Forever and Always (Pure Vanilla x Reader)

Captain's Tales: Ship of the Mighty Seas

Travel can get you anywhere. It just takes a lot of time.
Reaching the sea was much easier in their head than in practice.

(C/F) Cookie had underestimated the amount of walking they'd have to do to reach the nearest coastal town.

But finding a boat that could, let alone would, take them to where they wished to go was by far the hardest part.

Many straight up laughed in their face for asking, others looked at them like they were insane, but all turned them down.

"Baa." The sheep bites their sleeve, trying to tear off a piece of it to eat.

"No, stop that." They pull their arm away, frowning angrily at the animal.

"Baa." Its stupid face stares at them.

"What?" They ask it.

"Baa." It sniffs around and starts heading towards the only ship they hadn't asked.

"Woah! No!" They try to grab it, but their sudden reach for it frightens the animal and it runs faster.
They quickly shot after it, tackling it to get it to stop.

"Ah, so you're the weirdo everyone's been muttering about." The pirate glares at them as they wrestle the sheep into submission.

"What would it matter to you?" They ask, lifting the animal above the ground.

"You've been asking all the sailors if they can take you to the Tower of Frozen Waves. You either have a death wish, or know something about that place that others don't; I'm interested in why you want to go there." He says, "And what you have to offer to go there."

"I don't have anything other than this nuisance." They say, "And my reason for going is none of your concern."

"Oh really?" He smirks, "I do have a ship and nowhere to be at the moment... a shame really."

"What do you want?" They ask him.

"Well, judging by that sash, you're from the Vanilla Kingdom, so you must be pretty wealthy..."

"... Have you not heard?" (C/F) Cookie frowns, "The Vanilla Kingdom was destroyed. It's vanished completely."

"You really don't have anything then..." The pirate gasps.

"Aside from the clothes on my back, my sword—which I will not be giving to you—and this sheep." They nod.

"Do you know how to sail?"

"No."

"Would you like to learn?"

"Ah, so you're offering me a time of servitude in exchange..." They nod.

"Yep. Now, are you willing to accept that offer or not?"

"Can I bring this sheep?"

"Why...?"

"It's all I have left of someone."

"Oh... uh, sure. But you better keep it off the deck." The pirate leads the way onto the deck. "First thing you should know, the bow is the front, the stern is the back, and (when staring at the bow) the starboard is the right and the port is the left."

"Where's the division?"

"Dead ahead. Really what you should think to do is divide the ship in thirds: the port, starboard, and stern."

"I can do that..." They shrug.

"Good because once you set that sheep down you're going to help the rest of the crew with our departure preparations." He says, "Use one of the cages we have below deck."

"Why do... actually, I don't want to know." (C/F) Cookie shakes their head, going the way they were directed.

It was many moons of sailing before they finally came to a route that passed the Tower of Frozen Waves.

"Well, looks like we've reached your stop. We'll be back here in a day for ya!" The pirate captain grins, "Don't want to stop a ship around here for too long."

"Right." (C/F) Cookie nods, jumping onto the ice of the frozen island. "I will try to have what I'm looking for before you come back."

"Want us to hang onto your little friend?" One of the crew asks.

"That would certainly be better than attempting to carry them with me all the way up." They nod.

"Alright! Be sure you're here by tomorrow!"

They sprinted up the ice and into the tower.

After spending so much time on a slippery deck, scaling the tower felt like child's play, but they were disheartened by an inability to read the inscriptions on the doors they passed.

"If... If she hasn't appeared by now... then where is she?" They stop as they finally come to a window high over the waves. "This entire place is frozen over... that can't have been Sea Fairy Cookie's doing."
Because they reached a door that finally did not open, they used their sword to climb their way to the top of the tower. (Years of climbing rocks certainly showed in their ability to do so without falling.)

"There's no one here..." They look around.
The only thing there is a statue of a seashell.

But from where they were, they could easily see the moon and the sky, and it's beautiful.

"It's practically the opposite of home... cold and lonely... but the same sky." They sigh, "It feels so lonely without him... but after all this time, I'm no closer to my goal." They don't know why they're thinking aloud, there's no one here to hear it.
"... I need to stay alive long enough to help when the war returns. Even if that's at the end of time, I won't let the loss of the Vanilla Kingdom get to me."

There has to be some other Cookie of legends they could go to to have their wish granted because tracking down the Sugar Swan would be impossible; they'd die long because they found it.

The moon's light shines directly into the tower of ice, practically turning the entire thing into a lighthouse.
It's actually an incredible sight to behold. Peaceful and quiet, plus it doesn't feel as lonely as before.

Things will work themselves out. It may be painful to get through them, but everything is going to be ok in the end... right?
That's what Pure Vanilla Cookie always said anyway...

[I was going to throw in a joke conversation with Sorbet Shark but decided against it. It would've done wonders for this chapter's word count...]