Hey all, it's been a bit hasn't it? Between school, actually playing ARK, and trying to finish my other story, I've been a little tied up. Now that I'm on break from uni, I finally had some time to get this chapter out. Not to mention, it's been a really good month to be into ARK haha. ARK 2 hype is real! Anyways, here's the next part in Team Prime's journey, hope you like it!
To GodOfCreationUltimateAlienX, thank you for the good words! I'm glad someone picked up the little easter egg there, I just thought the characters fit so well with ARK and it looked like I'm not alone. And I assure you that while I might take breaks here and there, this story is going to go all the way to the end. And maybe even further? You'll have to stick around to find out hehe
To Or-Ian-do626, hmm, never realized I was writing them that way. I tried to copy the team's dynamic from the show, but it's hard to nail it right when there's no Autobots to factor in. You can interpret it whichever way works with you though. It's after all haha. Hope you're enjoying the story
To Liam199e, thanks for stopping by once again and leaving a review! The team isn't gonna be there anytime soon, if you remember what it takes to get "energon" in ARK haha. But it'll come once they establish themselves more on the Island.
Following the daring escape from the Dodorex on the Dead Island, Team Prime had retreated back to the main land in order to finish the taming of the Argentavis mates. The prime meat Raf had snatched from sacrifice bodies to the Dodorex held enough to tame at least one of them, but for the other, they needed to hunt just one more prime animal.
"Raf, are you completely sure you're up for hunting? After what you just experienced, I'd be too scared to leave bed personally," worried Jack. Raf told the two humans about his encounter as they drove to the mainland, and it sure wasn't pretty.
"To be honest, no. I don't even like the fact that we're technically feeding the Argents themselves," he admitted. Besides the terror of the Dodorex, Raf also didn't like the idea of feeding the prime meat of the fallen Argies to another of their own species. "But we don't get to decide whether or not we want to do things just because we like it anymore. That was how things used to be, not anymore. Right now, we need these Argies fed and to bring them into our tribe. For our survival and for theirs."
Jack and Miko stood impressed at their friend once again for his resolve. It seemed the Autobots weren't the only ones with such strength of will.
"Alright, it settles it then. We'll all go together with our new packs," the leading teen declared as he steered into a river near the tall mountain they had passed earlier. They couldn't afford to sail all the way back in darkness, so they would get their prime meat and then head out once daylight struck.
Once Jack reached as far onto the sand the raft could go without getting stuck, he stopped its motion and opened the dinosaur gate, Miko docking right behind him with the trap boat.
"Alright everyone, stick together. We're in uncharted territory here," Jack warily instructed as he mounted Arcee. Beside him, Miko rode Knockout as Raf rode on the new black Saber, whom he appropriately called Whisper thanks to his deathly silent stride. By his side, his dark red and black partner Strife crept across the white sands beside her mate.
The new Raptors known as Talon and Plume responded to Knockout's alpha call. Though they were tamed at a higher level, the striking red Raptor had more experience with the team. For now, he was cemented as the alpha of the organic pack.
As Raptor feet and Saber paws touched the soft sand, activity was heard all around the small troupe. Further down the river, they saw a pack of Terror Birds gorging on a freshly slain Parasaur carcass. In the mountains to their left, flocks of Argies were circling the peak just like the Redwoods mountain, the sounds of predators echoing in the night. Team Prime resolved to venture there once they had the Argies in saddles and the rest of their Pteras.
Looking to their right, Miko squinted her eyes in the dark as she noticed a gap in the jungle. Nudging Knockout forward, she cautiously proceeded into the brush, muscles taut should something jump out at her. The Raptor below her called the fledgling pack to his side as he sniffed the air.
A low grumble and a nod from the Alpha motioned the therapod pack forward as Plume and Talon ran into what seemed to be a path in the jungle. Moments later, they returned with a low trill, which was returned by the red alpha. From the body language, Miko assumed it was an all clear.
