Vicky stepped out of the house a few minutes later, towel still wrapped around her neck, only to find her farm deserted. Scellia wasn't even sitting on the porch or her bed or any of the spots she usually lounged around in. She looked back and forth, down the road, into the forest, around the back of the house- nope, nobody to be found anywhere. "Where the hell did they go?", she muttered to the quiet air.

Her answer came soon enough, as quiet giggles echoed from the trees at the edge of the 'tamed' part of the farm, and soon enough a familiar head of purple hair could be seen moving back and forth between the trees and bushes and tall grass at the edge. "Hey! Abigail!" Vicky raised a hand and waved. "I'm ready when you are!"

She continued drying her hair with the towel, already having put on shoes and everything else she'd need to get going, waiting for her friend to return from whatever it was she was doing in the woods. Still no sign of Scellia, though...

Eventually her questions were answered as Abigail burst from the trees, Scellia in hot pursuit on extended wings. Still laughing, Abigail swatted at the little dragon as she ducked and dove at her hair, pulling little strands this way and that, though it was always released before it was tugged too hard. Eventually Scellia alighted on Abigail's head, leaving Vicky smiling in disbelief.

"You can see her now? When did that happen?"

"I don't know! I went for a walk while you were in the shower, and she showed herself after stepping out from behind a tree. I said hello, she sniffed at me a few times, and then she jumped onto my shoulder. She's really cute!" Abigail reached up to gently scratch at the underside of the little dragon's chin, drawing a purr that Vicky could hear from this far away, and the dragon reacted by flopping flat along her shoulders and shoving her face against the scratching fingers.

"... huh. Well, at least I don't have to wonder if I'm going crazy. Rasmodius could see her too, but he's a wizard and whatever and can use magic. Can you?"

Abigail shook her head. "No. He's the only one who can, and he said it's only because of where his tower's built. He's 'immersed in it', according to him. He's taught me a bit but unless I move into his tower I'll never be able to do what he can."

"Right. Anyway.", Vicky tossed the towel into her house and shut the door. "Ready to go?"

"Yep!"

Vicky returned home after a few hours in town with Abigail. She'd brought her bike, though Abigail had walked, and the whole trip had taken most of the rest of her night. They'd just spent the time talking, Abigail telling Vicky about some of the history of the town, some of the things she liked, how she'd started training with Rasmodius and general knowledge like that, with Vicky sharing some of the same in return. How she'd found out about Stardew, why she'd wanted to study architecture, and why she'd finally decided to leave. It had been nice, but she'd had to mentally remind herself a few times that it hadn't been a date- just two friends hanging out and having dinner. She flopped herself into bed afterward, Scellia having returned with Vicky after swiping bites from both of their plates all night and taking up her position at the end of the bed. Things were going pretty well, so far...

Life passed quickly in Stardew Valley and Pelican Town when things went well, and the days seemed to melt by as Vicky established a routine. Wake up in the morning, head outside and weed the plants, harvest what was ready(she was getting good at figuring out what was ready to come out of the ground), and water what wasn't, then head into town to get seeds if she needed them. She left produce in her box at the end of the day, and Lewis usually dropped off money or delivered letters before she woke up, though she'd caught him a few times when he was late or she'd woken up a little earlier than usual.

Scellia helped out around the farm, and Vicky found that when she was occupied she was much less of a minor annoyance than usual. The best days were harvest days, because Scellia loved divebombing plants and trying to yank them out on the way past, and she usually wore herself out doing that in a couple of hours. She was exceedingly quick in the air, probably owing to the fact her wings were so big and seemed flexible enough to give her the control she needed. She still seemed to find the time to steal Vicky's phone whenever possible though, and she'd had to take to leaving it password locked so the little dragon stopped downloading match-3 games. How she'd learned to use a phone to that degree mystified Vicky, but she definitely wasn't ignorant of how the modern world worked.

