Cookie Run Ship Fics

by BellatheInkDemon

Summary:

Exactly what the title says.

(Keep in mind there WILL be rarepairs apart of this so if you don't like them, just ignore this.)

Chapter 1: First Meet (Longan Dragon x Pure Vanilla)

The woods had many tales of it. Some say it's a dangerous place where death awaits, while others say it's perfectly fine if you leave the wildlife alone. In either case, they tell stories about it to warn people against it because of its uncanny and eerie beauty.

So why was Pure Vanilla, one of the five Ancient Heroes, of all Cookies in these woods?
Simple, he got lost.

He was on his way to Hollyberry Kingdom due to his one of his closest friends inviting him for one big party, but he unfortunately went the wrong way and here we are now.

"I'm lost, how lovely..." Pure Vanilla murmured to himself with a sigh as he continued walking through the woods. "Can't wait to see how I'm going to explain to Hollyberry why I'm late..."

He stopped suddenly and frowned, noticing something strange. "Wait... what happened?" His eyes darted around the forest, trying to find out what just took place. It was silent. No birds, no animals, no insects. All there was were the trees rustling softly in the wind. As though everything had stopped at once, frozen in time in a way.

"That's odd... it feels like... someone's watching me." Pure Vanilla continued walking, but not for long, as he would come to a stop once again. Though, this time due to something else entirely.

Hidden by the trees and bushes lied a little pond, but that's not the thing that caught Pure Vanilla's eye. No, that would be the Cookie sitting near the pond. Pure Vanilla couldn't see their features, due to their back being turned to him, so he only saw that they have blue hair that faded to darker shades.

"Why would a Cookie be here in the deep woods?" Pure Vanilla asked himself in his head. The Cookie's head turned slightly towards him. Pure Vanilla quickly ducked, not wanting the Cookie to see him.

After a short bit, Pure Vanilla poked his head up again to sneak glances at them. Though strangely, the Cookie was no where to be found! "Huh?!" Pure Vanilla blinked several times at the lake in front of him. If the Cookie left, Pure Vanilla would've heard their footsteps, wouldn't he? Where could they have gone...?

Just then, Pure Vanilla felt something blow onto him. Even though it was probably just wind, Pure Vanilla turned around to see what it was. Hoo boy was he wrong about just it simply being wind.

When he turned around, Pure Vanilla was greeted by a giant long dragon, its face being only inches away from his own. Its skin was a rather beautiful dark blue, similar to the Cookie from before, and it had light coloured armour covering it slightly.

Pure Vanilla just froze in shock, not even thinking of moving an inch. He may be an Ancient Hero, but not even HE would try and face a dragon!

The dragon stared at Pure Vanilla for a moment with its golden eyes, Pure Vanilla swearing he could see its eye squint slightly, before doing something he didn't expect to happen.

The dragon licked him! Pure Vanilla yelped in surprise and immediately stepped back. The dragon kept looking at Pure Vanilla, waiting for him to step closer again. So, slowly but surely, Pure Vanilla stepped forward.

When he was still a couple feet away, the dragon lowered itself into a more relaxed position and nuzzled Pure Vanilla with its giant snout. Pure Vanilla blinked, feeling his cheeks warming in embarrassment. The dragon, after a short but, eventually moved away from Pure Vanilla.

It once again stared at Pure Vanilla for a bit, before giving him a nod, and flew away. Pure Vanilla, still slightly covered in dragon slobber, just looked at the sky. "What just happened...?" He quietly asked himself.

 

༝ㅤ･ㅤ˚ㅤ。ㅤ.ㅤ⋆ㅤ༝ㅤ･ㅤ˚ㅤ。ㅤ.ㅤ⋆ㅤ༝ㅤ･ㅤ˚

 

Pure Vanilla was simply reading in his room in his castle. The sun kissed his face softly, making him feel at ease, like nothing bad could ever happen to him. Though, he couldn't stop thinking about his encounter with that dragon over a week ago.

The dragon just stared at him, licked him, nuzzled him, then left. Just like that. Pure Vanilla could barely believe that the dragon did just that. His thoughts were interrupted by knocking. Though, not the type of knocking most would think.

Instead of a hand knocking on the door to his room, it was more of a thumping noise that came from his room's balcony. Pure Vanilla closed the book and placed it down on his bed, walked over to his balcony, and moved the curtains aside.

Pure Vanilla gasped. It was the dragon from a week ago! Though, instead of its dark blue body and stone coloured armour, it's body was a pale silver and the armour it wore was this gold colour. It was worth noting that the dragon had some now noticeable facial markings and what Pure Vanilla guessed was fluff on its "chest."

"It's- It's you! The dragon from before!" Pure Vanilla exclaimed in surprise. The dragon nodded in agreement. When Pure Vanilla opened the balcony door and walked onto it. Then suddenly, the dragon began glowing in a bright white light.

Pure Vanilla eyes widened in shock. Was the dragon hurt? Was it sick?! "Are you okay?! Does something hurt!?" Pure Vanilla asked as soon as he could. The bright light that surrounded the dragon became so bright that Pure Vanilla needed to close his eyes, less he wanted to be blinded.

When the bright light stopped, Pure Vanilla opened his eyes and blinked a couple times. Once his vision cleared enough, he was shocked to see, not the dragon, but a Cookie.

The Cookie looked nearly identical to the dragon. The golden eyes, pale silver dough, the golden armour, everything fit to a T. Even with some additional stuff like their eggshell coloured hair, there was no mistaken it.

