Black Pearls - Aurum

Lily's fingers grabbed Aurum's hair for a tense moment. Aurum wasn't sure if Lily would throw her off or not. Then, Lily's buttocks rested against the bed, and she splayed her legs out more. Aurum would've pressed forwards, seeking to please Lily more, but Lily made Aurum's choice for her and pushed Aurum's head against her snatch.

Nose against muff, Aurum could get a deep whiff of Lily's smell. Salt, wood, cloth and nail. Aurum's tongue lashed against Lily's folds, seeking to press against and press into. Her efforts were rewarded with a delirious creek from the ship around them.

Aurum looked up at Lily. Her face was visible above her breasts with their hard, aching nipples, clearly twisted in pleasure with eyes closed and mouth agape. Her other hand pressed against Aurum's head, guiding her mouth and keeping her there, letting Aurum continue to lick away.

Her lappings brought her forward to that unused bead. Lily's clit deserved some attention, too. Aurum's lips closed around it and she began to methodically suck on it. Aurum was pushed even harder into Lily's loins, and Lily's head tilted back in a silent moan.

Aurum continued to work on Lily, pleasing her further and further. Lips pushed clit, tongue slid on folds, lips kissed folds, tongue lashed clit. Over and over, to an increasing series of groans from the ship's timbers.

Then, there was a record-breaking lengthy groan. Lily grabbed Aurum's head and ground her slit against it, smearing Aurum with her wetness. Long grinds quickly gave away to short thrusts as Lily pleased herself with Aurum. Then, as the groan died down, Lily collapsed back onto the bed, breaking her slit's kiss with Aurum.

"Sorry, I hope I wasn't too insistent," Aurum said.

Lily mouthed -its okay. I should apologize. I was being a bit too insistent.-

Aurum wiped Lily's juices from her lips and chin and grabbed her cloak. She whirled it around herself and fastened the catch, then pulled up the hood. Then she moved to the door towards the coral-filled room. "Is it safe to go in there?" she asked Lily.

Lily shook her head, and pointed to the hidden door. It creaked open automatically, opening up on the hold that was now illuminated with lanterns hung sporadically from the ceiling.

"Thank you," Aurum said, and she hurried out the door. Her legs carried her across the hold and to a set of stairs at the front of it. She walked up the stairs, following them as the curved around and pointed back towards the bulk of the ship.

The stairs led to a deck with five doors; two on her right and left each and one at the front. Aurum could see daylight pour from the door crack. She tentatively put her hand against the door, waiting to see if Lily had any objections. There were no warning hands from the wall, nor creaks of wood, nor anything else that would warn Aurum, so she pushed the door open.

Outside, the sun shone upon the grey deck, fluffy clouds drifting like airborne sheep far above. Aurum hadn't gotten a good chance to see the deck before, as she had only walked across it at night, but it was in such bad condition! The planks barely fit together at all, and there were ragged edges where splinters stood up. Someone would get hurt if they weren't careful.

Aurum walked out a few paces, then turned around. On either side of the door she had exited from, stairs led up to a higher deck. If Lily warned her about going into the pool room, then that was probably where Argentia was and where she didn't want to be.

She ascended the stairs and saw Shella relaxing on a long, laid-back steel frame chair with a cloth seat and back. Upon the creaking of the boards, Shella twisted around and saw Aurum. Seemingly satisfied, Shella swung back to lounging on the chair.

Aurum walked past her to the railing and stared out to sea. The sky was almost clear of any clouds, the few that did drift across it fluffy like cotton. The sun was striving valiantly for a higher place in the sky. All around them, the peaceful waves of the ocean gently rocked the ship.

"How d'ya like it?" Shella asked.

"Huh?" Aurum asked.

"All o' this!" Shella continued, waving one hand out across the visible world. "Th' sea, th' sun, th' sky. How d'ya like it?"

"Oh. It's okay, I guess," Aurum admitted. She much prefered the tiny world of the garden, truth be told. Wolfsbane and Spiderwort and all those kinds of plants, all planted neatly and growing their bounty.

"More of a land fellow?" Shella continued to ask.

"Yeah..." Now Aurum was missing her old home, with its weary plant-choked stones and archaic columns.

"Lucky you," Shella commented. "So, what's th' story between you and Argentia?"

Aurum paused, thinking about her words. "What do you know about us?" she asked.

