Chapter 28

Water pressed in around Kal, making it hard to hold the breath in his lungs. Emru’s gigantic tongue rose up from below and pushed him toward the front of her mouth until he pressed up against her strange, bristle-like teeth. Water rushed around his body and through the teeth as she expelled the water from her mouth.

The massive tongue receded and his ears popped like when he went up to the caverns on Felli’s Peak. They popped again as air rushed in to fill the space left by the tongue. The mage took his first breath since hitting the water and from the intense humidity and warmth wondered for a moment if he was actually breathing air.

“Try not to breath too much until we surface,” came Emru’s voice from the darkness. “Humans can drown just from the moisture in the air if they stay in our mouth too long.

“Ria, mask,” gasped Kal, despite the whale’s warning. It was like trying to breathe warm soup in there. The water-breathing mask appeared in his hand as he cast the glowing orb of light, but he didn’t immediately put it on. Instead, Kal turned to Kashka kneeling beside him and pressed it to her face before powering the mask’s runes. Though designed for breathing underwater, the runes only let a set amount of moisture pass through. The rest collected on the sides of the mask and ran down to drip on the cat’s chest.

“That looks quite handy,” said Emru’s avatar as the cat held her breath and Kal took the mask back. “I believe we are out of their arrow’s range and will surface soon.”

Kal shook his head and lifted the mask to speak, “Wait a little longer. They have a mage up there too.”

“So what happened? News doesn’t get down to me very quickly, and I didn’t know you were stuck on land until Roka said you were trapped in the city. She needed me to stay on the surface and watch for a signal to pick you up.”

“We weren’t really trapped,” said Kashka before taking the mask again.

“Assuming you have been swimming away from the shore this whole time I think we should be out of range of any spells,” Kal offered.

“I haven’t heard anything hit the water behind us, not even arrows.”

“That’s a good sign, then. Kashka’s right. We had a run-in with a magic user in the castle but stayed to help some women in the monster-girl slums.”

Emru angled upward and opened her mouth at the surface. Water splashed over Kal and Kashka’s backs as fresh air flowed in, cycling out the musty, damp air in Emru’s mouth and removing the need for the mask. It also took away some of the fishy smell, which Kal appreciated. Kashka was a little disappointed since she found the scent quite enjoyable, even if it made her stomach growl.

As the whale swam back to The Scarlet Bitch, Kal and Kashka told Emru of their adventures since disembarking.

The avatar’s eyes shined in the light from the magic orb. “So did she?” Emru asked when they finally finished.

“Did she what?” the mage asked in turn, confused.

“Did she get pregnant?”

“Kairi? We don’t know. There wasn’t enough time to check as we ran from the soldiers.”

“Aww,” Emru pouted. “It sounded like she was a lot like me. I wanted to hear she got her daughter.”

“You know, it’s my daughter too.” Kal grumped.

“Oh, sorry. Most of us don’t talk much about our babies’ fathers unless it’s bragging about how they caught and how long they kept him.”

“Hopefully, that will change once there isn’t as much of a stigma on fathering a monster girl.”

“Maybe everyone should stop calling us ‘monsters,’” offered Kashka. “On rare occasions, I heard humans referring to us as hybrids instead of monster girls.” She looked at Kal, “Your translation spell works too well. You didn’t hear the words I said.” The cat then directly sent him the words ‘Hajin’ for hybrid and ‘Alwahsh Fata’ for monster girl.

“Hajin...” muttered Emru. “I don’t mind being called a Hajin. It feels better than ‘monster.’

“I think this will be an easy sell, but let’s run ‘hajin’ by the girls on the ship and see what they think. How much longer until we get back?” Kal asked.

“Oh, we’ve been swimming in front of them since about halfway through your story. I didn’t want to interrupt and,” Emru’s avatar blushed, “I was enjoying the time with you. Here, I’ll put you on my back,” she said, holding her arms out to Kashka.

The cat accepted the hug as Emru’s whale mouth opened, and a moment later left Kal sitting alone on Emru’s tongue as the muscular tendril on the avatar’s back whisked them outside.

Seconds later, Kashka sent him her and Emru’s hushed conversation.

