*Edit* Ok, this chapter was really rushed.. I need to go back and clean it up a few more times...
A/N: Wh00t! Another update! :D
I really want to thank everyone for being so patient with me about this little piece of fan fiction. It means a lot. I know it's been annoying that I haven't updated in so long. ^_^
I hope this is alright, I tried to make Owen a bit more playful than in previous chapters. Not the Luke kind of playful mind you, though that would be endlessly amusing (I sense the makings of a crackfic…), but just kind of like a milder and less grumpy version of Ramsey. I'm mostly doing this because, (A). Owen always struck me as a playful person around those he likes, and, (B). Writing him like this helps to balance out his nice guy personality so he doesn't seem to be too interested in Akari just yet. (- He is of course, but just in a friendly way right now. X_x)
Disclaimer: You know the drill.
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There really wasn't much one could say about the initial floor of the Ganache Mines. It was little more than a large semi-well lit square room, with fairly old yet sturdy wooden planks supporting the ceiling on lining the inner walls of the first room, with a rusted container on the far end, what looked like a mine shaft complete with railing in the middle of the left-hand wall, a small caged area right across from that on the right-hand wall, and a small rotted out staircase towards the back that Akari could only imagine descended into the next floor. Truly, if someone had asked Akari to describe what she believed a stereotypical mine to look like, this would fit her description almost to a 't; though her version had decidedly more mine carts, little dwarfs with axe picks and hard hats, and bright red barrels of TNT placed precariously around the room.. What…? It's a perfectly valid assumption! Not her fault the only other times she saw the inner rooms of a mine were when she got bored one Saturday morning and decided to dredge through some old Looney Tunes episodes for the hell of it…
Akari had paused at the threshold that connected the tunnel to the larger room, her eyes absorbing every detail of the room before her with the utmost care. Call her odd, and by all means Akari was well aware of just how weird she seemed compared to your 'average' person, but there was just something about this place that was already putting both her at ease…
Oh sure the planks of wood looked like they hadn't been replaced in decades and seemed to be sagging under the weight of the miniature mountain that loomed above, and many of the lights seemed to be in the process of burning out as they flickered dully along the manmade ceiling. And were those the faint humming sounds of poorly installed electrical wiring she detected? However despite all these flaws, some of which were potentially quite deadly, the entire place just exhumed a sort of charm about itself that was hard for the young aspiring rancher to adequately put into words.
Even Eggo, the excitable little fellow that he was, seemed to noticeably droop as he hung partially out of her satchel to get a better peak at the area. His ears lightly flicking from left to right as his nostrils attempted to take in all the new smells the mine had to offer…
'Snap out of it.' Akari mentally grounded out. 'I'm here to find Owen, not engage in some sight seeing adventure…' Nodding slightly to herself Akari then attempted to see if Owen happened to be in the room and if she somehow missed his presence during her initial check, it always pays to be thorough, but failed to locate him. Didn't Ramsey say he would be in the mines today? Maybe he'd stepped out for lunch or something…
Sighing to herself as she crossed her arms pensively, Akari allowed her eyes to rake over the entire room once more before finally settling upon the aforementioned staircase. It looked promising at least, and it wasn't too far fetched to imagine that Owen could potentially be in the belly of the mine as opposed to being up here on ground level.
Deciding that it was worth at least a fairly brief look Akari slowly made her way to the opening in the ground from which the stairs was attached too. Her lips curling back more and more in apparent disgust as each step brought her closer to her destination.
You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me…
To say that the stairs were a pitiful sight to see would have been one of the biggest understatements of this particular century. Right up there with such greats as the existence of global warming and just how extraordinarily creepy the seal-like mayor was… For starters the floorboards that made up each of the individual steps were riddled with innumerable rotted out holes and cracks, belaying the true age and potential instability of the staircase. If that wasn't bad enough, several of the nails that were still valiantly trying to keep the staircase held up had rotted through their original placements, and were now sticking up out of the wood just waiting for some hapless passerby to take one false step before impaling themselves..
Really, if Akari didn't already have a tendency to viciously hoard what little money she still possessed, she'd have bet all of it on the fact that the stairs would probably collapse in a matter of days, or even hours depending upon how much weight was put upon them…
Tentatively, Akari extended her left foot forward until it was hovering just inches above the first of the planks on the stairs, a brief look of apprehension upon her face as she gazed upon the rather rotten piece of wood… She could barely even make out the bottom of the next floor from her current vantage point, the lack of light simply would not permit it, and as such she had no idea just how deep the stairs truly went.. What if the board broke out from under her and she broke her leg; or she plummeted down into some extremely dark and inescapable crevice? Sure, go ahead and laugh. Let's see you try to escape from one of those things…
Taking deep breath Akari slowly willed her foot to descend the final few inches to the surface of the board, but stopped woefully short of her intended goal when a large hand descended upon her shoulder.
