~Chapter 3: What is a friend?~

Business on Sunny Island was booming on Spring 15. Mark and Chelsea now had their own houses (albeit, right next to each other), which were not very big, but Gannon said they could upgrade at any time. They had also shipped all their turnips, and today, just ordered a Chicken Coop. Everyone on the islands had pulled together enough Gold to fix the broken bridges, and today they decided it would be good to check out the islands beyond the bridges.
Chelsea had just stepped into the jungle. There were some rustling noises, growing increasingly louder with each step she took.
"Mark, stop playing around. I know it's you."
But it wasn't Mark. A boy her age jumped out of the bushes and tackled her, the spear he was holding fell to the ground. He was wearing what appeared to be animal skin and war paint.
"Wada! Found one!" He cried out.
He picked up his spear and took Chelsea by the arm and pulled her to a hut. Mark saw through the trees and followed them. The boy dragged her inside.
"Wada! Got one! What this animal?" He said.
A man dressed like the boy was standing before them. He had a lizard in his mouth.
This must be Wada. Chelsea thought to herself.
Wada smacked the boy's arm, then spoke in a scratchy voice.
"...No, Shea...Not animal...That a girl..."
"Girl? What that, Wada?" Shea asked.
"...Human...Like us...Not eat."
Shea looked at Chelsea apologetically.
"Sorry. Shea didn't know girl not food. Hunting not good lately. Hunting is life of warrior!" Shea picked up his spear and pointed it at the ceiling proudly. He put it on a rack with other spears.
"I Shea. What name?" He asked.
"Chelsea." Mark ran into the hut.
"Chelsea!" He yelled.
"It's okay, Mark. They just made a mistake." Chelsea explained to her friend.
"M-Mark?" Shea wondered out loud.
"Yeah. Mark is my friend."
"Chelsea... What am a... friend?" Shea was unsure of the entire situation.
"Well... A friend is nice, and... they talk to each other, spend time together... You know. Stuff like that."
"Shea and Chelsea and Mark... Can be friends?"
Mark and Chelsea nodded.
"Yes!" Shea ran over and hugged his new friends, but he almost knocked them over. "Shea Mark Chelsea are friends! Shea can teach Mark to be warrior, Chelsea can help sharpen rocks for spears... We have lots fun!" Shea laughed and let go.
"Wada! Shea have friends!" He turned back to them.
"Come back soon!"
They turned to leave, then Chelsea walked over to Wada and Shea. She took the chocolate bar out of her rucksack and handed it to Shea.
"What this?"
"For food. You said hunting's been low. You can have it."
"What Chelsea going eat then?"
"It's okay. I can buy another." Mark realized why she did this, and handed his off to Wada.
Shea ate slowly, the exact opposite of what Wada did.
"Tasty! What it called?"
"Chocolate."
"Okay." Shea whispered something to Wada, who then left the room and came back with two stones. He handed the sharp arrowhead to Mark, and the pale purple sphere to Chelsea.
"For Mark...Be warrior...And Chelsea...Be safe." He said.
"Wada is best medicine man. Used to be for tribe. Enchant rocks, for protecting, strength and healing. Is good at this. Very good." Shea then realized something.
"Oh no! Have to leave now. Wada goes to tower today. Can't be around when Wada at tower. Bye friends!"

=^-^=

They found that Natalie was explaining to Taro what had happened in the forest she and Elliot went to. She said she found a lady claiming to be the Witch Princess, who had a lot of bear dolls in her house, and she and Elliot didn't know what the frog dolls were for, until they met a little girl named Witchkin who was the witch's niece, who said she looked nothing like 'that ugly old lady'. She said Elliot ran all the way back home, and there were a lot of 'gross mushrooms' there. She also mentioned something about the Witch Princess saying 'she knew they were coming because of that dumb Harvest Goddess'.
They explained the whole situation to Taro, to which he replied:
"Ah. More people on these islands, I see. At least it was all just a misunderstanding. Now, I have something very important to tell you. I have contacted the residents of Mineral Town and Waffle Town. They are coming here the day after tomorrow to meet with us. Who knows, you may even make some more friends! This will be treated as... sort of a festival, and you will be representing the entire island, so... DON' T MESS IT UP!"
"Yes, sir!" Mark and Chelsea replied in unison.

Later, Chelsea stared up at the sky, and wondered if there was another rancher like her watching the stars, too. She went to bed. There was work to be done tomorrow.

To be continued...!

In the next chapter, we check up on Angela, Kevin, Molly, Kasey, and the Waffle Towners!