Chapter 4
As Tahu's screams of terror filled the canyon, Pohatu could only stare in disbelief as Tahu fell to his doom. How could he get so mad over one little joke? He suddenly felt his feet leave the ground; he looked behind him and saw Lewa holding him up using his mask power.
"What are you doing?" Pohatu asked.
"Remember that move we did-pulled on the Aquaton on that Water Toa, uh, Tuyet?"
"Right, so we'll combine our mask powers, swoop down, and catch him."
With that, they shot down along the canyon wall. Tahu looked over and saw a green and brown blur shoot by him. The sight cleared his terror stricken mind just enough to grasp the situation. He began to heat the air underneath himself, and so, he slowed himself down enough that he landed comfortably in Pohatu's arms who was held up by Lewa and his Kanohi Miru.
"Thanks guys," said Tahu.
"No problem, Toa-brother," replied Lewa, "Tell you what, from now on, we'll only make fun of you when we know you won't trip-fall to your death."
All three laughed as they touched down on the canyon bottom.
"Well anyway," said Pohatu, "what's our meeting going to be about?"
"Visorak," replied Tahu, "giant spiders that fire wheels of energy from their backs."
"Wait, spider-like? I think I fought some just this morning."
As the Toa of Fire, Air, and Stone headed for Kini Kanto, the great temple in Huna Nui's center, Pohatu related his adventure with a squad of Visorak.
"Every morning, I like to go up onto the ridge above Po-Huna and watch the sun rise. This morning, after the sun had risen, I was heading back to the village when I saw a group of Rahi at the bottom of a nearby gorge. I got a little closer and saw it was a bunch of spider-like creatures (I'm assuming they were Visorak) surrounding an injured Gukko. They were apparently trying to wrap it up in webbing, but it was putting up quite a fight. Realizing that they were trying to capture it, I --- do you remember that move I pulled during the Aquaton war on Gali?"
"You mean the one where you pulled her through the stone floor and out of the fortress?" inquired Tahu.
"Exactly, I opened up a hole under the Gukko, formed a stone bubble around it, and pulled it through the stone up onto the ledge I was standing on. I then jumped to a lower ledge to get a closer look. Apparently, one of the Visorak saw me because it fired an energy wheel at the ledge I was on and it melted under my feet. When I hit the ground, I, uh, ahem, pretended to be knocked out ---"
"Uh huh, sure, stone-brother, we believe you."
"Okay fine. I woke up in a cocoon. One of the Visorak was about to bite me, but I sent it flying into the pack of others on the side. Then using my stone powers, I pulled the cocoon apart. Then I made the canyon walls collapse on them and 'stone bubbled' myself to the top of the canyon. Then I took the Gukko to --- drat, I forgot to tell Turaga Tucari where I'm going. Keep going, I'll catch up."
As Pohatu zoomed off, Lewa and Tahu walked on, each with his own thoughts. After about a minute, Tahu wondered what was taking Pohatu so long.
"Ha," Lewa responded, "Pohatu is the only person-being I know that a minute is a long time to wait for him."
"Brothers," called Pohatu as he ground to a halt next to them, "you won't believe this. On my way back, I passed the canyon I fought the Visorak in, and they were gone."
"Pohatu, be serious," replied Tahu, "They couldn't just walk away. They only had a few tons of rock on top of them," he added, sarcastically.
"Tahu, I'm not joking. I even went down to look at it, and all that was left of the rock pile was a bunch of dust and sludge."
"If these Rahi-creatures could get out of one of your rock piles, they're a worse threat than we thought," said Lewa. "We'd better head to Kini Kanto as quick-fast as we can. Let's go."
* * *
"Guys, I hate to admit it, but we're lost."
Tahu, Pohatu, and Lewa were standing at the base of a gigantic cliff at the base of Mt. Kuras. Assuming that Pohatu knew his home terrain well enough, he had been entrusted with getting the Toa to the Great Staircase, a tunnel full of stairs that led Ko-Koro and Kini Kanto, but apparently, he did not.
"I'm sorry, guys," he said, "I don't normally have very many reasons to use the Great Staircase. Hang on, let me try something."
He placed his hand against the stone wall for a few moments.
"Well, I sensed through the stone and the Great Staircase is about twenty kio south of here, but right over here," he said, taking a few paces along the cliff, "there's a tunnel."
"A tunnel?" Tahu responded.
"Yes." Pohatu stomped a hole in the ground and fell through. By the time the others had gotten down there, he had an excited look on his face.
"Brothers, you won't believe this. I sensed through the rock again, and a branch of this tunnel goes right under Kini Kanto!"
"You're joke-kidding," Lewa said.
"Well if that's the case, then let's get going," said Tahu.
As they sprinted off using Tahu's flames to see ahead, a small creature emerged behind them in the light of Pohatu's hole.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Look what they've done to the tunnel. Oh well, I guess I'll have to fix it."
All of a sudden, the rubble under the hole began to meld and morph until it became a perfect plug for the opening. It floated up and fitted itself into the hole in the ceiling. Within moments, the roof was repaired.
"Let's see where these three are going. There's no chance of loosing them. A blind Gukko could track those three."
As he walked down the tunnel in almost total silence, the creature called Ziran pondered the future. He knew what the Toa were doing, and he knew that they were going to fail. Then he thought, "I should help them. After all, they will need all the help they can get."
