Ranching Rosie Chapter 1: Three Things Any Girl Can Appreciate: Friends, Foes, and Flowers

The sun beat down upon the scrap of land that had been waiting for me these past three years; when my parents had sent me off to a ranching academy, my uncle, a successful rancher known around the world, had bought out a rival rancher to join him as an assistant. Lo and behold, the rancher-turned-assistant's plot of land, which happened to be on an entirely seperate continent, was given to me as a present.

It was an acre of land, maybe even less, with a pair of small, dilapidated buildings on the grounds, that looked more like compost piles than a cabin and a barn.

"You've got to be kidding me..." I muttered as I turned to look at the man who had dumped me in this hole. Uncle Berton simply laughed. "Seriously Uncle B, those things aren't even good for scrap wood." I muttered, kicking up some dirt as I went to inspect the larger of the two which I hoped was the cabin. With little ceremony, I gave the sloping side of it a kick with my boot and a section of the rotting wood fell from the wall, which triggered an even more disturbing site; a mushroom hopped out and ran off to wards the woods that bordered the ranch's rickety wooden fencing.
"It's just a fixer upper. I've already hired some of the local townspeople to come out here around noon, and I'd say we'll get the house and barn liveable by dusk." Uncle Berton gave a hearty chuckle as the odd creature ran off and added to his ramblings, " I haven't seen a Mushtan in years!"

I looked at him and sighed before returning to the wagon. Patting the Zuum that had pulled it all the way from the port, I reached into one of my rucksacks and produced a leather bound book. A checklist greeted my eyes as I flipped it open to the first page, and with a fountain pen that I kept in my pocket, I began checking off things from the list I'd made earlier that week. "Let's see, I've got a ranch, so that's a check. Do I have a house and barn?" I paused and glanced over at the wreckage, " How about I wait till sunset for that?" A laugh broke through my lips as I checked off the few other ranching staples I'd bought back in town, things like straw, potatoes, and meat.

Uncle Berton was booting in the barn's decaying walls, so I set down the book and went to help. After all, I couldn't really let other people do all the work, it was my ranch. My mind wandered back to the rucksacks as I began to haul rotting pieces of wood to a spot in the center of the ranch, where a bon fire would purge the old and make room for the new. At least the basic frames were still good on the barn, though the cabin's loft was a lost cause by the time noon rolled around and several able bodied men, young and old, showed up with a pair of Zuum drawn carts of their own.

"Hello Mr. Berton, Miss. I'm Mayor Raynerd, and these are some of the townsfolk who agreed to help. You sure have been busy, eh Mr. Berton?" The leader, an older guy with salt and pepper hair and a pair of grey eyes spoke.
"Ah, it wasn't much of a problem Mayor. Me and my niece Rosie can do our share too, right Rosie?" He asked me, tousling my sweat dampened red curls. They were my only vanity, each strand a loose coil of copper fire the fell down to my lower back. Unfortunately, they did little to hide my larger than average forehead or the cleft in my chin, leaving me an unbalanced looking teenage girl. Not exactly a recipe for self confidence, eh?
"Sure Unc." I muttered, blushing at the public embarassment. A younger man, maybe a little older than my own 16 years, stepped forward. He was thin, and wore a pair of overalls and boots in a bland tan color; actually, bland was really all he was, from his out fit to his face. Easily forgotten, or so I thought, until he opened his mouth.
"So, where exactly is the rancher at?" mused the gaunt looking boy.
"Excuse me?" I asked, irritation rising as I narrowed my blue eyes at him.
"Well, Miss Rosie, I was just asking where your partner was. My assistant's a slip of a girl herself, but where's your guy, to do the lifting and dangerous stuff? Y'know, the rancher?" the bland boy further stated, a casual grin full of self confidence plastered on his goofy, backwater face. Honestly! Where does he get off assuming things? Like I need a man to survive!
"I'm the rancher, thank you very much. I don't need a guy. If you couldn't tell, I did help my uncle tear down a pair of buildings for the past four hours." Uncle Berton snickered behind me as my anger flared.

