The moment Blake stepped foot out of the bus, it was abundantly clear that she was in a completely new world. Just from the clean air alone. She could breathe without choking on the fumes of exhaust and factory smoke. There was something extremely intoxicating about just standing there, breathing.

All around her, she could see nothing but nature in all its beauty, a plethora of vibrant greens and subtle pinks as trees began to bloom. Spring had come, and it had never been this pretty in the city. A few swatches of color here and there, usually dulled and muted by the city's gray atmosphere.

This was a nice change, and Blake couldn't wait to see what the other seasons looked like in this vast countryside.

"Hey!" A sudden voice called out to her, causing her to jump ever and look around in a slight panic. She could see a woman clad in a fur-lined, brown vest, green pants and a canary yellow sweatshirt coming her way, hand waving at her as her face beamed in excitement. Almost immediately, Blake tensed in apprehension. People don't just yell out at you and nice things happen.

At least not in the city.

She stared at the red-haired woman, trying to hide her distrust as best she could and offered her a small smile.

"We don't get a lot of traffic here, so when we heard that we were getting a new resident, the whole town started buzzing with excitement," the woman said, which caused her to blink rapidly. The woman laughed upon seeing her confusion.

Blake tilted her head. "People already know about me coming here?

"Ah, yeah. Word tends to spread pretty quickly here." The woman's smile turned into a silly grin and giggled as she looked to the bus. "And, between you and me, Pam likes to talk, especially when she's mildly annoyed." She laughed and shook her head. "She doesn't necessarily enjoy driving all the way to the city and back."

"Oh." Blake fidgeted slightly, a slight wave of guilt sweeping over her. "I hope it wasn't much trouble."

"I think you're good, sweetheart. Pam just likes to complain about any and everything." That made Blake feel better, and she looked back at the bus. The faint glow of the cigarette the woman, Pam, if she had to guess, smoking could be seen through the window.

"I'm Robin, by the way." The redhead held her hand out, and Blake promptly took it. Robin's hands were, by no means, soft. They were rough, calloused. This woman clearly worked long and hard, and Blake felt a bit self-conscious about the feel of her own soft hands, as silly as that was.

"And I'm Blake. It's nice to meet you, Robin."

The older woman beamed at her before releasing her hand. "Well, I suppose we should get going. Lewis, our town's mayor, was busy tending to a few things, so he couldn't come to see you himself, so he sent me to show you around until he is finished. We don't get a lot of traffic as I said, but there is a saloon that has a few extra rooms. You could rent you one for a few days until we get you a stable living situation, and then-"

"Actually, I have that taken care of." Robin blinked at the sudden interruption, but she didn't seem too upset with it. "My grandfather left me the deed to his farm, so, uh... The living situation is taken care of." She flashed the woman a sheepish smile.

"A farm..?" Robin arched a brow, it disappearing behind her bangs. "You talkin' about Ole Otis's farm?" Blake nodded. "Paradise Farm?" Blake nodded again. "Oh boy.." Robin let out an exasperated sigh.

What was that about?

"Well... Let's go to town and find Lewis. He should have a spare key, and we can get you home." She turned, motioning for Blake to follow her down another dirt road. "This way. Oh, and welcome to Pelican Town."


The walk to town wasn't terrible, but Blake could already tell that she was going to be doing a lot more walking than she ever did at Zuzu. Not that she was complaining. Walking had been the only form of exercise she ever got in the city, so she had gotten used to it. By Yoba, however, she better have the thighs of a goddess, like a professional rugby player, or she was going to sue.

"This is the town square" It was empty. An unusual sight for Blake, who lived most of her life pushing through over-crowded sidewalks just to get from point a to point b. "Most of our main shops are here. Mainly the clinic, and Pierre's. Since you're taking over Ole Otis's farm, I suspect you'll end up doing quite a bit of business with him. He sells some of the best quality seeds we can get out here. Over here is the saloon I was telling you about." Robin pulled back her sleeve to check her watch, humming softly to herself. "Most of the townsfolk are in there. That's usually how it is at this time."

Huh. That would explain the empty streets.

"Lewis is probably in there. C'mon. We can introduce you to a few people while we're at it."

"Uhm... Actually, if it's all the same... I'd kinda like to just get the key and go home?" Blake flushed slightly as she picked at her cuticles.

Robin flashed her a knowing smile. "Not a social one, huh? Sebby is like that. My son. He and his friends are probably your age, give or take a few years."

"Oh, no. It's just...It's been a long past couple of days, and I wanna just get settled down before I get swarmed and can't get away."

"Ah, I understand," Robin nodded. "We'll make this quick then." She pulled the door to the saloon, and the bustle and murmurings of the patrons within were all that she could hear. Which was to be expected. You shove a whole town into one place, every conversation combined is bound to be as loud as a gymnasium full of high-schoolers.

