A/N: I did it! I was able to edit the work I was supposed to send yesterday. I could not embody everything I wanted in it, but I decided to make a plot at least, otherwise it would forever remain in unfinished ones. But despite all this, I hope you can enjoy this work. And I wish you a good day/night!
Prompt 1
Nobility & Aristocracy
Summary: A day from the week of balls dedicated to the holiday in honor of the victory over enemy soldiers, in which the request to shelter the daughter of one acquaintance appears
Summer time and victory over enemy soldiers brought many holidays to the kingdom, and happiness to the townspeople.
And a week of balls was arranged for the aristocrats. No one knew exactly where in their kingdom so much money came from, and no one wanted to know.
Today was just the second day of ball, and many aristocrats had lively conversations.
Unless a little further from this group, there was a young aristocrat who seemed to be immersed in his thoughts, absolutely not listening to what the local spretnitsa, Miss Brooklyn, was telling him.
"Humbert, are you listening to me?" Ms. Brooklyn asked, which made the young baron finally attract attention.
"Excuse me," answered the baron shaking his head, "Just working moments. So what did you talk about?," - and asked with a polite as far as his skills allowed, a smile.
And this definitely influenced the lady, because she again began to tell the young master new gossip. Of course, he listened to her through words, dreaming of being somewhere else with fewer people.
.. "And now, another rumor, one of my acquaintances recently told how another friend told her that her Robin Hood started up in the southern forests"
The baron's ear twitched a little, and with curiosity he asked, "Are there any more rumors about him?"
"As the nickname implies, he helps those in need, and fights evil. But what seemed strange and remarkable to me, according to people who met him, could not be said that he is a master of fencing if they did not see everything with their own eyes. Many even thought that he was sick because of the fragile appearance"
"Often the appearance of people is deceptive," the baron answered her shaking his head.
"Then, so their words may turn out to be true?" Ms. Brooklyn asked sincerely.
"I can't say without meeting a person in person, and without missing a couple of welcome receptions"
"Exactly, you are also a fencer..." - and only Miss Brooklyn, wanted to finish her next question, as his friend Thomas called him, but among his friends he was Toto. Turning away, he headed in his direction.
"I see you enjoyed your time, Baron" commented Toto, conversation between Baron and Miss Brooklyn.
"Just one interesting rumor. But other than that, I'm grateful you got me out of there"
"It's not news that you impress the ladies, I heard that sometimes young men," - Toto remarked with sarcasm, from which the persistent baron shuddered, awakening in his head unpleasant memories that his friend, it would seem, was not going to forget - "And what rumors are now circulating among the people?"
"Robin Hood appeared in the southern forests" - answered the baron, pulling himself together.
"Is there someone impressive than you on the horizon?" - Toto asked, with a grin, - "It's definitely refreshing"
Then something changed for a second in Toto's facial expressions, but he quickly returned to his old one and looked at his friend, - "And he interested you?"
"I'm not going to purposefully look for him, but if I ever manage to meet, it would be nice to have a couple of discussions"
"I think this is not so impossible," Toto muttered to himself, and went on to why he called the baron, "Baron, you don't mind if a young lady is staying on your estate, she is the daughter of a duke living on the border, and came to the holiday for debut, but she has absolutely nowhere to stop, all the seats were booked by other families. In addition, her father assured me that the girl is modest and polite, and should not jump into your arms at the first sight of you."
"If she does not pursue me, then everything is fine" - only the baron answered.
"And if the opposite is true" - but Toto said in his ear - "she should arrive tomorrow, morning, deadline tomorrow by lunchtime"
The Baron counted in his mind, and this time came to..., - "Arrival will be at the time of tea"
Toto smiled, because he knew what lunchtime was associated with with his friend. He walked a little with his eyes, through the banquet hall, and as he expected, everyone was busy, and did not specifically seek their attention, - "Will you still stay today?"
"No, and you just gave me a reason not to stay here anymore."
After a little more chat, the baron and Toto said goodbye and the young master went to his home. Having given the last orders where and how to arrange them as a guest, he brewed his tea mixture, it came out perfect, "Perhaps this is a sign," the baron thought, but then drove away this thought and went to bed, because tomorrow is another difficult day.
As befits a good hospitable owner, the baron got up earlier, gave the last clarifying orders about food. Prepared his mixture. As expected, the girl arrived at dinner.