This Cookie and the dragon were the same being.

Pure Vanilla eyes were wide, but not in the bad way. Rather, in the way that he couldn't believe how beautiful how they were. The dragon-turned-Cookie approached Pure Vanilla. They gently grabbed his hand.

"I am Longan Dragon Cookie." They introduced themselves, bringing Pure Vanilla's hand close to their face, and kissed his hand. Pure Vanilla face became extremely red. "A pleasure to officially meet you, Pure Vanilla Cookie."

After Longan Dragon kissed his hand, their eyes met with Pure Vanilla's own eyes. A small smile grew across Pure Vanilla's face. This Cookie was one of the most beautiful beings he has ever met. Then, it was all completely clear to him.

He had fallen. HARD.

Chapter 2: Big Ol' Surprise (Capsaicin x Stardust)

Capsaicin considered himself the happiest Cookie on Earthbread. He had a loving family, amazing friends, and a magnificent boyfriend.

He and Stardust, his boyfriend, met after his little rooster buddy, Hot Wing, mistook Stardust for a bad guy and wouldn't stop pecking at him until Capsaicin "saved" him.

After apologizing for Hot Wing's actions, the two saw each other a lot more until they became friends and eventually boyfriends.

Capsaicin could make a giant list about what he loved about Stardust. He loved his gorgeous appearance, he loved how his eyes become starry when seeing something new, he loved how he always smiles at him in ways that made him blush like crazy, he loved how smart he is, he loved how he loves him so much....

So, when one night, while he and Stardust was sleeping peacefully together, he felt something different. Stardust had the habit of hugging Capsaicin's waist when sleeping, so he was used to it, but this time it felt different.

He felt something sharp digging into his waist. It didn't hurt, but it wasn't comfortable either. It reminded Capsaicin of Hot Wing's talons. Capsaicin rubbed his eye with his hand.

"Mmm... Dusty... I understand that you don't know that much about Cookie culture... but we're gonna need to cut your-" Before Capsaicin could finish his sentence, his eyes widened.

Stardust was still there, still sleeping peacefully without a care in the world, still gently hugging Capsaicin's waist... but he looked different.

Stardust's arms were covered in different coloured feathers, some were white, some were cornflower blue, some were pure black with white dots that resembled stars in the night sky. His face had gained more bird-like features, as well. His eyelashes were feathered and sharp, his mouth looked somewhat similar to a beak, and so on and so forth.

Capsaicin was so in shock of Stardust's change in appearance that he didn't notice that he was about to fall off the bed, and only noticed that until it happened. "AH-" Capsaicin let out, landing on the floor with a loud *THUD* noise.

"Oof... That's gonna leave a mark..." He muttered to himself as he got up and rubbed his sore backside. "Capsaicin! Are you ok?!" Stardust looked down at the side of the bed where Capsaicin fell. He must've woken up when he fell.

Capsaicin looked up at Stardust. The way the moonlight hitted Stardust's body through the windows, the light dancing along his skin, his feathery eyebrows, his pointy ears, his long lashes... it made him look absolutely beautiful.

"Uhh... Yeah, I'm fine... Just, uh, fell off the bed by accident..." Capsaicin quickly stuttered out, scratching his head nervously. His words were getting muddled together due to him getting flustered.

Capsaicin climbed back up onto the bed carefully. Stardust still had that worries look plastered on his face. "Are... are you sure you're okay?" Stardust inquired. His voice sounded gentle and sweet, almost like an angel's voice.

"Yes, I'm okay now. Thank you for worrying about me Dusty... Though, we need to talk about your, uh, form." Capsaicin pointed out. "Form? What are you talking-" Before Stardust finished his sentence, he looked down at his torso, then his feathered arms.

"Oh son of a- I thought I finally got this under control!" Stardust cursed, gripping his hair with hands. Capsaicin tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Wait, this happen before?" He asked Stardust.

At first, Stardust gave no reply, possibly nervous. Then he just nodded slowly. "Mmhm... It happened a long time ago... I did terrible things and hurt so many people. It hurts to remember them... My heart just hurt from my past sins." He sighed sadly.

"Dusty..." Capsaicin murmured. Stardust looked back at Capsaicin, still having that sad look that made Capsaicin's heart ache. "I understand if you hate me for what I've done, and I don't blame you. I hate myself for it as well." Stardust confessed to him.

Capsaicin shook his head. "Dusty, don't be so hard on yourself. You're a good person, even if you did do bad things in the past, you always tried your best to redeem yourself. And you succeeded! You're a wonderful person."

Capsaicin cupped Stardust's face with his hands. "And besides, I have an amazing boyfriend that can turn into a phoenix harpy thingy! What more could I possibly ask for?" Stardust's face became a bright blue colour, which was basically his version on blushing, before laughing.

"Oh, Destiny... Even when I'm at my lowest, you managed to make me laugh." Stardust chuckled as he placed his hand on Capsaicin's shoulder. "It's because I called your current form a 'phoenix harpy thingy', isn't it?" "Possibly..." Stardust admitted sheepishly as Capsaicin playfully sticked out his tounge.

After a couple of minutes of the two just simply laughing, it eventually stopped. "Okay okay... we should probably get back to sleep now. It's around 2:49 am." Stardust pointed out.

"Just one quick thing..." "Yes?" "If you're gonna be in this form more often, we're gonna need to trim those finger nails." Stardust giggled slightly at Capsaicin's comment. "Noted." The two layed down on the bed snuggling into each other.

