M.I.A Ch 2

*Over 17,000 years ago*
The new Toa of stone examined himself for a third time. He could feel the new power flowing through him. It was amazing, and yet somewhat nerve racking. This power came at a price: he had to use it to protect the Matoran, something the novice wasn't good at nor had any interest in doing. His approaching brother was one of several reasons why.
"Of all people I never expected you to become a Toa." Smirked the Toa of fire as he slapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Same to you." He snapped back.
"Hey, at least I have a Toa-like quality. What do you have, your personality?"
The Toa clutched his fist.
"Just as I thought." The Toa of fire shrugged and walked off.
He looked at himself again. There was something about all this that wasn't right. Becoming a Toa was a high honor indeed, but he didn't feel that he was meant to be one. He looked back at his team. The five Toa were at the opening of the temple, rejoicing in their power and the duties that came with it. He sighed in disappointment. There was no way to go back to his old life, all he could do now was accept his new form and fight beside his 'comrades' until he fulfills his destiny; Whatever that 'destiny' is suppose to be.

The cloaked being rammed his shoulder into a tree. He screamed and staggered back as he rubbed his shoulder. He had tried everything to get the pain out of his arm. No amount of rubbing, itching, or herbs worked. Seeing no other option he pushed his cloak out of the way and tried to dig a finger through the hole. Anyone that heard his whimpering and hollering would find the sound unnatural. His fingertip finally touched the object lodged in, but the hole was too small to allow him to dig it out. He growled in frustration.
"What in Mata Nui's name did she do to me?!" He was able to move the arm around, but any shoulder movement was very discomforting. If there was any chance of getting it out he would need the strange and ugly creature to do it. Finding her wouldn't be a problem. A spot of a red liquid stained the tip of his blade. With it he had her sent, and a trail leading back to her place of hiding.

"How is she?" asked Scott.
Oscar wiped his forehead. "She's sore allover. A few days of rest and she'll be back on her feet. She's still a little shaken by what happened. Just what exactly did you say did this to her?"
"It's hard to explain." He sat down on a log and placed his hands close to the fire. "First we encountered these giant mosquito-like creatures. They snatched her and carried her away. When we found her she was at least fifty feet up a tree with a black, lizard-thing with spikes.
"The fun part is she shot it in the shoulder." Smiled Josh.
"Him." Corrected Sam from inside the plane.
Josh rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
She slowly rolled over, resting her head on her hands. "Don't you get it? That thing is intelligent. He was talking face to face with me and knew every word I said."
"Well what did he say?" asked Mike.
"Something about me working for some woman."
"Great, it's insane." Stated Josh.
"I doubt that. Judging from what he said, this person has been bothering him for a long time and he wants it to stop."
"So what is he some kind of escaped experiment? Are all of these creatures part of an experiment?" questioned Daniel.
"Good question, and for now only he can answer that." Said Scott. "He might also know where on Earth we are." It wasn't until the word 'Earth' rang through Sam's mind that a startling revelation clicked.
"I don't think we're on Earth." She declared, with mouth gaping open. "Should there be two moons?"
All the marines looked up. Through the canopy they saw the broken shapes of the two celestial bodies. They were both the same size, but one floated higher in the sky than the other. Scott and the others were lost with words. Daniel was more expressive as he staggered backwards and collapsed. Josh smiled and stuck a hand out towards another marine and signaled to fork over something. He gave a dirty look as he handed Josh a twenty-dollar bill.
After soaking it all in the leader recollected himself. "Get some rest everyone. Tomorrow our priority is to find that thing and get some answers."

