Chapter 26: A Rivalry Blossoms

Sunday, April 5

As Pierre had suggested a few days ago, Tortimer caught me early on the fifth and asked if I would get a villager or two to put up decorations in honor of the fruit trees blooming. They were full of round buds, a few flowers opening early. After a few days of rain, the sun was bright and warm, hinting at a beautiful day. I was sure that most of them would be happy to help. Definitely Fang, Puddles, or Dora. I wasn't sure if Eloise would help, as she hadn't shown up to the town party last night. However, I decided to take a bit of a chance. I sent Pete to send my requests for help to Goose and Snake.

Goose came fairly quickly, so I explained to him what needed to happen. "We've got these poles for flags and wind streamers," I said, tapping one of the poles I had lying on the ground. "But Tortimer said that the flags and streamers wouldn't go on directly like most items; we have to thread them onto the line here, and then pull the pole up to sit in the bases that can be turned from leaves into the ground."

"Huh, and they look pretty hefty for poles too," Goose said. Not only that, but the poles were twelve to twenty feet tall, not that easy for a single person to get up. "Well I'm not much of a weight lifter, but I can give you a wing in help."

"Thanks," I said, although I wondered where Snake was. Maybe he would see Goose helping me and decide not to help. I hoped not. "Okay, I'll get out some of the streamers; there's a whole bunch of them, but Tortimer said to put lots on every pole."

"Right, they look so awesome waving in the wind!"

We put a large carp streamer on the flagpole, as well as many thinner ribbon-like flags. Once the rope and flags were secure, I stood at the halfway point of the pole to lift it while Goose got the end to place in the base. The weight of it reminded me of doing yard work and other manual labor in the normal realm. Most tasks here in Animal Crossing, like digging holes and chopping trees, were easier to do thanks to the way things worked. These flagpoles, however, might just be as much work as something similar back there. Thankfully, it was for a special occasion, not something that would be done often.

"Could you back up a little?" Goose asked me, kneeling and trying to keep a good grip on his end of things. "That should get it."

"All right," I said, taking a step away. I could already feel a strain on my arm muscles even though it had only been half a minute moving this pole.

Then a good portion of the weight was taken off me. "You're going to leave this part to a lady alone?" Snake asked.

Goose frowned. "Hey, either part of this is a lot of work."

"At least I'm not doing this alone," I said with a smile. "Thanks guys."

Between the three of us, it wasn't hard to walk the pole up to stand in its base. "How many of these things do you have to put up?" Snake asked me, giving a push to the flagpole to make sure it wasn't going to move.

"Nineteen more," I said. "Are you going to help too?"

"Sure thing," he said.

Thankfully neither of them were petty enough to stop helping because the other was there. For the first few poles, though, it was an uneasy quiet. But something had to get the two of them talking, so that it wasn't always hostile when the two met. "If we had some extra rope and a pulley, this might be easier," I said as we got flags on the fourth pole.

"Nah, that's just more steps," Goose said.

"It might be more efficient," Snake said, twitching his ears. "But then it's also more efficient to stand while lifting by using your knees. Also, time when you change how much strength you put into it so that you're breathing out at the same moment."

"I'll give that a try," I said.

"That's a silly thing to believe," the rooster said.

Snake shook his head. "Nope. It keeps your body in sync. That and using your knees causes less strain than lifting with your back."

"I know about that, buh-kay," Goose said, sliding some flag ribbons down. "But watching your breathing to do stuff? That's silly."

"Not really," I said. "Breathing right keeps your blood energized, and energized blood will keep the rest of your body working right. It's probably something more in-depth than that with science, but it's basically how the body works."

Goose put his wing to his beak, thinking. "But you don't have to think about breathing most of the time. It seems like unneeded effort... oh now you have me noticing when I breathe."

"You're welcome," Snake said playfully.

"Hey!" Goose said, but there was a glint in his eyes like he was having fun.

Snake tied up the rope, now that we had enough flags on this one. "But seriously, it's a part of total body fitness. If you want to be really fit, you make sure your whole body works well together."

"I just want to be fast, so I focus on keeping my legs strong," Goose said. "Sometimes I tie sandbags to my ankles and run around that way. Make sure those muscles are big and strong!"

I tried not to laugh at that, since as a chicken, he naturally had slim legs and feet.

On the other hand, Snake wasn't impressed with the idea. "It won't help to do that, bunyip," he said. "Sure, you might make your leg muscles big, but if your heart and lungs aren't strong, then the extra leg power will be wasted. And if you let another part of your body, like your wings, get weak, then your whole body has to do extra work trying to keep things balanced. On the other paw, if you improve your whole body, it all works together better and you can do everything better."

