#floof writes

The ancient heroes fought countless battles in the years leading up to and during the Dark Flour War. Some were victorious while others were losses, but those wins often outnumbered the losses.

However, there was one battle the group faced before they became kings and queens. A battle that was too much even for them, one that they swore not to tell another living soul about, not even their close ones. For it was far too humiliating to bring up again, all because of one last quest that they couldn’t complete.

-[…]-

Golden Cheese Cookie yawned as she lazily hovered after the rest of her friends with her wings. Her eyes were barely open as she struggled not to fall asleep again. 

“Keep up, Golden Cheese Cookie! We don’t want you to fall behind,” Dark Cacao stated. 

“Can you truly blame me?! It’s the crack of dawn, you forced me out of bed, and I’m tired! Can’t a future queen have her proper beauty rest?!” 

“I’m afraid not, Golden Cheese, not when there’s possible danger afoot for the other cookies here,” Pure Vanilla answered as he and White Lily led the way. 

“Besides, think of it as training! You’re going to have to wake up even earlier than this to keep your kingdom in line!” Hollyberry chimed in, nudging her friend’s arm. “It keeps the jam pumping!” 

The future royal groaned even more.

It was currently 5 in the morning as they traveled into the woodlands. They had received a report from the locals near it that something was terrorizing them in the forest; their only request was to find out what it was and to defeat it. 

Which was why Pure Vanilla and White Lily Cookie led the expedition. They had a vast amount of knowledge about wildlife, so they could identify the unknown beast. Fortunately to unfortunately for the others, they wouldn’t stop talking about what it could be when they set foot on their quest. 

“Do you think it could be a Cake Wolf? They tend to bluff whenever they have a pack to feed,” Pure Vanilla asked. 

“Hm, I don’t think so. One of the villagers said that the farmers were lifted, so maybe a cookievorous plant?” the mage responded. 

“No no, it would have left cookie crumbs if that was the case. Perhaps—“

“Shouldn’t we be at the farm by now? My wings are starting to ache,” Golden Cheese complained again, hoping to steer the conversation elsewhere.

“You are one impatient cookie, aren’t you? But you’re right; when will we get there?” Hollyberry pondered.

“The sun is about to rise upon us. Are you two sure we’re going in the right direction?” Dark Cacao added. 

“I assure you, friends, we are getting close. The village’s forest helps their crops grow. The deeper the farm is in the forest, the better food they produce.” Pure Vanilla explained. 

“That’s…rather strange behavior coming from a forest. How could such a hostile environment help crops grow?” Dark Cacao stopped his pondering as his friends halted in their steps. 

He looked up to see the farm, trees, and bushes full of berries and fruit ripe for the picking, surrounded by the darker and taller fields of wild trees. The only space not covered in the trees’ shade was in the middle of the opening. 

But there was something missing… 

“Where’s the monster? I thought it was supposed to be one here!” Golden Cheese shouted perplexed, quickly flying around the small orchard to try and find at least one creature before returning to her friends irritated. “There’s nothing!”

“Have the villagers tricked us just for a laugh?” Dark Cacao Cookie questioned in an annoyed tone. 

“Perhaps we aren’t looking hard enough. I doubt they’d do such a thing,” Hollyberry reassured the two. “We should try to keep looking for it. I’m sure it’ll show its ugly face once we do.” 

So the group searched every nook and cranny around the farm, from the trees to the tiny baskets. It wasn’t until the mage noticed something off with one of the trees. 

“Pure Vanilla, come look!” 

“What is it, White Lilly?” 

The cookie pointed at the dark purple bark, where there was a nearly camouflaged vine wrapped around it. Had it been a bit darker, it would’ve completely blended in. The plant was rather flat for a vine; the end of it curled almost into a witch’s hand. It almost looked like… 

“Impossible. I thought only the academy had these,” Pure Vanilla muttered, almost in disbelief.

“W-well, it could be another species that’s mimicking it. You know how plants try to copy others,” the mage tried to reason. 

Then it twitched.

Oh, it was definitely the same plant. 

“White Lily! Have you two found anything yet?” the winged cookie shouted, making the two flinch from the volume of her voice. “We’ve searched everywhere on our side, but all we found were measly vines—Hmph?!” 

Golden Cheese couldn’t complete her sentence before the mage hastily placed her hand over her mouth, earning her a confused glare in the process. 

“W-white Lily, what is the meaning of this!?” 

“Keep your voices down, or they might hear you,” the healer whispered harshly. 

“‘They?’” Dark Cacao repeated. 

“Yes, ‘they’! It wasn’t a beast that was terrorizing the villagers; it was a plant!” Pure Vanilla added. “The infamous Laffy Taffy.”

