. .
I. Am. Sorry. D= I have a lot going on though. Like lots of tests, and then there was that trip to Arizona a few days ago. And we're redoing the kitchen entirely. x.x Lots to do. Anyways, I wanted Alena to go to Onu-Metru, AND meet Dume. So why not put the two together? :P Yes, more battles. And a newcomer.
Just don't ask how he came into the story. I have no idea either. XD
Chapter 7
She was aware of everything. Every little noise didn't go unnoticed. She was only in a light sleep, just deep enough to escape the pain. So she still heard everything.
She heard the whispers of silent Ko-Matoran all around her. Most, if not all, of them wondering what she was. More then likely because she had taken out ten Vahki so soon. She also heard the Vahki's mechanical joints move. Soon, everything was silent, or, silent as far as silence goes.
She still heard everything. The sound of the still wind, the screech of Rahi, and the occasional chatter of Ko-Matoran runners. Whenever she slept, she could always hear the world in more detail then when awake.
She was even aware of her surroundings. This is because the sounds she was hearing slowly closed off and became more trapped. Of course, the 'trapped' sounds only occurred after several hours.
Finally, she woke up, although who wouldn't if they were thrown roughly to the ground, with the hands of a Matoran slowly tying her limbs?
Letting out a growl of irritation, which was rather uncommon for her, she watched as the terrified Matoran backed away as she got up, breaking the chains on her legs with faked ease, then promptly continued licking her wounds again. Apparently the areas where shards had either cut or entered already made wounds were easy to find, since they refused to let the blood stop.
She still felt slightly weak, unfortunately, or else she would have left long ago. But she was more then strong enough to move around of her own will.
Once finished cleaning her wounds, she stared at the Matoran, mostly because the Vahki had left long ago. The Matoran was whispering softly to himself, wondering what kind of strange creature she was.
"Keh. Ya'll are idiots." Alena said to the Matoran. Startled, the Matoran stared at her. "You can speak?" He said, dumbfounded.
Snorting, she replied, "Oh, so those who meet my species instantly regards us as animals? Even if we're from a society the likes of which few will ever have the hopes of seeing? Who are you?" At this point, the steam had left her, so Alena's voice suddenly became calmer.
"Society? How can you guys have one if your kind doesn't even exist!"
"Am I not living proof?" Alena replied, now in her casual voice. "We merely do not live in this dimension. Now then, tell me your name and I'll tell you mine."
At this, Alena couldn't help but notice the Matoran shiver and possibly wonder if she was planning something, what with how calm and relaxed her voice and actions became. "My names… Gaius."
"Gaius? Fascinating name. I know several at my home. Anyways," Alena said, shaking her head to get rid of the rising giggles, "My names Alena. Pleased ta meet'cha." At this, she held out a fist to him, and the Matoran clonked it, albeit hesitantly, with her's.
Smiling inwardly, Alena had guessed correctly at this area's greetings. Clonk the fists. She had guessed this because of how they mostly consisted of armor. Then, taking a deep breath through her nose, even if she couldn't tell by the Matoran's armor, she could tell he was Onu-Matoran. "Gaius, could ya tell me where I currently am?"
"Currently in the Archives. Turaga Dume's coming down to see this species that took out ten of his best Keerahk in so short a time. Guess he wanted to see how you acted before putting you in stasis."
"Status?" At this, Alena's eyes narrowed.
"Yes, we put all captured Rahi in giant tubes with a special gas. It slows their metabolism and allows them to live much longer then usual without food or water."
At this, Alena burst out saying, "Animal abuse! Free the animals!" And pounded the side of the bed, and since it was made of stone, creaked heavily before cracks went around where the fist had hit it.
At hearing about how the Matoran here put Rahi into a stasis, and her kind being mostly animalistic, she was almost definitely enraged. Although, who would if they were told they were going to be put into status?
Of course, she calmed down almost immediately. What good will going into a rage be? After all, I'm up past the tips of my ears in this mess. She thought to herself.
