Author's Note

Props to NineTailBeastBall for helping me create the first chapter of this new story. Also a quick reminder for you all so please listen: I would appreciate if you stop pestering about when the next chapters will be up and what I should make for the next Anthro Waifu story.

2nd Human on Mount Aris

Opposites Attract on Mount Aris

Written by Israel Yabuki

Edited and Co-written by NineTailBeastBall

Families: They’re supposed to be supportive and loving, refusing to let each other down no matter what kind of challenges they must endure. Now of course with the world being as big as it is, every family is different. Some are big, some are small, some are rich, and some are poor. Just about anyone wants loving relatives who will be there for them, especially if they’re orphans. Unfortunately, there are orphans who just aren’t so lucky... and you’re one of them.

It was just recently that you learned that you were born into a very rich family and were the youngest of 3 brothers and 2 sisters. Apparently, the vile man who was unfortunately your father, wasn’t too keen on having another son because you were constantly whining and crying since the day you were born. Your siblings were in agreement, seeing you as the “runt of the litter” who would do nothing but slow them down.

This turned your whole world upside down, making you bitter towards anyone who seemed even remotely abusive. You vowed that one day you’d find your father so you could settle the score. You didn’t care how long it would take to get your wish.

As of right now, you are still down on your luck and you just hit 21-years-old. You were at a bar using some money that you pickpocketed from some shady business man out on the street. The snobbish sucker was obviously loaded, so there was no guilty conscience to stop you from drinking your cares away. You were sitting on the bar table with a big glass mug of beer.

Originally, you thought it was just going to be another typical night of drinking enough to be able to sleep, but things got interesting when a middle-aged man in a nice suit walked into the bar, dressed up in a nice, fancy suit. It was well-dressed guys like these that made you sick to your stomach since the attire always succeeded in reminding you of your father.

“Excuse me, can I get some whiskey over here, please?” the man asked.

“Coming right up,” the bartender replied. When he came back with the drink, he saw how his new customer was acting as if he had a headache. “What? Tough day?”

“That’s probably the understatement of the century. A longtime colleague from work convinced me to become his errand boy and help find his son. There’s a very important message that I need to give to him.” the man replied.

“Interesting. Specifically though, why did he send you to look for him?” the bartender asked, his curiosity piqued.

“Well... he’s realized that he made a huge mistake 21 years ago. He had a child whom he gave up because he deemed him the “runt of the litter”. I still remember the argument we had all those years ago. I tried to warn him that it would be a terrible mistake and he would surely regret it, but he didn’t listen... Oh, how I wish I was wrong about that part,” the man sighed before he took a sip of his whiskey. “His wife filed for divorce, his kids botched on his company and as if things weren’t bad enough, he’s got--”

You’ve heard enough and slammed your glass on the table to silence him. “Not another word!” you shouted, breathing heavily.

“Am I bothering you?” he asked understandingly.

“That heartless old fart can rot in hell for all I care! That is, if that’s even the same old man who flaked on me when I was a baby!” you snarled, clenching the glass so hard that it threatened to break. Even though you were losing your cool, the gentleman before you knew how to remain calm.

“Was your family... wealthy? Were you one of his 5 children who had your own siblings turn against you?” the man asked, trying to put two and two together. You got wide-eyed when he asked that question, but you still answered him, nonetheless.

“Yes, but how did you know?” you asked, squinting your eyes at the man. You had settled down just a little bit.

“If you really are his son, you’ve just made my mission a lot easier. I have a letter that your father wanted me to bring to you. He said it was urgent you should hear about what he has to say.” He handed you a piece of paper, and you hastily ripped it open to see what this was all about.

Dear son,

I can think of many reasons why you might not want to hear from me. I can only hope you won’t rip this letter apart before finishing it. I’ll go ahead and get straight to the point. It took me years to realize it, but I now know it was wrong of me to have let you go. Believe it or not, I want to find a way to make things up to you after all the years of neglect you’ve suffered. Your mother and siblings have searched high and low for you, but couldn’t find a trace. I’m so sorry for being such a lousy father, and I wish I could have said this to you sooner, but my time is running out. If we never meet again, then I’m happy to know my message found its way to you.

