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ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion
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Journey Through All Creatures
Chapter 44: The Depths of Aberration
Note: Story starts in Achatina, The Island ABC order for Section I, Scorched Earth Exclusives and Aberration Exclusives for Section II and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Karkinos, next chapter in Ravager.
Chapters to the end of Section II: 6
Cave Chapters: Aberration: Chapter 1/3: The Depths of the Railway Cave
Aberration Day 4
Close to noon…
Dorack groaned quietly as he slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on a bed inside of his base. He groaned as he began to yawn. He sighed then got up, and when he rubbed his eyes, he saw Sodden sitting on the bed next to him, holding a longneck rifle with a tranq dart inside it. Dorack turned his head to him.
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t knock you out again.” Sodden said, clearly full of anger. Dorack sighed.
“Okay, listen, it’s not what you think. Marison just tricked us. He lied. How can you believe him? He’s part of Rod’s horrible tribe.” Dorack said. Sodden scoffed.
“Yeah, okay. Well, then explain why you ran away to some random tribe’s base without telling me!” Sodden yelled. He threw the longneck rifle on the ground. Dorack sighed.
“I… I mean… I was trying to get into the Aberration Kingdom to-” Dorack said, then Sodden interrupted him.
“Oh, of course this is about that stupid lie! You need to… you know what? Forget it. I don’t care where you went, I want to know why you went there.” Sodden said sternly.
“Well… I wanted Rock Drakes. So we could get resources faster.” Dorack said. Sodden sighed.
“Why is rushing everything suddenly so important to you?” Sodden growled. Dorack stammered.
“Uh… so we could find out how to get Nal back…” Dorack said. Sodden’s jaw dropped.
“Oh, of course. Of course this is about her. Listen, can you just… I’m very sad. You wanna know why? You’re being a pretty bad friend. We’ve been very chill this entire journey, and now you’re just fighting me? Nal is gone for good. You need to move on. You’re pretty stupid. Did you not see the gold message?” Sodden said. Dorack stood up.
“Look, I don’t wanna fight with you. You’re right. I’m being kinda rude. I have an idea. The first cave is at around the southwestern end of the Mushroom Forest. We have the right resources to do the cave. We can take grapples and climbing picks and…” Dorack said, then Sodden interrupted.
“Okay, hold on. Why do we need to rush caves? Like, I’m pretty sure I heard that these caves were hard. Like, pretty hard. We would need a ravager to do the first cave. It’s not like we can find one soon.” Sodden said. Dorack nodded slowly, then gasped. He walked to the door. “I have an idea. You can go find some ravagers to tame, while I prepare resources for the cave.” Dorack said. Sodden walked to the door.
“Okay, but you cannot leave the base without telling me, okay? And forget the Aberration Kingdom, it’s just a stupid crap story (Note: This is false I love the story).” Sodden said loudly, then stormed out the door with his bag, which had taming stuff in it. Dorack closed the door and walked to his bed, then sat down and sighed.
“How can I tell him that Nal’s still here without even knowing how to get her back? I need to do something. Just gotta hope the Aberration Kingdom heard of my presence and decided to look for us. Okay…” Dorack sighed and collapsed onto his bed.
Meanwhile…
Marison gripped a sword tightly as he stormed down some stairs. The stairs were all metal, and the basement below had many large cells in it. Marison stormed through the hall, and looked around after a few seconds.
“Dread, you said you wanted to meet me here!” Marison yelled. Then he heard a deep voice from the ceiling.
“Of course I did. I need to tell you something…” Dread growled in a deep, booming voice. He leaped down from the ceiling, slamming into the ground with his feet. It shook the area around him.
“Marison, I appreciate your effort to try and turn Sodden against Dorack. I know you are trying to help this plan. But you almost died that one time you encountered him. And I know exactly why. Marison. Show me her cell.” Dread growled. Marison stammered. “But… boss…” Marison stammered.
“NOW!!!” Dread boomed. Marison yelped and ran to the south, and Dread followed him. Marison ran towards a dim area, where there was nothing but rocks and large metal cells in the walls. Then Marison turned to one of the cells near the end of the hallway. Someone turned around and gasped.
“Here she is.” Marison said. Dread grinned.
“Oh, yes. Well… you up for a chat, Serenity?” Dread growled. Serenity gasped and backed away, gasping quietly.
“You know what happens when you defy my orders, right?” Dread growled. Serenity was shaking hard, gasping quietly, as she slowly walked towards the door.
“Listen up. Remember the deal. If anything happens that blows our cover, if our base gets compromised, if anyone tries to intervene with anything and anyone in this tribe… if your stupid friends screw everything up… well, you’d better hope they don’t. Because if they manage to free Nal and breach our plan, you… you are going to the Reaper. Nothing is going to stop us from doing this. You’re lucky you got released from that machine thing. You can walk around freely as long as everything goes right. Marison! Go to the Transcender now to check on Nal.” Dread yelled. Marison nodded and walked the opposite direction, towards a door that had multiple locks on it, had a force field around it, and had a alarm above its frame. The alarm would go off every time someone who wasn’t part of the tribe opened the door. Terad once entered the door and it almost cost him and Serenity their lives.
“No… what is going on?” Serenity whispered, gasping quietly and quickly. Tears began to appear in her eyes as she sat down, and put her head down in between her legs.
“Rod’s coming to talk with you next week. We might move you to the upper floor of the dungeon if all goes well with this plan. And when Sodden goes back to the Island, Nal’s essence decays in 12 days, and Dorack is disposed of for good, well, you can just sit here and rot. Oh, one more thing.” Dread said. Serenity sniffled as she looked up slowly to the cell door. “Since you haven’t seen Sodden for a second in this godforsaken Arc that gets over 3 months of polar day and 3 months of extreme cold from the forever night on the stupid f… wait. What was I going to say? Oh, right. You get 30 minutes to chat with Sodden right now. But you are going straight to the Reaper if you mention anything, ANYTHING about our plan!!” Dread yelled. Serenity gasped.
“Oh, and if you say anything about our location… Reaper time for you instantly. And we will raid them immediately. I know Sodden. He progresses too damn fast. That stupid Nudon… we had to take care of the two people. I knew Sodden was going to be the toughest to break down. So was Dorack. You were just too easy to handle because of your former ally, Marison. We had to handle Nal next. Dorack and Sodden may be friends on the Island and Scorched Earth… but here, everyone’s an enemy. And me and the Rock Death tribe will always make sure of that.” Dread sneered. Serenity stood up and walked to the cell door. Dread took a small orb out of his bag, which was glowing purplish-orange, and had a light blue flame inside of it. It was small. Dread slipped it through the force field that stood on the cell door, which would only allow people part of the tribe to interact with it. Serenity took it.
“You’d better hurry if you wanna chat with him.” Dread sneered. He then made a hand gesture telling Serenity that he would be watching her the whole time. Then Dread stormed away, sending a message to Marison. Serenity sighed and walked to the right corner of the room, where there was a hard, flat, cold rocky bed. There was no soft mattress, no blanket, and the pillow was a hard, cold rock that glowed red. Serenity sat down on the bed and put the orb inside of her implant, where there was a small hole right below the singularity, the center of a survivor’s implant. The orb would allow communication with any survivor, regardless of their tribe, as long as they were on the same Ark. It would decompose after 30 minutes, so Serenity had to be quick. The orb entered her implant and it glowed bright green, then a message showed up above the green mist that emitted from the singularity.
“Who would you like to talk to” the message said. Serenity sighed and said, “Sodden. Spawn date, October 24, 2024, current Ark, Aberration. Level unknown because that b—- Dread captured me before I could meet him.” Serenity said. The message then dissolved and the green mist turned metallic purple, and then she heard a voice.
“Survivor detected.”
Serenity gasped.
