ARK Survival Ascended

Chapter Four

Lily p.o.v

I felt the warm glow of the sun shine through my tent, well not my tent but Ethan's. Kyle didn't have anymore resources for a new tent so Ethan let me borrow his tent while he slept into Kyle's. I stretched my arms out with a yawn draining the sleepiness out of me. As I slipped out of my tent, I was immediately greeted by the smell of fish cooking on the fire along with some stew. I saw Kyle watching the stew tiredly, his head on his palm looking like he was trying not fall asleep. "You can cook?" I asked him, alerting him of my presence. He shook fully awake to look at me with a  nod. "Yeah, he can a bit. Not promising that it will be edible though." Ethan suddenly said as he walked out of the forest holding two buckets of water in his hands. "Oh shush, Ethan. I can cook fine!" Kyle responded.

"Man, am I waiting for him to get a girlfriend, then she can teach him how to properly cook." Ethan said. "Morning, Ethan. Did you two wake up early?" I asked both of them. Ethan nodded but Kyle deadpanned. "I don't sleep." He said plainly. Both me and Ethan were silent. "Another reason why he needs a girlfriend." Ethan whispered into my ear - I held back a laugh.

Ethan sat down on a log opposite to Kyle, so I sat on the right of him. We both stared awkwardly at the half-asleep teen as he tiredly stared at the soup as it boiled. I stared at Kyle's bright red hair. I leaned over to Ethan, my mouth next to his ear. "Are you sure he didn't dye it?" I asked. He laughed. "Pretty sure, his mother had similar hair, just a bit darker. I think his father has lighter hair like Kyle's but I'm not sure, I haven't met his father." He told me.

"What happened to his father?" I asked, Ethan tense and looked at Kyle. "Jeez, can everyone just stop looking at me like I knew the guy? He died before I was born. There happy!?" Kyle yelled but then sat down. "Sorry, continue." He apologized.

"Yeah, pretty much what I was about to say. Kyle's mother moved next door to where I used to live. Her and my mom became good friends and so did we." He said while fidgeting with a stick he picked up. "Before, he was very bright and smart. He was ready to meet people all the time." He said with a smile that made me smile.

"Sadly," Ethan spoke in a sad tone, his smile dropping, "his mother died when he was fifteen, I was fourteen. My mom took him in, and he's never been the same again. I mean, he's still smart, but he stopped wanting people around him except me and my mom." He said. Kyle kept his head between his legs, avoiding any kind of eye contact and staying silent. "Anyways, he has a sad backstory. But, all that is in the past." He says looking at me with another smile.

"Yeah," I tried to agree. "Here!" Kyle suddenly said holding two bowls of stew for the two of us. "Thanks, Ky." Ethan thanked, so I did two. He took one glance before eating and asked. "Are you sure this is edible?" He asked, receiving a scoff from Kyle. "Yes, I'm sure of it. I tried it myself." Kyle replied playfully, his mood changing from sober to teasing. "If you say so, master cook." Ethan replied teasingly and started to eat.

"It's actually good." I stated with a mouthful of the stew's contents. "Thank you. See, Ethan! Even Lily thinks my cooking is good." Kyle said keeping his back to us. "She hasn't even tasted the rest of your cooking, dude. Remember that Crab Ramen soup you tried making for me and Mom! I had that taste in my mouth for weeks!" Ethan exclaimed with a grin. "That was one time!" Kyle defended. "One time that I would like not to repeat." He retorted. I could no longer hold my laughter; I held my hand over my mouth as I giggled. "You think we're funny?" Kyle asks with a smile. "No, no! I just think you two sound like brothers." I sorted. 

"Really?" Ethan replied with a smirk. "Yes," I confirmed with another giggle. 

