After the hunters left the room, Sophie returned to her patient.
She began the examination with the head, gently brushing the silver strands aside and carefully inspecting the skin for bruises, scrapes, or signs of impact. The face remained calm, breathing steady.
Throughout the entire examination, the figure on the cot only made the faintest soft sounds, barely reacting to touch, as if lost in a deep sleep.
Sophie moved lower. Shoulders, arms, then legs — everything looked surprisingly intact. No swelling. No injuries. Not even a hint of trauma.
Finally, the nurse decided to remove the white cloth, carefully unwrapping it to conduct a full examination.
Sophie worked cautiously, without haste. The white fabric yielded easily — she moved it aside gently, trying not to disturb the patient more than necessary.
At first — nothing unusual.
The build was fragile, but not sickly. Not emaciated, not thin — more compact, like someone of shorter stature. The skin was clean, without scars, without bite marks or anything else.
Sophie frowned.
She continued the examination — professionally, almost automatically, following routine. Only after a few seconds did her movements slow.
Something was missing.
She stopped, then leaned in slightly closer, as if doubting her first impression.
— …Hm?
Sophie straightened, then looked down again. Her heartbeat skipped for a moment, though her face remained composed.
There were neither male nor female traits.
At all. Completely absent.
Sophie slowly inhaled, then just as slowly exhaled.
«That's impossible…»
She checked again — like a doctor who must be certain before drawing conclusions.
The result didn't change.
The patient… no. The being.
Did not correspond to either human sex.
Sophie carefully covered the body again with the cloth, almost apologetically, and stepped back.
«Genderless…»
The thought carried itself further.
No tail, like some races have.
No wings, like in stories about harpies.
No horns, like evil demons.
But outwardly…
No signs at all. And somehow… that was more unsettling than any horns or wings could have been.
Sophie looked at the being's face again. Calm, sleeping, almost childlike.
— Who are you… — she whispered.
There was no answer, of course. The being simply breathed evenly, eyes still closed.
Sophie straightened, adjusted the fabric, and headed toward the door.
She urgently needed to speak with the hunters.
.
.
.
The three of them sat outside, waiting for the results. Since leaving the room, none of them had said a word.
Suron paced back and forth down the corridor, lost in thought. Garen and Oven sat on a bench by the wall, motionless, staring into empty space. Time dragged on slowly, as if deliberately testing their patience.
At last, the door creaked open.
All three lifted their heads at once.
Sophie stepped into the hallway and paused in the doorway for a second. Her face was composed, but her gaze was tense, focused — as if she were still weighing something internally.
She looked at each of them in turn and finally spoke.
— Where did you find it…?
Garen slowly rose from the bench. The wood creaked under his palm as he pushed himself up, gathering his thoughts.
He briefly recounted how they had heard the explosion and gone to investigate. When they arrived, they found a small crater with a thunder-fox core inside it — and beside the crater, the girl they had brought.
— Hm… — Sophie rubbed her temple. — Then I have a question for you.
She looked at them one by one. For a second, the corridor seemed even quieter, as if the air itself were listening.
— If there was a thunder-fox nearby, why are there no burns or wounds on the body of… it?
— We don't understand it either, — Garen answered honestly. — She looked like she had just… fallen asleep.
Suron frowned.
— Wait. You just said "it." Why not "her"?
Sophie fell silent for a moment.
— Because… — she paused, — it's not exactly a girl.
— What do you mean "not exactly"?
— And not a boy either…
A short silence followed.
— What…?
He instinctively glanced into the room through the slightly open door, then looked back at Sophie.
— Then… who exactly did I carry here?
Sophie met his gaze directly.
— Honestly? I don't know.
At that moment, a quiet cough came from inside the room.
All four of them turned their heads at once.
Through the partially open door, they saw the figure on the cot shift. Silver hair slid across the pillow, shoulders tensing slightly.
And then beautiful crimson eyes opened… and looked straight at them.
.
.
.
The first thing that returned to me after I woke up was my sense of smell. The place I was in smelled of various herbs and unfamiliar undertones.
I was lying on some kind of bed, covered with the same cloth I had found on the shore. Looking around — and just from the scent alone — I realized I was in some kind of medical facility or something similar.
So after I lost consciousness, someone must have found me and brought me here. That meant I had made it to a village after all, just like I'd hoped.
I tried to sit up, but stopped when I noticed four figures standing in the doorway, staring directly at me.
Among them was a young woman, some tall pretty boy, and… two old guys.
