The window howled with the winds of the sunrise outside, with a little ray of sunshine laying upon the ground of Herb's room. The silent room buzzed with the hums of the weather, but just enough to not disturb Herb's sleep as he breathed softly in his blankets. His body instinctively shivered to the dropping temperatures, groaning in his sleep.
A set of footsteps approached the room's door, the floor slightly sinking as the figure came closer. A settle knocking was heard against the door, making Herb to the other side of the bed facing the door.
Another knock came through the door, following along the voice of the perpetrator.
"Herb? Hello? You're making me worried."
Herb stared at the door, then came up with a response.
"Don't worry, just give me some more time to sleep..." his voice croaked.
The voice outside the door was quiet, but no footsteps were heard walking away. They just stood there, listening into Herb's room.
Herb took the silence as a sign of acceptance and turned back over to the humming window, examining the frost that blocked the view into the outside world. He closed his eyes once more and waited for the sleep to take him over.
"It's almost noon, Herb."
Herb jolted up a moment after, looking towards the window. It was a bit too bright to be early in the morning. Herb lifted off the blanket and swung his feet over the side of his bed to stand up. Suddenly, his head pounded and he sat at the edge of the bed, letting himself wake up a bit before he continued to make sudden movements.
"I didn't even realize," Herb placed his hand on his forehead, "I'm just so tired."
He whipped his head to the clock of his room, and it was indeed almost noon. Eleven-twenty-five to be exact. Herb wasn't sure why his first reaction wasn't to look at the clock right away, but he didn't have the brain power to question anything.
"Are you alright in there?" the voice asked.
"Yes... wait, did you guys eat breakfast yet?"
The voice's tone changed cheerfully, "yeah. Snow Sugar heavily convinced me to go to the bakery."
Herb shook his head, "you went to the bakery? I didn't think they would even be opened."
"Apparently they are."
Herb still sat the bed, barely having the strength to push himself up. He was slightly shaky in his arms and legs.
"Say, Werewolf cookie?" Herb called to the door.
"Yes?" the voice identified itself.
"Can you bring a candle? I have a bad case of the shivers," Herb jokingly commissioned.
Werewolf turned away this time letting Herb feel the sinking of the floor again, feeling him walk away in the hall.
Herb stayed in his room as Werewolf walked down the stairs, beginning his search to find a candle laying around. Walking into the living room, Werewolf spotted Snow Sugar playing with a small toy.
"Still playing with that ol' toy, hm?" Werewolf looked down at Snow Sugar.
Snow Sugar stopped, "oh, yeah! I like it a lot, it's so soft."
Snow Sugar pet the cake hound toy, having the fuzz on the toy brush against their fingers. Without thinking, Werewolf lowered himself down to Snow Sugar's height and gently placed his hand on the cake hound.
"That is... oddly soft," Werewolf remarked.
"Uh huh!" Snow Sugar nodded, "it's my favorite."
"Snow Sugar, do you happen to know where Herb keeps his candles?"
Snow Sugar looked around in their surroundings, then pointed to a cabinet in the kitchen.
"Maybe in one of those? Herb usually says that candles are too dangerous to put near the fireplace."
"Alright, thank you."
Werewolf rushed over to the kitchen and began opening all the cabinets. Once he got further down the line, one was filled with scented candles and other burnable objects. The most surprising object in there was a bundle of burnt flowers. Werewolf paused as he scanned through the selection of candles, both large and small, wide and skinny.
Some were labelled generic names like "lilac" and "vanilla." Others, on the other hand, were completely absurd names, some of them even containing unknown letter characters. Werewolf couldn't make a decision, so he turned himself to Snow Sugar.
"Hey, uh, Snow Sugar? Can you come here for a second; I'm picking out a candle for Herb."
Snow Sugar looked over at the cabinet Werewolf was standing by and came running over to the kitchen.
"Can I smell them? I'm a good smeller."
Werewolf laughed, "so am I."
Collectively, Werewolf and Snow Sugar began sniffing through the candles and began eliminating all of the worst candidates.
"Nope, too strong," Snow Sugar handed a candle to Werewolf.
Again and again, each candle was thoroughly judged by the two cookies. When smelling one candle, a sneeze began to form in Werewolf.
"Okay, maybe I should stop inhaling them so much," Werewolf squeaked out before sneezing to the side.
