Hey, it's me. Merry Christmas! Yeah, writer's block has struck every single stinkin' story I have started, and filled my head with new plot bunnies, with knives, spears, and all manner of sharp things to stick in my brain. I'm still gonna try and finish Sketches and Scars, just so its fans can have an ending, but it's gonna be really REALLY hard.

So, what's this? Well, it's a little of what I'm wanting to write. A very small part, but it does its job, which is to introduce a character who has been stewing and developing and evolving and...stuff...in my head for years, and decided she wanted out.

So...yeah.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle.

Kopaka walked down the path, taking in his surroundings. The path he was taking cut through the center of a canyon filled with shadows. He let out a sigh; so it was going to be one of these nights.

He continued at a steady pace, scanning the rocky outcroppings. He passed under a natural archway and froze. He backed up a few paces and looked up. Sure enough, there she was.

A black, cloaked figure stood over him, hands clasped loosely at the waist and feet set in a strong stance. "You found me," a cool female voice remarked flatly.

"What do you want this time?" Kopaka demanded, his calm tone belying the irritation that was already starting to show itself in his eyes.

She jumped down to the ground behind him, and Kopaka turned to face her. She had the form and armor of a Toa of Shadows with a Kanohi Suletu, but there were a few things that never failed to unnerve Kopaka, no matter how many times he encountered her. Her eyes gave little light, only a small red circle that grew and shrank with the light of her surroundings, and she had no heartlight. Combined with her element and fondness for visiting him in dark, isolated places, she had the aura of something Matoran would tell stories about on dark nights to scare each other.

She stepped closer, looked into his eyes and replied, "You always ask that, and I never tell you. Every time you see me, it's the first thing out of your mouth. And you still don't know. I'm beginning to wonder if you'll ever catch on that I'm not going to tell you."

Kopaka scowled. She smirked and swept past him, adding, "You're a clever Toa, figure it out yourself."

He glared after her, but found himself following her for some reason. "If you're not going to tell me what you're after, could you at least tell me your name?"

"I have quite a few, some I can't remember, others I prefer not to."

Kopaka rolled his eyes. "Is this how you speak to everyone, or am I just special?"

"A bit of both," she replied, sounding amused at his annoyance. "Do you like it?"

"No."

She shrugged and continued silently. Kopaka continued to follow, convincing himself that he was hoping to get a straight answer out of her somehow. After a long period of silence, Kopaka finally spoke again.

"Where are we going?"

"You mean, where am I going?" She glanced over her shoulder at him. "I didn't force you to follow me."

"Fine. Where are you going?"

Instead of a response, she slipped into a shadow and vanished from his sight before he could stop her. Kopaka stood still, staring at the shadow she had disappeared into and wondering whether to be glad of her sudden absence, irritated by her insistence on not telling him anything, or – and the fact that this even occurred to him boggled his mind – disappointed. Why? He didn't enjoy her company in the least. She looked like a walking Toa corpse, her element repelled him, she spoke only in riddles and useless chatter, and she clearly took pleasure in all of it.

He finally shrugged all of it off and continued to walk down the path she had started on, figuring it would lead eventually somewhere with better light.

He came to an expansive valley, littered with boulders and massive stone pillars, not unlike the landscape of Po-Wahi. Absently he scanned the rocks, figuring it wouldn't hurt to keep alert.

"We meet again," the Shadow Toa's voice floated through the valley. He turned sharply to see her sitting on a boulder. She casually dismounted the rock and leaned against it, waiting for him to say something.

"Can't you leave me alone?"

"I suppose I could, but I'd miss you," she mockingly let out a sigh and placed a hand over her nonexistent heartlight.

"Why?"

"If you saw the type of characters I'm stuck with, you would understand," she answered flatly, dropping her hand to her side.

Lightning flashed in the sky. She looked up to stare at the gathering clouds, holding her hood in place. "Do you see that?" she asked. "Turmoil is brewing. A part of you senses that." A rumble punctuated her statement.

Kopaka scowled. "Stop with the riddles. I hate riddles."

She turned to him, her eyes two red pinpricks. "This is preparing you. Can't you understand? Something will happen to you soon... something bizarre and perilous..." She trailed off, staring into space.

"What are you talking about? How do you know?"

She blinked and focused her eerie eyes on him again. "Go find your fellow Toa Nuva. Stay on guard."

Kopaka frowned. "Why are you telling me this? And why should I do what you say?"

"Does it not make sense to you?"

"It doesn't make sense that you would expect me to follow your advice."

"True," she conceded with a shrug. "But surely unity would be in your best interest?"

His eyes narrowed, and he turned away from her.

"It's simple advice, Kopaka. Take it or leave it, I can't honestly say I care, really."

"Then why give it?" He eyed her suspiciously.
She shrugged and looked away. "I thought you might want it. After all, something is going to happen, and you might want to be on good terms with your brothers and sister when it does."

"How do you know something will happen?"

"Because you know," she tapped her mask. "I can use this."

He shoved aside his outrage at having had his mind read without his knowledge and snapped, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Consciously, no," she replied, "That's why I'm letting you know now that you have a great adventure ahead of you." She took three long strides to stand nearly mask-to-mask with him, allowing him to see gray rings around the red lights. "Remember: You must not let the true enemies trick you into fighting allies." She paused, then added with some reluctance, "The name I am most known by is Rebellion."

With that, Kopaka felt a sharp pain in his chest that sent him staggering back. He looked down to see a fresh wound in his chest, shadow energy still lingering on his armor. He returned his focus to the female Toa in time for her foot to connect with his mask.

He awoke in his dwelling with a shock and her last words still fresh in his mind. He sat up with a groan and placed his head in his hands.

"Toa Kopaka!"

He got to his feet and opened the door just before a wild-eyed Ta-Matoran could knock on it. "What is it?"

"Four Matoran have disappeared!" he cried out, "Into thin air! They're gone! Toa Tahu sent me to get you and the other Toa Nuva!"

… "After all, something is going to happen, and you might want to be on good terms with your brothers and sister when it does..."

He kept his face neutral and nodded. "Thank you. Where are we supposed to meet?"

"At the gate to Vulcanus."

Kopaka thanked the Matoran and started off, refusing to think of his dream. It was just a strange dream. She's not real.

Still, he could not shake the faint sense of dread that seemed to cling to his mind like cobwebs to his armor.

...

...Okay, that was weird. So, I'm thinking on making this the prologue/first chapter of a story that's been begging to be written. It's going to have a heck of a lot more characters and - because I've somehow become a massive fan of Kung Fu Panda (don't know how that happened)- will be sort of a Bionicle/Kung Fu Panda/enough OC's to count as its own category.

*reads previous paragraph again* It's quite possible that school has actually tampered with my sanity. This does not bode well for me, readers.

...Anyways, reviews?