Chapter 1: The Journey Begins
The cold winter air nipped at the audience as they waited patiently for the next band to march onto the field. A young girl at the rear of her band's color guard glanced nervously around the stadium and shivered slightly from the November chill. The football field they were about to perform on was located in the center of a large circular stadium that completely surrounded the field making the girl feel more like an ant than a performer. She sighed and watched the puff of heated air flow from her mouth into the sky. The girl gripped her equipment tighter and began marking time as the drum line began the marching beat.
As the band marched down the field the color guard ran to the sidelines to set up their equipment and prepare to perform with the band. The girl placed her swing flags down and folded the silk so it rested under the pole. She then hurried over to the other side of the field and placed her green flag in its place and walked to her starting position on the sideline. The girl brushed her brown hair from her face and straightened her tie dye halter-top as the band began to play.
Once the performance ended the audience clapped as the band marched off the field. The girl smiled as she gathered equipment that littered the sidelines and fell in line behind the other guard members. After everyone made it past the stadium entrance the Drum Majors lead the band back toward the trailer. As they walked people began talking about their performance that night.
"Hey Alicia, how did you do?" asked a red headed girl who was walking next to the girl. Alicia, or Ali, looked over at the tall red head and smiled.
"I did okay, at least I didn't drop, how about you Lindsay?"
"I did great! I really think this was our best show yet!" exclaimed Lindsay. When they reached the trailers the guard packed their flags in the flag bags, put them in the designated compartment and headed toward the buses. Everyone got on their respective buses and changed into more comfortable attire. When everyone finished the band director called them together to discuss the performance and future events. Once finished the band dispersed to acquire food and watch the next performances until the judges announced the scores.
Ali sighed and pushed her hair from her face and swung her backpack-purse onto her shoulder. The scent of grilling food instantly caught her attention and drew her back toward the stadium. The area surrounding the concession stand buzzed with activity especially since a couple bands finished and congregated near the food. A few souvenir vendors lined the walls selling shirts, pins and jewelry commemorating the event. Ali ignored these and headed straight for the line. She pulled out a twenty from her pocket and began reading the items available. When she reached the front of the line, after waiting for what felt like forever, she decided to order nachos along with a Gatorade. After receiving her food she turned toward the stands where the rest of the band gathered and searched for her mom, a chaperon on the trip.
A lone hand waved from the center of the stands, beckoning to the wandering girl. Ali looked up and smiled, thankful that her search ended. She climbed the stairs hastily and sat down next to her mom. The woman stood slightly shorter than her daughter with a sturdy build. Her short dirty blond hair rested on top of her head, out of her blue eyes. She wore long pants and a large purple jacket wrapped snuggly around her to keep the biting wind at bay. She smiled at Ali and bent down to dig through an over stuffed backpack. Ali's mom reached in, pulled out a heavy blanket and draped it over Ali's shoulders.
"That was a wonderful performance," said her mom as Ali shifted the blanket closer. Ali hummed a response and began devouring the nachos. Her mom chuckled and turned her attention back to the current band. After awhile the rest of Ali's band assembled near where they sat in order to eat and watch the performances. The stands eventually echoed with chatter from cold students huddled together in clumps to retain what little body heat they currently possessed.
During one of the lulls in activity the stadium lights flickered and suddenly grew dark. A large gasp escaped everyone in the stands as they tried to find a source of light. Ali grabbed her purse and pulled out the phone tucked away in one of the pockets. She turned on the small light and flashed it toward her mom. All around lights twinkled into existence transforming the stadium into a planetarium. Ali looked around in wonder at the magnificent sight, but her attention eventually rose to the night sky where the stars shone unhindered by city lights. She gazed up at their magnificence and located some of her favorite constellations. As Ali watched one of the brighter stars suddenly flashed once and disappeared. Ali gasped in shock at the sudden occurrence and pondered the meaning behind it. Her first thought that the star's light gave out a while ago and Earth only just now received the light, but this still presented unanswered questions. The star was a bright one and shouldn't have died for another million years, so why now? As she continued to watch another star blinked then faded. The coincidence was too great for Ali to even believe; two stars in one night. She frantically looked around the sky in an effort to pinpoint any other stars that decided to give out. At that moment the stadium lights came back on and they once again faded behind the glare. Throughout the remaining performances, Ali's mind constantly shifted back to the mystery of the disappearing stars. She tried to reason that stars die eventually, that their light takes millions of years to reach the earth, but something just didn't sit right within her heart. Something big was happening and Earth was being left out.
