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It all happened so fast.
The point from where the attack came is unknown when you look through the vast amount of fire and destruction—the once Grand Hollyberry kingdom now sits ablaze with the crackling and crumbling of buildings that burn brightly.
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Everything was perfectly fine the day prior. There were no signs of any danger. Wildberry was with the Queen Mother as she went over a letter sent from Pure Vanilla. It talked about great beasts returning and seeking out the power of the soul jam. When questioned, Hollyberry brushed off the questions by claiming that no cookie would dare to try to fight her within the kingdom. Wildberry didn’t question anymore after that; he knew he wouldn’t get an answer from her.
Hollyberry had let Wildberry take the rest of the day off. The sun was already beginning to set as Wildberry walked through the halls of the palace. He admired how the halls were lit up by the golden lighting of sunset. He slowed his pace when he reached all the portraits. His eyes landed on one he held dear; a family portrait.
The painting was made in the last few years when Hollyberry returned after the attack of Pitaya Dragon on the kingdom. Hollyberry insisted that a new painting be made, an updated one to show how each cookie had aged. Something particularly special about this painting was that it included Wildberry. Hollyberry had insisted that he be added because he was “practically adopted” and “should be added”. It was never legalized but, yeah, he couldn’t deny that he viewed Hollyberry like a mother. She had found him years ago, years before she left, and had taken him in.
He continued his walk down the hall and into a room; the mailroom, to be exact. It overlooked the royal gardens which made it the most peaceful place to write. A nice quiet corner of the kingdom. Wildberry gently shut the door behind him. When he turned around he took a few strides to the desk that held a quill next to a small inkwell. He grabbed a blank piece of paper from the small stack on the desk and sat down to write.
He wrote to Crunchy Chip and others within the Dark Cacao kingdom to keep a steady communication between the two kingdoms. Hollyberry had suggested the idea to him and he has since kept up with bimonthly letters to the kingdom. He also sent a few to Black Raisin in the Pure Vanilla kingdom but he only got one response. Pure Vanilla had gone to beast yeast and left Black Raisin in charge of maintaining the kingdom, which is not an easy feat. This made it so Black Raisin hardly had the chance, or time, to write a proper letter back, so Wildberry hasn’t pushed for any more than what he’s got. Although he figured it was already a decent amount of time past the original departure. Pure Vanilla had already sent a letter to Hollyberry, maybe Black Raisin is just busy.
As Wildberry wrote his letter to Crunchy Chip he started to realize that the last one he sent never got a response back. He knew that King Dark Cacao had taken some warriors, including Crunchy Chip, to Beast Yeast recently so perhaps he just hasn’t had the chance to send a letter back since his return. In the letter, Wildberry simply wrote a few questions about Crunchy Chip’s journey and informed him of how things were holding up at the Grand Palace. He also included that they had lacked an encounter with the Beast trying to oppose Hollyberry. He finished up the letter he brought out an envelope to put it in. He put the letter inside it and began to slowly leave the room. He’ll ship it out tomorrow morning.
As he walked through the halls of the palace he stopped and looked at the portrait of the Queen Mother herself. It painted her with a smile that was almost a complete copy of the one she used in the face of uncertainty, almost. It just lacked the ever-glowing shine that seemed to emit from her in person, like a beacon of passion. There were several paintings of the royal family in the halls of the palace; Wildberry had become very familiar with them as the years passed. He had watched Princess grow up and he’s pretty sure she viewed him as an uncle of some sort. Royal Berry had been nothing but kind to him since Lady Hollyberry had brought him in, Jungle Berry too. As he began to walk again he stopped just a bit down the hallway and looked back up at the huge portrait of the royal family he admired earlier. He really liked this portrait, his hair was perfect in it.
Wildberry gave a small smirk at the portrait before continuing his walk down the hall. As he passed one of the huge windows his attention was drawn to the starry night that was outside the window, he took in the beauty of it for a while before continuing. It was a while before he ended up outside of his room.
