**DISCLAIMER** I do not own, nor have I ever owned, any of the characters, places, items, etc. etc. relating to the Harvest Moon or Rune Factory series.

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Chapter 4: Searching…

What am I doing here? Lying alone on the teal single-person bed in the room's corner, his eyes firmly shut, Alpha had been trying hard not to think. But even through full-bodied exhaustion, the same worries and frustrations continued to trouble his thoughts. Who am I to be sitting here, relaxing on a comfortable bed as if I hadn't a care in the world? I should be out there right now—

Doing what? the cynical half of his mind chimed in. Acting friendly and upbeat to people you'll never see again? Turning over every damn stone and twig in this village just to end up finding nothing as usual? Walking aimlessly for miles along another godforsaken dirt road before stumbling into some tiny, nameless village or other and starting the cycle over again? Face it. It's hopeless. You're never going to find—

No! That's not true! I promised myself that I would. I have to… And I won't stop looking until I do!

You're kidding yourself, part of his brain continued to goad him. What makes you think one of these filthy rattraps will be different from the hundreds of others you've already wasted your time rooting through, anyway? From the dozens upon dozens of towns and villages you've come and gone from? You've been wandering about for almost two years now. A lot can happen in that time, you know... Who's to say this "most precious object" of yours is even still—

You don't know what you're saying! …And yeah, I've been searching for two years, and as long as there's any chance left at all, I'm going to keep searching. So you can just shut it!

Humph! If you ask me, you'd be better off "searching" for a replacement.

Wh-What? No! You're wrong! …I'm wrong… Enough already! I don't want to think about this now. Just…just please leave me alone. It took Alpha a moment to realize the irony of that thought. He was alone. Of course he was alone. That was the problem.

Without opening his eyes, Alpha reached under the sleeve of his jacket and caressed the fingers on his right hand. He felt the reassuringly cold touch of metal and sighed quietly. He remembered, of course. How could he forget? "…Never alone…," he whispered poignantly.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Alpha's eyes snapped open. He lifted his head to face the weathered mahogany door on the far side of the room. Had someone just knocked? Straining to listen, he caught the faint sound of shuffling feet coming from the hallway beyond. And then the knocking came again, more urgently this time.

KNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCK!

In a swift motion, Alpha rose from his supine position on the bed before swinging his feet over its side and slipping silently onto the carpet. His movements were quick, precise, natural. Acting briskly and instinctively was certainly nothing new to him. But this fast-acting response was merely subconscious for him, and in his mind Alpha felt relaxed, at ease with the situation. Boy, he thought calmly, someone sure is eager to see me. "Coming! Just a moment," he called out to his unseen visitor.

As he walked casually across room in the direction of the door though, he wondered what business anyone could possibly have with him. After all, he couldn't have arrived more than ten minutes ago. Alpha knew from experience that word traveled quickly in small tight-knit communities, as this one seemed to be. But even so, for some overly friendly villager to have tracked him down in under ten minutes—and after he had spoken to only two people so far, no less—would have to be some kind of record. Could it be the innkeeper coming to see if he had finished settling into the room? But no, the light scuffle of feet Alpha had heard would have been rather difficult for someone of the innkeeper's, erm… physique. Maybe Turner (he remembered now that that was the innkeeper's name) had sent someone to check up on him then?

But as Alpha pulled open the door with a creak and stood looking out into the hall, the girl he saw in front of him could hardly have been mistaken for an inn employee. "Yes? Can I help you?" he asked politely, placing his earlier troubles in the back of his mind for the moment.

The girl looked up slightly, beamed at him with closed eyes, and waved vigorously in greeting. "Hey," she bubbled. "It's me!"

Alpha blinked twice. "I'm—I'm sorry. You are…?"

The girl started, her gold braids recoiling slightly with the abrupt motion. Her ocean-blue eyes were suddenly open wide and staring back at him, worriedly, almost pleadingly. Then just as quickly, the girl averted her eyes from Alpha's to instead stare intently at the floor to one side. Surprised, Alpha wondered if there might be something on his face. He reached up his hand and attempted to brush whatever it was from his cheeks.

Meanwhile, the girl seemed to try and compose herself, though her gaze remained fixed firmly on the ground. "It's me, Anette! Y-you remember me, right?" She smiled and even managed a slight giggle.

Hmm, she does seem familiar,he thought. Where have I seen her before? Anette… Wasn't she…? Oh, that's right! She's the girl I met outside a while ago, who I gave my lunch to after she pointed the way here. Had he actually forgotten who she was so quickly? Even knowing he had plenty of other things on his mind at the time, Alpha felt incredibly rude.

Though he met countless individuals during his seemingly endless travels, not all of whom he strictly liked, he always made a point to be on good terms with as many people as possible. They had never done him any real wrong, and anyways, it was much preferable to make friends rather than enemies, even if they were only temporary.

So, afraid he had offended this kind-spirited girl with his forgetfulness, he answered quickly, "Oh! I'm so sorry. Of course I remember you, Anette. Thank you very much for helping me out earlier! Did you enjoy that pumpkin tart? I hope it was filling enough for you. I am a bit of a light eater when it comes to my lunch, I'm afraid."

