Danny groaned as he stuck an elbow onto the car's elbow for the passenger, and gazed out the window into the rolling green pastures he passed. He was going to some place called Forget-Me-Not Valley- in the heat of the summer.
You see, the mayor heard of Danny and his family, and invited Danny and his family down to Forget-Me-Not Valley to get rid of a ghost problem. Danny already expected it to be boring and hot, as it was in the middle of summer, with no arcade or anything- it was just a small town in the country with two farms, one doctor, an excavation site, an inn they'd be staying in- which to Jack's delight, apparently had some of the best food in the state. He was also sad at the fact he'd be without Tucker or his girlfriend, Sam, for two full weeks.
But Danny perked up at another remembrance of the fact that the top two pyrotechnical engineers (AN: For those of you who don't know, they make fireworks.) in the world, apparently. Maybe there'd be something interesting about the one-horse town he was going to visit.
He started to drift off into dreamland as he yawned and his eyes slowly closed.
~*~*~*~*~
"Guys, we're here! Danny, wake up!" He heard his mother's voice call. He groggily cracked his eyes open, and stretched and yawned as he stepped out of the G.A.V...And froze along with his family at the land around them. It was beautiful- There was a beach, with the tide coming in and out like a person's breathing. There was a colorful yurt on the top of a hill nearby with various musical instruments outside of it, with a strange man sitting down on the bench- he had a green hat with a buttercup-colored flower stuck in the hat. His clothes were a stereotypical hippie style. He smiled at waved at the family, and they waved back. Turning around, they could see a path leading up a hill, with one half of a strange sort of plant with what looked like a blue gem hanging from it, gently swaying in the wind.
There was a stream for fishing that lead down to the ocean, and there was a bar in the middle of the town. Jack looked pleased at the sight of the bar, and Danny craned his head around to see a farm behind him from the top of a small, flattened hill. He saw a person about the age of eighteen running back and forth, moving cows to and fro the pasture, and stopped and noticed Danny. He smiled and waved at Danny, and continued working. He had brown hair with bangs in the front hanging out. He had a blue-and-red hat on backwards to keep him from getting too hot, and he wore overalls.
Taking in a breath of the clear-as-crystal country air, Danny smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. He stepped inside of the Inn they parked outside of, and were greeted by a short Asian woman. She had brown eyes and her black hair fell down to her chin, then stopping. She smiled at the family before her. "You must be the Fentons, and your son, Danny Phantom...Great to meet you." She said, shaking their hands. They smiled. "Glad to see you've come to get rid of the ghost problem- they come at night...Anyhow, later the mayor would like to meet you. Let me show you to your room." She said happily, and the group followed her.
The room was modest- it had two beds large enough for two people each. A small bathroom was situated in the room, and a T.V. sat in the room.
All in all, it was pretty much the average hotel room. "Oh, and my name's Ruby...Call me if you need anything!" She said with a proud smile and waved as she went downstairs to cook. Danny yawned and laid down on the bed. Jazz smirked at him. "Not as boring as you thought it'd be, didja?" She said. Danny shook his head with a contented sigh as the inn's air conditioning blew in the room. They then heard a knock on the door. Frowning, Danny sat up as Jack opened the door.
The mayor stood there. He had a large red top hat on his head, and you could see signs of baldness as the roots of his curly brown hair hung from the sides of his head. He smiled and bowed. "I am the mayor of Forget-Me-Not Valley...I must thank you for coming. We're happy to offer services in the town for free, as well as natural beauty." Maddie smiled and shook his hand, as did Danny. The mayor turned to Danny. "You must be Danny Phantom! Well, we're quite happy to have you. There's a banquet in an hour to welcome you all in the bar. Feel free to relax; but, can you look around for ghosts at eight o' clock?" He asked. The group all nodded their heads. The mayor smiled, bowed again, and left.
There was silence in the room. "Soo...Anyone wanna go look up the hill where that weird crystal plant was?" Jack asked hopefully. They all perked up in curiosity, and nodded.
~*~*~
After lumbering up the hill in the heat, coolness met them- there was a waterfall near the plant, and there were more plants adorning the way to a beautiful spring. They stared in awe as they approached the spring. The water was crystal clear, and other than the movement of fish, it was still. Maddie tipped her foot in, and the water vibrated silently before falling back into complete tranquility. Breathing in, everyone sat down and relaxed next the the spring.
"It's so beautiful- who knows how many of this natural beauty exist still in the world?" Danny asked, and tipped his foot in. Then, interrupting their thoughts, they heard some little movement of feet, and the shaking of some branches in the bush behind them. They all turned their head and gawked. Movements still were in the brush as they heard some tiny, high-pitched voices.
