Author's Notes~

Howdy! This is for the Village Square contests themed 'Sunlight and Shadows'. I hope you all enjoy! This is very subtle VaughnxChelsea.

Masks and Talents

Her paintbrush streaked across the canvas in a colorful stormy splash of gray and white. Chelsea took a step back, paint dappled on her cloths and hands as she inspected her most recent work. "Needs more brown..." she mused, washing off the gray and delicately touching up on the face of the stallion.

Satisfied, Chelsea stood back and smiled at her work. "Done!" she exclaimed happily as she set her paints aside. Looking at the clock, she nearly jumped when she saw it was 6:30. "Six-thirty all ready?" she sighed as she quickly ran through her dresser to put on clean clothes. "I'll be late getting to Mirabelle's today! Seven o'clock sharp always one Mondays and Tuesdays..."

Chelsea always liked cloudy days. The weather wasn't miserable yet wasn't too hot for her to get her work done. Rather, she found cloudy days to be the most beautiful of all the way they dotted the sky so only the most powerful and beautiful rays of the sun glowed from behind. That was the reason for her small smile as she entered Mirabelle's shop.

"Good morning, Chelsea!" Mirabelle cheerily greeted from behind the counter which she cleaned. "Low on fodder or feed?"

"Morning Mirabelle!" Chelsea said in return as she closed the door securely behind her. "Yes, I'm afraid I am. Do you think you could give me some? For money of course."

"What are shops for, Chelsea?" Mirabelle laughed and nodded. "How much?" she asked as Chelsea came forward, setting down her money purse on the counter.

"Thirty helpings of each should get me through the rest of the season," Chelsea replied as she quickly calculated the money, sliding the coins into her hand.

"Mmm...that would be nine hundred total," Mirabelle said as Chelsea handed her the money. The store owner didn't even bother to count it, she trusted Chelsea enough to know that the honest girl wouldn't try to cheat her.

Chelsea was taking a look about the shop as Mirabelle went to place the order for the fodder and feed to be put in the dispensers. "Where's Vaughn and Julia?" the farmer asked. Normally when she came in on Monday and Tuesday mornings they were both here. Not to mention Chelsea always planned for her shopping to happen on Mondays or Tuesdays while Vaughn was on the island.

"They're out back at the stables," Mirabelle answered. "A stubborn young mustang came in this morning on the ship and is quite a handful. Julia was having trouble just getting the stallion into the stable, so we asked for Vaughn's aid."

"Is that so?" Chelsea glanced out the back windows where she saw Julia patiently standing by while Vaughn had a good grip on the reins as the horse calmed down. She had only one horse given to her by Mirabelle, Thoreau, a stallion she never rode but took care of and participated in festivals with. Admittedly, Chelsea was never much of a horsewoman.

"You can go check if you like," Mirabelle offered with a gesture towards the back door. "I'm sure a rancher like you would be interested in a wild mustang."

Giving the woman a smile, Chelsea nodded thankfully. "I won't get in the way," she promised before heading out.

Just as she stepped outside, she caught a glimpse of the wild dark brown stallion who kicked his legs furiously up in the air, polluting it with dust and filling it with his unpleasant whinnying, enough of a show to keep Julia at least a safe distance from the thrashing horse, although Vaughn was hardly affected if at all. Not once did the cowboy loosen his grip from the wrath of the tempered stallion and, with a firm tug, brought the reins towards the ground, forcing the stallion into a bow. The horse was huffing and snorting, his tail sweeping from side to side, but otherwise did not move as Vaughn placed his hand against the brown-furred neck, clutching the black mane.

Chelsea came up beside Julia and the two girls stood and watched in silence as the moments dragged on, Vaughn and the horse remaining in that position. Finally, Vaughn removed his hand and carefully let the reins go. Instead of thrashing and kicking, the stallion calmly lifted his head, shook it once, and was settled. In the peeking rays of the golden sunlight, the once-wild stallion was now a handsome friend. It was a black-to-white transition.

"Better now?" Vaughn asked the stallion as he scratched behind the horse's ear. It was amazing, Chelsea thought, to be able to put such a fierce stallion at ease with such smoothness and quickness as Vaughn had demonstrated.

Julia's eyes lit up and she grinned at the cowboy. "I don't know how you do it, but I can't thank you enough, Vaughn! I doubt Mom and I would have been able to get that horse to ever stand still. It's no wonder we leave animals to you and Chelsea."

Chelsea glanced sideways at Julia as he name was mentioned. Her? Sure, she could handle a cow or a sheep, but she secretly prayed Julia wouldn't think to call her on over on a wild-horse day when Vaughn was absent. Although her mind track shifted slightly at Vaughn's responding words, "You'll be able to once you convince Chelsea to teach you," he said as he stroked the horse's muzzle. It was given that the cowboy hadn't the time on his hands during the short two days he was around.

Not allowing this light to dim, Chelsea grinned at Julia and casually placed her hands on her hips. "We'll make it a girl's day," she said with a gleeful smile. "You, me, and an unforgiving horse!" For a moment, the farmer had a glow of enjoyment, taking pride in being placed under the same skill as Vaughn, despite it being far from the truth.

"We'll make it a girl's day today!" Julia decided on the spot, a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. "With Vaughn, of course." She shot a look over towards the cowboy, who in turn arched an eyebrow. "And I'll fit this whole day in when?"

Suddenly struck with nerves, Chelsea spluttered out. "N-Now? Well, ha, I have work at the farm, and, you know, Vaughn's a busy guy and-"

"Oh, just a quick five minutes out of your time," Julia said to the both of them. "We'll save the day for later," she said towards Chelsea. "We've got a horse, let's have the lesson here and now. Honestly, I'd like to be prepared in case this boy gets rallied up again."

