Fog covered the green valley, rolling down from the hills, the crisp early morning air thinning it's thick clouds. Farmers were tending to their herds, shepherding them across the dewy grass, the sheeps lazily meandering ahead of the farmers. In the distance, a creaking of old rusty metal and gears moving and whirring could be heard breaking the peaceful silence of the quaint town. A huge mass appeared from the depths of the fog, its juddering, janky movements creating a discordant sound of metal scraping and groaning against each other. As the fog further cleared, you could see its awkward, eccentric shape take form. Metal pipes and sheets fitted together with domes of stone and plaster also haphazardly fitted in, with tall, smoking chimneys, creating this almost living, huge creature made of scraps fitted together with jutting out eyes and a metallic tongue hanging out of its gaping maw, spindling along on thin metal legs. A walking, moving castle.
It was early morning in the town, people bustling around, their chatters and murmurs filled the chilly morning air as they greeted one another. The horn of the train cut through the light gossip of the townspeople as it passed through, a big billow of black smoke spouting from the train's chimney, filling the street with the smell of burning, smoky oil and coal. The windows clattered in their frames as the train passed by from the rumbling of the tracks.
Two women were seated in a dusty red building at one of the rattling windows, one of them gazing out into the thick, black smoke covering the outside scenery of the town, while the other meticulously worked on a pretty bright pink hat, sewing colourful flowers, leaves and pinecones as decoration onto the felted hat. This one was the older of the two, a young woman of the name Sophie Hatter, a fairly plain, yet pretty looking girl with dark brown hair pulled back into a braid tied with a pretty mauve ribbon with short, wispy bangs. She was taller by a couple of centimetres than the other girl with small breasts, a slim waist and gently curving hips, her frame over all quite slender. She was a responsible and sensible young lady with kind chocolate brown eyes framed by softly curved eyebrows and a soft, round, gentle face. The other young woman next to her… The other woman… Miss Juniper Rose. An odd girl to be sure, yet a beautiful one nonetheless. With smouldering, beautiful emerald green eyes that looked like the most expensive jewels glittering in the sun, framed by long, thick lashes. Raven black locks framed her beautiful face and cascaded down her back in soft curls and ringlets like an inky black waterfall all the way to her hips. She had beautiful, pale skin like perfect, unblemished porcelain, almost glowing in the light like the moon on a clear night. Full, soft, pouty lips graced her face like a blooming rose and just as pink and lovely. Her soft, feminine, yet defined facial features were a sight to behold, with high cheekbones, dark, softly arched brows, a soft, feminine jaw, and a small, dainty button nose that curved up slightly at the tip. She was an elegant, dainty girl with a lithe frame, standing at only 150 cm. She had large, shapely, perky breasts, a thin, dainty, delicate waist, shapely, curvy hips and thighs, and long, slender legs.
Juniper was a fairly quiet girl, yet exceedingly smart and perceptive. She kept mainly to herself, only spending time with Sophie, her adoptive sister. The Hatters had kindly taken her in when they found her living on the streets, starved and alone as a child and Juniper had been loyal to them ever since. Because of Juniper's beauty and kind, gentle personality, many men flocked to her, trying to gain her attention and favour, to gain her hand in marriage, yet she never paid them any mind, as her only focus was helping out the Hatters as best as she could to repay their kindness. Even after Mr. Hatter passed, and all of Sophie's sisters had moved out, finding a different life for themselves, Juniper stayed with Sophie at the hat shop, not only to keep Mr. Hatter's dreams alive, but also to keep Sophie company, as she was always Juniper's favourite ever since she was a child. Juniper and Sophie had always gotten along easily, both quiet, kind people, enjoying each other's presence even in silence.
Juniper sighed softly, taking her gaze away from the window, and returned her attention back to the dark plum hat in her hands. She picked up a pretty pink flower, adjusting its place on the hat before beginning to quickly and effortlessly sew the flower in place. Sophie and Juniper worked side by side in relaxed silence, the chatter of the other women in the other room and the gentle hum of the town life outside filling the space. Their workbench was strewn with finished and unfinished hats of every colour, texture, material and type. A huge array of beautiful accessories littered the workbench too along with sewing supplies and tools. Colourful flowers, feathers, berries, leaves, greenery, ribbons, and everything in between could be found scattered around the girls. A middle aged, plump woman, wearing a purple and white striped dress and a smart dark maroon hat knocked lightly on the open door of the room the two girls were sitting in. She had a bright pink snap purse hanging on her wrist, ready to head outside.
