7

"Rulom, my friend," Jaller said, "it is time for us to take our leave of you. Our duty calls us elsewhere."

The elder man nodded. "I suspected you would be leaving soon. And I am glad that you are ready to. My people will be able to settle here, thanks to you. We owe you all so much, Toa Mahri."

"And we you, Turaga," Nuparu said. At the strange glances from his team and from Rulom, he grew embarrassed. "Er, sir... Elder? I'm sorry, I don't..."

Rulom laughed. "Don't worry yourself, Toa Nuparu. I understand."

Nuparu smiled. "As I was saying, we are indebted to you as well. You have taught us all so much about your world while we traveled. I can't thank you enough for that."

"Maybe we should leave you here," Kongu suggested. "Then you two can swap stories well into the night." This earned a few giggles (far less than the Toa of air had been hoping for).

"I can't say I wouldn't enjoy that," Nuparu said.

"Nor I," Rulom agreed. "But you must all go. Together." All the Toa nodded in agreement. Kongu shot a questioning glance at Hewkii, who just scowled in response.

"So nice of that merchant to let us have these bird things free of charge," Kongu said. The five Toa had set out only an hour or so ago into the barren desert once again. The sun beat down on their armored bodies, and hot gusts of air swept sand into their masked faces, sometimes obscuring sight. "Now we can slowly destroy our rears as we ride to defeat bad evil!"

"I feel kind of guilty, though," Hahli said. "The merchant just looked terrified when we asked to purchase these. I think he just gave them to us out of fear."

"I feel the same way," Jaller said. "If we have the chance, we'll repay him someday."

"We are repaying him" Hewkii said. "Since we're using these to try to save the world, I'd say he's getting a pretty good deal."

"That's a… rather negative way of looking at things," Nuparu muttered. "Being heroes doesn't mean we get to just take whatever want from people." Hewkii gave no reply.

The Toa of stone still seemed to be bitter from the decision to put getting home on the back burner. This new mission to save this new world bothered him more than he wanted to admit. He knew is his heart that it was the right thing to do, but… part of him was just tired of adventuring. The last thousand years had been brutal to him. Fighting off Rahi and Bohrok, travelling to Voya Nui, fighting the Piraka and the Barraki, then being dropped into a new planet, forced to settle there, and now this. Another new planet, of all things. New people to save. New enemies to fight. He just wanted it all to end.

He was just so… tired. And Toa were not beings who were able to rest often.

"So…" Nuparu said as he studied a map he had picked up before leaving Ba Sing Se. "If we keep going in this direction, we should reach the… Serpent's Pass."

"How long will that take?" Jaller asked.

"I, ah… I'm not sure. I don't know how fast we're going, I don't know where exactly we are, and I don't know how far it is."

"So you've gotten us far lost," Kongu said with a wry grin. "Great work, Toa of silt."

"We aren't lost," Nuparu retorted. "We just… don't know where we are, exactly. We know what direction we need to head, though, and that's enough to get us to our destination."

"Assuming we haven't gotten turned around," Hahli speculated. "Are you sure you can't guess where we are more accurately, Nuparu?"

Nuparu checked his map again. "Well, no, but if we see a landmark, I should be able to tell then."

Jaller nodded. "We're trusting you to get us there, Nuparu."

"Hey, if one of you wants to take over, you're more than welcome to." "No no, that's all right. Just… make sure you don't mess it up."

Nuparu spread his arms. "Oh come on. When have I ever messed things up?" A sudden gust of wind snatched the map out of Nuparu's ebon hand, carrying it off toward distant dunes. "Uh… I should be able to remember most of that. I think there's supposed to be some giant green boulder or something…"

Exercising the first virtue, the other Toa groaned in unison.

"Does anyone else see those specks quick moving toward us?" Kongu asked, hand up to shield his eyes from the sun as he looked to the right.

The others turned to look. "I see them," Jaller said. "Definitely coming our way." "Should we attack? They're giving me a bad feeling…" Nuparu said.

"They may not mean any harm," Hahli said. "They're too far away for their intentions to be known yet."

"We'll keep going the way we have been until we know for sure that they mean to have any business with us," Jaller said.

Not too long after, Kongu spoke up again, saying, "They're definitely getting comfy close out there…"

"There's no doubt now," Jaller said. "They're definitely following us. We can try to outrun them, but prepare for the worst."

