Disclaimer: I do not own Natsume, or the rights to any Harvest Moon Games. Also note that this story is based off of the upcoming Nintendo DS Harvest Moon Game, NOT the Gamecube game, "A Wonderful Life", in case the setting of this story confuses you. Anyway, now you've been warned and informed.
Prologue:
Fate Is A Lucky Lady
Somewhere in the isolated country lands, a lone figure wanders the dirt road with a pack in hand.
This young traveler had short, boyish red hair with ice blue eyes that glared with great intensity. She wore an unbuttoned white and blue checkered shirt over a yellow shirt, along with white shorts and blue sneakers.
All the while, this traveler continued onward with a vengeful aura until she finally spotted her destination.
"Forget-Me-Not Valley..." she uttered in a low voice.
She then took out a wallet-sized photo of her with a young man with a brown ponytail.
Her eyes narrowed upon seeing it, filled with painful memories.
"A reliable source told me HE'D be here... so they BETTER be right, or they'll be hell to pay!" she thought to herself.
She then rested her gaze longingly upon the brown-haired man.
"Cliff, my old partner. It's been almost year since that bastard put you in a comma. We've been pursuing him forever, and when we finally corner him, he manages to best us. I swear it's going to be different, partner. This time, HE'S not getting away!"
Carefully, the traveler placed her treasured photo into a pocket and continued to follow the path that led to her destination.
"Now then, I suppose I should make the local Inn my first stop..."
Meanwhile, on the nearby shores, two young men navigated a speed boat towards Forget-Me-Not Valley as well.
One is a dark-skinned man wearing a purple bandana on his head. He was also garbed in a short white shirt under a violet vest along with some black shorts.
The other had a more conspicuous presence. He wore a dark purple fedora with matching buttoned blazer, tie, and pants. His youthful face was tainted with sinister black eyes and a menacing grin, which was topped by short, striking, platinum-blonde hair.
The man with the purple bandana faced his companion with a friendly smile, appearing completely oblivious of his ominous appearance.
"So, my friend, you must be the new farmer taking up residence in Forget-Me-Not Valley, huh?" he cried earnestly to the fancy-dressed man.
The platinum-blonde nodded his head. "I guess you could say that. I've been a little "overstressed" from my past occupation, that I figured I could turn a proffit by sellin' some produce." he called back.
"Really? You sound pretty confident in making a life in the country! But I guess most city folk sound that confident at first. For someone dressed as fancy as you, I would be especially worried for how long you'll hold out!" he warned.
The platinum blonde simply shrugged. "Ah, well... after you lived the kind of life I'm used to, livin' the quiet life actually sounds pretty nice for a change!" he cried with confidence.
The man with the purple bandana smiled. "Well, I admit that you have that positive, "go-getter" attitude people really admire! I'm starting to like you already, stranger!"
"Yknow what? I'm actually thinking the same thing about you, my friend! And you even have great taste in clothes! Perhaps this is could be the start of a beautiful friendship!" he grinned.
The mysterious platinum-blonde then fixed his eyes upon the land that's starting to come into view before him.
"Forget-Me-Not Valley... sweet! Livin' with a couple of country bumpkins who know nothin' about me will be thee perfect place to hide from the cops! To be honest, I gotta be really thankful for the little guys for finding this place to me! This could be my greatest hit yet! All I hafta do is find this "Witch Princess" terrorizing my little friends, and I'll be in business! In the mean time, I get to kick back and do a little gambling in their secret hideout! The only real setback is having to actually sow a few sides on the sides, just to keep the locals from getting on my case, but it shouldn't be that hard!" he thought to himself as he chuckled aloud.
He then faced his purple bandana buddy with his most friendly expression possible. "You know, pal, I actually have a friend or two hanging out in the little valley!" he cried.
"Really?"
"Yup! Some of them are a couple a misfits, but the one I'm really looking forward to see again is someone I share a history with. I haven't seen the broad in ages, but it's been too long since I laid eyes on her gorgeous blonde locks and her beautiful blue eyes. Ha! That dame really knew how to get a party started!" the platinum-blonde exclaimed.
"You mean Muffy? Yeah, I know her, and I can kind of understand where you're going with it. She's known for being the town flirt, and she really knows how to have fun! I didn't know she had a boyfriend!" the bandana man laughed.
"HAD? No way pal, she's STILL my gal no matter what she says! If she had nothing to say about me, then she had a good reason for it! But I NEVER EVER mistreated my darling doll, UNDERSTAND?" he cried in a semi-threatening tone.
