The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 41: Principal, Principles

Part 1/3

It’s quiet.

The wind softly whistled throughout the snowy tundras, and what resembled snowflakes fell past his face. The boy’s chitin armor was especially tight in this type of weather.

Croak, croak.

The boy looked at his Pteranodon. Lifeless eyes, it’s been through it all. He reached forward and gently caressed its crest, but even with his affections, it showed no remorse.

But the more he petted it, the more he moved his hand back and forth on the creature, the more he felt his hands tremble.

“Why’d I do it, Monarch? They’d done nothing wrong. They just knew too much about this place,” he whispered.

He took steady, deep breaths, and felt his heart rate go down. His hands stopped trembling. It was for the best, anyway. Knowers were too dangerous. Too unpredictable.

So even though Mr. Mo had not specifically ordered him to sabotage and kill Knowers, he had to do it for his own safety.

The boy blinked his emerald green eyes, snapped his fingers, and turned around, walking to the small settlement of wooden huts that was tucked away at the seams of a mountain. One of three obelisks hung in the air above the mountain peak, its blue glow making him shiver.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The snow crunched under his feet as he approached the settlement, and the Pteranodon let out another croak. As he began to enter the premises, he noticed a gang of five jeering each other on, drinking out of their jars and pushing each other around like vicious dogs. They were wearing suits of hide armor and seemed to be in a daze.

The boy’s eyes shot a look at their leader, Brad, and Brad must have noticed. Short, black hair that was tied into a knot at the back, he smirked and nodded his head at him.

“Hey, wouldn’t you look at that, The principal’s little pet Loki is back,” Brad snickered.

Loki turned to him, a glare striking Brad’s face. Brad’s buddies turned to stare at him, and they all let out hollers of amusement and joy.

“We got a problem?” Loki asked.

“Yes, yes we do. Where’s our warm clothes?” Brad asked with a growl, “We’ve been freezing our butts off here and you’re just cooped up in the house doing nothing, you sack of nuts. We were expecting-”

Loki reached forward with immense speed and grabbed Brad by the throat, wrapping his fingers around his larynx and squeezing tightly. Brad began to choke as Loki began to raise his arm, the muscles all across his arm activating as Brad dangled in the air. He let out futile struggles by kicking his feet and prying at his hand, but it was no use.

“Psh. Really? I’ve done nothing? That’s hilarious coming from you,” Loki spat. Brad’s implant began to glow, but Loki slammed him onto the powdery snow.

“Try it all you want, you’re not entitled to anything around here. It’s survival of the fittest, and if you think others are gonna do the work for you? Don’t expect anything in return if you aren’t even going to contribute,” Loki snarled, shaking Brad up and down. Brad began to turn blue in the face, and his friends watched on in horror until someone’s cry shot through the air.

“Alright. That’s enough, Loki. We won’t kill anyone here now.”

Loki recognized his voice immediately. Loki let go of him immediately and shot up, standing. He turned around and took a saluting stance, his loyalty unwavering.

“Ah ha ha ha,” Mr. Mo laughed as wiped snow off his combed back gray hair. The wrinkles on his face seemed more defined than they were back at Terran High, and he still had that jagged scar that ran down his left eye. He was wearing a suit of fur armor, made from the pelts of the animals of the tundra. And his tanned face set him apart from everyone else in the snowy settlement. It was like he didn’t really belong here. Yet, at the same time, he was the only reason this settlement could have even come to life.

Mr. Mo added on, “Come on Loki. I see you’ve finished the scouting mission. Let’s go to my office and talk about it. And also about what I’ve found, it’s really important. I want your thoughts on it.”

Brad let out a snicker, his head looking at one friend and to the next.

“See? Told you that he’s his pet.”

Loki shot a sneer at the group as they began to laugh, but as he looked back he already saw Mr. Mo walking away to the stone compound tucked away at the corner of the settlement.