They ran, ran as fast as they could. Running for well over a week with hardly any rest. Only passing the time with the occasional bit of chatter and explanation of one another's adventures.
And other things.
"Maybe stop floating and talk to me face to face man." Kazuma shouted. "Nah," Subaru retorted while floating up to a tree branch. "One day, I'll find out the secret to your floating, One day." Kazuma swore to himself.
"Anyway, speaking of things. I've never seen you eat in the week we've been out." Subaru said. "Ah... That. Well, I'm technically an undead." Kazuma answered. "Undead?" Subaru prodded. "Yeah, a Revenant to be specific. Had some shitty friends that left me." Kazuma answered. "Wait, don't tell me you're bound to some crazed master." Subaru said while grabbing onto the tree.
"Nah, just an airheaded liche, who barely does much that could be considered evil. I'm pretty sure that if she was left in charge of a dungeon it would look like a dysfunctional shop rather than an actual dungeon." Kazuma replied. "So you're not evil?" Subaru asked.
"A. Pot calling the kettle black. B. It took you a week to ask this." Kazuma returned with snark. "I thought you were just eating at a different time." Subaru retorted. "Anyway, Its just a but farther to the ship, then we can get the hell out of here." Kazuma said.
"Fine, I was wondering why your adventurer's card had a blank spot over your race anyway." Subaru said, climbing down from the tree as he did so. "Ah, no worries, they'll be at least two more weeks for us to argue and fight before we reach my world." Kazuma stated.
'Ha, take that D, Take that Mother. I'm out, and you'll never hold me back.' Screamed a spider as she took in the calm forest and beautiful night sky.
"You sailed here on a dingy?!!!" Subaru shouted at the top of his lungs, before breaking into a coughing fit. Kazuma just nodded before passing him a healing potion. "Yep, good thing the food sealed inside the inner deck is still here." Kazuma said while pulling it out.
Subaru just looked at the ship. It could easily fit the two of them, but two weeks? could he withstand that much time on such a small boat with his new friend.
Oh, who was he kidding, he spent several months being tortured in the worst ways possible, if he came out of that stable, he'll be fine.
"Yeah, there is a short cut that would cut the time in half, but I'm not in the mood for chance." Kazuma muttered. "How do you know it works?" Subaru asked. "I saw ships passing through it, but I also saw a shit load of destroyed ships scattered along it." Kazuma answered. "How-" "Sea Dragons, mean and powerful ones at that." Kazuma cut off Subaru before he could question it further.
"Great, so two weeks. I can last that long." Subaru muttered. "Yep, even has a small crystal that can create pure water if we need it." Kazuma pointed out. "So, the two of us. Sail for two weeks in this dingy. Avoiding any sort of ship or other such creature. Just to reach your new home." Subaru summarized their plan. "Yep, and you'll like it there." Kazuma replied while tugging on the rope holding the sails.
Julius sighed, he and several other knights had been following the escaped Archbishops' trail for almost two weeks. It was mind boggling that the two of them could cover so much ground on foot in such a time. But here they are, out on a beach with day old signs of a ship setting sail.
Some of his colleagues sunk to the ground, others just groaned as they would have to trust their fleet too tracking the escaped duo now. "Perhaps, he may not have been from here." One of the others spoke. Julius huffed at the thought of it, their own ships were struggling to sail through the edges of the Great Waterfall. How would a ship of this size do such a thing?
"I doubt it, you'd need a decently sized boat and more man power just to cross the waterfall, not some mangy piece of scrap." The leader of their group spoke up. 'I may have been leading this group, but I have been forgotten because of that damned Archbishop. If we can just get our hands on you, Natsuki Subaru.' Julius thought grimly.
"Men, fan out, half of you ride northwards along the shore with me, the other half shall ride south along the shore with Julius. we'll use our medias to contact the other group if we find them." the captain commanded as the squad of knights divided themselves.
So south he rode, followed by nine of his fellows knights. Hoping to be one step closer to reclaiming his name and restoring the memories of him.
Waves crashed and wind crackled as the duo sailed through the storm.
"Two Weeks huh, looks like it'll take longer." Subaru snarked as he stabilized himself with Invisible Providence. Many of his hands were split between maintaining his own balance and manning their poor little dingy through this maelstrom.
"Yeah yeah, There's a couple cloaks in storage. Put one on before you get soaked to the bone." Kazuma replied as the dingy shook. He adjusted his coarse as Subaru used two hands to grab the cloak and cover himself. "So how far are we to the nearest bit of land?" Subaru asked.
Kazuma paused for a second before fishing out a folded up map from his coat. He unfolded it, revealing that segments of the map had be drawn on and glued to the original frame of the map. "Should be a day or two away from the nearest island." He said as a wave crashed near them, soaking them both. "Will we even make it that long?" Subaru shouted as the wind grew harsher.
