Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

The Apex of The Desert. Day 3: The Shadow. The smell of the desert sand jolts me awake. I sense that it is day, but the air is unnaturally cool. There is something beside me. I open my eyes and find that it is the cat from earlier. My back leg feels strange as well. Even though I’d rather be out hunting right now, I still don’t seem to be able to walk. I growl extremely softly, as to not wake the kitty, and drift into a deep sleep. It only feels like moments later when the cat is shaking me awake again. I look at the cat and manage to get into a sitting position. “Can we talk now, please?” His voice is soft, even when he is speaking at a normal volume. “Sure.” Mine sounds like something broke. “Could you, um, try to, uh, not be so bitter?” He meowed. “I’ll try.” I grumbled. “Before we begin, can you tell me your name, please? Mine’s Shadow.” “Taback.” “Oh god….. Do you want to start?” Dead silence. “Guess I’ll start. My parents were killed by… how do I say this without offending you…” “Just say it.” “My parents were killed by another Tabac-” “Oh come on, there is only one Taback, and they’re standing in front of you!” “Ok, ok! They were killed by you!” I felt a small twang of guilt for murdering his parents. Just another divided family among the millions of dead families. I truly am a monster. “I ran after I saw their bodies, trying to convince myself that it was a dream and that it wasn’t real. I have been on the run ever since… You alright?” “After a couple of years murdering people in cold blood, you’ll never be the same.” I stood up and walked outside. Still limped a little, but it was so slight that it didn’t really matter. “The screams of the fallen still haunt me…” I lashed my tail and stalked out into the desert, immediately searching for prey. A moth caught my attention, but little baby moths were following their mother. Other creatures were around but it seemed they all had children. Head bowed, I walked back to the cave. “Taback…” Shadow mewed. I didn’t answer. Instead I sat down and faced the wall. “I’m not normal, ok? I wasn’t born, I was revived. In a lab. That I destroyed.” I growled. “The last thing I remember before I died was that I fell into ice cold water.” I curled into a ball and fell back asleep. Next three are on cat. -Dragonslayer-