The Tendrils of Darkness
Disclaimer: Guess what! I have GREAT news! Bionicle doesn't belong to me! Let's move on!
Chapter 3: Games
Morning.
Onua squinted and raised a dirt-and-snow-covered hand to his face, shielding his sensitive eyes from the harsh glare of the sun. The light reflecting off the surface of the snow made things all the more worse. He frowned and turned to Lewa, who had been unusually quiet all morning.
"I'm going underground," he rumbled.
The Toa of Air nodded, looking absent-minded. "Sure."
The Earth Toa glanced at his fellow Toa worriedly before digging under the snow to the frozen earth. He paused for a moment, taken aback at how cold it truly was. He shivered before striking his twin quake-breakers forwards and moving along the steadily-lengthening tunnel. As he dug, easily falling into a steady rhythm, he thought back to earlier that morning.
Pohatu was pacing back and forth along the length of the spare hut that the Toa were currently residing, gritting his teeth in irritation and concern, while glancing every three seconds at the entrance of the hut or out the window. The sun was rising, ever so slowly, as was visible with the hint of orange tingeing the previously pitch-black sky. Around the room, the remaining Toa were either sitting or standing: Onua, Gali and Tahu.
The Stone Toa paused and glanced outside the window yet again, and gave a frustrated sigh. He resumed pacing back and forth again. Tahu was tapping his foot impatiently, and despite his custom irritated pose – back stiff and ramrod-straight, tense, and arms crossed – Pohatu could see worry settling into their leader's fiery orbs.
Onua, however, was leaning against the frozen wall, no doubt oblivious to his slowly numbing back. His green eyes were veiled, although the worried creases adorning his forehead gave an indication of his anxiety.
Gali, however, sat still, as she stared at the same spot on the floor that had held her attention for the past ten minutes or so. Her golden eyes were unfocused and laced with worry.
However, their heads all swiveled to face the entrance in unison as though springs had been released in their necks, when a hunched figure pushed through the cloth flap. They held their breaths as Lewa straightened, shivering madly and looking not unlike a frozen tree. Gali sprung forwards, and caught Lewa as he collapsed, shivering, against the nearest wall. She supported him as he staggered across the room to a waist-high bench, Pohatu moving forward to help them as they passed.
The Toa of Air slumped down on the bench and didn't object when Gali placed a hand on his forehead, inspected his goose-bump riddled arms; fingers coloured with an unhealthy-looking blue at the tips with cold, and wrapped a thick blanket around his frame.
She squeezed his hand. "Feel that?" she asked tersely. Lewa responded with a vague shrug.
"S-s-sort of," he mumbled.
Gali bit the inside of her cheek, before she glanced over at Tahu, who was hovering just slightly to her left behind her, his face set in a scowl, but his eyes set with concern. His eyes found hers, and his scowl melted away to be replaced by one of sincere concern.
"Is anything wrong?" he asked softly.
Gali shook her head. "Nothing that will last, but he needs to warm up. Can you heat some water for him to drink?"
A curt nod and the Toa of Fire was at the table in the corner, pouring some liquid into a halved coconut shell while, no doubt, heating it at the same time. She felt the corners of her lips twitch upwards before she turned back to Lewa.
Onua watched silently, waiting until the shell was forced into Lewa's hands and the Toa of Air had drunken half the scalding liquid before speaking:
"Did you find them? Any sign?"
Lewa looked up, his normally cheerful eyes forlorn. He shook his head slowly, before downing the rest of the water in one gulp. He set it down on the bench-top beside him with a dull 'clunk'.
"I flew around Ko-Wahi, circling the village, but I couldn't see anything. No tracks. They would've been covered up by that earlier blizzard, though. I'm sorry."
Gali squeezed his hand reassuringly and Pohatu rested his hand on Lewa's shoulder.
"Don't be," Tahu's gruff voice spoke up at last. "You did well. I wasn't expecting Kopaka and Takanuva to be out in plain sight, anyway. Not at this time of night. We'll continue searching tomorrow, on foot."
