Chapter Text
Hello!
Can you hear me?
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I can’t move my mouth
What is this? Where am I?
Oh, figures. That does make sense after all. Just… think about your answer hard enough, and I’ll decipher it from there. Okay?
Just think? Who exactly is this person? A mind reader?
Who I am is not important right now. I’ll need to ask you some questions first to know who you are as a person. To know what your place in this world will be. M’kay?
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I didn’t know what to say
Got it? Alrighty, let’s begin! And be honest! I can tell if you’re lying or not.
Now, are you a morning or night person? And answer honestly!
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This is supposed to judge the quality of my character?
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Morning. I always like a nice sunny morning.
I heard that.
Next question, If you come across a proverbial fork in the road, what would you do? Go Left, Right, ask for help, turn back, or some other option?
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So many choices. I’d try to think it over first, ask someone for help or their opinion. Then find a map to read or something like that. There’s no point in wandering somewhere blindly.
*The voice remained silent for a short moment. You hear the steady ambience of the ocean, apprehensive for the next one*
*The voice returns spiritedly*
Can you be honest about your fears?
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……No
Do you like to pull pranks on others? To be naughty?
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Not particularly.
Is it easy for you to apologize genuinely?
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When I have to, yes. But most of the time….. no. So, no.
You come across a chest full of treasure. However, there’s a large gap with a super-deep pit between you and the riches, and you’re not sure if you can jump to the other side. What do you do? Leap or don’t?
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I choose not to leap. No need to risk potentially dying.
Someone you know is sulking by themselves. What do you do? Give them space, approach them, or make fun of them?
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Give them space for now..
You buy a candy bar from a vending machine, but it gets stuck on its descent. What do you do? Leave and try to forget about it? Bang the machine? Or buy a new confectionary?
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What? Just get a new one I guess. But from a different column this time. I’m not wasting money twice.
A huge Ananab monster draws near! What do you do?
Fight them!
Surrender, pathetically.
Or, try to ignore it.
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Try to ignore it, it could be friendly!
And finally,
what do you value more? Your beliefs, or your morals?
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Aren’t these the same? What’s the difference?
Hehe… Not quite, young one.
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My morals, then.
I see…..
All very good answers. I can now infer what kind of a person you are now.
Friendly and rowdy, yet aloof and sardonic
You struggle with opening yourself up, yet there is still warmth and welcoming in your heart. How peculiar… There’s many different sides to you.
Hmm…
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Yes, yes.
I can totally SEE it now.
I know exactly what kind of cookie you should be!
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Cookie?
Just give me a liiiiiiitle moment, this won’t take long at all!
Wait, hold on. I need to ask about that!
Pres-dough, Change-ooooo~!
*The glow and the aura surrounding the one has morphed and shifted to brighter colors of various hues.*
An overwhelming feeling of heat, followed by hardening, then a bit of crispening around the edges. It’s a sensation so unfathomable and bewildering, that I couldn’t describe it in exact words. Only that something was making me change.
Good luck out there!
You feel groggy and light-headed, like you just woke up from a several hour long power nap in the middle of the day. Staring up at the empty and overcast sky, you didn’t feel like getting up at all. Your head was aching and pounding. However, an odd itchy feeling suddenly arose on your right cheek, so you brought up a hand to scratch it away. Your finger brushed up against what felt like a coarse surface that was firm, yet still relatively pliable. And this only made you ponder more questions.
“Wait, why is my skin so rough??”, You thought.
You immediately jolted your fingers away from your face, and caught a glimpse at the state of your hand, nay the rest of you as well, that just made you freeze in place. Your fingers are…. well still fingers. But they look different, not like how you remembered them at all. You poked and pulled on a flap of your own arm skin. Your skin looks and feels firm like the baked crust of a bread, yet it moves around nearly the same.
Or, perish the thought, like a cookie….
Now you were wide awake, and you went to stand up straight, not without stumbling a bit in the unknown white powder on the ground. No more post-wake-up daze was keeping your mind at bay, you had to know what the hell just happened to you.
And what is this robe? It’s so long, with sleeves stretched over to almost fit your entire arm, and the bottom half of the fabric reaches down to your shins. The sleeves are long and baggy, and they sag to nearly reach your waistline. The wrists are lined with round gems that speckle with pearly light. There are streaks of multiple colors trailing behind them, making the area under your cuffs look sharply vibrant. and while it looks somewhat pretty you don’t remember having ever worn this before. The same pattern circled the bottom of your robe at your feet.
