fanfiction Florian's Journal Chapter 2 (Death and Revival)

[FlorianWind9]

HELLO THERE ARK COMMUNITY FORUMS PEOPLE!!! ......Or, I suppose, whoever else might wander into the little digital space within the vast internet that contains my little story. I don't know who you are, or where you've come from, or where you're at in your life; and I won't discriminate. Everyone is welcome to come join me for a bit of story-time; and my hope is that at the very least it will provide you with some mild entertainment.

So the first chapter, the previous chapter, depicted my very first login and spawn into the game Ark Survival Evolved all those many years ago. What I personally think is so cool about that chapter, as well as all the rest that follow, is that the events described happened in exactly that order; and that the retelling of those events describe my thoughts, feelings, and how I viewed the game during that time as I played.

The first chapter also depicted my very first death within the game.........I didn't last very long......huh? WEEEELLLLLLLL......MOVING FORWARDS!

Chapter 2 continues directly onwards; depicting my opinions, emotions, and perspective on the events that followed.

Therefore, to Celebrate the Existence of This Game; and to Mourn the approach of its Death; lets see what happened next......shall we?

FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with...

SECONDLY:

IMPORTANT CONTEXT!!

              The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable.

              These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”.

              These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed.

                The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017.

               I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally.

              So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy!

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Chapter 2

Death and Revival

            …I found myself in a dark emptiness devoid of all my senses...

            I could see nothing; hear nothing; taste nothing; smell nothing; and even feel…nothing… In-fact, I couldn’t even feel that I had a body or the sensation of moving it. All there was……nothing... And yet; I did know that I existed. I may not have had any senses physically, but mentally I could think and be self-aware of my own being. Beyond that however…I didn’t have much of a memory.

           The last thing I could remember was……was dying! I had been killed by some ferocious beast, which had resembled that of a DINOSAUR!!

            The images of pain and blood flooding fresh to my mind, I began feeling a bit of panic as I wondered where I now was! ‘If I had died…then…was this the afterlife? But what was this?! Where were the golden clouds? Or perhaps……… the fiery ones...’ All there was……was emptiness... ‘Was I in limbo? Would I be stuck here forever? Was this actually all that the afterlife was? Perhaps……had I not even fully died yet, and this was just some kind of temporary dream-state created by my brain?’

            …I puzzled over these questions for what seemed like days…for there was nothing else to do but puzzle over them…although, it could have only been minutes; as there was no way of telling time.

             At first, once the initial anxiety had subsided, this served merely as a way of passing said time…it was all I could do and; ‘if I had done nothing at all then’, I thought, ‘surely I would go insane.’ But then suddenly, amidst the empty darkness, I began to notice a change! When I would think of nearly anything else, there would be only the void consuming all my senses…whenever I began to think about the island that I had died upon however, there would almost appear to be a small glimmer of light; far off in the distance…

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             Observing this, I began to think more and more about the island. Of the soft warm sand…the un-salty water…the bushes…the trees…the berries. Gradually…the small glimmer of light grew before me into a wobbly, unstable image of the beach upon which I had been killed! There still was nothing else…but I could actually see something!

            Desperate for the cool taste of the water, for the warm feeling of the sand, I reached out frantically towards the image with my mind; grasping anxiously at the light with mental fingers! And then……

            ……in a flash of blinding light I awoke, naked and afraid, upon a warm sandy beach; with the ocean water gently caressing my feet…

            I gasped deeply for air as the sensation of needing to breath suddenly returned to me! In a disbelieving shock, my hands immediately sprung to my neck; and began searching for any sign that it had been ripped open! Finding nothing, I quickly brought myself to a kneeling position; and began feeling all over my body for signs of the cuts and tears which the creature had made as it killed me. Despite my frantic searching however…there seemed nothing.

           For a brief moment I knelt there…in a state of dazed confusion…as I attempted to make sense of what had happened. There I was…washed up naked on a beach……bright sunlight shining down upon my head…with little memory beyond that of my own name just as before; yet; ‘I had died but now was alive?! Had it all just been a hallucination before? Was this now actual reality, and my experiences previously just a fever-dream brought on by getting shipwrecked and washed up on some beach; perhaps after having recently seen a movie about Dinosaurs?’

           Fortunately…or perhaps unfortunately…I didn’t need long to discover my answer, as I suddenly felt the ground shake beneath me; followed soon after by a gigantic cylindrical foot, crushing down into the sand mere inches in front of me!

           In a startled panic, I quickly scooted backwards into the water and looked up! At that moment…despite my amnesia…the Jurassic Park movie’s theme-song sprang loud and clear to my mind; as my sight slowly followed the long, greyish-blue, wrinkled neck of an enormous quadruped up to its bulky head filled with huge flat teeth! Teeth; which were casually grinding up a mouthful of leaves taken from a large palm-tree nearby…

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           The towering creature’s physical features were unmistakable. The four long legs as thick as huge tree trunks…the large bump on the top of its head, containing its nostrils…the tiny spikes running the entire ninety or so foot length of its back, from head to tail tip…and its lofty, seventy some foot height… I could hardly believe my eyes…but there I was sitting mere inches away from a BRONTOSAURUS!

