Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

Under Nirvana - An ARK

Chapter 13 (B): Another Pathetic Character

Story by Bria!

Find the last chapter in PTERANODON and the next chapter in PELAGORNIS.

“You don’t sound so sure yourself,” Nova said. She sniffed the air slightly. It almost smelt like perfume or cologne. Bria began walking forward. Borealis tensed up, clenching his fists, but Bria simply brushed against his shoulder and knelt down to press her finger against the unconscious raptor’s neck.

“Hm,” Bria noted. “Not dead just yet. And you’ve already done the hard part of knocking it out. It’d be a waste to kill it now.”

“And why shouldn’t I? Besides the fact it did THAT.” Nova pointed at her old torn shirt and robe on the ground. “It’s also not exactly ‘friendly’.”

Nova’s eyes scanned Bria again. Her bun was neatly bunched up with a small hair tie. “She sure is dressed nicely for a graduation ceremony. It’s not like anyone was supposed to see what was under the robe anyway,” Nova thought.

Borealis scowled, slightly skeptical of the casual entrance of the woman.

“Your mysteries will not achieve anything. Get on with it and explain the meaning of… this.”

“Hm,” Bria muttered under her breath. “Survived unlike the others… probably a high level. Yeah. This should be tamed. This will be helpful for later.”

“Hello?” Borealis snapped his fingers. “Excuse me?”

“Huh? Oh. Right. My bad,” Bria answered with a chuckle. “How should I put this? You can tame dinosaurs here. Yeah. That’s basically it. If you knock them unconscious and feed them, they become your loyal, devoted pets. Neat, huh?”

“And how do you know this exactly?” Nova wondered aloud. Twinkle squawked in agreement. Bria glanced at the small dodo bird standing near Nova, raising her eyebrow.

“Uh, I thought you would know already?”

Nova slowly shook her head. “You sound off the rails, girl.”

“And that sounds highly dubious,” Borealis snapped. “These are reptiles with brains the size of walnuts. How can they ever be domesticated, no less obedient?”

Bria motioned her hand to the rest of the forest. “Look around you. We’re already on an island filled to the brim with dinosaurs that should be extinct, with medallions in our wrists that give us powers.” She tapped on her right wrist. “You should know by now, that anything may as well be possible here. Don’t act so surprised.”

Bria reached for a large pouch on her belt and took out a few scraps of meat.

“Look. If you don’t wanna tame it, then I will,” Bria sighed. Borealis stepped in front of the raptor. Bria looked up at him with disdain.

“How about you explain to us in depth before you risk all our lives?”

Bria tipped her sunglasses down, revealing her eyes. Borealis froze. Naturally, he stumbled back, his eyes still pinned to Bria’s. Nova raised an eyebrow at Borealis’ reaction.

“What the…” Nova thought. Bria put her sunglasses back up. Twinkle squawked skeptically, a bit wary of her now.

“Stop being an annoyance,” Bria murmured. The raptor slowly opened its jaws, and Bria slid the first piece of meat into the raptor’s mouth. It gulped it down with one swallow. Bria pressed her sunglasses up against her eyes again.

“I’ll cut straight to the chase, though,” Bria said. “I need you two for something. It’s a bit crucial. And also your other two buddies, wherever they may be.”

“Other two buddies–” Nova paused. “Wait a minute. How do you know about Ruby and Neddy?”

“Look. I’m not asking you to trust me. But I do need your cooperation. Otherwise, we’ll never escape this place,” Bria said. “I have what you need to escape. You have what we need to escape.”

“Oooookay. In that case… what do we need to do?”

Bria pointed her finger at a seemingly random direction before sliding another slab of meat into the raptor’s mouth.

“We’re forming a coalition, so to say. We need as many forces as possible for what’s to come. You five will be crucial.”

“Us five?” Nova asked, looking down at Twinkle. Bria seemed to be referring to the little dodo bird too.

“If my prediction is correct,” Bria said. “And I’m sure it will be, then a final enemy will await us before we’re allowed to escape. I doubt many will be able to fight it alone. We need to rally as many as we can to increase our odds, humans and beasts alike.”

“A… final enemy? Like a video game?” Nova questioned.

“Sort of. A video game, a story unfolding before our eyes.”

She motioned for Nova to approach. Approach, she did. Nova stared at the unconscious raptor with a heavy breath, her pettiness overwhelming her mind.

“I won’t let you kill it,” Bria declared. “I can’t let you hurt it either. That’s going to mess with the stats. Here, I can let you do something a bit more cruel.”

She pointed at one of the dead raptors nearby. Nova looked from raptor to raptor, a sudden realization overcoming her. She nearly threw up at the thought. She turned away, covering her mouth and gagging.

“How could you–”

“How could I what? You’re the one who suggested hurting it. What better way than to feed it its own kind?” Bria shrugged. “As far as I know, there are plenty of cannibals in the animal kingdom. This isn’t such a biggie. It even happened in the game.”

“Game,” Borealis whispered. “What?”

“Nevermind it then, nevermind it!” Nova said, still gagging. “Just… tame it or whatever and get it over with. I don’t care anymore.”

“Okay. Your loss.” Bria fed the raptor one last piece of meat. Its eyes fluttered open as it slid down its throat. Borealis raised his fists as the raptor rose from the ground. Nova fell on her bottom, looking up at the creature in terror. “Oh sh*t!”

But the raptor just stared down at her, not taking another step forward. Bria walked over to Nova, holding her hand out. Nova grabbed it, and Bria pulled her up. Nova was now face-to-face with the beast. Its eyes seemed dull, glazed over and distant. The predatory gaze was now gone, erased and replaced by something even more eerie.

“Perfect. It’s tame now.” Bria snapped her fingers. “Kneel.”

The raptor chittered, bending its knees and bowing its head toward Nova. Nova was taken aback by its blind obedience. Borealis seemed more intrigued than anything. Bria snapped her fingers, and the raptor returned to her side.

“Now, I would like to meet the rest of your allies,” Bria said. Nova chuckled awkwardly.

“I mean, we’d love to, but we don’t know where they are. We’re still trying to find them. We were going to check out that beam of light first,” Nova said, pointing in the distance at the red fireflies. Bria shrugged.

“Oh. Right. Those things. They’re pretty helpful. Okay, we can go there first, and then look for your friends.”

Bria walked off in the direction that Nova pointed them toward. The newly tamed raptor followed, its tail swishing back and forth. Nova and Borealis followed closely behind.

“She sure is an oddball,” Nova thought. She only got more excited at the thought. “But that’s what makes this so much fun.”

She looked at Borealis, who seemed to be studying Bria further.

“Though what she said is interesting. If you can domesticate the dinosaurs,” she thought.

“Maybe I can tame humans like you too.”