Chapter Text
The first thing he saw was Pastry’s stump, and the bundle of fabric nearby. He didn’t need to look inside to know what was in it.
“Why… Why do you need me?” he asked.
“I am not familiar with cake dough,” Pure Vanilla confessed. “I need your help retrieving the eye and some of the dough. You said she had other wounds, correct?”
“Yes, she has cracks in her back,” Red Velvet said immediately. “She was whipped.”
Pure Vanilla winced. “Who―”
“Reverend Mother… punishment…” Pastry whimpered.
Pure Vanilla gently shushed her. “I didn’t have time to get Chamomile or Poppies when I was… politely invited to come here, so I don’t have any sedatives, dear. I apologize.”
“Why not?” Red Velvet demanded.
“Because those plants can be dangerous, Red Velvet Cookie, and one doesn’t just carry around dangerous plants,” Pure Vanilla deadpanned. “I wouldn’t want someone to get hurt if I stumbled and they fell out of my pockets.”
Red Velvet nodded. “That… That makes sense…”
“I need you to cut out the eye of the hound while I get her ready,” Pure Vanilla told him.
“I… I could have Miracle find some poppies quickly,” Red Velvet offered.
“If she can, that would be preferred. I… do not like causing others pain, but sometimes it is necessary during the healing process,” Pure Vanila said with a sigh.
“What.. what happened with her arm?” Red Velvet asked in curiosity.
“The curse did not like me trying to separate it from her body, so it attacked us. I am lucky that I was able to put up a shield in time to keep it from doing either of us serious damage. I think it’s still trying to escape the fabric, so I’d leave that bundle alone.” He gestured to the bundle on the other side of the bed with a spatula as he mixed a healing vanilla frosting for her eye transplant.
“So the dangerous curse that was trying to destroy her… is held back by a piece of fabric?” Red Velvet asked.
Pure Vanilla’s staff gave him a deadpan look as the cookie chuckled. “It’s dark magic. It’s dark inside the fabric. You learn to stop questioning magic after a while as it rarely makes sense to people like us.”
“Like us?” Red Velvet asked tensely.
“Mortals. Non-witches. Cookies.” Pure Vanilla elaborated. “I’m pretty sure only the witches themselves know how magic truly works.”
“O-oh… I suppose so,” Red Velvet agreed as he turned and poked his head through the door to ask Miracle to get some poppies, the werehound nodding and bounding off.
“Is Pure Vanilla okay?” Black Raisin asked him.
“Currently yeah, he’s fine. And so is Pastry,” Red Velvet deadpanned as he went back inside.
Pure Vanilla raised an eyebrow. “Let me guess, Raisin is worried about me.”
“Yep.”
“Don’t mind her, she means well, she’s just not used to people outside our little village.”
“Oh, and that makes it okay for her to be snarky?”
“No, it doesn’t, but it helps me understand why she is. She’s been alone for a long time. Me, Custard, Crepe… We’re really all she has left. The village scattered after the attack… Which you probably remember quite well, since you led the attack on your cakeberus.”
“O-oh! Right… That… Um… Sorry?” Red Velvet said sheepishly.
Pure Vanilla shook his head and turned back to the frosting, his staff glaring daggers at him.
“What’s with um… the plant?” Red Velvet asked.
“It’s my seeing staff. Not only does it allow me to channel great healing spells, but it allows me to see.”
“You’re… blind?”
“Mostly blind, yes. Is that news to you?” Pure Vanilla asked in surprise. “I thought it was common knowledge.”
“My… mother… isn’t exactly… forthcoming when she talks about the ancients. If she does, it’s about how weak they were trying to defeat her, and that idiot Pure… Sorry,” Red Velvet said, cutting himself off.
“No, no, I want to know how Lily sees me these days,” Pure Vanilla prompted. “I’m sure she hates me. She made that abundantly clear the last time we met.”
“Oh… yeah… that… Um… She says you’re a self-sacrificial doofus who didn’t even do it properly,” Red Velvet continued.
“To be fair, it was a last resort spell. I didn’t plan on using it.”
“You… didn’t?” Red Velvet asked in surprise.
“Of course not. Your mother is my dear friend. I only thought it necessary when she was about to decimate the others. I… couldn’t let her hurt them any further.”
“That’s right. Hollyberry, Golden Cheese, and Dark… Cacao… were there―Do you know Dark Choco Cookie?” he asked.
“I do. I practically helped raise him. Why? I highly doubt that Dark Enchantress would speak of him to you. How do you know he exists?” Pure Vanilla asked, looking up at him in curiosity.
