I groaned a bit, feeling the dirt on my face when aunt Axycia teleport me to… wherever here is. I pushed myself up to see we’re in a lush forest, the trees seemed to go on for miles as I saw Axycia looking around.

“Ugh… anyone see that man’s number?” Ruby said, making me realize that she too came with us, for some reason. I saw her laying on the ground groaning as I moved over to her side.

“It was no man… it was a teleport.” I told her. I noted the large redwood trees, the sunlight peeking through the leaves. Aunty was already up, looking at our surroundings with narrowed eyes. I helped Ruby up, noticing her dizziness.

“I feel like I’m going to hurl.” She said with a groan.

“The feeling will pass in a few minutes.” I told her. She let out another groan of discomfort as she clutched her stomach. I patted her back in comfort as the echoing sounds of chirping bird greeted my ears. It was really calming, hearing the sounds of the forest. The sounds were soon replaced with an odd and very close hissing. I was quick to react and turned to the source, seeing a small raptor-like beast. “Uhhh, Axycia?”

Axycia looked over at the raptor as it seemed to study us. It took some steps forward and sniffed the air. He let out a sound similar to that of the birds I heard before. I took a step back and it reacted with a hiss, its neck expanding into frills. Ruby saw this and held onto me tightly.

“Get behind me.” I whispered to her, my hand on Molten. My aunt simply watched this happen without moving. It hissed once again as it saw me grip Molten Coil but a loud whistle caught its attention. It turned to face the source behind it, following along with gaze I saw that it was a man in metal armor with pike in hand. The armor itself while made of metal, looked primitive. It sorta looks like someone made knight armor with what little they had around.

“Who are you?” I called out. The man looked at us curiously before lowering his weapon.

“I could ask you the same.” He said, scanning both mine and Ruby’s attire before saying. “Never seen clothing like that before. Are you new to the Ark?” He asked before petting the raptor-like beast. I glanced over at my aunt before at the man.

“You can say that.” I told him, still not letting go of Molten. The man chuckled a bit before saying.

“While it’s nice to meet new survivors, it’s not safe to sit out here. Bears and wolves prowl these lands.” He said, warning us of the danger before adding. “We can talk more back at the village if you’d follow me.” He said, turning around before whistling at the raptor-like beast. The beast out a low growl before running ahead. The man soon looked back at us and gestured to follow him. My aunt simply walked forward to follow, humming a little tune as she did. I looked back at Ruby as she held onto me.

“You okay?” I asked. She nodded a little.

“Yeah… oh, wait, no I’m not I forgot Crescent rose!” Ruby said sadly. I gave her a deadpan look before sighing.

“Let’s just follow them.” I said to her. As the two of us walked Ruby whispered to me.

“We just saw a real-life dinosaur! That’s so cool!”

“I know!” I whisper back with a smile. As we walked, we marveled at the forest having never seen trees this tall before. We all stopped at the sound of a rustling bush, the man raising his pike towards the bush. We all waited for the worst to walk out only to see an innocent dodo bird walk out. It ruffled its feathers a bit as it walked, not minding us being there.

“It’s a Dodo!” Ruby said in a childish tone.

“Woah~.” I simply said which made aunty chuckle. The armored man glanced us in confusion but kept silent during the rest of the walk. Our destination being on a simple wooden platform with a rope that suspended it a few inches off the ground. Ruby and I looked at it curiously before the man walked onto it with Aunty following suit.

“Come on, it’s perfectly safe.” He said to us, trying to encourage us to hop on as well. Seeing that standing still won’t do us any good, we walked onto the platform. With a nod, the man took off his helmet, revealing his shaggy hair and a scruffy beard. He then let out a deafening whistle that echoed through the forest and as a result, the platform shook before slowly ascending. I looked up, wanting to see where it would lead us but the leaves blocked the view. The armored man noticed a few branches blocking our ascent and pushed them away with his pike long enough to pass them. Our vision was soon blocked by leaves for a brief moment before the platform stopped, opening my eyes, I was greeted with the sight of a muscled woman waiting with her hand on her hips. Her attire look leathery, her boots, pants and even shirt. Her brown hair hung loosely over her shoulders.

