Brutaka's Game: Ch 3

Mr. Petrik examined his surroundings and couldn't tell if he was dead or had forgotten his cup of coffee. In front of him was open desert. Behind him was the ocean and to his left he could see a volcano several miles away. To make sure he wasn't hallucinating he went to the ocean and drank the water. He immediately spat it out.
"Yep," he spat and wiped his mouth "that's sea water all right. But this isn't New York or Kansas." He then turned his attention to his two students: Kyle and Mackenzie.
"Where are we?" asked Mackenzie.
"No idea." he replied.
"When did New York become a desert?" asked Kyle.
Mr. Petrik ignored him and scanned his surroundings one more time and spotted a patch of vegetation a few miles to the south.
"This way," he ordered. His voice was light, yet carried power and authority. "We might find some food or a place for shelter."
Mackenzie looked at the sky above her. "Why? The weather's perfect."
"When does it ever stay perfect?" he shot back.

Sarah walked for what seemed like an hour. Already she found a suitable place for a shelter. There were long, fallen branches everywhere and the large, palm-leafed plants were perfect for waterproofing. But for now she walked along the beach gathering resources, which was primarily washed up luggage. To her concern she hadn't found any bodies or survivors.
Another suitcase washed on shore. She pulled it out onto the sand and opened it. Inside were a lot of business clothes and a pair of polished, black shoes. She pulled the shoes out and unlaced them. She stashed the laces in her pockets, which were full of them.
She sighed and continued her walk. There was a large, black dot far out in the distance. Most likely a bunch of luggage, she casually walked towards it. Slowly the shape became more defined and it wasn't just luggage, but people as well. The sight was thrilling and she walked faster with a smile across her face. Soon she ran in excitement.
As she got closer she recognized them as Ashley and Caitlin. They were sitting on a suitcase with backs turned towards her. She saw the opportunity and decided to greet them with enthusiasm they would never forget. She quietly crept up and when she was within arms reach she jumped forward, doing an impression of a lion as she grabbed them by the shoulder. The girls jolted off the suitcase and let out a shrill. Sarah couldn't help but fall on the ground and laugh.
Ashley's face turned red. "That's not funny!"
"You're right, it's not." Sarah chuckled, "it's hilarious!"
Caitlin didn't look as angry and her mood quickly turned to relief. "Thank goodness, we thought we'd be the only ones stranded."

Takanuva opened his eyes and saw sunlight pouring through the window. He shuffled in his bed and looked up to find Lewa sound asleep and snoring. For a being of light he had a devilish grin run across his mask. Quietly he got out of bed and tiptoed across the room. He grabbed a bag and took a deep breath before blowing into it. He quickly cut off the air's escape and crept up to Lewa. When he got right next to his bed he slapped the bag hard, creating a loud pop. Lewa jolted out of bed and tangled himself in the blankets. In an instant he was down on the floor with a thud. Takanuva laughed so hard he had to place his hand on his knees to keep himself up. Lewa shuffled his way out of the blankets and looked at the Toa of light in surprise before cracking a smile.
"That's a good one fire-spitter. Now if only Tahu or Kopaka had your sense of fun-humor." He stood up and stretched himself before leading the way out of his hut. It was mid morning and Matoran were going about their daily lives as if the storm never happened. Lewa took in the jungle air and then turned to face Takanuva.
"Okay fire-spitter," he smiled cheerfully. "It's time you quick-learned the proper way to vine-swing."
"Oh come on it was just one slip up." he jokingly protested.
Lewa raised a hand and cut him off. "As a Toa-hero you can't afford to ground-bound like that. A little practice-learning and you'll be jungle-soaring in no time. Besides, this can also double as sharp-eying for that creature." He went over to the first vine and grabbed hold of it.
"Just follow-watch me." He pushed himself off and swung through the forest. He landed on a branch and passed the vine back. Takanuva griped it firmly and nervously looked down. He looked back up and counted to himself. On three he pushed himself off and swung to the other branch. Lewa smiled.
"Now, lets see how far-long you can do this."