Onua peered out the window thoughtfully, apparently in deep thought… as usual. He turned to face everyone, making sure everyone was in his field of vision.
'That's just like him,' Lewa thought with a half-grin, 'to include everyone and make sure that no-one feels left out.'
"If they've been gone for so long, that could only mean three things: one, they've gotten lost, although that is highly unlikely, considering Kopaka with his mask and knowledge of Ko-Wahi. Two, they were somehow injured and could go no further so they sheltered in a cave or something, meaning we will have to search for them tomorrow. Three, they were attacked by whatever attacked Kopaka the other day and are being held in captivity."
Silence, before Pohatu spoke to alleviate the tension.
"Personally, I prefer option one," he joked with a weak smile.
Onua was wrenched from his daydream when a piercing scream echoed around Ko-Wahi, and reverberating along the tunnel he had dug. He glanced up, alarmed, and switching to his Akaku, gazed past rock and snow to see Gali, fending off what looked like a dozen tentacles.
His heart leapt, and at the same moment, so did his weapons. His quake-breakers struck and surged through the few metres of rock between him and the world above. He leapt up and hasted to secure a grip on the snow-covered edges. He tightened his grip and pulled himself up, sending a shower of snow down into the tunnel.
Blinking rapidly to adjust to the sudden brightness, he was able to see the slightly blurred blue figure of his sister in the distance. He threw caution to the wind and, switching and activating his Kanohi Kakama, ran as fast as the mask would allow.
Hold on, Gali, he thought desperately.
Meanwhile, the Toa of Water in question was barely thinking, her actions deriving from pure instinct and years of combat experience keeping her on her feet. The vines were attacking viciously, and it was all she could do to block them, let alone manage a counter-attack of her own.
Left, right, left, right, up, behind, left, below, the attacks came, with the Toa either blocking or dodging. A vine slipped under her defenses and whipped its length into Gali's abdomen. A choked gasp died in her throat and she staggered back a few bios, acutely aware that another vine had just missed her head, surging through the air from her left.
She ducked and rolled forward, not stopping to give another thought to her undoubtedly bruised abdomen. With a kick at the vine tailing her, she leapt off one foot to bring down an aqua axe upon another thick appendage right in front of her. A twisted howl reached her mind, but she shrugged it off, bringing her focus on the battle at hand.
The Toa of Water ducked under a wide sweep and brought up both axes to stop the two separate vines, barely half a bio from her face. She pushed with all her might, and started forward to feel something smooth graze across her back, so quickly that she felt a moment of a burning pain, following the path of the vine that had grazed its tip along her back.
The pain wasn't intense, but it was enough to catch the Toa off guard for a second.
That second was enough for a vine to swing itself lengthwise into the side of the Toa's head, sending the blue figure of Gali flying through the air, her aqua axes leaving her lax grips.
Ouch... A second later, she was forced to roll to the side, as a vine soon impacted into the snow, leaving a fairly deep impression in the snow. Gali unintentionally winced, glad that she hadn't been trapped under that.
Another vine came in, fast and right at her face. The Toa waited until the tip of the vine was barely a fraction of a bio away before using her hands to fend it off, striking it with the heel of her palm and using quick jabs to ward away its advances. However, the vine seemed to recoil slightly before diving in for another attack. This time, however, as Gali raised a hand, the vine was quick to change its approach and before the Toa could blink, it had coiled itself around her wrist.
What the... but before she could complete the thought, the vine tightened and snapped her wrist, eliciting a crack of breaking bones and a cry of pain from the Toa Nuva of Water. The vine, however, didn't stop there.
With one strong tug, the Water Toa was dangling in mid-air, being held up only by the vine around her broken wrist. A sharp gasp of pain left her, but she fought against the appendage otherwise.
"Gali!"
Distracted, the Toa twisted to find the source of the shout and the sight of Onua charging the vines, his quake-breakers in hand and a look of grim determination on his face almost made her smile.
