The winter snow melted earlier this year than usual, with most of the snow being gone by the 28th of Winter. The Spring had shown up in full bloom, with the warm weather and wild critters running about in excitement as the cold, barren snow was gone. This was a new year for Hope Valley, something that the place needed. The valley itself wasn't as thriving as it used to be but it made ends meat. Chester was one of the people behind the inception for the rebirth of the valley, second to the Harvest Goddess herself of course, who was bringing new townsfolk into the picture. Chester was just answering her call by providing the opportunities for the new sprouts of Hope Valley to bloom in it. The newcomers to Hope Valley had been consistent for the past two years, all coming in and helping Hope Valley's attempt at rebirth. This new year would hopefully be the same for the town.

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Chester's morning had been a busy one like usual. The first day of Spring meant that the following day would be the Sprout Festival, the day where villagers and tourists (who actually came to Hope Valley) alike would be planting flower seeds throughout Flower Park for the Spring. Chester had sent Frankie to school and was now posting up signs for more volunteers for the festival. He had gotten a decent amount of townsfolk to volunteer during the winter, but he knew he could get more people involved if he tried harder. Chester was killing two birds with one stone though, as he was in the town square, near the docks, posting up sign-up sheets, and waiting to see any fresh faces off the boats. Newcomers always looked a bit dazed and confused, which was how the mayor of Hope Valley could tell who was who, plus they tended to not have their cameras out like tourists did.

"This could be the year, huh?" Chester said, looking towards the sky. He knew the Harvest Goddess could hear him, but he also knew she wouldn't talk back.

Ugh, mornings.

One of her most favorite times of the day, yet at the same time one of her most loathed times of the day. She loved the cold morning air, and often liked to spend mornings outdoors among the forest. At the same time though...mornings. Who liked them? Sleeping in was one of her favorite pastimes. It meant she had nothing to do. No work that needed doing, no potions needed brewing, magic testing, local villagers to trick, or otherwise no work whatsoever. Granted, being as old as she was and as generally lax about work in general as she was...well. 'Work' was something she did very rarely.

Unlike the majority of this week. She had been working her butt off making sure her home was...presentable. In the last few months people visiting Hope Valley had been steadily increasing. She may be...what the locals called a 'witch', living out in the middle of a forest but that didn't mean her home had to look the part. Though, being a large two-story wooden house built next to a large tree was not exactly a first class residence. Oh certainly it was comfortable for her. She wasn't exactly one to ever have need of any fancy rooms. A roof over her head and food was generally luxury enough for her.

With a stretch, she tossed the broom into a closet. Whew, she hadn't manually swept the floor in what fell like ages. Ugh, how could people do something like that on a daily basis. Poor, magickless people. It was a good thing she already decided to help these new comers by offering her services to them occasionally. If they asked nicely. And paid her a fortune.

What? Money was always good to have.

Putting on her cloak, Nara left her home and headed towards the town. It'd take a bit of walking considering her home was in the middle of the forest, but hopefully she'd be there to meet any fun new people arriving.

Melted it was as fire extinguished by dihydrogen oxide; the welcome greetings of smiling sun coat Malcolm's fair skin in Spring. 'twas a week he traversed the streets 'Hope Valley' and claimed it as home. Early morning's routine were set aside in completion and sleeved through his shirt and pants-- ensuring that the figure in front of the mirror was en pointe and elegant. A strong aura of well-aged whiskey and sharp cinnamon with a hint of refreshing lemon had enveloped his home dampened by the attire that Malcolm had put on. An eerie stare was followed by an almost unnoticeable smirk as he steadfastly left the complex.
The majority of the townsfolk could be seen finally running up and down the street to greet the sunlight with eagerness and compassion. Posters were covering the idle plainly-coloured walls denoting the start of 'Sprout Festival' arriving by... 2nd of Spring. Tomorrow. "Good morning." A friendly voice greeted him unexpectedly, judging by the Malcolm had turned his eyes.
"Fine day, sir?"
"Exactly son. Where you off to?"
"The mayor's abode. I heard your local Doctor is away on vacation?" The stranger had given him a strong nod. An acceptance that Malcolm had felt grateful for. He responded with a short affirmative nod himself.
"Everybody knows they need a break. Working in an isolated island like this with only one Doctor tends to make the workload tiresome. Some times anyway."
"All the better to get me started." He paced away from the stranger. "See you around."

