Chapter Text
Vash had been in the middle of making sandwiches when he heard it. A scream. As quickly as possible, he moved Kuro out of the way and ran.
He’d made it past the cottage’s threshold and was halfway through yelling for Wolfwood and Livio when he saw them.
In Livio’s hands was a mushroom-like being with large eyes underneath its cap and stubby limbs that were waving this way and that in a desperate attempt to get out of his grip. On the ground surrounding them were similar creatures of various shapes and colors. Many of them were jumping up and down, making concerned noises while Wolfwood shouted.
“Don’t touch it, Liv,” Wolfwood howled, trying his best not to step on any of the jumping creatures. “You don’t know what it is!”
Livio bounced the wailing mushroom being in his hands and replied, “But they’re so cute!”
“Cute?!” Wolfwood yelled. He pointed off to his side at one that was steadily dripping an inky substance from its cap. “That one over there is leakin’!”
Livio ignored him in favor of repeatedly throwing the creature into the air and catching it like a child with a ball.
Vash tried his best to hold it in, but a sharp giggle managed to leak out causing every eye in the area to turn toward him. He decided there was no point in staying quiet.
“Blondie,” Wolfwood said, carefully moving through the sea of mushrooms. “The hell is goin’ on?”
“Wolfwood,” Vash said between gasps. “Don’t worry, they’re harmless.”
Wolfwood looked between Vash, doubled over in laughter, and Livio, who was gently squishing the obviously distressed creature. “What are they?”
“Mushlings,” Vash answered once he was able to catch his breath. “They’re mushroom spirits, kind of like how trees have dryads and such. They won’t hurt you. Unless you try to eat them. Or they bite you. Some of them are poisonous.”
The mushling in Livio’s hand chose that moment to bare its shockingly pointy teeth at him. Livio quickly released the creature, letting it run back to its friends.
Soon, the mushlings began to crowd around Vash, pulling at his pants.
“What do they want?” Livio asked.
Vash crouched down and rubbed each of their caps, frowning. “They’re getting dry.”
“Dry?” Wolfwood asked, moving along with Livio to crouch next to him. Vash glanced over and grinned. Wolfwood’s disinterested façade was starting to crack.
“Yeah,” Vash said, turning his attention back to the mushlings, who were still pulling at him and making sad noises. He made sure to gently pat the ones closest to him, comforting them and checking for any other problems at the same time. “Summer this year was pretty brutal, and autumn didn’t bring as much rain as expected. Mushlings need to stay moist, so they’ve been struggling more than most of the forest-dwellers.”
Wolfwood hummed thoughtfully and hesitantly moved to poke the nearest mushling in its cap. “Makes sense.”
As Vash watched Wolfwood’s hesitant interactions with the creatures and Livio’s childishly curious gawking, he couldn’t stop his smile from spreading. The mushlings were by far the friendliest of the forest-dwellers. Now that they’d decided to finally see the forest’s new residents, other creatures would follow. Maybe they'd accept the brothers sooner than Vash thought.
“I’m going to get started on a potion for them,” Vash announced, standing and turning to face the cottage. “Would you two like to help?”
“Absolutely!” Livio said, popping up so fast he knocked over a couple of mushlings that had started to climb him. “Right, Nico?”
“Not like we’ve got anythin’ else to do,” Wolfwood said, gently moving the mushlings around him and standing, careful not to accidentally hurt any of them.
“Great! It shouldn’t be too hard,” Vash said. “But you’ll both still need to take a bath first.”
After 15 minutes of watching the two argue over who got the shower first and 30 minutes of waiting for them to wash away the caked-on grime, Vash stood beside a variety of jarred herbs spread around the kitchen and a cast iron cauldron set in the middle of the organized chaos.
He clapped his hands together, startling a mushling that had been trying to sneakily climb into the cauldron, and asked, “Everyone ready?”
