Skaiheda

Snap!

The sound of a twig breaking into under the weight of a warrior's foot penetrated Mahuta's ear. His eyes calmly open, he maneuvers, freeing himself from the embrace of Trina and Mira.

Standing tall on his feet, Mahuta grabs his swords and makes for the trees. The head of his Regal Stag rears its head, looking to see where his master was off to. Mahuta puta's out a hand and makes a slow downward motion. The Stag sees this and peacefully returns to its rest.

Mahuta quickly climbs a tree and stops halfway up, for there was a man perched on a branch above him. Mahuta pulls the man's leg, and he drops to straddling position, cracking his balls. Mahuta heard the man groan in pain. Not wanting to alert his enemies, Mahuta plunged his dagger into the throat.

Stripping the man, Mahuta takes a bow and quiver, along with a mini machete. Mahuta straps the mini machete to his lower back and his sword to his chest. Now perched on a branch, Mahuta watches as the grounder moves in to surround his tribe.

Mahuta smirks to himself as he knocks an arrow and performed a few practice draws to get a feel for it. Allowing his man to guide him, Mahuta drew back hi both and fire on the first presence closest to him.

Thunk!

The presence vanished, and not a wail could be heard. Mahuta knocked another arrow and took aim at another presence.

Thunk!

This process is repeated over and over again. Only stopping when Mahuta leaped to another tree. Using the arrows of the dead tree men, Mahuta cleared out all of his aerial enemies.

Now only the ground forces remained, and Mahuta could sense the chief amongst their people. The person had great authority and the unwavering commitment of their people. In Mahuta's mind, the silhouette of this person was deep navy blue and flickered like fire.

Mahuta traveled tree to tree until he was directly above the enemy leader. This leader turned out to be a black woman with short cut hair in her middle ages. Mahuta instantly had respect for this woman. She moved like a seasoned warrior, and he could feel her hold over the land.

Once Mahuta's tribe was surrounded, he flexed his mana, causing his stag to spring up and produce a loud grunt that shook the woods. Mahuta then dropped from a tree while firing an arrow at the warrior closest to his stag.

Before hitting the ground, Mahuta dropped his bow, drew his mini machete.

Thud!

Mahuta landed behind the woman and quickly put the blade to her throat. Pulling a small dagger, he put the tip of the blade to her spine.

Mahuta produced an ear ringing whistle and got the attention of his enemies and newly awakened tribe.

"No more fucking games!" He shouted, "Move, and your chief dies!"

The warriors looked at their chief, ready to fight on her command.

"Do not do it." Mahuta whispered, "We are just passing by and do not know the boundaries of the land. We can fight, or you teach me how not to offend your people."

The woman growled. "You come from the trees. Should I assume my warriors are dead?"

"You should," Mahuta replied, "Think of this as a conflict or misunderstanding. I am Tanemahuta Ngata. Big Chief of the little creek."

"Little creek?" the woman asked with a changed tone. She looked at her people and gave a firm nod. Her chin touched the blade on her throat, and the warriors dropped their weapons. For if she had raised her head and exposed her throat, it expresses her will to fight on.

"You killed the great river serpent?" she asked.

Mahuta was surprised by the question. " If it was sacred, I apologize. I did not know."

"It is a water demon. Even the commander wouldn't dare venture into its waters." the woman replied. " My people are telling stories about you, Sky Warrior King."

Mahuta lowered his weapons, and the woman turned around. "You fell from the sky into the territory of the Woods Clan. Did you know we were here?"

"We thought the planet was uninhabited. Honestly, we were cast out from a city in the sky. This was supposed to be a death sentence." Mahuta explained.

The woman chief looked at Mahuta's tribe and saw more scared children than invading warriors. Though they held their weapons ready, they were no warriors. The chief sighed.

"Gona Haihefa Tanemahuta Ngata Kom Skaikru. I am Indra Warmana Kom Tondc."

Mahuta held out his hand, telling his tribe to stand down.

"Gona Haihefa? Warmana Kom Tondc? What does this mean?" he asked.

"Warrior King of the sky people. Warmana Kom Tondc is War Chief of Tondc." Indra explained.

"Ahh." Mahuta then put his hand to his chest, "Ariki tauaroa. High Chief. You are rangatira pakanga, War Chief. "

"What is this language?" Indra asked.

"Maori. Language of my people," said Mahuta.

"Skaikru speaks English," Indra said with a bit of confusion.

Mahuta chuckled. "We have a lot to teach each other."

--------------------

Later that morning, Mahuta and his Tribe were taken to Tondc, a central village for Trikru, the clan that rules the territory that Mahuta and the 100 landed in.

Besides landing in their territory. Relationships weren't bad. Mahuta and his tribe were treated as guests, and they were fed well. A lot of people seemed to be fascinated with Mahuta and his Regal Stag. Apparently, even in the glowing forest, the stag of its breed was rare and coveted.

Mahuta and his tribe sat around for breakfast feast as platters of food and drink were brought out.

"The Stag. How did you tame it?" a woman named Anya asked.

"My mana." Mahuta spoke honestly, "Spiritual power of my people."

Mahuta's tribe and the grounders were both skeptical. But his tribe had seen it first and hand and wondered if Mahuta actually had spiritual power. However, Anya didn't seem completely skeptical.

"Hmm, what else can this power do?" she asked.

"If you ever find out. It is because you got on my bad side." Mahuta spoke nonchalantly, but an odd chill filled the room.

"Enough of that. Show me this map of yours," said Indra.

Mahuta handed the map over, and Indra explained that the grounders were divided into twelve clans and then outlined their boundaries. She then circled where the dropship landed.

