-Tales of the ARK- #2

Previous part located in: Dodo. Simply titled Chapter 1: survival evolved.

Next part located in: Lystros

Chapter 1: The Footpaw (Part 2)

I repeated those exact words in my head. Okay, berries. All I needed were some berries. The sky grew darker every second, so I needed to act quickly. I looked around to see if maybe there were some berry-bearing bushes that I could just gather the fruit from without having to leave the camp. There was, unfortunately, nothing but trees. This other human must have cleared the bushes out already, so I needed to venture inland. I took a deep breath. My heart was racing. To say the least, I was scared. I was scared because I then knew that there were in fact other unknown dangers of the island. The man told me if I saw something to run back to the camp. Though what if something saw me? Something I didn’t see. Something I LIKELY wouldn’t see, since it was growing dark. It was growing dark FAST. But I needed the berries, and this man was likely thinking I was some kind of ret**d, just standing there in thought. I needed to stop. Stop being scared. Man up. What would your momma think if she found out you were scared of the dark? She’d say, “I know I didn’t raise no b***h.”

I couldn’t disappoint her. If I died and she came to greet me at the gates of heaven, I wouldn’t be able to face her knowing I pershished like a coward. Perished AS a coward. I miss you, mom. I stopped trying to convince myself it was a bad idea. I flipped my satchel over and poured the stones onto a pile on the ground. The plan was simple; I go inland a bit, gather any berries I see until the satchel is full, and come back. If I see or even hear anything, I run back, and pray that whatever the thing may be can't run faster than me. I also wouldn’t go down without a fight, if the thing in question did manage to catch me. Again, I had no idea what kinds of “things” I should be looking out for. I’ve heard of Dodo birds. They went extinct a long time ago, though not exactly sure when. I remember what I was thinking at that time, as I prepared myself to head inland. Was it possible that this island could be filled with extinct creatures?

I remember how badly I hoped that it wasn’t dinosaurs. Now? Now I laugh at that pathetic thought, teeming with falsehood. At the time, I didn’t know. Dinosaurs? Living dinosaurs? On the same plane of existence as me? I expunged that possibility from my head for some unidentified and honestly quite stupid reason before venturing inland. Stupid, because I didn't seem to recall the fact that if Dodo birds, creatures that went extinct a very long time ago, were here on this island, then it was likely that OTHER extinct creatures awaited me too. And that includes, you guessed it, dinosaurs. Thankfully, I swiftly gathered up my courage, and began to hunt for berries after convincing myself there weren’t dinosaurs on this island with me. Oh, how wrong I was.

A few minutes later, and I had no idea why I was scared. The task was extremely underwhelming. I only had to travel about 6 meters before I found a plethora of vegetation. I could still see the flames from the campfire clearly, so evidently I didn’t have to travel far at all. And of course, the vegetation aforementioned presented a rainbow of berries. I was able to fill the satchel before I even saw the moon. That’s not saying the moon didn’t rise though, the trees blocked most of my view of the starry night sky. Actually, that statement about not seeing the moon was completely useless in that case. Luckily, I was able to get back to the camp scot-free before it got too dark, where instead of not being able to see most of the sky, I wouldn’t be able to see anything. Except for the fire. As I said, I barely had to travel far at all. Honestly, I made the berry picking a WAY bigger deal than needed.

Thankfully this wasn’t a common thing I do. I’m usually not an overthinker, and my guess is that it was the stress of being in this unfamiliar environment that caused me to overthink picking f**king berries in the first place. I felt stupid, but realized that all this happened in my head, and, from what I knew, the only other possible person able to judge me wasn't a mind reader. Or at least I hoped. He was sitting by the fire, rotating the stick with the birds, making sure they got evenly cooked on all sides. He must have heard me approaching, because before I had said anything he told me to put the berry satchel next to the wooden crate. I did so, then went back over to sit next to the man, but 5 feet apart ‘cause we're not gay.

"So, you never told me your name," I told him upon sitting down.