Wolfwood and Livio were standing in front of him, slightly rumpled and damp, with mildly curious expressions. Wolfwood was trying to hide his curiosity behind his usual scowl, but his limp hair and subtle glances created a softness that was impossible to conceal. Livio, on the other hand, was nodding enthusiastically and craning his head to look at all of the plants.
“What do we do?” he said, shifting impatiently from foot to foot.
Vash chuckled. “You’re mostly going to be grabbing things for me. Since you guys aren’t witches or familiars you can’t really help me much with the actual magic, but you can learn about it.”
“Should you really be teachin’ us all this?” Wolfwood asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “Like you said, we’re not witches or familiars. We’re outsiders to your little magical community.”
“Who would stop me?” Vash said. “We live in a secluded forest that no one bothers to enter. Who’s going to care if I break a few harmless taboos?”
Wolfwood went quiet, a stunned expression flickering across his face. It was soon replaced by an amused smirk. “Can’t argue with that. Go on ahead, Blondie.”
Wolfwood, with his cynical personality, was slow to relax around unfamiliar people, but it was clear that he was just barely starting to open up. Something about being the one to get him to finally feel comfortable made Vash giddy. If his smile got any bigger, he was sure that his cheeks would crack.
He quickly pushed his excitement down, put on his most serious face, and pointed out each jar of herbs, explaining them in detail before scattering them into the cauldron. Livio and Wolfwood followed every one of his movements with interest, occasionally raising their hands to ask questions like school children. Vash had never taken an apprentice or chosen a familiar, so he was completely unused to having this sort of attention on him. He had to admit, it was much more fun than talking to the experienced witches in the village.
After the final jar was added, Vash grabbed a pitcher of water and poured it into the cauldron.
“Now,” he said, placing the pitcher to the side. “I’m going to use two spells. The first is to add consistent heat to the mixture and the second is to activate the properties of each of our ingredients. The script for the spells will be arranged in concentric circles around the cauldron. We’ll then leave the potion alone for around an hour. Very simple.”
The brothers nodded in sync like a pair of puppies, and the movement was so adorable that Vash couldn’t help but reach over the pot and aggressively ruffle their hair. Wolfwood pulled his head away, annoyed, while Livio looked up in confusion, head tilted slightly to the side.
Vash chuckled before shooing them further away. “You’re going to want to stand back a little bit.”
After he was sure that they were far enough away, Vash pulled his wand out of his staff and began to write, the phantom script glowing a warm orange. Once he was finished, he spoke the words which would invoke heat and fire. Vash was extremely careful in both his drawing of the script and speaking of the incantation. He only wished to call forth a gentle flame, but he knew from experience how easy it was to accidentally start a wildfire. As talented of a witch as he was, Vash remained cautious of the dangers of being too cocky.
When he finished his words, a short burst of flames burned through the script, forming a circle around the cauldron and lowering into a small ring of fire. Vash observed this ring for a moment, ensuring that it was stable and consistent throughout, before turning to his waiting audience.
He threw his arms to the side, presenting the fire, and cheerfully shouted, “Tada!”
Livio was the only one to clap, but his enthusiasm more than made up for it. Wolfwood came closer, still keeping a safe distance, and circled the flames. “I’ve never seen a fire spell this…calm.”
“Well, we don’t want it getting away from us, now do we?” Vash replied. “But if you’ve been with less experienced witches, then it makes sense that you haven’t seen one like this. It’s much more complicated to create a tame spell than to let loose a wild one.”
Wolfwood hummed thoughtfully then moved back to his original position. “Time for the next one?”
Vash, distracted by the low rumble of Wolfwood’s voice and the fact that his handiwork was being so genuinely admired and requested, let out a small, “Hm?” before remembering what he was supposed to be doing.
“Oh! Right, yes!” he rambled while re-sheathing his wand. “The activation spell. Every potion has one, but each is different. I’m good enough at this specific potion since it’s relatively easy, but you should see Roberto and Meryl if you want to observe real experts. Maybe I’ll ask them to show you a few things next time we’re in town.”
