Author's Notes: Bored. Really bored. Mmhmm. And this is a really boring chapter, where nothing really happens. So yeah. Whatever.
Disclaimer: Don't own Bionicle. Do own story. I think you get it: I don't wanna get sued. Sheesh.
Kizanu dug his ice pick into the wall and hoisted himself onto the top of the tower. When he got there, he found himself staring into the surprised Iden belonging to Toa Huatoz.
The Toa of Sonics tilted his head to one side. "So Matoran are escalating guard towers now? I always thought they used the stairs."
Huatoz reached out and offered his right hand to the Ko-Matoran. "Here, let me help you up."
Kizanu accepted the hand gratefully and got to his feet.
"So, do you have any explanation for this? Or did you just feel like getting some exercise by climbing the guard tower?"
The Ko-Matoran blushed. "Sorry, Great Spirit of Sonics. The door collapsed so I couldn't get in."
Huatoz's amusement quickly turned into concern. "Really? How did that happen?"
Kizanu shrugged. "I don't know, sir. Honestly, I don't."
"Well, let's just clear the entrance."
Without asking permission from the Matoran, he picked up Kizanu and leapt off the tower, turning a deaf ear to the Matoran's cries of protest.
Kizanu screamed all the way down. When Huatoz finally landed with a loud thud the Matoran was wide-eyed with fear.
The Toa of Sonics set Kizanu down on his feet. Then he frowned. "Hey, you okay?"
Kizanu was swaying dangerously. "Yeah… I'm fine… ooh… pretty stars… hehehehe…"
Huatoz bit his lip. "Oops. He'll be okay… I hope." He'd often forget that Matoran didn't possess the same stamina he did.
Before becoming a Toa, Huatoz was a Ko-Matoran. But he was always different from the rest of the Ko-Matoran. While most Ko-Matoran were quiet and didn't like to talk, Huatoz kept blabbering away. While most Ko-Matoran were careful and reflective, Huatoz was reckless. If it weren't for his white torso and light blue mask and feet, he would have easily been mistaken for a Le-Matoran who was especially fond of the cold. And even as a Toa, he still kept his attitude. Even when the Chaos attacked, he kept his light and cheerful mood.
Kimas was curious about the fact that a Ko-Matoran gained the power of Sonics. His brothers also inherited different elemental powers. Kimas would constantly repeat the Matoran were supposed to have their dormant powers unlocked when they became Toa, not gain new ones. But Huatoz, accustomed to being different, shrugged it off.
Huatoz then turned to the entrance to the guard tower. "Hum… let's clear this up." he drew his Vibration Blade and with a mighty slash, created a shockwave, blasting away the debris in front of the entrance.
The Toa of Sonics grinned and admired his work. "Perfect, simply perfect."
Meanwhile, Kizanu had recovered. The Matoran raised his eyebrows. "Hum, not bad, Huatoz."
Huatoz winked at Kizanu. "Well, see you later!" Then he placed his Vibration Blade on his back and walked away, whistling a light tune.
Kizanu blinked, and then chuckled. "Hah, Matoran or Toa, that Huatoz will always be the same."
&&&
Detou stretched his powerful arms. He was bored just sitting on the floor, not too far from Le-Kumo. Using his Suletu, he contacted the other Toa one at a time to check up on them.
He decided to start with Kumar.
Hey, Kumar, what's happening?
His companion's reply was full of irritancy. What now? This is the third time you contacted me today!
Sorry, just making sure everything's okay.
Well, everything is fine here, so get out of my head!
With a sigh, Detou released his telepathic hold on Kumar. "Sheesh, what's his problem?"
Hey, Huntagi.
The Toa of Plasma was in a slightly better mood than Kumar. Hi there, Detou! Still doing nothing?
Nothing to do, bud. What about you?
Oh, I'm just helping a couple of Matoran rebuild their homes after the last attack.
Isn't that a job for the builders?
Hey, you've got to keep in mind that before I became a Toa I was a builder. Oops, Detou hit something.
Kay, man, sorry. So I'll talk to you later?
You bet. Now get out of my head, I need to work.
Sure, sure.
Detou broke his link with Huntagi and decided to check up on Huatoz next.
Hey!
Whoa, Detou! You startled me!
Oh, sorry, bro.
Nah, its fine.
Great. So what's going on?
Oh, nothing interesting…
Hum, okay. Later, then.
Cool, later!
Detou broke his link with Huatoz, and then made one with Nunovah.
Hiya! How are things going with you?
To be honest, not good.
Detou creased his brow in alarm.
What? What's wrong? Another attack?
Nah, just a couple of Ga-Matoran bickering…
Detou laughed in relief. He could almost see his sister's exasperated expression. And?
