Disclaimer: I don't owe Bionicle.
The Kosnero
The Ta-Matoran grinned at him.
"Not so brave, now that you are as tall as me, are you?" he asked.
Tahu blinked, this dream again! When had he fallen asleep?
"So? Will you let go of me or do I have to make you?" the Ta-Matoran asked again, his tone now harsher.
Tahu stared into the Ta-Matoran's eyes, eyes full of pride, the eyes of a warrior. Fiery, but not cruel. His eyes.
Tahu's eyes traveled to the right side of the Matoran's mask, searching for the scratch. There it was, drawing a line from the top to the bottom. But it was fresh, and Tahu was sure it hadn't been there before.
"Hello? Anybody at home?"
The whole thing didn't make sense, how could he dream about himself? And how could he know how he looked before he even really knew he was a Matoran?
"Say, do you have a brain at all?"
Tahu's mind went back to the Ta-Matoran, he was still there, staring at him in an annoyed way. Tahu realized he was still holding the Ta-Matoran's arm.
"What's your name?" Tahu asked once again.
"You are boring, why don't you ask another question? Or are you too stupid to..."
Tahu's other arm sped to his own sword and pointed it at the other Ta-Matoran's throat. He wanted answers, now.
"I'll ask you one more time, what's your name?" he growled. The Ta-Matoran stared at the sword, then back up at him.
"Be careful with that thing, you might hurt someone!" he said.
"I know, but only if you don't answer my questions,"
"Actually I meant yourself,"
Tahu forgot all about the sword he had in his hand, he just closed his right hand into a fist and punched the Ta-Matoran across his face. The Matoran stumbled backwards and fell, but jumped back on his feet straight away and stared at Tahu, eyes blazing.
"What do you want from me?" he asked. Every trace of annoyment had left his voice, now it was just deadly dangerous.
"I want who you are!" shouted Tahu.
The Ta-Matoran stared at him for a long time. Then he took a step towards Tahu. The Toa-Matoran readied himself for a fight, but the Ta-Matoran just stood there, hands closed into fists.
"I think the real question is 'Who are you?'" said the Ta-Matoran. "Everybody knows me, I used to be a guard in Ta-Metru. Now I'm just an outlaw."
"I didn't ask you about your life, I want to know your name!"
The Ta-Matoran didn't answer, he just stood there and smiled. Tahu longed to wipe that stupid smile from his face, but he first wanted his questions answered.
"I asked you..." he didn't get any further, somebody hit him on his head and everything went black.
No, not really. It was as if everything should have gone black, instead, he woke up. But the pain in his head remained.
"Ouch, alright, who's that idiot that said that dreams don't hurt?" he growled.
The others stared at him.
"Maybe it would help if you didn't sleep on a rock," commented Kopaka. Tahu turned around, it was true, he had been sleeping on a rock. Great, really great. At least he wasn't going to have to see Kopaka anymore in a while.
"What's that you were muttering during your sleep, Tahu?" Gali asked. She was already on her feet, and Tahu noticed that she looked much better than the day before. The burns were smaller, and the wound on her side was already healing.
"Muttering during my...?" he asked. Oh great, this was definetly going to be a bad day.
"Yes, something like: 'What's your name', and 'I want to know who you are'."
He should have imagined this, the others might have gone over it, but not Gali. Should he tell them? No, they'd just laugh at him, and they already had enough reasons to do so.
"I don't know, I can't remember," he said. Sirkul stared at him with his penetrating blue eyes. It gave him the creeps, Tahu felt as if Sirkul could stare in every corner of his mind.
-Are you sure you don't remember anything?- he asked. Tahu nodded, forcing himself to stare in Sirkul's eyes, even though he longed to look away. Sirkul stared at him for a couple of seconds, then he turned around and started up the slope. But before he started climbing, he stopped and turned around.
-For this time, you pass. But I warn you, there's not much you can keep secret from me. I can't read minds, but I know when you are lying... and when you are hiding something- he said, and Kopaka had the strannge feeling that as the Ihar had said those last words, he had been looking in his direction.
The climb was hard, and without their friends Ihar they would have never made it. But thanks to them, they were up in no more then a couple of minutes. Then, they set off straight away to search for the Ilsao.
The reason was that Thau insisted that they had to find the Ilsao of Fire as fast as they could, for it was on an island in the middle of a river of lava, so because of the recent eruption, it could flood at any time.