The chirping sound of insects and hooting owls reminded Sam of her camp outs back home. She peered out the back of the plane, observing how the rays of moonlight shone through the trees, forming pillars that illuminated the ground. She stared at them until her eyes started to get heavy. Suddenly she noticed something pass under one of the beams. It was too fast for her to tell what it was. She raised her head back up and looked more closely. It happened again with another pillar that was farther to the left, and certainly closer to the plane.
"Scott?" she whispered. "Scott wake up." A sharp growl sent the hairs on the back of her neck stand and she froze. A tall, dark figure appeared at the entrance, its blue orbs fixated squarely on hers.
"You-" she gasped.
He flared his teeth, and then roared as he pounced.
Her whole body jumped. As her heart raced she turned her head around. There was no sign of her attacker. She took a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off her face.
Daniel was sitting around the fire, taking watch when he noticed Sam was awake. "You alright?" he whispered.
"Yeah, just a bad dream."
"Le'me guess, you married Josh?"
She couldn't help but smile. "Not that bad." She attempted to move out of bed, but stopped halfway was her muscles ached for rest. She submitted to her body's whim and moaned as she laid back down. "Daniel, can you get me some water."
"Sure." He stood up and walked into the plane.

For an hour he stalked the sleeping creatures. The one keeping watch had no idea he was perched on a branch above his head. While the wait was boring, he knew he needed the perfect opening. Dawn was approaching; he would have to make his move soon. His acute hearing picked up a disturbance from inside the ship. It was the woman he met. He could hear her talking to the guard loud and clear. Her request for water made him perk up.
As the guard stood up he readied himself and hopped off the branch, landing silently where the creature had been sitting. He kept low to the ground, his black cloak blending him with the darkness. He prowled right behind the guard until he reached the plane. The creature walked to the entrance. There she was, just feet from the door, unaware he was even here. He took a step on board making a light clank. He froze. Looking over he could see that the guard was oblivious to the sound. The woman however, heard it and looked up and straight into his eyes.
"Daniel?" she said in a shaky voice.
By the time the guard turned around he snatched the creature and ran deep into the woods; Her scream waking everyone in the camp.

