Footsteps. Four pursuers to the left, eight to the right, two in front. Estimated point of contact less than two minutes. Two dimensional exit routes no longer an option, the girl opted for gaining height, wedging fingers into the smallest of crevices in the brick building and hopping into an open window. Her landing was so soft that not even the chinaware on the kitchen table an arm's reach away clattered. Footsteps as light as a feather, she quickly scaled the staircase to the first floor and pressed her ear to the ground. Receding footsteps, at least temporarily. Enough for her to click open the door and slide the well-placed sewer drain and slip underground.
Thirty minutes and backtracking steps later, the girl arrived back at her safe place. "Safe place" was an overstatement, to say the least. An abandoned shaft in an abandoned construction project where she had paid off the homeless person residing in said shaft for temporary loan of the space (and a lot more money for their discretion). The room was stripped of any personal effects, only an immaculately cleaned coffee mug nestled under a floorboard to suggest that anyone was inhabiting the space. Stretching her tensed muscles, the girl yawned widely, pulling out a tumbler of coffee she'd picked up from her local coffee shop while backtracking steps. She inhaled deeply as the smell of coffee wafted while being transferred from tumbler to cup. There was a chance that her pursuers could track her merely by the scent of the coffee, but that was a risk she was willing to take for the sake of coffee. There were some luxuries in life that couldn't be skimped on, and coffee was one of them.
Taking the first sip of coffee (as always, still too hot), she pulled out the newspaper she'd also picked up during her backtracking. The headline was the same as it had been for the past two weeks: "Daughter of Joja Conglomerate Still Missing." She continued to sip her coffee while reading conspiracy theories of her alleged kidnapping and torture, of her elopement with insert famous actor's name, you name it. Most speculation suggested that she'd been kidnapped. She scoffed at the theory, as if anyone could take her out long enough to be kidnapped and not be able to escape whatever restraints they had set up. Of course, the press only knew her as the heir of the Joja Conglomerate. They knew nothing of her parents side-project, otherwise known as Project Locker.
Recruiting everyone from gamer hackers to well-seasoned assassins, Project Locker was affiliated with the national government and meant to operate as an off-the-books safety net to clean up government problems when the law couldn't do the trick. Over time, however, Project Locker had expanded its function as more than a supplement to the government, conducting business outside of the government's discretion for personal profit. Like cancer, the Project had developed faster than government officials could control it. Joja was the perfect front for her parents, the leaders of the operation, to conduct daily business without eliciting suspicion.
The girl crushed her smiling picture and tossed the paper to the far corner of the room. Taking the last swig of coffee, she absentmindedly reached further into the floorboard and pulled out a worn yet unopened letter addressed to her. The unbroken seal of her grandfather's estate stared up at her. She let out a deep sigh. It had been two weeks since she'd learned of what her parents were really up to-that they weren't the good guys they had claimed to her to be-that they had been dishonoring her late grandfather's name and reputation on an international scale. Having been trained by Project Locker's Academy (all under the guise of self-defense and survival skills), the girl had no problem escaping the eyes and living literally right under their noses here in Zuzu City at Joja Headquarters. But was this what her life was resigned to? Constantly running, always looking over her shoulder, never having the proper time to figure out how to change something for the better in the Joja Conglomerate?
Her eyes returned to the letter. Her grandfather had given her that letter on his deathbed when he'd asked her parents to clear the floor for him to have some time with his only granddaughter. He had instructed her very firmly to keep the letter safe and hidden from everyone, including and especially her parents until the moment was right. She had never understood even remotely why she'd have to hide the letter from her own parents until two weeks ago, but now she could see that her grandfather knew a lot more about her parents than she could have imagined.
She thought of her grandfather's warm smile, his determination to do right and to take care of those who couldn't take care of themselves. She had to do something to bring the Joja name back to something pure and good. Steeling herself, she broke the seal to the letter. There was a thick wad of papers; and, on the top of the folded papers, a handwritten note:
If you're reading this, you must be in dire need of a change. The same thing happened to me, long ago. I'd lost sight of what mattered most in life, real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong.
She opened the wad of papers to see the first page of a map to a remote location off the coast. Stardew Valley? The girl was confused to say the least. She had known that her grandfather owned quite a lot of property, but this name was new to her ears. It must be a place that even her parents didn't know about. A place she could go to recover and plot exactly how on earth she by herself could take down an entire evil conglomerate. And, knowing Grandpa, the farm was totally off the grid and equipped with everything she would need for her mission. It was a no-brainer. Sliding into her makeshift half-camouflage, the girl slipped into a light sleep, plotting her escape from Zuzu City with the map that she had all but engraved on the back of her eyelids.
For the first time in two weeks, she felt hope.
The bus rattled, trekking slowly across dirt road and pebbles. It had been nothing short of manual labor, but she'd been able to pry her bus window open to compensate for the lack of air conditioning. Country bumpkin it may be, but the country bumpkin fresh, crispy spring air was nothing to look down on. She closed her eyes and leaned back into the peeling suede leather chair, breathing in deeply-only for the bus to hit a pothole and spew dust into the air, consequently into her window, consequently into her lungs. As the dust settled and she hacked up said lungs, she could just see enough through watery eyes a dilapidated sign out her window: "Stardew Valley: 0.5 mi."
