Final Fantasy XIII: Episode Zero -Promise-

"Friends", Chapter Four

"Friends", Chapter Four

They couldn't go through the entrance to the main path. Researchers had begun their clean up of the area. They decided to take a side path. Whether it really was a side path or not they couldn't tell, but it looked like one.

"We'll get there if we go this way, right?" Elida turned back, sounding worried.

"Well the direction is right. If we keep going this way, we should find the main path..."

They were only a short distance away from the shore, but the sounds of their classmates seemed terribly far away. Hope thought that maybe this wasn't the right way after all.

"When we go back we should take the main path."

"But if they catch us at the entrance they'll get angry at us."

"Don't worry, by then they'll be finished cleaning up."

"But the teachers might be watching."

The forest around them was too quiet, so they felt they had to talk loudly about stupid things. When they were in a large group of people it didn't seem so bad, but now that it was just the three of them the quiet was frightening.

"Hey look at that! It looks like some sort of fruit." Elida said brightly. She pointed up to a branch that was bent under the weight of several yellowish red fruits. It was larger than any fruit they had ever seen in the store.

"I wonder if it's okay to eat?"

"You can't pick them. Really, Elida, you'll grab just about anything."

"I do not!"

"Well it is a very pretty color..."

"I said it's not like that!" Elida was getting angry.

"Hey... guys?" Kai cut into their argument. "Don't you think that color looks familiar? You know, the thing she said was... edible?"

Then Hope noticed it too. That monster they had seen near Rainbow Pass, it had a very similar color. Hope remembered that it hadn't been too far away from the main path...

Then the earth rose up in front of them, like a red wall. It was that monster. It's red translucent body swelled. A Vegetapudding, Hope thought, scared. His feet took off running before he realized it.

"Aaah! It's following us!" Elida screamed, nearly in tears. Hope was the slowest of the three, and there was no time to look back. He just ran, moving his legs as hard as he could. If they left him behind it would all be over for him. He ran as long as his breath held out. He couldn't tell where they were running. The found a rock they could hide behind, and dove into it's protective shadow. His heart was beating so hard he felt as though it would jump up through his mouth.

"It... it's not behind us..." Kai looked out from behind the boulder, then sat down in relief. Hope felt his legs go weak. He couldn't run another step.

The three of them sat, breathing heavily. Hope felt a chill run down his body. If the ground had been slippery like it had been on the main path, or if one of them had tripped over something, who knows what might have happened. They were lucky the three of them managed to get away.

"Hey, where... are we?"

They had thought they were walking towards the main path. If it was the wrong direction, they could have just turned back and gone a different way. But they couldn't now.

"This place seems a little... different."

The gloomy trees that had surrounded them before were gone, and bare cliffs rose up on either side. The grass at their feet was sparse. It was a dry and desolate place.