Chapter 1: New Surroundings
Leaning forward on the old wooden table, the pink haired girl laid her head on the desk, and sighed heavily. As she lay there, she wondered what all her pals in Mineral Town were doing; surely they were having a much better time than her. This valley bored her, there was nothing to do, and no where to go. The country side was said to contain miles upon miles of wonderful coloured flowers, and have bright skies and a beautiful landscape, but she saw none of that here. Just boredom, a produce farm and an uncouth short man who made her own brother look like a television star.
The door to the Inner Inn was gently pushed open, and a cold wind blew in, causing the girls dress to rise from the floor, to almost a third of the way up her leg. The soft red material danced around her, as the cool breeze caused it to rise. The draft stopped within a few seconds of the inn door being pressed closed, and a light clicking noise was heard.
"Evening Jack," a cheerful woman said from behind the counter, "You're up late, are you not?"
The girl heard footsteps cross the wooden floor, and stop at the counter. Looking up, she saw that this male was quite tall, and had messy brown hair. He wore dark blue trousers, tucked into brown boots. His shirt was white, or at least she thought it was supposed to be, but it had quite a lot of mud on it.
Swinging a green rucksack off of his back, and dipping a red gloved hand into it, Jack gave a smile and said, "Yes, it is quite late. But one of the chickens' isn't feeling too good this evening, and I didn't want to leave her alone."
The woman chuckled joyfully, "Oh Jack, you're so protective over your livestock. I know you care, but exhausting yourself isn't the best option."
Giving a weak smile, he reached into his bag and placed a couple of dishes on the table, and then looked up at the inn's hostess, "I know, Ruby. But I can't sleep knowing that one of my animals is ill."
"You have a lot to learn about life," Ruby replied, shaking her head, and picking the dishes off of the counter, "I'll just go sort these, back in a moment."
The young man nodded and placed his rucksack on the counter. He waited until the woman was out of sight, and then put his elbows down on the surface, and promptly put his head in his hands, and sighed.
Somewhat disturbed, yet fascinated, the girl stood up from the table, and walked over to him. He hadn't heard her approach, so she took a moment to think about how to introduce her self to him, but decided that it would be best just to make it up as she went along; she was one to do things, not to plan them.
Leaning against the counter beside him, she smiled politely and said, "Hey there, I couldn't help but overhear that you own an ill chicken?"
The young man turned his head slightly to take a look at her. She was a little shorter than him, and had long pink hair, and bright, alert, red eyes. He lifted his head out of his hands, and took one elbow off of the surface, and turned himself slightly to look at her properly. "Yes, poor thing has been looking quite bad all day, but got a lot worse this evening" he paused for a moment, "I can't bear seeing one of my animals in such a poor state."
Frowning slightly, the girl looked up at him, "I know what you mean, I work at a chicken farm in Mineral Town with my family. It is devastating to see one of your livestock in bad shape."
Jack smiled briefly at her, "You work on a chicken farm? How brilliant, I own one of the two local farms here, Mootenn farm. I take care of several different animals."
The girls' eyes grew slightly, with fascination. She hadn't seen a farm whilst exploring, other than a produce farm near the entrance. She began to wonder where it was, and immediately images of home flashed into her mind: Her blonde haired brother running around, chasing the chickens as he tried to round them up for the night, her mother smiling and laughing as she watched her son and her livestock 'bonding'. Smiling to herself, she tuned herself back into reality of what was here, in Forget Me Not Valley, just as Ruby walked back in.
"Here you go Jack, I've given them my special seasoning," she said cheerfully, and placed them down on the surface.
Jack smiled at the woman, taking the dishes, and carefully wrapping them in tinfoil, and placing them slowly into his bag, "Thank you very much," he said happily, as he pulled his rucksack onto his back, "Celia and Vesta will enjoy these at lunch tomorrow."
Giving a wave, the young farmer walked towards the door, in a brighter mood than when he walked in, and placed his gloved hand on the handle, and gave it a half turn. As he went to open it, he turned and waved at the girl, "It was nice meeting you…" he said, then broke off suddenly, realising that he didn't know her name.
The girl giggled slightly, and then replied, "Popuri."
"Right, Popuri," he laughed nervously, "Good night to you both."
As he pulled the door closed behind him, Ruby came out from behind the counter with a cloth and began wiping the table. "Oh, that boy, he is caring yet does him self harm by straining to look after that farm. If I were him, I would have instantly turned down the job when Takakura told him about it."
"Who is Takakura?" Popuri asked, looking up at the woman, whilst resting herself against the counter.
"A middle aged man who lives on the farm with him, someone who brings in the livestock from Mineral Town, and gives him his wages," she said, returning to the desk. "Now dear, I believe you should get yourself to bed, the Sun begins to rise at 4am in the valleys."
Popuri nodded at Ruby and promptly walked upstairs to her room.
