2 days later - final ritual night
"would you hurry raven!" yuta playfully scolds, looking at raven who followed after him, she tilted her head and used her magic to push herself up the grassy hill, yuta laughs and wraps his arm around her as she passes.
she lets out a small yelp and wraps her arms around him, they spin and hit the ground. the sky was getting dark, starts started to crate light in the sky, firefly's emerge from the depths of the field, raven laughs, running her hand through the grass, watching as groups of the glowing bugs rise.
yuta takes ravens hand and pulls her to her feet, she stumbles abit but catches herself, Yuta's golden eyes smile towards raven as he takes off again. he had white hair like her's, golden eyes and star specs on his cheeks.
she pulls her cloak further over her shoulders and follows him.
The marshes smelled of salt and earth. The sea glittered and softly swished to the rear. raven could see, the miles and miles of flatness stretching away in front of them.
What she could see were bands of low bluish mist and pale glimmers of marshy pools, over and over again, until they built into a pale line where the sky started.
The sky was everywhere else, huger still. The Milky Way looked like a band of mist risen from the marshes, and the keen stars twinkled through it.
the pair made there way to the top, yuta dropping down and raven dropping beside him, he smiled and ran a hand through her hair. "i missed you ya know"
"missed you to" raven whispers, lighting the circle of candles around them, yuta watches as she flicks the flame from her finger and sits back down.
one of the stars began to shift, ravens head shot up and yuta jumped back, his eyes following ravens, he smiles and grabs his bag, the pair of them quick to throw there things on the floor.
herbs, crystals, spices, fabrics, everything they were going to need.
the other stars came unstuck from the firmament and darted in a white streaks down the sky. raven and yuta grabbed each others hands.
mumbling the recited spell under there breaths, a low glow emitted from the ground, wrapping around the pair, ravens hair began to slow, a dark black shade, small glints of white, resembling the stars glisten, Yuta's eyes darken and they hold the same stars.
a light wind begins to blow around them, the spell getting louder, a crack of light and ravens body is lifted up, Yuta's hands slip from hers and he looks up towards her, her body gently floating up, streaks of white streak down her cheeks as her body floats higher.
and just as quick as it came it left, ravens body hit the ground and she let out a small groan, her hair fading back, Yuta's eyes follow suit, he kneels beside raven, gently rubbing her back as a dark liquid pours from her lips.
"i think it worked" raven whispered, wiping her mouth clean, she looks to yuta who is smiling towards her. "i think it did" he sits down on his ass and takes ravens hands.
"will i see you next year?" he kisses her palms, she frowns. "leaving already?"
"ive done my job raven" he smiles lowering her palms, his fingers begin to fade, raven hums and looks to yuta, "same time next year?"
"of course" yuta smiles, his body slipping to a white light, glistering and sparking as it shoots up into the night. raven hums and tucks her knees to her chin.
"of course" she repeats. looking up at the star that shoots across the sky.
--------------------
raven comes back into the castle, howl snaps his head up to look at her. her eyes are shimmering and her cheeks are littered with small fading stars.
"back already star?" he whispers, she hums and smiles at the nickname.
"haven't hear that one in a while" raven walks over to the wizard, "you smell of honeysuckle" she mutters, running her hand through his hair. "is that Lettie girl falling for you?"
"why dont you ask sophie, i saw her nose poking around the cottage wall" he looks to the older woman who huffs at him.
"Mrs. Fairfax is a family friend," sophie argues "How was I to know you would be there too?"
"You have an instinct, Sophie, that's how," said howl. "Nothing is safe from you. If I were to court a girl who lived on an iceberg in the middle of an ocean, sooner or later-probably sooner-I'd look up to see you swooping overhead on a broomstick. In fact, by now I'd be disappointed in you if I didn't see you."
raven swats his head and rounds the table to stand next to sophie.