A little clumsily (and fortunately for her, without falling to the ground) she was able to descend from the koreta, and admired the simple but elegant house, or rather the estate, - "Wow!" - said the brunette with a glint in her eyes, looking at the details of the estate. Until a large man approached and put his hand on her shoulder, this made her look at him, but he only smiled slyly - "Chickie, you are going to continue to look at the house when you have its owner in front of you!?"
"Exactly, manners" - the girl came to her senses, and turning her gaze from her man to the waiting baronet, the brunette blushed. If the girl thought a minute ago that the estate was impressive, then its owner definitely surpassed her parameters of impressiveness, - "Haru Yoshioka from the county..." - she introduced herself stuttering.
The girl's reaction alerted him despite Toto's words, because he had an unpleasant experience with this type of girl. But then someone grunted, as if realizing his fears, and added, "Chicken number two, do not pay attention to the reaction, Chickie, despite the fact that you impressed her more than your house, she is not going to chase your honor"
"Muta" -Lept the blushing Haru, hearing the words of her attendant.
Realizing that all his fears were in vain, he remembered his manners - "Everything is in order, Miss Haru! Thinking I should introduce myself too, I'm Baron Humbert von Gikkingen and you're in my domain. And right now, let's go inside, I'm pretty sure the tea is almost cold"
Muta grimaced - "Boiled Grass"
"In the kitchen, they should serve fresh pastries to him," - the baron recalled, not realizing that he had made an argument for manipulation.
"Where's your dining room?" - Muta asked, picking up the lady's bags.
"Follow me and leave suitcases for my people, they'll know what to do about it'
Muta gave things to the man who approached him. And the baron followed his ward.
Tables did not break from food, but it was enough to feed everyone. (Especially given Muta's appetite) And when the time came for a special mixture, the baron did not start an intricate conversation. About the Duchy, about the land on which she grew up, about the family, in general about the people around her. From time to time he inserted facts about himself, until he moved on to a more interesting topic - "Miss Haru, will you be present at tonight?"
"Yes, I promised Mr. Arrigton"
Baron had never before considered that it would be alien to him that his friend was being addressed so formally - "Would you rather go to a party together?"
For some reason, this question made the girl shudder, but the baron did not understand the reason. After all, it seems he did not give reasons for fear. But for Haru, it would be problematic if they went whole, hiding most of the nervousness, she replied, "Hmm, I need to look into my friend's boutique, I promised her."
"Clearly, then I must warn that I also cannot go together, I need to complete things" - said the baron nodding, but the girl's nervousness only increased, and with some apprehension she asked, - "In the capital?"
"No, just performing the duties of the right hand, crown prince"
"That's how" -and here for some reason the atmosphere became awkward and silent.
The baron carried out the instructions of the crown prince, as he was attacked, he was able to fight back, and proceed with the pursuit, followed by a retaliatory attack. From which the attackers retreated, the baron followed them and lost, but found them again only already connected. He later interrogated them, and received some information. It seems that the same "Robin Hood" was in their area, but he did not meet with him, and according to the words of those lower robbers, they were able to injure him a little.
Having handed them over to the nearest soldiers, the baron returned and looked for "Robin Hood," and as he expected, he was gone. Or he was not injured enough to prevent him from moving, or there was someone else who helped him. With these reflections, the baron went on the third day of ball, but on the way he drove to the estate to change clothes.
‘Well, I think this link is stupid.’ grumbled Haru as she stirred a spoon around in her tea.
‘I think that it’s rather appropriate that you appear to be linked to someone as clumsy as you.’ smirked Hiromi as she swirled her straw around in her own drink copying Haru.
On a person’s 16th birthday an emphatic link would connect them to their soulmate. This would mean that they would be able to feel their pain and strong emotions.
‘Maybe so.’ conceded Haru ‘but I still think it’s stupid. I mean how are you supposed to find each other?’
‘What would you suggest instead?’ asked Hiromi.
‘I don’t know. A name tattooed on my body or something so we could interact with each other?’ she sighed.
‘Hmmm.’ her best friend hummed ‘I hear that it helps couples’ bond. You hear of expectant fathers experiencing morning sickness.’
‘Do you think that really happened?’ replied Haru ‘Anyway it still doesn’t help with finding them, does it.’
Hiromi studied her best friend as she took a slurp on her milkshake.
‘So, what is the real reason you’re so grumpy Ru?’ she asked.
Haru’s shoulders slumped.
‘I don’t think Machida is my soulmate.’ she murmured.
‘What makes you think that?’ replied Hiromi.
‘As you said my soulmate is either clumsy like me or they can’t help getting themselves into situations. Machida isn’t like that.’ she responded.
