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The birds would not sing whenever they took another step, it felt as if the whole world was holding its breath.
Step, step, step.
Their legs shake with equal parts courage and fear with every step, a whirlpool of questions and doubts going round and round…
What if we never find him?
It’s so cold here.
Back in the oven, back in the oven!
Paired with equal amounts of relief and resolve,
I can almost touch him, he’s there, we’re closer than ever!
I almost forgot how the morning dew felt.
Gingerbrave will pay for abandoning us!
It all swirls around in their head as they march forwards, the world itself scooting out of its way.
Most of the things that swim throughout its head they’re barely able to decipher through jumbled words and endless chatter, only rarely can it hear thoughts it maybe could’ve formed of its own accord. A few high-pitched words cut through, sharp like a knife’s edge in comparison to the chorus.
They will be one.
It’s a thought that repeats in the Ultimate Cookie’s head, over and over, drowning out the few voices who think otherwise, who desire to sink their claws and teeth or abandon their destiny and return to the shattered remains of the oven.
Gingerbrave, the one who got away. There was nothing quite comparable to the feeling his presence gave off as he sank deeper and deeper into the mass, like even without fully assimilating him they could burst forth from the oven and fulfill their destiny.
In a way they’d all felt small compared to him, though strangely the feeling was not at all unpleasant. Few cookies made the mass feel small, Dark Enchantress most of all, but they were all so scary in comparison.
Maybe they didn’t just need the courage and despair brought on by his assimilation, maybe if they also had his warmth then no one would be scared to become one with them, nothing about them would ever be painful again.
Step, step, step…
It pauses for a brief moment, the Ultimate cookie first registering the sudden coolness at its foot before it realizes it had sunk into a shallow puddle. They lift their foot quickly, shaking whatever they could off of it before it could become soggy, faint black smoke rising from it before they tentatively decide its dry enough to set back onto the ground.
Their attention turns to the puddle, completely still without even a ripple, like it hadn’t even registered it was there in the first place.
It takes another step back, leaning forward and watching intently as its own visage comes into view, black fire crackling in the vague shape of a small cookie body. For the first time in a while they hear the leaves rustle, as if they too had come to life to witness the little beast make sense of its own form.
Slowly they bring a hand to their face, gently pressing against its own cheek and watching as the fire moves around it. They look so much like him.
The similarities won’t matter.
Not only will we look like him, we will be him, he will be us!
It wants to be like him, so much like him the lines between Gingerbrave and the Ultimate Cookie are blurred and it no longer matters whether or not they have merged. Maybe then Gingerbrave will agree to become one with it, because they’ll already be so similar it won’t matter!
He knows we are coming, I can smell his dread.
It lifts its head, its gaze locked forward onto the path it’d been going down this entire time. It doesn’t need anymore nudging from the voices trying to pull it back, it pulls its attention away, the forest once again holds its breath.
***
The Ultimate Cookie had become familiar with many concepts the more it assimilated into its dough. Family, lovers, sworn rivals and friends who could never ever be torn apart.
And deep down, some part of it longs for such a thing. Of course, once they are complete and cookiekind has become one it won’t matter, but even a being compromised of as many cookies as it was could not escape the desire for personal connection.
When Dark Enchantress promised them Gingerbrave as the final ingredient, it did not only wonder about how his bravery and despair would taste when he willingly accepted himself into the mass, how it’d feel coursing through their veins as finally they gain the strength they needed to drag themselves from the oven and bring all into itself. The memories were always its favorite, getting to see and know all the highs and lows of life on Earthbread- if a cookie as brave and stubborn as Gingerbrave became one with them, then surely there'd be so much adventure to look through!
But things had gone very quiet ever since Gingerbrave escaped, and as the hellfire dies down they feel the surface of their body harden. Where was Dark Enchantress-
The dreaded witch.
Our savior!
Our creator.
-Why hadn’t she come to at least try to rescue whatever remained of them? They couldn’t even hear the voices of her most loyal subjects, some so willing they’d thrown themselves into the mass or collected their own family to help them grow?
