Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

Under Nirvana - An ARK

Chapter 3: Recess

Story by Bria!

Find the last chapter in VULTURE and the next chapter in TROPEOGNATHUS!

The river ahead of them cut through the land until it eventually ended not too far away. Nova peered into the water and noticed schools of fish swimming by. Some were dark blueish black and had small, derpy eyes, but then a swarm of small hand-shaped red fish swam in, their sharp teeth glinting in the water. Piranhas. The dodo squawked at the sight of them, and it was then both women noticed the razor sharp teeth.

“We’re not swimming across the river. We’ll just keep moving.” Ruby declared.

“I was about to say…” Nova shuddered, “Yeah. Let’s get a move on.”

Nova and Ruby took their stroll down the ‘beach’, and as they did Ruby began picking some of the berries off the bushes nearby. Because of the peninsula they were located on, the place they were was more so a beach than a forest.

Nova’s eyes darted to Ruby’s hands, and she foraged. She scratched her chin.

“Are you preparing for a good meal?” Nova questioned her curiously.

“Yeah. How’d you know?” Ruby smiled. “It appears you can make meals with them. So they probably aren’t poisonous.”

Ruby pooled all the berries in her palms and showed them to Nova.

“These things look funky,” Nova said, picking a blue one up, “Hey this one looks like a blue cherry.”

“It does. But it’s way bigger. Look at the size of that thing,” Ruby replied, “I’ve never seen any of these berries before when I cooked. Maybe they’re exotic or something.”

“Yeah. It does appear like we’re on some sort of island. Maybe these are exclusive here.”

“I wonder what they taste like? I bet they taste really sweet.”

“I bet the dinosaurs here would taste really good,” Nova predicted as she twirled the sharp stick back and forth with her palm.

“I wonder if it’d taste more like a steak or a porkchop,” Ruby replied, “I bet the birds here taste like chicken.”,

Nova eyed the dodo bird, licking her lips with a grin. The bird squawked at her with disapproval.

“Sorry,” Nova apologized, “I’m just joking with you.”

“Yeah. There’s always other dodo birds to eat,” Ruby giggled, looking down at the bird, “You’re fine with that, right?”

It seemed completely fine with the notion of eating other dodos.

“Okay nice. Because I’m gonna be hungry soon. I have a big appetite,” Nova declared. The dodo squawked, as if agreeing.

“Yeah. He gets it!”

Nova thought the way the strange dodo bird acted was familiar, in a sense. But she couldn’t put her finger on it. Would Ruby even understand what she was talking about?

“You’re not so bad. Maybe we can be friends after all this,” Ruby suggested. Nova grinned. It wouldn’t be so bad to expand her connections.

“I don’t see why we wouldn’t. Just make free food for me every once in a while, okay?”

“I don’t mind doing that. I’ve been meaning to get into it.”

By now, the conversation was gone, and the atmosphere became a lot more quiet. Both women had come to an agreement about their food situation. For now, Nova was taking his time looking around the place at the other creatures that he just noticed also inhabited the island. Alongside the dodo birds were small lizard creatures that looked similar to dogs but had smaller and more derpy heads. Nova noticed that they dug their heads in the small bushes, and once they took them out they ate small, purple berries that looked like grapes.

“You know, the purple berries must taste pretty well if those guys are eating them,” Nova observed.

“Those are Lystrosaurus,” Ruby responded, “And yes. They must be both safe to eat and tasty.”

Nova continued looking around the area. There were giant turtles bigger than them with small heads which stumbled around slowly, their small legs sticking out like stumps. There were also large horned beasts with huge frills and three large horns, and they were also larger than them. Swimming in the water were small furry birds that were like skinny ducks. One of the skinny ducks dived into the water, grabbed a blue fish, and submerged with game in its beak. Nova looked above to see strange reptile birds with huge crests on their head and elongated beaks flying above them, their wings flapping slowly but majestically.

“It doesn’t seem dangerous, but,” Nova murmured, “Something still feels off about this place. Like… this place is artificial.”

“Same here. The gems, the extinct creatures…” Ruby warned her, “Keep your guard up.”

Nova drew her bow. “Will do.”

Ruby popped a purple berry in her mouth. She seemed pleasantly surprised by the taste. She drew her bow too afterwards.

A few more minutes passed and they had managed to make it to the ‘hill’ on the other side. Nova looked up with squinted eyes.

“This place doesn’t look too dangerous. I don’t see any dinosaurs anywhere,” Nova pointed out. Just then, a shrill scream came from up above. Nova and Ruby’s heads jerked up at the sound. The dodo bird clucked nervously.

“Someone’s up there,” Nova deduced.

“It sounds like he’s in trouble,” Ruby said, drawing an arrow, “Should we… help that guy?”

“I don’t see why not,” Nova began running up the hill, “Come on! Let’s check it out!”