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 5 : Travels
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"Aaaaaah, Mineral Town. How I have missed thee."
Karen gave Ann a pointed look and smirked. "We've been gone half a week at the most."
"It's the principal of the thing," replied Ann, sticking out her tongue at the other girl.
Rick grabbed his rucksack and slung it over his shoulder. "Well, I'm gonna head back home. I'm sure Stu and May are still struggling over the chickens. Popuri, you coming?"
Popuri looked at her brother quizzically as she said, "Um, sure, I guess."
Rick smirked and chuckled. "You're not much of a disaster zone around the chickens anymore. You'll do fine."
Popuri got an upset look on her face but it was belayed by the twinkle in her eye. "Dork," she said as she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Twitchy Midget," Rick shot back as the pair quibbled all the way to Chicken Lil's. Karen rolled her eyes as Katie shot her an inquisitive glance.
"Are they always like that?" inquired Katie as the pair passed the Chicken Farm and rounded the corner onto Mineral Farm.
Karen sighed a long suffering sigh. "Always. Harris!"
Harris jogged up to the pair and Karen nearly did a double take. The local constable was usually dressed in his uniform and cap, but today he was dressed in what passed for working clothes. Red work gloves with black grips on the fingers, a plain white t-shirt which was already stained with dirt and blue jeans that looked new but well broken in. Topping it was a bandanna around his neck to catch sweat from pouring down his face onto his clothing and sturdy black boots. Karen had to admit that Harris did a rather credible Jack imitation. "Hello Karen!" said Harris jovially. "Who's your friend?"
"Harris this is Katie. Katie this is Harris," said Karen by way of introduction. "We came about the Golden Products that you wrote us about."
"Ah, yeah, about that." Harris looked uncomfortable as he lead the pair towards the pasture where a fence stood and several cows milled around it, munching on the long grass. "Seems that when I was collecting milk, I was out of Golden Milk cans and kinda put it into a Large can."
"You sold it? Oi." Karen shrugged as she said, "How about the Golden Eggs?"
Harris smiled at that. "No worries. I stockpiled a ton of them into the fridge in the house and there's still a lot left from when Jack was running the farm. It's just the milk that needs work. I give the cow about a half a week before it starts producing again. Caught a tiny cold when I didn't get it into the barn fast enough."
Karen nodded and then turned to Katie. "Well, you want a tour of the town? It's not much, but I'm sure there's stuff we can do here."
Katie tapped her lip and said, "Well, actually I'd like to see those Hot Springs you keep talking about."
Karen's eyes lit up. "I thought you'd never ask. Lets head to my place and get towels."
===================
"Are we there yet?" inquired Tim as the trio marched up Mothers Hill. Lyla shrugged, her eyes asking the question as well.
Ann nodded. "Yeah, just over this hill." Saying so, Ann broke the crest of the hill and looked over the valley of Forget-Me-Not Valley. "Here we are."
Lyla looked down on the valley and inhaled sharply. "It's so... small."
"A lot of people have been moving here recently," said Ann as she started down the road towards the bottom of the Valley. "C'mon, I'm sure someone knows where Professor Carter is."
Tim bounded past the pair and scampered to a halt in front of a large vegetable farm. "Lets ask here," he said, bounding up to the nearby toolshed and knocking on it.
A voice called out, "Come in!" and Tim entered the shed to look up at a large woman dressed in a yellow apron. "Hello there sonny!" she boomed. "What brings you here to Forget Valley?"
"Hi ma'am, I'm Tim!" Tim greeted. The door opened once again and Ann and Lyla stepped inside.
The woman looked over at Ann and laughed. "Well bless me, ain't it Ann! How's your father doing?"
"Hi Vesta!" Ann replied back in the same exuberance that Vesta showed. "Dad's fine, thanks. Your veggies are really good."
Vesta laughed heartily as she made room for the newcomers. Sitting down on a crate, she nodded towards Lyla and asked, "Who're you miss?"
"Lyla," Lyla said, politely nodding. "Pleased to meet you."
"Likewise. So, what brings you three here?"
Ann reached into her pocket and withdrew the map and showed it to Vesta. "A group of us went to Sugar Village in order to keep it from being torn down. Lyla and Tim here are townsfolk of the area. We found this map and was hoping that Carter was around to decipher it as Woody, the Sugar Village carpenter, can't."
Vesta nodded. "Well, Carter is around here somewhere. He's usually up at the dig site near the waterfall. Otherwise, he's wandering around town. You may want to try and find Flora as well as she's up and about at this point in time."