"That you're an artificial life-form, which would explain why Lily'd harbour you, that spits poison n' such. Your former master up an' died, which left ye high 'n dry 'cause there's no laws for Homonculases," Shella said. "An', with you bein' masterless, th' Alchemist Guild sent one of their special enforcers t' axe you off."

"Yes, that's largely it. I can help transform things into gold, but that's an illegal procedure ever since it crashed gold's actual value. Lily's been nice to me, I guess," Aurum said, meandering about. "But that hunter sent after me? I know her. I've known her half her life. She's like a sister to me!"

"That's fucked up. Why does she hate you so much?" Shella asked, continuing to probe.

Aurum scowled. "Alchemist's propaganda. They don't like things they've made to go wandering off by their own. I'm not human, so they can do whatever they want to me."

"Ain't there a way to not get hunted?" Shella asked.

Aurum shrugged. "I was made to produce. I barely know anything more."

Shella twisted around in the chair and sat up, planting flipper-like feet on the wood of the ship. "Now, I ain't a lawin' kind of folk, but I know there's gotta be some funny business with th' law in that regard. If someone volunteered to take you up, give you a new home, would that take th' hunters off yer hide?" she asked.

"I said I don't know. I'm a thing made to please! I am granted womanly pleasures to grant similar pleasures out, and my transmogrifying blood makes the only other thing men lust over. If you expect me to do anything but run or hide, then I'm sorry!" Aurum burst out. She turned around abruptly on her foot and stormed off, her cape billowing after her.

"Hey, now wait a minute," Shella cried out, standing up and following Aurum. "In't there someone who can support -ow! What th' hell?"

Aurum glanced back. Shella was hopped up on one foot, looking at the sole of her other foot. Her hand brushed along the heel and pulled out a small wooden splinter. Shella held it up to her eyes, utterly bewildered for some odd reason.

As Aurum didn't care to view more, she descended the stairs and snuck back into the front's interior. Her bare feet quickly padded across grey wood, and she descended into the lower decks. She made her way past the unused nautical supplies and the weird twin twisting columns, ignoring them all.

Desperate, oddly tired, and angry, Aurum knocked against the wall with the secret door. It opened silently, unlocked and unbarred. Lily wasn't in the room, but its main door was still locked. Good enough, Aurum thought as she closed the door behind her.

She collapsed on to the hammock fuming. It was unfair, the world. Aurum didn't want to remember much about her creators, those fat, greedy men who thought that they could get away with the gold she could make, but she hated them for ever bringing her into this world. She had no defense against the hunter set against her. She had no skills besides what her body could do. If Shella, a woman she'd barely met, couldn't change that, then she may as well run herself through.

Aurum wearily closed her eyes, seeking solace in happier times.

* * *

"Come on, you can do it!" Aurum encouraged the teenaged girl next to her. They were both sitting at a table in a courtyard. The girl was gawky, now aged slightly more than 15, and proving to be of rather thin frame. In front of her sat a small cauldron with a noxious swirling muddy rainbow fluid twirling in it.

The girl scowled and picked up a vial. She uncorked it and poured a drop of silvery liquid into the cauldron. It began to bubble, its contents twisting and mingling in new fashions. The girl picked up a leaf with a pair of tweezers and dipped it into the cauldron. When she pulled it out, it was black and brittle.

"Dammit!" the girl exclaimed, throwing the leaf and tweezers away. When the leaf touched the ground, it exploded into a tiny ball of flame. The girl was briefly impressed, but resumed scowling. "I can't get this right!"

"Don't worry, Argentia. You're your mother's daughter, and you know how good she is," Aurum reassured the teenaged Argentia.

"Yeah, right. We were using your blood in this, and that's supposed to turn things into gold. You should've seen me when I tried to make that poison. Mom had to use an entirely different antidote to cure the test mouse than what we were supposed to," Argentia complained.

"I'm sure that's just signs of genius manifesting," Aurum reaffirmed.

"Oh yeah? Baloney," Argentia said, standing up suddenly and nearly knocking the table over.

"I know people moving," she said, beginning to pace in circles. "I've got good eyes, and my reaction speed is great. You remember that archery trophy from last year, right?"

"Mmm-hmm," Aurum hummed. They had melted the tin trophy down for spare materials in another effort to see if Argentia could perform alchemy like her mother could.

"Yeah. Beat out the returning champion and his competition," Argentia said, smiling to herself.

"But this," she exclaimed, returning to the cauldron, "Is just another in a long string of reasons why I can't do this stuff. Tinctures, mixtures, measurements, it all just doesn't feel right! Give me a sword, give me a bow, I know how those feel!"

