Authors notes
Ohkay, I do realise I'm not the best write in the world, but I'm certainly not the worst! l..lol.
So, this is a Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town fanfic. Months ago, I had tried starting a doujin of it, but that fail. So, I'll try to incorporate some plot from that into this. Shipping? I'm not telling. You'll find out later, kay. //Oh, and I'm keeping their original Japanese names. Just because.// EDIT: Apparently they don't -have- japanese names. And I really don't want to use the name Jack. D: I gave him a Japanese name, but now I changed it. But not Jack.
There was something else I wanted to say...
Oh yeah. Yes, this starts out very much like in the actual game. I even played it to get the right quotes. Except some parts were taken out or added because otherwise it was just weird. Like Thomas explaining the buttons. But, I promise it'll stray off! Because otherwise this would be very boring, not to mention pointless.
One other note; I despise this system.
The same thing, every day. The same family to wake up to, the same pet dog, the same job. The sun looked the same every day. Except when it hides behind clouds, that is. He couldn't blame it. When it sees the same world every day, it has plenty reason to hide. Or so he thought to himself, every day. His job wasn't anything special, just a run-of-the-mill desk job, where he did nothing but type at a computer in an uncomfortable "eco-chair", sipping the same bland coffee and being pestered by the same co-workers.
One day, however, he got a phonecall when he got home that he had never gotten before. The man on the other side of the cable identified himself as Thomas. He sounded just like any other man, until he said he was a mayor. Nothing big, though, it's a small town. But why a mayor would call piqued his interest. This unknown man that somehow got his phone number explained how some old man had died and left the farm to him. Why anyone would leave a farm to him was beyond his comprehension, but by now he didn't care. This was his one chance to get away from the routine of his current life. They said their goodbyes and he packed up, hopped on a bus (and then another, then a taxi, then even had to take a small boat. He'd do anything to get away.) and headed toward the small island farm town.
Upon reaching the farm he was directed toward, he found a short funny-looking man in red and a weird little hat.
"Hey! The owner of this farm died a while back." he yelled, "You can't just come waltzing in here!"
He had been looking around, realizing how familiar the place looked. He jumped when the man screamed in his ear and recoiled, "But I knew him!"
"What?" the short man relaxed, but was puzzled, "You knew him? He died about... Oh, six months ago, I reckon. When I was cleaning out his place I found his will. In it, he said 'I'm leave my farm to Aryllis.' So, until whoever that is shows up, I'm taking care of the farm."
He blinked at his name, "I am he, Aryllis."
"What?" this man was a lot like home, saying the same things over again, "You say you're Aryllis? Will you tell me how you met the old man..?"
He nodded and began to recount his tale that he had been pondering before the man jumped him.
"It was a long time ago, actually. I must have been only around the age of seven when my parents decided to take me on a ride to the country. Being a small boy, I got seperated from them and ended up here, at this farm. He found me and called my parents (the number was on my bag), and they came to get me. My parents were happy, and Mister I-forget-his-name invited us to stay a while, as he had no company. Over the next few days I had fun, being the child I was, playing with the animals, and I even made a friend of a young girl there. In any case, when it came time for us to leave, he said we should exchange letters now and then. And we've been doing that until recently."
The man looked slightly saddened by the story, "You were writing letters to eachother, eh?" again with the repeating, "Since he left you the farm, it's yours if you want it. Well, what do you think?"
Thinking about the place he left behind, he grinned and nodded, "Yes, of course!"
"Great! From here on out, this place is yours! It won't be easy, but if you try hard you can do a job to make him proud."
It had been a long day, so they parted and Aryllis headed into the small house, changed, and climbed into bed. He dreamt of things old that he left behind, and new the many possibilities of raising a farm. When he awoke, birds chirped. That was something he never got to experience back in the city. He sat at the small round table in the centter of the small room and had a small breakfast. The weather said rain. There came a knock at the door. He went out and there was the man from the day before to greet him.