There is a 7 pointed star-shapped gem embedded into the thick cloth that lies at your collarbone. It’s crystal clear, just like the jewels on the cuffs of your sleeves. The light from the sun was hitting it at the right angles to shine every color of the rainbow across the front of your chest.
You huffed, a wispy cloud of breath was visible coming from your mouth. It just occurred to you that you were in a place with a rather chilly climate, as you realized the white clumpy stuff that lingered on your clothes and brown boots was snow. A small shiver ran across your hardy body. Luckily, you happened to be conveniently attired for this kind of weather.
Who or whatever that voice is, it has the power to change your body and teleport you to some new place in the world from….. wait. Where did you used to live?
“Ughhhh….” You groaned, massaging your temples. You’re trying hard to remember any past events before that questionnaire, but you couldn’t come up with anything right now. Great, your memory is also failing you right now too.
It’ll come back to you later, you hoped. After walking forward to help get your body more awake, an impediment stopped you in your tracks. You caught it in the upper peripheral of your vision when you were staring down at the snow covered ground.
You craned your neck up to see a statue, and it’s a large one too. The whole thing rose over your height, and it depicted a person with long hair holding out one of their hands with waves and spikes of stone under them. Their pose seemed relaxed, as if they’re offering something for you to take. The detail carved into it was very meticulous and professional, it reminded you of a statute made in the renaissance. It’s so life-like…
******!!!!!******
There’s a murmur. You hear it loud and clear.
******It’s you******
******Come closer******
“The statue? Is it talking to me?” You thought. You cautiously made your way toward the majestic sculpture. You couldn’t explain it, but you can feel a kind of aura of some kind radiating off the statue. You feel your nerves tighten further and bristle on edge, but your curiosity wins over and beckons you further.
You stared straight up at the statue’s sculpted face, and took in its smooth features. You maintained eye contact with it, even though it couldn’t move its gaze downward to look back at you. While awaiting for a response, you were met with silence.
“H-hello?” You spoke up, deciding to break the tension. The murmuring came back.
******It’s me. The one who brought you to this world******
Taking in the response felt exhilarating and nerve-wracking all at once. It’s just a statue, how can it do something like this to you?
******I have been sealed away here. Trapped, my body stuck rigid, and my flesh turned to stone.******
******I require your help, to free me from this hellish prison. It is why I brought you here, young one.******
You tensed, your unease grew stronger at each word spoken to you telepathically. The rising suspicion grew louder in the back of your mind.
“Why me?” You stammered, clutching your robe tightly in your hands. “Send me back now! I didn’t ask for any of this! And you also made me forget so much stuff about me too!”
For a moment, you felt worried. Like if you possibly said something wrong to upset the talking statue and would then receive punishment for it.
******I understand your distrust in me.******
You narrowed your gaze at the statue for its following response.
******But please young one, you have to know how I feel too. For so many years, centuries, I have remained here. Nowhere to go, no one to give me company. I have grown desperate.******
You frowned at this, your gaze subsided and it began to droop down a bit.
******Do this task for me, and I will generously reward you and send you on your way home******
And it shot wide open. You looked straight back at the statue’s face.
“Reward?” You asked.
******Yes, you heard correctly, reward. Anything you desire******
It’s definitely a strong offer that would be hard to refuse. You mulled to yourself over this. It did have the power to teleport you here to this strange new world, and even transform your body to befit it. So it likely has the power to back that promise up if you did go through with this. And you’ll be able to return back home too. That settles it.
“Alright, I’ll do it.” You proudly declared, putting your hands on your hips to the talking stone figure.
******Excellent, I knew I picked the right person. Or should I say, cookie? Hehe…******
You can feel the air around you begin to lighten and ease up. Your unease was forgotten and put at bay to the back of your mind.
******To break this seal, you must find power and companionship with other Cookies from the darkness. A bright force of light trapped me in here, so should an opposing force undo it. These forces are at constant war with each other in this sweet world******
With a strong nod, you understood clearly.
“Alright!” You paused, just realizing something. “Umm, you wouldn’t happen to know which way would be a good starting point?” You remembered that you were still completely lost here.
******Go to the right of me, follow the river. If you wish to return here, you can always follow these glistening waters******
“Thanks!” You replied, giving the statue a big thumbs up. You easily noticed what river the statue was referring to, it was small yet wide enough to not be possible for you to jump across without getting wet. You trailed alongside the sparkling river, hoping to find something that will help your search.