“He’s… well…” Red Velvet blinked. “Wait… Pure Vanilla Cookie… You must be Uncle Vanny!”
Vanilla stared at him. “How do you know that name?” he asked in bewilderment. “Only one cookie ever used that name, where did you learn about it?”
“Because he’s… well, Dark Choco isn’t in the building, per se, but he’s on my team. My mother… well, you could say she picked him up after he attacked his father.”
“He’s alive?!” Pure Vanilla asked, rising up and looking at him with an expression Red Velvet couldn’t read. Fear? Surprise? Hope? Yes, it seemed like hope, which baffled Red Velvet.
“You… didn’t know?” he asked. “I thought most of the young kingdom knew. GingerBrave and his friends fought him in the old abandoned Academy before they accidentally resummoned my mother.”
“You.. wait, GingerBrave is the one who released the Enchantress? How?”
“They destroyed the moonstone. Honestly, I thought you would know a lot of this, Vanilla,” Red Velvet said, flabbergasted.
“All they said was that they had been there… I’ll ask them about it later. I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t want to admit to it either,” Pure Vanilla mumbled, running a hand through his hair as he put the bowl of frosting down. “… Is… Is Dark Choco really alive? Is he really here?”
Red Velvet nodded.
Pure Vanilla let out a breathy laugh. “We… We had been so sure he had died of his wounds. We searched the kingdom for weeks trying to find a single trace of him, but… nothing. We thought he had been devoured by the hounds…” Pure Vanilla said softly.
“You… and you still came to help me?” Red Velvet asked in surprise. “Why?”
“You say that like I had a choice, Velvet,” Pure Vanilla chuckled darkly. “I couldn’t let your hounds get another member of my family, and they had their jaws around Crepe’s neck. I wasn’t about to watch them die when I could stop it.”
Red Velvet fell silent, watching Pure Vanilla turn to his friend and tell her to gently open her eye so he could prepare it. The healer gently opened a bottle of milk and soaked a towel in it, dabbing at the wound to clean it.
“You know… He spoke highly of you. Dark Choco, I mean.”
“He did?” Pure Vanilla asked in surprise. “Odd. I would’ve thought that he hated me.”
“You’d be wrong. He called you the kindest soul he had ever met. He… doesn’t know you’re alive, actually. Likely a ploy of my mother’s to keep him from leaving.”
“Leaving? Why would she need to do that?” Pure Vanilla asked curiously. “He works for her, doesn’t he?”
“It’s… complicated,” Red Velvet admitted. “He… He’s miserable here, Pure Vanilla. He doesn’t want to be here, but Pomegranate tortured him about a year ago with old memories and made him think he doesn’t deserve redemption. He’s… He’s really sad, Pure Vanilla. The only thing keeping him going here is likely his connection to Licorice and the fact that his sword won’t let him… well… you get the picture.” He looked into the frosting Pure Vanilla was mixing, contemplating his next words. “I’ve… I’ve sat with him a few times and just listened to him talk out his feelings. He’s so, so tired. Tired of fighting, tired of causing pain, tired of being a Cookie of Darkness. He just wants to go home, but he doesn’t think he deserves it. He calls the sword his curse , something he earned years ago and will carry for the rest of his days. If… If you could manage to find a way to take him with you… Well… I assure you he’d be happier in the dungeon cell of that little kingdom my hounds have told me about than here with his so-called freedom.”
Pure Vanilla processed that, but before he could reply Miracle opened the door and came in with the poppies.
“I retrieved what you requested,” she rumbled, bowing.
“Excellent, Miracle,” Red Velvet said with a smile. “Thank you so much. I am in your debt for all you have done to assist us in the treatment of Pastry. How could I ever repay you, my friend?”
“I need no payment, only justice. You did the same for me as a pup, helping me live to survive another day. I owe you my life, and, subsequently, all I have. This is a small thing compared to that,” Miracle assured him.
Red Velvet―unsure how to respond to that―gently began to pet her, both watching while Pure Vanilla ground up the poppies into a salve and mixed them with milk before gently helping Pastry drink the solution. They could see her eyes flutter closed once, twice, before they didn’t open again.
“There. That’ll keep her under for a few hours at least, or long enough for us to finish the procedure,” Pure Vanilla said as he turned back to them.
“And then she’ll just… wake up?” Red Velvet asked.