"Juniper, Sophie." She called to the two girls, smiling a small smile at Juniper and Sophie, knowing how hard they work compared to the other women. Sophie paused her work, her hands stopping as she turned her head to look at the older woman, a surprised look on her face. Juniper continued to sew, unperturbed by the disturbance, her beautiful green eyes staring at her delicate hands working, very focused.
"I've closed up the shop. You two should come with us." The older woman insisted, nodding at the two of them. Juniper finally looked up from her work as Sophie smiled at the lady. Sophie held the hat she was working on up slightly, showing her unfinished work.
"I'll just finish this. Go have some fun." She assured the older lady, turning slightly more towards her as her hands dropped to the table with the hat.
"All right then, I'm off." Nodded the older lady, bidding the two goodbye before turning and walking back into the other room of the shop where the other women were getting ready to leave too.
"Look! It's Howl's castle!" Tittered one of the girls, clutching the hat to her head as she ran to the window to get a better look. The other girls followed suit, giggling and tittering to each other.
"What? Howl? Where? Where?!" Another girl questioned, pushing her way to the window as the other girls surrounded it, looking far into the distance.
"Look how close it is!" Giggled another, pointing towards the slowly moving metallic mass in the fog. The older woman turned back, her eyebrows raising slightly in light interest as she also moved back towards the window.
"Oh no. I wonder if Howl's in town…" She mused slightly, also watching the castle move over the green hills. Juniper and Sophie turned towards their window, gazing at the castle too as the girls gossiped in the other room. The castle passed back into the thick fog as some soldiers zoomed by on their flying kayaks.
"It took off…" One of the girls said disappointedly as the castle disappeared from view. Sophie blinked as she looked out of the window, the hat all but forgotten at least for a second. Juniper continued to slowly work on the hat, her emerald green gaze still trained on the spot the castle vanished with an unreadable look on her face.
"No, just hiding from all the soldiers." One of the girls observed as they all relaxed, a bit disappointed the castle was gone already. Sophie returned her attention to the hat in her hands, her face becoming serious again as she started to sew.
"Say, did you hear? Remember Martha, from South Haven? They say Howl tore her heart out!" Gossiped one of the girls as they all walked back across the room to the door.
"How scary!" One of the women with dark brown hair and a mint green dress commented, clutching her hands to her chest. Another girl beside her with light brown, short curly hair and freckles smiled cheekily.
"Don't worry, he's not going to want yours. Juniper better watch out though!" She said, leaning in towards the scared girl before giggling with the rest of the girls. It was a legend that Howl would steal the hearts of pretty girls and had a preference for beautiful girls with long, black hair. The middle aged woman rolled her eyes at her antics, ushering them out with her hands.
"Hurry up! Stop trying to scare the poor girl, leave darling Juniper out of this." She chided, walking past Juniper and Sophie's room door. Juniper didn't pay any mind to their teasing, her beautiful green eyes only flickering up for a second at the mention of her name before focusing back on her work. The girls kept tittering and teasing each other as they walked out of the shop, their voices becoming muffles as soon as the door shut behind them. Sophie and Juniper worked in peaceful silence, the only sounds being those of the people outside and the train passing by, rattling the windows, its black smoke billowing out, covering the view again every once in a while. Sophie finished up her hat and she gently tossed it onto the mannequin head. She looked over at the pile of unfinished hats, lifting a few up from the stack and moved a couple over to a different pile before picking up a burgundy hat. She looked it over, tilting it one way and another before sighing and placing it back on the table. Juniper looked up at Sophie, a small smile on her pretty pink lips. She finished up the last stitch, cutting the string with her scissors.
"Soph, we promised to see Lottie today. We'll have to leave soon so it's not too late when we get there." Juniper said, her voice a very soft and silky tone, reminding Sophie about visiting her sister. Sophie nodded, hopping down from her seat at the workbench, and dusted off her simple pale green dress and apron.
