Anortha was bored. She was the only child in the remote elven outpost, and her parents were off tending to the mushrooms and berries. She read through all her books, and the next shipment was not coming anytime soon. There were also only so many times she could fill her cup with water magic, or juggle a few leaves to train her wind magic, without either running out of mana or getting bored.

                She had bugged her parents to hurry up and make a sibling so she could have something to do, but rejected every time. The requests to move to a livelier city were also denied. She tried running away once, but since she was only twenty years old at the time, the gatekeeper of the city she ran to refused entry without her parent’s permission.

                Her parents promised her that when she hit thirty-two years old, she could go wherever she wanted, as long as she is decently skilled in defending herself. But until then, she was stuck in her tiny community. With all the excess time she had, she became proficient in the bow and in magic, much to her parent’s approval. However, even she knew that she was a bit young to go out alone, since an elf is legally an adult at thirty-six, and leaving at thirty-two was actually really generous of her parents.

                One of Anortha’s favorite pastimes was to go out a short distance away from her village with a bag of nuts and seeds and feed the local birds and squirrels. She managed to befriend them, as they always came to her, begging for food. She always enjoyed the soft fluffy feeling of the squirrel’s fur as they ate out of her hand, or hearing the birds sing a melody as they flew around, trying to eat the seeds she levitated in midair. Even though she knew the animals couldn’t understand her, she still spoke to them anyways, usually complaining about various things in her life.

                She had tried to keep the squirrels and birds as pets, but was rejected by the gatekeepers from bringing them in. One time, she smuggled a squirrel under her cloak and successfully brought it home, but the next day, the squirrel made a complete mess of her room. The scolding and punishment she got from that still haunts her to this very day.

                On a certain day, Anortha did her usual feeding routine, and saw a cute baby lupo looking at her levitating the seeds for the birds. When she motioned the grey, furry bipedal creature to come over, it actually tottered toward her, much to her surprise. When she floated a nut over to the lupo, it gingery grabbed it, inspected it, and then ate it. For fun, she tried to have the bipedal wolf chase after the nuts, but after a few halfhearted attempts, it stopped and directly raided the bag she brought over.

                “Hey, that’s cheating!” she yelled at it, but the only response was that it stuck out its tongue at her and continued wolfing down the nuts.

                She ended up chasing the lupo around the forest until it began to tire out. After catching it, she hugged the soft furry creature and began to vigorously pet it. The lupo initially struggled a bit, but then just let her run her fingers through its fur. Since it was getting too close to her bedtime, she tried to carry the lupo back home, but as usual, was stopped by the gatekeepers.

                “Anortha, you know very well that you aren’t supposed to be bringing home random creatures. Especially since that looks like a baby, and its parents would probably miss it.”

                She pleaded with the guard, but ultimately let the lupo go. However, it still continued to linger nearby. Only when the guards threatened it with their spears did it finally turn around and run away.

                Back home, Anortha asked her father about what they know about lupoy¹plural form of lupo. And yes, these elves don't speak English..

                “Oh, those animals? There was a certain incident where they tried to cut down the trees about a hundred years ago. We tried to tell them to stop. Obviously, they don’t understand our language, so we had to kill off a few of the loggers. There was a small scuffle, and after killing anyone trying to cut down the trees, they eventually stopped. I’m surprised one of them willingly approached you though. After the incidents, they simply avoided us like the plague.”

                After satisfying her curiosity, Anortha went to sleep, wondering if she would see the lupo again. Little did she know that she would get to know it extremely well in the future….