"Hey guys! Come check this out!" she beckoned to the group. Once Team Prime gathered round, she pointed into the jungle. "Care to find out what's at the end?" she asked, torch held in hand.
Jack shrugged. "We're here just as much to chart territory as we are to find prime meat." Glanding behind him at the Terror Bird pack, he added, "Maybe the crowd at the end is friendlier than the one down the river too."
On that note, the hodge podge of prehistoric animals ventured forth, cautiously inspecting every inch they stepped forward for hidden dangers. The humans' torch lights helped to chase away the shroud of darkness, allowing them all to get a clearer view of the path before them.
The sides of the path were blocked by tall rocky cliffs, the tree canopies planted on them blowing carelessly in the night breeze as they cast shadows in the receding moonlight. The sand gradually began to give way to rich jungle vegetation the further they went. The trods of the Raptors and Sabers become more relaxed as the wind carried no scents of dangerous predators. One would daresay this was the most peaceful time that Team Prime has had in uncharted lands thus far.
After a decently long walk, Raf spotted what seemed to be an opening in the rocky canyon path. Speeding Whisper and Strife along, the teen was taken aback at the sight he beheld.
From his rocky perch, Raf had a perfect view to a beautiful sight. Cresting over a set of rocky outcroppings, the sun was beginning to lazily crest into the sky as the moon retreated until next cycle. The flickers of sunlight danced off of the water's surface of the hidden lake they had stumbled upon, revealing the wide-open expanse it was in the center of. The sanctuary was closed off on all but 2 sides by rock formations, one of which being the pathway they had emerged from. To the brainy teen, it was breathtaking.
"Woah," he said simply, unable to vocalize his thoughts properly.
"Whoa indeed," agreed Jack beside him. Miko nodded in agreement as well as they watched the sun illuminate more of the area.
"You know, it wouldn't be so bad to move our operations a little further north, would it?" Raf wagered.
The leader put his hand to his chin in thought. "I wouldn't say so. Maybe a nice little outpost would be a good idea. You know, maybe a sort of vacation house?" Jack offered.
Miko nodded her head. "I wouldn't mind. But first, we gotta take care of the nasty tenants." She then pointed down towards the water. Under the surface, they could see what appeared to be a band of giant beavers milling around the lake, their dams standing sturdy and strong.
On the opposite end of the lake however, an all too familiar giant crocodilian to Jack was crawling its way towards the lake, eager to begin the morning hunt. The Sarco snapped up a Coel in its jaws, unfazed by the day to night cycle like most other animals would be.
Jack's brow raised. "That's just the prime meat source we needed," he informed. "We can get the meat we need for the white Argy, and make our new home a little safer for us."
Raising the unsaid question with his peers, the group wordlessly agreed as Jack and Miko went to flank the reptile, with Raf and the Sabers sitting on the rock, crossbow in hand.
The group waited patiently for the Sarco to get closer to land to avoid them being snatched and drowned. Though it took some time for it to surface again, the animal returned to dry land as it lunged at one of the beavers, barely missing its flat tail.
As the croc recovered from the whiffed attack, a crossbow arrow impacted with its snout, causing it to hiss in pain. Looking towards the source of the pain, it spotted Raf and the Sabers perched atop the rock overlooking the lake. Angered by the attack, the Sarco started marching its way to the boy, intent on making him pay for harming his precious snout.
He never saw the Raptors lying in wait in the bush.
The attack was sprung and over in an instant, with the surprised crocodilian barely having enough time to process it was being ambushed. One sickle claw dug into each section of his body, with Arcee's claw puncturing his brain, killing it instantly.
Raf trotted down with the cats to the site of the kill as his friends began harvesting the meat with their animals. The youngest among them took a moment to pay respect to the Sarco that would help them tame the Argy. Though he'd killed a fair amount of animals on this mysterious island, he respected each of his kills and made sure not to waste anything, as his dad taught him on his first hunting trip. After all, such was nature.