With his quake breakers Onua dug out the earth for a new tunnel. His chainsaw roared as it ripped through the soil like a hot knife on butter. As Matoran moved the dirt and rock away he stopped for a moment and placed his hand on the wall. With eyes closed he began to feel the earth around him. Vibrations from the walking Matoran allowed him to see the soil several yards in. So far, the earth was stable. He then noticed a series of footsteps that didn't belong to any Matoran. The person took heavy, fast strides. A smile came to his face, for he knew exactly whom it was. He opened his eyes and kept working, not bothering to tell the miners of the arriving guest. One by one the Matoran stopped in their tracks and stared with surprise and pleasure as Pohatu passed by.
"Came back for a real job huh?" chuckled Onua. His voice was deep, yet warm.
Pohatu crossed his arms and smiled. "Perhaps another time brother. I came to make sure Onu-koro was safe."
"And why would you think it wouldn't be?"
Pohatu's tone dropped. "Ta-koro was attacked last night."
Onua froze. "What?" His voice nearly cracked. He looked over at his brother. "But how? The Makuta is dead."
"Apparently not. Some giant bird-like Rahi flew over and poured a concoction that catches fire, floats on water and suffocates."
Onua tilted his head. "So what made you think it would come to Onu-koro?"
Pohatu shrugged. "When do the Makuta only send out one Rahi? Surely he might have something just for you village."
Onua pondered over it for a moment. "I'll keep a close eye out for any trouble. In the mean time I've got a tunnel I'm almost done with."

Ashley and Caitlin held up a large limb, while Sarah used a shoelace to tie it to a larger branch that spanned overhead. They took a step back and admired their simple shelter. It was nothing more than a row of large branches leaned up against an even larger branch that rested between the branches of two trees. Branches and limbs were kept aside for firewood. Though how they would actually make a fire was something Sarah had yet to figure out.
She was too preoccupied over trying to recall the crash. She was able to recover a few flashes of memory, but they were too short to make a solid picture. What she could sort out was that it was during the planes decent. Eventually it became too much for her to bear and she shifted her thoughts to something else.
"Okay, so what now?" asked Ashley. "What does that book of yours say?"
Sarah looked up and thought about it. "Well, there's still a lot of daylight left, so we can either search for food or work on the fire."
"Alright." Ashley grabbed two large sticks and began to rub them together.
"That doesn't necessarily work." Sarah said. "Not only does the wood have to be very dry, but has to have a low point of ignition."
"Alright, we'll use rocks." said Caitlin.
"Again, only certain types of rocks will spark on contact."
Ashley placed her hands on her hips and shifted her weight. "So what are we suppose to do?"
"Right now our best bet is to rub different sticks together until we exhaust ourselves out." But then her eyes lit up in realization. "Or we could re-search the luggage for lighters or matches. Surely something made it past security."
"But what about food?" Caitlin rubbed her stomach. "I'm hungry."
"Alright, you two go find something for us to eat, while I look for a fire source."
"Isn't splitting up a big no-no in survival?" Ashley asked.
Sarah's shoulders went down. "Depends. We're not going to be getting off any time soon so it doesn't matter, so long as we meet back here." She then began to walk away. "See you in an hour or two."

Mr. Petrik found it very convenient that there was a trail running up along the cliff side. It was also a relief. Wherever they were, the region had to be populated. But how far the trail goes or where it leads too left him wondering.
They were three quarters of the way up when Mackenzie spoke. "Do you feel that?"
Mr. Petrik and Kyle paused. They felt a small tremor beneath their feet, and it was growing. Soon the rock at the bottom of the cliff shot out in an explosion. The shock sent them flying off their feet and against the cliff face. When they recovered they looked over the cliff. The dust had cleared enough to see large rocks and boulders that were scattershot form a single point. It puzzled them what kind of force could've done such a precise blow.
Then it clicked with Mr. Petrik: Miners. He smiled, expecting someone to emerge from the dust and become their saviors. Sure enough two people came out, but they weren't quite people.
To their amazement they were machines, one brown the other black. As the two figures strode to the beach, Mr. Petrik looked at his students, speechless.
"Should we talk to them?" he quietly asked.
"I don't know." Replied Kyle. "What if they're hostile?"
A few pebbles trickled down the cliff and caught Mackenzie's attention. She looked up and her mouth gapped open. "Get back!" she whispered. She pulled her teacher to the cliff face.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Kyle looked up and then helped push his teacher back. "Shhh!"
Mr. Petrik looked at them as if they were crazy, but them froze when he heard a soft hum from above. The three stared upwards. They could barely see the blades of grass on top, but then two large creatures hovered over them and flew to the shore. Their gaze followed them as their legs came apart, allowing them to land on the beach behind the other robots.
The robots spun around and were quick to draw out weapons. The two intruders were considerably bigger, with large spikes running down its hunched back. They hissed and pulled out staffs.
"Cool, robot fight." smiled Kyle.
Mr. Petrik was at a loss of it all. It wasn't until stones were magically levitating and throwing themselves at the giant robots that he got scared. "Okay, party is over, lets get out of here!" He grabbed his students by the arm and hurried them up the trail.

