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"Almond...? You okay?"

It's been a whole hour since the other Cookies left, and Almond was still in the bathroom.

Over time, Roguefort had managed to calm himself down. He was still shocked at the fact that his sister was a murderer and he was unknowingly born into a family of criminals, but he'd managed to compose himself, just as he did when he lost his sister.

Well, he didn't really lose her, but at the same time, he did.

The once caring, kind and sweet sister of his was transformed into a brutal, cold, and violent weapon in the span of a few days.

Thinking about how he felt during the time he first saw his changed sister, he turned the bathroom door open to find Almond sitting on the floor, hanging his head in...shame?

"Almond, just come out, they've left."

"I've become a burden, haven't I? You guys were supposed to have free time, and yet you spent all the time comforting me."

"What? You were never a burden, that's what friends do. Support each other in times of need."

"It's just...why? Why would the murderer of my own father be the sister of my only friend? Why can't I just live a normal life like the ones mentioned in those stories?"

Those words slightly shook Roguefort, also feeling sorry for his only friend, but he composed himself.

"I figured a normal life was never a choice when we were born into our families."

"But still! Why is life so unfair? Why can't we just be normal Cookies?"

Almond Cookie was breaking down, right in front of him, and Roguefort could only try to comfort him with words - he'd never felt so guilty before for something he didn't even do.

"Almond..."

"This is our fate, right? To be born into opposing families? Not to mention you're my only friend!"

"What's done is done, Almond...you can't change the past. However, you can change the future."

Once he stopped talking, he realised he'd echoed his mother's words from the dining table a long time ago, when a young Roguefort asked why his mother couldn't move.

Little did the young Roguefort Cookie know his mother's words were to persuade his sister to eventually take revenge in a violent way, a hint dropped long ago, forgotten in the presence of time.

But he was saying this to comfort a friend, a Cookie who's just lost a father, a brother with an incomplete family that could never be complete again.

How different can the same few words mean?

"Almond, you do know that this might be our last few days together, right?"

"But we've just met..."

"I know, but once we step foot back in the outside world, our parents would never let us see each other again. Especially your mother, she'd hate my sis- I mean Mozzarella, and they'd probably break out into a fight once they see each other."

"You're still mourning for your father, I know, but I don't want you to be so depressed during the only time you get to be out of your house."

"So, let's spend these few days happily, okay? Just - enjoy all of it."

Almond looked at Roguefort, the rivers of tears on his face slowly drying.

"Alright."

Almond had a small smile on his face, and Roguefort smiled in return.

For once, he felt accomplished and useful. Roguefort held his hand out to lift Almond up, and the two returned to the main room, Roguefort diverting the attention to other lighthearted things

In ten minutes, the two Cookies were sitting on Prophet's bed, laughter filling the Blackberry dorm, with the two Cookies giggling thanks to a bad joke Roguefort made.

"You seriously had to make that joke? What an egg-cellent pun!"

"Why is that so funny- hey, I see what you did there!"

Time seemed to fly by like an arrow as the two Cookies chatted about simple things, like how Almond once believed that his dad was a superhero, or how Roguefort once pretended to be a detective when he lost his favourite plush (turned out that it was Mozza, a true thief from birth, who took it).

The sun from outside slowly sank without the two Cookies knowing, birds coming from the nearby trees only to be scared away by the sound of laughter.

Some time later, the other Cookies burst into the room without warning to find Almond asleep, his head resting on Roguefort's shoulder.

"Gee, that advantage really helped us since we're missing two members." Salt managed to pant between uneven breaths.

The four Cookies that came in looked extremely tired, but Prophet Cookie still managed to drag himself to his bed, almost immediately collapsing.

"Woah, what kind of challenges did you guys even do? You all look like you just escaped from the oven." Roguefort stated, glancing at the Cookies and occasionally Almond, who was still asleep, unaware of what was happening.

"Well, we actually did. It was a physical challenge, and we basically had to run from the male instructor who was basically the Witch, and we had to reach the goal, jumping and sliding to dodge obstacles coming our way, and not get caught."

"Basically, we relayed to reach the goal first, but Prophet and I had to run again thanks to you two not being present, but we didn't end up last thanks to Prophet's speed." Pilot Cookie explained, "Anyways, Almond seems to be fine now."

"Guys? We only have 20 minutes before we have to attempt to cook again, and we're handling Jelly Frogs. Should we ask the instructors to teach us a bit first?" Buttercream Choco spoke up.

The others all agreed, dragging their tired Cookie bodies to the cafeteria. Almond, miraculously, was still asleep.

"Wake up, Almond."

"Huh?"

Almond sat up, rubbing his eyes to find that the Cookies were all gone.

"They've gone to have a cooking lesson. Let's go."

Almond just stared at Roguefort, rubbing his eyes in confusion.

"You wouldn't want to undercook those Jelly Frogs, would you?"

~~

"You have 5 minutes left!"

The Cookies were at their team's stations once again, in an attempt to cook. Unlike their first attempt in the afternoon, the Blackberry team was doing quite well. This time, Almond had been tasked to cut up some jellies (correctly) to put on the side, Salt was handling the fish since he was experienced, Roguefort and Pilot were dealing with the Jelly Frogs, Prophet was making a sauce to go with the Frogs and Buttercream Choco was, uh...

