Pure Vanilla Cookie readjusted his head to lean against the invisible holy bars of the Witch’s Fork, the fork acting like a cell despite the one face facing forward. The metal does not ring but the healer can feel the power resonating with it, he can feel the fork hum as it reinforces the cell.
How long will he be here for?
Why hasn’t anyone come for him? He answers his own question with a tired blink of his eyes, ‘If they know I’m here, then I must have faith that they are trying to find a way to help me.’ Four of the Five Ancient Heroes just reunited, they had spoken in hushed whispers and longing hugs to comfort the other, and when Pure Vanilla Cookie found White Lily Cookie still alive . He wanted to break at the seams because the Five out finally were together. Five fractured pieces reunited and complete (but it would never be complete. Shadow Milk made that obvious).
Yet… Now he was separated from his rebuilding kingdom, forcibly taken away from his people, and kidnapped from his friends. He wanted out.
The clatter of chains rang in his ears, he frowned as his heavy lids closed but he did not sleep. He has not slept in some time and he has no desire to return to the Dark Side of the Moon. He hears the clatter of chains as he knows the jester is either surveying or watching him in the corner. Pure Vanilla is starting to regret not being in a more open space of the cell but he forces himself to not move. Even when he senses his blue counterpart (husband?) getting closer. “Nilly~ Oh Nilly~” The crackled voice of the jester coos, and the blonde does not give in.
He frowns to himself when his mind roars to stay put but something in his gut stirred as his lungs started to wheeze, the pressure returning and the ache in his left hand starting to inflame. “Nilly~ Why don’t you answer me? Look- I’m sorry for hurting you but that traitor marked you without my permission and I couldn’t stand it when I saw you so happy with that damned lily -” The chains clang together, the sound echoing the cell and getting louder with every movement of the imprisoned.
“Vanilla~ Oh please open your eyes for me! I’m sorry, really! I didn’t mean to hurt you~” The other whined, the blonde felt his hands being grabbed and his fingers being forced to thread between the Beasts’ fingers (a part of his heart rejoiced in the feeling while another part of him screamed in rage for the action). “Pure Vanilla Cookie~ Pure Vanilla Cookie~” The name slipped from the lips of the jester like honey but underneath that sugar-coated voice was a cruel cookie who had hurt him and had taken everything away from him.
Pure Vanilla did not respond, even when the jester started to poke and prod at his face and arms. Becoming more insistent and hearing the short frustrated exhale, the healer prepared for the Beast to try and force him “awake”. Yet, there was no movement from the jester. It was quiet and although the quiet should have come as a blessing, the Ancient hero knows that means there will be either harm or silent tears at the end of whatever Shadow Milk Cookie will do to force him awake. The smaller cookie hears the chains rattle so close to his ear that he almost jumps but what did force him to open his eyes was the sudden lack of air in his lungs and the arms of the jester wrapping around his arms and chest tightly.
The healer thrashed, gritting his teeth as the arms of the Beast tightened and the monster spoke in a hushed whisper, “There you are~”
He hated this. He was tired of playing “husband” with someone he does not love (but that isn’t true. His heart cries out so) and he has no desire to hear what the jester has to say. The blonde wiggled his arms and jabbed his right elbow spitefully into the side of the Beast who hissed and relaxed his guard that granted Pure Vanilla access to flee from the monster’s arms and step back. His steps sloppy and his head swooned, he couldn’t keep track of the blue cookie who stood and slowly approached him like prey being cornered.
‘Maybe I should run?’ Self-preservation offered.
‘Run where?’ Sarcastic snarled.
‘Where would I run? He would use his claws to grab me or his puppet would just pop out of nowhere and force me down,’ he thought. His eyes blinked and then he felt the cold surface of the bark floor press against his back as Shadow Milk pinned him. The blue cookie’s legs pressed sharply onto the thighs of the healer as one of the jester’s hands pinned his hands above his head and the other hand grapes firmly onto his jaw.
Pure Vanilla Cookie uselessly kicks when the Beast forces his head to show the scarred cheek with the claw marks made by the jester himself. The blue beast cookie hummed as he lowered himself to nuzzle the wound that had yet to heal (he sobbed into his sleeves when he tried for the 45th time to heal himself, why was his light so bright but so dim when it came to healing. He was reminded that he wants to see the sun).