As usual, Maleko went about his daily routine. Which consisted of waking up super early in the morning and tending to his livestock. Interestingly, the animals on the farm had become accustomed to their owner's schedules, so they too were awake when the young man strolled into the barns. "Spring is here, my friends! And hopefully we'll have visitors again~", he said cheerfully as he opened the barn's roller doors, letting the early rays of sunshine in. The dairy cows looked at Maleko in response to his words, "Great.." he imagined them saying. "Oh come now, you just need to be patient with the amateurs." He chuckled as the cattle walked out into the open pastures. After opening the the next few barns to let out the other livestock, he took a moment to look at the pasture.

The first thing that most people would notice about Maleko's farm, was that it was mostly a large open field with a small flowing stream that cut through the land. His various livestock roamed freely in this field. The outer fences seemed to merely mark the property rather than keep the animals in and out. Much to people's surprise, the animals would never leave the pasture, thus a proper fence wasn't needed anyway. Maleko and his family believe that they owed this behaviour mostly to the Harvest Goddess, blessing them with well behaved livestock.

The young man made his rounds on the pasture, checking the health of all of his animals as well as collecting some of the fresh products they made. Although it didn't seem efficient, it was better for the cattle as they were more relaxed in the pasture, thus making it easier to milk them.

---

Maleko made his way to the town, knowing that now was around the time that tourists and potential residents started to dock at the port and see Hope Valley for the first time. He spotted Chester almost immediately and strolled right up to Mayor of the town. Maleko gave Chester a firm pat of the back in greeting, "Good morning, Chester! Already eager to see the newcomers, huh?" He laughed. The young man brought out a glass bottle of milk, handing it to the Mayor. "Fresh from the farm, you look like you could use some~!" He added with a cheerful grin.

Ruby looked out over the ocean, shivering a bit in the still rather cool air as her boat drew closer and closer to the shore. Already she could make out several of the buildings that dotted the shore line of her new home. From where Ruby stood the town seemed peaceful and quiet, a nice way to start her new life. But it still didn't stop her from feeling a bit nervous. There were so many things that could go wrong the second she got to shore, but she had to stay strong and make not only her family, but herself proud.

Thankfully the ship soon arrived at shore, making Ruby put away her nervous thoughts as she gathered her things and got off the boat. She had packed light for the move, a suitcases with enough clothes to last her a little over a week and her tool bag. The rest of her things her family were going to send over to her and actually should be arriving in a few days time. That left Ruby with enough time to get adjusted and to clean up her new home and shop. She also had to go meet the mayor, but that could wait until she dropped her things off.

So with that, Ruby pulled out a sheet of paper from her pocket with the directions to her new house, and did the best she could to follow them.

The inn as it is now is quite different from what it was when the two brothers first arrived. The wear and tear that comes with many years of service, would make any establishment quite the subject for refurbishment and renovation for any knew owner. However, the task was compounded by the previous owners, for whatever reason, neglecting the fair maintenance due to the potentially very important enterprise. As Apollo commonly tells Roland to justify his over-exuberant cleaning, a tidy and presentable inn can greatly affect how people feel about the rest of Hope Valley, going so far as to say that the constant upkeep can go a long way towards influencing people's expectations for the better. Of course, Roland would have been satisfied with a simple "Cleaning is very important", but always liked hearing about his big brother's interests, even if they can be a tad boring. What is more, he could never argue with the results, which were largely due to his brother. No longer did the institution suffer from all cobwebs, the wood rot and the worn paint (just to name a few things) that plagued it in years past. What is more, what the inn lost in dust and refuse, it now more than made up for in a much needed renovation to one of its most deteriorated upstairs residential living rooms.

"Now, are you certain you haven't forgotten anything?" Apollo inquired as he looked down to his youngest brother, who was fitting his backpack over his shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm sure," was the simple response, the boy adjusting his yellow rimmed glasses as he walked a few steps backward towards the door of the lobby. "... Do we know when Marcus will be here?"

"Unsure. He just said it would be today, but knowing him, even if he did mention exactly when, he'd probably show up hours after that," the snappily dressed proprietor answered in an unaffected manner, crossing his arms as he wasn't about to prolong sending Roland to school. "You best head to school. You'll have your chance to greet him when he arrives. For now though, you'll be late if you don't hurry." As the little boy opened the door, Apollo added: "And don't forget to be wary of strangers. Go straight to school."