"Including running?" Goose asked.

"Especially that," he said.

"Is that how you move around so fast, buh-kay?" he asked, curious.

Snake smiled slowly. "It is a big part of it. But not all, definitely not all."

"Sorry for interrupting, but could we get this up?" I asked, putting my hands on the middle of the pole.

"Oh yeah, gotcha," Goose said.

"Sure thing."

We got the pole up, which meant that we were a quarter of the way done. The two guys were still energetic, so we headed on to find a place to set up the next one. "How else do you move around so fast?" Goose asked as we walked along the dirt path.

"Haven't you been watching me?" Snake asked.

"Yeah, but I don't see anything out of the ordinary in what you do."

Then the rabbit raised an eyebrow. "What, you have been spying on me? That's kind of creepy."

I gave a snort of laughter at that, unable to help myself. "Wha-HEY!" Goose responded, glowering at him. "That's not what I meant. I'm trying to figure you out so I can beat you."

"But you have," Snake said. "Not always, but you have."

"Would you say that he's faster than you when you can't use ninja trickery?" I asked. He gave me a curious look, so I tried to reassure him with a smile and a nod towards Goose.

With that in mind, Snake put a hand on his chin. "Hmm... I'd have to say yes. I admit, I admire that he can run that fast with that body shape."

Goose frowned, then seemed uncertain. "Is that... a compliment or an insult?"

Snake waved a paw. "Whichever you want it to be. But maybe I have been a little unfair in this exchange, so I'll let you in on a hint." He spread his arms out in front of him. "The fastest way between two points," he clapped his hands together, "is straight. No matter what you have to do to keep going straight."

"Well yeah, but..." he sounded puzzled now. "what about the cliff, and the trees, and the buildings?"

Laughing, Snake said, "No matter what you have to do. Run straight. But in order to know any deeper than that, you'd have to become a ninja too. So what do you say? What to be my apprentice?"

"No way!" Goose said. "I'll figure it out on my own, without trickery. I'll be the best natural runner ever!" Then he made a fist with his wing and punched it in the air.

"I'll be watching," Snake said in a creepy kind of way. Then we all burst into laughter. Maybe they wouldn't be friends. But friendly rivals? We could deal with that.

Monday, April 6

The very next day, many of the flowers on the fruit trees were in bloom. White, pink, peach, and yellow, all delicate little flowers with incredible scents. Throughout the town, the colorful fish flags were full, waving in the steady breeze. Even the great Yggdrasil seemed to be in bloom, although its blossoms were so high above that it was difficult to tell other than speckles of color among its lively green leaves. It was a beautiful sight, raising my spirits.

Shortly after lunch time, I headed out to stroll around town and see if any of the others wanted help, even just someone to talk to. I wore the pink daisy dress from my first day here, since it seemed appropriate. While I was in the lower part of town, I came across Fang and Puddles at a cluster of cosmos and clover. "I'm sorry, sweet Fang, but I'm afraid that we can't continue like this for much longer," Puddles said in a melodramatic manner, keeping a paw over her heart. "We keep dragging this out, but we aren't growing any younger."

"Say what?" Fang asked, only mildly irritated.

She held her arm out to him. "If you would just dance with me, I might be convinced to try a little longer,. But my heart..."

"Good grief, no way, cha-chomp!" His ears lowered.

Then Puddles put her hands on her hips. "Aw, come on, play along with me! It'll be like the movies, but in real life!"

Fang shook his head. "No, love isn't something you play at. Love is a beautiful thing, I've seen it. But people like you who take it too frivolously make it so cheap."

"I'm not being frivolous! I'm being romantic." She stamped a foot down. "Well fine then, I won't be your girlfriend! Our love could've been a great thing, but you're being such a stuck in the mud. I'm not going to put up with that any longer! Humph, goodbye." She then ran off.

And ended up running by me. "Puddles?" I asked, wondering how she really felt.

"Oh, hiii Nadia!" she said, pausing and giving me a big smile. "Whatcha doing, splish?"

"Just walking around, I said. "What are you doing?"

She winked and put a finger by her lips. "Shh, I'm trying to make him chase me now. Haha, he can't resist." Then she ran off again.

It was hard to get her to see things seriously. In fact, I wasn't sure how well I could get her to acknowledge that fact. In the meanwhile, I walked over towards Fang, who was standing amid the cosmos and thinking. "Good afternoon, Fang."

Looking over to make sure that it wasn't Puddles, he nodded. "Afternoon, Nadia. I'm not sure how good it is... did you see that?"

