I apologize the first chapter was so short. But, most first chapters—the prologue-type ones, anyways—are usually shorter than a real chapter in most books. So why didn't I call it a prologue? Because most people (myself included) don't read prologues if they already know the stereotype beginnings. So I'm sorry for the first chapter's short-ness… all the rest of the chapters will be longer, I promise. Oh… and, before I forget… Moriko means, "forest child" in Japanese.

And I suppose I'll answer the one review I have so far:

Butterscotch24 Thank you! She's actually going to be the main character (the girl worker), and I was basing her on the AnWL girl, but she's a bit different…

OoOoO

It was almost one year after the so-called "Claire's Condition" meeting at Rose Square, and everything was going fine. It looked like a normal, busy Spring day, but it was much more than that.

Today was the day Moriko came.

Moriko was the new worker at Claire's Farm. There had been many who had answered for the ad, eager for fresh air and a small town near a beach, but once they had seen Claire and her disdainful look down at them, they had politely refused, some stated that this was not what they wanted, and some had even ran away without a second glance back. But not Moriko. Moriko hadn't even come to visit here. She had seen the ad, called in, and accepted the job, refusing to see it until she got there. She had told Mayor Thomas she had wanted a surprise, and she wasn't taking no for an answer. Mayor Thomas just agreed with her, and most of the townspeople were actually happy she was not coming to see the farm before she took the job. The farm was in horrible state, almost all of it covered with weeds and boulders, branches and stumps. And if that wasn't enough to worry about, Claire was sure to scare away the girl. Her bossy, sarcastic personality was sure to make Moriko quit the second she arrived. But… a few select townspeople held on to a ray of hope. They all knew that they needed a worker to survive, and if this new girl, Moriko, did not stay… well, the town would have to be sold. But, those select, hopeful, few were exited about this Moriko girl coming. Maybe… maybe she would be the one…

Claire, too, was exited. She had neglected the crops and animals even more than they already were, eager to see how long this Moriko girl would last. She was absolutely positive that no girl could handle the pressure of taking on the work of a farm almost single-handedly.

OoOoO

"Look! A ship!" shouted May, a little girl of about eight years old. Her long, dark black hair was pleated into two perfect braids, and her dark eyes shone excitedly.

Barley, May's grandfather, scooped up the little child to have her get a better look. Although he was old, he was very, very strong. "Yes, May. Moriko's probably on that ship," he told his granddaughter calmly, but his eyes shone just like May's. He was just as exited as his granddaughter was.

Less than ten minutes later, the whole rest of the town, excluding Claire, was crowded onto the beach, peering out at the slowly approaching ship. They all chattered amiably together, wondering what this Moriko would be like, if she'd be a good worker, and how long everyone thought she would last as Claire as her boss.

Half an hour later, the small "ship"—which was actually no bigger than a sailboat—landed at the dock. A man with a fuzzy white beard smiled down at the villagers. This had been the first time since Claire came that they had seen the old captain, and he had been in a black mood when he brought Claire over.

"Arrogant little girl, that 'un." He'd said with a shake of his head. "And I was only with 'er for less than an 'our. I'm sorry for you folk. I just hope that maybe she'll get tired of this country life and leave ye all alone." Before he could continue, Claire had asked—demanded, actually—that he take her bags to shore—all fourteen of them.

But, to their relief, this time the captain was smiling, his eyes twinkling. "This 'un is much more lively then that other 'un, Clarissa, her name was, righ'?" He laughed. "You've got yourselves a good worker here, Mayor," he told Mayor Thomas. He seemed to have heard something, and turned back around, before laughing at a voice. To the Mayor, he added, "Well, I hate ta' turn 'er over, but she's your worker." With that, a girl jumped off the side of the boat, her dark hair flying.

Barley gasped and blinked before taking off his glasses and rubbing them over and over with a corner of his shirt. He put the glasses back on, but he saw the same thing. Moriko looked very much like an older version of May. Her wavy, dark brown hair reached the middle of her back, and was a little shorter than May's, but still had a likeness to the younger girl's. Her eyes were sparkling brightly and excitedly, much like many of the townspeople's eyes were. Her eyes were very peculiar. They were a chocolaty brown. But near the middle, near the pupil, her eyes were a gleaming golden. She wore a plain, orange cotton T-shirt and faded jeans, along with sensible brown boots, much like the ones Claire wore, but they were more worn out and didn't have the sparkly sequins that Claire's bore. Her hair was free, and she wore no jewelry at all, except for a thin, black silk ribbon necklace from which hung an ebony feather, speckled with white.