Before she knew it, the rest of the band was preparing to leave for the final ceremony. All the bands that performed that night gathered on the track surrounding the field and lined up in a giant mass. Ali stood awkwardly with the color guard at the front of her band. The other color guards pushed as close as possible to make room for the numerous other schools that needed to squeeze on the track. As everyone waited for the signal to begin, they kept busy by talking with the other people around them; comparing uniforms and congratulating each other on their performances. The atmosphere around her was cheerful, but Ali couldn't get her mind away from the occurrence earlier that evening. As the drum line out front began to play the marching tune, Ali subconsciously propelled herself forward to keep in line with everyone else. The announcer went over the names of all the schools in attendance along with the title of their show and the score they received that day. Ali could vaguely hear the cheers from the crowd and a murmured response from each of the bands in turn. The member standing behind her tapped her shoulder as she fell slightly behind in the line and Ali snapped back into reality.
The ceremony flew by quickly and Ali soon found herself back on the bus on the way back to the school. After a long day she simply wanted to relax and stretched herself out on the empty seat next to her. She listened to the drone of whispering voices and closed her eyes sleepily.
A black void surrounded Ali sending off a rather chilling aura. There was no floor to be found but Ali realized that she was able to walk regardless of this fact. A faint light shimmered in the distance and she decided to head in that direction. As she approached she noticed that the light originated from a large stained glass floor. The colors softly illuminated the surroundings and eased some of the weariness Ali felt when first finding herself here. Her shoes clicked against the floor as she took in the picture created by the different colors. A boy around her age was positioned in the middle of the floor leaning back, a large key like object on his left hand side. The boy had spiky brown hair and he wore a red jump suit with ridiculously large yellow shoes. Four smaller pictures surrounded the boy. Two of them were humans, a girl and a boy while the other two were a dog like creature and a duck. The scene left her breathless as she turned around in circles to try and take in the entire thing at once. It was at that moment that a voice from behind broke the silence.
"Who are you?" asked the voice of a young man. Ali turned around and saw the same boy from the picture standing in front of her with his arms crossed over his chest. Her eyes widened slightly as this information clicked within her brain. His eyes were narrowed in slight suspicion; however you would never be able to tell from the way he smiled.
"My name is Alicia, but everyone calls me Ali, and you are?" she asked. The boy became slightly more relaxed, uncrossing his arms and moving them behind his head.
"The name's Sora," he replied cheerfully. Ali couldn't help but smile at his attitude. She looked around in confusion once again and turned back to the boy.
"So Sora," she started, "you wouldn't happen to know where we are would you." Sora leaned back into his hands.
"It's called a station," he said, "it's supposed to be a representation of my heart." Ali looked at him in confusion and turned back toward the design on the floor. The smaller pictures caught her attention again and she decided to ask Sora about them.
"Hey Sora," she said, "Do you know the other people in the picture?" He smiled nostalgically and replied, "Yeah they're my best friends."
Ali, hey Ali wake up! Alicia we're at the school. Ali looked around the void for the source of the disturbance. The scene around her disappeared as the familiar voice echoed off nonexistent walls. She looked one last time at the strange boy Sora and gave him a small smile before he disappeared from view.
Ali opened her eyes and looked up at her mom who smiled down at her. Ali quickly glanced around the bus and realized that most of the band left already. She quickly gathered her bag and made her way down the aisle. Once off the bus, she trekked to the trailer and waited patiently for the mass of band members to thin. When the chance arose Ali picked up her flag bag and returned it to its rightful place in the band room. Satisfied, she headed toward the restroom to change out of her uniform. When she emerged, she was dressed in long pants and the band show shirt with the words "Cirque du Rock" printed on the front. She quickly walked around and spotted her mother just finishing with putting the uniforms away.
