"Come again?" Cat asked, clearly startled, and possibly confused as well. I can't say that I blame him, I was asking something that seemed to be coming from out of the blue.

"Well, it seems that Zayne was somehow able to awaken my ancient bloodline, which somehow led to me having enough experience to have been able to gain a skill, or so he says. While I was unresponsive, he seems to have been able to decide upon a skill and granted me poison resistance."

Cat sits and stares at me, seemingly uncomprehending for a moment. Then it seemed that something clicked inside of his head, and he did not want to wait another moment to find out if it was true.

Instead of letting me get out of the bed myself, he pulled me out of the bed and slung me over his shoulder. Truth to tell it was just the slightest bit uncomfortable. However, it was not something worth complaining about.

I bounced along on his shoulder as he bolted to his room. It did cause me to feel a bit like a child's rag doll, which was a bit painful on my body. One would think that having simply laid upon my bed my body would not be sore, but that indeed did not seem to be the case. Perhaps it was a lingering effect of having been poisoned for such a length of time as I was.

Once we made it into his room, he plopped me onto his bed. I believe that he meant to be gentle, but it was indeed still a bit jarring.

"Sorry about that." he tells me, sounding contrite.

"It is quite alright. The angle with which you were carrying me did not make for an easy angle with which to deposit me down again." I say, a hint of teasing in my voice, which I could only hope he took note of. I did not want to sound ungrateful.

He looked down at me and gave me a smile, which caused me great relief. It would have hurt me dearly to have hurt him with careless words.

“Now, I do believe this is the part were you explain what you are doing. I am oh so curious to know.”

"Okay, so what I want you to do is put your hand under this. It is similar to the ones that we use weekly to view your traits." he says and indicates me to place my hand inside of the machine.

"Okay, I am adjusting this to only print out skills, talents and traits. Mostly because if we wait for the whole printout it will take half an hour and I can’t, well I just can’t okay."

I nod my understand to him and prick my finger. Once the blood dripped down the machine began to make the noises that I associated with it, though a good deal quieter almost cute like with its little clicking and whirring.

Vip... Vip...Clunk clunk, viiiiiip. Ding!

We both waited in anticipation as the paper came out of the machine.

Cat takes a deep breath, reaches out his hand, and takes the paper. He then looks down at it, eyes rapidly moving across the words printed there.

"Talents are Fox fire, uh, let's have you keep saying faux fire for that, huh?" he says and laughs before going back to reading. "Pinpoint accuracy, elemental weapons. Traits are bonus to stealth, talent for rhythmic kinesthetics. Skills... Poison resistance!" he couldn't help shouting it, causing others to run into the room.

"Who has what now? Hmm? Oh! Ami you are awake!" Vita says, being just as loud as Cat was when he shouted poison resistance. "Ami is awake and you are saying that she somehow developed poison resistance? Am I hearing that right?" Vita says, sounding completely taken aback.

"That's what the paper says. If you don't believe me, go ahead and have a look yourself!" Cat says and shoves the paper into Vita's hands.

I am sure that many people would feel offended, as talents and traits were supposed to be rather personal, but I did not mind it. After all, we were a guild of sorts, were we not?

"I can't believe this! You read fairy tales all your life and then one finally happens, squee!" she said, bouncing a bit on the balls of her feet. She then threw the paper at me and raced out of the room. Hillie, who had just been entering the room when Vita raced out took a look at the paper herself.

"It's true!" she said, blinking rapidly in surprise. It seems that she was not one to wildly express her emotions like a lot of the people we were surrounded by. "Congratulations! I suppose that this means that you can return to classes beginning next week?" she asked me.

"That stands to reason." I say, then my stomach growled. How rude of it, we were in the middle of speaking.

"Seems like you must be hungry." Cat says, reaching his hand out to me to help me up off of his bed.

"Thank you very much Cat." I say, thanking him politely. I was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed.

