Chapter 1: Out

Story by TheLatteDog on SoFurry

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#1 of The Children of Baph

An elf gets kicked out of her family home at 16 after revealing to her family that she would rather be a woman than the man they wanted her to be. After moving from town to town for three years with no place to go, she comes across a mysterious man named Nao, a male prostitute with a monkey tail and a serious skill for fighting. She soon gets swept up in a loose network of underground punk subcultures in the nation of Nuita known as the Pagana. Upon meeting them, her previously held beliefs about gender, sexuality, modesty, and the role of the lords and bourgeoisie become challenged.

This is her journey of rediscovering her love for herself and others after losing everything she once thought she could depend on.

This is the first entry in The Fantastic Lives of the Pagana, a series of interconnected stories about the punks that live in this world of magic and mayhem.


"I'm sorry son, but you cannot live here anymore," an older elf woman said to the fifteen-year-old across from her. A deafening silence permeated the room. A mix of shock and panic slowly spread across that teenager's face as the words that elf woman uttered truly began to sink in.

"What?" the elf teenager responded, hoping that they didn't truly hear what they thought they heard. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," the elf woman affirmed. "That you cannot live in this household anymore. We cannot allow this degeneracy you seem engaged in to continue under this roof."

"What do you mean 'degeneracy?'"

"You know exactly what I mean, Angelus. You, declaring yourself a woman despite clearly being a man. That is not just lunacy. It is disgusting, and we cannot and will not continue to indulge this perverse delusion you seem to be under."

"But I feel like I am supposed to be a woman! I have felt that for as long as I could remember! I cannot change how I feel! I have tried to, but I really can't!"

"If you cannot change how you 'feel,' then you cannot not be living here. You can either drop this delusion or get out of this house. That's final. We will not play host to some perverted man who wants to dress up and prattle around everywhere trying to tell people he's a woman!"

"Do you really think this is just some kind of sexual activityt? That I am telling you about some fetish I have? Do you really think I want to be treated like a woman because you think that's how I cum?"

"You do not use that language around me, young man! And I don't know what to think! All I know is my son is acting like some kind of freak and that your father and I will not tolerate it in this house or anywhere!"

The unrelenting silence returned once again, as tears formed in the elf teen's eyes. The message was clear as day. Her own family, the people she knew for her entire life. The people who raised her since birth were tossing her out onto the street like some garbage that began to stink. Angelus opened her mouth to speak, her voice trembling:

"Do you really believe I am just some sex pest? Are you really going to treat your own child like this? After I thought I could be honest for once about who I truly feel like inside? After thinking I could confide in you, my own mother, about something that has been weighing down on me for most of my life?"

The older woman turned away from her, before coldly uttering:

"Be out of here before seven o'clock tomorrow morning. I don't know what your father will do to you if he sees you still here, but whatever he does, I will not stop him. Take whatever and get out of our sights. So long as you engage in this filth, you will not be welcome here."

The woman got up from her seat and left the room, leaving Angelus behind to turn over in her head what she was told. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her older brother, Agnus, leaving the door sill behind. Her brother would not protect her this time.

She truly was all alone.

That night, with tears in her eyes, she packed a light bag of an extra set of clothing and a wine bladder before finally heading out. She knew it was best to leave as soon as possible. She figured that they would prefer it if she just disappeared into the night like she never even existed. They could pretend they didn't even have a second "son." Just a spare room.

Three days later, she would turn sixteen. An early birthday gift.


A tavern sat on the outskirts of The City of The Lovers. Streaks of yellow light escaped the windows and front door. The sounds of raucous laughter and tall tales resonated from the place. The darkness of night had already shrouded the lands, and most beings were either out for a night of drinking or staying at home.

A cool breeze blew across the dirt paths, sending a shiver down the elf girl's spine. It had been three years since her family disowned her. She laid down by the side of the tavern, trying to pull the sides of her cloak into her chest for warmth. Her long, curly red hair peaked out of the hood on both sides of her pale, freckled face. She had been walking towards this area all day and had to rest. She knew she didn't have the money to sleep in one of the tavern's rooms, so she settled for sleeping next to the tavern where the scraps were placed. Upon arriving, she picked through whatever food was there. Now, she just wanted to close her eyes so that it could somehow be morning by the next time she opened them.

Two things got in the way of this, and both of them produced a bunch of noise. One was the tavern itself. The celebrations and uproars were pretty loud at this hour, despite being muffled by the walls. The ginger elf figured that she could probably sleep through the hustle and bustle if she tried hard enough. The only problem with that was the people who exited the tavern, shouting at the same volume they used inside that would always jolt the girl awake. This would remedy itself once the tavern closed for the night, but she had no idea when that was or even how close it was to that time.

