Hello! So, just a few quick notes before I start chapter two.
Thank you to Guest, SweetieLove, and AmbulansContradictionem for reviewing chapter one. Your reviews really made my day!
Second, I'm sorry if this chapter will be obnoxiously long compared to the next ones. (I don't have the next ones written out yet so I wouldn't be able to tell you if this will be so…) I considered splitting this into two chapters and then decided to just stick it out and write it as one.
Lastly, I'm not sure yet how much the storytellers and their guests will be interjecting into the story. For the sake of writing it, it may not always sound like Maya is telling the story, but that's just one of those things… I didn't want to compromise it in any way by making sure her tone always sounds accurate.
That said, whenever they do speak in the middle of the chapter, it will be italicized. Right now that only adheres to this chapter… I'm not sure yet if I'm going to start out every single one with a little intro as to what's happening with the present-day characters in real time.
Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter Two: First Impressions
As was according to her nature, Maya launched right into the story. "Akari arrived on Castanet ten years ago. It was the last place on the entire planet she wanted to be."
As was also to be expected, it didn't take long for Chase to interrupt. He turned from the stove, skeptical. "That's so dramatic, Maya. Are you sure you should be the one telling this story?"
"But it's true!" she insisted. "Akari told me the story herself!"
…Ten Years Earlier…
"The waters surrounding Castanet were rarely this calm, especially in recent years. The sun was shining brightly, casting its warmth down upon the deck of Pascal's boat. And an accommodating wind was blowing to take the edge off should anyone find the heat to be too much. But even the blatant beauty of this day was not enough to appease Pascal's lone passenger.
Akari was slumped against the railing. No fish were to be seen in the crystal-clear waters, but it was yet to be proven whether this was due to the ship interrupting the current or Akari's fierce glare.
"Land ahoy!" Pascal called jovially. The girl rolled her eyes. She'd dissuaded the captain from attempting to converse with her early on in this multi-hour journey. But Pascal was the grandfatherly type and not likely to hold this against her. Still, these were the first words he'd spoken to her since their tense greeting.
As she looked out across the water, she could see land in the distance. At the moment, it was still little more than a blob, but they would be arriving soon. She gripped the railing a little tighter, the futility of her situation truly beginning to set in. She glared at Castanet, which was inching ever closer with every passing second.
With a sudden passion she'd been working to suppress, rage filled Akari. She detested the island. She detested her mother who thought shipping her off to a little backwoods island could turn her into some happy-go-lucky farmgirl. For God's sake, this place didn't even have a modern timekeeping system! They numbered the days of the seasons!
Well, she'd show them. As soon as she turned eighteen, (which she'd worked out to be the twelfth of Autumn) she was out of here. She would disappear from the island and no one would ever hear from her again. If that wasn't a big enough 'fuck you' to both the islanders and her mother, she didn't know what was.
As they neared the island, Akari could see two people standing on the dock, apparently waiting for them. But before they came into view, she could only focus on their surroundings. Small as it may be, Harmonica Town was an on-the-water city more akin to a fantasy world than anyone's reality. Akari quickly shook such thoughts from her mind.
Maybe they're port town was beautiful- so what? It was part of a package deal- one she refused to accept.
When the boat finally bumped to a halt, Akari descended back to solid ground slowly, making her reluctance as clear as possible. Still, the scowl did nothing to perturb the two smiling faces before her.
The first was a woman with very short orange hair and sparkling purple eyes. The man standing beside her had graying hair and his features were more square. He was smiling as well. They introduced themselves as Colleen and Jake and Akari grudgingly gave her own name. Which left her staring blankly into their expectant faces.
"Can I help you?" she asked at last, pointedly. In hindsight, perhaps this wasn't the best question. After all, she was the one who didn't belong. She had no idea where anything was or what was supposed to happen next. As soon as they were gone she'd be on her own to answer these questions.
"Are you ready?" Colleen asked, bright and welcoming.
"For…?" Akari purposely dragged out the word.
Did she imagine Jake's smile falter ever so slightly? "Didn't Mayor Hamilton tell you? They're still working on your house. It should be done by tomorrow, but tonight you're to stay at the Ocarina Inn with us."