After the fairly quick process, they came down to two candles: one of them being Snow Sugar's choice and the other being Werewolf's choice. They couldn't come to an agreement on which one was better, so they let Herb be the deciding factor.
"Why would Herb get these many candles?" Werewolf questioned.
Snow Sugar shrugged, "maybe he's just smelly."
"Do you actually think that?"
"Why else does Herb have so many candles?"
After finally placing and closing everything to their original position, Werewolf and Snow Sugar climbed their way up the stairs to Herb's room.
The silence radiating from the door was unnerving, but the silence was broken by Werewolf's knocks.
"Herb? Are you awake in there?" Werewolf said to the door.
Shuffling was heard within the room.
"Oh, yes I am! The door is unlocked by the way."
Werewolf lowered his hand to twist the knob and pushed forward into the room.
There laid a bump in the blankets of Herb's bed, softly breathing as he faced the two cookies looking at him towards the entrance of his room. Herb weakly smiled in his cold state, raising his hand out to them.
"Oh good, you brought some extra candles. I'll light them for you."
Herb waited for one of them to approach, but none of them did. They sat there, staring at Herb.
"Uhm, guys? I have the matches; you can bring the candles over-"
Herb was interrupted by the sudden rush of Werewolf, dropping the candle that he held in his hand. Werewolf kneeled down beside the bed with Herb, placing his hand on Herb's face with a panicked look.
"What happened to you!?"
Herb raised a brow, "what? What do you mean? Nothing's happened to me silly."
Werewolf looked around the room, "do you have a mirror? You look awful!"
"That's a bit rude, don't you think?"
"Herb, I'm not joking with you. You look like you're dying; do you feel alright?"
Herb's smile faded, looking down at his hands. His skin was notably paler and thinner than before, now making Herb concerned for himself.
"Well, I do have a mirror in the bathroom."
Werewolf turned to Snow Sugar, "go to the bathroom and get a mirror. Now."
Snow Sugar worriedly nodded and ran off, leaving their candle behind just like Werewolf: dropping it on the floor.
Going back to Herb, Werewolf began looking at all of the corners of Herb's face.
"Do you feel sick? Anything, tell me anything-"
Herb patted Werewolf's head, "calm down! I'm sure it's nothing, maybe a small fever or something. I feel fine, I really do."
Werewolf sighed in frustration, "this doesn't look like a small fever."
"Looks can be deceiving."
Werewolf glanced up at Herb's hair, slightly lifting one of the autumns leaves up in his palm. Just after lifting the leaf a few inches, it cracked and crumbled within Werewolf's hand, letting Herb watch as the pieces of dead leaf fell between his fingers. Herb instinctively went to grab the falling debris from his head, but it slipped away.
"What kind of fever does that to you?" Werewolf commented.
Herb frowned as he stared at the pieces on the edge of the bed. He laid his head back down, facing towards the ceiling instead. Werewolf waited for a response, but Herb had nothing to say. Soon, Snow Sugar ran in with a mirror, startling Werewolf.
"I found it!" Snow Sugar huffed as they handed the mirror to Werewolf.
Werewolf took the mirror from them, turning it over to Herb, "Here, look."
Herb slowly took the mirror, delaying what he would have seen if he had taken a look. Despite Herb's fearfulness, the curiosity was too strong to back down from the sight of his own face, making him lift the mirror to himself.
In the reflection, a pale cookie with sunken-dark eyes stared back at Herb, with his lowered lids of his eyes barely making an attempt to look at him fully. His once jam-filled faced was now sucked away, only leaving a dull shell of Herb's dough; it was as if Vampire cookie had sucked his youthfulness away. Of course, Vampire was never that type of cookie to sneak into people's houses, but whatever sickness had overcome Herb was no stranger to intrusion. The more Herb looked, the more distraught he became at his own appearance, but he just couldn't look away. The only parts of his face that had any resemblance of jam left were his nose and cheeks, but they had always flushed pink for as long as he can remember.
Werewolf snatched the mirror away from Herb, leaving him helpless due to his weakened body. Werewolf was saddened by Herb's expression, seeing a face of defeat from both his appearance and Werewolf's sudden decision to take the mirror away.
"That's enough. I just wanted to prove my point," Werewolf whispered.
"You were right," Herb squeezed out his words, "I do look like I'm dying."
Werewolf's ears shot up in shock, "I- no. I was just... I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that, I was just worried."
