Chapter 1 – Thomas

"Why do I have to work?" asked Claire lazily as she put on her gloves, placed her tools and wore her watch.

"It's your fault all these mess happen. If you just worked, HG and the sprites won't be sent to the other world," scolded Pete gently. "Remember, for now, I need you to clear the field. I'll go to the dig site to get some money."

"This early?"

"We're ranchers. We wake up early every morning. Let's go."

As the siblings walked out of their small house, they were greeted by a bald man in red. "Good morning, young ranchers."

"Morning, baldy," said Claire spontaneously.

"Claire! It's rude to call an elderly like that!" scolded Pete.

"But, he IS a baldy. Take a look, Pete." As the younger of the siblings made that remark, she took off the man's top hat to expose his bald head.

"I know that, silly. But at least don't call a baldy 'baldy' right in his face."

"Ehemm…" The visitor got a little annoyed at the siblings' quarrel, so he snatched his hat back and put it on. "Let's not get carried away, shall we? I'm the mayor of Mineral Town, Thomas. The guy who was in charge of this valley's shipping moved out, so we decided to choose… a… rep… lace… Hmm…?"

"I said I'm not rude! I'm just telling the truth!" yelled Claire.

Pete sighed. "It IS the truth but can't you at least speak in a more polite manner? Jeez…"

The girl in overall rolled her eyes. "Are you that irritated with me? Coz if you are, I'll just leave this place to you. You'll be much happier without me around." She threatened to leave Forget-Me-Not Valley.

Thomas tried to get their attention. "Ehem… Well, we decided to choose a replacement through a rock-paper-scissors match. Err… You can say I lost it, so I have to be the shipper. Damn, I should've go with scissors…"

"Woof woof!"

Thomas turned to see a brown dog nodding at him while the siblings were still on their heated argument. 'A dog listened and agreed with me but humans ignored me? This is SO getting on my nerves.'

"Don't you dare step out of this valley!" shouted Pete who frightened Claire a little bit as her older brother never got that angry before.

"Sniff sniff…"

Pete started to feel guilty. "Oh Claire! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you like that."

"You're right, Pete. I'm just so selfish. I promise I'll work hard."

The boy smiled. "That's my good little sister. Hmm… Who are you? How long have you been standing there?"

Thomas startled. "You mean, me?"

"Of course you."

"I've been standing here and explained all those things about shipping and rock-paper-scissors but you didn't notice me?" asked Thomas in disbelief.

"Eh? So it's your voice mumbling during our conversation," stated Claire.

The bespectacled mayor fell into a state of depression. "I was ignored… Ignored… By youngsters…"

"Hmm… What is it that you wanna say?" asked Claire.

"Oh! Yes. Hmm… This ranch looks awful… There's nothing here. Are you sure you don't want a rather nice ranch in Mineral Town?" asked Thomas mockingly.

The siblings got angry. "Take back your words, baldy!" yelled Claire.

"While I don't quite like calling people names, but I think this is an exception. Don't mock our ranch, baldy! Take this!" exclaimed Pete as he tried to hammer Thomas.

The mayor dodged. "Too bad! You can't get me!" He provoked Pete, causing the latter to till him. "Too slow!" Another provocation and Pete tried to cut Thomas. "Ugh… This is nothing compared to the attack I took 100 years ago." Now, the young rancher chopped him. "Who do you think I am?! I'm Mayor Thomas of Mineral Town!"

"Why you…! Koro! Get him!" Claire ordered Koro the dog to bite Thomas.

"Ow! Ow! Ouch! Tell him to stop!"

"Not until you apologize."

"Grr… Ouch! Ok! Ok! Sorry!"

"Hehehe, come here Koro. Good boy, good boy." Claire petted her dog.

Thomas wiped dust off him before making his way to the shipping bin next to Takakura's house. Pete and Claire followed him. "This is the shipping bin. Just dump anything in it and I'll pick 'em up every 5 pm. I don't collect on holidays, though. After all, I need to participate in the festivities, no?" When he noticed that Claire was eyeing him with a deadly glare, he continued. "Umm, well, that's all, kids. I'll start today. Err… Good luck…" As he walked away, Pete called him.

"Hey Thomas!" The mayor acknowledged the call. "At least put on your pants…"

Thomas looked down to see him only wearing his boxer. Claire pointed towards a black cat which was scratching and biting a pair of red pants on the ground. It must've gotten the pants when Koro bit him.