"Oh, I am so glad I managed to catch you before getting out into the battlefieldfield once more."

The other problem was the large red avian in the knight's armor getting his cock sucked by a male, monkey-tailed prostitute just a few feet away from her.

The smaller monkeyfolk-descended man took the feathered knight's cock out of his mouth for a second, continuing to stroke him while he spoke.

"It has been a while since I had your cock in my mouth," the monkey man said.

"Too long, perhaps?" the avian queried teasingly.

"Perhaps," the monkey man said flatly.

He then took his client's member back into his mouth, continuing to fellate the red knight with fervor. The avian moaned out loud, peppering the air with more dirty talk. The elf girl pulled her hood tighter and just tried to ignore it all as it happened.

Eventually, the large hawkman finally reached his limit and shoved his cock deep into the monkey man's mouth.

"Swallow this knight's seed! Swallow it and treasure it!" the avian said as he came down the monkey man's throat.

After he was done, the avian threw the monkey man's head off his cock, causing him to fall back on his ass. The avian knight pulled back up his codpiece and tossed a bag of coins to the whore.

"I hope to see you again sometime soon," the avian replied, licking his beak, before heading back into the tavern.

The elf girl was thankful that it was finally over. Now she could finally, possibly, get some sleep.

"Hello elf," the monkey-tailed whore greeted. "If you were asleep before, you're definitely not asleep now. Hehe, sorry for the ruckus."

The elf girl grunted and turned away from the whore, trying to signal that she didn't feel like talking now.

"Regardless, since you had to see that, might I get your name?" he said. He stood up and brushed the dust off his butt before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He took up the pouch of coins the knight threw at them and quickly counted them out.

"Ooo, he gave me extra this time," the monkey-tailed prostitute said under his breath. He then pulled up a crate and sat on it facing her. "I'm Nao, by the way."

The elf girl realized that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, so she decided to finally turn over and face the man. With him closer, he could see his features a lot more clearly now. His head seemed mostly shaved on the sides and relatively long on the top. He had brown skin and he seemed to only be wearing black overalls.

"Angelus," she replied, with an annoyed tone of voice.

"Well, Angelus, you seem pretty young to be sleeping outside of a tavern, rather than inside. What got you in this situation?" he continued.

Angelus sighed. She figured she might as well engage him since he wasn't going away just yet.

"I got kicked out a few years ago," she said flatly.

"What for?"

"Do you want the full story?"

"Not like I have anywhere to be now. So, by all means, tell me as much as you want. Sounds like it would be an interesting one"

Angelus considered making up a lie. Something that would feel believable enough but didn't reveal the full truth about her predicament. The full story would probably drive him away and make him look at her as some kind of freak. Like everyone does when they find out.

Wait, she thought. Why do I care about what some whore thinks of me? Why would I care If he leaves me alone? That's what I want!

So, Angelus opened her mouth and recalled what happened to her all those years ago.


"That was about three years ago today," Angelus explained to the prostitute. "Of course, I also took my old toy wagon and stole the big sack of rice they just bought. Lasted me for a few months, that sack. The extra clothes tore and got worn down eventually, leaving me with just the clothes I have on my back. I sold the toy wagon for a few coins when the rice ran out, and lost the bladder somewhere."

She had sat up while telling the story, her back pressed up against the side of the tavern.

"That indeed sounds like a shit time," Nao said nonchalantly.

"I guess that is one way to describe it. Why are you talking to me, anyway?"

"Figured I would just get a little break in between clients and enjoy the fresh air before going back to work."

Nao stood up from the crate and stretched out his body, starting with his arms, going to his shoulders, then his back, then his legs.

"I also just talk to a lot of people and felt like talking to you now."

"I see. Alright then." Angelus turned over and laid on the ground, pulling her green cloak over her like a blanket. "Good night."

"Oh come on, I am not that much of a boring person to talk to, am I?"

"Tired as fuck. Need sleep."

"You could sleep in the tavern, you know?"

"Don't have money, sleeping out here."

"Come on, get up. I can get you a room, you know?"

Angelus sat up and looked at Nao, her face contorted with confusion and fatigue.

Did this whore really just offer me a place to stay for the night? she thought to herself.

"Sorry, I don't have any money, nor any desire for your time," she responded.

"Neither of which I want," Nao shot back.

"Then why are you offering me a place to stay? What's the catch?"

"No catch, just figured you might like the inside of the tavern better than the outside of it."

