RWBY's .A.R.K.

[Shadlos]

Who said I wont'? It's too early to add new characters, anyway.

Regardless, I will confirm there won't be just Team RWBY on the ARK as well. If I feel like it, i'll drop a hint or two later.

[Xdrone]

I'm curious... Will u add deviljho?

[Shadlos]

Some of my other pals say I have a hard time keeping everything I love out of everything I do (like adding Monster Hunter to a lot of roleplays I do, or Attack on Titan, or RWBY).

It's because of this and my own judgement i'm not planning on incorporating any of my Monster Hunter monsters, and if I do, it may only be one of them. Again, even the slightest one of them is a VERY slight chance.

[Xdrone]

New chapter?

[Shadlos]

Sadly no:

my writing and inquiry class has actually taking up the majority of my time with a massive project. Sorry.

[Xdrone]

So u are taking more time to make more time to write a chapter?

[Shadlos]

trying to, but as I said, college is taking up the time I have to do anything. Believe me when I say im not happy about it.

[Xdrone]

Back to begging for a chapter !!

[Xdrone]

Well i am losing interest

[rpicardi1]

Be patient. It takes time to compose and write a story as complex as this when one's time is taken up with higher education.

[Kaprodonychus]

On ‎29‎/‎02‎/‎2016 at 10:11 AM, Shadlos said:

trying to, but as I said, college is taking up the time I have to do anything. Believe me when I say im not happy about it.

I agree with you man. I'm in high school and I have so much on my plate I'm usually unable to do a single chapter (THANK GOD FOR HOLIDAYS ) Like look at me, ive only done 2 chapters and I'm working on my 3rd . Anyways take all the time you need. The best thing about writing fan fiction like this is that it has no due date. good luck

[Shadlos]

1 hour ago, Kaprodonychus said:

I agree with you man. I'm in high school and I have so much on my plate I'm usually unable to do a single chapter (THANK GOD FOR HOLIDAYS ) Like look at me, ive only done 2 chapters and I'm working on my 3rd . Anyways take all the time you need. The best thing about writing fan fiction like this is that it has no due date. good luck

Exactly. On that note, I want to congratulate you on the success of your fan fiction, as well. It's also nearly got 1,000 views, and it's pretty good! Luckily, I'm off this Tuesday and Wednesday, before I get into Spring Break a bit later. Definitely be able to crank out more then. Trust me, as I said to Jat (YES, JAT) who commented on my Lamia dossier on steam, i'm in a massive creative vibe (since last sunday), and have been using it on anything that can benefit from it. RWBY's ARK is one of those that has benefitted.


Regardless, I'm in no rush to get this done...especially with college being so "bog me down with work". IF i'm lucky, I might be able to even release this next chapter before my time off, but we'll see.

[Kaprodonychus]

58 minutes ago, Shadlos said:

Exactly. On that note, I want to congratulate you on the success of your fan fiction, as well. It's also nearly got 1,000 views, and it's pretty good! Luckily, I'm off this Tuesday and Wednesday, before I get into Spring Break a bit later. Definitely be able to crank out more then. Trust me, as I said to Jat (YES, JAT) who commented on my Lamia dossier on steam, i'm in a massive creative vibe (since last sunday), and have been using it on anything that can benefit from it. RWBY's ARK is one of those that has benefitted.


Regardless, I'm in no rush to get this done...especially with college being so "bog me down with work". IF i'm lucky, I might be able to even release this next chapter before my time off, but we'll see.

Thanks man. You're fan fiction is pretty awesome as well! Yes I know almost a 1000 views!! So exciting. I too are in no rush with my fan fiction. I have most of it sorted out in my head so I won't need to worry if I forget something cause I'll probz remember it later down the track  

[Shadlos]

Well, I don't have a new chapter....but I have a teaser! Inspired by ARK's own Explorer Notes, i'm going to start doing something similar, teasing a few things about RWBY's ARK...specifically, the authors of these notes! They'll be making their appearances in RWBY's ARK as it progresses, and you'll be left guessing on who it is until they finally appear...or their fate is revealed. Regardless, here's the first of our strange new RWBY's ARK survivors, other than Team RWBY. You can be the ones to decide what to call this survivor until it makes an appearance in the story, to differentiate this one from the others you will see. Also, feel free to guess who this new character is! Here we go, RWBY's ARK Extra Survivor 1!

 

Day I

 

This is more cruel of a reality then I could have imagined. Knowing what I do of my past life, and that all I have once known and loved is... nonexistent. I don't know where I am on this strange place anymore. I awoke on the cold shores of a tundra, soon faced with the snarling teeth of giant wolves. These weren't Beowolves, but... were just as terrifying. I barely managed to escape them, before making the foolish choice to run deeper into the frozen forest...I wish I hadn't, but at least I know now what I do because of it. My family...my friends...they wouldn't want me to just give up and die. I...I can't, for my sake...in their name. Wherever this place is, whatever it is...I must survive. I have reason to believe, from evidence in the tundra's forests, that I'm not alone...I have hostile company, somewhere on the island...although, I seem to get that everywhere. I can't believe how alert I am. This is nowhere to the degree of what I would expect my training to cover...yet I must use what I know and grow to the situation. I'm constantly checking over my shoulder. Even the slightest noise, in the most peaceful of situations, it makes me want to run for my life...but I must survive. Soon will come the time for hunting...and finally fending for myself. I have made clothes for myself finally. I have a hatchet, a pickax, and spears: all made of wood, stone, and flint. I'm tired and hungry. Thirst hasn't been much of an issue yet for me. It's just now sundown, as I write this note upon warmer, sandy beaches along a greener part of the island. I can still see the shores of the Tundra...I don't want to go back there soon. Not yet, anyway... I'll put that behind me for now. I need to make a fire and shelter soon...I best get started while I have light.

 

 

Day IV

 

I feel like I've been doing nothing but running for four days. I haven't slept at all since I first awoke. I just now felt calm enough to finally sit down and write another note. Yet still, I'm constantly looking around me. I thought I was easily startled before... If I was, I wonder what I am now. I built a fire and small lean-to of thatch on the beach, away from the tide. I was awoken by the sound of something bumping into the pile of logs I had laid out on the sand...that saved my life, as I soon found a giant crocodile trashing my small home. I've been on the move ever since, no sleep, to my severe detriment. My eyes are sore, and exhausted. The circles under my eyes are dark, and truly, I look pitiful every time I see my reflection. At least I'm eating. I was glad I took a moment to watch the local herbivorous wildlife eat from the vegetation. From them and this...device on my arm, I know now what's safe to eat and what isn't. Yet still, despite being plenty well fed and hydrated... I just can't help but feel, and look, malnourished. It's the lack of sleep, the lack of rest. I've tried many times over these past four days to sleep. I tried sleeping in the roots under a mangrove tree, but I was soon swarmed by massive ants. I tried sleeping in the treetop of a riverbirch, only to come face to face with a giant snake. I tried sleeping on a tall rock that I had to climb to get to the top of, near the sea...some sort of pterosaur with a razor-sharp head crest attacked me viciously. Raptors have also woken me up. I've seen three different kinds: large ones that seem most common: they woke me up as I tried sleeping under the shade of trees. Then there was a smaller, nocturnal species with a strange bite and incredible intelligence. They chased me up into a tree, and tried all night to either get me down or get up to me. Then there was a third, midway in size between the two...and the smartest of them all. Those things were legitimate problem solvers, actually opening the wooden door to my home at the time, which was made out of a small cave entrance I had blocked-off with a wooden wall and door...stupid of me to do so. I had trapped myself between them and a cave full of who-knows what starting to claw apart the wooden wall blocking them off further back, and they knew it...only when the back wall was breached did it cause enough of a commotion for me to be able to escape and seal them all inside...i came back later to find they had broken down the door and escaped with their lives...They're so clever and persistent they still hunt me, as if not out of hunger...but spite, and sport...liking the challenge of prey so apparently easy and harmless, yet being able to put up such a fight...I've been living a non-stop nomad's life ever since, using the “stimberries” and Stimulant to keep myself awake as much as I can. I feel like a coffee addict...yet, I've got to keep going. I can't rest just yet. Those raptors are still on my tail. I'm constantly changing my course recently...they started launching preemptive attacks...I've walked into two of their ambushes already, barely escaping with my life each time...I've got to get smarter than them. I'm the one with the training of a hunter of Grimm. I'm the one who's an actual sentient being...I've got the real intelligence here to outwit them. I've laid traps of my own for them, and a few have worked on them...but not enough. It seems they redouble their effort each time I achieve my own victory against them...I've spent too much time writing due to my nerves. I've got to get moving, shake them somehow...If I don't, they'll get to me...or...maybe...if they can't...they know what I know. If they can't get to me anytime soon...they don't have to. I'm bound to collapse sooner or later without rest...I've...got to get going... I... must shake... Must... survive... I've got to stay awake... can't... Sitting for too long...got to get...going....drink... stimulant. Clear mind...

 

I hear raptors.

[Shadlos]

(YAAAAA-HOOOOOO! Finally got this done! This is the last chapter for a little while before I reveal Chapter 11. I've got plenty of little RWBY's ARK - related tidbits, however, so be on the lookout for those!)

 

 

-Chapter 10-

White and Blake make landfall first, at the mouth to the red obelisk's moat. White climbs up onto the land with a few contented grunts, and then Bari lands on the beach next. Gustave slides up onto the beach due to the momentum he had from swimming, sliding to a stop, and Yang, Weiss, and I cheer for him. “Good show, boy!” Yang says, patting his back before throwing herself off of him excitedly. Weiss slides off him next as i'm the final one off of him. Gustave just seems to mumble in delight he's made us happy. Blake manages to convince White to let her down, and then takes out her crutch, using it once again. I turn to Bari, White, and Gustave “You three wait here.” I tell them, to which they seem to acknowledge. There's a small natural pathway around the caldera, which leads to a natural stone bridge up towards the focal point of the obelisk's beam. We begin to slowly make the trek towards the center by taking this pathway. We look up at the Obelisk, now that we've got a good look at it...it's massive. It's positioned directly above a large column of rock in the center of the moat, and six large, rock and metal structures outlining the whole caldera point up at an angle towards it. There's metal structures and glowing lights coming from the ground...it's mesmerizing. We manage to pass by some support structures for one of the three spike-like protrusions from the earth...and there's a familiar sight. A large, glowing blue pattern of a diamond shape: resembling our implants. We continue the pathway, then heading up the stone bridge onto the plateau...there, there's a large, metal pedestal that the red light from the Obelisk above focuses down on...atop the metal pedestal, there is a single terminal...a waist-high, metal protrusion...shaped like our implants, once again. We're looking up at the Obelisk as we approach the terminal...I feel like i'm going to get a stiff neck...but i'm just so mesmerized. Strangely enough...the Obelisk is nothing but an outer husk. The light coming down onto the terminal doesn't seem to emanate from the Obelisk, but rather goes through an open center and out the top, into the vast blue sky...it makes me wonder many things about the island...suddenly, I'm brought back to reality upon hearing Yang trip over Weiss's right heel. While Weiss had stopped to look up at the Obelisk, Yang had kept going, and her left foot caught on Weiss's right heel, causing her to faceplant onto the metal of the pedestal...if Weiss hadn't caught her, of course, grabbing Yang's left arm to keep her from falling. “Sorry...” Weiss says, Yang starts standing back onto her own two feet. “It's nothing... just... big... cool...object in sky made by aliens...besides, I think if I stared up for any longer my neck would get stiff...”

“I think we were all feeling the same way....” Blake says, rubbing the back of her neck. Now standing on her own two feet, Yang looks at the terminal, which is only a few feet away, then towards me “Well, Sis....you're up.” My eyes widen, and I quickly rummage around, feeling the pockets on my hide outfit... where did I put it?... Hah! Found it! I pull the note from A.L out of my right pantleg pocket... and then a massive nervousness sets in. I slowly advance towards the terminal, standing in front of it. Like I would a Beacon, I open my implant after focusing on the Terminal for a minute...I'm rewarded with a different screen than usual. My heart's in my throat right now because of my nervousness. I scan the screen quickly...there IS a tab that says “Transmit ARK Data”, not “Receive Tribute Data”...but maybe it's a subsection of the first. I press that button, bringing up another screen...sure enough there is a spot where I see “Receive Tribute Data”. Yet, upon pressing that tab, I what looks like a space where items would go or be listed, but it's blank. I scan the rest of the screen...then I see an option I like: “Use Passcode”. I quickly open up A.L's note again, now...where was it.....there! Now I press the new option, and using a keypad that appears on my screen, type in 013682. The screens go away, and the light coming through the Obelisk intensifies...although only for about five seconds, before returning to normal. “Did you get anything?” I hear Blake ask. I check my inventory “....Nope.” I say quickly “Nothing new.”

