Storm Island 03: A New Life

The alluring aroma of exotic jungle flowers hung thick in the air, wafting around in the crisp, refreshing breeze. The winds carried the scent over to a young woman who appeared to be slumped up against a rock in the center of a clearing. The strong smell woke her up, her ocean blue eyes slowly opening. The sight around her shocked her to her senses; was she dreaming again?

She looked around and stood up, brushing her windblown hair away from her face. In front of her was a familiar sight, a pristine pool of water surrounded by a ring of smooth stones. She approached the spring timidly, but this time of her own free will.

"I'm here again..." she said. After waiting a moment for a response, she continued. "What does this mean?" Still no response. Taking her final steps up to the pool, she stopped as a dim orb of light began to glow beneath the glass-like surface. The same faint and ghostly shape she had seen before began to emerge from the water, not disturbing the water in any way.

"Andrea, my child..." a wispy voice echoed.

"Where am I?" she asked, looking around. All that could be seen was the spring, the flowers, and the marvelous night sky showing the galaxy stretching above.

"Where you are is unimportant... What you see... is."

"Huh?"

"Gaze into the Spring of Eternity."

Andrea studied the ghostly shape in front of her, but still had no idea what it was. Without taking her eyes off of it, she slowly stepped forward, then looked down into the spring of water.

"Tell me, my child... what do you see?"

She studied the water, but saw nothing. However, she soon began to see something. She could see herself slumped over a metal railing, standing on the boardwalk of Azure Ridge. A haggard look of sadness was washed across her face, yet her expression looked dully blank. She was staring off into the sunset, a tear forming in the corner of her eye, oblivious to the fact that Larson and young woman she didn't recognize were standing behind her, trying to get her attention.

"Is this some kind of trick?" she asked.

"You will be faced with a very important decision soon, my child," the voice whispered. "Your happiness will depend on it."

"Happiness?" she asked inquisitively. Before she could get an answer, her vision faded to white as the ghostly figure sunk back into the spring.

Andrea's eyes opened again; she appeared to be back in Blueleaf Village, leaning up against the large brick building. Larson was snoring lightly off to the side and the Furret she was delivering was still curled up on top of her. She managed to wiggle an arm free and looked at the time displayed on her R-Kit. 3:40 AM. Thoughts about what she just saw raced through her mind, but she tried her best to put them out of mind and get back to sleep.

---

It was bright and early in the morning. The singing of various birds carried loudly throughout the rural wilderness surrounding the tiny town of Blueleaf Village. The air had cooled off quite a bit overnight, yet temperatures still lingered in the upper 80s. For the residents of Blueleaf Village, this was just a normal summer, as many were out and busy, working in their gardens or in the wheat fields just west of the town. One particular resident was walking down the dirt road towards Professor Ansen's Research lab, trying to keep her sandy blonde hair from being blown all over by the wind.

Upon reaching the laboratory, she reached into her pocket and retrieved a large key ring lined with nearly thirty keys. She slid one of the keys into the lock and twisted it, then pushed the door open. As she was about to step inside, a noise from around the corner of the building caught her attention. She went to investigate, only to find Andrea, Larson and the Furret meant for her, stirring in their sleep. "What's this? A Furret?" she asked, kneeling down. She rolled her sleeve up to reveal an R-Kit that looked slightly different compared to the one Andrea had, waving it closely to the Furret. "Yep, this is the one..." she said. She tapped on Andrea's shoulder to wake her up. "Oi, wake up."

Andrea's eyes opened, blurred and still half asleep. "Huh?" She sat up and looked at the time displayed on her R-Kit, then groaned.

"Rough night?" the woman asked.

"Uhh... yeah..." Andrea shyly said. She crawled over to Larson and pushed him around to wake him.

"I suppose you're Dr. Spruce's errand girl!" the woman said cheerfully, offering her hand outward. "I'm Professor Ansen, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

Andrea stood up and stretched, yawning. "Hi, I'm Andrea..." she said quietly.

