Baking up a New Adventure! (A Cookie Run: Kingdom Story)

Part 2: The Bear Jelly Elder

"Thanks, Gingerbrave," I thanked him. "You've been super nice to me ever since I came out of that oven portal."

"It's no problem!" Gingerbrave exclaimed. "Helping people is just what we do!"

"I hear yoooou've been asking about any strange magical sightings," A Bear Jelly commented as he came up behind us.

"Err... yes," I nodded.

"We haven't seen anything here, but yooou knooow whooo might be able toooo help yooou?" He started to say. "The village elder. He knoooows everything that happens around here."

"That's great!" I exclaimed. "Where is he?"

"He's helping with the ceremooony at the dragon's spine," the Bear Jelly told us.

"Well then, I guess we know where we're going next," I decided.

"Come on, everyone, let's go to Dragon Hill!" Gingerbrave announced.

"Feel free toooo take some of oooour bear jellies with yoooou for the trip!" the Bear Jelly villagers insisted as we stood up to leave.

"Don't mind if I do!" Chili Pepper grinned, taking as many bear jelly treats as she could carry.

Once we had each taken our pick from the selection of bear jellies, we set off for Dragon Hill in hopes of finding the Bear Jelly elder.

We traveled further into the forest, across the bridge, and past the cookie statue, to the dragon's head.

"We're close," I commented. "The Bear Jelly elder should be somewhere around here."

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Someone screamed just up ahead. "Nooo! Nooo! Nice cakeys... oooowww! I'm being attacked! Soooomebody help!"

"That sounds like him!" I gasped.

"He's being attacked by cake monsters!" Gingerbrave exclaimed. "Come on, guys, we'd better hurry and give him a hand!"

"Let's go!" I agreed. "Hey! You! Cake hounds! Leave him alone!"

"Arwoo?" The cake hounds stared at us, confused at first. "Arf! Arf!"

They turned and charged at us at once, leaving the Bear Jelly elder alone for now.

"You'd better be ready," Gingerbrave started to say. "Because here I come!"

He charged forward at them, knocking them all back into a line so Chili Pepper could slash them with her attack. Once they had been dealt with, cake boars started charging at us so we had to react fast.

"You need to chill out!" I exclaimed, and again, a wall of ice spikes formed in front of us, stopping the cake boars in their tracks before they reached us, and dealing freezing damage over time.

"Nice one!" Gingerbrave cheered.

"Lightning strike!" Wizard used his special attack to finish off the cake boars.

"King's Blessing!" Custard III healed us before the next wave of enemies arrived.

The next wave of enemies was easily dispatched by Chili Pepper and Wizard, and now came the final wave. A large deep brown shadowy figure loomed over the Bear Jelly elder, it's claws sharp and its wings pointed.

"Gah! What is that?!" I gasped.

"Hey! You leave the Bear Jelly elder alone!" Gingerbrave shouted, and the creature rounded on us, its red eyes blazing with fury, its sharp teeth bared, smoke billowing from its snout.

"Is that...?" Wizard wondered aloud. "It's a chocolate dragon!"

"D-Dragon?!" I pressed. "Oh no. Fire and ice don't mix well..."

"Don't worry, we'll keep you safe," Gingerbrave assured me.

This dragon was relatively small, which led me to believe it wasn't a fully grown chocolate dragon.

"Ack! Melted chocolate breath!" I gasped as I rolled out of the way of its attack.

"Ugh! Now my robes are all covered in sticky goop!" Custard III complained. "And it burns!"

The chocolate dragon bent down and attempted to snap at us, but thinking quickly, I formed a wall of ice spikes underneath his jaw, dealing some good damage. The dragon swiped its tiny claws at Gingerbrave, knocking him back and stunning him briefly, but Wizard and Chili Pepper were quick to rush in and attack. Custard healed Gingerbrave in between his attempts to clean off his robes, and Gingerbrave rushed forward to tackle the dragon. The dragon roared with fury and flew off, leaving us alone in the clearing with the Bear Jelly elder.

"Ah! Bear Jelly elder!" I gasped. "Are you okay?"

"Are they gone?" The Bear Jelly elder asked us. "Boy, you really showed them and helped me out of quite the pinch there, sonny! Is there anything I can do for you in return?"

"Well, it's not something, but we do have a question we were hoping you could answer," I explained.

"I've been living in this forest for as long as I can remember," the Bear Jelly elder started to say. "So, I'm certain I'll be able to tell you almost anything you want to know. Just ask away!"

"Err... well, it's not so much about the history of this forest," I told him. "It's something that happened more recently. Would you know anything about any magical disturbances in this area?"

"What doooooooo yooooooou mean?" He asked.

"Like, I don't know, something out of the ordinary that could account for someone from another dimension being sent here?" I wondered.

"Nooooope, nooooothing of that sooooort," The Bear Jelly elder responded.

I sighed, my shoulders slumping forward, feeling as if we'd hit another dead end.

"The bear jellies haven't seen anything," I concluded.

"But there's still several other places we could go to," Gingerbrave decided. "Like Pilgrim's Village. Those cookies could know something."

"I guess you're right," I agreed. "Okay, let's go to Pilgrim's Village!"

"Are you out of your mind?!" Custard III pressed. "I can't be seen in public like this! I've got chocolate all over my robes!"

"Okay, how about we return to the kingdom and regroup," Gingerbrave decided. "Then we'll go to Pilgrim's Village."

Surprisingly, no cake hounds attacked us on the way back.

"We're here!" Gingerbrave exclaimed as the kingdom came into view just on the other side of the trees. "Err... Custard? What are you doing?"

Custard III was holding a large tree branch covered in leaves in front of himself.

"I can't let anyone see me like this!" Custard III explained.

"Personally, I think you look more ridiculous doing that than if you just walked through town with a chocolate stain on your robes," Chili Pepper piped up.

"How dare you insult your king like that!" Custard III shouted, furious.

"Hey, guys, I hear something!" A voice called from the kingdom. "I think they're back!"

"Come on, let's go, you guys," Gingerbrave decided. 

I followed them as we approached the clearing where the kingdom was, but just before I approached the edge of the trees, I heard a rustling noise, and something jumped out of the trees at me!