Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon or any of the characters, sadly.

"Hello Elli, hello Gill," I said brightly as I walked into the Town Hall. I had bought something for most of my friends at the Market last week, and so I had a broach in hand for the timid brunette.

"Akari," Gill said in his grave tone as Elli said cheerfully, "Good morning, Akari. You're up early."

Shrugging, I held out the broach. "I wanted to drop this present I got for you off before I headed down to the mines." I spent most of my day there, actually. I would stop for a short exchange with Luke and Bo, then with Owen and Chloe, and then I would hammer away, picking up any ores or mushrooms I came across. I was saving up to get myself a barn and a few animals, actually, so until I did that I would work like crazy.

"Oh, wow, Akari, it's great! Thanks!" Elli pinned it quickly to her apron as Gill rolled his eyes. "Hey, Akari, did you meet the new resident yet?" she asked, fidgeting with the pin.

"We have a new resident?" I gaped. After Lune, Candace and Shelly had moved here with their Tailor Shop people hadn't stopped talking about it for weeks, and yet nobody had mentioned another new resident to me until now?

Gill scoffed. "Of course. If you ever stopped over here at the Town Hall, you would know."

I just grinned at Gill. He had his moments where he was a good guy, and he had his moments where Elli and my giggling became just too annoying. "Well, I'm here now. Tell me 'bout the resident, Gill!"

He hesitated, and then said, "His name is Calvin, and he's some sort of adventurer whose moved here. He spends most of his time in the mines, actually, so you might just run into him today."

"Huh. I should go meet him. I hope he's doing alright in the mines, it's kind of complicated at first," I rubbed the back of my neck, shrugging. A new person? My head rang. I loved meeting new people. When I moved here to Waffle Island, every person was like a little present waiting to be unwrapped. Some of the presents I loved, some of them I liked, and some of them were just okay, and I couldn't wait to find out what category Calvin fell under.

"I'm sure he's fine, Akari, but maybe you should warn him about the pitfalls. I mean, he is an adventurer, but even Owen fell in his first few times," Elli shrugged.

"Good point. Well, I'll go try and find him. I'll see you two tomorrow, probably! I promise, from now on, I'm in here to find out all the news about the new residents." I couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like Gill smiled just a bit, and Elli giggled at it. Making friends in Waffle Island was pretty easy once you thought about how to appeal to each person.

After making the hour long trek over there, I was greeted by Chloe and Owen in the mine. "Hey guys," I greeted them simultaneously to their, "Hey, Akari!"

"Did you guys see the new guy, Calvin, yet? I'm gonna be his very own personal welcome wagon," I joked, grinning.

"Well, I'm sure you, one of the more recent newbies, is the best choice. He went down early this morning, but he hasn't come back up since. I wonder if he actually made it all the way to the lake," Owen's eyes widened as he stared down the dingy staircase.

"Doubt it," I shook my head. "I've been here a couple seasons and I still haven't gotten down to that underground lake. I can't wait until I do, though. I hear the Harvest Goddess stores all the best fish down there," I nodded.

Chloe grinned. "I bet you can't wait to meet the new guy!"

"And who do you think you are, kid?" I joked, tickling her quickly before I waved and headed down the staircase. I wasn't too sure if I could fight off all the accusations of my bubbling excitement to meet Calvin, since I'm not too good at fighting off the truth.

The first five levels down I saw no signs he was even there. All the mushrooms were there, all the ores were there, and there were hardly any footsteps- just the same big holes in the ground I had gotten used to going around. I harvested the mushrooms and all other profits from the mine, stowing them in my rucksack.

On the sixth mine, I fell down a pitfall, but I was prepared for what usually happened when I did. I crouched down and caught myself pretty good on the next floor, extremely thankful I didn't land on another pitfall, which I had done a lot of times before, honestly.

I heard a cry from below, "Anyone there? Anyone?" I couldn't climb down the stairs fast enough.

Who is down there? I demanded of myself. Did Owen and Chloe come down somehow…? No, I would've seen them. What if Luke and Bo came, like they always said they would? No, I didn't think they would.

