Endless Sky ~New Beginning~

Chapter Twentytwo

OStar just barely managed to stop herself from yelping aloud, having no idea why she felt so rushed to leave. It felt like she was about to be late for something. The plan was to leave at midnight, but she didn't have to go at that exact time. OStar took a deep breath and shook herself, trying to get rid of her sleepiness.
"I'm going home, I'm going to see where I came from," she thought, feeling both scared out of her mind and excited.
OStar waited for a moment, listening, waiting for any sounds that might signal someone was still awake.
But all was silent.
The only things she heard were the crickets and cicadas outside, or something of similar species.
"It's now or never," OStar put a paw on her locket. All she needed to do now was open a portal. But how?
Her first idea was to think of the last place she remembered, but it was so fuzzy, she doubted it would work.
OStar's next plan was a bit more promising, but still made her hesitate. Think only about home.
If she thought about home in general, maybe it would portal there. Her only fear was that OCTown had become her new home, what if she just portaled to the main room?
"Cat said I can open a portal to the place I was made, it should work. If it doesn't... No shame in asking her for help. She seems to know what to do," OStar told herself, sitting down to concentrate.
Her chest felt numb with fear and excitement, making her paws shake slightly. Forcing a deep breath, she flicked open the locket.
Silence. It didn't make noise the last time OStar opened a portal.
Hesitation weighed her eyelids down, keeping her from looking at either her success, or failure.
A long minute passed before she finally forced herself to open her eyes.
A shimmering silver portal stared back. The first part was a success.
"But does it lead to my home?" she thought.
Things seemed to have slowed down now, as if the entire week of living in OCTown were all leading up to this. Through the portal could be most, if not all, of OStar's answers. All she needed to do was walk into it.
Slowly, OStar got to her paws, the fur along her spine rising up.
Listening once more, she waited for any sounds that someone was awake. Still nothing, all was clear, for now.
"Go," a voice whispered in OStar's ear. "Things will start to clear up if you go..."
"...I'm going," she replied silently, stepping forward and into the portal, leaving OCTown behind.
OStar's paws touched down on cold flat ground, almost like a kitchen floor on a cool early morning.
But it wasn't a kitchen.
It wasn't even morning.
She had no idea what she was seeing, or even if her eyes were open.
There was nothing as far as the eye could see, flat ground with nothing on top. Not even rocks. It was also pitch black, making OStar stand out like a glowstick. It was odd really. Despite everything looking dark, there was still some kind of light that allowed OStar to see herself, which didn't help her feel better though.
The sky was a dark grey with black dots scattered everywhere like stars, even a larger black dot that could be some kind of sun or moon. But no clouds. No birds.
"No... Nothing..."
Everything was gone. There was no dirt or grass. The ground was solid with an odd smoke-like substance rising off of it.
OStar froze.
She knew what that was. The smoke was practically identical to her destruction magic. To what she's seen in her dreams.
"It can't be the same!" she cried out in her mind, horrified.
OStar took a step back before forcing herself to stop and think for a moment.
Her magic destroyed, but nothing was hurting her. Though it seemed like her magic was rising off the ground, it wasn't eating away her paws.
"It has to be something else, with so many kinds of magic out there, there has to be another with black smoke associated with it," OStar thought. She took deep breaths to calm herself as she closed her locket, removing the portal before she got the idea to turn and flee.
This was nothing OStar's had expected to find, but after thinking for a moment about her dreams, her hallucinations. It all started to make sense.
Puzzle pieces started to click inside her brain.
"My home is gone. It was collapsing, so I fled..."
OStar padded forward, looking around the silent wasteland. Not even a breeze stirred the still air.
Her paw steps echoed slightly as she walked, a part of her hoping she could find someone in this wasteland. Maybe someone else had fled her home and came to visit at the same time she did.
Doubtful.
OStar was alone.
She felt hollow. Every step seemed heavier than the last. This wasn't at all what she had expected. Even the worst prediction she'd had was better than this.
What made her leave? Alone for that matter. OStar would never have left her brother here to die, so why did she?
Now she felt sick.
Every step she took, she could be stepping on a place where someone had taken their last breath and died.
OStar shivered and shook her head, tearing up.
"But how? How did it all vanish? Just like that? Gone?"
Questions were answered, but more seemed to have been created. All she remembered was running away, nothing that could indicate why her home ended up like this.
OStar sighed, lost in her own thoughts. Cat had promised answers, but this hardly helped anything.
"Did she know about all this?" she thought, feeling a pang of fury at the cat for keeping such a big thing secret.
OStar wanted to go back to bed now, forget anything and everything here. Pretend it doesn't exist.
Her paw hit something, making it clank and skid on the ground. OStar screamed in response.
After a few seconds of petrifying fear, she managed to muster up the courage to look down. A silver box. She'd kicked a silver box.