Back in the Mushroom Forest…
Sodden had constructed a small stone trap, a 2 by 2 foundation layout with 2 walls on top of each other on each edge. Sodden put ramps down on the front for the ravager to come in through, and there was a window on the back for Sodden to shoot the ravager through. Sodden sat on a rock, looking around the area with his spyglass, then he saw a ravager and gasped. It was a Level 135. Just perfect. Sodden put the spyglass in his bag and jumped off the rock, then took out a crossbow, loaded an arrow onto it, and walked towards the Ravager. The ravager was alone, which was good. Sodden then shot it and the ravager roared and began to gallop towards Sodden. Sodden ran to the back of the trap, where the Ravager ran up the ramps, then fell into the trap. Sodden chuckled and loaded a tranq arrow on his crossbow. He looked through the window, and the ravager was screeching as it was gnawing on a wall on the opposite end of the trap. Sodden held up his crossbow and shot the arrow. It pierced the ravager in its butt, and it roared and ran at the window. Sodden backed up as the ravager began biting the windows, and Sodden took more tranq arrows out of his bag, loaded one, and shot it at the ravager. He continued shooting down the ravager until it began to run in the opposite direction. It jumped around, trying to use its claws to get out, but its efforts were futile. Soon, the final arrow pierced the ravager in the leg, and it fell over, unconscious. Sodden sighed and walked towards the river nearby to kill some Spinos for prime meat. He sat atop a cliff hanging above a river, around 10 meters below. Sodden took his crossbow and loaded a normal arrow onto it. He pulled back the string with the arrow, and then put his finger on the trigger. He aimed for a spino that was roaming the cliffside across the river. Then he got a alert on his implant. His implant was flashing purple. Sodden put the crossbow down and looked at his implant. He sat down and tapped it, then he saw a bright light shine from the singularity inside of his implant. Sodden looked away, then turned back around after a few seconds to hear a voice.
“You… you there? You doing good, bro?” The voice said. Sodden gasped. He recognized the voice.
“What? Bro… how are you even… I don’t…” Sodden stammered.
“Dread decided to give me a device to contact you for 30 minutes. He said I can’t give out details on his plan, or tell you my location or anything. I want to know how you’re doing.” Serenity said.
“Well… I’m doing alright. Super tired since I chased Dorack across the map last night to find out he was hanging around someone’s base. Kept lying about that made up story called the Queen of Aberration, saying that the Aberration Kingdom was real or something…” Sodden said. Serenity groaned.
“You cannot be serious. The Aberration Kingdom does exist. If Dorack was there… was anyone else there?” Serenity said.
“Well, I did see Marison, who lied about where Dorack was.” Sodden said. Serenity gasped.
“What? You do remember what happened the last time Dorack encountered Marison, right?” Serenity said concerningly. Sodden sighed.
“Yeah, kinda.” Sodden said.
“Marison told us about it. Came into the base late at night. He was critically wounded. He even admitted to seeing the Creator! Which means Dorack somehow almost killed him. Problem? It almost cost the lives of Dorack and Reaper.” Serenity said. Sodden gasped.
“What? Why didn’t Dorack tell me this? His recklessness almost gets Reaper killed, and I’m seriously hearing this now?” Sodden said. Serenity stammered.
“Well, I can’t say what the plan is. But here’s the thing. Something is going on, and you need to make sure Dorack stays under control. Be nice to him. You’re… you’re not planning on caves, soon, are you?” Serenity asked.
“Uh… well… me and Dorack are going to take on the Artifact of the Depths later today.” Sodden said. Serenity nodded slowly and looked around the area.
“Okay, that’s a safe cave. I heard that some of Dread’s minions are going to go mining in the Hidden Grotto tomorrow. Just stay away from that cave for a few days and you’ll be fine.” Serenity said. Sodden nodded.
“Yeah… well… Dorack keeps trying to rush things. I don’t like that. It just puts us in more danger. Eventually, someone’s gonna get killed and things are going to get heated. All we need to do is just… just slow down. Move on from everything that’s happened and just try and get out of here.” Sodden said. Serenity was silent. She then yelled in anger.
“Sodden, do you even realize what the heck is going on here? Dread isn’t some stupid idiot that doesn’t know how to do horrible things. He has been in many different Arks, he’s captured many different people, and he’s killed many different survivors and creatures! He… he is not to be underestimated. Do you know what happened the last time I was here? Well, maybe yeah, since I told you, but you weren’t there. You don’t have the true vision of what exactly happened. Rod was the one to capture me. Dread killed 8 people from our tribe and almost killed Terad himself. I almost died multtiple times last time AND also had a Reaper inside my body. I even saw Dread legitimately crush someone’s implant with their bare hands. He has unimaginable strength, Sodden. He knows you and Dorack. That’s not just because of Rod, but also because of the fact that Dread is very much against our tribe and wants to control the Assassin Heart himself. Trust Dorack and please don’t fight him again. And please, for the love of heck, stay away from Marison. Dorack killed his friend permanently and Marison definitely wants revenge. His Megalosaurs almost killed Reaper and Dorack. I get that you’re trying to control Dorack, but please don’t rush too much. Don’t underestimate these people again. I… I loved going on this journey. I was able to be free during this journey. But now, we have to lay low. For both our protection.” Serenity said. Sodden nodded slowly and gasped softly.
“What do you mean, “we”?” Sodden asked.
“Well…you wouldn’t have gotten here if it wasn’t for me, right?” Serenity asked.
“Yeah.” Sodden said.
“Sodden… trust me that Nal is still alive. She may not have long left, but if Dorack pushes too much, the consequences could be fatal to every single one of us. I don’t wanna lose everything. I don’t wanna lose you.” Serenity said quietly. Sodden sniffled quietly.
“I like you too. I don’t wanna lose you…” Sodden said. Then they heard loud, fast footsteps, as if someone was storming down the stairs and the hall.
“Oh, crap. That’s Dread, isn’t it?” Sodden said. Serenity gasped and looked up at the cell door. Then someone stormed to the door and shattered the lock. Serenity gasped and backed up to against the corner of the wall.
“I knew you two would be too good together. Good choice to split you two up. Anyway…” Dread growled. Then he grabbed Serenity’s arm and yanked her off the bed, and dragged her across the floor. She screamed in pain, trying to punch Dread’s arm to get out. Sodden stood up and gasped.
“No. NO!!” Sodden yelled in worrysomeness. Serenity kept screaming as Dread threw her against the wall. Dread then grabbed her by the neck and took a syringe out of his bag. Serenity kept struggling to get out. Dread then lunged the syringe into Serenity’s implant, hard. She screamed in pain as blood spurted from her arm. The purple glow on Sodden’s implant then dissolved. Sodden gasped and fell down on his knees, shocked. Serenity’s implant then glowed red as the purple orb then cracked and shot up from the implant and exploded. The blast was minor, but the damage to Serenity’s implant was not.
“Can’t you just f—-ing cooperate, —--?” Dread screamed in anger. He then stormed to the south end of the hall, where there was a dark cell at the end. In it was some stairs leading deep underground. Then Dread burst the door open and stomped down the stairs. At the bottom was a rocky room, with only a hard, rocky surface, no bed, no pillow, no blanket, and the water valve on the other end was tiny, only giving a few drops of water a day. Dread threw Serenity against the wall. Serenity groaned and tried to stand up, gasping, tears forming in her eyes.
“Hope you enjoy one narcoberry per day. You should be lucky you didn’t get thrown into the pit with the Reaper. Well, anyway, time for me to go.” Dread sneered. He turned around to the door and opened it, then slammed it and locked it.
“NO!! No…” Serenity screamed, still in deep pain. Then the door upstairs slammed shut, leaving no light in the room at all.
Later that day…
Dorack sat outside of the base, on the front porch of the house. He looked around, hoping that Sodden would get back soon. Then he saw Sodden riding on a Ravager towards the base. Sodden was silent and looking down. Dorack stood up and gasped as he saw Sodden coming.
“Hey, dude! You have the Ravager, I see. I have the supplies ready.” Dorack called out. Sodden nodded slowly.
“Good to know.” Sodden said as he stopped just outside of the base.
“Well, we have no other usable cryopods, so we’ll just have to leave the Ravager outside the base.” Dorack said. Sodden nodded and the two walked into the base to collect the remaining supplies.
Later…
The two survivors were riding their Ravager west, towards the far end of the Mushroom Forest to find the old railway cave. As they trudged through bushes, around tall and thick trees, and throughout mushroom fields, trying to avoid the dangerous ones, Sodden kept his head down most of the way. He couldn’t help but think about what had just gone down. How was he going to beat all the caves, get the artifacts, get the resources, and find a way to free their two missing friends in just less than two weeks? Then the Ravager roared and ran forward, and Sodden shot his head up and grabbed onto the fur of the creature as it ran forward, along with Dorack, whose Ravager was running fast too. Dorack sighed and slowed down his creatures, then turned around to Sodden.
“Bro… something wrong? I whistled the ravagers to run forward because I saw that we were approaching a mushroom patch.” Dorack said. Sodden sighed.
“Nah, nothing’s wrong. I’m fine, let’s just… let’s just keep going.” Sodden said. The two were approaching a river, where in the far distance there was a bend surrounded by cliffsides. The two survivors continued down the river until they approached the bend, where they saw a large, grassy opening in one of the cliffsides. There were large crystal shards poking out of the ceiling and walls, and the ground was rough and green, with many rocks scattered across. The ground was slightly damp and moist, and there were no creatures in sight. The two survivors, along with their creatures, approached the cave entrance.
