Dododex
ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion
Tips & Strategies
Waning Unity
Chapter Thirty (1/2)
[I'm sorry, I didn't want to do parts in a collab, and normally if it's too long I just shorten it, but in this case, this whole interaction would have either been a rushed fight or lacking a lot of emotional weight.]
Boa was fast. Maybe too fast, since the monster could hardly see where she was going. The smaller wolf zig-zag aged ahead, leaving the beast little room for error if it wanted to keep up. Then without warning, Boa ducked into a small opening made by a fallen log and several large rocks, a space too small for the monster to fully squeeze into. It snapped its jaws shut, just short of the she-wolf's tail as she pressed herself to the very back of the small opening.
It continued to snap for a moment, struggling to wriggle its body in but quickly gave up with a frustrated snarl. A deep, guttural cry like a roar broke from its lungs, and though Boa flinched a bit, she knew the beast could not reach her.
With a final frustrated snort, the monster fought out of the enclosed space, its eyes quickly landing on an immobile shape in the distance. The frown on its face quickly grew into a smile as it remembered why it was here. "Fra-ser..." it taunted singsongishly. Milkweed planted her feet at his side, staring at the beast defiantly. As it bolted towards them, Milkweed quickly tried to push Fraser out of the way again, but the monster had learned its lesson. It wasn't going for Fraser.
It bolted directly for Milkweed, ramming the stunned wolf and throwing her to the ground before turning back to Fraser, still frozen with his eyes widened in disbelief. Without Milkweed to pull him away again, It easily snatched him up, shaking back and forth ferociously for a moment before tossing him to the side.
He was panting and bleeding profusely, but he was faring much better than he had the last time Lume had tried to kill him... for now, at least.
"Finally..." it breathed with a crooked smile, stepping towards him as the toothy maws in its neck opened again, snapping at the open air in anticipation of more flesh.
It hadn't gotten far before it was thrown to the ground and pinned. Mushroom and Harrier stood over it with bared fangs, silva dripping down into its face. "Stay down, rot," Harrier hissed through gritted teeth. The monster snarled in response, and one of its pseudo-mouths opened, snapping down suddenly on Mushroom's ankle. The she-wolf whimpered in shock, and before Harrier could come to her aid the beast had twisted her head around, shutting its jaws around his neck and lifting him into the air slowly, picking up a scrambling Mushroom in the process.
"It's time..." it said to Harrier over a mouthful of his fur, "that I finish what I started with you." its eyes narrowed as it tightened its jaw, and the panicked wolf went into utter terror as he attempted to claw himself free.
"NO!" Boa shouted across the dusty clearing as she darted towards the beast. The monster wolf flicked an ear before swinging its head back and releasing its grip on both Harrier and Mushroom, sending them flying into a large overhanging rock in the distance. Their heads struck first, knocking them unconscious completely.
The monster then swung back to meet Boa fangs-first, intercepting the wolf's blow and slamming her into the ground on the head repeatedly before dropping her and preparing to finish her off.
"Hey!" a voice called from behind. It had only caught sight of Milkweed out of the corner of its eye before a set of claws met with its face. The monster roared in pain, turning and dashing after the fleeing wolf in fury. Oddly enough, Milkweed didn't seem completely focused on running. She slowed down to inspect the trees she was dashing past before bolting to another and doing the same.
"Finding a nice place to die?" the beast taunted. And then Milkweed stopped suddenly, turning and facing it with that same defiant look in her eye. "Today's not my day to die," she snarled.
~CL1
Waning Unity
Chapter Twenty-nine
Fraser usually had a decent idea as to what was a danger and what wasn’t. His perception was often quite accurate, all throughout his life.
He was pretty sure that fang-lined mouths ripping into visibility from inside of Lume’s throat was a danger.
Lume’s head sagged to one side or the other, unable to hold her neck up any longer. A continuous, gargling snarl was wobbling out from inside of her, carrying out of each mouth that pierced its way through her pale red fur. Her pale eyes were glossed over, crackling with rage and bloodthirst as she stood on shaky feet, lips drawn back in a shivering snarl.
“Now would be a super good time for your idiot brain to work, Fraser,” Boa snapped as she appeared at his side, fur bristling all over as she stared up at Lume, who had grown considerably since they had first come into contact with her.
“I like that idea,” Harrier’s fear-laced voice attested from behind them. “A lot. Fraser, be smart. She’s your freaky monster wolf.”
Fraser opened and closed his mouth for a long moment, unable to keep his gaze anywhere but Lume’s contorted face. He was incessantly filing through his own mind, thoughts running crazed circles as he strained for any form of idea as to what to do. He had been determined to stay with Lume, prove that he cared for her, yes. But that was before she had several new mouths and had effortlessly dismembered Fawn in front of them. “I… got nothing.”
