Ark: The Littlest Survivor

II

We slept through the night with little to no worry, thankfully. I was up at the sound of the parasaur grunting. I opened my eyes, squinting them to adjust to the light. Jessie was attaching a saddle onto the dopey creature, tying it tight and secure.

"Good mornin' Shea!" He came up to me, roughing up the fuzz on my head. He laughed as I squealed in protest, chirbling and yipping for him to stop. I finally bit into his hand, leaving several tiny holes into his palm. "Ow! You watch it or I'll have no problem using you as raptor bait!" He laughed, setting a leaf-wrapped fish infront of me.

Jessie then leaned against the parasaur, his suit leggings and boots stuffed into a crudely made bag hanging off the parasaur's saddle. His left leg was swollen, but it looked much better than yesterday. He had started to put weight onto the leg, and he would only wince sometimes. I hustled over to him, jumping on my feet to gain his attention. He looked down at me, his freckled face visible since he had taken his helmet off.

"Whatcha want, Shea?" He said, fixing his hair out of his face. I jumped up again, holding my hands above my head, the cooked and wrapped fish in my lower hands. He got the gist, and picked me up, setting me on the parasaur. I unwrapped the fish, ripping chunks out of it. I gave him a rather large chunk before making work of mine, chewing the savory meat. It wasnt long before I was full, and Jessie took the rest of the fish, slowly picking the meat off the bone.

"Roe went to go and tame some pack creatures. Dunno where Noah went, but I can only assume that he went to get a flier. We had a talk this morning about getting you some sort of safety net, dunno how you didn't hear it with those big ol' ears of yours." He laughed and flicked one of my ears. I nipped at his hand again and he laughed once more.

I hopped off of the saddle and onto the ground, trotting back to where the narcotics were left. They were missing, most likely split between the two men for their taming. I shrugged, something that I didn't know I could do until now, and dragged the bowl back towards the scaly corpse and pile of narcoberries. They had killed this thing yesterday, and it was already rotting and covered in bugs. As gross as it was, it would make very potent narcotics.

I cut chunks of the disgustingly soft and slimy flesh and dropped it into the mortar, and turned to the other side to grab a handful of berries. I began the long and boring process of pounding and crushing and mixing, and adding more of both ingredients. I hadn't noticed I had been doing it for over three hours until I heard a wolf growling nearby, then another. And then, an avian cry, as well as the rustling of feathers.

I turned my head, trying to find the source of these sounds, and shrieked at the sight of a wolf barreling towards me. I dropped the mortar and pestle, doing my best to run from the creature. I saw Jessie, and climbed up his legs, latching myself onto his shoulders. He had felt me trembling and ungrappled me from his shoulders, holding me to his chest and hiding me from the canine.

"Roe, get the damn dog!" Jessie shouted, using his good leg to shoo the wolf. The said man grabbed what looked to be a crude leather strap around its neck, and pulled it away. He had another, although it was much  calmer and observative. It growled, and snarled, tackling the other. The wreckless one, which was a brown and rusty orange color, tucked it's tail between its legs, submitting to the bigger smoky black wolf.

I watched in awe, admiring the hierarchy. Roe had rushed over, gently taking me from Jessie's arms. He crouched down to the hounds, showing me to them. They did nothing but stare and sniff, and went and laid somewhere else. They knew better.

They continued to stare even as I went back to the narcotics, still shaking from the fear. I worked my way through it, sighing as the shaking went away. "I'm sorry, Shea. She slipped from my hands." He sighed and shook his head, going to sit by the fire. He was tired, and I could hear the pop of his knees as he sat on the low stump.

Noah landed the large bird beside the creek, having more control over it after already making a crude saddle. We'd be able to improve on it after we've gotten an anky and some metal. "This girl's name is Steel," He said, clearing his throat. "She's surprisingly speedy and tame. Maybe Shea can ride her? I mean it'll be less weight on her so we can put more on the bird."

Roe smiled at the idea, and gave me a gentle look. "Would that be something you'd be okay with doing, Shea? You'd be safe up high while we travel around." I smiled and nodded. I had no problem with riding other creatures, the issue was if they wanted to kill me. As long as I was on the argie, I could carry those wolves and wouldn't have to worry about anything on the ground, and I'd actually be useful for once. "Well, tomorrow we'll move to a better spot I saw, an' maybe we might be able to set up and actual base, instead of this measly little thing." He commented, throwing his thumb behind him to point out the shabby foundations and beds.

"As long as its a place where Shea can be safe, I don't care where it is. Just watching her make narcotics all day made me feel bad for her. Shes getting restless." Jessie made comment, dramatically throwing his arms around, before turning to me and giving me a goofy smile, "You're boring," he added, sticking his tongue out. "Well maybe if you gave me something else to do I'd be even more productive!" is  what I wanted to say, along with an angry face. Instead, the boys struggled to hold their laughter as angry chirps and churbles left my mouth.

Roe gave me a pitiful look, one that made me shrink away in unwelcomed pity, and sighed. "Can both you boys not be cruel to her? She's trying her best, alright?" He gave the boys a saddened yet hardened look, which made them nod and sigh. Normally, they'd do their brotherly thing and pick on the little-sister equivalent of the group, which of course was me all the time. But since we got here, and me being stuck how I am, they haven't picked on me much, just some small jabs and them teasing about my appearance. I didn't want them to pity me, let alone I didn't want Roe pitying me. My situation sucks, yeah, but I don't think I need pity.

Trying to fix the situation, I walked to Roe and motioned my arms up, and he softly smiled and picked me up. "What's up, lil' Shea?" he asked while giving me his full attention. He shivered as my cold hands held his face and pulled his cheeks up, making him smile. I then gave him the best smile I could muster, which I could only hope didn't look threatening. His eyes almost seemed to dilate as he understood the message and he started to tear up.  "I'm tryin Shea, I promise. It's just so hard to see you have to go through this. It's unfair to you." I shook my head and leapt from his arms, landing on my paws clumsily. I stood on my hind legs and lifted all my arms, giving him four thumbs up as well as that crude smile. He chuckled and wiped his face on his arm. 

"If you say so, Shea."