Fragments - A Cookie Run Fanfiction

Chapter Eight: Breathless

Falling

Again, he was falling.

The sensation of weightlessness combined with the conscious knowledge of needing weight to fall was making his head hurt. It felt as if the boy was falling for hours... the sky above him didn't change... the clouds didn't get any smaller.

The blue eyed cookie then turned his head toward the ground, looking at the dusty floor that he was falling toward for the last several minutes.. hours..? Days? It was the same distance it was from him before. However, the feeling of tingling in the cookie's legs was making the child fear when he would hit the ground.

Would his legs shatter? Would he feel like he was dying?

At this point, the brave cookie covered his eyes, and took in a deep breath and he tried to close off the thoughts. He was asleep, right? He could maybe control this? He heard about lucid dreaming before... maybe if he did it right... he could keep himself feeling the sensation of pain?

What if he wasn't asleep?

What if he wasn't safely in his bed, and he was REALLY falling? What could he do?

Brave felt himself knitting his eyebrows together. He needed to make sure that he didn't just accept his fate. He needed to be ready. Just in case this was really happening...

Opening his eyes again, the boy looked around and looked down at the ground, before leaning forward, and letting his body 'flatten' in a way. There wasn't a change in scenery, but because of the air crashing into his body- he was slowing down, in comparison to the plummet he felt just seconds before that. Which was, at least, some kind of step forward, evne if it wasn't all that large.

'Come on, Brave, think... you need to find a way to keep yourself from continuing this falling . . ' the boy scolded himself, before looking around. There was nothing to grab onto, and even if there was- if it was something stuck in one place, the combined speed of him falling, and his own weight would surely snap his arms if tried to grab onto something.

There was nothing around him though.

Nothing to grab, or hold onto. Wide open air, and what felt like an endless dive.

Gingerbrave had nothing he COULD do. Nothing he knew of that he could accomplish.

He couldn't give up... he wouldn't be a hero, if he did.

He needed to keep trying, even if it seemed hopeless.

Closing his eyes, he tried to picture himself not falling. It seemed ineffective. The same feeling of rushing air persisted around him, his limbs heavy, but light, and numb. However, within seconds... something changed. He was starting to feel warm... was that a sign he was waking up? He was getting warmer and warmer and warmer... too warm..

He felt hot...

Where was this feeling of heat coming from? He could feel an impression of sweat on his skin. The droplets of sweat were not evacuating his form, though. With all of the falling, the force of gravity should of been pulling the droplets of sweat off of the boy.

Gingerbrave was getting nervous again. He hated the heat. Worst yet, he hated being corner, cramped, or stuck in places where there was ample heat, and no way to turn it off, or hide from it. It reminded him too much of the narrow escape he made from the oven.

He started to cough.

There was... smoke? What was going on? He closed his eyes again, and started to cough. It smelled like there was smoke, and it somewhat felt like there was, but from what he saw, the skies and anywhere below him was clear- before closing his eyes again a few seconds ago...

He couldn't breathe.

He was suffocating.

Why couldn't he breathe?

"Wake up!" there was a voice, there it was- he was dreaming! Nothing around him could have possibly made that noise, right? The boy opened his eyes, before starting to look around frantically. "Come on, wake up!" the voice called again...

He ... he couldn't tell who the voice belonged to...

Usually, he could remember ANYONE's voice. Even if they did sound alike to someone else. That meant that whoever was talking to him... it was someone he didn't know...? 'SOMETHING', maybe?

As soon as he had found something else to think about, the child felt his body slamming into what he could assume was the ground of whatever lucid hell he was experiencing. He heard the sound of cracking, and he coughed, despite lacking oxygen. It falt as though any internal structures he had were completely shattered on impact.

He couldn't even bring himself to move right away.

Could he move at all? HIs limbs- he practically couldn't feel them... but... it almost felt as if he was made out of glass. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't. He was still struggling too much to breathe. He sweat even more, the heat was making him feel as though he was melting.

'Come on, get up. This is a dream. Don't sit here and act like you can't do anything...' Brave scolded himself, before attempting to move. However, his body didn't heed his command. He started to try and even get the slightest movement out of his arms... nothing. His legs? Not responsive... Maybe his back? No...

There was a voice ringing out with laughter within this boiling hellscape.

It only got hotter and hotter, which was making the boy anxious. He hated the heat. He would always hate the heat. He had been trying to ignore it for as long as he could- but that was becoming an overbearing factor, on top of the fact that he already couldn't breathe- and his seemingly shattered body.

'Hello, Brave Cookie' a voice called out among the emptiness. The voice spoke to him in a bitter hiss. 'It's nice of you... to... 'drop by'.' The voice snickered at their mindful statement, taking it to mind that it made Gingerbrave's face contort into a frown. Trying to put on a brave face, despite rising levels of fear, anxiety and obvious discomfort.

The look behind the eyes was eaccusatory.

Even if the source of the voice could not be seen... Brave was looking right at it. Because it was everywhere. He was looking at it... it was looking at him.

'Anyways... I wanted to meet you... up close and personal. It seems you are quite the scaredy cat internally... aren't you?' the voice questioned to the child. 'Don't worry... by the time we are done, you will be even worse off than you are now...'

(To be continued)