"But, we're the only Harvest Sprites in the valley!" "Shush, Nak! They might hear you!" "They might hear YOU, Flik." They heard the voices arguing. Danny raised an eyebrow and gently approached the bush in and tapped it to see what was there. Suddenly he jumped back as three small figures fell out. They were tiny! Each about the size of a small dog's leg, they slowly approached the shocked group before them. The fat yellow one with green hair cleared it's throat.
"Who are you?" He asked. The group blinked. This time, one with blue robes that had the length of the arm of it's robes going down farther than it's hands jumped up for attention. "We're the only harvest sprites in the valley!" He squeaked. Then one that was lean, with a red coat ran out. "Shush, Flak! Nik! You'll confuse them more!" The group before the 'harvest sprites' didn't lose their shock, and Danny shook his head to clear it.
"Uh, excuse me? We aren't 'harvest sprites' as you guys call us. We're ghost hunters. We were asked to come get rid of a ghost problem in the area..." Danny said. They all stopped and stared at Danny, who was kneeling down to try to get closer to them. "You..." The yellow one said, shocked. "Are..." The blue one said. "The halfa ghost?!" The red one finally shouted. The family raised their eyebrows, and Maddie gently pushed Danny over to get a better look. "Yes, he is. I'm his mother. And you are...?" She asked.
The small sprites snapped back to reality. "I'm Nik!" The blue one cried. "I'm Nak!" The red on cried. "And I'm Flak!" The yellow one giggled. Jack smiled. "So, Nik, Nak, and Flak...Hey, that rhymes!" Jack chuckled. Jazz cocked her head at them. "So, what are you guys?" She asked, curious. Nak stepped forward. "We're Harvest Sprites- we help the farmer on the flattened hill with his farming. He IS just a starter, you know." Flak waved his arm in the air. "And, he's the only one here other than you guys who can see us. Why can you guys see us?" He asked. The family didn't know why- they could guess for Danny, but for the rest of them...
"I'm not sure." Jazz said. Then Nik smiled. "Only special humans can see us!" He cheered. The group stood shocked for a minute, before smiling and nodding. "Well, I think an introduction of the Fentons is necessary..." Jack started. "I'm Jack." He said happily. He pointed to Maddie. "Maddie, my wife." Maddie waved proudly at the fact she was able to see them. Jack turned to Jazz. "Jazz, our daughter." Jazz smiled at them. Jack finally turned to Danny. "And Danny, our son. Nice to meet you, Nik, Nak, and Flak!" Jack said happily.
"Great to meet you~!" The sprites chorused. They heard a gasp from the corner, and turned around. It was the farmer that Danny saw earlier, and he stopped and approached. "Can-can you guys see them, too?" He asked. The group nodded. The sprites turned to the farmer and jumped up in excitement. "Oh! This is the farmer we help! He's also our friend!" Nik said, jumping up and down. The farmer smiled at them. "I'm Jacky. I swore, I thought I was the only in the valley who could see them. Apparently not..." He said, smiling.
Danny stood, and shook Jacky's hand. "Hey, Jacky. I'm Danny- this is my family, Jack, Maddie, and Jazz. We're here to remove the ghost problem." He said. Jacky's eyebrows then raised. "Oh yeah! We've been expecting you for a week! Glad you're here- the ghosts like to terrorize my cows, and destroy the occasional crop. Also, they like to haunt the other farm across." He said. Maddie smiled. "Well, Jacky. Now we know where to hunt for them." She said confidently. The Harvest Sprites jumped up and down to get their attention again.
"Hey! We wanna help, too!" Flak whined. Danny, Jack, Maddie, Jazz, and Jacky all shared a look. "Well, no offense, but how-" Jacky started. "We can help keep the cows calm!" Nik said. Danny smiled. "Actually, that might help. So, eight o' clock, we go and hunt down the ghost in Jacky's barn." Danny announced. The group cheered in agreement, then Jazz checked her watch.
"Holy crud, we're gonna be late for that banquet! See you guys later!" She said, and they all waved to the Harvest Sprites as they head back to town.
~*~*~*~*~
Jacky wandered into his house to get some rest to help them hunt tonight, but was stopped by his elder who helped him learn. "What were you doing at the spring for so long?" He asked. He was short, black hair with a plain white undershirt that hung on him. He had black boots, and normal dark blue jeans. Jacky rolled his eyes. "Oh, you wouldn't believe what happened, Takakura..." He said, trailing off. "Just tell the folks at the banquet I'm busy. I'm actually going to be helping the Fentons tonight- they wanted to check out the barn." He said. Takakura raised his eyebrows. "Have fun with that." He muttered as he left.
Jacky rolled his eyes and pulled his blankets around him.