"You ready to go?" asked her mom. Ali smiled and began walking toward the exit. Her mom followed and they soon found themselves on their way back home. When they arrived Ali immediately headed for the couch and plopped down. She reached over to the basket full of blankets and pulled one over herself and instantly fell asleep.
The next week flew by so quickly that Ali never realized that she went to school at all before Thanksgiving break finally arrived. Ali was excited to spend time with her family.
She woke up on a crisp Saturday morning to the smell of bacon sizzling in the kitchen. Ali rolled out of her bed and stretched lazily before wandering out to the family room. She spotted her mother busily cooking and her brother playing Smash Brothers. Ali sat down on the couch and watched her brother for a while until he invited her to play with him. She agreed and picked up one of the extra controllers and chose her character. The two siblings eventually grew tired of beating up CPUs so they wandered over to the kitchen table to wait for breakfast. Eventually their mother declared the food ready and they immediately got up to gather a plate for themselves. Once they finished, their mom asked if they could walk over to their grandparent's house and pick up a couple items that she needed in order to start cooking the Thanksgiving dinner. They both agreed and went to change and get their shoes on. Ali quickly changed into a pair of brown caprice with a yellow tank top and a lime green jacket. She made sure that her blue stone necklace was safely around her neck before slipping her shoes on and grabbing her backpack purse. She rejoined her brother by the front door who had changed into a pair of jeans and a simple T-shirt. They both walked outside and Ali made sure she grabbed her old wooden flagpole on the way out.
As they set off for their grandparent's house, the two siblings talked idly about the different activities they planned on doing over the break from school. When they arrived they picked up the items, thanked their grandma, and walked all the way back.
Ali walked in the front door and set aside her pole. She took the food into the kitchen and placed them on the counter.
"Mom I'm going to go outside and practice for a while," she said. Her mom nodded, not turning away from the food she was busily preparing. Ali walked back out the door, grabbing her flag pole again and not bothering to remove her bag from her shoulders. Her brother followed quickly after her. She walked out to the middle of the yard and began practicing tosses and spinning techniques. Her brother meanwhile went over to the garage and rummaged around until her found his volleyball and proceeded to see how long he could keep it in the air.
"Incoming!" her brother suddenly yelled. The volleyball whizzed toward Ali's head. She was in the middle of a toss and the sudden loud voice caused her to flinch and accidently spin the pole low and fast. She quickly turned and caught the ball.
"Watch where you throw this thing!" she yelled over to her brother. He wasn't paying her much attention; staring off into space to the side of where she stood. Confused Ali looked to where his eyes were fixed and saw that the pole, which she assumed hit the ground, was still spinning in midair. It was spinning so fast in fact that the only details she could make out were two colors: dark purple and gold. On the other side of the spinning pole was a large hole with the same colors. It shimmered in the morning light beckoning the two siblings.
"What is that thing?" her brother asked once he found his voice. Ali shook her head slowly and walked toward the portal-like object. She tenderly reached out and touched the strange object. Her hand went through it completely. Curious, Ali slowly moved her hand around testing to see if she could still feel it. While she was doing so her brother moved directly behind her and looked at the swirling colors over her shoulder. He accidently bumped Ali and she fell forward, right into the vortex. Ali let out a startled gasp before disappearing.
"Alicia?" asked her brother in alarm. He hesitated before jumping after his sister. When he disappeared the spinning pole inched toward the portal and vanished as well. The next instant the strange object flashed once before fading altogether.
A/N: Sorry everyone. I've decided to not continue this story. I've been reading a lot of good stories centered around the canon cast and I just don't like my OC's as much as I used to. I've lost interest in this plot which was practically non-existent to begin with. Again I apologize. I posted my edited version of the first chapter because it seemed to be a waste of effort not to share it.