A.N. Wee! I'm enjoying this!
Anything writen like this is the animals talking and humans don't understand!
Disclaimer: Same as before. I own nothing!
Chapter Two: Animal Style!
Bringgggggg!!! Dawn leapt off the bed with a yowl, startled by the sudden noise. Sleepily Sean rolled over hitting the alarm clock to turn it off then sat up rubbing sleep from his eye.
"Good morning Dawn!" he laughed seeing her fur puffed up.
"Good morning Sean," she replied staring to lick down her fur. "It's seven o'clock." While Sean went and got dressed Dawn decided to help out. Jumping back onto the bed she grabbed the comforter in her mouth and began tugging it up. Swiftly she straightened the crinkles by chasing them off the edge of the bed happily. When she was done she sat and waiting for Sean to serve some breakfast.
20 minutes later the human and cat exited the house into the early morning air. A bird chirped from a nearby tree but fluttered away when Surge started barking. He came barreling around the corner of the barn chasing three little people each standing a little shorter then Dawn. One was wearing red, one yellow and the final blue. They rushed up to Sean crying out in fear until he called Surge off. Surge cast them a stern look but didn't go after them again.
"What are they?" Dawn asked watching as they panted and tried to catch there breath."They look funny!" Surge shrugged.
"I caught them poking around the barn," he replied with a huff. "My job is to protect this farm and that was what I was doing!"
"Have you seen any pretties?" the one in red piped up looking at Sean who raised an eyebrow before kneeling down.
"Umm, no…" he sighed half to himself. "I'm Sean, this is Dawn." He pointed to her. "And you've already meant Surge." They nodded to each in turn before speaking.
"I'm Nak!" the red one said.
"I'm Nic," the shortest one in blue chirped.
"I'm Flack," the widest one wearing yellow cheered.
"And we're the Harvest Sprites!" the concluded together.
"You seem nice so we'll help you where we can," Flack added before hurrying off. The other two waved before following. Sean stared after them in wonder before shaking his head, jaw slacked. Without a word he straightened and headed for the barn to care for Peach before his meeting with Takakura. Dawn smiled at Surge wondering where to explore first.
"I'll show you around if you want," Surge offered already headed up towards the big field. Dawn wandered after him nimbly hopping onto the pasture's fence when they reached it.
"So how long have you been here?" she asked gazing about the quiet farm.
"A few years…" he answered sniffing the ground near the chicken coop. "In a few years they'll have to bring a new dog in to train but I'm still strong." Finding nothing of interest he trailed back over to the fence where Dawn had been waiting for him.
"So you've meant Sean's father?" Surge was about to reply when Sean walked out of the barn and let the cow into the pasture before jumping the fence to meet Takakura. Peach glanced around and when she spotted them lumbered over.
"Why, hello!" she mooed. "Are we the only animals on this farm?"
"For now," Dawn nodded. "By the way I'm Dawn and this is Surge."
"I believe this Sean named me Peach," the cow grinned. "I like it though a tiny bit girlish for my tastes but…" Dawn cocked her head to one side in confusion.
"Who's he?" she asked staring at a man on the Spring path watching them. He had a white lab coat covered in stains, small rectangular glasses perched on the end of his pointy noise and really messy black hair.
"That's Daryl, he's a scientist here in the valley," Surge explained. "For some reason he comes here for help on his experiments and I'm stuck chasing him off the property."
"Why, he isn't that dangerous is he?" Peach whispered nervously.
"Not lately no but about a year back he tried to snag one of the chickens," he sighed. "Something about tests he wanted to run…" All three animals shivered falling silent. Then with a semi load bark Surge took off running, just skimming the corner of the fence. Seeing him coming Daryl let out a cry of panic and stumbled off. Peach and Dawn started laughing and Surge joined in when he pulled a u-turn and trotted back to them.
Sometime later while Peach was letting Dawn sit on her back as she walked the perimeter of the grass Sean headed for the large field. He had a gardening hoe propped on his shoulder, a grayish watering can under the other arm and a bag of seeds in that hand. Setting the later down on the grass he began to work the soil.