"Hey, do something! You're not helping at all." Prophet shouted to Buttercream Choco, who was sitting on a nearby stool.

"What, I did my share! I shredded up those jellies for the sauce!"

"Go help somebody else then! Almond's vegetable jellies aren't going to chop themselves."

"Fine..."

Buttercream Choco dragged himself towards Almond, who was quickly slicing the carrot jellies using the technique that Cream Cookie taught him in the afternoon.

"Need some help?"

"Sure, help me with the eggplant jellies. Thanks."

Meanwhile, the Cranberry team, contrasting to their performance in the afternoon, were struggling with complex machines provided to them.

Specifically, Blueberry Pie Cookie didn't how to use the blender, and she ended up wasting a lot of jellies that flew around due to her not putting the lid on, making a huge mess in the kitchen and staining her librarian robes.

"Buttercream Choco, hold on a second, I gotta go help her out."

Hearing this, Buttercream Choco was about to protest, but Almond had already darted away after finishing his last tomato jelly. Sighing, he continued chopping the eggplant jellies.

Almond arrived at Blueberry Pie's side.

"Why are you here? Aren't you the Cookie from the woods?"

"Helping you out. Our team does owe you a favour since Cream Cookie helped us chop the jellies last round."

"You do not need to help me," Blueberry Pie protested while lifting up her glasses, "I can figure this out on my own-"

"So, you're making a sauce, right? Or are you making a smoothie?"

It was too late for her to protest, as Almond had already started flipping through the manual, finding the instructions. Blueberry Pie silently smiled before replying, "Apple Jelly Smoothie."

"Oh, so the ones from before? You have to twist this to 2, and this to 4."

Almond taught Blueberry Pie the basics on using the blender and answered all her questions to which Blueberry Pie returned with a grateful smile. He also taught her why her previous mixtures were wrong in simple answers.

"So, that was where I went wrong? It was still too thick. I see."

"There, that should do it."

"One minute left, Cookies!" The instructor shouted through a speaker.

"You'd better make those quick, I've got to go back. Bye!"

Almond ran back to find the vegetable jellies chopped...but not on the plate?

"Guys, get these jellies! We have to get them on the plate!!"

Roguefort soon came with a bowl, sweeping all the sliced jellies into it.

The two Cookie dashed towards the plates with the other food and carefully put the vegetable jellies on the side.

As soon as they finished, the instructor shouted, "Time's up, Cookies!"

The members of the Blackberry team dropped their cooking utensils, and, finally satisfied with their meal, huddled together in a group hug.

~~

"Wow, that was one of the best meals I've had."

Despite the fact that their performance in the afternoon wasn't that great, the Blackberry Team still managed to whip up a delicious meal using what they had. Blueberry Pie from the Cranberry team gave a small cup of Apple Smoothie to thank Almond for his help, and Roguefort gave Cream Cookie some vegetable jellies as well. The Jelly Frogs were evenly shared by the members (obviously Almond and Roguefort got a bit more since they caught the Frogs), and the fish caught was appetizing as well.

The group had just finished their meals and were back at the dorms, ready to sleep.

"Hey, I'm going to bed first," Roguefort emphasized as he climbed up the ladder to his bunk bed, "Good night, everyone."

"Good night!" Almond said as he continued re-arranging his stuff.

Roguefort closed his eyes...and couldn't sleep.

He thought about all that happened today, how he found out he was born in a family of criminals thanks to their rival family's member dying, who just so happened to be his only friend's father, and his friend was the descendant of the family he was supposed to hate.

That was a lot to register.

Even so, Roguefort continued thinking. So, thanks to the sudden news that dropped, his one friend, Almond, broke down completely, making them miss out on the most intensive challenge they've ever faced, and they were supposed to have an advantage.

Wait, what was the advantage? Roguefort and Almond didn't get to know since they skipped the challenge.

When Roguefort's thoughts recalled the part where he had to comfort Almond, the image of Almond on the bathroom floor bawling his eyes out couldn't leave his mind.

Almond, crawling into bed, had a tear roll down his cheeks.

And that night, as sleep slowly overtook the two Cookies, Roguefort swore to himself that he would never kill anyone in his life, no matter the circumstances.

~~

[Originally published April 12, 2020]

And that's chapter 6~!

Roguefort is great in consoling people.

Anyways, as from the story, they might not spend a lot of time together anymore...

BUT HEY, that's the whole point of the story: to see if they will continue meeting up.

Anyways, drop a vote if you want to, see you next chapter, and...

Here's a short preview of the next chapter, which I will be doing from now on!


Next chapter:

"I guess time doesn't wait for souls like us." he murmured to himself before dashing off to join the others at the cafeteria.

~~

"Your objective is just to have fun," the female instructor continued with a smile, "you don't have much time left, so you can do anything! Just don't go out too far, your wristbands will remind you."

~~

The male instructor, holding the ball high above the two Cookies, blows the whistle, the sharp sound running across the court. He throws the basketball high in the air...

And the game begins.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net