A/N: I'm baa-aa-aaa-aaack! This time for real! Aren't you all glad to see me after... counts on fingers four, five, what, six months? Maybe more? Yeah... I'm really sorry about that, I do feel terrible, trust me. But I feel I've got control over this story more. I know exactly what I want to do and where I want to go with it. Also, I have next to no medical knowledge about... anything, really, so I'm doing mostly guesswork when it comes to healing and sewing wounds. If I make any mistakes, please tell me.

Disclaimer: Me no owny Bionicle. Lego does. I only own... er... well, I guess you could say I own some of the random Visorak that appear in this story, because you couldn't really say they appeared in the canon, but then again... meh.

Chapter 4

Sometimes he wondered why he ever got out of his web every morning. Then he remembered: because if he didn't, then Roodaka and Sidorak would kill him for his laziness. On the other hand, with situations such as these, getting up out of the web was only delaying the inevitable if they did not retrieve the two remaining Toa Hordika.

The Keelerak commander of the Le-Metru squad stared angrily down the hallways of the archives. They were so close... so close at having captured their prey! But it appeared that the prey had a plan all along.

He was sure they had trapped them before. One Hordika was down while the other was caught off-guard and acting on impulse and anger. And the two annoying little Rahaga had been nowhere in sight... or so they thought.

The Keelerak almost didn't know what was worse. Having to explain to Roodaka how they let the Hordika get away, or including the fact that they had let themselves be followed by those blasted Rahaga. Well, he could always leave that part out of the report. But that still left him with the other problem.

The Visorak were not stupid. They knew if they had chased the Toa into underground caverns, apparently was known as the "archives" to the residents of the island before, there was not enough room or enough time to get very far away. And since nobody found them down the hallways, they must have been hiding behind one of the many doors.

So the squadron had taken to do demolishing every door they could find... and still no Hordika or Rahaga.

They had completely disappeared.

It seemed impossible. Could they have slipped out of their hiding place unnoticed? No, that was impossible. Nearly the entire Le-Metru horde was down below searching for them... they couldn't have escaped undetected. Especially not with an injured man…

So where could they have gone?

There was only one way to find out, he feared: they would have to search all of the archives.

Yes, Roodaka would not be happy at all...

Nokama had to admit, she was greatly impressed by the Rahaga.

When Gaaki had told her that they had actually been living in the underground archives for about fifty years or so prior to her adventures, she had initially disbelieved her. After all, how could six rahi remain completely undetected without anyone suspecting anything?

But when Iruini revealed that they had actually created a tunnel to another level within the room they were occupying, all doubts on her mind were lifted. There was a small crack in the wall of the room, barely wide and tall enough for a Hordika to fit through that led to another side of the hallway. As quietly as they could, the Toa and Rahaga slipped out of the room and traveled through the empty hallways, searching for a way out. They made sure to take plenty of turns, hoping to put as much distance from them and the Visorak horde as possible.

Eventually, after about a half an hour of hurried jogging through the tunnels, Matau began to wear out. Realizing that they could no further without serious consequences for the green Hordika, the group decided to stop for a while and hide out in a nearby room. The four piled into a small space where they intended to rest for a while, although the feeling of fear and anxiety hung in the air, as they knew they didn't get that far away from the Visorak. None of them knew how long they had until they were found, but they intended to take this opportunity to rest up.

Surprisingly, a long time had passed since the group had become trapped within the rooms of the archive. Perhaps they were farther away from the horde than they realized, though nobody had dared to leave the room to check out if the coast was clear. They knew they couldn't risk barging outside at the moment. They had to take this time to rest up.

Gaaki had begun the long, agonizing operation on Matau a while ago. She had numbed him and put him to sleep with various herbs she had collected, and was currently laboring away sewing up his wounds. Not for the first time in her life, the blue Rahaga was thankful for Bomonga's medical lessons and made a mental to note to thank him when they rescued everyone.

Meanwhile, Nokama and Iruini stood at the opposite side of the room and stared at the door. Iruini was deep in thought, scribbling things in the ground with his staff, presumably escape plans. To the on-looker, it would mostly look like gibberish, but then again, he always did have a certain style that only he seemed to understand.