"You never asked."

I paused for a moment. He was right, however I couldn't give him too much credit, because if he was from the same earth as me, then introductions weren't usually out of the question. I remained silent, waiting for him to say anything else. He didn't. He really wanted me to ask, huh? Nonetheless, curiosity overtook me, so I eventually DID ask.

"The name's Vendetta. You?" He answered. Yet again, I stopped to process this man's words. Who in their right mind would name their kid "Vendetta?” Strange.

"My name is Ryan, nice to meet you!" I told him with friendliness in my voice.

"No it isn't." He responded almost instantly. I was taken aback. Did I do something wrong? Obviously, that was a bit rude, and not to sound sensitive, but that kinda hurt my feelings. I looked to the ground, feeling a bit sad, but mostly confused. What had I done to make our interaction an unpleasant one? He must have noticed how I took it, and spoke again.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it wasn't nice to meet you, I meant that your name isn't Ryan."

The small bit of sadness I had quickly disappeared, but the confusion grew. How was Ryan not my name? Last I checked, that was what was written on the birth certificate. I looked at him with an insanely puzzled expression on my face. He turned to face me, and after observing my face, countered MY puzzled expression with a puzzled expression of his OWN. This "Vendetta" guy was obviously VERY good at reading people, and being aware of things before they happen. Why? Because once again, he was able to answer a question I had before I even asked it.

"In this place, we don't use our real names. The Overseer doesn't like that. Instead we go by codenames, given to us by said Overseer. My earth name is Casey, but here, I'm Vendetta. I'm unsure whether the codenames hold meaning to them, or if they were chosen just because."

He paused for a second, and chuckled.

"I'm not complaining though, I think Vendetta is a pretty badass name. Much better than Casey," he said. "What do you think?"

"Honestly, I think both names are pretty badass. I'd much rather have my name be Casey than Ryan. Never personally knew anyone with that name,there’s just something about that name that appeals to me," I told him, then followed it up by a small chuckle of my own. One of my major flaws that has always been and still remains present even now is that I tend to ramble a lot on things that don't really matter. Though, I suppose that's what rambling is, I guess.

“So, what codename has the Overseer gifted you?” he asked me.

“That I’m unsure of. How do I find out?”

“You know that crystal in your arm? Swipe upwards on it with two fingers.”

I looked at the implanted crystal in my arm. I felt a lump in my throat, and proceeded to swipe. Upon doing so, I felt it vibrate, which hurt slightly. It vibrated, then projected an image facing me out of it. It was a hologram of some sort, which reminded me of Star Wars. In the image was a picture of me, along with a lot more info that I glanced over. Truth be told, that information isn't necessarily IMPORTANT, so skipping over it was no big deal. I skimmed the holographic image until I found what I was looking for.

“According to this, my name is Era? Wait no, it says something else. Apparently my name is Eradicator?”

“An equally badass name. I like it!” Vendetta exclaimed.

I couldn't help but let a smile form upon my face. I thanked him, and was about to ask him how to get rid of the hologram. I decided however, that I would use my brain for once and actually figure something out myself. Using logic, it was only reasonable to assume if I had to swipe upward to project the image, then swiping downward would get rid of it. I placed my middle and index finger on the top of the crystal, and swiped down. It vibrated painfully once more, but my assumption was correct. An equal trade off, in my eyes. We sat there in silence, until Vendetta eventually stopped spinning the stick. He dulled the fire, and stood up. I continued to sit there while he walked over to the wooden crate and reached inside, rummaging around. Soon after he pulled out what looked to be a mortar and pestle. He held them in his left hand, and grabbed the berry satchel in his right. As he walked back to me, he asked,“You a good cook?”

I nodded, I had taken Culinary arts classes for a good long while. I had determined when I was young, and growing up, that I wanted to be a chef. I pursued that dream, only to have life beat me down with a stick. Instead, I worked a crappy desk job in which every day I wanted to murder someone. Or I did. The upside to this island? My only responsibility is to survive. No more no less. That means thankfully, no Gerald. Hate that dude. Definitely a top contender for the title: “Worst Boss Ever.”

