Chapter 9

Arthur was beginning to relax as time went by where he and Aoba talked about stuff outside of their routine school life.

He never knew that Aoba's hobbies to be playing open world video games and watch some action movies. He admitted that he likes how the plot was driven in both of the medium. Arthur listened attentively, his cloudy blue eyes never blinking.

"I may not play games," confessed Arthur, his leaf nose twitched. "But the soundtracks from the game itself is enough to tell me what's going on or how the story is driven. So yeah, I do listen to gameplays on ZooTube when I have nothing to muse on."

Aoba laughed because he does the same thing when he is bored. He was curious about the dotted papers Arthur kept typing in class and how he had to scan them through his own printer to translate them into alphabets.

"Arthur, how do you read this? I know you can't see alphabets but I'm not sure what these dots meant."

Arthur walked behind the bald eagle, gently guiding his wings to the first few dots. "I want you to close your eyes," Arthur instructed. Aoba did so and the tips of his wings felt the bumps. He felt a single one on the far top left. "Good, Aoba. That's the letter 'A'. Each letter has a specific bump, including the numbers, punctuations and spacing."

The bald eagle didn't know that these simple dots could be so complicated! Was this how the blind could see? Through the sense of touch?

It was about two hours when Arthur heard another knock on his door. He was surprised because no one besides Aoba has came into the Chiroptera room. Aoba decided to answer for his new friend and was shocked to see Legosi and his friend Jack standing in the doorway.

"Hi," Jack greeted with his tail wagging. "Legosi and I were just heading back to our dorms and I heard a high whistle. Was that you, Arthur?"

Arthur nodded, a bit embarrassed now that his room has become a hang out spot for a few friends. The Honduran white bat immediately locked the door once the two canines got in because he doesn't want a lot of attention. Might as well burst his eardrums if he allowed more animals into his dorm.

But knowing Legosi and Jack even for a brief moment, his gut told him that they can be trusted on not making so much noise in the soundproof dorm. He decided to close the windows too, hoping no one notice.

...

Both canines and the eagle watched how nervous Arthur looked. They assumed it was because of their presence but by observing closely, it was him not wanting so much attention because he loved music and a crowd would've overwhelmed his hearing.

"So, do you three want some tea?" asked Arthur, his fur was puffed up. "I have some milk and honey if you don't like the taste."

Seeing the bat's generosity, they accepted it and the four of them hung out. Arthur smiled, because ever since he moved here, he was prepared to feel alone but life is funny by introducing him to Aoba, Legosi and Jack. The tea that was prepared was chai with milk. Very popular and delicious during a bustling day when the spices kicked in. He decided to serve it with some snacks which were just plain toast with a spread called Maple Mite.

"You like tea a lot," Legosi murmured, enjoying the chai that has milk. "It's just like insects....They have their own personalities."

Both Jack and Aoba were stunned at Legosi's interpretation but Arthur laughed a bit. "Then you'd fit right into the Natural Entomology Museum. They're always asking for bug catchers to collect some insects for research before releasing them. Some of them even became researchers."

"Really?" Legosi's expression became excited at the idea. He loved insects and even had a rhinoceros beetle in the Canidae room as his pet. Arthur nodded, his hand-wings were tracing the rim of his mug of tea.

Jack and Aoba were also interested because Arthur had never told them what was his old home like. What towns are there and what school did he come from?

"By the way Arthur," Aoba tapped the bat's shoulder. "What school were you from before exchanging to Cherryton Academy? It must be different, I take it?"

Arthur slowly chewed his toast meticulously while his ears flicked. "I'm from Gryphon Cross. Surely you must have heard of it? It would say that it has competition even with Cherryton."

The three of them exchanged glances. None of them has heard of that school. Jack whipped out his phone to check the name of the school on Zoozle and his puppy eyes widened. He showed Legosi and Aoba what he had found.

"Your school and old home is twelve hours from here?!" Jack yipped. Arthur had his toothy grin, wiping the crumbs off his mouth. "Yes, it's twelve hours and you will need a plane to travel. Even some avians needed the plane since flying can be strenuous."

Aoba literally can't imagine flying for at least twelve hours without stopping. He inspected his wings, wondering what it will bring out of him once he gets his license. He only put a little Maple Mite on his toast because the spread was so salty!

"I do missed it because I had a friend there," said Arthur. "I've been busy with my new life here, I have forgotten about talking to him..."

