What's this a chapter earlier than usual? Had a little more free time as of late so I thought why the hell not and get this out earlier (this was from my post on Survive the Ark I was to lazy to come up with something else so im leaving it). This is going to be strictly a Sam narrative this chapter so i'm warning you beforehand. With that out of the way let's get into the story.

Wildcard owns Ark, not me.

Chapter 5: A Trip to the Swamp

Several weeks later….

Sam's P.O.V.

It's been a few weeks since the beaver hunt, and things have been pretty good so far. Well, as good as it gets on the island. As I learn how to better survive in this land, with the help of two individuals of course, the dangers of the island seem less likely. Thats not to say that there isn't any of course. Even the most simple and non dangerous tasks can mean the difference between life and death.

Take fishing for example. A couple of days before, me and Alex went out to go catch some "Coel's" as Alex likes to call them down by the river. I was bored from the very beginning, not understanding how someone can be so patient while just sitting there and hoping something would take the bait. Alex didn't mind go figure, and he was perfectly capable of doing the task. Things got interesting however when something finally took the bait.

It was about a half hour since we started. Bored I went to go stand in the shallows and be on lookout to make sure any predators didn't come over and and think we were a snack. There was nothing in the area until I spotted a dark looking back swimming through the river a little upstream from us. It was moving along the water surface, slowly making its way towards us. I told Alex about this and pointed towards its direction, and he surprised me with a smile.

"Don't worry that's just a Baryonyx, it's only after the fishes, not us", he told me, trying to dispel my worries. He briefly told me what exactly a Baryonyx was. Basically it was a medium size dinosaur that looked half crocodile and had a pair of massive claws on its hands.

As he was telling me this, the pole, (which was really just a piece of bamboo with string attached to it with a makeshift wooden hook on the end), started moving. Alex saw this and went towards the pole. Whatever was on the other end was must have been big because Alex was having a hard time pulling it in. He managed to finally get it under control until the fish decided to jump out of the water to allow us to get an idea of what it looks like. I finally got a clear view of the fish and I immediately knew it wasn't a Coel.

In the simplest of terms, it was a piranha. A piranha the size of a HUMAN. It had reddish scales and a massive jaw filled with razor sharp teeth. I was so terrified by it that I didn't realize that when it fell back in it started swimming towards me. Alex tried to pull it back with the pull but the fish was so determined to get to me that it managed to yank the pole out of his hands. I could only look on in terror as it beelined towards me.

I thought I was a goner until I heard a large splash and a large shape dart right towards the piranha. While we were busy with the fish we didn't notice the Baryonyx swimming towards us. Thankfully Alex was right and it only cared for the fish. I almost felt sorry for it, once it was in the dinosaur's jaws, it didn't stand a chance. As the Baryonyx was eating the fish, I got a clear look at it. It's body looked like a basic theropod design, standing on two, shorter arms and a good size tail. It was a dark blue that would probably look almost black from a distance with stripes along its back & neck and had a pale underbelly. But the most interesting thing about it was its head and hands. Like Alex said, she could see its massive pair of claws, which so happens was helping it hold onto the piranha as it ate. And its head had the appearance of a crocodile, long and full of teeth perfectly designed to catch fish. It even had a little crest on top of its head right passed its eyes.

Long story short a fish almost ended me if not for the help of a water dino. The lesson I guess is that even though something seems safe, it can can come around and bite you in the ass, almost literally, on this island.

Also I managed to get a new friend from this whole experience.

To my amazement, and despite Alex's protest, the Baryonyx decided to follow me home. We didn't find out until the next morning until we heard a growl from Diego which woke us up to see the dinosaur wandering outside of the camp. It spotted us, (or most likely me now that I think about it), and came over to us. Diego was about to attack until it surprised us by calling out to us.

It let out a short bark before sniffing around, soon turning towards our stored fish that we managed to catch and cook to eat later. It must have smelled the fish all the way from the river. Seeing it eye the fish gave me a sudden, and probably stupid idea. Against my better judgment and Alex trying to stop me, I went towards the stored fish, The Baryonyx kept its eyes on me the entire time. I pulled out a good size fish and walked towards the the dinosaur. It looked at the fish for a couple of seconds before snatching it out of my hands. It took all of my composure for me not to jump and run back towards the others. It finished the fish before looking at me again, its eyes saying it wanted more.

I fed it a couple of more fish to make it satisfied, hoping it would be happy. Thankfully I was right, maybe a little to right, because as soon as I gave it the last fish it moved closer to me. I would like that I was wasn't scared out of my mind at the large head full of sharp teeth.

But all my fear when away when the damn thing decided to bump me (causing me to stumble a bit) and start making clicking sounds. I started scratching it's snout, causing it to purr.

Long story short, that's how Binda (Alex found the name to be funny, even though I reminded him the reason he named Diego) the Baryonyx joined our tribe. Alex wasn't entirely thrilled that we now had to share our small space with a predatory dinosaur, especially one that was picky with it's diet. Thankfully, Binda's diet consist of things other than fish. Still, having a large animal stuck in a small space was problematic.

