Silence surrounded Pala Outpost, broken only by the footsteps of a lone guard pacing around a long fence—the half-mile perimeter of an area where two Matoran had been killed in the past week.
The guard was equipped with a rust-bee shooter—a weapon carried by guards on permanent duty—and a lightstone-inlaid staff, which was attracting moths by the dozens. The guard batted away the bugs and continued pacing.
Suddenly, the guard heard a stick break. Heartlight flashing, the guard poised his shooter and pointed them between the cracks in the gate. The footsteps came closer. The guard cocked his launcher, clutching the trigger with one hand and the handhold with the other.
The guard saw two bright red lights shining in the distance. Frightened, the guard pushed the shooter further, aiming at the lights, which looked considerably like eyes. The lights got closer, followed by heavy footsteps and the scraping of metal. Panicked, the guard shot, sending the spiny missile flying through the air with a loud crack.
The lights got bigger, flickered for a moment, and went from vivid crimson to dull amber. The footsteps stopped, and a large object could be heard plunging to the ground.
Two Matoran came rushing out of Pala Outpost, equipped with cutlasses and glowing staffs. One looked frightened, the other disapproving.
"What happened here?" the disapproving-looking Matoran said in a gravelly voice as the frightened-looking Matoran gripped his staff tightly.
"I shot something," the guard said. "It was coming after me. From the force of its falling, I'd estimate it weighs 400 pounds at least."
"Let's have a look then, shall we, Nuri?" the disapproving-looking Matoran said. "Ponzu, alert the science unit." The frightened-looking Matoran scampered off at once, returning two minutes later with two others and five vacuum suits.
After they had put on their suits, the team of five approached the gateway to the fenced-in area, which was under heavy guard.
"Password?" an irritable-looking guard said lazily.
"It's me, Zosui, you koli-head!" the head Matoran said.
"You never said anything about applying you as an exception," the guard said.
"Fine," Zosui grumbled. "Po-Koronan iced noodle soup."
"With cactus garnish or parsley?" the guard said, apparently unaware who he was talking to.
"Cactus, but do you have to list the garnish?"
"You may enter. Take care."
"I shot it about sixty meters this way."
Nuri was leading four other guards—the outpost leader, an NTT assistant and two scientists, Josar and Sphiruk. They were all prepared for conflict.
"It was right behind this big tree here," Nuri said, gesturing towards a large willow, behind which were clearly audible groans of pain. The area was obscured by thick harakeke, which Sphiruk sliced through with his cutlass. They all gasped when they saw what lay beyond the growth.
A huge figure the size of a Toa was kneeling on the ground, bleeding. It had a horrible grimace on its face, which was somewhat like a Toa's but curvier and with a larger mouth. It clutched a wound in its arm, which was bleeding a huge amount for a small hole no bigger than a bula berry. A fikou was crawling up the creature's mask, which enhanced the aura of terror that the creature emitted with its blank eyes, which had faded to white, and its unkempt teeth, which were stained black with blood.
"Who are you?" Ponzu the communications officer shouted, obviously terrified.
"Go away," the creature replied in a very deep, tremulous voice that made the ground vibrate. Ponzu let out a little whimper and collapsed.
"Have you been killing Matoran?" Zosui barked.
"It's for your own good," the creature continued, letting out a howl as another stream of blood gushed from the wound.
"Why have you committed this act?" Zosui said, gripping his cutlass tightly.
"You are not destined to be here," the creature rumbled.
"We know," Zosui said, calmly this time. "Our Turaga have notified us and we are departing for Metru Nui after our boats our constructed."
"Your boats will not be ready fast enough," continued the creature. "They will be here soon. Biome will be the way it was in the before-time."
"What is Biome?" Nuri asked the creature. "Who are they?"
"Biome is your island," the creature said. A pokawi skittered away in terror. "They are the restorers. They will kill relentlessly and not stop until Biome is a desert again."
"This island was a desert?" Nuri asked, bewildered.
"Groves of trees sprouted," the creature said. "The southern side of your island became lush with greenery. Harakeke and bamboo grew on the east side, and the path that runs through the island became a great plain. But your island remains, and always will be, a mere desert."
"But there is a koro for each element!" Nuri said.
"Ignorant villager!" the creature roared. A tree fell down and crushed a fikou below it. "The northern side is as the island is. The Great Beings planted trees—I never understood why they did. On Daxia they made a huge show of it. They created a volcano. Destral created a Great Takara and it burned the vegetation, but it fizzled out at Le-Koro. Even now the fires burn with an all-consuming rage.
"So when the Toa defeated the Makuta of Metru Nui, Daxia sent the restorers to destroy the work of Papu and Rangi. Then the Toa were sent here. Artahka was merciless. The Toa massacred the restorers as Rangi continued to play with Daxia. The Matoran rebuilt their koros, a well was dug and the restorers became mere slaves.
"But Daxia had its revenge! The well's walls degraded and the restorers were released into the sea. They will wash back up any day now. The restorers will find their brains and your island will be how it was in the past. They will awake their masters, and your island shall be how it was in the before time. Rangi will be helpless, and destiny will be righted once more."
"What is this well?" Zosui spoke up. "What are the restorers?"
"You built it," the creature said. "I saw you build it a little over a year ago! I followed the restorers relentlessly as they destroyed that town on the water. The walls were made from bamboo. There were blue ones, brown ones, black ones too. They were all desecrating the work of the restorers!"
"You don't mean… the Bohrok?"
The creature let out a rattling gasp and pointed at the sky. The four conscious Matoran looked up. There was nothing to be seen. When they looked back, the creature had gone, and in its place was a huge heap of gray sand. Blood poured from the heap and spread, engulfing the unconscious body of Ponzu the communications officer.
"What is Artahka?"
"Artahka," Vakama replied to Nuri, "was an old myth from the days of Metru Nui—a great refuge. Nobody has ever found it, although a couple foolish Po-Matoran tried looking for it a few months ago. They headed towards Kini-Nui and haven't been seen simce."
"And what is Rangi?"
"Rangi," Vakama said dramatically, "arbiter of destiny. That was an old name for the Great Being that sets the pathway of the future. They say he has gone mad and loses track of destiny. He works alongside Papu, Great Being of Unity, who helps clear the pathway to make the paths Rangi sets up are able to be crossed. Papu keeps us together always."
"He mentioned something called Daxia, too. The 'restorers' came from there."
"Onewa told me a long time ago he heard a trader in a bar talk about an island called Daxia, but he remembered little else."
"What is Destral?" Nuri asked.
"Whoa, whoa," Vakama said, raising his palm. "You're asking a lot of questions. I've never heard of Destral."
"So, in all, the inhabitants of this 'Daxia' created the Mangai," Nuri said, piecing the puzzle together, "and 'Destral' helped them burn down the vegetation, creating the Charred Forest but ending at Le-Koro."
"Yes, that makes sense," Vakama said. "Obviously, Daxia and Destral didn't want anybody there."
"Daxia sent the Bohrok, but Rangi, with help from Artahka, altered destiny so that the Toa stopped the Bohrok from destroying Mata Nui. Then, Daxia set things 'right' by collapsing the Krana Well in Ga-Koro, releasing the Krana into the sea in hopes that the Xa will help release the Bahrag, at which time things will be as they were."
"In other words, we have to get out of here."