Chapter 2: Ghostly House Sitting

Year 7

Summer

Thursday 25th

08:02pm

The sun had long risen from its slumber behind the clouds by the time the Farmer had arrived home, sneaking out before Camilla woke up. The harsh rainfall from the night had begun to dampen in intensity, but the brief walk to his Nexus Point was still a sodden one. The temperature and humidity of the morning was the only giveaway that it was still Summer, both rising as the heat was trapped beneath the rainclouds. You'd be justified in thinking that it was a wet winters day: the grim dark sky, the constant rain, the lack of light. Depressing.

As he exited his Nexus and headed towards the farm along the northern path, a few thoughts of concern crossed through his mind. What crops was he going to grow for the last remaining days of the season? What was the most profitable crop to harvest in such a short time? Did he feed his chickens before he left? When was the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies again?

Oh well, it didn't really matter, he would wing it like he always had. An irresponsible mindset. As he reached the top of the northern hill that overlooked his farm, he paused and took a moment to admire the farmstead, taking in a large pleasant sigh, not caring that he was still getting soaked by the rain.

He had been here six years and had no plans of leaving, this place had magic in the air and it crackled through the valley like lightning on a humid night. His first job in life had been as a Waiter in a bistro and after two years of that fake smiling Hell he couldn't take it anymore. Soon after he went to work as an Assistant Financial Consultant for the JoJo corporation, the need to make a living being the main reason for this career choice. The Farmer had only lasted three years in that cubicle prison cell before he broke, but luckily his Grandpa's Farm was there to save him. The pavement had looked like a tempting sight from his ten storey apartment before that day.

At first the man had been a loner when living in the valley, keeping mostly to himself and working on his farm, rarely leaving the farmstead. Even now he hadn't entirely cleared the farmstead of debris or trees. His first friend was of course Willy, the rusty sailor taking pity on the soul deprived man and introudcing him to his life's passion. The Farmer never knew how much he could enjoy standing still and watching the surface of the water for hours on end.

However, his first proper friend was Sophia. The two introverts finding a common interest of watching shitty movies and discussing farming techniques. As time went on, the number of his friends grew, soon followed Abigail and Sebastian, then Rasmodius, Marlon, Camilla, eventually Shane, Penny, Claire, Victor, Emily and Hailey, Krobus, Alex, and mostly recently Alesia, Issac, Elliott and a strange young boy who thinks he's a parrot. Having friends was exhausting. He had no strong feelings towards the other villagers which way or the other. Leah was fun to forage with but often looked down her nose at him, Sam was a good opponent to play pool against but was often glued to his phone, Maru was handy with any tech he needed fixing but always made him feel like he was a six year old. If he looked too hard, he could find a flaw with every single villager, but he knew from experience that no one was perfect.

After many different holidays, the Farmer felt he had truly become apart of the community, even more so of the fighting and magical community. It was on the third year of his stay in Stardew Valley that Marlon approached the man, attempting to recruit him into the guild and the rest was history. An oath sworn and an oath to be fullfilled.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAWH!"

"AH- Fuckin- Krobus! Don't do that!" the Shadow Brute had crept up on the man as he had been admiring his home, it seemes the human had been reminiscing for far too long.

"D-Did I get you? Did I?!" the friendly monster had a familiar mischevious grin across his dark transparent face. The Farmer tried his best to lower his heart rate, gulping as well. Krobus had truly caught him off-guard.

"Y-Yes . . . yes you did."

"Heh good! I'm getting better at it, you humans are so easy to surprise!"

"Is that so?" the two friends began to descend the northern hill and enter the boundaries of the farm.

"I-I'm sorry for my mischief- I would only attempt to frighten you though- the other villagers are . . . unpredictable."

"Good- oh speaking of- anyone been snooping round the farm?"

"No, there were some squirrels earlier-"

"Any people?"

"Th-That blonde haired woman and the man in the green jacket came by on a hot night, must have been a two- three days ago."

"Hailey and Alex? They're harmless, probably wanted to steal some Strawberries and make out in a field."

The two had now arrived at the Farmer's house, the man ascending the three small stairs while Krobus remained at the bottom, watching as his friend fumbled for his keys and unlocked the door but did not open it.

"S-So I can go home now?"

"Of course you can- and thank you for doing this Krobus, I needed someone I trust to look after the place while I was gone."

"You t-trust me?"

The Farmer turned around and quickly came back down the stairs, only realising now that Krobus had clearly been homesick during this arrangement.

"Of course I do- I'm really proud of you for doing this for me- I know you don't like the wide open spaces and this farm is quite big-" he placed his hand on the Shadow monster's shoulder.

"It was a favour for a friend . . . like you've done for me countless times."

"I know but this was different, staying away from the Sewers for such a long time was a risk you didn't like taking."

"The risks were high yes- b-but when you blend with the shadows of the trees it's easy to be invisible!"

"You enjoying the rain now? It's been hot for too hasn't it?"

"Indeed. Thank Yoba that it's over."

"Alright- Oh did you want to take a few Void Eggs with you? You can pick them up from the chicken coop on your way out."

"Ooh yes please! I think I'll have an omellete when I get home!"

"Okay- see you later Krobus."

The two parted ways, the Farmer watching as the spirit headed eastwards towards his chicken coop, his eyes following his friend until they were drawn to his mailbow. Unsurprisingly it was crammed full, a variety of parcels and letters were tightly packed within. The rain was beggining to grow in intensity once more, the man deciding to hurry and retrieve all his parcels before they got more damaged by the water. As he entered the homestead, the man was greeted by his faithful companion, Yogi the dog.

"Hello smelly! Sophia's been keeping you fed?!" the man giving a few minutes of fuss to his canine.

Retrieving all his parcels and letters from the floor, the man dumped all of his mail onto the centre of the mahogany dining room table. The Farmer had just gone to turn away, but his eyes lingered too long on the pile and noticed one letter amoungst the rest from a villager that did not normally send anything. It was a letter from Marlon. Immediately, the Farmer tore the weathered envelope open and began reading.

'My boy, no one has any clue of where you have disappeared to, but my best guess is that Willy has taken you to Ginger and that you're not coming back for a while. I'll keep it brief, but there is trouble brewing and I need you to come back to the valley immediately. As soon as you've read this, meet me outside the Mines, I'll be there most days to deter anything from escaping. Oh and by the way, if you could pay Kent a visit beforehand and ask for the 'Plan B' then that would be much appreciated. Regards, Marlon.'

"That's not good."

Immediately, he began his preparations, emptying the backpack of all of his current clutter and then refilling it with all useful items that he would need, different snacks, health potions and a few trinkets that might prove invaluable. After retrieving his pickaxe and sword, the Farmer headed for the door. Before he left, a whine came from behind him, the mutt obviously sad to see him leave just as quickly as he had arrived.

"Oh right, you want some breakfast first?"