"Let me go!" yelled Sam. She punched him, but yelled in pain after realizing she hit something metallic. She then tried to squirm her way out. Her sore body however, protested. Then she remembered her gun. She reached back and tried to unstrap the holster. The being looked over and saw what was happening. He stopped running and hung her in the air by her leg. Then he snatched the gun and held in front of her, just far enough that she couldn't reach it.
"Not this time." He growled and crushed the weapon like a can of soda.
"You better let me go right now, or so help me I will-"
"You'll do what, shot me? You're in no position to make any demands." He snarled.
"Okay then, what do you want from me?" It took a second for her to realize she already knew the answer. He turned her back over and with one hand shoved her against a tree.
"Where is she?" He growled.
"I don't know who you're talking about."
His eye twitched. "I don't have time for this!" He grabbed her by the collar and dragged her along.
"Wait, don't kill me!"
"I won't. Not yet."
For three hours Sam walked as hard as she could to stay ahead of the cloaked being. Occasionally he would shove her to keep her 'motivated'. Neither spoke a word during the trek and her legs ached and throbbed, begging her to stop and rest. The morning light seemed to vividly make every boulder and log they passed enticing to sit on. Through the brush she noticed a blob of dark in the distance. As they got closer she realized it was a cave. The entrance was over thirty feet high and well over forty feet wide. How far back it went was impossible to tell. The light only illuminated about seventy-five feet of the cave before being consumed in shadow. Entering it, she felt a cool draft and shivered.
There wasn't much in the cave; A ring of rocks with ash in the center, a pile of ferns along the wall and various tools and objects scattered around. For a robotic and intelligent creature it was definitely the most primitive home she had ever seen. He pulled her over to the opposite side of the cave and pulled out a rope made from strands of a long, flexible plant. So exhausted, she put aside any idea to resist and held out her wrist, allowing him to tie her up. He then proceeded to tie up her feet. She noticed he was avoiding the use of his left arm. Occasionally he would stop and rub it. That's when she realized it was the bullet. He may be powerful, but he was far from invincible.
She sat down, relieved that she could rest. The ground was hard, but she was grateful to be sitting at all. He crawled over to the ferns and laid down. The creature groaned and rubbed his left shoulder.
"I'm tired," he yawned, "You have until I wake up to decide if you're willing to cooperate with me."
"And if I don't?"
He glared at her. "When I wake up I'll be hungry and right now you look pretty tasty." He curled up; spikes folded down, and closed his eyes. She half expected him to spin around a few times like a cat. For a half hour she stared at the forest. A drop or two of rain appeared, which quickly turned into a light storm. The pattering sounds of the drops on the leaves rang its lullaby into the cave.
Sleeping was very tempting for the marine, but she knew her time was running up. There was no way she could convince the giant she knew nothing. It would be a shame if her comrades found her bones along the forest floor. An odd growl filled the cave. She looked at the cloaked figure. His breathing was very deep. The fact that the thing could snore amused her.
The sign of deep sleep gave her the chance she'd been waiting for. She reached for her boot and pulled out a long knife. It was curved at the tip, with wide teeth along the bottom half of the blade. Being quiet, she sawed off the ropes.
"We'll see who's calling the shots now." On her hands and knees, she quietly crawled to the sleeping being. She had it all planned out: when she was close enough she would get on top of him and place the blade along his neck. He would have no choice but to answer to her.
She finally reached the creature, knife in hand and ready to strike. She sat up and positioned herself. A sudden wave of pain traveled through her body. She cringed her teeth and tried to rub the pain away.
"Gosh darn it." She whispered ever so slightly.
The creature's eyes opened, with his blue orbs looking right at her. She froze, startled that he woke so easily. He noticed the knife and growled in rage. What happened the next two seconds was too fast or her to comprehend. He lunged at her and managed to pin her to the ground with one hand on her chest. The other hand meant to grab the wrist holding the knife, but slipped and his claw-tipped fingers slashed her arm. She screamed and let the knife fall out of her hands.
"Well, I'm a wake and you've obviously made up your mind." He grabbed her by the neck and began to squeeze.
The marine clasped her hands around his, trying to pry them off. "Wai- you d- underst-" she gasped between words.
He squeezed harder and watched as her body wriggled around. "Oh I understand perfectly. And don't worry, I'll make sure your 'buddies' get my message loud and clear."
"Xipher!" shouted a voice. He turned around. "Put it down now!" she pleaded.
"This thing works for her."
"How do you know?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"You mean she carries her scent?" she asked curiously. His face went blank. As Sam's eyes rolled over he released his grip and sent the gasping girl falling back to the ground. She crab-walked backwards and then placed a hand on her chest while she panted to make up for the lost oxygen. Looking at the entrance she realized her unexpected rescuer was another one of his kind. She was white, with blue eyes and ears. She was smaller and also wore a cloak, but it was white. Her kidnapper brought his face close up to Sam's and began to take in several small whiffs of air. He pulled his head back stunned.
"I don't smell her." His blank stare at the wall told Sam that he was feeling stupid for not doing this in the first place. "But if you- then she-" He looked back at her. "Why so many weapons then? What are you even doing here?"
The white being approached him. "Xipher?" Her eyes were filled with worry. "Are you alright? You've been gone for two days. What's going on?"
He looked at her and shook his head. "I- I'm sorry. I haven't slept much these past few days." He rubbed his face and took a step back. "I need to sleep." He turned around and laid back down.
"Wait, won't you tell me what's going on?" The white being asked.
"Tie her back up first, then I'll explain." He answered. "Oh and search her for any other surprises."
She looked at the marine, who was sitting up, putting pressure on her bleeding arm. Sam noticed her approaching and tried to scoot herself away. The being knelt down and made eye contact.
She spoke softly. "It's okay." Out from the cloak she stretched forth a hand and turned Sam's arm over. The lower half of her sleeve was torn and stained in blood. She ripped the sleeve off and saw two long scars starting near the wrist, running six inches long, at an angle down her arm. The wound bled heavily, streaming down to her elbow, where it dripped off and pooled on the ground.
The white being walked over to a basket nearby. She opened it and dug around, using her sense of smell to aid her, and pulled out a small strip of cloth and a fern-like plant. When she returned she rubbed the leaves and placed it on the wound, then wrapped the cloth around her arm.
"There." Was all she said as she tightened the makeshift bandage. She then proceeded to search her. Sam noticed she was quite the opposite of Xipher. She didn't rip out all of the contents of her pockets, but felt around with a gentle touch, and the objects she took out were handled with care. Perhaps she would be more willing to talk. When she was done emptying her pockets she looked back at Xipher, who was sound asleep.
"Is he always that grumpy?" whispered Sam
"It's not uncommon for him to be in a bad mood." She spoke softly, "He's been through a lot. For now it's best you get some rest too. There are many questions that need answering." She walked to the bed of ferns and laid down.
"Can I first get your name?"
The white being didn't answer. Sam sighed in defeat and crawled back to the opposite side of the cave, holding her injured arm close to her chest. Using a rock for a pillow, she laid down and listened to the tapping of the rain. She was unsure now just what would happen to her, but knowing she wasn't guilty of association to some stranger brought her some relief. Perhaps a good nap is all her captors need to be in a better mood.