You are already beginning to regret not asking the statue more questions. Snow crunched underneath your firm footsteps as you continued to walk near the same river it told you about, but it feels aimless. The same sight of dark brown evergreen “pine” trees covered with soft looking white snow surrounded you during your army march, accompanied by the low howl of freezing wind. You felt another bad chill, this time at the back of your neck. You patted the back of your robe, your clumsy fingers reaching around to hopefully find…
Aha!
You pulled it over your head, and to your satisfaction a hood covered your and helped warm you from the bristling cold. The robe did come with a hoodie part! The inside is nice and soft too, like running your hand through thick fluffy sheep wool. It helped keep your body insulated from the frightful cold.
“Waking up from bed, only to end up being trapped in some weird new world. And being transformed into having a quote on quote, ‘cookie’ body too…”
The absurdity of the situation was still something you mulled over. You then wondered if you may have done something wrong in the past for fate to give you such an unfortunate set of circumstances as karma. You wouldn’t know yourself, since you also lost most of your memories of course. A shame. You were thankful however to be given a warm set of clothing for this weather at least.
Amidst the winds in the brisk winter air, you heard your stomach growl indignantly. The rumble was felt across your abdomen. You glowered and put your hands on your stomach, as if it would help ease the hunger pangs. You had to find something to eat too, and by the feeling of it, fast preferably.
A soft speck of something white fluttered down and fell on your nose. You blinked a few times seeing the gentle falling of snow around you, some fell into the river and was swallowed up in its trenches.
You stuck your tongue out, it’s been a while since you last did something cheeky like this! A few white pellets landed on your soft pink tongue, instantly dissolving as you awaited a quench.
“Woah!” You said in shock.
This caught you completely off guard. The snow tastes…. sweet? It’s like powdered sugar! But it looks and feels just like ordinary snow.
Lolling out your tongue a second time, you aimed to capture more falling snow on it with your walk. To your delight, more powdered sugar snow fell on your tongue as you kept walking, giving you a sweet burst of taste. Your hunger pangs now momentarily forgotten about.
“Weird!! But also kinda cool at the same time. I wonder…. do other things in this world taste nice like this snow?”
You kept sauntering joyfully along the creek until you came across the middle of a two-way trail to the right of the river. You could turn either right or left of it. Looking beyond the flat trail is useless, because of how many dense snow covered trees blocked your way. They made a lush dark green wall that’s impossible to see beyond. On the left, you noticed a light blue signpost, with frost and icicles hanging from it.
It was the best course of action to find at least some kind of navigation, so you dragged toward it through the shallow snow. You left large footprints behind you with your bulky boots. Near the sign was a snowman with lumps of dark purple rocks that almost resembled raisins, used as its buttons and eyes. It was admittedly a bit cute, probably made by a kid.
The sign’s text is covered in a thick layer of snow, so you brushed it off using your brown gloves. Unfortunately, the text is still covered. But with opaque ice this time, all the black engravings on it were too blurry to make out clearly. You rubbed harder with your glove on the ice hoping to scrape it off, but no matter how much you tried nothing worked. Scratching it with your bare hands would be a bad idea, you thought.
Without any other better idea, you decided to just walk down the path behind the sign anyways. If there is a sign made here, then surely a civilization would be nearby regardless. As you took a few steps down, your covered ears picked up on a rumbling sound.
You turned around, trying to locate it. It sounded almost like an earthquake, but the ground itself wasn't moving. Where’s it coming from?
Snow beneath you started to roll up into balls and trail away from you. You panicked, stumbling back from whatever was happening. You looked to the right and your eyes widened.
A circle of swirling snow spun around that one beady eyed snowman, adding on heaps upon mounds of snow to its stout body. It was a frenzied whirl of snow, and confusion on your part, the snowman grew three times its size. Snow formed on its sides to make big log-shaped arms with fierce claws, and on its bottom mound to make thick stubby legs. The giant snowman is hunching over the quaint little forest trail like an icy giant, with you shrinking away from it as a scared little mouse.
Its face morphed and jaw enlarged to sport big sharp snowy teeth. Finally, the hulk shifted around to gaze down at you. The snowman’s teeth are bared and foaming with white breath.
It let out a low growl, which was kicking your flight response furiously. But you’re stuck like a deer caught in a car’s headlights.
