Chapter 110 - Sailing and Arrival

Out at sea, the shadow of night blanketed the view, and somewhere in that vast stretch of water, a ship slowly sailed across the waves.

But what was peculiar—and terrifying—about that ship was that on its stern, a huge red creature clung calmly with its massive claws, while its enormous body floated in the water and was dragged along by the vessel.

The sailors on watch trembled with fear every time they passed by and saw the massive creature's head resting on the deck, occasionally letting out a small puff of fire in her soft snores.

Surely, the worst part was for those who had to take the helm at times like these, as the faint heat radiating from the creature so close to their backs served as a constant reminder that a being capable of tearing them to pieces was right behind them.

While the sailors prayed to every god they knew, Aurora continued her beauty sleep, half of her body relaxed in the sea.

She didn't feel cold doing that, for her draconic body was naturally very warm, and even the cold seawater against her scales couldn't extinguish that heat.

Thus, the night slowly passed, and when the darkness of the sky began to give way to the faint light of dawn, the door of a cabin opened.

From it emerged an orange cat, wearing only his boots—without his equally iconic cape, hat, or belt—scratching his belly with one paw and yawning with the other.

Still half-asleep, he climbed the stairs and made his way toward the stern, where the dragon's head rested.

Approaching her—and dodging the small burst of fire she let out unconsciously, which, by some miracle, hadn't yet set the ship ablaze—he placed his paw on her scaled cheek and gave two light pats.

"Aura, wake up, the sun's about to rise," he called, still yawning.

"Humrr humrr…" The dragon grumbled softly and turned her head to the side.

Puss understood that as something like "Five more minutes…"

"Come on, the sun's about to rise, and if you don't get up, you'll fall into the sea when it hits you and turns you human again—and then your body will be all salty and uncomfortable for the rest of the day," helplessly, he had to insist.

Hearing such a reasonable argument, even through her drowsiness, the dragon girl reluctantly opened one lazy eye.

With a sigh, she gently pushed the ship forward to detach herself, then began flapping her wings, lifting herself from the sea.

Puss, seeing the shower of water that came with her wingbeats, lost his sleep completely and widened his eyes.

Leaping backward, he vaulted over the helm, performed a stylish backflip, and landed on the lower deck in a perfect hero pose—but without wasting time, he ran to hide under the stairs.

As soon as that series of moves ended, he looked up and saw a brief rain soak the deck and the few men there, who groaned in frustration.

Laughing in amusement, he stepped out from under the stairs and looked up to see Aurora flying above, her embarrassment clearly visible even on her draconic face. She hadn't done it on purpose—her sleepiness had simply clouded her mind.

Shaking his head in amusement, Puss stepped forward and began commanding the crew.

"Reel in the sails! Drop the anchor!"

Though his order sounded odd given that they were in the middle of the ocean, the crew knew what was coming and obeyed without hesitation.

The sails were quickly furled, and the pins holding the anchor were removed, letting it fall. But before it could sink too deep into the sea, a pair of claws caught the thick chain and pulled it forward, causing the entire ship to surge ahead.

Aurora was pulling the ship, gradually increasing its speed, making the hull cut through the waters faster and faster.

She did all this effortlessly, eyes closed, fighting the urge to fall back asleep.

About ten minutes later, a ray of sunlight crossed the horizon, making the world shimmer.

Bathed in the golden light, Aurora's body began to glow, shrinking rapidly until, in place of the once-fearsome dragon, there now stood only a beautiful draconic princess.

Even in her human form, Aurora still managed to hold the ship's anchor in her delicate hands, showing that her half-human strength was nothing to scoff at. But she no longer had the might to keep dragging the ship.

Flapping her red wings, she returned to the vessel and secured the anchor in place, while the sailors easily brought the chain back.

Stepping onto the deck, still yawning, Aurora picked up Puss—who was yawning along with her—and the two of them returned to their cabin, planning to sleep a little longer.

Entering the room, Fiona had also returned to her human form and was sleeping peacefully.

Puss had been sleeping with her before, and after she accepted showing her ogre side to him, she no longer avoided him at night, and they slept together.

He admitted he preferred her human form, but he didn't dislike her ogre one either—for in the end, no matter her appearance, she was still his princess.

But just as they were about to lie down, a loud shout echoed through the ship.

"LAND HO!!"

Puss, who had already taken off his boots and curled up between the girls to sleep, quickly sat up, alert.