"No, no. I get it. I've seen it for myself: you were right."
"I mean, you did say you felt fine. Maybe it's just a physical reaction to something... probably just got hit a little harder than usual."
Herb placed his hands on his face, "I really do look dead."
"Stop that," Werewolf grabbed Herb's hands, "I didn't mean it."
"I know YOU didn't mean it!" Herb snapped at him, "but I mean it!"
Werewolf's expression was stern and serious, but his ears folded back like a sad puppy.
Herb sighed, "I'm sorry, Werewolf. I'm just as confused as you are."
Werewolf dropped his head upon Herb's shoulder, hiding his face from Snow Sugar. As the room was silent again, Snow Sugar awkwardly picked up the candles from the floor and carried them over to Herb's side table and quietly placed them down. Snow Sugar watched they were frozen together, seeing as Herb stared off into the window.
"...are you done fighting?" Snow Sugar nervously asked, almost afraid of the two.
"We weren't fighting, Snow Sugar," Herb comforted them, "we just had a small confrontation."
Snow Sugar bowed their head, then changed their direction to the candles, "can we light them now?"
"Of course, that's what you guys came here for, right?" Herb attempted to smile.
Herb placed his hand on Werewolf's back, urging him to get up from his shoulder so he could move. Werewolf obliged, moving to the side as Herb reached towards one of the table's drawers. Opening the second drawer, a pack of matches waited for Herb as he felt around the exposed drawer. Grabbing the matches, Herb opened the pack and struck one of them on the side of the box, creating a scratch sound, then a small flame. Slowly lowering his shaky hand to the first candle, the flame carried over and lit the candle's top. Again, he moved over towards the second candle, lighting them both together.
"I'm curious," Herb blew out the enflamed match, "...as to which scented candles you picked."
Herb patiently waited for the aroma of the candles to reach him as Werewolf rested his head again, this time laying on his side and closing his eyes. Herb slowly pet Werewolf's hair, making his ears twitch upwards from the contact of Herb's hands. Snow Sugar hopped onto the end of Herb's bed, laying back onto the open space that Herb's body couldn't take up, and waited for the candles to take over.
After a bit, the smell of cinnamon and freshly baked cake covered them in a large blanket of fragrance, putting them all at ease.
Herb grinned, "good choices. They mix together nicely..."
Werewolf grumbled something as his face was smothered into Herb's shoulder. Snow Sugar just took a deep breath in, letting the scents mix together into one. The room temperature raised a bit, but not enough to make a noticeable impact.
It didn't take long for someone to break the silence, specifically being Snow Sugar. A growl came from Snow Sugar's stomach, making both Herb and Werewolf rise up to look at them.
"I'm hungry," Snow Sugar plainly stated.
"I heard," Herb acknowledged, "I guess we could get some lunch, hm?"
Snow Sugar addressed Werewolf, "can you go to the bakery again? Please?"
Herb introjected, "now hold on there, you're not having cake for lunch as well."
"I won't! Wolfy can get me some biscuits this time. Or donuts..."
"How did you even pay for breakfast?"
Snow Sugar held up their allowance that Herb gave to them, waving the pouch of gold in the air.
"I see. Well, how about we make something from scratch instead. You know, something homemade?"
"Oh! Yeah! Wolfy, can you make me some jelly soup?"
Werewolf straightened up, "what!? I'm not making it; I couldn't cook for my life!"
"Is that so?" Herb leaned forward, "so how did you feed yourself when you were alone?"
"I bought food."
"With whose money? Because last time I checked you didn't have any."
Werewolf's face turned red, "...that's none of your business."
"So, which one are you Werewolf? A criminal, or a liar?"
Werewolf scoffed, "okay, fine. I'll go make something for Snow Sugar."
Snow Sugar bounced on the bed in excitement. Herb began laughing at Snow Sugar's sudden burst of chaos.
"Calm down! You'll throw me off the bed," Herb laughed.
"Okay! My bad," Snow Sugar jumped off.
Snow Sugar walked over to the door, standing against the door frame waiting for Werewolf.
"Of course, the responsibility is thrown on me," Werewolf grumbled.
"Oh, settle down, it won't hurt you," Herb added.
"It feels like it will."
"Werewolf, once I'm fully healed of this sickness, I promise to make you all a big fancy dinner."
Werewolf sneered, "will you?"
