On Our Own
written by Shaun Garin
Harvest Moon Back to Nature and Save the Homeland is owned by Natsume Entertainment. This is my take on Save the Homeland and Back to Nature, which, in my opinion is a very good game, but could have slowed down the passing of time and extended the length of time you need to conceivably save the whole freaking town. Rated E for Everyone, Use of Alcohol and mild language.
I hold characterization nothing but sacred. I try to portray the personalities true to both games as best as possible.
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Chapter 4 : Space Change
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A week and half passed by, and I was getting anxious. I suppose it was just nerves now that I think about it. Or maybe just the fact that the others had discovered things that could help the Homeland while I toiled at the farm most of the time.
Four days ago, Karen came back with the idea of the Cake Contest. She and Katie had been tirelessly working for three days straight, trying to make a passable cake, AND to get the chickens and cows happy enough to produce Golden Milk. I admit, doing it the old fashioned way without getting a special feed for the cows and chickens after winning a Festival was much harder. It was also hard on everyone's stomach as Karen and Katie aren't exactly the world's best cooks. Katie is passable. With Karen in the kitchen, it was a near disaster zone. We try to minimize the tasters to me and Rick. Rick's used to it and myself? I have an iron stomach.
We had called Harris at my old home, and found out that the cow and chicken that produced the Golden produce had died several days after I had left. They were old, as attributing to buying them the first day I was there. I suppose, it was about that time. But damn, did it make it hard to get things done around here.
I had a cellular phone for just such an occasion, brought from my home in Flowerbed City and it was our major link to Mineral Town. We had gotten a call a day ago from Mayor Thomas who had told us that a girl named Nami had moved into Mineral Town on a journey towards Forget-Me-Not Valley. She was currently staying at Doug's Inn and was something of a worldly traveller, much like Cliff was. I briefly wondered how a girl her age would get along with the older folks of Mineral Town. All of the young people were here in Sugar Village trying to keep it from becoming a resort.
Some others left the town as well. Louis, Gotz's cousin had went over to Flowerbud Village to examine the local butterflies in the area but would be back in the summer. Greg finally pulled up and left and Won was now living with Zack at his place. Won had opened his store there, although Harris and him still are not on very good terms still since their initial meeting. Greg had went out to sea and hadn't returned. He left a message he was going to a few other towns to catch more fish. The last surprise, Kano had finally left. He said his nature photo documentary was finished and left for Flowerbed City to submit his work.
I suppose it was really a time of upheaval as the young folk of the town followed me here, intent on keeping another town from being torn down.
Grey and Mary had gone to visit Clove Villa the following day, bearing gifts. Dia was still rather prissy but Gina had opened up thanks to Mary befriending her. The daily gifts of Veryberries didn't hurt either. Gina had come up with the idea of the Goddess Dress for the Flower Festival in Flowerbed City. They had even managed to recruit Elli and Katie on the side when Katie was not baking samples for our stomachs to moan over. Elli knew the Goddess from Mineral Town and daily went up to talk to the Goddess here in Sugar Village along with me when I was not working at shipping most of the stuff out to the mainland and jumpstarting the economy of the town.
Rick and Popuri showed themselves adept enough to take care of animals, especially Rick. The jury was still out on Popuri at that time, but we soon were able to get regular service at Bob's Ranch. He gave us a cow, a couple of Miracle Potions, one Chicken and Rick was still trying to get a Horse. Rick muttered something about beating Cliffguard next county race and left it at that as he worked daily at the Ranch. Our cow had immediately been fed Miracle Potion and was expecting within two more days.
As I dug out my old and rather battered iPod, jammed the headset over my cap and fired up Tasogare no Umi from .hackLimintality, I had this gut feeling that today would change things.
Either that, or it's Karen and Katie's recent cake killing my insides.
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"Yo Jack!"
Jack looked over his shoulder, freezing in mid-stride as Kurt waved at him from the middle of the road. Waving back, he went over and handed Kurt a tomato. "Thanks," said Kurt as he munched on it. "Hey, have you seen a certian butterfly anywhere? It's called the Azure Swallowtail."
Jack frowned and tapped his lip in thought. "Azure Swallowtail. Can't say I have."
Kurt grumbled in annoyance. "No one has seen it! I've asked everyone, but Woody said that they're attracted to the Blue Mist Flower. But that Flower hasn't grown anywhere in recent years."
"What's so special about this butterfly?" asked Jack, taking out a small jar of milk and sipping at it.
"Woody said, oh thanks," Jack handed him another Tomato and Kurt munched on it. "Woody said that the Azure Swallowtail is a rare and endangered species. If I'm able to find it, we can generate a lot of publicity and probably keep the development halted if not stopped all together."
"Well, I'm not doing anything right now," said Jack as he finished his milk. "Tell ya what. I'll go and find someone who may know more about the Swallowtail and the Blue Mist Flower. I heard that people have seen the Blue Mist growing over in Flowerbud Village. Maybe I can find some seeds from there."
"Right. I'm going to Wallace's place for lunch. Stop by if you want." said Kurt as he finished his tomato.
Jack grimaced. "I don't think so. I've been forcefed Karen and Katie's cooking too much. I've had enough food for one day anyhow."
Kurt laughed, despite himself. "Katie's not such a bad cook, but it's your friend Karen who's turning their cooking sessions into disaster zones."
Jack snorted. "You're telling me. I once had to bail Sasha and Jeff out of a meal Karen once cooked. It was definately horrible. Landed me in the clinic."
Kurt winced. "My sympathies. Well, I'll go looking around somewhere else. Later."
Jack grinned and ran off towards the Goddess Pond.
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"Thanks for the purchase," chirped Lyla. "How's the farm coming?"
"As best as it can do at the moment," said Ann as she put the seeds into a paper bag. "There's a few hiccups with some of the ideas people have for helping this town recover."
"Oh? Like what?" inquired Lyla.
"Well, Karen and Katie are trying to find something to make a decent cake but without Golden Eggs and Golden Milk, it's coming along a bit more slowly." Ann shrugged as she added, "And between you and me, it's hard enough keeping damage control down. Karen's a terrible cook and I'm afraid that she's improving, but rather slowly."
Lyla giggled as she rang up the total and coins changed hands. "Well, perhaps we may be able to get something done sooner or later. Have you talked to Louis? He may have an idea."