As the days passed by, Vicky soon enough found herself with a fair amount of money in her pocket despite her seed purchases, though it wasn't yet quite enough for a house upgrade. She was doing better than she'd thought she'd be by now, but she imagine she owed more than a little of her success to the little dragon who helped her out around the farm.

And so it was that she found herself on the morning of the Egg Festival, some extra change in her pocket and a bit of a spring in her step, ready to go into town and mingle with the townsfolk for the day. She'd planned that nothing would need harvesting today, saving her some time, so all she had to do was weed the plants and water them and she'd be ready. A shower and a new shirt that she'd bought- a nice rich purple with a pink flower on the front- and she was ready to head into town.

She gathered Scellia onto her shoulders and hopped onto her bike, and pedaled off into town.

When she arrived, it was to find that she was very nearly the last one here, with only a man she didn't recognize with an eyepatch arriving after her. Everyone in town seemed to have put on their best for the festival, and she was glad she'd gotten a new shirt. Her normal one was getting a little bit faded from all the sun and washing she'd put it through. She'd found a few items at Pierre's a few of the times she'd looked in his shop, but her wardrobe still needed expanding. She knew there were more clothes at JojaMart, but she'd rather not give them the extra money when they were already doing enough to strangle Pelican Town as it was.

She set her bike to the side and began to mingle with the townsfolk, taking the time to introduce herself to the few she hadn't met yet.

"You must be Clint", she asked once she stepped up alongside a guy standing near one of the food tables that had been set up thanks to Gus and a few of the other townsfolk. Vicky held out her hand to the man, a somewhat barrel-chested fellow with short-cut hair and hands that looked like they'd seen better days. It also helped that he tended to smell a bit of smoke.

"Yeah! You must be Vicky." He shook her hand in return, and she found his grip practically crushing. "How are your tools holding up? Doing well?"

"For the most part. The hoe's starting to get a little blunt and I think I've bent the nose of my pickaxe."

"Oh that's no good at all. Hey, if you have the cash and a bit of metal, I can forge you new tools. I even have iron available for purchase if you want to go that route, though it'll be a bit more expensive."

"Yeah? About how much?"

He put a hand to his chin. "If you bring me the materials, I can get you a tool upgraded, new haft, new head, everything, for about 5,000G each. That's for Iron. Above that is Iridium but I don't have any of that in stock and I honestly couldn't tell you where to get it."

"Oh. Wow, uh. That's kind of expensive."

"Yeah, I know. But it's a lot of work, and I wouldn't really be able to do any of my orders for a day or two while I finished yours off. Steel's hard to work with, it has to be heated and re-heated often, and it takes a lot of coal to get the forge that hot. It's worse if you wanted me to provide the metal myself."

"Jeeze. Where could I get iron from, then? If I was going to bring you the materials."

"I can answer that." The man with the eyepatch stepped forward, extending a hand. He was older, with greying hair, and a deep voice that reminded Vicky more than a little of her grandfather. His hand was rough, callused, someone used to working, and he wore a cloak around his shoulder, and even seemed to have a limp. Someone who had seen and done quite a bit in his life, judging by the experienced air about him. "Name's Marlon, I run the local Adventurer's Guild."

"Oh! I heard about you, Abigail told me." She gave his hand a shake. Damn, everyone in town today's crushing my hand, I'll have to be careful.

"She did? I know she's been thinking of joining for a while now, though she's never approached us officially. We'd love to have her, new blood's hard to come by these days." He placed his hands in his pockets as he glanced to Clint. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine, continue."

"You can get iron in the mines, though you'd have to go down a few levels to do so. They've been largely abandoned for years after the monsters showed up. Joja tried clearing them out but they just succeeded in collapsing the whole place, only got it cleared out a few days ago. Found a whole cave system in there, most of it untapped... if anybody was to get down there they'd have about the whole place to themselves." He glanced to Vicky.