"I will!"
Werewolf supported himself off the bed, walking over to where Snow Sugar waited for him. Before closing the door, the two cookies waved goodbye to Herb, prompting Herb to wave back. The door squeaked shut, leaving Herb all alone in the candle scented room. Werewolf's and Snow Sugar's footsteps were heard heading downstairs, accompanied by the giggles of the small Snow Sugar. Maybe if Herb listened hard enough, he would have heard the laughing of Werewolf as well, but he fell asleep too quickly to notice.
On the lower level, Werewolf explored in the kitchen to find the ingredients needed, frantically opening every drawer and cabinet that had the misfortune of being in Herb's house.
"Where on Earthbread does Herb keep his stuff..." Werewolf contemplated.
Snow Sugar was waiting by the table, letting their cake hound toy continuously fall off the table, boringly watching the physics of the toy as they were trying their best to be patient. Overhearing Werewolf's remarks, Snow Sugar stopped the torture of the toy and waddled their way over to the kitchen, watching Werewolf kneel down to a lower set of cabinets.
"What are you looking for?" Snow Sugar kneeled down with Werewolf.
"Food. The ingredients or whatever that's needed to make the soup: where is it?"
"Wait, you're actually making jelly soup for me?"
"Yes? That's what you wanted, right?"
Snow Sugar was surprised, then smiled, "yeah! Uh, but I think Herb keeps everything in here."
Snow Sugar pointed to the fridge, sitting right next to Werewolf.
"Oh... thank you."
Werewolf awkwardly got up from the floor and opened the fridge door, seeing literally everything he needed sitting in there.
Werewolf had been running from people for so long that he had forgotten where food is usually stored in homes. There's also the fact that Herb had been doing the cooking for a while.
"I wonder if we burnt him out..." Werewolf spoke to himself, grabbing the things in the fridge.
Despite Werewolf being rhetorical, Snow Sugar added to the comment, "Burnt him out? How did we do that?"
"Poor guy has been making food for us the whole time ever since I got here."
"Herb likes cooking though, he does it all of the time."
"You can only do something for so long until it becomes tedious."
Snow Sugar didn't continue the conversation, letting Werewolf get enough time to gather everything needed for the soup. He cautiously turned on one of the burners of the stove, his ear twitching with each flick of the flame. Once again, Werewolf had to traverse through the cabinets to find the perfect pot, shoving around the collection of pots and pans Herb had organized.
Snow Sugar went back to their toy by the table, seeing as they couldn't help Werewolf with the rest of the process. Snow Sugar began tossing the toy in the air, then attempting to catch it as it fell back down. They continued to do this until they heard Werewolf turn off the stove, making Snow Sugar turn around to see.
"Is the soup done already?" Snow Sugar asked.
Werewolf sighed, then turning around from the stove to reveal a broken measuring cup and sugar that had spilled all over his shirt, "no..."
Snow Sugar tilted their head, "what happened?"
"I don't know! The thing just, gave up? I was just trying to scoop something."
"Can I do it?"
"...sure. I guess it makes my job easier..."
Carrying the plushie over, Snow Sugar came over the stove and lifted their hand up for a measuring spoon. Werewolf handed down a new one, also lowering down a bag of sugar.
"Just two scoops," Werewolf confirmed.
Snow Sugar carefully scooped the sugar, handing the spoon back to Werewolf to pour into the pot. They repeated the process again, until Werewolf put in the last scoop.
"There," Werewolf wiped his hands on his shirt, "no more accidents for today."
Snow Sugar mocked Werewolf's movements, wiping their hands on their shirt as well, even though there was nothing to wipe. Werewolf returned to the stove, turning it back on knowing that he could do the rest of the recipe at a consistent pace.
Herb suddenly woke up shortly after falling asleep, noticing the fragrance of the candles had disappeared and the flames had gone out. Perhaps it was the candles that had put him to sleep so quickly, so he reached for the matches again. He felt for the drawer, grabbing the matches instantly this time and striking it, letting Herb see his surroundings. He hovered the match over the candles, preparing to light them again.
Before he could, there was an unmistakably pleasant smell coming from downstairs. Herb sat there for a moment, trying to identify what he was smelling. It was definitely warm considering the smell had been followed with a steam trail accompanying him. It was a comforting warmth, making Herb shiver from the shift of his cold body to the temperature of the warm food from below. He exhaled in delight, wishing that he could have a bit of what they were having down there, but he didn't have the strength to get up. Herb lay there, hoping that Werewolf and Snow Sugar would have a good meal.
