The Wanderer

[Specter Knight]

The Wanderer

A tale from the world of Uprising

 

Approximately Five years before the events of Uprising...

 

Dark clouds loomed over the waterways of Ga-Koro. It looked like they would burst at any given moment, and unleash a torrent of rain onto the streets below. However, they just hung there, their black undersides filled with water, waiting for the right moment.

The streets were eerily quiet, with the odd Vahki patrol looking for lawbreakers and fugitives. The streets weren’t safe at any time, even when you suspected there was nothing there. It seemed there was an ambush waiting around every corner, a mugger in every alley, a killer in every shadow.

As a recent squad of Vahki crawled past a junction, none of them noticed the figure scurry behind them, avoiding their gaze. As he ran down the deserted streets, he paused to make sure nobody was following. His Navy blue and gold armour appeared dull against the low light, his sword resting in the scabbard by his hip.

None of his allies or enemies knew his real name. For some reason, he was simply known as Smoke Monster. Maybe it was due to his profound stealth? Maybe his monstrous fighting skills? Who knows?

But one thing was for certain, he had taken vital info his allies needed to know about, and was determined get it back safely, whatever the cost.

Glancing down an alleyway, he thought he saw a sliver of movement. His heart raised to his throat for a second, before he came to the conclusion that it must’ve been a rat or something. He couldn’t be too sure, however, so he crept down quickly and quietly, on edge all the while…

As he turned a corner, he could feel some kind of presence. Nothing malicious, like a Makuta or similar shadow being, But he could tell someone else was in the alley with him.

Smoke stepped gingerly, half-expecting the presence he felt was going to stab him in the back at any given moment. He could see light illuminating the street up ahead, streaming in through the sides of the buildings. If he could just get over there, he could perhaps see who was in the area with him.

He slowly crept towards the patch of light, three paces… two paces…

CLANG!

The sound of a can being kicked over rang from behind, and on instinct, he Smoke drew his sword and spun around, ready to fight. As the sword whistled through the air, it struck a metal object- another sword! Pushing back against his attack, a shadowy figure stood in front of him, details obscured by the darkness.

The two beings clashed swords again, Smoke striking hard at the being’s arms, but his opponent kept parrying his slashes. The match ended when the Stranger tried to spin around and get him in the back, but was instead pushed back by the flat edge of Smoke’s sword.

In the light, the stranger could be seen in much more detail. His armour was a bright scarlet, with black highlights. His mask was streamlined and swept-back, and his sword had a gunmetal grey blade. He was rather lithe, and his body was built for running rather than physical strength.

Maybe that’s why he went down so easily. As Smoke pointed the end of his blade at the Matoran, he glared into his Golden eyes, which had a surprisingly had a mischievous glint in them.

“Who are you, and what are your Intentions?” Smoke growled. The Stranger was strangely not intimidated.

“Just a Traveller. I was passing through here, and took a wrong turn.” He said, trying to be sincere. This didn’t fool Smoke in the slightest.

“You’re lying.” He snapped. “Tell the truth! What are you doing here?”

“I…” The Stanger stumbled over his words, meaning what he was saying wasn’t wholly true. “I got lost. These streets are too maze-like, and the marauding robots aren’t useful for directions.”

This guy’s sarcasm is driving me insane… Smoke thought. “Stop beating around the bush!” He yelled. “Who the Karz are you?!”

“The real question is, who the Karz are you?” The Stranger replied. This Smart Alec didn’t know when to shut up…

Smoke poised the tip of his sword right at his throat. “Look, mister.” Smoke spat. “I can cut out your throat at any given moment, but don’t assume that I will not do so. Now if you do not disclose your name and intentions within the next five seconds, I Will kill you, and nobody will have to kno-

“HALT, TRESSPASSER!”

It seemed whilst Smoke was interrogating the Stranger, a patrol of Vahki had snuck up on them from behind, and ambushed them. They were holding their weapons poised, Kanoka charged in their mandibles, ready to take down both of them.

Smoke turned his focus away from the Stranger to focus on the Vahki. As soon as the sword was off his throat, the Stranger started talking again, much to Smoke’s dismay.

“You know, if you didn’t yell as much as you do,” he said,” we probably wouldn’t attracted their attention-“

“Shut up!” Smoke snapped. “You’re not helping!”

The Vahki turned their gaze to the stranger, whilst still keeping an eye on smoke. “BY ORDER OF THE WHITE COUNCIL, YOU TWO ARE UNDER ARREST.” A deep, mechanical voice rang out from a large Vahki with silver highlights. That one must be the leader. Smoke thought. If only he could disarm him...

