Under Nirvana - An ARK

Chapter 4: Difficulty Spike

Story by Bria!

Find the last chapter in VOIDWYRM and the next chapter in TAPEJARA!

“AHHHH!” a shrill scream rang through the air again.

“Yeah, there’s definitely someone up there,” Ruby said. Nova began running, scooping up the little dodo bird in her arms.

“Well there won’t be if he’s dead! Quickly!”

Ruby pushed the grass aside with her hands as the three ventured deep into the plateau’s hill. There were large oak trees that spanned across the plain and large rocks too. Nova noticed strange dinosaurs that stood on their hind legs and had crests on their heads, like the flying ones, but they were running away from something.

“Um, on second thought, is it really a good idea to go in that direction?” Nova wondered.

“It was your idea,” Ruby smirked.

“Well forgive me if someone has second thoughts on something!”

“HELPPP! SOMEBODY HELP US!” the voice shouted again, this time up higher. The call of a raptor rang through the air in response. A grumble came from nearby.

“Keep it down, you’re gonna attract more unwanted attention!” a familiar voice shouted, but it was hard for Nova to tell who with how low his voice was. Ruby pointed deeper into the forest.

“In there. They’re in there!”

The two girls ran deeper into the forest. The dodo bird Nova carried squawked in disapproval and pecked Nova on the arm. She winced and flicked the dodo on the beak.

“Hey, keep that thing to yourself mister!”

The dodo chittered, shaking his head and ruffling his feathers.

The further they dived into the forest though, the harder it became to see. Ruby kept her bow close, drawing an arrow.

“Be careful— oh, dear,” Ruby whispered. Sitting nearby a large boulder was the corpse of a Parasaurolophus, its guts hanging out.

And worst of all, the cause of its death was right by the boulder, clawing at it, desperately trying to get up. Nova and Ruby looked up the boulder to see two men standing at the top. One of them, who was butt-naked with the exception of his underwear, was clinging onto the other one tight (much to his dismay). The other guy was wearing a black graduation gown. They were sitting ducks.

“HELP! PLEASE WE’RE GONNA DIE!” the half-naked guy begged for the second time. He hadn’t seemed to notice the two women yet, but neither had the raptor. Ruby pulled the string of her bow back, squinting her eyes and aiming at the raptor. Her arms were shaking, she was really pulling that string back compared to the dilophosaur. Nova drew her bow too, but she seemed to be looking at Ruby, waiting for her to do all the work.

“Go go go!” Nova hurried her. Ruby was caught off guard by Nova’s demand. She released the string, but the arrow simply bounced off and struck the ground near the raptor’s foot. THUNK! The raptor jerked its head back. Suddenly, it was no longer interested in eating the two men on the rock. It cocked its head, taking a slow step toward the two women. Ruby took a step back, fear in her eyes. Nova looked at her and whispered,

“I heard if you stay still, they can’t see you because they can only detect movement!” Nova murmured. “If we stay absolutely still…”

“That tip is for T. rexes, not raptors! Raptors are smart!” Ruby argued.

“Well how am I supposed to know that?”

The dodo whimpered as the raptor got closer, but the two women didn’t seem to realize. The raptor let out a shriek, stretching out its talons and dashing at the two. Nova let out a scream and released the string on her bow.

THWACK!

The raptor shrieked as the arrow struck its skull. It desperately clawed at its face, trying to get it off. Nova quickly shot another arrow at it. Unluckily for the poor creature, the arrow struck it right in the butt. It pranced off in pain, before shortly collapsing to the ground in a pool of blood. The guy in the black graduation robe jumped down from the boulder, while Neddy cautiously stepped down step by step. Nova looked down at her bow with a strange sense of accomplishment.

“Holy sh*t. I just killed a velociraptor,” Nova said, clearly not knowing it was a Utahraptor and not a Velociraptor.

“Language,” the guy in the black graduation robe snapped. Nova looked up with disgust.

“Who do you think you are— oh. It’s you.”

He was the valedictorian of Aqua High, Borealis. His cold blue eyes stared at Nova with a mixture of skepticism and analysis, as if studying her very thoughts. Nova squinted back.

“What? Got something to say? Like thank you?”

Borealis cleared his throat. “Apologies. I’m Borealis, as you should know. I must thank you for assisting us with that inconvenience. The boy here wouldn’t stop screaming. And from what I’ve heard from him, those foul beasts are pack hunters. It’s a relief more did not arrive in haste of its ”

“Damn, he even speaks obnoxiously,” Nova thought, “What a dunce.”

Borealis turned around and walked off. The other guy noticed and quickly hurried off after him. Nova and Ruby shared a look of disdain at Borealis’ attitude toward them.

“Um. Hello? Where are you going?” Nova asked. Borealis turned back with snide.

“Is it not obvious? Of course, you wouldn’t comprehend. More raptors will come soon. Best to leave now, rather than risk getting caught up in their grasp. So if you don’t want to die, then I advise you to join us. We shall travel and find a good area for a temporary shelter.”

Borealis walked off. The other guy paused in his steps, looking back at the two and wondering if they would come too. Ruby gritted her teeth.

“The nerve of this guy.”

The dodo nodded his head in agreement. “You too, huh?” Nova sighed. “I guess we’re just going to have to put up with him… for now.”

The two girls walked up to the guy. He awkwardly turned back and the three tried their best to keep pace with Borealis, who was in the front of the gang. The half-naked guy anxiously held his hand out to Nova first. Nova reluctantly shook it. Ruby followed suit.

“P— pleasure meeting you two. I’m Neddy. What are your names?”

The two quickly introduced themselves.

“Heh heh… um… well please don’t mind him.” Neddy nodded his head at Borealis. “He thinks everyone is below him or something. But he’s a very tactical survivor, I’ll tell you that much. So you two must have something similar to me…”

Neddy lifted his right wrist, showing his implant. Ruby showed hers too.

“Yep. You got one too. What’s your power?”

“Well, heh heh… it’s kind of odd. I think it has to do with the people around me. The more people around, the brighter it shines. Almost like a tracker! That’s why I screamed for help earlier. I knew someone was around, and I’m so grateful it was you two! I still have to thank you for saving us.”

“No problem,” Nova said, patting him on his bare back. Pat pat! It was clammy and sweaty. Nova decided she would never touch him again for as long as they were on this island.

“Do you know what his power is?” Ruby asked Neddy, nodding her head at Borealis. Neddy scratched his chin.

“I don’t know, actually. He never told me. I don’t even know if he knows.”

The further they walked through the jungle, the more the trees began to part. It was obvious that it was beginning to turn day too. The sun seemed to be rising. Seeing it made Nova just a bit more satisfied with the circumstances.

CRACKLE!

The branches shook just then. A flock of small birds flew out from the leaves. Nova whipped around, spotting a pack of raptors huddled around the corpse of the raptor near the boulder. They all looked about the same size, except one, which was slightly larger than the rest. It barked something at the others, and they quickly dispersed. They hadn’t seemed to notice the survivors at all.

“Whatever,” Nova thought, turning back around.