Wohoo! Another chapter good and done! I'm so happy! I finally uploaded a cover for this story! I figured it was a little boring so I spiced it up a little. Either way, there's a major turn of events in this chapter and I hope you like.

Disclaimer: I do not own Treasure Planet!

Enjoy!

-xxXxx-

The next day Rune's door was kicked open by a grinning Captain Jim.

"Rise and shine cabin girl! It's the crack of dawn and time to start your cabin girl chores for the day!" he shouted merrily. Some unintelligible grumbles came from Rune's hammock where a bundle of blankets shifted. Grinning like a mad man, Jim strode over and flipped the hammock, sending Rune tumbling to the floor in a heap.

"Hey! What the fuck man?!" she shrieked from under the blankets. Her face popped out of the blankets but she kept her head and body covered, glaring daggers at him. He squatted in front of her and held the edge of the blanket in his fingers gazing at it with disinterest. Then he looked at her and clicked his tongue.

"Hmm. Swearing in front of a superior officer? Shame on you Rune you should know better than that," he put on a face of mock disappointment but Rune could see the laughter in his eyes, "I wonder how I should punish you. Clean your mouth out with soap? Or maybe make it so you can't talk at all?" he raised his eyebrows inquisitively at her. She stared defiantly into his eyes for a while and lowered her gaze but didn't speak.

"That's more like it. Now how about you go up on deck and begin your cabin girl chores?" he waited for her to move or speak but she glowered at the floor instead.

He tugged lightly at the blanket in his hands and Rune's grip on it grew tighter. His grin widened. He tugged a little harder; she gripped tighter, still refusing to speak. Jim smiled and prepared to wrench the blanket off her body. Rune must have felt this because her head snapped up as soon as he gripped the fabric in both hands, face red as a tomato.

"Get out!" Jim could hear the outburst echo in his head, "Get out Captain!" That made his stare at her beet red face.

"Are you giving your captain orders?" he asked slyly. He hoped she had. He dearly hoped she had. He had so many plans for her that day. And all she needed to do was give him an excuse.

"…" Rune's cheeks burned red, "I-I'm umm…not dressed…" she suddenly found the ground extremely interesting, "I'm….naked…"

Jim iced over before shooting backwards landing gracelessly on his ass. He'd just barged into Rune's room and tore her out of her bed! Naked! His face colored a deep crimson as a fold of blanket fell away revealing her neck and a rather large portion of her beautifully defined collarbone. Rune hadn't noticed the blanket had moved, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Jim scrambled out of her room as fast as he could and sprinted all the way to his chambers. Throwing himself on the bed he tried not thinking bout what had just transpired. Tried to not to think about the smooth skin that was dotted with small scars here and there; the way her chest rose and fell as she breathed; the flush of her cheeks and her soft pale-pink lips or the tan skin on her neck that was just begging to be tasted.

"No!" Jim hissed to himself as he gripped his head trying to burn the images out of his head. When they finally stopped flashing before his eyes he sat up and groaned. Cursing himself he glared at the tent in his pants. He turned to the private shower in his room blaming his relentless hormones. No, he wasn't remotely attracted to her at all. It had been a while since he'd had a woman so that must have been it! Yeah, he was just physically lonely and her being the only female on the ship aside from Amelia, his cursed body had reacted.

'That's' all it was. No attraction. Who'd be attracted to that short, crazy, skinny, temperamental, semi-flat-chested, rude, violent, unfeminine, tomboyish excuse for a girl?' he ranted to himself as the cold water rushed over his hair onto his back. 'I miss the girls back at the Academy.' They'd had a taste in humor, acted feminine, had respect for their superiors, worried about trivial things like makeup, hairstyles and clothes and slept in clothes when they weren't with him for the night. But Rune was almost the complete opposite of that. 'And what kind of name is Rune anyway? Jim thought as he toweled off and got dressed.

"Good morning Captain!" Rune sang, swinging down somewhere from the platform above facing him upside down. Her hair flew wild in the breeze, pulled back with the bright red bandana tied securely to her head; her bright eyes danced with a mischievous light. Jim remembered the incident this morning and reddened. Rune jumped down to land in front of him and smirked.

"Aw Captain are you sick? You're all red!" she exclaimed loudly for all to hear. Amelia heard and came up to see the commotion. Jim's whole face had taken on a bright red hue. Amelia felt his forehead.

"Well it seems like you've caught something Captain Hawkins. Rune!" she turned to the girl who saluted childishly, "I'd like you to escort the captain to his quarters. You'd better be in bed if I come down to check on you Captain," she smiled kindly before striding away. Jim tried protesting but Rune grabbed his arm and dragged him off the deck and down the hall. When they reached his room, she closed the door behind them. She dropped the worried look and fell to the ground laughing hysterically. Jim gaped at her.

