Hello loyal readers! Sorry about there not being an author's note on the first chapter, it's my first fic and it totally slipped my mind. Ah well, there's one here, and that should satisfy you. In this chapter, we meet a few new characters, including my personal favourite, Toa Brulaz. Heh heh heh, not saying any more. Well, your probably wanting to read the chapter, now, so...on with the show!
Chapter Two
The Search for Icras
"There! There it is!"
Ciox's cry echoed through the night air. No one but Wildr was around to hear him, but she was all who needed to. She ran forward, bursting into the quiet village with all the stealth a Kikanalo smashing through dry trees. She was barely able to contain her excitement, but she settled for a silent victory dance in the village square.
"Shh!" Ciox whispered. "Everyone's asleep at this time of night! Don't wake them!"
"Well, what do I do then?" Wildr asked hopping from foot to foot excitedly. "I can't believe I'm here! No more catching and killing my own Rahi! No more having to boil water to drink it!"
She let out a cry of joy that rivalled the loudest Toa of Sonics in sound. Ciox waited for everyone in the village to come running to see the problem.
He was not disappointed. The flaps to the male and female tents flew open, and Matoran of all kinds poured out to gawk at the newcomer. Ciox rubbed his mask. He was never going to hear the end of this from Turaga Delix and Turaga Finu.
"CIOX!"
Speak of the devils.
"What is the meaning of this?"Finu, Turaga of Water, shrieked in her harsh tones.
"This...this cacophony has disrupted what would have otherwise been a full night's sleep! A hungry full-night's sleep, but sleep nonetheless," remarked Delix, Turaga of Earth.
Ciox went from annoyed (by Finu) to puzzled (by Delix). "Why hungry, Turaga?"
Delix glared darkly at Ciox. "Because you didn't return with a Rahi for us to eat!"
"But what about Icras?" Ciox asked. "Surely he brought you some meat for the night."
"No he didn't!" interjected Finu. "He hasn't returned all day!"
Ciox's eyes widened in shock. Icras was Ciox's hunting partner, and a damn good one, too. Icras had spotted a large brown Rahi deer partway through the day, and chased after it. He had told Ciox he would kill it and bring it back to the village, and meet him there at the end of the day. If he was gone, what would it mean for the village?
"I'm going to find him!" Ciox announced bravely. He turned to leave, but Delix grabbed him by the back of his mask.
"First, you'll tell us who this is." He gestured to the Ro-Matoran shaking hands with people and making new friends.
Oh, right. Ciox had momentarily forgotten Wildr. "Um...she's a nomad. She's tried to get here before, but she couldn't because she was attacked by Rahi. Her name's Wildr."
"And what right do you have to abandon your duty to the village to go on a date with this girl?" Finu scolded, and Ciox swore the whole village fell silent just as she said that. Under his mask, Ciox blushed again.
"I...uh...didn't go on a date...with her...I've never seen her before today!" Ciox countered, but no one believed him. They all wanted to believe he was a star-struck lover. For some reason, that made Ciox mad.
"Never forget the three virtues, young one! Unity–" Delix began, but Ciox cut him off with a sarcastic, angry, "Duty, Destiny. Yes, we all know that. But some of us insist on making false accusations!" He whirled on the spot and began to stalk out of the village, spear in hand. "I'm going to go find Icras."
"No, you're not." With his back turned to the gathered crowd, didn't see the figure floating into the village. The Matoran all gasped, but Ciox didn't hear. He assumed it was one of the Turaga talking and snorted angrily, covering the sound of the gasp.
"Yes, I am, and nothing either of you say or do will stop me."
"Then how about this: I think-know where your friend-pal is."
Ciox realized that wasn't how Delix or Finu talked, or sounded, and turned to look at the great green figure standing in the middle of a circle of Matoran.
"Who...who are you?" The question came from Wildr, who was standing in front of the newcomer while all the other Matoran had backed slightly away to give the tall one room.
"I am Toa Brulaz, master of Air and the spear," said the Toa. "Here to help."
Brulaz quickly became a hero in the small village. He hadn't done anything yet; he'd only arrived a minute ago, but just his presence made Matoran feel safer.
"You know where Icras is?" Ciox gasped.
Brulaz smiled mysteriously. "No idea."
Ciox glared at him.
Brulaz shrugged. "Well, actually, I have a general idea of where he is." Then, under his breath, he added, "It's a good thing, too, or else I'd have no use for this." He looked at the rock in his hand, then put it into his pack.
"Can you take me there?" Ciox asked with no hesitation.
"No."
And the glare returned.
"Just kidding. Come, I think he's this way." Brulaz turned and beckoned for the De-Matoran to follow him out of the village.
"You think? Gee, that inspires confidence," Ciox mumbled.
"Hey, I'll go too," said Wildr.
"I thought you wanted to get to the village, Wildr?" said Ciox, confused.
"I did," she said calmly. "And I did. Now I want to go find your friend. Hey, you helped me, now I'll return the favour."
Ciox couldn't find a reason why she shouldn't come, and Brulaz welcomed the assistance. "Great! Going off on a help-rescue mission! That hasn't happened to me in years!"
The whole village watched them as they walked off into the underbrush.
...
"You said you hadn't done this is years, didn't you?" grumbled Ciox.
"That I did." Brulaz nodded.
