Heroes and Halflings – Chapter 9

Kronus sighed deep in his throat, glaring first at the rough granite face that led up to the ledge entrance of the Razor's Edge, than to an equally irritated Stara, who was toying with the remains of most of a rope ladder that had been found at the bottom. The rest of it was still dangling twenty bio above their heads.

"Of all the times," he muttered to his friend, "that we don't have rope."

The Lightning Toa scowled and flicked the shredded rope and splintered wood away, letting it tumble down the shallow slope and get lost in the overgrown grass, even as the Toa Metru made their way up to the Toa Rohaya. A day had passed since they had emerged from the maze of tunnels that was Octipi Grotto, Kiria's key fragment safely tucked into a pouch on Stara's belt. Her manner since that battle had changed, becoming more approachable and less snippy when one engaged her in conversation. Kronus was used to it: he'd long ago learned that a Lightning Toa's attitude was largely dictated by the amount of electricity stored in her body – too much or too little both made them grouchy – and he'd known that Stara, despite her outward façade saying otherwise, had been as eager for a rumble with the halflings as he had, and still was.

"What's the holdup?" asked the Stone Toa. In reply, Stara pointed straight up at what she and the Toa of Gravity had been observing. "Rope ladder's been broken."

Onewa stared at her like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "That's it?" he scoffed, clearly doubting the intelligence of the Toa Rohaya. "Why have a rope ladder when you could move the rock into a staircase?"

The Lightning Toa made a mocking half-bow to him as she and Kronus stepped back. "If that's your position, O wise and powerful Toa Metru," she said, voice thinly disguising a challenge, "than do so."

Slightly disconcerted – Stara had never given in like this unless she had something up her armored sleeve – Onewa glanced at the rocky face looming above them, and willed steps of stone to be torn free from the cliff, creating a stairway to the entrance. He cast a smug smile at her – but, as it turned out, he had done so a little too early.

Without any warning or prompting, the stone slammed back into place, without any direct command from the startled Toa Metru. And – as if to add injury to insult – a narrow pillar of rock suddenly erupted from the face and struck him right in the stomach, forcing Onewa to stumble backwards as the wind was knocked out of him. It had happened so fast, the pillar emerging and retreating so quickly, that an observer might've missed the entire episode if they'd blinked. The comical expression that had appeared on Onewa's face, though, confirmed that it had happened.

Both Vakama and Stara were fighting a losing battle to not laugh, and even Nuju had a hard time keeping his face straight – Onewa had never been his favorite person, and having his own element strike out at him was the metaphorical icing on the cake. Kronus was smiling, but there was an apology in it as he said, "And that's why we needed a rope ladder. It was the only thing Rohaya would allow us to do so we could get up there outside of climbing up with ropes – and it was hard enough to do just that, trust me. Cargan, our Stone Toa, tried that same thing, and got the same result."

"And you didn't tell me this why?" the Toa of Stone gasped, regaining his breath – and his wounded pride – quicker than expected under the circumstances.

"And miss the chance for Rohaya to punch you out? I think not," Stara said, unable to resist making one more shot at him before they returned to seriousness. "Moving on from the island's tendency to punch Stone Toa, we still need to get up there. The ladder's broken, and if Kronus brings us all up by erasing our gravity, it'll leave him too weak to fight anytime soon." When Kronus shot a wounded/offended look at her, the Lightning Toa rose her hands up in an attempt to clear the air. "What? I'm just stating a fact, brother."

The Gravity Toa let that go and returned to the matter at hand. "I could probably levitate myself, Vakama, and Nuju up to the ledge without exhausting myself," he mused. "Onewa, think you could make the climb?"

"Shouldn't be too hard."

"Good. Stara?"

In response, Stara gripped two of the seven blades on her staff – five on the top, two on the bottom – and detached them with an expert air. After strapping her weapon to her shoulders, she gripped both (presumably strong) blades in her hands and looked at her leader. "I'm good. You three head up; we'll follow once you're at the ledge."

Before any other words could be spoken, the Toa Metru of Ice and Fire suddenly felt about their bodies shift, like chains they hadn't known existed had been abruptly cut. Glancing down at their feet, they realized that they were floating a few inches off the ground, Kronus doing the same.

Looking completely nonchalant about their rise off the ground – after all, he was probably used to creating gravity reductions – Kronus bent his knees and sprang straight up; while not exactly flying like a rocket, he was soaring upwards – and staying up in the air – a lot longer and faster than any normal being should. Getting the idea of what to do, both Toa Metru copied the Toa Rohaya, and it didn't take long for them to reach the ledge, where the purple and black Toa was already waiting for them.

As the Toa of Gravity allowed their personal gravity to return to normal, Nuju gasped softly as he felt a heaviness fall back down on his body. "How can you bear not being like this all the time?" he asked.

Kronus smiled slightly, somewhat breathless from his use of his powers. "Because eventually I'd run out of power, and floating around doesn't seem like a good trade-off for having a three-day nap to recover it."

Far below, Stara and Onewa – seeing their companions safely on the ledge – took this as their cue to start climbing. While the Toa Metru's Proto Pitons were better suited for the climb up, it became clear that the Toa of Lightning was no pushover herself when it came to rock climbing.

XxX

Above them, Vakama drew Kronus aside from the edge, where they had been watching the other Toa make the climb. Nuju remained within earshot as the Fire Toa asked, "Kronus, I wanted to ask you something about Stara."

Kronus tensed up slightly. Had the Fire Toa somehow guessed about the secret he and the Lightning Toa had kept hidden from everyone? Still, his fears didn't intrude his voice as he asked casually, "What about her?"

"The mark on her left shoulder. What's that about?"

Kronus tried not to look too relieved. It wasn't about her exiled status after all; it was just about the strange, triangle-shaped symbol burned into her armor. "Her Gerilmi mark?"

Surprised, Nuju looked away from watching his allies. "Her what mark?"

"Gerilmi. Old word; literally means "Gypsy" in old Matoran," the Gravity Toa explained. "Gerilmi usually roam together in bands of ten to twenty; they'll take any straggler in. They're more common on the Northern Continent than in any other place in the universe, but they're well-known around the universe for their rules of hospitality.

"See, anytime they give a person their hospitality, their rules obligate the one they housed to return that generosity to any Gerilmi that knocks upon their dwelling; and if you joined them for a time, then took your own path, that compulsion is even stronger. Since I had a lot of former Gerilmi on the team, I wound up playing host to more than a few bands when they managed to find Rohaya," Kronus finished with a small smile.

Any further questions were silenced by scratching on rock, followed up by Stara herself and Onewa using the broken ladder to finish their ascent. After Nuju and Kronus helped them up – and after they caught their breath from the ascent – the five made their preparations. Stara had cracked open a hidden cache that her team had up on the ledge and doled out the lightstones inside to them, since none of them had thought of requesting Kanohi Ruru on Metru Nui. By the time they all felt ready to go, they had five lightstones, half a dozen floating fireballs, and an orb of electricity centered on Stara's weapon. This vestige of light did little to cheer their moods, since Kronus had grimly said, "Pity the caves are about five times darker than these can help, until you get closer to the lava tubes."

The Lightning Toa tried not to be pessimistic – though it was clear that she was fighting a losing battle again – but no one could doubt the seriousness in her voice when she said, "Remember: do not touch the outcroppings." With that somber warning in mind, all five plunged into a black that seemed as cold as ice water.