Brutaka's Game: Ch 2

Jaller marched on top the village wall, keeping watch for any threats, when something along the trail caught his attention. It was Tahu, Gali, Pohatu and Takanuva racing down the trail with Lewa in their arms. He turned to a guard and ordered him to open the gate.
The Toa ran through and passed dozen of makeshift huts on their way to Tahu's. Tahu pushed the draped door aside and helped place his brother on his bed.
"Alright," said Gali "we need to act quick. Let us summon all of our healing powers." Tahu, Pohatu and Takanuva drew out their weapons and placed them on Lewa's chest. They glowed and sent pulses of energy through his body. With a wave of her hand she ordered them to stop. As they put their weapons away, Gali summoned her powers. She placed her hands several inches apart with palms facing each other. A flash of blue appeared and quickly turned into a growing orb of glowing water. Gently she pushed the orb away from her and it fell onto Lewa's body and began to envelop the Toa of air. After a few seconds the water disappeared, leaving no trace of the poison and only a scar where the gash had been.
When Lewa began to take fuller breaths, Gali smiled in relief. But it was short lived as her legs gave out and she fell backwards.
Pohatu caught her. He then looked at his brothers. "I'll take her out side to get some air."
"We might as well go too." replied Takanuva. "There's nothing more we can do now but to let him rest." When they left the hut Vakama and Jaller were outside waiting for them.
"Toa, what happened?" inquired Vakama.
Tahu folded his arms. "Rahkshi." he spat.
Jaller and the Turaga were surprised. "Rahkshi?" asked Vakama "Impossible, he should be dead."
"Apparently not." Tahu grumbled.
The Turaga gripped his staff tightly. "This is very unsettling. I suggest looking into this tomorrow." Tahu nodded and walked over to the center of the village where Pohatu helped Gali sit down on a bench.
"Thank you brother." she said warmly.
Pohatu smiled and sat down next to her. "Anytime. By the way, what were you doing out there earlier?"
"I was on my way to see Kopaka."
Tahu raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Why?" he grumbled.
Gali shrugged. "I thought he could use a little company."
"I'm not sure he really needs the company." Tahu snapped.
"I don't know," interrupted Pohatu "I kind of like the idea. Though he'd probably object to a visit from Lewa." he chuckled. Tahu and Gali couldn't help but chuckle along. Tahu then looked over and watched Takanuva tell Jaller today's adventures with much detail, going so far as to make gestures and moves that mimicked what the Toa did. When he was done he walked over to them with a warm expression.
"So, what now?" Takanuva asked.
Tahu grinned and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You will be on duty watching over Lewa."
Takanuva's smile disappeared. "Why? He's not in any danger."
"I know, but someone needs to keep an eye on him. Besides, Gali and Pohatu left to see Kopaka."
"No they haven-" There was a sudden gust of wind. Takanuva spun around and saw the duo had disappeared. "Oh come on!"
Tahu tried hard to keep himself from grinning hard. "Are you telling me you can't handle it?"
Takanuva stared at him with a stumped look. "No, I-"
Tahu turned around and walked off. "Then I'll be checking up on you at sunset."
The Toa of light was speechless, his shoulders sunk and he huffed in defeat.

For over an hour Takanuva kept watch on Lewa. Despite how easy the task was it was making him tired. He rested his chin on his hand and began to doze off. Suddenly Lewa awoke and shot himself up, screaming. Takanuva jumped out of his seat and yelled.
"What's wrong?" Takanuva asked.
Lewa breathed heavily, and placed a hand on his head. "It was just a scary-bad dream." he panted. He then looked around and yawned. "How long have I been day-sleeping?"
"A while." Takanuva replied.
Lewa got on his feet and walked outside with The Toa of light right behind. The village around basked in warm colors of red and orange as the sun began to set.
"Well just my dark-luck. I wanted to continue the air-flying lessons." he complained, though in a more cheerful manner. He then looked around for the other Toa. "Where is Pohatu and Gail?"
"They left to see Kopaka." said Tahu as he approached them.
"Really? I wanted to ever-thank you guys."
"It was nothing." smiled Takanuva.
Lewa then turned and faced Tahu. "I wish we could visit-stay here a little longer fire-spitter, but the two of us still have more battle-training to do tomorrow." He activated his mask power and jumped in the air, but instead of going up he fell right back down and landed on his stomach. Tahu and Takanuva cringed.
"Oh right, I forgot." Takanuva palmed his face. "We need Vakama to fix your mask."
Lewa slowly got on his hands and knees and moaned. "Yeah, that would be a smart-bright idea."