‘True but he does play sports. He could easily get bumps and bruises from that.’ suggested Hiromi as she began circling one of her wrists.
‘Yeah, that’s true.’ nodded Haru before her attention was drawn to Hiromi’s movement. ‘Is that still bothering you?’
‘Yeah. I thought it was to do with lacrosse but I’m starting to suspect it’s not my pain.’ she replied.
‘Maybe your soulmate is that table tennis player at school who caught your eye.’ giggled Haru.
Hiromi seemed to perk up.
‘You really think so?’ she replied.
Haru just shrugged her shoulders.
‘Who knows.’ she smiled.
‘Hmph.’ huffed Hiromi ‘Maybe I should just go and speak to him. We are both such wimps. Too afraid we are wrong!’
‘I’m pretty certain that I am.’ sighed Haru.
She then sat back suddenly and sniffed.
‘Can you smell …’ she began.
‘Haru your hair!’ interrupted Hiromi, her eyes going wide.
Haru lifted her fingers up to the hair resting against her forehead, feeling the singed ends. What the heck!
‘Still think it’s Machida?’ she asked tiredly.
‘Maybe he got too close to some birthday candles?’ responded Hiromi, not believing her own suggestion.
‘Yeah right.’ muttered Haru ‘Does it look really bad?’
‘It’s not really noticeable but we should probably give you a trim.’ replied Hiromi.
Haru sighed getting up to follow her best friend.
‘My soulmate is a menace.’ she grumbled.
The beauty of being a creation is that injuries weren’t really an issue. Bruising was pretty much non-existent as the healing process would kick in quickly. Sure, the initial pain was never pleasant, but it wouldn’t last long before it was forgotten. Unfortunately, this made Baron reckless.
He threw himself into situations that no mortal would consider safe. Most of the time he could land with the grace of the cat within him but other times he would twist awkwardly sending shooting pains through his body.
Baron wasn’t sure when he began to feel emphatic pain. His life between inanimate wood and flesh and blood had made him believe that he wouldn’t have a soulmate. Especially when there were so few creations in the world. He had been blindsided when the link had formed. Was it possible his soulmate wasn’t a creation? When such thoughts crossed his mind, he would shake them away. He may be able to cross between worlds but finding his soulmate amongst them would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Occasionally he felt odd knocks and bumps, and he knew weren’t his doing but as soon as they occurred the pain was slipping away.
The first time Baron had felt a strong emphatic pain reaction he had been alone in the Bureau. He had just stood up from his desk to go outside to speak with Toto when the sensation of somersaulting hit him. He hissed as his knees felt like they had hit the ground hard. His one hand pressed down on top of his desk to steady himself as he brought up the other to his cheek. He felt like he had been smacked by some sort of vegetation and fully expected to find blood. His white glove came away clean.
‘What on earth was that?’ he murmured to himself.
The second time Baron felt a strong reaction he nearly toppled across the cobbles of the courtyard had it not been for his cane. The pain in his knees hadn’t been as bad as the previous time. He had been more surprised by the spike to jealousy and longing that had shot through his body. He could no longer deny the fact that he was linked to someone.
Haru sat on the ground looking in dismay at the rubbish she had dropped everywhere after having fallen over the barrier. Her attention had fully been on Machida and not her surroundings. She didn’t need any further confirmation that Machida definitely wasn’t her soulmate. He hadn’t even noticed her fall, too wrapped up in the petite girl at his side, let alone feeling any emphatic pain. Haru stood up and brushed down her skirt before she began to collect all the items she had dropped but soon became distracted. Wasn’t that one of those strange cats from the previous night?
Baron wasn’t coping well. He could deal with the emphatic pain that occasionally occurred but the strong emotions that came through were harder to ignore. They weren’t exactly things he had experienced himself – fear and panic. He was grateful when a young girl stumbled into the Refuge. It had been some time since their last client.
A/N:Uh, on a free day, I wanted to use the idea for the original work, but it had to be too long. And this was by design shorter, plus this year, I tried to promote the topic with potions, but it did not come to the vote, so I took this opportunity.
P.S. I feel uncomfortable, as this is the first time I've ever written anything close to the Natori/the Cat King pairing.
Prompt 2
Free day
Summary: Louise, having served her sentence, returns to herself for another offense, and discovers that one potion is missing.
Louise already wanted to scream out of boredom, sitting in a makeshift prison for her punishment. When were steps hear and fuss with the lock.