P.S
Your family also sends their sincerest apologies for leaving you like that. And we all love you very much.

Signed
Your father, Wilson.

As sincere as the letter sounded, you’d be lying if you said that you believed what you just read. Even so, you were willing to pay a visit to the family you cut ties with.

“Where’s the old man at?” you asked sharply.

“He should be at his home in bed at the moment. I’d be more than happy to give you a ride if you need it,” the assistant offered.

“It’s not like I’ve got nothing else to do,” you sighed, setting down your beer on the counter along with a few bucks to pay for the drink. The bartender took the money without question, and you allowed him to keep the change.

The ride took a solid 25 minutes, but the man brought you to your father’s home, or in high-class terms, his mansion. Walking up the steps, you rolled your eyes after noticing two lion statues. It was so typical for just about any mansion to have that kind of decor to make the owners look and feel powerful. Fortunately, you were able to get over it and rang the doorbell.

You heard footsteps from inside running towards the door and watched them open up. You blinked as an older woman who looked to be in her early 40s greeted you.

“I can emphasize this is very sudden, but I found your boy drinking his depression away at a bar. He must be at least 21 by now,” the man accompanying you said.

“What does it matter if I’m 21?” you asked, not caring. Instead of an answer, you got a sudden hug from the woman as she began to quietly sob to herself. You couldn’t process what was going on and therefore just stood still as the lady continued crying on your shoulder.

“I’m... I’m so sorry...” she sniffled. “I should’ve stopped your father from giving you up... Of course you don’t know me since you were only a baby when I last saw you, but my name is Vanessa... and I’m your mother. I was the only one who was against giving you up, and even though I failed, I never stopped looking for you.”

“That’s... uh... yeah, of course,” you replied. You didn’t know exactly how to feel, but you decided to stop acting like a statue and hugged your mother back. To be honest, it was the emptiest hug you’ve ever given anyone. And it’s not like you hated her, rather, no one’s ever showed you this much compassion in your whole life... ever.

After letting go and heading inside, you walked up a flight of stairs to the 3rd door on the left and walked inside. The room in question was large enough to fit a small living room. It had a king-sized bed where an older man was laying in the covers, coughing. Four other people were standing at the man’s bedside, and you had a wild guess who they were.

“Long time no see,” you bitterly said, while giving them the cold stare. If your suspicions that these were your siblings were correct, then you had every right to be angry at them for encouraging your father to throw you out. They obviously sensed your rage and didn’t know anything to say that would keep you from getting angrier than you already were. Walking over to the bed, you fold your arms, looking down at your ill father. His eyes slowly turn towards you weakly.

“Son... I was wrong... for leaving you...” he said weakly before coughing into his mask. Sadly, you had no sympathy for your father’s condition.

“Yeah, you’re 21 years too late to be asking for forgiveness, old man. Did you ever stop to think how miserable my life was when you forced my mother to give me up that day?” you asked, stone-faced.

“Money... it’s such a corrupting influence... but that’s no excuse... for what I’ve done. Looking at you now... I would’ve kept you had I known... that you were strong enough to survive... out there...” he replied, reaching out to grab your arm, and while your first instinct was to pull away, you stood still and allowed him to touch you.

“We’re to blame as well,” one of your older brothers said. “I know we messed up, but we already promised ourselves that if you ever did come back, we’d make things right and even help you in your times of crisis.”

“Bah! It’ll be a long time before I decide that any of you deserve my trust. How are you even going to help me with my problems?” you scoffed, turning away.

“Well... do you need a home or a job? We can make a few calls. It’s the least we can do to start over...” one of your sisters timidly asked. She was obviously amongst the siblings who felt the most guilty about cutting ties with you.

Thinking it over for a minute, you sighed and unfolded your arms. “Fine, but it’ll take a lot more than this to earn my trust after all that you put me through. You’re all still traitors as far as I’m concerned, but I’ll take what I can get.” Now that they have your approval, your sisters hugged you, but you didn’t hug them back.

