A/N: So, in regard to the Chicken Festival coming up in this chapter – as with the Beach Day event, I did change this festival and the contest around a little bit for story purposes. Because cockfighting is illegal, haha. Look out for references to characters from other Harvest Moon games in this chapter!

-CCM

Chapter 14: The Chicken Festival

The sound of loud, lively chatter and an accompanying array of chicken clucks and squawks met Claire's ears as she stepped into Rose Square at exactly noon. The symphony of the Chicken Festival.

The day was another gorgeous one, and the blonde farmer had made an effort to get all her work done early that morning, so she would have enough time to relax at the festival without having to rush back to the farm for anything.

Taking in the various sights and smells of the festival, Claire observed a few food stands in the plaza with portable grills set up beside them, releasing the delectable scent of grilled fish and vegetables into the air. At the nearest booth, Kai was grilling large, juicy shrimp on skewers, ears of corn, and thin wedges of pineapple, a cooler full of snow cones and refreshments at his side. The smells from that area alone made Claire's stomach rumble.

Further away, Doug had his own large food stand set up, promoting the Mineral Town Inn. Customers ate at a low wooden counter on short bar stools, where they could watch as Doug cooked up their food and served it to them on plastic plates.

Despite his stand's already obvious popularity at the festival (judging from the smiling faces of his customers), which had to be good business for the Inn, Doug himself looked rather worn down and weary. He passed out plates without so much as a smile, his eyes lowered, not bothering to make eye contact with anyone. Claire felt her heart tug at the sight.

He probably misses Ann's help for this festival… In fact, I bet he would rather be at the Clinic with her right now, but couldn't pass up on this arrangement.

She winced as an image of Ann entered her mind, her long hair braided and tied with a simple white bow to keep it out of her face as she assisted her father in grilling up meals, presenting them to customers with a smile and a good-natured laugh.

Get it together, Claire… this is a festival. It's supposed to be fun. No bad thoughts for you today.

Next to Doug's booth, Duke and Manna also had their own little stand, where they were selling wine and glasses of grape juice fresh from their winery. To Claire's slight surprise, Cliff wasn't with them.

He's probably at the Clinic with Ann right now, Claire realized. For some reason, an inexplicable wave of disappointment washed over her.

Even Saibara the blacksmith had his own booth, the small shelves on his counter stocked with glittering pieces of jewelry; bracelets, necklaces, and earrings adorned with brilliant gemstones that sparkled in the sunlight, catching and reflecting its rays in just the right way. The old man sat in a chair directly behind the counter, while his grandson Gray sat a bit further back, in the shade of one of the large oak trees outlining the square.

The young man's eyes flickered around the town square impassively, watching people come and go without a second glance. Claire considered approaching him, but stopped herself. Though that sapphire brooch at the blacksmith's stand was rather pretty… the way its smooth surface shone in the light of the sun... and it matched her own eyes near perfectly.

Gray caught sight of her staring at the sapphire brooch and frowned, causing Claire to turn away with a blush. Heaving a sigh, the farmer reasoned that she most likely didn't have the money to pay for the lovely piece of jewelry, anyway.

Another stand, even larger than Doug's, had a small fence wrapped around one corner of the square, with a variety of chickens running around and squawking from within. Popuri was kneeling among the chickens within the fence, and Claire could hear her speaking softly to the birds as she lovingly stroked their feathers.

Finally, in the very center of Rose Square stood a flat, circular stage of some sort, beside a short wooden podium. The mayor stood whispering to a group of others she didn't recognize to the left of the stage, and Claire almost wished she could hear what they were saying.

Most people Claire saw were Mineral Town villagers that she recognized by now without effort, though there were others in the square as well; tourists, she assumed. Though not very busy at all in comparison to the city she grew up in, there was a select amount of tourism to Mineral Town in the summer. The shopkeepers in town, Doug and Kai especially, had to get their business from somewhere, after all.

Claire wandered back toward the booth promoting Kai's Snack Shack. Upon catching sight of her golden head of hair, Kai beamed and beckoned the farmer over with a wave and cheerful greeting.

"Hey, Claire! Nice to see that you made it to the festival!"

She nodded, and Kai turned to lift a slice of pineapple from the grill with his spatula, which he promptly wrapped in a napkin and handed to her.

"Here…you've got to try this! Have you ever had grilled pineapple?"

Claire shook her head before inspecting the pineapple chunk, which bore blackened stripes from its time on the grill and had acquired a sticky, caramelized texture. She bit into the fruit tentatively and a deliciously sweet flavor entered her mouth, tantalizing her taste buds.

"Mmm… Kai, this is really good!"

Kai rolled his eyes and laughed good-naturedly. "Well, duh! I made it!"

He turned back to his grill. "You can help yourself to as much as you want, Claire. No charge!"

Claire shook her head. "No… I couldn't possibly do that."

