Chapter 3

The lights of BZ-Koro were brightly piercing the silent night. Half a kio away, Beisbeis stood in a small clearing, his breathing slightly harder than usual. He had been hardly running for five minutes, but he had already lost Také. He scanned through the small woods with his Akaku, and settled upon a bundle of heat that was nearing him. He could wait until Také found him.

Soon, a glowing Miru landed on the ground, the light slowly fading away. Také turned to the captain.

"Are you all right?" Beisbeis nodded.

"Right enough. And you?"

Reluctantly, Také's arm turned to reveal a small wound. Beisbeis' brow furrowed.

"What happened?"

"An archer got lucky and grazed me," he said, smiling weakly, "Don't worry. I've had worse, and I always was a fast healer." Beisbeis smirked.

"But you've never been injured while on the run, have you?" Beisbeis turned back to focus on the bandage.

"No, no, really, you don't have to do that – " Také stuttered. Beisbeis answered with a glare. Také sighed as Beisbeis carefully bandaged the gash with strips ripped from his cloak.

"Speaking of being 'on the run', where should we go now?" Beisbeis' looked behind Také's shoulder, his mechanical eye whirling forward, adjusting his vision.

"Let's just get out of here – there's a party of soldiers coming, and they'll find us soon if we don't leave."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Beisbeis and Také sprinted on east through the dark woods, watching the sun pierce through the fog. Soon, grassy paths gave way to sandy dunes - the huge stretch of sandy expanse of beach lay before them to the left and right. Také sighed and sat down on a tree root.

" Y'know, I wonder why Niwan reacted the way he did; shouldn't he have been wanting to help us?"

Beisbeis didn't answer; his attention was to tracks close to the water. Také noticed what he was looking at and leapt off the gnarled root to look.

"Thin tracks… it looks like each foot has two of them… look, there's a huge group of them over here!"

The captain's blood froze when he saw them. They were unmistakable, after so many months of hating and fighting them.

The Bohrok had come.

Beisbeis burst off running the familiar beach that he had taken whenever he traveled to Mata Nui, with Také slightly behind leaping in the air once in a while to scout ahead. The tracks were at least a few hours old; they might be able to catch them in time, wherever they were headed. After a few minutes, Také shouted out anxiously:

"There's something up ahead; it looks like a Matoran!"

Beisbeis looked around nervously, the water starting to splash at his knees. There was no difference of heat in the sand that he could see. His heart thumping hard, he ran over the last remaining sand dunes, each seeming to take forever to cross. Finally, he had reached the spot.

There was a Matoran, sprawled in the bottom of a sand hole. The mask had fallen off the face, and any color that might have been in it was gone. Beisbeis kneeled at the Matoran's side, picking up the body and finding two punctures in the stomach. A black liquid was trickling from the wounds. His heart light was dark.

"They must have been Lehvak to have poison," whispered, Také, almost to himself, "And they must have Krana VU to fly from Mata Nui…"

Beisbeis didn't answer; there was nothing he really could say. He sat in silence for a few seconds, the initial shock from this new discovery slowly ebbing away. The Matoran had never seen an innocent BZ-Koran dead before. His breathing began to slow; he brought the dead Matoran's head to his, embraced it for a few seconds, and then laid the body in the sand. The captain raised the Matoran's Kanohi, a Rau, and placed it gently back on the face. He grabbed a piece of bark from the forest nearby, pulled out a knife and carved something on it, although Také couldn't see what it said from where he was.

"If we survive this, I'll come for you," he whispered, his eyes closed tight as he embedded the bark into the ground. Také bowed his head in reverence. Silence overcame for a few seconds – the wind whistled through their gravesite, grains of sand slowly starting to cover the dead Matoran. Beisbeis' eyes flashed open, an unnatural red fire in his blue eyes.

"Let's go."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Matoran captain and his comrade sprinted as the scorching sun rose higher into the sky. They ran, the death of the Matoran still fresh on their minds; and by mid-afternoon, they had encompassed almost the entire eastern shoreline of The Island, and the outpost was in sight ahead.

It was really a small community rather than a single construction, with two small houses that kept the soldiers for their two weeks of watch in front of the actual outpost, which was a cylinder building with a walkway at the top. The walkway, however, was never used, since no one had attacked it before; more than anything, this was merely a stop before the soldiers continued their travels to Mata Nui. There was a small garden to the side filled with food in case of an emergency, and a road led away from the outpost to the dock at the shore for shipping anything to and from Mata Nui, along with the import and export of troops. As they lay on the last hill to the outpost, Také grabbed his bow and arrow while Beisbeis unsheathed his mace.

