Dododex
ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion
Stories Tips
What are some stories about the plesiosaur? Memorable plesiosaur stories, wild encounters, and fan fiction.
Ultimus chapter 7: Prime
Andrew started cleaning each of the rooms in the house, but their was dust covering everything in a thick layer of it. He went into a closet and found cleaning supplies. Gloves, goggles, masks, brooms, and most importantly a vacuum. He decided to start from the entrance and work his way through the house. Time passed as he cleaned. Yet the time outside seemed to never change. Andrew assumed that he wasn’t taking as much time as he thought.
Andrew got through most of the house and stared down the hallway and to the rooms he had to do next. He looked at the left side of the hall, where his parents bedroom was. He slowly walked over, opened the door and looked in the room. It seemed like it didn’t change at all. Tears began to pour down his cheeks and he felt hopelessly sick to know they were gone. He took a step in and stopped, and with no hesitation grabbed the door handle and locked the door and closed it as he walked away from the door. He wanted to leave it like that. Nothing touched, nothing disturbed inside. He took off his safety goggles for a moment and wiped all the tears away. He put them back on and continued to clean down the hall.
When Andrew finally came to his room and completed the main room. He looked over to his closet and opened the door. He found his school equipment and VR helmet. An idea immediately came to him, his droid ran on element and was only able to be activated by his headset. He could look for others in Arat Prime!! All he had to do was activate his droid at the school!!
He dusted off the headset and hand controllers. He put on the headset and flipped a switch and watched the screen as the screen flickered and saw a blurry picture. Andrew immediately started raising and lowering his hands and saw that the droid was under some sort of clear plastic. He started ripping off the plastic and found he was in a storage area in what looked like the school he attended. Andrew started pressing a few buttons on one of the controller and he began hearing the treads of his droid but couldn’t see the droid moving. He really couldn’t see anything. He quickly took off his headset and looked for a specific button. He found it, pressed it and put the headset back on. A light came on from the droid. He immediately noticed that the camera and droid was smushed up against a wall of the room. He maneuvered the droid around to see where the door was and noticed that he was right next to it. He opened the door and saw debris all over the floor and lockers knocked over all around the hall. Luckily the treads on the droid were built for stuff like this.
He maneuvered the droid through the debris of the halls. Everything was still black. No lights, not even sunlight. All he had was the light of his droid. And that didn’t help much except to see ten or fifteen feet ahead of him. But he began to hear a hissing and clattering sounds coming from the hall ahead. Andrew stopped the droid and turned on his microphone.
“Hello? Is anyone in here?” He said, the noise died down. Andrew decided to continue forward. As he did the noise started up again and began getting louder. And decided to keep moving forward and try in a few seconds again to make contact.
Almost a minute later something shot out of the dark and hit the droid’s camera. Andrew lost all visual, but he heard the droid fall over so he knew he had audio and controls over the droid still. Andrew continued pressing buttons to see if he could catch traction on something. But all in vein. Andrew started raising his hands in the air to attempt to tip the droid up. But again in vein. He must’ve landed on his back and the droid didn’t have articulation for this problem. Andrew suddenly began hearing the weird sound he had heard before and what sounded like footsteps. He then heard static, he lost audio and wasn’t sure if he still had controls. He took of the headset and controllers. From what he saw, Arat Prime was abandoned. That was one of their busiest schools and it was in ruins.
Andrew suddenly felt alone, completely alone and isolated. He didn’t know what happened at Prime or if there was anyone left. He needed to find a way to Sanctuary, as soon he can. As he sat there, he felt completely drained from all that had happened today. He quickly got up and crawled into his now clean bed. There was still light outside, but he couldn’t stay awake any longer. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
The Obelisk
-Chapter 99-
The storm circled around him.
Jethezzar stared ahead in terror, holding the rune tightly in his claws. He turned slowly around and around and watched the storm whirling on all sides.
Forest was shoved back. He dug his claws into the stone as the force of the storm hitting the ground sent the Five skidding backwards. He lifted his head, the wind stinging his eyes and making them water. He watched the clouds in wide shock and fear.
‘Oh, Jethezzar.’
Thunder cracked from above. Jethezzar glanced down at the rune in his talons, his golden eyes filling with determination and anger. Gritting his teeth, he reared up and lifted one wing to throw the rune against the ground.
Then stopped.
Something horrible sizzled in his veins. He looked up at the rune in pure horror and it screeched in his ears and filled his head. He watched his claws begin to melt and his mouth split open in an enormous scream as his head lifted to the sky.
Pain. Something pulled him onto the ground and he crashed against rock, banging his head and rolling it over to watch his wing begin to burn and rip apart. The rune glowed softly in his talon and tears filled his eyes. He couldn’t move.
He watched with sad and scared eyes as he was torn apart.
***
Moonlight turned the orange grass silver. Just as quick as it had come, the storm receded and sunk back into the black and gray sky.
Forest opened his eyes to squint ahead. Mist spread across the ground and around his talons. Crimson stepped forward to cautiously smell the air, and Rust came up behind her, his feathers ruffled and pressed up against the Kapro.
A gentle green glow shone from beneath the mist. Forest took a pace towards it when Spark moved to stand at his side, looking worried. “Forest,” she whispered.
“It’s OK,” Forest said quietly. He took another step towards the light.
It began to rain. Small droplets of water sizzled at the ground and the mist began to die away, breaking apart to reveal the rune.
It sat alone on the dark ground, blinking faintly. Forest came towards it slowly, watching with steady eyes as its light pulsed warmly up at him, and then dimmed and flicked off.
Forest picked it up, and snow began to fall.
