My Heart Gone Missing (Howl's Moving Castle)

Chapter 17

It's been about a week since you first figured out how to transform into a bird. Apparently you just picked a really bad day to start learning how to fly; the rest of the days were perfectly good weather to fly in. With that being said, you felt that you had enough experience flying and you were ready to take on the battleships.

"Okay Marius, I'm going out!" you called to the water blob as you transformed yourself into a bird.

"I still don't understand what was the whole point of this expedition." He grumbled sullenly from his bowl.

You awkwardly shuffled in place, "I thought it would help me find something to make me truly happy. It obviously didn't work." You brightened up to try and make Marius feel better, "but, maybe that'll change when I disable a bomb." 'It'll make me feel like I've actually done something.' You completed the thought in your head.

Marius continued to pout and crossed his arms in his little bowl, "just go."

"Okay." You answered uncertainly, he was acting a little weird. It wasn't something you'd concern yourself with at right this moment though. The wheel on the door turned to The Waste and you opened the door. Luckily, the wind wasn't bad and you could already hear a war ship making its way across The Waste. You jumped up and let out your wings so the wind could catch them and you were off into the air.

You rose up in the air to meet the ship, you were careful to come from behind so they didn't see you. Hopefully they didn't look back. The ship was large and loud and as you got closer to the giant, lumbering machine, you wished you had some way to cover your ears.

When you got next to the ship you wondered how on earth to get access to the bombs. Luckily, it seemed like fate was on your side and there was a conspicuous yellow button next to the bomb hatch and was labeled 'open'. You smirked and head-butted the button.

There was a creaking sound and you worried that the ship would stop or attack you or something as the hatch opened, but it seemed like the ship continued as if nothing was wrong. It was strange. One would think that they'd have some sort of warning system if the hatch opened. Brushing off the concern, you landed in the ship and was met with a face full of bombs. You gulped. You had believed that you didn't care if you found yourself in a life threatening situation, but finding yourself face to face with bombs was rapidly changing that view.

You shook your head to clear your mind. You were here and it was time to do what you set out to do. You de-transformed and went up to the closest bomb. It was completely smooth and there seemed to be no way of stopping it from detonating. There was no obvious off switch, and it wasn't like a time bomb where there were wires connecting the explosive to a timer. You frowned, this was going to be difficult. "Darn, I wish I brought my chalk." You muttered to yourself, spell casting would've been very useful.

You examined the smooth bomb carefully again. You noticed there was a metal plate that looked a little out of place from the rest of the bomb. Mostly because it was significantly smaller than all of the other pieces of metal that encased the object. "I can do this." You nodded to yourself; you needed a little bit of encouragement. You placed your hand on the plate and muttered an incantation under your breath. The plate disappeared from beneath your hand. You peered at what laid behind the plate and your face broke into a grin. "Bingo."

Inside was a whole bunch of wires that looked like they were the main mechanism of the bomb. You reached in to tear out all of the wires but stopped. If you tore all of them out haphazardly, there was a risk of you exploding the bomb, the plane, and yourself. You figured that you could remove the wire that connected it to the sensor that told the bomb when it hit the ground. That way, it'd never know to detonate because it received no 'go' signal. Now, just to find it.

All of the wires looked like they connected to something further within the bomb where you had no idea where they ended up. You groaned and rubbed your face with your hands. You looked at the place where the plate was and a lightbulb went off in your head. You groaned again, but this time it was because you didn't think of the idea earlier. You put your hand over the bomb and chanted the same incantation as before. Much to your surprise, the bomb disappeared beneath your hand. Quickly you did the same thing to each of the bombs. When you got home you needed to find a more efficient way to do this.

When the hangar was practically empty you nodded to yourself, transformed back into the bird and jumped out of the open door. You really hoped you could find your way back home.