I was on my eighth flight when I heard the voice again, and I had completely dismissed the idea of anyone from Brownie Ranch going down. "They don't even come over here!" I mumbled to myself as I heard the voice cry, "Anyone?"

It was definitely not a voice I recognized. It looked like I would be more than just a welcome wagon to Calvin- I would have to be some sort of hero too.

"Calvin?" I called when I reached the ninth floor. "Down here!" a meek call was my only response, and I squinted to see through the dark to get down to the tenth floor- which I had never gotten to before.

I hammered away until I found the next staircase, and ran down to find him, even if my strength was depleting a bit from all the effort I was exerting. "Calvin?" I asked, walking out into a giant, empty almost area. Etchings lined the walls and there was a giant map of Waffle Island itself, along with a bit about the Harvest Goddess carved into various blocks.

"Over here!" his voice called, surprisingly clear now.

"Oh, man!" I cried out, crouching down next to the wincing man. He had thick hair and wore a hat and the same kind of clothes I'd expect someone on a safari to wear, but when he looked at me he had a bright, hypnotic smile on his face.

"Let me guess: you're Akari, the farmer everyone was telling me moved here only a while ago. Apparently, I'll get along really great with you- at least according to Hamilton and a couple other people I've met along the way," he gave a loud laugh, holding himself up mostly by his elbows as he held his leg out at an awkward angle.

"Wow, you've got me pegged. Gill told me a bit about you; Calvin, the adventurer that I came to warn about the pitfalls. Looks like I'm a little late," I gestured to his leg.

He grinned at me. "Just a bit, I'd say. I spent a lot of time down here, and then just an hour ago or so I tried to go back up, but when I was on the seventh level I crashed straight back down to here and landed pretty awkwardly."

"The seventh level is tricky. Almost everywhere you step is a pitfall. This is the first day I actually got down from there, to here, without falling, you know? It's amazing down here."

"Yeah," Calvin watched me carefully, a smile playing on his lips. "It's definitely amazing down here."

Trying not to let heat rise up my cheeks, I turned my head so my hair covered them up. "Can you stand?"

I stood up as he stiffly got to his feet. I held out my hand to him, and he had a tight grip as he stood up straight. "Yeah, I think I can stand alright," he let my hand fall back to my side, and I nodded.

"Can you walk?"

"Now, we have a bit of trouble there," he grinned at me, attempting to drag himself in some sort of walk before he collapsed onto one of the- strategically placed?- walls.

"Look, I know we just met Akari the rancher, but I'm in a jam here. Got a shoulder I could cry on?" he grinned at me, and I nodded immediately, setting my arm around his waist as he slung his arm around my shoulder and we ambled awkwardly up the staircases to the first floor.

Owen jumped to us when we got up. "Whoa, Akari. What happened down there?"

"Afraid I'm a bit of an accident waiting to happen. I crashed down a few pitfalls and I was lucky Akari here came to my rescue," he grinned over at me again. "You would think if I was able to go through the jungle to study wild animals I'd be able to handle a mine."

"You'd think!" Chloe chimed in, winking at me in a very obvious manner that made me finally show my blush.

"Well, I'll help you limp the rest of the way- Akari looks beat," Owen said, and I wondered just how tired I looked. He got a hold of Calvin and they took off down the road. "See you later," Owen called over his shoulder, and Calvin turned and grinned the grin he had had on almost the entire time since I had met him. "Thanks!" he shouted to me.

I just smiled and turned to Chloe. "What do ya' think of Calvin?"

"I think you love him," she said in that little voice, and I ruffled out her hair as she complained. "Hey! Just because I said-,"

"I do not love Calvin. I'm just a hero," I grinned at her, glancing ahead as I watched Calvin turn the corner, limping.

"Some hero," Chloe scoffed at her messed up hair as she headed into where her grandfather called her, and I watched a certain adventurer until he was too small to make out any more.

Author's Note: I noticed there were no Calvin fan fictions that I came across, and I met him in the game a few days ago and thought his scene was sort of cute. :) I'm not too sure how many more chapters there will be after this, but I think the adventurer deserves a few, even if you can't marry him in the game if you've got the glitched version. :(