Sorry I have been dead so long friendly readers! I have had a lot of stuff to do lately. I hope you don't hate me! So for your enjoyment here is where Vaugh and Chelsea meet. Oh FYI there will be a bit of time-skipping in this story, sorry if it annoys or confuses you!

DISCLAIMER: Please, if I owned Harvest Moon do you honestly think I would be writing crappy stories about it?

Chapter Five: An Eventful Encounter

Monday April 6th/8:20am

"Damn it Pecky!" I yelled in frustration, tugging at my hair "You had to peck through all the bird seed bags didn't you? I thought I could trust you!"

She squawked loudly at me and pecked my boots. I yelped and leapt back "Okay I get it, I get it! No more shouting."

The bird ruffled it's feathers and pecked at the ground. I sighed.

"I guess I'd better go chop some wood and build a fance around it." I blew a piece of my fringe out of my face "Then I have to go meet this cousin of Jules'. Stay here." I pointed a finger at my chicken and she simply squawked.

I rushed over to my shed, checking on my crops on the way there, and got my axe out.

I dragged it over to Vendure Island and began to chop at one of the tree stumps near Taro's house.

I grunted with effort as I pulled it behind my head and swung it down on the stump, chopping a thick, retangular chunk of wood

I repeated this action several times before fatigue began to set in and I had to take a breath. I wiped the sweat dripping from my forehead and panted.

Great job forgetting to bring a drink Chels. Thumbs up.

I growled and closed my eyes, feeling slightly dizzy.

"You're doing that wrong." A cold voice said.

I snapped my head around and narrowed my eyes "What?"

The shadowed figure crossed his arms "I said you're doing that wrong."

"No I ain't! Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten this far already!" I motioned towards the half chopped stump.

The person shook his head "No you'd be done. You should spread your legs further apart and relax your muscles, not tense them."

I was not in the mood for someone telling me what to do.

"Well excuuuuuse me, Mister I-know-everything-about-chopping-wood!" I hissed and turned back around, picking the axe up "But I think I know what I'm doing." I began to furiously hit the dead wood over and over again to prove my point.

I heard him sigh in irritation, before he turned away and walked away, not bothering with me any longer.

Who was he anyways? He's a lot taller than anyone else on the island. And I'm pretty tall myself. I didn't recognise his voice either. I think he was wearing a hat but he was standing directly infront of sun, making me unable to see him as well as I could have. What did he say about doing this stuff?

I did as the man had instructed and felt an instant difference. It was easier to lift and strike the axe down. It also made a bigger split in the wood.

The guy was actually right. Still, he could've been a bit nicer about it.

Thirty minutes later...

I had finished chopping all the wood that was need and I was now hammering it in to make a square box where I could keep the feed safe from Pecky.

For the third time I hit my thumb and let out a stream of rather nasty curse words not suitable for young ears.

"...Shit, bollocks, crap-"

"Chels?" Denny poked his head around the coop door "You okay?"

I put my thumb in my mouth and made a muffled 'yeah' sound.

"You need some help?"

I was going to refuse his offer but I realised I wouldn't get this done without help from someone.

"Yesh, pwease." I continued to suck on my sore thumb.

He chuckled and knelt beside me, taking the hammer from my other hand and using to knock the nail I missed into the wood.

"I'll take it from here." He picked up another nail and carefully hammered it in. He was doing a much better job than me.

"Thanks." I finally took my thumb out of my mouth and smiled at him "I appreciate the help."

He shrugged "That's what friends are for, right?"

I nodded "Right."

9am

"Thanks again Denny, I need this to keep the feed in."

"No problem Chels, did Pecky get to it?"

"Yep." I sighed "That name suits her doesn't it?"

He laughed "It sure does! Hey didn't you tell me that you were supposed meet Julia's cousin today?"

"Oh damn, I forgot! I'd better hurry, thanks for the reminder!" I dragged him out the coop alongside me and closed the door.

"A word of advice, don't take anything the guy might say to heart. He can be a jerk at times."

"Right." I smiled "Thanks, gotta go, seeya!" I ran off like a madman, waving to him as I bolted across the bridge.

I reached Mirabelle's shop and opened the door.

"HONEY I'M HOME!" I yelled, my usual greeting towards the two of them.

I heard Mirabelle laughing somewhere in the back and Julia's giggle.

"Hey Chels." She walked over and hugged me. I returned the gesture of affection and grinned.

"So where's this cousin of yours then?"

"He's checking on the cows out in the back, he'll be here any minute."

"Oh yeah, you told me he was an animal dealer or somethin' like that right?"

She nodded "Yep he is. He brings more animals for us to sell to the island."

"Sounds like a cool job, but I like my farm just fine for now."

At that moment the door leading to the pasture swung open and in stepped a tall man. I say man and not boy because he was about 6'2 and wore a fairly dismal expression.