“You don’t need that?” Wolfwood asked, nodding toward the staff that Vash was leaning against the counter.
“Oh, no,” Vash said. “This will be better without it.”
He then picked up a jewel encrusted knife, a gift from his brother that was just a bit too gaudy for his taste, and sliced the index finger of his right hand.
“Blondie!” Wolfwood shouted, rushing toward Vash only to be stopped by a gloved hand on his chest. “Are you crazy?”
“Calm down,” Vash said, quickly pushing Wolfwood a safe distance away from the simmering potion. “I’m just strengthening the spell a little.”
“Strengthening the spell?” Livio asked, looking worriedly at Vash’s finger and reaching out hesitantly as though he wanted to provide comfort, but wasn’t quite sure how.
“Mhm,” Vash said, smiling in what he hoped was a soothing manner. “Blood can be extremely powerful depending on the being that it’s been taken from, even more so when it’s willingly given, so plenty of witches add their blood to spells and potions in small quantities.” He placed his finger outside of the ring of fire and began to write. “It won’t hurt me, I promise.”
Wolfwood was still frowning, but stayed in place, watching as Vash drew the second spell’s circular script. When he finished, a soft bluish-green glow surrounded the cauldron, becoming brighter as he went into the incantation. Soon enough, the glow was so strong that everyone in the room aside from Vash was left shielding their eyes, Wolfwood and Livio making sure to turn the upset mushlings away from the light.
When the glowing reached its peak, Vash stopped speaking and turned.
“Now, we wait,” he said, picking up a mushling and walking to the door. “Why don’t we have some fun outside, so we don’t disturb the potion?”
For the next hour, they played a shockingly intense game of hide and seek in the area around the cottage. Vash had somehow managed to convince Wolfwood to be “it” and, while he grumbled about it, he took his role extremely seriously, abusing his enhanced senses to sniff them out. Luckily, they had numbers on their side. Every time he managed to pluck a mushling out from behind a tree, there were guaranteed to be three more hiding nearby. As much as Wolfwood complained about the game being unfair—and he complained a lot —he seemed to be having just as much fun as everyone else. By the time he found Vash, crawling through the forest’s underbrush in an attempt to quickly change hiding spots after Livio ratted him out, they’d gone over time by about 15 minutes.
When Vash made the call, the group made their way back to the cottage and stood a safe distance away as he swiped through the blood of the second spell’s script and carefully deactivated the ring of fire. He divided the potion into three watering cans and handed two of them to Wolfwood and Livio.
“Ready?” Vash said.
“To do what?” Wolfwood asked. “Aren’t we just pourin’ it on ‘em?”
“We could,” Vash replied. “But it wouldn’t work as well as pouring it on the source.”
“The source?” Livio said, gently pushing a mushling away with the toe of his boot.
“Yup,” Vash said. “Like I said, mushlings are mushroom spirits similar to dryads. That means that each of them has a mushroom that they’re attached to. They’ll stay hydrated longer if we have them lead us there and pour the potion on that instead.”
“Huh,” Wolfwood said, crouching to squint at the closest mushling. “Who knew.”
Vash pulled him up and loudly told the mushlings to lead the way.
After another hour and a half of chasing down and watering each mushling’s individual mushroom, splitting up along the way with Wolfwood and Livio following a group on their own, they were finally able to return to the cottage and eat the sandwiches that Vash had prepared hours ago. He was grateful that he hadn’t chosen to cook anything warm.
Throughout their late lunch, Vash noticed that Livio was unusually silent. He kept sneaking glances at Wolfwood, but Wolfwood kept his eyes firmly on his sandwich, never looking up.
Odd.
“Are you upset,” Vash asked, swallowing his mouthful of food.
“Why would we be upset?” Wolfwood replied, still refusing to meet Vash’s eyes.
“I don’t know,” Vash mumbled. He looked over at Livio, who quickly averted his gaze. “You just seem…less talkative than usual.”
“It’s nothin’, Blondie. Just tired is all.”