"That's a big help. Thanks Vesta." said Ann as she put the map away. "There's an Inn here, right?"
"Yep," said Vesta as she gestured with her thumb behind her, pointing through the wall. "Over across the river is the Inner Inn. I'm sure Tim and Ruby would love to have visitors."
"Thanks. Oh, Jack sends his regards from Sugar Village." said Ann as the trio headed out the door.
"Tell that young farmer he'd better save that town!" Vesta called out after them as they waved at her.
At the wood bridge, Lyla looked around and said, "Well, there's the waterfall. Tim, why don't you go and look around. Ann and I can handle this."
"Righto. Later then." Tim jogged off towards the Inn as Lyla and Ann headed up towards the Waterfall.
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"Kai, good to see you again," greeted Jake as Kai pulled up to the docks. "I thought you would be gone for another day or so."
"Naw," said Kai, shaking his head as he tied his boat up. "Can't leave the Vineyard for so long, ya know? How's Missus Karen doing?"
Jake chuckled as he clapped the other teenager on the shoulder. "Same as always. Kevin is doing fine as well. He just got out of the sleeping all day stage and is toddling all over the farm."
Kai grinned as he headed up with Jake towards the Flowerbud Farm. "I'm sure it's gonna be a nice spring. The Vineyard is taking root."
Jake nodded as the pair passed the Green Ranch, listening to the arguement Cliff and Ann were having. "Same old, same old. Speaking of same old, you went to Mineral Town a while ago, right, to ferry my cousin Jack?"
"Oh yeah. Jack's doing fine. He's over in Sugar Village right now." Kai shook his head. "Flowerbud and Mineral Town are so similar, with the inhabitants and all. Rick is suggesting alien cloning while Jack is countering with seperated twins from birth."
"I seriously doubt that," said Jake but his eyes were twinkling. "No one could copy the Gourmet."
The pair laughed at that as they entered the Flowerbud Farm. "So," said Jake as he and Kai went over to the crops. "you look like you have a mission on hand."
"Yeah," said Kai as he picked up a large plump Turnip from the ground and tossed it into Jake's arms. "I'm here to find Louis for Jack."
"The crazy insect guy?" asked Jake. "the Mayors wife tossed him out of her garden for trampling on her herbs while chasing some kinda butterfly."
"That would be Louis," said Kai, shaking his head. "Gotz is gonna KILL him for roughing up other towns in the persuit for rare insects to study."
"Why'd you need to find him?" said Jake as he pulled up several more Turnips and tossed it into Kai's arms. "It seems important."
"Well, I need to talk to Louis and Lillia as well," replied Kai as he deposited the Turnips into a nearby basket. "because back over in Sugar Village, we need to find a Blue Mist Flower that attracts the Azure Swallowtail Butterfly. According to Joe, it's a very rare butterfly that could feasably save the town from being torn down. But it only blossoms for the summer."
"I see where this is going. The Azure Swallowtail is endangered, huh?" at Kai's nod, Jake grinned. "Well, I'm sure Lillia has a ton of those Blue Mist Flower seeds somewhere in her store. C'mon, we'll go there together."
Kai raised an eyebrow as he looked over Jake's expansive fields. "You sure you can afford to take today off?"
"Yeah, it's all right. Turnips are the only thing planted this year that'll grow later today." With that, and a shrug from Kai, the pair headed off towards the Town Center.
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"Welcome to.... oh hi Jake, Kai. What brings you here?"
"Heya Popuri," said Kai. "I'm looking for some Blue Mist Seeds. Do you have any?"
"Blue Mist, huh?" said Popuri as she checked behind the counter. "Yeah, we do. 500 G for one bag."
Kai winced at the price. "Hmm... well, okay. I'll take three of em."
Popuri put the seeds into a larger paper bag and handed it over to Kai who put three 500 G coins on the counter. "Thanks a lot. Hey Kai, what do you need those for anyhow?"
"Jack asked me to find em. He's the farmer over in Mineral Town I'm friends with, though right now he's over in Sugar Village." said Kai.
"I don't know how you manage to make a trip so frequently over to Mineral Town, let alone Sugar Village." said Popuri. "Isn't Sugar Village scheduled to be knocked down next spring?"
"Yeah it is," said Kai. "But with any luck, these flowers'll help us out."
"Going to pretty up the place?" inquired Popuri, earning a smile from Kai.
"More like going to attract a Rare butterfly to the place and take a photograph of it." answered Jake.
