Note: I may come back to this story at a later date, but I just don't like the way this story is developing.
Chapter 1: Choosing A Tribe
A body appeared on the beach suddenly, as if conjured from thin air. The body lay on the beach nearly naked, covered only with a pair of cloth underwear. The body rolled over on to it's back to reveal a face.
It was a young man. His head was bald and his eyes were dark blue like a sky at sunset. He stood at about one point eight meters high and weighed eighty-one point five kilograms; his body was neither athletic or muscular, but he was healthy, at least. He sat up and looked around, contemplating where he was and how he got there.
"Hello? Hello! Is there anyone out there?!" The man called out.
His only companion was the sound of silence, aside from the rush of the rising tide. He stared up at the sky for a few seconds, but the sun looked and felt real; his eyes were speckled with spots as he looked at the sound now. The air was muggy, there was no wind, and he felt his skin beginning to burn; based on the position of the sun and the color of the sky, it was early morning. The day was only going to get hotter if he was right. If he was wrong, the air would cool and he would grow cold as he became enveloped in darkness.
He looked around for shade, but there weren't any trees in his immediate vicinity. He looked to his left; desert as far as the eye could see. He looked to his right; he could still see desert, but the desert seemed to transition into a tropical forest a kilometer and a half out. It was an easy decision to make; he turned right and began journeying for the tropical trees.
After reaching the trees, he felt exhausted as a result of the heat, but was relieved to be in the shade. As he sat down, he slowly realized something felt different. It took a moment before it hit him, literally. Wind. A gentle breeze was brushing against his skin as he began to relax. The sun would still burn his skin if he stepped out of the shade, but he finally had some relief from the heat.
He scratched his left wrist, freezing suddenly at the touch of something cold. He slowly turned his hand palm up; he became alarmed as he stared at the bulge in his wrist. Between his elbow and wrist a metal diamond protruded outward from his arm. His first instinct was to rip it out but after inspecting the metal, he determined that the metal was fused to his bones.
Suddenly, he was distracted by a squawk. He looked out beyond the shade, catching a glimpse of a large bird. At first glance, it appeared to be an oversized chicken. Upon closer inspection, however, it was determined that the bird wasn't a chicken. The bird was mostly black with silver wings, an orange beak, and dark yellow legs. It easily stood as high as his waist.
There was something off about the bird though. It would walk up to him, squawk, run away, and then repeat the process. It was as if it was trying to lead something, or someone, to him. He didn't have to wait long to find out what was looking for him.
Dinosaurs; there were nearly a dozen different dinosaurs. He recognized a few of the species, but most were unfamiliar to him. As they approached him, fear started to drown his senses. His face went pale when he realized that there were people riding the dinosaurs.
The man jumped to his feet to run, but he felt hands grabbing his shoulders. He was quickly thrown to the ground and pinned by someone. He then heard the clicking of metal. His arms were locked in place by cold metal; he had been handcuffed.
The dinos stopped four and a half meters away from him; the riders all got down from their dinos and approached him. One man came within a meter of him, clearly in charge. He seemed to radiate confidence and authority. The man looked him over with a frown, circling behind him before facing him again. The newcomer examined his captor.
The man looked to be in his forties. He had long black hair, a ragged beard, and light green eyes. He was about half a head taller than the captive but shared the same build, more or less. He wore simple tan fiber clothes and his feet were covered with slippers made of fiber and hide; they were all dressed in the same attire.
Page 2
"Who are you?" The captor asked.
Who am I? I don't even remember my name!
"What tribe are you with?"
"I'm alone; I have no tribe." The captive answered.
"That's not possible. Everyone here belongs to a tribe." The captor scowled.
"How do I figure out what tribe I'm with?" The captive asked.
"Each tribe member has their tribe's logo tattooed on them." His captor answered with a frown.
"That's what's bothering you, isn't it? You can't find a tattoo anywhere on my body."
"But we haven't looked everywhere, have we? Shall we look under the cloth, Baxter?" The man behind the captor chuckled.
"We will do no such thing! Even the Young Vultures wouldn't put their mark in such an indecent place!" The leader growled.
"Where am I?" The captive asked.
"Don't be foolish; you're in Herbivore Paradise, a territory ruled by the Guardians." His captor replied.
"This is your land; I get that. What is this world? What planet is this?"
