Fragments - A Cookie Run Fanfiction

Chapter Forty-Seven: Glimpse

//"When will you learn... When will you learn..! That your actions have concequences?!!"//

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The child struggled to calm down, even with the help of Dark Choco there to guide him through it. Whimpering, and the sound of raspy breaths and light crying didn't stop for at least ten minutes, and that was at best. The tall man cou;d only sit there and watch as the child regained his composure with little to no quickness, and ample confusion.

Eventually, though, the guest slumped forward, worn out. Exhausted from the day, and the overwhelming emotions that had taken him by storm, not even a minute ago.

The semi-stoic man let out a pondering sigh, before he looked off to the side- contemplating his next actions. With careful consideration, and generosity- he decided that he would rather move Gingerbrave to the bed rather than make him sleep slumped over himself on hard, chilly wooden floor from the exhaustion he had just succombed to.

Shifting his weight to his right leg, and pushing the rest of his body to stand- dark choco gently moved his arm under Gingerbrave's knees and behind his back- before picking up the child in what would have been considered a 'Bridal Hold'. However, the man would rather think of it as cradling.

Within a couple steps, the adolescent was gently set down on the bed, and covered with the warm blanket left flolded at the foot of the structure. The cloak was not taken away from him though. It just remained there- hopefully providing comfort. Or, at least, that is what the man would like to convince himself it was doing.

Making sure the child would assumably be comfortable at the least, the man walks over to the nearby wall- which was merely open space between the nightstand and the windowsill. Gentle breezes waft in through the small crack beteen the window and the sill. Short, dark curtains flutter along the small but generous breeze- gently wafting along without a major care in the world. The soldier grunted, closing his eyes and relaxing.

He was a very, very light sleeper. For a long time, after one of the darkest moments of his past, he couldn't sleep at all. He used to use coffee- but caffiene long since lost it's effect on him. He had grown too used to it.

Battling with constant fear, and even occasional denial did it to him a lot. The inability to get himself together was something he had to overcome quickly- especially if he wanted to be of service to Dark Enchantres's cause. One could say, that at this point, he mainly just slept with one eye open at all times. If something happened, he would be back awake in the matter of seconds to see what was wrong.

With that, dark eyes closed, and the man leans against the wall, keeping himself leaned back the slightest bit- he managed to sleep standing up, locking his legs to where he wouldn't fall.

The room fell quickly to silence. There was nothing but the sound of the breeze from the window- and the light crackling of the fire that still burned on the other end of the room. Noises fading out with his conscious- a pit of darkness was reached. One that Dark Choco had come to know quite well while he was asleep.

Just then- though- he felt as though he was falling.

The falling didn't feel like pressure- or wind. Wherever he was falling from- was just as unkown as where he going. The darkness was inpenetrable. Though some may even dub it strange- the man couldn't even tell if he was falling up or down. Maybe he was even going to the side for all he knew.

Just as he figured he would wait out the strange semi-conscious absurdity- he felt himself crashing to the ground- or more like- something metal.

Opening his eyes- he looked around. Even devoid of his cape, sword, and some of the over-worn attire he usually sported, the space he had fallen into was blistering hot. Instinctively, the first thing he did was pull his arm over his face, and cough into his elbow. It felt dry- wherever he was. Dry, and awful.

Getting a closer look at the area around himself, Dark Choco processed that he was laying on his back. The feeling of blistering pain rushed through his shoulders, and lower back. It almost hurt to move. Eventually, though, he pried himself free of where he had landed in this unpleasant dream.

It took a lot of self-pressuring to even get himself to move. All of that effort made it hard to breathe in this air-deprived environment. Every inhale was hell as it made him feel like he was being fried from the inside out. Throat aflame, and melting together- keeping him from speaking- even if he really wanted to.

Standing up, the heat only felt worse- which he should have thought about.

Heat rises.

After finally clearing his mind, and managing to get a good control over his breathing in this torturous dream he was enduring- he looked around again, and finally got to see everything more clearly. He was on a metal pan of sorts, rectangular, in shape. The pan was being heated by fire that was barging at him from all sides and angles.

Off toward the front of the space, where his feet had been pointed before he stood- there was an arched doorway of sorts- sealed and made of what was metal- assumably.

He heard a wheezing cough- and despite not wanting to look down- he did.

There cookies all arond him- and all of them bore some resemblance to Gingerbrave. Be it looking extremely identical, or simply sporting a lot of similar features. Most of the cookies around him had white hair- skull buttons on their clothing, and it seemed most of them weren't moving.

Dark Choco had seen the faces of death all over his previous home. He knew what death looked like when it had claimed the life of someone. These cookies. These CHILDREN... most of the ones he was looking at were dead.

"C-Come one... we have to ... get out...!" there was coughing and wheezing heard from off to the left of the tall, dark haired man. "We need... to... bust.. out of here..!" the voice of the child was desperate, and pleading.

He even sounded as though he might be on the brink of sobbing.

He knew exactly who it was.

Before he could turn around, and look at Gingerbrave, though- the dream ended.

Dark Choco snapped back to reality, waking up with a start as he jolted forward, the feeling of heat, and the suffocating feeling still lingered in his mind. With that- the man looked over to the fire on the opposing end of his rom, and he shivered a bit, but kept his nerves down to where they wouldn't be see.

He, too- didn't want to go anywhere near the flames. At least for now.

Looking back to Ginerbrave, who was sleeping, curled up on the bed that Dark Choco had provided to him, the man's gaze softened more than it already had. He just sighs, looking back down to the floor of his room. He wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep that night.

"... Is that... what is always on your mind..? No wonder you always look lost..."

((To Be Continued))