“I was wondering when you’d be back.” She said, crossing her arms as she did before noticing us. “And you brought guests?” She asked the man.

“I found them nearing the swamps, Dilo found them before I did.” The man said before walking off the platform and onto the large wooden platform built onto the large tree. I looked around, seeing a multitude of platforms connected via catwalks. The platforms I saw had two houses each, big enough to fit a lot of people. Aunty walked off the elevated platform and onto the tree platform. The man looked at us before saying.

“My name is Kennedy, most of my tribemates call me Ken.” He said, turning to the muscled woman and saying. “She’s Dianne, my wife and the tribes strongest.” He said.

“They live in Treehouses…” Ruby said childishly. I couldn’t help but laugh at this before looking at Ken.

“Hey Ken, I’m Viri, this is Ruby,”

“Huh? Oh, hello!” Ruby greeted.

“And this is my Aunt, Axycia.” I greeted them. My aunt bowed to the two of them. Ken and Dianne bowed in return, not wanting to be rude.

“If you all wouldn’t mind, I’d like to question you all for safety reasons.” Kennedy said while Dianne walked off after giving her hubby a quick peck on the cheek. “If you’d follow me please.” He said, walking over towards the only large building on the platform we stood on. It was the largest building we’ve seen. We followed him inside as Ruby simple marveled at all the ‘Treehouses’.

We entered the building and was greeted with a well-furnished living room, the tables and chairs looked handmade. Ken motioned towards the bench beside a large wooden table, the table itself had handmade carvings on its surface. The carving looked similar to the howling wolf from the White Fangs emblem. We all sat on the well-made bench while Kennedy sat on the other side of the table before asking.

“Are any of you from any of the neighboring tribes?” He asked, having discarded his pike and helmet atop a wooden crate labeled ‘hunting gear’.

“Uhh, no we’re not.” I told him I looked over at my aunt for any input. She shook her head no before saying.

“No, we’re just a group of wanderers. We’re from the Northern Plains.” Aunty said, gaining a curious look from the man before adding. “I was there when these two appeared, I’m basically their guardian.” Kennedy seemed satisfied with this answer and said.

“Ah yes. The north is no place for newcomers.” He said before looking back at me and Ruby. “So I assume your gems are like ours, no?” He asked before removing his left gauntlet, revealing a grey gem embedded into his wrist. Both Ruby and I stared at it before looking at each other.

“Do we have gems?” Ruby asked.

“Uh…” Was all I could say at this. He looked at us in confusion, he then looked at my aunt waiting for an answer.

“You… don’t have gems?” He said, having a hard time believing this. “How is that even possible? Everyone in the Ark possesses a gem.” He said, looking out the large window. We were high up enough to be able to see through the leaves, being able to faintly see the menacing Volcano. “Even her.” He said just above a whisper, though in the tone he said it, I don’t think it’s a good subject to touch just yet. Though Ruby didn’t seem to have the same idea.

“Who’s her?” Ruby asked him. He clawed at the finely crafted table, obviously never expecting this question. He turned to look at us, a look of horror on his face.

“You really aren’t from the Ark, are you?” He asked. We shook our head, while Aunt Axycia looked out the window in interest. With a sigh, Kennedy decided to explain a bit. “We only know as Mother, an inhuman being with unimaginable power. She has already wiped out three of our allied tribes and we fear we may be next.” He said. I gulped as I looked over at my aunt for a moment.

“That’s… something.” I said with a little nervosity. Ruby looked over at me then at Kennedy.

“Why would this lady destroy other tribes?” she asked. He shrugged, shaking his head as he did before saying.