Listening to the bus engine gasp for life hadn't helped her nerves as she scanned the empty roads ahead for any sign of enemies in pursuit. She had been making mental calculations to write in her journal for the last three hours of anything that could be useful if she were on the run through this terrain. The engine started to heave in warning; she guessed it had about five minutes of life left in it until it totally crashed. Luckily for the bus (and the driver), she had just spotted a bus stop sign about 150 yards ahead. They would make it.
Next to the sign she could see a middle-aged woman, waiting patiently. She scanned through the documents that her grandpa had left one more time. He had suggested her to make contact with a man named Lewis, the mayor of Pelican Town, for safe arrival and as her point of contact. He was the only one in town who had known the true identity of her grandfather and was a long-time friend. The woman waiting was not in her grandpa's notes, so naturally she was immediately cautious that this woman had infiltrated the town and was holding the older man under duress in exchange for him giving up her location. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of all of the logical and illogical hypothetical training she had done at Project Locker. Just talk like a normal human being, she thought to herself bitterly.
Right on time like clockwork, the bus engine gave out completely as they rolled up to the bus sign. The driver gave a sigh of relief just as the engine gave its last sigh before silence. Luckily, the doors were manual, otherwise she would have had to climb out the window. She stepped off the bus with only a small backpack to her name. She tried to look friendly and open but could only muster slightly standoffish.
Luckily, the woman didn't seem to notice, smiling widely as she exited the bus.
"Hello! You must be Ami," she said brightly. "I'm Robin, the local carpenter. Mayor Lewis sent me here to fetch you and show you the way to your new home. He's there right now, tidying things up for your arrival. The farm's right over here, if you'll follow me."
She seemed totally clueless of how Ami was gauging her for signals or weapons as she turned immediately, assuming Ami would follow in her wake.
It was only a ten-minute walk from the bus stop to the farm, and Ami kept silent save for a few words of assent to Robin's monologue while she mapped the town for future reference.
The cottage itself was unassuming from the outside, and the land it overlooked was overrun with weeds and logs and large rocks.
"This is Celta Farm," Robin said, like she was trying to introduce a new product on TV that she knew wasn't very good but that she also knew needed to be sold well.
"Sure, it's a bit overgrow, but there's some good soil underneath that mess! With a little dedication, you'll have it cleaned up in no time." Her eyes were so kind and earnest that Ami almost believed her.
"And here we are, your new home."
Before Ami could start to do an overall layout of the home (where it was weak against snipers, whether she could dig an escape route or not), an older man exited the cottage. Just as Robin had said, there was Mayor Lewis, decidedly older in person than the photo her grandpa had left for her.
"Ah, the new farmer!" he said with an equally bright smile. Their eyes made eye contact with an unspoken understanding that certain things could not be discussed until Robin had left. He made his way down the stairs to stand in front of her.
"Welcome! I'm Lewis, Mayor of Pelican Town."
He extended a hand, and Ami could feel a small note pass between them. She smiled in acknowledgment and quietly transferred the note to her pocket.
"You know, everyone's been asking about you."
Ami raised her eyebrows. Was this a sign that the town had already been compromised?
Noticing her slight change in demeanor, Lewis was quick to explain: "It's not every day that someone new moves in. It's quite a big deal!"
She relaxed, and he relaxed with her.
"So, you're moving into your grandfather's old cottage. It's a good house," Lewis said meaningfully. "Very 'rustic.'"
The three looked at the outside of the house. It really didn't look like much from the outside, but Ami had faith in her grandpa.
"Rustic? That's one way to put it," Robin laughed. "'Crusty' might be a little more apt, though."
Lewis looked highly affronted at her comment. "Rude!"
Ami smiled to herself. She could see immediately why her grandpa would have taken a liking to the well-ordered, well-mannered Lewis.
"It's no problem at all, Lewis," Ami reassured him and Robin. "I'm sure I'll be right at home soon."
Lewis relaxed a bit. "She's just trying to make you dissatisfied so that you buy one of her house upgrades."
He shook his head the slightest 'no' to confirm that a house upgrade would be a bad idea, indeed.
Ami gave the slightest nod back for confirmation and laughed politely.
"Anyway, you must be tired from the long journey. You should get some rest. Tomorrow you ought to explore the town a bit and introduce yourself. The townspeople would appreciate that."
There was a slight tone to Lewis' last sentence, making it clear to Ami that not talking to the townspeople would elicit more suspicion than actually introducing herself and getting to know them. It would be an interesting challenge to balance her real purpose to being in Stardew and pose as a fake farmer and get to know the people of the town. But it was a challenging she was willing to take.
"Oh, I almost forgot. If you have anything to sell, just place it in this box here. I'll come by during the night to collect it," Lewis said meaningfully, explaining exactly how and when they would be able to meet to exchange information.
She nodded in understanding. Lewis took one last long look at her. She could see the sadness in his eyes understanding at least some of the extent of her position.
"Good luck," he said finally, before heading back the direction of the bus stop.
To respect the integrity of in-game dialogue, I want to try to use it as much as possible, even in the context of this story. I decided to write this story after reading Finding Home Again by GrapefruitSpritzer. The story will mostly fall under the action/adventure category with some romance later. Although I want to try to use as many characters from the town as possible I anticipate the character having many interactions with Lewis, the Wizard, Mr. Qi, Maru, Sam, and Sebastian. I have really limited experience in writing fanfiction and write for my own interest. But of course input and support along the way motivates me to continue a story. Let's see how this one goes!