"Ah there you are Vaugh!" Julia greeted him "This is the new farmer, Chelsea."

He gave me a cold look, which I gladly returned. I felt like I recognised him from somewhere...

"You're that jerk from earlier! The one who tried to correct me on my axe skills!" I pointed an accusing finger at him.

He snorted "Yeah so what if I am? You were doing it wrong."

"So what? That doesn't give you the right to just pick on me. I ain't weak you know!" I punched the palm of my hand and saw him roll his eyes.

His eyes were really pretty.

What?

They were a deep purple colour, glinting gently in the light filtering through the window.

Had he not been an ass I would have found him quite attractive.

He also had strangely coloured hair, it looked almost white. Maybe silver?

"Whatever you say, little girl."

I growled. I did not like that condesending tone of his.

Julia saw the anger flash in my eyes and quickly intervened.

"Well this was nice, say Chels how about we go find Nat and see if she wants to go pray to the Goddess." Julia pratically shoved me out the door, following close behind.

She closed it gently and let out a sigh.

"Chels, I know that my cousin can be... difficult, but he's not so bad once you get to know him."

"I seriously doubt that."

She gave me a look "Chelsea..."

I held my hands up in defense "Fine, fine. For your sake I'll do my best not to kick him in the balls."

She let out a laugh "Thank you. Now I have to run an errand for mom. If you go get Nat I'll meet you at the Goddess Island, 'kay?"

"Sure!"

I rushed over to Nat's and burst through the door, not caring if Taro yelled at me this time.

I pulled her outside, hearing Taro shout at me I cackled.

Since she was quite a bit shorter than me I carried her bridal style.

"I AM KIDNAPPING YOU PRINCESS AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!"

She made a mock shriek and batted me with her hands "Let me go you ruffian!"

I chuckled darkly "NEVER!"

I continued to carry her, still running, all the way to the bridge leading to the Goddess Island. Nat, Jules and me all went there every day. Either to pray for something or just to see Alisa. Though quiet and shy she was quite a sweet person.

I put her down cracked my knuckles "You're heavy for someone so little." I patted her head.

I saw her pout "I'm not little, you're just a tall freak."

I laughed "You might be right about that."

"So is Jules coming?"

"She's just doing a job for her mom or somethin'. She'll be along soon."

"Righto then old chap." Nat said putting on a fake british accent "Shall we continue towards this lovely church."

I hooked my arm through hers "Yes good chum, we shall."

We skipped off across the bridge, chatting in our amazing new accents and trying our best not to burst out in laughter at our ridiculous behaviour.

When we reached the island we saw Alisa collecting a basket of flowers.

"Hey Alisa!" We both chirped togther.

She looked up and smiled gently "Hi girls."

"Those are some nice flowers, are they an offering for the Goddess?" I asked.

She nodded and stood up, collecting one last daisy "I like to show my thanks to her."

"That's nice." Nat smiled "You wanna pray with us when Jules gets here?"

"I would like that very much." She said softly.

12 minutes later

After Jules had arrived, we all went to the church sent our prayers to the Goddess. I prayed for a good harvest or crops and for Julia's cousin to maybe get run over by a truck or something. But the last part was a secret. Alisa had something to attend to, so she left.

"So how did your meeting with Vaugh go?" Nat asked, arching an eyebrow.

"None too good. He's a douchebag." I proclaimed.

"He's not so bad once you get to know him." Julia tried to defend him, but recieved looks from me and Nat "Okay the guy can be a jerk."

"Can be?" Nat scoffed "If you look up jerk in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of him."

We all burst into giggles at that thought. We walked back onto Vendure Island and I smiled at them.

"I gotta go guys, I promised Denny I'd go fishing with him."

"Okay. Seeya later!"

I waved back to them and ran off.

The next morning/6:30am

I bolted upright in my bed. It was almost as if I could sense something was wrong.

I got up and did my daily routine, made breakfast, brushed teeth and got dressed.

I walked outside, still not sure why I had got up so early. I made sure to water every one of my plants.

"You guys seem to be coming up good!" I grinned "On this island, eveything sure grows fast. Much faster than I've ever seen!"

I whistled happily and strolled over to my coop. I opened the door and peeked my head around.

"Wake up Pec-" I stopped mid-sentence.

"O-Oh crap!"

Vaughn POV/9:00am

I shifted a bale of hay and dusted myself off, growling in slight irritance.

"Anything else you need?" I asked.

"No dear, you've done enough. Go get yourself some breakfast at the cafe." Mirabelle smiled.

"Whatever." I mumbled and shoved my hands in my pockets, quickly making my exit before she changed her mind.

I ignored the cheeriness of the island and everyone around. It annoyed me how pleasant they could all be, all the time. It was as if nothing bad ever happened.

