Sage passed a few windows on his way to the top and ended up in Curel’s room again. It's owner apparently reached the safety of the Clan building before the others and had tropped the ladder to enable them to quickly and unsuspiciously enter the room. She must've been here for a while even, as she had settled down on one of the pillows around the TV and was reading in a book. Quiet rock music was sounding through the room of an artist that mixed Elfish lyrics with English ones. Curel lifted her head from her lecture as Sage climbed in and her face brightened up visibly.

A smile of relief spread on Sage lips as well as he saw Curel to be safe. He had not liked the idea that his desperate attempts at keeping her from harm might have been in vain.

“You're back!” she called and jumped up to hug Sage, before he could even get firm ground under his feet. Luckily, even a fully glomping Riverelf couldn't really push him back through the windowframe due to the pure difference in size and weight.

“You literally saved my life back at the bridge.”, Curel explained with a deep, genuine thankfulness. “I don't think my bones would've survived punches from this thug.”

“Uhm...” Sage responded lacking the proper social skills to deal with such utter praise, while Curel hung around his neck like an oversized necklace.

“Yeah, yeah, we're back.”, Kyu said as she stepped through the window frame and made Curel drop down from Sage’s neck by pulling one of her hands off him. Sage could notice a slight twitch in Kyu’s ear as she heard the music in the room.

“Really, Curel? Garel Hurricane again?” she asked.

Curel gave her a hostile glare: “Hey, stop judging me for it. She makes objectively good music.”

“She's a Rosh-Clan outcast in 2nd Generation and turned her back on her kin to collaborate with the Humans.”, Kyu held against Curel. “She traded her clan and her identity for fame and loads of Human cash. She even appropriates our language for her monetary schemes.”

“She never even knew her clan, because they had made her mother an outcast.” Curel argued. “And she worked very, very hard to get where she is now...”

This argument went on between the two, but faded into the background for Sage, as this deep, unsettling feeling of having forgotten something crucial returned. It was the same kind of emotion that he had when looking over the skyline of Maranurr city, but this time he had a clear object of association in his mind.

Garel Hurricane.

Somehow this name rung a bell in his mind and a pretty alarming one at that. Something... dangerous surrounded this name. He tried really hard to convey an image of the feelings he felt about this name and for a brief moment he would see the face of a white haired elf with a confident grin. Someone placed her hand on his shoulder

“What's your opinion about this?” Kyu asked him from the side.

Sage twitched slightly, when Kyu tore him from his feelings of familiarity or at least recognition.

“Uhm... “, he said, slightly confused. “I... haven't listened if I'm completely honest.”

“See, Kyu?” Curel said, obviously taking this as a supportive statement to her position. “This entire debate is so stupid, that he doesn't even listen to it.”

Sage looked to Curel, surprised how skilled she was with twisting his words: “Hey, that's not what I-”

Kyu sighed and interrupted him: “Don't worry; it's not even that important.”

Sage was actually a little bit surprised that Kyu would just let an argument rest like that, but when looking at her face he recognized that there was something else she was pondering. She looked towards the window and then to the door saying: “And the others arn't back yet?”

Slowly Curel shook her head which clearly seemed to unnerve Kyu.

She stood up and walked towards the door.

“I'll see if I can spot them, alright?”

Without waiting for either of them to give their opinion on this plan she rushed out the door and nearly slammed it into the frame, had Curel not stopped it by reaching for the doorknob in the very last possible second.

“Is she always like this?”, asked Sage who had already raised his fingers to stick them into his ears for when the door slammed closed.

“You'll get used to it.”, responded Curel and gestured to the group of pillows next to the TV: “Why don't you take a seat, Sage?”

He nodded thankfully. Maybe getting a bit of rest wasn't too bad after all of this trouble he went through in the past... three hours?

Really?

Only three hours?, he thought.

It felt like his life had been turned upside down since then, but maybe this was just due to the lack of experience he could draw from. After all, anything he could pin down as a memory in his mind had happened within the last two days. He dropped himself onto one of the couches in the living-room-area, taking up almost the entire space on it with his large body. Apparently even the couches had been designed to accommodate the smaller elves.

Curel raised her book again, as if she wanted to go back to reading, but after just a few seconds Sage could see her eyeing him over the edge of her book.

“You really saved me back there.” she started the conversation again, when Sage didn't say anything.