"You don't look like you know how to use a sword but I could teach you if you had the time to spare. Or if you could find someone to escort you down. It'll be dangerous but nothing in there is something you couldn't handle with a bit of grit and determination, and we'd send in someone after you if you didn't turn up within a day or so." He nodded. "Or you could pay Clint the extra money and have him order it for you."

"I'll have to keep all that in mind. I wouldn't really have the time for an expedition at the moment, but it sounds like it might be worth it to save the money." She glanced to Clint. "No offense."

"No, it's fine." He even gave her a smile. "Just means I don't have to order more. Plus if you bring me any extra ore I could pay you for it, it'd save me money in the long run."

"Definitely. I'll see what I can do and let you know." He nodded, and Vicky excused herself from the two of them.

She found Robin standing near Sebastian and two people she didn't recognize. When Vicky approached, she was beckoned over by the taller man.

"Hey! You must be Vicky." He was tall and dark-skinned, with short hair and a crisp-looking Polo. "I'm Demetrius, Robin's husband, and this is Maru." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and tugged her close.

Vicky smiled, nodding to Maru and Sebastian, then Robin. "I've met her already at the Saloon. It's nice to meet you as well." Sebastian and Maru waved back, though Sebastian looked sullen at having to be out in public.

"Definitely." He looked to Robin. "I heard you might be in the market for an upgrade to your house."

Vicky grinned, and turned to Robin. "About that, actually."

"Yeah?" The woman perked up a bit at the mention of possible work.

"I managed to collect a bit of wood, and I've broken up a few stones around the farm. I don't know how to shape them to your needs, but it's all ready for you to use and stacked out behind the house. I'm just short a bit of cash as far as an upgrade goes."

"Great! That's awesome. I'll definitely keep an eye out for you once you're ready to upgrade, and if you end up with any extra materials I'll be glad to take them off your hands."

Vicky nodded, then turned back to Demetrius with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I've just been meaning to tell her about that."

"Totally fine. Listen, if you ever want to come visit, even if it's just to hang out, that's fine. We've also got some trees around the house that you could cut down if you needed the wood for something. I run a lab out of the house, if you come across anything interesting I wouldn't mind having a look at it. I'm also working on a project that I might need your help with."

"Oh? What's that?"

"There's an old cave on your farm that would be perfect for an experiment I'd like to run. It's not ready to be implemented yet, but I'll be in contact when I'm more ready for a field test."

"It's nothing dangerous, is it?"

"Not at all! Unless you're afraid of bats or mushrooms." He laughed, then looked serious for a moment. "You're not, are you?"

"No." Vicky smirked a bit. "Sounds interesting though."

"I'd hope so! I'll let you know when I'm closer to completion, alright?"

"Sure!" She spotted someone else she hadn't met before though, and quickly excused herself from the four of them.

He stood on the outskirts of the group, looking like he wanted to approach but was either too shy or didn't feel like he belonged. He wore a yellow shirt or body-suit thing that Vicky couldn't really place where it'd come from, and looked... for lack of a better word, wild. Long hair, long beard, fairly unkempt. Vicky approached, and he scrutinized her closely, almost suspiciously, and she decided to stand a few feet away to give him time to get more comfortable with her, at least for a few minutes, before she spoke. "I've never seen you around town before."

"I don't live in town, I live north near the mountains." His voice was rough, like it didn't get used too often.

"Oh, that'd explain it, I guess. I'm Vicky, the new farmer in town. It's nice to meet you."

He considered for a moment, crossing his arms, even chewing on his lip for a few seconds. "I'm Linus."

She smiled, though she decided she didn't want to stick around too long- he didn't really seem like he wanted company. "Do you want some food? There's plenty here."

"I ate before most got here. Some don't like to see me, but Gus made sure to know I was welcome."

Vicky couldn't help but smile at that. "I'm glad. He seems like a nice guy."

"He is." Linus nodded, then turned away, and Vicky figured the conversation was over. He seemed like a nice enough guy, even if he was a bit short on words.

