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Chapter Text

Eucalyptus Cookie is thrown across the battlefield by a giant cake monster. He luckily manages to land back on his feet, albeit shakily. Grabbing his bow before getting back up, the wind ruffles his bangs as he nocks an arrow again. He begins to rapid-fire arrow after arrow at the beast charging at him.

‘Hello. Yes, that is me.’ The wind laments, quietly watching the scene around him. ‘You are probably curious about how I got into this predicament. Well, let us go back and I will fill you in. ’

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Wind Archer Cookie and Stormbringer Cookie were the first to arrive at the meeting hall. While the duo continued down the corridor, Stormbringer had been babbling on and on about how her duties had been going. However, Wind Archer had tuned most of what she was saying out.

“I am the God of the Skies! Most mortals respect that, but the few who didn’t, well, they’ve faced their divine testament.” Stormbringer laughs, leaning back in the air. She twirled her Heaven Splitter between her hands as the Divine Archer turned to face her.

Wind Archer sighed, “You are the guardian of storms and lightning, wielding the Heaven Splitter. You are not ‘the’ ruler of the skies.”

“They’re up in the sky! The mortals don’t know the difference.” She exclaimed, agitated at his dismissive tone. He usually became stern like this whenever she boasted about her self-proclaimed titles. She does her damned job; who cares if she gets a little creative with it to make it more interesting?

“You do not bother to correct them when you should. That is your fault.” The Divine Archer’s eyes narrowed as he stared at her, a lingering tension growing as static began to crackle within the hair of the Sky God. 

She huffs, crossing her arms. “What are you saying, Wind Archer Cookie?” Lightning churned and hissed as her feet landed on the cool floor. Her expression began to morph with the tension. Wind Archer continues walking past Stormbringer. 

“You should not boast a false title that you do not bother correcting.” He finally stops at the doors, his hand hovering above the handle. “You are only boosting your own ego with the false title.” His tone is cold as he stares at the handle, the sound of sizzling growing louder behind him.

Stormbringer narrows her eyes, “Say that again.” Wielding her Heaven Splitter, she practically snarls at him. “I dare you.” 

“ You boast of a title that you are not. ” As he turned to face the source of the crackling, the Heaven Splitter was hurled at him. It missed him by only a few inches, crashing through the door with a blinding flash of light. The sudden flash and roaring sound of the collision disorients Wind Archer for a moment before he draws his bow. 

As he draws an arrow, his hand his hit by the Heaven Splitter, returning to the enraged god down from him. The electric shock from the hit knocked the arrow from his grasp. Already anticipating what was coming, he raised his bow to act as a barrier between him and the oncoming attack. Stormbringer lunged forward, holding her Heavenly Splitter in a jabbing position. Right before the collision, Wind Archer used both hands to ram his bow into the barreling cookie, causing the two to tumble into the meeting room.

He slid on his back and quickly recovered, flipping into a kneel and quickly raising to a strong stance. Stormbringer continued tumbling, with the pole of her Heaven Splitter in her mouth and using her hands to stop her slide. She ended in a push-off position before taking her Heaven Splitter back into her hands and rushing back towards Wind Archer. 

He drew an arrow quickly and aimed before firing it, causing Stormbringer to dive to the side. She recovered quickly to her feet, the lightning in her hair crackles uncontrollably as the charge grows, slowly becoming consumed by the building electricity. 

Wind Archer draws another arrow into his bow, drawing it back with a growing gust from around. Upon release, the arrow flickers brightly as it soars toward the being of electricity. Stormbringer raises the Heaven Splitter, all lightning gathering at its point before sending one final flash of lightning at his attack.

The lightning bolt meets the tip of the arrow, splitting it perfectly in two. A small crack bellows out from the splitting of the arrow. The bolt's momentum, however, is not lessened as it drives forward towards the arrow’s sender. There’s not a moment of reaction time, a huge flash of light engulfing the room. 

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The flash ends as quickly as it erupted. Blinking for a moment, the Divine Wind reaches for an arrow while attempting to raise the bow bestowed upon them by the Millennial Tree. Nothing moves; they feel nothing move. A weird feeling overcomes the Wind as it observes the Sky God in front of them. It follows her eyesight below. There, on the floor of the meeting hall, lies the crumbling cookie form bestowed upon them by the Sugar Swan. 

Lowering themself down, they observe the being on the floor. The gem that rested in the center of the Archer’s forehead was split in half, causing cracks to tear throughout the whole body. A somber feeling fell through them before anger coursed through the air, causing gusts of wind to circle as they looked back at Stormbringer.

“Why did you split me?” Silence fell as they received no answer. “ Answer the Question! ” The Divine Wind bellows out as it circles the slowly settling electric cookie. Her expression was blank as her gaze remained locked on the crumbling body on the floor. A glow slowly surrounded the form as the spirit drifted off, back to the flow of life energy. Slowly, the form on the ground dissipated into nothingness; only a shattered gem and the guardian’s bow remained on the floor where the form had once collapsed.

“You need to learn to respect me more. You’ll be split indefinitely from this point and into the foreseeable future. You shall be unable to connect with your other half unless it seeks you first. You are now condemned to be the Wind and the Archer.” She stares around the room with a chilling expression.

The wind blows out through the hall and the entrance of the guardians’ temple, into the Dessert Paradise. The gust makes an approaching cookie pause before continuing to enter the room. The meeting hall is silent as Millennial Tree walks in and stares at the aftermath.

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‘I have been following around my other half, reincarnation after reincarnation.’ The wind quietly states, focusing back on the scene before them. ‘Every time I attempt to communicate with them, they always end up dying. All because of that daming curse from Stormbringer.’

Eucalyptus Cookie has managed to defeat the giant cake monster, pairing up back-to-back with his second-in-command, Mulberry Cookie. A wielder of dual gauntlets, an absolute unit of a cookie, he was… something , that’s for sure.

”EAT MY FISTS!” He punches another cake monster, launching it across the battlefield. “Bon appétit!” A loud booming laugh escapes him as he rushes towards a few more monsters, which happen to be in the direction of Eucalyptus. The Captain glances over his shoulder, observing where Mulberry was before attempting to talk. His second-in-command has a different set of senses on the battlefield, making him harder to fight alongside without years of training with the taller cookie.

”How’s it going, my second-in-command?” Eucalyptus asks before getting charged by another monster. He meets their jaws with his bow, holding them back. Ducking when a punch is thrown over his shoulder, he laughs. The cake monster crumbles from the impact of the gauntlet punch.

Mulberry smirks, ”It’s going, just punching.” He thumps his fists together twice before continuing to fight. They manage to hold their own just fine together.

‘At least this time, my other half is a skilled bowsman and a general in the Hollyberry kingdom.’ The wind laments, swirling around the battlefield. They notice a group of cookies off in the distance, slowly making their way over to the captain and second-in-command. The group seems to be careful of their approach, likely injured. One of the cookies climbs on top of a rock, possibly trying to look out over the field. The wind turns their attention away from the group, deeming them harmless. 

‘The previous life was a fisherman, away from the oncoming darkness.’ They silently huff, annoyed from their previous half’s half-life occupation. ‘And this Mulberry Cookie, although bold, he has a caring heart. Certainly has a history with the captain. I feel as though he would have a time with Fire Spirit in hand-to-hand combat.’

“Captain!” In comes a spicy berry cookie, wielding a flaming spear, ending another cake monster in his approach. Following behind him are the other cookies that were with him, including the one who climbed the rock earlier.

”Flameberry Cookie, it’s good to see you’ve yet to crumble, my dear friend.” Eucalyptus calls out, taking note of the others following him. In the distance, Primrose Cookie is walking with Palm Arrow Cookie, two of their finest healers.

“Hah haa, it’s going to take a lot more than that to crumble me!” Flameberry shouts back, driving his spear through a monster’s chest as they leap at him. Grinning, he thrusts the monster into the floor as they’re engulfed by his flames.

‘Flameberry Cookie…With a face that rivals Fire Spirit, and a bravado as big as his, this Hollyberrian cookie is only a mere replica of my eternal flame. I wonder what he is up to at this very moment.’

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“YOU STUPID SPARKY VAPOR FAILURE! GET DOWN HERE AND FACE ME!” Down below the residency of the Sky God was the presence of a fiery being, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Do you want another hundred million volts?! Just try to fly up here again!” The Sky god shouted as she glared down below the clouds. It wasn’t fun to get constantly harassed bimonthly by a being you pissed off through a series of events, yet here she was.

Wind Deity Cookie approaches Stormbringer’s right side while Rain Deity Cookie approaches cautiously on her left. They glance briefly at one another before Wind Deity speaks.

“Stormbringer, I believe that that’s enough. He’ll get bored and leave on his own.” Says Wind Deity Cookie, bowing to her when she looks at them. She levels them with an unimpressed expression before shifting to a look of defeat for a moment.

“He’ll fly up here if I’m not watching.” She says, crossing her arms, with little sparks of electricity flying off of her from annoyance. Rain Deity looks at Stormbringer, and an idea pops into their head.

“I could start a little shower to get him to leave quickly.” Suggests Rain Deity cookie. This has Stormbringer pausing and considering for a few seconds before looking back down through the clouds.

”You have five seconds before I send a downpour!” A loud guttural call erupts from below as a small fire blast shoots up. It wasn’t high enough to reach her, even appearing pitiful from above.

” WHAT?! TCH, THAT’S A LOW BLOW, EVEN FOR YOU!” Fire Spirit Cookie yells back, huffing but turning to leave. He blasts one of her followers’ smaller altars into flaming shavings as he leaves, and Stormbringer is tempted to strike him with another lightning bolt just for the disrespect. Wind Deity Cookie convinces her to step away before she can do that.

Chapter Text

“This is just like training!” Mulberry shouts, punching another monster in the face. The beast flies back, crumbling before its body even hits the floor. He looks over his shoulder briefly before ducking quickly to avoid an arrow aimed at a monster sneaking up behind him. Eucalyptus sent the two healers who came with Flameberry, along with those who tagged along, to go find and help any of their injured companions. 

“This is nothing like training!” Eucalyptus shouts from behind him, avoiding another attack that’s thrown at him. He knocks the creature back, and Flameberry drives them further away with his spear.

“Yeah, you usually went barrel-rolling into your opponents,” Flameberry laughs, holding a corrupted Vanillian at bay with his spear. Smirking, he headbuts the Vanillian, stunning them long enough to light his spear’s tip again and drive it into the enemy. They burst into flame and crumble. 

Mulberry huffs from further ahead of them. He doesn't refute the statement, though. Another swarm of monsters was already heading their way.

Eucalyptus attempts to nock an arrow in his bow when he’s caught from behind by a monster. A crew member had knocked it towards him by accident, and it turned its target to him. Raising his bow to keep the cake monster away, he kneels to reach for his dropped arrow. He can’t afford to lose anymore; he’s already down three-fourths of the ones in his quiver.

As he picks up the arrow, he’s shoved to the ground, as the cake monster rears back, ready to strike down on him. The Captain fumbled with his bow and began to brace when a spear drove its way straight through the chest of the monster. A laugh from the figure that fell with the beast assured Eucalyptus of who it was.

“Never thought I’d be saving your sorry ass this much in battle, Bowman!” The fiery cookie shouted as the spear was ripped from the monster’s downed body before jumping back to his feet. Flameberry walked over and offered a hand to Eucaluptus, pulling him up quickly before spinning around to have their backs pressed together.

They were surrounded by a few monsters, Mulberry fending off four on his own. “Any ideas on how we get out of this one, Cap?” Flamberry nudged Eucalyptus with the end of his spear, glancing briefly over his shoulder to see any change in the other’s face.

“Just start swinging, my friend.” Without another second to waste, the spear wielder spun it around as quickly as possible before lunging at a monster. Eucalyptus kicked a smaller rock into the air before using his bow as a bat and whacking the stone into a monster's head.

Two down, a dozen more to go. A monster flew past the duo, taking down three other monsters with it. Eucalyptus looked over at the area the creature came from, seeing an annoyed Mulberry hunched over and panting slightly. 

Flameberry gave a small thumbs up, followed by a wink to the Second-in-Command, before stabbing another corrupted Vanillian. It was a grim sight, but necessary for their survival. A sigh escaped his companions as the trio stood together. Mulberry nodded to Eucalyptus before kneeling. The Captain got a running start, grabbing an arrow from his quiver as he approached his fellow warrior. He quickly nocked the arrow in his bow as he jumped.

One foot firmly planted itself on Mulberry’s back before Eucalyptus lept in the air, twisting his body and drawing back his bow. Two monsters stood in a line chasing after Flameberry, perfect shot. He released the arrow as he started to fall back down, watching as it shot through both of the monsters, sticking out of them as they fell to the ground.

Speaking of falling, Eucalyptus landed in a small roll to negate any injuries from the land. Mulberry smiled at him as he stood up, turning quickly to drive his gauntleted fist into the face of a monster. Flamberry took down two more monsters with his spear before lighting it ablaze again. 

Mulberry ran to help Flamberry drive away a few more monsters, allowing Eucalyptus a moment to breathe. He got to his feet and dusted off his armor, counting the few arrows he had remaining. The Captain’s face formed a frown as he looked over at his five remaining arrows, six if he goes and collects the one from the two monsters he shot down with a single arrow.

As the fighting continues to rage around him, Eucalyptus gazes at the carnage. Cake monsters falling, fellow cookies crumbling, a truly horrifying scene. But through it all, there’s a faint voice, hardly above a whisper, floating in the breeze on the battlefield. It is beckoning for someone, anyone, to follow…Where exactly? Eucalyptus Cookie has no idea.

Following the whispers, dodging around enemies' attacks and fellow cookies’ counterattacks, he reaches an area in the rubble where no monsters are currently lurking. As he looks through the rubble, a stronger breeze kicks up, twirling around him with dirt and crushed crumbs flying everywhere.

“What is going on?” He asks quietly into the wind. Getting no answer, he turns around to head back to the fight. He only makes it one step before a powerful gust of wind knocks him back into the center of the whirlwind. It suddenly vanishes, a few leaves it picked up now float gently towards the ground, and a voice comes in clearer than before.

“ I have been waiting for a moment to speak with you .” This voice states with absoluteness. Looking around, Eucalyptus finds no one else here with him.

“Who are you?” He asks. Before any response is given, a great pain suddenly hammers his head, causing him to cry out and clutch his head, dropping his bow.

