Gali awoke to a cold and damp cloth being pressed against her forehead, though she made no move to open her eyes. Instead, she just enjoyed the cold wetness of the cloth. "She'll be okay, right?" She heard Pohatu ask with concern. "She's been out of it for hours now."
"She'll be alright, young Toa." A strong and reassuring male voice replied. "She exhausted herself, but she'll be fine when she regains her full strength. But how's the boy?"
Pohatu sighed, his voice none too cheerful as he responded. "He's… managing. He still has no memories as far as I could figure out. Poor kid barely knows his own name."
"Hm… at least he's actually awake. Some Matoran who are freed by their pods breaking don't wake up at all. I've found too many broken pods with dead Matoran for my liking."
Gali opened her eyes now, suddenly worried that some of her family may have been found dead. "Do you know who any of them were?" She asked quietly.
The man sitting beside her turned his gaze when she spoke, his purple eyes showing relief that she had woken up. "I wrote down the name on every dead Matoran's pod that I found." He looked her over briefly before continuing. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm tired." She replied. "But I'm okay otherwise. What about you? Everything healthy again?"
The man nodded as he gave a faint smile. "Yes, I am much better now, thanks to you. But now I have a question; what in Mata Nui's name were you in the Archives for? Your friend didn't really give me much of a straight answer when I asked him earlier."
Gali had to pause and consider the question a moment. How did things go again? Recollection hit her rather quickly, and she shivered as she remembered what happened at the Temple. "The Great Temple was attacked, so someone opened a portal and sent us here." She then realized they weren't in the Archives any more. "… Where are we?"
"We're in what's left of Ta-Metru presently." The man replied. "You've been unconscious for quite some time now. Pohatu was quite worried."
The Toa of Water gave a small nod as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "He does tend to worry about people quite a bit… is Takua really doing that poorly?"
Pohatu nodded as he poked his head into view. "Yeah, but he's pretty good otherwise. Aside from his confusion, he's really amusing."
Gali smiled faintly. "At least he has personality." She then blinked, remembering that she had no idea who the orange-haired man was. Looking up at him again, she smiled awkwardly and asked. "Ehm, what was your name? You never told me earlier."
The man chuckled faintly at her question. "I didn't tell you because I thought I was as good as dead. In any case, my name is Saraco, Toa of Plasma. I'm not sure if you know him, but I am on the same team that Mihkoro is." He frowned slightly now. "I just hope he hasn't gotten himself killed yet. He has a way with making people angry, as well as getting himself into trouble."
Gali blinked several times. "You know Mihkoro? He's the one who sent Pohatu, Iruini, and I to the Archives. I just hope everyone else is alright…"
Saraco gave a small nod before looking towards the doorway, expression thoughtful as he murmured vaguely. "I wonder if Takua even remembers… hm…" He then shook his head and looked at Gali. "If you remember anything else from the attack that might help us, let me know."
The girl nodded before pausing, thinking a moment, and then asking. "What is Keetongu? Rahaga Norik didn't get time to fully explain."
The Plasma Toa blinked before smiling a little. "To be honest with you, I don't know a great deal about him. Legends say he's a powerful Rahi that can reverse the effects of Hordika venom. The whole reason I was in the Archives was to try and learn more, possibly even find out where Keetongu was hiding."
Gali thought this over a bit before blinking. "So that odd book that Pohatu and I found was your notebook?"
Saraco nodded. "That's correct. To be honest, I'm quite thankful that you found it; the information I have written in there could be crucial for getting this mess resolved." He paused before glancing around again. "… We need to move out; the Visorak are probably still searching for us. I think they know what we've been up to."
That was when Pohatu hurried into the room, carrying Takua and looking uneasy. "Hey, we've got company of the 'kill you all' variety. Is there a back door we can use to get out?"
The Plasma Toa shook his head as he looked over, his expression holding sudden gravity and seriousness. "Not any that are presently accessible. See if you two can find somewhere you can hide with Takua. I'll try to keep the Visorak at a distance for as long as I can. If you can find a way out, leave."
Gali frowned a bit as she stood up. "What about you?" She asked, her eyes showing uncertainty.
Saraco shook his head at her question, moving towards the doorway and readying himself for battle. "What happens to me is not yours to worry about. Only Destiny knows what will come to pass." With that said, the Toa of Plasma left the room.