— Uh… hi?
It was the first thing that came to mind.
The girl who had been standing in the doorway rushed toward me and sat down on a chair beside the bed. The others stepped closer as well and stopped behind her.
— Can you understand me?
— Yeah?
— How do you feel? Does anything hurt?
She began bombarding me with questions, and I immediately understood she was the doctor.
— No, I think I'm fine.
And that was true. I actually felt better than I had on the beach. Maybe because I was lying on a proper bed with a pillow instead of wet and naked on sand.
— What's the last thing you remember?
I hesitated. Where was I even supposed to begin? The beach? Or that creature in the forest? Most likely they wanted to know why I had been found unconscious.
— Well… I was walking through the forest…
— Wait, — she interrupted. — Before you continue… how should we address you? As a guy or as a girl?
— Huh? — I blinked, then remembered what I probably looked like. — Oh. Right. You can address me as a guy.
— Understood.
The others nodded, waiting.
— I was walking through the forest when some huge sparking creature attacked me… — I grimaced, searching for the right words. — It looked like a giant fox. And it tore off my left arm.
— What?!
— Wait, you're saying a thunder-fox tore off your arm?!
Only then did it hit me.
My left arm was completely intact.
All eyes locked onto me.
«Damn… what am I supposed to tell them now?»
*Tell them everything. There's no point in hiding it*
You think so?
Well, if Elaris agrees, then there's probably no point dodging it. Though maybe I should've thought twice before blurting something like that out to people I just met. But what's said is said.
So after that, I told them everything — step by step, without leaving anything out.
.
.
.
When I finished, a heavy silence filled the room. Like someone had muted the world. Four pairs of eyes simply stared at me, as if unable to believe what they had just heard.
I couldn't blame them. It sounded insane — not just to them, but to me too.
Just recently I'd been sleeping at a train station because I missed the last departure…
And now I was fighting thunder-foxes.
For a second I thought, «What kind of nonsense am I even saying?»
About fifteen or twenty seconds passed, and still no one spoke. The silence was uncomfortable, so I asked for some water just to break it.
The young doctor, who had been sitting there with a glassy stare as if disconnected from reality, flinched and snapped back, quickly responding to my request.
— Ah, of course. One moment.
She stood up, walked to the table by the window, picked up a pitcher, and carefully poured water into a glass before handing it to me.
I thanked her and started drinking, but was interrupted.
— Listen… — the man with the red beard addressed me. — Your story is questionable, but overall it makes sense. But what about how you ended up here? And where are you from?
I told them how I had woken up on the beach, lying half in the water. I described my walk through the forest before encountering the thunder-fox, how I had simply wanted to find someone alive — or at least a village.
I also lied a little, saying I didn't remember anything before waking up on the shore.
Telling them I came from another world definitely didn't seem like a good idea. For now, that truth was better kept to myself.
— So you have amnesia… But you at least remember your name?
— Rein.
— Rein, huh… Well then, nice to meet you. I'm Garen.
He extended his hand, and I shook it.
— That's Oven, — he pointed to the half-elf, — and that's Suron. Lazy as they come.
Suron snorted but said nothing.
Garen turned to the only girl in the room, about to introduce her, but she stepped forward first.
— And I'm Sophie!
— Uh… yes, — Garen hesitated briefly, then cleared his throat. — She's my daughter.
Sophie shot him a quick look but said nothing.
Garen looked back at me.
— Listen, now that we're acquainted… would you mind if we step out for a moment? — he said calmly. — There's something we need to discuss.
Without waiting for an answer, he turned to the others, put an arm around their shoulders, and gently steered them toward the exit.
And just like that, I was alone again.
I lay there for a couple of seconds, listening to the silence, then slowly sat up and lowered my feet to the floor. The boards were cool, but not unpleasant.
I quickly wrapped the sheet around myself.
What are they going to talk about?
Most likely about me — and what to do with me. There aren't many other options.
I just hope they don't come up with anything strange. We introduced ourselves, shook hands and everything. Usually people don't drag someone straight to the stake after that… at least, I hope not.
I exhaled quietly, catching myself overthinking.
Honestly, I don't need much right now. Just to stay here for a while. Figure out where I am, how things work here, what kind of world this is. And, if I'm lucky, get some proper clothes instead of continuing to walk around in beach fabric.
Still, the decision isn't mine to make. My position right now doesn't exactly allow me to dictate terms.
So all I can do is wait for them to return — and hope whatever conversation is happening behind that door ends well for me.