Gamer To Farmer
Chapter 3: The Goddess Festival
A/N: Wow... I'm speechless! I wasn't expecting so much positive feedback in such a short time. You've all touched my heart with your kindness. I am hoping to end up with at least one hundred reviews by the time I'm done this fic. That'll be at least twenty or so more chapters.
Sorry that I couldn't update this last week. This chapter ended up being a lot longer than I had originally planned it to be. By the time I had it finished, school was over for the week. So I had to wait till Monday. I hope the wait was worth it.
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My alarm brought me jumping to my feet. I ripped the date off the calendar as I passed it on my way to the food on the table. I had stayed up all night one day, to discover who made me this food every day. I ended up catching Chef, the red Harvest Sprite, in the act. He told me that it was the least he could do for how well my Grandfather had treated him and the other sprites. Today was the seventh of Spring, making it my seven days I've spent in Mineral Town.
The first couple days of my residency in Mineral Town were spent clearing that horrid field. Right off the bat I cleared enough room next to the shipping bin to grow the turnips that I had purchased from Jeff. I had four plots of the things just about ready to be picked and sent for profit.
I had taken my axe and hammer throughout the field, smashing every twig and stone that crossed my path. It felt good to pummel something into oblivion. I must have had some excess hatred for my family left. Every once and a while Gotz would stop by to make sure I was still intact, physically and mentally. Must have been the maniacal laugh I made every time I made a rock shatter.
About half the field had been cleared of weeds. I felt proud about the amount of work I had accomplished in only five short days. It was actually a lot more fun than I had dreaded it to be.
I finished the food laid out before me and turned on the TV. The news flashed before by eyes. The reporter was in an extremely good mood, "The Goddess Festival will be held in Mineral Town tomorrow."
I flicked off the TV. I had been so busy around the farm that I had forgotten to even introduce myself to any of the girls. In fact, I hadn't even met most of the villagers. I knew a couple, merely as acquaintances, but none as a friend. This had me a little worried.
My trip to meet girls started at seven AM. I had to make sure that my crops were well watered before heading up Mother's Hill. Gotz had told me that most of the girls in the town were suckers for flowers, which happened to be my specialty. Maybe not a specialty, but an only method, none the less.
I remembered from the game that there was a clearing near the top of the hill. There was always an abundance of flowers in that area. The climb wasn't as easy as it was in the game. By the time I reached the clearing I was crawling on my hands and knees up the final bit. I needed a rest, so I leaned up against the tree.
Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep. The climb had taken more out of me than expected. The next thing I knew a voice jolted me awake. I looked around. Finding nobody, I went back to my nap. This time the voice was much louder and menacing. "Why are you leaning against me? Are you trying to push me over?"
I bolted to my feet. It was the tree that was talking to me. "Get away from me you possessed tree!" I yelled as I pulled out my axe. I was about to take a swing at the demon plant when it stopped me. "Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. If you don't cut me down, I'll give you a power berry."
A red berry dropped from the branches into the patch of flowers. I watched the berry roll to a stop before focusing on the tree again. A grin crossed my face as I wound up, ready to take a swing. Before I knew it, a branch snapped out from the tree and knocked the axe out of my hands. I backed away slowly, holding my hands out in the peace sign.
I recollected my axe and picked up the power berry. With one swift motion I tossed the fruit into my awaiting mouth. A rush of energy swept through my body. I felt like I could do anything.
A beep from my watch told me that it was 8:00. I needed to speed myself up if I was to meet a girl and convince her to take me as her date to the Goddess Festival. I bent over, grabbing a bunch of flowers and booking it down the hill. I was in such a hurry that I didn't notice the tiny pebble sticking out of the path. Amid the descending dust cloud, I was quite graceful.
"Ugh..." I muttered once I stopped rolling. At least I was only physically injured. I heard giggling above me. My eye barely peaked open, spotting a pink haired girl and a redhead. "I meant to do that!" I lied, trying to manage a smile. The girls laughed and continued on their walk from the hot springs. Strike two possible candidates from my list and subtract what little pride I held.