Sam awoke to chatter. At the entrance the two beings were conversing with each other, backs turned towards her. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but their occasional glance back at her suggested who it was about. The white being reached out and put a hand on his left shoulder. He immediately pulled it back, placing his own hand on it for protection. They exchanged a few more words and then turned and approached her. Not quite sure what to expect she sat up, still cradling her arm.
"Okay," said the white one "You have questions and so do we. Even though you don't carry our enemy's scent, Xipher here is still skeptical."
"It's because of the weapons isn't it?" she asked softly. He gave a slight nod. "I assure you they're not meant for you, unless you plan to hurt us."
"That depends on what I find out. So how about we start off small. What's your name?"
"My name is Sam. It's short for Samantha. And you are?" she looked at the white being.
"White Saber. And you've seem to of gotten well 'acquainted' with Xipher."
Xipher intervened. "Alright Sam, what are you?"
"I'm a Human."
He looked unimpressed by the answer. "Never heard of them."
"Something about that doesn't surprise me. And just what are you?"
Xipher paused. "A Toa."
Saber's ears went down as though ashamed of the answer. "So the big question, why are you here?"
Sam thought about it for a moment. Everything she figured out about this place made sense to her, but she couldn't say the same for him. She would have to choose her words carefully.
"I can't really answer that until I explain how we got here."
He tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
"My comrades and I are Marines, defenders of our people. We were flying in a desert, to support a stranded patrol. On our way we were shot down." She began to slowly shake her head, still trying to believe it herself. "I don't know how or why, but there was a sudden flash of purple. When the flash dissipated the scene around us wasn't a desert in the daytime, but a storm in the middle of the night."
Xipher's facial expression could clearly be read that he wasn't quite buying into it. But he continued the conversation to see where it would go. "And you crashed here. So then where are you from? Artidax, Visorak, one of the southern islands?"
"Uh, try more extra terrestrial."
Xipher gave her a dirty look.
"You have to believe me, some unnatural force took us from our world and dropped us off here. Hardly anything here matches our planet. The half robotic life, the strange-colored water, the two moons!"
"What about the two suns?" inquired Saber.
Sam's face lit up in shock. "There are two suns?"
Xipher palmed his face and took a few steps back. "I don't believe this." His tone echoed his disbelief. "Either you're a horrible liar, or you're delusional."
"I'm not making this up." Sam defended.
"Kid I've seen a lot of strange things happen. You and your story don't even make it in the top ten."
"If you don't believe me then ask my comrades."
"Don't need to. They don't know where you are. I can just keep you here until you start spilling the truth."
"You need to get the bullet out of your shoulder don't you?"
Xipher gave a quick glance at his arm. He growled softly at himself. "And you know who can fix this?"
"Yeah, but I'm not saying who until you talk with them." She demanded.
Xipher turned around. "Fine." He snarled "But you're staying here." Before he reached the entrance Sam called out to him.
"Could you please hurry? I need him too." She held up her arm, the cloth bandage stained almost entirely with blood.