Hollow

Story
   The tired beaten feet of the innocent rushed to safety as an army of nightmares pursued them, their memory was foggy and they didn’t even know how they got here wherever here is. But none of that mattered; all that mattered was the present. One of them, a Toa of fire shouted out orders as his team ducked into a cave, but their attackers still pursued them inside. The cave system was elaborate, it was dark and quiet, the perfect place to hide. But there was no time to hide only to run but none knew where they were going. The Toa cursed to himself for not owning a kanohi Huna then he summoned a wall of fire to block his foes. The move was effective but it only slowed the army down. The Toa told his team to stop and despite how crazy the order was they did it anyway. As they did this the Toa blasted the ceiling with flames eventually causing it to cave in and block the path of their foes. He sighed in relief then turned to his team. It consisted of three matoran: a female Ga-Matoran, a male Ta-Matoran, and an Onu-Matoran male. They gasped for breath and sat down on the cold rocky ground. “You’re resting, good. You’ll need all of that energy later.” The Toa had said these words in a wheezy voice for even he was tired. He turned his head to look at the matoran as the Ta-matoran of the group spoke. “I say we rest here after all we’ve spent our day running from whatever it is those things are.” The Toa shook his head “No, this rubble won’t last long.” As if on cue the wall of earth shook as the warriors on the other side rammed it, the Toa frowned as he heard this “We have to keep moving” He uttered almost fearfully.



             The team moved slowly on ward through the tunnel, dragging their feet lazily as they went. The Toa lead the way analyzing the environment with his black Akaku Nuva. He knew that there was a dead end up ahead. He thought to himself “I’ll have to find a way around that.” As he did this he also took a quick glance at his fellow travelers. They were tired and they wouldn’t last much longer and neither would the Toa. “Look at us” he thought “We’re worn out and tired which makes us too easy of prey, I’ll have to find a place for us to sleep or else we’ll never make any progress.” The Toa once again ordered his team to stop. They had reached the dead end and at the site of it the Ga-Matoran groaned. “Great, more inconveniences.” She said in an annoyed tone. The Onu-Matoran known as Onatuu looked at the Toa   as he sent jets of fire into a wall. “What are you doing?” He asked. But the Toa ignored him and stepped back then kicked the melted wall and watched as it crumbled down and showed a new entry point. “Follow me” The Toa said in an assertive voice. More walking had made the team lose their ability to walk effectively and now they looked just as bad as the things that chased them. They could barely keep their eyes open. And often tripped over rocks then struggling to pick themselves up sometimes they even fell asleep when they fell only to be awaken by comrades and dragged back up. The Toa himself was beginning to falter and just stopped in place and the others stopped as well without even being ordered to. He lazily created a ring of fire of fire around them in a slow motion. When he was done he muttered softly for the team to sleep and in just seconds the team collapsed as the shadows of the cave surrounded them, diminishing what little light the ring of fire offered. Within minutes there was no light just shadow.

Tanikii, Toa of fire had pried his eyes open only to see pure darkness but he heard much more, deep whimpers, whispers, and growling. He carefully reached his hand to his mask’s scope and silently activated its night vision. What he saw angered him. The things known as undead of which had chased him and his matoran allies was now walking around in the shadows, searching for their prey. Tanikii would not allow it any longer, he slowly began heating up the cold cave and soon the undead began to notice the heat. They were being baked by it but soon the Ga-Matoran Gala and Onatuu woke up in a drowsy manner and much to Tanikii’s dismay Gala began to complain about the heat which blew their cover. The Toa of fire acted quickly and shot up off the ground and soon used his fire power to illuminate the room and expose his team. He then activated his wrist blades and charged at a party of undead, he knocked down one of the undead’s weapons and flipped over it then cut another in half while blasting another with fire. He then kicked the weaponless Undead in the chest and created a flame vortex that reduced the rest to ashes. He finally finished the last one with a fast stab in the head then looked at his team. They were baffled by the Toa’s skills. “Get up, we’ve got to get moving” He ordered.