The sudden contact caused Akari to nearly jump out of her skin, eliciting a small shriek of fright from her larynx as she felt her heart literally leap into her throat. Wouldn't you react the same if a strange hand appeared out of nowhere? Angrily she whirled around in her spot, intent on giving whomever had scared her a piece of her mind, and maybe a knuckle sandwich or two, only to come face to face with an extremely entertained looking Owen. Oh, so that's where he… Wait! Where the heck did he come from?! He wasn't here a second ago!
Scowling at her jovial companion Akari spoke out in a reproachful tone, the beats from her heart hammering in her throat from the earlier shock, "Geez Owen! Don't sneak up on me like that! I nearly had a heart attack." To emphasize this point Akari clutch her right hand above her heart, as if the action would somehow transfer itself onto the racing organ and calm it's erratic behavior.
The other just continued to grin widely as he held his hands up in a placating gesture, "Sorry about that! Wasn't attempting to frighten you." At least, Akari mused silently, he had the forethought, or at least enough sensibility, to know just what kind of pain a fairly angry woman could inflict after being scared out of her wits, to make himself sound apologetic. Though no amount of sensibility could allow him to conceal the way his eyes seemed to be dancing with amusement right then at her expense.
Yep, if there was ever any doubts of Ramsey and Owen being related floating around in in the recesses of her mind that one look single-handily demolished them. Great… Now she had to deal with another person deriving amusement at her expense… Oh joy…
"Sure you weren't…" She drawled with a bemused smile as she made a discreet attempt to check on Eggo, who had thankfully managed to scurry back into the relative safety of the satchel. Hopefully the little guy hadn't been as scared as she was by Owen's sudden appearance…
Owen let out a hearty chuckle at her tone but decided not to press the issue further. "So Akari, why are you in the mine? I thought you were working today?" Trust Owen to get straight to the point once he's had his fun.
"Ramsey sent me to find you actually." Akari replied, now remembering the reason why she was there in the first place. Pondering over your certain doom, and subsequently being scared out of your wits, has a tendency to derail whatever you were meant to be doing previously after all. "I think he needs your help with something."
"So it's that time of the day already? Well I guess we shouldn't leave the old man waiting then." Owen looked thoughtful for a moment before he went to gather up his work tools and the bits of ore he had collected earlier in the morning. Once everything was safe and secure, he shot a jovial look over his shoulder at Akari as if to say 'So are you coming or what?', and began making his way out of the mine.
Akari then jogged briskly after him, attempting to keep up with his long strides as she pondered just what he meant by his last comment.
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With Owen's quick pace it took virtually no time for the pair to make their way back into the main foyer of the blacksmith's shop. Akari knew that she should be grateful to the other for rushing back, especially since it more than made up for the time she spent investigating the mine, but why couldn't the man have walked a tiny bit slower? She practically had to run in order to keep up with him!
Which of course, couldn't have been pleasant for her smaller companion, who was stuck in the enclosed satchel as it bobbed up and down at her side during the trip.. It also didn't help that he seemed incredibly amused by how slightly winded she looked as she stopped to retrieve some air for her lungs once they stood inside the foyer of the shop.
Akari glowered lightly in his general direction, silently wishing she could find some way to wipe that damn grin off of his face.
"Oh stop that. You just need to work out more." He said apparently hearing her thoughts as he patiently leaned against one of the counters in the foyer/shop area. A good natured smirk now firmly planted on his face.
'And I think someone needs to realize that most 'normal' humans can't even possibly manage to walk seven miles per hour and not end up slightly out of breath…!' (1) She grumbled to herself mentally. 'Who cares if he's cute? No one can walk THAT fast and still be normal!' Wait… Did she just think what she thought she did…?
That scare she received earlier must be seriously messing with her mind…
Thankfully for the sake of Akari's rather questionable sanity, Ramsey chose that time to enter the room armed with a clipboard and a pen. Stopping slightly in front of them, he let his eyes roam over the contents of the page before taking his pen and making some quick checking motions against it. Once he seemed satisfied with his work, he glanced briefly at Owen before turning to Akari, "Well it looks like you managed to find him after all! I was almost certain it would take you longer actually..."