Chelsea knew that she was trapped. Vaughn seemed to consider the idea, after all he certainly would agree that knowing at least a little of how to tame a horse would be handy. On the other hand, Chelsea knew she was likely about to make a fool of herself.

"Five minutes, then," Vaughn agreed with a curt nod. He knew he could at least spare five minutes, it wasn't as if he was intentionally looking for reasons to leave.

Julia grinned broadly and lightly pushed Chelsea towards the stallion before following after. "Show off for me, Chelsea!"

Putting on a brave facade, Chelsea approached the stallion as Vaughn stepped slightly away, casually folding his arms and watching. With the cowboy watching, it made Chelsea even more nervous and more determined to pull off her facade.

"Well," she began hesitantly. "It's actually just as Vaughn demonstrated, you just-" there was a loud neigh just as Chelsea grabbed the neck of the stallion and he began to thrash, instantly knocking Chelsea to the ground where things went black. "Chelsea!" She heard only the frantic calls of the rushing Julia and Vaughn. All else was a blur.

It was dark the next she woke. No light came through her window and the pounding of rain nailed her ears. Chelsea softly moaned as she rubbed her eyes. She was so sore. It took a small moment to recall what happened, her memory somewhat scattered.

"Chelsea!" Julia exclaimed, relief evident in her voice. Her friend was standing by the bed, Mirabelle stood not far with concern glossing over her face. "That was quite a hit you took," she said worriedly. "We brought you back here as soon as we could."

The farmer winced slightly, though not from pain. "I'm fine," she assured, sitting up slightly. "Just...ah...bewildered at the moment." That's right, she made a fool of herself believing she was actually like Vaughn when it came to horses. However, neither Julia nor Mirabelle seemed to think of this, they only seemed relieved. In a way, that made Chelsea feel more guilt. They wouldn't have to have been worried if she had just simply stated she was clueless.

"You're not out of the woods yet," Mirabelle said. It was then did Chelsea realized how numb her leg felt. "We think your leg is broken, or at least badly bruised."

Chelsea pressed against her leg slightly, but winced and brought her hand away. No, she wasn't so fine, and in a way deserved it, so she thought.

"Vaughn is fetching Dr. Trent from Mineral Town," Julia said. "Although," she glanced out the window with a troubled frown. "This weather is slowing them down I'm sure."

"H-Hey, I'm not dying, so it's all good," Chelsea said with a small smile. But the thought of Vaughn having to go out of his way and put aside a busy schedule just to get a doctor formed a guilt-knot in the pits of her stomach.

The door opened and coming through was Vaughn and Dr. Trent, catching the attention of everyone in the room. Chelsea saw the brief look of frantic concern written on the normally-collected cowboy's face, but it was soon replaced to relief before vanishing all together as Dr. Trent went up to her bedside and began his inspection.

Dr. Trent nicely wrapped up Chelsea's leg and gave her a strict warning regarding her farm work, which would be terribly damaging. Julia and Mirabelle offered their assistance, and wouldn't hear 'no'. Chelsea didn't fight much, though, she didn't want her animals to starve.

"We'll be back at six o'clock sharp in the morning," Mirabelle said with a firm nod. "You know you're free to call if you need anything. Please don't hesitate." She smiled and, after ensuring that Chelsea had all she needed, left with Julia leaving only Chelsea and Vaughn left in the cozy little house.

With the cowboy still there, Chelsea simply looked down and twiddled her fingers mindlessly. She was so ashamed, and she just knew that Vaughn was upset with her, he had to be after the foolishness she's caused. She lied, rallied the horse up again for Vaughn to calm again, and got herself hurt in the process.

Vaughn tipped his hat up slightly. "Truly a horse pro," he commented and Chelsea's cheeks flushed red. "Well, er..." she struggled with her words. "I..."

"You should have just said so," Vaughn spoke up. "Don't let Julia's assumptions get you carried away." He eyed her wounded leg. "It's not worth it for anybody."

Chelsea chewed on her lower lip as Vaughn spoke, more shame and guilt building up inside of her. "Oh...well, I didn't mean any harm, really. I guess I was just...not proud to admit that me, a rancher, can't handle a horse."

Vaughn was silent for a moment, his eyes catching something past the bed. It was the painting Chelsea was working on only this morning. His eyes lit up slightly when he saw it. "You paint that?"

The question caught Chelsea off guard, looking over her shoulder at the stallion in the midst of a silver storm. She had completely forgotten about it. "I finished it this morning..." she answered as Vaughn approached it, getting close but not touching. "You never mentioned this talent."

Chelsea sheepishly shrugged. "I'm supposed to be a farmer, able to handle the wildest of stallions like you can, not waste away time on a hobby."

"Waste?" There was obvious disapproval in Vaughn's tone. "Not at all. My drawing skills are sticks and circles." He smiled slightly and looked over at Chelsea. "I may be able to tame a stallion, but you certainly captured their magnificence."

Chelsea reddened slightly, looking at her painting. "I suppose not all ranchers have to be tamers," she said with a small smile. "Being an artistic rancher doesn't sound too bad..."

Admiring the painting, Vaughn nodded. "There's no sense in shadowing another person's talents. Let your own shine, the island would be delighted to see these, you know."

It was true, everything that Vaughn said. Chelsea had her own talent, she didn't need to pick off Vaughn's. During her entire time while she was secluded to her bed, Chelsea was inspired to continue to paint and draw, a talent she now took pride in. There's no shame in stepping out of the shadows and getting your own sunshine.

Author's Notes~

There you have it! :) That's my version of 'Sunlight and Shadows'. I made it more obvious at the end what I intended for sunlight and shadows to represent. Hope you all enjoyed it!