Chapter 4, yay! Sorry for the wait …too much school work, ugh! Well , besides it all , I got it up and that's all that matters ! Here it is ! Enjoy !! This chapter may be a little long, so you might want to get a snack before you read it, lol!
I DO NOT OWN HARVEST MOON OR ITS CHARACTERS.
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Chapter 4
"So child, what yer name is?" The captain asked, completely snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Um…Claire" I answered a little shakily. I threw my hands behind my back, concealing my ticket. If he found out that I had no family, that I was a lone child boarding the ship…he might send me back…and I'll never see… brother…again.
"Claire, well that's a wonderful name! Why, I haven't heard that kind of name in over who knows when!" he smiled, causing me to smile too. He really was like my grandfather…
"So, where's your family?" He finally asked a question I hoped that my ears would never hear. He looked at me suspiciously and even though that millions of people seemed to be hustling and bustling across the piers, I felt truly alone…
I have no family…and the family that I did had…
My eyes softened and I lowered my head, tears flowing gracefully down my cheeks.
And the family that I had…was taken away from me!
Everything, my whole life! There was not even a single thing I could do…
The captain quickly reacted to my tears because he picked me up and placed me on his shoulders.
"W-What are you doing?" I asked, a little shaken from my crying.
"Well Claire, I can tell from your tears…that your orphaned, aren't you?"
He consoled, somehow loosing his captain like slang.
My eyes widened, he knows, he really knows…, and he's going to send me back!
"PLEASE DON'T SEND ME BACK!" I cried, causing a few people to stop in their tracks, "I'll do anything…to get on this ship." I managed to say through my tears, Tears that no longer falling gracefully down my cheeks but seemed to be overflowing out of my eyes.
"Why, would I send you back? You obviously seemed to really want to go on this ship, don't you?"
I wiped my tears and nodded. I needed to go on this ship, I have to see you again, I have to see you …Jack…
"Then you can stay with me!" The captain said as he looked up at me cheerfully.
"W-what?"
"Of course! Just because I'm the captain of this ship, doesn't mean that I can't have some company. I'll give you a first class lodging, all to yourself. What do you say?"
I thought this over for a while, if I'm a first class passenger, then my chances of finding Jack would definitely increase. This captain may be extremely helpful…
"Okay Captain!" I answered happily.
"That's the spirit! Now let's go!" Still sitting on his shoulders, we boarded the ship and looked back out to the crowd. Many people waved goodbye, some even waving white tissues in the air.
"Captain Greg! Its time to take her to sea!" shouted one of the sailors.
"Aye it'd be! Ready Claire?" He asked, regaining his slang.
"Ready!" I shouted gleefully, he set me down and patted me on the head. He went towards the other sailors and shouted out loud:
"Take the S.S. Mysteria on her first Maiden Voyage!"
I all of a sudden felt the ship move under my feet and many cheers could be heard from the crowds below.
I, however, was not a bit at all interested. Jack was here somewhere and I have to find him…as soon as I can…
"Claire, ya coming?" The captain asked
"Y-Yeah" I took one last look back at the crowds, and went to catch up with the captain.
Wait for me Jack…I'm coming…
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My tear-filled eyes slowly opened to the sound of Zack pounding on my door.
The same dream again…
"Hey Claire! Get up! " he shouted, a little irritated.
"Just a few more minutes…." I moaned to myself and buried my face in my pillow.
"C'mon Claire! Everyone else is already off the ship!"
"WHAT?!" I screamed, bursting out of my cot. Any concern of my dream temporarily disappeared as I ran through my cabin like a teen late for class.
I quickly grabbed my rucksack, my only luggage, and ran to the door. As I was about to reach for the knob, my glance turned to the portrait of the S.S. Mysteria. I stared at it for only a few moments, but those few moments, seemed like an eternity.
A lifetime of memories, a life so changed…All because of you…
I smiled to myself a sad smile and then I quickly ran out to the deck.
I have this feeling, that I'll never be able to escape that ship…
Zack was right; I was the only one on the ferry! Zack himself was on the docks, standing there with an angry expression on his face.
"Hey! Give me a break! I'm not use to waking up this early!" I shouted, already knowing what he was thinking. I walked off the ferry and onto the docks and stood there right on front of him, a pout on my lips.
The angry expression all of a sudden left from his face and he just gave a hardy laugh. I sweat-dropped again, was he going to make fun of me, again?
"Claire," He said in between his laughs "It's already 10:00am; farmers normally get up at 6:00am!"
My jaw dropped, he was serious, dead serious. He laughed at my expression and patted my back and reassured "Don't worry; you'll get use to it. That is, if you're determined..."
"I AM determined! There is no doubt about it!" I declared a hint of pride in my tone.
Anything to rid of this burden, I'll do anything…
"That's what I like to hear! Now let's-" Before he could even finish, I jolted past him, my hair flowing in the breeze.
"Hey, where you going?!" He shouted, with extreme anger rising to his face.
"To my farm, I have to see it! " I shouted back. I ran up the steps that I presumed would lead to a town square.
