Hello, everyone. I introduce you to my newest story! I haven't written for HM in awhile, but I have finally decided to to this little piece. It will be a Leia and Daryl pairing, so be prepared! I have fallen for this couple, as odd as they seem and I think you will too. Daryl is an oddball, which I'm sure you all know, lol. ;)

Thanks for checking me out, and enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon, or these characters!

Chapter One: Fishing Without A Pole

The mornings in the simple little village of Forget-Me-Not were almost always the same. They consisted of a sunrise and little robins chirping from branch to branch, and always the ever obnoxious noise of a rooster sounding the call of the sunrise. Considering there was a lack of city pollution and building masses, the start of the day could be seen at the very moment the sun started peeking over the horizon.

To those who were up, it was truly a beautiful sight every single time the warming orb showed itself. It gave them the determination and courage to take on the world, and to give it their best. As was the same when it set for the day, ending the sun's reign and giving rise to the bright burning stars and glowing moon.

But even so, there were those who did not wake to greet the morning. And in the small village, there was only one man who lived up to that accusation.

As the light seeped through the upper rooms of the dark and gloomy house, a dark-haired man slept beneath it all. In a small basement under his own abode, was where he currently slept. Completely bunched up in his comforters, he was sleeping very contently on the Monday morning. Not a single alarm clock anywhere within the home, or for that matter, not even a single clock to give him the awareness of time. It was certain the man had no care for the useless necessity. He had plenty to spare in his life, and he wasn't anxious to be sleeping his days away.

As his messy black haired covered his face, the man's eyebrows scrunched up while he dreamt, every so often mumbling something incoherently. And while inside the man's own psych you realize exactly what he was so troubled about.

He ran through the field of grass, the shadows from the trees casting a solemn atmosphere on the area. He knew it was following him, the creature who haunted his dreams. But he didn't know how close it was. The white haunting beast. So all the man did was run the best he could, almost falling over his own legs from the velocity he desperately attempted to add to them.

Finally coming to a fork in the road, he hastily decided to go right and continued onward through what now seemed to be dense wilderness. The tree foliage only got thicker, as did the grass he was running through. He had to push away the thorny branches that ate away at his flesh, and manage through the tough mud that stuck to him so thickly.

He closed his eyes fearfully, knowing that he was running out of breath and it was only a matter of time before the beast caught up with him. Unexpectedly, his foot caught on a root and he slammed into the harsh, gritty dirt road beneath him. His breath caught in fear and he cautiously turned around to peer behind him, knowing all too well what was going to be there. And it was.

The humongous white creature stood on its hind legs, its teeth bared and a menacing growl reaching past its vocal cords. The man's eyes widened and it seemed then that time seemed to blend and blur together. The man knew he should have run, or hid, simply anything would have been better than just laying there. But right then nothing seemed to respond; his aching muscles from the restless running, or his will to survive.

He just stared at the beast, taking in the beautiful topaz color of its eyes. It was almost mesmerizing.

And as the monster drew back its massive paw filled with piercing claws, he man suddenly knew no more.

Waking up with a jump, Daryl, with hair sticking up in all directions, finally came back into reality. Giving himself a moment to catch his breath and calm down, he leaned back into his 'mattress'. He rubbed his face tiredly, trying to rid himself of the fatigue he felt in them. These long and relentless nightmares he had been experiencing have been constant every time he has gone to sleep. And no matter how he tried to escape the creature in his dreams, he couldn't ever manage it.

Deciding to forget his torment for a moment, the man sluggishly pulled the blue comforter off of his body and quickly got out of his bed. Making his way out of the basement, he ascended the stairs to his living room, which was also technically his lab. Coming to a halt, he pulled out a cup somewhere within a cupboard and started a pot of coffee. Though it did not matter much, considering it was already noon. The man obviously didn't seem to care though as he drank the dark brown liquid.

Pausing momentarily, he grabbed a spoon full of sugar and added it to his steaming cup. But as he brought it to his lips, he realized his mistake. Spitting the stuff out in disgust, he quickly put down the cup and cringed. He accidentally added baking powder. Whoops.

Quickly scurrying to his experiment table, he dragged his palm around on it, trying to locate his glasses. Which in term, not being able to see anything, caused him to 'run over' many other things. Such as needles, and hot testing utensils. Now panting, the man finally found his glasses and he quickly slipped them on. Only to literally face-palm when he realized these were his pair that had shattered when he ran into the tree the other day.

Grumbling incoherently, he chose to simply ignore the matter and continued on with his morning, which technically wasn't even morning anymore.