Then the vine hissed, and a trio of vines caught Onua in mid-stride, on in the abdomen, another against his head and the last crashed into the back of his legs, causing him to execute an awkward-looking flip, only to fall back down when he was parallel to the ground with a muffled thump.
Gali stared, horrified. She snapped out of her stupor and sighed in relief when the Toa of Earth shifted and then struggled to hold himself up with his arms, but it soon turned to dread when Onua slumped back down again, and did not move.
"Brother!" Gali shouted, straining to free herself from the vine. It merely hissed in response, although it sounded strangely satisfied. She was too distracted to realise that the hissing had resounded in her mind, not her ears.
The vines the started plunging into the snow, one by one, and too late Gali realised its intentions until the vine holding her up slowly sank into the snow, seeming to relish her fear and horror.
"No! ONUA!"
Her cries fell on deaf ears, and the Toa of Water was helpless in the grip of the vine. Her screams were lost as the vine dragged her under the snow, until the only remains of the battle were spatters of black blood-like substance against the white snow, an unmoving Toa and a pair of aqua axes.
Pohatu stared at the hills of snow around him dully, his lips set in a thin line.
"Okay, I get it!" he snapped, "you don't like me, and I sure don't like you!" He knew it was illogical, as Gali would say, to be talking to snow, but he was not having the time of his life, and having a headache from being surrounded by blinding snow north, south, east and west was most certainly not helping his aggravation.
He growled, and shortly thereafter, tripped in the deep, powdery snow and fell flat on his face. He jerked his face up and spat the snow that had ended up in his mouth out, and had rubbed his face clean of snow when two pairs of feet appeared in front of his face.
"Need a hand, yeti-man?"
Pohatu gaped, uncomprehendingly, at the two beings in front of him.
"Kopaka? Taka?"
Takanuva nodded vigorously, despite the fact that the entire left side of his jaw had taken on a most interesting blend of blue and purple, a wide grin coming to his face easily as he offered a hand to the Toa of Stone.
"In the flesh!"
"But …. How … you two …" he spluttered, hoisting himself to his feet with the aid of Takanuva, who noticeably winced.
"Yes?" Kopaka spoke sarcastically, "Go on…"
Pohatu drew in a deep breath. "WHERE IN THE NAME OF MATA NUI HAVE YOU TWO BEEN?"
"Out," Kopaka responded curtly.
"And about," Takanuva finished, his eyes dancing with mirth.
Pohatu peered at them suspiciously, noticing the uncharacteristic friendliness between the two. His orange eyes took in the fact that Kopaka was limping, and both were half-supporting each other. Takanuva was holding a hand to his torso, with Kopaka's arm under his arms. With a disgruntled sigh, he stepped forward and offered a fist in greeting, attempting to look annoyed but failing miserably.
The two clanked their own fists in return, a wide grin on Takanuva's face and the same calculating expression on Kopaka's.
"Well, come on,' he rolled his eyes and gestured for them to follow, "We can talk later." He glared at them, daring them to argue.
They didn't.
Pohatu sighed and moved forward to help support Takanuva up, seeing as he was the more injured of the two, not to mention that Kopaka would probably push his help away.
"Ready?" he asked gently. He received two nods of affirmation. "Then let's go."
They set off slowly, in the general direction of the Toa's rendezvous point.
"C'mon, Lewa, we're nearly there."
"Wait-stop for a moment," the green Toa panted, his eyes pained. He doubled-over for a moment; hand pressed firmly against his bloody lower-torso, as several dry coughs wracked his battered body.
Tahu waited, hovering beside Lewa worriedly. He glanced up, seeing the sun high above them, which indicated that it was well past midday. His eyes swiveled back to the bent figure of the Toa of Air, drops of blood adorning the snow. He looked away and took several deep, calming breaths.
