ok, well this is one of my first fanfictions and it's based on the harvest moon game Save the Homeland, enjoy and please review at the end
Ch. 1
I had always heard rumors that my father had saved the homeland. Curious it was, and I had always wanted to know whether it was true or not. Unfortunately I had never been able to ask him, since of course he had left without saying. My mother had raised me once he had left, which was very hard for her. When I had been old enough...since five, I had begun taking care of myself and doing part-time work at places. Money was a tight thing for us, we always just barely managed to get around, since prices had sky-rocketed for years now. With no farmer to provide them with the vegetables they needed they needed the money to have food imported into our small village. It was hard living, and whenever I thought of my father I hated him more and more, and wondered if he really ever did save the village.
"Would you be a dear Daism and go to the store and get some eggs and milk?" my mother, Lyla asked. She was a simple woman who smiled all the time and rarely ever got angry. I looked up from the floor, I shrugged as an answer and grabbed some money out of the register and went outside. It was a gloomy day, just as gloomy as I felt, cloudy with a chance of rain. Louis was out playing his flute, what he always did on his days off. When he saw me he stopped playing though, that's when I looked more intently at the ground and tried picking up my pace without being suspicious about not wanting to talk.
"Afternoon Daism!" Louis called. He ran up to me, making me unable to continue on. "Fine day isn't it?"
"Seen better," I grunted. This was what he always tried to do, strike up light conversations with me. Thing about me is I did a lot of part-time work with the carpenter's apprentice, Kurt. He was the cold, calm, and silent type and working around him made me more or less like him and idolize him.
Louis nodded agreeing completely with me, he always did that..agreeing automatically with whatever I said. "How's Lyla?" he asked with a concerned tone in his voice. He was pretty obvious that he liked her, then again it wasn't surprising. My mother was very beautiful, she had long, wavy light pink hair and caring light blue eyes. Her small, slim figure always stood out best in the red skirt and yellow blouse she always seemed to wear. To top it all off with nothing ever made her frown and she was always smiling, brightening up anyone's day.
"She's fine, as usual," I muttered in response.
"I'm surprised...for sixteen years she's kept up this pace, not once has she shown sadness at your father leaving her," Louis said sadly. "It won't be long before the years of not caring will catch up with her and break her down."
"What makes you say that?" I snapped dangerously, my father being mentioned in that statement sparked a fire inside of me.
"Well, he stopped the city from building an amusement park over this village, he got her pregnant and when he found out he just ran off, leaving no one in charge of the farm and turning our now non-doomed village in ruin."
"How'd he save this village?" I asked coldly, but curiously. I knew how he had brought it to ruin, I had known for as long as I had been working. Ten years of working had made me realize how ruined the village was. Now as a fifteen year old I didn't know what to do anymore, I had really considered leaving the village when I got enough money.
"He made this village really famous, he found an endangered blue butterfly, which is how he met Lyla and got closer to her, and he helped Gina make a Goddess Robe. It was really fascinating that he found the time to do all that and farm all that he did. When he was around we never went hungry, we had to lower the prices of vegetables he harvested so many. Shame he left, but I don't think he could handle a child on the farm or a child in general. He was pretty scared when he found out Lyla was pregnant with you, left the night he found out...he left a note for Lyla but it didn't matter because Kurt saw him leaving," Louis explained.
"Why hasn't anyone taken up the farm these sixteen years?"
"No one had the knowledge or determination to do so, they all thought they'd do horrible compared to Jack but they forgot that he did it for one year and started with no knowledge. And now, everyone's a bit too old to even have the energy to handle a farm, soon we're all gonna have to leave so we can have better lives in the city. Farewell Daism, it was nice talking to you but I'm sure Lyla has sent you on a task for you don't generally come out this time in the afternoon." He left after that and I shrugged and stuffed my thumbs into my jeans pockets and slouched. It was a humid summer day and the fact that the collar to my vest was up didn't really help to cool me down. I walked down the hill and to Ronald's Supermarket, hating him and his high priced merchandise with a passion.
The door's bell chimed as I entered and I went over to Ronald at the counter. "What can I do for you sonny?" he asked kindly. Sonny? I thought bitterly to myself. Only he called me sonny, and to be frank I was disgusted with it. I was fifteen and too old be called anything of that sort. I said nothing about it though, I wasn't one to mention stuff that bothered me or even to talk at all.
"A thirteen eggs and two gallons of milk," I ordered. He nodded and went to the storage to get those items. Fortunately milk and eggs were the original price they had always been, nice and cheap for good quality.
"That'll be one thousand one hundred gold," he told me while handing a bag with the purchase in it. That was a good price expensive as it might sound, a quarter of what the flower shop made a week in spring and summer. I handed him the gold and grabbed the bag, heading back outside. Normally I would have gone straight back home but this time I went in the direction of Walnut Forest, stopping at the fork in the road and taking a right instead of the usual left.