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Within the forest, a gentle breeze greets him as he steps out of his abode. Another night has passed, making way for the day to begin once again. He sighs, adjusting his scarf and making sure his bow and quiver are on him. Last time he left these, it was a real embarrassment.

Everything is in order; he is ready to go then. Stepping off the ledge, he zips off into the wind currents, watching the way the paths dip and jump and end as he flies through them. Today, he is off to the Dragon’s Valley to deliver an important message. If he gets something else in return, well, that is just a splendid bonus.

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“What was that?” Rubbing his head, Eucalyptus Cookie finds the wind is somehow holding him. What in the name of Earthbread?

“ A memory. More are sure to come. I am sorry for the pain it caused .” The mystery voice says, its tone strangely monotonic. “ Go on back to battle, your allies need your assistance .” They say as the revived whirlwind begins dissipating, Eucalyptus drops to the floor. 

“Owww.” He groans, picking up his bow and getting up from the dirt. The Captain dusts himself off, shaking his head slightly as he looks around the rumble once more.

“What in the Divine is going on around here?” He murmurs to himself, heading back to the battle. 

Before he can reach it, though, he is stopped once again, this time by a slight humming coming from behind. He whirls around, drawing his bow and arrow to face whoever this is. The world around him grows staticky as clouds come together to resemble a cookie, sort of. 

“You’re…shorter than I expected. Surprising for the bowman.” The clouds speak, laughing at his miffed expression. Small sparks of what appeared to be building electricity flickered across the weird, storm-like being.

“Who are you? Are you with the wind?” He asks them, keeping his bow drawn tightly. Whoever they are, they will not get past him without answering.

“Tch, with that breeze bag scum? No way! No, I’ve come with a warning. ” The clouds say, suddenly dashing towards him and grabbing his shirt, lifting him with their foggy fist. Eucalyptus shoots his arrow out of shock into a rock, breaking the tip on impact. “ Listen to my words, clearly.”

He stops struggling in their grasp. Resistance will get him nowhere. “What’ve you got for me then?”

“Do not trust the words in the wind. The wind is cruel and harmful to anything in its path. Just go back to the kingdom you came from, and forget this even happened.” The being set him back on his feet, patting his head before disappearing in a crack of lightning. 

‘Once again, just what in the Divine is going on around here?’ He thinks to himself, finally getting back to the battle. Sliding into Flameberry Cookie’s side, he covers the fiery cookie’s back.

“Captain! You’re back!” Flameberry yells over his shoulder. “Did you find anyone over there?” He nods a head towards the rubble that the Captain had emerged from.

“No, no one!” Using his bow to knock away a corrupted Vanillian, Eucalyptus watches as Mulberry begins clearing his way towards them. A burst of fire caught his eye as he quickly ducked. Flameberry spun around his spear, slicing and lighting various creatures ablaze before halting and lunging at one that charged at the already overwhelmed Mulberry.

Eucalyptus gets back up, running to flank behind Flameberry while drawing another arrow, with four remaining. He left one in the rubble, and he’s about to fire the one in his bow so it doesn’t count toward the number he has remaining in his quiver. 

As he approached the duo, he wordlessly held up his drawn bow, allowing Flamberry to light the arrow tip on fire before he shot it into a charging cake monster. The fiery cookie glances at Eucalyptus’ quiver, taking notice of his thinning amount of ammo. 

“Leafy, you should collect your arrows. You’re about out.” Eucalyptus sighed as he once again used his bow as a bat to hit a stone at a monster. An amused hum escaped the fiery cookie as he observed the Captain’s movements. “That’s a new skill. Very useful.”

A few more monsters approached the trio. A laugh escaped Flameberry as he looked over at Mulberry with a wild look. “What’s with that face?” The Second-in-Command asks as he shoves away a cake monster before tripping it. 

“I want you to throw me, big guy.” Flameberry lit his spear on fire as he walked up to Mulberry. The latter shrugged before motioning for the fiery cookie to lift his arms. Without another word, Flameberry was hoisted into the air and hurled a ways into a growing horde, to Eucalyptus' horror. 

A crazed laugh escaped the airborne cookie as he moved his flaming spear to break his landing. He caught the back of a larger cake monster, slamming it to the ground before quickly removing his spear and slashing at the closest creatures he could. Mulberry rushed over to where Flameberry landed, headbutting a charging cake monster in his path.

Eucalyptus picked up three arrows from the surrounding scene before trying to follow Mulberry. As he ran, a monster barreled into his side, knocking him to the floor with a thud. The arrows he held fell from his hand. He tried to get to his feet, but the monster loomed over him. He rolled over as it struck at him, quickly getting into a kneeling position and back to his feet. Three arrows fell from his quiver from the roll, getting stepped on by the monster as it charged after him

Running away from the monster was hard, seeing as more people around took notice of him. As he ran past, he grabbed another arrow from a fallen monster. Out of the corner of his eye, he took notice of where Flameberry and Mulberry were. The two seemed to have found a group of other warriors, likely the ones he had sent back to go help any injured. Glancing to his left, he saw what appeared to be a drop. 

The Captain paused for a moment before a corrupted Vanillian charged at him. Eucalyptus raised his bow to steer the attack away from him. His attempt failed as his heels were pressed into the dirt, forcing him to slide backward. He tried to get his feet properly planted as the Vanillian continued to push at his bow. Without another moment, he headbutted the citizen, groaning as he shoved it away.

He stumbled back, having lost his bow to the Vanillian during the failed headbutt, as he blinked away the throbbing pain in his head. He watched them throw his bow back away from them. All Eucalyptus has now is his fists and a hope to not fall over the edge, if it doesn’t collapse first.

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‘Being cornered like this is not the most ideal.’ Eucalyptus thinks, taking another step back. There is nowhere else to go here; behind him is a ledge of a steep slope, leading to a deep cavern below. In front of him is a Vanillian citizen who looks worse for wear, honestly. On top of their head is a strange contraption, emitting pulsing darkness. They’re going to push him off this ledge if he doesn’t act first. 

“ Eucalyptus Cookie, please, I am here to assist you. I bring you no harm. ” The wind around them picks up again, causing his ponytail to whip around behind him. It almost hits him in the face when several strands come flying forward. 

He has been trying to block out that imbecilic, monotonous voice since the kerfuffle back in the rubble of the alleyway. His bow had landed about 30 feet behind the corrupted Vanillian cookie, from their tussling that led to here. He’s down to only his quiver on his back. 

Reaching behind himself, he finds that he only has one arrow left; the few others he had grabbed were knocked from his grasp when the Vanillian charged him. He sighs and grabs it, bringing it in front of himself. The corrupted Vanillian growls at him, seemingly ready to act.

“ Grant me permission to give you a bit of aid, Eucalyptus. ” The wind speaks once more, the whirlwind not ceasing around the Captain. His fist clenched as he reflected upon what the cloud being had said. If the wind was bad, why did it with to aid him?

Eucalyptus grumbles, closing his eyes and taking a breath. Letting it out, he responds, “Fine! Fine, help me get out of this.” 

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When he opens his eyes once more, he’s no longer on the cliff ledge. The world around him is dotted with bright green, and he has to blink a couple of times to get his vision to come back into focus. 

Once everything is devoid of bright green dots, he looks down and sees that the corrupt Vanillian is now half-crumbled, the arrow grasped tightly within his right hand, still dripping strawberry jam.

A scream echoes from the battlefield, and it takes him a second to realize that it came from him. From in front of him, he hears armor-clad footsteps approaching. Mulberry Cookie.

“Captain! Are you alright? That was quite the scream. Almost like a young girl’s..” Lifting his head, he meets Mulberry’s face, who has a concerned look in his eyes, while offering his hand out to him. When did he fall to his knees?

“I’m…good. Yeah, I’m good.” He grabs his Second-in-Command’s hand, pulling back up onto his feet. “That was a victorious cry, my friend.” Eucalyptus laughs, patting Mulberry on the shoulder as he walks by him. Mulberry frowns, but falls into walking beside him.

“If you say so, Eucalyptus,” Mulberry says, but his face appeared as though he did not believe what the Captain said for a second. Alas, the taller cookie doesn’t press any further, letting the topic go for now. “Our men have returned to camp, led by Flameberry Cookie. We have lost quite a few men, including Palm Arrow Cookie.”

“One of our best healers? He will be missed greatly.” Eucalyptus says, picking up his bow as they walk across the battlefield. “We shall have to honor them tonight, and again with a great feast once we return to the Hollyberry Kingdom.”

“Agreed,” Mulberry states, keeping an eye on the lookout for any more dangers as they walk.

The wind has settled back into a calm breeze and is suspiciously quiet. Eucalyptus glares out in front of them as they travel. ‘Was all of it just hallucinations from the war’s stress?’ He questions himself, annoyed at the strangeness of it all. 

When they arrive back at their camp, Flameberry greets them at the entrance. “Captain! Glad to see that you’re still standing.” He places a firm hand on Eucalyptus’s shoulder, giving him a few pats before dropping his arm back down.

“Flameberry, yes, thank you. Report of status?” He asks, knowing that he’ll give it willingly without the asking. This is his friend, though, and he doesn’t want to demand anything of him.

“Right, well, we’ve lost eleven men in the battle, including Palm Arrow Cookie. There are dozens injured, and our remaining four healers have been working their hardest to attend to everybody. The remaining Vanillians nearby have sent two of their healers to assist, so thankfully, almost everybody has been seen now. Are either of you injured?” He asks them, ending the report.

“No. Only hungry.” Mulberry says, beginning to trudge into the camp. He bumps Eucalyptus’ shoulder as he passes, shooting him a smile before quickening into the camp.

“Luckily, the Vanillians brought us more food as well. Go enjoy, big guy!” Flameberry calls back to him, staying in front of Eucalyptus. When he turns his head back to look at him, the Captain suddenly stumbles forward into him. The fiery cookie luckily catches him, but Eucalyptus beats him to speaking first.

“I am fine. I…just need to go lie down. Think you can assist me to my tent?” He asks quietly, looking wearily at his friend. His eyes don’t seem to focus on the cookie before him, appearing to constantly move as if he had vertigo. In turn, Flameberry gives him a cocky smirk.

“Of course I can. The big brute certainly won’t. C’mon.” Wrapping an arm around Eucalyptus’s waist, he waits for him to throw his arm over his shoulders before beginning to help him to his tent.

Eucalyptus won’t lie, his warmth is familiar and comforting. If not for walking, he might’ve felt inclined to fall asleep next to his side. Alas, his tent comes up quickly, and Flameberry guides him inside and dumps him onto his cot.

“There you go! I’ll make sure the men leave enough food for you later, sir.” The fiery cookie says, watching him settle into his cot before turning to leave.

“Thank you, Flameberry, that’s much appreciated,” Eucalyptus tells him, carefully undoing his chestplate’s straps so he can take it off for now. When he looks back up, his friend is looking at him strangely, but only nods once before leaving the tent, the flaps falling closed behind him. 

Eucalyptus sighs and closes his eyes once again, dropping his chest plate to the ground. He tries to clear his mind so he can fall asleep faster, but the battle’s strange events keep swirling around in his mind. 

Eventually, he manages to fall into a seemingly dreamless slumber in a black void.

Chapter Text

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“Moonlight Cookie! ” Fire Spirit Cookie yells up into the clock tower. “ I know you’re here, c’mon out! Sea Fairy already ratted you out anyway, so you can’t hide!”

The reverberating sound of the many clocks ticking throughout the tower could be found eerie and angering, but Fire Spirit isn’t fazed by it in the slightest. He begins to ascend the spiraling stairs in search of the moon guardian. Room by room, he finds no trace of Moony. A mission of his own making is on his mind, and he will not stop until he finds her. 

It’s been so long since Wind Archer was split, practically two centuries now, and Stormbringer still has yet to let her infuriating grudge go. Millie’s Maze Grove has been without its primary protector for two centuries too long, and it’s been adding up on Churro Cookie’s shoulders. 

Honestly, Fire Spirit has been helping out when he can. Not because of being asked to, no, it’s only because Wind Archer would be saddened if the sacred Maze Grove forest ended while he was gone. Millennial Tree keeps giving him some kind of look as well, but he doesn’t say anything, so Fire Spirit won’t try to talk about it either.

Entering the top room of the tower, a faint humming causes him to tilt his head slightly up. Up on her crescent moon is Moonlight, drifting through cookies’ dreams. Completely not listening to her surroundings again, great.

After a few moments of watching her, fighting the urge to succumb to her melodic humming, he shouts, “Moonlight!” before quickly dodging out of the way with a yelp. A couple of stars shoot right by his side, making his cape flare out behind him. 

Moonlight lets out a quiet noise, recognizing his voice before his dreaming aura. “Fire Spirit?” She asks out, finally opening her eyes to look down at him. “What are you doing here?” Drifting down on her moon, she comes closer, confusion written on her face. “I didn’t hear you come in…”

”Yeah, I could tell, ” he says, dusting the star dust off his shoulders. “ I have a request to make.”

“Fire Spirit-” she sighs, but he interrupts her before she can even continue.

”I know, I know, but please. Just one dream for whoever his mortal half is. ” He looks at her, raising an eyebrow at her nervous expression. “What? What’s that look for?”

“I’ll be on yet another hit list if I do that. I’m already on yours.” She says, grasping her staff tightly.

He levels her an annoyed look, “What did you do, Sleeping Beauty?” 

“It doesn’t matter, we’re way past it now. It doesn’t involve the current situation.” She tells him, looking away.

Fire Spirit sighs, thinking over what he wants to say. “Ya know what? One dream. You’ll be off my list for whatever you've done in the past. I won’t ask questions.” 

Moonlight looks back at him, seeming to consider it for a moment before hopping off her moon. “Deal,” she says, sticking out her hand.

He grasps her hand firmly, giving it a shake before letting go. “Alright, so how’s this work again?”

“Just stay still for a second,” she replies, reaching back behind her for something. Fire Spirit watched as her moon slowly glowed brighter and compressed itself to look like a staff.

“Stay still?” He asks, bringing his attention back to her. Before he can move, she swings her staff at him, hitting him in the face and knocking him out cold. It at least didn’t cause any damage to him.

She dropped her staff to catch him before he hit the floor. The staff stops right before impact and morphs back into her moon. “Oh, I really need to find a better way to do that,” she murmurs, scooping him up and placing him on her moon. She takes out a small bag of star dust and opens it, taking out only a pinch to sprinkle over him. “If he remembers that, he’s not going to let that go…” she sighs. Nothing can be done about it now. All she has to do is find where that captain-archer’s dream went. Where was it again? Oh yeah, right over this way.

