The New World

Chapter 6

The wind had picked up and the light snowfall turned into a blizzard, but Turg and Jim were safe inside an abandoned house. It was partially collapsed but it still provided shelter from the elements. Jim had started a fire in the mostly intact fireplace to keep them warm, Turg was very hesitant to sit by it at first but eventually sat next to Jim. Turg started leaning against Jim, resting his head on Jim's shoulder.
"Jim didn't have to do that." Turg told Jim after a few minutes of silence.
"Normally I wouldn't but I couldn't just watch someone like you get yelled at or something when you didn't do anything to deserve it." Jim responded as he continued to watch the fire.
"Jim don't believe them." Turg then said as he started fidgeting with his hands.
"They say the same things about me because of, uh, things I've done in the past, but that doesn't matter. There's a lot of cruel people in this world who only want to bring misery to others, try not to let them get to you." Jim explained to Turg who then said "But they're Turg's family."
"Y'know, just because you're related doesn't mean you have to like them and come back to them. Take it from me, I cut myself off from all my relatives, I didn't need them and they didn't need me anyways." Jim explained again to Turg who stopped leaning against him and looked at him. Turg wanted to say something else but he couldn't, instead he looked at the floor and continued to fidget with his hands.
"If you're fine with telling me, can you explain what exactly happened?" Jim asked Turg who then stopped fidgeting and stared into the fire. He pointed to it and started explaining "There was fire. It was fast. Turg didn't understand. Turg was scared. Turg couldn't move."
Jim waited for Turg to continue but instead he grabbed Jim, pulled him in close, and hugged him rather tightly. Jim tried to free himself but Turg was too strong. Turg then continued with "Turg wanted to help. But Turg was stuck. Turg couldn't move. The fire trapped Turg. Then it was cold."
"You were killed in a fire?" Jim asked Turg as he let go of Jim and covered his face with his hands while visibly shaking again. Jim took that as a 'yes' and he didn't know what else to say or do, he didn't know how to comfort others. He was usually the reason why someone was upset. So he turned himself so he could be facing Turg with his arms out and said "Since it makes you feel better, here."
Turg immediately hugged Jim again and started to cry while burying his face into Jim's chest. Jim didn't know what else to do, he had his arms still raised as he didn't know what to do with them. He was feeling very awkward as he eventually wrapped his arms around Turg. Eventually Turg fell asleep and Jim set him down on the floor and used his coat as a blanket for him, though he removed the weapons before he did. He continued to sit by Turg while watching the fire for hours until he heard footsteps nearby. Jim grabbed his handgun, stood up and turned to face where he was hearing the footsteps. He could see a very vague figure of a man from outside of the cracked window. Jim decided to confront whoever it was and came closer to the window only to see that they had vanished. He then just assumed it was his imagination until he heard footsteps again but this time coming from inside. Jim quickly turned around and pointed his gun to where he was looking. Then out of the darkness approached a man wearing all black with a face mask covering half of his face and his arms raised up halfway.
"No need to get all hostile, I haven't even drawn my weapon." The man spoke while Jim continued to point his gun at him. He knew not to immediately trust someone.
"You. Back outside. Now. We talk outside." Jim told the man as he started backing away from Jim. He gave Jim the thumb's up and went back outside, Jim followed him out. The snow had stopped and the sun was starting to rise.
"I saw you two earlier and I couldn't help but to notice that your companion is a turg." The man told Jim as he lowered his guard slightly. Jim responded with "Yeah, that's his name."
"Can I perhaps take it off your hands? I promise I will compensate you for it." The man asked Jim as he rubbed his hands together.
"What do you intend to do with him?" Jim then asked rather aggressively. The man then pointed finger guns at Jim and explained "Same reason why you have it most likely, because these things are healers. Though yours seems to be way less intelligent from what I've observed, thus making it easier to have as a companion as my other attempts to get one have failed."
"You mean there's more like him who are still alive?" Jim asked the man again.
"Yes, I've encountered two others. Both had white hair but were very hostile towards me." The man replied before asking again "So, can I have yours?"
Jim pointed his gun at the man again and answered with "No, you can't have Turg. Go find another or learn how to do healing magic yourself."
"Then I am taking it by force." The man told Jim as he swiftly knocked the handgun out of Jim's hand and pulled out a machete. He raised it up and tried to slash at Jim's chest but Jim instinctively blocked it with one of his hands. Jim yelled out in pain as the man laughed at him. He tried to slash at him again but Jim grabbed the man's wrist with his other hand before he could and burned it a little. The man then let go of the machete and went into the snow, burying his arm.
"You little shit, you're a spellcaster. Why don't you learn healing magic yourself?" The man angrily told Jim as Jim took the opportunity to get his handgun back. He pointed it back at the man again while smiling. The man looked back up at Jim with a worried look in his eyes and asked "You wouldn't kill a poor defenceless man, right?"
"I would." Jim replied with a grin as he began firing at him. Three shots, one to the head and two to the chest. The man was dead and a cloud of black smoke formed next to him. Jim was expecting to see Grim form from it, but a different Reaper appeared instead. This Reaper was a lot bigger than Grim and didn't seem to question why Jim was standing next to a body with a weapon. The Reaper quickly finished their job and disappeared only leaving behind an urn and soot from where they summoned themselves. Jim just assumed that Grim was likely busy elsewhere and would eventually visit, though it had been months since the last time he saw Grim. Jim picked up the man's machete from the ground with his bleeding hand and decided to keep it for himself as he went back inside to check on Turg. He was still asleep surprisingly and the fire was still going. Jim was still bleeding a lot from his left hand and tried to heal it by placing Turg's hand on it, though it didn't work but it did wake Turg. He was slowly waking until he saw Jim's hand and immediately became wide awake and started to heal it.
"Is Jim okay?" Turg asked with genuine concern in his voice.
"Yes, I am okay. Just a little accident, that's all." Jim answered, he wasn't willing to tell the full story. Turg then took his hands off of Jim's hand and the wound was gone, though the blood that had already spilled out was still there and on Turg's hands too.
"Well, since the sun is rising, the snow has stopped falling and you're awake, we might as well keep moving." Jim said as he put his coat back on and the now three weapons back inside it. Turg nodded in agreement, grabbed the bag and put it back on as he stood up. Jim grabbed his hunting rifle and said "Let's hope I won't have to use this."
Just like that the two were off again, Jim didn't entirely know where to go but he knew he saw lights down the road so he continued to lead Turg down the snow covered road.