Castle Kingdom
The ancients felt dazed.
They remember seeing a bright light.
Falling somewhere.
The smell of wood and forest alerted them.
And the fact that everything was bigger than they were used to made them nervous.
The trees were much bigger than they were.
Not even their kingdoms were that big.
They could think no more when they heard drops falling.
Rain.
A giant, heavy rain.
The drops fell like projectiles, so hard that Golden Cheese fell to the ground with just one.
Pure Vanilla looked around and saw something.
"There's a building! Quick!!!"
The four of them started running.
Pure Vanilla tried to activate his shield to protect himself and his friends from the rain.
But his soul jam was not responding.
They could only run as fast as they could towards the building.
But as they approached, they realized that the building was a very big castle.
Big was an understatement, it WAS HUGE.
Even the door was huge.
None of them could push it far enough to get in, so they just walked in through a crack.
They quickly shook it off.
Pure Vanilla looked around.
The furniture was also gigantic, much of it didn't look like it was made for cookies.
He looked at his soul jam, he couldn't feel the light of truth, something was interfering with his magic?
Not only that.
Everything around him looked... Less sweet.
Nothing smelled like sugar or cream.
Everything looked darker.
What was this place?
Why were they here?
Could it be another Dark Enchantress game?
To keep them from going to Beasts Yeast?
Then he felt a tremor.
Whatever it was, it was huge.
And possibly, the owner of this castle.
He felt someone grab him and pull him behind a shelf full of books.
Hollyberry had grabbed him by his robe.
"Shh... Something's not giving me a good feeling."
Dark Cacao muttered as he readied his sword.
They could see a large figure walk towards a table.
It didn't appear to be a cookie.
Its limbs, were longer and thinner, it didn't have any smell of candy or anything.
It was just... Weird.
But then they saw the pointy hat of that being.
It had a broom, a hat and, now that they noticed it, the walls were full of writings and spells.
"She... She's a witch..."
Pure Vanilla murmured, with fascination.
A witch, no one had seen one for eons.
She was their creator.
One of the benevolent witches who created the cookies.
He was fascinated.
Any cookie's dream would be to meet a witch.
"A witch... But... I don't know how friendly she looks."
Golden Cheese said, amazed but unsure.
"Maybe the years made her like that, I remind you that witches are long-lived beings! And very special!"
Pure Vanilla said with a smile.
They were always told that witches were kind, sweet and most of all, eternal creators.
Pure Vanilla would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in learning about them.
Though it also had to do with White Lily going to the witches' banquet to see them.
He always wanted to find out what it was that happened.
So, it was a good time!
"If we ask the witch for guidance, maybe she'll help us!"
Pure Vanilla said with a smile.
But before they could refuse that, a smell of fish and catnip intercepted them.
They turned and saw the face of a cat, a very big one.
The cat wasted no time and raised its clawed paw to start trying to grab them.
They all quickly ran in the opposite direction.
Although Pure Vanilla didn't want to, he was still picked up by Hollyberry and carried like a sack of potatoes.
They were further in behind the shelf, but they didn't know how far they could stay out of harm's way.
Until behind them, out of a gap they didn't notice, came a voice.... Familiar?
"Quick! Get inside before she notices!!!"
None of them had time to question anything as they watched the cat's paw reach between the books, trying to catch them.
As they entered, they saw that they were within the castle walls, pipes, plumbing, wood, it was all they could see.
"Wow! You guys are pretty brave guys if you were just a few meters away from the witch like it was nothing!"
Said the voice with a smile.
They looked ahead and saw.... Gingerbrave?!
But it looked, different.
He had visors on his head, red shorts and his candy cane was sharper at the tip.
Gingerbrave didn't seem to recognize them.
"Gingerbrave?"
Pure Vanilla asked with concern.
The kid looked at them and blinked, narrowed his eyes, apparently trying to remember them or perhaps suspicious.
"How do you know my name?"
The little cookie asked in response.
Neither could continue, as another familiar voice echoed from above.
"Gingerbrave, let's go, we can't stay still that long, it's dangerous."
It was Strawberry Cookie, only she was standing on a wooden beam, she had her usual sweatshirt on, but that had patches of different colors and shapes, she also had her lollipop on her back, but it had little sharp spikes, which made it more harmful.
"Oh! Sorry Strawberry! But I found these strange cookies! Look! One has wings!"
Gingerbrave said pointing at Golden Cheese.
"New cookies?.... Well, we have to go or else the witch or the cat might try to follow us..."
"Great! Hey! Let's go! You'll love the shelter!!!"
The two kids jumped upstairs, grabbing onto loose beams, pipes and such.
"Should we follow them?"
Hollyberry questioned, watching as the children jumped to get higher.
"Well, we don't know where we are, our soul jams aren't working and Gingerbrave nor Strawberry know who we are, but we better follow them, they're good kids, I doubt they'll hurt us."
Pure Vanilla reasoned, still on Hollyberry's shoulder.
They all started to follow the kids, as best they could.
≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪
After a few minutes, they arrived at the shelter.
"Welcome to the safest place there is!!!"
