Chapter Text
The Stranded Barbarian
AN: Alright, so this is my first fanfiction on this site and it's about a concept I found intriguing. Having Conan in the Goblin Slayer universe opens up quite a few possibilities and character interaction. I can only hope I get it right. Here's a bit of a prologue. I hope you enjoy it.
And just to mention, this Conan is based more on Robert E. Howard's work and from some other things that add to it so don't go asking questions like 'Where is Subotai?' or 'What about the Riddle of Steel?' Normally I wouldn't point this out but it happened before.
Prologue
It was midday, the Sun was high up in the sky with no clouds to cover its yellow rays. No sound could be heard other than those of small waves hitting the sandy beach that stretched for miles. No person, animal, or structure could be seen for a very long distance in the area.
But in a certain spot on the beach, something recently appeared. On that spot lay a man face-first in the sand, completely unconscious with the waves touching his legs, a single wreckage of a boat beside him that was rendered in two halves.
The man himself could be described as very tall, bronze-skinned, and incredibly muscular, his hair a long black mane. He was dressed in nothing but a brown loincloth and fur boots, on his hip was a sheathed long sword. To many, he would look like a typical barbarian. However, around him, you could see some remains of chainmail scattered, no doubt what he used for armor, and some small patches still adorned his muscular physique.
The sprawled figure started to steer, his fingers began to twitch and his eyelids slowly started to open showing his blue eyes.
The man slowly started to get up, first using his hands to push himself up before his legs acted and stood on the sand. The man now stood straight up. He started to groan and rubbed his head with his hand, trying to rid himself of the slight dizziness.
A few moments later, he took a look at his surroundings and noticed the destroyed boat beside him. Once again he rubbed his head as if trying to remember what happened to him. Then slowly, but surely, the memories started to come back.
He remembered walking in a town that was located next to the Western sea, looking for an inn to spend the night in. But then he ran into some sailors who noticed him and called out to him to come to them. They explained that they were planning to sail across the Western sea to pick up something from a faraway island and they planned on hiring the man to go with them, needing some help while they were sailing. It's usually peaceful but pirates were known to show up from time to time.
They explained that they have heard of the man's exploits and that his skills and accomplishments were legendary, so having him aboard for special protection would be perfect. They even paid him a very decent amount of gold.
The man agreed and after a few hours, they set sail to the faraway island. While on the way, the man spent some time with the crew, getting to know them and even shared stories with them. They took a liking to him pretty quickly and vice versa.
The voyage went along smoothly and without any notable complications for quite some time, easing the worries of the crew for a while.
But some time later they were attacked by pirates. The crew and the man fought back with all their might. The battle was savage and bloody, and quite a few of the crew were killed and many were injured, but the pirates suffered greater losses thanks to the man who the crew hired, seeing the stories didn't exaggerate his skills and might, and the pirates were forced to retreat.
However, it seemed that luck was not on their side as not long after that they were within a heavy storm. The crew tried their best to preserve the ship but too many of them died or were wounded to do even a decent job in maintaining some sort of stability on the rocking waves. Even the bronze-skinned man, who could easily do the work of three men, was not able to help enough to preserve the ship. Heavy damage was done and the ship started to sink.
Many tried to save themselves by escaping on boats, but very few actually made it. The raven-haired man and the captain were barely able to take one boat and the storm separated them from the rest of the survivors.
Due to the storm, the boat started rocking heavily against the violent waves, the two men trying to keep themselves steady. The captain eventually fell off the boat causing the muscled man to try and help him by jumping into the water but the heavy rocking caused him to stumble back in before he could, and hit the side of the boat with his head, knocking the man out.
The man came back from the trip down memory lane and sighed. He once again cast a look at the destroyed boat before getting a somewhat sorrowful look in his eyes. He wasn't particularly close to the captain but he did make a pleasant company. And the people in his crew were good men as well, not deserving to die at the sea the way they did. It wasn't the first time he experienced such a loss, but it didn't make the sorrow disappear.
After a minute of silence, he composed himself. He shouldn't linger on his sadness for too long. He needed to assess the situation he was in. He looked at the sea behind him as if contemplating from whence he came and if he could come back. He was thrown who knows where while he was far out into the sea, very far away from his homeland. He could be on an uncharted island or even a different continent. His armor was torn to shreds, the cause of both the fight and the struggle with the sea, and he didn't have his gold with him when they tried to escape so he had no money. Luckily, he still had his sword, which would help his survivability immensely.
He then looked at the forest in front of him, deciding that would be the best place to explore. He was stranded at an unknown place with no food or water or money, only his hunting skills, and a sword. And considering that he hadn't eaten in a while, it would be just the right time to put these skills to good use.
He stretched, discarded the useless remains of his armor off of him, and walked forward, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead of him. The odds may have seemed against him, but they were often set against him and he was always able to overcome them, sometimes even to his own surprise.
Whatever this place was, it better be ready for Conan the Cimmerian.
AN: And that's the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to the feedback.