The Wild Card [Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands]

Chapter 8

"What the hell was that?!" Colette exclaimed out loud in the darkness, startled from her dreams, and jumped out of her bed. Trembling with uncertainty and fear, she quickly switched on her bedside lamp. A quick glance at her clock showed it was only 3 in the morning, still hours before sunrise. Stumbling, still not fully awake, she shoved her feet into her boots and ran outside.

It was pitch black, other than a little starlight and a sliver of moon. She thought the sound that woke her had come from the south, so she peered towards the village, but to no avail. After a few minutes, she gave up and ran across the bridge into town, still clad only in her pajamas and boots. She couldn't really see anything more, but she thought there was a bit of a glow in the southern horizon, and she heard loud, echoing sounds of hissing and cracking coming from the same direction.

Others were coming out of their houses, too, she noted as she raced toward the southern shore of Verdure Island. Finding herself alongside Elliot, Natalie's brother and Taro's grandson, she exclaimed, "What was that noise?"

"No idea," he panted, puffing from the unaccustomed effort. "It w-woke us all up, though!"

As she drew near the shore, she saw a definite red-gold glow lighting the dark sky and reflected on the water. The hissing sound was louder, too, like a nest of giant serpents seething in the sea. Then a loud crack made everyone jump, and a shower of fiery sparks shot up into the air, like a fireworks show.

"What the hell is that?" she heard Kirk shout from somewhere to her right, and she heard both Natalie and Felicia screaming a ways behind her.

"Phew! What's that stench?" Chen exclaimed as he stepped up to the shore beside her. The wind had just changed direction, and a strong smell of sulfur blew over them.

They stood tightly grouped on the shore, the island villagers, murmuring among themselves in the darkness until finally the dawn broke to the east. A collective gasp went up from the group gathered on the shore as they looked across the sea to the south.

A new volcano had arisen from the water overnight.

Later that morning, Regis cornered Taro with an eager light in his eyes. "I wish to stake a claim on the new island," he said in his imperious way.

Taro shrugged, his eyes crinkling with amusement. "Sorry, Regis. No can do. Volcanoes can't be owned by anyone, you know."

"Well," Regis replied, "then I wish to lease the mineral rights to the island. You can't tell me that isn't permitted!"

"Nope, I can't. But someone beat you to it, I'm sorry to say," Taro grinned, looking not the least bit sorry.

"Wh-what?" Regis roared, outraged. "Who else would have any interest in such a thing?"

"Hello, Regis," Colette said with a smile as she joined the trio. "From the sound of it, I'd say you're looking for me again?"

He stared at her, his mouth hanging open in shock. "You... you mean her? She's the one that leased the rights?"

"Yep, that was me. I thought to myself, what a shame it would be if some big corporation came in and took over, spoiling the natural beauty of the islands and polluting the waters with some major mining operation. How much better for the islands and islanders to open it up to everyone, allowing anyone who wanted to come in and try their luck digging—manually, of course, no machinery will be permitted—for whatever gems and minerals may be found there."

He glared at her, his eyes bulging, too enraged to form words, then turned on his heel and stormed back to his mansion.

Taro declared the new volcano would be named after the local deity over the minerals and soil, as well as all that grows in it—Ignis, the Harvest King. Mount Ignis continued to spew lava and pyroclasts for three weeks and two days, then as suddenly as it had appeared, it quieted. The sulfurous stench surrounding the new island finally began to dissipate, and after a few more days, Taro proclaimed it safe to travel through the surrounding waters.

As word of the startling event spread, tourists began to pour into the island, along with numbers of geologists, both professional and amateur. Carol's inn was filled to capacity, and some of the families on the island were able to cash in on the phenomena by taking in boarders or even leasing space in their yards for guests to pitch tents. The two restaurants in town also were filled to capacity for every meal, and Chen's store could barely keep up with the demand.

Once the volcano had calmed and the island was deemed safe for a cautious first inspection, a team of geologists rowed over to examine it. It was discovered that the island was incredibly rich in mineral deposits of all kinds, which only served to amplify Regis's wrath. Sabrina often found him staring intently at his calendar, muttering is if calculating something, and wondered what it was all about. But her father had a temper, and she knew better than to attract his notice when he was in one of his moods. So she crept about the lonely mansion, as quietly as a little mouse, and tried to placate her father as best she could, even though all her efforts appeared to be in vain.

Once the geologists had completed their initial survey and confirmed the safety of the new island, Taro opened it up to anyone who cared to come and try their luck mining. Strict rules were set out as to what was permissible, in order to best protect the wildlife and environment of the archipelago, and anyone who wished to give it a try was advised that they did so entirely at their own risk. Nothing daunted, tourists poured in, and all the islanders had at least one turn at it, excepting Regis and Sabrina. Mining was hard work, though, they all found, and soon all but a hardy few gave it up as not worth it. Within the caverns of the island, the intense heat and noxious fumes caused more than one prospector to collapse. Fortunately, Kirk seemed to have an almost supernatural intuition for when a miner might be in need of assistance, and he soon became adept at pulling semi-conscious men and women out of the caverns and into the fresh air, where he would administer first aid before returning them to the mainland for medical assistance.

A pair of independent miners moved in once the initial furor died down. Slater and Isaac purchased two old cottages that had been abandoned years ago, hired Gannon to fix them up, and settled down into the village. They spent all their days in the caverns of the volcano, and soon they had carved out still more caverns and tunnels, allowing prospectors to gain access deeper and deeper within Mount Ignis.

Exactly eight weeks to the hour after Mount Ignis erupted and rose above the surface of the sea, a large, sleek sailboat silently slipped through the waters of the archipelago, docking soundlessly in the darkness of the moonless night.