"I haven't recently," said Ann, "But I'll drop by his Tool Shop today." Ann stuffed the seeds into her rucksack and grinned. "Not to worry. The Mineral Town Crew is on the case!" She struck a silly pose as she and Lyla giggled helplessly.
Thump.
Lyla blinked as she turned to see a clod of dirt hit her window and the sound of soil being dug up. "Oh dear," she said, heading out of the door quickly.
"What's going on?" Ann asked, following her. Beside the house was a little boy, wearing an explorers outfit similar to what Basil usually wore but with more emphasis on digging than studying plants. He was intently digging at the foundation at the base of Lyla's shop and grinning.
Lyla put her hands on her hips and exclaimed, "Tim! What are you doing?"
"Hi Lyla!" Tim exclaimed, taking another shovelful of dirt and digging some more. "I'm looking for treasure of course."
Lyla shook her head as she palmed her face. "Tim, you do realize that there isn't any treasure around here, right?"
"Of course there is!" Tim exclaimed hotly as he pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment. It was rather old and wrinkled. Ann half expected it to dissolve in the stiff breeze of the day. "This map said so! I just need to get under your house to dig it up, that's all."
"Let me see that," said Lyla. Tim reluctantly handed it over and Lyla unfurled it. After reading it, she shook her head. "I'm sorry Tim, but this is just an old useless map. Me and my sisters before they moved away made it seventeen years ago when we were three."
Tim looked crestfallen. "But... it's really old!"
"It's the type of parchment we made it on," answered Lyla as she pointed it out. Sure enough, the parchment was covered in childlike scribbling. "That treasure you're asking for is actually in the basement cellar. It's an old chest of clothing we used to play with."
"Aw nuts," said Tim, kicking at the dirt he had piled up. "And I thought for SURE this was going to help the town."
"Why do you say that?" asked Lyla. Ann was curious as well as she took the map from Lyla and began to study it.
"Well.... if I find a whole heap of treasure, then they can't tear the place down, right? Bob and I won't have to move away to Forget-Me-Not Village and Gwen won't have to leave and go to Flowerbud Village." Tim sat down heavily and his expression teared up. "I just wanna help."
Lyla's went over and dried his eyes with a corner of her dress. "There now. It's all right."
Ann squinted at the parchment and held it up to the sunlight. She then gasped. "Hey guys? Check this out."
Lyla and Tim went over and stood behind Ann who held it to the light. Lyla gasped and Tim made a "Wow" sound.
The map gleamed as the sunlight shone through it, revealing markings and notes and co-ordinates on the island map. Instructions were written on the sides and Tim jumped for joy. "It IS a treasure map!"
"I never noticed this before," said Lyla as she examined the map that the suns light revealed to them. "It looks like it marks the location of something. But I can't read the words on it."
"They're faded, but that's not the point. It's in an older language," added Ann. She then brought it down and rolled up the map. "I think this is the break we're going to need."
"So.... if we can't read it, then how do we know where this place is?" inquired Tim. He was bouncing from one foot to another in expectant joy.
Ann rubbed her chin as she said slowly, "How about Woody, the carpenter? He may be able to read it. And if not, I know this person over in Forget Valley that may help. He and his assistant came through Mineral Town on an archeological dig."
"You think we can get these people to help?" asked Tim.
"I'm sure of it," Ann replied with a small smile. "Lets try it!"
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Cliff stretched as he leaned against the nearby tree trunk and tossed out his fishing pole. "This is the life," he said idely to no one in paticular.
"You enjoy fishing?" inquired a voice from behind him. Cliff looked up and found Joe walking towards him, fishing pole in hand. "Nice fishing pole," remarked Joe as he tossed out his line.
"It's Jacks," said Cliff with a grin. "Greg the fisherman gave it to him. Pull up some turf."
Joe settled down with a sigh as he let his line dangle in the middle of the lake. "This is the life. Fishing, you know?"
Cliff laughed. "I remember living on nothing but fish when I was travelling around. It's some life, living from meal to meal until you find a place you can call home."
"So where are you from?" asked Joe as he recast his line. "I know you're from Mineral Town, but from where originally?"
"A small town outside of Flowerbed City," replied Cliff with a shrug. "I get some letters from home every so often. My sister and mom are doing fine. When my dad died, I had to come out looking for work. That's when I found myself in Mineral Town. Officially, I'm working for Manna and Duke who run the Aja Winery. I'll be heading back there during the Fall to help with the Harvest."
"Don't you guys have lives over in Mineral Town?" asked Joe as he adjusted the length of the line with a few rapid spins of the reel.
"Some. Rick and Popuri are heading back home in a couple of days to make sure that Stu and May are doing well working with their mother at the chicken farm. Last I heard, Nami, a new girl in town had gotten a job at Chicken Lil's and is helping the kids work on the farm. The Doctor is doing fine as always. Doug isn't exactly hurting for help right now and Manna and Duke are all right. Anna keeps the Library open three days out of the week and I think Grey is happier without Saibara breathing down his neck."
"Sounds like you guys are popping in and out of this place," said Joe. A swish of his arm and he snagged in a small lake trout. Giving it a sharp whack across the head to dizzy it, he strung it up on a fish chain and let it dangle into the water where it swam around dizzily. "Are you all really going to stay here as long as possible?"
"With the exception of Jack who left his farm to Mayor Thomas who in turn gave it to Harris his son, we all need to return at least once or twice a season. Kai will return but right now, he's working at the vineyard at Flowerbud Village."
Joe made a whistling sound. "Man, I love Aja Wine. They stopped shipping here though when I had just moved in. That and Door to Heaven from the Flowerbud Vineyards but I haven't seen a bottle here in years."
"Well that's no good," replied Cliff. "I'll see about getting Duke and Manna shipping stuff here this spring. Can't have buisness and a town without something to drink now can we?"
"How are you going to get back?" asked Joe as he recast his line and settled down for another long wait. "The ferry doesn't run until sunday."
"We gave Kai a call over in Flowerbud Village. He'll pick us up tommorow morning." replied Cliff as he cast his line in after putting more bait onto the end.
Joe gave Cliff a confused sideways look. "How did you call your friend over in Flowerbud Village? There's no phone around here."
Cliff grinned as he tugged in a fish and gave it a whack across the head. "Jack has a Cellular Phone from the City where he used to live. He said the signal is weak, but still doable. As it stands, he sends his dad cash every season to keep up payments." Cliff then laughed as he tossed his line out into the water. "Jack has the most technology on the whole island practically. I've been in his house and he has a TV and Radio that picks up local and national news. And he brought some stuff over from the mainland like his iPod and such."
