Audaces fortuna iuvat(Latin): fortune favors the brave

I stumble across a group of women who're clustered together whispering, "Osoreirimasuga doko?" I ask, my voice quivering.

The young women size me up and cross their arms,"Are you drunk?" They ask, obviously disgusted. They lift their brightly colored petticoats and walk away, with their noses high in the air. It sounds like I've angered them so I bow and quietly mutter an apology before taking off. I'm dressed for the hot summer weather of Japan but here it feels like it's the middle of winter. The sun hasn't fallen beneath the horizon yet but it'll get there within the hour, it's already caressing the sleepy horizon. I jog down the old cobblestone streets and turn into an alley, this is where homeless people go to stay right?. At the end of the street there is an ancient looking building with faded letters painted on it's façade. The door isn't locked and when I enter, a powerful sneeze racks my body; it's unbelievably stuffy and humid in here. The room is fairly dark and it looks like whoever lived here last was a major hoarder. There are useless things collecting dust everywhere—the dining table, chairs, and on the floor.

I close the door behind and drag myself up the creaky old wooden stairs and nearly trip over a pile of books. I look for a place to sleep and I spot an old armchair with a clump of oil colored feathers resting in it's seat. I pick the feathers up and lay them across my skirt, I'll just be here for one night, then I'll move on.I don't want to find out who the owner of these huge feathers is. I'll keep hoping that whoever they belong to is just a large pet. The fire flickers and warms my chilled body and I sleep effortlessly for the first time in a while.

I see my parents...at some sort of outdoor restaurant. They're eating and eating like there's no tomorrow and everything I scream at them falls on deaf ears. Mom's favorite salmon colored blouse stretches across her body and snaps once she grows to be too large. I lay my shaky hand on the rubbery back of father and he thrashes around; thus breaking his wooden stool. I stare into his glassy eyes and can't believe that my parents have transformed from normal everyday people into the squealing pigs right in front of me.

A bloodcurdling scream erupts from my chest."Hey—hey you!" The fire calls.

My sleep filled eyes pass over the fiery entity with neon green eyes. I carefully lean forward and reach out to stroke it's chubby belly. The warmth is scorching lay hot from this distance so I decide against it."Konichiwa, Kasaisama." I smile, inspecting his body. His tiny, insubstantial body can only be described as a deep purplish red that has reflective flecks of gold sprinkled generously in his stomach. He looks like the spark of a firework as it explodes in the inky night sky—which is a pretty good analogy considering he's like a star wallowing in a bed of ashes.

I inch my face closer and closer to the flame and it leaps back. Fire-sama raises the temperatures like a madman and I'm sweating like someone wearing a trench coat in the middle of a major heat wave. I tug at my peter-pan collar and wipe my sweat drenched brow. This stupid place is already stuffy enough without all of this extra heat, "Yamete kudasai!"

A dark haired man stomps downstairs and pauses briefly, surveying the situation. "You're too loud! Shhhhhhhut uppp!" He whines, pressing his long index finger against his lips, "And you, Calcifer, if you don't keep your temperatures down..." I raise an eyebrow and tilt my head to the side, what's he saying? I hope he didn't tell me to leave—I'm still recuperating from my journey. Apparently he doesn't because after his...outburst, he turns on his heels and stomps back to wherever he came from without uttering another word.

A long, uneventful hour passes and my stomach growls like a lion. My eyes graze over the mountain of food that resides to the right of me on the old dining table. There are succulent grapes,peaches, figs, bacon strips, garlic bread sticks, cheese and eggs. My mouth waters like a water fountain and I can't resist just one bite...I break off a huge chunk of Ossau Iraty and a handful of garlic bread and grapes— it'll be a shame if they go to waste. I savor the zesty flavor of the garlic bread and the deliciously bitter taste of the cheese; the tangy flavor of the grapes are a nice touch, too. I gobble down the rest of my delicious breakfast and wipe my mouth, like a zoo animal. "Morning, sunshine." A man chirps, spinning me around.

I shake my head and shrug my tiny shoulders. Isn't it obvious that I don't understand a lick of English? The strange man leans down, gazes deeply into my dark eyes and whispers something strange into my ears. Then he...holds my face in his large hands and kisses my small quivering lips. He lingers for a bit, I backhand him as hard as I can and yelp, "What are you doing?!"

He staggers back a bit, pokes his swollen red cheek and chuckles,"I was just giving you an English cram session, I'll be sure to ask permission when we learn Spanish." He jokes. "Calcifer, I think I've found someone that has even more spark in them than you do!"

"What's your name, sir?"I interject, marveling at my clear tone when speaking English.

"I'm Wizard Howl. Welcome to my moving castle. Sorry for yelling at you earlier you interrupted my beauty sleep."

I'm getting some serious stranger danger vibes from this guy, I'd better get a safe distance away. "Moving castle? Last time I checked, this was not a castle but an abandoned house—or inn. And what do you mean by moving castle?"