"See, I told you, you would do just fine." said Roswell. "In thirty minutes we'll be in New York."
B.J. couldn't help but smile. He checked his instruments and made sure they read the right altitude of just over 5,000 feet and dropping. He then looked up at the thunderstorm developing a few miles ahead. His smile went to a frown and he gave an uneasy look at Captain Roswell.
"A little lighting ain't going to hurt us." he said with confidence. As the plane entered the cloud a flash illuminated the mist around them. B.J. was already tense. He tightly gripped the yoke and kept his body stiff as more lightning stroke around them. Seconds latter another flash left him second guessing what exactly it was.
"Did you see that?"
Roswell gave him a questioned look. "See what?"
B.J. forced himself to look over the left window. "I thought I saw a purple flash."
"Purple?" chuckled Roswell. "There's no such thing as-" There was a large flash in front of them, leaving the Captain speechless for a moment. "Purple…. lighting."

Lewa sat outside, against the wall of Vakama's hut, with one leg crossed over the other and his arms folded and wore a regular Kanohi Miru. As humiliating as it was to wear a mask with no power, it was certainly better than having no mask on at all. He tapped his fingers on his arm impatiently before leaning over to look inside.
"Are you ever-done in there?"
The Turaga stopped himself in the middle of his task. "For the tenth time, it'll be ready when it's ready!" he barked. Lewa huffed and then sat on the ground. He put his back against the hut and stared at the sky. The sun was almost down and the first stars began to twinkle. From the corner of his eyes he saw a white and gold blur walking towards him. He looked over and saw it was Takanuva.
"How long will it take for him to finish?" he asked.
"As long as it needs too." Lewa replied, sounding somewhat depressed.
Takanuva sat next to him and stared up at the sky too. "It sure is a beautiful night."
"Yeah, it sure is." he replied with a soft smile. The Toa of air put his hands behind his head and rested on them. He then looked over at Takanuva to tell him something, but as he opened his mouth he stopped.
"Uh, fire-spitter? Did water-maiden second-check to make sure all of the poison was out?"
Takanuva had a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"I'm see-dreaming things." He pointed to the western sky.
Takanuva looked over and paused. He was confused as well, but his expression quickly turned to concern. He then stood up and marched away.
"Where are you going?" Asked Lewa
The Toa of light looked over his shoulder. "To get Tahu."

"Shouldn't you two be back at your villages?" Kopaka said in his cold and unwelcoming tone. He trekked near the Ko-wahi and Le-wahi boundary, with Gali and Pohatu following close behind.
"We would brother," replied Gali, "but we felt that you spend way too much time alone. You could use some company once in a while."
"I don't need company," he said in a cold whisper. He suddenly stopped and stared southward. Gali stopped and followed his line of gaze until she too was staring.
Pohatu however, was oblivious. "Well like it or not we're gonna see you more often and-" The sound of rolling thunder cut him off and got his attention. The three stared at a large thunderstorm growing in the Le-wahi region. They would've quickly dismissed it if it weren't for the fact that the lighting was purple.
Gali faced Kopaka with a worried look. "You don't think he's back do you?"
"Don't know, but we should investigate."

"Control tower this is flight 374 do you copy?" asked B.J. All he heard was static. "Control tower this is flight 374, do you read me?" Again, static. B.J. gave Roswell a nervous look. "We've lost radio contact."
"Must be the storm. Continue on course and-" The plane suddenly shook violently. A red light on B.J.'s side began to beep and flash.
"What was that?" asked B.J.
"It sure wasn't turbulence. Whatever it was it must have breached the fuselage."
B.J. looked at his instruments and found he was right. The meter for the fuel was moving down faster than usual.
"How much flying time do you think we have?" asked Roswell.
B.J. took the moment to calculate it all in his head. "Judging from our rate of fuel loss, I say about five minutes," he said with dread.
The news didn't go well for the Captain. He stared at his controls for a moment before looking back at him.
"Ready the landing gears and-" The entire cabin suddenly lit up in a flash of purple, forcing the pilots to cover their eyes. When the light dissipated they opened their eyes and looked around. They still saw clouds, but the lightning was gone.
"What was that?!" asked B.J.
Roswell was dumbstruck for several seconds. "I… I don't know."
B.J. then checked the radar and picked up nothing. Assuming it was broken, he called the control tower, yet hear static once again. He looked back up and saw the thunderstorm pass by, but once in clear sky the sunset revealed something that made his jaw drop.
"Sir, where's New York?"

For Sarah, the last five minutes were very strange. The first strange thing she noticed was the purple lightning. Then the whole plane shook violently, scarring a lot of passengers. Her first thought was turbulence, but from past flight experiences she could tell that wasn't it. Something had to of hit the plane. Then a bright, purple light flooded the entire plane. People screamed in pain as they covered their eyes. When the light disappeared the lightning was gone.
Soon the plane flew out of the storm and she expected to see a city that never slept. Instead the last bit of light from the sunset faintly revealed an island surrounded by an endless expanse of ocean.
"This isn't right." she said to herself. She gripped the armrests tightly while the thought of a plane crash began to overwhelm her mind.