Milkweed sidestepped and pressed herself into Fraser’s side, her fur brushing comfortingly against his as she tried to ground herself. “Think,” she urged in a soft whisper, skin shivering underneath her pelt. “You’ve got to have something.”
Fraser worked his jaw, heart pounding within his ribcage as he struggled to calm his mind enough to use it. As if growing tired of their delay Lume lunged forward, jaw unhinging as she sped toward the gathered wolves, struggling to keep her head at the correct angle to catch one of them. Immediately Boa and Harrier lunged sideways and away from her gnashing teeth, Mushroom peeling off the other direction. Milkweed began to move but then caught that Fraser was still rooted in his place, whipping around and seizing his scruff to drag him out of the way as well before Lume slammed down where he had been, paws thundering in the sand.
Fraser tumbled sideways across the ground, sand flinging into his eyes. He jumped back to his feet quickly, shaking his head and spitting sand from off of his tongue as he regained his footing. Lume didn’t give them more than a moment to recompose themselves before she lunged again, teeth gnashing as she lurched forward and snapped at any of them who looked within reach.
“Fraser!” Boa shouted as she dodged away from the mighty wolf’s paws and teeth, legs carrying her swiftly. “I’m not kidding anymore! Now would be a great time for you to use your brain!”
Breath caught in Fraser’s throat as his paws once more seemed to solidify to the ground, legs stiff and unmoving even when Lume thundered closer in pursuit of his pack mates. Nothing in his head would line up, no plans would formulate, even as he racked his brain furiously for even the faintest scrap of an idea.
For once in his life, Fraser had no idea on how to cheat death of a savory and bloody victory.
(This chapter was way too much work)
- President Loki
“You beat it with a stick. a StIcK, fRaSeR” Fraser is going feral.
Girl, what is up with your weird spacing? I waste two minutes of my precious day fixing your weird spacing!
- President Loki
Waning Unity
Chapter Six
All it took was a twinge, just a twinge of blood-thirst, and Lume was over the edge again. In her neutrality she had balanced on the edge, teased it with her paw steps on the narrow ledge, never slipping or faltering. She veered away from the precarious danger only when she leaned towards the purity of a blue phase, preserving the peace, but as the hostility reared and the wolves launched at Fraser, Lume could see her paws stumbling and she watched herself slip from the edge, down into the darkness below into very dangerous territory.
The fall, she learned, was only scary until she had reached the bottom; by then, she never wanted to climb back up the ledge again.
“Lume!”
Fraser stumbled back, still struggling on three good legs, as he shouted her name. It was almost a command, throwing her into action as she leapt over him and caught one of the wolves by the neck, pushing her head up and away. The wolf snatched her neck from Lume’s fangs before the ancient wolf had time to snap her jaws shut and starve the younger wolf of oxygen. Immediately, her brother took the lead as he attempted to leap onto Lume.
She braced herself as he lunged, allowing him to touch her only to use his momentum and keep the movement going by lifting forcefully as he landed on her back. He was flung over her and crashed into the ground harshly enough to knock the wind out of him. Lume didn’t allow him the chance to get to his paws. She reached him in a single bound where it should have taken more.
“Lume, wait!” Fraser shouted from somewhere behind her. “I-I just wanted you to help me, not hurt them!” His pleas flew past her ears as she pinned her attacker. She turned, her eyes burning against Fraser. “I am not your guardian,” she reminded him with a snarl. This was not about him, this was about the wolves drowning in blood red essence and dragging her down into the depths with them.
“Boa, a little help!” The pinned wolf shouted to his sister. Lume paused her snarling, slightly amused. “Now why would she do that?” A look of confusion passed over the wolf’s face. “Because she’s my sister. I protect her, the same as she’ll protect me! You wouldn’t know anything about that. I don’t see how anyone could care enough to try protecting you.”
For the first time in a long time, Lume found herself smiling.
She lifted her head and looked to Boa, who hadn’t moved since breaking from Lume’s grip. She stared intently at the myth wolf looming over her brother. Lume tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes a bit, never breaking eye-contact with Boa. “Is that so? Does he protect you?”
“Of course I do!” her brother snapped, clearly infuriated by the question.
“Harrier is always there for his sister,” Fraser shouted at a distance. Lume had forgotten he was there.
Boa too had a look of certainty on her face, but Lume only had to repeat herself to eat away at the young wolf’s certainty. “Does he protect you … always?” Boa’s sharpened brow softened and her face went blank as she retreated inside her head, dwelling on all of the times Harrier wasn’t there. Harrier hadn’t stopped her from stumbling and twisting her paw. Harrier couldn’t stop her from getting sick when illness ravaged the pack. Harrier couldn’t find food when she was starving.
