[ Cookie Run Oneshots ]

Crunchy Chip the father figure (and how he stole the child from Chili)

"..ah. Hello, child." Crunchy Chip watched the young cookies eyes glitter, though he saw a haunted past in this child.
"Hello!!" Gingerbrave grinned. He had his hands on his hips, and he seemed to glow with every word.
"So, you are acquainted with Dark Cacao Cookie, I assume?" Crunchy Chip remained stern. There was no need for him to go soft on the young one in front of him, he was only here to help.
"Of course!! We helped him with his kingdom after Affogato tried to take his throne, and-"
"Ah, so you were part of that group of cookies, then?" Crunchy Chip interrupted. Gingerbrave paused, having been cut off, but dismissed it and nodded.
"Yup!" He smiled. How cheerful could one be, in such dire times like these, he would never understand. But the child remained vigilante.
"Have you met Pure Vanilla Cookie yet?" Gingerbrave asked. Crunchy Chip shook his head.
"No. I must stay here, in order to guard the borders. Cookies such as Pure Vanilla Cookie have no use down here as they are apart of the council, unlike Dark Cacao Cookie, whose business is here because he's decided so."
"...of course." Gingerbrave laughed nervously.
"Child, why do you come here?"
"Huh?"
"Why do you come over here? You could be inside with the other cookies, and yet you're here." Crunchy Chip waved his hands towards the tents set up across the yard. Gingerbrave shrugged.
"I like your puppies!" The nervous demeanor disappeared, replaced with the former energetic nature. Crunchy Chip huffed.
"Wolves."
"Puppies!"
"Child-"
"I have a name, y'know." He frowned. It took the older one fairly by surprise how quickly his persona could change; from the energetic child to the hardened adult in a matter of seconds.
"I'm aware." Crunchy Chip directed a small smile towards him. Gingerbrave grinned once again, his face lighting up as the large cream wolf nudged it's way around him. He gasped, setting his hands on the animals fur.
Crunchy Chip tensed. The wolves did not tend to warm to strangers immediately; and yet the canine rubbed against him, sniffing his pockets. The child laughed, handing it a single jelly. It ate it in one bite, looking up at him as if expecting more. Gingerbrave laughed, petting its head.
"Sorry! That's all I had!" The wolf jumped up on the boys chest, and he feared the worst yet again- but it only licked his face, causing him to giggle harder than before.
Crunchy Chip thought of how he'd heard others speak of this cookie: a brave young hero, who'd seen things no other cookie should.
And yet here he was, just a child. A child, barely thirteen, here with the council. Here, labeled a hero, said to be the one to save them.
But he was so young. Surely the war wouldn't last as many years as it took for him to grow, would it?
Crunchy Chip had the overwhelming urge to embrace the Brave cookie; and yet he didn't, as it would cause much confusion and create awkward tension.
"Gingerbrave?" Crunchy Chip said at last. The boy turned to face him, turning away from the animal.
"You..are the hero everyone speaks of, yes?" He wanted confirmation. He wanted himself to be wrong.
But the youth nodded. A smile reached across his face. The poor, naive and oblivious adolescent had no idea what was in store for him, and that alone worried the commander.
"Yup!!" He laughed. His gaze told a different story, had a different tone. It was as if he had knowledge no one should ever be aware of, and yet he did. What he knew, whatever he was hiding, it concerned him. Why was the adolescent Cookie tasked with saving earthbread, when the ancient heroes were here? They had their soul jams, their powers, their strength. And yet it was up to this boy, and friends, to defeat Dark Enchantress?
I think not.
"You have a guardian...right?" He hoped Gingerbrave and his friends weren't simply children fighting by themselves. The hero nodded.
"Of course! We've got Chili Pepper!" He grinned.
"Hm...I do not think I've heard of this cookie."
"She's a thief." Gingerbrave snickered, said so casually, as if this were an everyday topic of conversation. His guardian was a thief, probably on the run, he and his friends were children- what was next?
"And my friend Custard Cookie the third, he's gonna be a king one day!"
Custard Cookie?
He swore he'd heard that name before. But no matter. He brushed it off, directing his attention back to Gingerbrave.
"What of your other friends?"
"Well, there's Strawberry!! She's my good friend, and Dark Cacao Cookie is her grandfather!" He explained, before pausing, a friend forming. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Don't tell Dark Cacao."
"Is there..anyone else in your group?"
"There's Wizard!!" His face lit up when he spoke of this member of their little posse.
"Oh?"
"Yeah!! He's like, a wizard, obviously, or a mage, and he's really cool, he really stars 'n stuff, and.."
Crunchy Chip almost laughed quietly, to himself. He seemed very close to these friends of his.
He did hope it stayed that way, or he'd simply have to steal him from this Chili Pepper Cookie.

He was kidding, sort of.