Welcome Back to another chapter. Hope you enjoy.
Special thanks to bob the kraken and Draco38 as my beta readers
Chapter 13: Trapped
"Fuck." James hissed again as he listened to the screeches and chittering growing louder and louder. Spit was immediately on his feet, looking around frantically as the noises continued. The little Dilo did not hiss or growl, instead, he backed towards James and remained low by his side.
James grimaced. He knew exactly what was making those noises, and it wasn't friendly; far from it. Hearing the sudden pitter-patter of many legs, he whirled around. His eyes narrowed at a fast moving shadow that dashed just over the border of dim light seeping through the dripping hole in the ceiling. James slowly reached for Kenny, who was fixated on a small rock, and gently seized the dodo by the neck while keeping his gaze trained on the shadows and his ears alert for any further sounds. However, said sounds had stopped, the only noise being the rhythmic plip-plop of water dribbling down from above.
The storm seemed to have ceased, but heavy winds and thunder continued to play outside as James unbuttoned his pack, cringing against the impossibly loud pop from each button undone. The silence was so heavy that even opening his pack was like shooting off a gun. Kenny, cocking his head, glanced up at James questioningly. The young castaway did not remove his gaze from the shadows. Frowning, he slowly opened the pack and removed the only weapon he had on him, his stone hammer, and placed Kenny inside.
They were definitely not alone in here.
Sliding the pack back over his shoulders, he readied his hammer and extending his other hand, signaled for Spit to follow. The Dilophosaur did not trill in acknowledgment or bob his head. Instead, he kept his gaze fixated in the direction his master was faced and kept quiet. Slowly, they both backed away from the wall and began to feel their way along the stone. Glancing around, James looked for another way out. Thanks to the shadows and dim lighting, he couldn't estimate a proper escape route.
As James was about to take another step, an almost inaudible sound made him freeze. His ears picked up the low series of many steps stalking directly above him.
Jerking his head to the ceiling, James was met with the unholy sight of an eight-legged, monstrosity descending upon him. Thrusting his hammer up, the creature's girth met the head of his hammer, and he used the insect's momentum to throw it aside. The arachnid bounced across the ground, screeching and hissing as it regained its footing and fixated many hungry, red eyes on James.
Fun fact; this was no ordinary spider. This thing was known as an Araneomorphus, or Araneo for short; an Arachniphobic's worst nightmare. The hellish arachnid was a chimera of various spider species with a wide range of abilities. It had a toxic, paralytic bite; it could spit streams of its venom, fire globs of sticky webbing from holes along its abdomen, and could see in the dark by sensing vibrations. Not to mention it was bigger than an adult human.
James had never seen one alive before and was quickly beginning to wish it would have stayed that way.
Positioning himself between the threat and his master, Spit screeched at the large arachnid. Unfurling his frill, he hacked a glob of venom into the spider's face, blinding the vicious beast. The spider screeched in pain as the venom burned at its many eyes and it thrashed around wildly, clawing at its face with its sharp legs. Taking the opportunity, James lunged forward and brought his hammer down on the beasts head, smashing it like a melon and splattering green ichor across his weathered, leather armor.
On the plus side, their exoskeleton was almost fleshy in some places that offered weak physical resistance; mainly the head. Stepping away from the fallen creature, James prepared himself once more as more screeches spilled through the cave.
Araneomorphus did not come alone. Like ants, they attacked in hordes. Dashing to Spit, James seized his faithful companion and yanked him out of the way of an Araneo that came pattering towards them from the dark. Several of the arachnids rushed out of the shadows like a tidal wave, screeching and hissing as that dashed towards the castaway as he finished off the spider that attempted to attack Spit.
"I HATE SPIDERS!" James exclaimed, clocking an Araneo in the side of the head as it lunged for him. Spit cried in agreement while he stuck close to James and hacked up globs of venom and nipped out at any that approached.
There had to have been over a dozen encircling them. Some hung back and fired streams of webbing and green, paralytic venom while others charged in to get in close. James ducked, dodged, and weaved in and out of sticky netting, venom streams, and dangerous fangs while lashing out with harsh kicks and swings of his hammer. Spit fared no better. His sharp teeth ripped off chitinous limbs and his own venom blinded the occasional spider, but he was much smaller than the Araneo, and one bite would be all it took to bring him down.
Spit spat another loogie at a lunging arachnid, successfully blinding it. It flew through the air, screeching towards James who turned in the nick of time and dodged it so that it collided with another.
Amongst the chaos, James's pack slipped free and hit the ground in the confusion of combat. It began to jerk and wriggle as the dodo bird inside fought to escape. Head-butting the top of the bag for the third time, Kenny successfully freed himself. He honked loudly as he stuck his head out of the pack and stared around at the battle.
Spit was the first to see that the idiotic bird had freed himself. Spitting out an orange, chitinous leg, he hissed and snapped at Kenny to force him inside the pack. Grabbing the pack in his teeth, Spit flipped it over on its side so Kenny couldn't get out again. He then turned his attention back to defending James, only to screech in shock as Kenny's entire head ripped through the side of the pack by his foot, honking loudly and startling the Dilo.
Grunting, James held a spider at bay with his hammer as it attempted to slam its front legs into him in an attempt to pin him. Gritting his teeth, he parried the legs aside and lashed out with a kick to the face which crushed its mandibles. An overhand swing of his hammer finished Araneo off. The spider's corpse flopped onto its side and its legs curled inward in a death pose.
Looking behind him, James watched as Spit hissed and fought with Kenny. The Dodo, whose head jutted out from a ripped hole in his pack, honked and bitched back at the dilo as he too returned Spits nips with jabbing pecks. James growled in annoyance at the bickering creatures.
"Damn it, Kenny!" He yelled.