Sarah sighed in frustration. This was the fifth suitcase she searched and hadn't found a single lighter. There was a silver lining, as she had found a divers watch, to which she wore on her right wrist.
She put her hands over her eyes and looked up the coast. There wasn't any sign of debris for several miles. She gave up and made the two-mile walk back to her camp.
When she arrived she was surprised to see a fire burning. On the other side sat Ashley and Caitlin along with a figure that made her cringe. "Shouldn't you be dead?" she snorted.
"Shouldn't you?" scowled Janet.
Sarah exchanged a dirty look and then looked over. "Where did you get that?" She pointed to a large wooden crate.
"Found it in the woods." Janet replied before taking a bite out of an apple.
Sarah tilted her head. "Wreckage doesn't float into the middle of jungles."
"Well that's where I found it."
"Then it isn't from the plane. It could belong to pirates."
Janet shrugged. "They wont miss it."
Sarah rolled her eyes and opened the crate. Inside was several bottles of water, a box of matches and a bag of trail mix. "We can't survive on trail mix."
"Relax." grinned Janet. "There's more where that came from."
Sarah looked at her suspiciously.
"It's true. I'll take you over there, on the condition that I become leader."
Sarah quickly shot herself up. "No." she said forcefully.
Janet put her hands behind her lead and leaned back against a tree. "Well then good luck finding them."
Ashley and Caitlin looked at Sarah with pleading eyes. Sarah clutched her fist and spoke through her teeth. "Fine."

With one good kick Pohatu sent a large boulder flying at his opponent. The impact sent the Panrahk across the beach. When it got back up it let out a screech. It was quickly interrupted when Onua used his strength and threw the Guurahk at its feet. When it got up the two jumped into the air, retracted their legs and hovered away.
The Toa of stone wasn't going to let them go that easily. He summoned his powers and with the wave of his proto-pincers, caused a large section of cliff to give way. The massive rockslide buried the Rahkshi. When the dust settled the Toa saw no signs of movement.
"Well done." cheered Onua. The two Toa pumped fist and smiled.
But Pohatu's smile quickly disappeared. "Odd, why would Rahkshi come at us like that, and then run away?"
Onua shrugged. "At least we know one thing's for certain: The Makuta lives."
"You can say that again." Something then caught the corner of his eye and he looked down. "Onua?"
The Toa of earth looked over to see his brother pointing to the ground. He looked down and saw three pairs of strange, yet identical footprints in the sand.
"What do you make of it?" asked Pohatu.
Onua put a finger on his chin. "I don't think that attack was necessarily an 'attack'."
"A diversion?" the Toa of stone replied in surprise.
"A cover up. What ever was here, they didn't want us to find."
Pohatu stared out at the ocean. "So what don't they want us to know?"

