Music of the Night

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Legosi became the tour guide for Arthur that afternoon. He was a bit thankful that Arthur doesn't talk much just like him. He only swivel his large, disc-like ears to everything that was around him. Now, Legosi wasn't much an expert in biology but he knew that Chiropteras have excellent hearing compared to rabbits and even elephants.

In fact, their hearing was so good that some believe they could hear the wind sing!

Arthur only talked when he was asking questions. He was curious at everything around him, which attracted other animals to stare at him walking alongside the grey wolf. They were whispering and pointing at him. Legosi knew that feeling when everyone first saw him.

Afraid.

He wondered if Arthur could hear them whispering about his arrival on campus and how he will be starting class tomorrow? But the Honduran white bat seemed unfazed by this. Legosi concluded that this wasn't the first time Arthur has experienced this sort of segregation among his classmates. Legosi remembered that herbivores and carnivores have conflicts with each other, even in places like the drama club where they're suppose to co-exist.

Even when animals were just minding their own business, all of them paused to stare at Arthur. Legosi doesn't understand why. Maybe it had something to do with those glassy blue eyes that were wide and unblinking.

Or maybe it's something else.

Arthur at this point was grateful to have scouted a kind soul like Legosi to show him around the school. He may not know how he looked like but he could sensed that he's a carnivore and a big one too. He's not sure if anyone noticed but his mouth moved slightly to let out clicks which were inaudible to most animals.

Those clicks helped him to roughly estimate his surroundings and obstacles.

He doesn't need a cane to guide him or wear sunglasses since it's prohibited to wear it on campus. To show that he's not weak, he kept practicing his clicks and rely more on his hearing to help him.

He damn well knew that most animals with disabilities are basically useless in the real world. Especially those who lost their sights.

He wished he could at least know how Legosi looked like. He may not be so good at judging character but his gut told him that Legosi is a good animal. From the way he talked, Arthur assumed he's a predator and was freakishly tall.

"Legosi?" 

"Yes Arthur," he could feel Legosi's pace slowed down.

"I hope it's not intrusive but what animal are you?"

Legosi was surprised by this question. But then, Arthur can't see so it made sense that he can only tell whose voice is who. He decided to tell him that he's a grey wolf. Arthur nodded, his left ear swivelled while the right was listening to Legosi attentively.

"Ah, so I wasn't far off," said Arthur. "I thought you were some large dog."

Legosi couldn't help but have a small smile he reserved for some people. Arthur was not so creepy once you get to know him. But then, he knows Chiropteras were viewed on two sides of the coin: the presence of them could be luck or a sign of bad omen.

They were almost at the end of the tour but Legosi couldn't help but feel sorry for Arthur because throughout their walk, he couldn't help but hear comments about the poor bat:

"A bat! Why did the student have to be a bat?!"

"Better start praying because that thing's a bad omen to be around."

"What's wrong with his eyes?!"

"Eeek! Look at those little fangs! I hope he doesn't suck our blood!"

Legosi and Arthur walked faster to get away. He swore that he could heard Arthur muttered under his breath: "I'm not a Vampyrum...."

The grey wolf decided to change the subject by talking about the different clubs that the campus has. All carnivores and herbivores have their own respective clubs since a mixed club would be resulted in chaos.

"...the only club that carnivores and herbivores can co-exist is the drama club and I'm a member there. But I am part of the stage crew. You need to be scouted out by the seniors if you want to be a member."

"Don't worry," Arthur reassured him. "I'm a horrible actor. So, is there a club where there's not many animals?"

Legosi thought for a moment. Haru's all alone in the gardening club and she does all of the hard work. But does the bat know anything about flowers? He wondered if he is breaking the rules if he decided to introduce Arthur to the dwarf rabbit.

...

"Hey Legosi! Who is-What the hell?!" Haru almost dropped her pot of aloe vera plants.

"Haru," Legosi kneeled down to look at her. "This is the new student, Arthur. He's in second year and will be starting class tomorrow. I kinda showed him around on campus before I told him about the clubs."

"And you want him to be in the gardening club?!" she hissed into Legosi's ear. Arthur seemed oblivious to Haru's shocked and frustrated expressions. He seemed dazed and wiggled his ears at something.

"Haru," Legosi growled softly. "He's blind. All of the students are scared of him and he just moved in. Surely you would know what is it like to be judged."

"Don't you dare go into that territory," the dwarf rabbit snapped but her face relaxed a little. "But...it does get kinda tiring doing all of the work by myself. An assistance would be nice."

"So, will you take him?"

Haru didn't answer as she watched Arthur cocking his ears closed to the flowers she grew. What a weird animal! She thought Legosi was strange with his feelings but this animal...

This animal takes the cake!

"What are you listening to, Arthur?" asked Legosi, who was also curious.

"Just listening to the flowers," answered Arthur as it were just common sense. "They sure are very happy to be taken care of but I think they disagree on each other."

Both wolf and rabbit were too stunned. Haru turned to Legosi and whispered:

"I'll think about it. Just take him back to his dorm to settle first."

...

Just as Legosi and Arthur were heading back to the carnivore's dorm, Arthur accidentally stepped on someone's foot.

"Hey! Watch where you're going-Ah!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't see your foot," Arthur tried to apologise.

"Well, sorry is not going to make it better, freak!" the shrill voice stung Arthur's ears. "What are you? Blind or something?"

Legosi let out a warning growl and the three girls ran off. Arthur turned his head to Legosi's direction.

"Is this normal? Getting bullied on the first day?"

Legosi sighed, knowing where this was going. He had told Juno the same thing when she was picked on by first years. He reminded Arthur that there were more herbivores than carnivores in the school. Because Arthur was in the middle, he had to tread carefully.

"I will," the bat nodded. "Thank you very much for helping me today, Legosi. Do you want to come into my room and stay for tea? I'm the only Chiroptera in the room."

Legosi kindly declined the offer, saying that he has homework to do. They both bid farewell and Arthur went into his room.

He decided to kick off his showed and hung himself upside down between the gap of the bunkbed. He took out his phone and voice command it to play music to sooth his soul.

What an eventful yet stressful day!