{"sf1_id":12071,"sf2_id":"YnLR0Vpe","title":"Illusion of Reality Chap 3","author":"AshuraK","words":1910,"posted_at":"2006-07-24T19:53:00.000Z","tags":["Avian","Character Development","Dragoness","Elf","Friendship","Hybrid","Magic","Modern","Other/Herm","Plot Development","Suicide"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/12071-illusion-of-reality-chap-3","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/YnLR0Vpe","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/54/f9/54f9727d-6d44-4677-8603-fdd9bc19bbe0","description":"#4 of Mondias Tales","content":"Illusion of Reality  \nWritten by: Ashura L. Kusanaga  \nAdapted from: JDawson's adventure  \n  \nChapter Three  \nIt had only a few days since the news of the loss of Cal and Agnes, as well as  \nthe loss of three-quarters of Kalo's army. The townsfolk tried to go on with  \ntheir lives, and many did... but not everyone was happy with the news.  \nAlthough the people of Kalo didn't show it, they were filled with anger and  \nvengeance, or sadness and sorrow.  \n  \n\"Thanks for coming over Toshi\" said Drake, pouring himself and Toshi a cup of  \ntea.  \n\"I haven't heard from Anthony since he beat up that Acem\" Toshi said, then set  \ndown the pot. He looked away towards Anthony's room and frowned slightly.  \n\"My Aunt Eliza is visiting us because Uncle Rupert was in San Kailon\" Toshi  \ncontinued, and then turned back around. \"He was okay, but he drove me nuts when  \nhe talked about the Resistance... I'm only five, not as old as my dad... I  \ndidn't know Uncle Rupert much, but Aunt Eliza wants me to love him even though I  \ndidn't.\"  \nThere was a silence.  \n\"Anthony rarely comes out, he even eats in there, and he's been more quiet than  \nhe usually is... I'm worried Toshi... you know him better than anyone, please,  \nhelp me figure out what to do\" Drake said and then sipped his tea. Toshi looked  \nsurprised, but thought a while, and just as he was about to say something, there  \nwas a knock on the door.  \n\"Newspaper!\" shouted a voice from behind the door. Drake set his cup down, and  \nfetched the papers. He made his way back over to the table and sat down. He  \nread them to himself, and sighed heavily.  \n\"I'm glad Toshi is so young and probably won't remember these things, but these  \nwill forever be in my memory\" Drake thought. The Headlines read \"War Over\", but  \nthe other stories were about suicides and new overly protective laws being  \npassed to prevent war from happening again.  \n\"I could talk to him\" Toshi suggested. Drake jumped a little at Toshi's voice,  \nand while looking up, said while smiling, \"Good idea Toshi, go and talk with  \nhim!\"  \nToshi slid off the chair, and walked to Anthony's room. Drake's smile had  \nquickly disappeared, and he continued to read more headlines.  \n\"Why are these people committing suicide? Their loved ones, both dead and  \nalive, wouldn't want them to die early,\" he thought to himself.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Anthony?\" said Toshi. The room was dark and cold. He shivered, and walked  \nover to the bed. Anthony was on it, lying on his side, away from Toshi and  \ntoward the wall. He was crying silently, but Toshi could still hear him sniff  \nnow and then.  \n\"Buddy? It's Toshi, your friend\" Toshi smiled hopefully. Anthony just lay  \nthere, and sniffed. Toshi sat on the bed, and put his hand on Anthony's  \nshoulder.  \n\"Things will change, you'll see\" Toshi smiled weakly. He rubbed Anthony's  \nshoulder. Anthony said simply one thing and then said no more, \"they're not  \ncoming back, nothing will change.\"  \nToshi's weak smile disappeared.  \n\"Nothing will change?\" Toshi said. Anthony stopped sniffing, and actually  \nturned over to Toshi, and sat up.  \n\"No, Toshi, nothing will change...\" Anthony said sadly. Toshi once again  \nsmiled.  \n\"We're good friends, and because of what's happened, I feel like were closer...  \nlike brothers\" Toshi said hopefully.  \n\"I don't want a brother! It's bad enough that Brad ran away!