"If that comes off again you're putting the next one on yourself." Shannon stood and wiped her hands, clearing off a bit of blood and scab that had rubbed off my injury and onto her. She had made the bandages tighter than last time, though she assured me that it wasn't tight enough to cut off circulation. I reached up my hand so she could help me up, but it went unreciprocated as she turned away and went back inside. I was almost certain that she saw me do it and ignored me on purpose, but I said nothing and stood up myself with some difficulty.

I hobbled inside after Shannon, closing the door behind me. She had returned to preparing or doing whatever it was she was doing to the slabs of meat and didn't turn as I entered. After a moment's consideration I walked over to stand next to her. "What are you doing?" She responded by slamming her palm into the steaklike cut of meat in front of her and grabbing another handful of what looked like salt from a jar.

"Preserving all this. We don't have refrigerators out here and we're well out of the ice sellers trade route. In this heat this stuff will go bad faster thqan a raptor pack could eat it." She slammed her palm into the cut of meat, pounding the fine saltlike powder into it. I glanced at the stack of meat sitting on the counter next to her, which was easily probably as much as I weighed if not more, considering it was the combined amount from a clydesdale sized deer, a seven foot terror bird, and whatever else she had caught.

"Can I help? You have a lot to do." I gestured to the veritable mound, and she glanced at it without stopping the application of powder. She pounded the cut of meat a few more times before seeming to make up her mind.

"I don't need your help for this. Go into the store room and get the parchment and twine though. I'll need to bundle up all of this if I plan on selling. People like it when it's wrapped up, it'll sell for more and the paper's cheap." I nodded and made my way to the living room, pulling down the dropdown staircase with a little difficulty. I assumed that the store room was the other room upstairs that wasn't Shannon's, and I opened the door above Moth's room. The room was full of shelves covered in various mostly unidentifiable stuff and bundled up packages.

After several minutes of searching for a roll of paper I realized that it was stacked in sheets and bundled up itself on the bottom shelf almost like a stack of newspaper. With a bit of complaint from my injuries I pulled the surprisingly heavy ream of paper from the shelf. The paper itself seemed thick and had a near shiny or waxy look to it, and while carrying it near my face it had a very distinct scent that wasn't quite like anything I'd smelt before. The closest I could compare it to was like wax but a bit like gravy or soup broth. Whatever it was it was probably to waterproof the paper, as a soggy package wouldn't exactly be appealing.

Regardless, I walked back down the stairs and then remembered I had forgotten the twine. I set the ream down on the steps and climbed back up the stairs, nearly managing to trip at the top. Luckily for me the twine was conveniently on one of the middle shelves as soon as I walked in, meaning I didn't spend nearly as much time looking for it as the parchment. It was on a spool almost like a kite string and was probably six inches across. Shannon probably didn't use it much considering how much was on the spool. I went back down the staircase once more and grabbed the ream of paper, setting the spool of twine on top of it, hoping it wouldn't roll off. My chest ached from going up and down the stairs so many times and carrying around the easily fifteen pound if not heavier bundle of paper but I ignored it for the time being.

I set the paper and twine on the counter next to Shannon, careful not to put them in the way of what she was doing. She gave a brief nod which I assumed was a thanks, then walked back into the living room. After a few tries I managed to shove the drop down staircase back into the ceiling. I sat down on the floor to allow the pain in my chest to subside. I probably had torn a muscle or a few and I couldn't imagine exerting it like this would make it feel good. It seems I'd just have to put up with it though as there isn't much to do about torn muscles, plus considering it's my chest it's not like I could put a cast or anything on it anyway. After a few more moments of letting the pain subside I stand up and walk back into the kitchen.

Shannon was still pounding preservative into a cut of meat, though now she had a small pile of finished meat. Considering how short of a time she's been working on it she's making a lot faster progress than I had thought she would, and watching her she moved with surprising speed. She didn't look up at me even when I stood next to her and she had seemed to have settled into a rhythm. Each cut of meat was roughly the same size and general shape, and she worked with an almost mechanical pattern, deviating only slightly for each differently shaped piece.

With an almost jarring abruptness she broke her pattern and raised her implant to retrieve something from it. I blinked in surprise and almost flinched at the unexpected movement. She drew a small knife, much smaller than the ones I'd seen her use to chop up meat with before. This one seemed much more delicate and almost looked like a surgical tool. With impressive precision she cut into the slice of meat in front of her and carefully pulled out what looked like a small organ or fleshy sack from within it. I stepped back in disgust, then she incredibly carefully picked it up and set it on the counter in front of me. "Don't touch that. I'm going to get a jar to seal that thing in. You don't want to get any of it on you and I'll be able to tell if you do."