After picking myself, and my dignity, off the ground I proceeded back to my farm. Homer ran up beside me as I crossed the little bridge. I swear from the look in his eyes that he would burst out laughing any second. After cleaning myself up at the little pond I proceeded into town.
I tried to remember Mayor Thomas' tour of the town. He had told me that there were five available girls in town. The two that I had embarrassed myself in front of were Ann and Popuri, if my memory served me correctly. After that fall, I wouldn't be too sure of that.
The next girl on my list was the librarian. I didn't know much more about her than this little tidbit of information. I walked along the pathway not too sure of myself. It had been a lifelong friendship with Mage and even then it had taken tragedy to push us together. I stopped before the library door to compose myself before pushing it open.
"Hello. Feel free to look around for as long as you like." The black haired girl behind the counter greeted me as I walked in.
"Not bad." I thought to myself as I quickly gave her a look over. She must have noticed that I was checking her out because she turned a deep shade of red. "I think I found what I was looking for." I told her in my sweetest possible voice presenting her with some of the flowers that I had picked earlier.
"Why, thank you." She was really blushing now. "I, I... I don't believe that we've met before."
"I'm sure that I would have remembered such a pretty lady." I turned the charm up another notch. In truth I was sickening myself. I hated it when guys tried to brown nose their way into the heart of a woman. But, I was somewhat desperate.
She tried to hide her face from me so that I wouldn't see how much she was blushing. "My name is Mary." She revealed.
"Pleasure to meet you Mary. I'm Tint from Mage's Farm." I introduced myself.
"Oh, you're from the farm!" Mary was really interested in this fact. "How do you like it here in Mineral Town?"
The question caught me off guard. I hadn't expected to be the one doing any answering. "It's quite beautiful here. I like it a lot." I answered truthfully.
"Your right, it has to be the most gorgeous place on Earth. It's a shame that they're going to tear this all down in a couple of years." I could see a tear forming in the corner of her eye.
Time for the hero act. "Not if I can help it."
"Really! You can do something to stop them?" I must have filled her with a sense of hope that she had lost.
"Yup, they agreed that if I met a goal of theirs in three years, they'll leave the town alone." I stated with a sense of pride.
"Thank you! I had thought that the town was doomed no matter what." Mary came out from behind the counter. The next thing I knew, her arms were wrapped around me in a warm embrace. It was my turn to blush.
Here was my chance to ask her. "Mary, I was wondering, if you aren't going to the Goddess Festival with someone, do you want to go with me?"
"Oh... Um... How do I say this? Sorry Tint, but I'm already promised to go with someone else." Mary apologized as she released me from her grasp.
Inside, I was cursing at how close I had gotten. Outside, I remained cool. "No problem." I said, searching my mind for some reason to get me out of the situation. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you later. I need to run some more errands today." With that, I made my exit.
I remembered from Thomas that Jeff had a daughter. So, I decided to pop into the Supermarket to see if she was around. I was disappointed to find out that she had gone to visit Rick from the Poultry Farm. I left the store and plopped down on the bench beside the mailbox.
It was shortly after ten. So far my quest had turned up fruitless. The Mayor had said that a girl worked at the clinic as a nurse. If I wanted to meet her, I would need to come to terms with Mage's death and my fear of hospitals. It was a little too early to do that.
So, my next choice was Ann from the Inn. I got up from the bench and made my way towards the large building in the center of town. Once there, I went inside. I nearly ended up running into Ann as she carried a tray of food out the door. "Sorry about that. I'm just on my way to deliver this food to Pastor Carter. I'll be back in a short while, 'till then, take a seat."
Just as I was about to take a seat a voice called to me from the bar. "Hey there, can you come over here for a bit?" A man with a red beard beckoned for me to come over. I obliged and sat on a stool at the bar. "You must be the new guy, Tint. I'm Doug, the owner of this Inn. That girl that you almost ran into was my daughter, Ann. What do you think of her?"
