The Visions of Heroes
by StormesJay
chapter o n e
Aerrow could only feel the dull pain in his torso. As desperately as he tried to open his eyes, they stayed shut. He could hear a constant ringing in his ears. A cold, stinging chill raised up his back. He slowly faded out of consciousness, losing the feelings he was experiencing only a few moments ago.
The brisk air was Aerrow's favorite aspect of sky riding. Atmosia was beautiful in the early morning. This was where he had grown up, gaining so many things and yet losing he one thing he truly wanted. It had been two years since his father had died in at sky, but Aerrow still bared fresh wounds from the incident. He slowly wheeled his skimmer into the garage of his home, praying his mother would not be awakened by the skid of his wheels. She probably did, even though he was as silent as possible.
"Where were you?" he heard, his movement coming to a halt, "I was worried sick." His mother walked into the line of sight, "Were you out riding that piece of metal again?"
"Mom! I was just taking it out for a test run!" Aerrow attempted to stop the conversation by walking into the house.
"Don't you even touch that door!" He turned, "We are going to talk about this young man."
"B-"
"No buts." She crossed her arms, "I am tired of your excuses! You're too young to be doing this!"
"Mom, please! You can be any age to ride a skimmer like this! Please don't over react!" Aerrow strained his whisper, "Can we just go inside? It's cold out."
"No. We need to talk about this! If you keep doing this then you'll end up like your father."
Aerrow stopped, "Why don't you let me then? Have you ever thought that's what I might want to do? I might want to be a sky-knight! I might want to be a hero! I might--"
"Want to be dead?! I don't think so. You should stay here and get a useful job." She walked past him, opening the door, "I don't care how much you want to get your own squad and find the Condor, you are not going to! Now get inside. It's cold."
Aerrow gave his mother an ice cold stare as he passed by. He slammed the door to his room loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear. He sat down sternly on his bed staring straight ahead.
"I love you son. You know that, right?"
"Yeah, Dad! I love you too!"
That's when it occurred to him. His mother loved him, dearly, but wouldn't listen to him. He never really cared for Atmosia anyway. Yes, it'll work! All he would need to do is leave a note, and his conscience would be clear. Then he could follow his dream.
Aerrow placed the note on the table with a bag of money, scanning it over once again to check for his clarity and stern tone.
Dear Mom,
I've left. Don't try and find me, please. I love you, but I have to follow my heart, which you are holding back. I'll send you letters every month to let you know I'm okay.
Aerrow.
He looked down and walked out of his house, carrying what he had on his back, he was alone now, forced into adulthood by his actions. He only had the skies left now. He felt a jerk from the back of his skimmer. His head yanked forward before he leaned back to see what was going on. A mixture of steam and smoke was flowing out of the engine, "What? Ugh... The crystal conversion unit!" he sighed, at least he was close to Terra Lyn, which was filled with mechanics. The first shop he saw was the one he entered; Highwind's Parts and Mechanics. He slid roughly into the driveway of a shop, stopping with a grunt from the engine. He walked inside, rolling his ride in after him and approaching one of the garage workers, "Hi, my bike's CCU is busted, do you guys fix them here?"
The man turned, a toothpick hanging out of his mouth and a pair of goggles resting on his forehead, "You bet we do." the mechanic said in a rough, rugged voice, "Go ahead and roll it in over next to that one."
Aerrow looked over and saw a similar model to his own. This skimmer had been modified for speed and maneuverability, definitely a good model, "It's nice." He put down the kick stand, "What's it in here for?"
"Just some final tune ups. It's my son's. He's out back if you want to meet him." The mechanic smiled, "Alright, we'll have you fixed up in no time."
"Thanks. Out back, right?" Once he received the nod he walked out to the area.
"There's no way you'll hit it. The sun's still rising!" One of them said.
"None of us have hit it! What makes you so good, huh?"
Aerrow approached the group of people. He managed to fit through the small crowd and saw who was most likely the owner of the ride in the garage. His hair was a light, golden blonde, his eyes were a deep blue, and his face glowed with confidence. He lifted his crossbow to the target, an impossible to hit can on a fence forty feet away.
Aerrow opened his eyes once more seeing a familiar face, "Junko... Wallops can take a beating, huh?" He gave a weak smile.
Junko smiled back, "Yeah, you betchya!" He pulled a chunk of contorted metal off of Aerrow's chest, "Are you okay?"
"I think..." He tried to sit up. A jolt of sharp pain shot into his left lung, "Hold that thought..." He fell back, "I think something's broken..."
"It's okay. I'll help you." Junko pulled Aerrow up as gently as a Wallop could. Aerrow winced as he was put back down in the ground. Junko brushed his shoulders off and turned, "We need to find the others...!"