They won't stop fighting…
Really?
Yup. And they've asked me for my opinion about their squabble… and I don't know what to do…
Wow. That sucks.
Tell me about it. stated Nunovah flatly.
Yeah. Well, I'll talk to ya later.
Sure, later.
Buh-bye.
With that he broke his link. "Ah, looks like everything is just fine."
"Really?"
Detou spun around to face the speaker. It was a Le-Matoran with a dark green torso, a light green Huna and light green feet.
Detou smiled at his friend. "Hi, Tunegi."
Tunegi and Detou had been friends long before Detou became a Toa, and had always been friends since.
The Le-Matoran shrugged. "You know, sometimes I envy you, being a Toa and all, with all your crazy abilities. And sometimes I don't. All the responsibility poured on your shoulders must be a great burden, especially now that we're under attack by the Chaos."
Detou grinned. "Yeah, being a Toa is hard sometimes, but it's still fun!" he stated.
Tunegi shrugged. "You know, I miss Kentu."
The Toa of Vacuum frowned. "Yeah… but don't worry, Kentu's a strong Matoran, I'm sure he'll make it through."
"Yeah…" began the Matoran uncertainly, "But do you really think he'll find salvation for Kumo Nui?"
Detou's face darkened. He didn't know what to say. He wanted to reassure the Matoran, but that would be deceiving him. So he stuck with a safe answer. "We can hope, Tunegi. We can hope."
"Hope? What good is that?" asked the Le-Matoran harshly.
"You had the same attitude when the Rahi Master attacked us. But we were saved… by the transformation of six normal Matoran into dashing Toa Kumo!"
Tunegi laughed.
Detou was glad to see a change in his friend's attitude. "So who knows what'll happen this time. Maybe you'll become a Toa too!"
His friend grinned. "Ah, come on, Detou. I'm better off as a Matoran. I get enough action as a guard."
"Ha, being a Toa has its advantages, you know!"
"Like what? Being too tall to fit through the door?" joked Tunegi.
"Wha-? Hey!" replied the Toa, pretending to be offended.
The two old friends broke down in laughter.
&&&
"Look Gahtou, all I want is payment for the boat you lost me! Is that too much to ask for?"
Hujai glared. The Aquatic Guard had stolen her boat when a lone Rahkshi had approached by sea. Gahtou, with some help from the others, fended off the Rahkshi, but lost the boat in the process.
"Hujai, I took that boat to protect Ga-Kumo! You want me to pay for helping?"
The other Matoran sighed. "No, but I need something for that boat! It was my favorite you know!"
Gahtou crossed her arms. "Huh, that'll teach me to bother trying to save your lives."
Exasperated, Nunovah stood by the two arguing Matoran, groaning. I liked it better when no one was talking. "Look, guys-"
"I demand payment!" raged Hujai.
"Hey, calm down. Don't fight guys-"
"I was saving your lives!" retorted Gahtou.
"Hey-"
"Well you did a great job at that! My boat was disintegrated! How does that save us?" countered the boater.
"Would you both calm down and listen for a second?"
Both Matoran fell silent and turned to the Toa of Magnetism.
Nunovah smiled to herself, happy with the effect she had on her Matoran. "So, you've both brought up, erm, interesting points. And… I think I might have some up with a solution." She cleared her throat before proposing, "Gahtou, you'll help me and Hujai to construct another boat. How's that sound to you both?"
For a moment, she was afraid her proposal would be met with anger as the two Matoran stood there, hesitant. To her relief, Gahtou yielded.
"Okay. I guess that works."
Hujai followed suit, grinning. "Yeah, that sounds great."
The Toa of Magnetism laughed. "Great. I'm glad that's settled."
&&&
Huntagi cried out as a wrench fell on his head and bounced off. Rubbing his head, he looked up to identify the culprit. Parnuk was standing on the roof of the building, a horrifying expression on his face. Nervously, he stammered, "Oh, Great Toa, I,-I'm so sorry. Uh, um, the, uh, tool… slipped. Yeah, I-I d-dropped it."
The Toa of Plasma's stern gaze softened and he smiled. "Try not to be so clumsy, builder."
Parnuk relaxed when the realized the Huntagi wasn't mad. "Um, you see sir, I'm not a builder. I'm a crafter. Just that I volunteered to help."
Huntagi laughed. "That sure explains it. Crafters don't work with wrenches much."
The Po-Matoran shrugged sheepishly. "No sir."
The Toa of Plasma picked up a wooden slate and handed it to a Matoran, who sped off. "How many times do I have to tell you to just call me Huntagi, Parnuk? I don't call you 'Matoran', so address me by my name."
"Yes sir-Huntagi."
Huntagi shook his head, grinning.
