Shadowed Scales

Chapter 2: The Vampyrum's Arrival

_CHAPTER TWO_

The Vampyrum's Arrival

"No way!" Sameer cried out in surprise.

Everyone in the class stared at the Egyptian cobra with his exclamation. They never expected him to react this way since most of the class associated cobras with their level-headed attitudes.

This didn't seem to be the case for Sameer.

"Sameer," the teacher looked at him sternly. "Be nice! This is Arthur's first day of school. Now Arthur, why don't you introduce yourself to the class."

All the students watched as the white bat with cloudy blue eyes tilted his head, still standing still like a statue. The teacher gently pushed Arthur's head so that his direction was towards his new classmates.

"Hello," Arthur greeted with a smile, his teeth were revealed. Some of the herbivore classmates were glued to their seats while the carnivores craned their necks to get a glimpse.

"Woah, sharp already for someone so small!"

"His fur is so white! Did he paint himself today?"

"What's up with his eyes? They looked like Kit's thick-rimmed glasses."

Sameer held back a laugh when Kit, his rooster classmate puffed up his feathers indignantly before adjusting his glasses. He had really bad eyesight for an eleven-year-old. But the Honduran white bat only smiled, tilting his head.

How could he just smile when the whole class was staring at him in fascination and hesitation?

"Alright, Arthur," the class teacher, Mr Hiro, a British shorthair cat cleared his throat. "You will be seating next to Sameer, an Egyptian cobra. Sameer, please guide him to his seat."

Snickers were heard from his other classmates. Sameer flared his hood a little bit. He didn't come back to school just to babysit a new student! A blind one on top of that!

"Sure," he muttered, taking the Honduran white bat's outstretched wing to guide him to his seat. Using his tail, he wrapped it around the two fingers that were sticking out. It was something odd since he had never held a bat's wing before.

It felt like holding a curled barb wire with those two fingers while the feeling of those leathery wings brushing his scales was similar to that of thin elastic stretches of bubblegum.

"Back in school and now you're babysitting a bat?" the corn snake asked in a teasing tone. Sameer guided Arthur to his seat, sitting down in his respective place before turning his head to his other serpent classmate.

"I didn't sign up for this, Hazrul," he muttered. "It's bad enough everyone here thinks I'm smart because of Mama and Baba. I don't want to be like them!"

The loud rapping on the blackboard snapped everyone's attention. Sameer felt embarrassed that all eyes were trained onto him because he was the first to react to Arthur's arrival and was assigned to help him to his desk.

He prayed that his parents and sister didn't know about this!

"Now class," Mr Hiro began. "Before we start our lesson for today, we are going to have an in-house briefing with our new classmate. Can any one of you tell me what abilities bats have?"

Several of his classmates raised their hands. Arthur was facing where Mr Hiro was, his cloudy blue eyes held some sort of expression he wasn't sure about. Either Arthur looked sad or slightly offended by what Mr Hiro had asked.

"They are mammals that can truly fly!"

"They can hang upside down!"

"I heard they can hear the winds change!"

"I thought most bats drink blood?"

That was when the shift in the atmosphere happened. Sameer observed Arthur sitting up rather stiffly as if he had something to say. But the noises from the whole class probably drowned the Chiroptera's words.

"Um...If I may..." Arthur raised his wings up hesitantly. Sameer wondered if this was his first time ever raising his wings since he assumed this bat to be a shy-type with his disadvantage. "Not all bats drink blood. Those that do are from the Vampyrum species. Some of them even eat other bats."

Murmurs were heard until the rapping of Mr Hiro's cane on the blackboard silenced them. It was now time to resumed class, which was geography. Sameer loved geography just as much as history since they complimented each other.

He couldn't help but glance at Arthur, who took out something that looked like a typewriter on his desk. While Mr Hiro drowned the class with his purrs, a technique he noticed most felines used when they are stressed.

Then again, he had experienced second-hand stress coming from lessons after school, homework and so much more. He didn't need some transferred blind bat to be part of the problem as well!

Tap...Tap...Tap...Ding!

The sounds of the foreign-looking typewriter filled the silent air as the classroom was filled with students taking note of Mr Hiro's lesson. Only a few had opened their textbooks to refer to certain pages.

Only Arthur had nothing except the odd-looking typewriter on his desk.

"Does he know that we're all writing on pencil and paper?" Hazrul whispered to Sameer. The Egyptian cobra could only shrug. He honestly didn't want to give an opinion about the situation.

In fact, he sometimes asked himself why mammals have to be so nosy about everything? Couldn't they just accept the simple answer and be on their merry way?

...

Once class was over, Sameer was looking forward to lunch at the cafeteria. The food that was served could accommodate both carnivores and herbivores made by most of the cooks from all walks of life. He was feeling famished after digesting most of Mr Hiro's lesson.

He did NOT want to attend math class on an empty stomach. He thought about how some of the students hardly eat during recess. It must have been a smart person's trait. He noticed a few students skipping lunch just to finish homework or to study.

Sameer was ready to slither his way when he felt something holding his tail. He was surprised to see the blind Honduran white bat gripping the tip of his tail with two fingers on each wing. He tried to shake him off, but the bat clung onto Sameer's tail like a balloon string.

"What do you want?" Sameer asked, trying to hide the fact that he was demanding Arthur to let go.

The bat only smiled a shy smile. "Um, if you don't mind...can you tell me where is the cafeteria? I'm rather famished after Mr Hiro's lesson. Don't worry, I won't bother you afterwards."

Sameer's hood instantly flared up out of frustration. Now others were expecting him to help this bat despite how indirectly he knew everyone else didn't want to help him. They would just do it out of pity and then hope he won't bother them.

"I'm going to the cafeteria myself," Sameer finally answered. "You have legs, right? The sooner we both get there, the better."

"Oh, thank you!" Arthur shook the Egyptian cobra's tail excitedly. "Oh, it is so lucky that I have met you to help! It's my first time in school so I'm so glad you can help me. My name is Arthur, by the way."

"I know and I think you know my name already. The one that sits beside you?"

"Right...Sameer, isn't it? It is a strange name but you're helping me so that's nice!"

Can he please stop! Sameer inwardly screamed as they walked down the hallways, getting a lot of the students' attention. Whether they were land students passing by or marine students travelling through their water passage.

He prayed that Arthur kept his words about not bothering him after guiding the blind bat to the cafeteria. Sameer didn't return to school to only be used as a babysitter!