Dododex
ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion
Stories Tips
What are some stories about the moeder? Memorable moeder stories, wild encounters, and fan fiction.
Ultimus Chapter Twelve: The Scrapper
Andrew and Reuben walked for miles, seeing the sulfur field and seeing in the distance a strange, very alien structure that he didn’t comprehend. He had investigated it before, but it just seemed to be an extremely secure data archive that he had no way of breaking. But he wasn’t going there. He continued following a path that led him between the strange place and Sanctuary. He heard a screech coming from ahead and both Reuben and him ducked into some bushes. Coming up the path was a raptor, however it was running away from what Andrew was trying to hide from. Several other raptors were chasing it, these were different, however. A strange vine-like material covered them, it glowed an ominous purple color. They hunted and killed everything, no matter if it was their own kind. They were monsters, no longer animals with natural instincts. Their instinct was only to kill and destroy. Andrew watched as four of these raptors chased the one and continued chasing it out of his sight. Andrew sighed in relief, then heard a whine from Reuben. He looked over to see Reuben investigating a strange hole in the ground, deeper in the brush. Andrew crawled over and investigated more of it himself. It was dug by something long ago. He wasn’t quite sure though. But whatever it was made Reuben very antsy and excitable. Andrew whistled Reuben who perked up at Andrew and Andrew signaled to move out of the brush. He didn’t want to investigate the borrow. At least not right now.
Andrew and Reuben slowly walked out of the bushes, Reuben started shaking off branches and thorns that got stuck in his fur and hide.
“Come on boy, let’s get to where we need to go.” Andrew said as he walked down the path.
~
Andrew and Reuben only had to walk a little while further were. He could see what he was looking for just ahead of them. The back of a large building on the side of part of the mountain range, halfway buried under the dust and element that surrounded this place. The exterior building was like that of the other buildings in Sanctuary. Made with craftsmanship and of Element, but still dilapidated and continuing to break down more. With several small openings on the outer layer of the roof and walls. Andrew walked around and then into the building. The building was gargantuan. Being filled partly with dust and Element, but seeing remnants of military vehicles and even planes made him understand where this was. This was the URE’s old army barracks. Though it held more than that now. But on the further end of the facility was a door that led him to where he wanted to go. Andrew walked towards it and began trying to open it. The doors were heavy and difficult to move from the years of corrosion and damage from time. Once he did get the door open, darkness welcomed them, something quite rare for this place. Andrew looked through his gear that he brought, but something was missing. He lost his flashlight. He groaned in irritation as he pieced together that he probably lost it when he ducked for cover from those monsters. He looked back into the darkness thinking about what he should do next. Then he looked at Reuben, his tail wagged hard as he knew what they were doing. Leaving Andrew to sigh.
“Well, we’ve done this before. It doesn’t hurt to do it again.” Andrew said, and with hesitation, Andrew and Reuben walked inside.
Andrew stumbled his way through the huge corridor, feeling the right wall of the hall. He had done this several times when he had forgotten or lost his flashlight. But most of the time he would just go back to grab a new light to guide his way through. But he was desperate and needed to search this place. He continued feeling the wall to guide himself through the corridor, until it fell away to a new wall that connected to the old wall. Andrew turned and started searching the wall for something until he felt a large, industrial switch. Andrew grabbed it and flipped it. Light started to fill the light-absent room, revealing an extremely large storage facility. With rows after rows of tarp-covered crates, Andrew guessed it was to make sure Element and dust didn’t contaminate what was inside. And there were thousands of them and there was even a few cargo containers. Further in the back was a large elevator for transporting crates and containers to lower levels of the facility. This place was truly massive, and Andrew was barely scratching the surface for the past month.
‘Was it only a month? Has it been longer, or even possibly shorter?’ Andrew thought, it was getting harder to keep track of days as he got older and the longer and longer he awoken from the pod. He looked for Reuben for a second and saw that he began wandering the rows of crates. Andrew grabbed an old crowbar off the floor.
“Alright, time to get to work.”
~
Less than an hour passed as Andrew opened crates finding very little to practically nothing useful. He was getting discouraged from the nonsense he found in just this one crate. It was all a bunch of magazines on properties, places like Pandora’s Paradise Resort of the Caesar Estate and The Moonflight Building. Why was this stuff even stored? Wasn’t this a military base at one point? Was this stuff really that important to the URE military? Andrew didn’t think so, most of these places didn’t even exist anymore. Most of these crates had random stuff, and very little of it has been useful for survival. Some mapping equipment and useful books like survival guides and encyclopedias all except for an elusive dinosaur encyclopedia that he kept looking out for. But he needed other things to survive. Ammunition was getting tighter for him, and Element was too. He needed to find these things to keep his chances of surviving high. Without them, his chances drop significantly dropped. Which meant that would die sooner than he hoped.
