To A New Universe

Rin’s POV

Memories come and go
forgotten in the vast inevitability of space.

I am the only one that remains.

This universe is dead.
It is time for me to move on.

Mother is gone
Life itself is truly gone
I feel the stifling void bend and flux, curl within
As it furls within itself
I wave my hands around to open a new portal to a place beyond all time, a Planetary Realm
I thought about resting here
but truth be told
I miss my family.

I switched the portal’s destination to the universe address given to me by Franco.

I remember it as clear as day.

I take a deep breath and sigh, “soon I will be able to see you.”

I take one last look at this blackened void that used to host life
In a language long forgotten
the language of my motherland
I bade this universe one final goodbye in a song.

“All lives have been lived
nothing new is to be born
a once silent
starry void nourishing life
must now end its own cycle.

I am grateful
you helped shape what I have become
and this is goodbye to you
and hello to another you.

Riposa in pace.

Riposa in pace.”

I was born here
lived here
and traversed countless worlds here.

I will not lie
it feels sad to leave it behind
but all things must come and go to allow for new flowers.

I take my first steps into the new universe where my family dwells.

* * *

It’s strange to not be on a world like Earth
The cosmos were the same, the planets were shaped the same
the physics were slightly different
but it did not feel like home, not like my old universe.

I wander those stars aimlessly
searching for any telepathic feelings of familiarity

My family must have gotten far ever since they left
Is Franco still around? I hadn’t seen him within the Planetary Realm in years
Would I recognize my family’s descendants?

I push those questions further down in my mind as I continue my wanderings.

I felt this universe was missing a Custodian,
a role I would have to fill until Alessio was ready
If he isn’t here…
have I stumbled upon the wrong universe?

My curiosities were piqued by a familiar feeling
a telepathic bond that all Karrucci dragons share
We feel each other in our heads
and I felt a familiar presence that filled me with knowledge of where to go.
I continue my path,
following this innate feeling until I happen upon a green and blue world similar to our old home.

My family has to be here.

* * *

The air was stifling at first
A dragon careened through the clouds
turning into fire, flame, embers
he tried to stabilize his fight
flapping his wings vigorously as the ground came closer
closer and closer and closer—

His big body crashed into the grassy fields
knocking down a few trees in the process.

That surely attracted some attention…

He decreases his size to match what you would call a greyhound
and he dashes into the forest.

He kept running and running
no thoughts in his head but fleeing the scene before anyone could appear
He had to
There’s no telling what this world has.

Its government could be dying to subjugate and experiment on a godly dragon like him
the last thing he needs to be doing is ripping black holes into reality out of fear.

His head went wild at the thought of it
visualizing himself strapped to a table
masked humans approaching with a scalpel
and then boom:

A black hole materialized out of nothing but fear
stretching and sucking the unfortunate humans inside.

Rin shook his head
coming to a full stop.

“You’re going to far,” he says under his breath.

Then it dawned on him…
He’s in a forest
there was a scent of sap and moss,
of conifers and ferns
a damp but fresh air,
laden with the scent of green leaves.

He missed his home even more
this forest was a reminder of an earth that no longer exists
an earth that was dried out long ago by the sun’s heat
and later swallowed by the sun’s swelling, aging hunger
memories he had long forgotten returned
days when he sat in forests.
eating or partying with friends
or lying beside Argo as they listened to nature for a moment
these were all swallowed by the expanse of time that his mind existed within,
long thought to be embedded within that old universe
these memories stuck with him
etched into his soul
rReady to be recalled at any moment.

He took a moment to enjoy this
sitting on his haunches.

What he remembered the most was Argo
holding his soft hand
laying his head on Argo’s shoulder
falling asleep because of the sheer sleepiness from yesterday’s activities
the sun’s light filtered through the trees
and the birds’ songs were as numerous as they were joyous

Nothing like that can happen anymore
he never thought he’d live in a universe without his wolf
all he has are memories.

He closed his eyes, speaking gently to himself and his soul
“I thought I had lost these. Thank you for keeping them.”

He has done enough reminiscing
this world may not be earth
it may not be the Wolflands either
it may not be the world where dragons come from
but he hoped this would be his new home.

* * *

Rin’s POV

I wandered out of the forest to a small town down the hill

Erm—I thought it was small but—

As I approached, I noticed it was bigger than usual

There was a mix of thatched houses and decently tall skyscrapers

Whoever made this place didn’t want to leave home behind.

From a series of mundane conversations
I learn that this world is called Telluria.

Whoever descended here brought earth’s ancient name with them.

From another series of conversations
I learned that this world has coffee, tea and dragons.

The whispers about dragons were not so great
something about a royal family oppressing the public
I pray it’s not my people, but the chance is 90% unfortunately.

When the humans asked me why I had scales on my face, I deigned to not answer
these curiosities should be left on earth.
Annoying.

It was at this moment I happened upon a familiar face:
Naitoti, Someone from my family.

It was him
I recognized the streaks of rainbow gradients in the back of his black hair
I felt comforted knowing that my family was indeed on this world
I observed him for a while so I could see how to best approach.

He was a fruit seller, it seems
I see mangoes, strawberries, bananas
mostly mangoes
Earth fruits exist here?
his customers are a mix of strange creatures from earth and humans
he saw a unicorn centaur, a talking giant mouse
a pink dracotaur, a human mom and her kid
a… fish person with a tank on its head?
a young Loch Ness wheeling itself around in a tank,
using its tentacles to help with movement
I saw some biped wolves and I think I even saw a biped sheep with them.

I squinted at the currency he was receiving from a little dragon girl
Gold coins
I noticed everyone gave gold coins
this must be their currency
I never thought Naitoti would be a shopkeeper
selling mangoes to other magical creatures.

I went up to him and waved like a decent person
“May I buy a mango?”
I just realized how stupid that was
who asks to buy? Just grab it and pay
has it really been that long since I interacted with an intelligent life form?

“Sure,” he responds graciously with a nod.

I held my bawled hand behind my back
using my power to create the money I saw and handed it to Naitoti.

When our hands touched
I momentarily felt what Naitoti felt
he felt a pang in his chest, his eyes going wide at the shock
for both of us, memories flooded our minds
memories our lives on earth
his past life
memories of his father Alessio, me, my father Ashuton,
and the great tree from our old home on the wolfworld.

I remember that place and the giant silver tree we lived in
me, Ashuton, Alessio, Naitoti and his brothers Mattia, Vitale and his sister Edvige
all of these flooded our minds.

Naitoti withdrew his hand
picking up the mangoes and apologizing repeatedly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, sir. I’m sorry.”

I try to reassure him, “it’s fine, it’s not a problem.”

I took them, avoiding direct contact as much as possible by picking them up with my fingertips.

“Ah, can I have a bag for them?”

“S-Sure.”

I left but I know I heard him say under his breath, “what the hell was that?”
that was our deep bond reminding you of where you came from.

* * *
Author's Note: I found out about this contest almost too late, and life kept interfering with the writing process, but I did not want to give this up. I had to speedrun this entry, but I do hope someone sees value in this story's concept.