The creature that had ambushed them earlier, or rather, Tahu, had been hiding in the snow, and only revealed its vines. Lewa had come to his aid, and the vine that had struck his side had been strong enough to create a gash. That or it was carrying an invisible weapon, as the Toa of Air had joked feebly, although he had soon turned serious, and explained that he felt as if the several vines that had attacked them had only been a portion of what the creature was. He shivered, thinking of a creature that could be so large in proportion and deadly enough to not need a weapon.
The best weapon is the mind, he reminded himself, then frowned. For a creature – a plant, no less – to be able to get past their Toa Nuva armour and cause a wound without the use of claws or teeth was …
… unnatural.
What was worse, seeing the Toa of Air, the most cheerful and active Toa of Mata Nui so vulnerable left a gaping hole in his heart, a hole of guilt, fear, worry and misery blended into a black vortex of swirling emotions. A hand clutched at his arm weakly, trembling slightly, and he was pulled out of his thoughts.
Lewa smiled thinly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. There was a smudge of bright-red blood on the hand, but the green Toa spoke before he could string a coherent sentence together.
"I'm fine," he assured him, "let's keep going."
Tahu bit back a sardonic retort, the grimace behind Lewa's mask capturing his attention. He realised, with sudden clarity, that for the Toa of Air, normally so happy, to be in this current state was hurting Lewa. He sighed, and, pounding down his pride, offered to help, to which Lewa declined, a surprised expression behind his mask.
They walked on in silence, both deep in thought.
"I'm sorry," Lewa murmured, not once slowing or stopping his pace.
Tahu gave him a fleeting glance. "What for?" he grunted.
"For … for back then," he replied, eyes downcast. "When that plant attacked us, I got in the way and …" he trailed off, not needing to say what they both knew could've happened.
"Lewa!" Tahu cried out, as the Toa of Air was knocked out of the sky. The vines were ruthless, giving the two no mercy. Tahu growled, his temper rising as the vines refocused on him, hissing madly.
He raised one of his magma swords skyward, parrying a vine while jabbing with his other sword at a passing vine. His blow glanced off the surface of the vine, but despite the blood gushing out of the deep cut, the vine whipped itself at the Toa, only to be severed cleanly from the weapon that had been previously occupied with holding off the other vine.
Tahu jumped forward, rolling through a gap between the vines and kicking a vine in the process. He stopped near Lewa, whom had staggered upright.
"Fire-brother! Get behind me!" he yelled, bringing his Katanas up simultaneously. Tahu did as he was told, and watched as the Toa of Air channeled his elemental power through his weapons to create a strong jet of wind. The snow in front of them was blasted skyward at the vines, obscuring the thrashing appendages.
The vines screeched, fighting against the wind and snow in an attempt to attack the two Toa, only to find themselves being held at bay. No matter which direction they went in, the snow and wind would be there, battering them back several bios.
Tahu appreciated the Air Toa's quick thinking, although he could see a worrisome flaw in the plan. If even one vine could fight past the mini-blizzard, they could strike at the Toa of Air and halt his elemental blast, effectively allowing the several other vines to resume assaulting them again.
His presumption was proved correct when a vine surged through and struck Lewa in the side, eliciting a sharp intake of air as blood burst out of the wound, past the undoubtedly strong but not strong enough armour. The Toa of Air stumbled back, right into Tahu, and the impact was enough to send the Toa of Fire staggering back several feet.
Just as he regained his balance, the powdery snow beneath him seemed to tremble, and then gave out underneath his weight, revealing a gaping crevasse undoubtedly as deep as several thousand kios. Tahu uttered a cry of shock; his instincts kicked in again and he pushed Lewa away, releasing the Toa of Air from his grip.
Said Toa rolled away from the crevasse, and Tahu melted the snow covering the edge of the steep descent. He saw the brown of the rock and grasped it, dangling from the edge precariously. He swallowed, then tightened his grip, as he struggled to pull himself up.
"Fire-brother!" Lewa appeared above him suddenly, one hand reaching down to grasp his wrist tightly, the other gripping the katana that had been plunged past snow, into rock, to anchor the Air Toa in place. He pulled with all his might, and Tahu was suddenly flying over him, landing heavily on the powdery snow.
