It took about a half an hour before I saw land.
Thank you Lunus.
I swept my eyes along the lush coast, quickly spotting a small village with proper houses and roads.
At least it seemed not all of civilization had collapsed.
I wasn’t sure if this was a larger island, or a proper continent, but I couldn’t see the end of the land, though I did see some mountains in the distance.
It was early spring yet, but it was warm enough here that there was still plenty of greenery growing in.
I dove down, towards the village.
Thank Lunus.
Maybe now I could finally meet some normal— A flash of brown made me stop short.
A door was opening for a smaller house, and out stepped… Out stepped… Oh Lunus.
That was not a monkey.
It was wearing a wide cone hat and looked up.
I got a good look at its face, brown leathered skin with tiny beady eyes.
Completely hairless.
My stomach clenched as it looked right at me, but I checked, and I was still invisible.
It looked back down and started walking off, towards the coast.
After a heartbeat I reluctantly followed along.
What was it?
It was shaped a little like a monkey but had a strangely flat face.
Hands with five fingers.
A very strange, furless body.
No tail, how did it keep its balance?
Once the one I was following reach the docks, it began prepping a boat to go fishing.
I abandoned that on to head back into town and try to figure out what the heck those things were.
I soon came across some kind of market.
With several different specimens on display, I was able to examine them closer.
There was… a very odd difference between sexes.
Women were shaped differently from the men.
Also, they did have fur.
They just… had it on the top of their heads.
Women grew it long and piled it up in a way that made me feel queasy.
Or worse, they just let it flop around everywhere.
I held my stomach as a woman tossed her head back and laughed, the hair swinging side to side, all bunched together in the back.
That just… That just wasn’t right.
And what were they wearing on their feet?
They were all bundled up in a very uncomfortable way.
I purposefully flew around the market, looking for one who let their feet be exposed when I came across some cubs running around, their feet bare.
And if I thought the fur was nauseating, that was nothing compared to their feet.
Lunus, what was wrong with their feet?
How could they even walk around like that?
I had to fly up a little to get some distance and some sir.
Okay.
It seems as if this entire village was nothing but these very ugly… creatures?
Animals?
Maybe they were actually a type of monkey, I mean their general shape was right.
More important was whether they were friendly or not.
I mean, they had clothes and structures.
An economy, currency.
While they may look like something that crawled out of my worst nightmares, what mattered was whether I could get along with them or not.
I flew back down, to sweep the market again.
I was searching for any indication that they were friendly to monkeys.
As my eyes searched, I saw a flash of fur, proper fur, from deep within a wagon that opened into a market stall.
My heart leapt.
I knew it!
I knew there had to be some normal monkeys around here somewhere— I stopped dead in the air as the monkey came into full view, in the back of the wagon.
Rusty iron bars.
She didn’t even have enough room to stand in that small cage.
She was weak, listless, her arm, reaching out behind a crate so I couldn’t see.
Oh Lunus, this was so much worse than I thought it would be.
She chittered, telling someone they needed to eat.
The creature manning the stall didn’t even look back as it whapped her cage with a metal rod.
She flinched, drawing her arm in quickly, covering her head and cowering away from it.
I threw a black look towards it, but it simply turned around, in the middle of a transaction with another horrible creature.
It lifted up what was behind the crate, another, mush smaller cage with… Oh Lunus.
It was a baby.
It limply laid there as the monster set it on the table, only the soft rise and fall of his side told me the baby was alive.
The monkey in the other cage, the lady, began screaming, shrieking, begging the monster to let her child go, to not separate them.
The monster took the metal rod again, and this time it jammed the rod in, striking her with it, making her cower again.
It turned back to the other one, examining the listless baby.
It nodded and held out some of the currency being traded around the market, and the full horror of what I was witnessing dawned on me.
Slavery.
This monster was a slave trader, and he was selling a baby to the other one, in broad daylight in this market.
Meaning it wasn’t illegal in the slightest.
The island was a paradise compared to this.
I couldn’t let this happen.
I dipped back into my necklace, whipping out a broad fan and a bottle of blinding powder.
Helped along by my chi, I threw the powder into the air and blew it towards the monsters.
They both screamed, grabbing their eyes, their skin turning red and their noses running.
While they were distracted, I swooped down and snatched the baby.
Then I flew to the back of the wagon, unlatching the mother’s cage.
She shrieked when I suddenly appeared, but when I told her to get on she was only too happy to comply, sitting back on the hilt as I flew us away as quickly as physically possible.
Once we had left the town behind us, 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 monsters 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.
I had first-time flyers on my hands after all, and the two of them had been through enough.
The mother cradled her baby, who came alive a little more, nuzzling into her chest and suckling.
Those monsters.
To separate a mother and cub before the cub was even weaned.
Not even the most deplorable slavers I’ve heard of practiced such a thing.
Those things were avoid at all costs from now on.
It was beginning to get dark by the time I sighted the island.
The familiar peak in the center rose up first, followed by the picturesque shoreline, dazzling in the setting sun.
I brought Lonely Moon down to the beach to land, hovering just above the ground.
I hopped off first, then turned and helped the mother with her baby.
She wobbled, unsteady standing up.
Still adjusting from being trapped in that small cage.
She looked into the forest, hope just barely daring to show itself on her face.
“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 brings new friends?” I crossed my arms.
“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 turned back to the jungle, gesturing for the mother to follow her.
“Food is this way.
Lots of food.
No lost cubs.
Plenty of food.” I nodded to the hesitant mother.
She began following the native monkey into the jungle but turned back before entering the jungle, close to tears.
“Thank you.
You’re a good queen.
You saved me and my baby.
I’ll always share food with you.” She turned back, and the cub’s eyes blinked at me just before they disappeared into the jungle.
I sighed and turned back towards the ocean.
All my running and I just ended up back here at the end of the day.
I turned towards the ocean, and the setting sun.
I’ve… never seen an ocean before today.
I traced the long thin line of the horizon as I sat down.
The light danced among the waves, reflecting the orange and pink sky.
Beautiful.
Truly.
I closed my eyes, feeling the breeze ruffle my fur and the sun warming my face.
It was a new experience too.
More than a few minutes in my home world’s sun would’ve left me screaming from the burns.
But here I could just… sit.
And appreciate it.
I took a deep breath, tasting the salt, and reopened my eyes.
I watched the sun sink into the horizon, bringing the day to a close and letting the moon grace the world instead.
After taking a moment to settle my nerves, my mind turned back to my predicament.
What was I going to do?
How far had those monsters spread?
Were there no monkey countries at all?
No, surely not.
There had to be at least one monkey kingdom, right?
Besides this shitty one.