After a quick good-bye, they set off in different directions. Onua tried to imagine how the Ilsao of Fire would look like. A red stone, he decided. A red stone with jagged edges... and the leather string probably burnt. He had barely thought this, when the Ringlu started to quiver and pull. Onua looked down at it, and it that moment, the pulling stopped. Onua shrugged, then he sped off to reach the others.
Soon they had reached the cave entrance that would have led them inside the volcano. From here on, it was a fire inferno.
Thau led them down a series of passageways and bridges that led down to a lava river. As they walked by, Takua noticed other Ta-Ihar walking around and looking at them suspiciously, but one of them got very near, they all respected Thau.
For a long time, nobody said anything. Finally, Takua broke the silence.
"I have a question," he said. "Why do you keep talking about the 'original' Ta-Kavi when you talk about the Tikohl?"
Nairof smiled in the strange way of the Ihar. -So you've noticed- he said. -Because, as I already explained, the Kavi aren't blocked in some place. They move. The Tikohl used to be placed in each of the Kavi, and those Kavi are known as the original Kavi. And since everybody knows where most of the original Kavi are, the original Kavi are some sort of orientation point.-
Lewa started to laugh at this.
"It looks as if in this island you don't get anywhere without a wayfinder of the place!" he said. "Everything moves and you've gotta know the past of the island!"
-We've reached the place- interrupted Thau.
Takua looked in front of him, a large lave river flowed quickly to a high drop. On the other side of the river, was a small piece of land. The place reminded Takua of the one he had found the mask in, with the difference that there wasn't any totem sticking out of the land on the other side. Actually, there didn't seem to be anything there.
"So? Where is the Ilsao?" asked Tahu.
-Somewhere around here-
"How do you know where the Ilsao are anyway?" Takua asked. Thau didn't answer, he just kept staring at the strip of earth on the other side of the river.
"Somewhere around here where?" asked Tahu, a hint of annoyment in his voice.
-It should be hidden on that island, but Nairof told me the Ringlu was just lying around, so it also could be somewhere else- said Thau. Tahu sighed.
"Great, I should have imagined that," he said. "Here nothing is sure."
Onua jumped off Nairof and scanned the island, looking for the Ilsao. As he did this, the Ringlu started to pull again. Onua stared down at it, and the Ringlu stopped pulling, just like the first time. What was up with it?
Onua turned back to the small strip of earth, hoping to spot a glower or a glint that would tell him that the Ilsao was there. Instead, the black stone started pulling again, but when he looked down at it, it stopped.
Okay, Onua said to himself. What was I doing in these three times when the Ringlu started pulling?
But he couldn't think of anything. The last two times, he had been staring at the other side of the river. But the first time?
"So, what are we doin'?" asked Lewa.
-Whatever you choose,- said Thau. -Be quick, there's a wall between this and the main lava pool, but I don't know how much it'll hold.-
As if to confirm his words, a couple of rocks fell down from the wall to their left.
Onua stared at the wall, asking himself how much it would hold, and especially, whether the Ilsao of Fire was on that island or not. There had to be a way to find out without risking their necks, but how?
He stared down at the Ringlu, the flat stone hung there without doing anything, no glower, no trembling, no nothing. It just hung there, and yet, a couple of seconds before it had been tugging towards the...
Then it came to him. Of course! That was it! The stone tugged in the direction of the Ilsao of Fire! He had been thinking about it when it had tugged the first time, and the other two times he had been trying to find it on the island!
"Tahu," he said. "Maybe I know how to find out whether the Ilsao is there or not." Tahu stared back at him.
"How?" he asked.
"I think these stones can sense the others, if I somehow concentrate on this..." he tried to remember the name of the Ilsao of Fire.
-Kosnero- finished Kishro for him.
"Yes, the Kosnero, then maybe this thing will point to it or something!"
Tahu stared at him as if was crazy, but in that moment, another couple of rocks fell from the wall, there wasn't enough time for arguments. So all he did was shrug.
"If you think so," he said.
Onua concentrated himself on the Kosnero, trying to find out where it was, but nothing happened.
"So?" asked Tahu. Onua frowned.
"I don't know, it worked before..."
He tried again. Where is it? He asked the stone through his thoughts. Where is this Kosnero?
