Having been invited out to visit Keetongu and his family, several Toa and Kokua had joined them at the amphitheatre and were exploring several tunnels. In the one picked by Naneki, Kokua was amusing the cubs by singing and letting them reply to the echoes caused by the turns in the tunnel. The hybrid had just moved ahead several paces when there was a faint, almost inaudible pop, and a brilliant flash of light that momentarily blinded the small group.
When Lewa's vision returned, it was to see Kokua staggering toward him with an odd expression on her face. Presuming that the light had just blinded her, he smiled and stretched out a hand. She caught hold of it, stumbled and fell heavily against the Toa of Air, weakly wrapping her arms around his neck and hanging there.
"What's wrong?" Lewa asked urgently, half carrying her over to the wall.
"...can't...brea...it hurts..." she moaned, hands convulsively clutching at him.
She slid down the wall a little more, Lewa staring at where her hands had left sticky red prints on his armour.
He grabbed her hands, gasping at the amount of blood that covered them before swiftly laying the shuddering Torahka down. It was then that he saw the wound - a rough circular hole had appeared in her chest, from which a horrifying amount of blood poured. The Toa of Air screamed for help, pressing both hands against the wound in a vain attempt to slow the loss of blood, Kokua groaned in agony, trying to push his hands away.
"Brother, what's ... oh SPIRITS! Kokua!"
Pohatu threw himself down on the ground beside them staring in horror at the damage. He gently peeled her hands away from Lewa's and held them tightly, whilst switching to his Akaku and staring intently at her.
"Keliana, Naneki, stay back!" Notegeku's voice rumbled firmly as she and Keetongu came racing around the corner to kneel beside the stricken hybrid. The golden rahi cursed softly in his own language, before gently pinning Kokua's wings back, preventing them from thrashing about against their owner's will, while his mate cradled the Torahka's head in her lap.
"How bad?" Lewa demanded of Pohatu, who had since resumed his Kakama with a sickened look.
"I don't know, I couldn't see, there's too much blood," he replied, tightening his grip around his sister's hands as she moaned again.
"She's fading," Notegeku whispered sorrowfully, stroking her friend's forehead in an attempt to comfort the dying hybrid.
Lewa laid a bloodied hand against his closefriend's cheek, gently rubbing her cheek with his thumb. Kokua forced her eyes open and with a supreme effort managed to bring him into focus. She was now incapable of speech but the expression in her leaf green eyes said more than words could ever achieve. Tears were streaming down Lewa's mask as he nodded, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. Kokua's eyes fluttered shut and in the following silence all those present could hear her breathing slowing. Pohatu rested her hands beside her body, and watched as the life slowly ebbed away from their friend.
"'KUA! NO!"
A small pale green/gold figure flung herself on Kokua, shaking her as hard as her little muscles would allow.
"Feathers wake up! Wake up now!" Keliana pleaded, grabbing a hold of her tall friend's hand and shaking it. Keetongu slowly reached for his daughter, pausing as Kokua's eyes flickered slightly, her mouth twitching in a faint smile.
"No...'Kua..."
Pohatu, who was closest to the sobbing cub, was about to scoop her up when he froze. A dim golden glow was coming off the cub, growing stronger and moving down her hands. Blue and gold sparks shot through the glow as it touched Kokua's near-dead hands and moved quickly to cover her body.
"B...Brother." he murmured, shaking Lewa's shoulder. The Toa of Air glanced up from his hunched up position and gasped.
"Oh please... please." he pleaded in a hushed whisper as the sparks sank into the flesh in and around the wound, rebuilding the destroyed tissue. Notegeku's eye was on her daughter, who was growing paler by the second and trembled with the strain of keeping the energy flow up.
"Stop. Keliana, stop, now!" Lewa said sharply. There was still a raw scar where the hole had been, but it was treatable, and the little rahi was growing dangerously weak. Keliana pulled away, severing the energy flow and slumped back, her brother catching and supporting her.
"Will she be okay?" Naneki asked the group. A soft snore from the pale green/gold cub reassured everyone to that point, Keetongu reaching out and relieving Naneki of her sleeping weight.
"What about 'kua? Will she be okay too?" Naneki persisted, looking up at Lewa.
"I hope-think so." the Toa of Air murmured, glancing over at where Keliana slept and echoed the other cub's question. "Is she alright?"
"Just tired," Keetongu rumbled, "She stopped before any harm was done."
"She has amazing power for someone so young." Pohatu remarked curiously.
Notegeku gently lowered Kokua's head to the ground and moved to scoop Naneki up, giving her son a reassuring hug as he yawned, still watching his twin sister.
"It is unheard of in our kind." she said simply, following Naneki's gaze to Keliana. "None of our kind have ever had that amount of power so young."
