Stardew Valley One Shots

OlderReader X Marlon - A Swordsman's long awaited love?

A friend requested this. Good idea.

I was giving Gil his Dinner for the day. I had been in Stardew Valley for 30 years now. I remwmber back in the olden days when me, Marlon, and Gil would explore the caves. We still do, but at a slower pace. Getting older has its downfalls. Gil has been strapped to that chair for as long as I could remember. We all made a vow right when we started off. We made a vow settle down, but only when we had discovered the mysteries of the cave. That cave has been holding many secrets. Even today we still haven't found it all yet! And I'm in my sixtys!!! I remember when we first started. I was in my thirtys. So young and fresh. Not now though. We're all getting older...

I was finishing giving Gil his food, when Marlon came in.

"How're you two doing?" He asked.

"Very well. I just finished giving Gil his dinner!" I respond.

Gil murmured and drifted off to sleep after eating.

"Why am I on feeding duty?" I ask.

"Because you're the only one who can make that old guy eat his green beans!" He responds.

"Wow. Very random." I say.

"Yeah well...You know what happened before. He thought I was a monster at one point, and tried or kill me." He said.

"True. Well, I oughta get to sleep." I say, walking to my bedroom.

He then stops me, and puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Wait, Y/N. I have something to ask you." He quickly says.

"Oh! Yes? Is there something wrong?" I ask.

"No...It's just...Do you think that we'll ever find that treasure at the cave?" He asks.

I stop and think. He never doubted those chances! He always was sure that we would find it. That's what he had been telling us all these years. We always believed him. After a while though, I had started to doubt the though.

"Well...I guess I have been doubting it for a while." I reply.

"What!?! Why? We're so close! We just need to go a little farther!" He says.

"You keep saying that, but nothing has happened. You've been saying that for 30 years now. We literally went past the hundredth floor!" I say in a rosen tone of voice.

"B-but...I know it this time..." He speaks in a quiet tone.

"I'm sorry. I grew doubtful over the years. Sure, we found gems and rubies, but we were never close to the end. Even Gil had his disbeliefs!" I say as I point to the sleeping Gil.

He then stares down. Not knowing what to say. I then break the silence.

"I'm sorry old champ. We tried. We spent 30 years of our lives, looking for that treasure together. Fighting monsters ane mining ores. We're getting too old now. Times have changed. So should we." I say. I then put my arm on him, trying to comfort him. He looks at me with a look of disbelief, as if I betrayed him in a way. I felt bad, but I had to go with what my gut said.

"I'm sorry Marlon. I'm going to head to bed, ok? I'll see you in the morning." I say as I walk to my room.

He waves as I go into my room. I then turn out my candle, and go to drift to sleep.

I then awoke. It was morning. I go into the main room and say good morning to everyone.

"Good morning Gil! Where's Marlon?" I ask.

He didn't say anything. That old guy couldn't move, but he sure could speak. He kept quiet, but why?

"Umm...Gil? Do you know where Marlon is?" I ask again.

Silence. I started to get worried. I walk over to his room, and knock on his door. Nothing. I go and knock on the bathroom door, in case he ate something upsetting to his stomach. Nothing. Where else could he have gone?

I walk back to Gil.

"Gil. Marlon is gone. I need you to tell me where he is." I say in a stern voice.

He looks up at me and speaks in a soft voice.

"He left."

"Wait, what do you mean?" I ask.

"He left earlier this morning. He went to the mines. He told me not to say anything." He confesses.

I then started to go into full on panic mode. He just left!?! He could be in danger! I rush to the back, and I know what I had to do. I grabbed old reliable, an iron sword with a purple hilt, and my trusty old gold picaxe.

I then go back to the main hall.

"Gil. I'll be back before supper, ok?" I say.

He then smiles.
"Go on. I'll be here. Get our friend back." He responds.

I smile back, and head out. I ran to the cave entrance, and went inside. I yelled for his name.
"Marlon! Marlon!" I yell.

I took the elevator down. There were more floors! At least five more! He had been doing work. I decided to go to the floor he was at, which was the onehundred and fifteenth floor. I proceed to the floor, and look around. It seems that he left the hole uncovered, so I found the way he took. I went down the mine shafts, until I got to the one hundred and nintenth. There in the distance, I saw Marlon fighting off a bunch of red slimes!

"Back! Back you fiends!!!" He says.

I rush over to him.
"Marlon!!! What are you DOING!?!" I ask.

He turns around and is in shock. A slime got him in the leg while he wasn't looking, and it caused him to go off balance. He fell to the ground and groaned in pain. I rushed over and slashed the slime with my sword. A little rusty, but otherwise ok. The slime got knocked back, and the others fled. I then walked over to Marlon.

"Hey, are you ok?" I ask.

"Yeah yeah. I'm fine. Just a scratch." He replies.

I sighed and looked over at him.

"Marlon,  what are you doing down here? And why did you decide to come alone!?!" I ask.

He looked down with a saddened expression.

"I'm sorry. I wannted to find the treasure myself, and prove you wrong. I wanted to be back before sunrise, but I lost track of time." He admits.

I looked at him. He truly believed there was a treasure. I admired his courage though.

"Ok then. How about this. One more floor, and then we can call it a day?" I suggest.

He smiled at me.
"That would be lovely." He says.

It turns out, he already found the shaft, but the slimes were blocking it. I help him down the ladder to see a room with one chest. Was this...

"This is it...the final floor..." He stares in amazement.

"I don't believe it..." I say.

"After 30 years of hard fighting, we finally found the treasure of dreams!!!" He says, limping over to the chest.

He opens it up, only to find a key shaped like a skull.

"T-this is it...A key..." He says as his hand is shaking.

I put my arm around him and say,
"Hey. At least we did the adventure of a lifetime! Together..."

He smiled at me.
"I wish Gil was here to see this with us...even if it is a stupid key..."

I look at him. That man was the best man I ever knew.

To be honest...I would do it all again...

The End!!!