“I’m sorry Nilly, really I am! I didn’t mean to hurt you,” whimpered the beast as if he was hurt. The blonde did not respond but only looked out the peripheral of his eyes to give a half-glare at the heterochromatic-different-shaded blue eyes. “Come on Nils, don’t give me that look! I promise to never do that to you again! Beasts’ honor!” The jester cackled.
As if the Beasts had any honor at all.
The blonde didn’t respond which irked the jester further, he had yet to hear his beloved respond to him and he was growing annoyed at the blonde for not responding to his beautiful voice. Shadow Milk tilted his head to get a better look at the cookie below him, trying to find anything that’ll make him talk; he did notice the heavy eyebags under the yellow-and-blue eyes, the disheveled hair, and the anger mixed with guilt in the thin line of the mouth. The jester had a lot he could pick out but he wanted to hear his husband’s voice so what could he do to get the other to talk…
“Say Nilly, how about we have a nap together!” The healer gasped when he was suddenly released from his pinned position but then repositioned to being spooned by the jester . His chest was still aching and he kept trying to inhale a larger gulp of air but the constriction of the lungs were starting to affect his vision slightly, spots of black with stars speckled across his vision as the jester shimmied to get comfortable. The split ends of the jester’s hat were pulled to the left side of the blue cookie which allowed the numerous eyes to stare and bore into the dough of the sun-kissed cookie.
The blonde’s left side was squished between the bark floor and the body of the mad cookie. “Let me go,” he whispered, trying his hardest to make it sound like a demand but his voice was rough, soft, almost delicate. “Oh Nilly, you know I can’t resist you! Plus! You’re so small… Small and cute. Like a button!”
It shoved the blonde back to a time when he was younger. He recalls the moment so fast that he clamps his eyes shut in the sudden sharp pain; the memory was between himself and Hollyberry Cookie while White Lily was pecking daisies into his hair, the pinkette was sitting by his side while fiddling with her braid full of poppies. “You’re so cute! Like a button!” Hollyberry had said, Pure Vanilla thought she meant to say it to him but he had also extended the compliment to White Lily as he responded, “Oh no! Lily is the button!” And the grandiose woman laughed. She couldn’t stop laughing until Dark Cacao Cookie slapped her from behind the head and “scolded” her for being “so loud”.
But there was a smile on the bitter cookie’s face. So there was no bite to his scolding.
The cookie jolted back to reality when he felt Shadow Milk’s claw brush against his unscarred cheek and while he flinched to the sharp nails teasingly poking under the apple of his cheek, the hand was cool and gentle. The blonde can feel the Beast’s wedding band that matches with his own (his heart bounces in joy in the feeling but it also cries out for White Lily, to be united as one warm embrace).
“You thinking of me, dollface?” The blue cookie asks as he shifts closer and pulls the healer closer. Pure Vanilla suddenly becomes aware that the other’s arm is around his waist and pressed against the small of his back which forces the blonde to be chest-to-chest with the corrupted cookie. “Never.” The Ancient Hero stated firmly, his eyes locked with his counterpart, and he hoped that his eyes portrayed the hurt and fury in his chest and mind but all he sees in those different shaded blue eyes is love and smugness (which his heart cries for).
“Awww, come on dollface! Don’t tell me you’re still mad, I promise to never hurt you again. And to show for it-” The beast pressed a short and sweet kiss to the bridge of the healer’s nose and then the lacking air in the cookie’s chest suddenly forces his lungs to inhale massive gulps of air which made Pure Vanilla Cookie cough and turn his head away to not cough on the blue cookie (he was still polite despite everything).
He coughs a little more and then his light fills the cell for a moment then dies down. His cheek is no longer hurting. The healer looks at Shadow Milk Cookie who looked at him with such adoration that it makes the cookie sick (and he felt himself wither at the look). He was repositioned to be tucked under the cookie and while his hands pushed against the chest of the jester (a half-hearted attempt to get his personal space back), his strength lacked and he accepted that he was being spooned by the other. “Get some sleep Nilly~ I’ll be here.”