However, with his attention focused on the two creatures' disagreement, it left James open to a nearby Araneo. The creature slammed into his side and knocked him to the stone floor. Before he could get back up, the Araneo sunk its fangs through his armor and into his flesh. "Gaaaaaah!" James screamed. Icy cold venom spread through his body and entered his muscle tissue, rendering him completely immobile. The Araneo arched its abdomen back and began to spray James down with a coating of strong webbing, bundling him up.
Kenny was the first to take note of his pained scream for some strange reason. Upon seeing the spider, the dodo ripped himself from the pack and charged, clucking and flapping his wings all the way up to the spider, and gave its leg a mighty peck. The Araneo wasn't even fazed by the dodo's attempt to defend his master. Rather, it turned and regarded him with a vicious gaze, briefly stopping its attempt to wrap up James.
A screech split the air as Spit charged and launched himself onto the Araneo's face, ripping and tearing into it with savage fury in place of his defenseless master. The spider screeched, immediately releasing James as it clawed at the Dilo with long legs. Spit did not relent. He continued to bite and scratch at its eyes and body as he made sure to end the threat. After a substantial amount of the spiders head was ripped off, the creature topped over. Green blood covered Spit as he leapt off the corpse and scampered to James. Standing directly over him, the Dilo faced the remaining spiders as they approached James's paralyzed form, chittering as they neared.
Unfurling his frill, Spit snarled and rose up to his full height. Kenny clucked a war cry, giving what could be described as an aggressive display by honking and flapping his wings by Spit's side.
As the spiders continued to near, a guttural hiss echoed from above before a dark shape dropped from the ceiling and squashed one of the Araneo. A long, thick tail lashed out at another, sending it crashing into the remaining two behind them. Five clawed toes punctured the stone floor as a massive reptilian creature slunk out of the shadows to place itself between Spit, Kenny, and James's unconscious and half-webbed form.
The last three Araneo ceased their attack, chittering and screaming at the new arrival.
The reptile was dark green in coloration with neon green stripes along its back and its underbelly slate-grey. A worn saddle was strapped to its body; the leather faded and the buckles badly rusted. Spit hissed lowly at the lizard as it swung its head to look back at them. Piercing blue eyes bore into Spits golden orbs with a lazy intensity before it looked over to Kenny, and then finally, to James. The quadruped flicked out a long, black tongue, tasting the air. James grunted, wincing in his unconscious slumber. The monitor lizard withdrew its tongue and turned back towards the hissing and squealing spiders. Opening its jaws, the monitor revealed a set of sharp, recurved fangs and let out a threatening hiss, snapping deadly jaws at the arachnids and sending saliva everywhere.
Chittering and hissing back, the Araneo slowly backed away and disappeared into the darkness. Spit and Kenny watched the Araneo scuttle away, leaving only a silent cave with only the groan of distant thunder echoing through their ears.
Looking up, Spit stared up at the large reptile. Flicking its forked tongue through scaly lips, the lizard ignored him and looked down at James, watching as Kenny waddled up to the unconscious castaway. Cocking his head, he pecked him in an attempt to wake him up.
Spit snarled at the idiotic bird, shoving him away from James and standing over him. The dodo honked back, flapping his wings as he stumbled to regain his balance. The lizard tilted its head, regarding the two bickering creatures curiously before dragging itself closer. It nosed Spit aside, who trilled in surprise, and the lizard gently seized the straps of James tattered chest plate in its teeth. Lifting him off the stone floor, it turned and began to slink into the darkness, dragging James with it. Hissing in alarm, Spit darted after the retreating reptile with Kenny in tow as the clucking Dodo waddled to keep up.
XXX
James moaned feverishly. His entire body was numb and aching with dull pain. Opening his eyes, he blinked a couple of times to make his surroundings become clear. God, what hit him? Lifting his head, James groaned, the pain suddenly becoming a lot less numb and more intense. His back hurt the worst, he found out as he sat up.
"Fuck!" He growled, gritting his teeth against the pain.
Bringing a hand up, he clasped at his lower back and felt something. He frowned as he felt holes in his armor. His fingers dipped deeper, and the tips touched a numb wetness. His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered. The holes in his back were from where the Araneo bit him.
He was feeling his own numb flesh.
Feeling sick to his stomach, James immediately withdrew his hands from the painless wounds and trying his best not to think about it as he got to his feet. After ripping the webbing off of his legs, he looked around and found he could actually see somewhat. Patches of large, glowing mushrooms grew along the wall and bathed the darkness with pale-green light.
Suddenly, James felt something collide into his side. He exclaimed out loud, stumbling sideways. Jerking his head, up he looked to see Spit smearing his face into his stomach, chirping happily as he nuzzled him.
"Spit!" James grinned, relief flowing through him at the sight of his companion. He got down on his knees and wrapped his arms around the excited dilo, rubbing a hand along his quills. He was so happy to see the dilo. For a moment, he feared the Araneo had gotten him.
Wait a minute...
He frowned questioningly. Why wasn't either of them webbed up with the juices sucked out if them? Letting go of Spit, James stood up to get a view of his surroundings. A loud honk made him jump out of his skin. Whirling around, he found Kenny standing behind him. Chirping, the bird looked up at him. James frown deepened at the sight of the bird. A bit of disappointment edged into his system that the bird had somehow survived.
"How the hell are you still alive, Kenny?" James asked aloud.
Kenny honked at James before waddling up to him and nuzzled his leg. James, while still a bit ticked at being in this situation because of this bird, couldn't help but smile. Crouching, he scratched the top of his head and petted him, remembering how Kenny came to his defense before he blacked out.
"You did good, Kenny. Same goes for you, Spit." He acknowledged the little dilo, who trilled happily and walked up to his side to receive his own petting. James still couldn't wrap his head around one simple question. How the hell did were he, Spit, and Kenny NOT entombed in spider webbing and dead?
