Skies and Stories of Gold

Hello and welcome to another RKRobot RP!  For the past few days, I've become reobsessed with a franchise from the mid-90s: Harvest Moon.  I've played A Wonderful Life/Another Wonderful Life and Animal Parade, but I hope to get more games in the series like A New Beginning and Story of Seasons.  This is a great series, and if you haven't picked up a game in the franchise, please do!  10/10 would recommend~

This RP is based on the Harvest Moon style of games, but it doesn't use the same characters because there's FAR too many to keep track of.  Here are some rules and the format you need for your character(s):

• No godmodding (controlling other players characters, being unhitable, etc.)
  
• No killing other player characters
  
• PG-13 RP (no cursing, sex/nudity)
  
• Farm sim, dating sim and open world genre style
  
• You may enter up to 2 characters each (pets and other animals do not count, but keep it under 10 animals)
  
• Humans only, this time (magical characters/witches/wizards however, will work)
  

Character Format:

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((When you post your character, I'll start the story.  ^_^))

((Perfect!))

The Rancher driving the top-down buggy turned the corner and onto a dirt road.  It was a little bumpy, but nothing too big.  The two dark-furred horses in front were moving much slower now than they were before, indicating they didn't have much more to go.  Reginald Hanovell (a big burly and bearded farmer), or "Reggie" as he told River to call him, turned around to check how she was doing, still holding onto the reigns.

"'s gonna only be a short while longer, Ms. Mindle!  Harvey will be so happy to see you!  Are you excited?" he asked with a big grin.

River was hanging on a bit tightly as they moved over the road, it was rather bumpy so she didn't want to just bump out of the buggy on accident. She hadn't said much of anything if Reggie hadn't asked her something or spoken, off in her thoughts about the situation she had been called into. Hearing him speaking again though she looked back over at him, giving a small smile as she thought might be polite as she answered.

"I suppose this is pretty exciting, I am nervous though too about being out here and taking care of everything." she said and let out a little nervous laugh.

"Don'tcha worry yer little heart!" Reggie returned, focusing back on the road.  "I'll be just on the other side of the main town if you need anything!  And Harvey won't leave you hangin'! I think he said somethin' about hiring a stable hand anyway..."

It took another half an hour and the sun was beginning to set, but Harvey's farm was coming into view.  A tall windmill turned in the distance, surrounded by dry grass and open dirt fields.  A white and faded yellow barn, coop and stable all stood adjacent to the windmill, and the farmhouse was a short walk away from those buildings.  Crooked white picket fencing lined the perimeters, but the gravel driveway and beautiful flowery bushes made the scene look more humble rather than run-down.

Reggie pulled his buggy up to the house and a pale, tall man in a blue flannel, jeans, black-rimmed glasses and a full head of rough blonde hair came out of the house.  He carefully stepped down the porch steps and smiled at River.

"Hey!  Harvey!" Reggie called energetically, getting off of the driver's seat to open River's door.

"Thank you so much, Reggie.  I couldn't have made this trip myself," Harvey said, the hoarseness in his normally soft voice apparent.  He quickly and cheerfully averted his attention to his step sister and held out a hand for her to get down with. "River!  I'm so happy you're here!  I hope the ride wasn't too much.  How have you been?"

River nodded and smiled again at the offer of any help needed before going quiet again until they got to the farm. She was expecting it to be a bit run down from how Harvey wasn't able to get up and do much, but this was further what she had imagined. It would be pretty hard work for her to do everything she was already piling up in her head, the fence, all the planting, animals too, the barn. That was a lot of work to do alone, she wouldn't ask Harvey to be out helping too much either.

When they stopped she smiled at Harvey when he had come down from the porch as they came to a full stop. Seeing her door opened and Harvey offering his hand to let her down, she accepted carefully and didn't put her weight on him.

"Harvey, it's nice to see you again. The ride wasn't that bad, I have been pretty good too. Though you don't look or sound like you have been doing good."

She said and smiled at him a bit, even if she wanted to work and probably needed his help to work she felt the need to keep him inside and in bed.