That aside, Vendetta placed the mortar and pestle in between us, and sorted through the berries, picking out the red and white ones. After separating all the red and white berries from the rest, he began to place some of them in the mortar, however not all of them could fit. He stood up again.

“I need to go grab some water, while I do that, can you mash up the tintoberries and stimberries for me?” he asked politely.

“Excuse me?”

“The red and white ones.”

“Oh, sorry. Yeah, I can do that.”

“Thanks, I’ll only be a bit, but just in case, if I die, everything here is yours. Until then though, don’t touch my stuff. Got it?”

“Yep.”

With that, he walked over to the crate, and pulled out what I first assumed was another satchel, but later found out was a hide waterskin. He snatched his spear and disappeared into the woods, going in the direction we came to the camp from. I began to mash the two berries together, which was quite a hard task. The tintoberries were like those cherry tomatoes, but the stimberries, the white ones, had a hard shell. A shell that was surprisingly hard to crack. Nonetheless, I mashed them all until they mixed together and formed a paste. It had the consistency of tomato sauce, just without the chunks of vegetables. Since the tintoberries heavily reminded me of cherry tomatoes, I plopped one that I had saved into my mouth. It didn’t taste nor have the texture of a cherry tomato, but was still delicious. It tasted most like a grape, but more sweet. Curiosity then arose, and I decided to taste some more berries. The yellow ones were the only other tasteful ones, they looked AND tasted like ACTUAL blueberries, minus the color. The purple ones barely scratched okay. They had a bitter aftertaste that ruined their small bit of sweetness. The black one, which I only ate a single one of, tasted like spoiled wine. Definitely the worst tasting one.

The only berry I hadn’t tasted were the stimberries, which I didn’t mind not tasting. Afterall, Vendetta had said they were incredibly bitter, and judging by their hard shell and chalky-looking insides, tasted horrible. After making the paste, I waited. I had no idea what this paste was for, but I wasn’t going to question it. I sat there, staring into the fire while I awaited Vendetta’s return, it didn’t take too long for that. He returned and glanced down at the mortar, and proceeded to then pour some of the water in the waterskin into the mortar. He set the waterskin aside, and grabbed a handful of the yellow berries, tossing them into the mortar.

“Mix them together, please,” he said. No response needed. I began mixing some more, until the mixture was a faint yellow color with the consistency drastically changed from paste-like to a liquid. Vendetta looked at my work, and tossed a smaller handful of more yellow berries.

“I have to go take a leak, just continue mixing amarberries into the mixture until it's a bright shade of yellow. Please,” he requested once again. I gave him an understanding nod, and continued my mixing. The mortar was almost overflowing with the liquid by the time I had the desired color, as well as by the time Vendetta returned. He looked down, sat himself down, picked the mortar up, and poured some down into his mouth. He smacked his lips. “Tastes wonderful,” he said, then offered me the juice. I took a sip, and was amazed. This juice was so sweet. I recalled the feeling when I first tried the blue berries, the way they exploded in flavor. This juice was so much better. I took another big sip. I couldn't help myself.

“Save some for me,” he chuckled. I lowered the mortar and wiped some of the juice from my lip. It was only then, after I sipped the berry juice, that I realized how thirsty I was. I didn’t want to be greedy, so I managed to suppress the thirst, much easier than the hunger. Then finally, after quite a while, he removed the Dodos from the fire, and placed them side by side on the ground, in between us to the right of the mortar, already halfway empty. He went back to the crate, and pulled out a crude stone hatchet, obviously crafted by hand. Who knew stone could be made so sharp? He was able to chop the three Dodo’s heads clean off with a single strike for each one. Then came the feathers. We had to hand pluck every feather from all three Dodos. The task was tedious, especially since most of the feathers had burned, making them way harder to grab. I then realized, after staring at the Dodo’s skin, that we should have plucked the feathers BEFORE cooking them. I explained this to Vendetta, and all he could say to that was, “Oops.”