"So you think they'll be violent?" Hewkii asked.

"I think they might be, is all," Jaller replied. "I just want us to be as prepared as possible if they catch up to us."

"Jaller, I don't think we can outtrun them right now," Hahli said. "Look at our mounts. They look like they're about to collapse. They'll barely get us up the next hill, let alone run fast enough to escape whoever's after us." Jaller grimaced beneath his mask at this hard truth.

"Jaller, come on," Hewkii said. "We know how to handle ourselves in a fight. We've faced all sorts of new things in the past couple of years. This won't be anything harder. And besides, they may mean no harm at all."

Jaller nodded. "Okay. We'll walk the birds up this hill and rest on the other side. What happens next… Well, like you said, Hewkii, we can handle it."

Kongu peeked gently over the sand dune. "I'm getting real tired of all this grind sand…" he muttered. "Why can't this world have more high trees?" The sun had nearly set, and seeing it in its orange state made Kongu realize how tired he felt. So strange how one can get so weak tired from sitting down all day...

Finally, his gaze fell on their pursuers. Now that thegroup was much closer, Kongu could see that there were about five men, all mounted.

He turned back to his team, slid down the dune into the shadow of their small valley, and shouted, "They're almost here! I quick counted about five of them out there."

"About time," Hewkii said, readying his warblade.

"Give them a few more seconds," Jaller said, drawing his power sword. He waited, hand raised, listening… "Now!" He rushed forward, up the dune. Together, the five Toa stood as the riders pulled up at the dune's base. All were dressed in loose rags, like the desert dwellers they had encountered before, and wore wide brimmed hats on their heads. They also carried objects like rope and what appeared to be swords. Overall, they looked dangerous and Jaller certainly didn't trust them.

"Ho, travellers!" their leader cried from the front of the group. This man bore an extra tool: a strange tube slung across his back. "What brings you out into the desert on this fine day?"

Jaller paused. This was not the greeting he had been expecting… "We travel south west, headed for the Fire Nation," he said, finding no reason to lie to these men. He shoved the tip of his sword into the ground, and the other Toa lowered their weapons as well.

"Ah! We wondered if that were the case when we spotted you," the man said, smiling. "That was why we started following you. My companions and I thought that you all might make for some… interesting travelling companions."

"I see…" Jaller said, thinking hard about what these men's true intentions could be. It was hard to just throw out the suspicious thoughts he'd been having for the last few hours at the drop of a mask. "I don't see why we shouldn't travel together," he said, intentionally giving them what they wanted. This earned him some surprised glances from his fellow Toa. "Our animals are resting right now, but should be ready for travel within the hour."

"Excellent! My men and I have so many questions for you. We can hardly wait to begin our journey together."

"Why wait? I'll gladly answer any questions you have. Though I do have one of my own, if I may."

"Of course, of course," the man replied. "Ask away, friend."

"What is this tube you wear on your back?" the Toa of fire asked, pointing toward the object in question.

"Oh, this?" the man said, grabbing it. "This is my preferred weapon. It is called a blowgun, and works just like it sounds: you place the dart in the tube, put your mouth to the muzzle, and blow!" The man did as he had said, and with a whoosh ofair, a small projectile flew out the other end of the tube. It struck the sand below Jaller's feet, missing him by inches.

Jaller knelt and picked up the dart. "Fascinating…" he said, examining the projectile. It was only a few inches long, fairly light and had a small insignia on the side. Try as he might, he couldn't seem to make out exactly what it was, though it seemed somewhat familiar. "Nuparu," he said, turning to the Toa of earth, "could you take a look?" He handed the dart to his teammate, giving him a look that he hoped would let him know that something was suspicious here. "So, you said you had questions for us?" Jaller said, turning back to the men.

"Oh yes!" he said. "Firstly, we were wondering about that armor you're all wearing. Is it removable at all, or is it permanently grafted to your bodies, as it appears to be?"

"So far as I know, it can't be removed," Jaller replied.

"However," Kongu cut in, "I have known other Toa to have their limbs fall off and reattach on occasion."

The men looked shocked at this information, but nodded. "So that is what you are called, then? Toa…?"