➽───────────────────────❥

The black void of his dream begins to shift, shattering into reflective pieces of himself, looking distorted if he focuses on one for too long.

“What the-” Eucalyptus Cookie starts, interrupted by the birdsong calling to him from his left. He turns his head, finding a clear image of a glade in a forest, and he steps closer to it. Upon stepping into the glade, the chirping of the birds began to sound like their own form of a conversation, as if they could be speaking words he couldn’t quite understand.

Sudden heat emerges to his right, causing him to look over. “Flameberry Cookie?..” he questions, attempting to reach out to him. Said cookie’s kind smile doesn’t leave his face, but it doesn’t reach his eyes, and his form begins to distort, a hotter heat causing Eucalyptus to take a step back. 

“Do you know this place?” The hotter cookie asks, looking at the scene with the birdsong. Eucalyptus huffs, looking back at the scene as well, trying to peer closer at the finer details. He comes up empty for any memory resembling this place.

”No, I don’t,” he admits, looking back at his distorting friend. He doesn’t respond, staring at the scene for a couple of moments longer.

”It’s our glade in the Maze Grove. ” His friend finally explains, looking at him again. His eyes seem to shine with some kind of longing, but for what Eucalyptus doesn’t know. “ You need to get back to the Grove.”

“I don’t even know where this grove is,” Eucalyptus mutters in confusion. If the other cookie hears him, he doesn’t reply, only looking away. Eucalyptus looks back at the scene as well, staring at it again. A light green bird glides through the air, over the stream, and lands on a sunning boulder. The sight brings him a sense of familiarity.

“It’s written everywhere, on every map across Earthbread. ” The flame cookie replies, gesturing out to his right. The image of a map appears, and he grabs it, handing it over to Eucalyptus. “ Find the Looking Glass.” The surrounding birdsong began to grow louder, almost frantic, as the cookie before the Captain finished speaking.

”The Looking Glass?” Eucalyptus asks, looking at the map he now holds. The flame cookie comes in closer, his warmth causing Eucalyptus to sweat.

“Mhm. A gift of the wind. ” They admit, pointing to the map. “ Left by the Eternal Flame…somewhere.” Eucalyptus raises an eyebrow at the vague words. Why bring it up? It felt as though the being before him knew more than they let on.

“Somewhere? Wait, how do you know about this?” Eucalyptus questions, turning to look at his distorting friend.

“Uhhh, it’s common mythology, my friend.” He smiles nervously at him, a flame ember drifting in front of them, causing Eucalyptus to lean back.

Eucalyptus looks back at the map, “Well, does the mythology state a general area to find this Looking Glass?” The birdsong becomes louder, vaguely sounding like shouts. He had to pause for a moment when he could have sworn the birds were forming the words ‘bug’ and ‘fire’.

The birdsong becomes overbearing before an answer is given, drowning out any words the cookie before him was saying. His mouth is moving, but the noise is lost to the calls from around. Eucalyptus thinks he might’ve said something like ‘listen to the wind’, but he isn’t quite sure about that. He can almost make out words from the bird call, like shouting about a tent. 

Flameberry begins to fade away into the air, and Eucalyptus is left alone with the deafening sounds; they now begin to sound like people yelling. When the world starts to glow into a brighter light, it dawns on him that he’s waking up.

➽───────────────────❥

His eyes snap open as the screams from outside become more coherent to his waking mind. “Get the bucket! GET THE BUCKET!” Jumping from his cot, Eucalyptus races to the entrance of his tent. He grabs his bow on the way, neglecting his chestplate as he throws his arm out to move the flap of his tent.

The sunlight is blinding for a moment as he blinks. He watches as Flameberry dives forward and slams a bucket down over something on fire, landing face-first in the dirt. The second thing he notices is Mulberry flailing an arm as Marmalade cookie clings to his back. One arm of the Second-in-Command’s is restrained in a surprisingly tight armlock from Marmalade, while his other is trying to reach around to pry off the cookie on his back. 

Marmalade is perched with his left leg wrapping around Mulberry’s torso, and his other leg is dangling slightly off the leg of the taller cookie. A hand is shoved into Mulberry’s face while the cookie on his back retaliates. Flameberry lifts himself off the floor and coughs out a bit of dirt before glancing and noticing Eucalyptus cookie stood ready for a fight.

“Good morning, Captain, we now have a dead bug in a bucket!” The fiery cookie calls out as he sits up from his dive. Eucalyptus opens his mouth to speak when he notices the extinguished smoke coming from Mulberry’s tent. There are scorch marks and a hole where fire burned through the tent's exterior, along with water coating the area. Judging by the distance, Flameberry had dove from there.

“How do you know that the bug’s dead!?” Marmalade sounds alarmed, something that several warriors, including Eucalyptus, had never heard from the straightforward cookie. Mulberry finally gets a hold of Marmlade’s arm, pulling him onto his shoulder before slamming him into the floor. Primrose, who had been standing off to the side, raises their hands and walks away. An action they perform when they refuse to heal any injuries from the situation they witnessed.

A small pained noise escapes Marmalade as Flameberry speaks. “No bug can survive being set on fire.” Mulberry sighs before walking over to his tent to investigate the damage. He was likely unable to earlier due to the Marmalade situation.

“What happened?” Eucalyptus asks as he observes the area. It seemed as though the men had been having breakfast around the campfire, which was also extinguished in the endeavor. There are a few plates on the floor, along with Flameberry’s spear. One starts to wonder about the cause of a situation when the outcome appears so hectic.

Flameberry clears his throat before speaking. “Well, we were finishing up breakfast when Mr. Fists decided to put Spider Jam in charge of extinguishing the fire.” He made a motion over to Marmalade, who was getting up from the ground he’d been slammed onto. “A bug flew up to him and, for some reason, he decided the best way to get the bug to go away would be to wave around the Fire Poker.”

Marmalade let out a scoff, but was cut off by the fiery cookie continuing. “That lit the bug on fire and caused him to throw the Poker into Mulberry’s tent. I grabbed the bucket of water and put out the tent, dropping the bucket before rudely getting yelled at to get it again. I believe you saw the rest, Sleeping Beauty.” Eucalyptus let out a hum before finally approaching the scene. To his right, a Cranberry soldier let out a small chuckle.

“I heir from House Cranberry, and I’ve seen spiders from the Cranberry Bogs climb a cookie better than that one there.” They motioned towards Marmalade while shifting on the log they sat on. “He acted just like one of them spiders when we flood the fields, climbing Mulberry like he’s some tree that’d keep the bug away.” Eucalyptus nods and looks over at the burnt tent, observing how his Second-in-Command is picking up damaged objects.

Eucalyptus waited for a moment as everyone began going back to their own things. He took a second to think back to his dream. It was odd, seeing Flameberry after being face-to-face with an imposter. Whoever that was in his dream was strange. The Maze Grove seemed to be some revered place in the eyes of the fake Flameberry. 

He began walking towards Mulberry’s tent. The cookie in his dream had told him about the Maze Grove’s location on a map; he’d just have to go get the map from Mulberry. As he stepped over a puddle of water from the fire, he noticed Mulberry’s face as he stared around at the damage.

“You look conflicted, Mulberry. Anything on your mind?” Eucalyptus asked the taller cookie as he stepped into the tent. There weren’t many things damaged by the fire; it seemed that the water had done more damage than the fire itself. The Second-in-Command looked up at the Captain, eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the affected items.

“Yeah, my stuff's all drenched and semi-burnt.” His voice was sad as he picked up a picture he had, which looked to have been from their days of training, judging by the youthful faces of Mulberry and Eucalyptus. The Captain moved to place a hand on the shoulder of Mulberry before looking around. The map he came looking for wasn’t in sight.

“Where’s the map?” Eucalyptus says as he takes one last look around the damaged tent. When his eyes land back on Mulberry, he sees the taller cookie looking and pointing down towards the floor. Following his line of sight, Eucalyptus sees the map in a puddle, covered in mud and ruined by the water. He let out a sigh before speaking again. “You’re never allowed to hold a map again until we get back to the kingdom.”

“What!? It wasn’t even my fault this one got wrecked!” Mulberry spun around with a frown on his face. The Captain’s expression remained annoyed as he sighed again, louder this time. Mulberry grumbled under his breath about the overreaction.

“You’re the one who decided the leave Marmalade in charge of extinguishing the fire when you could have done it instead.” Eucalyptus retorts, placing a hand on his hip as he glances back down at the map. A scoff from his Second-in-Command brings his attention back to him.

“In my defense, I…” Mulberry’s words trail off. He left his hand in the air, pointing up as if he were about to make a remark. His mouth hung open for a moment before closing. The taller cookie's face scrunches as he purses his lips, slowly dropping his hand. “I got nothing. Yeah, that was my fault.” 

Mulberry slowly looks down at the map with a pout on his face. Eucalyptus turned to leave when the taller cookie began speaking again. “Why do we need a map anyway?” The Captain turned about face, his mouth forming a small smirk. Mulberry glances around before looking back at the Captain.

“My friend, have you ever heard of the Looking Glass and the Maze Grove?”

Chapter Text

Eucalyptus Cookie

• Captain of the Hollyberrian Fleet
• Middle Range Cookie
• No Element
• Skill: Robinhood
• Best friends with Mulberry Cookie and Flameberry Cookie
• Is an opportunistic pescatarian

Mulberry Cookie

• Second-in-Command of the Hollyberrian Fleet
• Front Charge Cookie
• Steel Element
• Skill: Dual Smash
• Best friends with Eucalyptus Cookie and Flameberry Cookie
• He misses his son. A lot

Flameberry Cookie

• Most trusted combat companion
• Front Ambush Cookie
• Fire Element
• Skill: Valley's Fire Spitter
• Best friends with Eucalyptus Cookie and Mulberry Cookie

Marmalade Cookie

• Local sociopath of the Hollyberrian Fleet 
• Middle Ambush Cookie
• Poison Element
• Skill: Sickly Sweep
• He has a massive fear of all bugs
• Do not rid him of his star candies
• He has nearsightedness. He cannot see what Primrose is signing half of the time

Primrose Cookie

• The most fed-up healer of the Hollyberrian Fleet
• Rear Healer Cookie
• Darkness Element
• Skill: Tough Love
• They have unilateral vocal cord paralysis, so they sign and gesture and glare
• Their healing process comes with a small price of violence

Chapter Text

➽───────────────────────❥

The Wind’s been absent from their other half to check in with two other Guardians of Life. Sea Fairy Cookie was the first to check on, as they noticed Fire Spirit fleeing her domain. He appeared like a dazzling comet blazing over the ocean. So they glided down to question her about it, unintentionally startling her. After slowly drifting around her while talking, they bid her farewell before departing again.

Next, they went to check on the Maze Grove. Once they arrived, the Wind breezed through the trees, checking on the residents and flora. All is well, that is good. Millennial Tree Cookie happened to be meditating in his clearing when they softly blew in, carrying the pleasant scent of wildflowers and oncoming rain. It brings a small smile to the Tree of Life’s face as the gentle breeze sifts through his hair. They don’t stay for long after, sensing that they should return to their other half’s camp.

When the Wind gets back to the camp, they notice the smoke rising around them and attempt to swat it away. After a moment of failure, they accept defeat because they have no physical form for that action. The Wind pouts, drifting to where Eucalyptus is. He seems to be talking with his men. They will have to wait to talk to him.

While waiting their turn, they find out that Eucalyptus’s men had a little incident with a…flaming spider? Just what did they miss earlier? Drifting off into their thoughts, they ruminate about their current situation. They might be able to go home in about another five or more years, if all goes right.

Slowly trailing behind Eucalyptus, they murmur to themself about what they miss. They miss the cookiemals of the Maze Grove. They miss having a physical form to attend to their duties with. They miss lying down in the grass of their home’s glade.

“I miss hugging trees,” the Wind mumbles, not noticing that Eucalyptus is now alone.

Eucalyptus pauses midstep, his head whips around in a double-take. “What?” He asks, confused by the Wind’s timid statement.

“Oh, you can hear me now.” The Wind remarks, not answering Eucalyptus. They idly drift around him, taking a look around his camp again. “What are your men doing?” 

“They’re going to go find a map,” Eucalyptus answers before sighing. “Ours had gotten ruined by the water Flameberry used to put out Mulberry’s tent.” He continues to walk, at least to have this conversation somewhere else. “You avoided my question. What do you mean you miss “hugging trees”? You can’t do that currently?”

“I cannot, as I have no physical form. You are my physical form.” They reply, continuing to drift alongside Eucalyptus until he stops.

“You aren’t making any sense,” Eucalyptus huffs, crossing his arms. “What do you mean by that?” When he gets no reply from the Wind, he crosses his arms, annoyed by their silence. “I know you’re still there. Answer me.” He gestures out to the Wind swirling gently around him.

He waits about a minute, a hand slowly grabbing an arrow, before he starts swinging and slashing in the general direction of the Wind. He doesn’t care that this may look crazy, or that it causes no real damage to the confusing being.

➽───────────────────────❥

Flameberry waves off a fellow crewmate with a laugh, catching up to Mullberry. They are supposed to be getting Captain so their group can search for a map. “So big guy, how about later on, you come stay in my tent?” He lightly nudges Mullberry, smiling when said guy looks at him. “I won’t bite, unless you ask.”

Mulberry’s face flushes, looking away as he quickens his steps. Flameberry chuckles but hurries his own pace to keep up with the taller cookie. “Aaawww, c’mon Baby Bear, slow downnn.” The Red-Haired cookie laces his arm with Mullberry’s own, slightly tugging him back until he does properly lessen his pace. Keeping up with him is no problem, for sure, but that doesn’t mean this fiery cookie wants to rush. “You know my tent’s warmer than the ground, or the Captain’s tent.”

The flustered cookie stays silent, eyes straight ahead of them, but he doesn’t pull his arm out of Flameberry’s grasp. The fiery cookie finally takes the hint and eases his grip. Although he still holds onto Mulberry’s arm, even as he speaks again.

“Once we get this map and get back home, I definitely want to see your son again,” Flameberry admits, patting Mulberry’s arm with his free hand. “He was so adorable and squishy when I last saw him. Got your wonderful eyes.”

The taller cookie nods along with a small smile, “Yeah, he did. He’s with my sister right now, you know, and that ridiculous dragon plush you bought him.”

