They got off the train and Alex quickly guided Jax into one of the many small streets. Within minutes he was soaked and he looked at Alex's umbrella with despise. He had a hunch that maybe the weird man had been expecting him. But apparently, he had forgotten to bring a spare umbrella. While Alex was walking in front of him, he finally got a good look at the man. On the train, he didn't get a proper opportunity to. Because the artificial lights which were much stronger in the vehicle than in the streets and had stung in his eyes. And even though now the rain did the same thing he still managed to see enough. He noticed for example that Alex was sturdy and frankly quite muscular. But also, surprisingly short which amused Jax. Furthermore, Alex had pale skin like himself, half-long rebellious dark blond hair and he wore a thin, white, long-sleeved shirt and dark blue, almost black, cotton pants. All in all, he looked surprisingly normal for all the weird stuff he was saying. Jax found it hard to believe he was not being taken the piss out of. Still, he really could not seem to remember where he came from, what he was doing here, or even what his own name was!  

Suddenly Alex stopped walking and reached out his arm, blocking Jax's way so that he bumped into him. He wanted to tell the man off, but Alex shut him up with his finger pressed to his lips and a look of seriousness on his face that Jax hadn't seen before shut him up before he even said anything. Alex looked up and guided him from the middle of the street to the shadows of one of the buildings. Silently he produced a revolver from under his shirt. He took off the safety and looked up, watching the rooftops of the nearby buildings, or to be more precise, the spaces in between them. Jax, after observing his strange behaviour, followed his example. First, he only saw a purplish fog, which he assumed were the clouds. But soon, Jax saw a dark shape rapidly crisscrossing between the rooftops, at least 15 meters high up in the air. No matter how hard he stared, Jax couldn't make out what it was. The creature was definitely as large as a wolf and as fast as a hawk swooping down on its prey. But whatever it was, it was clearly the thing that had taken Alex's attention. And it made the man visibly nervous.

Jax swallowed. If this thing bothered a man, who seemed unaffected by the idea that his hometown had no name, it had to be bad news, Jax thought. Not long after he had noticed it, the creature stopped appearing. Alex, on the other hand, didn't move and remained still, with his gun ready. A minute passed. Despite his earlier misgivings about the city, Jax became anxious to move again. He stepped out from under the projection. Alex desperately grabbed him by the arm, but it was already too late. 

Suddenly the figure that had been stalking them fell from the sky. It landed gently on all fours, in full view of the street lights, and looked up with a fierce, confident glare. Jax almost suppressed a scream. The thing that fell from the sky turned out to be an ordinary-looking young woman. She had light brown skin, long dark brown hair, and large bright blue eyes. It would take a while before Jax would notice the horns and even longer before he would finally get to see her tail. Slowly she rose, without looking away. She stepped forwards, chasing Jax back to the shadows. He desperately turned his head towards Alex. And to his surprise, he heard the man sign and put away his revolver.

Alex: "O, it's just you ?."  

Woman: "What do you mean 'just you' ??! Who did you expect?"  

Alex: "Well, I mean, I knew it could be you. . . I was just afraid it was someone like you but not you. . ."  

Woman: "Who is 'like me' ??"  

Alex: "I didn't mean it like that. . . it's more like. . . why are you here ??"  

Woman: "O, that, well I smelt him so, I went to see what's up." She said while pointing at Jax. "So, you finally caught one."  

Quietly she motioned closer to him until it became uncomfortable. She observed him, which gave him the chance to observe her as well. And despite his discomfort, he took this chance, although he couldn't help but avoid her face. The first thing he noticed was that she didn't wear a shirt. She chose instead to wear a denim jacket, which she left hanging open. Under it, she wore nothing except tight bandages over her chest. He also now clearly saw that her skin wasn't tanned but rather naturally light brown. She had bandages again just under her belly-button which, disappeared into her baggy pants. Her hands, feet, and wrist were also bandaged. Jax couldn't find any accessories besides some colourful ribbons in her hair.  

Woman: "Looks rather dull, doesn't he?"  

Alex: "Well, that's hardly my fault, is it. Also, shouldn't you be more well behaved? He is still a person you know."  

Jax: "Wow, wait a second. What are you talking about? No one caught me or anything. . . and why do I smell weird?"  

Woman: "Can you leave?"  

Jax: "What?"   

Woman: "Can you leave?"  

Jax: "I mean, yes, of course. . . like, I wouldn't know where to go, or where to sleep, or. . . what to eat. . ."  

Woman: "Can you really leave?"  

Jax: ". . ."  

Woman: "Then you're caught. I mean, I agree that he didn't really do a good job of it. . . but that's his style I suppose. . ."  

Alex: "What would you do then ??"  

Woman: "You know what I would do. . . just grab him ?."  

Alex: "Yes, I know. But I have a different purpose form him. . ."  

Woman: "You plan to keep him around ??"  

Alex: "Yes."  

Woman: "I'd better introduce myself than I suppose. . . if he's staying. . . ?" She turned towards Jax again. "My name is Elena Sofia Maria. O, and since you asked about it, you do smell weird. You smell like the train, only stronger." 

Jax: "The train? What do you mean? Do I smell like smoke or something?"  

Ela: "No, well, yes. But that's not what I meant. The train doesn't just smell like metal and coal and stuff. It also smells foreign. And you smell similar to it, just much stronger."  

Alex: "That's enough for now. Let's go home so we can get out of this dam rain."  

Jax: "So you do also have like a real home. . . one that isn't just the city?"  

Alex: "Huh? Yes, I thought that much would be obvious ?."  

Jax: "So wait. . . you like, live together?"  

Alex: "Yeah. . ."  

Jax: "So you just pointed a gun at your girlfriend?!"  

Ela: "What ??! No, no, no. I don't even like guys. . ." While she spoke, she made a lot of movements that were supposed to be reassuring but were all but convincing. "I mean we did use to sleep in the same bed. . . but it's fine, cause I don't like guys and he wouldn't like me. . . ?"  

Alex: "More importantly, we're siblings ?."  

Jax: "What? You almost look nothing alike."  

Ela: "Of course we do! Look, we have almost the same eyes ?." 

Jax looked closely into their eyes, something Elena seemed fine with, but Alex hated. He had to admit that their eyes looked eerily similar. They both had eyes like the ocean with a hint of gold. But he wasn't quite convinced yet. He couldn't look them in the eyes very long, however. Elena managed to make him even more uneasy than all the other things he had seen that day. Suddenly a thought popped into his head.  

Jax: "You still pointed a gun at your sister!"  

Ela: "Mean, isn't he ?."  

Alex: "Yeah. . . I'm pretty sure she would survive it. . . anyways I would really like to go home now before I get as soaked as Jax ?."  

Jax: "Uhm, okay, but you still haven't told me where 'home' is though. . ."  

Alex: "I think that's enough questions for now. I'm not about to dump a whole bunch of information on you right now. It's not like you would be able to remember it properly right now anyway. Besides, we will have plenty of opportunities to talk later ?." 

He continued to walk in the direction they had been going as if they had never been interrupted. Elena quickly overtook him. Jax expected her to take to the rooftops again, but she stuck to the ground this time. The whole incident where she came falling from the sky seemed kind of surreal now. Yet then again so did everything that had happened today.   

"I have hardly asked any questions yet, though." He mumbled before he followed his newfound companions back into the rain. Or perhaps his brand-new captors, he admitted solemnly.