After the hunters left the room, Sophie returned to the patient.
She began the examination with the head, carefully moving the silvery strands aside and closely inspecting the skin for bruises, scrapes, or signs of impact. The face remained calm, the breathing steady.
Throughout the entire examination, the person on the cot only made a faint, almost inaudible sound, barely reacting to the touches — as if sunk in a deep sleep.
Sophie moved lower. Shoulders, arms, then legs — everything looked surprisingly intact. No swelling, no injuries, not even the slightest hint of trauma.
At last, the medic decided to remove the white cloth, carefully unwrapping it to perform a full examination.
Sophie worked cautiously, without haste. The fabric yielded easily — she gently moved it aside, careful not to disturb the patient more than necessary.
At first — nothing unusual.
The build was fragile, but not sickly. Not emaciated, not thin — rather compact, like that of a small-statured person. The skin was clean, without scars, without bite marks or anything of the sort.
Sophie frowned.
She continued the examination — professionally, mechanically, following a familiar routine. And only a few seconds later did her movements slow.
…Something was missing.
She stopped, then leaned in slightly, as if not trusting her first impression.
— …Hm?
Sophie straightened, then looked down again. Her heart skipped a beat, but her face remained calm. Too calm — the kind of calm that appeared only when reality refused to fit within familiar boundaries.
There were no male traits.
No female ones either.
None at all. As a fact.
Sophie slowly inhaled, then slowly exhaled.
«That's impossible…»
She checked again. Without panic, without haste — like a doctor who must be certain before drawing conclusions.
The result did not change.
The patient… no. The being.
Did not correspond to any human sex.
Sophie carefully covered the body again with the cloth, almost apologetically, and stepped back.
«Genderless…»
Her thoughts naturally drifted further. Demons. Angels. Spirits. The kinds of beings people in the village only whispered about — and even then, rarely.
But outwardly…
There were no signs.
No tail like some races had.
No wings like in stories of angels.
No horns like those of evil demons.
Sophie looked at the being's face again. Calm. Almost childlike. Simply sleeping.
— Who are you… — she whispered.
There was no answer, of course. The being continued to breathe evenly, eyes closed.
Sophie straightened, adjusted the cloth, and headed for the door.
She needed to speak with the hunters. Urgently.
.
.
.
The three of them waited outside the door. From the moment they had left the room, none of them had spoken a word. The reason was obvious to all — but no one said it out loud.
Suron paced back and forth, measuring the corridor with restless steps, lost in his own thoughts. Garen and Ovin sat on the bench by the wall, motionless, staring into the empty space before them. Time dragged on, as if deliberately testing their patience.
Finally, the door creaked open.
All three lifted their heads at once.
Sophie stepped into the corridor and paused for a moment in the doorway. Her face was composed, but her gaze was tense and focused, as if she were still weighing something internally.
She looked at each of them in turn, then finally spoke.
— Where did you find this…?
Garen slowly rose from the bench. The wood creaked beneath his hand as he leaned on it, gathering his thoughts.
— Along the trail, closer to the beach. We heard a strange sound and went to check it out.
— A sound? — Sophie repeated. — What kind of sound?
— Dull, — Ovin shrugged. — Not loud. Like a clap, only… denser.
— Yeah, — Suron added. — At first I thought a tree had fallen. Or rocks coming down a cliff.
Sophie nodded, though her gaze remained sharp.
— And that's all? Just lying there?
Ovin hesitated, then reached into his pocket. The movement was awkward, as if he still wasn't sure whether he should show it.
— Well… not exactly. This was there too.
In his palm lay a small sphere. It gave off a dull glimmer, and a thin spark ran across its surface.
Sophie leaned closer — then straightened immediately.
— That's a Thunder Fox core, — she said. — Are you certain?
— More than, — Ovin nodded. — It was still warm.
— Hm… — Sophie rubbed her temple. — Then I have a question for you.
She looked at them one by one. For a moment, the corridor seemed quieter, as if even the air were listening.
— If there was a Thunder Fox nearby, why are there no burns or wounds on the body?
— We couldn't figure it out either, — Garen answered honestly. — It looked like she had simply… fallen asleep.
Suron frowned.
— Wait, — he said. — You just said "on the body." Why not "on her"?
Sophie fell silent for a second.
— Because… — she paused, — it's not exactly a girl.
— What do you mean, "not exactly"?
— And not a boy either, — Sophie added more calmly.
A short silence followed.
— …What? — Suron breathed out.
He instinctively glanced into the room through the half-open door, then looked back at Sophie.
— Then who exactly do you think I carried here in my arms?
Sophie met his gaze directly.
— Honestly? I don't know.
At that moment, a quiet cough came from the room.
All four turned their heads at once.
Through the open doorway, they saw the figure on the cot stir. Silvery hair slid across the pillow, shoulders tensed slightly.
Then the eyes opened.
Scarlet.
And they were looking straight at them.
.
.
.