So he continued searching and after several more crates of junk and ‘Library Archives’, he quit and went over to one of the locked cargo containers instead. The container had old, washed-away paint on it from where it was at, Andrew couldn’t read it all but he could see it was URE. Other letters were scattered across the side with Ms, an H, a W, and a couple of As with one next to the W. He broke the lock and opened the container, inside were several more crates, smaller containers, and stacks of cases.
Andrew walked inside, opened one of the cases, and saw an old-fashioned rifle made of metal and wood. Something Andrew had never seen before, with a weird switch by where you normally loaded the ammunition, it was so weird to him. Andrew closed it took the case off and opened it at the next one. The gun in this case was also wood and metal, but instead of a switch where you loaded it, there was a looped lever by the trigger and an angled hole to the side of the gun. Andrew closed up the case and broke open a crate, inside was ammunition for all sorts of weapons. Then finally Andrew looked at the side of the crate and read what it said.
“URE War and Military History Museum.” Andrew said out loud. At first, this didn’t make sense to Andrew. Why would the military museum pieces be held in the URE’s main Barracks? If anywhere this belonged at the museum it was from or a historical society. But then he thought about the other things in this facility that he kept coming across. Then he let out a hysterical laugh as it finally made sense what this place was. The Barracks had become a physical historical archive. Not just for the military, but for all of The URE’s history. The URE must’ve started storing historical artifacts and physical documents after the war and chose one of the larger buildings that became obsolete to serve for this project.
Andrew quickly got out of the container, ran to the back of the storage facility where the elevator was, and looked for levels. The sign for the levels was made of metal and was engraved with the levels of the building. There were about twenty, the first eight being human history and one being an old computer/news archive. Several others being sciences and other things. Andrew turned around with a big smile on his face. Reuben was sitting behind him, tail wagging. Andrew knelt and started rubbing him with excitement.
“Reuben, they have a news archive!! Maybe we can find out what happened since we were asleep. It has been… many years-” Andrew said cutting himself off as he noticed a couple of sticky spots on Reuben. Andrew lifted his hand off of him and noticed there was a little bit of blood on his hands. He was cut in several places. Andrew could only assume that he was cut up from the thorns and branches. Which were on a used game trail by dinosaurs. Andrew realized he forgot to close the doo-
A terrifying, echoing call came from outside the storage room and somewhere beyond the hall.
Actually, moeder does not come from the German word mörder, it comes from the also German word. . . Moeder, which means mother, obviously because of moeder's army of little mini-moeders that are confirmed to be her offspring similarly to the broodmother lysrix and the crystal wyvern queen.
Riddles of the Phoenixes series
Through the eyes of the Dark phoenixes.
Chapter twenty eight: The…guests.
Queen Nora and King William gasped at the sight of the three of them. “What happened?!” Nora shrieked and hurried over, William close behind her. As soon as Nora touched them to see if they were okay, her medallion glowed and she accidentally healed them. “Well….” Cyra began but Cyrus interrupted her. “Full moon was coming out and Cyra and Jack took me outside before I could hurt anyone or anything!” Cyrus lied.
Jack was surprised. Cyrus was lying for them so that they wouldn’t get in trouble? William studied them with narrowed eyes. “Really is that true?” William asked Cyra and Jack. “Yes.” They said in unison. “Well…well…well…at least tell us next time! And don’t do that again!” Nora scolded. (Of at least tried to)
“Go get ready for supper.” William instructed. They immediately complied, Edgar to get out of the room.
A short while later they all came down for dinner. Cyra sat down in between Cyrus and Jack. “The guests will be here shortly so please mind your manners.” Nora said urgently. She seemed nervous. They ate in silence until the castle gates creaked open and a guard led the guests in.
The guests were wearing cloaks and were slightly wet because it had started to rain. One of the guests was a man and the other was a woman. The man led the woman over. William and Nora stood to greet them.
“Welcome we are so glad y’all could come!” King William said. “And we are glad you invited us.” The woman said quietly, her cloak hiding her face. The man took his cloak off and hung it on the coat rack. The man had sandy brown hair and brown eyes. He looked vaguely familiar but Jack couldn’t place him.
The mysterious man walked over to the woman. “Do you need help taking off your cloak, Em?” The woman shook her head. “No. It’s rather cold without it.” She replied. She reached up and slowly pulled her hood off. Her hair was a dark glossy red and hung in a long braid down her back and her eyes were a milky white.
