Author's Note: Meant to upload this yesterday, I was unfortunately flooded with school assignments. Poor excuse, I know, and you all have my apologies. You're a great audience, and I thank you for your support and reviews. Speaking of which, I'd like to address a few reviews that were posted, just to clear some stuff up.
Wound: Haha, yeah, I thought about a few of those options, but this is more in line with my previous incarnation of the story. Though I assure you all, the portal isn't just, "Oh, they built a trans-dimensional portal. Deal with it." There's a reason behind it and how it works, trust me.
Vest and Bow Tie: Well sir (I'm assuming you're a sir, as that's quite a name for a sir), thanks for all of that, I truly mean it. And yes, Catherine had to have known him. Despite his face being covered, she absolutely knew it was him after a few minutes, which I'll address later in this chapter. As for the British gentleman's plan, I agree, from a non-spoiled standpoint it does sound rather unnecessarily complicated. I'll to my best to make it make sense in the future as more comes to light in the story. As for the age bit, no apologies necessary. I'm 17, so if that's young to you, cool, and you're right, much can be improved on, I'm just amazingly out of practice. I hope to develop my skills over the course of this fic, and I welcome all the criticism and advice you've got.
With the notes out of the way, on to the story!
The Toa of Earth.
Chapter Three: Paradise Lost.
John grunted as he lifted the small tree he'd managed to cut down with his improvised hatchet comprised of a rock he'd spent the better part of the day sharpening on another rock, some sort of grassy plant with red flowers that Catherine had identified as "Harakeke," a plant native to New Zealand, that he'd used as a method of securing the stone to a piece of bamboo that he'd managed to break off with his unnaturally increased strength. He wiped the sweat from his brow, his once camouflaged shirt now stained with blood and perspiration, torn in more than a few places. He'd considered removing it, but it was still his best bet at concealment should he need to hide, as he had little to fight with, save his crude hatchet. He gazed up at the twin suns above him, their gentle heat still beating down on him, though less so now, as they were setting. He arrived at the beach and smelled the air. It was distinctly oceanic, but it wasn't quite the same as an ocean on Earth. Still, despite the odd silver coloration of the seas, seagulls were flying about, serving as a very odd reminder of home. He exhaled as he dropped the tree onto the pile of a dozen others that he'd spent the day logging, deciding then to sit for a moment and think in some desperate attempt to make sense of how he'd found himself on another planet.
At that moment, Catherine surfaced from the water, a few strange seashells in her hands as she wiped her now shortened blonde hair from her eyes. John still questioned why she'd cut her ponytail with his rustic axe, it certainly wasn't painless or even an even cut, and now hung a few inches above her shoulders. She'd reasoned that it'd only get in the way in a survival situation, and John simply shrugged, not willing to attempt to understand her.
"Next time," she spat, "Let the guy whose job is half in the water do the fishing."
It was true, she'd joined the Army for a reason, that being to stay far away from any large body of water after she was almost accidentally drowned on vacation. John smirked at this, bowing his head in mock shame.
"Well, perhaps the lady would like to handle cutting down trees all day?" He said in a mock pretentiously British accent.
"Up yours," she groaned, raising her middle finger as she slumped against a large log she'd dragged out of the forest to use as a bench. She'd also spent time gathering rocks and making a fire pit, clearly thinking ahead.
"Bamboo burns, right?" She questioned, eyes shut in exhaustion.
"I think so," he replied, "But it might pop a bit if it's wet."
"It's been drying all day, hasn't it?" She retorted.
"There's still plenty of water and sap inside of it." He responded in a calm, but tired fashion.
"Speaking of which," she sat up and grudgingly opened her eyes, "We need to find a source of water."
"Look at the forest behind you," he replied, gesturing to the greenery at their backs. "That doesn't grow from nothing. There's water somewhere on this…whatever this is. I'm more concerned with figuring out where we are, and more importantly, if we're alone."
"Fair enough," she responded lazily, her eyes having drifted shut again.
John lay against the sand, taking a moment's respite before resuming his work. He knew the answer to his question already, he knew from the moment he saw that unidentifiably alien, almost mechanical print in the mud.
They were not alone.
After a brief respite, the two got to work gathering kindling and chopping up the bamboo into smaller pieces, more suitable for igniting the flame. Now, all they had to do was start a fire, and there was their problem, for they had no flint, no lighter or any magnifying surface. The black-clad man had been thorough in relieving them of anything that might be used helpfully.