Of course, the queen of coincidences as she was, the second she and her newfound friend went silent, the door opened. In walked the famous Turaga Dume. And with him, his dark aura in all it's greatness. Along with a Vahki escort consisting of one of each of the six Vahki.
Remembering the earlier fight, Alena unconsciously growled. Of course, it could have been influenced by the dark aura. Almost instantaneously, she spoke, "Your Turaga Dume?" She couldn't help but spat the name out of her mouth as if it were an unripe and sour berry.
"Of course!" Dume exclaimed, "I take it you're the creature that beat ten Vahki. I had a feeling that if you could take out all ten, then you had to have some level of intelligence in yourself."
"Well of course!" Alena said, saying each word sarcastically, "What did you expect from me? All Rahi are smart, it's just very few chose to acknowledge it."
"Really? Smart Rahi that are captured with ease? I'm shocked at how smart they are." Dume said sarcastically.
"You'd be surprised at how smart they can be upon being trained. Although, how're idiots to know that if they don't even understand their language?"
"Idiot? Your calling a Turaga with thousands of years experience an idiot?" Dume said harshly.
"Yes. Although… Your not the real Dume are you." Alena stated.
At this, Dume looked thoroughly shocked. Sheesh, how fake can you get? Alena thought to herself. "And what makes you assume that I, Turaga Dume, am not the real one?"
"Simple. Since when do Turaga's carry aura's so dark, it goes from one end of the city to the other?" Bored, Alena picked at the cracks she had made in the table from earlier. Dume followed her hand to the spot.
"Your able to make cracks that large so soon after punching through a disk that weakens?"
"You think that lowly of me?"
"Oh no. It's just that it's rare for someone like you to get enough strength to hit stone that hard. Especially with a hand with no armor covering it and yet also has wounds on it."
"You'd be surprised." Alena said, eyeing the room for weapons. Just a metal bucket that looks to be useful enough to merely carry things.
"So… You suspect I'm not Turaga Dume?" The Turaga eyed her warily.
"Of course. Ain't Turaga's supposed to carry a friendly Aura? Not one full of evil?"
During their barter of words, the Turaga's eyes slowly went over to the Matoran still in the room. "How much of this do you believe Gaius?"
"Well, she IS right about one thing. You've been… A little off lately. Not totally, but as if you've gained a more evil personality. None of the Matoran have noticed even though I brought it up among friends though. So I thought it was just me, at least until she said it…"
"You'd rather believe a stranger?" The Turaga questioned silently.
"Kinda… Yeah. I guess so. Her logic seems good." Gaius said, cocking his head in curiosity.
Of course, he only just noticed Alena's stare. Telling him silently to shut up. "Oi kershizzlenit Matoran." She stated, "You've no idea what your in for now do ya?"
Slowly, the Matoran nodded. "Faintly…"
At this, the Turaga slowly grinned. Alena tensed, knowing what was next. "Vahki, capture this talking Rahi. We'll have to put her in status immediately. The Matoran, however, we'll be taking back to the Coliseum."
Immediately, everything was a jumble of confusion. One minute Alena was on the table, the next she had one of her fists inside a bucket, instantly smashing through several of the Vahki's heads.
Of course, the other three Vahki went for Gaius, while the other three rounded on Alena. At least, that's what they had planned. Alena's last battle with them had given her the good and bad points on these mechanical enforcers. It took them about a second to prepare their shots.
And what with Alena's history of running all the time, this was slow in her book. She stood stock still, waiting for the perfect moment. Then, the instant she noticed they were powering up, her bucket covered hand smashed through the heads of one of the Vahki, obviously avoiding the area the disk would be forming. She was fortunate that she had hit that type of disk, especially afterwards, since even she didn't want to know how badly any of the other disks would have effected her.
The Vahki's head went soaring off the base of between it's shoulders and hit the part where wall and ceiling connect. That's when she ran out of time for the first one.
The other two Vahki shot their disks at her, and Alena dodged with ease. She then rounded on the Nuurahk, taking it's head out too. She then dodged her way past the Bordahk, the only one in her group left, and did a running jump onto one of the Vahki in Gaius's small group, and quickly smashed a Rorzahk's head in.
