Chapter 2: Meeting People
Kasey looked around as he walked toward the Garmon Mines. He still couldn't believe he was now in Castanet and now having a house to himself, left to him by his deceased Uncle, whom he never knew. Truthfully, Kasey never knew his family besides his parents, whom were sadly killed in a car accident. He was only 5 years old when that happened, all he had to remember his parents by was an old photo of the two. He didn't even remember his parent's behaviors very well either. He frowned as he kept walking. What would his life be if he hadn't become an orphan?
Maybe then he would have probably met the rest of his family. But, he also wondered… Why didn't any of them take him in after his parent's death? He wasn't sure… It was possible they didn't know of his existence, or couldn't keep him… But, the first one couldn't be right. His Uncle knew of his existence, how else did he leave his ranch to him in his will? A sudden bump caused the young adult to snap back into reality.
He found himself on the ground, and his forehead stung. "Ow, ow, ow… Shit, that stings…" He mumbled as he sat up. "Oh, jeez Kasey, you okay?!" Finn floated up with a worried look. "Y-yeah… I think I sorta just wasn't paying attention." He stood up, rubbing his forehead. Boy, did that sting… He realized he bumped into the mountain itself. Smart move Kasey… Smart way to show what an idiot you are… He thought to himself. Luckily no one else besides Finn saw it… Shaking his head to snap out of the dizziness, Kasey reassured Finn he was okay and moved on. Eventually, they reached a bridge, but some of the planks were gone, and it looked in bad shape. "T-The bridge! What happened!?" Finn asked in shock.
With how the bridge was, there was no way he and Kasey could go see the Harvest Goddess! Kasey frowned at this. There was no way he would even dare attempt to cross it in this condition. That was more of a death wish than anything. A nearby sigh caused Kasey to jump a bit, looking toward the source. It was a boy, maybe a little younger than him.
"*Sigh.* The bridge is really broken…" He mumbled. Kasey came over slowly. The boy seemed to notice Kasey and turned to face him. "Oh, hello… I believe we never met before. I'm Bo; I'm training at the Carpenter's." The boy said. "I'm Kasey; I'm here to take over the ranch here that my Uncle used to own." Kasey said. "Ah, so, you're the new rancher the mayor was talking about! It's a pleasure to meet you." Bo said with a bow. Kasey did one in return before looking at the bridge. "You got any idea what happened to that bridge?"
Bo sighed softly. "A storm came and hit us pretty hard. It's weird… We've never had any storms that harshly before. Luckily, no one was injured… But the poor bridge suffered the most… I luckily came on this side before the storm came. I need to fix it… but, I can't without my toolbox. I even asked Hamilton to come and bring it to me, but…" Bo frowned, and then looked at Kasey. "I'm really sorry to ask this, but can you please go and get my toolbox for me? I need to stay here to make sure no one else crosses this bridge." Kasey nodded. "Sure, I can do that." Bo looked relieved. "Thank you so much! Here, in return for your kindness, you can have this! Its old, but it still works!" Bo handed Kasey an axe. "It'll come in handy for collecting lumber; you'll need it to upgrade your buildings!"
Kasey looked at the axe in awe. "Wow, thanks Bo!" With that, the young adult left, going off. "Kasey, we don't have time for this!" Finn moaned. "Well, unless I suddenly sprout wings or suddenly can leap like a horse, I can't get across… Besides, the faster we do this; the faster we can go see the Harvest Goddess." Kasey said. Fin frowned. "Well, you got a point there…" The Harvest Sprite sighed as he landed on Kasey's shoulder as the young adult kept going. Kasey got the map out, looking at it. "According to Hamilton, Harmonica Town is toward the West…" He trailed the path to go with his finger, and then nodded. "Okay, let's go!" Kasey was off, going toward the West.
After a bit of a walk, they came to a grey-ish bridge, made of bricks. "This must be the town. Come on, let's talk to the mayor!" Finn said. With a nod, Kasey went off toward the town. Too bad the map couldn't tell him which one was Town Hall… "Hm…" Kasey looked around, eventually spotting a building. He went over, looking at the sign. It clearly read "Town Hall". "Huh. That's it." Kasey opened the door slowly. Hamilton looked up when Kasey entered.
"Ah, good to see you Kasey!" He said cheerfully. Kasey gave a wave. "Hello, I came here wondering if you could-" "Great timing, actually!" Hamilton stood up from his desk, coming over. "Since you're new, you should go around and introduce yourself to everyone! It's only fair, everyone in the town and out in Flute Fields has been excepting you!" Hamilton said.
"Um, sure. But, first, I need to ask-" "Now, now! No need to be shy! Go, and come back when you've met everyone!" Hamilton said with a grin. Looks like he won't listen. Fuck. Oh well, I better do as he says, maybe he'll listen then. Kasey gave a nod and went off slowly. "Well, I better make this fast so Bo can fix that bridge." Kasey said to Finn, who nodded. "Right, let's go!" Kasey went off, looking at all the buildings. Which one should he go to first? He looked at the building next to him. It looked like a shop. Kasey went over, looking at the sign. It was a camera shop. Shrugging, Kasey entered. He looked around. Portraits were all over the place. Kasey eventually spotted a man with blue-grey hair.
