The Quest For Confections

The Quest For Confections

         Eredell looked towards the frosted peaks with determination. As she stared towards the great peaks of Roee, her journey flashed before her eyes: The trek alongside the caravan, the grueling months spent training for her arduous task, the constant berating from her instructors, and finally, her descent into the valley of Cochlea To. Now she stood mere miles from her goal. Shouldering her pack once more, she began walking towards the Roee mountains with a sense of pride. She would be the first to discover the one source of nourishment that would quench The Burning.
         The Burning was a feeling caught in between hunger and satiation. Eredell's tribe have recorded its effects for centuries. It has caused slight irritation, impatience, indecisiveness, and existential crisis. Her people have never sated The Burning. No known cuisine has ever cured The Burning.
         This is why Eredell set forth on her hopeless quest. She felt The Burning, but she also felt The Calling. It was foretold by her people's eldest shamans that a chosen would feel The Calling after The Burning. This chosen must venture forth and find the One Snack that would end The Burning for all of the people.
         Eredell never liked the idea of being the chosen. The fever dreams of snow covered mountains and round disks never helped her sleep and the elder craveweavers of her village never left her alone after they discovered her destiny. Months of training and spiritual rituals prepared Eredell for her journey, and it has finally neared its end.
         Through the valley Eredell carved her path through its thickets and small frostbitten trails. A woman of the frozen part of this world, Eredell did not give notice to the frigid temperatures, but merely ensured her coat was properly adjusted to protect her from the biting winds.
         At the feet of the mountains, Eredell stopped one final time to gaze upon them. From here, she could only see the rising side of the mountains with the peaks hidden from her sight. She turned her head back towards the path directly before here and began her ascension. Roee was relentless.
         Battered with gale winds, endless snow, and treacherous footing, Eredell used everyone ounce of strength and will to force her way up the mountainside. After what seemed like days, she reached a point of calm. She could see the peaks. As clear as a warm summer day, the sky provided a pristine background for the magnificence of the peaks of Roee.
         Completely ignoring the beauty that stretched before her like an expansive mosaic, Eredell charged towards a nearby cave she spotted while she was supposed to be admiring the peaks. Inside she found her goal. On a worn pedestal engraved with indiscernible markings in a language lost to antiquity, Eredell gazed upon a blue rectangular container.
         The plastic wrapping of the container was draped in centuries of dust. Eredell approached cautiously. The cave was nondescript, barren except for the lone pedestal, it appeared as if devoid of any disturbance for many, many years.
         Eredell picked up the container unsure of what to do with it. Despite her uncertainty—because this certainly wasn't what she was expecting—she felt a sense of triumph.

         “Yes!” she shouted, “I have finally obtained it, The One!”
         
         As she excitedly praised herself after discovering the location of a container of cookies, the ground shook beneath her feet.

         The pedestal had disappeared and the cave was beginning to crumble. As stalactites and  other pieces of rock fell from the ceiling, she quickly exited the cave. She ran down the mountain precisely the way she had come, leaving the beautiful peaks that she blissfully ignored earlier behind her. As she hastily retreated from the pure beauty of the mountaintops, around her the world itself seemed to be crumbling. Eredell fell.
         She fell for a time and when she awoke, she knew nothing of what had occurred other than her entire body ached. Eredell also noted that the blue container was not lost, but only a few feet away from her. As she picked up the cookies, she opened the packaging. Inside were rows and rows of cookies. Between two chocolate disks sat satisfaction, and the end of The Burning. Eredell threw her head back and laughed.
         Eredell hummed a nameless tune during her trek back toward her home village with the One Snack found, she could now cure her people of their desire for junk food forever.