Ch1 | Origin of Arche [IRONMAN]

It was yet another calm evening in the wetlands of Isla Kela. An abundance of dragonflies and mosquitoes flew around, close to the surface of the brown, murky water. The croaking of frogs was almost never ending, and yet they were rarely seen, hidden in the muddy river banks or among the long reeds. Everything was, by all means, painstakingly ordinary for everyone, besides for two soon to be parents. This was their very first time having eggs together, and they were both so filled with joy, but every day was an anxious wait. They had no idea how long this would take, when would their babies finally hatch? What would they look like? How would they be as parents? The pair had so many questions, with no answers in sight. 

It had become routine now, taking turns with one watching the nest while the other ran off to get food or more material to reinforce their soon growing home, just to make it safe for little chicks to wander around in without being too restrained. The pair had four eggs in total, which meant they soon had four more mouths to feed, so both of the eager ovis did their very best to gather as much food as possible that would not spoil too quickly in this wet and warm climate. It was far from easy, but they did their best. Though.. Doing your best can sometimes never prevent the inevitable. A larger, hungry animal, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.. 

A large crocodile, one that surely had lived in these wetlands long before the ovi pair had settled here, later that night emerged as the two of them were resting. The mother awoke to the ear piercing screech of her partner, the crocodile’s toothy jaws locked across his thin body. The mother knew there was nothing she could do to save him, he looked at her, his eyes full of fear and sorrow. They both knew what had to be done. There was no way she could grab and carry all their eggs while making a run for it, so she did the best that she could. Grabbed the closest one and ran, overwhelming sadness making her chest and lungs tight, she could barely breathe. This wasn't supposed to happen.. They were supposed to be a happy family, grow old together.. Die of old age while holding hands in a beautiful glade.. 

After running for what felt like an eternity, the ovi mother ran out of strength. Her legs shaking, making her unable to press on. For a moment, everything felt calm. She had made it. She had been able to save at least one of their children. But as the croaking and distinct sound of grasshoppers came to an abrupt end, she knew that she had no way to escape. In a last ditch effort to save her one remaining child that she had ran with for so long, she quickly pushed it down into the soft mud, hoping it would make any potential predator unable to find it. Why did it have to end like this? 

She started the leap away as best as she could, to lure the large reptile away from her unhatched chick. After just a few meters, she, too, got clasped in its strong jaws. She let out a loud screech before being pulled under the surface. Silence.. And then the ambient sound of frogs and insects began once more. 

At the break of dawn, the waters were calm and the surrounding area was peaceful. Slight movement was detected in the mud, where the ovi mother had buried the egg before her demise. The lone chick was doing her very best to both crack the shell of her prison, as well as get out without getting buried alive in the mud. Eventually, the little dark gray ovi hatchling crawled out of her protective hole, she looked around, confused. All her instincts told her she was supposed to have a family, be cared for and be protected. She was cold and alone, every sound and smell was new, everything she saw was for the very first time. A frog leapt up beside the young chick, she flinched slightly but observed the little creature, until it let out a deep croak. She let out a yelp and rushed out of the mud into the trees and rocks nearby, her heart beating fast. The little sable ovi laid down in the sun on a warm rock, trying to figure out what to do. She was lucky to have hatched so soon, or she surely would have froze to death in that muddy prison, though she of course did not know that. She was lucky to be alive at all, but was understandably scared as she looked around the area. The waters seemed particularly scary for the young one, but the rock she laid on was too warm and comfortable to leave, so she stayed for a while. She was starting to get hungry, but had no idea what was edible nor how to get it, so reluctantly the little ovi got up and waddled off, further away from the scary water. She started walking around the more solid, but still muddy, ground in an attempt to scavenge for some food. She sniffed multiple weird looking things, flowers and mushrooms to be specific. The young chick tasted a few flowers, but they tasted bitter, so she spat them back out. The mushrooms smelled too nasty for her to even consider, which was a good thing in this instance as the bright red caps with white spots were the poisonous amanita mushrooms. Consuming one of those at her small size would surely be a death sentence. Ahead of her, a lush green bush appeared from between the tall trees. In it, there were ripe, yellow berries which looked very appealing. She was hesitant at first, but eventually braved up and took a small bite to taste them. She was prepared to have to spit it out, like with the colourful flowers, but to her surprise it tasted good, sweet.. Her stomach rumbled loudly but now, she could no longer hold back and devoured as many berries as her small stomach could fit, unable to even consider that she could get a tummy ache for doing so. The young one had no life experience yet, she could not possibly have any kind of consequential thinking about such things so she now waddled off, stomach so full of food it felt like it could burst. She was feeling sick and full of regret, but at least she was no longer hungry, for now. 