Moriko smiled at all of the villagers, and brushed a loose strand of hair away from her dark eyes. "…Hello." She said calmly, her eyes still sparkling with anticipation. "I'm Moriko… it's nice to meet you all!" She picked up her suitcase and began walking, taking in the sights around her.

It was at this point that Claire arrived at the beach. She had since been standing in front of the Supermarket for the past hour, wondering why nobody would answer. She heard cheers coming from the beach and had gone there, wondering what could be more important than her needing to shop. And when she got here, she found that new girl, Molly… or was it Melissa? She shook her head. What did it matter? What mattered was that it seemed that this M-girl was the center of attention!

Claire opened her mouth to say something, but before any words came out, the M-girl ran straight into her, knocking Claire over!

Moriko gasped, as did many of the villagers. "I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there—I was taking in the surroundings—I didn't—Let me help—" She held her hand out for Claire to take, but the girl slapped Moriko's hands as though it was a snake.

"I don't need your help," Claire snarled as she stood up and brushed the particles of sand off of her clothing. "And I just had this dry cleaned, too!" She finished brushing off the sand and glared at Moriko. "…Who are you again?" she questioned, the bite still not out of her voice.

"Oh, me? I'm Moriko. I'm going to help you out on your farm, remember?" She once again held out her hand, this time not for help but for a handshake, but, once again, Claire ignored the hand.

"Oh, yes. Moriko. I'm Claire. C-L-A-I-R-E. Your new boss." Claire answered. She was quite a bit taller than Moriko, and looked down at her with so much disdain that one would think she was looking at a stinkworm.

Moriko nodded, her smile vanishing. "Of course, I remember hearing something about my new boss." She turned and looked around for a moment, before looking back at Claire. "So…lets go to the farm! I can't wait to start work and see your house—"

"Excuse me?" Claire interrupted. "You do know you won't be staying in my house, right?"

Moriko blinked. "…But… if I'm not staying in your house," she stammered, "where will I stay?"

"At Doug's Inn, of course!" Claire replied haughtily. "You will also pay your own rent with the pay you receive. Oh, speaking of pay, I will receive full credit. That means that whatever we sell at the farm, I'll get all of the money."

"B-but then how will I earn any money?" Moriko cried. "I thought I would get paid for this job! I don't want to work as a slave!" Tiny, fat clear tears sprung at the corners of her eyes. She had thought this new job would be perfect. She would be away from her old city life, a life of pain and misery… this was supposed to be perfect! Her dream job! She would have a decent pay, meet new friends, and live in a warm, comfortable house. Now she would leave. But what would she do? She had nowhere to go. It looked as if she was just going to have to—

"We're paying you," came the voice of a woman in her later forties. Her golden hair was wrapped up tightly into a bun at the nape of her neck, and she had bright blue eyes, wore a blue dress, and stood next to a man who looked only slightly older than her. A girl who looked in her mid twenties, with extremely bright green eyes and brown hair with two golden streaks near the front, nodded in agreement.

"And us!" came the voice of a man with black hair with gray streaks in them. He stood next to a woman with equally black hair, but with no gray at all.

"Us too," came the frail and sickly voice of Lillia, her pink hair blowing slightly in the soft breeze.

"And us!" the rest of the town chorused. The voices belonged to young children, older villagers, mothers, fathers, and a priest. The only one who had not joined in was Claire, arms folded, a small smirk on her face.

Moriko blinked as she looked around at all of the villagers looking back at her, some smiling, some looking neutral, and some looking downright angry, a scowl on their faces. Some of those scowling faces included a boy with a blue cap on, with the letters "UMA" on the brim. Standing next to him in an almost exact replica of the boy's position was an older, short man with longish, shaggy gray hair and beard, and tiny, glowering eyes. Then there was a tall, stocky man with a beard and brown hair. He wore simple clothes, and carried an axe, which gave him the impression of being either a lumberjack or an axe murderer. They were the only ones who seemed to be upset about having to pay Moriko instead of Claire.