“T-Thank you... for giving us a chance... to m-make things r-right... I’m so... h-happy... I p-promise that... we won’t... let you down... this time...” your father wheezed, obviously getting weaker with each passing minute.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. I’ve suffered from enough of those,” you snarled. “Now if you’re done, I’d like to be on my way and find some work--”

You were cut off as your father began coughing much worse than before. “You have... my full support... whatever you do... you’ll always... make... me... proud...” And after those words, you feel your sickly father go limp. His eyes slowly closed and a bright smile dawned on his face. Because of that smile, your face finally softened. Feeling some respect for your now deceased father, you set him down on the bed gently, placing his hands together like he’s in a coffin.

Your sisters and mother shed tears and they and your brothers mourned his death. You didn’t mourn him as even though your hatred had lessened, you still didn’t have enough sympathy for the man. In your perspective, he was still just some sickly old man who made the worst mistake of his life by shutting you out of his life.

“I’m out of here,” you said, turning away from your dead father and marching out the doors. You walked back down the flight of steps as you headed back to the door.

“Honey, please wait! Why are you leaving so soon?” your mother called out, running to catch you with tears still fresh in her eyes.

“The old man’s kicked the bucket. I’m not gonna sit around and mourn his ass, I got some applications I need to fill out,” you answered. It was only when you felt the woman’s firm grip on your wrist, that you decided to stop walking. “What is it?”

“I just... I just want to be able to do something for you. I’ve searched high and low for you, hoping that one day I could raise you and tell you how sorry I am for not being able to stop my husband from giving you away. I owe you that much at least, so please... tell me what I can do to help you in your time of need.”

You sighed and walked up to her. “You got a couch I can sleep on? This is all so much to handle in one day.” Your mother nods eagerly. “Alright, you win for now. Hopefully, I’ll have an idea of what to do after I wake up.”

Feeling overjoyed that she had succeeded in convincing you to stay, your mother showed you out to her car, reminding you that she lives in her own place. You were at least a little satisfied that you wouldn’t be sleeping in the mansion that until now, belonged to your father.

You sat quietly the entire time as your mother drove you off to her more humble home in a nice, humble neighborhood that was closer to the city. She quickly pulled up to the driveway of a two story house and allowed you to step out first.

Checking the exterior, you decided this was a decent place. It wasn’t big like a mansion, nor small like a cottage, so you were satisfied. Yawning and stretching your arms, you walked up to the front door and waited for your mother to come and unlock the door. But your attention was brought to the sound of blood-curdling scream.

Naturally, you grew curious after hearing a cry filled with such pain, and attempted to locate the source of the problem. Following the sound, you spotted a man in a hooded sweater holding one hand against a woman’s mouth while his other one held a knife.

“Shut your trap, bitch! I told you I’ll let you go after you fork over the cash! Damn it, I hate stubborn women like you,” he snarled, bringing his knife to his victim’s neck.

You made an effort to sneak up behind him, keeping your cool and taking out a knuckle duster from your pocket, which you stole off a similar thug 2 years ago. After approaching the man, you bashed him in the head as hard as you could, making him grunt and drop his knife.

“Get the hell out of here, now!” you ordered the woman, but she shook her head.

“I-I... I c-can’t...!” she stuttered, still trembling. You could empathize that all those death threats have left the poor lady paralyzed with fear. Be that as it may, you made another effort to snap her out of it.

“Toss your fucking fear aside right now, god damnit! I don’t have the fucking patience to listen to you say how scared you are!”

“You son of a bitch!” the thug said, getting up. He came up to you and slugged you, but you brought him down with you and threw punches at each other. "You’re gonna learn the hard way what happens when you get involved in matters that don’t concern you!”

He then reached out and tried to grab his knife, but you kicked him off of you. That was a big mistake on your end. The thug had the knife back in his hand and set his sights on the woman.

He ran up to her with intent to kill, making her scream in fear, covering her face. Moments later, the knife pierced flesh, only... it wasn’t the woman who he hit. He blinked in surprise to see that he had stabbed you. Worst of all, the knife was in your heart. However, instead of killing over, you snatched the man’s knife out of your chest and jammed it through the guy’s throat.

“Stay the... fuck out of... our lives, you... fucking twat...” you struggled to say, before coughing up some blood. Sharp pain coarsed through your body, causing you to collapse. Since you were still conscious, you weakly looked over to see the woman desperately pulling her phone out of her purse to call an ambulance, but you had your doubts they could help you.

