Story Co-Authored by Omicron the IceQueen and Sinead Rivka

Love in the Light

Chapter Three:

Splashdown?

Having sent Takanuva outside of the house so that she could set the alarm, River drew in a deep breath and looked at the covered furniture, double-checked the automated fan setting. She had already checked to make sure that all the bills would be automatically deducted from her accounts... and then nothing was left. Gathering up her hiking pack and walking staff, she punched the code into the system, hearing it activate and give her a minute to leave the front door and lock it.

And then she was ready. Turning to look at Taka, she swallowed, raised her head, and looked at him evenly. "I'm ready."

Takanuva was pulling off his Avohkii, and for a moment the near skeletal 'inner face' was half seen before the Mask of Paths was fitted on. It conformed into his face, though a little strange he still had his copper and white eyes and it was him. "Same." Takanuva took a deep breath and focused on activating the Kanohi.

That... had been weird. But he wasn't human, so it just would have to be dealt with. Walking up to him and resting her hand within his once more, River O'Malley got as close as she could to his frame.

"Okay, it's forming." Takanuva looked up at the portal that was forming in the air one good jump up, at least for him. As soon as the swirling thing stabilized his swapped masks, the Mask of Paths was dumped into subspace along with River's walking stick before the human herself was up in his arms and the Toa of light charged up and into the portal.

"Hang on!"

Squeaking and holding on tight, River did everything that she could not to look at the portal... or what was going on as they passed through the portal. Takanuva wrapped his arms around the young woman, holding on as tight as he dared. There were glimpses now and then of other worlds filled with beings both familiar and unfamiliar to either of them. The portal itself was filled with light and darkness of different kinds, mostly only the Toa could see it so it was as wonderful as it was terrifying. He held onto River to keep her from going into an opening that would lead to a world she or he or both may never get out of.

Copper and white eyes narrowed at what was in front of Takanuva, the one opening that was the clearest and 'aimed' for it. The nothingness scared her. River closed her eyes tighter and shoved her face as close to Takanuva's chest as possible without hurting herself. She found that she was shaking with fear, but somehow... that didn't matter as much to her.

"Almost there!" Takanuva yelled over the wind letting go with one arm to summon his staff just in case as the portal opening neared.

"Okay!" she yelled back, somehow able to wrap one leg around his waist to secure herself when he went for his staff.

The air presser was increasing around them and Takanuva, going on instinct and the sense of the strongest closest element made him explain his chest, "Hold your breath!" He got out before holding his own and thrusting out his staff into the opening to be sure they'd go out the right way.

Holding her breath, River hoped that the claim that the hiking backpack was waterproof would actually be true. Either way, it was too late into the game to really worry about it.

And suddenly, the world between worlds was gone, replace with the slight presser and soaking with very wet water. At the same time Takanuva let go as something broke their contact and the Toa flapped around in the water trying to find out which way was up before spotting a blue form in the water he knew all too well.

Careful to keep her breath, Riv looked for 'up' and for where the sunlight would be streaming down. Her pack was dragging her do- ...no ...up! She swam with it upwards, breaking the surface and gasping. She hated holding her breath.

On a side note, her bag was indeed waterproof to the point where it could be used as a floatation device. Gasping, she held on. Too bad land was so far off it barely visible. Just as the human would realize this something wrapped around her legs and pulled River back down. Yelping, losing all her air, Riv tried to twist and look to see what was dragging her down.

A blue masked face was below her and the human was pulled down into an basic giant's arms and into an eerie warmth.

"BreathRiver!" Takanuva said from out of sight, "It's okay."

Taking a hesitant breath, blinking and staring at the big giant, Riv blinked twice again, then looked around for Takanuva. "What the hell just happened?"

"I have the Kanohi Kaukau," A female voice said from the giant biomechanical being.

"Mask of water breathing," Takanuva said, still out of River's line of sight.

"Toa Brother...you are upside down," the new comer said wrapping an arm around River, holding the human to her chest, "Can you swim to the island?"

"As long as you would be kind enough not to go too far ahead." Takanuva put his staff away to use both hands.

River just stared at the two of them before looking to the indeed upside-down Takanuva in the water. "You're waaayyyy bigger than you had been on my world. And your world is stranger than mine. For the record." Looking up at the water-Toa, River could only assume... "Are you the Toa Gali?"

The scuba like mask tilted to one side, "How did you know that? And who are you, my brothers and I are the only Toa here."