"Good morning, Aryllis. It's your farm, and you can do whatever you like. But, your first goal should be to make some money to live on." he went on about different ways to make and spend money, "Just turn right on the street outside your farm, and you'll see Yodel Farm and the Poultry Farm." and he went on, "See you later!"
Finally. He was a nice enough guy, but too much for Aryllis. Never did say his name, though. He just assumed that was Thomas, the mayor. Who else would just randomly come up and yammer at him in the morning like that? Spoke too soon. Within the next minute or two, a buff man wandered up to him and introduced himself.
"The name is Zack. I'm in charge of shipping for Mineral Town." and he continued in much the same way the mayor had. Was everyone in this town the same as the next? Damn. He explained how to ship crops and that he'd pay at the end of the day. Except Holidays. "Remember, I need a break once in a while, too!" he grinned. He had a big mouth. "You also have the chicken coop for your chickens, and barn for cows and sheep." he sure talks a lot explaining simple common-knowledge kind of things. And then he left. After continuing on for a while first, that is.
At last, Aryllis was left alone to do whatever it was one was supposed to do on a farm. Maybe he should have paid more attention. He watched his little puppy Ichigo play in the grass before he headed into town to maybe meet some people. Unless they were like those two. That would suck. He went north -- he guessed -- and came upon a small sign with directions to different shops and such. East were the farms that Thomas told him about. He didn't say anything about north, so he continued that way.
He past what looked like a winery, then some houses. At lenght he came upon a clinic. Closed. That's not right. Why would a clinic be closed? What if there were an emergency? What a stupid town. Oh well. But anyways, he kept on and found a small church. The Priest was wandering around outside at a -- rather tiny -- cemetary.
The man turned to him and smiled, "Are you Aryllis? Yes, I've heard about you. From Thomas, of course. I'm Carter." he reached out a hand and Aryllis shook it silently, "I'm delighted to finally meet you." and then he wandered off.
What a strange man. And what did he mean by 'finally'? Or maybe he just anticipated Aryllis' arrival when the old man died. Or something along those lines. In any case, the man walking back and forth between the gravestones gave him the creeps, so he decided it best if he left. So he did. Heading south, he came to an intercestion of 'streets' as the mayor called them. For such a small town, it seem crowded. There was that buff Zack guy, and a guy and girl. He stopped the boy.
He blushed and looked away, "I don't think I've seen you around here before. Oh, you're at the farm, are you? Welcome to the boonies. The name's Gray."
It appeared he wasn't about to make any move to shake hands, so Aryllis simply grabbed his hand and shook it. "I come from a city. Same thing every day there. I came here to get away. What's this town like?"
"I hate it around here." he scowled and took back his hand, "There's nothing to do. Don't you think so too? I just get bored in this town. I want to go back to the city!"
"You come from a city, too? Exactly where, may I ask?"
"What's it to you?" he glowered and pushed past and went on his way.
Well, Aryllis came to the conclusion that, though they aren't all the same, everyone in this town is messed in the head. He stood and watched the boy head off past what looked to be the town square. He decided to go buy seeds so he could get started working on the farm. As he reached the lottle store, he saw a couple sitting on a bench outside. The boy with longish red hair, the girl with long blonde hair. He greeted them.
"Hey there."
"I heard that someone new had taken over the farm." the girl smiled at him, "Your name is Aryllis, huh? Mine's Karen."
"Nice to meet you" he grinned in reply, then turned to the boy beside.
"So you're the new guy at the farm, eh?" he shook his hand hard, "Aryllis' not a bad name, I suppose... My name's Rick. I live here with my mom and sister, Popuri."
"Nice to meet you, too..." his hand was sore. He waved and headed into the store.
It certainly wasn't the mall back home. Heck, it wasn't even the size of the janitor's closet. Along one side were a bunch of groceries, along the other, a backpack and basket. He whistled a little tune and walked up to the center of the room, where there was a small table with a few bags of seeds. Picking one up, the clerk dashed over to service him.
