Journey Through All Creatures

Chapter 47: Tensions Rise

Note: Story starts in Achatina, The Island ABC order for Section I, Scorched Earth Exclusives and Aberration exclusives for Section II and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Rock Drake, next chapter in Seeker.

Chapters to the end of Section II: 3!!!! Chapter 50 will be called The Xe m r Show w

This is the Pre-Ante-Penultimate chapter of Section II

Day 11 of Aberration

Around noon

It had been a few days since the Elemental Vault descent. With each passing day, Dorack grew slightly more nervous. He and Sodden had gone out on a taming spree to collect some Megalosauruses. Dorack stood outside the main base, in a medium sized barn, with some dino gates on its front. Inside was a large room, with air conditioners on the left side, along with a feeding trough. There was a refrigerator, cooking pot, and grill to the right of the building. There were some baby Megalosauruses screeching as they walked through the barn, jumping at the grill and trying to bite it. Dorack was putting more meat in the trough then turned to the Megalosauruses.

“Hey, guys. Can y’all chill? Let’s not wreck the place, okay?” Dorack said as he chuckled and walked to the baby creatures. Dorack then picked up three of the five and moved them to the small pen that sat on the corner of the hatchery. Dorack then moved the creatures into the pen and walked towards the door. As he reached for the door, a thought struck him.

“Hmm. We do have a lot of stuff. We could… we could just go now.” Dorack whispered to himself. He sighed and walked out of the door. Sodden was inside the base, crafting some grappling hooks and ziplines. He was making two extra sets of hazard suits, so that he and Dorack would have spares. Sodden stitched fiber and hide together, and added red gems to enhance the protection. He continued to craft it while Dorack sat in the hatchery. They were slowly but surely building up an army, but Dorack remained uncertain if it would be enough. He wanted to meet with Sylveevee soon. Dorack sighed and walked out of the hatchery, closing the gates behind him. The adult Megalosauruses to the bottom right corner of the hatchery were in a pen and had breeding on, and beneath them was a few air conditioners, along with a generator a few feet from the pen, against the wall. Dorack walked to the base and opened the front door. Dorack then sighed and walked to his bed and looked down at Sodden’s bag.

“Only five days left… okay. We… we should go. I think we’re ready.” Dorack whispered as he gripped tightly on Sodden’s bag. Sodden then walked downstairs, holding the two sets of hazard suits in his hands. Dorack gasped and turned around, then let go and stood up from the bed. Sodden turned to Dorack.

“Did you check on the Megalosauruses?” Sodden asked. Dorack nodded.

“Of course. They should have enough food for a while. Anyway… why don’t we just go to the Rock Drake trench? Like, right now? We have all the ziplines and supplies we need.” Dorack asked. Sodden gasped and walked to his bag, and shoved all the items he had crafted into the bag, then Sodden closed it and put it on his back. He then turned back around to Dorack.

“Okay. Fine. Go ahead. But here’s the thing. Remember what Sylveevee said to us. You gotta be careful there. There’s going to be a lot of Rock Drakes there. We gotta be careful.” Sodden said. Dorack gasped and nodded.

“Okay.” Dorack said. He turned around, then Sodden put his hand on Dorack’s shoulder.

“Hold on. Please stay away from Dread’s base. I don’t want to see you doing anything funny.” Sodden said sternly. Dorack sighed and nodded.

“Of course.” Dorack said. Dorack wanted to do both: go to the trench and to Dread’s base. But if he wanted to do the latter, he would need Sylveevee’s help. Sodden and Dorack sighed and walked towards the front door, and Dorack opened it, and both survivors walked out the door. Sodden closed it then reached into his bag and pulled out a cryopod.

“Thank god Reaper’s all healed now.” Dorack said in relief. Sodden nodded in agreement. Sodden then threw the cryopod at the ground and Reaper came out of the cryopod. She then growled softly and looked up at Dorack and Sodden. Sodden and Dorack nodded and got onto Reaper, then Reaper roared as Sodden led her to run out of the green zone, far south to the Red Zone.

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After around two hours, Sodden and Dorack approached a large cliff on the south end of the Blue Zone. Right down a path to the side was the path towards the Rock Drake trench, deep in the Red Zone. Sodden and Dorack already had their hazard suits on, and they had spares in their bag, so they were all set. Sodden hopped off Reaper before they went down to the Red Zone. Sodden then put his bag onto the ground and looked into it.

