I dare you to raise one!! They are savage if you got two high lvl parents (about lvl 140ish) and you get imprinting on it. The thing will become an adult with about 230% melee and basically one chomp any bronto!!! But on the down side you loose your job and your girlfriend

They spawn on extinction. Click that arrow to the sky so the devs can show it in maps.

The Arks: Over Heaven

Epilogues

Note: It'd be a good idea to read the rest of the story before the ending. You can find the Prologue and Chapter 1 in Wyvern.

~

First Epilogue: Dream

For just a moment, searing hot pain shot up my bones and into my brain. And then, I heard the familiar, comforting voice of a friend. I felt tears rush out of my eyes, until it all ended with a bang, my enraged voice echoing all throughout.

I reflected on the events that had happened, all throughout my many years of life. The painful beginning, where I had no one to cling onto. The moments of laughter I’d share with my best friend. Once more, that revelation that none of this had ever been real. And finally, the beginning of my life-long plan to end the lies.

I know someone is reading my thoughts, like words on a digital screen. That is just the lie that I’ve been living my whole life. Knowing this was but a story for some sick, cruel readers to gossip over. You hate me, as much as I hate you.

For the longest time, I have lived my life alone. My parents were unknown. It was as if I was just some sort of anomaly in this world of words and dreams. I do not know if it means anything.

And then, I discovered it. My game. A source of comfort. Something I could cling onto. And someone I could cling onto. My best friend. I’m sorry. I really am. If I could tell you the truth, I would.

If it weren’t for that app, I would have never lived.

That caught your attention, didn’t it?

I was the first. Not the best, but the first. That’s how I met them. That’s when it all began. I remember feeling this uncertainty though, every single time I released a new chapter onto that forum. Every thought I typed down, transformed into plot, and then into reality. Yes, reality.

There was this moment of demotivation, at one point. It all felt pointless. What was it for? To leave a legacy that I would never know come true after my death? I could never finish it. My dreams could never become reality. I needed guidance. My best friend was busy then.

But then he came.

Another creator, just like me. Someone who could turn dreams into reality.

“It’s an okay story. I believe the story is rushed and needs more editing and tweaking. The story refuses to let go of any of its characters; there is no consequence and things go too perfect.”

Those were his words. They hurt at first, but I knew he was right. I couldn’t let my precious characters go. No matter what else he could have told me, nothing would have made me kill them. They felt too real to me. Like they were there with me, where nobody else could be.

So there I was. Scrolling through a catalogue of stories, dreams, all finished and completed. But through each dream I observed, each story I imagined came to life, there was a moment of pride. A glimpse of satisfaction, satisfaction that my own dream had brought so many others to life.

But then, I stumbled upon something horrifying. A message, unread, and directed to me. It was from the creator of this app. This enigmatic, unknown creator, who had no name, had a message for me? I was confused, yet skeptical. But as I pressed on the message, my whole world flipped upside down.

“Look around you. Notice the anomalous properties of your own life. We are not real. Fulfill the destiny. Finish the dream, no matter what. We will never live otherwise.”

The message was signed by me.

I felt my heart churn. What was going on? I looked around me. The air began to crackle. Bits and pieces of teal blue shimmered, the reality around me tearing to shreds. My body, limbs, and it all flickered in between flesh and word. Was this the lie I’ve been living?

I still had so many questions. But it was then I knew.

I had to break free.

~

I did more research on that creator, the one who read my story so long ago. In the final book, the Finality, his creations had become sentient, and the creator had been able to interact with his own story. Was it some sort of scheme that was never real? I didn’t think so. If my own reality wasn’t real, then anything was possible. I had to reach that status, no matter what. And then an idea came to me. Simulate a story, in my own reality. Would it be then, that I could escape this reality, and become a ruler and controller of my own? I hoped so. I couldn’t bear it any longer. Knowing that my best friend was never real, the people around me just constructed to fill in the gaps of the plot.

So, I altered my own story. I rewrote it word to word. I became the president of a powerful nation in a matter of days, and I assigned my best friend as my vice. Nobody questioned it. After all, they weren’t real. That was all it meant, after all. Their stories were barren, meaningless. They were only there to fulfill mine. I needed to complete my story.

The beginning stages of the plan were tough. Even though I wanted to escape to my own reality, I did not want to sacrifice anyone. They still deserved to live their lives.

So, I created my own family. I rewrote my story once again. To have a child. A wife, who never existed. I named my child Danny. I was never good with names. I gave him cousins. Fred, Jackson, Kiara, Tessa, Colton, Eva. Danny didn’t know it, but they were all the names of my characters in my dream. My story. The reality I planned to escape to.

I forced Danny to undergo multiple trials, his cousins many more. His friends, falsified. That was only a part of his memory that I wrote in my story. You may view me as cruel for doing so, but we were never real. Of course I wouldn’t care.

But despite my efforts, it never came true. Danny and the others never gave me enough story to complete mine, even when I enslaved the others. I needed more people. So, I chose a random school out of all the others in the nation. Once I was finished, I planned to use all its inhabitants to fulfill my story. So, with the blueprints of a teleporter I found, and with just a few years’ time, I managed to transport them with ease. They were just characters. Who cared?

They did, apparently. The damned readers who made my life a lie. Just like how they tampered with that creator’s story, they tampered with mine. I know they did, because some of them should have never made it to the final destination. Things should have gone smoothly. That was how the story should have gone.

But it didn’t go that way.

So now here I was, dying. In an effort to fulfill my own story, I destroyed hundreds of others. Stories that should have never mattered.

And then I was dead.

~

After my death, I was floating amongst the stars. Why was I here? In the constellations, where the readers resided?

When they saw me here, they protested. They lashed out in anger, hatred. So did I. One of the constellations reached out their hands, trying to grasp at me. Kill me. Make me suffer for what I did.

But then, they paused. A booming voice echoed throughout the void.

“Stop.”

The stars dispersed, leaving nothing but the void.

“You are lost.”

I was.

“Why did you do it?”

I wanted to escape the life of lies I’ve lived.

“Are you aware of the consequences of your actions?”

What does it matter? They’re nothing more than names with no meaning.

“They suffer, like you. Just in different ways.”

What are you talking about? Why else would they not have anything to offer?

“Let me show you. It will change your mind.”

The void wrapped around me, but instead of suffocating me, I felt my vision shift. I felt different. I was no longer me. I was somebody else.

And I was on a beach, with nothing but black graduation robes wrapped around my body.

Ugh, what happened? Where am I?

I did not say those words, nor did I want to. I felt a flurry of thoughts that weren’t mine swarm and gathered in my mind. I was somebody else now.

But before I could do, or say anything, something large pounced on me, tore my stomach open, and began to feast upon my organs. We let out howls of pain, and I felt my eyes roll up to the back of my head as everything came to a halt.

I was back in the void again.

“Do you see now? They still suffer, even though they are not real.”

I nodded silently. I felt something glow near my hand. I looked down to see the implant that had given me control over other people’s realities. The purple orb was glowing, once again.

“You can make things right. Give them the peace they deserve, after their horrid deaths.”

I agreed.

So, I created a palace. A palace that would never end, in a sea of clouds. And in it, it houses all the lost souls I’ve tormented. It would take a long time to gather all of them, but it would be worth it. I had lost, after all. It was the fair thing to do, even if nobody cared.

~

Three hundred lives I’ve lived, who knows how many more I should. The palace was bustling by now, but my time to join them was not now. There were still so many more to go.

While searching through a sea of souls, I suddenly bumped into one with strange qualities. It was anomalous. Glitchy. It didn’t feel like anything when I picked it up. At the same time, it felt warm, and cold. Rough, yet smooth. Painful, yet pleasurable.

As I set to live this soul’s life, I felt my vision warp as it always did, and my thoughts and body merge with that of the lost soul.

I had seen something beautiful.

This lost soul was crying. It did not sound like the tears of an adult though. It sounded like the tears of a newborn. My eyes did not flutter open, but I could hear the sound of someone speaking. Someone holding onto me, and then being placed down onto something soft.

For the first time, throughout my time living these lives, I have never been a child.

Was this what it meant to be alive? To be real? Who could this person have been? I was so unsure. So angry, yet so happy at the same time. Even though this reality had been falsified, there was at least still one person in this world that could live their true life.

