Tale of the Ihar
It didn't take the Ihar much to find Gali and Takua. The two Matoran had been walking upstream to make sure they didn't lose their companions. None of them was badly hurt, even though Gali's wound was hurting again, and they had the Shilara. After they had found them, the Ihar ran off to the eastern part of the island.
In all this time, they had only traveled across the north-western part, where it was similar to the island of Mata Nui, and where everything could be reached in a day or two by walking, but in truth, Miko Nui was much larger, and the rest of it was completely different.
They had been running for barely an hour, or maybe even less, when the jungle ended abruptly. The trees disappeared, and were replaced either by thorny bushes, where the ground was rocky and cut the Ihar's paws, or by dead, rotten trunks, where the ground was just muddy strips of earth in the middle of swamps, where in some places, the muck could swallow even a Toa. The air became thick and grey, cutting out the sunrays and blocked every sound except the one of Ihar feet walking, and it's usual sweet smell was replaced by a foul odor. It was as if the rest of Miko Nui lay under a curse.
"Now I understand, why they call this place death island," whispered Takua.
-This island is split in two- explained Nairof. -It has always been so, ever since Makuta.-
-This place was once too a paradise- continued Awel. -A place perfect for leaf-running. But then, Makuta came. And when we discoveredfound his real intentions, we were lateknowing.-
-We started fighting for what remained of Miko Nui, but the place we could live became smaller and smaller, our only hope to survive was surrender. Then, the Toa Leehar arrived- Thau told. -They had two powers, just like us, and they were stronger. For some time, they protected us and fought by our side, but Makuta kept growing stronger, and then, the real trouble began.
-The Toa Leehar started meeting secretly with Makuta, and as the time passed, our defense began to fail once more. My father started having suspects towards the Toa Leehar, and started investigating. I was young then, very young, just a pup, but I was alone, so my father often brought me with him. Then, he met Liko and Thiro, Hoti's and Kishro's dads.
-Thiro had a talent for spying, and Liko had been something like Utahop's pet. Thanks to them, my father could get informations faster. But it was getting a more and more dangerous work, and dad didn't want me to come with him. That's how I met Hoti and Kishro.-
-Our fathers started doing everything in secret, continued Hoti. -They wanted to keep us out of it, what they didn't know was that Kishro was at least as talented as his father. So we got to know what was happening: the Toa Leehar had sold one of their powers to Makuta.-
"So they really were Toa," whispered Tahu.
-No- said Sirkul. -A real Toa protects the ones that are in trouble, even at the cost of his life. They are not real Toa, and they never were. But now the only problem was: how to proove it-
-But there was another problem too. The team wouldn't stay together. All dad, Thiro and Furoon had different ideas, and sometimes they didn't go well along together. That's- said Hoti. -Where Narubi and Rofgi come in.-
-My dad and Narubi where siblings- explained Nairof. -They both had a great sense of union, smartness and wisdom. Exactly what the group needed. Somehow, they managed to keep the team together. But then, we met Wiilsko.-
-My dad had been working for the Toa Leehar for a long time- Sirkul told the Matoran. -He already knew about what they were doing, but they had me, and he had to cooperate.
-When he met the others, he did want to work with them at first, he was afraid of what was going to happen to me. But after a while, he told them everything. It was what Furoon needed, but my dad was concerned about what was going to happen to me, and threatened him to hand him to Makuta if Furoon didn't help him. So the team split in two, those who wanted to help dad, and those who wanted to tell the others as quickly as possible. In the end, they decided to save me. Now there was nothing between Furoon and the truth. But then, the Toa Leehar and Makuta disappeared.-
-For some time, everything was calm.- Thau went on. -Then the thief arrived, she and her group. Thanks to them, my father found out what had happened to the Toa Leehar, and finally, the truth was uncovered.
-The thief stayed on Miko Nui for many years, it was as if she didn't want to go back to her people. Then, they all disappeared, leaving behind only the Ilsao and their friendship mark, these collars. Two days later, the Toa Leehar came back, they wanted the Ilsao. But our parents had hidden them. Kal's mother was the first to fall, by the hand of Utahop.-
"Poor Kal," murmured Gali.
-She has suffered a lot- Sirkul told her in private. -She and the thief were the closest friends you can imagine. Getting separated from her was terrible. But it didn't finish. Utahop hates the thief, and so he revenged himself on Kal's family. Kida was the only one she had left.-
Gali couldn't answer without letting the others know that Sirkul had told her something. But Sirkul only had to stare in her eyes, to understand her answer, and to know she knew the truth about the thief.
"But the thief," asked Tahu. "Who was she?"
-You'll find out soon- said Hoti. -We'll have to travel for four days. Then, we should reach the place.-
-What will you do to her, once you'll find her?- asked Kal. Tahu stared at the blue Ihar.
"I'll hand her over to the Vahki, obviously," said Tahu.
-Even though you've already seen them?-
"She's a thief. She deserves it."
"Kishro," asked Lewa. "Do we know this thief?"
Kishro sighed, -Yes, or at least, you thought you did-
XXXXX
The rest of the journey proceeded in silence. After three days of walking, a thick fog laid itself on the place, so none of the Matoran could see where they were going, all they knew was that they were climbing up a mountain.
It seemed to take forever, but finally, they had reached the top. The Matoran slipped off their Ihar and fell asleep.
Takua was woken up by the glower of the Anjai. The fog had lifted slightly, and there was something new in the air. He turned to see whether Thau was awake too, but all the Ihar had disappeared. Alarmed, he jumped up and wanted to scream to the others to wake up, but somebody put a hand on his mouth, blocking his cry.
"Don't shout," hissed Kopaka's voice in his ear. Then he dragged him to a place where the others were standing too, they were all looking in one direction. Gali made him a sign to come nearer.
"It's not real," she told him.
"What?"
"It's not real, the Ilsao brought us back in time. But we aren't really here, only our minds are. We are ghosts, if you want."
"Ghosts?" he said, a bit too loudly.
"Shhht! Once it'll be over, everything will set back to normal. But be quiet, we can't be seen, but we can still be heard. Both here and back in the present."
Takua wondered how Gali knew all this, but he decided to go over it and ask something else.
"So what we are seeing is..."
"How the thief disappeared. What really happened," said Gali, pointing to the direction everyone was looking to. There was a sad tone in her voice.
Takua looked at where Gali was pointing, there was a small figure there, coming nearer. He recognized it as a Matoran, a Ga-Matoran. As she came closer, he could see she was wearing a Kaukau mask. But it wasn't Hahli. Between she and Hahli was the same difference between Kal and Kida, and her eyes...
He nearly screamed. Now the Ga-Matoran was standing right in front of him, staring through him with her golden eyes, and even though they were different than the ones he knew, he recognized the Matoran at once.
She was younger, and her eyes lacked the wiseness that they now wore. But he was sure.
It was Gali.I know, it's sad, but my imagination took over. It used to be just a couple of phrases like: Makuta came, we fought, Toa Leehar came and disappeared, Thief came, Thief left, instead, I got this. Oh, about that mistake, I wrote that Pohatu saw a pup running towards him. But Hoti is a cat. I corrected it, so don't go looking for the mistake.
nightbug08: It's a place without name, something like Kini-Nui.
fred: In this chapter, you got everything about the Ihar's past. I know, it was sad, but it was like I just had to write it. I don't know...
ToaMaster: Yeah, great, can't wait for it!
Regrem Erutaerc: I know, it was confusing. But I didn't know how to get out of that situation! You said he disappeared in the sea-remembers something I read about one of the books- He and other six Matoran maybe? Great, I have a half idea where the Toa Nuva might come from.
