It took about a half an hour before I saw land. Thank you Lunus.

I dove down. There was even a village! Finally some normal…

Those weren’t monkeys.

I leaned back on my sword and came to a stop as quickly as I could.

What were they?

They were mostly furless except for the top of their heads. Some kept this fur short, while others grew it out, and looking at it made me queasy. They just… let their fur flop around like that?

They still had hands, but their shoes looked unnatural. As I flew over the village, I saw one without shoes, and almost threw up all the fruit I ate this morning.

Lunus, what was wrong with their feet? How could they even walk around like that?

I didn’t like this. Maybe this was just some kind of severely distorted type of monkey? I mean, they were ugly, but maybe they were friendly?

I searched for any normal monkeys, and wandered into what seemed to be a market place. I stayed well above the hubbub, trying to decide if I should drop my invisibility.

There! Finally, a monkey. They were… They were…

In a cage.

I came to full stop as I took in the horrible scene.

A cage that was much to small for her. She sadly chewed on some bad fruit as the creature out front talked with some other creatures.

She chittered, asking for something better, but the creature didn’t even look at her while it smacked her cage.

Lunus, no. These creatures were horrible.

Something stirred in the cage next to her.

Oh Lunus. It was a baby.

The creature picked up his cage and set it on the counter. The lady began screaming, begging him to leave her son alone. He just smacked the cage again.

The creature talked more, and the creature in front of it nodded and held out something.

Was this thing selling a baby?

The island was a paradise compared to this. I couldn’t watch this anymore.

I brought my fan out, and threw some blinding powder on the creatures. The things cried out, and kept my invisibility on as I moved to help them. I opened the mother’s cage and grabbed the cage for the baby, and got them both onto my sword. I flew away from the town as quickly as possible.

I pulled the baby out of his cage and handed him off to his mother. “Are the two of you okay?”

She gratefully accepted him. “Thank you. Thank you so much. Just hungry.”

“Where’s your home? I can take you there.”

She shook her head. “Not safe. Humans. Destroyed. Not safe.”

“Humans. Is that what those are called?”

She nodded and looked down. “Flying? Are you a god?”

“A god?” I shook my head at the unfamiliar word. “No, just a monkey. Like you.”

“Not like me. I can’t fly.”

I shook my head and sighed. They had no safe place to go.

I knew a place they’d be safe.

“I’ll bring you somewhere safe. Just hold on to your son.”

Okay, from land, Aolai was… this way. I angled back towards the island.

I flew slower this time. And lower. In case either the mother or the baby fell off.

Luckily neither of them did. But it was beginning to get dark by the time I sighted the island.

I landed on shore, helping the mother stand up. She looked into the forest with interest, and trepidation.

“I smell other monkeys. Are they friendly?”

“They should be.” Besides technology being woefully underdeveloped, as far as I could tell, these monkeys wanted for nothing. Lots of food, friends, and a good environment.

Sure enough a few monkeys were already poking their heads out of the trees. Finally, one became bold enough to climb down and onto the beach.

“Queen? Queen bring new friends?”

“I’m not… forget it. Yes, I brought new friends. They’re hungry. Do you have any food you can share?”

“They need food?” The lady looked at the bony mother and nodded. “Food is this way. Lots of food. No lost babies. Plenty of food.”

I nodded to the hesitant mother. She began following the native monkey into the jungle, but turned back one more time.

“Thank you. You’re a good queen. You saved me and my baby. I’ll always share food with you.”

She vanished among the trees.

I sighed and turned back towards the ocean. All my running and I just ended up here at the end of the day.

I’ve never seen an ocean before today. I sat down and watched the sunset.

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

The beams felt warm on my face. Not something I’ve ever felt before either. More than a few minutes in my homeworld’s sun would’ve left me screaming from the burns.

But this sun felt nice and warm. It warmed me rather than burned me, and I watched it sink behind the waves without pain.

