The Mak Toras Chronicles

Chapter 5 - Indecision

Later that evening, the rest of the day took its toll as it crossed over to dusk with the sun's rays soon blotted out by the coming of darkness. The clouds gave their last and final hue of scarlet red and magenta to the consumption of darkness arising. Thereon, night took over with the sky as clear as day; no cloud in sight, but the array of stars, planets, and galaxies alike, compiled into small dots of luminosity. Unable to be told apart, they shine as a crowd amongst one another-as one. The moon, however, stood out amongst the rest, shining brighter than ever before in its full stage. Like a night light in the room of infants in peaceful snores, the moon illuminated the entire landscape as if even it alone was in a constant state of twilight. Shadows amongst the field below the mansion of Eterna emanated as paintings to the glow of the moon. The environment surrounding chirped with the sounds of crickets and nocturnal life, echoing in the saturated night air. The mother, who sat relaxed on the wide porch, took in a breath as a wisp of a cool breeze filled her nostrils with a soothing chill to compare with winter's frigid air. She needed time to think by herself. Too much had passed through her mind today and plague her even further as she gazed at the land around her. Something wasn't right with her son. Although the he never seemed to outstay his norm, there was something within, concealed, and hidden away. For all the years he lived, the features weren't noticable until now. Whatever the matter, it made her gut cringe in fear and anxiety, all the while remaining calm and collected on the outside. Unfortunately, there was nothing she nor the doctors can do about it. All the years she had him, she lived with it unwarranted. Now with further detail, it's all the mother could think about. "What's wrong with my son?" Her mind eventually concluded as she shoved the thought to the back of her memory, attempting to ignore the thriving guilt of knowing nothing of what was conceived earlier on and stared expressionless up at the night sky. Each and every dot she rested her eyes upon was quickly recognized as the planets in the solar system or beyond, despite their exact similar appearance. "Mars, Jupiter...Venus" the mother uttered in silence. Counting the objects within the night sky she and Tanner always loved to do best. In some instances they would even witness meteor showers or another phenomena. It never got old to either of them; star-gazing was plenty of thrill for Tanner anyways in his hobbies, mostly putting him to sleep from watching the sky like an owl perched upon the highest branch. Nature itself, in fact, always kept him on his toes. There was much to learn from the world around him. For now, whenever he and his mother would go for a stroll in the woods, he would pick out the little critters on the path and take his time surveying the unflinching forestry. The night made it much more satisfactory and intriguing. Night life thrived more than Tanner had thought. Nevertheless, he admired it all, for as it never ceased its extravagance. The mother, on the other hand, would let him go about and become integrated with the flourishing life. As long as he was in no danger, she would allow him to go freely wherever he pleased. In her chair, this time it was to herself-a turn to take a moment and admire everything around her in the sky and furthermore. Lost in sight and mind, she was unaware of how long Tanner stood beside her, copying her same motive. He had gotten out of bed unable to sleep once again, even by a lullaby to sentence him into slumber. Night was a time where he felt truly active, unlike any other time of day. He spoke softly, feeling awkward to break the silence. "Mom?" The mother nearly jumped from her seat at the sudden answer, but soon calming down once she recognized the voice. Before she could even respond, he climbed up onto her lap and huddled closely. "What is it, dear? Can't sleep?" From the look of his head buried into her shoulder, Tanner was in the mood for a cuddle. Never once in his life could he give it up. It always remained by him no matter what. She said no more and held him close as if he was only a few weeks old again. His head then turned to the sky-eyes wide-and took in the glamorous night sky. They rested in silence for what seemed like hours going by. Eventually, the silence was broken twice when Tanner asked a question out of the ordinary, pausing his view. "Mom, is there anything...like us out there?" His mother looked up at each and every object. She took time thinking about his question, unable to reply. She never considered living organisms beyond their world, let alone the people of Remnant baffled at the theory. They were never too engulfed in exploring outside their planet, for they, just like the mother, were clueless to what sided beyond planet Earth. But Tanner, in contrast, took the chance to ask. He always wondered of other entites thriving on the objects of the night sky. If life on Earth was prominent, then surely there could be existence of it elsewhere-or at least he thought. Still, even he was unsure. His mother took a deep breath and replied. "I don't know sweety. I've always wondered the same thing. But who knows." Without a sufficient answer, he resumed his cuddling almost immediately, still pondering about the beyond. From there, silence rolled back at around as they sat in the sound-empty air, blowing gentle breezes of a cool night everlasting.

As midnight approached, they headed back inside to an even quieter house. Regardless of the air conditioning, nothing else roamed to be noticed as commotion. Tanner, who had fallen asleep, was carrying back up to where he once laid. Tucked away in his wrap of warmth, he was inevitably consumed by slumber. With a kiss on the forehead, his mother quickly departed. The night of star-gazing had been fulfilling to both of them. However the aftermath of thoughts had swiftly raced back into the mothers head as quickly as it left her outside. Aside from his nosey behavior of just wanting to know, the earlier events of today were more dominant in her focus. The images seemed particularly virulent as she couldn't shake them away. "The eyes..." All she could think about were the eyes, first glanced upon at birth-haunting her to the very day. Above it all, she loved her son no matter what, despite his abnormalities. Although hard to accept the absurd features, he was her child after all. A balance set aside in her mind, shifting left to right on her beliefs. She couldn't explain it all in any way. With her constant search for a possible answer inside, she continued downstairs to power down for the night. Out of the blue, Chad caught mother by surprise-residing within the family room, resting upon the chair as if he was expecting someone. It wasn't common to find him to be the last one awake-usually he's asleep much earlier. Tonight happened to be his late run in staying awake. "So, I heard you and dad talking about Tanner today. What happened at the doctors?" The mother sighed and took a seat across from him. "It's hard to explain" she said clearing her throat. Chad pressed on in persistance, "Did they do anything to him. 'Cause of they did-." "Heavens no, Chad! Not anything like that" the mother exclaimed. "Well what happened then?" asked Chad. Once again, the mother sighed. "They said they found something...unusual. He's fine and all, but they claim he's half-something else." Chad paused, now with a worried personality. "So you saying he's...a faunus? Does that make me a faunus?" She rolled her eyes at him. "Don't be ridiculous. We're clean, pure human." "Then what about Tanner? He's 'part' something else, you said." The mother tried to go on explaining but lost her trail of thought, succoming to the unknown. "I don't know, Chad. I'm worried, that's all." Chad thought to himself for a moment before resuming to speak. "What did they find specifically?" Recalling from earlier, she regained her memory in full detail. "They say he had orange eyes that glew and lit his entire vision in a deep, fiery scarlet orange. Both of his eyes were covered." At that point, the mother could clearly see Chad's expression shift from clueless to wide emotion of worry. "Mom...I've seen that somewhere before...and it ain't good." Her blood went cold. To know that Chad had an insight on the topic scared her stiff. "How do you know about this?" "Long story" said Chad, "we should take him back tomorrow. Bring me along this time. I may need to-." He was interrupted by an alarm sounding off throughout the mansion. Not only were it her son now flooding her brain, the alarm added onto her list of worries. The sirens rarely ever go off within mansion grounds. However, when it is, it's dire and of course, a threat to the entire family. With the sound pulsing through their ears, they quickly raced to the lobby area where the guards rushed to their protection. "Come with us, ma'am. We need to get you out of here." Chad took the lead. "What's going on?" "We're under attack. All perimeters have gone dark" the chief said in urgency. "By who?!" The mother wailed in anxiety. The guard took a breath and gave her the news cut and dried. "Whitefang."