"Goodnight, Dusty." "Goodnight to you too, my love." Soon, they both drifted off to sleep, holding each other in a loving embrace.

Chapter 3: Abomination (PolyChampions)

Notes:

This is actually an old Au I made back when Prune Juice and Capsaicin were first released and I'm bringing it back for this chapter!

It was a relatively calm afternoon in Parfaedia. Nice cool breeze, not too hot to be uncomfortable, and the sun wasn’t even glaring at anyone.

Though, if you were to ask the two Cookies currently sprinting down the streets, they'd heavily disagree.

Capsaicin and Kouign Amann were rushing to the Parfaedia Institute with great worry. Capsaicin, the self proclaimed "Spice Overlord" hailed from Scovilla, while Kouign Amann, the sword wielding Paladin in a dress, hailed from Créme Knight Academy.

So why on Earthbread are they here in Parfaedia? Simple, there was an accident with their boyfriend, Prune Juice.

Prune Juice, an infamous potion maker, was known to mess up from time to time. So, when Capsaicin and Kouign Amann got word that he got caught in an magic explosion and had yet to evacuate from the Institute, that obviously set off some alarms to them.

"Prune's okay... right? He just gotta be..." Capsaicin muttered as he ran, bad thoughts getting the best of him. "Capsaicin, it's all going to be okay... trust me." Kouign Amann reassured him as she continued to run as well.

Capsaicin looked at her, doubt still in his eyes. "I hope you're right, Ko-Ko..." He sighed and gave one last glance around. Kouign Amann smiled at him as they finally reached their destination.

Parfaedia Institute. Or rather, an evacuated one.

The Institute's Principal, who was trying to calm down the students, noticed Capsaicin and Kouign Amann.

"Ah, the champions from Scovilla and Créme Knights Academy. Pleased to see you both here." She turned around and greeted them. Despite the situation, the Parfaedia Principal still managed to keep calm.

"Hello, ma'am. If you don't mind us asking, where is Prune Juice and what happened to him?" Kouign Amann asked, her tone a mix of politeness for the Principal and worry for her partner.

"...Please say he's okay..." Capsaicin murmured to himself, him clearly being the more anxious out of the two.

"Oh, Prune Juice..." The Parfaedia Principal's voice lowered and her expression changed to that of concern. "I'm afraid we do not know his current condition. He has yet to come out of the Institute and-"

"A monster! There's a monster in there!" One of the Institute students shouted, interrupting the Parfaedia Principal.

"WHAT?!" Kouign Amann and Capsaicin exclaimed in unison, both of their eyes widening.

The Parfaedia Principal, not even mad at the student for interrupting her, nodded at them to continue. "It- It looked like one of Prune Juice's jelly creatures... B-but it was hostile and- and tried to attack some of us...!" The student explained, their voice shaky, most likely from fear.

As the student continued to explained, Capsaicin's mind was going back in that bad place as he started to worry about Prune Juice again. "PJ..." He muttered.

Ironic that the cocky Spice Overlord was being a giant worrywart for one of his partners.

"I only saw that... that monster for a moment, b-but I know what I saw...! That b-beast is in there with Prune Juice...!!" The student continued.

Capsaicin glanced at Kouign Amann and saw something he never seen before with her. Kouign Amann was holding the hilt of her sword with a death grip and looked furious, not at the student, but at the Prune Jelly creature that they were describing.

The thought of a creature attacking Prune Juice, especially a possibly injured Prune Juice, made her jam boil. And for a good reason as well!

Out of the three of them, Prune Juice is the weakest physical strength wise and can really only defend himself with his wits and potions. And considering if what the student was saying was accurate, if Prune Juice really was in the Institute with a mindless creature...

Let's just say the outcome would not be good.

Capsaicin was about to say something to Kouign Amann, but was interrupted by her suddenly exclaiming; "I'm coming for you, you beast!" And like that, her trusty sword in hand, she stormed into the Institute.

"Hey, Ko-Ko, wait up...!" Capsaicin called out, soon following the Créme Knight. He could distantly hear the Parfaedia Principal calling out for them not to go as he ran in, but it was a tad bit too late for that.

Calling the Parfaedia Institute big would be an understatement, because it was MASSIVE. Or at least to Capsaicin it was because he was already seperated from Kouign Amann.

"So... many... classrooms...!" Capsaicin muttered as he ran past all said many classrooms. He knew it was a Institute, a big one at that, but was it really necessary for THIS many of them?!

Eventually Capsaicin stopped, exhausted from all the running, using a wall to support himself. As he caught his breath, panting heavily, he noticed that one of the classroom's doors was opened.

He glanced inside. It looked like a potion making class, or a chemistry class, one of those two. But the main thing that caught Capsaicin's eyes was WHAT was inside.

There inside the classroom, was the Prune Jelly monster the student had mentioned before. It had his back turned to Capsaicin and had not noticed him yet.

Capsaicin carefully tiptoed in the classroom so he can get a closer look at Prune Jelly monster without attracting its attention. Again, it's back was turned, so he could only make out it's body shape.

Though there was something Capsaicin managed to see something. In its hands, it was holding a hat. Prune Juice's hat. Capsaicin's eyes widened, holding back a gasp. He was about to assume the worse, but then he heard something particular.

The Prune Jelly monster... whimpered. Capsaicin thought he honestly misheard it, but he heard right. It WHIMPERED.