"What did you do that for? I'm not sick, you know that!" he was cut off as a fresh wave of laughter burst from Rune like an overflowing dam. She calmed and wiped away a stray tear.

"Hahaha oh that was a good one! I'm sorry I laughed at you. Well kinda. You did walk in on me naked," Jim blushed and Rune giggled again. "Hey Jim?" He looked up to see her standing very close, her blue and green eyes darting back and forth between his gray-blue ones.

"What?" he breathed, Rune bit her lip causing his eyes to flick to them.

"You really think I'd ever be caught naked by the likes of you?" she asked in pure disbelief, one eyebrow in danger of disappearing into her deep auburn bangs. Jim blinked once. Twice.

"What?"

"Oh my god! You did! You actually thought you caught me with my pants down!" Rune gave a bark-like laugh as Jim recovered.

"You mean you weren't actually naked?" he asked in shock, "But your chest! I saw your chest! You weren't wearing anything!" Almost immediately did Jim realize this was the wrong thing to say, judging by the evil smirk that was growing on Rune's face. Dropping her jacket, she grabbed the straps of her tank top and yanked them down over her shoulders. It revealed her collarbone and neck, just what Jim had seen when the blanket had fallen. He stood in shock at the sudden realization that he had gotten a hard on for nothing. He had thought Rune was naked and had acted on that, but in truth, she'd been playing him the whole time. His shock and surprise slowly melted into searing anger as he watched Rune roll on the floor laughing holding her aching sides and gasping for breath.

With a growl he strode towards the door and Rune heard the unmistakable *click* of a lock falling into place. Rolling onto her back she looked up at Jim upside down from the floor. He stood tall and formidable, blocking the door. He watched her eyes narrow as she rolled over and slowly stood up from the floor facing him.

"Move," she ordered. Jim smiled but didn't move an inch.

"Now now, Rune. What did I say about ordering your superior officers around?" she was about to say something when he darted forward catching her off guard and grabbed her wrists. She backed away but in her haste she tripped over her feet and the two of them fell to the floor. Jim caught himself just in time to avoid crushing Rune to death under him. Before she could get her bearings, he used his legs to pin down her legs knowing she would use them if given the chance. She struggled against him, bucking and squirming under him causing him to groan as she rubbed up against him. Instantly she stopped moving and stuck with glaring at him. If looks could kill, he'd be as good as dead. Three times over in fact, if the strength of her glare was anything to go by.

"Get off," she ordered as calmly as could muster. Jim grinned. He was back in control.

"And have you slice at me with one of your pretty little knives? I don't think so missy. Now I'm not gonna hurt you but-"

"HA! Not gonna hurt me?!" she barked and snarled at him, "Well you can bet your ass I'm gonna hurt you when I get out of here!" Jim sighed sadly.

"And that's why I'm not letting you go till we have a little chat, you and I," he shifted and flipped her over to her stomach and straddled her, using his weight to hold her down. He slipped off his tie and bound Rune's hands together to keep her somewhat still. When she snarled at him, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and leaned down letting his warm breath wash over her neck.

"I'm the captain of this ship, not you! So let me…make this perfectly clear," he tugged on her hair a bit; he smiled when he heard her whimper. It was such a nice sound. "You will obey me and do as I say, when I say it. Are we clear?" she whimpered again but said nothing. Jim growled and yanked on her hair.

"Agree! Agree or so help me I will throw you overboard! I will not tolerate disloyalty on my ship!" he pulled her hair again yanking her head back, exposing her neck some more; the neck he'd been thinking about earlier, about how it was begging to be tasted. He had to have a taste.

Rune felt something wet and warm slide up her throat and gasped. Jim was licking her! Jim heard her gasp and felt a delightful twinge in his gut.

"S-stop it!" Rune cried out but she was panting, the trail of saliva shining on her neck. Jim wanted to stop but the growing urge to continue won over all rational thought. He left a trail of searing kisses along her jaw line before his hands slid up her back and slid her straps over her shoulders, exposing the tanned and scarred skin to his prying eyes.

"J-Jim, stop it! You don't know what you doing-Ah!" Jim yanked on her hair causing her to arch up against him. He chuckled deeply.

"Rune," he whispered huskily into her neck, peppering it with kisses, "I know exactly, what I'm doing."

He flipped her over so she was facing him again and continued his assault on her neck, forcing Rune to gasp and bite back moans. She continued protesting but it only spurred him on. He buried his head in the junction of her shoulder and neck and breathed her in. She smelled sweet, oh so sweet. Jim couldn't put a finger on it but he wanted more. He could feel his member twitch every time Rune moaned or tried to escape. His lips met her full soft ones and he licked her bottom lip, begging for entrance. She however was still fighting for her freedom and refused him. Jim growled deep in his throat and grabbed for her hair, missed and yanked on her bandana ripping it off revealing…she yelped and threw up her tied hands to cover her head but Jim caught them and held them above her head. On her head perched two furry ears, one on each side of her head. They were the same shade of brown as her hair but the insides were a soft white. Jim reached up tentatively and brushed a finger against one. It flicked away the instant his hand brushed the sensitive fur. Rune whimpered at the touch.

