Kaun the Elf was currently holding a barrel under each arm as he walked back to his ship, one full of rice and the other of dried meat from a kind of aquatic, pig-like monster called a Swillfish. Directly behind him, Yukona, a buxom Elf who was naked save her dark green bottom, was dragging one barrel along as she balanced the other on her head. The two finally made it through the slightly crowded streets, where everyone looked at Yukona for one reason or another, and got to the dock where their small ship was tied.

"This is all you bought?" Yukona asked slightly worried for their expenses.

"Don't worry, I'll buy more if ya think we do." Kaun flashed his million-Hun smile at Yukona and her worries left her.

Though only for a moment as she remembered how dismal their living expenses were at the moment.

"We ... uh ... we're fine." Yukona politely refused Kaun's shopping offer and started taking the barrels of food belowdecks. He sighed and smiled as he untied the ship to set sail. Then he went up to the captain's wheel just above his quarters on deck and started sailing away.

"Hey! You didn't pay for that!" Kaun snickered as he steered the ship away from the place where he'd tricked some sap to pay for Kaun's meal, while not paying for his own meal.

"Gaaah!!"

"Gaaah!!"

*Ksssh*

A pair of screams suddenly came from belowdecks, accompanied by the crashing of coins on a wood floor and each other. Kaun sighed in disgruntlement, locked the ship's rudder, jumped down to the deck and again to belowdecks, where Kaun found one of the most amusing things he'd seen all day.

A Beastkin man in dark clothing was haphazardly tied up and covered in gold coins while Yukona was taking a breather and leaning on a barrel.

"What's all this then?" Kaun gestured to the messily tied up Beastkin and to Yukona. "I didn't know ya did these kinds of things."

"It's not like that! I'm no sadist!" Yukona placed her hands on her rather large hips and looked offended. "This guy just popped up out of nowhere and spooked me! So I naturally tied him up to see you."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Naturally?!" The Beastkin man looked even more scared now than before. "What is wrong with you?!"

"I'm the one asking the questions!" Yukona angrily glared at the man and kicked some coins at him. Yukona suddenly lost her anger and picked up a handful of coins from the floor. "Kaaauuunnn..."

"No?" Yukona's captain was halfway up the ladder and attempting to smile innocently as he turned to look at his first mate. Only to receive a bunch of thrown coins to the face.

"We've been living on scraps for ten weeks now! Yet you've been hogging all the cash down here for whatever you're planning, and knowing you, it's not gonna be a good idea!" Yukona screamed as she threw dozens of fistfuls of coins at her frantically retreating captain. Kaun cackled like a madman as he gleefully danced around the ships deck as Yukona pursued him with each hand full of gold coins. This went on for about an hour before Yukona overheated, despite her lack of clothing, and had to sit down by the mast. Kaun took the opportunity to go back down belowdecks to check on their new prisoner.

"So..." Kaun walked over to the masked Beastkin and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. "Who are ya? How'd ya get on me ship?"

"I'm not telling! Ma told me to never talk to strangers!" The man snarkily replied.

"Then what're ya doing now?" Kaun frowned at the contradictory statement. The Beastkin's eyes suddenly widened a bit in realization and he tried to look away. Though the Elfin captain moved to stay in the Beastkin's field of vision.

"No point withholding info from me. I could just leave you here to rot." Kaun wasn't bluffing, he'd done worse before.

"Fine! My name's Puma. Feral-cat type Beastkin. I hit my head while I was running and stumbled onto this ship, I didn't know it was yours though." Puma looked down in a defeated way.

"Why "ours"? What makes our ship different from any other?"

"Cuz' SHE's here..."

"Yukona?"

"That's her name? It's beautiful, and her gaze! So cold and perfect!"

"Sounds like ya got the hots for her in that maso' sort o' way!" Kaun chuckled as he leaned Puma against a barrel

"What? No! ... Maybe?" I just don't know..." Puma slumped and started smacking his face into the barrel he was leaning on.

"Stop now, you'll hurt yahself! Unless you actually LIKE that sorta thing."

"Look," Puma stopped banging his head and laid down in the pile of gold coins around him. "I'm going through a tough time. Finding out what I like and don't like, what I do better or not! I'm just confused..."

Kaun sighed since he never had to worry about these kinds of things while he grew up. "I'll tell ya what, I'm gonna "turn a blind eye" on ya for a bit and if you wanna go back to Wave, I won't stop ya."

"Huh?" Puma was surprised at how easy he could be getting off the hook, and even more surprised when Kaun took a saber from its sheath on his belt and cut the ropes tying Puma up.

"I'm going to have a nap, feel free to sail back if ya want to." And with that, Kaun went upstairs to his room for a sleep.

However, hovering high above the ship, a dark purple shape flew through the air, leaving a trail of black particles in the clouds.