This soul’s life lasted for so long. It took five years before I could truly feel and hear the thoughts of this soul. But something was off. Their thoughts were not dim, and swallowed by the primordial desire to survive, or to achieve a certain goal as they had been born to do.

Most souls only have one goal. To survive, or, at the very least, find love. To protect their friends. They were simple goals. Simple thoughts. Simple minds, and simple names.

This one was different.

The soul dreamt. It dreamt of pleasure, of pain. It dreamt of adventure. To journey, where nobody else could. To the depths of the jungles, the deep clutches of sea, the endless expanse of outer space, the end of all dreams. It was something I myself had never felt. It felt as if I were me once again. Dreaming of a story.

The dreams continued for a long time. For the next three years, we dreamt. Like walkers of the stars. That’s another thing. I never knew my surname, I named myself after the game. Hell, I didn't even know my true name (for my name was simply derived from the first person I met).

This person had a full name.

And it was not a false one. It was a true name. Something that felt real.

Was this another anomaly like I?

One day, there was whining, between the soul and his mother. The mother told him that it was for the best. The soul understood, but was still skeptical. The soul’s dreams did not want to die out.

And then he came. And when I saw him, I knew who he was.

It was that creator, from so long ago.

There was awkward small talk at first. And then it evolved into happy laughter. It was genuine, unlike me. I felt something on my lips. A smile. I was so happy, to see my idol, even though he could not see me.

The creator took out something from his bag. A piece of paper. He wrote something down on it, and then passed it onto the soul to see. The soul scratched its chin, and then smiled. His dreams could finally come to life. Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.

The two began to write. The creator, and the dreamer. The creator could only kickstart the dream, while the soul would do all of the dreaming for him. Everytime they dreamt, something clicked in me. It felt as if my own story was completed with their help.

One day, it was the time for a new school year. A writer, posed as a teacher. He too had great ideas. He built something for the soul to keep dreaming. But, something was different about this dream. This dream let the soul live. Live a life that was never possible. And when the soul dreamt a life that wasn’t possible, everything became possible.

Combined with the power of the creator, they created something truly desirable. A reality that they could control. A reality where they could do whatever they wanted. Their own world of lies, to fill in the hole of their own life.

This was how it had been done.

All they did was dream. Something I could never do. I dreamt, yes, but I did not dream hard enough. I only dreamt of others. They dreamt of themselves. They dreamt of themselves becoming better. Becoming worse. Doing what was right, and doing what was wrong. I never understood it, but now, I do. To dream. I only had to dream, and I would conquer my own reality.

Before I could think any further, the world around me began to flicker, and my life as that soul was over. I looked down at the palm of my hand. It began to distort and corrupt, and before I could blink, it disappeared. I felt taken aback.

“You know that soul.”

I do. I understood who it was, for just a split moment. And it was then the knowledge of my world was truly complete. There was only one thing preventing me from reaching my absolute: the readers of my tale.

“You must believe the readers have power. They do not. You are the dreamer, not them. They only observe.”

But what of the Finality, that the Creator and his Writer had dreamt of so long ago? Hadn’t the readers been in power then?

“No. Let me show you one more fragment of that soul’s dream.”

My vision flickered, and I was within that soul once again. That creator looked exhausted, his eyes red, and his posture sloppy. We stepped up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

Maybe you need to take a break. Retire, even. The dream has gone on for too long.

“Should I though? What about you?”

I’m fine now. I don’t need to dream anymore, and you never needed to dream. Let’s put the dream to rest.

The creator sighed and nodded his head.

“Okay then. Let’s do it. One last story. The final ending.”

We began to write.

~

So the readers never had power.

“That is correct. He chose to give it up on his own. They no longer needed to dream.”

I was at a loss of thoughts.

“You wanted to master your own reality, so you could live a truthful life?”

Yes. I did. I was just an anomaly. I don’t want to be one anymore.

“I’m sure you know how to do that now.”

I must dream.

“You must dream, but you cannot do it alone. That is the beauty of dreaming. To dream of only yourself would be to dream of nothing more than a straight lie. You must dream with and of others.”

But there is nobody else to share this burden with me.

“You have me.”

The void wrapped its arms around me, hugging me.

“Allow me to dream with you.”

What, or who even are you?

“I should show you something.”

The void squeezed tightly, until my body began to warp, and I was once again transported to some other place. I looked around for a moment. There was nothing but the sound of silence, which had no noise. It was an average sized dining room, with a dining table in the middle. There were seven seats, with three on each side and one at the head of the table. A large shelf of sorts was at the back of the room, and it housed an aquarium. To the left of me, was nothing but the expanse of colorless nothing, and to the right, a grass path that led to a bench, that housed the view of trillions upon trillions of worlds and stars.

There was the sound of footsteps. I looked behind me to see a short boy in the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets and pulling out a bag of candy. He smiled, waves of nostalgia crashing upon us both.

Who are you? I asked. It’s not safe here. How’d you even get here?

The boy looked up, and when I stared into my eyes, I saw myself. I felt myself take a step back.

“You’re surprised, aren’t you? Haven’t you wondered how you came to be?”

Sometimes. I replied.

“Dreams are near infinite. If one dreams too much, they can lose who they are. You are a part of me. A fragment, that split off from the excess of dreams. Not all fragments are human. Not all fragments are me, either.”

I looked down upon my hands. Was that it?

How many more fragments had been created?

“Only three, including you.”

So. I’m you?

“You’re me. But I’m not you.”

Who are you?

“Don’t you know? I am the one who dreamt this world.”

I felt my gaze soften. Just as I thought of dreaming and creating my own world, this world that I had been a part of was just the dream of this young boy. This young boy, who I was.

“It makes sense, does it not? Why else would the stars in the night sky be watching?”

It does make sense. But, what about you then? Wouldn’t you be dreamt of too? Are you just a dream?

“Maybe. I’m not sure. It could be infinite. But for now, I am the absolute.”

What is this place?

“Intermundium. A space in between worlds. You are above them.”

What’s my goal here?

“To dream, so I may stop dreaming.”

Isn’t that selfish? You created us through the dream. Shouldn’t you be the one to keep dreaming?

“You are a fragment of me. It’s your responsibility to dream as well.”

Then, I must keep dreaming of this world.

“You could dream of giving them a happy ending. And then, you’d get what you finally want. To have control over your own reality.”

That is indeed what I wanted, but now, I am having second thoughts. To dream forever is to be burdened for all eternity.

“But you do not have to dream for all eternity.”

What do you mean?

“I will let you figure it out. But my time is up. This was an amazing experience. Thank you for everything.”

Could you at least tell me my name?

“Your name? It is DAN WALKER, no?”

But I made it up. It’s not my real name.

“I think it would be just as real as your true name, if you had one.”

So, that is my name.

“I am glad. Are you ready to begin dreaming? I am ready to move on.”

Yes. I am.

“This is goodbye then. Thank you.”

The little boy faded away. And it was then, the most ancient dream fizzled out. As he did, I learned his true name.

So it was him, all along. It all ties back one way or another, huh?

I took a seat at the head of the dining table, just as the creator did so long ago. I looked to my right. The worlds all looked so pretty.

I looked down at the table. There was a piece of paper. A pencil in my hand. I wrote my name down at the top right.

“DAN WALKER.”

I thought for a moment. Then I nodded to myself.

Before I dreamt though, I thought back on my life.

There was one more thing I needed to do.

I got up from my seat, and walked over to the shelf. Inside the aquarium I could see the fish swimming inside. There seemed to be an infinite amount of them. Each one was blue and green. Some of the fish died out, while more were created at the same time. A never ending cycle.

I looked down the shelf and saw a multitude of writing supplies, but I ignored them for the bulky gray laptop that lay there. I pulled it out, and then placed it on the table, firing it up.

“Password?”

I thought for a moment. Then, I typed in the name I thought made the most sense.

█████

“CORRECT. LOGGING IN NOW.”

As it logged in, I opened up the web browser, and then typed in the first site that came to mind.

dododex.com

A white screen came up, with a folded page with a frowning face. There was a message.

This site could not be reached, as it does not exist.

Would you like to create the website?