"Eye-whatsis?" Joe asked blankly. "What's this Eye thing?"
"An iPod is a small device that can store up to one thousand hours of music. Jack is a big technogeek despite his farmer boy appearance. He said he wished he could bring his PC with him when he came the first year, but his dad wanted him to try living like his grandpa did."
"Ah. I haven't been to the City. I've lived here since I was about fifteen years old. Mom and dad grew ill and I had to come here to work. Found a job with Woody, being an apprentice carpenter. Got to a point where we can get a house extention done in one day." Joe tossed out his line once again and immediately began to reel in as a fish nibbled at the line.
"That's really good," said Cliff as he tugged in another fish. "Gotz takes three days for an extention back home. Do you get the Harvest Sprites to help you out at building so quickly?"
"Harvest Sprites?" Joe shook his head. "Harvest Sprites are just a legend Woody told me when I was younger. "If there are any, we can't see them."
"Really? That's odd. Everyone knows about the Sprites back in Mineral Town. Heck, I've seen them working on Jack's farm when he's running like mad to get the whole place harvested." Cliff shrugged. "I suppose they just don't show themselves to just anyone."
Joe reeled in one more fish and strung it up on the line. "Well, I think that's enough fish for tonight. I'm going to go sell these to Wallace. Never hurts to have a few G in your pocket, huh?"
"All right. Oh, me and my friends are planning a Goddess Festival celebration up at Goddess Pond. Come by tommorow around ten if you want to join in." Cliff grinned. "The girls'll put on quite a show."
"All right, I'll do that. Nice meeting you Cliff." Joe picked up his line of fish and headed off towards Wallace's Resturant.
Reeling in his line with a final fish, Cliff stuffed it into a rucksack for storage in the new extention. Joe wasn't kidding. Once they had woken up that morning, a sparkling new extention stood where the rickety old farm house was. There were communal rooms for both the girls and guys, a large kitchen and two bathrooms.
Standing up and stretching, Cliff sighed, yawned and headed back to the farm.
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News came that night in the form of Kai who had taken a stop at Mineral Town before he had arrived at Sugar Village. The Ferry was working more often now, as people tended to move to the town recently or at least passed through it on their way, inexplicably to Forget-Me-Not Valley.
The girl Nami had moved on after a few days and headed over the small hill towards Forget-Me-Not Valley. There was only one way in and out of that Valley, and it was through Mineral Town. A lot of odd folk coming through recently, as quoted by Kai who quoted Zack.
The newest arrival that week was old man Takakura. I knew Takakura as he came to my farm every day to ship produce out from Vesta's Farm over in Forget Valley. Between Vesta and myself, whom I maintained a friendly rivalry with during the time she came herself to sell vegetables in town, Takakura was always a sight for sore eyes. When Vesta couldn't make it herself, and Marlin was too ill to travel, Takakura headed out and arrived sometime around ten o'clock every day.
Today however, he came back on the Ferry of all things, having taken it to the City to fetch someone, presumably the kid of a family friend of his. The kid was as green as, well, me actually, as he had a wide eyed expression that took in everything around him. Said his name was Negi and Takakura was a friend of his fathers. Negi looked like a complete city boy, and I suppose I wasn't far off the mark. Then again, I suppose I'll always have one foot in Flowerbed City and another in Mineral Town.
Takakura stayed long enough to get a meal at Doug's place and help Lillia and the kids out with the chicken farm before he and Negi went off to Forget Valley. I remember Vesta saying that there was an old farmhouse and fields that wern't currently run by anyone. Though Takakura had been living on the land, keeping the fields weeded as if he was waiting for someone. That someone seemed to be Negi as he introduced him as the Son of his Best Friend.
Since Nami had moved on, Rick and Popuri's mother was the only one there with barely enough help from the kids, Stu and May. There was a bit of a hiccup and both of Lillia's kids had to be restrained from swimming home in a blind panic. Takakura was able to help out before he and Negi had to make the trip over to the other town.
But thanks to a new family in town who had moved into the Vacation House that I had gotten built (It was technically mine, but I gave up the land deed for it), the father of the household, I think his name was Grant, was able to roll up his sleeves and help out Lillia. He's got the whole Office Worker look to him, with the starched shirt and black pants and black tie, but according to Lillia, he's quite good.
The new family consists of Grant, his wife Samantha and their daughter Kate. Kate is still young, around Stu and May's age, and is something of a tomboy. They put down enough rent for a year so that Grant can work at getting the phone terminal office up and running in Mineral Town so that the town wouldn't be completely cut off from the rest of the world with an, albeit weak, but still workable ADSL line. I mentally rejoiced at that fact, as I could finally get my dad to send my computer.
Though mentally, I sighed to myself. Rick and Popuri were just too valuable to spend all of their time in Sugar Village. Sooner or later, they'd have to head home and that would leave us short handed. But it was an unaminous decision that someone had to take care of their mother, and Samantha, even though she was a nice enough lady, couldn't do it all the time. Neither could Manna or Sasha. They had their lives and Duke was a handful, and Sasha needed to be there so that Jeff wouldn't be a total pushover when it came to Duke's tab.
Focusing on the here and now, I bedded down in my new bed, listening to the loud snoring of Cliff, the gentle whisper of Kai and Rick, and the grunting of Grey. It was almost a cacophony of sounds in the bedroom, and I felt like jamming cotton in my ears to get a good nights sleep.
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"You actually packed them." Karen had a sour look on her face as Popuri giggled. Ann rolled her eyes and hauled out the thin gauzy pink dress that made up the Goddess Dress. "I can't believe you packed them."
"I figured we'd need them sometime," said Popuri reasonably as she began to weave vines into Mary's black hair. "And today IS the Goddess Festival. And can you imagine our mothers doing the traditional dance over there?"
"Oh god, my mom hasn't done that in ages," said Karen, heaving a sigh. "Who actually can dance this year?"
"According to Kai, he said that Sasha, Manna and my mom was on the list as she's feeling much better these days. And the new woman in town, Samantha knows the dance as she used to perform back in Flowerbed City." Popuri giggled. "I heard that May was asking to perform and neatly conned Mayor Thomas to get her in along with Kate, Samantha's daughter."