"Oh, hello!" The man said once he noticed Kasey. "I take you're the new rancher the mayor told me about?" Kasey nodded. "Yes Sir, I'm Kasey." He said as he came over. The man smiled. " It's always nice to see a nice, young friendly face.!I'm Simon. I've ran this photo shop for 15 years, you should take some time to look around you, anything can be a fantastic photo! Here, as a welcoming gift, you have my old camera. It still works too!" The man, Simon, handed Kasey a camera. "Feel free to come back here any time Kasey!" Simon said with a grin. Kasey nodded. "Thank you." Putting the camera away, Kasey was off. "Okay… Guess I'll go… That way!" Kasey went toward a shop that had clothing on display through the window.
Kasey entered, looking around. Wow, so much clothing! He wondered if his sister Molly would like this place… But, then again… he hadn't seen her since that dreadful day in the orphanage… She was adopted while he had been told he would get a ranch when he was 18… And he was 8 at the time. When he saw his sister being taken, he ran after her and the new parent until the car was out of sight… He frowned from the memory. Molly… "What should we do? We barely got anything decent to sell.." The voice snapped Kasey out of it, looking toward the source.
Who he saw were an elderly woman and a young girl about his age, maybe a bit younger, both looking depressed. The girl rubbed her arm. "I-I don't know…" Curious, Kasey walked over to the two took notice of his presence quickly, looking at him in alarm. "Oh, my. I thought our sign said "closed"." The elderly woman said with a frown. "I'm sorry. We're not opened yet." The girl said. Kasey rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, I'm the new rancher, and the mayor wants me to meet everyone." "Oh, I see. Meeting everyone, eh? I'm Shelly. This is my granddaughter, Candace." The elderly woman said, mentioning toward the young girl next to her.
Looking shy, the girl, Candace, did a bow. "I-It's nice to meet you…" She said shyly. Kasey smiled. "We started this tailoring shop, but we're almost completely out of material to make clothing… If only Luna was here…" Shelly mumbled sadly, shaking her head. Kasey blinked. Who was Luna? "B-But… Luna… she has her studies…" Candace said softly. "I know, I know… but if this is all we got to offer, we won't be satisfying a lot of customers…" Shelly said with a heavy sigh. "I-I'm sure wool and yarn will be sold s-soon…" Candace said, trying to sound confident.
Shelly gave a nod. "I sure hope so…" Realizing Kasey was right there and now looked a bit concerned, the elderly woman frowned. "Oh! Look at us, venting out like this… We're sorry." Kasey shook his head. "It's fine." Shelly nodded, looking at him. "We don't have a lot of clothing, but come and look when you get the chance. It never hurts to get new clothing once in a while." Shelly said. Kasey gave the two a grin. "You can count on me visiting!" Looking satisfied, the two bid farewell as Kasey left the shop.
Looking around, he noticed what looked like a bar was next to this shop. "Huh. A bar? I'll have to try that place some time." He was well aware what those drinks did, but as long as you were aware of your limits and such… He wasn't really sure if he was a light drinker or not. Oh well. Shrugging it off, he went toward it. But, knowing the bars back in his town, they were usually closed during the day. Didn't mean he still couldn't visit if someone was inside. As he drew near, he noticed a blond-haired woman walking out, stretching as she did. "Ah, a nice day for once…" She then noticed Kasey. She gave a grin, looking at him as he came over. "Well, hello! Are you that new rancher I've heard about?" Kasey gave a nod. "That's me. I'm Kasey."
The woman grinned wider. "It's nice to meet ya Kasey. I know our bar is closed, but would you like some tea at least?" The woman asked. Wow, they sold tea as well? Kasey nodded. "I'd love to!" With that, the two entered. The inside looked pretty decent. Nice stone walls and it looked different than any other bar Kasey was aware of. A man with a thick bread looked up when the two entered. "Is this a visitor?" He asked, looking at the woman, who gave a nod. "Yes Father, this is the new rancher, ya know, taking over Richard's ranch?"
"Oh, yes! So, you're Richard's nephew then? He was a good man." The man said. Kasey merely nodded. "I wish I could agree, but I never even knew I had an Uncle." "Oh… really? I'm sorry." The woman said. Kasey shrugged. "Don't worry much about it." "Anyhow…" The woman looked back at the man. "I offered him some tea for coming this far. Is that okay?" "Sure, sure. Fine with me." The man went back to cleaning out cups. "We don't have much, since the ships can't sail over to us and we can't really restock." The woman said with a frown. "It's like our town is slowly dying…"
Kasey also frowned. Wow, this place was in very bad shape… "I've heard that the Goddess Tree is dying…" The woman said. Kasey blinked. Goddess Tree…? Oh yeah, from the stories! It was the source of the Harvest Goddess' power if I remember correctly… "And even the water and wind seem… well, lifeless…" The man said with a sigh and shaking his head. "What can we do..?" The woman mumbled sadly. "I don't know…" Kasey said. Realizing what she's done, the woman shook her head. "Well, we always find a way to manage somehow. And how rude, I forgot to introduce myself and my father!" The woman bowed. "I'm Kathy, and that's my father, Hayden." She said as she pointed at herself then her father when she said their names.
Kasey smiled. That was better. "As you probably guess, I own the bar. Feel free to come by if you need a drink." Hayden said with a smile. Kathy nodded in agreement. "You're always welcome, drop by when you can!" Kasey nodded. "I'll keep it in mind!" And after finishing the tea he was offered, Kasey moved on. "Man, this town does know how to make a fella feel welcomed… It's nearly better than Mineral Town already." Kasey looked around, wondering where to go next. Shrugging, he went off toward the docks, in search for more people to meet…
