Chapter 14: Panda meet hybrids

Cahaya POV

"So you're finally awake?", said the buff panda with a gruff voice, putting his left arm on the doorframe.

"Good evening, panda-san my name is Cahaya a naga and who are you?", I introduced myself. It won't change anything. He probably already saw my student ID while looking through my snorkelling bag. Since it is open on the table next to the bed.

He walked in wearing a yellow shirt, blue jeans and black boots, and I remarked that both of his arms were partially bandaged, some blood still visible through them.

'Heh curiosity burned the panda arms.', I thought, I was thankful that he stopped me but that doesn't mean that I'm happy about being violently lobotomized, so seeing him suffer like this was rather pleasant. 

"You sure heal freakishly fast, not even a damn scar was left on your body. I'm Gohin, a doctor and the Guardian of the Black Market.", he introduced himself while he was avoiding my direct gaze. 

I chuckled at that and said with sarcasm, "I can attest that your treatment is very effective, the animals you treat like this won't have any health issues for the rest of their lives.", he looked guilty, that was a bit petty of me but who cares not for sure.

Then I added with a slight bow, "Anyway, I'm grateful that you stopped me and happy that you think so highly of my person. And really, if you didn't aim at my eye you would have been next on the menu.", he looked taken aback by what I said and recoiled very slightly at the last part but didn't comment on it, I chuckled.

"I suppose Legoshi is also here.", he nodded, then spoke with a bit of a grave tone.

"Ah! Yes… Your friend is incredibly lucky if my student didn't tell me about the 'chaos'… you caused in the Market. And indicated where you will likely go… well you already know what happened next. You didn't have much control back then and if one of my patients ate one of my other patients what kind of doctor would I be?", he said with a small crack in his voice with his joke and a wince of pain since he scratched the back of his head with his left paw.

I stared blankly at him while getting out of the bed, I attached my damaged snorkelling bag to my body, and then looked down at my new shirt. It was shredded, slightly burned and marred with blood, I sighed. My body was filthy and I stunk.

"Do you have a bathroom?", I asked my host and apparently 'doctor'. He pointed behind him and I obliged, I slithered next to him and he let me pass holding his breath.

"You seem very tense 'Doctor' Gohin, I never ate any land animals so far so I won't eat you, at least when I'm sane.", I said while slithering, stiffness already vanishing from my left side, good.

And now he looks angry and his nose scrunched in disgust at my smell, "Go wash yourself, you're stinking of rotten flesh and shit you brat!", he told me in irritation and I ignored the yelling panda who seemed to loosen up as I got farther away from him. He at least understands that I'm higher in the food chain than him.

I slithered and entered the bathroom, it was practical and humble. I put my bag near the tap and my 'shirt' in the bin then entered the shower.

"It's too small… argg *sigh* beggars can't be a chooser.", I muttered in annoyance, I did grow roughly 50 centimetres (19,68 in) with my last mould making me 9,9 meters (32,4 ft) in total length, I hope I don't grow too big, since most of the things are already unadapted to my physiology.

That's why I love the endless water of the sea so much, no rules or societal problems like speciesism, simply freedom but sadly you can't become someone with only freedom.

Examples of a problem often overlooked, most things like baths and showers can be found in any shape and size for animals of different species, the same goes for essentially everything that is in the 'norm' but what goes of the species and individuals outside of this 'norm', like me? Do they become alien to most everyday modern conveniences? Or do they use things poorly adapted to them and potentially injure themselves?

Back to myself, I opened the bamboo cupboard inside the wall, to my right, and saw dozens of lotions and products for furs and skin care, all of them of expensive brands. 

He must be slightly upset about the wound on his arms, meh not my problem fuck mammals and their fur problems.

I can't use any of them anyway, I glimpsed at a 16-in-1 bottle for every animal mark with a black '9'  on it and I decided to use it.

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Just after Cahaya left.

Gohin POV

I unconsciously exhaled a sigh of relief, as the teen slithered away like he owned my place. He is way too relaxed and seems very aware of his surroundings. Totally different from his feral state before. I'm fortunate he was mature enough to not fuck me sideways when he woke up, with my earlier blunter and I really fucking hope it stays that way.

'He feels a bit like this insufferable psychologist and those peculiar lavender eyes of his… Now that I really think about it, they remind me of those snake chick unique eyes that I saw running away with a black salamander seventeen-ish years ago…', I pinched the bridge of my snoot making me flinch in pain, again.

"He must likely be their son… fuuck, shit and that means a hybrid… with all the problems that come with it.", I groaned with a slight growl escaping my muzzle, now fully realising how the situation became even worse and that the kid seems way out of my pay grade.

That explains why he has so many strange physical characteristics: the scale and skin mix is something rarely seen, the eyes colour, skull shape and scale/skin colouration and body shape.

And at first, I believed he was a type of sirenidae, how wrong I was. I'm not an expert in amphibians but I know damn more than the mass, salamanders aren't herbivores at all, so a case with amphibians can potentially occur.

He is an obligate carnivore, not a herbivore as written on his Cherryton Academy student I.D. He must know I rummaged through his stuff.

