A Prince, A Wizard, and a Girl
A Prince, A Wizard, and a Girl
Chapter One
Wind blew in the air gently, tenderly caressing Sophie's face as she stood in the flowery fields, the pleasant aroma filling her nostrils. Everything was so peaceful, and yet Sophie couldn't deny her gut feeling of apprehension—it puzzled her greatly. It had been so long (or so it felt like) since the war and the pandemonium, and still the persistent nagging of undeniable concern loomed over her, even with Howl.
Not too far from her the castle stood, steam drifting idly from its torrent, and Markl not too far beyond it with Heen. A more blatant nuisance gripped her aching stomach, grumbling in defiance at its utter lack of nourishment. "Well, Sophie, you have to go get food sometime," she sighed to herself, calling for Markl and Heen to follow her inside the castle.
Inside, as the trio entered, was Howl beside the workbench, hunched over a spell he'd been tweaking since morning for a man in Market Chipping. "Hello, Howl," Sophie greeted him softly as she stepped inside. The wizard spun around with a whirl and a wide grin at the sound of the woman's voice, "Hello, Sophie! Where are you going?"
She'd only returned to the castle to obtain her jacket, sliding it on over her shoulders before she turned the knob beside the door and answered, "To Market Chipping—we need groceries." As the door opened a ruckus of people bustling along the streets filled the living space before Sophie gracefully slipped out and shut the door behind her—she'd hardly heard Howl's bellowed "goodbye" and heard even less of his wistful sigh as the door creaked shut.
In the crammed streets, Sophie followed the pathway of a lesser traveled alley, remembering all the while how she first met Howl with a smile about her face. A sigh of reluctance overcame her as she fought her way through the busy streets to the bakery, greeting her sister Lettie with the warmest of smiles and calling out to her, "Two rolls of bread and a box of muffins, please!" Honestly, Market Chipping was far too small altogether for the amount of people that liked to squeeze into it.
A little nod and Lettie had disappeared towards the back (groans of disappointment could be heard throughout the bakery), only to reappear seconds later with a box and two rolls in hand. After her pay, Sophie struggled to free herself from the crowd that had managed to pack themselves in—all of Lettie's possible suitors. "She is very pretty, I can't blame them," Sophie commented to herself as she joined in with the common bustle of the streets.
"Why, if it isn't Sophie Hatter!" At once Sophie spun towards the voice that had called her name, not at all expecting to find none other than Prince Justin with his top hat tipped towards her and a grin plastered over his handsome face, "What brings you to these streets?" Obviously, Sophie was yearning to ask the same thing as she analyzed him for a moment—for the most part he seemed to be the same, his suit was blue now and his blonde hair framed his face but he was still recognizably Prince Justin.
Now, there wasn't any shame in sharing her reasons for being in Market Chipping at all, but the none-too-pleasant but unfortunately familiar unease crept into her stomach as she spoke, "I'm here buying groceries for Howl, Markl and I." Her gut senses had been correct, for this was the wrong thing to say to a man that had, after all, been destined to be her true love. The prince fairly displayed this by a frown of disappointment. Although, Sophie didn't feel half as bad as she spotted the red flowers and the bakery's white box tucked beneath his arm, he'd apparently done alright in finding a suitable replacement for his lost love.
"What are those for?" Sophie was desperate to take his mind off her and Howl's still living together.
Sophie's idea seemed to work as Justin smiled and answered, "Oh the box is for my mom, she's sick and I wanted to buy her something. The roses, I bought them for a friend of mine, he was too busy preparing for his date tonight that he couldn't buy them! I can't believe it, really, but I wanted to do him a favor. They really are pretty this time of year, flowers are."
Being polite, Sophie nodded in agreement, bidding him farewell, which he quickly returned. However, not even seconds later he'd reached for her arm and asked a question that Sophie wholly accepted with an eager grin.
"You're going where tonight?" Howl questioned, trying his best to sound not at all accusing, despite how offended he truly was, "But-But-But!"
"Oh shush, Howl! It's only because I feel sorry for him, after all, he was supposed to be my true love. How could I just be so rude as to turn him down? It won't go too far, I promise!" Sophie assured the wizard as she tried on an assortment of hats that Howl himself had bought for her, settling on the soft yellow one. From downstairs a knock on the door carried itself throughout the house and she smiled, but turned to Howl sternly and firmly told him, "Don't come after us, nothing is going to happen!" Howl frowned at this but had no choice in letting her out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the front door.
There was the muffled sound of the door closing and Howl heaved a profound sigh, trudging towards the bathroom, watching the bathtub basin fill with warm water. Markl knew the routine well by now, an empathetic expression written over his face. Whenever Howl was upset, he'd retreat into the bathroom, followed by the world's longest siesta in his bedroom.
It was nearly two hours before Howl plodded from the bathroom, collapsing into the arm chair in front of Calcifer, "Glad you're back, did you see Sophie anywhere in Market Chipping?" His voice was absolutely dripping with gloom, his melancholy only worsened as Calcifer shook his head, nervous as ever as Howl's worried expression was cast back towards him and then the front door, as if Sophie's actions were reflected within the grain of the wood. Howl took her disappearance from the streets as a negative sort. Little did he know, Sophie was tucked up safely in a restaurant, dining with the Prince himself, and it would've pained him even further to know that they even had dessert plans.
"Oh she's going to fall in love with him!" wailed Howl. Indeed he was thoroughly depressed and Markl could only hope that he wouldn't spew green again—that had been a mess twice before and that was two too many. "She's going to leave me, Calcifer!"
The fire demon rolled his eyes, countering with a confident, "Oh, stop acting like a child, Howl! I know Sophie better than that!" It was true, and she had even promised—Sophie had never been the type to go back on a promise. "It was out of pity, that's all. Besides, I couldn't blame her, you haven't done much in the way of driving this relationship forward. Maybe this is a way to bring out your courage, coward." It was times like these that Calcifer thoroughly enjoyed being free from Howl, as he could insult him all he wanted without a single reprimand or threat.
However, to Calcifer's disappointment, Howl hardly seemed to notice, only running his hands through his blonde hair. Markl watched but soon after told them he was going off to pick some flowers with Heen for Lettie. Calcifer gave a flicker of a nod, but Howl only glanced at him through the corner of his eye as he vanished out the door.
Only a few minutes had passed before the door opened and Howl nearly burst from out of his chair as Sophie walked inside, hanging her jacket on a hook adjacent to the door. To Howl's intense dismay, she was smiling rather widely for a girl who was supposedly going out with a man just to be kind hearted.
"Why are you smiling like that? Seems like you had a wonderful time," Howl commented, sounding not at all as angry as he wished he could have.
"Just listen to yourself, you vain, arrogant, and envious man! It wasn't anything serious!" Sophie hastily defended, looming over him like a giant as he tried to stand, getting a staggering start out of the chair to take his place beside Calcifer. The fire demon peered from around him and grinned.
"So you're finished with him?" At least his voice was returning to normalcy.
"What if I'm not?" Sophie demanded of him, back towards him, "Howl you haven't changed a single bit since you got that blackened heart of yours back! Mind you, I was the one that gave it to you!" Within a second, Sophie Hatter had slammed the door shut on his face and stepped back out into the flowery field as sun began to set. "That man! I hate him!"
Remember this? I sort of re-vamped it. Yes, pretty much two years later and I'm trying my hand at it again! I've been re-reading the book; I gained a tad of inspiration. So this based off the book and the movie, a mixture of both for those of you just tuning in!
Please review! I need the feedback, especially now! And you know the whole "I don't own it" spiel.