"Yes," Jaller said. "It is a title that means " He was interrupted by Nuparu grabbing his shoulder and turning him around. He waved a paper in front of Jaller's mask frantically.

"I got this off of the dart," Nuparu whispered. "Look what's on it!"

"I can't see it when you're shaking it, Nuparu!" Jaller grabbed his friend's wrist, then took the paper from his hand. "Oh…"

"Yep. The Fire Nation symbol."

Jaller turned slowly back to the men. "So, where exactly are you all headed?" Despite his attempts, he knew he hadn't kept the fact that he knew who these men were out of his voice.

The leader donned a crooked smile, clearly knowing now that their cover was blown. "My humble companions and I seek bounties across the world. There's quite a big one out right now for you all. 500 gold pieces… per 'Toa'." He thrust his arms forward, tossing up a wave of sand into the Toa's faces.

Kongu used his own elemental powers, using a rush of wind to push all the sand in the air around upward and out, clearing their vision. Using that sense, they could see the five hunters bearing down on them, blades drawn. Jaller swung his sword viciously, tossing out a wide wave of flame, as well as catching the lead rider's mount's legs, sending it tumbling into the ground. The other birds were all spooked by the fire and reared up, nearly tossing off their riders. "Away!" Jaller cried. The other knew what to do: they slid down their side of the dune, raised their own birds, mounted, and started off as quickly as possible.

Their pursuers were far from finished. Four were still chasing the Toa. Two had retrieved some rope from their packs. Jaller started when he noticed the heavy balls attached at the ends of each rope. "Bolas!" he shouted as they rode. "Don't let those hit you!"

"Oh, okay," Kongu replied. "I was originally thought planning on letting them hard hit me with whatever they wanted. Thanks for the heads up, Jaller!"

"Can't you do something useful for once, Kongu, instead of making jokes?" Hewkii said. "Useful? Let me show you how useful ever useful I a skilled Toa of air can be!" He turned on his mount so that faced backward, toward their pursuers. As the first tossed his bolas, Kongu created another wind blast, powerful enough to slow the spinning object enough that it fell far too short. Next, he created small rivulets of air at the feet of one of the birds, causing the sand around it to shift in odd ways. The bird quickly lost its footing, tumbling down into the sand. "Two down!" he shouted. "Still don't think I'm useful?"

"You're getting there," Hewkii said. "Keep it up!"

Kongu smiled at the challenge of stopping this whole pursuit on his own. One of the riders began to speed up, surging toward Kongu. At the same time, the other tossed his bolas. Realizing he had a few seconds before the first would catch him, Kongu created a strong current of air that gently snatched the bolas out of the air, sending it into a curve, and back around into the second rider, tangling around his body and completely throwing off his balance. This, in turn, threw him off his mount.

The final remaining rider seemed to realize that they had been soundly beaten by these strange beings. He started to slow down and turn away. "Oh no," Kongu said defiantly, "I'm not done with you yet!" Using the power of his mask of summoning, he directed its call to the fallen ostrich horses. The four other birds quickly caught up the rider. Kongu mentally willed them to attack the hunter. They closed in, beaks snapping and claws kicking at the rider. He tried to shoo them away with blade and sand, but the stress was too great for him to have any true control of the situation. Like his fellows, he eventually ended up on the ground. Humiliated, Kongu liked to think.

"Excellent work, Kongu," Jaller said. "You've reminded everyone why we keep you on the team."

"Hey!" Kongu retorted. "I do that every time I tell a joke. Don't deny that I am the most wit funny Toa you've ever met."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Jaller replied.

"There it is!" Nuparu said, pointing towards a large ridge of stone poking above the next hill. "The Serpent's Pass! We can crossover that to keep heading south west. It's the quickest way."

"So we are going the right direction," Hewkii said. "Of course we are! I told you I wouldn't get us lost…" "You got lucky."

"That may be, but I still got the job done." Hewkii sighed deeply.

Kongu sped up and crested the hill first. "Uh, team? I don't think I'll be able to handle this one by myself…"

"What's wro " Jaller's words died in his throat as he saw the massive wall of militant vehicles and soldiers guarding the entrance the pass. Tanks lined the land around the start of it, a squad of troops guarded it, and several war boats filled the water around it.

"Yep," Nuparu said. "This one is definitely going to take all of us..."