Chapter 3

Are They Toa?

As Littlefoot and his friends followed Garan up the slope of a peak, Garan decided to tell them more about the "Toa" who had recently arrived. Hakann, the one they had already met, was the "Toa" of Fire, who had heat vision and carried a weapon — which he hadn't had with him when the gang had seen him — that could launch balls of lava. Vezok was the "Toa" of Water, who could fragment something or knock over someone by staring at them hard enough, and carried a weapon that had a harpoon on one end and a buzzsaw on the other end. Avak was the "Toa" of Stone, who was somehow capable of trapping anyone in some kind of prison that appeared out of thin air and carried a weapon that was some combination of a pickaxe and a jackhammer. Reidak was the "Toa" of Earth, who was surprisingly resistant to any kind of attack and carried a weapon that had a buzzsaw on one end and a drill on the other. Thok was the "Toa" of Ice, who was able to bring inanimate objects like rocks and plants to life and carried a weapon that had an ice peg on one end. Zaktan, the most unusual one of all, was the "Toa" of Air, who carried a three-bladed weapon and whose body appeared to be made of many tiny creatures instead of a solid mass. Despite calling themselves Toa, they seemed to not have any elemental powers. Garan explained everything he knew of about these "Toa". If they had any other powers, he wasn't aware of them.

Eventually, the group reached the top of the peak. Garan had already explained to them that he wanted to show them the entire island before taking them to the cave they would stay at.

"You were right, Garan, right you were," said Ruby. "You can see the whole island from up here."

Everyone looked around at the incredible view. They could see that much of the island was a desert with mountains. Surrounding the desert was a ring of plant life, known to the Matoran as the Green Belt, and surrounding that was the icy outer coast. Further into the distance, they could see a large bay, which had a regular sandy coastline, with two long peninsulas on either side of it. At the middle of the island was the large volcano that was known as Mount Valmai.

"This is amazing!" exclaimed Ducky in awe at the view. "It is, it is!"

"Me like this place," agreed Petrie.

Spike nodded his head in agreement.

"Hey! I think I can see the village from here!" exclaimed Chomper, pointing out a barely recognizable location within the Green Belt.

Littlefoot enjoyed the view as much as his friends did. He turned back to look at Garan. However, he could tell that something was troubling Garan. "Garan?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"It's the Toa," replied Garan. "The more time passes by, the more I begin to doubt them. After our recent encounter with Hakann, I fear we may need help to save us from the Toa."

In his thoughts, Littlefoot couldn't help but agree with what Garan said. These "Toa" were powerful, but they hadn't used their powers for any good purposes so far. The best hope, it seemed, was for a team of truly heroic Toa to arrive, but what were the odds of that happening?

"Look!" exclaimed Ducky. "There is a Ga-Matoran coming up the mountain! There is, there is!"

Littlefoot snapped out of his thoughts and looked down the side of the peak with his friends. They could see a Ga-Matoran, who carried a pair of tools that were different from what Garan held, climbing up the peak towards them.

"It's Dalu," said Garan, worriedly. "I've never seen her look so afraid, especially since she's usually a fierce fighter. That can only mean something is very wrong."

Dalu soon reached them. "We have to talk," she said to Garan, not even bothering to acknowledge the presence of Littlefoot and the others. "And I hope it's not already too late."

Garan turned to the young dinosaurs and said, "We'd better get you guys to the cave as quickly as possible." The group then began heading down the peak.

The group eventually reached the bottom of the peak and arrived at the cave Garan had been referring to. "Stay here," said Garan. "You'll be safer in here than in the village. I'll go with Dalu to see what's wrong." Garan and Dalu then ran off, deciding not to speak until they were far enough away from the cave so none of the young dinosaurs could hear them.

