Chapter One: Ta-Koro

Takua awoke to find himself on a white beach. His head was in incredible pain, and at first he couldn't figure out why. As he managed to begin to look around, however, he noticed that his mask had fallen off. Masks – every Matoran and Turaga wore them, however the Turaga's masks gave them limited power. Takua's memory slowly came back to him. However, the exact events leading up to his lying maskless on a beach were still totally lost. He reached out his red arm to grab the pale blue mask.

Re attaching the mask to his face, he inspected his bright yellow feet. His colouration was always odd for a Ta-Matoran. Although red and yellow were normal among his fiery brethren, blue was unheard of outside of Ga-Koro. He always was amused by this, since he never fit in anywhere at any time. It was his most defining aspect. Finding himself in a respectable physical condition, he stood up, and faced the black stone mountains. There was a large carving in it, matching perfectly one from his memory. He was near Ta-Koro, his least favourite place on Mata-Nui. He brushed the sand off his body and began to walk towards Ta-Koro. He wanted answers, and Vakama, Ta-Koro's village elder, probably had them.

As he began to walk in the direction he recalled his village to be in, something caught his eye. Reeling towards the pristine ocean, something that in know way matched up with his memory came into his vision. It had been right behind him as he had laid on the beach, unconscious, and still he hadn't noticed it. It was a large metallic cylinder, About twice as tall as the Matoran and four times as long. It had washed up on the beach, and judging by the large amount of algae clinging to its smooth side, it had been adrift a very long time. The end of the cylinder facing Takua was rounded off, and had 6 dark holes in its surface. Takua approached the strange object, and touched it. As soon as he did, the holes began to glow. He backed away, startled.

The rounded portion blasted off, revealing that the object was a canister of sorts. Dozens of parts, big and small, began to pour out of the object. Takua stood in awe as the grey parts began to assemble themselves into a figure slightly over two meters tall. The figure reached down to pick up what Takua recognized to be a mask. The figure inspected it briefly, before donning it. As soon as the mask was in place, the figure began to glow brightly. It was no longer grey; now it was bright red with orange highlights, and it carried a flaming sword in its right hand. It turned to face Takua, its pale red eyes inspecting the much shorter onlooker. Seemingly taking no interest, it turned away from Takua and began to walk in the direction opposite of what Takua had recently taken. Takua stood, watching the figure as he marched off to the distance. Takua couldn't shake the feeling that somehow, this figure was linked to his mysterious arrival on the beach.

Takua began to walk towards Ta-Koro again, this time with a few more questions for Vakama. He climbed the black rocks, jumping the occasional lava flow or pool. Takua enjoyed this exercise, even though he began to realize that literally every component of his body was sore. The Matoran finally reached the bridge that functioned as the only entrance to Ta-Koro. This was possible because Ta-Koro rested upon a large island in the middle of the lava lake. As if this defense wasn't enough, Ta-Koro was surrounded by large stone walls, with one large steel gate facing the bridge. Ta-Koro, the village of fire, had an unusual attraction to defense, even before the wildlife, or rahi of the island got violent.

Takua approached the gate, and as usual it opened for him. Also consistent with previous visits, the guards glared at him as he walked into the bustling city. Once inside, he breathed in the hot air, smiling at the familiar sounds of the shops and forges. Takua never felt at home here. He never felt at home anywhere, to be honest, but Ta-Koro amused him always since he was always told that he should feel at home here. He loved to hate the place. He absolutely loved it.

He meandered around, slowly. He wanted to embrace every dismal detail of it. Every identical hemispherical house. Every red and yellow Matoran running around finding their duty. Takua knew about the three virtues, but was not much of a fan. He was indifferent to unity, despised duty, and figured destiny would catch him either way. He found the Turaga's home, and entered it. The Turaga was in the center of the room, staring into a fire. The effect was quite eerie, as the fire cast a dark shadow over the already aged mask and bent body of Vakama. "Greetings, traveller," spoke the elderly being, "What brings you to me, Takua? I am busy with prophecy and, sadly, have little time to spare."

"Prophecy, sir?" Takua inquired. The relationship between the two was unique among Takua's relations in that Vakama was accepting of Takua's inability to remain in one place for any length of time. Vakama was like a father to him, and certainly the closest thing Takua had to a friend.

"Yes. It seems my task for you went just excellently! The Toa have indeed arrived!"

With that one word, "Toa," it all came back to Takua. He had been given the task of summoning the Toa to the island, legendary warriors, each capable of controlling one of the six elements; fire, water, stone, earth, air, and ice. That's how he'd ended up on the beach an hour ago. After taking the six Toa stones to the Kini Nui, and doing so hopefully summoned the six heroes. An explosion had flung him to the beach, and consequently saved his hide from the rampant Muaka. Which was sort of odd, actually, that a rahi almost caused the mission to fail, since the reason for summoning the toa was to combat the increasing threat the rahi were posing. Animal attacks might sound too trivial to have to summon legendary warriors for, but the rahi attacks were island-wide and the destruction had been catastrophic. Ta-Koro was more obsessed with defense than usual, Takua recalled."Right, sir!" Takua proudly smiled back. "I did it! And, I think I met one. On the beach."