"Maybe we should get you back inside before something happens? You know I don't want you to get any worse." she said with a worry showing in her voice and eyes.

The worry in her tone got Harvey thinking, even though he had plans to show her around, maybe it was best for him to try to get better...

"You're too kind, little sis," Harvey huffed with a smile.  "Reggie, please, do me a favor and-"

"Don't worry, I'll do some running around for ya the rest of the day, free of charge, haha!" Reggie laughed, coming over to pat Harvey on the back.  He then took his large hand off of the taller man's back and looked at the girl.  "You have fun now, River!  If ya ever need directions to my place, here's a map!  Town is only a 10 minute walk away from here, so if you're still confused, just ask the locals!"

He handed her a folded up piece of paper from one of his front overalls pockets.  Inside was a colorful, yet faded, map of Soule Peninsula (you can see it here).  Harvey's and Reggie's farms were marked, but the town drawn in between the two was also labeled with the various places it contained.  The main beach was a little past town, and the forest was pretty close to this ranch.

"Welp!  I'll be off!  Have yerselves a good night!" Reggie said as he left the two, pulled out of the driveway and back on to the road with his buggy.  Any luggage that River may have had with her was already taken out of the buggy and laid on the ground next to her, completely unharmed.

"That's a good man, right there.  He's the one who helped me start my farm six years ago," Harvey added, then returned his attention to River.  "It's been so long, we have so much to catch up on!  But I guess you're right, it's best to finish the conversation inside."

River watched Reggie and smiled as she listened to the two of them, accepting the map and looking it over though when she received it. She was happy to have the map, at least she would know her way around hopefully. When her things where put next to her though she smiled and waved to Reggie, thanking him quickly for giving her a ride and offering the help.

"We should get inside before you start to ask me questions at least. I would like to start hearing about how you have been here as well so let's go ahead."

she said and smiled happily, picking her few bags up and went to go inside. She wasn't going to let him get any of the bags, not that they where very heavy anyway.

When River refused to let Harvey help with the bags, he hoarsely laughed, coughing a little into his bunched up sleeve.  He opened the door and let her in first, closing the door behind him.

"Welcome home!" he announced, taking her around the house for a short tour.  The place had an upstairs and a basement, thought the lower level was mainly for storms and storage.  It was pretty big, and looked as if it could house about 5 people.  The place also looked pretty clean, probably not to spread any more of Harvey's germs around.  Their final stop was the bedroom - River's room - where a single, twin-sized, blanketed mattress lie next to the wall.  A large dresser and lamp sat adjacent to it, along with a window supporting flowery curtains.  The closet was next to the front door.

"Feel free to organize your things in these drawers and the closet.  Don't worry, there's nothing in them, so you don't have to feel weird about going through them!" he assured her.  "Would you like some time in here first?  You can come back down when you're finished, but if you want to wait 'til later, that's fine too!"

River followed him around the house when he was showing her where everything was. She was curious about the need for a shelter under the home but shrugged it off since she thought maybe it did get stormy. Though she was also worrying about him coughing, wondering if he needed to rest so she smiled at him offering to let her organize her things into her room.

"You go ahead and rest while I organize, I won't be too long though so I will be down to talk to you soon."

She told him before walking into the room with her bags, starting right away to put her things away. It was a pretty nice room from what she could tell, would need some getting used to of course since it was new but she liked it. Though it wasn't too much time passed before she finished unpacking and making sure everything was where she wanted it before she went to go find Harvey again.

As Harvey left her in her room, he slowly walked himself downstairs and headed into the kitchen where he began to boil a kettle for hot water. He got out two mugs from the cabinet and bags of tea from a box. The whistling of the kettle began by the time River was done.

He carried out both cups to the living room on a platter, and the warm kettle in his other hand. He sat himself back on the couch with a heavy sigh, taking off his glasses and wiping the lenses with his shirt. He turned to see River come around and offered her a seat on the other cushion.

"I've made some water for tea! Did you like tea, I can't seem to remember..." he shrugged, scratching the back of his head.

Outside, a horse's whinny could be heard, but Harvey's hearing was terrible due to the sickness, so he didn't pick up on it.

