Down down down

[Onaku]

Down down down

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Prologue

 

It was late autumn. Kargon, matoran of the green, was dragging his cart full of vegetables back to his village. Many of the crops had failed this year, and the villagers would have to ration the little food they had to last the coming winter. The recent winters had gradually increased in harshness, so they expected no good from this one.

 

Over the hill he dragged it, holding it back so it wouldn't tumble down. A single vegetable fell off the cart and rolled down the hill, coming to a halt under the foot of another villager, Irya.

 

"How was the harvest?" She asked Kargon, her voice containing a sliver of hope.

 

Kargon shook his head. "Not good. Most of the crops didn't stand a chance. We're going to have to ration... again."

 

Irya's heart sank, although it didn't have much further to sink after the hardships of the last few years. The summer had brought little comfort for the matoran of the village, and ever since their elder, turaga Orjus, had passed away, their morale had been at an all-time low.

 

Irya's older sister, Kess, had stepped up to the role of leader, and had done her best to provide for her fellow matoran, but hadn't had much to work with. Still, the matoran all agreed that she was perhaps the best they had at the moment, and few complained despite the inhumane conditions they were faced with.

 

Finally, the two reached the village, and the few matoran still roaming the village were visibly discouraged when they saw how little Kargon's cart was carrying.

 

"This can't go on" Kargon said. "There has to be something we can do, if we go on like this, we'll all die of either hunger or frost before the winter is over."

 

Kess walked out of her hut, holding herself up with a wooden cane. She was visibly shriveled and grey, signs of severe malnutrition. She had neglected her own hunger to ensure that the other villagers wouldn't starve, but this had taken its toll on her.

 

While she inspected the meager amounts of food, Kargon looked off to over the hill, thinking about what he should do... what he could do. There wasn't much that came to mind, but quite suddenly, something caught his attention.

 

"Irya!" He hastily said, and she responded by turning to him with her now hopeless eyes. He signaled her to come to his side, and then pointed to over the hill. "What is it?" She asked, but soon she herself saw too.

 

"Where is the forest?" He asked. And with good reason, because where the now withering forest had been easily seen before, there was only blackness.

Edited October 27, 2014 by Toa Onaku

[Onaku]

Chapter 1: The Big One

 

It was late autumn. Winter would soon arrive, but that had never been a problem for Ikein. She was a matoran of gravity, and lived in a village with great elemental variety. She was, in fact, the only matoran of gravity there, which was unusual, because most other elements were represented by at least two or more matoran in the village. The only other case of this phenomenon was a matoran of sonics, but he mostly kept to himself.

 

Ikein was on her way to the great harvest. It was a festival which many of the local villages took part in, and it had become one of the most prominent holidays in the area. She herself had spent the majority of the day before painting her wooden mask, but custom masks were a prominent part of the great harvest. There would be dancing, singing, feasting and just plain having fun. 

 

The harvest this year had yielded plenty, which wasn't really unusual since the land was fertile, and sustained plenty of life. So Ikein was really looking forward to seeing what great food the chefs had cooked up this year.

 

 

The festival had already begun, but that was of no concern. Ikein joined right in with the other matoran, dancing the peculiar and energetic dance that had developed throughout the villages over the many years they had interacted. Locking elbows with a female matoran of fire, the two circled each other with great passion, their dance vigorous as to be expected at the festival.

 

After dancing with the many matoran present, Ikein soon left the dancefloor to look at the delicacies on the tables, grabbing herself a plateful, and sitting down next to her dance partner from before, the matoran of fire. "Hey." She said to the matoran, and she nodded in acknowledgement. The two sat there in the corner, and watched as the other matoran kept dancing energetically to the trained singing of the melodists.

 

 

Later that night, most of the matoran had retreated to their tents, although some stayed around the campfire to sing songs of ancient toa heroes. It was more peaceful, and while one le-matoran played her lute with grace and skill, the others utilized their vocal cords for the melody.

 

Ikein simply sat and listened, but her new ta-matoran friend, whose name was Rikha, sang along with all of the energy that was to be expected of someone of her element. Soon, how ever, they too left to the campsite.