No emotions or thought could ever be read when looking at her eyes. Jack gasped and almost toppled over in his chair. He slid from it. “Em-Emma?! Emma is that you?!” He asked, so surprised he stuttered slightly. The woman blinked and turned her head in his direction. “Jack?” She asked softly. Jack ran over and hugged her. “Emma! You’re alive!” Jack exclaimed. Emma smiled and reached out to feel his face.
“You’ve grown so old.” Emma remarked. Jack smiled and turned to the man. Now he knew who he was. “Andrew!” Jack said. Andrew smiled. “Jack, my old buddy!” Andrew said. They shook hands. “It’s so great to see y’all again!” Jack said. “How did y’all survive? Where have y’all been? Why are y’all here? I have so many questions!” Jack said.
Emma laughed and patted his hand. “Don’t worry Jack. All will be revealed in time.”
They all sat back down to eat and talk. “So…who were your parents?” Nora asked Emma. Emma thought carefully for a minute as if trying to remember their names.
“Our mother’s name was Arianna Black daughter of Irene Goldblume and Marvelo Black. My father’s FULL name was Aragorn, wait no it was…what was it…ah yes! Our father’s name was James Aragorn Riddle and I think his parents names were….Edmund Riddle and Sophia Jackson? I don’t know why he changed his name to Aragorn Peterson. ” Emma said.
William who was drinking water suddenly sputtered a bunch out in surprise. He accidentally splashed Cyrus. Cyrus set his jaw angrily and marched from the table. “WHAT?! Your father was a shadow phoenix?!?!?!” William exclaimed.
Emma blinked. “If he was I was unaware.” Nora and William exchanged looks. “Apparently there is a lot we need to tell you”
Ah another cliffhanger ending of a chapter! Enjoy it…..while you still can.”
-SunnyFox57
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 55: The Bodyguard
Part 4/4
As Samuel stepped inside the home, he was greeted with the waft of sugar. He looked around the place. There was a fireplace tucked away in the corner of the home, and a rickety dining table and three rickety chairs. There was another table to the side with a mortar and pestle and a pot.
“Welcome to my home. Tiffany built the whole place, if you’re wondering. That talented lady! I feel bad, I wish I could’ve done more than just gather stuff for her. Well, I can, actually, I know how to make this brew!” Andres walked over to the pot, grabbing it with his bare hands. There was a sizzle, and a red mark appeared on his palms. Andres hurled the pot over to the table and set it down. He let go of the pot and began to blow on his hands.
“Whew, that’s quite hot! Take a seat, Samuel!” Andres said. Samuel pulled the chair to the side and sat down on the chair. As his eyes wandered the room he saw there were two doorways leading to bedrooms.
“Hmm, if there’s two people living here, why are there three chairs?” Samuel wondered. Andres grabbed a drinking glass made of crystal and dunked it into the brew. He slid it over to Samuel, and Andres got some brew for himself.
“Cheers Samuel!”
The two clinked glasses and took a swig of the brew. As the liquid touched his tongue, he couldn’t really taste anything. But, there was a hint of sweetness to it. Andres let out a refreshing sigh and set the glass down on the table.
“I love it so much. I’m lucky enough to have made it out of the blue. Well, those blue berry things do taste sweet, so I thought, why not make a drink out of them?” Andres laughed. Samuel gave him a soft smile.
“So, did you want to be a bartender when you grow up or something?”
Andres raised his eyebrow.
“No, not really. I actually wanted to be a writer.”
“A writer? Hmm,” Samuel thought as he took another sip of the brew, “I thought he’d be in the Book Club.”
“Well. I WANTED to be, but I never got to it… The last time I wrote a story, nobody liked it, and I don’t want that feeling again,” Andres softly said, looking down at his glass sadly.
Samuel felt a bit sad for the guy. He didn’t seem like the type of guy to be hated on…
Did he really deserve it?
“Well when did you write the story?” Samuel asked. Andres looked up, his eyes looking up to the ceiling. He scratched his chin.
“Uhh, I think when I was eight?”
“What? That was ten years ago! Why don’t you give it another shot?”
Andres laughed, giving Samuel a bright smile.
“I guess you’re right. I should! Hmm, maybe when we get out of this place. Tiffany said that we’d escape as soon as YOU come.”
“Huh?”
“Tiffany will talk about it when she gets here, she didn’t tell me much,” Andres explained, “That’s why she’s not here right now. She is out collecting food for us. I’m not worried about her, she is even stronger than me!”
“Even stronger?” Samuel thought as he scratched Star’s head. He looked out at the table that had held the pot. There was a book with the emblem of a dodo. Was that the book?