I didn’t like Dark Enchantress Cookie very much, she was scary.
Silence, child.
They stir, thousands of their own arms twitch but never make the effort to move.
Despite everything, something converges at the very center, crawling through heavy dough, clawing and biting through the layers of its own hardened flesh until a hand bursts from its own decaying body, desperately trying to breath and take in the new air that surrounded them.
A hundred voices beg them to go back as a shiver crawls down their spine, never had any of them been so cold for as long as they were able to remember.
A much smaller voice reasons their dough would’ve become cold eventually, that this was the best choice for now.
A hundred more thirst for the thrill, the adventure, the revenge that would surely follow as they chase the connection planted between them and Gingerbrave.
They can smell it, the path that would guide their way. Some demand the absorption of the cookie into what little remained of their mass, to become powerful again. Others demanded his jam on the floors and walls.
It hops, digs its fingers into whatever crevices it could find, finds a platform to comfortably set their foot on as they make their way up, equal parts dread and hope fill their head with thousands of conflicting voices. Even in the perfect unity the ultimate dough promised to bring it seems it can’t seem to escape it.
A note of curiosity passes by, they cast a thought into the sea. Gingerbrave, just what do they make of him?
Gingerbrave is a good cookie, if he’d been thrown just a little farther into the pits of despair than surely he would have accepted their invitation!
Gingerbrave is a menace and we need to be done with him as soon as we’re able.
Gingerbrave is us, he will be.
His despair and his bravery fuel them, even just the mere taste of it they were able to obtain. It is what makes them scramble to hold onto the walls of the oven as a brick comes tumbling down, narrowly missing their head, his bravery keeps them climbing.
He reminds me of someone.
And finally, as it makes its way to the very top, it freezes.
We are destined to be, he will learn how much better it is to be strong just like us!
I will take every precious second to make his assimilation as painful as possible.
You know better than anyone how much that hurts! We can’t hurt our-
There it sits, right on the rim of the oven between the world and shelter, standing between its freedom and the comfort of the oven.
It’s so cold, go back, go back.
If he’s such a good cookie, why didn’t he save me?
What if we become soggy? Then all this work will have been for nothing!
One foot hovers above the ground, just outside the oven.
Every voice goes quiet.
***
It was always the night when the voices were the quietest, the Ultimate Cookie wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, because then it meant it was all alone.
A few voices still cut through, but it was never the whirlpool that would greet them once the sun has risen. Does some part of them still cling onto the normalcy of cookie life and try to sleep? It wishes it could sleep too, but the urge never once washes over it. Do they dream, the voices that is? Can it dream?
Would it ever have anyone it could tell about its nightmares?
And slowly, as it is given time to stew in its own thoughts it becomes aware of a spark lighting deep in its chest, tightening their throat and weighing in their chest. It’s mad, madder than it’s ever been before, it can feel the dark fire that makes up its body crackle like roaring embers. Thoughts repeat over and over, not given the blissful chorus to drown it out as fire ravages through their head.
Surely if he is so ‘brave’ he wouldn’t be a coward and not assimilate himself into them for the sake of “his own identity.”
If he is so brave why didn’t he free them, why didn’t he take them with him.
If Gingerbrave is so good and pure why did he abandon them- why did he abandon it.
The back of their eyes begin to sting, fire pops and smokes, their surroundings manage to become even quieter, a quiet sob they’d once choked back evolves into a howling shriek, the few birds close by taking flight as the trees rustle from the sheer noise.
They had him, he was right there. They feel the loss over and over and over through each voice that compromised its being, how they felt losing the cookies closest to them. It wasn't fair, it should've gotten to see his memories, it should've gotten to know him, it should've been him.