That seemed to do the trick. Anette's smile grew, and when she turned back to Alpha there was a new, excited gleam present in her ever-wide eyes. Then, to Alpha's surprise, she flinched and broke eye contact with him once again. Maybe he hadn't quite made up for the whole forgetting who she was thing as easily as he had thought… As she spoke though, her voice sounded genuinely cheerful and relieved. "Oh, no! It was delicious! Pumpkin tarts are my favorite!"

Alpha grinned in return. "I'm glad you liked it, then. So, did you need to see me about something?"

Anette seemed flustered by the question. She blushed noticeably. "Um, actually…it's kind of embarrassing, but I never got to ask you for your name. I mean, uh, I deliver the mail for Trampoli," she thrust an empty bag from her side out toward him and smiled proudly. "See? So anyway, I can't really make sure your letters get to you without knowing your name."

Alpha was slightly taken aback by her forwardness. "Well, I won't be staying here in this village long, and I'm not expecting any mail, so…"

"Oh…," Anette was clearly disappointed, but tried to keep her voice cheery and casual nonetheless. "Well, that's fine, I guess. I mean, if you won't be getting any letters, then it's not really all that important for me to—"

Realizing his mistake, he hastily replied, "No no, it's alright. My name's Alpha."

Anette broke out into a huge grin. Still without meeting his eyes, she said, "Alpha… Nice to meet you, Alpha! I guess we actually met earlier, but now I know your name too."

She really is rather sweet, Alpha thought to himself while smiling back at Anette's newfound enthusiasm. It was people like this that tended to remind him of "her" …not that anyone could really ever compare. And as his mind drifted away from the conversation at hand, Alpha recalled his own troubling situation, the sole reason for which, in the first place, he had even come to this village of…Trampoli, was it? "Thank you for coming to see me, Anette," he said seriously. "I really do appreciate it. But I'll need to be going now. I have some things to take care of here in Trampoli before I leave tomorrow."

He didn't know what he was expecting in response, maybe more disappointment or else a pleasant goodbye. Instead though, Anette furrowed her brow. It looked to Alpha as if she were trying to remember something. "Um, don't I need to be somewhere right now too?" she mused. Then, her hands shot up to her mouth and there was an expression of panic on her face. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "And I told him I would be there too!" Looking directly up at him now, she said a hurried goodbye and rushed off.

Huh, thought Alpha bemusedly, I wonder what all that was about. Well, it didn't matter anyway. He had more important things to deal with at the moment. Sighing deeply, he turned and walked dejectedly down the long, worn carpet of the corridor and toward the unfamiliar set of stairs at its end.

"11:30? A-are you sure?"

"'Course I'm sure," Turner said, looking puzzled. "Why, is something the matter?"

"Uh, nope!" Anette answered. The last thing she wanted was to worry him. "I just didn't realize I'd been here that long is all. Well," she added hurriedly, "I guess I'll be going, then. Thanks for everything, Turner! " She bolted out the door of the inn and began sprinting along her usual delivery route in reverse. After all, it was the quickest way she knew back to Mist's house.

11:30… Anette could barely believe it had managed to get so late. When she had finished delivering the mail—even after she had spent that extra time at Raguna's—it couldn't have been any later than 9:15. But then she had been distracted by him. By Alpha… She knew his name now, she realized. And he'd be looking around the village for the day from the sound of it. Maybe, if she was lucky, she'd bump into him again later on, when… No wait, focus, Anette, focus! She was usually back home at Mist's way before this time and, before now, had never been later than 9:30. Raguna and Mist must be so worried about me! She thought over that for a moment. … Raguna must be so worried about me!

Anette was little more than a blur as she flew past the Damascus Forge; past the general store, Materia; past Danny's run-down general-store-turned-apartment; past Laga Springs; past the Rune Archives; past the looming figure of the clock tower; until finally, taking the shortcut through the forest path behind the church, she came blazing down the set of wooden steps leading to the Beach Road.

Dashing through the gap in the fence on the side of Mist's house, in no time at all Anette was bursting in through the front door. "Raguna," she began to blurt out, "I'm really sorry I'm late! I just…" She stopped herself. No Raguna. The only person in the room as far as she could see was Mist, standing over a pot of boiling water on the stovetop. Luckily, it was the pot that was actually standing on the stovetop and not Mist…this time.

"Hey, Mist," Anette called out to her, "I'm back!"

Mist answered vaguely. "Oh, hello, Anette…"

"Say, um, has Raguna been here today? I was supposed to meet him here, but I kind of got held up, so— "

"Yes," Mist's voice was clearly distressed, but Anette merely mistook it for Mist having a sore throat. I hope she's not coming down with another cold. "He was here earlier. Just a few minutes ago actually, but he…left."

"He left? Why? What happened?" Anette definitely hadn't expected that. She assumed Raguna would just wait for her, like he always did, whether she asked him to or not. Not that she minded, it was really very thoughtful of him, actually. She just didn't like him having to wait around because of her.