“Well, we’re here. Okay, so I have a shotgun from Nal’s bag, so you can use my shotgun.” Dorack said. Sodden turned to him and nodded. Dorack reached into his bag, then pulled a shotgun out of it, then tossed it to Sodden. Sodden caught it then whistled for the ravagers to continue through the cave. The creatures trotted through the cave until they reached the narrow opening just ahead of the entrance and around a bend. The opening was small and had a low ceiling, so the creatures couldn’t fit in there.
“Uh… okay. We’ll have to use cryopods.” Sodden said.
“The only cryopod I have is that cryopod with the low level raptor. I’ll use it to transfer both creatures to the other side.” Dorack said. He reached for his bag, then his arm stopped. Dorack sighed and took the cryopod out.
“Uh… you know what? I think this ravager can hold both of us.” Dorack said. Sodden turned to him.
“Uh… okay. Go ahead.” Sodden said. He got off his ravager, then Dorack got off his and put that ravager in the cryopod. Then both survivors crouched down and crept through the small opening. Then they rose from the opening, looking down at the slope that went down through the cave, making turns occasionally. Dorack threw the ravager back out, then both survivors got on it, with their shotguns ready, and continued down the tunnel. As they continued through the cave, they could see bright mushrooms speckled across the walls, light-green grass all across the ground, and small puddles deep in the cave. There were pulmonoscorpiuses and carnos nearby, along with a megalosaur. As the two survivors rounded the bend, they aimed their shotguns at the creatures, and shot them down quickly before they could come over. They were all low levels, so they died easily. The two survivors continued down through the tunnels, jumping across cliffs and shooting down any cave creatures that came their way.
After some time, they reached a large chamber, where there was a large metal platform sticking out of the wall. At the other end of it was a thin, horizontal pole, and hovering above it was the artifact container.. Sodden got off the ravager as they approached, then he walked to the container standing tall on the horizontal pole and then grunted as he pushed the lid off the container, then lifted the artifact out of the container. They had secured the first artifact.
“Okay. One artifact down, two to go!” Dorack said. Sodden nodded and put the artifact in his bag, then he got back on the Ravager and the two survivors went to leave the cave, going through any creatures that got in their way.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Red Zone…
Marison was standing in a large, crystal-purple room, and there was a strange, metal machine in the center. There was a egg-shaped pod in it, along with some strange machines that seemed to be powering it with essence. Marison stared at the machine for a while, then Dread stormed in.
“What do you want?” Marison asked. Dread sighed.
“I saw some of Queen Syl’s rock drakes and warriors marching out into the Blue Zone earlier today. She’s trying to find Sodden and Dorack.” Dread growled. Marison gasped.
“Of course. Well… we gotta stop them. Get the Reaper platoon. We’re going now.” Marison said. Dread chuckled.
“I’ll let you prepare them yourself, since you’re so loyal. Besides, I need to talk to… someone.” Dread sneered. Marison ran through the halls towards the stairs to the first floor. Dread walked towards the other end of the hall, went through the metal door and walked down the bruised and broken stairs. Serenity turned around quickly and gasped as she heard footsteps.
“We need to talk. Now.” Dread sneered as he reached the ground and walked towards Serenity, who was sitting down, gasping as she leaned against the corner of the wall.
Dread yanked a club out of his bag and chuckled.
“You’d better stay chill down here or facing the Reaper will be the last thiing you do.” Dread growled.
To be continued…
63 days and it’s finally here! Sorry if it was barely anything related to the cave; I couldn’t think of much to write. Anyway, for real this time, the next few chapters will come out VERY, VERY soon!
-RelatingHen8906
The Obelisk
-Chapter 64-
The map lay spread out on a flat boulder, the sun reflecting off its weathered surface. The Five studied it closely.
“I have no idea,” Spark said.
“Well, wherever we’re going, it’s gotta be good,” Rust observed. He tapped his claws on the lower part of the map. “we can’t go this way or this way, because of the recent human packs roaming there.”
“I’m not afraid of humans,” Crimson said.
“Well you should be.” Rust gave her a neutral look. “They are very aggressive, and quite smart. Trust me.”
Forest tilted his head at the map, then at Rust. “But I thought that—“
“Yeah, I know. Gossips gotten the best of us this year. No matter what other carnivores or even scrolls say, they are not to be reckoned with.”
“They may be dangerous,” Spark said slowly, “but I wouldn’t worry about them too much. We can’t overestimate them either. Humans are very weak. They don’t have scales or fur to protect them. But I agree, no human encounters is definitely safer.”
“I’ve never seen a human up close before,” Nyx said.
“Me neither.” Forest admitted.
“I hope I never do,” Rust exclaimed. “Humans scare me. And I’m not as tough as I look.”
“REALLY?” Crimson gasped, making Nyx jump. “Rust, You’re NOT All Knowing and All Powerful?”
“Maybe,” Rust said to her. “But I am All Handsome, that’s for sure.”
Crimson rolled her eyes. “Shut up already.”
“Oh!” Nyx’s blue eyes widened. “I know where we can go!” She turned and gestured for the map. “May I?”
Forest nodded and picked up the map. He carefully handed it over to her.
She sat down on her haunches and studied the map for a short minute. “Here,” she said finally. “We can go here!”
The other edged around to see where she was pointing. It was a small scrap of land right outside the Lindbjord forest, in between a few large, pretty looking hills.
“It’s my home,” Nyx explained. “The Shadowmane camp. It’s the safest place to stay.”
“But I thought the Shadowmanes lived in Asgard,” Spark said with a puzzled expression.
“Oh, you never heard?” Nyx asked her. “The Shadowmanes we’re driven out of Asgard about five years ago, before I was born.”
“That’s too bad,” Spark said.
“Yeah,” Nyx said sadly. “I’ve never even been to our old home. It’s just a lonely, forgotten forest now.”
A small dab of sympathy for Nyx went through Forest. The Shadowmanes had lived in the Realm of Asgard for many decades, and Nyx’s unlucky generation never got to see it. ‘the scrolls I grew up reading…’ Forest thought, ‘they’re all so outdated.’
“Our new home is great, though.” Nyx said. “I grew up there. Since Father is still at Runheimr, Orbit should be in charge of the camp right now. He’s the nicest! We have to go there!”
“You sure they’re safe?” Crimson questioned.
“Believe me, you can trust them. I just hope that they trust you.” Nyx bit her bottom lip thoughtfully, then brightened. “But I’m sure they will! So should we go??”
“I think it’s worth the try,” Forest said, glancing at the others.
“Sure,” said Rust with a shrug.
“OK.” Spark and Crimson said.
“Then let’s go!” Nyx jumped up and handed the map to Forest, and he folded it and placed it inside his sack. “If we get going now,” she said, “we’ll get there by sunhigh tomorrow!”
(The first book starts in achatina and continues in abc order and then the second and third follow it)
Riddles of the Phoenixes series
Through the eyes of the Dark phoenixes.
Chapter three: New cell mates and old friends.
Jack awoke from a nap to the sound of his cell door creaking open loudly and someone yelling. Jack sat upright and faced the door. Two British guard were struggling to get a man and a woman into the cell Jack was in. “Let go of me you filthy scum!” The man yelled. One of the British soldiers yanked the woman by her hair. “No, no, no I don’t like being touched!” The woman complained. “Don’t touch her punk!” The man yelled. Finally they got the prisoners in the cell. The guards slammed the door behind them. “Well that didn’t go the way I wanted it.” The man said. “Ya think?” The woman spat. The woman had long curled chestnut colored hair and greenish eyes and the man had brown hair and brown eyes. Jack watched them with narrowed eyes. “What are you looking at?” The woman asked. “Nothing.” Jack said quickly. The man chuckled. “This place seems…cozy. Who are you?” He asked Jack. “Jack. Why do you- wait…y’all look familiar. Do I know y’all? Who are y’all?” Jack questioned his cell mates. “I am Eric and this is my lovely w- I mean partner Elizabeth.” The man said. “Wait what? Eric? Elizabeth?” Jack sputtered. “Yeah, why do you care?” Elizabeth asked. “It’s me Jack! From Tortuga!” Jack exclaimed. “Jack?!” Eric exclaimed. “Jack.” Elizabeth said. “How are y’all still alive? And why are y’all here?” Jack asked. “Well-” Eric began. Elizabeth cleared her throat and shot him a look. Eric gave a uneasy chuckle. “Well it’s a long story.” Eric said. “Before we tell you, if we tell you, we have to escape from here.” Elizabeth said in a low voice. “How?” Elizabeth and Eric exchanged looks and then looked back at Jack. “We miggghhht have some ideas.”