As if an answer to that question, a hiss sounded overhead. James jerked his head up, wincing as a few stray pebbles struck him on the face. Blinking, his eyes widened slightly as he watched a massive reptilian creature descend down the cave wall as if it were walking on a horizontal surface. James took a step back as it reached the floor, flicking its forked tongue out as it turned and faced him. Instinct made James reach for his hammer, which he found to be gone from his belt.
He cursed mentally as he looked up at the approaching reptile. Its dimly lit features suddenly become more prominent in the light of the bioluminescent mushrooms, and James's gasped when he spotted the last thing he expected to see on the creature; a saddle. Slight relief flowed over him as the lizard stopped before him, looking at him curiously.
"Hey, there," James greeted, raising a hand cautiously.
The lizard looked over at his hand questioningly. Flicking its long tongue, it tasted his fingers. James' fingers twitched and he had to withhold a small chuckle at how the tongue tickled his hand. After a moment of analyzing him, the lizard closed its eyes and pressed it's snout into his calloused palm. James smiled and brought his other hand up to stroke the beast's neck while he regarded its reins and head straps. He'd heard of these before, but like the Araneomorphus, never seen one.
The fearsome cave-crawler; the Megalania.
Megalania were massive, subterranean monitor-lizards that possessed a deadly, venomous bite that steadily sapped the life-force from the victim. It could kill a human in seconds while taking a good bit longer for anything larger than a Carno to keel over. They also could also cling to any surface. Like most lizards, they possessed a rather subdued and withdrawn personality, but were very mellow and even-tempered to their owners from what he'd heard. Which was why James was surprised to see this one accepting his petting. They hardly let strangers touch, let alone go near them.
In fact, where was its rider?
James squinted and looked around through the darkness until his eyes came to rest on a bundle in the middle of the cave. He stepped back from the stray Megalania and walked over to the bundle. Crouching down, he cautiously felt the object and quickly identified part of it to be the remnants of a campfire. The little circle of rocks held mostly cold ash, but a good majority of the wood was still burnable. James felt around in his pouch and brought out a stone and a piece of flint. Setting them at his feet, he reached into the fireplace, adjusted the half-burnt wood, then he took the rock and flint and began to strike them together. After a few series of strikes and some choice curse words, a spark managed to catch the wood. Lowering himself, James blew on the wood to feed the small spark before reaching over to pluck a glowing mushroom and set it against the spark. The mushroom began to smoke before igniting. Shoving the burning fungi under the logs, James gathered more mushrooms and tossed them into the fire. Soon, he had a fire that illuminated a majority of the cave.
Just in front of him, leaned up against the wall, was a cloth pack with a broken spear beside it, and what appeared to be chunks of chitin lining the floor. Frowning, James stood up, rubbing the Megalania under the chin as he passed it, and grabbed the pack. Opening it, he found a jar with old, rotted berries inside, and a journal. James sat aside the jar and pulled out the small journal. Its frayed cover didn't appear to be in bad shape. Stroking the cover, James opened it and flipped to the first page.
Day 1
We're embarking to the west to find the Painted Sharks. Got some cargo to drop off, maybe get a few things in return. Could use a new pike, now that I think on it. I wore mine down stabbing one of those damned centipedes. Marious didn't tell me they had acidic blood! Ah well, ol Bruton took care of the chitinous bastard quite quickly. I'll never be able to repay him for all the times he saved my life. Maybe some of that seabird kibble will be payment enough. Either that or a nice, warm rock.
"So, your owner was a merchant," James said quietly, looking over at the Megalania. "And your name is Bruton? Huh, not a bad name."
The lizard chuffed softly, walking up beside James and flicking his tongue. Flipping through the journal, James found that there were only a few other pages. A couple telling of the survivor's trek to the Painted Sharks. The last one was a bit more disheartening.
I…. I don't remember what day it is. I've used the last of my rations and my torch died hours ago since I fell into this cave. I've relied on Bruton to help keep those fucking spiders at bay, but they just keep coming. They eventually overwhelmed him and damn near killed him. I managed to get to him in time, but one of those damn bugs got me right in the side. Pretty sure it fucked up a kidney or something important. The venom keeps the pain at bay but took out my legs. Now, I'm sitting here with ol' Bruton waiting for the inevitable. If…if someone finds this and reads this, take good care of Bruton. He's all I have left of my tribe. I know he'll make it; he's too damn stubborn to die. Especially from a bunch of spiders. But, if you find him, please take good care of him because I don't think I'll be around much longer to do that...
A large blood stain covered the rest page and gave James the answer to what befell Bruton's rider.
"Holy shit," James whispered, looking over at the Megalania laying by his side. The reptile lifted its head, regarding him with a questioning gaze.
James' eyes softened on the beast and his heart bled for the riderless Megalania. Many creatures of the island had a habit of dying either from natural causes or, and most commonly, in combat. But it was always the saddest to find an abandoned creature that managed to survive, unlike its owner.
"Don't worry," James said, patting the lizard on the side of the neck, "I'll take care of ya."
Bruton snorted and leaning into James petting. Spit and Kenny were lying by his side, resting from their previous battle.
"But first, we need to figure a way out." James stood up. Spit's head immediately shot up. Following his master lead, the Dilo was on his feet. Kenny honked in agreement and sat up. Squinting into the darkness, James glanced down at the crackling fire and got an idea. Walking up to the broken spear resting by the wall, he took the broken shaft and ripped pieces off the musty old pack. Wrapping them tightly around the broken spear shaft before sticking it into the fire and lighting it to create a makeshift torch.
As he started forward with Spit and Kenny in tow, he paused to look back at Bruton, who remained rooted to his spot staring after him lazily but hesitantly.
James smiled gently at the unsure beast, "Let's go, Bruton." He said. James brought two fingers to his lips and gave a sharp whistle; a follow command used throughout the island's tribes.
Perking his head up at the sound, the lizard lifted a clawed foot and took a half step towards him, hesitation still poisoning its thoughts. Finally, it approached and stopped next to James, awaiting his next move.
