The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 55: The Bodyguard

Part 1/4

After approximately ten minutes of traveling, the five had finally made it to the waterfall. Crashing water caused mist and the smell of algae and plants to spread through the air. The water crashed into a lake that was so clear and still that it looked like a mirror to another world. It truly was a serene environment. Giant Diplodocus with long necks and tails swam in the water, and those giant turtles that always roamed the beaches were also basking under what little sun was in the Redwoods, on the coast.

“Oh. Em. GEE,” Ruby squealed in delight.

“This place is AWESOMEEE!” Neddy cheered, pumping his fists in the air. His implant began to glow, and Samuel squinted his eyes.

“Are there people nearby?” Samuel thought as he looked up at the waterfall. Samuel saw a cluster of sequoia trees that seemed to be hiding something. A speckle of wood seemed to be poking out. Tampered wood.

“Hey guys-” Samuel was cut off by a splash of water that hit him in the face. Ruby began to laugh and she pointed at Samuel’s face.

“Ha ha, you’re blue now!” Ruby giggled. A wave of water surged from the depths and hit Ruby so hard on the face her glasses went flying. She turned and began to glare at Neddy, who stood there, pretending to be naive.

“Uhhh, who did that?” Neddy asked, shrugging his shoulders. Ruby began to wave her fist in the air.

“I oughta teach you some manners!”

Ruby began to pummel the waters, and Neddy began to scream in joy as his eyes were filled with water. Samuel felt a smile creep on his face, and Star began to chuckle in dodo language. Aurora sighed, walking up to Samuel.

“Come on. I saw that glow on Neddy’s implant too, there’s people in the area, so we should check it now.”

Neddy turned to Samuel, who was hysterical. His face was burning red.

“Come on Samuel join us! You too emo girl!”

Aurora scoffed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. Samuel gave a smile back to Neddy and called out:

“Soon, okay? Soon! We need to check something out!”

Samuel began to walk toward this path that seemed to lead to the top of the waterfall, and Ruby and Neddy continued to giggle and play.

“Ha ha, you hear him Ruby? I think those two are going to kiss!”

“Shhh, or else Aurora will hear you!”

Star rolled her eyes as she walked along Samuel, then licked her beak with her very long tongue. Samuel noticed this again. Another pointer to Star’s oddities.

But there were bigger problems on the horizon.

As the two walked along the path, Samuel asked Aurora a very important question.

“Aurora, did you consider leaving me behind back there when the Terror Birds attacked?” Samuel asked with curiosity. Aurora’s eyes widened.

“Why would you say that? I would NEVER do that!” Aurora scowled.

“You never would, but you did earlier,” Samuel said. He reached back and scratched the back of his leg, “You acted on impulse. Not rationality. I’m not going to accept that from my ‘equal’.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“The deal we made. Don’t you remember?” Samuel reminded her, “I would team up with you for good, as long as you treated me like an equal, and as long as we went back to get Neddy and Ruby.”

Samuel clenched his fists.

“And as it stands now, *I* am the one who has held this team together. You have done nothing but hold us back with your impulse and feelings. I expect you to put that aside or else there will be an issue, do we understand?”

Star gritted her beak, and looked in the mood for popcorn. A dark look crept up on Aurora’s face, and as they made their way up to the path to the top of the waterfall, Aurora paused in her steps. She suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Samuel by the collar! She lifted him up in the air, and Star let out a squawk of fear and jumped up into the air, her eyeballs popping out.

“Listen here, Sammy, you’re acting as if you’re any better than me. When you picked out the party members, you only chose US because we were the most ‘loyal’ to you, and because our attributes were useful for an implant-less user like yourself! You have no morals, you fiend!”

Samuel grabbed Aurora’s collar and then lifted her up in the air. Now both of them were in the air.