Chapter 4

The sun was dipping low on the horizon, bathing the landscape in orange light. Tamaru adjusted her position on the top of a tree to get a better look at the cave in the distance. She could barely make out the shapes of the Kavinika standing in the entrance, but there were no signs of the Burnak. With a sigh, she began to climb down and rejoin Kapura and Taipu at the base of the tree.

"Kavinika are still guard-standing," she reported. "But the Burnak has not returned since he ground-climbed up mountain."

"Where do you think the Burnak went?" Taipu wondered.

Tamaru shrugged. "I have idea-no. He could be hunting or trying to sneak-steal the other Makoki stones. All I can say is that he's not near-bound."

Tamaru had spent the last couple of hours spying on the Rahi and the cave, ever since they had been chased off by the Kavinika. Taipu and Kapura had tried to do some ground recon, but they couldn't get too close without drawing the attention of the two Kavinika. However, although the Rahi had growled threateningly whenever they sighted the Matoran, they had not resumed chasing them through the forest.

"If I had to guess-say, I think the Kavinika are guard-watching that cave," Tamaru said. "The Burnak comes and goes, but the Kavinika do not."

"That makes sense," Kapura said. "Kavinika are known to be excellent guards."

Taipu blinked. "How do you know that?"

"We have encountered them in Ta-Wahi before," Kapura explained. "The Makuta will use them to guard specific places, like passes or storehouses, and even the Ta-Koro guard has difficulty driving them off. I believe Toa Tahu has also encountered some guarding the Kanohi masks of power out in the wild."

"I guess that sense-makes," Tamaru agreed. "I know much-not about Kavinika, but I recall that they are territorial and much-aggressive. Good traits for guard Rahi."

"I believe the Po-Matoran even attempted to train some in the past, but they are too ornery to listen to Matoran," Kapura continued. "However, they still can be bent to the Makuta's will."

"I don't believe they have infected masks," Tamaru stated. "Instead they seem to order-take from infected Burnak."

"Not all Rahi can be controlled with an infected mask," Kapura stated. "Still, there must be some influence, even if they need to be reminded by the Burnak to stay at their posts."

"Yes, and that leads to my plan-idea," Tamaru said. "With Burnak away-gone, we can ever-trick Kavinika to away-leave from cave, and then we can in-slip and see if the Makoki stone is inside."

"Do we even know if the Makoki stone is in there?" Taipu asked.

Again, Tamaru shrugged. "That's where Burnak direct-go after stealing it, and the Kavinika quick-guard cave. It seems likely that the stone will be inside."

"I agree," Kapura said. "Like how the Toa did not want to travel with the Makoki stones, the Burnak doesn't want to either, so he has tasked the Kavinika to guard it while he is away."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense," Taipu said. "However, how do we get the Kavinika to abandon their posts?"

Tamaru took a deep breath, knowing her idea was quite risky. "We give them Matoran to quick-chase," she said. "I will attention-get and away-lead them; you and Kapura can in-sneak to cave and quick-find Makoki stone."

"But you were barely able to outrun them last time!" Taipu exclaimed. "Without the Burnak, they would've torn you to shreds."

"It is risk-big plan, but I ever-think it will work," Tamaru said, trying her best to sound confident.

"I agree, it is a good plan," Kapura said. "But I should be the bait instead."

Tamaru couldn't stop herself from barking out a laugh. "Sorry, Kapura, but that terrible-bad idea. You're most bog-footed Matoran I've ever seen; they would sure-catch you."

"I have fled from Rahi before in the Charred Forest," Kapura said. "I know how to avoid them."

"But aren't you kind of slow?" Taipu asked.

"I have learned how to travel great distances by moving very slowly," Kapura said. "It is a skill I can use to lead the Rahi away."

"Yes, but persistence doesn't count as speed in this case," Taipu pointed out. "Moving slowly won't stop the Rahi from quickly catching you."