What was I going to do? How far has those things, those humans, spread? Did all of them treat monkeys so horribly?

No, surely not. There had to be at least one monkey kingdom right?

Besides this shitty one.

A twig snapped. I whipped around. Fuck he was back.

“Ah, don’t leave! I’m not going to go near you.” I should leave. I should take my sword back out and fly as fast and as far as I could.

But he stayed well away from me, and sat a few feet away on the shore.

“So, I might have really fucked up.”

“Oh really? Please elaborate. How exactly did you fuck up, and how much?”

“Look, I’m sorry about what I did yesterday. I got way too drunk, and now I can’t fix it. I broke the only thing that can get you back home. So just tell me what I can do try and help. I’ll do whatever it takes to make it right.”

“Do you know of any other anchor points in this world?”

“Uh, no. I just found that swirly thing in the basement.”

I groaned. “Then how the fuck are you going to make this right? There might not even be another anchor point on this world. It could take eons to find another.”

“Look, I can’t reverse time and undo everything I did. And to be honest, I don’t have the time to try and find another fancy portal when it could take that long. What I can offer, is a safe place to stay for as long as you’d like. That’s the best I can do.”

“That’s not good enough! What I’m just stuck on this fucking island for the rest of eternity!? Aren’t there any other monkeys kingdoms I could go to?”

“Not as far as I know, and I looked far and wide. I know it’s not good enough, and I know I did you wrong, but I can’t do anything else!”

We were both breathing heavy from our arguing, and standing up facing each other. He took a deep breath and stepped back.

I broke away too. I was angry, and I had a right to be angry, but he had a point. Being angry was getting me nowhere.

I took a deep breath too. “Look, I understand I don’t have a lot of options , especially after seeing those… those humans out there.” I pointed towards the land I knew was out there beyond the horizon. “But I refuse to be confined to this island for the rest of my life. There has to be something you can do. You’re powerful right?”

He ran a hand through his fur. “Look, if you think humans are bad, then you’ll wet yourself the first time you meet a demon. Unless I go with you every time you head out, there’s no way I can guarantee your safety… Unless…” He shook his head. “Nevermind.”

“What?”

“You won’t like it.”

“Then tell me so I can tell you how much I don’t like it.”

He took a deep breath. “My name would be enough to protect you… if everyone thinks you’re my wife.”

I summoned my sword. He held up his hands. “Whoa! I told you you wouldn’t like it!”

“You fucking pervert! I knew coming back here was a mistake!” I jumped on my sword and took off again, towards the direction the sun set.

“Wait, hold on!” I looked back and saw the bastard was following me. He was somehow flying on a fucking cloud.

And he was gaining.

I leaned forward and pushed for maximum speed.

“Shit! I didn’t mean we’d actually get married! I just meant that if people think you’re my wife, then they’ll leave you alone!”

“Until what? You think I want people to think we’re married? What about when I want to marry someone else? Or was this all some convoluted plan to get me into bed?”

“Look, you want to search for your anchor point thingie right? You can search for one without worrying about getting eaten or kidnapped if you’re known as the Monkey King’s wife! No one within ten thousand li will bother you if you give them my name!”

“Oh, sure, and the fact that you fucking kidnapped me for that very thing has nothing to do with it?”

“Gods you’re fucking fast. Look, I promise not to lay a finger on you if you don’t want me to, can we please not have this conversation at ten-thousand li a minute!”

I stomped on the brakes, suddenly leaning back. The bastard went whizzing by me, screeching, bringing me a dose of joy I desperately needed right now.

Finally, he got himself stopped and turned around. He groaned when got to me. “How the fuck did you do that?”

“It’s not my fault if your cloud doesn’t work as well as my sword.”

“Uh, his name is Nimbus, and he’s sensitive.” He patted his cloud. “Don’t listen to her Nimbus, she’s just being mean.”

“Now explain yourself. How exactly does me giving you what you want help me?”

