Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

Journey Through All Creatures

Chapter 35: Preparations for Ascension

Note: Story starts in Achatina, The Island ABC order for Section I, Scorched Earth Exclusives and Aberration exclusives for Section II and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Rock Elemental, next chapter in Vulture.

Chapters to the end of Segment II: 2!!!

ARKtic Memories: Part 9/12: Day 1

Day 20 of Scorched Earth: 8 days left

The northeastern part of Scorched Earth was where the base was. The newly upgraded slightly larger stone base, with a bigger dino pen. The dino pen stretched towards the side of the base and towards the entrance, the main pen gates being on the back of the base. The pen had a tall ceiling over it, and inside the pen was the creatures. In the back was three air conditioners, near a elecritical generator just on the corner to the right of the ACs. In front of the ACs was a Rex egg. 9 Rexes stood tall on the lower end of the dino pen. Dorack stood in front of one, pouring meat into a trough, while Sodden was walking around the base with some metal ingots on him. Serenity and Nal had gone out to find a better Argy, and Rod was on the Doedic they got a few weeks back collecting stone. While Dorack was feeding the rexes, he couldn’t help but think about something. As he poured stacks of meat out of a bag, he looked around repeatedly. He then put the empty bag into his main item bag, then walked to the Rex egg that was incubating. Then he heard the door open and turned to the back door, and Sodden walked out of it, holding a Rex egg. He walked to the ACs and put it down. “Another one. Any updates on the stats?” Dorack asked. Sodden shook his head as he carefully set the egg down, then looked at Dorack. “No, not really. But more Rex eggs may mean we may get a mutation soon.” Sodden said. Dorack nodded. He turned around to leave, then Sodden walked to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

“You’ve been a bit quiet recently. Something wrong?” Sodden asked. Dorack sighed.

“I… I don’t know. The wolves that attacked us a few days ago… it’s just still not doing well on me. Some memories have been coming back. I… I don’t know. I don’t like talking about ARKtic. I just don’t. Just forget it.” Dorack said. Sodden nodded.

“Okay. That’s fine. Uh, I want to go help the girls find an Argy for our Wyvern trip soon. You wanna come?” Sodden said. Dorack turned to Sodden just then.

“Okay, I guess. I just need some time to myself.” Dorack said. He then walked to the back door of the base, opened it, then walked in and closed the door. Sodden’s eyes followed Dorack as he walked into the base. Dorack then walked outside and sat on the front steps. He then sat with his legs up to his body, and looked up, taking a deep breath.