But he didn’t need to think of a strategy, as the stranger then did something incredibly stupid.

Whilst he had his eyes off him, he had grabbed a nearby dumpster and pushed it with all his might in the direction of the Vahki, where it tipped over and scattered trash over the squadron.

“That aughta keep them occupied for a second.” The Stranger said, before turning towards the opposite side of the alleyway. “This way!”

“Are you trying to get us both killed!?” Smoke yelled, before a flying Kanoka narrowly missed his left foot, and he ran the same way as the stranger.

Once they were out of the alleyway, The Stranger bolted towards an open canal, with Smoke and the Vahki patrol hot on his heels. Looking to either side, Smoke could see that two other patrols were approaching. They were surrounded, and cornered.

Not that that slowed the Stranger down. Instead, he leapt from the edge of the Canal onto a boat that happened to be travelling across the water near the bank. Realizing he couldn’t slow down, and stopping would mean certain death, Smoke clumsily jumped after him, nearly falling into the canal.

As soon as he had got his bearings, He noticed the Stranger had already jumped to a boat parallel to the one he was already on. Either this guy was either incredibly brave to pull off ridiculous stunts like that, or just Insane.

After another clumsy boat hop, Smoke had almost reached the other shore. Looking back, he saw that the Vahki weren’t as agile as him, and were either screeching at the two from the other shore, or trying to follow them, only to land in the cold canal-water.

As the boat he was on got slightly closer to the edge of the canal, Smoke leapt across, kicking off with all of his might, and rolled on the ground when he landed. That was stressful… He thought.

As Smoke joined the Stranger on the other side of the Canal, thunder rumbled in the distance, and a few drops of rain started falling. The Vahki had started to disperse, going either upstream or downstream to look for bridges to cross.

“They’re still onto us, it seems.” The stranger said. “You just can’t stop these things...”

“How…” Smoke said, slightly out of breath. “How did you manage to evade them by jumping across the canal!?”

“Either instinct, or you know, just luck.” The Stranger shrugged. “Now, we’d better get moving before reinforcements come along.” The rain was falling heavier now.

The Two found refuge in a cargo unloading bay behind a storage facility. The rain pounded on the ground outside, whilst the Matoran remained dry.

Smoke still didn’t fully trust this stranger. He was a little too enigmatic, not to mention reckless, for his tastes. He would very easily get the both of them killed if he wasn’t so darn lucky.

“Almost forgot to ask back there,” The Stranger spoke. “Why exactly did you follow my escape back there?”

“Well, for a start, the other way was blocked off, despite your futile attempt to stop the Vahki.” Smoke replied.

“Well if it weren’t for me, we would both’ve been toast.” He muttered. There was silence for a few seconds, apart from the continuous patter of rain outside. Then, out of the blue, the Stranger said; “Are you also wanted by the White council?”

Smoke’s eyes widened. “What do you know about the White council?”

“Well, other than the fact that they’re the power-hungry megalomaniacs who took over the city a while back, not much.” The Stranger shrugged. “If you’re having trouble with evading their legions, How about we team up for a while?”

“Team up…” Smoke mused. “I don’t usually work with others, but as I’ve never seen someone who’s as recklessly skilled as you are, I’d say that you’d make a vital ally.”

The Stranger seemed pleased by that complement. “By the way, you never told me who you were, and why the White council were after you.”

Smoke was cautious about giving away vital info to someone he’d never seen before, but reckoned that this guy was honest enough. After all, he was also wanted by the White council. How could he be working for them?

“My name is Smoke monster.” He said. “And I have stolen secret tactical details from the White Council, and plan to use it against them. You?”

The stranger just smiled playfully, with a mischievous glint in his yellow eyes, much like when he first encountered him.

“Call me Daronus.” He mused.

 

Author's Notes

For those who don't know, a few months ago, Lucina asked me to Write something for the Distortion Anthology, which was a collection of works set in the Universe of the Uprising trilogy. From what I know, It's more or less fallen into Hiatus, so I figured I'd upload my half-finished entry as a standalone short story.

I would probably upload what remains of part 2 of this, but then I'll have to get that finished, which may or may not take forever, and I may or may not end up completely forgetting about it. So for now, the fate of Daronus in this world is completely ambiguous.

 

 

The Uprising Trilogy was created by Voltex/Lucina. Adaption by Daronus/Darth Daronus

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