AN: This story will take the 2015 Bionicle story, and recast it in the light of the old Bionicle universe. I am only using the online webisodes as inspiration, but not direct word-for-word transcription, and I have not read any of the new books.

…

Tension is Rising

Chapter One

Tahu – Master of Fire

Black, volcanic rock sloped down to meet a newly-formed crater. A gleaming, protosteel canister lay at the bottom of the divide, its top unscrewed and laying on the ground a few yards away.

A crimson figure staggered about inside the crater, still reeling from the shock of a hard landing. He could see nothing but dark, glassy stone shot through with hints of red as far as the eye could see.

Where am I? he thought to himself. Who am I? His eyes narrowed. This situation seemed…familiar, somehow, but he could not remember why, or even what his name was.

Tahu…

Was that it? Was his name 'Tahu'? It seemed to fit, so he adopted it. With the riddle of his identity solved, Tahu turned his gaze to the interior of the canister he had landed in. He did not remember ever entering the device, but the items inside, surely they were meant for him.

The first objects Tahu removed from the canister were two single-edged, golden blades. They felt extremely heavy and awkward, so he dropped them. The next item was a silver and scarlet board—for lava-surfing, his mind told him—sharpened around the edges so that it could also be used as a weapon. This was so heavy that he ended up leaving it attached to the wall of the canister.

Then he saw it— an extremely familiar feeling item, as dear to him as his heartlight. The mask shone, even at the bottom of the canister. In his mind, Tahu saw a similar mask, with angled eyeholes and three slashes in each cheek instead of the two this one bore. But no matter, this was his.

Tahu lifted the mask and placed it on his face. The change was immediate and electric. Strength flowed through him. He felt as though he could do anything and no one would be able to stop him. He grasped the golden blades in both hands and easily swung them towards the sky. As they moved, they gave off bursts of sparks, and when they reached the peak of the arc Tahu was describing with them, they fired a pillar of flame, fifty feet tall, into the sky.

"I am Tahu, and I command the flames!" Tahu yelled to the night sky. He instinctively attached the blades to sheaths on his back and sat down slowly. "But, why do I command the flames?" he asked the emptiness. "I have power…but for what?"

The answer came readily to Tahu's mind. To protect and serve. However, this answer only raised a host of new questions. Who was he to protect and serve? What was he protecting them from? Where could he find them?

The first and last questions were abruptly answered as a group of red and orange masked beings, about half Tahu's height, appeared at the rim of the crater. They were led by one similar to them, save that he was draped in a brown robe, and appeared to be hunchbacked. He clambered down into the crater and knelt before Tahu.

"Hail, Tahu, Master of Fire!" he exclaimed in a raspy voice, prompting a cry of "Hail!" from the others. Uneasily, Tahu stood and raised the being to his feet.

"You don't have to kneel to me," he said. "I'm not a master, just a humble traveler."

"No," the other said. "Your coming was foretold, as was that of your brothers and sister, who are landing even now. You are the Master of Fire, as I am its Protector."

"And what is your name, Protector?" asked Tahu.

"I have no name," the Protector answered. "The Protectors are a mystic order. We give up our names to better serve our purpose. But come," he gestured to Tahu and turned to leave. "This conversation would be best finished in comfort. My village, Ta-Koto, is only a few kios away."

Tahu removed his lava-board from the canister and ran to catch up with his guide. He walked beside the Protector of Fire in silence for a while before speaking. "You said that my brothers and sister are coming, too," he said thoughtfully. "Are they like me?"

"The legend says that they are like, and yet not like," answered the Protector. "Please, allow me to explain when we get to Ta-Koto. There are carvings and—"

"An Amaja Circle?" interrupted Tahu.

"No, scrolls," the Protector said, looking at Tahu confusedly. "What is an 'amaja circle'?"

"It's a…" Tahu trailed off, a faraway look in his eyes. "I don't remember." He shook his head, as though to clear his thoughts. "Anyway, Ta-Koto, right? The name sounds familiar."

"Well, 'Koto' comes from the name of our island home of Okoto," the Protector explained. "However, the meaning of the prefix has been lost."

"It…it means 'fire'," said Tahu, struggling to remember something. "Like the first two letters of my name—Tahu. See?"

"Hmm…I do see," the Protector said. "You have much to teach us, Master of Fire. Many things may soon be added to our carvings."

The group of fire villagers reached a path that passed under a low cliff. Below them was a narrow valley with a lava river running at the bottom. Across the valley was a hill with a walled city sitting on top. Villagers armed with rotating blasters patrolled its walls, and a spiked portcullis hung above its massive double gate, ready to drop down on any who dared attack.

However, Tahu did not have time to appreciate the inexplicably home-like sight. One of the villagers with him and the Protector gave a shout of terror and pointed to the top of the cliff above them. Tahu turned to see three insect-like creatures squatting on the edge. Their jaws dripped with poison as their yellow eyes gleamed hungrily.

"Skull Spiders!" another villager yelled, readying a rotating blaster.

Skull Spiders, huh? So, that's the answer to my other question, Tahu thought, dropping the lava-board and pulling his golden swords from their sheaths. However, he had only gotten one of them out when the Skull Spiders leapt from the cliff to attack the villagers below. Tahu had no idea what he was doing, but instinctively he jumped into action. He pulled a silver Spider from where it was attempting to pry a villager's mask off. Dropping it to the ground, he lifted his blade to stab the creature, but there was a blur of silver and suddenly it was clambering up his chest.

Stumbling back, Tahu attempted to dislodge the Skull Spider. Prying at it did not work, even when he dropped his sword and tried with both hands. It reached a claw up to pry at his mask, and Tahu felt anger burn through him. How dare this creature attempt to remove his mask? His armor glowed red hot, and the Skull Spider curled up and fell to the ground with a high-pitched squeal. Tahu quickly scooped up his dropped sword and stabbed the creature before it could recover.

Pain blossomed in the small of his back, and he was knocked against the cliff-face. Turning with difficulty, Tahu saw that a blue Skull Spider had managed to pry a villager's mask from his face, and was now attached to his head in its place, controlling his actions. With a slight sneer, the villager again raised the rotating blaster he carried and took careful aim at Tahu.

There was a burst of blue light. When it was over, Tahu was surprised that he felt no pain. He realized that he had closed his eyes, and opened them to see the Protector of Fire standing over the controlled villager. The Protector had abandoned his cloak sometime during the fight, revealing that he was not, in fact, hunchbacked, but instead had one of the ubiquitous rotating blasters mounted on his left shoulder.

"Well, give me a hand!" the Protector barked at Tahu, who was watching, open-mouthed. "We need to get this Skull Spider off of him before it recovers!"

Tahu saw the sense in this and scrambled over to help the Protector. With their combined strength, they managed to pull the Skull Spider from the villager's face and replace his mask. Tahu stabbed the creature quickly before looking around.

"I'm certain that there were three…" he said thoughtfully, finally getting the chance to unsheathe his second blade. "So, where is the other one?"

"Perhaps it has gone to report to its master," the Protector said, reaching for his cloak. He lifted the garment, only to reveal the green Skull Spider lurking beneath it. It lunged at the Protector with frightening speed, but Tahu was faster. Flames burst from his swords, incinerating the Skull Spider before it touched its target.

The Protector and Tahu stood silent for a long moment. Finally, Tahu replaced his swords in their sheaths. "So," he said, "you were taking me to your village?"

…

To be continued…