"So this is the Furret you're delivering to me..." Professor Ansen said, studying Furret as he continued sleeping. "He's smaller than I thought he'd be, that makes things easier."

"Small? He's huge!" Andrea said, remembering how he reached up to her hips when he brushed up against her the previous day.

Professor Ansen laughed. "You should see how big they usually get!" She looked over at Larson who was curling his sleeping bag up and strapping it to his backpack. "And you are?"

Larson looked up at her with sadness. "You don't remember me? I'm Larson Reiserben!"

She covered her mouth in shock. "Larson! It's been so long! I barely recognized you!" she said, studying his facial features. "Get rid of that mustache though... you look ridiculous with it."

Larson gasped and defended his thin, handlebar mustache as if his honor had just been insulted. "Noooo!" he shouted, bursting into laughter with Professor Ansen.

"How's Drake? Been treating him well?" she asked.

He reached into his pocket and grabbed a green Pokéball decorated with yellow stripes. "You bet. I could never mistreat the little guy who started it all for me."

"Good!" she said. "What kind of adventures have you gotten up to?"

"Nine badges from across Kanto and Johto, ma'am," Larson said with pride. "I'll return to Kanto after my vacation is done and sweep the rest under the rug! And then it's back to Johto!"

"I keep telling you that your pride will be your downfall, but you seem to be the most successful trainer I've seen from your generation," she said, shielding herself from the sun. "Enough, though. Let's get inside, it's getting dreadfully hot already."

Andrea pulled the Pokéball from her pocket as Larson followed the professor into her lab. She held it out towards Furret, saying, "Uhh... return, was it?" Furret began to fade red, then deformed into a red cloud of energy. As he surged back into his Pokéball, the force knocked Andrea's arm back unexpectedly. She turned her head to look down at the Pokéball which beeped. "Woah. This is cool."

She rushed after the two and into the lab, being greeted by a marvelous display of technology that completely outshined what she had seen in Dr. Spruce's lab. The first thing that caught her attention was a large machine in the center of the main room; A dim ring of blue light flowed from the top of it. Inside was a holographic projection of a large turtle-like creature. She approached the machine and reached her hand out to touch the hologram. Much to her surprise, the projection was solid to the touch. The grooves within the turtle-like creature's shell were rigid and had a rough texture to them. "No way..."

Professor Ansen appeared at the doorway to another room. "Ah, there you are. Looks like someone's been distracted by the hologram emitter!"

"This can't be real..." she said, poking at the blue, flickering figure.

"It's science non-fiction." the professor said. "The average every day citizen doesn't have much contact with it, but technology has advanced steadily and quickly in the past ten years! But before we get carried away or distracted again, please follow me."

Andrea followed Professor Ansen through the lobby and down a hallway. Lining the sides of the hallway were doorways into rooms filled with racks of Pokéballs, bulletin boards coated in papers, baskets of berries, bottles of medicine... Anything related to the research and care of Pokémon was in abundant supply. Professor Ansen led Andrea to the third door on the right, her office. Larson was seated patiently inside, staring up at the small shelf filled with awards, though not nearly as many as Dr. Spruce had.

"Have any trouble on the road?" she asked. "Dr. Spruce said you'd be here before nightfall, but he always has been a bit too optimistic about travel times."

"We had a spider problem, but it was easy to deal with," Larson said.

"That doesn't sound too bad. I remember I had a run in with a ferocious bear at one point, when I was just getting my career on the road..." the professor recalled.

The dismissive attitudes of the two others put Andrea at unease and taunted her inabilities and fears. She abruptly tried to change the subject, pulling the Pokéball out of her pocket and offering it to the professor. "Here."

"Thanks. I'll take that off of your hands." the professor said, swiping the Pokéball from Andrea. She placed the Pokéball onto a small device atop her desk and clicked a few buttons on it. An audible whoosh sound followed the appearance of a red glow of light that formed around the Pokéball. "I really should be thanking you, Andrea. And you too, Larson. The speedy delivery of this Furret will hopefully get me started on the next step of my current research project."

