Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

Under Nirvana - An ARK

Chapter 12: Guiding Light

Story by Bria!

Find the last chapter in RHYNIOGNATHA and the next chapter in PTERANODON!

“Y’know,” Neddy squirmed, tapping his fingers together. “My device isn’t glowing any brighter than it did before.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me a bit sooner?” Ruby said, her voice raising.

“S–sorry,” Neddy apologized blankly. “But we’re already so far in here… we might get more lost if we try to retrace our steps.”

“Ugh,” Ruby scoffed, looking off into the distance. Despite the heavy treetops, it was relatively bright from all the sun filtering in through the horizon. “So you’re telling me we’re just going to keep walking until we get somewhere? And we’re probably not going to run into Nova or the nuisance that way either.”

“I’m sure we’ll find a way.”

“A miracle, maybe. A way? I don’t see it.”

Neddy opened his mouth in protest, but then an explosion rang through the entire forest.

BOOM!

“What the…” Ruby paused. “That felt big. Should we be worried about that?”

“I–I’m not picking anything up!” Neddy stammered, looking down at his medallion. “So it’s definitely not human, whatever the noise is.”

KABOOM!

The next explosion was so large that Ruby stumbled a few steps forward. Neddy tripped backwards, slamming into the earth.

“Okay, that’s definitely not normal,” Ruby murmured as she scanned her surroundings, drawing her bow. Neddy squeaked in terror, raising his fists.

“Y–yeah! We should be prepared…”

Ruby gave Neddy a pitiful look. With a sigh, she reached for her pouch and pulled out a few supplies. She began twisting a few pieces of scrap wood and fiber together before a makeshift stone hatchet popped up in her hands. She tossed it over to Neddy.

Neddy reached his hands out to grab it, but the blunt handle of the hatchet only smacked him in the forehead instead.

“Ouch!”

Ruby rolled her eyes. Neddy was too much sometimes.

“I hope I’m not stuck with him forever,” Ruby thought. Neddy gasped. For a moment, Ruby thought she said whatever she was thinking out loud, but when she looked over she noticed Neddy was only pointing at the sky. A giant obelisk of stone was rising into the air in the distance. They could barely see through the leaves, but the glyphs on the side were most prominent. The menacing obelisk seemed to radiate abnormal, incoherent whispers. Neddy and Ruby’s medallions glowed.

“THE DIFFICULTY OF THE SIMULATION HAS BEEN ADJUSTED. AS A RESULT, THE STORY MUST BE EDITED,” a masculine robotic voice blared from both of their implants.

“Story? Edited?” Neddy wondered.

“Almost like a book,” Ruby muttered. “There’s always some obstacle for the heroes to face. Maybe more will start popping up.”

“Well, we’re no heroes,” Neddy pointed out. Ruby shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Otherwise we’d be doing grander things.”

Ruby clenched her fists. A part of her hoped that if this was all some grand book, she wasn’t a background character hidden in the lines of the pages. After all–

“Background characters never survive in stories like these.”

Golden sparks shot out of Ruby and Neddy’s medallions. The robotic voice spoke again.

“STORY EDITED. THE PLOT DEVICE, ‘NOW OR NEVER’ HAS BEEN WRITTEN. INCREASE YOUR POWER THROUGH TOTAL VANQUISHMENT, OR FACE LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES.”

“Increase your power…” Neddy repeated.

“Just like a book. A hero gets stronger the more enemies they face,” Ruby realized. “I really hope we don’t run into any desperate people here. I can imagine they wouldn’t be against the idea of killing us if it meant a better chance at survival.”

A red glow suddenly filled the area. Ruby gasped, jumping away from the light.

“What’s that?” Neddy gasped. Ruby looked up to the sky to see something fluttering to the ground. They looked like red fireflies, dancing and twirling in the shape of a beam.

“That looks… pretty,” Ruby said. She sat down on the grass to gaze at it further. Even Neddy was getting entranced. He reached his hand out to touch it, hesitating for a moment, before ultimately lowering it. Ruby seemed to mimic Neddy’s movements, but instead of stopping halfway, her fingers came dangerously close to the fireflies.

“Wait!” Neddy shouted, rushing over and grabbing Ruby’s arm. Ruby let out a “woah”, shaking her head furiously, her eyes blinking rapidly. She pulled away from Neddy gently, rubbing her eyes.

“Sorry… I got distracted.”

“Yeah, me too,” Neddy admitted. “Are we just gonna keep moving?”

Ruby shook her head. She seemed to already have an idea on how to use the fireflies to their advantage. She looked back up at the skies. The fireflies still seemed to be descending, like an infinite spiral of brightness. “Let’s use this as a guiding light. I think Nova and the other guy will naturally come to investigate. We’ll regroup that way.”

“Great thinking!” Neddy complimented Ruby. Ruby blinked her eyes.

“Thanks?”

And then there was just awkward silence for a few moments. Neddy stood up from the ground, whistling and walking off to collect resources.

“I’m going to get firewood. I’ll be back.”

“Okay. Thanks,” Ruby said, reaching into her pouch to check up on the Ichthyornis meat from last night. It still seemed fresh, fortunately. She closed the pouch in anticipation. She was already fantasizing about all the foods she’d make here with all these exotic animals.

“I’m sure I can make a Tyrannosaurus burger one day,” Ruby thought dreamily. “Oooh. That sounds good now.”

Ruby licked her lips, leaning her head back to gaze at the fireflies again. Meanwhile, Neddy was picking up large bundles of thatch off the grass, glancing back at Ruby occasionally with renewed vigor in his eyes.

“I’m going to get on your good side,” Neddy thought. “Whether you like it or not!”

The more Neddy thought about it, the more motivated he became. He didn’t know why, but Ruby was someone that Neddy was slowly becoming more and more fond of. He relied on Borealis for survival– but Ruby? She was just a good person. Somebody authentic, somebody who was honest and valued integrity above all else.

“Nova’s cool, but… she feels off sometimes. She always seems like she’s hiding something. And that dodo bird is a bit of an oddball too,” Neddy cringed.

As Neddy continued to ponder, the sun beamed a bit brighter, lighting up Ruby’s face under the shade. Neddy jerked his head away, forcing himself to continue picking up more and more firewood.