A New Beginning (an Off fanfic)

Chapter 4: Exploring New Lands

Author's note: the art belongs to me :)

Author's note: this chapter will be in Zacharie's perspective.

Pablo returned from his travels a bit later than I expected. Turns out, there is a new Zone, and it is nothing like the others. Pablo could barely explain what this Zone had to offer, so I asked if we could all (myself, Pablo, and Valerie with me carrying the Batter if necessary) could go there to check it out. He agreed, as did Valerie. My, word, did Valerie got worked up over it. Makes me wonder how long these two have been around.

We decided to wait until the next day, to allow Pablo more time with his newly revived brother and give Batter a chance to awaken without missing anything. Well, hopefully. It's only been a couple days, and Seoul did mention that even he didn't know how long it would take. I try to stay positive though, he did his best.

This Zone didn't need a card to access. Not that any of us needed them in the first place. The moment we arrived... I almost dropped Batter out of awe. That got a panicked look from Valerie, despite him not knowing who Batter was. But considering Pablo's lack of a reaction, perhaps that was a good thing?

The place was covered in plants, and had animals of all kinds I could think of. Pablo was right- this was nothing like the other three Zones. I haven't seen anything like this in, well, I don't even remember how long. There were ponds with fish and frogs, birds, flowers of all kinds- and I'm pretty sure I saw a deer run into the forest. A butterfly stopped to rest on a flower. The only word I could think of for this place was beautiful. And maybe relaxing.

Pablo and Valerie had ran off somewhere, so I was left alone. Well, as alone as you can get when you're the only person who can carry your comatose friend around. I decided to explore, and see how many things I remembered the names of.

I walked for what felt like hours, but in a place like this it was fine. After a while I had stopped trying to remember the names of the plants and animals I saw and instead gave names to the ones that I didn't recognize. That was more fun, and there was no wrong answers anymore. These were creatures that had been gone for decades. There was nobody to correct you if you were wrong.

I decided to take a break leaning against a tree. It had been a long hike, and I actually felt pretty tired. I just sat and listened to the sounds of the birds. It was so peaceful, and some of the calls reminded me of the music box. It wasn't long before I found myself drifting off to sleep.

I guess I slept for a while, because I woke up to Pablo and Valerie smacking me with their paws. Or, that's what Pablo was doing. Valerie was asleep next to me; I guess he found me first. It was pretty late, and time to head back to Zone 0. 

On the way back, I asked Pablo why he had run off earlier. Apparently he had to chase after Valerie so he didn't get hurt or stuck in a tree. Once that was done and over with, they just kind of spaced out over all the sounds and sights. I guess this Zone is calming to everyone. 

After listening to some of the sounds that came with the sunset, we returned to Zone 0. We also made an agreement to visit Zone 4 as often as we could. I wish Batter was awake for all this, but we can always come back when he is.