 

“Well...that was anti-climactic.” Weiss says, as the three of them walk closer. Yang smirks “Error. File not downloaded: Server session timeout.”

“It...apparently downloaded though.” I say, checking my own inventory, as well as the terminal.”

“Ok, then User Error: File not Found.”

 

“I'mma smack you.”

“You know what happens when we get into fights like that. I always win.”

 

“Because you pull my hair knowing I can't pull yours!”

 

“That....sounds cheap.” Blake says, turning to Yang. Yang shrugs “It's not cheap and it's not cheating. It's called exploiting an opportunity.”

 

“Putting that behind us...” I say, looking back up at the Obelisk. “I...have no idea what's next, or if there's a second step or...”

 

“Ya know, I was literally expecting anything to happen.” Yang replies “Not nothing. Seriously, I wasn't going to be surprised if A.L herself started descending from above within the beam in some sort of godly, radiant glory.”

“Haaaa-llelujah!” Weiss sings in a melodic tone. We turn toward her, and Yang's smiling with a look of approval, nodding a few times “Dang. You do sing good.”

“Thanks.” Weiss says smiling. “Thought I'd try being funny again.”

 

“Unlike previous times, I'm happy to report that one was actually pretty good.”

 

“Gee, thanks.” Weiss says sarcastically, but with a smile. We all laugh, only to be interrupted by a long, deep, drawn-out growl...that scares me half to death. We slowly turn around, facing behind ourselves and...wa...wha?! There are two animals standing behind us, as if they've been standing there the whole time, and we've been oblivious to their existence. The smaller of the two is probably only 20 ft or so long, with four legs, a flattened body, back armor, a clubbed tail, and LOTS of spikes. By lots of spikes, I mean, like....spikeception. It's got some sort of saddle on it's back, which I can best easily describe as a “Metal pillow with hide draped over it for comfort”...yet, still, a singular row of back spikes protrudes from the center...granted the way the saddle seat is made...i think you're supposed to be sitting on it on your knees...then there's the big fella...and I mean...BIG fella. Four thick legs, at least 20 ft tall, covered in blue fur with some red highlights, a big head, large trunk, and a strange, branching display of tusks. He also has a saddle on his back, which runs straps for support under his belly, and to the base of his tusks. “Woolly Mammoth!” Yang says, throwing her arms in the air with a smile “Woolly Mammoth and a thingy!”

 

The dinosaur seems to give another low, mumbling growl after she says that...perhaps out of disapproval of being called a “thingy”. Blake shakes her head as I bust out laughing “It's an Ankylosaurus.” Blake replies. “And yes, you're right Yang...that's some form of Woolly Mammoth.”

 

“So...A.L Is giving us some of her pets?” I ask, walking closer to the mammoth. “Why would she do that?”

 

“Well, remember when I said taming creatures could help make work easier?” Blake replies, walking over to the Ankylosaurus, and bending to get eye-level with her. “I feel like these two species are especially good workers at certain jobs.”

 

Weiss now stands next to me, in front of the Mammoth, and Yang is over by Blake and the Ankylosaurus. Weiss slowly reaches her hand out towards the mammoth's trunk “What's your name, big guy?” she asks softly, petting his trunk. “Hmm?”

 

I look at the Mammoth and use my implant to check inventory....upon which, I can see his name. “Apparently, A.L named him 'Gamuto'.” I state.

“ 'Gamuto'?” Yang asks. “That's a strange name. Cool, but strange.”

 

“This girl here is Petra.” Blake says, after looking at Petra's inventory, and carefully petting her head. I smile “Gamuto and Petra, eh? Well then...Gamuto, Petra, I'm Ruby. These are my friends Weiss, Blake, and my sister Yang. We're Team RWBY, glad A.L sent you to help us out!”

 

Petra thumps her tail on the metal a few times somewhat enthusiastically as her own way of saying “Hello”. Gamuto turns his head to his right, and starts reaching for something with his trunk. At first, I thought he was trying to scratch himself...but it turns out he's trying to get something from under his saddle. Thinking a moment, I open up Gamuto's inventory...sure enough, other than some berries for food, Gamuto's got something else there: a strange, metal box with a green diamond light on the top...and another note. I take these from his inventory, setting the box on the ground. “More stuff from A.L” I say, holding up the note. Blake rises to her feet and turns towards me with Yang “What's it say, sis?” Yang asks. I clear my throat “Well, at least this one is much more legible...” I remark, before starting.

 

“If you haven't been introduced already, may I introduce you to Gamuto and Petra: these two are among the most prime specimens of my Ankylosaurs and Mammoths. As I hinted in my earlier note, these two can help you get a firm stand on the island. Gamuto here, and Mammoths like him, are one of the few animals of the island able to uproot trees without shattering them, using their specially developed tusks and extreme strength. He'll be able to help you get the wood you need, and carry plenty of weight in the process. Petra, on the other hand, is your girl for dealing with rocks. That tail of hers does more than look like it packs a punch: it's solid and dense enough to shatter the resource-ridden rocks of the island. She can help you get the stone or metal you need easily. Although you can find metal in small quantities in any rock on the island, some yield higher metal ore content then others. In the mountains, you can often find gold-colored rocks: those are rocks, whose golden streaks tell you they teem with metal. Yet, as you can guess...the mountains are quite a distance away. Even the closest one, which I always went to, The Great Peak, is still a considerable trek: if lucky, you can make it there in a day, depending on the size of the party and those involved. Yet, I found out there's barely any need to go to the mountains unless I need copious amounts of metal. The smoother rocks found along the shores of Cragg's Island, within the shallow water of the bays and rivers, have incredibly high metal content, so they're what you want to have Petra deal with if you're looking for high metal content. Ankylosaurs are natural swift swimmers, surprisingly, and I've trained Petra, along with my others, to hold their breath for a little longer than normal in case you need to venture into deeper 'shallow” water. No need to worry about the Piranha or anything else in the river, because one good smash from Petra's tail will deal with that easily, even if she's swimming. Now, I don't know if you built a bridge across the channel, or if you swam across. If you did the latter, don't worry about Petra and Gamuto. Like Petra, Gamuto's a good swimmer. Just keep an eye out for the damn sharks. Trust me when I say Megalodon swim up into the mouth of the channel all the damn time. That said, it's best to actually go farther down the channel to where it shortens out, and becomes only freshwater. Gamuto and Petra have smacked away Piranha before, so don't worry about that. Besides...Megapiranha aren't in EVERY part of the river: if you've walked down the Cragg's island side of the channel, you may have seen the coastal waterfall on this (obelisk) side of the channel. The part of the channel directly in front of the waterfall, although still fairly wide, is shallow enough for Gamuto to walk across. That, and it has absolutely no piranha: probably because of that Onchopristis who's always there. He's a good pal of mine: never tamed him due to his level, though. So long as Gamuto doesn't step on him, he'll be fine with you.

Now, about that 'box': it's my next phase in helping you out. Just use it on a large, flat surface somewhere in where or near you're holding up. Do this, and then you and I can finally 'sit down', and have a nice talk about what's happened. Also...I don't know if you know of the metal building embedded within the slopes of the coastline underwater. I'll make this clear: that's not mine. That was there abandoned and decrepit when I myself started patrolling the oceans. I've been in there: and there's some useful stuff still sunken away in the underwater building. If you can hold your breath long enough to get inside, there are a few air pockets you can use down there to keep yourself in line. I highly recommend checking that out. Best regards, see you soon.”

 

 

“See you soon?” Blake asks. I shrug “She probably didn't mean it like that.” I reply “More along the lines of “A friendly goodbye, expect more of my notes later”.

 

“...and I'm glad she put the thing about Megalodons in the channel at ease.” Weiss replies “At least we weren't attacked on our way over.”

 

“Guess we check out that safer passage.” I say “While being sure not to step on an...'Ochopristis', whatever that is. Slightest idea, Blake?”

“No clue.” She replies.

 

“Either way, I call Petra!” Yang says, walking alongside the Ankylo, before carefully throwing herself onto the saddle up top. Her excitement flees shortly after realizing she's split-legs over a row of fairly intimidating spikes. “Uhhhh....on second thought...” she says “....nah, i'll stay here. But if this is the default saddle for her...must make safer saddle.”
 

“Yeah...don't wanna get impaled where the sun don't shine, Yang.” I tease. Yang shudders “guh, please....” she responds. Weiss and Blake chuckle, before Weiss turns to Gamuto “Lemme use him for now.” She says, and Gamuto responds by wrapping his trunk around her waist, and carefully helping lift her onto his back. I turn to Blake “So I guess you'll get White, and I've got Gustave?”

 

“Sounds like a deal.”

 

That being said, we take our two new allies with us back down to the beach, where Bari, Gustave, and White have been waiting. While Gustave and White were doing a typical Crocodilian activity: lying around on the beach sunbathing, Bari was once again trying her luck at fishing...and, from evidence of leftovers on the beach, had caught a few good-sized coelocanth. Blake mounts White Fang once again as I happily climb atop Gustave again. Bari, seeing the fact we're moving out, head back over towards us. I take out my spyglass and look through to the other side, where the rest of our pets should be...sure enough, Titania is grazing peacefully from some bushes while Ember and Pachi seem to be enjoying a careful bout of roughhousing. Putting my spyglass down, I whistle and wave my right arm a few times....this gets their attention from across the wide bay. As soon as it's clear I have their attention, I whistle once more, and point further down the beach, to tell them “Go this way while we do”. Upon seeing us move down the beach, they mirror our movements, keeping pace with us as we head farther down towards the thinner parts of the channel. I'm careful to try and find that waterfall A.L wrote about...soon enough, I see a small river cutting the beach in front of us, emerging from some small cliffs. Sure enough, tucked between them is a gorgeous waterfall right on the beach. It must be 40 ft tall and 50 ft across. Now we turn to face the other side of the channel...It's about 500 or so feet across to the other side, much narrower from the opening we originally crossed; this does give us some form of safe security. Gustave and I are first in the river, followed by Blake & White, then Bari. We swim around in the river a moment to see if it's safe...sure enough, nothing there. The water itself is very clear in this spot, revealing the sandy, beautiful bottom through the crystal clear water. “All good!” I say, waving back towards Yang and Weiss. Yang and Petra are the first duo in, as Petra begins to swiftly swim across the river. Next, Weiss begins crossing on Gamuto, who begins to trek across the river, the water coming halfway up his body, so all he needs to do is lift his trunk above water. All seems fine as we're now halfway across the channel in a few minutes, where our pets on the other side are waiting. Blake is to my left, Yang to my right, Bari also to my right, and Weiss to my left, behind me. I take a moment to look around, scanning for danger while, still riding Gustave bareback. As I turn and look at Weiss, something catches her eye off to the left, farther in the river. She takes out her spyglass and looks downstream...suddenly her face falls. “Must go faster!” she quickly says “MUST GO FASTER!”

 

“What's wrong?” I quickly ask.

 

“The piranha are back! GO FASTER!”

 

I quickly look downstream...and I can vaguely make out a bunch of blurs in the water darting our direction: 24 in total. I have a flashback of the scene when Yang was attacked. I'd be damned if it wasn't the exact same school! Gamuto starts stampeding through the water the best he can while Petra, Weiss, and Bari quickly start swimming faster. Why the hell now of all times? Even if Gustave is a predator of Megapiranha, Bari and White as well, only so much could be done without getting torn apart! The shoreline's right there! We can make it! I'm constantly checking over my shoulder at the approaching swarm...some of them break ahead of the others and start blitzing towards the closest prey: White and Blake. The damn things are much faster than they look, clearing a surprising distance in mere seconds, probably overstimulated by the sight of prey. I'm the first ashore and Bari follows, I turn to see black shapes in the water feet away from Blake and White. Blake takes out a spear and turns on White, ready to give him some sort of defense as they escape...but just then, the bottom of the river stirs, and a strange shape breaches the surface of the water between Blake and the piranha...it looks like a hacksaw. No sooner than I notice this, there's a flurry of motion as whatever owns that weapon starts thrashing violently, hacking the piranha to shreds, and giving Blake and White, as well as Yang, Petra, Weiss, and Gamuto, cover to escape to shore. The piranha are busy with whatever that creature is – probably the Onchopristis – rushing towards the foaming, bloody water only to die. It's like they're charging head-first into a meat grinder. Soon, the water becomes placid again...and my curiosity is raised. I get off of Gustave, then turn towards the river, looking out at where the commotion just was. Before anybody can say anything, I dive head-first into the water, swimming out in curiosity. “RUBY!” Weiss calls in a quick panic, diving off of Gamuto after me. Soon, Yang and Blake are in the water as well. The blood has already begun clearing, but there's still a noticeable cloud there, with piranha chunks everywhere in the river. I dive down a little to try and find the Onchopristis, looking through the water...finally, that same hacksaw-like object emerges again, this time, through the blood cloud. That whole growth is the snout of a long creature, 25 ft long, that I can best describe as a “flattened shark”. The eyes are on the top of it's body, with a flat mouth and gills on the underside. It's swimming towards a chunk of Piranha, which it swallows with ease before turning my way. I don't feel threatened by it at all: not if A.L didn't. By now, the rest of my team is underwater with me as well. The Onchopristis swims under us, gobbling up some more piranha chunks, before swimming back towards the bottom of the water, where it does something really friggin cool. Just as it approaches the bottom of the channel, the Onchopristis changes color to match the sand and sediment in the river, then folds it's top fins – even it's tail fin – flat against it's back, sliding into the river bed, burying itself in the bottom. I quickly surface with the others, taking a large gasp for air. “Ok, He's cool.” I say, after seeing the Onchopristis. Weiss shakes her head “As long as he helps keep the river safer for us, he's alright.”