"Alright, let's go." The castaway thrust the torch into the air, lighting the way ahead as they made their way to the exit.
XXXXXX
Takagi was considering a leash.
"If this becomes a regular thing with him getting attacked by crocodiles and falling off cliffs, I'm gonna push him off the next one I see!" The pinkette growled as she sped to keep up with the others.
"He's only done that once!" Rei complained.
The seven zombie slayers and two dinosaurs were jogging along the edge of the waterfall, trying to find a way down to where their castaway companion had fallen that wasn't through gravity or scaling down the cliffside. So far, it was steep drops and long ways down to where the river emptied into the swamp.
They still hadn't seen any sign of James's body. Or Spit's, or Kenny's.
"There's got to be a way down!" Takashi hollered.
"Well, I'm not seeing anything!" Takagi called back. "He's probably dead!"
"We need to follow the incline down to the river!" Saeko yelled to the others "It's the only way we can take!"
"But we might be too late!" Marikawa Shizuka called worriedly from her place on Chi-Ha's saddle, gripping onto Kohta. Little Alice held on for dear life onto Emerald's as the raptor gave short occasional dashes along the cliff edge. Cawing in alarm. The Utahraptor went nuts when she saw her alpha go over the edge. Their ears were still ringing from the raptors terrified roar for her alpha.
"You've got a better idea?" Saeko shot back hotly "Let's just follow Emerald; she knows where she's going!"
The raptor did indeed. She led the charge, albeit far ahead of the group, and didn't look to be stopping any time soon. Her pale blue feathers were the only thing that helped them keep track of her through the green. The raptor was leading them down a grassy slope along the outskirts of the swamp's forest and was hanging a far right towards the river bank. It was a tiresome detour, and by the time they caught up with her, they were all out of breath.
"Do you see him?" Kohta questioned as Chi-Ha came to a lumbering stop behind them. The massive herbivore was panting heavily from the sprint, and it was becoming clear that the Trike was not built for stamina.
"I don't know, do you?" Takagi snapped as she clutched a stitch in her side "Geez, running from Them wasn't as tiresome..."
Emerald's blue eyes constantly scanned the rushing water and she occasionally barked and called out to her missing alpha in hopes he'd appear, pacing the bank restlessly.
"Someone want to shut the lizard up before she attracts any unwanted attention?" Takagi complained.
Takashi glanced into the dense forest behind them before looking back to the noisy raptor. They group had plenty of experience in dealing with creatures attracted by sound, and he didn't want to take any chances testing the theory that there were animals that hunted by sound on this island. Slowly, he stepped forward, putting on a brave face and reaching out to the green raptor.
"Um, Emerald-san?" Takashi spoke softly in the way James did to her whenever she was agitated. The tips of his fingers barely brushed the blue of her tail feathers. Emerald whirled around and snapped her jaws on where Takashi's arm would have been if he didn't withdraw it in time. Emerald snarled and advanced on the young teen with claws outstretched and fangs bared. "Whoa!" Takashi exclaimed as he backpedaled away from the angry dinosaur "Emerald calm down!" The young boy filched as the raptor snapped her jaws at him again, but the young girl on her pack proved to be the saving grace. Her tiny hands stroked down her the blue feathers along her head and neck.
"It's okay, Emerald-san," Alice spoke into the raptor's ear "James onii-san is strong. He'll be okay." The Utahraptor snarled softly and her eyes narrowed at the tiny girl on her back. Alice's eyes were wide and compassionate, and most of all, understanding. The beta raptor's breathing began to calm and she slowly relaxed. Alice smiled and brushed back the raptor's feathers again.
"Alice be careful!" Rei commanded worriedly. Her eyes darted from the sharp claws and pointy teeth that could easily rip the little girl apart.
"Emerald-san wouldn't hurt me." Alice pouted "She's just worried about James!" Her small fingers rubbed circles along the raptor's jaw. The reptile chuffed softly in response.
"Well, look at that," Kohta observed fondly.
However, the moment was shattered a second later.
Emerald's feathers shot up and she spat out a cry of warning at the trees as Chi-Ha bellowed lowly and turned his horned head towards the treeline. The seven survivors looked towards where the dinosaurs had turned and gasped at the buzzing of wings and chitinous armor glinting in the sun.
Ten insectoid creatures the size of dogs were headed straight for them; three were flying on huge, buzzing wings ten feet off the ground while the other seven were scuttling across the ground through the grass towards them.
"What the heck!?" Takagi screeched and took a step back.
Rei leveled her pike she had gained from the Swamp Lotus at the incoming insects "What are they?"
"Some girls from the tribe told me about these!" Alice supplied as Emerald backed up towards the waterline "They said they were...um...uh...Titanomyrma!"
"Giant ants?" Saeko questioned with a grimace.
"Maybe they're friendly!" Shizuka commented from atop Chi-Ha.
"That's not what they told me!" said Alice, cowering back on Emerald. Zero popped up from inbetween Shizuka's bosom, barking and snarling at the incoming insects
Takashi pulled out his hatchet with a snarl "Well, whatever they are, they're about to get squashed!" And he charged forward against the cries of protest from Rei and Saeko. Takashi swung at the flying Soldier Titanomyrma with the blade of his hatchet and slashed off one of its wings. The Soldier went spiraling out of control and crashed into a bush while the other two Soldiers dove at him. Takashi ducked out of the way of the two Soldiers and narrowly dodged the snapping mandibles of the Drones. However, the other two Soldier Titanomyrma slowly turned around and buzzed back towards him
"Takashi, you idiot!" Rei screamed as she rushed forward and smacked one out of the way of Takashi and impaled the other on the end of her pike. After that, she pulled Takashi out of the way of the snapping Drones and stabbing out at them with her pike.
"R-Rei?" Takashi questioned.
"Pay more attention to your surroundings!" The chestnut girl chided, glaring at the shocked Takashi crossly.
