~Later that evening
I decide to pull away from everyone for a while and wander off on my own. There is a small area up on the hill close by where we are going to spend the night. I am up there, watching the sunset.
What do I do? What if that...thing...has taken my mother and father away from me?
As I watch the sunset, I watch the forest below me become darker as the shadows lengthen and slowly crawl up the trees next to them.
I must find a way back, I cannot lose them, not like this.
The sky begins changing colors, starting with orange, to pink, to purple to dark blue then to black.
What if...what if I am already too late?
The stars slowly fade in one by one and fill the sky, twinkling like they always do. I begin to feel lightheaded and dizzy while I force myself to hold back tears from falling. I start to sweat just a little bit and the thoughts kept coming, like I am being overwhelmed by them.
Come on Star, do not lose control, not now.
Once the sky was completely finishes changing colors, I close my eyes and begin to meditate. The peaceful time of the night is my favorite with the silence, the darkness and the coolness.
If I don't start to meditate, these thoughts will drive me crazy.
I begin to mumble the chant my mother taught to me while I slowly keep track of my breathing.
In... out... in... out...
A rustling sound slowly creeps into my thoughts from my left and breaks my concentration. I jerk my eyes open to see what I am hearing. I slowly stand up, not taking my eyes off of the bushes. The rustling sound happens again, but closer to me this time. I slowly creep closer to the noise, wondering what I am going to find. As I get right next to the front bush, a small girl jumps out at me and startles me. She looks frantic and looks as though she is looking for someone. She has shoulder length brown hair, wearing an orange blouse, a yellow skirt, brown boots, a green scarf, and elbow length white gloves.
"Star! I'm so glad I found you!" She dashes over to me and hugs me tightly. She is several years younger than me, maybe about 5 years. She is like my little sister; she is my best friend. Her green eyes are splashed with worry and concern as she looks up at me after she lets go.
"Myst? What in the world are you doing here? How did you get here? Why?" There are so many questions that I want to ask her. There is no way she could have gotten here by herself, and why would she be here in the first place? It is much too dangerous for her without her brother, Ike.
Myst shakes her head. "Star! Ike sent me, he told me to find you as quickly as I could and then bring you back with me. You must come with me at once! Hurry, follow me!" She turns away from me, waves with her hand motioning me to follow and dashes into the bushes in front of us.
"Wait! What is going on? Where are you going? Hurry? Why?" Before I can finish what I am saying, Myst disappears into the forest beyond the bushes. I glance back behind me, towards the hideout where my friends are waiting for me, then quickly shove myself into the air and disappears into the darkness of the forest after Myst.
My home is more important to me right now.
Once I fly past several trees, dodging them left and right as they quickly come and go, I finally see a small figure running up ahead of me. Then we enter a small clearing. I see the dark small figure leap into the well-hidden portal darkened by the shadows of the looming tall trees surrounding it, which must lead back to my world. I stop dead in my tracks as I watch Myst materialize into the image, turn around and motion me to follow her. Ike appears behind her and calls her name.
"Myst? How?" Myst turns around and shows him that she has found me. Without looking back, I quickly dash forwards straight into the cloudy image. Everything around me starts to spin, collapse, turn black and I feel nothing for what feels like an eternity.
The next thing I know, I am back in my own time, sitting on the floor of my castle. Everything around me is loud and moving like lightning. I feel dizzy and disoriented. Once my vision clears up, I find myself surrounded by chaos.