Music of the Night

Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Without thinking, Arthur embraced the figure in his room. He was buried in his chest, his squeaks and clicks were heard as he smelled the familiar scent. His father was here and it felt so long since they last hugged or heard from each other.

Arthur was enveloped into a wing embrace, like a large duvet or comforter. The both of them didn't speak for a few minutes, just happy to hear from each other and hug each other physically. Arthur reached up to feel his father's face, trying to make out how his face might look like now.

Same as always, only feeling a few wrinkles close to his muzzle and the spectacles around his eyes.

"I missed you," Arthur murmured in the hug. He could hear his father chuckling and rubbing his back in a soothing manner. "I even missed our time cooking dinner together."

"Me too, son," his father sighed. "Life is very funny, isn't it? Like a box of chocolates, we don't know what we will get. How is school and settling in Cherryton for you?"

Arthur smiled and gestured his father to hang upside down between the gaps of his bunk bed. Once both Honduran white bats were settled, Arthur began telling him about his first day at Cherryton, to the friends he made and even the struggles.

"Arthur," his father assured him. "There's no shame in being a C or B student. I was a lot worst than you. Right now even, with the other professors and colleagues disproving my theory on studying the sound waves that can be decipher in the voids of space."

"Sounds? I thought you can't hear anything in space due to the vacuum and lack of particles to make even a whistle in the air."

"That's what I thought. Though, I might say it could be another layer of the universe that we all don't know. Like the sea, we don't know even with our aquatic friends. So Arthur, how are you settling with girls in the school?"

Arthur almost dropped from his hanging position. "W-what do you mean?"

"Oh, ever since we moved here and you exchanging from all-boys Gryphon Cross to Cherryton, was it difficult talking to girls?"

Arthur wanted to fluffed up his fur to cover his face besides his wings. "Well....they are nice but you know, just the same like the Selkie girls from my old rival school. I joined a gardening club and my club president is nice but tough. Her name's Haru but don't be fooled by the fact she's a dwarf rabbit. She can break our knees if anyone dare crosses her."

His father chuckled, encouraging his son to continue. Arthur told him about Haru, the drama club, his new friends like Legosi and Aoba along with the troubles he faced such as certain subjects and his run in with the black market.

"Hold on," his father paused him from continuing. "You went to the black market?"

Hearing the disbelief and horror in his voice, Arthur assured him. "I didn't know it was the black market until I smelled blood. You know we can't eat meat or blood like the Vampyrum bats. But we learnt our lesson when Bill and I were captured by the group called the Shishigumi."

The old bat just listened as his son told him how he got out and carried on. He noticed the scar across his son's wing membrane and cheek. He was glad that his son was okay and wasn't traumatised by the whole ordeal. Arthur told him about how those lions almost ate him but left out the details of Louis being their boss a secret.

"The news is you're safe and that's all that matters. I remembered when I first was tricked into going there with my colleagues, I assumed it's a market much like our farmers market back home with black produce. Of course, I just tried to make a bad impression of the Count to scare some hungry dogs off my back."