Thought I'd get an early start on this chapter. Not my best work, but hopefully it's up to par.
"That could of gone better," The One who Waits admitted to herself.
She hated how she had to rush the interaction, but she couldn't just let the Autobots go back to their home planet just yet. They had yet to understand, and unless they did, they would simply call their army they were mentioning and destroy the planet. They needed to know what the System was built for.
Plus, the irony was not lost on her on that instead instead of being abducted, she was the one abducting the aliens.
At least the rusty red ambulance didn't need to know. After all, he was one of the creators of the System, so that saved her a headache and a half explaining it to the cranky robot. She rather liked the rag-tag group from what she had observed on their entry. In particular she liked the spicy blue female. She reminded her a little bit of Diana and Mei Yin with that natural leadership she had. She also reminded her of herself a long time ago before her ascension with that snarky wit about her. Definitely strong and good qualities to have for a survivor, which in a sense, she was. Life as an Autobot must have been hard considering how few there had been at the time. She hoped they did well for themselves in their home planet.
"They'll be alright, for now," she concluded. She'd make sure they stayed healthy in stasis, as they were an important part of her plan.
But they weren't the only important part.
Turning her attention away from the Autobots sitting in giant TEK sleeping pods, the Homo Deus floated over a computer containing a hologram of the Island. Using her control over the System, she transferred her conscience over to the "Ragnarok" station. A fitting name, considering the survivors she was about to deposit there.
Pulling up a file of some sacred viking texts, she read them to herself as she stroked her transparent chin in thought.
"Vikings, hmm? Of course it would be those buggers who started the dragon craze," she mused. Using the vast network of technology, she started turning it into biology as she reconstructed the bodies of some of the pioneers to the idea of taming, as well as their trusty companions. She also created a copy of the dossier book since this particular station had no explorer notes.
"Let's see how you do when faced with your Ragnarok," she concluded before sending the two humans and two dragons down to the surface. "Good luck mates, I'm counting on you," she said as she transferred back to her self dubbed "Prime Island".
She would have said their actual names before sending them off, but Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was a bit of a mouthful. At least Astrid was nice and simple.
Back on the Island, Jack was getting some serious airtime with their new Pteranodon friend.
"Woohoo!" cheered Jack as Razor Wing sped into a barrel roll between some trees. "When I'm legally allowed, I am so getting registered for a wingsuit," he said to himself. Raf and Miko had already taken their turn with their new flying buddy with similar reactions, though Raf still needed a little more time to get over his fear of heights. They had taken care to make sure not to over exert their animals lest they be left winded and vulnerable. They didn't even need their implants to tell them the stamina, as they started feeling connected to their tames on a physical level, including exhaustion.
"Alright girl, take 5," Jack said as he climbed off the Pteranodon's back. They had landed in the same open field as before in hopes of finding more Pteras. It wasn't fair that Razor Wing had to lug all 3 of them wherever they pleased, so it was proposed that while Jack was out flying and scouting for potential tames, Miko and Raf would work on creating more narcotics.
So far, he had seen a Triceratops around level 130 and a pair of Pteranodons that were level 95 and 115 respectively. He could see all of them having a use in their team, and so he had waited for them to fly over the plains before trying to ensnare them with a bola.
"But first, a drink," the young man said to himself as he dipped his water skin in the river by the obelisk. As he was filling the little sac, he noticed some movement in the water's surface. Fearing it was those jerk-off piranhas that had snacked on Knockout and Miko's behinds earlier, he pulled out a spear as he prepared to skewer it.
The otter paid no heed as it chirped at the strange monkey with the long stick.
Blinking twice, Jack hurriedly put away the spear before facepalming himself at confusing an otter for a fish. "Sorry about that little guy, didn't see you completely there," he apologized. The otter seemed to regard him shortly before it dove back in the water and caught a passing fish.
"Hmm, I wonder?" thought Jack as he watched the little mammal bob its head underwater. Checking to see there were no piranhas or bus sized sharks, Jack eased himself into the water before pulling out his spear again. Carefully waiting for a fish to pass by him, he held the spear point at the water's surface before thrusting it quickly down into the body of a particuarly large fish.
"Guess playing The Forest really paid off," mused the young man as he tossed the fish body onto the bank, occasionally feeding the small ones to Razor Wing.
Once he tossed the fifth small fry in a row to the flying reptile, it dawned on him that he had one of the best fishermen of the Mesozoic right next to him. Smacking his forehead again, he saddled the Pteranodon as he hovered it close to the water. He let go of the tension on the reigns, indicating for the Ptera to do its thing. Razor Wings patiently hovered over the water until an especially plump Coelcanth tried to make a break past her sharp eye. In one quick snap, the fish was squirming in its mouth as it tossed it onto the bank.