"What?" His captor asked, clearly surprised by the question.
"I walked two kilometers and a desert turned into a fully grown tropical forest. The weather changed just as drastically. That's not possible on Earth." The captive stated.
"I thought you'd be freaking out about the dinosaurs." The man behind him grinned.
"They don't belong here either, but I know they were on Earth at some point."
"Who are you, Stranger?" His captor asked again.
"I don't know. I have no memory before waking up on that desert beach."
"Release him, Frank." The captor sighed.
The man behind him slowly pulled a key out of his pants pocket. Within seconds, the cuffs came off. The captor reached out, grabbing the hand with the metal diamond on it. He tapped the metal.
A holographic display was projected a few inches above his arm. It displayed information such as weather conditions, location, details regarding his health, and finally, his name. He had a name, but still no memory.
"Isaac; that seems to be your name." The leader said before letting go of his wrist.
"And you two go by Baxter and Frank. Baxter, you're in charge, and Frank, you're like a sheriff."
"Baxter leads our tribe and I am his General." The man behind him hissed.
"Welcome to the Dark Utopia Ark. As you've determined, this isn't Earth. We can't even be sure that this is a planet; there are some who argue this must be a simulation. Either way, we're making the most of what we have. Get on my tame and I'll take you back to the capitol city." Baxter explained.
"You call that tame?" Isaac exclaimed.
The dinosaur in question was massive; its ankles alone were wider than he was. His head didn't quite reach the predator's kneecap. Everything about it was overwhelming, with the exception of its stubby arms. It was six meters tall, ten and a half meters long, and at least eleven and a quarter metric tons, at a guess. The nightmare had a dark red body, a black belly, and the patch going down its back was silver.
Page 3
"What? You've never seen a friendly t-rex before?" Baxter smirked.
"The combination ranks right up there with ideas like immortality and eternal youth." Isaac snorted.
"It's funny that you mention those topics, because you might be surprised at what I have to tell you when we return to Avoria." Baxter chuckled as he climbed up a ladder hanging down the right side of the saddle.
Once Baxter was secured on the saddle, Isaac looked up at the saddle. He glanced over at the t-rex's head, but instead found himself staring into the dull orange eyes of the apex predator. He froze with terror. Thankfully Baxter spotted the man and reprimanded his tame; the rex stared straight ahead with a snort.
"Jane is harmless, unless I say otherwise. She wouldn't attack unless defending herself or given orders." Baxter said with a smile after Isaac got on the saddle.
"Jane is a predator who eats anything that moves. Today we might use her for transportation; tomorrow she may use us as appetizers." Isaac argued.
"You're alright, Kid." Baxter chuckled.
The riders remained quiet for a while. Isaac looked around as they traversed the terrain. He was greeted by herds of dinosaurs scattered throughout the fields they crossed, weaving in and out of small wooded areas. He saw triceratops, brontosaurus, stegosaurus, and many others that he wasn't able to identify. When he asked Baxter where all the predators were, it was explained that predators were rarely seen in the region.
"What happens when we arrive in the capitol city?" Isaac suddenly asked.
"We welcome you as a guest."
"Oh, that sounds nice." Isaac sighed with relief.
"What did you think was going to happen?" Baxter asked with an amused look on his face as he strained his neck to stare at his passenger.
"You showed up with a t-rex and I ended up in handcuffs; do you think I felt like a guest?"
"I see your point," Baxter chuckled before continuing, "Now see things from my point view. The last time the Ark saw a new arrival was thirty years ago. Since then, the Ark has been quiet. Your arrival is going to throw all of Dark Utopia into chaos."
"How so? Surely I'm not that important; I haven't even done anything yet." Isaac remarked.
"That's just it though; it's impossible to have children in the Ark, so the tribes have been craving new blood for the last twenty-nine years."
"And you think they'll fight over me?"
"Possibly, but the more likely outcome is that every tribe on the coast will defend it's borders and guard the coastline, searching for new arrivals, no doubt."
"Wait a minute; does that make me the property of your tribe?"
Baxter let out a high-pitched whistle. Every dino stopped dead in it's tracks and each rider looked up at the rex saddle now. Baxter turned to face Isaac. His eyes seemed to burn with rage at the question as he spoke.
"I want everyone to hear this!" Baxter shouted with a pause, "This man is to be the property of no tribe! He alone will choose his path in life and if he joins a tribe, it will be the tribe he has chosen! Are we clear?!"