John grumbled in annoyance as he went off in search of some method of starting a fire, Catherine staying behind to stubbornly attempt to use a simple stick to cause enough friction, which despite her enhanced physical abilities, wasn't working for her at all due to the general wetness of everything they'd gathered. This continued for a good ten minutes, so stubborn was she, but eventually she gave up and tossed her stick into the ocean in frustration.
"Dammit!" She shouted, kicking the sand. She stopped and closed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, slowing her breathing in an attempt to calm herself.
"We can find our way out of this," she breathed as she slowly opened her eyes again. "I can do this."
However, her induced serenity was soon smashed into pure instinctive panic when she smelled smoke and heard the shout.
"CAT!"
John Peters was a man who didn't scare easily. He'd be lying if he said he didn't have a phobia or two, like his fear of uncontrolled fire, and what he saw before him ignited his pyrophobia like the blaze that licked at his toes.
The world was on fire, and he was terrified.
There was a beast in the center of it all, some insectoid creature with a metal exoskeleton that gleamed crimson like a ruby. Deep blue glowing angular eyes in its rounded head were staring out at him, unblinking, emotionless. It seemed as if its head, which was at least the size of its torso, was partially transparent. Some...thingstared at him from inside the creature's skull.
"Is that its brain?" he breathed aloud, his phobia taking over his rational mind.
It raised its arm at him, a crimson flame-shaped buckler attached to it, glowing bright orange at the tips from the heat.
Then, it spoke.
"Clean it all."
It sounded like it was a statement, but it was watching him, as if it expected him to answer in his incapacitatingly terrified state.
"I…what?" He replied in little more than a hoarse whisper.
"Clean it all." It lowered its head and stepped forward aggressively. "It must be cleaned."
John instinctively took a step back, doing everything in his power to grasp onto the shred of sanity in his phobia-distorted mind.
"I...I don't understand." He spoke with a bit more confidence, though not much.
The creature raised its head disdainfully, a slight hiss escaping its polished white teeth.
"You are an obstacle," its voice, definitively mechanical, yet eerily insectoid at the same time, spoke with a threatening tone. It raised its arm, and on its hand was what appeared to be a metallic red buckler shaped like a fireball, glowing orange at the tips, smoke emitting from it.
"You will be removed."
Flames crackled from the tips of the crimson shield as the entire flame-shaped portion began glowing a hellish orange. He was without defense, without support, and thanks to the forest burning around him, he was without a means of escape. Peters knew now without a doubt that this creature, this alien, was going to kill him.
"CAT!" He shouted as he dove to the side, narrowly avoiding a stream of white-hot flame, somehow emitted from the squat mechanical insectoid's hand shield. He came up from a roll, breathing erratically, pupils dilated.
"What the hell are you?!"
The creature retracted its head, a few exposed gears whirring rapidly as it spoke in its deep mechanical voice one last time.
"You are an obstacle. Remove yourself."
With that, it launched its head forward and lowered the transparent part of its skull, which John now realized was no more than a faceplate. A strange blue face-shaped organic…thing came hurtling at his face, red mist trailing from its eyeholes. John flinched and raised his arms to protect himself, tripping over a charred trunk as he instinctively stepped back from the unnatural life form flying towards him.
"Rah!" The shout came from Catherine as she swung downwards with the bamboo and stone hatchet, cutting a deep and ragged gash into the face-brain, though not enough to cut it in two, getting caught halfway through. This only encouraged her to pin the silent creature against a burning tree, prompting a scream, but coming not from the face, but from the now immobile mechanical body. Catherine leered back, thoroughly disgusted, before viciously hacking once more and cutting the repulsive thing in two.
Catherine turned to John, breathing heavily, sweat-drenched hair clinging to her face and the back of her neck.
"You okay?"
John silently nodded.
"We…we need to put out the fire," he managed to stammer, doing his best to pull himself together.
Catherine remembered in that moment his pyrophobia, and suddenly his uncharacteristically cowering behavior made sense.
"John, come on, let's get back to the beach, we'll be safe, okay?"
The struggling man stood and picked up both halves of the dead blue creature, then moving to the mechanical shell. He braced his foot against its torso and gripped onto the base of its shield, yanking with all of his might, removing what appeared to be a magnetized grip that held it in place on the creature's 'Hand,' if it could even be called that, it was more of a squarish receptacle. Catherine raised an eyebrow at him, but he just shook his head, walking quickly to the beach.
"Are you okay?" She asked as she jogged to catch up with him.
"Fine," he replied tersely.
She looked down at the shield gripped tightly in his hand, the grip placed on the rear, as if it were meant to be aimed like a pistol.
"You don't have to be embarrassed. I know you're afra-"
"I let you down."
