Chapter 1: Meet Blueberry Milk Cookie
Summary:
Shadow Milk decides to stick around a group of kids chasing a Crowned Cake Hound. Oh! And he goes by Blueberry Milk now!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
So…dark…
Too dark…
How…how long had it been…?
A decade?…A sentry? A Millennium or two?
How long do we have to stay here…
How long do I have to stay here…
…
How long…
How long…
HOW LONG DO WE HAVE TO SUFFER LIKE THI-
*Crack*
…what…
*Crack*
Is that…
*CRACK*
"The seal is cracking!"
Voices!
"Your Majesty! Are you harmed?"
"No, I’m unharmed…!"
…Elder Faerie Cookie…?
"Something is coming from beyond the seal!"
"An evil will that has focused all it’s rage on breaking free from confinement."
Elder Faerie Cookie
"It must have angered the Beasts greatly now that each Soul Jam has found it’s rightful owner."
OH IT SURE HAS BUDDY!
"Yes, they sensed that unless they escape now…They might never be granted another chance in the future."
!
"All their might now serves one single purpose——destroying the hated seal."
*CRACK*
A ray of light shines upon Shadow Milk. Beckoning him to escape.
"Everyone, we must stand our ground. Our place now is by the Guardian of the Seal!"
No.
He slowly stands for the first time in ages.
"We shall protect His Majesty or crumble! For if the Guardian falls, there is no way to stop the Beasts from escaping!"
NO.
He picks up his pace, nearly tumbling to the ground as he rushed toward the opening.
"Mercurial Knight Cookie, bring the rest of the Silver Knights."
"…As you command, Your Majesty."
"Everyone, to the Silver Tree!"
"Knights of the Silver Tree, ATTACK!"
NOOOOO.
Shadow Milk Cookie ran as fast as he can. The Light is so near yet so far. He can almost taste his freedom. He’s so close.
"Everyone fight with me!"
I’m SO CLOSE!
"Now, White Lily Cookie!"
Vines quickly cover up the tree…no room for escape…No Cookie could ever escape that seal…
Except him.
He did it… he was FREE! FREEDOM AT LAST!
He could hear them talking. His clothes were in tatters. His hair was a bubbly mess. But he didn’t crumbling CARE. He was FREE.
"YES!" He flew up in the air in pure JOY.
"YES. YES. YES!" He looked at his shaky hands. And noticed something…he was see through… he spun around, looked up and down at himself… he really was see through, not only that, but the eyes in his hair were all gone!…And now that he thinks about it… shouldn’t those puny cookies have heard him by now? He looked down to see that they were already on their way to some sort of… party?
Whatever. Now that he’s out…he should really do something about this…invisibility thing. He went to open a portal to his Domain.
…But nothing happened.
He tried again, and again, and again, and again and again and again and again.
…But to no avail.
"Crumbs." He snarled. "My power is stuck in the damned tree!" He slams his cane to the ground and screams and pulls at his hair for who knows how long before calming down enough to finally think clearly.
He decides to fly away from the Faerie Kingdom (And that damned tree) to look for somewhere else to rest, since if this does wear off…well, he doesn’t wanna be back there thank you very much.
So he flies till sunset before reaching a small Island between Beast-Yeast and Crispia, with enough trees to shelter him from the rain for the night. He finds a nice spot between a few apple trees and leans against one of them. He looks up at the night sky through the leaves, it was getting cloudier by the second, as if refusing him the luxury of a view of the stars above. As if shunning his return. He turns to his side, not wanting to look for stars that don’t even want to be seen by him.
And he sleeps…
"LET US OUT"
"LET US GO"
"GET US OUTTA HERE"
"SHADOW MILK DO SOMETHING!"
“BROTHER!”
"SHADOW MILK!"
"PLEASE!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
He shouts loud enough for the all the animals on the island to run away. He breaths heavily, eyes darting around in search of his friends, his siblings. To no avail, he suddenly remembers the events of the previous day and tenses. He isn’t in that tree anymore… but they still are…and he had just…left them…what kind of brother does that…?
He debates whether or not he should go back immediately to get them, but quickly turns down the idea. If he gets stuck back in that blasted Silver Tree, then there would be no hope in them all escaping. Together.
So he makes a decision. The decision to find a way to break the seal, and set them all free. And to take back their Soul Jam from those thieves.
He looks down at his hands, and sees that he has indeed fully returned to normal. He tries his portal again, to no avail. He groans as he drags a hand down his face. He then stands up, stretches, dusts off his busted up pants, and goes on his merry way. Well, not before taking an apple or two for the road of course.
—————
It took quite a while before he reached Crispia, it took about 12 hours, including short 10 minute breaks (of which he took 10 of, flying is tiring okay!). Once he does reach it though, he lands in some part of a forest near some sort of…market? One that’s crowded with people too…
Ugh, he really doesn’t feel like interacting with Cookies right now. Buuuuut, he does spot a clothing stall somewhere in there…
"Uuugggghhhhhh. Fiiiiiinnnnneeeeee." He tries to transform in to Lady Milk Crown Cookie…but to no avail. "OH COME ON!!!" Other cookies from the market turn to look in his direction, but he already hid behind a tree.
"You’re kidding me." He hissed "I can’t even shape-shift now!?" He takes a deep breath to calm himself down a bit (It’s not working) and comes up with a new plan.
Step 1. Walk around the market, scanning to check for any cookie with money.
Step 2. Walk past them and “borrow” some of their money. (Maybe 10 or 20 coins each cookie)
Step 3. Use said “Borrowed” money to buy some clothes from the clothing stall.
And he…actually succeeds! Well, of course he did, he’s Shadow Milk Cookie! How could he not! And now he’s walking away from the market with a new outfit and a few extra coins to spare! He’s wearing blue and black bell bottom overalls with a simple diamond pattern, one diamond on his right and two on his left, a blue shirt with a light blue diamond in the center, and a blue bowtie to tie it all together. Pun intended.
He decides to lay low for a bit, acting as the nameless street performer and professional pick-pocketer, that was…until the Dark Flour War happened.
He tried to reach the Ancients, he really did, he dodged falling debris left and right, running under and flying over them to get to them as fast as he could. He even made it to the Vanilla Kingdom where he heard the main battle was happening. This was his chance. This was his chance to get their Soul Jam and Set. Them. Free.
But then, he heard the little scream of a little Vanilian, on instinct, he immediately rushed over and grabbed the child, saving them from getting crumbled under the weight of a falling pillar.
He looked down at the child in his arms to scan them for any injuries…when he heard it.
He swiftly turned around to see the shower of lights that were the Soul Jams, his family’s Soul Jams, getting scattered all across Earthbread… all because he wasn’t fast enough. He was so distraught by what happened that he barely noticed a tug on his sleeve, he slowly looked down at the child to see their eyes shining with tears. Their body shaking from fear, adrenaline and exhaustion. He slowly pulled them closer and decided to fly back down and look for their family, after all, they were just a child, he wasn’t gonna just leave them like this, he’s a beast, not a monster. After a bit of searching he found a group of Vanillians that set up camp somewhere in the middle of the woods, one of them was crying about her lost baby, ah, that must be it. He looked down in his arms to see that the child fell asleep, good, that’ll make it easier. He floated down and gently set the child down near the campsite, against one of the trees, and went on his merry way. But not before hearing one of the Vanillians call out to the others that the kid was safe, and to hear the happy cries of their family as they held them in their arms. Thanking whomever brought them home…
Many, many years later. He’s become a pretty successful street performer with fans from all over Crispia, especially in the Hollyberry Kingdom. He’s earning roughly 10 to 20 coins each day he performs, which is enough for a good meal or two per day, and of course, he hasn’t dropped the whole "borrowing money” thing. He’s just been doing it bit less now-a-days. Stealing-no- borrowing maybe 3 or 4 coins for extra stuff, like bowling-pins and juggling-balls for his performances. Oh! And he actually has a good name for his disguise now.
Blueberry Milk Cookie.
Catchy, isn’t it? It has a nice ring to it. Not as stunning as Lady Milk Crown Cookie though.
Anyway, he’s just walking through the woods right now, just enjoying the view as he goes to his next location, until he hears-
"Bad Cake Hound! Give back-give back the crown!"
Huh?
"Ugh, it’s running away again! Stop! Stop, you…!"
A kid?
He goes to check out what happened.
"I got the Hound! YOU’RE TOAST, MY FRIEND!"
"Gah! That Cake Monster is enormous!"
"No-o! It’s gone again!"
He steps out in the open as the Cake Hound runs past him…with a …crown…? Huh.
"Hey! Get back- woah!" The young cookie stops in his tracks. "Wha- who are you?"
He examines the kid in front of him for a sec, he’s a simple gingerbread cookie with one big swoop of white icing on his head. Big blue eyes, and two buttons in the shape of skulls. And he’s holding a large candy cane as some sort of… weapon?
"Uhh…hello?" He waves his cane in front of Shadow Milk.
He blinks and smiles at him. "Why hello there!" He floats to up and brings out his bowling-pins, staff and juggling-balls and starts juggling them while flying around the kid, the Ginger staring on awe as he did so. He does flips in the air and floats back down and drops his equipment (-his staff) in his magic satchel, and finally, bows. "My name is-" he throws sparkling confetti in the air as he exclaims "Blueberry Milk Cookie! One of the BEST street performers this side of Earthbread!" He points at him with his staff, "And who might you be?"
"Woah…! That was so cool!" He then points to himself, "I’m GingerBrave! And that’s-" he points toward the short one with the hat. "Wizard Cookie!" He points behind Wizard to…nothing? "And that’s Strawberry Cookie and Chili Pepper Cooki- Ooohhh crumbs! Where did they go!?"
"They left to get the Cake Hound." Wizard irritatedly answers "They left me to watch you while they went to get the crown. The thing we’re out here for???" He then turned to Shadow Milk. "Sorry for interrupting this friendly meeting, but he have a crown to get back. So if you’ll excuse us-" He grabbed GingerBrave by the arm. "We’ll be on our way."
Shadow Milk blocked their path, "Now waaaaiiiittt just a sec." He smiled at the two young cookies, "You two seem interesting. I wanna join in."
GingerBrave gawked at him, eyes shining brighter than any stars he’s seen. "REALLY???"
"Yeah. I’m bored anyway. So why not?" He held out his hand, "So. You wanna get that crown or not?"
"Yeah!"
"GingerBrave, wait-"
He took his hand, and they were off, Shadow Milk flying as fast as he could in the direction the Cake Hound went in, while GingerBrave and Wizard were both screaming, for very different reasons.
To Be Continued…
Notes:
Thanks u all so much for the support! I’ll leave this here to let you know that I just fixed a few grammar errors in the fic, and also changed the some of the wording a bit to make it sound a bit more like… Shadow Milk, ya know? Anyway! Get ready for Chapter 2! And you’ll get a little surprise later down the road…
Chapter 2: What Did I Get Myself Into!?
Summary:
SM/BM meets the rest of the GingerGang and follows them back to their Kingdom:
The SugarForest Kingdom.
And he’s also gonna be a teacher now, in exchange for a few answers of course, (that he prob will never get lol)
Notes:
Hiiiii, welcome back to AFOCH! (A Family Of Crumbled Hearts). I made this chapter a teensy bit longer than the first Chapter. For one, to give you more content cuz you’ll have to wait longer for the next chapter. And Two, because I got too invested and accidentally made it too long. Anyways, as usual, please comment your critiques, questions and suggestions down bellow and I’ll be sure to reply to you, feedback is greatly appreciated!
And I’m just gonna leave this here for the future.
(This was posted on July,6,2025)Now. Hope you have a good read!!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
He was rushing past tree after tree, past fallen cake hound after fallen cake hound. The little Wizard started balling his eyes out while that GingerBrave kid kept on cheering him on. It was exhilarating! Anyway. He was scanning the area for any sign of that little Crowned Rascal till he heard-
"Shoo! Shoo! Go away! Skedaddle! How DARE you!"
There?
"WHOAH! A Cake Puppy! And you’re wearing a crown!-"
There.
He switched gears quickly, flying toward one of the trees and grabbing one of the stronger branches, shouting "HOLD ON!" Before immediately catapulting himself in the direction of the sound, Wizard Cookie almost lost his grip, but GingerBrave caught onto him in time, unfortunately making them lose balance and crash into a living strawberry.
"AHHHHHHH"
"EEP!"
*CRASH*
They all crashed into a giant bush as the Crowned Cake Hound ran away.
"Uuuggghhhh…"
"Wha- Oh, cute puppy! Where are you going!"
That’s when he suddenly felt a boot on his back.
"Hey, HEY! Ya good there?"
Oh great, another one.
He turned to look at the snarky one, and he saw that this one had long, firey red hair with chili seeds in it (gross),a scar over her right eye, a bandana with a skull print around her neck, and waaaaay too many belts. And while she had her big a—— BOOT on his back, she wasn’t even looking at him!
"Yeah! Yeah. We’re good, or, I am at least." GingerBrave sheepishly responded, "You guys alright?"
Wizard popped out from the top of the bush and bonked GingerBrave with his cane-staff-thing.
"YAOCH!"
"OF COURSE WE’RE NOT ALRIGHT!" He points said cane-staff-thing at a pink lump in the bush. "We just CRASH-LANDED into Strawberry Cookie!
GingerBrave immediately sprung into action, jumping in and out of the bushes to get Strawberry Cookie to safety and look her over for any injuries faster than you could say ‘Crowned Cake Hound’. "OH MY CRUMBS! Strawberry, I’m so sorry! Are you hurt???"
"I-I’m fine GingerBrave."
She softly groaned as she rubbed her head.
"But what- who was that?"
"Oh that was just Blueberry Milk Cookie."
He stopped looking for injuries when he yelled. "BLUEBERRY MILK COOKIE!!!" He immediately rushed over to where Shadow Milk was, still stuck in the bush. He felt a soft pat on his back as the boot was removed. "Hey, uh, Blueberry Milk Cookie? Are you okay???"
"That’s a cookie?"
Shadow Milk sprung up and flew in the red one’s face, "HEY! Yeah I’m a cookie!" He points to her, "Probably more of a cookie than you’ll ever be!"
She grabbed her daggers and got into a fighting position. "Oh yeah? PROVE IT!"
GingerBrave jumped between them and yelled, "Woah, woah, woah! Guys! There’s no need to fight! We’re all looking for the Crowned Cake Hound here! We’re allies!"
"He’s looking for it too??? We don’t even know this chump! What if he steals my-i mean- our crown once we get it back!" She squints at him, muttering, "He seems like the type…"
"Hey! You’re the one who said "MY crown". Of all cookies you seem like the type to steal something like that."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah…"
"Uhh…guys?" The strawberry girl asked, "Who’s that?"
They all turned to the direction she was pointing in to see…oh, yet another Crowned Rascal standing in the middle of the clearing. Except this one was a cookie.
The young cookie immediately brightened up, got up on the nearest tree stump and raised his scepter. Proudly saying. "O-ho! Ha ha!"
Ooohhh, this kid’s already annoying.
"Greetings, my faithful and-VERY handsome and VERY cute cookies! It’s so wonderful to meet you! I am Custard Cookie The Third! "The Third" by the way being extremely important, and super-cool. IS IT NOT NOBLE?"
He pointed to himself and exclaimed. "IT’S BECAUSE I’M NOBLE! Yup, yours truly is from a long, long line of amazingly NOTABLE NOBLES."
He snorts, holding back his laughter. Oh geez…wait…now that he thinks about it, the kid does kinda look like a Vanillian, a bit like PV (in looks, not personality). Maybe he’s Pure Vanilla’s grandchild or something? Or the maybe he part of the Creme Republic?
"I’m searching for land to build my future Kingdom on! Would you faithful cookies like to help me find such land?..I really need the help…hehe."
GingerBrave excitedly exclaims, "Woah! That’s so cool!" He turns to the others, "Hey, guys! We should take him and Blueberry Milk Cookie to the SugarForest Kingdom! Maybe Custard Cookie the Third could be the king! He seems like a capable leader!"
Shadow Milk and Wizard were both completely taken aback by this. what does he mean make him the King???
And he’s never heard of the SugarForest Kingdom…it probably only recently got established, since they apparently don’t even have a ruler and would resort to making a random CHILD they just found in the woods their KING.
The kid jumped for joy in front of GingerBrave. Clearly loving the idea. Spouting stuff along the lines of: "Yes! I SHALL be YOUR King!" And "I will rule JUST and FAIR." And "Don’t forget "The Third""
And Wizard Cookie. Seeming to be the only one other than himself with common sense, says. "Er-what? But-" He clutches his head in disbelief. "I can’t believe what you’re saying…!?"
"Aww, Wizard Cookie…" Strawberry Cookie coos, "He can’t handle the good news! What a sweetheart."
"HAHAHA!" He didn’t even try to cover that up, earning him a glare from Wizard before he responds.
"What!? No, no, no!!! It’s just-I’m-" his stomach growls loudly, enough for everyone to fully face him. "…HUNGRY. That’s it. Yeah." He claims as his face flushes a vibrant shade of red.
"That’s right… we haven’t eaten since the whole…"
GingerBrave tenses slightly.
She takes a quick glance at him and continues in a softer tone. "…that."
Okay. Now he’s curious. He flew toward Strawberry Cookie and asked, "Since the whole what? Come onnnn, kid. Don’t leave me hangin here!"
"U-uhh…" she tugs on her hoodie strings in nervousness at the close proximity.
Then GingerBrave cuts in, slinging an arm around Strawberry, calming her down. "Oh! It’s nothing! We just ran away from a hoard of Cake Hounds during an adventure of ours!" He then points at Wizard, "Anyway, right now our top priority should be going back to the Kingdom and getting food right? Since I bet we’re all a bit hungry from the whole Crown thing." He then excitedly gestures to Shadow Milk, "And plus! Don’t you wanna see the SugarForest Kingdom? The sooner we move, the sooner we’ll be there!"
He looks the kid up and down with a thoughtful expression as the other just smiles innocently at him, he himself not really seeing any reason for the kid to be lying to him or any sign of deceit…unless he’s that good of a lier…nah! He’s the Beast of Deceit! He would know if this kid was lying to him! And plus, he does really wanna see this new Kingdom…
He smirks at them. "Kay kid, let’s get movin’ then!" He floats away from GingerBrave a bit before turning back and shouting. "Now come on already! Aren’t you gonna lead the way?"
GingerBrave gently let go of Strawberry and ran in front of Shadow Milk, turning back to face all of them with the brightest smile on Earthbread and shout, "Yeah! Now come on guys! To the SugarForest Kingdom!"
Their little "Race to the finish-line" soon became a nice, relaxing and oh so very slow walk. Mainly because Custard and Wizard were either too hungry or too short to keep up for long (you can guess who was both). And Wizard didn’t really like to be carried, well, he would allow GingerBrave or Strawberry to carry him from time to time, but he mostly insisted he walk himself. Custard on the other hand loved being carried, he’s even being carried by GingerBrave right now in fact, right at the front of the group. And the spicy red head (that he later learned was Chili Pepper Cookie) was just having a nice chat with Strawberry Cookie (something about…game consuls, I think?) while he himself was floating at the back of the group with Wizard Cookie, to make sure he doesn’t fall too far behind of course.
"Why couldn’t you just fly us back to the Kingdom?" Wizard suddenly asked.
"Well, kiddo, I don’t really feel like carrying five kids all the way back to a place that’s who knows how far. And I don’t even know where this Kingdom of yours is located, so me just flying around aimlessly with all five of you on my back wouldn’t really help with that would it?"
Wizard slowly nodded in agreement, silently contemplating something. After a minute or two of nothing from the short stack, he asked.