"I mean a castle... that moves? Thought that was obvious, I guess not. " Howl shrugs his shoulders and turns away from me. "Anyway, I'd best be going. See you later, sweetheart."

"My name is Sen not sweetheart."

"Don't get carried away while I'm gone, sweetheart!" Howl calls. He stalks down the small set of stairs and waves as he leaves. When I check out the second set of stairs, I see a giant spider feasting on poor little bug that's stuck in it's equally big web. Yeah, I'm not going there. I walk around in circles in Howl's cramped living room and inspect tiny details such as the design on the wallpaper. If it weren't drenched in dust, it might've been kind of charming. Soon, I'm finished criticizing Howl's...decoration choices and now I'm left with the spider, the feathers and my inner most thoughts.

I called Haku a delusional creep just because he claimed that we used to be in love with each other. I now think there's a chance that he could've be telling me the truth. If a strange man can teach me an entire language with a single kiss, is falling in love really that out there? Has Haku been telling me the truth about us? About everything? He did seem vaguely familiar now that I think about it; especially those eyes of his. I've never seen anybody that has such intense green eyes like that except maybe on TV. But then again, what don't you see on TV?

I goof around and talk to the fire and ask it some stupid questions— I wonder if it'll try to burn me again. He doesn't, though, luckily for me. He just points to a lumber pile stacked off in a corner and orders me to give him some. I feed him and build a wall of ashes around him at request— what an enchanting little demon! I pick up the beautiful feathers that lie on the dark red cushion of my chair and use them to create a crown for my light brown hair.

A small boy skips down the stairs and pauses when he sees me preening myself like an idiot. The boy is wearing a blue checkered sweater vest and beige shorts even though it's freezing cold outside. "Calcifer, why did you let a witch in here?"

Calcifer sticks out his fiery tongue and crosses his stubby arms."I didn't let her in, she came in all by herself. I'm not that stupid, Markl."

"Keep telling yourself that, Cal. Hey, you— are you Howl's new girlfriend, or something?" Markl asks, tugging on my skirt.

I shake my head and crouch down."I'm not Howl's anything, I'm just a visitor. Don't worry, I'll be out before you know it."

"Good. Try not to get in our way while you're here, lady." Markl huffs, sticking his tongue out at me. A doorbell rings and Markl disguises himself as a little old man before he goes to investigate.

"Porthaven door."

"Standby."

Markl goes back and forth like that— threatening me and serving whoever knocks at the door. He's pretty bitter for a little kid... but, hey, I was too. I drift in and out of sleep— now I can really feel the effect yesterday's events had on my body. My legs are throbbing with pain and my feet are covered in bloody blisters. My arms are tired of hauling that heavy picnic basket for hours on end and as if that wasn't enough, I have a splitting headache that makes my brain swim and my stomach churn every time I move...

Markl clambers over to the food table and picks a couple of crackers and a peach. "Would you like to eat some fish, instead?" I ask, reaching into the picnic basket and taking out Haku's unused bento box.

Markl nods vigorously,"But.. It'll be cold and I hate fish! It makes me sick." Markl complains.

"I feel the same way. But you should still try it, my mom makes the best fish you'll ever eat. I just have to heat it up a little. Oh, Calcifer..."

"I am a powerful fire demon not a stove and anyway, only Howl can use me."

"Please, Calcifer? I'm too tired to deal with all of this nonsense." I grouch, forcing the pan of fish onto his head. Calcifer vehemently refuses and threatens to burn my fish."Fine. Where I come from, people eat fish even if it's not cooked. Markl and I can handle a little bit of cold fish."

Markl eats a pieces of cold salmon and a sweet peach. I make do with some cheese and crackers, but that's fine with me. I ate a bit too much for breakfast, anyway. "Thank you for feeding me, Sen. This tastes delicious, y'know, for a fish."

"You're welcome." I yawn and head for the dirty armchair that's become my bed. The coolness of the air soothes my headache and puts me to sleep, now I can hear myself think..I dream of the same thing that I did this morning. Mom and Dad eating like pigs and turning into some; just like last night. This this time instead of screaming myself awake, I go farther into the dream. I jump back and run away from the restaurant smack dab into a dark spirit with a festival mask tied to it's "face". The spirit grabs my shoulders, opens it's mouth and pushes me inside. I wake up instantly, panting and looking around for the dark spirit.

"Finally, you're awake!" Howl exclaims, eating something.

I crane my head to the right and sure enough, Howl is back home from wherever. Once again, he's staring deep into my eyes and I his and a delirious smile spreads across my face,"You...you have very pretty eyes. I never knew that eyes could be that blue."

"I know. I'll remind you to tell me that when you're actually conscious." Howl whispers, adjusting my feathered crown.

"Please do. Hey...Hoowll? I've been looking for this boy called Haiku who... I have to ...apologize to..." My eyes droop and I'm slowly slipping back under again. "Help me?"

Howl laughs softly,"Sure, I'll help you. See you in the morning, then."