For a second, Andres’ words began to drown. Samuel considered just grabbing that book and making a run for it… Did he really need Tiffany’s help? All he came for was the book, after all.
But that wasn’t the right thing to do.
“Samuel? Samuel!”
Samuel blinked his eyes and looked back at Andres.
“Huh? What’s up?”
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Uhh, no, sorry. I was spacing out.”
Andres nodded his head toward the open window. Samuel looked out of it to see two Triceratops marching up to their home, and a woman riding atop one of them. Bags were strapped to the saddles of the beasts of burden. The woman had short black unstyled hair and a somewhat skinny stature. She had a spark in her eyes that was undying, and there was a small scar on her eyebrow. She gave the two a grin and gave them the peace sign.
“Hey Andres, has our guest finally showed up?” she called out.
“Yes, he has!” Andres shouted back with a grin, “Samuel, say hello to Tiffany! Tiffany Originals!”
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 55: The Bodyguard
Part 2/4
“First of all, don’t call me that. Second of all, I don’t care about what I have to do to let us escape. I will do whatever it takes to keep the ones close to me safe and to have them leave this island ALIVE and WELL. I will not let morals get in the way. So get out of my face or there will be a problem.”
The two just stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, and Aurora glared her teeth. Star yawned, not liking the tensions currently going on, and jumped up, karate kicking Aurora in the nose. Aurora dropped Samuel, and rubbed her nose which was starting to grow a bump.
“I think Star is telling us to hurry up. Now, let’s go. We can talk about this later, valedictorian.”
Aurora scoffed, but a look of regret flashed her face once more. Then, that regret turned to sorrow.
After a few minutes, the three made it to the top of the waterfall. Nestled within the sequoia trees up top was a small cabin made of wooden logs from their surroundings. There was a pen of dodos that idly waited for someone. There was also an open window in the wall.
“Someone lives here?” Aurora murmured.
“Seems like it, let’s go check it out.”
The two walked up to the home, and the dodo birds’ heads instantly turned to Star. Star looked at them with a raised eyebrow… But then Star realized that birds do not have eyebrows.
“I’m going to look in the window,” Samuel decided. Samuel walked up to the open window and as he stared inside…
Someone was staring right back at him!
A brown eye was staring right at him, wide open, and Samuel was taken aback. He quickly began to back off, but the stranger was already making his way to the front door.
The front door swung open, and a large, muscular man with bulging biceps began to march toward the two. He had a tee on that looked like it was about to tear off at any moment, and he had a fresh buzz cut. A black graduation robe was tied around his waist, and he had a mean look on his face.
“What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here!” the man barked, “This isn’t your home! Please leave!”
“Huh? Sorry, is this your home? We’re just looking for someone,” Samuel assured the man. He looked Samuel up and down, and then stomped his foot into the grass. The earth shuddered.
“You and your friend look mean!” he declared, “You’re here to hurt me, aren’t you?”
“What? No-”
And immediately the man swung a fist at Samuel. It was so sudden that Samuel couldn’t dodge in time, and the impact was so strong Samuel could feel the pain on the other side of his face!
Samuel was launched away so hard he slammed his back into a sequoia tree. Star let out a squawk of fear, and quickly retreated into the crowd of dodos. The man paid no attention to her, but as Samuel stared at him, he saw his fists glowing a bright white, and his implant was shining brightly.
“Enhanced strength is his attribute?” Samuel wondered as he got up from the ground. Aurora got her spear out, pointing it at the man. He flinched in fear.
“Samuel, should I just stab this punk right now?” Aurora asked, her eyes unwavering, “His fists can’t stop a spear.”
“NO. Remember we don’t know what happens if you kill someone. *I* have to be the one to do it, if it comes down to it.”
The man’s right eye began to twitch, and his face began to get wet with perspiration. He clenched his fists harder and his implant shined brighter.
“I KNEW you were going to hurt me… I KNEW IT!” the man cried. He lunged his hand forward and grabbed onto Aurora’s spear. She let out a gasp in surprise and tried pulling away, but she couldn’t even budge the spear. With a yank, the man pulled the spear out of her hands so hard she stumbled forward. The man snapped the spear over his knee, and then tossed the broken weapon to the side.
“He’s dangerous,” Samuel realized, eyeing the broken spear, “TOO dangerous.”
The man let out a cry, and hurled his fist back, ready to pummel it right into Aurora’s face. Samuel quickly dashed forward and pushed her out of the way. The man punched the air so hard that wind began to blow Samuel’s hair to the side.
Samuel stared down the man with pity. Samuel could literally sense the fear inside his heart. He didn’t fight them out of malice, he fought them out of a pure fight response.