Back at the cave, the gang was silent for a few minutes. Ever since they had arrived here in the Matoran universe, this was their first opportunity to actually think about everything. True, they seemed to have a new friend in Garan, but that was the only positive they could see at the moment. This was not the island of Mata Nui. Voya Nui was a rather dangerous place to live, even before the "Toa" had arrived. In fact, the only similarity between the two islands was that Matoran lived on them, even if their appearances and lifestyles were very different from each other.

As the gang talked among themselves, they eventually realized that nobody back in the dinosaur universe even knew what had happened to them. They knew that their friends and families back home would, at first, assume they were away on another adventure. But once a few days had passed, it was certain they would get very worried. The gang knew that if they wanted to find a way home, if there was one, they would have to find it fast.

After nearly an hour had passed, the gang saw a small group of Matoran running towards the cave. They could see that group consisted of Garan, Dalu, Piruk, a Ta-Matoran, a Po-Matoran, and a Ko-Matoran. Garan and the Ko-Matoran were carrying something, but they had no idea what it was.

Once the group of Matoran entered the cave, Garan and the Ko-Matoran placed the item they carried on the ground. Dalu then headed for the cave entrance and said, "I'll stand guard outside and make sure nobody comes and tries to take that thing."

"Be careful, Dalu," said the Ta-Matoran.

"Don't worry, Balta. I'll be fine."

The Ko-Matoran stared at the young dinosaurs for a few seconds. He then said, "So these are so-called 'dinosaurs' you talked about. I guess you were right when you said that I had to see it to believe it. These beings really are completely organic."

"Yes, Kazi," replied Garan. "I still don't know why they came here, but they are more than willing to help us."

"That's right," added Littlefoot. "We may not be powerful, but we'll always help our friends, and we consider any Matoran to be our friend."

"What that?" asked Petrie, pointing at the item on the ground.

"I saw Avak working on this thing," replied Garan. "I figured it would be a good opportunity to find out a few things about the Toa, so I asked Velika to distract Avak while Kazi and I grabbed it and ran off."

"Wait a minute, are you saying you stole it!" exclaimed Cera.

Garan shrugged. "I figured the reasons for taking it were justifiable."

Balta was inspecting the item, trying to figure out what it was. He then said, "Well, it obviously looks like it's meant to be carried, or perhaps latched onto the arm. I think I also see some kind of launching apparatus, but I don't know what it's supposed to shoot."

"Okay, so we know what it looks like, but what is it?" asked Kazi.

"I don't think this is for building, or to help us find water," replied Garan.

"What if they found out we took it?" asked Piruk, nervously.

"What are you so worried about?" asked Cera.

"I don't want to run into Zaktan again. He scares me."

"Dalu is outside watching the approach to the cave," assured Balta. "If she sees one of them coming, she will let us know." He then turned to the Po-Matoran, Velika, and asked, "What do you think?"

"When the Kanohi dragon roars, do not look for the stone rat," replied Velika.

The young dinosaurs looked at each other in confusion.

"I hate it when he does that," grumbled Kazi.

"It's obvious," said Garan. "If you hear one Rahi, don't expect a different one to appear. If the signs all point one way, then don't expect the truth to be something else."

"Oh, that clears everything up," said Kazi, sarcastically.

"It's not a tool, not like the kind we use. It's a weapon. The question is: What do they need it for? Who is there here to fight?"

Everyone was silent for a moment before Balta quietly said, "Us?"

"But... but they are Toa!" exclaimed Piruk.

"Are they?" asked Garan, "I'm not so sure. Not sure at all."

"I do not know what to think. No, no, no," said Ducky, worriedly.

"It seems that every sign we see is another sign that tells us they might not be real Toa," commented Ruby.

"I'm telling you guys, they are not Toa!" exclaimed Cera.

"So what do we do?" asked Kazi. "We're Matoran, and a few small dinosaurs. They're To— whatever it is they are. Vezok bites boulders in half for fun. Hakann keeps turning Rahi into piles of ash. Reidak slipped and fell 200 bio, smashed into the ice ring headfirst, and all it did was make him irritable. I can't say I like our chances."