I knew that wasn’t the end of the Dodo prep, because from previous personal experience, I knew we were going to have to gut the creatures. I cringed when I realized this. I didn’t want to admit, but I’ve always been a bit squeamish. Not to the point where I faint at the sight of a drop of blood, but reaching my hand inside a dead animal to rip out its organs is a line I was not willing to cross.

“We don’t have to gut the creatures, if that’s what you’re squirming at. We can just eat them like this, just be careful of the bones,” Vendetta explained, once more seeming to have read my mind.

“Say no more,” I said and picked up a Dodo. I bit into its flesh, ripping off a chunk of the skin with my mouth. I chewed it. Tasted awful. But I was too hungry to stop myself. I bit off another piece, then another, until all the skin was pretty much gone. I looked up at Vendetta, sitting across from me, staring at me with a concerned look as he lightly chewed a single piece.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” I replied as I took another sip of the berry juice to wash down the putrid taste of the Dodo meat, leaving the rest for Vendetta. I was still incredibly thirsty though, and found myself licking my lips as I watched Vendetta slurp down the rest of the tasteful berry juice.

“How does it work?” I asked. Vendetta looked at me, puzzled. “The juice, I mean. How does it go from a paste to a liquid with just a couple of berries and water?”

“Remember when I said stimberries dehydrate you? I’m not entirely sure, but I think it has something to do with the way their chalky insides absorb water. The tintoberries and amarberries only serve the purpose of adding taste, as well as some extra nutrients.”

“I see. By the way, are you gonna use that extra water?”

“I was planning on saving it, but you can drink it if you’d like. I can always get more in the morning.”

I thanked him and grabbed the half-full waterskin. I opened the flap, which acted like a funnel, and viciously consumed every drop of water. It sprinkled all throughout my insides, extinguishing the flames that dried up my stomach.

“Fun fact about this island,” Vendetta began. “The sea water is perfectly safe to drink. No filtration or boiling required. That is, if you’re okay with knowing you drink the same water that the aquatic creatures go to the bathroom in.”

If I had any water in my mouth, I’d have spit it out. It didn’t occur to me to question where he got the water from. In the end, it didn’t matter. It hydrated me. It kept me alive. Being alive was key. No complaining allowed.

“I’m gonna try to get some sleep, I’m dreadfully tired,” Vendetta told me.

“I’ll stay up a bit, that okay?”

“Yeah, if that's the case, I want to give you something.’’

Vendetta went over to his storage crate and pulled out a book. He walked over and handed it to me. I looked at the cover. It was a brown leather cover with the name “Helena Walker” inscribed into it. Nothing else. It was tied closed with a rope.

“This is a dossier I found while exploring. It details presumably all the creatures on this island. It’ll not only give you something to do, but also inform you of the wildlife, something critical to your survival. I’ve read through every page countless times, memorized almost every word. It’s yours now.”

I was shocked? Stunned? Flabbergasted? I was in disbelief, mostly. Through this disbelief, I was luckily able to muster a thank you.

“Tomorrow we’ll get you set up. Get some clothes and supplies, sound good?”

I gave an enthusiastic “Yup!” and frantically untied the rope binding the pages shut. He gave a warm smile and stepped into the tent, nestling up in his makeshift sleeping bag. I opened the book and skimmed through it. My wish, my hope that it wasn’t true, was crushed. I took one look at the T-Rex, and felt a shiver down my spine. I scanned through the dossier some more. DInosaurs, and many other creatures I’d never heard of before filled this island. This is what I was pitted against? Not only being practically alone in the wilderness, but there were dangerous creatures potentially lurking around every corner? I took a second, third, and fourth glance at the many creatures, and one thing became perfectly clear to me; I was no longer on earth. My only goal wass survival. Not normal survival, either. This was going to be survival evolved. (I know, poor line delivery. Deal with it.)