Chapter 31

Blood stains the snow upon the ground, quickly being hidden away by the raging storm as Teach pulls his blade back.

Around him were dozens of the defeated Drifters, not a single one had managed to get a scratch on him.

Though he seemed to be in the clear now he refused to let his guard down as he walked through the storm, trying to find anyone else from the ship.

He'd been the very last one off the ship, he'd wanted to await his Lord but with no one returning he could not just wait any longer.

Teach had to know if everyone else had fallen, and now he fears they have, especially with these abominable creatures skulking about the storm.

Drifters were creatures that had forsaken everything, invaded the realm of creation and cast aside their humanity for power.

So why, why were these monsters here?

Drifters were a rare sighting, not this exceedingly common… something must've been drawing them here.

Another Lord perhaps?

That was the only thing Teach could think of while moving forward, it was the only reason Drifters would arrive in such large numbers.

Teach nodded to himself as he marched forward, that was it, that had to be the answer.

Though in that case who was the lord of this area, and why was it so different from what he remembered?

Perhaps the Lord was some yeti? Could that even be possible?

Before Teach could process the thought any further a blade rushes forward, hitting him in the shoulder and surprising him.

The blade didn't penetrate that deeply but was enough to make him look forward confused when he saw a stunned Aranea, her eyes wide as she realized what she'd done.

With a sigh Teach just grabs the shaft of the halberd and pulls the blade out with ease, a bit of blood spilling on the ground but not a lot.

"Be more careful about where you swing that, what if you'd hit someone weaker than me?" Teach's voice is surprisingly calm despite everything going on.

Aranea is a bit taken aback by this, letting her halberd lightly rest by her side. "Right, sorry… I just thought you were another one of those enemies."

"Fair enough, hard to tell a person from a monster in this storm, and I imagine you've been fighting up until now." Teach casually says while keeping an eye out for any enemies.

"Yeah, I did." Aranea begins, finally collecting herself to lift her halberd upright once more. "I saw lots of these strange, lanky, things walking through the snow and then they attacked… I got separated from Laurance and Demea after I got grabbed-"

"You got grabbed?!" Teach shouts, clearly alarmed now. "Where?! Where did they grab you?!"

Aranea can only look surprised before holding up her free hand. "My right wrist-"

"Remove your gauntlets, I need to make sure you're still capable of fighting." Teach says while looking around for anything he could use as material, stopping when he sees an icicle hanging from a malformed corpse.

Not the cleanest material but it'd work.

Though reluctant to follow his advice she did so, pausing upon seeing strange white runes covering her right hand.

"What is this?" she says, unable to contain her horror as she looks at it. "This entire area is different from before…"

Without wasting a moment Teach quickly pulls out a dagger and starts chipping away at the ice, forming it into a strange symbol before rushing over to her.

"Here, keep this on you at all times, in this storm you shouldn't have to worry about it melting."

Aranea hesitantly takes it, still being confused as to what is going on. "What is this?"

"Nullification Charm, it'll slowly get rid of the curse those bastards put on you, but it'll take awhile." he says before moving in front of her. "Just stay close, I'll do all the heavy lifting until your curse is gone."

She looks at him, a bit wary of trusting him still, but relents and nods. "Right, I'll be counting on you then."

With a smile Teach begins leading the way through the storm, guiding her to safety all while keeping an eye out for any other survivors.

Though he couldn't help but feel a looming sense of dread, as if something wasn't right with everything here.

Quietly he looked back and saw Aranea shiver, snow building up on her armor and in her hair, he knew if he didn't get her to shelter soon she'd probably start freezing to death.

Without warning he took his jacket off and draped it over her, earning a surprised gasp from Aranea who'd been focusing on the charm the entire time.

After coming to her senses she looked around, surprised to find the rather large coat draped over her. It was warm sure, but could Teach last without it?

"Will you be alright?" she calls out, her voice becoming strained now.

"I'll be fine, us Ferosians are built to withstand extreme temperatures like this, both hot and cold! It's why you'll never find us complaining anywhere we go!" he lets out a hearty laugh as he looks forward once more. "It's going to take more than this blizzard to stop me!" He looks back with a kind smile. "Now let's keep moving, that coat will only keep you warm for so long."

Aranea nods, a small smile on her face as she pulls the coat closer to keep herself warm.

Silently she walks alongside the pirate captain, this mountain of a man easily leading her through the storm.

To her it was still hard to imagine, this fearsome pirate was once the boss of the last area, and he could likely still easily kill her… yet here he was, willingly working with them.

"Why?"

Teach glances back but doesn't stop moving, curiosity piqued. "What was that?"

"Why did you submit to Ryder? You could've refused the ritual or even betrayed him when he came in close, so why?" She asks, desperate to understand Teach's mind, to understand why he'd willingly stick with someone weaker than him.

Teach grumbles for a moment, thinking to himself as he walks a bit more before finally speaking up. "Guess you could say I saw something in him, something I didn't see in anyone else."

Aranea raises an eyebrow, confused by his meaning, her silence clearly speaking volumes.

"He had potential that no other human had shown up until this point, certainly not any of you new folk." he mutters a bit, trying to figure out the right way to word it. "It felt like I was fighting a real Lord when we clashed blades, not some wannabe adventurer marked by the stars."

"That's it? Just a feeling?" Aranea questions, her curiosity and concern rising more and more.

"Yeah, that's all there is to it." he shrugs a bit, his uncaring attitude seeming a bit annoying. "I'm not like the rest of the people here, I don't care about any fate or delving deeply into things, all I care for is carving my own path and trusting my instincts."

Teach pauses for a moment and briefly looks back at Aranea. "And you won't ever catch me labeling you all as Outlanders, bloody disgusting…'' His voice is thick with venom and hate, much to Aranea's surprise.

Had Outlander really been such a negative term this entire time? She didn't think so, not with the way everyone had been talking at least.

"Is there something wrong with the term Outlander?"

Teach stops dead in his tracks, pauses for a moment, then looks at Aranea with the most shocked expression possible for his face. "You really don't know?"

"No?" she questions, now feeling as if she'd just done something wrong.

With a sigh Teach shakes his head and keeps walking, only pausing temporarily to make sure she was still following.

"Outlanders aren't seen as necessary to civilization, not to most people anyways." he begins, his voice much more serious and low than before. "They're seen as objects to be used and disposed of when the time arrives, that's why you all were called here… you weren't the destined heroes of this world."

Aranea looks at him, the realization hitting her and almost freezing her in place.

"You were lambs to the slaughter, meant to fight and die to restore the order of this world, bodies to sacrifice in order to save this dying dream."

"That's all the Outlanders are."

"All you are."