Brigget walked through the town in a daze, her green eyes wide and curious as she searched for a place to stay. Her blue overalls were dirty from walking and her white undershirt almost a full brown. She brushed off as much as possible before looking upward. Night was coming to the town.

"I wonder if they have a hotel I could live in…." She wondered out loud. Not one in sight. "Or, maybe a map so I could find my way out of here?"

"There's a map right there, ma'am." Brigget jumped into the air at the voice, sweatdropping. As she calmed down, she placed a hand onto her green backpack and readjusted it. She rubbed around her turquoise choker and chuckled meekly.

The man who addressed her stood behind her, his eyes wide at her reaction to him. His blonde hair stuck out slightly behind him, his bushy eyebrows cocked and his blue eyes wide. His body was completely still, his forest green long-sleeved shirt tucked into his sweat pants. The green sweat-band around his head hung slightly crooked on his perplexed face.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" He asked, extending an arm.

"My name is Brigget." Brigget explained, fixing her bandana. "And it was nothing; you just surprised me."

"Oh, well, I'm Rick. It's nice to meet you." He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Are you lost, or what? Do you need to find your way back to Flower Bud?"

Brigget stared blankly at him.

"Do you know what Flower Bud is?" Rick asked. The girl shook her head.

"I came from the boat, that way." Brigget pointed a gloved finger toward the beach. "Me and Ribbon just need a place to stay."

Rick ignored the woman's bad grammar for the time being. "Ribbon?" He asked. Brigget nodded.

"Yeah, she's my dog-friend. She's looking for some food right now." Brigget smiled.

"So how long do you need to stay?" Rick questioned.

"Well, I was hoping to settle down for as long as possible, but I need to find some space, first. Then I'll need to find a new job, so right now I'm just looking for a place to stay the night at." Brigget explained.

"Oh, well, the Inn here is full up this season, with Grey, Kai, and Cliff staying there." Rick told. Brigget slumped her shoulders.

"That means we'll have to find another town. Where was that Flower Bud town you mentioned?" Brigget placed her pinkies in her mouth and whistled loudly.

"Well, you could stay at our place if you need a place to stay. The eight o'clock bell is about to ring, and it's getting pretty dark. As long as your dog doesn't bite chickens, you could sleep in my sister's room with her." Rick suggested.

"Really?" Brigget asked. Rick nodded.

"Sure, if you want."

A beagle bounded up to Brigget and began rubbing her muzzle across the woman's legs. Brigget picked up the offending dog and squeezed her.

"Hey, Ribbon! We get a place to stay tonight!" She said. The dog barked approvingly. "But it's a chicken farm, so behave yourself. Got it? We don't want the Greely Accident all over again." The dog's head bobbed up and down.

It was nodding its head. Rick stared at the dog for a moment, wondering how it could have done that. Brigget waved a hand in front of his face.

"This is all I have with me," She said, turning slightly to show him the green backpack. There was a slight cut in the lower right pocket, highlighted a strange red aura. "And it's torn."

"We could fix it for you; my mother is a great needlewoman." Rick offered, walking in the opposite direction. Brigget followed, her dog a few steps behind her.

"Oh, no." Brigget insisted. "It's fine. It works just as well."

"Well, alright." Rick smiled at her. "Here's our home." He pointed to his house.

The yellow paint on the house clashed with the forest green sign on the top, and the darker still roof, but it looked nice all the same. To the right of Brigget and Ribbon was a fence where chickens were kept. Ribbon growled in a low tone. Brigget paused to hear her dog's growling, then scoffed.

"It looks great to me." She told her dog. "I don't know why you're so wound up." She listened to the dog's continued growling. "Huh! As if."

"Are you hungry?" Rick asked, opening his door. "We've got plenty of food."

"Rick! Who are you bringing home now?" The childish voice sent a chill up Brigget's spine. A pink-haired girl, scowl on her face, ran up to Rick and pulled on his ear. Her jumper jumped as Rick cried out in pain. She eyed Brigget and her dog. "Oh! Hello there!" She was instantly happy. The smile on her face grew toothily and she released her brother. "My name is Popuri. What's yours?" She knelt down and hugged the beagle, not waiting to see if it bites.

"I'm Brigget, and this is my friend Ribbon." Brigget explained.

"The inn is full tonight, so I told her she could stay in your room. Is that okay?" Rick asked. Popuri cocked an eyebrow.

"I don't know. Mom! Is it okay if Brigget spends the night?" She ran upstairs.

There was an awkward silence between Rick and Brigget as the woman sat at the table smiled sheepishly. The house looked well-kept, as if no speck of dust had ever intruded the place.

"So," Rick started shakily. Brigget stared at him, her eyes flashing into a yellow tint. She blinked, returning the green hue. Rick pulled his collar. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty one." Brigget cocked an eyebrow. Not the most usual conversation-starter.

"Really?" The man asked. "I'm twenty." Brigget grinned.

"Great." She bowed her head slightly. "So, do you have any open houses I could move into?"

"As a matter of fact," The woman at the table stated. She looked exactly like Popuri, yet many years older. "There is a farm that was abandoned a while back. You could live there if you asked the Mayor. I think the old furniture from the last owners is still there."

"Alright, I'll check it out tomorrow." Brigget nodded. "Thanks for letting me stay. Is there anything I can do to make up for it?"

"Well, are you and your dog good at raising chickens?" Lillia, the Popuri look-alike asked. Brigget nodded.

"I lived on a farm with a man named Greely for a little while. I handled chickens then." She answered.

"Great! You could help Rick tomorrow with the chickens." Lillia suggested. Brigget nodded.