“If only it hadn’t gone wrong…” Dorack whispered. He felt like he could hear the chaos going down that day.

~~~~

Day 1 of ARKtic

92 days before Nal and Dorack’s escape

5 minutes before arrival.

“The Frozen Wasteland”

April 27, 2024. It was almost 2:30 in the morning on The Island. But this was because everyone had stayed up super late collecting the last of the supplies they needed to send two of Nudon’s survivors to Scorched Earth to collect resources from there. Explorers can send survivors to other Arks using cerametal, which they collected from the obelisks, implant essence, which someone named Cal donated, and element. Lots of element. Around 810, to be exact. Nudon’s group of travelers stood on the top of the volcano, on the terminal platform for the Tek Cave. But it was also a terminal to send survivors to other Arks. 20 people stood around the terminal, Nal and Dorack sitting on the device, and Codred then rose from the side of the volcano on his Argy, holding 2 stacks of element. Codred then landed his Argy just outside of the terminal platform, then walked to the terminal. “Okay, this is it. All the resources collected! Nal and Dorack are going to retrieve a Wyvern and maybe a Phoenix if possible. For this, Scorched Earth is the best place. The resources are in. Cendor, come here!” Codred shouted, then someone began running from across the tek cave door and towards Codred. Cendor took a piece of shining, light gray, hard cerametal, then a glowing ball of pure Homo Deus essence, the essence used in every survivor’s implant. Codred put the element in the terminal device, then took the two resources out of Codred’s hand and put them inside of the device. The terminal device glowed brightly and white. It was ready for transportation. There was a red glow on the terminal, though, meaning it was not recommended. But Codred was so hyped to tell everyone to stand back and activate the transport that he did not notice the red warning. “Okay, guys! Stand back! Nal, Dorack, you ready? Put all your items in the terminal. They’ll be right there for you when you get there. You will lose your levels, though, so be cautious of that.” Codred said. Nal and Dorack nodded and stood next to the terminal, holding hands. The circle of people backed up, the people just across from the cave door ran to the sides to avoid the lava river. Codred’s hand hovered over a yellow button and swung it at the button, smacking it hard. Then suddenly…

“BLARE! Transportation to Scorched Earth confirmed. Transporting in 120, 119, 118, 117, 116…” The obelisks began to pulsate brightly. The force field on the Ark then rumbled, and its background dissolved, making the dome transparent. Everyone gasped. They saw a beautiful sight, the Arks were scattered across the Earth’s atmosphere, and the stars glowed bright. It was rare for this to happen. Transparent force fields only happen when either someone’s doing direct transportation to other Arks without ascension, or when the force field is about to open. Transparency was dangerous, though, as the sunlight can blind survivors quickly, so transparency usually is done at night.

Everyone joined in on the countdown and chanted.

“29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8…” The force field glowed bright, the obelisks sent a beam of light at the terminal, then a huge blue-white path with pink streams of light on the sides shot up at the ground, creating a path for the survivors to go through. The force field rumbled and a spot on it began to open. Nal and Dorack’s implant glowed brightly. But the path was glowing red. This meant it was unsafe at this time, and Codred didn’t realize until it was too late. “3… 2… 1…” “Good luck!” Codred yelled. Nal nodded, then the two were encased in light and were launched upwards, out of the force field in seconds, They flew through the ascension path quickly, but Codred saw a red alert on the device. It was beeping loudly. Codred gasped and walked to it, and saw that the path to Scorched Earth was about to get interference from a meteor. “Oh, no.” Codred said. Everyone gasped. “The path’s going to get interference!” Codred yelled. He saw a screen hovering over the terminal device, showing the path and the two survivors going through it. The meteor was coming. Nal and Dorack cheered as they hugged each other. “Scorched Earth, here we come!” Nal yelled. Dorack chucked. Then they heard rumbling. As they slowed down, looking at the Ark flashing red in the distance, a big rock was coming from the side. “What?” Dorack said. They began to fly to Scorched Earth, but the meteor was fast and struck the path, immediately cracking the whole thing and crashing the transport. The terminal device then blared loudly. Nal and Dorack were screaming as the essence around them wrapped around as they got thrown around and launched out of the path, cutting their sound off. This caused their implants to go out of range, and this shut down the transportation device. Nal and Dorack were flung towards a Ark, just next to Scorched Earth. They went unconscious from the force, and were flying towards a Ark that neighbored Scorched Earth. Codred’s jaw was dropped. Everyone stood there in shock. “Oh, my god. They didn’t get there. I… I didn’t see the red alert… oh, no.” Codred whispered as he sat down.

~~~~

After almost an hour of sitting around, Dorack sighed and stood up, then the door busted open as Dorack turned around. “Oh, hey. You wanna come in?” Sodden asked. Dorack nodded and turned away.

“I think the others should be back soon. They got the Argy, and I planned for them to meet us here and we’ll go to the Wyvern Trench.” Sodden said. Dorack gasped. “You’re getting Wyverns today? I thought we were going to do that later!” Dorack exclaimed. Sodden nodded his head.

“Yeah. We’re leaving once the girls come back, and we’re hoping for a high level lightning Wyvern.” Sodden said.

“What about Rod?” Dorack said as he turned back to Sodden.

“I think he’ll just be collecting resources. I don’t feel like bringing him anywhere with us.” Sodden said. Dorack sighed just then.

“You think he wants to hurt us. Well, honestly, I don’t fully trust him, but I feel like it’s a little much to leave him out of everything. I mean, he does say he had nothing to do with the Ravage, and it really does seem like it. Is there even proof that he was there? I mean, even if we get to Aberration… you know what? I think when we ascend, we transfer all our items and levels there with us. That way, we can get out of that Ark faster. You don’t want a chance for him to do anything to us, right?” Dorack said. Sodden nodded then walked down the stairs. “That’s a good idea. Why don’t we wait until the others return, then we can leave to find a Wyvern?” Sodden said. Dorack smiled.