"Yeah, I was just thinking about that Juni, we should head out soon." Agreed Sophie, pulling off her apron before folding it and putting it on the table. Juniper followed suit, smoothing out her dusky blue dress with her delicate hands while Sophie grabbed her straw hat with a dark mauve ribbon and three simple berries that she wore everywhere. Juniper had given Sophie that hat all those years ago when she first joined the family. It was the first hat Juniper ever made and Sophie treasured it. Juniper softly waved her hand at the dresses they wore, a gentle flick of the wrist and the rumpled creases from sitting in their seats for hours smoothed out with ease like they were ironed and pressed. Any stains from the work the two had just completed vanished as well, leaving the dresses spotless. Sophie looked pointedly at Juniper, her eyebrows furrowing.
"Juni, we talked about this… Not here. What is you were caught?" Sophie chastised the younger girl quietly, grabbing her hand. Magic was a bit feared by the townspeople as it was obviously quite unknown territory to them. Witches and Wizards usually only worked for the king and the country since they were so powerful. To have magical powers and live in the town might cause a panic, and Juniper definitely didn't want to be taken away from Sophie to live at the capital and forced to be trained to eventually use her powers to fight the silly war for the king.
"Soph, it was just a little thing. And no one is here, I promise I'll be careful." Juniper said softly, taking Sophie's hand in her own and giving it a small, affectionate squeeze. Sophie could never stay mad at her and a small smile made its way onto her lips, squeezing back.
"Fine, fine. Just be very careful. I worry about you, you know." Sophie added as she looked at Juniper fondly, and concerned as Juniper smiled back at her. The two young women made their way out of the workshop, closing the door behind them, and stepped into the hat shop. Beautiful, fancy, extravagant hats lined the stands, tables and shelves of the shop, its walls a muted chartreuse. Soldiers flew above the hat shop on their flying kayaks, their mechanical hum filling the air above as they pulled behind them a huge, billowing flag of the king.
As Juniper walked off to grab her things to go visit Lottie, Sophie stepped in front of a mirror in the shop, pulling her hat onto her head and giving a big, over the top smile as she held the edges of her hat. Her face fell and she scowled, frowning at her reflection before pulling the hat low on her head, covering her chocolate brown eyes, huffing softly. Sophie always thought herself to be ugly, even though Juniper insisted she was pretty and reminded her whenever she could. Juniper stood behind her frowning slightly as she watched her.
"Soph… You're beautiful… I wish you'd accept that fact…" Juniper insisted softly, walking towards the older girl. Sophie sighed, smiling weakly at Juniper.
"Yeah, yeah… You tell me every day Juni. I just can't see it. You're the beautiful one Juni, and I'm just…. Me." Sophie responded quietly, before turning away and walking towards the front door before Juniper could respond. Juniper sighed, running her delicate fingers through her long hair.
"Then you're very blind Soph, because you're gorgeous. And what's wrong being you?" Juniper added in her soft, silky voice, catching up with Sophie and linking arms with her. The two girls exited the shop and locked the door behind them. Juniper gazed up at the soldier flying high above as Sophie locked up. Sophie and Juniper walked briskly through the town on their way to the tram, jogging lightly once they passed through the town square over the tram tracks and avoiding the cars whizzing by.
The blue and red tram was packed tight with people, all squeezed in like sardines, the richer people sitting atop the tram in spacious seats. Juniper and Sophie quickly stepped onto the tram, standing on the outer step and holding on to the bars as the tram took off with a puff of steam. The tram rumbled along the tracks, the wind blowing the girls hair and ruffling their dresses as they took in the passing scenery. The streets were filled with townsfolk, the kings flag being flown everywhere as soldiers passed overhead. Fanfare and the country's song filled the air as tanks passed under a bridge in the town, the people cheering and waving at the soldiers as they passed by. Confetti was being thrown from the buildings as the soldiers marched by, some on foot, some on horseback.
Sophie and Juniper ignored all the commotion and excitement, not really caring about it at all. They exited the tram and walked away from the throngs of crowds, the sounds of screaming and music fading the further they moved away. The streets grew silent as they got further from the heart of the town, passing into a street with a soldier standing by a multitude of backpacks of supplies and propped up guns. Sophie glanced at the guard, gasping slightly, her heart leaping in her chest as she grew nervous. She didn't trust the soldiers, especially around Juniper. They were known for being rowdy and pushy around beautiful women. Sophie grabbed Juniper's hand tightly and began walking faster, Juniper in tow, wanting to get away from the soldier as quickly as possible. The soldier turned his head to the two girls as they began to quickly move away, his eyes scanning them up and down. Sophie let out a little sigh once they moved past the soldier, getting back closer to other people and the celebrations, and stopped at the bottom of a small flight of stairs for a second, checking the directions that Lottie had given them. Juniper gently squeezed Sophie's hand, smiling softly at the older girl.