She stopped at this, knowing there was a lot on his mind.
"I lost it. I couldn't fight back. I had to rely on someone else to save my dumb ass."
"John, I had your back, just like you had mine!"
"When have I had your back?" He replied almost angrily, though she knew it wasn't her that he was angry with.
"When you covered me after that first guy got hit with an arrow, when you helped me after I shot that guy!" She replied, her voice passionate. Nobody berate him more than he did himself. His excuse for this was that he was just 'Bettering himself,' but she knew all too well just how disgusted with his own failures he could get.
"And twice you were the one who had to save my life." He stopped as he set foot on the golden sands of the beach, a somber countenance overtaking him.
"I'm sorry, Cat. I really am."
With that, she reared her arm back and slapped him hard in the face.
"What the hell?!" He said, more startled than actually hurt.
"That's for indulging in this bull again. Seriously, knock it off, John, you're not a damned teenager anymore. Get your act together, pull your weight like you have been, or we're going to have a problem. Clear?"
John nodded his head, knowing that it was very unwise to piss her off.
"Yes ma'am," he said professionally.
"Good," she replied, giving him a quick peck on the lips before yanking the shield from his hand.
"Hey!" He protested as she walked over to their unlit fire and aimed the shield at it.
"I'm trying to light the fire," she explained, "It obviously operated mechanically, the problem's just trying to figure out how to fire it."
She looked around the grip, inspecting it.
"Looks like there's something on the bottom…" she reached to touch the small button on the base of the grip and immediately recoiled in surprise as flames shot forth from the shield. Peters didn't move an inch, determined not to allow his phobia to control him again. Instead, he simply stood as the white-hot flames struck the bamboo, instantly igniting it and vaporizing the kindling.
"Well…" the surprised woman began, "That was fun."
A pair of armored boots crashed into an otherwise silent forest, their matte black coloration blending with the blackened mud and trees. The once raging fire had been extinguished thanks to a slightly smaller blue-hued being.
"Another Bohrok fire, sister?"
The aquatically colored female nodded, her arms raised and glowing a pale blue, moisture from the still living trees and air flowing into her hands, recharging her power.
"I thought they weren't supposed to leave Mata-Nui," the black and burnt orange armored male said, his voice deep and earthy.
"Cahdok and Gahdok were loyal, this isn't their swarm."
"So if not the Sister Queens, who then?"
The watery woman knelt by a stationary Tahnok, inspecting its opened faceplate and empty Krana case.
"Someone fought this Tahnok and won."
The taller one investigated further, looking around for its Krana.
"It appears that its Krana was taken, is this a Toa we're dealing with?"
The blue one walked to a charred tree and inspected a splatter of blue liquid, now dried, with a ragged chunk taken out of the center of the stain.
"No, not a Toa. Its Krana wasn't taken, it was killed." She turned to her compatriot and unlimbered her harpoon. "Get the Bohrok to Jorim, he'll know what to do. Hopefully we can find out why it was alone, and more importantly why it was here."
He nodded in response, lifting the mechanical beast with ease over his shoulder.
"What shall we do, Lairika?" He questioned, bright orange eyes gazing steadfastly into her light purple ones.
"Simple, Derian." Her eyes narrowed, "We must warn the team. There are killers on the island."
The two sat around their fire, not having any trouble keeping warm due to the intense heat the burning bamboo gave off. The night sky shone down upon them, and there were a number of strange stars that they didn't recognize. One constellation of six oddly colored stars seemed to hover directly above them, and a large red star shone almost as bright as the moon in the distance. Sort of like a flare, John noted.
"What do you make of those stars above us?" Catherine wondered aloud. "It looked like two, the dark grey one and the blue one moved from the other four after a while, then went back a few minutes ago. The fire went out when the blue one went bright…do you think the stars are doing something here?"
John was completely mystified, unsure of how to respond, though he'd be damned if he wasn't going to try.
"I think stars are just stars…but I'm not sure that's what those are. When was the last time you saw six stars that moved? Colored the way they are, dark grey, white, silver, light blue, purple, and orange…what are they?"
Catherine reclined against her log, staring into the night sky, awestruck by its alien majesty.
"Hey Cat," He began slowly, "When did you figure out it was me?"
She gave a short laugh, rolling her eyes. "From the moment I stepped off the VTOL, genius. How many other butter bars are named Peters, have your build, unit, and voice? You didn't try putting on the fake deep one until we got on the road, come on!" By the end of this, she was laughing genuinely at his rather sad attempts at concealing his identity and appearing hyper-masculine.