Eventually, the man finished making himself breakfast. It consisted of baking soda coffee and some plain toast, which he forgot he had bread up until now, so no knowing how old it was. But it didn't contain mold, so to him it was safe to consume.

Stuffing his mouth with it, and grabbed several sheets of paper and started reading them.

Mumbling as his eyes scanned the page, the man finally decided what he would do today. As you probably already guessed, the man is an "inventor" of sorts, and he is rather obsessed with it. And soon he was going to try and do his most amazing feat. Cloning a cow.

Now the notion might sound ludicrous, but the scientist had faith in what he was capable of. And ever since he was little, he promised himself he would accomplish cloning an animal. And he had chosen cows as his specimen, long before any other species. He despised the creature more than anything and now he was finally able to act on his revenge.

So, that was what he had decided to do. And now, after moving away and getting his own home, he was finally able to act on his plans.

Finishing his detestable beverage, he quickly got dressed, which consisted of a wrinkled teal dress shirt, a torn red tie, a lab coat that was tethered horribly, and last but not least his dress shoes that were literally falling apart. With this final dressing orders in check, he headed outdoors.

The afternoon sun was giving off warmth to everything around it. Almost if it was joyous to be doing so. But the man paid no attention to it and continued on, heading directly where he needed to go.

The villagers all conversed with with another while walking down the street. Even though it was a small village, it was a pleasant place to reside for many of them and it offered something that the city could not: peace. But the man didn't pay any mind to them either, and hurried along.

It didn't take him long to arrive at his destination. It was a small farm, in the early ages of development. The man knew someone had moved in and was repairing it, so he was excited to see all the new cows that would soon occupy its fields. Rounding the barn, he came to a fenced up area. All that was in it was a single black and white cow, grazing the grass hungerly.

He licked his lips and proceeded with caution. "You sickening beast.." He muttered, his eyes darkening with malice. But right before he was about to step inside the fence, a voice called out. "Hey! What are you doing?"

Turning around as quick as lightening, the scientist smiled innocently, coming face to face with the new, and angry, farmer, "I was only admiring your cow; she's a real marvel." He said, slowly removing himself from the fence and away from the farmer.

"Well, thanks. I'm just starting out, so that means a lot to hear that from someone." The farmer eyed the man suspiciously before letting out a sigh and shrugging. "My name is Manny, as you can probably tell I'm the new farmer," he stated matter-a-factly, "my father passed away and I chose to come here and run it.. besides," his eyes narrowed, "I have nothing better to do, according to Takakura."

The scientist just stared at him bewildered, before backing away very slowly.. And then running off like a mad man.

Manny raised an eyebrow. "Okay. That was weird. I mean, I've seen Harvest Sprites this week. I thought things couldn't get weirder, but I guess I was wrong." Shaking his head, he walked further into his farm, along the way muttering, "This is such a strange place."

Finally coming to a halt at the end of the road, the man quickly took a look behind him. His eyes scrunched up in distrust, before he started stalking down the dirt road again. He knew where he was headed. It was the same place his nightmares always began. Even so, he did not have any reluctance to go to the area. It had a pleasant scent and seemed to calm him down.

As he walked along the path, his hunched back and shoulders slouched. He didn't seem to care all too much for it though, considering his eyes and current thoughts were on the 'special someone' on the other side of the river, who he just seemed to notice through the trees.

Her golden curly blonde hair blew gently in the wind, as the stray sparkles of water seemed to cascaded around her. She had beautiful amethyst eyes, which shone like crystals in the sunlight. The man had one thing he liked about the sun: the energy it gave off and the beauty it gave this woman.

He stood there on the riverbank, taking in her features for ages, a tint of pink on his cheeks. He breathed silently, staring at her almost as if in a trance. But then that all ceased when a dark-haired man walked up along side her, "C'mon Flora, we better get back to work. We have to finish before sunset." The man, Carter his name, said to her.

Flora looked up at him and smiled happily, "Alright, Professor."

As she stood up to leave, the scientist watching from a distance couldn't help but curse the man. He was so lucky he had her as an assistant. She was so perfect in every way. And he couldn't get anywhere near her, not without the Archaeologist-of-a-loser getting in the way.

Suddenly, said Archaeologist looked his way.

Carter raised an eyebrow at the scientist, but as if realizing what he was doing standing there watching them, he smirked mischievously. Quickly snatching Flora's hand, he hastily led her down the steps into the research hole. But before Carter could see the look of deject on the scientist's face, the man was already gone from his viewing spot.