“Assuming she’s had enough sleep beforehand, yes. The longest I’ve seen someone sleep under the influence of the poppies was an entire day, but they’d been awake for a week.” Vanilla sighed and mumbled, “You’d think Espresso would take care of himself more with Madeleine constantly hounding him about it and know not to leave the house after a week of not sleeping, but here we are.” He fixed his composure and smiled softly at Red Velvet. “May I have the eye? I want to do that one first.”
Red Velvet nodded, carefully handing the eye he had carved out of the cadaver to Pure Vanilla who took the candy eye and put it in the bowl of frosting. Turning to Pastry, he took the knife Black Raisin had lent him and slowly slid it under the frosting of Pastry’s ruined eye, removing the shattered candy piece and the frosting adhering it to her face. As soon as it was completely removed, Pure Vanilla sighed in relief and began cleaning away the excess frosting so he could replace the eye, leaving a clean wound.
Red Velvet watched in rapture as Pure Vanilla grabbed his staff and the new eye before gently placing the replacement in the proper position, making sure the frosting was entirely covering the backside of the candy piece before placing his free hand over the eye and tapping his staff against the ground, his eyes glowing as he muttered incomprehensibly. The other cookie gasped as the replacement eye shone as well, the frosting slowly changing into a deep black as the violet candy piece sunk into the frosting, leaving only a cat’s eye pupil visible.
He stopped muttering to catch his breath, breathing heavily as he leaned on his staff. “She’ll be able to see again now. She’ll be fine.”
“She’s… like me…” Red Velvet breathed, watching as the new eye slid shut as Pastry slipped further into slumber.
“That she is,” Pure Vanilla agreed.
“Are you okay?” Red Velvet asked him, noticing the ancient’s exhaustion.
“I’m fine. It’s just not very often you have to replace entire organs. Usually I deal with breaks and surface wounds. It takes more energy to bind a new eye to a cookie than to heal a broken arm,” Pure Vanilla explained.
Red Velvet nodded. “I… I can see that. I’m sorry it took so much out of you.”
“Don’t apologize. I practically volunteered, and I don’t regret it. Now, could you reveal her other wounds to me? A dough graft is a lot simpler than replacing eyes, especially since you already have the dough and I don’t have to force her body to create it.”
“You could do that?”
“With small enough wounds, yes, but I’d need some spell ingredients. Aloe usually works well for that. Without it… Well, I’ve never tried, and I don’t want to find out the negative consequences that would come to me and the one I tried to heal. It’s simpler to use premade living dough.”
“Wow… Healing magic is complicated,” Red Velvet chuckled as he helped Pure Vanilla turn Pastry onto her side and pull up the poncho and shirt he had given her to reveal her torn up back.
“It is… Great ovens, how many times did they hit her for the whip to have torn through her dough down to the jam?!” Pure Vanilla asked in horror as he stared at the gouges that had been torn into her.
“... Do you actually want the answer to that question?” Red Velvet asked quietly.
“I want to know how many cookies should be sent over to the dreaded Order to destroy their chapel,” Pure Vanilla replied. “This isn’t right. Cookies are not to be treated like this. I don’t care whether it’s you, Dark Enchantress, a complete stranger, or my own family members: this is not okay.”
Red Velvet stared at him for a moment, unsure how to feel about that, and so instead handed him some of the blackberry-lavender vanilla-cream-soaked dough, which Pure Vanilla immediately took and pressed into the cracks, mumbling a spell under his breath as they both watched her dough knit the cracks shut, accepting the cake dough as they healed wound after wound. When they were done, Pure Vanilla gently scooped some of the cake’s frosting and spread it across her back, waiting for it to soak into her dough before he sighed in relief.
“There. Her body accepted the dough. Eventually, the cake dough will become a part of her recipe, and people will notice. I… I’m sorry for the discrimination she will receive. She is a strong cookie and deserves better,” Pure Vanilla said kindly.
“It’s okay. She knew the risks when she accepted it,” Red Velvet assured him as he covered her back up. “How long until she wakes?”
“Probably an hour or so. She was exhausted though, so it might be longer. We can let the others in.”
Red Velvet nodded, turning to open the door before he stopped and said, “One thousand, six hundred sixty-nine times.”
“What?” Pure Vanilla asked, confused.
“You asked how many times they hit her. I told you. One thousand, six hundred sixty-nine times. That’s what she told me.”
Red Velvet didn’t have to turn around to feel the hatred and horror pouring off the ancient healer, he could practically feel the waves as they filled the room.
“How… How is she still alive?” Pure Vanilla asked meekly.
