Unseen | Caramel Arrow Cookie x Affogato Cookie

The Sea's Fault

Day three of this challenge. Caramel Arrow had already iced his leg twice today, and Affogato was feeling quite bored. Being confined in bed with no sickness felt like utter torture. Like being in a prison. Two days felt like a week. He and Caramel Arrow hardly conversed, and any motivation to read vanished with his situation. Currently, Caramel Arrow was sitting at his desk, reading a book she'd asked permission to use. He allowed it, but threw in a backhanded insult to go with it. She'd ignored it.. He looked over at her. He shifted to sit up. Caramel Arrow looked at him. “What are you doing?”

“I am utterly dying of boredom sitting around doing nothing. I am going to do something, anything.” He limped over to his staff and picked it up.

“But you mustn’t aggravate your leg further, Affogato.” She stood up, closing the book.

“I am not a fool, First Watcher. I know not to overexert myself.” He hobbled over to his door and opened it. “I would rather take the risk of injuring myself than sit still for another second longer. Besides, if I do not, I would be just as useless at my job as you are yours.”

Caramel Arrow gave a disheartened grunt. “Well.. I will have to accompany you to make sure nothing happens.”

He scoffed and exited the room. Of course she had to accompany him. He despised the thought, though. He moved ahead, but she caught up quickly. Curse this ankle.

The two walked in relative silence. Caramel Arrow eyed his boot. He glanced at his face. He winced and grimaced, his staff hitting the ground pretty hard. It was basically a cane for him. "..Do you need any help walking?"

"No. Absolutely not." He said quickly.

Caramel Arrow didn't say anything else, letting him remain stubborn in his resolve. They walked quietly through the walls of the citadel before Affogato walked into the outside. After a minute, Caramel Arrow paused, realizing where they were. "Why are you coming out here?"

"Because I wanted to check something." Affogato bit away the stinging cold air. Chocolate cookies scrambled about, almost frantically, to fortify the wall. The cookies seemed unhappy, as per usual. He frowned.

As they walked along the path, Dark Cacao Cookie's voice came into earshot. "..Nothing will break through these walls! Our kingdom depends on the strength of the walls. Do not slow, for a major attack could happen any day." He stood amidst the workers.

Affogato couldn't help but lightly scoff. Caramel Arrow stayed silent, curious as to what he planned to do. The pair made their way towards the king. "My King." Affogato caught his attention.

Dark Cacao stopped what he was gonna say to look at Affogato. "Ah. Affogato Cookie?" He looked at Caramel Arrow behind him. "What are you.. doing here?"

"Checking up on the citadel. I don't want it to fall into ruin while I'm absent." He smiled widely. Caramel Arrow couldn't help but think it was fake.

A small, impressed smile appeared on the king's face. "I assure you the citadel will be just fine. I implore you to rest as much as possible."

"I will, my Lord. I will be fine." Affogato started moving past the king. Caramel Arrow and Dark Cacao exchanged a glance as they moved past. Dark Cacao hummed as they got further away.

They traveled around the citadel's walls, walking around and above the training grounds. The soldiers trained with less vigor. The workers were unmotivated, only truly working in the presence of Dark Cacao. The endless snowfall never ended, the watchers of the wall spread sickness like wildfire. It was a miracle Caramel Arrow hadn't gotten sick during her time as a watcher.

Affogato's brows furrowed. Everything was growing worse by the day. "Affogato Cookie?" Caramel Arrow broke the silent walk. He looked over his shoulder at her. "Is there a reason to come out here? You seem to be contemplating something."

He stopped, which caused her to stop. He huffed, looking towards the direction of the Licorice Sea. He scoffed. He had such a disdain for that place, but not for the same reasons Dark Cacao did everything in his power to protect from it. "The Dark Cacao Kingdom is only getting worse." He gingerly waltzed over to the edge of the wall. "The soldiers are struggling, the watchers are struggling, the citadel is slowly losing more and more of its cookies to illness or warfare."

Caramel Arrow stood by his side. "That is how the Dark Cacao Kingdom has always been. It’s always a struggle to survive in this harsh country." She said somberly.

"That is not what I mean. It is not the weather’s fault." Affogato scowled, turning to look at the sea. "It's all that damn sea's fault." He glared at the dark, black waters. "The king is obsessed with defending from the sea that the rest of the citadel suffers. Where is the threat, even?" Affogato points towards the sea. "I've not seen any attacks from this sea, only tall tales of ooze monsters."

Caramel Arrow felt something twinge inside of her. "That is wrong." Her hand balled into a fist. "I've lost many allies to the Licorice Sea." Affogato had a hard time believing her. "The Licorice Sea attacks during the night. They claw at the wall. Some crawl up the walls and end up killing inexperienced watchers."

Affogato didn't understand. "If that is so, how come I never hear of such attacks in the court? And why should I believe you when you steal the precious resources of the citadel?" He scowled.

"Because the court doesn't hear of the deaths of watchers who aren't top notch." She growled, the memories of the past coming back to her. She experienced the death of her comrades way too many times. Each time it hurt.

"I don't trust a thief."

She grunted. "If I did not take, the villagers of the kingdom would die! Is that what you want?" She shouted.

"..." He looked away from her, the harsh wind blowing his hair in his eyes. "We cannot afford to spare resources to villages when our own castle is in a dire struggle."

This was the first time Caramel Arrow ever heard of the citadel struggling. "What?"

"The king exhausts all resources into fortifications of the wall, and trains many soldiers to watch over the wall. This hyper fixation neglects the other necessities of the citadel, and our resources are slowly withering away." He growled, turning angrily at her. "Watching this kingdom slowly die is sickening, and no amount of advising will change the king's ways. I’ve tried.”

Caramel Arrow was taken aback. She didn't know how to respond.

"You've criticized me for turning away villagers, trying to justify your thievery. I turn away villagers because of our situation, because exhausting more resources will cause this kingdom's finite timer to tick quicker." He huffed. "A kingdom can't function if the core is not intact."

"..." There was a moment of silence between them. "Well.. how is the kingdom going to revive if the villages can't produce?"

"The citadel shouldn't rely on its villages to produce for them. The villagers struggle for survival every day already, we should not take any more from them."

So.. he did care about the villages? "I.. I see."

"We must focus our efforts on other things. For the sake of our kingdom and its people."

"I.. never knew you had such care for the kingdom."

"Hmph. Well," He paused. "Now you know." He turned and started walking away, grimacing from the cold and his ankle.

Caramel Arrow was still for a second. There was so much she didn't know about him. That one simple conversation opened her eyes. He was stubborn and picky, but he had the best interests for the kingdom’s people. He cared about their wellbeing. Now she hoped he would open his eyes to her, too.