“No, no, no! You can’t die! Please, stay with me!” the woman pleaded.

You grabbed her by the shirt collar and prepared your last dying words. “You’d better listen...! Don’t you... ever... throw your goddamn life away! And you have to stop acting... WEAK! You’re... stronger... than you think you are, lady... We both know it... Stay... alive...” A split second after your short speech ended, everything went black.

You weren’t sure how long you’ve been dead, but somehow, the pain in your chest had vanished and hopefully the lady survived. You wondered if even after all the things you said to your family, you were still being granted access into the afterlife.

Your body wasn’t completely awake, but you were conscious enough to feel that half of your body was wet. Next thing you knew, the sounds of seagulls squawking and ocean waves crashing on land rang in your ears. Still lacking the energy to stand, you just remained laying on your back, wondering how long it would take before someone found you.

However, you did have enough strength to open your eyes and see that you were on a beach. As beautiful as it was, it still struck you as off because you weren’t anywhere close to a tropical area when you died. “How... can this be?” you asked softly, and it wasn’t the only question. “How’d I end up here? Could this be... Heaven?”

Your weakened state made it so tempting to fall asleep, but before your eyes shut again, you picked up some faint voices. One of which sounded very gentle and composed, and even you would admit that it was nice to hear such a voice before you lost consciousness again.

It didn’t matter to you how long you were passed out this time, as you were much more concerned on figuring out where fate had brought you. While waking up on a beach wasn’t too bad, it felt much nicer to wake up in a nice soft bed. Holding your head, you once again started to ask questions as if believing you’d get the answers by yourself.

“How... How did I get here?” you asked, before noticing how luxurious the room was furnished. “What is this place? Please tell me this isn’t a mansion...”

You started thinking back to how you felt someone carrying you off before you passed out, but your thoughts were interrupted when you heard voices coming from outside the room you were in. Now normally you weren’t the kind of person who would eavesdrop, but you couldn’t help making an exception and got up to place your ear against the closed door.

“We’ll have to take this slowly, my dear. I still remember how much of a mess I was when I woke up on Mount Aris,” the voice that obviously belonged to a man spoke.

“What do you mean “take it slow”, Father? He washed up on shore half-dead,” said the gentle and kind female voice that you heard on the beach. “With all due respect, I feel he’ll lose it regardless of what we say. I’m especially scared of finding out how the poor thing will respond when he finds out the cold, bitter truth.”

“What I mean my dear Daughter, is that things are bound to be less of a shock for this man if the first face he sees is that of another human. I’ll handle this one myself, so the rest of you please wait out here.” It’s fair to say that you’ve been punished for being rude enough to eavesdrop, because moments later, the door opened up and you got smacked face-first, making you fall to the marble floor.

“Ah! Damn it! Note to self: never put your face against a door ever again...” you grumbled, rubbing your nose. A hand was offered to help you get back on your feet. Staring at the said hand for a few seconds, your eyes slowly traveled up until you saw you saw a man dressed in golden armor with a cape attached to it, along with a matching golden crown with various jewels. You hesitated at first for if he was indeed a king, it would be your first time coming face-to-face with royalty, but you took his hand and let him pull you back up.

“Oh, that look in your eye brings me back... You’ll find no one around here who can relate to your situation more than I can, my boy,” he said, sighing and shaking his head. You narrowed your eyes, trying to understand what he was getting at. Then again, as you darted your eyes to the door, you were almost scared to find out what he meant by it would be best if another human was the first face you saw.

“I know very well what you’re thinking, young man, and I intend to clear things up in the best way I can think of. I suppose as much as what you’re about to hear might shock you, I should begin by introducing myself. I am known as King Bellator, co-ruler of Mount Aris alongside my wife, Queen Novo. My eldest daughter, Princess Skystar found you washed up on the shore, and with her kind heart, was quick to bring you back here so you could recuperate.”

Just as Bellator had predicted, what he said was a shock to you, as it revealed you were no longer anywhere on Earth, nor did it seem you were in the afterlife. Furthermore, it annoyed you that you were looking at a person who probably had even more wealth and power than your late father.