 

"I don't really have anywhere to sleep. I forgot to bring a tent." Ikein said, hoping that Rikha would offer her to stay in her tent. "Well, you could just crash with me. My tent isn't very big, but it should be big enough for the two of us." She replied with a mild smile on her face. Ikein smiled gleefully, and the two went to Rikha's tent. It was a bit small, but the two fit in with relative ease, and soon the two fell asleep.

 

 

The sound of crackling fire. Bright light. Screaming and commotion. Ikein quickly opened her eyes as Rikha shook her awake.

 

"QUICK! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" She yelled.

 

Ikein was confused, and more than a little bit sleepy, but she quickly slid out of the tent to see what in Karzahni was going on. And she quickly got an answer. The campsite was on fire. The tents quickly went up in blazes, and the flames spread from one to the other. Luckily, it seemed that the matoran had all gotten out, but some were obviously severely singed. 

 

"IKEIN!" Rikha shouted. "WE NEED TO MOVE!"

 

Ikein snapped out of her sleepy trance and ran in the other direction with Rikha, the two getting out of the campsite before it all went up in flames. 

[Onaku]

Chapter 2: Frost

 

It was early winter. The snow covered the ground like a soft cotton blanket, stretching out in all directions. Kargon stared into the distance, somewhat in a trance as a result of recent events. A hand touched down on his shoulder, and the familiar face of his friend Irya met his gaze as he turned around. 

 

"How is she?" He asked, referring to Kess. Early on in their journey, she had passed out, presumably due to the severe malnutrition plaguing her, and hadn't woken up since. 

 

Irya shook her head. "Not good, her colour continues to fade, and her heartlight is irregular. I fear she might not make it." At the last few words, a tear strolled down her cheek, and she fell into Kargon's arms, receiving a much needed hug after the hardships they had faced.

 

 

The rest of the villagers were hard at work preparing temporary camp for the night, and Kargon brought a large stack of wood as his part. A few tents, crudely put together, stood up from the snowy ground. The fabric was frozen, and hard to handle, but these tents would do to keep the matoran warm.

 

After the villagers saw the forest in the distance disappear, they had all agreed they needed leave. No one stayed behind, and Kargon suspected if anyone had, they'd be dead by now, be it of hunger, frost, or the mysterious blackness. He shuddered at the thought.

 

They had now been traveling for a little over half a month, and the little food they had gotten from the failed harvest was running short, even though they were careful to ration it to the best of their abilities. Luckily, they had come across a couple of fruit-bearing trees. The fruits were frozen, and well preserved, but they weren't much considering the number of villagers they needed to feed.

 

 

Soon enough, night fell, and the campfire they had put up was difficult to keep alive. In the absence of Kess, another matoran by the name of Aisokk had taken the lead. He decided to take down the separate tents, and build them into one big tent, with a hole in the roof, and the campfire in the center, where they would all sleep and keep each other warm. 

 

Most of the villagers were now asleep. The tent was just barely warm enough to not be unbearable, but it was in no way "comfortable". Kargon was talking with Aisokk about their next move, and they were careful to whisper quietly.

 

"If we keep on the same route, we have no guarantee of reaching a better location, but I don't see any better alternative." Aisokk was, in Kargon's opinion, a good man. He had kept the villagers safe on their journey, and when they were faced with the dangerous rahi of the area, his strategic guidance had proved invaluable. He had also decided to eat less than the other villagers to honor Kess, and had lost a good amount of body mass.

 

Kargon nodded. "This is a matter of all or nothing. We cannot stay in one location, but we have no knowledge of where our journey will bring us." He sighed, and put his palm up to his face in a gesture of mental fatigue. Aisokk put his hand upon his shoulder to reassure him.

 

This was going to be a long winter.

[Onaku]

Chapter 3: Haze

 

It was early winter. Around half a month ago, the campsite at the Great Harvest festival was engulfed in ferocious fire. Many believed this to be an accident at first, but then, three days later, the hut of one of the village elders burnt to the ground. And then the hut of a prominent fire villager. And the people realized that there was indeed a danger. There was an arsonist on the loose.

 

"Will you please step forward, Ikein?" An old, respected turaga of stone, leader of the newly formed investigation and the owner of the first hut that was destroyed, stood behind a tall, wooden table in the far back of the room. His name was Caruk, and there were some talk throughout the villages that he had made the investigation into his own vendetta. An inquisition, if you will.