Lady Hollyberry had given him one of the rooms of the palace to live in because he was not only the guard of her but she also wanted him to be within the palace so he could easily be there for any of the other members of the royal family. He opened the door to his room and entered it. He had been there earlier, just briefly to look over a few papers before heading to the mailroom. He put a hand on his nightstand and glanced up at a small framed picture that rested on it. It was a picture of the Queen Mother and him when he had been given the status of ‘bodyguard’. He had also been given his gauntlet and circlet. The memories that came with the picture were one of a kind.
Wildberry took off his armor and began to get ready for bed. He sat down at the edge of his bed as he looked back over a few letters. Around the fifth letter, he started to feel the weight of his eyelids. He halted the rest of his readings and laid down to sleep. As he began to drift off he felt a sort of calm that he rarely felt. It was comforting as he accepted that the kingdom would be fine.
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When he awoke it was like any other day. The sun had just begun to color the sky with light as he got ready to head out. He met up with Hollyberry at the palace’s kitchen after visiting the main office to have his letter sent. He ate breakfast with her before the rest of the royals came in. Royal Berry, Jungleberry, and Princess we’re going to visit the Pure Vanilla kingdom. Knight was going as a guard for them and they were going to use an airship to get there. Hollyberry was staying in the kingdom to be a figurehead for the people. Wildberry and Hollyberry still saw off the other members of the royal family before they headed down to the plaza.
It was there that things started to happen. A person had approached them and spoke of a weird appearance late in the night that had occurred on the western side of the plaza but much closer to the palace than it was to the docks. They set off to investigate what the civilian had explained but were separated when a crowd had formed. It was the plaza after all, crowds formed once the shops began to open. Wildberry moved closer to the palace to try to regroup with the Queen Mother because he knew it was a lost cause to try to find her in the crowds.
As he was heading back in the direction of the Palace an explosion erupted to his right. It was within the suburban area, Wildberry instantly was moving, checking if anyone needed aid. Smaller explosions erupted around the area while Wildberry helped people evacuate towards the docks. When more guards began to show up, he ran towards the Palace. He had yet to see Hollyberry and worry began to slowly chip away at his stoic exterior.
While running towards the palace an explosion happened right in front of him. The blast had thrown him into some rubble off to the side of the main path. He struggled to get his footing back while being heavily disoriented from the blast. He began to continue his original plan to get to the palace, now clutching his side from the blast. It had caused him to be a bit beaten up, but nothing fatal. He heard some people crying for help and ran over to help assist. There were some civilians trapped in a bit of rubble, nothing he couldn’t handle. As he was helping, a few guards came over to assist. He backed away so they could work. He didn’t need them commenting on the small wounds he had. After all, what if Hollyberry had worse wounds?
He decided to try to avoid any dense areas, they seemed to be what was getting targeted by whoever was attacking. So he took a detour through the palace gardens. As he was going through the area another explosion happened to his left, this one was much closer than the one that had previously disoriented him. This explosion sent him straight into the broken rubble of the walls of the garden and some collapsed statues.
Wildberry struggled to get up. Some rubble had fallen onto him which made it impossible for him to pull himself out. He glanced over himself and saw that the main issue was his right leg. It had been firmly trapped and wasn’t budging no matter what he tried; stuck about halfway under the rubble. After a moment of thinking he slowly raised his gauntlet-wielding fist. This was going to hurt.
With a few hard strikes to his leg, he was able to sever it off and drag himself backward out of the rubble. He clenched his mouth shut as pained tears quietly slipped down his face. He slowly pulled himself up to lean against whatever remained off the wall to breathe for a second. His wounds, now, were enough that he’d require immediate medical attention after everything subsided. He looked over and saw two broken pieces of a flagpole. They were about equal in length. Wildberry pulled himself over to them. He would need something to help him walk for a bit. Fumbling with them for a second, he eventually got the hang of using them as slightly ineffective crutches. All he needed to do was get into the palace and find someone.
