Chapter 17: Gigantic Problem

(Day 17)

The sun was already hanging high, as Neo, Mercury, Roman, and Adam stood at the edge of their camp, looking at their biggest pet. The Diplodocus was covered in leather, hide and fiber. A makeshift saddle Neo made over the last couple of days.

It wasn't anything like an actual saddle made with the help of an engram, but it was doing what it was supposed to: Make it possible to easily ride the animal and carry goods.

Of course, that was their duty for today: Find metal deposits and stock up on resources. The gentle giant they were taking along was more than fit for that role.

"So, we have food, water, two sleeping bags, spare weapons..." Mercury muttered, going through the list of supplies in his head. "I think we have everything."

Neo nodded, and grabbed one of the ropes on the side of the saddle, climbing up into it. She, Mercury and Adam had been chosen to go on the trip, leaving Roman in charge. A decision that annoyed Cinder, and she shut herself into her shack.

Mercury climbed up, followed by Adam. They sat down in the seats, cushioned by balls of fiber. Neo took the reins in her hands, and turned the Diplodocus around, towards the jungle.

"Good luck!" Roman yelled, waving as the four left.

"You know, we could've built a little shelter on top of this thing," Mercury said, as branches hit him and the other two in the face.

"Neo, add that to the list," Adam replied. A branch went over his head, and a birds nest got stuck in his horns, together with the bird it belonged to. The small animal had two long tail feathers, hanging directly into Adam's eyes.

"That look fits you well." Mercury giggled.

"Shut up." Adam wiped the nest away, and the Confuciornis left, flying back into the trees.

"So... Where do we even go for Metal?" Mercury asked.

"There's a Volcano to the east. That should be a rather good spot for resources." Adam explained. "However, we might have to expect some string animals. I think the bigger carnivores are always in the middle of the Island."

"You've got that from Cretacious Park, didn't you?" Mercury asked.

"Yes. And why are you even asking? Didn't I already explain the plan?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, but I was asleep. The sun didn't even set at that point."

"Ugh, you're annoying, Black."

"So you managed to fight off a pack of Troodon?" Ren asked. He, Weiss and Blake sat on three logs around the campfire, eating their meal, which consisted of a soup Ren made, using water from the river and different jungle plants.

Weiss nodded in response and sipped on her bowl. "But we think they might come back at one point. They were intelligent enough to tie up Ruby, after all."

"Yes, they seem rather dangerous," Ren replied. "Blake? I know you prefer fish, but how do you like the soup?"

"It's great," Blake replied. "I missed your cooking."

"Man, a night's sleep did more than I imagined," Weiss muttered.

"Oh, don't get it wrong," Blake said. "I'm still mortified and scarred by yesterday. But I decided to let me fear rest in the back of my head for a while. Though I will have to get it out at some point, or it might turn me into an empty husk."

Weiss and Ren looked at Blake with wide eyes, trying to understand what they just heard. "Yes, well, of course," Ren replied. "I'd be glad to give you a counseling session."

"I don't need one," Blake said. "I can get over this alone."

"Blake, please. This is like back with the White Fang. You want to do everything on your own. We're your friends. We can, and want, to help you."

"I appreciate it, but really. I can solve this problem alone. Partially by never setting foot into the swamp again."

"Great," Weiss muttered. "Blake's scared of the swamp and Yang of the Ocean. What's next? Ruby will be scared of mountains?"

"I will be what?" A high voice replied, and all three heads turned towards the house. Ruby stood outside, next to Yang. They looked like they were healthy, or at least healthier than yesterday.

"Nothing," Weiss replied. "Come on, Ren made soup."

"Great. I could eat a whole Brontosaurus." Yang said, taking a bowl.

Ruby sat down next to Weiss, who got a good look at her normally silver eyes. However, Ruby's eyes were a deep, veiny red. "What's with your eyes?"

"Might be a late symptom from yesterday." Ren guessed.

"You look like Vampires," Blake stated.

"Oh, you'd like that, right? I know what you think of the vampires in your novels." Yang said with a wide grin, while Blake looked at her in pure anger. The blonde turned towards Ren. "Sorry for throwing up on you, by the way."

"Don't worry," Ren replied. "I have to admit, you four have made quite the camp here."

"Hey, I bet your base doesn't look half-bad either," Yang said.

"No, it doesn't. We have the luck of being located in an easy to defend valley. We simply had to put up some defensive walls." He took a sip of his soup. "By the way, if you want to make some improvements to your base, I would be glad to help."