“Hey, I was just heading back from visiting my family in Dragon City when that letter arrived. I had to pick up something for the little fella.” The fiery cookie recalls, “and I’m sure you didn’t want me bringing him a good cup of my parents’ dragon jelly stew.”

Mulberry rolls his eyes, finally freeing his arm from the Redhead’s grasp. He still lingers next to the fiery cookie, though. “Yeah, yeah. Look, there’s Leafy over in the distance.”

Looking over, his eyes catch their captain and friend, Eucalyptus, off in the distance. Flameberry raises a hand to call out to him, but pauses as Eucalyptus slashes at the air with an arrow of his. Leaning closer into Mulberry while lowering his arm, he murmurs, “Do ya think Captain’s dealing with bugs over there?” 

“If he is,” Mulberry whispers back, “Let’s not let Marmalade over there, just in case.” He turns to leave, but the fiery cookie next to him doesn’t get the hint, continuing to stand there staring at their captain. “Come on, Flameberry. I’ll stay in your tent tonight.”

Upon hearing the final comment, the Red-Haired cookie turned right around, before practically gluing himself to Mulberry’s side. The Second-in-Command may come to regret that decision later, with how bright Flameberry’s smile is.

➽───────────────────────❥

Eucalyptus huffs, finally done swinging at the Wind. They watch him pant, slightly amused, before blowing a gust of cooling air into his face.

“Are you done with your little tantrum now?” They sweetly ask, receiving a glare from him.

“What do you even want? Don’t you have anyone else to bother?” Their other half chastises them, dropping his arrow back into his quiver before continuing to walk. He’s supposed to be getting the canteen for Marnalade.

“I do not.” The Wind solemnly admits, following alongside Eucalyptus once more. “What are you and your men doing?”  

“We need to get a map, like I said, so we can go home. Then, I’ll be on my way to find this “Looking Glass” item.” Eucalyptus clarifies, pausing before chuckling a bit. “Why so curious? Feeling daring enough to tag along?”

“You are going to look for the Looking Glass?” They query, drifting into a steadier breeze around him. “How do you know about the Looking Glass?”

“Had a strange dream last night about it.” Their other half starts, hesitating for a moment. “This…being, posing as my friend, was very insistent about finding it. Along with something called the ‘Maze Grove’ forest.” Eucalyptus felt the gusts circle a bit, possibly out of some form of excitement.

“Hm, perhaps they had a good reason.” The Wind attempts to soothe Eucalyptus, noticing when he stops in front of another’s tent. “I know where you can find the Looking Glass, which is titled ‘Resplendent Guardian’s Speculum’. If you do not mind a bit of travel before your voyage home. It will be safer for you this way.”

Eucalyptus considers it as he enters Marmalade’s tent to retrieve his canteen. The Wind waits outside for him, thankfully. He doesn’t want to pick up anything that the Wind may knock around if they were to come in. Finally finding the missing canteen underneath Marmalade’s cot, he pulls it out with a sigh, standing back up as he drapes the canteen’s strap across his shoulders.

Once he’s back outside the tent, does he finally ask, “Why is this Looking Glass so important for me to get? What does it do?” Eucalyptus turns towards the Wind before getting knocked into by a strong gust. 

➽───────────────────────❥

“A looking glass? What’s this for, Windy?” The Eternal Flame asks, turning it around in his hands while peering into it. A few moments pass as the fiery being looks at the grove through the object in his hands. Still holding up the speculum, he turns to face the Guardian of the Wind.

“It is the Resplendent Guardian’s Speculum, otherwise known as my speculum. I am giving it to you so you will always be able to find me. So as not to have you endlessly wander the Maze Grove.” The Guardian pushes the speculum down, ignoring the way his face feels flushed.

“Aawww, Windyyyyy, you shouldn’t have!” The fiery being tucks it into his pocket before wrapping his arms around the Divine Archer. “Thank you, such a sweet sentiment that I’ll cherish for as long as I burn.” He leans in further for a kiss, only for a hand to cover his mouth, pushing him back some as the Guardian of Wind buries his face in the scarf around his neck. 

A lick to the guardian’s hand causes him to finally let go of the Eternal Flame’s face. While wiping off his hand, the Guardian sighs. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered.” Glowing red eyes meet emerald green as the flaming cookie leans back in again.

“Shut up, idiot.”

➽───────────────────────❥

Eucalyptus lightly groans, “You have got to stop doing that.” He rubs his head from the lingering pain in it, hoping his nose isn’t bleeding. He swipes his hand under it, thankfully finding no blood as he begins his trek back to where his men are gathered.

“When I have a better way to share with you, I will.” The wind says, kicking up a bit of dust as they follow after him.

“So, the Looking Glass—“ Eucalyptus starts before getting interrupted.

“Resplendent Guardian’s Speculum.” The Wind butts in, going silent afterwards.

Eucalyptus levels an annoyed glare in their direction, “…The Looking Glass. Does it show you? How does that even work?” He asks, stepping over a knocked-over crate before turning back, crouching down to pick up and put the crate back in its correct place. Once he is satisfied, he continues on his path.

“It not only shows me. It shows us.” They grumble, blowing a couple of leaves into their other half’s face. “It shows what the wielder wants to find the most.”

”So it’ll show the way home? Along the way to that Maze Grove?” Eucalyptus asks as he brushes the leaves off his face. He is curious about this power that the Looking Glass wields, but at the same time, wary of how good this sounds.

“Yes.” The Wind huffs, messing up their other half’s hair on purpose now. “It will guide you back to the Hollyberry Kingdom, then to the Maze Grove, if you wish to go there.”

“Hm, if you say so.” He relents, getting the feeling he should stop asking about it, for now. “What did you mean by ‘us’ ?” Just because one topic is dropped doesn’t mean he can’t ask about the other topic the Wind brought up.

They go silent, the breeze following beside him dying out as he reaches his group of men. “…Divine Wind?” Eucalyptus murmurs before he greets his men, handing Marmalade’s canteen over to him. 

The Wind doesn’t reply to him, choosing to watch their other half instruct his crew to explore the south-west side of the ruined battlefield. When he is alone again, they finally say, “Do not worry about that for now. To find the Speculum, you must travel to an abandoned Ivory temple in the sky, just passed the Tropical Soda Islands.”

Their other half pauses for half a second before continuing his walk. He does not reply immediately, not until his men begin to spread out. When he finally does speak, it is low. “How did the temple end up over there? Isn’t that supposed to be over the Milky Way Lake?”

“It is. Divine intervention has untethered it from the lake.” They disclose, beginning to drift off on their own again.

Eucalyptus frowns at the silence to his remains, having grown used to the otherworldly voice, but he focuses back to the task at hand. Help his men find a new map.

➽───────────────────────❥

The ten of them, including Eucalyptus, have turned over practically every rubble piece out here with no luck. So they’ve spread their search further out. Eucalyptus had chosen to sit on a boulder for a moment, since he recovered some of the arrows that he thought he had lost previously.

The Cranberry soldier turns over another destroyed chunk of a building, finding a dusty envelope half-buried in the dirt below. They carefully pull it out, lowering the building chunk back down afterwards, and quietly read out the recipient’s name. “Mulberry Cookie? Who was he getting a letter from?” They look over the sender’s name, which is a little caked in dirt, but carefully rubbing a thumb over it reveals the name ‘Huckleberry Cookie’. Looking around, they spot Mulberry about twenty yards away from them. “Sir Mulberry, there’s a letter here for you from a ‘Huckleberry Cookie’?”

Having heard that, the mentioned cookie rushes over and rips the envelope out of the Cranberry soldier’s hand. He struggles to get it open, tears beginning to cloud his eyes. The envelope finally tears open with a loud ‘riiip!’ and the letter he unfolds has pictures falling out of it. Mulberry sinks to his knees with them, unbothered by the pain, now full on crying while pulling the pictures closer to himself. Hugging the pictures to his chest, he cries into the dirt.

The Cranberry soldier stares down at him, concerned for the Second-in-Command. Up to this point, no one has seen the taller cookie cry this much. They look forward as the Redhead approaches, asking him, “Is Mulberry..okay? Is this ‘Huckleberry Cookie’ important to him?”

Flameberry lightly sighs, “Huckleberry Cookie’s his older sister.” He pats the soldier’s arm before crouching down next to Mulberry. “What did she send, a letter?”

“Along with pictures,” the Cranberry soldier answers, the concern on their face still present, but understanding is showing through now.

“There are pictures?” The fiery cookie asks, placing a hand on the Second-in-Command’s back as he reaches around for what Mulberry’s got in his arms. 

The taller cookie lets him take one, sniffling. “They’re dated three years ago, my son was twooo.” He continues to cry, leaning into Flameberry’s side. 

Butterbeer Cookie begins to approach, having been called over by Marmalade when Mulberry had dropped down. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll get back to him.” The reassurance only made the crying worsen, words no longer coming out.

The Redhead trades places with Butterbeer so he can help the taller cookie back up to his feet. Taking a step back, he looks at the picture he’s gotten from Mulberry. His older sister is holding his son up to the camera, and his son is showing the beetle to the camera. ‘What a cute picture. Probably shouldn’t show Marmalade.’ Looking at Mulberry and Butterbeer again, he spots Butterbeer looking back at him with a desperate look in his eyes. They haven’t gotten very far at all, with the Second-in-Command still crying. Flameberry sighs but nods, switching the photo to his left hand.

He approaches them again, quietly, raising his right hand. When the fiery cookie’s in front of Mulberry, Butterbeer steadies the Second-in-Command on his feet before letting go of him. Flameberry, palm up, brings his hand up, stiffening his arm, and slaps Mulberry across the face.

The taller cookie stands there, shocked for a moment, barely raising a hand to his cheek. “..What was that for?” He asks, tears still in his eyes, but no longer falling.

“We have a mission to complete. You want to cry your heart out? Do it when we get back home, when you can hug your sister again, when you can finally hold your son again. Take as long as you need with your family, after we are home again.” Flameberry rants, pausing to take a breath. Mulberry tries to butt in, but the Redhead cuts him off. “We have three more tasks to get done. Three.” 

He holds up one finger, “First, find a new map.” Then, he holds up a second finger. “Second, navigate our way back through the Tropical Soda Islands while gathering needed supplies and food.” The fiery cookie holds up a third finger, “Lastly, sail on to our glorious kingdom’s dock, and return as heroes.” He lowers his hand, holding out the photo he still has in his left hand. “So pull yourself together, Mulls. We’re not done here yet.”

There is silence from everyone around them. Eucalyptus had been approaching when this was happening, and stilled when Flameberry had slapped him. Mulberry stares at the fiery one for a moment after he’s done speaking, before looking down at the picture, and then back up at him.

He nods once, wiping his eyes with one gauntlet hand, then takes the photo back. The Second-in-Command stores the pictures and letter away, under his armor, to properly store them once back at camp. “Okay.”

Flameberry gives him a gentle smile back, “Okay.”

“Alright then, let’s get moving,” Marmalade murmurs, a couple of soldiers around him agreeing and beginning to search again.

Eucalyptus sighs in relief, thankful for Redhead’s assistance. How would they keep moving without him?

➽───────────────────────❥

Their group of ten has spread out even further, having moved more west til the very edge of the battlefield was close. Two soldiers, the Cranberry House heir and a Blueberry House member, lift another piece of mechanical rubble out of the way of a bag that was trapped below it. Setting it off to the side, the Cranberry soldier picks up the bag and opens it. 

“What’s inside it?” The Blueberry soldier asks them, trying to peek in the bag.

“Hm,” The Cranberry soldier hums, pulling out a broken pair of glasses and a headband. “These, and...” They drop the items on the ground, reaching back into the bag. They pull out a flattened but rolled-up parchment. Dropping the bag, they carefully unfold the parchment.

“A map!” The Blueberry soldier cries out, smiling. “Cranberry-Aperol Spritz found a map!” Everyone turns to look their way.

They quickly fold the map back up, holding it in one hand. “I’ve got to take it back to Captain.” The Cranberry soldier doesn’t wait a second more; they turn around and take off running back to where Eucalyptus is.

Slowly, one by one, the other five crewmates chase after the Cranberry House soldier. Various cheers and shouts follow the group, and they pass by Flameberry and Mulberry.

The fiery cookie chuckles, beginning to smile from their silly, frantic energy. He takes one look at the taller beside him before beginning to run after the group. “Don’t let Mulberry get his hands on the map!” He loudly jests, snickering to himself as the group agrees with him.

Mulberry chases after the group, and specifically Flameberry, who keeps dodging his hands and weaving through the group while laughing loudly. When Second-in-Command finally manages to grab him, he stops running, pulling the Redhead back with him. Adjusting his grip on the fiery cookie, he picks up and throws it further ahead. 

Flameberry ragdolls through the air with a laugh, but begins to panic as he gets closer to the ground. As he comes into contact with the ground, he tries to brace the impact on his outstretched left hand. Sharp pain shoots up his arm, and he collapses fully to the ground with a groan. “Primroseee.”

The Healer looks up from their fanny pack, zipping it closed at seeing the state of Flameberry. They shake their head as they look up at them, looking away as they raise their hands in refusal.

The fiery cookie gets up from the ground, carefully, as Mulberry comes over to them. He looks at least a little bit remorseful. “Primrose, please.” Flameberry pleads, cupping his cracked arm. “I need this arm, Primrose.”

They frown, crossing their arms. The Healer hasn’t walked away, though, despite the stupidity that led to this. They stare at him with a flat look, motionless for about a minute. Letting Flameberry stand with his pain.

Finally, Primrose relents, motioning for the Redhead to come closer. He does with a grateful smile, carefully raising his arm with his other hand. The Healer grabs his left arm from his wrist and twists it to the left, hard, causing the fiery cookie to gasp. Letting go, his arm heals right up, the cracks sealing up and disappearing.

Flameberry rolls and swings his left arm as the pain disappears, looking at Primrose as they give him a thumbs up before walking away. “Thanks, Primrose!” He calls out to them. They just give him another thumbs up from over their shoulder. Looking back at Mulberry, he punches him in the shoulder, “Don’t worry about it, I know you didn’t mean to, Baby Bear.”

Mulberry flushes a bit but nods, relieved. “Let’s get back to the others; they’ve likely swarmed Eucalyptus by now.”

➽───────────────────────❥

Eucalyptus had paused about two hundred yards back, listening as a breeze began to blow over the battlefield. Looking up at the sky, the clouds seem heavier this afternoon. When he looked back around, his men had continued to spread out and forward. That’s okay, he decides. He’ll just look around here.