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 60: Broken Facade
Original Post Date: Apr 28, 2024
Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Piranha, next chapter in Sabertooth Salmon.
~
“So, this is the cave,” Neddy said, looking at the carved opening with a frown. All seven of them were standing outside, their weapons at the ready. Although originally they had planned on bringing their tames with them, the cave’s entrance seemed large enough to only fit the humans. Tiffany nodded.
“Yep. Andres and I found it when we were setting up our home,” Tiffany responded. Ruby plugged her nose, fanning the air quickly with her other hand.
“It REEKS in there, are you sure the artifact or whatever it’s called is in there?”
“I’m very positive,” Tiffany answered, “You trust me, I assume?”
“We do. We just don’t want to waste our time,” Samuel told her, “For all we know others already know about these artifacts and are on the move to collect them. We need to be swift.”
Star squawked in agreement, and Aurora shivered.
“I’m getting a bad feeling about this.”
“Don’t be afraid!” Andres said, pointing a finger in the air, “I’ll go in first!”
Andres stepped into the darkness. Neddy shrugged, and stepped in along with Ruby. Tiffany followed, and now Aurora and Samuel (along with Star) were the only ones who needed to enter.
“Ladies first,” Samuel said, waving his hand to the entrance, “Don’t let your fear rule you.”
Aurora scoffed and stepped in, wielding her spear. Samuel stepped in and immediately he was greeted with a strange, vicious smoke. The green fog covered the entire cavern in a blanket, and as Samuel breathed the fumes in he felt dizzy.
“This is weird,” Ruby commented, her nose still plugged.
“Poisonous gas,” Tiffany said, “Not to panic. It doesn’t seem lethal, but let’s not take our chances. I’ll get rid of the fog and clear a pathway for you all.”
Bum, Bum, Bum.
“What’s that noise?” Aurora asked in fear, looking around with panic in her eyes.
“My heart,” Tiffany said, putting a hand to her chest, “My ability to adapt at will…”
Gills began to grow on Tiffany’s neck, and everyone looked on in awe as Tiffany inhaled a large puff of gas. As the fog cleared, everyone began to venture into the dark, creepy cavern…
Hissss!
“Snake, snake!” Neddy cried as a giant snake with a large frill slithered toward them. Ruby aimed her crossbow and pulled the trigger. A stone arrow pierced its skin, and venom began to spew out onto the floor, coating the damp grass in a thick layer of ooze. The snake let out a hiss of pain, before coiling up and striking at Samuel. Samuel weaved to the side, and Andres took his fist and socked it right in the face.
POW!
The snake went flying, and Tiffany followed up with a roundhouse kick to the head. With one final arrow, the snake was killed.
“Well that wasn’t so bad,” Neddy apologized, “Sorry about that, I should have helped…”
“It’s okay Neddy, just kill the next one for us, okay?” Ruby said with a smile. She put a hand on Neddy’s shoulder, and he flinched reflexively. He gave a smile back to her.
With the snake slayed, the seven quietly walked forward.
As the fog was swallowed by Tiffany, it was evident that there was now a fork in the road. Three paths lay ahead of them, and although the poisonous gasses were absent from each one, the temperature seemed to grow hotter and hotter.
“So, there’s a fork,” Neddy pointed out.
“What now?” Ruby asked.
“We need to split up. It’s the only way we’re going to get the artifact quickly enough,” Samuel declared. He began to air his graduation robe, it was starting to get damp on him and sweat began to collect at his hairline, “Heat’s absolutely killing me.”
“No, are you a fool? We need to stick together! What if we run into something like that snake again?” Aurora asked. She looked beyond Samuel at one of the paths and began to shiver.
“We’re fully capable of taking them down!” Andres argued, punching the palm of his fist.
“But is he? Or she?” Aurora said, pointing at Neddy and Ruby.
“Then we just need to create the correct pairs,” Tiffany reasoned, “Let’s not grow rash though. Andres shall go with Neddy, I shall go with Ruby, and Aurora can go with Samuel and Star.”
“Seems fine by me,” Samuel murmured, “We’ll go left then.”
The group split up, however Aurora was still very skeptical of this plan. She hung closer to Samuel, clutching her spear tightly and looking around in a panic for any potential creepy-crawlies.
“No no no this is just like the dream,” Aurora whispered to herself. Samuel raised an eyebrow.
“What are you talking about?”
“Nightmare,” Aurora replied, “I was in a swamp and…and there were leeches. It was so hot and there were people. But nobody came to save me.”
Aurora found herself closer and closer to Samuel’s side, and Star sneered at her in disapproval.
“I don’t want to die Samuel,” Aurora whispered again, her voice shaky. Samuel felt his memory reawaken: the night they had been attacked by a group of Raptors.
“You won’t die.”
The murky water beneath them began to shake, and black worms began to squirm and crawl out of the water. Aurora let out a bone-chilling scream, and Star followed up with a squawk of her own as leeches by the dozen began to approach them.
“There’s definitely a lot of them,” Samuel stated the obvious. He drew his spear and swiped a few away, but the others began to jump all over Samuel. Samuel let out a gasp as they latched onto his neck, drawing his blood out at a fast pace. Samuel grabbed a leech and tried to pull it away, but it was like trying to pull your fingers out in a Chinese finger trap. Futile.
Samuel lashed out, and Aurora began to back away. Samuel looked at her.
“Don’t do anything stupid now!”
Aurora turned away and quickly made a run for it, and Samuel groaned again. He looked up at Star, who the leeches seemingly ignored.
“Enlighten me please!”
Star’s chest glowed, and Samuel’s mind began to clear. The sucking sensation all along his neck disappeared, and he closed his eyes. Getting into a stance, he quickly began to run forward.