"I'll explain everything, I promise on my heart-light water sister." Takanuva said, "But first can we, you know, be somewhere where some parties can see the bottom?"

Shuddering, River held onto Gali's armor. "That... would be comforting. Please."

"Alright." Gali summoned a currant to help them, or Takanuva really, to swim to her island home. She resorted to grabbing the new Toa's back since he was about as large and as heavy as her earth and stone brothers, and just like them he kept sinking despite his best efforts not to.

It was surprisingly in that only a few minutes before Takanuva was slogging his way through the shallows, pointing out to Gali's amusement several fish as she rose up. Not seeming to be fazed by the water and moving as gracefully in it as if she were in air.

River just continued to hold on. Her bag had taken on some water because of the pressure caused by the accelerated swim, and she shivered suddenly once they were in open air. "If... I never have to do that again... I'll be perfectly fine with the universe."

Gali chuckled softly, yet it was still a vibration River could feel through the armor, glancing around, "We're in Ta-Wahi."

Takanuva made a sound like 'oo!' as he shook himself off of most of the clinging water and stood up, looking around, "Good to be back to my right size. Thank you water sister."

"And you're a freaking giant. You never said anything about you being massive." River said looking up at the male Toa as he came over the two, but she was grinning as she said that, trying not to shiver too much. She looked up at Gali. "My name's River, by the way."

"A nice name," Gali smiled in her own way looking down at the human in her arms, "Though you are no Matoran, why are you with a Toa?" She looked back up.

"I am Takanuva," The taller male said reaching out to tap his fist to Gali's before continuing, "The Toa of Light." The water elemental gasped and went ridged with wide eyes behind the scuba-like mask.

"Lemme guess... you're not from this universe, huh, Taka," River added on, deciding to huddle closer to the water Toa. She was warmer than the breeze around them.

"No," Takanuva shook his head and stepped up to Gali as she put down River and the Toa grasp arms before pressing their masks together. "I'm sorry sister I'm not the Toa of light in your legends, he'll come later. I'm a traveler on a mission."

There he was with the forehead-touching thing. So it meant something, and from the looks on their faces, or masks, it meant something significant. She'd ask him later. Pulling off her flannel shirt, River moved a few feet away and started to wring the excess water from it, giving them their moment.

"But you are herebrother." Gali said, seeming to forget River for the moment as she kept her grip on Takanuva's armor, "The Makuta-"

"Will fall, but not by me." Takanuva assured, "But I will help defend the Matoran for as long as I'm here."

So that was part of what Takanuva had done... or would do? Interesting. She found a warm rock and rested her shirt over it to dry, then settled herself upon another warm rock. Thankfully, she had worn her swimsuit on under her clothes, and she pulled her jeans off and began the arduous process of wringing water out of them, too. It paid to be prepared.

"Here," Gali's voice said as she came over to the woman and drew out the water in the fabrics, letting it fall into the hot sands, "And what kind of Rahi are you little one?" she asked kneeling down to River's level and tilting her head a little, like and unlike how Takanuva did when interested in something.

"I'm a human... not a rahi." She grinned up at the Toa. "And thank you," Getting back into her jeans and shirt, if only to keep herself from getting sunburned, River looked up at the duo.

"You are," Takanuva said from where he stood behind Gali, "It means 'not us' in the literal translation of the word."

She took a pause, thought about that, then nodded. "Okay." Standing, shoving shoes back on, River looked up at Takanuva, then said, "Oh, and in Japanese, one of our languages on Earth... taka means hawk."

Gali tilted her head looking at first one and then another, blinking before tilting her head again just a fraction, "Since we are near Ta-Koro Av-Tu," she started looking back at Takanuva, "We should talk to Turaga Vakama."

"You may want to, ah, kima co to..." Takanuva looked River in the eyes, "River is fully organic and the fumes of Ta-Wahi would hurt her."

"Right. You said something about a volcano ...we can't live long around them." River started to look around, taking in the scenery.

"Come," Gali motioned River to come to closer as she sat in the same position as Takanuva had a few times with feet pressed together. "I can put a silver filter in your lungs, it will feel strange for a few minutes."

"You... waiiit. What're you gonna do to me?" River took a cautionary step back, holding her hands up.

"Silver water filters harmful things," Gali said in her soft voice, warm and reassuring, "It will not hurt you, but allow you to breath in Ta-Wahi and Ta-Koro without falling ill. It will only be a lining in the lungs," she touched her own chest, "Not like me where mine are filled."

