Black Water

Black Water is a short story written by. It depicts of the last moments of a Onu-Matoran named Gar.

Story
Gar had decided that the mutagenic waters of the pit were no place for Matoran.

The Komau-wearer was stationed by the fields of air, arms crossed as he waited impatiently for the Hydruka to finish. Harvesting the air weed was an integral part of life for the Matoran of Mahri Nui, but it was boring as hell. The Onu-Matoran would have much rather been anywhere else in the city than out here in the fields, but the usual Keeper had called in sick, and last minute arrangements had to be made. So there he was, standing alone at the edge of the massive field of waving seaweed, waiting impatiently for the multicolored Hydruka to finish.

Something long and wet brushed against Gar's leg. He reached down casually, intending to brush what was undoubtedly a free-floating piece of airweed from his leg. But when his fingers made contact the slimy tendril it contracted, wrapping tightly around his ankle and pulling him off his feet. Gar hit the ground hard, face planting in the cold mud that lined the sea floor. Then the tendril began to pull, dragging the Onu-Matoran away from the fields of air. He instinctively threw his hands out in front of him, clawing at the mud for something, anything to slow him down. Nothing was there. He was doomed.

In the face of death, most Matoran would have screamed for help. Not Gar. Months of living at the bottom of the Voya Nui Bay had proven calling for help to be a futile waste of air; no one would leave the safety of the city except during the Safe Hour, and by the tentacle wrapped around his leg, Gar knew that the hour was up. Bracing himself for what was surely the last sight he would ever see, Gar glanced over his shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of his attacker. What he saw made his blood run cold. Rising out of the abyss that ran along the sea floor was a monstrosity beyond words: a creature twice as tall as Gar, covered in slime and muck and looking like a cross between a Makuta and a giant squid. It's arms, legs and torso were humanoid, but his hands and head were covered with greasy, orange tentacles that reached towards Gar like eels wriggling out of their dens. It was one of these that had ensnared the Onu-Matoran, one of the longer sprouts from the creature's hand.

But what made Gar's blood run cold in his veins was its face. Three glowing red eyes were embedded into its flesh, locked on his ever nearing form. One eye was dimmer than the others, and bore a nasty looking scratch down its middle, presumably damaged during battle with an equally fearsome beast. Its mouth was open wide, revealing a mouthful of vicious looking yellowed teeth that spiraled tightly down into the creature's throat. Bright green splotches surrounded its mouth and thickly coated most of its teeth, splotches that Gar instantly identified as blood.

The Komau-wearer began to frantically kick and claw at the ground once again, desperate to pull himself away from the monster behind him. But the creature's grip was too strong, and Gar was pulled ever closer to its gaping maw. It was hopeless, and Gar knew it. But he fought on. Then the Onu-Matoran felt something sharp stab his leg, digging through his armor and into the flesh beneath. Gar fought the urge to cry out in pain, biting his lip with such ferocity that he drew blood, letting loose a small trickle of green into the navy blue waters.

That minuscule amount of blood seemed to set the creature off, and it suddenly released an ear-splitting screech of triumph that deafened the Onu-Matoran in its clutches. Then Gar felt something break through the armor fastened to his waist, then his chest. Suddenly he was moving again, moving downwards. The creature's teeth grew tighter around his torso, tearing through his flesh and armor as if they were nothing. But his head remained free, his eyes open as he was forced to watch his world disappear as he sank into the depths of the Black Water, forced to watch as his body was devoured by the monster, the creep from the deep.

In sudden burst of will Gar forced his eyes shut, blocking the macabre sight from view. But the image was still there, carved into the backs of his eyelids like words carved into stone. And he knew there was no escaping his fate. His body sank deeper into the creature's throat with every passing second, the pain increasing at an even great pace. Then the tiny yellow daggers reached his heartlight, and Gar body exploded with pain. His eyes flashed open as life began to drain from him, but no light reached his irises. All he could see was the darkness of the Black Water. Then he was gone.

Characters

 * Gar
 * Kalmah (Unnamed)

Trivia

 * This is DeltaStriker's entry into the 2013 Halloween Writing Contest.