Chapter Text
It was annoyingly loud. Shadow Milk Cookie had his ears covered with both his hands, trying to block out some of the chaos. Pure Vanilla Cookie sat next to the beast, anxiously glancing at the other cookies sitting at the table and his lover. The jester was curled up into a ball, his eyes observing everything happening in the room.
The ancients and beasts got along luckily after figuring out Dark Enchantress Cookies plans, and as a result the two forces teamed up together to defeat a common enemy. Sadly, this made the Crème Republic unhappy, and Clotted Cream Cookie had decided to make everyone’s lives more difficult than it needed to be.
Shadow Milk looked at the discord unraveling before him. Usually he liked chaos, but this was the kind that was just too much. Burning Spice Cookie and Eternal Sugar Cookie were yelling at Clotted Cream Cookie, Hollyberry Cookie was trying to calm them down, Golden Cheese Cookie was siding with Burning Spice and throwing in her own jabs and opinions here and there, Silent Salt Cookie sat with White Lily Cookie, the two conversing in their own world, and Dark Cacao Cookie and Mystic Flour Cookie sat in tense silence due to the situation.
Shadow Milk was sick of it. Darkness slowly curled up the walls, progressively blocking out the light that filtered through the stained glass windows. Another loud scream made the jester snap.
“SHUT UP.” Shadow Milk yelled, the darkness suddenly writhing like snakes. He stood up, his hands now clenched at his sides and glowing with dark moon magic. He let out a low growl at the now silent cookies in the room.
“If you are all done with your useless arguments, I am leaving.” Shadow Milk stood there for a few seconds before storming out of the room. He slammed the door shut, flying down the hallway and away from the crowded room.
Soon, he was outside, flying down from the floating island that the Vanilla Kingdom sat atop of. Shadow Milk landed in the forest below, letting himself sink to the ground. He groaned, frustrating still boiling in his jam.
Every meeting went like this. Clotted Cream would say something stupid, one of the beasts, which was never Shadow Milk Cookie, would begin to argue with the crème republican, and the situation would escalate to a screaming match.
The first time it had happened, Shadow Milk had panicked and teleported out of the room. The second time it happened, he covered his ears and rocked back and forth, trying to ignore the yelling. His actions had caused concern, and he had simply played it off as overstimulating which had seemed to satisfy everyone and make them calm down.
The third time the screaming happened, Shadow Milk had shed a few tears. He had been having a particularly bad day, and the moment he heard the shouts he quickly has a flashback, causing him to cry. Pure Vanilla and Silent Salt were the only two to notice, quickly grabbing him and leading him out the room.
Thankfully, the meeting ended before Shadow Milk Cookie was ready to face the world again, and the jester thanked the witches quietly after hearing the there would be no meeting the next day.
The fourth meeting went the same as the first meeting, resulting in the blue cookie to swiftly make his escape before things got too heated. The fifth meeting was bland, and no screams happened during then. It was the first and last calm one.
Soon, Shadow Milk had learned to ignore the yelling for the most part. Sometimes it was loud enough to where he would have to cover his ears. Surprisingly, instead of his trauma being triggered, he started to become immune to the sound. It was a bittersweet reward in a way.
Now, after various meetings, Shadow Milk had grown tired of having to leave or cover his ears every time. His outburst had clearly left the other cookies shocked, which allowed him to escape yet again. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to do the same thing next time.
Shadow Milk laid down in the grass, closing his eyes and letting his emotions simmer down. He always enjoyed taking time to himself. He loved Pure Vanilla Cookie, but sometimes a bit of an alone time was needed so he could regroup his thoughts and feelings before he freaked out and broke down.
Shadow Milk sighed, letting the soft breeze and summer air wash over him. His muscles relaxed, and his senses dulled. The jester was so immersed in his own repose that he didn’t notice the cookie approaching him until it was too late.
The smell of burnt butter filled the air, and Shadow Milk barely had anytime to react before his body was thrashing on the ground, electricity snaking through his dough. He let out a choked gasp, curling up in pain once the electricity stopped.
Shadow Milk opened his eyes and looked to see Dark Enchantress Cookie standing above him, dark magic pulsing around her staff. He grimaced, attempting to stand, only for his body to give out. He grunted as his face hit the grass, frustration once again pulsing inside his heart.
“Oho! How sad! The mighty beast of deceit defeated by some mere electricity. How very unfortunate for you, Shadow Milk Cookie. But rather fortunate for me.” Dark Enchantress Cookie laughed. She held out her staff, tilting Shadow Milks chin up with the tip of it. She smirked at his glare, pulling away.
“Dark Enchantress Cookie… what do you want?” Shadow Milk hissed, trying to sit up once again, but failing. The pain still lingered in his body, keeping him down. “I want something very simple. A bit of your power.” Shadow Milk snorted at her words, his face twisting in disgust.
