Howl's Moving Castle Fan Fiction ❯ Captive Heart ❯ In which Sophie encounters a blob ( Chapter 1 )

Howl's Moving Castle Fanfiction

 

Multi-Chapter

 

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Howl's Moving Castle © Diana Wynne Jones ◊ Hayao Miyazaki ◊ Studio Ghibli ◊ TOHO ◊ Malin Post ◊ Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Disney ◊ Viz Communications

 

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All Fanfics created by Sandlewood (me) were written for the sole purpose of shared entertainment and not intended for publication or sale.

 

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SUMMARY: There is a fine line between Good Vs Evil…sometimes so fine as to appear invisible. One girl will stand upon that invisible line, face to face with both sides of the Law of Magic. Can an honest heart heal one that has been blackened?

 

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Captive Heart

 

By: Sandlewood

 

Chapter 1

In which Sophie encounters a blob

 

The darkness spread across the town with insidious inky fingers, slowly but surely obliterating the last vestiges of weak light cast by the rapidly setting sun. A small handful of people rushed through the streets, anxiously peering over their shoulders every few steps as they hurriedly sought shelter from the coming night. Doors were barred, windows shuttered, and soon a hushed quiet descended, the streets silent as if the town were holding its breath in fearful anticipation.

 

Businesses shut down, the inns closed their doors. There would be no vacancies on this night, that much was obvious. Not a sliver of light leaked through the cracks in the shutters, not a sound was heard on the night wind. The town, for all intents and purposes, had shut itself off from the rest of the world. There was, of course, good reason for this. It was a full moon that night and everyone knew that the Witch of the Waste was always the most active during these nights. No one in their right mind would dare to be out and about lest they be caught. And of course, no one wanted to be caught by the Witch of the Waste. It was the quickest way to end up dead…or worse, cursed.

 

If anyone cared to look to the north-east, to the heather-covered hills over-looking their town, they would have seen the shadowed outline of the monstrosity looming up and blowing acrid smoke into the pristine night sky, the bulk set in relief against the cold white globe of the full moon. And if anyone would have cared to stop to think on this embodiment of nightmares, they would have fled screaming with terror into the night, taking their chances with the wicked Witch of the Waste.

 

The town, Market Chipping, was an unfortunate, miserable place filled with fearful, miserable people. It was the town's misfortune to be situated right on the edge of the Wastes. Jutting out like some strange peninsula, it was bordered on the east by barren and dry land, home to the Witch of the Wastes. To the north lay nothing but wilderness, filled with wild animals and even wilder people, untamed by conventional laws and certainly without scruples. It was only natural that the Wizard Howl made this his home, unscrupulous bounder that he was.

 

A dark shadow, blacker than night, made its way through the winding streets, twisting and turning this way and that, seemingly searching through the deserted cobblestone lanes for something intently. Up and down, in and out, it swiftly crept through the still streets, silent as death, pausing every so often to peer into dark alleys or to brush against doors, rattling the knobs as it went, or pressing against the shuttered windows before continuing on its way when the boards wouldn't budge.

 

Huddled within the safety of their homes the townspeople held their loved ones close, holding their breaths as the shadow passed by each of their doors before moving on to the next. Was it the Witch? Was it the Wizard? Who could tell? No one was quite brave enough to risk poking their nose out to investigate. In the end, the identity of their stalker was of little importance. Either way it was an ill omen and they were just as glad that they were tucked snuggly out of the way of the evil thing lurking just beyond their locks and shutters.

 

On the edge of Market Chipping with the Wilderness rising up high over its rooftops, was the business district. There were cobblers and haberdashers, tailors and seamstresses; butchers, bakers, green grocers and candle makers; every shop was closed up tight, the windows blocked with either shutters or thick curtains, the doors locked and barred against intruders. That is, all except one. There was one shop that was closed up tight, but the door, unfortunately, had been neglected and the lock had not been turned and the bar had not been dropped. One shop, nestled in between two other prominent businesses on the edge of town had not been secured properly against the dangers of the full moon night.

 

Nestled in just behind the unsecured shop was the home of the owners. Huddled within the furthest corner from the door leading through a small cramped courtyard separating the private quarters from the store, a woman held her two youngest daughters while watching the eldest fearfully. “Sophie!” She hissed urgently, blue eyes large in her pale face. “Come back here, you fool!” Her gaze swept passed the young woman to the closed door just beyond her slender form. “It's too late now, so just leave it be. It's just a few hats…not worth risking your life over!”

 

Brushing stray strands of ginger hair that had worked free of the tight braid they had been woven into out of her face, Sophie shook her head emphatically. “If it gets through there, what would prevent it from coming here?” Turning, she swiftly pulled the door open and stepped through into the gloomy courtyard. Drawing in a quick breath for courage, she glanced one last time over her shoulder and forced a brave smile to lips stiff with fear. “I shall be just a moment.” Hurriedly shutting door as softly as she could, she lifted her skirts above her ankles and dashed as quietly as she could to the hat shop that she along with her younger sisters and stepmother ran.

 

Darting through the darkened shop, Sophie twisted and hopped to avoid the familiar bulky shapes of the hat stands and various displays looming up in a feeble attempt to trip her as she hurried to the front door. Bracing one hand against the cool glass of the etched window in the door, she reached out with a shaking hand to twist the lock, heart beating a mile a minute in terror as a monstrous shadow suddenly appeared, filling the doorway with inky horror. The scream caught in her throat, choking her, as the door was wrenched open, throwing her backwards into the counter and knocking hats this way and that and scattering them over the floor.

 

Shaking violently with fear, Sophie raised her hands in front of her in a desperate attempt to protect herself from the dark blob looming up over her. “Go away!” She whispered in a quavering voice. She waved her hands wildly…she had read somewhere that certain wild animals could be frightened off in such a way and she thought it was worth a try under these circumstances though the thing before her was anything but a natural creature. “Away! Shoo! There's nothing here for you, you horrible ugly thing!” To her utter surprise the shadow creature's advancing bulk hesitated. Gaining confidence, she straightened from her frightened cower and waved her arms again. “Out! Go out the door, there's nothing in here that you want!” Slowly but steadily she managed to somehow push the nightmarish being back with shear bravado and her trembling voice.

 

Soon enough the shadow was passing through the door again, shuddering and wobbling with effort it seemed. Sophie followed, still demanding in desperate mutters that the thing leave and never come back. Just as she reached the door, the inky blob made one last, tremendous effort to reach for her before she could shut it out and bar its way. At the same instant a wild wind kicked up, howling through the streets and whistling through the trees lining the cobbled avenues, whipping up dust and debris as it went. Squinting against the sudden blast of air, brown eyes watering against the grit, Sophie struggled to remain on her feet as her hair was torn from its braid to fly about her face in wild tangles. Clutching to the doorframe, she gritted her teeth and drew in a sharp breath as she saw, silhouetted sharply against the silver face of the full moon, a dark shape standing on the rooftop across the street. As she watched, the figure raised its arms to the sky and the wind reached a harsh, jarring crescendo followed immediately by a rolling clap of thunder. She thought she could detect strange words echoing in the thunder, but couldn't say for certain that it wasn't just her imagination or ears playing tricks on her. The next instant the gale-force wind disappeared and the shadow blob was nothing more than a smoking puddle at her feet smelling as vile as week old eggs left out in the sun. Gagging, Sophie covered her nose and mouth, eyes watering from the putrid smell. Looking up again, her eyes scanned the rooftops for the mysterious figure to no avail. Whoever it was, he was gone. Wasting no more time, she slammed the door shut and hurriedly bolted it before turning on her heel and running back to her family.

 

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TBC…