The Mystery of Hillsboro Island
Animal Crossing is a great game. I've liked it ever since my friend told me to get AC:WW. I was addicted for a while, but it just got boring. But I still love AC. I've been doing nothing for a while, and have been getting writing urges. So I decided to create this FanFic for AC:WW. This is my first FanFic and I hope I'm doing a good job writing so far. No flaming or spamming please, and thanks for reading my story so far! I'm going to try and write a little every night, so I won't have many delays. If you're wondering why my chapters are a little long, it's because of my writing style. I like to write longer, I feel it gives more details and makes you feel like your actually there, like the main character. Just read it. It doesn't take long to read a few pages. Thanks!
About this Story:
When 14-year old Nate decides to leave home, he sets out to live on an island known as Hillsboro Island, inhabited by humanlike animals. When he arrives, all the animals are deathly scared of him, like he doesn't belong, like they are terrified of him. But as the days pass, Nate makes friends and gets along with everyone on the island. Everything is going great until one animal gets killed, and then another, and another. All of the animals seem to be hiding something from Nate, and indeed they are. A mystery lies in the past of Hillsboro Island, which is tragic. Can Nate figure out the mystery and save the rest of the villagers, or will Nate's life be taken away before then?
It's two in the morning, and I don't know where they are. I'm in the corner on the second floor of my house holding my axe, ready to swing;, no, kill; the first thing that moves. One animal is already dead tonight, another one seriously injured. The police aren't helping, the Mayor left. And they're coming. And I don't know where they are. I don't know. I just don't know...
-Chapter One-
::Hillsboro Island My New Home::
That fish got away again!
I'm sitting on the small wooden dock, feet dangling out over the water, and have been trying to catch this Arowana that I saw swimming around in the pond. I need to catch it, or else Cook, or was it Nook? will be all over me again wanting money for his mortgage.
This business raccoon found me on my first day and gave me a house, if you can call it that. It's more like the smallest wooden shack on the planet, or at least on Hillsboro Island it is. Anyway, all I can fit there now is a cardboard box (oh so expensive), a candle, and a cheap springy bed. And the bed isn't even comfy. Bet I would have more fun sleeping on the cardboard box that that bed. Nook said once I earn more money, well, here they call it Bells, I can afford to upgrade to a much larger house. That is, once I pay off this house. That cheap wad is making me pay 19,200 Bells for this house, which is ridiculous. But oh well, at least I have a roof over my head, unlike that first night.
The first day here was just horrible. I cannot explain enough how bad it was.
So about myself. I'm Nate. I'm fourteen years old, not fat, not anorexic either. I'm just an only child and I'm around 5'6" with dark brown hair, about medium in length and have light skin. My family has always been more independent than others, you could say; my dad left home when he was only thirteen to go find a place of his own. I have been nagging at my parents to let me go somewhere, I was sick of the city. Sick of all the sounds, the lights, the people, the fake drama, the culture; it's all just too much for me. So it's been my dream to go find a place of my own, to follow what my father did.
So my parents finally agreed to let me go out into the world. My mom was skeptical at first; I think every mom is when their little baby finally decides that he wants to leave home. So she went with me to the public library to come across a few towns that I might be interested in.
A few hours later we read about Hillsboro Island, a remote setting about a thousand miles from where I am.
So that's where I was heading. Just the beginning of July and I am heading to Hillsboro Island.
I was having some doubts about coming here. But it was too late; I was already five hours into the journey riding this old train to the boat marina. A few other people were on the train with me also, but they got off at certain stops. So it looks like I'm the only guy heading to Hillsboro Island.
The train finally stopped at this place in the middle of nowhere. A lady in her mid-thirties with long brown hair inside the train station said the Marina was about a half mile from here. She said I could pay twenty bucks and she'd get one of the guys in the back to drive me, or I could walk it myself. I told her I'd walk it.
About twenty minutes later I arrived at the Marina. It smelled of dead fish and rotting ropes. There was only a single boat in the Marina; that's what the lady on the phone said there would be. There didn't seem to be any sign of life. But I saw something move into the cabin below the deck. Was he hiding? I decided to call out to it.
"Hello! Anybody there?"
No movement.
"Hey, it's Nate! I saw you move down there, now come on out so I can get to the island!"
This creature slowly moved his way from below the deck; it was a Snapping Turtle. It was pretty big too, almost my size. Unusually large for a turtle. I thought, "A turtle on a boat? What the heck?" until it said "Oh thank goodness. It's just you."
