Howl's Moving Castle: Tales Of Love

In Which There Are Vicious Cats

A/N 

*This is following the book rather than the movie! By the way, I know it's been a while since I've updated this - I just want to say, most of the chapters before this, I wrote about seven years ago, when I was fourteen, so hopefully the quality in writing should improve from here on out! Also also, I am deeply in love with the book series as of late, so if I write more for this, expect chapters that'll align with the books! (Go read them if you haven't, I highly recommend them!)

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She felt not an ounce of trust in her body as she eyed the tree. It was tall, sturdy, but it hadn't rained since spring, so probably brittle.

"You can do it," she muttered to herself, not one to get trounced by a tree. "It's just a few branches." A cat sat up there, spitting and yowling, fat and unable to get down of its own accord. How it managed to get up there, she wasn't sure. But it seemed up to her to bring it down, and she wasn't about to let a little fear of heights - or rather, falling - stop her from accomplishing her mission. Tying her dress up by her knees, knowing it'll probably end all mucked up anyways, she shoved a foot where the trunk had split and began to pull herself up.

It was no easy work, climbing a tree. She perhaps should've tied her hair back, but she's dealt with worse than a few twigs in her hair. The cat had now begun growling at her and she shot it a stern frown and gruffly said, "Now stop that nonsense, if you know what's good for you." The cat quieted but nonetheless flattened its ears, staring at her warily, allowing her a few moments of concentration as she struggled her weight up the tree. Really, why had it been so much easier to do this as a child?

Not much later, she managed to reach the branch the cat was hunkered on, really not so high up after all, and straddled herself precariously around the inner width of the branch before realizing her predicament. She felt confident enough to get herself down but how to get such an ample cat down? "Now," she started, leaning forward and reaching her hand out, "you be a smart cat and get yourself down. That's a good cat." The cat stood up and bore its fangs at her, before settling back down again, curling its bushy tail around its body.

She scooted closer and thought she could try to befriend the cat if it was perhaps resistant to her magic in some way. Cats were of a mind of their own and often were resistant in some form. The cat had apparently decided it had had enough of her before she had even started in her attempted friendliness and swiped its claws at her, managing to slice her hand up in the process. She grunted at the pain as she quickly pulled her arm back and said, "Now, that will not do." She grimaced at the blood welling out of her wound, albeit not much, thankfully, and forcefully added, "Get down on your own, you're strong enough to do it."

The cat flicked its tail and closed its eyes and Sophie decided she had had it there. Cat be damned. She needed to care to her wound - she'd come back to the cat afterward.

Back inside the castle, Howl lounged, having some sort of dour conversation with Calcifer, who was spinning about, clearly agitated about something. Sophie paid them no mind, however, and rushed to the bathroom, aiming to disinfect her hand as it had finally stopped bleeding, but had begun to throb. Probably curious, she heard both Howl and Calcifer, both still conversing, follow behind her. She was generally never one to rush about, and as the two entered the bathroom (which she hadn't bothered closing), they both stopped mid-conversation and Howl asked, "Gotten into a fight with a tree, have you?"

He came over and began plucking leaves out of her hair, and said, "It must be fall now. The leaves match your hair color." He glanced over her shoulder and she saw his surprise in her peripheral as she wet a towel. "What caused that?"

She huffed and mumbled, "A cat."

"Sophie, did you just say a cat?" He asked, his tone serious and not betraying the amusement he simply must have felt at her expense.

"Yes, it wouldn't have been any trouble if it hadn't been up in a tree-"

"Well, did you get it down at least?"

She pressed her lips together and began cleaning her wound with the towel. "No I didn't, but I hardly see why that matters when it injured me."

"So it's still up there! The poor thing," he mused, and she saw him lean against the sink next to her. "I'll get it down later. Want me to clean that up for you?"

"What, this?" She pulled the towel up to reveal a few small and angry looking nicks, and pressed her fingers against it gently, testing if it had reopened under the towel. Thankfully, it hadn't, so she began washing it under the faucet with soap and water, and shook her head. "I'll be fine."

He shrugged. "If you say so." Not one to sit around, he left the room and came back just as she finished up and began rummaging around for some bandages. Howl never made things easy to find in here, as just last week she had set a roll of bandages above the sink and now they were gone. He had caught her grumbling to herself and dumped the roll of bandages in front of her. "Looking for this?"

She perked up and guessing he wanted to be thanked, despite him having been the one to have probably moved it, did so, and began unrolling it. He rested a hand on the edge of the cloth she was about to cut and she paused, looking up at him with a frown. "What are you doing?"

"So suspicious of me when I haven't yet done anything." He said with a saddened sigh, and added, "Do you want me to wrap it for you? Unless you know how to wrap it one-handed, in which case I'll let you be."

His suggestion warred with her pride - as if she wasn't capable of doing it on her own. She most certainly was, albeit not perfectly, but enough to get the job done. She'd caught her fingers enough times on sewing needles over the years and had fixed herself up just fine. But the notion of him doing it for her left her secretly pleased, so she yielded and handed him the bandage, and pretended to ignore his smile. She watched as he slid his finger over the cloth, slicing it perfectly, and quietly admired his everso delicate use of magic.

She braced herself against the sink, so she wouldn't be just standing there, and watched as he took her hand into his own, and gently but quickly wrapped her hand, sealing it closed with a bit of his own magic, as he was wont to do. He patted her hand and smiled again. "That ought to hold."

"Yes, thank you." She said politely, enjoying that he was still holding her hand and perhaps would continue to do so. Although maybe she had been too polite, so she added, "I must warn you, that cat out there is very fat and mean. You're not likely to get it down easily."

He laughed and said, "I know, I put it there."

She raised both brows and is if, in reaction to what was about to be her reaction, he bent down and pressed a kiss against her mouth, instantly shutting up any complaint she was about to utter. She flushed, hating that he did that, hating that it worked on her and she no longer felt the mounting surge of irritation, and thus, no longer felt like angrily telling him off for having left some poor cat up there for her to have tried and rescued. He pulled away a moment later and explained, " It was peeing all over the yard, and if it's worth it to you, that's where the cat wanted to be left. I tried taking it down this morning but it wouldn't budge."

Likely story. She met his eyes and then glanced out beyond the bathroom. "It was yowling so loudly, are you sure you didn't do anything to it?"

He pulled back, alarmed, and quickly left the bathroom. "Yowling? Was it hurt?"

She followed after him and shrugged. "It was hard to tell."

"What do you mean it was hard to tell? You went up into the tree, didn't you?" She didn't bother to go out and meet the cat again and let Howl go and take care of it, who began to loudly cast spells at the cat as soon as he stepped outside. Well, they may not be done with the bandages yet. Serves him right, for leaving the poor thing up there. 

A/N 

Thank you for reading, if you made it this far, and let me know what you thought if anything! Whoever is reading this, I hope you're doing well and staying safe, if at all possible!