Akari honestly didn't know whether she should take that as some kind of off-handed compliment or an insult…
"Moving along, Owen I'm pretty sure you remember the drill." Ramsey half-asked, as he looked at his grand-nephew, who nodded in confirmation. "Good, then you can fill Akari in on any of the details she might be confused over." Handing his clipboard to a predictably confused Akari, Ramsey turned and went back into the kitchen. The reasons for his haste only becoming known to the two occupants of the foyer when the sounds of pots and pans clattering to the ground, followed by the voice of a giggling child, and the bellowing of a very ticked off old man flowed into their ears.
Akari looked at Owen uncertainly, but decided against checking on the old grump when all she received in return was a tired shrug from her companion. Apparently this happened a lot around here…
Shaking her head slightly Akari turned her attention to the clipboard that was resting in her grasp. She slowly raked her eyes over the names present on what appeared to be a sales list of some sort, dulling realizing in the back of her mind that Owen had already taken to dividing their work load as she did so.
Ramsey's Blacksmith Shop:
Sales and Subsequent Deliveries - Spring 6th
Buyer ------------- Drop Off Location ------------- Item(s) ------------- Amount Owed
1. Dale-----------Bagel Carpentry-- ----------------2 hammers---------------- $7000
-10 boxes of nails
2. Craig------------ Soufflé Farm-----------------1 repaired sickle----------- $3000
-1 repaired spade
3. Yolanda -------------Kirsch Inn--------------- -2 cast-iron cooking pans--- $2300
4. Simon and Barbara-------General Store---------- -2 hammers ----------------$26,000
-5 hoes
-20 boxes of nails
-3 sickles
-1 fishing rod
( A/N: *screams* This darn thing won't arrange right! I had it looking so nice in my word document... ;__; )
Ah, so it was a fairly short list then.. But wait… Why was the General Store buying all those tools from the shop? Don't they have their own selection of tools to sell? 'Maybe Owen knows…' She thought quietly to herself as she chewed on her bottom lip.
"So who does it say we should deliver to first Akari?" Owen asked out of the blue, apparently almost finished with his current task.
"Hmmm… Well, we probably should go see Dale first.. From what little I remember of the island his shop is the closest to this one, and going there first would prevent us from having to double back later with our cargo." Was her thoughtful reply as she tried to call upon her rather limited knowledge of the island. Gah! Where was Anissa's map when you needed it?
"Sounds good to me." Was the simple reply, as Owen began gathering two of the three crates into his arms. Before attempting, albeit with a bit of difficulty due to the added weight, to reach for the third.
Akari frowned to herself when she noticed this. Did he really expect to carry all that weight himself…? Surely not even Owen could manage a lug around a full ninety pounds of weight for the next few hours?
As if to prove her theory correct, the boxes currently residing in Owen's arms began to shift out of their designated places, causing their holder to nearly trip to the ground as he attempted to remedy the situation. Of course, Owen being what Akari was now assuming was his normal stubborn self didn't seem at all daunted by this as he once again attempted to pick up the last crate once everything was securely back in place.
This process repeated itself several more times, a couple of which nearly resulted in the total decimation of one of the iron works on the shop's walls. Which of course almost caused Eggo, who was trying his hardest to be a good little satchel companion and keep quiet, to nearly jump straight out of his hiding spot. Until finally a rather bemused Akari decided to step in and with some difficultly managed to lift the final crate and put it just out of her companion's reach. "Don't worry Owen, I'll carry this one."
Owen looked slightly deflated by this, about the closest thing to a pout Akari imagined someone like him could muster, but managed to keep his emotions in tact. "You sure Akari? Those boxes are pretty heavy."
"I know." She chirped back as she set the crate down on the nearest counter and then proceeded to stick the majority of the smaller boxes into the confines of her rucksack. It was a tight fit, but after much pushing and shoving on her part all the boxes were finally deep enough in the rucksack to allow Akari to zip it up properly.
"Besides, I just don't think having to carry almost all the merchandise and leaving me with all these small parcels is very fair to you. This way at least we're somewhat equally sharing the work." At this she offered him a friendly smile, hoping to further convince him that she didn't mind the extra weight at all.
"Alright if you say so." He returned the grin, before turning to the door once he was sure that the both of them were ready. It took him a few moments to shift the crates in his arms in just the right way as to allow himself to grasp the doorknob, leaving Akari snickering quietly behind him at the comical sight that he made. Even Eggo seemed to be amused if the quiet squeaks coming from her satchel were any indication. Eventually however he managed to swing the door open with not all that much effort.
