Bionicle: Legends of Earth
Chapter 1
Toa Jaller was arguably one of, if not the strongest Toa Mahri on their team. True enough, fire does have quite a bit of difficulty being used underwater, but that never stopped him. In fact, he found that fact supported his bid for the title of 'Strongest Toa' very well.
But he had never felt as weak as he did now.
His head was ringing with the pain of a thousand angry gukko birds, and his arms and legs felt like lead. His eyes felt heavy and he just wanted to stay lying wherever he was and sleep. Let the others take care of whatever….
The others!
Jaller quickly sat up, only to find himself right back down on the floor holding his head in agony. He couldn't believe how much pain he was in. Why was he in such agonizing pain? Then, slowly, events began returning to him.
Matoro rushing off into the deep waters of the Pit, slowing down for nothing and no one.
The Toa Mahri catching up to him, only to find that he had stopped dead in the water.
The Kanohi Ignika, lying in his hands, damaged and dull.
The Barraki following them in a desperate bid to try and reclaim the Mask, to return to the surface world, and rebuild their fallen empires.
The light…
And then…nothing. Everything after the Ignika letting loose a blast of light was a blank. He remembered getting ready to fight the Barraki for the Ignika with his fellow Toa…
The others!
Jaller quickly glanced around, not having to look far to find his fellow Toa Mahri. They were scattered together, in what looked like some sort of half-circle, but not quite, laying unconscious on the ground.
Only Hahli was absent, and this worried Jaller. What if she was somewhere else? What if she was injured? Or worse, captured by an enemy? If anything happened to her…Jaller shook his head, trying to clear his head of such a horrible image.
No, he told himself, she was fine. She had to be fine. She was the strongest of their group now. She could fight off Carapar alone, and faced the Piraka with them when they were Toa Inika. She would be fine.
…Right?
As Jaller debated with himself over the well-being of his teammate, a groan from behind him invaded his train of thought. Jaller, startled, leapt and spun, making a 180 degree turn, only to come face to face with Hahli herself; worse for the wear, but alive at least.
"Hahli! Are you alright?" He asked, concerned and confused. Did Hahli look…different?
Hahli groaned as she slowly sat up, holding her head much like Jaller had, her protosteel 'fins' drooping behind her, the pain resonating throughout her body horribly. As she slowly regained her motor skills, she realized that they were no longer in the Pit, they were somewhere else. And who was that calling her name?
"Jaller? Is that you?" she asked shakily.
"Hahli! You're not hurt are you?"
"Uh…no, I don't think so. Jaller…Where are we?" she asked, still confused and disoriented.
As Jaller looked around, he too found himself at a loss to place where they were. The only thing he could really say for sure was that the Toa weren't in the Pit anymore. They appeared to be in some sort of hut or dwelling, with high, symmetrical white walls, and an assortment of large objects that he couldn't quite recognize, save for what he thought looked like a desk that appeared made from a material that he had never seen before, though from the color he could deduce that it was some kind of earthy brown material.
"I…I'm not sure…but I can definitely say we're not anywhere near Mahri Nui anymore." He replied, worry evident in his voice.
"Then…the mask…the light…was it…?" Hahli asked, her own voice shaking slightly.
"It was all real, Hahli. We failed. Mata Nui is dead." Jaller stated morosely. Hahli turned her eyes downward, the weight of the situation finally coming to bear on her conscience.
"Oh, my achehurting head…what happened?" Obviously, Kongu had regained consciousness as well.
"Well…" Jaller began the arduous task of explaining the situation to each of the Toa Mahri as they awoke.
After all the Toa were on their feet and coherent (for some this was naturally more difficult than for others), Jaller decided to address the issue at hand. "So, anyone have any idea where we are?"
Any answers that his teammates may have given him were drowned out by the sound of footsteps. Very loud, very quick footsteps beating against the ground, rapidly approaching the Toa Mahri's position.
"Uh…what's that noise?" Nuparu asked, his voice shaking slightly with fear.
"Shhh! Listen! It stopped…" Hahli said. Indeed, the noise had stopped, quite suddenly and unexpectedly. Then they heard a sound the likes of which they had never heard before. It was a loud clicking noise, like two pieces of protosteel tapping against each other, not quite clanging, but not exactly being gently pressed together either. Suddenly there was a very loud click and then there was silence…
Until Hahli screamed in fear.