"Hey, it's okay. We'll be there soon." She assured Sophie, glancing at the directions too clutched in Sophie's hand. Juniper knew how anxious Sophie got when they travelled across the town alone. Two small young women couldn't do much against big, strong soldiers. The pair continued along a smaller, quieter backstreet slowly, looking around for Lottie's workplace. Juniper plucked the directions from Sophie's hand and scrutinised them as they walked, her eyes trained on the paper.
"I'm sure it's around here somewhere…" Juniper said slowly as she kept reading the directions, looking up at the buildings around them once in a while.
"Juni watch out!" Sophie began to cry out but it was too late. Juniper bumped right into a solid mass. A uniform clad solid mass. Her emerald green eyes widened as she slowly looked up, first seeing a blue jacket held together with black ties and gold buttons. As her eyes moved up, she then saw a red collar and epaulettes. Her breath caught in her throat, her body rigid as she finally stared into the face of a soldier who was leaning against the wall. He was quite a bit taller than both girls with dirty blond hair and honey brown eyes. He smirked down at Juniper, leaning his head down slightly to get a full view of her beautiful face. Sophie's face paled as she watched Juniper take a small step back from the soldier, and reached out, grabbing Juniper's hand tightly.
"Hey there little bird, did you lose your way?" He asked, smiling wider as he looked down at Juniper, leaning even closer. Juniper shook her head slightly, her eyes still wide with a bit of fear. She clutched Sophie's hand tight, the two girls standing side by side close together protectively.
"No… We're fine… I'm not lost." Juniper lied, taking in a shaky breath as she clutched her other hand close to her chest with the directions securely in her grasp.
"Oh? Then how about a cup of tea? Your sister can come too." He smiled charmingly, pushing himself further off of the wall with his hand, taking a step closer to Juniper and Sophie. Sophie tugged on Juniper's hand, trying to move past the soldier.
"Care to join me?" He pushed again, taking another step towards them as another soldier walked up from behind him, blocking the girl's way. Sophie lowered her eyes, trying to hide under the brim of her hat as Juniper looked right at them, her brows furrowing and her lips pressing together slightly as the two soldiers stood in front of them, leaning down slightly to the two small women.
"No thank you… We're busy… We're going to meet our sister and she will be very worried if we're late." Juniper said softly, trying to get the soldiers to back off. They paid her words no mind though as the new soldier leaned down into her face, studying her features. The new soldier looked to be older than the first, with short dark brown hair, dark brown eyes and a thick moustache.
"This one is a beauty… and this one looks like a cute little mouse." He commented as he looked at Juniper, then at Sophie. Sophie let out a small gasp at the men bending down close to their faces and took another step back, her hand tightening around Junipers.
"Say, how old are you two? Do you girls live around here?" The younger soldier asked, grinning widely and leaning towards Juniper. He reached out and gently grasped one of her inky black curls, caressing it between his rough fingers feeling the silkyness of it. Sophie gripped Juniper's delicate arm now with both of her hands, pulling her back protectively, her chocolate brown eyes widening with fright.
"Please! Let us pass." Sophie squeaked out, clutching Juniper close to her. Juniper was on edge, her whole body tense as her fight or flight response was kicking in.
"Our sister will be very worried about us. I'm sorry we have to go. Please let us pass. My boyfriend is waiting for us too and will be worried if we're late." Juniper lied again, standing defensively in front of Sophie. Juniper had gotten used to people like this while she lived on the streets as a child, and she never wanted Sophie to experience situations like this. Not if she could protect her from it. The soldier's just laughed, the younger one smirking at the older one.
"See? It's that moustache of yours. It always scares away the girls." He taunted the older soldier, snickering to himself.
"They're even cuter when they're scared." The moustached soldier teased, leaning his face closer to the two young women. Juniper squeezed her hand at her chest tighter, the paper being crumpled and crushed in her palm as she saw the soldier's were not going to back down, dread filling her chest. She tightened her grip on Sophie's hand, getting ready to run away with her. Suddenly, she felt a large, warm hand rest on her shoulder, a male presence coming up behind the girls.