Connie’s soup diner opened close to lunch time to late at night. The furless Felinar, who was once a human, found that she was a skilled cook despite of not remembering her own past. Given that Narati was aware of her connection to Hasheti, it made him wonder where and when did she learn how to cook. It did not matter to the Fa’ar, though, as she lived her best life and made good use of her latent skills.

With the pub as crowded as it was, Connie’s diner was a great choice for those who preferred a lighter meal and a relatively quieter atmosphere. The night Narati and N’Dari visited was when her establishment was not as busy. Only Herb was there, sitting near the counter while having some coffee. He seemed to enjoy Connie’s presence. Narati wondered if he ever knew about Connie’s past or her preferences. The Fa’ar preferred Herb to learn about it himself. He only hoped it wasn’t going to end badly.

Herb heard them come in. He greeted them with a smile on his canine face.

“Howdy, fellas!” he said. “Been busy?”

“We’re just sorting things out,” said Narati, sitting by the counter.

“Good to know. And your fella over there? He doin’ well?”

“Well enough, thank you,” said N’Dari.

“Hope the kid ain’t givin’ ya problems. He’s a good kid, but bein’ good ain’t mean he’s out of trouble. He ain’t that innocent, see?”

“I can relate,” said N’Dari.

Connie then returned to the counter. The Felinar’s appearance took N’Dari aback. He never saw a feline person with no fur on her. If it wasn’t for her feline head, she looked almost like a human.

“Hey, Nara,” said Connie. “What would you like tonight?”

“I’ll have the potato chowder. N’Dari might want something with a meat,” said Narati.

“I can see that,” said Connie. “I’ll have them coming right up. Oh, and how’s the coffee, Herbie?”

“Right for the night watch, Con. Might need some more if I want to last the night. Where did you get the coffee, anyway?”

“Ask Jonas. He’s the one working the supplies.”

“The deputy mayor?”

“We don’t exactly have a dedicated supplier yet. I'm surprised he knows where to find a trader with coffee, but well, it's been a couple of months since we moved in. In any case, enjoy the night. Don't work too hard, you hear?"

“Loud a clear, doll.”

Herb finished the cup of coffee, left some muns on the table, then stood up. He then said, “Be seein’ you two around. I heard about Karkas from Raine. I do hope he’s okay, kid. Crockey’s tough. He ain’t gonna drop dead from some Aether.”

“Thanks, Herb. Appreciate it,” said Narati with a smile and a nod.

“And don’t stay out too long tonight. I know it looks like daytime to ya, but ya need to rest them peepers if ya don’t wanna specks.”

“Like you need any yourself,” retorted Narati.

“Ey, I’m 20/20. Sure, I lost some colors, but ya ain’t need colors if ya know where to shoot.” He then flipped his ears. “Or where to hear. See ya around, fellas.”

Narati pretended he understood Herb’s slangs. 20/20? specks? peepers? They sounded like they could mean anything. Somehow, ever since he became more comfortable living in Dragon’s Rest, he started peppering his words with slang words that he claimed to come from his past, and that he felt natural talking with words only he could understand. Somehow, that reminded of himself, as he, too, like to mix in some Fa’ari phrases so his accent would sound natural.

“And there he goes,” said Connie with a sigh. “I know Herbie has the right intentions, but when will he ever realize that he’s not my type?”

“Maybe you can tell him when the time is right,” suggested Narati. “It’s not like he’s an obsessive stalker.”

“Yeah, you’re right, Narati.” She then looked at N’Dari and said, “I heard about our new neighbor from Kiri, but I never expected you to be so big and so...furry. N’Dari, isn’t it? The name’s Connie. And yeah, I know. I'm hardly what you call a 'cat' with nothing but skin."

“Pleasure to meet you,” said N’Dari.

Both the Leonian and the Fa’ar ate their fill that night. They took their time discussing what they were going to do after taking some rest from their latest ordeal. Narati suggested taking more expedition to find more scrap metals and workable junks that he could fix, while those that could not be fixed would be given to N’Dari to be melted down and recast. The Leonian, however, pointed out that they had no such cast, and so he suggested Narati focus on finding the right cast that they could use from abandoned factories, if there were any. With most of the world in ruins, and the remains of past civilizations still untouched, Narati had a lot of places to go if he did not wish to deal with havens and their reluctance to deal with Fa’ars.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

After dinner, Narati and N’Dari continued their conversation at the town square. The night was illuminated by street lamps, kept in a level of illumination that gave a warm, cozy feeling while not being too bright and uncomfortable. They relaxed on a bench in the square, finishing their conversation about what they would do to expand their business.

Once finished, Narati decided to change the topic.

“Hey, N’Dari,” said Narati. “If Tulis ever decided to meet with us…should we try and explain?”

“What, you missed her already?” teased N’Dari, before he sighed. “I don’t know, rat. On one hand, she’s harmless. I’m not sure about kind, but I know that she’s harmless despite of her appearance. On the other hand, though, you gotta realize how many people out there who’s afraid of spiders.”

“I know. It’s just unfair to her.”

“You can talk. Your kind aren’t treated the best, either.”

“Because we were responsible for breaking the world. I don’t think Mygaleans are responsible. Nobody has ever heard of them in this time and age.”