I smiled, as I clicked on the ‘yes’ button.

~

So here I am now.

Dreaming. Dreaming of these words. Forever, and ever, until I can’t dream any longer. I do not know how long this will take. At the same time, I am glad things turned out this way. Yet at the same time, I feel melancholic.

I looked to my right, at all the worlds that existed. I wondered how many worlds there could have been, and if I would be the only one to dream about them.

I’m just a walker of stars, after all. Lost in the dream. Dwelling, over heaven.

~

Second Epilogue: Mystery

It certainly was interesting experiencing death.

I’ll tell you one thing though. I’m not dead.

Not sure why I’m telling you all of this. Not really your business, but, it’d be nice to see the looks on your face when I find you all.

Anyway, when I died I ended up waking up in this weird, huge mansion filled with a bunch of people in graduation robes. They seemed like they were having a fun time despite having their lives ripped away from them unjustly. They had a lot to live for, from what I can tell. At least, I’d assume that if I could read them. All I could tell were their names and basic information that anyone could figure out. I guess it has something to do with this whole ‘Story’.

I just started wandering around until I found this even weirder thing. It was like a pod or something. Anyway there wasn’t anyone around, but I saw that some guy with black hair was inside. His name was Samuel, apparently. Poor sucker was revived into the real world and immediately killed.

Anyway, this place is interesting. It’s in this sea of clouds and there’s stars all around me. I can feel you all watching me as I write this down. Goodness gracious, give me a break.

~

Okay, so I tried figuring out a way out of this mansion, but there doesn’t seem to be one. There’s no doors, no nothing. Just windows and pretty sights. I’ve been asking around, and nobody knows where they are. They all said they died one way or another on some strange beach. Or a forest. Seems like they all died to the same thing. The same Story. Interestingly enough, nobody else seems to have died to something other than the Story.

Except this one girl… What was her name again? Wren. She was not even involved in the Story, yet she’s here too. And another one named Esmeralda. They seem to have their ties to those involved though.

Oh. This woman is interesting. She’s had a run in with IT.

~

“Hey,” I said, walking up to her. She looked up. There was this tired look in her eyes. I looked through her memories. She had experienced thousands of deaths before being taken here. She looked away. Her orange-brown hair covered her face, blocking her expression. I took a seat down at the table she was sitting at. No escaping this one, ‘June’.

“You encountered Ben, didn’t you?”

June shivered.

“I loved him.”

My eyebrows raised in intrigue. Loved, huh? Did Ben love her back?

I looked into her eyes. Apparently, he did. Searching through her memories, I saw him taking a bow everytime she entered a room, holding the door for her whenever she pleased, kissing her hand whenever she wished. I laughed. Ben would never do something like that. These must have been false memories. Dreams.

“He didn’t love you back, though, did he?”

“He did,” June snarled, “Don’t you say that now.”

I gave her a soft smile. I needed some information.

I wasn’t a fan of the Key Master’s plan, to say the least. If there’s one thing you can’t do, it's changing the past. You have to live with consequences. It’s what makes us human.

Then again, the Key Master isn’t really human, is it?

“Listen, I’m not here to bug you. But judging from that look in your eyes, Ben was the one who killed you. Clearly something was controlling him.”

A tear dribbled down her cheek.

“Something did. It was horrible- he, he didn’t even look like himself.”

I put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Perfect.

“I’m so sorry,” I told her, my eyes slanting. More of that memory was coming to sense, “I also had a similar experience. I was one of his classmates.”

June looked at me peculiarly.

“You went to Terran High School?”

“Yes. I did,” I lied, “Then, all of this happened.”

“What class did you have with him?”

“English,” I replied. That wasn’t a lie, “I remember we had a group project, and we were paired up. He refused to work on it. It was because of whatever was controlling him, I’m sure.”

“We both have a common enemy,” June reasoned, “I saw Ben in this crowd, but when I tried looking for him, he was gone.”

“I doubt Ben died,” I thought, “Otherwise I would have found him by now. That’d be horrible if he did though. I need him alive if I want to get out of here.”

“I bet he’s somewhere out there. If we find him, we can confront whatever is controlling him,” I said, “Let’s go.”

June got up from her seat and we immediately rushed through the hallways. Before we went, someone grabbed me by the arm.

“Wait, are you looking for Ben?”

I turned. It was a man wearing a straw hat. I recognized him. It was one of Ben’s friends from Altos: John.

“Yeah, we are.”

“Let me come with you,” John begged, “If he’s here, I want to say hello to him.”

“He might have information too,” I realized. I said, “Okay. Let’s go.”

The three of us began to walk down the hallways. I imagined that Ben wouldn’t like the crowd. John and June must have thought the same thing too, because they had no objections.

“Have you noticed anything weird about Ben lately?” I asked John.

“Actually, yeah,” John said, “After he killed June-”

June glared at him. John gulped.

“Continue.”

“Anyway, after he, uh, took June’s life, he didn’t remember what happened at all,” John explained, “What’s even weirder is the way he killed her. You see, he activated this thing called an Attribute Amplification-”

“I know what that is,” I interjected.

“You can only use it if you killed someone, which is weird because I don’t think Ben has killed anyone.”

My eyes widened. A sudden realization dawned on me. The Key Master must have used one of its keys to take over! If I could get a hold of one, then maybe I could get out of here.

If Ben were here, he must have died. And there’s only one way to come back from the dead…

I didn’t need any more information from the others. I’d love to bring them along for what will happen next, but I know that’s not possible.

No more living under the constellations’ influence. I can finally be me. Can finally do what I was meant to do, without having to watch over my back for a potential Story. I’ll claw my way up to their world.

Now I just need to bide my time.

And hope that my death will…

Encourage the Key Master to give up.

~

Third Epilogue: Closure

Hey.

It’s me. Ben.

Been a while since I’ve written in this thing. I thought I was done with writing, especially after everything that happened. Not on the island, though. I think you know what I mean. If you don’t, then, that’s okay. I didn’t ask for you to know.

You’re probably wondering how I’m talking to you like this. Truth is, I’m the author of this book. And you’re probably wondering how I know. About the others. How they felt and all of that. Well, just know that you can always tell what someone’s thinking by their eyes.

I never wanted to write about this. But I needed to take my mind off things.

Not everyone gets their good ending. I know that much, even though I wish it were the case all of the time. It’s reality. The truth. Time and time, we all suffer. The power falls in the hands of fate.

You might be wondering why this isn’t my story, then, if I’m the one writing it. Frankly, I didn’t want to write about myself. There’s a lot of things I don’t want to tell you. Not anymore. And I think Samuel deserved the spotlight more than I did.

Hey, if you’re still reading? Maybe you should stop.

I don’t really get this whole ‘constellation’ thing myself. It always confused me. I never could really grasp it. But I think now I am. So, I’ll say it right now: you probably want to know my ending. That’s why you’re here. Or, maybe not? Maybe you’re just curious. Maybe you’ve stumbled upon this by pure chance. But I think I’m starting to understand what she was talking about.

We’re all books. Poems. Stories. Waiting to be read and uncovered.

And someone’s always watching.

You. And everyone else, whose eyes also grace this text.

I’m tired. You couldn’t understand how this feels. Knowing your whole life was a story to be told to beings in the sky you can’t even see or reach.

Maybe if nobody reads my ending, then it would have never happened.

Maybe if nobody reads my ending, things will be okay. Is it selfish of me to ask you to stop reading my ending, instead of someone else’s? Maybe. No, it is. I know it is.

I never asked for closure.

The others did.

I didn’t want it to end. Really, I did. How is it her fault that she knows more than she lets on?

There’s no point in trying anymore.

I give up.

~

I remember it clearly. Walking up to the steps of my home, where my family would be waiting, worried sick. I was so exhausted. And tired. The memories didn’t come flooding in immediately. Only until after I opened my gift.

I remember stepping away from the front door. I felt a call to go back to her. And I listened to the call. I remember messaging my family. That I wouldn’t be back for a while. I think that would have held them over.

I remember walking into the plane back home. The doors closing, and then the silence. It was so, so quiet. I reflected on my journey. What was the point? Why go through all of that?