The Head Builder chose that moment to walk up to Huntagi. "Huntagi, a large section of the Wall has been damaged during the last attack. Now, we normally wouldn't trouble you with this, but you really do need help."
The Wall was made out of solid stone and surrounded all of Po-Kumo. It was the thickest wall ever built in Po-Kumo. The entire village could easily fit atop that wall. The Wall went up shortly after Kimas arrived to Kumo Nui. To enter or leave the village, the Matoran passed by a gate of solid protodermis which was heavily guarded at all times. But strong as the Wall was, it was still vulnerable to the attacks of the Rahkshi, especially those with the ability to shatter or in some way erode the stone.
The Toa smiled wryly. "Coming, Guarfu."
&&&
Rutanu tilted his head in greeting at the Turaga, before continuing down the tunnel. The Onu-Matoran sighed. With Uhnagi gone, Kimas had moved to Onu-Kumo to make sure everything was running smoothly. It wasn't of course. And as experienced as he was, Kimas didn't know much about the ways of the Onu-Matoran. They appreciated his help, but Rutanu wished the Turaga would be just a little bit more useful.
Not to mention that the Turaga had gotten lost on countless occasions. Rutanu didn't blame him though. Only a true Onu-Kumo resident could find his or her way around. Onu-Kumo was a complex maze of subterranean tunnels that covered the entire area under Kumo Nui.
He stopped walking when he felt the light of the sun. It burned his eyes and he raised and arm to protect him. He stood there for a full minute before his eyes slowly adjusted to the light and he lowered his arm.
No longer blinded, he took a moment to appreciate the 'surface world' as Onu-Matoran called it. He was in front of Ta-Kumo. It was insanely hot.
Rutanu walked towards the two guards stationed at the entrance. The guards sat in front of Ta-Kumo, not perceiving him as a threat. One of them polished his blade before speaking.
"Greeting Onu-Matoran, and welcome to Ta-Kumo. What brings you here?" he asked, smiling.
Rutanu rolled his eyes. "Oh, quit it Jukarn, you know why I'm here."
The guard known as Jukarn laughed. "Sorry, Rutanu. Just standard procedure. Eh, Motak?" The other guard nodded in agreement.
The Onu-Matoran tapped his left foot against the ground impatiently.
"Fine, fine. So, messenger, who's the message for?"
"You guys." Rutanu stretched his arms. "Kimas wants to know if anything's wrong. Oh, and Onu-Kumo wants that shipment of weapons your forgers promised. It's late by at least a week. The Subterranean Guard needs those weapons."
Motak shrugged. "Yes, well the forgers are extremely busy. They've received a lot of urgent requests from Le-Kumo."
Rutanu frowned. "Urgent? Why? What happened?"
"Why, I would've thought you knew, with you being a messenger and all. Le-Kumo got ravaged a short while ago. No casualties though, as Detou got there right on time, thank Mata Nui for that."
Rutanu nodded. "I see… anyways, can I come in?"
The guards shrugged and ushered him through the gate.
&&&
Kumar nodded in approval as he walked around the building, supervising the forgers of Ta-Kumo. They were all hard at work in the searing heat. They labored like this non-stop every day in an effort to keep up with all the weapon demands.
An Onu-Matoran walked by hurriedly towards Lahrung, the Ta-Matoran who was in charge of shipping orders, but he took the time to slow down and stare at the Toa of Electricity. Kumar raised an eyebrow. All the Matoran knew that he didn't like being stared at, but did it anyways.
He recognized the Onu-Matoran as the messenger who often brought complaints, earning him a status of unpopularity among many of the forgers. What was his name again? Something with an 'r'…
He shrugged and continued down the corridor, into the small room where the finishing touches were being made to helmets specially designed for underwater usage. The forgers were painting the emblem of Ga-Kumo on them with care and precision. The last shipment to Ga-Kumo didn't have emblems painted on them, for they were in a hurry.
"Okay, come on. The paint job doesn't have to be perfect, as long as you get them done."
The working Ta-Matoran looked up at him, surprised and hurt. Kumar, being a former forger, understood why. The forgers were proud of their work, and did their best to perfect everything. To ask them to be satisfied with sloppiness was like asking a Ko-Matoran to lighten up and tell some jokes. Well, unless that particular Ko-matoran was like Huatoz…
Kumar sighed. "Sorry, but we're really behind on orders. I just saw the Onu-Matoran messenger pass by."
The Ta-Matoran mumbled to each other.
The Toa Kumo of Electricity smiled wryly then walked out of the room to go see how the Le-Kumo spearheads were coming along.
Author's Notes: (yawn) Really sorry guys, I'm really bored now… so whatever. Basically, this is to provide a tad more insight on Kumo Nui and how everything works, kay:) There.