Unseen | Caramel Arrow Cookie x Affogato Cookie

An Unusual Glow

Twenty minutes had passed into the watch. The Second Watcher grumbled. Being sick didn’t feel great. It made him want to lay his head down. But he had to carry on, so he remained vigilant, looking down at the sea below him and watching for any monsters. The black of the sky seemed darker than usual. It was hard to remain focused, he supposed. “Bah!” He scolded himself. No excuses, especially not for a minor illness. He shook his head. He needed to stop letting his mind wander. He tried to stash away his thoughts to focus on the watch. Then, he noticed a blob in the corner of his eye. “Shit..” This is what he gets for not focusing. Licorice oozelings were climbing the wall. One was almost over, beginning to crawl over the wall’s edge. “H-ey-!” His voice caught and he coughed when he tried to call to a fellow watcher. How had nobody else noticed this? He left his post, in a risky call, to run to the watcher who was in danger.

“Ah!” The watcher was startled and grabbed her weapons. The licorice monster stared her down, the expression blank. This was her first actual encounter with one of these things. She got in a ready stance, naturally, but was shaking. Soon, another and another appeared.

Another cookie stepped in front of her, skidding to a stop between the monsters and her. It was the Second Watcher. “Tell the others to sound the horn-!” He cleared his throat. “I’ll hold these off until we get backup.” He grit through his teeth. He was holding back a wheeze. Damn this illness. He held his bow and started escorting the terrified cookie backwards. They slowly took steps and rotated until there was a clear path for the watcher to book it. Then, it left him alone with the monsters. More had come over the wall during that time. How many there were, he couldn’t count. Maybe twenty. They might keep coming, too. A bead of sweat hit his brow. He readied an arrow into his bow. “Come on, then! I’m not afraid!” He shouted out, fighting through his sore throat. “Ancestors watch over me.” He murmured.

He fired an arrow. It found its mark. The licorice oozelings looked at the monster that had been shot. This riled them up. They started advancing.

…

Caramel Arrow sprinted ahead. She didn’t have time to wait for Affogato. He was slowly following behind. He didn’t know what he wanted to see. He should just stay in his room. There was a scramble of watchers quickly getting their weapons ready. Caramel Arrow looked towards the Third Watcher, who was leading everyone. “What’s going on?” She asked the watcher.

“A section of the wall has been breached. We are preparing for battle. Another group of watchers are preparing to move to the part of the wall that has been breached. The Second Watcher is holding the line while we send backup.” The Third Watcher reported. “Do not give in to fear, watchers! Defend the wall with your lives!”

Caramel Arrow grunted. “Father..” She sprinted away.

Affogato made his way up, finally, his ankle hurting a little from being pushed. He asked the Third Watcher, “Do you know where the First Watcher went?”

“She went that way.” She reported to him, pointing in the direction she scampered to.

He nodded. “Thank you.” He went after her.

Caramel Arrow panted, biting through the cold air. It was hard to breathe the winter air, with its lack of oxygen. She skidded to a stop when she saw her father fighting a group of oozelings. “Dad!” She shouted. She pulled her twin blades from her holsters.

The Second Watcher grunted as an oozeling knocked his bow out of hand. “Grh!” He took another step back and grabbed the dagger at his belt. He started slashing at any oozleings who took a swing at him. Then, the shout from Caramel Arrow took his attention. He wasn’t foolish, though. He didn’t look back. “C-Caramel- Ar-” He coughed twice. Shit. Caramel Arrow drew her blades into a bow, then pulled back and fired an arrow. It hit an oozeling. Thank God for Caramel Arrow. He stomped on a distracted oozeling and clanked his sword with another oozeling. The way these things fought was so weird. He stumbled back, but did his best to not lose ground. They had to defend the wall.