Reason for Kindness (ANB Neil Fanfic)

Chapter 2: The Man In The Tree

A/N: One thing before I start this chapter. Echo Village will start off with more villagers than in the game. I have about 7 or so specific characters that I want to already be in the village that normally come in later. That being said, onto the chapter!

     After Neil leaves, I look around the village to see if I can find anyone who looks like a mayor. I search for about 10 minutes, but to no avail. There was no mayor in sight.

     "I should've asked Neil before he left." I mumble to myself. How could this little town even have a mayor anyways?

     "Oh man." I realize. "I hope I'm in the right village." Starting to worry a bit, I look for someone who can confirm that this is in fact Echo Village. As soon as I spot someone and am about to go talk to them, I hear some rustling behind me. Freezing in my spot, I slowly turn around.

     I hope that it's not another bear...

     Turning all the way around, I see nothing. I'm not even near the forest. There's just a couple of trees around...

     "Up here." Someone says.

     I look up and see an older man with a cowboy hat sitting on a tree branch.

     "What in the world?!" I scream and quickly get out from underneath the tree. "Who are you?"

     "I'm Dunhill." The man says with a smile. "Nice to meet you. I'm the mayor of this here village."

     No. This can't be right. When I heard that there was a mayor, I thought that he was going to be formally dressed and would greet me properly and help me find my farm. Not...an old cowboy watching me from a tree.

     When I don't say anything, he adds, "How do you do, miss?"

     "Um..." I clear my throat. "I'm fine. Just a bit confused. You're the mayor?"

     He smiles at me again. "Yes, I am. Can I help you with anything?"

     I stare at him blankly. "Yeah...um," How do I put this without sounding too blunt? "Why are you in a tree?" The old man laughs a hoarse, scratchy laugh.

     "Good bird watching spot."

     I hesitate to reply back. The mayor is in a tree...bird watching? How laid back is this town?

     "Ah..." I say.

     "If I may ask, who are you?" He swings down off of the tree, and I'm surprised at how easily he does it. He's more agile than he looks.

     "I'm Yuki, here to renovate my family's old farm." His eyes light up at that.

     "Oh! Yes, yes! Goodness, my old mind really does fail me these days." He chuckles. "I completely forgot that you were coming! I'm sorry that you were left to find me on your own." I almost make a smart comment about finding him in a tree, but stop myself and shake my head instead.

     "It's fine, really. I found someone who helped me to the village." He smiles warmly. He really does seem like a genuinely kind person, which is a nice contrast to the first person that I met.

     "That makes me so happy. We may be a small village, but the people here are all very close to each other and kind to newcomers."

     Neil doesn't seem to fit that description, but I don't say anything about it.

     "I know that you will be accepted very well here, Yuki. In the meantime, let's get to your ranch." Those are the words that I've been waiting to hear for a while. I gratefully nod and follow Dunhill as he leads me to my new home. He walks down a dirt path and passes by a couple of houses in the process until we reach a wide open area with a lot of crop fields. There's a fenced off area in the middle, most likely where the animals will be kept. We walk up to a reasonably sized house and stand next to it. Dunhill turns to me.

     "Welcome to your new home."

     "Wow." I say while taking a look around. "It's bigger than I was expecting it to be."

     "Most of the land is just trees at the moment. Once you clean it up and start cutting some down, you'll have a lot more room to farm and keep animals." I nod. There's even a lake that I spot near the edge of the property that looks like a great place to do some fishing, one of my favorite pastimes. I smile.

     "I think I'll like it here." He grins. I adjust my backpack onto my shoulder and turn to enter the house. Once I get inside, I notice how small it is right away. I was expecting it to be empty, but to my surprise there is new furniture placed around the rooms. I run my fingers along the nightstand in the bedroom, and they come off with no dust. I set my backpack down on the bed and sit next to it.

     "I was expecting to have to buy furniture, but it looks like I don't need to." The cowboy nods.

      "Everyone in town pitched in to get new furniture and clean up a bit. I hope you find it comfortable." I smile.

     "That was really kind of all of you. I'm sure it will suit my needs fine."

     "Well," Dunhill says, turning to walk out of the doorway, "I'll be leaving now. Unpack your stuff and relax for the rest of the day. You can introduce yourself to the townsfolk tomorrow." He walks out of the room, and I can hear him shout, "Welcome to Echo Village, Yuki!"

A/N: Ah, second chapter done!

Yuki: That only took you-

Me: Yeah yeah, I know it took me a while. But I did write a short Neil one-shot called "Last Words." Go check it out if you want! Right Neil? ... Neil?

Neil: DON'T TALK TO ME.

Me: Uh...it was a really sad one-shot haha. Neil still hasn't recovered.

Neil: YOU RUINED MY LIFE!

Me: NOT REALLY! Okay, maybe I did. But if you want, you should still check it out! Bye for now!