Suddenly, a large crocodilian creature erupted from beneath the river just a few feet ahead of them like a missile and sailed towards them with claws outstretched and jaws wide to seize them. Takashi shoved Rei aside, exclaiming as the reptilian knocked him to the ground. Scrambling back, Takashi swung his hatchet at the beast as it prowled towards him, hissing with open jaws.
"Takashi!" Saeko unsheathed her sword. Dashing to his aid, she thrust her katana through the side of the beast's skull and stopped it just as its fangs hovered directly above Takashi's trembling head. Takashi gasped as the beast collapsed on top of his legs.
"Are you okay?" Saeko questioned urgently, crouching by his side to check him for injuries.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Takashi huffed, pulling his legs out from under the deceased creature. "Thank you, Saeko-san."
Saeko smiled, nodding.
"Uh, guys!"
The two teens raised their heads, widening their eyes as more of the jumping crocodiles appeared from the river loping towards them, hissing and snapping their jaws.
"What the heck are these?!" Takagi cried out in terror.
"Kaprosuchus!" Alice cried, hiding behind Emerald. The raptor snarled at the approaching crocs.
Kaprosuchus bore a strong resemblance to its much larger relative, the Sarcosuchus, but was an entirely different animal. It was only slightly larger than a man with long legs built for sprinting after any land-based prey that escaped its initial ambush; pouncing from the water like a spring and seizing the victim in its large jaws. Its tusk-like fangs had earned it the nickname "Boar-Croc" amongst the Swamp Lotus, seeing as they hunted these creatures like one would wild pigs. Its hind legs were longer than its front, giving it a very distinct galloping gait and its head was smaller and narrower than a Sarco with a more rectangular snout.
Emerald bared her fangs as the four reptiles slid to a halt and hissed at the large raptor and focused on Alice, who trembled in fear and cowered against Emerald's neck. Emerald lifted her claws, snapping her jaws at the beasts to draw their attention to her.
"Alice," Hirano moved Chi-Ha beside the raptor, who barked and snarled at a brave Kapro that lurched closer. The otaku seized the young girl, who protested at being suddenly removed from Emerald's back, "You don't want to be in the middle of this!"
Truer words have never been spoken.
With Alice removed from her back, Emerald dashed forward, meeting the center Kaprosuchus head on. The raptor snarled as she bit down on the beast's scaly neck and lifted it off the ground. Grasping its sides with her long arms, she sunk her claws into its thick skin and slammed it to the ground, earning a hiss of pain. Emerald gave a muffled snarl as she shook her head violently and snapped the Kapro's neck with a loud crack. One of the Kapros to her left jumped forward and tackled the female raptor off its deceased pack mate. The two animals rolled across the bank, snarling and snapping their jaws at each other. Lashing out with a clawed foot, Emerald plunged her deadly toe-claw into the croc's jugular tore through muscle and scales, ripping its throat out.
While the Utahraptor was still down, another Kapro sprinted towards her in an attempt to seize her in its large jaws.
"Emerald-san!" Alice cried.
"Oh no, you don't!" Kohta snarled and tapped Chi-Ha's sides with his heels. The Trike bellowed and charged her massive head into the airborne Kapro just as it was about to pounce upon Emerald. The Kapro gave a guttural hiss as it sailed into the river with a loud splash. Whipping his rifle out of its holster, Kohta took aim at the remaining Kapro as it snarled and hissed at Emerald. The Raptor held her ground, roaring and lashing out at the crocodilian with her long arms. Steadying his aim, Kohta aimed just past Emerald's head and waited for her thrashing jaws to move just a bit more to the left. After Emerald reared her head back to roar, Hirano tensed, clenched his jaw, and fired.
The bullet struck the Kapro right in between the eyes as it lurched for Emerald and it flopped to the ground, dead at the feet of a stunned Emerald. The raptor turned and faced Hirano with blue eyes wide with shock.
Hirano gave a nervous smile and gave the raptor a thumb up. Emerald snorted, her eyes returning back to their usual narrowed state.
"Kohta onii-san..." Alice gasped, her eyes sparkling "That was so cool!" The little girl exclaimed in excitement.
Hirano chuckled, scratching the back of his head nervously while resting his rifle on his shoulder, "It was nothing, really." he chuckled sheepishly.
The others ogled the rifle-wielding Trike-rider, greatly impressed by his marksmanship once again.
Suddenly, a purple blur slammed into the two seated riders and knocked Hirano, Shizuka, and Alice off. They cried out at the imposing force of the assailant. It was the third Kapro; the one Chi-Ha knocked into the river. The young Trike bellowed in confusion and fear as the Kapro wound up leaping off and landed in front of Alice. Alice whimpered. Pulling herself up, she gasped as the Kapro turned its attention to her. Hissing, it lunged for the young girl.
A mighty roar sounded as Emerald intercepted the Kapro and slammed her head into its ribs, head-butting it to the side and stood protectively over Alice. The little girl managed to get to her feet, clinging to Emerald's long leg as the Kapro scrambled back to its feet, hissing and snarling. The raptor roared at the crocodilian, feathers bristling and claws flexed. She stood between it and the little girl, sidestepping to cut off any access to Alice.
While the Kapro was focused on getting to Alice, Chi-Ha charged in. Her horns scooped up the slender beast and she tossed her horns upwards to send the snarling creature flying into the air. Emerald leaped up and caught the beast before it hit the ground, pinning it and thrashing her head, shaking the hissing beast in her jaws like a ragdoll before tossing it back at Chi-Ha who swung her head sideways and bashed the creature like a baseball once more into the river. This time, its lifeless corpse floated to the surface and drifted in the current before it was devoured in a flurry of fins and teeth by Megapirannah.
The group took a second to catch their breath from the sudden onslaught of attacks, panting and regrouping together.
"Does everything on this island want to kill us?" Saya shrieked.