The Prune Jellies are technically Prune Juice's creations via potions and slight magic, so if this one in particular DID attack Prune Juice... maybe it felt guilty? Capsaicin couldn't think of any possible reason besides that to why the creature was acting like that.

Capsaicin, knowing that this was probably both stupid and idiotic, slowly and cautiously approached the Prune Jelly mons- No, creature.

Once he was only a couple of inches away from the still unaware creature, he extended his hand, about to touch its... Shoulder, I suppose you could call it, until-

"Cappi!" Kouign Amann came dashing in the classroom, interrupting any ideas Capsaicin had to try and talk to the Prune Jelly creature. Speaking of, Kouign Amann's yelling finally made the creature turn around and look at Capsaicin with... oddly familiar cyan eyes.

"Oh crap..." The Spice Overlord muttered as he took a couple steps back from the Prune Jelly creature. Though, while backing away, he felt something squish under his foot. He looked down to see what he stepped on.

There, underneath his feet... Was Strawberry Jam. Or at least, something that resembled it. And it made a short trail and ended at a Cookie sized puddle. "What the...??"

Kouign Amann seemed to notice this too, because her eyes were widened in shock, clearly thinking that the Prune Jelly creature... did something bad to Prune Juice.

"You... You..." He muttered, her words shaky as she clenched the hilt of her sword, her eyes now facing the Prune Jelly creature with a death glare.

The creature seemed to notice the aggression coming from her, as it dropped Prune Juice's hat as it got into a defensive stance, what sounded like a growl coming from deep within its throat.

"You foul beast...!!!" Kouign Amann exclaimed, as if it were a war cry, as she dashed past Capsaicin to attack the creature, trusty sword in hand. The Prune Jelly creature growled more loudly, most likely mimicking her, ready to take her head on.

"Wait wait, Ko-Ko, wait-" Capsaicin tried to stop his partner, but the sweet Paladin and the Prune Jelly creature were already duking it out. She seemed to focus "avenging" Prune Juice to notice her other partner.

Capsaicin stood back, as to not get in the way of the fight, feeling rather useless in this situation. He picked up Prune Juice's hat that was dropped and looked at it. It was surprising intact, barely even a scratch on it.

"PJ..." He muttered under his breath. He shook his head, trying to get the bad thoughts out of his systems. He needs to find a way to break-up this fight before either Kouign Amann or the Prune Jelly creature get seriously hurt.

He crouched down near where the puddle of the presumed Strawberry Jam was. Despite the darkness of the classroom, he noticed that the Strawberry Jam was a more lighter colour than usual.

One could argue that maybe due to the ingredients in his dough, Prune Juice's Jam was a more lighter colour, but Capsaicin knew that wasn't the case. He's seen Prune Juice's Jam before, back at the Triple Cone Cup, and it looked like regular Jam.

He was somewhat glad the Kouign Amann was currently occupied otherwise she'd probably question this decision he was about to do, because Capsaicin decided to dip his fingers into the puddle of presumed Jam.

Immediately upon feeling it, he found out that this "Jam" was thin. Too thin to be actual Strawberry Jam. Capsaicin managed to put two and two together that this wasn't Jam. It's most likely paint that the Prune Jelly creature spilled and accidentally made a trail.

His thoughts were interrupted by a particularly loud screech that came from said creature.

Well that's one problem down, now time to figure out what the hell happened to Prune Juice before things between the Prune Jelly creature and Kouign Amann escalate for the worse.

He pokes his head up to look at the creature. Capsaicin remembered that when it first turned around, its eyes were both unique in a sense and familiar.

Capsaicin made sure to look at the Prune Jelly creature carefully, observing all of its features.

There were some noticeable differences that someone could spot nearly right away, like how the creature had better posture instead of being a hunchback, and how its goopy... uh, "skin" was lighter than usual.

Then there was features that could only be noticed if someone looked carefully like Capsaicin was doing, like how it had this jewel of sorts on its chest or how its hands more looked like gloves.

And of course, there was the Prune Jelly creature's eyes. The main thing that drawed Capsaicin to it in the first place. For some odd reason, Capsaicin couldn't help but feel like those eyes are so... real, in a sense.

They didn't look like eyes of a regular creature or a wild animal, they look like that of a Cookie's. As if this creature WAS a Cookie... As if... this creature was.......

 

...oh shit.

 

Meanwhile, with Kouign Amann and the "creature", they both seemed pretty tired as both of them were panting heavily, though the latter seemed to be the more exhausted of the two.

Just one more strike from Kouign Amann and it'll surely be done for.

Kouign Amann grip on her sword had become shaky, probably moments away from exhaustion herself. But nonetheless, she held her sword, held it high, and spoke. "This... is.. for... Prune Juice..."

But before Kouign Amann's blade could deal the finishing blow... Capsaicin moved in front of the "creature", preventing her from harming it even further.

"Wha- Cappi...?!" Kouign Amann muttered, her eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and shock. Why was Capsaicin defending the "creature" now? Even the "creature" itself looked surprised by Capsaicin's action.

"Cappi, please, move out of the way... Let me finish what I've started." Kouign Amann spoke, still holding her sword. She wanted to get her "revenge", but she wasn't willing to harm her other partner for it...!

"Ko-Ko, I understand you're pissed... but please for the love of whatever God or divine deity you believe in, listen to me...!" Capsaicin pleaded, his face filled with desperation.