"W-what are those?" Jim asked brushing up against it again, watching it flick away impatiently. Rune let out an unladylike snort and attempted pushing his mass off her body but he had other ideas. His lips crashed on her again before she could yell at him and the hand not holding hers down gently stroked the ear. It was really soft. Rune let out an involuntary moan at the feeling before blushing madly. How had he not been attracted to her? She smelled so wonderful it was intoxicating. He felt a primal urge to dominate, to control. His member twitched again when she bit his lip drawing blood. He released her mouth for air and she gasped as sweet air that filled her lungs.

"Jim! You have to stop this!" she managed to push his unsuspecting weight away from her but he got back up again, "This isn't you! It's my hormones! You don't even LIKE me remember?" But Jim wasn't listening to her. Her scent it was driving him wild. He wanted her. Oh he wanted her so badly, it ached. He saw Rune's eyes flicker towards the door behind him before backing up slowly, unknowingly towards his bed. He stalked her, eyes constantly on her. Rune huffed and loosened the tie holding her hands together. Fine, if that's how he wanted to play, she'd play.

"Hey Captain Tightpants, you want some of this?" she took another step back, swaying her hips seductively. Jim's eyes watched them keenly before taking an experimental step towards her, "Yeah that's right Jim, come here," she crooned, opening her arms to him. He darted forward, embracing her, lifting her up and burying his head in her warm chest. Quick as a flash, she hit a pressure point on his neck, causing him to release her and tumble to the floor disoriented. She flew to the door, unbolted it and sprinted as fast as her legs could carry her, Jim on her heels. For once, Rune cursed her height but she made it to the deck to the fresh air.

Jim flinched at the sudden brightness. He looked around and found himself outside on the deck, a cool breeze blowing through his hair.

"Hey Captain Tightpants, you feeling better now?" Rune stood on the deck above him, pressing a hat hard onto her head. Jim stared at her with a confused look. Sighing, she turned and talk to someone he couldn't see from his vantage point. Amelia came down the stairs and walked Jim back to his room. It was a mess. Amelia opened all the windows as Jim stared.

"What happened in here?!" he looked around at the items that were scattered all over the floor and began picking them up.

"I do believe Miss Rune said she would fill us both in after we've aired the place out," she began shelving a stack of books that had somehow ended up on the floor.

"She did this to my room?! What the hell is her problem?!" Jim turned to go chew her out but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Amelia gave him a look he knew well and continued cleaning up.

A few minutes later, Jim was sitting on the bed, Amelia in a chair watching Rune pace across the room wringing her hands nervously. Jim was shocked to say the least. A nervous Rune? Next hell would freeze over.

"Start from the beginning Rune," Amelia urged gently. The girl looked as if she would fall apart.

"Ok umm…well as you might have figured out, I'm not exactly….human…Well not entirely anyway…" Rune wiped her hands nervously in her pants. Jim didn't know what to say.

"Not human? What do you mean?" Rune wrung her hands again biting her lip before laughing.

"I can fight loosing battles without batting an eyelash but when it comes to this….Holy fucknuggets," she breathed, reached up and pulled the hat off. A set of auburn ears flicked back and forth before settling in a neutral position. Rune rubbed them gently, getting the circulation going. Jim stared.

"You have…ears…" he breathed. Rune laughed again.

"Thank you Captain Obvious! And duh I have ears; so do you. I'm a Halfling," she said as if that one word explained everything. She fiddled with the hat as she waited for their reactions. Amelia nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"What's a Halfling?" Jim asked sheepishly. Rune cringed.

"I'm the unwanted spawn of a human like yourself, and an Enailef, (EE-nAI-lef)" Rune's fingers scrunched up the hat in her hands.

"Enailef?"

"Unwanted?" This time it was Amelia who asked. Rune tensed, ears flattening out on her head.

"I think Jim would know this actually, considering he just went through it and all," Jim blinked, "It's called Lust Haze. You know when a female cat goes into heat it attracts male cats with its hormones? Well it's kinda like that, except with Enailefs, who are in fact a race of humanoid felines, it apparently affects human too. My dad was under the influence of Lust Haze when I was conceived. He raped my mam and when he came to his senses, left her there to die," Rune shuddered at the memory of the stories her mother had told her out of spite. Jim's face had gone stark white.

"I-I didn't, you know, d-DO anything did I?" he sighed in relief when she shook her head.