"No different than what we're used to, then, eh Takagi-san?" Kohta laughed awkwardly. The pinkette's harsh glare shut his mouth a second later.
...And a second after that, Chi-Ha bellowed in pain and bucked as a ferocious hiss filled the air. A familiar, serpentine shape reared back and lashed out again to bite into Chi-Ha's calf again.
"Chi-Ha!" Kohta cried as the trike toppled forward, whimpering deliriously and her eyes fluttering feverishly.
A loud hiss drew their attention as a massive snake slithered over the heaving unconscious trike. Unfurling its vibrant frill, it hissed at the group while wrapping its coils around the trikes neck. Water dripping from its slender figure.
"Titanoboa!' Alice squeaked, hiding behind Emerald who snarled at the massive serpent.
The snake hissed at the raptor, its coils tightening around the trike to the point the beast was choking in its unconscious slumber.
"It's got Chi-Ha!" Kohta cried, whipping his gun up. He fired a shot at the snake, which jerked as the bullet struck its flank. It hissed like a punctured tire, but wasn't visibly affected. "Shit!" Hirano swore, pulling the lever and reloading. Quickly finding out he was out of ammo. "I'm out!" The otaku looked over at his unconscious Trike as it was slowly being strangled to death by the towering serpent with despair filling him, unsure about what to do.
Takashi charged at the titanic serpent with a battle cry and swung his hatchet. The snake ducked under his swing with a hiss. Suddenly, it shot forward and bit down on the teen's torso, pumping its narcotic venom into his system.
Takashi cried out in pain. Gritting his teeth he brought his free fist up and punched the top of the serpent's head. The strike was all in vain, for the snake simply switched targets and sprang off Chi-Ha onto easier prey. "GAH!" Takashi gasped as the serpent began to wrap its coils around him and apply unbelievable force around his frame.
Hirano and Takagi dashed forward to help, but the serpent swung its head sideways and knocking them of them aside before returning its seething cold glare to the encased Takashi man as he slipped further into unconsciousness.
"Takashi!" Rei and Saeko cried as the snake slowly opened its jaws. A menacing his escaping its jaws which dripped with saliva while revealing its many rows of curved, sharp fangs. The two women sprinted forward. Uttering a battle cry, the spear-wielding Amazon plunged her spearhead into the snake's coils encasing its young victim. The serpent hissed in pain, jerking its cold reptilian eyes onto the girl as she spat, "Let go of him!"
The snake arched its neck and struck, biting down on the shaft of Rei's spear as she lifted it to block the strike. The girl exclaimed in surprise as the snake managed to lift her off the ground. Twisting its long neck, it slung the girl away. Rei gave a sharp cry as she slid across the dry mud. The Titanoboa slowly turned to return to its meal. Suddenly, a shining blur came down across its neck.
SHLICK!
The snakes shimmering orange eyes widened. Its mouth hung open limply, and for a brief moment, it stared blankly at the half-conscious Takashi entombed in its coils before its head slowly slipped off its long body. Blood oozed and spurted from the severed neck. The coils loosened and releasing Takashi, who gasped for breath.
"Takashi-kun!" Saeko gasped, sheathing her bloody sword as she came beside the fallen young man.
Takashi rasped weakly, barely responsive.
"Onii-san!" Alice cried, running up to the young man's side with Emerald and Shizuka right behind her.
"Come on, get up!" Saeko pleaded shaking the weak young man.
"He'll be okay, Saeko-san." Shizuka squeaked, "The Swamp Lotus villagers told me that the Titanoboa's venom is not deadly. It just knocks you out."
Saeko gave a shaky sigh of relief. "Kami, that's good," she said, stroking the unconscious young man's hair. Rei, Takagi and Hirano limped up to the four.
"Is he going to be okay?" Rei asked worriedly.
"Yea, he'll be fine." Shizuka sighed. "Just out of it for a little while. He should come too soon." The others sighed in relief.
"What about Chi-Ha?" Hirano limped up to his slumbering mount, stroking her crest as she groaned weakly.
"She'll be fine as well, Kohta-chan." Shizuka assured, "In fact, she should be up quicker than Takashi-chan."
Hirano breathed a sigh of relief as he traced the rivets in the Trike's spiked frill "Good." He moaned "James-san said that this island was dangerous, but I didn't think it'd be like this."
Saeko's sharp eyes scanned the river line as her grip on her sword tightened. She said "He was right. We aren't prepared for this island..."
Bubbles and ripples came from the river behind them. The others turned their gazes onto the river as the movement beneath the water intensified. Then, a Sarco exploded out of the water.
Everyone screamed as the titanic crocodile slammed onto the bank, snapping its massive jaws. The raw noise sounded similar to a gunshot as the creature belly-dragged towards them with beady, slitted eyes glinting with hunger.
"Shizuka, Takagi; get Takashi and Alice out of here!" Saeko commanded, unsheathing her sword and facing the stampeding croc "Hirano, reload quickly! Me and Miyamoto will hold it off!"
Everyone immediately complied. Shizuka hurried Alice on top of Emerald who roared to meet the incoming crocodilian. Alice wrapped her arms around the female raptor to keeping her from dashing towards the beast.
"Please, help us get Takashi onii-san to safety!" Her wide eyes regarded the female raptor with a silent plea.
Emerald froze in her steps. Cocking her head, she regarded the young girl with a chilly stare before turning and facing the Sarco as Saeko and Rei fanned out around it. Lifting her lips, Emerald gave a throaty snarl, then suddenly whirled around and stomped up to Shizuka and Takagi while they attempted to drag Takashi to safety. The young women looked up in surprise as the female raptor loomed over them. Lowering her snout, she seized the unconscious young man by the scruff of his coat and picked him up like a mother cat would her kitten. Stomping over to the brushes, she lowered herself to allow Alice off and dropped Takashi within a sheet of ferns as softly as she could manage. Shizuka and Takagi gapped at the young girl and the vicious raptor in awe, completely taken aback at how she'd followed the young girls command so willingly.