 

Ikein nodded and stepped forward. The room itself was filled with matoran watching the proceedings of the investigation.

 

"Tell us what you saw." He told her. The investigators had now gathered the matoran who were present at the campsite the night of the burning, and hearing them in hopes of catching a clue as to the identity of the arsonist. So far it had yielded nothing at all.

 

"My friend woke me up in the middle of the night. I got out of the tent, and noticed the flames engulfing the tents. I was kind of in a daze, since I had just woken up, but then she snapped me out of it and we ran in the other direction. I didn't really see that much aside for some of the other villagers running from the blaze."

 

 

The turaga dismissed Ikein after a few reviews of her story. Walking out of the building, she was met by a relieving sight. She smiled as she ran into Rikha's arms.

 

"Nice to see you too." She chuckled and slipped out of the hug, noticing then that Ikein was more than a little stressed.

 

"Are you alright? How did it go? Did they ask you something uncomfortable?" Rikha was concerned for Ikein. The two had kept in contact over the two weeks since the incident, and this had strengthened their friendship greatly.

 

"It's alright, they were just pressing for detail a bit much. Let's go."

 

 

On their way to Ikein's home village, the two came across the burnt down hut of turaga Caruk. Ikein walked to the memorial and knelt down. Only one villager had died in the fire. Caruk's only son.

 

Ikein sighed. "Is it any wonder how far he seems willing to go to catch the culprit?" She stood back up, and Rikha walked up to her side, putting her arm around her.

 

"Yeah, it's a real shame. I hear his son was a good bloke." She looked over the village. "But I guess what's done is done. Let's get going. It's going to get dark soon."

 

 

Later that night, laughter was heard from Ikein's hut, as the two shared stories.

 

"And then he said 'I don't know, do I look like a maha herder?'." The two erupted into laughter once more. Ikein looked down for a moment, clearly thinking something through. Then she looked back up to Rikha.

 

"Still, I wonder. Who would do such a thing? Why would anyone start fires in these parts?"

 

"I don't know" She replied. There was dead silence for a moment, before she continued. "I guess... someone is just really unhappy about the status quo. Not everyone has it good around here, you know. I hear there were people kicked out of the stone village just some of their views clashed with the turaga's. And then there's the status in the fire village... "

 

Ikein raised her eyebrows at the last bit. "Status in the fire village? What's going on there?" She got a slight chill down her spine, but remained calm.

 

"Well, there's this group of radicals, see? Most people don't know about it, probably because it's being covered up by the village elder himself, but there's some seriously shady stuff going on there. My friends and I are..." She hesitated. It was obvious she had missed something out that she hadn't intended to reveal.

 

"Your friends and you? Who are they?" A subtle feeling of thrill crept over her. Clearly there was more to her friend than she had thought in the first place.

 

Rikha stayed silent for a solid few seconds. Then, she stood up, looking very much alert. She peeked out the window, as if checking if anyone was around, then came back to the bed where they had been sitting.

 

"Alright, so promise me you won't tell anyone?" Rikha looked Ikein straight in the eyes.

 

Ikein nodded. She had never had trouble with keeping secrets, but then again, she'd rarely ever had secrets worth keeping.

 

"Well then." She started, sounding a bit frightened. "Ikein, I am a part of a small group of associates that has its minds set to fighting the inequalities currently plaguing this area. There is corruption in the leadership of some villages, and I fear this place may soon get worse than Karzahni itself. That's why..." Another hesitation. It lasted a couple of seconds, and she was seemingly fighting back tears.

 

And then she continued, her voice now sounding terrified. "That's why we started the fires... We didn't mean for anyone to get hurt. I swear, we didn't know he was still in that hut. We were just..."

 

Ikein's vision blurred, her hearing became hazy. She didn't remember exactly what happened then, but when she got back to herself, Rikha was lying on the floor with her palm on her cheek, and Ikein was standing over her. Her fist was aching.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Toa Onaku

[Onaku]

Chapter 4: Hunt

 

It was winter. And there was dead silence. A Nohai-Laka deer stood in the small pine-tree meadow, and was sifting through the snow to get at the grass.