For a second out of the blue, OStar could picture the box falling and hitting the ground, making a small clank as it was abandoned. A corner of the box was dented to show how it landed.
OStar blinked before slowly moving over toward the object, feeling all her efforts in coming to this place were about to pay off.
On the top of the box, marked with permanent marker, was her name. What Cat had directed her here to get.
"It's... For me... Or at least about me..." OStar sat down, lifting the box in her paws. It was cold and hard, but not too heavy. Clearly it was made from aluminum rather than steel. In addition to that, there was a small button to open one of the sides. There was something inside the box, maybe.
It was the size of a VHS tape, so perhaps there was a video inside meant for OStar, or about her, or relating to her in some way.
Footsteps.
Someone was nearby.
OStar dropped the box and got back up, fur fully bristled as she looked around. Though she failed to find anyone, even the footsteps were suddenly gone. But she didn't feel alone anymore.
OStar had no chance to call out or even flee when something heavy pounced on her, pinning her to the ground.
She yelped as her legs slipped out from under her, one kicking away the box. "Wha-?" OStar started, trying to look back before a paw was placed on her head, keeping her from looking up at her attacker.
That didn't matter though, the voice was all she needed to hear.
"That's a face I didn't expect to see here," Mila hissed, keeping OStar pinned with immense strength.
OStar stayed still, she knew better than to fight. Even Avaro couldn't keep Mila subdued when he was three or four times her size. OStar knew she couldn't wrangle with the dragon Avaro, so there was no way she would have any chance with Mila.
"What do you want?" she tried to hiss, keeping still.
"I can ask you the same thing myself," her attacker replied.
"I was just looking around," OStar lied, the tips of her tails twitching.
Mila laughed, an odd robotic echo to her voice. "Yes, in a collapsed universe. There is surely much to see here," she growled in amusement.
OStar fell silent, realizing.
Mila might know about this place, she didn't know how she would, but it sounded like she would know some things.
"Collapsed universe?" OStar asked, trying to sound more confused instead of afraid.
"Yes, collapsed. Universes die all the time when there are so many in the multiverse, though it's strange for them to still be accessible," Mila explained, looking around the wasteland.
"Why is this place accessible then? Were you studying it, is that why you are here?" OStar continued, trying to get both answers, and a distraction. Time for her to think of a way out of this situation.
"Well yes, but actually no. It was something I dipped in, but never really looked into too deep. Destroyed universes just make great storages, plenty of space and no one around... Usually..." OStar felt Mila's eyes glare down at her.
"But that doesn't explain how you got here. Who else is with you? Roxxan? I bet that scrap metal is with you," she hissed, digging her claws into OStar's head.
"Nobody is with me! I came alone, everyone else is still back in OCTown asleep," she quickly meowed, trying to keep Mila from going any farther.
Having her fur raked with metal claws wasn't exactly part of her plan.
"Hmm..." Mila narrowed her eyes and looked around. "If anyone else is listening," she moved her paw down to place it on the back on OStar's neck, pushing down. "They better show themselves now before I snap her neck like a toothpick."
OStar felt her breath get caught in her throat from fear, staying completely still.
"I'm telling you! I'm alone! If anyone else is here they are not with me!" she cried hoarsely, praying the yellow cat would listen.
More pressure was applied to her neck.
"Please! I'm not lying when I said I came alone!" OStar pleaded, holding back a sob.
For a few seconds Mila stood her ground, pressing her paw down on OStar's neck. All it needed was a quick jerk down and her neck would be snapped, leaving OStar either paralyzed or dead.
But luckily, Mila pulled back, letting OStar gasp for breath and calm down.
Even after the cyborg had removed her death grip, she still had a paw between OStar's shoulder blades, keeping her pinned.
"I was only hoping for answers about my past. I didn't mean to bother you," she gasped. "I'll leave if you want me too, I won't even tell anyone you are here if you just let me go," OStar continued, making a small squirm.
Mila didn't reply, nor move. She kept her grip.
"Was this why Mystic was trying to warn me?"
OStar had honestly forgotten all about Mila. She had been so focused on her own past and memories, the yellow cat completely slipped her mind. OStar wasn't even a part of the mess Mila, Roxxan, and Estella were involved in. She never even knew these cats until she came to OCTown.
Maybe it was all bad timing.
Now OStar might die here, moments away from potentially getting actual answers. How will the others even find her? She had left OCTown alone, unannounced, to go to a place none of the others even knew about.
OStar could be killed and left here for years. Unfound. Lost. Maybe even eventually, forgotten.
She gave up, ready to accept her fate now as Mila continued her silence.
"Please..." OStar tried one last time, "Just let me go..."
Mila looked down at her prisoner with cold eyes, digging her claws into her skin once more, making her wince.
"No."