The trip back felt long and arduous. My ankle wouldn’t allow me to put any pressure on it so I was relegated to being assisted by the human from the first group I had met. We moved as a group; many of the men still worried that the creature would pop out. They made sure that they held out their torches and that they didn’t go out. Rosary rested in my hood.

Regar was up ahead of the group; he seemed to be having a conversation with the Panther looking man, whom at this point I had figured was Panzer. It wasn’t long before we entered a room unlike that of any of the other places that I had seen before. It was huge. Honestly, it felt like I was in an underground football stadium except that the seats were stone and the only light came from torches and small slits in the ceiling. Tents lined the bottom perimeter. Near the center was a stage of sorts and in the center of that stage was something else, but I was too far away to get a clear look. Rosary and I were taken to one of the older looking tents and told to wait.

A perky looking woman with floppy dog-like ears came over an infectious smile on her face, a large medical bag in her hand. “Hello, I hear you saved Lizz. I’m the head doctor here; call me Cali.”

"Sorry dear, you'll have to wait outside," Cali told Rosary.

"Why?" Rosary asked, a suspicious look on her face.

"Because dear I will need to inspect this man for injury, I'm sure you fae don't have much of a need for modesty but you most other races do."

"Fine," Rosary groaned.

Cali touched my body in a cursory light way, taking off first my shirt she looked at the wounds in my shoulder before moving down to my legs. After inspecting me she went to work; putting a salve on the cuts and gashes, the feeling of pain diminished, instead replaced by a cooling itching sensation. “Make sure not to itch it, unless you want your wounds to open right back up,” Cali said as she rummaged in her bag. She moved over to the counter grabbing two pieces of wood. “This is going to hurt.” She said and moved my foot forward. I felt a sharp pain pierce me as she arranged the foot, I wanted to cry it hurt so bad, but I endured it.

“Make sure you don’t put pressure on that foot. You’ve got a sprain,” she said as she finished wrapping the brace out of cloth. “I’ll come back with a crutch in a moment, stay there. Please,” Cali said before leaving again. Shortly after Rosary came back in, a look of irritation.

“What did that dog in heat do to you?” She asked.

“Huh? What are you talking about a dog in heat? All she did was take care of my wounds.” Rosary hovered over to me and gave me a long stare.

“Doesn’t change the fact that she’s a dog in heat,” Rosary grumbled. What was she even talking about? This whole line of dialogue seemed so bizarre. The Doctor came back, blonde tail wagging, a flushed look in her eyes; in her hands the crutch.

“You’re going to have to come back to me every day so that I can keep an eye on the status of your wounds.” Wait once a day? Rosary glared at Cali. Huh? Cali gave Rosary a toothy grin. Cali's face turned to shock as a hand grasped her by the shoulder. “Dear Cali, you wouldn’t happen to be harassing your patients again would you?”

A blush showed on her face, “Oh no sir just teasing is all.” She turned back to me. “You will show up to see me a week from now.”She said to me. Her tail moving far less now. Maybe there was something to what Rosary had said.

The panther man came in, “You may leave now Cali, I have something that I need to discuss in private with our guests.” Cali sighed as if disappointed and left the tent. The panther man-sized me up as if trying to figure something out.

“Daniel, is that really you?” He asked. His face held an expression of utter joy, tears in his eyes. I was speechless, I didn’t know how to react, I had seen this man a couple of times in my dreams, but he still felt so much like a stranger. My first impressions of this man had been that he was a strong, stoic man. It felt so strange to see him in tears.

Finally, I uttered a single word, “Yes.” The cat man burst into tears, burst into tears! “I can’t believe you’re back, my son, we had thought you were dead all these years, but you’re back.”

I was struck dumb once again; this man was now claiming to be my father? “Ummm sir I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don’t remember much about my time here.”

The cat-man blinked as if trying to fight the deluge of tears. Then the sudden flapping of the tent stole my attention, the front burst open, a beautiful girl rushed inside, hair kept short, and cat-like ears flicking; a girl who looked a lot like someone I knew of. “It really is you!” She yelled a huge smile on her face. She pounced on me; yes literally pounced. I fell to the ground my injured foot barely avoiding another injury, but I still felt a small wince at the sudden movement.

She hugged me with such force that I thought I was going to pop, god damn was this girl strong. That wasn’t the only thing, her breasts, trapped one of my arms, their size large enough that now that she was squished against me I had no chance of escaping, and I could feel the heat of blush in my cheeks. A moment later she purred. God, what is going on?

“You’re alive Daniel; you’re alive.” Tears spilled from her drowning me in their salty wet deluge. It felt so strange to see two people who seemed to care for me this deep. I felt myself wanting to cry, wondering to myself why I had to lose these people, wondering why had I forgotten.