He made it around the garden and into the backside of the Palace. This was an area for guards to live and train. Well it used to be, it was just as damaged as the suburban areas of the plaza. He was starting to sway and struggled to keep his footing with the crutches. He decided to try calling out to see if anyone would hear him and come to his aid. He knew he’d crumble if he didn’t find someone soon, he was losing jam at an alarming rate from his leg and left side. He held his arms a bit closer around him with the crutches in hand. Wildberry approached the center which held a statue within a round opening in the paths. Everything around was destroyed and ablaze as he trudged along.
“Hello! Is any-“ he began to cough as he lost his balance and fell to the ground. He tried to get his foot under him only to end up laying on the ground. In one last attempt to reach a safer area, he crawled over to the statue in the center. He struggled to prop himself up against the statue as waves of pain shot through him and soul-rattling coughs erupted through his body.
He yelled but only the crackles of flames greeted him. Several moments passed where he sat staring into the flames, his thoughts spiraling about his current situation. He tried to cry out once more but only ended up coughing. His face fell wet with tears he had begun to shed. As he looked around, he reflected on his life. What else was there to do as you were alone and dying?
He thought back to the day the Queen Mother had found him in an alleyway of the kingdom. He was in terrible shape and was quick to take violent actions; he had no trust in anyone. She was gentle and caring towards him, even as he struck at her. He wasn’t fighting for nothing, no, he was fighting for whatever leftovers she had in the bag she was carrying. She, of course, easily took him down but instead of retaliating to his strikes, she spoke calmly to him. She offered him a place to stay. She had promised to teach him to fight and to protect others. He hesitantly accepted. Later on, when he joined the training program, none of the other guards liked him since he had practically gotten a free pass into the life they had.
Wildberry remembered the day he was promoted to being the bodyguard of Hollyberry. It was around the time of his birthday and the Queen Mother had promised him a surprise gift that she insisted she couldn’t wait any longer to give him. She had covered his eyes and led him to the armory. When she had removed her hands from his eyes the first thing he saw was the set of armor that was tailored to his size. Then he noticed the gauntlet and circlet that was accompanied by a letter. He was frozen in shock as Hollyberry dragged him over to the gifts.
He had picked up the letter and read through it. It was an official certificate that officialized him as the personal bodyguard of the Queen Mother. Wildberry had looked between the certificate, the gifts, and Hollyberry. He denied the gifts and stepped back while saying he wasn’t worthy of them. Hollyberry had approached him while holding the circlet. She gently placed it on his head while saying that there was no one else who was more suited for the position than him.
Wildberry hadn’t realized he had begun to cry until Hollyberry used a hand to gently wipe at his face. Without thinking, he had stepped forward and hugged her. That was the first time he had hugged her and he wished he had hugged her more now that he reflected upon it.
Wildberry coughed hard and shuddered from the pain that shot through him. Nobody was coming for him as he bled out. He was softly sobbing as pain coursed through his body. He thought back to when he had been around the royals. They had practically become family to him and he was pretty sure that they had started to view him as such. Royal Berry had even called him brother quite a few times, but he never corrected him on it. As Wildberry reflected he thought back to a conversation he had with Royal Berry.
The two had been sitting in the garden one day. They were originally discussing Hollyberry and the topic of himself had come up. Royal Berry had said that she had practically adopted Wildberry, just without the certificate. At first, Wildberry denied it but Royal Berry only began to start listing off occurrences that had solidified his original statement. Wildberry only then realized just how much he had viewed Hollyberry as a mentor when she might have viewed him as a son.
As Wildberry lay at the base of the statue; he stared off into the chaos around him. He cried out for help a few more times before he began to wonder what others would think of his death. How would Princess react to the death of someone she liked to force to be a part of parties? How would Royal Berry react to the loss of the conversations in the garden? How would Hollyberry react to the loss of a son? How would Crunchy Chip react? How would anyone react?