“Kashka? Do you think that rescuing him will convince Kal to give me a daughter?” the whale-woman asked, her eyes shining with hope.

“I’m certain he made up his mind to do that already. I think your swim with him yesterday convinced him, but rescuing us didn’t hurt. He’s just working on overcoming your similarities to the sandworms.”

“Do you think he might...?”

“Yes, but ... your breath smells like fish and seawater, which I don’t mind, but Kal won’t find very pleasant.”

“But he...”

“Kissed you? You had been out in the air for a while when he did that. I’m good with herbs and concoctions. Give us some time to relax after the day’s excitement, and I’ll try to make something to help you freshen up.”

Emru lurched forward and wrapped Kashka in a crushing hug. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” she whispered before letting go and retreating back into her larger body’s mouth to retrieve Kal.

“You took a while up there. Is everything alright?” the mage asked as he stood up on her tongue, pretending to not have listened in on the entire conversation.

“Fine,” she said, wrapping her arms around his torso, “I just wanted to ask her a few things, woman-to-woman.”

“That’s fair,” he said, returning the hug and suppressing a chuckle at how she turned her head to not breathe on him. He knew from his research into sandworms that the human lure’s lungs were only used for speaking and presenting a convincing human façade and assumed Emru’s worked the same way. That also meant a particular spell of his might work a little differently on her.

“Can I try something?” Kal asked.

“Anything,” she breathed, squeezing him.

“Look up at me,” he said while drawing a rune. Though reluctant, Emru lifted her face toward him as he finished the rune and pressed it into her shoulder. The spell’s effect spread out over the avatar’s body, making her jerk backward in surprise. Her eyes widened and lost focus as it continued up the tendril on her back and radiated out across her larger body. Kashka sent him the scene of a wave of magic running down the whale’s back, removing any traces of algae and any parasites that had embedded themselves in Emru’s thick skin.

Before she could ask any questions, Kal moved forward and covered the avatar’s mouth with his. His tongue speared into the startled woman’s mouth and teased hers until a few seconds later when she collected her wits enough to return the kiss.

“Will I need to swim back to the ship?” Kashka teased over the bond, the smile on her face apparent in her tone.

“Not yet, ” he replied as he hugged the whale girl’s avatar, actively forcing his body to not tense when his arms brushed the tendril’s connection on her back. “Thank you for rescuing us,” he said once their lips separated.

“What did you do to me?” she asked. “I feel funny all over.”

“Explaining that would ruin the moment. I just wanted you to know that I’m a little closer than I was last time we talked. I probably should get back to the ship. I’m sure Captain Scarlet wants a full report on what happened ashore, but I’ll try to come talk with you again later tonight.”

“I understand, but before you go, could you do that again?”

“Certainly.”

“I’m not happy with you,” said Captain Scarlet as she glared at the cat and mage from behind her desk. They had just finished a lengthy questioning by her, Tavorah, and Roka, with the elf doing most of the talking. Kal and Kashka were both feeling mentally drained after the ordeal.

“I’ll go talk to the crew about calling ourselves ‘hajin’ instead of monster girls,” Roka said to Scarlet. “Even if it means ‘hybrid’ or whatever, it’s still better than being called a monster.”

“We’re also in a good position to spread the word, but be open to suggestions from the girls. Hajin is better than monster, but I’m partial to ‘per-anai,’ which mean half-human in elvish,” Tavorah suggested.

“Peranai,” said Roka, sounding out the word. “I think I like that a little better than hajin. I’ll run them both past the girls and see how they feel.” With a casual salute to her captain and a nod to the rest, she made her way out of the cabin.

“Now for you,” said Scarlet. “You aren’t part of the crew, so I can’t punish you for making my life difficult and possibly making trouble on my next stop in Kuji. We already lost some planned cargo because those shipping it didn’t want Kuji’s guards digging through it. However, I can kick you off my ship. A willing human man means a lot to my crew, but not enough to hurt their ability to feed themselves.

“With that said, I’m not kicking you off The Bitch ... yet. The southern tip of Azumbaho consists of jagged broken spires called The Jagged Spine. It has very few safe paths and is a graveyard for those lacking skill or knowledge. Those paths are often patrolled by pirates, and the rocks jutting up out of the water offer plenty of hiding places.

