Character Files #3: Rice Flour Cookie
Hello again! It's been... a month? Months? To put it mildly, I have a lot more responsibilities to deal with. But thankfully, right now I have a small break from said responsibilities to do stuff like this! So let's take a quick look at Rice Flour Cookie!
Personality & Early Life
Rice Flour Cookie acts like the “responsible one” of the ancients. Her pragmatism and blunt nature make her a reliable strategist and the unfortunate voice of reason, often stopping her teammates from doing stupid, stupid things. But beneath her seemingly flat exterior lies a deep empathy and appreciation for the people around her. Just because she's not performing grand gestures or singing extensive ballads about her friends doesn't mean she doesn't care, she just prefers intimacy over showmanship.
Unlike her teammates, Rice Flour Cookie was already a notable figure since her childhood. Her healing powers had allowed her to save dozens of cookies in her small village and around the region. There was a catch, however. For every cookie she healed, her body would sustain their injuries in return. This wasn't usually a problem, as her fresh dough allowed her to recover in full. As she got older, however, the years of healing would begin to catch up with her. She stayed sick for longer and would often be bed ridden for days on end. In private, she'd lean over the side of her mat coughing up jam. Yet in spite of this, she continued to heal others. The idea of letting sick cookies suffer was too much for her to bear, especially if it was in her power to help them. All of this was worth it if someone less fortunate than her could have the chance to live longer.
By now, Rice Flour’s name had gone beyond her small village and became legend among rural areas of the Icing Mountains. Rumors about the miraculous young healer spread like wildfire. Some say just a glance from her eyecing would cure their illnesses, others claimed her stray tears could heal an entire village. People began to see her as a saint, and Rice Flour would gain hundreds of devoted followers. She would travel across the mountain ridge, trying to heal as many people as she could, but the weight of it all was killing her from within.
The Moment of Clarity
When she was eighteen, Rice Flour Cookie left her village for good and set out on a pilgrimage to heal cookies across all of Earthbread. Near the end of the journey, the young healer would stop at an abandoned village to rest. She went inside one of the empty huts, pulled out her mat and began to meditate. As she did though, a sharp pain spread throughout her body. She managed to croak out a whimper, begging someone to save her, but she collapsed before help could ever come.
In her dreams, she found herself surrounded by darkness. Her body floundered in the spaces between before a faint light flickered in the corner of her eye. A familiar yet distant voice broke through the void.
“Child of grain. Why do you ache? Why do you bleed?”
The cookie looked around, her head whipped towards the voice.
“Who’s there? What do you want with me?”
“…what do I want?” The light shifted towards the cookie, revealing the open cracks and the jam oozing from her arms. Rice Flour's face had a trail of spit trailing from the corners of her mouth. Her eyes were sunken in and pale.
“I only wish to ask. Why do you ache? Why do you bleed? You look as if you've been beaten by thieves passing through the mountains.”
She hesitated before answering.
“…I’m a healer.”
The light shifted again before speaking.
“Is that so..? I've seen many healers in my time, and yet I've never met one quite like you."
Rice Flour Cookie paused, holding her bruised arm to her chest.
“I- I don't understand, what are you trying to tell me?”
“…with every cookie you heal, a new ailment appears on your body.” The voice’s tone sharpened. “Your dough can't withstand the suffering of cookie-kind much longer. Soon you too will perish. What will happen when you've crumbed under the weight of your obsession? Who will save those poor, helpless fools then?”
A scoff left Rice Flour's lips before scorning the light in turn.
“How cruel! If it wasn't for me, countless cookies would die! I would give my life for them ten times over if it meant others had the chance to live.”
“…Give life? What life would be left to give? Would you insist on healing them from the afterlife? Perhaps your ghastly spirit will guide the crumbled in their final moments.”
Rice Flour felt her face flush. “Are you mocking me?”
“Perhaps I am. It's rather funny to think that you are the sole bridge between life and death when you can't even heal your own injuries.”
There was a pause.
“I do not say these things to discourage you. I find your resolve to be admirable, if not inspiring. But you have spread yourself too thin to make any real impact. I beseech you, Rice Flour Cookie, there is another way to achieve your goal of healing cookie-kind, one that will not reduce you to ash and dust. Let me help you.”
The light glistened before consuming the void whole, surrounding Rice Flour Cookie in a warm yellow glow. A gem appeared before it unraveled in front of her eyes. She watched in awe as ribbons danced around her body, healing her wounds and restoring her dough. The light returned, now revealing itself to be the Light of Prudence, and led Rice Flour Cookie to meditate once more, now with a renewed sense of clarity.
When Rice Flour Cookie reawakened, she found herself lying in a makeshift bed. She held her head before feeling a gem resting on her forehead, recognizing it as the Light of Prudence made manifest. One of her followers noticed the young saintess, and quickly alerted the others of her awakening. The cookie told her she had been unconscious for weeks, with most cookies assuming she died and left the pilgrimage in grief. Only a few stragglers stayed behind to take care of her after she was found. Rice Flour looked at the small group before getting up and bowing to them. For their kindness and patience, she swore on her new soul jam that she would repay them in any way she could.
After the Pilgrimage
Rice Flour Cookie would spend some time in the abandoned village before deciding to make it her new stronghold. With assistance from her soul jam, she would terraform the land to be able to support her temple. Word began to spread of a mysterious kingdom in the middle of the Icing Ridge, and people began to seek the saintess out once more. With a new outlook on life, she set out to help the cookies of Earthbread once more…