Garan nodded and said, "Maybe not, but we need to know what's going on here. We need someone to get close to that stronghold they made us build. Avak and Vezok have been moving equipment in there for days. Someone has to go in there, someone they won't look twice at..."

Almost immediately, five of the Matoran turned and looked at the sixth one: Piruk. The gang also looked at him, quickly realizing what the others were suggesting.

Piruk was also quick to realize what was being suggested. "Me!" he asked. "Uh-uh, no way, I am not doing it, no way at all!"

"But you must," insisted Garan. "Believe me, if there were any other Matoran who were just as skilled as you in stealth, I would ask them instead of you."

"I'm still not gonna do it. What you're asking me to do is nearly suicidal!"

"For a normal Matoran, yes. But I know you can do this. You must understand how much we now depend on you."

Piruk looked down at his feet. "I don't know."

"We need to know for sure if these Toa really are Toa," said Littlefoot. "If what Garan thinks is true, you may be the only one who can prove it."

"Do it for us. Please?" asked Ducky.

Piruk looked at Ducky. Try as he might, he just couldn't resist the pleading face of someone so small and young. He sighed and said, "All right, I'll do it. But I'm not gonna like it."

"That'll do, Piruk. That'll do," said Garan. He turned to Balta and said, "Find Dalu and tell her the meeting is over. We'll be heading back to the village."

Balta nodded and ran off out of the cave.

"What about us?" asked Littlefoot. "What can we do?"

"I honestly don't know," replied Garan. "I think it's best that you guys stay hidden. The other Matoran already have one group of newcomers to worry about, even though we know that you're not a threat in any way."

"That's okay, we understand," said Chomper.

Balta soon came running back into the cave with a very worried look on his face. "You'd all better come," he said. "I've never seen her this bad."

Everyone quickly followed Balta out of the cave. They soon arrived at where Dalu had been standing guard. She was down on the ground, unconscious.

"What happened to her?" asked Ruby with concern.

"She must have used her tools too many times," replied Balta. "Every time she uses them, they drain her energy. She must have had a very good reason to go to such great lengths."

Garan could easily guess what that reason was. "I think the Toa know about us," he said. "Piruk, you'd better start your job immediately."

Piruk hesitated for second, but nodded in agreement and headed for the stronghold.

Garan looked down at Dalu in concern. "We can't take her with us. Some of us will have to stay here and watch over her."

"I volunteer," Balta quickly said.

"I understand your concern, but I'll need you to come with me for something else."

"I'm not sure about that."

"Don't worry, she'll be all right here with Velika and Kazi." Garan then turned to the young dinosaurs. "If any of you want to come with me and Balta, we won't stop you."

"I'll go with you," declared Cera. "If you're going to find something that will prove those guys are not Toa, then I want to see it myself."

"I'll go, too," said Littlefoot. He turned to the rest of his friends. "The rest of you stay here. I think it's best that only two of us go with them."

"That is a good idea, Littlefoot. A good idea that is," said Ruby.

Ducky, Petrie, and Spike nodded in agreement.

"Good luck, you guys," said Chomper, waving goodbye as the two Matoran and two young dinosaurs left.

After walking a few steps, Littlefoot asked, "So where are we going?"

"We're going to where the other Matoran are digging channels for the lava," replied Garan. "There's often one or two of the Toa overseeing progress there, so we'll have to hide somewhere up high, and I know just the place."

"What do you expect to find there?"

"I don't know. I have a feeling they don't want us to think they're not Toa, so they might try to do something to convince the Matoran otherwise. A lot of Matoran are currently working on the lava channels, so we should start there."

"Good enough for me," said Cera. "As long as we can prove for sure that they're not Toa, I'll be glad I came with you."

Littlefoot sighed and said, "You might be right, Cera, but how can we prove it to everyone else?"