“But he’s acting on impulse,” he felt himself thinking, “And those people are never good, are they? Remember what my Dad said. Only care for yourself and the people close to you.”
But was that the right thing to do here?
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Samuel firmly told the stranger. The stranger’s lip quivered, and the glow on his fists began to fade.
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.
So I didn’t prepare for the fight and I did little research so I went in with a mosa a basilosaur a tueso and a plesiosaur and we were doing good in the battle he was down about half health and the mosa was killed the my basilo then my plesiosaur the tueso was the only man left he saved my life and we killed he had 900 health out of 20,000 he carried me through but rip to the fallen
The Dagon hymn (by H.P. Lovecraft historical society)
Oh mighty father of the deep
Whose sacred oaths we ever keep,
Who brings the bounties of the sea
In answer to man’s solemn plea,
Grant that we may dwell one day
Forever in Y’ha-nhtlei!
Oh mother who with many arms
Enfolds and keeps us safe from harms,
Who knows the water’s ebb and flow
With ancient wisdom from below,
Please grant that we may dwell one day
Forever in Y’ha-nhtlei!
Oh mighty deep ones of the sea,
To you we pledge our loyalty
And if that oath we ever break
Our willing flesh is yours to take!
And thus we ever humbly pray
To join you in Y’ha-nhtlei!
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 55: The Bodyguard
Part 3/4
“R-Really?”
“Yes, really. I just was doing some scouting for my group, we’re looking for someone. We’ll be on our way now if you just-”
The fear on the stranger’s face transformed into anger, and he scrunched his eyebrows.
“The last scouts that came by tried to hurt me and my friend. YOU want to hurt me too!”
The man let out a flurry of punches, and Samuel weaved through each one. In a fit of panic, he grabbed Samuel by the robe, pulled him up into the air, and threw him to the side. Samuel went crashing into the mud, and it splashed over his robe and face.
Aurora’s eyes darted to the spear fragment, and with a pounce she grabbed the sharp end and snuck up behind the stranger. Samuel’s eyes widened, and without thinking he screamed out,
“LOOK OUT!”
The man turned around right as Aurora was about to stab him, and he let out a cry and slapped Aurora so hard in the face she went flying to the dirt too. Aurora let out a groan and tried sitting up, staring at Samuel and glaring at him.
“Why, did you, WARN HIM?!” Aurora screamed.
Samuel stared right back at Aurora, unsure of how to speak.
He had warned him out of instinct.
The man was breathing hard, his stamina spent. Sweat began to accumulate in his hair, and he blinked hard, a dizzy look in his eyes. Samuel slowly got up from the ground, clutching his chin.
“I don’t want to hurt you. My friend…Don’t worry about her. I’m her leader. I won’t let her get you. And all we’re doing is searching for someone. Really, that’s it. There’s nothing to worry about.”
The man lowered his fists, letting out a huff of air, and then inhaling hard. He really was spent.
“I’m sorry, for, hitting you two,” he apologized profusely, “I was scared. I’m sorry. Who are you looking for? My friend might know who you’re talking about.”
Samuel considered telling the stranger for a second. What if Tiffany was an enemy of this man’s friend? What if the man would do something about it?
“Don’t tell him,” he tried to tell himself, “He may hurt me.”
But, would he, really?
Samuel brushed his hair to the side, and explained their situation.
“Me and my friend, along with three others, are looking for a woman named Tiffany. She has information, and we want to be allies with her.”
The man’s eyes began to sparkle, and his face lit up, the fatigue gone from his face.
“Tiffany?? No way, that’s my friend!” he said with a big grin.
Samuel was speechless. This man was literally the only link to Tiffany, and they had almost ruined their chance by scaring and trying to hurt him!
“Well, if you guys are looking for Tiffany… Hmm, I think she told me something like this would happen, and that when it did, I… invite you guys in? That’s what she said. Well, come on in, if you like! I just finished making some delicious brew that’s very very sweet, I think you’ll all love it!” the man said with a cheer. He walked up to the front door and swung it open for the two. In a second he had transformed from a paranoid, impulsive man fighting for his life to a friendly kid who looked like he liked making friends.
Aurora got up from the ground and walked up to Samuel.
“I don’t trust this guy… what if it’s a trap?” she asked Samuel.
Samuel looked at the big guy. He looked so jolly. But even if it was a trap…
Samuel would come out on top.
“It’s not. How about this? I’ll go in with Star, you go down to the others, get yourself cleaned up, and tell the others we found her. You three can relax and I’ll have a chat with this friendly man here.”