“I already said it was nothing.” Sage said, not to boast around. It felt natural to him to save a friend during a fight. Then he was more surprised when Curel suddenly stood up and sat down on Sages belly, firmly demanding his attention.

“Saying my life is not nothing.”, she said with an intense stare that looked all the more creepy due to her black iris and pupils that barely allowed to make out a difference in their colouring. “In fact it's a pretty big deal.”

“A-alright.” Sage backed off and raised his hands defensively.

A sneaky grin crept on Curel’s face and gave him a glimpse onto her shark like teeth: “Hmm, isn't this a lucky coincidence. You save my life and the two of us end up alone in my room directly after it...”

Her small hands ran up his chest, until her upper body could lean forwards and get very close to his face.

Sage looked at her confused for a moment, and then he began to understand. Or at least he believed he was. She was flirting with him, wasn't she? Or was this...

“You deserve a reward for this. I'm one of the last of my kind on this continent after all.” she said and pulled down the cleavage of her top until Sage could see what little breasts the girl hand. Even though there not being too much to see, this did make Sage blush nervously.

“W-wait C-Curel...” he stuttered. “I-Is this what I think it is?”

Curel responded with a smug grin: “Of course it is. I owe you a big deal; also neither of us are bound to the stupid rules of this Woodelf clan. We're guests here. So why not make out for a bit?”

This was way too fast. And this girl was way too confident.

“I-I think I heard somewhere that Elves and Humans...” Sage tried to contradict, but Curel just laughed.

“I'm glad that you're worried about me..:” she began to respond. “But these rules are for the Woodelves. More specifically, the Clan-Woodelves. I can choose not to obey the Clan rules. And I happen to find you hot enough to break them for you.”

Sage was still looking for a gentleman’s way out of this, as Curel leaned forwards and pressed her lips on his. For a second, Sage could feel a somewhat salty taste coming from her mouth, and then she was already pulling her lips back and skilfully slid off Sage.

He was still confused by the kiss and lifted his upper body up, throwing Curel a questioning look.

“Wait, why are you stopping?”, he asked.

“I don't have much experience in this...”, responded Curel with a smile on her face that Sage could not tell if it was forced or just a friendly gesture to show him that this was okay. “... but I do notice when someone is not in the mood. So... unless you changed your mind, we should stop, shouldn't we?”

Sage started at the girl for moment, considering her offer for the first time in a clearer state of mind then utter confusion.

Unfortunately he couldn't even consider her offer properly, as suddenly he heard a cute, yet strained voice calling out.

“I'm back! I'm back! Help me in before I fall!”, yelled someone from the outside.

Curel went to the window and leaned out to ask: “Give me one reason why I shouldn't just drop you, Fluffypie. You just interrupted a rather important conversation of mine.”

Said Inu looked up at the ladder: “Uhm... because we're very, very good friends?”

Curel rolled her eyes as response and said: “Alright... I shall let it slip this time.”

With a sign and a groaning of effort she reached down and helped Inu up. It seemed that whatever this girl was, it was incredibly bad at climbing. She almost fell to the floor when Curel pulled her through the window, but could catch herself with her hands and knees.

Sage sat up to check if she was alright, but unfortunately these thick layers of clothing didn't allow for a clear look on her physical condition. It was also pretty visible now, that she wasn't wearing this attire out of sheer comfort. Huge drops of sweat were running down her forehead and her face was glowing with heat. What happened next was surprising to Sage,but only logical in retrospect given how Inu looked like she was close to a heatstroke.

“I... I need to get rid of the hat and dress, Curel!” Inu said with a slightly panicking voice. “I'm overheating!”

Sage wrinkled his forehead, stuck between worry and amusement.

“Of course you're overheating”, she thought to herself. “If I ran around in the summer heat in this winter attire, then I would be overheating as well.”.

“You can't!” Curel responded firmly. “You know what Kyu said! I can get you some cool packs.”

“NO!” Inu shouted with surprising aggression in her otherwise peaceful voice. She dug her long, spiky nails into the cloth of her dress and pulled it off her body with a seemingly superhuman strength. In a rageful fit she reached for her head and threw the woolly cap to the ground, before tearing the sleeves of her top. Curel stood next to it, clearly willing to step in but not knowing what to do or say.