Once the door was safely shut behind him Owen glanced over at Akari. "So Dale's first?"
"Yep." She replied as she double checked the clipboard.
"Well then, we better get going." Owen sent her a friendly smile before indicating that the two of them should set off towards the Carpentry Shop.
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Thirty minutes and $7,000 later, saw the two of them, well three if you count little Eggo, nearing their next destination. The whole affair at Dale's had been rather quick all things considered, though it was complicated by Luke's antics to a small extent. How anyone was dumb enough to super glue their hand to a piece of plywood, and then proceed like a rampaging pull in a china shop around the building in a resulting attempt to remove said object was beyond Akari's understanding. Still it had amused the three of them greatly, though Owen tried to hide it with limited success for the sake of being polite while on the job. Where as she and Eggo, who nearly fell out of his satchel, however were forced into pure hysterics at the sight.
Ah, poor Luke.. The guy just can't catch a break sometimes.
With that hilarious episode behind them, the small group decided to head towards the Soufflé farm to make the next delivery. It was the next logical place to go after all, and until Luke got the use of his hand back to attempt to clear a hole through the root that blocked their passage near her home they'd just have to backtrack for a bit.
Akari would be lying if she didn't admit to feeling some sort of mixture of relief and downright disappointment upon hearing that the root didn't apparently lead to the lair of apparently carnivorous sentient green blobs of gelatin like she had previously mused…
Oh well, the world was probably safer for it she guessed…
It didn't take them much longer to reach the rather quaint farm at the end of the dirt road, what with it being only a few minutes walk from both Dale's and the Blacksmith's, and for the first few minutes everything was going fairly well by Akari's standards. Anissa was attempting to fill out the final forms to complete her family's transaction as her mother expertly inspected the tools that they had asked to be repaired in an attempt to find any flaws. So far she had yet to find any, not much of a shock given who repaired the tools, and seemed rather happy with the work that had been done. Yes, all was going quite well..
Of course, you can always trust Craig to put that all to ruin…
"Wow squirt, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be off trying to kill some poor defenseless plant by now." The older man asked with a grin as he slapped her on the shoulder in what she had since learned was his own awkward variation of shaking hands with another person.
Did Akari ever mention how much she LOVED Craig? No? Not ever…? Good, then she knew her sanity was at least somewhat intact.. (A/N: I love Craig for the record.. xD)
"Sorry that I didn't live up to your expectations.." Akari quipped sarcastically. "I took a part time job at the Blacksmith's for your information." She crossed her arms and attempted to shot a blazing glare his way, daring him to continue. So she didn't exactly have a green thumb; big deal.. No need to constantly remind her of that fact.
Sadly for Akari, whenever she glared at someone she tended to look more like an puffed up version of an angry puppy than anything remotely intimidating. Which of course elicited a long hearty chuckle from Craig, much to her indignation.
All of this of course attracted the attention of Eggo, who was wondering why his companion was emitted such negative emotions. Once he managed to peak his head out of the head however, his ears flattened upon his head as he was instantly filled with aggravation at the sight before him. How dare that human harass the nice human girl..! Only he could harass Akari and get away with it... Well he'd remedy this little problem.. Oh yes…
Craig continued to laugh at Akari's expense for a little while longer, much to her continued annoyance and the ire of the other occupants of the room.
"I wish father would stop bugging Akari.." Anissa said with a heavy sigh as she watched the drama unfold. She knew her father wasn't inherently a mean individual, no matter how much others would say differently about him. Rather he was simply the most social inept person she had ever encountered, and that caused him to be rather ignorant of how to deal with other people. His family knew about this, and had even come to learn to see the affection hidden deep beneath his otherwise harsh words. However despite their tolerance Anissa couldn't help but wish that her father would make a better effort to learn how to react properly around other people..
Ruth and Owen merely nodded their heads in tired agreement as they watched the ensuing bickering between the two.
Part of Owen wished to step forward and help Akari fend off Craig's verbal jabs, but given his own encounters with the man at the Blacksmith's shop he couldn't help but feel somewhat uncertain about how he should react. It wasn't necessarily Craig's fault that he had no social skills. Besides, from what he had seen of Akari she could more than take care of herself when needed. So as much as he wanted to come to her rescue he felt that it wouldn't be necessary, and after a few moments resolved to simply watch what was unfolding before him. That said however, if things started to get ugly between the two of them he wouldn't hesitate to step in.
