Chapter 16: Forest Foraging!

After watering the fields, Pete and Claire decided to explore the forests again to familiarize themselves with the area. Pete also wanted to forage for items they could ship.

"This was the path to the hot spring, right?" Claire asked. And that's where the Harvest Goddess lives…

"Right." Pete nodded. His eyes followed the long path forward which led deeper into the forests. "Let's see where this path takes us."

The two farmers walked deeper into the forests. Claire fell into step beside Pete. The path seemed to curve around the hot spring area. More trees appeared in their view. As they moved past the trees, Claire saw a silver bridge connecting the hot spring area to where they stood.

"Oh, we could have taken the bridge," Claire said. "We didn't have to go the long way around."

"Huh, I see." Pete drew his hands to his waist. Was that bridge always there? He recalled the springs being an isolated area of the forests in his childhood days. I must have missed it when I showed Claire the way.

As the two farmers moved farther, they saw a wide body of water to the left. There was another path that led north.

"Ah, this must be the lake." Pete walked towards the lake. Huh, I think I see something over there…? It looked like another cave, but that didn't make sense for one to just be in the middle of the water.

"Oooh, what's this?" Claire crouched down in front of a grass-looking item. It's very blue! She gently plucked it out of the ground. She took a few sniffs. Oh, it smells kinda nice! Maybe they could ship this.

Pete bent over and ran his hands through the shimmering water. A cool feeling. He didn't remember playing by the lake when he was a kid. Because I continued taking that path over there…

"The lake's pretty big." Claire stood beside Pete, watching the scenery. "Wouldn't it be funny if there was another godly being lying under the waters?"

No way. Pete cracked a smile. "That would be strange–…"

"Hm…?" a voice hummed beside him. "Oh, I don't believe we've met."

"Huh?" Pete and Claire turned to the voice. A girl was standing before him. She was wearing a dark long-sleeved coat with a red crop top underneath that reached above her stomach. A red and black woolly hat fitted her long blonde hair. Her two hair bangs framed her face from her forehead. Loose-fitting jeans covered her legs with a white cloth tied around her waist.

"I'm Jennifer." She bowed her head and smiled. "It's a pleasure."

"Oh." Pete and Claire blinked. They didn't expect to meet someone in the forests.

"I was just opening my soul to the positive energies of Mother Nature." Jennifer turned to the lake. She took in a deep breath of nature's air.

"Positive energies…?" Pete followed her gaze. Well, the scenery's pretty positive…

"Can you feel them?" She asked in a gentle tone, directing her eyes to the sky. "They emanate in waves from the song of the birds, from the light of the sun…"

"Uh…" Pete and Claire felt perplexing energies rather than positive ones from her words.

"It's as if the world itself is blessing the advent of a brand-new day." Putting her hands behind her back, she craned her neck to them. "Don't you agree?"

Pete and Claire exchanged puzzled looks. Through her eyes and subtly nudging him, Claire hoped he'd say something to her as she couldn't think of an appropriate response.

"… Yeah!" Pete grinned awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head, his eyes glancing around. "Our chakras are totally aligned!"

"And mine!" Jennifer beamed instantly and leaned closer to his face. "I see you are someone who understands these esoteric truths. Lovely."

The truth is I don't understand where this conversation is headed to… but I agree nature is pretty positive. Pete nodded, taking a step back. Claire bit the inside of her cheek to hold back a laugh.

"When I bring up the subject, most people simply end the conversation with a puzzled expression."

"Is that right…?" Pete folded his arms. Just how many people did she left confused?

"By the by, who are you two?" Jennifer asked, glancing at the girl beside him.

"Oh, my name's Pete." He placed a palm on his chest. "We're new around here."

"And I'm Claire!" She smiled, waving a hand. "We just moved to the farm yesterday."

"Aha, you're the farmers everyone speaks so highly of." Jennifer nodded in understanding. She heard the farmland was taken recently. "I'd been hoping to meet you two someday."

"L-Likewise." Pete forced a smile. The farmers everyone speaks so highly of…? We only just got here yesterday.

Claire pursed her lips. Word sure spreads fast around a small town like this, I imagine.

"To farm is to live in harmony with the earth and work hand in hand with life itself." Jennifer gently clasped her hands together. "It fascinates me."

"Y-Yeah, it's a… fascinating line of work," Pete replied. "Very fascinating."