I thought my reply over quickly. She was a bit of a tomboy, but I always had a liking for redheads. "She's sort of cute." I answered truthfully.
"Good to hear that!" Doug proclaimed. The next thing I knew, there was a plate in front of me, with a piece of pie on it. "Thanks." I said as I dug in.
After I was done, I pulled out my wallet to pay but was stopped by Doug. "Don't bother with that. I think I know why you came here."
"Oh, and what would that be?" I asked, trying to remain innocent.
"You came to ask my daughter to the Goddess Festival, right?" Doug stated. I nodded my head, uncertain if it was a good thing to do so. "Great! She's been waiting for a guy to ask her, but none of the guys around here seem interested."
"Good. Now all I have to do is make a good impression and I'll have a date!" My thoughts were interrupted as Ann returned from her delivery. She didn't even notice me as she headed straight to the sink behind the counter. "Dad, you'll never guess who I ran into at the church when I brought Carter his lunch." She tossed the empty tray into the sink and turned to face her father.
"I don't know. Who?" Doug asked, seemingly uninterested.
"It was Cliff. You know, the guy staying here. Well, he's been there every day this week. I think something may be wrong with him." Ann said concerned.
"Don't worry about him. He's just a little lonely, that's all." Doug looked over at me. "Have you met Tint yet?"
Ann recognized me for the first time since she had returned. "Aren't you the guy who fell down Mother's Hill this morning?"
I blushed. I had hoped that she had forgotten about the entire thing. "Yeah, that was me."
"I am so sorry that Popuri and I laughed at you. We aren't used to seeing someone take that much of a fall. Were you hurt?" Ann asks considerately.
I held up my arm, pointing to a couple of scrapes and bruises. "Nothing more than minor flesh wounds." I said proudly showing my battle scars.
"That looks painful. Let me get you a cold compress for you." Ann went into the back room. Doug gave me a wink and whispered, "Keep it up. She loves taking care of people."
I felt a little uncomfortable flirting with Ann with her father standing right next to us, watching every move I made. Ann came rushing back into the main room, holding a bag of ice. She sat down beside me and ordered me to hold out my arm. I did as she asked, awaiting the cold sting of the ice. I drew in a sharp breath as the ice met my gravel burns. Ann looked up at me with a smile. "You don't need to prove how manly you are to me."
I honestly felt like bursting out in tears and screaming in pain. The cuts hadn't hurt that much earlier in the day. Maybe it was my body's way of screwing with me. Ann was just finishing icing the last of my cuts when the noon crowd started to stream in through the doors.
Ann made her way to great the new guests but Doug stopped her. "Ann, I believe Tint here has a question for you." Ann turned around and gave me a surprised look. Talk about pressure.
I cleared my voice before asking, "Since tomorrow is the Goddess Festival, I was wondering if I could be your date for the event."
Ann blushed. "I would accept your offer, but, Cliff asked me when I went to the church earlier. I already told him that I would go with him. Sorry Tint."
Score a second strikeout to the tally. Twice rejected in one day. I stood up, looking over the markings on my arm. "Don't apologize. If I had learned about the festival earlier I would have been more prepared. Well, see you two later."
I decided to head on home to check up on the farm. Homer might have found a way into my wine cabinet... again. I walked out of the Inn and headed to the town square. The Mayor was at the bulletin board. "How's everything going, Tint?" He asked in his usual friendly manner.
"Pretty good," I replied, "Just having a little trouble finding a date for tomorrow's festival."
"Ah, I see. I feel somewhat sorry for the young fellows around here. There are six of you guys and only five girls. You might want to try Popuri. She should be available. The guy that she's interested in doesn't show up until summer." The Mayor suggested.