"Fair enough," he said, allowing a small smirk to crease his lips. "Though to be fair, I knew it was you immediately as well."
She laughed even harder at this, "That's because I wasn't covering my face, genius!"
He mentally kicked himself for stating the obvious and settled for joining her in staring at the night sky.
"Do you think we should check out the forest tomorrow?" He asked.
"Tomorrow, yeah. I'm just hoping we don't run into what put out the fire, whatever's that powerful isn't something I want to mess with."
"What if it's an ally?" He countered.
"Let's not get hopeful," she retorted seriously.
"I wasn't," he responded, equally grave, "I'm just saying we shouldn't shoot on sight, for lack of a better term."
"Not like we've got a way of fighting, anyway," she said, gazing back into the night.
John nodded in response and leaned back against his log, quite tired from the events of the day.
"Who should take first watch?" He asked, eyes growing heavy.
"Hm, let me think," she began sarcastically. "We could have the guy who's already half asleep, or the girl who's an insomniac. Hm, tough choice, huh?"
He smirked and leaned back, closing his eyes.
"Night, Cat."
"Goodnight, John."
Four colorfully armored warriors advanced quietly though the charred woods. Their leader, wearing indigo blue and royal purple armor with golden trimming and runes, armed with a shortened spear and a shield bearing her colors, took the lead, the other three in a wedge formation to her left and right. On her right was her second in command, a being whose eyes glowed white with plasma, wearing dirty white and burnt orange armor, a modified Midak Skyblaster loaded with plasma spheres instead of light and an extended rear tube rested on his shoulder, grips in his hands. The other two were the scouts sent out earlier, the black and burnt orange clad one bearing a large spear with a large drill head on the end instead of a spear tip, a sharp obsidian claw on the other end, meant for digging and punishment. The second smaller one bore her harpoon loaded into its launcher, cradled securely in her arms.
"Derian," the leader began, her voice sharp and precise, the voice of a veteran leader, "What does your Elda tell you?"
The earthen-colored being touched his hand to his mask, eyes glowing a more intense shade of orange as he grit his teeth.
"We're close," he winced. "I wish this thing didn't give me headaches whenever I try to find something."
"Maybe the smeltheads can make you something more to your liking when we get back to Metru-Nui," the orange and white warrior said humorously.
"You're one to talk, Toa of Plasma," Derian began, his deep voice concealing the humor he intended to convey, "For one who controls heat as much as our red brethren, you act oddly superior."
"Not act, Derian," he said, gripping the front chambering wheel and rotating it, chambering a plasma sphere. "They're the ones who have to act superior. I know I am."
"Stow it, Jorim," the leader said, "We're close." She turned to the aquatic warrior on her left. "Lairika, ready your Rau Nuva, they may not speak Matoran."
Lairika nodded, readying her navy-blue Rau, which contrasted with her light blue body, but matched her navy blue organic muscles and skin.
"What's the plan, Tessi?" Jorim said eagerly, "Guns blazing?"
"No," Tessi responded. "These are killers, but they may not know better. Reason first. If they attempt to harm us, respond in kind, but do not break our Code. Do you all understand?"
The four biomechanical beings nodded and halted at the treeline, staring in confusion at the two beings before them. They were clothed in strange green and brown tight fitting robes, and appeared strangest of all to be completely organic.
"Let me do the talking," Tessi said quickly. She tapped her mask, stating in a hushed tone, "Deceptions, even in other languages, are powerless against the Rode. Lairika," she turned to the aforementioned blue-hued warrior, "You will be with me. Derian, Jorim, you will flank them from the left and right respectively. Do not engage unless met with force, is the plan understood, Toa?"
The three siblings-in-arms nodded and at the count of three, exited the treeline. The smaller one, seemingly female, shouted to her compatriot, waking him. He grabbed a makeshift hatchet, looking almost as if it were made by a Ga-Matoran due to its materials, while his partner grabbed a Tahnok shield. The four armored ones tensed at this but halted when Tessi shouted, "Halt!"
She turned to the two standing at the ready, side by side. "Identify yourselves in the name of Mata-Nui!"
The two stared at her, failing to answer. They spoke in a decidedly different language, causing Tessi to pat Lairika's shoulder, signaling her to activate her Rau Nuva. The shorter blue Toa reached over with her free hand and placed it on Tessi's shoulder, spreading her power of translation to her leader.
"Do you understand me now?" Tessi spoke to the two before her. Though they didn't respond, the look they exchanged was proof enough that she now spoke their language.
"I am Toa Tessi of the Toa Kirikua, guardians of Kirikua-Nui. You have two minutes to explain yourselves and what you're doing on this island immediately before I take you into custody."
