DISCLAIMER: DUH!
Please enjoy. Ko-Metru is next .
Kate had tried everything she could think of to get Whenua to let go. She kicked, she screamed, she even threatened him. All of this fell deaf to his ears, meeting annoyed sighs from Nuju and amused chuckles from Whenua instead of her feet meeting the floor. Now that she had given upon trying to get the Earth Toa to let go, Kate hung over his shoulder with her arms crossed and her face set in a scowl. Nuju, personally was just pleased that this strange rahi had finally shut up. Who knew what kind of attention they had attracted on the upper floors of the archives.
Ever since Kate had fallen quiet, Whenua had been trying to get her to talk again. He asked her questions that she begrudgingly answered. After all, the guy was three times bigger than her. What choice did she have?
"So you come from a world called Earth?" Whenua asked for what must have been the fourth time I the last minute.
"Yeah." Kate muttered. "And I'm not a RAHI, or whatever you call an animal. I'm a human. Perfectly capable of rational thought!" This last sentence was aimed at Nuju for the 'Not very smart,' comment from earlier.
"It has a mouth on it, doesn't." Said Toa commented icily.
"I HAVE a name!" Kate snorted indignantly. "Stop calling me 'it'!"
"Then what is this name of yours, human?" Whenua asked.
Kate hesitated before she decided that there was no harm in telling these guys what she was called. After all, it sure was better than being called 'it'. "Katrina. But call me Kate. It's shorter and sounds better."
They'd been searching the Archives for awhile now and so far Nuju was only getting increasingly frustrated. Many times they'd had to leave Kate outside a room while they went in to search for whatever they were down here for in the first place. The only reason that Kate hadn't run already was because Nuju had easily mentioned that she would only get herself lost without them. Unfortunately, she knew he was right. So she waited. Kate just wished that they trusted her when they were there. Whenua seemed convinced that if he didn't have ahold of her, she would disappear. She would if she could.
At one point they had stopped at a door that Whenua had been worried about entering, but they finally did, leaving Kate outside to wait and watch. She crouched there, by the door, with her arms wrapped around her shins and her chin propped on her knees. She stared at the wall across from her, lost in thought.
Suddenly, a loud screech filled the hall, making her jump. She turned to stare at the door she was waiting outside of with wide eyes and a pounding pulse. Inside, she could hear Whenua and Nuju yelling at each other and aside from them, the cries of an angry animal. Oh, Lord above! What in the world was MAKING those sounds! She didn't want to know and sent a prayer of thanks that Whenua hadn't insisted on making her go inside. She was seriously considering bolting (Who wanted to be down here with two Toa and an angry monster trying to get at you? A no brainer.) when Whenua and Nuju suddenly came flying out of the room, covered with ice and snow. They hit the opposite wall and the gap that had appeared closed quickly behind them.
Kate stared at them as if to say, 'What happened to you?' But if she was expecting an answer, she was sorely disappointed.
"I guess it worked." Whenua groaned as he stood and brushed the ice from his armor. "This hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be."
"Maybe that's the first lesson in the life of a Toa."Nuju replied, doing the same. "Nothing is easy."
'Well I could've told you that!' Kate thought, but the irritated look on the Ice Toa's face prompted her to keep her mouth shut.
Kate was beginning to think that they were walking in circles. This place was just one hallway after another and she was considering what Nuju said about the way out. The question was, did they know the way out? They might have just told her that to keep her from running off. Not that she could have. This place terrified her to no end. Crazy monsters behind every door, mazes of tunnels and hallways and strange signs that she had no idea if they were giving directions or telling you that you were lost. That was what she hated most. Feeling lost and alone. Finally, Nuju voiced the suspicion that she herself had found on the tip of her tongue.
"We're going in circles, aren't we?"
So he wasn't the one who knew the way out. It was Whenua, who currently had a heavy hand planted on her shoulder as they walked. (He'd finally given in to her pleas to walk on her own.) "Not at all." He insisted. "But if it's here, we will have to find it soon. We've explored almost the entire level! I don't think—"
"SHHH!" Kate hissed suddenly, her head tilted to one side. "Am I the only one who hears that?"
Whenua and Nuju were both quiet for a moment and in the quiet, heavy pounding could be heard. It sounded like footsteps. A LOT of footsteps.
"We just ran out of time." Whenua said suddenly, reaching out and yanking open the nearest door. "The Vahki are coming. Someone must have heard all the noise down here and called for them."
"That's partially your fault." Nuju told Kate, earning himself a glare.
The Toa of Earth was no frantically opening doors and raging on about authorization and Onu-Metru Vahkis. Kate had little time to comprehend what was going on before Whenua was dragging her forward and yanking open doors on the go. He and Nuju were having a hurried conversation while all Kate could think was 'Ohmigod! I'm gonna die!'
Whenua reached for yet another door and pulled it open, but instead of an animal or an empty room, a cascade of items fell out, burying him and yanking Kate out of his grasp. She stumbled and ran into the Toa of Ice who steadied her before staring at the pile of artifacts. A moment went by, then two and all Kate was aware of was her pounding heart and the pounding footsteps slowly growing louder. Nuju took a step towards the unmoving pile when an armored hand burst from it holding what looked to Kate like a Frisbee. Then, Whenua was dragging himself from the pile and Nuju was hoisting Kate over his shoulder, causing her to cry out in surprise. It was time to be absent from this place.
Thanks for reading! Please review, but be gentle. The good stuff is yet to come!