Chapter 1--Yay. So for my Intro to Writing and Speech class we have to write an adventure story. I'm doing the first few chapters of this fic. Yay for making fanfiction our homework! xD ...By the way, the story's due Friday, so the next chapter will be done by then, and possibly the next two, depending on how much I fit in a chapter :3

I do not own Harvest Moon!

The sun was just creeping up over the dark blue ocean. Chelsea stared at it and sighed. She'd been feeling anxious butterflies in her stomach since she'd boarded the ship a few hours back. This was the most exciting thing to ever happen to her; this was an adventure. When she was younger, she'd longed of leaving her small, comfortable town one day on a journey like this. Now that it was finally happening, she felt like she could jump off this boat and fly to the city.

That was another thing: she was going to the city to switch boats. It would be her first trip to anywhere bigger than Forget-Me-Not Valley, which isn't exactly the hustle-and-bustle of the region. And so, she stood there against the cool metal railing, letting the salty breeze stick to her face and arms.

She let her eyes shut contentedly. This was how she loved to feel.

She didn't know how long she'd had her eyes shut, but she supposed that she must've drifted into a sort of semi-conscious, sleep-like state. She was dreaming about her new farm, all of her animals, and the new friends she'd hopefully make…

And then, she was falling.

* * *

He sat, bored, staring blankly at the churning water in the distance. He hated having to take the early passages, but he was an animal trader; it was all part of his job. He'd never complain about it aloud... Not that he had anyone to complain to.

He shifted his position, sighing through his nose and stretching. He never was able to sleep on boats, no matter how much he tried. He learned not to care. With enough black coffee, who needed sleep?

He turned his gaze to the people on the deck. There were only a few people on this early passage, and most of them were sleeping on the benches. There were a few men, none of them of particular interest; a middle-aged woman, who also seemed to blend into the scenery; several lazy deckhands snoozing against some crates; and a girl with a red bandana tied around her head. This girl was the only other passenger who seemed to be awake, as she stood up against the railing. She was incredibly still. He wondered briefly if she were sleeping on her feet.

Then, as he sat there watching, she started to fall forward and over the railing.

He automatically jumped onto his feet and ran across the deck as fast as his boots would carry him. Luckily that was pretty fast; he was able to grab her arm and hoist her back onto the right side of the slim fencing before she'd gone completely over. He let her go and she sunk onto the wood floor, still dazed from sleep, he assumed. She blinked twice and rubbed her eyes with her fists.

He watched her curiously for just a second longer before turning on his heel and going below deck where he hoped he wouldn't need to deal with any more irritating, accident-prone girls.

* * *

Chelsea blinked and rubbed her tired eyes, trying to fully regain her consciousness. Who was that man who pulled her up? He saved her life! She scanned over the people on the dock, but they were all fast asleep—even the sailors, she noted with a slight roll of her eyes.

She stood up clumsily on the swaying ship and put one hand on the rail to steady herself. She shrugged it off—maybe she'd dreamt the whole thing up… She shook her head. Who was she kidding? Someone had definitely just saved her from falling headfirst into the freezing ocean. But who that was, she had no idea.

Her train of thought crashed when a loud voice announced that they would be stopping in the city in a few minutes. Chelsea felt a small smile break onto her face—this was what she'd been waiting for. She grabbed her rucksack off the ground and pulled it on. She watched as the city's dark silhouette grew larger and larger as the boat chugged on.

* * *

"Wow," Chelsea breathed, standing on the large dock at the city. She looked around at all the tall buildings, their tops swallowed by the overcast sky. She was amazed at how many people there were—she couldn't even count all the ones on the sidewalks, which was a drastic change from her hometown's whopping population of thirty-some people. Taking a few hesitant steps, Chelsea found herself getting caught in the flow of people, heading down the sides of the dark-paved streets at a brisk rate. She continued walking, glancing around at the billboards and the taxis and the shops and the restaurants—it was all so different. She caught a whiff of smoky exhaust coming from an old pickup on the road. She wrinkled her nose in disgust; nothing back at home had smelled like that.

The river of people turned around a corner and Chelsea realized that she had another boat to catch back at the pier—the small ferry she'd taken from town didn't travel to Flowerbud Village, so she had to take two separate passages. She tried to stop her walking, but she found herself being pushed along involuntarily. A tiny sense of panic settling deep in her gut, Chelsea planted her feet firmly and spun on her heel, almost knocking over a man in a suit. He gave her a dirty look, but she ignored it as well as she could. She started wading back through the people-river; it was far more difficult going upstream than down.

She hurried back up the wide sidewalk, weaving around more people than she'd ever seen in one place. She suddenly realized that she had a very sheltered childhood.

Finally reaching that first corner again, Chelsea could see the dock in the distance. She started to jog between people, ducking under limbs and jumping out of the paths of others. As she approached the ocean, the panic in her stomach faded into a dull sense of relief and she sighed as it flew through her veins. She slowed to a halt, catching her breath. She was so close, and her boat was still getting ready to leave. She was safe.

But then she felt the river of people shove her backwards. She lost her footing quickly—she never was the most coordinated girl in town—and found herself being jostled in all sorts of different directions. She finally broke free of the crowd when she received an especially hard push, landing herself off the sidewalk altogether. She stumbled and fell forward onto her hands and knees on the cool, black asphalt. Her loosened bandana slipped down in front of her eyes, but not before she caught a glimpse of the large truck speeding directly towards her.

Uh-oh, it's a cliffhanger. Of course she's going to get out of it. I mean, I can't let the main character die before we even get to Sunny Island... or can I? Review for Vaughn's amazingly fast reflexes, please! Seriously, he was across that deck in... what would it have been, like two seconds? He must really not want to be a witness to Chelsea's death. xD