"Whatcha researching?" Larson asked.

The device beeped and the red glow faded. "Ah ha!" the professor said triumphantly. "Over the past year, I've been branching out into the research of Pokémon genetics. It's been an absolute nightmare in a half, due to the complexity of their genetic makeup, as well as the hundreds of species' I've been working with."

"And what's so special about this Furret?" he questioned.

"I'm not entirely certain just yet..." she replied. "This machine's analysis of this Furret has detected an anomaly of sorts."

"Anomaly?"

"Inconsistency, irregularity, abnormality," Andrea parroted as if she was reading from a thesaurus.

"Exactly!" Professor Ansen said, smiling.

"Is it good or bad?" he asked.

"I don't know for certain..." she said, taking a seat. She rummaged through the wreck of papers and folders on her desk, making a futile attempt at locating a specific packet of information. "A good friend of mine, Professor Oak, may have given me some information about it... somewhere..." she said. She grew frustrated as she scattered the papers, then swiveled around to look through the papers blanketing the shelf behind her. "Ugh, the life of a scientist! This place is a mess!"

"You should see Andrea's room some time," Larson joked. His smile dissipated as he noticed the sharp glare he received from her.

"Any ways..." she said as she looked around one last time. "This will be the third documented case of this genetic abnormality so far. What actual effect it has on Pokémon is up for debate, as it's only recently been discovered."

"Uh huh..." Larson said, unsure of what he was hearing.

"Kinda interesting..." Andrea added.

"Only kinda?" the professor asked.

"My Introduction to Genetics class bored me in school, to be honest. I was more into the mechanical, physics and digital stuff."

"Ah! Well, there are over a dozen different fields I work in, including some of those. I could show you around, so you can see the kind of things we do here."

Larson nodded. "Yeah, let's have a look around! It's not often people get to see what goes on behind closed doors in research labs like this."

"I don't know, Larson. I should really be getting home."

Professor Ansen was visibly distraught. "Oh... well, that... kinda throws a wrench in my plans. I had a very important question to ask you, but..." she said, trailing off.

"What is it?" Andrea asked.

"When Dr. Spruce called ahead to let me know you'd be coming, he said you'd recently been let go from your job. I have a position opened up... nothing big, really, but something I can tell you might be interested in."

"What position?" she asked, her expression lighting up.

"A research assistant. Specifically, a travelling research assistant. You'd get to help out in the lab from time to time, but you'd mainly be on the road gathering information for our research projects."

Andrea's heart sank, thinking she was about to be offered a stable laboratory job. Instead, she was given the role of a traveller, the role she already had a good feeling she wouldn't like. A role of instability and unpredictability, a role of danger. She continued to think before being interrupted.

"He also said you have a few emotional issues to work on, but I honestly don't see that. I see potential!"

"P-potential?" she asked quietly. "Umm..."

Professor Ansen picked up the Furret's Pokéball and offered it to Andrea. "This will be your first research project, if you accept."

Andrea studied the Pokéball and reacher her hand out, pushing it away.

"Are you sure?" she asked, confused.

Larson interjected, attempting to explain. "It's a long story, professor. It took a lot of effort just to get Andrea out here. She could probably explain it better than I could." He looked over to Andrea to see her head sinking and her slumping into the chair, shutting down. "Hmmph. About twelve years ago, when we were just little kids, I told her I wanted to explore the wilderness just outside of the city. Being dumb kids, we didn't really know better. We didn't understand the dangers. We found ourselves out in Route 301 before long." he said, pausing. "Well, to make a long story somewhat short, we found ourselves in a Sandslash den. They went after her before I could scare them off. To this day, I think that's what's gotten her to be so mistrusting of Pokémon, to never wanting to deal with them."

Andrea recalled the frightful memory, mumbling as she nodded slowly.

"Oh dear... I'm so sorry to hear that." the professor said. "I don't want to force it, but... I do want you to think deeply about it."