Alena then did a back flip over the Vahki's electrocuting head and next to the Matoran. Shoving him behind her, she glared at the Vahki, baring her teeth, "So, who's my next meal?" She said, fictionally speaking. Then slammed the bucket covered hand into the Keerahks body, sending it flying into the wall, quickly ducking the Zadahk's blow to her stomach simultaneously.
She then planted her oversized animalistic feet on Zadahk's chest, and quickly sent her foot straight through the Vahki's body, hearing the grind and crunch that met her expectations.
As soon as the three of the second group of Vahki had been cleared, she grabbed the Matoran and ran out into the hallway. Looking left and right, she went the way with the fewest sounds. "Gaius, what's the fastest way out of these tunnels?" She asked quickly, once she had paused for a breather.
"Well, obviously the other way." The Matoran said, gasping slightly at the fast-paced events and how Turaga Dume ordered Vahki on him. Can't really blame him, can I? I appear and turn his life upside down. Alena couldn't help but think that.
"Sorry, but we'll have to go the long way. To many footsteps over that'a way. Also, I do believe it'd be best if you piggyback. Cause there'll almost definitely be speedy escapes needed."
At this, Alena finally glanced down at her bucket shield. It looked exactly as she expected. It's weak and flimsy metal was practically formed to her fist from beating down five Vahki. Unfortunately, she couldn't dispose of it until she was rejoined with the group, considering that she more then likely would have to punch her way through even more lines of Vahki.
Growling, Alena licked her jaws, even though her victims were metal. Her more natural feline instincts were raging and eager for battle. Her doctor instincts slowly being crushed from battle. At this point, she would merely be fighting by instinct.
"I'll have to converse with Unity about the need for weapons." Alena said aloud, on purpose, just to hear a voice. Sure, she could hear several from miles away, but who, in her predicament, would be interested in the latest capture of a new Rahi?
"Unity? As in the Virtue?" Gaius said with curiosity in his voice.
"Virtue? You guys follow Virtue's? And the word Unity is part of it? Oh no. Unity's another Enmalian. Those outside her ring of friends would consider her rather… Annoying. But she's got a very good heart, and always means well. She particularly enjoy's chatting with animals. Just to get to know them and know which of the hundreds of things the Machine village builds every year affects them. Not to mention… It's a shame she doesn't even have a hint of cat in her." Alena said, fondly remembering past conversations with her friend.
"Oh. So there's more of you here?" Gaius inquired.
"Of course. But I'm not gettin' into that story." Alena replied, getting slightly nervous at the louder footsteps were getting. "We outta go now. Getting' dangerous. I hear footsteps. Long ways off, but still, you never know. Not with this bunch."
With that, she scooped the Matoran off his feet and onto her back, then ran off silently. Although before that, a thought had occurred to her. Perhaps Whenua was still here? After all, this Tehutti might still be out there. So there was the slight possibility that he was still here.
Then again, should she risk attempting to find someone who might not even still be here? All that might happen was that she'd lead the Vahki to one of the Toa Metru. She had no idea what his abilities went to as far as becoming a new Toa Metru.
She still says they should have tested out their powers first before leaving the Great Temple. Of course, using their new powers in a battle shortly after gaining them might be great experience.
Alena was, of course, experiencing minor inner turmoil. Then, before punching a hole in the wall in frustration, she froze. Why not continue on outta here? If she doesn't meet up with Whenua, his loss. If he does, his loss again, cause she was a trouble magnet.
Hearing the Vahki approach closer, although not close enough for panic yet, she continued down the huge network of tunnels, going where the Matoran occasionally pointed to indicate a way out.
Of course, since an invisible being called Miss Irony existed, she ended up bumping into Whenua. Well, technically, she heard him a little bit before-hand, so she was technically prepared for jumping aside whereas Whenua wasn't ready for her.
So he ended up skidding into the cave wall from the shock of virtually seeing someone who should have been with a certain little Toa of Ice. Well, that and, he was running to turn the corner, didn't expect her, so when he stopped on his brakes, he skidded.