"I spend nights at the Inn, but the rest of my time…" Jennifer turned around and pointed at a small tent in the distance. "You can generally find me here in my tent."

"Oh." Pete looked behind her. There was a small tent beside the lake. She lives in the forests…?

"We'll keep that in mind." Claire quickly added.

"Come visit me again if your energies inspire you to." Jennifer smiled. "There is much I want to ask you."

With those parting remarks, Jennifer walked past them and left the forests. Pete and Claire stared at her disappearing figure, then exchanged another puzzled look with each other.

"She's… quite eccentric," Claire said.

Pete held his waist. "I understood the Harvest Goddess better."

"And what was that about your chakras being aligned?" Claire giggled at him. "Where'd you pull that line from?"

"Don't ask me." His cheeks grew a faint red as he shook his head. Why'd I even say that? That was the best thing he could think of at the moment. I don't know even what chakras are. Something related to inner energies. She looked so excited; I couldn't just tell her to put it off…

"Anyway, I found this plant!" Claire showed the grass item to him. "It looks shippable, don't you think?"

"Ah… I believe that's an herb." Pete stroked his chin. "It must be blue grass."

"Oh, blue grass?" Claire tilted her head to the side. That's such an obvious name.

"Yeah, we can ship that." Pete gave her a thumbs up. "Let's see what else we can find."

Pete and Claire explored the forests around the lake. Claire gathered a few flowers here and there. These flowers are pretty! Flowers didn't seem like valuable items to ship, but every gold coin counts!

Pete found a cone-looking item near the bamboo trees. He picked it up and inspected it closely. His fingers brushed against the brown and rough texture. This must be… a bamboo shoot. They grow in the wild. I think we can ship this as well.

"What do you have there, Pete?" Claire asked, eyeing the item in his hand.

"Oh, this is a bamboo shoot. Another plant, you could say." Pete replied. He looked at the flowers in her hands. "Are those… flowers you're gathering?" If memory serves me correctly, she is holding Moondrop and Toy flowers.

"Yeah!" Claire proudly presented the flowers to him. "We can ship this, right?"

"Uh…"

"… Right?"

"… Sure!" Pete nodded. "We can ship flowers."

"You seem… unsure, though."

"No, it just… never crossed my mind to ship flowers." Pete scratched his cheek. They don't… look shippable but that could be me. Maybe flowers have some value?

"Okay!" Claire turned around and skipped away. "I'll find more flowers!"

Pete watched the smile on her face as she gathered more flowers. She's enjoying the little foraging. He resumed his foraging, searching for more bamboo shoots and blue grasses. He considered picking up the flowers. But I'll leave that to her.

The two spent some time foraging for items.

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"We gathered so much stuff!"

"Just how many flowers did you find?"

After their little exploration, Pete and Claire walked back to the farm. With the number of flowers she was holding, it looked like a big bouquet. Color me impressed; she could bring that to a flower shop. Pete only found a handful of items. If the value was to be compared, that was still up in the air.

"Now, we just have to put them in the shipping bin, right?" Claire asked.

"Right." Pete nodded. They approached the shipping bin.

Pete opened the shipping bin and dropped all the bamboo shoots and blue grasses inside. Claire carefully placed the flowers as she didn't want them to be ruined. Afterward, he closed it.

"Our first shipment ever!" Claire grinned, dusting her hands. That took time but it was fun!

"I'd say it's not bad for our first day." Pete sat on the bin and sighed. "Phew, I'm kinda exhausted."

"Me too." Claire dropped to the grass and let out a deep breath. "We're not quite used to it yet."

Pete took off his cap and ruffled his hair. "I can't imagine raising animals, growing crops, and doing other things on top of this."

"We'll get the hang of it." Claire stared at the clouds and reached her hand out. "Besides, we're not doing it alone."

"… I suppose that's true."

Pete couldn't imagine filling in his old man's shoes by himself. But… I'm not alone. I gotta remember that. It surprised him that Claire was adjusting to the farm life rather fast.

Today's farm activities were a good start.

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Aloha, everyone! It's been a good long while. I'll be returning to weekly updates, hopefully. Gotta give this very underrated ship some life, eh?

Being able to ship flowers, among many other things, sure made money-making a little more convenient. At least I don't have to throw everything I couldn't ship back when I didn't know better in the GBA version :'V

And meeting Jennifer. I'll be honest... I set her aside when playing the game for the first time as I was deeply attached to the original characters. But I'm kinda warming up to her now.

See you at the next chapter!