“Heheheh…..,” you scratched the back of your head through your hood and squinted nervously at the snow golem. It wasn’t a strong first impression, but be reasonable. Wouldn’t it be hard to do if you’re scared shitless? But who knows, maybe it's friendly? “......hi?”
“GROOOOOOAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH”
Its maddened roar ripped through the forest wind, and nearly made you jolt out of your big boots. The blades of grass and foliage around it bend and cowered beneath the monster’s might and radiating anger. Without any hesitation, the snowman-beast raised a giant claw high up above you, and started swinging it down.
“WAAAAUGH!!” You shrieked, just narrowly dodging out of the way of the attack. Your hood peeled back off your head, and sugar snow got tangled up in your hair. Even the brute slam it made on the ground was loud on your ears.
You weren’t going to waste any more time, you had to get the hell away from this thing. Scrambling off the ground, you bolted hard past the sign. Running as fast as you could through the few inches of snow.
The huge thump bump of its stomps as it started to chase after you were undeniably frightening. Its steps resonated loud and clear in the forest, and it let out another blood-curling scream after you. It was desperate for a cookie to snack on, you thought. Its hunger was just as bad, if not worse than yours.
But you were determined to not become a snowman’s lunch, especially not so early. You did your best to keep up your pace, and thankfully due to how bulky the monster is, it wasn’t that fast itself. The trail continued on and on, and you saw a left turn the path made in the woods. At the corner, there’s a break wide enough for you to fit inside.
Getting a quick idea, you dove into the clearing as a nimble little bunny. You ducked and weaved throughout the branches, careful to not get your robe snagged or torn all the while. The shattering and snapping of wood was close by. You took a quick glance behind you to find that same belligerent monster remaining perseverent in its chase for you. It is smashing and tearing away the pine trees in its way with its massive snowy hands. The thick branches snapped away like twigs for it.
Wanting to throw off the lumbering snow man, you started to zig-zag through the concealed woods. Going and turning in different directions, while still heading diagonally to the upper left. It roared again, this time you thought its voice sounded more hoarse.
You weren’t paying complete attention to your surroundings, and a sugar snow covered branch hit you in the face on your run.
“Ow!” It didn’t hurt that much, you are probably being a bit dramatic. You rubbed your nose still.
You then heard a different type of sound from behind you, which confused you. You looked back, and to your horror saw a huge white ball rolling straight at you with pine branches sticking out from it. It was way too close for you to dodge out of the way now. No way!
“Augh!” The boulder slammed into your back, hard. It exploded with sugar snow everywhere, covering the deep part of the woods with it. You were sent rolling on the ground, heaving and in pain. For a second, you swore you felt a cracking or breaking part in your body.
It’s all tumbling down now, and you couldn’t stop yourself. The slope you and the monster on was too steep.
Out from the deep woods you fell out from, landing harshly on the ground of a different open area. You saw a sparking lake to your right, even though your vision was spiraling the whole time. You groaned tiredly, the light from the sun above shined brightly straight in your eyes. You used your arms, and any strength you had to keep crawling. Maybe that snowman tired itself out too?
THUD!!! WHAM WHAM WHAM
You heard the same monstrous footsteps approaching once again. Of course it didn’t.
But even with the constricting pain, you still kept trying to crawl away. You gritted your teeth, looking back at the prowling monster. It’s no use, you wouldn’t be able to run away now…
Bonk!
The snowman stumbled backwards. Was that a…. sheep? That came out of nowhere?
Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!
More sheep charged in, tacking the snow monster in different areas. It howled, clearly unable to withstand the onslaught of tackling fluffy sheep. You paused. This feels…. embarrassing for some reason. Your cheeks flushed a bit pink.
“Go away! Shoo! Leave this poor cookie alone!” You heard a coarse, yet sweet voice.
The monster growled, getting itself a newfound courage at the sight of a new cookie. It shook its massive arms side to side, throwing off the sheep. It prowled steadily at the thickly dressed cookie with its claws poised forward, ready to strike.
The cookie with the cane casted it to the side, sending a fluffy sheep right at the snowman’s face between its eyes. It headbutted it so hard it sent the monster stumbling back and falling back on the ground.
With a loud crash, the monster collapsed on the ground. The same sheep fell down from the air and headbutted it one last time, making the snowman contort and burst into harmless snow. It bounced away and baa’d.
“Humph! Serves you right,” The elderly cookie tutted.
