{"sf1_id":1711497,"sf2_id":"4nAORpNe","title":" The Leaves of Fall Act 3: Something That Matters (Part 26)","author":"Oliver_Hart","words":759,"posted_at":"2021-04-27T01:30:37.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Alternate Reality","Anon","Boy","Brother","Bunny","Classroom","Couple","Emo","Fight","Girl","Green text","Greentext","HMOFA","Halloween","Heterosexual","High School","Hmofa/","Human","Kissing","Plot Development","Rabbit","Siblings","Slow burn","Young Romance","anthro/human"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1711497-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-26","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/4nAORpNe","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/a6/01/a6011a14-1a65-41dd-bb87-39cb2e1c87f7","description":"You've never really 'fit in' with the heavily divided Ranchview High School crowd. Jock, Goth, Prep, Cheerleader, Nerd... you were never any of these. But as Halloween approaches, strange things start happening, and a dark ritual begins with the finding of a curious red book. It's a race against time for you and your friends to stop a group of students from ushering in an age of darkness, and to also figure out just what the hell is wrong with that rabbit.  \n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  \n  \nAbout this version: originally, The Leaves of Fall was split into two pastebins to compensate for the length of the story. Given that pastebin has chosen to censor this story for ambiguous reasons, it will forever be stored here and on AO3. This new version contains spelling, grammar and content fixes. Please understand that the content is all the same as the earlier versions minus some sentences being changed and fixed up. I cannot stress this enough: no new content has been added. It's my hope that this is a cleaner, easier-to-read version of the story.  \n  \nCover: [https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q](https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q)  \nSam (drawn by Akella of /hmofa/) [https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT](https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT)  \nFan art collection: [https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv](https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv)  \nAccompanying playlist (WIP): [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410\\_nI-0J](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410_nI-0J)  \nAlternative link: [https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078](https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078)  \nTotal word count: 147,552 words","content":"\\\u003eBe Sam  \n\\\u003eAnd…  \n\\\u003eOw  \n\\\u003eEverything hurts  \n\\\u003eAre you made of glass?  \n\\\u003eIt feels like it  \n\\\u003eDid every single bone in your leg break?  \n\\\u003eIt feels like it  \n\\\u003eBut you keep pressing on, now that all the hot air feels like its been sucked out of the gloomy hallways  \n\\\u003eYour natural night vision and sense of smell help guide you through the maze of corridors where Vanessa brought you  \n\\\u003eAnd soon you start to smell something other than mold and mildew and wet concrete  \n\\\u003eYou smell wet bodies, strong and sharp against your nose  \n\\\u003eYou (carefully) descend the stairs that lead to the door into into the gym’s equipment room  \n\\\u003eAnd the closer you get to the bottom, the sharper the smell  \n\\\u003eAnd the louder the noise  \n\\\u003eAnd screaming  \n\\\u003eAnd murmuring  \n\\\u003eBut mostly yelling  \n\\\u003eIt’s like a hurricane in your ears  \n\\\u003eWhen you finally stumble into the gym, all the lights are on  \n\\\u003eAnd… you swear there was a metric ton of fog clouding everything  \n\\\u003eNow you just see a chaotic swarm of mammals  \n\\\u003eHumans, anthros, all mixing together, yelling, looking around, frantic in their costumes  \n\\\u003eEveryone is out looking for someone or something  \n\\\u003eThe shock of the ritual’s defeat must have sent everyone into a frantic state  \n\\\u003eYour burning eyes struggle to focus on anyone or anything in particular  \n\\\u003eIt’s just lights and motion  \n\\\u003eYou lean into the door frame and grit your teeth  \n\\\u003eAnother jolt of pain tells you that racing (if you could call it that) through the tunnels and down the stairs was a bad idea  \n“H-H-Hey!” You yell, desperate. “S-S-S-Someone come and h-help me!”  \n\\\u003eGod damnit, Anonymous is going to bleed to death  \n\\\u003eIt’s worse than talking to a wall  \n\\\u003ePeople embrace and hug and cry and rush for the doors, but pay you no mind  \n\\\u003eHell, even a few of the cheerleaders, color back in their skin, hug and embrace over the disintegrating bodies of their former squad mates  \n\\\u003eIf they remember anything, you can’t tell  \n“HEY!” You shout again with hoarse lungs  \n\\\u003eAnd then  \n\\\u003eParting the crowds like Moses, is Gloria, barely dressed in a tablecloth  \n\\\u003eAnd she’s leading Jenna and Alex and Stella  \n\\\u003e”Sam!” Alex waves his arms frantically  \n\\\u003eRelief nearly drops you to your knees in prostration and thanks  \n\\\u003eThat and the broken leg  \n“P-P-Please hurry.” You point a finger towards the not-so-hidden doorway, still wide open. “A-A-A-Anon is up there a-and he l-l-lost a lot of b-b-b-blood.”  \n\\\u003eIt’s times like these that make you hate your stutter even more  \n\\\u003e”What the hell is that?” Stella says points towards the open door. “I’ve never seen that door before in my life.”  \n\\\u003eUnlike Gloria, the badger hasn’t bothered to clothe herself  \n\\\u003eHer wide, yet stacked body moves with slovenly grace as she pounds her feet towards the door  \n\\\u003e…Followed by Alex and Jenna and Gloria  \n\\\u003eYou want to go with them  \n\\\u003eYou want to make sure he’s safe  \n\\\u003eBut you know you’ll never make it up the stairs again  \n\\\u003eYou’ve done all you can do  \n\\\u003eAnd now you wait  \n  \n\\\u003eBe Anonymous  \n\\\u003eAre you  \n\\\u003eFlying?  \n\\\u003eYeah  \n\\\u003eYou’re ascending to heaven  \n\\\u003eYou feel weightless, bereft of any earthly tethers  \n\\\u003eA leaf on the wind  \n“So… I… I’m dead?”  \n\\\u003eA booming voice echoes back  \n\\\u003e”You made it little buddy.”  \n\\\u003eYou dun did good this time around  \n\\\u003eA warm smile spreads across your face  \n\\\u003eEverything is dark  \n\\\u003eIt feels… good, to be dying  \n\\\u003eIt’s blissful, like a dream  \n\\\u003e”You’re going to be alright.”  \n\\\u003eWat  \n\\\u003e”ETA to the hospital?”  \n\\\u003eNo  \n\\\u003eWait  \n\\\u003eYou’re dead  \n\\\u003eBut you hear voices around you  \n\\\u003eThe whirring blades of a helicopter cutting through the air  \n\\\u003eThe slow trickle of blood piped into your arms through an IV  \n\\\u003e”Give us 10 minutes and we’ll have him in ICU.”  \n\\\u003eYour eyes creak open…  \n\\\u003e…And are filled with sterile, surgical light  \n\\\u003eA paramedic — a cheetah — leans over you  \n\\\u003eHer whiskers and nose twitch as she sees you flirting with consciousness  \n\\\u003e”HEY JOE! HE’S AWAKE!”  \n\\\u003e’Joe’ answers back: “Right, I’m punching it.”  \n\\\u003eYour internal gravity shifts forward as Joe indeed punches it  \n\\\u003eWhere are you?  \n\\\u003eYou roll your head  \n\\\u003eOh  \n\\\u003eOh fuck  \n\\\u003eYou’re in a helicopter, circling above the school  \n\\\u003eYou peer out the open door, vision pulsing as blood fills your sapped veins  \n\\\u003eYou can just make out the rooftop of the school  \n\\\u003eAnd the four shapes on top of it, standing still with apprehension  \n\\\u003eYou shut your heavy eyes, stones on each lid  \n\\\u003eOblivion feels good  \n\\\u003eSo you should enjoy it while it lasts  \n\\\u003eBecause after this?  \n\\\u003eThere’s so much life to live","series":{"name":"The Leaves of Fall","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1709350-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-25.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1712931-the-leaves-of-fall-epilogue.json"}}