“If I get to the end in time and find the artifact, then I can get out of here faster!” Samuel screamed to himself, “Star, try getting these things off me!”
Star used her beak and bit down on one of the leeches, ripping it away with ease. The leech squirmed around, and Star quickly dropped it onto the ground. Star slowly began to pull the leeches away one by one, but it was obvious that it wasn’t fast enough.
“Just… Persevere…” Samuel muttered. He felt his vision growing sharper and his legs growing weaker. His arms began to tingle, and he stopped suddenly, putting his hands on his knees and coughing out a huge wad of blood.
Samuel collapsed to his knees, making Star drop to the ground. Star let out a squawk of worry and latched onto another leech, but Samuel stopped her.
“STOP! Just run, get to the others!” Samuel begged her. Star refused, shaking her head violently and latching onto another leech, pulling away as quickly as she could. Samuel’s vision continued to wane, and it all seemed hopeless.
Alone in this damp, stuffy swamp-like cavern, death to leeches seemed Samuel’s way to go.
But as Samuel felt himself giving up hope, a cry echoed throughout the caverns. A cry for Samuel to get up.
“SAMUEL!” a familiar woman’s voice cried. Samuel could see a shadow above him, and tanned hands grasping and grabbing the leeches attached to his neck.
“Who is that?” Samuel asked himself, his eyes twitching and the leeches around his neck pulsating. The tanned hands suddenly disappeared, and a rageful cry from Star pierced his ears. Samuel’s vision began to return slowly and he saw three people running at him.
“Samuel! Aurora told us… We’ve come to help!”
“Neddy,” Samuel groaned, “Andres.”
He felt small hands lift his head up from the water, and strong hands tugging and ripping away at the leeches. One by one, the leeches were extracted, and Samuel could feel his neck wet with water and blood. His vision began to return slowly, and he blinked a few times to see Neddy kneeling beside him with a leather pouch filled with river water, Andres kneeling beside him with hands filled with a weird mucus, and Star looking at the ground gloomily.
“Ugh,” Samuel moaned. His head was inclined, and he saw a woman’s face stare down at him with a smirk.
“Not so irrational now, huh?” Aurora said. A smile began to grow at the corner of her lips. Samuel instantly got up, startling Aurora and making her back off.
“Why’d you run?!” Samuel yelled with clenched fists, “You could have, you could have-”
“Could have what? Tore those leeches off myself? Even though you were having trouble doing it! What good could I have done?” Aurora said, “I came back with help because I knew I couldn’t do it alone! That was the most rational decision I could’ve made yet here you are berating me about how I shouldn’t have run, PLEASE. Nothing I do is ever smart or good enough for you, huh? You probably think I’m just a brat who can’t take care of herself and can’t do anything on her own!”
Aurora began to walk off into the direction they were supposed to go.
“But now I can see you’re just a selfish prick who only cares about himself.”
Andres looked at Samuel, and offered his hand.
“Come on. Let’s go.”
Andres hauled Samuel up to the ground, and Samuel felt something weird in his heart. Guilt. Was this the right thing to do?
“No. It isn’t,” Samuel admitted to himself as they continued to travel along.
The rest of the way was silent. No one dared to utter a word in fear of being verbally harassed by Aurora and her stunning speech. But what Aurora said WAS true though. She did the most reasonable course of action in that situation.
Suddenly, the cavern began to open up, revealing a gigantic cavity that was filled with large orange sacs and cobwebs. It certainly was a terrifying sight. They could see two other pathways too, and before they knew it two women emerged from the right path. Tiffany and Ruby.
“Tiffany! Over here!” Andres said, waving at her. Tiffany and Ruby turned, waving back at him.
“Look at that, we didn’t even have to split up!” Ruby chuckled. Everyone laughed except Aurora and Samuel. Everyone quickly regrouped, taking a moment to analyze their surroundings.
“So, this is the end of the cave. Was that really all there was to it?” Neddy asked. Tiffany shook her head, her heartbeat slowly drumming over the sound of the trickling water.
“Don’t think so. Look over there. You see that caught in the webs?”
Everyone stared at where Tiffany was pointing at and saw it. A strange spheroid that was made of a mysterious metal and had engravings that glowed a rosy red. It hummed with a strange power, and beneath the webbing were strange metal veins made of the same material as the object. It was certainly the artifact.
“So it’s the artifact… But how exactly are we supposed to get it?” Neddy asked. Andres walked up to the webbing and tried jumping up to grab it, but it was too high.
“Arghhh, I can’t get it!” Andres groaned. Neddy ran up to him and jumped on his back. He let out a squeal as he lost his balance, stumbling forward a few steps before steadily regaining his step.
“Try not to drop me,” Neddy told him. Neddy slowly began to stand up on his two feet, and Andres quaked as he carried Neddy’s weight. Neddy outstretched his hand, touched the artifact, and it disintegrated into metal shards.
“Woah!” everyone gasped.
The metal shards flew into Neddy’s implant, and he let out a gasp as he fell off of Andres, falling to the ground. Neddy’s implant glowed, but the color faded away.
“Ahhhh it just entered me I think I’m gonna-” Neddy paused, and he suddenly gasped, “Wait a minute, woah, my airways feel all clear now! That darned stuffy nose I had all day is gone!”
Neddy got up from the ground, blinked his eyes, and took his glasses off.
“And I can see better now!”
“He absorbed the artifact and gained its power,” Tiffany realized with wonder. So with the artifact collected, everyone made haste and left the cave.
~
Night was already beginning to cover the entire ARK in a blanket of darkness.
