The tree is her backyard was home base.

It was home base in a lot of her games. Tag, Cops and Robbers, Hide and Seek. The tall oak was always home base, a safe place to be. And now it would be her marker home from space.

From space.

Ambrosia still found it odd that she could get there. But a cat had assured her that it could be done. All she had to do was take out her senshi phone, and push the magic button that she had somehow missed every time she used the phone...

She shut her eyes tight, and pushed the button.

The world seemed to fall out from underneath her. Her hair was whipping around her eyes, but she kept them shut. This must be what Harry Potter felt like when he touched the Portkey.. she thought, and then the earth connected with her feet again, sending her tumbling to the ground as her knees locked.

"Landing needs work." she coughed as dust puffed up around her. She cleared her lungs, and managed to open her eyes. She gasped, inhaling more filth.

She was in a barren wasteland. The gently rolling hills were the color of rust, a bleak horizon touching an orange sky. The air felt warm, and close. Ambrosia coughed, and covered her face with her hands. Where the heck was she? This couldn't be her asteroid! It looked dead!

The chibi senshi stood up and dusted herself off, leaving faint orange streaks on her skirts. Hopefully those would come out. Then she turned on the spot, taking in the depressing landscape. Sweat started to break out on her brow, though from nerves or the humidity, she couldn't tell. This couldn't be Ambrosia, her namesake. There wasn't a place for the drink of the gods here!'

She was tentative step from her landing spot, noting the small motes of dust that poofed up. Maybe her footsteps would hang around long enough that she could find her way back to her starting point. She took a deep breath behind her gloves, and walked out into the abyss.

The landscape remained unchanged after a few minutes of walking. Same dusty hills, same orange sky, same warm air...Ambrosia felt like she was surrounded by a blanket; warm and slightly claustrophobic. When a breeze made it's way to her face, it was far from refreshing. Just warm.

"Augh, I can't take this anymore!" she finally shouted, letting her frustration be heard by the sky while she stomped her feet. "This can't be MY place! This isn't what it was supposed to look like!" Frustration made her eyes well up. Where was the green? Where were the houses? Where was a super amazing castle that once had a princess in it!? None of those things existed. Only stupid red dust.

She kicked her boot out, watching the dust eddy away. Stupid dust. Another breeze crossed her path, and she braced herself for the wave of heat that came with it.

But this breeze held a faint odor. Suddenly, color flashed across her eyes. For a moment, she saw green.

Ambrosia blinked, and the moment was over. Everything was back to rust. But the smell on the breeze and the flicker of color made her heart race. The scent was hard to place; she racked her brain trying to come up with where she'd smelled it before. It was on the tip of her tongue when she heard a whooshing sound in the distance. It derailed her train of thought, and she peered into the murky distance.

The ground seemed to be alive. Dust swirled angrily in a giant cloud that blocked the sky with a wall of red. She realized with a stab of panic that it was a duststorm, whirling it's way across the landscape.

She turned on her heel and sprinted back, following her footsteps only barely. She reached the spot where she could see her knee marks from the land, skidding to a stop. As she pulled out her phone to return home, the first part of the storm hit; the wind. It whipped her fuku into a frenzy and she shouted in alarm, slamming her finger down on the home button. She was whisked away as the wall of the storm hit her spot, collecting the dust from her spot into itself.


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