Nokama would occasionally sneak a glance at the doodles and attempt to decipher them. When she failed, she would turn her attention to the door in front of her play mind games with herself, such as naming all the colors in the room (mostly green and brown), counting high numbers, and reciting her old speeches she would explain to her classes. This was all to keep her anxious mind off Matau and the other Hordika, and her fear.

She was scared for her brothers, that much was certain. She had no idea what they could be going through right now, or if they were even alive. She was afraid that they, the Toa, would never be able to complete their mission. By failing, they would be condemning all of the Matoran to eternal sleep and death in the coliseum, and they would lose the island forever. She was afraid of losing Matau, not only because she would be losing a teammate and the only other fighter, but also because she would be losing a very close friend. She didn't know why exactly, but she hated to think of what would happen if he ever died. There was something about him... she didn't know. She always felt so good around him, whether she admitted it or not, and she didn't want to lose that. She was also afraid of what might be outside that door. Were there Visorak prowling around, or was the coast clear? She was torn between wanting to check it out for herself and fearfully hiding in the shadows until she was absolutely certain everything was okay. But most of all, Nokama was afraid... of herself.

Ever since she had killed the ash bear, she had not been herself. She was in constant conflict with her beast side, fighting desperately to keep it under to control and tamed. She had so much on her mind right now, it was practically impossible for her to remain passive all the time. Being trapped underground for long periods of time with almost nothing else to do but think wasn't exactly helping, either. It was either play mind games or engage in a duel of words with her beast and both activities were bound to get tiring very fast.

Also, she was hungry.

Because they had no idea how long they were going to be trapped underground, they had to conserve their food supply, which meant they could only eat very little of their scavenging and only after long periods of time.

When Nokama was a Matoran, she hardly ever had to eat. All she had to do was go to a certain food hub located in all the Metru and get her monthly supply of food energy. She only had to this ever month so often, and when she did, it took only a little more than five minutes. But ever since she had turned into a Hordika, she discovered that she had to eat more often. And not in the normal way, either. When before, all she had to do was extract all the energy and proteins from the food, she now had to actually force it into her mouth and swallow it, much like rahi did. It was a very weird experience, especially since the food often had a strange taste accompanying it. But it was a good experience, and she found herself enjoying eating more and more. It was like torture to keep her from meals for too long. Her self-control was pushed to its max. But normal hunger wasn't the only thing that gnawed at her.

The smell of blood drifted through the room and to her nostrils, coming from Matau's wounds. She had refused to watch Gaaki's operations for two reasons: one, it was rather gruesome to watch, and two, the sight of blood only served to heighten her hunger. She felt sick at the very thought, but she couldn't help it. Her rahi was a carnivore primarily, and it was animal instinct that along with blood came food. Her self-control was being tested to its limits.

How much longer could she hold out? She didn't know. Being trapped underground, waiting to escape, one of her own injured and bleeding... it was almost too much.

"Getting a little claustrophobic?"

She blinked in surprise and stared at the speaker of the question. Iruini stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face. Hesitantly, she nodded. "Y... yes. I am feeling a little... closed in." she admitted. For some reason, she felt embarrassed saying this.

Iruini nodded his head. "That's to be expected." he said. "We've been sitting in here for a little over than a day now."

"How can you tell?" Nokama asked.

"I don't really know. It's just guesswork. But it seems about right." He shrugged his shoulders.

It was shoddy logic, she knew, but it made sense to her, and it was the only thing she had to go on. She stared at the floor for a while, trying to think of something to talk about. She had kept silent because she didn't want to disturb the green rahaga from his thinking, but it was obvious he wouldn't mind a little conversation any more than she did.

"How much longer do you think we will remain here?" she asked. She sounded just like some of her more impatient students.

"As long as it takes." Was his sharp reply. "But for all our sakes... I hope it's soon."

More time passed. Hours, maybe. She couldn't tell. And she didn't care. All that mattered to her right now was getting out, helping Matau, keeping her beast under control, and helping her brothers. At one time, she would've been considered the most patient Toa of the team, but right now, as the minutes passed by, all she could think about was escaping. It took all of her self-control not to try to break out on her own.

She curled herself into a ball on the floor and closed her eyes, hoping to fall into a deep sleep. Maybe when she woke up, they'd be ready to leave by then. Just as she began to feel genuinely tired, a moan broke out.