So he is a half venomous snake and a half possibly toxic salamander, both complicated in their own way. Joy. This one will be practically impossible. I will help him if he asks because I won't be able to do anything otherwise.

And I won't even try to reveal nor threaten him with his status as a hybrid, it's utter foolishness, I'm not suicidal enough and I don't even operate this way.

I then exited the room and walked to where the grey wolf was, in a separated cell. I didn't put Cahaya in the same conditions since I shot him and I'm sure he would have been able to escape and something of his size and strength would have been less than controllable, and that was the right call.

The kid is in all honesty fucking scary, I'm sure he would have killed me and burned the building down with all of its residents inside if I pressed on his buttons a bit more than I already did.

I opened the reinforced door and saw the still sleeping teen that I chained, muzzled and handcuffed against a bamboo pillar. This one should be way easier to handle.

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Cahaya POV

It took 45 minutes and more than half of the bottle to clean myself. I only dressed up with the rescue shirt in my bag and I saw that he put a card with his phone number, good that he won't be forceful and annoying, it will be ironic if the Black Market doctor was to be eaten.

I slithered out and heard voices from my right and I chose to go in this direction.

"I've become her friend gradually, though. And-", Gohin shouted while something banged something, "Shut up brat! Stop barking like a chihuahua! Listen to him!"

'Her? What did he do umm…', I thought while I opened the door. I then saw the panda in pain but still manhandling Legoshi who had a bump under his left eye. He is certainly brutal for a doctor, I can attest to that.

Gohin started to lecture him about his wants, reasons, and hunting instinct mixed with romantic feelings and how he should just break off because they are bad and dangerous etcetera. The difference in how he acted with me and Legoshi is so blatant, he acted high and mighty with the 'grey wolf' while he was nervous and skittish around me.

'So he attacked a female, possibly herbivore, maybe a rabbit with how he reacted with Bill weeks ago and had a sort of withdrawal in the Black Market that made me go full feral when he ran away. I will need to be way more careful about the last part if I don't want an encore.', I deduced with this new information, might be useful more information is better than no information.

"Good morning Legoshi.", I said casually, making both of them look in my direction, the wolf being calmer than the panda funnily enough.

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We just left Gohin's rather shady and discoloured building hospital thing, we were on the street of the same theme, in the middle of the night and it was pleasantly raining and it was a heavy one.

"I wanted to say that I'm deeply sorry and embarrassed about what happened earlier.", I said with a small bow to Legoshi who waved his hand in front of himself in haste as if I said something wrong and it alarmed him in some way. Weird.

"No, no you don't need to, I already forgave! It should be me who should be sorry… You helped me understand how… Haru must have felt when I-I… did this terrib-ble thing to her. I will… be forever grateful for what happened to me that night. It made me open my eyes, and realise that I was a male carnivore isn't that different from a female herbivore when it comes down to it. And I'm still alive. Nothing bad came out of this.", he honestly thanked me, a bit of stuttering at the mention of what he has supposedly done to her, before smiling happily, his tail was wagging, aggressively at that.

I stared down in bewilderment and confusion at the weirdo in front of me and thought, 'Um, what… I knew he was weird but seriously what? Is he grateful for ME practically eating him and comparing it to what he had done? Well, it's certainly unexpected but better than him being traumatized or mad at me, less headache for future me.'

We were finally at the entrance of the train station.

"So, he gave you a pörn magazine about rabbits, the girl's name Haru, the only rabbit that has that name like this, if I remember correctly, is a white Netherland dwarf rabbit, the only member and president of the Gardening Club. Is she the one?", I declared with curiosity to the very damp and smelly wolf next to me. I was bored and my phone was nearly out of energy.

He just nodded, but then his reptilian-like eyes grew wide in shock. He jumped back and said with incomprehension, "How?"

I stared at him up and down and said dryly, "Yep, you aren't the sharpest tool in the shed.", I then said in a warmer tone, "And good luck with her, Gohin doesn't know everything so take what he says with a grain of salt, but his warnings should still be taken into account for this type of relationship.", his tail wagged even harder than before he was looking at me with admiration, yep a total weirdo, it's not like I'm especially better, I'm the definition of weird.

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Legoshi POV

I was in room 701, in my bed, this was a hectic day. Cahaya is on Louis's level, or even beyond, he is way more than he let out.

We arrived at the Dorms entrance when he caught me off-guard by uttering with a bit of resentment and sarcasm, 'By the way could you call Uncle Gosha more often? Silence can hurt someone more than you can ever possibly imagine and six years is a very long silence.'

He knew my grandfather and he knew him very well. He sounded angry at what I didn't do and he might very well be right. And he… I will try to call him today after class, I need to grow up and act like someone my age. 

It was a long time ago but I really wish Cahaya was wrong and I didn't misunderstand my grandfather's actions. I sound awful, but if he is right that will make me a more horrible animal, more than I already am. 

I still got a permanent tear-shaped furless mark on my shoulder where his venom touched me. It hurts badly and it will continue to hurt like this for the next four months before starting to be less painful, it was one drop.

And my punishment.