"That's what I'm talking about girl," Jack praised as he rubbed the top of her head. The Ptera cawed at the praise as it started to really get busy with the fishing. Now that it was free to do as it pleased for a bit, the Pteranodon started picking fish off at faster speed, literally plucking them out of their element before tossing them onto the bank.
After several supersonic fishing runs and a case of air sickness, Jack clumsily stumbled back onto the bank as he gave a thumbs up to his tame. "Good job Razor Wings. Next time though, try working on smoothing out your runs." He doubted the Pterasaur understood, but he took its idle caws as confirmation before grabbing handfuls of fish.
"Hey little fella, here's a snack." Jack didn't know why he was doing this. They already knew how to tranq and tame, but he doubted shooting an arrow into the side of an otter the size of his arm would do anything but shorten its life span. So, maybe he could get the little ball of fur to trust him with some fish offerings.
"That's it, come on," he motioned as the otter drew closer. When it stood just mere inches from Jack's offering hand witht he fish, it excitedly started munching the corpse with vigor as Jack chuckled at the sight. Grabbing another fish, he repeated the process until he had run out of fish.
"Well buddy, think that's all of-" Jack was cut off by his implant flashing a familiar screen up as he prepared to saddle up and leave.
Name your Otter!
"That actually worked?" he commented to himself. He stroked his chin in thought as he tried to find an appropriate name for the brown furred mammal before him. Rather than wait however, the Otter climbed up onto Jack's body from his jeans and ran up to his shoulder. There, it wrapped its tail around the 17 year old's neck, acting like a scarf.
"Wow. You're a cuddly guy, aren't you?" he said as he rubbed its head. And that was when it came to him. Typing in his name suggestion, Jack smiled as Mr. Cuddles tightened his wrap around his neck, warming both his heart and his body. "That saves leaving the jeans up to dry," he said aloud. He didn't mind considering the little creature warmed him up enough.
Or that it was licking his face like a puppy.
"Come on Mr. Cuddles, we need to report back to the team," Jack said as he mounted Razor Wing and head brought her attention ed back to their base.
Miko yawned as she made the 140th narcotic of the day. In hindsight, maybe she should have been the one to go scouting while Raf and Jack sat back gathering berries and gross meat all day. Her arm was starting to tire from all the mortaring and pestling, and even her implant producing some on the side didn't relieve her annoyance with the process.
The sound of wing flaps brought her attention back outside the half built cabin, where Jack had finally returned with Razor Wing.
Miko walked outside to warmly greet her companion, "Ughh, finally you're back. Did you stop and get gas for your bird on your way back?"
Jack merely smirked at the statement as he stated, "Actually, I took initiative." He then snapped his finger as the Otter on his neck descended onto his hand, earning a gasp from the Japanese teen.
"Oh my gosh!" she cried as she gave the adorable mammal a scratch under the belly. As much as she loved big and awesome dinosaurs and Autobots, she had a soft side for fluffy and cute animals such as the fuzzball before her.
"Miko, meet Mr. Cuddles," Jack proudly introduced.
Miko dissolved her put as she sighed, "Alright, lateness forgiven. As long as you found something worth taming."
Jack nodded. "3 things actually. Now we just need Raf. Raf!" he called, and he soon found the boy exiting the jungle with Spitfire by his side.
"Hey guys, what'd I miss?" asked the preteen, but his attention was immediately taken by Mr. Cuddles running up and licking him. "Whoa! Hey little guy, nice to meet you too!" he laughed between licks.
Jack merely smiled as he waved him over. "Come on, I found you guys some Pteranodons for us to tame. There's a level 130 Triceratops there too we can tame before dark."
Obeying the older boy, Raf ran inside to grab his bow and some bolas he'd made in his spare time from the weapons storage box they'd crafted. Bringing the other two teens their weapons as well, he dumped them off as Miko retrieved the narcotic from the mortar and pestle. Once everyone was set, Jack propped Raf up on Knockout after giving him a quick rundown of the riding basics. He would be riding the Raptor and the Dilo into the forest while Jack and Razor Wing stayed close by.
As for Miko, she had a more... unique mode of transportation.
"Jack, I know I've done some dumb things before, but PLEASE don't let Razor Wing drop me!"
The Japanese girl was currently hanging on for dear life as her shoulders were being held by the Pteras talons. It was one thing to be in control on the back of an animal, it was another thing entirely to be holding onto its limbs so you didn't become dropped lasagna on the dirt.
"Consider this payback for getting us stuck with Skyquake," Jack smugly replied as he initiated a dive, eliciting a scream from Miko.
