By the time Will had finished his bath that evening, night had fallen across the islands, bringing with it an overwhelmingly calm atmosphere, unexpected after the earlier ferocity. It was almost as if the sky had not actually spent the majority of the day in an absolute uproar, causing chaos wherever it so pleased.

Despite the warmth of his uncle's home, Will shivered, remembering the cold of the rain and how close he had come to being knocked into the ocean by the wind. I can only hope that sort of sudden storm isn't common here. At the very least, a warning would have been nice.

Regis had prepared the guest room and bed for him tonight, even if it was perfectly safe to return to his yacht. Truth be told, he was grateful to be in friendly and familiar company, even if just for tonight. He had traveled for a long time, and sailing from his home all the way to these islands alone (aside from his companion, Arthur,) had been disheartening at times.

He let himself fall into bed, ungraceful and exhausted, but he remembered that Regis had received a letter for him. Just as Will had dreaded, the letter from his father lay on the pillows, a maroon-colored wax seal on the back, as if the letter were being sent as an official missive from one king to another. Will was tempted to toss the thing out the window and pretend it hadn't arrived, or better yet toss it into the sea for the fish to read instead- no doubt they would find it more interesting than he would-, but no. That would be childish. After all, it was impressive how his father had known exactly where Will was planning to sail, even if he hadn't known Will was planning to leave in the first place. Will sat up and opened it carefully, almost hesitantly. Even though his father had surely been very angry when he penned the letter, his penmanship was still just as graceful an poised as one would expect from someone in his position.

'William,

Since I awoke this morning to find that you, in the middle of the night,had taken one of my best yachts and fled without a trace of where you had gone (Honestly! Most runaways at least leave a note), I can only assume that you have decided to disregard all reason and disobey me by fleeing from your responsibilities here. It seems I was too senseless in believing you to be a better man than this. I certainly thought I raised you better. While I will not demand you return, as you are regrettably a grown man capable of making your own decisions (however foolish those decisions may be), I will demand one thing of you. Since you are on the Sunshine Archipelago (yes, I know where you are- -you've always been wonderfully predictable, and close to Regis), you may at least make yourself useful to your uncle and help him with his mining business; it will prove good practice for when the time comes to take over my own business. I've already informed Regis that you will offer your help.

Do try not to make a fool of yourself.

Also, your mother says hello.'

Will was right- -he should have tossed it into the sea.

"I really am sorry, Elliot."

Hearing the fate of his poor green umbrella the day after the terrible storm, Elliot had winced, looking towards the ocean where Chelsea said the wind had blown it, but now he sighed, resigning himself to the fact it would never be seen again. "It's...it's fine, Chelsea. There wasn't much you could have done."

The sky was thankfully much clearer than it had been the day before; no clouds loomed in sight, but, that didn't make things better just yet. Once Will had left yesterday, Chelsea had finally had the time to realize that Elliot's umbrella would probably never be recovered, and she felt sorry to lose something he had entrusted to her. She looked down, "I'll buy you another one."

He quickly held up his hands. "N-no! You don't have to do that. Really, I'm, I'm just glad you're ok. Your safety is more important than an old umbrella."

"Well, I didn't want to do nothing, so," she held out a covered bowl. "I made you this. You mentioned once you liked Stir-fried vegetables, once."

A light blush colored his cheeks, but he took the bowl. "You remembered that? You really didn't have to."

"But, you've been nothing but kind to me since I've moved here. I've been meaning to thank you for everything for a while. Besides, I'm really sorry if the umbrella was special to you."

"You're special to me." As soon as he spoke, his eyes widened as he realized what he had said, and his face resembled a tomato. "Not that, I mean, wait, I think I said that wrong. I meant-"

"ELLIOT!"

Taro's voice yelled from across the way, echoing off the buildings and bringing everyone's attention to him. "Natalie's not going to do all this work by herself, we need you back over here!"

He looked mortified, but Chelsea quickly smiled understandingly. "It's ok, Elliot, I'll let you get back to your work."

Before anything more could be said- - and before she could feel Taro's wrath for holding Elliot up any longer- -she turned away; however, she had hardly taken a few steps before she heard Elliot all after her.

"I...I wanted to thank you for the gift. I heard you were looking for these, so, um, here." He quickly placed a sunstone in her hands, then turned to run back to where Taro was waiting, calling back over his shoulder, "Please take it! See you later!"

It was almost kind of funny, watching him leave so quickly; Chelsea suppressed a giggle and called back her thanks before going on her way.

She was glad to have someone like him as a friend.

As she moved to put the sunstone away in her rucksack, she realized that with this new addition she now had enough to raise mushroom island- -which se would have raised sooner, had Regis not requested she hurry to raise a mine. She was excited to pick mushrooms and see if there were any she could use in new recipies. Pierre would certainly appreciate the new hub of ingredients, at least. Getting a ride from Kirk, who was happy to oblige as usual, she started across the small stretch of sea that flowed between Verdure and Meadow Island.

Even before they had reached the island, Chelsea saw a figure standing at the shrine; though, they were so far away the figure was nothing more than a silhouette of red. Someone new?

The boat docked, and Chelsea crossed Meadow Island, coming up behind the stranger. She was dressed in a type of dress Chelsea had never seen before, with golden flowers embroidred at the bottom that traveled up the side of the dress, and in her hair was matching ornaments with ruby jewels. She studied the shrine intently, running her fingers along the engravings and speaking to herself.

Chelsea stepped forward a step "Um, hello-"

The woman turned around quickly, and a bit harshly asked "Who goes there?!" When she saw Chelsea, her shoulders immediately relaxed, as did her gaze. "Ah...a local. I humbly apologize for my insolence."

"Oh, no it's alright." Chelsea said, "I didn't mean to starle you, I'd just never seen you around here before."

"Well, I am not from around here. I'm Lily, a treasure hunter who hails from across the vast, capricious oceans."

'Capricious?' She speaks like Will...

I came to the islands in search of treasure." Lily spoke with a smile, turning back to the shrine with eyes once again alight with wonder. "And, indeed, it appears my search has already proved fruitful. This shrine shall serve my purposes excellently."

Chelsea's eyes widened and she quickly stepped forward. "Your...purposes?"

Lily turned back to her. "Hm? Your expression betrays anguish..."

"The shrine is very important to the islands, actually...sacred, really. We need it to help the island flurish."

She rested her head on her hand. "Sacred, you say?" She thought for a moment, then, although reluctantly, nodded. "Then I shall not touch it. 'Do not covet that which belongs to your neighbor.' So says the law of my ancestors." She picked up a satchel she had on the groud beside her, placing it over her shoulder. "I shall endeavor to find other treasures then. I hear there is a mine- -is that so?" When Chelsea nodded, her smile returned "Then I shall start there. Ah! Before I forget! Might I inquire your name?"

"I'm Chelsea, it's nice to meet you. I own a ranch here."

"Chelsea? How lovely! My our aquaintance be blessed by my ancestors. Until we meet again."

A/N: Hello again! Long wait--school kicked me around a lot lately, but that break allowed me to catch up a lot, to he point where I should now be able to upload a chapter once a week. :D Thank you all for your kind comments, it really means a lot to me. See you next Wednesday!