Chapter 1

"A new farmer?" questioned Hayden, the bald bearded man who owned Brass Bar.

Chase wasn't particularly interested in other people's conversations. However, it was such a rare occasion for people to come to their island, he couldn't help but listen. In fact, rather than coming here, many locals would rather leave in order to find ways to make their home prosperous. Because, for some odd reason, the whole island seemed to have deteriorated over the last few years.

The land became drier, making it difficult for crops to grow. With little grass growing, Horn Ranch has been struggling to properly feed their animals natural fodder. As a result, produce from their animals have decreased in both quantity and quality. As a professional chef(-in-training), Chase understood the importance of high quality ingredients from crops and animal produce. So in a number of ways, this chain reaction affected his life too. To make matters worse, fuel to light fire has become weak. Anytime he wanted to cook, it was always a frustrating battle between him and the stove. The only thing holding him back from leaving this miserable place was the world famous master chef Yolanda from Ocarina Inn. As humble as she was, it took Chase three whole years to finally persuade her into taking him in as her apprentice. There was no way in hell he would pass up this opportunity.

"Yeah, that's what Mayor Hamilton said. I'm so excited! I feel like it was ages ago since we last met someone new... Isn't that right, Chasey?" Kathy, his blonde co-worker and daughter of Hayden, teased.

"Seafood Stew for table 3," Chase called out as he briefly turned around, just to hand Kathy a plate of freshly cooked food.

Kathy sighed in defeat. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

The next day, Chase went to Ocarina Inn for some early morning training sessions with Yolanda. Because there was still a lot of time left to kill before the bar opened, her granddaughter Maya insisted Chase spend time with her. However, he found her stubborn demands of attention rather irritating. So as not to offend Master Yolanda's bloodline, Chase made up the excuse of already having plans with his friend Luke, the carpenter's son and a fellow apprentice.

On his way to the Mines, Chase spotted a large white dog on the church grounds. He decided to feed him some of the Banana Pudding he made for Luke as compensation to cover up his lie to Maya. He crouched to the dog's level and handed him the pudding. It looked as if he hadn't ate in days. Strangely enough, he seemed too friendly to be a stray.

"Where's your owner, buddy?" he asked, petting its huge body. "You know... you shouldn't trust people so easily... I would know." It looked up at him for a brief moment before happily continuing his meal. Chase let out a chuckle. As he slowly got up to brush the dirt off his pants, his gaze met with the overview of the gloomy town and lonesome horizon.

'Maybe I do belong here...' he thought to himself as events of his previous life in the city flashed into his head. Just like this island, he had seen better days. Like how one by one, all the people he once held so dear had left him, causing him to become an empty shell. He needed to start a new and this town just so happened to have Master Yolanda as a resident.

Now that he thought about it, he actually felt jealous of the small boring town. Although it was just a bunch of old worn out buildings, all the locals treated it ever so preciously. He recalled all the times he questioned why Master Yolanda, wasting so much of her potential here (in his opinion), refused to leave. He remembered the worry in her eyes when they talked about the conditions of the island, but she always gave him a strong honest smile, reassuring him that it'll all get better. He thought about how naive everyone was, just hoping and praying that one day it'll happen somehow. At least the younger people around his age were taking actions by studying in the mainland. Hopefully the Goddess will bless them in finding a solution to restore this miserable place.

"Hi!" Chase jumped at a cheerful voice behind him. There stood a girl with brown short hair and amber eyes that were, in contrast to his, full of life. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. My name is Hikari!" she bowed and gave him a big bright smile.

Chase stared at the unfamiliar figure. The white dog he fed earlier was standing right next to her, both looking up at him with similar happy faces. He could practically see a tail wagging behind her, following the same motions as the white dog's. This caused him to let out a chuckle that surprised not only him, but the new girl as well. He coughed to the side to cover up his embarrassment. "Sorry, you must be the new rancher everyone is talking about."

"Yeah! I just arrived a few days ago. I'm from Mineral City, but I used to spend summers on my grandparents' farm right outside of the city. So I guess I have just enough experience to handle raising my own," she explained hesitantly.

Knowing how difficult it already was for the existing farmers and ranchers in Flute Fields, Chase rolled his eyes. "Good luck with that."

"Aw, thanks," Hikari smiled. You could practically see the flowers floating around her.

Chase stared at the strange girl with a look of disbelief. 'Does this chick not understand sarcasm?' He opened his mouth to question her stupidity, but quickly decided that the poor kid was new, so the least he could do was give her a break. He closed his mouth and rubbed the back of his head out of frustration. "Whatever... Name's Chase. I work as chef at Brass Bar. I wouldn't suggest stopping by anytime soon though. The fire around here is really weak for some reason. I won't be able to give you a great first impression of our food."

"Oh, I see..." Hikari suspiciously looked away. "But don't worry. I promise it'll get better soon!" she said with determination.

"You promise? What can you do about it?" Chase gave her a questioning look.

"Oh! Uh..." she laughed nervously, trying to come up with a recovery statement. The odds, however, were not in her favor.

Though he didn't really believe this small ignorant being would magically revive the fire within the land, Chase decided to amuse her. "Tell you what," he sighed. "If you can somehow bring life back into my stove, I'll cook you anything you like. Free of charge."

Hikari gasped with excitement. "A challenge? I gladly accept!" She crossed her arms in thought. "I guess if you win, I'll give you anything I can grow on my farm. Free of charge! Just give me one week," she smirked rather cutely as she held up a finger.

Chase was shocked by her full-powered confidence. He wasn't sure if she could even grow a single turnip with the land being so dry. However, he liked the idea of having free ingredients even more. He sent an approving smirk back at her, "Alright then. I'll see you a week from now." Hikari nodded and jumped up in pure happiness, before making her way towards Garmon Mines. Chase tried to hold back his laughter when she lost her footing due to her refusal to stop waving goodbye. In his eyes, she was like a cute clumsy puppy.

Author's Note

"Thank you so much for giving my story a chance. Hontou ni arigatougozaimasu~! Please leave any comments if you like it so far, or if you have any constructive criticism that I can use to improve :3 P.S. Did anyone notice my reference to Mineral Town? You'll find out a little about that in later chapters... Maybe ;P"

Disclaimer: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, OWN HARVEST MOON(/STORY OF SEASONS)! Writing stories about things I love is merely for my own entertainment.