Tiffany sat at the dining table, a light pinned at the piece of paper that contained the encrypted message Star had given to Samuel. Tiffany was inspecting the lines, and writing something down at the bottom of the paper. The gills that lined her neck after she had entered the cave were now gone, along with the loud heartbeat that filled the air like loud drums in a war.
Andres was taking swigs of his energy brew while staring out at the pen of dodos that was outside his home. He reached into his pouch and pulled out handfuls of berries, tossing them into the crowd of birds. Instantly, they all began to dive and dash for their share of the meal like vicious hounds. Andres sighed.
Footsteps clacked on the hard wood behind him, and Samuel approached, resting his hands on the window sill. Andres looked at him with eager eyes, like a puppy begging for treats.
“Hi Samuel!”
“Hey,” Samuel replied, looking out into the crowd of Dodos. He rubbed his hand on his left wrist, where there was no implant. How many knew about it now? One, two?
“Only Aurora and Skyler,” Samuel thought to himself, “But they know I might as well not need one.”
Samuel felt like he was missing one more person, but he passed it off as his imagination. Samuel looked at Star, who was sitting on one of the dining table chairs. She seemed much more awake now, and was watching Tiffany intensely. She was wagging her tail excitedly.
Andres turned to Samuel.
“You know, you’re very mean to that woman.”
“Aurora?”
“Yes. The valedictorian,” he said with a frown, “Why are you so mean to her?”
Samuel groaned and clenched his fists.
“Because we made a deal. She’d treat me as her equal, but she’s not been doing me any favors with her irrational feelings.”
Andres put a comforting shoulder on Samuel, and he flinched.
“Not everyone can be like you Samuel,” Andres told him, “I think she’s trying her best. Cheer her up, please. It hurts seeing a kind man like you go out of your way to berate her.”
“You think I’m kind?”
“Of course. You spared me. You went out of your way to warn me,” Andres said, “You didn’t have to do that. I’m really grateful for that. Those scouts under the Crimson Crusader wouldn’t hesitate to kill me.”
“If Aurora tried to kill you, why are you so defensive about her?”
“Because I forgive her for what she’s done. It was a misunderstanding. She feared her safety just as much as I feared mine.”
Andres’ hand slipped off Samuel’s shoulder, and Aurora walked past the window, pausing before she took a seat on the soft grass, looking out onto the waterfall. She hugged her knees, and Andres nodded his head at her.
“I think you should apologize. I think it will make her feel better.”
Samuel looked on past her, and after making his decision, removed his hands from the sill and began to head out the front door. Before opening the door up, he heard the squawk of Star. Samuel turned around, and Star nodded her head at him in approval. Samuel nodded back, and after leaving shut the door behind him.
~
“Stupid Samuel,” Aurora muttered to herself, “Making me feel a way I shouldn’t.”
The soft dirt pattered behind Aurora, and Aurora could see the reflection of a boy in black graduation robes approach him. For a moment, the reflection flickered to a past lover, but Aurora was not fooled anymore. This was Samuel. Eyes without a spark, Samuel walked up to her and took a seat next to her.
“I’m sorry,” Samuel immediately claimed. A sharpness stung Aurora’s ears.
“Are you really though?” Aurora snapped back softly.
Samuel took a moment to ponder, before shaking his head no.
“No. I’m not.”
“Then why bother coming out here to apologize.”
“I just thought it’d be the right thing to do, no matter how I felt,” Samuel honestly replied. He hung his head in shame, and Aurora sneered at him.
“You know how remorseless you are, right?”
“I don’t know.”
Samuel turned to Aurora.
“I need you to be honest about your feelings about me. So we can end this. Do you like me?”
“And why would you need to know that,” Aurora murmured, turning away. Her face began to turn rosy. Samuel spotted the blush on Aurora’s face and looked away.
“You shouldn’t like me,” Samuel firmly told her.
“Why, because we’re on this island and we can’t let our feelings get in the way?”
“Because, I don’t know how to even feel about myself. What type of person I should be,” Samuel replied, “Answer me this. Remember what I told you, ask yourself who do you love? If you don’t know the answer to that question…”
“Ask yourself what type of person you want to love.”
“And do you want to love someone like me?” Samuel asked.
“No,” Aurora whispered.
“Then move on.”
Just then, someone called out to Samuel from the window,
“Samuel! The translation is finished!” Tiffany hollered with her hands to her lips, “It’s REALLY interesting, you might wanna come quickly!”
Samuel got up from the ground, staring down at Aurora pitifully.
“This is for your own good. After all,”
“I’d never like you.”
The corner of Aurora’s lip quivered, and Samuel turned around, walking back into Tiffany’s home. A smile grew on Samuel’s face.
“Finally. I’m gonna figure out this message.”
~
“Okay, so, here ya’ go,” Tiffany said, handing the slip of paper back to Samuel, “The translation is right on the bottom.”
Star eagerly jumped onto the floor for some reason. A sly smile crept on her beak… that was, if birds could smile. Samuel snatched the paper and began to read the decryption sentence by sentence.
“I miss you too, Samuel,” Samuel read. He raised his eyebrow, “Huh?”
Star’s tail began to wag.
“Don’t cry. I will always be with you, even in the dark.”
“I have always accompanied you since the beginning, my friend. And know that whatever you go through, I will always stand by your side. We will find the way out together.”
As Samuel’s eyes wandered to the bottom of the page, his heart began to beat faster, and he felt his breathing get ragged. Signed, at the bottom of the page, was Star’s true identity.
Samuel felt the piece of paper slip out of his hands, and his head turned to Star, who was staring intensely at him. Samuel smiled at her, his eyes wavering.
“Nova?”