River looked at Harvey when she had found him sitting in the living room with the tea all set up to be made. She hadn't had tea in a while for some reason but was happy to accept the offer.

"I would love to havs some as we talk for a bit. You go ahead and get your tea first though."

She told him and smiled after hearing the horse, wonddering some where the noise came from. So she ended up walking over to one of the windows and looking outside for a second, it might just be her not used to the noises there yet was all.

As Harvey poured himself the tea first, he started speaking again.

"Before we start, I should let you know that you won't be working here alone.  I hired a stablehand to help you out with the animals, but he shouldn't be here until tomorrow.  It's not that I think you can't handle it all, but I know that this is a new experience for you and you might need a little help," he told her, taking a breather to sip his drink.  "I hope the two of you get along.  His name is Varek.  He's a champion horse racer."

Sure enough, River would see a huge black furred stallion arrive in the driveway.  It whinnied once more before bowing its head and revealing a short, but toned young man with long, sandy brown hair and bright green eyes.  He wore a brown sleeveless jacket, a dirty white shirt underneath, thin jockey pants and a set of tall brown boots.  He dismounted his ride and pat the side of its muzzle before approaching the front door.

River stayed at the window as she watched the horse walk up to the house, hearing what Harvey was saying as she watched though she assumed that he must have come earlier then Harvey thought he would. She smiled slightly though as she walked over to where Harvey was sitting, not sitting yet since she would answer the door in a second.

"Well even though you know I am not the type to talk a lot I will do my best to get along with him. I do tend to like being around people anyway, especially if he will be helping out with the farm. Like you said I don't have a lot of knowledge of where to even start in the morning."

She said before going to the door before Harvey would have the chance to get up and answer it, going to open it for Varek.

"It's great to hear that!  I feel so lucky to have you here," he grinned, pleased with her supportive response.  "Is he here now?  I wonder what he wants?"

The knocking came as soon as River finished talking.  Harvey heard this since it was closer, but let his sister get it as she originally intended to.  When she opened the door, Varek appeared surprised to see this unfamiliar face greeting him.

"H-Hi, is Harvey home?  M-My name's Varek... the new stablehand?" he stuttered, a little awestruck by her presence.

River smiled some when she heard Harvey so happy about her being there to help him at least and was willing to be nice to someone new. She smiled a bit more in a polite greeting when she opened the door and saw Varek.

"Hello, this is Harvey's home. I am River, it's nice to meet you Varek. If you would like you can come in, Harvey and I where just sitting down to talk a bit."

She said and stood back slightly, offering to let him inside if he wanted. Though she wasn't sure what to think about his stuttering and the look on his face. She hadn't done anything scary had she?

"O-Oh, thanks," Varek stuttered, coming in quickly.  "It's just, I didn't think Harvey had company over... and you know my name?  How-"

"Varek!  It's you!  Come in, come in!" Harvey said, waving them both in from the other room.  He was still seated, but leaned forward to direct them.  "I didn't expect you until tomorrow morning!  It's good that you're here now, at least you can meet my step sister!"

"Your step sister?  That's you?  Oh!  So you're family, then!  I can see some resemblance now!" Varek concluded, his tone and expression a little more relaxed.  "Sorry, I thought you were his nurse or something else..."

River tilted her head some before looking over at Harvey as he spoke, smiling some since he was such a happy person. She made sure the door was shut after Varek was in the house, walking over to sit down close to Harvey as she listened.

"I haven't heard a lot of people saying we look similar now that I think about it. Though I guess in a way I can be a new nurse for him as I help with the farm."

She said and gave a smile, the thought of helping Harvey get better in anyway possible sounded nice. Or just keeping him in better health so he could tell her what to do.

"If we do have anything physically in common, you can trace that back to Mom.  And you don't have to nurse me too much - Doctor Irene comes down every week to check on how I'm doing!  But I suppose you'll want to know what the divide of the work load is," Harvey added, finishing the tea in his glass. "Varek, you'll be the animal supervisor, but River will be in charge of the crops and plants, since I know she's interested in botany."