After silently and quickly paying his respects, he let the Sabers join in on the group feast as the little carnivores ate the corpse before it disintegrated. Looking in the inventories, the group counted at least 4 prime meat, enough to add to the current amount and finish off the second Argy.
"Let's get back to the boat before the meat spoils. We'll remember this place though," Jack decided as they all saddled up to leave.
"Wait a minute," Raf interjected. Turning his Saber around, he noticed a set of ruins nearby. "What's in there?"
The youngest teen walked forward into the brick and mortar ruins, stepping down to study the architecture. "This looks like the architecture you'd find 19th century London," he noted.
Walking through the ruins more, his foot bumped into a small chest. On impact, the chest cracked open, revealing yellowed sheets of paper inside. Realizing what this could be, Raf carefully opened the rolled up papers expecting another dossier, but was surprised to find the "dossier" written in cursive and old English.
"Huh?" the bamboozled teen uttered.
"Sir Edmund Rockwell?" Miko read aloud. From reading the note, they managed to gather that this Rockwell person was colleagues to their mysterious Helena Walker friend. Both were decorated scientists, and both loved studying the abnormalities of the island, or as the Englishman put it...
"So this place is called an ARK?" Jack wondered aloud.
"The explorer notes just got a lot more complicated," said Miko, wondering how many past survivors had chronicled their journeys on this island. For Raf, the implications of naming this place an ARK were pretty significant. If this was an ARK, then what was it made to shelter from?
"Hey look, there's a recipe on this sheet too by the same guy. Looks like it's for a weird medical brew?" Miko added. The boys shifted their attention to the recipe paper, where they could see a scribbled recipe calling for quantities in terminology unknown to them.
"What's a dollop?" Jack asked no one in particular. It would be a real benefit to have a tonic that would, as Rockwell put it, "Jumpstart the body's natural healing."
"Let's just go back to the boat. Maybe if we find more notes this will all make sense," Raf concluded as he stored the notes in his implant, which had been keeping copies of Helena's non-dossier notes in a separate tab.
"Maybe now that it's day, we can run back to those ruins on Carno island and look for notes? The Dodorex only came out at midnight. Maybe it goes away during the day like a werewolf?" suggested Miko.
Raf shivered as he immediately shot down the idea. "No way. Until I know that thing is gone, count me out," he said.
Miko would normally tease him for being so reluctant to explore, but the way he described the event of meeting the Dodorex sent chills up her spine. With a nod, she complied and started running back to the boat to feed the remaining prime meat, Raptor pack in tow.
"Hey man, just know that whatever this island throws at us, we'll make it out alright. Not to mention our army of prehistoric animals isn't a bad insurance plan," comforted Jack. Raf nodded wordlessly, as he already knew.
Mounting Arcee and Whisper, the two boys slowly trotted back down the path, but not before marking the hidden lake in their magic map. They were surprised to find their blue arrows so far from where they came from.
As the two exited the canyon path back to the boat, they saw all the Raptors were already inside of the house boat. But one creature was missing...
"Miko! You better not have taken Razor Wing," Jack called, hoping for her and the Pteranodon to have just been sitting at the trap boat.
"Actually, I like to call it voluntary exploring," the teen girl responded as she came to a descent with the missing Ptera and the... Argentavis?
Sitting atop the Ptera, she removed the snarky grin from her face in favor of a more excited one. "You guys are not going to believe what I found around here. There's so many resources that we can probably craft 5 rifles!" She then patted the the black Argy on its head. "Also, check out our newest member! Meet Raven."
The boys took a minute to admire the giant bird of prey. At its full height on the ground, the Argy was easily large enough to hold a rider on its back with a saddle, and maybe even pick up two more in its claws and beak. Miko went to level the weight, and the bird proudly puffed out its chest while extending its wingspan to at least 3 Raptors long. Its eagle eyes shone with intelligence as it heeded his new alphas for feeding him and his mate, who still slept soundly in the boat.
