First chapter XD It took me like an hour to write this, then about twenty minutes to edit and fix any mistakes :3 Hopefully it's better written then the last two... I'm working hard to improve :) Dont' expect an update soon, though. I might be going to see a movie this afternoon, and then I have to pack some things because we're going to Great Wolf Lodge with our friends tomorrow, and we'll be staying until Monday. But I'll try my best to get an update in today.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon or any of its characters.

Centre of the Storm

"No..." I muttered softly at the sight before me. "No, no, no..." I collapsed onto the soft sand beneath me, tears welling up in my eyes.

Vaughn knelt beside me, and wrapped his arms around me.

"This can't be real..." I whispered, burying my face in his shoulder.

Sunny Island was... empty.

None of our friends were here... Julia wasn't there freaking out about something... Taro wasn't yelling at someone... Eliza wasn't bragging about her doll's new hairdo... Nothing. Denny's shack was a pile of wood, sitting by the cliff. His giant fish print was sticking out of the rubble, like a grave marker.

Vaughn pulled me to my feet, and began leading me away from the beach. We were lifeless ghosts, stumbling into town. The destruction was even more terrifying there. Every house lay in ruins, bits and pieces of furniture and decorations poking out. People were digging through the sorry remains of the houses, trying to clear it all away, people I've never met before, digging through the ruins of my friends houses... like robbers.

Right before we were about to enter my farm to survey the damaged there, we were stopped.

"Sorry, no one can get past here without a pass." A man said, crossing his arms across his chest. He was wearing torn jeans and a dirty white t-shirt with work boots. He had short brown hair, and piercing blue eyes.

"But it's my farm!" I cried.

The man chuckled. "Like I haven't heard that before..." he scoffed. "Now run along. This place is too dangerous for kids like you."

"I'm twenty-two!" I screamed. "And I want to see my farm!"

"No can do," the man said. "I can't trust that you're the owner, so I can't let you pass."

"Can you at least let me see my cow?" I begged.

"Cow?" the man asked, a confused expression on his face. "There's no cow in there."

"Yes there is!" I exclaimed, not believing what he just said. "There's a cow in the barn! Her name is Ella!"

"Listen, I don't know what you're talking about," the man said. "When I got here, this place was empty. No cows, no chickens, no people."

I stood there in silence for a minute, staring at my ranch behind the man. Suddenly, I started running towards it, as fast as I could. I dashed towards the barn, not daring to look back. I could hear the man's heavy footsteps behind me as he tried to catch me.

I stopped in front of the barn, and felt tears welling up in my eyes all over again. It was in shambles, just like everything else. I fell to my knees, and cried. I just cried right there in front of my destructed barn, probably the place where my cow lay buried.

The man came racing up beside me, and I continued to cry as he picked me up and carried me back to the entrance of my farm.

"Can you at least tell me what happened... and where everyone went?" I sobbed as he sat me down on the ground. I got up, and dusted some dirt off my clothes.

The man shook his head. "All I know is that a huge storm hit this place, and all the islanders were evacuated."

"Do you know where they went?" Vaughn asked gruffly.

"No," the man said. I could tell he was getting annoyed. "Now leave. Unless you wanna work." With that said, the man turned back to my ranch.

Vaughn led me back to the beach, where I sat myself down beside the boulder that rested in the corner.

"What do we do now?" I asked, wiping the tears away. "Everyone's gone..."

"We can at least check to see if the Witch Princess is here," Vaughn said, grabbing my hand.

I nodded solemnly, and got up. We walked back into town, making sure to avoid my ranch and that man. When we got to the river, we found the bridge was collapsed.

"What do we do now?" I asked, looking up at Vaughn.

"We jump," Vaughn said plainly.

"What?" I exclaimed. "You can't just jump a river!"

"Sure you can," Vaughn said with a smirk. The next thing I knew, he had taken a few steps back and was running at the river. Right as I thought he was going to fall in, he jumped up and landed on the other side.

"Vaughn!" I screamed.

"Get over here," Vaughn said, taking a few steps back into the forest.

"No!" I called to him. "You get over here!"

"I'm not moving until you jump over that river,"

I glared at him, but did it anyway. I took about five steps back, and ran as fast as possible towards the river. I stumbled a bit before I jumped, and nearly fell into the river when I tried to land. But I made it.

Vaughn helped me up off the ground where I had fallen, and we walked towards the Witch Princess's house.

Branches and stones were strewn all across the path, and a few trees had actually fallen down. I suspected it was all from that storm the man had told us about...

"So, where is this Witch Princess?" Vaughn asked, snapping me from my thoughts.

"Down this way," I said, grabbing his hand. "That is, if she's still here..." I led him down the path, and over a tree that had fallen over the path. We were on a narrow path now, surrounded by trees and debris. I began running now, dragging Vaughn along behind me. We soon arrived at Witch Princess's house, which somehow managed to survive the storm, unlike every other building on the island.

I let go of Vaughn's hand and slowly approached the house. Reaching out, I grasped the doorknob and slowly turned it. The door creaked open, revealing an empty room. I stepped inside, and Vaughn followed.

The house was completely empty. The only things left were a few papers scattered around, some potions and books, Witch's bed, and a giant cauldron.

"She's not here," I said quietly, seeing the room empty of any witch.

"She must have left with all the other islanders during the storm," Vaughn suggested, sitting beside me.

Suddenly, I froze.

"Chelsea?" Vaughn asked. "Are you ok?"

I shook my head. I remembered something from when I came here the first time, to find the Witch Princess... "Vaughn, this wasn't an ordinary storm," I said, looking at him. "When I went to Sunny Island the first time, we got turned back because of a storm."

"Yeah," Vaughn said. "So?"

"The island... there was something weird about it." I continued. "Like it was the centre of everything... the eye of the storm."

Vaughn looked down at the floor, biting his lip.

"But what does that mean?" he asked. "Why would this island, of all places, be the centre of a storm?"

I shrugged. "I don't know," I said. "But I think it might have something to do with the last big storm, the one that evacuated this island in the first place, before I washed up here."

Vaughn shook his head, as if what I was saying was crazy.

"Vaughn, I'm serious," I cried, gripping his arm. "This storm wasn't normal. Someone created it... on purpose."

Me: There'll be no stable Talk Show in this story. I'll just do it when I feel like it because, honestly, it was a bit tedious D: Sorry if you really liked it :{ But I do have a contest: first person to review gets to be a guest on the Talk Show and gets their name put in this story, second person gets to be on the talk show, and third person gets their name in here. Ok? Ready, Set, GOOO!