“Okay…”
Aurora began to walk off, and as she did Star eagerly rushed out of the crowd of Dodos and walked up to Samuel. Samuel looked down at Star, and she looked up right at him.
“Hey, how about we start with introductions first? We never got your name,” Samuel yelled out as he walked up to the front door. The stranger frowned, as if he had forgotten to do so.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you. My name is Andres,” he said with a sigh, “I got so excited I forgot to tell you my name.”
“It’s okay Andres,” Samuel replied, “My name is Samuel. My friend right here is Star, and that girl who uh, tried fighting you earlier was Aurora. You don’t have to mind her. She has a bit of a no mercy mindset.”
“Oh, well that’s kind of… heartless.”
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 55: The Bodyguard
Original Post Date: Apr 15, 2024
Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Megalodon, next chapter in Mosasaurus. The next chapter will be a “decimal” chapter (55.5). This means it does not exactly fit on the timeline, but still has relevance to the plot.
~
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.
“First of all, don’t call me that. Second of all, I don’t care about what I have to do to let us escape. I will do whatever it takes to keep the ones close to me safe and to have them leave this island ALIVE and WELL. I will not let morals get in the way. So get out of my face or there will be a problem.”
The two just stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, and Aurora glared her teeth. Star yawned, not liking the tensions currently going on, and jumped up, karate kicking Aurora in the nose. Aurora dropped Samuel, and rubbed her nose which was starting to grow a bump.
“I think Star is telling us to hurry up. Now, let’s go. We can talk about this later, valedictorian.”
Aurora scoffed, but a look of regret flashed her face once more. Then, that regret turned to sorrow.
After a few minutes, the three made it to the top of the waterfall. Nestled within the sequoia trees up top was a small cabin made of wooden logs from their surroundings. There was a pen of dodos that idly waited for someone. There was also an open window in the wall.
“Someone lives here?” Aurora murmured.
“Seems like it, let’s go check it out.”
The two walked up to the home, and the dodo birds’ heads instantly turned to Star. Star looked at them with a raised eyebrow… But then Star realized that birds do not have eyebrows.
“I’m going to look in the window,” Samuel decided. Samuel walked up to the open window and as he stared inside…
Someone was staring right back at him!
A brown eye was staring right at him, wide open, and Samuel was taken aback. He quickly began to back off, but the stranger was already making his way to the front door.
The front door swung open, and a large, muscular man with bulging biceps began to march toward the two. He had a tee on that looked like it was about to tear off at any moment, and he had a fresh buzz cut. A black graduation robe was tied around his waist, and he had a mean look on his face.
“What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here!” the man barked, “This isn’t your home! Please leave!”
“Huh? Sorry, is this your home? We’re just looking for someone,” Samuel assured the man. He looked Samuel up and down, and then stomped his foot into the grass. The earth shuddered.
“You and your friend look mean!” he declared, “You’re here to hurt me, aren’t you?”
“What? No-”
And immediately the man swung a fist at Samuel. It was so sudden that Samuel couldn’t dodge in time, and the impact was so strong Samuel could feel the pain on the other side of his face!
Samuel was launched away so hard he slammed his back into a sequoia tree. Star let out a squawk of fear, and quickly retreated into the crowd of dodos. The man paid no attention to her, but as Samuel stared at him, he saw his fists glowing a bright white, and his implant was shining brightly.
“Enhanced strength is his attribute?” Samuel wondered as he got up from the ground. Aurora got her spear out, pointing it at the man. He flinched in fear.
“Samuel, should I just stab this punk right now?” Aurora asked, her eyes unwavering, “His fists can’t stop a spear.”
“NO. Remember we don’t know what happens if you kill someone. *I* have to be the one to do it, if it comes down to it.”
The man’s right eye began to twitch, and his face began to get wet with perspiration. He clenched his fists harder and his implant shined brighter.
“I KNEW you were going to hurt me… I KNEW IT!” the man cried. He lunged his hand forward and grabbed onto Aurora’s spear. She let out a gasp in surprise and tried pulling away, but she couldn’t even budge the spear. With a yank, the man pulled the spear out of her hands so hard she stumbled forward. The man snapped the spear over his knee, and then tossed the broken weapon to the side.
“He’s dangerous,” Samuel realized, eyeing the broken spear, “TOO dangerous.”
The man let out a cry, and hurled his fist back, ready to pummel it right into Aurora’s face. Samuel quickly dashed forward and pushed her out of the way. The man punched the air so hard that wind began to blow Samuel’s hair to the side.
Samuel stared down the man with pity. Samuel could literally sense the fear inside his heart. He didn’t fight them out of malice, he fought them out of a pure fight response.