She glanced up and discovered that the uncomfortable noise had come from Matau, who had just recovered from his numbed sleep. A large smile crept onto her lips. "Matau!" she called, as she joined the Rahaga as they gathered around the healing Hordika.

"How are you feeling?" Iruini asked him.

"Urgh... my stomach feels like... somebody opened it and rearranged-jumbled it..." he replied with a groan as he reached for his bandaged wound. He cast a glare at the blue Rahaga. "What did you DO?"

"Just saved your life, of course." she responded sharply, annoyed by his reaction. "You should be thanking me!"

"For what? Break-hurting my stomach?" he countered.

"Of all the-!"

"Calm down!" Nokama's voice echoed angrily. Immediately, the duo ceased their argument and stared at her, surprised by her sudden explosion. She felt the weight of their gazes and lowered her head sheepishly, disturbed by her own forcefulness.

It was Iruini who came to her rescue. "We should all save our energy for later, for other fights against the Visorak." he said. "Right now, we should be focusing on the most pressing fact: what to do now. It's not safe to remain here. It's only been pure luck we haven't been discovered as of yet, but that won't last long. We need to escape the archives, now."

Everybody had to agree with this. They voiced their approval with a unanimous nod of heads.

"But how do we do it, exactly?" Matau asked. "For all we know, there could be hundreds of Visorak prowling outside this door, right now!"

"Doubtful." Gaaki interjected. "If there were several Visorak, they wouldn't be hanging around the hallways; they'd be breaking down walls and searching for us."

"They're probably doing that right now, just not around this wing." Iruini pointed out. "Besides, even if there were just a couple of Visorak, it would be too many. They would alert the others, and we'd be up to our masks in spiders... again." he sounded more than a little exasperated with his last remark, thinking back to earlier.

Nokama agreed whole-heartedly with him. "Still, if there are just a few, I could take them out quickly before they even know it." she said.

"I suppose that's true..." Gaaki nodded, scratching her chin thoughtfully. "It's still risky, though."

"In a situation like this, you have to take risks." Iruini reminded. "How about this: I'll step out and check if the coast is clear. If it is, we get the heck out of here and head for another Metru. If not, well, we'll hide here for a little while longer. Don't worry, I won't be seen... I'm faster and stealthier than I look."

Nobody else could find total fault with this plan and agreed. All, except for Matau. "Why don't we just make a new tunnel and dig out of here?" he suggested. "We did that before..."

"First off, it'll be too loud. It's a miracle the Visorak haven't found us already with all our bickering, but if we start blowing down walls, they'll be sure to come running. Second, these walls are pretty thick. It'll be difficult for water and wind to break through them, and it would take up too much energy to do so, especially yours." Iruini explained.

The green Hordika narrowed his eyes. "Are you trying to say that my element is weak?" he growled.

"No. It's just impractical for that particular use." Iruini replied calmly, un-intimidated. "Wind is a powerful element... just not good for knocking down structures as much as say, earth or stone."

Matau quieted down, knowing there was no real reason to continue the argument.

"So we agreed. Iruini, are you ready to go?" Nokama asked. She was beginning to grow impatient, she desperately wanted out of this enclosed space.

Iruini nodded in response. "Of course."

With that, he quietly opened up the door and stepped out.

Sidorak sneered smugly at the Rahaga trapped within the hanging cages. Those rahkshi freaks had been thorns in his side for far too long, he was going to enjoy extracting his revenge for all the grief they caused him. And of course, he was going to take things very, very slowly.

If he was afraid at all, Norik was doing an excellent job of masking it. He held a defiant expression and stared boldly into the Visorak King's eyes, telling him 'you will not frighten us'. Inside, it made Sidorak furious. He hated unfaithful soldiers.

"At last, we meet again... freak." he began, puncturing his last word with a glare of malice. "Once again, you find yourselves trapped within my- OUR clutches." he glanced towards his Viceroy, who had shot him an intimidating glance at the mention of 'me', but remained silent otherwise. "Although, this time, I can promise you... there will be no escape."

"I seem to recall you making similar threats to us before," Pouks sneered, as he pressed his face up against his cage bars. "And I believe we all know how that story ended."

Rage surged through Sidorak's body as he moved towards the cage with his weapons drawn. "Why you little-!" he froze suddenly when he saw that the Rahaga carried no hint of fear with their expressions. They were not going to be intimidated so easily.