"Oh, really?" the guest commented, putting his hands on his hips and smiling.  "That's actually a lot better than I hoped it'd be; I'm terrible at taking care of plants.  I always forget to water them during the day, and since its Spring, they really need the best attention so they don't dry out!"

"Is that okay with you, River?  Or would you like to take care of the animals?  I want you to feel the most comfortable about working here, so don't be nervous about anything!" the brother asked her, hoping he didn't get it wrong about her interests.

River leaned back slightly and smiled when she heard what Harvey said about them looking alike, nodding some since it made sense. Though she had been told she looked a lot like their mother she hadn't been around to see too much of Harvey in a while.

"I would have a nice time doing the plants for sure, I have been trying to study about them and find it interesting for sure. Though I think we should try and make sure all the tools and anything about the buildings is cared for as soon as possible."

She said and tried to think about what would be planted and end up working well, she did know how to care for most plants at least.

Harvey nodded in agreement.  "Very true.  We have to make time to till the land for the crops, so I'll call Reggie later and have him order the seeds for Summer.  Anyway, why don't the two of you join me for dinner?"

Harvey slowly got up from his seat and sighed slowly.  Varek watched him carefully, well aware of his sickness.  The farmer then looked at them both and told them, "I think I'll call in for delivery.  The Inn has some very tasty dishes and their delivery girl is really quite fast.  I haven't gone shopping in some time, thanks to the bug I've got, so it's really all I have.  In the meantime, why don't you show her the lot, Varek?"

"Alright, I can do that.  River, did you want to come see Harvey's animals?" he asked her with raised eyebrows.

River watched Harvery and smiled some at his offer to order something to eat, she would like to try something local at least. Though she would have to start getting more food for Harvey so he could eat properly. Looking at Varek when he offered to see the animals she nodded and smiled.

"I would love to, I do like animals. Plus it would be nice to look around. She said as she stood up and waited for Varek to lead the way.

"Alright, glad to hear it!"

In the next few moments, Varek lead River back outside as Harvey called in for delivery. It wouldn't take long, about 30 minutes tops for the food to arrive, so this was a perfect time to take a tour around the acres.

Once the two were alone and some distance from the house, heading in the direction of the Windmill, Varek began talking again. His voice no longer stuttered, but he did walk briskly.

"I assume you want to know how I got the job... Well, Harvey was the only one in town that let me practice my races. Horse races, I mean. I came here 5 years ago to train all time time when I had no where else to go, as long as I took care of the other animals as payment. I don't think Harvey should be paying me for my work here on this farm, though. It seems sort of like a regular house-chore to me now, especially if he needs it," Varek told her, expressing his words by also using his arms and hands to communicate. "What about you? You're his sister, right? Why did you want to come work here? Was it because you heard he was sick, or did you just think it was something to pass the time?"

He was genuinely curious, even though he suspected she did come here because she cared about him. Either way, he wanted to know for sure. It would at least give them something in common, aside from liking animals.

River followed after Varek quickly and glanced around as she did, often when listening to someone while touring she would look around just to get familiar. She wasn't sure if some people might see it as rude since it meant she wasn't watching them and if they where looking at her. Though seeing him moving as he spoke he caught her eye a bit, smiling as she went to answer what he asked of her.

"I guess most of the reason was because I heard he was sick, if he needs help while he gets better I am willing to offer my time. Plus I guess I was pretty curious about working out here for once. More to learn about animals and plants I guess."

"That's good to hear.  I'm actually glad you're here, River," he started, running his fingers through his mess hair.  He didn't seem to mind her looking around and checking everything out, as he was aware she wasn't used to this place at all.  "I don't know if Harvey will get better, but he's much too young and happy to give in so easily.  In fact, I hope he makes it far past his time, so he can share the kindness to all kinds of people he meets!"

He paused for a moment and looked up.  "Aha, we're at stop number one!"

The two them finally arrived at the Windmill, and Varek opened the door to them them both inside.  The massive churning mechanism was going, even thought there was nothing to be ground up, simply because there was a slight breeze today.

"Have you ever seen the inside of a windmill before?  It's pretty archaic but effective technology farmers still like to use," he explained with a smile.  "At least its better than a hand crank!"