Disclaimer: I don't own Bionicle, but Eloro and Lai are my creations.
The next morning, Tamaru was given a clean bill of health and Turaga Nokama allowed him to return to Le-Koro. Kit could tell that her little friend was really eager to get home. 'I don't blame him,' she said to herself. Of course, she was invited to join Tamaru and Lewa on their trip through the jungle, and she accepted with enthusiasm. She and Lewa thought about flying to Le-Koro; it would be faster and Lewa could carry both her and Tamaru easily. But there was the matter of Tamaru's fear of heights, so, out of courtesy for the Le-Matoran, they decided to 'groundwalk', as Lewa and Tamaru put it. Remembering her promise, Kit went to go talk to Nokama the first chance she got. She thanked the Turaga for allowing her to stay and explained her desire to see more of the island and its inhabitants.
"I thought you would be asking about this sooner or later, Kit," said the Turaga, "so I spoke with the other Turaga. After three day's time in Le-Koro, the Chronicler, Takua, will come to fetch you. From that point on, he will be your guide and companion and the both of you will spend three days at each of the koro."
Kit thanked Nokama and bid farewell to her and all of her new friends at Ga-Koro as she followed Lewa and Tamaru into the jungles of Le-Wahi. Once again, Kit found herself surrounded by green, lush vegetation. Along the way, Tamaru and Lewa educated her about finding the way through the jungle, what can heal, and what can harm. Then, Tamaru started asking Kit questions about where she came from and what it was like. To the best of her ability, Kit answered the curious Le-Matoran's questions. Lewa didn't hide the fact that he was just as interested about this world of 'humans', as Kit called her species, as his villager. Pretty soon, it was too dark to travel any further, so they made camp in a small clearing. After they all settled down, the trio fell fast asleep.
It was halfway through the next day that Lewa asked Kit, "Want to go highflying?"
"Sure."
She hopped onto the Toa's back and Lewa glanced at Tamaru, "You muchsure you don't want to come along, little one?"
"I'm muchsure," Tamaru insisted.
Lewa shrugged, told Kit to hold on, and, taking out his air katana, took off into the sky. Immediately, the wind was rustling through the girl's hair and against her face. It was just when they reached the peak of their ascent that Kit realized there wasn't anything but her arms keeping her attached to her ride, plus Lewa was going kind of fast. This made her nervous at first and made her wonder if she made a mistake. Then, common sense told her that Lewa wouldn't purposely let her fall, and if she did he would somehow save her. Also, as long as she kept her arms around his neck, she'd be fine and, although he was going fast, he wasn't going that fast. This helped her relax enough to enjoy the ride and she braved a look around her.
The view was absolutely stunning; down below was the expanse of the jungle canopy, up above was a blue sky with small clouds scattered here and there, to her left she could just barely see the ocean, and to her right, in the distance, was a white wall of ice that she suspected was where the realms of Le-Wahi and Ko-Wahi met. Kit had traveled through air on airplanes back at home before, but this was nothing compared to that; there was nothing around her but open space, allowing her to look at everything at once and she liked the feeling of wind in her hair. Lewa took them underneath a cloud and, against her better judgment, Kit tentatively reached out a hand and did something she'd always wanted to do—she touched the cloud. It felt damp and cool, but she liked the feeling of the texture on her hand. When her hand exited the cloud, cloud matter trailed it for a good few feet. Kit found herself giggling contentedly; she just loved this.
"Do you muchlike highflying?" asked Lewa.
"Yeah," Kit replied with a smile, "By the way, how much farther do we have to go before we reach Le-Koro?"
"It's not muchfar now. We're going to have to make camp again tonight and we should arrive tomorrow."
Kit nodded and let out a yelp when the Toa of Air made a wide turn. She noticed the jungle canopy was coming closer and realized that they were landing. Once they were on the ground, Kit hopped off the Toa's back. Tamaru jumped down in front of them, out of breath.
"As . . . good . . . of a . . . leafrunner . . . as I am . . . I'll never be able to catch up with you, Toa Lewa."
"Shall we continue?" asked Lewa, and they continued walking, or at least Tamaru tried to. He was so tired from trying to keep up with Lewa and Kit when they were in the air, his legs felt like rubber. Kit noticed and crouched down.
"Hop on."
Tamaru climbed onto the girl's back and they followed Lewa until it was decided that they call it a night.