Vash thought about it and nodded. “Makes sense. It has been a long day. I guess we could all use a little nap.”
“Yeah,” Wolfwood said, standing to put away his plate as Livio trailed close behind. “Let’s do that.”
They hurried into the guest room before Vash could respond, leaving him to eat the rest of his sandwich alone.
“I guess it’s just you and me, Kuro,” he said, moving his hand under the table to scratch behind her ears and taking another bite.
When he finished, Vash grabbed Kuro and walked to his bed, rubbing his face against her soft fur as he tucked them both in. He was still worried about Wolfwood and Livio’s sudden shift in attitude, but he figured he was just overthinking things. He didn’t have many friends after all, so it was entirely possible that his social skills had gotten rustier than he’d thought. Maybe he’d gotten so caught up in the fun of teaching that he’d missed their exhaustion.
Vash settled in, letting his eyes close and his breathing even out. He was almost asleep, when he noticed an odd noise. Footsteps.
Based on the sound of it, multiple people were creeping through his home, but the footsteps weren’t going into the cottage. Instead, they were moving from the back to the door.
Vash was starting to connect the dots. Following his hunch, he carefully cracked open his eyes, seeing two large shadows slowly tiptoeing past his bed.
“What are you doing?” Vash said in an exasperated tone, taking some joy in the startled squeak he got out of the largest shadow. He stood up and pulled open the old, thin curtains covering his windows, illuminating the guilty faces of his two werewolf guests.
“Just gettin’ some fresh air, Blondie,” Wolfwood said with his face turned at an angle that made it difficult for Vash to gauge his expression.
“Mhm,” Vash hummed suspiciously, nodding at the sack Livio was carrying. “And you had to pack a bag to do that?”
Wolfwood clicked his tongue and glared at Livio, who reluctantly dropped the bag and whispered, “What was I supposed to do? Leave everythin’ behind?”
“Is there a better excuse you’d like to try?” Vash said, crossing his arms and tapping his foot. “Or are you ready to spill the truth this time?”
Wolfwood sighed. “Look, there’s some…stuff we need to do. People we gotta protect. We thought it’d be easier to leave without botherin’ you.”
“Without a goodbye, huh?” Vash mumbled under his breath. Wolfwood and Livio at least had the decency to look ashamed. “I’m guessing the people you’re trying to protect are in the same type of danger you are? From the same group?”
Wolfwood and Livio nodded, keeping their eyes on the floor.
“And you thought that doing it alone was better than asking for help?” Vash scoffed. “No offense, but you two know next to nothing about witchcraft. I’m not all that convinced that you’ll survive on your own, let alone manage to safeguard whoever these people are.”
Wolfwood’s hands clenched into fists before relaxing and falling to his side helplessly. “It’s not your responsibility, Blondie.”
“I disagree,” Vash said with enough confidence to finally shock them into looking at him. “I vowed to take both of you under my protection. Did you think those were just empty words? I’m not going to let you two march to your death when I can help. Now, let’s all sit down and discuss this. Make an actual plan.”
Wolfwood frowned. “Vash…”
“You’re more likely to succeed if you have the help of a witch,” Vash interrupted. “Am I wrong?”
“...No.”
“Exactly,” Vash said with a smug smile. “So, sit down and start talking.”
Wolfwood and Livio exchanged a quick glance before slinking over to the couch and plopping down. Vash joined them, sitting on the floor while cradling Kuro in his arms.
“What do you want to know?” Wolfwood asked. He’d done a complete 180, staring intensely at Vash where before he had been determined to avoid his gaze. It seemed like he was trying to look confident, maybe even intimidating, but Vash caught a glimpse of suppressed fear in his eyes.
Vash thought for a moment, hand on his chin. “Tell me more about the people you’re running from.”