"How much further?" moaned Ashley, "I'm getting tired of these bugs." She found one on her arm and slapped it.
"Quit it," snapped Janet, "We're almost there." She pushed aside a giant fern and stopped.
Sarah, Caitlin and Ashley looked around her and stared at the supplies. There were creates and boxes of food, varying from cereals to fruits and canned goods. Some of the crates appeared to be from the military, but what really caught their attention was the tall, sunglass and suit-wearing figure sitting on a crate. The sunlight that pierced the canopy shined on his face and black hair in a way that made him appear to be glowing.
He let out a smirk. "I was wondering when someone would wash ashore. Congrats on making it this far."
Sarah noticed something wasn't right with his voice. It sounded a bit artificial. She then tilted her head. "What are you talking about? Is this some kind of sick joke?"
The man raised an index finger. "I prefer the term 'game'."
"Game." Sarah repeated. "What for?"
"For my own amusement of course." He smiled at their concerned looks and continued. "Don't worry, you just have to follow my rules and who knows, if you survive long enough I'll send you home."
"And just what rules are those?" snorted Janet.
"It's simple. All across the island are threats, from primitive beast, to savages of various shapes and sizes. You simply must face off against and survive everything I throw at you."
"Fat chance." Janet snapped. "We'll just wait for a ship to pass and-"
The stranger chuckled. "You won't find any rescue. If you don't believe me then just look at the night sky."
The girls looked at each other confusingly. Then the stranger stood up and walked into the jungle. "I'll check up on you in a week."
"Wait," said Sarah.
The stranger stopped and looked over his shoulder.
"What's your name?"
It was a question, she noticed, that the stranger didn't seemed prepared for.
"Just call me Mr. Brute." he smiled, and then walked again.
Seeing it as a chance for finding rescue Sarah quickly set after him. She heard a distinct pop and when she moved the vegetation aside she found no trace of him. Looking down she saw footprints that abruptly ended.
She let out a frustrated huff and returned to the supplies. Janet and the other girls were already sorting through and gathering what they needed. Sarah opened one of the military crates and was filled with a mix of surprise and relief when she found an AR-15 rifle, with several boxes of ammunition. While she examined it Janet came around with a Springfield riffle.
"I'd leave the gun handling to me if I were you." Sarah warned.
"Hey, I'm in charge, remember? I can carry a gun." She pulled on the trigger, firing a shot straight into a nearby bush. The sound boomed through the forest and scared the local birds, along with Ashley and Caitlin. The recoil was enough to make Janet let out a shrilling scream and she dropped the gun.
Sarah marched over, picked up the riffle and showed it off in front of Janet's face. "From now on, I hold onto the guns, understand?!"
Janet quickly nodded.
Sarah then strapped the Springfield around her shoulder. "Good, now lets go. It's getting dark."

Takanuva and Lewa were suddenly spooked by a loud and thunderous sound and unintentionally let go of their vines. Takanuva yelped and landed stomach first onto a branch while Lewa used his mask power to keep himself in the air.
"Mata Nui!" yelled Lewa as he franticly spun around to find the source. "The Rahi is back!"
"I don't think it was the Rahi." groaned Takanuva "It seemed more like an explosion than a roar."
"I'll take a quick-peek, just incase." Lewa flew over the canopy and looked around. He soon descended back to Takanuva and shook his head. "No Makuta-monsters out there. Come on, we must wind-sprint to the village. Hopefully Turaga-elder has something for us."

Sarah sat back and gazed at the sunset. Although she was facing north, the land didn't hide the magnificent hues of red and orange in the sky. She looked at her watch, which read two thirty. It certainly had to be readjusted for all the time zones they jumped across. She pulled out a tinny nob and spun it until the hands read 8:30.
She returned to her camp and sat by the fire. Caitlin and Ashley were huddled together while Janet sat on the opposite side.
"So what now?" asked Ashley.
"We play 'Mr. Brute's' game." replied Sarah. "We can either go hunting, look for more survivors-"
"Or do nothing." barked Janet. "In case you haven't noticed we're on a tropical paradise! Why not enjoy it?"
Sarah scratched the back of her head. "I suppose you could, but sooner or later you'll get sick of it."
"I don't know, I kind of like Janet's idea." replied Ashley. "It's already stressful as it is."
"Ugh, fine. Have your beach party." Sarah snapped, "While I'll be doing something productive."
An awkward silence then followed until Caitlin changed the conversation. "What do you think he meant, by telling us to look at the night sky?"
Janet shrugged. "Beats me. They look just fine."
Sarah looked up and did indeed see stars, but only a few. She stood up and walked out towards the ocean waves. The farther she got from the fire the more stars she was able to see. It was a breathtaking to see them clustered to make out a galaxy. She then looked around for constellations.
She found what she thought was the big dipper, but soon figured out that it wasn't it. After a while she gave up and focused on another one: Orion. To her disbelief it was nowhere to be seen either. Pegasus, Scorpios, every constellation she knew was gone. It baffled her. She frantically thought over what it meant until she remembered him saying that no ship or vessel would ever find them.
The idea that came to her was so outlandish and farfetched that she started to think she was going crazy. But it didn't hurt to get her friends opinion on it. She walked back to the camp and sat down.
"Well?" asked Ashley.
Sarah took a deep breath and spoke very bluntly. "We're not on Earth."
The three girls stared at her for several seconds. Then Janet scoffed at her. "What are you, nuts? We're not on an alien planet, just look around!"
"But the stars-"
"We're probably just on the southern hemisphere. Go to bed and in the morning you'll feel better, got it?"
Sarah let out a deep sigh. "Fine, be that way." As she went to lay down in her shelter, she heard Janet give a remark that made her clutch her fist. She looked forward to tomorrow. She'd make sure to get up bright an early to get as much distance between her and Janet as possible.

