Title: A Very Small Wish

Characters: Baron, Muta, Toto, Haru, plus some OCs

Summary: A pleading request from a parent whose daughter has been cursed by a resentful witch is nothing truly out of the ordinary for the Cat Bureau— in fact, it might be so common so as to be routine— so why does something feel inherently off about this particular one?

Notes: Written for the TCR Secret Santa this year! The prompt I chose was 'the bureau meets a witch/Baba Yaga', which I was, ngl, low-key stoked to work on laughs

There are six chapters in all. Later chapters are not entirely finished yet, so I may post somewhat slowly and in small parts, sorry. Most of everything except the last two chapters is written.

I also apologize bc not only is this the first time I'm writing for these particular characters, and this many characters laughs, but I also worry it takes a bit to really Get Going orz

Ch. 1: The Very Pretty Vanya Creature

There have been a relatively healthy number of visitors to the Cat Bureau since Haru's memorable rescue from the Cat Kingdom, and many have boasted much stranger forms than the one currently pleading his case before them all, and yet Haru finds herself unable to relax in his presence, much less take her eyes off him. Even the Cat Kingdom, with its unfamiliarity and… unhinged king, had not matched the levels of uncanny this particular creature emits.

He had shown up on the Bureau's door with something of a showman's flourish, introducing himself immediately as 'the very pretty Vanya creature', and as a traveler from a realm named Oostal. He'd then started weeping and demanded their listening ears. (Baron, being the soft-hearted philanthropist he was, could never have found it in himself to turn anyone away, much less one such anyone in the middle of an apparent nervous breakdown.)

"—targeted my beloved daughter is what she did," the 'very pretty Vanya creature' is now in the middle of lamenting, both his tiny paws covered in an ivory-colored handkerchief, which he occasionally uses to wipe at his teary eyes. The lace hem sewn onto the silk is slightly tattered. "I knew of no other place to turn to! She has given me only 47 hours, the dirty troublemaker!"

"Please calm down, Mr. Vanya. I assure you, we'll figure something out. More tea, perhaps? Tissues..?"

Vanya waves his paw and shakes his head. "No, no, those aren't necessary." And, then, after a pause, "Though I will take more tea. Thank you."

Baron graciously refills the fox's teacup, before continuing. "Now. Do correct me if I have the details wrong, but I believe you are requesting assistance in lifting a curse that's been placed upon your daughter."

Vanya, loudly slurping his tea, stops abruptly to nod vivaciously (nearly sloshing what little tea remains in the cup all over himself). "Yes, that's precisely it! A curse. Me and little Virtuous Siree are nothing more than entertainment for her— she runs out of funny things to watch and turns to torment us normal folk."

"The witch," Baron supplies helpfully, with a questioning edge to it just in case his assumption is wrong.

"The witch!" Vanya echoes in a mournful sob, again burying his face into what must by now be a drenched handkerchief. (In doing so, of course, his neglected cup of tea flies from his paw and shatters on the floor. The only saving grace is that there's mere drops of tea left in it. How Baron is keeping his composure, Haru isn't certain, but perhaps Muta is eyeing the stranger with enough barely-concealed repugnance for the both of them.)

To herself, she only briefly contemplates how she no longer remembers what it was like to be the Haru who would have been surprised at the existence of witches and talking foxes with unearthly vibes.

"This curse— I'm gathering this witch has given you a chance to break it should you choose to undertake her challenges. Are those challenges what you've come seeking assistance with?"

Muta gives a snorting scoff from his lounging spot in the arm chair opposite Baron. "What kinda witch allows their victims to seek outside help, uh?"

"This one does," Vanya answers blithely, either not catching Muta's disbelieving tone or… simply not caring. He appears to look around himself, most likely for his teacup, before spying it lying broken on the floor below him. Eyebrows knitting to form a remorseful expression, he leans forward to pick it back up, an action that appears to catch Baron off-guard.

