11/29/2007

Author's Note: So…this is my first fanfiction. I've always loved HMC, but I found it sort of irritating how Sophie would never leave, though she had made up her mind to do it several times. Basically, my fanfic is about what would happen in HMC if Sophie had left the Castle and Howl. Dunno if they'll be any original characters, but some of the characters will have a little different personalities and roles…it's still in Ingary though :)! NOTE: This story takes place in the first book and several parts might come from the movie.

Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle does NOT belong to me. Neither does Howl wails into handkerchief. Miss Diana Wynne Jones is the author of this fabulous story, and Mr. Hayao Miyazaki is the amazing director to the movie. All characters in this fanfic originate from their work, though they may be OOC. (I have no idea what it means, but for now it will stand for "out of character")

Shooting Star

Chapter 1: In Which the Witch is Defeated.

Chapter 2: In Which the Curse is Lifted

Chapter 3: In Which the Demon is Defeated.

Chapter 4: In Which Sophie Gets in an Argument and Leaves.

Chapter 5: In Which Sophie Attempts to Adapt.

Chapter 6: In Which the Castle Attempts to Adapt.

Chapter 7: In Which an Unexpected Visitor Arrives.

Chapter 8: In Which Confessions are Told.

Chapter 9: In Which Eilena has No Idea Whatsoever as to what to do.

A/N #1: This chapter begins with Sophie going to the Witch of the Waste (hereafter to be referred as WoW cause I don't want to waste time writing that as her name. Huh, maybe I should give her a name…?). It starts with a very similar passage from the book, but after that most of it is my handy work. What else…Miss Angorian is not the WoW fire demon. She's really just Ben Sullivan's "fiancé", but I still hate her anyway and might kill her off :). There are more changes, so please read and review! Thx!

Chapter 1: In Which the Witch is Defeated

The fortress seemed enormous, and just as majestic as the castle seemed to be from the outside. But Sophie suspected it was a deceptive to fool passerbyers—though God only knew why there would be any in such a place. Finally, the pages led her to a central chamber where a woman stood, as though waiting. Sophie wondered how she knew the person standing before her was the Witch, but once again she did.

But unlike the time they had met near Mrs. Pentstemmon's house, the Witch looked to be a completely different person. She was much taller—and skinner—than Sophie was, even in her original youthful appearance. Her hair was a fair blonde, with the long strands braided into a ropelike pigtail over her gaunt shoulder. The white dress she wore clearly defined the shape of her figure, and Sophie wondered dimly if this was the form Howl had seen the witch in.

Hmph! I should teach this woman a thing or two about decency! Sophie thought viciously as she hobbled towards the woman, brandishing her walking stick as though it was a sword. The Witch backed away, her misty blue eyes narrowed with annoyance. "I am not going to be threatened by the likes of you!" she cried out in a frail, weary voice.

"Then hand over Miss Angorian and you won't be." Sophie said, sounding more confident than she felt. "I'll take her and I shall be on my way."

The Witch moved back even further, and lifted both thin hands in the air. "I really can't have that, you see." She sighed, as though dealing with an incompetent child. With a flick of her wrists, the two pageboys by her side instantly melted into orange blobs of sticky goo. They rose a few feet in the air before rushing themselves at Sophie, slamming her against the chimney pot pillar. Luckily, some of the gung cushioned the impact, meaning that it had saved Sophie from breaking all the bones in her body.

Unfortunately, they had managed to enfold her whole body, making it impossible for her to get out. "This is disgusting! Get them off!" Sophie yelped as sticky orange strands pulled at her hair and attempted to cover her mouth. "Those weren't really boys, I hope!"

"Oh, of course not. They were merely emanations." Laughed the Witch. It irked Sophie even more that the laugh was melodic, not even close to a cackle.

"Let me go," She demanded angrily. The Witch slowly stopped laughing, and her eyes stared coldly at Sophie.

"No." And then she turned away, as though she had lost interest in playing with a toy—the toy being Sophie.