The last two people she needed to meet were standing on the edge of the group near Alex. An old woman, and an old man looking somewhat cross, in a wheelchair. Vicky made her way over, greeting Alex first since she recognized him. "Hello, Alex. Nice to meet you."

"Hey, Vicky." He reached out, gently tapping the older-woman's shoulder to get her attention, she'd been fussing over the man's jacket while he glanced toward Vicky every now and again.

"Hm? Oh!" She started somewhat when she realized Vicky was there. "Hello! My name's Evelyn. And this is George. Say hello, George."

The old man grumped quietly, but eventually spoke. "Hi. Good to see you."

Vicky grinned a bit, they reminded her of some of the older people she'd known from her apartment building. "My name's Vicky, it's good to meet you."

"The new farmer! I take it things are going well? How is life on that old farm?"

"They're good. Going good. I'm clearing the land out steadily, and it's still growing things just fine. It's peaceful out there, much different than the city."

"I'm glad." Evelyn leaned over onto George's wheelchair to make it easier for her to stand. "It's a shame about your Grandfather, he was such a kind old man. We knew him back when the three of us were younger."

"You did? What was it like?"

"Oh, the town was bigger back then but everyone still knew everyone else. Isn't that right George?" He grumbled quietly, and she seemed satisfied with that. "He was a fixture around here. Could have been Mayor, if he wanted, but he never seemed to desire it. He and his wife always won the produce showing in the Fall every year."

Vicky had never known her grandmother, as she'd died before she was born. "What was she like?"

"Oh? Well..." The woman patted her chin with a shaking hand. "She was beautiful, I remember that much. Your Grandfather smiled like she sun when she was around. A little shorter than you were, they made quite the couple. She'd moved in from out of town, just like you have now. He had too, of course, but long before she did, when he was around your age."

Vicky nodded, smiling slightly. Some of this she hadn't known. Her grandfather had already been ill when she was young, and she'd never made it out to the farm while he was alive. "I see. Do you mind if I stop by sometime and we can talk? I'd love to learn more about what they were like when they were younger."

"Not at all, dear. We don't get out as much as we used to, it's hard to move as much when you're old."

"I understand. I'll keep an eye out. And thank you for the bike."

"It's no problem, dear. It was your Grandmother's, before it was ours."

Vicky's eyebrows went up. "Really!?" She gained a new appreciation for it, she had no idea it was so old. "That's amazing."

She nodded. "George here", she patted his shoulder, "Maintained it and used it years ago. When he couldn't anymore, we still kept it in shape. We knew someone would need it some day."

Vicky grinned. That was certainly something. "Well, I really appreciate it. I had no idea."

"Of course, dear."

Vicky excused herself after speaking to them a little more, as some of the people were beginning to gather near the middle of the square, including Mayor Lewis. She started to join them, until she realized Pierre had set up a booth just on the edge near his shop. Right! Strawberries!

She moved closer, taking a look. He still had quite a few seeds left, though it was clear others had been buying from him too. She pursed her lips, looking them over, and put her hand in her pocket while she thought.

"Hey, Vicky. Thinking about buying some seeds?"

"Yeah. Trying to figure out how much I have and how much I can spend."

"Well, if you want my recommendation, buy as many as you can. Then, save them for when next year rolls around, plant them early, and you can harvest them all season."

"Really? Hmmm..." She pulled a few coins out of her pocket. She had a bit of money, she could definitely afford them, but it would put her very far away from getting her house fixed. She didn't really mind, the house wasn't in that bad of shape, but she wouldn't be able to get new tools any time soon either. It was really a choice between newer, better tools, or investing in seeds for next year so that they could give her a big windfall. She jingled the coins in her pocket, trying to think, and even glanced to the side to see what Scellia thought. Nope, still asleep. Must find talking boring...

"How much will this get me?" She pulled the majority of the coins from her pocket. It was most of her money, but she imagined she'd be able to survive until the rest of her harvests came up, and things would be ready within the next couple of days. She just kept a few hundred G for herself in case she wanted food or an emergency popped up.