Mr. Gaunt, as I dubbed him then and there, just shook his head and laughed before the men went to work. He mentioned he was a rancher, so I reasoned that I'd just have to show him how tough I was when I was ready for tournaments.

The sun continued to shine strongly as the village men, Uncle Berton, and I began to clear out the inside of the frames of each building. I chose to keep an old bookshelf and a large pot to hang over the fire place, which had held up rather well in spite of three years of neglect. The walls were easy enough to put together , though I did walk away with a bruised thumb when my eye hadn't bothered to pay attention to the hammer in my hand. The barn was finished first, though in truth it looked more like a cute little shed than a barn; the fresh wooden smell offset the dry hay scent as I scattered a generous helping of soft, golden straw to get a bed ready for my first monster. The house was up and running no more than a half an hour later. I'd have to hand it to the Mayor, he and his men did work fast. They left pretty quickly too, which I took as a double blessing considering Mr. Gaunt and some of the others had been telling lewd jokes as the light began to fade. As a girl who attended Elive's School, I wasn't exactly a delicate minded country girl, but some of the things said that night could make any sailor blush. After they left, Uncle Berton lit the pile of debris that we couldn't use, and I sat back and watched the past of the place give way to future.

The next day, after shoveling the charred wood and ashes from the impromptu bonfire into a large cloth sack which ended up sitting to the outside of the fence, I walked over to my uncle who was busy packing the now empty carts up.

"Well, congratulations on graduating Rosie. I wish I could stay to see what your first monster ends up being, but I've got to catch a boat in an hour if I want to get back to my ranch before the day's through." A worried look creased his face as he turned to wards me.
"Don't worry Uncle B. I'll be fine. I learned all I need to about ranching back at school. I'll visit you in Ryuwn sometime soon."
"Visit me? I'd hoped to square off against you in competition before some holiday rolls around."
" Oh really? Be careful what you wish for Uncle. I know you well enough that I could be a real threat."
"Why do you think I was excited for this? I haven't had a decent challenge in a year!"

The Zuums growled after we hugged, perhaps signaling that time was getting thin for Uncle Berton.
"And don't forget Rosie, hope for a Golem!" He shouted as he headed down the road, to wards near by Togle and it's harbor.
"Sure....just what we need. Two people with the nickname Boulder in the family...." I muttered in exasperation; Uncle Berton was a famed rancher and breeder of Golems in particular, and his current champion was a behemoth of a Jailkeeper called Flint. Let's just say I had a lot to do if I was ever going to live up to my family's reputation.

A hop, skip, and two hours later and I was in Togle, the small port town bordering the sea, and the starting point of my own career. I headed to the shrine as quickly as I could, and met the Shrine Keeper, a middle aged man with auburn hair and a pair of glassy green eyes. His name was Cesare, a family name he'd inherited from his grandfather, or so he told me. Needless to say, I was rather anxious to get things under way, so I rushed the introduction process a tad.
"Well, nice to meet you too Cesare. I'm Roseanna, but my friends call me Rosie. As much as I'd love to stay and chat, I was wondering if we could create a monster from this?" I held a saucer stone in front of my face, which he took from me with a smile.
"Of course Roseanna." He obliged, placing the stone at the center of the shrine. He hurried away, gathering up a strange circular object from his area, and pointed to the podium. "It's all your show now."

I felt nervous as I stepped up to the stone shrine, and my heart nearly pounded out of my chest as I placed both my hands onto the large lever that started the whole process. With a deep breath to steady myself, I yanked down on the stone lever, and watched as the Saucer Stone lifted into the air; the statues released a brilliant display of light that collided with the spiraling stone, and the shimmering orb fell to the ground with a blinding flash. I blinked a few times and let my eyes focus on my first monster; an oversized shell.