The bandana man responded with roaring laughter. "Yeah! I gotcha!"
After the two continued their bonding moment by laughing up a storm together, a curious thought struck the fedora man.
"Say, friend! We've spent so much time together on this boat, yet we haven't had the pleasure of exchanging names! What's your's, buddy?" he asked.
"Kai!" he answered immediately. "How about you?"
The platinum-blonde man's grin widened considerably.
"Me? Well, my full name is Nicholas Nack Pattywack, but you can call "Nack!""
Right by the Goddess Pond of Forget-Me-Not Valley, one human-sized character faced off against numerous smaller figures.
The larger figure appeared to be a young woman with long, messy dirty blonde hair and mischievous ruby eyes. She wore a black cape held together by a small skull broach, along with a loose purple shirt with white and red lining, and a pair of black-tipped grey boots.
The smaller figures, on the other hand, wore equally tiny mono-colored business suits, which varied with each figure. The largest of them, which happened to be the size of a typical dwarf, had a gruff expression as well as an exclusive pair of black sunglasses, and a red business outfit.
"Yer gonna' get it for doin' our boss in!" The big red creature shouted!
The human-sized lady laughed.
" Hmph. Red Ribbon. I figured a toadie like you would be eager enough to take revenge first." She scoffed. "And I see you brought a few of your associates as well. Guess you're not the type to sent packing alone, huh?"
"Take that back!" Red Ribbon shouted. "Just admit it. We got you surrounded, 100 to 1. There's no you'll make it out alive if you resist! Now, just tell us how to get the boss back, or we'll forced to open fire!"
The young lady let out a maniacally amused laugh.
"Oh, come on. Even banded together like this, do you honestly think the power of your "little friends" is a match for mine? You're "boss" is supposed to be the one with the most power around, and I defeated her with mere "fluke" spell! What reason do you have to believe I'm not capable of more?" she bragged.
Red Ribbon shook violently. "You're so full of it, frikin' bi---"
"Red Ribbon, sir! I don't think she's going to bother complying to our demands…" a nervous creature in a silver suit interrupted nervously.
"YEAH! WE ALREADY GOT THAT A MINUTE AGO!" Red Ribbon shouted back. He then let out a low growl.
"Damn it all… this Witch Princess Punk sent our Boss to who-knows-where, and encased in stone, for cryin' out loud! No way she's going to willingly help us out, so our only option is to make her pay as compensation. The problem is… we haven't even seen what she can do." He thought in a panic.
A few moments later, a devious grin formed on his face.
"Well, at least we got the number advantage." He thought assuredly.
"Alright, you thugs! FIRE AT WILL!" He shouted as he pointed a finger at the confident woman, whom Red Ribbon identified as the Witch Princess.
Suddenly, magical flares emerged from all angles and headed straight towards the Witch Princess. All of the projectiles appeared to hit their mark; however, it turned out they all collided with a quickly-erected magical barrier.
The Witch Princess let out a loud cackle, shaking the confidence of the miniscule beings along with their tiny bodies.
"What? Is that all? What happened to Red Ribon's Almighty Bragging? Fine, it's my turn, now!" she declared.
"D-DON'T LET HER RETALIATE! RESUME FIRE!" Red Ribbon shout.
"Too bad…. Ora Anum Velos! BANISH!"
Another Magic field quickly enveloped the Witch Princess, however, this time, it extended at a miraculous rate to reach out to the creatures as well. All of began fleeing the vicinity in fear of being touched by the dark magic. Apparently, this made Red Ribbon furious at his followers.
"HEY!!! DON'T RUN AWAY YOU PUNKS!!! GET BACK HERE AND--- UWAA!!!"
As soon as the field made contact with Red Ribbon, a shock of magic ran down his body before he disappeared completely. Soon, the magic field caught up to the rest of the Ninety-Nine sprites, sending them to an unknown dimension.
With this triumph, the Witch Princess clicked her tongue at her defeated foes.
"Geez, I try to tell them it was just a simple mistake, but then they just get steamed and jump to conclusions by holding a vendetta against me! Well, that's what you get for associating with the incompetent Harvest Sprite Mob…" she said in disgust.
"Wait a minute. I only saw 100. Where was that Casino guy?" she said to herself curiously.
"Yo."
The Witch Princess sighed upon hearing the voice. She turned around while instinctively charging her magic at the same time, but when she saw who it was, the energy around her dissipated completely.
