Endless Sky ~New Beginning~

Chapter Twentyone

OStar let out a yelp as she flopped over, the weight already gone. She tried looking around, but someone was now batting at her face repeatedly.
"STOP," OStar snapped and tried to bat her paw back at her attacker even while on her side. Although it was strange that they didn't use any claws, it was certainly a cat, based on how they moved when pouncing and striking.
Pulling her paws underneath herself, OStar got up quickly and flapped her wings, trying to make herself seem bigger. Opening her eyes, she found she was once again back in the main room. But it was dull, as if it were night, or if she were dreaming.
Pargenti and the other were staring at her, one worried, one annoyed.
"Huh?" OStar blinked, puzzled as she slowly folded her wings back in.
"About time,"
"Are you okay??"
"I'm fine," she answered the tiny cat, ignoring the other's eye roll.
"Honestly, did you have to throw a fit like that?" the black cat huffed.
"What do you mean throw a fit??"
OStar hissed back, confused, scared, and irritated.
"All that hallucinating and freaking out! You made a gigantic scene!" she snarled in return.
"Fluffy had to make you pass out so you wouldn't run into a wall and give yourself a concussion," Pargenti explained as Fluffy bristled in pure rage.
"How DARE you call me such an IGNORANT-SOUNDING NAME as FLUFFY?!" she bellowed, making Pargenti squeak and fly off to OStar for safety.
"If it makes you FEEL ANY BETTER I would MUCH RATHER BE CALLED CAT rather than FLUFFY,"
OStar just stared. "Cat" wasn't exactly a name as opposed to the other one offered. Besides, while Pargenti had a silver neck fluff, Cat had a much softer looking one that was white and seemed to curl upward rather than fluff out.
"Okay..." OStar finally said, wondering how Cat would react if she went with Fluffy anyways.
"So tell me what happened," she demanded, sitting down and curling her tails around her paws.
"You started hallucinating. Maybe the deadline getting so close started stressing you out, making you panic without realizing it," Cat started to explain while Pargenti landed then sat on OStar's head.
"So everything I saw wasn't real?"
"No, of course not. Did you not hear me? I said hallucinations, do you not know what a hallucination is? "
She frowned at the black cat but didn't continue.
"I think you should head back," Pargenti peeped, ruffling her wings, "Charlotte and the others are going to wonder why you suddenly collapsed for no reason..."
"Oh, that's right!" OStar realized. She had been watching them, moments before she was about to go over to join them. Surely, they would've noticed her if she had suddenly started freaking out.
"Alright, I'll wake up," she said before closing her eyes, having no idea how to actually wake up, but it was all OStar could think of doing at the time.
It worked.
She felt her body suddenly swap to a new position. Instead of sitting upright, she was laying on her side, not too far from where she was before the hallucinations.
In addition to being back into the real world, the moment OStar moved to get up, she felt daggers dig into her head.
She groaned at the headache and lay there, kind of wishing she were asleep again. At least then the only pain she had to deal with was Cat's rude personality.
"You good, OStar?" Charlotte asked, making her slowly open her eyes.
She didn't see much, but she knew her friend was sitting in front of her, Avaro and Lucerne maybe out of her view. OStar wasn't going to check. Her head would only hurt worse if she dared to move it.
"Maybe she hit her head when she fell!" Afina meowed from behind OStar's head. "That must've been some hard-ass hit to make her pass out like that," Avaro added.
A gentle hand started petting her side and flattening her fur, maybe Lucerne's since Charlotte hadn't moved and Avaro sounded like he was standing.
OStar wanted to squirm or tell him to stop as she didn't really like being petted, but after all the hallucinations and pain, a few pets could be a little soothing. It was like someone patting another person's back when they were crying, trying to give at least some comfort.
OStar waited, still a bit stunned. Charlotte continued to talk to the others, trying to figure out what happened as well as trying to get the fallen cat to speak.
OStar only made small grunts as replies, just to show she heard them.
"We should get Roxxan," Afina mewed, moving away from behind her head and going to Charlotte's lap.
"Mmrr, nooo," OStar tried to protest. She only needed some rest, not someone poking at her and demanding to know what happened. OStar herself didn't really know; she'd just freaked out for a moment. If anything, all that happened was she hit the ground a little too hard.
"So much for keeping me from getting a concussion," OStar thought miserably.
"But you're hurt! What if you cracked your skull?" the little cat continued, making OStar rasp a laugh.
"I doubt my skull is cracked, even after a fall like that," she replied, forcing herself up into a sitting position. The pain was quick to arrive, but also leave. After a few moments sitting upright, the daggers turned to more of a dull throb.
"See? I'm fine, just a little scattered," OStar faked a smile, looking around at her friends. Charlotte was still sitting with Afina in her lap, Lucerne was nearby with Avaro standing off to the side, arms crossed. At first glance he seemed like he didn't care, but OStar could see the bits of worry in his eyes.
"You sure?" Lucerne asked, glancing at his friend next to him.
"I'm sure. If anything, I just need a little rest. If I'm still in pain by morning, then I'll go see Roxxan," OStar promised, slowly getting up on her paws. Afina jumped out of Charlotte's lap as she and the Celestial got up as well.
"Don't let us find you dead," Avaro said, mostly jokingly, but it still sent shivers down OStar's spine.