You huffed, relieved that the damn snowman monster was finally dealt with. The hurt and soreness still lingered after your rough tumble, making it difficult to push yourself off the ground and meet the person that saved you. You only managed to flip yourself over onto your back, with your chest rising up and down heavily. The sound of light footsteps in the snow grew louder.
“Oh my! You look like you’re hurt badly, dear,” The soft and feminine voice spoke. You gazed at the person who talked to you, though unable to say anything in response at the moment. She wore a puffy brown and blue fur-lined dress with a symbol shaped like a snowflake on the bottom of it, and a brown bonnett. She has white hair and blue eyes, and some wrinkles on her face but with a warm smile. “That bully snowman has roughed you up quite a bit, hasn’t it? Do not worry, let me help.”
She raised her shepherd's crook above you, and a green glow emanated from it. Miraculously, the pain and soreness you were feeling began to subside immediately. The cracks on your body mended and closed up nicely in a short time. You sighed constantly with a small smile.
“T-thanks…” You said to her. You sat up off the snowy ground and stretched your arms, and you already feel energized. “I was taking a nice walk down a river in those woods, and next thing you know, some random evil snowman monster attacked me. Worst start to a morning I’ve ever had.”
The old lady chuckled at your little story, concealing her mouth with a mitted hand. “Sounds like quite the little adventure you had. My name is Cotton Cookie, I’m from the Snowfall village not too far from here. What’s your name, young cookie?”
“Oh! It’s-!” Your mind is drawing a blank. A little panic began to arise in your head. You don’t even remember your own name?! The loss of memory is even worse that you thought!
“Err…..” You muttered, somewhat awkwardly.
Cotton Cookie tilted her head confused, like a bird.
Something, come on!! Stupid brain! Try to remember!!
“Too shy to tell me? Haha… that’s alright. You don’t have to tell me if you do not wish to.” She said sweetly.
“N-no… it’s not like that,” you reassured her. “I actually just don't remember. I think I have amnesia when I woke up.” You scratched your forearm while looking away from her.
A breathy gasp cut through. “Really? That’s terrible! I’m so sorry!” Cotton Cookie clutched her crook tightly.
“It’s alright, it’s not your fault. But yeah…. it really stinks. I don’t know how I can get them back either.” You also realized that you should have asked the statue about that as well, damn. “I also… don’t really know where I’m supposed to be going either.”
“In that case, I can help bring you back to the village, somewhere safe from other sugar snow monsters. You can figure out what to do next when we get there, how does that sound?”
Your stomach growled impetuously.
“And something to eat as well by the sound of it!,” Cotton Cookie laughed.
“…. Sure! That sounds great!” Finally, some good fortune.
Snow continued to fall gently across the whole grassy plain that you and Cotton Cookie walked across. The old cookie was good company to your surprise, as she always kept a kind smile on her pale face. And she had a lot to talk about, unsurprisingly.
The view of the winter lake shining its pearlescent reflection in the winter snow helped brighten your day also. In the corner of your gaze as you listened to Cotton Cookie, you saw some other round white birds flying across and little snow bunnies that pop up and down from the ground.
“So how did you find me exactly out here anyhow?” You decided to ask, which was a burning question you had on your mind for a while ever since your two started talking.
“Well, there’s a funny story about that. Not as funny as yours of course, but this morning I was out plucking snowberries for some dishes I wanted to make.” Cotton Cookie switched holding her shepherd’s crook into her other hand. “As I had bent down to pick some more to add to my basket, I overheard that monster’s roar from afar. Its footsteps echoed through the forest too, almost just as loud. That beast wasn’t exactly being very subtle.”
The old cookie scratched her chin. “Now…. my basket with snowberries should be around here somewhere….” Her eyes scanned the area all up ahead.
With a quick look to your left, you saw what she was likely talking about. A brown woven basket with pale blue berries inside. You pointed it out to her, and her eyes followed your direction. She let out a gasp upon realizing what it was.
“Yes, that’s the one! Thank you dear. My old eyes don’t see as well as yours, haha.” She chuckled. You crouched down and grabbed the basket for her.
Cotton Cookie scooped out a small handful of the round, snow-colored berries and offered them to you. “Here, you can snack on these in the meantime. Don’t worry, we're not too far from my house now.”
You grabbed the handful of berries and dropped several in your awaiting mouth. They were soft, easy to chew. Their taste was slightly tart, but interwoven with a smooth sweet, and fruity complexity. They’re almost like blueberries but a bit sweeter.
