Stardust

Chapter Ten

After nearly half an hour of staying completely still, Komako figured that they must be high up enough to start their plan. There was no way to do this without disturbing the people below, she realized, so she did the one thing she could think to do. She opened the compartment, jumping out.

"Come on, Avysoss!"

Avysoss woke up and rolled out, holding the rocket close. Komako caught him, running through the middle isle of the airplane. People throughout the plane screamed, afraid of the sudden appearance of aliens on the plane. Komako found the emergency exit in the middle of the plane, which she recognized as a door.

"This must be a way out, come on!"

She held on tight to Avysoss and turned the handle of the door, immediately feeling the pressure of the air rushing into the airplane. Komako nearly stumbled back, but she stayed up, gathering up courage to start the journey up out of the plane.

"Avy on the count of three we climb! 1...2...3!"

She runs and jumps, hanging onto the airplane with one hand. She looked up at the plane and realized how smooth it was.

"Uh... Avy?"
"What?"
"Can you... can you climb?"
"I think..."
"Go!"

Avysoss took his one arm and stuck the spikes on the side of his arm into the body of the airplane. He handed Komako the airplane, her holding it with one hand and holding onto Avysoss with the other. The wind whipped against them viciously, nearly blowing them off the plane. People started rushing to the door, struggling to close it. Avysoss ignored them, taking his other arm and doing the same, sticking his other arm into the airplane only slightly higher. He pried his first arm out and stuck it above his other arm, climbing up the body of the plane like a mountain climber would climb a steep cliff.

Eventually, the two made it up to the top of the airplane. Komako stayed close to the ground, Avysoss clinging to the top with his spikes. Wind whipped the two violently, Komako holding tight to the rocket, leaning against Avysoss to keep herself from falling off the plane. Avysoss pried one arm out of the top of the plane to hold onto one of the handles on the small rocket. Komako held onto the other handle on the opposite side, realizing a problem.

"Uhm, Avy?"
"Yes?"
"How do we start it?"
"... uhm."

The two examined the rocket, trying to find some way to start the rocket.

"Oh! I found something, Koma!"
"What?!"
"It's... a button. I think if we press it, the rocket will start!"
"Well, try it!"

Avysoss, in a fit of bravery, pried his other arm from the plane, the two immediately beginning to be pushed by the wind. Quickly, he pushed the button. To their relief, the rocket started smoking from the bottom. The smoke quickly turned to fire as the rocket started lifting off the top of the plane. They held on tight, slipping off of the plane. The rocket didn't seem to be lifting up very high, the two tumbling off the side of the plane.

"Avysoss! Hold on tight!"
"I am!"

Komako squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for another painful fall. The wind whipped at them, though it wasn't painfully.

"Komako! Open your eyes!"

She did, reluctantly, only to see that they were not falling at all. She smiled widely, looking at Avysoss.

"We're flying!"
"Yeah!"
"It worked!"
"Yes!"

Komako looked down, the airplane getting smaller and smaller as they flew up. She looked up and around, watching the fluffy clouds rush past them. Avysoss smiled widely, looking around wildly to take in the scenery as they rose above the clouds.

"We're getting closer!"
"We're almost there!"

The sky turned darker and darker, the atmosphere getting thinner and thinner. The rocket's fire started to shrink, rising slower and slower.

"Avy, we're slowing down!"
"J-Just hang in there!"
"We're so close!"

They both looked up, the gravitational field getting weaker and weaker.

"Almost.... there!"

The rocket's fire died, they slowed to a near stop.

"Hold on to me, Avysoss!"

Avysoss grabbed Komako's hand and pressed her feet against the top of the rocket.

"3...2...1!"

She jumped, pushing off of the now falling rocket. She held Avysoss close as they flew upwards, up and out of the gravitational field once and for all. They floated, just out of reach. They stared at each other for a few moments. Komako gaped, speaking first.

"... we did it. We did it!"
"We're home!"
"I can't believe we did it!"
"Yes!"
"We're free!"

They both smiled brightly, hugging each other close. After a few minutes, they pulled away. Komako smiled sadly.

"Now you know what we need to do?"
"What?"
"We need to go back to our normal life. Hunt. Eat. Live."
"Sounds like the easy life."
"Hah, never thought of it like that until now, I guess."
"I mean, compared to our life down there, predator life seems easy. No more hiding. I can actually move around."
"Yeah, no more carrying you! You're heavier than you look!"
"And you're stronger than you look!"
"True, true!"

The two smiled brightly. Komako looked around, searching.

"Let's go. We better start hunting."
"Right."

They start swimming around, searching for prey like they were so used to. They swam out to the asteroid belt, where prey could usually be found. Komako caught a glimpse of pink peeked behind an asteroid. She smiled slyly and swam over to the asteroid stealthily. She peeked around and saw the small creature they called food.

"Aha! Found one!"

She was about to pounce on it when she realization hit her. The creature reminded her of the cat with its large, curious eyes, long tail, and overall body shape. She hesitantly reached out to pet its head, not really aware of what she was doing. She saw the cat, leaning into her touch and purring. The creature didn't move, frozen with fear. She pet its head softly, tearing up. Avysoss swam up behind her.

"Koma? Why are you crying? Why are you petting our food?!"
"I... I miss the beast."
"What?"
"The furry beast..."
"Oh, that one..."
"Can we keep it?!"
"What?"

She grabbed the creature and hugged it close to her. The creature was confused, squirming.

"Why?! It's food!"
"But we can always find more!"
"But..."
"Please?"
"... sure."
"Oh thank you! Thank you!"
"A little more company won't hurt. But if we can't find food then it's going in my mouth."
"Yeah, okay."
"Don't get too attached."
"I won't!"

Of course she was already incredibly attached to it. She hugged it close, smiling. She pet it, and it slowly calmed down, actually leaning into her touch like the cat would. She teared up again and hugged it, smiling.

Now with their newest companion, the two swam off into the infinite pool of space until they found themselves another planet, Avysoss' curiosity once again getting the best of him, thus the two started yet another dangerous adventure.