Popuri blinked. "You mean an Azure Swallowtail?" The two men exchanged surprised glances. Popuri smirked. "Grey and I have seen it once before, when he planted the Blue Mist Flower over near the Goddess Pond."
Kai slapped his forehead. "I should have remembered that! Grey was talking about it for more than a week afterwards."
Popuri giggled and Jake laughed. "You really have to work on that memory of yours Kai."
Kai shrugged as he put the bag away into his rucksack that Jack had loaned him. "Well, I think I'm gonna return back to the Vineyard and help out there before I head back to Sugar Village to drop these seeds off."
"You sure you can't stay until tommorow?" asked Popuri. "You ARE the Harvest King afterall and we can't do the Sowing Festival until you return."
Kai froze in his tracks. "Oh bugger! I forgot about that!" He then sighed, shrugged and turned back to them. "Looks like I'll be giving Jack a call then."
"Phone is over there," said Jake, gesturing to a phone on the wall, rarely used.
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"Spanish Inquisition, we do maulings and stabbings hello?" Cliff smirked as he leaned on the hoe. "Yeah yeah, I know. Okay, I'll tell Jack. No, there hasn't been a phone call from town yet. Okay, later Kai." Cliff turned off the cellular phone and tossed it over to Jack who caught it deftly. "Kai called."
"I gathered that. And?"
"He has to stay for a day or so. Said that your cousin Jake and Popuri reminded him that he was the Harvest King or something like that and there's some kinda duties he needs to get through. Not to mention that the Vineyard is taking good root."
Grey shrugged as he finished planting a row of tomatoes and doused them with water. "As long as he gets here with those seeds, it's not a bad thing, right?"
"I don't think it's such a bad thing anyhow," said Mary as she finished up working on the fence that had broken down during a nasty windstorm. The bookish librarian girl had found herself quite good at repairing things and with Elli and Jack's help, the fence was becoming an impenetrable wall where no cow could break though. "He has obligations over in Flowerbud."
"Feels so empty after less than seven days with a ton of people here," remarked Cliff as he leaned on the hoe after cultivating several more sections of dirt.
"That's life for ya," said Jack as he worked on pulling up some fast growing Potatoes. "Comes in fits and spurts." He then grinned. "I LOVE the weather conditions in this area!"
"What, the fact that you can grow anything all through the year, or the fact that Sugar Village gets typhoons every season?" There was no malice in Grey's voice, but it was laced with amusement.
"Option A," replied Jack smartly.
Elli stood from a half crouch and massaged her fingers. "Lets keep going. As soon as we finish the planting we can go up and work with the other villagers on ideas."
"I got a new one," said Cliff as he broke up the dirt with a swing of the hoe. "I was talking to Joe and he said there's a silver fish in the lake. If I catch that on a full moon, I'll be able to send something of it in and get this place declared as a wildlife preserve."
"That's great!" exlaimed Mary. "Anything else?"
Grey tipped his hat and nodded. "Yep. I took over for Rick up at Brownie Farm. In any day, we can get a fine racing horse. Then we can bring it to the races and beat out Cliffguard."
Jack whistled. "Cliffguard huh? He won the first year I came to Mineral Town, right? With the jockey from Green Farm, right?"
Grey nodded. "Yeah. My 'evil twin' over in Flowerbud Village used to ride before he had an accident involving a horse. Since then, I haven't seen him since I was young."
"The conversation must have been stimulating," remarked Cliff and he and Jack laughed. Mary sighed and Elli rolled her eyes.
"Meatheads," Elli remarked, dusting off her hands on her jeans.
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"Welcome home you two," greeted Lillia as she bustled around the kitchen.
"Hi mom," Popuri said, going up to hug her mom. Giving her a tight squeeze, she said, "You look really good!"
Lillia giggled, turned and embraced her son. After pulling away, the pink haired woman picked up some eggs and rice and placed it on the table. "Stu and May have been just darling help around here, and Grant from across the street has been so much help. Also, Takakura has come over and helped several times while in town now."
"Takakura huh?" asked Rick as he sat down at the table and picked up a plate from the stack and distributed it. "Has he been coming around more often lately?"
"Now that you mention it, he has," replied his mother as she sat down and placed a pot of Relaxation Tea on the table with three teacups. "Takakura has been coming up to Mineral Town with not only the shipments from Vesta's Farm but shipments from a new place called Forgetful Farm."
"A new farm in town huh?" inquired Popuri as she nibbled on the eggs on her plate. "That ought to be fun for the villagers."
