Hey guys, this is my first ever ark survival evolved fanfiction. I am playing in primitive plus and I thought it would be cool to create a story to go with my character. please read and review I would love to hear what you all think.
a couple of things before we get started. 1.) I know there are no Gods or Goddess's in Ark but I am trying to write it like its based in the medieval days. 2.) I know Dire wolves do not require saddle and there is no engram to even make a saddle for them, I just thought it would go better this way. 3.) The inventory stone in the survivor's wrist is a life stone here because I am not too sure how to incorporate it into the story any other way. 4.) Most importantly I own nothing but my human characters and the story plot, everything else belongs to WildCard Studio
Rafael's POV
Rafael let out a quiet groan as he flexed his frozen fingers. His gloves lined with the finest mammoth pelt, gold could buy, did next to nothing at this point to keep his hands warm. After all, he had been perched in the same spot on the frozen branch, in the lone pine tree that looked over the Northeastern shores, for the last three hours.
Surely, Om had been wrong, as he often was. For a tribe, oracle Om, was terrible at interpreting his dreams, or strange happenings. Rafael had voiced his doubts last night in the tribal council meeting. The strange flash of light that had been seen on the shores, was probably just a shooting star. Om, however, had insisted that it was a newcomer sent to them by the Goddess Azora. Never mind the fact that the last time a newcomer had been sent to Arcanis by a God or Goddess had been well over four hundred years ago.
As usual, though, Den, brother to Om and chieftain to the Arian tribe, would listen to nothing besides what his brother had, had to say. Which had gotten them into more tribal wars than Rafael cared to admit. He had more than enough scars to prove that.
Out of habit, he reached up and traced the four long jagged scars that ran from beneath his left eye down to his jaw…as he always did when thinking of battles past. They had been given to him by a saber-tooth, in his first battle…he was young and cocky. He had thought that because he was in the top ranks of his tribe, that he was invincible.
He hadn't realized yet that his foolishness would come at a price he wasn't willing to pay. Rafael relived that day, every night when he slept. To him, it was Azora's way of punishing him for his ignorance.
The battle had been raging on for hours and his tribe was winning, fueled by both adrenalin and bloodlust, Rafael had gone after a warrior mounted on a solid black saber-tooth. The beast was massive, and the blood of his tribesmen matted its fur. Still, he wanted to prove himself and make a prized kill.
He had it all planned in his head. When the battle was over, he would present the pelt of the tiger to the chieftain and earn his rightful place as the tribes' warlord. It was with that thought in mind he had charged the beast and its master, Rafael's father's frantic warnings to fall back, lost to the wind.
It wasn't until the beast had met his charge, its icy blue gaze fixed on him as it raced over the mangled bodies on the ground, did Rafael realize his mistake. The beast closed the distance too quickly and before he had a chance to act, it had lunged at him. Its bloodstained fangs should have met their mark, and ended his life.
Instead at the last moment, his father had knocked him out of the way, his father's blood splattering over his armor as the beast clamped its jaws closed on his father's throat. The beast had only swiped his face as he had fallen.
All Rafael could remember after that moment was the pain of losing the only blood family he had left. The shame and guilt of his father's death being his fault had been crushing. The battles ending, and the days after had all been a haze.
That moment had changed him forever. He closed himself off, he had become as cold as the ice of the Goddess's mountain. To Rafael love was a weakness, and to be loved was to be the one destroyed. If it wasn't for him his father would still be alive.
He knew that the scars didn't make him any less attractive, in fact, a great many of the tribeswomen sought after his affection. He just couldn't bring himself to grant it.
Rafael cared greatly about all of his tribespeople, and he would give his life to save any of theirs, yet he refused to let anybody but a select few get close enough to become attached.
A sharp whistle to his left had drawn him from his thoughts and Rafael refocused his icy gaze on the tree line where Cable, his brother in all but blood, had been stationed to scout for the supposed newcomer.
Om had sent out half of the tribe on what he had believed to be a ghost hunt. So why then did he suddenly find himself fixated on the girl lying motionless, half buried in the frozen sands of the rocky beach?
Even from where he was perched in the frozen pine, Rafael could tell, she was indeed a newcomer...Om had been right. The light from last night hadn't been just a shooting star like he had hoped.
No, this changed everything.
With a shrill whistle back to Cable, letting him know he saw the girl too. Rafael dropped from his perch on the branch, the cold sand of the beach beneath him swallowing the sound of his landing.