 

The sound of breath breached the silence, followed by soft footsteps. By the sound of it, this was a pack.

 

Kargon's own breath was muffled by the scarf he was wearing. His grip on his ax was tight yet steady. The last weeks had forced him to adapt to life on the go, and that meant being prepared for wild animals. Predators. Enemies.

 

It also meant that the formerly vegetarian Bo-matoran were forced to take on a new diet; one that consisted of the flesh of the animals they hunted for sustenance. There was little to no fruit to be found at this time of the year, and the remains of their all but failed harvest was almost gone. The only one taking from that reserve was the still comatose leader of the village, Kess. 

 

 

The footsteps closed in. Kargon lay in hiding under the thick branches of a snow-covered pine tree, the white fabric he wore hid him well in the snowy environment, on top of keeping him well warm.

 

He could now hear the low growling of the beasts, and soon he could see them, which confirmed his suspicions. It was a pack of proto-wolves. The deer was oblivious to its impending doom, and soon, the wolves tore it apart. In this area, proto-wolves were on the top of the food chain.

 

 

Irya sat in the large tent, and watched over her sister. She looked very peaceful, and was slowly re-gaining her colour and body mass. 

 

Aisokk entered the tent, and stopped for a moment to watch. He then approached the make-shift bed and knelt by it. "I think she's getting better." He remarked.

 

Irya nodded. "She's certainly regained her hue... I just hope she'll wake up soon. We need her now more than ever." Aisokk agreed with that statement. He might have been a good strategist, and he may have provided for his people over the last month, but he just didn't seem to have a way with the people the same way as Kess had.

 

"I'll leave you two be, then." He said as he stood up, and left the tent. Irya stayed in the tent with her sister, watching over her.

 

 

The proto-wolves tore into the carcass of the deer, eating its now dead flesh off of the bones. They were mighty frightening beasts, their manes looked almost molten, and their hard metallic jaws seemed capable of clipping apart the strongest protosteel... what ever protosteel even was. 

 

Kargon kept his position, not daring to move an inch. He felt the snow draining the heat out of him through the fabric, but still he lay. Finally, the pack moved on once more. They had torn every scrap of meat off of the bones of the deer, the protodermis skeleton was the only thing left.

 

When the pack was at last out of sight, he rose again from his hiding spot. And now, he began tracking them.

 

 

The night soon came, and Irya stood in the entrance of the tent, looking out towards the horizon, hoping to catch a glimpse of her friend returning. She stood still there, waiting, hoping he would come home safe and not get himself killed in the wilderness.

 

He had promised her he would return, that he could handle the wild beasts that roamed the land. She had been unsure, but she trusted he would be careful. He always had been... he would return. She hoped.

 

 

The silence was eerie, and the only sounds Kargon heard were his own breath and footsteps. The dark brought more cold, and the air was now cold enough to start stinging at him. But he kept going. He had been tracking this pack of wolves for some time now, biding his time, waiting for the right time to strike.

 

This was ridiculously dangerous, of course, hunting an animal that was at the top of the food chain. No, it was stupid, idiotic and reckless. Which was the reason he really wanted this to work. If he could hunt one of these things down, he would know he could do anything. And that he could provide for his people in these bleak months to come.

 

He slowed his pace. He could hear rhythmic breathing. He closed in. The wolves lay together in a heap, keeping warmth on each other under the shelter of a small cliff. This was Kargon's chance. He approached the pack, slowly... slowly...

 

A sudden quiet growl alerted Kargon. Turning his head to the heap, a lone wolf stood up, looking at him with its fiery eyes.

[Onaku]

Chapter 5: Backfire

 

It was winter. It was cold outside, and only a few days earlier had it started to snow. The ground had a thin layer of snow, one that had now started to deteriorate.

 

A lone figure walked through the woods. The woods were at the edge of a large area called Dura-Kaia, home to many different villages of various elements. On the other side of the area there was a cold wasteland, and no one ever ventured there during the cold winter months, and very rarely during the summer.

 

The figure reached its destination. A rope ladder hung down from the thick canopy, and the figure started to climb it.

 

 

Caruk's investigation had met a dead end. People were starting to object to his severe methods of interrogation of both witnesses and suspects alike, and support for further investigation had been dropped. 

