Endless Sky ~New Beginning~

Chapter Five

Light filtered through OStar's eyelids as her mind was brought back to the real world.
Despite having no windows at all the room was still illuminated by some source that mimicked sunlight.
She blinked awake, slowly tilting her head to look at the time.
7:42 a.m.
OStar stared at it for a long moment, processing.
"What happened? What was that little cat talking about?" She thought, thinking back to the last few seconds of her dream.
"Nobody harmed me, and I didn't hear or see anyone else..."
Silence.
OStar let out a frustrated, confused growl and sat up.
"If I find out who screwed up my memory, assuming it was a living thing, they're gonna have a taste of my claws in their skin." She hissed under her breath. Then she got off the bed, opened the door, and headed silently down the hall to the main room.
This time OStar wasn't the first one awake, Avaro sat patiently on the sofa and when he saw her, grinned as if he was expecting her.
"Well good morning to you, I beat you this time," he laughed.
"How long have you just been sitting there?" OStar asked, checking the area for anyone else. It was only Avaro.
"About uhh, five minutes?" He answered with a shrug. "Lucerne told me what he was going to do today, and I just decided that I would come along," Avaro got up and stretched his wings, still keeping his grin, and OStar realized he was already dressed as if he was about to leave.
He had a basic light grey shirt with a black unzipped coat that had a brand logo OStar never seen before written down the sides of the arm. Along with everything else he wore a dark blue, almost black, pair of baggy jeans.
"How do you manage to put on shirts and jackets with those wings?" OStar questioned instead of asking why he was planning on joining them unannounced.
Avaro's only answer was to rip a hole in the sleeve of his jacket with his teeth.
"Why-?!"
"Watch," he said, cutting OStar off and holding out his arm.
Confusion fluttered around in OStar's head but she listened anyway and looked at the jagged hole.
For a few seconds nothing happened, but then to her surprise the fabric started moving. She watched as the threads reattached and twisted back together to close the hole.
"Did you do that?" She gasped.
"Nope!" Avaro responded, patting the spot where the hole once was.
"It's a special kind of fabric, all my clothes have it. They fix themselves." He beamed at OStar and turned around, stretching out his wings and twisting his arm around to put a finger on his back, right under the base of his right wing. He then slowly dragged his finger downward, making an invisible visible line.
"I cut here and slip my wings through then wait a few seconds and boom! Done," Avaro turned back around to OStar. "Though taking things off is a lot harder, I'd rather ask for assistance at times."
OStar blinked, still in awe at the self-stitching clothing.
"Where'd you get them? How do they work?" She asked.
Avaro shrugged, "I don't know, I'm not a fabric master. OCTown just happens to have the same kind of clothes my people make back at home," he chuckled and continued. "Anyways these also not only fix themselves but when I transform, I THINK, they get dissolved into me in very tiny harmless particles and re-form when I go back to human, so I don't end up naked."
OStar blinked again, remembering the first day she was here and how Avaro changed back from the dragon. She didn't even realize his clothes were quickly pulling themselves together, or that even after stretching them, they were completely fine at the end of dinner. It never crossed her mind how that was even possible.
"Good thing that works because I don't think anyone wants to see me naked. The only person even allowed to see me naked is Lucerne,"
"WHAT?!" Lucerne's voice suddenly cracked the air.
OStar doubled over in giggles, "What timing!" She snorted.
"Oh hey! Did you just wake up?" Avaro said to his friend as he entered the room.
"Yes, I just KNEW you were going to say something stupid. OStar, don't get any funny ideas, he is not coming with us," Lucerne replied, glaring at Avaro who only grinned back innocently.
"Yes I am," he said.
"He can come," OStar also said at the same time.
The Celestial blinked in surprise. "Are you sure? He's most likely going to make some stupid jokes and embarrass himself," Lucerne responded, walking over to the two.