"Cappi, that... THING is the reason why Prune... Prune is..." "PJ isn't dead! The Prune Jelly didn't crumble him!" Capsaicin blurted out, interrupting Kouign Amann.

The Paladin's previous mixture of surprise and shock just became a new brew of disbelief and dumbfounded. "...pardon...?" Was the only word Kouign Amann could muster out.

"The Jam on the ground isn't actually Jam! It's just paint that has a similar colour to it!" Capsaicin spoke, once again dipping his hand in the now slightly dried paint, this time scooping it up in his palms.

"See? Feel for yourself! It's way too thin to be Jam!" Kouign Amann just looked at Capsaicin's hand, before taking a quick glance at the Prune Jelly "creature", before looking back at his hand.

She takes off one of her gloves so that it wouldn't get stained and dipped a finger in the paint. Capsaicin was indeed right, this is just paint that looked like Jam. "You're right..." Kouign Amann whispered, taking her finger away from the paint.

"But that doesn't explain what happened to Prune Juice...! If he wasn't attacked or... crumbled... by this creature, then..." Capsaicin placed his non paint covered hand on Kouign Amann's gloved hand.

"You're gonna think I've gone crazy, but..." He looks at the Prune Jelly "creature", it looking at the two of them with a... oddly innocent expression. "...We are looking right at him..."

 

"Ko-Ko... This is Prune Juice..."

 

Kouign Amann... is honestly in disbelief. She cannot find the words to say... She just stared at... Prune Juice. She could've killed him... she could've ended him right there and then... and if it wasn't for Capsaicin... she'd be none the wiser.

Capsaicin turns to Prune Juice. He, thankfully, was no longer hostile, just stared at Capsaicin with big, cyan eyes. "Hey, PJ... it's okay... you're okay..." Capsaicin spoke in a soft and calm tone.

Prune Juice just stays quiet, until he lets out a low grumble. Not a hostile one, like earlier... But something softer and less threatening. "Hehe, attaboy, Prune..." Capsaicin chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

He offered one of his hands to Prune Juice, showing that he meant no harm. Prune Juice nuzzled his large face into it, a far cry from Prune Juice's original self. Though then again, he is currently a semi feral beast, so can you blame him?

"Prune Juice..." Kouign Amann finally spoke up in a quiet voice filled with regret as she walked up to him. However, Prune Juice got agitated and began to growl, which caused Kouign Amann to stop in her tracks. In Prune Juice's twisted mind, Kouign Amann was an "enemy."

"Woah woah woah, easy there, PJs... She doesn't mean any harm! She just didn't know you were... well, you!" Capsaicin spoke, getting between the Paladin and probably now ex-potion master so that things wouldn't get outta hand.

"No no... It's alright..." Kouign Amann shook her head, which was lowered in shame. "I was the one who let my anger take over... If only I had seen the signs, if only I had let you speak, Cappi... I... I could've..."

It was clear Kouign Amann felt immense guilt for what she did and nearly did. "Ko-Ko..." Capsaicin muttered, understanding how Kouign Amann felt but not knowing how to offer comfort her in this situation.

Suddenly, Prune Juice inched closer to Kouign Amann, and nuzzled his face into her chest, similar to what he did with Capsaicin and his hand. It was as if he too could sense Kouign Amann's sorrow in his newly acquired mind and was giving her comfort.

Kouign Amann was admittedly caught off by this action, but quickly recovered as she gently placed her hands on Prune Juice's head. "Aw, Prune..." She muttered, a small smile returning on her face.

The big lug lifted his head up so that his eyes were now visible, his expression now being similar to that; "I'm only doing this because I wanted to." Even huffing!

Capsaicin was able to see this, and as soon as he did so, he chuckled and came closer to both of his partners. "Ha! That's our Prune Juice alright!" He spoke heartily, laughing as he did so.

Kouign Amann giggled slightly as well as she held Prune Juice's face in her hands, the latter purring slightly. "Indeed... Though I can't help but wonder how he became like... well, this." She thought out loud as she gently patted Prune Juice's cheek.

"Eeeeh, if I had to guess, I'd say it's most likely an accident with his potions." Capsaicin answered as he ruffled Prune Juice's hair, or rather, what was left of his hair beside his fringe and bangs in this form.

"But hey, if he doesn't transform back on his own, we'll be able to find the cure to whatever this is, won't we, Ko-Ko?" Kouign Amann nodded, chuckling at Capsaicin's optimism. "You bet we will, Cappi...!"

Capsaicin then looked at Prune Juice with a cheeky grin. "Until then, at least we have Prune Juice the love bug on our hands, eh, PJ?" Prune Juice noticed the look Capsaicin was giving him and got an idea.

Prune Juice pulled away from Kouign Amann, approached Capsaicin, and playfully pushed his weight on him, causing Capsaicin to fall to the classroom floor. Who knew a mass of liquid Prune Jellies could be so heavy?

"Agh...! PJ, you're crushing me...! PRUNE...!!!" Capsaicin groggily shouted, as a noise that sounded like chuckling came from Prune Juice.

Kouign Amann watched this scene with a smile on her face, sighing softly and shaking her head before glancing out the window. Down below, she could see the evacuated Parfaedia Institute students and Principal, most likely concerned about all three of them.

They'll have a lot to explain to them... But then Kouign Amann remembered Capsaicin's words from before. "We'll go from here..." She repeated quietly as she glanced at her partners.

Yeah, they'll go from here... Better than ever...!