Akari said nothing. She wanted to snarkily reply that the mayor didn't discuss anything with her. But could she really complain? Even it it was only stalled for a day, wasn't this what she'd wanted? To avoid being shunted off to some farm with no contact with society? She chose not to answer at all, following the pair to the upper streets of Harmonica Town.
The Ocarina Inn was a tacky pink building, cheerfully advertising their menu's daily special. The mainland girl continued her streak of silence as Jake opened the door… but even she couldn't school her features to be neutral once she could see inside.
As soon as Jake opened the door, thick smoke billowed out.
"Oh!" Colleen exclaimed. There was coughing and shouting from inside, and Akari strained to see. With the smoke came the smell of something burning. As the view at last began to clear, one voice rang out clearly through the joint restaurant-lobby of the hotel.
"Look what you've done!" Akari brought down the hand that had been shielding her eyes to see a young man- a year or two older than herself- standing beside the still gently-smoking stove. His fists were planted firmly on his hips and his cheeks were puffed up in irritation. His orange hair was both slightly messy and slightly curly, and his purple eyes sparkled with the passion of his glare. Akari had to admit that the boy would have been quite attractive if only he didn't look so uptight."
"What!" Chase sputtered, accusing, "You added that part in yourself!"
"I did not!" Maya defended, indignant. "I asked her about it! And stop standing over there, pretending you're not listening. You're going to have to tell the parts of the story that I wasn't around for."
Chase gave her a look. "Like you haven't practically interviewed everyone on the island already."
Maya gasped. "You take that back! I'm not that much of a snoop!"
Just as Chase looked about to retort, Hayden cleared his throat. The two startled, caught up in their own argument as they so often were.
"As fascinating as your bickering is," the bartender said, "You've got a story to tell."
"Oh, right! Of course!"
"Anyway, Akari quickly found who the boy had snapped at. Having backed away from the stove, another teenager stood amongst the tables in the dining area. Her hair was red as well, though a lighter shade that could appear almost blonde when hit by the sunlight. She had her hands to her mouth in nervous surprise. Her bright blue eyes were sparkling just as fiercely, though in a combination of apology and indignance.
"I was only trying to help!" she protested.
Chase closed his eyes, silently fuming. Through gritted teeth her managed, "I didn't ask for your help… neither did I need nor want it. I would ask you to please refrain from touching the stove when I'm cooking, but clearly, asking nicely doesn't work with you."
He took another shaky breath then strode out the door before he could succumb to the urge to say something even more hurtful.
Jake and Colleen had rushed inside to help an old woman survey the damage, which was thankfully minimal. Akari had remained where she stood outside the door, turning to watch the red-haired man stride huffily down the stairs. Now she heard a chuckle from behind her and whirled around.
Standing on the other end of the doorway to the inn, peering in curiously, was yet another stranger. It was another man, though this one was older- early twenties instead of late teens. His features were rugged and as he brought a hand up to tip his hat to her, she could see that it was heavily calloused.
"If you're going to be staying here, too, take my word for it- that won't be the last fight you hear out of Chase and Maya. Or, I guess you don't even have to live here for that." He laughed again. "I'm Calvin, by the way."
She watched Calvin closely for a moment, the smile never once leaving his face. Finally, she said, "I'm Akari."
"Nice to meet you."
She didn't return the sentiment, and luckily, she was saved from answering at all. Suddenly, Colleen seemed to remember why she and her husband had left the Ocarina Inn in the first place. She turned and spotted both of their guests standing in the doorway.
"Oh, Calvin, would you mind showing Akari to her room?"
"Sure thing, M'am."
Akari followed the adventurer past the dining area and into a hallway lined with identical doors. Calvin pointed to the very last one.
"That one's my room," he said. "And if I'm not mistaken, the one right next to it is yours."
A part of the girl knew it was wrong to take her anger out on Calvin. For all she knew, he was in the same boat as herself- just passing through, though managing to be considerably more cheerful about it. But she forced such thoughts from her mind. No, as far as she was concerned, this man was exactly like everyone else on this godforsaken island, and she would treat him as such. So Calvin got little more than a curt nod in response to his kindness. Akari brushed past him and slammed the door shut behind her, but the adventurer wasn't offended. In fact, he chuckled to himself when she was out of sight. Castanet was already filled to the brim with strange characters; he couldn't wait to see how this fellow foreigner added to the mix. He tipped his hat again to the new girl and her brash nature before retiring to his own room.