Next chapter coming soon!
-SunnyFox57
Protectors of Pandora
Chapter 60 ~Salizar’s reckoning~
Salizar was at his terminal, it was a circular platform with monitors on all sides, he was sitting on a high tech chair, his Barons behind him. “Oh Caesar, Caesar, Caesar.” Salizar said, “he really thinks he can stop me..” He continued. “Salizar, I wouldn’t underestimate him, or his friends.” Oak said. “What would you know about friends Oak.” Salizar said calmly. Oak looked down regretfully. “They’re getting close sir.” Vinestrap said. “Oh they are? Really? I hadn’t noticed..” Salizar said. Vinestrap glared at him behind his back. “Now! You know the plan. Get in position.” Salizar told the barons. They nodded and left the terminal. “It’s time, finally time.” Salizar said almost to himself.
“Where exactly are we going.” Ron asked Caesar. “I’ve got no idea, but if Salizar wants to fight us I’m sure we’ll find him eventually.” Caesar said. “Sso that’ss the plan? Walk right into hiss handss?” Fang said. “You got a better plan?” The chief said. They continued down the halls, never seeming to get anywhere, but then, all the halls around them closed, blast doors blocked their escape. Bones started blasting the door, the others followed suit. “Everyone, HURRY!” Skyla said pointing out a green gas entering the room. “Poisson!” Seascale shouted. “Use the force Caesar.” Salizar’s voice mockingly said. Caesar didn’t understand the reference but it gave him an idea, “everyone stand back!” He said, he held out his bionic arm with his palm relaxed and then clenched it into a fist, a massive blast shot out of the arm, breaking the weakened door. The gas fizzled away, and they saw in the hall ahead, Vinestrap, along with an army of enforcers. “You know, I’ve always wanted to meet a mesopithicus. Who knew they were all so fun!” He said mockingly. “We’ll handle him, you go get Salizar.” Nash said. Him, Skyla and the serpents engaged the threat, the others blasted through another blast door and went the other way. “Come on, quickly!” Caesar shouted to the others they ran through the halls, they ran for another minute, they turned a corner, and saw the King dinopithicus boss arena control room, “We’ve gone in a circle!” Bones shouted angrily. They turned to run in another direction when they heard, “wait, over here.” It was Charr, he exited the arena, followed by Cinder and the other wyverns. “Where are the dinopithicus?” Jaxz asked. “No idea, they’re leader said he needed to find Nash and led his troops in that direction.” Cinder said pointing a claw towards the way they came. “Good, they’ll need reinforcements.” Caesar said. “You will too.” Frozt said.
“You will pay for the death of my son!” Vinestrap yelled. “For the last time! It was a deathmatch!!” Nash shouted. “Need help.” Xu said running to Nash’s aid. “Hunter.” Vinestrap said looking at Xu. “The name is Emperor Xu.” Xu said. He shot a few arrows at Vinestrap, but he deflected them with his whip. “Tomas.” Xu said to a soldier. “Yes emperor.” He replied. “Give me and Vinestrap your swords.” Tomas had an extra katana, so he gave his katana to Xu and threw the spare at Vinestrap, who barely caught it. “I was trained as a samurai you know, all princes have to be.” Vinestrap said. “Pfft, I would’ve never guessed..” Skyla said mockingly.
“Ugh, her again.” Richard said. “Now.. finally it is time! I SHALL FACE MY NEMESIS!!!” Quan shouted, rushing at Frozt with his Mace, the wolves and pengujas engaged Frozt, and like before the others went ahead without them, they had no time to waist. “Captain, he’s separating us.” Ron said as they ran. “I know.” Caesar replied. They continued running, fighting attack drones along the way, they finally reached Salizar’s control room, but there was an exo-mek guarding the way, along with some Defense units. “Oak..” Darrel said. “YOU TRAITOR!” the chief shouted. “You would betray them too if you were offered what I was!” Oak shouted back. The gigantopithicus charged at Oak, roaring battle cries and blasting the defense units, the others Pushed through into the control room.
Frozt picked Charles up by the scruff of the neck and threw him into the other wolves, Trickster threw his smoke bombs at her face, blinding her as The other pengujas used their tek suits to dash into her back, her liquid element tank cracked, “No!!!” She shouted, She angrily lunged at The pengujas, grabbing them up in her four arms, but one was missing, Quan. He was behind her and she didn’t notice him until he shouted, “I VANQUISH THEE!!!” And smashed his tek mace into her element tank, it shattered, spilling element all over the floor. She dropped the other pengujas and they jumped away, they watched as she transformed back into her regular size, Quan walked up to her and put his mace down. “Now, we fight. As equals.” He said. “Let’s…” Frozt said. She rushed at Qaun and he picked back up his mace and hit her in the face, she was out cold. “I thought you were going to fight as equals..” Ping said. “Not my fault she doesn’t have a MIGHTY MACE!” Qaun shouted. “What do we do with her.” Evelyn asked. “After all this running and fighting I am feeling pretty peckish.” Richard said. “I know exactly what we’ll do with her.” Charles said. Frozt woke up a few hours later, in a cryo cube.
“Caesar! I knew you’d make it!” Salizar said exitedly. He was wearing tek armor, with a dramatic cloak and no helmet, his bionic eye, and armor both glowed the same green light as the rest of his starlit sanctuary. Caesar looked at him and said, “Salizar, you can end this now-” “surrender? No, no I don’t think I’ll be doing that today.” Salizar said. “Then I guess we’ll have to put a stop to you.” Bones said threateningly. “Oh no! Big bad Bones is angry!” Salizar said mock-fearfully, “you know, you’ve waisted a long time, there’s only 10 minutes left..” Salizar said. “It hasn’t been 12 hours!” Ron shouted. “Your right.. I got bored and reduced the countdown a bit.” Salizar said. “You can’t kill the entire human race!” Stainly said. “SILENCE HUMAN!” Salizar said, he pointed a tek pistol at him and then noticed the wyverns, seemingly for the first time. “Cinder, Charr! I’m a big fan of you two, how would you like to be Barons? I’ll even let you rule over your home ark.” He said. “Never, I’ll rule Wyveria by right of the crown! Not by some overlords rule!” Cinder said. “Fine, then you’ll die with them.” Salizar said. “Enough of this talk, it’s time to fight!” Bones shouted, he roared and charged at Salizar.
“We were your troop! Your brothers in arms! YOUR FAMILY!!” The chief shouted, “how could you!” Birch yelled. “Salizar is giving me something none of you could!” Oak yelled. “And that is?!” The chief yelled wile tackling a defense unit. “I get to rule a whole ark! That’s something I could never get being a gigantopithicus!” Oak said. “Your just selfish!” Darrel said. “Your parents would be ashamed of you!” Birch yelled. “So would yours cousin!” Oak yelled. “Enough!” The chief yelled, he blasted the glass of the eco-mek and it shattered he jumped up and knocked it down, pulling Oak out of it. “TRAITOR!” The chief yelled pointing his blaster at Oak. “Chief wait!” Darrel said. “He betrayed us! And not just that, he left us for the guy who destroyed our home!” The chief yelled. “Chief- Joey, please, don’t let your rage blind you, look around, we beat him. let him rot in a cell somewhere.” Darrel said. The chief looked at the cowering Oak he was lifting in the air, he pushed the blaster against his head, but he couldn’t pull the trigger, he dropped the gun “AAGGGHH!” He shouted, throwing Oak to the ground.
“The two dinopithicus fought, they were equally matched with katanas, neither were very good to be honest, They clashed and clashed, Xu parried a swipe and pushed Vinestrap away with his other arm, they looked at each other ferociously, they both charged, and tan passed each other. Xu stood up and handed Tomas’s blade back to him, Vinestrap collapsed, a pool of blood spilled out of a wound on his side. “It’s over.” Nash said. “Come, we musst get to Caessar and help!” Seascale said.
Bones charged at Salizar, Salizar just stood at his terminal looking at Bones, a dozen overseer hexagons flew off of Salizar’s armor, they created a force field, Bones bashed into it headfirst, knocking himself unconscious, Cinder’s wyverns Leapt up into the air and flew towards him but Salizar pressed a button on his wrist and multiple voidwyrms fell from the ceiling, they engaged Cinder’s wyverns. “You’ll find, Queen Cinder, that these voidwyrms don’t have nearly as much free will as those from Wyveria.” Salizar said.
“Ping! Over here!” Nash said, running towards the wolves and kairukus, they had just finished putting Frozt in her cube. “Come we have no time to lose!” Seascale said. They ran through the halls, following the claw steps of the wyverns and Bones.