The condition of the farm was shocking to me, the soil had weeds in it and was in poor condition and the buildings looked as if they would fall if you touched them. The only thing that looked in good condition was the grazing pasture and that was all. I walked up to the chicken coop and looked at the door before gently taking hold of the knob and went inside.
It was dusty and crammed in there but I didn't pay much mind and went straight to the incubator. I looked at it with reluctance but grabbed an egg from the bag and set it in the incubator and turned it on, hoping that a chicken would hatch from it. With that in mind I left and went back home, hoping my mother wouldn't question my late return since I never stopped for conversation or took detours like I had today.
We had potato stew that night, and as I washed the dishes and mother prepared cake for our weekly dessert I decided to do a little talking instead of dreaming. "Mom?" I asked cautiously.
"Hmm?" she answered happily.
"Were you at all upset when father left?" I blurted out in a rush. Silence greeted my question and I felt shivers up and down my spine and regretted even have thinking of asking the question in the first place.
"No, he left because he couldn't handle what happened, he did what he thought was best and that's all I can say really. I had too much work to do to even feel upset as well," Mom explained.
"What would you think if someone took over the farm now?"
"You're quite the talkative one tonight," she smiled. "But I think it would be impossible, no one is young enough to take over the farm and keep it in top shape like your father did. And you'd better scrub those dishes well too Daism, talking seems to take you off your important tasks, no wonder you hardly ever talk." She chuckled at this and I flashed a small smile and went back to work, my thoughts drifting to the egg I had put in incubator.
Three days had passed and by then I had been going out more often and today I decided to go to the farm again and check on the egg. When I entered I found a chirping newborn chick about the size of my palm. With care I scooped it up and looked at it, deciding that since I didn't have any money to buy chicken feed I should let it outside. I set it in the pasture and watched it for a couple hours, hoping that it would be safe there for the day.
I was practically glowing with happiness as I practically skipped. My chestnut brown hair flew behind me, messing it up so it looked almost like Louis's. I grinned for the first time in my life as I felt my near shoulder-length hair messier than it had ever been. When I came up the hill and looked at the Flower Shop, my home, I saw Louis leaving the house part of it and walking back towards his home next to the Tool Shop he ran. Something was wrong and I knew it, Louis had a worried expression on his face when he had left, but if anything major was wrong then he would've gone to Bob or Tim next door at Brownie Farm. I shrugged and figured if anything was serious he would've gone to find me right away so I decided to go visit the manor.
Dia and Gina were outside sitting cross-legged under a tree, shielding them from the heat of the sun. Around 3 o' clock was when the sun felt hottest and I understood why these two were under a tree and I walked over to them. "Hello," I greeted calmly. Dia just gave me a cold glare like I would've done in her position but Gina was a lot kinder than that.
"Hello Daism, it's been a long while since we last met," Gina smiled warmly. I nodded patiently, knowing that I had never been here and only had met Gina once at the Supermarket. "Is there anything Sir would like?" I felt my face go hot at being called Sir by a thirty-three year old maid, it was unusual for me to be called sir.
"Err.." I stammered. "Please don't call me Sir, it's rather...unusual. I was wondering though...do you do haircuts?" It was strange asking and I hadn't even thought of haircuts for years, usually I just did it myself with my pocket knife and took off a couple inches.
"Of course, but why, would you like a haircut?" she asked, puzzled. I nodded and pulled my knife out of my pocket and offered it to her. "Oh no, no! I shall cut your hair with scissor, not that. I shall be right back." She ran off right after that, leaving me and that girl...Dia alone.
I knew immediately that Dia didn't trust me one bit and she made it confirmed when she finally spoke up. "Why are you here?" she asked in a stuck-up tone. It was worse than I was in my most distant moods, at least I just sounded normal and cold...but stuck-up just wasn't my style.
"I'd watch it Miss I'm So Pretty And Rich," I growled to her. Big mistake that was, I got a piercing glare from her narrowed blue eyes. Feeling confident I narrowed my grayish-brown eyes and glared at her as well, neither of us blinking or looking away. Our gazes were held strong until Gina came back with scissors in her right hand.
"I'm leaving Gina, I shall see you inside." Dia stormed off with her nose held high and Gina looking at her, surprised and confused.
"How short do you want it...Daism?" Gina questioned, leaving a pause at trying to remember my name.
"Half an inch below the ears," I shrugged. I had never been able to cut it off that much, a knife near my ears wasn't exactly what I wanted. Expertly Gina began cutting and made small conversation of how she once made a Goddess Robe and won the contest. I just sat there and listened intently, knowing Louis had mentioned how my father had helped her. She talked of how she had gotten the most beautiful material from him and how he wouldn't tell her where he got it or how he made it.