"How are you flying anyway? I haven’t met any cookies that were able to fly without a spoon or a spell, I’ve only read about them in books, but you’re just- you’re just flying with NO ISSUE!" He looked Shadow Milk straight in the eyes, his bright blue eye shining with determination and curiosity. "Please! Tell me how you do it! I’ve been tying to master a simple Levitation Spell for months but I can’t even do that! Let alone a Flight Spell! And I’m so curious as to if this is some sort of blessing-or-or curse or if you ARE using a spell and I just can’t sense it or if-"
Shadow Milk was taken aback by the kid’s rambling, he hadn’t expected the kid to actually be able to do magic, let alone practice such high level magic. The kid knows that Levitation Spells are nowhere near SIMPLE right??? Well, they’re easy-peasy for someone like him, of course, but this is a kid for goodness sake! A kid that doesn’t even look a day above 10! Levi Spells are something that only teenagers start learning. If he’s learning THAT, then he has to have mastered other advanced spells right? Or at the very least intermediate level magic! He can kind of sense a twinge of electro magic energy emanating from the kid, he can’t sense that much of it since his "Magic Sense" hinges on how much power he has, but the fact that he can sense it at all is impressive, even by his standards. This just shows how much magical potential this kid has! (He’ll never admit any of this to anyone though, especially the kid himself)
He quickly snaps back to reality once he realizes the kid is still rambling. He rolls his eyes as he *cough* into his fist. Getting the kid’s attention.
"So kid, I can’t really answer all of that (cuz he didn’t hear most of it), buuuuuuut, I can teach you that Levi Spell-"
"REALLY!?" Even with how short the kid is, he somehow still got all up in his face. And Shadow Milk promptly pushed him away. Earning him a little "EH!".
"Kid, let me finish." He removed his hand from his face. And floated on his stomach to be on eye-level with the little Wizard. "So. I’ll teach you that Levi Spell, in exchange for you answering some of my questions."
The kid’s expression suddenly dropped, now looking at him with a darker, more suspicious look, "…What kind of questions…?"
He’s a bit taken aback by how quickly the kid’s mood changed, but he shrugs it off, the kid had the right to be suspicious after all. "Oh, nothing much." He floats upside-down as he continues. "Just a few questions about the, what was it again?-"
"The SugarForest Kingdom?"
"Yeah! That. And a few details on how you yourself cast magic, and just some details about you and your friends really."
"…that’s it?"
He looked back at him with his signature wide grin (but much less creepy and evil looking than in Cannon.) "Yup!" He popped the "P" at the end to emphasize his point. "Sooo…" he flipped back over looked the kid in the eye, "Is it a deal?"
The kid went silent for a bit, looking for something in Shadow Milk and relaxing a bit when he couldn’t find it. He quickly held out a hand, nearly smacking him in the face. "Oof. Sorry… uh…shake on it?" Shadow Milk immediately took it with an excited grin on his face. "So it’s a deal then!"
"Hey guys!"
Both Wizard and Shadow Milk turned to GingerBrave as he continued. "We’re here!"
To Be Continued…
Notes:
Heeeey, really hoped you enjoyed this Chapter. The next one is still gonna be SM-Centric, but I PROMISE you, eventually ya’ll will get your GB-Centric Chapter, cuz Heaven knows I’ve been wanting to see more GingerBrave stuff, and I know that there is at least one of you that feels the same.
Anyways, as usual, please comment your critiques, questions and suggestions down bellow and I’ll be sure to reply to you, feedback is greatly appreciated!
Oh! And one more thing!HEAVILY inspired by @cherry-blossom-qf "Escaped too early au" on Tumblr
GO FOLLOW THEM PLEASEAnd sorry if this Chapter is not up to your expectations.
Chapter 3: Do These Kids Ever Take A Break!?
Summary:
Shadow Milk and the GingerGang arrive at the SugarForest Kingdom…and immediately leave right after. For how long you ask? Well…for, like…a little over 12 hours. And guess what? They don’t even find what they’re looking for! The Crowned Cake Hound is still nowhere to be seen! Anyway, they eventually set up camp after sunset and Shadow Milk finds GingerBrave in front of the campfire…and goes to sleep a bit…concerned.
Notes:
Hello my lovely readers! I made this Chapter just a biiiit longer for you, since ya’ll had to wait so long for it and all. And I got a little too invested (again). Lol
And if you notice the formatting being a little different, it’s cuz I’ve read some of you’re critiques about the old formatting being a bit weird, and now that I re-read the Chapters again, I kinda agree, so shout out to Rosi345 for pointing this out!
I hope you enjoy!!!
(2025,7,11)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
…Shadow Milk was kinda in shock right now.
Well…"kinda" was a huge understatement.
While Shadow Milk did expect this Kingdom to be small, he hadn’t expected this Kingdom to have nothing! Well, not nothing.There was a small house built near one of the bigger trees away from the wreckage with a few Sugar Gnome Huts next to it, but that was it! The rest of- whatever used to be here was in TATTERS! The one positive thing he can say about this is that they cleared the main parts of the fallen debris pretty well, and that the house looks kinda cozy, but everything else looks like trash!
"What happened here!? Did some sort of BOMB go off or something???" He flew toward the wreckage and tried to pick up piece that he assumed used to be a wall or something, but it flat out CRUMBLED in his hand! He immediately dusted it off on his pants and turned to GingerBrave. "Is this a new Kingdom? Or did you kids just DESTROY your old one???"
GingerBrave threw his arms up in defense, as if he didn’t expect this kind of reaction from him, "Hey, hey, hey! We didn’t do anything to this place! Me, Strawberry Cookie and Wizard Cookie just found this place on accident a few hours ago! The Sugar Gnomes here wanted us to-uh-what did they say again?"
"To make this Kingdom great again!"
"ACK!" Shadow Milk flew up so fast it looked like he teleported. He was now about three Sugar Gnomes above…well, a Sugar Gnome.
"Welcome to the SugarForest Kingdom! A new Kingdom that those 3 brave, kind and smart cookies founded and named!"
"Aww, you don’t have to flatter us…" GingerBrave rubbed his neck sheepishly as Strawberry pulled on her hoodie strings and Wizard tugged his scarf up slightly.
The Sugar Gnome gave them a kind smile before they continued, "So, to answer your questions: This Kingdom fell long ago during the Dark Flour War, or possibly long before that, sadly not even us Sugar Gnomes remember at this point. But what we do remember is that it technically was destroyed by a bomb, or a bomb-like thing. And it is a new Kingdom, since now we have new founders, possible new rulers, possible future residents and even a new name! All we have to do now is build more houses and factories. And I have already told you the reason for the Kingdom’s destruction, so you should already know by now that the New Founders have nothing to do with it." They looked up at Shadow Milk and tilted their head, "So, do you have anymore questions?"
Shadow milk was too busy trying to process this information, because unless his memory is absolutely terrible, he can confidently say that he has never, ever in all his years on EarthBread heard of a Kingdom like this. It defiantly wasn’t from when he was…the Fount. It was probably established and promptly destroyed when he was stuck in that stupid, STUPID Silver Tree. Because he’s never even heard of it after he’d escaped. Maybe-
"Uhh…Mr. Magic Cookie sir? Did I say something wrong…?"
He blinked and looked down at the melting Sugar Gnome below him, "What? No. Why would you say that?" He reassured with his best upbeat voice, but the Gnome was still melting.
"W-well…it’s just…you were kind of just blankly staring down at me…like you wanted to…melt…me…"
Well they were already doing that themselves…but Crumbs. He zoned out again. Get a grip Shadow Milk.
He flew down a bit and gave them the most charismatic smile he could muster (geez, was he getting rusty?). "Oh I’m sorry lil Sugar Gnome! I was just lost in thought. Didn’t mean to scare ya!"
GingerBrave suddenly ran over and kneeled next to them, "Yeah! We all do that sometimes! Don’t worry about it! And plus!" He gestured to Shadow Milk, "He helped us earlier! And he seems really nice! He wouldn’t scare any of us on purpose like that! Let alone hurt us! Right Blueberry Milk Cookie?"
He took one look at GingerBrave and his smile became just a tad bit more real, then he playfully winked at him, "Righty-o! Again, soooooooo sorry bout scarin’ ya buddy, didn’t mean to. Promise."
The Sugar Gnome looked between them and calmed down a bit, but they still seemed a bit rattled. GingerBrave then opened his arms with a big smile and the Gnome immediately accepted his invitation, GingerBrave gently wrapped his arms around them as to not accidentally deform them while their sugar was still hardening. He then suddenly looked up at Shadow Milk with sparkling eyes, as if asking if he wanted a hug too.
His first instinct was to say no, to immediately shake his head and look for one of the others to bother or something…but for some reason…he hesitated, but just for a second. He eventually shook his head and waved goodbye, leaving the two alone as he went to go look for the others…but for some reason, his heart felt just a little bit heavier…
As he approached the other 4 cookies of this weird little group, he saw that they were chatting outside of the one house in the whole Kingdom (geez, they really need to start building more houses), all of them seeming much more energized than they were earlier, especially Wizard Cookie. And he also saw that Chili Pepper and Strawberry were already packing some supplies for the road, with Custard helping them out.
Wait- they’re heading out already???
"Hello everyone~" he sang, "whatcha dooooooin?"
"We’re getting ready to head out again." Wizard quickly responded, "Since we’re all so full of energy now, we might as well put it to good use no?"
"Yeah, whatever o’l Pointy Hat said." Chili Pepper slung her makeshift bag over her shoulder, seeming to have quickly made it out of some grass and fresh leaves, which was kinda cool, "Cuz, now it’s time to catch that doggo with my…OUR, um, crown!"
Shadow Milk and Wizard shot her very unimpressed looks, "…in the name of JUSTICE!" They both smacked their foreheads at her horrible attempt at lying.
Even Custard Cookie the 3rd had the common sense to ask, "Is that your intention? For real?"
She walked over to him and ruffled up his hair, earning her a startled "Meh!" From him, "That crown’s all mine, kid! Trust me!"
Oh great, she didn’t even try to hide it this time.
He ignored his immense frustration toward Chili Pepper and turned to Wizard, who looked like he was about to put a curse on her (He could probably teach the kid some curses once he learns that Levi Spell), "Soooo…" he got the kid’s attention, "Why are you guys leaving now anyway. And yeah, before you say anything, I heard ya when you said you guys are "Energized" and all, but you still need to rest, especially after running for so long, ya know?"
Wizard looked at him like he grew a second head, looking absolutely flabbergasted at.. whatever he said. What did he say??? He’s right! They just came back not even 5 minutes ago, and they wanna go running for another hour or two? And he just knows he’s gonna be the one carrying them all the way back here when they do get tired, and he does NOT feel like doing that thank you very much!
Right as Wizard was about to say something, they suddenly heard GingerBrave yell from the entrance of the woods, "Hey guys! Hurry up! Let’s go get that Crown!" He then immediately ran out, not even waiting for everyone else to follow him. Wizard and the others started running to catch up to him, with Wizard shouting, "GingerBrave! Wait up!" As Shadow Milk floats there, still very confused. Why on EarthBread are these kids not taking a longer break!? How much energy to they have!?!?
He blinks back to reality and quickly flys to where he can hear the group running and fighting, well, most of the group. Custard isn’t running, he’s just having a blast on GingerBrave’s shoulders as GingerBrave charges through Cake Monster after Cake Monster with impressive speed. Strawberry catches up relatively quickly and bats away a whole hoard of Cake Hounds in one fell swoop. Chili Pepper was moving so fast that it looked like she was teleporting behind the Cake Monsters, and swiftly stabbing ‘em behind their backs. And while he was distracted by how fast and overpowered these kids are. He hears Wizard shout from behind him, "WATCH OUT!" He dodges in time to hear him cast "LIGHTNING STRIKE!" on a hoard or two of Cake Hounds and Cake Monsters.
GingerBrave, without Custard on his back this time, then rushes over to him while the others deal with the other Cake Creatures. "Blueberry Milk Cookie!" He turns to GingerBrave, "Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?"
Shadow Milk was a bit stunned by the question, cookies rarely ever asked him that, the only ones who ever really did were his siblings and the Children of Deceit.
"Blueberry Milk Cookie?"
"I-I’m fine." He stuttered, "Shouldn’t you be helping your friends right now?"
GingerBrave took a glance at the battle and shrugged, "Nah, they got this! Anyway, you’re sure you’re okay right? If not, we can have Custard Cookie the 3rd heal you!"
"Wait, that Custard kid’s a healer?"
GingerBrave nodded and showed off his uninjured arms, "Yeah! He healed me while I was fighting! Cool right?"
"…huh, good to know."
"Hey bozos!" They both turned to Chili Pepper Cookie, "Hurry up already! We cleared the path! And you!" She points at Shadow Milk, "Be useful and get in the fight already! Cuz so far, WE’VE been doing all the work here!" She then continued running with the others as him and GingerBrave follow behind her, he himself being quite pissed at her choice of words there, but he knows she’s right.
So when a Cake Hound tried to sneak behind GingerBrave, he immediately grabbed one of his juggling-balls from his satchel and chucked it at the Hound, the ball itself ricocheting from that Cake Hound to the next till all the Cake Hounds and Cake Monsters in the vicinity were knocked out, then it ricocheted back into said satchel.
"Woah-ho! That was so cool!" He looked down to see GingerBrave beaming at him. Again. (Is this kid a lightbulb or something???).
Shadow Milk grinned and did a sassy hair flip, "Well of course it was! I, Blueberry Milk Cookie, did it after all!" He looked ahead to see that the others were just walking at this point, Strawberry and Chili Pepper were at the front of the group scanning the area for enemies, while Wizard and Custard were chatting at the back of the group, with Custard healing Wizard’s wounds as they walked. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw GingerBrave’s hand, he then turned to look at the beaming boy.
"Now come on." He nudged his head in the direction the others were headed, "Let’s go catch up with them."
Shadow Milk stared at his hand for a bit, before just flying past the kiddo, smirking at him as he did so, the kid soon followed suit, excitedly yapping about how many Cake Creatures Shadow Milk singlehandedly took down. And even asking if he would be willing to try out any combo moves later down the line. As soon as he said yes, GingerBrave’s entire being somehow shined even BRIGHTER! And they just continued talking about possible combo moves and other random stuff together for a while.
Yeah. This lasted a while alright.
They were all walking for hours. Not 2, not 3, but FIVE hours, they searched all the possible places the Cake Hound could be. They searched the place where they first found it, the Little Founder’s Statue, and they even found a Cake Hound Den, but there was no sign of the little thief anywhere.
At this point, even he was getting a bit tired, but these- these kids are still at full power somehow!!! Still having enough energy to absolutely destroy any Cake Creature that dares attack them, well, he is too, he’s using his various juggling tools to knock them all out, but the others are just taking them down head on!
They were searching another area when he heard a faint sigh from Strawberry Cookie. "…That Cake Hound’s gotta be far away by now…" she looked down at the ground with a disheartened look in her eyes, hugging her self as a form of self-comfort, but then GingerBrave jumped up to her and wrapped an arm around her. Excitedly exclaiming, "Then let’s boogie like the wind to catch up!" He flashed his signature smile at her, "After all, running is our specialty!"
She softly laughed as she hugged him, GingerBrave hugging back immediately as Shadow Milk and the others kept searching.
Shadow Milk was watching this little scene unfold, and…it kind of reminded him of Sugar, his little sister, she used to be so sensitive about…everything really. Always worried about whether or not she messed something up or if she failed at whatever she was doing at the time. But he and the other Virtues Beasts always comforted her, always held her in their arms, whispering sweet nothings and kind reassurances to her as she cried and fretted over nothing. Surprisingly, instead of seeking out Spice or Flour first whenever she felt like this…it was always him. The ever so busy Fount of Knowledge. She would always sneak into his Spire, and quietly call for him, and when he heard (he always heard), he would approach her and offer her a cup of her favorite tea, a book to read and a shoulder to lean on. She always looked so shy and meek in his arms…and to think she was once the "Bringer of Happiness"…
He hadn’t noticed he zoned out again until Chili Pepper Cookie chucked a ROCK at his head. "HEY!" He sneered at her, "What was THAT for???"
"THAT was for zoning out on us again! Now hurry up! The others are already walkin’ ahead of us!" She already had another rock in her hand, throwing it up in the air and catching it over and over again with the smuggest smirk on EarthBread on her stupid face.
He immediately reached in his satchel and grabbed a giant baseball bat, flying over toward her and shouting "GET OVER HERE YOU LITTLE-"
She ran away as fast as she could, grabbing rocks and fallen branches as she ran and chucked them at him, he himself batting them away each time. They eventually passed the others during this little game of "Cat and Mouse", and out of the corner of his eye he could see them giving him and Chili Pepper confused looks but at that point he didn’t really care, all he cared about at that point was beating the living SPICE outta this girl!
Wizard was shouting something about how this was just straying from the mission again, Strawberry whispered a few incoherent things that he couldn’t really hear, and Custard and GingerBrave were either tying to stop the chase or join in.
Now this lasted a while. Not as long as they’ve been looking for the Cake Hound of course, but maybe 30 minutes or so, before they calmed down and continued on their journey for the Crowned Cake Rascal.
The sun was setting.
They were out here for nearly TWELVE HOURS looking for this BLASTED Cake Hound! And still NOTHING! They found NOTHING. Not a SINGLE clue on where that pup could be! Even with his and Wizard’s smarts combined they couldn’t find ANYTHING!
And on top of that, everyone in the group was getting tired. Wizard was getting grumpier by the second. Strawberry could barely stand. Chili Pepper actually shut up for once. And Custard was already asleep! Even Shadow Milk could barely keep afloat in this tired state. He should be able to last much, much longer than this, but since most of his power was still trapped in there, well, let’s just say that he kinda lost most of his stamina along with it.
But guess who somehow still wasn’t tired.
GingerBrave! He was the one carrying both Strawberry and Custard for an hour straight while still looking like he could fight another 10 Hoards of Cake Monsters. How on EarthBread is this kid still that energized!?!?
"Hey, guys." GingerBrave suddenly spoke up. "It’s getting late, and you guys look exhausted. How about we set up camp for the night?"
Strawberry and Wizard were suddenly a bit more awake, with Strawberry tiredly muttering something along the lines of "B-but the crown…" but GingerBrave quietly shushed her, "Strawberry, it’s getting dark, and you can barely stand right now, we can go get the crown tomorrow." He turned to look at the others, "Now, I’m gonna go set up camp, you guys are just gonna have to last a bit longer okay?" The others, including Shadow Milk all nodded, Shadow Milk himself being eternally thankful to GingerBrave for suggesting setting up camp, because he’s pretty sure that the others would rather faint than stop at this point.
GingerBrave walked up to the nearest tree and gently set both Strawberry and Custard down there, Strawberry having already fallen asleep. He then walked up to Shadow Milk and asked, "Hey, I know you’re sleepy and all, but can you please watch over everyone for a little while? I’m gonna go get some fire wood and set up the campsite. I’ll be quick, I promise."
He stared at the kid for a good minute, trying to get the energy to even respond, he eventually just settled for a nod and just like that, GingerBrave was off. He floated around a bit, keeping an eye on the still mildly awake Wizard Cookie and Chili Pepper Cookie. Chili Pepper was tiredly setting up a tent nearby while Wizard was placing some rocks in the middle of the clearing for the fire. Shadow Milk decided to be useful and pitch the other tent that they brought along (when did they even pack this?), then he faintly heard GingerBrave putting the firewood down and Wizard mumbling a small Fire Spell to light it.
He finished setting up the tent when he saw GingerBrave carrying Strawberry and Custard into the tent Chili Pepper set up, Chili and Wizard following suit, with Chili Pepper throwing her makeshift bag (with all their food in it) near the Campfire. He then faintly heard a lot of shuffling and mumbling in there over the cracking of the fire.
He thought it was nice that they finally took a break after so long (and that he didn’t have to carry any of them during the search). He yawned and went into his tent, he reached into his satchel and grabbed his sleeping bag and laid it on the grassy ground, and right when he was about to lay down, he heard footsteps. He grumbled as he got up and took a look outside of his tent, then he stopped when he saw…GingerBrave…?
GingerBrave was sitting by the fire with his cane in hand, looking into the fire with a thoughtful expression. He didn’t seem tired…but he seemed…tired. Mentally tired, emotionally exhausted, whatever you wanna call it. Just…tired.
