Legoshi hung up the phone as he started to climb the stairs to his grandfather's place. It was good to hear Jack was doing better. He hated to think the dog would remain in such a dark place for so long, and was relieved to hear it from his own mouth that he was coming out of it. He checked his watch. Six-twenty-one. There were a few hours before he had to be home for the curfew. He knocked on the door and waited for a response. Gosha opened it and looked up into the face of his grandson.
"Legoshi," he said. "Well this is a pleasant surprise."
The komodo dragon hugged his hybrid grandson, and he hugged him back.
"Can't stay too long," he said. "I gotta book it back across town before the curfew."
"Just as well," the lizard said. "I've got a poker night downstairs with a few of the neighbors. Having useless venom glands opens up a lot of new possibilities."
There was a familial pause between them.
"But come in," Gosha said, stepping aside for his grandson to walk in. "Don't stand out there in the night. You'll catch a cold. You know how susceptible you are to them."
The wolf walked in and looked around the apartment. Nothing seemed out of place, like in Jack's.
"Are you doing alright?" he asked.
Gosha gave him a look that was, at first confused, but then melted into a sad and understanding frown.
"The more I thought about it," he said. "I don't think Yahya would've wanted me to weep for him too long. Maybe just a little, but he would've expected me to know that it was a risk he was willing to take."
Legoshi nodded. Of the very, very brief time he had worked with the Sublime Beastar, he got that sense from the horse. Though, he didn't know him as well as Gosha did.
"I've also reached the age," he continued. "Where life starts to take back the things it lent me. It's been doing that for a while now. Made a few exchanges as well. It sucks but you gotta accept that part of life."
"A series of greetings and partings," Legoshi said.
Gosha gave a confused smirk.
"It's a quote from one of the plays the drama club performed," he explained.
There was another familial pause in conversation. They both did this.
"But how are you?" the old reptile asked. "How's Haru and her family?"
"They're good," he said. "Like most herbivores, they're taking current events pretty hard. Scared. Worried. Her family calls at least once a day just to check in. It worries me too. I don't know why but there's this unconscious thought that, you know, what if she's not there when I get back? What if she's taken?"
"I get it," Gosha said, doing his best to empathize. "Look on the up side though. With the guard's continuous pressure on the district, there's no way they can get in or out of The Drusk. Just heard today there hasn't been a report of anyone going missing for a week. This, for lack of a better word, nightmare, will pass. They always do."
"I haven't heard from Louis in a while either," he added.
"No need to worry," Gosha said, rolling his eyes a little. "If anyone were to go missing, he'd be a headline before you knew."
The komodo didn't have a problem with the deer but, there was just an air about him that he didn't like. It was like the eye of a storm followed him everywhere. If you got too close you'd be dragged into an orbit and pulled with him through whatever problems he had. Whether willingly or not, it would happen. That's what he didn't like. It had almost killed his grandson once before, at the Meteor Festival, and he didn't want it to happen again.
"How's your shoulder?" he asked.
"Healing nicely," Legoshi answered.
Legoshi looked up and pulled up the sleeve of his t-shirt. He peeled back the gauze bandage to reveal the square of furless skin growing back in. The doctors gave credit to his small amount of reptile genes. His ability to take as much damage as he had and still stay standing was remarkable. No serious internal damage either, which also relieved Gosha.
"Can't wait for them to catch the bastard," he hissed. "He deserves whatever punishment he gets. In this world and the next."
"That's something else that's been bothering me," Legoshi said, rolling down his sleeve and shifting uncomfortably. "When we fought, he smelled familiar."
"What?" Gosha asked, turning his full attention to what his grandson had just said.
"I couldn't put my finger on it," he explained. "But he smelled, a bit like me, I guess."
"You were fighting him and your blood was on him," Gosha reasoned. "Of course he would've smelled a bit like you."
"No," Legoshi said, shaking his head. "It was before. I smelled it before any of the chaos started. And it kept me from attacking him. He always had the upper hand. He had a control over me that I couldn't explain. When he told me to stop, I couldn't help but stop. When he told me to fight. I fought."
Something clicked in Gosha's brain and he felt the muscles in his head twitch as the realization set in, similar to the way Legoshi's ear would twitch. Luckily the wolf didn't seem to catch on.
"Could you find it again?" Gosha asked.
"I didn't archive it," Legoshi added. "I know, I thought the same thing. Helping the police. But I couldn't pinpoint it. It's been nagging at me for weeks now. I do my best to not let it show, but it's just there."
He pointed to the back of his head before scratching the spot.
"Listen to me Legoshi," Gosha said.
The wolf and the lizard looked each other in the eyes. Gosha's were very serious, and Legoshi paid attention.
"I don't want you to worry about that," the reptile continued. "Stop getting wrapped up in things you shouldn't be getting wrapped up in. The police and the guard will deal with Razor. You keep your family safe."
"I know," Legoshi said with a nod. "I made that decision a while ago. I wanted to, I really did. But I couldn't do that to anyone again. Jack, Haru, even you. I didn't want anyone worrying for me and stressing."
Gosha smiled. They were on the same ground.
"Well," he said. "I best be getting to my game."
"I should head back too," Legoshi said, turning back to the door. "Just wanted to stop in and say hi."
"Well I thank you for the visit," he smiled. "Always happy to see you. Tell Haru I said hello."
Legoshi nodded and gave a small wave to his grandfather before closing the door after him. He took the stairs down and made his way back home.
~~~
Gosha flicked his tongue, catching the last scents of his grandson. He knew who he was looking for now. It had been years, but his skills at scent detection were still honed. He took Legoshi's scent and analyzed it, isolating the different scents he got. He removed his own and Toki's, clearing those familial scents from the main one. He then detected Leano's half of his grandson. He lingered on this one for a while, glancing at the photo he kept on the table. He removed this one as well. Now he was down to what he was looking for. The other half. The father's. He analyzed it and isolated it, zeroing in on the wolf's pure DNA. He pulled out his phone and texted the other guys.
Won't be able to make it tonight, he said. Something came up. Definitely tomorrow.
He looked at the clock on his wall. He still had three hours until curfew. He opened his window and flicked his tongue. There were so many scents from the other animals. He was struggling to find the one he wanted. Closing his eyes to concentrate, he almost saw the world in nothing but scents.
It struck him like an electrical shock. The scent was incredibly faint, but when it hit his tongue and he brought it into his vomeronasal organ, it matched fifty percent to the other scent he had isolated. He focused on it again and it was drifting on the breeze, coming from a building outside The Drusk. He wouldn't do anything against the animal, but he could call the police when he found the exact location. And if the encounter were to come to blows, he felt he still had a bit of juice left to fight the creature off him. He opened his eyes and closed the window, locking it shut. He pulled on a jacket and left his apartment.
Yahya, he thought. I'm doing this for you. And for Legoshi's sake as well.