Star’s chest began to glow, and a bright flash of light engulfed the room. Samuel shielded his eyes, and as the light began to clear, standing in front of Samuel was a woman with a deep tan, and flowing black hair that fell to her chest.
A smile grew on her face, a smile so bright it outshined the stars in the night sky. Like a supernova that exploded into the remnants of dust that hung within the reaches of outer space.
The woman reached for her shoulder and flicked a dodo’s feather off with her left hand. Inside her wrist was an implant embedded with two gems. Her black graduation robe was covered in a blanket of sand, but gravity made the particles fall off.
“Took you long enough to get me out of that prison,” Nova softly laughed. Her laugh made Samuel’s heart twist and turn. He gave a smile back to Nova.
“Hey best friend,” Samuel replied back in awe.
The two stared at each other for a moment, before Samuel leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Nova. Nova reciprocated, wrapping her arms around him.
Samuel didn’t really care that his heart was pounding so fast, and he didn’t really care that Nova could probably feel his tears dripping down onto her shoulder. Nova was here with him now. She was okay.
And that was all that mattered to him at the moment.
(Chapter twenty!! Woo hoo! 🥳)
Riddles of the Phoenixes series
The War of the Phoenixes.
Chapter twenty: Breakfast.
Cyra had been gathering medical supplies from all over the city and gathering women to help with the wounded, when the war came all week. She was exhausted but refused to show it. They were having breakfast. She sat next to Cyrus, who was extremely pale do to the fact that full moon was getting closer. Jay looked worried and was biting his lip and forking his food daydreamingly. William was not at the table and neither was General Paul. The silence was tense.
Emma suddenly walked in, feeling her way through the room. Her white eyes, were rimmed with red and she wore a black dress. She looked tired. Jay jumped up to help her. “You okay Emma?” He asked. “Yes. I’m fine.” Emma said. Emma gave him a empty, dreary, ceasing any happiness, smile. Jay’s eyebrows furrowed with worry, as he led her toward the table.
A maid set a plate in front of her. William came in, and sat down at the table. He did not eat but instead tapped his fingers impatiently on the table. “So what did you say Josephina and Jaquin’s powers were?” William asked Jay. Jay swallowed a bite of egg with a grimace. “I think Josephina’ is talking to creatures and Jaquin’s is…bending reality?” Jay said. William nodded, contemplating this. “And they’re twins?” He asked. Jay nodded. “Hmm…”
“Why do you ask?” Jay asked. “Oh I was just thinking. You see, most twins that get medallions share a TINY bit of each other’s power.” William said. Jay raised a eyebrow. “So does that mean that me and Jack share some of our power and Jack can make a portal to here?” Jay asked. William laughed. “No. Only twins that medallions glow the same color.”
Cyra stopped listening after that, she pushed back her chair and super speeded away. As she ran, the wind hit her face. It was cold. She stopped in the meadow where she and Jack had gone just a few months ago. Cyra sighed and lifted her face, so that the sun could shine its warm rays on her face. She wished that Jack was still here. Where was he? Was he okay? Cyra bit her lip. She couldn’t deny it, there was something about him that was different from anyone else she had met. There was something about him that when she saw him, her heart increased so much that she couldn’t breath. There was something about him that made her want to hurt anyone that hurt him. She hoped he was okay. Cyra sighed.
Hopefully he came back soon. She was beginning to get worried. What if the spy had found him and reported him to Tom? What if he had gotten lost? What if..? Cyra shook her head to clear her thoughts. He would be back. Hopefully. And if not? She would go find him. But right now she needed to go back to doing her task.
The next chapter coming soon!
-SunnyFox57.
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 60.5: Broken Facade
Part 2/3
“Stupid Samuel,” Aurora muttered to herself, “Making me feel a way I shouldn’t.”
The soft dirt pattered behind Aurora, and Aurora could see the reflection of a boy in black graduation robes approach him. For a moment, the reflection flickered to a past lover, but Aurora was not fooled anymore. This was Samuel. Eyes without a spark, Samuel walked up to her and took a seat next to her.
“I’m sorry,” Samuel immediately claimed. A sharpness stung Aurora’s ears.
“Are you really though?” Aurora snapped back softly.
Samuel took a moment to ponder, before shaking his head no.
“No. I’m not.”
“Then why bother coming out here to apologize.”
“I just thought it’d be the right thing to do, no matter how I felt,” Samuel honestly replied. He hung his head in shame, and Aurora sneered at him.
“You know how remorseless you are, right?”
“I don’t know.”
Samuel turned to Aurora.
“I need you to be honest about your feelings about me. So we can end this. Do you like me?”
“And why would you need to know that,” Aurora murmured, turning away. Her face began to turn rosy. Samuel spotted the blush on Aurora’s face and looked away.
“You shouldn’t like me,” Samuel firmly told her.
“Why, because we’re on this island and we can’t let our feelings get in the way?”
“Because, I don’t know how to even feel about myself. What type of person I should be,” Samuel replied, “Answer me this. Remember what I told you, ask yourself who do you love? If you don’t know the answer to that question…”
“Ask yourself what type of person you want to love.”
“And do you want to love someone like me?” Samuel asked.
“No,” Aurora whispered.
“Then move on.”
Just then, someone called out to Samuel from the window,
“Samuel! The translation is finished!” Tiffany hollered with her hands to her lips, “It’s REALLY interesting, you might wanna come quickly!”
Samuel got up from the ground, staring down at Aurora pitifully.
“This is for your own good. After all,”
“I’d never like you.”
The corner of Aurora’s lip quivered, and Samuel turned around, walking back into Tiffany’s home. A smile grew on Samuel’s face.
“Finally. I’m gonna figure out this message.”