I thanked him for his advice and made my way to the Poultry Farm. Since I was headed home and it was on the way, I could stop by. I checked my rucksack, making sure that I had some flowers left. I was making my way along the dirt path when I heard yelling coming from the Poultry Farm. "I hate you Rick!" Popuri yelled as she stormed into the woods at the base of Mother's Hill.
A young man about my age followed after Popuri. "Come back here, this instant!" He yelled after the fleeing pink haired girl. He let out a sigh as he watched her disappear.
When he noticed that I had been watching he asked, "Did you see the entire thing?" I nodded my head in response. "Then can you do me a favor? Can you go find my sister and apologize for me? She won't listen to me."
"Sure thing." I said as I made my way down into the woods. The tranquility of the forest was broken by the occasional sob coming from the hot springs. I silently made my way up the stairs and into the little clearing by the springs. I saw Popuri sitting at the edge of the small pond, staring intently at the clear water.
"Are you ok?" I asked as I sat down beside her.
"I... snivel Sorry about this. It's just that snivel I forgot to lock the chicken coop and snivel some wild dogs got in and snivel killed one of the chickens." Popuri tried her hardest to hold back the tears, but wasn't doing a very good job.
"It's not your fault." I said as I pulled out the flowers that I had collected and held them in front of Popuri. She wiped away the tears from her eyes. A smile replaced the tears as she clutched the flowers tightly. "Thank you." She whispered.
"Do you feel any better?" I asked as she cuddled closer to me.
"Yes, thank you. Do you want to walk me home?" Popuri asked sweetly as she climbed to her feet.
"Sure thing!" I smiled as I got to my feet. "This is going perfectly!"
The walk took less time than I had expected. Before I knew it, we were standing in front of her door. "Thanks for cheering me up." She whispered into my ear as she hugged me.
"No biggie. Do you need someone to accompany you to the Goddess Festival tomorrow?" I asked hopefully. I was sure that after cheering her up she would say yes.
Popuri let go of me and backed away. I knew then that she was going to say no. "You haven't found a date to the Goddess Festival yet? If I had known earlier I would have gone with you instead of accepting Barley's offer. Sorry."
"Ouch. The old guy who ran the Yodel Ranch had gotten preference over me?" That's what happens when you spend too much time farming and not enough time making friends. I bid farewell to Popuri and headed back home.
The rest of the day went by quite quickly. Before I knew it the sun was nearly set. Zach had stopped by and dropped off a few hundred gold from the day's foraging. I had spent the remainder of the day pulling up weeds as I felt sorry for myself. "It's a good time for a drink." I told myself as I headed into town.
The Inn was surprisingly empty for the time of day. I looked around and saw only three people inside other than Ann and Doug. Then I noticed the dirty blond haired girl at the bar. I decided to make one last attempt before the day was over.
I sat down on the stool beside the girl. "Two beers." I called out to Doug. Doug gave me a nod and filled two glasses. He set the glasses down in front of me before returning to the other customers. "Thanks for the drink." The girl beside me said.
"What! I bought these both for myself! Oh, wait. This might work to my advantage." "Your welcome." I said with a smile as I pushed one glass in front of her. To my surprise she took the glass and downed it in one gulp. Cue the little devil on my shoulder.
The girl looked at me for the first time since I sat down. I was captivated by her emerald green eyes as they locked onto mine. "You must be Tint." She stated flatly as she bored a hole through my head.
"And you must be Karen." I replied, nervously trying to break her gaze. It was my turn to down my drink. No, this wasn't my first drink; I was a Canadian after all.
"You're a good kid." Karen said as I set the glass down. "The fact that I could down a drink in one shot must impress her." I thought as I ordered another round.
"I didn't really expect this." I told her as she chugged the beer the second it hit the table.
"I'm not your average girl." She told me.
Half an hour later, Doug was refusing to serve us any more alcohol. I have no idea why. Maybe it was the fact that I was nearly falling off the stool. But that was probably just my imagination. I didn't remember anything else after that.
