Chapter Text
The quiet of the forest was welcome for her majesty’s warrior. The chirping of a blueberry bird as it landed on Red Velvet’s claw was a lovely contrast to the cries of cookie voices, after all, with bird chirps you don’t have to second guess if it’s a true plea for help or a mimic to lure you. The warriors of the White Lily kingdom ate up every second of peace they could get as who knew when more shadow soldiers would arrive and wreck it.
Suddenly, a second bird came with a letter in its beak and set it in Red Velvet’s free hand. He thanked it as it flew off and allowed the first to do the same. He opened the letter, immediately noticing it was to announce a meeting.
“Battle plans most likely,” the general muttered, stuffing the letter in his pocket. He then started towards the castle.
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Upon opening the doors to the meeting room, he froze. There at the table sat all four of the rulers of the cookie kingdoms and their respective generals. If this was about an upcoming battle, this was gonna be one hell of an attack.
“Red Velvet, welcome,” White Lily said with a light smile. Red Velvet bowed, White Lily then motioned for him to sit next to her.
“Would that be everyone? All rulers and generals?” Golden Cheese asked.
“Seems it,” Dark Cacao sighed.
Hollyberry nodded.
“Great, now to move to the… difficult part of this discussion,” White Lily said.
“This is about battle plans, correct?” Red Velvet asked.
“Part of it,” Cacao said.
“Yes, battle plans and a general check in with all the kingdoms. As far as I’m aware, everyone’s defenses are working as intended, yes?”
Caramel Arrow nodded. “The protection in the Cacao Kingdom is top tier, your majesty. Shadow soldiers are hardly standing a chance, even echo soldiers are having trouble getting past them.”
“The Hollyberry Kingdom is doing well also,” Wildberry said. “Echo soldiers haven’t gotten close to us for a while… Let’s hope I didn’t just jinx it…”
Hollyberry chuckled and gave him a thumbs up to let him know he was good. Red Velvet (as well as the rest of the generals) have never heard her speak, and they were unsure whether or not this was a choice thing. The silent queen (as some have taken to calling her) however, seemed to be doing just fine without her words. She was still one of the brightest cookies around, and if it need be, her son or general would be her voice.
Golden Cheese, not having a general, was the next to inform everyone. “The Golden Cheese Kingdom’s defenses are rebuilding at great speeds. We unfortunately just had a hoard we weren’t prepared for; however everyone is alright, rest assured.”
“I’m glad to hear everyone is doing well,” White Lily smiled.
“We in the White Lily Kingdom are doing well, our defenses have had to be raised recently though. It seems like we’ve been receiving more echo soldiers so we’ve had to be even more careful with the sound of cookie voices,” Red Velvet explained. “I think we got your echo soldiers.” He pointed one of his claws at the Hollyberrians, who just shrugged as Wildberry muttered an apology.
“I see,” Cacao said. “You seemed to be pretty clear of them when we arrived, however that could just be luck.”
“Yes, seems to be the most mercy we’ve gotten from the Crimson Sorcerer in the last 6 months…”
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So, let’s pause for a second as you’re probably wondering “What the fuck is going on?” Well, let’s start with who the Crimson Sorcerer is. Also known as the Echoer or the Wish Scammer, he used to be a great, kind, and curious magician known as Pure Vanilla. He was constantly itching for knowledge about cookies, so much so that he decided to go to the source of the knowledge, the witches. He just so happened to go on the Night of Witches-, yada yada -, you know the tale. White Lily was going to go with him but backed out at the last second out of fear and well, it appears fear is a good thing at times.
Look, to make a long story short, the man is kinda batshit insane with batshit insane powers, a horrible combination. And with this horrible combination you can create what are known as shadow soldiers, masses of dark magic that mimic the form of cookies. They’re shockingly strong, so much so that Crimson Sorcerer doesn’t need any actual cookies to fight for him (not that any would want to). And, if that wasn’t bad enough, you can make them stronger! Yep yep, you can turn shadow soldiers into echo soldiers which not only mimic the form of cookies but also their voices.
I won’t give anymore information as this is all you need to be caught up to this hellfire of a universe that is Echos of Whispers without plot points being spoiled. Enjoy the rest of the story dear reader.
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“Speaking of Crimson Sorcerer,” White Lily said. “He’s another part of this meeting.”
“Oh great…” Caramel Arrow muttered.
“We’re going to need to come up with a strategy to fight against him.”
“‘Fight against him’?!” Cheese snapped. “Lily, we’re doing the best we can to fight against him!”
“And it’s clearly not enough!” she shouted. “Just fighting off his soldiers doesn’t do shit, he just conjures up more everytime we slay them! It doesn’t affect him!”
The rulers all stared at Lily wide-eyed and the three generals looked between one and other stunned. Hollyberry averted her eyes as she took a sip of berry juice.
“Look, we can’t just continue with this strategy, we have to go for the source!”
“Lily, I understand what you’re getting at,” Cacao said. “But it’s just too risky, you remember what happened the last time we tried that…” He motioned to the gashes of scar tissue that lined White Lily’s arms and mouth. She sighed.
“I’m well aware of what happened last time, but we’ve grown much stronger since then. And besides, the more we sit around the more chances he gets at getting more echo soldiers!”
Hollyberry sighed. “ She’s right ,” she signed.
“Thank you.”
Golden Cheese rubbed the bridge of her nose. “But what if history repeats itself? What if we get placed in the same position as last time? What would we do then?”
“We can try to find a way around it, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll take the fall.”
The ancients’ eyes went wide again and Hollyberry frantically stood up and made various different motions of "no", almost all that Red Velvet could think of.
“Berry-,” White Lily started. Hollyberry glared at her with her arms crossed. “Fine, I won’t…”
Seeming satisfied with this answer, yet still upset, Hollyberry sat back down.
“Yeah no, you’re not doing that,” Cheese said. “If anything, I wou-”
Hollyberry moved her glare over to the half-cheesebird. “None of you are doing that, not on my watch ,” she signed.
“Point made,” Cacao said.
“What are we talking abou-?” Wildberry asked.
“Nothing,” three of the ancients said simultaneously.
“Oookay…” Caramel Arrow said.
“...Er, we should probably get started on that battle plan,” Red Velvet said.
“Good idea, let’s do that,” Cacao sighed, happy to steer away from the subject.
Everyone nodded in agreement, a mission this big needed a plan after all.