“A plant that grabs cookies and won’t let go until they’re bored,” White Lily explained. “Our old academy used to have these to act as security when students tried to sneak off to areas they weren’t supposed to go. It uses echolocation to locate cookies, so it’s best to talk no more than a whisper!” 

The two cookies only nodded in understanding, seeing how White Lily and Pure Vanilla being so tense around these plants must mean that it was serious. Though it should be an easy task to get rid of them, as long as they keep quiet while uprooting them, they can get it done in no time. 

“Wait, where’s Hollyberry?”

That question was answered when the four heard a loud creak. They quickly turned to see the cookie up on a ladder, peeking into the tree’s leaves, unaware of the noise she was currently making.

“Ha! Gotcha!” Hollyberry grinned as she turned towards her friends with a wide smile. In her hand was a small marshmallow mouse, which looked surprised and frightened as it tried to scramble out of the cookie’s gentle yet firm grip.

“This is probably the little rascal that was frightening the farmers! It probably has a family somewhere to help it steal all these berries!” she added as she stepped down the ladder, the old wood making loud creaks and groans. 

“Ack! Hollyberry cookie! Keep it down! You’re going to alert them!” Dark Cacao hissed. 

“Alert who, dear friend?”

But before she could get an answer, the candied mouse slipped right out of her grasp and tried to climb back into the tree using her arms. 

“Hey! Get back here, you pesky thing!” the jolly cookie exclaimed as she tried to catch it again. The chase didn’t last long until the ladder started to tip from the rapid movement and flailing. 

“Woah!” 

“Hollyberry!” the four whisper-shouted as they watched their friend fall. 

Luckily, the cookie was quick as she repositioned herself to land on her feet, the ladder creaking as she caught it and pushed it back against the tree, earning a collective sigh of relief from her friends. 

“Now, who exactly was I attracting?” 

“Laffy Taffies.” 

“Laffy Taffies?!” Hollyberry whisper-shouted in a panic. “We’re lucky that they didn’t react to the noise I made earlier! Otherwise, we would’ve gotten snatched up by now! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!”

Before any of the young heroes could speak, their eyes glanced up before widening in horror to the candied mouse near a basket. Seeing that the cookies had their gaze at it again, the tiny creature sped off in fear, toppling the object over and causing it to crash onto the ground, with a loud crack piercing into the air. 

All was silent as the five cookies stood there motionless, fearing that if they move even an inch something would happen. Except…the vines still didn’t moved. 

“Huh…I guess they’re not as active as they were befoRAAAHH?!!!” White Lily didn’t have enough time to finish her thought before she was lifted up by the ankle by the hand like vine, the shock causing her to drop her staff in the process 

“White Lily Cookie!” Pure Vanilla shouted. However, the four cookies' worries soon shifted as more and more vines started to come to life and move in their direction.

They gathered together, weapons in hand, while the vines raised themselves up ready to strike. 

“Take down as many as you can! I’ll set White Lily Cookie free while you handle the Laffy Taffies,” Pure Vanilla instructed. “Don’t let them catch you!”

The rest of the group nodded as the vines lunged at them at breakneck speeds; however, the warriors were quicker as they countered the attacks. Hollyberry blocked the vines while Dark Cacao and Golden Cheese pierced and sliced through a few, earning pained squeals from the creatures. 

Pure Vanilla, meanwhile, was having a difficult time getting White Lily out of the vines' grasp. Not even magic could get it to let go; just what were those things eating?!

“Come on you stubborn plant! Let…go!” The healer strained as he pulled harder 

“Pure Vanilla, you and I both know they won’t let go any time soon!” White Lily attested “Ah! Look out!” 

Pure Vanilla couldn’t turn around in time before being blindsided by two vines. They lifted him up to his friend’s level, binding one of his arms onto his side. He grunted from the impact before turning his head towards his other friends. Unfortunately, they weren’t doing so well themselves.

At first the smaller and thinner vines were easier to take down, however, the bigger ones proved to be quite a challenge.

Dark Cacao was the first to go when he tried to strike one of the stronger Laffy Taffy vines. The force of the sword ended up bouncing right off the plant skin and out of the cookie’s hands, before he could try to get his sword back, it grabbed both his hands and yanked him away. 

Hollyberry was next with her trying to raise her shield to strike once more until one vine wrapped around it, she tried to pull away only for another vine to grab her other hand before lifting her away. 

Golden Cheese was their last defense. However, as she was flying higher into the air in an attempt to gain distance for her spear, the vines were quick to snatch her by the waist, causing her to squawk out of surprise. With the last cookie caught, the plant brought her down to join the others. 

The five cookies struggled in their new found bonds but to no avail. It didn’t hurt them however, rather it was holding them in a firm yet gentle grip.

“I-I can’t move!” Dark Cacao grunted while he tugged and kicked 

“Release us at once you pesky weeds!” Golden Cheese demanded, trying to free herself. 