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 60.5: Broken Facade
Part 1/3
Night was already beginning to cover the entire ARK in a blanket of darkness.
Tiffany sat at the dining table, a light pinned at the piece of paper that contained the encrypted message Star had given to Samuel. Tiffany was inspecting the lines, and writing something down at the bottom of the paper. The gills that lined her neck after she had entered the cave were now gone, along with the loud heartbeat that filled the air like loud drums in a war.
Andres was taking swigs of his energy brew while staring out at the pen of dodos that was outside his home. He reached into his pouch and pulled out handfuls of berries, tossing them into the crowd of birds. Instantly, they all began to dive and dash for their share of the meal like vicious hounds. Andres sighed.
Footsteps clacked on the hard wood behind him, and Samuel approached, resting his hands on the window sill. Andres looked at him with eager eyes, like a puppy begging for treats.
“Hi Samuel!”
“Hey,” Samuel replied, looking out into the crowd of Dodos. He rubbed his hand on his left wrist, where there was no implant. How many knew about it now? One, two?
“Only Aurora and Skyler,” Samuel thought to himself, “But they know I might as well not need one.”
Samuel felt like he was missing one more person, but he passed it off as his imagination. Samuel looked at Star, who was sitting on one of the dining table chairs. She seemed much more awake now, and was watching Tiffany intensely. She was wagging her tail excitedly.
Andres turned to Samuel.
“You know, you’re very mean to that woman.”
“Aurora?”
“Yes. The valedictorian,” he said with a frown, “Why are you so mean to her?”
Samuel groaned and clenched his fists.
“Because we made a deal. She’d treat me as her equal, but she’s not been doing me any favors with her irrational feelings.”
Andres put a comforting shoulder on Samuel, and he flinched.
“Not everyone can be like you Samuel,” Andres told him, “I think she’s trying her best. Cheer her up, please. It hurts seeing a kind man like you go out of your way to berate her.”
“You think I’m kind?”
“Of course. You spared me. You went out of your way to warn me,” Andres said, “You didn’t have to do that. I’m really grateful for that. Those scouts under the Crimson Crusader wouldn’t hesitate to kill me.”
“If Aurora tried to kill you, why are you so defensive about her?”
“Because I forgive her for what she’s done. It was a misunderstanding. She feared her safety just as much as I feared mine.”
Andres’ hand slipped off Samuel’s shoulder, and Aurora walked past the window, pausing before she took a seat on the soft grass, looking out onto the waterfall. She hugged her knees, and Andres nodded his head at her.
“I think you should apologize. I think it will make her feel better.”
Samuel looked on past her, and after making his decision, removed his hands from the sill and began to head out the front door. Before opening the door up, he heard the squawk of Star. Samuel turned around, and Star nodded her head at him in approval. Samuel nodded back, and after leaving shut the door behind him.
Okay here’s a story:
I always stayed on land and frankly, I was afraid of the water in ark because I always died when I crossed a small river.
Anyway, I play with a mod called Ark Eternal and in that mod, some dinos eyes glow different colors.
So I had never seen a plesiosaur. And my sister (who was playing with me) started mentioning something that was stuck between a few rocks on the waters surface
So I walk over there, at night, expecting a meglodon or something and I just see this thing staring directly into my soul with glowing red eyes.
Then I tamed it
It died in about 10 seconds
R.I.P Demon Plesiosaur
Was out on my raft one night, it was pitch black and I peered into the water. Creepy face you would only see in the dark peers back at me. I panicked and fell of the raft and was stung by a million jellyfish, now I neva eva go into the water cuz I am really afraid of this things Creepy face. NOTE TO ARK MAKERS, DONT CHANGE ITS FACE Even if it’s scary it’s RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 60.5: Broken Facade
Part 3/3
“Okay, so, here ya’ go,” Tiffany said, handing the slip of paper back to Samuel, “The translation is right on the bottom.”
Star eagerly jumped onto the floor for some reason. A sly smile crept on her beak… that was, if birds could smile. Samuel snatched the paper and began to read the decryption sentence by sentence.
“I miss you too, Samuel,” Samuel read. He raised his eyebrow, “Huh?”
Star’s tail began to wag.
“Don’t cry. I will always be with you, even in the dark.”
“I have always accompanied you since the beginning, my friend. And know that whatever you go through, I will always stand by your side. We will find the way out together.”
As Samuel’s eyes wandered to the bottom of the page, his heart began to beat faster, and he felt his breathing get ragged. Signed, at the bottom of the page, was Star’s true identity.
Samuel felt the piece of paper slip out of his hands, and his head turned to Star, who was staring intensely at him. Samuel smiled at her, his eyes wavering.
“Nova?”
Star’s chest began to glow, and a bright flash of light engulfed the room. Samuel shielded his eyes, and as the light began to clear, standing in front of Samuel was a woman with a deep tan, and flowing black hair that fell to her chest.
A smile grew on her face, a smile so bright it outshined the stars in the night sky. Like a supernova that exploded into the remnants of dust that hung within the reaches of outer space.
The woman reached for her shoulder and flicked a dodo’s feather off with her left hand. Inside her wrist was an implant embedded with two gems. Her black graduation robe was covered in a blanket of sand, but gravity made the particles fall off.
“Took you long enough to get me out of that prison,” Nova softly laughed. Her laugh made Samuel’s heart twist and turn. He gave a smile back to Nova.
“Hey best friend,” Samuel replied back in awe.
The two stared at each other for a moment, before Samuel leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Nova. Nova reciprocated, wrapping her arms around him.
Samuel didn’t really care that his heart was pounding so fast, and he didn’t really care that Nova could probably feel his tears dripping down onto her shoulder. Nova was here with him now. She was okay.