"Oh, it's just you." She groaned.
The young man standing before her had short, messy brown hair and stern grey eyes. He wore a fitting green t-shirt with blue jean shorts, some deep red sneakers, and a matching handkerchief around his neck.
"Seriously, Link. What brings you around these parts? With your parents gone and everything, I thought you'd go off and live your dream of being a Musician already." The Witch Princess remarked.
The young man passed for a second with a thoughtful look before answering.
"So… none of you heard? I sent a letter to the Lacreme residence saying I'll be helping out the rundown farm for awhile. I figured I could use the money, and helping out a familiar place wouldn't help." He explained.
"So… does this mean you'll be staying over at Old Man Takakura's for awhile?" the Witch Princess asked.
Link shook his head. "Nah… his place is too cramped. It's only fit for only one guy at a time. Besides, he wrote me back once saying the Inner Inn has good rates for rent and food, and I know he's pretty reliable when it comes to that sort of thing."
"Yeah, I suppose that Ruby knows how to treat her guests with hospitality." She mentioned. "But her good cheer really makes me sick! You know, you should really consider yourself lucky that I've decided to tolerate your "goodie-goodie" attitude breathing down my neck."
Link shrugged. "You're the one that decided to be friends with me." He reminded her.
"Ugh, don't remind me." She scoffed. "You just happen to be useful to me."
"…That's because I know what you're REALLY up to around here…." He answered back.
The Witch Princess' face turned red briefly for a moment, but it went away quickly.
"J-Just don't bring it up again, okay? It's bad enough that you found out by yourself…" she groaned.
"Fair enough." Link stated coolly. "Anyway, I should probably head out, now. I have somewhere I want to reach as soon as possible and I think I'm just wasting time now."
"Wait a minute… there's just no way this is about some farm, huh, Lover Boy?" The Witch Princess said with a smirk. "It's been awhile since you left your dear friend, Lumina… and you've been dying to return to her, haven't you?"
Link lowered is head and let out a huge breath.
"You shouldn't worry. She's grown to be quite the lady. I'm sure she'll be glad to see how you've changed over the years, too…" she teased.
"CUT IT OUT!" Link shouted back.
"Oh, don't be modest. It was all too amusingly obvious from the start." She smirked.
"It's not that funny…" Link growled.
"Right, right. You're not even sure if your little reunion will turn out so fine. You're worried you blew your chance, huh?" she added.
"Just Stop" Link answered sternly. "I've been having a rough time lately, so I'd rather not deal with this right now."
"Okay, okay, fine. Sheesh… you're no fun this way." She complained.
Link then let out a sigh of partial relief.
"You know, you've already caused so much trouble around this place with your antics. I'm afraid you've dug yourself into a pretty deep hole, now. I'm not sure how exactly you'll be able to get out of this one…" he reminded her.
"What? With the Harvest Sprites? Come on! Those guys are small fry! Besides… I only sent them away for a little "vacation!" They should be just fine!" the Witch Princess assured him.
"Yeah, but you did something to the Harvest Goddess to make them mad, right? I doubt this'll boil over that easily. I just know you're in for some bad karma." He warned her.
"Meh… you worry too much!" The Witch Princess said back.
Link shook his head in disgust. "Alright. If you see say so. Anyway, take care, Minerva. You better hope you're right about that." He sighed before taking off.
"Wh---HEY! DON'T CALL ME BY THAT NAME!!! I HATE IT!" she shouted.
"Man… why did I have to get stuck with such a stupid name like "Minerva"?" she grumbled to herself. "No wonder I was so desperate to strike out on my own. But now I'm stuck in some lame old shed while being harassed by an annoying Harvest Goddess and her crazed Pixie Mafia."
The young witch paused for a minute.
"Wait a minute. I already sent the Harvest Goddess packing, and there's only one measly Sprite Left. If I could take on a hundred of those midgets without a problem, then what's one more going to do to me?" she grinned.
She then let out one last evil cackle before taking off via her magical powers… but not before another, highly distinguishable sinister laugh resonated throughout the entire Valley.
At the beach, a fancy black shoe dug deep into the sand for its very first time…
Author's Notes: …Crap… I had to write this out twice because I somehow deleted the first copy of this.
Anyway, I ended up introducing a character earlier than planned, and this previously-extended chapter was somehow shortened to exclude the protagonist and his rival… and was longer then expected.
With this out of the way, it's now official:
"Guns and Dolls" is back in action!