 

Now, it was a month since the festival fire. People had gotten back into their standard routine, and the arson had all but faded from memory.

 

 

The figure reached the top of the ladder. Up in the canopy, there was a platform, and it secretly housed the arsonists that had terrorized Dura-Kaia in the weeks before. The figure removed her hood, and the mechanisms on Ikein's purple Akaku whirred silently into action. 

 

There were other people present there, which she had come to know as good acquaintances, if not friends.

 

There was Kanus, matoran of fire, expert pyrotechnician. He had been one to properly guide the fire at the festival, making sure no one would get killed. Unfortunately, he hadn't been present during the arson of Turaga Caruk's residence, and so his son lost his life.

 

There were also Tein, Kuai, Eike, and Layuk, the best description of which would be "rebels with a cause". Unfortunately, Kuai and Layuk had impulsively gone ahead with the igniting of Caruk's turaga hut without a go-ahead from Tein, the current leader of the group. They had been disciplined for this, but there was still some tension in the group after the fact.

 

And last, but most certainly not least, there was Rikha. It was to her that Ikein headed, her arms raised to meet her in a warm embrace. It had been hard, the first few days, to even look at Rikha after she had revealed what she was. But in time, after thinking it over, as well as one time directly observing a disgusting display of oppressive corruption, she was swayed to forgive, and even join, Rikha.

 

Right now, it was only the seven present, with Ikein being, once again, the only one of her element, while the others, such as Tein and Layuk, were po-matoran, and the rest being ta-matoran.

 

After a little while of the group talking about the recent days, Tein finally spoke up, and the group fell silent.

 

"It's time." He said in his deep voice, in a tone that commanded respect and notice, and in the recent days, Ikein had come to learn exactly what that meant. Now they laid siege to another location.

 

Ever since Ikein had joined the group, how ever, the group had, in some of their opinion, turned to a better path. Ikein had not only become a member of the group, but an important aspect of it as well. She was observer, their eyes in Dura-Kaia.

 

Although Caruk's investigations had now been aborted, he had still managed to decipher the identities of some of the group's members, and would, despite the direct objections of the people, monitor them and anyone remotely connected to them. Which was why Ikein and Rikha couldn't ever meet in public, and the members of the group had to hide away.

 

So Ikein observed, watched, and investigated, looking at the crimes that wouldn't be punished, the evils that wouldn't be undone, and delivered news of them directly to her new allies, where they would then plan their next move.

 

Where as nothing had happened in the last days that was truly of note, there had been one incident in Ikein's last report that had required Tein to make bigger arrangements. Now, it seemed, he had come up with a plan. And they were going to execute it.

 

The crime, done by one of the turaga of fire's personal favorites named "Kelgaie", was severe, and in Tein's opinion, it required not their usual swift justice, but well thought out, properly executed punishment that had long-term ramifications.

 

Tein presented his plan, and the group began discussing it. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Ikein first noticed the air was getting hotter. That, on top of the thin smoke gathering around them, and the noise she wouldn't have heard if she hadn't started listening. She quickly realized what the noise was.

 

"Fire!"

Edited November 4, 2014 by Toa Onaku

[Onaku]

Chapter 6: Retreat

 

It was high winter, and it had never felt colder. A lone matoran was digging through the snow, searching for any berry bushes or pieces of scrap he could find in the nigh-desolate frozen wasteland his home had become. He didn't really mind the cold. Never had, as a matoran of ice.

 

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed movement. Very fast movement. Almost impossibly, except maybe... No, it couldn't be. Proto-wolves? They hadn't been in these parts for decades. Why would they...

 

And then, his speculating was cut short, as the moving thing, which turned out to very much so be a proto-wolf, stopped in front of him. The ko-matoran looked up at the wolf, fear in his eyes. The fear was replaced by bafflement, how ever, when he noticed someone on the proto-wolf's back.

 

A matoran of plantlife...

 

---

 

The smoke thickened, and the matoran present up in the tree started to cough. 

 

"We need to find a way out of here!" Tein shouted, to which everyone responded with even more coughing. Rikha swiftly ran to the edge of the platform, fluttering her hands in front of her in an attempt at clearing away the smoke. She looked down, and was met with a terrible gaze. Down there was a group of matoran, holding torches, setting fire to the tree.