Chapter 4: Butterfly to a Lily (ElderLily)

The woods of Beast Yeast were truly something to marvel at. They were both beautiful to gaze at, yet dangerous with the creatures and beasts that lurk in them, like how a gorgeous rose has its prickly thorns on its stems.

At least, that’s what Elderflower thought of them. After all, they were all he knew ever since he woke up that fateful day… at least a year or so ago.

Elderflower had awoken without a single memory to his name. Besides knowing some basic details, he was a blank slate, tabula rasa. It was admittedly difficult to deal with at first, but he’s managed to deal with it for the most part.

Though that didn’t mean he didn’t have questions about himself and his body. Such questions being why his body felt cold, even when in warm environments? Or why his body felt weaker than he felt like it should be?

But one question Elderflower always thought about was this white haired lady. He mainly saw her in his dreams, her facial features always being blurred, reflecting his own mind, but what he could see of her he made sure to keep those details close to heart.

Her long, braided white hair, her dark fuchsia eyes, the green freckles across her dough… What a lovely woman, he thought.

Though, whenever the two did meet in his dreams, Elderflower noticed that she always appeared to be… sorrowful. Mayhaps he had done something prior to his memory loss? He hopes not. Elderflower doesn’t like seeing the white haired lady so glum, even if he couldn’t fully remember her.

But that is besides the point.

The woodland sounds filled Elderflower’s ears. The wind blowing through the tree leafs, the water flowing through the stream, the occasional noise coming from the creatures that inhabit Beast Yeast… it was peaceful.

Elderflower just mainly went wherever the wind blew for the most part, occasionally going to visit some villages and such, but overall, he rarely left the woods.

For some reason, no matter how much he explored and explored and searched for answers within the forest… nothing seemed to come back to him. At least, nothing that came to him while awake.

Today’s little adventure led him to a more secluded part of the woods it seems, considering that Elderflower has never seen anything like this before, and he knew this forest like the back of his own hand.

“How… peculiar…” Elderflower mumbled to himself, noticing that the further he went, the more overgrown the forest felt and looked.

Eventually though, Elderflower had found his way into a small clearing with something he certainly didn’t expect to find in the middle of it.

There, surrounded by overgrown weeds and white lilies was a rather massive statue of a kingly fellow holding a stone version of the flowers surrounding said statue. The expression on the face of this presumed king appeared to be one of peace.

Elderflower’s eyesight could be playing on him due to his age but he could’ve sworn that the king that the statue was modeled after and himself… why, they looked near identical…!

He shook his head as he placed a hand on it, already sensing an incoming headache. Elderflower closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to calm his racing thoughts. When he reopened them, he took another deep breath and examined the statue closely.

It wasn’t a simple sculpture. In fact, Elderflower would be quite surprised to see it was a sculpture at all. As it was nearly the 10 times the size of Elderflower himself.

Though the main thing that caught Elderflower’s eye was the fact that, despite all the overgrown weeds and plants surrounding the statue, it was, for the most part, spotless of any grime. No moss, no vines, no dirt, nothing.

Had someone come here and possibly clean the statue before Elderflower’s arrival? That would seem possible… but who? And why?

Well it seems Destiny was feeling “kind” to Elderflower as his ears soon heard something approaching. Footsteps. Not knowing if the owner of the footsteps was friendly or not, and Elderflower not having his trusty sword on hand, he decided to go behind the enormous statue to hide, hoping and praying that whoever was approaching wouldn’t check there.

The footsteps came closer and closer and became louder and louder, well, as long as footsteps can be when walking on overgrown weeds, dirt and fallen twigs, until they came to an eventual stop.

Then, a sigh came from the footsteps owner. “I’ve finally found you again…” The owner of the footsteps spoke, their- no, her voice soft and oddly quiet, as if not wanting to disturb the forest.

Elderflower couldn’t help but poke his head out slightly from behind the statue. Not revealing himself fully in order to get spotted, but enough to see the soft spoken lady. And boy would Elderflower be lying if he said he wasn’t shocked.

That long white hair tied up in a braid, those calm yet sorrowful dark fuchsia eyes, those green freckles that peppered her dough… this was the white haired lady of Elderflower’s dreams…!

He could feel his cheeks burn up slightly. The white haired lady looked even more beautiful in reality than she did in his dreams. She even looked like the white lillies surrounding the statue. Mayhaps that was her name…

“It’s… been a while since I’ve come here… how are you doing?” She asked, looking up at the statue with a somber expression, being silent for a few seconds as if waiting for a response that would never come.

“Things have been… fine for the most part. From what I’ve heard, three out of the five Beasts have been taken care of by the other Ancients, so… there’s that.” The white haired lady looks down, as if deep in thought.

“I just wish I could see you again… even for only a moment.” She muttered, fidgeting with her staff slightly, perhaps a way to ease her nerves.

Elderflower looked back at the white haired lady, before looking at the tree filled areas of the forest. He couldn’t help but feel like he should stay, even if for a millisecond longer, yet he decided against it.

It was clear based on the white haired lady’s words, this was clearly personal towards her. Yes, she was talking to a literal statue, but still, for all Elderflower knew this could possibly be one of her deceased lover or relative. And that was enough to convince him to leave.

Yet, in that moment, he made the most idiotic mistake he has ever made in the short year of his life he could remember…

He stepped on a branch.

—✰✰✰—

The sound that filled the air was sudden and sharp, splintering through the air. A sound that near instantly filled White Lily’s ears when it happened.