It wasn't very hard for Raf to follow Razor Wing after that.
Finally arriving back in the valley by the obelisk, Jack set Miko down on solid ground as Raf emerged from the jungle with their two other carnivores. After Miko gave Jack an earful for his little stunts, Raf cleared his throat as he coughed, "I believe we came here to tame some dinosaurs?"
Finishing her little rant at her friend, Miko smirked as she said, "That we did, Raf. Now where did you say you tracked those two flying lizards again?"
Jack looked up to the sky before pointing at two figures above. "Up there, although I don't remember seeing that 3rd one last time."
Following his line of sight, Raf and Miko glanced upward as they gazed upon the two, now three shapes flying in the air. The first two were definitely Pteranodons, but the third flying object seemed stockier than them. Unable to confirm what animal was with the Pteras, Jack decided to fly up and investigate. As he came closer, he started noticing lots of feathers compared to the Pteras which had virtually none. It also sported a large beak, and had larger wings that flapped like those of a vulture.
"And what would you be?" Jack asked to himself as he came in closer. Coming close to try and spyglass it, the creature suddenly noticed his presence and banked hard to the right. The next thing he knew, Razor Wing was engaged in an aerial battle with the large bird.
"Easy, easy!" yelled Jack as he tried to steer his mount away from the sharp talons and beak of the bird. Trying to evade the murderous eagle/vulture thing, Jack forgot to account for Razor Wing's still low max stamina as he suddenly felt the bird struggling to stay aloft.
"Come on girl, push it!" he encouraged as he tried to land at a rock outcropping above what he assumed to be a swamp. Spying all the crocodilians in the water below, Jack pulled as hard as he could on the reigns to get Razor Wing to land ANYWHERE but the ground. Alas, the Pteranodon just didn't have enough energy to reach the rock, instead landing at the swamp's edge.
"Scrap,"
"Jack!" cried Miko and Raf as they watched their friend get chased out of the air by the 3rd flying creature. Seeing where he was forced to land, the duo along with Knockout and Spitfire raced down the river in order to find the boy and the bird, but halted once they reached the mangrove trees down the river as they stared into a set of reptillian eyes.
"That is one big alligator," Raf whispered. Within the waters of the river near a trickling waterfall, a reptilian head lay still as a statue as it stared with hungry eyes at the two teens and their dinosaurs. Knockout and Spitfire noticed as well as they assumed defensive postures, ready to defend their humans. Miko and Raf also steeled themselves as they pulled out their bow and spear.
Then, the large alligator made its move as it began swimming at them rapidly. Before any of them had a chance to react, Raf suddenly found himself flat on his bottom as the alligator made a sudden leaping lunge, but not at him.
"Hey! Give us back our dinosaur!" Miko shouted in fury as the alligator had Knockout clenched in its jaws. The Raptor screeched as it attempted to claw its way out of its iron grip, but the alligator would not give any ground even as Raf pelted its body with arrows.
"Oh man, I read about these alligators in the dossier. If that's a Kaprosuchus, we need to get Knockout out before it drags him into the water!" Raf panicked. He kept laying into the Kapro with all the stone arrows he had while Miko and Spitfire bit and speared his hide, all while Knockout tried to wrench himself free.
"Stop it! It's going in the water!" alerted Raf as the bloody alligator attempted to flee the scene with the Raptor in its jaws. "Miko, kill it quick!" he shouted over Knockout's panicked cries.
Hoping her aim would be true, Miko pulled back her arm before throwing her spear like a javelin.
Rghhhrghh
The Kapro gave a moan as it breathed its last breath. Miko's spear had implanted itself right into its head, piercing the brain as the pointy stick lay embedded in the bone. The tension in the jaws released as the mouth let go of its captive Raptor. Knockout immediately tore into the dead body of the crocodilian when he got up, digging his claws into the body as he scarfed down meat until it disintegrated.
"That... was a close one," panted Miko as she and Raf regained their breath from the harrowing experience. Spitfire went to Knockout to lick his wounds clean and to ask for some of the meat as the two recovered.
"I hate swamps," Raf plainly declared after catching his breath. He now had a certain loathing for all of the Shrek movies too.
"Agreed," Miko said as she helped Raf up onto the Raptor's back.
"Wait, but what about Jack?" Raf asked. The whole reason they had come to the swamp was to find their lost friend. They couldn't just leave him.
Miko had an uncertain face as she decided, "Knockout got his butt handed to him by that gator, and no offense Raf, I don't think Spitfire is saving us from the next giant crocodile that comes lunging out the trees." Miko sighed as they walked back to the plains,"Jack's smart. He can take care of himself."