"Well, this is our festival now," said Elli as she finished working the vines into Karen's hair and helped the slender girl into her dress. "We should finish up. The boys are waiting for us."
"Fashionably late," Ann quipped as she got her dress zipped up at the back. "Lets do this."
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"Cliff!"
Cliff looked up at where he was setting out a container of strawberries and other assorted food that was brought over from Mineral Town as a small buffet. His expression split into a wide grin and he waved back at Joe. "Hey Joe!"
Joe jogged over, followed by a surly looking Kurt and a smiling Woody. Kurt was holding a tomato dish as wind of the festival being held up at the top of the Goddess Pond was heard by everyone who had spoken to the kids. Several people were already there. Gina and her grandmother Martha was there with Dia curiously absent. Bob and his brother Tim were wandering around, talking to various people that included Katie, Wallace, Gwen (who was still glaring holes into Kai's back), Parsley, Lyla and Ronald.
Even the Harvest Sprites, Nic, Nak and Flak were there but curiously to everyone but the group from Mineral Town, they were invisible to the townspeople. The Goddess was presumably fashionably late but she was due to show up. Of course, she was invisible to everyone but the Mineral Towners. Though Woody looked over and seemed to give the Sprites a knowing look.
Pretty much everyone brought some type of food, ranging from fresh baked bread, to herb salads. The biggest contribution was Katie's cake, thankfully Karen free and not an untested version of Jack's grandmas cake. The buffet blanket, as Joe termed it, was overflowing with food. With some quick words to the Harvest Sprites, they stood guarding it from ants and doing a credible job of it.
Cliff grinned as he set out the most recent dish and stretched his back. "Well, that's everything. Now we wait for Jack and the girls."
"Why Jack? Isn't he here already?" Joe stood on his toes and looked around. Sure enough, there was no familiar orange and blue baseball cap.
"Naw, he's bringing his Record Player. Normally we'd use Mayor Thomas' record player, but Jack was able to bring his own. Battery operated, so it's all good." Cliff grinned as he slapped Joe on the back. "C'mon man, let's mingle."
"And then the duck says to the pig...." As the pair passed Bob who was engrossed in some kind of joke, Cliff got a curious expression on his face and Joe chuckled.
"It's an old joke that Bob tells every so often when he's in a good mood," said Joe as he meandered past Lyla, saying hello as he passed by and getting a backslap from Ronald. "It ends with the duck doing something or what not, and the pig is... well, never mind."
Cliff grinned as he shaded his eyes and checked his watch. "It's about ten thirty. The girls should be here in a few minutes."
True to form, the five girls from Mineral Town crested the hill, Jack taking up the rear with an armload of records and a shiney new record player. Getting oohs and aahs from the people, the girls made their way to the front of the Goddess Pond as the Goddess herself appeared from the depths of the water to watch the tribute to her and her siblings.
Jack set up the record player and turned it on after loading the music. A silence could be heard and then, the girls broke into a dance formation that they had learned as a child.
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"Having a good time?"
Karen turned around and smiled at Katie who giggled. "It's such a pretty dress," said Katie as she looked Karen over.
"It has its uses," Karen said with a smile. She took a sip of wine as Katie handed her some fresh Veryberries on a plate. Looking the younger girl over, Karen quirked an eyebrow and said, "Is this your first time at a Goddess Festival?"
Katie nodded as she bit into an Apple. "Yes it is. Grandma used to tell me about this, well, Jack's Grandma."
"You really liked being around her, huh?" said Karen as she played with a Verryberry, pushing it around on her plate. "Were you raised by her?"
"Something like that." Katie sighed and a distant expression came over her face. "When mom and dad died and left me with Grandpa Wallace, I didn't have anyone else to be with except Grandpa. When I was young, I used to go over to the Sugar Farm and talk and bake hours on end with her. She was a very nice woman, and provided the feminine support I needed."
"I see." Karen picked up the Veryberry from her plate, took a bite and said, "Katie, I'm going back to Mineral Town for a while.... and I'd like you to come with me."
Katie blinked in surprise. "What? Why are you leaving?"
Karen nibbled at the fruit thoughtfully for a moment before replying, "Harris, the mayors son, sent me a note with Kai. One of the cows is so happy, it's producing Golden Milk. But it's old, and Harris is unsure if it'll last the week. I have to go there before the cow dies and then wait a couple more days for the chickens to start producing Golden Eggs as well. If you come with me, we'll be able to work double time and get all the Golden Dairy Produce we need for experimentation later on."
Katie shuffled her feet as she thought about the proposition. "I'll have to tell my grandpa so he won't worry. It'll just be a couple of days, right?" At Karen's nod, Katie grinned and said, "All right then! I'll tell grandpa and we'll get going first thing tommorow morning."
"Looks like we're not the only ones who are leaving," said Ann as she swept up behind Karen and took a slice of cake handed to her by Flak. She then patted the sprite on the head and gave him a mushroom while the girls were focused on the food momentarily. It wouldn't do to see a mushroom floating in mid-air. "Tim, Lyla and I are headed to Forget-Me-Not Valley."
"Woody wasn't able to decipher the map?" asked Katie. Ann shook her head.
"Nope. Tim wanted to come along but Bob insisted that he was too young to make the trip with us. So Lyla stepped in and said she'll come with us." Ann speared a chunk of cake with her fork and ate it. "We'll drop a load of seeds off at the farm before we leave on Kai's boat."
"So exactly who is staying here?" asked Katie as she sipped at a bit of grape wine that was handed to her in a small tin cup.
"Jack of course, Grey, Cliff and Kai will be here along with Mary and Elli. I'm headed out, along with you and Karen, Rick and Popuri are returning home for the season and that's about it."
"Kai and Gwen in the same area and beheaving? That's asking the moon to fall." said Katie.
Karen shrugged. "I guess if the moon hasn't decimated the town by the time we return, we'll get a better idea of how things are working."
"Kai is actually heading back to Flowerbud Village soon. He's just our ferry." said Ann as she finished her cake slice.
"There's one way of putting him," said Karen with a snort.
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Morning dawned the next day to see off the others. It would be another season before I saw Popuri and Rick again, a week and a half before I saw Karen and Katie, and almost two seasons before Ann returned.
It would be a long haul, but with the rest of us working at our ideas of helping out the Village, I was sure we could pull through.