A small blade of light broke through the black and grey of the storm. A clear route to some sort of mainland. "Is that on the map?" Subaru asked. "No, the Sea Dragons got to any ship that so much as got close to that land mass. The storm must be he only reason they haven't tried to get us yet." Kazuma replied. "Then we make due, sail to dry land and hope we find someone strong enough to fight those Sea Dragons you keep going on about." Subaru brainstormed a quick plan.
Kazuma looked between the raging storm around them and the land they could reach. "Fine, but we might be delayed for several days, if not weeks." Kazuma said. "I can live with that." Subaru replied.
A beastial roar caught the duo's attention. The large maw of a Sea Dragon quickly rising from the depths. "Shit, hold on." Kazuma shouted as he turned to the blade of light and sailed the ship that way. A large breath attack tore across the spot the dingy had just been in.
"Hurry up!" Subaru shouted. "I'm trying, this beast is dead set on getting us." Kazuma shouted back. Loud voices echoed in their heads as they made their way forwards. "What about that spell you know, think it could help?" Kazuma shouted while turning the dingy hard to starboard to avoid another attack. "Not really, it was a blinding debuff and I can't even see eyes on that thing." Subaru shouted back.
"Oh, you just loved talking about it when we were traveling on the road." Kazuma remarked. "That's because I thought I'd never get to use it again." Subaru shot back as Kazuma made another sharp turn. "Alright then, take the wheel while I try to get the damn thing away." Kazuma said while offering the wheel. "Why, I don't even know how to sail this thing?" Subaru asked in a panic. "Well, I can't do what I'm planning to do if I have to manage this?" Kazuma replied.
"And what plan is that?" Subaru asked. "Plan B, we blow it up." Kazuma answered with a straight face. "You can't be serious? What kind of plan is blowing it up?" Subaru shouted back. "Simple, the plan that gets it off our tail." Kazuma shouted as he grabbed onto one of the barrels.
Subaru just used Invisible Providence to hold the ship steady as they rocked back and forth towards the land mass. Kazuma pulled the cork out of the barrel and grabbed an unopened bottle of booze. He then grabbed a length of rope, covering it in the alchohol before shoving it into the hole in the barrel. "Won't the gunpowder be soaked?" Subaru shouted. "Nonsense, crystals of fire magic can't be soaked." Kazuma replied as his fingers were lit up with Tinder. "I'll ask why you have a barrel full of fire crystals when were out of this mess." Subaru said ashe watched Kazuma light the fuse and kick the barrel into the water.
The continued on ahead as the barrel exploded in a massive fireball. The force pushing them further towards the land mass. The Sea dragon roared in pain before charging forwards.
"I think you just pissed it off." Subaru said as he looked back. "Too bad, we're sailing faster than it can swim." Kazuma stated as the wave carried them. "Right into a rock." Subaru replied in a panic. Kazuma turned back too see they were indeed riding towards a massive rock.
"Oh Shit." was all he could get out before their dingy struck against the rock and they were all carried towards lands by the force of the explosion, helpless against the force of the waves. 'I guess, I may need to use return by death.' Subaru thought as his vision faded amongst the waves.
'Maybe the coast, perhaps try out a new look.' Thought Kumuko as she scuttled along the ground. 'Oh, but the forest is filled with so much food. Though I do have a direct route to the baby blood sucker if need be.' Kumoko pondered, before her stomach rumbled. 'Then again, I'm in the mood for some sea food.' she made her decision.
'Oh wait, there's a rabbit. Well waste not, want not I suppose.' She noticed the small animal trying to flee. Before quickly giving chase for her next meal.
It was peaceful. His head resting against the thighs of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. "Good morning, my beloved." Satella spoke calmly and lovingly. "Good morning," Subaru replied, not wanting to move so much. His posture quickly changed as he was embraced in a strong hug from her.
Apologies flee from her mouth as a speed that he struggled to keep up with. He reached his right hand over her shoulder and stroked her silver hair. Me muttered his own apologies as Satella just held him close to her.
"One day, we may truly be together." Satella muttered softly. "Maybe one day." Subaru replied.
Kazuma watched as Subaru just muttered in his sleep. He seemed calm, a harsh parallel to how he normally slept. Only a monster would be willing too interrupt such a peaceful slumber.
Anyway, he promptly dumped Saltwater on Subaru's head using the broken piece of their dingy as a bowl.
He awoke with a shock, before looking at his surroundings and narrowing his eyes at Kazuma. "I was having a nice dream you Jackass." he replied with stern annoyance. "Yeah, it's nice to see you too. Come, take in the surroundings of our wreckage. They'll be a four star breakfast served in an hour." Kazuma replied sarcastically.
He walked away as Subaru picked himself up. "You could have left me there for at least ten more minutes." Subaru said. "Ten more minutes and your face would have been redder than a tomato." Kazuma replied. "Oh well, did any if the food actually survive?" Subaru asked. "A couple containers of ship rations." Kazuma answered.
"Great, maybe there's some fresh food around here." Subaru said. "Maybe, it might be a good idea to check the place out anyway. It will take us weeks to rebuild the ship anyway." Kazuma said as he pulled several pieces of scrap out from the sand.