Alena couldn't help but let out a tiny felines' laugh. In order for that to have happened, he had to have been running pretty fast. "Geez, Whenua, don't run into walls when Vahki are around." Alena said, slightly chuckling, and dragged him to his feet.
Slightly dazed, the Toa seemed to have recovered instantly upon hearing the word 'Vahki'. Instantaneously, a wall appeared completely out of nowhere. Well, not nowhere, considering that she both felt and heard the mini shock, and the rumbling it had made for one corner.
Of course, a second went up for the second corridor that Whenua had come out of. "Somethin' tells me there was either Vahki down there or something very bad." With this leaving only a third corridor left.
"Something worse then Vahki." Whenua simply stated.
"Ah."
Then Alena saw Whenua's eyes study her little guest. "Who's this one? He wasn't part of the six Matoran who-" At this, Alena slapped a hand on his mouth.
"Dimwit. The guy just had Turaga Dume sick Vahki on him just for agreeing with an opinion of mine."
At this, Whenua's eyes widened. "You met the Turaga himself? What in Mata-Nui's name happened?"
"It's… A very, very long story." Alena said, "Best to be waited for AFTER we're out of trouble."
Then, staring at the only open corridor, Alena deposited Gaius from the piggyback ride after running at speeds the Matoran more then likely wouldn't have caught up with. "Phew," She said relieved, "No sounds of Vahki down this way." She could hear only sounds from tiny creatures, not loud enough to worry about.
Despite this though, she slightly adjusted the bucket on her hand. "Let's just prepare for the worst. Ya know never know what'll happen. Also Whenua, if that wall falls down before we're out of this place, my bucket's gonna find it's way into that head of yours."
Whenua slightly nodded, confident in his work. "Anyways, what's with your hand?"
"This," At this, she held up her bucket-covered hand. Snickering in glee, she waved the not-so-menacing weapon that actually took out five Vahki in total, "Took out five Vahki. Try and beat that with just a bucket."
"Where's the weapon part of it?"
"My fist. The bucket's a shield. It keeps my already injured hands from getting more hurt. Although I'd say that this'll last only a few more blows before giving away. Sides, were I come from, it's either use whatever could be a weapon or die."
"How confident are you in it?"
"Took out ten Vahki in less then ten minutes by myself. Then five with a bucket in like five minutes."
"Good, what with all this noise we're making, I suspect there's going to be a lot of them."
"Oh goody! This means twice the fun!" Alena said sarcastically. "Anyways… We might as well gain as much ground as we can. Cause we might be running soon. Sounds like those Vahki are poundin' that wall hard. And if another group comes, it won't be pretty."
Then, the two Matoran followed, who had both been ignored the entire time except when Alena shouted, "Ya'll idiots get yer butt's over if ya know what's good for ya!" Of course, anyone could tell they were moving reluctantly. But they still followed due to the two beings in front of them being their only hope of freedom from the Vahki behind them. After all, these two had definite power, considering one was a Toa and another took out a bunch of Vahki in a small room with a bucket.
Of course, Gaius couldn't help but say, "Nuparu's going to be very upset hearing so many of his Vahki were defeated. After all, she already took out a bunch of Vahki in that room and beforehand."
"Sounds fascinating." Tehutti said, although neither stated they were glad for it for once, seeing as how these things now wanted them due to who they got mixed up with. Nuparu's machines could be destroyed for all they cared now.
"What's so good about living in the dark?" Alena finally asked, after several hours of walking.
"Isn't it obvious?" Whenua stated, "Living in the dark provides a brand new opportunity for us. And it's all fascinating. Us Onu-Matoran have lived underground for so long, experiencing light hurts our eyes."
Looking around, she whistled, "Nuthin' fascinating about this place. My feline night vision that allows me to see everything just sees it alllllllll as dull cave walls. The bat Enmalian's might be fascinated with it, but not me… Then again, I AM feline. I prefer open plains or tall trees or buildings reaching hundreds of thousands of feet."