"I'll do it."

-----

Brigget sat on the fence with Popuri, with her right leg twisted over her left. Her hands rested on the fence, holding her up. She smirked as she watched Rick work with the chickens. Popuri looked bored next to Brigget.

"He can never get the chickens in until he can catch all of them." She sighed. "It's so boring to watch him if you've seen him do it everyday." She rested her head in her hands. Brigget snorted.

"He can't get the chickens in? Why not?" She watched as Rick ran after a persistent chicken. He fell flat on his face, with no chicken. Brigget giggled.

"They won't stop running around." He answered, standing and brushing the dirt off of his apron. "I thought you were supposed to help, Brigget!"

"I'm supervising." She shrugged. "And besides, you wouldn't like it if I helped."

"Yes, I would." Rick whined. "This is getting very annoying. I can't get any of them today."

"Have you tried cornering them?" Brigget asked.

"Corner a chicken? Are you nuts? Even the meekest will attack you then." Rick countered. Brigget sighed.

"Well, then, I know a way." She shrugged. "I'll do it on one condition: you don't ask how I did it."

Rick raised an eyebrow, but held out his hands. "Alright," he started. "Do it."

Brigget didn't get off of the fence. She stuck her thumb and her pinky into her mouth and whistled. The sound which came out eerily resembled a wolf's howl. It slowly went up in tone.

One by one, the chickens all stopped clucking and turned to Brigget.

"Come on, guys!" She told them. "He's had enough games. Get in the coop already. It's going to rain soon."

Rick burst out laughing. All she did was whistle and talk to the chickens! What a stupid thing to do.

Yet, the chickens bolted for the coop. Brigget snickered, pulling her choker slightly loose.

"Whoa." Popuri gawked, her mouth agape and her eyes wide. "How did you—How could—when did—"

"It's not going to rain today! There're clear skies all over the place." Rick growled, a little insulted.

"Yes, it is." Brigget answered, swiping her hair behind her. "Come on, Ribbon. Let's go find the Mayor." She leapt off of the fence. "Oh, and that chicken with the red mark on its right wing is feeling kind of funny. She's going to get sick." She adjusted the strap of her backpack on her left shoulder. "Good luck, Rick. I'll be back for a chicken sooner or later."

"If it rains today I'll give you a free one." Rick answered, still miffed.

"As tempting as it sounds, I'd rather not. I'd rather try and make up my own money and buy a chicken." Brigget patted Rick's shoulder. "See ya, Popuri."

-----

"Are you Mayor Thomas?" Brigget asked the stout man. He jerked his head up, making his tall red hat fly off of his head.

"Yes, yes I am." The Mayor replaced his hat on his head. "What can I do you for?"

"Can I have that old abandoned farm? I need a place to stay for a while." Brigget said. The Mayor raised an eyebrow.

"Well, sure. Who are you, again?" The man began making his way through the city, apparently to the old farm.

"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Brigget, and this is my dog Ribbon. Say hi, Ribbon." The dog lifted up its paw and barked. The Mayor laughed.

"That's adorable!" He suddenly became serious. "Now, I hope you realize that this farm hasn't been taken care of since the last farmer left, three years ago." Brigget shrugged.

"We can take it." She answered. The man entered the farm.

It seemed like any other farm. It came equipped with a stable, a barn, and a chicken coop. The house stood in the top left corner of the property, and was pretty small.

"Looks great. I'll take it." Brigget nodded.

"You will?" The Mayor gawked.

"I will. I could use a place like this." Brigget crossed her arms.

"Well, that's great, then. I'll come over in a week to check up on you." The Mayor bowed, picking his hat up from the ground as it dropped, and left.

Sighing, Brigget entered the house, letting Ribbon in as well. She rubbed her choker thoughtfully.

"Hopefully we can stay here for a while without them finding us." She said to Ribbon. The dog barked at her. She shook her head.

"No, they don't know I'm still alive. They probably think I died years ago." She sighed, sitting on the bed. Ribbon jumped up with her. "But we can't be too careful. Knowing our luck, Big Bad Boss Man's already figured out I'm still alive."

Ribbon licked her hand lovingly.

"I sure hope I won't put this town in any danger." Brigget rubbed Ribbon's ears.

Someone pounded on the door. Raising an eyebrow, Brigget opened the door.

"Yes?"

It was the Mayor.

"I forgot!" He smiled. "For the reports and the papers, I need a name for the farm."

Grinning herself, Brigget leaned against the door frame.

"That's easy. Wolf Stables."

-----

Rick laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. What had that been about? Brigget just whistled and talked to the chickens and they'd gone into the coop more than cooperatively. Then she suddenly took off to find the Mayor to get her farm. The chicken boy sighed, shrugging.

"I can always check up on her later." He murmured to himself. He chuckled. "Probably after it stops raining."

Like it was going to rain. The sun had been right above them with not a cloud in sight. How could she make the blatant excuse that it was going to rain?

Before he could think up another frustrating thing about Brigget, the door swung open. Popuri ran in, panting. Her hair was soaked.

"Did you go to the Hot Spring?" Rick asked, sitting up.

"No, Rick. I didn't." She seemed more than a little miffed. Rick pointed rudely at his sister.

"Then how could you get—"

"Rick…."

"Did you take a shower?"

"Rick—"

"I know! You fell off the pier!"

"No, Rick! Listen to me!" Popuri smacked her brother across the head. She took a deep breath and pointed to the window.

"Rick…it's raining."

-----

That's where I'll end it. Please don't ask me when I'll update. It'll probably be a while since I have to take a few weeks vacation to the lake and then I still have to write it.

Please review!

Amme Moto