Chapter 20

An Old Enemy

Takua and his friends were now walking along the floor of a barren canyon. They had recently lost sight of the path they had originally taken, so they now had to actually find a way to get back into the Great Valley. So far, things weren't looking too good.

"How much further do we have to go?" asked Chomper.

"Hopefully, it won't be much further," replied Takua.

"I seriously doubt that we'll find a way home anytime soon," said Cera.

Petrie moaned in frustration and exclaimed, "Us lost-wandering!"

"Look on the bright side, Petrie," commented Ruby. "At least we are only lost and not in any danger."

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard throughout the canyon. "What was that?" asked Takua, a little panicked.

"That's Redclaw," replied Chomper. "He's the biggest and meanest Sharptooth in the Mysterious Beyond."

Then the roars of two Fast-Biters were heard from behind them. Those two Fast-Biters then appeared from behind one of the cliffs of the canyon behind the gang. "That's Screech and Thud. Those Fast-Biters are often with Redclaw," stated Chomper.

Takua started bravely walking towards the Fast-Biters and said, "Stand aside, I'll deal with them."

Suddenly, Redclaw appeared from behind the cliff and stood behind Screech and Thud. Redclaw then let out a mighty roar, terrifying everyone.

Takua stopped in his tracks and said in a nervous tone, "Okay, Fast-Biters are one thing, but that big guy... yeah, now I'm terrified." Takua then turned around and ran away, screaming. Everyone else did likewise. Redclaw and the Fast-Biters quickly gave chase.

The gang was chased through the canyon a good distance. Littlefoot then noticed a large rock to the left that would be able to hide them all. "Over here!" he shouted as he quickly turned left to hide behind the rock. Everyone followed and hid behind the rock.

Redclaw and the Fast-Biters soon arrived at the area. They had now lost sight of the gang and their strange new companion. They began sniffing the air to find any of their scents.

Chomper had not told anyone yet, but ever since he first met Takua, he had noticed that Matoran have a unique scent. Not a bad one, but unique. He knew that if Takua was with him and his friends, Redclaw would find them more quickly than usual. He had to think of a way to convince Takua to get away from them.

Fortunately, he wouldn't have to worry about that, because Takua began climbing up the large rock they were hiding behind. "What are you doing?" asked Littlefoot.

"Get out of here, guys. I'll distract him," replied Takua.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Ducky.

Takua stopped climbing for a second to look at them. "Not at all!" he replied without hesitation. He then resumed climbing, leaving his friends very confused. He soon reached the top of the large rock. He noticed a few small rocks there, so he grabbed one and threw it at Redclaw, hitting him in the side of the face. "Hey, ugly! Over here!" he shouted. He then threw another rock at him, hitting him near the eye.

Redclaw responded by charging towards the rock and attempting to bite Takua. However, Takua jumped away just in time. He tried to grab onto the canyon wall, but he lost his grip and slid down it until he hit the ground. Dazed, he slowly shook his head and stood up. When he looked back towards the rock, he was shocked to see his friends were still hiding in the same place behind the rock. "I thought I told you to run!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly, Redclaw appeared from behind the rock and roared loudly at them. "Perhaps now would be a good time to run!" exclaimed Ruby. Everyone agreed and, once again, ran away from Redclaw, screaming. Again, Redclaw and the Fast-Biters gave chase.

Takua was falling behind, but he was doing this intentionally. He wanted to distract Redclaw, so his friends could escape. But if his friends knew this, they would try to stay with him, so he had to get away without being noticed. It worked, but not as he expected. His friends ran off, unknowingly, without him, but Screech and Thud ran past him and went after them. Redclaw, however, focused on him.

