COCKA-DOODLE-DOO!

Krys sat up in her bed with a start. .. And then immediately regretted it as her limbs screamed in protest. Maybe it would've been better if she'd started out slowly. The simple action of swinging her legs over the edge of the bed made her wince in pain.

"I must be super out of shape," she groaned. "Hopefully I stay motivated about this.."

As stiff as her arms and legs were, by the time she got halfway through watering the parsnips, she forgot about the pain. Being the second day with everything planted, all she had to was water everything, but considering how hard it was just to get out of bed, Krys was pretty proud of herself. But it was still only seven-thirty in the morning. What else was there for her to do?

On a whim she decided on heading south to check out the rest of her new property. As she stumbled about, occasionally cutting grass and tree stubs, she realized just how much work she really had to do. She took a moment to sit down on a tree stump and pulled out the map that Mayor Lewis had given her. How would she get into the good graces of the town people who seemed to have absolutely no problem with keeping to themselves?

Well, it had to be quite difficult to keep going to the Joja Mart to buy food all the time.. Right? She hadn't seen the store with her own eyes yet, but according to the map it was definitely there, to the north of the blacksmith and the museum. There was Pierre's shop, sure, but either way the townspeople would have to spend money to get their daily meals - at least the ingredients for them once in awhile. Maybe once or twice a season. Thinking about it from a logical standpoint, Krys thought she could help out everyone in the town.

See, the town had an interesting setup. There was a calendar and a bulletin board for requests right outside of Pierre's store, next to the door. No one could miss it; she saw it herself on the way home after introducing herself to the woman with copper hair. Figures her name was Penny. Anyway, Krys knew that if she kept herself dedicated to a set schedule, she could have whole crops of food ready. Anything she didn't give directly to people could be shipped through the shipment crate outside the farm that Lewis checked every night. Of course, that relied on how hard she was willing to work every day. Hm.. She got up and dusted her jeans off before continuing southward. At the edge of the land was a pathway to the town lake and Marnie's ranch. At least, that's what the map said. She rolled it up and put it away before walking up to the reddish-brown fence that held a white goat and a black-and-white cow. The goat bleated at her and Krys couldn't help smiling fondly at the little white animal.

"Bah-ah-ah-ah," she bleated in return, having no idea what she was actually saying, if anything at all. For all she knew, she just cursed that goat's mother. Oh, well. She turned to her left, taking in the entirety of the large, red building. The red door matched the rest of it, and with a turn of the knob, she pulled it open and stepped inside.

"Hey there!" A cheerful female voice welcomed Krys.

Krys moved closer and smiled when she saw the source of the voice. "Hi, I'm Krystine. You can call me Krys though."

"I'm Marnie. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too!" There. She could push a conversation onwards. "What's your opinion of the people of Pelican Town?"

Marnie suddenly looked a little flustered, two splotches of red appearing on her cheeks. She was a pretty stereotypical-looking animal lover with her long brown hair twisted into a thick braid that hung over her shoulder. "Animals are great company," she murmured, "but I need to spend time with people, too."

Aaahh.. So she wasn't very social either. For such a small community, it didn't seem like the people were very well-acquainted with each other. They probably knew of each other, but how much time did they really spend getting to enjoy each other's company?

Krys nodded sympathetically. "That's okay," she reassured Marnie. "So, what have you got here?" She stepped back and let her eyes wander, taking in the details of the huge house. From the outside it had looked all barn, but this was actually a pretty regular home.

Thankfully, Marnie's smile returned as she explained.

"I sell anything that you could ask for to take care of your beloved farm animals. Speaking of, I also sell animals to put into a coop or a barn, granted that you have a coop or barn to house them in. Can't have them cooped up in your little house, no offense."

"None taken," Krys replied, laughing lightly. It wasn't like she was wrong. It would take a lot of effort to get the farm into a decent condition, and then a better one after that.

"Listen," Marnie sighed, relaxed. "You're welcome to come over any time you need to purchase anything. My nephew, Shane, is also staying here with his goddaughter, Jas. You might have run into Shane on his way to work. Don't mind him; he's been pretty moody. Now that I think about it, maybe you've seen Jas, too. She and Vincent often go out with Penny for some schooling."

So that's who the two children who were with Penny were. That was nice to know. And this Shane person.. Could he be the rude five o'clock shadow from yesterday?

"It's been really nice to meet you, Krys," Marnie said with a smile, "but I've got to go. I'm meeting up with Mayor Lewis to discuss prices for animal goods."

"Oh. Okay, I'll see you later then, Marnie. Have a nice day."

"You, too!"

As Krys walked out the door, she wondered just how credible Marnie's story was. However, she had more to do than ponder the personal lives of one woman in a town of. . Krys checked the list of citizens you'd been supplied with on the first day. Mmm... Twenty-eight people? Krys hiked her jeans up a bit and started moving back inwards to town.

In her rush, she crashed into someone with a firm, broad chest. Before she could fall, a hand flashed forward and grabbed hold of her forearm to steady her.

"Whoa," a voice exclaimed. It was a pleasing, resonating tenor. "You okay?"