“Okay. Reaper needs protection from the radiation. She’s not a aberrant. Uh… I made something.” Sodden explained as he stood up and took something out of the bag. It looked like a hazard suit, but there were strange shapes on the sleeves, that seemed to match the shapes of a raptor.

“Dorack, could you get off?” Sodden asked. Dorack nodded and hopped off of Reaper. Then Sodden took the raptor-shaped hazard suit, and Reaper growled softly as Sodden put the tail-shaped rump ending around Reaper’s tail, then put it along her legs, claws, then putting the mask on her face. The hazard suit would protect her body nicely, but it wouldn’t last forever, so they had to be quick, as Sodden only had time to make one single outfit for Reaper. The middle back of the suit was connected to the saddle, so Sodden picked his bag back up, and he and Dorack got on Reaper, and they continued down into the Red Zone.

They continued down the path, entering the radiation-filled Red Zone. The path went to the east, speckled with bright red and pink mushrooms, red rocks across the path, and towering pillars of natural cave rocks occasionally appearing along the way. Strangely, there were no creatures anywhere. No Reapers, no carnos, no purlovias, not even a single seeker. Dorack looked around and squinted his eyes, then hummed in confusion.

“There’s basically nothing here.” Dorack said. Sodden nodded as he looked around.

“Yeah. That’s good, but also very weird. Usually there’s a lot of creatures here. Unless someone recently killed everything here.” Dorack said. Sodden nodded.

“Yeah. In that case, we should be careful. It could be anyone.” Sodden warned. Dorack nodded in agreement. They kept going down the path, looking around the place. Dorack had his shotgun out and on his lap in case something happened. As they continued down, they heard a quiet squeak. Dorack gasped and looked to the east, holding his shotgun out. He aimed it at where he heard the noise, then he heard deep footsteps. The footsteps got closer. Then something appeared in front of him. There was a large magenta-colored Rock Drake tht had just became visible in front of him. Dorack gasped and put his shotgun away. Sodden turned around and gasped. The Rock Drake growled softly and then glowed brightly. She then shrunk down to human size, her tail retracting into her body, her claws retracting and her arms and feathers shrinking. She then walked to Dorack and sighed.

“What’re you doing here?” Sylveevee said. Dorack gasped.

“We’re… we’re here to get Rock Drakes.” Dorack said. Sodden nodded.

“Yeah. We’re going to the trench right now.” Sodden explained. Syl nodded.

“Okay. Well… there’s no creatures here, so that means Dread and his tribe was here recently. I wouldn’t suggest going to get the Rock Drake.” Syl said. Sodden gasped and looked down.

“Well, okay. We’ll just go in there and get some eggs.” Dorack said. Sodden gasped and shot his eyes towards Dorack, then put his hands on his shoulder.

“No. It’s too risky. She said Dread was there recently.” Sodden gasped. Dorack sighed.

“I refuse to not take this risk. Like… we need to get supplies for our plan!” Dorack yelled.

“Listen. Dread isn’t your average survivor. You were very lucky to have escaped him the other day. He could’ve easily killed all of us. Did Serenity tell you his attribute?” Syl asked. Dorack shook his head, and so did Sodden.

“I think it’s only that armor bounces off of armor. Or something, I don’t know.” Dorack said. Syl groaned.

“If that was the case, Dread would’ve died when Terad was here! There were so many instances where he could’ve died. He survived and barely on the edge. Dread has a implant attribute that’s extremely complex. His survivor level can go all the way up to 250. He’s not all that fast, and doesn’t have a lot of weight. But he’s extremely tanky, and has insane damage stats. I don’t know exactly what his stats are, but I do know that he is very powerful.” Syl said. Dorack nodded slowly in affirmation.

“Okay… and what else can he do?” Dorack said. Syl shrugged.

“I don’t know the other abilities he has. That’s all I know. But what I do know is that you need to be careful here if you really want Rock Drakes.” Sylveevee said. Dorack nodded.

“Okay. Got that.” Dorack said. Sodden nodded and looked ahead, and Reaper continued down. Dorack turned to Sodden and sighed softly. Syl smiled softly and turned away, then morphed back into a Rock Drake and flew back to her base.

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Sodden and Dorack arrived at a large, long and rocky valley an hour later. Strangely, there were no rock drakes in sight. But there were many eggs speckled across multiple cavesides. There were eggs hung on cliffs, rocks, and even slopes. Sodden sighed and got off Reaper, and so did Dorack.

