Aurum watched the sailing ship intently, waiting for her chance to dash aboard. The old, grey ship had been resting at the end of the stone pier for a few hours by now. Its lone occupant had been waiting for somebody, but they were clearly getting irritated from the absence. Aurum could see the bronze-skinned woman who roamed the decks shrug, yell something to someone she could not see, and wander back to the cabin in the back of the ship all from her hiding spot behind a large square stone placed on the pier. Her dark cloak hid her well in the dark and at night, but with the sun high as it was, the bronzed woman could see her the moment she stepped off her ship. Aurum just wanted to sneak aboard before the woman noticed and stow away.
The door to the woman's cabin shut behind her, and Aurum had her chance. She stood up behind the stone block, then rushed towards the ship and leaped on to the side, where her hands and feet hung to rugged hand-holds made by the ship's poor quality. There was a gangplank, but the deck had been emptied and there wouldn't be anything to hide behind once she got on board. There, however, was a door towards the bow that presumably led to unused space. Aurum hadn't seen anyone but the bronze-skinned woman on-board, and she didn't make motions to wake anybody up. The ship was probably more magical than she was, and was likely autonomous.
Aurum clambered across the side of the ship until she got to the promenade deck. She should be doing this at night! But she had no time! The huntress was right behind her, she just knew it. That woman was probably going through the ruined town Aurum had blazed through this morning, and that was just an hour's walk from this pier!
In her dark cloak, she leapt over the railing, confident that that bronzed woman wouldn't come looking. Even if she found out, it'd be when they were out to sea, and Aurum could offer various services for passage.
Aurum nearly stubbed her toe on a protruding floorboard, but rebalanced on her other foot in time. Then, she felt an iron grip encase the foot she was balancing upon, and Aurum crashed to the deck's surface with a yelp.
What was gripping her? Aurum twisted about to see her attacker. A thin, pale hand sticking out of the floor was wrapped around her almost-black ankle-skin. Aurum suppressed a shriek and tried to kick her way out of the grip, but the hand was immobile, and she was just jerking her leg about.
The hand raised higher out of the floor, lifting up like a victorious pearl diver, revealing a thin pale arm to match it. Soon, another hand and an almost-white-haired head dragged themselves from the surface of the ship, followed by a thin woman's body wearing a pale dress, slitted on each side for her legs. The ghastly woman let her clutching hand drop, still hoisting Aurum's leg in the air, as she ascended fully onto the deck of the ship, revealing finely-made knee-high boots.
The woman was young, though her odd hair covered half her face and clung to her as if she was drenched. Her eyes were large and pale, her lips small, yet full, and her nose straight. She was small of breast and of bottom, and her dress clung to her as if she was soaking wet. She lifted the foot higher to get a good look at it, and her eyes locked on to the two rows of gold studs on the top of Aurum's feet. Then, her eyes twitched to the two rows of gold studs going down Aurum's calves. She didn't really seem to take note of much else of Aurum besides her golden piercings.
There was a dull bam from the cabin section of the ship, and Aurum's neck whirled to take a look. There was a double set of doors that had been flung open, showing the startled bronze-skinned woman. She twisted around, and began to run towards Aurum and the pale woman, yelling "What the hell!?"
When the bronze woman got to Aurum, she looked at Aurum and told the pale woman, "I thought we weren't gettin' any passengers! Where'd she come from?"
The pale woman pointed off the ship. Correct, but unhelpful, Aurum mused.
The bronze woman was taller than the pale woman, perhaps taller than some men, and much more shapely. Her bountiful breasts strained against a heavily torn shirt with a single button remaining. Her hips and buttocks were hugged by a set of creme-colored pants torn below the knee. Her thin waist was accompanied by a black flag tied around it, one ghoulishly decorated with a skull and crossbones.
Yet the woman was inhuman! Aurum was close enough to see her large finned feet bare on the floorboards, and could see gill-slits on the sides of her chest and neck. Her eyes were green and lantern-like, and her ears fins. Her hair was green and wavy, looking much like sea-weed, and was kept back by a faded red bandanna.
The woman sighed, and said to her compatriot, "Don't hold the poor sod like that. You'll form a bad opinion!"
Obligingly, the woman set Aurum's foot down and let her free. She even bent down to offer her hand!
Aurum took it, and she could feel the bronze woman gawk as she looked at the golden piercings on the back of Aurum's hand. It was almost identical to the piercings on her feet; two rows of small dots that shone out brilliantly.
Standing up, Aurum brushed herself off and turned to face the two women. They immediately gawked at her. She was shorter than they were, and Aurum's skin was entirely a near-black gold-brown. The cloak, the only thing she wore, was almost lighter toned than she was!
Aurum's hair was a messy collection of disorganized black lengths. Not quite curls, but not straight either. The rest of her body was clean of hair, as she had been made that way. Her face was pleasing, with her small, dainty nose and noir-black full lips. Her eyes were gold, just one sign of many of her nature. Another was her ears. They were incredibly thin, long and pointed, a good hand's length from base to tip, and could swivel to follow sounds and match her mood. Yet another tell was her tail. It was long, thin, dexterous, covered in near-black skin and split in two at the end. She was reasonably thin, though her buttocks felt a little bit big. However, her breasts were heavy, firm, and soft, their nipples pitch-black and protruding. No human she had seen had breasts quite like them. They were a special matter of pride from her creation.