Kopaka, Gali and Pohatu stopped at the cliff edge, with the Le-Wahi jungle sitting over a thousand feet below. The storm was a few miles away and still letting off bolts of purple lightning. Kopaka's telescopic lens zoomed in and he tried to analyze the event. A bright purple flash erupted in the center of the cloud. It was brighter than the other lightning strikes and forced Kopaka to cover his lens. When it was over he moved his hand and looked into the cloud again. The three were left dumbfounded as the lightning immediately died down before stopping completely. Gali and Pohatu couldn't help but watch the cloud intensely for something else to happen; yet nothing did. Then the fait rumble of thunder rolled through the air. They were about to dismiss it, when they realized the rumble was continuous.
Gali looked at her brothers. "How is that possible?"
"I don't know," replied Pohatu, "But it has me worried."
Kopaka kept his gaze on the cloud. "I don't think its thunder." He pointed to a place in the sky near the edge of the cloud. A small beam of light emerged and flew across the sky.
"What is that?" asked Gali.
Kopaka's lens zoomed in on the object. "Some kind of Rahi." Their gaze followed it across the sky.
Pohatu put his hand on his hips and shifted his weight to his right side. "That thing is fast." he said. "I don't think Lewa could out fly that creature."
Kopaka ignored him for the moment and looked ahead to where it was going. Without telling the others he ran.
"Kopaka!" Gali exclaimed with surprise. "Where are you going?"
"Ta-koro!" he snapped.
Gali and Pohatu gave each other stunned looks and then ran after him.

From the top of Ta-koro's wall the Toa stood in watch. It wasn't until the lightning stopped and a mysterious light emerged that Jaller raise the alarm, and city's soldiers readied themselves for an attack.
"What is that?" asked Takanuva.
"I don't know," Tahu said, and then drew out his swords, "but we're not going to let it take us without a fight."
The Toa and guards drew their weapons and waited as the light rapidly approached the city. Tahu raised his hand in the air and the soldiers aimed their launchers. The sound of thunder grew over the city. The Matoran stopped in their tracks and scanned the sky nervously for its source.
Tahu kept his hand in the air and waited. When the unknown object was close enough he gave them the signal and the Matoran launched their disk at it. Takanuva fired a beam of light form his staff and Lewa pitched in his powers as well. Without his Great mask, Lewa's powers were drastically cut, but that didn't stop him from sending a strong gust of wind at it. But despite of their best efforts, it wasn't enough and Tahu realized it.
"Move!" he ordered. Everyone on the wall jumped.
The thunderous sound became too loud to bear. The Toa and Matoran got on their knees and covered their ears. The only one who looked up was Lewa. He was able to get a glimpse of the strange object as it flew right over them. The first thing he noticed: it was big, and its wings were larger. Instead of flapping, the wings were stiff and ran on what appeared to be engines. A row of light traveled along its side and the tips of the wings had lights that flashed.
As it passed, a black liquid fell over parts of the village. Some of it on landed on Tahu. He got up and examined himself, and the first thing he noticed was its strong, sharp stench.
"Ugh, what is this stuff?" he asked in disgust. As he began wiping it off his mask he found it difficult to breath. Frantic, he wiped faster, but soon he found himself wrapping his hands around his neck and fell gasping for air.
There were screams coming behind. He rolled over and saw his village rapidly catching fire in places the liquid had fell on. A trail of the substance was left untouched by the flames, but the fire was drawing closer to it. If lit the trail would lead the flames straight to him.

Brutaka walked happily out of the portal and onto the shores Mata Nui. He scanned the night sky for the plane. To his surprise he couldn't find it. Part of him wondered if it had changed course to find a place to land. Then he noticed a faint glow of orange out at sea.
"Great," he grumbled sarcastically to himself. "Missed it." He knew he shouldn't have spent so much time raiding stores and military post of their supplies. He would've teleported the plane at the last second to save it from a tragic landing. Now there was no telling if anyone survived. His mask glowed and he stuck his head through. A hundred feel below him was a mess of floating debris and fire. If anyone had survived, it was very difficult to tell.
He cringed his teeth and pulled his head back. For the next few days he would have to watch the beaches closely and see who washes up. But for now he needed to return to his post before Axxon notices his absence.

