Bionicle G2: New Legends, New Heroes

Chapter 2: Breeze through the Jungle

Ruka was very surprised when she and the other Protectors saw comets appear moments after leaving the Temple of Time. Upon seeing the comets upon the temple steps, the Protectors wasted not another second.

Ruka pulled on the reins, and the large, dragon-like wings of her urdak flapped faster. The water plains of the Region of Water fell away for the Region of Jungle, and in an area of luscious green treetops, a line of black smoke was easy to find. After the urdak dove towards a newly made hole in the jungle's canopy, the trail of smoke, thin from far away, was a gigantic pillar up close. And it was not alone.

Ruka landed her beast, the wings folded and the claws attached to them, digging deep into the grassy ground. The high-pitched shrill announced its arrival to the other green Okotans nearby the smoke. "Easy girl, easy," Ruka gently petted her urdak's scaly head.

Among the other Okotans, one approached the dismounting Ruka with his wooden spear. "Halt! Who goes..." the Okotan stopped and quickly raised his spear in salute. "Protector! I'm sorry I didn't-!"

"S'alright," Ruka waved it off to the Okotan. "What's happenin' here, scout?"

The scout, one of the Jungle Tribe's proud guardsmen, faltered slightly. "Well, protector, we saw the green comet crash here. We thought we come here and investigate to find the Toa, but..."

Ruka took the note in. They knew about the Toa? She hid that bit of information away and asked, "Does anyone else know?"

"Everyone saw the light, Protector. In fact, a few of ours already went back."

"Did you find anythin'?"

The scout was silent on that, so Ruka passed by him. The other scouts saluted seeing their Protector, who walked towards the large pillar of smoke. Ruka thought she would find something at the bottom of the newly-formed crater, only to find...

... no one?

Ruka's eyes widened. "Wha-?"

She had no time to wonder. A light rustle of the surrounding trees turned into loud shrieks. Ruka whirled her mask to those trees, where a scout ran out and shouted two words: "Skull Spiders!"

Then, that scout fell prey to a small gray spider-like creature. As the creature pried at the scout's masks with its four legs, a dozen more like it swarmed out of the trees. "Protector, watch-!" one scout shouted before he was the next victim.

Something growled behind Ruka, and she turned to find her urdak pinning a couple Skull Spiders under its giant claw. "Thanks, girl!" she said. She mounted her urdak and called out, "Anyone who can, get on!"

The remaining scouts rushed to their Protector, more afraid of the Skull Spiders than the snarling urdak. Only a few managed to get near Ruka's beast, and one scout shouted, "There's too many! We gotta get to the tribe!"

"No!" Ruka argued, spotting a few more scouts. "There's still some left!" Grabbing on the reigns, Ruka readied her beast to rescue those scouts at the mercy of the Skull Spiders.

That was when green arrows rained from the sky.

Ruka did not know how many arrows fell. She knew when they struck, they either disappeared instantly and left smoky wisps on the Skull Spiders. One by one, they fell to the ground in a paralyzed and stunned state to pose a threat. The remaining few retreated, and Ruka looked up.

Now, she saw him coming out of the pillar of smoke. Now, it was a tall and green Toa, floating thanks to the turbines on his bow.

Ruka jumped off her urdak to get a closer look, and she still could not believe it. This was a genuine Toa, like in the legends, with the yellow emblem of a tornado popping from a chest of deep green. Ruka spotted lighter shades on the thin arms, dangly legs, and even the mask itself.