Chapter 4 -- Dark Tide
Authoress' Notes: Not much action in this chapter, but lots of plot stuff going on. Some stuff is revealed, and some new twists taking the place of stuff that was revealed. I liked writing this chapter.
Takua stirred. He felt so warm, so sleepy that he didn't want to get up. What had happened? Where was he? And where in tarnation was his rucksack? Winds, but his mind felt so slow. Squinting blearily into the darkness, he was about to get up when he saw Onewa, Pohatu, and Kapura apparently deep in conversation with one another. Though they were speaking in soft voices, he could still hear them fairly well. Slowly, he laid back down as to not draw attention to himself, and listened intently.
"...nice move with the Komau...that was very smooth, Pohatu. I'm sure Huki will forgive you for using it on him."
"Onewa, no doubt..." thought Takua.
A deep, hearty laugh, poorly stifled, was the response. No doubt that belonged to Pohatu. "I'm sure he will. The catapult was Takua's idea though." He grinned. "But I'm surprised YOU didn't think of the Komau, Onewa. Is Hafu all right? I never really got to pay attention if anyone was injured during the rescue."
"I was too flustered." replied the Turaga, very seriously as Pohatu started to laugh again. "But be quiet...The Chronicler's still sleeping. To answer your question though, Hafu is just fine. He's a little shaken, and has a couple of burnt patches on his body, but that's to be expected. He's sleeping now, and Huki's keeping watch, but I think he'll be well enough for the evacuation tomorrow. Why Huki begged to go to the only village that was water-based I'll never know."
Pohatu chuckled, then nodded. "I'm glad to hear that. I would stay longer, and assist you if I could, but I'm meeting Kopaka, Tahu, and Gali in Ko-Koro. Seems that the Tahnok, as well as a bunch of Pahrak, have reached their as well, and I'm going to see what I can do."
Onewa frowned. "That is not good news. Well then, you'd better go. Pity you can't stop by Onu-Koro though, and tell Whenua, that we'll be evacuating to Ga-Koro. He'll be worried."
"Whenua can't get more worried than he already is, with Onua off to rescue Lewa again." replied Pohatu, crouching to get through the door. "Well, I'm off to deal with Mr. Cheerful. Goodbye."
"Good luck!" said Onewa. As Pohatu left in a blinding flash of red light, Onewa turned to Kapura, who silently puffed a jet of fire into the air. Onewa watched it slowly dissipate, and after a few moments, addressed him. "You are obviously from Ta-Koro, son. What is your name?"
"Kapura, sir."
Takua closed his eyes at the sound of Kapura's soft tones, and forced himself to calm down. If he was breathing too fast, no doubt Kapura would realize he was awake. Slowly, he calmed down his nerves, and tried his best to relax his body. He had to find out what it was that Kapura was so scared of.
"Hmm...familiar name. You're one of Jala's guard, aren't you?"
"Yes sir."
"Any particular reason you are here?"
"I promised Chronicler."
"Promise?"
"Yes, promise."
"Promised what?"
"A promise."
Takua tried hard not to laugh as Onewa became more and more confused with each answer from Kapura. He knew from experience, that trying to get a straight answer out of him was pretty much useless, unless Kapura was willing to tell. And from what Takua had heard so far, Onewa was better off trying to talk to Nuju. The only person who could get Kapura to talk somewhat [straight] was Jala.
Onewa sighed, clearly frustrated, but didn't want to seem rude. "Okay, you don't have to tell me the reason, but are you going with Chronicler, or do you want a ride to Ga-Koro and hitch a boat there to Ta-Koro?"
"I promised Chronicler." replied Kapura. He turned towards Takua. " I think Chronicler is awake."
"Bummer!" thought Takua, opening his eyes. Both of them turned to him.
"So you are awake! You passed out and had been asleep for quite some time." said Onewa, looking relieved.
Takua nodded and sat up, but as soon as he did, he felt dizzy. Something was very wrong here. Instinctively, he reached up, and felt for the scarab, but found nothing. He looked at Onewa and Kapura with fearful, almost desperate eyes. "My...my scarab. Where is it?" He got up, but crumpled to the floor. Kapura was beside him in a flash. Onewa started over as well, but Takua waved him off. "My scarab...where's the scarab...find scarab..."
Galvanized, Onewa plucked the scarab off of his Stone Hammer. "Is this it? Pohatu said it had fallen off, and he just saved it from being trampled on."