Gingerbrave said, pointing to two large doors, walls made of cardboard and giant boxes, vines supporting the structure.
Strawberry, being at the front, was the first to enter.
The rest followed.
As they entered, they saw many things.
First, there were many familiar cookies.
Many of them, they saw in the kingdom.
There was Vampire Cookie and, his sister, Alchemist Cookie.
There was Blossom Cherry Cookie and Cherry Cookie.
Gumball Cookie.
Pancake Cookie.
Sparkling Cookie.
And others they did not know or no longer knew their names.
Gingerbrave greeted everyone with joy.
They also noticed that many were different.
With leashes, tight or short clothes, hair pulled back or simply belted with weapons.
They looked ready to attack, than anything else.
There were many things, pillows in some corners, sheets in others.
Carpets where they sat and lived together.
There were huge books, which they used to read, as they could.
Many looked at them and smiled.
It seemed they had managed to make a home with what they had on hand.
"Where are you taking us, Gingerbrave?"
Pure Vanilla asked.
The kid looked at them with a cheerful smile.
"We're going to First Cookies and Mom! They will guide you and answer all your questions!"
At that moment they froze, Gingerbrave had a mom? How? When?
"Your mom?"
Golden Cheese asked blinking in surprise.
Nobody believed that the children had a mother.
It was always just the three of them.
Or at least, that's what they said.
"Yeah! Well, sort of! She's everybody's mom! She takes care of us, sings to us, comforts us and heals us like a mom would! Or at least, that's the concept of 'mom' given to us!"
Concept? He saw the term "mom" as a title or something?
That was weird.
Although, it was Gingerbrave, everything about him was weird, not in the bad way.... Just...
Gingerbrave was always someone very mysterious and cheerful.
Like, for example, the fact that he couldn't write.
Pure Vanilla had to spend a lot of time with him, teaching him how to write.
Also, he didn't know it was a mom or a dad.
Custard iii said that Gingerbrave asked because his dad had that name.
In other words, he thought 'dad' was Custard iii's father's name.
Another thing is, he had a lot of skill in dodging and running.
Not even the best warriors were that good.
But, on an obstacle course that was a challenge for Dark Cacao's warriors.
Gingerbrave could do it in minutes.
Another thing was Strawberry and Wizard.
Strawberry refused to take off her hood, it didn't matter if it was hugging hot, she would still wear it.
Wizard also had his own thing going on.
He always covered one eye and his mouth.
He had vision problems, but he still wouldn't discover his eye.
Even if they would ask everyone around him, even if they would ask Chilli Pepper or Custard iii.
No one knew anything about them.
And that was unsettling.
"We've arrived!!!"
Gingerbrave's voice brought them out of their thoughts.
Gingerbrave opened the door.
They saw a room made of blankets, a circular table and four chairs.
Three cookies sitting there looked at them.
One of them, was of dark dough, red eyes and white hair, two swords at her sides and a suit of armor that made it obvious she was a soldier, or leader.
Another, was of pale yellowish dough, a pointed hat made of leaves, simple clothing, and blond hair and green eyes, her smell of wheat revealed that she was someone who farmed.
And the last one, and the one that attracted the most attention, a cookie with pale dough, white wavy hair, golden eyes, a puffy white dress and a pointed hat.
All three looked at them, clearly curious.
"I give you First Choco Cookie, First Grain Cookie and First Cream Cookie! Three leaders and powerful cookies who keep us safe!"
Each stood up as their name was called out.
"Gingerbrave, who are these cookies?"
First Choco Cookie asked, her look serious and strict.
Her look, her attitude and her presence, bore a strong resemblance to a certain king.
"She looks... like Dark Cacao..."
Hollyberry and Golden Cheese thought, avoiding laughing.
Pure Vanilla looked at them, as if he could read their minds, he knew what those two were thinking, and the worst, he was right.
"Those are cookies I found! I saw them running from the forest to here! Sheriff Whiskerton almost caught them!"
"From the woods? I mean, aren't they cookies made by the witch?"
First Cream Cookie whispered quietly, looking at them as if they were the newest thing in the world.
"Made by the witch? Were you guys made by a witch?!"
Pure Vanilla asked, fascinated.
Gingerbrave looked at them in confusion.
"Yes, everyone in the shelter was made by a witch, weren't you?"
"Almost all of them, Gingerbrave, mind you she's not from here, she's from Earthbread."
First Grain Cookie said, with a friendly smile.
"Someone from Earthbread is here?!"
Shouted the ancients in unison.
"Yes, she came a few months ago, in fact, she's the one who came up with the idea of making this shelter in the castle attic!"
First Cream Cookie explained, her voice expressing calm.
"Who is-"
Before Pure Vanilla could ask, the door opened.
"Sorry we're late! Wizard and I have been very immersed in the books!"
Said a cookie with white hair, a fringe covering one of her eyes, a purse at her side, her entire outfit was a beautiful emerald green.
The uncovered eye was the color of jam....
There was only one person who matched everything.
"White Lily Cookie?"
Cookie looked at them for a moment, going pale when she saw them.
And fainted.
The next moment, everyone screamed.
"MOM!!!"
"WHITE LILY COOKIE!!!"