Angelus had to consider this. She knew this could be some kind of trap. Maybe a way for him to steal whatever she had and then fuck right off afterward. She didn't know if this person was above stealing from homeless people.

On the other hand, sleeping inside for once, possibly even on a bed, was a highly tempting offer...

"No catch?"

"Nope."

"You're just going to get me a room..."

"Yep."

"...and let me sleep there..."

"That's right."

"...and you don't want anything in return."

"Nah, I don't need anything you might have. You don't look like you have too much either."

"Gee, I wonder what gave you that impression..."

Nao rolled his eyes before extending a hand to her.

"Come on, get up. We're going inside," he said flatly.

Angelus reached out towards his hand, before momentarily hesitating to accept this stranger's offer. Was she really going to trust that this guy meant good?

Meh, she thought to herself. Not like I have much else to lose.

She took his hand into hers before a strong yank on her arm pulled her to her feet.

"How about something to drink," Nao said, giving her a bright and bubbly smile. "On me."

Angelus, a little shaken from the surprising amount of strength he used to pull her up, accepted the offer.

"Uh, sure..."


Angelus looked down at her mug of beer, wondering why this prostitute put it in front of her in the first place.

Nao leaned back on his chair, sucking down the contents of his own mug with little restraint. Once it was empty, he slammed it down on the table and let out a big satisfied sigh. Seeing Angelus's hesitancy, he said:

"You haven't touched your ale. Why's that?"

Angelus snapped up from her ale and immediately locked onto Nao's amber eyes.

"U-uh," she stammered. "Why did you buy me a drink?"

"Well, why not? You seemed like an interesting person."

"Am I? After what I told you?"

"So you got thrown out of your house for feeling a certain way about yourself. What's the big deal?"

"It was a big deal to me!"

"I mean, of course to you, but why should it matter to me?"

"Are you not disgusted by the kind of person I am? Well, you're a prostitute, so probably not, but still, that doesn't explain why you would want to spend money on a low-life vagabond like myself."

"Why not?"

"Because it's your money and you need it to sustain yourself."

"True, but I sustain myself just fine. And tonight I feel like spending a little bit of money on an interesting person I want to hang around."

Nao waved down the hostess (a slender half-beastfolk woman with horns and goat ears by the looks of it) and handed his mug to her, asking for her to bring another beer to him.

"By the way, our room will be two separate rooms, but they will be connected. Cheaper that way and I figured you would want your own bed and space while I deal with clients."

Angelus looked down again, still debating on whether or not she should take a sip. He could be attempting to put her into his debt.

"It's an awful lot of kindness to accept all at once," she muttered.

"Yeah, I hear that a lot from people like you," Nao responded, grabbing his next beer from the returning hostess with a short "thanks."

"What do you mean 'people like me?' You know other people like me? There are others with my story?" Angelus said, putting her drink down and leaning closer to Nao.

"Yes, but I wasn't talking about syprites specifically. I was talking more about 'vagabonds' as you called yourself."

"Wait, syprites?"

"Yeah, girls who were born male but become women later in life."

"Is that what I am?"

"It's what I know and what people around me claim it is."

"Oh, I see..."

Things got quiet between the two of them. The tavern continued to bustle with a mixture of regulars and outsiders that needed a drink and a place to stay for the night. Angelus shuffled in her seat. She still had not taken a sip of her beer. She thought to herself about it, wondering what this prostitute would want out of her. Should she actually trust this person that she just met? She continued to stew on this train of thought before Nao snapped her conscience back to reality once more.

"So, you wanna go somewhere fun tomorrow? While there, we might even be able to find a more stable roof over your head for you to temporarily stay in for the time," Nao told her nonchalantly.

"Wait, really?" Angelus responded. "You could do that for me?"

"Sure, I can't guarantee great conditions, but I can guarantee something a bit less exposed."

Everything else so far was already a lot for Angelus to accept from one person, but to put this on top of it?

He must be up to something, she thought. There is no way he isn't up to something.

And yet, the prospect of someplace to sleep tempted her. There wasn't much going for her, plus she might lose out on the inn room tonight if she rejected him outright. She did have her knife strapped to her side that she didn't tell him about that she could use to defend herself if she was attacked, so at least she wasn't defenseless, so...

Angelus looked down at her beer once more and finally raised it to her lips. She gulped down half the mug before finally resting it back on the counter to accept his offer.

"Sure," she said. "I've got nothing to lose."

Nao smiled wider and raised his glass above his head.

"That's the spirit!" he exclaimed, extending his glass towards her.

Angelus took up her glass again, finally letting a small smile spread across her face, before accepting Nao's toast.