Carter was honestly surprised. That was fast.

Shrugging it off, the Professor headed into the hole, following his assistant.

The buzz of his laboratory was the only sound that could be heard. The humming noise seemed to come from nowhere in particular, and yet it was never ending. A man sat on a dirt and grime encrusted sofa, the shadows hiding his face. It seemed that the ambiance of the abode was the same with the gentleman's mood; sullen.

Finally when he looked up, he longingly stared at the pieces of paper currently sitting on the table in front of him, as if mocking him. He had so many plans for what to do in the future. So many unachieved goals, all of which he was destined to finish, he knew. But he didn't know how that was to be done.

Standing up and making his way over to his center table, he grabbed a small vial filled with orange substance in it. Studying it for a moment, he walked over to his window. Pulling the tiny cork out of the vial, he grabbed a plant off of the window-sill, which was wilted from insufficient sunlight and water and poured a small amount into the dried plant's soil. He waited patiently, simply looking over at the other creations he had failed. Cloning a cow wasn't his only desire to achieve, something much more import was needing to be completed before anything else. This, he knew, had to work eventually. He had created the serum when he was a kid and even though it had many kinks-such as catching the plant on fire, or completely killing it, but he never gave up trying to make it successful. And even after so many years, he still couldn't remove all the imperfections.

As the plant exploded within the pot, the man set it back down. It would return to normal in ten minutes. The plant wouldn't be burned, or even singed. It was a strange occurrence, but it wasn't the one the scientist was looking for.

Grabbing his dirty lab coat, he slowly opened his laboratory door and headed outside. Only when finally making it to the outdoors, did he realize it was pouring down rain. How hadn't he noticed it before?

"Whatever does it matter." He said out loud, walking towards the beach, which was currently roaring with anger. The muddy grass and dirt covered his shoes with water and muck. Though he obviously didn't care, considering the other eighty percent of his body was already covered in dirt and who knows what else.

Finally making it to the sandy beach, he watched as the water levels were so high, that even though he was just on the outlines of the beach the sea water was brushing up again his shoes. He heard the threatening thunder boom around him, the flashes of lightning intimidating. They didn't phase him, though. The lightning storms fascinated him. The powerful weather occurrences were a marvelous sight by themselves, he didn't have to add, or take anything away from it to be viewed as stunning. It was naturally crafted that way.

And after time had passed and the storm weakened, the man continued standing there. His entire body completely soaked in water, his sloppy raven locks obscuring his glasses. The water level was already up to his ankles, his shoes long ago ruined. But he did not pay any mind to it, but instead let the chilling spring wind blow through him, making his lab coat soar from his back like a superhero's cape.

The man peered a look into the sky, brushing his hair out of his view. He saw the first signs of clear night sky: one lone star among the darkness. Letting out a subtle sigh, he whispered into the coolness of the night, "What am I to do next?"

Although he wasn't truly awaiting a response, he stared into the clearing nighttime sky anyway. His dark eyes seemed to yearn for something; anything. But the sky did not reply.

Seeming to realize his redundant actions, the scientist scoffed in disbelief and averted his gaze, "I truly am foolish."

Deciding that the best action would be to get away from the silent sky, he started heading back up towards his laboratory. But right before he could entirely leave the water, his foot caught on something, that something of course causing him to lose his footing.

Smacking face down into the soggy sand, the scientist became one with the beach. That is until he angrily sat back up.

"What the hell was that?!" His already shattered glasses were off his face as he turned around to look at what he fell over, which in the middle of night, was extremely hard to see.

At first to him it seemed like a wooden log, but when he poked it, it was squishy. Retracting his arm nervously, he quickly dragged his hands around in the sand to find his glasses. "Now would be an excellent time for me to be half feline!" Quickly finding them, he put them on. Only now his vision was obscured by a massive amount of sand on his lenses. Muttering certain words under his breath, the scientist finally wiped off his glasses with his lab coat and quickly placed them back into place.

As he peered down at the being, his eyes widened in disbelief. Laying there completely unconscious was a girl. Her face could not be made out because she was laying on her stomach, but it was enough to alert the man. Maneuvering over to her in a rush, he first checked for a pulse. Fortunately, there was one. But then while he was doing that, he also realized something else..

There was a large fish tail attached to her lower abdomen. As if.. it were apart of her.

There you have it. I want to add something real quick: this story will be mainly romance/comedy, but it will also have drama and a little bit of angst. Simply because I don't think any story is complete without a little bit of everything.

Thanks for reading, and please leave a review! Also, if you see any errors, please alert me of so! ~