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The door to his bedchamber slammed shut. It squeaked and rattled for a bit before returning to its usual silence.
Licorice had failed yet another mission, yet this one particularly was different. Her highness had personally requested it and swore a shockingly cruel punishment if he’d failed. If the others found out, especially Pomegranate, he’d never hear the last of it.
He threw himself on the bed. Something didn’t feel right, however.
Batcat.
Where’d it scurry off this time?
As if on cue, he head three neat knocks on his door.
“Cm’in”
The door sqeaked open slowly, and in came Batcat. Well, the person holding Batcat. Instantly from the stench of metal and jam the necromancer realized it was none other than Dark Choco.
Something was off about how they walked, or maybe it was just the fact that he wasn’t wearing their cape and shoulder pads.
The knight nodded in greetings and placed the feline on the ground. Batcat was asleep and stirred a bit, but didn’t wake up.
“T-Thanks… Heh…” mumbled Licorice, finally taking a closer look at his comrade, only to find himself going red. The knight wore a black short sleeved T-shirt and grey jeans. A bit tight, but it showed their muscular figure wonderfully.
The knight was long gone before Licorice snapped back to reality. He scooped Batcat onto his bed tried to sleep.
Instantly all his worries came back to him. The punishment. The mission. The humiliation.
The necromancer couldn’t bear it and quietly tiptoed out of the room to go outside. Luck appeared to be on his side to today, as he hadn’t run into anyone.
Not yet, anyways.
Finally, reaching the forest, he was now in comforting silence. Nothing but black, dark brown, and green.
And red.
There stood Pomegranate, who appeared to be waiting. Licorice’s stomach turned and he froze for a moment, for once actually thinking before taking action. He took the most sensible option, which was to run.
Leaves of all shades of green and purple snapped under his feet. He didn’t know where he was going, he kept running. It hurt so badly. The bandages on his feet were torn and he was covered from head to toe in splinters and blisters.
The world was spinning, and he felt awful. He’d been running for so long that his legs gave away and he fell face first. He’d never been scared of the dark, because it was “stupid and babyish”. But now, now he was terrified. He heard strange sounds from behind and prayed it wasn’t snakes.
He couldn’t move. His face was in the dirt and he was sure there were bugs and worms crawling around. He felt like crying.
Suddenly the mage felt something warm slide up to his chest and wrap around his waist. His eyes were shut so tightly it hurt.
“Licorice?”
Licorice gave out a cry of shock and immediately turned around, but failed.
He felt himself rise to his feet, and blinked at the figure that shadowed him.
Dark Choco stood there with a worried look on their face. They relaxed when they saw he was alright.
“Can you walk?” They urged.
“Hmh…” Was all he could answer.
Licorice was using all his energy staying awake. He had a whole new feeling to him now. He didn’t want to go back. He didn’t want to feel like absolute garbage anymore. He was tired of feeling useless.
“D-Dark… I… don’t wanna g-go back…” He croaked out, his voice choked and raw.
The knight carried their comrade and after securing he was comfortable, set on their way.
“PLEASE! NO!” Licorice cried out.
Dark Choco turned around startled.
“It’s alright. I promise I won’t take you back.”They said softly, locking eyes with the necromancer.
Licorice’s vision was blurry and he felt hazy, but he recognized the blue and yellow lights up ahead too well to misidentify them.
The Cookie Kingdom, known all too well. He didn’t feel like running into those meddling kids, not right now.
It wasn’t long until he was sound asleep.