Work Text:
It all happened too fast. The seconds, half and whole, blended together into a screaming, thrashing amalgam until it was vanquished before getting to cry its last plea for mercy.
Like the flap of a hornet’s wings as it prepares to strike.
Like the pounce of a ravenous spider.
Like the snap of a venus around its prey.
An incomprehensible moment of awe, before nothing at all.
The fog in Hollyberry Cookie’s mind slowly but surely melted as she came to, laying on the dusty ground.
Covered in jam.
Covered in somebody else’s jam.
A chill ran down her spine and she scrambled to her feet. “Wildberry Cookie? Wildberry Cookie!” She called out to no reply. As she was preparing to call for him again, the words died on her lips once she caught sight of a body laying on the ground, and the metal gauntlet laying right beside him.
She felt her stomach twist and she ran towards him, dropping to her knees and turning him over onto his back. As she saw his chest shudder with every shallow breath and a bleeding crack in his armor where he had been struck, her eyes pricked with tears and she felt her chest cave in on itself with an emotion she had rarely ever experienced in her life.
Genuine terror.
“Wildberry Cookie!” She whispered frantically as she put her hands over his wound. “Look at me, boy! Stay with me!”
He weakly turned his head towards her and stared at her with pinprick pupils. His gaze was a mix of fear, pain, and acceptance that made Hollyberry Cookie’s heart sink. Noticing that his wound hadn’t stopped bleeding, Hollyberry Cookie fell into a panic and pulled at her hair. “Oh no. Oh, no no nononononoNO!! What am I supposed to do, I— I don’t— I can’t—!!”
“M-my… qu…een…” Wildberry Cookie rasped, his glazed eyes full of tears. “Can y…you h-hold…me…?”
Hollyberry Cookie choked back a sob before slowly lifting his head and pulling his shaking body close. She tried her best to keep herself together, but her voice betrayed her despair.
“Shhh…it’s alright. You’ll…you’ll be alright.” She whimpered as she cradled him and softly rocked back and forth. “Just…relax for me…” She took a deep, quivering breath before opening her mouth to sing…
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…you make me happy, when skies are gray…”
Wildberry Cookie’s breathing began to slow, along with his heart rate.
“You’ll never know, dear…how much I love you…”
The shaking had stopped.
“P-please…don't take my sunshine away…”
Hollyberry Cookie wept quietly, holding Wildberry Cookie’s limp body. It was so cold. It was so sickeningly cold. She hated it, but there was nothing she could do. She hated how there was nothing she could do.
The only thing she was able to do was hug the freezing corpse of the Cookie she considered her second son, as something died in her soul.