Hearing the cherished sounds, the blonde jumped up almost losing her balance. When the door opened, she was greeted by the disgruntled face of Tsumaki, one of the king's men.
"Well, Miss Louise, have you reconsidered your behavior?" - he asked sharply.
Depicting repentance, Louise told him, - "Of course, Mr. Tsumaki. Being here away from people and everything inappropriate, I was able to think about a lot and reconsider my attitude to some things," - at the end the girl depicted the awareness of something great, but in her head she kept a different answer, - "Of course not, donkey! As if locking me away from toys makes me fluffy and easygoing."
The temporary warden presented to her, looked at her for a minute, and stepped aside to let her pass, and said with a sigh, "It's very good that now you are aware, but henceforth, I hope I don't have to meet with you to determine the punishment for your actions."
"I promise you won't have to," Louise told him firmly, "because I'll get rid of you before I get punished."
"I hope you don't lie, and you can go, the king expects that you can soon come in and please with a report about a new potion treating a cat's flu"
"Necessarily, Mr. Tsumaki" - nodding in farewell, Louise elegantly left, restraining the desire to dance, because her treasure awaited her in her lair.
But Tsumaki, a striped cat, for another minute a flock watching the cat's behavior from the council of advisers to his majesty, - "And why do we still keep her in the palace?"
"Because despite this, she is a good adviser, and besides, Humbert's sister" - explained to him a voice, turning to the source, namely Natori, the king's personal adviser and the most important thing for them.
"Yes, she does a good job," agreed Tsumaki, though his mustache twitched irritably, "but it would be nice if she didn't create problems"
Natori agreed with him, like all the cats in the palace, "No one can fix this, even Humbert himself, by personal admission, could not."
"It is a pity that this is so. Are you going to his majesty?"
"Yes, I need to include a report on the number of fish in the lake, it is rapidly decreasing."
"Is the culprit coming soon?"
"Perhaps," Natori replied, and on this they said goodbye.
Entering her lair, the snow-white cat took a deep breath, breathing in the smell of herbs that she had been missing all this week while she was imprisoned.
Purposefully heading to a certain nook, she found her little assistant, the creamy kitten Kimi, sleeping at her table. Lightly rubbing his paw, the kitten woke up and looked at her with sleepy eyes, recognizing her, Kimi perked up.
"Miss, have you been released?"
"Yes, they can't keep me locked in for long, they need me" - Louise wore her hair on the kitten's head before spotting an empty potion pot,-"Where's my project?"
Having scoured the papers on the table, Kimi handed Louise an expensive piece of paper folded in half - "Saki came here and gave an assessment of the potion"
Louise accepted the paper, after reading it, she sighed in disappointment, because this potion was for her stupid brother, who could not have the courage to confess to Haru. Therefore, she decided to take everything in her paws and create a potion of truth, although for the most part it should force Humbert to be open in his feelings.
But according to Saka, it's a potion.... Louise noticed the absence of one jar, - "Kimi, did anyone take this potion?"
"Natoru stopped by this morning and asked how the work on the flu potion was progressing"
The cat's eyes widened understanding where everything was going, but just to clarify, "and you..."
"I gave him a sample from the last experiment" - he declared
"Do you know where he was going to take it?" Louise demanded, grabbing Kimi by the shoulders.
"He went straight with him to his majesty"
The horror was reflected on her face - "Damn, this is a disaster, no, worse than a disaster," she swore and ran out the door.
Kimi looked with bewilderment in the direction where Miss ran away. Noticing a piece of paper from Saki on the floor, he picked it up and read it. And he regretted it, because his face was covered with paint, despite his young age, he perfectly understood what was written there.
The cats in the palace saw a lot of things performed by Louise, but never saw her run so fast. If they asked, then in response they received - "not when to answer."
In front of the door separating her and his majesty, she stood for a second to catch her breath, and only she was going to tell the guards to announce her arrival, as a loud "kyya" rang out, and judging by his voice he belonged to Natori, without waiting for permission, Louise burst into the office. And I found there a picture that I would never want to see in my life. In places disheveled, in places wet as if he had been licked as never before, Natori fought so that the king would not take off his mantle - "The main thing didn't come more... spicy things."
Louise and personal security were able to save Natori, after which he locked himself in, repeating, "This cannot be."
The king of cats was locked until the action of the potion ended, when he came to his senses, he did not remember anything, and did not understand why everyone shied away from him. And it was worth asking where Natori was, for some reason everyone nervously looked at each other. Louise, of course, received another punishment, and this time a ban on touching something that looks at least a little like potions for half a year.
