Lost and Found [Harvest Moon: A New Beginning]

Fire

Rio raced up to the top of the bluff, Neil close behind. She came to a halt at Olivia's house, and sure enough, there was Flash, riderless, reins trailing on the ground. Neil caught up to her, panting from the run, and she said, "Can you take care of Flash? I'm going to go look for Vaughn." Then she turned and started to run towards the path into the woods, but Neil grabbed her arm.

"Oh no, you don't. You're not going up there alone in the dark. Besides, what if he did manage to hurt himself? You gonna carry him back all by yourself? You can go looking for him—I seriously doubt I could stop you, anyway. But I'm coming with you. We'll bring his horse with us, in case we need him."

Rio hesitated, then nodded curtly before turning back to the path and running towards the forest, Neil leading the gelding as he hurried after her. He didn't like this turn of events—didn't like that she was so concerned about this former lover of hers, for one thing. But, he had to admit to himself, it was typical of her to be so worried about others. She was always looking out for people, worrying about them, helping them, caring for them... even strangers. That was something he'd never really developed a knack for, himself, and couldn't really understand it in her. But... he had to admit that he admired it, maybe even envied her for it.

She vanished into the shadows of the forest ahead of him, and moments later he heard a dull thud and a crashing among the bushes, followed by muffled expletives. Fearful that she'd somehow managed to hurt herself already, he broke into a run, pulling the gelding along with him. As his eyes adjusted to the near-absence of light under the trees, he saw not one, but two figures lying on the ground, and realized that she'd managed to actually collide with someone this time. He helped her up, then turned to the other figure.

It was Vaughn.

"What the hell, Rio?" he exclaimed, picking himself up and brushing himself off while Neil helped Rio to her feet.

"Vaughn? I think that's my line—where have you been? What were you thinking, just disappearing like that? Everyone was worried about you!"

"Everyone?" he asked, looking skeptically at Neil.

Neil shrugged. "I wasn't worried. I just thought you might've fallen and broken your neck or something. No skin off my nose."

Rio scowled at him, then groaned and gingerly prodded her nose. "Let's go back out into the light. I think my nose is bleeding."

Sure enough, a dark rivulet was starting to trickle down her lip. Without a word, Vaughn pulled the bandana off from around his neck and handed it to her, and she pressed it against her nose, tilting her head back.

"Sorry to worry you," he said, though he didn't look all that sorry, really, Neil thought to himself. "I did have an accident of sorts. I got a little overheated, and I guess I forgot my water bottle back in your barn. Some of the local guys and gals were out for a walk and found me just in the nick of time. They gave me a hand and some water to drink, and while I rested, we all got to talking. Next thing we knew, it was getting dark, and the ladies wanted to have a bonfire. They tried to find you two, but they couldn't track you down."

"What about Flash? What happened to him? Why was he running around loose like that?" Rio asked, slightly muffled by the edges of the cloth.

"I'd just put his bridle back on him to go search for you when a burning log cracked with a loud bang. The noise startled him, and he bolted. I was chasing after him when you ran into me."

Just then, Rod and a slender young woman with long black hair emerged from the shadows of the woods. "Hey! You found him! And Rio and Neil, too!" Rod exclaimed.