The awkward silence was palpable. Desperate, Aurum pushed out her breasts and split her stance slightly, her cloak barely held on by a dark metal clasp. "Do you like my body?" she asked, hopefully innocently.
"That's some interestin' gold," the bronze woman said after closing her mouth.
Ah, that'd be the reason they gawked. Yes, the piercings didn't end at her hands and feet. Aurum had had them for ten years of her life. Ten happy years. Such good times....
Each set of piercings were in two columns, each row of the column formed by the two bead-like endpoints of curved golden bars inserted through her skin. They were on the undersides of her wrists, going to her elbow. They were on her nose, with a bonus pair below her lower lip. They were on her tongue, red as it was. They went down her throat, from jaw line to collarbone. They went down her spine, on top of every single bone, and further down her tail until it split. They went from her bellybutton to her sex. And they went from under her nipples to the very bottom of her breasts. Aurum was decorated in golden-strewn roads. The only piercing that wasn't part of a row was the vertical piercing slid through the hood of her bean.
"Uh, er, sorry. Din't mean ta gawk. I've seen lotsa women naked before, and a lot of them jest don't have clothes, but this is the first time I've ever seen a woman with gold comin' outa her body," the bronze woman said to cover up her looking. "M'name's Shella, and m'girl over here is Lily. What's yours?"
"I am Aurum. I would like it if we could leave soon, please," Aurum said.
"I ain't gonna complain, but why so?" Shella asked.
"There is a hunter on my trail," Aurum said, glancing towards the land.
"Heh, I'd be too, with that body and that much gold on ye," Shella joked to herself.
There was a small white dot on the road leading the stone pier. It paused, then immediately began rushing towards the ship. Aurum's heart sank. She was here.
Aurum turned to Shella. "Please, let us leave now! Or, if not, hide me! I will do anything you want me to do! I'll owe you my life!"
Shella noted the white dot, which was growing and more resembling a humanoid figure in white, and looked at Aurum out of the corner of her eye. "Lily, take her below decks," she commanded.
The deck surrounding Aurum creaked tortuously, then cracked and splintered. With a scream, she fell through the broken floor and landed, chest first, on something soft. Sawdust and splinters showered the area around her, and she heard the cracking of wood as the light of day above was cut off.
Aurum groaned and looked at what she landed on. She looked directly into Lily's eyes. She had landed on top of Lily, who was lying amidst a massive folded pile of ship's cloth.
"Wha? How'd you get down here so fast?" Aurum whispered to Lily.
Lily smiled playfully and shrugged, then patted Aurum on the shoulder for comfort.
A series of boot-steps on stone started growing louder and louder outside, then abruptly changed to the echoing noise of boots-on-wood, and they tromped right over where Aurum lay on Lily. The sound of fluid pulsing through her body filled Aurum's ears, and her body was breaking out in a nervous sweat.
From above, a rather courteous young woman's voice asked,"Pardon me, ma'am, but have you seen a darkly-skinned homunculus hiding around here?"
"A wha now? Never heard of such a thing" Shella replied.
There was more creaking as the woman above paced around the ship, presumably looking at it. "She would come to perhaps your shoulder in height. She would only be wearing a dark blue-grey cloak. She would be pierced by many studs of gold. Have you not seen her?"
Shella replied, "Nope. Ain't seen her."
"Then, are you blind, ma'am?" the woman asked.
The ceiling creaked as Shella rebalanced to a strong stance. "No, I'm not. Yer insinuatin' somethin' here?"
"Yes. I saw that woman, or a shape much like her, on this ship, and she has now disappeared. If it is because she has offered you gold, I can give you more for her. And, if she gave you the promise of elixirs, then I, as promise as an enforcer of the Alchemist's Guild, can guarantee you more satisfactory and safer elixirs than she ever could."
The creaks came around to stand over Aurum. Her breathing was uncontrollably heavy. It felt like that her hunter could come crashing down on top of them at any moment. Under her, Lily just smiled and put a finger to her lips.
"...Okay, why do you want this woman," Shella asked.
Aurum nearly choked on her heart. "Please, please!" she whispered urgently to Lily.
Lily put the finger to Aurum's mouth this time, and mouthed the words -just wait-. Was she mute?
"She is a dangerous and rogue homunculus. Something has to be done! Are you so ineducated to not know what one is?" The woman above accused.
"Nah. Should I know?" Shella brushed her off.
"They are toxic creatures of artificial make. Their bodies develop chemicals of various sorts so that alchemists may bleed the chemicals out for their elixirs. That woman produces an unknown compound. To harbor her is to invite destruction to your ship."
"I'm pretty sure the Sea Lillith here is good," Shella said.
"I'm growing tired of your antics, ma'am," the woman said. There was the rattling of steel as she drew a sword.
"Please, call me Shella," Shella said.
The woman paused, and said "Argentia."