OStar shrugged, "To be honest I don't think you can stop him from coming anyways," she meowed and Avaro nodded.
"I guess you're right... Fine," Lucerne sighed. "Let's just go before everyone else decides to come as well. It would be hard trying to show and explain things to you when there's eight other people around."
OStar nodded and padded over to the front door as Avaro and Lucerne followed.
"I already told Roxxan where I was going, so if anything were to happen, she'll know where to find us," Lucerne said as the three headed outside into the morning light.
"What could happen?" OStar asked, a pang of fear poking at her.
"Anything at all, it won't hurt to be at least a little cautious," Avaro answered before his friend could.
"But the chances are very slim for actual danger to happen. Roxxan and Estella told us that in all the years they have lived here, nothing horribly bad has happened. Fights do occur but it's not like a giant beast once came through here," Lucerne added in, narrowing his eyes at his friend. "It's mostly just in case Roxxan or someone needs us, and they don't end up searching the entire mansion when we are out here."
OStar felt herself relax a bit, feeling slightly dumb that she thought she was in actual danger in a place with a literal force field.
"Anyways, let's get this show on the road!" Lucerne exclaimed with a grin, quickening his pace.
Avaro shrugged and followed.
"I wonder if anything dangerous actually happened here once, even if it was a long time ago... I should ask Rual..." OStar thought as she sped up, not wanting to lose sight of the two ahead of her and get lost.
Lucerne started by showing OStar a section of the town where traders come. "It changes frequently. Everyday there's something new. On special days, this place is usually packed," he explained, waving at one of the traders he might have spoken to at one point.
"Yeah, they accept almost anything that looks interesting, even if it's not, and any kind of currency. When you trade with people across the universes you need an exceptionally large variety of things," Avaro added.
OStar glanced at the many stands and locations where strange objects were being displayed. They ranged from shiny jewels, jars of substances or objects, interesting sculptures made from wood or stone or even shiny ores. Some were even living, plants and animals of unique colors and shapes. It truly baffled OStar with how much variety that was here in front of her.
She watched as a tall, black short-haired human, wearing a dark brown trench coat, offered a trade with one of the traders who had three eyes and wore very fluffy clothing. It took all OStar's resolve not to walk over and touch the fluff.
The man pointed at an odd small multicolored crystal and pulled out a strange wand from a pocket on his coat. The fluffy trader nodded and handed over her crystal while taking his offer.
"And that's how easy it is," Lucerne said. "Though there are stores around here if you're looking for something specific like clothing or food. In those places you need some kind of currency in order to buy anything..."
OStar nodded slowly as if she was listening the entire time but she kept her eyes on the man, who took no notice of her as he pocketed the crystal and continued onward.
"Who is he?" OStar asked.
"Hm?" Lucerne looked up, following OStar's eyes. Avaro did the same.
"The guy who just traded?" Avaro said and OStar nodded.
"I have no idea; Estella is usually the one remembering names, which is ironic because she lost her memory despite it being such a steel trap. That cat hasn't forgotten anything for as long as I've known her," the albino replied, crossing his arms with a chuckle.
"Oh, then I'll ask her sometime later," OStar meowed with a slight dip of her head.
As the trio continued, OStar couldn't help but keep an eye out for that strange man. Deep down she swore he looked familiar but couldn't quite put a paw on how.
"Oh! NIXON!" Avaro suddenly called out, making Lucerne wince at the loud noise in his ear.
OStar spotted a white-haired, blue-eyed teen who was about fifteen years old. Unlike Lucerne's, his hair didn't really glow, instead it gave OStar a sort of staticky vibe. She thought that was weird considering the fact his hair was flat and usually hair spikes upward when exposed to static electricity.
The teen looked around in confusion before spotting Avaro and grinning, waving and signaling them over.
"Hey! What brings you two out here? Who's this?" Nixon asked, looking down at OStar.