Although this knowledge only made him angrier inside, he managed to compose himself before he did anything too rash. "I'll... give you credit, Rahaga. Even trapped within those cages of yours, you manage to... remain calm." his eye twitched slightly when he noticed Kualus chuckle softly, apparently amused by his antics.

It took all of Roodaka's self-control to keep from rolling her eyes. Even in victory, Sidorak proves to be nothing but a fool... she thought bitterly.

The Visorak Lord continued. "But you don't quite seem to understand this situation fully... unlike before, there were two others out there to come to your rescue. Now, your only allies are rotting corpses, and there is no-one to save you."

His mouth twisted into a maniacal sneer that even Norik found disturbing. "But don't worry, I'm not going to kill you all just yet," he spoke with a small hint of sick enthusiasm. "No, no... you have been too great a thorn in my side for me to just kill you like this... you deserve a much more... involved punishment."

The Rahaga made no reply. Instead, they stood still and bore expressions, wordlessly telling him to do his worst.

"Guards! Take these pathetic down to the lower chambers. The Vohtarak, I'm sure, would love to have them as their 'guests'." Sidorak ordered.

Bowing obediently, the Visorak grabbed each cage with their pincers and proceeded to wheel them down to the lower chambers, otherwise known as the torture grounds. The spiders moved rather quickly, as if eager to see the blood of the enemy spilt.

Norik closed his eyes and thought of his lost comrades. No matter how hard he tried to accept it, he just couldn't believe that they were gone. They had to be alive... he knew it; they just had to be alive!

And Mata Nui, I pray that they are in a better situation than we are.

"Okay, let's go. The path is mostly clear."

Although it was impossible to deny the rush of relief everyone felt upon seeing Iruini's small green head poke his way into the room, neither could they deny the confusion generated by his odd statement.

"'Mostly'? What does THAT mean?" Matau asked, although he dreaded the answer.

"It means exactly as it sounds. The path is mostly clear, just a few Visorak here and there..."

"Oh, just few, is there? Just like there was only a 'few' Visorak that ambushed us, captured our allies and nearly killed me?!" Matau growled, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Iruini narrowed his eyes at the green Hordika and held up his staff threateningly. "If you want, we can sit here and argue for a while and miss our only chance to escape." he snapped. "Now move! If we hurry, we can cut through a small hallway and make our way past the Visorak patrols on the northern edge..."

Once again, he disappeared behind the stone slab door, only this time he was followed by Gaaki. Nokama stood up and moved towards the door, but paused before she passed. She glanced behind her to see Matau slowly approach her.

"Matau, do you need any help walking?" she offered.

Matau blinked, surprised by her kind offering. As he thought about it, he bit his lip, before shaking his head. "No... Don't worry about me. I'll be right behind you." he said a little hesitantly. Although he touched and happy by her concern, and even though he did feel a little dizzy when walking, his pride just couldn't take any more assistance. He was feeling better, he shouldn't need any baby-sitter.

Nokama nodded understandingly before trotting out after the Rahaga. She kept her pace purposefully slow for Matau to catch up. Even if he said he didn't want any help, she wanted to keep a constant eye on him just in case.

The hallway echoed with sounds of Visorak footsteps, slowly growing louder with each vibration. The four moved as quickly and quietly as they possibly could, their hearts pounding wildly in their chests.

Iruini was in the lead, dragging his staff along the wall to help navigate through the piercing darkness. Suddenly he stopped, and motioned the others to gather around him.

"In here!" he ordered as he dashed into a black-pitched room. The others followed him closely, quickening their pace as they did.

Matau risked a glance behind him and gulped. He could almost make out the tip of a Visorak pincer through the darkness. Blast, we're going to be quick-found...! He gulped and ran faster.

The group no longer cared to keep their presence quiet. Now they broke into a run, their claws pounding against the ground loudly and echoing through the corridors. But surprisingly, there was no sound of the Visorak following or giving chase. That still did not keep them from racing through the archives, too worried to care about stopping and checking if they were indeed alone again.

Eventually, as they ran, the tunnels became lighter, and the air grew colder. We must be getting to an opening... Iruini realized. Which would be right around... there!