After calming down and finishing our breakfast, Kyle and Ethan packed up the tents and put out the fire. "What are you two doing?" I asked them. "We obviously can't stay here. We'll need to head North and camp there, but we'll need to keep moving." Kyle told me. Ethan came up next to him, standing at his full height. For some reason, I felt like the world had grown in size. "Wait, how tall are you?" I asked the two tall boys - the red-haired boy looked at me puzzled. "I'm around 6'2," he replied. 6'2!? For a 19-year-old!? "I don't know... like... 6'1. Haven't checked in a while." Ethan replied rubbing his nape. "H- how a-are you two t-this tall!?" I asked in disbelief. 

"How tall are you?" Kyle asked. "5... 8ish." I said giving them a shrug and unsure smile. "How old are you?" Ethan was the one to ask this question. "I turned fifteen last week I think." I told them with unsureness. "Hm," was all Kyle said before turning on his heel the other direction. Ethan came up to me, watching as Kyle went the opposite direction that were stood. "C'mon. Let's catch up." He said walking faster to catch up to his friend. 

"Hey! Wait up!" I yell and run after them. 

Ethan and I talked and laughed with each other as we walked behind Kyle, who stayed quiet. I did feel bad for Kyle, about his life, but I'm glad he has a friend like Ethan. While talking with him, I got to know more about the brunette and how he is like a true brother to Kyle. It seemed like Kyle tended to avoid any conversation with me most of the time but seemed to reply mostly to Ethan. I guess that's just the friendship those two have, a bond that can't be broken.

One thing I'm starting to admire about Ethan is how caring he seems. He cares about his friend and even though Kyle is normally the one to look out for Ethan, Ethan does his part as well to look out for him. Based on what I've heard from Ethan, he was a true friend to Kyle, more than a friend, he was a brother. I kind of wish I had someone like Ethan.

After a long walk, we came to a river in the jungle. We decided it be best to stop here then move after we have rested. Ethan and I stayed at the river while Kyle went off to look for food. I had my toes dipped into the river and slowly kicked back and forth making ripples in the water. I heard movement behind me, but I did know what Ethan was doing. I finally looked back to find him climbing a tall tree. "Ethan, be careful!" I yelled up to him, not actually worried but wanted him to be careful nonetheless. "Don't worry, Lily. I climb trees taller than this all the time." He assured with a smirk and continued climbing. I rolled my eyes and continued to watch as he climbed higher and higher.

After he got to the top, he swung down across the branches and landed on a branch right above me. "Hello, mister Tarzan! How's the weather up there," I joked with a slight giggle. He pretended to bat his chest like a gorilla and replied. "Its excellent, miss Jane," He replied in a tease and jumped down, sitting next to me with one leg propped up and one laid straight.

"Hey, Ethan," he hummed in response. I thought about the question I was about to ask him then spoke. "Do you think we could get home?" His mood change to unsureness and replied."I don't know. We don't even know where we are right now, so getting home may take a while to figure out." I breathed out a oh and curled up my legs, wrapping my arms around them and resting my head on my knees. "But I'm sure we'll figure ot out, maybe we could meet some friends along the way, like how we met you." He added cheerful, which made me a little more positive.

We both sat there next to each other, both of us stealing small glances of the other. We both finally laughed then stared at each other with broad smiles.

A sudden rush in the forest made us jump, Ethan reached for a knife that Kyle had given him while I stayed behind him. "What do you think it is?" I asked the purple-eyed boy. "I dunno but I don't think we should take chances," he said readying his weapon and taking out another one, reaching behind him and giving it to me. As the sounds of the vegetation being pushed about grew louder, we backed up till my foot nearly slipped into the river.

That's when a redheaded boy jumped out of the bushes. "Kyle?" Ethan and I said in unison. "Run!" He yelled as a black-haired girl ran out the bushes behind him. "Whose the girl!?" Ethan asked as they both ran past us. Just then, a medium sized dinosaur stomped through the bushes; it had small arms, a greenish color pattern and horns in its head like a bull. It definitely looked like it wanted to eat us - it made a loud roar and charged at us.

"Yeah, we should run," Ethan said grabbing my hand and running the other way, hoping to catch up with Kyle and the other girl.

"Why does everything want to eat us!?"