A towering red wyvern covered head to toe in shimmering metalic scales reeled its head back and gathered flames into its mouth with a booming crackle. Miana swung her head back to the sound of the crackling before flailing her arms at seeing the hurtling wave of flames.

"MR VESTRO!! Do something!" Miana screamed in pure terror while Kousako stared emotionlessly at the incoming flames. As the flames surged for the sky narrowboat, Miana clung to Kousako and dived under the table before bracing herself. She waited for a few seconds before slowly opening one of her eyes when the impact of the wyvern's attack never came.

"Wait here," Miana stated with a shaky voice. Kousako nodded and Miana slowly crawled out from under the table. She poked her head up to the side window and widened her eyes in surprise at the sight before her. The wyvern was surrounded by blurring objects before large violet-purple ice chains constricted its body; Allunavia stood on a smaller chain connected between the wyvern and the sky narrowboat.

(Allunavia is a super tall humanoid; she has knee-low super spikey imperial-red to raspberry-red to violet-purple gradient hair, grey eyes with bold violet-purple crystal-textured plus-shaped pupils, super pointy elf ears, tree-like violet-purple bull horns on the side of her head, wide hips, firm thighs, flat nippleless chest, lean muscles, and lightly tanned skin)

(Allunavia is wearing a jet-black winter fur coat wrapped around her waister like a skirt and is topless; she also has three five-cm wide violet-purple tattoo rings on the back of each of her forearms, a large scar-looking violet-purple tattoo running down her spin and covering the top half of her back in the vague shape of a cross, and a violet-purple tattoo covering her entire body from the waist down which gives off the appearance of leggings)

Allunavia raised a hand to the wyvern's face and gently rubbed her fingers against the wyvern's blackened and rotten tooth. She grasped the tooth before flexing her arm and yanking it out of the wyvern's mouth.

"Bad boys get punished when they lash out," Allunavia uttered coldly as she released the wyvern from her ice chains. The wyvern whimpered as it slowly flew away with its tail between its legs. Allunavia sighed unamusedly before glancing back at Miana with a scowl, making Miana flinch from fear.

"Tell that Vestro to hurry up this expedition, would you, little princess?," Allunavia requested, although her cold demeanour made it seem more like an order to Miana. Allunavia raised her hands before swinging them down as cursed essence mist wings flowed from her back tattoos. Miana watched as Allunavia kicked off the sky narrowboat and soared off into the distance ahead of the boat.

"Could you not yell for me every time something mildly problematic happens?" Vestro uttered as he left the storage closet. A quivering Alleutia with a square bandaid on her forehead poked her head out from her room while her eyes spun like headless chickens.

"She isn't still here, right?" Alleutia muttered nervously. Vestro rolled his eyes as he walked to the front of the sky narrowboat.

"Tia, make yourself useful and help Kousako use the shower," Vestro ordered as he sat in the driver's seat and began piloting the sky narrowboat again. Alleutia poutfully muttered as she exited her room before something clicked in her head.

"Wait... who?". Alleutia glanced slightly downwards as she watched Kousako crawl out from under the table. Alleutia blinked at Kousako as they emotionlessly stared at her. Alleutia closed her eyes, placed her hands together in front of her face, and heavily exhaled from her nose.

"Are you trying to kill me? How can you not warm me someone this cute was on board?" Alleutia asked as her cheeks turned slightly pink. she couldn't help smushing Kousako's face with her hands and contently smirked as Kousako made funny noises.

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"Didn't think I needed to, given I explained why we were on this expedition," Vestro remarked as he refrained from removing his eyes from where the sky narrowboat was going. Alleutia slightly widened her eyes at hearing Vestro's explanation.

"Oh...," Alleutia said before looking at Kousako, "Ok, follow me, Koko.". Kousako tilted their head at Alleutia making Alleutia tilt her head back at Kousako.

"My name is Kousako," Kousako stated unamusedly.

"... right I know that, but using nicknames doesn't hurt, does it?" Alleutia said before Kousako looked down at their body and began patting themselves down.

"There's no damage, so I guess not," Kousako stated perplexedly. Alleutia mentally cooed at Kousako's confused tone before she grabbed Kousako's hand and led them to the bathroom. The sound of the shower springing to life drummed through the sky narrowboat as Kousako stared at the shower. Alleutia kept her hand under the falling water until it reached the perfect temperature before she turned off the shower.

"Does Kousako stand under the water?" Kousako asked. Alleutia gave Kousako's battered jumpsuit before pointing at it.

"You're supposed to take your clothes off before having a bath," Alleutia stated.

"Kousako knows but that's not a bath," Kousako said as they pointed at the shower. Alleutia blankly stared at Kousako, rubbing her forehead before pessimistically sighing.

"At least you're too cute for me to get mad at," Alleutia uttered as she cheekily shook her head, "Could you just undress and get in the shower?". Kousako nodded as they grabbed their jumpsuit and ripped it off their body, tearing it in half in the process. As the jumpsuit fell off their body, Alleutia got a clear view of Kousako's body and the violet-purple tattoos all over their body: bold lines on the back of their arms, on the side of their legs, over their spine, and bold rings on the back of their hands with a smaller one over their wrist connected to the original ring.

"Huh... you've got them... wait a minute," Alleutia remarked before she noticed something odd about Kousako's body, mainly the lack of nipples or any form of reproductive organs. Alleutia rubbed her eyes and moved her head closer to Kousako's nippleless chest while thinking of some species with hidden reproductive organs.

"Erm... let's get you cleaned up, ok?" Alleutia stated as she guided Kousako into the shower and turned on the shower.

A few hours later, Alleutia sat in the passenger seat of the sky narrowboat in a daze. She stared at the rising moon as the boat flew above the stretch of sea between the mainland and the marsh island. Alleutia occasionally glanced at Vestro multiple times until Vestro sighed.

"What is it, Neet?" Vestro asked.

"I don't get it.".

"Get what?".

"How can Kousako have nothing... you know... down there?" Alleutia muttered, her face turning red as she spoke. Vestro opened his mouth to speak but refrained from speaking for a second as he heard Alleutia groan in a pout.

"How many times are you going to ask me that?" Vestro asked. Alleutia placed her hands on her head and rustled her hair as she poutfully hummed.

"But it doesn't make sense... they're as flat as mother and also... wait do you think Koko's a mimic?" Alleutia uttered quietly.

"Honestly... I don't know why I bother with expedition briefs when no one pays attention to them," Vestro uttered, causing Alleutia to advert her gaze and nervously whistle.

Meanwhile, in one of the small bedroom cabins, Miana slept like a rock while Kousako, wearing a silver kitsune-themed onesie, led beside the sleeping Miana. Kousako silently stared at the ceiling as Miana muttered incoherently about something involving her passing some exam. Kousako tilted their head to the side as they pondered what an exam even was but figured it was strong since they recalled Abigaillia complaining about it to Zaerona.