But he could not sleep. He could not sleep because his mind is too active. If he closes his eyes, then he is forced to relive memories of the sun, the warmth of tea, and the laughter that rings in his ears as he listens to GingerBrave and his siblings run about. He misses them. He prays to any Elemental that they are safe with White Lily Cookie, he hopes that they are securely wrapped in blankets as they are told that they are not to be blamed for his imprisonment but he hopes that White Lily Cookie isn’t blaming herself. Her self-deprecation rivaled his own and it was something to marvel at.
He tries to not think or much less dream about his flower’s ruby eyes, he tries to not think about the sun and how it reflected along Golden Cheese’s feathers, and when he shifts to get more comfortable, he recalls Dark Cacao Cookie retucking his winter coat on him because he couldn’t get it on properly, and when he thinks of the tall stature of his bitter friend, he thinks of Hollyberry and her boisterous laugh. He misses them so much.
He feels his heart cry out, his head starts to pound as memories sweep in and when he feels his eyes start to water, he makes a choked noise when Shadow Milk tightens his grip on his waist, “Don’t even think about that wicked flower. It’ll make everything so much worse… Think about me and all the wonderful things we can do together, Nilly~” The jester hisses in his ear. The sun-kissed cookie forces his body to go limp for the Beast to nuzzle into his mused locks, and if he controlled his breathing then the Beast would allow some wiggle room and if he waited long enough, he could leave the embrace and dream on his own without wanting to sob and find the closest shoulder to cry on.
(Does he dare cry on the Beast’s shoulder? He has been there for him.)
Pure Vanilla Cookie wonders if he is slowly starting to develop Stockholm Syndrome.
Gods, he hopes not. He would not be able to handle it.
“So pretty… So perfect, my angel…” Useless praises escape the lips of the black and blue monster as he buries his face into the ruffled hair of the healer, completely unaware of the blonde’s internal anguish. The arms of the beastly cookie tighten for a moment, as if registering the weight of the healer nearby, and then the hands rest perfectly along the curve of the healer’s hips. Pure Vanilla Cookie scrunches his face and he wiggles to get the hands away but the jester hums a whisper, “Need something Nilly?”
The sun-kissed cookie paused his movements and forced his eyes to stay closed, he just wanted the beast to stop touching him, to stop pestering him, to suffer for what eternal punishment he had will put on the monster who cages him. The healer exhaled sharply and turned his head away from the chin of the cookie, he listened to the chains rattle around him and he wondered if any of the other Beasts in the tree could see this.
Eternal Sugar Cookie saw him and yanked him out of the cell. While his body was still within the cell for Shadow Milk, his consciousness was freed from the torment for a moment, and it was a relief to get away from the jester but he had to worry about the pinkette. Pure Vanilla Cookie wonders if he could “project” himself to Eternal Sugar and ask for help… if she can.
The healer and the jester lay on the bark floor, one cookie caressing and adoring his “husband” while the other cookie desperately tries to find some idea to get away from the jester cookie. It’s quiet in the tree, no sound to be heard except the clang of chains and the noises of the other Beasts. The Ancient hero wonders if the Beasts are in their own world, their own version of the “Dark Side of the Moon”, Eternal Sugar’s was a fluffy cloud paradise that adhered to her word and movements, she wasn’t moving around as much physically (he wondered if he could create a place like that. Away from Shadow Milk and within his own happiness), so perhaps the other Beasts were also in their own space, their own delusions, or whatever they like…
He hates how quiet it is. He doesn’t want to hear the jester’s voice anymore, he wants to hear the birds sing and the water gush. He wants out. The tears line along the ducts of Pure Vanilla’s eyes and they threaten to fall, if they do, then the jester would notice and “try” to comfort him (but comfort from his kidnapper is the opposite of what he wants). Yet there is a shake in his shoulders, his spine curls, and his eyes clamp together tighter.