And that was all that mattered to him at the moment.
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 60: Immunity
Part 3/3
“Why’d you run?!” Samuel yelled with clenched fists, “You could have, you could have-”
“Could have what? Tore those leeches off myself? Even though you were having trouble doing it! What good could I have done?” Aurora said, “I came back with help because I knew I couldn’t do it alone! That was the most rational decision I could’ve made yet here you are berating me about how I shouldn’t have run, PLEASE. Nothing I do is ever smart or good enough for you, huh? You probably think I’m just a brat who can’t take care of herself and can’t do anything on her own!”
Aurora began to walk off into the direction they were supposed to go.
“But now I can see you’re just a selfish prick who only cares about himself.”
Andres looked at Samuel, and offered his hand.
“Come on. Let’s go.”
Andres hauled Samuel up to the ground, and Samuel felt something weird in his heart. Guilt. Was this the right thing to do?
“No. It isn’t,” Samuel admitted to himself as they continued to travel along.
The rest of the way was silent. No one dared to utter a word in fear of being verbally harassed by Aurora and her stunning speech. But what Aurora said WAS true though. She did the most reasonable course of action in that situation.
Suddenly, the cavern began to open up, revealing a gigantic cavity that was filled with large orange sacs and cobwebs. It certainly was a terrifying sight. They could see two other pathways too, and before they knew it two women emerged from the right path. Tiffany and Ruby.
“Tiffany! Over here!” Andres said, waving at her. Tiffany and Ruby turned, waving back at him.
“Look at that, we didn’t even have to split up!” Ruby chuckled. Everyone laughed except Aurora and Samuel. Everyone quickly regrouped, taking a moment to analyze their surroundings.
“So, this is the end of the cave. Was that really all there was to it?” Neddy asked. Tiffany shook her head, her heartbeat slowly drumming over the sound of the trickling water.
“Don’t think so. Look over there. You see that caught in the webs?”
Everyone stared at where Tiffany was pointing at and saw it. A strange spheroid that was made of a mysterious metal and had engravings that glowed a rosy red. It hummed with a strange power, and beneath the webbing were strange metal veins made of the same material as the object. It was certainly the artifact.
“So it’s the artifact… But how exactly are we supposed to get it?” Neddy asked. Andres walked up to the webbing and tried jumping up to grab it, but it was too high.
“Arghhh, I can’t get it!” Andres groaned. Neddy ran up to him and jumped on his back. He let out a squeal as he lost his balance, stumbling forward a few steps before steadily regaining his step.
“Try not to drop me,” Neddy told him. Neddy slowly began to stand up on his two feet, and Andres quaked as he carried Neddy’s weight. Neddy outstretched his hand, touched the artifact, and it disintegrated into metal shards.
“Woah!” everyone gasped.
The metal shards flew into Neddy’s implant, and he let out a gasp as he fell off of Andres, falling to the ground. Neddy’s implant glowed, but the color faded away.
“Ahhhh it just entered me I think I’m gonna-” Neddy paused, and he suddenly gasped, “Wait a minute, woah, my airways feel all clear now! That darned stuffy nose I had all day is gone!”
Neddy got up from the ground, blinked his eyes, and took his glasses off.
“And I can see better now!”
“He absorbed the artifact and gained its power,” Tiffany realized with wonder. So with the artifact collected, everyone made haste and left the cave.
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 60: Immunity
Part 2/3
The group split up, however Aurora was still very skeptical of this plan. She hung closer to Samuel, clutching her spear tightly and looking around in a panic for any potential creepy-crawlies.
“No no no this is just like the dream,” Aurora whispered to herself. Samuel raised an eyebrow.
“What are you talking about?”
“Nightmare,” Aurora replied, “I was in a swamp and…and there were leeches. It was so hot and there were people. But nobody came to save me.”
Aurora found herself closer and closer to Samuel’s side, and Star sneered at her in disapproval.
“I don’t want to die Samuel,” Aurora whispered again, her voice shaky. Samuel felt his memory reawaken: the night they had been attacked by a group of Raptors.
“You won’t die.”
The murky water beneath them began to shake, and black worms began to squirm and crawl out of the water. Aurora let out a bone-chilling scream, and Star followed up with a squawk of her own as leeches by the dozen began to approach them.
“There’s definitely a lot of them,” Samuel stated the obvious. He drew his spear and swiped a few away, but the others began to jump all over Samuel. Samuel let out a gasp as they latched onto his neck, drawing his blood out at a fast pace. Samuel grabbed a leech and tried to pull it away, but it was like trying to pull your fingers out in a Chinese finger trap. Futile.
Samuel lashed out, and Aurora began to back away. Samuel looked at her.
“Don’t do anything stupid now!”
Aurora turned away and quickly made a run for it, and Samuel groaned again. He looked up at Star, who the leeches seemingly ignored.
“Enlighten me please!”
Star’s chest glowed, and Samuel’s mind began to clear. The sucking sensation all along his neck disappeared, and he closed his eyes. Getting into a stance, he quickly began to run forward.
“If I get to the end in time and find the artifact, then I can get out of here faster!” Samuel screamed to himself, “Star, try getting these things off me!”
Star used her beak and bit down on one of the leeches, ripping it away with ease. The leech squirmed around, and Star quickly dropped it onto the ground. Star slowly began to pull the leeches away one by one, but it was obvious that it wasn’t fast enough.
“Just… Persevere…” Samuel muttered. He felt his vision growing sharper and his legs growing weaker. His arms began to tingle, and he stopped suddenly, putting his hands on his knees and coughing out a huge wad of blood.