He turned back as Subaru left the beach, a trail of hand prints following his path. Kazuma raised a brow at the trail, before returning too his quest of digging up the remains of his ship.
'Huh, what a pair of weirdos.' Kumoko thought as she watched the two guys mingle about. A quick application of Appraisal gave her more than enough information, and a couple questions. The one at the beach, Satou Kazuma, was a Revenant and an adventurer with a small list of abilities arranged under a categorical sheet labels Skill Copy. The other one, who's name didn't show up but was referred to as Subaru by Kazuma, was even weirder. His list was a chaotic mess with only four abilities; Weak Shadow Magic, The Authority of Envy, The Authority of Sloth, and The Authority of Greed.
What ever those are?
'So, a couple isekaied folks wash up on shore. With abilities different from anything that Speaker D can provide.' she summarized as she watched Subaru float around through the forest looking for food. 'Should I say hello? Then again, if they've been through this stuff before they might not like me.' She thought sadly. 'Then again, I'm adorable and they aren't that high leveled. I mean, Subaru doesn't even have a level.' she danced along the tree tops as Subaru walked underneath her.
'Besides, I just have to... Talk to them' She thought. 'I might need to rethink this.'
Subaru quickly shimmied his way up a tree and plucked a pair of ripe apples from their branches. The moisture and sweetness from the first bite was a welcome change too the dry and bitter taste of sea rations.
He began to climb further up. "Let's see if I can find some sort of town, maybe we could trade with them, or at least find a place to sleep." He muttered to himself as he could see the sky through the tree tops.
He smiled as he reached the top, taking in everything he could see for miles away.
Only to come face to face with Eight red eyes.
'Maybe Telepathy, or just using my webs. How could I even talk with them?' Kumoko racked her brain for a solution. 'If only my other brains were here.' she lamented.
'Oh well, might as well grab myself some brunch.' She recovered before skittering towards one of the larger fruit trees. Quickly using her webs and legs to grab a small pile of fruits. Her small bounty being well received as each bite was juicier than the last.
She let herself retreat to a world of flavor, just as the leaves below her rustled about. Then a head popped out from the treeline, followed by the rest of him. He turned, looking across the lands that the tree could see.
Then he stopped when they came face to face. They both froze, She took in his scars, he seemed to be analyzing her. He only had one good eye, and scars that seemed to have been forcefully healed and then cut again. His expression slowly changed from shock to a more numb expression.
He just stared at her, seemingly unafraid of the giant spider in front of him. Neither of them dared make a move. 'Ok, ok, he looks kinda scary up close, but maybe he just wants to talk?' Kumoko told herself as she raised one of her claws. "Shamak!" Subaru shouted at the sight of her movement and the tree top was plunged into a mist of obsidian. There was little issue for Kumuko to see, her eight eyes and abilities easily countering the weak spell. She could hear him rushing down the tree and screaming at the top of his lungs.
'Wow, how rude.' Kumoko thought as she looked down at him.
Kazuma looked at the collection of scrap and wood, then too his small gathering of supplies, before sighing. Barely half of the dingy made it to shore, and the only tools on hand were damaged by the collision with the rock.
He hummed to himself before pulling out one of the pieces of paper that wasn't touched by the storm, before consulting his large map. Just as he was about to start writing down a list of priorities he heard Subaru scream before he burst out from the near by trees. He floated down, handprints sinking into the sand as he did so, from the forest to the beach.
He didn't stop until he reached the supplies before he fell to the ground. Blood was leaking from his mouth, yet he only kept his eyes too the forest. Kazuma grabbed one of their few remaining healing potions and held it out to Subaru.
As Subaru reached for it, he pulled it back. "What did you see?" He asked while handing the potion to one of his actual hands. Subaru chugged the potion quickly, its healing properties reparing all the damage his escape left on his body. "Spider, big Spider. Could have taken my head off with just its mouth. It was covered in spikes... And... Those... Eyes..." Subaru slurred out as he looked back into the forest. Kazuma followed his gaze, stopping as he used Awareness and Far Sight to find Eight eyes staring back at him from the forest.
"Did it attack you on sight?" he asked. "No, stared into one another's eyes for a solid minute... Then... Then..." Subaru was starting to fall into a panic attack. "Oh, oh hell." Kazuma said as he tried to help his friend.
'Ok, so how will I talk with them, they know I'm here. Maybe I should just leave them alone. That Subaru doesn't seem to like me, but maybe I can get to talking with Kazuma.' Kumoko planned. 'After all, they might give me some answers on what's happening in the world.' She plotted.
All Kazuma could do was watch as Subaru folded in on himself. Refusing to move from his new position near the scrap of their dingy. He had dug himself in before hugging his knees to his face and refused to acknowledge anything else.
"Ok, I'll go in. See what we're dealing with." Kazuma awkwardly said, feeling that it may be best to give him some time alone. Subaru said nothing, refusing to look at anything but the sea from his little hovel.
Kazuma grabbed the sword and several knives from the supplies pile. His magic may not be enough, but if it attacks he can at least make it think twice.