"Perhaps, my dear, you are just unlucky," a new voice called out from the courtyard's entrance. Argentia's mother, wearing a white dress, strode forth.

"Mother, I don't think that's it," Argentia said.

Aurum practically revered Argentia's mother. She was the one who saved Aurum, after all, and Aurum was forever indebted to her. However, Argentia seemed take more after her father, a mysterious adventuring man that Aurum had never met.

"Well, your life is soon to be yours to handle, Argentia. I've trained you as best I can for the Alchemist Guild's apprenticeship, but if you want to become one of their hunters, one of their hands in enforcing the rules of Alchemical Practices, then I can't stop you.

Argentia sat back down on the bench and looked at the scorch mark her exploding leaf had left. She looked down, and curled her hands together as if to pray. "Yeah, I'm going to become a hunter," she said with grim determination.

Aurum caught a flash of worry bolt across her alchemist's face. "I hope that you're able to be happy with this choice. You'll do some very difficult things on that path. I've seen it happen. If you ever need something, or someone, never fear to write me." Argentia's mother said.

And with that, it seemed like Argentia disappeared. Aurum never left the estate of her alchemist, as it was too dangerous for her to do so. However, Aurum missed Argentia. She wanted to see Argentia grow into the beautiful young woman she was now.

It had only been recently that Aurum had seen Argentia in her fully-grown glory, and that day was the worst Aurum had ever seen. She hadn't known that her alchemist had fallen victim to a strange disease. She hadn't known that her alchemist's body betrayed her and grew lumps inside her. She hadn't known that her alchemist had stood next to death for months. It was only when Aurum's alchemist, Argentia's mother, had collapsed that she learned.

She could remember the carriage bearing the seal of the Alchemist's Guild pulling up to the estate. She could remember Argentia, now dressed in white leather armor and a white cloak, stepping down, her face purged of emotion. But when Argentia saw her mother, weak and dying, her face twisted into rage, a rage she had shot at Aurum.

The day their matron died was the day Aurum ran. She packed what she could, but she had lost it all gradually. She didn't know what day Argentia began to chase, only that Argentia outpaced her and had finally, at this strange ship, caught up.

* * *

Aurum's eyes flicked open. Lily was sitting patiently on the bed, her hands folded on top of each other, her pale eyes not staring at anything in particular. As Aurum rose from the hammock, Lily's head jerked up to meet Aurum's eyes. Lily's lips moved to say -are you all right-?

Aurum smiled weakly. "Yes, I am. Don't worry about me," she said.

Lily smiled sadly. Aurum wasn't going to fool her. Her lips moved again, spelling out -the truth has come out in full now. you are safe.-

"Thank you," Aurum said. Strange, but she didn't want it to be safe. Aurum couldn't have done anything to help either Argentia or her mother. What good was she as a homunculus and as a person now?

She pushed against the door, finding it unlocked, and stepped into the room with the pool. Numbly, her feet carried her to the stairs that led upwards. One foot past the other, up each wooden board of the stairs. There was no point in running if there was no escaping.

The bed-occupied room she ascended to was empty, its many sheets and pillows ruffled and disturbed, but otherwise unoccupied. Argentia wasn't here. How much Aurum' heart yearned for Argentia was odd. Was it because Argentia had what she couldn't? Probably, but it may have been the attachment she had found seeing Argentia grow up, seeing her mistakes and successes.

Aurum went to the double doors and opened both of them. Out on the deck, Argentia was pacing, wearing her dyed-white leather armor and white cloak. Her sword was at her side, and her hands wrung behind her back. Her brown hair was tied back with a silver-colored string, and her face looked worried.

Immediately, Aurum's heart leapt into her throat and she was paralyzed. Suddenly, there was a pang, a wish to live that filled her with regret. She felt like she had just walked into a trap, and was now ready to be slaughtered.

Argentia's head flew up, and her silver-colored eyes locked onto Aurum's. She raced over to Aurum and embraced her, and Argentia cried out, "Never worry me like that ever again!"

Wait, what? Aurum's legs turned to jelly as her mind swam in confusion. Where was the sword through her belly? Or through her neck? Shouldn't she be dead right now?

"You don't need to worry about anything. These people barely know what an alchemist is, let alone the Alchemist Guild. They'll never tell, and they don't care!" Argentia continued to exclaim.

"Argentia?! What's going on?" Aurum sputtered out.

