The stars are falling [Stardew Valley]

Chapter Three : Knock out! (Pt.2)

As soon as I stepped outside I smelled smoke and the emo kid crushing something under his foot, I frowned. "Make sure that thing is fully put out. I don't want to come home to my house lit on fire." I didn't look at him and he followed with the group after a few seconds. I led the way with the lantern in front of me.

"How do you even know these woods so well. Didn't you just move here?" For the first time the emo kid directed a question at me. His voice wasn't really harsh but I still felt the judgment in it. "I've only met Sam so far. I don't exactly go into town often." I replied trying to keep my voice steady and the tiredness out of it

I heard the three whispering about something but they didn't say much to me aside from the occasional question. We walked through the woods for a solid fifteen minutes before Sam said that the emo kid (whos name was apparently Sebastian, not Seb, As I suspected) needed a break, Sam apologized and said Sebastian wasn't the most athletic.

I shrugged and sat down on a log, "I'll give you guys a five minute break. I don't want to stay out here to late." Sam and Sebastian ate some of the berries but I felt Abby glaring at me for a good duration of the break, She was clearly the most athletic out of the group and I didn't doubt that she knew to some degree how to use that sword.

"You can relax you know. I'm not going to murder your friends." I looked at Abby, "That's not what i'm worried about." She replied, her voice even and her gaze matching, Sam and Sebastian made no comment and soon enough we were back up on our feet.

The sun steadily set further into the sky and the moon and the glow plants soon became our only light through the woods aside from the odd Lightning Bug flying around. Sam kept getting tripped on sticks and stones and it became steadily more apparent why he kept band-aids in his pocket all the time, sometimes I laughed a bit and he laughed with me and we even had a few odd conversations. Sam definitely tried to make small talk between his group and me to ease the tension that had grown in the air.

"You know they said that the stars were tears of the gods?" I asked the group as we walked through darkening forest, I continued unprompted looking up at the stars, "They said that when the gods created the universe they were so proud of their creations that some star's were tears of joy. But a few gods were sad that the people in their universe would have nothing to gaze on upon the sky so they wept tears of sadness. It varies from story to story but the myth is old as this valley." I stopped not wanting to say more and accidently reveal myself, "I've never heard that one." Sebastian kicked a pebble, "Keep that in mind when you visit my d- go to the tower." I quickly corrected myself and shined the light on the tower.

"You can go to the tower from here if you want, But I can't follow you. I'll be down here when your ready to go back."

The three cast unsure glances at each other but eventually walked up the pathway, I did my best to hide the flame but I knew that my dad would know I was here. I would have expected to get yelled at or at least heavily scolded if I still lived with him. But I didn't, and pranksters finding the tower was hardly anything new. The three would probably just be ignored, give up and come back down the hill.

I waited for around five minutes and as expected the three came back down the hill, To my surprise Sam came over and handed me an envelope, "Just came out under the doorway with your name on it." He stated simply, he looked like he wanted to say more but he didn't.

As I led the group through the forest, Sebastian asked me a question, "What other stories have you heard?" He didn't sound accusatory or genuine just monotone.

"Sprits of the forest, The tragedy of the Sun and Moon, The creation of earth. Basic folklore." I replied, shrugging my shoulders, I kept walking and Sam followed me, and eventually we were shoulder to shoulder, he leaned down (this guy was tall as HELL) "I think he wants to hear more stories." I looked at him in confusion and he just smiled and gave me a thumbs up and then turned around to walk with Abby and Sebastian. I decided to start it up agian knowing that even if Sam was pranking me the, stories were a comfort.

"The spirit's of the Forest were called by a lot of names, But the name 'Junimo' is the most common. They weren't malicious spirits and are known to be guardians of the forest but there aren't a lot of Myths about them, so there's no telling. They're said to form with a tree and reside in overgrown buildings or in the forest, each tree has a Jumino, sometimes and every Junimo has a Tree. Most records and drawings of them take an apple like appearance." I rambled on about other myths until we got back to the farm.

"Thanks for coming to today's lesson. There will be a test next class" I said hearing the tiredness creep into my voice and eyes get heavier, I handed the Lantern to Sam, "Give this back to me later, you'll need to see the way back, it's getting dark, Keep the fruit. And Abby or whatever your name is?" The girl turned to me, "Abigail." She responded dryly, "You might want to run. It's already ten o' five." The three made worried expression and headed towards the exit, Before they were completely out of my line of sight and I went inside to go to sleep, Sam shouted to me. "I'LL GIVE THIS BACK TOMORROW. MEET ME A THE SAL-" The last part was cut off by Abigail shouting at him, "SAM! LETS. GO!"

I couldn't help but smile again as I went inside, slightly guilty for being stand-offish tonight. I glanced at the letter in my hands, I would read it tomorrow. For now, I was tired.

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