The Mousse Pup stayed outside of Liam’s makeshift camp the entire night, it seemed unwilling to come much closer other than to take food. Liam was fine with that and slept rather uneasy. He felt ashamed to admit part of him worried the cute pup might decide to rip his throat open. When he awoke the next day, he was alive and well. Then fed the creature more of what he had for food.

When he broke camp, the Mouse Pup followed at a distance.

Whenever he stopped to take a break, he’d feed the creature, or offer it chocolate milk. It ducked in quickly and took his offerings before retreating away. By the time he came to a second rest, it decided that tonight, it would sleep near the campfire, but kept the flames between itself and Liam.

It maintained a cautious but obsessive behavior towards Liam as he made his way deeper into the wilds. The temporary peace led to a routine, with the creature gradually allowing him to come closer to it even outside of feeding.

This back and forth continued for two more days, with the pup refusing to leave him and fend for itself, but not quite trusting him. He saw the pain in its eyes, and couldn’t help but empathize. They’d had no choice but to exist in this world, to witness its horrors. Two different beings with a tragic intersecting path. Liam no longer worried the creature would eat him. There was intelligence to the pup. But he did worry about how the creature would manage when it decided to leave.

On the fourth night, the small pup slowly came over to him, flopping down and forcing its way into his licorice leather sleeping bag. Its fur felt strangely cold and its chocolate shavings fur was far more soft and flexible than expected. An emulation of real fur, despite their apparent stiff appearance. As it drifted off to sleep next to him, he marveled over the creature.

This was the closest he’d come to something alive in this world that wasn’t a brutal fight for life and death. The first thing that didn’t want to kill him for simply existing. It also proved something.

Not everything in Candyland was out to get him. The world might be evil, it might shape the creatures within it to harbor malice. But that didn’t mean everything had to be that way. Seeing the soft wolf pup cuddled in his bag, Liam let himself entertain hope. Even pandora had it tucked away in her box of horrors.

He’d let the little guy tag along for however long it wanted. Liam gave the chocolate fur another stroke, before deciding on a name. Moose. The Chocolate Mousse Wolf. Corny, but whatever. The little guy was sure to grow big and strong. He owed it that much after taking its life away from it, he’d had the same experience of something else ripping him from his home. He saw himself in the poor creature.

That night, for the first time since coming to Candyland, Liam slept easy.

They passed through the chocolate landscape—leaving the milk chocolate river to head directly into the Fudge Volcano mountain ridge. Liam didn’t know what to expect, or how difficult the land would be to traverse, so he stored away as much of the chocolate milk as he could and took a moment to plead for safe travel. Stashed away as much sugar vegetation he could, then went as far as to take down a chocolate rabbit with rock-candy explosion to store as extra food for Moose.

While Moose seemed receptive to the sugary vegetation, Liam just assumed that the growing creature would need plenty of what amounted to ‘meat’ in this fucked ecosystem.

⬽ — ~ ☼ ~ — ⤘

Holy fuck that’s it. The world had been trembling for the past day, a hell of shaking that Moose could barely handle. He’d hunkered down with the shaking pup, eyes scanning the horizon. Liam never lived in a place that got earthquakes, but he’d seen the videos. Flying plates, whole rooms violently tumbling around. It was a wholly unpleasant experience to sit through one. And it just didn’t seem to end. The earthquake kept going, far past the short time frame he’d been told was the case for the natural disaster.

Until it ended. And a large hand made of chocolate slammed onto the top of a mountain and flattened it.

Liam got his first glance at a Ruler.

The Chocolate Colossus was incomprehensibly massive—four arms and a massive hunched torso, its head was a vaguely conic shape, and its legs squat and barely perceptible over the rolling landscape. From this distance, he couldn’t make out the finer details of the dark blob of brown. Bigger than a mountain.

How in the name of hell do I murder that thing?

If he attacked it, the Chocolate Colossus probably wouldn’t even notice his existence. It needed just a single step to squash him and turn him into a meat paste.

He sat with his mouth wide open for a long time. Grateful it’d finally stopped moving. A frozen statue far away. His heartbeat was a mile a minute. Trying any way to imagine a world where he’d be able to take down that behemoth. It was impossible. The amount of force he’d need to even leave a dent in it was inconceivable. And there were so many questions—was it completely made of chocolate? Did it have a soft interior? Sugar bones?

Christ.

Liam began to hyperventilate. Part of him believed that if he’d pressed forward, and played this silly game, he’d be able to take out these rulers and return to his life. But what was a single man to a god-like that? He’d die here. One of these creatures would eat him alive and there was no escape from it. No returning home. And then once he died? Would he become a part of whatever was watching him? Would it bring him back for more torment? His face began to numb as he felt the panic attack coming. His breath was uncontrolled.

Moose muzzled his palm, the pup’s soft tongue licking across his fingers.

Liam looked down at it, far too close to the edge of madness. The poor little creature perched on its hind legs to reach his worry in its eyes. No doubt sensing his fear and echoing it. Liam’s heart melted, he crouched down and grabbed the lovable little creature, holding it close and letting his worries work themselves away. This might be hell, but Liam was no longer alone. He counted out his breaths.

After a few hours, and no more movement from the Ruler, Liam picked himself up and led Moose further away. They needed to leave this range quickly. On the other side was the stay-away zone. Maybe he’d find some help there.

Only after that would he choose what to do next. Once he’d gained some semblance of a clue about what he had to worry about in Candyland. When the night came, Liam let Moose cuddle in his sleeping bag. Just a couple more days. Hang on for a couple more. Things will get easier. Try not to worry about how much milk you have left. You’ll find something.