Inside, Akari had flopped down on her bed, allowing herself to openly bemoan her current circumstances for the first time since leaving home. She hated her mother for sending her here, and she hated this island for its very existence.
Slowly, she brought her hands from her eyes to stare at the blindingly white ceiling of the hotel room. The room was somewhat quaint but not in a bad way. The walls were a soothing green. The bed was fairly comfortable, and aside from what looked like a hand-woven trash bin, the room also contained both a bureau and a writing desk. To someone else the simple fashion may have been pleasant and comforting, but to Akari it was stifling. The lack of anything modern, like a telephone or TV, was immediately apparent. It wasn't that she necessarily needed or wanted these things, (there was a good chance she wouldn't have even used them had they been there) but it emphasized the fact that she was here, on Castanet, making it impossible to imagine that she was in some other hotel room, at some other place.
Now, the girl spotted something else in the small room. Something she hadn't noticed the first time around. Wedged between the dresser and the desk was a long mirror. Standing up, she likely only would have been able to see herself from the neck down, but sitting on the low bed, it worked as a full-length mirror.
She supposed she certainly looked like a teenage delinquent- in her mother's eyes, at least. Before they'd left that morning, Akari had thrown on a rattly old pair of jeans and an even older sweatshirt. Her sneakers, which had once been white, were now scuffed up and crudely tattooed with black permanent marker. She brought her hand up to pinch a strand of her hair which she'd cut short and dyed black after a particularly bad argument with her mother. She hadn't done anything drastic like get red contacts to hide what she had always felt were her terribly dull brown eyes. She had no piercings other than the one hole in each ear that she'd had since she was ten and no tattoos. Still, she supposed she looked pretty wild for anyone who lived here.
It was only four in the afternoon, and the sun was still shining brightly. Akari's entire day had consisted of the boat ride here, yet she was suddenly exhausted. This time when the girl flopped back onto the bed, she promptly fell asleep.
…
Akari woke to a loud rapping on her door and an incredibly annoying voice singing out, "Aaaakaaaariiii! Time to get up!"
She had time to do little more than grunt noncommittally before Maya threw her door open to announce, "It's already 7:30! What are you still doing in bed?"
Akari moved nothing but her eyes to look at the other girl. 7:30? she thought blankly. As in, 7:30 in the fucking morning? Granted, she'd slept through dinner the night before and hadn't gotten up until ten the previous morning, but still.
Maya giggled. "You're going to have to start getting up earlier if you're going to be a farmer."
Akari considered dragging the pillow over her eyes. Then she considered chucking it at Maya's head. But Jake and Colleen's daughter had already flounced out of the room. Akari groaned, even though she knew there was no one else around to hear. But, being short on options, she got out of bed anyway.
She walked into the front room only to stop in her tracks. Being filled with smoke, she hadn't gotten a good look at the room the other afternoon. Now, she had to admit to being impressed. The walls were similar in shade to the guest rooms, but more regal-looking. Every surface seemed to shine and a heavenly aroma filled the air. As she sat down at one of the tables, the sound of a guitar being strummed reached her ears.
"What is that?" she asked, clearly awed.
Maya had made her way over. She giggled at their guest for the second time that morning. "What? The waffles or Calvin?" she asked, setting down a plate and pointing out the window.
Akari strained her neck to see out the window on the far wall. She could just make out the man, his foot propped up on a bench overlooking the lower section of Harmonica Town so that his guitar was comfortably positioned. Whatever he was playing was both skillfully executed and pleasing to the ear. She was about to comment on this, but every other thought was wiped from her mind as soon as she took her first bite of the waffles. Let's put it this way: they didn't just smell heavenly.
The pure bliss must have shown on her face because the old woman who'd come up to stand beside Maya smiled.
"Do you like them?" she asked. "It's an old family recipe."