However, as soon as both women stepped foot in the building, most conversation came to a halt, and all eyes fell on them both. Or rather, on Blake. Her face turned beet red, and she kept her gaze to the ground, following Robin to the counter.

"Well, do my eyes deceive me, or are this morning's rumors about a newcomer true?!" The boisterous, deep voice replaced the loud whispers that had previously died down. Behind the bar, a bulbous man stood there, polishing a tankard with a stained rag. A huge smile painted his features, which was surprisingly visible behind his dark mustache.

"This is Blake," Robin introduced, patting the nervous girl on the back. "And this is Gus. He is the owner of Stardrop Saloon. He's one hell of a chef. You need to try his zucchini fritters. They. Are. To. DIE for." Robin looked as though she were to start salivating then and there.

Blake smiled at him and shook his hand, listening as he rambled about how excited he was to have a new customer. She looked at Robin. "Uhm... We're still lo-"

Before Blake could finish her question, Robin clapped her hands together and cried, "Ah! There he is! Lewis!" Blake followed her gaze to an older, grizzled gentleman, who was drinking with a plump looking brunette. He looked up, seeing them both and excused himself. He approached. "This is Mayor Lewis!"

He cleared his throat and cuffed his fingers within his suspenders. His cheeks were flushed, most likely from the booze he had been drinking. "Welcome to Pelican Town, miss!" Blake was debating on making a drinking game with how many times people said that simple phrase...

"She's taking over Ole Otis's farm." Lewis traded looks with Robin before looking back at Blake.

"You must be his granddaughter, then. Blake, I presume. He signed that farm over to you years ago."

"Yes, sir."

Lewis burst into a fit of laughter at that. "Sir, she says. Dear girl, just call me Lewis. Sir makes me feel old."

"You are old, Lewis."

"Can it, Robin," Lewis warned, to which the woman in question giggled furiously. His attention turned to Blake once more. "I assume you're here for the key." Blake nodded. Lewis then reached for his belt, attached to it a rather small ring with an assortment of keys. After a moment, he produced a small, rustic key and took it off the ring. "Here we are. Shall we?"


"Wha..?" Blake stared at the land before her, an overgrown mess of greenery had taken over the land. The cabin was dilapidated, seemingly in shambles. Was this place even safe?

Now she understood Robin's reaction when Blake had told her where she was headed...

A hand rested on her shoulders, and she looked back to see Lewis smiling at her comfortingly. He must have noticed the defeated look on her face, which is why he spoke quickly. "It looks like a mess now, yes. But hard work and dedication will bring this place back to its former glory." That was a little encouraging.

"I don't know if there are enough days in the year for anyone to achieve that feat," Robin said, walking up beside Blake. "This place is kinda one big junkyard. And the porch looks like it'll cave in on ya the first time you step foot on it." Well... Never mind about that encouragement.

"Robin!"

"OH! S-sorry. What I meant was.."

"Don't listen to her, Blake. She's probably just trying to get you to hire her to upgrade the house." Robin huffed at them and crossed her arms over her chest.

Blake simply shrugged, looking the place over. "I mean, she isn't wrong." But any sort of upgrade was, currently, inconceivable.

Robin offered Blake an apologetic smile. "Come to my shop tomorrow morning. I have a few old tools you can have. I can show you a thing or two about cutting down a tree."

Blake, who had absolutely no prior experience with that what so ever, only enthusiastically nodded. She would need all the help she could get.


Blake sat on the top step, staring out at the mess that surrounded her new home. Trees, some wrapped in thick vines... Stone. Weeds and wild brush. She couldn't see where the land began and ended, which was overwhelming in of itself.

But she was a city girl, born and raised. Saying she was out of her element was too much of an understatement, it wasn't even funny. This was a lot of work for one person, anyways, even if they were well equipped for it.

The idea of this being a mistake was already ebbing its way into her mind, and she blinked away the tears that threatened to form. She didn't need to cry every time something didn't go her way or worked out. That wasn't going to help anyone.

She had to suck it up. Sniffling, she wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve and looked up, staring out at the town.

For a moment, her worry and stress were washed away as she stared out at the silhouette of the town, the sun setting. The view was something out of a painting. While the sun wasn't exactly, hiding behind clouds as it dipped below the horizon, it continued to cast a breathtaking array of colors she had never seen in the city. An indigo blanket covered the retreating colors of dusk. It wouldn't be long now until the sky was littered with what Blake would claim to be the entire galaxy, and it was in the moment, she decided that she would try her best to make this work.

She would try her best to live here.

She would try to thrive here.

As if to punctuate her new found resolve, as slight as it may be, a star shot across the sky cementing her hope in her new life.