Chapter Text
The moonlight shone above the rebuilding Vanilla Kingdom, as a young boy walked down the halls to the room, he was currently sharing with his siblings.
Gingerbrave looked out the window, at the night sky, his thoughts still going back to the talk, he just had with his uncle. The talk about his mother. The boy sighed, putting his hand over his chest, as if feeling the familiar, soft tug inside that came from her.
White Lily.
He knew he was grieving. Grieving the person, who he only remembered very little of. From so long ago, he was just a baby. And yet, he still remembered. He remembered her scent, her voice, her soft hands cradling him as she sung to him and his siblings.
The things, only he remembered. Neither of his siblings did. To them, Mom was only Dark Enchantress... that twisted, evil version of her that wanted to destroy the world as they knew it and tried to kidnap them whenever she could.
They didn't even know the whisper well, despite they all traveled with it, when they first went out to get Vanilla Custard home...
Vanilla Cusard, the small boy, they found on outskirts of their Ginger Kingdom, that eventually turned out to be child of long disappeared hero, Pure Vanilla, and his trapped in time husband, Blueberry Milk. And also their cousin. Their youngest cousin.
It turns out that, through their father, the three of them had a rather big family. Four Aunts and four Uncles. And cousins. Many. MANY of them.
Their uncles Pure Vanilla and Blueberry Milk had Blueberry Crepe and Vanilla Custard together, as well as Blueberry Milk had two powder-adopted children, Grapevine and Crisp Apple (who also preferred their other names of Black Sapphire and Candy Apple).
Their uncle Dark Cacao and aunt Plain Flour only had one child, Dark Choco, all three of them were just outside the castle, in their camp with rest of the warriors.
Their aunt Golden Cheese and uncle Warming Spice had daughter Rich Cheese, best friend of their temporary guardian Chili, and her older brother, Capsaicin, the family sleeping just through the wall.
Their aunts Hollyberry and Sweet Sugar had Royalberry, Wildberry and Sugarberry, the family which Chili Pepper said needed a lot of therapy when they first passed through their kingdom.
And then, there were them. Gingerbrave, Strawberry and Wizard, re-baked triplet children of White Lily and Pure Salt. And they were the only ones, with mom who was now but a husk of her former self and didn't know, where their dad was.
Which left Gingerbrave, being the default oldest, looking after his two siblings, before they found the ruins of their kingdom and didn't meet Chili.
Don't get him wrong, he loved his life. He loved his siblings and friends and his aunts and uncles... and yet. He still wondered, how it would be, if their parents... were here?
He wiped away his tear.
"Mama... Papa..." He said softly. "I wonder, where you are..." He then held onto his chest again, the same tug seemed stronger. As if something was there, touching him and wrapping him in warmth. "I wish you were here. So we all could be together."
An impossible dream, he knew. Mom was gone and Dad was... wherever he was. But still, something he wished desperately for.
With another sigh, he walked back to his siblings (still asleep. Good). He slowly crawled in the middle of them, feeling Strawberry lean against him and Wizard grabbing onto his hand, he felt content. He finally fell asleep.
And yet, deep into the night, in different places, lights begun to glow, wrapping around carefully picked children, before disappearing...
Little did Gingerbrave know, the same power that separated him from his parents here, heard his wish from another world.
Last thing, they remembered, was going to sleep in the castle. And now, this morning? They were in some pretty place with lots of strange, yet pretty trees.
The boy sat up, rubbing his eyes. Where were they? He looked down, his siblings were close to him, sleeping soundly.
He grumbled softly, standing up. He'd let them sleep for now... whatever happened yesterday definitely wore them out enough for them to just fall asleep on the ground like that. And he felt awake enough, he'd take a look around.
He was humming a melody to himself, before he heard something. Voices. Who was it?
The boy walked from behind the tree and saw... two cookies. A boy and a girl, both just a bit older than himself, arguing over something.
The boy had red dough and black hair with red streaks, blue eyes sharp and staring at the girl. He was wearing a simple clothes, red shirt and black pants... but the most surprising thing was that he had a giant, cake hand.
The girl next to him was of dark green dough with even darker hair. Her eyes were of mute red color, her glare eating the boy as she screamed at him. She had a long, long black dress that covered her hands fully and her hair were tied up in two pigtails.
The first child looked at them in surprise. He never saw them before! Maybe it was his chance for new friends? He never missed a chance to make new friends!
"Hello!" He said, waving, getting attention from the other two kids. "What are you screaming about?"
Two kids looked at him in surprise, blinking. The boy then stood up straight.
"Gingerbrave?" He asked, frowning.
"Who?" The boy tilted his head.
"Um... you?" The girl repeated. "You are one of the three doughlings, Mom wanted you to get?"
The boy looked at them in confusion. "I am Ginger, but not Gingerbrave." He shook his head. "My name is Ginger Salt."
The older kids still looked at one another, confused once more. But then, the boy's eyes widened, seemingly realizing something.
"Ah! Ginger Salt, I see!" He nodded, smiling now. "Oh, looks like I mistook you for somebody else! Sorry for this."
The girl looked at him confused. "Red? What are you talking about? Mom was talking about Gingerbrave, and you-"
He quickly shushed her, as if to say 'I'll explain later'.
