I'm back again, now with chapter three!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon.
He had had a terrible day. The animals were less cooperative than usual getting on the ship and all of the people were so darn HAPPY. He wouldn't have been surprised if the sailors suddenly burst into a song about the joys of life on the sea. When you're in a bad mood, which he almost always was, the last thing you want is for everyone else to rub in how great life is. Though then, he might just be driving himself to an early death going to somewhere called "Sunshine Island".
The ship finally docked and he stepped off of the boat.
"Vaughny!" A voice squealed and almost knocked him over. His cousin Julia was clinging to his side.
"Vaughn! I'm so happy you had a safe trip." Exclaimed his aunt.
There was one other person on the beach with them. A girl. She was standing there with a never-leaving grin. Usually when he looks at people, any attempt at a smile immediately wipes off their face from his glare. He refused to express any of his surprise when she simply smiled wider. "I'm Chelsea! The island's rancher!" She extended her hand to shake but he simply looked at it until she let it drop. "Well, you certainly are an interesting one," she smiled, "See you around!" And then she left.
An interesting one indeed. Thought Chelsea as she left the beach. The man's glare rivaled some of the one's she'd seen in the military. His white hair and off coloured eyes reminded her of a small girl she had befriended in her other life. That girl was hard to talk to at first as well. I wonder what she's doing right now…
She returned to her field and began clearing the field again. She was beginning to get into the rhythm and was getting through much faster. She had to leave the larger boulders. Her hammer was rusty and she did not trust it to not break upon impact. The axe was also a little questionable but ironically, or perhaps the opposite of ironically, (she wasn't exactly schooled so wasn't completely sure what irony was) the sickle was fine. Plus she was very good with sickle maintenance and was able to fix it up to her standards.
"Good work!" Said an unmistakable voice and she turned to grin at old man Taro.
"Thanks!"
"I knew I wasn't mistaken, you're going to make a fine rancher! Now, on that matter. Have you bought any livestock yet?" Asked Taro.
"Nope." Said Chelsea, her smile faltered. She was never good with animals, unlike people, you can't fool them with outwards appearences.
"Then go now before Mirabelle's closes and buy yerself a chick!"
Chelsea fiddled her fingers on her scythe nervously, a subconscious act she had been doing for years. "Maybe I should just stick to crops-"
"Don't be silly!" Exclaimed the man, "What do you propose you do when winter next hits?"
The girl sighed and gave in, "Alright, I'll go now."
The bell chimed welcomingly when she stepped into Mirabelle's store. "Chelsea! Welcome!" Called Julia. Chelsea liked Julia but was slightly put off with her happiness. You could never trust a person who always smiles. What a hypocritical line of thought.
"I'm here for a chick." She said, and Julia beamed.
"How exciting! Your first animal! Vaughn's in the back, ask him to help you choose."
Chelsea nodded and headed out behind. The quiet cowboy was ironically, or again perhaps in-ironically, tending to a cow.
"Hello!" She said brightly, "I'm here for a chick."
He grunted, "Come." Chelsea followed him into a coop. A mature chicken was walking around with six chicks trailing behind. They immediately ran up the Vaughn. Chelsea took a tentative step forward and they all squeaked in panic and ran away. Vaughn was surprised, the chickens had never reacted that strongly to a person before. Chelsea stood there with a solemn smile.
"Yeah, that's how I'd probably react to myself too…" She turned to Vaughn, "I'm sorry to waste your time. I think I really should stick to crops." She turned to leave but he stopped her.
"Wait."
He walked over and skimmed over the chicks, finding the one he was looking for he walked back to the girl. "Hold out your hands" She obliged. "Calm down." He ordered. She began to breathe in and out slowly. Gently, he place the chick in her hands. He was glad he was wearing gloves, he wasn't accustomed to touching girls' hands.
The chick began to protest in Chelsea's palms but Vaughn stroked it comfortingly. "Shhh," He told it, "It's alright, she won't hurt you." The chick calmed down and he looked up. The girl was looking at him in disbelief. He mentally cursed. He didn't like showing that side of himself to people outside his family.
"Thank you" She said quietly. He nodded, tilting his hat over his face to hide his embarrassment.
"No problem."
She left and he relaxed, returning to the cow.
After buying the chick, which she named Flap for no real apparent reason, she took it to the coop at the back of her property. She put it down and it wandered the coop curiously. "Nice to meet you Flap." She said lamely, not sure what to say. "I'm Chelsea, or at least, that's what I'll be going by now. It kinda has a nice ring right?"
She silently walked up to the chick and picked it up. It squeaked in delight. She gasped. "Thank you." She said softly. "For accepting me. I promise, I'll never be that person again." She almost teared up but refused to show that kind of weakness, even to an animal.
"Um, hello…" Said a voice. She turned around in surprise.
"Vaughn!" She said.
"Mirabelle told me to tell you how to take care of your chick. As well as to deliver this." He said gesturing his head to the large sack of bird seed slung over his shoulder.
"Thank you." She said, stepping over to the man. She tried to take the seed from him but he protested.
"It's really heavy."
"That's fine, I'm strong."
He scoffed, "fine, you can try to lift it." He said dropping the bag to the ground.
She grinned triumphantly while she lifted it with only some effort over her own shoulder. He blinked in surprise but refused to show that he was impressed. "It goes over there", he mumbled. She poured the contents into the feeder. "Now," he started taking a hand full, "scatter it into here." He let the seeds fall out of his fingers into a food box in the middle of the coop. The chick walked over and began to eat.
"I see, is there anything else to know?" Asked Chelsea.
"Occasionally, your animal may get sick. If that happens, you can buy medicine from Mirabelle. In good weather you should let your animals roam outside but you should make an enclosure for them. Wild dogs come at night so take them back in before."
She nodded, it all made sense.
"Lastly, for chickens, once…"
"Flap." She said. He looked at her for a second with in expression that seemed to say really? But then continued.
"-once Flap is mature she'll start laying eggs. At that time you can ship them for money, eat them or put them in the incubator to hatch, or really do whatever I guess." He finished with a dismissive shrug.
"Cool, thanks a lot Vaughn!" She said, he nodded and left.
Once he was gone, she began to clear an area near the coop to make an outdoor enclosure for her chicken.
Hey I thought of something, Vaughn is good at handling chicks but not "chicks". Wahahahaaa!
... Lame, I know...
Read and Review. Please! Tell me what you like and what you hate. Maybe even what you want to happen.
