Work Text:
Sunset fell over the village. A dim, yet warm, light glowed from the center, as the few villagers sat around a campfire that was slowly boiling jelly stew. The few that weren’t around the fire were asleep in their tents, exhausted from work around their home. Despite the large gathering, though, one cookie was strangely missing.
Perched in a tall tree, just on the village outskirts, was Black Raisin. She kept up her vigilant guard, refusing to remove her watchful eye from the village edges. She would make sure no threats would be able to harm the villagers. They were the only family she had left.
As she kept her gaze locked on the paths below her, a single creature flew just out of sight. It quickly darted in front of her, making her jump and nearly fall out of the tree. After regaining her balance, though, she quickly recognized the critter as one of her Raisin crows.
“Don’t scare me like that.” She said to them, giving a light glare to the crow. It didn’t take long for her to regain her focus and notice the crow’s anxious behavior.
“Wait.…Is there something wrong? Did you spot outlanders?” She said, now beginning to become both panicked and angry. The crow nodded, before it began flying off, with Black Raisin following them.
After a few minutes of travel, Black Raisin reached the point her crow guided her to and hid behind some rocks. Even when she was a light distance away, she could hear the sound of the Outlander. Their steps were inconsistent and varied, and the occasional sound of something being hit against rock and dirt could be heard easily. Was this their pitiful attempt to try and confuse her? If so, it was simply never going to work in the first place.
She waved her arm in one direction, and her crow flew that way, cawing as it did so. “That should be enough to distract them”, she thought. It didn’t take long for her to look over the rocks at the intruder, and….
…..they really weren’t what she expected.
It was just one single cookie, all on their own. Their clothes were ragged and torn, and their hair was messy. Dirt and cracks were all over their dough, making it obvious they weren’t in good shape. They only seemed to have one item with them, a staff with a flower at the end. It also didn’t take her long to notice why the Cookie’s steps were so off. They just seemed to be wandering back and forth, feeling their way around and bumping into objects. They would also use their staff to feel around and occasionally accidentally whack into the area around them.
Were…..were they blind?
Feelings of empathy slowly started going through Raisin, but she brushed them off. She can’t be so quick to believe this. This could simply be a ruse, a trick to sneak in while pretending to be helpless. Despite her urge to just attack them, though, a part of her told her not to. She simply sighed. How was she meant to learn if this cookie was trustworthy?
That was when she saw her crow again, who seemed visibly angry at the cookie. Perhaps because they didn’t react much to their distraction. Soon enough, the crow flew down and landed on the cookie’s shoulder….only to *CAW* right in their ear.
The cookie had barely any time to react. They began to stumble over, but managed to keep themselves upright against a rock. They rubbed their head, obviously in pain, before placing one of their hands on their shoulder, landing on the crow. Within an instant, Black Raisin began running from out of her cover. She wouldn’t let this outsider hurt them! So, she was quite surprised by the next thing the cookie said.
“Well hello, little bird!” They spoke, cheerily, before giving light headpats to them. The crow started to glare at the cookie, but quickly seemed to calm down. And soon after, the angry little crow began leaning into the pets.
Black Raisin couldn’t help but stare dumbfoundedly at the cookie. Her crow just yelled right at them, and they decided to respond with petting them? She swiftly shook her confusion off and looked directly at the cookie, before speaking up.
“You.”
“Huh?” The cookie responded, turning their head in her general direction, though not seeming to be completely focused on her. “Is someone else there?” They asked.
“Yes. And I want to know what you are doing in these lands.” She commanded. She was attempting to sound as stern as ever, but it seemed something kept her back from sounding exactly like that.
“Ah, well…..” the cookie trailed off, seeming lost in thought again. “I….don’t really know where I am.”
Black Raisin simply raised an eyebrow to this. Perhaps they really were blind.
“I simply woke up a bit ago, and I’ve been wandering around since.” They said, somewhat sadly. “It’s much harder for me to see when I’m low on my mana.”
“Ah.” Black Raisin simply responded. She couldn’t really sense anything dangerous in th. No indication that they can see her, no trace of malice in their voice, nothing. “May I perhaps know your name?”
“Oh! Of course, it’s….um, it’s…..” they once again seemed lost. “I….I’m sorry, I can’t exactly recall. My mind feels very hazy….” The cookie began to look distressed as they spoke.
Black Raisin didn’t really know how to respond. This could be them avoiding giving up their cover. This could just be a trap. But still, something in her dough pushed her to try and help them. “No, it’s fine if you can’t say. Is there something else you remember about yourself?”
“Well, I…I think I was a healing mage.” They spoke, seeming slightly more calm.
“Well, how about I just call you Healer Cookie?” Black Raisin proposed.
“….I’d like that.” Healer responded, a slight smile forming on their face.
“Good.” Black Raisin said, before helping straighten up them. “I have a small shelter nearby. I can let you stay there for the night if you need to.”
“Oh, thank you! I’d be honored to.” Healer said back, seeming so much more bright now.
Black Raisin smiles a bit at the cookie’s cheerfulness, before taking their hand and guiding them with her to her watch tree. There was no way she would bring this cookie into the village until she was sure she could trust them, but something told her that she probably will be able to soon enough.