"With Puddles? I think I only saw the last bit of it."

Briefly, he held his ears back again. "Every time I try to convince her to give it up, she laughs it off. And if I ignore her, she tries harder. I don't want to play around with her either, since that would just encourage her."

I nodded. "She didn't actually seem upset, but it's hard to tell with her. This might just be part of the game to her."

"Well if it means that she'll leave me alone for a while, I can deal with that part." He rubbed his head. "Nadia the swan was a bit like that, but she wasn't half as annoying as Puddles. Not even a quarter! I don't really want to move out just because of one animal, but if I can't shake her, she might drive me to that."

"I wouldn't blame you if you did," I said. "But you'd come back for the Flower Festival at least, right? And write."

He nodded. "Of course. Wouldn't miss that for anything. Anyhow, it's not like I'm seriously considering moving. But, it's there as an option."

I heard the whistle of the train, so I checked my watch. It read 1:10 PM. "I'm expecting some new residents, so that might be them," I told Fang.

"Residents, uh? I wonder if I know any of them." He grinned toothily. "Want to go meet with them?"

"Sure, if it is them." So we headed towards the ramp behind Nookway and to the station up there.

It didn't take long for us to hear a boisterous voice through the trees. Past a few trees, I recognized a large orange and black tiger that I had seen before: Rowan, one who had come visiting, probably scouting the town as a potential place to move. With him was a tall bear that seemed to be his wife: she had white and blue fur and wore a long green gingham dress with a floppy straw hat and sandals. Two young animals were with them, the taller one only coming up to her parents' waists. She was a koala with tan fur and a red luau dress; a hibiscus flower was clipped on near her right ear. The other child seemed to be a dog, but it was hard to tell under all the bandages wrapped around his body. Two dark brown floppy ears hung out of the bandages on his head; over his bandages he wore a large yellow shirt with the number '3' on it. They were standing near the map, discussing the town layout.

"Hello!" I called, waving over to the family. "Glad to see you all here."

The koala girl looked at me curiously while the dog boy (or should I think of him as a puppy?) came right up to me. "Oh, hello there," the bear said cheerfully. "You must be that human anchor."

I nodded. "Right. I'm Nadia, and this is one of the others who lives here, Fang."

Although I had worried and wondered how he would take it, Fang gave a warmer less toothy smile to the family. "Hello."

"Good to see you again," Rowan bellowed (as he had before), coming over and clasping my hand for a handshake. "And to meet a new neighbor already, great spirit champ!" He clapped Fang on the shoulder and nearly knocked him over. At that moment, I couldn't help but think it would have been a big help to have him here yesterday. He would have gotten the flagpoles up by himself in a third of the time me, Goose, and Snake had taken. "Thanks for letting us move in here. This here's my adorable wife, Bluebear."

"Good to meet you," Bluebear said, shaking my hand as well.

"Good to meet you too," I said, then gently patted the boy who had come right up to me. He took my hand and began examining it as if it was entirely new.

"That's our boy Lucky there," Rowan said. "Quiet lad, but he has a big heart. And the young lady here is Alice."

Alice stayed back a little, looking over us as if unsure about us. "Hello," she said, giving a small bow.

"Hello," I said, being friendly. "It's good to meet you all. Do you need any help with moving in today?"

"No, we should be fine," Rowan said. "Might even enjoy the blossoms for a while before getting down to work. It's a lovely day here."

"Oh, but I need to know, where's the town library?" Bluebear asked.

I pointed down to the lower level. "It's in the town hall, down this path and across the bridge. It'll be to the right once you get inside."

She nodded. "Good, good, that's convenient. Well kids, it's a little late here for it, but want to find a place to have our picnic?"

"We've got to go to the hill for that," Rowan said. "Well folks, see you around."

"See you," Fang said, nodding. "Just ask if you want help later."

Lucky smiled and ran after his father, who started to lead the way. Bluebear and Alice walked after them. "They seem pretty happy," I said. "I hope the others accept them."

"Nobody should have a problem with kids," Fang said.

I shrugged. "Well sometimes there are people uptight like that. Especially those who don't like disruptions." Thinking on that, I wondered if Eloise would be okay with them, since she had said she was looking for a quiet place to settle. I had a feeling that Pecan wouldn't have liked them, although she might tolerate the kids.