“Can you really count on him?” Lume’s voice hissed through her head.
Eventually, the small petty things became poisonous, spreading their influence through her mind until all the times Harrier WAS there for her simply disappeared. The time he had saved her from falling down a cliffside, the time he had stopped her from getting carried off by a hawk as a pup, even just mere moments ago when he rushed to her defense against the red wolf, putting his life in danger even now; it was if none of it ever happened, because to Boa, it didn’t.
“No!” Harrier shouted both to Lume and Boa, “It isn’t true, you know it’s not! I’d never hurt you, never!”
Lume’s head snapped down to Harrier suddenly. He had just signed a heavily binding contract with his words, words that would be very easy to turn against him. “Never …” she repeated to him, hissing the word in his face. Her head cocked to the side and her face relaxed into an expression of light contentment. “Show me.”
She backed off of Harrier and let him stagger to his feet. He looked at her with heavy confusion for a second. “What do you mean show—“
His words were cut off as Boa tackled him and shut her jaws around her brother’s throat.
~CL1
Why do we still exist, what is our meaning in ark? Who created it? Wanna know who? The Government. Because they are trying to do something. And let me find out what, but I know they are up to SOMETHING. The other day, I saw a Government Official Pull up a comm with The galactic Empire. This is huge. How is this happening, a conspiracy right under our eyes! And then, A Hydra agent, said Hail Megatron. This is treachery. And what do we do? Nothing! (Not like...I made all that up, and that's why.)
Xd, bored again.
-SpiritBird8960
Waning Unity
Chapter Twenty-Six
"Lume!"
No ...
Her paws halted immediately and her ears perked at Fraser's voice.
No, no, no, no ...
It could hear him. It could smell him right behind it. It wasted no time turning to meet him face to face.
She had held on to hope as the monster failed to locate Fraser in the forest before it found its way into the desert and climbed up the dusty cliffs to his old home. She held on to hope even as her body searched the ground for any sign of the wise little wolf. Maybe Fraser hadn't come back after all? That alone sparked new fears of just where Fraser could be; where a wolf in his state would turn... what he would do in a moment of broken grief.
She didn't know how to feel, seeing him alive and well here. Even if he was still breathing now, she was undeniably afraid he wouldn't be for much longer.
Again, she tried in vain to work her mouth into forming words, but her vocal cords locked against her, refusing to betray their new master. The thing in control of her body was smart. It had sewn the edges of her unhinged jaw back together and pulled her teeth back into their proper place and size. It was putting on a show for Fraser, making sure the hopeful wolf felt comfortable before it tore his throat out.
But Lume had yet another hope, and that was in Fraser's wisdom. If anyone could see when something wasn't quite right with Lume, it was the one who had spent so much time at her side, the one who knew her better than she possibly even knew herself.
Lume's mouth pulled back into a distorted smile. "Fras...er," it choked out in a manner that made it sound like a snake was wrapped tightly around her neck. It seemed even Lume's body wasn't entirely sure if it was willing to cooperate with Fraser's death.
Please Fraser... you're smarter than this.
Fraser's excited smile fell to a look of concern as his ears lowered. "Lume," he half-whimpered, stepping towards her. "Are you okay?"
Stay back. Don't come any closer, please.
"P...erfect...ly... fine."
Then something crossed Fraser's face that terrified Lume: joy. He was happy to see her, so happy in fact, that he might not have seen the clear signs that something was wrong.
So Lume turned to something primal, as primal as breathing and blinking; something that control had no part over. She poured all her strength into the one move and shut her eyes, just for a moment. There was just a tingle at first, then a small stinging, and then her vision blurred with tears as they poured down her face.
"... Lume?"
I'm sorry.
"Are you sure you're..."
I can't let you...
Recognition filled Fraser's face just a second too late. Lume's body was already back to its deformed, monster state again and looming its fangs over Fraser's head.
And then she heard them, a chorus of howls just over the ridge. Then she smelled them, familiar scents that blended with the perfume of the desert in such a natural way. The colored scar of essence went fully blue with their arrival. It was her last hope, a final failsafe. In her desperation, as she began losing control back in the forest, she turned to the very last place she could and sent a plea to the sky with only two words: "Send help."
Whether the ancestors had truly heard her or not, she would soon find out.
(That's the pain of dramatic irony...)
~CL1
Chapter One
Fraser lifted his head, ears shifting forward, pricking in search of sounds that the wind may carry in his direction. He had heard something just a heartbeat before.
Nothing.
He waited a moment longer before dismissing it as the wind or his imagination, bowing his head to once more rip away branches and earth from the shrub at his paws, yanking to reach the richly-flavored roots prominently buried beneath the soil.
