Howl and the Thorn Witch

1) Rescuing a wounded "bird"

Narrator's POV:

"Markl! Come and help me set the table, please", said Sophie, "I'm going to prepare breakfast."

It was a morning similar to the previous ones, peace reigned in Howl's castle and the energetic preparations for the beginning of the day were in full swing. Howl, after dressing up, heard the sounds of pots and pans. While he was descending the stairs, a delicious smell of pancakes reached his nose: "Good Morning Sophie! Calcifer, Markl, ... as busy as ever, I see."

Calcifer just ignored the mage, Markl excitedly smiled back and nodded his head, while Sophie started answering with a smile on her face: "Ah, Howl! Have you slept well? Do you pref-"

BOMP!! CRASH!

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The loud noise interrupted their lovely discussion, and a moment of silence took over the four until someone decided to break the tension:

"Howl, something fell on the castle in the valley of the Waste", informed Calcifer with a displeased and concerned look on his face.

As the castle was just deep-cleaned by Sophie the condition of its interior wasn't too bad however, the exterior still seemed like it was about to fall to pieces. That's why everyone thought it was a piece of metal that was finally won by gravity.

But, just as the group was about to go on with their new routine, Calcifer decided to continue his phrase murmuring: "...it seemed like a person."

The three stopped in their tracks and looked for a second at each other with wide-open eyes, then Howl quickly exited through the door that led to the valley, after asking Calcifer to stop the castle.

He levitated in the air using magic and jumped on the roof of the castle, which sat in a lush meadow in the middle of the mountains.

What he saw the moment he got near the top of the castle was unexpected and quite worrying.

Howl's POV:

As I jumped, I found a dent on the upmost part of the roof, with a woman lying inside of it. The smell of blood suddenly reached me. The woman is probably a witch or a cursed person, that thick layer of magic all around her is most likely a powerful concealment spell, if even I can't detect what it's trying to mask. Now though, the most urgent problem is that she is bleeding from the side, the wound seems quite bad, but fortunately for her, not deadly.

If she really is a witch, it's a big problem, every sorcerer in the area has already sided with one of the two kingdoms and that means unnecessary troubles and threats: I don't know what she's here for or the precise implications of her falling right on my castle. While, if she's a cursed person that means a witch or wizard sent her here and that means another cursed message for me...

How troublesome.

But at the same time if I can't talk to her no one will answer my questions... Alright, I'll bring her in to treat her and when she wakes up I'll comprehend the situation better, deciding then what's the better course of action.

Narrator's POV:

Howl carefully approached the fainted woman and princess-carried her into the living room, Markl and Sophie looked at the woman in curiosity.

Her torn, silky yet elegant dress couldn't overshadow the beauty of her pale but defined face or her long hair as black as midnight. Her face gave off a stern yet peaceful feeling, like the one of a parent, thanks to her defined cheekbones and the pop of colour given by the red lipstick.

Her aura was overall dark, mysterious and profound, but nobody could understand if it was a generous and calm one or a dangerous one. Even Howl struggled to perceive in depth her true nature, or more precisely, he couldn't understand it fully. Nor could he understand why it felt familiar.