“No one knows exactly why she does it. The closest thing we’ve ever gotten to a reason was from a survivor of the last tribe she wiped out.” He said, looking down in sadness. “They were a tribe of warriors, men, and women that should never be trifled with… and yet she single-handedly wiped them out.”

“What did the survivor say?” Aunt Axycia asked, still looking out the window. Ken closed his eyes and said.

“He said that she looked at him, she had him dead to rights but didn’t kill him. Simply uttering the words Mother Knows Best.” He said before shaking his head. “We found him later that day at the brink of death, we took him in and let him recover before he left without as much as a single word.”

I glanced over at Axycia as she stared out of the window. She tasked me to fight this woman, but after what Ken told us I’m not so sure anymore.

“Do you expect this ‘Mother’ being to come here next?” I asked Ken.

“We’re not sure, that survivor we found had mentioned that she simply showed up within the borders of their village. She hummed loudly to herself, a lullaby a mother would sing to her children.” He said, a bit of fear evident in his tone.

“Right… Can I talk to you for a moment?” I asked my Aunt. “Outside, alone.”

She looked at me oddly before nodding. The two of us walked out of the room outside. I turned to her with a frown. “Look, I know you told me that my task to defeat this woman but, after hearing that from Ken, do you think I could stand a chance against her?!” I asked her.

“Oh come now, you selling yourself short.” my aunt said with a roll of her eyes.

“I think you don’t understand what he said, she wiped out a tribe of warriors single-handedly. What can I do against that!?” I asked her. She stared at me before putting her hand on my shoulder.

“Look, I know you’re scared about this. But trust me, I know that you are more than enough to deal with this ‘Mother’.” she smiled at me. “I believe in you.”

I looked at my aunt as she said this, my nerves didn’t calm down though. I simply nodded before she led me back into the room.

“So… can I have a dinosaur?” Ruby asked childishly. Kennedy blinked at scythe wielder before noticing us.

“Ah you’ve returned.” He said with a bit of relief.

“Yeah, just need to ask her something.” I told him before sitting beside Ruby. “So, what are you two talking about?”

“Dinosaurs!” Ruby said happily before looking at Ken. “Can I have one, Please please please~!” To her dismay, Ken simply shook his head.

“Sorry, but we don’t just give we away our tames. We at this tribe have risked our lives in taking them.” He said, explaining his answer. Ruby pouted a bit but didn’t say anything, I guess the idea of having a pet dinosaur would be really cool. I chuckled at this as I looked out of the window. As I looked out the window, I kept getting the feeling of being watched. Shaking my head I looked back at Ken as he was talking to my aunt about something. I decided to lean back and tried to drown out the talking and let my mind wander for a bit.

Though my mind wandered, I couldn’t help but look out the window again, though this time a woman in a gas mask looked back at me. I could hear the heavy breathing as it were next to me. The woman tilted her head as if looking at me in confusion before turning around. I blinked only to find that she disappeared. I blinked a few more times as my mind raced to figure out what just happened.

“What the living hell!?!” I yelled, scrambling back into Ruby. Everyone turned to me from my outburst.

“What’s wrong?” Ken asked, having been surprised by my outburst. I looked over at him and back at the window.

“There was someone there! Right at the window!” I yelled, pointing. “Woman with a gas mask did no one see her!?” Ruby shook her head while Aunt Axycia looked at me oddly. Kennedy looked horrified.

“Nonono.” He muttered under his breath, terrified. He looked out the window, seeing if what I said was true but despite seeing nothing, he was still terrified. “How did she find us?” He asked just loud enough for me to hear as he grabbed his helmet but tossed the pike to the side before opening the crate. To me and Ruby’s surprise, Kennedy took out a relatively modern looking shotgun and a couple of shells as well. “Better safe than sorry.” He said, loading in six of the shells before pumping the gun.

“I’m not going to question that.” I said to him.

“Uhh.” Ruby said as she looked around. “Do you have a scythe?”

