Tides

The Hunter's Prey is a short story set on Voya Nui during the Piraka Invasion. It is also set during the beginning events of BIONICLE: Gravity.

It is an entry into the Summer Writing Contest 2014.

Story
He walked down the desolate sewers of Voya Nui. He always looked over his shoulder to see if she was standing there. She always seemed to catch up with him. That's why he needed to get off this island. He was trembling, he had to get out of the sewers.

He didn't know where he was going to end up. Hopefully he would be greeted by harmless Rahi instead of either Skakdi or her. But the Skakdi on this island, which of whom were called the 'Piraka'. They were after something on this island, because why come to an island full of broken Matoran?

He saw light coming in from above at the end of the tunnel. Finally, he would be able to get out. He ran through the muck of the sewers. He got saturated in the filth of the sewers as water splashed everywhere as he ran through the muck water.

He was there. He looked up through the gaping hole in the ceiling at the end of the tunnel. There was a old rusted ladder. He climbed it, it shook as he crawled. He heard something splash in the water far down the tunnel. He knew it was her, she had found him again. He crawled faster and came at the base of a mountain.

He didn't look back down. He ran down a hill and into a forest.

The twin suns shone through the green leaves of the tall trees. Insects flew around him. Small Rahi scurried across the forest floor. He jumped over a log, and landed in a hole.

“What?!” He asked himself.

He tried to climb out, he reached, but couldn't get a grip. He heard something walking through the forest. He had a horrible feeling that it was her. It was getting closer to his hole in the ground. A worm fell on his shoulder, he silently knocked it off.

It was getting closer now. It was almost to the log. She would be right on top of him at any moment. But, just a small Rahi jumped over his hole. That didn't seem right, how could a Rahi make so much noise?

He was going to look for another way out of the hole, but something was stabbed into his right shoulder and he was tugged up and thrown into the dirt. The sun blinded him, he tried stretched out his right arm to block the light from his eyes, but pain seared through his shoulder and he dropped his arm to the ground.

He was going to block the sun with left arm but a figure stepped in front of the light. He knew it was her, and he quickly grabbed a hand full of dirt in his left hand and threw it into her face. While she was distracted, he made a run for it. He ran faster and faster, never looking back, never stopping. Even the growing pain in his arm didn't stop him.

He had to get to a village fast, because he knew that the pain wasn't any regular pain. He had been poisoned. That was one of her ways of wounding her prey. He was getting to the edge of the forest, it was now growing into just tall grass. He see the field now. Nothing was going to stop him.

He crossed the broader between the forest and the field. He was in the open now, an easy target. But he knew too well to think that way. She always stalks her prey, makes them feel safe after hours or days of no attacks. Then, they get lazy, and then the next thing they know is that there's a dagger slitting their throats.

He continued to run. His lungs burned, his mouth and throat were almost as dry as the desert. He had to find a village soon, or he would die of hunger and thirst. He hadn't had anything to drink for two days now. That's how long she'd been hunting him. He could never sit down and eat. She could had killed him at any time. Either slit his throat or poison his food or drink. Either way, he had to keep moving.

Why hadn't she killed her when she had the chance, though? He didn't think that she was getting lazy, no. She was playing with him, stalking him, trying to make him get lazy. But, he wouldn't let that happen. He would never let it happen.

He kept on running. He had for hours now. The sky was now orange and the suns were setting fast. He didn't want to be stuck in the dark.

He ran a few more mio, it was almost completely dark now. When he thought all hope was lost, he saw lights down a hill. His heartlight skipped a few beats when he saw the lights. He quickly ran down the hill, his shoulder stung even worst than ever.

He was now running down the hill at great speed to do the gravity and angle of the hill. He couldn't keep up anymore. He tripped on a bush and tumbled down the hill. He hit his face, then his back, then his face, and then his back, over and over again.

He finally hit the bottom of the hill. He slowly got up. He felt his face and looked at his hand, it was coated in blood. He got to his feet and slowly made his way into the village. He entered through the unlocked steel gate. Lanterns hung from posts lining the stone road. No one was out, why would they?