He hears the coo of the Beast and the softest touches of his hands rubbing up and down his spine while he tries to whisper sweet nothings into the healer’s ears. He shakes his head and weakly pushes against the counterpart, the touch was not what he wanted. He wants so desperately to be alone and far, far away from-
BOOM
Pure Vanilla Cookie jolts and rises immediately, the whole tree shakes and it’s the first time he’s seen the tree thunder and cry. A cry so haunted and cruel, he feels his body turn cold, and then he’s pulled down. The tree shakes, the thunder howls, and he hears a scream- a woman’s scream of not terror but anger. Pure Vanilla covers his ears from the sheer howling of the tree and the woman. The shriek pierced his soul and he felt his cheeks grow wet while the weight of Shadow Milk’s forcibly rested atop of him. The chains of the beast rattles so loudly that it quakes his soul and Shadow Milk Cookie stays atop of him. Holding down the blonde from moving while bracing the head as if it would crack and splinter.
(He was cradling him, he was using his body to cover the healer’s body, using his hands to cover and tuck the blonde’s head under his chin because the haunting howl of the tree made anyone who heard it wail and go insane. The blonde almost leaned into the embrace.)
The inner tree cuts to quiet, as if someone had sliced the sound in half.
No one said anything. No one moved. The tree was silent again.
Shadow Milk raised his head and turned to the holy fork’s gates, his different-shaded blue eyes studied the void beyond and he cracked a smile, his body still sheltering the bulk of Pure Vanilla Cookie but he threw his head back to cackle loudly. The jester slowly released his arms from the healer and shuffled to the bars, laughing wickedly, “Not so easy, huh Powder!?” He crows. The tree howls as a woman screeches, “Shut UP, Blueberry!” But the cookie doesn’t listen, he continues his teasing.
“When I got sealed back, at least I completed a part of the mission and you? You got NOTHING!” The tree shook as a new voice roared, “Shut your mouth!” And then Eternal Sugar’s voice echoed over the fray, “My beautiful Powder… Who struck you?” She called and “Powder” responded, “My counterpart. That recluse of the king striked me!” The healer perked up, he sat forward from his position on the floor and slowly stood with his head pounding, and his body swayed for a moment.
“Powder” must be Mystic Flour Cookie and who she mentioned is “Dark Cacao Cookie,” he concluded. Shadow Milk hummed, “At least I was able to fetch my half. You failed to grab your’s!” He hissed with his mouth curved into a feral smile. The blonde frowned as his eyes closed, he stepped back until it hit a wall while his hands wrapped around his waffle cape to pull it close from the sudden chill that ran down his spine. ‘Are they… trying to pull us in here?’
Why would the Beasts want the other Ancients in here? Are they trying to replace their chains with the heroes and get free? But that wouldn’t be right because then Shadow Milk would have switched places with him and would’ve gotten White Lily Cookie to banish him into the tree while Shadow Milk roamed free. Were all the Beasts trying to unite their missing halves? Or were they trying to “connect” themselves like how Shadow Milk forced him to “marry” him?
The healer shook his head as it started to pound again, he was unaware of what was being said between the Beasts, he turned his head to where the blue cookie was leaning against the bars of the fork with his elbows as he teased and bullied the other Beast, “At least you could’ve wrapped him your ribbons to drag him with you! Honestly! Making him hallucinate is child’s play!” The brows on the blonde furrowed as he listened in to the taunting of the jester. “Truly Powder, what would’ve been your plan? You had to have known the king wouldn’t have followed you so easily! Did you have a plan at all? Unlike you, I at least got out with a plan!”
The blonde wasn’t sure if Mystic Flour Cookie was listening anymore, if she wasn’t then she was doing a great job ignoring the blue jester, but it seemed to have pissed someone else off. The healer felt something grab his throat tightly, hands extended and slammed his body against the wall, like someone was choking him from behind, he let out a choked sound which perked up the jester from across the cell. Then a white fog poured into the cell which made the jester turn and howl, “Let go of him Powder! Why do you all want to grab-”
Pure Vanilla Cookie didn’t catch what the jester said next because he felt himself being yanked away from one cell, and forcibly shoved into another cell.
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He found himself being pinned down by an angry cookie whose eyes were so similar to dragon eyes, her face contorted to a snarl as she had her hands resting on her lap while ribbons were wrapped tightly around Pure Vanilla’s wrists and slowly starting to crawl up his arms to his neck. If the healer wanted, he could start begging her to not hurt him but his mouth was occupied by the heavy breathing and coughing he was spewing. The cell… room… place was covered in flour. Not real flour but it felt real (just like the fluffy clouds in Eternal Sugar’s room), the flour almost acted like a fog that surrounded the duo, and when the healer first landed in the space, he inhaled a mouthful of the flour.