“But he’s acting on impulse,” he felt himself thinking, “And those people are never good, are they? Remember what my Dad said. Only care for yourself and the people close to you.”
But was that the right thing to do here?
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Samuel firmly told the stranger. The stranger’s lip quivered, and the glow on his fists began to fade.
“R-Really?”
“Yes, really. I just was doing some scouting for my group, we’re looking for someone. We’ll be on our way now if you just-”
The fear on the stranger’s face transformed into anger, and he scrunched his eyebrows.
“The last scouts that came by tried to hurt me and my friend. YOU want to hurt me too!”
The man let out a flurry of punches, and Samuel weaved through each one. In a fit of panic, he grabbed Samuel by the robe, pulled him up into the air, and threw him to the side. Samuel went crashing into the mud, and it splashed over his robe and face.
Aurora’s eyes darted to the spear fragment, and with a pounce she grabbed the sharp end and snuck up behind the stranger. Samuel’s eyes widened, and without thinking he screamed out,
“LOOK OUT!”
The man turned around right as Aurora was about to stab him, and he let out a cry and slapped Aurora so hard in the face she went flying to the dirt too. Aurora let out a groan and tried sitting up, staring at Samuel and glaring at him.
“Why, did you, WARN HIM?!” Aurora screamed.
Samuel stared right back at Aurora, unsure of how to speak.
He had warned him out of instinct.
The man was breathing hard, his stamina spent. Sweat began to accumulate in his hair, and he blinked hard, a dizzy look in his eyes. Samuel slowly got up from the ground, clutching his chin.
“I don’t want to hurt you. My friend…Don’t worry about her. I’m her leader. I won’t let her get you. And all we’re doing is searching for someone. Really, that’s it. There’s nothing to worry about.”
The man lowered his fists, letting out a huff of air, and then inhaling hard. He really was spent.
“I’m sorry, for, hitting you two,” he apologized profusely, “I was scared. I’m sorry. Who are you looking for? My friend might know who you’re talking about.”
Samuel considered telling the stranger for a second. What if Tiffany was an enemy of this man’s friend? What if the man would do something about it?
“Don’t tell him,” he tried to tell himself, “He may hurt me.”
But, would he, really?
Samuel brushed his hair to the side, and explained their situation.
“Me and my friend, along with three others, are looking for a woman named Tiffany. She has information, and we want to be allies with her.”
The man’s eyes began to sparkle, and his face lit up, the fatigue gone from his face.
“Tiffany?? No way, that’s my friend!” he said with a big grin.
Samuel was speechless. This man was literally the only link to Tiffany, and they had almost ruined their chance by scaring and trying to hurt him!
“Well, if you guys are looking for Tiffany… Hmm, I think she told me something like this would happen, and that when it did, I… invite you guys in? That’s what she said. Well, come on in, if you like! I just finished making some delicious brew that’s very very sweet, I think you’ll all love it!” the man said with a cheer. He walked up to the front door and swung it open for the two. In a second he had transformed from a paranoid, impulsive man fighting for his life to a friendly kid who looked like he liked making friends.
Aurora got up from the ground and walked up to Samuel.
“I don’t trust this guy… what if it’s a trap?” she asked Samuel.
Samuel looked at the big guy. He looked so jolly. But even if it was a trap…
Samuel would come out on top.
“It’s not. How about this? I’ll go in with Star, you go down to the others, get yourself cleaned up, and tell the others we found her. You three can relax and I’ll have a chat with this friendly man here.”
“Okay…”
Aurora began to walk off, and as she did Star eagerly rushed out of the crowd of Dodos and walked up to Samuel. Samuel looked down at Star, and she looked up right at him.
“Hey, how about we start with introductions first? We never got your name,” Samuel yelled out as he walked up to the front door. The stranger frowned, as if he had forgotten to do so.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you. My name is Andres,” he said with a sigh, “I got so excited I forgot to tell you my name.”
“It’s okay Andres,” Samuel replied, “My name is Samuel. My friend right here is Star, and that girl who uh, tried fighting you earlier was Aurora. You don’t have to mind her. She has a bit of a no mercy mindset.”
“Oh, well that’s kind of… heartless.”
As Samuel stepped inside the home, he was greeted with the waft of sugar. He looked around the place. There was a fireplace tucked away in the corner of the home, and a rickety dining table and three rickety chairs. There was another table to the side with a mortar and pestle and a pot.
“Welcome to my home. Tiffany built the whole place, if you’re wondering. That talented lady! I feel bad, I wish I could’ve done more than just gather stuff for her. Well, I can, actually, I know how to make this brew!” Andres walked over to the pot, grabbing it with his bare hands. There was a sizzle, and a red mark appeared on his palms. Andres hurled the pot over to the table and set it down. He let go of the pot and began to blow on his hands.