"We should move back to the camp-site. Kokua will have gone into shock and we need to keep her warm," Keetongu said, breaking off Pohatu's response. He passed Keliana to his mate and gently hoisted the sleeping Torahka up, carrying her back to the camp-site Pohatu climbed unsteadily to his feet before pulling Lewa to his and supporting the shaking Toa of Air, both slowly following Keetongu.
Notegeku had already joined him and was retrieving the blankets from the packs, having rested Keliana nearby, Naneki watching over her intently.
xXx
Meanwhile, in the spirit realm, Rhya Nui was in the middle of a conversation with a group of spirits, one half of her mind listening and responding to the spirit Turaga, while the other half tried to work out what was making her feel so uneasy. She shifted, still puzzled, then paused as her brother's voice sounded in her head.
"Sister?"
She answered, her sense of foreboding increasing at the tone of his 'voice'. He sounded worried and a little apprehensive.
"Brother? What is it, something wrong?"
"...I think you need to come look for yourself," he said finally. "I am in the usual place,"
Rhya silently cursed then stood up.
"Will you please excuse me?" she said in answer to the questioning glances on the masks surrounding her. They nodded and bowed, then watched as she hurried away, a Turaga of Lightning remarking on how worried she suddenly looked.
Five minutes later the dusky Great Spirit breathlessly joined her brother, who was watching an image play out before him.
"What is it?" she demanded, "Is something the matter?"
He gestured to the image with a grimace. Rhya glanced at it then gasped as she realised what it showed. She watched as the Toa of Stone guided the shocked Toa of Air, who's form was covered in a disturbing amount of drying blood up a pathway. She hastily panned the image around until it focused on the healing rahi. Notegeku had set Naneki and Keliana down and handed a pair of blankets to the former, instructing him to watch over his sister while she laid out several more blankets on the ground.
Her lifemate quickly joined her and lowered a still form onto them, Rhya freezing in shock as she realised that it was Kokua, as blood-soaked as her closefriend.
"Brother, what...?" she whispered, moving the image closer to try and get a look at the unconscious Torahka.
"She went into the tunnels under that amphitheatre," he murmured. "Something in there caused a surge of energy, and when I came to investigate what it was...I found this,"
xXx
"You're back early. How di..." the Toa of Twilight's voice trailed away as she stared at her blood covered brothers, while close behind them Keetongu held the unconscious form of the Torahka and Notegeku carried the cubs, Keliana sound asleep.
"We're not sure what happened." Pohatu said, catching Lewa's arm when he stumbled, the lanky Toa's eyes glazed with shock.
"We should get Kokua to Ga-metru as soon as is possible, Aikane." Keetongu rumbled, cutting through the violet Toa's own shock.
"Of course." she muttered then glanced around before moving to place her hand into the nearest patch of shadow and called to the shadow twin Toa.
"We must get to Anuenue's home quickly." the Toa of Twilight swiftly explained as her brothers and Keetongu drew closer.
Several of the shadow twins nodded, while unseen Anuenue's raced off to alert her real sister.
"I'll manage to carry Kokua, the ceiling in Anuenue's is too low for you, my friend." Aikane murmured, switching to her Pakari Nuva while holding her arms out.
Keetongu nodded then carefully placed the unconscious Torahka into the Toa of Twilight's arms and stepped back, leaving the circle of shadow twin Toa, rejoining his mate and cubs.
As Naneki tugged at his sire's hand until Keetongu lifted him up, the shadow twins clasped their real selves arms then vanished from sight.
*Let's take Keliana home* the golden rahi rumbled softly as the pale green/gold cub squeaked in her sleep and nestled closer to her dam.
The Turaga of Colour was busy making notes on what Tehutti had asked her about when her shadow twin suddenly appeared.
After listening to her, the shocked Turaga began to prepare her hybrid sister's bed, covering it with towels, while her shadow twin brought through hot water and cloths.
Several minutes later the bedroom was filled with Toa, both real and shadow, "Gently sister." Lewa muttered, his eyes still glazed in shock as he watched Aikane place their sister onto the towels.
"We'll clean Kokua up and make her comfortable." the rainbow hued Turaga reassured her brothers, then glanced at them.
"Listen Lewa, go and clean yourself up. I or my sisters will let you know when Kokua wakes." the Turaga of Colour said as the Toa of Air swayed on his feet and was steadied by Pohatu, also covered in dried blood, but not as badly as his lanky brother.
"But..." Lewa mumbled as he tried to focus on the rainbow hued Turaga watching them as calmly as she could.
"Come on Airhead, we both need to get clean." Pohatu said, pulling his brother towards the door, unresisting the Toa of Air meekly let his brown hued brother guide him towards the spare rooms.
When they'd gone, Aikane thanked the shadow twin Toa and watched them vanish before turning to where Turaga Anuenue and her shadow twin were carefully removing the blankets from around their winged sister.
