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“Does anyone have any questions?” came a slightly coarse, but at the same time soft voice, belonging to the Sage of Truth, who was currently holding a lecture. “No?” he looked around the students, trying to see any raised hands.
When he saw and heard nothing to his question, he continued:
“Alrighty, then we can move on to–” the scholar was about to begin, but was interrupted by loud ringing of the school bell.
“Oh, the bell–…”, Sage of Truth interrupted himself with a shake of his head and a smile, as cleared his throat and he addressed to his students, “Ah, well, this is all for today! I hope to see you all tomorrow, and please, do not be late, as it will not be tolerated.”
The disciples started getting their stuff in their bags, as some started chatting with one another.
“And please do not forget to get ready for tomorrow’s mini-test! I’ll remind you, it will be about everything we’ve talked about these last three days, except for today. Keep that in mind.”, the sage added, tapping his finger on the desk, as some students announced that they had heard him or just nodded their heads.
When all the students got their stuff, they left the class for today. The Sage of Truth was about to get his stuff ready as well, since it was the last lecture for today’s schedule, but he suddenly stopped, as soon as he heard a short, quiet, yet quite hearable rustling noise coming from the darkest corner of the classroom.
He looked at the said corner, and saw a pair of dark yellow and blue eyes, which were almost like his. He immediately recognised the cookie in pure darkness, Truthless Recluse.
“Ah, the Truthless Recluse has paid me a visit once more! To what do I own the pleasure?” Sage of Truth asked, before adding, “I’m afraid the lecture has just finished, but if you had come an hour earlier you would have been a listener… Or, are you here to continue asking me to stop that instead? Isn’t it getting a little bit old, my friend, when you already know my answer? It has never changed even since the last time you asked.”
Sage of Truth gave his a little smirk, as he sat on his table in a leaning manner, and crossed his hands on his chest, while dismissing his staff in the thin air.
“Today, I’m not here for any of these reasons, Sage of Truth,” Truthless Recluse answered, as he came out of the dark. The recluse took several slow steps towards the sage, as he usually did, no sudden movements, as if it was all being calculated or just hesitant, he couldn’t say for sure. The flowery staff looking at the him with two eyes, while the third one was close - just as it always was. Eerie, but manageable to brush it off as nothing.
“Oh?” Sage of Truth took an interest, “Well then… what can I help you with, dearie?” he knew of Truthless Recluse’s annoyance when he called him a dearie, which was quite funny to the scholar, since it was just a simple moniker. But to the sage’s disappointment, this time the hermit didn’t even shake a muscle to this. Alas.
“Help… hm… no, there’s nothing to be helped, per se.” Truthless Recluse let out a soft giggle, as he slightly turned his head to the side. “I just, have decided to pay you a little visit, before going back home, that is all.”
“…Huh?” Sage of Truth let out a confused sound, slightly startled by the claim, since the latter never ‘just visited’ him before. And the sudden giggle he just heard? Something didn’t line up with him. It didn’t sound as he was nervous. Or that annoyed giggle he rarely let out when the sage was being too much. “Just visiting me, you say?” he hummed. “Is there any chance I’m not sensing some sort of trickery?”
“Trickery? There’s no trickery… No nothing, I don’t care if you believe me, or not, truth to be told, since it is no concern of mine, Sage of Truth.” Truthless Recluse replied, as he turned his head back to its previous position - no really looking at the sage, yet being close enough to think he did. “But my words are as truthful as they can be, but perhaps, that is for you to say such things, correct?” the recluse smiled. Smiled?
The sage paused, something seemed to be… off about the way the hermit talked today, or even acted. He mentally shook himself, realising he should answer the question.
“…Correct you are.” Sage of Truth uttered, hesitantly, since such reply was a little odd from the Truthless Recluse, it was too friendly? Joyful even? He couldn’t quite say for sure, and it made him feel some sort of discomfort he had found hard to admit, yet, he still decided to ask, being the curious cookie he was. “Hm, Truthless Recluse, if you don’t mind me asking, are you feeling well?”