"Thank you, Emerald-san," Alice whispered, stroking the raptor's neck.
Emerald gave a low acknowledging growl before lifting her head. Turning, she roared; lifting her long arms and brandishing her claws. She sprinted past Shizuka and Takagi who stepped out of the way of the attacking Utahraptor as it dashed past them towards the Sarcosuchus.
Rei leaped in and gave the beast a swift swipe to its side and darting out of the way of its massive jaws as Saeko leaped onto the creatures back with her sword raised. She plunged it downwards into the beasts back, but the thick scales prevented her from doing much damage, much to Saeko's dismay.
"Damn it, my sword can't pierce its hide!" She grunted, pressing down as hard as she could to pierce the scaly armor. The Sarco hissed angrily, thrashing around as it attempted to buck the young woman off to snap her up in its jaws.
Gritting his teeth, Hirano opened his palm to look at the last reserves of his ammunition. "Four bullets left. This isn't good." Hirano swallowed hard. Shaking his head, he growled and reloaded his rifle. Maybe, if he could get a shot at its head, it would end this! Crouching on one knee, he took a steady aim as the Sarco parted its jaws, and fired. The bullet struck the creature in the side of the head and practically bounced off. The Sarco bellowed a booming growl as it gave a final thrash, successfully throwing Saeko off its back. The swordswoman twisted nimbly in midair to land on her feet and turned to face the giant croc. A large scaly tail caught her in the ribs, sending her tumbling across the bank.
"Saeko-san!" Rei cried.
She looked over at the unmoving young woman with wide, fearful eyes and flinched as the croc shifted its predatory gaze onto her and moved forward with open jaws. A roar echoed overhead as Emerald pounced on top of its massive head. Emeralds claws and teeth didn't provide much more effect at punching through the croc's hide as Saeko's blade. However, one of her claws managed to hook itself into the Sarco's eye. Hissing, the beast thrashed its head and snapped its jaws, trying to shake the raptor off who continued to rake her claws across its bulbous snout.
Suddenly, a bellow sounded as Chi-Ha, having finally gotten back to her feet, charged in.
The trike slammed her thick horns directly into the side of the Sarcosuchus, embedding them all the way to the end. The Sarco hissed in agony as the Trike shoved it sideways, digging a deep gorge into the ground as she pushed it across the bank with Emerald leaping off as the Trike shoved the titanic croc past Rei and Saeko's unconscious form. The Trike jerked its head up, flipping the croc onto its back with bloody horns. Chi-Ha reared back on her hind legs and came down once more with her horns to gore the thrashing, belly-up croc. The Sarco gave a final, dying hiss, its thrashing mellowing down to a few twitches before falling still. Everyone gave a collective shaky sigh of relief as Chi-Ha removed her horns from the Sarco's corpse.
"Good job, Chi-Ha." Hirano praised as the trike lumbered up to him, whining softly and rubbing her head against him, "I knew I could count on you!"
"Glad she's on our side." Rei quipped, helping Saeko to her feet.
The young woman winced, grasping her injured side. "I take it back. We really aren't prepared for this island."
Rei pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded in agreement.
Hirano scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Guess you're right. Bullets didn't seem to do much."
Takagi crossed her arms "That'd be because of those scales." She said, "Busujima is correct; we're not ready."
Hirano deflated slightly.
"But..." Everyone turned to the pinkette as she went on, "Perhaps we could gain a better understanding from our resident wildman...if he's still alive."
"Wait, like, have James teach us?" Hirano offered.
"Not just teach; train us." she looked over at Hirano, Saeko and Rei. She motioned her head over to Takashi's unconscious form in the ferns, "Our fearless leader's bravado can only do us so much good here. We NEED to be more integrated in the ways of the place if we're to survive."
Saeko nodded in agreement. "Agreed. We each have our own skill set. With James's understanding of this place, we'll be prepared for anything."
Takagi nodded.
"Not to mention James could show us a few things, combat wise," Rei added.
Saeko smirked, "We're all well-learned in the art of combat."
Rei returned the smirk, "I wouldn't be so quick to rule James's combat capabilities inferior to your own. I've seen the way he fights."
Saeko shook her head, "Our ways of fighting are different. We're both dangerous, but we have very different styles of fighting." At Rei's raised eyebrow, Saeko elaborated "James has adapted to take down the inhabitants of this island. He uses heavy, sweeping strikes, powerful blows, and hit-and-run tactics one would use against larger and faster creatures." She flicked her hair out of her face and told Rei "He's trained to fight dinosaurs. We've been trained to fight humans."
Rei raised an eyebrow "You think you can beat him?" She asked, genuinely curious.
Saeko grew serious, "Wild and unpredictable as it may be, it's not as uniform as my own." "However, I'm not calling myself superior. In fact, if he and I were not allies, there's no way of predicting the winner. From what I've gathered from watching James since we've been here, he is very combat oriented, not to mention he has impressive physical conditioning for his age; something he utilizes in controlled bursts while fighting. I don't know a lot of people back home that could trade blows with a dinosaur."
Saeko walked over to her discarded sword which had been knocked out of her hand during the fight and picked it up and sheathed it. She said, "Underestimating James is a foolish decision, hence why so many raiders died by his hand back at the encampment we attacked. However, in our overconfidence in our abilities led to our capture."
While doing so, she heard a small groan. Turning, she watched as Takashi sit up from the patch of ferns, rubbing his forehead gingerly. "Ahhh, shit..." he groaned.
"Takashi!" Saeko gasped. The girl dashed over to the young man and enveloped him in a tight hug.
Takashi was taken aback by the sudden hug. He hesitantly brought his arms around the swordswoman with features a light shade of pink. "I'm okay." he smiled.