He just watched as GingerBrave took a deep breath, his body language being completely different from just moments before. He couldn’t really see his entire face from this angle, but he could see his eyes…his eyes that look like they haven’t had any hope shine in them for years…
Shadow Milk’s heart ached at the sight. He barely knows this kid, but it already hurts to see him like this. This reminds him of when he first met the Children of Deceit. When he found Black Sapphire and Candy Apple on the outskirts of his former Kingdom. When they still went by Grapevine Cookie and Apple Fearie Cookie. When he found them sitting by a campfire, without a single bit of hope in their eyes…
Without thinking, he approached GingerBrave, putting on his best smile as he did so. "Heeeeyyya kiddo-" he quickly dodges GingerBrave’s cane attack, "Wha-! Hey! What was that for???"
He looked back at the kid to see his panicked expression, his eyes flashing with fear before it turned to concern. "Oh my Goodness!" He whisper shouted "Blueberry Milk Cookie! I’m so sorry!" He stood up and rushed to Shadow Milk, checking him over for any injuries. Saying stuff like" Are you okay?" And "Are you hurt??" And "I’m so sorry!" Over and over again.
Shadow Milk tried to say something to get him to stop fussing over him, but he keeps getting cut off each time, so he grabbed his shoulder to stop him, and the kid immediately stayed put. "Kid-Geez. I’m fine. Ya didn’t get me. You got good reflexes though, I’ll tell you that…" The kid’s expression changed immediately. He looked like he’d just seen a ghost.
"…GingerBrave?"
His demeanor immediately changed, he pulled away from Shadow Milk and stood with a hand on his hip and his cane in his other. His bright smile back on his face and his eyes shining like he wasn’t just panicking over Shadow Milk a second ago. "Well! It’s good to hear you didn’t get hit! Sorry about that, hehe." He rubbed the back of his head and looked at Shadow Milk for a second before asking, "Anyway, why are you awake? Did you get a nightmare or something? I won’t judge if you did!"
The kid’s attitude changed so quickly it just gave him tonal whiplash. And that was coming from the guy who is literally the BEST at doing that to other cookies!
Shadow Milk quickly coughed into his fist before responding, "No no no no. Nothing of the sort! I just heard footsteps out here and decided to check out who it was."
GingerBrave looked a bit guilty as he apologized, "Oh. Um. Sorry about that. I’ll try to keep my steps as quiet as possible from now on!"
Shadow Milk’s brows furrowed slightly, as he responds, "It’s fine, don’t worry so much about it kid…So anyway…why are you out here Kiddo? Shouldn’t you be in your tent with the others?"
GingerBrave straightens up ever so slightly, the change so minuscule that he barely caught it. "Oh nothing much! I’m just here to watch over the camp and make sure that no Cake Monsters or Raiders attack us for the night. And I’m gonna join the others in a few hours! So no need to worry about that."
It took everything in him to keep his smile up, and it didn’t help that he was sleep deprived. And sure, he knew it made sense to have a cookie watch over the camp at night, especially since most of the Cake Creatures here probably despise them by now. But GingerBrave is a CHILD. A child that’s gonna have to stay up for much longer than he should. A child that’s probably gonna have to fight a myriad of Monsters and Hounds most of the night. If not all night! And yeah, GingerBrave is a very capable fighter and has an abundance of energy surging through him, but after he saw the kid by the Campfire…he’s not so sure the he should do this anymore…
"…Wait here." He quickly flew toward his tent, grabbed his satchel and immediately flew back to the mildly confused kid, "Here, take this." He threw the satchel to GingerBrave, who fumbled a bit before catching it, giving Shadow Milk a mildly embarrassed smile before actually looking taking a good look at it. "…your…purse?"
"Satchel, kid. It’s a satchel." He yawned a bit before explaining, "It’s a special satchel that I imbued with glyph magic, the space within it is much larger than it looks, practically infinite even. That’s how I carry all those juggling-balls and bowling-pins around with me all the time."
"Woah…that’s so cool, Blueberry!" The kid’s eyes were shining again, and this time it felt a bit more real. He was staring at it for a bit before thinking of something, "Uhh…why are you giving this to me anyway? Isn’t this, like, you’re prized possession or something?"
"Oh! That’s *yawn* easy. It’s so you can use the stuff in there for battle or entertainment or something. I have a lotta stuff in there, so just pick and choose. And, yeah, it is, but you’re not stupid enough to rip it or lose it, so it should be fine with you."
"…oh." GingerBrave got lost in thought for a second before suddenly looking up at him with that bright smile of his, "Thank you! I’ll be sure to put it to good use! And I promise to not let anything happen to it. Cross my heart!"
Shadow Milk swears he’ll be blind if he even looks at the kid for too long.
So he just waves his hand and turns to his tent, "No problem, kid. And make sure to actually get some sleep, don’t want you to be lagging behind the team tomorrow now do we? Wake me up if anything happens."
As he was entering his tent he heard GingerBrave whisper yell, "Okay! Good night Blueberry Milk Cookie!"
He then closed his tent up and laid down in his sleeping bag.
He knows that even if he told GingerBrave to just go to bed already, he would probably find some very plausible excuse to not do that. He knows that this kid still has energy. He knows that the kid can handle himself…but…
Whatever, there’s nothing he can do about it now, and there was a chance that he and the others agreed on this anyway, so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.
He turned to his side and just laid there for a bit…before whispering something under his breath…
just the faintest little whisper…
"…Good night GingerBrave."
To Be Continued…
Notes:
Hello again! Really hope you enjoyed this Chapter, sorry if SM zoned out too much, these kids just remind him too much of the good old days.
And I wanted to sprinkle a bit of GingerBrave angst in there, cuz, why not? And I thought it was the perfect opportunity to do so! The next Chapter will still be focused of SM, I’m planning on writing a GB centered fic once they settle into the SugarForest Kingdom. Cuz, right now, they’re just going through a longer and more angsty version of the Jelly Bear storyline from the actual game, so if you recognize some of their lines, then yeah, they are actually from the game! The same can be said abt some parts of Chapter One and Two.
And pls leave any ideas, questions and critiques you have down bellow! I’ll be sure to read and respond to every single one! Oh btw, I have an Insta now, I go by the same name but with a different profile pic, u can go check me out on there if you wanna see some art of these lil goobers!
Oh! And as usual.
HEAVILY inspired by @cherry-blossom-qf "Escaped too early au" on Tumblr
GO FOLLOW THEM PLEASEHave a good day/afternoon/night!!!
Chapter 4: We Need To Find Food
Summary:
Shadow Milk wakes up to shouting. He rushes outside his tent only to find all of their food gone. GingerBrave feels guilty about it. He and the others all agree to look for food during their search for the Hound. And on their quest for food, GingerBrave…doesn’t look too good.
Notes:
Sup Everyone! Hope you enjoy this Chapter! And sorry if the Summery’s a bit odd. See u in the End Notes!
(2025,7,13)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?"
Shadow Milk immediately got out of his sleeping bag and flew out of his tent, franticly looking around for the source of the noise. "What!? Who!? Where!? Why!? Let me at ‘em!"
"Hey, hey! Blueberry Milk Cookie, please calm down…!"
He looked down and blinked the sleep out of his eyes before responding, "…Strawberry Cookie?"
"Y-yeah. It’s me. Uhh…"
"What happened kid?" He scanned the place and saw Chili Pepper with an arm around a startled Custard the 3rd right outside their tent, Wizard standing next to the still burning Campfire (nice job, kiddo) holding an empty bag. And GingerBrave sitting by said Campfire…nervously fidgeting with his hands.
"Well. We all got woken up by Wizard, so…"
"All of our food is gone." Everyone turned to look at him except GingerBrave.
"What!?"
"Something or someone stole all our food last night. And now we have NOTHING to eat!"
Chili Pepper ran up to him with Custard, shouting "WHAT!? Gimme that!" She snatched the bag. "What-how??? We scouted this place yesterday, didn’t we??? There was no one else here! How did our food get stolen!?"
"That’s what I’m trying to figure out Spice for brains!"
"Guys! Please just stop fighting! Doing that won’t solve anything!" Strawberry said in the loudest voice he’s heard her use so far (which was…not that loud to be honest)
"Yeah, she’s right." He floated up to her and the others, still a bit sleepy, "Shouldn’t we focus on getting more food right now instead of arguing over who took it?"
Wizard and Chili Pepper looked at him for a bit before sighing, Wizard responding with, "Yeah, you’re right. It’s just- how??? We had all our food in this bag by the fire, and now it’s suddenly just gone. How-"
"It’s my fault."
Everyone turned to GingerBrave with confused expressions, Wizard in particular asking, "…what?"
He didn’t even look up, instead looking straight at the fire as he spoke, "I-it’s my fault the food got stolen. I stayed up to keep watch last night, and before sunrise I got-I got attacked by a giant talking Werehound Brute guy with a hammer, we started fighting a-and he ran away before I could defeat him and the next thing I knew, all the food we had was just…gone." He buried his face into his hands, "I’m sorry…"
Okay. Now he was fully awake.
He immediately rushed over to GingerBrave and gave him a nice pat on the back, looking him over for injuries and putting on his best "cheery voice", "Aww, kiddo, no need to apologize! Ya couldn’t have kept track of both things at once now could ya? It’s perfectly fine."
"Bu-but…the food…"
"He’s right, Brave." Chili Pepper spoke up, "Don’t worry so much about it! We can just find some more!"
"Yeah!" Strawberry spoke up as well, "And what maters is that you’re unharmed."
"Yeah! I can grace you with a Kingly checkup! Hehe." Custard chimed in with his healing magic at the ready.
"They’re right, GingerBrave." Wizard walked in front of him and softly patted his shoulder, "We’re gonna be fine without food for an hour or two, and that’s gotta be plenty of time to find more. So please just stop worrying about it so much and let us see if you’re unharmed."
GingerBrave sighed heavily and stayed like that for a second, before springing up on the log, nearly knocking both Shadow Milk and Wizard over. "Whoops! Sorry! Got a bit carried away, haha!" He raised his cane and flashed his signature smile at them, "Now let’s get packing and get moving people! We got some food to get and a Crown to fetch!"
"Ah! There he is!" Chili Pepper grabbed him by the noggin and gave him a big o’l pat on the head, "Now, let’s go get my- OUR Crown back!"
Wizard and Shadow Milk smacked their foreheads once again (they were gonna do that a lot, weren’t they?), then they went ahead and started packing up the tents, putting out the fire and checking if all their other things were intact (Which thankfully, they were). And GingerBrave, of course, got a "Kingly Checkup" from Custard the 3rd, with him only having a few scratches on his arms and legs for the little royal to patch up.
Later on, while Shadow Milk was packing up his tent, he was thinking…
…so the kid didn’t sleep last night…did he…? Crumbs. He told him to get some sleep last night, and he told him to wake him up if anything happened! And what did he mean by "Giant Talking Werehound Brute Guy with a Hammer"? I mean, he’s never even heard of a being like that before!…
That doesn’t matter though.
That thing dared to lay a hand on GingerBrave.
His fist tightly clenched around the nail he was removing, he swears if that THING crosses their path he would GLADLY rip it to shreds-
That’s when he heard Strawberry’s voice close by.
"GingerBrave, did you stay up all night again?" Strawberry asked.
"Well, not all night."
"GingerBrave." Wizard frustratedly muttered. "Yesterday was supposed to be my lookout day. And I said to wake me up an hour into the patrol! You, me and Strawberry all agreed to take turns on lookouts, remember?"
"Well, yeah. But you two were so tired! I mean, come on! You could barely stand! And you were getting really grumpy and could barely cast that Fire Spell last night! While I was still at full power! Still am actually!"
"GingerBrave…that doesn’t matter, we made a promise. And on top of that. You’ve been on patrol duty for 3 days straight. So there is no way you are STILL at full power after all of that!"
THREE DAYS STRAIGHT!?!?
"Well…I just am okay? Maybe it’s just something in my dough."
"GingerBrave, please." Strawberry sounded strained, "If this is about the nightmares aga-"
"No it’s not." GingerBrave quickly interrupted, "It’s not that Strawberry, I told you, I’ve gotten over those already. I’m fine."
He could feel that lie from where he was floating. The kid sounded so strained, but it still sounded genuine somehow, so genuine that it was even a bit hard for him to tell it was a lie.
"GingerBrave-"
"HEY!" Chili Pepper shouted from a distance, "Ya’ll done yet? Me and Custard over here-"
"Custard Cookie the 3rd-"
"Yeah, yeah. The 3rd or whatever. Anyway, me and the kiddo finished up, the rest of you ready to go yet?"
Shadow Milk quickly pulled the nail and grabbed the remains of the tent, he was ready to shove ‘em in his satchel when he found that it wasn’t on him. He panicked a bit before remembering that he gave it to GingerBrave last night. So he rushed over to him and his…siblings? Are they siblings?, "Hey Kiddo, I need the satchel back." GingerBrave immediately turned to him and fumbled a bit while taking the satchel off, handing it to him, he’s relieved when he sees that it doesn’t have a scratch on it. "Thanks, now can ya open it real quick? I needa shove this stuff in there."
"Okay!"
"Wait wat?" Wizard sounded flabbergasted, "Blueberry Milk Cookie, you know that won’t fit right? The tent is WAY too big to-"
He shoved the whole thing in without issue.
"WHAT!?" Wizard immediately took a closer look at it, nearly shoving his head in before Shadow Milk grabbed him by the scarf to stop him. "H-HOW!? WHA- HUH??? Did you find this somewhere?? The Dark Market maybe??? Wait-" Wizard got out of his hold and turned to him with his wide, shining eye. "DID YOU ENCHANT IT!?!? If so what spell did you use? It’s probably a more advanced one since I haven’t even heard of a spell like this before! And-"
"Woah, woah, woah. Lemme stop you right there Kid. Let’s walk and talk now, don’t want the Hot Head over there to chuck another rock at us now do we?"
"HEY! I HEARD THAT!"
"YEAH? SO WHAT!?"
"UGH. Whatever. HURRY IT UP ALREADY!"
The four looked at each other and chuckled a bit before catching up with the last 2 members of this little group.
Not even a minute into the walk, Wizard looked like he was about to burst with questions. So Shadow Milk rolled his eyes and smirked, "Shoot, Kiddo."
"Sohowdidyoumanagetofindthat?isthataspellyoumanagedtolearnfrommagicbooksorsomethingordidsomeoneelseteachyou?didyouusesomesortofglyphmagic?whendidyou-"
"WOAH! Breathe, Kiddo, breathe. One question at a time."
He saw the others trying and failing to hold back their laughter (You can guess who was failing harder), but surprisingly, Wizard didn’t seem to notice as he took a few big, deep breaths before continuing. "So, how did you manage to find that?"
He shrugged, "Just at a random stall at the Hollyberry Kingdom."
"Okay, now- wait what!?" The kid had to do a double take.
"Yeah?"
"You’ve been to the Hollyberry Kingdom???"
"Yup. It’s not that big of a deal."
"WHA-"
"Next question kid."
"Okay…uh. When you bought it, was it already magical or did you enchant it?"
"I did it. It was pretty easy actually. And before you ask, I used Glyph Magic. I can teach you that once we get back to SugarForest if you want?"
"Wait- you actually remembered that?"
He looked at Wizard, a bit confused. "Remember what?"
"The whole "You’ll teach me" thing. I kinda thought you forgot…"
He turned to the kid, a hand on his chest as he dramatically gasped. "Oh how dare you! How could I forget? I have a perfect memory!"
The kid rolled his eye. "Yeah, yeah…but thanks for remembering."
"Tch. Don’t sweat it kid."
Wizard then proceeded to throw a bajillion questions at him. Questions like "Where did you learn this kind of magic?" And "Do you have any books on Glyph Magic in your satchel?" And "Why were you in the Hollyberry Kingdom anyway?" These three questions in particular he answered with "It’s complicated.", "No." And "I’m a traveling street performer, kid, I go to different places across Crispia all the time!"
Eventually (after an hour or so), the kid quieted out, if only because Strawberry wanted to talk to him about something. Chili Pepper and Custard were both on the lookout for food (and the pup). So that just left him and…GingerBrave.
They were side by side right now. He could see GingerBrave out of the corner of his eye, the kid had his usual cheerful smile on, and the way he walked was almost as energetic as before, just a bit slower, (and this time he had a hand on his stomach), but his eyes told a different story. His eyes looked around less than usual, them actually focusing on the path ahead for once. They had a slight haze over them, almost like he was zoning out. And most of all, they looked tired. It was much, much less obvious now, since his eyes still looked bright, and he didn’t have eye bags…but they weren’t as bright as when he first saw them. And that sparkle of hope and cheer in them seemed…duller.
That’s when he had the bright idea of looking through his satchel for any leftover food he still might’ve had. He immediately dug through it, picking out and putting back any other items he grabbed, like his performance items, a bottle of water and some guy’s wallet that he stole-I mean-borrowed. But to no avail, he sighed and looked back at the kid, before he decided to ask him some questions.
"Hey Kid."
GingerBrave stiffened up a tad, before smiling at him. "Yeah? Wassup?"
"Did ya get a wink of sleep last night?"
GingerBrave thought on it for a second before responding, "Nope! Not really! I was…uhh." he looked away from him, "I was looking for food after the whole, uh, "Werehound Brute" thing. Hehe…"
Shadow Milk’s hand clenched tightly by his side,but he made sure it was out of the kid’s sight. "Say…" he floated in front of GingerBrave. "Do you know what this…"Giant Werehound Brute Guy with a Hammer" looks like? As in, can you give a more detailed description of the guy?"
GingerBrave thought about it for about a minute or 2 before brightening up a bit and responding. "Oh! He, uh, looked like he had Chocolate colored cream! He was also really big, and tall. And buff too actually. And his hammer was huge, like, twice the size of Strawberry’s lollipop!"
So, Chocolate color, buff, and big hammer twice the size of Strawberry’s lolli. Got it.
"He also kept on saying something like "SHE FLATTEN YOU LIKE SAD LONELY PANCAKE." And I had to keep on telling him that I’m already flat! But he just kept saying it!"
Shadow Milk burst into laughter at that. What does that thing mean "Flatten" him? "BAHAHAH! He…hehehe. Oh what a joker that one is!" While he was wiping a tear from his eye, he saw that GingerBrave was laughing along with him, his smile looking 10 times brighter than earlier (as it should be).
That was until they heard Custard mumble, "Ugh, so hungry!" And GingerBrave’s smile immediately became more strained, his posture slightly stiffened and the smile in his eyes looking more strained than his actual smile. Chili Pepper took notice of this and smacked Custard in the back of the head, the little royal letting out a confused "Huh?-" before she nodded behind her toward Shadow and GingerBrave, getting him to slap a hand over his mouth and quickly turn away.
Shadow Milk turned to see GingerBrave fidgeting with his cane, avoiding the concerned gazes of Strawberry and Wizard not too far away.
GingerBrave then suddenly hunched over slightly, hand over his stomach again as he slowed his walk.
Shadow was about to say something when he heard Custard exclaim, "Look! Jellies over there!" Everyone else in the group immediately looked over to where he was pointing and saw…sad looking rotten Bear Jellies just laying there on the ground. Key word: Rotten.
Him, Wizard, Chili and Strawberry all gagged at the sight, Wizard in particular nearly puking out his guts all over his scarf.
But for some Witches Forsaken reason.
Custard the 3rd and GingerBrave look like they’ve just been presented a Five Star Meal.
Heck. Custard looked like he was about to dig in before Wizard cut in, stating. "Now hold on, Chums! Those Bear Jellies look…Hmmm, how shall I put this? WEIRD!" He looked away from the Jellies, "The color is YUCK-O. The smell is FOUL. I solemnly advise: STAY AWAY OR PAY THE PRICE!"
"Ewwwww! Yucky! Bleh! They’ve gone bad!" …or he just did dig in while Wizard was speaking, gross.
Wizard had to do a double take, "Did you just…? Do you LISTEN? I literally just said…" he ran a hand down his face and sighed, before giving Custard a stern look, "You should pay attention to what an older Cookie says!"