While she was however, she noticed that Pure Vanilla and Hollyberry’s expression was one of…fear? Were the plants that dangerous? 

“Hollyberry? Pure Vanilla? What are these things going to do to us?” Golden Cheese frantically asked now a bit intimidated “Hollyberry? Answer m-EHEhehehe?!” 

The winged cookie got her answer when the vines started to lightly scritch and poke  her sides, as if testing how sensitive her dough is. Pleased with her reaction, the vines holding her repositioned itself so the other could have better access, now lightly scribbling the area. 

“Eehehehehehahaha! Nohohoho stohohop! Stohop that at once!” She giggled out “Ahahahahahaa!”

Not long after, the other vines followed along with the other four all at once. Their hand like ends skittering around every tickle spot they can reach.

Hollyberry was the first to break out of the four. Giving out instantly as soon as the vines danced their hand like ends across her sides. The Laffy Taffies decided to take a more silly approach by twisting up and around like a playful gummy snake.

“Gahahahaha! Hahahahaha!!” Hollyberry cackled as the vines continued their onslaught, pinching her tummy every once in a while to get a snort out of the future queen “S-stohohop t-tihihickling mehehee!!”

Pure vanilla and White Lily Cookie weren’t doing so well either as the plants targeted their paws, the devilish “claws” scratching under the toe pads while the others went after their necks. 

“EEK!! Ahahahahahaha!! Nohohoho you cheeky thihings! Nohot thehehere!!” White Lily squeaked out as she tried to wiggle out of their grip

“Hahahaha! ohoho gohohosh!!” The healer tittered out, scrunching up his neck to try and protect it from the wiggling tendrils

Dark Cacao Cookie was next as he pursed his lips while the Laffy Taffies scampered across where his ribs would be, laughter bubbling up his chest like a soda bottle threatening to burst.

He was always serious and fully composed, nothing could make him surrender nor retreat. But even he had to admit: the relentless touching was getting increasingly hard to ignore.

“Let go of me, y-you fiends!” His words started to stutter, revealing sucked in air to keep himself in line.

Thankfully due to his training he was able to resist the skittering fingers digging into his underarms, despite it being a particularly bad spot of his.

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last for long thanks to the vines deciding to move upward and slip inside his armor, making the tickly sensation worse. Soon enough the warrior of snowy planes was reduced to a gigglefest while the vines enjoyed the cookie’s laughter 

“Gnh-! Pfft—Hahahahahaha!!” Dark Cacao finally giggled, bucking away from the touch “Th-thihis is humiliating!! Hahahaha!” 

“Puhure Vanilla cohohookie! Hahohow do we stohop them?! Hehehehe!!” Golden Cheese giggled out 

“I dohon’t know! We-hehehe! We just hahave to let it run its course! Hahahahaha! W-wait! Nohot thehehere!” 

Just like White Lily had explained earlier, the Laffy Taffies started to get bored at just the spots they were tickling. The plants started to reposition the heroes to experiment on new spot, each one they discover leaving the group in even more stitches than before. 

As the Laffy Taffies were having their fun, Hollyberry was suddenly turned upside down by them. Through her teary eyes, she saw her shield was right in front of her just in arm’s reach. Not hesitating for a moment, she wiggled one of her pinned arms free and reached out for her weapon, her fingers just grazing the rim of it. 

‘Almost…got it!’ 

Just as she was about to grab for the shield, the Laffy Taffies hoisted herself and the others into the air, earning startled yelps and a squawk. It wasn’t long before they were caught into the grasps of the plants again, but this time swapped. 

“Ahahahahahaha! Nohot again!” White Lily giggled trying to swat away the Laffy Taffies 

“Hahahahaha! I had-hehehehaha! Just about it with these weheheeds!” Golden Cheese glared through mirthful eyes while she flapped her wings helplessly, trying to at least get wiggle room to escape

Unfortunately, the Laffy Taffies took notice in her wings as one of the vines grasped onto one.

Golden Cheese let out a small gasp, catching the attention of the vines tickling her. She nervously turned to see the curious culprit grazing its “fingers” against her feathers. “Hey, w-wait a moment now!”

The plant ignored her as it slowly started to trace the triangle like patterns on her wings, the snickers threatening to spill out as the vine walked their “fingers” closer and closer to the root of her wings, leaving a slowly increasing trail of giggles in its wake, before they suddenly stopped. Letting the cheese flavoured cookie breathe.

“Th-they stopped? Oh thank CheEEHEHEHEHEHEE?!!” All of a sudden, the hand-like vines pounced right on the middle of her underwings, earning full on guffaws  from Golden Cheese Cookie. She threw her head back as she trashed and struggled against her restraints.

“GAHAHAHAHAHA! HEHEHAHAHAHAAA! NO NO NO NOHOHO!! STAHAHAP!!”