After studying all the new faces, Moriko picked up her bag, which she had put on the sandy ground, and began walking, continuing up her study of everything around her. It was Spring, which wasn't a season Moriko particularly enjoyed, but even she had to admit it looked beautiful here. In the city, spring was simply a time for collage students to go on Spring Break; a time where the snow melted away and there was no need to buy any more salt for the sidewalks, and people took down their large, cheery Santa blow-up balloons and replaced them with the Easter Bunny. Here it was so much more than that. The beautiful maple trees each had tiny little pink blooms, or magenta buds on their branches, and a few adventurous little green leaves poked out as well. The sand was slightly damp and dark in places, indicating that it had rained not too long ago. Moriko had never seen nature as beautiful as this.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Claire's shrill voice shattered Moriko's dazed, dream-like walk across the beach. "Hurry up already! The farm's a mess and you need to get to work! These townies here need food you know! Chop, chop, wicking-wicking, hurry up, the clock's a tick-ing!" Claire gave a snort of laughter at her pathetic rhyme, and marched briskly away, her long, blonde hair whipping Moriko's face as she shot by. Moriko recoiled, backing up a few steps, her hands over her left cheekbone. When she took her hands away, she found that she was bleeding. Biting her lip to keep from crying, she walked steadily towards the farm, following Claire's bright yellow hair from a distance.

OoOoO

Moriko sharply drew in her breath as she took a good look around Claire's Farm. It had the potential to be beautiful, and maybe, it once was. But now… now it was covered with weeds, rocks, boulders, branches, and even a few stumps! Who would cut down trees here…? Moriko gulped uneasily as she looked around some more, taking a closer look at the scraggly patch near a large, stout brown box near the top-most corner of the plot of dirt. She almost choked as she saw the tiny, brown, under-watered plants straining underneath the many weeds smothering them. She forced herself to look away fro a second, and her eyes rested on the large oak tree. There was a golden, oval-shaped… thing in one of the branches, and Moriko took a few more steps towards it. She gasped, this time in excitement, as she realized what it was. It was a beehive, swarming with happy, fat, bumbling bees buzzing around happily. By the looks of the dripping honey coming from it, Moriko guessed that honey had not been collected from it in a long time.

As she took closer steps towards it, reaching her hand out to take some honey, she heard a shriek from behind her. Claire stood by the brown, wooden box, her blue eyes wide with fear. "Miroki…! What are you doing?" she screeched. Moriko opened her mouth to correct her, but was interrupted by more terrified shrieks. "Are you stupid? Do you know what those are? BEES!" Claire continued. She was now doing a weird sort of dance, hopping nervously from one foot to the other. "Get AWAY from them! They can STING you!"

Moriko smiled. "Oh, I know they can!" she answered. "But I'm not afraid! I won't bother them. I'm only going to get some honey. The hive is so full of honey, its dripping! … … … Don't you want some?" She asked as she saw the disgusted look on Claire's face.

"Ew, no! I hate honey! Its so…" she shuddered, "…made from bees."

Moriko blinked. She wasn't even sure if Claire had tried honey before. …But… maybe it was worth a try to persuade her it was okay to get the honey… if she could sell it, that is. "Claire…" Moriko began slowly, "what if I wasn't going to eat it or give it to you? What if I sold it…?"

Claire looked as if she was about to say something to disagree, but the thought of more money made her close her mouth. After a few minutes she shrugged and nodded. "…Sure, fine. Whatever. Sell it. Get killed by battling the scary bees if you like. I tried to be nice and help you, but do whatever you want to…" She sat down, watching Moriko "battle the scary bees", an odd look on her face.

Moriko smiled a secret smile as she neared the hive. She would sell most of the honey, but secretly keep some of her own. She loved honey, and had never had any as fresh as this before. It had always been the honey inside the bear-shaped bottle, which was pretty good, so she was expecting this honey to be far better…

About ten minutes later, about five jars of honey stood next to Moriko's feet. She had not been stung once. "Where do I put these?" she called over to Claire.

"Over here, in this big, brown box next to me!" Claire shouted back, pointing to the box which she sat next to, as she had said.

Moriko only nodded in reply, as she had already picked up, with some difficulty, the first jar of honey. It was heavier than it looked! She brought it over to the box, set it inside, and heaved out her breath. She was tired already. Then, she went back and got the next jar, heaved it over to the brown, wooden box, and set it gingerly inside. And so she did with the next one. And the next one. And, finally, Moriko put the last jar of honey into the box, without any help at all from Claire, who sat watching her still, a small smirk on her face.