“A scythe?” He asked, not knowing what she meant. Ruby looked at him in confusion as my aunt spoke.

“Maybe a different weapon would work.” she said calmly. Ruby looked at her and back at Ken.

“Uh, a rifle?” she asked. Ken quickly rummage through the small crate before finally pulling out a handgun.

“This is the only thing I can give you, it’s already loaded so make each shot count.” He said, tossing the gun to Ruby. The latter caught it before mockingly pointing the gun at the wall pretending to shoot it.

“Bang!” She imitated, making me shake my head at her. The ground beneath us shook, surprising Ken the most before ran over to the door and looked out the small window next to it. He looked mortified at whatever he saw out there.

“We’re under attack.” He said, muttering it loudly before a look of panic crossed his face. “We’re under att-” Before he could finish his sentence, a set of knocks interrupted him. He turned to look at the door, gun in hand and ready to fire. As he contemplated in opening it or not, the silence that we grew accustomed to had been shattered by the sounds of danger. People screaming, fires raging, the shattering of wood could be heard. But one sound stood out from the rest, a constant mother hum. Once again there was a set of knocks from the door and Kennedy moved in to open it, in doing so the hum was briefly replaced with a dark chuckle. Every nerve of my body screamed at me to move.

“Ruby stop him!” I yelled at her. She looked at me before she turned into a burst of rose petals. She zoomed over before knocking Ken down. Molten Coil was out an in my hands as my aunt simply stood to the side with her arms crossed. The door soon had a bloodied spike impaled at its center, where it would have most likely hit Ken if it weren’t for Ruby. Before anyone could say anything, another bloodier pike pierced the door followed by several more. The humming soon returned, after another ominously dark chuckle. Ruby got off Ken, allowing him to get up.

“Thanks but I need to go out there, my tribe needs me.” He said, opening while looking at Ruby. Both me and Ruby were horrified to see what was stuck to the door. “What are you- No.” He said, having turned around only be greeted by the bloody body of his wife. Several pikes holding her up on the door. “No!” He yelled.

The humming got louder and closer, Ken turned face with a terrified expression as he aimed his weapon out the doorway. I was unable to see who was out there but judging by the constant humming, it was no one good.

“Get away!” He yelled, firing at the person outside. The humming was once again replaced with a chuckle. The next thing we knew, a pike had pierced the center of Ken’s head, horrifying Ruby in the process. Soon the humming returned as a riot armor-clad woman in a gas mask entered the home. She had long raven black hair reaching down to her shoulders.

The sound of a gun hitting the ground as Ruby fell onto her knees. She was in a panic like state as the woman looked around. I held Molten Coil in my hands as I trembled.

“What do I do, what do I do, what am I supposed to do? Ken is dead and I’ll be next, what do I do??” I thought as I stared at the woman. The woman looked at the terrified Ruby before looking at me. She tilted her head a bit before picking up Kennedy’s shotgun. I expected her to just shoot us there and then but she simply cocked it several times, discarding the shells in the process. With that done, she tossed the gun to the side and headed out the door, not minding us being there. We heard the sound of what could only be one of the many support beam snap, causing the ground to shake.

Aunty quickly opened a portal and pushed us through, making me land on the dirt with Ruby beside me. I took a moment to look around where I was before seeing Ruby curl up into a ball.

“Ruby?” I said her name in a shaky voice. She didn’t respond as she just stayed like that. It wasn’t long before my aunt appeared near us.

“That was close, any longer and the whole thing would have collapsed on you.” She said, dusting herself off nonchalantly. I didn’t say anything as I pulled my legs up. “Something wrong?” She asked, curiously glancing at me and Ruby. I glanced at Ruby still trembling. I put my hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down.

“Just… I was freaked out.” I told her. My aunt didn’t say anything as she moved around us, looking out to the forest. Following her gaze, I could see the black smoke of the fire rising up from the forest. I could still hear her humming. I put my hands over my ears, hoping to block out the humming. But I could still hear it. It soon stopped the sounds of blowing wind replacing the humming.