Aurora, who had just closed her eyes sleepily, also widened them in surprise and embarrassment.

She had been so sleepy earlier that she hadn't even looked ahead and had been flying with her eyes closed—so she, who should have been the first to spot land on the horizon, completely missed it.

Puss thought the same and looked at his blushing blonde princess with amusement and helplessness.

Patting her thigh, he consoled her.

"Don't worry about it. Just be more attentive in the future, because on an adventure, information is important," he said gently but with a hint of admonition.

Puss didn't want his partner falling into a trap or worse because of carelessness.

"Humm… I promise," she replied softly.

Fiona woke up at that moment and stretched.

"Hmm… Puss, Aura, good morning. Looks like we've arrived at… well, where exactly did we arrive?" she asked after a moment, still waking up, then realized she had no idea where they were.

"It should be Port Royal. That was the destination from the start, and we shouldn't have drifted off course," Puss said as he put on his boots and strapped the rest of his gear.

"Excited to see your other woman, you shameless cat?" Fiona asked, pouting at him.

"Of course!" He winked at her and nodded shamelessly, teasing her.

Fiona raised her fist, pretending to threaten him, making him laugh as he ran out of the room.

Puss quickly crossed the deck and reached the ship's bow.

Climbing onto the railing, he looked out at the distant outline of a city he easily recognized.

'Port Royal… I'm back. Elizabeth, you kept the promise we made to each other, didn't you?'

He smiled softly, remembering the hot-blooded, impulsive woman.

Then his expression turned serious.

'Cutler Beckett wouldn't dare touch the governor and Elizabeth without the crown's orders. In this life, Elizabeth never freed or truly got involved with Jack Sparrow. At most, she was involved with me—but I made it clear I was against pirates when I turned them in. And my GoldenClaw Bank isn't without influence either; after all, money moves the world.'

'Still, I need to make sure everything's fine before I go after Jack—to make him take me to the heart and to Davy Jones,' he planned, watching as the ship slowly approached the coast.

Aurora and Fiona joined him soon after, watching the land ahead with excitement.

The thrill of the sea had long since faded after two months of travel, but finally, new things awaited them. Besides, being confined to a ship for so long was irritating and restrictive.

Fiona wasn't truly upset about Elizabeth. She had already come to terms with Puss's nature—he already had her, Aurora, and Vivianne. One more, even if reluctantly accepted, wasn't the end of the world—especially considering that technically, Elizabeth had come first.

Tornado also arrived then, looking thrilled at the sight of Port Royal growing closer. If anything could be said, the one who hated sailing the most was definitely the poor horse, who longed to gallop freely again.

As they waited, Puss pulled up his system to compare how much he had grown since the time he left.

[Host: Puss in Boots
Age: 16 years
Status: 9 Lives Remaining

Talents:
Mutant Cat (Gold): Level 7 → 8 (Progress: 82% → 62%)
Natural Swordsman (Gold): Level 7 → 8 (Progress: 85% → 64%)
Furry Lover (Silver → Gold): Level 7 → 1 (Progress: 57% → 1%)
Lucky Feline (Gold): Level 3 → 6 (Progress: 41% → 4%)

Equipment: (+)]

'Not bad…' he nodded to himself.

Fighting Aurora in her dragon form when they first met, then against the Fairy Godmother's private army—and the Fairy Godmother herself—were the moments that had brought the greatest growth to his talents.

In the months that followed, when he trained against the royal army of Far Far Away—and sometimes asked Aurora to spar with him in her dragon form—it also helped improve his battle talents a bit.

But since those were just training bouts and not real duels, Puss was never truly pressured, so the gains were smaller.

The one that had leveled up the most, without a doubt, was Furry Lover. Even though he hadn't done any "adult acts" in those months, he still flirted and played a lot with his women, which made the level increase.

It seemed that because he had more than one woman at the same time—which increased the difficulty of maintaining the relationships—his talent evolved even faster.

Finally, Lucky Feline had also shown huge progress, which Puss attributed to him changing the world's story—both through his relationships with Aurora and Fiona, and by defeating the Fairy Godmother and taking over her potion factory operations.

Closing his status screen with a thoughtful look, Puss gazed forward.

'I wonder what will happen when a golden talent surpasses the 10th level?'

With that thought circling in his mind, the ship officially entered Port Royal's bay.