He thought back again, to another memory. One he hated remembering but it held a memory he wouldn’t trade for anything. He had rarely cried, the only times he recalled crying were the day he was made the bodyguard of Hollyberry and her sudden disappearance. When Hollyberry had suddenly disappeared and left no trace, no reason, he had run around the palace. Frantically running with no idea what he was searching for, he collapsed in tears. He was out of breath and tired. The sobs wracked through his body as his thoughts spiraled out uncontrollably. Had he failed Her Majesty? Did she leave because of him? He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt the gentle hands of another pull him into an embrace. He clung to the figure as he sobbed.
While slowly calming down he backed away, looking up at the figure's face. It was Queen Jungleberry. She had always seemed similar to Wildberry, not just in her lack of expressions but also in her ability to set her focus and stick to it. She gently took his hands and told him that she understood the feelings he was experiencing. The guilt of being unable to prevent someone you care about from disappearing. He is very fond of the memory. It’s the whole reason why he stopped being so “on edge” around Jungleberry, he finally realized that she was very similar to himself.
As his arms began to droop he called out in various tones of disparity. “Please, someone! Anyone!” In a futile attempt, he began to call out the names of those he knew as his voice went hoarse from his sobs. Even if he knew they weren’t in the kingdom, maybe the wind would carry his voice to them. A completely and utterly unrealistic idea but he was in hysterics. “King Royal Berry! Queen Jungleberry! Someone! Can anyone hear me!” He tried to push himself up a bit more against the statue only to end up sliding down into an uncomfortable position on his left elbow. He continued to cry out but nothing changed.
He collapsed onto the floor while coughing. The amount of jam around him now painted his death in view. He slowly, and painfully, turn his head to look up at the sky. It was filled with smoke, to the point you couldn’t see the sun. As he stared up he turned his head to look up at the statue. It was a statue of the Queen Mother, Hollyberry.
Another memory filled his mind. One of his gardens, where he and Crunchy Chip were having a short conversation. Crunchy Chip was in awe at the garden and Wildberry was explaining all the plants to him. He was sure that the garden was now nothing but ashes, so much for trying to get his orchids to bloom. Crunchy Chip seemed to really like them on his last visit.
He decided to try one last, futile attempt to call out with all the strength he could muster. “Queen Mother! My Lady, please! Help!” He began to cough, or maybe it was sobs, he couldn’t tell the difference with how much pain he was in. Wildberry closed his eyes tightly as pain surged through him for what felt like the hundredth time. “Hollyberry!” As he cried out, he was only met with the sound he had originally heard; crackling of flames. He lay on the floor as his breathing went uneven—as he was crumbling—as he began to sway in and out of consciousness—as spots began to appear in his vision—he stared up at the statue.
It had captured the courage that Hollyberry had. As she held her shield to the sky, triumphantly. Wildberry weakly tried to reach up to the statue only for his arm to drop half down as he coughed more. He couldn’t make any coherent words in between coughing, sobs, and pained groans. He wished to be wherever Hollyberry was. He wished he could have said goodbye. He knew he would die before he could see her again and he loathed the idea of it. He didn’t want her to feel sad at his death. As he started to feel his body giving out he cried out one last time, just one word, one word he wished he had said to Hollyberry; one he wished he had used more often.
“Mom.”
It wasn’t much louder than a whisper but it was all Wildberry could muster up. He coughed weakly as his eyes became heavy while he stared up at the statue. He wished he could’ve had more time; one last time seeing Hollyberry. As he closed his eyes and felt his body give out he let his last tears fall and the world went dark around him. Before he fully left he slurred out the word one last time, one last feeble attempt to attract someone’s attention, but he knew it would fail. It was a goodbye of sorts. It was his acceptance of the welcoming nothingness.
“Mom…” The world went dark as Wildberry went limp in his jam, under the statue of the one that never gave up on him.