Tales from Turaga Ventax: Volume 2

Island of Fear

Written by Minirigby

Before I begin the story of the Matoran Garu and his mentor Toa Oroh, first Toa of Iron and the second Toa to be brought into creation by the Great Beings, I must first explain a piece of the history of the Brotherhood of Makuta.

Thousands of years ago the beings known as Makuta experienced a sort of evolution in their biology, where their living forms became fluid and gaseous, rather than biomechanical like all other life within the Great Spirit’s domain. As a result of this mutation, the Makuta soon found that they no longer required food, sleep, or air, and could no longer feel pain.

At first this seemed like a great advantage the Brotherhood now held, however they soon learned of the great weakness of their new forms.

Seeing as they were now beings of gas, held together only by the strength and shape of their metal shells, the Makuta found themselves at the mercy of those same metal armor shells and their individual durabilities, and were now especially disadvantaged against those who could manipulate such metals.

As a result of this dangerous realization, a sinister plan was launched by the leaders of the Brotherhood. This initiative to monitor, recruit, and eventually exterminate Toa of the elements Iron and Magnetism had begun, the effects of which would still echo across history to this day...

Garu ran through the thick woods as fast as his small Matoran legs could carry him, trying desperately not to fall or lose sight of the Toa in front of him through the light fog. As the thick overgrowth of the jungle passed below his feet, Garu couldn’t help but think back to how he and his much taller companion wound up in such a situation in the first place.

It had been only two nights earlier that they were not prey on this small island, but rather guests, invited by its owner, the venerable but reclusive Makuta Tukutu.

Tukutu had reached out to Toa Oroh at his home on the Northern Continent almost a week ago now, presenting her invitation under the guise of an interest in the Toa’s history. When Oroh received the invitation he was most eager to bring his intended successor Garu along with him, to give the Fe-Matoran some experience with the world outside of their small village.

The two were welcomed most hospitably by the Makuta at first, given the finest of quarters to stay in and presented with great entertainment on their first night. It had become clear to them now however that Tukutu’s hospitality was nothing more than a thinly veiled interrogation into Oroh’s capabilities and demeanor, a bit of light studying for the hunt to come.

“Keep up Garu, the Makuta’s sons number too many for us to take on alone if we’re caught” Oroh said, jolting Garu’s focus back to their present circumstances.

The Makuta had not set out on this hunt alone after all, as they were most unfortunate to have learned on their second night on the island. Before Tukutu would ever consider setting foot into the dense jungle for herself she had to be sure the Rahkshi had subdued their prey, so as to not risk her own safety against an experienced Toa of Iron such as Oroh.

“Hurry, I hear their approach” Oroh said, once more turning back to address Garu through the dense jungle rushing past them.

“Of course Oroh, I’m moving as fast as I-” Garu’s reply was cut off by a thud from the branch he had just run mask-first into in the dark.

Garu stumbled backward, readjusting his powerless Kanohi in time to see that the Toa he was following close behind was no longer in his view, as the rustling of vines and branches behind him grew ever louder. Before Garu had time to react to the sound, a trio of Rahkshi had burst out from the mist and were on top of him.

The first two held down his arms with their weapons, while the third, covered in grey and deep emerald armor, pointed its head up towards the tree line and let out a painful shriek. Garu realized, too late for anything to be done, that this meant the hunter was coming to see what her dogs had found for her...

The wait felt like agony for Garu’s beating heart as the Matoran lay pinned to the floor of the jungle, two snarling Rahkshi staring down at him as he waited to be reunited with the island’s master. He had almost wiggled his right arm free from one of the Rahkshi’s weapons when the now familiar sound of a body moving through the dense jungle grew louder and louder, until Garu could just make out a figure in the fog he recognized all too well.

Six long and grotesque legs, paired with two arms with horrible clawed fingers, highlighted by a set of eight glowing eyes peering through a gruesome and terrifying Kanohi...

Makuta Tukutu had arrived.

As soon as Garu had locked sight with the eight glowing openings in the Makuta’s mask, the world around him began to distort and morph before his eyes.

