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The clock on the wall showed it was nearing eight pm, and young Skater Cookie was running around pantless with his signature skateboard tucked under his arm. He was running - his mom banned skating indoors - to his room giggling. His older sister, Skating Queen Cookie, was walking after him.
It was bedtime for the young cookie, and he was determined to hear a bedtime story from his sister tonight. He tossed his skateboard on the bed and hopped in it himself. Skating Queen soon entered his bedroom, breathing heavily. Skater pointed to the almost entirely empty bookshelf across the room.
"Haven't mom or I read you this story thousands of times?" she questioned, grabbing the familiar storybook from the shelf. The Legend of the Dragon and the Knight, the unabridged version. Skater nodded, giggling some more. Skating Queen sighed in defeat. "Alright, alright. Move over."
"Yay!" Skater said, crawling under his blanket with his skateboard next to him. Skating Queen sat next to him, opening up the book.
"Long ago…"
It was the time of the dragons. The sun beat down on the lands, another fight for territory between the Pinata Candy Empire and neighboring tribes, notably berry tribes this time around. Similar to most other fights, it seemed the Pinata Candy Empire would win the fight. Not without casualties, of course.
One young cookie, who went by the name of Knight, was observing his empire fight more from the middle. He already let out his commands to his troops, it was now only a matter of time before the empire expanded its territory.
More enemy lines rushed into the center of his army, and he fought them off with his fellow soldiers. Unfortunately, a sharp blow to the back of the head brought Knight to the ground unconscious.
Some of the enemy lines spoke in their slightly varied language and managed to drag him off the battlefield, fighting others along the way. Though the battle looked as though it ended as a draw, the united berry tribe found it a victory as they captured one of the Pinata Candy's major generals.
As with other prisoners of war, Knight was thrown into a dirt cell underground. He woke up sweaty. He quickly recalled previous events and concluded that he must've been captured. He could hear guards chatting amongst themselves, and tried listening in.
As a child, his tutors insisted on him knowing multiple languages. He didn't remember much from Berrian as he hardly spoke it but tried his best to remember. "That general… Hefty sum… Dragon," is what he could make out through the dirt and clay walls.
Knight couldn't tell what time it was, so he instead drew in the loose dirt with his hands until he felt tired again and chatter and other noises died down. He grew tired and hungry and thirsty. He decided sleeping would be his best option and almost laid back down on the floor until a strange noise followed by a bright light appeared. He shut his eyes tightly, not being used to light.
He opened his eyes again, using his arms to partly shield him from the light. He squinted, looking in front of him. There stood a mysterious cookie dressed in a bizarre, foreign fashion. They held a large pair of what looked like refined scissors as well as a bottle of strange liquid.
The cookie told him something but he couldn't understand. After understanding that he couldn't get what they were saying, they handed the bottle to him and motioned him to drink. He was reluctant, but cookie nature of needing to survive took over. He took off the small cork cap and drank it, the liquid tasted like nothingness.
The cookie standing before him was smiling, and that smile only grew. Once Knight finished, they snatched the bottle from him and stepped back into the glowing entrance where they came from, waving to him before it was gone.
Knight was left more confused than anything, but the sudden hit of exhaustion and nausea overtook him, and he decided to try to rest some more.
Early the next day, some guards went down into the prison holdings. It was dark, hot, and dirty there. They murmured amongst themselves. "Commander says that general can be held for fake ransom. Just look at him. He also says he should be sacrificed next," one of them said, looking over to Knight's cell.
Another one of them let out a hardy laugh. "Our Commander can handle the ransom. Get that general prepared to climb the mountain," she said.
One of the four guards took their light source and went over to Knight's cell, slamming the door open, causing some prisoners to wake up from the sudden noise. Knight laid on the dirt floor, breathing steadily.
A sharp kick to his side woke him up instantly. He groaned in pain, looking up at the figure at the door. He figured they wanted him, and so he got onto his feet.
Almost immediately, he was yanked by his collar and out the door. "Ow!" he let out, briefly struggling to breathe. The guards once again talked amongst themselves and were talking too fast for him to understand what they were saying.
The other prisoners looked at him, most with pity but some with envy. Most knew where he was heading. Knight was dragged up some stairs and out a door, flinching from the bright sunlight. A sword was pushed to his back. "Walk."
He didn't need to think to process that. The same guards from before almost entirely encircled him. Once his eyes could register the sun, he looked around at the surroundings. Dragon's Peak, the tallest mountain in the Huckleberry Mountain Range.
It suddenly clicked for him what was happening. Berrian war prisoners were often sacrificed to the Red Dragon, as an offering in exchange to not get attacked. Fear grew in his eyes and a pit formed in his stomach. So this is how he meets his end.
Hours went by as he was forced up the mountain. He was practically dying under the sweltering heat of the sun. The guards around him remained unwavered by it all. As the sun was setting, they reached the top of the mountain. They stopped at a large cave opening.
He was tossed into the cave before the guards promptly ran off. He rubbed the dirt off his face before standing up, face to face with the infamous Red Dragon. He clenched his fists.