“Say hey.” I note “Since we're all already swimming, why don't we go check out that metal structure?”

“I can do that with you and Gustave.” Blake replies. “So that way we get two things done at the same time.”

 

“Fair enough.” Yang says, smiling as she starts backstroking towards the shoreline. “We'll get the new guys home, then wait for ya back at the mouth of the river. Don't get eaten by sharks, now.”

“Not funny!” I say with a pouty face, especially with what happened earlier in the day. Yang and Weiss head back ashore and start leading the rest of our animals home, save for Gustave, who joins us in the water. We climb onto his back, Blake behind me. I look over my shoulder at Blake “Do you remember where it is?” I ask. Blake nods “Yeah, I do. Just follow our river to where it meets the sea. Then we'll go from there.” So, we ride Gustave up the channel towards where our river branches from it, and take the river as a natural highway down to where it meets the ocean. With Gustave's speed, the whole journey is about 5 minutes, surprisingly. Now at the same bay where Blake once went for a test dive with White Fang, we're ready to begin our decent. I look back at Blake again “You sure you're ready?” I ask. Blake smirks “Just because Yang points out i'm not a catfish doesn't mean I know how to hold my breath...I'd like to ask you the same question.”

“I've done plenty of 'hold-your-breath contests' with Yang growing up.” I say with a smile “So I should be able to keep my breath in until we find one of those pockets A.L spoke of.”

“If that's the case, I think we're ready.”

 

Facing forwards, I give a slight tap on Gustave's back. Sure enough, he dives down immediately, quickly submerging into the coastal water....wow...Blake wasn't kidding when she said the reefs were beautiful. There's so many vibrant colors everywhere. Swimming out to the drop-off, we pause a moment to try and figure out where the structure is. In seconds, Blake taps my right shoulder and points down to the cliff face...there it is! Gustave swims for it as fast as he can...I really don't like the feeling of going deep underwater. The feeling of safety seems to simply lessen and lessen the deeper we go. Finally in front of the opening, Gustave turns and swims down into it. The entire passageway is about 40 ft wide and 50 ft tall...and very dark. Yet, as we round a dark corner, light comes into view, from beautiful glowing coral. The coral glows in a light blue shape, and is simply beautiful...but we can't stop and admire it for long. I'm starting to run out of air...and so is Blake. I look around frantically...and see a light blue, square-shaped spot above...which seems to be the surface of the water. I quickly point at it, and Blake and I get off of Gustave and frantically swim up towards the light just above. I gasp for air as I enter a pocket of air caused by what seems to be the ceiling opening of a large air duct, 10ft by 10ft. The area is lit up in an eerie, yet beautiful blue-green glow caused by the coral underneath. Blake gasps for air as she surfaces seconds after me. I turn around, treading water, facing her. “Well, we're here!” I say with a smile. “and this place is really flippin cool!”

“It really is.” Blake replies “With the way the coral lights everything up. It adds to the whole mystery of the place. Yet, they're probably some Benthic dwellers down here, if logic serves correct.”

“Benthic dwellers?” I ask.

“It's a term used to describe creatures who live a the bottom of the water. Like the Onchopristis from earlier. There's probably going to be a few deep-water animals down here: things that like to live in caves and dark water. Granted, bows won't work underwater too well. Have you got any spears?”

 

“I've got a few.” I say, taking them out of my inventory and putting them onto my back, three spears in total. “How about you?”

“I've only got three as well.” Blake replies “So whatever we're going to loot from here, we need to be quick.”

 

Agreeing to this, we dive back down and begin to explore the hallways with Gustave again, taking air breaks in duct tunnels and other air pockets as we go along. We don't find anything too interesting, just a bunch of scrap metal and the like along the ocean floor. One time, I grab a large metal sheet and begin to lift it out of the water, only to have something in the shadows underneath suddenly try to grab my legs. I kick back and swim backwards out of it's grasp. What begins to emerge from the shadow of the metal sheet is what I would best describe a flattened aquatic scorpion. I pull out a spear, ready to defend myself, but Gustave does that for me, snatching up the Sea Scorpion quickly in his jaws, and devouring it. I give a sigh of relief, and the three of us continue to advance through the hallway. Eventually, we enter into a large, circular room about 100ft or so in diameter. There's a lot of metal cabinets, and even large computer screens here. What's best is that the whole ceiling of the room is above water by about five feet, giving us a large, plentiful source of air. With this, we take our time rummaging through the well-lit area. Sure, the scrap metal could be melted down and used for how we'd like...but we're doing this with Gustave, and he can only carry so much...hm...it's a struggle to try and find anything that may be worth being called “useful”. I'm looking around under debris, in drawers, and other things. Blake swims over to some sort of old locker, and starts trying to force the doors open. She fidgets with the lock several times, before finally opening the door. She then waves to me, hinting she's found something. I swim over, and she's found what appears to be five strange stabbing devices...they look like long metal spears, with a strange tip. Blake takes one from the locker and holds it with both hands, tip pointed up into the air. She turns towards me, curious about it. We hover there in the water as Blake looks over the weapon, noting...a switch down near an end. Blake flips the switch, and then, there's the sound of cackling electricity as part of the weapon glows, and electricity begins to course around the tip of the rod, making a low humming noise. We stare wide-eyed at it, now realizing it's a kind of electric shock prod. Blake quickly turns off the electricity, and we take the other electric prods out of the locker, before surfacing once more for air. “So. Shock prods.” I say.

“Apparently.” Blake says, checking her implant. “From what the description in my inventory is saying, they deliver a single shock of electricity before they need to be recharged. Granted we have five of them, and there's four of us, I think we've got one free trial before we...need to be more careful with how we use them.”

“I bet. Why is it single-use, though?”

“Well, according to the implant, it's saying they deliver minimal damage, but a massive amount of torpor. So...it's more taming assistance.”

 

“Whatever works, I guess. First useful thing we've found down here, then!”

“There's some more drawers and cabinets we need to go through. You take the right side of the room, and i'll take the left, alright?”

“Alright.”

 

We dive back down and take our respective sides of the room. I rummage through more drawers and lockers, but there isn't much. I then see what looks like some sort of refrigeration unit on the floor, the door facing up at me. I swim down and slowly open the door. There's nothing but spoiled rotten meat in the whole thing...but there's a container off to the side with something. I grab that and open it...woah! I reach into the small container and pull out a piece of Super Test Meat! I guess whoever had this base got a hold on some of these, too. There's two other pieces in the container. I start waving over at Blake, who swims over to see what I've found. Upon seeing the pieces of Super Test Meat, she smiles, nodding, and patting me on the back a few times. I put the meat back into the container, seal the container again, and tuck it away. We spend a good 9 more minutes swimming around, trying to find anything else of value. We manage to salvage about 20 good pieces of electrical panels and chipping, such as what would be used for hard drives or the like. Our Inventories tell us they're a high-end material, so might as well. I start passing by a dark hallway when something catches my eye....Three immobile, glowing blue lights in the darkness. The one in the middle is bigger than the other two. I'm curious, but I wave Blake over first to check it out. She swims over, now also curious by what it is in the darkness...but we don't want to swim into the pitch-black hallway to find out. I look around near the floor....and I see what looks like a large spotlight-flashlight. I pick that up, and hit the side a few times...looks like it has a good battery. The whole thing kinda looks like a film camera, with a rectangular body, square-shaped lens, and a handle to hold it up top. I turn towards Blake, who takes out one of the electric prods, turning it on. It hums with electricity once again, and Blake nods at me, prod ready to use in self-defense. I point the spotlight down the hallway, then press the power button using my thumb. The light instantly catches on, flooding the dead-end hallway with light...and revealing something pretty scary. A huge fish, just bigger than a man, with a massive mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, strange fins, a large head but small body and tail, and three glowing stalks on the front of it's head: it's a giant angler fish! It's body is a strange, ruddy red-and-purple color. It's peculiar, retina-less, single-colored pale white eyes are suddenly flooded with light. It seems to panic, with suddenly going blind, as well as the fact it's been spotted. Strangely enough for a fish, it growls, before charging right at us out of fear and desperation. Blake immediately stabs at the fish, getting it right above the top jaw. Immediately, electricity courses through the shock prod into the fish, stunning it in place. It utters a long growl as it's body shakes as it's electrocuted, before going limp, knocked unconscious. Blake puts the useless prod away in her inventory, seeming to like the usefulness of the electric prods. I look at the poor Angler, a level 54 female, as she floats there. I feel bad for her, after all: she lashed out in fear and panic. I look at Blake, and she shrugs, pointing at her wrist, as if to say “we don't have the time to try and tame it”. I shake my head, opening my inventory. Even if it is just for an angler, it's an angler we didn't have, and a good level one. I take out a piece of Super Test Meat, and feed it to the Angler. Immediately, she wakes up, tamed and ready to help. Blake and I by now are running out of air again, so we head back up to the surface, the Angler following us diligently. “Well...I guess at least we have an ocean tame, now.” Blake says with a smile, as the Angler swims back and forth beneath us. I smile “Yeah. I mean, I've had pet fish before...but this is ridiculous. Do you know what it is, even?”

“Other than a giant angler fish? No, unfortunately. Although...it seems like her light got a bit brighter since taming, and I've noted she's giving off a slight bit of heat with her esca, so I think she's perfect for exploring the deep ocean, and these dark passageways.”

“I was thinking similarly. And i'm guessing the 'esca' are her little lantern thingys?”

“Yes, which are a type of ilium – the fancy word for the dangly things”. Blake says, pointing out her index fingers, and waving them in front of her head, like they were her own little dangly things. I laugh. “You're smarter than you look, Blake. No offense.”

“When you read things, curiosity can get to you easily.” she says “One thing leads to another, and then your head starts to hurt with all you've learned.”

“I bet. So what's her name?”

“Well, I'm thinking Chari. Short for Charybdis. I don't know if you know what that is.”

 

“Actually, I do!” I say, smiling. “It's from the Odyssey, which was one of the coolest stories Yang read to me when I was younger. It was the whirlpool-monster.”

 

“Hm! Glad to know you've read it too.” Blake says, pleasantly surprised. I smile “Yeah, well, remember what I said when I first talked to you? I like stories. Especially adventure ones like that.”

“Gives me something to talk to you about when we finally have our chat.” Blake says, winking. I nod “Yeah, I guess. So you wanna look around here some more?”

 

“Sure. Take Chari and go down the one hallway that's left. Be careful.”
 

