Fragments - A Cookie Run Fanfiction

Chapter Seventeen: Shield

Picking up his pace, the boy stopped in front of the damaged sign that he had first seen when he encountered this place the first time. The hole was still in it from where it had torn through his leg... he narrowed his eyes, before taking in a deep breath. If this place was the same, there were likely still arrows that would fly off in every direction as soon as he started running toward it.

Or... maybe as soon as he started to run away from it.

He remembered the arrows not going off when he went toward the pedestal, but on his way back, several were sent flying right at him...

He had nothing to cover himself.

If he did get hit, it was going to hurt something bad.

Just before he could start to make his way forward, barking was heard, and a cakehound went dashing by, stopping in the field of annoyingly familiar flowers colored in yellow and blue.

The cakehound barked at him, wagging it's tail. Most of the hounds looked similar, but... this hound was familiar... definitely a hound they encountered a lot during their travels and adventures.

As soon as the hound spotted him, it grew a tad bit more serious, but not aggressive. It started to run at him, to which the boy would have cringed in apprehension, if not for the fact that he heard several sounds that could be similar to loose springs going off from the many tree lines. The arrows had been released and that cakehound was right in the center of it. There was no way it was going to get out of there unscathed.

Gingerbrave knew that the hound was associated with enemies- but that would be a terrible way to go.

Whever they fought, the cookies did their best to make sure not to harm the dogs in a way that would leave them debilitated permenantly, they just tired them out, if they could. It was a rule that Gingerbrave made sure to multitudenously vouch for until it was approved.

While it was inconvenient, it made many of the cookies feel a lot better, morally...

The cakehound int he center of the field started to become nervous, letting out a light whine as an arrow went flying past it's head, The dog-like creature instantly crouched down closer to the ground, trying to move forward, but it only put it's paws forward a couple paces, before backing up. Due to the noise of all of the arrows being released at different times, it was becoming confusing, making the cakehound whimper even more.

Gingerbrave quickly sprung forward, and ran through the arrows that were being fired. He managed to dodge most of them, narrowly, of course.

He saw the understandably frightened hound, and he went to pick it up, to which the hound, within it's blur of fright, bit down into his already crumbling wrist due to the panic.

Gingerbrave let out a curt shout of pain, tearing up a bit, before pulling the hound as close to his body as he could, continuing to run forward. So far, the arrows were only coming from the side, if he hunkered down, and wrapped his upper and fore arms around the hound, he could hopefully protect it and still get to the pedestal.

So long for a long, clear run to get there, at least...

As he continued moving, he felt several arrows graze several parts of his body, leaving small, but still painful cuts. A couple of arrows got lodged in his right leg, nearly making him stumble. He was outright crying in pain now, it really hurt, but he couldn't afford to keep moving, no matter how scared or in-pain he was.

The cakehound in his arms had stopped barking, and biting him at least- seeming to understand now that it he was trying to keep it safe.

Though, at the knowledge of that, the hound seemed to then grow increadibly worried, and saddened, whining up to him, before curling into a small ball in an attempt to preserve it's physical health.

The Brave Boy continued to run, stumbling a fore more times from the exhaustion, and the lack of oxygen- from him being hunkered over so far.

"I-It's okay.. I gotach-a! Please.. don't move-e o-okay-y?" the boy stuttered out, before making a very small dive toward the grass right in front of the pedestal. The cakehound whimpered again in response, knowing full well that it couldn't do anything to help the young cookie.

'Tsk Tsk Tsk. So noble. That is going to be the end of you, you know? What a shame...' the voice within his mind scolded him, before letting out a boistrous laugh that felt as though it shook the entirety of the boys's head to it's core. A throbbing headache instantly took the place of the voice, nearly hurting so much that Gingerbrave couldn't see straight.

"No... No." Gingerbrave started to crawl up the few steps in front of the pedestal, keeping the cakehound right in front of him, and sheltered by his arms. The arrows continued to fire off, several more leavin cuts over his already struggling form, the feeling of warm, sticky blood was distracting, it made the boy nearly want to hurl, because of how much of it he thought he could feel. "-A-Almost- ... Almost there...!"

The boy collapsed in front of the pedestal, and leans over the cake hound, contunuing to struggle for breath. A couple of huffing breaths escaped him, nearly making him choke, because the expansion of his side from breathing made a sharp pain shoot through his body.

The hound licked his face in response, whining more as it tried to calm the boy down.

Gingerbrave took a moment, regaining any composure he had, as he looks to the pedestal. He didn't know how to destroy it.. but... nothing was going to stop him fron trying. He needed to. He stood up again, keeping the hound close as he heard a voice from the area that the sign rested in front of the field.

"Chiffon!" it was a man's voice. It was concerned for the hound, as most would be, in this situation.

Barely even managing the strength to move his head, Gingerbrave directed his blurring gaze to the side, where he saw a familiar face, depsite it normally being unwelcome in this part of the land.

A blue eyed man with reddened skin, red and black hair, and a strangely formed arm stood just out of the reach of any arrows within the field, looking to the hound, and the boy that was protecting it, his eyebrows furrowed.

Several other hounds were with the man, barking, and whining at the arrows, while stamping their paws in the grass as they went forward a bit, to try and seem intimidating, though it wouldn't work, because arrows were not sentient objects.

The hound in Gingerbrave's arms barked, peeking out tot he man that seemed so far away. Chiffon barked again twice, reamining in it's shelter of the boys arms, and back.

The boy kept silent, trying to gather more strength to get that damn pedestal smashed.

"C-Come on... m-move-e-e..." he huffs, feeling sweat starting to fall from his forehead, due to his heavy, exhausted efforts.

No sooner than he brought up one of his legs, he felt an arrow come soaring right into his shoulder, which made him let out another sharp cry of pain.

'Come on, 'hErO-'. You cant' figure you way out of this, can't you? All you HAVE to do... is let go of the dog, and you are free to break that pedestal. What's one life, over your entire kingdom..?' the voice taunted in his mind, before it's voice went into a hiss.

Gingerbrave shook his head, tearing up in frustration.

"There- there... has to be... a way..." he started to cough, wheezing as he felt liquid sputtering out of his mouth, leaving his mouth tasting sour. ".... there has to.. be a way to save... both..!"

'You can't succeed all the time, you fool. Sacrifices have to be made. Stop bowing to your ego, and let go of the hound. The hound is below all of you cookies. It is nothing.' the voice let it's tone sound disappointed. 'Tick tock... tick... tock... tick-'

With a pained look of determination, and another chain of painful coughing, making him wince, Gingerbrave narrowed his eyes to the ground, before tightening his jaw.

He knew what he was going to do...

((To Be Continued))