As the family ate, a knock on the door made Rick get up and answer it. Standing there was a thin man with glasses, dressed in what passed for working clothing. A pair of slacks and a colorful t-shirt. "Good day," he greeted and Rick couldn't help but notice that his face was lined with worry wrinkles that make him look years older. "I'm here to help out again."
"You're Grant, am I right sir?" At Grants nod, Rick let him in and said, "Sit down for a while. We're just having breakfast."
"It's quite all right," said Grant. "I'll just have some tea if you don't mind."
"Not at all," said Lillia as Popuri got up and fetched another cup. Pouring the tea, Grant took a long sniff of it and sipped at the tea. He seemed to visibly relax while sipping at the drink.
"Thanks for keeping an eye on the place for us sir," said Popuri as she finished her food and got up to clean her plate. "We kinda left abruptly so we didn't set up a replacement for us."
"That's quite all right, I'm glad to help." replied Grant as he finished his tea and stood up. "Thank you for the tea."
"No problem," said Rick as he finished his own breakfast. "I'll get going on today's chores then Mom."
"Be sure to let Stu and May help as well," reminded Lillia as she finished her own breakfast.
"I will." And with that, Rick headed out the door.
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"Yes.. I see... these runes are similar to the tablet that Negi dug out of the ground yesterday," said Carter as he looked over the map. "Do you mind leaving this here for me? I'll get to work on it immediately."
Ann cocked her head to the side. "Don't you need to keep working on the dig site though?"
Carter laughed, a sound much like the Santa of old stories. "No need," he replied dismissively. "This dig will be my lifes work here. I can certianly take a few weeks to decipher something else. Go ahead and wander the place. It's not much, but it's comfortable."
"Thank you for doing this," said Lyla.
Carter nodded. "You don't need to thank me. I'm just doing my part in helping your home from being knocked down. Now go on. I'm sure there are lots of people to meet here and you still need to check in at the Inner Inn."
Ann chuckled and she and Lyla left the small tent. "That's Carter for you, totally informal," she said as the pair headed down towards Vesta's Farm.
"He certianly knows what he's doing," replied Lyla as the pair crossed the bridge, nodding to an elderly couple who passed by. "Though he seemed a bit oblivious that I flirted with him."
Ann laughed, startling a scientest in range. "That's Carter for you. He's TOTALLY oblivious to children and the opposite sex."
"Then how do you explain his assistant?" inquired Lyla curiously.
"She's his student actually, but there's zero romance between them." Ann shrugged as she pushed the doors to the Inner Inn open. "Hello?"
A large man dressed chiefly in yellow and red startled as he turned around. "Oh hello!" he exclaimed jovially. "I thought you were Negi coming to visit. Welcome to the Inner Inn."
"Hello Tim," said Ann.
Tim looked at Ann for a moment and then his face lit up. "Well bless me! Ann! I haven't seen you since Ruby and I passed through Mineral Town when you were just knee high! C'mere and give your uncle a hug!"
Ann hugged the larger man and Lyla asked, "He's your uncle?"
"Mom's side," replied Ann as she pulled away. "Tim, this is Lyla. She runs the flower shop over in Sugar Village."
"So what brings you here from Mineral Town?" asked Tim as he sat the girls down on a wing backed love seat. "Surely not just to visit your old uncle Tim."
"Actually we came here from Sugar Village to get a map deciphered. Carter is looking at it right now." replied Ann.
"We were hoping that if we can get the runes on it figured out, we can find something that might help the town before it's scheduled knock down date of Spring the first." added Lyla.
"I see," said Tim. "Well, I assume that means you're going to stay here, right?" The girls nodded and he grinned. "I have two rooms, one is being rented but there's two more beds in there. The other one is being used by Rock."
"There's someone else that came along with us," said Lyla. "A little boy named Tim."
"Ah. Well, I'm sure Rock won't mind the company." Tim then jabbed a thumb over at the stairs. "Rooms are up top. Lets get you girls settled in."
====================
Review answer to CFFJ : The name Negi came from the manga Negima! Magister Negi Magi by Ken Akamatsu. While I would have mainly followed in the tradition of Jack and different J-labeled incarnations, there is a precident of a main charecter being named differently. In GB3 Harvest Moon, the Farmers are named Pete and Sara and Pete was the same farmer from GB2 Harvest Moon. It is safe to assume that Natsume has juggled between Pete and Jack as a male name, and Sara as a default female name.
