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Black Sapphire's head hurt, his whole body hurt, and he'd never felt so weak; he tried to stretch, but one of his wings erupted in a sharp pain that drew a small gasp, he curled into himself slightly, but he felt more injuries he wasn't aware of start to flare up. He opened his eyes slowly, squinting at the light bathing the room, and he looked around as much as he could and saw he currently lay in a room he didn't recognise. It smelled like a forest wet with morning dew, and many animal plushes and figures decorated the surfaces around the room. An analogue clock on the wall read 1:25. Judging by the light seeping in through the edges of the closed curtains, he could safely guess it was afternoon. He let out a small groan as he tried to shift into a more comfortable position, and his body was set alight with pain.
A sudden screech of microphone feedback caused him to flinch, weakly clutching his head as his minor headache suddenly turned skull-splitting. He looked around until he spotted his microphone propped up in a corner of the room; its unchanging gaze was brimming with concern. Black Sapphire scoffed at it. He appreciated the presence of his friend, but that screech was hardly called for; he turned away from it with a huff, ignoring the slight guilt he felt for being so annoyed at its worry. It had been a gift from Shadow Milk himself, a sort of thanks for Black Sapphire's unwavering loyalty while the beast had been stuck in the tree, nothing but a phantom for only he and Candy Apple's corrupted eyes to see.
The door to the room opened, revealing a strange man dressed in all sorts of green attire and a strange hat on his head that could rival Pure Vanilla's in sheer ridiculousness; at least this guy's hat seemed to actually fit on his head. The odd stranger approached Black Sapphire, smiling as he set down a flask bottle on the bedside table. The lid was removed, and the smell of pumpkin soup hit his nose. He perked up, his hunger making itself very known, he tried to sit up, but his body was too weak to properly support itself, and each small movement he made sent shocks of pain through his body, causing him to gasp. The man gently sat him up against the bed head (he tried not the blush at the realisation that he was wearing nothing but some underwear) and brought the flask to his mouth, Black Sapphire cautiously sipped at the warm meal before greedily trying to guzzle it down. Normally he was an avid hater of pumpkin soup, but the texture of this soup was heavily, and the flavour seemed to have been blessed by gods of good soup, he couldn't get enough of it, he weakly clutched the flask as he continued to drink as fast at his could, his claws chipping at the thin paint layer of the bottle.
The flask was pulled away from him gently, the stranger gave him a kind expression, their visible eye seemed only capable of soft expressions, and his mouth had so far only given a small smile. He returned their pleasant expression with a scowl, he knew there was still soup left in the flask he was planning on finishing it, even as his stomach swirled uncomfortably from being filled with food way too fast. The flask was slowly raised to his lips again, and he repeated his previous action, determined to eat it all. He drank so fast that he choked a few times, each time, the stranger pulled the flask away with a displeased hum, their expression now turned slightly sad. They continued their little battle with the flask until it was finally empty, Black Sapphire frowned at the emptiness; even now that he felt slightly too full, he wanted more. He continued to scowl at the strange man until they sighed and stood up. "I will get you some more, but you must promise me to eat slowly this time." Black Sapphire hesitated before giving a slow nod, the stranger left the room.
Black Sapphire looked around again, looking for anything interesting to do, but he couldn't think of anything; he could hardly move on his own. He felt humiliated, he couldn't even remember what happened to him! He remembered leaving Beast-Yeast in search of his master with Candy Apple. When he reached Crispia, he discovered that defamation of the Consul was a crime the Crème Republic took very seriously. So, he was running; he and Candy Apple spent their time trying to get to the Vanilla Kingdom while also trying to escape the law enforcement of the Republic. So, what was the last thing he remembered? ...he had been somewhere. With Candy Apple. They were running... he had hidden her, he hid her and promised he'd be right back, he was leading their pursuers away from her. He must have flown away. He remembered flying higher than he ever had before, by they still got him, a blast of magic sent him tumbling to the ground... and after that, all he could remember was pain and then waking up here. How long ago was all that? Was Candy Apple, okay? Where was she? Where was he?!
His wings tried to flare out to make himself seem bigger, an involuntary reaction to his panic, but they hardly had the strength to move, and each little shift sent waves of pain through his back. The strange man returned with the flask once more and walked over. "Oh my, are you alright?"