As the morning sun rose and the boat chugged off towards Mineral Town, I set my cap to my head and wished them the best.
written by Shaun Garin
Harvest Moon Back to Nature and Save the Homeland is owned by Natsume Entertainment. This is my take on Save the Homeland and Back to Nature, which, in my opinion is a very good game, but could have slowed down the passing of time and extended the length of time you need to conceivably save the whole freaking town. Rated E for Everyone, Use of Alcohol and mild language.
I hold characterization nothing but sacred. I try to portray the personalities true to both games as best as possible.
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Chapter 4 : Space Change
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A week and half passed by, and I was getting anxious. I suppose it was just nerves now that I think about it. Or maybe just the fact that the others had discovered things that could help the Homeland while I toiled at the farm most of the time.
Four days ago, Karen came back with the idea of the Cake Contest. She and Katie had been tirelessly working for three days straight, trying to make a passable cake, AND to get the chickens and cows happy enough to produce Golden Milk. I admit, doing it the old fashioned way without getting a special feed for the cows and chickens after winning a Festival was much harder. It was also hard on everyone's stomach as Karen and Katie aren't exactly the world's best cooks. Katie is passable. With Karen in the kitchen, it was a near disaster zone. We try to minimize the tasters to me and Rick. Rick's used to it and myself? I have an iron stomach.
We had called Harris at my old home, and found out that the cow and chicken that produced the Golden produce had died several days after I had left. They were old, as attributing to buying them the first day I was there. I suppose, it was about that time. But damn, did it make it hard to get things done around here.
I had a cellular phone for just such an occasion, brought from my home in Flowerbed City and it was our major link to Mineral Town. We had gotten a call a day ago from Mayor Thomas who had told us that a girl named Nami had moved into Mineral Town on a journey towards Forget-Me-Not Valley. She was currently staying at Doug's Inn and was something of a worldly traveller, much like Cliff was. I briefly wondered how a girl her age would get along with the older folks of Mineral Town. All of the young people were here in Sugar Village trying to keep it from becoming a resort.
Some others left the town as well. Louis, Gotz's cousin had went over to Flowerbud Village to examine the local butterflies in the area but would be back in the summer. Greg finally pulled up and left and Won was now living with Zack at his place. Won had opened his store there, although Harris and him still are not on very good terms still since their initial meeting. Greg had went out to sea and hadn't returned. He left a message he was going to a few other towns to catch more fish. The last surprise, Kano had finally left. He said his nature photo documentary was finished and left for Flowerbed City to submit his work.
I suppose it was really a time of upheaval as the young folk of the town followed me here, intent on keeping another town from being torn down.
Grey and Mary had gone to visit Clove Villa the following day, bearing gifts. Dia was still rather prissy but Gina had opened up thanks to Mary befriending her. The daily gifts of Veryberries didn't hurt either. Gina had come up with the idea of the Goddess Dress for the Flower Festival in Flowerbed City. They had even managed to recruit Elli and Katie on the side when Katie was not baking samples for our stomachs to moan over. Elli knew the Goddess from Mineral Town and daily went up to talk to the Goddess here in Sugar Village along with me when I was not working at shipping most of the stuff out to the mainland and jumpstarting the economy of the town.
Rick and Popuri showed themselves adept enough to take care of animals, especially Rick. The jury was still out on Popuri at that time, but we soon were able to get regular service at Bob's Ranch. He gave us a cow, a couple of Miracle Potions, one Chicken and Rick was still trying to get a Horse. Rick muttered something about beating Cliffguard next county race and left it at that as he worked daily at the Ranch. Our cow had immediately been fed Miracle Potion and was expecting within two more days.
As I dug out my old and rather battered iPod, jammed the headset over my cap and fired up Tasogare no Umi from .hackLimintality, I had this gut feeling that today would change things.
Either that, or it's Karen and Katie's recent cake killing my insides.
===============
"Yo Jack!"
Jack looked over his shoulder, freezing in mid-stride as Kurt waved at him from the middle of the road. Waving back, he went over and handed Kurt a tomato. "Thanks," said Kurt as he munched on it. "Hey, have you seen a certian butterfly anywhere? It's called the Azure Swallowtail."
Jack frowned and tapped his lip in thought. "Azure Swallowtail. Can't say I have."
Kurt grumbled in annoyance. "No one has seen it! I've asked everyone, but Woody said that they're attracted to the Blue Mist Flower. But that Flower hasn't grown anywhere in recent years."
"What's so special about this butterfly?" asked Jack, taking out a small jar of milk and sipping at it.
"Woody said, oh thanks," Jack handed him another Tomato and Kurt munched on it. "Woody said that the Azure Swallowtail is a rare and endangered species. If I'm able to find it, we can generate a lot of publicity and probably keep the development halted if not stopped all together."
"Well, I'm not doing anything right now," said Jack as he finished his milk. "Tell ya what. I'll go and find someone who may know more about the Swallowtail and the Blue Mist Flower. I heard that people have seen the Blue Mist growing over in Flowerbud Village. Maybe I can find some seeds from there."
"Right. I'm going to Wallace's place for lunch. Stop by if you want." said Kurt as he finished his tomato.
Jack grimaced. "I don't think so. I've been forcefed Karen and Katie's cooking too much. I've had enough food for one day anyhow."
Kurt laughed, despite himself. "Katie's not such a bad cook, but it's your friend Karen who's turning their cooking sessions into disaster zones."
Jack snorted. "You're telling me. I once had to bail Sasha and Jeff out of a meal Karen once cooked. It was definately horrible. Landed me in the clinic."
Kurt winced. "My sympathies. Well, I'll go looking around somewhere else. Later."
Jack grinned and ran off towards the Goddess Pond.
===============
"Thanks for the purchase," chirped Lyla. "How's the farm coming?"
"As best as it can do at the moment," said Ann as she put the seeds into a paper bag. "There's a few hiccups with some of the ideas people have for helping this town recover."
"Oh? Like what?" inquired Lyla.
"Well, Karen and Katie are trying to find something to make a decent cake but without Golden Eggs and Golden Milk, it's coming along a bit more slowly." Ann shrugged as she added, "And between you and me, it's hard enough keeping damage control down. Karen's a terrible cook and I'm afraid that she's improving, but rather slowly."
Lyla giggled as she rang up the total and coins changed hands. "Well, perhaps we may be able to get something done sooner or later. Have you talked to Louis? He may have an idea."