“Like hell I would help the likes of you.” Shadow Milk growled out, tensing. The dark cookie just sighed, tutting. “I thought we could work something out, maybe even be friends again. But I guess that’s just not how the witches designed us after all. Very well then. I hoped it wouldn’t have to come to this, but clearly a beast needs taming.”
Shadow Milk blinked, confused at her words before choking as more electricity shot through his body, burning his dough. He keeled over, curling in on himself and wheezing. The pain spiked, and quickly his vision faded as his body shut down. His face met the ground as his consciousness slipped away like a dream. The last thing he heard was the sickly laughter of his adversary, cruel and unforgiving.
⋆.˚✩•✶•✩˚.⋆
Silence rang out in the room as every cookie stared at the door that Shadow Milk Cookie had left through. Slowly, the cookies that were arguing sat back down, still quiet.
“Well. That was dramatic.” Eternal Sugar Cookie said, yawning and practically melting on top of Hollyberry Cookie like a very bright eyesore pink blanket. “I will go check on him. You all continue to devise a plan. And please, do not start to scream again.” Pure Vanilla said, standing and making his way out of the room.
He quickly made his way up to his room, or rather his and Shadow Milks. The two had been in relationship for about a year by now, and have practically been inseparable since. Pure Vanilla opened the door, only to meet no Shadow Milk. His brow furrowed as he scanned the room before closing the door and heading out to the gardens.
The ancient checked the sheep pen, greenhouse, and the rest of the garden, yet not finding his lover. His worry spiked when he saw another cookie approaching him.
“Ah. Black Raisin Cookie. What can I do for you?” He asked, feigning a calmness he didn’t feel. “You can cut the act. I know you’re worried about Shadow Milk” Black Raisin deadpanned. Pure Vanilla chuckled awkwardly, shifting his stance slightly in embarrassment. “I saw him fly out of the kingdom and down to the forest below. I’m a bit worried myself. It’s dangerous down there, even for him.”
Pure Vanillas with spiked. “The forest? That’s not safe at all! I need to find him.” He exclaimed before quickly jogging off towards the kingdom’s gates. Black Raisin sighed, watching the ancient go. “I have a bad feeling about this.” She said to herself.
A week. A week had passed, and Shadow Milk never turned up. The first day he was gone, Pure Vanilla was anxious, but hoped he would come back by night. When he didn’t, panic made itself apparent. Eternal Sugar had insisted that he was possibly doing research or spying on Dark Enchantress Cookie. The idea had eased Pure Vanilla, but it was quickly washed away as the second day came.
The second day and third day consisted of meetings that went for hours that were all about the whereabouts of the small blue jester. The fourth day search parties were sent out. The fifth, Pure Vanilla had collapsed from exhaustion after going for three days straight with little food and water as well as sleep.
The sixth day had the other beasts worried as Shadow Milk was never gone for almost a week without saying anything or leaving a letter or sign. The seventh day had everyone stressed. There was still no sign of Shadow Milk, and now a meeting was being held to try and figure out what happened to the blue cookie.
There all the ancients and beasts sat at the table, tense and silent. The person who broke the silence was of course, Clotted Cream Cookie. “Alright. I suggest we ignore the case involving the clown and focus back on Dark Enchantress Cookie.” An uproar was immediately started, all of the beasts arguing against the cream cookies suggestion.
“Shadow Milk Cookie matters much more than some stupid half baked stale lady!” Burning Spice exclaimed, slamming his palms on the table and standing. “Burning Spice is right. We should search for Shadow Milk before even thinking about what plans Dark Enchantress has. Plus, all of those meetings involving talking about Dark Enchantress have been fruitless.” Eternal Sugar said, her smile now a sharp frown.
“There are bigger issues than some nerdy cookie who can’t handle a bit of sound!” Clotted Cream said angrily, standing as well and leaning against the table with his hands. “As important as she is, Dark Enchantress can wait. A missing beast cookie is a threat to all of Earthbread.” Mystic Flour said, opening her eyes slightly.
“I agree with Mystic Flour. Shadow Milk is a powerful cookie. Without him, we would crumble before even standing a chance against Dark Enchantress Cookie.” Golden Cheese Cookie said, leaning back in her chair and slightly spreading her wings.
“He may be powerful, but we can still defeat Dark Enchantress without him. It’s nine Souljams and four armies against her. We would win.” Silent Salt turned towards Clotted Cream, prompted to speak due to the words he had said.
“Even with four armies and nine Souljams, Shadow Milk Cookie is extraordinarily more powerful than all of us combined. He has the knowledge and strength to make a plan that will help us win.” Silent Salt said.