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 5 : Travels
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"Aaaaaah, Mineral Town. How I have missed thee."
Karen gave Ann a pointed look and smirked. "We've been gone half a week at the most."
"It's the principal of the thing," replied Ann, sticking out her tongue at the other girl.
Rick grabbed his rucksack and slung it over his shoulder. "Well, I'm gonna head back home. I'm sure Stu and May are still struggling over the chickens. Popuri, you coming?"
Popuri looked at her brother quizzically as she said, "Um, sure, I guess."
Rick smirked and chuckled. "You're not much of a disaster zone around the chickens anymore. You'll do fine."
Popuri got an upset look on her face but it was belayed by the twinkle in her eye. "Dork," she said as she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Twitchy Midget," Rick shot back as the pair quibbled all the way to Chicken Lil's. Karen rolled her eyes as Katie shot her an inquisitive glance.
"Are they always like that?" inquired Katie as the pair passed the Chicken Farm and rounded the corner onto Mineral Farm.
Karen sighed a long suffering sigh. "Always. Harris!"
Harris jogged up to the pair and Karen nearly did a double take. The local constable was usually dressed in his uniform and cap, but today he was dressed in what passed for working clothes. Red work gloves with black grips on the fingers, a plain white t-shirt which was already stained with dirt and blue jeans that looked new but well broken in. Topping it was a bandanna around his neck to catch sweat from pouring down his face onto his clothing and sturdy black boots. Karen had to admit that Harris did a rather credible Jack imitation. "Hello Karen!" said Harris jovially. "Who's your friend?"
"Harris this is Katie. Katie this is Harris," said Karen by way of introduction. "We came about the Golden Products that you wrote us about."
"Ah, yeah, about that." Harris looked uncomfortable as he lead the pair towards the pasture where a fence stood and several cows milled around it, munching on the long grass. "Seems that when I was collecting milk, I was out of Golden Milk cans and kinda put it into a Large can."
"You sold it? Oi." Karen shrugged as she said, "How about the Golden Eggs?"
Harris smiled at that. "No worries. I stockpiled a ton of them into the fridge in the house and there's still a lot left from when Jack was running the farm. It's just the milk that needs work. I give the cow about a half a week before it starts producing again. Caught a tiny cold when I didn't get it into the barn fast enough."
Karen nodded and then turned to Katie. "Well, you want a tour of the town? It's not much, but I'm sure there's stuff we can do here."
Katie tapped her lip and said, "Well, actually I'd like to see those Hot Springs you keep talking about."
Karen's eyes lit up. "I thought you'd never ask. Lets head to my place and get towels."
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"Are we there yet?" inquired Tim as the trio marched up Mothers Hill. Lyla shrugged, her eyes asking the question as well.
Ann nodded. "Yeah, just over this hill." Saying so, Ann broke the crest of the hill and looked over the valley of Forget-Me-Not Valley. "Here we are."
Lyla looked down on the valley and inhaled sharply. "It's so... small."
"A lot of people have been moving here recently," said Ann as she started down the road towards the bottom of the Valley. "C'mon, I'm sure someone knows where Professor Carter is."
Tim bounded past the pair and scampered to a halt in front of a large vegetable farm. "Lets ask here," he said, bounding up to the nearby toolshed and knocking on it.
A voice called out, "Come in!" and Tim entered the shed to look up at a large woman dressed in a yellow apron. "Hello there sonny!" she boomed. "What brings you here to Forget Valley?"
"Hi ma'am, I'm Tim!" Tim greeted. The door opened once again and Ann and Lyla stepped inside.
The woman looked over at Ann and laughed. "Well bless me, ain't it Ann! How's your father doing?"
"Hi Vesta!" Ann replied back in the same exuberance that Vesta showed. "Dad's fine, thanks. Your veggies are really good."
Vesta laughed heartily as she made room for the newcomers. Sitting down on a crate, she nodded towards Lyla and asked, "Who're you miss?"
"Lyla," Lyla said, politely nodding. "Pleased to meet you."
"Likewise. So, what brings you three here?"
Ann reached into her pocket and withdrew the map and showed it to Vesta. "A group of us went to Sugar Village in order to keep it from being torn down. Lyla and Tim here are townsfolk of the area. We found this map and was hoping that Carter was around to decipher it as Woody, the Sugar Village carpenter, can't."
Vesta nodded. "Well, Carter is around here somewhere. He's usually up at the dig site near the waterfall. Otherwise, he's wandering around town. You may want to try and find Flora as well as she's up and about at this point in time."