"Now, that's not necessary— should you desire more tea, I can certainly retrieve a new cup for you—"

But Vanya only smiles at him, so widely that his eyes narrow to near slits and his fluffy cheeks puff out. "Waste not."

The complacent calm Haru was beginning to feel is abruptly once again besieged by unease.

She just doesn't understand it. There is nothing particularly bizarre or eerie about his appearance, not by talking animal standards. He stands somewhat awkwardly on his hind legs much like the cats of the Cat Kingdom do, and is clad in a long coat hemmed in ornate floral patterns that tug at some half-remembered knowledge somewhere in Haru's memory. His ears are too big for him. His tail is too long. His large black eyes stand out starkly against the creamy white of his fur. Yet still, for all intents and purposes, he is only a normal fox who happens to speak. And wear clothes. And drink tea.

...Well, she had specified he was normal by talking animal standards.

In the meantime, the conversation seems to have moved on to these challenges the witches had set forth in order to break the curse upon his daughter.

"There are three tasks in all," Vanya explains, then clears his throat, effecting a distinctly grande tone and something like a poetic cadence. "Bring me these things three, and I shall abide— the summer berry which grows in the wintry forest, unaware of what time has passed. The clever Top-Top egg which understands the value of blending in, yet no jewels nor gold has it amassed. And an eye from the Lindenflower Beast. Its fatal repayment has long since been cast."

In the thoughtful silence that remains after his… well, performance, Vanya lets it linger for a full thirty seconds, and then immediately returns to messily slurping his tea. (Baron doesn't recall refilling the broken cup.)

"Figures a witch would phrase her demands in a riddle," Muta eventually deadpans.

"It's a good thing we're not relying on you to solve it," Toto quips.

Muta turns swiftly to glare at the crow, but his irate retort will have to remain a mystery, as Vanya cheerfully speaks up again.

"Oh, I've solved the riddle."

"Wh— you have..?"

"I have!"

"And... how long has it been since the witch inflicted your daughter with this curse and imposed these tasks upon you in exchange for peace?"

Vanya pauses to count on his paws, but the fact he has only four tiny claws means the attempt is quickly abandoned for the futility it is. Instead, he moves to ostensibly counting the hours in his head, and for so long that the Bureau are all bracing for the unpromising news.

"Three hours and twelven-teen minutes."

"...That's all..?" Muta sounds skeptical.

"You must be brilliant at riddles," Haru says.

"And traveling." A pointed observation from Toto.

Vanya seems to bask in these comments, clearly missing some of their more dubious, questioning elements. Baron, meanwhile, with the practiced air of an unflappable counselor, speaks up to turn the conversation back to its roots.

"This is quite auspicious news, Mr. Vanya. With no need to devote time to puzzling out the witch's riddle, we can focus purely on the tasks she's assigned to you in order to lift your daughter's curse. Do you mind giving us a more tangible summation of these three tasks, then?"

"No minding! How would the very helpful Cat Bureau do their helpfulness if Vanya has not told them what helpfulness they're doing?"

"In… Indeed."

"The summer berry is simple! In Oostal, there exists a forest known as the Sown. Eternal snowfall in those parts, including the forest, but rumors abound of a hidden surplus of hollies growing within its boundaries somewhere, as the rumored inhabitants must subsist off of something." Distractedly, Vanya wiggles the loose handle on his teacup, seemingly none the wiser to the surprised silence emanating from his companions. "Second— the Top-Top is long gone, but their glorious factory lies in ruins still. And the pretty eggs still linger, too, I imagine. It was such an abrupt denouement."

"I guess that one's a little less of a riddle, then, if you know what a Top-Top is," Toto remarks.

Vanya seems to snap out of his content, confident haze then, fixing Toto with a wide-eyed and disappointed look. "Is it? Oh, that's a shame."

When he turns his attention back to the shattered teacup, it's with furrowed brows and his predictable wounded air. "...maybe that one was too obvious. Oh, well."