He couldn’t stop coughing after that. Even when the woman appeared sitting on clouds (maybe Eternal Sugar and Mystic Flour were together?) and her ribbons shot out to wrap around him and attempt to choke him. The healer coughed harder while his lungs struggled to push down the pressure that was surely caused by Shadow Milk Cookie trying to pull him back into his cell. The golden veil cookie did not speak and her apathetic face unmoving while the blonde withered under the ribbons and had his forehead pressed against the ground.
The hacks and coughs of the healer were starting to lessen as the cookie just allowed the flour to invade his lungs, he blinked his eyes wearily and slowly repositioned himself from his kneeling place to sit on the ground with his head down. His arms still tightly bound and the ribbons slithered around his neck, ready to tighten at the command of the other.
“Tell me, how well do you know Dark Cacao Cookie, Truth?”
Pure Vanilla coughed again and scrunched his face as the name (nickname?), “He- he and I were close.” They were close. The only two male’s in a group of five. They shared one tent when Pure Vanilla lost his tent to a stream once he slipped and nearly got carried away in the raging stream had the darker cookie not wrapped his arms around the healer and yanked him into his grasp to get the two of them to shore. The two males were close and they bonded as such, even when they had their own kingdoms, they sent each other the letters to ask for ideas or advice about certain situations the other would know best in.
Pure Vanilla would call Dark Cacao Cookie a close friend who he deeply cared for. Mystic Flour Cookie blinked slowly while her face stayed the same, and when she seemed to squint for a millisecond, the ribbons around the healer dispersed and slithered back to her. “I see.” She replied. The pale Beast relaxed her shoulders and raised her hand to beckon the blonde to her, and with slow movements, the cookie did rise and move up to her.
The Beast of Apathy leaned down to look at the cookie up close but from a distance that wouldn’t make the blonde uncomfortable. And Pure Vanilla would admit, the golden cookie seemed to be genuinely studying him as she looked at every part of the blonde, even with his eyes closed, he could see her head tilting.
“I don’t understand,” she hissed then. She leaned back with her shoulders straightening out and her face finally scowling as she looked down upon the blonde. ‘Understand… what?’ he wanted to ask but he bit his tongue. It seemed to be easily readable from his expression because then the woman said, “I don’t understand how Shadow Milk can so easily mock me when you are so naive while my counterpart put up a fight.”
Ouch. It’s not like Pure Vanilla Cookie wanted to be trapped.
The sun-kissed cookie opened his mouth to object to the other’s words but she cut him off, “I merely wanted him to understand that there is an end of a line. Yet, that recluse seems to think that everything is immortal, even after you die.” That was far from the truth, Pure Vanilla knows this.
Dark Cacao Cookie knows how treacherous the mountain peaks are, he knows how easy it is to get cold and die of frostbite if they are not prepared. And that’s why there are so many patrols around the boarders and the villages are asked to shelter travelers for the night so no one can die as easily from the cold as a traveler would have if they came into the snow-bound escape before he became king-
Now that Pure Vanilla thought about it… There were less reports about frost-related deaths, deaths by animals too, and when the Northern King visited during the first Council meeting, he mentioned how well his people were fairing and how they were thriving better than ever after he opened the gates to the Citadel. There was a boom of joy to his kingdom and death had become almost alien. The bitter cookie knows that death is imminent but for Mystic Flour to accuse his friend that he does not know death?
“You’re wrong, Dark Cacao Cookie knows death, and he knows it well. He has been better to aid his people and he knows death is true. But that’s why many cookies understand the Cycle of Life.” These words seem to anger Mystic Flour Cookie who sneered, “All should return to flour. Ending the cycle of rebirth with emotions of pain and misery is a blessing. Would you wish such a pain of rebirth upon your foes? If Dark Cacao Cookie is so blind to a path of eternal peace, then he is a fool.”