"Sure, I could use some help with putting up defenses," Blake said.

"What, we're not helping or what?" Yang asked.

"Don't take it personally, but I'd rather have someone helping me who can use the appropriate engrams."

Yang pouted and crossed her arms. "Ugh, fine."

"If you want to help with something..." Weiss muttered. "Then you can help Ruby clean up the house."

"What? Why do I have to do that?" Ruby asked. "I wanted to spend time with the Dinosaurs!"

"You two pissed and puked all over the room. I'm not going in there until it's as clean as... as clean as... as clean as the Schnee Mansion."

"And you're going to relax or what?"

Weiss shook her head. "No, I will work on a little project I have planned. Let's just say that we'll have a new pack mule soon."

The ground shook as the Diplodocus left the jungle, stepping onto an open field. The massive volcano imposed over the field, and the smoke spewing out of its top was tainting the air with a stench of ash.

A multitude of creatures roamed the grassland, from mixed herds of Parasaurs and Iguanodon up to Kentrosaurus, ripping off leaves from small foliage. Even some lone Sheep ran around between the reptiles.

"Well, this looks peaceful," Mercury muttered. "But is there any way to get up the volcano?"

"There seems to be a path along the mountainside," Adam replied, and pointed at some roughed cliffs at the side, between which green leaves were visible.

"Okay, but from where does it start? We can't exactly get our Diplodocus up there. Hell, I don't think we can climb up there ourselves."

"We should follow the base of the Volcano. That way, we can see anything that looks even remotely like an entrance." Adam suggested. "Neo?"

Neo nodded, and pulled the reins, causing the Diplodocus to start walking. Some small, skittish animals jumped out of the way as the Sauropod walked past them, and some bigger dinosaurs looked at them for a short while, before continuing their daily routine. Being on top of such a massive animal had one important advantage: That nothing smaller than it would dare to attack.

Eventually, the four arrived at what looked like a possible way up. A path was broken out of the cliffs and leading up the volcano. Neo carefully maneuvered the Diplodocus up the slope and tried to stay at the mountain, as to not accidentally slip and fall off. It was unlikely that they'd survive the fall, even with their Aura. Especially if a Diplodocus was to land on them.

"Stop here." Adam interrupted. Neo stopped the Diplo, and Adam jumped off, walking towards a stone embedded in the wall, with slightly lighter stripes going through it. "I think this is metal."

"Then let's get chopping," Mercury replied, jumping off too. He grabbed his pickaxe and started to hit the metal. Parts sprung off, which Adam took and put in small bags. Those bags were then grabbed by Neo, and put back into their place on the saddle.

Professor Ozpin was currently sitting in his makeshift office on Amity, observing the busy researchers in the arena. The moral had gone up since the arrival of the egg, partially due to the fact that the portal works, and that there was a world full of prehistoric beasts waiting on the other side.

Of course, it wasn't without risks. He, Ironwood and some of the researchers discussed it deeply and came to the conclusion that there were a number of them. From a Dinosaur running rampant in the Colosseum, with the portal going out of control and unleashing primal hell upon Vale.

He heard a knock on the door and put his mug down on the table. "Yes?"

"Oz, it's me." The slightly drunk voice replied.

"Come in."

Qrow opened the door and trotted inside. It looked like he had a couple of drinks, at least more than usual. "I've got the latest report of the Monkey's team."

"Did they see anything suspicious?"

"Not really." Qrow slammed the folder onto the table and sat down. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"That's weird. I would've thought that Salem tried to clean up loose ends."

"Should we pull them away from the mission? We could use them here, seeing as that damn Tyrannosaurus is roaming the school."

"Yutyrannus, Qrow. Not a ."

"Do I look like I care about the proper genus? It could be a Triceratops, and we still would have a living, breathing dinosaur running around on school grounds."

"I can assure you that he is under the care of Team CFVY. Nothing will happen under their watch."

"Really? 'Cuz that Cardin guy yelled about a gigantic chicken yesterday."

Ozpin sighed and looked out of the window. "It is true that panic would break out if news of the dinosaur were to reach the public. That's why I chose to keep it here. Until we can construct a proper enclosure, we have to keep it under a tight watch. Also, the little Dinosaur was the one to discover one of the most promising archaeological grounds to date."

"Technically, that blonde dork stepped into that cave during initiation. That honor goes to him."