When I had gone and blacked out I had been feeling helpless, as though I needed to somehow alter the entire path that my life had been taking. And now, after having awoken? Now I was able to proceed in becoming an adventurer, with added bonuses to help me grow rapidly. It would be invaluable to me in achieving my goals of saving Zayne from that prison of a dungeon.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

When we make it down the stairs Cat guides me back to the chair in front of the fire. He knew that if I were to go into the kitchen it was bound to become rather loud. I feel that he was trying to spare me from having to be in that situation, if only for a short while.

As I was sitting there, I expected a lot of thoughts to be racing through my head. Instead, I ended up sitting in quiet contemplation. I wondered how I had ended up in Zayne's memory. Is that what he had been thinking about while he was healing and cleansing me, or was it a memory that was carried in my blood. Twas a theory of aged races, that they have ancestral memories that they all carry within them, as though they were contained within their blood itself.

Such a peculiar concept such a thing was. I know not if it were true. Did it matter? Was it a fever dream, that vision. No. No, I do not believe that is what that was. I did see Zayne newly after creating the first of my kind. And what had he said, that my blood was now the same as theirs. I hated the thought of pure bloodlines. It was something that was said to diminish those of mixed race. In this case though, it seemed to be the only way to explain what had transpired. I now had a high level of divinity within me.

I knew from theory that the longer a race is around, the more it propagates, the more the bloodline benefits weaken, even in those with "pure" blood. No mixing, simply the same race throughout the entirety of its race’s existence, and yet it still becomes diluted somehow.

Ah well, such things were not for me to ponder, aside from wondering how it would change my development. Would I age at the same rate or slower? Would I continue to grow at the same rate in proficiency and traits, or would it be accelerated as Zayne had said. One thing that I did know was that if such a thing about me were to be discovered by those of corrupt nature, I would be at even more risk. Truly my existence was a blessing and a curse, even to myself.

"Aaaammmiiiii. Stop thinking so hard and eat up! You have practically become a skeleton this last week." Vita said, cheerfully setting a plate of food down in front of me. Broth, bread, and potatoes boiled to softness that were lightly seasoned.

"Many thanks Vita." I tell her. "Are you going to join me?" I inquire of her.

"Wish I could, but it's going to be evening soon, which means an influx of hungry patrons. So I have to be up, about, and ready for them!" she said, and gave me a rather toothy and predatory grin. I wonder if she knows how fearsome she looks when she does that. Well, I assume that she does and that it is the reason that she does so.

"I feel I am forgetting something or someone… Oh! If it becoming later in the day, where is Kay?"

"I'm not sure. He should be coming back any time though. Him and Emmie have been taking walks after training to discuss his lessons. Also, I think it has been easier for him to stay out and about while you were... Unwell. Being here only served as a reminder of your condition." she says, and I feel a pang of sadness in my breast.

I hoped that seeing me up and alive would help turn around the feeling of those that had been concerned. I did not enjoy being the cause of my loved one’s unhappiness, even if it was something outside of my control.

As I sat and ate quietly Cat came and sat down with me. "Do you mind if I am the one to join you instead?" Cat asks me.

"Oh! Not at all! Your company is a great comfort to me Cat, and I simply would not exchange that for anything." I tell him, voice full of feeling.

"Aww, stop, you’re going to make me blush." he says in jest.

We engaged in light conversation as we ate, talking about returning to courses for one thing. It seemed that after I collapsed this last time Cat had Emmie teaching his course. We would be going back together, which made me feel a sense of relief. I wasn't sure why, but it was a comfort that I would not be going back alone. Perhaps I thought that I was going to be harshly judged for being away for so long.

"Am I still eligible to return to courses Cat?" I ask him, nervous. I had not even thought of the possibility of not being allowed back. It was such a horrible thought that I had not wanted to entertain it.

"If you had missed another week or two then you would have had to wait until next semester to try again."

"Oh my! Well then, it is rather fortunate that I awoke when I did!" I exclaim. That had been cutting it rather close.