About ten minutes into his search, with no success, he begins to hear yelling in the distance. That’s certainly his men, but why they are yelling, he cannot make out. Deciding to continue to walk, he begins to approach the noise. The noise is growing closer to him, though, and quite quickly, too.

Stopping once again, he spots Cranberry-Aperol Spritz Cookie running towards him. He gives a slight wave, noticing when they wave some sort of parchment in their grasp. The Captain stares for a moment more, puzzled as to why they’re waving that around, when he finally hears off in the distance, “Don’t let Mulberry get his hands on the map!”

Likely from Flameberry, it only encouraged the Cranberry soldier to run faster. Eucalyptus realizes that they have successfully found a map. ‘Great,’ he thinks to himself as they reach him. ‘Once we tally supplies, and count boats, and…there’s so much stuff to do.’

Chapter Text

➽───────────────────────❥

“Okay, residents of Mothership!” A Blueberry soldier caught the attention of the other crewmates, walking up and out of the companionway entrance. “Does anyone have any rations left? I just finished the last of mine.”

A few soldiers exchange glances, looking through the various activities they were playing. Marmalade didn’t acknowledge the words at first, carefully watching the move of the cookie before him in their game of checkers. “Ah, nah man, I don’t have any more.” Cranberry-Aperol Spritz Cookie answers, looking towards Marmalade once they place down their piece.

Marmalade hums, moving his black checker piece over a square before setting it down. He adds the red checker piece he leaped over to his increasing pile. His foot is kicked under the table, and he lets out a sharp scoff as he raises his head. “Huh? Oh, I don’t have any more either. I shared about half of it with some of the crew.” He crosses his arms, looking back at the Blueberry soldier. “Some of you were looking like you were going to resort to cannibalism. I, for one, am not fond of the idea.”

A murmur of agreement flows through the crew up on deck. It seemed as though most were in agreement on the low rations. They’ve been out at sea for only a week. Sure, the wind has been kind with its steady breeze. They have yet to stop anywhere to resupply, though.

“Let’s eat Marmalade Cookie then. It’s lookin’, to me, to be, like, an eat or be eaten move.” A Berry soldier pipes up from the bow. 

Marmalade sends a glare towards them, even though he can hardly make out their shape, before getting up from his stool. “Me? I’ve hardly got anything on me. We’d be better off eating Mulberry.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Mulberry sputters, causing the men to quiet down. “We can’t be that desperate yet? Eh, let's take a tally. Raise your hand if you’re completely out of your rations.” Every soldier atop the deck raises their hands. Mulberry finds himself raising his own hand. “Okay, alright then. You can lower your hands now.”

The crew lowers their hands before someone attests, “Mulberry pie is actually quite good!”

“Eh heh, okay, no one is eating anyone,” Mulberry concludes, backing up to the companionway entrance. “Give me about five minutes. I’ll go talk to Captain.” Stepping backwards down the stairs carefully, he turns on the second-to-last step and strides down the hall to the Captain’s quarters. ‘If the crew aboard Mothership has no more rations, then the other fourteen ships of the fleet have close to nothing left as well.’ He assumes as he walks down the short hall.

Arriving at Captain’s door, Mulberry announces his presence with a “Captain” before entering Eucalyptus’s quarters. “Our food storage has been depleted entirely. Even the berry juice is gone.” He stresses, stepping further in and closing the door behind himself. “We must stop somewhere for more supplies if we wish to continue home.” He pauses, still refusing to voice the other half of the Captain’s plans.

Eucalyptus sighs, pushing up out of his chair before facing Mulberry. “With the Looking Glass, yes. But where to stop?” He turns on his heel and walks over to where he has the map pinned, eyes darting around the islands that should be nearby their course. Mulberry approaches from behind the Captain’s back to peer over his shoulder. Eucalyptus reaches his hand up and pushes his Second-in-Command's face back. “Don’t loom over my shoulder like that,” He states, pulling his hand away afterwards.

Mulberry huffs while crossing his arms. A small clacking sound occurs when the two gauntlets bump together. “Are there any islands nearby on that map then?”

”There should be at least three. Let’s go up top and check the horizon.” The Captain turns to his Second-in-Command, coming face-to-face with his Second-in-Command’s gauntlets crossed over his chestplate. “Mulls, personal space.” He looks up at the taller cookie, meeting his reddish-pink eyes.

Mulberry says and does nothing for a moment, just staring down at Eucalyptus. A frown forms on the Captain’s face as he nudges the taller cookie back with an elbow. The Second-in-Command’s expression then cracks into a small smirk, uncrossing his arms. “Okay, Captain I-got-the-map.”

The Captain sighs, rolling his eyes. “You aren’t letting that go any time soon, are you?”

Mulberry chuckles as he turns around and heads back out the door. Eucalyptus sighs before following after him, quickly getting lost in his thoughts. The wind has been silent since they left the canyon of the Vanilla Kingdom. No further direction or comments from them. Eucalyptus has been feeling disconnected, for some reason, and his mind has been foggy. He’s certainly missing something, but he cannot for the life of him remember what. 

The two make their way down the hall of the ship before glancing up the stairs. The crew sounds quieter than usual. Climbing the stairs to the upper deck behind Mulberry, he hears Flameberry exclaiming, “Land! On our port side!”

Looking over, Eucalyptus sees that there is a coconut reef island to the left. The palm trees along the shore are visible, along with something peculiar. There’s a light, must be some kind of fire, but there seems to be no smoke emitting from it. 

“Let’s not linger there long. Search for supplies, take what we need, and leave.” Mulberry addresses while approaching the port side, standing at the railing next to where Flameberry hangs on the netting. 

“No,” Eucalyptus announces, approaching the other side of Mullberry. “I will gather a few men to scout the island, including Flameberry.” This declaration has Mulberry turning to his Captain with a conflicted expression while Flameberry pumps his fist quietly in victory before climbing the rest of the way down the netting. 

“But sir—“ A hand being held up silences the Second-in-Command. He’s miffed but doesn’t dare defy Eucalyptus, his Captain, and his superior.

“My decision is final. Mulberry, I need you here with the ship. In the case that someone attacks while we’re away, you’ll be the one I need to step up. I can trust with that, right?” Eucalyptus lowers his hand, and Mulberry grumbles but nods in agreement.

➽───────────────────────❥

Eucalyptus trails behind the group of scouts, eyes seemingly alert but mind elsewhere. Mulberry was certainly displeased with him for his decision back there, but he backed down without too much fuss. While he dislikes shutting down his friend like that, it had to be done. They don’t know quite what is out here; they shouldn’t send out all of the Mothership’s crew on this island. A couple of the other boats, including the Cacophony’s Song, are scouting the surrounding islands in this cluster they sailed across.

Flameberry Cookie slows down enough to walk alongside him, sighing loudly before poking his shoulder. “Soooo, what’s on your mind, Cap’n? You seem a little out of it.”

“Nothing,” Eucalyptus starts, pausing a moment from the look of disbelief the fiery one gives him. He closes his eyes and slows his pace slightly to avoid the glare of his companion. “I’m just considering what might await us on this island.”

Flameberry groans, nudging his friend’s side, “That’s bull. Be honest with me, Cap.” He wraps an arm around the shorter cookie, pulling him into his side. Eucalyptus stumbles, but keeps up alongside him, not pushing him off. If he so wished to, he could easily have the fiery cookie flipped onto the ground.

Eucalyptus hesitates for a couple more minutes as they walk, slowly getting further and further behind the scout group. “…I have been feeling…off lately. After leaving the Vanilla Kingdom.”

The response causes the Redheaded cookie’s head to snap in the direction of the voice. His eyes lit up as he stared at the Archer. “Oh? How so?” The fiery cookie inquires, curious as to what’s gotten into his friend.

The Captain sighs, shrugging off Flameberry’s arms from his shoulders, “I feel like I’m…disconnected from something. Something important. But I can’t figure out what it is.” He huffs, crossing his arms. “Also, my mind’s been foggy since leaving the Vanilla Kingdom’s canyon.”

”Ah, well, I’m no medical expert, but the fogginess could be because of the stress you’re taking upon your shoulders, Cap’n.” Flameberry suggests, placing a hand upon his friend’s back. “When we get back on our boat and on our way, you can rest in your quarters. Mulberry and I can handle the fleet.”

Eucalyptus sighs; he’s appreciative of the smaller motion his friend did, rather than clinging to him, “Thank you, Flameberry.” He doubts rest will help him with this strange situation he finds himself in with the wind. He is grateful for the offer of help. Perhaps he will try to rest, at least to say that he made an effort.

➽───────────────────────❥

Coming across the area where the firelight was seen last, Eucalyptus and Flameberry find the scout group hiding in some bushes, watching a small group of Durianeers who dance around a large bonfire. Flameberry leans down into a crewmate’s side and murmurs, “Is it just me, or is there no smoke coming from the fire?” 

The berry soldier shrugs and quietly replies, “It’s not just you, man. It’s definitely strange. Might even be some kind of magic.”

“Let’s not bother them. They must have food around here,” the Captain looks down at his scouts briefly, failing to notice the dagger flying towards him. Flameberry grabs his friend’s arm and yanks him closer, slicing down the dagger’s path with his spear.

The Durianeers break up as some go running while the ones closest to the scout team start attacking them with whatever they’ve got. Glancing around, the Captain takes mental note of all the weapons: more daggers, spears, guns, and a couple of bombfruit cannons; how they pulled this out so fast, Eucalyptus has no clue.

Flameberry is the first to lead their offense, taking out another flying dagger before striking a Durianeer with his spearhead, sending them flying back through the air.

“Nice shot!” One of their crew shouts as they take on a Durianeer with a bombfruit cannon.

A group of about fifteen Durianeers quickly surrounds them with their daggers, spears, guns, and bombfruit cannons. Another tries to jab at Eucalyptus with their spear, but he manages to block the attack last minute with his bow. He takes a page out of Flameberry’s book and wacks the Durianeer away. The Durianeer goes flying off into the distance, screaming.

“Good hit, Cap’n!” Flameberry laughs, overpowering another Durianeer who tried to challenge him head-on with their own spear. Pushing the smaller Durianeer into a bigger Durianeer, the smaller one stumbles back as Flameberry advances.

Eucalyptus separates from them, knowing that Flameberry could certainly handle himself. He joins up behind one of his berry soldiers to cover their back. A bombfruit cannon Durianeer loads up their cannon to attack, but Eucalyptus easily jams the cannon with a rock, quickly pulling his berry soldier away as the cannon explodes. The Durianeer holding it goes flying off before landing in the sand, knocked out cold.

Flameberry easily handled the two he was up against, deflecting another flying dagger with his spear. Looking to the left, he runs up, stabbing his spear into the sand and leaping forward with his momentum. Landing a flying kick to another Durianeer, he quickly recovers back to his feet, spitting fire at the still too close Durianeer. They run off shouting about not signing up for this, but the fiery cookie doesn’t pay much thought to the Durianeer since they surrendered. Turning on his heel, he stumbles back as he narrowly dodges a soaring arrow, which lands in the back of a Durianeer as they try to run up on him. 

Eucalyptus grabs Flameberry’s arm, trying to pull his fiery friend towards him. Flameberry instead uses the force to pull Eucalyptus into a twirl with him. The Captain huffs as the Fiery cookie laughs once again, and they spin for a couple more seconds before Flameberry suddenly lets go, using their momentum to fly off into the group of four more Durianeers cornering two of their crewmates. Eucalyptus slightly stumbles back, but manages to quickly turn on his heel with his bow raised. He swings low at the charging Durianeers running at him, sending the three of them flying away like golf balls.

A daggered Durianeer and a spear-wielding Durianeer glance at each other before grinning sharply at Eucalyptus, raising their weapons. He frowns back, raising his bow once more. Game on.

“WE’RE HUNGRY! WE’RE NOT GOING TO EAT YOU!” Flameberry shouts as he blocks another weak attack with his spear. The battlefield freezes from the shout, slowly glancing in the direction from which it came.

Eucalyptus sighs, seeing the two Durianeers in front of him lower their weapons. He lowers his own bow in return, fully looking over to where Flameberry is. He’s covering the back of their berry soldier crewmate, in a stand-off with a smaller spear-wielding Durianeer in front of him. Were they arguing about that while fighting?

The smaller Durianeer glares a second more before cautiously lowering their spear. “You ain’t?” They ask, their tone weary. Their stance relaxes slightly, but they’re still ready just in case.

“We’re not?” A crewmate confusedly asks, dropping the Durianeer he was holding. Said Durianeer scampers off to the two in front of Eucalyptus, keeping a tight hold on their dagger as they stand behind the other two.

Eucalyptus begins to approach his fiery friend’s side, “Flameberry’s right, we’re not going to eat you.” His statement reassures the remaining Durianeers as they regroup together. He continues, “We’re just in need of some supplies. Also, some food, if you can spare it.”

The Durianeers giggle amongst themselves before one with a small crack in its exterior steps out of the group. Standing in front of the scout group, they speak up, “Yeah, we can help ya.” They slightly snicker before continuing, “There’s a cave with some nice supplies and food just east of here, past the fishing docks.” The smug, knowing look on their face left Eucalyptus concerned, but his hunger outweighed it like the rest of his men.

“Thank you, your kindness is much appreciated,” Flameberry says as he takes a couple of seed-bullets out of his spear, letting them drop to the floor. They’re used up; no way to reuse them now. Sliding his spear back into its leather ring for his bag, he looks back at their scout group. Everyone looks weary of trusting this, but hunger is a strong persuader. He gives them all a brighter smile; he’ll believe this upon his flaming breath.

The snickers that erupt quietly from the dwindled group of Durianeers feel as if a trap has been set, which causes a wave of unease to settle over Eucalyptus and his scout group. ‘Maybe they just giggle when they help others?’ It’s far-fetched, but it's all the hope he can hold onto. His fiery friend wraps his arm around his shoulders, beginning to lead them back the way they came to the shore where their boat awaits.

The Durianeer group goes back to wherever their homes are here, their snickering continuing to echo behind the cookie group as they leave. Eucalyptus spares them no other look back, instead listening as Flameberry starts to joke with the berry soldier walking beside them. Now, to get back and tell Mulberry about this cave. He was always better at finding caves and shelters somehow.

Chapter Text

➽───────────────────❥

“Are you sure we can trust this?” Mulberry paces on deck, his heavy armor-clad boots emulate the clanks of his racing mind. Eucalyptus sighs as he watches the anxious behavior of his friend. “It seems like a trap.”