The first thing that returned to me when I woke up was my sense of smell. The place I was in smelled of various herbs and unfamiliar mixtures.
I was lying on some kind of bed, covered with the same cloth I had found on the shore. Looking around — and judging by the smell alone — I realized I was in some kind of medical facility, or something similar.
So after I lost consciousness, someone had found me and brought me here. That meant I had made it to a village after all, just like I wanted.
I tried to sit up, but stopped when I noticed four figures standing in the doorway, staring straight at me.
Among them was a young woman, some tall handsome guy, and… two old folk.
— Um… 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 followed and stopped behind her.
— Can you understand me?
— Yeah?
— How do you feel? Does anything hurt?
She started firing questions at me, and I immediately understood — she was the doctor here.
— No, I think I'm fine.
And that was true. I actually felt better than I had back on the shore. Maybe because now I was lying on a bed with a pillow, instead of wet and naked on the sand.
— What's the last thing you remember? — she asked.
I thought for a moment. Where should I even begin? The beach? The creature in the forest? Most likely, they wanted to know why I had been found unconscious in the first place.
— Well… I was walking through the forest…
— Wait, — she interrupted. — Before we go on… how should I refer to you? As a man or a woman?
— Huh? — I blinked, then remembered how I probably look right now. — Oh. Right. Yeah… as a man would be easier.
— Alright.
The others nodded, waiting for me to continue.
— I was walking through the forest, and a huge crackling creature attacked me… — I grimaced, choosing my words. — It looked like a massive fox. And it tore off my left arm.
— What?!
— Wait, are you saying a Thunder Fox tore off your arm?!
And only then did it hit me.
My left arm was still there. Whole. Unharmed.
All eyes immediately turned to me.
«Damn… what am I supposed to tell them now?»
*Tell them everything as it is. There's no point in hiding it*
You really think so?
Well, if Elaris agrees, then there really is no point in dodging the truth. Though, admittedly, it might've been smart to think before blurting that out to people I'd just met. But what's said is said.
After that, I told them everything — without holding back, step by step.
.
.
.
After my story, a heavy silence fell over the room. As if someone had muted the world. Four pairs of eyes stared at me, as if unable to believe what they had just heard.
I agreed — it all sounded insane. Not just to them, but to me as well. For someone who had, not long ago, been planning to sleep on a bench just to make it in time to buy a watch for his father…
For a second, I wondered: What kind of nonsense am I even saying?
About fifteen or twenty seconds passed, but no one spoke. The silence grew uncomfortable, and I decided to ask for some water just to break it.
The young doctor, who had been sitting there with a glassy stare as if she'd fallen out of reality, flinched and snapped out of it, reacting quickly to my request.
— Ah, of course. One moment.
She stood, walked over to the table by the window, picked up a jug of water, and carefully poured it into a cup. Then she handed it to me.
— Thanks.
I started drinking, but was interrupted.
— Listen… — the man with the red beard spoke up. — Your story may be questionable, but overall, it makes sense. But what about how you got here? And where are you from?
I told them about waking up on the beach, half-submerged in water. About feeling the cold as the waves touched my face. About my journey before meeting the Thunder Fox — how I had simply wanted to find anyone alive, or at least a village with people.
I also lied a little, saying I didn't remember anything before waking up on the shore.
Telling them that I had come from another world was definitely not the best idea. For now, that truth was better kept hidden.
— So you have amnesia… but at least you remember your name?
— Rein.
I gave my name, and from the looks of it, properly introduced myself in return.
— Rein, huh… — Garen nodded, committing it to memory. — Well then, nice to meet you. I'm Garen.
He extended his hand, and I shook it.
— This is Ovin, — he gestured to the half-elf, — and this is Suron. A real slacker.
Suron snorted, but said nothing.
Garen turned to the only woman in the room, about to introduce her as well, but she stepped forward first.
— And I'm Sophie!
— Um… yes, — Garen hesitated for a second, then cleared his throat. — She's… also my daughter.
Sophie shot him a quick glance, but stayed silent.
Garen looked back at me.
— Listen, now that we've introduced ourselves… would you mind if we leave you alone for a bit? — he asked calmly. — We need to discuss something.
Without waiting for an answer, he turned to the others, wrapped an arm around their shoulders, and gently nudged 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 wooden boards were cool, but not unpleasant.
I quickly wrapped the sheet around myself.
What were they going to talk about?
Most likely, me — and what to do with me next. There weren't many other options.
I hoped nothing strange would come of it. We'd met normally enough, introduced ourselves, even shaken hands. People usually don't drag you straight to the stake after that… at least, I hoped not.
I let out a quiet breath, realizing I was starting to overthink things.
Honestly, I didn't need much right now. Just to stay here for a little while. To figure out where I was, how this world worked, what kind of place it was. And if I was lucky, to get some proper clothes instead of continuing to wear this beach rag.
In the end, though, the decision was theirs. My position didn't exactly allow me to set any conditions.
So all that was left was to wait until they returned — and hope that whatever they were discussing behind that door would end well for me.