Haru was quiet. Haru was often quiet. She was quiet when she was focused on something that had piqued her interest especially when lost within the pages of a book. When daydreaming she would be quiet with a smile tugging at her lips. When she was being thoughtful and observing the world, she was often silent before engaging.
Baron enjoyed seeing these different quiet sides of Haru. He didn’t however like the current quiet version of Haru. She had a vacant look in her eye and was worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. She has totally zoned out from everything around her. Something was clearly bothering her. Baron picked up the two teacups and walked across to where Haru was seated on the sofa. He placed them down on the table before sitting next to her. Haru didn’t even seem to notice his presence. Frowning silently Baron reached out to touch her elbow. Haru jolted as if she had been electrocuted and Baron pulled his hand back.
‘Sorry.’ he apologised but Haru was already shaking her head.
‘Don’t apologise you didn’t do anything wrong.’ she replied, ‘I was just lost in my thoughts.’
‘You don’t appear to be very happy.’ responded Baron carefully.
‘Is it that obvious?’ she sighed, rubbing a hand across her face ‘I’m having difficulty dealing with something at the moment.’
‘Do you want to talk about it?’ asked Baron ‘The other two will be out for a while so if you want to you can talk to me without interruption. It’s also okay if you don’t want to.’
Haru looked over to Baron. He was so kind. Here he was giving her the opportunity to unload her emotional baggage onto him without judgement.
‘It’s probably better I do talk than keep it bottled up. I do hope that you will not feel any less of me though. I’m currently feeling rather jealous and bitter.’ she explained.
Baron took one of her hands between his own.
‘Haru I could never think less of you.’ he promised.
A small smile graced her lips. The first that he had see since she had arrived at the Bureau that day. She let out a sigh.
‘Well, I guess if I’m going to do this I should start from the beginning.’ she murmured.
Baron gave her hand a squeeze of encouragement.
‘As you know at home there is just my mother and I. It has been like that for quite some time. Don’t get me wrong I love her to pieces but she has to work so hard and often I have spent a lot of time growing up alone. She doesn’t even notice when I disappear to be here. I just wish she didn’t need to work so hard.’ explained Haru.
She let out a juddering breath.
‘I was seven years old when my father walked out on us. I don’t really remember my parents fighting. They were young and he just decided that at his age he didn’t want to be saddled with a wife and kid. He wanted to live life freely and explore the world.’ continued Haru unable to keep the bitter tone out of her voice ‘My mother was devastated and I was just completely lost. The man who had been there my whole life suddenly wasn’t. He could have done things so differently, but he chose to abandon us.’
Baron continued to sit quietly beside her. Haru gave him a weak smile.
‘This should be old news, right? Something I should have gotten over a long time ago. Well I thought I had until recently. I don’t even know what possessed me to do it but I searched his name on the internet. I didn’t really expect to find anything but I did. He had remarried. Once I opened this can of worms, I couldn’t stop myself digging.’ she sighed as tears slowly slid down her cheeks.
Within seconds a handkerchief was presented to her.
‘Thank you.’ she murmured accepting it with a squeeze to Baron’s hand.
She took a deep breath.
‘I have step siblings.’ she finally said ‘Two of them. Both younger than myself. Two boys in their early teens. I doubt they know I exist. I browsed their social media.’
Haru took another breath.
‘I wish I hadn’t.’ she said, her voice cracking ‘My father was featured in so many photos. Holidays, baseball games, middle school graduations. The doting father with his sons. It just makes me wonder what I did wrong. Why didn’t her want me?’
Her sobs were coming thick and fast now and the handkerchief wasn’t enough. Baron pulled Haru to him wrapping his arms around her and rubbed her back as she cried into his shoulder. He had no idea how long these thoughts had been festering.
After some time the sobs had reduced to sniffles with the odd hiccup.
‘Have you ever spoken to your mother about this?’ asked Baron.
Haru shook her head against his shoulder.
‘No. She is hurting as much as I am and I don’t want to drag up the past or for her to find out what I did.’ She murmured into his shirt.
One of Baron’s hands rested on her back whilst the other was now soothingly stroking her fine hair.
‘Listen to me Haru. That man is not worthy of the title of your father. He is not worth your time or your tears. You did nothing wrong and he is the biggest fool for abandoning you. I know I said I wouldn’t judge but you needed to hear this.’ He murmured.
