Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

The Arks: Over Heaven

Chapter 17: Back to the Beach

Original Post Date: Jan 31, 2024

Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Meganeura, next chapter in Lymantria.

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The trip across the plateau and the footpaw was uneventful, boring, and frankly wasn’t very exciting. For once, the group didn’t have to face off against any aggressive dinosaurs, and even dinosaurs such as Dilophosaurus or the Raptors would be taken care of quickly by Samuel’s raptor. For now, all that they could do on the way to the Book Club’s camp would be to chat, chat about life and things before they were brought to the Island.

“So are you going to name your Raptor?” Ben asked Samuel from afar.

“No, I can’t really think of a name at the moment,” Samuel replied. He looked at the Raptor. Maybe its colors could give him ideas. The Raptor was brown, and had red feathers on its tail and head. It also had blue stripes running down its legs, and its talons were unbelievably large.

Samuel shrugged and said, “Yeah, I still can’t think of anything.”

“Well, do you mind if I name him?” Ben asked.

“Yeah sure, I don’t see why not,” Samuel answered, “You are the one who helped tame this guy anyway.”

“What about Ned? I wanna call him Ned,” Neddy said, raising his hand.

“We aren’t calling him Ned, that would just make things confusing!” Ruby protested.

“Come on, guys, let the guy decide on his own,” Aurora said. Star squawked in agreement, for the first time ever.

“To be honest, I actually don’t have one at the top of my head,” Ben said, looking up at the baby blue skies, “But maybe our friends in the… Book Club could help us decide!” (wink wink hint hint, help give it a name!!!)

“Okay, just let me know when you have a name,” Samuel said.

An hour or so of traveling later, the friends had finally made it to the coastline. There was a giant river that cut through the land, and it was so wide that it would be impossible to swim through.

“Ah, I almost forgot about that. I didn’t come from the Book Club this way,” Ben remembered.

“Huh? So does that mean we’re lost?!” Aurora glared with steam pouring out of her ears.

“No, no, it’s just that the route I took is too dangerous for all of us to take,” Ben replied with the space between his thumb and pointer finger on his chin, pondering, “How are we supposed to get to the other side?”

“Hmm, that’s interesting,” Samuel thought as he stared at Ben, “Too dangerous, yet he has no tames, nor weapons except stone tools… What is his implant power?”

Ruby closed her eyes, searching for something that she could potentially create so they could safely reach the other side. Then, she opened them up again, an idea storming in her mind.

“We can build a big raft,” Ruby said, “It’ll take a lot of resources, but it’ll be useful if we need to travel the seas in the future anyway.”

“What type of materials will we need to build this raft?” Neddy asked with curiosity.

“We’re going to need quite a bit of wood, plant fibers, and hide,” Ruby dictated, “We already have plenty of hide from the beasts we’ve killed, but we’ll need to gather some wood and fiber.”

“Don’t worry, Ruby,” Neddy said, “We’ll get the resources for you. You can take a break.”

“Aww, thanks,” Ruby replied with a smile. Ben rushed for the bushes and began to tear them apart with his hands.

“Come on, Neddy! Let’s do this!” Ben shouted with a grin.

“Okay okay, wait up!” Neddy shouted back as he rushed up to him. Aurora nudged Samuel’s shoulder, and he looked at her drearily.

“Come on. Let’s go get some wood,” Aurora said as she unhooked her hatchet.

“Yeah, yeah I know,” Samuel replied. He crouched down and looked at Star in the eyes.

“Star. I need you to watch over the raptor. Take a break. Eat some berries,” Samuel ordered her as he dug around his pocket. He took out some of the purple berries and put them on the sand for her. As he did, he quickly glanced at Star’s chest. Some of the feathers on her chest were brighter than the others. And when he inspected her closely, he noticed the brighter feathers formed a diamond.

“Okay, let’s go now, Samuel,” Aurora told him. Samuel nodded and got up. He unhooked his own hatchet, and soon the two began to chop away at the trees near the beach.

Each swing Samuel took fell the tree in one swing, while it took Aurora a little bit more effort to chop one down.

“So, you never told me more about yourself,” Aurora exclaimed as she swung at a tree.

“Why?” Samuel asked with a raspy breath, “Why are you trying so hard now? I thought you didn’t like me that much?”

Aurora didn’t respond to that question. She didn’t really seem to know what answer to give. And Samuel caught on.

“You can be honest you know,” Samuel replied, “I won’t judge.”

“I-” Aurora paused, then continued, “I just wonder how I haven’t met you yet. I’d think someone as smart as you I would have met some time, right? We don’t have the same classes and I don’t see you in any of my clubs or extracurricular-”

“I never bothered,” Samuel replied, “I never bothered doing AP classes, joining clubs, or doing any of that. I just did the bare minimum to pass and whatever.”

“But why? You would’ve done so great in those classes!”

“Because I didn’t want to waste my effort trying,” Samuel explained, “I just wanted to get this part of our lives over with.”

“They say you should cherish your childhoods, because once you enter adulthood that’s when life really gets tough,” Aurora said, “Or at least, that’s what my parents said.”

“Yes, so I’ve heard,” Samuel replied, “But at least I’ll have some form of freedom. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

“And what about your future? Your job? None of that can ever come to fruition if you don’t prepare yourself-”

“I already said I didn’t care about that,” Samuel replied.

Aurora stopped swinging her hatchet as soon as the last tree fell down. She sighed, hooking her hatchet and brushing her forehead with her sleeve. Aurora looked at Samuel solemnly, with a sadness in her eyes, and said,

“You know you remind me a lot of… someone I once knew. Except you don’t seem to even care about yourself. You care about everyone BUT yourself. I don’t get why you feel that way about yourself, but it makes me sad. It makes me sad to think that if we were never put on this island, I would have never met you.”

Aurora stormed off, leaving Samuel to bring the trees to Ruby alone. All while this happened, Ben tippy-toed up to Samuel and tapped on his shoulder.

“Dude. I think that means she likes you,” Ben whispered to him.

“Shut up,” Samuel replied. He raised his fist, “Or I’m going to hit you.”

“Okay okay I’m sorry!” Ben cried, “Here. I’ll help you with the wood.”

“Thank you,” Samuel thanked him. The two of them spent the next half-hour carrying trees to Ruby so that she could build their raft. All while this happened, Samuel was forced to think. Think about Aurora, and Star.

“Star, you confuse me every day. I feel like you’re something more than I think,” Samuel thought as he looked out into the bushes. He saw that weird red haze again… And upon the sight he shivered. The red haze disappeared as soon as he blinked, but he really could’ve sworn there was something watching him. Samuel looked at Aurora, who was looking really gloomy just sitting in the sand by herself.

“And, why are you acting like this now?” Samuel wondered as he stared at her.