She was admittedly startled at the noise, not expecting anyone to be with her here as she spoke to the statue of… him. Elder Faerie Cookie. Her late husband.

She cautiously approached behind the statue, for two main reasons. If this was a foe or a beast (albeit, not the kind she and the other Ancients had to deal with), she could possibly get an upper hand. And if it was a friend or a creature/Cookie, it was to try and not seem threatening, just in case they were scared.

“Uhm… Hello?” She called out, not really expecting a response. “It’s okay… I am not here to harm you…” She added upon hearing what sounded like soft murmuring of someone speaking in an unintelligible tone.

“I apologies if I have scared you… I was just simply paying my respects to… someone rather close to me.” White Lily looked at her right hand, inspecting the ring on her finger, being reminded of the past, before focusing on the anonymous stranger hidden behind the statue.

It was pure silence from the two of them for what felt like an hour, despite it most likely being just a few minutes, the only thing breaking it was the natural occurring noises of the forest. It’d be a lie if either one of them were to say that it wasn’t peaceful.

So when White Lily saw the figure finally move, she jumped out of her dough momentarily, though that was mostly due to the sudden noise of dead weeds and fallen leaves and branches getting crushed underneath shoes.

Though what she was about to see if the stranger had given her probably one of the biggest shocks of her life.

There, before her very eyes… was him.

His hair still that same pale lavender blue colour, albeit it was longer and tangled with twigs and leaves, his eyes still stoic yet soft, even his wings, which despite them being partially obscured by a cloak that now adorned his figure, were the same as back then.

This was him. Elder Faerie Cookie. Her husband, her sweet, beloved husband…

White Lily stared at Elder Faerie in shock and awe, while he stared back, though not sharing the same emotions as she was. She doesn’t know how he came back. She didn’t care. She had him back.

Before he could even mutter a word, White Lily had pulled him into a man embrace, her staff not longer being that of importance as it dropped on the dirty, woodland ground.

Still no words were exchanged between the two as White Lily embraced her love, with the exception of the sobs coming from her mouth, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

She couldn’t believe it, she had him back…! Was it thanks to Destiny? The Divine? Some other god-like force? She didn’t know. All that she knew that Elder Faerie was back.

She looked up at him, her vision blurred from the thick tears, and her breath coming in uneven gasps between sobs that broke loose one after another.

Yet despite her blurred vision, she could Elder Faerie’s face, she could see his eyes. And those eyes… held no recognition in them towards here whatsoever.

Heh… how foolish of her to believe that her love’s revival wouldn’t come without a cost…

And even though he no longer knew who she was, it still felt like a part of him remained, as he raised a hand to wipe away her tears.

“Please don’t cry…” Elder Faerie muttered, his cold hand cupping White Lily’s warm cheek as his thumb swiped away at her tears. “It doesn’t suit you…”

Those words alone caused the tears to come down more, as she subconsciously leaned into his hand. She missed his touch so, SO much… and now he was here before her.

White Lily wiped away her tears, here eyes still being all red and puffy from her excessive crying, before taking Elder Faerie’s hands in her own. He didn’t say a word, just simply looked down at her with a neutral expression.

With a shaky smile and a equally shaky breath, she said simply said words;

“Please… let’s go home, my dear.”

Chapter 5: Three Strikes and, “Honey I’m Home!” (PureDough)

“Behold…! O Godly Creators…! We shall fulfil our calling…!”

Those were the last words they recall saying, as they were lifted by their glorious, Holy Avatar’s tentacle-like contraptions. A ear-bursting cry, a sound that mimicked swallowing and the sound of a candleholder collapsing to the floor. Those were the sounds that filled their ears before things went black.

Then, after an unknown amount of time, something new came. The sound of gagging before the inevitable retching, the sensation of an obvious watery, almost suffocating, liquid all over their dough, before they felt their crumbly form hit the ground.

‘They were… rejected? By the Avatar of Destiny…?!’

‘But how could this be?! They saw the vision of the Avatar reaching towards the Creators! They got sucked into the rift and survived!! THEY shed their previous body to become Doughael!!! WASN’T THAT ENOUGH?! AFTER ALL THEY’VE DONE-!!’

Despite the loud, outrageous words in their mind, Doughael let out not a peep, as they lied as still as a stale one on the floor, still covered in the saliva of their dear Avatar…

Their dough ached, almost screaming in agony at the cracks their body had sustained from the impact of the fall. Yet still, they remained silent.

Were they crumbling? It certainly felt like they were. In by far the most pathetic way they could imagine; being rejected by their Gods they had lay their life to.

Doughael laughed at their circumstances, but it was humourless in every sense of the word, and the sound that left their lips further emphasised their current state. Their Brothers and Sisters would be oh so displeased if they found out about their fate.

“Forgive Us… O Godly… Creators…” They managed to muttered out, being no louder than a whisper, as their body gave way and they fell in a state of both consciousness and unconsciousness.

As they drifted in their mind, Doughael felt and heard things. The sound of footsteps, running, approaching them, the feeling of what they guessed was a cloak of sorts cover their cold, disgusting body before being lifted up into someone’s arms.

They caught a glimpse of their mortal saviour before they fully lost consciousness; tan dough, creamy blond hair, wafer coloured robes…
Why did it all seem so familiar…?

***** ***** *****

When they fully regained consciousness for the third time, Doughael found themselves on a bed in what they assumed was a medical bay. The walls were the same wafer colour they saw their apparent saviour wear.