Her wings fluttered quickly in need of stopping the overwhelming sensation received by them, managing to push some vines away.

However it didn’t last as the Laffy Taffies took on a different approach. Deciding to wrap themselves around her in a tangled mess to keep her wings from moving as much. 

“H-hohold ohohon! P-plehehease!” Golden Cheese Cookie begged as soon as she noticed the hands getting back to position.

Her smile was over the roof, her fangs shined through her crooked smile. Her pupils dilated at the sight of wiggles in front of her face, clearly trying to fluster her.

Yet, despite it all, she had no choice but to let the cackles and squawks fly out of her mouth once more, as the descending hands went all out on her poor, delicate and undoubtedly beautiful wings. Reaching every crook and nanny now that they didn’t have to worry about the wings flapping uncontrollably.

“KAHAHAHAHA! *Squawk!* HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! H-HEHELP! *Chirp!* PLEHEHEHAHAAA!!!!” 

“Uh oh..looks like they found her tickle spot. It wont be long before they fin-EHAHAHAHAHA?!” Hollyberry didn’t have enough time to mutter out that last thought before the Laffy Taffies crawled up to her ribs

“EEEEHEHEHEHE!! N-NOT THEHEHERE! A-ANYWHERE BUT THERE! HAHAHAHAAHAA!!” Hollyberry howled as she tried to bring her arms back down again to block the tickles to no avail 

Unfortunately, it seemed that the plants were beginning to show favor out of the group towards Hollyberry Cookie. Her laughter was too addictive for them to resist, making many of them move on from the other cookies, not completely abandoning them, but adding another hand or two with tickling the young queen.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!! OH NOHOHOO!! PLEHEHEASE NOT MEHEHEE!! GEHEHE-GET GOHOLDEN CHEEHEHESE COHOHOOKIE!! EEEHAHA!!” 

“HAHAHAHA *Chirp!* HOW DAHARE YOHOHOU!!”

Pure Vanilla Cookie watched on as his friends were reduced to crumbs of laughter. His nervousness could be noticed from a mile away, all thanks to one small detail. 

Despite being nowhere near as ticklish as Hollyberry Cookie, he was just as, if not more, sensitive as her. And to top it all off, every inch of him was just as ticklish as the rest, he was literally a walking tickle spot. 

“Friends… C-can we talk this out? I am c-certain we can resolve thiHIHIHIHSS!!!!” 

Unfortunately for PV, the Laffy Taffies did not do talking, they did actions, actions involving soft, repeated squeezes on his legs, spidering hands under his robes on his sides as it counted his ribs meticulously. It was very satisfying to watch his face flush as his smile grew tenfold.

“EEHEHEHEHEHEE!! *hic!* NOHOHOO!! STAHAHAHAAP!!”

White Lily Cookie was next in line. The Laffy Taffies worked on her midsection, specifically on her tummy, resulting in a few muffled titters, but it was clear it wasn’t very effective. The stubborn plants decided to change things up. Without warning, they turned their attention to her back. They moved her cape out of the way, exposing her to further tickling. Dragging the hand shaped leaves from the top of her neck, all the way down to the seam of her emerald dress.

The reaction was instantaneous. A noise similar to howling echoed through the forest, making the nearby desserts think a cake hound was dying.

“AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAA! HEAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!” White Lily cookie howled as she flailed around aimlessly in an attempt to break free 

Dark Cacao wasn’t safe from the tickly encore either just as some smaller vines sneakily slithered up to his neck. The sudden touch caught the Cacao warrior off guard, earning the Laffy Taffies a muffled squeal of some sort.

Oh it was terrible, what was only a few tiny vines felt like thousands of sugar ants while the vines poked and prodded the sensitive dough. 

“Kngh—!! HAHAHAHAHAA!! STAHAHAP THIS AT OHOHONCE!!” Dark Cacao cackled as he struggled harder against the vines

The young kings and queens spewed everything out of their mouths from begging to insults and threats, anything to try and get the tickly vines to stop. Every time the Laffy Taffies would began to slow down, they thought the vines finally listened, only for the onslaught to start all over again.

The rest of the morning was only filled with a mixed melody of giggles, snorts and cackles, with the great heroes being used as the unfortunate, made-up instruments.

But the creatures knew that things must come to an end. Hearing only weak wheezes and giggles from the group, the Laffy Taffies stopped their onslaught and lowered the now limp cookies back onto the ground before slithering into the shadows once more. What felt like hours were only mere minutes as the group greedily gasped for air, a few giggles and hiccups escaping in the process.

“That-that was…” 

“Awful and humiliating? I know.” Golden Cheese huffed 

“Oh, don’t get your feathers ruffled, it wasn’t that bad.” Hollyberry chuckled out reaching out to pat her friend’s hair, to which the latter lightly smacked her hand away. 

