Rule number two-Best friends keep you from doing stupid things…by yourself

"Uh…Howl…" Kiki began, looking nervously around the dark area before scooting closer to her friend. "I don't think this is such a good idea…"

Howl snorted quietly, edging closer to the dark cottage as he reached down his shirt to reveal a large brass key hanging around his neck.

"The alarms won't go off if I have the key, now will they?" he said, dangling the key in front of Kiki's worried face.

She swiped the object away before crossing her arms and whispering fiercely, "Sneaking into your teacher's laboratory and taking some of their magic items is no way to become a good wizard, Howl!"

Howl scoffed at her before creeping closer to the house, carefully dismantling the protective spell that had been cast on the door. As he put his hand on the doorknob, he turned back to Kiki and stuck his tongue out at her, "Seriously, you're such a worrywart. The old man hasn't put up a spell that I can't get past yet."

While Howl strode in confidently, Kiki cowered behind him until he flicked the lights on and she let go of the back of his shirt, her eyes filled with curiosity as they took in the mysterious room. Potions of all colors lined the tables and shelves, and books lay in disarray around the room while the light reflected from various, strange looking items. At the back of the room were cages, and Kiki gazed in wonder at the strange creatures that inhabited the metal boxes, giggling at one that appeared to be nothing more than a giant furball.

"Hey Howl," she called in a whisper, "What's this?"

From where he was shifting through some books, Howl looked over and replied, "That? The geezer calls it a 'dust bunny'."

Kiki laughed before saying, "I don't know, I didn't think dust bunnies were supposed to be this cute?"

Howl rifled through a few pages of a rather old, dusty book before ripping out some pages and shoving them in his pockets carelessly. He shrugged as he threw the book over his shoulder, picking up another one as he said, "It's cute but it's just a regular bunny that's had magic done on it. Its fur is supposed to pick up dust when the bunny runs around, but I don't think he's got the spell right just yet, since it looks like that."

His friend laughed before smiling at the funny looking creature fondly as she said, "Well I think it's adorable, whether it works or not." At the sound of more ripping pages, Kiki looked over curiously before asking, "Why did we sneak in here anyways?"

Triumphantly, Howl waved some pages at her as he said in a haughty tone, "I came here to steal some spells. That way, the next time my teacher tries to show me up I'll be the one who casts the best spell!"

Kiki just shook her head, rolling her eyes as she turned back to watch the furry creature. Howl hated being shown up more than anything, to the point where he even let go of his cowardice to try and show off. It was how he'd always been, and Kiki knew that when he started studying magic that he wouldn't make an exception.

With a sigh, she stood up and walked towards him, saying, "We should get going now before something happens and we get caught."

"Yeah, okay," Howl agreed, "Just let me get something from this book-"

As soon as Howl's fingers grazed the covers of the elegant, dark blue book he sensed something was wrong. In an instant, his hand left the book and went to Kiki's waist, where he grabbed her before running towards the door.

"Howl?" Kiki asked, panicking as she was carried through the door and across the lawn while Howl sprinted as if his life depended on it.

"Damn old man!" Howl cursed under his breath, as the whole of the cabin began to glow a bright red, pulsating through the dark as it shone through the forest and illuminated all of its surroundings. Throwing Kiki into the bushes, Howl scrambled up the nearest tree in an undignified manner while his sharp blue eyes scouted the area until they found what they were looking for.

From her seat on the ground, Kiki complained, "Ow, what was that for?"

"SHHH!" Howl hissed from the tree, "Be quiet! I don't want him knowing it was me!"

Kiki fell silent, but shivered suddenly as she felt the presence of a wizard nearby. It was very different to the feeling she got around Howl; rather than making her feel at ease, the aura which she sensed was one of intensity, causing her entire body to shake as she felt the power that seeped from the nearby wizard.

Up in the tree, Howl muttered under his breath, "Show off," as a figure in the distance stepped towards the glowing red house and held a hand up. In an instant, the house fell dark again before the figure went inside. Quickly, Howl jumped down from the tree and grabbed Kiki's hand, saying low, "If we're going to run, now's the time for it."

"What!? Howl!" Kiki cried as she was all but dragged through the woods by her friend.

The next morning, Kiki was idling on the grass when a gaggle of girls from the village stopped by, all of them giggling at something. When they saw Kiki, they called out to her and waved, and she waved back before getting up and trotting over to the fence.

"What are you up to?" she asked curiously, and the girls all giggled again before one of them turned to her and said, "That best friend of yours just got punished for sneaking into his master's laboratory last night!"

Kiki leaned on the fence, her eyes widening as she said, "Really? What punishment did he get, Mel?"

Mel smiled and said, "Rumor has it that he's being forced to wear a dress or something while he works for the old wizard…Mr. Crowe says that it'll make him feel ashamed for what he did!"

A smirk fell on Kiki's face before she opened the fence and ran past the girls, yelling, "I have to go see this for myself!"

Being a witch had many advantages, one of which was that Kiki wasn't scared at all as she walked up to Wizard Crowe's cabin and knocked confidently on the door. When the old wizard opened it, he stared around grumpily until he looked down and saw Kiki. With a smile, he welcomed her in.

"Ah, Miss Kiki! It's been awhile since you last visited me. How is your mother?" the old wizard asked, happy as ever to see the young witch. Kiki curtsied and replied, "My mother is just fine, thank you! I've come to see how Howl's been getting along in his studies."

The wizard smiled at her, patting her head as he said, "He's coming along fine-but that boy is by far the vainest young wizard I have ever taken in as an apprentice! Did you know, he came in here last night and ripped spells out of my precious collection?"

Kiki was about to reply when Howl came in, a bucket in his hands. As soon as he saw Kiki, he turned bright red before dropping the empty bucket and stuttering, "K-k-k-Kiki! Wh-what are you doing here?" Remembering what he was wearing, he covered his face and cried, "Don't look at meeeee!"

His friend clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing, knowing that if she let out even one giggle in front of the old wizard it would humiliate her friend even further. Turning to the wizard, Kiki asked sweetly, "May I borrow Howl for a bit?"

Wizard Crowe patted her once more on the head, saying, "Of course you may; it is time for his break after all. Run along then!"

Obligingly, Kiki grabbed Howl's arm and pulled him out of the cabin. She made it halfway through the woods before she collapsed in a fit of giggles, which caused Howl to pout even more as he crossed his arms and sulked, "It's not funny!"

Kiki looked up from the ground, taking in the baby blue dress with the high rise collar. Her eyes roamed over the lace frills at the bottom, before taking in the matching shoes and frilly apron. Unable to stand it any longer she started laughing again before she finally calmed down, leaning against Howl as he had sat down next to her.

"It's not so bad," Kiki said, much to her friend's chagrin.

"Not so bad? Kiki, I'm wearing a DRESS."

"Yeah, but it's a cute dress and it looks good on you, Howl. You look good in everything." Kiki smiled to herself as she watched her friend fall silent before he grinned a little then bragged, "Well, I guess that I'm so good looking I can make even a dress like THIS look good. But that old man still has no right to harass me like this!"

She laughed one last time before standing up and brushing her skirt off, offering her hand to her friend as she said gently, "Let's go back. I'll tell him that I was there with you, so he can split the punishment with me."

Howl looked up at her before smiling back and taking her hand, allowing him to pull him to his feet as he replied, "Thanks, Kiki."

"Anything for my best friend!" she grinned back. "After all, you'll be there when I do something stupid too, right?"