“So what happened after that?” You asked, after swallowing a gulpful of the snowberries.
“Hmm….. When I looked over to see what made that sound, something unusual surprised me. I saw a cookie flying up from the trees, with a burst of snow behind them. Now I know that the cookie was you!
She laughed to herself, remembering the silly memory. You pursed your lips.
“I didn’t think a cookie that would be sent up in the air like that would be fine afterwards, so I immediately dropped my basket to make my way over to help you. I might be old, but I can make haste if I need to!”
“Yeah…. I’m glad you did too. If you didn’t save me, I would’ve gotten iced by a snowman.” Your cheeks twinged pink again.
“You’re welcome! It wasn’t much trouble at all.” Cotton Cookie warmly reassures, putting a gentle hand on your forearm. This old lady was just too sweet for you. She turned, looking somewhat deep in thought. “Now I wonder, why were you out here near Sugarflake Lake? Your attire looks… unique. You’re definitely not from around here, that’s for certain.”
She put her palm out, worriedly. “S-Sorry if that came off as rude! I was just thinking out loud.”
“It’s fine, I didn’t mind,” you waved off. “I wish I could answer that, but I can’t because…. you know.”
She nodded her head, completely understanding.
“And I would also like to know what’s up with this getup.” You pulled down the front of your robe to look at it better. “I have no idea where it came from, I just woke up in it.”
“There’s more for us to talk about it seems,” Cotton Cookie’s attention was taken away from you and was diverted straight ahead from her. “Oh! There it is! Snowfall Village.”
There is a village with cozy cabins and brightly shining lanterns up ahead among the snowy plains. You saw some people outside carrying beside them large wooden logs or some other crops. A few kids were playing around in the snow, tossing snowballs at each other.
You and Cotton Cookie walked through an entrance to the village that was just a small arrangement of simple wooden gates. When you walked side-by-side Cotton Cookie, you looked around in awe at the quaint settlement in snow. Evergreen pine trees stood proudly in many places within, blanketed in sugar snow. The atmosphere was nicely quiet, the commotion made from the young kids was far off and quiet to your ears here. You assumed that most people were inside their homes.
“Over this way, young-in,” Cotton Cookie nudged, as she was walking in a direction away from you. You didn’t even realize how you were trailing off from here, being lost in the sights of Snowfall Village. You ran back up to her, moving through a front yard’s gate to meet up with her sliding a key into the lock on her house’s front door.
She turned the metal key with ease, then opened the large wooden door wide open. She stood to the side, raising her left arm and gestured inside her house. “After you!” She told you, encouraging you to step in first. You smiled at her, making sure to wipe your feet on the door mat, and then you took off your boots to set them by the door. The door shut firmly behind you, keeping all that cold air out and letting you relax into the warm, cozy atmosphere of Cotton Cookie’s cabin. It smelled of pine and baked bread.
“Make yourself comfortable here, I’m sure you’re still tired after that attack from the monster.” She set her Shepherd’s crook on a rack lying next to the wall. Her footsteps across the fuzzy rug made of sheep’s wool sounded muffled and soft. “I’d like to check on my sheep first, then I’ll come back. I won’t be long!,” she waved to you sitting relaxed on the couch. She shut the door leading to the backyard meadow.
The bowl of Hot Jelly Stew fumed a warm aroma up to your face. Cotton Cookie really didn’t take long to tend to her sheep, she came back in about 10 minutes to prepare you a meal to eat. It was honestly so sweet how kind the old Cookie was being, especially to an arguably complete stranger such as yourself.
Taking a spoonful of the red chunky stew, it was piping hot from Cotton Cookie reheating it in a cauldron outside. You blew on it, watching the red vapors dance and dissipate from your winds. You were starved to eat, but the name of the dish did make you feel conflicted. Jelly Stew? Was it stew made of actual jelly? It sounded weird for a dish that’s usually savory.
Well, whatever. You’re hungry and you weren’t going to pass up a free hot meal. You stuck the spoon in your mouth and quietly slurped it off. The chunks in it weren’t chewy, and it was more firm when you crushed them between your molars.
Your eyes sparkled in delight, wonderful unexpected delight. It wasn’t sweet at all! The jelly chunks taste just like meat to you. It’s like a rich, tomato based hearty stew and not an overwhelming sweet slurry like you thought it would be. Quickly, you took up another portion with your spoon to blow on it rapidly, dispensing that chunk of jelly stew into your mouth.