“Emru gives us an advantage. She knows paths through The Spine that do not show up on any maps. There is also a chance she can detect hidden ships, though the net she uses to guide the ship interferes with her ability to ‘see’ underwater, so we can’t rely on her ability to warn us.

“As I told you before, The Bitch runs light and fast to avoid any pirates. But they’re getting wise to our tricks and have come frighteningly close to firing on us the last two passes through The Spine.

“You and Kashka have told us many stories of your prowess in battle. Before, I was asking you to help if we have to defend the ship, now I’m telling you. If we get through The Spine without seeing a pirate, you’re off the ship at the next port. If we are attacked and you help, all is forgiven. If you don’t help, you’re off the ship, no matter if we are out to sea or by the coast. If we lose ... then I’ll probably be dead and won’t give a damn about you.

“It’s still a few days to The Spine. Continue taking care of my girl’s needs and tending to the ship’s rigging until then.”

“But I—” Kal stopped as Kashka put a hand on his arm.

“Aye, Captain,” said the cat before firmly taking his hand and leading him outside. Kashka rounded on him as soon as the door closed. “You need to keep your mouth in check. We made things difficult for this ship and lost them gold because of it. That deserves some kind of compensation.”

“If it’s gold, I can just give her whatever she lost.”

“No, you can’t, Kal. This ship’s reputation is far more important than just gold, and we hurt that. The shippers in Kuji depended on this ship because it was fast and discrete. Many of them on this route do for the same reasons. These are also some of their highest paying customers. Do you think they will want to send their goods with Scarlet if her cargo is heavily scrutinized?”

“No, I guess not,” he replied after a moment, looking sullen.

“We did a lot of good in Kuji. We helped a lot of monster girls, or whatever we are going to call ourselves now, and gave a deserving one the daughter she wanted. I cannot say in words how proud of you I am for what you did in the slums. But none of that matters to this ship. It may as well have happened back in your hometown for as much as it affects this crew.”

“She threatened to kick us off the ship.”

Kashka shrugged. “The captain understands that she can’t really make you leave the ship if you don’t want to go. I think that was as much for her piece of mind as anything. She’s the captain. She needs to maintain a semblance of control. Word will get out that she passed judgment and set your punishment for hurting their business. Word will also get out that you accepted it gracefully, which will strengthen her standing with the crew as well as yours.”

“I nearly didn’t ‘accept gracefully.’ I wouldn’t have if you didn’t stop me.”

“True, but when the girls ask, I’ll leave that part out,” she said with a grin. Pressing up against him, she stood on her tiptoes and pulled his head down to kiss him on the lips as her other hand cupped his cock through his trousers. “Save some for me tonight.”

“I always do, with a little magical help, that is.”

“I’m going to get back to work. Think about what I said and really let it sink in. Ria, store my cloak, please.”

“Don’t forget about Emru’s breath freshener. I may try to spend some more time with her tonight.”

“Will do,” she said as her cloak disappeared. “I think Tavorah should have everything I need in the galley for it. Love you.” With a final kiss, Kashka jogged over and scampered up the aft mast. The cat leapt over to the main mast, where Ratt greeted her with her own kiss and a sound groping before they set about managing the ship’s rigging.

Tavorah stepped out of Scarlet’s cabin and leaned against the wall beside it with her hands behind her back. The pose did wonderful things to the elf’s breasts. “You’re lucky to have her,” she said, then tapped a pointed ear. “I need to get back to work but didn’t want to interrupt, and these ears of mine are pretty sharp. She’s right, you know. I would be happy to reward you however you like for the good things you did in Kuji,” she said, pushing her chest out further and running her tongue across her lips. “I think once the rest of the crew hears about what you did, they would line up behind me. But being a hero in Kuji’s slums doesn’t make you a hero on this ship. You hurt our business, and helping some women we don’t know and will likely never meet won’t make us forgive you out of principle.

“Give Scarlet some time to cool down. Her anger will have faded some by the time we get to The Spine. Even if we avoid the pirates completely, I doubt she would actually kick you off the ship. At least not without some pushback from the crew who haven’t gotten their turn. She’s just really mad about losing that cargo and more importantly, like Kashka said, the reputation that went with it.”