I don't know who was more surprised, him hiding, or me seeing a turtle just speaking perfect English to me. He must have seen this look of amazement on my face because he said "Oh, excuse me. My name is Kapp'n. You must have never seen an animal talk before. We all talk, well, in this area we do at least. So let's get moving shall we?"
Still amazed and speechless, I hopped onboard and sat down in the seat next to Kapp'n. I noticed he was wearing clothes also. More humanlike than an animal.
We pulled away from the dock and were riding the waves around 20 knots or so when I couldn't help feel that he thought something was wrong with me, like I was hiding something. While we were riding the waves he kept glancing nervously at me every few moments, almost appearing to be sure that I was staying still and not going to hurt him. I decided that it was just the long day, and I was thinking a little hard.
After Kapp'n stared suspiciously at me for a few more times, he said I can go to the cabin underneath and lie down if I wanted to. I told him I would.
That bed must have been comfy because Kapp'n was saying "Nate! Nate! Wake up! You have made it to Hillsboro Island."
I crawled lazily off the bed and did a little stretch-walk to loosen myself up. We both walked onto the dock.
"Well kid, you made it. Now your own your own." Kapp'n looked at me and patted me twice on the back and said "Good luck". Just something the way he said 'good luck'…I don't know. But it was just weird.
Well, whatever the good luck meant, Kapp'n walked back onto his boat and waved goodbye and away he went. I was on my own.
It was the evening about now, but that didn't matter. It made the island look simply amazing.
Hillsboro Island was a pretty neat place to look at, just by standing at the dock. It had hills placed sporadically across the landscape, dotted with trees here and there and healthy green grass growing all over the mainland of the island. Some trees had bananas growing in them, and I even saw a few coconut trees growing along near the shore. The largest hill, at the farthest part north on the island, apparently let a beautiful flowing waterfall fall into a crystal clear lake. The water splashed at the base, and moved down the lake into a river, which appeared to divide into two. Stone bridges arched across the rivers, allowing walkways. A golden fish jumped out of the water and landed back with a splash. Dragonflies buzzed around along with butterflies. It was simply gorgeous.
Then I noticed other things I hadn't at first; there were a few buildings and houses located here also. So at least I wasn't the only form of life here. I saw what seemed to be a town hall; two shops; a larger building, not sure what it was yet; and a few houses placed around, some larger than others. I noticed a police station too. I thought it was weird that there was a police station on the island, but I guess they just feel like having one. Also, I noticed other animals walking around on two legs, just like the turtle. So it seemed like I was on an island stuck with humanlike animals. Awesome. I saw a brown alligator, and this yellow duck just walking around, seeming to enjoy the island they lived on.
Fearing that the animals might run away like Kapp'n did, I tried to have a nicer approach to them. But they didn't seem to like me.
"Hey yellow duck! Woo-hoo! Over here! I'm Nate, the new person to the town."
The duck turned towards me and screamed bloody murder. I've never heard such a loud scream in my life as that duck. He screamed and screamed and flew his hands up into the air yelling "Human! Human! Run for your life!" The alligator must have heard him because he started screaming also. In a minute, they were back inside their houses and without a doubt locked their doors. And nothing in sight was moving. Not the animals, the dragonflies, nothing. Absolutely quiet. I don't think I've ever heard something so quiet in my life.
Great.
Night must have been closer than I thought because the sun was already starting to set. Clouds started forming overhead and it started to rain. So here I am, in the middle of the ocean on some place called Hillsboro Island soaking wet with no roof and hungry. I walked to a tree, pulled a few bananas down and began to eat them. Pretty tasty, even though they weren't ripen all the way.
After I was full of bananas, I tried to find the biggest tree I could find, and I found one near the northern end of the island. It had large branches and tons of leaves sticking out, so if I crouched at the bottom I didn't get wet that much. I looked up at the night sky and saw hundreds, no, thousands of stars shimmering in the deep black sky. I've never seen as much stars as I have than right now. It was almost as the stars were in a contest, to see who can shine brighter than the other. My mom would like to see the stars right now.
Sleepy and full, I drifted off into sleep…
"Hey! You! Human boy! Nate. Wake up. Rise and shine!"
It was early the next morning, the sun just slowly rising over the horizon on the east. A big brown raccoon wearing an apron was staring at me a few feet away, trying to wake me up.
"Hang on a second you crazy animal…let me stretch."
"Your second's up. Come on now. We have lots to explain to you. I'm Nook by the way. Nice island, yes?"
The raccoon Nook began to walk. I decided to walk with him. Maybe he was taking me somewhere?
"I'm Nate. I just got here yesterday…I tried to introduce myself to a few of the other animals on the island. They ran away screaming human. Now here you are, taking me somewhere. Why did the others run away?"