"Just take them by surprise and go quietly at first," he whispered to Také, "We don't know how many Bohrok are there, or even if they have left." Také nodded grimly, his eyes focusing on the right shelter. Through a shattered window a Bohrok was seen, searching for any live Matoran. The soldier notched an arrow, leaning his head to Beisbeis, waiting for his command. The Matoran nodded and started running towards the outpost.

An arrow zipped past the captain's shoulder, through the window of the hut and pierced the side of the Bohrok's neck. The Bohrok howled in pain, then fell out of view from the window. Calls from other Bohrok came from elsewhere in the area.

Beisbeis ran onto the pathway in between the houses, swinging his mace as he roared his challenge. A Bohrok stepped out of the outpost, blasting a ball of poison towards the Matoran. The captain leapt in the air and swung his mace forward as he fell and shattered the headplate and dying Krana. Three more appeared from the dock area, running at Beisbeis, but one fell from the attack with a well-shot arrow in the head.

The Bohrok screeched as weapons collided. Claws tried gripping the mace and ejecting poison at the same time. The captain pulled back from the push, and as the Bohrok fell to the ground, its headplate opened, flinging the Krana at Beisbeis. The Matoran panicked as the Krana latched to his leg and slowly started inching up his body. Seizing the opportunity, the remaining Bohrok leapt onto Beisbeis and grabbed his neck. The Matoran's heart pounded faster as the grip grew tighter and tighter…

Suddenly, the Bohrok screamed, falling to its side, a knife in its back. Beisbeis massaged his neck, still breathing hoarsely as Také came and quickly stabbed the remaining Krana with his dagger.

A hideous scream broke the silence. It came from the outpost.

"Wait here," the captain said to Také, coming to his mace and bringing it to a defensive position, "I'll be back soon."

Také said nothing, confused as Beisbeis entered the outpost. A huge breeze blew on Také from the west as he sat down, his anxiety starting to grow. If the Bohrok had left a swarm to protect the outpost, there were three missing…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Beisbeis quietly entered the outpost, his Akaku scanning back and forth. There didn't seem to be any Bohrok that he could see. Satisfied, Beisbeis crept forward, his grip tightening on the mace, swinging it left to right.

Suddenly, a Bohrok leapt to the right of him, its claws swinging wildly, hissing. Beisbeis on instinct threw himself backwards as the Bohrok fell to its stomach, surprised at its' opponent's move. The Matoran swung his mace upwards into the headplate, shattering it and creating a hole in the Krana. The Krana began the familiar process of dissolving away as Beisbeis' thumping heart yet again began to slow down.

'I didn't even see it in my Akaku,' he thought. 'Don't be so foolish, Beisbeis… take things a little slower.'

Now that he was sure that he was the only one in the room, he took his first glance around it. He had passed his way through here, but he had never actually had orders to come here, so he had never been in this room. Barrels of weapons and water lay toppled and strewn over the wrecked dirt floor where many bodies of Matoran were lying everywhere, some trampled over in the confusion of footprints inside the building. It was obvious on the looks on their faces that they had died in pain and shock. Beisbeis sighed and bowed his head, depressed that he could not have sooner.

A moan from above him caught Beisbeis' attention, and his head perked up, listening more intently. He grabbed his mace out of the Bohrok and climbed the stairs in the back of the building that lead outside onto the platform overlooking all of the land around the outpost, which included the dock to the sea. The moan came out again, and this time it was in the room that lay on the second floor behind him. Beisbeis followed the pathway to the door into the room, which lay facing the front.

When he came inside, he found the officer's quarters destroyed. Papers lay scattered about; the officer lay dead in his chair, two small holes in his stomach, dried blood on his chin. A cough came from behind the chair, and Beisbeis' mace instantly went to his position, his heart thumping.

Suddenly, something grabbed him from behind and tossed him to the floor. Beisbeis felt a searing pain in his back, and he tried to free himself, but his enemy was too strong…

'Mata Nui, this can't be how I go…'

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Take looked around the outpost. After five minutes, fighting could be heard inside the building. Také gripped his weapons, and ran through the destroyed entrance of protodermis. There was already a dead Bohrok lying near the front, but Také kept his dagger nearby as he ran up the stairs.

When he reached the room, he found a Bohrok standing over something. Instantly, the dagger flew out of his hand and into the monster's back. It fell, howling to its side. The soldier crawled and gasped when he found his captain breathing hoarsely, two holes piercing his side. Také quickly squeezed the skin. To his relief, pure blood, and not poison, came out of the wound. Quickly, he stopped the bleeding and wrapped a piece of cloth around the two holes. Beisbeis breathing began to slow down as he slowly got up, staggered for a moment, whispered, "Thanks," and began to search the cough's origin.