As he unearthed the roots, a sound interrupted him, and he lifted his head once more.
A rattlesnake was coiled barely a tail-length away, small eyes narrowed, tail-tip rattling dangerously as a hiss shuddered out of its throat. As he stared at the serpent for a long moment, he saw it shift, coiling backwards, bracing itself to strike.
Fraser made a quick calculation: the snake’s small eyes were fixated on his ankles, and it would be striking low. He leaned back into his hind legs, tensing the muscles in his haunches and preparing to leap over the snake while it was lunging for him. Just a moment longer… almost… almost… now!
The snake shot forward, wide jaws unhinging and speeding towards his forelegs, long venom-tipped fangs seeking out his flesh. Instantaneously, Fraser leapt, sailing high over the snake’s head, landing with a thud where it had been seconds before. He quickly whipped around to face the snake again and found that it was already twisting to strike again. He made an attempt to dodge, but the serpent was too quick, coming for him right as he moved to the side. Sharp pain zipped through his hind ankle and he let out a cry.
Fraser limped along a beaten, sandy trail, his hind leg lifted from the ground. The pain of the snake bite still assaulted him, and every step made his veins sting. The hot sky was growing dark now, vibrant blue giving way to darkness, magnificent streaks of colors and clusters of ancestor-representing stars painting the sky. He lifted his head, staring up at the white specks that filled the night sky, and as he did so he felt a pang of loneliness stab into his heart like a cougar’s claws. Was his family up there, with the ancestors now? Had their mission to find a different home failed and caused them death?
He hung his head as he trudged the rest of the way back to his home, sadness making his paws as heavy as rocks. Abandonment accompanied him as he circled twice and then laid down in his usual spot, tucked away beneath the ragged tree. He tucked his nose away beneath his tail, and as he sank into sleep, a whimper slipped out of his throat. “I miss you,” he whispered to his absent family.
-President Loki
HI, JOY!
CL1…
1: I see you use Apple Pages which therefore means you have an Apple device, hmMM? Most profitable.
2: Why don’t you just get Grammarly. Or… just be good at grammar
3: Whatever made you think writing that chapter was okay is going to die a fiery death. Okay? Okay!
- President Loki is sad now :(
I think you’re just gaslighting me into believing that the spacing is my issue. I refuse to be manipulated.
Oh, great, you can just write my chapter for me, then! I’ve just got a couple more paragraphs to go… almost there…
- President Loki
EARTH COPIED ARK, ARK HAS MOUNTAINS AND TREES!
ARK COPYRIGHT EARTH!
-HJK
This is me getting my revenge. Obviously. If I have to be hurt over this collaboration, so do you. That’s how it works here in Revenge Town.
…thanks for chainsawing me out of the box. You’ve always got my back!
- President Loki
I love Waning Unity ngl. Such a good story😊 Keep up the great work!!
Yeahhhh I kinda realized I'd locked you in a box with no conceivable way out without completely derailing some stuff. Sorry 'bout that, hehe. But it's okay, I brought the chainsaw of love and the box is in pieces now :D
~CL1 got carried away with the body horror and forgot you'd have to figure out a solution to that...
To the guy that said arks the worst game why are you on dododex- how do you know what dododex is unless you played the game long enough to need it? And also why are you saying it in the dyes section- some fiction writers are the only ones that will see it and why magenta- complain in silver cause more people will see it 😂
HI JOY FROM ZOOPIX, NICE TO MEET YOU!
Also, Pres I promise I FIXED that spacing before posting! I write these in pages and then put it through google docs to catch any grammar mistakes pages didn't, then copy and paste it from there which is why the spacing gets all weird. Gonna try something different next time, so just bear with me.
~CL1
What on earth is going on with your spacing, CL1
It went from
Looking like
this to
looking like this
now and
it’s really difficult
to
read
- President Loki
That is, in fact, a lie. On your part. Every single chapter I have to fix your weird spacing… another reason why Apple Pages is better than Google Docs, hm.
Also, I’m EXCRUCIATINGLY sorry for how long my chapter is taking me. I’m finding it oddly hard to write at the moment and I don’t want to write something that I’ll later regret and hate, so it’s taking a while. Sorry again. :/
- President Loki is having a hard time
Get a lot of berries so then you can be ready if you want magenta dye.
HI, NICE TO MEET YOU TOO 😃
Sorry I'm never online on here 🤣
WWT I think jerboas are cool there one of my favourite shoulder mounts bbbuuttt now we need to name them maybe rose (one of my own jerbs I had on scorched really bootiful red and pink I got her near Valentine's RIP my bootiful rose she died during a wyvern attack thankfully my army of 50 wyverns DESTROYED them I am the wyvern Queen)