Tamaru frowned, remembering something from earlier. "You have some funny-odd movements," she said. "When we fled from cave, you started back-behind us, but then when you disc-throw, you are ahead of us. And you timely appeared when Burnak drop-attacked us in Le-Koro, when we left you slow-walking on trail. How did you quick-appear in places where you not-be?"

"That is part of my training," Kapura said, not quite understanding Tamaru and Taipu's confusion. "I focus on where I am not, and by moving slowly I arrive there."

Tamaru glanced back at Taipu, who shrugged; neither of them understood Kapura's explanation. Tamaru had no idea how the slow Ta-Matoran had managed such feats, and she highly doubted he could outrun a Koi Turtle, much less a Kavinika. However, she also knew that the Ta-Matoran guard had a reputation as hardy Matoran, so perhaps Kapura did have some techniques that would help him against the Rahi.

"If we do decided to cave-sneak, we should soon-time do it," Tamaru said, gesturing to the darkening horizon. "Best to get stone before dark-fall, because we'll have luck-less at night, and we can't wait until morning because the Rahi may stone-move in darkness."

"Well, I can operate quite well in the dark," Taipu claimed. "But I know you two don't have night vision, so going now would be a good idea. What do you think, Kapura?" He turned to where the Ta-Matoran had previously stood, but was startled to find him gone.

"Where-go did he?" Tamaru asked, surprised. "Did he just quick-sneak away from us?"

In the distance, there was a loud yelp from the Kavinika. "Did he just start the diversion?" Taipu wondered.

Tamaru was already on the move, as she headed towards the edge of the forest. She stopped behind the last tree, and she and Taipu peered around it and spotted Kapura part way up the pathway leading to the cave. The two Kavinika were already stalking towards him.

"This is good-not," Tamaru said, drawing her disc. "We need to off-go on plan; attack Kavinika when they attack Kapura, or else he's Rahi-bones."

The first Kavinika suddenly darted forward, lowering his massive head to ram Kapura. But Kapura sidestepped and the Rahi blew past him. However, the second Kavinika was on top of him, and swiped with his paw. But there was a blur, and Kapura vanished for an instant, reappearing further down the path.

Tamaru blinked. "Did you quick-see that?" she whispered to Taipu.

"Did he just teleport?" Taipu asked back in disbelief.

The two Kavinika charged Kapura again, and again he expertly avoided them. But then the two beasts started using tactics, and took positions on either side of Kapura, blocking his escape. Assured that their quarry was trapped, both Kavinika charged forward to squash Kapura between their large heads. But instead they rammed into each other; in another blur, Kapura reappeared at the bottom of the slope, and started to walk towards the forest. Frustrated, the Kavinika charged after him, but he continued to evade them even as he led them away into the forest.

"Can all Ta-Matoran do that?" Taipu wondered, looking in the direction that Kapura and the Kavinika had gone. "Just instantly moving from one spot to another? I know they're strong and have heat resistance, but what else can they do?"

"I feeling-have that Kapura is an anomaly," Tamaru said. "But let us not time-waste; the cave is protected-no!" Without a second thought, she raced up the slope towards the entrance, with Taipu right behind her.

Tamaru entered the dark shadows of the cave cautiously with her disc in hand; she didn't want to be surprised by any other Rahi guards. But the cave was unoccupied, giving her time to search. Unfortunately, the cave was also a mess; there was a lot of debris littered across the floor, from random shrubbery to broken Matoran tools.

"There's a lot of clutter in here," Taipu commented. "Where could they have hidden the Makoki stone?"

"Looks like this be a Rahi nest," Tamaru speculated. "I not-know if this is for the Kavinika or Burnak, but some Rahi collect-carry objects to secure their sleep-areas. But where they hide-place Makoki?"

"We'd better start looking," Taipu said, quickly pulling back a large branch. His vision was much better in the dark cave, so Tamaru merely assisted in moving aside the larger objects as Taipu scanned for the Makoki Stone. However, minutes passed and they still had not found it, and a sense of urgency was eating at Tamaru. How long would the Kavinika chase Kapura around before they remembered their guard duty?