“Salizar!” Caesar shouted, he held up his arm, and blasted element at Salizar, he deflected it all with his hexagons. “Ron, Jaxz, distract him for a second!” Caesar said. “Stainly, you have to get in his terminal and stop the countdown.” Caesar said. “I can try, but-” Stainly said. “But nothing, you broke his hack before, you can do it again. We’ll distract him.” Caesar said. Bones Got up, moaning sorely. He shook his head and roared, his eyes glowed orange. “Everyone get out of the way!” Ron shouted. “They backed away from Bones, Bones charged at Salizar again, but this time he used his lasers, he broke the shield and grabbed Salizar, throwing him away, Jaxz, Caesar, and Ron started blasting him, he got up and grabbed they're throats with his hexagons, but his focus was broken when he was hit in the back by a mace. “Ha! You are the Salizar they fear, puny!!” Qaun shouted. “Oh really, Salizar said recovering from the blow, he shot a hexagon at Quan, it shocked him and the kairuku went unconscious, the other pengujas threw smokebombs at him and the wolves leapt at Salizar through the smoke, but he deflected everything with his hexagons. “We need to get rid of those hexagons!” Caesar said. “I did it!” Stainly said. The countdown stopped, only 26 seconds left. “NOOO!” Salizar shouted, he made the hexagons blast out around him clearing the smoke and knocking the attackers back, everyone started firing they’re lasers at him, he blocked everything with his forcefield, Cinder and her wyverns finished off the voidwyrms in the air and she flew down to Salizar, she landed in front of him and started blasting fire, it heated and heated, in actually fried a few hexagons, but Salizar shot a few at her, tasing her. She stopped fighting, the rest of the hexagons shot out from Salizar’s and shocked everyone, even Stainly. Nobody could move, Caesar fought through it and slowly moved his left arm to the hexagon and crushed it. “SALIZAR! LETS END THIS NOW!” He shouted. “So be it.” Salizar said, he ran at Caesar a tek spear manifested in his arm, he tried to strike at Caesar but he blocked it with his arm, Caesar knocked him back and blasted him, Salizar recovered and grabbed Caesar, he flew into the wall behind the terminal, he tried to choke Caesar with his spear, shoving it against his throat sideways, Caesar kneed him in the stomach, and Salizar faltered, Caesar grabbed the spear and stabbed Salizar through the chest, he stopped using his tek jetpack, and Caesar used his, they crashed into Salizar’s monitor, Caesar holding the spear through Salizar’s body and into the terminal. Salizar lost control of his hexagons and the others were freed. “STAINLY QUICKLY! Get them out of here!” Caesar shouted struggling to hold Salizar down, Stainly rushed to open Salizar’s personal portal. “The portal is open to the jungle ark.” Stainly said. “This is where we leave you Nash-San.” Xu said, he bowed to Nash and Nash bowed back, Xu and his troops ran through the portal, Skyla stayed. “I’m staying with you.” She said. “the portal is open to Tundra!” Stainly said. “Hurry!” Caesar said. “NoOOoo” Salizar spat out. “I bid you farewell Ron, Kairukus, I hope you find Pandora, but we must go find our friend, and stop Khar.” Charles said. “I hope we meet again, friend.” Ron said. The wolves ran through the portal, Ron swore he saw a tear on Richard’s face. “Alright, now for Wyveria!” Stainly said. “Home.” Charr said to his wife, she had the eggs in her claws. “Come my people, we must leave this place!” Cinder said. The wyverns flew into the portal. “Where do I send us? Pandora isn’t an option!” Stainly said. “Enough!” Salizar said, he threw a knife at the terminal, it sparked and glitched. “What now?!” Ron said. “The portal.. GO!” Caesar said struggling. “But it could go anywhere!” Nash said. “Just go!! Anywhere’s better than here!” Caesar said. They ran to the portal but A few stopped, “what about you?” Seascale asked. “I have to hold Salizar!” Caesar said. “If I’m going to lose, your going with me!” Salizar said. He pressed a button on his wrist. “Checkmate protocols activated, scanning terminal, scan complete, self destruct activated.” A voice said. Red lights started to flash, the room sparked and tumbled, “EVERYONE GO!” Caesar yelled. “We can’t leave without him!” Ping shouted. “We have too! Otherwise we all die!” The chief said, he picked up Ping. Jaxz, Seascale, and the chief went through the portal looking at Caesar as they left, Bones roared and went to charge at Caesar and Salizar. “No! You gotta go!! Run!!!” Caesar shouted. “Self destruct in ten seconds.” “We can’t leave you!” Ron said. “This isn’t how the story ends!” Nash shouted. “Just go! I have to know your safe!” Caesar shouted. Self destruct in 5..4…” “Capt- Caesar.. no…” Ron said. “Let’s get out of here!” Bones said running through the portal. “Let me go!!!” Salizar struggled. “3..2..1” Nash and Ron jumped through taking one last look at Caesar. the room exploded.
Ultimus Chapter Nineteen: The Survivors’ Camp
Sylas Fennec was the only one up working in the base camp while the others were gone. Something that even he was surprised about since he rather sleep in until noon. Though he didn’t know what time it was so for all he knew it could be midnight. He had several baby rockarrots in a tray of tools he was using on his current project. He liked munching on them while he worked. His project was to work on several droids or “Sir5rM8s”, that’s what people back on the Arks called them. He was properly adding in the main computer components and wiring as he listened to the futuristic boombox he fixed earlier. Erica built the robots the other day and he wanted them finished before they got back. It made it easy to build when you set up camp in a futuristic arcade. She said she built them as well as the ones on the Ark. And she did, though he wished that she didn’t. He wished that she made them a little more unique. The ones back on the Ark looked like pot belly Star Wars droids, identical in every way and they all sounded the same. He tried making them unique but his master never wanted them that way. He wanted them all the same, but now he has control over that and he can program them to speak however the heck he wants. And nothing was going to stop him.
Out of one of the tents came a man. He was rather tall to Sylas but to be honest everyone in the group was rather tall to his five foot four stature. He wore glasses and his hair was a dark brown cut fairly short. And he was average built. He stared over at Sylas with a distasteful expression. This was Jonathan Ducasse, the Zoologist/Paleontologist from the future. Or his future he guessed as Jonathan was from a hundred years in his future. He was a man of high standards and a strong personality. A typical stereotype of his people from what he can tell. Though in his time traveling around the world. He met nice -
“Sylas, what is this horrible noise you have playing? And why did you waste your time working on that stupid stereo that you got out of that rundown car? You could’ve done better things with your time and got more work done. Like cleaning up after the animals.” He said in an annoyed tone as the stereo played “Royal”.
“Can you please be quiet Jonathan? I haven’t heard any of this song for a over year. Or 200 years or whatever. However long it’s been. I am just so thrilled to hear songs like this one!! So shut it as this song plays.” Sylas said,
“At least clean up the area around Phil. It smells like an Elephant enclosure here or a Sanitation Facility.” Jonathan groaned, Sylas looked at him with slight irritation in his eyes.
“First, his name is Phil the II. Second, bite me Jonathan. I’m finishing these droids then I’ll work on cleaning the pens. Heck, I can program these so that we can get more important stuff and work done.” Sylas said, Jonathan rolled his eyes.
“You don’t work around here Sylas. All you do is tinker with anything that has a motherboard. I do your work and I really don’t want to clean up after your ape, again. I just finished my field notes on the differences between Arthropluera from the Carboniferous period and this species of Arthropluera and like to get on to a few more done before I go farming resources for huts and forging equipment.” Jonathan said.
“Alright. I’ll get it done… but you know, I could get these finished up quickly so you don’t hav-”
“Just clean up Sylas. Preferably now and put the robots on hold.” Jonathan said sharply as he turned around. Sylas mockingly copycatted him as he walked away. Jonathan turned around and looked at Sylas disgracefully. Sylas sat there smiling.
“Sylas, you are such an immature and childish person, and you’re I’m a wimp that you can’t even defend yourself. You’re more of a burden than you are a blessing. Get to cleaning up after the animals or learn how harsh I can be.” Jonathan said, Sylas chuckled.
“I’ve seen it, at least ten times now. And your threats are getting repetitive as Dread Pirates Robert’s with Wesley. I’ll get it done though, after I finish these droids.” Sylas said, Jonathan gave him a death glare. Sylas smiled wide as he stuck a baby rockarrot in his mouth like a cigar. He wished it was one, not like he smoked or anything but because it would have felt much more baller. Jonathan shook his head and turned away.