“I don’t know,” Red Velvet admitted. “She’s just one tough cookie.” He looked out into the hall where Custard was asleep on Raisin’s lap and Crepe was in the middle of something that looked a lot bigger than a hand. “You guys can come in now. She’s healed, just sleeping.”
“Maybe, now that everything is all right, we can have Crepe and Raisin fight the curse so it won’t bother anyone,” Pure Vanilla said with a smile.
“Fight the what ?!” Black Raisin asked in fear, getting up and accidentally shoving Custard off her lap―waking him in the process as he slammed into the floor―and running into the room, searching frantically for the threat.
“Owwww…” Custard whined as Crepe quickly went to help him up. “What’d I do to deserve that? I thought I was a good king…”
Pure Vanilla chuckled. “Sorry, Custard. I didn’t intend for her to do that.”
“It’s all right, Grunkle Nilla. I forgive you,” Custard said, rubbing in between his eyes. “Why’d she run off?”
“Just the curse that attacked me earlier. I’m sure she’s already found it and is trying to strangle it,” Pure Vanilla said, brushing off Custard’s shirt. “Come on, let’s go make sure she doesn’t hurt herself.”
Custard nodded, the most adorable look of determination on his face as he ran into the bedroom and proclaimed, “You shall be vanquished, evil… magic… thingy!”
“Distract it, Custard, and I’ll get it from behind,” Raisin said, making Pure Vanilla chuckle.
“Those two will never change,” he smiled to himself as he turned back to the room, leaving Crepe and Red Velvet in the hall.
“Is the arm ready?” Red Velvet asked after a moment.
Crepe nodded. “Just need to do one thing,” they said as they turned and pressed a single button on the waffle prosthetic, laughing at the sight of Red Velvet’s mouth dropping as the seemingly huge mess of magichanical parts compacted in on itself to the size of a normal forearm and hand. “You should see your face!” they snickered.
Red Velvet stepped forward, gently picking up the object like it was made by the witches themselves. “How… How will she control it?” he asked meekly.
“I made a clip-on earring that she can wear that’ll let her connect to the limb. It’ll also allow her to access her crossbow and sword, just like you asked for. She’ll never not be armed, and if she ever gets an actual piercing, I can change it so it can’t be removed. Sound good?” Crepe asked.
He looked the child prodigy over. “You’ve… changed, since I last saw you,” he commented.
Crepe looked away. “Yeah… This little kingdom… Xeyal… it’s full of good cookies. I… I made friends with the younger cookies, and I live with Pure Vanilla and Custard and Black Raisin. They take care of me. I haven’t wanted for anything since I got there. If you can find it in you to leave your mother, I think you’d be happy there too.”
“Where’d the name come from?” Red Velvet asked curiously. “That doesn’t sound like a normal cookie kingdom name.”
“It’s not. I don’t know all the kingdom gossip, but from what I heard from Pancake, the five founders each chose a letter and they rearranged them to make the name. Now, I don’t know if that’s true, but that’s what Pancake said,” Crepe told him.
“Sounds hilarious. Who’s the ruler?” Red Velvet asked. “Is it actually Custard?”
“No, they just let him believe that. There is no ruler. The castle is only for big meetings. Everyone works together. They're just a big community, where everyone takes care of the kids, everyone does the work, and everyone helps defend the kingdom. It’s… actually really cool. Avocado Cookie has been teaching me how to use a forge to create my own materials. I’m her apprentice, and she’s super nice to me. No one cares if I used to be a Cookie of Darkness. It doesn’t matter where you come from, everyone is welcome there.”
“That… That sounds amazing,” Red Velvet admitted.
“Blackberry helps run an inn, so if you ever decide this place isn’t for you, go down main street, take a left and a left and a right in the snowy region, and walk up to the building next to the stables. You can’t miss it. They’re… still trying to find a name for it, so I’m sorry I can’t give you a name.”
“That’s okay, Crepe. Let’s go make sure the curse hasn’t killed anyone. You’ve… given me a lot to think about,” Red Velvet said, leading them into the room to see a large shadowy being holding a panicking Custard upside down while Black Raisin jumped and tried to grab him to pull him down and Pure Vanilla shot bolts of light at it.
Black Raisin noticed them. “A little help here?!”
Crepe rushed forward to help her, and Red Velvet laughed as he rolled up imaginary sleeves.
“It would be my pleasure.”
When Pastry opened her eyes, it was to Red Velvet curled up next to her. She smiled softly, brushing his hair out of his face and accidentally causing him to stir.
“Sorry, were you sleeping well?” she asked.