"Um.....What?" I asked, looking down at the cream colored clam like shell. " What is that?"

Cesare handed me the circle he'd fiddled with earlier, and opened it for me. It was an encyclopedia, and a picture of my shell appeared on one side, and opposite it was a chart of various stats, and a tiny description that read, " The Shellincho lives in the sea, under the gentle waves. Legend has it that this monster sprang forth from a mermaid's tear."

I glanced back down at the shell, and got a bit of a surprise as a tiny figure emerged from the shell in a salmon suit; also shocking was a squirt I got from a water pistol in it's hand directly in my face. I rubbed the freezing water from my face and glared at the monster. My will waivered when it blew an oversized pink spit bubble and cooed. As weird as it was, that Shellincho was my first monster, and it was adorable!

"The Pancho breeds can be a little tricky, but I think you two will get along fine." Cesare offered me as I filled out it's registration card. Remembering a myth I'd read once, I named it after another product of mermiad tears. Thus Pearl the Shellincho left the shrine with me, hopping along happily behind me as I headed to the item store. Entering, I met a boy around my own age with a girlish bowl cut of dark brown hair and a set of hazel colored eyes. He turned to me and smiled, his eyes crinkling as he extended his hand.

"Welcome to Togle. My name's Yun. New in town?" He asked, giving me a one over with eyes like he was flirting. Oh yeah, 'cause y'know a girl in dirty overalls and a faded purple button up shirt is so attractive, I reminded myself this to prove he couldn't be flirting.

"I'm Rosie. I just opened a ranch up north of here. Pleased to meet you." I grabbed his hand and gave it a vice grip of a shake that my uncle had taught me.

"So you're the girl everyone in town's talking about. My Dad mentioned he helped put your ranch together, but he didn't mention how cute you were-" He paused as I grinned, hearing a satisfying pop from his fingers, " or that you had a Golem's handshake."

"Your Dad was one of the builders?" I asked sweetly after relinquishing his hand.

"Mayor Reynard himself." Yun muttered, a dark look crossing his face.

"It could be worse. You could be related to that jerk." I piped up, giving him a slight smile as Pearl waddled over to the goods stand.

"If you mean the one who gave you trouble, I am actually. That would be my cousin Grant."

"Wait, you mean..." I began, blushing a little.

"That I actually am related to the jerk? Yeah. You'd be surprised how many people around Togle are related either by marriage or blood." Yun grinned, his eyes narrowing as his lips formed a feline smile.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Rosie, Rosie! It's okay. I can hardly stand him myself. Especially after all the crap he said about such a pretty girl." He leaned closer over his counter. I backed away a little, not comfortable with the loss of personal space.

Luckily, before Yun could make any more advances, Pearl knocked over a display to swipe a Rose flower for herself. Distracting us both, a stammered out another apology and reached into my pockets for any money I had.

Yun held up a hand with another Rose in it and handed it to me. "Consider them a welcome gift. Maybe you could come back to buy a few more after a while?"

"Maybe." I replied, grinning in spite of myself as I left the store with Pearl lazily rolling her shell along behind me.

"Don't get too comfortable Pearl. We've got to go home and start training. Not to mention the Monster Association's s'posed to stop by and my assistant's due in soon." I talked back, smelling the rose in my hands as we began the sloping road back to wards the ranch. Maybe Togle wasn't that bad...

I'm still trying to understand html. Can ya tell?

Great chapter! I cant wait till Rosie starts training Pearl. I am glad a Pancho sub breed was in this story because Beakalons and Panchos are my favorite monsters. I can't wait for chapter 2.

I'm sooooo sorry I haven't posted recently! I set out to get a chapter a week, but then school, life, and the like tend to get in the way. I actually just re-beat MR4, which is the base of the story, so I'm all fresh full of ideas. And I had a Pearl in game, who was my third S ranked monster (behind a Pixie and a Plant). I'll start trying to get a chapter up every week or two. Please don't give up on me!