Desperate for some comfort after her severely overfeeding herself, the young, dark ovi sought out somewhere to take a nap. Preferably somewhere comfortable and safe. She looked around as she walked further away from the water she had hatched by, she stopped for a second and looked back. That rock was comfortable.. But the area gave her the heebie jeebies. She shook her head. Surely there were other warm rocks she could find, and sure enough, she found one not too long after. It was much taller than her previous rock, so it was quite the challenge to get up on it, but she was persistent. She climbed up on a fallen tree trunk and did her best to parkour her way up from there. Eventually, she managed to get a good enough grip with one of her feet to help push herself up, so there she was now. Warm and cozy, soaking in the warm sunlight, heating up her dark, scale skin. Some temporary bliss for the young chick. She laid her head down and took one last look around before closing her pale yellow eyes to fall into a deep food coma for a few hours, that was, if she remained undisturbed..

A couple of hours had passed by now, and while it was still sunny and warm, the sun had now moved, and her rock was covered in shade. It was not the cold that jolted the young one awake, however. It was the sudden snap of a twig somewhere among the lush foliage. She looked around for a moment and then froze. Something, or someone, was staring at her from between the trees. Whoever it was, they were well camouflaged, as she could barely make out a silhouette, but rather reacted to their subtle movement. She tried to distinguish what it was, but even if she could see the creature properly, she would have no idea what it was. The only animal she had grown acquainted with was a singular frog and some bugs, none of which she knew what they actually were. So now, being faced with a much larger animal than herself, even taller than her on top of the rock, she did not know what to do. Her instincts told her both to run and to remain in her position, though she of course knew she was not hidden, she understood that she was definitely not fast enough to get away but perhaps.. Small enough to be able to hide somewhere.. The young chick remembered that there was a crevice by the bottom of her rock, that she could maybe squeeze into if she tried hard enough, so after hesitating for just a second, she almost threw herself down from the side of the rock and squeezed in. She heard some heavy steps coming towards her little hideout, followed by some intense sniffing right above. The dark ovi chick was shaking and pushed herself down towards the ground as much as she could, hoping whatever it was would leave her alone.

The sniffing stopped and the scary animal left out a snort before it started to walk away. Relief washed over the ovi chick, but it was short lived as her stomach let out yet another loud growl, causing the large, unknown creature to stop. She was so scared she hadn't even felt she was hungry. She feared this would cause whatever was looking for her to regain interest, but the heavy steps kept disappearing. Still, going out right away would be risky. At least she could relax enough to stop shaking, but remained in the rocky crevice. 

Not too long after, the heavy steps returned, followed by a light thud above the crevice. The smell of fresh blood filled the young chick's nostrils, and her rumbling stomach almost made her leap out to eat without thinking. She had not heard the creature leave yet but this action felt oddly.. Assuring.. The young ovi decided to look up from her hide, only to see a much larger dinosaur, laying idly a couple of meters away, looking towards her. She had no idea what it was, or even if it was a herbivore or carnivore, or an omnivore like herself. The four legged strangler looked at the young chick and then nodded towards whatever it was that it had left for her. It was a dead ferret, and in the hungry chick's eyes, it was looking like the best meal of her life. She positioned herself so she could still see the stranger while eating, and started to tear into the small mammal, eagerly devouring almost all of it before feeling full enough to stop. She had no intention to commit the same mistake as earlier with the berries.

The large brown striped piebald stranger seemed satisfied with the young ovi having eaten her fill, and got up on their four legs. 

“Do you have a name?” the quadruped asked. 

The young, dark ovi shook her head as she looked up and met the stranger's green eyes. 

“You don't have any parents?”

The chick once again shook her head. She was not even sure what parents were, so of course she could not have them.

“You should be careful, then. Do not sleep in the open again. If you want a name, might I suggest Arche?” the stranger said as they prepared to leave the chick again. 