To that, the hermit jointed for a bit, but it was mere seconds, until he looked directly at the sage - or, well, he tried to, which he succeeded.
“I don’t understand your reasoning for such concern?” Truthless Recluse said, yet it sounded more like a question, as his smile wavered for a bit.
“Perhaps, I’m seeing things after today’s teaching, but you seem… odd. I have never seen you this… lively before? I have… I have never seen you smile like this,” Sage of Truth said, tilting his head to the side and tapping his hand close to his own mouth in a thinking manner, still leaning his upper legs on his deck. “I can’t help but wonder, are you feeling unwell today?”
There was a pause from the recluse, as if he was thinking how to answer such a question. The sage stopped his tapping, focusing. Several seconds had passed, and Truthless Recluse said, as he let out a small, yet hearable chuckle:
“My well-being is none of your business, Sage of Truth. But I can assure you, there is nothing to be worried about now.”
The hermit put his head down a bit, the forced smile still on his face. He was hiding something, and Sage of Truth was beginning to feel really uneasy. Both from the strange curiosity and worry.
“Truthless–” the sage started, trying to figure out the hermit’s strange behaviour, but he was rudely interrupted by the recluse.
“Perhaps, it is time for me to go. I believe you still have work to do, since you are quite a busy cookie.”
The sage harshly pulled away from the table.
“That’s true, yes, but–” Sage of Truth stalled for a bit, but was interrupted once again, not letting him finish any of his statements. Why wouldn’t he just listen to him?
“Very well. I shall take my leaving, then,” the recluse casually said, turning his back to Sage of Truth. He took a few small steps forward until he stopped, his mood suddenly shifting, as he said with the usual darker and tired tone:
“I know you won’t listen to me, no matter how much I try, and I’m so tired of repeating myself, but still…” he turned his head to the right, not really looking at the sage, but to just be sure he heard what he was about to say, “consider it… telling the Truth won’t really lead you or anyone else to anything good, and I want to believe you are well aware of it.”
The sage stayed silent, trying to understand where he was going with this, so the recluse turned his head in its previous position, its back facing the scholar in white and gold, and then, he looked down and quietly added, as if to himself, yet accidentally Sage of Truth had heard him well enough:
“At last, it is no longer my business…”
And with that, Truthless Recluse tapped on the floor with his staff and then disappeared into the darkness, leaving nothing behind him.
The sage stood there with a confused look on his face, as he gazed in the direction where the hermit stood before. He felt his heart beating a little bit faster than usual.
‘What is he planning on doing?’ Sage of Truth thought to himself, while the wonder on his face slowly turned into a little frown.
He would stand there on the same spot, looking at the same direction, a little exception would be short movement of his eyes looking sometimes here and there, in an attempt to understand the recluse’s last words, what they truly meant, as if looking at something would give him all the answers he needed, until a couple of knocks sound on the other side of the door to the classroom he has yet to leave. He turned his attention toward the knocks.
“Professor, dear Professor Blueberry Milk Cookie!” He heard a very familiar high pitched - yet shaky? - voice behind the door, as it was rudely opened, without even waiting for his response, “Professor, oh I’m so glad you are still here!”
Before him stood a young cookie, who wore a nice black and white dress, she had short white hair and one candy apple with a stick on both of the sides of her head, resembled in big hair-buns. The said cookie was taking shaky and ragged breaths, as if she ran a whole marathon to get here.
“Candy Apple Cookie? What are you doing here?” The scholar asked, adding more questions to his already full bucket of mysteries for today.
“I–” She interrupted herself by her own panting and groaning, “Ugh, one moment–”, with that she dropped her head down and leaned her palms on her knees, trying to steady her breath. Did she really run here? Perhaps she thought the sage was going to leave before she managed to get to him? But she knew where he lived, so what was it she wanted?
Sage of Truth looked at her still with a slightly confused expression, yet unimpressively at the same time, knowing that his student was quite a character. Yet, he tried to relax and put a little smile on his face, as he waited for her to take a breather. The attempt to do so was, unfortunately for him, a failure.