"I haven't recently," said Ann, "But I'll drop by his Tool Shop today." Ann stuffed the seeds into her rucksack and grinned. "Not to worry. The Mineral Town Crew is on the case!" She struck a silly pose as she and Lyla giggled helplessly.
Thump.
Lyla blinked as she turned to see a clod of dirt hit her window and the sound of soil being dug up. "Oh dear," she said, heading out of the door quickly.
"What's going on?" Ann asked, following her. Beside the house was a little boy, wearing an explorers outfit similar to what Basil usually wore but with more emphasis on digging than studying plants. He was intently digging at the foundation at the base of Lyla's shop and grinning.
Lyla put her hands on her hips and exclaimed, "Tim! What are you doing?"
"Hi Lyla!" Tim exclaimed, taking another shovelful of dirt and digging some more. "I'm looking for treasure of course."
Lyla shook her head as she palmed her face. "Tim, you do realize that there isn't any treasure around here, right?"
"Of course there is!" Tim exclaimed hotly as he pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment. It was rather old and wrinkled. Ann half expected it to dissolve in the stiff breeze of the day. "This map said so! I just need to get under your house to dig it up, that's all."
"Let me see that," said Lyla. Tim reluctantly handed it over and Lyla unfurled it. After reading it, she shook her head. "I'm sorry Tim, but this is just an old useless map. Me and my sisters before they moved away made it seventeen years ago when we were three."
Tim looked crestfallen. "But... it's really old!"
"It's the type of parchment we made it on," answered Lyla as she pointed it out. Sure enough, the parchment was covered in childlike scribbling. "That treasure you're asking for is actually in the basement cellar. It's an old chest of clothing we used to play with."
"Aw nuts," said Tim, kicking at the dirt he had piled up. "And I thought for SURE this was going to help the town."
"Why do you say that?" asked Lyla. Ann was curious as well as she took the map from Lyla and began to study it.
"Well.... if I find a whole heap of treasure, then they can't tear the place down, right? Bob and I won't have to move away to Forget-Me-Not Village and Gwen won't have to leave and go to Flowerbud Village." Tim sat down heavily and his expression teared up. "I just wanna help."
Lyla's went over and dried his eyes with a corner of her dress. "There now. It's all right."
Ann squinted at the parchment and held it up to the sunlight. She then gasped. "Hey guys? Check this out."
Lyla and Tim went over and stood behind Ann who held it to the light. Lyla gasped and Tim made a "Wow" sound.
The map gleamed as the sunlight shone through it, revealing markings and notes and co-ordinates on the island map. Instructions were written on the sides and Tim jumped for joy. "It IS a treasure map!"
"I never noticed this before," said Lyla as she examined the map that the suns light revealed to them. "It looks like it marks the location of something. But I can't read the words on it."
"They're faded, but that's not the point. It's in an older language," added Ann. She then brought it down and rolled up the map. "I think this is the break we're going to need."
"So.... if we can't read it, then how do we know where this place is?" inquired Tim. He was bouncing from one foot to another in expectant joy.
Ann rubbed her chin as she said slowly, "How about Woody, the carpenter? He may be able to read it. And if not, I know this person over in Forget Valley that may help. He and his assistant came through Mineral Town on an archeological dig."
"You think we can get these people to help?" asked Tim.
"I'm sure of it," Ann replied with a small smile. "Lets try it!"
===============
Cliff stretched as he leaned against the nearby tree trunk and tossed out his fishing pole. "This is the life," he said idely to no one in paticular.
"You enjoy fishing?" inquired a voice from behind him. Cliff looked up and found Joe walking towards him, fishing pole in hand. "Nice fishing pole," remarked Joe as he tossed out his line.
"It's Jacks," said Cliff with a grin. "Greg the fisherman gave it to him. Pull up some turf."
Joe settled down with a sigh as he let his line dangle in the middle of the lake. "This is the life. Fishing, you know?"
Cliff laughed. "I remember living on nothing but fish when I was travelling around. It's some life, living from meal to meal until you find a place you can call home."
"So where are you from?" asked Joe as he recast his line. "I know you're from Mineral Town, but from where originally?"
"A small town outside of Flowerbed City," replied Cliff with a shrug. "I get some letters from home every so often. My sister and mom are doing fine. When my dad died, I had to come out looking for work. That's when I found myself in Mineral Town. Officially, I'm working for Manna and Duke who run the Aja Winery. I'll be heading back there during the Fall to help with the Harvest."
"Don't you guys have lives over in Mineral Town?" asked Joe as he adjusted the length of the line with a few rapid spins of the reel.
"Some. Rick and Popuri are heading back home in a couple of days to make sure that Stu and May are doing well working with their mother at the chicken farm. Last I heard, Nami, a new girl in town had gotten a job at Chicken Lil's and is helping the kids work on the farm. The Doctor is doing fine as always. Doug isn't exactly hurting for help right now and Manna and Duke are all right. Anna keeps the Library open three days out of the week and I think Grey is happier without Saibara breathing down his neck."
"Sounds like you guys are popping in and out of this place," said Joe. A swish of his arm and he snagged in a small lake trout. Giving it a sharp whack across the head to dizzy it, he strung it up on a fish chain and let it dangle into the water where it swam around dizzily. "Are you all really going to stay here as long as possible?"
"With the exception of Jack who left his farm to Mayor Thomas who in turn gave it to Harris his son, we all need to return at least once or twice a season. Kai will return but right now, he's working at the vineyard at Flowerbud Village."
Joe made a whistling sound. "Man, I love Aja Wine. They stopped shipping here though when I had just moved in. That and Door to Heaven from the Flowerbud Vineyards but I haven't seen a bottle here in years."
"Well that's no good," replied Cliff. "I'll see about getting Duke and Manna shipping stuff here this spring. Can't have buisness and a town without something to drink now can we?"
"How are you going to get back?" asked Joe as he recast his line and settled down for another long wait. "The ferry doesn't run until sunday."
"We gave Kai a call over in Flowerbud Village. He'll pick us up tommorow morning." replied Cliff as he cast his line in after putting more bait onto the end.
Joe gave Cliff a confused sideways look. "How did you call your friend over in Flowerbud Village? There's no phone around here."
Cliff grinned as he tugged in a fish and gave it a whack across the head. "Jack has a Cellular Phone from the City where he used to live. He said the signal is weak, but still doable. As it stands, he sends his dad cash every season to keep up payments." Cliff then laughed as he tossed his line out into the water. "Jack has the most technology on the whole island practically. I've been in his house and he has a TV and Radio that picks up local and national news. And he brought some stuff over from the mainland like his iPod and such."