“Hmph, says the jolly cookie that almost jumped out of her armor hearing their name.” The winged cookie snapped with a huff “And tried to lead the other vines to her already dying friend.”

“Hey! I was nervous! You barely had any laffy taffies on you, you would’ve been fine.”

“Excuse me-?!”

“That’s enough you two. The rest of us are trying to recover.” Dark Cacao butted in

“S-so..what should we tell the villagers? We can’t uproot the Laffy Taffies right now. That’s practically asking for more.” Pure Vanilla pointed out, the wobbly smile growing a bit more at the last fact

The others jolted at the thought as well, but how were they supposed to tell them about the Laffy Taffies? They can’t just say they got defeated by mere tickling plants, how was that going to look on their reputation as heroes?

“We could just…lie.” Dark Cacao suggested 

Yeah, lying was the best option at this point.  

-[…]-

“And you five couldn’t defeat the monster that was terrorizing our farm?” the villager asked with a skeptical tone 

“Unfortunately, the creature was far too powerful for us to beat.” The healer explained   

“We…had no choice but to flee before it crumbled us.” Dark Cacao added on

“What kind of heroes are you?! And you call yourselves future kings and queens, pathetic!” He grumbled 

The group could only take the cookie’s continuous stream of “criticism” before he were stopped by a much older cookie pulling him by the beard. 

“Oatmeal cookie the second you stop that right now!” She scorned “These moppets went out their way to try and help us, and you disrespect them like this?!” 

“Ow! But Mother—!” 

“Don’t you ‘Mother’ me! I’ll handle this, you and the others can start with the morning chores. Go on, git!” The older cookie yanked the other’s beard towards one of the houses, earning a grumble. 

“I’m sorry about my son and the monster in our farm.” The cookie apologized

Before the heroes could speak, she handed them a small coin bag “For your efforts.” 

“Thank you miss. We’ll try and find a more experienced warrior for your monster problems.” 

As the group walked away, White Lily waited for them to be a good distance away before staying behind to talk to the old chief. “The creature was a Laffy Taffy, if you want to get rid of it yourselves, try uprooting them as quietly as possible. They react to sound.” She advised quietly 

“Ah, so that’s what it was! Thank you for the advice dearie!”

“Happy to help! I must go now, my friends might be waiting for me!” 

The mage bid one last goodbye before hurrying on to catch up with her friends. But as she was, she heard the chief mutter something to one of the villagers.

“Well I haven’t seen any other pest since they came, plus they help keep the crops healthy. I think we should keep them!”

The mage nearly stopped in her tracks but decided to continue forward. She was honestly glad her friends were way ahead of her. 

Since then, the Ancients made an oath to never speak a word of this adventure. Of all the monsters and beasts they faced together, the Laffy Taffy was truly an unbeatable foe. And they’ll crumble before telling another soul about it.

fin :)

๋࣭ ⋆₊⁺⭑🌱⋆｡°🌿₊˚ ⁺₊⋆♡ ๋࣭ ⋆₊⁺⭑🌱⋆｡°🌿₊˚ ⁺₊⋆♡

A/N: Hello lovely people! It’s been a while since I made a fic since school, but now that I’m out for the summer, I get to relax a bit! This is my first CRK fic involving all the ancients when they were younger, they’re too adorable to not wreck!

Hope you all enjoyed! <3

The Spice Lands always lived up to its name. With the winds kicking up sand and debris from the seemingly endless desert, to the many civilizations that scatter the environment. There was never a time where the land was quiet. 

The same goes for in the Palace of The Herald of Change. 

In the Palace, many of his servants and himself were constantly busy recording civilizations to be placed in history; from the complex languages cookies would speak to the simple toys children played with, everything was recorded to keep their cultures and memories alive. 

Herald of Change sat in his scriptoria, one pair of his hands supporting his head as the other two folded in front of him as his tired eyes stared at the blank scroll on his desk. The Virtue had been working on recording another fallen kingdom that was reported by his loyal priests once again. He was having a hard time trying to come up with a start for said kingdom so it can be stored where the many other records of fallen kingdoms.  

The Virtue let out a huff of air as he sat up and away from the scroll. It wasn’t that he hated doing this, he loved to learn more about new and old civilizations. However, it does not mean it can’t be overwhelming and difficult at times. Perhaps if he looked back at this kingdom’s records, he could get an idea of how to start the scroll.

Herald’s thoughts were interrupted as his ears and antennae perked up from the sudden sound of a door creaking behind him. His eyes drooped from the surprise, assuming it was one of his servants coming to inform him of a new civilization either arising or falling once again.  

“Enter,” He grumbled out barely turning his head to acknowledge the visitor as he continued to study the scroll he had in his spare hand “What is it now? It better be important for you to come into my studies without permission or—“

“Mew!”

