Hi and thank you for reading A Healing Touch. This is my first Harvest Moon fanfic so I really hope that it goes well. It will be a long fanfic, I guarantee. I'm working on many things at once so I may not update for weeks on end. I promise that I will not delay a chapter for more than two months.
Disclaimer: I do not own HM or any characters in this fic. I only say this once per story.
Harvest Moon: A Healing Touch
Chapter 1: The Valley
The sun shone brightly in the massive ocean of blue sky, unobstructed by even a single wispy cloud. The sunlight floated down into the forest, meeting its first obstacle in the branches and emerald green leaves of the deciduous trees. The light that made it to the forest floor came down in shimmering streams of light, dotting the ground wherever possible. In the branches of the trees, songbirds and woodpeckers could be heard twittering and chirping a chaotic chorus with the occasional knocking on wood breaking through. A small brook had carved its way through the dense forest, the water trickling calmly downstream in a hurried effort to a final destination. Only the sounds from the small rocks and twigs that protruded from the bottom or had fallen into the water's path gave any sort of noise as the water hurried by, smacking into the objects in its way. Nearby, small rodents and insects scurried through the mossy bedding and fallen wood as a shadow of a bipedal creature drew ever closer.
A twig snapped under the weight of light-coloured boots. A pale, delicate hand rose and wiped golden bangs from the forehead in which they hid, allowing air in between to dry the sweat. Baby blue eyes scanned the area and a small smile came upon the lips below. It had been a month since Claire had graduated, and ever since she had been looking forward to making this trip. It was only going to last a couple of weeks, but she was determined to make this camping trip memorable. She would certainly find a nice clearing if she followed the stream. She hoped that she would find a suitable clearing soon, though. She was tired, having left to catch the bus to travel out of the city early in the morning, and spent up until this time – early afternoon, walking.
Her wish was soon granted as she stepped out of the forest to a cliff. Beyond it was a valley, large and mostly untouched, overflowing with trees except for the small chunks that had to be meadows. Despite what she found, Claire couldn't help but feel dissatisfied. Many of the trees were barren or dead, the only remaining were a few rust-coloured coniferous with a few branches that still desperately held onto their green needles. The once clear and pristine water that she followed descended into the valley by waterfall, only to land in thick, swampy water packed tightly with pale algae and mud. If the water that wasn't swallowed by the sickly-looking plant, caught the light, she could see rainbow swirls that indicated the water was infected with at least a little gasoline. There were no birds in the skies above the valley, indicating to Claire that below was unsuitable for animals to live. She couldn't really blame the forest creatures; who would want to live with gasoline-flavoured water with a high chance of algae being scooped up in your mouth? Sighing, she began her descent. She would have to pass this valley and look for another place to camp.
On her way down, she heard small noises of life. She quickened her pace, almost running down the hill until she reached the forest floor, leaping the last few feet from the hill to the ground. Running a little, she could hear the noise growing louder, more intelligible. The noise was a human voice. So someone lived in this valley. But as she neared, pulling back a few bushes to move past, she was startled at what she saw.
Twelve little elf-like creatures were huddled in the small clearing, mumbling to each other. Each of them had a different coloured outfit on, though some of the colours were similar, if not shaded differently. Claire let out a small gasp, which drew the attention of the elves to her. They all squeaked in unison, scrambling to try to find a place to hide. They knew no one could see them, but what they feared was being stepped on by the human that had discovered their meeting spot.
"W-Wait! I'm not going to hurt you!" Claire said, hastily. When she spoke, the small creatures immediately froze.
"You can see us?" Piped up the red elf. Claire nodded. The elves quickly began to converse with themselves again. "We're the harvest sprites of this forest." The red one spoke again. "My name's Chef."
"Hoggy!" The yellow one replied.
"Nik!" The maroon-coloured one said.
"Nak!" Said a small greenish-blue sprite.
"Aqua!" The Aqua-coloured one.
"Staid!" A darker blue sprite.
"Nappy!" The green sprite yawned.
"T-Timid…" Said the smaller orange one.
"Flak!" A rather chubby yellowish-green sprite puffed up his chest.
"Bold!" The purple one said.
"Cappy!" A pink female sprite said, happily.
"Sage." A black sprite smiled.
Claire giggled. "My name's Claire. I've never seen a 'harvest sprite' before."
"Very few humans can see us." Chef told her. "You're the first I've ever met." A series of agreements came from the other sprites.
"Oh… what were you talking about?" She asked, bending down so that she could come down to their level. Still feeling rather tall, she then squirmed until she was on her stomach, propping her chin on her hands.
"We were talking about how to get a Harvest Goddess here." Sage said. "But we have a lot to do by ourselves. We don't know how to get all of it done." Claire guessed that the state of the forest had something to do with the absence of a Harvest Goddess. After all, she didn't want to live in a place that looked like this, and the Goddess probably wouldn't, either. But the fact that the objects of their beliefs – the Harvest King and Harvest Goddess were real – well, that was something that had definitely caught Claire off guard. The Harvest Goddess was mostly kept alive in the minds of people by telling stories to children, and making her a mascot of events. Then again, why wouldn't she be real? Harvest Sprites were also part of the same mythology. Surely if they were real, then Harvest Goddesses were as well.
"You have to fix up the whole valley?" Claire asked. Each of the sprites nodded. She sighed, remembering how big the valley was when she was on the cliff. The little guys wouldn't be able to get all of that done by themselves! "How about I help you guys?" They each looked up at her, shock spread on their faces. The shock soon turned into joy and the sprites smiled when they realized that Claire was serious. With a human helping them, they would surely get the job done faster.
