A/N: Well seeing as how a lot of other authors around here have recently updated their stories, I figured I should join in on the fun! :D And a big, big thanks to mudget for proofreading this for me, and also keeping after me to update…
Chapter Ten- Sharing Secrets
Hope Island
Present Day
It was a bright sunny day on the perpetually pleasant home of the Planeteers known as Hope Island. The team had returned here shortly after the events at the abandoned factory in the New Mexico desert. Though they had briefly considered returning to the factory to try to figure out what was happening, they quickly gave up on that idea. The collapsed tunnels would prevent their entry into the underground facility, and even if they found away in the risk of another collapse would be very high. Besides that Wheeler had a good point about wanting to avoid getting in trouble with the law.
After they were sure that Courtney and Kyle, along with their injured friend Eric, were going to be okay they returned to Hope Island. They had hoped that Gaia could help sort things out for them, but she was not able to pick up on much more than a vague sense that there was something dark at work.
Linka, in particular, was very worried about everything that had happened. She kept thinking of her strange conversation with Becca. She knew that it was all somehow connected but she could not figure out how. She also wondered why this mysterious woman told her to ask Ma-ti about his past. If there was something he was not sharing with the others Linka was certain that he had a good reason for it, but it still made her uneasy.
Ma-ti had been unusually quiet since they had returned to Hope Island. Kwame had told Linka of the strange experience the Heart Planeteer had when they were in the underground research facility. She figured that was what was bothering him, but he seemed reluctant to talk about it.
Linka was walking along the beach in attempt to clear the thoughts that were clouding her own mind when she saw Ma-ti sitting alone further down the shore. She decided now was a good opportunity to talk to him away from the others.
"Hello Ma-ti," she called out as she approached the young Kayapo Indian.
"Hello Linka," he responded unenthusiastically without looking up. He was absentmindedly drawing lines in the sand with his fingertip.
"Could I speak with you?" Linka asked.
"Of course," he answered, even though he did not sound like he wanted to talk. It struck Linka as very unusual for him to be so reserved.
Linka sat down on the sand next to him. "Something has been bothering you," she said. "Is it what happened to you in the factory?"
Ma-ti looked up at her finally. "It was terrible. I have never experienced anything like that before."
Linka put her hand on his shoulder. "It must be difficult for you sometimes," she said. "Sensing emotions. How do you deal with it?"
He smiled slightly. "It is not so bad most of the time. There is always good in every situation. I just have to find that and I am okay."
Linka's mind flashed back yet again to her conversation with Becca. "Do you think there is good in every person?" she asked him, curious as to what his response to the question would be.
"Of course there is," he responded optimistically.
"Even in people like Dr. Blight or Looten Plunder or Skumm?"
Ma-ti was silent for a moment. "There has to be somewhere," he answered finally. "The good is just buried so deep that it seems impossible to get to it."
Linka was unsure of how to ask Ma-ti what she wanted to ask. "Is there something in your past that you have never told us about? Something to do with one of the eco-villians?"
Ma-ti looked at her, shocked. She could see in his eyes that it was something painful. Linka felt a twinge of guilt for asking him, she could see that whatever it was bothered him terribly. Perhaps she should not have asked him.
"Ma-ti, are you okay?" Linka asked after a moment of silence.
He did not respond. His mind was somewhere else…
Ma-ti still vividly remembered the night his parents died. He remembered the screams and cries that rose from his village to pierce the nighttime silence. He remembered the acrid odor of smoke that filled the usually pure air of the Amazon jungle. He remembered feeling afraid, wondering what was happening to his parents as he ran towards the village frantically, the Shaman following close behind. He remembered the heartache he felt when he found the necklace his mother had made for his father.
He remembered the days leading up to the attack that took his parents' lives just as vividly. The tension had been building between the Kayapo villagers and the rubber tappers; the arguments had been growing more heated. His parents had tried to quell the disputes, his father in particular had tried to convince both sides that they needed to unite against a far worse threat- the developers who wanted to clear-cut the forest for lumber and cattle grazing. However he always seemed to run into resistance. He needed a way to bring both sides together, but had so far been unsuccessful in finding the common ground.
Over several months leading up to the attack on his village the developers had been pushing farther and farther into his people's land. Ma-ti and his father Chico watched painfully as the rubber trees that had sustained their family for generations were removed to make room for cattle ranchers. Before long the land would be rendered useless and the ranchers would force their way even further into the wilderness, destroying the pristine rain forest that was the source of life for the Kayapo Indians, his mother's people.
Chico had not been afraid to confront the developers. He knew that the temporary wealth created by logging and ranching would not justify the destruction of the rainforest. He was a leader and he was willing to do whatever it took to defend what was right. Ma-ti had always been proud of his father; he admired his strength and courage.
One afternoon about a week before the attack Chico had decided to take Ma-ti with him as he went to confront a particularly greedy cattle rancher who had been eyeing the land on which their tribe's village was located. Ma-ti had been excited for the chance to see his father- his hero- in action.
As they approached the developers they were given scornful looks by loggers who saw them as a hindrance to their jobs. The men sat idly among their equipment, waiting for clearance to continue their work.
"I do not understand, Papa, why do these men want to destroy the forest?" Ma-ti asked, his voice innocent and curious.
"They are concerned with money my, son. They are only thinking of now, not of the future. They do not realize that destruction of the forest will eventually cost them far more than what they are gaining in the present."
"But do they not care about the animals, and the trees?" Ma-ti asked insistently.
Chico smiled and patted his son on the head. "I am sure they do, if they thought about it. But they also have families to feed and they see their jobs as a way to provide for them. These men are confused, and they are not the ones you need to worry about. The ones who are really to blame are the men with the money, the developers, the ones who will take all that they can and leave when there is no more to be had."