Larson stood up and leaned over the professor's desk, whispering into her ear. The two looked back at Andrea with grins on their faces, but she was too busy looking at the floor to notice.

"I have an idea, Andrea. Let's go for a little walk." the professor said. "I also run a small nature reserve behind the lab. We can talk in a more relaxed setting."

Andrea looked up at the two silently, then sighed. "Fine."

"Good!" the professor said, leaping up out of her chair energetically. She reached for her keys and unlocked the door at the side of her office. "Follow me!"

---

The three were walking along a gravel path away from the laboratory, sparsely shaded from the sun by large trees. Professor Ansen and Larson were chatting casually about his journey through Kanto and Johto, a conversation that was largely lost on Andrea. She tried to join in on occasion, but often had little to add, so she just listened.

"Now that Larson's done talking my ear off, tell me a little about yourself, Andrea," the professor said. "What's your story?"

"Umm..." Andrea shyly started. "What's there to tell? I'm just a city girl who hasn't had life going very well for her."

"What kind of hobbies do you have? What are you good at? That kind of stuff."

Andrea thought about what she enjoyed to spend her time on, realizing that there wasn't much. Ever since finishing school, she toiled away at her old job of helping to manage the Crimson Crawdaunt. Her social life was non-existent, due to most of her friends leaving to become Pokémon trainers, and she spent much of her free time inside, away from the very things that she felt she didn't experience enough of. "Uhh..." she started, trying to break the silence.

"You seemed interested and blown away when you entered the lab. Tell me a little about that."

Andrea thought back to when she entered the lab, and then back to when she visited Dr. Spruce's lab in Azure Ridge. "I've been kind of interested in science-y stuff since I was young, I guess... Physics and mechanical engineering, mostly."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah... like... I've been following the Mossdeep Space Agency's progress in building the space station."

"Oh yeah, the space station! It's fascinating, isn't it? Relatively speaking, we know so little about our own world and we're already taking the baby steps towards space exploration."

"I guess so," she said. Professor Ansen's interest in her calmed her nerves a bit. It seemed odd to her that a complete stranger would be so friendly, so talkative. Friendliness and fellowship was something she rarely experienced in the fast-paced lifestyle in the city. "So, umm... What's it like being a researcher?"

The professor grinned. "I love it!" she said excitedly. "It may not seem like it to the casual observer, but everything we researchers do has enormous impact on the daily lives of nearly everyone. Pokémon trainers, school teachers, engineers, policemen, kids... We develop technology, techniques and ways of doing things that have put our growth as a society in overdrive. To wake up every morning and realize that what you're doing that day contributes to our evolution as a species is nothing short of humbling and inspiring." she said, placing her hand on Andrea's shoulder. "And perhaps soon, you'll experience it for yourself. But before I ask again if you'd like to work with me, I have something I need to try, first."

"And what might that be?" Larson asked, his hands in his pockets.

The group approached a stream that emptied into the lake behind the laboratory. The tall reeds that grew out of the stream shook every few moments, as if something was hiding inside of them. Before long, a pair of green frog-like creatures emerged, hopping into the water with a large splash. Andrea instinctively jumped behind Larson, as she did whenever she felt threatened or scared. Her quick and sudden movements caught the attention of the frog-like creatures; the antenna-like appendages sprouting from their heads curled up in curiosity as they tilted their heads to the side to study her.

"What are those things?" she asked.

"I've seen these before," Larson said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Pokédex. The Pokédex spent a few seconds working to determine what was in front of them.

As the Pokédex continued to load information, Professor Ansen laughed. "Is Professor Oak still handing out those worthless pieces of crap?"

"Politoed, the frog Pokémon!" the Pokédex replied in a droll, robotic voice. "Politoed is known to gather in groups and sing songs that inspire nearby members of the species. It was once thought that a curly antenna symbolized social status within a group, but further study has disproved this theory."

The professor motioned forward as Larson stepped out from in front of Andrea. "Approach them slowly." she said.