“Good to know you agree. Let’s get inside and think of a plan.” Dorack said. Sodden nodded, then the two walked up the stairs back into the base.

~~~~

2024 - ARKtic Day 1

7:32 AM

Snowball Earth

The whirling of ice cold wind flowed through the air, across the dark sky, a twilight peeking out from the horizon. The day was just beginning. The gray obelisk near the center of Snowball Earth hummed quietly, glowing brightly a light gray glow. Near the terminal was two survivors, on the ground.

Bum. Bum. Bum.

Nal’s eyes slowly opened as she gasped softly. She lay on her back, her hand on her belly. She opened her eyes fully, then tilted her head upwards. She shook as she shivered, then she grabbed her shoulders with both hands, her hands making a cross on her chest. She sat up and looked to the right. Dorack had sat up, groaning and shivering. “Oh, my god. Why the stupid f— meteor?” Dorack growled. Nal gasped.

“Sorry for my language. I just hate the fact that we didn’t get to Scorched Earth… where are we anyway?” Dorack asked angrily. He stood up slowly, his legs shaking. He turned to Nal, walked to her, and held out his hand. Nal reached for it and took it, then stood up, shaking. “It’s so cold here.” Nal said. “Well, this isn’t Scorched Earth, then.” Dorack said. Nal noticed a strange light behind her and she turned around. She saw a gray obelisk just in front of her and Dorack. Trees speckled the platform, stretching for hundreds of meters. There were bushes everywhere, a pond nearby which was unfrozen due to the obelisk’s warmth, and there were lots of rocks in the ground near the pond. Dorack turned around to see this. “Oh, my god. Okay, get to the obelisk.” Dorack said. The two survivors slowly walked to the terminal, shivering. Then their empty feet hit the flat ground, and were slightly pale white. The humming grew slightly louder, and Nal and Dorack could feel the immense cold dying away from their bodies. Dorack walked to the terminal and opened its inventory. They went to the Ark transfer panel to find data on the map they were on. They saw the temperature, and Dorack gasped and put his hand to his mouth when he saw the Ark the obelisk was on. Nal walked to him.

“You good?” Nal asked. Dorack slowly turned around, with a worried look on his face.

“Nal… we’re in the Ark, Snowball Earth. A difficulty tier of 7 out of 8. One of the hardest Arks in the universe. It says details on the device. Creatures of up to Level 450. Alphas for almost every carnivore here. And… oh, no. The unlucky survivors can run into a Feathered Giga on the mountain. And worst of all… LOOK!” Dorack yelled as he shot a finger at his implant. Nal gasped. There was a black triangle just on the bottom. Nal looked at her implant, and saw the same thing.

“Respawning does not work in this Ark. That means… if we die…” Dorack said. Nal gasped softly.

“We’ll be gone for good.” Nal whispered, gasping quietly.

~~~~

After an hour, Sodden and Dorack stood on the steps at the front of their base, walking around and looking around the area. They had gotten a message that the girls were coming with the Argy, and would be back soon. As they stood around, Sodden faced west, then looked up and squinted his eyes at a figure coming his way. It got bigger as it approached. “Dude, they’re here.” Sodden said. Dorack looked up and walked to Sodden. “Good. You have the supplies?” Dorack asked.

“Yeah. I have some harpoon guns to net any Wyvern that comes after us.” Sodden said. The wing flapping got louder as it approached the two survivors, then the Argy landed on the ground, and Nal and Serenity got off of the Argy. “You ready to go?” Nal asked. Sodden nodded.

“We have the supplies, so we can go.” Sodden said. Serenity nodded.

“Good. Let’s go.” Serenity said. Then Nal and Serenity climbed back onto the Argy, and Serenity tossed a cryopod at Sodden. Sodden caught it then threw it at the ground in front of him, releasinng an already saddled Argy. The others had gotten a saddle crafted while they tamed the Argy. Sodden and Dorack got on the second Argy, then the survivors set out for the World Scar.