“Yeah… I just collapsed,” he mumbled. “The curse thingy was a jerk to defeat.” It took him a moment for his eyes to shoot open. “Pastry? Pastry!” he exclaimed, shooting up in bed and making her laugh.
“Calm down, I’m still recovering,” she said, pushing him back down. “Where are the others?”
He pointed across the room, where the four other cookies were in a tangled heap sleeping. Pure Vanilla sat in the center, head against the back with Custard leaned up on one side and Black Raisin’s head in his lap, Crepe curled up in a ball next to Custard.
“What happened?” she asked him.
“The curse from the bolt in your arm attacked us. It was a nasty one too. Whoever sent them with that really wanted you dead,” Red Velvet grumbled, “and I plan on tearing them to pieces.”
She chuckled. “Now I know I’m safe. We can send them home later. You all look exhausted. It wasn’t too hard was it?”
“It was fine until the thing shifted into a giant werehound and we had to call Miracle in to help,” Red Velvet yawned, curling up close to her like a pup. “And you owe me a hug.”
“A hug?” Pastry asked, smiling.
“I saved your life. I think I deserve at least a hug.”
She laughed. “I suppose that is true…” Pastry pulled him into her arms, relishing in this soft vulnerability. She had no doubt that this wouldn’t be there if he wasn’t exhausted. Gently pushing his hair out of his eye, she chuckled at hearing him purr softly and feeling him lean into her touch. “You must be so tired…” she cooed.
“Mhm,” he hummed, his breath stuttering as he soaked in the affection she was giving him. Not many here were affectionate as Cookies of Darkness aside from Poison Mushroom who was never around the Tower, and cake affection just didn’t compare to the soft touches of a cookie, not that he’d ever admit it. His brain felt like mush, and he briefly wondered if this was all just a ruse to get close to him, but he quickly waved it away. Nothing this sweet and wonderful could be fake.
“I’m okay, right? No life threatening injuries?” she checked, rubbing his cheek.
“Nope,” he slurred, his eyes half-lidded. “Pure Vanilla said you’re good. You have an eye like mine, and your dough accepted the transplant on your back. Although…”
“Although what?” she asked curiously.
He sighed, pulling away. “There was a price. Your body accepted the new dough, which means it’ll take it into itself. You’re slowly becoming part cake, like…”
“You,” she said softly.
He nodded, looking away.
She smiled. “Good. I don’t want to ever be mistook for one of those horrid Order liars,” Pastry said with a sigh of relief, laying down next to him. “I’m a cake through and through.”
Red Velvet stared at her, looking for a single hint of falsehood and finding only sincerity and a great deal of something he wasn’t sure he was ready for. “You… You mean that?” he asked in disbelief.
She nodded. “You need a lieutenant?” she asked sheepishly.
He laughed and pulled her close. “I’d be honored to have you as a lieutenant,” he told her.
“I’m glad. Maybe we can avoid getting anyone killed though, on either side. Unless they’re in the Order. They can go die in an oven.”
“Agreed,” Red Velvet hummed, getting comfortable as Pastry laid on his chest. This had to be a dream. It had to be. There was no way that she was joining them, that she wanted to be with him, that he wasn’t alone. It felt unreal, fake, like a false hope, and yet her weight on his body and her arm under his neck reminded him that it was all real.
“Oh, and I guess I owe you for saving me,” she said coyly.
“Hm?” he asked tiredly, his eyes closed and mind buried under the bliss of having another cookie close to him. “Whatever you say, Pastry.”
It wasn’t until he felt gentle lips on his forehead that his eyes shot open once more, his mind stopping in place and his heart skipping a beat as he tried to process that. When she pulled away, she smiled down at him and he tried desperately to form words but instead he could only let out soft mewls and whimpers. It felt so heavenly… She was practically an angel… This had to be a dream…
“You like that?” she asked nervously. “If you didn’t, I can―Mmph!”
Red Velvet, unable to find his words, pulled her down and pressed his lips to her own, feeling her slump against him as they reveled in each other’s company. For a brief moment, he wondered if she had been as lonely as him in those pristine walls of hell, and he promised himself she would never be alone again. She would always have a home here.
His train of thought was interrupted by the tongue poking at his lips, and once again his brain devolved into mush as he let her in and closed his eyes. He couldn’t believe this was real… She tasted of vanilla, with a hint of blackberries and lavender. Pure Vanilla had been right, it was becoming a part of her, but he didn’t mind. He couldn’t, he was too busy floating on this angelic feeling.