Takua knew that if he was going to do something, he would have to do it fast. He quickly rushed to the canyon wall and began climbing. He had no plan, he was making it up as he progressed. Redclaw tried to bite Takua, but missed. However, the impact on the canyon wall was enough to cause Takua to lose his grip and fall off. Thinking fast, he grabbed onto Redclaw's left arm, swung from it like a vine, then let go and did a mid-air back-flip, and focused the impact of his fall directly onto Redclaw's right foot. The impact-landing was enough to cause him to bounce off the foot a little and land on the ground nearby. He stumbled a little before continuing his run. Just as Takua had hoped, his impact had caused Redclaw some noticeable pain. He roared in pain and hopped around a little on his uninjured foot. It didn't last long. Redclaw ignored the pain and continued the chase.

Takua quickly rushed forward to catch up with his friends. He came around a corner to see Screech and Thud, but his friends were nowhere to be found. The two Fast-Biters noticed him, and began charging at him. Takua looked back to see Redclaw closing in on him fast. Seeing that he was trapped, he knew that he had no choice. He would have to fight his way out of this.

Gathering up all the courage he could, Takua charged at the Fast-Biters, yelling the whole way. He shoulder-rammed into Screech. The impact was hard enough to knock the Fast-Biter unconscious and sent flying back a little. Thud then charged at Takua. He responded with a good punch across the face, knocking out the other Fast-Biter. Redclaw continued his charge towards Takua. Although he easily dealt with Screech and Thud, Takua knew he wouldn't stand a chance against someone like Redclaw.

Takua then noticed a small cave entrance in the canyon wall, just large enough for him to fit through. Without second thoughts, Takua leaped into the cave as Redclaw's massive jaw snapped shut at his former location. Takua had not noticed that the cave went downhill, so his initial leap had caused him to tumble down the cave uncontrollably. He finally stopped when he collided with a cave wall where the cave leveled off and turned sharply in one direction.

Takua regained his senses within a few seconds. He was suddenly surprised to see all of his friends standing right next to him. Apparently, they had run into this cave for safety. "Takua! You're alright!" exclaimed Littlefoot. Takua could tell they were all pleased to see him here.

Petrie then flew in front of Takua and exclaimed, "Rock-head! You could've been Sharptooth-bones!"

"Could've been, but I'm not," replied Takua with a smile on his face. He then stood up and readjusted his mask. "Okay, unless we want to get eaten, it looks like we only have one way to go, and that's to go further into this cave." Takua headed down the cave with the others following him.

"I hope this cave leads us right to Great Valley," said Cera, frustrated. "I'm getting sick and tired of making so many unexpected changes in direction."

"How can you say that? That's what's so great about an adventure. You never know what's going to happen."

"It may be great for you, but not for me."

"That's because you don't wander around as much as Takua," stated Chomper. The others couldn't help but laugh at this statement.

After a few minutes of walking, the gang arrived at the exit of the cave, where a Ta-Matoran guardsman was standing guard. This meant that they had finally arrived back in the Great Valley. The guard noticed them and exclaimed, "What are you doing over here!? Don't you know it's dangerous for children like yourselves to be anywhere without a proper escort!?"

"Don't worry, we were able to make it home safely," assured Takua, hoping to not get himself and his friends in trouble.

"What were you even doing out there in the Mysterious Beyond, anyway?"

Takua thought for a moment. He couldn't come up with a reasonable excuse. His friends also tried to think of such an excuse, but with no luck.

The guardsman just sighed and said, "I should report you to the Captain, but from what I've heard about your group in particular, you always somehow end up in the Mysterious Beyond. I'd say you're just as bad as Takua, here. I'll let you go this time, but when somebody actually gets injured, I will be reporting."

The gang thanked him and walked back into the valley. "Now that we're back in the Great Valley, what are we going to do?" asked Littlefoot.

"I did say that we should show that tablet I found to the Turaga," replied Takua. "Usually, I would go to Turaga Vakama for advice, but I can't because I'm now banished from Ta-Koro. I think we should show it to Turaga Nuju. I'm sure he'll be able to figure out if it means anything important."

Everyone agreed with him and began heading for Ko-Koro. One way or another, they were going to find out what was written on the tablet.