Too bad, or thankfully, for him a small critter had the same idea in mind, and chose to act upon it before things got any worse...
"And another thing…. OWWWWW!!!" Craig yelped as he was abruptly cut off by the sight of a small rodent launching itself out of nowhere towards his face and then subsequently proceeding to chomp straight down on his nose once it got there. He tried pulling the fawn colored rat off of his face, but the fuzzy critter seemed to have locked it's jaws. For no matter how hard he pulled he simply couldn't remove it.
'Let's see you laugh now you over sized pin cushion.' Eggo thought to himself as he chewed on the offending nose, intent on inflicting as much punishment as possible upon the person who dared hurt his new companion.
All of this left Akari in stunned silence as she watched the scene unfold before her; vaguely aware of the peals of laughter being made by the other occupants of the room. Part of her wanted to laugh at the scene before her, the others certainly seemed to find it amusing if their own chuckles could be believed. Another part of her wanted to start gloating over this new turn of events, after all it was the first time she had ever seen someone, or more likely some thing, turn the tables on the old miser and she wanted to savor the moment as much as humanly possible. Heck, part of her wanted to do both simultaneously as she cheered Eggo on!
However after seeing the increasingly violent tugs that Craig was applying to the rodent's body as he attempted to free himself, her mind just sort of pushed all those ideas aside as she jumped up to save him. The fact that she inadvertently elbowed Craig in the face as she attempted to get at Eggo was something she would definitely savor at a later time though, mark her words.
Eggo himself was at that moment starting to feel rather ill, what with the constant spinning around and all the jerking that was being done to his body as the human attempted to free himself. So when he felt the big human's hands remove themselves from his torso and be replaced by a pair of smaller ones that gently pulled him away he willingly let go, thankful for the break.
Maybe now that large human would learn to keep his mouth shut.. He'd better; unless he wanted to be liberated of his digit's the next time..
Huffing slightly Akari gently pulled Eggo away from Craig's face as the older man moved away to find something to staunch the steady stream of blood that was trickling down his face. Ignoring the older man she carefully inspected the rodent's body for any injuries, breathing out a sigh of relief when she found none.
Thank goodness…
For his own part, Eggo was feeling quite triumphant despite his apparent nausea and disorientation; and eagerly looked up at Akari to see what she thought of his little stunt. Hey, that jump from the satchel wasn't exactly easy! And have you ever seen how hard it is to hold onto a piece of cartilage when you're being violently yanked about? He believed he deserved at least some praise for going through all that, thank you very much, and was greatly enthused when Akari lent down and offered him a grateful smile.
"Great work little guy." She whispered fondly to the rodent, who puffed out his tiny chest in pride. Maybe he wouldn't be so bad to have around after all… Heck, maybe Craig would finally leave her alone now so long as she had Eggo… Nah.. The old miser was simply too ornery to give up his favorite pastime of 'Harass Akari till she goes off the deep end'. How on earth did Ruth manage to keep that man in line without going insane?
'Wait.. Ruth! Oh shit, I forgot!' Akari suddenly remembering the other three occupants in the room, who were still laughing to themselves; albeit now a little more subdued than before. Though they were now focused upon her and the rodent in her clutches rather than completely focusing upon the still flailing Craig. Owen especially seemed rather amused as he quirked an eyebrow in her direction.
'Well I guess the cat is out of the bag now..' She thought as she looked down at the very pleased rodent that only she and Chloe knew about up until now... Might as well bite the bullet…
"Er… I can explain this…"
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A/N: :3 So… What do you think?
(1): The average human can walk 2-3 miles per hour; and in addition to that the average running speed for a human is around 12 miles per hour. (Give or take a few mph depending upon athletic abilities.) So you can see why Akari is grumbling about Owen's pace… xD I have a brother-in-law who is exactly like Owen in this regard actually. I'm a pretty fast walker myself, despite having short legs and even smaller strides, but even I have a hard time keeping up with him! O__x
Next chapter will probably involve a few time jumps if I still do what I have planned, however I do intend to at least try and introduce Selena as one of Akari's friends. (What? Most people don't like her but Selena was probably one of my favorite people in the game. X3)
Update: I'd like to inform you all I'm going on hiatus from this story for a bit. I'm kind of irritated with how I've been proceeding with it to the point where just thinking about this story inspires feelings of rage within myself. So yeah... I'll try to get back to writing as soon as I can, but I need a bit more of a break from it.. Otherwise I'm liable to go crazy and just delete it. ___