After over an hour of traveling, the Argies had began to hover over a giant ravine that stretched across the entire eastern side of the Ark. At the bottom was a large lava river stretching the entire ravine, and a few Fire Wyverns and a Lightning Wyvern flapping their wings over a nest. The nest sat on a cliff, near the bottom of the ravine, and two Wyverns flew near it. “Okay, remember the plan. We’re going to swoop in, grab a Lightning Wyvern egg if we can find one, then I’ll net the Wyverns that come for us. I’ll use my spyglass to check the level of the egg from a distance.” Sodden said. Dorack, Nal, and Serenity nodded in agreement and the two Argies flew downwards, then flew in the opposite direction of the nest. They flew beside the opposite side of the ravine, trying to avoid the wyverns. Then one of the wyverns roared and flew south, flapping its wings towards a dino that fell into the ravine. The dino had been pushed off the cliff and was falling down quickly. The other wyverns roared as they saw the descending dino and lifted their legs and wings and began to fly towards it. Sodden nodded at Serenity and the two Argies flew to the egg that was left alone. It was a silver-white egg with blue cracks on the egg. A Lightning Wyvern egg. Sodden took a spyglass out of his bag, then looked through it, aiming the spyglass at the egg. Level 105. Not all that good for a Wyvern, but it’d do. Sodden then put the spyglass back in his bag, then directed the Argy to the nest,, then the Argy landed on the sticks that made up the nest. Sodden then jumped off the Argy, then picked the egg up and moved his bag to the front of his body. He then put the egg into the bag, put his bag back on his back, then climbed onto the Argy. “Okay, let’s go.” Sodden said. Everyone else nodded, then took off from the nest. None of the wyverns had come after them, but the survivors would need to return soon. Not for a wyvern egg, but for tributes.

Later that day…

That afternoon, Rod was in the base, putting some metal on the smithy, hammering it out and making some tools, while Sodden, Serenity, Dorack and Nal were sitting on the ground in the dino pen, near the raptors that were growling and sniffing Sodden’s bag and walking around the others. In front of then were 13 ACs, surrounding the wyvern egg in the center. The survivors have been watching the egg for almost 5 hours, and soon, they heard quiet cracking. Sodden gasped then jumped up, along with Dorack and Serenity. Nal got up too, then the egg cracked open on its front side, then a head poked out of it. The wyvern screeched and scratched the egg, cracking it apart, then the body was revealed. It came out fully and screeched as it lept towards Sodden. “Oh, hey, buddy. Get some food for it, okay?” Sodden asked to Dorack while crouching and petting the wyvern’s head. Dorack nodded and ran into the base. “What should we name it?” Nal asked. Sodden shrugged.

“I don’t know. It’s a very cool looking Wyvern.” Sodden said. There were dark gray scales on its back, white talons, and a gray mane on its neck, and pristine-colored wings.

“Yeah, it’s cool.” Nal said. Dorack then burst out of the door, holding a pile of meat, then he sat down next to the wyvern and handed the wyvern the meat. The wyvern turned to the meat and growled as it walked to the meat, and started eating through it. “Well, how about we go back to the wyvern trench and farm some tributes? We have a lot of time. We can kill the Wyverns with the harpoon nets.” Sodden asked.

“Good idea. Rod’s making some of these. We can net the Wyverns and kill them that way. We need 20 of each talon, so we need to kill 60 wyverns. Not gonna be easy.” Dorack said. Sodden smiled and nodded. “Good. Let’s get out there and get the wyverns, shall we?” Sodden asked. “Yeah. I can stay here and raise the Wyvern along with Rod. I’ll watch him, don’t worry.” Dorack said. Sodden stood up.

