My left eye seems to have developed an interesting twitch since I came here. It generally chooses to make itself known at moments when I'm highly irritated, kinda like a manga character. All I'm missing is the little vein popping out of my forehead.

I mention this now because now is one of those moments. Risau is currently—to borrow a British phrase—throwing a strop and ranting on about being under-appreciated and how he should be the leader or at least the second-in-command because of his superior skills and his years of training at the Toa academy in the capital and how horrible these awful little boring backwater provinces are and on and on and on…

It is currently taking every bit of my Protestant self-discipline (and a good bit of divine help, I'm sure) for me to not go over and punch him in the face. It doesn't help that this is an almost-daily event. I would love little more than to go over and scream at Risau that the reason none of the rest of us will let him lead is because he's an arrogant jerk and a bigot and a loser and no matter how much training he has or fighting prowess he gains he will never be a tenth as good a leader Berasa, who, no matter how much I disagree with him, actually cares about us and the other people around him and wants to help them. Not to mention he actually makes a decent decision once in while, despite his temper and tendency to act before he thinks.

I have yet to see another Toa so arrogant, and I have met a fairly large number.

I share a pained look with Shirasi, the team's Toa of Earth, and Fumu, our Air Toa, behind Risau's back. Shirasi strikes me as a very wise person. He's also very compassionate, open, humble, and honest. His personality is something akin to the perfect mix of Superman, Spider-Man, and Moses, if that makes any sense.

Fumu is a different story, though. I have yet to figure him out, but he's extremely quiet, much too quiet for someone who used to be a Le-Matoran (which, yes, he was, though not all Toa's elements match their…races? whatever you call them). Fumu is very withdrawn and has a sad, lonely feel to him almost constantly. It's taken weeks, but he's started to open up to me and Shirasi. It's just a tiny bit, but it's something. He came here with Risau. I feel like there's something that he thinks binds him to Risau, for some reason. I don't know if it's good or bad. I really want to know, but I can tell that it's best just to leave it alone for now.

I roll my eyes as the Stone Toa rambles on about his training and such, repeating most of the information for at least the third time during this rant. I sigh yet again, and give up on trying to do my lectio divina studies now. I roll up the scroll that my Bible became when it was transported here with me and do the put-it-behind-my-back motion that would place it in the space pocket with my Toa weapons. I would leave and go somewhere else, but I just can't leave Fumu and Shirasi to suffer alone, and I know by now neither one is going to leave, each for his own reasons.

I mentally chant every verse pertaining patience and loving people you would rather hit that I can think of until I run out of memorized verses. Risau's really on a roll today. This rant's long even for him.

I'm dangerously close to attempting a tiny blizzard on Risau (which I'm not sure I'm skilled enough to do yet) when a powerful gush of water comes from behind me and hits him square in the face. My mouth twitches in an attempt to smirk, but I squelch it. I'm not in the mood to deal with any questions about my "strange personality" from Risau. I do give a thumbs-up behind my back to Giinai, knowing that the Water Toa will appreciate it. The kid's under-appreciated, whether she's the youngest one on the team or not. Sometimes I think that she's the sanest person on this team, myself included, with the possible exception of Shirasi—when he's not in daredevil mode, that is. Heh. Never would have pegged him for that type, would you? Me neither.

Risau splutters away to dry off, and I look back at Giinai. "Nice shot, kid. Looks like your aim's improving."

She grins at me. "Thanks, Kohei."

I turn my head at a slight noise and catch a glimpse of Berasa grinning and shaking his head, almost hidden in the trees. Then he's gone, back out on patrol, and it's my turn to shake my head. That guy's more of a loner than I am, and my friends back in my world don't call me the Queen of the Introverts for nothing.

I make a mental note to chase Berasa down and coerce him into actually getting some sleep tonight. I decide to go take a nap, because I'm probably going to have to volunteer to patrol in his place to get him to calm down enough to actually sleep.

Not that I blame him. I shudder as I hear an unearthly howl far off into the distance, and wonder just how long it will be before they reach us.

A/N: This is my first shot at a Bionicle story, so please be nice when you review, although I really do want to know if it's crud or good enough to continue. Thanks! Kitkat

Edit: P.S. The reason they're all OCs is I currently fail at writing Bionicle canon. I had no desire to put you all through that. .