Strawberry put a hand on his shoulder, "Gosh, everyone calm down! Let’s just try to find good, edible food, okay?"
"And that Cake Hound." Chili cut in.
"Yes. And that Cake Hound, too."
Oh yeah, the Cake Hound. Almost forgot about that thing.
He was about to suggest they move forward to find it already when he heard some sort of chewing sound in the distance. And it seems the others heard it too.
GingerBrave ran over to the source of the chewing and called them over, "Look! More of them Cake Hounds!"
He and the others rushed over, with Wizard bing the first to state, "They’re chowing down on those weird Bear Jellies."
Chili Pepper then immediately jumped over the bushes and exclaimed, "Mhe he he. Hand ‘em over, NOW!"
Wizard then grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back, "Hey, here’s an idea: STOP. SAYING. THAT. Why on EarthBread must everyone give to YOU, huh?"
Before she could retaliate, they saw all the Cake Hounds run away in different directions.
"Oh no, they’re gone again…!" Custard pouted a bit before Strawberry went over to his side and gently patted his head, that of which he noticeably leaned into.
They were about to get moving again when they heard someone’s stomach growl, most people in the group immediately turned to Custard, with the little royal putting his hands up in defense, "H-hey! It wasn’t me! I swear."
Then they heard it again, clearer this time, and they all turned to GingerBrave, eyes closed tight with a hand over his stomach, leaning heavily on his cane and slightly hunched over.
Strawberry, Wizard and Shadow Milk immediately rushed over to him, with Strawberry rubbing his back, Wizard holding his other hand and Shadow Milk floating in front of him, trying to get a good look of the kid. The other two members soon following suit.
"…GingerBrave?"
"I-I’m fine." He lied. "My stomach just hurts a bit, that’s all!" It growled again.
"Kid…It’s okay to be hungry."
"N-no! It’s not that! I swear!"
No one believed him. Shadow Milk was about to say something else before GingerBrave started sniffing at the air, "Wait…do you smell that!?" He sniffed the air again, his eyes suddenly opening wide like saucers and sparkling like fireworks, "Smells like yum-yum-yummiest Bear Jellies! Am I losing my mind?!"
Shadow Milk and the others sniffed the air and, yeah, they noticed it too! With Strawberry excitedly exclaiming, "GingerBrave I think you’re right! I do!" She looked at him with bright eyes, "I do smell Bear Jellies!"
GingerBrave’s eyes lit up even more, this time with a question. "BUT WHERE?" He then nearly doubled over when his stomach growled again.
Wizard and Shadow Milk immediately locked eyes and nodded. Shadow Milk quickly flew up above the trees in search of the source of the scent. It used quite a bit of energy to fly up that high, especially for more than a few seconds, but his these kids need food, and fast, so it didn’t really matter right now. Well, he does too, but not a much as the kids do.
He eventually spotted a brightly colored village nearby, he then quickly went down and alerted the others. "Hey, there’s a Village over there. I think that’s where it’s coming from."
Wizard gave him a nod and tried to help GingerBrave up, but he kept insisting he’s fine. That was until Strawberry whispered an apology under her breath and straight up CARRIED GingerBrave in her arms like he weighed nothing. Well-yeah. He probably wasn’t that heavy, but Strawberry was a tad bit shorter than him and is a child, probably younger than GingerBrave, so I think it’s fair that he’s a bit surprised.
GingerBrave tried to retaliate but gave up after a few half-hearted attempts, burrowing his face in Strawberry’s sweater and looking a bit embarrassed and extremely in pain.
At that, Shadow Milk and the group moved fast, with Shadow Milk and Chili swiftly taking down any Cake Creatures still trying to attack them.
And after a few minutes of speed-walking.
They finally made it to the Village.
To Be Continued…
Notes:
Heyo! KC here! Hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Even though it’s only been about a day since he’s met these lil’ Goobers, Shadow Milk’s already very attached. Especially to the main trio (Wiz, Straw and GB).
Anyway! Hope you enjoyed this Chapter! I have an Insta now with the same name if u wanna see art of these Characters, and I’m working on getting a YouTube Channel up and running for this too, on YouTube I go by the same name (-TNL)
And as usual!
HEAVILY inspired by @cherry-blossom-qf "Escaped too early au" on Tumblr
GO FOLLOW THEM PLEASEPlease Comment your questions, ideas and critiques down bellow! See ya’ll next Chapter!
Have a good day/afternoon/night!!!
Chapter 5: I Have To Help Them
Summary:
They get to the Bear Jelly Village and GingerBrave gets fed (finally) along with the rest of the gang. After they do that, Wizard talks to Shadow Milk and after a while longer the group leaves to help the Jelly Bears find their workers.
Notes:
Heeeey! Hope ya’ll will like this Chapter! And sorry in advance if it feels rushed or lazy, I was running outta ideas and there’s only so much you can do with the Bear Jelly storyline, especially after the events of Chapter 4.
By the way, before you go and read it, just know that I called all the Bear Jelly Citizens "Jelly Bears" to clear up any overlap between the two.
Enjoy!
(2025,7,18)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
They’ve arrived.
The village was filled to the brim with bright yellows, pinks, greens and occasional blues and reds. All the surrounding houses looked like they were made of rollcake wood and gelatin and in the centre of the village was a wooden platform made from a giant tree stump. There was also a Castle looking place on the far side of the village, or is it a Kingdom? He didn’t really care anymore.
A pink Jelly Bear with a crown suddenly walked up to the group, excitedly exclaiming, "NOOOOOOOOOO WAY! WOW! COOKIES??! It is so nice to finally meeeeeeeeeeet you!"
Custard raised his staff and asked "And who might-"
"Pleasantries later, kid." Shadow Milk turned back to the Jelly Bear, "Hey Mr.Jelly Bear guy. Do you have any food? Bear Jellies? Stew? Anything? We need it for the kid over there. Right Now. He’s starving." He gestured to GingerBrave, still cradled in Strawberry’s arms, looking absolutely miserable.
The Bears around them looked horrified, with the Pink Jelly Bear in front of him exclaiming, "Oh noooo! Poor guy!" He turned to the other Bear Jelly residents, "Heeey everyone! Please set a table with our finest Bear Jellies and dishes! These Cooookiesss are starving!" Everyone else in the village immediately got to work, with some of them setting up a big table for them to eat at, and with the others getting the food for them to eat. The Pink Jelly Bear in particular was currently leading them toward said table, pulling out a chair for Strawberry to set GingerBrave down on.
GingerBrave groaned a bit while being set down, clutching his stomach in pure agony as he still tries his best to keep a smile on his face, but it’s just making him look more miserable instead of less. As soon as the food arrived, Shadow Milk grabbed one of the Bear Jellies and gently offered it to GingerBrave, who’s head had to be propped up by Strawberry.
"Open wide kid…" GingerBrave opened his mouth just enough to take a bite, and as soon as he swallowed, the tension in his entire being dissolved, he quickly gained back the energy to eat on his own, quickly eating the rest of the Bear Jelly in Shadow’s hand and grabbing a few other Bear Jellies from a tray they placed in front of him. Everyone around him was relived, with Strawberry and Custard tightly hugging him from behind and around his torso respectively. While Shadow Milk, Wizard and Chili were sitting next to them, keeping an eye on GingerBrave and how much he’s eating.
Shadow Milk knew something was up with the kid earlier in their journey, but he didn’t expect it to be something like this. I mean, the others don’t have it as bad as him, and he ate Star Jellies with the others back at SugarForest, didn’t he?…
Didn’t he…?
…CRUMBS.
The kid didn’t eat anything while they were there. He was too busy comforting the Sugar Gnome Shadow Milk spooked. How did he not notice this!?
This CHILD was running on pure willpower alone for at least ONE DAY. And that’s being generous, considering the fact that he might not have eaten anything before that either!
AND he’s been fighting off Cake Creatures and running for at least a DAY STRAIGHT!
AND. ON. TOP. OF. THAT.
He hasn’t slept for 3 straight days. According to what he’d overheard from earlier. And he’s pretty sure Wizard Cookie wouldn’t just lie about something like that.
He looked back at GingerBrave, the kid’s eating as much food as he possibly could, looking as happy as can be, as if nothing had happened, yet also avoiding all of their gazes, like he’s afraid of what they’ll think.
Shadow Milk shifted his gaze toward Strawberry, the poor girl still hugging GingerBrave from behind like he’ll disappear if she let go, she caught his gaze and tilted her head toward him, her eyes shining with unshed tears and unspoken fears. He instinctively wanted to float over and comfort her, but he knew now wasn’t the time, especially since GingerBrave would most likely panic over it and prioritize her over himself again.
He took a glance at Wizard on the other side of the table, the little Mage being intensely focused on GingerBrave, looking like he wanted to slap him in the face for scaring them then immediately hug him right after.
He then shifted his gaze to Chili Pepper, with her immediately catching his gaze and looking straight at him. She looked like she wanted to force feed GingerBrave food for the rest of the kid’s life. And more notably, when she shifted her gaze back toward the kid, her eyes softened, if only a little bit.
Lastly, he turned his gaze toward Custard, the kid still clinging onto GingerBrave’s hip like a lifeline, looking like he’s about to cry his eyes out, in fear or relief? He doesn’t know.
The whole group was silent, the silence only being broken by the Jelly Bears working and talking in the background and GingerBrave’s chewing.
After a moment or two, he decided to break the tension by speaking up, "So, why don’t we all dig in? After all, there should be plenty of food here for all 6 of us, right?" The others, including GingerBrave, all turned to him, with the others being hesitant to even take a single Bear Jelly in fear of GingerBrave giving it all to them.
GingerBrave seems to have noticed the others hesitance and decides to also speak up, in his usual cheery voice, "Yeah guys! Why don’t you chow down? I’m sure we’re all hungry from the journey! I know I sure am! Haha!" None of them laughed at that, but they all followed his suggestion, all of them (including Strawberry and Custard) pulling out a chair and sitting down to eat, with Strawberry and Custard sitting together on GingerBrave’s left and Wizard and Chili Pepper sitting on GingerBrave’s right. Shadow Milk decides to sit by Strawberry, gently patting her on the head and ruffling Custard’s hair before sitting down.
They all dug in, all trying to enjoy their meals in the heavy silence as the Jelly Bears went back and fourth, occasionally muttering a thanks to them as they came and went. And bit after bit, bite after bite, they could feel the tension in the air slowly dissolving, the silence becoming more comfortable. And after a while longer, the Pink Jelly Bear from earlier approached them with a question, "Sooo! How dooo you like the fooood?"
And of course, GingerBrave’s the first to respond, "Ummmgh! These are the best!"
Shadow Milk was next to speak up, "Agreed! Some of the best I’ve had in a while. Complements to the chef!"
Then Wizard followed suit, with a wide eye and a whole lotta enthusiasm, "I have NEVER tasted Bear Jellies like that! Totally amazing craftsmanship! Kudos!"
Chili Pepper then elbowed him with a grin, earning her an angry "EH!" From the lil’ Mage. "Yeah, that’s just o’l Pointy Hat’s way of sayin’ "MORE"!" He repeatedly tried to smack her, but to no avail since she’s currently pushing him away by the face. "Mhe-he-he!"
"I…I want more as well!" Custard shyly stated.
"Gee, me too…" Strawberry put a hand on her stomach and sighed, "But I’m like, super-stuffed."
"Oh!" The Pink Jelly Bear clapped their hands together, "So why dooooon’t we take a tiddly-widdly tour ‘round the village? It’ll HELLLLP your digestion-y! PROMISE!!!"
Every cookie at the table looked at each other, wondering if they should, after a second or two, Shadow Milk decided to respond, "Sure! Why not? I’m bored anyway. What about you guys?" He turned to the others, with all of them nodding and/or humming in agreement.
"Gimme a minute though, it’s hard to move when you’re so stuffed, hehe." GingerBrave spoke as he put a hand on his stomach and leaned back in his chair.
Shadow Milk and the others silently thanked GingerBrave for resting. Then they (-GingerBrave) all stood up, and one by one, they either went to talk to the Jelly Bear residents or just explore the place. With Wizard in particular approaching Shadow Milk as he floats under one of the bigger trees on the outskirts of the village.
"Hey, Blueberry Milk Cookie?"
"Yeah Kiddo?"
He hesitated for a second. "Can I talk with you?"
Shadow Milk fully turned toward Wizard with a grin on his face, "You’re already talkin’ with me silly!"
"Wha-bu- THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!"
Shadow Milk giggled a bit before responding, "Okay kiddo, what’s up?"
He hesitated again, seeming to be choosing his words carefully, before sighing. "It’s about GingerBrave."
Shadow Milk immediately floated upright and fully paid attention (though it’s not like he wasn’t before). "…Go on?"
Wizard looked at him for a moment before glancing at GingerBrave, Shadow Milk followed his gaze and relaxed slightly when he saw that the kid’s fast asleep. "It’s just…" he turned his gaze back to Wizard. "He…he has never acted like this before…at least to my knowledge…and…" he started fiddling with his staff, "And I don’t know what to DO! He’s been so stressed lately, and he just covers it up like it’s nothing! Most of the time even Strawberry and I can’t tell whether he’s faking it or not! And we’ve known him the longest!" He looked at Shadow Milk with a desperate, pleading look in his eye, almost on the verge of tears, "Blueberry Milk Cookie…we haven’t known each other for long, but I can tell he’s been getting closer to you, so have I, actually, all of us have!…so can you please help him…?…please…?"
Shadow Milk knelt down and hugged him tightly, whispering, "Yeah…I will kid. He’ll be fine, I’ll make sure of it." Wizard was a bit stunned by the action, just standing there for a good minute before holding onto Shadow Milk like a lifeline, silently sobbing his eye out on his shoulder. He readjusts his hold on the shaking kid in his arms and gently carries him up into the tree to give them some privacy, where Shadow Milk sits down on one of the stronger, more hidden branches and holds Wizard tightly, whispering things like "Shh…It’s gonna be okay kid." And "I’m right here, he’s going to be okay." And "I’ll keep a good eye on him. I promise."
They just stay like that for a while, with the chatter in the village slowly turning into background noise as he whispers kind reassurances and sweet nothings to the little Mage till his sobs turn to small sniffles and soft hiccups, his hold on Shadow loosening a bit. Shadow Milk looked down at the little Mage, "Feeling better?"
He nodded.
"Ya ready to go back down there, Kid? Or do ya still wanna stay here? Both are fine by me." He didn’t respond for a minute or two, Shadow almost thought he fell asleep till he muttered, "We can go down now…"
"Ya sure Kid?"
"…yeah."
Shadow Milk readjusts his hold on the kid again, before carefully carrying him back down and placing him on the ground next to the tree, with the little Mage wiping his eye and shyly looking away from him.
"Ya need anything else kiddo?"
He thought on it for a moment, before shaking his head. Then he looked up at Shadow with gratitude, whispering just loud enough for him to hear, "…Thank you…really. I appreciate it."
Shadow Milk smiled softly and patted the kid’s shoulder, "Anytime kiddo, anytime." He nodded toward the rest of the village, "Now why don’t we go take a walk around the place, ey? It’s better than just sitting around doing nothing, don’t ya think?"
He softly laughed at that remark and rolled his eye, "Yes, I suppose you’re right."
Shadow Milk and Wizard then walked side by side, with Wizard asking some stuff about Spells and Glyph magic, and Shadow answering them to the best of his ability (which was perfectly thankyouverymuch).
Eventually, after walking around the place for about an hour or so, they headed back to the table to check on GingerBrave, only to find that he’s FULLY AWAKE. Well, it seems like he only just woke up, since he’s doing basic stretches next to the table and all, but he’s AWAKE. Why is he awake!?!?
The kiddo noticed them approaching and excitedly waved at them, shouting, "Hey guys! How’s it going? Wanna do some stretches with me?”
He and Wizard stared in shock as GingerBrave did more stretches, seeming ten times more energized than earlier despite running on only an hour of sleep.
As they got closer, Wizard started walking at a faster pace and bonked GingerBrave in the head with his staff. "YAOCH! What was that for???"
"THAT was for scaring us earlier…" Wizard then immediately hugged him, GingerBrave was stunned for a second before hugging back, gentler than he usually does.
"And this?" He asked in a slightly softer tone.
"…this is for eating…"
GingerBrave’s eyes softened a bit, his body almost fully relaxing into the hug. He’ll just have to tell the kid to go back to sleep later.
That’s when the Pink Jelly Bear (that they later learned was the Jelly Bear Prince) approached the table with the others…except Chili Pepper.
"Sooo!" The Jelly Bear Prince started, "How are all of you enjoying the Village soooo far?"
"It’s been great!" Shadow Milk responded on behalf of the other 2. "The stalls are nice, the flowers smell nice and I remember Wizard saying something like "The houses look very bouncy", so good stuff all around."
"H-HEY!" Wizard got out of the hug and turned to him as the others all snickered and laughed at that.
"Anyway, how’ve you all been doing so far? You guys enjoying the place?" Shadow Milk directed his attention to Strawberry and Custard the 3rd, with the little royal sitting on her shoulders as they both nodded. With Custard exclaiming, "Yes! The village is so cool! Maybe we could build my Kingdom like this as well! Hehe"
Shadow and Wizard both fondly rolled their eyes at that, Wizard doing it more out of annoyance. He then directed his attention to Strawberry, still softly chuckling at the kid’s antics, "What about you kiddo?"
She stopped laughing and smiled at him, "It’s been wonderful! This place is so quaint, and the villagers here are so nice!"
He smirked back at her, "Glad to hear it kid." He then scanned the area for that Hot Head and…found nothing. Huh. "By the way. Do ya guys know where the Spicy one went? Is she still walking around or something?"
The Jelly Bear Prince turned to look behind them, only to also see nothing, "Oooh, where did the reeeed Cookie friend goooo?"
"Me?" She suddenly appeared behind Shadow Milk and scared the CHOCOLATE outa him. She "Innocently" smiled at them, "Oh, I couldn’t help but, y’know, check out your storage situation, and snatch me some more Bo-Dacious Bear Jellies." Wizard smacked his forehead again. And if Shadow weren’t so spooked he would be kinda impressed.
"I seeee!"
"But! The storage was empty!" Wait what?
A Jelly Bear Villager that they met earlier gasped, "Oh noooo! hat’s because our special Royal Jelly caaaarriage didn’t arrive!"
The Prince turned to the Villager, "!!! Thaaaat’s ill neeeews! Without Royal Jellies we can’t make our Bear Jellies."
"Um..excuse me?" They all turned to Strawberry. "But, maybe we can help?"
GingerBrave’s eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "yeah, it’s a cinch-eroo! We’ll help you out for treating us to such a splendid breakfast!"
The Prince’s face lit up with gratitude, "Ooooh thank you! And pleeeeze! If you happen to meet our Jelly Beeeeear workers? RESCUE THEM!"
Shadow Milk immediately flew to GingerBrave before he could start running and looked him in the eye, "Kid. Aren’t ya still tired??? You’ve only had an hour of sleep. We can stay a bit longer ya know?"
"Nope!" He flashed his bright smile at him, "Not tired in the slightest! And I’ve had a great meal to energize me! And that’s only because of the Jelly Bears!" He gestured to the Jelly Bears nearby, "All the more reason to go now. Isn’t it?"
Shadow observed the kid’s face, searching for any sign of exhaustion or sadness, and when he didn’t find any, he looked to Wizard for his opinion on this. Wizard looked back at him, then at GingerBrave before sighing and nodding.
"Kay, kid." He patted Brave’s shoulder and gave him his signature grin, the kid stiffened up a bit at the contact but he shrugged it off, "Let’s hurry up then! Those bandits won’t wait for us now will they?"
The kid’s smile was as bright as the sun as he cheered. And at that Shadow Milk’s grin softened a bit.
GingerBrave then ran toward the entrance with his cane held high, and turned toward the others and yelled, "Now come on guys! We’ve got Royal Jellies to get back and Jelly Bears to save!"