I nod, before we dive back under again. I swim over to Chari, and look...hmm.. ah! She actually has a few ridges on her back that are the perfect place to grab on to. I swim around behind her and grab on, to which she instinctively seems to be ok with, ready to receive my directional input. We turn towards the one hallway that is left to be explored, and start swimming down that. Chari's light from her lanterns are lighting up a good sized area with a nice blue glow. I'm keeping a careful watch for the hallway as we go down...still nothing...until we come to the dead end, formed by collapsed debris. Yet...there's something there at the bottom. A locked, waterproofed chest. I let go of Chari, then swim down towards it...it's a BIG locked chest, about 5 ft across...hm. I decide to try and see...I grab at the chest, not with the intention of picking it up or picking the lock, but with the intention of putting it in my inventory. Just as I do this, the chest becomes cloaked in a layer of digital material, before disappearing...and I feel the weight of it on me. I think...ow...i've gained like...80 pounds...I turn towards Chari, slightly encumbered by my this new weight. I've got 190 of 250 personal weight...no wonder I feel slow. I check Chari's inventory, and she's able to max-level due to me taming and mounting her. Similar to ember, I double her health, stamina, put her weight at 250, then the rest into her melee damage, before swimming back onto her. Chari's able to swim back out to the larger room quickly enough so I can get a breath of air...without her, I feel like I might have drowned, due to the weight of this box. I surface on the back of Chari, and soon Blake and Gustave surface as well. “So you maxed out her levels, eh?” Blake asks. I nod “Yeah, decided to go ahead and do that...she's surprisingly quick for her size, and I didn't even put her in a full-on 'sprint', so I feel like she can go faster...good, because I really feel weighed down.”

“Just finished Gustave's leveling myself.” Blake replies “and what's up? Find something?”

“Big, locked, waterproofed metal box.” I say. “Put the whole thing in my inventory...i'm feeling weighed down.”

“I bet. Let's head back up to the surface. Weiss and Yang are probably waiting.”

“Alright. Sounds good.”

“Watch out, now.” Blake warns “don't have Chari surface too quickly, alright? Don't want you to get a case of the BENDS, now, do we?”

“What's that?” I ask, tilting my head.

“It's decompression sickness.” Blake replies “It happens if you ascend from deep-water pressure to standard pressure quickly. It can cause disorientation, even unconsciousness and seizures....so try to hold your breath a little longer and take it easy.”

“Yeah...i'll do my best.”

Blake climbs atop Gustave, and we begin to leave the building, taking advantage of the vents when we need to for air. At the last one before the exit, both Blake and I take big gulps of air before diving back down, getting back on Gustave and Chari, before swimming out of the structure, and towards the surface. We're going quickly, but not too quickly. I try to hold my breath as long as I can...but I can...feel...i'm reaching my breaking point. I soldier on the best I can. Luckily, ten seconds later, we're at the surface, and I gasp for air, Blake surfacing right next to me. “Feeling alright?” I ask, turning to her. Blake shakes her head, shaking the water out of her hair and her ears...especially her feline ears. “I'm alright...just waterlogged. You?”

 

“Waterlogged, but ok.” I say smiling.

 

 

“Ahoy there!” I hear Yang's voice say. Looking back towards the beach, we can see Yang and Weiss on the shoreline. Weiss sits in the surf of the waves, her legs dangling into the water. Blake and Gustave are the first over, slowly crawling up onto the beach. Chari and I are next, as she swims into the shallower water of the brackish-water of the mouth of the river, with her head poking out of the water. I let go of her and start swimming towards the shore. Yang scoffs “That....is one UGLY mug.” She says, looking at Chari's head. Weiss is kinda...curious about Chari, tilting her head “Was she in the sunken building?” Weiss asks. I nod “Yeah. She was. As well as three more super test meats...one of which I used on her. Sorry!”

“Well...anything else down there?”

 

“Electric Zap-prods!” I say, emerging from the surface, and taking one out of my inventory fairly quickly. Weiss quickly stands up upon seeing me swing it around “Ey!! Watch it!” she fusses. I smirk “Hey, they need to be turned on first. There's one for each of us, and a bonus one we already used, too. Just be careful, because it's only got one use before it's gone, and needs to be recharged.”

Yang takes the one from my hands. “Dang...this is kinda heavy. Bet it's really effective, eh?”

“Knocked out Chari in one go.” Blake comments, to which Chari growls. Weiss steps back “Growling fish? I've heard it all.”

 

“Some fish can growl by passing air through their lungs or gills.” Blake states. “So it's not much of a surprise to me.”

“Yeah well....i'm not as smart as you in that regard.”

 

“Neither am I. I'm just curious from my readings.”

Yang starts to say something, probably drop a pun, but Blake turns on the electric prod in her own grasp. “Don't even.” she states. Yang backs up, hands in the air, still holding onto a prod. “Yo, don't taze me bro.” She says, putting on an act. We laugh, and I check my inventory. “Oh, and there was also this.” I say, taking out the box from my inventory. “A locked box of stuff. Yang, think you can work your brute-strength magic?”

“Sure. Lemme use a little Abra-Kadabra!” As says “Abra” and “Kadabra”, she holds up one of her fists, then another, and moves over to the locked box. She puts her right foot up on the box, then grabs at the lock, and starts pulling violently. I bet that thing could probably have taken a beating from any storm, like it was probably made to. But a beating from Yang? She's torn off the lock in about ten seconds, then steps off the top of the box, flipping the latch open, then opening the top of the lid. There's five total scuba suits in there! They even seem to be reinforced with some sort of armor for certain parts, such as shoulders or elbows. “Too cool!!” I say, picking up an oxygen tank. Yang's sharing my enthusiasm, picking up something else. “Hey look. Isn't this one of those old-fashioned 'walkie-talkies'?”she asks, holding it up. Blake picks up a scuba mask “It appears so....and this headgear seems to have radio communications as well.”

 

“Should we test everything, to see if it works?” Weiss asks. Blake nods “sounds like a logical idea. Who wants to go diving real quick, other than me?”

 

“I would,” I say, rubbing my right ear “But i'm feeling a little light-headed, and I've got popping in my ears...don't think the pressure in my ears have equalized yet.”

 

“I have four ears, yet you're the one complaining of decompression sickness?” Blake jests.

 

“Hey, not like I've got a full on case of it. My head just hurts. Besides, won't you need somebody topside to help you out?”

 

“True.”

 

 

So we start setting things up. We get the channels of the walkie-talkies and scuba masks to their appropriate channels, fine-tuning them, before it's time to test the scuba suits themselves. Stripping down to the bare essentials, Weiss, Blake, and Yang then start putting on the diving gear as I finish adjustments on the radios. “Ever wanted to go diving, Weiss?” Yang asks with a bit of a tease, as she finishes pulling on her wetsuit. Weiss grins “I've wanted to do a lot of things in life. Scuba diving was one of them, for sure.” she says, adjusting the straps of her scuba tank on her back. “Snap...this is heavier than I thought it would be.”

“Eh, you'll get used to it.” Blake says, picking out her mask. “I'm just happy the mask doesn't cover the top of my head.”

“Don't wanna crush your little cat ears, hm?” Yang teases. Blake nods with a grin “Hey, I just dove down there with Ruby. Contrary to popular belief, submerging underwater for me isn't half-bad with these things. But yes, crushing the ears for extended periods of time is a definite no for me.” She's the first putting on her mask, adjusting it to the size of her head. Yang and Weiss do similarly, before they turn to me. Yang gives me a thumbs-up gesture, and I nod back with a smile “Alright! Have fun, and i'll call you in a few seconds once you're underwater. Stay safe!” Yang, Weiss, and Blake then start walking into the water, before they're deep enough to swim. Once they're deep enough, they dive down underneath the surface. I pick up the nearest radio and turn it on, then make sure for the ump-teenth time I'm on the right frequency. I'm sitting on the sand now, with my back on Gustave. Chari's out swimming around the others, as if keeping an eye on them. “Alright, first radio test. Ya'll read me? Over.” I listen in...they don't reply. I can see them right under the surface out in the mouth of the river...they don't seem to be having problems with anything. I click the radio back on again “Ya'll sure the masks are on? I think the switch is up under the left side...or something.”

 

a couple seconds later, I hear a signal, an exhale, and then a voice “There we go. That worked.” Yang says “Can ya hear me, sis?”

“Yep. You sound a little funny, to be honest.” I say, noting Yang's hushed tone due to the system in the masks. There's another signal and breath as Yang responds “Heh, wouldn't be surprised.”

“Yeah. Weiss? How's your system holding?”

“Fine!” She replies. “Hearing me?”

“Yep. Blake?”

“Loud and clear.” she responds. “You hearing me?”

“Yep. Looks like those three units are working. So, Blake: is it any prettier down there, with your vision clear now?”

“Pretty isn't even a word to describe it. It's beautiful.” she says, looking over the reefs with Weiss, and Yang, as Chari swims around them casually. “I can see as clear as day, and the colors are just perfect.”

“Lovin this, Weiss?” Yang asks.

 

“Definitely like I thought it would be!” Weiss says, obviously enjoying herself. They start swimming through the reef with Chari. “Say hey.” I ask. “How much oxygen is in those tanks?”

Blake checks her implant. “Apparently...wow. Five hours worth. Whoever made these things...knows how to make proper compressed oxygen. The system seems refillable simply by opening a valve to let air inside...i wonder if there are filters and the like to purify the oxygen content. Regardless, I think we'll be able to use these for a long time.”

 

“Sounds like a plan.” I reply. “See anything interesting down there?”

“EVERYTHING is interesting!” Weiss replies, as they continue to scan the reef. A few moments later, Yang, as she patrols over the reefs, finds something. “Hey!” she says, then starts trying to grab at something “Don't get away from me! No! Don't try that!” She seems to start swimming after something in the reefs, before suddenly grabbing at something. Upon lifting it up, Weiss and Blake can see Yang's caught a black aquatic lizard, about 3 ft long. “I found a lizard!” Yang says smiling, as the creature tries thrashing in her grasp, but to no avail “I found a water lizard!”

 

“What is it?” Weiss asks. Blake swims a little closer, and the lizard opens it's mouth at her, as if to bite her, but Yang regains control “Ey! None of that!”she says, as she keeps a firm hold of the lizard. Blake looks inside the lizard's mouth, holding the creature behind it's jaws. “Looks like he actually wouldn't hurt too much. These look like they're developed for seaweed. As for what it is...it's apparently a Keichousaurus.”

 

“Sounds adorable!” I say over the radio. Weiss shakes her head “Cool-looking...but not exactly adorable. Then again, probably anything is adorable to you. You probably think Chari is adorable.”

“She is, now that she's tamed!”

 

“My point exactly.”

 

“Yang, bring it up top.” Blake says “I think it was trying to get to the surface anyway, not run away from you.”

“Ah, I see. Sure.”

 

I look out towards where I see them, and slowly they make their way to the surface. The Keichou is black in color, and seems to calm down after being allowed to breathe. I wave over to them “Hey, bring him over here.” I say over the radio “He can chill out with me and Gustave while you all keep enjoying yourselves.”

“Wishing you were here, sis.” Yang says with a smile, swimming into the shallower water with the Keichousaurus. I wade into the water, and take the lizard from her arms “Got him?” Yang asks through her mask, her voice muffled. I nod “Got him.”

 

Yang backs out before diving back underwater with Weiss and Blake. I carry the Keichousaurus ashore, then rest him down on the sands next to me and Gustave. He's completely placid now, apparently only panicking due to fear of predation and wanting to struggle to the surface to breathe. Now knowing we won't hurt him, and no longer in fear of drowning, he's chill as heck, lying on the sand next to me , completely calm. I watch the others through the clear water as they explore the reefs at the mouth of the river, occasionally looking at the Keichou on my right, as he basks on the sand. Strangely, he suddenly sprays small spurts of water from his nose. I find this weirdly cute, and stare at him for a little while to see if he will do it again. About a minute later, sure enough, he spurts more water. I giggle a little bit at it, and he slowly looks my way, and looks up at me with a suspicious, sarcastic look that says “What?”. I shake my head “You...are just adorable”. The lizard turns, as if to go back into the water.”Nooo...” I say with a smile, carefully grabbing him “Mine.”. I pick him up and place him on my lap, and he rests upon my legs, seemingly content with resting there, and he “sneezes” more water from his nose. Just by petting with him I seem to tame him, which is interesting. After about five minutes, the others come up out of the water, and onto the shore, taking their masks off. I smile “How was it?”

“Gorgeous.” Weiss replies “I can't tell how many different shells and stuff I picked up down there.”

“Oh? Really?”

 

“Yeah.” She says, reaching into her inventory. “Check out this one.” she pulls takes out an elongated, sparkling, smooth, lavender shell that was probably from an oyster of some sort. I casually take it from her hand, and admire it. It's lavender on top, but a creamy white underneath. “That's really pretty.” I say, handing it back to her “starting a collection?”

“Sort of.” she says putting it away. “Although i'm thinking more along the lines of necklaces and such.”

“Even on the ARK you have to have some sort of jewelry...” Yang teases. Weiss turns and stamps her foot with a huff, and I chuckle. “You find anything else?” I ask.

 

“Some more silica pearls, which helps.” Blake says, undoing her diving suit “After all, I think Quru's saddle required some for crafting. Yang found the best thing down there, though.”

“What was that?”