The rapid beating of his heart slowed down, the fear and panic had vanished, but the vines had not. A vine darted towards them, only for Tahu to kick at it, slamming the sole of his foot against the tip, bringing forth a hissing screech of fury and pain.
Despite that, the vine continued to attack, this time swerving under the Fire Toa's persistent defenses to coil itself around Lewa's neck, tightening with every passing second. The Toa's eyes widened, and he choked, his fingers scrabbling at his neck to loosen the appendage.
Tahu spun and clutched at the vine, attempting vainly to free the Toa of Air. He pulled, as Lewa collapsed, his lungs aching for air. The Toa of Fire released the vine and hauled the other Toa up; if only to spur him on to keep fighting. The vine stubbornly refused to move, hissing madly as they tugged on it.
Tahu cursed, and seeing the other vines speeding towards them, promptly dropped the Toa of Air as quickly and as gently as possible, snatched his magma swords up from where he had dropped them to catch Lewa safely and directed both tips at the vines.
The vines were barely a fraction of a bio away when a burst of flames from his swords efficiently brought the onslaught to a halt; screeches of pain rising in volume as Tahu rapidly increased the heat. The vines were soon ablaze with the consuming fire, blackening and shrivelling before their very eyes as the flames engulfed each and every appendage.
Then Tahu focused his attention on the vine constricting the Toa of Air's throat, hissing at him, as if daring him to try.
'Go on,' a voice taunted him mentally, 'just try it … I won't let go, and you'll have to watch your own flames burn your friend to death.'
'Unless …' Tahu suddenly received a distinct impression of malicious intent. 'You'd prefer him to die of strangulation.'
Mocking, hissing laughter reverberated off the walls of his mind. 'Which will it be, Toa? Death by an enemy? Or death by a friend... a trusted team-mate?'
Tahu growled, abruptly dropped one of his swords and grasped the offending vine in one hand, his grip as strong as a Muaka's, his anger fuelling the burning heat and channelling it through the hand. A cry of pain erupted in the complexities of his mind, and Tahu only strengthened his grip, the heat erupting into flames that danced around his hand… but didn't spread along either sides of the vine.
It writhed madly, and before long, the intensity of the heat cutting cleanly through the vine. Tahu smirked triumphantly, and brought his swords up once again to spurt out flames of extreme heat, consuming each vine, including the appendage previously coiled around the Toa of Air's neck.
Before long, the intense heat drove the vines into retreat, diving into the snow one-by-one, which was admittedly difficult as the heat from the flames had all but melted a wide radius of snow into nothing short of a hot-water spring, the water slowly cascading down into the crevasse barely two bios behind them.
Lewa coughed, and muttered a weak "thanks".
Tahu sighed, and, grabbing Lewa gently by both shoulders, turned him around so that they could look each other in the eye.
"Lewa," he began gruffly, yet firmly, "you have nothing, absolutely nothing, to be sorry for, especially not for back then." Tahu kept his hands on the Toa of Air's shoulders to emphasise his sincerity.
"In fact, if you had not been there, I would undoubtedly be dead." The Toa of Fire fixed a stern expression on his face. "So you should not be sorry. At all," he finished, adding the last part in before the Toa of Air could get a protest in.
Tahu dropped his hands and smiled, "I'm grateful, and in your debt."
Lewa smiled, and the smile grew into a wide, beaming grin. Tahu, surprised by the sudden change in emotions, gave a tentative smile in return.
"Never thought-knew that you're a great speaker, brother," he quipped mischievously. Tahu grinned, before he adopted a mock-stern expression, crossing his arms and staring down at the Toa of Air.
"I'll have you know, I can be quite sentimental when need be," he sniffed arrogantly. Then his eyes widened and a panicked expression stole over his face. "Just don't tell anyone," he muttered, looking around wildly.
Lewa struggled to keep his neutral face on, snickering madly inside. "I wouldn't dream of it," he managed to choke out.
