Third chapter done! i hope you guys like it, continue to review guys, i love them! Thanks so much though those of you that did/ do :3
My arms and legs ached as I walked toward Horn Ranch. I had forgotten how much work plowing the fields was, and this was my first time starting from scratch. I usually just finished up the work after my father did the hard part… I sighed heavily and shook my head. Luckily I had managed to save many of the seeds from back home. They were one of the only things that managed to survive, that and my farming equipment. I thought about that, and how terrible it truly was. I was so lost in thought that I walked RIGHT into a tree, I was going at a fast enough speed that it knocked me right over. I really needed to learn to look where I was going.
"Oh that's awesome," I mumbled to myself as I rubbed my face. I heard laughter erupt from above me,
"Oh fail, so fail!" a lean but muscular boy laughed as he jumped out from the tree I just smacked into. His blue hair shot out in a bunch of different directions from under his bandana, "I can honestly say that I've never seen someone mess up WALKING that bad," He was hysterical, "I mean, it's a tree, it doesn't move unless I'm chopping it down but I hadn't even started yet!" he howled and rolled around on the ground,
"Glad I amuse you," I moaned, standing up. Now every part of my body hurt,
"Awh, I'm sorry," he said trying to catch his breath, "it was just… just…" he erupted with laughter once more so I started to walk away, "Oh, no wait!" he said chasing after me, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but you gotta admit…"
"I know," I sighed, "I walk into stuff, I've accepted this part of me"
"That's great!" he snickered, "Okay, I'm Luke!" He held out a large rough hand for me to shake,
"Hikari…" I said taking it timidly. He shook with much enthusiasm which didn't help the whole aching muscles thing.
"Yeah I work at the carpenters, with this other kid, his name's Bo. SO NICE; you'd love him I'm sure. And Dale, he's the mastaaaa" He chuckled, "he's also my father. You'll defiantly have to meet them soon!"
I blinked dramatically. Luke was kinda… crazy.
"So anyway, why are you here?" he asked taking out a large axe and holding it up the tree,
"I'm starting a farm," I said, watching him position the axe against the tree's bark,
"Oh cool. Hey," His eyes suddenly gleamed as he looked over at me, "I'm going to punish this tree for jumping in front of you like that" He winked and swung the axe. The wood crackled under his blow and he smiled as he hit it a second time.
"Thanks for that;" I smiled widely, "I really gotta get going now though,"
"Yeah for sure! Oh hey, see you when you decide you want to upgrade your… uh… house," He must have known the poor condition of which my house was in. I couldn't help but laugh,
"Will do," I laughed loudly and continued on my way.
I got to Horn Ranch soon after meeting Luke and walked into the main house, I was greeted by the ranch owner Cain and his wife Hannah, I introduced myself but it would appear Kathy had already told them all about me. I smiled politely as we discussed livestock.
"Mom, dad, I was just won— Oh, hello there," A little brown haired girl entered the room gently leading a calf behind her.
"Hello, I'm Hikari," I stared at her for a moment before I was hit with a realization, "Are you by any chance… Renee?" my curiosity got the best of me as I tried to be polite.
"Why yes, I am actually," She smiled widely, "How'd you know?"
"Yuuki was really impressed by you apparently," I winked, "he told me a lot about you yesterday on my tour." Renee blushed deeply.
"Oh… I… Well I…" She seemed uneasy and I immediately felt guilty for bring it up so I smiled encouragingly at her,
"About how good you are at ranching and how I should ask you any questions I have, I mean," I explained.
"Oh, oh yes of course," she seemed to collect herself, "Actually, I was just about to ask, Mom, Dad, we don't really have room for this calf: Can I give it to Hikari?" She looked expectantly at her parents, who nodded in agreement,
"Yes of course, I was just about to fetch one for her myself."
"Oh that's really not necessary," I stammered, "I can pay you I have—"
Hannah interrupted me, "No, no, you heard what Renee said: we don't have any room for it right now. And besides, we know we'll be getting more business from you in the future, it's the least we can do!"
I thanked them profusely as I headed out leading the calf home. I put in the barn and began fussing around it, making sure it had everything it needed. I put extra fodder in its trough and nuzzled its big head. The calf nuzzled me back, which brought back fond memories of my first cow…
"Cute," I heard a familiar voice say from the door of the barn, I whipped around to see Gill leaning casually against the door frame, "what's its name?"
"I dono yet." I said dully, turning my attention back to the cow,
"You're not going to name it after me?" He said walking closer, an amused smirk on his face,
"If I did that it'd probably grow up to be unsociable and taciturn, I really wouldn't like that," I looked up at him; there was amusement in his smile and icy eyes,
"Some people don't have the luxury of being loud and obnoxious," He said, his usual rude smirk back on his face, "Lucky, your friend Owen does. Apparently." The last word was filled with spite.
"Why are you here?" I said, annoyance dripping off each word
"I wanted to make sure the house hadn't collapsed, killing you. The paper work for such a thing would be a bore." He said pulling absent-mindedly at a loose thread on his sleeve.
"Well… Still here" I said flatly, turning to the cow once more,
"Good." He said. We were silent for a moment before Gill spoke again, "Are you… enjoying Castanet?" he said slowly, obviously trying to make conversation. I sighed and stood up,
"Yes very much thanks," I said, trying to sound as exasperated as possible. He just smiled slightly at me,
"I hoped you would." My heart suddenly fluttered as I felt a blush rise to my cheeks, I looked down not wanting him to notice, "What's wrong?" He asked, puzzled.
"Nothing!" I shouted slightly. Why did Gill make me feel like this? I wanted nothing more than for him to just leave me alone.
"Ookaay…" He put his hands in the pockets of his black pants and turned away, "Well I guess I'd better be going, it's a very busy day at the office today," he walked to the door and turned back to face me again, "You should probably get to work too," the arrogance in his voice had returned and I felt myself being increasingly annoyed,
"Why'd you even walk all the way up here then?" I snapped at him,
"Like I said," he looked bored, "Making sure you were alright," With that he turned and walked nonchalantly away.
Making sure I was alright..? Why? Oh right… paperwork. I scowled, fed up with him and turned my attention back to my new cow.
There you go, another chapter done :) i've been updating really quickly: hopefully I can keep this up :D don't forget to review :) i want to know what you guys think!