When Sarah opened her eyes she was blinded by sunlight. She stirred around and then sat up. To her surprise she was alone. It was difficult for her to decide if she should be relieved that Janet was gone or concerned that she and the girls might get themselves into trouble.
The fire was smoldering. They had to have been gone for a while. She then looked over and saw two new crates. Seeing that it was close to midday she figured she might as well go help them. She got up, and took her riffle with her.
For over ten minutes she walked through the thick underbrush. Birds chirped and squawked above. It was something Sarah expected to hear from the movies, but something felt off. The sounds were unnatural, sounding a bit artificial, just like Mr. Brute's voice. Or perhaps she just wasn't used to hearing birds outside of Oregon.
Sudden screams caught her by surprise. She readied her gun and looked around. "Ashley?! Caitlin?!" She could hear their screams getting closer.
Vegetation rustled and all three girls ran right pass her, screaming their lungs out.
"Run!" Shouted Ashley.
But Sarah didn't. Instead she made a firm stance and aimed the riffle in the same direction Ashley had run from. She expected some wild jungle cat, but there was no disturbance of foliage. Instead there was a faint, high-pitched buzz. It grew louder and felt like it was coming from all directions. Then she looked up.
Her eyes widened at the sight of a group of five giant, robotic, mosquito-like insects flying just below the canopy. She kept herself stiff. Running would trigger their instinct to chase her. She hoped they would just investigate her and then fly off. To her horror they flew straight at her. She could see the determination in the eyes, which left her frozen in fear, but not for long.
At the last second she jumped out of the way before the first insect could snatch her. It was too close for comfort. She landed on her stomach and groaned as she scrambled to the cover of a nearby bush.
She peeked though the leaves and saw them circling around her. Another insect dove in and missed. She had to do something and fast. Panic-stricken, she aimlessly pointed her gun in the air and fired. It didn't hit anything, but the ear-popping boom was enough to scare them away.
For nearly a minute Sarah sat, shaken by the ordeal. When the hum was gone she was able to recollect herself. She got up and speed-walked her way back to the camp. When she arrived she found Janet, Ashley and Caitlin huddled under the shelter.
Sarah cracked a smirk at Janet. "I took care of your little bug problem."
"Shut up!" Janet shot back.
"What where those things?" Caitlin asked, trying to change the conversation.
"Don't know." replied Sarah. "But my best guess it's Mr. Brute's first challenge."
"So what do we do about them?" asked Ashley.
Sarah pondered over it. "Hopefully they wont bother us again. However, I don't want to know what else is out there."
Ashley then spoke. "Now that you mention it, I don't know how to explain this, but yesterday, on our way home, I thought I saw what looked liked an angel swinging on vines though the tree tops." Everyone gave her a blank stare.
"You have got to be kidding me." scoffed Janet.
"What? I saw it, I swear. It was white and gold."
Sarah sighed. "Janet, if giant, man eating bugs are out here, then there's no need to rule out the possibility of 'jungle angles'." She then began to walk away.
"Wait, where are you going?" asked Caitlin.
Sarah spun around, but only for a moment. "Going to find survivors."