Strawberry with Custard still on her back along with Chili Pepper ran after him, with Strawberry yelling, "G-GingerBrave! Wait!". Wizard was also gonna run after them before Shadow Milk floated in front of him, the little Mage was confused and asked, "Wha-? What are you doing? We need to catch up with them!"
"Kid, I can fly us there later. But right now, we don’t have any food for the road, I’m gonna pack some up and I need your help."
"…Oh. How could I forget about that???"
"No time to dwell on it now kiddo, hurry up and help me pack." He quickly flew over to the table still PACKED with food, grabbed a spare drink container he had in his satchel and started pouring the stew in there. Wizard came soon after with a few extra food containers and immediately started placing the Bear Jellies in there, along with some Hearty Rye and Tart Pie. The Jelly Bears even came along with some containers filled with Fluffy Omurice and multiple jars of jam. Shadow and Wizard both quickly thanked them as they shoved all the food in Shadow Milk’s satchel, him having to catch Wizard from falling in before continuing with the task.
They finished pretty quickly, only taking about 5 or 6 minutes to pack at least 2 days worth of food for the six of them. And as soon as they finished, after the pair quickly said their thanks and goodbyes to the Bears, Shadow Milk immediately grabbed Wizard’s hand and flew in that direction at full speed, and when Wizard started shouting and crying his eyes out from the sheer speed, he pulled Wizard forward and held him in his arms like a baby, the kid being quite embarrassed once he’d realized what Shadow was doing, but he didn’t complain.
They were like that for a minute or two, with Shadow dodging tree after tree, following the trail of fallen Cake Hounds as Wizard stays completely silent in his hold. Until they heard GingerBrave’s voice call out to them, "Wizard Cookie! Blueberry Milk Cookie! Oh, where did they go?" Shadow Milk immediately switched gears, flying around a tree and charging full speed ahead toward the voice, and this time when they arrived, he didn’t crash into Strawberry!…But they still crashed into a bush.
"Blueberry???" GingerBrave ran up to him with the other 3 following behind him.
"Ugghhhh…" He felt GingerBrave pat his back.
"Ya crashed into a bush again, ya old Geezer?"
He immediately flew all up in her face, "HEY! Don’t ya call me a Geezer, Hot Head."
She was was about to snap back at him till she looked down a bit and saw Wizard still in his arms, staring back at her like she caught him in the middle of a crime. She immediately burst out laughing, gasping for air and nearly falling backwards. Wizard then started struggling in his grip and that’s when Shadow finally let him down.
"OH MY WITCHES! HAHAHA! You looked like a BABY! BAHAHAH-"
"Oh-you-S-SHUT UP!" Wizard covered up his face and turned away from her. Strawberry soon came over to him and pulled him into a side hug, sending Chili a very unimpressed look. And as soon as Chili saw her look, she immediately shut her trap, Shadow Milk’s pretty impressed with that.
"Okay!" They all turned to GingerBrave, "Now that everyone’s back together again, let’s hurry up with the mission!" Everyone nodded and they all started running (or flying in Shadow’s case) on the path they were already on, all keeping an eye out for a carriage and a few Jelly Bears.
About 30 minutes of running, fighting and chatting later, they heard something in the distance, more accurately, someone.
"I’ll never eat those horrid, HORRIBLE Bear Jellies! No sirreeee!"
To Be Continued…
Notes:
Ello! KC here! Hope you liked the little scene with Wizard and SM, the kiddo is WAY too young to have to deal with his brother almost dying (Well, he did lose Dozer, but I don’t think he was as close to him as he is with GB right now.)
Anyway. I have an Insta (I go by the same name) where I post little doodles and stuff on these little goobers, you can also talk to me there! I’ll be sure to respond if ya do! I’m also gonna start working on a YouTube Channel soon (Same name -TNL), so if ya wanna check that out ya can!
And I’m sorry if it ain’t as good as the past few chapters, (I was kinda burnt-out AND had writers block while writing this Chapter), but I PROMISE you Chapter 6 is gonna be better!
Ya’ll can comment your Critiques, Questions and Ideas below. I’ll be sure to read and respond to them all!
And as per usual:
HEAVILY inspired by @cherry-blossom-qf "Escaped too early au" on Tumblr
GO FOLLOW THEM PLEASESee ya’ll next Chapter!
And btw, if ya wanna have a look at what Shadow Milk looks like here, here’s a link.
https://www.deviantart.com/kimcreatestnl/art/First-Look-at-Blueberry-Milk-Cookie-1219542979
Have a good day/afternoon/night!!!
Chapter 6: We’re Going Back To SugarForest
Summary:
The gang saves Maestro from a suspicious looking Cookie, then they go around the place saving some Jelly Bears. Chaos ensues. GingerBrave is stressed throughout the whole thing, and in the end he finally gets some sleep…kinda.
Notes:
Heya! KC here! Just wanted to warn you that some part near the end might be a little wonky cuz of…well, you’ll see.
Hope you enjoy this Chapter!!! See u in the end notes!
(2025,7,20)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"I’ll never eat those horrid, HORRIBLE Bear Jellies! No sirreeee!"
What the-
"Well well well, what a picky eater we have here! Then how about a nice refreshing SWIM!? *cackle*"
Shadow Milk quickly flew ahead of the group, flying higher and hiding in one of the nearby trees to eavesdrop on these strangers.
"Oh, rest assured, I can endure that—and so much, much more!"
An older looking Sugar Gnome? And a creepy, suspicious looking cookie?
"That so? Then how about…SOME MILK????" They pulled out a whole jug of milk from under their robe, "MILK of such pure, angel-white luxuriousness, it’ll MELT all your precious sugars away, huh?"
The Gnome looked horrified and squirmed in his bindings, "M-milk!? You WOULDN’T! You COULDN’T! NO! I BEG YOU!"
He was about to intervene when GingerBrave jumped through the bushes below, with his cane up and ready for battle. "What’s the deal, here?" The two strangers turned toward the kid, "Leave that Sugar Gnome alone!"
The Suspicious Cookie nearly dropped the jug in surprise, "Rah! Intruders!"
"Hold on! Help is on the way!" GingerBrave sprinted forward, trying to attack the Suspicious Cookie with his cane when they suddenly summoned a bunch of Licorice Short-stacks along with a strike of lightning, sending GingerBrave flying. Luckily, before he hit the ground, Shadow Milk zipped out of the trees and caught him just in time. He quickly scanned GingerBrave for any injuries before giving the hooded cookie a death glare, his hair bubbling up a bit. The (not so) poor guy being scarred half to death as the others finally caught up and started beating up the Licorice things.
"Blueberry? Can you let me go now?" Shadow Milk snapped out of his rage induced trance and quickly let the kid go, switching back to his signature smirk and as he floated next to the kid.
"Ooh, sorry there Kiddo! Just got a bit distracted!"
GingerBrave smiled brightly at him, "No worries! Thanks for catching me by the way!" He turned back to the battle, "Now let’s save that Sugar Gnome!"
Shadow Milk nodded and grabbed one of his Juggling-Balls and chucked it at one of the Licorice Things, with the ball ricocheting from one to the other, while he himself had his sights set on the Suspicious Cookie. He flew straight at them, flying past the others as he grabbed his giant baseball bat and aimed it right at the guy’s head. By the time they noticed it, it was too late, they got knocked out mid scream (which sounded more like a screech in his opinion), and now they’re a harmless, half-conscious lump on the ground, muttering random nonsense in their dazed state.
Tch, idiot.
He turned around to help the kids when he saw that they already defeated all the Licorice Short-stacks, looking as energized as ever. And Chili Pepper and GingerBrave also freed the Old Sugar Gnome from his bindings! These kids work fast.
"I can’t thank you enough, precious young ones!" The Sugar Gnome nodded at Shadow Milk, "And their guardian, of course!"
Shadow Milk recoiled like he’d just been hit, "Wha- Nononono! I’m not their Guardian! I’m-"
"Wait—my, oh my!" The Gnome interrupted, "I didn’t even introduce myself! My name’s Maestro Sugar Gnome!"
"What happened to you?" GingerBrave asked.
"So…I’m smack-dab in the middle of enjoying my well—deserved, incredibly fun—filled retirement trip—" he shuttered, "But then those horrid Cake Monsters appeared—AND GNOME-NAPPED ME! They even made me eat those super-yucky Bear Jellies! Duppiti—POO!" He nearly puked, "BLEEECCCH! The monster, he, he wanted me to—to—JOIN UP!"
GingerBrave went and patted his back as Wizard spoke, "Yeah, we’re 100% positively sure we’ve seen those no-good Jelly Brains before!" He was about to say something else about that when he suddenly thought of a question, "WAIT! Does um, eating one, um, transform you into one of The Cake Monsters?"
"Oh gosh! Maybe that’s what’s happened to those poor Bear Jelly Workers!" Strawberry speculated.
"Okay, Kids, I’m preeeetttttty sure that’s not how that works." Shadow Milk patted Wizard’s hat with a smirk. Geez, these kids sure do have a creative imagination.
"Indeedy—o, something terribly—terriblo must’ve happened to them! Doopi—doopi!"
Shadow Milk turned to him and yelled, "DON’T INDULGE THEM!!!"
GingerBrave then stepped away from Maestro with a determined expression, turning to everyone in the group and declaring, "That’s it. We gotta save ‘em!"
Shadow Milk sighed, of course they wanted to go already, "Okay, okay, just—lemme grab the creepy Cookie real quick. They might have some info on this stuff."
That was when GingerBrave innocently point out, "But they’re gone."
He quickly turned around to see…they really ARE gone! CRUMBS. He didn’t even get a good look of the guy! "OH COME ON! THEY WERE RIGHT HERE!" He flew around the vicinity, swiftly checking every tree and every bush in sight, thinking that they couldn’t have gone that far. Right???
"Blueberry Milk Cookie! It’s fine. We’ll surely see them again later!" He turned to see GingerBrave with his wide smile, he looked at him for a second before sighing and smiling back at him.
"Yeah…You’re right kid." But he still really wanted to beat them up for rocket launching the kid earlier.
And just like that, they were off, not before saying bye to Maestro of course.
Their group kinda split into pairs, with Custard and Chili Pepper in one pair, Strawberry and GingerBrave in another, and Shadow and Wizard as the last one.
Speaking of Shadow and Wizard.
Wizard was currently geeking out about some form of magic (again) while Shadow was answering his questions and chucking the Balls and Pins at the Cake Creatures at the same time. With Wizard casting a "Lightning STRIKE" every once in a while. They just kinda stayed like that, running and chatting, occasionally having a bit of banter with the others (especially Chili Pepper) about some random stuff, and thanking Custard the 3rd when he healed them in combat.
They even meet a weird little Jelly Worm that the kids fittingly named "Tiny", it kept on saying something about "becoming a Legendary Dragon" and "Praying hourly", but he himself didn’t really pay much attention to the interaction.
By the time it was noon, everyone had quieted down (Even Wizard and Chili), they were all walking at a relatively slow pace, just enjoying the comfortable sounds of nature, like the occasional sounds of chirping or the rustling of leaves. Even Shadow Milk found some form of comfort in the scenery. Everyone was relaxed…well, everyone but GingerBrave. The kid seemed stressed and very on edge, much more than before, constantly looking around and fiddling with his cane, but whenever Strawberry asked if he was okay, he just flashes a smile at her and tells her he’s fine!
After the fifth time, Shadow had enough, quickly flying over to them in the front and putting on his signature grin, "Eyy Kiddos!" He greeted.
"Hey Blueberry! What’s up?" GingerBrave asked. Putting his "cheery" facade back on.
"Wizard over there said he wanted to talk to Strawberry." The 3 of them looked toward the little Mage, with the kid being a tad confused till Shadow nudged his head toward GingerBrave, he then immediately waved at them.
"Oh, okay. Thank you Blueberry Milk." Strawberry bowed a bit before running over to Wizard. She’s pretty respectful for a child. Anyway, back to that task at hand. He turned to GingerBrave to see that he’s already refocused on the road, nervously fidgeting with his cane with a slightly strained smile still plastered on his face.
Did something happen during the fight earlier?
"Hey kid."
"Hmm? Yeah?" His voice sounded a bit strained.
His brows furrowed slightly, "Are you okay? You seem…I dunno. A bit on edge? Did something happen?"
Brave tensed up, "Oh! Uhh-"
"Look! The Jelly Bears!" OH COME ON!
They all turned to where Wizard was pointing and saw 2 yellow Jelly Bears on the ground, along with a bag of spilled Jellies next to them.
GingerBrave immediately ran over to them and helped them up, along with the help of Strawberry of course. Shadow Milk and the others soon caught up, with Custard the 3rd healing the small scrapes they had on them.
"Waaah…" one of them cried, "Bad Caaake Monsters attaaacked us…"
"They tooook all our Rooooyal Jelly…" the other one explained.
"How cruel, and unjust!" Custard exclaimed after he finished healing them.
GingerBrave’s expression darkened immensely, "THEY’LL PAY FOR THAT! I promise!"
Shadow Milk physically recoiled at that, he’s never heard GingerBrave be angry till now. Over strangers none the less. He looked around at the others to see that even they were a bit shocked at his sudden change in demeanor. Even Wizard and Strawberry were taken aback.
What was up with him today???
As soon as GingerBrave realized what he was doing, he immediately switched back to his upbeat, cheerful persona. Sheepishly rubbing the back of his head while saying, "Oh! Sorry! Got lost in thought for a second there! Hehe." He then blissfully walked away from the Jelly Bear he was next to and raised his cane. "Let’s go everyone! Time to stop some bad guys!"
The others looked at each other for a second or 2 before bidding farewell to the Jelly Bears and catching up to GingerBrave.
He himself flew back to the head of the group with GingerBrave. Immediately asking the kid a multitude of questions, "Kid. Are you okay? Ya got real mad back there. That doesn’t seem like you. Are ya still upset over the food thing from this morning? Did something happen back at the Village? Ya getting grumpy from the lack of sleep or something? They’re all worried for ya, kid."
GingerBrave stared back at him in mild shock, not really knowing how to answer and just staying silent for a good minute. Then he averted his eyes, like he’s debating whether or not he should say anything.
Shadow Milk was patently waiting, getting increasingly concerned at the kid’s prolonged silence. This is not like him at all. Eventually, after about 5 straight minutes of nothing from the kiddo, he spoke up again, "GingerBrave? Ya still there?"
And that’s what got the kid to snap his attention back to him, switching his expression back to "happy mode" and responding, "Ah! Sorry! Lost in thought again!"
"…not really answering my question here Kiddo." He crossed his arms.
"Oh yeah, uh, it’s not about any of those things! Promise! I was just thinking about those creepy Cookies and how they’re hurting other Cookies! That’s just mean! So I just kinda…well…let my emotions slip a bit, hehe…"
"Uh-huh…" Shadow didn’t buy it. Well, maybe a little bit. This does seem like something the kid would be upset about…but "Letting his emotions slip"? That doesn’t sound right, not when he says it. But he’s not gonna pry, the kid would probably get even more uncomfortable than he already was if he continued. So he smiled at the kid, half genuine, half forced. "Well thanks for the explanation kid. And it’s fine to "Let your emotions slip" once in a while, ya know?" He flew closer to pat the kid on the head when he flinched, barely noticeable…but he flinched. Arms slightly raised in defense and eyes snapped shut. Shadow Milk immediately recoiled his hand and looked him in the eyes with immense concern, not even trying to put on a smile at this point. "…GingerBrave?"
He panicked, "I-I-"
"Lookie—lookie! A totally happening chest, unattached, unattended, and unbelievably PERFECT for someone like ME!" The whole team turned toward Chili Pepper and Custard, with GingerBrave taking this opportunity to run away from the conversation and take a look at the random chest they found.
Shadow Milk heard Chili try to open it, and Custard’s banter with her…but he himself didn’t move. He kept his eyes on GingerBrave.
…He flinched. FLINCHED! Like he was gonna hit the poor kid. What happened before he met him??? Did his parents hit him???
His hand clenched tightly at the thought. How could anyone hit a kid like GingerBrave. Parent or not.
He swears that if-no- WHEN he finds the Cookie that messed with his this kid, HE’S GONNA SHOW THEM WHY HE’S THE LEADER OF THE BEASTS-
"Blueberry?" He got snapped out of his thoughts by Wizard, the kid was lightly tugging on his sleeve, a worried look in his eye. "Blueberry Milk? Are you okay? How’d it go?"
"Uhh…" he took another quick glance at GingerBrave before continuing, "…let’s just say…I’m gonna be asking you a whole lot of questions the next time we set up camp."
Wizard looked back at GingerBrave and slowly nodded. "…Okay…but what about?"
He looked back at the little Mage, with barely vailed anger and concern in his eyes. "You’ll see later, kid. But we have to make sure he gets some sleep tonight. You and me are going on lookout duty, can you do that?"
The kid looked slightly shocked at the request, but soon nodded with determination, "Yeah. Yeah, I can do that."
Shadow sent a small but genuine smile his way before he refocused on the others, and he nearly got a heart-attack.
Strawberry was repeatedly beating the CHOCOLATE outta that chest with her lollipop as the other kids were cheering her on, especially Chili Pepper, she was cheering the LOUDEST. How did he not hear THIS!?!?
He immediately rushed over, grabbing Strawberry under the arms and flying away from the leftovers of the chest. "WOAH. WOAH. WOAH! What’s going on here?????"
"Eep!!!" Strawberry went completely still in his hold, he noticed this and gently set her down.
"Kids…Answer. Now." He glared at Chili Pepper as she looked through the remnants of the chest and the treasure now scattered on the ground. She didn’t even seem to be listening, she was just giggling and muttering to herself as she collected all the treasure she could fit into her bag like they were her prized possessions…It was kinda creepy.
"Chili Pepper."
She continued digging through the treasure.
"CHILI PEPPER COOKIE-"
"What do ya want ya old GEEZER? Don’t ya see I’m BUSY HERE!?"
"What I want is to know why Strawberry over here was beating the living CHOCOLATE outta that chest!"
"We couldn’t open it." She plainly said.
"Well that doesn’t mean ya had to DESTROY the thing!!! Can’t any of you pick a lock??"
"Well I can-"
"Then why DIDN’T you!?!?"
"Okay you two. Stop it!" Wizard somehow got between them, he then gestured toward Strawberry. "You’re stressing Berry out."
Shadow and Chili looked toward her, she was caught like a dear in the headlights, except her eyes were glued to the ground, looking incredibly guilty and panicked over the situation, even as GingerBrave hugged her from behind.
Shadow Milk’s gaze softened, GingerBrave moved away as he floated over and gently patted her head. "Hey…Kiddo. It’s fine."
She stiffened for a split second before slightly leaning into it, looking just a little less panicked, "…Are you mad…?" She whispered, the poor girl sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
He lowered himself even more, till he was kneeling on the ground to be at eye level with her, hand moving from patting her head to cradling her cheek. "Nonononono. Nothing of the sort! I’m just incredibly confused about-" he gestured toward Chili and the broken chest, "…that. But I’m not mad at you! Promise!"
She stayed silent for a few more seconds, "B-but…you were shouting…"
"Oh…nonono, Strawberry, I was mad at Chili, not you."
"WHA- Why me!?"
"SHUT YOUR TRAP HOT HEAD! I’M BUSY HERE!" He turned back to see that Strawberry was laughing a little, and he smiled, "But seriously, I ain’t mad at you kid. In fact, I’m kinda impressed! You did some pretty impressive work with that chest over there, I could barely tell it was a chest by the time I got here! And from the looks of it, that chest was pretty sturdy, and you absolutely DESTROYED it! I don’t think even I could do that in only a few hits!" Well, if he were at his full strength then yeah, he could destroy it with a flick of his wrist, but (sadly) in this weakened state it would’ve taken him much, much longer to break through that even with a weapon like her Lollipop. And she’s a child, so there’s that too.
He looked her in the eyes and softly said, "So? Ya feelin better kiddo?"
She nodded softly, "Yeah…sorry-"
"A-bap-bap-bap-ba NO!" He held his other hand over he mouth, "No apologizing! Ya didn’t do anything wrong Kiddo."