“Do you like it?” Cotton Cookie asked merrily, although it can already be assumed that she knew the answer beforehand.
“Itfss gwwrett!!” You swallowed another hearty spoonful of the stew. “It’s great! Sorry,” realizing that it might have been disgusting to hear you talk with your mouth full.
She chuckled, amused by your skittish apology. “I’m glad you like my cooking! That’s always nice for someone like me to hear.” Cotton Cookie busied herself with putting all the snowberries into a container for the underneath cellar that was dry and cold. It didn’t take long for you to finish your bowl of stew, as you were pretty dang hungry and all. Cotton Cookie was even generous enough to take your used bowl to be washed outside later.
With your hunger finally satiated, you began to think back to what the statue told you and all that has happened so far. You sat down with Cotton Cookie to talk more with her. You did your best to retell the events of what happened to you, including the statue and all. Even the interview with the mysterious voice. Anything at all to get any kind of help or advice.
She stared at you surprised, which you didn’t find unexpected at all.
“This…. is a lot to take in,” she mumbled quietly enough for you to still hear her. “I’ve never heard of someone or something being transformed into a Cookie before. This seems like some kind of hoax or myth.”
“It’s all very real, I’m telling you the truth,” you reaffirmed.
“Oh, don’t worry. I do believe you.I don’t think I have any reason not to, you seem like a fine young cookie.” She held her chin, looking at you and your outfit over once more. “It would make sense, given that you don’t look like you’re from Snowfall village. The robes you are wearing look like a mage’s, though I haven’t seen one with quite a design like that before.”
You glanced down at the robes as she said that, trying to analyze its design. It wasn’t really anything you recognized, even within your current memory. And you didn’t really….. feel magical at all either to your disappointment. Maybe this robe was just for show? You remained quiet whilst frowning slightly.
“And this…. statue that you mentioned makes me even more confused,” Cotton Cookie continued. “I lived here for many years, and this village has been here longer than me for generations. If there was a stone statue that can talk not too far from here, I would have known about it.”
“Hmmm…..” You thought to yourself. Cotton Cookie was making this out to seem more unusual and suspicious that you once perceived. Although, maybe your arrival in this world was just a unique circumstance? And you didn’t really have a reason to put doubt in that statue either, it did seem just like the one that transported you to this world.
“Although… maybe this ‘person’ you mentioned has become petrified recently and no one else has known about it yet,” Cotton Cookie second guessed herself with something that sounds fairly reasonable.
“And it told me to seek out ‘companions from the darkness’ for it. I would probably find more answers to what happened to me if I did that too. Do you have any ideas what that could mean?” You asked.
Cotton Cookie’s face grew solemn as she looked back at you. The face she made was as if she stared right into your heart. You gulped.
“The Cookies of Darkness.”
“Cookies of Darkness?” You parroted.
“Yes, I feel that is what it meant. But for companionship?” Cotton Cookie sounded completely bewildered, as if the entire notion was absurd to even think about. “Those cookies are villains, working for Dark Enchantress Cookie to do her sinister bidding around Earthbread.”
“...You’re going to have to fill me in here,” you interrupted, having no idea what all of these new proper nouns meant.
“Oh! Haha, that’s right. Well, Earthbread is the name for this world. You and I are on the continent called Crispia. We’re just east of the Dark Cacao Kingdom, a city much larger than this one little village.”
You listened to her intently.
“Dark Enchantress Cookie… she’s a devilish witch that began the Dark Flour War against Earthbread and the Ancient cookies. She brought darkness upon this world, opening the infernal gates for all kinds of desert monsters.”
“So some evil baddie. Got it, I’ll be sure to stay clear of her,” you proclaimed.
“That might be difficult, considering what the statue is asking of you.” She fixed her posture to be straighter. “You might wind up into Dark Enchantress Cookie’s clutches if you aren’t careful. Heck, even those Cookies of Darkness might give you trouble. They’re not exactly the friendly type. Are you sure this is something you want to do?”
You nodded, with full confidence.
“Yes, I do.” You crossed your arms, looking straight into Cotton Cookie’s eyes. “I think it’s the only shot I’ve got at returning home. If I help free the statue from its petrification.”
Cotton Cookie smiled warmly at your resolve.
“Then, let me tell you the best way to reach the Cacao Kingdom from here.”