* * *
"Hurry, Kopaka," Gali said anxiously, "it's gaining on us."
"I know," he replied grinding his teeth, "I'm going as fast as I can."
"Just tell me when it's over," said a voice from the floor.
The three Toa sat in their pod as it careened down the coast pursued by a giant camouflage squid called a Kortano. They had first known its presence when a giant tentacle wrapped around the sub. A combination of Gali's water powers and Kopaka's advanced maneuvering abilities had freed them, but the Kortano quickly resumed pursuit and was gaining on them fast.
Rounding another corner, Kopaka could see the mouth of the river they were heading for. So intense on escape was he that he did not notice the twenty-some tentacles snaking up the sides of the pod. All Gali could do was gaze in horror, breathing a silent wish that they could somehow escape. All of a sudden, the tentacles pulled back. Gali looked behind the pod and saw the Kortano, writhing in pain.
"I wonder what happened," she thought.
As the sub hit the surface and sped upriver, a Vohtarak turned and walked away. It pondered what it had just done: save a creature rather than hunt it. It sincerely hoped it never had the "pleasure" of doing that again.
* * *
"Well, here we are, Kini Kanto," said Gali as Kopaka stopped the sub and dropped anchor. The Toa climbed out onto the bank and looked up. Pouring into the lake beside them was an enormous waterfall. Falling over 20 bio from the mountain above, it was an incredible sight.
The Toa stepped behind the waterfall and entered a tunnel which ran straight for about a kio and then entered a large room. Around the walls of the room at regular intervals, five other tunnels entered the room, each having the symbol of one of the island's six Matoran tribes above it. In the center of the room was a spiral staircase leading up to the temple.
As the Toa entered the chamber, they grew silent in reverence of this sacred place. They climbed the stairs, each with his own thoughts, and emerged into the temple of Kini Kanto.
Kini Kanto was built on top of Huna Nui's central-most mountain, Mt. Kanto. The mountain and temple both bore the Matoran word for half, because the mountain looked as if it had been cut in half by some giant blade. At the base of the cliffside, where the Toa had left their sub pod, was Lake Kanto. The top of the mountain had been carved away, leaving two pillars that followed the curve of the mountain and a flat area in front of it. Between the pillars was a shrine, dedicated to Mata Nui, and in the center of the flat area was a large Amaja Circle. Pilgrims from all over the island would often come there to pay homage to the Great Spirit. The Toa and Turaga also used this as a meeting place, since is was centrally located and easy to access.
Kopaka gazed about, as amazed as ever that the Matoran he served and protected could have created such an architectural masterpiece. Gali strode to the northern edge and gazed upon the glistening marshes of Ga-Wahi and the stony plains of Onu-Wahi, awestruck at the beauty before her. Onua approached the western edge and looked down the side of the mountain, wondering what could possibly be causing the trembling he felt in the ground.
The side of the mountain exploded in a cloud of dust and debris. Kopaka and Gali rushed to Onua's side ready to fight whatever threat would pop out of the dust cloud. As the dust settled, they saw three figures approaching them; they were not Visorak as the Toa had feared, but Tahu, Lewa, and Pohatu.
"Brothers!" cried Onua as the three figures approached.
Many hearty embraces and clacking of fists were exchanged before Tahu said, "Everyone, I've had quite an eventful morning, and I'm sure you all have, too. So let's get started."
* * *
"And we followed the tunnel and ended up here," said Pohatu, finishing the meeting's taletelling.
"Well," replied Gali, "we have had quite a morning."
"Yes, but one thing puzzles me, Gali," said Tahu. "You said the Kortano almost had you and then pulled back. Do you have any idea why?"
"I know the answer."
"What's that, Onua?" asked Pohatu.
"That wasn't me," replied the Toa of Earth, "that was --- uh, oh."
As the Toa looked down the mountain, their eyes grew wide. The mountainside was swarming with dozens of Visorak, and standing on the ledge was a black one, speaking in the voice of Toa Onua.
"The squid pulled back because it was my master's desire that you meet here," said the ebony creature. "And now that you have finished your meeting, it's time for the hunt!"
The creature jumped back into the crowd, as the mountain began to glow with Rhotuka spinners. The Toa began to summon their energies, knowing full well that they would never be able to win this fight.
As quickly as the battle started, it ended even quicker. The Visorak's Rhotuka stopped spinning as their energy dissipated. The creatures just stood in place, a dazed look in their eyes. The Toa looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally, Tahu got up the nerve to approach the horde. He waved his hand in front of one, but got no response.
"Either we're the object of some giant joke," he remarked, "or something very strange is going on here."
"I say we go back to our villages and discuss this with our Turaga," said Gali. "Then meet back here at noon."
As the Toa went their separate ways, a small, invisible creature looked down on the mountainside. Thanks to his mind control powers, he had been able to keep the Toa out of harm's way. Now that they were separate, he would have to pick one to follow.
"I should probably follow Lewa," thought Ziran, "The others are cautious enough, but him...Well, let's take care of these creatures first." With that, he used his telekinesis to lift the entire Visorak squad off the mountain and drop them in Lake Kanto. He knew most of them would probably survive, but at least they would be out of the way for the time being.
Then, Ziran took off after the Toa of Air. With any luck, the Toa would not detect his presence. But if worst came to worst, well...
"Here's hoping," he thought as he flew over the forest.