“They’re called the Eye of Michael.” Wolfwood mumbled, running a hand through his hair. “If I were to classify them, I’d say they’re a cult. Their goal is the evolution of the human species and, trust me, they talk about it way too much. They…” He paused to take a deep breath, clearing his throat before continuing. “They think that the best way to evolve the human race is by studyin’ and stealin’ from magical creatures, so they kidnap as many as they can. Most of the time they target children. Once they have them, they experiment on them. I’m not gonna go into all the shit they do, but it gets brutal. When they’re done with them, they either throw them out like trash or, if they’re still useful, turn them into weapons.”
Vash frowned. He’d never heard of this Eye of Michael which meant that they were either discreet enough to not cross his path or, more likely, targeting those that were less likely to be missed. “So, you two…”
Wolfwood chuckled sadly. “Yeah, Blondie, we were two of those kids. Not much more than weapons now.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Vash said, giving what he hoped was a comforting smile before changing the subject. “And the people you’re trying to protect? Who are they?”
“They’re our pack,” Livio whispered, speaking up for the first time since Vash had caught them. “Over in Hopeland, near December, there’s a werewolf pack full of children. That’s where they got us.”
“Full of children?” Vash asked.
“It’s barely a pack,” Wolfwood said, drawing Vash’s attention back to him. “The matriarch, her name’s Melanie, she has a habit of pickin’ up all sorts of orphans, strays, and runts. She takes care of them, gives the pups a place to stay. After a while we all agreed that we were basically a pack, so why not call ourselves one?”
“I see,” Vash said. “You’re worried that the Eye of Michael is keeping tabs on them.”
“We know that the Eye is keeping tabs on them,” Wolfwood replied. “It’s just a matter of time before they make a move. That’s why we can’t afford to get comfortable here. We gotta leave, Blondie.”
Vash tapped his fingers on Kuro’s side. “I might have a better solution,” he announced.
Livio snapped his head up while Wolfwood raised an eyebrow and leaned forward.
“And what would that be?” Wolfwood said.
“You don’t know where your pack is at the moment, do you?” Vash asked.
“Not exactly,” Wolfwood answered. “They’re probably still in the Hopeland area, but werewolf packs tend to move around.”
Vash nodded. “Do you have anything from your time with them? A memento or a hand me down, maybe?”
“I do,” Wolfwood said skeptically, pulling at the golden chain around his neck. “Melanie gave me a cross necklace that used to belong to her pup before he passed. I never take it off.”
“Perfect,” Vash said, gently pushing Kuro away and standing.
“Wha—perfect?” Wolfwood stammered, turning his head to follow Vash’s movements. “You haven’t explained a damn thing!”
“Well, you see, there’s this spell,” Vash said distractedly, grabbing his staff and rummaging around for paper and ink.
“Of course there’s a spell,” Wolfwood murmured, only to be shushed by Livio.
“It allows a witch to send a pre-made message, but it’s super finicky.” Vash found the paper and ink, but his quill wasn’t in the same spot. It wasn’t until he searched under his bed that he found it, the quill having rolled so far back that Vash had to stick his entire arm out to try to reach it. “It needs either a very specific location or an object from the person you want to send a message to, but as long as you have one of those it’s extremely reliable.”
“Okay, but what’s sendin’ a message gonna do if no one’s there to protect them?” Wolfwood countered. “They’d still be vulnerable and—”
“I’m getting to that!” Vash said, popping up with his quill and glaring in Wolfwood’s direction. “I have some friends who can help.”
“Friends?” Wolfwood repeated doubtfully.
“Friends?” Livio asked in a more hopeful tone.
“Yup,” Vash confirmed. “I grew up with them, so I promise they’re trustworthy. They’re also pretty much impossible to find if you don’t know where to look. We can send a message to Melanie with a warning and some directions, and they can take refuge there. That way they’ll be safe.”
“And you’re confident that they can keep an entire pack of werewolf pups protected from a violent cult you just found out about?” Wolfwood pressed.
Vash smiled. “I wouldn’t underestimate the people I know. Besides, I’ve seen the Eye of Michael’s spell casting in Livio’s binding curse. It’s shoddy at best. They can handle it.”
