New Arrival

Forget-Me-Not Valley had always been a peaceful place. Barely anyone came and no one wanted to leave. The days were long and people strolled about leisurely as if they had all the time in the world. But the day Takakura came with Jack would be a day that changed most people's lives forever.

----

The blonde barmaid giggled as Kassey, a regular at the bar, told her about one of Patrick's failed attempts at a firework and how it had set their rug aflame. They had quickly beat it out and Patrick escaped with only singed hair. Patrick, who happened to be a little ways down the bar, grumbled something unintelligible and asked for a Stone Oil from Griffin.

"Well, if I recall correctly, brother," Patrick spoke up. "It was you who gave me the mixture for that firework, claiming that it would be 'a firework that would light up the whole town'."

Kassey sent his younger brother a dark look. "Now don't go blaming your mistakes on me, Patrick."

Patrick quieted down and sipped his drink, already use to letting his brother win their little fights. Kassey immediately resumed talking to Muffy, who had no idea that instead of looking at her face his eyes were instead trained a little lower down. That was another thing they quarreled over; Muffy. She was a sweet looking thing with beautiful flowing hair and green eyes that sparkled when she laughed. She was sort of lacking in the brains department, but she made up for it in other ways.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door swung open, revealing a young man with a mop of brown hair. He was sort of scrawny looking and was wearing blue suspenders and a white shirt, slightly unbuttoned at the top to reveal a red shirt underneath, and black and red gloves. His brow was sleek with sweat. Whipping the offending precipitation away, he entered the bar and sat down on the stool closest to Patrick.

"Hey, I heard I could get a drink here," the newcomer said, looking like he did indeed need a drink.

Griffin stepped foreword, whipping his hands on a white cloth. "What'll you have, Mr. Jack?" He knew his name from earlier when Takakura had introduced them.

"Well, I'm not sure, what do you have?"

"Red Punch, Blue Punch, Moon Trip, Moomoo Milk, Cherry Pink, and Stone Oil."

Jack rubbed his chin in thought. "Which one has the less alcohol? I just need a drink, then I have to get back to the farm."

"The farm," Muffy asked, a confused look on her face.

"Yeah, just started there today," Jack said. "I'm already bushed though. Not quite use to it yet."

"Well, I'll get you a Moomoo Milk, that should revive you," Griffin stated, turning to make the drink.

"Wow, you mean Dixie Farm," Muffy asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Yup, that's the one. It's not much now, but well...it'll get better."

"I'm sure it will, especially with you working it." Muffy fluttered her eyelashes at him and he colored slightly, turning away.

"Here ya go." A glass filled with a white substance was sat in front of him and he gulped it down eagerly. It tasted sort of sweet, but tangy at the same time. He decided it was very good and asked for another when he finished that one.

"So, how long are you gonna be staying here," Patrick asked, setting his drink down and staring at Jack with interest.

"Hmmmm, well, I'm not totally sure yet...but I think I plan to live out my life here. I've grown to like the place, even though I've only been here for less than a day." Now he grinned sheepishly and scratched his head. "Takakura wants me to get a wife and start a family here, said it was my dad's dream to have a family farm."

"Oh, that's so romantic," Muffy swooned, clasping her hands in front of her.

Jack thought back to the way Takakura had it said so seriously and thought that he had no romantic thoughts in mind when he had said it.

Another Moomoo Milk was sat in front of him by Griffin and he grinned, grabbing the drink and taking a sip of it before setting it down.

"So, I met Muffy and Griffin earlier," Jack said, nodding to the two mentioned. Takakura had introduced him to most of the towns people, well, the ones he considered important anyway. "But I don't believe I know you two."

"I'm Kassey, the best pyrotechnician in the world."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Pyrotech whaty?"

Kassey snorted. "Pyrotechnician, boy. I make fireworks."

"Oh, why didn't you just say so?" Kassey glared at him and Jack swiftly turned towards the other look a like of Kassey. "And who are you?"

"Patrick, Kassey's twin brother. I'm the second best pyrotechnician in the world."

"Wow, that's cool." Suddenly, he caught site of the clock on the wall. "Whoa! I gotta go, I still have some stuff to finish." He downed the rest of his drink and set more than enough gold on the table to pay his tab, but he was too much in a hurry to notice. He bolted out the door and soon even his hard footfalls were gone.

Griffin raised an eyebrow. "Sure is fast. Muffy, go take him his change. I'll stay here and serve drinks."

Muffy smiled. "Ok!" She grabbed the extra change and quickly trotted out, eager to see Jack again. The walk was short, seeing as how Dixie Farm wasn't that far from the Blue Bar. She soon arrived but didn't see him anywhere. She didn't see him until she walked around the barn and past a chicken coop. He was at the far end of the farm, tilling the soil with a rather heavy looking hoe. Of course, all tools looked heavy to Muffy because of her petite size. She walked closer, not wanting to disturb him but at the same time wanting to get a closer look. Jack spotted her when he stopped to lean on the hoe and rest.

"Oh...Muffy!" He walked over. "Do you need something?"

"Oh well, you gave us too much for the drinks earlier."

He looked confused. "I did?"

"Yes, you were in such a rush you over paid."

"Oh, whoops," he grinned sheepishly and accepted the change. "Sorry about making you come all the way out here to return the change."

"Oh, its alright," Muffy said, smiling. "I've been wanting to see the farm anyway."

Jack grinned. "I can show you around if you want."

"Oh no, I don't want to disturb you."

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm almost finished anyway, and it would be a good way of repaying you for coming all the way out here just because of my silly mistake."

"Well, ok, if you insist." Muffy giggled.

"Great." Jack smiled. "Just wait over there near the house and I'll be over there in a minute." Muffy nodded and walked over to the house, every once in awhile glancing back at Jack, a smile on her soft features.

Just when she got to the house though, she heard a growl. She stiffened and cautiously turned, but didn't see anything. Was it behind her? There, the growl again! She turned around franticly, loosing her nerve. While she backed up the growl became more louder. Was it advancing even now? Suddenly, she stumbled a bit over an object, falling over and landing on her buttocks. She crossed her arms in front of her in attempt to shield herself away from whatever it was when she heard Jack running up.

"Max! Max, down boy, down!"

The dog gave his master a curious look, as if asking why he was being told to back down from an intruder. Nevertheless, he backed off and went low to the ground, his big brown eyes looking up pleadingly at his master.

Jack, making sure Max stayed in his place, went over to Muffy and helped her to her feet. She stood on shaky legs and managed to dust herself down, giving the dog a weary glance every now and then.

"Are you okay, Muffy? Max has never acted like this before, I'm really sorry."

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I actually really like animals, he just startled me a little bit," the blonde said, regaining her composure and giving him a sweet smile.

"Well, I'm glad your not hurt. I think you might've gone near his territory," he said with a slight chuckle.

"Territory," Muffy asked curiously, tilting her head to one side. "What's that?"

"Uhh, well, it's when a dog marks an area as his own by peeing on it."

Muffy gaped. Pee? Had she stepped on it? She was tempted to look under her heels, but she didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of Jack. Instead she just nodded slightly and looked over at Max, who gave her the puppy eyed treatment also. Well, he seems docile...

"Well, I better be going. Griffin probably needs me back at the bar."

"Oh yeah, I don't want to keep you from your work. Thanks for delivering my change to me. And uh, your welcome to come back anytime, you know?"

Muffy smiled, clasping her hands in front of her. "Aww, really? Well, I'll have to come back and get that tour sometime." She started walking towards the exit, willing herself to not look back at Jack. If she had, she would've seen him grinning like an idiot.