“Okay. Dorack, you’ll take the left side. I’ll do the right. Keep watch for anything.” Sodden explained. Dorack nodded. They then looked into their bags, getting crossbows, grappling hooks, and ziplines. Sodden turned back to Reaper after he got the equipment out.

“Reaper, find somewhere safe to hide, okay?” Sodden said. Reaper growled in affirmation and ran towards a big rock on the wall, that had a gap behind it. Sodden and Dorack were ready to go.

Sodden was out on the right side of the wall, grappling up to walls and slopes, picking up the eggs, and then using a zipline to get down. Dorack was on the left wall, but he wasn’t getting eggs. He climbed all the way up to the top of the wall, out of Sodden’s sight. Dorack sighed and walked away from the trench. And sure enough, around half a kilometer south of the trench, Dorack saw a large, metal and tek castle, with large, metal walls surrounding the perimeter. There were metal spikes lining the base of the walls, along with a dinosaur gate, guarded by two Reaper Queens, both on alternating sides of the gate.. Dorack gasped and looked up at the ceiling.

“Okay… let’s see-” Dorack said, then he was interrupted by a angry voice.

“Dorack! What’re you doing here!” The voice yelled. Dorack then looked to the right of him, and Syl was walking towards him.

“I… I need to get in there and-” Dorack said. Syl interrupted him just then.

“For what? What is this even about!? Like… why do you even want to get in there now?!” Syl yelled, then Dorack interrupted.

“Look. I need to find Nal. I need to. I could use your camouflage to get in there and-” Dorack explained, then Syl yelled at him to interrupt. She was about to say something else when they felt the ground shake a little bit. They gasped and shot their heads towards the gate. The Reapers were screeching and running right at them. Syl growled quietly.

“Get on my back now.” Syl said sternly. Dorack ran to her as Syl quickly morphed into a Rock Drake. Dorack hopped onto her back and they took off just as the Reapers were arriving. One leaped up and opened its mouth, reaching for the tail of the Rock Drake, but barely missed Syl’s tail. Syl glided down to the trench, as Sodden was collecting eggs. He had put the fourth egg in his bag and was ziplining down to ground level when he looked up and gasped in fear. Dorack and Syl were going towards Sodden, and Syl grabbed Sodden with her claws, then flew back to Reaper the raptor. Syl dropped Sodden and growled at him.

“Get Reaper. Now..” Syl said. Sodden stammered and tried to say something, then he saw the Reaper Queens on the top of the cliff, roaring down at them. Sodden gasped and turned to his raptor, took a cryopod from his bag, then put Reaper in it. Sodden put the cryopod back in hhis bag as the Reapers leaped down to the trench. Sodden got back onto the Rock Drake, and they glided out of there as fast as possible. The Reaper Queens roared as the Rock Drake flew away. Rod was mounted on one of the Reapers, sneering and chuckling.

“It’s about time we strike. Creatures, back to base!” Rod yelled. The Reapers roared loudly, turned around, and went to the slope to leave the trench and return to the base.

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Later that day…

Syl landed onto the ground near the base, then Sodden growled as he leaped off and grabbed Dorack’s arm and yanked him off the Rock Drake. Syl then morphed back into a human.

“Dorack, we need to talk.” Sodden said sternly. Dorack nodded. Sodden stormed towards the base front doors, pulling Dorack along with him. Syl sighed and followed the two as Sodden burst open the door and threw Dorack onto a bed. Dorack fell onto his back and sat up. Syl walked into the base and Sodden sat down at a bed sitting across Dorack’s bed. Sodden looked at Dorack and sighed in disappointment. He looked down and put his hand to his forehead.

“Dorack… explain what you were thinking at the trench.” Sodden stated loudly. Dorack sighed.

“I wanted to have Sylveevee sneak me into the base and -” Dorack explained, then Sodden looked up and interrupted, putting his hand down.

“Oh, okay. I see what this is. You’re abusing royality to put us at risk. Yeah. Yeah. Makes perfect sense!” Sodden yelled sarcastically, as he leaped up. Dorack growled deeply and stood up.

“That’s not what I want to do! I wanted to go in there and get Nal back in disguise. Syl could just morph into something like a Giga or a Titanosaur and annihilate the whole place!” Dorack yelled. Sodden was silent. He couldn’t even believe what Dorack said.