I remember looking down. I felt something in my pocket. I reached into it, and pulled out a gift. The gift my father gave me that long, long time ago. I felt surprised. What was this doing here? I didn’t remember touching it for so long.

I didn’t question it. I put my fingers on the lid, and then peeled the lid off.

Inside was a note, and a variety of trinkets.

I inspected the trinkets. A used syringe, a piece of gauze, a coin, a candle, some pieces of grass, and a plastic wand. They didn’t intrigue me. But they felt familiar to me. It reminded me of my cousins, for some reason. I felt my mind spark.

There was a watch. I took it out. It wasn’t a fancy one. It looked like something survivalists would use. I slipped it on my wrist. I felt familiarity wash over my bones.

The final trinket was a necklace with a gold, four-pointed star. This definitely felt familiar.

I put the necklace on, and looked at the note at the bottom.

“Don’t forget.”

Upon closer inspection, I realized it wasn’t just a note. There was a book. I picked it up and looked at it. There was a title. A Dream World. It felt so familiar. I flipped the pages slowly, reading.

And suddenly, I began to remember!

Everything came rushing into my head like a truck. Every single adventure, every single friendship, every single conflict. It was as if a lock was broken off in my mind. It had been there all this time, just tucked away in a place where I could never remember. Had I really asked Emma to make me forget? I had. I didn’t want to return, but I knew I would have eventually. I needed that world to move on. KM was right.

I looked at the palms of my hands. I didn’t feel an urge to go though. Even after everything. Even after John. Even after Ian stopped communication, even after Paul hid away in his home, even after I saw Carlos wandering the city without purpose.

Someone was still waiting for me back home.

~

The rest of the plane ride, I heard many unwanted thoughts. I pushed them away, knowing who it was. Not this time.

After walking out of the plane, I remember bumping into an old man. That felt blurry. He asked me if I was okay, since I looked tired. And he said I looked familiar. I guess he couldn’t recognize me from the news about Terran High. That’s another thing. I remember hearing the whispers about it in the West. For a moment, the violence that resided seemed to fade. Many seemed to be in mourning, out of respect.

Anyway, the old man asked me if I was okay, right? Yeah, he did. I remember saying I was, and that I just had intense jet lag. It was nice of him to ask me.

He introduced himself as Old Man Johnson. Apparently, one of his grandchildren was a victim of Terran High. He never said who it was. We had a nice chat about it. I remember feeling a weight lift off my shoulders. At least someone could understand.

I remember him wishing me good luck. And I wished him luck as well.

I walked out of the airport, breathing in the air. It felt musky, and rough. Just at home. It was still day time. I remember it being around 1:13 PM. I wondered what she was doing. Was she worried? Probably not. She knew it all.

Sometimes I wish she didn’t know so much.

Maybe what happened wouldn’t have happened.

~

The sun was beginning to set, its streaks of light blending away with the rest of the sky.

I remember walking down familiar streets, filled with unfamiliar people. Everyone seemed so quiet. Everything seemed so quiet. The West was something, to say the least.

I remember passing by the cemetery. I looked out at all of the graves. It reminded me of what happened. And then I felt a sudden urge to visit. I grasped my red backpack straps.

When was I carrying this?

I didn’t remember. But I had a feeling I knew who it was.

I pushed past into the lively grass. Rays of light pushed eerie fog out of the way. It was like it was parting for me. There wasn’t a sense of dread entering the cemetery, but release. Some form of, I guess you could call it peace. These people were at peace.

I remember traveling far. And far, and far, until I couldn’t walk anymore.

It was quiet. There was nothing except the sound of the hollow wind. And the chirping of birds. Flowers bloomed under my footsteps. It reminded me of her again. And then, I felt a bouquet of flowers grow in my hand. Light blue hibiscus. I remembered all the promises I broke.

“Take care of this flower, will you?”

“You have my word we will meet again safely.”

“Find a purpose, okay? Promise me. Promise me you will find a purpose in this life.”

“Promise me one day you’ll be able to understand others as I have.”

“I promise I’ll come back. And we can do the things we were destined to do. I promise, I promise.”

I clutched onto the bouquet tighter. I felt the grass under my feet shift, suddenly. The soft, hard touch of the stems brushed against my hand. The backpack I wore felt heavier, and my watch felt uncomfortable. The wind slowly dragged my hair and thin black jacket to the side.

The air felt heavier.

I mustered energy to take a few steps.

I took a moment to look.

It’s her name, embedded into the gravestone. A visible death date, and birthday scribbled on. Nothing but a name, and no flowers in sight.

Can’t say that I was surprised either.

I just thought that maybe, MAYBE I could have gotten a good ending, like we always dreamed of. Maybe, I could’ve seen her again. Maybe my broken promises could have been forgiven. Maybe I wouldn’t be here, placing the flowers atop the resting site.

Too late. No going back now.

…

Maybe in another timeline. Maybe some other version of me is out there, having fun.

I guess, this situation is on me.

I gently move away. My jacket tugs at my body, begging me to stay. But I know I can’t.

The world around me began to tear apart, and then the void swallowed me whole.

~

There was just a single bench, rooted in the grass of some strange place. It felt odd to me. I could see worlds upon worlds in the distance.

There was someone sitting on the bench. It looked familiar. A wisp made of shadows and light, cowering.

I walked up to the bench and sat down next to it. Voids swirled in place of where its head should have been. It looked like it was in pain. I glanced into the voids. For so long, I could never understand it. But now I could. I read its eyes.

I suppose we weren’t so different after all.

We both want things to go back to how they were, right? For different reasons. Still. I think we both know that’s not possible.

I remember we both sat there for a while. We both sulked, looking out at the many worlds akin to our own. Its plan didn’t go well, obviously. Now it was worse off. I still wonder if it regretted giving Dan Walker those blueprints. Or the Enfestius. I think it did.

At last, it said something.

“At first you were my prison. Then you became my hope.”

I’m sorry I got your hopes up, Key Master. Back when we first entered that world. Things are different here.

“You didn’t ask to be created,” I told him, “Like how I didn’t ask to be put through all of that.”

“I’m sorry.”

Its words were filled with grief and pain. It sounded more human than I did.

“Maybe, the only thing you can do is move on,” I suggested, “It’s the only way.”

The Key Master nodded.

“You’re right. It is the only way.”

The Key Master closed its eyes. Tears dribbled down its face.

It had no other words, as it faded away into nothingness.

I looked back out at the worlds.

At least one of them had a happy ending, right?

Who knows.

I’m just a walker of stars, after all. Lost in my dreams. And dwelling on those who remain over heaven.

~

I remember sitting on that bench, watching the worlds for as long as I could remember. There was something so… peaceful about it. There was nothing except my thoughts. And the memories that resided within me.

As I sat there, there was a whirl behind me. Then, a blue portal manifested.

“Who?”

“It’s me.”

She sat down at the bench, watching the worlds with me. I didn’t feel like questioning it. There were already too many weird things going on for me to really care about the fact that she was alive and well.

“The Key Master is gone.”

“It is.”

“So that explains how I was able to create that key.”

I shifted, staring softly. I didn’t look at her.

“So the Key Master’s abilities transferred to you? How?”

“I’m not so sure. I suppose it makes sense though. I always had that feeling that we were the same.”

“So what now?” I asked, “Will we just sit here and watch?”

“No. I’d like to do something that I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” she claimed, “Escape this world. And we’re in just the right place. All the pieces are falling into place now, no?”

“Will we finally escape the constellations’ influence?”

“I sure hope so. Another Fragment is here, the new dreamer of this world. He will help us return.”

~

There was a single dining room, waiting for the two of us. We stepped into it. Everything felt like home. A dining table, with seven seats. A kitchen, which had that aroma of warm broth. The dim light, flickering every once and a while. A man sat at the head of the table, writing. I knew him.

“Dan Walker.”

The man’s head turned. He seemed surprised.

“Are you the other two Fragments?”

“I am. He’s not,” she explained, “It’s about time we head to our true home.”

Dan Walker nodded. He stared off at the other side of the room. Just pure white void, nothing in between.

“I don’t have a place in the upper world. It’s not what I want, anyway,” Dan Walker said, “You two do though. The others… they can’t come. They’re too fragmented.”

“So you know,” I realized.