"He asked if you were here, but you weren't, unless you were invisible. Are you sure you weren't just invisible a little while ago?" Anette wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, but luckily it didn't seem Mist was waiting for an answer. "So anyway," she continued, her voice now sounding somewhat choked, "I told him you weren't here, and then he got all upset and ran off."

Oh no! He was upset? He was upset because she had been late! Anette felt instantly guilty. She could go and see him right now and apologize, she supposed, but still…she had said she would be here and she wasn't. She had to at least go and try to explain, though. Raguna was a good friend, and he could be very understanding, she knew.

"I'll be right back," she told Mist, "promise! I just need to go talk to Raguna really quickly." She shot Mist a friendly smile before heading out once again.

The short distance between Mist's and Raguna's houses was a piece of cake for an experienced sprinter like Anette, and within moments, she found herself knocking on Raguna's front door. She waited. There was no response. She tried again. Maybe he just didn't hear me. I had to knock twice to get Alpha's (…oh, Alpha… FOCUS! Not right now!) attention earlier. Still no response. At first, she worried that Raguna might just be ignoring her. I mean, if he was upset enough to actually run out of Mist's house… But looking in through the window, Anette saw that Raguna really was not inside. And he obviously wasn't upstairs sleeping, it was only—she glanced at his wall clock—11:55 AM. Even at the best of times, Raguna had admitted, he had never been able to go to bed before 10:00 PM.

How was she going to find him now? Anette wasn't quite sure what to do… Where could he be?

Where on earth could she be?

Raguna had been just about everywhere he could think to look for Anette! Erik's farm, the Business District, even Lake Poli. There, he had stood alone on the bridge for the longest time, staring longingly at the beautifully blossoming trees. He had willed her to be out there on that island on the lake, standing there in the shade of the tree, just waiting for him to join her. No such luck. All day, he hadn't seen her once. Neither had he found anyone in any of Anette's usual places who could give him even the faintest idea of where she was. Throughout the entire day, he had still been fully aware of the delicate blue rose bouquet still sitting within his rucksack, but without Anette there with him, it seemed suddenly worthless, meaningless.

Raguna now emerged from the Laga Springs bathhouse, disappointed but not particularly surprised to learn from Melody that Anette had not been there today either. Everyone he had asked about Anette's whereabouts today had been as clueless as Mist…oh God, Mist! He had been such a jerk to her earlier! As distraught as Raguna had been, he couldn't believe he had been so flat out rude to her like that. She was his close friend, she was Anette's close friend, and she must be just as worried about Anette as he was…in her own, unique way. He still had a turnip in his rucksack, he remembered. I'll go back there right now and give it to her. Anette or…or no Anette…Mist has always been such a good friend to me, and I owe it to her to apologize after acting like that.

Just as Raguna was walking toward the Church District will the full intention of returning to see Mist, the orange sky above him suddenly began to darken dramatically. Was it after 6:30 PM already? He must have lost track of the time! He hadn't even been to Whale Island yet, and he still had crops to water! If he didn't hurry… Unable to believe his terrible timing, he rushed off to the clock tower as fast as he could manage.

Fifteen minutes later, he stood panting below the moonlit face of the clock tower, standing at the foot of the monolithic beanstalk which shot up into the wispy clouds far overhead. Looking up, Raguna could make out the familiar silhouette of Whale Island, a tremendous stone carved into the shape of a giant whale. The island was kept peacefully adrift above Trampoli by the power of a vast rune orb, a collection of powerful and mystical rune energy. An orb that, unbeknownst to Raguna, was even then beginning to fade…

All too aware of the time constraint that he was now under, Raguna took a deep breath, gripped the sturdy vines of the beanstalk before him, and began to climb.

AN: So yeah, how 'bout that Chapter 4? Some stuff happened, huh? Got some plot-furthering devices in there, eh? Yep...yessiree... =P But seriously, I'm glad I was able to make this chapter a bit longer than my three previous ones. Oh yeah, and now you know that his name's Alpha (and that I am a little to attached to the Greek alphabet n_n')! Sounds a bit more catchy than "mysterious stranger" doesn't it? Hope you enjoyed the more proper introduction of my OC. Yeah, I'll admit, he has some issues, but let's face it, so doesn't everyone else in this Drama/Romance at this point. XD Oh yeah, and I've also been trying to keep the times that come up in the story as consistent with the game as I could as well as each other, but now with 6:45, 9:15, 11:30, 11:45, 6:30, 6...GAH! Yeah, it's getting a bit much to keep track of. But I'm nothing if not a perfectionist when it comes to things like this. ;-) Boy...gonna be hard to keep up with these updates now that I'm up to my neck in homework... T_T But nevertheless, I will persevere! I must not fail! I owe it to all six or so of my readers! x]

Muchísimas gracias to my ever-tolerant beta readers Shadows-of-Realm & LovelyxxMelody! Sois piratas fantásticas! d( ^_^ )b

COMING SOON: Chapter 5, in which Alpha develops a sudden interest in geology... ;-)