Although calm on the outside, inside Baron was raging and wondering if they could some how track down this man and make him pay for the pain he had put Haru through. He couldn’t help but feel protective. Haru had tilted her head against his shoulder, and he was able to gaze down at her. Her eyes were red rimmed and blood shot, but she appeared a little calmer.
‘I know that he is technically your kin by blood, but I believe that there is far more to family that that. Your mother of course is a wonderful woman but your family is larger than you think. There’s Hiromi of course, you two are as thick as thieves. There’s Yuki and Lune and to be honest the whole Cat Kingdom adores you.’ Baron informed her.
Haru let out a small giggle.
‘If that wasn’t enough there is also Toto and Muta.’ he continued ‘and of course you have me. You will always have me.’
Haru gazed up at him before moving to wrap her arms around his waist to hug him.
‘Thank you, Baron.’ she whispered.
‘Any time Haru.’ he replied hugging her back ‘That’s what family is for.’
A/N: I still could not finish editing the work intended for this particular year. Therefore, I publish old fan fiction, instead. I hope you enjoy and enjoy reading.
Warmth after cold
Rating: G ; Category: G ;
Fandom: The cat returns
Characters: Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, Yoshika Haru
Tags: Family
The red-haired boy pointed his kirasin lantern toward the sound again.
It was a hedgehog on a night hunt. But when he saw the man, he ran away into the bushes, much to the boy's dismay, for he wanted to observe this rare sight longer.
He had no choice but to sigh and continue walking on - he was already halfway to the middle of the forest.
There he must find a house that could not be found in broad daylight, and perhaps encounter a monster that lived there, at the sight of which people would drop dead. So said the people of his village, where he was now.
His full name was Baron Humbert von Gikkengen, and he lived in a large but modest house. But everything is turned upside down when his parents have an accident. They are alive, but their condition does not allow them to take care of the child, they needed someone to take care of them. That's where the envious relatives hustled up, forcing the parents to sign some papers in which the boy understood nothing. And say that he went to the best school for aristocrats, but instead send him on a cycle of traveling from one village to another, forcing him to get all the benefits by his own efforts.
In almost every place he stopped, he was lucky enough to be sheltered by at least one family, even though they were doing far worse than those who claimed it was good to be able to have a loaf of bread on the table (experience had shown that sixty-eight percent of these families had an income capable of supporting one extra life).
In the village where he now lived, unfortunately, there was no family that would take him in without expecting much in return.
It's summer now, but the rains and cold nights have contributed to the diseases that are not uncommon in these parts.
And to shelter him, the children of a family had sent him into the woods to find a home, and if he returned alive and with proof that he had met something supernatural, they would let him stay with them until he set out on his journey.
He could have ignored it, but this kind of cold wasn't messing with his body. The Baron was well aware that his health was failing after all these adventures, and he needed to cherish what was left of it.
As one could tell, it was already nightfall and his legs were tired. However, he had walked enough to give up somewhere in the middle of the path.
After walking some more, he noticed that the bushes and trees were becoming less and less frequent, and, encouraged, he walked forward, came across a path laid out by a man, and followed it to the house.
"Then he really is real," said the boy, and blinked as he looked at the log house.
To make sure it was real, the Baron walked closer, his lamp not much help as the kirasin was running out, but he examined a corner of the gray wood, touched it and found it to be as solid as any other wood.
He moved on by feel-the lamp was completely out, and there was little use for it.
Quickly he reached the door and knocked, but no one answered or moved. Deciding that the owners were either asleep or absent, he sat on the threshold, leaning against the door.
He felt a chill run through his whole body and gradually fell asleep with the words, "Whatever happens, happens."
After a while he felt as if someone had picked him up and carried him somewhere, and then fell unconscious again.
When he came to himself again he was warm, the crackling of wood reached his ears for a second, and someone's hand lay on his forehead.
"Is it really a dream?" - thought the little baron; "it is too wonderful to be a dream, but let the sensation last at least another minute," and he fell into sleep again, without hearing the anxious words of the one who had taken him in.
When he came to himself a third time, he was able to realize that he was not on the street, but in a house of some kind. He was lying on a comfortable bed, pressed down with a heavy blanket.
Then he opened his eyes to face reality. It took him a couple minutes to open his eyes blinking, they hurt from the tears he couldn't remember. After he made a couple of light movements, not only his eyes but his whole body started to ache as if they had been unmoving for a long time.
His savior, noticing the movements, approached the bed, or rather, the savior was a young girl.
"You've finally come to your senses, how are you feeling, does anything hurt?" - The voice asked, a very beautiful voice as the Baron noted to himself.