"That's a big help. Thanks Vesta." said Ann as she put the map away. "There's an Inn here, right?"
"Yep," said Vesta as she gestured with her thumb behind her, pointing through the wall. "Over across the river is the Inner Inn. I'm sure Tim and Ruby would love to have visitors."
"Thanks. Oh, Jack sends his regards from Sugar Village." said Ann as the trio headed out the door.
"Tell that young farmer he'd better save that town!" Vesta called out after them as they waved at her.
At the wood bridge, Lyla looked around and said, "Well, there's the waterfall. Tim, why don't you go and look around. Ann and I can handle this."
"Righto. Later then." Tim jogged off towards the Inn as Lyla and Ann headed up towards the Waterfall.
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"Kai, good to see you again," greeted Jake as Kai pulled up to the docks. "I thought you would be gone for another day or so."
"Naw," said Kai, shaking his head as he tied his boat up. "Can't leave the Vineyard for so long, ya know? How's Missus Karen doing?"
Jake chuckled as he clapped the other teenager on the shoulder. "Same as always. Kevin is doing fine as well. He just got out of the sleeping all day stage and is toddling all over the farm."
Kai grinned as he headed up with Jake towards the Flowerbud Farm. "I'm sure it's gonna be a nice spring. The Vineyard is taking root."
Jake nodded as the pair passed the Green Ranch, listening to the arguement Cliff and Ann were having. "Same old, same old. Speaking of same old, you went to Mineral Town a while ago, right, to ferry my cousin Jack?"
"Oh yeah. Jack's doing fine. He's over in Sugar Village right now." Kai shook his head. "Flowerbud and Mineral Town are so similar, with the inhabitants and all. Rick is suggesting alien cloning while Jack is countering with seperated twins from birth."
"I seriously doubt that," said Jake but his eyes were twinkling. "No one could copy the Gourmet."
The pair laughed at that as they entered the Flowerbud Farm. "So," said Jake as he and Kai went over to the crops. "you look like you have a mission on hand."
"Yeah," said Kai as he picked up a large plump Turnip from the ground and tossed it into Jake's arms. "I'm here to find Louis for Jack."
"The crazy insect guy?" asked Jake. "the Mayors wife tossed him out of her garden for trampling on her herbs while chasing some kinda butterfly."
"That would be Louis," said Kai, shaking his head. "Gotz is gonna KILL him for roughing up other towns in the persuit for rare insects to study."
"Why'd you need to find him?" said Jake as he pulled up several more Turnips and tossed it into Kai's arms. "It seems important."
"Well, I need to talk to Louis and Lillia as well," replied Kai as he deposited the Turnips into a nearby basket. "because back over in Sugar Village, we need to find a Blue Mist Flower that attracts the Azure Swallowtail Butterfly. According to Joe, it's a very rare butterfly that could feasably save the town from being torn down. But it only blossoms for the summer."
"I see where this is going. The Azure Swallowtail is endangered, huh?" at Kai's nod, Jake grinned. "Well, I'm sure Lillia has a ton of those Blue Mist Flower seeds somewhere in her store. C'mon, we'll go there together."
Kai raised an eyebrow as he looked over Jake's expansive fields. "You sure you can afford to take today off?"
"Yeah, it's all right. Turnips are the only thing planted this year that'll grow later today." With that, and a shrug from Kai, the pair headed off towards the Town Center.
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"Welcome to.... oh hi Jake, Kai. What brings you here?"
"Heya Popuri," said Kai. "I'm looking for some Blue Mist Seeds. Do you have any?"
"Blue Mist, huh?" said Popuri as she checked behind the counter. "Yeah, we do. 500 G for one bag."
Kai winced at the price. "Hmm... well, okay. I'll take three of em."
Popuri put the seeds into a larger paper bag and handed it over to Kai who put three 500 G coins on the counter. "Thanks a lot. Hey Kai, what do you need those for anyhow?"
"Jack asked me to find em. He's the farmer over in Mineral Town I'm friends with, though right now he's over in Sugar Village." said Kai.
"I don't know how you manage to make a trip so frequently over to Mineral Town, let alone Sugar Village." said Popuri. "Isn't Sugar Village scheduled to be knocked down next spring?"
"Yeah it is," said Kai. "But with any luck, these flowers'll help us out."
"Going to pretty up the place?" inquired Popuri, earning a smile from Kai.
"More like going to attract a Rare butterfly to the place and take a photograph of it." answered Jake.