"Eye-whatsis?" Joe asked blankly. "What's this Eye thing?"
"An iPod is a small device that can store up to one thousand hours of music. Jack is a big technogeek despite his farmer boy appearance. He said he wished he could bring his PC with him when he came the first year, but his dad wanted him to try living like his grandpa did."
"Ah. I haven't been to the City. I've lived here since I was about fifteen years old. Mom and dad grew ill and I had to come here to work. Found a job with Woody, being an apprentice carpenter. Got to a point where we can get a house extention done in one day." Joe tossed out his line once again and immediately began to reel in as a fish nibbled at the line.
"That's really good," said Cliff as he tugged in another fish. "Gotz takes three days for an extention back home. Do you get the Harvest Sprites to help you out at building so quickly?"
"Harvest Sprites?" Joe shook his head. "Harvest Sprites are just a legend Woody told me when I was younger. "If there are any, we can't see them."
"Really? That's odd. Everyone knows about the Sprites back in Mineral Town. Heck, I've seen them working on Jack's farm when he's running like mad to get the whole place harvested." Cliff shrugged. "I suppose they just don't show themselves to just anyone."
Joe reeled in one more fish and strung it up on the line. "Well, I think that's enough fish for tonight. I'm going to go sell these to Wallace. Never hurts to have a few G in your pocket, huh?"
"All right. Oh, me and my friends are planning a Goddess Festival celebration up at Goddess Pond. Come by tommorow around ten if you want to join in." Cliff grinned. "The girls'll put on quite a show."
"All right, I'll do that. Nice meeting you Cliff." Joe picked up his line of fish and headed off towards Wallace's Resturant.
Reeling in his line with a final fish, Cliff stuffed it into a rucksack for storage in the new extention. Joe wasn't kidding. Once they had woken up that morning, a sparkling new extention stood where the rickety old farm house was. There were communal rooms for both the girls and guys, a large kitchen and two bathrooms.
Standing up and stretching, Cliff sighed, yawned and headed back to the farm.
===============
News came that night in the form of Kai who had taken a stop at Mineral Town before he had arrived at Sugar Village. The Ferry was working more often now, as people tended to move to the town recently or at least passed through it on their way, inexplicably to Forget-Me-Not Valley.
The girl Nami had moved on after a few days and headed over the small hill towards Forget-Me-Not Valley. There was only one way in and out of that Valley, and it was through Mineral Town. A lot of odd folk coming through recently, as quoted by Kai who quoted Zack.
The newest arrival that week was old man Takakura. I knew Takakura as he came to my farm every day to ship produce out from Vesta's Farm over in Forget Valley. Between Vesta and myself, whom I maintained a friendly rivalry with during the time she came herself to sell vegetables in town, Takakura was always a sight for sore eyes. When Vesta couldn't make it herself, and Marlin was too ill to travel, Takakura headed out and arrived sometime around ten o'clock every day.
Today however, he came back on the Ferry of all things, having taken it to the City to fetch someone, presumably the kid of a family friend of his. The kid was as green as, well, me actually, as he had a wide eyed expression that took in everything around him. Said his name was Negi and Takakura was a friend of his fathers. Negi looked like a complete city boy, and I suppose I wasn't far off the mark. Then again, I suppose I'll always have one foot in Flowerbed City and another in Mineral Town.
Takakura stayed long enough to get a meal at Doug's place and help Lillia and the kids out with the chicken farm before he and Negi went off to Forget Valley. I remember Vesta saying that there was an old farmhouse and fields that wern't currently run by anyone. Though Takakura had been living on the land, keeping the fields weeded as if he was waiting for someone. That someone seemed to be Negi as he introduced him as the Son of his Best Friend.
Since Nami had moved on, Rick and Popuri's mother was the only one there with barely enough help from the kids, Stu and May. There was a bit of a hiccup and both of Lillia's kids had to be restrained from swimming home in a blind panic. Takakura was able to help out before he and Negi had to make the trip over to the other town.
But thanks to a new family in town who had moved into the Vacation House that I had gotten built (It was technically mine, but I gave up the land deed for it), the father of the household, I think his name was Grant, was able to roll up his sleeves and help out Lillia. He's got the whole Office Worker look to him, with the starched shirt and black pants and black tie, but according to Lillia, he's quite good.
The new family consists of Grant, his wife Samantha and their daughter Kate. Kate is still young, around Stu and May's age, and is something of a tomboy. They put down enough rent for a year so that Grant can work at getting the phone terminal office up and running in Mineral Town so that the town wouldn't be completely cut off from the rest of the world with an, albeit weak, but still workable ADSL line. I mentally rejoiced at that fact, as I could finally get my dad to send my computer.
Though mentally, I sighed to myself. Rick and Popuri were just too valuable to spend all of their time in Sugar Village. Sooner or later, they'd have to head home and that would leave us short handed. But it was an unaminous decision that someone had to take care of their mother, and Samantha, even though she was a nice enough lady, couldn't do it all the time. Neither could Manna or Sasha. They had their lives and Duke was a handful, and Sasha needed to be there so that Jeff wouldn't be a total pushover when it came to Duke's tab.
Focusing on the here and now, I bedded down in my new bed, listening to the loud snoring of Cliff, the gentle whisper of Kai and Rick, and the grunting of Grey. It was almost a cacophony of sounds in the bedroom, and I felt like jamming cotton in my ears to get a good nights sleep.
===============
"You actually packed them." Karen had a sour look on her face as Popuri giggled. Ann rolled her eyes and hauled out the thin gauzy pink dress that made up the Goddess Dress. "I can't believe you packed them."
"I figured we'd need them sometime," said Popuri reasonably as she began to weave vines into Mary's black hair. "And today IS the Goddess Festival. And can you imagine our mothers doing the traditional dance over there?"
"Oh god, my mom hasn't done that in ages," said Karen, heaving a sigh. "Who actually can dance this year?"
"According to Kai, he said that Sasha, Manna and my mom was on the list as she's feeling much better these days. And the new woman in town, Samantha knows the dance as she used to perform back in Flowerbed City." Popuri giggled. "I heard that May was asking to perform and neatly conned Mayor Thomas to get her in along with Kate, Samantha's daughter."