Kal fought down the urge to rip the elf’s pants off, push her against the cabin door and fuck her senseless. Knowing she would happily let him didn’t make it any easier. The mage ran a hand through his hair while collecting his thoughts. “I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to spend so much time studying and learning all I can about the world around me only to be blindsided by something like the effect of my actions on the ship’s reputation. Part of me wants to shut myself in my cabin for fear of doing something else wrong. Before you say anything, I know that isn’t feasible.”

“No, it’s not. And if you did that, then you would also lose out on all the chances, like helping the women in Kuji. Think about it from their perspective. They don’t know or care about the women on this ship or how much trouble you caused us. To them, you were a miracle worker who dropped into their lives and cured those who were beyond hope and waiting to die. You may as well have brought a few of them back from the dead, by the sound of it.

“So I ask you this ... was saving those monster girls worth Scarlet’s ire?”

“Absolutely.”

“And that’s exactly why you can’t hole yourself up in your cabin and ignore the world. There’s an old saying: ‘No good deed goes unpunished.’ It’s merely a warning that doing the good thing or the right thing may have unwanted consequences later, and also a handy reminder to not be surprised when that happens. Take some time to absorb what Kashka and I have said. I’ll send you the first of the girls in an hour or so.”

“I’m still feeling drained from healing that last woman. Could I bother you to help keep me going for the rest of the day?”

Tavorah pushed off the wall and stepped into him. Kal gritted his teeth as her hand traced the outline of his cock straining against his trousers.

“I’ll see you in an hour.”

An hour later, Kal sat naked on the edge of his bed as Tavorah knelt between his legs. The head of his cock poked out from between the elf’s creamy breasts as she stroked his cock with them, only to be met by teasing swipes of her tongue each time it appeared.

“Are you going to leave any for the other girls?” he chuckled.

“Not if it were my choice,” she said, letting her breasts fall back into place and standing up. “If it were up to me, you’d be joining Red and I every night.” Tavorah grabbed his cock as she straddled his lap. After swiping it across her entrance a few times, the elf slowly sank down onto him with a quiet moan. “Scarlet would have you join the crew permanently,” she panted while clamping down with her pussy and making tiny up-and-down motions in his lap.

“The only thing between here and The Spine is a small fishing village we slow down to trade with. Sometimes pirates harass us there, but it’s unusual. The fishermen there don’t hesitate to fire on pirates with flaming arrows, and their thin boats are deceptively quick. We also furl our sails but won’t drop anchor in case we need to make a quick getaway.

“As we get closer to The Spine, a ship will likely appear on the horizon far in front of us on an intercept course. They’ve been watching us and know our schedule.”

Kal looked down where they were joined, then raised an eyebrow at the elf. “Not that I’m complaining, but this seems like an odd thing to do while planning to defend ourselves from a pirate attack.”

“We aren’t planning anything. I’m just stalling under the pretext of telling you about what may happen in the next few days because this feels good and I don’t want to stop.”

“We have spells to make sure the next girl gets hers,” he suggested, but Tavorah shook her head.

“Spending yourself in my mouth is fine without her, but if you come in my pussy or ass, it should be with Red too.”

“Understandable,” he said, “But that’s only if I come. You didn’t say anything about if you come.” Kal placed his palm just above her mound and pressed his thumb into the flesh just above Tavorah’s clit. As his thumb made tiny circles, the mage rapidly thrust upward with only his hips, bouncing the elf on his shaft.

“J—Jerk!” she said, grabbing his shoulders and holding on as she raced toward orgasm.

After a minute of slamming his prick up into the elf, Kal was beginning to wonder if he could hold out long enough to get her off. He’d traced every rune he knew in his head already trying to distract himself from the exquisite tightness and heat of the woman’s sex. Finally, the elf’s fingers dug into the flesh of his shoulders as her pussy cinched down on his shaft hard enough to keep him from moving. Tavorah’s eyes were shut tight and her body froze in place as she whimpered quietly through her climax. However, the walls of her sex undulated, milking his cock as she came.