 

Yang smiles, holding up a massive shark tooth, slightly bigger than her hand. “Megalodon tooth.” she said with a smile. I look directly at the sharp object in her hands. “Welp, sis.” I say “It looks like you struck gold.”

 

“Darn right I did.” she replied, taking off the diving gear's top, and then looking at the Keichou on my lap. “How have you two been?”

“We're fine. He's tamed, surprisingly...I name him Kawaii.”

“NO.” Weiss states firmly. “Please, no.”

“Yes.”

 

“He is not-”

 

“Yes he is!”

 

“He's cool but he's not-”

“Kawaii Keichou!”

 

“NO.”

 

“He is Gimli.” Yang states. We turn to her “Why Gimli?” I ask.

 

“It's the beard.” she says, pointing at the Keichousaurus. He has a little flap of skin directly underneath his head and along the underside of his neck. I stroke the underside of his chin once, and he quickly lifts his head and turns it the other way, looking at me out of the corner of he eye, as if to say “Don't touch my beard”. We laugh “Gimli it is, then!” I say.

 

“Good. Name something that's actually cute Kawaii, and I'll be fine with it.” Weiss says to me. I nod “Alright. Deal.”

They continue to take off the suits and change back into their usual equipment. I look at Gimli “Ya know, he's been....kinda funny up here with me.”

“How's that?” Yang asks, putting her hide shirt back on. I look at Gimli, who slowly turns to look at me. “He's just kinda...lazy, yeah...but he keeps doing this thing with his nose.”

 

“What's he doing?” Blake asks. The minute she asks that, Gimli sprays water out of his nose into my face, and the others start laughing. “That!” I say, shaking my head quickly from getting sprayed in the face from water out of Gimli's nose. “Guhh! It's salty!!” I say, spitting off to the side. Yang's dying from this, as Blake bends down and looks at Gimli. “Hmmm...He's got concentrations of something around his nose. Look” she says, pointing under Gimli's nose. Sure enough, there's some sort of crystalizing...something on his face. “Huh....” I say curiously. Weiss bends down to look at Gimli out of curiosity, and Yang, calming back down, does similarly. “I guess you're right” I reply “Any idea how?”

 

“There's a dossier for that...” Blake says, checking her Implant for the Keichou dossier. Upon finding it, she reads it to herself a moment. “Ah, alright. It says here: 'Keichousaurus live on a diet of seaweed, able to hold its breath for quite some time, but its life in the high tide means that seawater accumulates in the animal's nose, which it spews out during its resting hours, forming Salt formations around its nose, these can be harvested for Salt.' That's...useful.”

 

“Definitely a thing.” Weiss says, checking Gimli's inventory “and he's already got plenty for us. I'll probably be able to do something with it.”

 

“Knowing you!” I say smiling, before lifting Gimli off of my legs, and onto the ground. “A.L said she stored her smaller aquatic animals at the mouth of the river here. We can leave Chari and Gimli down here with Gustave and Bari. That way they have some protection until we're able to set up walls.”

 

“Sounds like an idea.” Yang says, stretching, and looking out at the setting sun “Today has been eventful...so let's go home.”

 

“I second that.” Weiss says, to which Blake and I agree. Leaving Gustave down with Chari and Gimli, we make our way back to the house. We tell Bari to stay down near Gustave and the others, and she goes off to join them at the basin below the cliff. I look the others, taking out the strange box from earlier. “Well...i think we should use this thingy.” I say “What do you all think?”

“Probably.” Yang says “but I think the wooden stuff I laid down earlier might be in the way.”

“Tear it down then.”

“Hmm...so long as we get to keep some of the resources.”

 

The four of us work together in demolishing the wooden structures that were laid down earlier, salvaging the resources and storing them away back inside our thatch shack. Once that's done, we now look over the large, flat expanse in front of us “Wonder what it is?” Weiss asks “After all...she said it needed a lot of room.”

 

“Well...could be anything.” Yang says “knowing ARK, knowing her...maybe it's an alien spaceship.”

“I doubt that highly.” Blake replies “Yet...she's been helpful so far. Whatever it is, it's probably something useful. She's given us advice and two of her tames: if that's not reason enough to trust her, then I don't know what else is.”

 

I turn the box over in my hands, trying to figure out how to use it. Eventually, I tap the diamond-shaped icon on the box. This causes a response, as the box begins to glow. It highlights a large area of the ground in front of us, before suddenly opening, and there's a flash of green-white light. I've got my hands covering my face at first, as are the others, and I can feel the box no longer in my hands. “So, what did that accomplish?” Weiss asks, eyes closed, hands still in front of her. I slowly bring my arms down.... “G...Guys....check it out.”

 

They slowly look up at what I see...where there was once a clear field, a large, stone building equivalent to a mansion now stands. All of us are quiet at first, slowly walking up onto the stone patio in shock. There's...a friggin doorbell to the right of the reinforced wooden double doors. Slowly, I grab the metal door handle...it's unlocked. I pull the door out, opening it, and I'm the first inside...there's a singular, massive room beyond that door. To the right, two staircases, the wall to my right and behind them completely made of glass, from ceiling to floor, allowing for a beautiful view of the ocean, and the sunsets. Between the staircases, against the glass wall, is a large fish tank, with a few coelocanth swimming around in it. The staircases themselves go up, before turning in directions opposite to each other, and up towards a second floor. Across from us, on the other side of the room, there's a door leading to somewhere else. We're in shock from all this...suddenly, Yang starts quickly walking up to something, her face in a blank look of shock. There's a black couch, with a wooden table in front of it. An end table is to the left of the couch, and near that, a black-cushioned designer metal chair that could probably fit two people...but that's not what Yang's walking towards. She's walking directly towards what is against the wall, directly across from the couch...a freaking 72 inch flatscreen TV on a TV stand!! She stares at it blankly for several seconds “...DAHECK WOULD YOU NEED THIS FOR?!” she finally says, throwing up both her arms, gesturing towards her reflection in it's screen. We walk over, near her “Well...maybe the same way Weiss wants to make jewelry. Comforts of home.”

 

“Comforts of home? Daheck does a TV, a TV, a T-FRIGGIN-V, even become plausible on this place?! Not that it's not awesome, but really?! REALLY?!”

 

“...no clue.” Blake says, looking around, and noticing a few ceiling lights above us “But...there does seem to be power here.”

 

“From what? Magic?”

“Solar Panels.” Weiss states. We turn to her “How would you know that?” Yang asks. We see Weiss having gone into one of the drawers in the TV stand, and pulled out another note from A.L “It says it right here.” Weiss replies “Lemme...start over from the top.” She clears her throat.

 

“Welcome Home. This place here was actually an old base from a distant part of the island made in effort by me and some good friends of mine. Thanks in part to the Observers, I've managed to give this whole building to you as a gift of friendship and trust. You may wonder about the electricity. Well, Solar Panels on the roof help with that. Plumbing? (Yes, I did say “plumbing”, there) Is also automatically run from the nearest source. If you've set up at the top of the cliff, you'll notice a metal piping network running down the side of the cliff now (apart from where you're storing your animals, though). There's a pump with a high-end filtration system that hooks up to every faucet in the house, so you'll get plenty of water wherever you need. As for the TV...I myself don't know WHY I made it...it was in the Building X-tras Constructor, so I...made a TV. I'm glad I did...because I actually found a retro gaming console in a Beacon one day. That thing is dope as hell, even if it has nothing but a bunch of classic, old games. I found a more modern one, as well. They and their respective games are both in the bottom right drawer-”

 

Just as Weiss begins to say that, Yang suddenly flies towards the door of the respective drawer, getting onto her knees and quickly opening the drawer. There's two distinctively different video game consoles, one appearing much older than the other. I'm bending down right next to Yang in eager excitement, looking over everything in excitement. “Hell Yes!” Yang says, looking over everything “This one's like...1996!...and this one's around...2015!”

 

“Really cool!!” I say “but...aren't those...still both kinda 'retro'?...”

 

“....I see your point. Granted what we have back home...and the fact the 'modern' one doesn't look like it has any sort of scroll compatability.”

“...I'm going to go out on a limb here.” Blake says “She might have just meant the one from 2015 to be a more recent one...if not that...than maybe what just popped into my mind is...not far off.”

 

“What are you thinking?” I ask.

 

“What if ARK doesn't take just animals from across time...but people, too?”

 

“Wait...” Yang says, turning to face Blake. “Y...you think...maybe A.L was from around the 21^st century?”

 

“She mentioned that after ARK Armageddon the ARK went into autonomous mode and started collecting human specimens again...what if the first time ARK's drones were paying a visit to Remnant was around A.L's time?”

 

“Would explain it....”

 

I'm looking over the consoles and their games. A lot of the games of the 1996 console seem more humorous, or cartoon-based; while the one from the 2015 console seem to be different kinds of shooters, or fighting games. I can obviously tell which one Yang will be interested in: not the one I am. Yang starts looking over the 2016 console and reading the backs of the games that go with it, as I expected, as I start going over the 1996's consoles. Weiss shakes her head with a smile, and continues reading A.L's note.

 

“Aside from that, that's about all there is to say about this room. Also, for God's sake, PLEASE treat the video game stuff the right flipping way...if you break it, there's practically no fixing it. Other than that, the layout for this larger room is fairly clear, and an open canvas: use it how you'd like! The room across from the front door is the kitchen. Go on ahead over, I've got another note over there.”

 

Begrudgingly leaving the video game stuff alone, we head on over to the kitchen. It's through another set of wooden double doors, and the room is fairly large. To the left, there's a stone fireplace and a wooden rocking chair facing it. In front of us, a wooden table with eight chairs around it: one on each end, and three each along the sides. To the far right, there's a large, wooden bar counter in an J-shape, bending away from us. There's four bar stools up at the counter itself. We head on over to the counter, which Weiss walks behind, as Blake, Yang, and I take our seats on the stools...the kitchen behind Weiss, is quite incredible. There's a stone sink with flat space large enough for her stone cutting board. She turns on the faucet, and sure enough, water begins to trickle out. She turns the water off, then looks at the nearby standing pantry. Nothing's in it, but it still seems effective. There's also two wooden cabinets on the walls she looks into for a moment, and they're also empty. There's a rustic-looking cast-iron wood cook stove, which Weiss examines for a moment. It even has pots and kettles still ready for use. There are four wine casks, as well. Two of which lie on a shelf next to each other , the other two on the far end of the bar counter, away from us. Each one with a faucet for retrieving their liquid content. Weiss opens one of the wine casks and stares inside a moment “Well...” she says “I don't think any of us will be having any wine anytime soon...but I could probably make a mocktail something or other.”

“Better learn how to make me my strawberry sunrise.” Yang teases. Weiss smirks “Well, we'll see if there are even strawberries here eventually. Regardless, I'll be able to do something. Although it seems these can also preserve solid materials as well.”

 

she then closes the cask she's looking into, and finally turning to what we all have noticed since looking at the kitchen: a the only thing that doesn't fit the quaint, old-fashioned, family style of the room: a sleek, modern, black, double-door refrigerator. Weiss grabs the right door handle and opens it, and immediately there's an audible hum and there's a blast of cold air on her face. “Ok, THIS will come in handy.” she says, enjoying the cooling feeling of the air coming from the fridge “Regardless if it fits the décor or not.”

 

“Heh, you're going to love this whole kitchen.” I say, to which Weiss closes the door of the fridge and turns to me. “Ya think?” She says with a smile “I already have several ideas in mind...trust me, this kitchen will be pretty effective with me at the helm.”

 

“Your kitchen, your rules.”

 

“Exactly...which is why feet off my counter, YANG!”

Weiss was the first to notice Yang, who has her feet up on the bar counter top, her stool leaned back. Yang smiles “Yo, didn't know the rules first. Gimme a break. Just enjoying myself.”

“You're free to enjoy myself, just feet off of where I'll be making your food!”

 

“k.”

 

Yang moves her feet about two feet or so to the right. “Yang!” I say with a laugh, as Blake smiles. Yang smirks “what? They're not going to be where she's cooking or i'm eating.”

 

“I'm going to basically be using the whole counter!” Weiss replies.

 

“Welp. We got a problem, then, don't we?”

“Hate to do this...” Weiss says, pushing Yang's feet off the counter suddenly. This causes Yang to loose balance on her chair, and she falls backwards onto the stone floor, but catches herself, landing on her rear instead of her back. There's a slight bit of laughter “Heh, dang Weiss! Protect your kitchen like Ruby protects Ember, why don'tcha?” Yang says, slowly standing “That could have gone pretty bad, you know.”
 

