Chapter 41: Principal, Principles
Original Post Date: Mar 26, 2024
Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Cnidaria, next chapter in Diplocaulus.
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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.
Loki, respecting Mr. Mo’s wishes, snapped his fingers at Monarch.
“Go to the pens,” Loki ordered. Monarch wordlessly took off into the sky and began to fly over to a few pens made of wood.
With that, Loki began to run after Mr. Mo.
“Hold on now, slow down for me will ‘ya?”
Mr. Mo turned around and flashed Loki a grin, he walked back and gave him a professional noogie.
“Ahh you little bugger, I’m never gonna leave you behind. That’s a promise. Or maybe you’re just too slow.”
The two walked together to the compound, and as they opened the double doors, they were greeted with the smell of burnt wood and chalky nothingness. It was surprisingly clean inside the facility, and blue banners were hung along the side of the wall. Tables were lined up along the walls, with mortars and pestles and anvils and smithies for creating weaponry and dinosaur saddles. A man wearing a white lab coat and wearing safety goggles was snoozing on a chair, his snores carrying out throughout the entire building like a Tyrannosaurus. He was resting his head on the table. A jar of water laid untouched on the table.
“Oh gosh, Dr. Aston’s fallen asleep,” Mr. Mo whispered.
“Should we wake him up?” Loki asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No. No, let’s let him get his rest,” Mr. Mo replied.
The two walked into Mr. Mo’s office, and Mr. Mo took a seat at his desk, Loki taking a seat on the chair opposite of him. Loki’s eyes darted around the office. There was a map of the snowy tundra on the wall behind Mr. Mo, a few wooden crates that were stacked up in the corner of the room, and a small notepad on Mr. Mo’s desk that had a leather bind. A small, old pen lay dormant on the desk.
“So why don’t you go first,” Mr. Mo said, blinking his right eye, “Anything ya’ found on the scouting mission?”
Loki seemed hesitant to tell him. Hesitant to tell him what he did to that group of travelers. The ones investigating the green Obelisk. He felt his hands get clammy, and decided against it.
“I-I did find something,” Loki admitted, “North of the Redwood Forests. A duo were taming a Tyrannosaurus. They seemed like they knew what they were doing. Probably Knowers.”
A frown grew on Mr. Mo’s face. He cursed under his breath.
“Damn you father,” Mr. Mo muttered, “Can’t keep your bloody book away from the public.”
“What does that mean?” Loki wondered.
Mr. Mo sat there, clenching both of his fists, and furrowing his eyebrows. Loki began to scoot away in his chair, until finally half a minute later Mr. Mo’s face relaxed.
“Well. That’s not good, if they’re taming a Tyrannosaurus,” Mr. Mo declared, all anger on his face washed away, “We’re going to have to… take care of them.”
“What?!” Loki cried, “But we-”
Mr. Mo raised an eyebrow at him, and Loki slunk back in his seat. His hand reaching for his pouch and running his fingers along it for comfort.
“Loki, you know they’re dangerous. Too dangerous. It’s best we don’t take risks,” Mr. Mo replied, “People become violent and savage when they are left to their own devices. They could tear through our settlement with a Tyrannosaurus- Loki, it’s just for the best. Now I don’t expect you to finish the job yourself. I’ll ask someone else to do it, okay?”
“Yeah but, they did nothing wrong!” Loki argued, slamming his fist on the table, “And you know those bags of nothing won’t bother with it! It’s either you or me and-”
Suddenly, Loki’s eyes widened, as he realized what he said. Did nothing wrong? Didn’t he blow up a group of seven just then with a grenade even though they did nothing wrong? What the hell was he thinking saying all of that when he couldn’t even follow his OWN morals?!
Loki blinked a few times, rubbing his sparkling green eyes, and then brushing his hair back with his hand.
“I’m sorry,” Loki apologized.
“No, no, it’s okay Loki, really!” Mr. Mo reassured him, “It’s hard on you as it is being transported here. Let alone kill another human being. Let’s just move onto what I’ve found, alright?”
Loki nodded regretfully.
“Okay.”
“Okay!” Mr. Mo grinned. He adjusted his chair and then pointed at the map behind him. He picked up his pen and circled two places on the map. One was really close, they’d only have to travel east a few hundred meters. The other was a little farther up north on the coast of the tundra.
“I managed to find two caves with Slackjaw,” Mr. Mo said, “Ah the wonders of an Argentavis. They can fly for so long and they can tough it through even the harshest of cold. Anyway, I decided to check out both.”
Mr. Mo pointed at the cave east.
“One’s absolutely infested with creatures. Polar Bears, Purlovias, Yetis, you name it it’s probably there. There’s no way we’d survive there, even if we brought everyone. It’d be a suicide mission. We’d need a powerful tame.”
“Okay, that’s a no go, but why’d we even want to go there in the first place? Spelunking never went well back home,” Loki said.
“You’re right on that. I didn’t even care about the caves at first. That was, until I felt that surge of power flow through my veins.”
“What… Do you mean by that?” Loki asked.
“When I stepped foot in the cave I felt something humming within my bones. It felt so powerful and radiant. I almost decided to just book it and go in to figure out the source, but I managed to control myself. Plus, why else would there be creatures in that cave, standing together in unison, instead of going at each other’s throats?”
Loki’s eyes widened.
“They’re guarding something.”
“Exactly,” Mr. Mo decided, “Which is why we’re going to the second cave.”
Mr. Mo tossed his pen on the desk.
“It’s a tight squeeze in there, but that’s exactly what’s leading me to believe there’ll be no creatures to tear us to shreds. Perfect opportunity for the two of us to go.”
“Wait, you want ME to go?” Loki asked, astonished. Mr. Mo gave him a warm smile.
“Of course Loki. I trust you more than anyone else here, maybe even moreso than Dr. Aston, and he’s been my employee for years. You’re bright and have a good heart. And you’re a talented writer. Why wouldn’t I want you to go?”
Loki smiled, and began to laugh.
“Thanks Mr. Mo, thanks a lot,” Loki said.
Mr. Mo let out a groan as he got up from his seat, stretching his body back and forth. Even though he knew so much, he was still old and not as nimble as he used to be.
“Awwright let’s go get some supper. I’m famished,” Mr. Mo said, walking out his office.
“Wait, one more thing!” Loki called out. Mr. Mo turned around, putting his hands in his pockets.
“What would that be, Loki?” Mr. Mo asked.
“I was just wondering… How do you know so much about this place? How do you even know how to survive?” Loki questioned the thought on his mind for quite a while. Mr. Mo smiled, turning around and ignoring his question.
“I’ll tell you one day, Loki. That’s for you to uncover on your own.”