Wolfwood stared at Vash for a moment, searching his face. He must’ve found what he was looking for, because he simply sighed and said, “Okay. We’ll do it your way.”
Vash took both hands and roughly ruffled his hair, making him pull away in irritation, before handing him some paper, a quill, and ink.
Wolfwood frowned down at the items, then looked up at Vash. “What’re you givin’ this to me for?”
“The message, duh,” Vash replied. “There’s no use if I write it, she doesn’t know me. I’ll work on the directions while you two figure out what you need to say. Make sure you both sign it just in case.”
With that, he started jotting down the directions. The people he was sending them to moved around constantly, but there was a pattern. So long as a person knew the signs, they could be tracked. It was a good thing, then, that no one besides him knew what to look for.
Once Vash had finished making his directions as detailed and specific as possible with an extra note telling the recipient to burn it after reading, he turned to look at Wolfwood and Livio’s progress. The two of them were still huddled around the paper, arguing in hushed tones.
“Doing okay over there,” Vash asked, slightly amused.
Wolfwood glanced at Vash, then at Livio, and then back at Vash. “I think we got everythin’,” he grumbled, pushing the paper and quill over to Livio for him to sign and pass to Vash.
“Well, then,” Vash said, grabbing his knife. He sat on the floor, moving Kuro into Livio’s arms, and held his hand out to Wolfwood. “Let’s get started!”
Wolfwood hesitated before unclasping his necklace and carefully dropping it into Vash’s hand. “You’re usin’ the knife again?”
Vash tilted his head, confused. Wolfwood sounded…concerned. But that couldn’t be right. It would barely be a prick. Besides, it was Vash. Why would Wolfwood be concerned for him?
“Blood magic is stronger,” Vash said. “I figured that this situation called for it.”
Wolfwood nodded and looked away, almost shyly. “Just…don’t overdo it, okay?”
“Okay,” Vash said softly, turning back to the tools in front of him.
He grabbed the message, carefully folding it into a small square and placing it on the floor, then gently set the cross on top of it. Vash made a small incision into his index finger, directly under the cut from earlier, and pointedly ignored the annoyed huff that Wolfwood let out at the sight of his drawn blood. He focused instead on properly writing the script into the shape of a circle around the message. When that was done, he wrapped his finger in a nearby towel to prevent his blood from dripping on the written script and corrupting the spell.
The words came easily. This particular spell was one that he’d used often before he’d settled down, the incantation practically living on the tip of his tongue. The script glowed a bright red as the message dissolved bit by bit, leaving only a golden cross in its wake.
When the letter was gone, Vash gently wiped through the blood script to permanently end the spell and picked up the necklace.
“Here you go,” he said, passing it to Wolfwood and moving to clean up the rest of the blood.
“That’s it?” Wolfwood said, tucking the necklace back under his shirt.
“That’s it,” Vash confirmed.
“And she’s got the letter?” Wolfwood asked.
“Yup,” Vash said. “It’s practically instant. She should have it by now.”
“How will we know they’re safe?” Livio chimed in.
Vash threw the towel into a basket, dreading the stains that he’d have to wash later. “We’ll get a confirmation letter when they make it there.”
“How long will that take?”
Vash thought for a moment, transferring Kuro back into his arms and absently cuddling her as he sat on his bed. “About a week, week and a half. It’ll come before the festival for sure.”
“Rosa mentioned somethin’ ‘bout a festival,” Livio said, poking Kuro’s cheek and pulling his hand back before she could sink her teeth into it. “What’s that about?”
“Ah, I suppose you wouldn’t have had many opportunities to celebrate with the Eye of Michael,” Vash said. “The village is preparing for La Fête des Ombres, The Festival of Shadows. It’s…how do I explain?” He closed his eyes in thought. “Hm. Okay. Around this time of year, it’s easier for spirits and such to walk among humans. The village is a bit special since it’s so close to the Forest, but most human settlements aren’t like that, so other places aren’t used to interacting with those kinds of beings. The festival is something like a neutral gathering. Magical creatures and humans intermingling without malice. They celebrate together and—”
“Couldn’t the villagers do that any time of year?” Wolfwood asked. “Other places can’t, sure, but you said it yourself, Jenora’s special. Why’re they so worked up about it?”