\" Anthony shouted.  \nOnce again, Toshi became saddened, and tried again, but failed as Anthony had  \ngotten up and out of bed. \"Maybe I should run away\" Anthony whispered low.  \n\"Anthony, no, don't do what I think you're gonna do\" Toshi said wide-eyed. And  \nat that Anthony ran out of his room.  \n\"Anthony, no!\" Toshi shouted after him. He quickly leaped off of the bed, and  \nran after him.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Drake had just looked up from his newspaper at Anthony as he ran outside.  \n\"Drake stop him! He's running away like Brad!\" Toshi yelled as he too ran out  \nthe door. Drake got up quicker than anything did, and before his dust had  \nrisen, he was out the door.  \nAnthony was good with animals, but he was fast too, however, he was not faster  \nthan an adult was, like his Uncle Drake.  \nAnthony took advantage of being out of the door first, and ran around the back  \nof the house whilst Drake and Toshi looked for him out front. He knew he had to  \nget away quickly, and an idea came to him fast.  \n\"Kae-oos!\"  \n  \n\"Toshi, look around back, he may've gone into the HavenWood Forest!\" Drake said  \nquickly. Toshi nodded and went around back. Just as he was about to round the  \ncorner, a blur of green and white ran past him. As Toshi fell to the grassy  \nground, he knew what Anthony had done.  \n\"Drake! He's riding a Kholna!\" Toshi bellowed. Just as Drake heard that, he saw  \nAnthony and his bird-like Kholna steed, that looked almost like a blur of green  \nand white.  \n\"Damn it\" Drake swore silently. He knew that particular Kholna was one of  \nAnthony's friends and was one of the fastest and smallest riding creatures he'd  \never seen. And it was only a young Kholna too.  \nToshi came around the corner again, and was about to run after Anthony.  \nHowever, Drake stopped him.  \n\"We can't catch him, but something I have can\" Drake smirked. He whistled, and  \nfrom somewhere came a roar that sounded like... a Dragyn!  \nFrom over the clearing in the woods just west of the Sear house, came the flaps  \nof leathery wings. A moment later, a horse-sized Dragyn landed not but a few  \nfeet from them. Toshi was astounded.  \n\"I'll help you on, but we've got to be quick\" Drake hoisted Toshi from the  \nground onto the Dragyn and climbed on as well. He made some clicking noises and  \nsaid loudly but nicely, \"To the skies Elkira!\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Anthony was already down his house's hill, past Kalo, and making his way toward  \nthe cliffs of the Virgin's Peak. He could turn around and head back those five  \nkilos to home, but he didn't want to. He was only half a kilo away from the  \ncliffs where he would contemplate. Contemplate his fate.  \nAnd not but a few minutes later, he reached the outcropping of the area, the  \nVirgin's Peak, aptly named for its history about a virgin maiden who waited  \namong the cliffs, waiting for something that only she knew about.  \n\"You'll have to stay here, Katey\" Anthony said to his Kholna friend as he  \ndismounted her. She simply ruffled her white feathers, and looked at him  \nquietly. It was more than a friendship for them. He loved her, and she showed  \nthat in kind every day he played with her and rode her. She made a quiet  \nsquawking sound, nuzzled his cheek, and nipped his ear each time he got off of  \nher.  \nHe smiled, and patted her on her beak, and promptly turned around. He sighed  \nhappily and sadly, and began his climb down to the plateau.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"That Kholna only has two legs like every other Kholna, but why is it so fast?\"  \nDrake wondered aloud. They were almost to Virgin's Peak, and saw Katey in the  \ndistance.  \n\"There's that Kholna!\" Toshi yelled over the wind. Drake nodded and glided in  \nfor a dusty landing next to the Kholna. Drake got off then helped Toshi down,  \nand searched for Anthony.  \nKatey squawked loudly, showing her disapproval of Elkira's landing, and began to  \nruffle her feathers yet again to get the dirt and dust off of her. Elkira was  \ntaken aback by Katey's display of disapproval, and so lowed with a gurgle-like  \ngrowl then snorted once to show her status as a more dominant species. At this,  \nKatey clucked and turned away, only to scuff dirt at Elkira. Elkira roared  \nquietly, and was about to pounce on the little Kholna.  \n\"Knock it off you two\" Drake said not looking back.  \nKatey simply blinked and looked at Drake briefly, while Elkira sat on her  \nhaunches with a 'thud'.  \n  \n\"I could end it all right now, and be with my parents again in the Celestial  \nRealm\" Anthony thought. He had found a cliff that looked like a good place to  \ndecide his fate, and was pondering his fate. \"Nobody would really miss me...  \nUncle Drake rarely sees me as is, Brad's gone, mom and dad aren't... alive  \nanymore.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Anthony!\" Drake called out. No sounds of a reply came, but only the sound of  \nthe seaside wind could be heard. Toshi called out as well.  \n\"Anthony, where are you buddy?\" He shouted. No reply came for him either.  \nHe looked sadly at Drake, who looked down at Toshi as if he knew something  \nwasn't right.  \n\"I know what you're thinking Toshi, he's still alive\" Drake said comfortingly.  \n  \n\"What would Toshi think? Would he care?\" Anthony thought, now crying. \"No one  \nelse would miss me besides him, and he alone isn't a reason enough to stay  \nalive.\"  \nHe stood up and leaned against the rocks, and thought about his parents. Then  \nhe thought about his friends, both animal and human. His vision blurred with  \ntears, and he wiped his eyes.  \n\"Sure they'd miss me, but they'll die of age before I do\" Anthony thought, now  \nsobbing.  \n\"Animals don't how to take their own lives, so if I continue, I can wait for  \nthem in the Celestial Realm...\" he reasoned, and standing away from the rock.  \nHe began to walk, then jog, and finally run toward the cliff. His tears  \nstreaming down his cheeks and behind him.  \n\"... And I can guide them to the Celestial Realm when they die\" he thought  \nhappily, his feat pounding on the dirt. \"All I have to do is jump!\" He jumped  \nfive feet before the edge of the cliff.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Drake and Toshi heard Anthony's sobs, and got to the plateau too late... Anthony  \nwas flying through the air toward the sea.  \n\"Anthony! No!\" screamed both Toshi and Drake.  \n  \nAnthony was enthralled. He didn't hear the yells, as he was oblivious to the  \nsound of their sorrow.  \n\"The wind feels so wonderful,\" he thought. He smiled as he drew closer from the  \nedge. \"It feels just like in my dreams!\"  \nIn his dreams, he had a sword in his hand, and shield in the other, and he was  \nflying in the night sky, high above a tall castle with a few turrets and towers.  \nHe felt the wings coming from him pulling him away into the air, away from the  \nground.  \n  \nEverything felt like it was happening in slow motion to Anthony.  \nBut then he fell toward the ground, and landed on his stomach.  \nHe could've sworn he felt something grab or hit his legs.  \nHis hearing returned to him as he no longer in the moment of happiness.  \nHe heard his moans of pain and someone else's moans as well.  \n  \n\"Toshi, look it\" Drake breathed. Toshi had sunk to his knees and began to cry  \nas well. But he heard that, and cautiously looked back up.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Ow...\" Anthony cried out. He propped himself up on his elbows, and turned his  \nhead towards the direction of the moans that weren't his.  \nLying on its back was a small child about his age with blue hair. Its head was  \nturned to the side.  \n  \n  \n[In the next Chapter of IoR: Fate and recovery.]  \n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Mondias Tales","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/11984-illusion-of-reality-chap-2.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/13645-illusion-of-reality-chap-4.json"}}