"I know that Kay has been taking thorough notes to be able to share with you. He remained hopeful that at some point you would be able to go back to courses with him. Though I have seen his notes and, I will give you mine instead."

"He has such a kind heart to have done so."

"Well, as much as it was for you, it was also for him. He needed to remain hopeful that you would come back. Kay sees you as his partner in crime. He kept going to his courses and giving all of it everything he has, but I know that it's been hard on him."

As though he had been summoned by our talking about him, Kay and Emmelina walked through the doors. They smelled of soap, so it seems that they had bathed before coming back. It seems that Kay had been planning to jump right into work when he came back. However, I hope that they might make an exception, for today at least?

"Good evening Kay, good evening Emmelina." I say to the both of them. I see them freeze in their tracks, not knowing what to say or do, before Kay nearly launched himself at me.

"Ah yes, good evening Cat, and Vita, oh and Ami you are here too.”

Cat stared at him raising an eyebrow “you seem to be rather calm?”

“Oh of course, why wouldn’t I be? This is just another dream where Ami is healthy and well. All things are happy in the world, such nice dreams that my brain makes for me. Good brain.”

“Kay, please stick out your hand” Cat requests. Without pause Kay’s hand hovers in front of at and with one finger extended he runs a claw over his hand leaving a small red line.

“Oww, what the heck Cat… wait. Holy Cats! Ami, you are alive! You best brace yourself for the biggest hug a tiny boy can give.”

"One moment Kay, I wish for you to not run into my food dishes and injure yourself!" I say, halting him in his tracks.

"I've got them." Cat says as he gathers up the dishes from our meal and brings them into the kitchen. "You two grab that paper then talk in your room. Kay, I will cover your shift today. But just for today!" he says, emphasizing the fact that he would not often be giving him special treatment, at least when it came to work.

Before taking Kay upstairs I walk over and give Emmelina a hug. "Thank you for all you have done for Kay. And for everything else that I don't know about."

She gives a warm embrace back. Once we release one another I take Kay by the hand and lead him into Cat's room. After we grab the paper we go into my room.

Once in my room I close my door and sit on the bed, patting for him to join me as well. We both sit cross legged so that we could look at one another while we speak.

Kay takes a deep breath, his lungs inflating with the necessary air for the mass amount of words soon to follow. "I have missed you so much. I took just all the notes for when you woke up, because I knew that you were going to wake up. Because you had to, you just had to wake up. And you did! Which I am so happy about.

“So if you want to go over the notes with me sometime I will happily teach you about everything that you missed. Even if you can't come to class with me knowledge is power, or at least everyone says that knowledge is power. Who is to say if it really is. I mean, I am not all that powerful yet myself. Oh! Aside from this neat spell that I casted for Mama Tia where I made it so that Rex and his followers aren't able to come back in here. I mean, they shouldn't have been allowed in in the first place. But we don't want to seem as rude as the places that don't allow in beast-kin and half-races. Because that is just rude. And do you know what we aren't Ami?"

"Rude?"

"That's right! We aren't rude. Oh! I have also been getting to know everyone better, especially Emmie. Did you know that Emmie was taking care of Cat's lectures while Cat was taking care of you? Everyone is going to be so surprised when they see him back.

"Also, all of my training with Crestin has been going super well. He says that I use magic more naturally than anyone else that I have ever met, even better than other elves. Can you believe it? I mean, I can barely believe it and I am the one that he said it to!

"I've also been trying to do tea ceremonies while you haven't been able to and let me tell you, it's really hard when you aren't good at dancing, singing, or pouring tea! I mean, you would think that I would at least be able to do one of those things, but nope! I can't do any of them. So I tried to tell jokes, but they didn't land. Eventually we figured out that people actually like the sound of my voice. I mean, who ever thought that I would hear that! Because of that I have instead been reading to people while they eat and... You have something to tell me, don't you?"