"YES MY LORD!" Came the booming chorus of the other riders around them.
"There you have it. Isaac, you are a free man." Baxter stated before facing the rex again.
"Wait! How will I know which tribe to join?"
"You can ask each tribe that when we reach Avoria. The Utopian Council has been summoned."
Page 4
"What does that mean?" Isaac inquired.
Baxter whistled twice this time. The dinos resumed their journey to the capitol city of Avoria. There was no further dialogue for the rest of the journey. Isaac remained silent as the new information raced through his mind.
He was free to join any tribe of his choosing. The first problem he ran into was that he had no idea who there was to choose from. Then there was the fact that he didn't know anything about the tribes. Maybe one tribe would be more in line with his goals.
At that moment, he realized his biggest problem; he had no idea what his goals were or how to determine what they would be. If there was a way to get home, he would want to know how it could be done. But if he did go back, he couldn't be sure that his past life would be better than the one he had now. If there wasn't, survival would be his top priority. He would need to know things like which dinosaurs were safe to be around and which ones to avoid. Also, he wanted to know what the Ark was. As he looked at the diamond on his arm though, there was one question that visited his thoughts more than any other.
Am I real?
At one point, Baxter had mentioned that some people believed this was a simulation of some kind. Isaac wanted to dismiss this idea, but there were too many things that didn't make sense. He struggled to organize his thoughts as he considered what he knew.
Stepping a few meters in any direction could change the climate and the weather. He had woken up in a desert, but stepped next to a full-fledged tropical forest by walking two kilometers down the coast. Ten minutes ago, they had gone from a region of grass, fruit-covered bushes, and scattered patches of trees to a large rocky hill that was barren of life. Behind him were all different forms of flora and fauna; ahead of him were layer upon layer of zig-zagging rocks and very few creatures.
There were people riding dinosaurs. After digging through the archives of his brain, he was able to identify parasaur and gallimimus, two of the dinosaurs being ridden. Many of the riders were on carnivores; Isaac knew the riders should be in their stomachs, not on their backs. There was never any record of people co-existing with dinosaurs, much less taming them.
The dinosaurs were far too intelligent. He finally remembered that the oversized bird was a dodo. The dodo knew to lead a party of dinosaurs to his location. He assumed if a dinosaur could be tamed, it could be trained as well; the bird showed no hesitation when it came back the second time. Raptors met them in the forest; they had been waiting for the party to return, which was another sign of training.
It was quite likely that he would come across many other oddities on this Ark. He wasn't sure how many more surprises he could handle, but he knew he couldn't give up. He decided then and there that his goal was to rise above any hardship he may face, staying strong in the face of danger and providing hope to those who were helpless.
Many hours had passed when Isaac heard the sound of horns in the distance. They made a low, rumbling sound that seemed to carry through the air. He leaned over to the right and glanced ahead. The sight that greeted him at the bottom of the hill was less than welcoming.
Two heavily fortified towers built of stone loomed in front of them, separated by a long high stone wall. The towers were six meters wide by fifteen meters high. Each tower had four people stationed with heavy weapons.
To either side of the towers were trenches filled with water from a river further ahead. The trenches seemed to go on for kilometers, perhaps seven and a half meters deep by three meters wide. Within the trenches were piranhas and leeches, waiting for an easy meal.
As they approached the towers, gates at the center of the wall cracked open, allowing them passage. The gates were massive, but that wasn't surprising when considering the height of the rex. Unlike the towers and the wall, the gates were made of metal.
Page 5
After passing through the gateway, Isaac noticed a river less than half a kilometer ahead of them. Beyond the river was the dim outline of a city. From this distance, it was little more than a speck, but Isaac was quite certain that it would be impressively large when they arrived.
He wasn't wrong; the city was massive and bustling with life. All around him were vendors with food, stables with various dinosaurs and other animals, and building upon building of residents coming and going as the sun began to glow orange. The city nearly reminded him of his home on Earth, but it felt distorted; at no point in Earth's history did he remember horse-drawn carriages and assault rifles being a common sight.
"Welcome to Avoria." Baxter said, bringing his rex to a large stable.
"Do all the other tribes have cities like this?" Isaac whistled as he took in his surroundings.
"No; this is the largest city on the Ark, to our knowledge."