Krys looked up through a stray strand of her dark brown hair and gasped at the sight of the guy keeping her on her feet. He had spiky blonde hair and blue eyes that reminded her of a certain blue demon with a sword from an anime that she had watched back in high school. What a random thing to remember. One short lock of hair hung low over his forehead. That little bit of imperfection threw off the complete flawless vibe.

"Y-yeah," Krys mumbled, turning her gaze away from the stranger's fiery blue eyes. "I'm new here."

"Hey, farmer."

It took all of Krys self control to keep her gaze away from his eyes. Instead, she focused on his teeth, which were shining. Yeah, great. That was infinitely more acceptable. ... Not.

"Who are you?" she managed to ask.

"The name's Sam," he answered. He had the kind of smile that made its way onto posters, the kind that girls would swoon over. Kryst knew that kind of smile, and that she should avoid it. Still, she couldn't deny that he seemed genuine. Something about him made her think of the word "earnest".

Coughing awkwardly, Krys pulled her arm out of Sam's grip. "Well," she said, "My name's Krys. Uh, thanks for catching me."

"Anytime," Sam responded smoothly, grinning a little too innocently. It was honest. That wouldn't last forever if Krys decided to grow a pair and do something about the spike in her heart rate. "See ya' around, farmer." As he left Krys alone on the dirt path, she wondered just how crazy life could possibly get in a small town if anyone dated and things didn't work out. It wasn't worth it to find out.


After about a week of living in Pelican Town, Krys surmised the condition of the townspeople to be informed, but not close-knit. It was clear that there were a few friendships, but they were primarily between the younger residents. It wasn't like she could do anything about that, though. If everything ran seamlessly, she could be a bridge between everyone, providing fruits and veggies, while also fulfilling bulletin board requests when they popped up. Not to mention, there was the community center to worry about. Mayor Lewis said it was old and nobody used it for anything these days. It was a shame but if one more resident of Pelican Town became a Joja member, they would take over the community center and turn it into some sort of company warehouse dump. Ugh, that one last member certainly wouldn't be Krys. She'd have rather gone back to the city jobless than return to that depressing hell that called itself a company. So corporate and cold.

Out of all the twenty-eight residents, she liked Penny the most. Probably because she was the easiest for her to understand. It was too bad her home life wasn't the best..

The farm was looking sharp, if Krys did say so herself. While exploring farther to the west, she'd discovered the presence of a shrine for grandpa - she had cried for half an hour, the pain returning - and two sections where the forest had taken over the long-neglected land. In those areas, there were large hardwood stumps. They would be a great resource for hardwood, as soon as she obtained a better quality axe. It had taken a week for her to get a good footing, but she was beginning to get an idea of what she imagined the farm eventually looking like. It definitely wouldn't be easy, but it was more.. stimulating all-around than anything she could've tried doing back in the city with Joja breathing down her back.

For the first time in six years, Krys felt truly productive and in tune with her surroundings. Already, she'd managed to start tentative friendships with a handful of people - Alex, Penny, Sebastian, Abigail, Harvey, Emily, and reluctantly, Sam. Becoming friends with Sam couldn't really be helped, it seemed. He and Sebastian were pretty decent friends - they apparently met up now and then to play games or even to play billiards at the saloon on Friday nights. When Krys had finally visited The Stardop Saloon, she was surprised to find the two there. Abigail was there, too, playing Journey of the Prairie King.

Shane - confirmed five o'clock shadow - was also at the saloon, leaning against the wall in front of the door. Krys didn't necessarily like him. His attitude wasn't appreciated, but she knew she couldn't judge him too harshly - she didn't even know anything about him. He probably had his own reasons for coming off so abrasive. It didn't justify anything, but remembering that made it easier for Krys to keep an open mind.

Nevermind him for now, though. The main task of today was heading up north to see what the mines were all about. There was a little shed-looking thing near it but on the map it was just written in as three question marks. After watering the parsnips, cauliflower, and potatoes, Krys deposited her watering can and axe in her outdoor chest and went on her way. On the way up she made sure to keep an eye out for forageable items like leeks and dandelions. Those would be helpful to keep her energy up.

By the time Krys made it to the entrance of what she now saw was an Adventurer's Guild (closed), she had gathered two dandelions and a single leek. Since the guild was closed, Krys quickly turned on her heel, making the dirt make a scratchy sound, and headed for the hollowed out entrance to the mines.

Krys had to admit: it looked pretty intimidating. It was obviously right under (well, in) a mountain and there was a lone, dysfunctional mine cart. To the far right, a portion of the wall glimmered in the sparse light, concealing Yoba knew what. And at the very back there was an old elevator. She presumed that that wasn't working either. Yeaaaah, no. She would not be trusting some old, rackety elevator to get her down into the mines. The only other option was a hole with a ladder going down.

Screw it, Krys thought, peering over the edge. Down the rabbit hole we go.


So uhm, this is my first lengthy fanfiction on here. Leave a review if you're enjoying this so far. Or, y'know, don't if it's not your cup of tea. It's oki. I wanted this story to start off sticking to the script and then eventually wandering off to broader views and letting all the characters have their own lives apart from the dialogue that CA put them in. Kind of like slowly melding them into a world that's still CA's, but in a universe that I can play around in. If that makes sense. *shrugs* I dunno.

I'll see ya in the next chapter, whenever I decide to upload it. ^-^/)