"Are you sure that it's not going to hurt me? Because... well... water in the lungs are also a really good way for humans to die too." There was a lotthat was being proposed to her in this, and she really wasn't sure that it all made much sense.

"Silver water can only heal," The water elemental soothed, holding out her hands to form a small sphere of water, drawing it from the humid air of the sea. It shimmered and turned a translucent silver and as Takanuva was nodding behind her before Gali held it in one hand and out for River to see and touch.

She reached towards it carefully, unsure of what it was. River drew in a breath, then let her hand touch the sphere. It... felt strange. Strange but at the same time still water, though if she pressed into it, the sphere would give like water only it wasn't wet like water. Cool and would leave behind a little shimmer on the skin but not really wetin the way it should be, being liquid.

"Would you trust a Toa little one?" Gali asked quietly, not forcing.

"If Takanuva trusts you... then yes." She looked up at Gali after examining her now-covered hand. "Will it hurt?"

"Hurt no, but it may go against instincts." Gali said, looking back at the Toa of Light.

"I've been healed by a water Toa." Takanuva said, "It doesn't hurt, just feels strange."

Wincing, River nodded. This wasn't going to be fun. "Okay... I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

Gali held out her free hand and pulled River closer so the human's back was against the Toa's front. "You need to exhale when I tell you little one."

Wincing again, closing her eyes because she knew that if she opened them, she'd get scared by what she'd see, River nodded. "Okay."

"Breath out now, as much as you can and inhale a deeply as you can." Gali said wrapping her fingers around River, to hold arms against the body, and pressed the silver water to the human.

Trembling, truly afraid of what she was doing, the young woman kept her eyes shut as she pushed all the air from her lungs, down to the last few ounces before reflex kicked in and she had to breathe in. It wasn't like drowning, but it wasn't air either. The silver water was thicker than the air but somehow not the same was a mouth full of water. It flooded the throat, passages and lungs...and then it was over, with a flick of a wrist Gali sent the silver water scattering over the beach.

"There," The Toa of water loosened her hold be kept her hands near for support.

Coughing, shaking her head and clearing her throat, River swallowed and drew in a second deep breath. "That felt like I was breathing cold vapor ...except a little thicker."

Gali chuckled holding her hands palms up on either side of the human to be support. "It does indeed, but the effects will last for several passes of Bara's cycle in the sky."

Takanuva bent over, hands on knees to look over the water elemental's shoulder, "Take a few deep breaths." He suggested helpfully.

She nodded, coughing a little before catching her breath and then breathing regularly again. "Tastes funny, too." Making a face, she looked up at Gali. "But you say that this will actually make it so that I can be in the volcanic areas?"

"And the deeper parts of Onu-Wahi if you wish." Gali nodded, pausing to look up at Takanuva. He shifted politely away in a sheepish way so he wasn't hovering. Though Gali did take note of the protective air from the silver and gold Toa, meaning this little organic Rahi was special somehow.

"Cool. Wait. What were my lungs filled with, again?" She stopped to look up at the Toa.

"Not filled, coated." Gali corrected as she rose up, brushing sand off her armor lightly. "Silver water is a healing substance."

"Interesting," River murmured, frowning and looking around. "Soooo, where too from here?"

"Ta-Koro." Gali nodded in the right direction as Takanuva ducked around her to kneel beside River.

"Can you climb up River?" He asked patting one shoulder with his other hand, meaning his back.

She smiled and nodded. "So... can you put my bag wherever you put my stick by any chance?"

Takanuva held out his hand for it, and dropped it into his subspace pocket before turning so his back was to the human. Once up she'd find that the way the armor was designed so that someone human sized could brace their feet and hold onto the back of the color ridge without hindering the Toa's movement.

"Hey, that's nifty." Jumping up to grab hold, then continue to climb up to where she could hold on tightly, actually the ridges in Takanuva's armor from before where now more defined since he was larger, and clearly like hand and foot holds. River patted his shoulder. "I'm up."

Takanuva stood and nodded at Gali, "Lead the way sister."

"She clings like a Matoran or a Kora." Gali chuckled taking a moment to check on the human. "Come, run swift Av-Tu."

"What's a Kora?" River asked as the Toa started to run, careful not to let her jaw get clipped by the moving metal behemoth that she rode.

"Younger elementals, lesser Toa." Gali explained loping along side of the longer legged Takanuva. "All my brothers as well as myself have a Kora to help defend our people."

"They sound like they can be troublemakers," River replied, grinning.