N’Dari then chuckled.

“You know, I think I’m beginning to understand why your friends are kind to you, especially the elves. You put the well-being of others before you, all because you feel guilty for what your ancestors did. Don’t feel guilty. We all bore the sins of our ancestors equally. It depends on whether you can readily accept them and move on from being bogged down by history to help rebuild a future robbed from us.”

Narati, taken aback by N’Dari surprising words of wisdom, said, “I never thought I’d heard those words from you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? I don’t need to be old to act wise. Besides, speaking of wise, do you really think I wouldn’t know about the Chitra princess? She thinks no one in her kingdom would know her face, but I do, even if I wasn’t there when the uprising happened. A fellow cat knows the face of another."

“The Valley’s far enough from her kingdom as it is,” said Narati. “There is no reason for them to come up here and finish the job. Unless, of course—”

“Don’t involve me in their petty politics, rat. I’m a traveler. I don’t give a shit about who’s running the country, as long as they don’t ruin it. But I am sympathetic to Sakiri. She may not have the ambition to be a queen, but her family’s scattered throughout the Plains. Not knowing where your family are despite knowing they are safe is still harsh.”

“Then how about if you let her know that someone still care for her after losing everything? I can understand her plight, but I don’t understand Chitras as well as someone who lived among them.”

N’Dari scoffed. “She’s a princess. She belongs in a different class.”

“Is she, though? Presently, I mean.”

“Well…you got a point, Narati.” N’Dari sighed. “Before Asran, I never thought of this world’s problems, but now I’m inevitably involved with everything and everyone. Guess this world has a long way to go before we can return to the way things are before the war, if ever.”

“How about if we stop thinking about the world and focus on the present, hmm? Presently, I just want to go to sleep.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” N’Dari yawned, opening his jaws big enough to look very intimidating, especially since Narati could easily tell the rows of sharp teeth befitting his race. He stood up first, followed by Narati. They both walked side by side, continuing talking about life in Dragon’s Rest, until they reached the street where their apartments were.

“See you tomorrow, Narati,” said N’Dari. “Pleasant dreams.”

“You, too, mi tanem,” replied Narati. He then climbed up the stairs to his apartment, intending to relax a bit before he went to sleep.

The relative solitude of his apartment was something that he missed while traveling with Karkas into the desert and with N’Dari and Tulis back to the town. The somewhat preserved wooden floor restored by Aranis’s magic, along with the brick wall covered in plaster, made the apartment far more homey than anything in the desert, which also included his old home. In fact, this was far better than the living conditions of most Fa’ars in the desert, and Narati felt grateful for both Jacques and Raine for saving his life a year ago.

The working shower did wonders for Narati. He needed to treat his fur after the harsh desert climate. It also calmed his mind, knowing that he was safe within his own home. After drying himself, he sat near his bed, looking over the streets through his open windows. He still needed his night vision to properly see, given the lack of illumination on that part of the street. He noticed some movements near the end of the street, but since it was in the direction of the square, he assumed that it was one of the night guards.

“Karkas,” he said as he looked at the night sky. “I hope you’re doing well. Tallinn will help you. I know she will.”

Having high hopes of Karkas’s eventual recovery, Narati retired to his bed, hoping for a new dawn in a life he could only dreamt of a year ago. It was time to get to work.

But unfortunately for him, he wouldn’t see a new dawn.

Narati was a light sleeper, but he wasn’t terribly bothered by ambient noises. What disturbed him enough to wake him up in the middle of the night was a thudding sound loud enough for his sensitive rodent ears to catch. He did not become alerted by the noise, thinking that it might be due to the window he forgot to secure (Narati preferred to open the window beside his bed for ventilation).

When his still half-asleep eyes opened, the first thing he saw was the face of a humanoid spider. The sight, alien and terrifying, immediately woke him up. But before he could react, something sticky was shot into his mouth. The momentary shock was enough to distract him, causing the Mygalean right in front of him to grab him with her appendages and quickly wrapping him in spider silk. The tensile strength and the durability of the web was far more than Narati’s strength as he struggled in vain. Before long, only his head was unwrapped. He couldn’t scream for help with his mouth sealed, and he was at the mercy of the Mygalean who was clearly not Tulis.

“She wasn’t lying about him being the only Fa’ar in town,” commented the Mygalean. “Narati Vasra, isn’t it? You and I are going on a trip. I’m sure you will enjoy our hospitality…provided you survive.”

Narati became worried and started struggling in his cocoon, but was then horrified when his sight was cut off by thick web blindfolding his eyes. Soon, he felt tightness all over his head as the Mygalean captor wrapped her silk around his head, mercifully leaving his snout open for him to breathe. That did not stop the Mygalean from putting something on it to make his breathing ragged and hard.

“I do enjoy the futile struggles of a prey,” said the Mygalean in a sadistic but playful voice. “You’d make quite an entertainment on the way home.”

Narati couldn’t breathe properly and he kept struggling, completely at the mercy of the Mygalean captor. He felt himself removed from his bed, feeling weightless but was unable to determine where he was being taken.

Fear of what the Mygaleans would do to him caused him to panic, to the enjoyment of the Mygalean kidnapping him, along with her companions, as they skittered away from the town deep into the Valley.