The liquid caught fire and the flames rushed towards him. A strong gust of wind scattered dirt and dust over the substance, cutting the flames off. Lewa smiled at his heroic deed but it turned into a frown at the sight of Tahu choking. He ran to his brother's side and turned him over. Tahu tried to talk but only mouthed out the words.
"Just stay calm brother." Lewa ordered. He created a small funnel of air above his hand and forced it through Tahu's throat. As his brother's breathing began to improve he got a whiff of the intoxicating aroma the substance gave off, and it made him feel lightheaded.
He looked over to Takanuva. "Brother, fetch-snatch me a bucket of water ever-quick!" He then looked back at Tahu. "Keep breathing brother," he ordered more calmly. Takanuva soon ran over with a large bucket and poured water all over Tahu. When the water reached his mask it hissed on contact and slowly steamed off him. Tahu sat up and coughed heavily.
"Are you alright?" asked Takanuva.
"I'm fine." he grumbled and stood up.
The fire still raged around them. Tahu picked up his swords and raised them in the air. The blades glowed a bright orange and calling on his power he sucked the flames into the swords until it the inferno was gone. Tahu examined the wreckage. Many homes were badly burnt, but remained intact.
He then faced his brothers. "What in Mata Nui's name was that stuff!?"
Lewa shrugged. "Don't know. The fire-spitters tried to put it out with water, but it only made it bigger."
Tahu's eyes lit up with shock. "What?"
Takanuva butted in. "Well actually it merely floated on top of it." He pointed to the puddle Tahu had been in. His mask glowed softly and illuminated the liquid. It refracted the light into a display of bright, vivid colors as it danced over the water. Their astonishment was cut short as Turaga Vakama approached them, looking at the damage along his way.
"Turaga," said Tahu "do you know what that thing was or what this stuff is?"
"I'm afraid not." he replied with concern, "I have never seen anything like this. This is something you will have to discuss with the others. But for now we see to it that the village gets repaired. And speaking of repair." He pulled out Lewa's Miru.
The Toa of air smiled in excitement. "Thank you Turaga-elder." He took the regular Kanohi off and placed his true mask back on. He felt his power return and gave his newly restored mask a test flight. His brothers watched as he soared high into the air and hovered. Lewa then scanned the sky around him for the mysterious creature.
Tahu cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled. "What do you see?!"
"Nothing!" Lewa shouted back. He then looked in the opposite direction. "But I do see-spot our brothers ever-running towards us."
There was a blur of white, brown and blue that passed by. The blur stopped suddenly, kicking up dust. When it cleared Pohatu, Gali and Kopaka stood in the mist.
Pohatu looked around. "Mata Nui, what happened here?"
"Some strange creature flew over and nearly caught the whole village on fire." said Tahu.
Kopaka stepped away from the group and examined the damage. "How did it do that?"
Takanuva eagerly answered. "It poured out a liquid that can catch fire, floats on water and releases a toxic fume that nearly suffocated Tahu." Pohatu and Gali had surprised looks on their faces. Even Kopaka showed a tiny sense of surprise as the glanced at Takanuva, but only for a moment.
"Did any of you get a good look at what attacked you?" asked Gali.
"I did" Everyone looked at Lewa as he landed. He threw his hands far apart. "It was huge-big. Must have been at least twenty five bio's long and it was decorated with lights along its body."

The other Toa had bank stares.
Finally Kopaka spoke up. "What drove it away?"
Pohatu shrugged. "Maybe it meant to do a fly-by."
"Doesn't sound like something a Rahi would do." said Gali.
"But it does sound like Makuta's work." growled Tahu. "I suggest we all go back to our villages and see to it they're safe. Then we'll figure out how to deal with this creature."
The Toa looked at him, unsure if it was the right thing to do. The only one who agreed was Kopaka as he walked to the village gate. Pohatu and Gali eventually bid their farewells and left. Lewa left as well with Takanuva tagging along.
"So how are we supposed to take this thing down?" Takanuva asked with concern.
Lewa shrugged. "Don't know. But the know-nothingness over this creature is a cause for concern." He then smiled. "But just in case, you'd better quick-learn how to wind-fly fire-spitter." Takanuva frowned and could feel his stomach tie into a knot. "No more flying please."

The roar of crashing waves filled the air, while birds chirped and squawked as they flew. Slowly Sarah opened her eyes. She stretched froth her hands to shield her face from the intense sunlight. When her vision adjusted, she yawned and sprawled out to stretch.
She sat up she examined her surroundings. In front of her was a huge expanse of ocean, and when she looked over her shoulder there lay a dense jungle. She stared at the forest with bewilderment.
"This can't be right," she said to herself "I should be in New York, not the Bahamas." She slowly stood up and then walked towards the jungle. There was a long and fat log at the forest edge. She sat herself on top and tried to think. When she couldn't recall what she wanted to know she closed her eyes tightly and thought harder; A bright light, engines slowly failing, the plane suddenly shaking, and passengers screaming. Panic, there was lots of panic. She got her life vest on and sat in a bracing position. Then there was water-rushing right at her.
"Gah!" She cringed her teeth hard and placed her hands on her head. When the headache stopped she opened her eyes and stared at the sky. It immediately occurred to her that she was stranded. How she got to a jungle of all places was baffling, but irrelevant. Her top priority was to survive long enough to find rescue.