           For a fleeting moment, I discovered that I couldn’t summon the strength to move; paralyzed by the shock and awe of this overwhelming creature before me! It was therefore fortunate that, despite its immense stature, the beast clearly preferred vegetation over meat. The Bronto simply continued to calmly chew its meal of palm leaves; seemingly unaware of my spec of a presence. However…with feet as large as my entire body…it didn’t need to be interested in eating me…to harm me.

           As if to emphasize this fact the Bronto then shifted its weight slightly, so as to gain a better angle upon the next set of leaves, and brought its left-front-foot down upon the ground I had been kneeling on just a moment ago!

           This was enough to break me out from my frozen state, and I quickly jumped to my feet!

             Having a healthy respect for its enormous might…I crept carefully around to the Bronto’s back; keeping a watchful eye on its feet and gently swinging tail, which itself was as a large swaying tree-trunk…ready to send me flying should I happen to cross paths with it. Still, dangerous as standing near the Bronto may be…the sound of its earth-shaking foot-steps would surely alert me to any sudden movements; so I knew that I needn’t be too overly cautious of it. Therefore, once I felt that I had gotten far enough out of its immediate range of movement, I warily turned my back on it; to view the rest of my surroundings…and I again was stunned!; this time by the variety of wildlife I saw before me!

           I found myself looking at a slightly different beach than the one I had died upon before. All around were the same types of trees, bushes, and rocks that I had seen earlier; as the ground sharply sloped up into a gradually thickening forest sure. However, while the previous shore had been relatively straight with the waterline as far as I could see in either direction; this one instead dipped inwards slightly, to create a kind of miniature cove.

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              The inward curvature of water was perhaps about thirty meters wide, by a hundred meters long down the length of the shoreline. Still further contrary to the previous beach which had been mostly empty of faunae, aside from the bird and murderous beast, this one was teaming with wildlife! And every single one of the relatively carefree seeming animals was unquestionably a DINOSAUR!!

            I was fairly certain that none of the creatures I saw were Carnivorous. So…after only a brief moment of hesitation…I began walking cautiously down the beach; marveling at, and naming all the animals I could see.

           There was a small herd of about three or four Triceratops, peacefully munching upon some bushes near the tree-line. Their sturdy stature of about fourteen feet high, and twenty-eight feet long, from beak to tail-tip looked very intimidating with their four stout legs; blackish-brown armor-like hide; hard beak-like mouth; huge plate-like frill, lined with spikes, ringing around the tops of their short necks; and three long, prominent horns; with a shorter one on the nose, and two longer ones on the forehead. Now and then, one would let out a snort; to clear their nostrils of dust or plant fragments.

           Not far from them was another small herd of three or so Stegosaurs; all casually crunching upon similar bushes. While they didn’t look quite as intimidating…I knew that they were no less dangerous; with their similar stature of about fifteen feet high, from the bottoms of their feet to the tips of the largest plates upon their backs…and twenty-eight feet length, from their beak-like snouts to the tips of their spiked tails; their brownish-tan armor-like hide; their long surveying necks; four stout legs; and twin rows of hard triangle-like plates running the length of their spines, from head to tail, gradually ranging in size from about that of a human finger on their heads…reaching large enough to conceal a crouching full-sized human at the peak of their backs…and again down to the size of a human finger by the end of their tails; which held six large spikes with which they could impale any creature that dared anger them.

            I made sure to give both of these Dinos a wide range of distance, as I didn’t feel like taking the chance of accidentally upsetting them; and subsequently getting skewered by one of their large spikes or horns…

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            Continuing down the beach, I saw many Parasaurolophus rooting around and grazing in either the bushes or shallow ocean water with their almost duckbill-like mouths. They stood about twelve feet high when fully upright, and appeared to be about twenty-one feet long from head to tail tip. Their greenish-black hide seemed thick, though not quite as thick as that of the Trikes. They stood upon two three-toed, muscular hind-legs; which seemed powerful enough to get them going in a hurry should any predators approach. Their two front legs were only about half the size, and appeared more as arms with a four-fingered hand upon each; although, their movements seemed to suggest that they used them for feet at times as well. A pair of small spikes protruded from each shoulder, as well as from beneath their chin; and a short, ridged frill followed down the entire length of their spines. But their most prominent feature was the large, backwards-curved, almost fin-like horn; which extended from the backs of their heads. They continuously produced soft snorting or honking sounds, as they kept in communication with the rest of their kind around the coastline.