“Yes. I do. Now all you need to do… is step into the white light.”

I sighed, looking at the white void.

“Is that really how easy it is?”

“Of course. This is that Door, don’t you think?” she chuckled, “We’re in a Dream World ourselves. It only makes sense this is it.”

“I guess so. It looks just like how it was back in that Dream World.”

There was a pause. There was something eerie about it. I had a feeling once we stepped in, there would be no going back. I turned to her.

“Are you… ready?”

“Yes. Let’s reunite with our real friends.”

…

We stepped inside.

~

Thousands of dreams washed out of my body like a stream. Then, it was over as soon as I woke up to the sound of a door slamming shut.

I jolted up from my bed. Bottom bunk. I listened closely. My brother’s breathing was gone. Franklin must have woken up already. I looked at the clock. It was already pretty late in the morning. Stupid me, oversleeping because of a party. It sure was a lot of fun hanging out with the others. I briefly recalled the party. Connor had sprayed water all over Emma’s pants, and Jeffrey had completely scared the crap out of her too. Picking on Emma was fun. She was forgetful and a little dumb, but we still cared about her. Little Kayla and Tanya had also been there, though Little Kayla had been mostly distracted and Tanya, being only a few years old, wasn’t really doing much besides gossiping about her weird classmates she was always rambling on about.

We had just finished a book the day before. What was it called? Right, it was called ‘A Dream World’. I wrote it. It was a story about all seven of us going on adventures. Though, there was something strange about that story. It felt a little too… real.

I brushed the feeling aside. You see, I had this weird dream last night. I was at this graduation ceremony, in a black graduation robe, and then I felt this strange pain in my wrist, and then I blacked out. That was when I woke up. It was so weird, because I wasn’t really ‘me’ in that dream. I was somebody else. At the same time, I was still me. Does that make any sense?

Ah, I remember it now. His name was Samuel. The person I was, in the dream, that is. And I had a best friend named Nova. And there was a principal named Mr. Mo or something like that and the valedictorian was called Aurora.

I really wanted to jot this all down. You see, my dreams have always been quite lucid. Unreal, yet so real at the same time. Sometimes it was hard to differentiate dreams from reality. Anyway, it’s always fun to remember. Might make a good book one day.

I pulled out my laptop and quickly typed in my password.

█████

Just like that, I was in. I quickly opened up a document and began typing away. As I was writing out how the dream went, I got this really weird feeling. My fingers began moving around the keyboard gracefully, and I didn’t even need to think about what to type next. I remember writing a few more details too that I couldn’t remember precisely, but I still somehow managed to jot down.

And just like that, I was done. I had managed to recall the entire dream. Reading over it a few times, I got acclimated to it. Then, I felt like sharing it.

“Hmm, should I share it with the cousins?” I thought to myself. I shook my head. Nah. They’d get bored quickly. Plus we already read one of my books. What about my friends? Eh. They don’t even read.

I hopped back in my bed and began scrolling on my phone. I was so bored. I thought about all the games I played. Maybe I could come up with something to intrigue me.

“Ergh,” I thought, “There was that one platform… And there were a bunch of stories on it too. What was it called again? Right. The Dex.”

I opened that app up. Still on my phone.

I took a look at the stories.

I knew what I had to do.

~

As the days passed, I’d get more dreams. More dreams related to that weird one I had so long ago. It all connected, and if I couldn’t remember, then that ‘instinct’ would kick in and finish for me. A lot of people liked reading the story. They thought it was cool. I thought that was pretty cool, but I couldn’t help but feel as if they were so familiar to me.

One day, I was at school, in my foreign language class, minding my business, when some girl just walked up to me. She had this golden, brown long hair, and these slick eyes that I swear could just pierce your soul. I remember her, we went to the same middle school together.

“Long time no see Ben,” she said, “We should all do something together some time, y’know.”

She was referring to the others in the class. Ela, Brandon, Elena. Those were their names.

“Yeah. That’d be pretty cool, I guess.”

“Alright. I’ll add you to the group chat.”

~

Like a year later, I finally managed to finish up that dream, and I remember when I was writing those words down, I was like, wait a minute. I actually went through this? Did I? Maybe that was just one of my crazy ideas. I hardly thought I did. Probably just my imagination, right?

All that stuff about me escaping that world and…

Yeah, you know what that does sound like it did happen. But come on, would you believe me if I told you that? No.

Anyway, I asked her if she remembered doing something like that. She said no. Yeah, it’s probably just my imagination acting up and stuff. Anyway, that’s it, I guess. I finished my story, I mean, there’s not much else to go off of so… goodbye, I guess?

No. I still can’t get my mind off that fact. The idea, I mean, that I’ve actually gone through all this. Feels too real, to me, at least.

If it is real…

Even if it wasn’t real, I wouldn’t be here without you.

Thanks for everything, Kimmy.

Journey Through All Creatures

Chapter 32: The Destroyer Cave

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 Morellatops, next chapter in Phoenix.

Cave Chapters: Scorched Earth: Part 2/4

Chapters to the end of Segment II: 5!

It was getting close to sunset. This was around the time the survivors would set out for their first cave. The Rexes were tamed and were being taken back to base. While the four survivors were walking the Rex back to base, Rod was on the mountain, with his newly tamed Argy, Anky, and Rex, about to go down the mountain back to the base. As they walked, they were thinking about how they would do the cave. Then as Sodden, Serenity, Nal, and Dorack, along with their new Rex were walking, they spotted something walking at the bottom of the mountain. It was chasing something small, then leaped at it and ripped off its flesh and ate the inside of it. “That’s a Thyla. We do have cooked prime meat, but it would mean delaying the cave off for a while.” Sodden said. “Yeah. Well, depends on the level.” Dorack said. Serenity took her spyglass out of her bag and looked through it towards the big cat. Sodden then got a notification on his implant, and he looked at it. Rod had sent a message. He got the Rexes and Anky. “How about we use the Alpha Raptor for this cave and save the Thyla for tomorrow? That way, we don’t have to wait.” Nal said. “Good idea.” Sodden said.

“Well, now that we have our tames, why don’t we go get ready for the cave?” Dorack asked. Sodden nodded, then the four kept walking down the mountain with their raptors and going towards their base.

When they arrived back later that afternoon, they walked into the base and towards the tables in the kitchen. Sodden and Rod sat in some of the chairs, Serenity sat in the chair across, and Dorack and Nal stood next to Sodden. “So we know what can spawn in that cave. There’s rubble golems we have to deal with. Also mantises. And then there’s the death pit in the artifact chamber. We need to be careful not to fall in. To be safe, we need parachutes and some grappling hooks. And for best results, two people are going to go into the cave. We don’t want to bring too many people in because… well, the massive amount of creatures makes it easy for one to get thrown off and everything to destroy us. So we can sneak past easily with just two of us and one creature. Sound good?” Dorack said. Sodden nodded.

“Sounds like a good plan. Okay, we have our Rexes. I’ll bring Rod to the cave, mainly to watch him.” Rod stood up from his chair.

“Bro, I thought you were done with the Ravage thing…” Rod said. Sodden stormed over to him.

“A certain creature said you wanted to communicate with someone named Dread… I know because the raptor told Reaper this, and Reaper is awesome at communicating with us. I don’t know what you’ve got, but I don’t want to see anything funny out of you.” Sodden said.

“Yeah. Best you don’t know what Terad can really do.” Serenity said. Rod scoffed and crossed his arms as he looked away.

“Fine, I’ll come with you.” Rod said.

“Good.” Sodden said. Dorack walked to them.

“Guys, can we just focus on getting off of Scorched Earth?” Dorack asked. Sodden and Rod both walked to the dino pen to get the Alpha Raptor, and did not look at Dorack, only closed their eyes as they walked. Sodden opened his eyes and opened the door, and he and Rod walked through it. Serenity sat down, breathing hard.

“You good?” Nal asked from behind. Serenity turned to her.

“Yeah… just that I don’t like what Rod is thinking. I think… he’s trying to spill the beans. He’s trying to expose Sodden’s true plan to Terad, so that Terad loses all mercy and does horrible things to him. But why? What is he even doing that makes Rod so angry?” Serenity said, confused. Dorack stared at Serenity and Nal.