"You have no idea." Gali said in the tone of an elder sister, or even and aunt or mother with long suffering experience. She looked over as Takanuva started grinning.

"As bad as the Chronicler's Company?" The light elemental asked with a sly look for a moment that River couldn't see and Gali didn't notice.

"...almost as worse at points."

"Whoever this Chronicler is, he sounds like he's a lot of fun, and would haveto have the smarts to enjoy intelligent conversation and making trouble that way." She grinned and renewed her grip. "I'd like to meet him."

Gali chuckled, "Fun in a way, but gets into too much trouble even if he doesn't mean to."

"Probably because he can't help being inquisitive," the human shot in, and her thoughts continue out of her mouth before she could stop them. "When I was a little girl, the same thing would happen to me."

Takanuva chuckled as he smiled, stooping and then jumping over a log and then was in a field of harden lava. "Good to be home," he muttered softly.

"Home?" River murmured, pulling herself a bit further over his shoulder so that she could see both his face and the lava fields. "This?"

"You lived in Ta-Wahi?" Gali asked looking up at Takanuva as she slowed to navigated the cooled lava field, even Toa had to be leery of tripping or twisting an ankle.

"In my world I grew up in Ta-Koro," Takanuva rumbled a purred as he trailed after his water sister, unsure if the village was in the same place as it was in his world.

"You know... I wish that I could see your world sometime, and to meet those who know you as you." River smiled and looked out over the red earth. "This place does have beauty."

Takanuva twitched, something Gali homed in on despite being in front, "Maybe sometime you can River," He hesitated, "But not right now... and yes it does, wait until you see the Wahi from the top of the volcano."

She settled back down onto her secure handholds. "I can take a cue when I hear one. You're gonna start running again, aren't you?" Something she had said hadn't settled well with him, but... why?

The light elemental glanced over at his Toa sister and she nodded, "Hang on," he turned his head to try to see and smile at River before leaning forward and taking off into a full on run. Well nearly full, Takanuva's legs were longer than Gali's. Yelling in glee, River held tight and leaned closer to his body, enjoying watching the world move by so fast.

"She is like a Matoran." Gali said passing beside Takanuva and looking at the human, "At least clings like one."

"Almost... River it's going to get really hot in a minute," Takanuva warned, even though the heat had been climbing up.

"Then just briefly up there, okay? Even though I can breathe, I don't want to get cooked." She grinned to Gali, though, about the Matoran comment, and wondered if she'd get to meet one soon.

"Not that little one," Gali looked over again, "We have to cross the lake." She pointed ahead at the edge of the plato they were running on.

Seeing the sudden drop-off, River swallowed. "We're gonna ... jump?"

"Yep!" Takanuva near chirped as he increased his speed, but extending that barrier of 'unseen light' that protected him from high temperatures to cover the human. As long as she didn't, you know fall off,she wouldn't be harmed by the temperatures. Whimpering fearfully and then clamping her mouth shut to keep the noise from extending past herself, River buried her face against his armor, not wanting to see what it was that Takanuva was about to do.

'"Use the spires brother!" Gali's voice said, than gasp as Takanuva thrust out a arm, fingers closed as he channeled his element and basically made a lazar that sliced two slabs of rock just before the Toa reached the ragged edge.

There was no hesitation as Takanuva's feet connected with the slab that was the rough shape of a 'board.' With both the innate abilities of a Toa and his own experience at Lava-Boarding, Takanuva skimmed down the slant of the wall before he was in the roaring river of lava. He let out a yell that was half Hordika roar of pleasure and excitement.

Takanuva missed doing this for fun.

Shrieking in the exact opposite emotions, scared beyond all hell and belief, River held on tightly, shaking as they plummeted over the edge, then down onto the river of lava itself. Her limbs trembled with tension and growing exhaustion as she clung to Taka's back with all her might and strength.

A large clawed hand reached back to cuff the side of River's head and neck, "Breath River, it's okay." Takanuva leaned into a curve then the momentum stopped being that 'ohmygodwe'regoingtofallover!' level.

"I'm breathing, damnit!" she snarled back at him. Well, she may not be completely on fire, but there certainly was a spark of it deep in her soul.

Takanuva laughed, not fazed in the least. Hey, if you could stand in front of Kopaka for an hour while heglared at you, you could shake off pretty much everything else. "Then look, we're out of the rapids."

"I'm notlooking until we're on solid ground again! And don't try to persuade me to do otherwise!" River was, by no means, a happy person.