Never had Tanikii felt this tired before in his life. Hours and hours of fighting undead with only a few minutes of sleep had done its work on him, he could barely think clearly. Soon the matoran had become his eyes and audio receptors though they were just as tired. Another hour had past and through the eyes of Pyrack the Ta-Matoran every step was a mile to him and every minute seemed like an hour, and every hour seemed like day. This journey was relentless; he didn’t feel his feet as they scrapped against the ground trying lift themselves to perform a proper step. The world was getting blacker, and blacker till Pyrack finally gave in and collapsed. His allies tried to wake him up but to no avail, he was beyond sleep. Tanikii cussed as the sounds of swirling swords and growls of anger came from behind. Another party of undead. Tanikii tried to leap over the matoran but did not have the energy, he flew into them instead. He cursed and pulled himself up only to see the armada of demons rushing towards them, he rammed into them in a sloppy motion only for them to surround him and swallow him in a crowd of swords, maces, knives, and staffs. He was no longer in the Matoran’s vision. To them he was dead. They then closed their eyes and clutched hands as some undead approached them, they were ready for death. But suddenly the crowd exploded in a mix of bodies and flame. When the dust settled the only one left to stand was Tanikii, Toa of fire. He looked at the Matoran, they had all fallen asleep, he then looked down at his arm and he could see a black goop spreading over his body. He recognized this as the virus that spawned the undead, the very thing that would turn him into one of them. He was soon overwhelmed in sorrow, he knew that soon he would no longer live with a free will, that he would soon be nothing but a husk of what he once was. Then back at the Matoran. He   would die that much he knew but he would not let them die. They would live on to be great heroes and he would live on through them. And so with great strength he walked toward the Matoran and pick them up one by one then carried them through the rest of the tunnel. His mind dissolved through every step but he kept moving, he was determined and nothing could stop him. He would save these Matoran and do one last good thing before being forced into the evil influence of the virus. Then something spectacular happened, his life was flashing before him. Every step was another memory. He could see all of his crazy misadventures as a matoran with his friends, he heard the crowd scream his name as he won his first kolhie game, he could feel the guiding hands of his Turaga who acted so much like a mentor to him, and he could smell   the odor of the rabid ash bear that attacked   his home   as he rushed into it with a heart of courage. Then he saw himself carrying these Matoran as the warm light of the sun shoo the shadows of his body and touch him in a warm glow. Before him now was a lush plentiful forest. He loved it   and hated the fact that he wouldn’t ever be able to explore it. Then he finally dumped the Matoran on the and quickly grabbed three stoned then filled them with magnificent power and set them by each sleeping Matoran. He got up then formed a sad smile, after that he created another circle of fire around the matoran then plucked a piece of his armor off then set it next to Pyrack’s head. He then ran off into the wilderness when the virus finally consumed him and led him toward his new leader. The Matoran woke up fully rested and feeling stronger than ever. But their happiness was cut short when they noticed Tanikii’s absence. They then noticed the forest around them far different from the cold and dark ceiling of the cave. Pyrack felt something on his head then grabbed it and examined it. He recognized it as part of Tanikii’s armor. He got up slowly with a sad expression on his face. Gala and Onatuu noticed and came to the same conclusion: Tanikii, Toa of fire was now dead. Pyrack then put the armor on his back, it looked awkward at first but then he picked up a stone that glowed with energy and Gala and Onatuu did the same. Upon contact the stones covered them in energy and when it faded three strong Toa took the place of the Matoran. Each was armed with a weapon and they all pulled their own out. They then walked off into the forest with faces of sorrow. They walked on and through each step they took Tanikii’s legacy would grow.

Characters

 * Tanikii
 * Pyrack
 * Gala
 * Onatuu
 * Several Undead

Trivia

 * This story is an entry to Vorred's writing contest