Popuri blinked. "You mean an Azure Swallowtail?" The two men exchanged surprised glances. Popuri smirked. "Grey and I have seen it once before, when he planted the Blue Mist Flower over near the Goddess Pond."
Kai slapped his forehead. "I should have remembered that! Grey was talking about it for more than a week afterwards."
Popuri giggled and Jake laughed. "You really have to work on that memory of yours Kai."
Kai shrugged as he put the bag away into his rucksack that Jack had loaned him. "Well, I think I'm gonna return back to the Vineyard and help out there before I head back to Sugar Village to drop these seeds off."
"You sure you can't stay until tommorow?" asked Popuri. "You ARE the Harvest King afterall and we can't do the Sowing Festival until you return."
Kai froze in his tracks. "Oh bugger! I forgot about that!" He then sighed, shrugged and turned back to them. "Looks like I'll be giving Jack a call then."
"Phone is over there," said Jake, gesturing to a phone on the wall, rarely used.
==================
"Spanish Inquisition, we do maulings and stabbings hello?" Cliff smirked as he leaned on the hoe. "Yeah yeah, I know. Okay, I'll tell Jack. No, there hasn't been a phone call from town yet. Okay, later Kai." Cliff turned off the cellular phone and tossed it over to Jack who caught it deftly. "Kai called."
"I gathered that. And?"
"He has to stay for a day or so. Said that your cousin Jake and Popuri reminded him that he was the Harvest King or something like that and there's some kinda duties he needs to get through. Not to mention that the Vineyard is taking good root."
Grey shrugged as he finished planting a row of tomatoes and doused them with water. "As long as he gets here with those seeds, it's not a bad thing, right?"
"I don't think it's such a bad thing anyhow," said Mary as she finished up working on the fence that had broken down during a nasty windstorm. The bookish librarian girl had found herself quite good at repairing things and with Elli and Jack's help, the fence was becoming an impenetrable wall where no cow could break though. "He has obligations over in Flowerbud."
"Feels so empty after less than seven days with a ton of people here," remarked Cliff as he leaned on the hoe after cultivating several more sections of dirt.
"That's life for ya," said Jack as he worked on pulling up some fast growing Potatoes. "Comes in fits and spurts." He then grinned. "I LOVE the weather conditions in this area!"
"What, the fact that you can grow anything all through the year, or the fact that Sugar Village gets typhoons every season?" There was no malice in Grey's voice, but it was laced with amusement.
"Option A," replied Jack smartly.
Elli stood from a half crouch and massaged her fingers. "Lets keep going. As soon as we finish the planting we can go up and work with the other villagers on ideas."
"I got a new one," said Cliff as he broke up the dirt with a swing of the hoe. "I was talking to Joe and he said there's a silver fish in the lake. If I catch that on a full moon, I'll be able to send something of it in and get this place declared as a wildlife preserve."
"That's great!" exlaimed Mary. "Anything else?"
Grey tipped his hat and nodded. "Yep. I took over for Rick up at Brownie Farm. In any day, we can get a fine racing horse. Then we can bring it to the races and beat out Cliffguard."
Jack whistled. "Cliffguard huh? He won the first year I came to Mineral Town, right? With the jockey from Green Farm, right?"
Grey nodded. "Yeah. My 'evil twin' over in Flowerbud Village used to ride before he had an accident involving a horse. Since then, I haven't seen him since I was young."
"The conversation must have been stimulating," remarked Cliff and he and Jack laughed. Mary sighed and Elli rolled her eyes.
"Meatheads," Elli remarked, dusting off her hands on her jeans.
==================
"Welcome home you two," greeted Lillia as she bustled around the kitchen.
"Hi mom," Popuri said, going up to hug her mom. Giving her a tight squeeze, she said, "You look really good!"
Lillia giggled, turned and embraced her son. After pulling away, the pink haired woman picked up some eggs and rice and placed it on the table. "Stu and May have been just darling help around here, and Grant from across the street has been so much help. Also, Takakura has come over and helped several times while in town now."
"Takakura huh?" asked Rick as he sat down at the table and picked up a plate from the stack and distributed it. "Has he been coming around more often lately?"
"Now that you mention it, he has," replied his mother as she sat down and placed a pot of Relaxation Tea on the table with three teacups. "Takakura has been coming up to Mineral Town with not only the shipments from Vesta's Farm but shipments from a new place called Forgetful Farm."
"A new farm in town huh?" inquired Popuri as she nibbled on the eggs on her plate. "That ought to be fun for the villagers."