"Is it poison or something?" I took a half step back in fear that it was some kind of deadly toxin or infectious.

"No it's not poison. It's a gland from an Oviraptor. Ovi can encourage other dinosaurs to lay eggs, and it has a similar effect on people and other mammals if you get what I mean." I nod and take another step back, not wanting to find out firsthand if I understood what she meant. Shannon turned and walked out of the room, depositing the small knife back into her inventory. I stood there, unsure what to do for a moment, then bent down to look at the gland, keeping at least a foot between me and it. It was rather unassuming, looking simply like an oval shaped sack about an inch and a half long with a bumpy texture a little like a golf ball. As I heard Shannon come back down the stairs I took a step back, not wanting her to think I had touched the fleshy object despite her warnings.

Shannon walked in, having already unscrewed the jar and set the glass container and it's lid on the counter. With as much care as she seemingly could muster she picked up the sack and set it in the jar, careful not to drop it in and possibly burst it open. She screwed on the lid tightly, then let out a breath that she had apparently been holding throughout the process. She promptly deposited the sealed jar in her inventory then turned to me. "You didn't touch it while I was gone?" I shook my head vigorously and after a moment of staring at me she nodded and turned back to the counter.

Taking another handful of the preservative she started settling back into a rhythm. Watching the ease with which she worked made me wonder how she learned to do all the things she did. Aside from sewing and weaving which seemed to be moth's proficiency, she seemed to be entirely self sufficient. She acts like an adult despite not looking much older than me, though to be fair I don't know quite how old I am. It would probably be rude to ask how old she is as she probably doesn't know, assuming her memories are as lacking as mine. That might actually factor in her maturity. If she was all on her own out here with no past and no memories, the fight to survive and struggle to live would quickly change you. To be honest with myself I've probably changed in the short time since I washed up on the beach. If Shannon's been out here for two years I can't imagine how much different she is from when she first arrived. The responsibility of keeping herself and Moth alive would probably force her to grow up fast and learn how to take care of them both.

I'm interrupted from my thoughts as Shannon snaps her fingers in front of my face. I turn to her, a bit surprised and confused. "I asked you to pass me the parchment idiot. Did the hyenas mess up your hearing too?" I notice that she's gone through the entire pile and is waiting, as the parchment is right next to me and apparently she's not rude enough to reach around me to get it. I quickly grab the bound up paper and roll of twine and slide them over to where she was working, then step out of the way. Shannon rolls her eyes and unbinds the stack of paper, then removes one of the sheets.

With as much skill as she used with the preservative she folds up one of the cuts of meat in the waxy paper and ties it up with a short length of twine, making a small bow at the top from the remaining ends of twine. She set it aside and once more she got into a groove, working through the pile at a steady pace. Albeit the process was slower than putting the preservative into the meat, she still worked at a considerably faster pace than if I were doing it. At this point I'd probably just be slowing her down if I tried to help.

Realizing I was of no use here, as quiet and as inconspicuous as I could I walked out of the room so as not to interrupt her. The living room was empty, Moth apparently still in her room. I sat on the couch, being reminded again that it wasn't cushioned. My chest stung with pain once more, reminding me about it too. I leaned back into the couch and was also reminded that the back of my head is still sore and hurting and that pressing it against things hurt quite badly. I had nearly forgotten about the bandage attached to my head, as the dilo hadn't torn it off like the ones around my ankles. I'm pretty sure at this point that I'm more injury than human right now. This really sucks and I can only imagine how much worse this could have been if Shannon hadn't known how to treat my injuries.

Looking back I've been incredibly lucky. I haven't the scarcest clue how to properly survive out here. I know how to make a fire and that's about it. If I had actually been hurt by the dilophosaurus on the first day I would have had no idea how to treat it, and if I had caught some disease or eaten or been bitten by something toxic or venomous I would have no clue how to deal with it. The only food I've gotten out here was a few handfuls of berries, meat that I stole from the carnotaurus, and the scrawny leg of a compsognathus. There's no way I could have hunted any animal large enough to actually feed myself. I'm not even sure I could bring myself to do it unless I was literally starving or being attacked by the animal. I only actually swung at the Terror Bird with intent to kill because I was literally dying. I'm not suited to survive out here. If I hadn't come across Moth and Shannon I probably wouldn't have lasted a week out here.