"That should earn me at least 500 gold!" she said gleefully, rubbing her hands together and finally standing up and stretching. She then glanced around, and, seeing the garden, she looked back at Moriko. "Okay. Now you can start clearing the field," she decided. "Start with the branches, since they're the easiest and its your first day. Just chop them up and put them," she pointed to a small bin near what looked like a horse's stall, "right over in there."

"Okay… but how do I chop them up?" questioned Moriko, who was wondering how Claire classified chopping up at least fifty branches was "easy".

Claire looked at Moriko, and for a minute she thought Claire was going to ask if she was stupid again. "…With an axe…?" Claire responded in an "I-can't-believe-you-don't-know" voice.

"I know that," Moriko answered, slightly exasperated, "but I want to know where the axe is."

"Well, why didn't you just say so?" demanded Claire. Without waiting for an answer that was sure not to come, she added, "In there." She pointed to her house. "My house," she said, as though Moriko was too stupid to figure it out. "Go inside the door, and to your…" she paused, obviously trying to remember the direction, "…right, and there will be a big, wooden chest by my bed. Inside will be an assortment of tools."

Moriko began walking towards the house, Claire following close behind. As she opened the large, brown wooden door, she gasped as she stepped inside. It was the biggest house she'd seen in this town yet. It had one huge kitchen, with all of the appliances lined up atop the counters. There was a large refrigerator, and an equally gigantic cabinet, which was, of course, made of dark wood. There was a fireplace past the kitchen, and beyond that, a door, also made out of dark wood. To what the door led to was beyond Moriko. Then, on the other side of the cabinet was a... a hook? It was just a plain coat hook, or so it seemed. Then, there was a beautifully carved (out of dark wood, of course!) grandfather clock, which ticked cheerily on. And next to that was a large mirror, and then a T.V. Right in front of the T.V. was a large table, with four chairs all around it and a nice, lacy tablecloth atop it. Wondering why Claire would need four chairs, Moriko looked to the far corner of the house. What she saw almost made her gasp.

"Are you… Claire, are you married?" Moriko questioned as she stared at the huge bed lined up by the wall. Next to it was a bed half the size of the larger one. They all had the same, odd light brown blankets, which were strewn messily across the beds, part of the small bed's cover on the floor.

"…No," Claire confessed, and for once, her voice dropped the bite it usually had. "But I will be soon!" she added defensively, her voice back to its usual ferocious-ness.

"Ooooh, so you're engaged?" Moriko asked excitedly. "How romantic!" Secretly, though, Moriko wondered who in their right mind would want to marry a selfish brat like Claire, but… maybe she was… um… nicer to him…? Or maybe he wanted her money.

"No, you idiot!" Claire hissed. "I DO have a boyfriend, though," she added haughtily, clearly pleased with herself. A dreamy expression came upon her face as she placed a hand on the pocket on her chest, pulling out a wrinkled picture. She stared at it dreamily, before hastily shoving it back from whence it came and glaring at Moriko. "But he'll marry me soon enough! Now, get the axe and get to work! It's already one o'clock!" But instead of waiting for Moriko to get the axe, Claire threw open the chest in the corner, grabbed a shiny, small axe and shoved it into Moriko's surprised hands.

"There you go. Now, get out of my house before you chop something up!" Claire grabbed Moriko's shoulders, whirled her around, and pushed her out the door, slamming it behind her. There came a muffled sound from behind the door, which was obviously Claire, trying to tell Moriko something, but the other girl was already walking away.

"Now," she mumbled aloud when she reached the brown, wooden box "I wonder what that honey tastes like…?" She reached her hand in and picked up a jar of honey, with some difficulty. She stuck two fingers inside and brought up some fresh, sweet honey, and sucked on her fingers until they turned white. Then, looking over her shoulder, she took another bit of honey, and then one more before deciding she should really get to work.

Swinging the small axe over her shoulder, Moriko attempted to whistle as she walked up to the first branch. She studied the branch for a few seconds before swinging the axe over her head and onto the branch, which split in two with a sickening crrrrrack! Moriko blinked as she looked down at her handiwork. It was a lot easier than she had expected. Swinging the axe yet again over her left shoulder, she picked up the splintered branch, put it into her other free arm, and walked off to a branch next to it.

… End Chapter Two.