Roland nodded compliantly, taking a moment to say goodbye, to which Apollo waved back simply. Both the inn and the school were nearby, so there was at least some consolation, in the innkeeper's opinion, in sending his brother to school alone. Apollo, made his way back to his responsibilities, but should his presence be needed, there was a table bell at the front reception desk that anyone can ring to get his attention.

@onenote

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Ugh.

Walking.

Whoever made humans get tired from such a simple act should be ashamed of themselves. Really, why should humans get tired in general? Whatever cosmic entities that made it possible, likely just did it for the giggles. Well, at least the weather was pleasant. The air was clean, fresh, and a gentle breeze was blowing. Neither too hot nor too cold, just right. She yawned as she walked, stretching her right arm trying to keep her mind occupied to help pass the time as she walked. Thankfully, it seemed like she was about to happen upon something, or rather someone, interesting.

Walking down the road was a rather tall woman. How could she tell she was tall? Well, she was, objectively...a midget. Yep. 5'1. Even magic couldn't really fix her height problem. She hadn't grown an inch since she was...well, younger. The giant lumbering down the road though? Well, she was easily almost a foot taller than she was. She had never seen her before though, so that meant she must have been new here. Granted, she didn't interact with the villagers...ever, not in a long time at least. She might very well have lived here for awhile then.

Well, she might as well say hello regardless. Not breaking her slow pace, she gave a lazy wave as she walked down the path before eventually walking up to the other woman with an expression somewhere between bored and tired.

"I suppose asking how the weather up there'd be rude and really unoriginal?" Nara chuckled in a lazy manner, before transitioning into a yawn. "Ugh, mornings. I'd rather be at home curled up in a blanket and drinking tea...or sleeping. Mostly sleeping." She rubbed her arms before grabbing the edge of her cloak and pulling it closer. "You're...new here, aren't ya?" She asked the taller woman.

The wonderful sounds of a turboprop airplane filled the air as an old warplane came in for a landing on a hard dirt strip. Hanna sighed contently as she began to taxi the aircraft into its old sheet metal hangar. There wasn't any work today, so she had decided to give a good test run in the early morning after the aircraft had stayed all cooped up inside its hangar this past winter. She had arrived only at the beginning of winter on that fateful day, so with the exception of a few test flights, the old aircraft hadn't properly stretched its legs for the coming growing seasons. She hopped out of her aircraft and returned to her new residence, a decently sized one story home situated not so far from the airfield itself. Inside, Hanna changed out of her flight gear into some more casual clothing, putting on some old work jeans and a white long sleeve shirt. Still wearing her grandfather's flight goggles around her neck, she went back outside to climb into an old jeep, driving off towards the town.

Hanna parked her jeep just outside of the Flower Park, deciding to enjoy the day and walk the rest of the way. As she did, it seemed that most of the hints of winter had finally disappeared from the town itself, the warming weather driving off any last bastion of ice or snow. It was so dream like, strange to Hanna when she thought about where she was only a half a year earlier. Her pace quickened as she pushed aside some bad memories that rose up from such thoughts. First and foremost she needed to see the local doctor about her pain medication. Her supply was beginning to run low, and she'd definitely need a refill soon if Hanna hoped to have some sleep filled nights.

Hanna approached the doctors office and entered, "Hey Doc, I'm here about my...." she trailed off when she noticed the regular doctor was not here, but instead an unfamiliar man. "Oh, sorry, is the regular Doctor not in? I take it your his temporary replacement or something?"

@VKAllen

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This was a great a day.

A fantastic day even.

For it was a bright new one, new location, new scenery, new people, and the wonderful great outdoors! Suffice it to say, Liza was quite excited to start her new home in Hope Valley. Really, she really was! So ignore the fact she was passed out, on the boat, in one of the lounge chairs on the deck under a umbrella. Give her a break, she was a bartender. A night owl, party animal (formerly), and slept during the day. Plus, the young spring sun was nice and warm, who wouldn't take a cat nap? It was probably odd to see this... giant beanpole just snoozing through most of the ride to Hope Valley. Face first, softly snoring away as this dark haired boyish woman just snoozed away.