"My sister-"
"Hmm?"
"Where- I left her behind! I don't know where she is!! Did you find her?! Is she here too?" Using his voice hurt, especially when he yelled, but he couldn't help it; he needed to know where Candy Apple was. If she was in nearly as much pain as him, then he needed to be at her side as soon as possible.
"I didn't see anyone else," They responded softly, gently rubbing Black Sapphire's back and running their fingers across the back of his less injured wing. "I'm sure she's okay. If she's like you, then she'll be fine."
"You don't even know me," Black Sapphire snapped back, his wings trying to painfully flare up once again, the strange man stood up and grabbed a lute from where it leaned against the wall, they began to strum a tune that he didn't recognise but it soothed his physical pain, he let himself rest against the bed head as the warm tune seeped into body and relieve him of the torment he had stewed in since he woke up.
"I know that you survived impaling yourself on my fence; that's all I need to know." He spoke calmly, Black Sapphire choked on his own spit, he felt like his poor microphone when it choked up its poisonous magic.
"What?" He leaned forward the best his aching body would allow him, his mind swirling with disbelieving thoughts. "No, I-I couldn't have possibly-" He paused with the realisation that he still couldn't recall what happened to him, it could have been anything.
"I found you on my fence, it was destroyed, and the broken pieces went right through you" He pointed to the bandage that wrapped around his torso, his finger lightly grazing a random spot off to the side, Black Sapphire sucked in air through his teeth as the light touch triggered a sharp pain. "This was the worst one. And your wing." Black Sapphire looked over the wing that had been causing him the most trouble, it looked like it had been bandaged up, but all his sudden movement must have caused them to come undone; he could see the staples holding his wing together. "Those were the only wounds that went all the way through, but you did have some wood stuck in your arms and leg. Your ribs were broken but lucky for you, I am fully trained in healing magic. However, there are still cracks in weak points in your bones, so refrain from excessive movement."
Black Sapphire didn't know what to say. "How did I survive that?"
"Right. Your magic drained itself completely while keeping you alive." The stranger tried to speak gently, but Black Sapphire could hear the worry and sadness in his voice, they went back to strumming their lute while they talked. "I'm sure you know that magic can't regenerate itself without any magic to begin with."
"So, I've got no magic." He scowled to himself, his magic was never that powerful, but he still needed it, and it could get stronger he'd just been putting off any magic training. He looked over at his microphone, it still had the magic that kept it alive, so it likely had all its magic, right? And he could just use that for protection and fights, and whatever else he needs. He tried to ignore the deep, empty feeling inside him; now that he knew what it was, it felt so much more obvious. It held his attention with an iron grip while he begged it to let go. How was he supposed to find Candy Apple when he could hardly move, and he had no magic? And how was he supposed to save his master? "...I promised her I'd be back."
"Your sister?"
"Yes, my sister!! I told her I'd come back for her, and now I'm here, and she's probably still waiting for me, and I won't come back because I'm stuck here, and I don't even remember where I left her!" Black Sapphire had tried hard to stop himself from crying, but at this point, he couldn't help it; his life had been completely torn apart in a matter of days, he openly sobbed, the pain it caused to his chest and other wounds only caused him to sob harder. The stranger hesitantly reached over and placed a hand on his face, he wanted to pull away from the unexpected touch, but he needed the comfort, and he leaned into their hand, sobbing out words that made no sense in his wobbly voice.
"I understand." They said with a soft yet firm tone "But I am sure that your sister is okay, maybe she's looking for you right now." Black Sapphire only sobbed harder, and the stranger flinched and quickly backtracked. "Or maybe someone kind found her! And she's all cozy in a big warm bed right now." He shook his head, not feeling comforted by the words at all. "...Maybe she's already safe and sound with Shadow Milk Cookie."
Black Sapphire's eyes widened, and he tried to wipe the tears out of his eyes, but they just kept pouring. "What?! How do you-...?"
The stranger gave a small chuckle. "I have seen you in a lot of newspapers and wanted posters on my travels, even this very kingdom calls for you to be taken to the castle."
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, but he couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. "What kingdom is this?"