A few seconds later, the girl let out a loud sigh, before standing straight up with a smile on her face. Until she saw a little bit too grim of a face on the usually relaxed teacher.
“Oh! Professor, am I interrupting you from something important? I am so so sorry, I didn’t mean–”
The sage interrupted the short girl, by raising his right hand up. He should pull himself together, he would not let Truthless Recluse’s sudden smile and words get the better of him. He left and that’s it, nothing to worry about. Nothing. It was fine.
“No, Candy Apple Cookie, it’s not you. Don’t uh, don’t worry your little head with that.” He said, finally being able to get a little smile on his face.
“Professor, are you sure? You’re gripping your staff a little bit too tight…”
When did he summon it back? He must have done it unconsciously again.
“Perhaps I’m just overthinking it…” he muttered to himself, as he shook his head unconsciously hoping she hadn’t heard it, “I’m sure. Thank you, Candy Apple Cookie. So, was there something you wanted? For you to come back here.”
“Oh, right! That’s so silly!” she said loudly, before she happily - yet paying no mind - went up the stairs to the row of seats she was on for today’s lesson.
‘Walking in here just like that… you’re not at your home, Candy Apple Cookie, at least pay some respect…’ the sage thought, a little bit annoyed by the act, as he shook his head a little disappointedly.
“I forgot my notebook in here! Erm, somewhere in here, but in here for sure.” she claimed, while searching for the lost item. “Professor, may I ask, what is it you’re overthinking about? You’re not someone to overthink.” she asked, as she continued her searching.
He let out a sudden laugh, “Is there anything I can hide from you, Candy Apple Cookie?” Sage of Truth joked, making a little grimace.
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I listen to the only teacher I actually like?” Candy Apple Cookie exclaimed a little bit too proudly for Sage of Truth’s liking. Although, he had a feeling she would say something like this, knowing her.
“Flattery will not get you a higher grade, Candy Apple Cookie, not from me that’s for sure. But, a compliment is a compliment, and who am I not to accept it.” the sage said with a grand smile on his face as he closed one of his eyes for a few seconds before opening it again.
“Aw, it was worth a try, hehe!” she joked, her high pitched laughter filling the room, before she nonchalantly asked again, “So… may I know?” Oh how curious she was.
Sage of Truth’s smile slowly slipped away into a thin line, as he softly hummed in a thought. Was there any point in telling her anything? He could tell her, but what answer was he asking for? A hum? A simple understanding? A candid opinion? A useful or not really advice? Advice for the Sage of Truth of all cookies? That sounded like a jest by a cookie with a really weird sense of humour, if you ask him. But… maybe telling her something, even something small, would be enough for his racing thoughts to finally take a rest.
Perhaps… he could try.
“Well,” he started hesitantly, uncharacteristically thinking how to make what he was about to say make sense, “let’s say…” he paused to look at the ceiling, before looking back at the student who was still searching for the notebook, who - from time to time - was looking at him. He took a few steps to take a little sit on a table of the first row of the student seats, before crossing his arms on his chest to stable himself.
“I have… hm, an acquaintance with a cookie who is quiet and gloomy by the nature, yes?” he said, not waiting for the answer, “And… they are not really friendly, not very energetic or enthusiastic, not at all, I must say. We don’t see each other much. And sometimes the conversations between us can be… a bit aggressively-possessive, let’s say. However, today we have met again, but the usually negative cookie such as themself, they were lively. Which was a really odd thing to see. And he– they were smiling, and even laughing at some point, as if today was a great day for them… But he also said something that caught my attention but I’m sure it just slipped his lips, and then he left, and I’m just… I don’t want to admit, but I am merely confused and concerned by that…” he rambled, as he let out a breath he didn’t notice he was holding all this time until after he finished.