“Typical lazy Americans.” he continued as he walked away. Sylas sighed as he munched on his rockarrot and got back to the droids.
‘And our forefathers fought alongside them. I wonder how many wanted to strangle them.’ He thought as he touched a live wire.
“Ah!! Son of a hamster!!” He yelled, dropping the rockarrot from his mouth.
As he stuck his finger in his mouth, he thought about what Jonathan said. He wasn’t lazy, he was working hard on what he was specialized for. Sure he couldn’t or didn’t help with as many things as the others. But he didn’t feel he could help or he’d mess up something if he did. So he stuck with what he knew he could do, and some of the mundane tasks that needed to be done. Sylas sighed as he put down his tools and took one more rockarrot to munch on. He’d finish up the droids after he cleaned up the base camp.
~
Andrew and the survivors traveled their way through Sanctuary where they said they set up base camp. It felt unusual, he was walking alongside three other people and two of them were riding dinosaurs. Something he had lost hope to ever happen. He wondered if there was hope for Earth if they brought down these Arks. He wasn’t quite sure, but he did wonder. And though he didn’t trust this group of people yet, he didn’t distrust them either. He wasn’t sure, while the blonde-haired woman saved him and the man named Paul was kind to him and showed him mercy, but he had to wonder if they had something planned. He couldn’t tell if they had ulterior motives though, but he could definitely feel that the black-haired woman didn’t trust at all. And he couldn’t blame her, he threatened to kill her friend. He regretted doing that, fear and surprise had got to him. He wishes he could go back and change it, but what’s done was done, no changing that now.
As they walked in silence, he had a question that kept racking in his brain that he couldn’t help but ask.
“How did you get those?” He asked softly, Paul looked back from the back of his mount. He stopped for a moment
“What’s it laddie?” Paul said curiously, not hearing it properly.
“How did you get those? The creatures?” Andrew asked, Paul chuckled
“Well, it’s a wee bit difficult to answer. But many of them have different ways to tame these animals. Some like Erica’s you have to tranquilize them and feed them to tame, others like this wee one here under me have unorthodox and complicated methods to tame. Though not all can be tamed” He answered.
“Oh.” Andrew said, he wondered if he was able to do this with Tracy.
“We’ll explain more about it to ya when we get back to camp. Jonathan has been studying every creature we’ve seen so far and has each of their taming methods.” Paul said smiling. Andrew smiled back kindly, he never imagined himself riding a dinosaur as an adult. Seemed crazy to him.
As they walked through the city, they saw robots and avoided them. Paul said that most were aggressive towards them when they arrived so they avoided them as much as possible since then. Several did try to attack the group, but Paul’s dinosaur dispatched them quickly. Finally, they arrived at where the camp was located. An old arcade with a mascot vaguely resembling a ghost hanging over the side. Most of the building was dilapidated enough that the windows and parts of the side of the building were no longer there, while still being structurally strong. Paul and Erica dismounted their dinosaurs and began going with Freya and Andrew following behind.
Andrew observed the area of the building inside as he entered. Most of the arcade machines were either destroyed or dilapidated over time. What used to be carpet was now soil with ferns and larger plants. The ceiling of the first level was completely gone, showing the plumbing, ductwork, and skeleton of the building. As they went further into the building, Andrew began to notice primitive, made structures. Mostly that of wood and stone, though a few tents were in-circling a campfire.
“Welcome to our camp!! Feel free to explore while we drop some stuff off in our tents and go find the other two. Then will properly introduce you to everyone.” Paul said smiling, Andrew nodded and smiled back before exploring the rest of the camp.
Paul sighed to himself as he watched Andrew walk off to the other side of camp. He hoped that he didn’t make a mistake bringing him here. He had hope in him, but he knew this young lad had been through some things. He looked over at Erica who stared in the same direction as where Andrew was walking. Paul rolled his eyes and chuckled. She had so much distrust against the boy for being afraid. Though he couldn’t blame her either. But she always seemed to be distrustful of newcomers, to Sylas, to Freya, to Jonathan. Even to him when they first met on that cold beach. It just seemed to be her nature. The same with her tight lip about her past, even Jonathan wasn’t as tight-lipped as her, though his being more on his academic excellence. Everyone else when they met in their group couldn’t wait to say something about them or try to be friends by sharing some backstory. But not her, all she would say was her name, that she worked on the Arks as an engineer, and that she was from the future. She was distrustful of the world. But from her eyes, it didn’t seem like she was always like this. Like something changed her. She looked over at him with a serious tone on her face.
“Hope you know what you're doing Paul, I don’t like him.” She said,
“Now why don’t ya? Is it because you don’t like how tight-lipped he is? I thought that might make you more comfortable around him.”
“You know perfectly well what I mean Paul. I don’t like him being here and I-”
“I, I know, you don’t trust him. And I know we’ve been through Nottingham and back on the Ark but you have to take a leap of faith with people Erica. It’s the only way to trust. Now for me, I don’t know what to think of him yet. But I know if I left him out there alone or to go wherever he would’ve gone. That something bad could happen to him in the state he was in.” Paul said,
“And what’s so bad about that?”
“Erica, I took an oath to do no harm, if I let him go knowing full well that he could harm himself. It would be no better than if I harmed him myself.”
“But you killed before Paul, you killed soldiers in war and you killed people on the Ark.”
“I only did what I had to do Erica, I had no choices in war. I gave them a chance to aid me in not making those hard choices, but they threatened to hurt others under my watch. And becomes the same circumstance. Same with on the Ark, and it doesn’t mean I am not convicted of the choices I made Erica. They haunt me, from the first life I took to the last. But I do not take a life unless they threaten to take one life for their own.” Paul answered, Erica stayed quiet. She turned around to look back at Andrew before looking at Paul.
“At least keep a close eye on him, Paul, I still don’t trust him but if you think we should keep an eye on him. I’ll be keeping mine on him.”
“Aye, I will. And remember who’s in charge around here Erica, I don’t have to ask you or Freya for any advice. And I don’t have to take orders from you.” Paul said jokingly, Erica smirked a bit.
“But you do anyway.”
“Aye, because you’re more stubborn than a Scotsman.” He said before both chuckled about it.
“Hey Erica…” Freya called as she walked out of her tent and over to them, she had changed out of her Desert Cloth Pants in trade for Flak while they had talked.
“Do you know where that weird spear that lights up you were working on went off to?” Freya asked,
“The Electric Prod? I think it’s in my tent right now.”
“Oh, okay. Would you happen to be done with it? I would like to use it if you are done.” Freya continued, Erica looked at her with a questionable expression.
“Uh, sure. But why do you need it.”
“You and Paul said that they are used for knocking out things. And I wanted to finally go get a mount of my own, I saw something that I thought would be good for me and I would like to use the prod on it.” Freya said,
“Okay, now I know I modified the prods a bit so that they can be used more than once once and all. But wouldn’t be easier to just use a rifle? I got one-”
“I don’t use your ranged weapons or weird magic weapons, Erica. It takes the challenge out of the fight and dulls your mind. Now with this ‘prod’ is as far as I go. It still holds the challenge I use to sharpen the mind but won’t kill me when I use it on this beast.” Freya said, again Erica looked at her with a curious look
“What are you going to tame Freya?”
“Just a fine mount for a first tame.” Freya answered.
“Alright, do you need any help with this tame?” Erica asked,
“I’m fine by myself, but that you for asking.” She said smiling,
“Oh, Freya. Do ya mind waiting a wee bit before so that we can introduce ya properly to Andrew?” Paul asked, Freya smiled wide,
“Not at all, I would love to introduce myself to him.” She said, before a smile slowly left “But how would we go along on doing that if he can’t understand me?” She continued, Paul rubbed his chin for a moment as he pondered on that.
“We’ll figure something out, don’t worry. Just be sure you stay for a week bit.” He said before she nodded and walked away over towards her tent again.
~
As he began to explore their camp, he wondered to himself how long it took them to learn how to build this stuff small stable-sized pens, on his left one had a giant bipedal ape looking like an ancient cryptid with the name ‘Phil the Second’ on the front of the stable’s gate. To his right was another stable with a giant centipede inside. Andrew had seen these centipedes before, even getting close enough to be spat at by one. But he had never been close enough to see its compound eyes individually. There was a name on the gate but he couldn’t read it. There were a few more stables with some smaller creatures like dodos and sheep. He heard a loud noise from behind him and heard a strange noise and dull hooting from one of the stables behind him.
“Yeah, is that funny Phil? Is it funny to see me struggle to clean up your mess? Well, it's not.” A voice came from the same stable. The hooting didn’t stop though. Andrew came around to the stable seeing the strange hulking ape again, but noticing a small man lying on the ground. The ape walked over and lent his hand to the man. The man looked at the ape and humorously shook his head.