Samuel collapsed to his knees, making Star drop to the ground. Star let out a squawk of worry and latched onto another leech, but Samuel stopped her.
“STOP! Just run, get to the others!” Samuel begged her. Star refused, shaking her head violently and latching onto another leech, pulling away as quickly as she could. Samuel’s vision continued to wane, and it all seemed hopeless.
Alone in this damp, stuffy swamp-like cavern, death to leeches seemed Samuel’s way to go.
But as Samuel felt himself giving up hope, a cry echoed throughout the caverns. A cry for Samuel to get up.
“SAMUEL!” a familiar woman’s voice cried. Samuel could see a shadow above him, and tanned hands grasping and grabbing the leeches attached to his neck.
“Who is that?” Samuel asked himself, his eyes twitching and the leeches around his neck pulsating. The tanned hands suddenly disappeared, and a rageful cry from Star pierced his ears. Samuel’s vision began to return slowly and he saw three people running at him.
“Samuel! Aurora told us… We’ve come to help!”
“Neddy,” Samuel groaned, “Andres.”
He felt small hands lift his head up from the water, and strong hands tugging and ripping away at the leeches. One by one, the leeches were extracted, and Samuel could feel his neck wet with water and blood. His vision began to return slowly, and he blinked a few times to see Neddy kneeling beside him with a leather pouch filled with river water, Andres kneeling beside him with hands filled with a weird mucus, and Star looking at the ground gloomily.
“Ugh,” Samuel moaned. His head was inclined, and he saw a woman’s face stare down at him with a smirk.
“Not so irrational now, huh?” Aurora said. A smile began to grow at the corner of her lips. Samuel instantly got up, startling Aurora and making her back off.
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 60: Immunity
Part 1/3
“So, this is the cave,” Neddy said, looking at the carved opening with a frown. All seven of them were standing outside, their weapons at the ready. Although originally they had planned on bringing their tames with them, the cave’s entrance seemed large enough to only fit the humans. Tiffany nodded.
“Yep. Andres and I found it when we were setting up our home,” Tiffany responded. Ruby plugged her nose, fanning the air quickly with her other hand.
“It REEKS in there, are you sure the artifact or whatever it’s called is in there?”
“I’m very positive,” Tiffany answered, “You trust me, I assume?”
“We do. We just don’t want to waste our time,” Samuel told her, “For all we know others already know about these artifacts and are on the move to collect them. We need to be swift.”
Star squawked in agreement, and Aurora shivered.
“I’m getting a bad feeling about this.”
“Don’t be afraid!” Andres said, pointing a finger in the air, “I’ll go in first!”
Andres stepped into the darkness. Neddy shrugged, and stepped in along with Ruby. Tiffany followed, and now Aurora and Samuel (along with Star) were the only ones who needed to enter.
“Ladies first,” Samuel said, waving his hand to the entrance, “Don’t let your fear rule you.”
Aurora scoffed and stepped in, wielding her spear. Samuel stepped in and immediately he was greeted with a strange, vicious smoke. The green fog covered the entire cavern in a blanket, and as Samuel breathed the fumes in he felt dizzy.
“This is weird,” Ruby commented, her nose still plugged.
“Poisonous gas,” Tiffany said, “Not to panic. It doesn’t seem lethal, but let’s not take our chances. I’ll get rid of the fog and clear a pathway for you all.”
Bum, Bum, Bum.
“What’s that noise?” Aurora asked in fear, looking around with panic in her eyes.
“My heart,” Tiffany said, putting a hand to her chest, “My ability to adapt at will…”
Gills began to grow on Tiffany’s neck, and everyone looked on in awe as Tiffany inhaled a large puff of gas. As the fog cleared, everyone began to venture into the dark, creepy cavern…
Hissss!
“Snake, snake!” Neddy cried as a giant snake with a large frill slithered toward them. Ruby aimed her crossbow and pulled the trigger. A stone arrow pierced its skin, and venom began to spew out onto the floor, coating the damp grass in a thick layer of ooze. The snake let out a hiss of pain, before coiling up and striking at Samuel. Samuel weaved to the side, and Andres took his fist and socked it right in the face.
POW!
The snake went flying, and Tiffany followed up with a roundhouse kick to the head. With one final arrow, the snake was killed.
“Well that wasn’t so bad,” Neddy apologized, “Sorry about that, I should have helped…”
“It’s okay Neddy, just kill the next one for us, okay?” Ruby said with a smile. She put a hand on Neddy’s shoulder, and he flinched reflexively. He gave a smile back to her.
With the snake slayed, the seven quietly walked forward.
As the fog was swallowed by Tiffany, it was evident that there was now a fork in the road. Three paths lay ahead of them, and although the poisonous gasses were absent from each one, the temperature seemed to grow hotter and hotter.
“So, there’s a fork,” Neddy pointed out.
“What now?” Ruby asked.
“We need to split up. It’s the only way we’re going to get the artifact quickly enough,” Samuel declared. He began to air his graduation robe, it was starting to get damp on him and sweat began to collect at his hairline, “Heat’s absolutely killing me.”
“No, are you a fool? We need to stick together! What if we run into something like that snake again?” Aurora asked. She looked beyond Samuel at one of the paths and began to shiver.
“We’re fully capable of taking them down!” Andres argued, punching the palm of his fist.
“But is he? Or she?” Aurora said, pointing at Neddy and Ruby.
“Then we just need to create the correct pairs,” Tiffany reasoned, “Let’s not grow rash though. Andres shall go with Neddy, I shall go with Ruby, and Aurora can go with Samuel and Star.”
“Seems fine by me,” Samuel murmured, “We’ll go left then.”