‘Not this again,’ you thought to yourself as you went over to bang your head against the bed. “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” When you finally stopped your pointless little rampage, Bellator put a hand on your shoulder.

“Like I just said, I anticipated that this would be hard for you to believe, but rest assured, you’re in good hands. While you won’t find other humans besides me in this kingdom, the civilians won’t do anything to harm you. I’ll take the liberty to arrest anyone who tries such a thing.”

“What do you mean by that?” The king opened his mouth, but was cut off as the door swung open again.

“Please forgive me, Father, but I was just too worried to stand still in the hallway!” You only had a few seconds to be shocked before the intruder rushed over to unexpectedly hug you. “I know this is sudden, but I’m so relieved that you’re alright!”

“W-Wait, whoa...! What the-?!” you exclaimed, backing up a bit. “W-What... how...?”

“Let me apologize to you as well, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Skystar, and just like my father said, I’m the one who saved you down by the beach earlier,” she explained while at the same time, stroking your cheek to express just how concerned she was.

Her name wasn’t anything surprising, as you already assumed she was Princess Skystar after she came in addressing Bellator as “Father”. As she backed away from you, you got a good look at the girl who looked like some sort of bird. Other than being able to talk, she differed from any other bird you saw from the fact that she had a humanoid figure, including a rather impressive bust.

“We’ll need to work on your impatience, Daughter. I know you had good intentions, but don’t forget you’re going to be the queen one day,” Bellator said, unable to keep himself from smiling.

“Look,” you said, getting both of the royals’ attention, “I appreciate the concern, but can someone tell me how I can get back home? I finally got a chance to turn my life around after my deadbeat dad kicked the bucket.” You wondered if you said something wrong, as Skystar covered her beak and started to tear up.

“F-Father... s-should I...?” she choked, sympathy obvious in her eyes.

“Oh, Skystar, you’re an adult now. You don’t need my permission to show sympathy towards others,” Bellator said, assuring her. Skystar soon went up to you, hugging you in her arms again and cried for your pain, but you were confused.

“Uh... mind telling me why she’s... you know?” you asked.

“My daughter is quite the empathetic hippogriff. Hearing about your father passing away, it’s no wonder she wants to give you some comfort...” Bellator sighed. “But I’m sad to say, that’s not her only reason...” the king continued. “Believe me, it’s not easy for me to tell you this, especially since I’ve suffered the same fate... but you can’t go home.”

“E-Excuse me...? And why not?” you asked, barely able to keep yourself from yelling.

“Because... you were brought to this world for a reason—To discover the true purpose that you failed to find in your previous life. Of the billions of people who die each day, only a very small percentage are chosen to come live in this universe and you happen to be one of them,” Bellator replied.

You didn’t want to believe him. Even with Princess Skystar doing her best to console you, everything her father just said practically made you want to scream. You escaped the girl’s grasp and went back to banging your head on your mattress, keeping you from seeing the guilt that was building up within both of the rulers.

“We’re sorry, but it was only a matter of time before you found out on your own...” Skystar tried to reason. Before you could bang your head once more, you then felt your wrist being tugged on very gently. “I promise you though, the castle is full of kind faces. Just wait until you come to meet my mother.”

“To be fair, my beloved wife can be a little self-absorbed, but as the queen, there isn’t anything she wouldn’t do to ensure the happiness and safety of the kingdom,” Bellator assured. “Once you see her, you’ll know you’re in good claws.”

“I’ve had my fair share of those kinds of people back home,” you said, folding your arms. However, you found it hard to remain stubborn when Skystar was giving you such a desperate expression. Such a look reminded you that you weren’t heartless. “But I’ll keep an open mind about this.”

“Then allow us to show you to the throne room,” Bellator said. With the king, princess and guards to accompany you, you exited your room and walked down the halls, heading for these two big doors that lead to the throne room. You weren’t even remotely impressed that they would have something this fancy and just rolled your eyes.

Upon stepping inside, you approached these two big thrones and in one of them was a female hippogriff who presented herself with pride and wisdom. She had the same humanoid features as Skystar and the other hippogriff guards, but her bust was much bigger than her daughter’s. Unusual as such assets were, they were held in place by a sleeveless magenta and light-blue colored royal dress that hugged her hourglass figure nicely.