"You came from the sky. I understand. If you want to keep that land, we must come to a reasonable agreement. If not, it means war." Indra explained.

"Hmm. Well, one of my people was speared in the chest then tied to a tree. Was that reasonable?" Mahuta asked.

Indra looked at Anya, and Anya lowered her head. "That was a mistake on our part. We that you belonged to the mountain men."

"Mountian men?" Mahuta asked, "they weren't written on the map."

Indra then circled mount weather.

"There are people in mount weather?"

"Yes. They are enemies with fayogon."

Mahuta mouthed the foreign word. "Guns? weapons the shoot holes in people?"

"Yes," said Indra.

"Hmm. Well." Mahuta drew a circle around his creek, "That is my land. What do you want for it?"

"The stag," said Indra.

"I can't do it. But I can give you to feed all of your people in Tondc. Good food. Rice, beans, sugar."

"Such crops do not exist anymore," said Anya.

"Yes. But have access to its yields. I give you a share, and your people stay away from land. We will only venture out to hunt and gather supplies." Mahuta reasoned.

Mahuta waited for a response. He watched as Anya leaned over to Indra and whisper into her ear. Indra's brow furrowed, and she looked at Anya with big eyes. Anya simply nodded her head, and Indra sighed.

"Tell me about your people," said Indra.

Mahuta didn't mind the sudden change of topic. He told Indra about the Maori people and their history. Indra soon realized that the ancestor of Skaikru once lived on earth. That Tanemahuta was expressing an ancient culture different from that of his current people. A more tribal culture, similar to hers.

"When it is time to deal. As the best warrior of Skaikru. You will have to deal for them. I understand you trying to build your own tribe, but the fact is that you all landed here, together, and in the eyes of our Commander, you are one. " Indra explained.

"So what now?" Mahuta.

"Respect." said Indra, "chief of chiefs in our land is called Heda, meaning commander. So, Skaiheda, I will allow you to pass. When you return, you will pay a toll. You will go back to your people and discuss. But know, we are always ready for war."

"How do I contact you for a deal?" asked Mahuta.

"You come back to where we first met," said Indra. " This meal is over. For now, you can keep the territory. But soon, you will have to pay for it, one way or another."

Mahuta rose to his feet. " I saw horses on my way here. Lend them to me now, and I pay for them when I pay the toll on my way back."

Indra nodded, and Mahuta thanked her.

When Mahuta and his people mounted up. They rode out of Tondc to their final destination.

-------------------------------------------

After a little over an hour of riding and Mahuta arrived at a ruined concrete building.

"What is this place?" asked Mira.

"Logistic facility. According to my source, this place should have enough food to feed us for years. That why the truce with Triku needs to last until we're stable." Mahuta explained.

"And how do you plan to get everyone to agree to this?" asked Trina.

"By sword or pen. " Mahuta replied. " We started this journey on feet. Now you all have horses. I have a map with the knowledge we need to avoid conflicts and danger. These people know this world. If the ark comes down, we will need to cooperate or face all-out war. One we might not win."

"Can we trust the grounders to keep their words?" Chase asked.

Mahuta looked back. "That's not for you to decide. That's my call. You just follow my lead. We are products of our environment, and all of your softness is telling them that you were spoon-fed life. While they had to fight! Now straighten your backs and toughen up if you want to ride with me." Mahuta barked, and his tribe stiffened.

"That is more like it. Camilla!" said Mahuta.

"Yes, Chief," she answered.

Mahuta turned his Stag and rode to her side. He then handed her a bow and quiver of arrows. "Learn how to use it."

"Yes, Chief," she replied.

Mahuta looked at the timid eyed girl and at the rest of his people. He now realized that his authority had swayed many but was only strong enough to prompt the weakest willed to leave with him.

He turned his Stag once more than broke into a gallop. His tribe followed closely. He soon arrived at a small structure covered in moss and vines.

"This is it?" Mira asked while looking at a mound that looked to be years of brush grown tall and compact.

"Ten digit coordinates are said to be precise. Within 1 meter precise. This must be it." Mahuta replied. "There's definitely a large space beneath use."

Mahuta dismounted his stage. He walked to the structure and used his mana to find a door buried beneath 100 years of vegetation. Channel the man to his arms with lousy control, Mahuta ripped the metal door off its hinges.

The group watched this with immense shock and knew that Mahuta indeed had some type of mystical power within him.

"Camilla, Chase, and Mark. Stay with the horses. Everyone else, come with me."

Mahuta then leads the way into the bark musty tunnel going down into the earth. The only light they had was the rays of the sun that shined through the open door. Eventually, even that light was rendered useless.

That's when a few people pull out flashlights they had taken from the dropship. When the tunnel finally stopped. The group shined a light on the wall, revealing words that read, Emergency Aid Depot #30.

"We found it," Mahuta murmured with excitement.

The group then explored the dark tunnels until they found boxes of blankets, glow sticks, dead radios, medkits, and so on.

Cracking the glow sticks, the depot finally had enough light to move freely. The place was virtually untouched. Moving deeper into the Depot, Mahuta finally found the large space he had sensed on the surface.

Pushing down on a wall switch, the entire room lit up to reveal racks of large brown bags, boxes, cans, and jars. Near the walls were vehicles from the old world and locked cages with assault rifles, pistols, and ammunition.

"This is the part when you all kneel and say 'All Hail Chief Tanemahuta!'" Mahuta spoke as he took in the mesmerizing beauty that would change everything for him and his tribe.

A moment later, Mahuta heard the united voices of his tribe chanting, "All Hail Chief Tanemahuta!"

With the acquisition of the depot and the complete submission of his people, Tanemahuta felt his mana surge.