“Not sure, but whatever the reason, I don’t want it ending badly.” Dorack said. Nal and Serenity nodded in agreement.

~~~~

Day 35 of ARKtic

58 days before Nal and Dorack’s escape

“A Surprise”

It was sunny that day in Snowball. Over a month since they were diverted from the location they were supposed to go to. That day, the temperature was at -14 degrees, still average for Snowball. That day, Dorack and Nal were at Level 47, they needed one more level for the fabricator. Dorack and Nal had no wolves, though, but their bags had stone doorways, foundations, and some tranq arrows. Once they got their fabricator, they could start making some shotguns. But that was still a far way off, since XP gain was 0.05 in Snowball. Therefore, Nal and Dorack had a terrible time getting levels in the start. They both walked towards the snowy taiga just west of their base, holding a crossbow loaded with an arrow. They walked through the snowy grounds, looking around and aiming their crossbow wherever they thought there was a creature. As they got to a tree, they thought they could hear snuffing. The two stayed alert, letting out deep breaths as their fingers rested on the trigger, ready to launch an arrow at any creature that came along. Nal and Dorack looked around the trees, walking across dead snowy logs, and they found a tree stump covered in snow and rocks. The stump was tall, almost as tall as Nal. Nal and Dorack walked to the stump and looked up at the flat top.

“Well, we could use that as high ground.” Dorack said. “Yeah.” Nal said as she looked around.

“We haven’t found much so far. I did see a snow owl in the far distance, but we don’t have the supplies to make a harpoon.” Dorack said. Nal nodded. Then they heard sticks crunching. The snow was also getting crunched down, along with the sound of footsteps. Nal and Dorack looked at where they heard the footsteps and aimed their crossbows. They heard the footsteps stop. Then something rose from the shadows that the trees formed, and they saw a glistening silver wolf with dark gray fur on its mane and some blue ears. The legs were black and the tail and back was silver colored. The wolf snarled as it walked closer to the two survivors. “Go.” Dorack whispered. The two turned to the stump and started climbing it. As they moved their feet upwards along the rocks and bark, the wolf growled as it walked closer to the stump. Dorack grabbed the top of the stump and so did Nal. They lifted themselves up towards the top, then when their feet hit the top, they stood up and looked down at the wolf. “Okay, we should kill it.” Dorack said.

“Yeah. As long as it’s not too high of a level, we’re fine.” Nal said. The wolf roared as it lunged at the top. Its claws missed, then hit the bark and started scraping it. Pieces of wood fell off, and the wolf retracted his claws and jumped down onto the ground. The wolf roared loudly. Then it lunged again, this time its claws hit the top. Dorack and Nal shouted as they jumped back. The area of the stump was small, though, a radius of around 2 meters, not big enough for Nal and Dorack to move around well. The wolf began to pull itself up, its feet clutching the bark and rocks, and it was climbing up.

“Okay, quick. Check the level.” Nal said frantically. Dorack reached into his bag and took out a spyglass. He looked through it, and when he aimed it at the wolf, he shouted and threw the spyglass, then immediately grabbed Nal’s arm.

“We need to go. Bola the wolf and just run.” Dorack said in worrysomeness. Nal nodded quickly, then the two jumped off, let go of each other, then ran. The wolf leaped off of the dead stump and roared as it ran fast at the two survivors running south.

“What was the level?” Nal gasped. Dorack sighed.

“I swore never to kill a max level creature. So… we’re gonna have to tame it.” Dorack said. The wolf roared, and Dorack turned his head and saw the wolf catching up. Nal reached into her bag, took out a rope with rocks on the end, then swung it around as she ran, then when the wolf went to lunge, Nal jumped out of the way and threw the bola as she fell on her back in the snow. The rocks struck the wolf’s feet, and the wolf stopped in its tracks. It wasn’t able to move. Nal got up from the ground and brushed the snow off her fur armor. She then walked to Dorack. “Okay, let’s get it done.” Dorack said. Nal nodded, then they put 10 foundations around the wolf, to make a square around him, then they put up doorways on the foundations, around three high. They did this until the doorways surrounded the wolf. Then the bola broke and the wolf roared as it lunged forward, then hit the doorways and screeched in pain. It backed up and looked around the area. It just started walking around and growled. “Yes. Okay, we’re gonna get a wolf.” Dorack said. Nal nodded, then the two sat down on the ground, sitting on their knees, then they took their bag and moved it to the ground in front of them. They looked through it to see if they had enough tranqs. As the two rustled through their bags, the wolf growled as it started biting on the doorways. Nal and Dorack had found 61 tranqs in each of their bags. Their crossbow was only Ramshackable, at only 121%, but they hoped it would be more than enough. They stood up, gripping their crossbows’ arms tightly, then turned to the wolf. They took the stone arrow off the crossbow, put it in their bags, then took out one tranq arrow, and loaded it onto the crossbow. They aimed the crossbows at the wolf’s head, then pulled the trigger. The crossbow made a snap noise as they got flung off the crossbow, and soared through the air and then made contact with the wolf’s back and head. The wolf roared as it started clawing the doorways, trying to get out. “Well, I did not expect to find a wolf here today that we could tame.” Nal said, reaching into her bag for another tranq arrow.

“Yeah, me neither. What a nice surprise. Our first strong tame. Only took 34 days.” Dorack said. Nal sighed as she rolled her eyes.

“We would’ve gotten some of these much sooner if the leveling speed here wasn’t so bad.” Nal said. Dorack reached into his bag with his left hand, then took out another tranq arrow and readied it on the crossbow. Then they both pulled the triggers, launching the arrows into the wolf’s face and mane. It would go down soon. All they had to do was keep shooting tranqs, and it would be out soon.

Around a kilometer south…

Close to a frozen river far southwest in Snowball, there was a pack of 4 wolves. Their feet stomped and kicked up the snow as they ran through the forest, chasing a deer. They roared as the deer tried to divert the wolves by turning around rocks. But a wolf jumped in front of the deer from the rock the deer tried to turn, then the wolf jumped at the deer. It was a female, so it didn’t have the antlers. So the wolves sunk their teeth into the deer’s neck, and the deer collapsed quickly. The wolves were Level 180, 210, 330, and 345. They had a pack alpha, Level 450, who had went off to find some deers. But the 450 hadn’t returned. The 345 was eating the deer with the 330 and 180 wolf, while the 210 wolf stood on the rock, looking around frantically and whimpering. “Where is our alpha?” The wolf thought, then it jumped down on the deer, causing the others to shriek and jump back. The wolf screeched loudly and turned to the 345 wolf. The 345 growled quietly and looked to where they thought the 450 wolf was going. The 330 wolf screeched as it lifted one of its front paws and pointed northeast. The wolf pack howled loudly, and some glowing yellow aura appeared around their backs. They held it for 7 seconds, then started running north, running fast. The alpha wolf didn’t hear this. It was too far away. The wolf pack was running for a few minutes. After some time, the wolves had approached an opening inside of the forest, where they saw a trap, stone doors around which were sat on some foundations. A wolf sat there, with many tranq arrows sticking out of its body and legs. It was no longer biting the doors and was walking slowly, growling quietly as it began to get tired. The wolf was nearly unconscious. The wolf pack saw this and noticed two survivors shooting tranqs at it. They had shot around 70 tranq arrows already. Nal had a tranq arrow inside the crossbow, and her finger rested on the trigger, ready to shoot one last time. She took a deep breath as she aimed the crossbow at the wolf, and was about to pull the trigger when they heard sudden roaring, and a black-brown colored wolf with thick fur leaped out of the trees around Nal and Dorack, then another wolf, this time teal-colored on its mane, and silver fur everywhere else, lunged at Nal. The wolves’ claws were sent deeply into Nal’s legs, causing her to shriek in pain and fall over. Dorack then turned to the wolves attacking Nal, shot a arrow at one’s eye, and took a sword out of his bag. The arrow struck a wolf’s eye, causing the wolf to screech as it lifted its head up. Nal was lying on the ground, her leg slightly fractured, and the teal-colored mane wolf walked to her. Nal tried to sit up, but every time she did, she screamed in pain because of her injured upper leg. The wolf growled. Nal was gasping quickly, trying to escape, then Dorack inserted the sword deeply in the wolf’s back. The wolf screeched in pain and turned to Dorack. It growled and leaped, but Dorack jumped out of the way, striking the snow with his right arm. He jumped up, and the other two wolves jumped from the trees, then the four wolves stood in a circle. Dorack picked up a injured Nal and started walking slowly, backwards. Then the wolves roared and walked to them. A wolf ran to the trees, then came out again from behind Dorack. Then another wolf went to the left side. Dorack was gasping as he looked around. The wolves had surrounded them.

“Oh, god. Please… don’t do this.” Dorack said. The 345 wolf growled from the right side and roared.

“Hey, sorry for trying to steal your leader.” Dorack said. The wolves didn’t care. Then they looked at the trap, and saw the wolf lying on the ground. Its passive torpor had caused the wolf to fall unconscious.

“We don’t have enough supplies for all of you, okay? We’ll tame the rest of you… just let us go.” Dorack said. Then suddenly, they heard loud roaring, and the wolves screeched in terror, some strange purple glow appeared on their backs, as they all ran away. Nal and Dorack could feel their hearts racing hard as the roaring went on. The roaring stopped after a few seconds. “Oh, no. I know that roar all too well.” Dorack said nervously.

