Beastars: A Symphony of Life

Chapter 87: Back on the Scent

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.