"Uuh... most of what I have left, actually." He laughed quietly. "I'll save them until you're ready to leave, is that alright?"

"Definitely. I'll come pick them up later, okay?" She placed the money on his booth, then turned away to see what was going on with the rest of the townsfolk.

When she arrived, Lewis was already in the middle of talking about the Egg Hunt, and Vicky was glad she'd decided to pay attention, otherwise she'd have missed it.

"- highlight of today's festivities... the Annual Spring Egg Hunt!" He raised his arms into the air, and a few people cheered. Vicky had expected the kids to be excited, Jas and Vincent, but to her surprise Abigail looked just as ready to go as the both of them. Sam and Maru were ready to go as well, each one with a basket. Vicky started to worry she wouldn't have one, until someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned to find Caroline, who handed her a basket with a smile. "Glad to see you participating. But you better hurry, once it starts. Abby usually wins, so you'll need to be quick if you want to beat her."

Vicky laughed. "Really? Wow, I never would have guessed."

Caroline nodded before she moved away. "Yep, every year since she was little."

Vicky turned back right as Lewis continued.

He lowered his hands and waved them toward Jas and Vincent, who were practically jumping up and down for joy. "Calm down now, kiddos." He smiled again. "You're going to need all your energy if you hope to find the most eggs and take home the exclusive prize." He held up a basket that was next to him on the ground. "You will have five minutes to fill your basket with as many eggs as you can. They are hidden around town in exclusive hiding places, so look hard! We've marked off the area with barriers, if you go past them you'll be disqualified. If you pick up an egg after the five minutes, you'll also be disqualified! Those are the only rules, other than have fun!"

He looked around to the participants, and Vicky clung tightly to her basket. "Everyone ready?" When they nodded, he raised his hand into the air again. "Then let the Egg Hunt..." he let his hand fall. "Begin!"

Vicky turned, and as quickly as she could began to look for the eggs. She hadn't been here that long, so she hadn't realized that would have been her chance to find where they'd been hidden! Though she imagined there wouldn't be many in the town square for exactly that reason... She hurried off into town, hunting around, checking under houses and bushes, and it was in the roots of a tree that she found her first egg. "Aha!"

As she turned, she saw Abigail run past, already two eggs in her basket, looking like she was having the time of her life. Vicky laughed, though she quickly recovered to continue on her way.

She found one more under the steps of the Saloon, one near the graveyard sitting next to a tombstone, one near the river in a bush. She found another one near Sam's house in a plant near the door, one more near Emily's house under the steps. She circled around their house, finding one more near a fence post, and then one more in the roots of the tree she and Abigail had sat under days ago. She continued forward, passing Sam who'd found one in a bush, and then Jas who found one in the base of a lamppost. Knowing time was running out and she wouldn't have too much longer, she discovered one near Pierre's feet at his booth- "Sorry!"- and then spotted one more at the base of his stairs. That would make ten.

However, as she moved to grab it, Vincent ran up just a few seconds too late. He looked dejected as he started to turn away, until Vicky stopped him. "Vincent! Hey. You got here first."

He gave her a bemused look. "No I didn't."

She laughed. "Okay, okay. But, uh. I didn't pick it up, whoops!" She quickly scurried away, leaving the egg to him. She just picked up another one near Evelyn and George's house when she heard 'Time's up!' called from the Town Square.

She looked down at her basket with a little frown, she hadn't even found that many in the five minutes they were given. But, she decided to head back anyway, not wanting to break the rules, even though she had to facepalm when she spotted one more hiding in a bush she'd run past. Oh well.

She returned along with everyone else, and to her surprise it didn't seem like the others had very many eggs at all... Sure enough, when the eggs were counted, she'd come in first, with ten...

That is, until Abigail presented her basket. Lewis quickly got to counting. "Eight, Nine, Ten... Eleven! For the sixth year in a row, Abigail has won!"