Kal’s hand flipped around to grab the base of his shaft and squeeze painfully. With his other hand he pushed Tavorah off his cock and guided her to her knees. Pointing his prick at her breasts, he released the pressure. Ropes of cum shot out the end of his cock as he let the interrupted orgasm wash over him, coating the creamy skin and stiff, pink nipples of the elf’s breasts.

Tavorah leaned forward to catch the last few spurts on her tongue then swirled them around in her mouth before swallowing noisily. “Yummy,” she purred as his seed triggered another smaller orgasm. The elf quickly cast the rejuvenation spell on Kal’s cock and gathered up her clothes. Instead of putting them on she looked down at her cum-covered breasts and flashed him a grin. “I think I’m going to find someone to lick this off me. See you in an hour. We’ll talk more then,” she said before disappearing out the door, still naked and with her clothes bunched up under one arm.

A hint of jealousy came across the bond, along with an image of Kashka trying valiantly to wrap her smaller breasts around his cock. Shortly after, she showed him a picture of Kal with his prick magically growing in size, then Kashka’s breasts as they performed a similar trick. He responded with his own image of the cat-girl’s chest but her breasts grew larger and larger as he stood nearby and stared lecherously while stroking his cock. He heard Kashka’s mental shout of indignation as her likeliness windmilled her arms toppled over from the weight of her chest.

He was still chuckling when the next of the ship’s crew opened the door

Kal stood at the ship’s rail and looked out over the moonlit water. The wind coming from the stern felt strange after blowing east for so long. Tavorah said that Azumbaho blocked the prevailing winds forcing them up and over land. But it also snuck around the southern and northern tips of the enormous island where there was less resistance. This changed the direction of the wind, pushing it south so it was now at their backs and keeping the sails taut.

Despite their speed, the long dark shape traveling beside them seemed to have no difficulty keeping up.

“Are you going to her?” asked Kashka, stepping up next to him.

“I think so,” he replied after a moment’s hesitation. The morning’s events left him magically and physically drained, while Scarlet’s threat to kick him off the ship whipped him into an emotional whirlwind. He had hoped for a relaxing afternoon taking care of the crew’s needs but word quickly got out about Scarlet’s decree, and suddenly all but a couple women wanted their full hour and filled it with intense, emotionally-charged lovemaking. The rest of the crew didn’t share Tavorah’s confidence that Scarlet wouldn’t actually kick him and Kashka off.

The mage quite honestly just wanted to grab Kashka and crawl back into bed. But he also didn’t want to disappoint Emru.

“Would you like some help?” the cat asked.

“Help? How?”

“Ratt is like the other girls. She thinks Scarlet will follow through if we don’t have to fight any pirates. I was thinking we could provide a little background mood to help you along.”

“Assuming the worst happens, trying to make the most of your remaining time together?”

Kashka nodded. “They’ve dodged these pirates for years and she doesn’t think we will get close enough for a fight. Which means that it will be entirely up to Scarlet whether we stay or go and Ratt doubts the captain will chance losing face or being seen as soft if she doesn’t follow through.”

The mage sighed. “I hate that this is almost purely up to chance. I learned earlier that there are plenty of times they don’t even see a pirate while passing through The Spine.” He held out a hand and a small blue flame appeared above it. “I’ve become so accustomed to shaping the world around me, I don’t like leaving my fate in the hands of someone else.”

“Really, Kal? If Scarlet tries to throw us off the ship and we said no, would this crew stand any chance against us?”

“I understand that, but I’d rather leave on at least somewhat good terms with this ship. Even if that means letting her kick us off and running up the coast to meet them at their next port-of-call.”

“Why?” Kashka asked.

“To see if she’d take on a couple of passengers, of course,” he said with a grin.

“You honestly think she would let us come back aboard after throwing us off her ship?”

“She saves face, she gets her Bosun’s assistant back, and her girls get taken care of. Sounds like a win-win to me.”

“And it has nothing to do with getting a new woman in your bed every hour?” she said with a smirk. The half-smile vanished a moment later when Kal’s expression became thoughtful.

“No, it really doesn’t. There have been many times since we came aboard I would have preferred to just be a regular passenger. Not that it doesn’t feel good, and I definitely think I’ve helped some of the women, but at times it does feel like a bit of a chore. It’s why my time with you means so much to me.”