"First we have to clean the forest and make the animals come back!" Aqua told her.
"And then we have to get lots and lots of nices!" Nik piped. Claire gave them a funny look. What were 'nices'? She figured that she'd soon find out if she helped them. But how long would helping them take? Certainly longer than just two weeks. She had to return to the city to find a job! For now there was no need to worry. She would have to see how much she could accomplish by the end of two weeks.
"Claire!" Cappy said, waving her hand in front of Claire's face. Claire looked down at the female sprite. "There are a handful of other humans here, most of them only visiting. I'm sure if you got them to help, it would get done a lot faster!" There were others? The harvest sprites did say that she was the only human that they ever talked to, meaning that they probably tried with the others, but obviously couldn't see the small sprites.
"Alright, I'll go and talk to them." She said, standing up. The sprites cheered, jumping up and down. She smiled, holding her hands down to pick some of them up. She didn't think that she could carry all of them in her arms. But the sprites seemed to know what they were doing. They took turns climbing up her arms, at least five of them sitting on her knapsack and sleeping bag, three more sitting on each shoulder and even on her head. The four others she picked up, carrying them in her arms. She wouldn't be able to walk very fast if she had to wait for them. Carrying them was much easier, even if she now realised that she had another 120 pounds to carry, each of the sprites weighing about 10 pounds each. They were almost matching her weight if combined! Still, it was much easier. If they were spread around like they were, then she would be fine.
Saying that she would ask the other humans for their help was one thing, but finding them was another. Chef had tried his best to navigate around the valley, but Claire quickly ended up feeling lost. The trees and boulders and whatever kind of plant life that was here just all seemed the same to her. The sprites seemed to feel a little lost as well, as Chef had soon asked her to change course, obviously giving up navigating by landmarks. Claire obeyed, as they knew their way around the valley better than she did. It wasn't long before they came to a large tree. Claire stared up at it in awe. The tree was absolutely massive! It must have been over thirty meters tall. The trunk of the tree was also rather thick. The roots that snaked their way out from the tree must have been wider around than she was – though that may not have been saying anything as she was so small and skinny. The sprites hopped down from their places, running over to the tree. The first eleven ran to the base in between two large roots, and vanished into a small miniature door. Chef stayed behind, and Claire once again found herself kneeling down.
"You should come, too, Claire!" He said, standing on top of a red and white mushroom.
"But it's too small. My head wouldn't be able to fit in – let alone my body."
"Eat the mushrooms! They're filled with magic." He chirped. "You'll shrink down to our size. You can stay with us while you help us if you want. It can get rather scary outside at night! They re-grow overnight so you can eat them every day." She nodded, guessing that if she ate one, she would shrink, and another to go back to her original size. She gave Chef a small smile, patting his head.
"Thanks, Chef…" He hopped off as she reached for the mushroom he stood on. Plucking it from the ground, she held it up to her face to inspect. It looked rather poisonous… Should she trust the sprites that it was safe to eat? No… they wouldn't lie to her. She was going to help them with the valley after all. She frowned, dusting off specks of dirt and anything else that she found distasteful before breaking off a large chunk, and popped it into her mouth. The mushroom was soft and easy to chew, almost as if it melted into liquid as soon as it hit her tongue. Feeling afraid that she would only shrink halfway if she didn't eat everything, she stuffed the rest of the mushroom into her mouth. She instantly regretted it. Upon swallowing the first bite of the mushroom, she began to feel very sick. She fell onto all fours, cupping her hand over her mouth to keep from throwing up. Her vision blurred and all the sounds of the forest seemed to be toned down as though she was half deaf. Her body tingled all over and her stomach constricted with spasms. As quickly as it began, it had ended. Claire realized that she was on the ground and she looked around. Everything looked so large, and for a moment she didn't understand why. A hand came into her view, and she looked up at who was before her. It was Chef, but he seemed a lot larger. She gratefully took his hand, pulling herself up. She was now shorter than him by at least a few millimetres, which Claire found slightly amusing, considering how small they had all been when they first met. Still holding her hand, he led her through the door – which was now sized perfectly for her to enter through.
"Sorry that I didn't warn you about the starting effects of using the mushrooms." Chef told her. "But now that your body has experienced the magic, it should be easier for you to shrink and even experience other magic." He explained, letting go of her hand once they were inside.
Inside the tree was the home of the harvest sprites. It wasn't very large, considering it was just a small hollow spot in the tree. But there was a small kitchen and a large table with chairs matching the colours that the sprites wore. There were stairs leading upwards, which Claire guessed was the bedroom for the sprites. Cappy immediately moved over to her, taking her by the hands.
"You'll be sleeping with me, Claire!" She said, happily. There was a chorus of groans from the other sprites, and whines. Cappy glared at them. "She can't sleep with you! You're all boys! We're girls!" The other sprites looked at her and then to each other, nodding in agreement. Claire gave a small laugh. She guessed that it wasn't very often – if at all that they had guests. They were just like little kids, wanting their older cousins, relatives or even friends to sleep with them when they came over for the night. Chef came over to Claire, carrying with him an old piece of parchment.
"Here, Claire. It's a map of the valley. We'll be able to find all of the other people quicker now. And you won't get lost, either!" Claire looked down at her watch, seeing as they had wasted a lot of time wandering around. It was almost eight at night! It was definitely too late to go looking for the other inhabitants of the valley. She guessed that she would sleep here and go look for them tomorrow.