The sound of a kitten meowing caught Herald off guard as he turned around to see the visitor only to see Nutmeg at the door frame, waddling inside the room towards him with a toy mouse in her mouth. 

Herald internally sighed a bit of relief that it was only the Tiger-taur he had taken in not too long ago and not one of his priests.

The virtue smiled as he carefully scooped Nutmeg by the arms from the ground, her lower half dangling limply as she looked at him cheerfully.

“And what are you doing here my little Chili Powder? Aren’t you supposed to be with the caretakers?” Herald playfully scolded as he raised Nutmeg higher to the air, earning a couple of happy meows from her. 

“Mew! Mew!” 

Though it did concern him a bit since she was supposed to be with the caretakers at this time. No matter, he’ll inform them once he is done with his work. 

The little tiger cub suddenly took out the toy from her mouth before giving it to Herald. The Virtue huffed as he looked at her with slight sadness.

“I’m sorry Nutmeg, I know you want to play, but I have to finish my work first.” Herald  consoled as he lowered Nutmeg to the ground

“Mrrow?” The little Tiger-taur looked back at him sadly, confusion and slight gloom could be seen glistening in her red silted eyes.

Herald couldn’t stand seeing the little cub that way, he hated seeing her sad. And she seems to know it too, it was her silent way of pleading the virtue to give her attention and it works. Salt of Solidarity had always advised him not to always give into the cub’s gaze. 

“Alright, just one more scroll and I’ll play with you. Just sit tight okay Chili Powder?” Herald bargained before nudging Nutmeg away, causing her to give a small growl of frustration “You can still stay, but please don’t distract me. This scroll is really important.”

“Mrr…” 

And so she sat beside the Virtue of Change, waiting for him to be done with his work. 

-[…]-

This took longer than what Nutmeg wanted. 

What could’ve been one scroll ended up with the Virtue writing down multiple within a few hours, the hours that should have belonged to Nutmeg. She looked at Herald once more to see him burying his face in one of the scrolls. While his other two pairs of arms were busy trying to write everything down. 

The little tiger huffed, knowing her father, he’d keep at his work all afternoon if she allowed it. 

Nutmeg got up and stretched before making her way towards the desk with her toy in tow, luckily Herald not noticing the tiger was gone from her original position. 

With a few wiggles, she made her calculations and leaped onto the desk, startling Herald. He was quick to move all the ink jars and scrolls away from Nutmeg as he saw one of the ink jars tip from the sudden shake. 

“Mew!” Nutmeg held the toy up towards Herald again, her cry carrying a more demanding tone now

“Ugh, Chili Powder, now is not the time.” Herald wearingly slurred out as he used one of his pair of arms to pick Nutmeg off the desk and back onto the ground, much to the kit’s rising frustration. 

“Listen, I told you after I finished with this record, then we can play alright?” Herald continued while he nudged Nutmeg to be by herself once more “Go play by yourself for now.”   

To help distract her, Herald grabbed and rolled a piece of scrapped paper in a ball and tossed it to Nutmeg. The cub immediately tried to catch it only for the paper to bounce right off her head and roll away. 

Nutmeg quickly ran after the paper ball, finally leaving Herald. Hopefully it would keep her distracted long enough to let him finish his work. 

But knowing the little cub, this peace would not last.

Ten minutes barely passed by and Nutmeg was back at trying to get the Virtue’s attention once more. Whether that be hopping on the desk and knocking something over or meowing non stop, Herald’s patience was wearing thin, but he held on. 

Nutmeg stopped after being carried back down to the floor for the umpteenth time again. Nothing was working to get her father’s attention, not even her best puppy eye technique. At this point, she might as well sit by him and wait like he had suggested.

As Nutmeg was about to settle next to Herald, she took the time to place her paws on his side to use as a stretch post. Suddenly Herald jerked up from the sudden feeling as he looked down at Nutmeg once more, but now with a slightly nervous glance.

She paused before a wicked Cheshire-like grin overtook her features, the tip of her tail now wagging furiously as her once silted eyes dilated 

“Nutmeg Tiger, I know that face. Don’t you dare—gnh!” Herald didn’t have enough time to warn nutmeg before she began to knead at his side 

“Ehehehehehe! Stohohop that!” The Virtue tittered out, halting his work in fear of messing it up 

He tried to scoop the cub up and away from his sides, only for her to dodge and attack at another spot, erupting more giggles from Herald. 

“Ahahahahaha! Nutmeheheg!”

The Virtue tried to move away from the assaulting claws only for Nutmeg to take the opportunity to pounce onto him. Her weight wasn’t enough to fully tackle Herald, but with him laughing himself silly it made it easier to take down. 

The Virtue barely struggled with Nutmeg on top of him, not wanting to hurt the little cub as she scribbled her claws anywhere she could reach. 

