Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

The Terrible Demise Of Tortuga

Chapter one: Intentions don’t mean much

-By SunnyFox57

(Originally released February 8th, 2024. Now rewritten and reposted December 9th, 2025)

~~

The wind blew hard against Aragorn’s face, light hitting his bronzed skin like a magnet to metal. Dark brown eyes scan the horizon as tousling wild waves hit the orange streaked sky where the sun is currently rising. His black hair was slightly damp, framing his tired face. Calloused hands expertly guided the ship forward when needed, loosely holding the wheel.

A small speck of land, barely visible lay in the distance, getting larger and larger by the minute as the ship made it’s way over the endless sea. The sea. It was beautiful, and yet so dangerous. Capable of bringing a soothing and peaceful feeling and yet so quick to take everything away if you’re not careful.

Aragorn was tired of it. He used to enjoy the sea as a boy and then as a teenager. Swimming in it with his friends, rowing, sailing; it had been all a pleasure to him. Now, it was more of a chore, a hard task he had to get through. Every single day. The peace he’d once found in it was replaced by a restlessness and regret, memories of what was and what is now.

Any intentions of fixing or restoring any of what was now lost had quickly been swept away soon after. Even if it hadn’t, he wasn’t sure what would come of it. There was no undoing what had been done. The past staining him could only be solved one way.

Blood repaid by blood.

His bitter thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the soft sound of the wood boards behind him creaking as feet stepped forward. Years of instinct immediately caused his body go taunt and tense at the sound, ready to swivel if needed. However the familiar touch of his wife’s arm looping under his arm, quickly relaxed him.

Aragorn raised his arm, letting her press into his side, moving it to around her shoulders. He pressed a soft kiss against the top of her blonde head.

“Good morning.” She said, voice barely audible, moving her chin up to look at him.

His breath caught. No matter how many years passed, no matter how many times he saw her face, nothing could stop that thrill. That chill that ran up his spine, that stuffiness in his chest. The drumbeat of his heart-rate rocketing.

Years may have passed by and formed wrinkles on her face and calloused her fingers, but her eyes—gosh those eyes. When they said that eyes were the windows to the soul, they were not lying.

When you love someone, you shouldn’t love them for their looks alone. A relationship is a two-part job. Two halves coming together to form a whole. Offering each other what the other doesn’t have. Offering to cut out a part of you to fit together. When he looked into his wife’s eyes he could see the world there. Anything and everything he loved and needed lay in Ariana’s eyes, like a hidden gem.

Aragorn cleared his throat. “Good morning.” He reiterated.

“You look tired.”

“Woke up early. I figure the faster we get there..the better.” Aragorn shrugged. That wasn’t completely untruthful. He did want to finally arrive at their destination, tired of their constant roaming of the sea. The truth was that he was scared to fall asleep. Once his head hit the pillow, the rest of the world was gone. He was lost, in another world he had once lived, now repeating it over and over again in his sleep.

Arianna already knew that. She’d shook him awaken enough times in the past, him screaming and flailing in a panic. Eventually he just stopped trying to sleep. He could survive a few hours awake, at least every night and it not harm his physical condition much. Sure, it may be tiring getting up so early, but it was better than explaining to his children why their father’s sleep was constantly plagued by nightmares.

Arianna sighed, turning back to look at the island coming closer into view. She tucked a loose tendril of hair behind her ear.

“It’s going to be okay, you know? You don’t have to stress anymore, babe.” She said, locking eyes with him again.

Aragorn was always stressing, no matter what. He was the protector of the family. It was his job to worry about her and the children constantly. It was his job to always remain steady and strong. To give anything and everything up in order to protect them. No matter what. He’d kill for them. But he didn’t tell her that.

“You think?” He said, instead. A smile spread across his wife’s lips. She pressed closer to him.

“I know so. This-this is the place. I can feel it. This is gonna be our new home. We can finish raising our children here. They’ll get married and move out and maybe we’ll even have grandchildren someday.”

Aragorn smiled softly, despite still worrying inwardly, at the hope in his wife’s voice.

“I don’t know about that last part but alright.”

Arianna smacked him playfully.

“Oh shut up! Don’t you want grandchildren? We could let them visit us anytime and then juice them up with sugar before throwing them back to their parents. We would be such good grandparents.” She sighed.

“Well—yeah. Kind of. But that’s not it. I just don’t want our children running off without us, you know? It’s a dangerous world out there.” Aragorn replied.

Arianna snorted.

“You’re so protective, darling. If anything happened to them, you’d probably already be there to help.”