"Well look what we have here… Another cookie ssssent to me," they said, exaggerating the "s". Knight raised his fists, gulping. The dragon laughed at him. "Do you really think you can win against me? With those tiny little handsss of yoursss?" they said in a mocking tone.
Knight bit the inside of his mouth, not ready to accept death. The dragon continued to speak. "You look ssssunburnt. Bright pink," they said, looking him over.
He didn't notice he got burned from walking in the sun all day. It was the height of summer, after all. "That doesn't change that I won't let you devour me," Knight said with false confidence.
The dragon was amused by all this, laughing at him again. "Look at you, puny little burnt cookie. Hahaaa… sssso amusssing," they said. Knight got redder in the face. "You would not even make a dent against my ssscales, better to give up now than let thissss draw on," they continued.
Knight lowered his fists in defeat, looking at the ground before back up at the dragon. "Make it quick then," Knight said, squeezing his eyes shut in defeat, hoping this would all be over soon.
Instead of eating Knight right then and there, the dragon let out another laugh. "Look at you, little cookie, sssso quick to fight for your life then ssso quick to accept death. How cute," they said, softly grinding one of their claws atop Knight's head.
"You don't look like one of thosssse berry cookiesss, or those cheesse cookiesss that get up here. Where did you come from," the dragon said, demanding more than asking to know. Knight was taken aback by this. He wanted to know why the dragon was prolonging his death.
"The empire," he answered stiffly. The dragon let out a puff of smoke.
"Ssso then they won't misssss one measly cookie," the dragon said, looking like they were contemplating something. "Ssstay here with me, you are quite amusssing, burnt cookie," the dragon said.
Knight was shocked at what the dragon had said. He, general of hundreds of Pinata Candy Empire armies, hailing from some of the highest nobility of the entire cookie world, staying with a dragon just to entertain them. "I- I have a name you know," was all he could muster out, tired of being called burnt.
"What isss it then, burnt cookie?" the dragon asked, looking down at Knight. He was not expecting this to go the way that it did. He also did not want to blurt out his full name of White Chocolate Buttercream Cookie V.
"Knight. My name is Knight Cookie," he said, instead using his common nickname among his general friends and soldiers. The dragon let out another laugh.
"How… Generic. A name after an occupation. Might assss well call me Dragon," they said as if constantly taunting Knight. He crossed his arms, looking up at the dragon.
"Well, that's what people call you: The Red Dragon. Overseer of the tribes and Empire. The plight of villages and eater of cookies," Knight said. The dragon did not look amused this time around.
"Long fancccy titles have never been my thing," they said, eyeing down Knight.
"That makes two of us," Knight grumbled to himself under his breath. "Well I told you my name, oh great Red Dragon," he continued, curtsying in a way to accentuate the back-and-forth mocking. "It's only fair if you told me yours."
The dragon picked up laughing again, a toothy smile strewn across their face. "I am Pitaya. The Pitaya Dragon," they said. It was like something clicked in Knight's mind. He mouthed an "oh".
Gushes of wind soared into the cave, signifying nightfall was close. Knight shivered. The Pinata Candy Empire was particularly warm, especially in the summer months, but he was not used to being at the peaks of mountains. Having been stripped of his armor presumably the night before, the clothes on his back were ill prepared to handle mountainous winds.
Pitaya Dragon looked largely unaffected by the winds, unlike the cute little cookie before them. That cookie also let out a yawn, rubbing one of his eyes. Cold and tired, how cute. "Are you cold from a few gussstss of wind?" Pitaya asked, more in a mocking tone.
"The empire never gets like this," Knight said, crossing his arms in an attempt to keep warm. He glanced over to the cave exit and observed the skies. The sun was setting and the sky was turning shades of orange and dark blue. His stomach also growled at that moment. He hasn't eaten since before the battle that brought him into this mess.
He sighed, closing his eyes for a split second before he was lifted off the ground. He flailed around, Pitaya so easily picking him up by his waist. "This will easssily warm you."
When Knight thought this was finally it, he found himself tucked in between a front leg and Pitaya's body. "Hey-! Let me go!" Knight said, all attempts to wiggle free from Pitaya's grip futile. They let out a loud snore, some smoke appearing from their mouth. Knight sighed. He'd have to pass out from exhaustion if Pitaya would continue to snore like that.
Although, Knight was quickly - albeit reluctantly - lulling into Pitaya's natural body heat. It reminded him of all the hugs his mother gave him and how they'd cuddled together when he was a child.
He blinked a few times, before giving in to the heat and closing his eyes, cuddling into the front leg that held him there.
Skating Queen closed the book softly, Skater by now sound asleep. She gave him a quick kiss on the head and sat up, returning the book to the shelf.
She chuckled to herself softly as she exited Skater's room. "Such a funny little story. Like it could ever be real," she murmured to herself as she went to her own room to get into bed.
On a high up balcony in the Hollyberry Kingdom stood Knight, helmet off and some hair moving along with the winds. He was admiring the night sky, pitifully no stars shown as the city below lit up the world.
Pitaya had already been forced out of the Kingdom with the return of Hollyberry Cookie, and he forced down tears at the fact he was never able to even speak or reveal himself to his beloved.