“Ehhh..” Eucalyptus starts, but trails off without any proper words coming out. He has no way of defending the idea of the cave, for he, himself, doesn’t fully trust it. He hears an exaggerated exhale escape from beside him as the leaves crunch under the figure's steps.

“Oh, come now! Helloooo! Food! Did you forget we’re all starving? Maybe they giggle nervously, y’know, like how Brustleberry sneezes when anxious!” Flameberry exclaims, defending the cave’s shore that they’re docked at. He steps toward Mulberry, keeping a fair distance from the pacing commander. A small huff emerges from the crew surrounding them, especially the one who’s stepped forth. Mulberry rolls his eyes before stopping in front of the fiery one, crossing his arms.

“I still don’t trust this.” He rebuts, narrowing his eyes. The two sets of eyes lock with a building tension. The pot’s about to boil over due to the agitation of a specific Red-Headed cookie. “We don’t know what could lie inside that cave. If it isn’t a trap, it could be a giant empty cave.”

Flameberry holds it together for all of three seconds before letting out a loud, exaggerated groan. He loops a circle around Mulberry while grumbling, “You hulking menace of a man, just listen to me! If you don’t agree to this in the next three seconds, I swear upon Her Majesty herself that I will eat your armor!” 

Mulberry takes a step back while letting out a gasp, thinking that he would never. Flameberry was being serious, though. He stomped his foot and gripped his spear tightly. Mulberry glanced around at the faces of the surrounding men. Flameberry’s comment lingered in his head as he saw their hunger-ridden expressions.

“My armor is not for your tasting, you fiend! Back away!” Mulberry’s voice cracks as he waves a gauntleted hand out to attempt to push Flameberry back. The fiery one let out a loud, animal-like shout as he charged the larger warrior. Before the two can collide, an arrow shoots between them, halting them in their tracks. It whizzed into the surrounding men, lodging into the mast, narrowly missing two soldiers as they ducked their heads down.

“Calm down, you two. There are only so many men here; we can’t risk losing someone to a small quarrel like this.” Eucalyptus lowers his bow as his two friends both look towards him, guilty. “Let’s check out the cave briefly and scout for danger before even attempting to loot it.”

“Ay ay, Cap’n! I call dibs on being the first one in the cave!” Flameberry swings himself over the railing and disappears out of view. The only way that Eucalyptus could tell that he almost failed his landing was the sound of panicked shuffling to regain balance before quickly ending. Then, Flameberry becomes visible above the railing as he bolts towards the forest at a speed Captain’s never seen before.

”You’ve made a mistake with this.” Mulberry sighs as he rubs his face with his gauntleted hand. 

“I might’ve,” Eucalyptus half-agrees, watching as Flameberry disappears down the forest path. Mulberry gathers a group aboard the Mothership to follow after the fiery cookie as the Captain walks toward the railing of the ship.

➽───────────────────❥

Approaching the cave entrance, they find Flameberry Cookie lying face down in the dirt, leaves in his hair, and bugs crawling over him. As the crew comes closer, he opens his eyes and pushes himself up, looking back at them. “Hi guys!”

“Agh!” Marmalade Cookie jumps back, glaring at him. “I thought you were dead, man.” 

“Nope, I was just waiting for you guys to get here.” Flameberry takes the hand offered to him by one of the soldiers, Pink Lemonade Cookie, getting back up to his feet and shaking off the dirt and bugs. Marmalade takes a step away from him and the flying bugs. “Man, that took you like twenty minutes. I figured the bugs would’ve started to eat me by now.” The fiery one smiles at him, lightly punching Marmalade twice in the shoulder, who grimaces with an undying hint of fear as he inched away from Red-Head.

Eucalyptus rolls his eyes from the interaction before checking Flameberry over for himself. Only a slight tear in his knee, but no leaking jam or scrapes. He brings a hand to rub at the bridge of his nose while grabbing the Red-Head’s spear that rested to the side. “I’m glad that you’re okay, Flameberry. Do not go running off like that again.” The Captain hands the fiery cookie’s spear over to him, smiling a bit when he takes it.

He huffs after the scolding, flicking a small spider off of him. Flameberry laughs at the yelp from Marmalade due to him flicking it at the guy, “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Cap’n. Now let’s go get this food and get out of here. It’s kinda givin’ me the creeps.”

With Flameberry joining their group, making the count to twenty-four members, they continue to walk on. The fiery cookie stays at Mulberry Cookie’s side, swinging his spear around lightly. It ends up softly whacking Mulberry’s side, who grants him a glaring look. Flameberry smirks back at him, “What’s that look for, Baby Bear?”

Mulberry huffs as his face flushes, looking away from Flameberry. The fiery cookie frowns, sliding his spear back into its leather ring for his bag before dropping his arms. The Second-in-Command spares him no second glance. They walk on, Eucalyptus watching them from behind.

‘Seems as if he’s not over their little spat from earlier.’ The Captain thinks, focusing on what’s ahead of them. ‘That’s okay, I know they will get over it soon enough.’ He spots the cave first, and his steps quicken towards it, bringing him to the front of their little team. His men follow him, each at varying levels of noticing the cave for themselves. 

When they come to a stop in the mouth of the cave entrance, Eucalyptus finally takes note of the wildlife around them being eerily quiet. Only their footsteps echo around them in the space, their chatter dying off as they try to peer inside. 

Eucalyptus takes a readying breath, letting it out slowly. “Let’s get in, and if there is nothing, get out. Two hundred and six cookies are waiting for us back at the boats.” The Captain looks around at his men as they ready their weapons. “We’ll go to another island if we must.” Eucalyptus readies his bow, notching an arrow in it.

Flameberry gives him a smirk before entering the cave first. Mulberry’s not far behind him, guantleted fists raised, and the other twenty-two cookies follow him. The Captain takes up the rear, watching for any hint of danger behind them. The wind has been silent this entire walk, even the entire journey home thus far, lacking any response whenever Eucalyptus tries to reach out.

Spitting on his spear, its spearhead ignites, and he waves it around slowly. The area around them is empty and cavernous, devoid of any kind of food or supplies. Just stalagmites and stalactites. Mulberry is the first one to speak up.

“Looks like there’s nothing here, Captain. Those Durianeers lied to you.” He turns around in front of Eucalyptus, sending a glaring stare to Flameberry. The fiery cookie groans in response, extinguishing his spear. They miss the red, glowing eye that opens briefly behind them as they start to leave the cave, loudly complaining and arguing at varying levels.

Two loud booming voices simultaneously echo through every cookies’ minds, stopping the crew in their tracks, “Who goes there? Why are you here, foolish cookies?”

The men, startled, look around for the sources of the voices, and the Captain joins the front of his team as a dark mass rises from the ground behind them, its exposed white ribcage revealing a dripping red core. Six candles upon its horned head suddenly ignite, casting a deep red glow around the cave.

”Hello…We’re just travelers. In search of some food.” Eucalyptus lowers his bow a bit, trying to seem disarming. His few steps back don’t seem to go unnoticed by the being that looms before them. “We come in peace.”

A loud voice hisses out, “You have entered my serenity; unwelcome, disturbing the peace—” And the second voice quickly overlaps it, not waiting for it to end. “For that, you must die.”

“There’s been a misunderstanding. We didn’t mean to disturb your peace.” The Captain lowers himself this time to the ground, placing his bow down before slightly motioning for Mulberry to back the crew up towards the entrance. “But now I see we’ve caused some distress. Maybe you and I can make a deal.”

The towering creature raises its spear, pointing it at the Captain. “Speak now. The outcome of your fate is sealed; all you do now is entertain your hopes.” The creature tosses a glowing red sphere at the exit’s wall, causing several stalactites to fall. Some of his men jump, startled by the falling stalactites, thankfully unharmed when Eucalyptus glances back through the kicked-up dirt. The rocky rubble now blocks the exit for his men; it’s going to take a few minutes to get that open again.

“We’ll leave quietly, not telling a soul about this place. A trade, you see? Your secret serenity will remain uncharted and non-existent in the eyes of cookiekind, and we walk free.” His men are closer to the blocked exit now. The creature just needs to agree; since it speaks in doubled voices, maybe one can overpower the other long enough for the Archer and his men to escape.

The gleaming red light grows brighter in an instant as the creature shrieks, causing the ground to shake. Eucalyptus picks his bow back up, shouting behind him as he notches an arrow, “Looks like it’s a no, then! Comrades!”

Vicious cries are let out by both the monster and the crew as his men begin attacking. Eucalyptus fires his bow at an arm of the beast, reloading it while rolling out of the way of the incoming spear. “Attack behind it and stay in its blind spots!”

“Are we sure it has blind spots?!” Mulberry shouts as he dodges a glowing red sphere. 

“It has to, it only has one eye!” Flameberry shouts back as he strikes the left wrist of the beast, quickly dodging when it swings its spear his way. The creature screeches as its wrist lights up on fire, knocking down stalactites and stalagmites. Unluckily for the beast, it just gave them more blind spots to hide in. 

➽───────────────────────❥

Hiding behind another set of stalagmites, Flameberry and Succulent Cookie crouch, listening to the cries of the beast as the crew and Captain attack it with everything they’ve got.

“Flameberry, your arm is leaking jam.” The cookie beside the fiery one points out as he opens a small pack at his side, beginning to pull out a bandage roll. Flameberry rolls his eyes, slightly leaning away. A scratch won’t kill him; there are more pressing matters.

“Succulent Cookie, it’s fine. I’ll be alright.” The fiery cookie switches his spear in his hands, scraping its spearhead against the stone to sharpen its tip and side once more. He misses his grit rock back on the boat. “Get back out there. I can handle a little scrape.”

Succulent looks at him, probably not believing a word he said, but he closes his side pack and turns, charging back out there. Flameberry rolls his eyes again, with a scoff, before finally looking at the wound on his arm. ‘That’s certainly going to leave a scar later.’ Taking out a cloth from his bag, he wraps it around the wound, tying it in place. ‘Rad. That’ll have to do for now.’

The fiery cookie gets up from his sitting position as the set of stalagmites crumbles from a swinging spear, and he turns around. Pointing his spear at the beast, he hurls it at its head, jumping out of the way when another flaming red sphere is thrown at him. The monster’s spear, like previous times, slams into another stalagmite that crashed down. Flameberry groans but ducks down behind it. He’s gotta get his spear back now.

Peeking out at the current scene, he spots his spear sticking out of the beast’s head, close to the left side horn. ‘I can probably get up there from beside it…Yeah, I got this.’ He lifts himself into a starting sprint position, counting in his head like all those practices in training. This was just one big practice session.

Flameberry dashes out from behind the stalagmite, dodging the glowing red spheres that rain down and the swinging spear that tries to cut him and his crewmates down. Weaving around the other cookies, the fiery cookie passes Mulberry behind a stalagmite during his rush. The Second-in-Command yells out to him, “Flameberry, watch out!” His first words to the fiery cookie since their little feud, and he’s concerned for him.

“Don’t worry, I got this Mulls!” He shouts back, sending Mulberry a wink, trying to reassure him. ‘I’ll have to spend some time with him after this. Properly apologize.’ Looking forward again, he stumbles over some cave rubble and trips, falling to his knees. Flameberry manages not to face-plant into the floor, using his arms to support his sudden weight. From his right, he hears a quiet rumbling quickly approaching. Pushing back up to his feet, the fiery cookie barely turns towards it before he’s engulfed in a blinding, burning light, unable to scream.

➽───────────────────❥

Eucalyptus stills in his spot as cookie crumbs float in the air. Mulberry stills as well, but he notices the same light beam quickly approaching the Archer’s left now. “Eucalyptus!” The Second-in-Command dashes towards his best friend’s still form. 

The sight of a figure rapidly approaching him catches his eye, and he turns his head only to be met with a gauntlet to the face. The Second-in-Command had tripped over his own boot and ended up colliding with the Captain, rougher than he would’ve liked. They go tumbling to the ground, taking several seconds to finally stop. Mulberry had even gotten a bow end to his face during their tumbling.

“What was that for?” Eucalyptus rubs a hand on his jaw as he adjusts it for a moment; the gauntlet had made contact with his jaw the worst when the guard crashed into him. The Captain looks at him, thankful that they’re behind some solid stalagmites at the moment. His men’s cries and shouts almost blend with the beast’s roars around them.

“There was a—You were go—” Mulberry’s starting to hyperventilate, stumbling over his words as he tries to get them out in a straight, coherent sentence.

Eucalyptus places his hands on his friend’s arms, grounding him back to the moment. “Breathe, Mulberry. Breathe.” He takes a big, deep breath in when Mulberry’s reddish-pink eyes meet his green ones.

The Second-in-Command matches it, taking a deep breath in as well. Letting it out slowly, shakily, he finally utters, “The beam. Another was coming towards you. I was acting on instinct.”

“Oh. Well, thank you Mulls.” Eucalyptus gets up, grabbing Mulberry’s gauntlet to haul him up as well. Once they’re back up on their feet, they have to quickly duck back down to dodge the spear swinging right over them. It barely misses hitting their stalagmite cover.

Mulberry groans as his head throbs in pain, cupping his face afterwards. “My faceee. Why the bow to my face?”

“I was still holding it when you tackled me. So.” The Captain states, notching another arrow into his bow. He readies his shot around the edge of the stalagmite, aiming for the beast’s eye, beginning to tune out his friend.

“Oh. Apologies, Captain.” Suddenly, a grim expression of terror flashes across the larger warrior’s face. He whips around, frantically glancing around, not noticing Eucalyptus’s missed shot at the beast’s eye. “Flameberry! We have to find…” His voice tapers off as he catches sight of the abandoned spear, still on the left side of the beast’s head. There was no sight of the cocky warrior anywhere amongst the chaos of the battlefield.

Eucalyptus follows his line of sight, spotting the spear jabbed into the beast’s left side of its head. “We need to get his spear. Extinguish those can—“ Before he can finish explaining, he’s startled by the larger warrior dropping to his knees behind him. A choked noise escapes Mulberry as his shoulders droop.

“Hey, come on! Get back up. We have to get the spear!” Eucalyptus dashes out from their hiding spot behind the stalagmites, not paying attention to the turmoil of his Second-in-Command. 

Mulberry makes a choked noise, struggling to get back up and move. Butterbeer comes up beside him, hauling him back up to his feet and pulling him behind another stalagmite as his previous one crumbles.

