"Finn..."

Leaves falling.

"...wake up, please..."

A young woman stands beneath the withering tree, her strength slowly diminishing. A small creature lies in her hands. She calls out its name, begging for him to awaken. The little being's eyes open to see the face of its Lady Goddess.

"Finn, you must go quickly. Find the one who can bring a change to this land." She could feel her power fading fast.

Finn jumped to the air, saluting the Goddess. "I will, madam. Please just try to hold on a little longer!"

And with that, he flew off. The Harvest Goddess watched as her little sprite departed, her eyes filled with worry.

"Good luck, Finn..."

Chapter 1

Monday Spring 2

The air was stagnant, the earth was barely covered in green, and the water looked dark and listless.

This is what Allura saw from her seat on the back of the cart of fodder bound for Horn Ranch in Castanet. There had been stories back in her home of Sunset Village of the decline of things in Castanet. When she told her parents that she planned on starting a farm in the declining area, they weren't exactly thrilled. They said that there were much more prosperous places to settle in, but she felt that by going she could hopefully make a difference.

"Allura, are you listening to me?" a small voice chimed.

She cracked one eye to see a pair of irritated ones glaring at her, face red from fussing. The little voice belonged to Finn, the sprite. He had come in search of her on orders from the Harvest Goddess pleading that she come to Castanet at once. During their first encounter, she thought she was going nuts seeing as how no one but her could hear or see him. Finn's mission and words from the Harvest Goddess were what finalized her decision to go to Castanet.

"Yes, Finn, I hear ya. First thing we do is head to the Harvest Goddess," she said, closing her eyes once more and relaxing on the pile of hay as the cart bumped softly along the dirt path.

"Hey, miss," a gruff called out; it was the driver of the cart.

"Yes?"

"What did you say your name was?"

"Oh, my name is Allura."

"Ah, Allura. That's right," he said with a small laugh of embarrassment. "I'm Cain, the owner of Horn Ranch. It's a pleasure to meet you. Sorry about that, I've never really been good at remembering names."

She laughed softly. "That's all right."

"Well, Allura, it's not much farther to your house. It's not very often that young people like yourself to want to start a ranch these days..."

As they continued on, Cain asked her simple questions, such as her birthday and what kinds of food she liked. He also mentioned how he had a daughter that was around her age; the two would possibly have something in common. He hoped that this girl would breathe some life back into this land.

The cart finally came to a halt.

"Here we are," Cain said, looking back with a smile.

After saying their goodbyes, Cain headed on towards his own ranch, leaving Allura to get started on hers.

As she got closer to the small house on the hill, she could see how much work needed to be done. The house was pretty beat up, the roof was missing shingles in places, and there was a huge hole. Stray pieces of lumber and material stones leaned up against the side of the building. The barn and coop were no better, also looking like they could use a little TLC. The small field had a few crops growing, a small number of turnips ready to harvest.

"Wow... this place is...okay, I guess."

"Oh, come on, Finn. It's not so bad. With a little love and some paint, this place would be a paradise!"

Finn rolled his eyes. "Excuse me while I withhold my enthusiasm," he muttered sarcastically.

"Hello hellooooooo!" a voice called out.

The two looked around for the source of the voice, seeing a short, plump man running towards them. He stopped in front of the pair, panting slightly. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he introduced himself.

"Good heavens, are you the new rancher? My name is Mayor Hamilton. You must be Allura. Welcome to Harmonica Town."

"Ah, yes I am. It's nice to meet you, sir," she said, bowing slightly.

After giving her a short run down of her land and the island, he handed her a map—just in case—and a set of starting farmer equipment. He also didn't fail to mention the pay for the land and house, much to Finn's disbelief.

"Well, I'll let you get to work. Once you've finished, come by town."

She waved goodbye to Hamilton, then headed inside to check out the interior of her home. Thankfully, the place was furnished with the basics: a bed, a bookshelf, a dresser with a small diary atop, a dresser and a small kitchen area. It wasn't much, but it was quaint and had a simple charm to it.

"I finally have a place of my own…" The mere thought about being on her own brought a tear to her eye. She finally had a chance to become independent and possibly even start a family.

"We may not have a lot now, Finn, but I know if I work hard and remain diligent, we could buy more to fix this place up." She smiled, halfhearted confidence gracing her face.

"Yes, Allura, that's all well and good, but first… WE NEED TO GO SEE THE HARVEST GODDESS!"

"All right, all right, let's get going."

They left the house and headed up towards the Garmon Mines. Along the way she saw that she had a small lake and a few more plots on her land, but she assumed that she'd of course have to purchase the plots before she could use them.

The trek was long and tiring; she had to stop a few times to catch her breath. They came to the bridge, seeing a young blonde-haired boy working on the bridge.

"Oh, hello!" she called out to him, startling him slightly.

