Chapter 6: Words Remain Unspoken
Previously…
Keika nodded in response to Ronin's exclamation. "You missed quite a bit, actually. But it's a long story… why don't we regroup in Ko-Metru and swap stories then?"
"Good!" Onewa elbowed Shane. "That means Pretty Boy over here can quit pining!" Shane glared at Onewa.
Whenua interjected before it got ugly. "Well, we can also tell the stories on the way. Ours was rather difficult…"
Ronin practically clung to Whenua's strong arm as they went through the Archives. It wasn't that the youngest member of Squadron AV-01 couldn't see well in the dim subterranean environment. Oh, Ronin had excellent night vision, better than some full-blood Rorzahk. That wasn't the problem at all. The problem was that Ronin was afraid of the dark.
"Hey, Ronin, could you loosen your grip?" asked Whenua. "You're going to pull my arm out of the socket."
Ronin let go of Whenua for a brief moment. But the Earth Toa didn't have a chance to rotate his sore shoulders before two humanoid hands clutched again. Whenua was one of the more patient Toa, but this was pushing it.
"Ronin!"
That finally made Ronin let go. He hoped the dark would conceal his fearful expression. But nothing could hide from Whenua in the dark. "You're scared of the dark?"
"Y-yes…" Tears glimmered in Ronin's light hazel eyes. Now, Whenua felt terrible about yelling at Ronin. But no sooner had a teardrop fallen to the ground than something slithered around a corner. It looked like a part-robotic serpent, a rusted dark red with small tarnished-bronze spines on its back. It was about the size of a garden snake, no longer than Ronin's arm.
"Uh oh…" Whenua readied his earthshock drills. "Ronin, I hope you're not scared of snakes."
"Nope," Ronin brushed it off, "I helped Keyok when one bit him at camp…" Just then, the hissing grew louder. Ronin turned around. The snake, once small, was now about the size of an anaconda. Hot, smelly vapor spewed from its open mouth, venom and blood dripping from its katana-like fangs.
"Yikes!" Ronin's high voice went even higher.
"Cover your ears, Ronin!" Ronin did just that. The high screeching of the earthshock drills disoriented the snake, causing it to curl in on itself and convulse. Ronin took his hands away from his ears and noticed blood on his palms.
Note to self, thought Ronin, invest in a good pair of earplugs!
The snake smelled the blood and uncoiled, laser-red eyes burning with hunger and rage. "Ronin, get out of here!" yelled Whenua. "I'll handle this!"
Ronin took one last look and sprinted away. Once a safe distance from the snake, he bent over with his hands on his knees, panting for breath. He could still hear the echoes of the battle. That led him back to the clue that Termina gave him…
"Promised words remain unspoken
Until the iron door is broken."
Ronin looked at the doors around him. Recently, he had acquired a gadget that could perform a scan of various materials and analyze what they were made of. He dialed it in and scanned the first door. It wasn't iron. He tried with three more doors, still no iron.
Then, Ronin heard the sounds of the fight go silent. He forgot about the rhyme and the doors and ran towards his original location. The snake had coiled itself around Whenua and was starting to close in. The earthshock drills were on the ground, a considerable distance away. Ronin whipped his stun-staffs from his tool belt and charged them to full power.
"Aim at its head!" shouted Whenua. Ronin had other ideas, firing the electricity towards the snake's raised tail. This dealt a painful but not deadly shock to the snake. It uncoiled and went for Ronin instead. Whenua collapsed, gasping for air after almost having his lungs crushed. Ronin ran towards a rusted door… rust only formed on iron!
"Ronin, that door's been sealed!" warned Whenua. "Don't back yourself into a corner!"
Ronin didn't hear. All he saw and heard was the snake barrelling towards him. Right as he could smell the snake's breath, he sprang onto the snake's back and grabbed hold of the spines. The snake had no time to stop and bashed through the door. Behind the door, a brilliant iridescent light blinded the snake. The snake shrunk again, and slithered back into the darkness.
"Well, no wonder that door's been sealed…" said Whenua, rubbing his eyes as the light dimmed. But there was still a small glow.
"I thought Keika was in Le-Metru…" Ronin looked suspicious. "Unless that's not her."
"That's not Keika," said Whenua, "those are the gems!"
Ronin grabbed the gems and stashed them in his tool belt.
"Hold onto me, Ronin. I'm going to drill us out of here." He handed Ronin a small pouch. "But put these in first." Ronin opened the pouch and frowned. "Earplugs. Why didn't you give these to me before?"
"How was I supposed to know a hungry Blood Serpent was going to cross our path?"
"Looking ahead?" Ronin suggested.
Whenua groaned. "You sound like the stargazer… now grab on."
Ronin stuck the earplugs in and grabbed onto Whenua's back. The drills whirred to action, bringing the two through an upwards-sloping shaft. Finally, they broke the surface - they were in Po-Metru. There stood Keika, Matau, Shane, and Onewa, deciding where to go next.
"We found the gems!" Ronin announced. Whenua clambered out of the hole after him. After a quick conversation, they decided to regroup in Ko-Metru.