She softly laughed, "Okay, hehe"
"Now." He clapped his hands together and turned around, "Hand the rest of the treasure over Chili, ya won’t be able to shove it all in there, I’m sure of that."
AND SHE CRUMBLING GROWLED AT HIM!!! WHAT ON EARTHBREAD!?
"HEY! Chili Pepper…"
*GROWL*
"NO GROWLING! HAND IT OVER!" He flew over and started "playing tug o war" with this ANIMAL of a Cookie, trying (and failing) to drag a gold chain away from her as the others try to help out. Wizard was trying to drag her away from it with Strawberry’s assistance while GingerBrave was comforting a frightened Custard.
Eventually (After 30 minutes, geez Chili, CHILL), they finally managed to get most of the treasure out of her possession and into Shadow’s satchel, they also had to have Strawberry hold her by the waist to stop her from BITING SHADOW’S HAND OFF. He’s just surprised Chili didn’t try to bite her while she was being held, in fact, she actually calmed down IMMENSELY just a few minutes after Strawberry got a hold of her.
After that whole…incident. They headed off again, still on their mission to find the Royal Jelly supply (And to find that Brute and that Suspicious Cookie so he can beat the living CHOCOLATE OUTTA THEM-) They were all chatting and having fun while fighting and looking around, at one point playing a game of "Who can take down the most Cake Hounds" which he EASILY won! Haha! They even found a few other Jelly Bears on the way, with Custard the 3rd healing them quickly (He’s surprisingly good at this) and them leaving right after.
But there was one thing that was bothering him the whole time…GingerBrave. He can’t get the kid’s reaction out of his mind, he flinched…FLINCHED. And he wanted to talk to him about it after the whole Rabid Chili Treasure thing, but the kid’s just avoiding him now! Always starting up a conversation with one of the others when Shadow wants to talk, moving over to fight one of the other Cake Creatures when Shadow Milk approaches him in battle, and even avoiding eye contact with him at all times. After a few (A whole lot of) tries, he decided it was best to leave the kid be, he’ll just ask him tomorrow when the kid finally gets some well deserved sleep.
He was in the middle of talking to Wizard again (about the Chili thing, of course) when they suddenly heard a BOOMING LOUD voice. "YOU. YOU BE WHO."
"What on EarthBread-"
"Hello? We are Cookies!" GingerBrave interrupted, looking a bit pissed at this guys presence.
"ALREADY KNOW! WHY INTERFERE OUR AWESOME PLAN."
While Wizard was yapping about this thing and his allies being behind the kidnappings and stuff…Shadow Milk noticed something…familiar about this guy.
Chocolate color…
…"Buff"…
…Big hammer twice the size of Strawberry’s Lolli…
…
FOUND YOU
As this BRUTE was in the middle of saying his it’s name or whatever, Shadow Milk zipped over at FULL FORCE and knocked him to the ground holding him down by the horns.
"GAH! WHO-"
"shut your trap."
It immediately snapped it’s mouth shut.
"Are you that THING that attacked GingerBrave last night…?"
"W-WHO-"
"THE CHILD AT THE CAMP YOU RAIDED." He moved back just a tad and glared at the creature, "and be honest with me here, BUDDY."
"Y-YES. ME DID IT."
He gripped it’s horns harder, "WHY."
"I-I-"
"EEH! WRONG ANSWER!" He gripped it’s horns even HARDER and lifted him up into the air, high enough to where if he flew down fast enough, he could turn IT into a PANCAKE.
"AH! NO! PLEASE! NO DROP BRUTE! PLEASE-" it kept on blabbering and blabbering and blabbering. How annoying. He got ready to slam it into the ground where it belongs-
"BLUEBERRY MILK COOKIE! STOP IT!" GingerBrave?
He looked down to see…the kids. He blinked a few times and he saw…they…they were…they looked so…scared…
Chili Pepper was in a defensive position, guarding a very scared Custard the 3rd. Strawberry looked on in horror, hands over her mouth as she watched. Wizard had his staff up, ready for an attack, but looking extremely conflicted about it. And GingerBrave…he was standing in front of the others, cane down by his side as he looked up to Shadow Milk, a pleading look in his eyes.
…he was scaring them…
…HE was scaring them…
He slowly drifted downward, careful not to startle the kids more than he already has. Slowly letting go of the Brute’s horns as he approached them, "H-hey."
They silently stared at him.
"I-I can explain…" he looked straight at GingerBrave.
"…"
He floated closer, "Kids please-" GingerBrave raised his cane. "…"
Shadow Milk lowered himself as low as he could, getting on his knees to be at eye level with the kids. "I- that thing hurt Brave earlier, stole our food, and I-" he sighed, "I got angry…really angry…and I…I shouldn’t have done that, especially not in front of you guys…"
He sighed again and bowed his head down. "…I’m sorry."
He heard quiet footsteps, then a weight on his shoulder, "…It’s fine" GingerBrave sounded shook, "Just…" the kid suddenly hugged him, "Don’t do it again…please…"
Shadow tightly hugged back, "…yeah…I’m sorry…" he soon felt Wizard and Strawberry hug him from behind, and soon after, Chili and Custard on his sides. These kids are too good to him…
They just stayed like that for a good minute, with Shadow Milk whispering quiet apologies to these kids while wondering why on EARTHBREAD these kids would forgive him this fast. They almost watched him CRUMBLE someone and they’re just ready to forgive him just like that??? Either way, he is happy they don’t hate him. He doesn’t want to lose his family again.
He was about to suggest they move on from this and go find the Brute again when they all heard a loud *CRASH*.
Everyone quickly turned to the source of the sound and stared in shock.
The bridge nearby was broken, not just broken, it was absolutely DESTROYED. And that was their only way to get to the other side and continue their journey. He even saw the Brute running away in the distance, so they can’t even catch him now.
"…Crumbs…" Shadow Milk breathed.
"Oh no…!" Strawberry muttered. "They’ve destroyed the bridge!"
GingerBrave went over to her and patted her shoulder, "It’s okay, Strawberry. Hm, how’re we gonna follow them…?"
"Simple, silly!" Chili pointed at Shadow Milk, "We have Mister Floaty Face over here carry us over!"
Shadow Milk looked back at her and quickly said, "Now hold on a minute. One. Don’t call me that. And Two-" he gestured to the large chasm ahead of them, "That is too big of a distance for me to fly over, at full speed or not. So sorry, but no can do."
"Oh come on!" She frustratedly sighed, "Then why don’t we just fix the bridge?"
He stared at her in confusion and (mild) shock, "…what?"
"I do sincerely believe the Sugar Gnome artisans will be able to aid us!" Wizard spoke up.
"You too???"
"Yeah! It’s a (decently) good idea, and It’ll give us more time to rest and think of a plan to catch those thieves! So I say we should head back to the Kingdom and ask them!"
…huh, the kid makes a fair point. He smiled at the kid and patted his head (which the kid surprisingly didn’t flinch at, considering what happened earlier), "Okay! That’s the plan now!" He looked at the sky to see that the sun was already setting. "And it seems like we should set up camp now, shouldn’t we? It’s getting late after all."
He and the others then walked around for a bit longer to find a nice spot to set up camp, and when they did, they quickly set up both of their tents and the fire. And they also made sure to put ALL their stuff in their tents this time. And since they hadn’t had a meal since this morning, Shadow Milk decided to bring out some of the food he and Wizard packed earlier, and the other kids looked AMAZED at the variety of food they had brought along. But of course, Shadow only grabbed one of the containers of food, along with the canister he had filled with stew. They all had a hearty meal around the campfire, all chatting and joking around, (All of them glancing at GingerBrave from time to time to make sure he’s eating well). And after they’d finished their meal, they all decided to hit the sack, well everyone except Shadow Milk and Wizard…and GingerBrave? Ooooh no, not again.
"Hey kid." He floated in front of the kid as he left his tent, "What are ya doing?"
He blinked, "Oh! I was gonna go on lookout duty again! That’s all!"
His brows furrowed, "What? No, kiddo. Me and Wizard over there are gonna be on lookout tonight. So you can just go back to sleep."
"Yeah Brave, we’ve got this." Wizard said as he walked up to them.
"Oh! …uhh…" GingerBrave looked nervous, quickly looking from Wizard to Shadow Milk to (probably) find some sort of excuse to be on lookout duty.
Shadow Milk got down on eye level with GingerBrave, "Kiddo, you can rest easy, we got this. And also, you can think of this as an apology from me for…earlier." He looked away from the kid, still ashamed that he did that in front of kids. How did they forgive him for that? Well, they’re just too forgiving he guesses.
"Hey, it’s fine, Blueberry. You were just trying to protect us!… in your own, kinda scary way!" He smiled at him. “So if that’s the reason, then there’s no need! I can still do it-"
"GingerBrave, no." He sternly said, "I appreciate your forgiveness, I really do. But I really want to do this. And not only that. You haven’t slept any more than an hour in the last, what? 2 days? That’s not healthy for any Cookie." He looked at the kid with pleading eyes, "So please. Let us take over for the night…please."
The kid looked between him and Wizard again, not really knowing what to say to that. He sighed, and immediately put on a smile, though this one looked more strained. "Okay. Thanks guys." He quickly walked back to the entrance of the tent and whisper shouted, "Goodnight! Wake me up if you get tired!", and there he went.
He and Wizard sighed in relief. The kid was finally gonna get some sleep after, what? Four days? There was no way they were gonna wake him up tonight.
"Hey Blueberry?" He turned to Wizard, looking at him with gratitude, "…Thank you…really. Thank you."
He patted the kid’s head, "No problem, Kiddo. Sorry about…earlier in the day, by the way, that probably scared you kids."
"It’s fine, other than Custard Cookie the 3rd. Well…let’s just say that’s not the worst of what we’ve witnessed." He tried to be reassuring…but that just made Shadow more worried about these kids. What do you MEAN you’ve seen WORSE!?
"Okay Wiz." He floated over to the Campfire and sat down, "Now I’m gonna ask you those questions, okay?"
He sat down next to him and nodded, "Yeah, okay!"
they went back and fourth, with Shadow asking most of the questions and Wizard answering the best he could. The role occasionally being flipped.
But little did they know, in the tent, little GingerBrave was stuck reliving the worst times of his life.
To Be Continued…
Notes:
Hi again! Really hoped u liked this Chapter. I am SO SORRY if the Shadow and Brute part felt rushed. I really didn’t know what to do with that, and my deadline was today. I’m so so so sorry.
And as usual.
I have an Insta! You can just lookup "kimcreates_tnlkgm" if u wanna chat with me or see my art of the characters on there!
You can leave all your ideas, comments and critiques down below! I’ll be sure to see them and respond to any and all comments!
And this fic is HEAVILY inspired by @cherry-blossom-qf "Escaped too early au" on Tumblr
GO FOLLOW THEM PLEASE.I hope you liked this Chapter!
Have a good Morning/Afternoon/Night!!!
<3
Chapter 7: …Is This Real…?
Summary:
…please be real…
Notes:
I’M BACK BABY! I’M NOT DEAD! I’ve just had a 3 week fever and got stuck in the hospital for a while but I’m fiiiiiinnnnnneeeeee.
Anyway. I’m back! I probably won’t be posting on a schedule anymore due to school, burnout and other life stuff. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I will *NOT* abandon this fic! I have waaaaaaaaay too many plans for it to stop!
Now! Hope ya’ll enjoy!!!!!!
I really hope it’s good enough for a comeback.
(2025,8,20)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
*Hehehehehehehehehe…*
"Wh-wha?"
*Rise and shine you worthless lump of dough…your FAMILY is waiting…heheheheheheheheh…*
Brave shot up in bed, hand grasping at his chest as he gasps for air. His eyes franticly looking around, his vision hazy from slumber.
What was that??? Was HE going to do something??? What does HE want???
*cough cough*
His breathing got faster and faster even as he choked on nothing.
He-he needed to calm down.
He took a deep breath.
1…2…3
And let it out.
Another breath
1…2…3
Let it out…
He did this for who knows how long, at least until his breathing felt less like an Olympic sport. He kept a hand on his chest, trying to use his calming magic on himself…it didn’t work. It never worked on himself. Only on others. He remembers when he used a little bit on Berry when she was sad about not finding the Cake Hound after hours of searching. It wasn’t much, but it seemed to help her, and that was more than enough for him.
…speaking of Berry…
He looked around him, expecting to find Berry snuggling against him like she usually does in her sleep…but she wasn’t there…none of the others were there…he wasn’t even in (or on, he never actually sleeps in them) his sleeping bag…he…was on a bed. A large, slightly stiff but still mostly comfy brown bed, with way too many pillows on one side and the blankets being pulled to the other…and it also strangely smelled of Strawberries, Milk Ice Cream and Ginger ale..a weird,yet familiar and comforting combo. His head slowly lifted to look around the rest of the room…and he could confirm that this…definitely wasn’t the tent…
The room itself was pretty big, with decently sized, very organized bookshelves lined up against one of the walls, along with a study desk and a few scrolls, there was another section not far from it, a group of small, makeshift beanbag chairs on a large, handcrafted circle rug along with a small radio set on a mini stool, the perfect place to relax. On the other side of the room, there were a bunch of drawings and pictures on the walls…all of which looked…way too familiar.
At the sight of those pictures, Brave bolted out of the bed, careful not to damage it as he practically teleported to that wall…as soon as he did, his whole being froze.
There were pictures of him on the wall, along with Berry, Wizard…and three others.
The Cheese Master…GingerBright…and GingerDozer…
All of them just sharing funny and embarrassing moments in these photos…all of them he rememberers clearly.
That one time Bright nearly burned down the Tavern kitchen when she tried to boil water on the stove, forcing Wizard to have to cast a rain cloud spell before it could spread to the main room, Brave remembered hearing the commotion, going to check it out but immediately BOOKING it to go get Cheese Master instead, with him offering to teach Bright how to use the stove next time, so she doesn’t do that again…and right in the next photo it showed that she did it again, and that time she was just POURING that water. How she did it? He’ll never know.
Or that one time Berry and Dozer made adorable little rope crowns! They didn’t have many flowers around the Tavern, or in the Castle in general, so they had to make due with what they got! And they did amazing, with Berry’s rope crowns looking like something royalty would wear, each knot or braid representing a trait she loved about the receiver of said crown, Wizard was the only other one who understood it, but he sadly wouldn’t explain what it meant to any of them. Dozer’s crowns were a bit more shabby, with him, much like the rest of them, not understanding the meaning of it, but they were still adorable nonetheless.
And there was also that one time, when he, Berry and Wizard brought in a whole slew of new refugees to the Tavern, Bright and The Cheese Master decided to have a party, bringing out all their finest cheeses in celebration for not only their return, but also but arrival of the refugees, whom of which were thankfully unharmed for the most part. They all stayed up so late, he remembers his siblings being exhausted by the end of it, including Bright! And since The Cheese Master was busy cleaning up the Tavern, that just left him to carry all of them back to bed, not that he minded anyway. It was nice.
…
But these were all memories…
Fragments of the past…
This room…their room…a piece of the past…a piece of the past that was destroyed along with the rest of the Tavern…this should all be destroyed…how was he even here!? WHY-
"Oh Bravey~! Rise and- Oh! Hello!"
He flinched and very slowly turned around to look at the holder of this voice…it…can’t be her…right…?
"The others have and I have been waiting for hours! You really tuckered yourself out on that refugee rescue didn’t ya? Hehe."
She was still as bright as her name. Her choco colored hair and gingerbread dress flowing in the nonexistent wind as she joyfully swayed from side to side, never really being able to stay still. Her smile so big and bright it might as well be a star straight plucked straight from the sky, same with her eyes, her big, purple eyes that always sparkled with joy and wonder and hope…and now…a hint of concern.
"Bravey? Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Heh…" She took a step forward, a slightly nervous smile on her face as she reached out.
He didn’t move…he couldn’t.
He wanted to move forward, to prove she was real, to hold her living, BREATHING body in his arms once again.
He wanted to back away, to run as fast as he could away from her. From THIS as fast as possible. There’s no way this is real. There is just no way. And he doesn’t want to shatter whatever bit of hope he has left by confirming this is fake. That she is fake.
He wanted to scream, shout, ask questions-do ANYTHING.
But he just…couldn’t.
"H-hey-Brave???" She looked even more concerned, stopping dead in her tracks, debating wether or not she should continue in fear of making things worse…and that’s when he realized his vision was blurry…he slowly and gently reached a hand up to his face…he…he was…crying…
*Pathetic*
"…*hic*…"
Bright looked more panicked, despite Brave and Bright’s many similarities, it seemed one of the few things they didn’t share was the ability to comfort others. While Brave was an expert at it, basically any Cookie he’s comforted has left the interaction with a heart full of hope and happiness, Bright couldn’t comfort someone to save her life, she’s tried with a few of the older refugees before, but that ended up making it worse, so now she’s kinda scared of these sorts of situations.
She turned her head and shouted.
"G-GUYS! Help! Brave’s- uh- crying?? I need help here!"
Brave’s hearing got gradually more muffled, he could barely register Bright rushing out of the room to go get the others. He just kept on crying and crying and crying. His body shaking, yet unmoving as the voice in his head got louder and louder and louder.
*Pathetic little WEAKLING! Heheheh…you can’t even keep it together in front of your SISTER huh? Imagine how SHE feels about this hmm? You know how she is~*
Brave shut his eyes so hard his head started hurting, "*Choked sobs*"
He suddenly felt a large, but gentle hand on his shoulder, making him snap his head up, even through his panic and blurry vision, he could tell it was Cheese Master, and he was saying something. Something he still couldn’t hear over HIM.
*Oooooh…You’re making them all worried, heheheh, all because you COULDN’T. KEEP. IT. IN. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH*
He flinched at those words, finally being able to move and choosing to cover his ears, like it would stop the onslaught of truth HE was throwing at him. He wanted to hide away. He wanted to leave. To turn to nothing right then and there. They shouldn’t have to see him like this.
He felt the hand on his shoulder give him a gentle squeeze, finally snapping him out of his thoughts even if he didn’t move. His hands still over his ears and his eyes still overflowing with tears, trying and failing to fully make out the blurry figures of his "family" in front of him.
Another pair of smaller, more gentle hands gently pried his hands off his ears, it was Strawberry, even through the tears he could see her soft brown eyes, always holding so much love and patience for the Cookies around her. For him.
"…Gin***Brave…?" Her voice was muffled, but…her could hear it.
He choked out a sob, a small gut-wrenching squeak of acknowledgement.
"Th*** there…Just fo*** on ** *oice. Y** **ing great Ging**Brave…"
And listen to her voice he did. With each shaky, broken breath he took, every gentle squeeze from her and Cheese Master, every soft-spoken word that came out of Strawberry’s mouth…HIS words slowly faded into the background, letting him finally focus on the Cookies around him again.
With that, he could finally blink away some of the tears, see everyone slightly clearer now, and he could finally see that his dear sister, her body was tense, not enough for Cookies other than him and Wizard to notice…and yet, she was looking at him with so much kindness and patience that it nearly broke him again. He wanted to ease her worries. Even just a bit, she shouldn’t have to see him like this…
"…B-Be *hic* erry…?"
The tension in her brows softened ever so slightly, her posture loosening up just a tad as she spoke with so much relief.
"I’m here GingerBrave. You did so well little brother…"
Her words were so soft and genuine, he tried to respond, but all that came out was another sob, making him instinctively curl in on himself a bit.
That’s when he felt her slowly let go of his hands, with her carefully sliding hers up along his arms all the way to his shoulders, resting them there after giving them a gentle squeeze, Cheese Master having removed his hand and stepped back somewhere during this without him noticing.
"You can take it slow Brave…" She softly reminded him. "…take your time…there’s no rush…I’m not going anywhere…take as much time as you need."