Takua nodded fervently. "Please...give it..."
Onewa nodded, and handed it to him. Takua snatched it, and put it around his neck. Almost immediately, he felt waves of energy circling his body, strengthening it, the injuries he had acquired vanishing within an instant. He felt so much better now, and much more confident. The gem, which had simply been hanging from Onewa's hammer innocently, was now glowing again as Takua donned it. Noticing that Kapura was still supporting him, Takua shoved him off rather rudely. "I'm just fine now Kapura. I don't need your help."
Kapura blinked in response, and Takua could have sworn he saw emotion in those eyes, something akin to sadness, but when Takua blinked again, Kapura's eyes were closed off and sealed away from the world and to those who lived within it. In truth, though Takua did not know it, Kapura was very much hurt by his friend's malice, but the years in Jala's Guard had taught him to compartmentalize any emotions he felt when carrying out a mission, unless they were beneficial to the cause. A good soldier never cried, and always fulfilled his mission, regardless of the cost. He procured something from behind his back and handed it to Takua.
"Your backpack, Chronicler. Shall we go to Onu-Koro?" Kapura handed Takua the rucksack, and smiled blankly at him. Takua took the bag from the enigmatic soldier, and shook his head in amazement. "You are stranger than fiction, kid. How did you know I was planning to go to Onu-Koro?"
"I knew you had been awake for awhile."
Takua stared at his little travelling partner with annoyance, but also respect, as if a Matoran could be experience both at once. "Boy, I'm going to have to act better than that if I'm going to do what I need to."
"And what do you need to do, Chronicler?"
Realizing he said too much, Takua didn't answer. "It is none of your business. Why are you still following me? You could have been killed."
Kapura didn't miss a beat. "I'll throw your last statement back at you."
"Boys, stop fighting. I have to help the Po-Koronans get ready for the evacuation tomorrow. Are you going to Onu-Koro or not?"
Both Kapura and Takua jumped in surprise, and looked appropriately sheepish at the behavior they exhibited in front of a Turaga. They had been so absorbed their argument that they had forgotten that Onewa was still there! "Sorry about that, Turaga. I'll leave now." said Takua, rushing out as fast as he could. Kapura gave a little bow to Onewa before doing his infamous relocating trick and appearing right beside Takua as they made their way to the Great Mines of Onu-Koro.
-*-*-*-
Upon reaching the mine, Takua was shocked at the eerie quietness of the workplace. All the machines were off, and there was not a Matoran in sight. To make matters even more odd, was that he could hear Kapura squishing in back of him. The red Matoran usually made no sound.
"Wait a minute." he thought. "Squishing?" Upon sniffing the air, he noticed the smell of damp earth was noticeably stronger than normal. It was much cooler, and occasionally, water dripped from the ceiling above. A thought came to him, and he pressed the dirt wall. It folded under the pressure, and Takua was splattered with a glob of mud from the ceiling.
"Kapura, there was no doubt a massive flood just recently. The dirt walls are becoming very loose, and there's a good chance we'll be trapped in the mines if we don't get out of here." He paused, and looked for Kapura. "You still there Kapura?"
No response.
"Is this a prank? Come on, stop playing hide and seek! This isn't funny. Kapura!"
There was no sound, but a jet of fire expelled itself from a pile of mud, which was moving. Before Takua could do anything though, Kapura managed to stand up and pushed the mud off of himself. "Sorry."
Takua breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed Kapura's arm. "Come on, Kapura, let's get out of here. You're proof that we can't stay here. Judging by the fact that there are no sounds coming from the place, I think it's safe to say that the Onu-Matorans evacuated in time."
Kapura nodded, and coughed again. "Nice to know you still care, Chronicler."
The willful adventurer laughed, albeit confusedly at his muddy, fire-breathing comrade. "What? Huh? Umm..yeah, okay. Let's keep moving. We can go to Le-Koro. I want to check and make sure the Onu-Matorans are okay. It's a higher chance that we'll catch up with the Onu-Matorans there than in Ta-Koro. They've always been fascinated by Le-Wahi's easygoing villagers. Ta-Koronans are too much like themselves, and we came in the Po-Koronan tunnel, so they didn't head there."
Kapura didn't respond to Takua's carefully thought out logic, but followed anyway, determined to fill his promise. He was scared of what the Chronicler was becoming before his eyes. Why did no one else notice? Whether or not he was hallucinating, Kapura wondered if he would ever find answers to the questions he sought.