“Then don't mess with me and my kitchen.” Weiss says, scrunching her nose mockingly.

 

“Fair enough.” Yang replies, before seeing a note underneath a bowl on the counter. She pulls it out from underneath the bowl, and reads it.

 

“Kitchen. Love the hell out of this place. I always liked the modest and family atmosphere of this room. It was always nice to sit down with friends around the dinner table at night with the fireplace going. Reminded me that the ARK...well, it's home. New home, regardless. Farming is going to be essential for you, here. Harvesting in the bushes allows you to sometimes find seeds of native crops. Longrass is basically corn, Savorroot are potatoes, Rockkarrot are Carrots, and Citronal are a type of citrus fruit (hince the name). You can also find cocoa beans in the forest, tea and mint leaves, even grape seeds. Sometimes down by the river you can find Sugarcane and rice. There's plenty of resources to be found when it comes to farming. Dodos are good for farming meat and eggs, while Phiomia and Aurochs are your main meat livestock. Phiomia meat is similar to pig meat, and you can get quite a bit from a single one. That, and...they're literally poop factories. Feed a stack of 100 stimberries to a Phiomia, then try to keep a straight face. It's the perfect 'Try not to Laugh' challenge first time around...just stand back.”

 

Yang just about looses it reading that sentence. She's laughing so hard she nearly falls off the stool again, and ends up just slamming her arms down onto the table, her head down on top of them, dying into the counter top. I smile at seeing Yang so happy, and Weiss just seems...disturbed by what A.L said about the...Phiomia. Yang literally can't keep a straight face, and I have to swipe the note from her to continue reading it. I clear my throat, then read on.

 

“The Aurochs are ancient relatives of cattle. Sometimes you can find them in open plains and sparse woods on Cragg's Island. Keep a few sows, but only one bull. Not also can Bulls be good work animals, but...Bulls tend to get incredibly aggressive with each other, so don't get more than one. I don't know if you or any of your fellow tribemates are much into cooking, but if you check the cabinet above the counter top, you'll see a collection of recipes I've gathered throughout my time here. Trust me when I say they're all tried and true: edible, AND enjoyable.”

 

Weiss takes a moment to open the cabinet to our left, above the end of the counter top. There's a fairly thick book on the inside which she starts to flip through. “Well then...” she says with a bit of a smile “Looks like you can actually eat pretty well on this island.”

 

“As long as we have our options.” Blake replies, before turning to me “Where do we go next?”

 

I check the note “The stairs closest to the kitchen, apparently.” I tell them “The bathroom will be the door right down the hall, and then the door to the right is the master living quarters.”

 

“There's a bathroom?” Weiss quickly asks, slamming the book shut, and looking directly at me. The sudden slamming shut of the book catches us all off-guard. Yang shakes her head, slowly rising, and straightening her back “Somebody doesn't want to vive le wild anymore.” she jests. I chuckle at this “Alright, guess we're heading upstairs then. Although, I don't know why you're excited, Weiss. I don't think the bathroom will be anything fancy.”

“The point is it's a bathroom.” she replies, putting the cooking book down on the table. We head out of the kitchen, then up the closest flight of stone stairs. This whole room, floor to ceiling, must be around 60 or so feet tall...it feels like it. As the stairway finally reaches the back glass wall, it turns to the left, then continues to go up a small amount, ending at a hallway going back the opposite way of the giant glass wall itself. At the end of the hall, there's a single wooden door directly in front of us, and another to the left. We check out the bathroom first, as Weiss quickly opens the door and steps inside...she's so stunned by whatever she sees she's stuck frozen stiff in the middle of the doorway. “Hey!” I ask, jumping to look over her shoulder “Lemme see! Let us see too!”

 

Weiss doesn't even respond, slowly walking into the bathroom. Like the rest of the house, the bathroom has a stone floor: but this one is a little more ornate...there's also a modern sink, a mirror cabinet above it, a modern toilet, a large white bath tub....and what Weiss is walking towards in a trance. A tall, clear, glass steam shower. There's a wand that controls several of the shower's functions, as well as dispenses water itself. The steam shower has multiple holes up top for a rain-like shower method, as well as all these other little gizmos...Weiss is still in a trance as she observes every inch of this impressive bathroom marvel. Yang looks around the bathroom and scoffs. “Dang...I guess...when you get to the point...you can just flip it and say 'forget vive le wild'...and to be honest...I'm liking the looks of this much more.”

 

“Earth to Weiss?” Blake asks Weiss. Weiss blinks a few times, then turns back to us, an empathetic smile on her face “Heh...sorry. It's just...I really want to use this thing...”

 

“So we can see.” Blake says with a smile. Prying Weiss away from the bathroom, we then head into the “master's quarters”, which I assume is just the bedroom. Upon opening this third pair of wooden double doors, it's not “just a bedroom”. In front and to the left is another stone fireplace, and in front of that there's another wooden table, black leather couch, end table, and designer chair. Seriously, those couches look big enough to fit all four of us in one go. Yet, on this cylindrical end table, there's also a small, ornate glass statue that resembles a flame. It's a light blue in color, semitransparent, and sparkles in the light. Over on the opposite side of the room in the corner, there's a bookcase, desk, and rolling chair...in the corner closest to us on our right, however, there's the best part. There's a closet, and then two metal-framed modern bunk beds, a nightstand with a lamp between them: all of which rest upon a large, colorful carpet. We slowly walk over to the beds to examine them. Yang looks down at the bottom bed on our right, and slowly, reaches out with her right hand to touch the mattress. The minute her fingertips touch the bed's sheets, her eyes widen, and she completely collapses onto the bed. “Ohfmhaghod, thipfh ipfh thfa hpmrhyhts hmed iph hefpha pheflt” she mumbles into the mattress. “What was that?” I ask with a smile on my face. Yang lifts her head “Oh my god, this is the most comfortable bed I've ever felt.” she says, before smashing her face back into the bed. I turn around and climb into the top bunk of the other bed....immediately I feel what Yang is. The sheets and mattress are incredibly comfy, and the pillows... “These...these are clouds. Not beds.” I say, plopping into what I now declare my bed. “This is mine. MINE!”

“Then I guess, like usual, I have the one under yours.” Weiss says, sitting on the bed under mine, and running her hands across the bed sheets. “The thread count on these things are....incredible. Reminds me of the bed I had back home.”

“Home comfort overload!” Yang says, rolling onto her back, fully on her bed by now. She sees Blake, who stands smiling, and motions for her to come closer, then points to the bed up top. “Come, be victims of the comfort of the beds with us.”

“In a sec.” Blake says, shaking her head, and then going over to the book case, and beginning to browse the selection of books. “I guess we can make use of the situation. Weiss, go enjoy that steam shower. I think we all want a piece of it before we start wrapping up the day. The rest of us will chill out in here as we wait for our turn.”

“Alright then.” Weiss says standing “There were a few towels and stuff in there...soap and toothbrushes too...guess i'll just shower for now, then do the rest later tonight. You can use the shower after me, ok, Ruby?”

 

“Ok.” I say, as Weiss begins heading out the room. Just as she get to the door, I remember something. “Oh!” I say, frantically sitting up onto my knees “I almost forgot!”

 

“Forgot what?” Weiss asks, pausing and looking back.

“Eggy!” I say, reaching into my inventory and pulling out the egg from earlier, holding it carefully in both hands. The others seem to have actually, completely forgotten them. “Dang, nice call sis.” Yang says, as they all take out their eggs carefully. “I guess you're right on that regard. Glad we stored 'em away in there...”

 

“It was a nice idea.” Blake says, carefully holding hers as she walks over to Yang's bed. “At least they weren't hurt or left for the elements all this time.”

“Hmm...Hey Ruby?” Weiss asks me. I turn to her “What's up?” I ask.

 

“Think you can watch my egg for me while I go clean up?”

“Sure!” I say happily. “Though...who's gonna watch mine when it's my turn?”

“I'll do it.” Blake volunteers, to which I thank her for. Weiss walks back over, and hands me her egg, before leaving back out of the room to enjoy her shower. Blake slowly, carefully climbs into the top of bunk above Yang and begins to read her book, with the egg resting on her stomach.

 

 

I've taken my shower by now, and have now changed into my cloth clothes. I'm on my stomach, under the covers of my bed. Slowly, I lift my head up and look out onto the top of my bed, with only the top half of my head visible. I'm staring intently at two eggs resting on a nest of pillows that I've made, fascinated by them, and expecting them to hatch at any given moment. After a few more moments, an arm reaches in and carefully picks up it's rightful egg. “Thank you for doing that.” Blake says, taking her egg off my bed. “No biggie.” I say, fascinated still by the egg. I carefully reach my right arm out, cupping the egg in my hand, then righting myself, emerging from the covers. Yang's on her back, half-asleep, with her egg on her stomach. Weiss has been going through A.L's receipe book for a while, as Blake takes her egg back, sits in a nearby chair, and continues to read her book, with her egg nearby. As I hold my egg in my hands, I adjust my stance, sitting on my bed with my legs cris-crossed. I look around the room from this vantage point and notice something...atop the mantle of the fireplace, another note. “Hey.” I say, pointing “there's a note on top of the fireplace.”

 

“I'm closest, I'll get it.” Blake says, putting a marker in her book and moving over to the fireplace. She reaches up, feeling around the top of the mantle, before finally finding the note. She unfolds the note and begins to read it aloud.

 

“As I stated earlier, welcome home. This is my favorite room in the house, for obvious reasons. When there are days I can just...well, with this house I made with my friends...it's...It allows me to live as close a life as I could back home. That's...that's why I want to give this to you, so you..can live easier, and be reminded of your life back home. The calmer you are...the more you accept this new life as your true, new life...the easier it is. You probably didn't catch my name in my first note, I hurried, which effected my writing style. My name is Annie Leonhardt, back home, I was a soldier in the military. Trust me...my training didn't help in the slightest on this island...yet, if i'm anything, it's a fighter. I adapted to this island quickly...my first tame was a very strong Dimorphodon who's coloration and wings made her look like fire, so I named her Cinder...she and the dilo I tamed, Drenn, were my allies for quite some time...see, Cragg's Island at first wasn't the safest area. There were a lot of aggressive tribes which were the epitome of human evil and stupidity. Lemme give you a scenario. A female survivor is ending her first day with her pets by the fire. She's only got cloth armor and a bow, a few spears. In comes a troop of assanine men riding two carnos and four allosaurus, with flak-metal armor and chitin armor, wielding automated rifles. Guess you could quickly figure out what those men want to do to that female survivor. What do you think happens?....wrong. The female survivor slaughters them and their mounts. I'm not just strong: i'm smart. Once I took one of their rifles, it was game over for them. I ended up using the hide from their animals and the meat to tame up a rouge allosaur of theirs. It was the process of breeding their most prime specimens...and it wasn't tame at all, so they let it go to die... yet, just looking into that thing's eyes... it seemed to know I was different. I think I was the only person on the island to passively tame an Allosaurus...she's a strong girl, too. I named her Jinouga, which has roots in words that mean “conqueror” or “usurper”. That's exactly what we did. I took the most prestine of the Allosaur saddles I had obtained, then used some wood and leather, and made her a primitive set of battle armor....there wasn't a single just soul on this island that I found...so I conquered the entire island using Jinouga, Drenn, and Cinder. Just as I was about to tear down the last village...i found somebody. A boy, a little boy...around 8 or so years old. He'd been abused by the tribes on the island, and...well, i'm not just a soldier. I'm a normal person with a heart, as well...i took him in and raised him. As I went along on Cragg's island, more villains came...more villains died. People began to learn of me over time. People came to the island asking for refuge. I wouldn't keep them in my own compound, but those who truly just wanted to live a life of relative solitude and peace, I allowed on my island. Once, many months later, on the back of Glavenus, my main secondary mount, I found a lone survivor on the beach. After speaking with him, he had apparently walked many miles...and been countlessly attacked by people, whom he killed instead. He had been turned down again and again for solitude...and I realised: he was a monk of a religious dynasty thousands of years past. That explained his accent, and struggling grasp on common language. Learning of his experiences...troubled me, and I offered him what he had been searching for, upon telling him that, sadly, returning home is impossible...he's been with me ever since.