The gold and silver Toa took a deep breath, "The flows are always beautiful." He said as Gali guided over on her own improvised board. The river was widening into lake like formation but still moving closer to, and then around half of the outer walls of the protected the village of Ta-Koro, where they were heading to.

"I just realized brother." The Toa of water said taking another look at the clinging River, "Your companion looks like the Kora's disguises, almost."

"Kora?" The light elemental echoed the new word, at the same time translating, or attempting to translating it.

As much as Riv was wondering what the Kora were, she was also quite intent upon not being distracted or dissuaded from her current not-going-to-die, not-going-to-let-go and not-going-to-forgive-Taka-easily state of mind.

"There's Ta-Koro," Takanuva shifted on the board and let Gali 'jump ship' onto his slab of rock, seeing as hers was starting to sink. As they came to the far shore he turned the board around so Gali could hop off first and at the last moment stepped off himself. "Don't get down yet River," The Toa said catching sight of forms on proper lava boards out in the river, Ta-Matoran.

"Wasn't planning on it," she replied, glad for the stable ground, and for the chance to move herself around so that she could rest trembling arms and legs by draping herself over Takanuva's shoulder, panting. "Don't have the energy to. Are they doing what we just did?"

"Only the better way," Takanuva chuckled before looking up at the tall walls around the Ta-Koro proper. He nodded at Gali and walked over to and reached up to start climbing the side of the wall as the guard above announced to the village on whole that the Toa were coming, and calling for the fire guardians.

Holding on as much as she could, River watched the ground drop away. Her adrenaline had given out now, but still held on, and she was left with hunger, thirst, and exhaustion. She felt like she could sleep for three days straight, and almost hoped that she could. And she had only been in this other world for thirty minutes, tops!

Something heavy, but not as big as the two Toa landed above them with a Matoran clinging to her back and the female form tilted her yellow mask and a blue Kanohi peeked over her left shoulder. "Ga-gi? Who's this?"

"A new brother Storm." Gali pulled herself up over the side of the wall to the wide walk way, turning to offer help to Takanuva if needed.

"A Tao..." the Matoran with the blue mask said in a wondering tone.

River moaned and looked around for the smaller voice. That didn't sound like it came from someone the size of Taka or Gali. She saw the two and blinked owlishly before murmuring, "Oh. Interesting." But she showed no inclination of getting down. Most of the problem was that her arms and legs were simply too tired and ached from the effort of holding onto Takanuva's armor.

"Maybe we should see the Turaga now," Takanuva said as he reached behind his head and neck to grasp a hold of the human and pulled River over his shoulder to cradled her in his arms.

"This way brother," Gali nodded ever as she peered at River in concerned, "Fire-sister, go summon Tahu."

"Isn't that a human?" The Matoran asked.

"Yes Toa Gali, Takua hang on." Storm added as she took off, leaping onto the wall and running down it as she summoned her lava board from subspace. Takanuva turned to see the Kora of Fire leap off and dropping out of sight to the lava flow below. The Matoran cheering the whole time in glee.

"Takanuva, I thought that you were crazy for that lava-boarding stunt, but damn. She wins." Grinning, she waved Gali off. "I'm fine. Just hungry, thirsty, and have had enough of adventure for one day. Jumping through vortexes, breathing in water, and surfing over lava aren't natural to my kind."

"I think you are a humino," Gali sighed, why hadn't she picked up on that before? Probably being distracted by the fact that Takanuva was a Toa of light. But the color of a 'true' hunimo, or human, was different from the grey skinned Kora before they got their masks. "The huts are this way." She waved to another Matoran on the other side of the wall as she lead the way down to the 'huts' (more like cabin sized) made of cooled lava, one of the two longer ones was the Turaga's home.

Despite being exhausted, River took in as much as she could. This was something she didn't know if she would get a chance to see again. Everything was new and beautiful to her in its unique way. Yells of young Ta-Matoran playing games, and the synchronize sounds of the off duty Guard in fighting formation of training exercises. Takanuva looked over at them and smiled at the training Matoran. They looked squat, but had to be supremely powerful. River's attention was drawn to the young Matoran, and she watched them play not unlike children of her own kind. Looking around, she noticed something.

Most of the red Matoran had all red, yellow or orange masks. Why, then, was there a Matoran with a blue mask? Who was he?

Suddenly, it didn't matter who the little Matoran was. All the sounds started to whirl together into a muddy cacophony... and then all when silent and black.