The Captive's Return

[Funkydude527]

 

 

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One of the letters among the usual stack of mail caught his attention, one from Makuta Dalmeki of the western isles. It looked like a plain, sealed envelope to and outside, but for Teridax, it was a cause for mild intrigue. This was the seal used by the Brotherhood for information that was 'for Makuta eyes only'. Naturally, if any other species attempted to open a letter with such a seal, they would be silenced and then die a long, horrible death. The method was different for each sender, and it was often a point of pride to be creative with the method of death. After all, just because it was a high security measure didn't mean it they could not have fun with it.

 

Opening the seal (and thankful for not experiencing Makuta Dalmeki's air pressure trick did not fire), Makuta began to read the letter when a hidden flash-carved image dropped out. He examined the image and rapidly found it a dull and irritating reminder of the rabble that surrounded him. It was a blurry image Rahkshi tracks on a beach, taken from a boat some distance from the shore. The tracks led into the water.

 

Rolling his eyes, convinced it was an manifestation of Dalmeki's paranoia, he began to read the letter. He was rapidly convinced to the contrary. The beach in the photograph belonged to a very important island, one where visitors were very much unwelcome. There was a small moment of panic and rage before Teridax became satiated. He knew exactly who those footprints belonged to, and while the owner was intended to be trapped in that island forever, their escape was not entirely unexpected.

 

While he mused the dangers of curiosity, his mind began to drift to this escapee. It had been a few months since he teleported that nosy little imp to the island where they could get all the answers they desired. Makuta was sure they got all the answers they desired, and then some. Judging from the stagger in the footprints, they got those answers in spectacular fashion. There was a small shudder as he remembered Mutran's report on this particular subject. The shudder turned to a chuckle as he realized exactly how mad the captive must now be after months and months. The fact that they escaped, however, was yet another demonstration that the captive was a different sort indeed.

 

Confident, Teridax began to pen a letter to Dalmeki, telling his fellow Makuta not to worry, and to simply give him updates on the situation as it developed. The captive was either too mad, or too smart to leak the information they had learned. Besides, the language barrier... Ah, no... This one had conquered that obstacle. That was a small part of the reason their disappearance was as rapid as it was unexpected. Such a mouthpiece could have been dangerous. Still, he was eager to see the captive freed.

 

And he knew they would return.

[Funkydude527]

Another letter from Dalmeki had appeared on Teridax's desk. And another flash carving to go along with it. The letter was a curt, slightly bitter assurance that any who saw this were eliminated.

 

It was one of those icebergs that held a tribe of zyglak, but the decor was something else. A bit comical in fact. The wall of ice apparent in the picture had been carved into a madman's vision of eternity. Shackled tendrils spiraled out and around hollow malformed eyes, and while the carving was crude, it was effective at conveying the message. Teridax wondered how the artist got the furrows that dark until, to his delight, he realized that was what the drained, formerly living objects at the base of the image were for.

 

The decimated zyglak village framing the image was also a nice touch. It seemed less like a rampage, and more like a carefully planned series of assassinations. The confirmed this, stating that the few survivors each blamed a different tribesman for starting it. Apparently, a string of brutal murders initiated a paranoid self-destruction of the tribe. This carving appeared overnight after things really got out of hand, and slowly filled in as more and more tribesmen died. It really was a marvelous little act of violence.

 

The artist left a signature of sorts in the village square. A dead zyglak, its face agressively altered into the shape of a familiar mask, sitting in a chair that, according to Dalmeki's letter, had the face of the Great Spirit carved into it.

 

Writing another letter to Dalmeki, once again ordering him to keep up the reports and investigations, Makuta smiled. The mad captive was returning.

[Funkydude527]

The Head of the Brotherhood was surprised to get a letter from Makuta Gorast. This one was was less secure, sealed with the usual administrative markers. This one was an angry letter, demanding that the Makuta of Stelt be reprimanded for a series of idiotic pranks.

 

The scathing vitriol was par for the course for Gorast, but the nature of the 'pranks' were anything but. Apparently, six low-level Rahkshi, the base kind that still made up the majority of forces deployed around the universe, had been destroyed at random times while out on patrol. The armor markings indicated it was a bit of a fight. But that was not the prank. The 'prank' was the fact that their kraata had been buried in strange graves. Their staffs had been used as headstones.

 

The proof that she had that it was Stelt's Makuta was a severed arm one of the victims managed to lop off. It was a Rahkshi's arm, and one whose black markings Teridax recognized. It gave him comfort that the captive's hubris was crippling.

 

The final 'prank' was what pushed this from irritating to insulting. Someone had carved the word 'SLAVER' on the side of Gorast's wonderful laboratory, just after it was polished no less, and underlined it with Teridax's mask and the most hideous and blasphemous of markings: Mata Nui's visage. She said she would kill Stelt's Makuta herself for the insult, but she wanted to go through the proper channels.

 

Teridax began to pen a letter back to Gorast, attempting to use his leadership position to diffuse the tension. Oh, the captive was causing problems, and the captive was hobbled, but they were certainly returning.