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A hot day, a filthy hot day, Gingerbrave was doing some kingdom chores as usual, he was a little tired but he kept active despite being in a field where all the sun hit him all over his body, however, he didn't want to leave a chore half done and that it's done badly, although, halfway through the job he sat down to rest, his head ached and he felt like he was going to vomit, maybe it was a mistake to spend so many hours in the sun without any protection, now he only had that ugly feeling in the head and stomach. He resisted the urge to vomit and decided to lie down on the grass for a moment to calm down, it was only going to be a few seconds, maybe minutes, who knows, maybe he would sleep there, just for a few moments.
For Gingerbrave this is very familiar to him. You know, lying on the floor, in a hot moment, it reminded him of something, the oven, wait, the oven? oh oh. At the thought of the oven Gingerbrave woke up and what he saw didn't look like the Cookie Kingdom, it looked like the only thing he hated and wished he didn't see, his birthplace and worst nightmare. The oven.
After a few seconds he began to look around, this must have been a bad joke or a terrible dream but it looked too real to be false, he felt like the boiling metal of the tray was burning his skin, he was not going to stay here as if nothing had happened while seeing his brothers die, he had to do something and now, there wasn't much time left to escape. With great difficulty he managed to stand up and walk a bit, he felt that at any moment he was going to collapse, he reached the oven door, it was closed, he tried to push it with his hands as best he could and consequently his hands burned, that would leave a It marked, it hurt, it burned and it burned too much, but he didn't give up, he had another plan, he took a few steps back carefully and ran back towards the oven door, hitting it with his shoulder, that was going to leave scars too, cracks maybe, it did this action on repeat, every second was maddening as it didn't seem to be working. Every drop of sweat, blood and tears evaporating in the boiling heat of the oven, nothing seemed to open the door.
"Hey you, stop it" spoke another cookie, it was the same as him, except that he was wearing pajamas and a cap to sleep, he sounded tired despite being in a scary situation like this, he even lay down on the tray without seeming to care how hot it was. it emanated and burned his skin. Gingerbrave looked horrified at this cookie, the little hope he had left was gone, he looked at his hands, they had burns and his shoulder hurt, he felt like liquid was coming down from it and sticking to his skin due to the suffocating heat, possibly he got some cracks from the blows he gave to the oven door and finally, he gave up, maybe his brother was right, he had to stop, in the same way neither of them had hope in the outside world.
He looked at the oven door sadly. Was this his end? and after a few seconds he realized that a light was coming in from the upper part of the oven door, light from outside, there was the possibility of opening the oven and escaping, he just had to give one more blow and the door would fall bringing them freedom for him and his brother. Already with this thought, an impulse and the need to break down that door entered Gingerbrave, he regained strength walking backwards trying not to think or step on the bodies of his already deceased brothers and from a considerable distance, he ran towards the already named door and with his own injured shoulder he hit, oh, that worsened the cracks and the possible bleeding but it didn't matter, finally the door opened, they could get out of this hell.
"Hey! It worked! Come on, we have to go!" He spoke quickly, trying to lift his brother, luckily he was still awake, now there was a chance to escape, the two of them together, it didn't last long as Gingerbrave barely took his hand it fell apart, Gingerbrave almost let out a scream after this, he could see how the thick blood was mixed with the crumbs and pieces of his brother, the smell was disgusting, it was beginning to smell of burning.
"I think...I think I won't be able to make it, but at least we tried" He looked at his hand calmly, it seemed that he didn't feel pain, Gingerbrave wanted to vomit, get out of here right now, but he wasn't going to leave his brother so when the exit to his freedom was in front of him, he was going to speak but they interrupted him "Hey, before you go, my name is Dozer, honestly I would have liked to know you better... Ginger... Ginger... .Gingerbrave. You should call yourself Gingerbrave!" Little by little, he returned to lie down on the tray, his body was falling apart at the same time, his brother wanted to cry, they hardly knew each other but it seemed that they had been brothers all their lives, always together in everything, at least that's how it was for Dozer, he seemed satisfied with this.
"Come on, you have to go, you don't want to end up like me, here, so you're not alone" Already with his last words, Dozer handed his nightcap to his brother, Gingerbrave finally cried but paid attention, he wasn't going to disappoint his brother and came out of the hell that was this oven, they both waved goodbye from afar, Dozer seemed happy and satisfied to see his brother come out of the oven and finally got ready to rest, it was going to be a very long nap for him.
Outside the oven, in a hidden place, he felt...well, cold air surrounded his body, he never knew about this sensation but after spending so much time in that oven that burned his skin, feeling relieved with this new temperature, he looked his hands, they looked a little wrong, his palms were red and burning and his shoulder had cracks and blood was coming out, one more blow and he would fall apart, but it didn't matter anymore, he just lay down on the cold kitchen floor, it was nice to see that it didn't burn his face, at this moment he didn't care about his injuries, he just wanted to rest to continue tomorrow, now he understood why Dozer insisted on resting, he was going to miss him a lot, too much, he hugged the nightcap that this He gave him and slept, he didn't want to think about his brother now.
When Gingerbrave opened his eyes, he didn't see the roof of the kitchen, it looked like the roof of a house, a normal house, when he turned to see where he was, well, it was his bed, in his room, in his house, in Cookie Kingdom. At least he wasn't in the oven anymore, oh, Wizard was here too.
"Are you alright?" The wizard asked, he looked somewhat worried about Gingerbrave, who responded by nodding, Wizard approached him, checked how he felt and Gingerbrave shuddered when he felt contact in his hands, despite having gloves, his hands were always cold, it would seem that they were even frozen "You slept for 7 hours straight, apparently you had a heat stroke out there" Wizard spoke again, he finished checking on his boyfriend, he seemed satisfied to see that he wasn't any physically hurt.
"I simply had another dream about... 'that' " Gingerbrave was very closed with this topic, he preferred to avoid it or simply not answer when asked about it, however, what happened to him in the oven was not a secret, most some of his friends knew about this and did not mention anything on the subject to respect his comfort unless he wanted to talk about it, which was almost never.
"I see. Do you want to continue resting? Water? Talk? A distraction?" Wizard asked somewhat worried and speaking fast, he was really trying to help Gingerbrave with this problem but he wasn't the comfort boy, Strawberry and Custard III were more professionals in these things.
"I'm fine…I just need some company, you know? " He settled down and looked sadly at a trunk that he had at the end of his bed, there he kept small memories of his adventures, among those possessions there was his brother's hat " I dreamed of him, Nilla, I still think I could have saved him " He whispered, with melancholy in his voice, he began to twirl a lock of hair around his index finger as he spoke.
"Brave…You know it was too late, I mean, I'm not saying you weren't capable, but, well, you understand me, right? " He really sucked consoling, but he had to give him credit for trying, Gingerbrave nodded again, he knew he had no bad intentions.
"I repeat, it's fine Nilla, I just need to clear my head " He turned to look at the ceiling and think about everything he did and what he was going to do, maybe when he's calmer he'll take out that hat and clean it, to treasure that memory of his brother.