“Mew! Mew!” Nutmeg cried playfully 

Herald tried to think of a way to get the cub to stop the playful attack. Then he remembered how Nutmeg wanted to play with him using the stuffed toy mouse she had been carrying the whole time. Perhaps if he offered it to her, she should stop.

He looked around only to find it within arm’s reach, he quickly used one of his lower pair of arms to grab it and show it to Nutmeg. Luckily, this caused her to pause the ticklish onslaught to stare at her beloved mouse.

“Ehehehe! Al-alright Nutmeg, you’ve made your point. You want to play, if you just let me up we can play to your heart’s content.

The offer was tempting, having Herald finally out of his scrolls and pay attention to her would be nice. But the little tiger found a new game to play with her Papa, and it was much more fun than just batting an old toy around. 

The sigh of relief he was holding was suddenly taken back when she quickly batted the toy mouse out of Herald’s hand and across the room. Before he could try and get Nutmeg off, she started to scitter her claws on his stomach.

“Pfft—! Ahahahaha! You—EEH! Yohohou little rahahascal! Hahahahaha!”

This little game went on for a while, with Herald barely doing anything to stop the little tiger in fear of hurting her and said cub taking advantage of it. Each new spot to tickle sent the Virtue in stitches, and others were said to be intimidated by him, weaklings!

However, she was starting to get a little bored. It wasn’t until she remembered seeing Lady Happiness do something to her Papa that sent him in hysterics while they were out made her dawn a new idea.

Without warning, she went for the kill, playfully nuzzling her fur against her father’s neck as his laughter went up an octave from the new found sensation. His voice boomed from his study room, his laughter probably echoing across the palace halls, startling the servants from their tasks, not that she cared anyway.

“GAHAHAHAHAHA! WAHAHAHAHA! NUTMEG TIGER! STAHAHAHAP!” Herald roared as he pound his fist against the floor, nearly cracking the surface with his strength. Finally, he was at his limit, with no other way to get Nutmeg off, he gave up

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!! ALRIGHT I GIHIHIVE! I SURRENDER!!” The Virtue relented, tears of mirth pricking from his eyes 

Sensing that her father had enough, she stopped her playful attack before nuzzling against Herald’s cheek, purring with content as she did so. Catching his breath, the virtue let out a weak chuckle before nuzzling back. 

The hug lasted for a while until Nutmeg tried to get up, only to find herself trapped in a firm yet gentle grasp. She looked up at Herald, only for her ears to nearly pin against her skull and her fur to puff up. 

Herald’s eyes glowed a fiery red, his golden teeth glinted in the light while he looked down at her, a hint of playfulness she knew all too well during her stay at the palace. 

“Oh ho, you really think you could get away with such an act of tyranny that easily? Well, I have something for silly little rascals like you!” 

Before she could try to get away, Nutmeg was quickly put into a cradle position before four wiggling hands descended upon any spot they could reach. The cub squealed while she squirmed and batted the playful hands. 

As a quick finisher, Herald lifted Nutmeg up to his face before playfully nibbling on the cub’s tummy. Nutmeg screamed from the new found sensation before weakly batting her father’s head.

“Om nom nom nom! What delicious jam this little one holds, I must have more!” Herald joshed as he continued 

“EEEHEHEHAHAHAHA! *Snort!* PAPAAHAHAHAHAHA!” Nutmeg snorted, tears of mirth streaming down her now red tinted cheeks 

However, it didn’t last long as he sensed that Nutmeg also had enough. Once he stopped, he looked at the now limp cub in his arms. 

“It seems like you’ve gotten the playtime you wanted.” Herald smirked, earning a tired but content sigh from the cub

Honestly he should be thanking her for getting him out of his scrolls by that playful little game. Though she possibly won’t understand till she’s older, it wouldn’t matter anyway.

Herald was pulled from his thoughts when Nutmeg yawned and stretched in his arms. he looked outside to notice the sun had been set with the moon taking its place in the star filled sky. 

“Oh, looks like it’s past someone’s bedtime.” Herald said in a soft tone before he too yawned “Or both of our bedtime.” 

He chuckled at his own joke only to notice that Nutmeg had already went fast asleep in her Papa’s arms, light snores coming out of her as her lower half’s legs kicked lightly every now and then.

The Virtue smiled softly at her also prepped to sleep by gathering spare pillows. 

Once everything was done, he didn’t hesitate to lay on the makeshift nest he made, with his body curled around Nutmeg as he finally closed his eyes. Perhaps things didn’t have to be so repetitive in the palace afterall. 

“Goodnight, my little Chili Powder.”

-[…]-

Burning Spice’s eyes flew open as his body jolted from sleep, his chest rising and falling at an alarming rate before he settled once more. He was back in the Spice Lands after the meeting with Dark Enchantress Cookie. 

