CHAPTER TWO
“So, we’re down how many Matoran spheres?”
“I counted at least twelve,” said Nuju as he and the other Toa Metru walked out of the Coliseum. “There could still be more.”
“And just how are going to look for them?” asked Onewa. “We have no idea who’s taken them or to where. We have absolutely nothing to go off of.”
“They couldn’t have gotten far,” Nokama pointed out. “They must still be in Metru Nui, unless they’ve found transportation.”
“Or they brought their own.”
Vakama brought the group to a stop at the gates to the Coliseum, turning around to face them. “All right,” he said. “Clearly we’re going to need to split up if we hope to cover enough ground and find whoever’s stolen the Matoran before it’s too late. I suggest we break off into pairs and head to each metru. Onewa and I will go to Po-Metru to rescue Turaga Dume. Whenua, Nuju, you two will head to Onu-Metru; if there’s any good place for hiding Matoran, it would be the Archives.”
“That leaves me with the lovely water-maiden!” Matau said with a wide grin. Nokama simply regarded with a weary expression.
“You two will head to Ga-Metru,” said Vakama. “Maybe you can find something at the Great Temple. We’ll meet back here in two hours.”
“And if any of us run into trouble?” Whenua asked.
“Then we’ll know where to find each other.”
Onewa shrugged. “Works for me. Let’s get going.”
Nokama looked as if she was about to say something but, seeing that the others were already heading off for their respective destinations, decided against it. “Very well,” she said quietly, turning to leave with Matau. “May the Great Spirit guide us.”
* * *
From afar, two sets of eyes watched from the shadows as the six Toa went their separate ways. One of the two beings leaned forward, flexing their claws as they bared a vicious set of teeth.
“That must be them. The Toa who killed Krekka and Nidhiki.”
“Must be,” said his companion.
“Shall we deal with them now?”
“And ruin the fun before it’s even begun? You must be new to this, my friend.”
The first being glared at the other one. “I’ve been at this just as long as you have, if not longer.”
The other being chuckled. “Then you should know that the thrill of the hunt is the most exciting part, and makes the final catch all that more satisfying.”
“Fine,” the first being acquiesced, though he did not sound all too happy about it. “So which ones do we go after first?”
“Let’s see.” The other one brought out a powerless Kanoka disk and flipped it. “Of course they had to split up into three groups instead of two. Odd numbers always makes these decisions more difficult.”
“I don’t see why you even have to do that. Just make up your mind and—”
“Tails.” The other being loaded up their projectile weapon. “We go after the red one.”
Onu-Metru, sometime later
“You know, I was really hoping I would never have to come back here.”
Whenua glanced at Nuju as the two of them stepped through the ruins of Onu-Metru, approaching the entrance to the Archives. By this time, he was well aware of the Toa of Ice’s distaste for revisiting the past, which was pretty much the essence of the Archives themselves. As a former Ko-Matoran scholar, Nuju was instead more focused on the future and had no interest in looking back at what had come before. After countless disagreements, Whenua had given up on trying to change his mind.
Still, Whenua couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy himself about returning to the Archives. Due to the Cataclysm, the Rahi that it had once contained were sure to have been let loose and were either roaming the city or still dwelling in the underground levels beneath Onu-Metru. Not knowing what dangers awaited them, the two Toa would need to proceed with intense caution.
Upon reaching the entrance to the Archives complex, the door to which had fallen off, Whenua activated his mask power and cast a light into the dark room. Abandoned tools and materials lay scattered across the floor of the lobby. Whenua shuddered at the eerie sight, knowing that mere days ago Onu-Matoran that he had considered to be his friends had been working here only to be abruptly recalled by the false Turaga Dume, who had lured them to the predicament all of the Matoran were currently in. He didn’t believe he had ever seen the Archives this empty and quiet before.
The two Toa Metru soon reached the first of the vast Archives’ many levels. Even with Whenua’s Mask of Night Vision still on, it was difficult to navigate through the darkness.
“I really hope we don’t run into any old friends here,” Nuju muttered.
“Old friends?” Whenua asked.
“You know what I’m talking about. Like that mutant Ussal crab. Or that shapeshifting room. Or even that two-headed Tarakava. Where do you Archivists even find things like that?”
“Most of the time, others find them for us. Our job is just to preserve them and make sure they don’t cause any more harm… or that others don’t cause harm to them.”
Nuju scoffed. “If you really want to make sure of that, then I say just find some way to dispose of them.”
At this, Whenua stopped and turned to face Nuju. The Toa of Ice shielded his eyes as his brother’s mask glowed in his face.
“How can you say something like that?” Whenua snapped. “Rahi are living creatures, just like us!”
Nuju shook his head. “Not like us. They’re just savage beasts that can’t tell a Matoran apart from its dinner. They— for Mata Nui’s sake, will you shine that light somewhere else?”
Scowling, Whenua turned his back to the Toa of Ice, still fuming over his words. “They’re still alive. They still have thoughts and emotions, like us. Just because they’re more primitive or ‘simple’ than us doesn’t mean we can just rob them of their lives like that.”
“But when a Rahi turns out to be so dangerous to the livelihoods of others that it can barely be tamed, what does that tell you?”
Whenua did not have an answer for that. “Let’s just focus on the mission,” he muttered instead as he pressed onward.
The further along they went down the corridor, the more unsettled Whenua felt with how… quiet everything was. He knew why it was quiet, and would probably be more bothered if things weren’t quiet as it would have meant that they weren’t alone. But since Vakama had deduced that they were, in fact, not alone made the silence that more eerie and unsettling. The fact that they had yet to come across any wild Rahi yet did not make him feel better.
“Do you think the Rahi are hiding from us?” Whenua wondered aloud. “Would explain why they haven’t come out to greet us — kindly or otherwise.”
Nuju did not answer him.
Whenua rolled his eyes. “Look, we’ve had disagreements over things before. There’s no need to act petulant over this one. Surely the Matoran matter more than this.”
Still, the Toa of Ice said nothing.
The Toa of Earth huffed as he turned around, not caring if Nuju complained about the brightness from his mask. “Come on, don’t act so—”
He immediately stopped talking when he realized that Nuju was no longer standing behind him. Looking around, he could see no opening that the Toa of Ice could have gone through or fallen.
“Nuju?” he called out, brandishing his Earthshock Drills as he scanned the space before him with the light from his mask. “Where are you?”
He heard movement behind him and he turned around, expecting to see Nuju safe and sound. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of a tall, gangling being with thin, wiry limbs. Their armor was a mismatch of silver and gold over dark blue and green. Red eyes glowed from their large crowned head, staring down at Whenua with a look of contempt.
The Toa of Earth stepped back, raising his tools defensively. “Who are you?” he demanded.
“Not so loud,” groaned the other being, sounding more annoyed than angry.
Before Whenua could make a move, he felt something hard strike him in the back and he instantly seized up, unable to move. He then felt something — or someone — rob him of his tools as the wiry being in front of him stepped forward to grab him.
“That’s two of them down,” it said. “How many more to go?”
“Not enough, for my liking,” said another being, one Whenua could not see as the wiry one picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. “I’m already starting to enjoy this.”
“Let’s wait until the others report back. If we don’t hear from them in the next couple of hours, then we join in on the hunt.”
Unable to so much as whisper, Whenua could only listen to his own mind scream as the Dark Hunters carried him into the depths of the Archives.
No comments:
Post a Comment