Hordika Under the Bed
Mic stood over her dog on the patio, working at brushing off un-needed hairs from the jey-black lab. The morning had turned into noon, and it was still as nice as earlier, though Abby seemed to want to chase after the lizards instead of staying put for her human. Typical for a retriever.
It wasn't helping that Vakama was prowling around in the back yard, nose to the ground as he was investigating not only the lizards but insects as well. After a bit he came back over, tail twitching, "This is an independent Magna right?"
Mic looked up, flinging her own hair out of her eyes. "If you mean the country I live in, America, then yes. But there are many others that are under the control of a dictatorship. Why?"
"I meant," Vakama tapped one of his feet on the ground, "Is this a planet? I know there's a moon but sometimes we can see one in Metru Nui."
"Yeah this is a planet. Planet earth, as we call it." Abby tried to bolt on seeing the slightest move of a lizard, but Mic held her collar firmly.
"Odd name for a magna," Vakama muttered before giving a light growl at Abby, a 'sit still' command.
"I don't make the names," Mic replied as Abby immediately turned her attention on the Hordika and stayed put. After a few moments Mic stopped and let the dog wander off to chase what living creatures were left in the yard. Mic rubbed her sore back from bending over so long and turned to Vakama. "...there're other planets too, but none that are made to support human life."
"Hmm," Vakama shifted and laid down in the warm grass for another basking session. "This is the first...no, the second time I've been out of the Matoran Universe."
Mic assumed he meant leaving Metru Nui and finding the island of Mata Nui as she found a tennis ball hidden in the grass. The moment the ball became known, Abby bounced out of the bushes and tried to steal it, before the human actually threw it for the dog. Mis turned and looked down at the basking Hordika. "Do you have a plan for once you go back?"
The mutated Toa lifted his head to look back at her. After a few thoughtful moments Vakama gave a nod to his inner thoughts, "I have to find my brother Toa, and Rahaga as well... from there," He gave a deep sigh, "From there, find a way back to normal and free the city and more importantly the Matoran."
"Which you'll do," Mic said firmly, with a nod. "It's not impossible." Well hey, if meeting a supposedly fictional Hordika was possible, then saving a city sure was. Mic proceeded to stretch her stiff back. Boy was it gonna be weird when Vakama left...
The Hordika made that grumbling sound again as he put his head down before rolling onto his back in the grass, his belly to the sun. "I think I like seeing Bara and Bota in the sky." Vakama said after a bit.
"That must be pretty cool," Mic muttered, sitting on her knees as Abby brought the ball back and pranced just out of reach of the human, almost taunting her to try and take the ball back... which she tried to do and failed the first few times.
"The Rahaga say that it's what's left of our ancestors, true organic hordika were from as well as many other Rahi before the Great Beings and Mata Nui helped us become Bionicle." Vakama said, waiting for the retraction.
And he got one. The human turned her head to stare at him, processing the information. "...I... did not know that either." She frowned at herself and did a final grab for the ball, succeeding this time.
"We came from somewhere after all." Vakama snorted, and then smiled at Mic.
She only had a second to return the smile, for the overly excited Abby jumped at her, knocking Mic onto her back in the grass. "Oof! Abby, you big moose-!"
"I don't think you can know everything, about my world or yours." Vakama said with a frown, remembering Onewa's words that that would take all the fun out of life.
"No, no one can," Mic agreed, having shoved the dog off. She smirked. "I think that kinda knowing would hurt the head."
"And those around you," Vakama chuckled, enjoying the feeling of the grass.
"Yeah," Mic laughed. Abby then made a small whimper and limped around, keeping a paw off the ground. Mic frowned and crawled over to investigate the dog's cause of pain- a sandspur wedged in her paw.
It wasn't until Mic had sat back down again that Vakama move, his tail arching as he gave an indigent clicking sound. Using both tail and hip to push Mic off if the appendage, "Hey, that's attached."
For her part, the human had been oblivious to the fact that she had sat on the Hordika's tail. She blinked and looked at it then at him. Mic hid a smile. "Whoops. Didn't know it was that sensitive."
"It's mostly organic," Vakama made a face before giving a light push before rolling onto his back again.
"Well sor-ry," Mic said, throwing her hands up in mock defense muttering, "The freaking story never talk about you guys having tails y'know..."