He tried to say exactly what it hurt, but the dryness prevented him from doing so, so he nodded and pointed to the sore spot with his hands.
The girl watched his hands carefully, "Other than that, nothing else hurts?"
He shook his head and looked into her eyes, gentle brown eyes.
"Good, your body is protesting because you've been unconscious for a couple days with a fever," the girl explained as she heard the sound of boiling water behind her and jumped up to fill a wok with water.
"So someone really saved me," the Baron took a moment to look around the hut, it was the same as all the others, but cozier.
And soon the savior was back in front of him, she was holding an earthenware mug with something in it, "Here is the medicine, I made it not too hot, it should help you regain your voice"
Baron spread his arms vigorously, wanting to regain consciousness as quickly as possible and thank her.
The medicine was bitter, and he tried to swallow it as quickly as possible and forget it.
"When you get better, I want to hear how you got here," the boy seemed oblivious to these words, looking at the remnants of the medicine at the bottom of the mug.
But after a week, when his body had grown stronger and he could walk as before without discomfort, his voice came back to him.
He told the whole story, every time his savior banged her fist on the table, he flinched but continued, and when he finished, he looked at her, waiting to see what she would decide.
The girl was slow to answer and pondered for a long time, the Baron thought she would send him back, but in the evening, as they were straightening up the table, she looked at him resolutely.
"If you should suddenly disappear, no one would look for you, would they?"
"Right, I doubt my parents are still alive, maybe you have some kind of plan?"
"Yes, I wanted to get far away from here, there's a village with everything you need and there are people there who know me and I'm sure they can shelter us both".
"Sounds great".
"Is it supposed to be different?"
"No," he said, shaking his head.
And indeed, a few days later they traveled to another village where they were welcomed.
The Cat Returns Birthday Bash starts Sunday, July 19th and will run until Saturday July 25th! If you haven't finished your prompts yet, it's crunch time!
Make sure to tag your posts #tcr birthday bash or #tcr bdb 2026 and/or tag @tcrbirthdaybash so we can see and reblog your posts.
The Cat Returns Birthday Bash prompt list is now live!
The event will run from July 19th to July 25th, is open to anyone who wants to participate, and you can create whatever you want. Fic, poetry, traditional art, digital art, just as long as it is Cat Returns related, with the exception of Free Day, where you can share original works as well.
The prompts for this year are:
19th - Found Family / Nobility & Aristocracy
20th - Happy Birthday / Free Day
21st - Reincarnation / Curse
22nd - Amnesia / Child Acquisition
23rd - Masks / Mythology
24th - Fairy Tale AU / Time Travel
25th - Second Chances / Jealousy
The Cat Returns Birthday Bash prompt list is now live!
The event will run from July 19th to July 25th, is open to anyone who wants to participate, and you can create whatever you want. Fic, poetry, traditional art, digital art, just as long as it is Cat Returns related, with the exception of Free Day, where you can share original works as well.
The prompts for this year are:
19th - Found Family / Nobility & Aristocracy
20th - Happy Birthday / Free Day
21st - Reincarnation / Curse
22nd - Amnesia / Child Acquisition
23rd - Masks / Mythology
24th - Fairy Tale AU / Time Travel
25th - Second Chances / Jealousy
The Cat Returns Birthday Bash prompt list is now live!
The event will run from July 19th to July 25th, is open to anyone who wants to participate, and you can create whatever you want. Fic, poetry, traditional art, digital art, just as long as it is Cat Returns related, with the exception of Free Day, where you can share original works as well.
The prompts for this year are:
19th - Found Family / Nobility & Aristocracy
20th - Happy Birthday / Free Day
21st - Reincarnation / Curse
22nd - Amnesia / Child Acquisition
23rd - Masks / Mythology
24th - Fairy Tale AU / Time Travel
25th - Second Chances / Jealousy
hmm srr to bother but to participate in birthday bash
How Am I suposse to write ? do I have to mix the two prompts?
Like found family/ Nobility & Aristocracy I have to mix both into one thing or I choose one of those two for the day??
Again sorry to bother, just confused
No problem, I can understand the confusion.
You can choose either OR both of a day's prompts to write about, in whatever way you see fit. If you're only inspired by one of the prompts (like say a Found Family fic of the Cat Bureau coming together, but no ideas for working "Nobility" in there) then write to that prompt and share it!
Technically, you could even combine prompts from multiple days, if you so wished (I did so a couple years ago, combining "Space" and "Pirates" for a Treasure Planet AU).