Not even a few seconds after that thought, a knock came through Herb's door.
"Hey... psst," the door whispered.
"What is it?" Herb looked over.
"I have something for you, can I come in?"
"Of course."
The door opened with light sneaking through the crack, making a silhouette of what would have been Werewolf cookie upon the floor as a shadow. Werewolf peeked his head in through the small intrusion, seeing Herb blankly wait for him.
"I... made some soup. The one Snow Sugar requested."
Herb glanced around Werewolf, "and?"
"Do you want some?"
"I guess I could, but I'll wait until you two are full. I'll have whatever is left over."
"Well, about that."
"What?"
"I made a lot. And I mean A LOT. We're not going to be able to finish it off by ourselves."
Herb flopped around in his bed, "just give me a bowl. That'll do."
Werewolf had already been prepared, opening the door fully with the soup in his arms. He came over to the bed, setting the bowl on the bedside and sitting beside it, watching as Herb lifted himself up and over to the hot soup. Inside, different bits and pieces of jelly swirled around, feeling the steam hit Herb's face as he stared into the endless cycling. The smell was now more distinguishable, being able to get an idea of the taste and flavor.
Herb shifted over to the front of the bed, grabbing the spoon that rested in the bowl. Werewolf observed as Herb went in for a small sip, some of it dripping off the spoon. Herb slipped it into his mouth, even adding a little "mmm" as he tasted it.
"So? Just as bad as expected?" Werewolf questioned.
Herb giggled, then swallowed, "actually, that's really good!"
"Come on Herb, you're just saying that to make me feel good about myself."
Herb scoffed, "no! I mean it! You have a wonderful talent for cooking."
Werewolf turned slightly red on his cheeks, "don't say that."
"Too bad, because I'm being honest," Herb pointed to spoon towards him.
"This again?"
"What? Are you scared of spoons?"
"No, but now that I think about it," Werewolf changed the subject, "I did accidentally break one of yours."
Herb lowered his hand, "how? These aren't easy to break."
"It was one of those plastic ones, the ones you measure with?"
"That's a measuring cup," Herb took another spoonful of soup, "but how did you even break a measuring cup?"
"I don't know, it just broke mid-way to the pot."
"Maybe you gripped it too hard."
"I wouldn't know."
Herb continued to enjoy the meal, letting Werewolf sit up from the bed and move away from him. Werewolf stopped at the door, then turned to Herb.
"I need to go back to Snow Sugar," Werewolf informed him.
Herb smiled, "okay! Thank you for the wonderful meal."
Werewolf turned his head away, "right. Bye now."
"Bye Werewolf."
Werewolf made his way out the door, closing it behind him. Before closing the door, Herb caught a glimpse of Werewolf's tail, wagging happily as the door closed shut. He really isn't as tough as he seems, Herb thought.
Not too far away, Latte cookie sat in her office with the blinds to her windows shut and with a small lamp being the only light source in her room. She dipped her feathered pen into a bottle of ink and wrote away.
Dear Herb Cookie,
I have the most wonderful news!
Remember those plants I needed you to examine a while ago? Well, me and my colleagues have discovered an old spell that can temporarily protect the recipient from the cold environment that we're currently in. If you're interested, I can stop by sometime and cast the spell on a few plants of yours.
It's temporary, but I think it should give you enough time to at least nurture the plants back to health and move them somewhere nicer.
By the way, the bigger the plant the shorter the spell lasts, so please keep that in mind when moving things around! We had a situation like that happen with one of my colleagues, so just passing it on so you don't make the same mistake. Surely, you understand.
I'll come over and see how you're doing in the next few days just in case. Hope to see you then!
One more thing: Happy Holidays!
I don't know if the weather will clear up for the holidays, so I hope you all stay safe during this winter while we all seem to be trapped in our own houses. Don't forget to get me a present!
Your favorite professor:
Latte Cookie
(Right below the signature, there's a doodle of a rose done by Latte cookie in golden ink)
Sliding her pen off the paper, she pulled out an envelope from one of her desk drawers and set it beside the letter. She folds the letter, preparing to send it away.
Even in the midst of an awful blizzard that had lasted for weeks, the cookie kingdom was still restless.