After a few minutes, she pulled away, giggling at the half-lidded look on Velvet’s face. “You’re the most wonderful thing to ever happen to me,” she whispered.
“Feeling’s… mutual…” Red Velvet slurred before pulling her in again, needing it just once more. If this was all just a dream and he had to wake up, he just needed it once more. Just once.
It tasted just as good as the first.
Slowly, they devolved into slow kisses, holding the other close as they fell closer to the veil of sleep. Pastry noticed the frown on his face as she tucked him close and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to wake up,” he mumbled. “I don’t want this to be over.”
“Oh Velvet… Who said it had to be over?” she asked.
“This is a dream… this could never be real…” he whimpered. “It’s too much… too good… It’s everything I’ve ever wanted, it can’t…”
She gently lifted his chin, wiping away the buttermilk tears dripping down his cheeks and looking into those eyes full of fear and pain and horrible longing that came from his very core.
“Oh, Velvet… How long have you been wanting this? How long have you been alone?” she asked softly.
He looked away, curling in on himself. “Years… Mother’s almost never around―not that she’s affectionate like this ever ―and none of the others are really, well, touchy-feely, but they’re all I have. She saved me from the witches, kept me from dying, and gave me a purpose. I… I can’t leave her.”
“I know the feeling,” she said softly, kissing his forehead softly and relishing the soft sounds he made. “Has no one ever given you this before? Truly?”
He shook his head, ashamed. “Has anyone given it to you?”
She nodded, and his heart sank.
“W-who?” he asked as dread sank into his belly at the idea of her being with someone else, trying to keep his voice steady.
“You,” she said softly, smiling at him, “and that’s all I ever wanted.”
Red Velvet, the great commander of the cake army, oh he whimpered, and then he sniffled, and then he sobbed as he let himself sink into Pastry’s arms, soaking in the love she was pouring on him and wondering how he ever lived without it. It felt like paradise and tasted sweeter than any jelly. He never wanted to let go ever again.
And that was how he fell into slumber, happy and blissfully loved.
“Are you sure there’s nothing we can do to repay you?” Red Velvet asked in the morning as the Vanillian family got ready to leave.
“We need no payment,” Pure Vanilla assured him. “We’re just happy to see you two happy and healthy once more.”
“A good king always cares for those in need, no matter who or what the cost!” Custard declared, making Pure Vanilla chuckle as he ruffled his great-nephew’s hair.
“That’s right, Custard,” he agreed, “though if you want to come back with us, there’s plenty of space for you two to build a house together, far away from the battlefield. You wouldn’t have to worry about this happening ever again.”
“The offer is tempting,” Red Velvet admitted, “but…”
“This is his home, and his mother’s army. He can’t just let it go,” Pastry explained, squeezing Red Velvet’s hand softly.
Pure Vanilla nodded. “We understand. We know how it is, being attached to your home and family. Black Raisin and I will always have part of us in the little Raisin village on the cliffs overlooking the Vanilla Kingdom.”
Red Velvet nodded. “If you ever need any assistance from us, tell the hounds. They’ll find me.”
“We will, thank you,” Pure Vanilla said as he began to lead his little family away from the tower.
“Oh, and Pure Vanilla Cookie?” Red Velvet called, causing the ancient cookie to pause and turn back.
“Yes, Red Velvet Cookie?” he asked, confused. “Is something wrong?”
“Oh, no, there isn’t, I just thought you should know about the mission next week.”
“What mission?” Black Raisin asked, suspicion lacing her tone.
“Oh, just the one in the Pure Vanilla Kingdom,” Red Velvet said nonchalantly, smiling smugly. “Thought you’d want to know that Dark Choco is going to be sent there to make sure no Vanillian Cookies are hiding in the ruins, specifically Crepe, and to chase out anyone he finds.”
“Why are you telling us this?” Crepe asked in confusion. “I’m not there anymore.”
“I know that, and you know that, but he doesn’t,” Red Velvet grinned.
“If, per se, there was a battalion of Xeyalian cookies waiting for him and he happened to get captured, well, who would be the wiser?” Pastry mused, smiling herself. “Certainly not the Cookies of Darkness. He’s going alone after all…”
Realization dawned on Pure Vanilla’s face as he processed that. “You’re saying…”
“Consider it your payment,” Pastry said kindly. “He better not come back to the Cookies of Darkness from that mission, Pure Vanilla Cookie.”
“He won’t,” Pure Vanilla promised as he turned and walked toward home with his family in tow.
He had an ambush to plan, after all.