"You don't get it? I've been chasing after you to bring you back! Technically, I now own you now that Mother's dead, may she rest in peace. I'm not sure why you ran," Argentia confided.

"I thought you were going to kill me because I'm a rogue homunculus!" Aurum said.

"Hey, if the Alchemist's Guild knew you could help produce gold, they may try and send someone after you. But to them, you were just something Mother made to prove herself. Oh, and one more thing," Argentia said, before kissing Aurum strongly. The force of her lips was overwhelming, taking Aurum's mouth ferociously and sending in an odd heat into her belly, before breaking off with a joyous smile.

Aurum was speechless. Everything was happening too fast for her to understand. Argentia wasn't here to kill? And she loved Aurum? How? Why?

"I missed you so much when I was away. You were a constant, you seemed perfect and optimistic. You were always there for me. I'm not sure how you became so scared, but I'm here for you now," Argentia continued. "But I think perhaps we should continue this somewhere with more privacy."

Argentia gently pushed Aurum back into the room and closed the doors behind her. Her fingers flew to her belt and undid it. With a clank of the sheathed sword, it fell to the ground. Next came her cape, fluttering down like a butterfly.

"Here? Now?" Aurum sputtered out, backing to against the bed.

Pausing in her strip, Argentia said, "If you want to. I can't lie, that woman isn't you! She'll never be!" Her fingers continued to work the catches on her leather armor, casting it aside so she stood just in her shirt and pants.

A warm, wanting knot of emotions was stuck inside of Aurum. Here in front of her was her muse, a woman she had been, until recently, terrified of. Now, she could have her love professed and consummated. Still shocked, she nodded.

Argentia's shirt came flying off, exposing her toned arms and abs. Her breasts seemed to be just nipples standing up on her thin chest, waiting to be kissed and rubbed. Next, her pants were slide off, exposing equally toned legs, her waist and hips thin. Argentia wore a tight set of white panties on her, covering her neatly-shaven sex.

Argentia stalked towards Aurum, who could not back away any from both a budding desire and the bed behind her. Argentia's hand slipped around Aurum's head and brought her close, their lips closing together. Her other hand worked the catch on Aurum's cloak, and it too was cast aside.

With her mouth occupied, Aurum's mind and body was aflame with desire. Argentia played with her lips, tongue gliding across and probing gently into them in a lusting display of need. Why shouldn't she? There truly was no reason to back out now.

A calloused hand slide up Aurum's side, feeling the flow of her body, before it slipped between the two women to stroke her breast. Skilled finger well-trained with sword and bow pressed up against her heavy breast, trapping and pushing against the golden bars piercing her. Warm blossoms of pleasure burst from each point of contact as fingers and golden beads sunk into lovely flesh. Aurum could feel her nipples tighten and harden into pleasurable playthings.

With a breathy sigh, Argentia broke the kiss to stare longingly into Aurum's eyes. She pushed Aurum back onto the bed without any other care in the world, and quickly climbed on top of the bed. With a hand, Argentia directed Aurum farther and farther back, until Aurum's head and shoulders rested on the mountain of pillows like an opulent consort. Gazing at Aurum, Argentia smiled lustily before pouncing on top of her.

Constant sweet kisses barraged Aurum as she was pinned underneath Argentia. Argentia's body lay on top of her, controlling her much to her own wanting thrill. As her lips were taken up, then her cheeks and nose and forehead, Aurum thought that there could be no better world than this. Argentia's erect nipples dug into and rubbed her breasts, rubbing in tingles of ecstasy with each sliding movement Argentia made to kiss more of Aurum. Aurum could feel her hard muscles lay on top of Aurum's skin and piercings.

Argentia's kisses lined Aurum's chin, then down the curve of her neck. Lips graced the golden beads on her throat, touching gently, before traversing to her neck and fiercely laying claim to it. Argentia slid down with her kisses, her body forcing Aurum's legs apart. Argentia's skin rubbed against Aurum's inner thighs, warming them with delirious pleasure.

Across her collarbone the kisses went, and they pushed themselves against the swell of her breasts. Before Argentia's lips could touch her nipple, however, Argentia broke the kiss and licked her lips. Then, they descended again, taking Aurum's near-black areola into Argentia's mouth. Wickedly sweet delight was thrust into Aurum as teeth scraped her skin and as she felt her tit pulled gently by Argentia's sucking. Such was the pleasure of being with Argentia that Aurum let loose a low, sensual moan.