 

Fast forwards to the ARK Armageddon. My friend firmly believes that there is something special about me. He says that, for some reason, somehow, I must find a way to survive this. Just because I've singlehandedly risen to probably be the most powerful person on the ARK actually doesn't mean too much to me. I'm just doing what I can to survive. Regardless... for some reason, I agree with him. I know the Observers, they're not actually a bad race. They...they're just like us. I wanted Cragg's Island to be a place of solitude and peace for like-minded individuals. That's what it has become, but...now, I grow wary. I'm taking my friend's advice. I'm entrusting all of my animals, and the island, to him. As for myself...I have an idea. I'm taking myself, Cinder, Jinouga, and Glavenus...we're going to the Red Obelisk. There's a function nobody's lived to try, before... “Upload Survivor Data”....I don't know what will happen to me...but I feel this is my closest bet to surviving ARK Armageddon. Something in my heart...tells me that you, who read this...are like-minded individuals. I... I know we'll get along fine. If this...does work as i'm thinking it works, I'll...upload myself to the ARK. If it works...well, as I said, I have no clue what will happen...but, I feel that...well, I'll get to see you in person. I can't wait for that.

 

Regardless, I can't stick around any longer. One of the larger, hostile tribes is going to be storming Cragg's Island within the next two hours. If I leave, I've got to leave now.

See you soon.

-Annie Leonhardt”

 

“...Annie sounds really nice.” I say, breaking the silence. “She...wouldn't tolerate evil.”

 

“She'd make a good huntress.” Blake says, folding the note, putting it into a drawer, then going back to her seat “They way she refused to allow corruption and vile behavior on Cragg's Island...no wonder she was a champion. She was a champion for good.”

 

“She didn't want any bad guys trying to tear up her peace that she worked so hard to earn.” Yang replies. “Yet...I wonder how. I bet there's more to Annie than what we've heard of. She probably had something that helped keep her island safe. She's smart and strong...not to forget, pretty badass and...well, like Blake probably meant...very valorous. If somebody were to enforce and insure peace on the island, it would be her, from the sound of it.”

 

“I hope it worked out for her.” Weiss replies “Somehow...she manages to get back to the ARK. She sounds like such a nice person. It would be great to have her actually, physically, here with us.”

 

“Who's to say she isn't in spirit?” I say, carefully putting my egg back onto my pillow beside me a moment. “I feel like she is. This is her house, her home, her island...and she's entrusted it all to us. We've got the training to continue her legacy.”

“Offer solitude and peace for those who need it.” Blake says, to which we all nod. I look into my inventory...there's a spot for tribe managing. I choose that tab, and it brings up all the people who are in my “tribe”, “Team RWBY”. It's just the four of us....yet, there's a spot where I could add someone else in by their name. I look around at the others, and they've gone back to doing what they were originally doing. I enter in a name into the available blank space: “Annie Leonhardt”. With a push of another button, the name is registered into the tribe...maybe that means she's still out there somewhere. I roll onto my stomach, lower legs bent up into the air, and smile as I rest my chin on my hands, casually kicking my feet as I watch my egg. Yang's just about to go back to sleep again, putting her hat back over her face, when she quickly looks around, then down at her stomach. “...wait...” she says, then lifting her egg of her stomach carefully. “What?” I ask. Yang listens to her egg carefully, a look of... some sort of silencing awe on her face. She carefully lays the egg next to her....and now I know why. My own egg shakes a little on my bed, and I hear what sounds like a noise from inside the egg....it's hatching!! Quickly, I spring up onto my knees with my hands covering my mouth in nervous excitement. Blake and Weiss slowly close their books, their attention drawn to their own eggs. My egg moves a little more, before it begins to visibly crack. Slowly, shard of the top of the egg starts to move, before it slowly lifts off the rest of the eggshell. Carefully, gingerly, I slowly reach out with my right hand, and grab the little eggshell. Something underneath is calling out in adorable little noises. I remove the eggshell and come face-to-face with a bright red, oval-shaped head looking up at me. It's mouth is full of sharp, peg-like teeth. I want to squeal in sight of this adorable little thing, but i'm just awed silent. It continues to look up at me, making adorable little baby animal noises as it rocks the egg forwards, hatching out of it, and shuffling towards me. It's a small, fuzzy pterosaur with a long tail, ending in a diamond shape. Mine is a little female, predominantly a bright red, with some darker red on her. Weiss's egg hatches an actual albino female. Blake gets the exact opposite, as a little black female pops out of her egg. Yang ends up staring face-to face with a tan-colored male. I slowly lay onto my side, back onto my bed, looking at the little pterosaur. “Hi....” I say in a low, maternal tone to the little girl who's watching my every move with intent. “Hi there little cute girl...” I slowly reach out to the little “Dimorphodon”, and pet the top of her head gently. She cuddles right up next to my hand, rubbing against it...as far as she's concerned, I'm her mom. I slowly take a piece of raw meat from my inventory, a tiny little piece, and hold it out to her in my other hand. She takes a moment, then starts to eat it. I smile warmly “Look at 'em.” I say low “They're soo cute.”

 

“I guess taking in the eggs really was the right thing...” Weiss says, leaning sideways onto her table, her Dimorphodon nuzzling it's muzzle against her nose, as she pets it's back lightly. “This little girl's Snowren.” she states, feeding her little baby dimorph. Blake carefully holds hers in her arms, petting it's back, as it nestles comfortably in her grasp, like a baby. “...Her name's Raven.” she states “My little Raven...you're in hog heaven, aren't you?”she says, scratching the Dimorph under it's tiny chin, and it mumbles in pleasure of being loved on. Yang's now resting with her dimorphodon on her chest. “My little guy here is Sparrow.” she says, carefully feeding him and softly petting his head with her finger. “Sticking with the bird names due to color. Why did I get the only boy?...”

“Because you're a tomboy.” Weiss says. Yang smiles “darn right about that. Guess we're moms now.”

 

“I guess so...isn't that right, Robin?” I ask my little dimorphodon. “Do you love your new mommy? Hm?”

 

Robin shuffles over to the top of my chest, near the base of my neck, and starts making little baby animal noises as she brushes up against me. I carefully, loosely embrace the little thing. “Mommy loves you too, little girl...shh...mommy loves you.”

 

“Heh...never thought I'd actually be a mom, to be honest.” Weiss said “But...at least this is good practice, right?”

“ 'Bout as close as it will ever come unless the dude of your dreams shows up on the ARK.” Yang says. “And if that happens...i just might fight you for him.”

 

“Please, let's not kill ourselves over guys.” I say, to which the others laugh.

“I guess not.” Weiss says, petting her baby dimorph more. I let little Robin climb onto my shoulder. “Well...guess i'm going downstairs for a moment.”

“Why's that?” Blake asks.

 

“There's a pencil and some paper in the drawers downstairs. I'd like to set in the kitchen and start drawing designs for my weapon, and you three's, as well.”

“That's nice of you, sis.” Yang says. “I think we'll all be chilling out up here. Especially me.” she says, looking down at Sparrow, who happily sleeps atop his new mother. Weiss smiles “Alright. Do me a favor, and make sure there's wood in the stove for me?”

“Sure.” I say, stepping off the top bed and landing on the floor, then heading out the room. Once downstairs, I set Robin and my paper and pencil on the table. Robin watches me intently as I go over to the stove, and check it's inventory. No wood. I go over to the fireplace, and see it has copious amounts of it. I take a few extra pieces from it, and move that into the stove, before lighting the fire in the fireplace, and sitting down on the table. I feed Robin another piece of meat, and she leaps up onto my shoulder, then climbs up into my hair, laying down on the top of my head. “Hey, you.” I say, carefully petting her back. “You're welcome to do that cause it's cute, and you're cute and all...but I know your little baby bodies. Don't go potty in my hair.”

 

Robin seems to give a little response back to me, which I interpret as “I won't, mommy.”. That done, I look down onto my paper and begin to sketch out my ideas. First, my weapon...then I move on to Weiss's, then Blake's, and finally Yang's. Several minutes, probably more than a half hour has passed, and i'm going over my sketches of my special scythe again. Just then, I hear footsteps, which stop at the open doors of the kitchen. I look up and turn, only to see Blake smiling, using her crutch, with little Raven on her shoulder. “Hey, Ruby.” She says “Took me a minute, but....thought I'd live up to my promises. Feel like talking?”

 

“I always feel like talking.” I say with a smile, nodding. Blake makes her way in to the kitchen, and sits in the table across from me. Robin and Raven note each other, and leap down off of Blake and I. They sniff each other for a moment...and then, once they seem to realize they're siblings, they chase each other around for a moment on the table. We smile at this, before Robin and Raven nuzzle up next to each other on a corner of the table, and curl up, beginning to sleep. Blake and I look into each others eyes a moment, and then i'm the first to speak.

 

“So, how's your leg?” I ask. Blake smiles, her crutch leaning beside her, on the table. “Getting stronger. Hopefully I won't need this crutch for longer.”

 

“That's good.” I say “I know you, Blake. You're a strong girl. You've been through a lot, and it's made you pretty strong.”

“Heh...I'd say the same for you.” she replies. “I guess trials make good people....better.”

 

“I'd say they do.” I say, taking a moment to sketch my weapon more. Blake looks at my sketching a moment, then up at me. “Didn't know you could draw.” she states.

 

“Anything that's a weapon, anyway.” I reply. “I try to draw anything else, and....kidscratch.”

“Kidscratch?”

“Not the best in the world. I like to doodle, but I guess it's a just a little childish habit.”

 

“I'm sure every child loved to draw when they were young. It's a common trait of a child to express themselves and be creative.”

 

“I bet. So what's that book you've found about?”

 

“It's an interesting concept. It's about this scientist in the 1800s who builds a time machine and travels thousands of years into the future, where mankind has evolved into two separate races, based on their social status. The upper class evolves into this beautiful, short, blissful race that spends their time playing, and doing all sorts of blissful little things in their life of paradise, oblivious to anything. The working class, however, evolved into a pale-colored, short, stocky, subterranean race which still seems to do work for the other race without knowing it...but at the cost of taking members of the upper-class race during the night, and cannibalizing them.”

 

“that....sounds like some sort of social experiment, if you know what I mean.” I note.

“Yes, as if the author was trying to make a social class statement. To be honest, I'm enjoying it, and it's turning out to be quite interesting.”

 

“Sounds like it, minus the albino cannibal part.”

 

“True.”

 

Soon, there's more silence from the both of us, when Blake looks at my sketches again.

“Your scythe?” she asks.

“Yeah. I'm calling it Ancient Rose....mind being a second opinion on all these designs?”

“Well, i'm no weapon expert...but sure. Anything to help.”

 

“Well, granted I'll be able to make a smithy soon, once we have the materials, i'm limited to what I can make from that...so I've learned a few smithy-exclusive engrams, such as the longneck rifle.” I say, sliding my drawing towards her a little bit, as she looks at it. “unfortunately, it's not going to be as long as Crescent Rose, but...It'll still pack a punch. The Blade here is supported and rooted in those therizinosaur claws, and the smaller ones splitting from the main blade are from the severed claws. The barrel here, which also doubles as the staff of the weapon folds twice, since something like our actual weapons would require pretty advanced customization and fabrication...see, I learned there's also tranq darts, as well...so I've got two different ammo feeds. A spring-chamber here for inserting rifle ammo clips that I think can hold about 8 shots...then this feed here for single-shot darts. The zoom scope shouldn't be hard to make, either....”

 

“Knowing you.” Blake says with a smile. “You'll easily figure it out. Could I possibly see what you have planned for me?”

 

“This right here...” I say, taking my schematics for my weapon back, and showing her another blueprint “Is what I have planned for you, granted the materials i'll be able to use as of this moment.” On it are the designs of a pair of dual-wielding revolvers, the clips of which hold about ten shots each. A blade lies on the top of the barrel on a small track, and a smaller one, that's positioned further up, lies on the gun's underside. “This is what I can offer.” I say “What do you think?”

 

Blake takes the paper from me, once again, and goes over it. “So...the handles fold back?” she asks, skimming over my drawing.

“yeah.” I reply “To make it able to be wielded similarly to a sword. That's when the top blade slides forwards and extends, making it more like twin knives or short swords, if anything.”

 

“I guess granted smithy practicality, Gambol Shroud isn't exactly a possibility.”

 

“Sadly, no. Giving you both the functions of blade as well as pistol isn't exactly the easiest of things....”

 

“Well, both of my weapons aren't pistols, you know.”

“I know. It's just granted length of the gun and stuff...pfft...i can only offer dual knife-pistols as of now. Think they're good enough for you?”

 

Blake goes over the schematics again, smiling “Don't get me wrong, Ruby...these are incredible and I am truly grateful that you're doing this for me. I'm sorry if I came off a little...harsh or something.”

 

“It's ok.” I say with a smile.

 

“In regards to me being able to wield these things....definitely. It's shorter than how i'd like them, but that should be no issue in the end. You tried your best to give me functionality and adaptability. I can't ask for more. Thank you.”