He swiveled around in a panic, clutching his chest to calm down. "Oh, sorry, you scared me. Are you the new rancher that everyone's been talking about?"

"Yes, my name is Allura."

"Ah, my name's Bo. Pleased to meet you," he greeted, bowing slightly with a smile.

"Hi, Bo. What are you doing to the bridge?"

"Oh, well, I'm trying to fix it, but I'm too tired and hungry to get anything done."

Allura tilted her head, her mouth twisting slightly in annoyance.

Finn began to complain in her ear. "Well, how about I go and get you something to eat. Would that be okay?"

"Really?! You'd do that for me?! Oh yes, please! That would be a big help!"

"All right, I'll be back with something to eat! Don't leave!" She ran back down the mountain, heading into town.

Allura finally headed back to Bo with his order. She handed him his lunch and toolbox that had been accidentally left behind at Town Hall, telling her that he now felt more motivated and would have the job done by tomorrow. She bode him farewell and headed back down trail.

"Darn it, we have to get to the Harvest Goddess quickly!" Finn screeched.

"Finn, calm down. He said the bridge would be fixed tomorrow, okay? As soon as we wake up, we'll head there. Promise. For now, let's just wait and walk around town."

They headed back, looking around the various shops and such.

The people looked so depressed. The sea looked quite calm, what little wind that blew was not enough to stir the currents, preventing any ships from docking at the harbor. The fires were too weak for any kind of cooking or blacksmithing to be done. The crops weren't their best. In short, Castanet was in desperate need of a hero.

She went around introducing herself to her new neighbors. There was the couple, Jake and Colleen, who owned and ran the Ocarina Inn with their daughter, Maya, working as a maid. Maya was a cheery and friendly girl who loved to eat yummy food and could make even the saddest person smile.

There was the tailor shop run by Shelly and her granddaughter, Candace. Allura noticed she and Candace had some common interests, preferring to read rather than interact with others.

She met Hayden and his daughter Kathy; they ran the Brass Bar. Kathy, who worked at the Brass Bar, was a confident outgoing girl, with looks that would make men fall to their knees in awe. Allura felt slightly intimidated—not by her personality, but rather her assets.

She headed up to the church and noticed a young man standing on the lookout point of the grounds. She noticed his blondish peach hair was a bit unkempt. He wore a mint-colored shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a dark green apron around his waist. Even though he wasn't facing her, from the way he was slightly hunched over, she could see he was upset.

"Um… e-excuse me?"

He turned slightly to glance at her, a dismal look in his lavender eyes. He looked her over, his mouth twisted into a slight frown.

"Who are you? I've never seen you around before. You must be the new rancher everyone's been going on about."

"Oh yes, I'm Allura."

"Huh… Running a ranch on your own… Sounds pretty rough. Try not to fail. I work at the bar as the cook, but… we barely get any good ingredients… or customers for that matter." He sighed, rubbing his neck in irritation. "Anyway, I'm Chase. Nice to meet you."

She smiled a hopefully cheery smile, though on the inside she was nervous beyond all reason. She was never really good talking to guys. She would rather hide from them than talk to them, but because Hamiltion suggested she go around and introduce herself, she had to grin and bear it.

Allura heaved a sigh as she made her way towards Flute Fields to introduce herself. As she crossed the bridge, she noticed a young silver-haired man sitting along the water's edge near the watermill. She made her way down to talk to him.

"Hello?"

The young man jumped slightly, startled by her, "Oh hi. Are you the new rancher?" He stood up to properly greet her. "I'm Toby. And you are?"

She blushed slightly, thinking he was also cute. She shook her head slightly, snapping out of her trance. "O-Oh! Yes, I'm the new rancher. My name's Allura. It's nice to meet you, Toby." She smiled warmly, that feeling of nervous returning as they talked for a good ten minutes.

After waving goodbye, she continued on to her introduction mission, meeting Ruth and Craig of Marimba Farm.

At Horn Ranch, she met up gain with Cain, who introduced her to his wife Hanna and daughter Renee. Renee gave her a cheerful smile as she shook her hand. She was a little homely looking, but gave off a warm gentle feeling.

"Hello, I'm Allura. I hope you and I could be friends." She smiled at her.

It started to get dark by the time Allura got back home. She kicked off her boots and flopped on her bed, looking over at the small clock on the wall that read 18:40. She stared at the ceiling for some time, thinking if she could really run a ranch by herself.

"Finn… do you think I can do this? I'm starting to have doubts… What if I fail…? I wanted to come here so badly, thinking I could make a difference and possibly save this town, but now I—"

"Allura, come on. You have to have faith in yourself. You told your parents that you would make them proud and I know you will. I believe in you and I'll stick by you, okay?"

A smile crept along her lips, a small tear falling. "Thanks, Finn..."