Standing from the crouch he had landed in, Rafael ran a hand over his inky black hair, that had been woven into a thick braid that ended just between his shoulder blades. They wouldn't be the only tribe looking for her. Not getting to her first wasn't an option. So with that thought in mind, he took off at a quiet sprint down the beach towards her. Ignoring the pulsing of his lifestone embedded in his wrist.
For the first time in years, Rafael felt truly alive again, and it terrified him. Seeing this girl, sparked a fire he thought he had long since stomped out. Honestly, he would rather be racing into battle instead of towards the unconscious girl, that would soon be freezing to death if they didn't hurry.
In the name of all that belonged to Azora, he didn't even know her. Yet he had the overwhelming need to get to her first, to be her protector. For whatever reason all Rafael knew was he couldn't let anything bad happen to her. It was more of an instinct rather than want.
Sage's POV
Cold. Why am I so cold? Sage thought, as the blissful nothingness that she had been floating in started to fade away. The question only seemed to grow louder as she slowly felt herself coming into existence, and it was making her head pound like the beating of war drums.
She could hear other thoughts that didn't belong to her too, the masculine voices cutting through the fog that shrouded her mind. Was somebody with her? Where they trying to talk to her? She wished they would stop. She wished they would just go away and leave her alone in this blissful nothing.
"Are we too late?"
"No, thank Azora. She's breathing but only barely."
"Rafael, you know what this means? Om was right…its been over four hundred years."
"I know. But that doesn't matter right now, we need to get her back to the village."
"We can't be the only ones who were looking."
"Take Cairo. Bring her back to the village, I'll let the others know and we will meet you there."
"Azora guide and protect you."
"Azora guide and protect you."
Sage jolted awake. The bright afternoon sun nearly blinding her, as her emerald eyes snapped open, causing her to almost smack her head off the mans, who was kneeling over her as she struggled to sit up. His icy blue gaze filled with worry as he watched her, rocking back on his heels to avoid being headbutted.
Confusion and panic flooded her brain as she stared back at him. Did she know him? She couldn't remember.
Her breath caught in her throat as she realized she couldn't remember anything from before a few moments ago, and that just made her start to panic worse. Where was she? How did she get here? What was this place?
"Easy." The man said, his voice not unkind as he shrugged off his thick fur cloak and draped it over her shoulders. "I'm here to help you. You are safe I swear it on my life."
"Who are you?" Sage croaked, her voice scraped against her dry throat, she felt as if she hadn't spoken in days. "Where am I?"
"My name is Rafael, of the Arian. You are on Arcanis." Rafael answers, a mixture of emotions flickering across his pale blue gaze as he offers Sage a gloved hand to take.
"On all that belongs to the Goddess Azora, and my life. I swear to you that you are safe, but we need to go now." He says, his gaze darkening ever so slightly with frustration when Sage only continued to stare at him instead of taking his offered hand.
"I have questions though." Sage clips, her own gaze hardening to match his. She still refused to take his offered hand. Why should she? After all, she only learned his name a few moments ago. So how was she supposed to just trust he wasn't going to kill her?
"If I was going to kill you" Rafael starts, irritation clear in his voice, "Then you would be dead already."
He does have a point. Sage thinks. Ever so hesitantly, she slips her hand into his and lets him help her to her feet.
Still shaking from the cold, or fear….maybe a mixture of both she didn't really know, a soft groan escaped her. As she nearly collapsed back to the cold ground. The pounding had subsided in her head, but now her wrist was throbbing just as bad if not worse than her head had been.
Rafael was quicker though, he caught her before she collapsed and lifted her up as if she weighed nothing, concern clear on his face.
"I got you." He promises.
"I don't feel so good." Sage mummers struggling to keep her eyes open, sleep calling to her. Why was she so tired all of a sudden?
"I know." He mutters, as he takes off in a jog back towards the tree line where Cable's silver dire wolf Cairo was waiting. "Just stay awake a little longer."
"Why?" Sage mummers fighting the need to close her eyes as they made their way across the beach, the Ichthyornis's squawking as they circled overhead waiting for an opportunity to swoop in.
"Why what?" Rafael asks, glancing down at her for a moment.
"Why are you helping me?" She whispers letting her head rest against his shoulder as her eyes flutter shut. She was so tired. So very tired now and she didn't know why. At the very least she wasn't cold anymore.