“I love how you say that just as you’re about to woo another woman, and I’m going to sleep with my other lover.”

“I don’t think Emru needs much courting.”

“You’re right. She’d jump your bones in a heartbeat. Much like I’m going to do if you keep saying stuff like that.” Kashka noticed Ratt walking across the deck and waved. “Now I wish you were coming with us.”

“Take her to our cabin. Even if nothing happens tonight, I’m at least hoping to get myself a little worked up with Emru. I may need to get that out of my system before getting any sleep.”

“Seems like a mean thing to do.”

“I don’t have any hang-ups about being with you or Ratt. Emru and I have kissed, but that’s all. I’m not sure what will happen if I try to take things further. For all I know, we could try to go beyond kissing and I might completely lose my desire to go further.”

Kal stared down at the dark shape in the water for a moment before continuing. “It’s getting to the point where I need to do this for myself just as much as for Emru. When I was working with Yalli one of the crew said that sleeping with me felt like she was taking something back that the slavers took from her. Though I can never relate to what she went through, I think I understand what she meant. The sandworm took something from me, something I would have never known I lost had we never met Emru. Giving her a daughter feels like taking back what the sandworm stole.”

Kashka stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “I think your determination is wonderful, but be careful. You can be very bull-headed at times. Don’t let your determination push you too far too fast or you may end up in a worse situation with Emru than you are currently in. I’m going to go get Ratt and head back to our cabin. Hopefully, I’ll see you in a few hours.” Before leaving she pulled a paper-wrapped lozenge from a pouch on her belt and pressed it into her hand. “Tell her that’s from me and you two have fun.” she said before walking briskly across the deck to find the ship’s bosun.”

The mage watched her leave, the cat’s tail twitching in excited anticipation. Kashka and Ratt’s heated make-out session after the talk with Scarlet was filled with promises of more to come later. Now that their shifts had ended it was time to deliver on those promises.

Kal hopped up on the rail, then leapt out over the dark water below. He used the flight rune to adjust for the push of the wind as he slowly floated down to the back of Emru’s massive body. A moment later, the whale poked her head out of the water and opened her mouth. Emru’s human avatar slipped out the corner of the whale’s mouth and stood for a moment on the larger body’s head as she squared up her shoulders and lifted her head into a more natural position. As he instructed a few days ago she held her legs together and floated toward him.

“You came,” she said as her feet touched the larger body’s back.

“I said I wou—ld” he replied as the blowhole behind him sent a plume of warm breath and water vapor into the air.

“Sorry about that,” said Emru, pink tinging her cheeks in the moonlight. “I’ll try to warn you when I do that again.”

“It’s fine. It just caught me off guard,” he said, sitting down and gesturing for her to join him.

The avatar tousled her hair and brushed her fingers through it a few times as she glided over to sit next to him. “Naivoo came and talked to me after you and Kashka left. She wanted to join us in case something happened tonight, but I told her no.”

“Oh?”

“I didn’t want that pressure on our first chance to be alone together. If things go well, we can try for a daughter later.”

“I genuinely appreciate that. Why don’t we head out to more open water so we can have a little privacy. So tell me a little bit about yourself and what it’s like living in water your entire life.”

“I was born in the southern ocean. All of my kind are, monster girl or not. The warm currents breed enormous amounts of food perfect for fattening up before giving birth. Most monster girls give birth to human-looking babies. You probably guessed that I was born as this,” she said patting the whale body beneath them. “This part of me,” she touched the chest of her human body, “doesn’t grow until we are almost fully mature.”

“How does that work?”

“Where this body rests inside my mouth is grown over when we are young. As we reach maturity, the pocket swells with fluid and this body grows inside, much like a womb. Once this body is fully grown the inner wall of the pocket thins, but instead of a baby, I come out as you see me. If this body were destroyed the process would repeat so I could grow a new one.”

“Has that happened before?”

“Not to me, but my mother lost hers once. She was being chased by whalers and used her small body to intercept their harpoons. As she dove to safety her human body was ripped from her. She said the pain was excruciating.”