“Stop it, Inu!”, she finally called and grabbed the girl wrists to stop her from further ruining her clothes. With an aggressive glare Curel stared into her eyes and said “We can't show this to anyone! I haven't raised you to become some lab-rat for overly curious humans!”

“He's a friend, isn't he?!” Inu responded, half shouting. “He saved your life! Show some trust!”

Curel looked helplessly back and forth between Inu and Sage, while Inu for the first time showed some of her skin without cover.

She clearly wasn't an Elf, but she also wasn't a human either. Her ears where neither round and short nor long and pointy, but were attached to the top of her head and had the shape of a felines ears with short, stubby hair covering it’s outsides. And that wasn't the only part of her body that was unnaturally hairy as the back of her hands and lower arms were covered in short-cut fuzz as well. She was as muscular as Sage had assumed her to be and her shoulders where wide and powerful for a woman. The fur also existed behind her head and ran down her back until it disappeared in her clothing and finally reappeared in an extremely fluffy tail coming from below her skirt.

Inu sat down on the couch, next to Sage, panting and trying to her rid of the heat that was captured within her body. In all this time Sage couldn't take his eyes off her for even a second.

He was pretty stunned at this sight.

What was she exactly?

His eyes ran up and down her strong body over and over again in order to find a satisfying answer to this question. And strangely, his brain could actually come up with answers, like there were memories of hers related to this race that hid in a pond of murky water and only the active search would release them.

“Kyu is a sadist, sending me out in these clothes.” Inu sighed and gave Sage a worried look.

Curel contradicted: “Inu, you know this is to your own protection. Each person that knows what you are is an additional danger.”

Inu looked up and huffed:” I don't think this amnesiac stranger can pose much of a danger to me...”

She squeaked suddenly, as Sage touched her ears and turned around, protectively placing her palms over them.

“Those are... real.” Sage said slowly, unable to take his eyes of Inu's head. Somehow this seemed... familiar to him. He knew he had seen such a creature before, but could not pin down where.

“Y-yeah they are...” Inu said, blushing slightly. “But please only touch them if necessary, they are quite sensitive.”

“O-Oh...” Sage responded with a stutter. “A-Alright. I'm sorry.”

Inu nodded and moved a bit away from Sage so he could properly muster her.

“So... this is me...” she said. “You would've found out sooner or later anyway. What do you think? Creepy, eh?”

Sage shook his head: “No, not at all. I find it... surprising... but it fits you.”

“You think so?” Inu said clearly happy about this judgement.” Y-You don't think I'm a freak?”

Again, Sage moved his head from left to right, still inspecting what he could see of her body.

“No.”, he said slowly and added. “... but I would actually like to know what exactly you are.”

“O-of course...” Inu said and swallowed hard. “I... I'm what the legends call a ‘Wolfelf’ or ‘Wildelf’ depending on the language.”

“One of the Eard creations?” Sage whispered having absolutely no idea how he knew that. “And your race is supposed to be extinct. The 3rd Genocide by the humans....”

“You know about the Eards?” Curel asked, sounding genuinely interested, but also wanting to avoid talks about genocide against Inu’s race.

“I know they are your ancestors.” Sage replied to Curel. “Transformed after their two-millenia long journey over the oceans, on the great floating city of Ylaerk'Mar. But... I don't know how I can know this.”

Curel nodded with clear respect, but even more interest into him written all across her face.

“You are more educated on the history of the Elves then nine out of ten Elves are. At least of who I have met so far.”, she said, scratching her chin. “Maybe you are some kind of Alfaelogist. A scientist who researches our history.”

“Uhhh...”, made Sage as a response and genuinely entertained the idea for a second. Could this be who he really was?

If that was the case, the idea did not reveal anything new to him and his mind was still devoid of memories related to Alfaelogism.

“Hmmm.”, he said hesitantly. “Maybe... who knows?”

Curel looked at him for a while, but when it got abundantly clear that she would not get more information from Sage, she stood up again and walked towards the door in the bedroom-section . “I am going to take a bath now. I'll leave the door open, so we can keep talking.”

Following up on her announcement she went inside and pressed a light-switch, revealing a pretty spacey bathroom with a huge tub in the centre of it. With her foot she opened the tab that began to fill the tub with steaming hot water and then began to throw off her clothing in a way that Sage could have easily watched her if he had just turned around.