The hordika snorted and with a twitch his tail thumped lightly against the human's side, a quick playful move as Vakama smiled again. Mic glanced at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk before turning away and picking up Abby's ball, pretending to ignore him. Though in most cases it's rather hard to ignore a Hordika in your backyard. Mostly when said hordika discarded that he wanted to be a pain. Without making any sound, Vakama had rolled and half got up and the mutated Toa gave the back of Mic's neck an unexpected lick.
The girl jumped at the feeling on her neck with a muffled squeak. She finally turned her head around and gave him a glare that was, in her mind, scary. To him... probably not. "You big sneak."
Vakama grinned and then licked her cheek, because she hadn't moved, with a rumble that was almost like a chuckle. Mic could sense an attack of licks coming, so she playfully shoved him away with a grin of her. The altered Bionicle snorted as his muzzle was pushed away. Shifting and giving himself a shake, and then couched low with a light growl.
Mic began to ease away, and for a moment she wondered if she should be scared, a memory of their 'meeting' coming up. 'No, that's behind us...pfft, if anything I should, like run from his tongue.'
The human sprang up and made a doomed bolt for, well... she didn't know. It didn't hurt to try and outrun a Hordika.
Vakama waited a beat before vaulting up and bounding after, sliding easily enough against Mic's side as she ran. Both tripping and catching her so the girl wouldn't hit her head on the way down.
"No!" Mic yelled, in pretend fear, struggling to keep getting away from the Hordika.
Claw tips were catching on skin, but not doing anything more than leaving behind bloodless lines. The hordika gave a deep growl as he licked Mic's face, laying on his side and wrapping his arms around her. Despite Vakama's strength overpowering hers, Mic tried to squirm out of his 'embrace' and seemingly failing, turning her head to try and avoid the licks, a laugh escaping her throat.
The Hordika waited half a minute before letting Mic get nearly away before dragging her back. Instead of pinning or licking her again, he rubbed the side of his head against Mic with a half purr half chuckle.
"If you couldn't win yesterday, what makes you think you can get away now?"
Mic laughed and grinned. "I don't know... stupid optimism?" She knew there was no way she'd ever win against him, but it was fun trying to. In her head the human was trying to come up with some way of getting him good, thus her grin turned more evil-ish and she laughed again.
Vakama rolled his multi-colored eyes and, with a huff, gave Mic a lick to her neck again.
She grunted as the Hordika did this, but not in a bad way. More like a sound of dull defeat. "You do this often?"
"Do what?" The hordika asked as he relaxed.
"Lick people to death," Mic said teasingly, giving him a poke in the chest.
"No," Vakama shook his head, "I'm not as bad as some of the others."
Mic made a mental note to be glad that she wasn't going to meet the other Hordika and sighed. "Boy am I gonna miss you," she murmured sadly.
"Oh really?" Vakama arched up an eye ridge at that, not fully sure how to react to it, so he gave a soft purr.
"Heck yes," she muttered. "Besides the fact that Bionicle fans would kill to be in my place right now... I'm just gonna miss you for... you, and now I know how cheesy I'm beginning to sound, ugh...!" She face-palmed in embarrassment.
The hordika leaned forward and rubbed the side of his head against Mic's own side as he gave a deep, vibrating purr in reassurance. Mic snorted softly and gave him a few strokes to the head, finding his spot again. Vakama hummed a deeper purr in response, tilting his head into the touch, neck arching a little. He was perfectly content right now, and like the day before more 'sane' then he was at night.
"You really are like a giant cat," Mic smirked, still stroking. She glanced from him to his tail-tip. "Tail included, heh..."
The Hordika huffed at that, drawing himself up a little, "I... am a reptile actually."
"Yeah, okay," Mic rolled her eyes when he wasn't looking as if she didn't believe that. The human could see where he was more reptile-ish in looks and other things, but the purring, rubbing, and licking just made her think otherwise. If Vakama said he was a reptile, then he was a reptile. She just thought he had more cat moments than reptile. Mic sighed to herself, glancing up and around as a breeze blew through the yard.
Vakama tilted his head up and sniffed, eyes half closed as he scented the air only to frown. The Hordika stood, rising up to his hind legs, wincing as his back gave so many pops as his spine shifted to an up-right position. Not caring if anyone could see him he sniffed again, "Whenua?" he asked, confused.
Mic crouched on her knees and cringed. Though they had a privacy fence, when the Hordika stood on his hind legs his head went well over the fence's top. "Get down," she hissed, tugging at him. "What do you mean?"
"I smell Whenua." Vakama said looking around but not dropping down from his near nine foot height as he scented again walking a few steps like he would start for the front yard.