"No but you made it pretty clear. Don't worry Captain, I won't hold you responsible. I shouldn't even have been inside at the time, let alone with a male. Ugh hormones do not go well in small closed spaces like this," her shoulders slumped. She paced around his desk muttering profanity at her carelessness when she stopped and squirmed uncomfortably. She turned around to them so fast Jim worried about whiplash.

"Do you have an extra pair of pants I can use? Like now?" Jim hurried to his closet and pulled out a nice loose pair much like Rune's own. Snatching it from him, she proceeded to rip a small hole in the backside.

"Hey those are my-" he stopped and shielded his eyes as Rune undid the buckle on her pants and dropped them without a warning. When he dropped his hand, his jaw followed suit. A tail was poking out of the hole Rune had ripped and was coiling around her leg as if it had a mind of its own. Rune sighed heavily.

"Ah that feels so much better. It's been strapped to my leg for the longest time! You guys know now anyway so it doesn't matter," she hopped up on the desk, long brown tail waving around lazily. Jim only managed to stare, mouth agape. Amelia chuckled.

"Well there's something you don't see everyday," she commented and Rune laughed.

"Yeah I know right? The great Captain James Hawkins speechless! Ha!" she giggled.

"Actually I was talking about your tail." Rune's ears dropped a little in embarrassment and she hopped down from the desk. Jim began pacing the room, a deep frown of his face. He was seething by the time he bore down on Rune. He wasn't even sure why he was so angry. But he felt cheated and confused, so he played his safe card; anger.

"Why didn't you tell us this when we hired you? All this could have been avoided! But noooo, you had to keep your little eneelaf-"

"Enailef."

"Eneelaf, Enailef, whatever! You put the crew in danger because you didn't feel like saying anything!" Jim was livid. Her hormones could have easily affected another man from the crew; she could have been hurt, or worse, raped! He would have lost all respect and future work as a sailor. He could feel Amelia's hand on his shoulder telling him to stop. Rune was shaking in rage, hands balling into little fits, eyes swimming with unshed tears that she willed not to fall, but Jim was not done yet, "Don't you see what you've done?! You put EVERYONE in danger because of your TAIL, your EARS and your STUPID HORMONES!" That was the final straw. Jim could almost see her snap like an already taut wire pulled too tight.

"I COULDN'T TELL YOU 'CAUSE I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO EXIST!"

Her scream seemed to take everything out of her, the tears finally welling over and spilling down her cheeks. Jim stumbled back. What had she just said? Rune's shoulders shook violently as her sobs racked her body.

"I-I'm not ev-even supposed t-to exist," she choked through the sobs. Amelia stepped forward to comfort her but the Halfling bristled and her ears flattened against her head as she let out a hiss. Amelia stepped back quickly and Rune stormed up to Jim leaving inches between her face and his chest. She really was too short.

"I am the unwanted spawn of two races that never! Should! Have. Met!" she jabbed him her finger hard into Jim's chest, emphasizing her point physically, "An Enailef can NOT abort unwanted children because it will kill them! The only reason I'm alive is because my mam wasn't allowed to kill herself! After I was born she only took care of me till I was weaned and then left me, IN THE MIDDLE OF FUCKING NOWHERE to fend for myself!" Jim took a step backwards, out of harm's way, but Rune stepped forward following him, "All my life I've been bullied, beaten, caged, sold, tortured, sent to prison and ENSLAVED only because of what I am! So EXCUUUSE ME, if I wasn't exactly wild about telling you about what an utter disgrace I am to life EVERYWHERE!" Angrily, she kicked his shin with all her might and stormed out of the office slamming the door so hard it shook the walls.

Jim stared after her stunned at her confession. It took a while before he even registered Amelia's hand on his shoulder nudging him after the clearly distraught Halfling.

He found her sitting on the very tip of the bow, legs dangling uselessly in the purple-blue of space. He could hear her sniffing every now and then, muttering curses all the while. Her tail was hidden and her bandana tied securely onto her head hiding her insufferable ears. He approached cautiously. He didn't know if Rune would attack him without provocation or ignore him but he wasn't taking any chances.

"Hey," Jim greeted quietly, hoping she could hear. She didn't notice him.

"Hey! Rune!" this got her attention and she turned. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. She wiped her eyes rather forcefully before turning back to watch the Etherium.

"Yeah what do you want?" she spat

"I want to apologize. For the way I acted and for any inconveniences you may have gone through at my hand," Jim said loud and clear, watching the back of her head for her reaction. She let out a breath of a laugh.

"Excuse me Captain but who am I speaking to? The Captain of a vessel, James Hawkins, who graduated top of his class?" she jumped down from the bow and landed gracefully beside him, "Or the actual human being known as Jim who genuinely cares about the welfare of others?" Jim was about to counter when Rune began making her way across the deck to her cabin.

"Never mind Captain. I'll be turning in now. And remember, not a word about me or you won't be waking up anytime soon." Jim felt an irrepressible shiver run up his spine.