As Ma-ti listened to his father's words and tried to understand as well as he could at his age that is when he saw him for the first time- the man in the green suit. He was obviously not from Ma-ti's country. He was a white man, tall and thin with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail.
But it was not just the way that this man looked that drew Ma-ti's attention, it was something else altogether. It was something he had not encountered before- greed, malice, evil. It was as if the man radiated darkness.
Chico realized that his son had suddenly become very apprehensive and had clutched onto his hand nervously. "What is it, Ma-ti?" he asked.
"It is that man, Papa. He is bad. I can feel it." he answered.
His father frowned a little. Ma-ti had always had an innate ability to sense what was in people's hearts. Fortunately growing up in an isolated jungle tribe had spared him from experiencing the greed and corruption of the modern world. Perhaps he was still too young and innocent for such an encounter. However it was too late to turn back now so Chico strengthened his resolve to deal with the greedy American businessman and hoped that his son would learn something from it.
Ma-ti did not remember most of the conversation between his father and Plunder. But he did remember the man's threat. "You should be careful who you mess with. You have a wife and child to consider. Just back off and nothing bad will happen to you or them."
It was not Plunder who set the fires that destroyed his village and killed his parents. But it was men who were acting on his orders. And it may not have been Plunder's goal to kill his parents, most likely he only wanted to scare them. But none of that changed the fact that Plunder had been responsible for his parents' deaths on some level.
Ma-ti had taken some comfort in the fact that his parents' deaths had united the coalition and driven Plunder and the other developers out of the rainforest, but he had still never managed to fully forgive the man. Perhaps it was because Plunder was so unrepentant. Maybe if Plunder had showed any remorse, or demonstrated any desire to be a better person, then he would be able to let it go. However the only thing he ever sensed in that man was greed and selfishness.
Still he wished he could let it all go, and completely forgive Plunder for everything he had done. Not only hurting his parents, but hurting his friends as well. He had been given the power of Heart because he was innocent and his heart was pure- all except for this one dark spot that he had not been willing to share with his friends.
Ma-ti's mind suddenly snapped back to the present. Linka was talking to him worriedly. How long had he been sitting there silently mulling over his past? It must have been a while because a storm that had been quite a distance from the island was now approaching quickly. The sky was starting to grow dark.
"I'm sorry, Linka. I was just thinking about my past. I have told you how my parents died. But there is something I did not tell you guys when I gave you my story," he said.
"What is that Ma-ti?" Linka asked anxiously. She felt a strong gust of wind from the oncoming storm. They would need to head back to their huts soon, but she wanted to hear his story first.
"The company that wanted to clear cut the land where my village was located was owned by Plunder. He is the one who gave the order to burn down my village." Linka could sense an edge of resentment in Ma-ti's voice that she had never heard before.
"Why have you never told us of this?" Linka asked. She felt anger welling up inside of herself. It was not enough just to destroy the environment, Linka thought, the eco-villains wish to destroy our lives as well.
"It is just too difficult," Ma-ti said. "Every time I see Plunder I think of my parents. I do not think he even realizes I am their son. He has probably been responsible for so many deaths he cannot even remember them all."
Ma-ti sounded bitter. Linka was uncertain of what to say. "When you see him do you want… do you want to take revenge?" Linka asked, her voice almost a whisper.
Ma-ti looked directly at her and she saw something dark in his eyes. "I have thought of it at times. When we are stopping him from poaching I think of how easy it would be to use my ring to have a lion or rhinoceros attack him. It would stop him from hurting more animals… or people." Ma-ti paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I could even use my ring directly on him. I could implant a thought into his mind to hurt himself. Or I could torture him, make him feel all of the pain that he has made others feel. But I know I could never do that. Gaia gave us these powers because she trusts us to do the right thing."
Linka shivered and it was not from the cold breeze from the storm brewing just off shore. She had no idea that Ma-ti was even capable of thinking such things, though fortunately he had admitted that he would not act on those feelings. Yet she herself had admitted she could kill if necessary. Did everyone have a dark side? What if Gaia had been wrong when she gave them their rings? Perhaps no human was really worthy of being trusted with such power.
Linka's thoughts were interrupted by a bright bolt of lightning followed by a loud crack of thunder. The storm had arrived. Heavy waves hit the shore as debris whipped through the air past them. The powerful winds whipped her hair around her face. She tried futilely to brush it back in place.
"Come on, Linka, we need to get back to the huts!" he exclaimed, jumping up from the ground.
Linka stood up too and began running with her teammate toward shelter. The storm however turned out to be far worse than she anticipated. The wind was so strong she could barely stand.
"I don't think we're going to make it back!" Ma-ti shouted over the howling wind.
"Maybe I can do something!" Linka yelled. She stretched out her hand toward the sky and yelled "Wind!"
She usually felt some sort of surge of power move through her body and out of her hand when she used her ring, but never like this. It felt like a bolt of electricity shooting through her body and it felt like an explosion when the beam shot out of her ring. However it was not painful, or frightening. Actually it felt rather empowering. She realized that she was capable of doing far more than summoning the wind to blow the storm away, she realized she could control the storm itself.
She watched in amazement as the storm turned away and headed back for the ocean, on her order.
"Linka?" Ma-ti asked curiously. "I did not know you could control weather like that."
"I did not know either," she responded, looking up in awe at the clear blue sky which had been covered in dark clouds just moments ago. Somehow she could control the weather. And Ma-ti could see what happened in the past. What other powers did the Planeteers have that they were unaware of? There was definitely something strange going on and she was eager to get back to the others and figure out what was happening.
A/N: Ma-ti's dad really is named Chico (See the episode "A Mine is a Terrible Thing to Waste") I'm fairly sure he's based off of a real person named Chico Mendes.