I'm sorry, but I can't wait. I'm this close and nothing can hold me back, I have to remember my past…
I closed my eyes as I ran into the square. Images of my brother, the captain, and the childhood tears I cried flashed in my mind.
I have to remember…why I'm like this…and…
The vision of my pink ribbon appeared, almost dancing across my memories, and I felt tears stream down my closed eyes.
And…to find you…whoever you are…
Right in the midst of my thoughts, I felt some stuck on my one foot, causing it to stay in place while my body pressed forward, and my body went flying forward. I opened my eyes. Any tears that were on my face suddenly vanished and shock took its place.
I shrieked as I came closer to crashing down on a wooden table, filled with many gooey rice cakes. I went flying and the rice cakes with me. I closed my eyes out of fear and the smooth paved surface banged hard against my back. If that wasn't enough, mounds of sticky cake splattered all over my hair and my body. Slowly opening my eyes, I was in complete horror.
There I sat, a table crashed to its side and rice cake all over my face and hair. To make matters worse, I seemed to have interrupted a festival and all the villagers were staring directly at me!
Oh…No… I got to think of something! And Fast!
"My rice cake…" A girl around my age said, a little bit of distress in her voice. She seemed a little tomboyish, orange hair tied back into a neat braid, a white ribbon complimenting the style. Just like me, she wore overalls, but with a yellow shirt underneath.
"Ann! Now is not the time to worry about your cake!" another girl shouted. She appeared very casual, blue jean shorts and a purple vest. She had long flowing dirty blonde hair but her two front bangs were bright blonde just like mine. She shot the girl an annoyed look and helped me off the floor.
Three much older women came up to me, an expression of worry on there face. All had very distinct traits to themselves. One had her hair braided back into a tight bun, the other had short black hair that grew to her shoulders, and the last one had a perm like style that puffed to the side.
"Are you alright, dear?" the short haired woman asked. She tried picking out gobs of cake out of my hair but most of it wouldn't budge from my locks. By this time most of the villagers, mostly the men, left to do other more important things, such as talking to themselves. However, the women stayed and so did the five girls around my age.
"It won't come out, it's stuck in there good!" shouted a pink haired girl. She stood there with her hands on her hips, a frustrated expression on her face. She wore a simple white blouse and a long red skirt. Over that she wore a black bodice that tightly hugged her hips. Her pink haired curled in every aspect of her locks and flowed down her lower back.
"No!," I took a lock of my hair that was covered in cake and held it tight in my hands. "My hair…"
"THERE YOU ARE!!!!"
Everyone turned their attention to the entrance to the beach and there stood a very pissed Zack. He marched right up to me, a thunder in each of his steps. He stopped right when he was in front of me and gave me an evil glare.
"I thought I told you NOT TO RUN AHEAD, now look what you did Claire!!" He shouted right in my face that I almost fell over from the outburst. The five other girls nearly did as well.
"Uh well, EXCUSE ME! But I really wanted to see the farm and for your information, you didn't say anything about running ahead!" I got him there, he just stood there speechless. I, on the other hand, was panting from the outburst. The woman with the puffed hair got between us, and looked at me from head to toe.
"Now now Zack, calm down! The girl didn't obviously mean to cause any trouble," She looked over at me and I nodded up and down quickly agreeing with her completely, she turned back to Zack and finished "and it's definitely not helping the situation."
"But-" He began but was cut off by the other woman with a tightly braided bun.
"No buts, look at her, she's on the verge on crying the poor thing. Karen, Popuri, Ann, Elli, Mary!" The girls stopped helping me with my hair and looked over, " Please take-um I'm sorry , what was your name again? " She asked.
"Claire…" I stated, a little shaken in my voice.
Out of all the things that could happen to me, I had to get sticky globs of rice cake in my hair! This was not how I wanted my first day to go…
"Yes, Girls, please take Claire to the hot springs and help her with her situation."
"Alright!" They all answered in unison. The all grabbed my arms and began leading me out of the square.
"B-But, that mess I made…" I looked over my shoulder and saw the mess I did in fact make.
"Don't worry!" said a short brown haired girl, she seemed to be a nurse, judging by her blue midwife's dress. "The others would take care of it." They led me to a path, and I looked over to see two farms.
They both seem so happily pleasant, I wonder if my farm would be like this…
They led me across a bridge and took me towards the forest area, where only a log cabin stood was any sign of man-made material. The rest was trees towering over the earth, flowers flourished in plots spread out across the lush grass.
"Kya! It's so pretty, almost like a dream…I wonder if my farm would be like this." I looked over at the scenery in complete awe, while the others just looked at me.
"Your name's Claire right?" the girl with the purple vest asked
And I turned around to see that the others were waiting for my response.
"Um, yes. I plan on taking over Mineral Farm!" I said with a bright smile spread across my face.
They all stood there, wide eyed. "W-What? Is there something wrong?" I asked, a little worried.
"N-No!" shouted the tomboyish girl, "We're just surprised that someone would actually want the farm, that's all."
"Why would no one want the farm?" I asked a bit puzzled.
Are they hiding something?