Feeling the Onu-Matoran's and Toa glaring on her back, she snickered slightly. "Show me the more fascinating parts! Like these… 'Exhibits' Gaius has so generously told me about." Alena said, with a slight hint of excitement in her voice. Something everyone else interpreted as not good. Especially Gaius.
"Are you sure you want to see rusty old exhibits from several thousand years ago…?" He questioned hesitantly, remembering full well their first conversation.
"Oh yeah!" Alena said an exaggerated amount of interest, "Seeing Rahi in status, doomed to a life of forever stillness, isn't that exciting?" Then started snickering at the Toa and Matoran. "Yeah, that's Rahi abuse right there." Then, turning around, she continued walking down the tunnel. "Oh yeah, how close are we to the light, Gaius?"
"Umm… I'd say that a few more turns up ahead and we'll be meeting up with the other Onu-Matoran." He said in reply. Alena cocked her head at him, "Meet up with the other Onu-Matoran? As in there's more of you that suspect the Turaga, or just some platform where you guys take care of thing?"
"A platform where we take care of things." Tehutti butted in, "Although I don't remember this area at all. Of course, I doubt any Onu-Matoran has ever been through the entire archives before."
"This place is huge, huh?" Alena said dully.
"Yeah, it expands over the entire Metru and the whole of Metru-Nui." Tehutti finished.
"Careful with the way you guys prop things up here. If things were to weaken down here, and the tunnels do expand under all of Metru-Nui, there'll be a heck of a mess both up there and down here. I'd say that you guys are extremely careful though. Since this city has an oldie feeling to it. So since it hasn't collapsed yet, I'd say ya'll are either lucky fools, or just extremely careful." Alena finished.
Then, twitching her ear to the tunnel they were following, Alena reported, "Sounds like we're almost there. Maybe… Half an hour left. Hour at the most if the midget's slow us down."
"Who's the midget's!" Tehutti demanded. "So what if your bigger then us! You're a different species after all!"
"Hmm… Toa originate from Matoran, but Toa are taller then them." Alena replied, "Toa's are basically Matoran, with everything a Matoran has in them except they have an addition or two. The main addition we've already seen."
"And how would you know this? It's unheard of for Matoran to turn into Toa." Gaius said curiously.
"Ain't it obvious?" Alena started, "I witnessed Whenua there turn into a Toa. Met him as a Matoran, Amber dragged me into a different room, along with Unity… When we went back in after sensing high amounts of energy, and strange scents, we were momentarily surprised. After all, how often do you almost witness a transformation like that?"
"I see." Gaius said with much interest.
"Also, the echoes we're making are getting much louder." Alena stated, hearing their echoes growing softer with each step. "So I'm guessing we're rather close to this place."
Finally, they were at the end of the corridor. Of course, Alena stopped everyone before entering it, peeking out first, to see how many Matoran were there. Seeing quite a few made her consider plans though.
"Guys, who here plans to stick with me?" Alena said, looking at the three others in her group. After hearing each of them say that they were planning to stick with her until they were at the Great Temple, she proceeded with telling them her plan.
"See that giant opening out there, where going through it leads to the sky? I plan to run over there, jump on the wall, and scale to freedom from these tunnels. Who's still with me?"
Hearing nothing but silence, she grinned. "Okay, Gaius hop on my back and we'll go climbing in a few seconds."
"Hey, wait." Gaius said, "Don't I have a say in this?"
"Yes. And who says I can't joke around? I mean, it's not like I'm one of those people who forces others to do things against their will." Alena replied with humor in her voice. "Sides, I prefer climbing without someone on my back. It's highly annoying." She finished.
"Phew." Gaius started, "For a second there I thought I'd have to follow you. That doesn't exactly sound pleasant. What with me holding desperately onto my back, also trembling with fear, and hanging onto an unknown creature with plenty of intelligence due to my life depending on it."
"Y'know somethin'?" Alena started, "That sounds… Very exciting. If that ever happens to me, I'll be sure to tell ya'll how exciting it was. Tis a shame I can climb quite literally anything due to the hardness of my claws. Describe it to me afterwards."