"I don't know." Was all Rafael could bring himself to say, his gaze fixed on Cairo.
"Am I going to die?" Sage asked, panic back in her tired voice as her emerald gaze snapped back open. She didn't want to die, not yet. She still had so much she wanted to do with her life.
"No." was all Rafael said as he let out a soft whistle, his gaze never leaving the tree line.
Following his gaze, Sage turned her head and felt her eyes widen as a massive wolf started trotting towards them, its golden gaze glinting dangerously. "You sure?"
"Yes," Rafael answered, humor suppressed in his voice as he comes to a stop in front of the silver wolf, its golden gaze fixed on Sage.
"She won't hurt you." He promises as he sets Sage down gently, leaning her back against the trunk of a barren pine tree. Before going to rummage in the saddle pack slung across the wolfs back. "Her name is Cairo, she's my brother's dire wolf."
"You have a brother?" Sage asks, her eyes starting to flutter again. "Is that who I heard earlier with you?"
Taking a flask of healing brew out of Cairo's pack, Rafael glanced over at her before closing the pack again and walking over to where he had set her down. "You heard us?"
"Yeah, why do you sound so surprised?" Sage mutters, her vision starting to swim as she studied him as he walked.
"Why are you surprised I have a brother?" Rafael fires back, as he kneels in front of her, the open flask of healing brew extended towards her.
"Fair enough." She laughs, doing her best to keep her teeth from chattering. She felt so tired, all she wanted to do was sleep, but he wouldn't let her. "What's that?"
"Don't worry about what it is, just drink," Rafael instructs, pressing the open neck of the flask against her lips. "Drink."
Deciding to trust him enough not to poison her, Sage took the flask from him and took a sip of the liquid. Almost instantly she started feeling better, though she was still tired, she didn't feel as weak. Tilting her head back further she downed the rest of whatever it was Rafael had given her and tried to stifle a yawn that she didn't want Rafael to see. "Thank you."
Taking the empty flask back from her, Rafael flashed her his famous pirate smile before standing once again. "You're welcome."
"You still need a healer, but that will hold you over until we get back to the village." He says, turning on his heel to walk back over to Cairo to rummage through the saddle pack again."We have to go through the mountains, my cloak alone won't be enough to keep you warm."
"Is that where your brother went?" Sage asks, sleep pulling at her eyelids as she struggled to stay awake to talk to Rafael. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but she felt drawn to him...like there was something telling her that no matter what he would always keep her safe.
"No. He went to gather the rest of the scouting party." He answers, turning to face her, a bundle of clothes held loosely in his hands. "These will probably be too big, but it's still better than just a cloak."
Rafael refused to meet her tired gaze as he waited for her to take the extra set of fur armor Cable was in the habit of packing. Never know when it might be needed was what he always said whenever Rafael would give him trouble about it.
"You mean there's just more than just you and your brother out looking for me?" Sage asks as she struggles to push herself to her feet so she could accept the bundle of clothes and get dressed. Now that he had mentioned it, the cold was starting to seep through his cloak. "Why?"
"Om can explain it better than I can," Rafael muttered turning around to look the other way, as Sage shed his cloak to dress. "So save the questions for later."
"You can look now, I'm decent," Sage muttered as she picked his cloak back up off the ground and wrapped it around herself again, trying not to let the hurt show on her face. She was only curious as to why so many people would be looking for her if she didn't even know who she was herself. There had been no need for him to be so gruff.
"I'm sorry." Rafael apologizes softly as he turns back to look at her, his pale blue gaze softening. He hadn't meant to sound so gruff, he just wasn't used to answering so many questions that he didn't completely understand himself. "I'm not good with this."
Sage raised a pale eyebrow in question, "With what? answering questions or talking to girls?" She had only been teasing him, but there was no trace of humor on his handsome face. Instead, his gaze seemed almost angry now.
"Forget it," He all but growled as he closed the distance between them, his pale gaze as cold as ice. "We need to get moving, or we will never make it before sundown."
He hated himself for seeming so cold, he knew she was only teasing him...but something had set Cairo on edge and that alone kicked him back into his warrior mindset. There was no kindness to be found with him when he was like that and he knew it. But they really did need to get moving before another tribe found them, he wasn't sure if it came down to it, that he would be able to handle both the beasts and their master. With Sage around, he would be too distracted in trying to keep track of her and that would get them both killed.