He was in a tent Nutmeg had prepped before they went to rest. No Spice tribe welcomed them back however after the thief and her general caused an uprising, now they were on the run.

Ever since they came back to the Spice Lands, his soul jam had been resurfacing memories that he wished stayed hidden. He hated remembering what he used to be, his job was suffering enough. 

But something about seeing Nutmeg as a young kitten again made his heart ache. Seeing her grow made him secretly dread the moment she succumbed to the tide of change.

And if Burning Spice was being honest, he was a bit worried by watching his best general get pinned to the ground by Dark Enchantress’s power as she transformed. The moment he watched her writhe in pain, something screamed at him to do anything to get her out of that situation.

Then a question dawned on the Beast. 

If they were to help this cookie, would she still turn around and crumble Nutmeg?

He paused. The thought nearly horrified him as he looked at his sleeping general, the general he practically raised since she was a cub. 

Without hesitation, he gently scooped Nutmeg from her makeshift bed and placed her in his. This caused the tiger to stir from her sleep, looking at her Lord in confusion. 

“Great Destroyer? What are you—“ But the war general didn’t have time to spew out her question before a claw shushed her snout

“Go back to sleep. You need rest after that encounter.” Burning Spice gruffly informed as he settled beside her

“But you need protection from outsiders, traitors. What if they—“ 

“Then I will deal with it. Now go back to sleep, that’s an order.” Burning Spice’s tone shifted more sternly, to which the tiger reluctantly forced herself back down.

As Nutmeg finally drifted off to sleep again, Burning Spice couldn’t help but mentally shame himself. All this time he was preaching to the Golden Avian that everything would turn into nothing no matter how tight you hold onto it. The tide of change would swallow her treasures whole, yet he’s holding onto Nutmeg gently as if his life depended on it. 

For the first time in his many years after corruption, he was afraid of losing something precious to him. 

Whether Nutmeg lives or crumbles during this war wasn’t entirely up to him unfortunately. He could only pray that the tide of change would be merciful to Nutmeg even after he abandoned his duties of being a virtue. 

Fin

🔥ִֶָ. ..𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ🔥་༘࿐ 🔥ִֶָ. ..𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ🔥་༘࿐ 🔥ִֶָ. ..𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ

A/N: Thank you all for your patience, its been a long time since I’ve made another fic, but I’m proud of this one since I’m using a new keyboard that I got for Christmas to type it all out! I hope you enjoyed the effort I put into this as well :)

There was absolutely no reason for a small, fleshy human to approach a creature known for eating small, fleshy humans—especially when they had no way of knowing Papyrus had no interest in that.

Which meant there was only one possible explanation for the human child that sat across from Papyrus—they didn’t know he was a siren. This farce of a friendship was an accident waiting to happen, yet… Papyrus couldn’t bring himself to tell them the truth.

He was way too busy trying to convince Frisk to get a sense of self preservation. That was truly the most unnatural thing about this entire scenario. What happened to spikes and traps being pillars of youth?!

—

Mama always told Frisk not to mess with monsters. Any that would risk coming close to humans were, more likely than not, the ones that ate humans. And Papyrus was undeniably one such monster—wickedly sharp spines along his bones, claws that could slice through stone, and a hauntingly alluring voice despite its rasp…

He was a siren.

But when Frisk approached him and emerged very much not eaten and instead with their first real friend in years, they came to a solid conclusion.

————SEA GLASS————

“...SAY, HUMAN. WHY ARE YOU OUT HERE AGAIN?”

Papyrus didn’t want to ask. Didn’t want to chase the little human off when all he’d wanted in the first place was to see them again. But he’d rather they be safe, and being here was the furthest thing from safe they could get.

They blinked their eyes and… Oh, Papyrus supposed it was perhaps the warmth of the blanket that was lulling them to sleep. Fleshy creatures tended to like warm, dry things from what he knew of the monsters back Home.

They lifted their hands to sign in response.

“I like the water. The waves are pretty.”

They wouldn’t meet his gaze, and while Papyrus wasn’t nearly as talented at reading people as his brother, something about them was guilty. Papyrus sighed, and it was a quiet sound. He didn’t say “sigh” like he was wont to do, just let out a small whistle of air through his teeth.

“...I KNOW CHILDREN LIKE SPIKES AND TRAPS AND RISKY THINGS, AND DARING EXCURSIONS ARE THE PILLARS OF YOUTH, BUT! COMING OUT HERE WITHOUT SOMEONE WITH YOU IS PROBABLY NOT THE SAFEST THING…”

They blinked again.

“You’re with me.”

Papyrus looked away as a hot wave of guilt crashed through his chest. He curled up his phalanges in a sad attempt to hide their clawed edges.

They didn’t know that he was one of those “dangerous things,” or that he was what they should be staying away from. …And he didn’t want to tell them.