Sweat rolled down Michaela's forehead as she dragged the metal hoe through the ground, trying to mimic the manner in which the others next to her preformed the job. She looked over at a girl next to her with short, reddish green hair who was doing exactly what she was so effortlessly. She grunted, pouting as she looked back down and continued her job. A few feet ahead of her, some other workers were digging up the fresh soil and planting the potatoes left over from the trade they recently had before she came here. Clarith was among the planters, a few rows over from her, and Michaela smiled as her white hair glowed and shone when the sun hit it. I really was beautiful. For the first few weeks since living in Yatski, she just sat in the tiny little cottage all day until Clarith and her mother returned from working in the fields. The times after that were wonderful, she and her would talk for hours walking around the town or doing chores, and when it came time for dinner her mother made the most delicious meals. But everything before that, was so terribly boring. So, she forced Clarith to teach her how to farm, and her she was. Another drop of sweat fell from her face, and she sighed before wiping off her forehead. The girl next to her, who she learned was named Chelsea, looked over and her and smiled friendlily. Michaela looked over at her, and Chelsea dropped her hoe.
"You should take a break." She said. "I'm sure you're not used to this much work yet, right?" She nodded, but then shook her head.
"We're not finished." The girl laughed, and put a hand on her hip.
"They let us take breaks when we get tired so long as we tag out with someone. C'on." And with that she picked the tool and grabbed her hand, pulling her over to a group of girls gathered at the edge of the field. Chelsea grabbed their tools and gave them to two of them, and they nodded and headed back over to the pair were once working. At first she was apprehensive to go when she hadn't done much of anything to help yet, but Chelsea insisted and eventually she rather enjoyed the small picnic they had set up behind one of the buildings. The two ate some apples Chelsea was carrying and talked, laughing occasionally when one of them made a joke.
"I should really get back" Michaela suddenly said, tone worried. "I barely did anything in the field, and I really don't want to make a bad reputation for myself"
"Are you kidding?" She replied. "You have half the town falling for you and you really have done an excellent job for your first time working in a farm." She looked down a bit shamefully, fully aware of how men in Yatski were practically throwing themselves at her. But that wasn't what bothered her.
"You could say things like that to Clarith more often." She mumbled, and Chelsea leaned in closer to Michaela with a surprised expression.
"Clarith? Why?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow while one hand played with a lock of her short hair. Michaela searched her brain for a response, but she began talking before she could think of one. "That girl's always so sloppy with everything she does, she can barely keep up with the rest of us! Besides," she lamented. "I really don't need to thank a netsuma." She frowned, there was that word again, so filled with an underlying hatred that the sound of the word made her spirits drop. "I feel sorry for you." She continued, crossing her arms and looking out onto the farm to stare at Clarith. "I don't think I could even live a day in that house." Michaela looked up from her mini sulking, and pressed her two hands together and looked up as if she were in a day dream.
"I like her white hair. It shines so beautifully when the sun hits it, and it's a lovely change from everyone else's green hair." She giggled. "You can definitely find her in a crowd, that's for sure." Chelsea rolled her eyes.
"You're always so happy all the time. Why do you even like Clarith?" She asked, an the girl tilted her head.
"Why do you hate her?" She shrugged.
"The girl's a netsuma, everyone hates her." She casually said. Michaela suddenly sat up and began walking back towards the field. Chelsea yelled after her, and she continued going back to the work, saying she wasn't tired. But she frowned when she got back, noting that the netsuma wasn't there.
Leaves and dry grass crunched underneath Clarith's boots as she walked, a basket filled with bread and some mushrooms slung over her elbow. The sun was setting at the time, the sky being painted a soft pink that reminded her of frosting. A boy was standing in front of her, and she froze and looked up from staring at her feet, as she had been doing while walking. The boy smiled and waved at her, walking closer so he could talk in a normal voice.
"Hi Clarith." he greeted her a bit awkwardly, and she timidly looked back down at the ground in her usual manner.
"Hi, Ayn." She said, and he grinned, putting his hands into the pockets of his gray pants. Ayn was the son of the village chief and rarely ever talked to her, but was one of the few people who had never once said something mean in her direction. He also had become good friends with Michaela as well, and she was a bit jealous of her for being welcomed into the small village so warmly. He had dusty bright green hair and eyes, and a slight blush began creeping over his face as silence passed between them.
"You're coming back from the fields right? I really should be thanking all of you more for the amount of work you do. " He eventually said, laughing a little bit in between words.
"I-I'm sorry." Clarith stuttered, and Ayn expected her to go rushing off away from him, but gave her a confused look when she stayed put where she was. He leaned forward, and tiled his head to the side.
"Are you alone right now?" He asked, and she nodded. "Huh. Y'know, it would be nice if you were to participate in the harvest festival this year." He stated, before shaking his hand in front of himself and shakily added that i'd be nice if she were to show Michaela how it worked. Then he laughed. "You two are fun to be around, I'd really want to be with ya guys as much as possible." Clarith gasped and looked up at him, but he was turned away from her with his hands resting on the back of his head. Then he began ranting about how being the chief's son was keeping the three apart. Up ahead of him though, she could see Michaela's two pigtails of gorgeous green hair and she shouted out a greeting to the girl, Ayn doing the same once he saw the girl jogging up to them with a cheery smile. "We were just talking about you." He said, which was only half true, but the girl smiled anyways.
"Really?" She asked, and he nodded.
"We were wondering if you were going to the harvest festival." Clarith piped up, and Michaela raised a brow in confusion.
"Isn't that far from now?" She asked, putting a finger to her chin. Ayn threw his head back and laughed, and she just looked even more puzzled. "What? What so funny?"
"My father insists that we plan months ahead of time, which I personally find quite stupid." He said, and the two giggled. "Anyways, Clarith can tell you the details later. I have to be going now." He said, and said goodbye to the two, glancing a few extra seconds at Clarith before running off, hoping they didn't see his blush. They watched him run away, and Michaela leaned on her shoulder and grinned.
"I think he likes you." She said, and Clarith immediately pushed her off her.
"H-how- No he doesn't! It's just pity!" She said flustered, and she laughed as the two turned and began their walk back home. Micheala grinned again at her reaction, softer this time though. She went silent, and Clarith turned her head in concern.
"Miss Micheala?" She asked, using 'Miss' infront of her name in her usual manner. Micheala grinned cartoonishly and waved a hand infront of her face.
"Ah no, it's nothing. I was actually trying to make you feel better by saying that, sorry." She apologized, and Clarith let out a relieved breath before returning her gaze to where they were going.
"That makes much more sense. I do believe he's just using me to get closer to you, he seems quite fond of you." She said, her voice dropping in volume gradually on the last sentence. The Elphe laughed loudly and threw her head back, making her pale skin flush up red. "What?" She called, embarrassed. Micheala tilted her head to the side and smiled, then retrurned to a normal expression.
"I just find love funny. You know, I've only been here for a few weeks and men are already claiming they love me. I didn't think that something like that was thrown around so casually!" She said with a laugh grinning to herself happily as if all was wonderful. It really was a contagious smile, because Clarith felt herself start to grin too.
"You didn't accept any of them though, it that why?" She asked, and Micheala toyed around with the idea for a bit before nodding.
"I guess so. I have met them all, I've made sure of that, and a lot of them are really wonderful people. I do enjoy my time with everyone here. But I don't know if I really truly love a man so much as to marry him." She said, clasping her hands together infront of her skirt. The Netsuma looked down at the ground and smiled sadly.
"Yeah, me too..."