They sat in pleasant silence for a few more minutes before Arianna slipped out from under his arm. “I’m gonna go wake the kids up since we’re almost there.” She said.

He watched her go, disappearing down the hatch into the quarters below. The twins must have already been awake because not long after, two scruffy heads of hair appeared at the top of the ladder as the boys climbed from the hatch.

“Hi dad.” Jay and Jack said in almost perfect unison. If he wasn’t their father, it would probably been incredibly hard to tell the two apart. The main differences between them was that Jack’s eyes were a wide blue, and Jay’s were a lidded green. That and they both acted completely different than the other.

“Good morning, boys.” Aragorn responded. He didn’t even have to motion them over, they were already eagerly rushing to his side. Jack pushed a wave of his black curls lazily backwards, watching Aragorn steer the ship.

“Whoa.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Could-I-maybe, if it’s okay- try steering?”

Aragorn studied Jack for a moment before stepping back slightly, one hand still on the wheel, keeping it steady.

“Go for it.”

A wide eager grin split across his son’s face as he stepped forward, putting his hands on the wheel where Aragorn instructed. His father kept his hands hovering gently above his, guiding him along.

“You’re not going to turn the wheel much. Just keep it steady, facing forward. If it starts to drift, just guide it slowly back into position. You know which is the starboard side and which is the port side, right?” Aragorn asks.

Jay’s hand shoots up quickly, like a student in class. “I do!” He exclaims, stepping forward closer to Aragorn. “Starboard is the right side and Port is the left.”

Aragorn nods. “That’s correct. You’re going to turn neither direction, just keep it facing forward. Jay, you keep your eye out. If the boat drifts a bit, let your brother know. And Jack, when you turn to look to the side, try not to let the boat drift over as it follows your gaze.”

They remained mostly quite for a few minutes, Jay occasionally pointing out if his twin deviated a bit accidentally from the set path. The island was closer now, little details of it more identifiable. Eventually Arianna and their sisters emerged from the hatch. Josephina was balanced on Ariana’s hip, rubbing sleepily at her eyes. Emma stepped up beside beside Jay, her jaw dropping in surprise at the sight of the island. “That’s our new home?” She breaths, awestruck.

Aragorn’s hand instinctively finds his wife’s, their fingers intertwining. His gaze locked on the island, jaw clenching slightly. The sun had rose completely, its rays beaming down on the Peterson family.

Maybe Arianna was right. Maybe this was a new start for them. A place to raise their family. To protect them, better. Goodness knows he’s tried his best. But sometimes you’re intentions don’t go as planned. Sometimes it’s hard to keep everything together without losing pieces of your past. Blood to be repaid with blood.

He swallowed, gaze hardening.

“Yes. Yes it is.”

~~

Meanwhile, on the dock of the “island”, if that’s what it could be called, a woman stood, surveying the incoming ship through a pair of binoculars. To any other person it may have looked like she was trying to spy secretly, but she was quite visible. The black shiny uniform and gun over her shoulder made her stand out quite obviously, like a black bird in the midst of doves.

That and she was speaking quite loudly into the walkie-talkie in her sickly pale hand, her voice abrasive. Only a short distance away, her partner was crouching. He too, was dressed in a all black uniform, but instead of a gun he had a almost comically large axe hanging from his belt. His face was barely visible from the cowl around his face, sharp blue eyes sometimes appearing as he shifted.

The man, was simply called the Executioner. No one had ever heard his real name, if he had one. That’s what everyone referred to him as. Had he actually ever executed someone? Nobody knew. But when someone constantly walks around with a large axe balanced on their belt, you can only assume the worst

The pair were two of the “elite” guards or peacekeepers, as they were called. That description of them was rather a overstatement. There was mostly only five of them and they didn’t do much except enforce when needed. Which was almost never.

If there was any criminal activity in the city, they were certainly unaware of it. Nothing too suspicious had happened until today. The mayors had received word from off shore that a family of five was headed their way. Apparently to move here.

Now, for any other place, it wouldn’t be a big deal. People moved to new places all the time. But in Tortuga? That was awfully suspicious, considering it was practically in the middle of nowhere. No one new had moved to the floating city in years. So why now?

“They’re almost here now.” The woman, Helen, said, pushing her blonde braid behind her shoulder.

The executioner responded a moment later, his voice cold and indifferent. “Alright. I’ll radio the mayors and let them know. You keep post, stand by the docks for their arrival. Make sure there’s no funny business.”

Helen nodded, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Ten years. Ten years, she’d worked this job. She knew the drill. She certainly didn’t need the Executioner of all people telling her what to do.