"Well, um. They thought you were, um, never mind about them. They'll like you soon enough.
We were now nearing this wooden shop, which had an old sign on the front that said "Nook's Cranny". I guess this was where he worked to make his money.
"So, this is my shop. It's pretty small now, but one day it will hopefully be bigger, yes?"
The raccoon opened the door and led me to a stool so I could sit down. He also threw me this shirt. I wondered what it was for.
"So you have no home yet? No worries. I can build you a house. But it won't be free, of course. But you can pay it off over time, paying a little bit each week. I can build it in a few hours. Your house will cost 19,200 Bells, but don't worry about that. You can pay it off when you run errands."
I stared in amazement. A raccoon was offering to build me a house.
"Errands? What errands?"
"Well, you have to pay your house off somehow don't you? Put on your shirt. Nice, yes? Now, I want you to deliver these few packages. I'll pay off 3,000 Bells of your mortgage if you do this, and plus you will know the towns people a little better. Now get to work."
Man that was tiring.
It was about mid-afternoon when I finally got back to Nook's shop. Sweat was dripping off of my face, because Joey, the yellow duck, challenged me to a race from one side of the town to the other. I beat him and he gave me a fishing pole as a prize.
Nook wasn't in his shop. So I decided to rest for a few minutes and check out my earnings. I delivered packages all day long, and met most of the people, er, animals on the island. They seemed to like me now. Whatever happened yesterday was just crazy. All the animals were very friendly also, giving me helpful tips. They seemed to like the fact that I was living with them, and tried to make my life easier. I stared at my newly acquired fishing pole, 850 Bells, and shovel I had just laid down on the floor. My other neighbor Alfonso had invited me to dinner at 6:00 that night, so that's where I was going tonight. Food sounded good.
I pocketed my items and decided to go find Nook, maybe he was done with my house.
Just as I left his shop, Nook ran up to me panting.
"Your house is all done, Nate. I put a lighting fixture, a bed, and a desk space in your house so you feel more at home. Good job today delivering the errands. Feel free to live in your house now."
I couldn't believe how small this place was. I don't even think it qualifies to be a house.
A small bed was stacked away in the corner, the lighting fixture was a candle, and the desk space was a box. A plain floor and plain wallpaper lined the house. So much for luxury. Well, it didn't matter. I saw a few household items in Nook's shop, so I guess when I have money to spare I can purchase a few items. As long as I had a roof over my head, and was healthy, that was fine with me.
I didn't want to spend all my time in this 'house' that made you claustrophobic so I decided to spend the few hours I had left until I had to go to Alfonso's house fishing and digging. One of the animals that I had to deliver errands to, Elvis, said that you can find fossils in the ground and catch fish in the stream. I wanted to try this out, to see for myself.
So there were things to do to keep myself busy.
The next morning I woke up and thought that the food last night was delicious. Alfonso was a vegetarian, which didn't bother me. If we had eaten roast duck, I think Joey might have been a little offended. The green beans and potatoes we had were delicious. Our conversation we had was pretty good too. I'm surprised I could have so much fun talking to an animal.
Alfonso told me all about our town. I learned that the building that I didn't know what it was, was a museum that you could donate to. In the town hall there was a bank for them to hold your money, and gain interest, and the mail was also delivered and picked up there. Alfonso explained about Nook's shop, the Able Sister's clothing store shop, the other neighbors, the police station, and even about a place everyone refers to as The Gates.
The Gates, as Alfonso explained, was like a teleportation device that allowed anyone you wanted to, to come onto the island and visit you. He seemed a little worried talking about it to me, but it didn't matter. Alfonso was helpful. He told me to check the recycling bin for trash. Sometimes you could sell it back to Nook for Bells.
So as I woke up that morning, I picked a banana off a tree for breakfast and headed to the recycling bin.
I couldn't believe what I found! It was this moon decoration for your house. At first I was going to keep it, but it would be too big for my tiny closet. So I sold it to Nook for a few thousand Bells. Helps to pay off the mortgage.
Nook also told me that I could sell fish to him for Bells. I had no luck the day before catching fish, but I had a feeling I could catch some today. Nook explained to me that there is this one fish called an Arowana, a long, slender, gray to orange fish with a curved mouth that was worth 10,000 Bells. I decided to go search for one.
So that's how I found myself sitting on the small, wooden dock sticking out into the pond trying to catch an Arowana that kept getting away…
If you read this far, thanks for reading my first Fanfic! Feel free to post any comments that you may have, and wait for Chapter 2!
I promise that Chapter 2 gets much more interesting, someone dies. And it leads us deeper into the Mystery of Hillsboro Island…