"The Vanilla Kingdom! I moved here recently, when I-"
"Vanilla!" He pictured Pure Vanilla standing in a castle, chuckling along with Shadow Milk, the beast swooning for the ancient as the brainwashing demanded. "Take me to the castle! I need to kill him! That ridiculous king! He stole my master, brainwashed him!!"
The stranger gasped, "Calm yourself! You shall not go killing people while you're still injured! Doctor's orders." They slowly eased Black Sapphire back into a lying position, but he refused, slowly pushing himself back up to sit.
"But- Pure Vanilla-"
"Focus on other things for now. You need to find your sister, and in order to find your sister, you need to heal. Understand?" The stranger smiled down at him; Black Sapphire scowled back while desperately holding back tears.
"You're treating me like a child."
"I am treating you like an injured stranger who has been put under my care and responsibility" Black Sapphire scoffed at the response, he still felt like he was being treated like some ridiculous child.
"Well, don't!"
Silence filled the room for a few seconds before the strange man tried again. "Would it be better if we knew each other?"
"Huh-"
"I'm Clover Cookie. My favourite thing is my lute, my favourite colour is green, and I like sharing stories and songs with the people around the kingdom." Clover held out a hand, Black Sapphire begrudgingly shook it and eventually gave a response.
"Black Sapphire Cookie. I suppose I like my microphone, the colour purple, and spreading rumours to crowds of people," Clover chuckled at his words and nodded.
"I can't say I don't enjoy a bit of drama. Maybe we could get along nicely?"
Black Sapphire found himself considering it; it had been a while since he'd had a true friend besides Candy Apple and Shadow Milk, and it might be good for him to have someone new to talk to. But also, because he needs more people on his side! Yeah. He was going up against a healer, it would be good to have his own healer to fix up his wounds as he fought, the battle would be more balanced that way. "Maybe we could." Clover's hand ran through his hair with a soft laugh.
"You're hesitant, but I'm pleased you're willing to try," Clover spoke casually and kindly, Black Sapphire froze; it sounded all too close to how Pure Vanilla as been speaking to Shadow Milk.
"Watch yourself! If you try to get in my head, I'm leaving!" He repressed his instict to bare his teeth, it was an improper way of presenting himself and usually only got him laughed at, he also couldn't let his wings flare because if the injuries, he had no magic and he wasn't in a position to effectively use his claws or even throw a punch. He felt utterly defenceless.
"Of course."
More silence.
"I'm still hungry." Black Sapphire grumbled, truthfully, he wasn't hungry anymore, but he could hardly handle the sheer silence in the room. The spire was always so loud, so were the bustling streets he chose to plant his rumours, even while on the run, Candy Apple had something to say to fill the silence (even in her sleep if she wasn't already scaring all the animals away with her snoring). He had grown used to an overabundance of noise, and he wasn't sure the last time he had experienced such quiet. It was to have been before the spire, well before the spire, back when he was a child- ...
"Black Sapphire?" Clover held out the flask towards him, the soup had long gone cold due to the lack of a lid, but Black Sapphire accepted it anyway (he had claimed to be hungry after all), but when the meal touched his tongue, he quickly reeled back and spat it out. There was no way this was the same soup from before! Not only was the taste of pumpkin incredibly prominent and lingering, but there was a ridiculous amount of salt; he could feel the texture of it. Clover gasped and put the flask back on the nightstand. "Are you okay?!" He fretted as he pulled the blankets away and tried to wipe the soup off Black Sapphire's face.
"Salt. Way too much salt. Did you put the whole shaker in there?!" Black Sapphire's tongue clicked as he tried to get the taste out of his mouth.
"Oh, sorry, I don't usually put salt in my meals, but people always complain my food isn't salted enough," Clover muttered sheepishly, grimacing at the soup soaking into Black Sapphire's bandages. "I'll get some more bandages." Clover pulled away slowly and stood up straight. He slowly turned and left the room, his boots making noise against the hardwood floors outside the room. Black Sapphire leaned back with a sigh, listening to the sounds of the other man moving throughout the house, his footsteps never sounding too far away.
Black Sapphire looked over to his microphone, trying to give a small smile to his friend to assure that he was okay, before he groaned at let his eyes close. Patiently waiting for Clover's return.