"I'm glad." Saeko sighed. Tightening her hold around the young man, she whispered in his ear "I was worried."
Takashi held her tighter.
A tick mark grew atop Rei's head at the sight. "Yeesh, get a room!" She complained. Hirano, Takagi, Shizuka and Alice chuckled sheepishly at the sight. After everyone was situated, the group gave Takashi a brief explanation of what went down while he was unconscious.
"Wow. You kill these things?" Takashi gaped at the deceased Sarcosuchus corpse.
"Thanks to Chi-Ha!' Hirano chirped, rubbing the side of the Trike's jaw who accepted the petting.
Takashi's gaze traveled over to the fallen Titanoboa and he frowned at the sight of the decapitated head that lay beside its body within a puddle of mud and blood. "Good thing its venom wasn't deadly..." he muttered. His frown deepened. He hadn't known that. In fact, he didn't even entertain the fact that this thing was venomous. He'd dived in too quickly; rushed in headlong like he would have done against one of Them. It was a small mistake that could have cost him his life. And what's to say the next thing they come across would be much harder to kill? What's to say something that was too powerful for their little group found them? He glanced over at the others, who watched him anxiously and sighed. They needed to learn more about this place, and fast!
He turned and faced them.
"I agree with what you said. We should let James teach us." Everyone nodded in agreement. "We can't rely on him to save us all the time, or to think for a second we know enough to keep ourselves safe; not in a place like this. Today was a lesson I'm thankful we didn't learn the hard way."
"Agreed," Saeko added, "We're very lucky to be alive."
"What do you think we should learn first?" Alice questioned, resting her chin on top of Emeralds head. The raptor glanced up at the young girl before returning her cool gaze to Takashi as he spoke.
"It's like Takagi said, the fighters of the group should learn how to fight the inhabitants of the island. Along the way, he'll teach the rest of us about the plants and the general history of the island." Takashi explained.
"I still don't know about the fighting thing," Hirano said quietly. "I'm not much of an 'up close and personal' kind of guy. Besides, it's not like training will do much good if we come across guys with guns anyways."
Saeko crossed her arms, "We've had similar discussions about guns being superior to swords before, Kohta-kun. However, considering today's circumstances, we can agree neither was superior."
Hirano tensed at the memory of their argument. While the fiery otaku spirit within him refused to acknowledge swords being comparable to guns, Saeko had a point. Their weapons had little effect on the beasts. Chi-Ha's prehistoric strength was what saved them in the end.
Deflating a little, Hirano sighed in defeat. "Yeah, you're right." Shizuka smiled, giving the otaku a brief reassuring pat on the back. "But, wait," Hirano suddenly said, looking up, "We still need to find, James-san."
"Like I said if he's even alive." Takagi sighed.
"He's alive." Everyone looked over at Rei who tapped her spear into the ground, "He's survived worse, you know."
"Hmm, you seem pretty sure of that," Takagi smirked.
"What do you mean?" Rei raised a questioning brow.
"Oh Rei, it's obvious you have a crush on our castaway guide." Shizuka giggled.
Rei's face lit up bright red. Her lips fought to make words but a stream of stuttering merely came as the chestnut haired girl tried to defend herself.
"I-I-Well-!"
"It's the body isn't it?" Takagi teased "And those muscles...my god, you could grind meat on those things..."
"He's not too bad looking, either." Saeko smirked further as they teased the blushing brunette "That jawline slices right through your heart..."
Takashi and Kohta stood by with sweatdrops slowly forming as both Takagi and Saeko swooned.
"No, no, no," Shizuka shook her head, leaning in she whispered into Takagi's ear, "It's that-" Before the nurse could finish the handle of Rei's spear silenced her. "Oooooow!" Shizuka whined, rubbing the steaming welt atop her head.
"Do not be spreading false accusations!" Rei snarled with fire in her eyes.
The others chuckled at the sight as Rei continued to bark at the wounded nurse. Takashi gave a small smile. It was good to see Rei take an interest in someone else. It kept her off his and Saeko's back. However, that small spark inside of him still held feelings for her, and
somewhat rubbed him the wrong way.
In reality, it just brought back memories of Hisashi.
Takashi frowned at the memories that began to unfold in his mind, but a cold frown forced them away, "Come on," the young man ushered the group to follow down the bank. "We need to find our guide before something else does."
Everyone complied and close behind the young man as the made their way down the muddy river bank in search for James.
XXXXXX
AN: Alight there we go, another chapter! I'm so happy and thankful for all the support and reviews you guys, keep it up! Now for a couple of announcements. First off, by the time you read this I will have the very first chapter of me and bobthekraken's very own story. An Until Dawn story titled Silver Dawn. If you are puzzled by the title of this story then swing by and question no more!
Now with this in mind, a fair warning will be had right now and when you read the first chapter of Silver Dawn, as well as some words from my co-author bobthekraken. The story is centered around an OC. HOWEVER, it still revolves around the cast of the Until Dawn but in a unique fashion. Me and bob busted our butt's with the story, and its lore and will NOT tolerate any mindless flaming. Constructive criticism is acknowledged but constant badgering over how awful a story is JUST because its centered around an OC and nothing more without so much as reading the story or giving it a chance is rude and uncalled for. With that said, I hope to see you all over there and continuing both Ark and, now, Silver Dawn.
One finally announcement. I've requesting everyone for a vote. Specifically on one final story idea. To all you dinosaur fan's its crossed with Jurassic Park. Interested? Well I have something to ask of you all. If you would want either of these dinosaurs as a protagonist which would it be? Large dinosaurs only mind you. Leave a review or PM me personally with your vote.
Rex (Everyone fears the mighty T-rex)
2. Carcharadontosaurus
3. Giganotosaurus
4. A Pitch Black Indominus Rex
5. Acrocanthosaurus
6. Velociraptor (Good ol' Raptor OC's am I right?)
7. Allosaurus