“You know, this is your fault, now I’m gonna have to take a bath because of your mess.” the man said as he reached for the ape’s hand and lifted himself. He was roughly half or a third of the ape’s height. His red hair was short and curly. He wore similar clothes to the others, except they looked like they were dyed or drawn on to add designs. Though there were mud streaks all across his clothes now.
“I wish you could learn to use a-” he said before turning and letting out a high-pitched scream as he stared at Andrew. Andrew jumped in surprise. The man ran behind the ape and hid behind him as the ape let out a growl and clenched its fists. The man peered from behind the ape and looked at Andrew suspiciously
“Who are you? Where did you come from?” The man asked, Andrew raised his hands in the air as the ape growled even louder.
“My name is Andrew, and I came here with Paul and your friends.” Andrew said, the man's suspicious look turned into curious wonder as he stepped away from the ape.
“Really? Well then where did you come from?” The man asked,
“I am Camacho Forest, but if you mean what Ark, I didn’t come from one. I have been down here this whole time.” Andrew said as the man’s eyes lit up.
“Really, how many are down here?” He asked
“Counting myself, one. I am the only one down here that I know of.”
“Oh, well how long have you been alone?” The man asked
“My time of being awake, twelve years. But I don’t know exactly for sure how long I have been the last. I was in Cryostasis for a millennia.” Andrew said, the man’s eyes widened in surprise.
“I’m sorry what?”
“In layman’s terms, I was asl-” “I know what it means, it’s kinda hard not to know if you watch Sci-Fi shows or play those types of games. But you're saying you're the real deal? A Rip Van Winkle?” The man said cutting in.
“Who?”
“Old Reference, sorry. You're a Captain America or a Han Solo?” He said,
“I still don’t know who you're talking about.”
“How is the future this advanced yet have no recollection of timeless classics!!” The man said infuriated, the man seemed to be so goofy that while even angry. He seemed to be more silly than really angry.
“Well, I can say you can probably change out that timeless part of that title.”
“Forget what I said, the point is I know what you're talking about and now you are lost on my references.” He said, “Sorry for the rabbit trail, but you’ve survived alone for twelve years. How old are you? Twenty, Nineteen?”
“I’m Twenty-Three, I have survived out here since I was eleven.” Andrew said, the realization came over the man’s face.
“Sylas! Can you come here we have someone we-, oh I see you two have already met.” Paul said, the man nodded.
“Yeah, Andrew’s been telling me about himself, but I forgot to introduce myself. The name’s Sylas Fennec, nice to meet you, Andrew!” Sylas said as he raised his hand out to shake. Andrew smiled and shook hands with him.
“Why are you out here Sylas? I thought you’d be workin on the droids Erica made?”
“Well I was, but Jonathan told me that I should clean the pens up instead of messing with the droids. And I have been, well except I slipped and covered myself in mud and whatever else is in Phil’s pen.” Sylas said, Paul groaned and shook his head.
“Sylas, I’m sorry but I didn’t need you working on the pens right now. I needed you to do the droids. Jonathan was supposed to be doing the pens and he was also supposed to leave you alone. I should’ve told both of you but you were sleeping. I told Jonathan this though before we left and I thought he’d listen. Those droids will cut back on our farming and harvesting allowing us to explore and map out this area.” Paul said, Sylas mouth was open from this and he looked at the mess he was in.
“Go clean up, thank ya for help on the pens. I do appreciate it Sylas.” Paul continued, but Sylas didn’t seem to hear this as he got out of the pen and walked out of view. Paul sighed and turned to Andrew
“Sorry, ya had to hear that. Do ya care to eat while we wait for him?” Paul said, Andrew smiled.
“Sure, I can go from some to eat.”
“Ah good!! We have some mutton that I have been excited to cook up and eat, and after Sylas comes back, I’ll properly introduce you to the rest of our camp.” Paul said, Andrew smiled. He would like to meet the others properly and not under so startling circumstances.
“I’m fine with that.” He said,
“Alrighty, I’ll show ya where we eat.” Paul said as he led the way with Andrew following behind.
I had never seen these before in ark, so when I flew over to the swamp I saw two crawl out of the water towards me and I was like, what the but the I tried to knock it out but I hit my pt so I was like, oh crap but I knocked him out in the water!! Then the leaches got on me and I was freaking out and then a titanoboa killed me 🥲
To Calem,
If you didn’t see my last tip, I just wanted to tell you I can’t wait to read yur story, and you have full permission! (Not that you need it, this sounds great!)
I just ask that you PLEASE start it in Yutranus and continue up tamables like you suggested. It’s the tidiest way to go.
I have a few name ideas for yur characters!
First of all, for the Yutrannus, it kinda depends on her color. If she’s a more bluish color you can call her Icicle, Teal, Frost or after some kind of polar plant or tree. If she’s a more white color she could be Snowflake or Snowstorm. If she’s more gray, There is Slush, Fox or Storm. Of course, these are just suggestions.
Now, for the Andrewsarchus. Names for him could be Throng, Thrush, Ram, Baobab, Scorn and a whole lot more awesome names.
The other one was a Basilisk! OK, now, in my story they have random names like Calin, Heron, Spike and a lot more random stuff. This guy seems like the names Flick, Denen and Qill would suit him. Again, just suggestions, but I REALLY feel like I might love this character! (I’ve actually been planning on making a male Basilisk somewhere in the future, so I’m very excited others are right now!)
And last was a Sinomacrops. Name him after some kind of butterfly or moth. Also depends on his color. Look up SilkWing names, idk.
Hope these helped! Can’t wait to see yur story!!!!
—Moon
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 48: Knowers
Part 2/2
“What about Dr. Aston?” Loki argued, “Can’t he do it?”
“He cannot. You know he’s an old man, he’s not fit for combat,” Mr. Ma replied, “And it cannot be me either. I have to take care of this place. I’m counting on YOU to help me with these people.”
“But I-I can’t!” Loki protested, “I can’t just kill innocent people-”
“But you can.”
“What?!”
“Loki, didn’t you just…” Mr. Ma paused, catching his words and stopping himself from speaking any further, “Nevermind.”
A memory of Loki’s flew by his eyes. Flying over the green Obelisk, and spotting a group of seven with a variety of tames, he had thrown a grenade once they were distracted to stop them. He wasn’t thinking right… But there was no denying he had tried hurting innocent people.
“Please Loki. There’s no one else who can do this but you. They can raze our home if we don’t deal with them!”
Loki rubbed his eyes and leaned back.
“Fine. FINE. I’ll- I’ll do it.”
“Great,” Mr. Ma said with a smile, “I expect you to do it… uhhh, tomorrow?”
“Okay. Sure.”
“Great. Okay, thanks,” Mr. Ma said, “Um. And one more thing. Get some good sleep, okay? The living quarters are pretty much done with construction. You won’t have to deal with the bad smell anymore.”
“Thanks… I guess?”
“Alright. Well… Have a good night.”
Loki got up from his seat, and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him and being greeted with the smell of narcotics.
But as Loki stood there… He felt as if there was something off about Mr. Ma.
Loki looked around. Dr. Aston was nowhere in sight. He was probably taking care of the construction. Loki walked past the window that was on the door to the office, and took his karambit out. The reflection of the blade showed him what was happening inside Mr. Ma’s office. Mr. Ma was clenching his fists, and he looked really angry.
Then he slammed his fists into the desk. He swiped the items off his desk and slammed the drawer of his desk open, reaching into it impatiently and taking a knife out. Loki’s eyes widened, his heart beginning to beat faster and faster as Mr. Ma got up from his chair and began walking over to the door.
But then Mr. Ma stopped. He paused, blinked his eyes, and then dropped the knife onto the ground. It clattered, and he buried his face in his hands.
“No, no no NO, not now… Not now I need to wait. Tonight. Tonight and I won’t have to worry anymore,” Mr. Ma shouted. He picked up his knife, walked over to the desk, and put it back in the drawer, closing it shut.
Loki exited the complex without hesitation, still looking back every few seconds before making his way back to his living quarters.
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 48: Knowers
Part 1/2
After Loki’s threat, many of the settlement’s scholars had helped create a saddle for Crusher. The rest of the day was spent hunting and gathering, for both Crusher and the people.
But, there were still things that had to be settled.
As Loki was feeding scraps of meat to Crusher, Mr. Ma walked up to Loki and cleared his throat.
“Loki? We need to have a talk. A talk about the Knowers.”
Loki took a huff of air and closed his eyes, gently brushing his long, luscious black hair to the side.
