Chapter 29

Meanwhile out in the blizzard many souls were still struggling for survival, those who had ventured out before Ryder, they two found themselves at the mercy of this strange and twisted land.

The cold stinging at their bones as they try to survive against both nature and the many foes stumbling upon their path, a war of attrition being waged on all fronts.

Merely stepping off the boat had been enough to separate them, each and every one of them being forced to form their own groups in order to survive.

This is one such group, the two who knew each other better than the others.

Feros and Oto, both left to scout the area, only to never return.

They were the first to find the true dangers of this land and now find themselves doing anything to survive.

Currently they were taking shelter in a cave, burning old scraps of cloth and what loose wood they could find just to stay warm.

The raging storm grew worse and worse by the second as they regained their strength, their morale only sinking as all communication was cut off.

It really seemed like they were going to die out here alone, no clue if they'd been abandoned or not.

Oto had grown especially quiet as he gazed into the fire intently, a mixture of emotions swirling in his eyes as he held his right arm; it hadn't been working properly ever since one of those things grabbed him.

"Thinking about home?" Feros asked, his voice was soft but understanding, ready to hear any sort of answer.

For a moment Oto tried to speak, only to cut himself off, the right words eluding him until he finally just gave up.

"Yeah." was all he could utter, his voice was crestfallen and filled with regret.

Feros gazed up at him, memories rushing forward and filling his mind, things he'd even completely forgotten about until just now.

"You want to talk about it?" he asked again, his soft tone seeming to just add more fuel to the flame.

Oto gazed into the flame, it was like watching everything about his life burn away.

Every last thing up until this point, it'd be gone, turned to ash and left to wither away just like everything else.

He could feel his emotions getting the better of him, and he hated it, he despised it with a burning passion.

It was always in moments like this where he could never just calm down, it was like the floodgates were opening and every last thing was rushing forward.

As the tears began to well up and sting his eyes, Oto could only say one thing.

"I'm sorry."

Feros just watched for a moment as Oto tried to stifle his crying, the situation at hand clearly getting the best of him.

With a sigh he rubs the back of his neck, trying to think of the best way to go about all this, then pausing for a moment before looking to the mouth of the cave.

"Hey, what was it you told me back then?" Feros asked, now gazing into the blinding snowstorm.

Oto looked up at him confused, his mind drawing a blank on what Feros could possibly be talking about.

"Don't be sorry about things we can't control." he says as he slowly glances back at Oto. "All that matters is what we do moving forward."

There's a bit of silence before Oto lets out a tiny laugh. "I really said something that cheesy?"

"Yeah, you may not remember it but you did." Feros replies with a smile, now looking back at Oto. "It's cheesy, sure, but it meant a lot to me at the time and still does… wouldn't be the man I am today without that kind of thinking."

Feros looks Oto in the eyes before continuing. "I promise you'll get out of here, you'll see your sisters again… and when you do I expect you to make up for lost time."

"Yeah, I should, I really shouldn't have left them that way…" Oto's voice gets a bit lower as he looks down at the flame once more.

"Well you'll have plenty of time to think about how to make up for it, I'm not letting you just give up after all." Feros states with a smile. "Now, get some rest, we've got a long trek to make when you wake up."

"Right." Oto quietly replies as he lies down on the cave floor, trying to get comfortable for once.

There's silence for a moment, the fire crackling peacefully before he speaks up once more. "Hey, Erron?"

Feros pauses, a little surprised to hear his real name before smiling a little. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Thanks." Oto's tired voice replies before he closes his eyes to try and rest.

Feros just smiles as he leans against the cave wall, looking at his friend for a moment and then to the fire.

How long had it been since he'd heard his real name now?

Four months? Five? He'd stopped keeping count after the first two.

It was so long to just clear the prologue and now here they were, barely into the first act… it was no wonder Oto was so worried, but he couldn't let him bear that burden alone.

Oto actually had a family to get back to after all.

He couldn't even begin to imagine having to face his sisters if Oto didn't make it back.

Oto may hate himself for snapping but Feros knew they'd never hold it against him, no, as a matter of fact they're probably heart broken that he's in this situation. They're probably worried to no end.

A bittersweet smile formed on his face as he thought back to the real world, to him there wasn't much different between the two for him.

He had no family to return to, nor any joyful job or adventures to be had.

In fact he was just as likely to die out there as he was in here, the only difference being how quick or painful it could be.

A bullet or some kind of messed up magic, it meant little to him, all that mattered was what he'd do with his life before that time inevitably came.

Just then, as he was finally relaxing and letting his mind drift a bit, a startling sight snapped him back to reality.

Oto's health bar, it was slowly dropping down, as if he'd been poisoned by something.

Not wasting a moment he leapt up to his feet, quickly running over to check on Oto.

Upon rolling him over he was horrified to see the runes spreading across his body, slowly but surely killing him.

Feros mentally cursed himself, of course this is why Oto was so worried… he never lets anything get to him, not without good reason.

With no time to waste, Feros digs through his inventory, looking for anything that might help, healing potions could only delay the progress for so long after all.

No amount of healing stones or antidotes seemed to work either, the only thing he could do was find a cure on his own.

Cautiously he dragged Oto further back in the cave, hiding him behind a decently sized rock to make sure no foes would spot him.

He hoped for Oto's safety, but knew bringing him along would be more dangerous in his current state.

"Just wait here, I promise I'll get you home safely." Feros says before standing up and moving to the mouth of the cave.

There the cold winds raged on, unknown dangers hidden by the blizzard, yet no fear lingered in his heart.

Feros only felt determination, he would cut down any enemies that showed up, fight any bosses in his path, just to find that cure.

This frozen wasteland couldn't instill a single ounce of dread as he moved out, sword drawn and at the ready, why would it?

He'd already faced hell once, this was nothing compared to back then.

No amount of ice and eerie singing would dissuade him.

He raised his sword into the storm as he saw multiple silhouettes approaching, the look in his eyes making them freeze up as they came into view.

It'd been more of those strange veiled monsters that cursed Oto.

However they didn't seem confident this time, quite the opposite, as they gazed upon the Ashen Haired swordsman they felt something they hadn't felt in centuries.

An emotion long thought lost to their kind, cast aside when they abandoned their mortality.

Fear.