"Where's Miss Angorian?" Sophie asked. The Witch had made her way to throne, which resembled an elaborate couch more so than a chair. It was crafted with much skill, and to Sophie's trained eye, the cushion was trimmed with a material more valuable than silk. It was even finer than the clothes that Howl had bought for Michael and her.

"You won't find her," the Witch sighed tediously, relaxing within the chair. Sophie felt her bones creak with longing. "We shall wait till Howell arrives."

Sophie felt a thread of confidence run through her. "He's not going to come. He's got more sense than that. Give up; your curse didn't work. Not all of it came true anyway--"

The Witch eyes suddenly lit with such laughter that Sophie instantly shut her mouth. "It will," said the Witch, a light smile appearing on her angelic face. "Because I have finally called him, he will have no choice but to be honest for once."

Sophie stared at the Witch. "What in the world are you talking about? You believe Howl will come for you? He has absolutely no reason to come here, except for Miss Angorian."

The Witch was staring at her nails wearisomely, and Sophie wanted to force the woman to look at her. "You really are a fool now, aren't you, Miss Hatter? Howell doesn't love that woman. He only used her—and all those women—to make me jealous. He cannot love any other woman but I." She glanced up at Sophie, watching with amusement as the old face stared in disbelief. "I am Howell's soulmate. You see, we had made a deal with one another years ago, but sadly he departed soon after. But I have called him back, so he will come and I will be the Queen of the greatest wizard alive." The Witch replied, hugging herself giddily.

Sophie felt as though the blood was draining from her body. Howl loved the Witch? It couldn't be—she thought he was better than that. So he loved her, and was honestly just fooling around with those poor girls—even Lettie!—to make the Witch envious. And when he was crying those tears as he told her of the bargain he had made—they were crocodile tears as usual. She had actually thought the bargain was one he had made with Calcifer. She had been splendidly fooled all this time.

"He won't come." Sophie said, trying to sound confident.

The witch stood up, her eyes light. "Oh, he will come, and I shall have his head." Sophie stared in alarm as the Witch made another gesture, and suddenly another throne with a person sleeping on it seemingly trundled towards her, stopping a few feet away. The Witch gestured again, and the body stood up.

There was no head. Sophie felt herself grow rigid despite the feeling of not being aware of what was going on. She remembered herself saying something about putting the head back on. And feeling shocked after hearing what the Witch had done, and what she was planning to do.

"You're mad! And after saying you wanted to be his queen, you plan to kill him?" Sophie demanded angrily. "Howl will find another way to slither out of this, just as he did in all those other times."

"He shall do exactly as I say," the Witch said with a malevolent smile. "I shall have control of his demon."

"NO!" Sophie screamed, feeling herself break. "You've no right to do such things!"

The Witch turned to stare at Sophie, and her face as empty of emotion as a statue was. "I have every right in this world. You people have ruined all my plans. Yet I was able to carry out the one of the most vital of them—The woman called Miss Angorian is now in my possession."

Sophie was indeed now very frightened. Frightened for Calcifer, frightened for Miss Angorian, frightened for Michael, Martha, Lettie…and frightened most for Howl. There was no doubt in that she had made a mess of things. She had to at least try to make things right. "Where is Miss Angorian?" she said wobbly, waving her stick pathetically. Oddly enough, the woman moved back again. The beauty had suddenly disappeared from her face.

"That is of none of your business. Stop waving that stick around. I am tired, Miss Hatter. I've worked hard for this moment, and I shall not have you meddle and argue." The Witch said, turning away and wandering into the darkness, out of Sophie's sight. Several minutes passed, which in that time Sophie had let her stick fall to her side.

Feeling something slide away, Sophie looked down at herself. The goop was still there, but she noticed how it seemed to avoid her stick. Thinking, she reflected how the Witch appeared to dislike her stick as well. Sophie began to wag the stick all over the orange blobs, saying as she moved it back and forth, "Off, you disgusting thing! Have some sense and take yourself off the wall, and let me go!"