"Are you off to the iceberg today?" raven questions, howl playfully rolls his eyes at her, noticing how the small stars had faded, the spell had sunk in, many years back it hadnt fully sunk and raven spent about a week continuously vomiting up balls of glowing gas.
it wasnt exactly fun, for howl or raven.
"From the look on Lettie's face yesterday, there's nothing that need keep him there!" sophie nudged raven who chuckles and starts cutting veg.
"You wrong me, Sophie," howl frowns standing up. "Long years will pass before I leave Lettie, and in fact I'm off to see the King again today. Satisfied, Mrs. Nose?"
howl slipped out the door, raven teased. "so annoying~"
"how was your friend?" sophie asks, sitting down to the table
"very good, the spell went well" raven placed her cut veg into the bowl and moved onto some herbs.
"may i ask, what is the spell for?"
"i wont bore you" raven shook her head, sophie frowned and raven tilted her head, a small smile on her lips.
"its more of a bond with my friend, it keeps us both alive, its important for him as it keeps him tethered to his life, and it keeps me safe and here" raven smiled, popping some carrot into her mouth.
"without it, i would loose control, it wouldn't be pretty, id revert back to my natural state, but I'm working on it"
"and what would your natural state be?" sophie mutters.
"a star" raven let out a breathy chuckle at Sophie's wide eyes, "yeah, my mind body and soul are connected to the night sky, that's why i have these gifts"
"without yuta i would be nothing but a bright speck in the sky" she pauses, "like him"
"how come he isn't a human like you?"
"he chose not to, i wanted to explore, i didn't want to spend my life in the sky, so i made a pact, and that's it really"
sophie listens to raven with great interest, the witches walls were crumbling and sophie was happy raven trusted her so much.
"and what about your wings?"
"well, that's a difficult one, i can shift into a white raven, and the wings are my half form"
"how come you can turn into a bird?"
"i made a deal with a witch many years ago, when i first came to earth, she was a lovely woman, though she passed a few years ago"
---------------
later into the afternoon markl had gone to visit his friends, raven went upstairs to sleep and sophie was left in the castle with calcifer. the doors had been busy all day, calcifer insisted that sophie go up and wake the witch upstairs up, but sophie denied, saying that she had to do it on her own.
a spell to unblock drains, another to fetch goats, and something to make good beer. a posh Kingsbury teen had visited, begging sophie for a spell to help him win a fight, she had no idea how to do that so she sent the boy with a square of paper with cayenne.
when raven descended the stairs Sophie's eyes widen, raven was glowing, her hair dark and littered with stars, raven frowned and ran a hand through her hair, the hair slowly began to fade back to white.
"so pesty that" raven grumbles, "the spell takes a few hours to sink in, so that sleep should have helped it greatly"
"is everything okay?" sophie worry's slightly, raven nods. "yeah, i will be fine after drinking my tea" raven assures, pouring a handful of crushed mug wart into the liquid.
------------------
markl had returned later that afternoon, at the time sophie was teaching raven how to sew and raven wasnt really getting it, she ended up pricking her fingers bloody. Howl shouldered the door open with his arms full of parcels. raven looks up at him as he backed into the door to close it
"Look at you all!" he muttered. "I slave all day for you all. And not one of you can spare time to say hello!"
raven chuckles at his small outburst and leans on the table to look at him. "hello howl" she tilts her head, "is that better"
"is something wrong" sophie looks over at the man child, she looks at raven who has turned her attention back to her books.
"How kind of you to ask, Sophie. Yes, something is wrong. The King has asked me officially to find his brother for him-with a strong hint that destroying the Witch of the Waste would come in handy too"
raven hums and howl looks at her, "and luckily for you raven"
she looks at howl, "your coming with me"
"what!" raven jumps up, "seriously" she smiles, "finally"
howl rolls his eyes and drops the pile of parcels onto the table, raven hums and cups his cheeks, "look at you, such hard work, going shopping" she teases he groans and pulls from her hands, she smiles and he pouts,
"oh come here you big baby~" raven teases, howl moves from her grip and she laughs. turning to markl and sophie who unwrap several pairs of the finest clothes howl could find.
ravens eyes widened and she looks at howl who slumped into his chair, she looks at markl who lifts up a few less expensive looking clothes, but he looked happy at that.