Raven dipped his head as a sign of submissiveness to Jack and Raf, as the latter handed him a spare piece of Sarco meat, which he gladly gobbled up.
"I already have a feeling I'm going to really like flying this guy around," Raf declared pre-emptively.
Jack marveled at the weight that Raven had, already at more than 600 weight after having just woken up. It was then that the second part of Miko's statement occurred to him.
"You said there's more resources on the mountain, right?" With Miko's affirmation, Jack whistled the Argent to follow him as he walked up to his friend. "Show me."
The oldest teen was picked up by the Ptera as Raf waited with their animals for their return. From there, Razor Wing and Raven flew up towards the mountain they had gone around until they reached the peak, passing a pack of 3 large therapods on the way up.
"Okay, so there was a Raptor pack here before, but I managed to trick them into fighting some scorpions further down the mountain, so we're safe!" Miko stated, dropping Jack on the top.
"Well there's definitely a good amount of metal and crystal here. I saw some more metal and obsidian rocks at the bottom too," Jack observed. It seemed that every mountain peak they'd been to was rich in resources. "But don't we have this already in the Redwoods? It's a heck of a hike, but it had just as much metal."
"Ahem," the Japanese girl coughed. Looking in the direction she was facing, Jack spied the Redwoods further down the main river. The mountain peak in the center was about the same distance if not closer than if they were to fly from their little wooden house.
"Oh."
Jack put his spyglass away and pulled out his pick to grab a few resources before going back down, especially the crystal. "There's also two other mountains near our hidden lake spot. If we had the other flyers here we could've checked it out."
"Wellll, if we stick around a little longer, I bet I can take a peek," Miko offered.
Jack sat on the proposal as he mined another crystal. "If Raf agrees then I don't mind building a workshop house at the lake."
Victoriously pumping her fist, Miko went in to pick up Jack as he finished mining his last crystal. On the way back down, they spied a rocky pillar creating a fork in the river, where even from the air they could see the glistening of several metal nodes.
"The Ankys would have a field day around here," Jack noted.
As they descended back to the boat, they saw Raf waiting patiently with the dinosaurs. After a little bit of initial protest from Raf to being carried, Miko managed to coax him into going up with her to see the mountains while Jack waited. After several minutes, the duo returned as well from the little scouting tour.
"You know, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a workshop going at the lake," relented Raf. Though he wanted to see their dinosaurs back home again, he didn't mind putting forward some investment to a potentially new and permanent home.
"Hehe, alright. I've been hanging on for the chance to upgrade to stone or metal anyways," chuckled Jack. The team proceeded back down the path with all the dinos, eager to start their newest project, unaware that they had drawn the attention of some of the locals...
Re-emerging in the open lake clearing, Jack's analytic mind was already thinking of ways for them to make their little work house come to life. The rock overlooking the lake was mercifully flat, letting them build over a large part of it to place foundations. That wasn't including the idea of placing pillars in the water to extend it out either. Whatever it would come out to be, it was going to be much bigger than their current abode.
"Alright, until we get the Ankys over here, looks like stone is gonna be our best bet. Raf, care to help me gather the materials?" the Darby teen requested.
"On it, although I wish something on this island was better at gathering than some metal tools," he grumbled, having spent the last few days banging his hatchet and pick into trees and rocks. He'd have to read over the dossier pages later to see if there were any dino-farmers on this island.
"You and me both man," he agreed. "Miko, since you're not that big a fan of punching trees, why not go to the other peaks?" Maybe gather some metal while me and Raf work on the work patio."
"Don't have to tell me twice. Come on Razor Wing, let's see what's out there," the cavalier girl said as she jumped in the saddle and flew off towards the distant peaks.