They looked down at themselves, their sacred robes having been switched out for a more simple, yet oddly comforting robe that reached down to their feet, nearly completely covering them. Underneath it was their bandaged body, it being completely encased in the strips of medical cloths with the exception of their head/face. They could even faintly feel that their wings were bandaged slightly.

The only bit of Doughael’s original clothing that they still had was… their veil. The only they had placed over their eyes once they had casted away their original name and flavour in order to, in their mind, not to be tempted by anything but the (their false) Truth.

They stayed as still as a statue on the bed, with who-knows-what going through their mind, until the faint sound of the nearby door opening. Their eyes glanced over towards at the Cookie who had entered the medbay, and though no-one else could’ve seen it, their eyes widened and it felt like time had stopped right there and then.

At first they assumed that it was the Avatar of Destiny they had sacrificed so much for, it the form of a Cookie, mocking them, as their forms were oh so similar. But then they came to a different realization; the Cookie bore a resemblance to that little Healer they had met all those years ago, before the rift incident and before they cast away their original flavour.

Similar creamy, blond hair- albeit his hair was much more cleaner now- similar body, even if the upper half of his face was no longer covered by those bandages, Doughael could recognize that face.

The former preacher was still frozen and silent in disbelief as the Healer- no, Pure Vanilla Cookie, approached the bed they were still sitting on.

“Ah, you’re awake. Thank goodness…” Pure Vanilla muttered as he took Doughael’s hand in his own, which only caused more memories to flood back into the latter’s mind as they got reminded of their time with the former as the amnesiac Healer they knew.

“You had a lot of us worried… the amount of cracks all over your dough could’ve been fatal if the guards hadn’t found you in time…” He spoke, gently caressing their hand in a gesture that was meant to bring comfort. “…How are you feeling, friend?”

“…Is it truly you..?” Doughael muttered out, Pure Vanilla’s words not fully registering in their mind, their hidden gaze resembling that of a Cream Sheep in a spotlight. “That… that little Healer from so long ago…?”

Then, it suddenly clicked to Doughael. The reason the had been rejected by the Holy Avatar was clearly so they could be re-meet the Healer from so long ago so that they could help him reunite with the Whole Dough, thus helping both him and the Avatar…!

At least… that felt like what it meant to Doughael… The reason why they were forsaken and not accepted… Why else would the Holy Avatar and the Healer share an appearance…? It had to be, it had to be, it had to be, it had to be, it had to be, it had to be, it hAD TO BE, IT HAD TO BE, IT HAD TO BE, IT HAD TO BE-!!!

“-Friend?” This time around, Pure Vanilla’s words seem to snap Doughael out of their mind ramblings. Though nothing could prepare the Ancient Hero for the false prophet to suddenly grab onto the sides of his arms and get extremely close and personal near his face.

“YOU… How much time has passed since We’ve last met…?” Doughael muttered, their voice wavering as their veil slipped off slightly, revealing their eye, which Pure Vanilla could’ve sworn was staring directly into his soul.

“P… pardon…?” He muttered out, admittedly somewhat unnerved by the Cookie’s glare, but mainly concerned that they might possibly injure themselves by the sudden movement.

Doughael laughed, of course he wouldn’t recognize them. They look so different from when they first met oh so long ago, yet something about it seemed humorous to them. Perhaps cruel irony? Who knew? They certainly don’t… not anymore…

“Apologies, apologies… We simply look different from we last saw you, dear Healer…” They spoke, as their laugh degraded into violent coughing, to the point that they coughed up Strawberry Jam; it being pale and sickly like the Cookie it came from.

Pure Vanilla’s eyes widened as they adjusted Doughael’s hands so that they were no longer gripping onto his arms and now resting in their lap, thus giving the two of them some actual space between themselves. “Please, don’t push yourself…!”

Doughael wiped some of the jam that was dripping from the side of their mouth, still laughing slightly. “Ah… just as caring for others as you were back then…” They muttered as their body shuddered.

Pure Vanilla was both rightfully confused and concerned for this Cookie’s behaviour. He’s sure he would’ve recalled seeing them in the past… perhaps they were in a delirious state and mistook him for someone else?

He sighed before he gently readjusted Doughael so that they were back in a lying position. “Please, I do not know what’s currently going on in your mind, but you truly do need to rest…” Pure Vanilla muttered as his finger gently caressed their hand, a subconscious habit he gained with his patients that allowed him to touch them.

Doughael’s laughing as since halted to a stop, but their unnerving smile still graced their face, and Witches that glare…

“Worry not, dear Healer… Once We recover, We shall be the Shepard that will guide you and the rest of the flock to… the Whole Dough… and it shall welcome you… ALL of you, with open arms…” They murmured, their voice still somewhat trembling.

Another sigh left Pure Vanilla’s lips, before he gently pressed them against Doughael’s still-bandaged hand. The former could’ve sworn that he saw some redness flushed onto the latter’s cheeks after this action, though perhaps he was simply seeing things.

Pure Vanilla then got up and headed towards the door out, but before he left, he turned to look at Doughael one last time, at least for this visit. He couldn’t help but feel some sort of nostalgia in this moment…

“I shall visit again… I hope you become well soon…” He muttered as he gave them one last smile before finally leaving. Doughael glanced at their hand, the one that Pure Vanilla had graced with his lips. A smile graced their face once more, but this time… it looked far less forced. Almost genuine one could argue.

“We shall see you again… dear Healer…~”
What have you gotten yourself into Pure Vanilla?