"Goodbye."
Authoress' Notes: Not much action in this chapter, but lots of plot stuff going on. Some stuff is revealed, and some new twists taking the place of stuff that was revealed. I liked writing this chapter.
Takua stirred. He felt so warm, so sleepy that he didn't want to get up. What had happened? Where was he? And where in tarnation was his rucksack? Winds, but his mind felt so slow. Squinting blearily into the darkness, he was about to get up when he saw Onewa, Pohatu, and Kapura apparently deep in conversation with one another. Though they were speaking in soft voices, he could still hear them fairly well. Slowly, he laid back down as to not draw attention to himself, and listened intently.
"...nice move with the Komau...that was very smooth, Pohatu. I'm sure Huki will forgive you for using it on him."
"Onewa, no doubt..." thought Takua.
A deep, hearty laugh, poorly stifled, was the response. No doubt that belonged to Pohatu. "I'm sure he will. The catapult was Takua's idea though." He grinned. "But I'm surprised YOU didn't think of the Komau, Onewa. Is Hafu all right? I never really got to pay attention if anyone was injured during the rescue."
"I was too flustered." replied the Turaga, very seriously as Pohatu started to laugh again. "But be quiet...The Chronicler's still sleeping. To answer your question though, Hafu is just fine. He's a little shaken, and has a couple of burnt patches on his body, but that's to be expected. He's sleeping now, and Huki's keeping watch, but I think he'll be well enough for the evacuation tomorrow. Why Huki begged to go to the only village that was water-based I'll never know."
Pohatu chuckled, then nodded. "I'm glad to hear that. I would stay longer, and assist you if I could, but I'm meeting Kopaka, Tahu, and Gali in Ko-Koro. Seems that the Tahnok, as well as a bunch of Pahrak, have reached their as well, and I'm going to see what I can do."
Onewa frowned. "That is not good news. Well then, you'd better go. Pity you can't stop by Onu-Koro though, and tell Whenua, that we'll be evacuating to Ga-Koro. He'll be worried."
"Whenua can't get more worried than he already is, with Onua off to rescue Lewa again." replied Pohatu, crouching to get through the door. "Well, I'm off to deal with Mr. Cheerful. Goodbye."
"Good luck!" said Onewa. As Pohatu left in a blinding flash of red light, Onewa turned to Kapura, who silently puffed a jet of fire into the air. Onewa watched it slowly dissipate, and after a few moments, addressed him. "You are obviously from Ta-Koro, son. What is your name?"
"Kapura, sir."
Takua closed his eyes at the sound of Kapura's soft tones, and forced himself to calm down. If he was breathing too fast, no doubt Kapura would realize he was awake. Slowly, he calmed down his nerves, and tried his best to relax his body. He had to find out what it was that Kapura was so scared of.
"Hmm...familiar name. You're one of Jala's guard, aren't you?"
"Yes sir."
"Any particular reason you are here?"
"I promised Chronicler."
"Promise?"
"Yes, promise."
"Promised what?"
"A promise."
Takua tried hard not to laugh as Onewa became more and more confused with each answer from Kapura. He knew from experience, that trying to get a straight answer out of him was pretty much useless, unless Kapura was willing to tell. And from what Takua had heard so far, Onewa was better off trying to talk to Nuju. The only person who could get Kapura to talk somewhat [straight] was Jala.
Onewa sighed, clearly frustrated, but didn't want to seem rude. "Okay, you don't have to tell me the reason, but are you going with Chronicler, or do you want a ride to Ga-Koro and hitch a boat there to Ta-Koro?"
"I promised Chronicler." replied Kapura. He turned towards Takua. " I think Chronicler is awake."
"Bummer!" thought Takua, opening his eyes. Both of them turned to him.
"So you are awake! You passed out and had been asleep for quite some time." said Onewa, looking relieved.
Takua nodded and sat up, but as soon as he did, he felt dizzy. Something was very wrong here. Instinctively, he reached up, and felt for the scarab, but found nothing. He looked at Onewa and Kapura with fearful, almost desperate eyes. "My...my scarab. Where is it?" He got up, but crumpled to the floor. Kapura was beside him in a flash. Onewa started over as well, but Takua waved him off. "My scarab...where's the scarab...find scarab..."
Galvanized, Onewa plucked the scarab off of his Stone Hammer. "Is this it? Pohatu said it had fallen off, and he just saved it from being trampled on."
Takua nodded fervently. "Please...give it..."