Pohatu, on the other hand, was already trying to find another way out, Takua just blinking slowly, clearly trying to figure out what was going on around him. Gali hurried over and took the boy from Pohatu, looking around the room with uncertainty before gasping quietly and looking at her Brother again. He gave a sheepish smile as he indicated the now collapsed segment of wall. "Sorry," he said awkwardly. "Saraco didn't say we couldn't make a way out, so I thought it wouldn't be a huge issue if we did."
Gali couldn't help but give a weak smile as she looked his expression over. "You never could help yourself when it came to destruction."
The fifteen year old grinned. "Well yeah; what's more fun than breaking something when you're actually allowed to?" He then rushed through the hole, Gali hurrying after him.
"You and Onua need to compete sometime to see who's more destructive." Gali teased quietly. "Though we probably have to send the pair of you somewhere that you couldn't hurt anyone."
"Hey, that thing with Kopaka was an accident." Pohatu said awkwardly. "I didn't know that part of the cliff was unstable. Besides, he shouldn't have been standing there. That and he was okay. Just really wet."
"People tend to get wet when they fall off cliffs and into oceans." Gali reminded him. "We're just lucky Kopaka hit the water and not a rock. He wouldn't have been okay if that were the case." She glanced behind them to see if they were being followed, and to see if Saraco would be okay. When she didn't see any sign of anything or anyone, she looked ahead of them again. "Do you think Saraco will be alright?"
Pohatu grimaced at the question. "Let's just assume he will and leave it at that for now, okay? He probably knows what he's doing." He flinched when he heard a pain-filled yell ring out from behind them. "… or maybe we need to speed up a bit."
Takua shivered a little. "What's going on?" He murmured, sounding frightened.
Gali looked briefly at the boy in her arms before looking ahead of them again. "We're trying to find something safer." She told him quietly. "We're just having a few complications at the moment."
Several minutes later found the trio huddled together in the remains of an old shack, all deathly quiet and hoping they would be safe. So far they'd heard at least five Visorak pass by, and Pohatu and Gali feared there would be more moving past shortly. It didn't help that there had been several shuffle-like noises moving by already, though just what had caused them was anyone's guess. For the moment though, all was quiet… that is, until Takua sneezed. Gali flinched at the sudden noise and Pohatu winced. Within mere seconds, the sound of clicking could be heard drawing near, growing steadily louder until the sound of a Visorak's feet resounded from up on the roof above them. Gali's face went white as she, Pohatu, and Takua all turned their gaze to the ceiling. Takua huddling closer and giving a faint whimper as he whispered. "D-did they find us, Toa Gali?"
The fourteen year old didn't respond verbally. She merely wrapped her arms around the terrified Matoran and closed her eyes, begging and praying for this to not be the end. She heard Pohatu shift a little, most likely to stand up and ready himself for a fight. She felt Takua shiver and press himself tighter against her frame, holding onto her as tight as he could. Gali began to doubt, her hands shaky as she opened her eyes and looked at Pohatu. He was on his feet, seeming uneasy, but still prepared to fight for his life, as well as for Gali's and Takua's as well.
But that was when the ground began to shake. The Visorak on the roof hissed in alarm before screeching as something hit it, knocking it to the ground and leaving it motionless. The shuffling noise had returned, a hulking mass now standing in the shadow of the doorway as the dust shaken by the small bioquake began to settle. When it did, the trio found themselves staring at a hunched over wall of grey hide and muscle, its arms thick and its hands bearing claws at the ends of its fingers. A shaggy mane of black hair cascaded down around the being's head, reaching its chin and somewhat obscuring its face from view.
For several long moments, the creature merely looked them over before reaching into one of the pockets of its black cargo pants, and pulling out a lightstone. "Hey," a vaguely familiar voice asked as the light illuminated the creature's face. "You three okay?"
At first, the trio could only stare, Gali and Pohatu studying the creature's face and emerald colored eyes. "Uh…" Pohatu spluttered, unable to find real words. "I… um…"
Gali just blinked a few times before a weak smile formed on her face. "I think so… Thank you for saving us, Toa Whenua."
The grey and black Hordika gave a faint smile of his own in return. "Don't mention it."