As the family ate, a knock on the door made Rick get up and answer it. Standing there was a thin man with glasses, dressed in what passed for working clothing. A pair of slacks and a colorful t-shirt. "Good day," he greeted and Rick couldn't help but notice that his face was lined with worry wrinkles that make him look years older. "I'm here to help out again."
"You're Grant, am I right sir?" At Grants nod, Rick let him in and said, "Sit down for a while. We're just having breakfast."
"It's quite all right," said Grant. "I'll just have some tea if you don't mind."
"Not at all," said Lillia as Popuri got up and fetched another cup. Pouring the tea, Grant took a long sniff of it and sipped at the tea. He seemed to visibly relax while sipping at the drink.
"Thanks for keeping an eye on the place for us sir," said Popuri as she finished her food and got up to clean her plate. "We kinda left abruptly so we didn't set up a replacement for us."
"That's quite all right, I'm glad to help." replied Grant as he finished his tea and stood up. "Thank you for the tea."
"No problem," said Rick as he finished his own breakfast. "I'll get going on today's chores then Mom."
"Be sure to let Stu and May help as well," reminded Lillia as she finished her own breakfast.
"I will." And with that, Rick headed out the door.
===================
"Yes.. I see... these runes are similar to the tablet that Negi dug out of the ground yesterday," said Carter as he looked over the map. "Do you mind leaving this here for me? I'll get to work on it immediately."
Ann cocked her head to the side. "Don't you need to keep working on the dig site though?"
Carter laughed, a sound much like the Santa of old stories. "No need," he replied dismissively. "This dig will be my lifes work here. I can certianly take a few weeks to decipher something else. Go ahead and wander the place. It's not much, but it's comfortable."
"Thank you for doing this," said Lyla.
Carter nodded. "You don't need to thank me. I'm just doing my part in helping your home from being knocked down. Now go on. I'm sure there are lots of people to meet here and you still need to check in at the Inner Inn."
Ann chuckled and she and Lyla left the small tent. "That's Carter for you, totally informal," she said as the pair headed down towards Vesta's Farm.
"He certianly knows what he's doing," replied Lyla as the pair crossed the bridge, nodding to an elderly couple who passed by. "Though he seemed a bit oblivious that I flirted with him."
Ann laughed, startling a scientest in range. "That's Carter for you. He's TOTALLY oblivious to children and the opposite sex."
"Then how do you explain his assistant?" inquired Lyla curiously.
"She's his student actually, but there's zero romance between them." Ann shrugged as she pushed the doors to the Inner Inn open. "Hello?"
A large man dressed chiefly in yellow and red startled as he turned around. "Oh hello!" he exclaimed jovially. "I thought you were Negi coming to visit. Welcome to the Inner Inn."
"Hello Tim," said Ann.
Tim looked at Ann for a moment and then his face lit up. "Well bless me! Ann! I haven't seen you since Ruby and I passed through Mineral Town when you were just knee high! C'mere and give your uncle a hug!"
Ann hugged the larger man and Lyla asked, "He's your uncle?"
"Mom's side," replied Ann as she pulled away. "Tim, this is Lyla. She runs the flower shop over in Sugar Village."
"So what brings you here from Mineral Town?" asked Tim as he sat the girls down on a wing backed love seat. "Surely not just to visit your old uncle Tim."
"Actually we came here from Sugar Village to get a map deciphered. Carter is looking at it right now." replied Ann.
"We were hoping that if we can get the runes on it figured out, we can find something that might help the town before it's scheduled knock down date of Spring the first." added Lyla.
"I see," said Tim. "Well, I assume that means you're going to stay here, right?" The girls nodded and he grinned. "I have two rooms, one is being rented but there's two more beds in there. The other one is being used by Rock."
"There's someone else that came along with us," said Lyla. "A little boy named Tim."
"Ah. Well, I'm sure Rock won't mind the company." Tim then jabbed a thumb over at the stairs. "Rooms are up top. Lets get you girls settled in."
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Review answer to CFFJ : The name Negi came from the manga Negima! Magister Negi Magi by Ken Akamatsu. While I would have mainly followed in the tradition of Jack and different J-labeled incarnations, there is a precident of a main charecter being named differently. In GB3 Harvest Moon, the Farmers are named Pete and Sara and Pete was the same farmer from GB2 Harvest Moon. It is safe to assume that Natsume has juggled between Pete and Jack as a male name, and Sara as a default female name.