The purple-haired woman grinned, even turning to the side to glance at Vicky and stick her tongue out at her in a mocking gesture. Vicky did the same, though she supposed 2nd place wasn't so bad, especially for the first time...

"And here's your prize." Lewis handed her a gift-wrapped box as people began to dissipate, back to their food and conversations.

Abigail walked off, holding her box, and Vicky decided to follow after stacking her basket with the others where they'd been returned.

She was 'led' off near the tree where they'd spoken the other day, and she stepped up beside her friend to have a look. "What's inside?"

Abigail started for a moment, until she realized it was just Vicky. "How do you do that?"

Vicky grinned. "Do what?"

"I can hardly tell you're here most of the time, you're too quiet."

Vicky laughed. "I guess I should start making a noise or something when I approach. Maybe a fooooog hoooorn." She lowered her voice and raised the volume as she spoke, drawing a giggle from her friend and a grumble from Scellia as she slowly woke. "Oh, now you're awake.", she said as she smirked at the dragon.

Scellia hissed at her and crawled onto Abigail's shoulders instead. "Guess she thinks I'll be quieter." Sure enough, the little thing curled back up to go back to sleep. Vicky was surprised she'd slept through the egg hunt, but she didn't seem much bothered by movement when she was sitting on someone.

"Maybe. Anyway, what's in the box?" Vicky gestured, even poking at the bow.

"Heeey. Mine. I won, not you." She pulled the box away so she could carefully pick at the paper.

"Yeah yeah. I would have tied with you if I didn't give up an egg."

"Oh suuuure you would have."

"No, really! I almost picked one up at Pierre's store, but Vincent got there a second later. I was going to grab but I stopped to tell him he could. If I'd just kept going, I probably would have even won because I saw one right after time was called."

Abigail pursed her lips as she listened, glancing up to Vicky as she spoke. Then she looked down as she pulled the bow apart gently enough that it came off in one piece, untying the paper around the box. She lifted it away, followed by the lid, to reveal a fancy-looking straw hat, complete with an egg-shaped brooch nested in a bow along the top.

"Nice haul."

Abigail smirked a bit, setting the box down so she could examine the hat with both hands. "Yeah. Emily makes them. I have two others like it at home, I keep them on a shelf to remind me of the festivals. Fall is my favorite time of year, but I like spring too. When the forest is quiet as the plants grow and new life springs from the dirt. I suppose that's why they call it spring, huh?" She turned to Vicky.

Somewhat taken aback, she shrugged. "I guess. I've never really thought about it, really."

"Not many people do. I guess it's Rasmodius and his lessons rubbing off on me." She looked down at the hat, then turned to Vicky. "Here." She gently rested the hat on her head.

"What? Why? I didn't win." She didn't take the hat off, though, watching Abigail.

"Because, if you're telling the truth you did win. And if you're not... I have two others. Plus it fits you, I think."

Vicky smirked. "Thanks."

She returned home hours later with her seeds, placing the bag in a cabinet in her kitchen. It was nearly nightfall, and she was exhausted. Aside from the egg hunt they'd done a carrot-eating contest, which she hadn't participated in, and a tandem egg-relay which she had. Abigail had asked her to be her partner, since she'd usually partnered with Sebastian, who had taken Sam as his partner this year. They hadn't won that one, Jas and Vincent must have been practicing with how fast they skittered along, and Vicky had tripped a couple times besides. Running was not really her strong suit.

Still, it had been a good day, as she lay on her bed on her back, gently petting Scellia with one hand, the little dragon rumbling away. She'd slept nearly the whole day, though she seemed to sleep pretty often anyway. Her other hand was gently twirling the hat she'd been given, watching as the ribbons along the sides shifted as the hat moved. Something about the way Abigail had looked at her when she was given the hat...

Nah, she was just imposing her own thoughts on things.

She sighed and turned over, clicking the button on her bedside lamp to turn it off. Hopefully there'd be lots more good days in the future.