Author's Note: Jeez Louise this is long. O-o Anyway, this is my first Songfic. Oneshot. Maybe, I haven't decided whether to continue it or not... Either way, this is the Great Cataclysm of Metru Nui from the perspective of a Ko-Matoran Thinker called Endeh, who had seen it coming in the stars.
Poor chap.
-Spinny
How Far We've Come
By Spinderfly
"Attention, attention," blared a monotonous voice that made my eyes snap open. "Last call for all Matoran to go to the Coliseum..."
No, no, no, no, NO! Not today! Any day except today! I thought as I sprang out of bed. I didn't bother to look at the clock, or check the date. Neither mattered.
The Great Cataclysm was upon us, and I was the only one alive who knew a thing.
I'm wakin' up at the start of the end of the world
but it's feelin' just like every other mornin' before
Now I wonder what my life is gonna mean if it's gone.
"Vahki will be deployed at exactly ten o' clock this morning." the loudspeakers continued outside my Knowledge Tower as I scurried about, locking doors and continually adjusting the place of my sand blue Hau on my face. "They will be forced to forcibly remove those Matoran who do not comply..."
Ha ha. Just like me.
I grabbed a bag and started stuffing it with necessities. The streets became clogged with tardy scholars.
The cars are movin' at a half a mile an hour if that,
an' started starin' at the passengers who're wavin' goodbye
Can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time?
I hadn't been the first one to find out about the Cataclysm, no, not by a long shot. I was one of a small guild of Ko-Matoran who saw three signs in the sky; A sign for destruction, a sign for sleep, and a sign for escape. These three signs, growing closer and closer to perfect clarity in the heavens, told us that the end was growing near, but that it meant that escape was possible. Naturally, we were seen as eccentrics, sometimes even lunatics. So when we presented concrete evidence to Turaga Dume about our theories, obviously he was a little surprised...and angry. He told us to stop spouting such dystopic nonsense and put us under house arrest in our towers for a week.
Some time along that week, all of my colleagues had managed to have an "unfortunate accident".
But I believe the world is burnin' to the ground
oh well I guess we're gonna find out
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come
Well I believe it all is comin' to an end
oh well I guess we';re gonna pretend
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come...
I think it turned ten o' clock but I don't really know
then I can't remember carin' for an hour or so
I put down the phone and sighed.
I had called her.
No one was at home.
Noray, my one and only love, my fiancée, even, had just followed with the rest of the world inti the Coliseum. Like sheep to the slaughter.
She was doomed.
I heard banging on the door and I ran with my bag of emergency supplies.
Tears trickled down my Hau during my flight
I started cryin' but I couldn't stop myself
I started runnin' but there's nowhere to run to
Out the window and off the balcony. Down the series of handholds I had chipped into the ice for this very purpose. The whole climb was perfectly choreographed in my head by merit of much practice, down to the five-foot drop between the ground and the end of my impromptu ladder. I went faster than usual, though, because this time, I didn't have a certain Ga-Matoran scholar with me. My heart ached just thinking about her.
Doomed.
I sat down on the street, took a look at myself
said, where you goin' man you know the world is headed for hell
Say good bye if you've got anyone to say goodbye to
My footsteps didn't take me to the safe-house that I had planned for the Cataclysm, though. Instead, I found myself dodging Vahki patrols to the very spot Noray and I used to meet before we got engaged.
Maybe she'll be there, my heart said.
Don't be a fool, chided my mind.
Yet still, I ran, hoping to see her medium-blue Kakama one last time.
I believe the world is burnin' to the ground
oh well I guess we're gonna find out
Let's see how far we've come(again)
Let's see how far we've come
"Noray!" I cried breathlessly as I burst through the thin curtain of falling water that separated our grotto from the rest of Metru Nui.
"Endeh, you paranoid fool, I'm so glad to see you," the Ga-Matoran teacher sighed, rushing up to meet my embrace. I pulled away a little as I started at her, incredulous.
"You came!" I said happily. "I thought you had already gone to the Coliseum!"