Saturday, April 11

It was a beautiful week, with nearly everyone was out admiring the trees. Everything looked and smelled fresh and full of life, much different than the fading autumn I had arrived to. Puddles was still trying to get Fang's attention by ignoring and stalking him at the same time, but that just made him relieved that she wasn't talking to him. To my relief, everyone in Verdant accepted Rowan's family, and the four of them were quick to involve themselves in town. In fact, Bluebear started helping me with picking weeds; on some days, I didn't even see one. The one argument I saw all week was actually Snake and Goose teasing each other. Snake was trying to get Goose to climb trees for exercise while Goose taunted him to come down to earth for a race.

However, it did worry me that I still hadn't seen much of Eloise. She did come to the weekly party, which was nice. We held it outside, even though the flower petals were filling the air like a delicate scented snowfall. Interestingly, Brewster came prepared for even that by pulling out a covered cart that held all of his brewing supplies, so that anyone who still wanted his wonderful drinks could enjoy them outside. But we had to resort to using various umbrellas to cover the snack table.

I saw the elephant sitting in a Ranch Chair to the side, nibbling on one of the caramel bird nest desserts that I had brought. "Hello!" I said to her. "What've you been up to?"

She gave me a polite nod. "Not much. But after the hectic activity that went on in my last town, it's forgivable."

"Heeeey, splish!" Puddles said, dashing over to us. "Whoa, are you the person who lives in that house in the middle of town?"

Eloise pointed to the south where the pink roof was visible. "That place? Yes, it's mine."

Wiping off her brow, she said, "Phew, I'm glad someone is in there! For a while there, I kept seeing movement in the windows but nobody ever came out. I thought it was haunted!" She shivered.

The yellow elephant raised an eyebrow at that. "Is that so? Well have no fear. My place is not haunted."

"That's good to know," I said, trying not to laugh too much. "This is Puddles, by the way. And this is Eloise."

At that, Puddles' eyes went wide. "Wait, what, really? The Eloise, Pretty Star Eloise? That's so cool!"

"Yes, that's me," she said, as if it wasn't all that important. "Or was, more accurately. I'm out of that business for now. Nadia, did you make these? They're quite charming and tasty."

I nodded. "Yes, it's something I used to make a lot around this time of year. And since Easter is tomorrow, it was easy to find the egg candies for them."

"So it is fitting of the season."

Puddles looked at us, puzzled. "Hey, how can you not be excited to talk about being a music and movie star, huh? I went with some friends to one of your concerts about a year ago and it was awesome!"

Eloise shrugged. "That's good to hear. But my life has been a big drama and I don't need to share it with anyone else at this time. I'd rather not have the drama brought here, if you don't mind."

"Awww, but real life drama is fun! You ought to hear about the wild tale of romance I've been playing in since I moved in to Verdant."

I had to smile at that. "It's a wild tale because you refuse to let it be otherwise no matter how much he tries to not be a part of it."

"He'll come around someday," Puddles said, still confident.

"You would have to make drama if there's not any around you, toots," Eloise said.

That got Puddles mad. "What, are you trying to say that I'm being fake?"

"Well," Eloise said, then looked at something passing by us. It looked like a life-sized doll of a fireman, complete with a bright yellow coat, a smoke mask helmet, and a fake axe. Lucky was dragging it along after him with a short piece of rope and roller skates on the fireman statue-doll's boots. "Hello, who's this handsome fellow?" Eloise said playfully.

Lucky looked over at us, then bashfully pulled his fireman closer and put his paws to cover his face. From nearby, Alice noticed us and groaned. "Luuucky, did you have to bring Steve to the party?" This got the pup to hurry over to his sister, dragging his fireman along.

Eloise chuckled. "My, children do the most unexpected things. It would be interesting to hear him speak."

"They call it Steve?" I wondered aloud. It seemed like an odd choice for a toy. But maybe it was an imaginary friend of sorts, like my daughter had been with her dolls. The thought of that made me smile and wonder what would come around next.

The Cherry Blossom Festival is really pretty in this game. Actually, I can't remember or find when those flagpoles went up in the Gamecube game. I know it was sometime in the spring, but I'm not sure if it was just during the cherry blossoms, April, or May. I haven't seen that particular landscape feature much, but it is quite nice.

Lucky's fireman statue is not actually an object, as far as I know. However, I do know that there is an astronaut and a diver statue which can be put in your house! They look kind of weird.

Of the new villagers, I've had Eloise from time to time, as well as Bluebear and Lucky (Lucky's currently in my active game). I've not had Rowan, though. As for Alice, I had her way back on my first game on the Gamecube. She was one of the first villagers I really got attached to, so luckily she was an islander who never moved. Unlike some of my other favorites that I've had to be watchful to keep around (like Bob, Mitzi, and Coco).