"...and the third? This Lindenflower Beast..?" Baron eventually prompts again.

"The Lindenflower Beast! Well, that one is the trickiest."

"Oh? How so?"

"Because there is no Lindenflower Beast," Vanya answers succinctly. Some faint amusement seems to glitter in his dark eyes, and his ensuing laugh is shrill. Muta winces; it does little to endear him any more to this peculiar character. "No creature exists that has ever borne the name Lindenflower Beast, not in modernity nor in myth! But! There did once exist one Lubov, a benevolent guardian of the mountains the Oostaliworlders of old adored. So adored was it, they all gathered together to discuss how best to repay it for its boundless kindness."

"The, ah, fatal repayment, I assume."

"Mm! They all thought to themselves— 'why not a beautiful home?' So they built a wonderful, most opulent house around it, and it starved to death while trying to find the way out. So that was a downer, I am sure."

'Downer' seemed somewhat like an understatement, Haru thought to herself in distant sympathy for all involved with this mythical fiasco. What a terrible story.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions, as some like to say in our realm," Toto notes.

"And the eye we must obtain from this creature..?"

"By most accounts, the Lubov had no eyes," Vanya continues blithely.

"Then how are we supposed to—"

"Do not despair, Mr. Moo!" Muta bristles at this 'nickname', much to Toto's amusement. "The Lubov was long reputed to have the ability to see through lies and enchantments, right to the very heart of its visitors. Eyes are not necessary for that kind of sight, but magic is. And the Lubov had no shortage of that."

"So the legends say, I assume."

"Yes. The Lubov may be long gone from Oostal, but its magic still remains. In its final moments of despair, it created a relic into which it poured all of its secrets before finally perishing, and that relic is rumored to still lie in the Lubov's resting place. It is just a matter of fetching it!"

Final moments of despair. Again Haru's heart aches for this creature and the misunderstanding which led to its demise.

"So, you've figured everything out all on your own in record time, good for you. What are you bothering us with it for?"

Vanya appears rather perturbed by Muta's apparent lack of investment in his plight, and, to himself, Baron finds he can't blame him. He folds his hands in his lap, canting his head toward his associate pointedly as he responds. "I assume our client had hoped that we might assist him in the retrieval of these three items so that he will pass muster with the time limit imposed upon him, Muta. Is that correct, Mr. Vanya?"

"Yes! Correct! The prettiest Vanya creature is smart and fast, but not to that degree! To save The Most Virtuous Siree, I'm seeking the timely assistance."

"Yeah, yeah, alright," Muta grumbles to himself, crossing his arms and slouching even more than he was already. "Still think it's weird this witchy gal didn't put any restrictions on getting outside help."

"...I agree. It is truly odd that this witch would find no issue in you receiving help from others in order to accomplish her tasks," Baron muses. "You're quite certain of this exemption, then?"

"Didja get it in writing?" Muta adds dubiously.

"But of course," Vanya says in his already characteristic impugned way. "I'm no fool, I'll have you know! Not only did I get it in writing, I got it signed! On official witchy paper!"

"Excellent. But we should like to see that paper, if you don't mind. Just to be certain of its contents."

"It's at home," Vanya says with an injured sniff. "Virtuous Siree is looking after it and the house. I must return to her at once, you know. No soul in their right mind will come to a home wherein a monster dwells, but first they have to know."

"Yes, of course. It seems there's little time to spare; we should leave just as soon as the requisite preparations are completed. Do you mind waiting?"

"No. But I do catch the unmistakable scent of cinnamon rolls somewhere in this room, and they do happen to be my very favorite…"

Judging from Muta's indignant expression, he is not at all willing to share those clandestine cinnamon rolls.

"That's an old scent. Already ate 'em all," he claims.