My eyes flickered open. I must have gone home sometime during the night, because I was lying in my own bed. My head really hurt. I tried to roll over, but for some reason I couldn't. There was someone lying on top of me under the covers!
"Oh my Goddess! Did I bring Karen home with me?" I nervously lifted up the sheets and looked down. Staring up at me was a pair of beady black eyes. "It's only you, Homer." I let out a relieved sigh. I didn't know why I was relieved. Maybe I just didn't want my first time to be the result of drunken confusion.
I pushed Homer off of my legs and rolled over. "I overslept!" I shouted as I jumped to my feet. It was already 8:00. I quickly downed the breakfast and headed out the door. My turnips were ready for shipping so I picked them and tossed them into the shipping bin.
By the time I got to the Town Square the festival was just about to begin. Doug noticed me and made his way through the crowd over to me. "What does he want?" I asked myself as he approached. My head hurt a little too much to talk to anyone.
"How you doing, Tint?" Doug asked. He seemed to be staring at my face oddly.
"A little hung over, but other than that, I'm good." I replied, wincing at my own voice.
"No physical bruises or anything like that?" That was an odd question.
"No, why do you ask?" I asked.
Doug pulled out a small mirror and handed it to me. I took the mirror and looked at myself. There was a large red handprint across the right side of my face. "Ouch." I grimaced at the sight. "Where'd I get this from?" I inquired.
"Don't know exactly how, but I know that you must've said something to Karen that she didn't like. She wound up and nailed you real good. You were knocked out cold. So me and a couple of guys carried you home."
"Thanks." I looked around the square. The three girls that I knew had rejected me were gathered in the far corner, practicing some last minute moves. They all looked gorgeous in their pink Goddess dresses. A hand reached over my shoulder and turned me around. "Looking for me?" Karen asked. She was stunning in her dress.
"Yes, I was. You here alone?" I might still have a chance to get a date for the day.
"No, I came with Rick." Karen pointed to Rick, who glared jealously at me and Karen. Looks like I end up single.
"About last night..." I began to apologize.
Karen put a finger to my lips. "Don't mention it. I got too drunk to remember any of it. Whatever happened we will forget about, ok?"
"Friends?" I asked as I extended a hand.
"Friends or at least drinking buddies." Karen said before kissing me on the cheek and heading back to Rick.
Doug was still standing beside me. "Player." He commented before walking over to some of the other adults. "Player. I like that." I thought with a smile.
Mayor Thomas moved into the center of the square and raised his voice so that everybody could hear. "We are almost ready to begin the Goddess Festival. But we have one small problem. Has anybody seen Elli today?"
The crowd began to murmur to each other. They must have been worried. I made my way to the edge of the square and lifted myself onto the ledge surrounding the place. There was a shaded tree that overlooked the square. After making sure that it wouldn't beat me up I lay down against the tree.
The crowd had grown silent. In the distance I could hear a couple of sets of rushed footsteps make their way towards the square. "Hurry up Elli! We're late!" A little boy called behind him as he made his way into the square. "I'm coming, Stu!"
"Mage!" My mind screamed as I sat up in amazement as I watched the beautiful brunette straighten her dress before joining the other girls. The crowd let out a relieved sigh. I could feel my heart speed up as the girls started dancing to some music. This new girl, Elli was surprisingly graceful as she fluttered across the square with ease. With every twirl I caught a glimpse of her beautiful brown eyes that held the most compelling shimmer that I've ever seen. The resemblance between her and Mage was undeniable.
Before I knew it the dance was over. The townspeople had gathered around the girls to offer congratulations. I made my way through the crowd, hoping to get a chance to meet Elli. By the time I made it to the front, she was gone. The sun was setting as I walked my lonely self back home. Tomorrow, I would go meet her.
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A/N: There you go. I hope nobody is upset with the way I portrayed any of the girls or if Tint came off as too much as a jerk. Thanks for reading and please review. Expect the next chapter Wednesday. Tint out.