Aoba placed a wing around Arthur's shoulder. "It will be okay, Arthur. I'm sure he'll understand."

Arthur smiled, tapping the eagle's wing with his two fingers. "Thanks. So anyways, Gryphon Cross is an all-boys schools. Reason it's called that was because a long time ago, there used to be a creature called a griffin, half-lion and half-eagle that were the first ones to past down knowledge to us for generations."

Jack, the historian out of the four of them wanted to enquire more. But that's all Arthur knew about his old school's history. But all of them knew one thing: They would like to visit the place where Arthur grew up.

The four of them spent their times talking about places to go for vacation, their hometown and in Arthur's behalf, what his life was like before Cherryton. The place where Arthur used to grow up sounded like a peaceful place with the forest, little towns and city along a giant lake that leads to the open ocean.

When night fell, Arthur knew it was time for his new friends to leave before the dorm mother catches them away from their respective rooms. Arthur was disappointed that they couldn't hang out for a while due to the curfew and he knew why. Most carnivores use the darkness as their ally when hunting prey.

All of them were being contained so that the herbivores won't feel scared about walking alone on campus. He knew some carnivores are still out and about. But for how long?

...

Today was Presentation Day in history class.

Arthur was nervous because he hoped that he had done enough research to pull this off. Plus, it was difficult for him to practice his lines since he can't see his own reflection in the mirror of his dorm's bathroom.

Before the class, he tried to practice in the gardening club with the flowers as his audience.

Haru found it weird but decided not to question it, seeing that Arthur was shaky like a leaf all morning.

"I bet his slides are a kindergarten's work," one of the students behind him snickered.

"Where's your little morse code, grandpa?" another barked with laughter.

Arthur said nothing but waited for his turn. He had his thermos flask filled with hot tea to sooth his nerves, hope that no one could detect the shakiness of his hand wings. Aoba, who always sat next to him, glared at the other animals to lay off the poor bat.

When it was Arthur's turn, his walk was ungainly since he had to carry his laptop to be plugged while he faced everyone. He had a tiny smile, thinking the only benefit of his blindness is that he doesn't have to worry about seeing everyone in the auditorium.

Clearing his throat, he began:

"In my mythology homework, I would like to present the story of Nocturna and her brother, Camazotz."

He clicked and the slide presented the bullet points and the image of two creatures which made the students gasped. Two of the creatures in the image resembled all the things they imagined of the Chiroptera, one with bright fur and beautiful blue eyes while the other was a dark like ash with eyes that resembled the fires of Hell.

No one commented or threw insults at the Honduran white bat.

"Nocturna and Camazotz used to be together to balance the light and darkness of the Chiropteras but that changed when Zotz committed an unspeakable act: eating the colony he was swore to protect. Nocturna could only watch in horror as her brother continued to threaten the balance of their swore duties."

The whole auditorium were silent with fear at the image. The picture of a monstrous bat called Camazotz devouring every bat in front of him, even the old and young. They never knew that Chiropteras had that kind of history. Aoba, Legosi, even the boisterous Bill was intrigued by the story.

"Nocturna just had enough," Arthur continued, his movement wasn't so awkward now that he had everyone's attention. "She decided to lead her colony away from the darkness that spread in her brother's heart. All those bats who followed her have developed new traits to adapt into both light and darkness."

"Just like him," Arthur could hear one student whispering in awe.

"However, Camazotz also had followers as well. Those that sacrificed their own families and adopted the taste of blood, flesh of their own kin and other things to satisfy their hunger. They remained in the dark....watching....waiting to rise up...

"Thus, that now comes to us as bats. Those Vampyrums, they do exist and have their own lives just like us.But like the stories our family warned us, their true nature will come out without us knowing when. And that is my presentation, thank you!"

Arthur hoped he didn't talked too fast or sound like he should be locked up in the asylum with a muzzle from what sounded like he's rambling rather than presenting. He would rather wrap his wings around his body to comfort himself with this unnerving silence.

But there was a slow clap. And then several until there was a thunderous applause in the auditorium. Arthur could not see the whole crowd but he could feel their excitement radiating in the room. Embarrassed, he drooped his ears a bit at the sudden attention. He promised to reward himself later with a nice egg sandwich with honey for lunch.

Little did he know that there was a senior student that was watching his every move.