It's back! It's alive! Well, here's the second chapter. A little bit more cursing than in the other parts of the fic. And blood. Let the battle BEGIN!
Chapter Two: Battle at the Green Ranch
Jack climbed out of bed against his will. This time he made sure that he was properly dressed before walking outside to complete his tasks.
When he walked out onto the beautiful summer day, he saw that his crops had grown well. The stalks of corn were ready to be harvested and the tomatoes were bright red and incredibly healthy.
"Maybe I'll take it easy today," Jack suggested to himself. "Walk around town and hang out. That'll be good for me."
Since Jack was so busy clearing all the weeds from the land, he never really saw his neighbors at the Green Ranch except when they gave him a horse. "Maybe I'll go there," he decided.
As he stepped off his land, he noticed the vineyard. Kai was working hard with a carefree smile on his face. His purple bandana was drenched in sweat as he picked random grapes. Jack knew he was no good. Well, he was paranoid as hell, anyway.
"The bastard," Jack muttered. "He's probably poisoning the grapes."
He took a few steps toward the ranch, but stopped abruptly. What if it was just like last time? What if Ann would steal his ax and hack his head off if he did something stupid? He shuddered and gathered the courage to go to the ranch.
The Green Ranch had healthy grass that was colored as the name would suggest. Healthy animals roamed freely in the pasture, while Ann and her mysterious brother Gray were brushing the horses.
His name may have been Gray, but he was really a bid black-hearted in Jack's eyes. He was always glaring at Jack and saying "you can't do anything". His baseball cap concealed his eyes shadowed his face, making him look menacing.
"Hello, Gray!" greeted Jack, smiling but secretly wishing that Gray wouldn't hurt him.
"What do you want?" he snapped, affectionately petting a sheep. It amazed Jack how much he hated people yet loved animals.
"Um… I just wanted to visit you guys," Jack stammered.
"Heh," chuckled Gray, "So Kai-"
"Yes, dammit!" Jack was now ticked off. "Can I speak to Ann?"
A vein bulged on Gray's forehead. "Get the off my property…"
"What's the big deal?" Jack asked, retreating in fear.
"No one goes near her…" the young man stated, grabbing what appeared to be sheep shearers in his hand.
"Jack!"
A girl with long, orange hair ran up to Jack. She had a wide smile on her face and what seemed to be a cloud in her arms. The farmer soon saw that it was really a sheep.
"His name is Mahameyoshu," Ann explained, "which was the ancient Sheep God of the Harvest Sprites."
"Wow…" the farmer said.
"I remember you bought a sheep. What'd you name it?"
Way to friggin' go, Jack thought, you named him Sheepy. How the hell can that compare to Mahe….mara…. yoshi….. whatever?
"Sheepy," he replied sheepishly (pun intended).
"Can I see him?" asked Ann.
"Sure!" Jack answered. "Let's go."
---
The orange haired girl turned to Sheepy, who was lying down lazily. His wool was clipped already. "She's so cute."
"Yep, my favorite animal in the world," stated Jack, causing the cow to glare with jealousy and hatred. The cow muttered, "I'll kill him later," in her native language.
"Wanna walk around town?" asked Ann. "I'm bored."
---
The two wandered around near the library, talking about random things.
"That's why I'm not allowed to own a toaster," concluded Jack, ending a long and…..interesting tale.
"So there's the graveyard…" Ann muttered, walking toward the gray stones marking the graves. "There's the animal cemetery."
"Yeah…" Jack muttered, walking towards it.
"I'm so glad it's never been used," she sighed in relief. "Wait a minute! There was one! Chi the chicken…"
Jack smacked himself in the forehead. Crap. Way to go! You bought that accursed chicken, then it died. Now you're doomed…
"Hey, it died this year…" Ann read. "Well, we share these graves with a neighboring village; no doubt it was from the….. THE HIO FARM!"
"Eh heh he…"
WHAM!
Jack knew he shouldn't have carried a hammer in his backpack in a time where someone could get mad at him. He drifted through the sky, blood dripping on those unfortunate enough to stand under him.