" No, I took sanctuary in the Great Temple." Her face turned grave. "On my way here, though, I saw those Toa from a while back. They were getting their asses kicked by the Dark Hunters; Nidhiki and Krekka themselves, as they were driving one of those weird cargo crafts that have been zipping around lately..."
"But you're safe now." I interrupted. "No one can find us here... It's the most secure place on Metru Nui that I can think o--"
My sentence was cut short by an earsplitting rumble and the crashing of thunder. Noray grabbed my hand and desperately tried to tug me out of the cave. "THIS WHOLE PLACE IS GOING TO COME DOWN AROUND ON EARS!" she screamed above the cacophony. "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE, ENDEH!!"
Well I believe the world is comin' to an end
oh well I guess we're gonna pretend
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come...
The ground was bucking like an angry ash bear when we turned topside; this must be a massive earthquake. In the distance I could make out the two moons closing like dual eyes, and I could hear the faint splashing of pillars into the true Sea of Protodermis in the distance. What scared me the most, though, was the Coliseum. It seemed like it was being possessed by a demon. A tornado of red and black, with glowing eyes.
Through the crumbling chaos, therre wasn't a scream, or a sob, or a shout.
There was just Noray and me, entwined in each other's arms, each being the other's anchor in the storm. But with every buck of the ground beneath my feet, my grip on Noray loosened a little. When the earth finally gave way, I lost her, just before I lost consciousness.
It's gone gone baby it's all gone
there is no one on the corner and there's no one at home
well it was cool cool baby it was just all cool
now it's over for me and it's over for you
well it's gone gone baby it's all gone
there's no one on the corner and there's no one at home
well it was cool cool baby it was just all cool
now it's over for me and it's over for you...!
My eyes snapped open to terrible silence.
Not a great of the hurt nor a cry of the lamenting reached my ears. I broke the silence inadvertently, groaning as I rose. I was battered, but alive, my body told me. Not like I cared. All I wanted to do was make sure Noray was alright.
"NORAY!" I screamed hoarsely, stumbling through the debris. I slipped and scraped myself a few times, but I could care less. "NORAAAY?!"
Finally, an answering groan from somewhere under the rocks. I frantically dug through the rubble, the dust making my eyes water.
"En... Endeh..." Noray whispered faintly as I scraped the rest of the dirt off of her torso and face. "L..legs..." I glanced at her lower body and gasped.
Correction: Where her lower body used to be. Now, there was just a boulder there.
"Oh... oh Noray, my love..." I sobbed, a tear trickling down my cheek. Five hours ago, I could have gotten her medical attention and she would be crippled for life, but she'd survive. But those days were over, and now, all I could do was make her last moments more comfortable, and watch as her lifeblood trickled into the ruined earth. I pushed the rock off of her legs and knelt by her, clasping her hand in both of my own as the sky darkened and thundered.
"Today... today was going to be our wedding, remember?" Noray said weakly. I wiped a tear away and sniffed.
"I...I completely forgot..." I murmured, chuckling quietly. "How ironic..."
Noray nodded and laughed along with me, until discovering it hurt. "I say, go on with the show," she craoked after she regained her composure.
"B-but... we don't have a Turaga..." I began, surprising myself with my unwillingness.
"Under the circumstances, do you think we need one?" She smiled, but I knew her strength was fading fast. "Now, we both already know that... I love you...and vice versa... and we didn't need all that pomp and ceremony in the first place..." She grinned her last grin. "You... may kiss the bride..."
I bent down and complied with Noray's final wish, gathering her up gently in my arms and giving her a kiss that she would remember until eternity.
"I now pronounce you..." she breathed, so quietly I could barely hear it, even with her face so close to mine. "Ma..toran... and... wiiiifffe..." the final word slipped off her lips as the Reaper stole the glow of her heartlight.
I shuddered, holding Noray's body close to mine and humming something soothing until the warmth faded from her corpse and my eyes were empty of tears.
But I believe the world is burnin' to the ground
oh well I guess we're gonna find out
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come
Well I believe it all is comin' to an end
oh well I guess we're gonna pretend
Let's see how far we've come, again
Let's see how far we go
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we go
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we go
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we go
Let's see how far we've come.
