A.N. – if it takes me really long to update sorry the semester just started so I might get distracted. Also I will be using references from the book Howl's Moving Castle so I'm sorry if I confuse some people.
Haru was walking down the street, humming to herself, and looking up at the sky wondering if any of the crows that were flying overhead were Toto.
She felt a tingle go up her back; she quickly spun around to where the feeling was coming from. She surveyed the street she felt it come from and saw nothing, she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully before continuing onwards.
As she kept walking down the street she kept glancing out the corners of her eyes, looking for whatever caused that feeling.
She felt the sensation start up again from the left this time. She quickly turned her head but once again saw nothing; she paused looking at the spot she was pretty sure it came from.
'Something is following me' the thought was sudden, and had a tone of truth to it.
'What do I do then?' she asked herself 'act calm, continue onwards, and keep an eye out for whatever is causing this.'
She was about 6 blocks from her house. She could probably run that distance, but that might make whatever is doing this act quicker. 'Besides, who's to say my house is safe either which way?'
She brushed her short brown hair out of her eyes, and used that to carefully scan her surroundings. No one was around that she could see, but someone was causing these . . . well she didn't know what they were, 'and it's not like they feel bad.'
She made a face at the sky, 'I have just never felt anything like this, and well it feels vaguely familiar.'
A flare was building up she felt it happening to the street on her left. Without thinking she turned towards the direction and followed it at a dead run.
'The alley on the other side of that store!' She swerved into the alley and ran towards the exact location the feeling came from.
All the sudden the world spun around her and she ended up in a room that looked horribly familiar, The Cat Kingdom's dining hall.
'Oh please don't let it be the Cat king again!' She thought 'That's just horribly cliché anyway!'
An unfamiliar male voice broke through her mental pleas "well look at that you were right Lune, she is quite gifted."
She turned to look at where the voice was coming from. She saw two familiar figures, and two unfamiliar ones.
Lune and Yuki stood side by side smiling smugly, but kindly at her. Next to them was a tall handsome man wearing a silver and blue suit, that looked quite expensive, and a beautiful red haired woman with kind eyes.
"Lune you have 5 seconds to explain what the heck is going on before I tie your tail knots" Haru said in an annoyed voice.
The blonde man laughed "oh I like her! She reminds me of Sophie when she was older!"
Haru's curiosity took over for a second "was older? No wait focus! Lune, explain!" Haru said glaring at the black cat who was trying not to chuckle while hiding behind his wife slightly since Haru's anger was legendary.
Lune cleared his throat and stepped forward. "After your last visit; Yuki and I suspected something was different about you, no one even with aide has been able to escape Cat kingdom especially when the crown is put against them." He explained
"But things went your way quite often for having magic oppose you. The magic of Cat Kingdom triggered something inside of you that was lying dormant. You are a Magic User; your world calls them Wizards I believe." He finished looking hesitant. You could never tell how Haru reacted
Haru blinked twice "You're pulling my leg right?" she said looking between everyone.
Yuki smiled reassuringly "Haru that's why you are here now, we asked friends of ours to test you to see how strong you are." Yuki explained motioning to the human couple.
The handsome man gave a bow with flourish "Pleased to make your acquaintance Ms. Haru; my Name is Howl Pendragon Royal Wizard of Ignary, and this lovely lady is my wife Sophie" he said motioning to the women beside him who rolled her eyes at his grand introduction, but gave Haru a big smile.
"The fact you were able to detect the flare of magic and be able to pinpoint them with such accuracy shows you are quite strong and skilled for having never been trained, so it must be instinctual." Sophie explained while Haru tried to process the new information.
"Ok so let me see if I get this. When I came here it activated magic that was inside me and that magic helped me escape and you guys set up this test because you somehow figured it out, also a little side note I have had magic loose for 3 months unchecked!" Haru finished waving her arms around.
Sophie patted her on the shoulder "don't worry magic is based on the user, you wouldn't have hurt anyone." She explained.
Haru let out a sigh of relief knowing that no one had been in danger. "Alright so I have magic not one of the strangest things I have heard this year." She said thinking it over.
Howl gave her a curious look "this would be pretty strange to most normal people."
Haru gave him a deadpan look and began ticking them off on her fingers. "Ok 1st get said thank you to by a cat 2nd I've been invited to marry the cat prince, 3rd cat doll, stone crow, and an obese cat are going to save me from aforementioned marriage because the idiot who asked couldn't take a hypothetical conversation. 4th oh didn't we tell you you're going to turn into a cat."
She paused contemplating and shook her head "I could go on but let's just say the list ends with staircase of live crows."
Howl blinked for a moment before a big smile spread across his face "oh you're going to be a fun one. I can't wait to see what situations you get into!" he said gleefully. Sophie rolled her eyes and held her head in her hands.
Haru froze "what does that mean?" she asked cautiously, giving the quietly cackling wizard a wary glance and taking a step back.
"Well we can't exactly leave you untrained. So, we are offering to take you on as an apprentice" Sophie explained moving in front of her husband to take over the explanation.
Haru's eyes widened "that would be kind of cool, but wait what about my life here? And my mom is not going to take kindly to me all the sudden just up and leaving." She explained.
Howl looked thoughtful "you have 2 options tell her the whole story about everything or lie to her and tell her its s foreign exchange student program. As for your life here that's for you to decide on but they can't know what you are up to your mother may know for the simple fact she is your mother."
Haru looked downcast at that "don't get me wrong it's not that I want to tell everyone it's just that my friends, can I really just leave them?"
Howl smiled kindly "It's not like I am taking you away forever you can visit whenever you want" he reassured her.
She looked away from his kind face to think, and began pacing. 'This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I could do magic! Haven't I been bored out of my mind since my last adventure? I could be the one helping others and having adventures this time. What about my life here?'
She snorted at the thought 'Hiromi has Tsuge now and she will miss me but I will visit every now and again so not too much. Mom will know what I am doing and I can talk to her whenever. Also a pro Machida won't be able to bother me like he has been doing so often.'
She winced as the next thought came to her 'Baron . . . ? He doesn't like me like that! Besides he is about up to my knee now, also not really mortal. It just wouldn't work' She shook her head to clear the sad thoughts. 'Some time away from here might help me get over him.'
She smiled at the futility of the thought but squared her shoulders and turned towards the others again. She smiled brightly at their expectant faces. "I'll become your apprentice"
Yuki smiled and ran forward to hug Haru. Lune turned to Howl and shook his hand while Sophie went forward to talk to Haru and get to know the girl who was going to live under her roof.
'I wonder what will come of this'
A.N. oh thank god maybe now it will stay out of my head while I am trying to take chem notes. I know its not really that great but deal with it.