"Blood fell from the sky," Stu, a young boy, observed.
"Well children," the priest began casually, "It means… THAT WE HAVE ANGERED GOD AND ARE BEING ATTACKED BY THE DEVIL! RUN!"
"I'm no devil…" whimpered the wounded farmer.
"What was that?" the priest asked. "THE DEVIL IS HERE! GET 'EM!"
---
After eating a few dozen medicinal herbs, Jack was feeling better. Of course, his clothes were blood-stained, so he decided to wash them in the ocean.
"I really need a washing machine…" he muttered, walking out of the barn. Then he paused.
To get to the beach he'd have to walk through the Green Ranch.
"Ah, shi-"
"JACK?"
A forty-something year old man with orange hair and a mustache marched out to meet Jack. He seemed aggravated, and because of his orange hair it was obvious that he was Ann's father.
"So…" he mumbled, "you doing okay?"
Jack sighed in relief. He recalled that the ranch owner always looked a bit mad even when he was happy.
"Not really. Ann found out about Chi. And whacked the hell out of me with my own hammer that's powerful enough to crush stones."
"Bah, you screwed up. It was your first chicken. Just don't screw up again."
"I don't," Jack started, "In fact, my animals now are healthy and happy. But if I walk through the ranch to get to the sea, I won't be like them."
The ranch owner chuckled, than splashed a can of glue all over the younger farmer.
"What the heck!"
Ann's dad grabbed some wool he was going to sell and tossed it at Jack. The glue made it stick to his body.
"Mister…. I'm getting sick from the glue fumes…"
"Shut up; you look like a sheep. Sneak out."
It was a relatively good plan, despite being completely insane (Jack's taste in plans is very bad as you can assume, as was the other rancher's). Jack decided to go along with it. What was the worst that could happen?
"Is that Mahameyoshu!" Ann exclaimed, thinking her sheep was running away. "He's running to the beach! I've gotta stop him!"
"OH COME ON!" Jack shouted. After shouting, he mentally smacked himself. "How can this get worse?" he muttered, being careful so he wouldn't be heard.
"JACK!" A vein in Ann's head bulged. "You're doomed. GRAY!"
Ann's brother sprung out of the bushes, a large sickle in hand. The silver blade glinted in the setting sun. It was like a B-rated ninja film.
"Prepare to die…" he muttered.
"Geez, he's a tad anti-social," observed Jack, using sarcasm in a bad situation to do so in.
Jack reached into his backpack, pulling out a small sickle. Hey, it needed to be small to fit into a backpack, right?
"Damn it…" Jack muttered. "Should have bought a better one…"
Grey dashed towards the other farmer, the sickle looking as if it would finish Jack off. The anti-social farmer just glared as the other prayed for his life. He swung the blade, about to cut straight through Jack's neck…
Blood splattered onto the ground, and Grey's eyes widened at what he had just done.
"D-d-DAD!"
The owner of the Green Ranch, Grey's dad, stood behind Jack. Apparently, he was behind him when Jack ducked.
"Well, I was going to push Jack out of the way so that he wouldn't be killed. Now I've got a bloody gash in my gut. Guess I should get faster with my movements…" The older farmer coughed then resumed his speech. "Anyway, young Jack made a mistake. I've made mistakes like that too, you know. In fact, if I recall correctly, Gray killed a chicken too."
Ann stared at the ground sheepishly. "Yeah… I guess I can forgive Jack for that." She turned to Jack, who was heavily injured. "I'm sorry. Just NEVER FUCK UP LIKE THAT AGAIN, OR I'LL COME AFTER YOU!"
"Watch the language, Ann."
"Sorry dad."
---
"What a day…" muttered Jack, collapsing onto his bed. "Yow!"
Dear Diary, I never want to relive this day again. My luck has seriously gone downhill since Kai… well, you know. I wrote it a few days ago. I hope things get better soon…
…and that I don't ever fuck up like that again and have Ann come after me…
…or have to pay Mr. Green's medical bills.
--Jack.
"Hey, who's there!"
A Harvest Sprite dropped Jack's diary and dashed out the door before he could be caught.