"Welcome!" he bowed, "How may I help you?"
"I'm looking to planting some crops." he held up the small bag of turnip seeds.
"Well, you're certainly in the right place." he smiled and took the bag from him, "And you've picked the right seeds to start off with, what with you just arriving here. These are one-hundred-twenty gold pieces each, how many would you like?"
"As many as I can." he took the bag back, "Which would be four."
"Right away." he again grabbed the bag from Aryllis' hands, his smile slightly fading, "But please, these ones are just for display, please come this way." and he led him to the back, behind the counter and rounded up four bags of seeds. "Here you are. That'll be four-hundred-eighty gold pieces, please."
"Here." he handed over the money in exchange for the seeds, and left.
"Thank you very much!" he heard the clerk shout behind him.
He hurried back home and when inside. In the corner of the room sat a big chest. He opened it. Inside were all the tools he would need to work on the farm. He took out the hoe and watering can, then went and got right to work.
After a while, when he was all sweaty, he proclaimed, "I shall turn this farm into the best farm ever!" and then realised how corny and stupid that was. But the turnips were planted, and that was all that mattered. It was already getting kinda late, so he headed off to see what kind of night life there was in this town. He remembered the church from earlier, and decided to go see if there was a sermon on. However, as he headed down a side alley, a young boy with a pigtail was walking right toward him. To see this boy, with his soft hair swaying in the wind, with the way he took his every step, with the sullen look upon his face, it was enough to make aryllis...
Jump right in front of him and shout "HI!" Well, someone has to shake up this town.
"...Hi..." he looked down, a slight blush on his face, "So you're the new guy at that farm, huh?"
"Yep!" he reached out and grabbed the boy's hand in much the way Rick had earlier, "What's you're name? Mine's Aryllis, but you can just call me Ryll!"
"My name?" he paused, "It's Cliff. Nice to meet you." his voice was low and tired-sounding. Mostly emo, though. Stupid emo boys.
"Cool!" Aryllis grinned, "So, are you from here?"
He grew a determined look, "I've been thinking about my future goals in this town... As long as I have enough money, I'll keep staying at the Inn."
"Oh, you don't actually live here? Where are you from?"
He looked back to the ground and there was a very long pause. He continued on his way, leaving poor Aryllis in confusion. But then he just followed him. He watched as Cliff went into the inn, then quietly went in just as the door was closing. He waited until Cliff was all the way upstairs to make anymore movements, in case a floorboard squeaked. You have to think of these things. The bartender just gave him a strange look. Upon reaching the top floor, he found two doors. He tried the first one, and there was a young girl dashing back and forth, dusting everywhere. She stopped when she saw she had a visitor.
"Sorry, do I know you?" she wiped the dust from her sweaty forehead and flipped back her long red ponytail.
"Err, no." he did his best to smile, though he was in a hurry to find Cliff, "I'm Aryllis."
"Ah, you're the new guy at the farm, huh?" that sentance was really starting to bug him. It was the same one over and over from everyone he meets. Except someone had said 'eh' instead of 'huh'. Not that he could remember who. "And I thought you were a guest! Your name is Aryllis? I'm Ann." the shook hands and he left. Stupid town. Maybe he was better off at home.
Except there was no Cliff at home. So, he took off to the second door and opened it to reveal a room much like the other, with its three beds. Who ever heard of three beds to a room? But standing by one of these beds was the one he had followed here. Off in a corner stood Gray, too. Wait, what? They share a room? No, that can't be! He ran up to Gray and demanded an answer.
"Hi there." he looked ruffled and surprised, "Do you need something?"
"What are you and Cliff doing in the same room?" he yell-whispered, pointing at the boy sulking in the corner, who looked scared when he saw.
Gray blushed slightly and looked away, "Shouldn't you be getting back to the farm around now?"
And with that, poor Aryllis took off running. Aww. He tripped over a cat. Then ran home.