Subnautica: A Rise of Time

Chapter 11: The Long Drive ||| Perspective: Ryley Robinson

(FWI the image on this chapter is basically a free spoiler for a later scene, or at least a part of it. The brown scarred dragon is Ryley, and the yellow and red dragon is a character that will be introduced in two chapters, and his name is Luki. I only said his name because you'll literally meet him in two chapters, so it's not that bad. It's just a free spoiler, and yes I drew it.) 

Ryley was sitting at his base where he lived. He was trying to fix his leather sash that Jafer had slashed open on the side. His sash usually covered the bandages that he wrapped around a scar at the bottom of his neck. The scar was incredibly nasty and Ryley hated the scar, so he always covered it. And since he covered it with bandages and a simple leather sash, he always added things to his sash like sheaths for his weapons and tools and pockets to put things in.

He was sitting at his desk, his tattered leather sash laid out on his desk. The mechanical parts that usually rested on his desk were shoved to the side, and sketches and papers piled around the desk. Ryley's desk had always been a mess, only because of a project he was working on that was taking too long.

Ryley was almost done fixing his leather sash, there were just a few tears near the top that he needed to stitch up and fix, but maybe it would be fine with the tears. Or he could fix those tears later.

He grabbed his leather sash from his desk and he started to tie it back around his neck. Ryley continued to tie his leather sash until it was tight around his neck and wouldn't slide off. Once it was tightly wrapped around his neck, Ryley grabbed the mechanical parts that he slid off to the side. He slid them back to the middle of his messy desk, and Ryley stared at the unfinished thrusters and clasps.

Where do I start here, once again.

Ryley flicked one of the metal pieces that he hadn't finished, it was silver and it didn't look like how it was supposed to, but Ryley hadn't painted it or added the electronics yet.

The memory of Jafer waking up Ryley resurfaced in his mind. When it resurfaced in his mind, his calmer, more silent and peaceful mood dropped and shattered. Now, his mood had blasted back into hatred and anger. He growled and slammed his fist on the desk, knowing how bad he was starting to hate Jafer. Fury and rage was billowing through his veins, and he could not keep his anger down or calm himself.

He raised one of his talons and slashed at his own desk. Ryley didn't harm any of the electronics or mechanical parts that were laid out on his desk, but his claws cut deep into the titanium the desk was made of.

Ryley flexed his claws and stared at the claw marks in his desk. Now that he realized his actions, his anger and fury slowly decreased and dissipated. Ryley leaned back into his office chair, his wings tightly shut at his sides as he did so. He threw himself back forwards and got up from his chair. Ryley struggled to stand after he got out of his chair, but he gained his balance after using his wings as supports on the ground.

Ryley dragged himself to his bed, which was not far from his desk. His double bed was messy and always unmade, but it was comfortable enough for him to lay in it all night and never get any sleep. Or on the rare occasion, actually get some sleep. Ryley flopped down on his bed, resting his scarred head on one of the pillows. He had calmed down, but he could still feel anger bubbling around in his head, so he was laying down on his unmade bed, trying to calm himself down as much as he could.

As Ryley laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling in the dimly lit room. His mind was clearing itself from Jafer and what he did. But it was slow, and whenever he laid down on his bed to think about nothing and clear his mind, memories from the crash would always plague him. And it would never stop until he was snapped out of it. Usually his pet stunted Iceworm, Blizzard, would snap him out of it.

As sudden flashes from years ago filtered through Ryley's mind as he tried to calm himself, he heard something shatter, and he was snapped out of it quickly. Ryley lurched upwards, his wings flaring and the spike at the tip of his tail stabbing into his bed. He heard more things shatter, and it sounded like glass.

What the hell is that?

Ryley got up from his bed, stretching and lashing his tail. Then he walked out of his room, tilting the bulkhead a little to the side so he could get out of his room. He climbed down the metal ladder and slowly skulked through the hallway. He walked into his common room and kitchen. He didn't see anything, until he looked at the refrigerator, which was wide open, when it was supposed to be closed.

Ryley looked down and saw his small pet Iceworm, Blizzard, swallowing a hoopfish. There were broken plates all around the floor, the shards scattered throughout the kitchen floor. There were also some leftovers on the broken shards as well. Blizzard was still swallowing a hoopfish, and there were two other hoopfish that she hadn't eaten yet.

"Blizzard." Ryley said loudly.

The stunted Iceworm ignored him, she finished her meal and snatched one of the other hoopfish on the floor.

Ryley took a small step and tapped one of his claws on the floor. "Blizzard." He repeated.

She finally looked back up at him, the hoopfish halfway swallowed. The tail of the fish was sticking out of her open mouth, and Blizzard tilted her head.

"What are you doing digging through my fridge?" Ryley snapped at her.

Blizzard made a small squeak after she finished swallowing the hoopfish and chewing it.

"Are you really that hungry?" Ryley asked.

Blizzard nodded, roaring at him.

"Yes, I now know that I forgot to feed you." Ryley said, "but you could've dug through the greenhouse, as I know you like to do that a lot."

Blizzard slithered over to Ryley and nipped at his scales. She then stopped after a few seconds and slithered up his arm to rest on his neck. Blizzard chirped at Ryley as he walked over to clean her mess. He did grab the final hoopfish from the floor and offered it to Blizzard, who snatched it from him.

Ryley sat down on the floor and started to meticulously pick up every shard of the broken plate one by one. Blizzard always refused to help, and she'd just curl around Ryley's neck and sleep as he cleaned up her messes.

"You really need to stop doing this, Blackout." Ryley said as he picked up the shards.

Blizzard huffed, slamming her horn into Ryley's neck. Fortunately, Blizzard's horn was not as hot as other Iceworm horns. Yes, it could still ignite into flames and become extremely hot, but on the regular, her horn only radiated heat. It was something that Ryley was glad about, as if her horn was just as hot as other Iceworm horns, he'd have a thousand burns.

And Blizzard being a stunted Iceworm who was much, much, much smaller than a regular Iceworm (she was the size of a pet snake, mainly the average size of a boa constrictor) and her size made it impossible for her to survive out in the wild. But at least Ryley found her around four years ago at Sector Zero, and she had been his pet ever since.

"Blizzard," Ryley said, "would you like to go somewhere else so you don't break my plates for the millionth time?"

She made an excited roar, seemingly agreeing with him.

"Then we'll go somewhere, once I finish cleaning your mess." Ryley said.

Blizzard hissed at him when he said she'd have to wait.

"Well if you're so angry now, then maybe you should've not broken these plates." Ryley hissed back at her.

Blizzard squeaked again, trying to be innocent. Ryley couldn't help but smile. Blizzard was one of the only things that he didn't mind and loved. And even though there were few things that he loved, Blizzard was the main one that made him feel comfortable, and she would understand him better than any dragon.