Onewa nodded, and handed it to him. Takua snatched it, and put it around his neck. Almost immediately, he felt waves of energy circling his body, strengthening it, the injuries he had acquired vanishing within an instant. He felt so much better now, and much more confident. The gem, which had simply been hanging from Onewa's hammer innocently, was now glowing again as Takua donned it. Noticing that Kapura was still supporting him, Takua shoved him off rather rudely. "I'm just fine now Kapura. I don't need your help."
Kapura blinked in response, and Takua could have sworn he saw emotion in those eyes, something akin to sadness, but when Takua blinked again, Kapura's eyes were closed off and sealed away from the world and to those who lived within it. In truth, though Takua did not know it, Kapura was very much hurt by his friend's malice, but the years in Jala's Guard had taught him to compartmentalize any emotions he felt when carrying out a mission, unless they were beneficial to the cause. A good soldier never cried, and always fulfilled his mission, regardless of the cost. He procured something from behind his back and handed it to Takua.
"Your backpack, Chronicler. Shall we go to Onu-Koro?" Kapura handed Takua the rucksack, and smiled blankly at him. Takua took the bag from the enigmatic soldier, and shook his head in amazement. "You are stranger than fiction, kid. How did you know I was planning to go to Onu-Koro?"
"I knew you had been awake for awhile."
Takua stared at his little travelling partner with annoyance, but also respect, as if a Matoran could be experience both at once. "Boy, I'm going to have to act better than that if I'm going to do what I need to."
"And what do you need to do, Chronicler?"
Realizing he said too much, Takua didn't answer. "It is none of your business. Why are you still following me? You could have been killed."
Kapura didn't miss a beat. "I'll throw your last statement back at you."
"Boys, stop fighting. I have to help the Po-Koronans get ready for the evacuation tomorrow. Are you going to Onu-Koro or not?"
Both Kapura and Takua jumped in surprise, and looked appropriately sheepish at the behavior they exhibited in front of a Turaga. They had been so absorbed their argument that they had forgotten that Onewa was still there! "Sorry about that, Turaga. I'll leave now." said Takua, rushing out as fast as he could. Kapura gave a little bow to Onewa before doing his infamous relocating trick and appearing right beside Takua as they made their way to the Great Mines of Onu-Koro.
-*-*-*-
Upon reaching the mine, Takua was shocked at the eerie quietness of the workplace. All the machines were off, and there was not a Matoran in sight. To make matters even more odd, was that he could hear Kapura squishing in back of him. The red Matoran usually made no sound.
"Wait a minute." he thought. "Squishing?" Upon sniffing the air, he noticed the smell of damp earth was noticeably stronger than normal. It was much cooler, and occasionally, water dripped from the ceiling above. A thought came to him, and he pressed the dirt wall. It folded under the pressure, and Takua was splattered with a glob of mud from the ceiling.
"Kapura, there was no doubt a massive flood just recently. The dirt walls are becoming very loose, and there's a good chance we'll be trapped in the mines if we don't get out of here." He paused, and looked for Kapura. "You still there Kapura?"
No response.
"Is this a prank? Come on, stop playing hide and seek! This isn't funny. Kapura!"
There was no sound, but a jet of fire expelled itself from a pile of mud, which was moving. Before Takua could do anything though, Kapura managed to stand up and pushed the mud off of himself. "Sorry."
Takua breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed Kapura's arm. "Come on, Kapura, let's get out of here. You're proof that we can't stay here. Judging by the fact that there are no sounds coming from the place, I think it's safe to say that the Onu-Matorans evacuated in time."
Kapura nodded, and coughed again. "Nice to know you still care, Chronicler."
The willful adventurer laughed, albeit confusedly at his muddy, fire-breathing comrade. "What? Huh? Umm..yeah, okay. Let's keep moving. We can go to Le-Koro. I want to check and make sure the Onu-Matorans are okay. It's a higher chance that we'll catch up with the Onu-Matorans there than in Ta-Koro. They've always been fascinated by Le-Wahi's easygoing villagers. Ta-Koronans are too much like themselves, and we came in the Po-Koronan tunnel, so they didn't head there."
Kapura didn't respond to Takua's carefully thought out logic, but followed anyway, determined to fill his promise. He was scared of what the Chronicler was becoming before his eyes. Why did no one else notice? Whether or not he was hallucinating, Kapura wondered if he would ever find answers to the questions he sought.
"Goodbye."