"Well, this is our festival now," said Elli as she finished working the vines into Karen's hair and helped the slender girl into her dress. "We should finish up. The boys are waiting for us."
"Fashionably late," Ann quipped as she got her dress zipped up at the back. "Lets do this."
===============
"Cliff!"
Cliff looked up at where he was setting out a container of strawberries and other assorted food that was brought over from Mineral Town as a small buffet. His expression split into a wide grin and he waved back at Joe. "Hey Joe!"
Joe jogged over, followed by a surly looking Kurt and a smiling Woody. Kurt was holding a tomato dish as wind of the festival being held up at the top of the Goddess Pond was heard by everyone who had spoken to the kids. Several people were already there. Gina and her grandmother Martha was there with Dia curiously absent. Bob and his brother Tim were wandering around, talking to various people that included Katie, Wallace, Gwen (who was still glaring holes into Kai's back), Parsley, Lyla and Ronald.
Even the Harvest Sprites, Nic, Nak and Flak were there but curiously to everyone but the group from Mineral Town, they were invisible to the townspeople. The Goddess was presumably fashionably late but she was due to show up. Of course, she was invisible to everyone but the Mineral Towners. Though Woody looked over and seemed to give the Sprites a knowing look.
Pretty much everyone brought some type of food, ranging from fresh baked bread, to herb salads. The biggest contribution was Katie's cake, thankfully Karen free and not an untested version of Jack's grandmas cake. The buffet blanket, as Joe termed it, was overflowing with food. With some quick words to the Harvest Sprites, they stood guarding it from ants and doing a credible job of it.
Cliff grinned as he set out the most recent dish and stretched his back. "Well, that's everything. Now we wait for Jack and the girls."
"Why Jack? Isn't he here already?" Joe stood on his toes and looked around. Sure enough, there was no familiar orange and blue baseball cap.
"Naw, he's bringing his Record Player. Normally we'd use Mayor Thomas' record player, but Jack was able to bring his own. Battery operated, so it's all good." Cliff grinned as he slapped Joe on the back. "C'mon man, let's mingle."
"And then the duck says to the pig...." As the pair passed Bob who was engrossed in some kind of joke, Cliff got a curious expression on his face and Joe chuckled.
"It's an old joke that Bob tells every so often when he's in a good mood," said Joe as he meandered past Lyla, saying hello as he passed by and getting a backslap from Ronald. "It ends with the duck doing something or what not, and the pig is... well, never mind."
Cliff grinned as he shaded his eyes and checked his watch. "It's about ten thirty. The girls should be here in a few minutes."
True to form, the five girls from Mineral Town crested the hill, Jack taking up the rear with an armload of records and a shiney new record player. Getting oohs and aahs from the people, the girls made their way to the front of the Goddess Pond as the Goddess herself appeared from the depths of the water to watch the tribute to her and her siblings.
Jack set up the record player and turned it on after loading the music. A silence could be heard and then, the girls broke into a dance formation that they had learned as a child.
================
"Having a good time?"
Karen turned around and smiled at Katie who giggled. "It's such a pretty dress," said Katie as she looked Karen over.
"It has its uses," Karen said with a smile. She took a sip of wine as Katie handed her some fresh Veryberries on a plate. Looking the younger girl over, Karen quirked an eyebrow and said, "Is this your first time at a Goddess Festival?"
Katie nodded as she bit into an Apple. "Yes it is. Grandma used to tell me about this, well, Jack's Grandma."
"You really liked being around her, huh?" said Karen as she played with a Verryberry, pushing it around on her plate. "Were you raised by her?"
"Something like that." Katie sighed and a distant expression came over her face. "When mom and dad died and left me with Grandpa Wallace, I didn't have anyone else to be with except Grandpa. When I was young, I used to go over to the Sugar Farm and talk and bake hours on end with her. She was a very nice woman, and provided the feminine support I needed."
"I see." Karen picked up the Veryberry from her plate, took a bite and said, "Katie, I'm going back to Mineral Town for a while.... and I'd like you to come with me."
Katie blinked in surprise. "What? Why are you leaving?"
Karen nibbled at the fruit thoughtfully for a moment before replying, "Harris, the mayors son, sent me a note with Kai. One of the cows is so happy, it's producing Golden Milk. But it's old, and Harris is unsure if it'll last the week. I have to go there before the cow dies and then wait a couple more days for the chickens to start producing Golden Eggs as well. If you come with me, we'll be able to work double time and get all the Golden Dairy Produce we need for experimentation later on."
Katie shuffled her feet as she thought about the proposition. "I'll have to tell my grandpa so he won't worry. It'll just be a couple of days, right?" At Karen's nod, Katie grinned and said, "All right then! I'll tell grandpa and we'll get going first thing tommorow morning."
"Looks like we're not the only ones who are leaving," said Ann as she swept up behind Karen and took a slice of cake handed to her by Flak. She then patted the sprite on the head and gave him a mushroom while the girls were focused on the food momentarily. It wouldn't do to see a mushroom floating in mid-air. "Tim, Lyla and I are headed to Forget-Me-Not Valley."
"Woody wasn't able to decipher the map?" asked Katie. Ann shook her head.
"Nope. Tim wanted to come along but Bob insisted that he was too young to make the trip with us. So Lyla stepped in and said she'll come with us." Ann speared a chunk of cake with her fork and ate it. "We'll drop a load of seeds off at the farm before we leave on Kai's boat."
"So exactly who is staying here?" asked Katie as she sipped at a bit of grape wine that was handed to her in a small tin cup.
"Jack of course, Grey, Cliff and Kai will be here along with Mary and Elli. I'm headed out, along with you and Karen, Rick and Popuri are returning home for the season and that's about it."
"Kai and Gwen in the same area and beheaving? That's asking the moon to fall." said Katie.
Karen shrugged. "I guess if the moon hasn't decimated the town by the time we return, we'll get a better idea of how things are working."
"Kai is actually heading back to Flowerbud Village soon. He's just our ferry." said Ann as she finished her cake slice.
"There's one way of putting him," said Karen with a snort.
==================
Morning dawned the next day to see off the others. It would be another season before I saw Popuri and Rick again, a week and a half before I saw Karen and Katie, and almost two seasons before Ann returned.
It would be a long haul, but with the rest of us working at our ideas of helping out the Village, I was sure we could pull through.
As the morning sun rose and the boat chugged off towards Mineral Town, I set my cap to my head and wished them the best.