 

She recognized some of them immediately, matoran who were in the turaga of fire's good graces and could have their way. Whose homes they had set fire to as to punish them for the atrocities they had committed through abuse of their status.

 

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Ikein, coughing into her clenched fist, and signaling Rikha to follow her. 

 

---

 

Kargon hadn't returned home in a long time, and he had been declared dead by Aisokk, before they had then moved on. Irya still grieved for her friend, blaming her self for ever letting him go out there. Two villagers had passed away since then as well, one due to hypothermia, while the other had been mauled by some beast while scavenging for food away from the camp. 

 

Now, they were on the move, and they never stopped longer than one night at each location, sometimes even walking through the cold night in order to cover more ground. It had now been two months since they had left their village. Resources were running short, the cold was unbearable, and yet, somehow, the matoran were more determined than ever.

 

Aisokk had made sure of that, inspiring everyone with rousing tales of heroes and their deeds, most of them made up on the spot. It had started one night, the night they were sure Kargon wouldn't return. And he had made the greatest tale in honor of his memory, telling of Kargon's great journey in the frozen wasteland, wrestling the most ferocious of beasts and riding proto-wolves through the night.

 

He couldn't have known just how close to the truth those tales happened to be.

 

---

 

Rikha and Ikein jumped out of the now blazing tree and onto the branches of the tree right next to it. From there, they then followed the other five, making their way through the thick canopy of the tree-tops, trying as they might to escape the fire. 

 

Ikein took in a deep breath, fortunately one free of smoke, and then kept running, leaping from one branch to the next, with Rikha close behind her.

 

It wasn't like she had specifically prepared for this kind of a situation, but she had been working out ever since she joined the group, and as such was in a much better state to make it through than she had been before.

 

Still, this was one of the most terrifying things she had ever done. Overstep or not jump far enough and she'd be falling all the way to the ground, and if the fall didn't kill her, those matoran just might. 

 

Rikha herself had sometimes jumped around the canopy, but never like this. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that everyone in her group was terrified. They had barely prepared for this kind of a situation at all. Up. Down. Whoa, dodge under that branch while also landing on that other branch behind it. This required her utmost concentration.

 

The group leaped through the canopy, while the arsonists stayed by the tree, fortunately failing to notice their escape.

 

One misplaced step. Kuai yelped as he suddenly fell from the treetops and to the ground below.

 

---

 

It was high winter, and the ko-matoran had never seen such a sight before. The proto-wolf was mounted by a matoran of plantlife clad in fur armor and sporting menacing red paint on his Kaukau. A pack of proto-wolves followed close behind, all breathing heavily.

 

"Hail, brother. What have you seen on these plains?" The bo-matoran finally said.

 

The ko-matoran, somewhat startled, thought of how to answer, and finally only managed to let out a weak "Wh-whaaa?"

 

Kargon sighed, and stepped off of the beast. "Have you seen any other matoran of plantlife in these parts? They would be about twenty or so, all carrying large packs and wearing ragged cloaks. There would be a matoran wearing a hau leading the group."

 

The ko-matoran thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No, I-I'm sorry, but I haven't... although, come to think of it, my friend Itei told me about something like that the other day, said they were heading..." He paused, looking around himself, then pointed somewhat to Kargon's right. "That way."

 

Kargon smiled, and jumped back onto the back of his companion, getting ready to head in this new direction.

 

"But wait, what's going on. Where are they going?" The ko-matoran then asked. Kargon looked down to the matoran.

 

"We're escaping. And I suggest you get your people to do the same"

 

The ko-matoran looked surprised "From what?" 

 

"The darkness."

[Onaku]

!Announcement!

 

Since when I last left off with this story, I've had little time to actually write more chapters for it, but I have had time to think about and develop its plot, which was originally the opposite of what I intended for it. Now, a month later, I have developed the plot itself further than what you have before you here, and what has already been written I feel could be written better. Due to this, I have decided to start over again with this story. If you've actually read the story up to this point and liked what you read, then you'll like what I have incoming even more.

 

But for now, the only good this topic is for is being closed.

[Zatth]

Closing due to author's request