"Damn, I hope this doesn't make them want to check up on me tonight..."
She imagined Roxxan walking in on her just as she was about to step through her portal. That would be something she wouldn't be able to explain.
"It'll be fine, no worries," OStar nodded slightly to her friends before walking off to her room, trying her best not to wince at each step.
She heard them talk a little more among themselves, but she didn't care. All that mattered at the moment was rest and to get rid of the pain before she had to leave.
Having to wait until midnight tomorrow was the last thing OStar wanted to do. She'd waited long enough. A part of her wished she'd left the same night that Mystic visited. At least she would've been able to get answers faster.
OStar sighed and crawled back into bed. It seems all she does now is sleep.
While she could've gone sooner, Mystic's words still scared her. What if something bad really was going to happen? What if going back home was the worst thing OStar could do? What if waiting three days was the worst thing?
OStar wanted to ask Mystic, get answers, find out what actually was going to happen.
Her tail twitched, a new idea starting to form in her head.
"Maybe I should see Mystic first-" OStar's thoughts were abruptly cut off as she was shoved out of the bed.
She yelped and quickly twisted herself to land on her feet, surprised her head didn't scream in pain from all of the sudden movements.
"EXCUSE me?!" OStar snarled as she straightened up and looked at her bed.
Cat was hunched there, bristled as her eyes blazed with fury. OStar could've sworn she was bigger than the first time she'd met her, bristled or not.
"What was that-?"
"Are you an IDIOT?!" Cat snapped, cutting OStar off. "Do you really think Mystic will tell you anything?!"
"Well, yeah! Maybe!" she replied, feeling offended she couldn't even have her own ideas.
"Well, it's stupid! Mystic will not tell you anything. In fact, if she knew you were going to leave, she might find a way to stop you and you may NEVER go back home!" Cat hissed back, tail lashing as she dug her claws into the bed. OStar frowned, but maybe she had a point. If Mystic found out OStar was going to leave anyways, would she do something to stop her? Maybe kill her?
OStar frowned some more.
"You're overreacting now," Cat said before OStar had the chance to think any further.
"I know," OStar hissed back, still irritated from being shoved off her bed.
But she knew better than to think Mystic would kill her. If she had wanted to kill her, she would have done it sooner.
"Just stop worrying for two seconds," Cat growled, her fur starting to flatten, though her eyes still contained their fire.
"I'm TRYING, it's easier said than done! Last time I checked you weren't the one with SWISS CHEESE FOR A MEMORY," OStar snapped back.
"Oh great galaxies, she's not going to listen to me now," the back cat sighed with irritation, making OStar growl.
"Whenever you want to RELAX, just say something. I don't care," Cat continued before hopping off the other side of the bed and walking through the wall.
OStar didn't even try to stop her, she was happy she'd left. Pargenti was better to talk to, wherever she was.
Suppressing a sigh, she hopped back into her bed and lay down. With the sight of Cat and lack of pain, OStar could tell she was already asleep, or possibly forced asleep.
She just wanted real sleep. Peaceful silence where she didn't need to think about anything. No talking, no dreams, nothing.
OStar felt exhaustion filling her in place of her anger, exhausted from all the sudden stress and anxiety.
She'd had no idea the stress had built up this much, everything seemed normal. Maybe things seemed a little off ever since Mystic showed up, but still normal.
No wonder OStar found herself sleeping a lot. It was her only escape.
"Is this how Charlotte feels? Except instead of sleeping, she plays in the arcade?" she thought. Perhaps thinking about her friends was better. It surely was a better idea than pondering her own memories and getting frustrated with herself.
So that's what she did.
OStar lay there, feeling the fake dreamworld fade off as she pondered on how each of her friends had made it to OCTown. How they coped with any problems with their past, if there were any. She asked herself questions, wondering, thinking about how she would be able to reply if she asked them personally. Did Avaro think about his old home frequently? Did Lucerne miss life in space? Was Rual more comfortable around his own species or humans?
She wanted to ask many questions; she had some for everyone. She even had questions about Terrence, the little kid she met for a short time. Even with all her thoughts and questions, though, OStar refrained from thinking about Fatink and K. She had already been down that path and thinking about them made her worry that Cat was going to come back. She did not want to be shoved out of her bed again.
It was a shame, really. OStar couldn't even have her own thoughts without fearing someone was going to yell at her and call her "stupid".
"Is this what it's like to hang out with a mean mind reader?" OStar tried joking with herself. It worked, a little.
After maybe an hour, sleep overtook her thoughts and left her to rest, gifting her the wish of a dreamless nap.
OStar had no idea how long she'd slept. She had a vague recollection that at some point maybe Roxxan tried to wake her, but she didn't budge. Not even a twitch or a sleepy mumble.
Only her gut was able to wake her up. The odd tightening of "maybe it's a good time to wake up before you miss something" finally drove her to open her eyes. It was dark, the smell of food in the room. Roxxan had tried to wake OStar up to eat, but when she didn't get a response, she'd left a still-warm plate on a nearby desk.
Without really thinking twice, OStar slipped out of bed and padded over to eat her dinner. Her head felt much better, practically no pain at all. That was good.
Finishing up her meal, OStar finally glanced over at a clock to see the time.
Eleven fifty-three.
Midnight was only seven minutes away.