Pure Vanilla opened his eyes wide as he hissed, “You know nothing about Dark Cacao. Don’t assume that you-” He had to quickly duck away when the ribbons curled around the arms of the Beast suddenly shot out to grab him. The healer fell onto his back and he met the eyes of Apathy. “Do you believe in an afterlife? Do you believe in the cruel cycle of rebirth?” She asked, her head tilting like she was mocking him. The healer shook his head as he closed his eyes and stood to stand before the beast again with his face set in determination, “What I believe is not your business. Why bring me here?” He asked, his chest heaving as he was reminded of the pressure from Shadow Milk Cookie.
The pale as fog cookie turned her head to gaze out beyond the foggy void, “He’s pissed. It seems like Sugar Cookie has already done this before,” she spoke. “I want to know how to make the stubborn cookie listen. He cannot assume that he can will nature and the cycle of life to his command and expect everything to work in his favor. He must learn that he will endanger all his people if he continues the cycle of rebirth. Turning to flour is the only way to bring peace to all.” The Ancient hero shook his head harder, he would never, he would never reveal his friend’s weakness to this monster.
He knows better, he knows that if he utters a word about any of his friend’s then they will surely perish with him in the tree. (He dares not think about his friends, White Lily , being trapped in the tree while the beasts ruin the world).
He thinks about how miserable Golden Cheese would be, unable to fly and feel the air brush through her wings (just like Eternal Sugar Cookie, how long has it been since she’s felt the air ruffling her feathers?) He dares not think about how quiet Hollyberry will become when she can no longer enjoy life to its fullest (like how Mystic Flour Cookie could preach if she understands how one should enjoy life before death). He thinks about how angry Dark Cacao Cookie would be when he is trapped, pounding and banging on all the walls of the prison (like Burning Spice Cookie when he was forced into his cell). And he thinks about White Lily Cookie, consumed with guilt and shame for dooming the world to the Calamities (does Silent Salt hold anything like that as he watches his friends lose themselves).
Pure Vanilla Cookie opens his mouth to try and protect his friend, to find something that will stop him from his thoughts that suddenly start to yell. His thoughts are suddenly surging with memories of quiet nights between him and Dark Cacao Cookie who held a sleeping Dark Choco Cookie when he was an infant. He shakes his head while his hands tangle in his blonde hair to stop the pounding that started to swell like a singing choir.
The pressure around his chest started to make his wheeze as he collapsed onto his knees as he tried to find some easy ground to balance out the pain within him. The Beast of Apathy turned her head back to the withering cookie and sighed. She floated over with her clouds and stepped down, she kneels before the blonde and reaches up to grab his hands away from his head and she hummed gently.
A hum that ceased all the pressure around his chest and he felt his head grow heavy as his movements became sluggish while his vision blurred with the pale cookie moving back. “He should be more careful with you. You’re going to end up like us if he doesn’t come up with a way to protect you from corrupting.”
And before Pure Vanilla Cookie would ask what she meant (he cannot corrupt, what will the others think? What will White Lily Cookie think if she saw him as a monster? Will he become a monster?), he allowed the spots in his eyes to finally cloak his vision.
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He wonders if any of his friends know that he’s in the tree. He wonders if they have tried to find a way to get him out. Pure Vanilla has returned to the corner of the cell after his… encounter with Mystic Flour Cookie. It felt more like a fever dream, most of their conversation was one-sided (the Beast of Apathy has yet to respond to Shadow Milk’s threats after the healer returned) and while he was forcibly returned into a spooned position, he was pressed against the cell’s far back wall with himself being caged by the wall and the jester cookie.
The blue cookie did not hurt him that time, his hands wandering and combing through the blonde locks (which soothed the overly confused mind of the healer and led him to fall into the Dark Side of Moon where Shadow Milk tried to get the hero to sleep next to him under a willow tree). Then the healer woke up to Shadow Milk’s puppet curled up by the bars of the cell while he was alone in the corner.
The cookie had his legs pulled up to his chest while his head was against the corner, unable to move or find a reason to move. He could meditate but his mind was still running wild. It has been for awhile (how long has it been since he’s been in the tree? Why isn’t he out yet? Where is White Lily Cookie? Why isn’t he free yet?) and to occupy his mind, he closes his eyes and tries to imagine times when he was either free from his kingly duties or when he was alone in his garden.