"Apparently, because WE'RE TOTALLY LOST!" shouted Ciox angrily. It was now morning; the little group had spent the whole night "searching" the forest. Ciox checked his handheld sundial; it was almost eight o'clock. He looked up to see they were passing a tree with a slash cut into its bark. "I scraped that tree with my spear the third time I thought we passed it. This is the eighth time I've seen it!"
"Don't be too hard on him," Wildr said soothingly, putting her hand on his shoulder. Ciox jumped at her touch. "He's not at his best on the ground."
"I think-know he was by the volcano somewhere..." Brulaz thought aloud.
"The volcano's over there," snapped Ciox, pointing north.
"Ah! Let's happy-go that way then!" Brulaz walked off to the north.
As he walked off, Ciox mumbled to Wildr, "What an idiot! How did he ever become a Toa?"
Wildr shrugged. "Perhaps his innocence masks his true wisdom," she remarked. When she got a raised eyebrow from Ciox, she said, "I don't know, it sounds good."
A few hours later, the huge grey volcano loomed above them. Partway up, Ciox could see Rahi deer like the ones Icras had chased jumping around, more like mountain goats than deer. A few deer went into a cave, but didn't come out again.
"There." Ciox pointed to the cave. "That's probably where they took him."
"Then let's quick-go get him," Brulaz said, calling on his power of air to rise off the ground.
"Hey, hey, whoa! How are we going to get up there? You can fly, but we can't!" Wildr pointed out.
Brulaz smiled. "Says who?"
He grabbed both Matoran by the hand, and shot upward. Wildr screamed in surprise, but quickly cut it off. Ciox, on the other hand, was enchanted by flight. He felt the wind on his face, heard it whistling by his ears, and...
"We're here!" Brulaz set the two Matoran down, then touched down himself. He looked deep into the inky blackness of the cave, then said quietly and nervously, "Um...can I stay here?"
Ciox was taken aback. Here was a Toa, held in high regard as fearless warriors who protected the Matoran, and this one was cowardly enough to want to stay behind? "Why?" asked Ciox, almost angrily.
Brulaz tapped his index fingers together. "Well...see, we Air Toa aren't very happy-good with caves. That's a Toa of Stone or Iron thing. Cave have...creepy-dark things scratch-crawling everywhere, and...no open air..."
Ciox would have demanded he come along, but Wildr stepped in between them. "That's fine, Brulaz. You can stay out here with all the deer and stuff."
Brulaz perked up. "Really?"
"No."
"Aw..."
"Just kidding."
Ciox rolled his eyes, but decided not to argue with Wildr. After all, the more time they wasted, the more danger Icras might be in. He turned and began walking into the cave. "Alright, then, let's go."
Wildr turned as well, and followed Ciox into the cave. Brulaz watched them go. In truth, he was not at all scared of caves. He had trained himself over thousands of years to barely be afraid of anything. Still, the Matoran could not know he was testing them.
And these carnivorous Rahi are just the thing to test them with, he thought. Still, I should follow them to make sure nothing happens to them.
So, activating his Kanohi Huna, he turned invisible and walked silently after the two Matoran.
...
Ciox's luck had not changed; he was still lost.
Not thinking beforehand to take a lightstone, he and Wildr were wandering around in the dark. The pathway kept branching out into various other paths, making it impossible to find the chamber where Icras was.
"There!" Wildr yelled, pointing (though Ciox didn't know that. It was so dark you couldn't see a foot in front of you). A shaft of light fell from a hole in the sloped ceiling onto the unconscious form of Icras.
Seeing his friend, Ciox shot forward, at Icras' side in a flash. He knew it was probably a trap; it was too easy to have what he was looking for in the only lit chamber in the entire cave system. Right then he didn't care. He saw the closed eyes behind his friend's Kanohi Arthron, and his heartlight jumped. He hurriedly checked Icras' vital signs; heartlight pulsing, check. Breath, check. He stood up and turned back to Wildr. "He's alive," he reported. "Here, come help me lift him up."
Wildr rushed forward to assist Ciox. Each took one of the unconscious Matoran's arms and hoisted him onto his feet. As they did so, the Le-Matoran's eyes snapped open, and he tried to get a good look at his new surroundings. When he spoke, his voice was dry and cracked, and he had to take a breath every few seconds.
"W...where am...I?" he croaked, all tree-speak muted by his current condition.
"Inside the volcano," Wildr replied. Icras turned his head slowly to look at her.
"Who...are...you?" he breathed heavily.
"She's Wildr, a new friend," Ciox said. "How do you feel?"
Icras looked at Ciox and smiled. "You...it's good...to see...you...Ciox." He coughed and hacked loudly. "I don't...feel so good..."
Then he threw up all over Ciox.
"Mata Nui, that's disgusting!" It was all Ciox could do not to drop Icras and wipe the bile off.
"S...sorry..." Icras said, hanging his head low, obviously weary. "You asked how...I feel...my left arm is numb...my chest feels like Kikanalo...held a tap-dancing contest on top of it...and I can't see anything." He paused. "Though, I suppose...that's just natural, seeing as...we're inside the volcano..."
Ciox looked at the smoothed-out walls around him. His first thought was that no natural cave could have walls that smooth. His second thought was that they hadn't left the lit chamber yet. If he couldn't see anything, yet his eyes were open...
"Icras..." Wildr had come to the same conclusion. "You've gone blind."