Indeed, up ahead, there was an opening. Faint stars shone through the clouds, casting small illuminations through the blanket of darkness that surrounded them. Hope realized, the four rushed toward it, the sky's dim stars appearing as beacons of light against the total blackness they had experience before in the archives.

As Matau stepped out into the open, he gleefully took in the sweet scent of fresh air, happy to be free of the confines of the in-closed tunnels. For a moment he entered a state of ecstasy, his animal side rejoicing in experiencing the clear, clean freedom of wide-open spaces and the wind that accompanied it, until an unusually cold breeze snapped him out of his joyous trance.

It was then did he realize how could he felt. His feet were practically numb to his legs, buried deep within some somewhat soft, mushy substance, and he felt himself shiver involuntarily as the icy wind nipped at his body. He realized that there was only one place that could have this kind of effect on him.

"Ko-Metru." he said as he observed the vast snow-covered land.

Iruini turned to him. "Have you been here before?" he asked.

"No, not really." Matau confessed. "I never wanted to go visit-see the land-home of stuck-up scholars before."

"I was in Ko-Metru for a little while once." Nokama spoke up. It was obvious from her expression and tone she was a little more disappointed than Matau at arriving in this particular Metru. "I was playing along the borders in Ga-Metru when I fell in the Ko-Metru canal. I nearly froze to death in those waters."

"You played along the borders?" Matau blinked. That was a risky thing to do, something that he would've never thought she would do.

"It wasn't like I meant to fall in or anything!" Nokama replied defensively.

"I'm not accusing you of anything!" Matau replied. In truth, he was actually impressed. She was gutsier and more adventurous than he realized, something he really liked in a person.

Before the blue Hordika could respond, Gaaki stood in between them. "We are wasting time here," she scolded. "This is our chance to escape. We must find shelter and regroup now, before the Visorak realize we are no longer in the archives!"

"...Right. Sorry, let's go." Nokama muttered softly.

A small Oohnorak crept slowly across the coliseum grounds as if reluctant to move any further. He had good reason for his hesitation, however. He had been chosen, or rather, forced by the horde to deliver the message of their failure in capturing the last two Hordika to viceroy Roodaka. Everyone knew that delivering such news was practical suicide, as she did not take such reports with calm patience. As such, the Visorak decided if that one of them would have to die, then it should at least be a soldier who nobody would miss. As usual, that fell onto an Oohnorak, the very bottom of the Visorak food chain.

There wasn't much he could do, really. He was but a single lone soldier against a thousand, his insignificant opinion and life did not matter to anyone else. At least this way he would be doing something useful for the horde. Still, he could not help but be fearful of his job. He did not want to die, as no sane creature would. It was only out of loyalty did he take the few agonizing steps towards his inevitable doom.

Shh, shh.

The Oohnorak froze. There was an odd noise coming from a nearby bush, as though something was hiding behind it. It was probably just some odd rahi, but it still gave him pause.

I should be entitled to a last meal... the spider mused as he stared at the rustling bush. He approached it cautiously, preparing to fire his rhotuka. He had no intention of letting the small creature escape, he did not feel up for a chase.

He pulled back the bush with his pincers to reveal a small lava eel. He gave the Visorak equivalent of a frown at the rahi, he had been hoping it would've been a tastier morsel rather than the super hot creature. Still, a meal was a meal, and he was about to fire his rhotuka when all of a sudden the eel transformed into a golden rahkshi. Surprised, the spider had little time to react before the rahkshi summoned a small cloud around it and let loose a barrage of concentrated lightning bolts at its body. Unable to move, defend, or escape, the Oohnorak could only absorb each hit, before the pain became too great and he slipped into painful unconsciousness, which was followed quickly by death.

The Rahkshi stared at the fallen monster, almost as if it was glaring at it, before finally picking up and discarding its charred remains behind the bush. Then it morphed once again, this time transforming itself into a perfect image and likeness of Toa Nokama Metru.

The fake Nokama stared up angrily at the coliseum walls. "You, leaders of the Visorak horde..." she spoke to no-one in particular, her voice dripping with malice. "You who have enslaved this land, my home. Know that your days as tyrants and as living beings are numbered."

She then narrowed her eyes into slits. "So says I, Krahka."

To be continued...

A/N: Dun dun dunnn...! Hope this makes up for the wait... although I don't think it was one of my best. Sigh...