“Whew, that’s quite hot! Take a seat, Samuel!” Andres said. Samuel pulled the chair to the side and sat down on the chair. As his eyes wandered the room he saw there were two doorways leading to bedrooms.
“Hmm, if there’s two people living here, why are there three chairs?” Samuel wondered. Andres grabbed a drinking glass made of crystal and dunked it into the brew. He slid it over to Samuel, and Andres got some brew for himself.
“Cheers Samuel!”
The two clinked glasses and took a swig of the brew. As the liquid touched his tongue, he couldn’t really taste anything. But, there was a hint of sweetness to it. Andres let out a refreshing sigh and set the glass down on the table.
“I love it so much. I’m lucky enough to have made it out of the blue. Well, those blue berry things do taste sweet, so I thought, why not make a drink out of them?” Andres laughed. Samuel gave him a soft smile.
“So, did you want to be a bartender when you grow up or something?”
Andres raised his eyebrow.
“No, not really. I actually wanted to be a writer.”
“A writer? Hmm,” Samuel thought as he took another sip of the brew, “I thought he’d be in the Book Club.”
“Well. I WANTED to be, but I never got to it… The last time I wrote a story, nobody liked it, and I don’t want that feeling again,” Andres softly said, looking down at his glass sadly.
Samuel felt a bit sad for the guy. He didn’t seem like the type of guy to be hated on…
Did he really deserve it?
“Well when did you write the story?” Samuel asked. Andres looked up, his eyes looking up to the ceiling. He scratched his chin.
“Uhh, I think when I was eight?”
“What? That was ten years ago! Why don’t you give it another shot?”
Andres laughed, giving Samuel a bright smile.
“I guess you’re right. I should! Hmm, maybe when we get out of this place. Tiffany said that we’d escape as soon as YOU come.”
“Huh?”
“Tiffany will talk about it when she gets here, she didn’t tell me much,” Andres explained, “That’s why she’s not here right now. She is out collecting food for us. I’m not worried about her, she is even stronger than me!”
“Even stronger?” Samuel thought as he scratched Star’s head. He looked out at the table that had held the pot. There was a book with the emblem of a dodo. Was that the book?
For a second, Andres’ words began to drown. Samuel considered just grabbing that book and making a run for it… Did he really need Tiffany’s help? All he came for was the book, after all.
But that wasn’t the right thing to do.
“Samuel? Samuel!”
Samuel blinked his eyes and looked back at Andres.
“Huh? What’s up?”
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Uhh, no, sorry. I was spacing out.”
Andres nodded his head toward the open window. Samuel looked out of it to see two Triceratops marching up to their home, and a woman riding atop one of them. Bags were strapped to the saddles of the beasts of burden. The woman had short black unstyled hair and a somewhat skinny stature. She had a spark in her eyes that was undying, and there was a small scar on her eyebrow. She gave the two a grin and gave them the peace sign.
“Hey Andres, has our guest finally showed up?” she called out.
“Yes, he has!” Andres shouted back with a grin, “Samuel, say hello to Tiffany! Tiffany Originals!”
The ferox fire chapter 6
(chapters one through five are in ferox)
By Poecilotheria metallica/big blue spider/that one who wrote
Draconis tales/P. metallica/TFFG
Anyway,
Mischief found himself in a huge mechanical looking space made from the same black metal as the artefact of paranoia, with luminescent blue lines running through the floor.
In the centre there was a quite small podium with a few oddly shaped grooves and sockets on the top,
"The podium thing's grooves and sockets match the tongues and knobs on the bottom of the artefact" Death said.
"Maybe we have to put the artefact onto the podium then"
Death scuttled over to the podium and put the artefact on top,
It fit perfectly over the podium, the blue glow of the room turned somewhere between turquoise and lime, and a portal opened where the podium and the artefact were before, Mischief and death stepped through it, into the ocean biome.
~==÷==~
The ferox and bloodstalker stepped out of the portal onto a small island with many shrubs, bushes and mushrooms, but no trees, that was surrounded with a swarm of small tropical birds.
"I wonder what that blue thing the biome master gave us is"
Mischief said,
"Let's find out" Death replied.
Taking the cylinder out of her claws with one tentacle, Death tossed it lightly onto the ground, and in an explosion of hexagons,
A small, pale creature with a toadstool cap above it's huge brown eyes, a small smiling mouth, and incredibly short arms and legs on it's little tubby body appeared.
"That. . . Is not what I was expecting" Death said.