Hey guys! Sorry I took so long to update, I've been really busy and stuff, and school has started and all, so don't be mad! :)

Chapter Five: The Decision

MARKL POV

The Witch of the Waste.

That's what Howl told me. She was the Witch of the Waste, the cruel women who talked to me yesterday. We are eating dinner after I had a little nap. When Howl came in to give me my food, he found me asleep and didn't want to wake me up. I sigh and take another bite of bread and shove a piece of cheese into my mouth.

"Markl, again, I'm so sorry about your mother and hometown." Calcifer says, sympathy obvious in his voice. I hear Howl mutter something about Calcifer acting weird, but I just ignore him.

"It's okay, Calcifer, stop apologizing!" I order and chuckle, even though I am still devastated. The thing is, I have to get over it because what happens, happens...

Smiling and shaking his head, Howl looks up at me with his round, sparkling blue eyes. "So, have you decided yet?"

"Um, decided what?" I ask curiously.

"If you're going to stay here or go to an orphanage or something," Howl says rather slowly, then quickly looks back down at his plate, which he has barely eaten from. I notice that Howl is a guy that doesn't eat much.

"Oh, um, I'm still thinking." I say awkwardly and scratch the back of my neck. "I'm full," I say as I push my plate away. "I'll finish it for breakfast tomorrow."

"Okay, that's fine." Howl says, grabbing his plate and dumping the rest into Calcifer's mouth. "Calcifer, please move the castle 76 miles to the West. Oh, and make hot water for my bath." Howl adds before setting his plate down by the hearth and walking towards the steps.

"Um, Howl, if I, you know, stay here..." I pause for a second, and he just stares at me. "Will you continue to train me? You know, in becoming a wizard? Because, you're like, the best wizard in the world?"

"Of course I will, Markl." Howl answers my question and laughs quietly before walking up the stairs and into his bathroom.

"Calcifer, do you think I should stay?" After the words come out of my mouth, I notice how stupid I am. Calcifer will probably say yes! I mean, I think. He likes me, doesn't he...?

"I don't know kid. Howl's pretty much always out of the house, either fighting in the war or something. So it might be kind of boring..." Calcifer warns. "But, it's your decision, kid." With that, Calcifer sinks back into the hearth and falls asleep.

I sigh and take a seat. What will I do? Calcifer has a point... Maybe Howl could find me some wizard orphanage or something... That's what I'm going to do! I'll be able to meet new people, make friends, and maybe even be adopted by someone rich! I smile at the thought and run upstairs to my room, shutting the door behind me.

It turns out that my door is very sensitive, and it closed behind me with a loud slam!

I wince and jump on my bed, a smile still plastered on my face. As I lay on the bed, about to doze off, my door bursts open. I abruptly sit up on my bed, scrunching my forehead.

"Um, Howl? Everything okay?" I ask, gazing at the wizard in the towel.

Howl straightens up, and clears his throat. "Uh," He chuckled nervously. "Uh, yeah, yeah, nothing wrong... I just heard the door slam and thought something was wrong, you know, either mad or sad or Calcifer did something."

Howl scratched the back of his neck anxiously and held up his hand in apology. "My bad! Sorry if I was interrupting in on anything or... Yeah."

I giggle and look down at my feet hanging over the side of the bed. "It's okay, Howl, just be careful closing that door... It shuts very loudly."

Howl nods and softly clicks the door back into place. Once I hear his foot steps move down the hall and the bathroom door close, I plop back down on the bed in a laying position. I slap my forehead with my hand and mutter to myself: "Why didn't I tell him just now? It was a perfect time... Kind of... He was in a towel."

As I lay down in bed, wrapped up in a warm soft towel, I keep thinking over my "decision." I'm not sure if I really want to go to an orphanage, but I'm close to deciding yes.

I start drifting off to sleep, still kind of thinking, until I fall asleep for real...

I'm in a white area, and everything around me is white. I'm sitting down on a hard, white surface and I gaze up to find a white ceiling.

As I stand up I start to shake, and the ground starts to rumble as well. I rapidly move my eyes around my blank surroundings, confused and vexed. The white place suddenly starts to change, and I'm transported to Howl's castle. I furrow my eyebrows and glance around the room full of junk. Calcifer is sleeping in his hearth, and I don't hear anything but the creaking of the castle moving through the Wastes.

I sink down into the chair and sigh. Then, I hear slow moving footsteps make there way down the staircase, and I look over to see Howl in red, silky robe.

"Howl, um, hi... What's going on? I was just surrounded by nothing but white, and now I'm here. What happened. I'm so confused..." The tears start welling up in my eyes. I just want to go home to my mom, away from all this weirdness.

"Calm down, Markl." Howl replies, in a somewhat deep and creepy way. "Follow me."

I do as he says, and then notice that I am not wearing my typical, green outfit. I am now wearing a tuxedo, with a black bow tie underneath the collar. I'm still a little puzzled, but I shrug it off and follow Howl to stand next to him by the door.

"Once I open this door, you will walk out, and never, come back..." Howl says, not even showing any signal of looking up at me. His voice stays low, and what he said took me off guard.

"But How-" I begin but get interrupted by him pushing me out the door. The color on the dial is purple, which is weird because purple isn't one of the colors on the dial...

"No buts, Markl. Have a great life..." Howl spits out the words that made out the last sentence, and my eyes start to water.

"Howl, please, I just need an explanation!" I yell, begging.

"You will understand soon. Now leave." He shuts the door in my face, and I can hear the dial click into a different position, and I look down, not knowing what to do.

The tears finally start running down my cheeks as I sink down to the ground, rolling up in a tight ball. I sit there for about 20 minutes, sobbing and hopeless.

"Oh, poor baby." That hoarse, haughty voice of the Witch of the Waste tells me. I hesitantly gaze up, wiping the tears off my face. "Why, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be inside? With that dear boy, Howl is it?"

"Um, he... He left me out here. I have no idea what's going on and he wouldn't explain. He just told me never to come back, and then shoved me out the door." I explain to the witch, choking back more tears.

"Oh, well, possibly, I may be able to help?" The witch suggests, chewing on her index finger nail and holding her other hand out.

I sniffle and shrug. "Um, I guess. How would you be able to help me?"

"Just follow me..." She replies in a mysterious voice, holding out her hand to help me up. Once I am up and fix my bow tie and wipe off the tears, I follow the Witch of the Waste into a small, bustling city full of people and houses...

HOWL POV

I try to keep my calm composure after Markl tells me about his decision to go to a wizard orphanage and about his dream with the Witch of the Waste. My head is hurting and I'm really tired because I didn't get much sleep last night. I smile politely and nod. "Um," I chuckle nervously. "That's, uh, fine with me."

"Okay great! When will we leave? After lunch later today?" Markl asks after swallowing another bite of bread and cheese from dinner yesterday.

"Sure, Markl."

"Yes! Thank you so much, Howl! I knew I could rely on you!" With that, Markl is up the stairs and into his room.

I walk over to Calcifer and sit down on the chair, putting my feet up on the hearth. I sigh and close my eyes. "Cal, looks like it's going to be just you and me again."

"Well, it was fun while it lasted..."

Well, there you go! That's the 5th chapter, and I will work on the next one as soon as I can! Please review!