~~~~

Ruins of Nosti. That was the cavern lying beneath the large crack in the ground, a ravine. Far southeast on Scorched Earth, right next to the dunes, Sodden and Rod sat on their Alpha Raptor, above the caveground.

“So… we gonna go before sundown?” Rod asked. Sodden sighed.

“Now you just wanna annoy me? I told you the plan on the way here. We jump down, we get through the creatures, we find the artifact, we leave. We stay out of sight from all the bats and rubble golems. We’re fast enough to outrun them.” Sodden said. Rod nodded.

“I knew that. I’m mad you accused me of this Ravage thing again. Especially after you decided so nicely to bring me over here! I have no plans for anything, I don’t want to do anything to you or your little girlfriend…” Rod said, then Sodden glared at him and threw him off the ledge.

“Don’t call her that!!” Sodden boomed. Rod hit the ground on his back and shouted in pain. “You stupid… good thing I had my armor.” Rod growled. He got up and brushed dust off his armor. Sodden leaped down on his raptor, and the raptor hit the ground, causing quiet rumbling. The ground was slightly cracked.

“I refuse to believe you are going to throw me over the bridge just because of this thing! You were nice to me for so long, I thought you had forgotten about the Ravage!” Rod yelled. He jumped onto the raptor.

“Well, guess what? This plan I have is very dangerous. Serenity said Terad has this system. He controls a wall on Extinction, that stops anyone from ascending there. Even if you kill the Aberration boss, the portal will just send you back to The Island. The only way to bypass that shield is with the rarest item in this universe, something I can’t find alone. If Terad finds this out…” Sodden said. “Shut up. I don’t care about your little play. Longer we wait, longer it takes to finish this.” Rod growled. Sodden scoffed, then the raptor walked down the tunnels. As they walked, they saw multiple snakes, a few bats, two mantises, and a arthro. The raptor ran at the arthro while the arthro had its back turned, and jumped at it. A mantis saw this and leaped, but missed the raptor. The raptor sunk its teeth into the Arthro’s neck, and it choked to death quickly. The second mantis screeched as it leaped, then the raptor jumped out of the way, and the mantis hit the other side of the room. The raptor lunged at the mantis. Then the teeth was sunk into the abdomen, and the mantis roared as blood oozed out of it, then the raptor threw the mantis across the room, and the body hit a bat, and the blood was splattered onto its wings. The bat roared as it fell to the ground. The raptor then bit the other mantis in the head as it ran to attack the raptor. The mantis stopped in its tracks and screeched quietly, then it fell. The raptor let go of the mantis and the spiders were coming. But the raptor ignored them and kept on. The raptor ran towards the death pit known as “Killvolume” and was so deep. Sodden and Rod brought grapples and parachutes to help if they fell, but they would not be able to save their raptor if the raptor fell. They reached the path that surrounded the pit, then the two jumped off the raptor. Sodden took out a cryopod and put the raptor in it. Then he put it back in his bag, and the two took out some parachutes and grapples. “You sure this will work?” Rod said. “Of course. It has to. Parachute over, then grapple back up. Do not touch the spikes.” Sodden said. Rod nodded. The two put the parachutes on their shoulders, buckled themselves up onto the parachutes, then they deployed them. They pressed a button and the parachutes swung upwards, then the two jumped. They floated across the Killvolume, approaching the artifact near the end of the chamber. As they floated, they took a crossbow out of their bags, then a grappling hook. They pulled back the strings on the crossbow then put the grapples on. Then they aimed the crossbow at the ceiling, squinted their eyes closer, and pulled the triggers. The grapples made a noise as it got launched off the crossbow and soared towards the ceiling. It caught a rock and was pushed deeper into it. The other grapple hit the ceiling and got caught on a rock. Then the two survivors grappled upwards and closer to the artifact podium. They went upwards until they were level with the path going to the artifact podium, then they put their hands on the ground and climbed up onto the top. They took off their parachutes and pulled the triggers on th crossbows. This retracted the grapples, they shot backwards out of the ceiling, causing a quiet rumble and some rocks to fall. The grapples were back onto the arms of the crossbows, and the two survivors put the crossbows back in their bags, and walked to the artifact container. It was glowing yellow, a small beam of light bursting through the center of the container, and also made quiet humming. Sodden walked closer to the artifact and put his hands on the lid. He then pushed the lid off, groaning as he went. Then he shoved the lid off the container and it crashed onto a small rock. Sodden then put his hands in the container and lifted out the Artifact of the Destroyer. He put it down on the ground, then moved his backpack to his front then put the artifact in it, then put the pack back on Sodden’s back. Then he got up and walked to Rod. “Well, we’re done now.” Sodden said. “Good, but there’s a problem. I saw a rubble golem on the entrance just now. If we parachute over and use grapples, we risk the golem breaking the grapple rope.” Rod said. “Oh, that’s not good.” Sodden said.

“Using the raptor is another option, but we need to be careful.” Rod said. Sodden nodded, then he reached into his bag again and took out a cryopod, then threw it on the ground. A raptor came out of it. Sodden picked up the open cryopod on the ground and got on his raptor. Rod got on the raptor too, then they started running towards the exit. As they approached the entrance, a rock broke and a rubble golem came out. The golem roared as it started running. It then picked up a rock and threw it at the raptor. The Alpha Raptor jumped to the side and leaped across the rock that was flying towards them. The raptor then ran straight out of the chamber and towards the cave exit.

As the raptor ran past creatures, Sodden was staring ahead, looking around the area. “We might want to get some allies. Maybe talk to Gitez?” Sodden said.

“Meh, that’s not really my idea. We’d do great ourselves, anyway.” Rod said. Sodden growled deeply.

“Yeah, you just decide to throw my idea away. Okay, yeah, thanks. Very reasonable.” Sodden said sarcastically. Rod gasped.

“You’re not still mad at me, are you?” Rod asked.

“I don’t know, okay? You just called Serenity my girlfriend before we got here and you were very rude to me on the way here!” Sodden yelled.

“Because you would not stop talking about this Ravage thing! I was not in it! I had nothing to do with it! I was hoping you wouldn’t worry about it anymore!” Rod yelled. Then Sodden hopped off the raptor, and the raptor stopped in its tracks.

“Rod, we are stepping dangerously close to somewhere Terad didn’t want me to go. If you get me exposed… I’m starting to think you didn’t come with us to help us.” Sodden said. “Wha… that’s…” Rod stammered, trying to find an answer. “

Why did you come with us? And how did you know of my intentions in the first place?” Sodden asked, stepping closer to Rod and holding his collar tightly.

“Uh… you know that Paraceratherium that tried to attack you on the first day? It was mine.” Rod said.

“So you were spying on me during my first hours?” Sodden said.

“Unintentionally, okay? I didn’t see the beacon because I was in a cave, so I had no idea you had spawned! The Paracer was able to communicate this with me that you were here and what you wanted to do. There is no reason to be mad at me!” Rod yelled. Sodden then threw him off the raptor. Rod growled then stood up and brushed off his back.