 

“Heh, it's nothing.”

“What have you got planned for Weiss?” she asks me, and I pull out my drawings “Well..believe it or not, I think I can do some kind of rapier. I also managed to figure out a phial system, using the handle as a storage compartment...there's a small opening above the blade that coats it in whatever kind of phial she'd prefer to use.”

 

“What types of phials have you thought of?”

“Only three as of now. I've got one that is a cementing paste and sparkpowder blend, and the other a cementing paste and gunpowder blend. Both of their effects are triggered by the friction of the blade impacting whatever she's fighting, as both materials respond to the heat. Sparkpowder blend will, in theory, light the inflicted on fire. Gunpowder causes satisfying explosions.”
 

“Sounds useful...and from what I see here, the third requires a completely new blade?...”

 

“Yeah, the blade hilt unscrew off with the barrel and can be replaced with an injection edge, for use with the Narcotic phial....turns her whole weapon into a giant syringe.”

“That'll come in handy.” Blake notes. “And Yang?”

“Pfft...” I say, pulling out Yang's weapon designs. “It was easy figuring out the melee part of it all for her. Metal-reinforced-chitin gauntlets with studded spikes here on the knuckles. On the part that's over the arms, there's twin claws that slide out and extend over the top of her hands.”

Blake chuckles “My god...if Yang doesn't drop a Wolverine reference.”

 

“She might as well be 'Yangverine', actually.”

 

“Why...did you do that?...” Blake says, burying her face in her hands, chuckling. I giggle “Hey, it's what Yang probably will call herself.”

 

“Let Yang be the one to drop the horrible puns, please.” Blake jests. “But from what I can see here, there's no gun functionality?”

“Again, Shotguns are smithy-level functionality. Shotgun-gauntlets? Not exactly....but I remembered something I read in a book and it gave me an idea. Blake, have you ever read The Brotherhood of Macedonia?”

 

Blake pauses a moment and thinks, then suddenly remembers. “Yes, actually. About that brotherhood of assassins. Why?”

“Well, those disguised guns they'd have on the underside of their arms? I've been able to do something similar. A single barrel on top and on the underside of each gauntlet, able to only hold one simple pistol bullet at a time...yet, with the mechanism I've got in place, it'll fire it with the force, power, and accuracy of a longneck rifle. Four hidden hand-cannons for my sister.”

“She'll love that, despite the fact she'll have to take a moment to aim her shots. Either way...i feel like you've outdone yourself on these.”

 

“Thanks.” I say smiling, and gathering all my papers. “So. What else is up?” I ask her. Blake rubs the back of her head “...Well...actually, I...don't know. So much for me wanting to have a 'nice long talk'.”

“Aw, come on!” I say “Ask me anything! Really! Tell me anything!”

 

“Well...alright. Think you'll ever grow out of being childish?” she jokes.

 

“Nope.”

 

“Didn't think so.”

 

“'Cmon! Do better than that!”

“Hmm...you ask me something.”

“Ok. Are you really afraid of dogs?”

 

“.... I have the right to remain silent.”

 

“Oh boy.”

 

“Well...i don't mind Zwei, at least.”

 

“I can understand that easily. You were around him enough. It's...kinda funny how cat-like you are, to be honest.”

 

“Well, I guess that's just a side-effect of being a Faunus, perhaps...”

 

“Do I need to go through the list?”

“Nope.”

 

“Fair enough. I gotta say though, Blake. It makes you fun to be around...and then sometimes you're just fun to be around normally, too.”

 

“As long as I have those I can confide in, I'll always be joyous.”

 

“Blake, I understand how and why you're so secluded for the most part...but let me ask you. Having been through everything you have with us, including on the ARK...do you still think we'd beat you down?”

 

“Absolutely not.” Blake says with a warm smile. “I...I'm learning who the four of us really are, together. We all are... and, to be honest... I wouldn't want to be stuck on this island without you three. I'm holding on because of you...you're more than team mates and friends to me, now...you're extended family. As you told me that I can't do anything wrong in your eyes...you all can't do anything wrong in my eyes.”

 

 

“Thanks, Blake.” I say, smiling back at her. Then, I look at a blank piece of paper. “Say hey, Blake. Have you ever played Squares?”

 

“No, what's that?” she asks.

 

I take out a piece of paper and begin to draw small dots along it. “It's an annoying little game that's kinda fun, too.” I say, drawing a 28 by 28 grid of dots in a square shape. “You take turns connecting dots with lines. Each time you make a square, it's one point for you, and you get an extra turn.”

 

“So try and get as many squares as you can?”

“Yep. Wanna try?”

 

“Sure.” she says warmly. “Sounds fun.”

 

 

So with that, Blake and I begin our game as we socialize, care for our dimorphs, and bond further. I...I definitely agree with Blake. If I were stuck with a group of people on the island...I would want it to be anybody other than my team – my closest friends. It's beyond a doubt in my mind, too...that feeling is mutual among all of us. We've got one heck of an interesting adventure and new life ahead of us, as we take over Annie's Legacy, and become masters, and champions of the ARK.

[rpicardi1]

160+ pages you have posted so far when transferred to a word processor in Times New Roman font at 12 point with double space paragraphs and page breaks for chapters. Very good story. Take your time in composing chapter 11 and beyond. Each chapter is becoming more detailed and interesting as you develop your characters and many of those yet to be released creatures. (Maybe, something they discover in the twilight zone of area 50,50 that is a clue or some way they can fix the imbalance in Ark that has happened in your story.)

Only criticism is the use of stuttering in narration of your character, works well for your character when she is talking to her friends during her awkward moments. and replacing 100+ instances of i'm with I'm. (Find and replace fixed that in seconds.) Overall, no issues with grammar or spelling.

Other then the need to split some paragraphs, it is well written.

I'll be busy tonight reading your chapter 10 once I test out what my Return To Ark characters will be doing in my single player game. They are heading to Crag's Island to build a wood barn, explore the Red Obelisk, then conduct an expedition to look for the ruins in The Southern Jungle. There is a female Spino there that I may tame to use for that story.

the Ark Keepers invited the original 9 from my first story back to Ark with an Inca Chief, his High priest, and a Peruvian archeologist of Inca descent. 

[Shadlos]

Thanks for all that, dude. It helps me out a lot, it truly does.

Regardless, Aurochs and Onchopristis should be out today, after I submit something for my AP English real quick. Feel free to look at them, as well! Best of luck with Return to ARK!

[rpicardi1]

Just posted the first two chapters of my revised return visit. Also, finished reading your chapter 10. Don't forget to cap the I in I'm, I'll and OK. Also punctuation before closing quote. (Just the English teacher in me as I proofread your story which is now at 169 pages.)

No time tonight to play Ark. I placed a causeway across the narrow of Drayo's Cove. When I head to Crag's Island, I'll check out the narrow by the waterfall in the channel shortcut. Should be possible to place a wood causeway across it. I may have my Carlos Tribe build one if they can find and tame a Beaver. Of course, Your RWBY tribe have the protection of the creature living there to take out the Megapiranha. I had to wipe out a bunch when I built the causeway last night. It's a good shortcut for the raft so long as the Spino living nearby is busy fishing.

[Shadlos]

Trust me. Onchopristis is a good defender of Rivers, but if you team him up with my Orthacanthus and Heliobatis.....there are no such things as Piranha. Also...if you get them to guard a river...
 

NONE SHALL PASS!

 

Seriously, I think they're the only fanmade animals I know of which are meant to work together.

[rpicardi1]

Built the barn on Crag's Island. Got Stella the Spino. Checked out the Narrows in your story. Looks far easier to bridge with a causeway then Drayo's Cove. Stella only had to wade across. She gets tons of meat off the Coe in the water. Time to write some more.

[Shadlos]

Glad to hear that!

That said, another RWBY's ARK Survivor's Notes have been discovered!...Wonder who this one is?...

Day I

 

So this is how fate treats those who work towards what is theirs. Despite my efforts, I've found myself awakening, unclothed, on a strange island's northern shores. There are primeval creatures roaming the land, to my surprise. I can quickly access I'm no longer in Vale...possibly not in Remnant, anymore, either, granted the strange, towering metal structures I see. The plant life on the island is also strange... it appears as if some of them were deliberately placed so that I might find them and use them. It seems as if this is more than just a reserve of prehistoric animals...but also, a testing ground... it's as if some race, or somebody... doubts my power and aptitude. Doubts my competence.... how dare they. I have no more authority above me. With my own strength, my own will, my own orders...by my own might, this island will be mine. Mine, and mine alone. I've gotten what I need to help myself stand on my own feet better: mainly a few tools and some clothing. Granted, my usual methods of doing things...aren't at their usual level of performance now, but they still come in handy quite easily. I haven't found an exact place suitable for setting up, yet...but I'll know what I'm looking for when I find it. Somewhere truly beneficial...somewhere hospitable, where I don't need to worry about being interrupted. If I must, then I will create such a place, myself.

 

 

 

Day IV

 

I have found my new home, much to my delight. After walking along the coast for days, I finally walked into the forest, and after a truly breathtaking trek through the forest, I have found my hidden jewel. These past few days on my journey, many foolhardy creatures have tried to kill me, and devour me. I killed them. I devoured them. Nobody threatens my life and doubts MY power. Setting up in my new home by myself has been tedious...until I met my new partner. I was at the base of a nearby mountain, washing myself in a stream, when he came along. Quite the colossal, and imposing creature. Quite powerful, as well. He slaughtered everything in his way, sometimes not even stopping to devour them. When he saw me, he thought he could easily crush me...not quite, my saurian friend. He learned the hard way what happens if you try and oppose me. Yet, his anger, and his power...I could respect that. So, I gave him a choice to either die, or learn to get along with me. Despite being an animal, I can tell he's quite smart...he begrudgingly got up and started following me ever since. He knows his place. Despite his anger, he won't dare take it out on me. I've named my new friend “Tyrant”, due to his behavior. I've used him as both a mount, despite having no saddle, and a work animal. I can't do all the heavy lifting by myself, can I? Tyrant seems to be getting along with me easier. He seems to see eye-to-eye with me now out of respect. I must say, the feeling is mutual, between my powerful Tyrant, and myself. He makes a better partner than my former ones...and I know I don't have to question his loyalty, anymore. It's a pleasant surprise that something like him has caught on so quickly, no insult to him, of course. I dare say that Tyrant has the loyalty of a devoted child to his mother- that figure being me, of course. I don't think it's out of fear, anymore, as he seems to like my leadership. It's humorous, how something like him can understand and value cooperation more than men...

 

Regardless, I now have a firm hold on the island, thanks to my partner. There's more to be done. More new allies to amass, more structures to build...more hunting to be done. He and I will be heading back into the mountains soon for stone and metal. Until then, there's the little amounts of work to be accomplished here, as we prepare. I wonder if i'll be the only one on this island for long. Regardless if I will be or not....this is MY island. Nobody else will dare challenge my authority and power. All who do will surely die at my feet.

[Xdrone]

Cinder?

[Shadlos]

Guess who I drew today?

Really early concept, but it'll get better over time as I do. >:P
Thus and therefore, expect better versions of it over time. Either way, here's our girl Ruby in a Cloth outfit, holding a spear.

[rpicardi1]

Nice drawing. I assume you will be doing the other RWBY characters in your story soon.

Checked out the path up the stream to the pond that feeds it. A lot more rugged then I had imagined. My Spino is making it easy to construct the causeway across the shallow. I have her clean out the Coe and Megapiranha for me so I can safely work in the water.

Had a real scare a day earlier, an Alpha Carno showed up at my bridge site while I was finishing up. The presence of Stella kept it from attacking. Got the hell out of there on her as she is not strong enough to take on one of those. Used a cheat to get rid of it exclusively. It is now part of my story.

Here is a good view of Crag's Island looking South from the mainland at the pond that feeds the three waterfalls. The Red Obelisk is off to the right for reference. The RWBY base, as described, is not visible from this view. Those big trees on the island are really dense to ride or walk through. There are lots of Compys, Dilos, Raptors, some scorpions, and the occasional Carno and Sarco to watch out for. Trikes, parasaurs, Oviraptors, Dodos, Tribolites, pteradons, and a Bronto  have been observed.

[Shadlos]

Yep, although, granted, I have in the story that Cragg's Island is MUCH larger. About half the size of the main island of Hawaii, is what I have right now. I imagine the "Island' (ARK's common name) more as a mini-continent, especially if they have such massive things like Titanosaurus, Giganotosaurus, _______________, _________, and ______ ________ living on it