But Kai merely waved a hand. "C'mon, Claire… We're friends here, right?"

The blonde found herself shaking her head in agreement. "Yeah… we're friends…" Even if you still make me uneasy…

But forget about that. This is a festival… A time to have some fun, relax after a hard morning of farm work… No more worrying for you, missy. And Kai isn't bad at all! In fact, he can be really nice... and rather attractive...

Claire shook her head to rid herself of the strange thoughts that had entered just for the moment.

Ugh… And I really have to stop talking to myself so much… break that habit, Claire.

Shaking her head again, she lifted her hand to accept another slice of grilled pineapple from Kai. Delicious...

After another loop around the festival booths, Claire approached Popuri at the Poultry Farm's stand, intent on purchasing a few chickens. She had acquired a small bit of money from Clementine's milk and a few foraging escapades into the forest, which had produced bunches of wild grapes and jars of honey, as well as a variety of colorful grasses that had some medicinal value.

Popuri jumped up as the blonde girl stepped up to the fence, both hands raised to adjust her headband. She smiled warmly. "Hiya, Claire! How are you liking the festival so far?"

Claire grinned back. "It's pretty nice."

The pink haired chicken farmer nodded in agreement. "Yeah... the Chicken Festival is one of my absolute favorites." She took a step closer, hands clasped behind her back as she teetered on her toes, and a sudden idea struck her. "Hey, you want to come in and say hello to the chickens? I was just about to feed them."

"Um... sure."

Popuri grasped Claire's wrist and led her into the chicken pen, helping the other girl step over the low white fence that enclosed the poultry. The pinkette then raised a fistful of corn kernels from her apron pocket and scattered them across the ground. The chickens immediately began clucking with excitement, and surrounded the two girls in a flurry of feathers in their haste to snatch up as much corn as they could.

Popuri giggled at their eagerness, and called each hen out by name as they scuffled at her feet.

"Hello, Lola! Hello, Phoebe! Hi there, Sunny, Charlotte! Settle down, girlies! There's enough for everyone here!"

Claire hesitantly interrupted her exchanges (though she had always wondered how the pink haired girl managed to remember each individual hen's name, when they all looked virtually the same in appearance). "Do you have chickens for sale? Because I still wanted to buy one, or two… I would have bought them earlier, but…"

She trailed off, unwilling to bring up the event that had prevented her from buying chickens in the first place.

Popuri's eyes narrowed at the memory, and she nodded. "Yupp, of course we have chickens for sale! In fact, most of the chickens we brought over for the festival are ones that Rick was planning on selling. Except the ones he's entering in the contest, of course. Those are his prized chickens… they lay our highest quality eggs!"

Her eyes shone with delight as she continued. "Rick's really hopeful that they might win the Poultry Farm first prize! It'll be hard, though… some great chicken breeders and farmers from nearby towns and villages came in just for the Chicken Festival's contest. Most of them are staying at Doug's Inn for the time being, which is difficult for Doug… I mean, the business is good, but without Ann to help him…" She trailed off with a sullen expression on her face.

Claire broke the moment of uneasy silence with a question. "So... which can I take?"

Popuri shrugged. "It doesn't matter. A number of these chickens don't even have names yet, so you can just choose whichever one you like best and possibly even name her yourself!"

"Umm…" Claire glanced around awkwardly at the hens pecking around her feet, unsure of a likely candidate.

"Any suggestions?"

"Well… go stand over there, I guess," Popuri pointed to the far corner, "and beckon them over, and see which ones come after you first?"

In lack of a better plan, Claire did just that, and after a few seconds of calling "here, chickie chickie chickie," a small, fluffy white chicken caught sight of the blonde and wandered toward her, probably in search of more corn. The farmer grinned and bent to pick up the hen, but the chicken immediately let out a loud squawk and bounded away before she could get her hands on the bird.

"Urgh… this is harder than I thought."

Popuri merely giggled and stepped over toward Claire. "Here, let me help you out…"

With some help from Popuri, Claire managed to snatch up three pure white chickens, which the pinkette placed in a roomy but manageable cage. "Just for the time being, okay, little ones?"

She turned back to Claire. "None of these hens have names, so you can choose their names yourself!"

Claire winced inwardly; she wasn't always the best at naming animals. "How about… um… Rose, Daisy, and… Peach?"

The pink haired girl shrugged. "Sure… sounds cute."

"So... how much will that be?"

Popuri thought for a moment. "...For Rose and Daisy, that will be 1,000G. But... you can take Peach for free."

Claire's eyes widened. "Really?... You're sure?"

"Sure! That's what friends are for, right? I'm sure Mom and Rick won't mind at all; they like you, too."

"Wow... thanks!" As she dug out her wallet, Claire made a mental note to send the Poultry Farm a free basket of vegetables at her earliest convenience. Hopefully they liked tomatoes.