The male held his hatchet forward and slowly set it down on the ground. Tessi, being the cautious woman that she was, chose to keep her weapons in her hands, but did return the show of peace by lowering hers.
"My name is Second Lieutenant John Peters, UNA Marine Corps, 1st Marine Division, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, currently attached to the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. This is Second Lieutenant Catherine McClain, UNA Army, currently attached to my unit." John stared into the glowing golden eyes of the almost cyborg-looking female before him. He assumed she was female at least, she was slightly shorter than the two warriors standing at his side, her voice sounded feminine, if rugged and experienced, and her armor appeared to be somewhat more curved like the blue-hued one beside her. They were all at least six and a half feet tall, with their tallest, the orange and dirty white one, being easily seven feet.
"Tell me, John Peters, of the UNA Marine Corps, what are you doing on this island, and why did you slay that Krana?"
John stared bewildered at her, initially unsure of how to respond.
"If you're talking about the red…thing that tried to kill us, we responded in kind. It was clearly self-defense."
"You had no need to kill it." Tessi raised her weapons, her spear rested on her shield in a ready stance. "Give yourselves up, or we will use force to subdue you."
"Tessi," the orange one hissed, "Makuta Teridax kingi, he aha ai mea maua whakararu ki ratau?"
"Silence," Tessi responded tersely, her eyes never leaving the two in front of her.
"What," the female with the golden hair spoke, "What did he say?"
"Nothing important," Tessi said quickly, almost worriedly. "What's important is that you put down the hatchet and the Tahnok shield."
John placed a hand on Catherine's shoulder and looked at her, a silent conversation ensuing between them.
This time, it was she who spoke to the techno-organic humanoids before them. "We're just looking for a way off of this island. If you can't provide that, then we'll stay here. We're not interested in being taken captive."
Her gaze was steely, determined. John was proud of her, but a bit unnerved. This wasn't the Catherine he'd known a few years ago, she'd changed, become every bit the soldier when she was needed to be.
The golden eyes of Tessi narrowed, visibly weighing her options. Her mask spoke to her, and she was indeed speaking truthfully when she claimed that she only wanted a path off of the island. However, Tessi hadn't stayed alive for this long on good faith, and being a master of Psionics, she knew exactly how to find out what she needed to know. She impaled her spear into the ground and set her shield against it, rapidly approaching the two and placing her hands on their heads before they could react. All three sets of eyes glowed a bright gold as Tessi peered into their minds, sifting through the useless to find what she wanted. They were troubled indeed, and while far from harmless, they were indeed capable warriors, if not nearly as seasoned as Tessi's team, but they were honest. She peered further into their minds, peeling back memories until she found the one that resulted with them being on the island in the first place, sending her stumbling back, breathing heavily as the other three immediately raised their weapons in her defense.
"Stand down, Toa!" She quickly hopped to her feet, staring down at the unconscious two at her feet.
"Mata Nui," Jorim breathed, lowering his plasma launcher. "What did you do to them?"
"Nothing intentional," Tessi replied, equally surprised. She was quite in control of her mental powers, and hadn't known herself to make careless mistakes in decades since her days as an early Toa, newly transformed from Matoranhood.
"I don't think they've been exposed to psionics before," Tessi noted.
"Possible," Derian replied, "But unlikely, given how often minds in Makuta's Mata Nui are probed without their even knowing. They must've been exposed even subliminally at some point."
Tessi shook her head, kneeling over the forms of the two organics, scrutinizing them.
"That's the thing, Derian." She abruptly stood and turned to her team.
"They are not of this world."
Author's Note: So at last this chapter's out. I completely intended to finish it last week, but unfortunately some personal circumstances that I couldn't have predicted arose in my life that completely restricted me from writing, much to my dismay. For this, you have my apologies. Rest assured, I'm still uploading on Tuesdays every few weeks, and rest assured I know what I want to do with this story. For those of you who don't know about the Toa's powers, here's a quick guide for the team you've seen so far. Colors are ordered in Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary/decorative.
Tessi: Psionics. Indigo, purple, gold.
Derian: Earth. Black, burnt orange, grey.
Lairika: Water. Navy Blue, light blue, medium blue.
Jorim: Plasma. Dirty white, burnt orange, gold-orange.
I chose a female leader because if you look at the Spirit Stars, there isn't a red one. I chose not to include a Toa of Fire because I think they're a bit overdone, and having a female leader, a Ce-Toa no less (A rather unexplored element), felt unique and right for this series.
Let me know what you think, and as always, your support and criticism keeps me writing!