“Talk ta me, Mulberry. What’s gotten ya?” Butterbeer asks, keeping a hand on his shoulder as he looks the large warrior over. As Mulberry struggles to find his words again, the sturdier warrior starts to evaluate him. No leaking wounds, no dents in his armor, really. A bruise was forming on his right cheek, but that’s definitely from the bow end Butterbeer saw him take to the face.

The Second-in-Command finally gets out, “The Beast…it got…with its laser.” Butterbeer meets his eyes again, seeing that they’re tearing up. Now really isn’t the time for mourning; they still have lives to fight for.

“I hear ya. We must continue to fight, though. The rest of the men await us outside at the shore.” He reasons, glancing away at the scene around them. Eucalyptus has managed to climb upon the Beast’s back, likely with the help of Marmalade. He’s working his way to its head, stabbing two of Marmalade’s poison-tipped daggers into the back of the Beast. The Beast cries out, in pain and in fury. The sturdier warrior looks back at Mulberry, saying, “We need ya in here right now, Chief Mate. If not for the men outside, do it for him; avenge him.”

The Second-in-Command finally looks at him, sniffling slightly. “Okay. For him.”

➽───────────────────────❥

With the last flaming candle now extinguished, the Beast roars, pained, as it lowers to the ground, dropping its spear to grab at its head. Eucalyptus slides off the back of it and lands crouched, one hand still holding his bow. His men begin rushing out of the cave after getting the exit cleared by the last frantic beam from the Beast. Standing up, he rushes towards the exit as well, settling his bow back across his body before helping those who were injured outside.

The Beast’s roars morph into disheveled sobs as the crew escapes. Butterbeer pulls Mulberry out while talking calmly to the Second-in-Command. The Captain watches them go before turning back inside, making sure every cookie got out. Once he was one hundred percent sure, Eucalyptus certified that the Beast wouldn’t be able to follow them later by setting up a simple explosive trap with the help of Marmalade. If it tries to follow them out by their sounds, the stalactites left in the entrance would get knocked down by the explosion, blocking the exit once more. 

After catching up with his crew, Eucalyptus takes a moment to catch his breath. Glancing around at his men, they all held varying emotions splayed across their faces. Fear, relief, tiredness, he sees it all. They are all alive, though.

The Captain takes a sharp inhale, finding no sight of a specific red-haired cookie. Thinking he’s perhaps crouched or hiding low to avoid him, Eucalyptus climbs up on a rock to take a mental head count. Ten, thirteen..sixteen… Seventeen, including himself. They were missing seven men from the group.

Getting down from the rock, the Archer moved his way through the tired crowd, stopping in the center. Approaching from his left was a distraught Mulberry, along with Butterbeer, who had a hand on his Second-in-Command’s shoulder. Eucalyptus clears his throat, gaining the attention of his surrounding men.

“Where’s Flameberry Cookie?”

Chapter Text

“Hello? I’m talking to you guys.” Eucalyptus looks around at his men, some shrinking under his narrowing glare. Their reactions proved that his words hadn’t fallen upon deaf ears, but rather those afraid of giving a response. Unable to tolerate the lack of response, he repeats himself just once, “Where’s Flameberry Cookie?” 

The crew around him shared sorrowful glances while others looked around, confused by the lack of said loud red-haired cookie. The silence stretches on, and no one answers his repeated question. They avoided looking the Captain in the eyes, let alone in his direction. The crew's desolate and departed looks only added to the stumped expression that Eucalyptus wore.

Mulberry let out a choked noise, interrupting the silence. His voice cracks before he even speaks. “… He’s gone, Eucalyptus.” The Second-in-Command’s eyes water as he fights back sobs, his voice soft for the first time since…well, Eucalyptus can’t exactly recall when. Perhaps when Mulberry introduced his son to the Captain and Flameberry. Speaking of the redhead, the words he spoke rolled around in his murky mind.

“What, that’s not funny. Where is he?” The archer glances around him amongst the faces of his crew again, disbelief evident in his eyes. His shoulders slowly slumped as his eyes flicked about the crowd. Desperation began to etch its way into his appearance. Butterbeer gives him a concerned look, hand still on Mulberry’s shoulder. After several rotations of looking at his sorrowful men and seeing the same faces, examining each of them thoroughly, his eyes land back on his best friend, who is now quietly weeping. “..No.”

He’s frozen for a second, hands starting to shake as he grabs his bow tightly. This can’t be real. Eucalyptus just saw the cocky cookie. Or was it one of the other crew members? His hair was a distinct color… the lighting in the cave… it couldn’t have changed it that much.. He was here. Where did he go after the… cave?… Oh.. The Beast… the beam. He got hit by that beam. It absorbed him right in front of Eucalyptus. How could he forget? 

The archer’s eyes focus back on Mulberry, who’s gripping Flameberry’s spear tightly. Maybe a little too tight—

Crack!

The spear breaks at the bottom under the grip of the larger warrior. Sobs break out from Mulberry as he scrambles with the splintered pieces of the spear in his hands. Butterbeer tries to soothe him, attempting to help him put it back together, but the pieces keep falling. The Second-in-Command is mumbling to himself. Or is he shouting? 

Eucalyptus cannot hear anything; his mind is racing, and it feels like he cannot breathe, no matter how much he tries. His throat feels as though a snake has wrapped around it as he struggles to remain composed. The scene of Flameberry’s last moment keeps replaying in his mind. Spinning around on his heels, the Captain briskly walks off, face pale and eyes wide. Flameberry is dead.

Fifteen steps. He makes it fifteen steps before sharply turning left, collapsing into the forest. 

➽───────────────────❥

Great, both of his superiors are mental wrecks. Marmalade watches as a few crew members gather around Mulberry as he sobs on the ground, having sunk to his knees after the Captain turned away. They’re still outside the cave where the Beast still resides, and it’s gone eerily quiet. They need to get out of here, now rather than later, before it decides it wants a round two.

The orange-haired cookie makes a few futile attempts at getting the attention of his fellow crewmates. Marmalade’s usually not one to deal with others’ emotions, even getting described as a ’sociopath’ by several others back at the academy. Although the title fits, he honestly doesn’t care for it. Call him what you will, but they have things to do; they couldn’t afford to grieve now, for time continues to pass, and the world keeps spinning.

The dagger-wielder was close to Flameberry. Sure, maybe not as much as his superiors, but close enough to have meaningful conversations with him every once in a while. He was a nice guy. Annoying, but nice. Definitely pleasant to joke with. However, now is not the time to mope and mourn; they need to return to the kingdom. No, get supplies, they’re all starving, and emotions can’t wrangle food for them.

Just as Marmalade is about to speak, he gets shoulder-checked by another crewmate who rushes to check on the Captain. Okay, that’s it. He takes in a deep breath and closes his eyes momentarily before shouting.

“Alright! Enough! Listen up and listen well, if you wish to survive this! We need food, not tears.” The shortest cookie walks over to a boulder and attempts to stand on it, to be visible to the entire crowd. A few of his crewmates glance over at him with a look of something that Marmalade doesn’t care to name.

“Our superiors aren’t useful as of this moment, and most of you are too wimpy to even attempt to lead. Ergo, I’m in charge.” It is the best decision, honestly, no emotions equals no faults. Okay, he has emotions, but they’re weird, and he doesn’t care for them right now. “I'll stand in until Captain comes to his senses. We need to get to the boat, fill in the rest of the fleet on the situation, and get food. Unless you all wish to cry until you starve to death, or until that Beast comes outside to finish the job.” 

His words may be harsh, but they are true. They have things to do, and their current situation, as delicate as it is, isn’t ideal. 

Looking around, his eyes land on Butterbeer Cookie. “You, Butterbeer, go get the Captain and bring him back to the Mothership; preferably before he gets eaten by something out here.” Looking away, once said cookie nods, Marmalade gestures to two other cookies. “You two, lug Mulberry back to the ship; drag him if need be.”

Getting down from the rock, the dagger-wielder slips but recovers easily. “The rest of you, follow me back. We need to regroup with the fleet and designate tasks. There’ll be a moment of silence for those lost once back, but that will be all for now.”

The crew murmurs a series of yeses, and Marmalade nods once before beginning to walk. Following him, his crewmates are silent. He doesn’t look back, knowing that they’re following him from their footsteps. The orange-haired cookie can even hear the two cookies he assigned to Mulberry, dragging the Second-in-Command behind the whole group. He’s not exactly walking by the sounds of all of their footsteps, but he is up on his feet at least. Good enough.

On the way back, they come across Butterbeer and Eucalyptus making their way back. Glancing at the taller cookie, Marmalade only gets a shrug in response. The Captain doesn’t look any better than twenty minutes ago. This is going to be a long, silent walk.

➽───────────────────────❥

Finally back aboard the boat, Mulberry has retired to his quarters. Eucalyptus stands next to Marmalade, looking one minuscule attempt away from a breakdown. He’s silent as the orange-haired cookie finishes creating a makeshift megaphone out of some bark, a large palm frond, and a small bunch of vines. The items had been collected during the walk back. After securing the megaphone, he clears his throat and holds it up to speak.

“The cave was a trap. There was no food. We lost seven men in there.” Marmalade looks around at the gathered cookies from each of the ships. The murmuring crowd goes silent, all eyes going elsewhere. “While we may be sad, we must keep pushing forward. We must get food, and we must get back to our kingdom.”

The wind swirls lightly around Eucalyptus Cookie, strange to the dagger-wielder. He ignores it for now. The captain isn’t making any objections, so he takes his silence as a means to continue.

Gesturing to two of the fleet’s boat sub-captains, he starts, “Okay. Boats two and three, go north and look for locals who are willing to help.” They nod, giving each other a fist bump. Marmalade moves on, “Boats four and five, you go south.” Those two sub-captains try to argue over each other, and the Orange-haired cookie silences them by throwing one of his knives at them. It just barely misses nicking the shorter one across the cheek. Primrose sighs from somewhere in the crowd, likely disappointed with Marmalade’s choice. Oh well.

Moving on, the dagger-wielder gestures to three more sub-captains right in front of him, each a different color than the last, “Boats nine, ten, and eleven, go east.” Getting no retort from the sub-captains, he looks at them properly. Two of them are sleeping while the final one gives him a thumbs up. Marmalade sighs, looking away to three more sub-captains, the spicier fruit cookies. “Boats twelve, thirteen, and fourteen, go west,” He explains, getting three ‘yes, sir’ responses back. Afterwards, the shortest cookie gestures to the last sub-captain, another cookie of berry descent, before speaking, “Boat fifteen, stay here. You’ll come with us to try to find the Durianeers.” He drops the hand holding the makeshift microphone, already tired of how much work this has taken. 

Someone raises their hand high over the crowd, waving it to get Marmalade’s attention. When he finally looks over, they ask, “And what about boats six, seven, and eight?”

The dagger-wielder groans; he forgot about those boats. Those boats were of a more tropical descent, and they always acted so snobbishly. Maybe not boat eight, but they bunched with the previous two, so he hates them as well. Thinking about it for a moment, he finally decides, “Right! Boats six, seven, and eight. Pick a random direction and sail. You don’t like me, and I don’t like you. Capiche?”

An offended scoff can be heard, but the boats’ sub-captains begin to turn and leave for their respective vessels. Now that everyone has their assignments, they all get up on the gangways to get off the Mothership. Marmalade, suddenly remembering something else, clears his throat, and the sub-captains turn back around to face him once more; several wear looks of concern, others disgust.

“I need to lay down some ground rules.” The orange-haired cookie pauses for a moment before clapping his hands together. “One. Don’t add to the population. Two. Don’t take away from the population. Three. Don’t cry. Four. Don’t get lost. If you get lost, battlecry, we’ll find you via screams.” There’s a moment of silence between the crew members. “Bye.” 

Marmalade turns away abruptly and begins to walk towards the captain’s quarters, Eucalyptus following beside him. The wind seems to chase after the archer. Abnormal, but the day’s been just as strange as the breeze.

➽───────────────────────❥

Journal Entry #16 - I don’t know the date, maybe April

Eucalyptus The Captain has been in his quarters for a week, and Mulberry came out of his quarters yesterday. He was sulking around, though, and at one point we had to tie him to the railing so he wouldn’t jump ship. Captain’s been ignoring my knocks at his door, so I’ve been making things up as I go.

It’s a shame. I left the ration supply list in there. I don't know what we have remaining and what we have that we don't need.

The wind has been howling since the captain locked himself away. Dandelion said it was a terror to be up on deck. I watched as someone almost got swept off the deck. It was laughable. 

I stay in the galley most days, just in case someone needs me; I have to make a plan. Did I ever mention how much I hate making plans? There’s always one detail that Butterbeer Cookie someone points out and I have to correct on the spot.

I think I’ll go try the Captain’s quarters again. I need that damn paper.

This is Marmalade signing out. Hopefully not for the last time. We know we all die, though.

➽───────────────────❥

Looking up from his journal at the sound of footsteps entering the galley, he sees Eucalyptus walking in with the ration’s paperboard. The orange-haired cookie smiles slightly, even though Captain hasn’t looked at him yet. He lowers his quill back down to his journal, setting it down inside while watching Eucalyptus, not quite wanting to scare him off.

The archer peeks back out in the hallway before fully coming inside the galley. “Do you know what’s up with Mulberry? He’s squeezing Dandelion Cookie while sobbing in the hallway.”

“Oh no, not Dandelion,” Marmalade spoke with the most monotone voice imaginable and an unreadable poker face, sarcasm somehow dripping from his voice. “I believe someone was talking to him, and he asked where Flameberry was. After that, he froze up and then started sobbing, the usual. It’s a shame that Dandelion is the sacrifice this time.”

“Oh..Wait, sacrifice?” Eucalyptus looks up from the ration’s paperboard, now realizing it's Marmalade he’s talking to.

“It’s good to see you up and out of your room, Captain.” The shorter responds, stretching his arms over his head. He can finally hand these duties back over to the Archer. He’s gotten pretty sick of cookies asking him basic and random questions that they, themselves, should already know the answer to. For example, asking how to tie a knot as if they hadn’t been on a boat for the better half of four or so years, maybe five.

Eucalyptus holds up his free hand, rolling his wrist in a backward motion. “Pause. Go back, what do you mean by ‘sacrifice’?”

Marmalade shrugs, “Ehhh, it’s nothing. Someone has to comfort Mulberry whenever he cries. You weren’t here to do it. We resorted to handing him off to stronger cookies who could withstand being crushed in his arms.” He gets up from his seat, tucking his journal into the crook of his arm. “Last week, he almost broke Smoothie Face’s arm.”