The sun glared down on the farm, glinting off the steel roofs of the buildings. Removing his hat Sean whipped the sweat from his brow then replaced it. Stretching his aching back he observed the freshly plowed field with an approving nod. Dawn paused from where she was chasing a passing clouds shadow to check on him. He was starting to spread the seeds up and down the rows with smooth quick actions, careful to step in between them to avoid crushing anything. By now Peach was napping contently in the shadow of the sakura tree in the pasture and Surge was checking up on the entrance to the farm. Curios she headed for her owner practicing her hunting technique. Once she was close enough she crouched down choosing her target, the empty seed bag he had just set down. Letting her body sway slightly she checked the direction of wind and the threat of obstacles whiskers twitching. Finally she sprung forward, front paws outstretched and landed squarely on the burlap sack with force sending it sliding dangerously toward the trees lining the property. Realizing she had miss judged the distance Dawn turned scrambling to get off the way she had come, clawing at the ground with her baby claws as it passed beneath. When that failed she knew she was to far gone and brought her paws up to protect her as she careened into the first tree.
"OH SUGAR!!" With the speed she had both she and the sack made it partway up the tree before tumbling back down with dirt billowing up about the base of the tree. When it cleared the seed bag was a few feet away but Dawn was up against the trunk, upside down.
"Farm: 1 Dawn: 0,"she thought in defeat struggling to get upright. "Who ever said that cats always land on their feet lied!" Once on all fours again she grabbed the sack in her teeth and dragged it back to where Sean, completely oblivious to what had just transpired, was watering his freshly planted crops. Leaving the bag where she had found it Dawn sat down and waited to be seen. When Sean noticed her he grinned motioning to his work.
"By the end of spring we'll have plenty of fresh tomatoes!" he exclaimed finishing up and gathering what was left over. Arms loaded he began walking back to the tool shed, Dawn tagging along. Inside he set everything back where it was heaving a sigh as dust rose up.
"Guess for the next few days I'll have to clean the whole farm," he muttered rubbing the sweat from his hands off on his pant legs. "I'll start with the barn so I can get some fresh hay down for Peach then the chicken coop so we can get some animals moved in there…." As he kept mumbling about where to clean he grabbed a wooden three legged stool and a bucket and set out to where Peach was, just waking up. Patting her he set the two things down and then sat down on the stool to milk Peach.
"Does that hurt?"Dawn asked tipping her head to the side.
"No, just kind of tickles," Peach replied calmly letting Sean finish.
"Good girl!" he told her giving her another pet while grabbing the full bucket in one hand and the stool in the other. Dawn stuck close by as Sean returned to the tool shed, poured the milk into three jugs then washed the bucket in a small sink in the corner. Putting the milking gear away he collecting the jugs and went to the food storage.
"This is confusing!" Dawn complained loudly. "First you're here then you're there!" Hearing her meow Sean checked on her.
"Hungry?" he asked setting the milk into a cooler like shipping bin. "It's almost supper time." Scoping her up he jogged into the barn and rang the bell to call Peach in. Dawn positioned herself on his shoulder as he loaded the cow's feed bin with sweet smelling hay then went and fed Surge.
"Not much in the fridge…" Sean commented setting a bowl of milk down for his cat before setting about getting his own supper. "We'll have to buy some more food but I don't have much money…" He took a large bite from the bread slice he was eating and chewed it. After swallowing he drummed his fingers on the table.
"Takakura says that a traveling merchant comes through here the third and eighth of every season so he'll be here tomorrow. If I only had something to sell," he groaned while Dawn, finished with dinner, sat back and watched him with a sad face. "I guess I should have thought this out more…" He stood to wash the dishes while the cat pondered what to do.
"This is supposed to be Sean's happy ever after!" she argued to herself. Then slowly a plan formed in her head as she reflected on her life in the city.
"Perfect!" she purred with a smirk. "Now I just need to wait until tomorrow!"
A.N. Hope you liked it! What can Dawn be planning? What can a CAT do?
R&R No flames please!
TheLastRose