Nothing.
What was he doing wrong? It was like the other times, nothing different.
Right?
"Onua, we're just wasting time," said Tahu. "I say one or two of us surf to the island, have a quick look and surf back."
Onua didn't say anything. Why hadn't it worked this time?
"Alright then," said Tahu. "Me and Takua will have a quick surf to the island. If anything happens, Thau will warn us through thought-speak."
Takua nodded, then they both searched for a stone that'd do as a board. They found a couple next to a column, and then they surfed to the other side.
The strip of earth was very narrow, and it didn't look as if there was enough space to hide anything. Takua and Tahu walked around it just to make sure, but they didn't find anything. Still, Tahu kept searching the place.
"Give up, Tahu," finally said Takua. "The stone isn't here. It was probably swept away by lava."
"No," said Tahu. "It has to be here, it has to. Without it, we'll never be able to turn back into Toa!"
Some more stones fell into the lava river.
"Tahu, there isn't enough time! Let's get back to shore before it's too late!"
Tahu ignored him, he was sure the stone was there, the problem was only, where? If it was buried, they'd never find it. Unless...
"What did Onua say?" asked Tahu. "About the Ilsao being able to sense the others?"
"He said that concentrating..."
"Exactly! Try concentrating on the Kosnero!"
"But..."
"Just try!"
Takua did as he was told, but how was he supposed to concentrate on something that he didn't even know how it looked like? It was useless...
Then a memory drifted into his mind. A red stone with rough edges and a burnt string, even the hole that passed through it looked as if it had been burnt through. And in that moment, the Ilsao started to pull.
Takua stared down at the golden stone without taking his mind off the Kosnero. The Anjai was pulling towards the wall, an arm's lenght up his head.
"There!" he said, pointing to the place where the Anjai pointed to. "There, where the rock is black..."
Tahu didn't wait more, he jumped towards the place and started digging with his sword, and finally, he hit a hollow point.
"There it is!" he shouted. He grabbed in with his hand and pulled out a red stone with jagged edges, the Kosnero.
Tahu hung the talisman around his neck, then he and Takua surfed back to the other side of the river.
"So?" asked Lewa.
"We got it," answered Takua. "And you were right Onua, these things can sense the other Ilsao." he added, Onua frowned.
"But then, how come it didn't work when I tried it?"
"Add that to the list of things to ask the Turaga about," answered Lewa. "For now, we'd better worrythink about the lava."
Tahu nodded absentmindedly, he was thinking of Turaga Vakama, and with Vakama, another figure came into his mind, Uhat.
Uhat, that great idiot. Tahu was sure that he and his other Leehar friends wanted to take their place, but Pohatu, Lewa and Onua didn't seem too convinced. Onua said that the Toa Leehar probably thought the same about them, and Pohatu and Lewa agreed with him. Tahu didn't like that, and the fact that Onua was probably right didn't improve his mood. Tahu could hear Uhat laughing as he turned his magma blades into the tool of Turahk.
Suddenly, Tahu felt something burn at the height of his chest, and when he looked down, he saw that the Kosnero was glowing.
"Now wha...?"
In that moment, the lava broke through the wall that had been holding it and threw itself inside the cavern.
I know that nothing special happens inside this chapter, but I had a couple of problems with tests and my brother and sister that were always sitting in front of the computer and playing some stupid game. Now something serious, last week, I didn't have anything better to do except looking up Bionicle words on Bionicle. com, when I suddenly came across Komau. (Mask of Mind Control) It sounded very Japanese, so I searched for it inside my Japanese book (yes, I took Japanese lessons, but then I stopped) to see what it meant. i didn't find it, instead I came across the word kokoro (compare Ko-Koro) wich means... heart. Just in case somebody is interested, (and because I didn't have anything better to write)
fred: Don't worry, my holidays seem to be alright. Same thing, but alright. And about the Ihar, you'll see.
HazeNuva, Toa of Thunder: So what? You don't have to listen to read my fics. Thanks for the info.
ToaMaster: Nevermind. Whazzat? Finally got an idea? Good.
Regrem Etuaerc: Thanks, I'll check them out. Besides, if it doesn't get clear as the story goes on, I'll explain that why-Tahu-didn't-care-for-Gali thingy. Don't worry about that.
Calendar: It's less days than last time to Christmas! Falalalala...
