Ark: The Littlest Survivor

I

Here we are. All together.  I cant remember what happened after we were snabbed by Rockwell, other than Jessie hurt his leg, so he had to take it easy. I was still perched on Roe's shoulder, although I didnt have my helmet on anymore. HLNA confirmed that the air was safe to breathe in, and the tek helmet that I was wearing was making my stupid ears ache. I had smacked Roe's helmet with them plenty of times without realizing it, and he'd always chuckle and keep walking.

I will admit, being tiny has its perks. I havent walked on the ground much at all, let alone be on the ground at all. Roe has kept himself on the ground with Jessie, keep us close together since the only thing Jessie can do is hobble about, so he cant use the tek suit without hurting himself. Right now, Noah was flying about the area, looking for a safe place to start up a base. It was about midday, so we had plenty of time to find a spot to build. If we couldnt find one before sunset, it wouldnt be the first that we've been up all night. Hell, Abberation threw our sleep cycles off.

Roe stopped walking when he heard the sound of the Tek Suit flying in the air. Noah landed infront of us, and walked closer, pointing in a direction.
"Theres a clearing over there, water, shade," he paused and picked up Jessie, carrying him bridal style much to his embarrassment, "and theres plenty of trees around, we can definitely get a base set up."

Roe plucked me off his shoulders and held me to his chest, jumping up into the air with his tek suit. Noah jumped too, and with the help of the suit he was able to carry Jessie to the spot and lead the way. When he set Jessie down in the shade, I wriggled from Roe's grasp, setting my feet on the surprisingly soft grass.

"Ello little one!" HLNA said, quickly flying infront of me. She had been silent for about an hour, her screen dim while she was running diagnostics on the ship, and even seeing what she could find on me. She had startled me so much, that I shrieked and toppled over, tripping on my tail. "Oops, sorry about that. Anyways, I couldnt find much on you, other than Rockwell did mess around with your pod a lot. I dont know why or how he did it, unfortunately." Her screen dimmed and depicted a falling tear. "But I can run a scan on you to see if theres anything I can find out about you." She perked up, her screen depicting a happy face. I nodded my head, standing on my back legs to the best of my ability, letting her scan me.

HLNA stared off into the air while her screen depicted a loading bar. It was then that my stomach gurgled, crying out for food. I looked to the boys, and to the little creek behind me. I'll have to feed myself I guess, I thought, and quickly dove into the water. It was chilly, but not too cold. I waded up the little creek, snabbing a decent sized fish that I struggled to hold still. It flopped, and flopped, and finally i got so frustrated I growled. That's new, I thought, and noticed the fish was no longer struggling. I looked down at it, and noticed two extra hands holding it still. That is also new, I huffed to myself, chucking the fish onto the shore.

"Alright, good and bad news!" HLNA shouted from behind me, causing me to jump. What is it, I tried asking her. What came out of my mouth, however, was a garble of yips and squeaks. Curse this stupid ferox body. I grumbled as I dragged the fish to the boys, who had already had a campfire going.

"The good news is, Rockwell only moved your survivor implant into the ferox body, so your body is untouched for the most part." She said, a bit too cheerfully. I gave her a grumbling noise,  for her to continue as I set the fish on the fire, sitting beside it.

"You, however, are in the body of a ferox, so nothing has changed. You'll function like one too. Rockwell didnt even have the brains to spay the ferox before he put you inside of it, so your still able to breed if that means anything," she paused as I angrily ranted her out. Of course she couldnt understand me though. Jessie broke out laughing, and then whined as Roe smacked the back of his head. Roe had picked me up, setting me on his lap as he sat infront of the fire.

"I'm not sure if you can eat meat while in that small form," she added, making me turn my head to her as Roe flipped my fish around, "And Im almost positive you're still gonna be addicted to element." I grumbled and crossed my arms. This is rediculous, I thought, I dont want to eat berries for the rest of my life. I grumbled as I hopped out of Roe's lap and tore a chunk out of the cooked fish.

I chewed, and swallowed, and licked my lips. The feel of fuzz hitting my tongue made me shiver, but I quickly adjusted as I cleaned my face with my hands. I waited, and soon after HLNA did a scan on me. "Well, you're not puking it up yet, and thats a good sign. Maybe Feroxs just dont like raw meat?" She questioned.

I nodded my head, and ate maybe a few more bites of fish before I was full. I offered it to Jessie, doing my best to hold it and keep it from falling on the ground. He took it and tore chunks off of it, eating the rest.

Noah was quick to find a rock to make a mortar and pestle, chisling out the center to start making a bowl. Time flew, and as the artificial sun was setting, we had managed to make three beds, make a platform to sleep up off of the ground, and even tamed a parasaur.  Poor thing was knocked out with a club, as we hadnt had enough narcotics to turn into tranqs yet. That was my job, making the drowsy drug. I bore myself, holding the bowl with my second set of hands, and using my stronger arms to mash and mix the concoction. It was the only productive thing I could do, to be honest. I could barely carry a stone, let alone a decently sized fish. I cant hunt, I'm too small and weak. And theres no way I would be able to bludgeon a parasaur until it knocked out.

By the time Jessie and Noah were out cold, Roe had sat beside me, helping me store what narcotic I had made. He suddenly reached out and pet my head, rubbing circles into the fur that laid there. I couldnt help but ease into his hands, and he laughed the moment I started to almost purr like a cat.

"You're not useless, Shea," he muttered, staying quiet so the boys could rest. "Im sure when we get a few more things done, we'll find something for you to do." He smiled, picking me up and setting me on a pile of furs. They were warm, and comfortable. "But until then, just keep doing your best, okay?" I yawned, and curled into a ball without much thought. The crackling of the fire was peaceful, and the sound of the boys snoring made me feel safe. I dont remember falling asleep, but I do remember a quiet whisper from HLNA and a soft gentle fur being placed over me.

"Goodnight Shea."