-—-

A week later, I wake up early one morning and feed Calcifer a thick Yule log. It'll keep him going for twelve hours, so that's a plus. He breaks it in half and devours a piece of it. "It's about time— I was about to die! You sleep like a log...no pun intended."

"You were not about to die— I wouldn't have let you, you little drama queen."

Calcifer slams his tiny golden fists down on the pile ashes,"I am not a drama queen." He pouts, climbing onto the log. I take some leftover bread and an apple from the table and nibble them slowly. Markl skips downstairs and requests to eat some more salmon. I direct him to the damp picnic basket that's near the creaky old rocking chair in front of the fire.

"Where are you from, Sen? And why do you eat like a mouse?" Markl asks, stuffing his face with the last of Haku's fish.

"What do you mean like a mouse? I'm,uh, from Japan."

He stares at me with a perplexed expression etched on his face. "You're joking right? Japan doesn't exist..."

I choke down a big chunk of an apple and my face goes horribly pale at the words 'Japan doesn't exist...' "Japan does indeed exist. Maybe you should brush up on your geography sometime instead of parading around as a little old man."

Markl sticks his tongue out at me and I fight against the urge to do the same. "I have a legitimate reason for what I do, you don't! There's no excuse for lying."

I ignore Markl's last statement and think, since that's all you can do here. Howl is being rather quiet today, usually he makes a flamboyant entrance or whines about something. I'll offer him a drinks and see what's wrong. I remove some soda from the basket— it's not cold anymore. That's okay. I climb up the broken old stairs and find that most doors are locked up here. I assume his room is the one at the end of the hallway, the one I haven't tried yet. I knock on the door and wait but there's no answer. I push the door open and peek in to see if it's the right one. Sure enough, it is.

"I brought you something to drink. You thirsty?"

"Definitely, thanks." Howl smiles, jumping up and grabbing one from my hand. He cracks it open and sips it thoughtfully."What does Haiku look like?"

Haiku? "Oh, Haku... Well, he has olive green eyes and... relatively light skin. Last time I saw him, he had his hair tied back into a droopy ponytail. Um...oh yeah! He was wearing strange clothing; like a farmer—n-not that farmers dress strangely."

Howl turns his body to face mine and continues to enjoy his drink,"Why do you want to look for him? Maybe he doesn't want to be found."

"His name is Haku not Haiku, he's not a poem. And I'm sure he does want to be found because... never mind."

"Was he your boyfriend?"

"No, he wasn't... I don't remember what we were. I don't really know anything about him." I admit.

"I'm taking you to someone you don't even know?" Howl snickers. "You're really...something, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know."

-—

I leave Howl's messy bedroom, and almost trip on the broken floorboards below me. With every step I take it kicks up more and more dust into my face, gross! I should probably clean the castle as a thank you to Howl for keeping me here so long. Heaven knows if our situations were flipped I wouldn't have done the same. I'm too skeptical of everyone I meet.

My sense of purposefulness is short lived—now that I'm up here, I can finally see how lazy I've been. If I can't even take care of the living space around me, how am I going to look for a person in a whole new world? I throw the can into the trash and sink down into my chair by the fireplace. I'm lulled to sleep by Calcifer's incessant chattering about this, that and the other. It's...kind of like home. Reminds me of my parents; how mom'd talk to dad about stuff as he falls asleep watching the news.

Tonight, I dream of home. I pull the blankets over my tiny red nose and stare out the open window. My curtains are twirling around in the wind and the moon's light spills into my dark room, it's a truly beautiful scene. "Please come tonight! Please, please, please! I miss you, H—!" I never got a reply from whoever I was speaking to, no matter how loudly I screamed. Thats how the dream rapidly became a nightmare for me; it's a terrible thing to be wasting all your time and efforts on someone who isn't interested.

Sweat rolls down my temples and I try to slow my racing heart down. But, as usual the only thing that's in this room with me is Calcifer. I don't think that I'll be able to stay conscious for more than a few hours but ... I've got to get it together and start searching for Haku soon. I really hope that he's still alive—if he dies I'll never be able to forgive myself. The moon's soft glow showers the world in a faint light and I pray quietly to whoever's listening. "Please give Haku a safe place to stay and plenty of food to eat until I find him again. Help me find him, again. Amen."

Today, I don't wake up as tired as I have been these past couple of days, but I'm still feeling unusually weak. Which is weird since I'm positive I've eaten nonstop since arriving. "Morning, Calcifer." I yawn, tossing a log into his hearth.

"Morning, Sen. Welcome back to the land of the living, will you be staying with us for more than an hour?"

I set four logs aside and roll my eyes."It's nice to see you too." Today, I make my commitment to finding Haku official. I'm going to find you, Haku. I'll take you back to your parents, and you'll be safe if it's the last thing I do. "What if it is the last thing you do?" A voice in my mind hisses.

Then so be it. I owe it to him and his parents.

A/N: I've got to reupload chapter 1 and 3 because FF messed some things up. I'd like to thank all the people who take time out of their day to review my story. It means more than you know—keep telling me what you think! :)