Vanya sighs exaggeratedly, stirring… whatever he now has in his still-broken half of a teacup (with a spoon no one had given to him, no less). "Oh, that's too bad. It's poor little Virtuous Siree's favorite, too. She's been inconsolable since her horrific transformation. She does her best to hide it from me, but a father knows. I just know it would have brought just the tiniest modicum of joy to my little Virtuous Siree— just imagining her trembling, feeble attempt at a smile as she bears this undeserved curse so bravely brings tears to my eyes—!" Another nonchalant sip. "Oh, well."

If Muta were a balloon, he'd be deflated and limp on the Burea's floor by now, ears flat against his head, arms crossed tightly in reluctance, and all with an expression that speaks to perhaps the most tremendous war waged in the Bureau tonight— that between his growing enmity toward the Vanya creature and that little gold heart he's always so hasty to repudiate.

"Alright, alright..! Twist my arm until it pops off, why don't you-! ...I'll bring some goodies for the baby…"

"Excellent! Magnificent! …Make sure they don't dry out, too."

Muta only scarcely glimpses the look on Haru's face before pointedly looking away with a surly 'hmph'— while she hadn't entirely purposefully meant to rib him, she's certainly not at all surprised some of her amusement must have shown through.

You big softie, she's thinking to herself affectionately, and he knows it.

Baron, too, seems to be sporting something of a muted smile at the expected surrender, setting his teacup down and dusting off his hands once or twice.

"Well. Time and tide wait for no man, as they say. We'll be right with you, Mr. Vanya."

"Oh, I'll have an entrance waiting, then," Vanya responds casually, and silence settles over the group. At times like this, Toto thinks to himself, it becomes quite unfortunately clear how much of a tight ship they do... not run. Baron is, naturally, quite adept at concealing his own feelings on this over-reliance on serendipity and fortuity, to the point even Toto himself isn't entirely sure what they consist of.

Now, however, Vanya is glancing between the four of them with a muddled look, the smaller half of his fractured teacup lying absently in his lap. No one's quite sure where the other half went.

"Perfect," Baron quickly responds in cordial agreement before anyone else can.

Later, clad in a long secondhand coat which contrasts humorously with the mild early autumn weather, Haru finds herself wandering to Toto's side. He and Baron have forgone the preventive seasonal wear, perhaps understandably so.

Out a little distance away, Vanya had taken out a trio of oil pastels (at least, what appear to be oil pastels by Haru's approximation) and now kneels on the cobblestones busily drawing shapes and symbols directly onto them.

Toto turns to her with a good-natured, but characteristically sharp, eye. "...You know, you don't have to come with us, Haru. You were just visiting for tea today. I don't think wandering off to yet another fantastical realm and getting into a potential hassle was part of your plans today."

"I want to come," Haru counters, linking her hands behind her. "Who knows? Maybe I'll save you guys this time, ha."

"Maybe," Toto agrees readily enough.

A subdued silence descends over them, then, their attention collectively focused on Muta and Vanya, the former of which is eyeing the symbols with unabashed skepticism.

"You barely said a word through everything earlier, Toto," Haru remarks lightly after a moment. "What are your thoughts about all this?" About the Vanya creature, she doesn't say, but she's sure he's canny enough to pick up on it anyway.

The avian Creation doesn't respond immediately, his eyes following the indirect subject of their conversation as he busily draws his shapes and symbols on the pavement in front of the Sanctuary. It's when Vanya pushes himself back up into an eager standing position and stomps his foot three times, and the cobblestones appear to fold outwards one by one, that Toto gives a short, humorless laugh and shakes his head.

"My thoughts are that it's too early to act on any assumptions. And also that this case is going to be a curious one."

"Well, that's always a given."

"I guess it is," he responds good-naturedly.

Vanya is gesturing proudly to the 'portal' he's made for a gobsmacked Muta. It doesn't take long for him to turn to Haru and Toto, as well, and motion excitedly for them to admire his handiwork, too. Toto sighs, stretching his wings.

"Let's get on with it, then. That time limit's still ticking away."