The Executioner rose to his feet in a less than graceful manner, wiping the dirt of his clothes with a look of distaste before crossing the street to the telephone booth. Why, he couldn’t just walk to the manor since it wasn’t far away, was beyond Helen’s comprehension.

The line rang once, then twice before crackling to life.

“Hello. How can I help you today, grateful citizen…” The voice on the other side said, dragging out the last letters of his words. The executioner frowns, knowing the difference between the mayors’ and their son’s voices.

“Michael.” He said shortly. “I’m calling to talk to your parents, the mayors, not…you.”

Their was a pause on the other side of the line, followed by what the executioner was sure was a soft scoff.

“Okay, hold on. I’ll get them.” Michael said, drawing in a deep breath before suddenly yelling at the top of his lungs, “DAD!! MOM!! THE EXECUTIONER IS ON THE PHONE!!”

The executioner clapped his hands over his ears, hissing in pain considering the phone had been right up against his ear. Helen rolled her eyes from her post by the docks, hearing the yelling from even that far away.

The mayor’s son was, respectfully, no offense…a complete and total brat. And he knew that. Anything and everything he did was for his own selfish reasons. He manipulated people for the fun of it, or to get things from them. None of the peacekeepers, loyal as they may be, were ready for when that brat took the job of mayor.

There was a long moment of silence and then the line crackled once more. “Do you have any news?” The sharp voice of one of the mayors abruptly responded. There was no “hello”, no “how are you?”, just straight to business.

“Yes sir. They’re pulling up to the docks now.” The Executioner said.

Another long pause.

“Well..we’ll be down there soon to..help welcome them.”

~~

It wasn’t the sound of his alarm that woke Aaron Buckleshoot up. No, that old thing had broken several years ago after he kept accidentally hitting it off his nightstand in every wild attempt to turn it off in the mornings. It only sat on his nightstand now out of habit.

Instead, it was the sound of light shoeless footsteps pattering down the hall before stopping abruptly at his doorway. That and the small slightly hoarse sleepy voice that followed.

“Grandpa? Are you awake yet?”

Aaron sat up slowly, one hand against his back as he did so. His thirteen year old granddaughter, Elizabeth, stood in the doorway, still in her nightgown, chestnut brown hair streaming down her chest. By her side sat Troy, his German shepherd, tail thumping against the wood floorboards as he watched his owner sit up.

“I am now.”

Aaron swung his legs to the side of his bed, standing up wearily, one hand still on his bad back. Aging was definitely NOT for the weak. Although, to be fair, his bad back wasn’t completely from just plain old aging.

Troy went to his owner’s side immediately, pressing against the side of his leg to help steady him. Aaron exhaled, scratching behind the hound’s ear.

“Alrighty, you ready to feed the animals, kiddo?”

Elizabeth nodded in response and so they started slowly down the hallway, his granddaughter unconsciously keeping the same measured pace as him.

The sun had just recently risen so most of the rest of the family were still asleep, except maybe Amara who usually got up early to make breakfast. The sound of Joe snoring echoed easily through the thin walls of their increasingly smaller house.

The house used to be bigger. Well, it had seemed that way back then whenever Aaron and his wife, had first moved in with their two children, Amara and Joe.

His wife had died several years ago, when Joe was three and Amara was ten. She and their son had come down with Scarlett fever, and..she’d unfortunately passed away from it. Joe survived, barely, but was left sightless.

The town hadn’t been all that big back then either. Unlike now, now the city was kind of squeezed together, all houses packed. Now his two now adult children, their spouses and his grandchildren were crammed in the house like food in a can. Not that he minded. Sure, it was a bit stuffy at times, but he loved having his family close.

Plus, he was getting a lot older. He needed a bit of help nowadays. Luckily, Elizabeth was all to happy to help him with his job as the island’s “vet”. Vet was a loose term, considering few people had animals on the island, most creatures that were there being owned by the Buckleshoot family themselves.

Finally, he and Elizabeth came to the “Animal Bay”, as they called it, and split up to care of their halves in the place. As they did every morning. He fed Tina the Titanboa, Old Betsy the sarco, the family of araneos, and so on. There were too many creatures to keep count or names of.

Just a perk of traveling the world in his younger days, he’d collected many many different assortments of creatures. Rare beasts of the old that were dying out. Elizabeth was a quick learner. She caught on quick with each and every special way that the animals took their meals. He didn’t have to instruct or keep much of and eye on her anymore, to make sure she was doing it correctly and safely.