"Uhh..." Andrea muttered as her voice cracked. "Do I have to?"

"You don't, but what will it hurt to try?" she replied.

"Ohhh..." Andrea wavered, slowly stepping forward. With each step, she tensed up slightly until she could barely move. "Deep breaths..." she said. Another step. Breathe in, breathe out. She kept a small distance and knelt down. "The professor wouldn't ask me to approach if it was dangerous, right?" she thought to herself as the pair of frog creatures continued to study her.

One of the frog creatures hopped out of the stream and waddled over to her, croaking loudly as it approached. Andrea reluctantly held her hand out. With a friendly demeanor, the Politoed's slow waddle turned into a brisk, stumbling run. It sniffed her hand and let out a loud, "CROOOOOAAAK!"

Andrea flinched, but quickly regained her composure and gently rubbed the Politoed on the forehead. "How you doin', uh... buddy?" she sheepishly asked.

The Politoed made a smile-like facial impression, then turned around to join its partner. The two hopped off into the stream and back into the reeds, disappearing from sight as quickly as they appeared. Loud croaking emanated from the reeds shortly after.

"See, not everything is vicious, Andrea," Larson said.

"I guess..." she replied, standing up.

"Let's keep going, shall we? There's more to see."

The group returned to the gravel path that snaked alongside the stream, venturing through the relatively small nature preserve. Much of the wildlife was hidden from view, trying its best to avoid the harsh temperatures, but some still lingered nearby the cool stream. As the group passed by, Andrea noticed a crustacean that she immediately recognized from her old job; Crawdaunt. The red and white shellfish was locked in combat with another of its species, fighting for supremacy. She slowed her pace to observe but was careful not to fall behind.

"So, what other experiences have you had with Pokémon, Andrea?" the professor asked. "Surely they can't all have been bad."

"Her dad is a policeman in the city, so she's been living with a Growlithe."

"Yeah... Spud. He's alright, he's well trained. I can trust him not to go berserk and attack me... But I've seen the way other people treat their Pokémon and I'm not sure when they'll snap."

"I'm sure you've seen Larson's Pokémon, too!"

"A few times... He's got that creepy... what is it, Clefairy?" she asked, trying to remember the specifics. "And his Charlizard."

"Charizard!" he said.

Professor Ansen giggled. "So, outside of that unfortunate event in your youth, how many truly bad experiences have you had with Pokémon?"

Andrea took some time to think. Admittedly, she hadn't had many bad experiences, but she had always been careful to avoid contact with Pokémon whenever she could. She'd stay indoors for long stretches of the day, avoid customers at the Crimson Crawdaunt with Pokémon by their sides and cross to the opposite side of the street whenever she'd see one walking with its trainer through the city. "Truth be told?" she paused. "Just that really... Unless you count that big horrible spider from yesterday."

"You just need to get used to them, that's all," the professor said.

Their tour of the nature preserve had come to an end, arriving at the back door where they had started. Professor Ansen dug her key ring out of her pocket and unlocked the door to her office with it. An almost arctic blast of air welcomed the group as she opened the door and stepped inside. She took a seat behind her desk and offered for her two guests to have a seat as well.

"So, Andrea, that brings me back to my first question. Now that you've had some positive experiences with the Pokémon under my care, will you reconsider that offer I made earlier?" the professor asked.

The question buzzed around in Andrea's mind, bouncing back and forth between the possible risks and the possible rewards. They bounced between what her often overprotective parents might think and what she wanted for herself. Finally, it bounced off of one last thought, her dream from the night before; It said that she would be faced with an important decision soon, a decision that would have a large impact on her future and her happiness. She wondered if this might be that decision, then wondered which answer would lead her life down a path of sadness and despair, which would lead to personal happiness. "Ummm..." she said, trying to break the silence.

"Come on, Andrea... Make up your mind." Larson muttered to himself.

