Fragments - A Cookie Run Fanfiction

Chapter Eleven: Condescending

The next week or so after the experience of waking up in the forest was rather... calm. Concerningly so, in all honesty. Gingerbrave hardly slept. Both because he didn't want the same thing to happen- and because he was starting to suffer from constant headaches. Throbbing in an area where his temples would be made him almost want to curl up on the ground, and wait for it to end.

Then came the few occasions where he felt as though there was tapping on his shoulder when he was alone, or breathing down his back, as if someone or something was towering over him.

Avocado cookie was spending more time around Gingerbrave, though, she still tried to not be overbearing. The woman noticed that he was starting to stare off into space, and curl into himself on a few occasions.

She had tried to talk to him about it twice, but once again, he refused to speak about it. She knew that the child was lying, or in any case, refusing to actually answer her.

Gingerbrave had grown considerably more tired, and easily startled, because of spacing out, and what can barely replace power-naps to compensate for the lack of rest. He had even passed out while they were fighting a few cake-hounds- which was both worthy of a heart attack- but also the means of shock from the hound creatures.

Almond had went to go and grab Gingerbrave- the cake hounds could have taken their chance to attack the child, but they didn't. One of them started to whine, before running up to the boy, and sniffing at licking at him, despite the somewhat derp-ish expression it usually maintained. The hounds retreated, abandoning the fight- which left the kingdom-dwellers surprised, but a little thankful, praising their luck.

However, on Gingerbrave's end- the poor boy was surrounded, a lot of the others were now trying to gently coax the Brave Cookie into talking, and explaining why he had not been getting sleep, or had been so inexplicably drained. Though, through barely even five minutes of the beginning conversation, it was noted that Gingerbrave was spacing out, and not paying attention.

"Gingerbrave- you need start talking to us.." Herb walked up to the boy, before placing a gentle hand on the youngsters shoulder. What he didn't expect, though, was for the child's eyes to snap open- and for the boy to quickly grab Herb by the wrist to precent being touched or grabbed- whatever the intention was.

The Brave Child looked frantic, if not simply disturbed.

Herb had tried to pull his arm away, but the grasp on it wasn't faultering. It was firm, and nearly felt crushing, which should not have been logically possible on the front of plausibility.

"'Brave, let him go-!" Sparkling was a little alarmed at first- the blue eyed of the seemingly half asleep kid slowly creeped over, looking directly into Sparkling's own eyes.

Looking at him now, Gingerbrave didn't even look familiar. Nothing even seemed to change, but... something clearly did.

The 12 year old tighened his grasp, seeming to know that the adults would not hurt him if they could avoid it. He started to slowly crack Herb's wrist, which made the healer let out a grunt of discomfort.

"Let go of my wrist...!" Herb quietly yelled out, not wanting to raise his voice. He couldn't bring himself to. He wasn't the yelling type.

It was then that the child let go of the man's poor, aching wrist that Gingerbrave had actually realized what he was doing. Naturally, he backed away a bit, before quickly starting to apologize. He could only look down, feeling some sweat quickly starting to form on the back of his head. His apologies were cut off by a very concerned, and not-so-gentle Sparkling cookie.

"Brave! What- what were you thinking?!" it was harsher than it was meant to sound. "Just what is happening? We have been trying to help you, and now- you are lashing ou! You can't keep this up!" another shout- not how the blonde cookie wanted to convey his message, but he was too worked up.

"I... I don't-"

"Exactly. You don't tell us anything- you need to start saying something! We can't help you, or each other, if we don't know what is going on! If we don't know what is going on- people get hurt, for one reason or- or another-!"

Gingerbrave just teared up, before nodding.

Herb reached over, and tried to get Sparkling to stop. Overall, Sparkling was a man who played the voice of reason. Herb right ahead of him in his means of calmness and the lack of wanting fights, or contraversey. This time, though, the older man just was not having it. He gently shook Herb off of him, before starting to walk at Gingerbrave.

"How are we supposed to trust you when you won't even trust us to know what is bothering you? It only makes you look like a fool." the expression in the blonde cookie's eyes darkened in a way that would have been unnatural. "You are a coward. There's nothing worth-while about you. Why do we even keep you around?"

The stress really boiled over.

Herb covered his mouth, and the younger cookie seemed to stand in shocked silence, before his facial expression changed to one of outright hurt. However, he stayed silent. He just bit back any words he could have possibly said, before nodding to the man standing over him, glaring down at him with a skeptical, angry eye.

'Would you look at that...' a voice sounded from inside of Gingerbrave's mind, laughing in amusement. 'Even cookies around you doubt what you are capable of. I guess they are seeing that you really aren't all that great, huh?'

Wordlessly, Gingerbrave just turned away from Sparkling Cookie, and Herb.

"What, nothing to say? How amusing. Going to continue hiding some more?" the bartender mocked him, before his upper lip curled in what could be seen as some kind of uncaracteristic disgust. "Coward."

Herb cookie had enough. The green haired pain quickly grabbed Sparkling by the collar of his shirt, and dragged him back away from the slowly retreating child. He knew that Gingerbrave was tearing up when he left, but the silence only made the green haired cookie worry more. That wasn't what he had to deal with right now though.

Herb pushed Sparkling into the nearby wall of one of the houses, before putting one of his hands on his hips, still cradling his favorite succulent plant in his other arm.

"Just what was that all about?!"

Sparkling glared at him for a second, before seeming to get a massive headache. The blonde lurched forward, before grabbing at his hair, and letting out a grunt that was somewhat between frustration, pain and confusion.

Sparkling looked up to the plan nurturing cookie, before shaking his head a few times, bewildered, and immensely frightened with what he had just said to the young boy who had now went out of sight behind a building quite a few paces ahead.

"I... I just- I.. don't... know..?"

((To Be Continued))