I pushed open the door of the cafe, not expecting anyone else to be there, and was greeted with an unusual sight.

That girl I had met the day before, Chelsea, she was sitting with me cousin at a table, her head in her hands.

It looked as if, as if she were crying.

Despite myself, I was curious to what had happened. So I took it upon myself to overhear her conversation.

"It's all my fault Jules!" She cried out "I should've made sure the door was locked!"

My cousin rubbed her back, probably trying to comfort her, and spoke softly "Chels, that's not true and you know it. There was nothing you could've of done to save her."

Save who? My curiousity was getting the better of me on this one.

I crept closer, not letting them know of my prescence.

"If it weren't for my stupidity, Pecky might still be alive!"

Pecky? But that sounds like... Oh. Her chicken was killed. It made sense, she had been irrisponsible, left the door open or something and a wild dog had killed it.

That idiot. I clenched my fists Because of her, a life was lost.

I stormed over, suddenly not caring.

"Hey you. Wimpy." I said coldly.

I was greeted with those deep blue orbs, filled with sadness and regret.

"Vaughn, what do you want?" My cousin said, raising an eyebrow.

"I wanted to tell Miss Crybaby here that she is an pathetic. She let her chicken get killed and all she can do is cry about it." I crossed my arms and growled "Why don't you just go back to where you came from, little girl."

That got her attention, but I had expected her to cry some more. Instead, her eyes began to burn with something new, an anger I had never seen the likes of.

"What" Her voice was laced with venom "Did you just say?"

"I said, go home, little girl." I sneered in her face.

Her whole body was trembling.

This is it. She's gonna run off and cry.

Boy was I wrong.

Before I had a chance to react, she raised her fist, and smashed it into my face.

Chelsea POV

I punched him pretty damn hard, if I do say so myself.

He stumbled backwards, clutching his face. I could see a trickle of blood running down his face.

"Don't you ever tell me what to do again, you dickhead." I hissed at him and stormed off, not caring about what anyone had to say.

I was beyond pissed at this point.

I crossed the bridge to my house, went inside, slammed the door and curled into a ball on the floor.

But he's right.

Vaughn POV

I groaned as Julia pressed some cold ice to my nose.

"It's your fault y'know." She lectured me "You had no right to say that. Chelsea was not at fault."

I made a muffled noise of disgust.

"I know what you're thinkin'. She left the door open at night or somethin'. Well i got news for you buddy. She didn't. She closed it completely, she just didn't lock it. And I don't blame her. Who ever heard of wild dogs openin' doors?"

That I didn't know.

But still, it was kind of her fault.

She pulled the ice back and I moaned in pain.

"I want you to go apologise to her. Now." She told me.

"What? After she punched ME?" I growled "Are you stupid or somethin'? No."

A dangerous look crossed my cousin's eyes "I won't tell you again. Do it now."

I muttered some words that I'd rather not repeat, grabbed my hat and walked out.

I kicked some dirt around, my face was still hurting quite badly.

She certainly ain't a wimp. Almost broke my nose.

I would admit she could throw a punch, which shouldn't have suprised me. She was a lot taller than any of the other girls I'd seen, nearly 6 foot and had some muscles.

I found myself at her door, without really thinking about it I had walked there. I sighed and gritted my teeth, about to knock on the door, when I heard her talking to herself.

"Maybe he's right. I am just a kid. I can't do this, what was I thinking?" She sounded like she was talking between choked sobs "I have other creautures lives at stake, this isn't some game. Maybe I should just go home."

I heard some shuffling and a thump "No! I can't! If I go back, they'll make me go through with it!"

What on earth is she talking about?

I was going to let my curiously take over me again, but I remembered how that turned out last time. I winced as my nose twitched.

I brought my fist up to the wooden door, and knocked on it a couple of times.

I heard her make a noise of suprise, then footsteps coming towards me. The door swung open and I was greeted with a sight I didn't expect to see.

Her eyes were bloodshot, sighnifying she had been crying for some time. She tensed up when she recognised me.

"You." She spat "Whaddaya' want?"

I tilted my hat down "I am here to say sorry for my earlier actions. I shouldn't have said those things." Even if they were true.

She rubbed her eyes tiredly and looked at me "Whatever. Who cares anymore. Jules just made you apologise, it ain't like you came here of your own free will." She turned her back to me and began to walk inside.

Something inside my chest stirred. And for some unknown reason, I said this.

"No. I came here myself. I was wrong. Please forgive me."

The brunette stopped walking and turned to face me "Really?"

I nodded "Really."

She scratched her neck "Then I forgive ya'." She cracked a smile "I'll see ya' around, cowboy."

And with that she closed the door and left me wondering what the hell just happened.

Fudge it's been a long since I updated. Sorry had a lot of things going on. Hope this chapter's okay. And to my last reviewer, this is the Sunshine Islands one. Okay, see you!