“If he can make a plan, then why hadn’t he done so already? Why isn’t he ever here or listening during our meetings? He is useless to us if he can’t pull it together.” At those words, something snapped inside Pure Vanilla Cookie.
“That is enough!” Pure Vanilla exclaimed, standing and slamming his staff on the ground. Everyone went silent and stared at the vanilla cookie as his anger radiated off him in waves. “You will not speak of my partner in that way ever again. Shadow Milk Cookie is priority here. And before you even think of saying that Shadow Milk is useless, I want you to realize how all of these meetings have been you saying rude and insulting things and yelling at the rest of us. He always left because he was sick of your bullshit. So shut your mouth.”
Everyone gawked as the king stood there, his face no longer warm but rigid, his lips pulled into a thin line and his eyes open. His tone was cold, cutting like a sharp blade through butter. Clotted Cream looked down, embarrassment evident.
“If you have nothing useful to say or propose, sit down and be quiet. This meeting is about Shadow Milk Cookie. Not Dark Enchantress Cookie. If you don’t want to help or contribute to the search for my partner, then you can leave.” Clotted Cream didn’t respond but instead sat down quickly, keeping his gaze down.
Pure Vanilla let out a breath and sat down as well, watching as the rest of the cookies that were originally standing follow his lead. Silent Salt nodded to the king, approving of his words. He simply nodded back, his posture now tired.
“Alright. With that out of the way, I suggest we expand our search.” Hollyberry Cookie piped up, looking at the others. “And how would we do that? We already have everyone out and searching, and we certainly can’t have our armies go and do that too. We still need to be prepared for any attacks that come our way.” Dark Cacao replied, looking at the other ancient.
“We get the help of the legendary cookies. They’ve helped us once. They’ll help us again. If we ask them, they might be able to show us where Shadow Milk is.” Dark Cacao nodded, pensive. “There are places we haven’t searched yet. The hell of those cookies could be useful.” Eternal Sugar yawned, going back to leaning against Hollyberry.
“I like that idea. However, I must throw out one possibility that is more likely.” White Lily said, her face grim. The other cookies all stared at her, tense. “What if Shadow Milk Cookie was kidnapped?” The silence was deafening. Pure Vanillas ears rang. He gulped, fidgeting with his staff. His thoughts raced as he thought of all the possibilities. He thought of how Shadow Milk could be hurt.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case. It wouldn’t be the first time it would have happened either.” Burning Spice said, snapping everyone out of their thoughts.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Golden Cheese looked at the red cookie, an eyebrow raised. “Well, there was one time where he was still the Fount and had been dragged away while I was near. I had watched those people drug him and run. I had tried to stop them, but the crowd that had gathered around us had blocked my path.”
The other cookies stared at him, eyes wide in shock. “I had searched for him the whole day before I found him in the back of an alleyway, butt naked and covered in bruises and cuts. When he woke up the next day he said the cookies that took him had wanted to know why they were made. When he had replied with the answer though, they obviously weren’t happy and as a result he got tortured.”
Eternal Sugar had her mouth covered, horror obvious in her eyes. Silent Salts hands were curled into fists. Mystic Flour looked the same, only there was slight tension in her posture. Pure Vanilla looked close to crying, White Lily was uncomfortable, Hollyberry horrified like her partner, Dark Cacao emitted anger, and Golden Cheese looking down with frustration.
“It wouldn’t be the first time he’s gone through something like that if he really was kidnapped. He’s strong. A lot stronger than ya think. He can handle whatever comes his way.” Burning Spice finished, crossing his arms and closing his eyes.
“He was kidnapped because of his knowledge, right?” White Lily asked, her feelings replaced with determination. Burning Spice nodded. “Then that could have happened this time as well. Or he was taken for his magic.” Golden Cheese grimaced at White Lily’s suggestion.
“As someone who has the most advanced technology out of all the kingdoms here, I must say that infusing magic into weapons is indeed possible. I have done it myself. If you put your own magic into a gun, you can shoot it out. I wouldn’t be surprised if Shadow Milk was now a living battery to a large weapon.” The golden sovereign explained.
“So we’ve all agreed that Shadow Milk has most likely been kidnapped?” Pure Vanilla said, his grip on his staff tightening. The others nodded, and the king let out a breath. “He must have been taken by Dark Enchantress then.” Eternal Sugar hissed, her tail whipping behind her.
“I’ll make sure that cookie doesn’t have a good time crumbling.” She said, squeezing Hollyberrys hand in frustration. “We’ll get him back, Pure Vanilla.” Hollyberry said, sympathetic. The king sighed. “I hope you are right, Hollyberry Cookie.” He said solemnly, unaware of the pained scream that left a certain jesters lips.