“So you’ve finally woken up, have you honey?” she asked, smiling down at you before standing from her throne and walking towards you. As soon as you were within her arms reach, you received your second hug for the day.

“I-Is this how everyone gets greeted?” you asked out of curiosity and slight embarrassment, which made Novo chuckle as she stroked your hair with her talons.

“I had one other method, but sadly I have to reserve that for my sweet husband over there. You should feel lucky that you got a hug from me, young man,” she said with a wink. “It’s not everyday someone gets such nice attention from the queen of Mount Aris herself.”

Seeing how she just revealed the overinflated ego that King Bellator had warned you about, you didn’t find any reason to be amused. Novo noticed you clenching your fists, but made nothing of it.

“When you said she had an ego, I thought it was just an understatement,” you grumbled, turning to Bellator. Instead of getting upset at you for openly insulting his wife, he just chuckled.

“You’ll get used to it just as I have,” Bellator said.

“So now that I’m here, what am I supposed to do?!” you asked with your mood rapidly changing due to how impatient you were getting.

“Calm down, sugar,” Novo pleaded. “First, what do you say we get you something to eat? Chances are you’re especially grouchy because you’re hungry. After that you can discuss your living arrangements with Mama here.”

Hearing the word “eat”, your stomach responded with a loud growl, which helped to replace your annoyance with embarrassment for the second time. With all that has been happening, you didn’t realize you were so hungry. Fortunately, as awkward as this moment was, no one laughed at you.

“Being resurrected does have its problems... Alright, what’s on the menu?” you asked.

“I hope you don’t have anything against seafood, because that’s what we’re having,” Novo said. “And don’t you worry, little boy. Mama only hires the best chefs to work in the royal kitchen, and they can make a lean, mean cooked tuna fish. Smoked fish is also an option.”

‘At least she’s good at something else other than flapping her beak,’ you thought to yourself. Your stomach growled once more. “If it’ll get my stomach to shut up, then let’s go.”

Queen Novo quickly recognized the tone in your voice and felt a slight discomfort from how sour your voice sounded. “Friendly, aren’t we?”

You no longer had the energy to counter her and just allowed the royalty to show you to the dining area so you could tend to your stomach’s demands.

When you made it to the dining hall, you were unamused to see that another part of being royalty was that they owned a table long enough to seat 20 people. The utensils were either solid gold or silver, while the plates looked like antiques. The servants had expected the royalty’s arrival and pulled the chairs out for all of you.

You sat down a little ways away from Bellator and Novo, as you trusted them the least, but you just couldn’t seem to get away from Princess Skystar. The kind heir to the throne attempted to comfort you by reaching under the table to grab your hands. Just looking at her, you were treated to the most gentle eyes you’ve ever seen in your miserable life.

“I know you’re still trying to get used to your new home, but there’s no need to distance yourself from my parents or anyone else in our kingdom. I’ll remind you as many times as it takes that you’ll find it easy to grow fond of us after you spend enough time here on Mount Aris,” Skystar said.

“You’re a persistent one, aren’t you?” you rhetorically asked, attempting to use the gruffness in your voice to hide how disarmed you were by the unexplainable warm sensation you felt from looking at her eyes. “What do you see in someone who hasn’t given the residents here much particular respect?”

It suddenly became irrelevant that you were asking these questions when the king and queen could still hear you. The latter looked like she wanted to chew you out, but Bellator kept his wife from making a scene by holding her clawed hands.

“Mother likes to call it the “Skystar intuition”,” she giggled. “Even though we just met, I just know you’ve got some qualities that not many others would fail to see through the naked eye. You may be grumpy and skeptical, but that’s all bound to change once you learn to trust us.”

‘Oh, great! So she’s attempting to be a psychic?’ Even as you thought this, you couldn’t find the strength to verbally insult Skystar as long as you were staring into her eyes. The only individual who had ever revealed such a level of care and sincerity when they looked at you... was your mother.

You remained silent for the rest of the dinner, wishing you could somehow apologize to your mother for leaving her yet again. You could only imagine how devastated she must be to have lost you for the second time. Skystar and her parents allowed you to tend to your thoughts, saying nothing even as they spotted a lone tear fall down your cheek.