"Spirits!" Anuenue gasped, echoing the exclamations from her shadow twin and Toa sister, staring at the blood covered form of their sister.
"No wonder Lewa's so anxious... Speaking of which." Aikane murmured as the rainbow hued Turaga and her shadow twin began to gently clean the blood from Kokua.
"Gali, I'm in Anuenue's. Are you still up and have you got any strong sleeping draught? Lewa's in shock, possibly Pohatu too. I'll explain when you get here." the violet hued Toa called silently, "I think so, won't be long." came the startled reply from their blue hued sister.
Several minutes later, Gali joined her sisters, "Found it, where are they?" the blue hued Toa whispered, after examining Kokua's damaged chest, her mask now as pale as her sisters, "In the spare bedroom, sis." Anuenue softly replied as she paused to rub her mask, accidentally leaving a mark from the cloth behind.
"I think you'll all need some." Anuenue's shadow twin commented, reaching over to clean her real sister's mask, while Gali hurried off to see how their brothers were.
"How are you doing?" the blue hued Toa asked as she glanced around the spare bedroom door.
Glancing up as Gali moved into the room, Lewa gazed at her, hoping she'd say how Kokua was, then when she didn't her lowered his head back into his hands.
"Pretty shook up, sis." Pohatu quietly replied, moving from where he'd sat to hug her, "This'll help." Gali said as she produced the canister of sleeping draught she'd brought with her.
"Featherheart." the lanky green Toa mumbled before taking a deep swig and passing the canister to his copper hued brother.
Then as the Toa of Air curled up on the bed he'd been sitting on and fell asleep, Gali pulled a blanket over him, "Will you tuck me in too, sister?" Pohatu asked as he settled nearby.
A brief smile crossed Gali's mask, "Alright bro, if it helps." she murmured as he also took a deep swig then lay back, "Thanks..." Pohatu mumbled, falling asleep mid sentence.
Gali sighed, gently eased the canister from her brother's hand then placed a blanket over him before dimming the lightstones and pulling the door closed.
Rejoining her sister in Anuenue's bedroom, Gali found they'd finished cleaning Kokua up and Anuenue was tying off the bandage wrapped around the hybrid's chest.
While Aikane used her Matatu to keep their winged sister aloft, Anuenue's shadow twin removed the ruined towels to one side, then with her real sister's help began to place blankets in such a way that would cushion and support Kokua.
"I'll ask Tahu and Hakinu to incinerate them tomorrow." Aikane said while gently lowering Kokua onto her bed, then glanced up as Gali hugged her, "Come on sis. It's nearly midnight." the blue hued Toa murmured, gently tugging her violet hued sister over to the nearest bed.
While Gali encouraged Aikane to have a swig of the strong sleeping draught, the Turaga of Colour and her shadow twin gently tucked more blankets around their sleeping sister.
Anuenue then freed Kokua's right hand from under the blankets and checked her pulse, "It's steady. Thank you so much for helping shadow sis." she whispered, hugged her shadow twin tightly.
"You rest sister. I'll let the others know." she gently replied before Anuenue let her go, the rainbow hued shadow twin glanced at Kokua again then moved to a shadowed part of the room and vanished.
"Sis, you should get some rest too." Gali's voice broke into Anuenue's thoughts about what could have nearly killed her blue/silver sister, "I will soon. You can use my bed, I'll curl up on the window seat." Anuenue said, glancing up at her anxious sister as she moved to stand beside her.
Seeing the determination that she should use the Turaga's bed in her rainbow hued sister's eyes, Gali bowed, smiled at Anuenue's sudden blush then settled down and have a drink of the sleeping draught.
When she was sure Gali was asleep, the Turaga of Colour moved to dim most of the lightstones before moving a stool to Kokua's bedside and settled there, gently clasping her comatose sister's hand as she drifted into sleep.
xXx
In the flowered meadow, the butterflies were taking turns examining the sleeping form of Kokua's spirit.
Then after several minutes, a third of the flock vanished from the meadow, A while later they returned, perched on the shoulders of Rhya Nui, silently the dusky Great Spirit examined the sleeping spirit then sat back on her heels.
"My Brother's blessing of Keliana and Naneki has saved you, my child." Rhya Nui whispered, her voice indistinguishable from the sound of the butterflies' wings.
She then whispered to the flock surrounding her and Kokua and watched as the butterflies fluttered down to land on the comatose spirit, covering her in a multi-coloured, ever-changing blanket.
Rhya Nui then gently placed her hand on Kokua's forehead for several moments, "Sleep and recover, winged singer." the dusky Great Spirit whispered before vanishing from the flowered meadow.
xXx
Stretching as he turned over, Lewa yawned then shot up in bed as the memory of what had happened yesterday surfaced, scrambling from the bed he hurried out the room heading for Anuenue's bedroom.