He found a young private over his dead officer, covered in congealed blood, his breathing also ragged. Beisbeis leaned over the Matoran and began to strip the clothes off of the body. When the soldier noticed Beisbeis and Také, he began to panic. His breathing became short and jarred like a broken record because of his crying.

"I – I d – do – nh – t – wah - ant – t – t – to die – "

Beisbeis dropped his mace and rushed to his aid. It only took one look before he realized it was too late for him. He was amazed he had lasted this long.

"Calm down," he whispered, trying to comfort both of them, "Y – You're not gonna go – "

"I don't wanna – I don't wanna – Ama – Ama – " Tears streamed down the private's face. His speech was hardly discernable; he began to shake uncontrollably.

"Calm down, buddy – you have to calm down," Beisbeis tried saying. He wondered who Ama was. "You're making it worse –" But the young Matoran would not listen.

"No! No! NO!"

The Matoran screamed out, his eyes filled with terror.

"Nnnoo!"

Shrieks of pain filled the small room. Beisbeis could feel his own heart bursting out of his body.

"Nh… "

The Matoran exhaled, and his arms slowly lessened their tense grip. Soon, the arms fell to the ground and the soldier's eyes stared back, lifeless. Beisbeis stood there for a moment, tears flowing from his eyes, his mind disbelieving as he shook his head. Také gripped his shoulder nervously, his eyes also watering.

"C'mon, let's get out of here."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The remaining Bohrok watched the two Matoran leave the outpost, and then climbed the building himself. It watched the two hike into the Pöuri forest and noticed the burning trees to the south of them. There was a chance that they would see the rest of the swarm before it was time. It must warn the swarms of the impeding danger. Anything that was necessary to complete the mission.

The Bohrok exited the outpost and hurried to the southwest, leaving a trail of death and pain behind it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Beisbeis stumbled along through the Pöuri forest, staring at the damp, dark ground in front of him. Také watched his leader hesitantly before he called to him.

"…Beisbeis?" He asked. Beisbeis continued walking. "Beisbeis?"

The captain's head snapped out of his trance at looked at back at the Matoran. "Yes, Také?"

"Are you all right?" Také inquired hesitantly. Beisbeis nodded vigorously, but he did not meet his eyes and turned back to face forward. He was still preoccupied with the young soldier's death. He had seen lifeless corpses; but he had never had to hold death in his arms, to watch a life become extinguished.

Také opened his mouth to say something and closed it after a few seconds; instead, he held out his arm and placed it on Beisbeis' shoulder. Beisbeis' head jolted backwards to look at Také once more and smiled slightly before he twisted back once again. He didn't want to preoccupy himself with it; Také had to see that he was fine, that he could lead. That was what mattered.

As he turned his head, however, he noticed something that he hadn't confirmed before. Every twisted, entwining tree with dark green leaves and shady branches looked the same as the one in front, to the side, and behind them. They were lost.

While he scanned the background, he noticed a bright light coming to the left of them. The sun was illuminating an enormous boulder embedded into the soil.

"Také," he whispered, "Go over there and tell what you see. I'll meet you in a few seconds." Také nodded and levitated to the branches. Beisbeis watched him leap from tree to tree before he started after him.

When he reached the boulder, Beisbeis noticed how strange it was for this enormous rock to be where it was. It was in a small clearing, away from the forest. Moss covered the entire face, giving a sense that the rock was alive, also. As he gazed at the spectacle, Beisbeis saw Také standing at the top, surveying the land.

"Come on down," the captain whispered, "There's a chance that someone might see you."

The Matoran leapt off of the side of the rock face. Beisbeis flinched; he and heights did not agree with each other often, especially after jumping off BZ-Koro's battlements. Také's Miru, however, began glowing as he descended, allowing him to softly contact the ground beneath him, next to Beisbeis.

"I think we already have been seen," The Matoran said nervously. Beisbeis immediately spun around and used his Akaku to sense a low level of heat all around them. They were being surrounded. Instinctively, Beisbeis grabbed his mace, ready to attack, and murmured quietly to Také, "Keep your eye out. There's something around, watching us; keep your guard up, and don't run if it comes out."

They went another ten bio to the left, when suddenly a rustle was heard from the trees. Beisbeis readied his mace, but his falling enemy jumped from the tree before he was ready. The Matoran was slammed to the ground before he knew it, and quickly fell into darkness.