~

By the time they’d finished with the animals, the sun had already reached its peak in the sky, casting it’s amber glows through the windows. Aaron’s family were in the dining room/kitchen, talking and clamoring about as Amara and Lalit, Joe’s wife, dished out breakfast. Elizabeth slid it into a chair beside her younger brother, Justin’s. The small blonde headed boy was bouncing in his chair, his favorite stuffed animal, a squirrel(Whom he’d affectionally dubbed Steve), under one arm as he waited for his breakfast.

“Lizzie!!” He squeaked, giving her a quick hug, which she returned warmly. The bond between brother and sister was certainly strong between them. Elizabeth loved him more than anything in the world and Justin felt the same even at such a young age. Aaron loved watching them interact together.

“Morning, Dad.” Joe said as Aaron hobbled behind his chair to the other side of table, recognizing his dad’s hand when he reached out to squeeze his son’s shoulder briefly. Amara and Lalit finished passing everyone their food and sat down at the table. Everyone bowed their heads as Aaron began praying.

“Dear Lord, thank you for this food that you’ve provided for each and every one of us. And thank you for our family. We have been so blessed and are so grateful for every head at this table. Amen.”

“Amen.” Everyone at the table echoed.

There was a few minutes of silence as they started eating, besides the childrens’ normal whispering and giggling. Aaron ate slowly, surveying his happy family with a soft smile.

“Did ya’ll hear about the peacekeepers? That were on the docks this morning, waiting for something?” Amara said, breaking the silence.

Peter tilted his head, glasses sliding precariously down his nose slightly. “Hmm. That it is strange.”

“Does that mean that there’s new people coming?” Henley peeped in.

“It could mean anything. The peacekeepers and mayors are more paranoid than Ms. Lois about her stupid “special” artifacts collection.” Chet scoffed.

“Chet. Be nice. We don’t talk about people that way. Especially not our elders.” Lalit reprimanded her son.

“It could be a new family. Rachelle said her mother was complaining the other day absentmindedly, about having to wait for the arrival of someone.” Elizabeth added suddenly. They all went into silence again at that. Joe fidgeted with his fork, between his thin fingers. “If it is a new family, that’s strange. There hasn’t been anyone new in a while. And why would the mayors let them in? Something most definitely isn’t right.”

Aaron hummed in agreement, pushing his now empty plate forward.

“I’ll have to check it out. If it is a new family, they’ll need to be given all the information that it isn’t told outright. Goodness know what the mayors are up to now….”

~~

Author’s note:

Hey guys, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on here or the wiki, and I do apologize for that. I feel a lot better, spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally so Ive been trying to be more active. At this point my hiatus is officially over, I’ve just been staying silent because I’m socially awkward I guess, lol. I need to catch up on all the stories here as well anyways.

ANYWAYS, to my point of writing this! to those who may be waiting for the next chapter of TLW, you will unfortunately have to wait a bit longer for the next chapter. I have some news—I’m going to be completely rebooting the ROTP series. I just feel like it’s very dull, plot-wise and has no theme or purpose to show . It’s missing that spark. I don’t particularly like this series at all, to be incredibly honest and probably will never be proud of it, however I would like to have something that people don’t look at and find it unwholesome.

I do feel like, at the time, whenever I formerly wrote this, I truly needed and enjoyed it. I’m of the belief that at some points of our lives, what we write reflects what we need or feel at that time period, you know? So, the original draft of this series will always have a special place in my heart. It’s not my intention to erase the old draft completely, you can still read it if you really wanted to, but I do think it’s time for something new to be born. That being said, I will be editing out several unneeded things/people or elements, that if you’ve read the original draft, you’ll probably notice are completely different. Some elements may be the same but I wouldn’t assume that you know any of the characters or their intentions and purposes just yet, if I were you.

And if you have been reading this series patiently from the first draft, I just want to say thank you for your patience, love, and support. Ya’ll have been the best, even when I first started writing here and also not to mention me and MGG’s less than positive arrival. I understand it hasn’t been the best, grammatically, plot-wise, and theme wise. And also that it isn’t really a Ark fanfic?? It is, in some elements but I’m afraid I’ll never be able to fully fix it and make it a “correct” one, nor will I probably be able to make the story seem that wholesome. I do feel like my writing has improved a lot more since then(I hope so at least), so um yeah. Here we go, starting it all over again. Thanks for sticking around. <3

(GENERAL TW FOR THIS SERIES: This series does contain some gore, body horror, and death scenes later on into it, which you should expect since it’s a Ark fanfic(kinda?), but um yeah, just be aware if you would like to continue on if you are new here. :3)