Knowing that the Turaga of Colour would throw something at him if he just barged in, Lewa stopped then peered cautiously around her bedroom door.
All four occupants were sleeping, the Turaga of Colour still lent against the rolled up blankets keeping Kokua comfortable, her hand around her sister's.
"So pale." the Toa of Air whispered, his eyes gazing at his comatose closefriend, her face all he could see.
Silently he moved closer until he stood beside Turaga Anuenue, crouching down, Lewa managed to tear his gaze from Kokua's pale one to look closely at his rainbow hued sister and jumped as she was watching him intently.
"How long have you been awake-alert?" the lanky Toa whispered as Anuenue stretched then worked the kinks out her neck and back.
"Only for a few minutes. Let's get breakfast ready for the others." Turaga Anuenue replied, standing up before hugging her anxious brother.
"But..." the Toa of Air started to say, then glanced around when Aikane yawned and sat up rubbing her eyes.
"I'll watch over Kokua." the violet hued Toa murmured, smiling to reassure Lewa that his closefriend wouldn't be left alone, "Thank you shadow-sis." he replied then let Anuenue lead him towards the kitchen.
"Still in shock." her rainbow hued sister's whisper reached Aikane while she checked on Kokua, "How long do you think Kokua will sleep for?" came Gali's drowsy comment as Turaga Anuenue gently prodded Lewa into helping her prepare breakfast.
For several minutes, the Turaga of Colour said nothing then sighed, "As long as it takes. Her spirit would be traumatised as well."
"This enough, Turaga?" Lewa's enquiry broke into the silent conversation and he looked hopefully at his 'elder' sister when she nodded and picked up a tray.
"Yes let's rejoin our sisters and Pohatu." picking up the remaining tray the lanky green Toa, uncharacteristically silent, followed Anuenue back to her bedroom and looked eagerly over to Kokua's bed, a low moan escaping him when he saw her still asleep.
Silently the Toa and Turaga ate then tidied the dishes and beakers away, "What now, sis?" Pohatu asked when they rejoined Anuenue back in the living room.
"You should all go and explain what has happened to our brothers and sisters. And I was wondering if the shadow twin Toa could scout the area where Kokua got hurt." she replied.
Everyone stared shocked at Lewa as he suddenly shot to his feet, eyes blazing, "HURT, HURT? MY CLOSEFRIEND NEARLY DIED!" he roared, the breeze coming through the windows growing stronger as the green hued Toa glared at the rainbow hued Turaga.
"If you don't calm down brother..." came a deceptively mild voice from the doorway while the Turaga of Colour stood up and moved to the middle of the room.
"At this moment in time I can't bring myself to say that word." Anuenue whispered, a catch in her voice, then she silently left the room, pausing to glance up at her icy brother before returning to her bedroom and Kokua.
"Explain." the Toa Nuva of Ice said, moving to sit beside Gali, his eyes never leaving his pacing, muttering brother until Pohatu caught Lewa's arm and forced him to sit back down.
Pushing the door closed, the Turaga sat on her bed, buried her head in her hands and breathed deeply as she tried to calm herself.
When Anuenue felt a little better she moved to Kokua's bedside and stood there gazing at her comatose sister's pale face, "Oh Kokua." the rainbow hued Turaga whispered.
Reaching out to check the bandages Anuenue suddenly realized that whatever had harmed Kokua had also smashed her pendant in two.
"We'll have to get this replaced." she whispered, gently removing the remaining piece from around her sister's neck.
"Sister may I come in?" Kopaka asked a few minutes later as he watched the Turaga while she rested Kokua's hand back on the blankets.
Silently Anuenue nodded, not realizing she still looked hurt by what Lewa'd said as she went to sit on the window seat. Joining the Turaga of Colour as she gazed at Kokua, Kopaka sighed then hugged his rainbow hued sister tightly.
"I think that by the time Pohatu, Aikane and the shadow twins have finished with Lewa, he'll be apologizing profusely to you." he said when Anuenue glanced up at him.
"Gali's gone to find Lakino and Slàna." Kopaka commented when Anuenue quietly asked the whereabouts of her blue hued sister, she nodded then sighed, "I haven't felt this helpless since that fever laid you and the other Toa low."
"You were also laid low, by a cold. But the healers and Keetongu's knowledge of herbs and berries worked wonders." came the reply as Kopaka activated his Akaku, scanning their sleeping sister while letting Anuenue regain her composure.
"Pohatu told me what Keliana did and how it astonished her sire and dam." the white hued Toa murmured a while later, still concerned by how withdrawn his sister was as she nodded her reply.
Then both looked up as Gali entered the room, Lakino and Slàna with her, while the healers examined Kokua, Gali crouched to check her rainbow hued sister.
"We'll help you watch over Kokua, for now it's all we can do." Lakino said quietly when she and Slàna had finished changing the bandages and joined the Toa and Turaga on the window seat.