"Wait, is that it?" Taipu asked, reaching down underneath a bramble of leaves that had been pushed into the far corner. He picked up a small tan stone, which appeared as a semi-circle.

"That's it!" Tamaru explained, taking it from Taipu to examine. "Yes, this is it. I only see-view it a few times with Turaga Matau, but I recognize odd-shape. We must return-go at once!"

However, any celebration was quickly cut short as a shadow fell across the cave's entrance. Tamaru and Taipu looked up just in time to see one of the Kavinika posed at the entrance, his eyes focused on them.

"Uh oh!" Tamaru stated, even as the Kavinika charged. She leapt aside, but she was so far back in the cave that she didn't have room to dodge; it wouldn't take much for the beast to corner and ram her.

Yet Taipu was not dodging, and planted his feet sturdily into the ground. He caught the Kavinika's head as it rammed into him, but this time he was not thrown back; instead Taipu used all his strength and brought the Kavinika's charge to a halt. Before the Rahi could comprehend the situation, Taipu's hands gripped the side of its head and he swung it hard into the nearby wall; the force of the impact managed to stun the Kavinika for a moment.

"How did you..." Tamaru started.

"It's no different than catching a big boulder," Taipu said, although he sounded winded. "A big, angry, charging boulder. I've managed before."

"Then we need to quick-go before it attack-charges again," Tamaru said, sprinting for the entrance. "We got what we seek-wanted, now let's escape-flee!"

But even as she stepped out into the fading sunlight, Tamaru became aware of the presence above her. She caught a glimpse of the Burnak leaping towards her, jaws wide opened, and knew that it had been poised to attack as soon as she made a break for it. But instead of feeling his teeth sink into her mask, she felt a sudden tug and was pulled back into the cave. She looked up to see her savior was none other than Kapura.

"Taipu, block the entrance," Kapura barked, even as the Burnak spun around to attack again.

"Got it!" Taipu said, grabbing onto the fallen Kavinika and throwing it with all his might. The Rahi collided with the Burnak, pushing them both down the hillside. But it wasn't far enough for the Matoran to attempt an escape.

"What happened?" Tamaru asked, as she got back to her feet.

"I apologize," Kapura said. "The Burnak reappeared and ordered the Kavinika back to the cave. I tried to delay them, but was unable to effectively do so."

"We're still in-trapped," Tamaru said, looking around the cavern. The Burnak and Kavinika were at the entrance; there was no escape for them.

Kapura gripped his pike. "I would not like to lose like this, but it is still an honorable way to go," he said. "I will fight with you to the end."

"Yes, to the end," Tamaru said, drawing her bamboo disc. But this was not the end she wanted; a death trapped in a cave, ripped to shreds by infected Rahi.

"Wait!" Taipu exclaimed, moving towards the wall. "There is an opening here! The cave connects to the tunnel system!"

"You can't be sure of that," Kapura stated, even as he kept his eyes on the entrance, where the two Kavinika had reappeared, followed by the Burnak.

"It looks legit, and it's small enough that the Rahi can't follow us!" Taipu said. "What other choice do we have?"

Kapura hesitated for only an instant. "I trust the earth-dweller," he stated. "It's our only means of escape; go!"

Taipu was already pushing himself through what was little more than a crack in the wall. Tamaru turned to follow, despite her many misgivings about it. She was just barely able to squeeze through, as the rock pressed hard against her armor. But there was an opening, and Taipu was already making his way further down, so Tamaru reluctantly followed.

Kapura remained up above for a few more moments to buy them time. He appeared in front of the Kavinika unexpectedly and stabbed at them with his pike. When the Rahi retaliated, Kapura vanished and appeared at the edge of the crack. The Kavinika charged at him, but he slipped between the rocks, leaving the Rahi to claw desperately at the gap. With that, he followed the other two Matoran as they descended into the earth.