My internal monologue is interrupted my Moth's door opening and the smaller girl walking out. She was no longer wearing the multicolored armor and instead was wearing a sleeveless light blue shirt and a skirt of similar color. She sat down next to me on the couch. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine. My head still hurts and my chest hurts and I still feel half eaten but otherwise I'm fine." She giggled a little but still looked concerned.

"Are you sure? I've never been hurt that bad before and I haven't seen Shannon get hurt that bad before." I nodded assuringly and rapped on the my head with my fist like I was knocking on a door.

"My brains are still in one piece. I'm gonna be just fine, ask Shannon. She says I probably won't even get very many scars from this." I gestured to the kitchen where as far as I knew Shannon was still wrapping up the preserved meat. Not five seconds later Shannon herself walked into the Living room, then turned around and opened the door outside and looked around for a moment, then shut the door and walked over to the couch. Moth moved out of the way and I scooted down to make room for her to sit down. She didn't say anything for a moment and took a long drink from the mug she brought with her, then set the mug on her lap.

"What conversation did I interrupt?" She asked and took another drink from her mug.

"Are you sure he's going to be okay Shannon? He got hurt pretty bad. I haven't seen you get that hurt before." She seemed to contemplate for a few moments before answering.

"If I hadn't got to him as fast as I had he probably would have died. He had lost a lot of blood by the time I found him and if I hadn't stopped his bleeding he probably would have bled out pretty quick. I've got him fixed up though so he's not going to die. I'm still going to have somebody check him out when we get to town to make sure he didn't dislocate something or mess up his insides. We're leaving tomorrow morning to go." Moth nodded, looking at least a little more calm about the situation. I however was unsettled a little. I realize that I nearly died but I didn't realize that I was quite that close. It also has only occurred to me now that I could have internal damage.

"How far away exactly is the town from here?"

"About as far away as the redwoods if a little further. It's mostly flat and grassy the way there though so it's an easier ride. We'll go through the Smugglers Pass."

"Smugglers Pass? That doesn't sound safe and I'd rather not nearly die again." Shannon rolled her eyes.

"They call it that because they like how it sounds. As far as I know nobody has actually ever smuggled anything through it. It's perfectly safe, at least this time of year. Once and a while you'll get one of those nomad tribes who think it's a good idea to ambush people and steal everything they have or a carnivore that decides that it's making the pass it's new territory. Though around this time there are so many people there that attacking anybody would end up with a mob chasing after you." That makes me feel a bit better about the situation. "Because I've got to get everything ready before we go we're leaving tomorrow morning instead of today. It will also do all of us good to get a proper night of sleep before the trip and eat without having to pay for it." With that she downed the rest of her mug and stood up, then walked into the kitchen.

A/N: Alright. So this chapter took longer than intended and didn't accomplish much. Sorry. I know I don't usually do and don't like timeskips because it means character interaction is happening 'offscreen', but since even I am wanting to start Thanksfest already I will likely either feature a long timeskip next chapter or make an exceptionally long chapter for the next one. I swear there will be action or at least interesting stuff soon.

DaRumpyBur thank you for your comment and I'm very glad you enjoyed my story so far. To be honest I was worried that my first few days were boring or uninteresting due to lack of dialogue and rather repetitive nature, as for the most part it was simply him walking around and trying not to get eaten by the occasional dinosaur. I'm glad that apparently it was not so.

TheJaiganticBridge The story lives on! I'm incredibly honored that I encouraged someone to make their own Ark story. I've read most of yours and I must say you are doing well. :)

seekinpeekin I find it really rude not to reply to my viewers as you guys are the literal entire reason that my story is popular, I feel like I at least owe it to you guys to give responses when you ask me questions or leave such nice reviews. As for Scorched Earth, there is no way for any of the survivors on the Ark to get from one to the other. I will say that Scorched Earth does exist in this world/universe however. As for the dragon and bosses, well, if I told you, where's the fun in that?

BlackHum3r while I have expressed previously that I won't have any canon shippings, at least between the characters you all have met, I absolutely love the shipping names. Hellwarrior has to be one of the coolest sounding ships I have ever heard of.

aIl you awesome viewers If any of you wonderful people make fan art, shipping or otherwise, send me the link and I will proudly display them on my Author Profile Page (assuming that they're younger user friendly of course, I don't want to get in trouble with anybody for showing any M rated stuff)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know of any horrible grammar errors I've made. Comments and questions are very appreciated and encouraged, and have a great day, night, or whenever you're readings this. Or don't, as its entirely up to you and I can't tell you what to do.