"Oh boy, this is NOT good," Jack gulped. He wasn't sure if the crocodiles and alligators had seen where he landed, so he could only pray they hadn't as Razor Wing regained stamina. Hopping down was the last thing he wanted to do, but the reptile needed less weight in order to be able to recover faster.
At least the giant bird hadn't followed them in. Even it knew that the swamp was a terrible place to be.
"Come on Razor Wing, there's a lot of crocodiles here that wanna make you a into some Knockout Burger nuggets. Hurry up!" he urged the Pterasaur.
Just as he finished his sentence, his hairs stood on edge as he sensed something dangerous from behind them. Pulling out his spear, he whipped around just in time to see a giant snake rear its head back, ready to strike at his flyer. Instantly, he whistled Razor Wing to attack the giant reptile as it lunged at the Pteranodon, just in time for her to take off and avoid the bite.
Taking his opportunity while it was distracted, Jack ran up to the ancient constrictor he knew as Titanoboa and tried to stab it through the head with his spear. Though the snake moved out of the way, it was not able to avoid the sharp beak that pecked its side as Razor Wing came in for the attack. Together, Jack and the Pterasaur kept the snake disfocused as they each alternated attacking.
"Oof!" Jack groaned as he was pushed to the ground by the constricotr's tail after missing a chance to stab its head. Holding his spear out in front of him, it was all he could do to hold back the Titanoboa's fangs as it clamped own on the flimsy stick. Mustering all of his strength, Jack pushed against the snake as he tried to keep the sharp teeth from piercing his brain.
"Say halitosis, smiley," he said before pushing the spear midsection harder against the snake, causing the stick to break in two as he dodged the teeth. The teen then used the splintered ends to stab into the Titanoboa's head, killing it.
Picking himself off the ground, Jack quickly mounted Razor Wing as she landed and took off without ever looking back, not even wasting time to collect the snake's hide and meat. As he exited the mangrove tree'd area of the river, Jack had only one thing in mind;
"I hate the swamp."
As Jack left the swamp behind him, Miko and Raf had already taken the initiative and downed the level 95 Pteranodon on their own. While they were waiting for its hunger meter to drop, wing flaps alerted them to Jack's return as he jumped off the saddle.
"See? I told you he's able to take care of himself," pointed Miko towards Raf.
Allowing a small smirk to cross his face, Raf looked down as he said, "Sorry we couldn't help you Jack. We were on our way, but then a Kaprosuchus attacked us. It nearly drowned Knockout if Miko hadn't gotten it."
"It's fine Raf," Jack said as he held up his hand forgivingly. "The swamp sucks. I wouldn't even wish Vinny to go in there, much less you two." He patted the younger teen's shoulder as Mr. Cuddles scrambled onto it to comfort the preteen.
Turning his attention back to their current situation, Jack searched the sky for the other Ptera. "Alright. No more extra adventures for the day. Let's just get these Ptera's then we can go work on the home for the night." For once, Miko didn't object. She needed some calm after fighting off that heart attack on four legs. A new day would dawn after all.
And so, Jack flew up into the air and found the 115 that he had seen earlier. Using the bola in midair, he managed to get the lightweight reptile to land softly but quickly on the ground, giving Miko and Raf enough time to tranq the flyer. Repeating the process that they had with Razor Wing, the taming process went by smoother as all 3 of them and their tames managed to deter any would be scavengers.
As the first Ptera rose to its new owners, Raf did a quick sex check before coming up with a name.
"How about, Camo?" the youngest of them decided. The name fit, as the Ptera had mixing patterns of green across its body. If one were to compare them, they would find that it was colored like a ghillie suit. Raf liked the name, but looked to Jack and Miko anyways for approval as they gave him a nod and a thumbs up. Smiling to himself, he added some meat to their new companion's inventory as they waited for Miko's bird to tame.
When the Ptera spread its wings after being newly tamed, Miko was bursting with enthusiasm as a million different name ideas raced through her head.
"I know, Sunstreaker!" the Japanese teen decided upon as she gave the bony bird a bone crushing embrace. The Ptera awkwardly tried to return it as it wrapped its wings around the girl.
"Alright, let's get home. It's getting dark, and I don't want to pay Mr. Sandman the Troodon another visit," Jack shivered. Nodding their heads, Miko and Raf whistled their birds to follow them until they were saddled. Armed with their broken weapons, new dinosaurs, and a new distaste for mangrove trees, Team Prime trekked back through the jungle as they ended their day.
I would like to add that if any of you have issues with how I am writing the characters, please feel free to let me know. I am trying to sta as true to character as possible, but it's been a while since I've fully watched TF: Prime. Thank you though for supporting the story!
