So...real life happened. And I decided that this needed a rewrite. Sincere apologies to everyone who was reading and enjoying previous version, it got wiped by accident.
Thick fog swirled around the small wattle and daub huts, preventing all but the smallest amounts of light to shine through. The rays that did make it through the fog were captured in carefully placed crystals to collect and reroute the much-needed illumination.
Takua bent down, carefully readjusting one of the crystals on the wall. Behind him, Solek shook his head.
"Give it up, Taka. There's no way you'll be able to light this murk."
"Lay off him, Solek," snapped the third member of their group, and the only female. "I don't blame him for wanting a little more than—this."
She gestured to the heavy mist that cloaked the village.
"Thanks, Shada," Takua replied, straightening up. "At this point, every little bit helps. What I wouldn't give to see the sky again!"
"I'd rather live in here and not see the sky than have to deal with those Avokah," Solek said.
"Unless you have something positive to contribute, Solek, please shut up," the female, Shadalaine, told him.
Solek made a noise like an angry cat and stormed off—as well as someone only a half a bio tall can.
"You going to go collect fruits?" Takau asked Shadalaine as they trotted off in the opposite direction?'
"That was my intention."
"Do you need any help?"
Shadalaine blinked at him.
"That would be appreciated very much," she said finally.
They were almost at the patch of high vines when the fog seemed to contract in on itself. There was a howl of wind that seemed to come from nowhere, and a tear opened in the air. A blast of light—then it stopped. The fog continued to drift on as though nothing had happened.
Shadalaine carefully opened her eyes, and, seeing no sign of danger, picked herself up from where she had fallen, tapping Takua on the shoulder.
"What in the name of the Great Spirit was that?" he demanded, scrambling up.
"I have no idea but I don't like it. C'mon, let's get back to the village."
"Not so fast, little matoran," came someone's voice from behind them.
Shadalaine whipped around, perfectly ready to run, and forgot her panic in the middle of gaping at the strangers that had, she assumed, stepped right out of the air. One was definitely a toa, but the other two… she had no idea what they were.
"I apologize for startling you," the toa said, stepping forwards. Dark blue armor marked her as a toa of water. "We weren't expecting anyone to be at the point where we appeared."
"I'll accept the apology if you explain who you are and what you think you're doing," Shadalaine snapped, backing away from them. Takua was tucked into her back, having not snapped out of his shock yet.
The toa exchanged a very odd look with one of her companions before looking back at the two matoran.
"My name is Helryx. The rather large being to my left is Brutaka, the one responsible for bringing us here. The being to my right is Botar. We need to talk to your village's leader."
"Not before you tell us why," Takua said from behind Shadalaine.
"It's none of your business," Botar began before Helryx cut him off.
"Hush," she snapped. "It is fine for them to know. You," she said, turning back to the matoran, "are in grave danger."
"How?"
"We will explain more later, but standing out here is a bad idea," Brutaka cut in. He sounded surprisingly gentle for being the approximate height of a tree. "The rocks have ears sometimes. Can we please go to your village?"
After a little more polite coaxing, the matoran relented, and proceeded to enjoy the sight of the village elders, K—, startled nearly out of his mask by the sudden appearance of three complete and very large strangers. That lasted until Helryx fully explained their errand, to be replaced by fear.
Apparently, a race known as the Makuta was beginning to gain power. They were made of shadow, literally, and only feared one thing, the possibility of a toa of light. The only beings who could become toa of light were Av-matoran. Therefore, to protect themselves, it was very likely that the Makuta would at some point attempt a genocide of the Av-matoran race.
"And you are telling us this why?" Kirop demanded.
"To convince you to let us help."
"What, exactly, are you proposing?"
Later, Kirop explained to the gathered matoran what Helryx wanted to do.
"Toa Helryx wants maybe a dozen volunteers to change their armor colour and pretend to be matoran of a different element. That way there will still be a chance that some of us might survive."
There was a pause as the matoran digested the information before he spoke again.
"Does anyone want to volunteer?"
"I will," Takua said after a moment.
"So will I," Shadalaine added, startling everyone, including herself.
"Are you sure?" Kirop asked. "I don't think you'll have the opportunity to rethink this if you go."
"I'm sure."
"Very well."
Helryx was indeed surprised when Shadalaine showed up in the group, but chuckled at the look the Av-matoran gave her.
"You'll need to change the color of your armor," the toa told them. "Make sure it matches the element that you want to be. Females, I'm afraid your choice is somewhat limited; females of any kind besides water, lightning, gravity, and sonics are considered somewhat rare."
After some decision-making, all had chosen. No duplicates had occurred, a good thing according to Helryx.
"This will make it harder to find you," she explained. "There are so many matoran in each element that it will be a pain for Makuta to try and find them all."
One by one, Brutaka took hold of the matoran and stepped through one of the strange tears in the air. At last, it was Takua's turn. The now red-and-gold matoran risked a last glance back at Shadalaine, grinning.
"See you," she called.
Takua waved before vanishing.
Shadalaine was the last too go. Walking through the portal with Brutaka was an intensely strange experience and she shuddered with the sudden intense cold.
Then—then—
White sand shores, a dark blue-green ocean lapping against it.
"Where are we?"
"Ga-Metru, the City of Metru Nui."
"The City of Legends?" Shadalaine glanced up at Brutaka in stunned surprise.
"Yes. Now, I'm very sorry but I need you to hold still for a moment."
Brutaka's hands descended to either side of her head, and everything went black.
"—you awake? Hey, wake up?"
Groggy blue eyes opened. There was a face about an inch away fopm her face.
"Yah!"
Startled, she jerked back, smacking into something hard.
"Good, we thought you were never going to wake up."
We? We? Who is we? Where am I?
A quick look around told her she was lying on a beach, waves lapping against it ten feet away. A blue-armored matoran was kneeling in front of her, practically nose to nose.
"Are you alright?" someone behind her asked. Shadalaine glanced back to find a tall blue-armored toa.
"Who are you? Where am I?" Shadalaine asked, panic making her voice crack and break.
"Shh, it's ok," the Toa murmured. "We'll go to the Turaga and get this sorted out. Everything's going to be fine."
Please review! Tenth, twentieth, etc. reviewers can request a oneshot with their choice of pairing, setting and prompt. The only thing I won't write is slash.
Update: OK, people. Can someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong here? 64 people have looked at the first chapter, none at the 4th. Help!
