Chapter Text
The jolt of the plane hitting the ground jolted Pure Vanilla awake. It took him a second to register that he had fallen asleep, and as the color and light flooded in, the truth of where he was came just as fast.
The plane had just landed in the worst place in the world, the Shadow Kingdom. Just as he came to that conclusion, an announcement was made to the passengers:
“Welcome to the Shadow Kingdom. Local time 4:29 PM and an outside temperature of negative 15 degrees Celsius outside!" A cheery voice came, “Please start gathering your bags as the plane has stopped moving.”
Negative 15 degrees? Pure Vanilla cringed and slid off his seatbelt, standing up and pulling his bag out from under the seat. He checked the extra legroom area for anything else and made his way to the open door
He thanked the pilot and flight attendants before making the slow tread through customs before finally finding baggage claim. He pulled out his phone and sent a message to the driver that was to take him to hell… or in other words, boarding school, which was where he was to stay until his eyes healed.
His eyes.
That’s why he was even there. The dark and gloominess of the Shadow Kingdom was supposed to help speed recovery after the surgery.
Now, Pure Vanilla had been blind all his life, his staff giving him the ability to see the basics, but it wasn’t the same. That’s why he agreed to it. That’s why he was there.
The phone buzzed in Pure Vanilla’s hand and he noted that the driver was there.
He looked up (via staff) to see the driver walk towards him.
“What bags are yours?” He asked without preamble.
“Just that one,” Pure Vanilla said, pointing out the big suitcase and pulling his backpack onto his shoulders from where it was resting at his feet.
“The car’s out front,” the driver said, walking towards the door.
Pure Vanilla followed, zipping up his jacket and tucking away his phone.
The freezing air hit his face with a sting as he stepped into the parking lot. The sky was dark, but hints of color were peaking through.
There were a bunch of tall towers, Spires, as they were called out here, all dusted with snow.
Snow.
It was usually too warm for snow in the Vanilla Kingdom, and the sight of the small white flecks amazed the blonde. Not like he could see very well, but all of the sensations of cold and snow almost made up for the lack.
“It’s the black car over there,” said the driver.
“Umm, yeah,” Pure Vanilla muttered. With the snow, he could barely see 20 feet in front of him “I’ll follow you,”
The man shrugged and walked into the gloom. Pure Vanilla followed and they made it to the black car. He opened the door to the back seat before opening the trunk and putting in the suitcase.
“You can go in,”
“Oh- okay. Thank you,” Pure Vanilla mumbled, sitting in the backseat and closing the door.
A few seconds later, the truck closed and the man went back to the driver’s seat. “About a three-and-a-half hour drive to your destination,” he said professionally.
Pure Vanilla nodded and the car started to move.
—— —— —— ——
“Thanks for driving me,” Pure Vanilla said.
“It’s my job.”
Pure Vanilla smiled and closed the door before crossing the driveway to where a staff member with a clipboard was standing.
“Hello dear, what’s your name?” She asked.
“P-Pure Vanilla Cookie, from the V-Vanilla kingdom,” he stuttered.
The woman looked down at her clipboard. “Vanilla,” she muttered before finding his name, “alright, let me show you to your dorm.”
Pure Vanilla followed her into the school and she pointed out where the dining hall was, the different classrooms. He tried his best to remember where everything was, but the place seemed to go on indefinitely.
Finally, they got to the dorms.
“The curfew is in dorms at 9:00 and lights out by 10:00” the woman said before handing Pure Vanilla a key and a copy of his schedule
“Okay, thanks,” Pure Vanilla said, taking them.
“Well, I’ll see you in class,” she said and walked back down the hall.
Pure Vanilla took a deep breath and opened the door.
The room was big and symmetrical. Two big windows, two desks, and two beds were on opposite sides, mirroring each other, with a big fireplace in the middle. Someone sat on the bed that was on the left side, an open suitcase in front of him.
“Hello,” Pure Vanilla said, setting his suitcase on the desk on the right side.
“H-hi,” he said, “I took this side, by you can have it if you want,”
“You can have it,” Pure Vanilla said to his new roommate.
They unpacked their stuff in a silence that wasn’t bad. Pure Vanilla could tell that his roommate, Dark Cacao Cookie, as was listed on his housing form, also didn’t want to be there, even though he hid it well.
Once they finished unpacking, Pure Vanilla had some free time, probably the only time until the holiday break.
He climbed onto his bed and pulled out his sketchbook. He really only drew when nobody was around, but Dark Cacao was already under a pile of blankets with his phone, probably not to come out for a while.
Since he couldn’t see, Pure Vanilla drew without his staff, picturing the paper and drawing with his eyes closed. It was how he wrote, but writing and drawing were two different things.
He let all of his homesickness onto the page. Now that there was nothing to do, all he could think about was the sadness.
He really missed home.
He had let a few tears escape on the car ride, but in the dark when there was nothing but the glow of the fireplace, the tears dripped freely from his unseeing eyes, down his face, and onto the paper in his lap. His breathing soon became unstable and he had to bury his face in his pillow to not be heard.
It was just the prospect of staying in this dark, frozen world that was so different from the bright, warm, happy place that was so far away.