"No, because he ran out like he was stung by a Lancer."

"Anyways, I hope that the enclosure is ready soon."

"James already pulled a team of researchers and engineers away to work on it. Atlas is even coming up with the costs." Ozpin walked over to his coffee machine and poured in a new cup for him, and one for Qrow. "Here."

Qrow took his mug and pulled out a small flask of alcohol, which he quickly poured into the black drink.

"Of course, we can also make money off of it. Imagine the tourists that'd pay for the sight of Snow."

"Snow? You don't give it a name, Oz. And making it an attraction is a horrible idea."

"I didn't say we would do it, just that it is something to think about once the portal is stable." Ozpin looked out into the Colosseum and watched as Penny brought a big piece of equipment to Arthur Watts.

"And we're set!" Mercury yelled from atop the Diplodocus. "That should be enough for a while!"

"Great. Let me get up there, and then go back." Adam replied, and grabbed onto a rope.

"Neo? You remember the way, right?" Mercury asked.

Neo simply nodded, and pulled the reigns, so that the Diplo would turn around, and move back down the slope. The metal they had gathered filled the air with loud noises as clanged against each other inside the bags.

"Thanks for waiting, human." Adam snapped as he climbed into the saddle.

"You just gotta climb faster."

"Fuck you."

"Well, it is already getting dark." Mercury pointed out and nodded towards the setting sun, which caused the Volcano to throw a long shadow towards the west. "Can this thing move any faster?"

Neo shook her head.

"Seriously?"

Neo nodded. They continued down the mountain, and stepped onto the open grasslands, as Neo suddenly stopped their ride. She looked in horror at the jungle.

"What is it? Did it step on something?" Adam asked.

Neo pointed at the woods, her arm shaking. They watched as a gigantic, bipedal dinosaur peeled out of it.

Its skin had a dark brown color and was covered by a multitude of scars. Its large head spotted dozens of sharp, long teeth, and small horns came out above the eyes. The monster had three digits on its muscular hands.

It looked over the plains, and the herbivores close to it started to run away in panic at the mere sight of the predator.

"W-What is this thing?" Adam asked.

"A Tyrannosaurus?" Mercury guessed.

"I don't think so." The Faunus replied. "I think Tyrannosaurs only had two digits. That's something else. Something bigger."

They looked back towards the Carnivore and watched as it caught a slow Parasaur. Its teeth dug deep into the creature, and easily cut it in half. Blood stained the previously green grass.

"We have to go. Now." Adam said. "If that thing catches us, then we don't stand a chance."

Neo nodded, and slowly turned the Diplodocus into the direction of their base. Adam and Mercury continued to watch the giant, as it feasted on its latest kill. The massive jaws of the animal ripped out giant chunks of flesh from the dead Parasaur, and no smaller scavenger even tried to come near it.

Suddenly, he noticed how the nostrils of the animal shook. He looked around him and froze as he realized their mistake. "We're fucked."

"What?" Adam asked, and immediately shot around to look at the carnivore. "Why?"

"All the other plant-eaters have fled. We're the only ones on this open field."

The Giganotosaurus looked at them, and tilted his head, before letting out a bloodcurdling roar. It stepped onto the torn remains of the Parasaur and started to move towards them.

"Neo! Faster! It's after us!" Adam screamed.

Neo pulled the reins, and the Diplodocus started to accelerate. However, the Giga did the same.

"Why is it after us? It already killed something." Adam asked.

"We are bigger prey," Mercury explained. He watched the Giga, and felt the sweat coming down from his forehead. Small birds scattered out of the tall grass and into the air every time it set foot on the ground. Worse, it looked like it was faster than them.

"We're losing ground," Adam said through gritted teeth. "We can't fight this thing."

"Oh, the proud Adam Taurus has finally found his match?" Mercury asked.

"This is not the time to be snarky, Black. It's agiler than we are. Once we're at the treeline, it will be even faster then we are, and eventually, it might reach our camp."

"And? Any ideas what to do?" Mercury started to look through their supplies and took a Spear. he threw it at the creature, but it didn't reach the dinosaur, and instead impaled the ground, causing Adam to slap his forehead.

"It's too strong. We have to outsmart it."

"And how can we do that?" Mercury replied angrily.

"Neo? Do you have an idea?"

Neo put a finger to her chin and looked into the air before she nodded.

"Great. Let´s hope that it works."