"She's new, showed up about two days ago, her name's OStar," Avaro answered, ruffling up the fur on top of OStar's head, making her duck away with an annoyed but friendly hiss.
"Wow, my sister will adore her. She loves cats and stars. And she even has white cat ears, though they're fake," Nixon laughed.
"Sister?" OStar meowed aloud.
"Yeah, my sis. She was supposed to meet me here, but I think she got caught up with friendship problems," he replied with a frown.
"I'd like to meet this 'friend' of hers and settle things," Avaro hissed, but in a joking way.
"Oh no, you do NOT want to get mixed in that. It's really dumb, honestly. All this 'You did that' and 'I do this' and 'You should do that!' I'm quite sure they won't be friends for long anyways," Nixon responded.
Lucerne sighed. "Losing friends always hurts in some way, wish there was something we could do..."
The teen shrugged. "I tried my best, but her friends never liked me to begin with for some reason. So, I couldn't really do much. They'll probably get back together later anyways."
OStar twitched her ear, feeling slightly out of place and awkward until she heard the gradual growth of a fake scream.
"Nixon! Avaro! Lucerne! I'm- OH MY GOD," the voice shrieked before arms wrapped around OStar.
"Who are YOU?" she asked.
OStar twisted her head to see yet another teen, maybe around the same age as Nixon, with short brown hair, green brown eyes, and a pair of fake white cat ears alongside grey slightly baggy pants with a purple polo
"Is this his sister?" She first thought as she silently stared at the person next to her.
"Sis, please. You're scaring OStar," Nixon sighed.
The sibling looked up with wide eyes and got to her feet. "I'm late," she said simply, her attention abruptly turning to her brother.
"Was it because of your friend?" Avaro barged in before Nixon could say anything else.
"Ah! Yeah! We're not friends anymore. It's not worth it," the sis responded.
OStar scanned her face to search for any hidden remorse or pain, but she couldn't find any. This teen's face was full of hyperactivity and hope, as if there's always something good to life even if everything seems horrible.
It was odd really, despite being at a rather mature age, she seemed more like a child than anything, reminding her a little of Estella.
"But don't worry, don't feel sad. Without her dragging me down and filling me with false hopes and encouragement, I can be myself and accomplish my own goals. I don't need to hold back for the sake of someone else who doesn't even want to try and chase her own goal," she shook her head and grinned.
Lucerne patted her shoulder.
"That's some strong determination Abigail," he said with a nod.
Her eyes blazed. "Indeed!" she hissed.
"Hey, want to join us with showing OStar around town?" Avaro suddenly offered to the siblings.
"YES!" Abigail answered at once in a loud voice, making a few passers-by look over in confusion.
Nixon only shrugged.
So the trio, now a group of five, all banded together and began showing off more of the town.
With Abigail's loud voice and Avaro's constant jokes, OStar found herself frequently forgetting to listen to what Lucerne or Nixon was saying about their location. The only spot where she managed to pay full attention to was the central fountain in the middle of the town. The water was spraying into the air and casting a small rainbow in the sky. Many people and creatures were relaxing in the surrounding little park, and OStar found herself more at peace in this spot than anywhere else in the entire place. She wondered if there was some magic that made the area more calming, or if it was just that calming in general. A special place at the heart of the town. Eventually Abigail and Nixon had to split away, heading back to their home.
"Guess that means we should head back too," Lucerne said, "I have shown you the most that I could. It obviously isn't everything, but it's the best I can do without dragging your tired body everywhere."
"Mhm. There are no cars here since people usually use some other, smaller transportation, like a portal," Avaro poked in.
OStar grinned, feeling refreshed despite walking around for over an hour without any breakfast.
"It's alright, I think it's enough for now, I don't really have any plans to venture out anyways, and if I do, it won't be far," OStar mewed.
Lucerne and Avaro smiled, grateful that they were at least some help. The friendship between the three grew stronger as the Celestial Beast and dragon were no longer complete strangers to OStar.