A few hours went by as the afternoon heat started to kick in. At this point, the second Argentavis had been tamed, much to the delight of all in the tribe, but especially Raven. As the two nuzzled each other, Raf had called dibs on naming the green tipped albino Argy, which he affectionately named Dove to compliment Raven's name. Considering they were apparently on an ARK as well, the name fit greatly.
Following the taming of Dove, Jack and Raf had gotten hard at work to getting together enough stone, wood, and thatch to start up a little workshop patio with a 5x5 of stone foundations with a wooden entrance ramp in the middle. Once the foundations were set, Jack started setting up a line of at least 6 forges beside the entrance ramp to the patio, while Raf made some sloped roofs and walls to act as stables for the smaller carnivores on the sides facing opposite from the lake and entrance ramp.
While the humans were building, the animals were left to their own devices as they took in their spacious new territory. Arcee had cemented herself as a fellow alpha in the Raptor pack after some initial distrust from the new recruits, now socializing with the organic members of her species like any alpha. The Smilodon couple had gone by the water to nap together, all the while Mr. Cuddles playfully swam beside the local beaver populus.
As Raf finished adding wooden railings to complete the stables, the flaps of 3 wings filled his ears. Walking back out to the open space, he saw Miko coming in with the birds to drop off the next metal and crystal load. She had taken the flock over to the other mountain, which she named the Frozen Tooth for how cold it was at the top.
"Got another load, decided to grab some obsidian this time," she stated. Once she found out the Argys apparently had a weight reduction on most of the heavy materials, she vowed to get a max level one 1 day.
"Great, just put the metal in the forges and everything else in that big storage box. Jack went out to get wood to finish adding a smithy," Raf instructed.
"Which, by the way, is now finished," the aforementioned boy said as he plopped down the smithy beside the forges, resting on the corner of the patio. "Now all we need is to finally make that fabricator."
As he finished his sentence, Raf noticed that there was a faint sound coming from the woods to the west. Jumping down into the lake, he swam out and nudged the sleeping Sabers from their slumber as their deadly maws extended in a yawn. He also grabbed Mr. Cuddles for his security.
By now, the low rumbling had grown into a loud stomping. Beavers were seen retreating into their dams, already knowing what was coming. The Raptors had noticed as well, barking threats into the jungle as they started to back off. The Sabers had also shaken off their drowsiness, baring their canines at the unseen threat.
Miko and Jack had picked up on the sound as all 3 humans slowly got their guns out of their implants, the tension rising as the stomps got louder and closer. The Argys stood tense on the ridge as they expanded their wings to look as big as possible, while Razor Wing stood timidly behind them, getting ready to bolt with her alphas and pack should things turn ugly.
To the west, the leaves of the jungle trees parted, giving way to a terrifying sight. It didn't take any sort of dossier for Team Prime to deduce what dinosaurs these were. Standing at the edge of the jungle was not one, but two Tyrannosaurus Rexes.
"Guys, I think I'm gonna defecate," Miko trembled. This besides the Dodorex was the biggest threat the team had faced, and of course there had to be two of them!
Raf's hand shook as he tried to keep his pistol focused on the titans. He had pulled out his spyglass and found that the terrors in front of them were both sitting in the triple digit levels. To top it off, they were mates. "Just like the Lost World T-Rexes. Great" he inwardly gulped.
The female rex, who was stark white with a distinct black spinal stripe running down her back, looked at the interlopers into their territory and growled. She had not recalled when the little hunters had become brave enough to challenge the pair, even going as far as to ally with the flying pests and hairless apes.
The annoyed Rex sucked in a deep breath before letting an ear-bursting roar boom from her maw, shaking the confidence of the Sabers as they fell back to protect the humans. The Raptor pack however still wouldn't budge, with Arcee and Knockout roaring at the larger predators as Plume and Talon flexed their claws.