The stars in the night sky opened wide into horrid bright crimson eyes, dripping a burning yet lightless fluid down from above all over the basin of the jungle, surrounded by the peaks of trees whose leaves had now fallen away to reveal sharp and malformed sets of pale grey teeth closing in around Garu as he sank deeper and deeper into the ground, suffocated by the heavy burning red liquid still pouring down from the sky.

Garu’s mind was overcome with intense adrenaline-fueled panic as he clawed desperately at the walls of earth around him, summoning every last ounce of energy he had left in a desperate fight for his life while still drowning in the thick red fluid. As he continued to struggle for what felt like an eternity condensed into a few moments, the Makuta’s menacing form continued to grow larger and larger as she peered down at Garu in his tomb of earth, watching for the moment the Fe-Matoran realized his life would end there and now. As the will to fight slowly began to leave Garu’s body and he was about to give up any hope of escape or survival, his surroundings suddenly returned to normal, as they were before he had made eye contact with the Makuta’s mask, so quickly that it gave his mind whiplash and left him stunned for a fraction of a second.

After realizing what had happened, Garu moved his head over to the left where he heard the familiar whizzing sound of a glowing Rhotuka flying through the air to see it bursting through the mist and making contact with the blue & white armored Rahkshi, encasing the creature in a coffin of metal on contact...

Before Garu had time to lift himself back up onto his feet, he could see Toa Oroh charging out of the jungle from the direction where the Rhotuka had just begun its flight, about to rush at the red & silver armored Rahkshi which had been holding down Garu’s right arm. Before Oroh could make contact with his target, the Rahkshi dodged out of the way of his charge at a blinding speed, swinging around behind the Toa and knocking him down to the ground with its staff. Garu used Oroh’s distraction to pull himself up onto his feet, still disoriented from the effects of Tukutu’s mask.

“Oroh!” Garu shouted, waving down the Toa, “watch out for the Makuta’s mask, whatever you do don’t make eye contact with her!”.

Oroh got back up off the ground as well, motioning to Garu while continuing to fight the two remaining Rahkshi.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m the reason you’re in danger here in the first place” the Toa said, “get yourself out of here, just keep running and don’t look back, the water isn’t far!” he shouted at Garu.

The Rahkshi took notice that Garu had pulled himself up from the ground and motioned toward him for their master to see.

“Leave the Matoran,” the Makuta said from behind her grotesque mask, “there’s no way off this island, and our real prey is right here...”

Garu tried to argue with Oroh’s order, to stay and help his mentor, but when he tried to move closer to Oroh the Toa erected a barrier of solid metal from the ground, separating Garu from the battle.

“I said GO!” Oroh shouted from behind the wall, quickly turning his attention back to the fight in time to block the grey and green Rahkshi’s staff with his shield while attacking the other with his sword.

This time Garu obeyed the Toa’s order, and ran off into the jungle. As he ran through the jungle mist, past the thick vines and over fallen logs and other greenery, Garu heard a cry of pain from the direction of the fighting, in the familiar voice of his mentor.

Keeping Oroh’s words at the front of his mind, Garu ignored the sounds of pain and kept moving through the jungle with as much speed as his shaken body could manage...

After another hour of running, as he was about to reach his limit, Garu heard the ever familiar crashing of waves against a cliff face he was so used to back in his home village.

He pushed his way through the last of the trees to see exactly what he had imagined, the shore of the island where he and Oroh had first arrived three nights earlier as the Makuta’s guests, cloaked in a familiar mist that covered the rest of the island as well. Garu made his way down the set of stone stairs carved into the side of the cliff and towards the dock where he noticed that, unlike the night he had arrived to Tukutu’s island, there were no ships or vessels of any kind docked nearby.

A feeling of panic washed over the Matoran as he realized what the Makuta had said was correct, he had no way off the island. Any ships that had once been docked here had either been moved somewhere out of his reach, or destroyed to prevent escape.

As Garu was about to give in to his fate for the second time that night, he remembered some of the final words Oroh spoke to him, “keep running and don’t look back...”

The words played in his mind over and over again, as he asked himself what Oroh would do in his situation. Finally, Garu decided upon what he had to do. It was the only thing he could do, he thought to himself, unless of course he wanted to turn back and become Rahkshi food, or worse.

Garu aligned himself with the longest stretch of the dock, took a deep breath from behind his mask, and made a running leap into the water. Finally, he was free...