Neo turned the Diplodocus to the right, up to a slope. Mercury was able to see the Redwoods on the other side of the river that was passing by at the foot of the cliff.

He turned around and saw that the Giganotosaurus still ran towards them. It had it's mouth open, ready to bite into the Diplodocus' flank.

The Giganotosaurus bit down on the Diplodocus, and it shattered into dozens of shards. The predator still had all of its speed and was unable to stop in time. It ran over the cliff and fell down into the river.

Mercury slowly walked up to the cliff and looked down. The Giga was still alive and tried to get up. A giant Crocodile was swimming towards it and was sure to keep the dinosaur occupied.

He let out a sigh of relief and looked at Neo. "Gotta admit, your Semblance can be pretty awesome."

Neo nodded with a smile and padded the leg of her Diplodocus.

"We should get moving though." Adam interrupted. "It won't be too long until that thing is up here again. I'd like to be gone when that happens."

Thus, they all climbed back up onto the Diplodocus, and went into the forest.

"Is it safe?" Jaune asked, peeking out of the house.

"Seems like it." Pyrrha, who went out ahead to check for Nora, replied. "I can't see her anywhere. She must've run off to... run off to... I don't know. Catch some prey?"

"Thank the gods," Jaune said and ran out of the building. He took a deep breath of the fresh air. "Finally we can walk around here."

"I'm going to take a look at the plants if that's okay," Pyrrha said and nodded towards the Crop Plots.

"Yeah, no problem. I think I'll go and take a look at Egg. I hope Nora didn't eat it." Thus, Jaune walked towards the enclosure.

To be fair, it only consisted of wooden poles stacked on top of each other, but it was enough to keep out small animals like Dilophosaurus or Compys, who made their way into the valley from time to time.

Aryl was lying down next to the Egg, and moved her head from time to time, sniffing the object. Jaune guessed that the animal was glad to be able to finally spend some time with it after Nora was out hunting.

He noticed something gliding through the air and saw Danny, who was circling over the enclosure, and occasionally sat down on the fence to pick small insects out of his fur.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha yelled.

"Yes? Is everything okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. It's about... This thing."

"What thing?" Jaune asked, and walked over to Pyrrha, who was kneeling down next tot eh plants.

"Here." Pyrrha pointed at a part of the plant that had been dug out. One of their cabbages had been stolen, just before the first harvest. He still found it weird how fast the plants grew here. He theorized that it might've been an adaption to all the animals that ate them.

"So something stole a cabbage? I don't see the problem."

"It's not the cabbage. The problem is that I have no idea what could've stolen it."

Jaune let his view go over the valley. The only bigger animals there was a small group of Parasaurs. Of course, there were the monkeys that climbed around in the trees and some small critters, but none of them would be able to dig out an entire cabbage.

"What about the Liaoningosaurus?"

"No, Weiss said that it eats fish," Jaune explained. "And it's too small."

"But what did it then?" Pyrrha touched the ground and sighed. "Something's here."

"Honestly, it was probably Nora," Jaune muttered. "Let it go, it's just one Cabbage." He left towards the enclosure.

Pyrrha clenched her fist. "I know this is something." She stood up and looked over the valley. "And I will find out what it was, no matter what."

And here is Chapter 17.

Now, this took some time. That was mostly due to the holidays, where I didn't find much time to write. Additionally, I had trouble with finding a conclusion to the Giga fight, but I think that it worked out pretty well.

Also, the next Chapter is probably going to focus on JNPR, and Pyrrha's investigation.

Now to reviews:

kyro2009: That was supposed to be terrifying. Little Fact: I actually have a fear of leeches in real life.
As for how she got them off: Careful use of fire and sharp stones.

Frisky Arctic Fox: Yeah, the disease is surprisingly rare. When I tried to get it in my single player world (for the Achievement), I had to run around in the swamp for two hours before I finally got it.

freechimchangas: Thanks for the idea. I haven't even thought about that, I put it in here as a side-effect of the Fever.

Silken Emperor: Sponsored?

TigerHart13: Thanks

HazyPhantom: Great that I inspired you. I wish you luck with your story and thanks.

Shadow-Proclamation8: Aberration will not physically appear, but it will play a part in how Remnant and the Arks are connected. And don't worry, Winter and Qrow will eventually be on the Ark as well, together with one other person.

RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth; Ark: Survival Evolved belongs to Wildcard Studios