The youngest of three, hummed slightly, before walking to them. "Red?" He asked.
The oldest looked down, smiling lightly. "That's my name, Red Velvet." He introduced, before showing at the girl. "And this is Matcha, my sister." Matcha waved back.
Ginger Salt, in turn, just smiled back. "Hi, Red Velvet! Hi, Matcha!" He then turned to behind himself. "I also have a sister! And a brother! Their names are Elderflower Syrup and Daylily! We're triplets!"
Matcha looked at the kid in surprise, many thoughts running through her head. "I bet you drive your parents up the wall."
At this, Ginger Salt stopped. Then he looked at them in confusion. "Our what?"
The two older kids froze. Did they just hear it right? "Um... your parents?" Red Velvet repeated. "Your mom and dad? Adults, who care for you?"
Ginger Salt again stared at him, as if Red Velvet suddenly grew a second head. "We don't have them?"
Red Velvet frowned. No parents? Oven baked, perhaps? He hummed. This explains why, even as Gingerbrave, this kid ran into danger without a second thought. And it also explains why their mother wanted them.
"Well. I bet our Mom will help you." Red Velvet smiled, looking at his sister. "How about we get your siblings and go?"
Ginger Salt nodded, grabbing the other kids' hands and once again running off to where he last saw his siblings. He saw they were waking up now, as the three approached.
"Lily! Syrup!" He let go off the older kids and jumped onto his siblings, all three fell onto the ground in fit of giggles.
"Good morning you too, Ginger!" Elderflower Syrup giggled, hugging her brother, as Daylily rubbed his eye.
"Who are they?" The youngest triplet asked, seeing the two other kids behind them. "And... where are we?"
Ginger Salt stood straight and to his mew friends. "These are Red Velvet and Matcha, they're siblings, like us! I found them while looking around! They said their mom could help us!"
Eyes of two younger triplets widened. They remembered other nice cookies back at the castle, who were willing to help... but those were children, like them. There weren't many adults, who'd be willing to help them. Well, they guessed it also fitted, as Red Velvet and Matcha were just a year or two older.
The five children begun to walk down the forest trail, Matcha holding hands with Daylily, who chatted her ear off about... whatever he was talking about, she didn't understand the half of it. Meanwhile, Red Velvet held onto Elderflower Syrup and Ginger Salt, to prevent them from running off. From their brief encounters, he felt it would be a good idea to keep them near. Their mother would say that young children tended to have zero survival instincts.
As Ginger Salt was babbling about their adventures within the Castle, Red Velvet felt that Elderflower Syrup let go of his hand.
He looked around, suddenly feeling scared he lost the girl, he saw her again... and few tiny, spherical creatures with wings surrounding her.
The girl giggled, putting her hand out. "These are so weird." She said as one came close to her, nuzzling to her face. "But also really cute."
Red Velvet stared at her in surprise. Then he walked to her with a light smile. "It's first time I see Yeast Spores come so close to a cookie. Looks like they like you."
The triplets looked at him, confused. "Yeast Spores?" Daylily asked.
Red Velvet nodded. "They're the smallest particles that make up all of the baked creatures bodies." He explained, putting hand out to the winged spore, that went to him without hesitation.
"Smallest?" Ginger Salt asked. "But they're so big! Did we shrink?"
Matcha laughed at it, covering her mouth with her hand and sleeve. "No, Silly!" She exclaimed. "They're so big because we're in Beast-Yeast!"
"Beast-Yeast?" The triplets asked, all three in surprise and confusion.
"It's an island, north of the coldest area of Crispia." Red Velvet said. "Mom says it's a land of ancient powers and strangest creatures, that can't be found anywhere else in the world. Just like these little things." The spore bounced in his hand, before nuzzling him too. He giggled for a second.
More spores gathered around the five children, playing and nuzzling with triplets, who ran around with giggles, while Matcha and Red Velvet just settled with watching them or allowing them to rest near them.
But after of few minutes, there was rustle in the bushes, getting the kids' attention in that direction. Red Velvet stepped infront of the four younger children, hiding them behind him... when two adult cookies showed up.
One of white and very pale blue, carrying a bow in his hand, and other of black and silver knight armor with a sword. Both male, looking at the kids in surprise... and on their backs, there were big wings. Faeries, the word came into two older kids' mind.
"Doughlings?" The silver faerie asked, humming. "What are you doing here?"
The kids stood there, surprised.
"We... don't know?" Red Velvet shrugged. "My sister and I woke up here, before we found these three on our way."
"You woke up here?" The white faerie continued, more concerned. "Where are your parents?"
The doughlings just shrugged. "We don't know." Matcha admitted. "We don't know where our Mom is and these three said they don't have neither."
Before the silver faerie could speak, his friend put his hand on his shoulder.
"Silverbell?" The black faerie asked, confused.
"Mercurial Salt..." The blue faerie, Silverbell, whispered, before showing in direction of the kids. "Look..."
Another second passed, as Mercurial Salt looked at the kids, this time closer... and then he saw it. His eyes widened.
"Silverbell..." He said, barely above whisper, but filled with confusion and, somewhat, hope. "We need to get them to Mother and Fathers. Right now."