He limped through the abandoned village. All the lights in the huts were out. He came to a circle of huts, but these had signs on them. One read: “Food”. Another read: “Liquid”. And the last one read: “Weapons Smith”. He needed all these things, but he didn't have that many widgets. He couldn't give anything up. Maybe the liquid, he could always drink from the pond ten bio behind him.

Yes, he would give that up. He saw lights on in the weapons smith. He had to go there first. Hopefully the weapons smith had a Zamor Launcher that he could use against her. He pushed open the door and walked in. A bell chimed above the door as he entered. He looked around and saw the that walls were covered in razor sharp weapons. The place was illuminated by a candle hanging from a lamp hung from the ceiling. There was a door to a backroom. He heard the sound metal being struck with a hammer. There was a desk and he walked up to it. There a bell on the desk.

He looked around. He then stretched out his hand and extended his finger. He dinged the bell. The clanging stopped. He looked to the door and it opened. A Ta-Matoran wearing a Kaukau. His form looked horrible, but he knew that this Matoran had gone to Karzanhi.

The weapons smith looked up at the Matoran, who had a rebuilt Mata Nui form, and narrowed his eyes.

“Not from around here, eh?” The weapons smith spat.

He frowned. “Do you have any Zamor Sphere launchers?”

The weapons smith smiled. “Of course. Just a minute.” The weapons smith hobbled into the backroom.

The Matoran stood there. He looked around and rubbed his burning shoulder. After he got his weapon, he would ask where he could find the village doctor. He heard the weapons smith moving metal and weapons around in the backroom. He silently waited. Until the door swung open and the bell chimed.

He turned his head to see the figure of a female standing there, a dagger in both her hands. But one was an organic hand, the other, was robotic. She had double jointed legs, and had dark crimson eyes. And she wore a devious smile.

Her name was Lariska.

She stood there, looking at him. A breeze came in through the open door. She was about to pounce. He couldn't move, he knew that this was the end of him. The weapons smith returned.

“Hey buddy, I found this in back-.” He stopped when he saw the Dark Hunter.

The Matoran quickly turned around and grabbed the Zamor Sphere Launcher and fired it rapidly in Lariska's direction. But, she wasn't there. He looked around for her, but couldn't find her. He then heard the groan of the weapons smith behind him. He turned around to see a blade sticking through the chest of the Matoran.

Lariska spoke. “Okay, I want this to be very clear,” she twisted the dagger, and the weapons smith went limp. “Put down the weapon, or this next one will be in your skull.”

He dropped the weapon, but ran out the door as fast as he could. He to the pond and grabbed a scoop of water with his hands. He saturated his mouth. It tasted horrible, but at least it was refreshing. He kept on running. He ran for a few more hours and the break of dawn was now upon him.

He could now see the beautiful landscape of Voya Nui. He saw the forest in the distance. Mount Valmai blocked the suns, casting a large shadow over the valley he was in. He was so tired, he had to rest. He couldn't carry on. But he had to stay awake. But now, he was falling into darkness.

He hit the floor.

He woke up, but he couldn't feel his body. He looked down and saw Lariska with her daggers in hand.

“Well, I guess my poison finally got to you. Well, now your serious crimes against the Dark Hunters are now resolved.” She chuckled. “Don't worry, you'll be dead in thirty seconds.”

He couldn't believe it. She had gotten to him. He was laying in the lush grass, the suns were overhead. He could see Mount Valmai in the distance. An insect crawled over his face, but, instead of blowing it away, he simply smiled. For that was the last thing he would ever see...

But wait, there was something coming from the sky, something huge. Like a flying ship. But, before he could figure it out, he fell once again, into darkness. This time, forever.

His time was up.

To be continued

Characters

 * A Matoran
 * Lariska
 * A Weapons Smith

Trivia

 * This is an entry into the Summer Writing Contest 2014.
 * This was meant to be an entry into the Halloween Writing Contest 2014, but decided to write it for the Summer Writing Contest 2014.