Chapter 3

Against his own dignity, Yafya had some coffee and this disgusting piece of fried dough they called benign or something like that! It was no wonder their reptilian guest was fat. Even the hairless cat doesn't seem to eat as much as his companion.

It still unnerved him whenever the cat was 'looking' at his direction.

There were so many questions to ask such as what were their roles during the Great War? How do they lose their limbs and eyes? Who were they visiting?

"You're very quiet, Yafya," Hershel commented. The stallion almost choked on his coffee while Gosha and Lou were still conversing with each other. Without any eyes or eyelids, he couldn't tell whether Hershel was blinking.

"Never had these before," he muttered, deciding to change the subject. "So, what brings the both of you here? Who are you visiting?"

It was Lou who spoke up, "Visitin' an ol' friend of ours. Ah reckoned they'd be surprised to see us since we didn't tell 'em that we're comin'. In fact, they were our friends/family."

Yafya arched a brow. It was an answer but not the answer he was expecting. As if Gosha had read his mind, he asked, "Who are these friends or family of yours?"

That was when Hershel fished out a passport-size photo from his pocket. Yafya's eyes widened when he saw who they were. He remembered those two exactly four years ago after the Black Market's demolition and Melon's arrest.

He thought he was done with them but no, these two foreigners just HAD to be associated with them.

Gulping down his coffee, the stallion began gesturing at Gosha to follow him into a room that used to be his daughter's before her planned out 'accident'. It was clear that his Komodo dragon friend wasn't too pleased to be in this room but he stood his ground.

"Something you want to discuss?"

Giving him the passport-sized photo he took from the eyeless cat. "Do you know these two?"

Taking out his reading glasses, Gosha examined the photo carefully with the tip of his claws. It was clear that he was being mindful of his venom since it was corrosive enough to melt through concrete. Furrowing his brows, he replied, "They look familiar. Judging by your tone and how you reacted, I take it you know them very well."

Yafya lets out an exasperated snort. Well, if those two were to meet them, he would very much like to be at the scene to watch everything unfold. There was no rest when the wicked's at large. When they returned back, Lou was just clearing the plates while Hershel had ear buds on.

"Ah was wonderin' what happened back there. Ya know 'em?"

Before Gosha could answer, Yafya silenced his friend with a swift kick to his knee. As much as he was guilty of doing that, he knew Gosha was made of sterner stuff. "Not really. I was discussing something off topic with Gosha while wondering who those two were."

This time, Hershel took out his ear buds to face the dark stallion with a disapproving expression. "If you say so..."

He fought a lot of carnivores throughout his career but never had one that made him nervous just as the sphinx cat was doing to him. Could he really tell that he was lying? They say eyes are the window to the soul but does one have a soul when there are no eyes to begin with?

Just then, Gosha clapped his claws to diffuse the tension. "Well, we have a big day ahead of us. Let us show you around town to get what you need before you meet up with your friends."

Yafya could only pinned his ears back and lets out a huff. He was sure to get himself a strong drink once those two were out of their hands. Another prayer he silently pleaded was to make sure those two go back to where they had come from.

...

As if Fate was playing jockey with him, Yafya was begrudgingly being a chaperone to Hershel while Lou went with Gosha to the supermarket to find some ingredients. He doubted that they would find anything related to what they were looking for.

He was strolling beside the blind cat when he was stopped by a grip to the hand.

"I know you lied back at the apartment," Hershel meowed coolly, causing Yafya to narrow his eyes at him. Hershel wore sunglasses with the thickest tint to cover his eyes. Approaching him, he continued, "You talked to fast and your tone was through your nose. You knew who those two were, am I right?"

At this point, he wondered if he should subdue the cat before onlookers could get a glimpse.

"Well? It's impolite to make an elder wait, son," Hershel prompted, tail already lashing. Sighing to himself, Yafya nodded. Not that it would matter since his charge was blind as a-

Ah, it was too soon to say it!

"I've lived a lot of lives before you came," Yafya countered as they walked side by side. "I am the Beastars before I retire so you might want to refrain from calling me 'son'."

He had not realised that they have reached the centre of the town where CCTVs were bound to capture any carnivore offenders. Then again, he was a lot bigger than Hershel, let alone able to see his surroundings better than any herbivore. It would be the talk of the town to see a horse talking with a blind cat since blind animals were mostly useless to society.

Until someone proved them wrong.

"You must have been through a lot," Hershel murmured, changing the subject. Yafya was shocked by the cat's tone where it was full of sympathy. A disgusting tone that most carnivores would use on helpless herbivores.

"What's with your name anyways?" asked Yafya, who decided to sit down on one of the benches. Hershel followed suite, resting his cane against his legs while his disc-like ears were erected from listening to every sound.

"What about my name?"

"Were you named after some kind of candy bar? Like the Hersh Kisses?"

This caused the cat to let out a mrrow of laughter. He still found it disturbing that this cat won't blink or shed a tear considering both of his eyes were hollow voids. "Oh, I get that a lot. No, I was named after my father, Hershel Sr. God rest his soul."

It felt awkward to fill in conversations since Hershel was a quiet cat. A part of him does want to know him and try to understand his connection with those two animals in the photo. Were they family or family-friends? Could they be- no!

He hated to think about interspecies children at this point.

"I wonder if Lou is done," Hershel murmured, swivelling his ears to listen to something. "He's not as fast as he used to be on those metallic legs."

Speaking of the albino alligator, Yafya was certain that he does not know the danger of having the colour of white on one's body with matching pink eyes. In this city, albinos were hunted by poachers due to their rare colour and superstitious nonsense that spewed out of their mouths.

As much as he wasn't fond of foreigners, this cat wouldn't be too happy if his friend was killed.

"Come on," he shook the cat to stand up. "Let's go check on them. I just hope there aren't any poachers in the neighbourhood..."

I'm pretty sure we can guess who are the two animals both Lou and Hershel are visiting. And why is Yafya so spooked about it?