"If I say yes..." she thought to herself. "I'll be stuck travelling, I'll be leaving everything behind... including my chance with Larson..." She looked up at him and smiled, studying him as she continued to think. "But if I say no... will I ever do anything with my life?" She asked herself the toughest question, "Is Larson more important than my future? Or is he my future? Happiness..."

After a few more moments of deliberation, she said, "I'll try it, I guess."

"You guess?" the professor said. "Show a little confidence, dear. Will you, or will you not?"

Andrea nodded. "I will. I'm ready."

The professor picked up the Pokéball that was resting on her desk and handed it to Andrea. "Welcome aboard! Let's get you started." she said as she dug around in the corner of the room for something.

Andrea looked down at the Pokéball in her hands. Her reflection in the red domed top showed hints of self-confidence that she had rarely seen before, but she figured that would wear off after a few minutes.

Professor Ansen placed a cardboard box on top of her desk and opened it. "Do you know which R-Kit model Dr. Spruce gave you? It looks like an early DR-X model."

"Umm..." Andrea said, looking all over the R-Kit for a model or any kind of marking.

"Here. You'll be wanting this, it's the absolute latest in R-Kit technology. I hope you like pink!" the professor said as she handed the new R-Kit to Andrea. "And one for you..." she said, digging around in the box for another, a blue one, which she handed to Larson. "And to start you off..." she said, continuing to rummage through the box. She pulled out four shiny, unused Pokéballs and handed them to Andrea. "For your research, should you come across anything interesting."

"I'm not going to have to learn all of that trainer stuff, am I?" Andrea said with a slight tone of misery in her voice as she took the Pokéballs.

Professor Ansen smiled. "The basics, yes. I'd recommend learning further, but it's not required."

"That's what I'm here for," Larson added.

"Have this, too," the professor said, handing over a leather-bound notebook. "You could probably keep all of your information and notes on your R-Kit, but sometimes it's just easier and more convenient to write things down."

Andrea took the notebook, stuffing it and her new-found treasures in her purse. "Thank you. So, what's my first project?"

"You might not like it, but... there's something I've been meaning to send one of my colleagues out to do. I need something delivered to Reginald Kerk over in Silvermist City's Crystal Bay district." she said. "It's not science, but it'll get you on the road towards something else I'll need done soon, and I can promise you that it'll be more interesting."

"Reginald Kerk? Why is that name so familiar?" Larson asked.

"He's a mad scientist with dozens of claims to fame. Pick something and he's probably involved." she said, picking up a bulging, yellow envelope. "These are some of my research notes regarding some of the aquatic Pokémon he's sent me over the past few months."

Andrea grabbed the envelope. "Umm... Where is Crystal Bay exactly? I've never really been outside of the city..."

"Your new R-Kit has a map of Storm Island in it. It'll point the way for you and even give travel directions."

Andrea looked at the pink R-Kit she had just received, studying the buttons on the screen. She tapped on the one that looked similar to a compass and a map of the world appeared. The world rotated towards a southern ocean and zoomed in; Storm Island. The map zoomed in further, scrolling from the center of the island to Andrea's current location. The level of detail on the map was impressive; As Andrea tapped on the screen, the map zoomed in further, crisply displaying each individual tile on the roof of the laboratory.

"Computer, display directions towards Crystal Bay from the current location." the professor said.

A blue line appeared on the map, stretching southward. Andrea's journey would take her south, back home to Azure Ridge, then west across the jagged cliffs of Route 302 towards Silvermist City. "Approximate travel time is estimated to be two and a half days on foot, one day by bicycle." the R-Kit said in a robotic voice.

"That doesn't sound bad, right?" Larson asked as he patted her on the back. "Two days is nothing. It takes a week and a half to get from Goldenrod City to Azalea Town."

Andrea grumbled and sighed. "It does, but I'm going to have to get used to it, I guess..."

"That's the spirit!"

Professor Ansen eyed Andrea suspiciously, clearly sensing her nervous attitude and lack of faith in herself. "Any questions, before I send you off?"