She slowly moved one of her hands down to to wrap around his waist, while the other one moved to his head, slowly coaxing it on her shoulder. He hesitated at first, but soon he gently wrapped his arms around her in return, his grip featherlight like she’d disappear if he held on any tighter. He muffled his sobs in her hoodie as she held him, humming a small tune that she usually sang to Dozer on the rare occasions he couldn’t fall asleep. It was nice. Comforting. Soothing. With his sobs slowly but surely turning into sniffles, his posture relaxing just a bit more into Strawberry’s hold the longer this goes on, to the point she was practically carrying him once he’s calmed down, too tired to move.
"…Brave? Are you here with me?"
"…Mhm…" His grip on her grew just a little tighter, showing his acknowledgment.
"That’s good…" She hesitated for a moment, seeming to be mulling on something before softly suggesting. "How about we get comfy on the bed? Hmm? We can relax on there, all of us." She slowly stroked his back as she spoke, her touch grounding him further.
He thought about it for a moment…the others were still here…?…They were…watching…?…Right now…he was too tired to worry about that…he’s too tired for this…he needs to relax.
*Muffled* "…Okay…"
She hummed in acknowledgment as she moved to pick him up, careful to not go to fast and startle him in his already fragile state, his face still hidden in the crook of her shoulder as she carried him to the bed, he could hear shuffling as they got closer, knowing it’s probably the others adjusting to pillows and blankets, prepping for their arrival.
Soon, she slowly set him down on the bed, with him involuntarily whining at the temporary loss of comfort from Berry, she seemed to notice his discomfort at the lack of contact, quickly getting on the bed and hugging him once again, letting him nuzzle his face back into her shoulder. He could feel the others silently get on the bed, with Dozer laying his head on his side, Wizard and Bright sitting on opposite sides of Strawberry, and Cheese Master sitting at the edge of the bed, sadly even with how big the bed is, it’s not enough to fit the kids and Cheese Master.
He…enjoyed this. This was nice. Warm. Familiar…he just…wanted to stay like this forever. To not have to worry about anything in the calming presence of his family…but…this is a family long gone…it was destroyed…this…this can’t be real…this has to be another dream…right?
His hold on Strawberry grew just a bit tighter. He wants this to be real…it feels real…but at this point…he’s not sure…
"It’s okay Brave." Berry cooed. "We’re here…we aren’t leaving…"
"…I-I’m sorry…" his voice sounded as fragile as sugar glass as he apologized. He…doesn’t know what else he can even say to her, to them. They shouldn’t have to see him like this.
"There’s nothing to be sorry for." She sternly stated. "We’re just worried…" she paused for a moment, letting her words sink in before asking, "Could you…tell us what happened?"
His breath caught in his throat, his form tensing as Berry promptly hugged him tighter, waiting patently for his response.
"…I…"
She stayed silent, continuing to rub his back and hug him. Grounding him.
"…This shouldn’t be real…"
She seemed a bit startled by this, she looked around at the others, with them looking equally concerned, with Wizard speaking up this time, his voice softer than usual and a bit hoarse with how long he hasn’t spoken.
"…W-what do you mean by that…? Of course we’re real. This is real."
Brave stayed silent for a moment, trying to think of the right words to say to them, before taking a breath.
"…The Tavern should be gone…I shouldn’t be here…it’s been months since the Tavern was destroyed…since…" He curled a bit more into himself, with Berry holding him tighter, still silent. After a moment, he turned his head to look at The Cheese Master, with him looking a bit surprised at first, before softening a bit, concern being etched into his expression…
"…You died along with the Tavern…the walls caved in on everyone during a sudden Sheriff attack…including you…me and my siblings were the only ones who survived the attack…the only ones who’d escaped…" His expression grew more hallow as he went on, a stark contrast to his voice, growing more pained and fragile with every word, filled with hopelessness and sadness, just barely above a whisper…
The Cheese Master looked stunned, eyes wide as he looked at him. Speechless. Not knowing what to say to that…same with everyone else. Brave silently observed their reactions. Dozer’s was one of horror, with him being so young, not knowing the full extent of the Witch’s cruelty. The World’s cruelty. Wizard’s shock was more evident than anything else, never really expecting bright and juvenile little GingerBrave to have such thoughts, probably thinking what he was saying was some sort of really really bad dream. Bright had both hands over her mouth, looking away from the rest of them, being on the brink of tears as she imagined that whole scene play out, with The Cheese Master quickly appearing on her side of the bed and offering her a hug and a gentle smile, that of which she quickly accepted. And lastly was Strawberry, her expression was soft, tender, concerned, calm and composed…a stark contrast to how she was shaking, it was barely noticeable…but still there. She was trembling ever so slightly, her hold on GingerBrave tightening ever so slightly as she looked at him with such a calm expression…though…he could clearly see the pain and heartbreak behind her eyes at his words.
"…There’s more than that…isn’t there…?" Her voice trembled ever so slightly as she rubbed his back. Quietly coaxing him into telling them more, even just a little bit more.
"…yes…"
"…Are you willing to share it…? Or do you need a minute?"
He thought about it for a moment…if…if he gave himself another moment to relax…he might never want to speak up again…he would just stay in her embrace, forever not giving them the answers they wanted…needed…
"…Cheese Master wasn’t the only one who died…"
Berry held him tighter as the rest of them snapped their full attention back to Brave, not like their focus strayed from him in the first place.
"…After the "incident" …we set off, with the rest of us surviving off of scraps of food and Wizard’s rain magic for water, always finding small, safe spaces to camp at before heading out again. We did this for a whole month. We were in search of something…something we all gave up on as soon as we made a home in this Tavern." He took a deep breath, "The Window."
The other kids looked shocked at the mention of this, as soon as they found a home in the Tavern, the thought of escaping the Castle had slipped their minds, they had grown comfortable with the warmth and safety the Tavern provided, not wanting to leave that behind in exchange for something that could and would most likely crumble them.
The Cheese Master on the other hand looked worried. He’s heard stories of the Window, but from where they are in the Castle, sadly he’s never gotten the luxury to gaze upon it, since he never strayed too far from his beloved home. But…he was more concerned for them than anything. He knew these children were the adventurous types, they were the ones that suggested they go on "Missions" in the first place, being a bit bored with always being confined within the Tavern walls after just a few days. But the fact that they all had the original goal of reaching the mythical Window, of escaping the Witch’s Castle…they were so young. The eldest, Strawberry, not even reaching 14. And they were all working toward a near impossible deathly goal before they met him here…that just makes him more relieved he agreed to let them stay when they asked for it…he doesn’t even want to know what would’ve happened to his kids if he didn’t…
"…After that month…" GingerBrave continued. "We…set up camp for the night, I, Dozer and Wizard went to get the some flammable materials for a campfire, while Strawberry and Bright went to go find some rations, any sort of food we could eat for the night so we wouldn’t use up our long-term rations, scraps of food we saved from the Tavern…" He narrowed his eyes as he bitterly spat out his next words. "That was a mistake."
The others stayed silent…all but the victim of this story.
"…W-what do you mean by that?" GingerBright meekly poked her head out from Cheese Master’s embrace, looking at him with big, anxious eyes. Like she could almost feel who this story was about.
He turned his head back toward her, his gaze softening at the sight of her…remembering what happened next.
"By the time me, Dozer and Wizard got back, you and Berry were nowhere to be seen, which was very unusual, but we paid it no mind…" He tried his best to keep his voice soft and steady as to not stress her out more, he doesn’t want her to freak out more than he knows she will. "We waited for hours. With no word from you two whatsoever, at that point, the moon was high, Dozer already fell asleep. So we decided to hide Dozer away in a safer area before going out in search of you. We searched for hours, more than we’ve waited. We searched practically the entire level, to no avail, but we weren’t gonna give up…that’s when we heard screams." He held on to Berry tighter at the memory, a memory he oh so wishes he could just forget. She just held onto him tighter, with Dozer even lightly hugging him from behind this time instead of resting his head there, also offering his comfort. "Me and Wizard rushed there immediately, we got there just in time to see Berry desperately reach out to Bright…" He took a steadying breath. "…As she…got taken by the Witch herself..."
Everyone in the room gasped in horror, no longer being able to keep silent. With Bright herself looking mortified, Cheese Master held on to her trembling form, she looked like she wanted to look away from Brave, to curl into herself as her overactive mind imagines all of this vividly…but she couldn’t. She needed to know more…she needed to know what happened to…herself…
"…what?"
"…That’s not it…" His eyes softened further, extremely remorseful for all of this, wanting to hug her, comfort her. But he couldn’t, he himself could barely keep it together from the story, he can’t help her. "As she was picking you up, right as she lifted you up to her mouth, I rushed forward at full speed, trying to reach you. I ran and ran and ran and ran and ran, ran and jumped by all the obstacles, ran all the way up her arm…I tried to reach you…and I did…I saved you…every part of you…" He shed a tear, then another, then another, his eyes filled with remorse and regret as he averted his gaze, unable to look her in the eye as he whispered. "…every part except your head…"
She sat in Cheese Master’s arms, stunned, speechless, horrified, mortified. Eyes wide with pure fear as she imagined everything. Shaky hands going up to her mouth, eyes not leaving Brave even once as Cheese Master squeezes her tighter, whispering sweet reassurances that she’s here, she’s fine, that this wouldn’t happen to her here.
Brave on the other hand, could barely keep himself together, tears falling like waterfalls as he softly apologizes again and again and again, only slightly calming down when Berry and Dozer hugged him tighter…oh…oh…Dozer.
"….T- *hic* there’s more…"
"You don’t have to share it right now…you’re barely keeping it together as it is…" Berry sounded calm, but there was a very noticeable hint of worry in her voice, one that she barely tried to conceal.
"…I…I want to…" he admitted…even if this does hurt…telling this to someone else has…made the weight on his heart feel just a little lighter…
She softly hummed in response, letting him take a deep breath before continuing.
"…After…that…we all went back to Dozer and set off again. Deciding to take as little stops as possible to *hic* ensure our arrival at the Window, and whenever we do take breaks we have one of us stay up at night to keep watch. With me, Strawberry and W-wizard taking turns, letting Dozer get some well needed rest…" He took another breath, steadying his voice, "W-we did that for about another 2 weeks…staying up, scavenging for food while trudging up toward that Window, taking a break after a few days for 6 hours at max before continuing, we were all exhausted. All of us. Even me…but eventually…we made it." He softly smiled at the memory. "We were so happy, filled with so much joy and hope that I felt energized enough to run laps, heh." That’s when his smile slowly faded again, the tears not stopping as he turns his gaze to his "little" brother, his eyes being filled with sadness and anger for what happened next as he looked back up at him with those small, innocent eyes, making his heart break even more. "But then…right as we were celebrating…right as we were about to leave…the Witch came back…" the others looked scared, especially Dozer, who looked up into his eyes, waiting for his "fate" as he hugged him tighter. That made his heart break even more. "She…she took Dozer…right as he was getting up on that Window. We ran after him, we really did. As he got pulled up, we formed a chain of Cookies, I was at the top holding on to Dozer, Berry was in the middle and Wizard was at the end. We pulled and pulled and pulled…and it almost worked…" his eyes narrowed as he spat out, "It would have worked if that stupid CAT didn’t trip Wizard…causing us to topple and…lose our hold on Dozer…" his voice got softer, but you could still hear his burning rage. "She…she said something about looking for you, before looking at me with both interest and distain…then she just…walked away. Eating you whole as she did so, leaving us to watch that and fight her Cat." He gritted his teeth and huffed bitterly, "And you know what she said about Dozer? What that monster had the audacity to say?" They all stayed silent. "…She said Dozer tasted stale…STALE. She had the gall to say Dozer was stale. Like she didn’t just eat a child…" His fist clenched around Berry’s hoodie, startling a small squeak outta her, getting him to immediately let go, nuzzling her on the shoulder and patting her on the spot he squeezed, with her patting his head in return.
He sighed. "…And that just left us with the Cat." he chuckled a bit, not something hallow this time, something more amused. "We took care of that thing in no time flat, me and Wizard got a few hits in, but that was nothing compared to you Berry." He looked up at her with a small, proud smile, with her looking back at him with a slightly surprised expression.
"O-oh? What did I do?" She raised a brow amusedly.
He chuckled a bit, "Oh get this. You singlehandedly killed that thing!"
Everyone’s eyes widened at his words, with Berry herself letting out a surprised gasp, "W-what???"
"Yeah! You rushed forward and absolutely destroyed it! Me and Wizard didn’t even have to do anything for the rest of the fight, we didn’t even have to wait long either. You took it out in, like, 10 minutes! Almost fully uninjured aside from a few minor scratches and bruises!"
She was absolutely speechless. Her eyes being as wide as saucers as she stared at him in pure disbelief, and that made him giggle more, the weight on his just feeling just a bit lighter. Then came along the very confused rambling of Wizard.
"Wh-Wha-HUH!? H-HOW!? She’s extremely powerful, yes, carrying that lollipop is a near impossible task for any Cookie other than you and her, but not even she would be able to destroy IT! That thing is HUGE!"
That just made him laugh harder.
"DON’T LAUGH AT ME! I DEMAND ANSWERS GINGERBRAVE!" He snatched Brave out of Berry and Dozer’s collective embraces, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him back and fourth. This action making his laughter worse rather than better.
The others even started giggling from this interaction, the heavy air in the room finally lifting as they all enjoyed the sight of a VERY confused Wizard practically strangling a giggling Brave as he demands answers.
After a while of this, Dozer actually decided to speak up, currently being snuggled between their two sisters. "Hey, Brother Brave?"
Wizard finally stopped shaking him to let him respond, dropping him onto the mattress, still giggling. "hehehe, Y-yeah Doze? What’s up?"
"Is there any more to the story? What came after that? Did you escape?" His eyes shined with excitement and curiosity. Oh Dozer, Brave almost forgot how much of a curious Cookie you are.
"Hehehe. Yeah actually! We did escape!" He changed to a sitting position, laying his back on Wizard who LOUDLY protested.
"H-HEY! S-"
"So after Berry killed that Cat, we all headed out the Window." He interrupted Wizard quickly, resisting the strong urge to tease him about this as he continued. "We slowly drifted down with the help of Wizard and some of his wind magic, I still remember that night, clear as…well, day. Heh." He looked up to the ceiling, imagining the night sky. "It was breathtaking. Trees were all around us, the outside is not short of vegetation like the Castle…there were lush green trees, bushes, flowers, grass all around us, the ground outside was nothing like we’d imagined, it was soft, a bit pokey due to the grass, but softer then the floors here. And the sky was just as beautiful…if not more. The Moon was out, it’s soft light shining on all it’s surroundings, on the ground, through the leaves on the trees. It was just breathtaking."
The others softened at that, even the struggling Wizard. Their eyes all gazing upward, imagining such a beautiful scene…it truly did sound absolutely breathtaking. Something that would be so unfamiliar to them, yet, it is a comfort to imagine it…even if they would never reach it.
"After that." Brave got all their attention back onto him, "We traveled far, far away from the Castle. Barely sparring a glance back at it as be walked, then ran away. Despite what we’d just went through, despite every step we took feeling like pure agony, despite not yet knowing our next course of action…" He softly smiled. "We felt Hope. A strong sense of hope. Like that little spark that nearly flickered out back at the Castle bursted to light as we kept moving."
The others looked at him with small and wide smiles alike, their eyes all sharing the same emotion: Relief. They were all relieved to hear that his horrid dream had a good ending, and they were even more relieved to see him happy and hopeful again after what had been said just moments prior.
"We camped out in the wild for weeks." He continued. "Slowly but surely getting used to living on our own out there. It wasn’t easy at first, with us not really knowing what was poisonous and what wasn’t, and nearly being ambushed by these things called "Cake Creatures" just the next morning. But we adapted quickly, with Berry and Wizard observing the surrounding Cakes and Blueberry Birds to see what they eat, and trying it ourselves! (Not before getting attacked again of course). And as for attacks, we quickly got used to their attack patterns, making it pretty easy to fight them off after a few days." He chuckled at the thought, he still remembered that one time during the 2nd week, Wizard got so surprised by a baby Cake Hound that he Lightning Blasted Brave with so much power that it left a large mark on the ground, Brave somehow made it out of that mostly unharmed, with him only getting a few temporary scars and mild lightheaded-ness from that. Buuuuuuut, he did tease Wizard about it for the next week, so he’s gonna spare him some mercy now and not tell everyone about that. "After about a few weeks, we got temporarily separated by a few hoards of Cake Creatures. With me getting chased down by the majority of them, I eventually got backed into a corner, where I knew I had to fight. It wasn’t all that hard to be honest, just time consuming and a bit exhausting." He rubbed the back of his head out of embarrassment, "Theeeeeeeeeen I kinda…fainted. Hehe"
Everyone there looked at him in absolute *shock*. For different reasons.
The Cheese Master and Dozer being more concerned than shocked, with them thinking about his safety and the fact he was open to attacks from those "Cake Creatures".
Berry, Wizard and Bright on the other hand were flabbergasted he got knocked out AT ALL. They haven’t known him for that long, but they’ve seen what Brave can take in battle, they’ve witnessed the amount of times he’s pulled multiple all nighters IN A ROW and STILL have enough energy to bounce all around the place like that wouldn’t tire any normal Cookie! They have never once seen GingerBrave faint, not once. He must’ve been poisoned by one of those "Cake Creatures" or something. Either that or he was really, really, really tuckered out…which now that they think about it, would make a lot of sense given what he went through.
"Aaaaaaannnnnyway." He snapped them all out of their thoughts once again. "After that, I got woken up by friendly little guys called "Sugar Gnomes" !"
Wizard lit up, recognizing the name.
"Sugar Gnomes? You mean the Sugar Gnome Artisans that built everything in the outside world!?" His eye lit up as he spoke, with him remembering all the books he’s read on them and their creations.
Brave giggled. "Yup! They, along with Berry and you, found me and brought me to an abandoned ruined Kingdom! With most of everything being in ruins. They said something about ‘Making this Kingdom great again’! Saying we were the place’s new founders!"
Dozer looked up at him with sleepy, yet sparkly eyes. "That’s so cool brother!"
Brave looked back at him and smiled more, clearly being much happier than before. "Yeah! It really was! After that, we helped them fight off some monsters, they built us a house to stay in, theeeeen we chased this cute little cake hound that stole a crown from the ruins." Brave looked back at the others, his smile so bright it could rival Bright’s. "Then I met soooo many new Cookies! I met this rough and tough thief called Chili Pepper Cookie! She was really really speedy, and she used these cool daggers to attack! Oh! She also liked to tease you a lot. Calling you ‘Pointy Hat’ all the time. Hehe." He looked at Wizard, with him gasping in offense, looking like he was about to argue with him before he continued. "Then there’s Custard Cookie the Third! ‘The third’ being a very important part of his name. He’s a healer, and he’s surprisingly really good at healing magic for and 8 year old. He’s gonna help us rebuild this old Kingdom!" He thought for a moment, eyes lighting up even more. "Oh! And lastly, there’s Blueberry Milk Cookie! He’s this blue-doughed, cool looking, floating Cookie! He has these cool, bowling-pins and juggling-balls he uses to throw at enemies!"
The others smile as he rants, happy to listen.
Brave continues to happily tell them how he met these three, about all the random things they talked about, about all the cool places they went to in search of the Crowned Cake Hound (Which admittedly wasn’t that many, but they were still cool!), leaving out some details as to not scare them. And soon, they find themselves huddled up in a pile on the bed, listening to Brave finally finish his little rant.
"And then we set up camp…and…that’s really it! *yawn*." He stretched a bit, careful not to hit any of the others as they giggled.
"Sleepy huh?" Bright asked, being in a much better mood than earlier.
Brave giggled, "Yeeaah…maybe hehe."
Strawberry snuggled into him, hugging onto him like a little koala bear. "Well, we don’t have any refugees in the Tavern right now anyway, we can take a nap."
"Yeah, we don’t mind." Wiz responded, leaning on Brave with his arm (kinda) wrapped around an already sleeping Dozer. "I barely slept yesterday anyway. Might as well make up for that now."
Brave, Cheese Master and Strawberry all glared at him lightly, as if saying, "Really? Again?"
Wiz blinked at them, "What??? I just needed to finish up research for a new spell!"