The Ultimate Cookie bites its tongue until it feels pain, forcefully silencing itself. It curls up, closing its eyes tighter than it ever had as it feels warm tears spill down the glowing sockets, silently praying that it’d finally be able to fall asleep and wake up to the thousand voices that rattled around in its head. They don’t feel brave, they just want to curl back up into the mass and stay within the safety of the oven.
That is why we need to merge.
A voice cuts through the quiet that makes the Ultimate Cookie jump. It’s strange to hear it all by itself and not have to decipher it.
When he becomes one with us, we will never again be tempted to go back.
The connection tugs at them, the one they’d established when Gingerbrave first escaped their grasp. It calls out, encouraging and bright.
It doesn’t even really want to assimilate with him. There is something there, something that can only be offered if they remain separate beings. But if they take him, then none of them will have to go back.
***
Gingerbrave shifted uncomfortably, shoulders raised, breath caught in his throat. His bad leg feels worse than it does usually, his entire body weighing it down like it was a crutch of its own.
Strawberry Cookie stands beside him, lollipop raised. He puts a hand on her shoulder as he noticed how her hands shiver, barely grasping onto her weapon as she stares ahead.
“It’s scary, but we’ve been through a lot! It’ll be like another adventure?” He feels his voice wavering as he speaks, Strawberry Cookie letting out a sigh as she briefly turns to face him, now gripping her weapon tighter.
“Gingerbrave, I know you’re scared too…” She answers, her voice barely above a whisper. He wasn’t going to protest, he solemnly nods along, turning to face back into the forest just outside the kingdom.
He looks to his left, Wizard Cookie looks just as tense as Strawberry is, though his eyes flicker a bit more wildly. If Gingerbrave knew Wizard Cookie, he had to guess he was trying to decide where might be best to place any magic spells.
The leaves rustle in the breeze, but soon enough they are left in a deafening quiet, even the blueberry birds they’d heard chirping moments ago from within the castle walls disappear, like in an instant they had all vanished.
So much had happened recently, with the beasts, the heroes, and when he finally thought he had a break and could return home, sightings of the Ultimate Cookie began to crop up, all activity suggesting they were coming here.
Even if he was tired, he couldn’t let it stop him from protecting the cookies he cared about. Even if they had scared him more than anything else as of recent.
A living shadow stumbles through the leaves, the leaves barely rustling as they pass them by. Each one of their steps is heavy, lumbering like they belonged to a cookie far bigger than the one approaching.
It pauses just as it exits the bushes, coming into the small clearing where the three cookies stood. Gingerbrave loosens just slightly, tilting his head as a thought comes to mind. It still burns with dark fire, but something about it seems much more fragile. Quickly he's back on his feet but by that point it's already picked up its pace, its bright white smile shimmering through the smoke, rushing at him before any of the three had the chance to react. His heart skips a beat as all over again he feels its dough trying to drag him into itself and-
A weight crashes against him, far lighter than Gingerbrave expected.
“Gingerbrave!”
Wizard Cookie and Strawberry Cookie call out but their voices seem quiet at the moment, their weapons are raised but they don’t strike as they take in what just happened. Still tense, they let their grip on their weapons loosen just slightly, and they look just as confused as he is.
The Ultimate Cookie, just a bit smaller than he is, wraps their arms around him in a hug.
The moment Gingerbrave moves even just a little it tightens its grip, so much so it makes Gingerbrave jump.
He smiles a little as he speaks, Wizard Cookie looking even more bewildered. “..Hi? Are you okay?”
They don’t respond, but their grip weakens until he can step back. They stumble forward a little, hands grasping out again before Gingerbrave steps out of range and it lets it arm fall to its side.
He jumps again as they crumple to their knees, falling face-first onto the ground. The three gasp, exchanging glances as the monster that once scared them so much just.. Sits there, face to the ground and weighing barely more than a single cake roll log.
Instantly he feels he feels Wizard Cookie’s gaze lock onto him, Gingerbrave freezing still like he’d just casted an ice spell onto him.
“You aren’t considering it, are you?”
Gingerbrave shrugs. “We can’t just leave them there, can we?”