The male Rex, this one a jungle green with a tan underbelly and grey spine, roared as well at the pack before faking a lunge, causing the smaller therapods to flinch and fall back before resuming their threat display. They weren't backing down when their alphas were at stake.
"Guys! Get away from them!" hollered Jack from the ridge as Miko and Raf whistled for them to git. The bipedal dinosaurs were initially conflicted by orders vs instincts, until Arcee barked at them to get their rear ends in gear in Utahraptor-speak. The packmates weren't about to disobey orders from both their alphas, so they fled back to the ridge.
The male Rex tried to charge them, but reared his head back with a bark as something loud and fast whizzed by his head and made a hold in a palm tree. Nocking their heads, the two apex predators saw the smoking barrel of Jack's rifle aimed just above the male's eyes.
"That was a warning shot! Stay right there or the next ones won't miss!" warned Jack as all 3 of them audibly cocked their guns. "Man that was so stupid" he thought.
The Rex may not understand English, but he didn't need to in order to pick up on when he was being threatened. He blasted another roar at the humans' direction as he began stomping over to show them who was boss, but he was stopped by a grumble from his mate.
The albino Rex nudged her head in the direction of the ridge with a hiss, telling her mate to look up. When he did so, he put his indignity aside for a moment to truly analyze the situation.
If he went to attack the humans, not only would they try to blast his eyes out with their bang sticks, but the assortment of animals would no doubt cause more than just a few scratches and bruises. The flying pests could tail his vulnerable rear while the small and swift hunters would claw and bite at his ankles and face. And the hairless apes were still there too with their weapons of metal.
He was sure he and is mate could devastate them and come out victorious, but the cost of losing their vision was unacceptable. He just wanted to come get a drink to cool down.
Begrudgingly, the green Rex huffed at the assembled squad of predators as he used his jaws to uproot a nearby tree. Slamming it down on the ground, he barked one final insult in T-Rex tongue before rejoining his mate's side, leaving his line in the sand clear.
For the next few minutes, Team Prime could only stand and watch as the T-Rexes stood by the lake and lapped up water to quench their thirst. Once they were satisfied, they turned back to the jungle, giving one last glare to the little squadron before disappearing back into the vegetation.
Once they had left, all 3 humans relaxed as they flopped onto their backs to digest what had just happened.
"Thank goodness that's over. I never want to play landlord to a T-Rex couple ever again," sighed Raf as Mr. Cuddles licked his face.
"You can say that again," groaned Miko. "God, that must be one of the most stressful things we've had happen so far. And that's saying a lot."
"Of course the perfect place to build is the local Rex watering hole," huffed Jack, feeling a headache coming soon. "I'm not even sure if we should keep going with this place as a base."
Raf sat up straight. "No way man! Look, we heard the stomping way before the Rexes got here. We just showed them why they shouldn't mess with us, so as long as we respect the boundary when they're here, they should hopefully leave us alone."
"But what happens if they just decide to disrespect that line and eat us all? Then what?" rebutted Jack.
Miko chimed in, "Then we carry through on the threat. They want to fight? Good luck doing that when they're blind."
"They can still technically smell us Miko, but I bet losing an eye or two is still pretty painful. They're just like any other animal Jack. Whatever is best for their survival, they'll do it. They're not mindless." Raf added.
Jack caved in. "Alright. We won't back down from our new home. But just in case, let's go back home first. If it ever gets to the point that we do have to fight those guys, then it's all hands on deck," he declared.
The group agreed with his logic as they quickly emptied out the Argies' inventories of resources before going back to the boats. They decided to bring all the dinos with them, not feeling comfortable with leaving them in an area where Rexes were on the prowl, so it was a little cramped on the house boat. Thankfully, the Argents got to sit in Miko's trap boat, leaving more space for Jack and Raf on the house boat.
"Alright, let's set sail. If we're lucky we can be nearly home before dark," Jack said as he and Miko backed the rafts out of the sand, heading back out to the ocean.