By this point, Akari had already deduced that Maya had not been the one to cook the utter deliciousness sitting in front of her. Not if what she'd witnessed yesterday was anything to judge by.
"Akari, this is Yolanda, my mother." Jake, too, had come to join them. They were all smiling down expectantly at her, but the only one she was focused on was Yolanda. The old woman's eyes were sharp in her wrinkled face. Sure, she was smiling… but underneath that smile was an almost accusatory look. The old woman was silently sizing her up. The motion was nearly subconscious- Akari lifted her chin in a defiant manner, and this seemed to settle Yolanda's mind. The old woman made her leave, clearly having the same impression of Akari as the rest of the world. Yet, Akari felt that she had won this battle.
The girl tried not to let this disrupt her breakfast, but no sooner had she taken the last bite than she was faced with another obstacle. Maya had gone to bring Calvin his lunch for the day, (coffee and an egg sandwich) but when the door opened again, the young hostess wasn't alone.
Maya was accompanied by a pale boy with wispy blond hair. His blue eyes matched her hard look with ease, and he was wearing a semi-formal suit. Within seconds, Akari would have guessed that the smug, arrogant smirk on his face was a permanent fixture. She'd thought Chase had been bad… this boy looked to have a stick up his ass and he didn't even have anything to be angry about. Yet.
"Akari, this is Gill. Gill, Akari," Maya introduced.
The boy stiffly stuck out his hand. "So you're the new rancher?" He sounded skeptical. "I'm Gill, the mayor's one and only son."
Well, now she knew what got him feeling so high and mighty. Akari gingerly shook his hand, biting back any mean words.
"Gill's here to show you to your new house."
Without a word (but with more enthusiasm than she ever would have expected out of herself) Akari got her carry-on bag out of her room, everything else having been sent on ahead. She hadn't known Gill for five minutes, yet she was ready to be rid of his company. The boy nodded curtly and strode out the door. His presumption that she would follow him around like some lost puppy was infuriating, but she did, for the same reason she was doing a lot of things lately- she just didn't have any other options.
Their walk was a quiet one. Half and hour in and they still had yet to say a word. But Akari found that Gill's very presence pissed her off. Even when he wasn't saying a word. Even when all she could see of him was the back of his head.
And the atmosphere didn't improve when he did choose to open his mouth.
"What would you say your level of commitment is?" He glanced back at her, lacking any subtlety whatsoever.
"Excuse me?"
He bit the inside of his cheek, a clear sign of irritation. "You don't look like much of a farmer to me."
"Gee," she replied sarcastically, "I wonder why that might be? And maybe you haven't noticed, but you don't look much like royalty to me."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Gill sputtered.
"That I'm not your subject, your highness, so you can stop treating me like one."
Gill stopped abruptly, and Akari had another cruel retort on the tip of her tongue, but it died when she realized that Gill's halt had not come from anger. They had arrived.
A scowling Gill stayed where he was while Akari took a few steps forward. There were a few trees growing along with a river and a small pond. But when she kicked at the dirt, it blew away loosely in the wind. The house had seen better days, and the roofs to both the barn and chicken coop looked as if they were about to fall in.
Gill cleared his throat, finally speaking up, "You can make the payment at the town hall whenever you're ready."
Clearly, he thought he was being generous, but she turned to him incredulously. "Are you kidding me? I have to pay for this shithole?"
The mayor's son bristled visibly. "We give you a place to live-"
"Um, you're not giving it to me if I have to pay for it!" she interrupted. Her mother hadn't exactly left her with a great wealth of money, but she wasn't about to tell him that. He already looked at her as if she were some pauper in his kingdom.
Maybe he didn't have a comeback, maybe he just couldn't tolerate her attitude any longer. Whatever the reason, Gill turned on his heel and strode, fuming, from the property.
Akari watched him go with a glare. She hated this island. She hated her mother. But most of all, she hated Gill."
Review please!
I don't own Harvest Moon!
At the moment, I'm not sure how much I plan on going into the other bachelor/bachelorettes' love storeis… I don't think it will be a purely Gill/Akari story, seeing as it's being told by Maya and Chase, but I haven't decided yet how much I want it to stick to them.