Brave and Cheese Master groaned as Berry just sighed, already used to Wizard’s bad sleeping habits.
"Whatever, at least you’re all sleeping now." Cheese Master said, holding all of them in his arms.
Brave and the others nodded. With Brave being…happy.
Content.
Safe.
This…was real
Everything he told them…was just a bad dream.
His eyelids slowly fluttered closed, with him leaning into the comfort of his family.
This is real.
That was his last thought before his eyes fully closed…
And his last thought before his eyes snapped open again.
He stayed still, his body going rigged as he looked above him…
He…he was in the tent…
He turned his gaze to the side, seeing Chili sleeping in a sitting position, holding Custard in her arms…
…Chili…was together…with Custard…
Brave looked down and saw Strawberry, holding onto him like a little koala bear, snuggling into him and murmuring random nonsense in her peaceful sleep.
…they were both sleeping on their sleeping blankets…
"Wow kiddo, ya really mastered that?? I’m impressed!"
…Blueberry?
He turned his gaze toward the tent entrance, focusing on the small peephole, seeing two blue figures by the fire, with them both sounding and looking so happy.
"Uh, duh. Of course I mastered it! I specialize in it after all!"
…Wizard…
He slowly tuned out their conversation, his ears ringing and his heart heavy as tears slowly fall down his face.
…so they were real…
…that…was just another…stupid…stupid dream…
He doesn’t turn his head. Doesn’t move as he quietly sobs, with Berry unconsciously snuggling into him, trying to help him, even in sleep.
…why did that have to be fake…
…why?…
…please…
…I’m sorry…
…please take me back…
To Be Continued…
Notes:
Please leave your opinions, criticisms and just general comments down below! I’ll be sure to read and respond to all of em when I can!
Love ya’ll.
Thank you for sticking around.
KC, out!
Chapter 8: Unexpected Abilities
Summary:
The not-Guardian gets to know more about his not- Kids! And *geez* are they *weird*.
Notes:
Hiiiiii! I’m back again with another Chapter! Thank you so much for waiting so long! I’ll try my best to write Chapter 9 sooner lol.
Luv u guys :D!
(2025, 11, 4)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"Oooooh, so that’s how you draw it." Wizard was looking at a glyph Shadow Milk drew on the ground with a random stick they found, with it looking extremely complicated and hard to draw.
"Mhm! Yup! Might take a while for a beginner though, I can teach ya how to draw it step by step back at the Kingdom." Shadow quickly used the stick to scribble it out, making sure to keep his distance and not touch it. "Oh, and teleportation glyphs like this take up a lotta energy and magic too. The longer the distance, the more it takes."
He looked up at Wiz, whom of which was now writing in a…notebook…? Wait-WHAT!?
Shads nearly spat out whatever nonexistent drink he had in his mouth. "Wait-kid-where’d you get that???"
Wizard looked up from his notebook in confusion, "Hmm?"
Shadow taps the top of his notebook with the other end of the stick. "This!!! You didn’t have that before!" He and Wiz were talking all night and not once had the kid taken this thing out.
Wizard looks down at the book, "Oh! I forgot I haven’t told you!" Wiz puts the book and pen down on the log before lifting his hat up a bit, "I put quite a few things in here! Mostly just books and scrolls and writing utensils." He reached in and pulled out another notebook, this one being all his notes on the different types of Elemental Magic, then he pulled out a scroll on wand crafting, then a large, heavy looking book on Dessert Magic. "These are only a few of the things I keep in here, I also have a few books on magical side effects and other magical stuff, maybe a few scrolls on survival a few extra papers and notebooks and-"
"Kid." Shadow interrupted, causing Wizard to look up and see the look on his face, he looks like this just broke his brain. "How did you store all this in there? Didn’t you say you didn’t know how to draw a Pocket Dimension Glyph???"
Wizard thought about it for a moment, before shrugging. "I don’t know. I found this hat randomly at some point when I was younger, I do sense a bit of Magic coming from it, so there’s a chance it’s already enchanted. I kinda stopped looking into it after my first year of owning it, nearly broke my brain 100 times over." He put the hat back on as he spoke, a tad frustrated that he couldn’t find out why he could store so much stuff in here, remembering how he almost burned the thing outta frustration before Berry had to drag him away from it.
Shadow snickered at that, "Yeah. It’s already breaking my brain and I just found out about this."
"Mornin Idiots!"
They both groaned and turned to the source of the noise.
"Morning Chili/Hot Head."
She snickered, stretching a bit while speaking. "It’s still, what? 5 AM? Sun’s barely up. Shouldn’t you two be gettin shuteye or something?"
Wiz started putting his stuff back in his hat as Shadow shrugged. "We were out on patrol duty. Forgot to tell you and the others about it last night."
She nodded, reaching into her hair and grabbing one of her daggers, going over to sit on a rock and check on it’s sharpness. "Well next time remember to tell us. Kay Mr. Floaty Face? Heh."
Shadow Milk didn’t register her insult at all, looking at her in shock as she took out another dagger from her hair and began sharpening both of them, with Wizard also being a bit confused, or more concerned really.
"Uhhhhh…you keep your daggers in your hair?" Wiz patted Shadow’s back as he hesitantly asked, not knowing if she was gonna throw one of them at him for asking of not.
She looked back at him wit a smirk, snickering a bit. "Of course I do Lightning Rod! Where else would I stash em?"
"I don’t know. Maybe on one of your million belts?" Wiz gestures to her, raising an unamused brow. "I mean. Come on. That has to hurt right???"
She barked out as laugh and shook her head. "Nope! Not a bit. Ya haven’t even seen the other sharp stuff I shove in ‘ere." She holds both her daggers in one hand as she digs through her hair, pulling out a decently sized axe. Leaving Wizard and Shadow speechless.
She snickered at their shock, shoving it back in her hair. "Oh come on, that’s not even it. There’s more-"
"THERE’S MORE!?" Shadow shouted from where he was, his eyes wide as he finally processed what she’s said to them.
She started cackling.
Shadow flew away from Wizard and over to Chill in a flash, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her back and fourth as she kept on cackling. "YOU. ARE. BREAKING. THE. LAWS. OF. PHYSICS."
She kept on laughing, with Wiz just gawking at her from behind, speaking up slightly. "Uhh…she also has no trace of magic on her either."
Shads almost snapped his head back 180 degrees. Almost. But he had a tiny tiny amount of self control left.
"AND YOU AREN’T EVEN USING MAGIC!!!!!!!!!!" Not enough self control to not shout though.
She just kept on laughing about it, tears forming in the corners of her eyes from how hard she was laughing. Why was she LAUGHING about this???? She was breaking the laws of reality WITHOUT MAGIC! He could get Wizard’s hat, yeah, it was probably enchanted or something. BUT NOT CHILI!!!!!!!!! HOW ON EARTHBREAD WAS CHILI DOING THIS!?!?
"Uhhh…everything okay here?" Brave?
Wiz, Shads and Chili all turned their heads to the tent, where Brave, Berry and Custard were standing, with Custard and Berry looking a bit drowsy from having just woken up.
"We heard you shouting about something. Was there an-" Brave looked ready for battle, having his cane raised, right before lowering it and squinting at the scene before him. "…Are we…interrupting something here?"
Shadow dropped a still laughing Chili (Whom of which has actually started laughing HARDER), sweating a bit as he turned to them. "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-"
"He just found out that my hat can contain more than it seems, and we then both found out that CHILI PEPPER COOKIE can do the same. With her hair." Wizard cut in, also looking like this was breaking his brain.
"Yeah. That."
Brave, Berry and Custard all looked kinda shocked at this, turning to Chili. "Wait-really?" Brave asked.
Chili slowly calmed down from laughing, now leaning on the rock she was previously sitting on. "Yup! Showed them this bad boy too!" She pulled out that axe yet again, grinning as the trio gawked at it.
"Woah ho! That’s so cool Chili!" Brave’s smile seemed to brighten up the whole site, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Shadow was still gawking at Chili when he noticed her smile soften. Just a tad. He wasn’t even sure if he saw that clearly or not. But his eyesight was near perfect. There was no way he mistook that.
She soon noticed his gaze and turned her attention back to him, holding her axe up. "HEY GEEZER! Stop starrin and do somethin! Or I’ll chuck this axe at ya!"
Shads immediately floated back, knowing she was probably gonna actually do it. "Kay! Geez! Chill out Chili!"
The others were giggling at the situation, just being amused.
Shadow looked at the rising sun and sighed. "Okay! If you want me to do something. I’ll reheat breakfast, everyone’s awake anyway, so why not?" He reached into his satchel and grabbed two containers of something, one with Pie and the other with Omurice and flying back over to the fire. Listening as the others headed over to Chili, bombarding her with questions like, "What else do you have in there?" And "Is it heavy?" And "Do you think you could carry me in there as well?" (The last one being asked by Custard). And Chili answered them with, "A whole lotta stuff.", "Nope! Don’t feel a thing." And "Probably yeah, but I ain’t gonna test it out you little Brat. Heh."
Shadow soon finished reheating breakfast, turning around, about to call them over, when he saw they were already sat in a loose circle, with Chili and Custard leaning against the rock, Berry leaning against Brave and Wiz sitting somewhere between them, his arms moving wildly as he tries to explain to Chili why her hair thing isn’t normal. Blue snickers at the sight, deciding to float over instead.
"Heeeey kiddos! And Chili." He set the food down in front of everyone, grabbing extra containers they can use as plates and handing them to each of them, along with utensils, each of them thanking him before he went to sit down, opposite of Wizard.
Brave and Chili ate all their food extremely quickly, finishing in about 5 minutes or less before returning to whatever conversation they were having, having already switched the topic once Shadow arrived. While Berry, Wiz, Custard and Shadow all savored their food like normal Cookies, taking their sweet sweet time with it.
After a while, maybe an hour or so, they all finish their food, with Shadow and Wiz quickly washing the dishes they had before everyone started packing up.
While Shadow was packing up his own tent, he got a good look at Brave.
…The kid looked exhausted.
There were bags under his eyes, they weren’t all that noticeable, but they were there.
His stance was more tense than before, like he was ready for an attack or something, his hands twitching every once in a while…
…Did he get any sleep at all…?
He was about to go up to him and ask when he heard-
"Blueberry!" Custard?
He turned to Custard, who was running up to him with something behind his back. "Mr. Blueberry!"
Shadow smiled, "Yeah kiddo? What’s up?" He floated a lower and crouched down, so he could be on eye level with him.
Custard cleared his throat before proudly announcing, "I. Custard Cookie the Third. Have a present for you!"
Shadow blinked a few times, quite surprised. "A gift?"
Custard nodded. "Indeed!" He then took out what was behind his back. A small crown, kinda like his own, but a bit wonky, it was made from flowers, twigs, leaves and grass. "I have crafted this for you!" He blushed a bit, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I hope you like it. Hehe…"
Custard glanced back at Shadow, only to see him starring at the little crown, eyes wide and pupils blown, the ends of his hair even formed hearts as he silently admired the little crown.
And what the little royal couldn’t see was how much Shadow was freaking out inside. Currently, he was screaming and crying and vowing to kill for this child. OH MY HEAVENS WHY WAS THIS SO CUTE-
"Umm…Mr. Blueberry?"
Shadow immediately snapped out of it, blinking a few times before gently taking the crown with both hands, said hands trembling slightly. "I-I love it kiddo!" His signature (not nightmare inducing) smile formed on his face, patting Custard’s head with one of his hands. "It’s absolutely amazing."
Custard’s eyes shines, leaning into the head pat with a big smile on his face. "R-Really!?"
"Yes!" He very carefully put the crown on with his other hand, showing it off with dramatic flare. "I shall keep it till the ends of time my liege! Such a brrrrrrrrrrilliant gift shall not go to waste!"
That made Custard brighten up even more, suddenly hugging onto him tightly as he giggled. "Hehe. Thank you my wonderful subject!" He even nuzzled into him a bit, practically glowing with happiness.
Shadow blinked a few times, stunned by the sudden hug, before he slowly wrapped his arms around the kid, holding him close and looking down at him fondly. "No problem. Heh."
The two stayed like that for a few minutes, just hugging onto eachother as everyone else finishes packing up, with Chili quickly helping him with his tent, and surprisingly, not teasing him for this.
When everyone was just about finished, Shadow floated up with Custard securely tucked in his arms, the kid not minding at all as everyone headed off, with Chili and Strawberry taking the lead.
And after a little while longer, with the girls swiftly taking out any and all Cake Creatures. He thought of something, looking back down at the little royal in his arms. "Hey. Kiddo?"
He looked back up at him with big, joyful eyes. "Yes?"
"When did ya even make the crown?" He nods to the crown above his head, having still not taken it off. "I’m pretty sure ya didn’t make it yesterday."
He giggled a bit. "Oh! You see. I made it after I finished helping Strawberry and Brave with our tent! It didn’t take all that long, so I decided to make something for you!" He explained all this happily, even snuggling into Shadow a bit more.
Shadow on the other hand looked down at him in shock, holding him closer. "O-oh? Why’d ya do that?"
"Because I wanted to!"
"…" His smile grew softer, patting his head a little bit. "Heh…Thanks kiddo…"
Custard snuggled into him more as they continued forward. With the day peacefully passing, the girls in front quickly taking out the Creatures and switching places with the other two boys at around noon. Custard requested to be put down at that point, running over to Chili and ordering (begging) her to let him take a ride in her hair. Shadow watched them fondly as he floated at the back of the group, ensuring no one sneaks up behind them.
After a little while longer, Strawberry actually moves to the back of the group with him, just walking shyly alongside him.
He glanced back at her with a smile, "Heya kiddo! Need anything?"
She shook her head, holding her Lolli at the ready. "N-no. Not really I just…wanted to accompany you back here…"
He smiled more, nodding. "Hehe. Kay kiddo. Welcome to the butt of the group."
That made her giggle a little, nodding in thanks before continuing to move forward.
That’s when Shadow actually got a good look at her Lolli, it was massive, the candy itself as big as her head, and he’s seen how hard it can hit…Wasn’t that thing heavy for her? "Hey Berry?"
"Hmm?"
"Ain’t that heavy for ya? I can help you carry it?"
She giggled a bit and shook her head. "Oh! No thanks Blueberry. It’s not heavy for me at all."
He was about to say something when Brave suddenly called from the front. "Yeah! But is will be for you! You won’t be able to carry it anyway!" Wiz was nodding alongside him, completely agreeing with his statement.
Shadow just looked confused, (and slightly offended) "Wait- what? Hey!"
Berry giggled a bit nervously. "Um…well…"
He turned to her, "Are they saying I’m weak?"
She frantically waved one of her hands. "What Nononono! They’re not saying that!"
He titled his head. "Then what are they saying then?"
"…" She looked back down at her Lolli, then at the two in front, both of then giggling and nodding. She then sighed, offering it to Shadow with one hand. "You…can see for yourself if you’d like?"
At this point, the whole group stopped to witness this. Chili and Custard just look curious while the other two looked excited.
Shadow shrugged, reaching out to grab it. "I mean. Why not riiiIIIIIIIIIGGGGHHHT!?" As soon as Berry handed it to him, his hand was practically glued to the ground, he tried to lift it again and again to no avail. It wasn’t even budging in INCH! There was even a decently sized crack around it! How strong IS SHE!?
Wiz and Brave were snickering in the background as Custard and Chili gawked at that, with Chili suddenly appearing behind Berry and with a large smile and sparkle of awe in her eye. "Holy Ovens! Straw, you were carryin THAT this whole time?!"
Berry giggled a little, blushing a bit from he awe. "Hehe. I- yes. I’ve been carrying it around for a few years now."
Shadow snapped his head up. "YEARS!?" He was still tying to get his hand out from under the thing. "Wha- How old are you anyway???"
She walked toward him and effortlessly lifted that thing up with one hand, smiling slightly. "I-I’m 14. And I’m gonna be 15 in about 3 months."
His jaw dropped as he floated back up, starring down at the crack on the ground as he tried to comprehend how this is possible.
Wiz walked over to him and patted his leg (being too short to go any higher), "It’s fine. I stopped trying to figure this out years ago. Don’t bother."
Shadow just looked back at him, then at Berry, still trying to process what just happened. "I- how- What???"
Brave giggled, also walking over. "Yeeaah. No one knows. Hehe."
Berry also giggles, "I don’t know either…sorry…" She fidgeted with her hoodie strings a little, looking a bit embarrassed she didn’t know.
That got Shadow to snap out of it, slowly flying closer and gently patting her head. "Hey. It’s fine kiddo. Not everyone knows why they can do things." He pointed to Chili. "Like her for example."
That made Chili bark out a laugh. "Yeah. I have absolutely no idea why my hair’s like this. Heh."
Strawberry leans into the headpat, smiling shyly as she giggled again. "Hehe…alright."
That made Shadow smile softly, gently scooping her up, still patting her head. The little berry didn’t seem to mind, leaning into him a bit as he carried her, with Brave having already snatched the Lolli from her before she got picked up. Holding it with ease.
Of course, Shadow, Chili and Custard gawked at him for a bit before laughing it off and moving on, with Chili and Brave now taking the lead.
And after a few hours, the sun starts setting, with Blue still holding a sleeping Berry, and Chili holding a sleeping Custard, throwing daggers attached to strings at the Creatures instead of that weird teleportation thing she does…how does she do that anyway…?
Eh, whatever, the answer is probably more reasonable than why she has infinite storage in her hair.
Anyway. Everyone starts unpacking, going through what seems to be their new routine. Gather materials and set up camp, start the fire, eat and chat, then decide who’s going to watch over camp.
He was still at the fire, with Berry…not letting go of Shadow at all. So he’s definitely not doing it tonight.
Wizard was also getting a bit sleepy after using a lot of his magic earlier in the day, and from not sleeping last night. So he wasn’t going to do it tonight.
And Brave…just- no. They managed to force him to sleep with the help of Wiz latching onto him like little baby (which he was very embarrassed about, but if it’ll help Brave get some sleep he’ll gladly do it.). Shadow noted that Brave still looked a bit hesitant, and even a bit nervous as he went into his tent…
…Did something happen last night?
Chili suddenly clapped her hands in front of his face, her voice quieter than usual to not wake the others up. "Hey Geezer. Time of ya to get some shuteye."
He turned to her grumpily. "Stop calling me that hot head."
She snickered. "Alright." She then looked even more smug. "Mr. Floaty Face."
He groaned in frustration, making her laugh a bit more, her laugh being noticeably softer than her usual cackle. "Stoooop iiiiit."
She calms down her laughter slightly, now just snickering. "Fine fine. Only if ya hit the sack. I’m watchin camp today."
Shadow snickered. "Got it ya nag." He giggled a bit. "Geez. Have some respect for your elders!"
"Ya admittin you’re old?"
He stuttered a bit before laughing again. "Oh crumb you! Haha!"
She giggled a bit. "Hurry up and go to sleep already! I don need any distractions."
Shadow giggled again, floating over to her and lightly smacking her on the shoulder. "Night ya troublemaker. Hehe."
She laughed even more, lightly punching him back. "Night ya idiot."
He giggled again before waving to her, heading to his tent and getting in the sleeping bag. Putting down his satchel and closing his eyes.
…Today was nice!
He go to know more about everyone!
Well…they’re insanely strong.
Chili’s hair thing is still weird.
…but…
Today was fun…
…It really was…
And with that. He went to sleep.
To Be Continued…
Notes:
Yes, yes, I know. You are *very* welcome for the fluff.
Anyways- thank you all for reading! This Chapter is a gift to u all lol.
Oh! And I need more ideas for Chapter 9! So please! If u have any ideas (most preferably some traumatizing ideas) then please! Leave them in the comments!
Byyyeeee! Have a nice day/afternoon/night everyone!
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KimCreatesTNL on Chapter 2 Wed 09 Jul 2025 06:42AM UTC
Last Edited Wed 09 Jul 2025 09:01AM UTC
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KimCreatesTNL on Chapter 2 Thu 10 Jul 2025 09:07AM UTC
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