And without a warning, not only did she swing Gaius onto her back, but she promptly ran past groups of Matoran, ignoring their startled gasps and cries of "What is that?" and other things similar to it.
She then leaped out onto the balcony where ships floated to and onto the wall that started on both sides and ended somewhere close to two hundred feet high, enjoying the freedom of both fresh air and sunlight. Then, almost literally started running up the sharp ninety degree angle cliff.
Due to her full feline pedigree, this was more then an easy task for her though, despite not fully hardened claws. Her claws were still rather sharp due to her young age: They would not fully harden until she was at least five years old, or fifty human years. Whichever was preferred.
Feeling Gaius holding tightly onto her shoulders, she could faintly feel him shaking. Finally, she crawled over the ledge, allowing the midget to climb off her shoulders, and there she lay, panting from all the energy from the past few hours.
"Such strange creature…" Gaius started, then shook his head, breaking off from what he was going to say.
"Depends," Alena said, "Now I need to figure out what to do with you."
"But didn't you say that I'm your 'Responsibility'?" Gaius questioned.
"Yeah. But who said I knew what to do with you? 'Course, staying with me will obviously attract the bad things. And that means that ya'll have to learn minor fighting skills." Alena said, leaning up to a stretch, listening to her spine pop several times, and continuing until it was farther back then any other human could possibly reach.
"So, fish exist here right?" Alena questioned, her stomach finally growling, "If not, then I'll have to hurt someone. Bad. Turaga Dume's evil, so he can be the target."
Then, standing up, she walked off into the direction of the Great Temple, or at least where she thought it was. Just because her species was strong, smart, and had incredible instinct didn't mean they could navigate through unknown worlds- At least if they were entering their first world ever.
"You know where the Great Temple is, right?" Alena questioned, "If so, we'll be meeting up with my friends, and some more Toa there."
"More of your kind AND Toa?" Gaius said, quite startled, "This is turning out to be either the worst day of my life, or the best day of my life."
"Choose the first one. When underage Enmalians that are supposed to be training with their chosen trainer disappear, lots of trouble occurs. I can't think of one that hasn't had at least a severe gash in their bodies. Example."
Alena finally removed her bucket, hoping they were free of any more trouble. Then showing the Matoran the blood that ran from her fist from still-open wounds. "Think of wounds twenty times worse then this. And sometimes only their bodies are found." Alena grimaced, "Anyone who kills an Enmalian dies a severe death. My Mentor has shown me many photos of those little incidents. Sometimes absolutely nothing remains of them though. Not even blood."
"How do your people even succeed that?" Gaius questioned, "I mean, not even this 'blood' showing? If it's anything like the liquid flowing in our bodies, then wouldn't blood remain?"
Before walking off to where she suspected the Great Temple was, Alena said, "Even the parents of the killed child have no idea."
So, I have no idea how that ending turned out so gloomy. But this thing was TWELVE PAGES LONG. Be glad I was working on a super long one. ^^" I just wanted to get her out of trouble fast for some reason. ...Course, she IS my name-sake. . .
Let's hope I'm not favoring her for that. D= But yes, I think ya'll will have noticed a different in how Alena and Amber fight though. Course, I didn't exactly give Amber much of a fighting scene. D= But Alena's currently better then her at it. Of course, she is much weaker then Amber though. After all, she doesn't go through half of her first year *Referring to Enmalian years* strengenthing. Course, her worlds more dangerous, but due to her being a doctor, her fighting skills were merely refined. In the future, Amber will be stronger and a much better fighter then her too.
Also, incase anyone's interested, I'm working on a separate story of theirs. Course, there'll be more original characters. If you wanna read that story, go to DeviantArt. =3 Type in 'Enmalian' in the search key, and you SHOULD get the very few chapters I have on there.
That was JUST INCASE, anyone is curious. =P After all, I dunno how many of ya'll are interested in their little world. x3 The fun part for me is I have no other storyliine to follow. So I get my own style. =3