“You really hate letting me finish, don’t you?” Vash sighed. “Yes, theoretically, if we put aside the tension that exists between Jenora and the Forest, then the villagers could do that any time they wanted, but it’s not just the usual magical creatures. Lost souls, those who’ve died and have been left to wander, often make an appearance. It’s a chance for the villagers to see the people they’ve lost, if they’re unfortunate enough to still be here, and comfort those that have been forgotten. It’s actually quite sweet.”
Livio nodded his head in understanding, reaching over to continue poking Kuro until Vash finally slapped his hand away. “Is there anyone you wanna see?”
“Um…no,” Vash said, trying his best to keep his smile in place. “Anyone that I might wish to see is long gone.”
The silence that followed was uncomfortable, almost mournful. It wasn’t an atmosphere that Vash wanted to foster for his guests.
“I’ll be going into the village pretty often to help with the preparations,” he said, hoping to steer the conversation into a more positive direction. “Would you like to help?”
Livio brightened up instantly and even Wolfwood looked a little less grim.
“Absolutely!” Livio said, nodding excitedly and elbowing Wolfwood. “Isn’t that right?”
“May as well,” Wolfwood drawled, letting out a small laugh. “It’d get boring stayin’ here by ourselves all day.”
Vash took in Livio’s eager bouncing and Wolfwood’s more subdued happiness, and felt a warm feeling spread throughout his chest. Those two were really growing on him.
That night, Vash found himself stuck in a nightmare.
He was back in Julai, trapped and unable to move, struggling to free himself without his arm. His brother had left him alone, leaving to do whatever it was that he did when he wasn’t ranting to a prison cell, and Vash almost missed his presence. The quiet made him restless, but his restraints made it impossible to relieve that restlessness. All he could do was scream for Nai, scream for help, scream for anyone that could get him out, but he knew that no one would come. Even if they managed to track him down, Julai was Nai’s territory, and the only person who stood a chance against him was trapped in a dungeon.
As much as Vash knew this, his body refused to process it, continuing to plead for help with the little remaining energy it had. It felt like screaming was the only thing he could do to stay sane through the silence.
“Blondie.”
He rattled the chains around his right wrist and legs just to create some noise, but it was quickly swallowed up by the sheer vastness of his prison.
“Blondie!”
He tasted blood as his throat began to tear itself apart, but still he continued to scream and scream and scream.
“Vash!”
Vash woke with a start, pushing away the hands that were grabbing for him and huddling against the wall.
“Woah, woah,” a familiar, low voice said. “It’s just me.”
“Wolfwood,” Vash gasped, forcing himself to relax. He wasn’t in Julai. He was in his cottage, deep in the Forest of Jenora. “Did I wake you?”
Wolfwood shook his head. “Nah. Had to piss and heard you squirmin’ around.”
“That’s good,” Vash muttered, still trying to catch his breath as reality fell back into place.
He couldn’t help but stare as Wolfwood folded his arms and laid his head on them, looking up at Vash with his big, doe brown eyes. “This happen a lot?”
“I guess,” Vash said. “It’s not usually this bad, though. The blood magic can stir things up.”
Wolfwood frowned. “Told you not to overdo it.”
“Yeah, you did,” Vash chuckled. “But I still think I was right.”
“I’m sure you do,” Wolfwood said softly, looking unusually sad. “You don’t think very highly of yourself, do you?”
Vash plastered on a fake smile and let out a high-pitched laugh, trying to sooth whatever it was that had Wolfwood so unhappy. “I guess it would look like that, wouldn’t it? Don’t worry about me, Wolfwood, I’m sturdier than you think. A little blood magic isn’t going to take me out. Promise!”
