Astral Flow

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?"