“Dread is extremely powerful. And must I remind you that the amount of mass in a Titanosaur would kill Syl relatively quickly? Yeah! And not even mentioning what happens if she falls. The weight means that she falling in that form means instant death. And a Giga alone is no match for, oh, I don’t know… like, a whole bunch of Reapers and Rock Drakes!” Sodden yelled. Dorack groaned loudly in exhaustion.

“I can’t do this anymore. I was trying to help save our friends! Syl could help us in doing that!” Dorack yelled. Sodden then snapped.

“What?! Our friends?! Can you just shut up? I refuse to let any one of you go near that base, especially not in front of Dread or Rod or anyone else! Who knows what Dread could do to Serenity if he saw you screwing over near his base! Oh, god. STAY AWAY FROM THE BASE! Or else I’m gonna lose my only best friend!” Sodden yelled in anger. He then gasped and put his hands to his mouth. Dorack’s jaw dropped, he was bamboozled and speechless. Syl was shocked too. She couldn’t even say anything. She just gasped softly and sat down on Nal’s bed.

“You… you love her. You never cared about me.” Dorack gasped. Sodden stammered.

“That wasn’t… that wasn’t what I meant!” Sodden stammered. Dorack sighed, slightly saddened.

“Yeah, but you said it. You said the words yourself. You don’t care about me or Nal.” Dorack said. He turned away. Sodden groaned.

“That’s not even what I meant! I… I was upset at you and I lacked judgement. I… I never even bothered to go back and ponder what I was gonna say to you.” Sodden said apologetically. Dorack then turned around quickly, stood up, and growled.

“Yeah, yeah. Then explain all the times you constantly flirted with her!” Dorack yelled. Sodden gasped and stood up.

“Go ahead. Say it. One more time. I dare you.” Sodden sneered. Dorack huffed and growled deeply.

“I understand if you don’t care about me or Nal. Or anyone else, for that matter.” Dorack said, with some distraught in his voice. Sodden growled.

“That isn’t even what I said!” Sodden yelled. Dorack then shoved him out of the way, and he fell over onto the floor.

“Yeah, but you said it! It’s true. You… you never cared!” Dorack yelled. Sodden gasped and stood up.

“Okay, fine. Fine! That’s how you wanna do things, huh?” Sodden yelled in anger, and he slapped Dorack in the face. Dorack yelled loudly and lunged at Sodden, and Sodden grabbed his shoulder and beat Dorack over and over on it. Dorack kicked Sodden in the leg repeatedly, and they fell on the ground, throwing punches and kicks to each other. Syl gasped in fear and nervousness and leaped up, then she tried to grab Dorack’s arms and pull him away from Sodden. Syl then shouted as she got launched backwards, into a storage box. She groaned as she stood up. Dorack and Sodden were getting bloody. Syl growled. She then glowed bright pink, magenta-like, and she roared as she morphed into a Therizinosaur, a smaller one, at that. She then screeched and ran at the two survivors, then used her claws to push Dorack and Sodden apart, holding them in seperate claws.

“You two need to chill out! We won’t advance if we’re just gonna fight!” Syl yelled. Sodden looked up at Syl and growled as he turned to Dorack. Dorack huffed and turned his head away.

“Fine. But I’m not talking to Sodden for the rest of this.” Dorack stated. Sodden growled in agreement.

“Fine with me.” Sodden said loudly. Syl sighed in relief and released her grip on the two survivors, then she morphed back into human form.

“Okay. You two need to at least compromise and get your army ready. We can’t afford to wait any longer. I’m gonna go back to the Aberration Kingdom and I pray that you two will be nice to each other. This is what Rod wants. For you two to become enemies. We can’t let that happen.” Syl stated sternly. Sodden and Dorack huffed and nodded. Syl then walked to the door, which remained open the entire time. Syl then walked out and closed the door. Meanwhile, Sodden and Dorack were looking through their bags.

“We need to hatch the Rock Drakes and Megalosauruses. We need more creatures.” Dorack said. Sodden nodded in agreement, focused on the bag and not making eye contact with Dorack.

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Meanwhile, someone had been watching the whole thing unfold from a distance. Near a tall mushroom tree stood a man, draped in black flak armor and with a gas mask on his face. He had a spyglass in his left hand. He watched the entire fight unfold and to say he was pleased would be a understatement.

“Hee, hee, hee. Yes. They’re becoming enemies now. Phase two is complete! Time to begin phase three!” The man sneered. This was Rod, who had snuck behind the base, and he had begun the beginning of the end.

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To be continued…

-RelatingHen8906