“Sounds like a good plan.” He said. He, Nal, and Serenity then walked into the base.

~~~~

ARKtic Day 1

3 hours since arrival

The survivors had estabilished a small thatch hut near the gray obelisk. It was only 2 by 2, with 6 campfires inside. It was not very much. Nal and Dorack discovered they started at Level 4 in Snowball, so that meant they could get a good start. They had put one point into HP and 2 into fortitude. This would raise the time they could be out to around 190 minutes. It was not a lot. But it was the best they could do for now. Nal and Dorack had forged some hatchets, collected berries, and found some penguins they could kill for meat. So they had a decent supply of food and water. Nal and Dorack walked through the trees just near the gray obelisk, towards some bushes. They wore cloth boots, cloth pants, and cloth shirts. They began to pick some berries off of some bushes they found.

“Well, good thing we’re not getting attacked instantly.” Dorack said.

“Yeah. Just the thought we could lose everything if we died here really kills me.” Nal said. Dorack nodded.

“Me too. We should-” Dorack said, then he got interrupted by a sound.

SNAP!

Nal gasped and looked around. “What was that?” Dorack asked. Nal shook her head.

“I don’t…” Nal said, then she heard deep growling. Nal turned around, and so did Dorack. They saw a red glow in the distance, hovering over the ground. Some wolves were walking, and a Rex was growling in front of them. Nal and Dorach yelled and ran to a rock as the Rex roared loudly. They ran around the rock and went behind the Rex’s legs. They ran towards the obelisk while the Rex roared loudly, then as Dorack and Nal were going, the red glow ran and leaped at Dorack. It clawed his shoulder, ripping the cloth shirt and knocking him over. He howled in pain as he fell over, hitting the cold snow. The wind was starting to get to his chest, and it hurt him. Then the creature burst out of the ground. An Alpha Purlovia. The alpha roared loudly. Nal, seeing everything that happened, screamed in terror and ran to a big rock. Then she heard fast footsteps and saw wolves coming from the side. She gasped quickly, her heart accelerating, as she leaped at a big rock, lifting her legs and climbing up as the wolves tried to leap at Nal. They barely missed, then the purlovia jumped. It missed too, but its claws hit the rock and dug deep into it. Nal gasped and saw the purlovia began to climb. “No…” Nal whispered, gasping. She put her hand on her chest. She backed up, and was met with the rock edge. The purlovia was growling as it was about to climb up fully.

“No… please…” Nal whispered in terror. Her heart was pounding hard and quickly, like it was pounding out of her chest. The purlovia growled as it clawed the top of the rock, then lifted itself onto the top. Nal gasped. The purlovia roared as it leaped at Nal, then Nal jumped out of the way, but the purlovia jumped across the edge of the rock, hitting a tree. Nal gasped as she rolled off the rock and hit the snow. She stood up, brushing off her legs and shivering, then the wolves surrounded her. Nal stood against the rock, gasping quickly and looking away. A wolf then walked closer to Nal, just a few inches away, then the Rex roared loudly and ran to the wolves, her stomps shaking the ground, then the Rex opened her mouth as she lunged at the wolf about to attack Nal. The Rex crushed the wolf, then began to stomp the other wolves. Nal gasped as she stood up. The Rex was tearing up the wolves, and Nal ran in the other direction, gasping and shaken up. She ran to Dorack, who was breathing laborously and barely conscious. Nal gasped and lifted his hand. She put her hand to her mouth when she saw blue forming on his fingers and palm, and pale white on his leg. Dorack was getting frostbite. Nal had to react now. Nal picked up Dorack quickly and ran towards the gray obelisk. The Rex then stomped out of the jungle, shaking the ground, and Nal turned around to see the Rex coming. The Rex picked up Nal, and Nal screamed as she tried to hold onto Dorack. The Rex ran towards the obelisk, and was there quickly. There were 4 campfires next to the terminal just in case. The Rex then saw the fires and set Nal down next to them. Nal ignited the fires with her flint and set Dorack down next to them. Nal looked up at the Rex. “Hey.” Nal said. The Rex growled softly. “Thanks.” Nal said. The Rex roared loudly. The Rex had known of the wolves and Alpha Purlovia because they had killed off two of her friends. The Rex did not want them hurting survivors from that day on. The Rex even tried going vegan once. The Rex growled as it lowered its head, setting it down on Dorack’s body. Nal looked at the Rex and petted its head softly. Dorack winced in pain as he moved his head around. “Oh… what… what happened…” Dorack said weakly. Nal put her hand on Dorack’s right hand. “This Rex here saved you. Not sure why, but she did. She also saved me. I saved you from that frostbite.” Nal said. Dorack smiled and nodded at her. Dorack turned to the Rex. “Hey. I’m going to name you Rexy for what you’ve done for us.” Dorack said. The Rex growled softly. “I think she likes it.” Nal said. The Rex then opened its mouth and licked Dorack. “Ew, dude!” Dorack yelled, his body twitching. “Yeah, she likes it.” Nal said. “We’re going to survive here.” Dorack said. “Yes, we will. We will thrive. We will find a way to get back home.” Nal said. Dorack nodded in agreement.

~~~~

Hopefully this is the last long chapter for a little bit, or at least one that’s like 4K words or over.

Anyway, just 1 chapter to go before the Segment II Finale!

Also, name suggestions for the Lightning Wyvern!

-RelatingHen8906