“She works quick. Efficiently as well.” I could hear Aunty say just above a whisper. I looked back at her as I saw Ruby sit up.

“You okay?” I asked her. Ruby looked over to me, her silver eyes are red from bloodshot. She shook her head as she sat next to me. “I could ask my aunt to send you back to the school.”

“And… let you face this woman by yourself?” she asked me. I gave her an odd look and felt like this was an argument I wasn’t going to win. “Besides, I want a dino.”

“Why?” I asked her, arching a brow.

“Because Dinosaurs are cool.” she said. I snorted before I started to laugh. Soon the two of us were laughing together before calming down. We saw Aunt Axycia staring at us.

“We should get going, there’s no telling how close she is.” Aunty said, walking away from the forest and towards the flowing river, where a few noticeable dinos were drinking water. Ruby simply went from shaken to a happy girl just from looking at the dinos. I had to hold her down so she didn’t run towards them.

“But Dinosaurs!” Ruby whined at me.

“But Ruby Dino food!” I countered back at her. “I don’t know if some of them are plant-eaters or meat-eaters.”

“Plant eaters.” Aunty said before pointing at a dino with horns protruding from its body. “Plant eater.” She then pointed at the very large and very long dino, if I remember correctly it’s Brontosaurus. Watching this I started to hum the theme song to Jurassic Park.

“What are you humming?” Ruby asked.

“A theme song from a good movie.” I told her. “You don’t know it?”

“No.” Ruby answered.

“Right, after this me and you are watching that movie.” I told her. Aunty then pointed at another, smaller dino that was currently sprinting at us.

“Meat eater.” She said, looking at me expectantly. I looked at her then at the small dino sprinting towards us.

“Whoa!” I yelled as the dino jump at me. I ducked under as it sailed over my head. It landed a few feet behind us before turning around to hiss at me. I stared at it before I saw it was charging at me again. As it lept I pulled Molten out and pulled the trigger. It fell on top of me before rolling off into the water, making the rest of the dinos runoff. I blinked a few times before Ruby was at my side.

“Are you okay?!” she asked me. I simply and slowly nodded.

“That… just happened.” I said as she pulled me up. I looked over at my aunt as she simply stood there. “Thanks for the warning.” She nodded before looking at the fleeing dinos. Ruby was sad to see them leave, I was just relieved not really knowing if they were friendly or not. Ruby pulled me up while I put Molten Coil away. The two of us smiled before looking at my aunt. “Onwards?”

“On your command, oh fearless leader.” Aunty said with a smirk. I rolled my eyes as the three of us headed off. Hours past as we walked through another, smaller forest and ran into some more animals, some not so dangerous while others were. Luckily a good burst of fire from Molten scare them off. Soon the sun started to set and aunty said we should set up camp.

“Wait, what about the others? What about school?” Ruby asked her. Axycia simply grinned at her.

“Don’t worry about it, I got that handled.” she informed Ruby as she looked around. “Think of it this way, when we get back it’ll back you never even left.” She said with a chuckle. Ruby looked over at me as I just shrugged. The three of us soon headed out to look for anything we can use to build with or food. I spent the next while picking some berries into my bag when that feeling being watched came back. I shivered as I stood up and looked around me. I didn’t see anything until I saw a blue light coming from my right. As I looked right at it the light disappeared, almost looked like it flickered out.

Staring at the area where the light was until I shook my head. Was I imagining things? Was it this Mother woman stalking us? Or something else?

With that thought in mind I headed back towards the others, but as I walked, that feeling never went away.

Author's Notes:

Well, things aren’t looking good for the crew of... just Ruby and Viri. Will they survive the harsh life of Ark? Who is this Mother, who is totally not Viri’s Mother, and what’s up with that blue light? And most importantly; Will Ruby get a Dino pet?!?