             Rooting and snorting along beside them were four or five large pig-like creatures, which I somehow knew to be called; ‘Phiomia’. Their fat…lumpy…bumpy bodies caused them to look far less intimidating than they actually were; despite their eight foot high and eleven foot long stature. They had four stout legs; a greyish hide; an almost cute little tail with a tuft of fur on the end; and a face which looked like a mixture between a pig and an elephant; with a floppy little ear on either side of its head…and two long tusks protruding from the roof of its long, yet stiff, elephantine snout-like jaw.

            Scattered amongst all these other animals was a traumatically familiar one as well…a multitude of multi-colored Dodos waddled and chortled throughout the entire beach; while casually plucking berries off the many bushes which littered the shoreline.

              ……Needless to say…I felt quite dwarfed and overwhelmed by all the creatures around me………aside from the Dodos of course. Not to mention the fact that this was all still such a shock! To have washed up alone and naked on an unknown shore! To be surrounded by all these large animals which, far as I knew, should be long extinct! To even have died and somehow come back to life! …I felt so tense with anxiety I could hardly move... The only thing keeping me from panicking at this point…was the relieving thought that at least all these Dinos which now encircled me, seemed to be Herbivores.

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              Then suddenly, I heard a loud whoosh of air followed by a thud upon the sand behind me! I turned around so quick in fear that my feet slipped upon the lose grains, and I fell hard to a sitting position! With no strength to run and nowhere to run to…I tried to control my nervous shaking, as I found myself faced with yet another potential threat! As I sat there in anticipation, trying my best to keep from screaming out of fear, I found myself staring back at the large socketed eye of what appeared to be a Pteranodon!

               From my perspective on the ground…the bird looked quite menacing; with a pointy beaked head as large and as long as my entire body, filled with tiny jagged teeth! It had a pointed bony protrusion, about half the size of its beak, also extending out from the back of its head…perhaps used as a counterweight to help balance its huge bill…along with a large split ridge, which followed the length of said bony protrusion to about halfway down its beak. It may not have appeared to have the best depth perception, with only a single sunken eye on either side of its large head, but that didn’t provide me much solace with its approximate nine foot height…and massive bat-like wings; which looked as though they may have had a full wingspan of twenty-five feet or more! The thin, almost soft looking, membrane of skin upon its wings betrayed the bird’s strength; as it stood on two muscular, five-toed hind legs with sharp claws upon each that appeared to be about as long as my fingers! Its blueish-grey hide, from its head down to its bony…tailless…tailbone, looked as though it would provide expert camouflage against the clear blue sky as it hunted from above!

               The Pteranodon then shifted its weight…resting even more of it upon the clawed, three-fingered hands of its wings…as it bent down still lower to get a closer look at me. For a moment…I thought this would be it. Another murderous creature would eat me alive…and I’d be sent back to that dark void… However, after just a few seconds of inquisitive gazing, the Pteranodon looked away uninterested; and began walking casually towards the water, while making peaceful singing chirping sounds…

              Such a sudden, cooling wave of relief washed over me; as I let my anxiety weary body fall back and sink into the soft, comforting sand. It was in that moment of respite that an applicable piece of information came to mind; ‘despite being Carnivores …Pteranodons primarily ate small to medium sized fish, and not larger creatures such as myself.’

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              Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the event…I slowly stood…and walked over to a small, jagged boulder near the water. Carefully, I leaned against it with the intent of gazing relaxingly upon this unbelievable shoreline before me…only to be shaken yet again, as the stone suddenly began to move!

             I quickly put some distance between myself and the supposed rock; as I watched it sprout four, sturdy, five-clawed legs…a little tail…and a long, stretching neck with a round beaked head; which was about as large as my torso!

            …It was a Gigantic Tortoise!

           The animal looked to be about seven feet tall, ten feet long, and with a shell diameter of about six feet. The entire top half of its shell was covered in jagged spikes, and there were some smaller serrated plating atop its head as well. The dark-brown color of its covering had made it look very much like a large boulder; before its lighter colored, tan appendages had come out from it…

            As I stood there…unsure whether this new species were friend or foe…the Tortoise leisurely swung its long neck around to look at me for just a second; before turning away, and slowly making its way into the water…a course of action which I very much appreciated, as its beaked mouth looked large and strong enough to snap my whole head off in a single bite!

            While continuing to stand there, overcome by my surroundings, I didn’t have much time to further contemplate my situation; as the air was abruptly filled by a chorus of loud honking sounds coming from the many Parasaurs, which were scattered throughout the beach!

             It caused me to feel a great sense of concern, as it seemed like a sound of distress!

             But; I hardly had the time to turn to one side before a large, orangish-green blur suddenly slammed hard into my body; knocking me down onto the sand below!

           I didn’t even get a good look at the creature, as its movements were too fast!

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           Before I had time to think…it had pinned me to the ground…and gripped my entire face in its jaws. All I could see were rows of jagged teeth, making their way down into a slimy throat; and all I knew, as it swiftly severed my spine with a quick jerking motion, was that this monster was far larger than the one which had killed me before.

           And just like that…

                    …I again had died.

Edited July 16, 2023 by FlorianWind9