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Weak. Pathetic. A sorry excuse for a guardian. If he could even call himself that anymore.
Lord of Ash laid stomach-down on the once-warm ground of the dragons valley. His cheek was pressed against the ice-cold stone his eyes closed as he tried to imagine a fire in his place. The so-called ‘Eternal Flame’ hardly even remembered what warmth felt like anymore. Everything was just cold now. Cold and ash.
He couldn’t bring himself to stand up, he had overexerted himself that day. Or had he? He hadn’t really done much else but walk around and then collapse. To think he was once the great Fire Spirit, the hottest cookie to walk on Earthbread.
A familiar and cold wind didn’t go unnoticed by Lord of Ash but he was too exhausted to react, even at the sound of footsteps approaching. It had become a routine; Lord of Ash would be assaulted by a horribly cold breeze, then Night Raven would appear just to try to convince Lord of Ash to embrace the darkness. Then, after Ash would say no, the ex-guardian would watch him for the rest of the day—ignoring any attempts at conversation from the other—until sunset when he would leave Lord of Ash all by himself once more.
It was pathetic, but Lord of Ash held onto these moments and stupidly thought—no, hoped—that this meant maybe, just maybe, there was still a bit of the man he once loved in Night Raven. But he knew it couldn’t be true. He’d never get his old life back. He’d sit here, in the remains of what he was supposed to take care of until he finally turned to dust. Pathetic.
“Fire Spirit Cookie,” a familiar and oddly warm voice ripped Lord of Ash from his thoughts and his ruby eyes snapped open.
His vision was too blurry to fully see the man standing over him, but he could tell one thing.
That isn’t Night Raven.
The figure standing over him wasn’t black and gray and purple, but green and white and a light indigo. He was decently taller and that voice was far too warm… and not to mention that name. When was the last time anyone had called him that name? He didn’t like it.
He wasn’t Fire Spirit Cookie. Not anymore.
Lord of Ash blinked his eyes rapidly to clear his vision, flinching when his vision cleared enough to see that the stranger had the same face of Night Raven… only his eyes were so… kind. Kinder even than Wind Archers had been, even in the softest moments between the two guardian. He had wings, actually, a lot of wings. Wings on his back, wings on his neck, wings on his head. Who on Earthbread needed that many wings?
The man lowered himself to sit cross legged beside Lord of Ash, offering a reassuring smile when Lord of Ash flinched. “There is no need to fear me,” the taller spoke. “I will not harm you.” With that, a green hand reached towards Ash, stopping just before landing on his wing. When Lord of Ash didn’t move away, the hand lowered.
Lord of Ash nearly flinched away. The strangers hand was warm. It felt… nice. After a short pause, the hand moved, rubbing up and down before pulling away so the taller man could look at his hand, a somewhat displeased expression on his face. Ash’s heart sunk when he looked and saw that the other’s palm had blackened from the ash the wing was made of, but before he could respond at all, the hand was back on his wing. It trailed up and down his wing once again, just as gently, before it slid up his wing, moving under his cape to run his fingers against the base of his wing.
Lord of Ash stiffened. It wasn’t like the feeling was unpleasant. It might’ve felt nice, really, alike to fingernails gently running through your hair and along your scalp, if only it wasn’t also unfamiliar. Overwhelmingly so.
In one swift movement, the former fire guardian moved away, turning himself onto his side so his back was out of reach from the other. The taller man’s eyes widened but he recovered quickly, placing his warm hand on Lord of Ash’s shoulder instead, gently rubbing the area before moving upward and along his neck to hold his cheek.
The feeling of the hand on his cheek was, unlike the previous feeling, familiar. A gesture Wind Archer Cookie had done in gentle moments that always ended too soon. It felt a lot warmer this time around but then again, Lord of Ash was really, really cold. Ash looked up at the other man, seeing those familiar eyes watching him in such an unfamiliar way.
Suddenly, two hands were under the smaller man’s shoulders and he was being maneuvered onto the other man’s lap, his knees on either side of the stranger (or not stranger?) and two large wings were wrapped around him. Lord of Ash might’ve complained if it weren’t for the fact that the new position practically enveloped him in the warmth radiating from the others body.
The hand returned to his cheek, those eyes never leaving his face as the man’s other hand trailed down his back, once again finding its way again to the base of his wing and running his fingernails along it. Lord of Ash shuddered and attempted to lean away but all it achieved him was a curious look from the other man, those fingers never stopped their gentle caress until Lord of Ash finally relaxed into the touch, when the other man at last moved his hand to Ash’s other cheek.
“You’re so cold,” the other said, his voice quiet. “This place was once the hottest area in all of Earthbread, yet now, Dessert Paradise is warmer.” Lord of Ash’s face was pulled forward until his forehead was pressed against the stranger’s lips. “I’ll take you there. I’ll have you stay in the warmest part for a little while.”
This really couldn’t be Wind Archer Cookie. Wind Archer Cookie would have scolded him for even considering leaving the dragons valley when it needed him the most. “No…” Lord of Ash choked out, shaking his head and nearly pulling away.
“Shh… shh…” and yet that voice… that face… this cookie was different but he was undeniably Wind Archer Cookie. “It’s okay, calm down. It’s only temporary, just until I figure out how to fix this place.” Had Wind Archer Cookie given up on him? Did he think he was too pathetic to be a guardian and decided to just do his job for him? “Then I’ll bring you back to your former glory, and everything will be okay again.” Of course he thought that, it was true after all. Even before he lost his powers, he was still nothing more than an overconfident waste of space. It shouldn’t have taken him losing everything to realize that. “You’ve been so strong for never succumbing to darkness.” Strong? What a joke. “I’m so proud of you, my ember.”
Without warning, Wind Archer Cookie(?) had pressed his lips into Lord of Ash’s, one of his hands still holding his cheek while the other was now on the back of his head. Ash didn’t kiss back, he couldn’t bring himself too. How pathetic. It didn’t take long for Wind Archer Cookie to pull back, an almost… hurt expression on his face.
“Aha…” the guardian chuckled, awkwardly. “Right. I’ll… take you back to Dessert Paradise now.”