Letting it all out felt pleasurable to a little degree, but - unfortunately for him - that only made his mind wander more and more. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea of his to tell everything to Candy Apple Cookie. Maybe he should’ve just told her that it wasn’t something she needed to know, which is true, it’s truly none of her business, she’s just a loyal student of his who has nothing to do with his and Truthless Recluse’s conversation they had today, he shouldn’t have opened up about this, oh how unprofessional it was of him to just drop everything on his student’s–
“Yes! Found it!” Candy Apple Cookie suddenly claimed, as she dramatically raised a reddish notebook with a few of hand-glued white rhinestones on it in the air with her right hand. She paused for a second, before realising the awkwardness of her situation - she acted as if she heard nothing of what Blueberry Milk Cookie just said, of what he just willingly opened up about.
Missing a beat, her lips letting out a loud, nervous ‘ah’.
“Sorry! Sorry, when I found it I got a little bit too excited.” she let go of an awkward giggle that was stuck in her throat, as she shook the notebook in her wrist up and down in the air a few times before stopping, returning to the topic. “But, I’m a little at a loss, why would you overthink it, professor? Isn’t that a good thing, that today he was finally in a good mood to smile and all?”
The sage decided to turn a blind eye to his disciple’s distractedness. For now. It was not that important.
“That’s the thing. It seems like something good, but I can’t help but think maybe there’s more than just him having a good day. Something just doesn’t line up, and I just cannot figure it out” he admitted, as he tapped the knuckle of his finger on his lips.
Candy Apple Cookie hummed, “Maybe you could go and ask him about it? Maybe if you pry hard enough he’ll tell you everything!” she suggested, before she added clearly to herself, giggling, “Black Sapphire Cookie always gives up when I pry too much.”
“That’s easy to say, but he is not someone who would do that, and I know that; I actually did try to ask him about it, but he just rudely brushed it off, not even letting me finish…” Sage of Truth took a moment to think, before letting out a ‘tsk’ sound and pushing off of the table he was sitting on, “Perhaps I’ll consider your words. Thank you, Candy Apple Cookie, for listening to this little problem of mine. Ah, but I believe you’ve found what you were looking for, correct?”
As he heard a popping ‘Yep!’, he added, “Then I don’t dare to keep you here for much longer. I believe your brother must be wondering why it’s taking you so long.”
“Eh,” she let out comically, as she began to go down the stairs, the notebook is resting in her right hand, “that’s unlikely: he knows I might get too distracted along the way so he doesn’t really worry that much!”
The Sage of Truth’s only reply was a low hum, not really knowing how to respond to that.
“Professor,” Candy Apple Cookie said, as she got near him, “will you be staying here?”
“Mhm, yes, I still have business I have yet to get done here.” he replied, not lying, since he needed to finish up some teacher’s work still, but not really being sure if he would actually stay here and do it today, or decide to do it tomorrow, since it’s a possible option he might go with. He also has the full night to do it, that’s three options he could go with.
“Oh! Then, I guess I’ll be on my way home. Thank you, Professor!” she thanked him, bowing her head a little, while holding the notebook close to her chest with now both hands, and after that, she turned around, opened the door, and then left the sage alone to himself, closing the door with a hearable ‘wham’.
“Until tomorrow.” the scholar muttered under his breath to the emptiness of the room. Candy Apple Cookie long gone on her way home.
When Candy Apple Cookie left, Sage of Truth stood on the same spot for a few seconds, before returning back to his desk. He took all the documents that were lying on it, and stocked them all by hitting the corners on the desk’s surface a few times. And when the paper was stocked properly, just as he liked, he put it all back in the folder it was resting before the lecture’s beginning.
But then he took a short pause, thinking aloud:
“‘Go and ask him’, ‘Pry and he will tell’?..”, the sage repeated Candy Apple Cookie’s words to himself, letting out a low hum at the end. But he did try. He opened up a portal, at the same time not really looking at it, and then he placed the folder in the portal, before closing it shut, as if it never was there.
He started to take other items that were on the teacher’s desk – quill, ink, a few pencils - as he quietly let out a few hums to himself. All of them were placed back in the desk’s drawers, at their respectful places.
When he finished cleaning up his desk, he put a hand on his Soul Jam, feeling something heavy in his chest.
He closed his eyes, and took a deep breather. Steading himself in a way. He didn’t try enough.
“Perhaps I should.” Sage of Truth stated, as he decided his next destination would be the Peak of Truth.