“For one, you’re not giving me what I want. I was drunk last night when I said I was going to marry you. I quite enjoy being a bachelor you know.”

I quirked up my eyebrow at that. “Yesterday, when you kidnapped me, you said, and I quote, ‘Oh, you’re the most beautiful monkey I’ve ever seen. Please marry me and end my empty lonely life beautiful maiden.’”

“I fucking did not.”

I shrugged. “You slurred your words a lot. I’m paraphrasing. What I do remember clearly, is that after I turned down your hasty marriage proposal, you screamed you couldn’t possibly live without me and tossed me over your shoulder like a sack.”

“That part… may be accurate. Look, I was drunk. I have no idea where my head was at that night. And I’ll admit you’re very… fetching.”

I snorted and got ready to blast off on my sword.

“But! But, I clearly don’t lack for company. I’m a king after all. I can have any monkey I like back on Flower-Fruit Mountain, and I can guarantee none of them are as much trouble as you are. Look, all I’m saying is that we play pretend at a couple of gatherings, and then everyone will know not to mess with you if they see you out and about while looking for your way back home.”

The fact I was even considering this infuriated me. “What if, while I’m out and about, I find another monkey I want to marry?”

He snorted. “Then I’ll just say you died. You can have your happily ever after, and I won’t be responsible for you anymore. Happy now?”

I sighed. I didn’t have any other good options. “Fine. But just so you know, this does not make us even.”

“Yeah, yeah, let me guess, it’s not even close. Look can we just head back? It’s getting late.”

The sun has fully set in the sky. I just had one condition to fulfill before I went back for good.

“Wait,” I held out my hand. “I want you to promise again. Shake my hand and vow upon your chi you won’t touch me.”

He gave me a sharp look, but it softened and he nodded. He reached out and grabbed my hand. “I vow upon my chi I won’t touch you without your permission.”

Got him.

I activated my own chi, and resonated it with his, impressing his vow upon him.

He gasped and yanked his hand away. “What was that!?”

“Just insurance in case you decide to get handsy. As long as you keep your promise, nothing will come of it.” More importantly, with the vow in place, I now felt safe enough around him to go back to Flower-Fruit Mountain. If he did try something, I could have him on the ground, writhing in pain within moments.

“Well, I won’t.” He growled. “ Will you finally give me your name? If we’re going to pull this whole being married thing off, I should probably know it.”

“Yue Lunaste. And yours oh illustrious king?”

“Sun Wukong. It nice to formally meet you Lunaste.”

“Huh? Lunaste is my last name.”

“Wait, you put your given name first? Why?”

“I don’t know. Why do you put your surname first? I guess it’s just different here.” I shook my head. It was a small difference, but it reminded me just how far from home I was. I looked back at Wukong, who split his attention between me and the island. I got a fun idea.

“I’ll see back in the cave slowpoke!” I blasted off, rocketing towards the island, leaving him soaked in the spray of water I left behind me.

He sputtered and we raced back to Flower-Fruit Mountain.

I got my own room, and some kind monkeys delivered me fruit. I munched on it while looking out the window on the side of the mountain.

The moon was back. It wasn’t Lunus or it’s little brother Anaste. But it had it’s own charm. I might as well enjoy it now, because there was no moon in the in-between.

No stars either. They weren’t like the stars I knew. They had empty stretches of blackness between their tiny prinpricks of light. On Pluas, the night sky was so packed with stars, it shone with brilliance.

This was different. But not bad. In a way, there being less stars made you appreciate each individual one even more.

I polished off the rest of my fruit. The food here wasn’t too bad either. Then again, anything would be better than the in-between’s nutritional paste after a couple of decades.

I set the platter outside the door, and climbed into bed.

My mind wandered to my home. My family. Like it always did.

No. Just focus on the now.

But why? My darkest thoughts whispered.

Why bother going back at all when I could die here much more easily?