The human scrambled after him, stumbling on a stick. "Whenua? But, that's impossi-" she shut her mouth, knowing that it wasn't 'impossible' to meet a real Hordika. But, another one? "Are you sure?"
"Whenua smells like fresh, damp earth and tayco spices," Vakama hesitated, shifted and taking a deep, slow breath to fill all of his lungs, the Hordika let out a long 'howl.' Nothing like a wolf or dog's howl, for the Hordika's voice was more blended with a kind of singing voice.
The Hordika's sound caused nearly every dog in the neighborhood to start barking, going crazy basically. Mic reflexively reached up to cover her ears, but her hands never truly made contact since she was rather amazed at it. However she was mentally face-palming, knowing that anyone could be hearing this. Mic tried to gesture for his attention.
Vakama glanced down at Mic, blinking in a 'what?' way before crouching down. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off before he could as another, clearly hordika howl and far deeper in depth than Vakama's. It also subjected someone who was bigger.
That second howl caused the barking to cease the moment it sounded. Inside the house, Abby had taken shelter on Mic's bed again, sensing what was at fault for the sound. Mic had froze, eyes wide, trying to tell herself it wasn't true...
...was it?
"Is," the human began, sounding nervous. "Is that... an answer?"
"He is here!" Vakama all but turned in a circle before letting out another shorter half howl that had a part 'bark' at the end.
The human's mouth dropped open in disbelief, and somehow knew if she weren't kneeling on the ground already she'd have fallen by now. "...WHAT?" she stammered and ran a hand through her semi-tangled curls. "Holy crap..."
Vakama rumbled, pacing around the back yard on all fours, "Whenua's here! I told him where I was."
"Does th-that mean he's coming here?" Mic asked, still shocked. She whipped her head around quickly, scanning the yard for any signs. This was... happening waaay too fast in her opinion. ANOTHER Hordika? Here? As in, in the real world? 'Where the heck are these guys coming from?' she asked herself, now sitting on her rear instead.
There was a pause and then Vakama came back over to rub the size of his head against Mic's back softly in a reassuring way as he purred, "Well, yes..."
"Oy," the human rested her forehead into her hand. Her first encounter with a Hordika had been rather... intense to put it. Now there was another one, on his way here. Joy. But, a part of her was excited as well. She was going to meet Whenua Hordika! As scary as it sounded...
But then, hadn't Vakama been the only one to give in to the hordika side the most? There was something about Whenua being the most rahi-like...yet not Hordika-mad... Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
After a few minutes Mic asked, "When do you think he'll get here?"
Vakama sniffed the air again, "Any click now." he judged tilting his head before turning to look at the back fence, "From that way."
Mic followed his gaze to the fence and sighed, trying to calm her rapid heartbeat. "Okay, any minute," she said to herself, translating 'click' into 'minute' in her head.
The dark red Hordika hummed and in a surprisingly gentle move, gave Mic a nuzzle and quick lick. He was purring again too. Mic relaxed more and sighed, as if remembering that she was safe with Vakama around. Heck, it was just his brother they were going meet. She still leaned toward the red Hordika, for reassurance. Somewhere inside Abby was probably going nuts right now.
Vakama looked up as a massive form hopped the back fence, landing much softer then its mass would suggest he could. He was dementedly a Hordika, and in the day light his grey tiger stripe patter stood out only slightly on his matti-black coloring. Dark green and blue eyes swept around the back yard before fixing on Mic, or rather the smaller hordika half curled around her.
"Vakama?" The new Bionicle asked, voice deep and rumbling yet had a relieved tone as he stepped forward a few paces to meet the red Hordika that bounded over. Whenua pushed his head against Vakama, before rubbing the side of his against the other's, pushing Vakama to one side a little seeing as he was near twice as big in mass then the fire elemental.
'OMG HE'S /HUGE!/' Mic thought in awe and yes some fear to. Watching the two brothers greeting each other, and looking very relieved of each other for reasons that could be guessed, the human shifted slightly so that she would be prepared to stand when the need came. Right now she settled for watching the two elemental Hordika, simply amazed at the size difference.
The major difference was more that Whenua was more filled out, with 'broader' shoulders and chest then Vakama, generally filled out. Vakama, now that Mic could see him next to another hordika was made more for speed. The Hordika were purring as they starting talking rapidly in Bionicle, showing just how fast they could speak it.
Then, Whenua's head swung around to look down at Mic as he rumbled, "Kita?"