Which brings us today. Now that we have another member of our little "tribe" we have come to the decision that it was time to move. Sure the area we were at was generally a safe area from the larger areas, it was kind of a cramped place also. It was fine with just Alex and Diego, and when I came along although the amount of free space got smaller but still was manageable. But with a much larger dinosaur, and aquatic one no less, it was time to find somewhere better suited to our needs.

We weren't moving all at once however, but instead scout out the rest of the island. It was because of this that I learned that Alex hasn't explored the entirety of the island. The farthest north he had been was to the edge of a large swamp, (which is the reason he knows about the Baryonyx, since they are mostly found there).

During the whole preparation for the surveying, I noticed that Alex's mood seemed to be down, and I understood why. As long as Alex had been on the island, this little overhang of rock has been the closest thing to a home. Thinking of this, I couldn't help to feel guilty about the whole situation. If I haven't come along, then Alex wouldn't have to worry about from nd in a new place to stay.

However when I voiced my opinions to him, he reassured me that it wasn't my fault for this situation.

"Even if you were here it not, I still would have to find somewhere else to move. Besides, I have a feeling that the answers to whatever put us here lie deeper within the island. Which is the reason I have something that will make this trip easier for us", he told me.

"And what is that?".

"You'll see".

So on the day we went on our expedition, we had everything ready. We each had knapsacks full of food, clothing, and medical supplies and also carried a sleeping bag with us. The rest of the gear,(which consisted of some weapons, extra clothing, and some other miscellaneous things) was carried by Diego and Binda, but mostly the latter. Due to her much larger size she didn't mind the extra wait. Diego on the other hand, was not happy about the whole situation. I thought it was funny how such a large predator was basically having a little hissy fit over carrying something, despite it being as minimal as possible.

Finally we went to a different route than usual and headed further upriver towards the deeper waters. It was there were I first discovered Alex's little "surprise".

It was a raft, a good size one also. It was made to be large enough to hold several people on it and had a large wooden paddle. It had a large rock tried to it by a thick piece of rope, most likely some sort of an anchor. It was hidden under a bunch of palm branches to keep it hidden from unwanted attention.

I turned towards Alex for an explanation. "When-".

"I made it a month before you arrived on the island in case of a situation like this", he told me. He then moved towards it to start pushing it into the water. I helped him and we managed to get it into the water after a couple of minutes. Once it hit the water, to our amusement Diego jumped in and laid down right in the middle of the raft. We unloaded all of the supplies off of Binda who then waded into the deeper water to wait for us to take off. Thank god she was half aquatic since she wouldn't have fit on the raft despite its size.

Once everything was loaded and secured we took off. Alex grabbed the paddle and started pushing us along the river. He initially didn't want me to paddle at all but after a quick argument we agreed that we would take turns so one of us could rest. As we moved inland, our other two companions were enjoying themselves in their own ways. Diego was taking a nap in the middle of the raft while Binda was swimming along side us and also looking for something to eat. I didn't see her surface with anything until we passed by a flock of Hesperornis swimming and she surfaced with one locked in her jaws. I looked away as she went on land to enjoy her little "snack".

We were moving for a few more hours until we began to enter the outskirts of the swamp. I noticed that the water started to get more darker with plant life but still clear. The trees began to change from normal jungle foliage to large cypresses covered in moss. Alex said that mangrove forests grow closer to the coast. There was also a large amount of giant dragonflies in the area. She has seen many of them before along the more shallower parts of the river but never in this quantity. With wingspans as long as my outstretched arms, the giant bugs are quite the annoyance, always trying to scavenge off a carcass and aggressively chase after anything that tries to tamper with it. Although annoying Alex, god knows where he came up with this idea, has found use for them. The dragonflies chitin body has some use and Alex has used it to make a sort of cementing paste with it, helping him build some of the structures around camp.

All around me I could see the amount of life in these wetlands. There were flocks of small pterosaurs of all kinds sitting in the trees, looking down at the water for anything to eat. Along the sandbanks and shallow waters large lizards with giant sails on their backs were sunning themselves in the midday sun. There were multiple giant amphibians either laying on partially submerged tree trunks or swimming through the water, keeping as much distance from Binda as possible. She might be the reason she hasn't seen any of the infamous Kapros Alex talks about, smallish crocodilians that leap out at you from the water. She even saw, to her horror, a massive snake sunbathing by the water on the beach. It raised its head at the sight of us and let out an angry hiss, but didn't approach.

As we continued through the swamp, we moved through a dense area of cypresses that obstructed the view around us. I was busy paddling now, letting Alex catch some z's. My mind kept on drifting towards the wildlife I saw when I was snapped back into reality by the sound of a falling tree and a large splash. I would have put it off as a dead tree falling over if not for the sounds in its general direction. I could hear something moving through the water and making rumbling noises. As we got closer I could hear a large amount of grunting. Getting creeped out, I woke up Alex to let him know. He was obviously not to happy about being woken up, but soon saw the worry look on my face. I told him what I heard before the noise started again. He smiled and as I started to ask him about that before he put a finger to my lips to shush me.