Eucalyptus hums, observing him for a moment. “Smoothie Face?” He asks, confused by the nickname. How much has he missed in the past week?

“Banana Smoothie Cookie.” The Orange-haired cookie answers, giving the Captain a look that screams ‘obviously’ at him. 

A silent ‘oh’ escapes Eucalyptus’s mouth as he sets down the ration’s paperboard on the table. “Anyways, how did the supply runs and rations gathering go?” He asks as Marmalade comes around the table, squinting at the paper.

“I’d say pretty well, in my humble opinion. These sad excuses of warriors are decently good at assigned jobs,” The taller boasts, quite proud of the teamwork he’s scrounged out of his crewmates. Even the unwilling ones cooperated for the sake of the whole fleet. 

Eucalyptus gives him a flat stare, “Why are you so mean to them, Daggers?”

“I’m not mean. I’m being nice to them,” Marmalade honestly answers, rolling his eyes. He shifts his stance to lean against the table, a sad attempt at getting closer to the list.

The Captain places a hand over his chest, “That’s you being nice? Oh, I’m horrified at the thought of you being hospitably modest.” He chortles, lowering his hand, “Or compassionate.”

“I thank you for your faith, Captain.” The orange-haired cookie deadpans, a little annoyed by the amusement spreading on Eucalyptus’s face. He can’t stay irritated for long, though, a small huff escaping his mouth as he tries hard not to smile.

Eucalyptus rolls his eyes, nudging Marmalade lightly in his side. “Okay. Rations. You had left this paper in my room. Let’s go fill it out now.”

“Oh, sick, my paper. I thought it would be locked away forever like a princess in a tower, doomed to be guarded by a depressed captain.” The dagger-wielder laments, lightly chuckling from the exasperated look he receives from the Captain.

“Come on.” Eucalyptus slides it over to Marmalade, who picks it up before bringing it super close up to his face. Eucalyptus considers for a second that he might need glasses, but is left puzzled as the taller cookie shrugs, taking the ration’s paperboard out of the galley. Sighing, he shakes his head before following after the dagger-wielder. Time to catch up on what’s been left not done. 

Chapter Text

➽───────────────────────❥

Two weeks since Marmalade’s Orders…

═════════════════════

Boat 8 – Cacophony’s Song, 

This boat is our pride and joy in the Hollyberrian fleet. At least to those on the boat. We uphold the most Hollyberrian virtues out of the entire fleet. Although, as I write this, the resident cannibal of the ship is sitting next to me…Eating another bird, raw. He scares me.

We’ve been away from the rest of the fleet for maybe a few weeks now, if I had to guess. Boats 6 and 7, Hibiscus Major and Delphinium Minor, left to share our findings with the rest of the fleet! We found the floating islands Captain was talking about before…We had to stay here to keep watch of the tropical storm encasing them, and follow it in case the islands move. So far, they’ve stayed exactly where we found them, as if pinned by some divine being’s will. We do not know how much longer we will be under the Divine’s mercy.

I suppose I must go check on my crew, as they have grown quite silent since the rotation.

Logging number 102, 

Cherry Gelato Cookie.

═════════════════════

Cherry Gelato closes his pocket notebook, tucking it back into his pocket before getting up from his chair. His crew has been keeping an eye on the storm that surrounds the floating islands that the Captain was looking for. 

The quartermaster glances at Berryjuice Cookie, who looks up from his meal as he crunches on the bird’s wishbone. Cherry Gelato quickly looks away, motioning that the crazy berry cookie can go back to his meal as he begins to head out of the galley.

He still doesn’t quite understand how this had happened to one of his most-trusted soldiers. During the war, everyone had gotten separated from the groups they were sorted into. The quartermaster had been paired with Berry Juice, Rosé Cookie, and Fizzy Raspberry Cookie before they charged into battle. Somehow getting separated from everyone, Cherry Gelato thought they had died when he couldn’t find any of them. Then Berry Juice just showed up back at camp four days later, dried jam still on his face, his appearance haggard…

Shaking his head, Cherry Gelato continues climbing the short stairs to the deck of his boat, the Cacophony’s Song – entrusted to his command by the Captain. He looks up, towards the crow’s nest, spotting Orchid Cookie up aloft, watching over the horizon for any small movement. Continuing his travel to the helm, he receives a whistle from the flower cookie, causing a small smile to bloom on his face as the quartermaster waves up to him.

Orchid watches him a moment longer, only turning away when the bashful quartermaster reaches Sparkling Berry Cookie, who’s slightly dozing at the helm. His gaze comes back to the horizon; no need to eavesdrop when he can’t hear them from up here anyway. Squinting out at the figures rising from the horizon, Orchid finally pulls out his spyglass, opening it up to get a better look at just what’s out there. The sight of the Coats of Arms flag flying high upon the leech of the Mothership is clear to the flower soldier as the boat draws closer, Hibiscus Major and Delphinium Minor following beside the Mothership. Orchid knew that the Mothership was a pretty fast boat, usually only outsailed by the Cacophony’s Song, but it was really gaining on them. “BOATS! BOATS! They’re coming our way!” He shouts, leaning over the side of the crow's nest, dropping his spyglass onto the floor of it. The flower cookie almost falls out of the crow’s nest, but manages to catch a rope and pulls himself back up.

“Are they our fleet?” Sparkling Berry Cookie hesitantly calls up to Orchid, having just been released from helm duty by the quartermaster. He’s starting to see the masts rising out of the horizon, and he grabs the railing to keep upright as the boat suddenly lurches left.

After retrieving his spyglass, Orchid takes another look through it, unbothered by the boat’s sudden movement, before replying, “Definitely ours!” The flower cookie climbs down from the crow’s nest, landing next to another beverage-based soldier.

“Isn’t Marmalade Cookie still leading?” Lemon Sorbet Cookie asks, shuddering from mentioning that dagger-wielder’s name. She dislikes his very being, ever since he joined the academy. The cookie’s always very unbothered by everything. A sociopath, as the other soldiers call him.

Overhearing this, Dipped Strawberry Cookie gasps, “Sail away for our lives!” and tries to dash for the helm. Cherry Gelato keeps a steady hand on the helm wheel while blocking Dipped Strawberry’s attempts to grab it.

Their boat lurches forward as the loose sails drop open, but they don’t get too far before the Mothership pulls alongside them, with Hibiscus Major and Delphinium Minor only a couple nautical miles behind it. A gleaming silver arrow lodges in the side of the mast, and the crew aboard Cacophony’s Song pauses briefly, staring at the arrow before turning to face the Mothership. The wind around them has suddenly died as Eucalyptus Cookie, not waiting for the bridge to be put into place, grabs a rope and swings himself over easily. He lands on the deck of Cacophony’s Song, and the crew lets out a series of loud cheers. “Oh, Captain, my Captain!” and “By the Divine, you’re here!” are all that the Archer can make out from the dissonance of voices. He raises a hand, and the crew grows quiet, smiles on their faces at the sight of him.

“Yes, I’m here and well. Hibiscus Major and Delphinium Minor said that you have found the floating islands.” He starts, looking towards Cherry Gelato at the helm, expectant of getting the news straight from the cookie himself.

”Yes! Just passed the storm that’s…” Cherry Gelato trails off, staring at the storm that is approaching rather swiftly, before continuing. “That’s coming our way. We should get out of here.”

“Nah, let’s face it! We did it once, we can do it again.” Berry Juice Cookie exclaims while coming up the companionway’s stairs, stopping next to Lemon Sorbet. The citrus dessert cookie shuffles slightly away from him, keeping a hand on her bomb pouch. Looking away from him, she sees that Hibiscus Major and Delphinium Minor have caught up to them. ‘Good thing they didn’t abandon us like they wanted to.’

“We’ll go through it. Mulberry, Marmalade, and Dandelion, come over here.” Eucalyptus places his bow back across his body, motioning for the three he called to come over. “We’ll take Cacophony’s Song. Everyone who doesn’t wish to go through the storm again, get aboard the Mothership. Hibiscus Major and Delphinium Minor will wait outside of the storm.”

The crew begins to move once he finishes speaking, Mulberry and Dandelion coming across the gangway after being called. Looking around, the Second-in-Command doesn’t see an inch of the jam aforementioned cookie, and looking at Dandelion only gets him a shrug in return. 

“Why do I have to?” Marmalade asks as he jumps over the side of the Cacophony’s Song, causing Mulberry to jump slightly, raising his fist as he spins round. The shorter cookie holds up his hands in a silent apology; he genuinely didn’t see the chief mate there.

Mulberry lowers his fist, “How did you get over here so fast?” Looking over the side of the Cacophony’s Song, he notices the dagger holes in its side as well as the Mothership’s. Not deep enough for water to penetrate the hulls, but they’ll need to be tended to before something makes them worse.

As the Second-in-Command looks back at Marmalade, the shorter cookie just shrugs. “I climbed out and up. Captain called. Which, again, why must I join this?” He held an unimpressed expression, to which a sigh was returned from the Captain.

“Because I need you here.” Eucalyptus motions to the side that he climbed over, and then gestures to him. “Because you do things like this. We may need a bit of ingenuity with this venture.”

“Ha ha, how funny, Capt’n. Thanks.” Marmalade walks by, voice monotonous as usual.

“Can we leave the cannibal on the Mothership? He seems to like Mulberry…” Cherry Gelato asks, leaving the helm to Sparkling Berry to come up to Eucalyptus. Mulberry’s head shoots up with an expression of shock and confusion. Maybe even terror.

“What cannibal?” He starts looking around frantically at the crewmates before him. “What canniballlll…” The final syllable dies in his throat as he locks eyes with Berry Juice cookie, who’s grinning wickedly at him. His expression is wild as he grips a dagger in his hand. Mulberry slowly backs away, attempting to hide behind Eucalyptus.

“What are you doing, you oaf?” Eucalyptus attempts to push Mulberry away, then duck out of the arms that attempt to wrap around him. To no one’s surprise, the Captain’s attempts are futile, and he gets practically squeezed within an inch of his life. A sharp inhale is all the noise that left Eucalyptus as he became unable to fight against the grasp of Mulberry.

“He’s gonna eat me, Captain.” The Second-in-Command whines, keeping Eucalyptus between himself and the cannibalistic cookie. When his best friend pinches his arm, he finally looks down at him, finding Eucalyptus’s face turning blue. Mulberry finally lets go of him, helping keep him steady on his feet.

The Captain takes a deep breath in, swatting his friend’s hands away. “Nobody’s going to eat anybody,” he coughs out, swatting away Mulberry’s hands again as he straightens up. “We gathered enough rations to share.” Hearing a sigh come out of Cherry Gelato, Eucalyptus turns to look at him when his attention is drawn away to Orchid, who tsks at his statement.

“Captain, I think he genuinely has a craving for dough now.” Orchid Cookie wearily counters, leaning with his back against the railing. His face held a frown; it wasn’t a sad frown, but rather a contemplative one, practically beckoning for more questions to be asked before an answer.

“How would you know?” Eucalyptus asks, raising an eyebrow in concern. It was odd to the Captain, and certainly the first time he’d heard about anyone having cannibalistic tendencies among his warriors. To say he was bemused would be an understatement. “What proof do you have?”

Without wasting a second, Orchid kicks off his boot, revealing a bite mark. He waves his leg around a bit, “Gee Cap’n, I don’t know,” and goes to retrieve his boot. Behind him, he hears Mulberry whisper, leaving Eucalyptus with an air of exasperation, “I’m going to get eaten…”

“Oh, right, by the way, we boobytrapped the boat.” Dipped Strawberry Cookie raises a hand, drawing the attention of Eucalyptus from his mortified companion. 

Eucalyptus blinks a few times in surprise. Did he hear that right? “You boobytrapped the boat?” He receives a round of hums of reassurance from the crew. “Why would you boobytrap the boat?” All hands of the crew point directly to Berry Juice Cookie, who smiles widely and waves the dagger in his hand. “Oh, right…How did you all survive out here?”

“Weapons—“ Lemon Sorbet starts, getting interrupted by Orchid Cookie with a shove.

“Self-defense!“ Orchid announces over the top of Sparkling Berry’s head. He promptly gets shoved off his shoulders before she continues.

“—And trust in the rest of us not to lose it. Like, uh, Him.” Lemon Sorbet gestures again to Berry Juice, their local cannibal, pushing Orchid further away from her afterwards. He responds by flipping her off.

“Oh, okay then.” Eucalyptus nudges Mulberry’s arms off of him again. What do you even say to that? Mulberry sniffles, finally keeping his arms to himself. 

In a quiet voice, he utters, “I would’ve let Flameberry eat me.”

“Okay! Enough of that, changing the subject! Prepare to enter that storm. Cherry Gelato, you remember the path you took there, no?” The Captain walks away towards the quartermaster, leaving Mulberry facing Berry Juice. The chief mate quickly follows after the two, peering over his shoulder periodically. That cookie isn’t following…For now.

➽───────────────────❥

Crashing waves slam against all sides of the boat as it attempts to maneuver through them. The sheer rain feels like daggers stabbing into their doughs as they fight to keep the boat from capsizing from the crashing waves that surround them.. 

Eucalyptus is on the deck, assisting his men with tying down the rowboats. The wind has been whispering to him, attempting to help when it can. Their navigation is a little out of sorts, but it seems as if they’re only going in circles. A large wave collides with the side of the boat, sending them spinning way to the left, and suddenly the rain starts to clear. The strangest thing about a storm, in Eucalyptus’s opinion, is always the eye of it; a calm respite from the surrounding commotion. The Captain looks up, spotting what they’ve been sailing for.

The islands in the sky. Actually quite high up in the sky; Eucalyptus’s doubts of them have vanished, replaced by a warm feeling of hope. Seeing them floating felt surreal. Sure, he’d seen the Vanilla Kingdom as it rested in the sky, but these felt more scenic. Maybe it was the rain.

“Land above! Lower the anchor!” Sparkling Berry calls out, and the men rush to get the anchor lowered. They could have only mere minutes before the tranquility of the eye ends; they need to act fast.

“Mulls, go grab something, everything we have with rope, that’ll hook up there,” Eucalyptus calls to him, and Mulberry looks up from what he was doing, stunned for a moment before narrowing his eyes.

“Why? What plan do you have in mind that needs rope?” He asks, slightly sceptical of what’s possibly going through his best friend’s mind.

Looking back at his Second-in-Command, Eucalyptus gives him a small smirk. “We’re going to shoot for the sky.”

“What? Are you crazy?”