4 The Captain of the Outpost

Galan ran over, the crunching of brunt papers and charcoal sounded under his feet as he came behind the desk to see the Captain… Or what was left of him…

The Captain was burned to hell with half his face missing completely. His left forearm was gone from the elbow and his intestines were sitting in his lap like flesh snakes, constantly twitching with charred portions.

The Captain looked at Galan, coughing "Ga-Galan… The Pirates… T-They-" before he coughed again, blood escaping from his lips. Galan held the Captain's shoulder, nodding "Yeah… I know…" The Captain must've been in such extreme pain that he couldn't feel it anymore.

Galan knew that there was no saving this man, it was a miracle he was still alive, not to mention Galan knew nothing about medicine or emergency care. He was smart but too young, once again failing to do anything for anyone.

The Captain didn't seem to care at all, mustering up what life he had left as he smiled, speaking out loud, "Boy… Remember when you told me you wanted to be a pirate? Haha…" he laughed before coughing as Galan nodded.

Captain chuckled, "Now you've seen the worst of them. The godless scum of this world, those pathetic fucks who do what they want to whoever they want- Hahaha- Ugh!" he coughed again, continuing as he looked at Galan's face, grinning "Yeah, that's the look, kid. I remember when I had that look. The pure hate an' rage but let me tell you somethin', take it as a deadman's last words…"

Galan held him as the Captain coughed up blood, smiling in reminiscence "You think the world is black an' white right now. Good an' Evil, but that's not true. I used to be a Rear Admiral in the Marines, I came here to retire god knows how many fuckin' years ago… The reason was the corruption I saw an' did, what happened on that sea… Heh… You've thought the Marines were the bad guys…"

Galan clenched his fist and the Captain laughed, "Actually, I became a Marine because of Pirates, but not because they hurt me… There was a Pirate group who used to visit my town when I was a kid, just like you. Nice guys, a real bunch of stand up men… Just Adventurers lookin' for fun an' treasure. Helped our town out a lot, getting rid of the bandits."

The Captain turned his eyes to the air in front of him, not looking at Galan anymore, probably fantasizing that he was still in that time, "I wanted to be a pirate when I was a kid, they were so nice, I wasn't like you… A smart kid… I was as dumb as the bucket I was born in… Figured I'd be a walkin', talkin', hero like that Captain… Well, some dreamin' I did, one day another pirate group comes to town."

The Captain burst out laughing, tears bubbling up in his eyes, "Turns out, they weren't interested in bein' nice guys, all they wanted was pussy. Wanted to kill every man in the town an' take every woman for 'emselves. But you see, the Captain I knew, he wouldn't let that slide. He took his men to war, killin' the other pirate group to protect the townspeople…"

The Captain chuckled and grinned, "Almost killed every single of those dickless fucks, but the cost was lethal. Captain Kurt collapsed after they escaped, I ran over to help but me bein' dumb as bricks didn't know nothin' to help. Captain Kurt was the only one left of his group, he was dyin' but he still smiled an' told me 'Kid, play it safe an' become a marine, do somethin' with yer life insteada wastin' it like me' then he kicked the bucket."

He turned to Galan as the tears escaped his eyes, "So I did. Listen to me carefully, kid. You're smarter than me, you can prolly get some kinda meanin' from my words. Somethin' I can't understan', all I know is this world… ain't no black an' white, justa whole buncha gray. Those pirates I knew, they exist and they're the best buncha boys you'll ever meet."

He raised his hand, slowly waving at Galan, who grabbed it making the Captain look relieved, adding "Galan, I don't care whatcha do… Just make your life meaningful, don't end up like me… Sittin' in an Outpost dyin' like an asshole. You're a smart kid, don't waste it…"

He chuckled, "Like Cap'n Kurt says 'Do somethin' with yer life instead of wastin' it like me.' An' don't… Don't think even for a second that marines or pirates are all good guys an' bad guys… Promise me, Galan…"

Galan gripped the Captain's hand and nodded, "I promise, Captain." The Captain looked at Galan's firm and immature face, in contrast with his slightly sad but mature eyes raging with anger in their depths, before smiling, "Good boy… Here…" as his hand slipped out of Galan's hand, leaving him a key.

The Captain coughed and smiled "They took a lotta things, but not everythin'... Under my desk… Take all of it…" Galan said quickly "Captain! Captain!?" but the Captain only smiled, turning to the air as he muttered "Hey… Cap'n Kurt…" before his eyes dimmed.

Galan bit his lips and closed his eyes, gripping the key in one hand and the pendant in the other. He opened his eyes and let out a breath, reaching his hand out and closing the Captain's eyes before laying him on the ground.

He turned to a cracked floorboard covered in blood and carefully moved the boards, revealing a long box with a lock on it. Galan took the key to the box and unlocked it, opening the box to reveal a book with tons of wanted posters in it, another book with training information the Captain used to do a long time ago, another book labeled 'Captain's Log', some cash, a whole lotta bullets, and a double barrelled flintlock shotgun.

Galan picked up the shotgun and looked around before seeing a burlap sack stained with blood in the corner. He grabbed the sack and put everything inside of it before tying a string around the shotgun, slinging it around his body to his back.

He carried the burlap sack with him and searched around the Outpost one more time, taking in everything, making sure he would never forget before burning the place to the ground.

Galan stood outside the Outpost as the fires reflected in his eyes, he didn't want anyone to see the state the people he once knew were in… He clenched the Sun pendant and muttered "Rest in peace…" before turning around as the building collapsed in on itself.

As he was leaving, a paper escaped the collapse and flew with the wind, passing by Galan's legs and landing on the ground in front of him. He looked down and slowly picked up the paper that was drenched in blood and burnt to hell.

Galan read the paper, it was an advertisement for the Marines to recruit. He had seen these before. These were papers Sarah used to give out… She gave them to everyone joking that they could be heroes too…

Galan stared at the Marine Recruitment poster for a solid minute before carefully folding it and putting it in his pocket. He clenched the Sun pendant before carrying on, looking around town for anything and anyone…

Maybe there was just one more survivor like him? Just one…

But there wasn't…

Not even a single sign of life, nevermind survivor…

He searched ash heaps, burnt houses, any surviving structures at all…

Nothing.

Only some knives, a few Beli lying around here and there, some gold nuggets that must've fallen out of sight from the pirates, around a dozen books on various topics, and a handful of edible scraps.

Other than that… a whole lot of corpses, not a single one of them complete… They were always missing something…

Galan took whatever he could use and walked to the beach, leaving a burning town behind him.