Thankfully, Liza did wake up as the ship arrived, groggily blinking her amethyst eyes open and giving a yawn. Rubbing the back of her gloved hand against her eyes to rid of the sandman's treacherous sleepy sand. Sitting up, the dark haired woman looked around to see folks leaving the ship and she paused for a moment before leaping up to her feet and flinging her arms in the air in victory.

"Woohoo! I have successfully arrived at Hope Valley! Here I come ready or not everybody! Woot!" Liza shouted in a cheerful manner, making a few folks jump in surprise, but the tall woman paid them no mind. Grabbing her luggage, which consisted of two quite large trunk suitcases and a dufflebag strapped on to her back, before gleefully getting off the boat.

"Step 4: Arrive at Hope Valley Complete! Now on with Step 5: Finding my bar! This is freakin great!" she chirped, raising her left arm to look at her little phone watch device, clicking a few buttons on it with her right hand, easily lifting her luggage. After a few attempts, a map appeared with directions. Humming a little thoughtfully, she started walking around as she attempted to arrive at her destination.

@Rekaigan @Silver Fox

Chester was lost in his own train of thought when he was greeted and patted on the back by Maleko, one of Hope Valley's locals. He jumped in his shoes by the sudden hand on his back, but Chester was quickly relieved when he realized it was just his fellow friend and currently only rancher of Hope Valley. "Many thanks," Chester said, grabbing the glass of fresh milk. [color=32CD32]"And it looks like I'm not the only one." He smiled to the live stock farmer, nodding his head in his direction. The boat had just come in and that meant the newcomers were there.

"If you're not doing anything you should come with." Chester said, more of a mayorly order than suggestion. The blonde man walked towards the direction of the larger docks as the crisscrossing stone road led down a small hill, to where the ferry boat had docked. Noticing a gigantic, blue haired woman Chester pushed towards her direction as she was looking at her watch, waving his hand with his bright, welcoming smile. "Excuse me, miss! Did you need some help?"

The refreshing spring breeze pleasantly blew past Marcus' blonde hair, even on the picturesque left-side balcony where he was spending the last leg of the voyage to his new home, his head and his heel bobbing enthusiastically with the melody. He would just as soon rest with the trip being as tranquil and serene as it had been. He didn't suffer from sea sickness like a few of his fellow passengers, but could have gone for a brief nap given how early he had to wake up. However he was too busy enjoying himself, playing a cheery song on his guitar for a group of tourists, an inevitable outcome considering he carried his prized instrument with him all the time and wasn't about to say no to their eager faces. Besides, he couldn't think of a better way to enter Hope Valley than to celebrate the coming of Spring through music, he even encouraging his listeners to clap their hands in unison as a sort of percussive accompaniment. Right here, right now, life was an adventure and after the second verse, he admitted to himself that he could sleep anywhere and at any time. But there was no way he'd pass up a excellent impromptu recital, with beautiful seafaring scenery to the left of him and with an audience as pleasant as this.

As the telltale signs of vibrant land became visible, Marcus rose from his seat and excitedly gazed at the charming island, from its vivid landscape to its delightful buildings and houses that came into better view as they drew closer. His audience's attention followed his lead as he finished the song and stepped politely and carefully beyond them to get a closer look, taking a moment to look behind before he readies himself for departure. "How's that for a show stopper?! Am I right folks?!" he gleefully said just short of betraying his full excitement and to the lively cheers of his listeners. After bidding them farewell, Marcus placed his acoustic companion in its case, securing it on his back, and hoisted the straps of his two hefty duffel bags over his shoulders. He had a vague plan in mind for what he'd do today, but was too preoccupied with the thought of "stepping into the postcards his brothers had sent him" and experiencing Hope Valley firsthand, to recall it at the moment.

He moved leisurely towards the docks. They weren't going anywhere and he needn't rush and potentially get in anyone's way to get there. Finally stepping off, his affable grin only widened as he walked along the waves of tourists. He stopped and noticed a genial scene among one of the passengers and two other guys. Marcus himself didn't know that the men were both the mayor and resident rancher, but loved how welcoming they were at any rate. If they would look his way, Marcus would greet them amiably. All the same, the mayor's office is one of his stops with the carpenter's workshop as another sometime later.

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