"No reason! Just saying!" She finished, giving off a nervous laugh.
They are…
I sweat dropped. This was going to be one rough first day. "Well, what are your names?" I looked over at them, and they all smiled.
"I'm Karen, My parents run the supermarket here; please stop by for some seeds." She smiled and I could tell that she was a sincere and honest person.
"I'm Popuri! My mom runs the Poultry Farm, since your taking over that farm, you should come visit for some chickens!" shouted the pink-haired girl.
"I'm Elli, and I'm the midwife of this town, I'm also the doctor's assistant." The brown-haired calmly, "Please don't over work you in the farm, okay?"
"Alright…" I answered
"I'm Ann; my father runs the inn/local bar. You should really visit for a drink or something!" the orange-haired girl responded.
"A drink?" I asked a little bit puzzled
"Yeah, you know, do you drink alcohol?" Karen asked
"Well, not as much, but I do every once in a while" I responded
"Oh, that's great!" Ann rejoiced, " But here's a tip; If you want a drink , you better get some before Karen drinks it all!"
Karen nudged Ann right in the gut and Ann just gave off a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of her head in the process.
"I-I'm Mary, I'm the librarian in town. Please stop by for a book if you have time." murmured a shy woman. She wore a long blue dress with a white blouse underneath. Her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail and glasses graced the frame of her nose.
"I'll love to see the books!" I gleefully said,
They might contain something useful …for unlocking my past…
"Oi!" Karen shouted " We'd better you to the hot spring before the cake hardens!"
They all hurried me down a path and there stood a waterfall and a wooden hut like area. The directed me inside and Popuri turned to face me.
"Don't freak, okay?" She reassured
"Huh-?" In, I swear, a nano-second, they tore of my overalls and shoved me in the spring.
I fell face first in, causing the water to splash.
"It's hot!" I shouted as I resurfaced my head from the steaming water.
"That's the point, look; the steam melted the cake off." Karen pointed out; she knelt on her knees so that she was eye level with me as she pointed to me hair.
I gasped as I looked down to see my reflection, it really was gone! My hair was back to its shiny sleekly self!
"Kya, thank you!" I shouted, bursting with happiness.
"It was no problem!" Ann smiled cheerfully.
"Claire, are you going to participate in the Goddess Festival? Since you're going to be a resident in town?" Popuri asked
"Goddess Festival? What's that?" I asked while splashing some more water onto my hair.
All the girls gasped and looked at me "…You mean you don't know the Goddess Festival?" Mary asked, I shook my head.
"Well, it's this ceremony commemorating the Harvest Goddess. All of us, besides the goddess chosen last year, does a dance dress it traditional gowns and after that the goddess last year will perform a dance solo. After her dance, she'll pick out the goddess for next year and then she'll be crowned the goddess. There so much dancing and its so much fun!" Karen explained
A Goddess Festival? Commemorating the Goddess? The very Goddess who granted me with this torture…? How could I?
"I don't know…"
They all gave me puppy dog eyes and I sweat dropped from the expression.
"Please Claire! If you participate, then it'll be so much more fun! Someone new would spice up the festival for sure!" Ann pleaded
"We'll help you with the dances! C'mon please! Manna and everyone would help too!" Popuri said, trying to sound convincing.
"Well…I'll guess I'll try it then…" I said as I gave in.
But then again…She must have had a good reason for this, my amnesia. Even if it seemed very unlikely…right?
They all jumped and cheered.
"Thanks so much Claire!" Elli said, as she helped me out of the spring.
"When does this start?" I asked, finally getting back in my overalls.
"Well, Spring 8th actually. We are starting preparations tomorrow so we'll meet up with you then!" Karen compromised
"Okay!" I smiled, I was only here for a couple of hours and I was already warmly invited by others…
Maybe we could all…
I looked up at the sky and I could tell it was already noon.
"I think I should go check out the farm, you know, to get settled and all" I mentioned and the five girls looked at each other, as if they knew something.
"Alright, we'll be seeing you!" Popuri said
"Mineral Farm is right up that path" Karen said as she pointed towards the north.
"Okay, thanks!" I said as I ran towards that direction.
"Good Luck!" They all shouted, Popuri seeming to stand out with her bubbly voice.
…we all could be friends.
I waved back, a bright smile on my face, and ran across a bridge. I just kept running. I knew that every inch I took, I was one step closer to finding out my past…, a step closer to finding my destiny…
So long…I lived in the dark, and it seemed the light would never return. But once again, the light appeared, and I was finally able to see …how much my tears comforted me…in the dead silence of the hollowed nights…
I'm tired of it! I need a reason-!
The image of my ribbon appeared and I felt tears to come to my eyes once again.
I need a reason to live through the night…
I know that you are part of it…
My feet approached solid ground and I looked at my surroundings. Coming to a screeching halt, my eyes widened to what there was before me.
Phew! That was a long chapter, 12 pages!!! Oh, a cliffhanger! But I bet if you played the game you know what caused Claire to stop. I made this chapter long because I didn't update in a while, so I hope you liked it! See you next time!