And slowly—as well as reluctantly—strands of orange bits began to fly off the wall. Sophie kept waving her stick, and angrily talking the orange blobs away. Sophie had almost managed to work most of herself clear when the ground began to tremble as though a giant was jumping on it.

Then there was a dull booming sound, followed by another, and another. The pillars surrounding Sophie began to tremble, and then with a grand explosion, a section of the wall was knocked to the ground. A cloud of dust and smoke, formed by the crumbling aged-old stone, began to rise in the air, dancing in the light that had arrived amiably with the downfall of the wall. She dimly wondered if she should be terrified, but in fact, she felt just the opposite. And surprisingly, when she caught sight of the scarecrow, the fear in her heart diminished slightly, though it sunk when she discovered it wasn't Howl.

When the Witch saw the swaying stick figure hopping on one leg, she gave a screech of insane rage—and rushed at the Scarecrow, her pigtails flying behind her, with her arms stretched out as if to strangle it.

Good! She thought, watching the two of them battle within a similar cloud like the one in which the Witch had fought in with Howl. She struggled to pull free, and with a final slash, she managed to collapse on the ground just as another figure appeared. When he had shouted out and stopped the cloud in midair, Sophie instinctively looked up and felt her heart twist painfully. But she forced the feelings and thoughts forming away—she couldn't think of such things at a time like this.

Howl, it seemed, had brought forth a chain of peals, which wisped away the magical cloud after each clangor of noise echoed throughout the room. Slowly, the cloud began to diminish until there was only the faintest of haze hovering in the air. The Witch, who had caught sight of Howl, cried out and rushed at him. Howl pulled back, drew his arm against him, and then sliced the air in front of him muttering a word that Sophie couldn't quite hear. A gust of wind shot out, and the Witch managed to give a cry before she collapsed on the ground. A thin line of blood began to appear on her dress, growing longer and wider by the minute. The Witch brought a trembling hand to the scar, before looking up at Howl, her face dead pale.

"Why?" she whispered. Howl's face was cold, staring down at the Witch with his glass eyes that held no emotions. "Because," he answered, "It's over". Then he crouched down next to her, and whispered a brief phrase into her ear, one that Sophie could not hear. The Witch's eyes widened and slowly they began to close. "It won't work," she managed to gasp out, and then it seemed like something took place between the two of them. She began to fold within herself, her hands thin and whiter than every, and then she finally fell to the ground, a heap of bones.

Sophie stared in shock. He didn't. He—he had killed her. He had killed the Witch. She felt herself relax, and her heart rise with hope. But then she heard him utter, "I will never forget, Mirage. You will always be in the back of my mind."

It was true. He did love her.

"Why?" she whispered, staring up at him. Howl felt his face grow hard and cold.

"Because," He answered. "It's over." And then he walked up to her, crouching besides her.

"You no longer hold my heart, and neither does my Fire Demon. Didn't think I'd ever find her, did you, Mirage? Your plan is dead—as are you." He whispered into her ears. He saw his spell began to take effect, and saw the dawning in her eyes just as they began to close.

"It won't work," she managed to gasp out.

Howl smiled coldly, and swished his hand in a whirl. The Witch began to fold into herself, and the beauty she held began to whither, and soon all that stood before him was a heap of bones.

It will not work, Howell. Don't think just because you found her I shall let you live happily. I will not stop till you die with me, A voice hissed in his head.

"I will never forget, Mirage. You will always be in the back of my mind."

A/N #2: So…there it is! My first fanfiction. I guess I sorta left it hanging, I know, but my writing ability left to take a break. So if you have any complaints, blame it on ChizuChan, okay? Guess you'll have to wait till the next update…which will (hopefully) be coming up December 3. The reason is because I have so much schoolwork, and can only post on Weekdays. So in the meantime, please review! It might make my next chapter come out faster ;)))) hint hint