His false display of happiness only seemed to turn Wolfwood’s sudden sadness into annoyance, but that was fine by Vash. Annoyance was practically Wolfwood’s default emotional state. Unlike most times, however, it faded quickly, replaced by an oddly determined look. Wolfwood sighed and reached up to unbutton his shirt.
Vash squeaked, covering his eyes. “Wolfwood! What are you doing?!”
“Relax,” Wolfwood said, amusement seeping into his voice. “Just gimme a second.”
“To do what?” Vash hissed. “Get naked? I swear, you two have got to start giving me some kind of warning! I mean, I understand that there’s a bit of a cultural divide, but this is getting out of hand!”
Instead of a response, Vash felt a wet nose push against his arm. When he hesitantly peeked around his fingers, he saw that Wolfwood had transformed, his clothes laying folded at the foot of the bed while a large black wolf prodded at Vash’s hand.
A small smile crept over his face.
“What are you doing?” he asked lightly.
Wolfwood whined and continued to press against Vash’s hand, placing his front paws on the bed. He only stopped when Vash began to pet him, moving his fingers along Wolfwood’s fuzzy body and snuggling close.
“Aw, Wolfwood! Are you trying to comfort me?” Vash teased, laughing at the annoyed huff Wolfwood gave him. “Okay, I’ll let you be my therapy wolf. But just for tonight.”
Wolfwood yipped before suddenly jumping up on the bed and laying by Vash’s side, knocking a giggle out of him as his vision was flooded by black fur.
“You really are kind, you know that?” Vash said, wrapping his arm back around the wolf and bringing him near. Wolfwood snorted, pointedly hitting Vash with his tail and turning his head away. “Fine, fine! I get it. I’ll shut up.”
Wolfwood grunted in agreement, turning his face back to Vash and settling down.
Vash pulled his blanket over the two of them, closed his eyes, and let his mind slip away. “Goodnight, Wolfwood.”
The rest of his dreams were unusually peaceful.
The two woke the next morning to Livio staring down at them with an obnoxious smile. He heckled them for the rest of the day, Wolfwood getting the worst of it as both his big brother and the one who initiated the situation, but come nightfall, Livio had decided to join them, curling up at the end of the bed and lightly snoring within minutes.
This soon became routine, the wolves choosing to sleep next to Vash, practically abandoning the guest room for anything other than storage and privacy when changing clothes (at Vash’s insistence, of course).
For the next week, the three of them would curl up together at night and hike into the village to assist with the festival preparations during the day. Vash would go around helping people with their spells, making decorations with children, assisting Roberto and Meryl with their increasingly overwhelming orders of potions, and even cooking with Rosa. Wolfwood and Livio were placed in charge of cleaning up after his clumsy messes, and as they went, Vash would teach them various secrets of witchcraft. They couldn’t do much with it themselves, but simply knowing how to recognize a spell by its script or a potion by its smell was knowledge they couldn’t afford to pass up, so they learned.
That Saturday, they sat in the cottage, having taken a break from their constant village trips. Each of them had a job to do: Livio was identifying and sorting herbs, Wolfwood was learning how to properly— and safely as Vash had stressed—disable inscribed charms and curses, and Vash was crocheting colorful articles of clothing for the village children, weaving a minor protection spell into the pattern as he went.
They were suddenly pulled away from their tasks by a loud swirling noise. It was as if a miniature storm had found its way into the cottage, a spiral of bright pink appearing directly in front of Vash. It slowly lost its momentum until it came to a stop and revealed a letter dyed in the same vibrant rose color as the little tornado. The front of the letter was marked by loopy, blue writing, spelling out a single word: Home.
Vash plucked the letter out of the air and turned to his awestruck guests, waving it with a dramatic flourish as he threw on his brightest smile.
“My dearest students,” he said, extending his hand so that Wolfwood and Livio could take a look. “It seems we’ve finally received our reply!”