"You did? Describe what you met for me."

"Well, it came in a metal canister, and was about two meters tall. It carried a flaming sword and…"

"Indeed. You saw Tahu, Toa of fire. A very powerful figure of legend, capable of bending fire to his will. And his mask – ha! If you think Turaga masks are powerful, wait until you see Toa masks. Tahu wears the mask of shielding, the Hau. He can protect himself from almost any attack with it. Indeed, he'll need it to save himself from a Tarakava punch, Indeed!"

"So, they're all ready to protect us?"

"Sadly, no. They have no memory at all of who they are or what they're duty to the Matoran is. And even if they did, the prophecy has been expanded. In order to defeat Makuta, they will need to collect masks of power hidden around the island. But, the legend is finally going to happen. Oh, how glorious it is!"

"Well, sir, I'm glad to see that, sure. Well, I came to ask questions but I think I have my answers. Thank you, Vakama." Takua was about to turn to leave when Vakama interjected.

"Takua, legends are being made. The island has been without a chronicler for some time now, and now more than ever do we need one. I ask you to take up this duty. It would suit your travelling nature."

Takua was stunned. He'd never been good at jobs, and consequently never been asked to do one. "I'll do my best, sir."

"Record it on the wall of history when the rahi are defeated. May Mata Nui, even in his slumber, watch over you in your travels!"

Takua thanked Vakama again, and left. Chronicler. This was a big deal! He was now in charge of the history of the Toa! He practically ran out of the city. For the first time in his life he had a duty that he was excited about! He felt that he could even defeat Makuta in his glee. Well, he didn't really think that. He didn't believe Makuta was real, and was even more skeptical about Mata-Nui. The legends were fun, but he never took them seriously. There was no practical evidence that either was real. The only real threat to the Matoran were the rahi, not some powerful Makuta. And Mata-Nui never really saved anyone. Vakama, however, was devout enough you'd think he'd seen Makuta put Mata-Nui to sleep. Takua trusted Vakama on many things, but religion was nonetheless not one of them.

Takua ran, and both because he had no idea where he was going, and because he was too excited about his new job, he found himself lost in a blackened, burnt forest. Takua turned around, hoping he'd see the way out, but found himself totally surrounded by the scorched trees. Takua panicked, and began running again, this time out of fear. There was something dark about the forest. Something evil that he could not place, but feared immensely nonetheless. He would've kept running, except that he almost ran over a fellow Matoran in his panic. Kapura, was his name. He was solid red, with bright, kind yellow eyes. Kapura was well known for his slow, deliberate nature, and occasional moments of fantastic wisdom. "Kapura… what are you doing… here?"

"I am practicing, Takua. Vakama says I must practice." Kapura said this while continuing what he was doing, pacing, as if Takua had never shown up.

"What?" Takua retorted?

"I am practicing to feel the presence of Makuta. I feel him strongest here. Vakama says I must practice."

Takua shrugged. Religion was fine on Vakama, but in others it just pissed him off. "Well, have fun with that. Do you know the way out of here?"

"It's a shame you won't practice with me. However, it's that way," said Kapura as he identified the location with his staff.

"Well, thanks." Takua walked off in the direction Kapura had indicated. Kapura was a member of the Ta-Koro Guard, the defense force of the village of fire. Takua hated Guard members, not only because they were mostly cocksure dimwits looking for a fight, but mostly because of their leader, Jalla. Jalla was the leader not only of the Guard, but the anti-Takua club. And, unfortunately, unlike most of his fellow guard, he was pretty intelligent, too, meaning his insults and pranks on Takua were stabbing at the mildest. Takua pondered on one of Jalla's more demeaning pranks, involving a Ruki fish, as he found himself back near the entrance of Ta-Koro.

The excitement from his new position had worn off, and he decided to go back to the Canister and see what he could find. After all, this was the one place he knew he'd find something relating to the Toa. After a long, peaceful walk as the sun set, he came across the canister again. The matoran inspected it for markings of any sort, and coming up disappointed, he noticed that Toa Tahu had left footprints in the sand. He followed them until he could no longer track them since the sand had given way to the black rock that was common on this region of the island. He turned towards the ocean, and sat down, wondering what he'd do next. He recalled that the astrologer's telescope was nearby.

Takua never had a knack for investigative stargazing, but he figured it was worth a shot. He walked along the beach in the same direction for a while longer, and upon finding the long stairwell leading to machine, began to assend. The telescope was a metallic arm, with a hook at the end of it carrying a bright red crystal. Picking up a star chart left from a previous visitor, Takua looked into the apparatus. Comparing what he saw to the chart, he noticed something interesting. Six new stars had appeared in the sky. Takua was indeed startled, and had no idea what to make of it. But he was sure it had something to do with the arrival of the six Toa.