"what's all that for?" raven walks to howl, resting her hands on his shoulders. "cant send her to the king in rags, Afterall who would i be if i didn't look after my own mother"
he takes ravens hands and places a small box in her palm. "howl" she goes to scold him but he motions for her to open the box, she sighs and lifts the lid. a necklace sat inside.
she huffs and runs her fingers through his hair, a peaceful moment shared between the two.
"oh howl" raven sighs, howl hums picking up the necklace he places it around her neck and kisses her shoulder. raven chuckles and looks at him
"such a sucker" she hums before slipping away.
"when do you want me to go?" sophie asks, ruining the calm moment. howl glares at her for messing it up but raven swats him and he stops.
"tommorow afternoon" howl hums looking over at the group. "raven will accompany you in her animal form"
"i want you to do a good job, dont let me down" he points his finger to sophie. "You must tell him how I've angered the Witch of the Waste and explain what a good son I am to you, but I want you to do it in such a way that he'll understand I'm really quite useless."
raven rolled her eyes and walked to her basket, taking out a few things and laid them on the table.
markl was hovering at howls side, trying to get his attention but howl kept pestering sophie about what to tell the king.
"wait a minute markl" howl mumbles waving the boy to the side, the boy glances at raven and she tilts her head. holding out her hand for him to put the note in her palm her body stiffened abit and she nudged howl.
he turns to her and she passes markl back the note. "what is it?" howl turns to markl.
markl explained how difficult the spell was and how he had tried really hard but howls vision was stuck onto the bit of paper in his hand.
"me and sophie worked really hard on it all last night, we couldnt figure it out"
"I tried it as a puzzle and I tried doing just what it says" markl explained. "But Sophie and I couldn't catch the falling star-"
"But, markl, this isn't the spell I left you. Where did you find it?" howl looks over the paper.
"On the bench, in that heap of things Sophie piled" markl motions to the table of crap.
"It as the only new spell there, so I thought-" Howl stood up and looked at the table, mumbling out a quick. "sophie strikes again" howl pinched the bridge of his nose and looks at sophie.
"did you turn my door black side down?"
"i just stuck my hand out"
this was all news to raven who had been out all night, she looks at howl who nods his head turning on his heel and blabbering about something as he ran up the stairs. raven sighed and walked over to calcifer, placing a few logs on him he mumbled a quick thank you and leant on them.
"did I hear you say you went out and tried to catch a shooting star?" howl skids down the stairs.
"Yes, but it was scared and fell in a pool and drowned" markl frowns.
"Thank goodness for that!" mutters raven, howl nods and sophie frowns.
"It was very sad" she mumbles.
"Sad, was it?" snapped Howl, more upset than ever. "It was your idea, was it?" he tilts her head "It would be! I can just see you hopping about the marshes, encouraging him! Let me tell you, he'd have been more than sad if he'd chanced to catch the thing! And you-"
raven placed her hand on his shoulder and shook her head. calcifer made a noise from behind and he spoke up.
"you caught one yourself, didn't you howl" the fire speaks up, "and our dear friend raven is a star descendent!"
howls face flushes and he shoots a glare towards the fire but took a breath and turned back to markl. "promise me you'll never try to catch one again."
the boy nods, "i promise" he pauses. "though What is that writing, if it's not a spell?"
howl glances at the paper and hums. "a song i suppose, But it's not all here and I can't remember the rest of it." he stepped back and looked at the door, "id better take it back, the next verse was important"
raven tugs on his hand and he glances at her, she tilts her head to the door and he hums,
"I know Sophie will squirm through if I leave her behind, and that's not fair to markl. Come along, both of you, so I've got you where I can keep my eye on you" he opens the door, raven chuckles and steps in first, knowing where she was going.