"He was most handsome I must admit," she muttered shyly. "If he hadn't left I would've loved having married him, but then...I knew he loved Lyla when she came up one day to give him a special seed to plant. He smiled and praised her at her ability to get the most beautiful seeds and promised he would plant it lovingly and carefully. Never had he said anything of that sort to anyone else in the village, and then he left her...he left her after he had loved her and impregnated her. How shocking that was and how I hated him after that." Yeah, I could feel the hate she had felt after he had left. She cut sharply and quickly, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my skin crawl with fear. I never like haircuts, that's why I had never even thought of getting one.
"Thanks," I mumbled when she had finished.
"Your welcome. Goodnight Daism." Gina bowed and I waved, walking back home in the cool of the summer evening.
Mom didn't seem too worried when I came home late, but she sure did look fragile. She had lost weight these past days, her face scrawny and her hair scraggly. To be honest, I was really worried about her. Only three days ago Louis had said the years would finally catch up with her, but so soon was what frightened me. "Hello," she greeted with a flustered smile.
"Mom." I nodded. "Why was Louis over?"
"Oh, he was just checking on me, seeing if we needed any supplies, as usual," she sighed. I frowned, Mom had always refused help from him, no matter how generous the offer of even how much we needed it. At first I had yelled at her for not taking the offer and she never argued back, just sighed and shook her head. I now realized why she always refused, he always offered her marriage but always got rejected.
"Alright." I was back to my normal self now, quiet, distant, and didn't like to talk much. Kinda funny, I thought. It was just earlier today that I was feeling like I could burst with happiness and excitement at the newborn chick and now all of a sudden I was back to my regular self. When dinner time came she handed me a bowl of warm soup and I ate it in silence and without question, looking at her swallow a couple spoonfuls and eating nothing else. I kept looking at her, worry flickering in my eyes for mere seconds before vanishing. When worry was in my eyes, I hoped she didn't see, I didn't want her to see me worry or anything like that. It would only add to her load of problems, the exact opposite of what I wanted.
"I wish your father hadn't left, I wish he would have kept the farm," Mom sighed suddenly. "Everything would be so perfect if he had stayed, this town would've been like it used to be when his grandfather ran it."
"Maybe it's time someone take it up, maybe Tim..he's young," I suggested. "He even has a basic farming background, he should be able to do it."
"Tim wouldn't do it, as soon as he gets enough money he's going to the city for adventures...he's not the one to settle down on a farm." Mom looked so tired and pale now that I couldn't help but try and think of ways to make it better. "It's time that we go...I must tell you something...I accepted Louis's request this time, we're going to the city, we're leaving on Saturday." Saturday? I wanted to scream. It was Thursday and for once I didn't want to leave this town...especially the baby chick that I had just managed to get to hatch.
"But..." I started protesting.
"No, I'm sorry...it's just that it's too much living here. We can't live here anymore, we'll die if we do." This wasn't like Mom, this wasn't like her at all. She never just gave up, she had always kept the shop open despite the terrible situations we had been through. Something was wrong with her, why would she except Louis's proposal of all things?
"Mom..." I began to ask but she stood up quickly, shook her head and went into her bedroom for the rest of the night. I sighed and began to clean up the house, hoping that this was a dream, and as soon as I went to sleep I'd wake up and everything would be back to normal. If this is reality then nothing can get worse, I thought. I now know how wrong I was.
I pried my eyelids apart and blinked at the sunlight drafting through the window. It was early and the sun was only just beginning to rise. Groggily I rose and rubbed my eyes, shaken still at last night. Though it was early I figured that Mom would be awake like she usually was. As I entered the kitchen I didn't hear the hiss of a cooking breakfast or even see her small figure in the room at all. Louis was sitting at the table and he turned the light on as soon as I entered the room. "Come, I'm about to see her," he said. He rose and I followed him into the room.
She was laying in the bed, her eyes half-closed and her hair covering most of her face. I ran up to her and kneeled by her side. "You okay Mom?" I asked. "You're gonna be alright, don't worry you're gonna pull." My voice was filled with determination but doubt nagged in the bottom of my heart.
"It's alright Daism...I've left the shop's possessions to you, do with them as you will. I only wish your father was here to...save the homeland once more." Mom smiled at the thought of it, a dreamy look in her glazed eyes.
"He's not coming Mom," I muttered to her. "But...I'm here, and I'm taking over the farm, I'm gonna save this village and make it what it used to be like, make all the villagers proud."
"I'm so proud of you...Daism, goodbye, and goodlu..." She managed to say before she closed her eyes and her breathing stopped. I knew she had known, and she was proud of me...I was going to do my best and not disappoint her. All the seeds in the store were mine and I'd be able to get a perfect start with them and the tools and other seeds left at the farmhouse on Harvest Farm. It was now time for me...to save the homeland.
ok, so what'd you think, please review and I'll try and get the next chapter asap if I get enough inspiration and hardly any homework