"Shhhhhhh…..", he told me before pointing around a bend. "Paracers"

I was confused before we got around the bend and I got a full view of the "Paracers". I was amazed by the sight at the sight of them. Looking like a cross between a elephant and a giraffe, these gigantic mammals were wading through the water to a nearby grove. Covered in greyish leathery skin like an elephant, they had a long thick neck that ended in a large head that looked like a hornless rhino. While the water would go to our necks, these creatures were so huge that the water only was past its knees of the largest one.

There were 3 that were visible in the group, two adults and one juvenile the size of an elephant. They didn't pay much attention to use as they waded their way towards the grove, most likely looking for something to eat. It wasn't until they were moving past the raft that the second largest one turned back around and let out a call. It was then I saw one of the most adorable things ever, a little baby paracer trying to swim towards its mother. Despite it obviously being a baby, it was already bigger than the two humans on the raft. Despite its size, it still couldn't walk through the water like the larger ones and had to keep its neck above the water. I laughed at how adorable it was as it tried to keep up with its mother. It managed to make it to much shallower water and stood there for a few seconds before looking towards us. It let out a call and to our surprise it started walking towards us. It would have swam right towards the raft if it wasn't for its mother blocking its path before it hit deeper water. She must have smelled either Binda or Diego, or possible didn't want her calf near the strange creatures. She prodded her calf towards the rest of the family which were waiting for them and then group moved towards the grove.

We watched them for a few minutes before continuing on our expedition. We continued for a few more hours before it started to get dark. Luckily there was an area that was above the swamp that was easy for Diego and Binda to get over but would put them out of reach from the predators of the swamp and was to steep for the larger ones. We set up a campfire and laid down for the night, our two prehistoric companions sleeping around us to deter the predators that could get up here. We could hear the call of much larger creatures than the ones I was already getting used to by the old campsite.

We spent the rest of the night talking about random things. Mostly I asked about all the different creatures I saw in the swamp. Most importantly about the paracers.

"What kind of creatures are those?", I asked him.

"Well", he said, answering my question, "think of them as rhinos that have the same body shape as giraffes and of course increase their size and thats about as good of a description I could give you".

I sat there, amazed that those creatures were related to rhinos. "Have you ever tried-?", I asked, wondering if he has ever hunted them.

He laughed at that. "No no no. You see the size of the biggest one? I don't think I would have enough arrows to take it down. Also I would never attack one of the smaller ones, in case it angers its parents. Come to think of it, I don't think I would ever hunt a paracer, there is something about them that is awe inspiring".

I silently agreed with him. Even though they weren't the most good looking of creatures, their sheer size alone makes them a wonderful addition to the island. Although they were far from the largest of creatures (I have seen some of the sauropods from a distance), they clearly dominate their respective area of the landmass. Although it was an interesting thought, another thought suddenly popped up in my head.

"Hey Alex can I ask you something?".

"Yeah whats up?".

"Do you ever want to return to your home?".

This caught him by surprise. "Of course I would want to. Why would you ask that?".

I thought for a second to form a good answer to his question. "It's just, you seem to be in love of this place".

He let out a deep sigh. "Sam, have I ever told you of my past life?"

She shook her head at that answer.

"I was what people would call a dinosaur nerd, someone who was always interested in the past. I never denied it. In fact before I ended up here, I was studying paleontology in college. This island, despite its mismatch bunch of prehistoric fauna, this place is probable the best chance to see all these creatures living and breathing like the movies", he went silent for a couple of seconds, "but I want to know why I am here. Something put us here and I want to know the reason why. I also want to go home and tell people about the discoveries I found here. Sadly I doubt anyone would believe me", he sadly finished.

Realizing that I had to cheer him up, I smiled towards him. "Well you got one believer over here".

He looked at me for a couple of seconds before letting out a light chuckle. "YEah, thats true. Thanks Sam".

"No problem".

We soon went to bed to continue on our journey the next day, not knowing or caring what sort of events would happen to us.

And thats it for the 5th chapter of the story. I would like to introduce you to the newest addition to the tribe; Binda the Baryonyx! To be honest Binda was kind of a last minute add in but i'm glad to put her in regardless. On another topic I love paracers. Ever since I was a kid and watched Walking with Beasts, I fell in love with the relative of the Paracer, the Indicotherium (even though it was probable a Paracer). When I found out Ark was going to have them I was stoked. Now getting past all of my fangirling (or fanboying since i'm a guy), I would like to get on with the schedule of the story. Since school is almost over their might be more frequent updates but I can guarantee that their won't be one until after the next PC update. With that out of the way, leave a comment if you have any question, and I will see you on the next one.

-Kaiju