Tahu turned back around. "Come on, then," he gestured impatiently, "and not another word of uselessness, okay?" he ordered, a fierce glint in his eyes. Lewa nodded reassuringly, and the two resumed walking, slowly, with Tahu right beside the Toa of Air in case he was needed.
They walked in silence, before Lewa abruptly stopped, his face pale and eyes wide.
"Tahu," he spoke quietly, "is that who I think it is?"
The Fire Toa looked to where his fellow Toa was indicating to, and blanched. "No…" he breathed, a wild glint in his eyes.
In unison, the two ran towards the scene laid out bare before them; black splotches, and…
"ONUA!" Lewa bellowed, completely ignorant of the wound in his side, lengthening his strides and finally collapsing to his knees beside the inert body of the Toa Nuva of Earth. His mind blankly registered the fact that his hands were shaking uncontrollably as he rolled the Earth Toa over onto his back.
"No, no, please… don't be… please…" he frantically brushed the snow off Onua's neck, and forced his hand to still as he pressed two fingers gently against the side of his neck, searching for a pulse.
He sighed, immensely relieved, when a steady, albeit slightly weaker than normal pulse beat against his fingers. He felt the blood return to his face and his thoughts cleared, suddenly feeling foolish for not checking the Toa of Earth's heartlight, which still pulsed steadily and brightly. Before his elation could rise any further, Tahu placed a hand on his arm.
"Lewa," he whispered.
Lewa watched as Tahu slowly dipped a finger into a splotch of black, gleaming substance and out, as a drop hung from the very tip, and fell. He swallowed, and raised his head to meet the Toa of Fire's eyes.
"Blood," he managed to utter.
Tahu nodded grimly. "But whose?" he wondered, "or what?"
A shout reached their ears and their heads snapped up immediately, recognising the voice as Pohatu. They saw him, walking slowly down a small hill, supporting two other Toa: Kopaka and Takanuva.
They could see the grins on both Pohatu's and Takanuva's faces, the usual calculating look on Kopaka's, fade away as they took in the scene before them. The three were instantly beside them, Pohatu having no doubt activated his Kanohi mask.
"Is he alright?" he asked worriedly.
Tahu nodded. "Just unconscious," he replied. He saw a flash of relief appear in Kopaka's blue eyes, only to disappear in a blink. He saw the same on Takanuva's, accompanied by the still-present concern, and Tahu beat down his animosity towards the Toa of Light, knowing that they had more urgent matters to deal with.
Kopaka spoke up suddenly, his voice cutting through the stillness in the air sharply:
"Where's Gali?"
The other four Toa glanced up quickly as well: Gali was no where to be seen. Except for…
"Her axes," Takanuva breathed, eyes wide. "But then… what happened?"
A groan from in between Tahu and Lewa caught everyone's attention. Onua coughed weakly as he squinted up at the five surrounding him.
"Gone," he whispered hoarsely, eyes brimming with anger, frustration, helplessness, and guilt. Tahu felt his heart leap into his throat, making it difficult for him to form a sentence.
"W-what do you mean?" he asked, almost dreading the answer.
Onua groaned again, his head falling back down as his eyes closed. "The… vines… that blasted plant took her… under."
"Under? So it took her under the snow?" Pohatu caught on, "you mean, she might not be… dead?"
"One can only hope…" the Toa of Earth mumbled before slipping back into a blissful oblivion. The remaining Toa looked at each other uneasily, before they set off back to Ko-Koro.
Mission accomplished, Tahu thought, somewhat bitterly, as he trudged along the bridge to the village, with Onua slung over one shoulder. They had found Kopaka and Takanuva, wounded, but alive thankfully. Sweeping his eyes over his team, he noted that only he and Pohatu had come out relatively unscathed. And with Gali missing, that brought their total number to six, even less, if the injuries the other Toa had received were as bad as they looked.
Mission accomplished, he repeated, just to reassure himself. But at what cost?