He smiles fondly at these moments. He so desperately wants to relive them as he remembers (he creates these memories to try and ground himself from becoming mad like the jester). His fondest memory to recall is when he met the other three heroes with White Lily Cookie. The duo had been traveling for some time together, never breaking that perfect silence that spoke for them as they walked along the dirt path. Their Soul Jams glowed brightly in the sun as they moved past the gentle woods.
They had paused to grab a sip of water near a stream flowing with fish that White Lily started to point out. Pure Vanilla stood at the edge as he watched the fish pass, the mage then turned to grab her canteen of water and when the blonde turned his head away from the gentle movements of his crush, he let out a strangle gasp when he saw two warriors staring at them. White Lily Cookie jumped at the noise he made and she saw the two warriors who seemed just as surprised as the healer when he finally noticed him. The taller of the duo, Dark Cacao Cookie, stood up and the other, Hollyberry, shouted across the river asking if Pure Vanilla Cookie was okay.
And that she and her companion didn’t accidently give the blonde a heart attack.
And after some rushed introductions with embarrassment flush on the healer’s cheeks, the four started talking about where they were from, and without missing a beat, White Lily complimented the warrior duo for their homelands and how much she knew about their lands. Dark Cacao Cookie was the most stunned because not many knew about the Icing Ridge and it’s culture, so when White Lily Cookie asked about it, he was very chatty about it. Hollyberry Cookie described it as “meeting a book” (in the most polite way she could think of).
Then the warriors noted the gems on Pure Vanilla’s chest and on White Lily’s stauve. They were quick to show off their’s and the four came to a conclusion to travel together (for what mission, none knew, they just wanted to hang out together). Pure Vanilla Cookie was curious about how the other two’s Soul Jam worked and when he was to see how they would work, the warriors were quick to show off. Dark Cacao Cookie took a head start and swung his sword which became four times bigger in size and he swung down to strike the pinkette but the woman raised her shield which created a massive shield over her to protect her from the massive onslaught of the sword.
White Lily Cookie was absolutely fascinated by the powers and they were quick to compliment the duo for their great prowess of their gems. Dark Cacao bowed his head (with blush along his cheeks) and Hollyberry bellowed her iconic laugh that they would all soon love to hear and she asked for them to show their powers. Pure Vanilla explains that he could only do so if someone was injured while White Lily fidgeted in anxiety. Neither were good at showing off so the two warriors backed off.
The four would become five about three days later when Golden Cheese Cookie crashes into Pure Vanilla Cookie when he stops to pick up an item he dropped. She had been flying about and got distracted which led her to lose her momentum in the air and she air-dived down to the ground to try and catch herself.
Long story short, she crashed into Pure Vanilla Cookie which resulted in him breaking his ankles and leg. Golden Cheese started freaking out and accidentally smacked Dark Cacao with her wings and after White Lily got everyone to calm down (Hollyberry had to hold Dark Cacao back from attacking the avian), the three newcomers got to see Pure Vanilla’s magic work. The soft light glowed gently and he stood up quickly to tend to Golden Cheese to make sure she wasn’t injured in the crash. It would cause a slew of questions about his limits as a healer and if the Soul Jam amplified his powers, and after everyone was checked, Golden Cheese tagged along.
The five cookies who were given power beyond their understanding suddenly became heroes and they would become rulers and parents, and soon, they would believe that life was just. But not everything would be perfect. Pure Vanilla Cookie knows this now.
He so desperately wants to go back to the golden age when he was but a young adult who didn’t know of the dangers with the Soul Jam, who merely existed to try and figure out what he could do for the world. He wants to go back and find comfort in his friends (why aren’t they here? Why aren’t they getting him out?).
… He misses the sun.
The healer curls into the corner that starts to feel more like the arms of Hollyberry Cookie who is holding him close as he tries to sleep. Some nights, he couldn’t sleep because he was too overactive with his powers and his mind was forever unable to rest easily because he feels like he has to be prepared to heal at a moment’s notice. He recalls moments when he was violently shaken awake by White Lily’s shrill screams or a shout of pain from one of his comrades when they were dealt a grievous injury.