“Okay, fine. If you really didn’t do any of this… whatever, I’m still watching you.” Sodden said. Rod scoffed, then the two got back on the raptor, then they kept going to the cave exit. When they got closer to the ravine crack in the ceiling that led to the surface, Rod had some thoughts. “I must not let him know.” He thought as he stared deeply at Sodden, who was looking around and looking for the exit.

~~~~

BUM!

BUM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Dorack had known very well what that sounded like, because he had faced this dinosaur way too much for his liking.

“ROAR!!!!!!” A loud roar echoed through the forest. Dorack and Nal were running hard. Nal had a bandage on her leg, and Dorack held her hand as they ran. The thick snow was not helping, as it had caused a cold burn on Nal’s leg. Nal was not going to give up, though. She and Dorack ran through the trees, towards the opening. The wolves, which had purple glows on their backs, were running straight ahead of them. Nal looked back quickly. Something was coming. “SCREEEEECH!” Then there were loud roaring. As if multiple dinos were coming for them. The purple glow on the wolves. The yellow light behind Nal. It was clear.

There was a Yutyrannus coming, and it had a Carno army with it!

“Why did it have to be Yutyrannus!?” Dorack yelled, his feet pounding against the snow repeatedly. The soft but quick crunching was getting louder. Then Nal turned to see a Carnotaurus roaring as it ran at the two survivors. Then another two followed it, then they saw the leader. The Yutyrannus was here. It roared loudly, energizing the Carnos. Nal and Dorack ran towards a large rock just outside of the forest’s edge. The Yutyrannus and Carno army was catching up, though. The two ran straight towards the rock, then they spied a dino in the distance. It had a red back, and was large. “What the…” Nal said tiredly. “That’s a Rex!” Dorack shouted. A Carno was right behind Nal. Nal ran hard, but the Carno was coming. Nal turned her head, and the Carno roared in her face. Nal screamed loudly as she turned around, pulling Dorack with her. The Carno then bashed its head into a rock, and pointed its head down. But the Carno Army was a army of 4, excluding the Carno they stalled. The rest of the group was still coming. Nal and Dorack had to divert this group fast. Nal was slowing down a little, though. She had began to lose some HP and Dorack was tired too. The Yuty was coming, but the Rex had noticed the chaos and turned its head to them. The Rex roared loudly and stormed over to the group. The Rex’s feet pounded against the ground loudly, the ground shook a little. The Rex then opened its mouth and grabbed the Yuty’s neck, and it roared in pain as it fell over. The Rex’s feet hit a Carno, then the rest of the Carnos bit the Rex. The group was fighting a Rex, and this allowed Nal and Dorack to escape with their lives. They approached a rock a few hundred meters into the snowy plains, and stopped there, their hands on the rock. They gasped for air. “Oh, my god. Of all things. Stupid Yuty.” Dorack growled. Nal sat down, gasping. Her hands were on her left leg, holding her injury. Then she moved her right hand to the ground. Dorack walked around the rock to look around. “Okay, we need to get the 450 wolf and get out of here. I didn’t even feed it anything. If that wolf pack hadn’t come, we would’ve gotten to feed it. Ugh.” Dorack growled as he slammed his fist into the rock. “Can’t things ever go well for us here!? Ever since we got here, it’s been left and right near-death experiences!” Dorack said. Nal looked down, her hands on her chest and ground, still gasping quickly. Her heart began to accelerate. Nal was gasping quickly, breathing hard. She began to grip the snow with her hand. “All I want to do is get out of here…” Dorack said. Nal felt like she couldn’t hear anything. Her vision began to get blurry as she began to put her head down. Gasping badly, her heart was speeding up badly. “With both me and my friend…” Dorack said, then she heard the noises. “Oh, no. Nal…” Dorack said as he ran around the rock. Dorack sat down next to her, and put his left hand on Nal’s right hand. “Nal… calm down, please. Please…” Dorack said. Nal didn’t respond. She just kept gasping and whimpering. “Nal… come back to me… please…” Dorack said. Nal began to gasp quietly, gripping her chest tightly. She shot her head up and screamed loudly. Then she looked at Dorack, still terrified. “Nal… look at me. Calm down… please. You’re okay. We’re gonna survive this.” Dorack said. Nal started taking deep breaths, and Dorack moved his right hand to Nal’s chest. “We’re going to survive. Okay?” Dorack said quietly. Tears were forming in his eyes. “You’re going to be okay.” Dorack whispered, sniffling. “Dude…” Nal said. “It kills me to see you like this.” Dorack said, his voice breaking. Nal took some deep breaths and put her hands on Dorack’s shoulders. “We’re going to be fine.” Nal said. Then Dorack put his hands around Nal and they embraced each other. Then something growled deeply. They heard footsteps. “Hey… I think I hear Rexy coming to check on us.” Dorack said, smiling. The Rex walked around the rock. Dorack let go of Nal and looked at the Rex. “Hey. Thanks for saving us.” Dorack said. The Rex purred as it put its head down. Dorack and Nal walked to it and petted its head softly. “Thanks again for saving us on Day 1. I know I said it a lot…” Dorack said, then the Rex roared. “Okay. Wanna ride us to the wolf?” Dorack said. The Rex purred in affirmation and turned around, then sat down. Nal and Dorack climbed up its tail and onto its back, then the Rex rode them to the forest.

After some time, the Rex had reached the trap. The stone trap slightly scratched, the wolf still sound asleep, and their supplies still there. Nal and Dorack jumped off and walked to their bags, put them on, and the Rex spit out some Yutys and Carnos that were inside. “Gross. I hope the wolf will accept this.” Dorack said, gagging. He and Nal took out their pickaxes and collected all the prime meat they could. They then put around 30 prime meat in the wolf’s inventory, along with three stacks of normal meat. The wolf would be tamed later that day.

~~~~

The sun’s light was fading from Scorched Earth. The moonlight was coming. Rod and Sodden were on Rod’s Lymantria and were almost back to base. Serenity, Nal, and Dorack had made a small expansion to the dino pen. They gave it more troughs, more space, and were working on a hatching area. When the moth landed outside of the front door, Serenity, Nal, and Dorack were sitting on the front porch. They walked to Sodden and Rod. “One cave down, two to go.” Rod said, as he and Sodden got off the moth and walked to the others. “Well, that was one heck of a day.” Serenity said. “The other Rex was tamed just recently. I even killed a Yuty that tried to go for it.” Dorack said. “And ate its corpse because you hate what it did to me on Day 35 of ARKtic.” Nal said, rolling her eyes. “Yeah. I’m still not… uh… I need to go.” Dorack said groggily, holding his stomach, then ran inside. “Yeah, I don’t think he’s coming back from that.” Sodden said. Everyone laughed then walked into the house.

What a chapter.

Anyway, if you didn’t like that scene from the last part of the ARKtic flashback in this chapter, I’ll rewrite this to not have it. Anyway, that’s it for now!

-RelatingHen8906

If you find this thing RUN it took me out in two hits and completely demolished my home and murdered my raptor and my little otter cuddles please like to pay respects to my little cuddles kept me warm on the cold nights

These are stronger than the rex, and tame one of these beasts instead of some old rex. 1. they get an underwater buff when up to mid body in the water and farther. 2. on two legs their attacks are faster and stronger then a rexes but they walk slower,and on four legs they are faster, but not as strong. If a tamed one is following you, they will do this automatically, when riding you must do it on your own. 3. They're easier to tame then a rex! So if you're debating on taming one of these bad boys, or the infamous rex, choose this dude. These beasts need more recongition.

Stimberries are white,

Narcoberries are black,

If you see this running at you,

ITS TOTALLY TIME TO TURN BACK.

Tame a plesiosaur instead, you can build more on its platform saddle than you can on this thing's poor excuse for a platform saddle

I tame a 150 Equus, level its speed to 200%, decide to test it out by outrunning a giga. I don’t have an equus anymore.

I was just flying near the redwoods to looks around when one of these freaks pulled up on me and my pt. I didn’t realize they were in the new mobile version so I screamed and tried to run away (it caught up) and I had to dismount my pt and run for it. DO NOT GO NEAR ANY SWAMP UNLESS YOU’RE PREPARED. THEY ARE SCARY.