After another half an hour, the Chicken Festival's contest was announced to begin. Mayor Thomas approached the podium, which had been lowered enough to fit his short stature, and lifted the microphone to his mouth.

"Welcome, one and all, to Mineral Town's annual Chicken Festival! I hope that everyone has been enjoying themselves today."

Claire couldn't help but notice how the mayor grinned and chuckled to the crowd as though everything was all fine and dandy in Mineral Town… As if the town hadn't been the site of any odd events. Or violent attacks.

Forget it, Claire... Don't think about that just now.

"The chicken contest will begin in five minutes! Contestants, please ready your prized hens and approach the stage."

An inquiry formed in Claire's mind, and she turned to speak to Popuri, who was standing beside her with one hand enclosed in Kai's, positioned at her other side.

"Who judges the contest?"

Popuri twirled a finger through one of her bouncy pink curls. "Well, Mayor Thomas does… and Rick, if he isn't already entered in the contest. But he's actually doing it this year, so I don't know who else… Maybe Barley? He judges at the Cow and Sheep Festivals... but the mayor probably got some people from the city to do it. You know… chicken specialists."

Claire stared at her, one eyebrow raised incredulously. "Chicken specialists… um, sure."

A snort came from Popuri's other side, and Kai met eyes with Claire, barely suppressing an amused smirk. The farmer grinned and turned back to face the stage, where around six or seven people had gathered with their chickens in their arms, including Rick. Rick held a large white chicken, though some of the other hens on stage were black or chocolate brown. He quickly wiped off his glasses on his apron and surveyed the crowd before him, a determined gleam in his eyes.

The chicken contest was a typical kind of animal contest, where the chickens were judged by a panel on their appearance and behavior. Claire had trouble keeping her eyes open for the duration of the contest; in all honesty, it did not interest her in the slightest. Though the chickens were rather cute, she supposed.

Popuri, on the other hand, was enthralled by the feathery contestants. Both Claire and Kai had no choice but to listen to her excited squeals. "Oh, look how cute they are! Don't you think they're adorable, Kai?"

The tanned young man nodded his head and lifted a hand to stroke Popuri's hair. "Of course, Poppy..."

At the end of the judging, after the contestants had fallen back into the crowd, Mayor Thomas stepped up to his podium once more and adjusted the microphone.

"Ahem… Well, now that the judges are finished with their work, let us begin announcing the winners! ...In third place, Hanna of Harmonica Town!"

Claire turned to watch a woman in a large dress, her blonde hair tied back in a low bun, approach the stage with a cream-colored hen in her arms. Graciously, she accepted a small bronze medal from Mayor Thomas, and he continued on with the announcements.

"In second place… Vaughn of the neighboring Sunshine Islands!"

A silver-haired young man dressed in cowboy attire stepped up to the stage with a black chicken that matched his hat, and wordlessly accepted a medal that matched his hair color perfectly.

"And last, but certainly not least… Our first prize winner for this year's chicken contest… Mineral Town's own Rick, from the Poultry Farm!"

Popuri let out a happily surprised squeal as her brother accepted the gold medal with a grin. Over in the corner, perched on a bench beside the Poultry Farm booth, sat Lillia, who was watching her son proudly. Zack sat next to her in the shade, one hand on hers. Claire couldn't help but feel warmed slightly by the sight.

After the contest announcements, Popuri ran up to her brother and pulled him into a big hug, careful not to squish the chicken in his arms, while Claire followed behind. Kai had mysteriously disappeared, she noted.

"Great job, Bianca!" Popuri cooed at the hen. She scooped the chicken into her arms, beaming. "…And you did well too, Rick."

Popuri then skipped away happily to find Kai, and it was Claire's turn to congratulate Mineral Town's Chicken Festival gold medalist. "Nice job, Rick."

He glanced over at Claire as though in a daze, ruffling his hair with one hand.

"U-Umm… yeah. I mean, thanks, Claire…"

The blonde farmer grinned. "No problem!"

He laughed awkwardly. "Really, though… it was Bianca who won it for us. I just accepted the prize, haha."

Claire smiled. "Well, great job to the both of you!"

Her smile never faded as she helped Rick, Popuri, Lillia, Zack, Harris, and the mayor round up the chickens that evening and bring them back to their coop at the Poultry Farm. And she continued to grin as she waved goodbye to Rick and Popuri and the others, scooped up her own trio of new chickens, and headed back toward Sunshine Farm. She had her own chicken coop to prepare, after all, and other animals that needed feeding, and crops that required additional watering after such a hot summer day.

For once, the mysteries of Mineral Town didn't even enter Claire's mind.

A/N: So yeah... that's about it. If you hadn't noticed, I can really imagine Popuri treating all the Poultry Farm's chickens like her own children, though maybe that's just me. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! And let me know how you feel through a review! Claire might be going on another date in the next chapter… or perhaps not.

-CCM