Hollyberry’s arms squeeze him gently as he blinks his eyes open. He finds White Lily Cookie resting in his lap while Golden Cheese is spread out on the cot that they had set up for all of them to sleep on because they just lost their cots to the rain that pounded against the tent’s walls. Pure Vanilla frowns and sits up, he shifts around and frowns to himself.
He was just in the tree… Was he? The rain pelted onto the tent’s fabric resonating with his soul and his body instantly relaxed and when he felt someone cup his hands, he looked at White Lily Cookie who pulled his hands closer to her cheeks to sleep on. The sound of the rain and the slow breathing of his crush brought some alien peace into his mind (this wasn’t right, something is wrong).
“Get some sleep, Vanilla Bean.” Pure Vanilla Cookie does not think twice, he relaxes against Hollyberry Cookie who rewraps her arms around him and he smiles. But he knows within his soul something isn’t right, that wherever he is- isn’t the forest (but he does not shy away from the embrace of a friend. It’s better than the jester who is staring at his slumped form). The blonde shifts closer and smiles as he feels his world darken slowly, like the sun lowering for the moon to rise, and he hums contently.
He feels… at peace. He hasn’t felt this relaxed and calm since he was forced into the tree. He does not want to leave because then he would be forced back to deal with the blue beast cookie who thinks that he can boss and use Pure Vanilla for anything he wants. He listens to the patter of rain and then he jolts awake when he hears thundering footsteps. ‘Beast-’ He thinks and sits up again (met with the same tent and cozy pile he fell asleep in) and the tent flaps open to show Dark Cacao drenched in water and freezing when he sees Pure Vanilla wide awake.
“Sorry, did I wake you?” He whispers as he closes the tent flaps. The blonde shakes his head (he felt whole, this was happening and he was safe again. Right?) and he says, “I thought I heard something.” The taller of the group nods and he sheds his armor and drenched clothing off to replace it all with a light pair of a nightshirt and pants. The cookie settles behind Hollyberry and near Golden Cheese, he drapes his arm around their shoulders and nods to the healer, “Get some sleep, you’ll need it for tomorrow.”
(Don’t sleep- this is real. Everything with Shadow Milk was a dream, you’re safe, stay here. Don’t make me go back).
Pure Vanilla nods and slips back to his spot and closes his eyes. He will dream of magic sheep and he tries so hard to listen for his friend’s breathing; Golden Cheese did snort lightly, Hollyberry always took heavy inhales, White Lily was soft, and Dark Cacao was almost silent. The blonde blissfully smiled under this atmosphere, it was perfect, and everything before was a bad dream.
White Lily didn’t get split in half after seeing a nightmare, Golden Cheese didn’t lose her kingdom, Dark Cacao Cookie still has his son, Hollyberry was still her joyful self, and he was happy. He is happy because everything with the Silver Tree, with Elder Faerie Cookie, with Shadow Milk Cookie was all a bad dream. Just a bad dream.
As the blonde relaxes against the pinkette, he picks up a sound beyond the tent. It sounded like someone was calling out. The healer rolled his shoulders as he tried to ignore the voice but he heard it along with the sound of the rain, it was bothering him from listening to his friend’s sleep. The cookie begrudgingly lifts his head and stares at the tent flaps, his mind weighing the idea for him to leave the tent and find out what was going on outside. The voice was starting to strain as it got closer and louder, the cookie was calling out and they were starting to edge on screaming the name. But no matter how hard the blonde tried to listen for the name, he couldn’t hear the name that the cookie was calling out for.
Pure Vanilla Cookie slowly slips away from Hollyberry and positions White Lily Cookie to be resting on the pink cookie’s lap as he goes to check out what the cookie is doing (don’t go out there. Ignore it. It’s him, he’s going to ruin our dream. Stay put-), the healer slowly takes the clips of the flaps and unclicks them softly as he looks over his shoulder to make sure the others are still asleep as he opens the flaps.
The healer crawls out and when he turns to see if he could see the cookie calling out, he finds himself staring at the holy fork. Shadow Milk Cookie was fiddling with something and he perks up when he sees the blonde shake his head violently back and forth, “Did we have a nice dream, Nilly?”
