Howdy! This is my first Howl's Moving Castle fic so be kind. Before you start, here's the info you need:

"dialogue"

'thoughts'

"telepathy"

Chapter 1: In which two people meet

Howl was so tired of it all. He had been hunting the human's bane that is called the vampire for more than 2,000 years. He was tired of killing. His soul was too black for any form of redemption. To him, being Carpathian sucked.

When he got back to his castle, his fire demon friend, Calcifer, was heating the castle. As Howl sat down, Calcifer looked at him with pity and sorrow in his eyes. He hated seeing that in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Calcifer asked. Howl simply looked at Calcifer with a look that said, "What do you think?" He said nothing, though. He just sat there for a while, thinking of his worthless life.

It was true that he saved the ignorant humans from the nosferatu, unclean, but he was sick of having to kill. Most of the time, he ended up being forced to kill his friends. Unfortunately, they were too scared to face the dawn when the darkness overcame them and chose to lose their souls in exchange for fleeting emotions that lasted for five minutes, as far as he knew.

He should just give up. Ever since he was sent to this godforsaken country, he has been hunting for these evil things that kill the humans who are ignorant to the things they don't wish to see.

'Maybe humans would be better off if they didn't have to worry about one more vampire.'

However, he didn't have time to think much about it because he heard a scream from outside his castle. He looked out the door window to see a young woman being chased by a monster of a man.

She was amazingly beautiful, which was a lot for someone that is color blind and has no emotions whatsoever. Her gray hair reminded him of the starlight he saw in his days as a fledgling. Her skin looked do soft and fair, he wondered how it felt. Her eyes looked a beautiful brown...

"What the- brown? I'm seeing in color!!!"

Sophie was really scared right now. Why was this idiot chased her? She knew she wasn't pretty, but she wore old lady dresses to repel the boys even more. Why don't they ever leave her alone?

She didn't know where she was. All she knew was that there was a pervert behind her and a hiding place up ahead. She really didn't have a hard time choosing. She ran to the castle where she hoped to get away.

As she opened the door, she saw a man swoop down, carried her up the stairs, and close the door.

Sophie was about to thank her hero but when he saw him, she was speechless.

He was gorgeous. He had a build that left no part of him scrawny, but he didn't look like he had a hard time putting food into his mouth because of his muscles. In fact, he had just the right build. His eyes were as blue as a clear summer's sky, his hair as dark as night without the moon nor stars. She'd bet her life that he sounded as good as he looked.

"Are you alright?" the man asked. Sophie won that bet. All Sophie could do was stutter.

Suddenly, there was a banging on the door. "Hey! I found her first! Give her back!" the pervert yelled.

"Excuse me, miss, but I have to deal with the loud moron before he breaks down my door."

"Are you kidding? He could break every bone in your body, let alone your door!"

"Such little faith in me. Don't worry. I'll be fine," Howl said with a smile that melted her down into gelatin.

As Howl went outside, he thanked his deity for giving him such a beautiful woman who would be the light to the darkness he walked in night after night. The beauty in his ugly world.

When he reached the man that scared her, Howl was not happy. He was a surly looking man with violent eyes shooting daggers at Howl. The smell of alcohol was seeping through his pores.

"Hey! What are you doin' wit' my girl?" the man yelled.

Howl calmly stated, "I am simply protecting her from a hideous bear that doesn't know the meaning of the word 'rejection.' I am also stopping it from breaking down my door."

This got the monster of a man angry. Usually, no one insulted him and lived. The key word there was usually.

Just before the man was about to punch Howl, Howl moved slightly to the side, causing the man to fall on his face. While the man was still stunned by the impact, Howl grabbed the man's arm and pulled it behind the man's back. He screamed in pain, pleading with Howl to let go, but Howl was relentless. He kept him in that exact position.

Then, Howl whispered in the man's ear,"You will leave this area and forget everything but this: You will respect all people you meet," Howl whispered into the man's ear, knowing that he would listen and do just as he was told.

As soon as Howl let go, the man walked back to town as if under a spell.

As soon as he reached the entrance of town, he wondered what he was doing there. The last thing he remembered was standing in the backstreets and waiting on the next pretty girl to show up. As he was thinking this, he saw a young woman walking by him. All of a sudden, he bowed to the young woman and placed his coat down on a puddle so her shoes wouldn't get wet. As she left, he wondered what the hell happened.