The point of the Bash is not to force people to write specific stories or make specific art, but to inspire creativity to be shared with the fandom.
The Cat Returns Birthday Bash prompt list is now live!
The event will run from July 19th to July 25th, is open to anyone who wants to participate, and you can create whatever you want. Fic, poetry, traditional art, digital art, just as long as it is Cat Returns related, with the exception of Free Day, where you can share original works as well.
The prompts for this year are:
19th - Found Family / Nobility & Aristocracy
20th - Happy Birthday / Free Day
21st - Reincarnation / Curse
22nd - Amnesia / Child Acquisition
23rd - Masks / Mythology
24th - Fairy Tale AU / Time Travel
25th - Second Chances / Jealousy
The Cat Returns Birthday Bash 2026 prompt list is live!
The event will run from July 19th to July 25th. It is open to anyone who wants to participate, and you can make whatever you want for the event. Fic, poetry, traditional art, digital art, whatever you get inspired to do, so long as it's Cat Returns related, with the exception of Free Day, where you can share original works as well.
The prompts are:
19th - Found Family / Nobility & Aristocracy
20th - Happy Birthday / Free Day
21st - Reincarnation / Curse
22nd - Amnesia / Child Acquisition
23rd - Masks / Mythology
24th - Fairy Tale AU / Time Travel
25th - Second Chances / Jealousy
I can't wait to see all the awesome works we come up with this year!
I will place the prompts below, and since there are so many, I'm upping the voting cap from our usual 6 to 10. Pick the top 10 prompts you would like to see, and either submit your vote to the ask box here, or DM Mod Ro through the Cat Returns Server (the link for which is available here)
Amnesia
Average Day in a Loving Relationship
Babysitting/Child Aquisition
Battle/Fighting
Bureau Clients
Crossover
Curse
Day in the Life/Domestic AU
Demon Deal
Fairy Tale AU
Fluff
Found Family
Identical Stranger
Isekai
Jealousy
Louise’s Fate
Magic
Magical Girl AU
Masks/Masquerade
Movie Night
Mythology
Neighbor AU
Nobility/Aristocracy
Potion
Pre-Movie
Reincarnation
Sci-Fi
Seaside Town
Second Chances
Swapped Perspective
Sweets & Treats
Time Travel
Toto Appreciation
Vacation
Yuki Appreciation
Voting will last until June 6th, and the official prompts post will go up in June 7th.
I will place the prompts below, and since there are so many, I'm upping the voting cap from our usual 6 to 10. Pick the top 10 prompts you would like to see, and either submit your vote to the ask box here, or DM Mod Ro through the Cat Returns Server (the link for which is available here)
Amnesia
Average Day in a Loving Relationship
Babysitting/Child Aquisition
Battle/Fighting
Bureau Clients
Crossover
Curse
Day in the Life/Domestic AU
Demon Deal
Fairy Tale AU
Fluff
Found Family
Identical Stranger
Isekai
Jealousy
Louise’s Fate
Magic
Magical Girl AU
Masks/Masquerade
Movie Night
Mythology
Neighbor AU
Nobility/Aristocracy
Potion
Pre-Movie
Reincarnation
Sci-Fi
Seaside Town
Second Chances
Swapped Perspective
Sweets & Treats
Time Travel
Toto Appreciation
Vacation
Yuki Appreciation
Voting will last until June 6th, and the official prompts post will go up in June 7th.
Coming at you from a new blog, it is once again time for the Cat Returns Birthday Bash!
I am Mod Ro (aka @ro-visiting-the-bureau), and I shall be running the show this year while co-Mod Cat (aka @catsafarithewriter) focuses on life things.
As always, the Bash will run for the week of July 19th, TCR's US release date anniversary. This year, that will be July 13th-19th (7/13-7/19). The Anniversary prompts, as always, shall be Happy Birthday/Free Day, but that leaves six (6) days of prompts to fill.
Prompt submissions will be open for one week from May 23rd to May 30th. After that, the submitted prompts will be shared, and another week of voting (May 31st to June 6th) to confirm our selection. Send prompts to this account, or if you’re in the TCR discord, you can send them there as well.
We've had some wonderful prompts these past years, I can't wait to see what new ones you all give us!
EDIT: I just realized Google lied to me on TCR's release date (for some reason it says the 19th, not the 20th like it actually is), so the dates for this year's Birthday Bash is going to be Sunday July 19th to Saturday July 25th.
Sorry about the mix up, but this does mean you get an extra week to prep your works once prompts are announced.