Larson quickly butted in. "Nope, ain't no one got time for questions! I'll take it from here!"

"But--"

"Trust me, Andrea! When's the last time I had a bad idea?"

"Uhh..." she said, remembering the time he strapped fireworks to the wheels of his bike.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. It can be confusing at first, but if Larson can figure it out..." the professor joked. "I probably don't need to say this, but speak with your parents when you get home. You'll be gone for weeks at a time, possibly months depending on which projects I put you on."

"Understood," Andrea said.

"And grab something out of the fridge in the lobby before you go. It's hot enough to melt stone out there!" she replied.

Andrea looked at Larson with a blank look on her face, then raised her eyebrows as if to tell him to lead the way. It all happened so quickly that she hadn't had time to absorb what might be in store for her now. She realized she barely even had control over what she had said, but figured she had done a well enough job. "Professor Ansen seemed confident in me, so I must have done something right."

She followed Larson out into the hallways and then into the main lobby. She studied the bizarre grin on his face. "So what now, Lars?"

"We head home and prepare for the journey."

"It's just a couple days of walking, it doesn't sound like we'd need to make much preparation..."

"You'll learn," he said, stopping at the refrigerator in the main room and pointed to his head. "Think! What might you need on a long trip through the wilderness?"

"Food and water, obviously." she said, opening the refrigerator door. "Eeep!" she shouted as she jumped in fright. Inside the refrigerator sat a small echidna-like creature, curled up in a ball; A dark turquoise stripe ran along its snout and up its head. The stripe widened to cover the entire creature's back which was lined with four, glowing red holes. It slumbered peacefully, unaware that its refuge from the heat had been opened. "What is it?" she asked.

"It's a Cyndaquil, you dope! You know that!" Larson joked. "It's harmless..." he paused. "Mostly harmless."

Andrea quickly reached into the refrigerator, pushing aside a basket of berries and grabbing two bottles of lemonade. She handed one to Larson and continued her previous thought. "First aid supplies."

"Those will come in very handy..." he said, leading her out of the lab and into the blazing sun. "You should probably call your parents, let them know you'll be home shortly, but you need to speak with them about your new job."

Andrea sighed. "I suppose you're right. My mom isn't going to be too thrilled, I don't think she believes I can do anything on my own."

"Now's the time to prove her wrong," Larson said.

Andrea reached into her purse and dug around for her cell phone. She flipped it open, cycling through the numbers until she reached her parents. Three rings was all it took before the phone was picked up.

"Hello?" a masculine voice asked.

"Hi dad!" she said. "I made it to Blueleaf safely!"

"Alright, that's my girl! I knew you could do it!"

"It was only a few hours of walking, dad, it's not a big deal..." she said, pausing. "Umm... when I get home, I have something to talk to you and mom about."

"Yeah, yeah. What's the matter, is everything alright?"

"Yes. I've got big news that I'll talk about later, kay?" she replied. "I should be home in a few hours, I'm just leaving Blueleaf now."

"Already? Aww c'mon, stay up there for awhile, enjoy the wilderness."

Andrea looked around at the village of Blueleaf. The atmosphere was very different from the bustling city; There weren't mindless hordes of pedestrians roaming the streets nor was there anything particularly interesting. Just grass, fields of golden wheat, large trees, some draped with blue leaves, and rustic, grim looking people. "I don't think so. I'm not really liking the atmosphere. It's so quiet out here!"

"I'd kill for some quiet every now and then, but I won't force you. I can't!"

"I'll be going now. Can you let mom know I'm on my way home?" she asked.

"I can and will. See you soon."

"Good bye," she said, closing her phone and putting it into her pocket. She stared at the ground as she followed Larson to the village limits, thinking deeply. "Do you think I made the right choice, Lars?" she asked.

"Who can say? It's certainly better than staying at home, being angry at that guy who fired you." he replied.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's see what life throws at me this time." She raised her hand to her forehead to block the sun, finding the Azure Ridge city skyline on the horizon, then tugged on his arm. "Shall we?"