“Fine.”
Loki and Mr. Ma made their way into Mr. Ma’s office, where Loki found himself sitting back on that chair, facing Mr. Ma once more. Compared to last time when Loki had returned from his scouting trip, the room seemed a lot more messy and disorganized. Crates all around the room were scattered and opened up, and there were light scratches and marks on the walls. Loki got a bad feeling walking into the place.
It didn’t really help Mr. Ma’s implant was glowing.
“So, uh, what were we gonna talk about?”
“The Knowers near the Redwood Forests. The ones you told me you saw taming a Tyrannosaurus. There were… how many again?” Mr. Ma asked. His right eye looked duller, and his left eye was fully shut. Odd.
“There were two, Mr. Ma.”
“Two. Hmm, we can definitely take them,” Mr. Ma replied with sudden nonchalance.
“I still don’t get why we can’t just be allies with them,” Loki said, “That would be triple the knowledge! We’d be even more unstoppable working together!”
Mr. Ma scratched his chin, then shook his head.
“Hmm, no. Most certainly not, I should’ve been the only one to know how to tame these beasts. The only way they could know is… the book. And there’s nothing more to learn so,” Mr. Ma concluded, “They are nothing more than an active threat to our survival. They must be slain.”
“Book? What book is he talking about?” Loki thought.
“Okay, but have we figured out who’s gonna… you know, finish the job?” Loki asked, uncomfortably shifting in his seat.
“Yes, yes I have,” Mr. Ma replied. Loki noticed that perspiration was building on his forehead. Which was strange considering they lived in the tundra.
“It’s going to be you, Loki.”
Loki’s eyes widened and he scooted back in his seat.
“WHAT?! Me? But- I thought we agreed someone else was going to!”
“Change of plans,” Mr. Ma said, “You know your peers are not to be trusted with our resources. And you are the only person I can trust to do this job.”
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 48: Knowers
Original Post Date: Apr 2, 2024
Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Ichthyosaurus, next chapter in Leech.
~
After Loki’s threat, many of the settlement’s scholars had helped create a saddle for Crusher. The rest of the day was spent hunting and gathering, for both Crusher and the people.
But, there were still things that had to be settled.
As Loki was feeding scraps of meat to Crusher, Mr. Ma walked up to Loki and cleared his throat.
“Loki? We need to have a talk. A talk about the Knowers.”
Loki took a huff of air and closed his eyes, gently brushing his long, luscious black hair to the side.
“Fine.”
Loki and Mr. Ma made their way into Mr. Ma’s office, where Loki found himself sitting back on that chair, facing Mr. Ma once more. Compared to last time when Loki had returned from his scouting trip, the room seemed a lot more messy and disorganized. Crates all around the room were scattered and opened up, and there were light scratches and marks on the walls. Loki got a bad feeling walking into the place.
It didn’t really help that Mr. Ma’s implant was glowing.
“So, uh, what were we gonna talk about?”
“The Knowers near the Redwood Forests. The ones you told me you saw taming a Tyrannosaurus. There were… how many again?” Mr. Ma asked. His right eye looked duller, and his left eye was fully shut. Odd.
“There were two, Mr. Ma.”
“Two. Hmm, we can definitely take them,” Mr. Ma replied with sudden nonchalance.
“I still don’t get why we can’t just be allies with them,” Loki said, “That would be triple the knowledge! We’d be even more unstoppable working together!”
Mr. Ma scratched his chin, then shook his head.
“Hmm, no. Most certainly not, I should’ve been the only one to know how to tame these beasts. The only way they could know is… the book. And there’s nothing more to learn so,” Mr. Ma concluded, “They are nothing more than an active threat to our survival. They must be slain.”
“Book? What book is he talking about?” Loki thought.
“Okay, but have we figured out who’s gonna… you know, finish the job?” Loki asked, uncomfortably shifting in his seat.
“Yes, yes I have,” Mr. Ma replied. Loki noticed that perspiration was building on his forehead. Which was strange considering they lived in the tundra.
“It’s going to be you, Loki.”
Loki’s eyes widened and he scooted back in his seat.
“WHAT?! Me? But- I thought we agreed someone else was going to!”
“Change of plans,” Mr. Ma said, “You know your peers are not to be trusted with our resources. And you are the only person I can trust to do this job.”
“What about Dr. Aston?” Loki argued, “Can’t he do it?”
“He cannot. You know he’s an old man, he’s not fit for combat,” Mr. Ma replied, “And it cannot be me either. I have to take care of this place. I’m counting on YOU to help me with these people.”
“But I-I can’t!” Loki protested, “I can’t just kill innocent people-”
“But you can.”
“What?!”
“Loki, didn’t you just…” Mr. Ma paused, catching his words and stopping himself from speaking any further, “Nevermind.”
A memory of Loki’s flew by his eyes. Flying over the green Obelisk, and spotting a group of seven with a variety of tames, he had thrown a grenade once they were distracted to stop them. He wasn’t thinking right… But there was no denying he had tried hurting innocent people.
“Please Loki. There’s no one else who can do this but you. They can raze our home if we don’t deal with them!”
Loki rubbed his eyes and leaned back.
“Fine. FINE. I’ll- I’ll do it.”
“Great,” Mr. Ma said with a smile, “I expect you to do it… uhhh, tomorrow?”
“Okay. Sure.”
“Great. Okay, thanks,” Mr. Ma said, “Um. And one more thing. Get some good sleep, okay? The living quarters are pretty much done with construction. You won’t have to deal with the bad smell anymore.”
“Thanks… I guess?”
“Alright. Well… Have a good night.”
Loki got up from his seat, and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him and being greeted with the smell of narcotics.
But as Loki stood there… He felt as if there was something off about Mr. Ma.
Loki looked around. Dr. Aston was nowhere in sight. He was probably taking care of the construction. Loki walked past the window that was on the door to the office, and took his karambit out. The reflection of the blade showed him what was happening inside Mr. Ma’s office. Mr. Ma was clenching his fists, and he looked really angry.
Then he slammed his fists into the desk. He swiped the items off his desk and slammed the drawer of his desk open, reaching into it impatiently and taking a knife out. Loki’s eyes widened, his heart beginning to beat faster and faster as Mr. Ma got up from his chair and began walking over to the door.
But then Mr. Ma stopped. He paused, blinked his eyes, and then dropped the knife onto the ground. It clattered, and he buried his face in his hands.
“No, no no NO, not now… Not now I need to wait. Tonight. Tonight and I won’t have to worry anymore,” Mr. Ma shouted. He picked up his knife, walked over to the desk, and put it back in the drawer, closing it shut.
Loki exited the complex without hesitation, still looking back every few seconds before making his way back to his living quarters.
the righteous (aberration edition)
chapter 8 season 1
after eric had a encounter with a reaper.. he wanted a team.. a team.. but not yet, he was scuba diving in the fertile lake looking for pearls..
but something happened (of course something happened)
“hmm.. silica pearls shouldn't be hard to get.. roght?”
he left his rockdrake there and went in
he saw many fish, and a dead karkinos with something long on it.. like they were alive.
“huh?”
a lamprey quickly swam up to eric and latched its teeth to his arm..
“oh god!”
he quickly swam to shore..
“rockdrake!”
the rockdrake used its intelligence to peel the lamprey off
“well.. not going back there..”
his quest for pearls discontinued and he went away..
“well, that wasn't that good...”
he walked with his rockdrake hoping good things will arrive
“hmm.. whats that?”
he looked over and saw a dead diplo..
“free food..”
he walked over and began cutting.. when two ravagers surprise eric
“oh no!”
the one ravager pounced him, but eric pulled out a sword and stabbed it in the back, and it fell off, the next one went for erics legs, it bit his leg leaving a mark
“Argh!”
he punched the ravagers back and shot it 4 times with his basic pistol
“damn ravagers...”
eric began heading back..
what will happen next.. do i know? do you know? does your pet goldfish know.. probably not because those things have a memory of a cracker..so uh yeah..
-HJK
I’ll write the final book (or story or whatever you wanna call it) here because I like lamprey. Wait, this is off topic but would if Subnautica (or below zero) had a huge Lamprey leviathan? It would be cool and could be as long as a ghost leviathan (they look a bit cute though.) and it gets onto your cyclops somewhat like one of those lava leeches in the inactive lava zone (and active lava zone. When it got onto your cyclops, it could make a not too big hole on your cyclops with its tongue (Lamprey have a tongue with many sharp cone shaped teeth that they use to cut open their prey’s skin.) and you would have to repair it with a repair tool before the room flooded. It’s not that great of an idea, but it seems more of an ok idea.
-Lamprey