Meanwhile, several kios below ground, a colossal cavern could be found. Inside, two entities resided, one of which was currently dragging the limp, battered and bloodied body of the protector of Ga-Koro. The vines coiled around her ankles did nothing to prevent the Toa of Water from receiving ragged cuts from the rocks and pieces of debris from the imploded doors.
"Well?" a baritone, silky voice cut through the still air, halting the vines in their paths. Each appendage lowered themselves to the uneven ground, bowing before the figure that loomed over it.
"The Toa are weak," a new voice hissed, "they could do nothing to help each other, let alone themselves, the incompetent fools."
The figure stepped out from the shadows' embraces, and raised a brow sceptically.
"Oh? So confident, are we?" Makuta glared at the vines before him, his red eyes glowing with infinite contempt, "let us not forget that those 'incompetent fools' were the cause of my defeat and my brother's freedom!"
"Apologies, Makuta, I was merely inclined to think so due to the fact that three of the Toa have sustained injuries and another is currently in our captivity."
Makuta stepped back. "Of course," he paused. "And what of the Toa of Light?"
"The worst among the wounded."
Makuta chuckled maliciously, "excellent."
He then stared down at the immobile figure, the blood-red smudges contrasting to the light blue body of the Toa of Water. He tapped his slender, bony fingers against the side of his face thoughtfully.
"Now, what to do with Gali Nuva, Toa and protector of Ga-Koro?" he pondered aloud, his eyes never leaving the motionless figure. His eyes narrowed imperceptibly before he abruptly spun around and left, not once looking back. He gave one last instruction before exiting the chamber:
"Break her, and then see if you can persuade her into joining us."
A gleeful hiss sounded in his mind. "Gladly."
Now alone, the vines twisted and writhed freely around the Toa, gently prodding the body before darting away, running their tips down her mask gently, before one appendage darted forwards and coiled around her broken wrist and jerked it wildly, wrenching a pained scream from the previously unconscious Toa.
Gali gasped, and instinctively scrambled away from the vines that towered above her menacingly. Her back met a solid resistance and she lurched forward, twisting her head around as she did so. There were at least another two dozen vines, and all of them twisted and acted as a single mind.
But there's no such creature on Mata Nui or in any legends of vines! But that didn't necessarily mean that it didn't exist. Something that Gali wished wasn't true. She held her broken wrist as loosely as possible, careful not to jerk it around. With her good hand, she reached behind her back to grab an axe but found that it wasn't there… neither axes were strapped to her back.
Oh, great. She thought, glaring at the vines. Wonderful. Of all the times to not have my axes, it just had to be now She gingerly climbed to her feet, settling into a defensive stance immediately. The Toa of Water nearly jumped when a new, hissing voice resounded in her mind.
"So, my deary, did you have a nice nap?" A hissing laughter, and it only served to agitate her further.
"What do you want?" she demanded, refusing to let her fear show.
"Want?" The laughter turned malevolent, a sound that made Gali shudder. "I want… fun."
Depends on your definition of fun, Gali thought sardonically.
"Now, now, little Toa, we both know that our ideas of fun are a little… different, but I'm sure that we'll be able to manage a game or two on our own…"
Gali almost gasped in surprise when she realised the... thing could read her thoughts, and backed away before remembering that she was surrounded and stopped, not liking the voice which had suddenly taken on a sadistic edge. The vines suddenly slithered in closer, clustering together around her. She swallowed and then inhaled deeply, forcing herself not to show her fear.
"Who - what are you?" she demanded, a chill running down her spine.
There was a momentary pause, one that Gali hadn't expected, before she received the distinct impression of a sneer.
"I? I am... the Morbuzahk."
She shuddered, revulsion rising in her throat. Sadistic laughter rang in her mind, before the vines drew in even closer, their movements swift and eager.
"Let the games begin..."
No-one was around to hear her tortured screams.
Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait. Holidays arrived about two weeks ago, but motivation was lacking. Luckily, my writer's block left about three days ago, and I got this done. Hope it's enough.
See you in the next chapter! (Which should hopefully be next week)