Arche.. It had a nice ring to it. So a bit more encouraged, the hatchling ovi eagerly nodded to the suggested name. 

“Very well, Arche. I wish you well. Stay out of the waters and stay hidden as much as you can. This march is treacherous.” 

Since Arche could not yet speak, she chirped happily as a reply this time, rather than just nodding. The large quadruped seemed satisfied once more, before heading away. Arche had the urge to call out, to follow and tag along. But she realised quickly that they would likely not be compatible. Not just due to size, but perhaps due to lifestyle. She therefore stopped herself from rushing after and instead looked in a different direction, the direction of the sun. She wanted more of it, and nothing besides possible dangers would stop her from getting it. Determined to sunbathe more, she waddled off, deeper into the marshlands, both excited and terrified as she slowly got used to her new environment. Who could have thought that a newly hatched ovi would have to go through such harsh circumstances on their very first day? Surely, this was not the way things were supposed to be. But what choice did she have but to adapt and overcome these unfair challenges. Her parents would for sure have been proud of her resilience, though she did not know that, of course. 

With her wet, muddy legs, Arche yet again found herself a sunny rock to rest on, though this time she was taking the advice of the stranger and opted to not doze off and sleep, but to just lay there and observe her birth biome. She wondered if there was more to the world than just this, but she knew instinctively that she was not ready to find out, just yet. She would need to learn some important life skills before attempting to discover more of the world, but the young ovi was rather positive, all things considered. She looked forward to growing up, learning new things, seeing things she had not seen before, meeting others like her, or maybe even others like the stranger. She wanted to know why the stranger had helped her in the first place, was there a thought out reason or just a spontaneous decision to do something kind for someone?

Arche sighed as her thoughts ran rampant. Perhaps she would never find out why that stranger had stepped up. Perhaps she would never meet them again. She shook her head. She had so many questions, but she should not let them consume her mind. She had something much more important to focus on, survival. Everything besides that would just be a luxury, at this point, not something she should try and strive for just yet. 

The dark ovi looked up at the sky once again, as some light clouds slowly blew past the sun. Perhaps it was time to move on, and for once find food before hunger ambushed her. She got up and brushed off some of the dried up mud from her thin legs. She had no idea why, really, considering she would just get here dirty again soon, it just felt necessary to do. She then hopped off her warm rock, once again treading through the marsh in search of sustenance, wondering where her search would take her this time around, what kind of food would she be able to find? Would she encounter anything scary again? Only time would tell, she had to be ready regardless, as the world stops for no one, so she marched on, continuing her exploration of her birth lands. Despite being just a few hours shy of a day old, Arche already felt a sense of confidence grow within her. She had already endured so much, and was proud of herself, despite getting some help along the way. The world seemed like a scary and cruel place, especially for someone so small, so she was grateful, very much so. Though if that big scary stranger had not scared her in the first place she could have gotten food herself, she thought, pretending to be upset by said stranger's assistance.

She was deep in thought as she almost comically lifted up her short legs while walking through mud, when a sound caught her attention. A deep, rumbling croak. She looked to her side and was faced with the largest toad she had ever seen, which to be fair was not that impressive considering she had barely lived a single day, but she was shocked regardless. It looked at her with stoic eyes before croaking again, and she flinched slightly, her heart racing. Maybe she was not so brave, after all.. So the young ovi slowly started moving away from the large, warty toad. Better not mess with anyone that has a mouth that size, she figured. A slow blink from the toad later and she bolted as fast as she could away from there, feeling like that was by far the best choice. 

It did not take too long until the young Arche stumbled upon yet another point of interest in the marsh, an absurdly large piece of driftwood that had been stranded in the mud, probably after a heavy flood. For her, it was almost like a skyscraper, but she felt like even an adult would look small next to this majestic, inanimate thing. Determination washed over her yet again. She had to climb this thing to see the vew from atop of it and so, the struggle began. The high humidity had made it full of algae and other slippery sludge, so getting a grip was difficult. She walked a lap around it to see if there was anything nearby she could use to climb up on it from, but alas, the dead trunk was standalone. Arche snorted in frustration as she looked up at the top of it, giving up. At least for now. She had more important matters to take care of, after all, such as food and shelter for the night. The sun was starting to set, after all. 

To be continued..