The next morning, Tamaru was able to walk and they trekked forward. Kit noticed a lot jungle Rahi on the way. Some skittered away at their presence, others ignored them, others watched from a distance. By late morning, they finally reached Le-Koro. The sounds of flutes and drums filled the air and the place was bustling with activity. All around, Matoran were playing music and popping out bundles of leaves. One small group was swinging around amongst some vines and seemed to be playing a game of tag of sorts. Their actions reminded her so much of playful little monkeys she just couldn't stifle a giggle. At that moment, Kit found herself in full agreement with Takua's words—this village was an amazing place to visit. It was basically an entire community of tree houses where you got around either by swinging through the trees or walking on bridges.
Tamaru dashed up the nearest tree while Lewa used his air powers to get up to a walkway. Kit, however, remained on the ground; there was no way she could climb up there. Tamaru's mask appeared from over the guardrail and he cocked his head to the right in a curious fashion.
"Aren't you coming?"
"Love to, but, unfortunately, I can't climb as well you."
Lewa joined the Matoran and reached over the rail, palms facing the ground. At first, Kit wondered what in the world he was doing when she suddenly felt herself lift off the ground and into the air. As she floated she noticed that her skin seemed to be glowing a green color. She looked up and saw that Lewa's mask was also glowing. She let a smile cross her features, her suspicions confirmed—Lewa was using his mask power to levitate her up the tree. Gently and carefully, the Toa let her down on the platform and the green glow dissipated.
"Thanks for the lift."
"You're welcome."
"Toa Lewa, Tamaru, welcome home" an elderly, accented voice called out.
The trio turned to see the green cloaked figure of Turaga Matau approach them, and he patted Tamaru's shoulder.
"It's muchgood to have you back, safe and well, Tamaru."
"It's muchgood to be back, Turaga. But I wouldn't be here if weren't for Kit-friend."
"That's correctright," said Lewa, and he placed a hand on the girl's head, "Kit here's the one who rescuesaved Tamaru from those Rama."
"Oh, stop it you guys. You're making me blush," Kit sheepishly grinned as she rubbed the back of her head.
"Besides, I didn't do that much; all I did was run and get knocked around, scratched, and bruised up by a bunch of overgrown bugs." Matau took a step closer to her.
"Maybe, Kit, but Toa Lewa speaktells me that you stuckplaced yourself between Tamaru and the Rama with nothing to protectdefend yourself but a branchstick. That took a muchgreat amount of courage. Therefore, that was not nothing."
Kit just blushed some more, "I just did what anybody else would've done," and the Turaga nodded with a small smile and a warm glow in his eyes.
Seeing this reminded Lewa of something Gali shared with him after her's and Kit's little excursion to Onu-Koro. She told him about the look Nokama had in her eyes when she saw the girl, a look that looked like remembrance. At first, Lewa thought maybe his sister Toa was mistaken, that she was seeing things, but now seeing the same look in Matau's eyes made him think twice.
"Tamaru, could you be so kind as to give Kit a tour of the village?" Matau asked.
"It would my pleasure, Turaga," the Le-Matoran bowed and led Kit towards a bridge as Matau went into a hut that Kit suspected was his and Lewa went off to who-knew-where.
As they walked, Kit couldn't help but notice that some Le-Matoran were watching from a distance, their eyes fixed on her. 'Might as well get used to this,' she said to herself, 'considering I doubt any of them have ever seen a human before.' She stopped just in time to avoid tripping over Tamaru, who was being greeted by some Matoran she didn't know.
"Kit, these are some of my truefriends, Makani, Sanso, Lai, and Eloro; they are some of Le-Koro's best musicians."
"Hi. So, you guys play music?"
The four Matoran nodded their heads and, upon invitation from Sanso, were followed by Kit and her guide to the hut where they were practicing. Immediately, a sweet harmony filled the air; Makani beated on a drum, Sanso worked on what looked like a xylophone of sorts, Eloro used a reed pipe, and Lai and Tamaru, who decided to join in, played on a couple of flutes. Kit listened intently, sensing that the melody had a lively, playful tune that seemed to match the attitude of the villagers.
When they'd finished, she applauded, "Wow, you guys are good."
"Do you play an instrument, Kit?" Sanso asked.
"Not anymore, unfortunately. I used to play the clarinet."
She didn't need three guesses to figure out why the band cocked their heads.
"Think of it as a flute, but bigger, longer, and it has more holes."
They all nodded in understanding, and Kit and Tamaru politely excused themselves and continued with the tour. Eventually, they made their way to the huts where all of the Gukko Patrol birds were kept. On the platform was a Matoran with a turquoise Miru tending to a bird that was a bit larger than the other birds. Kit knew there was only one Le-Matoran who flew such a bird.
"Kongu!"
"Tamaru!"
The two Matoran greeted each other with a slap on the back and fist, after which Tamaru introduced Kit to the Captain of the Gukko Patrol.
"Welcome to Le-Koro, Kit-friend."
"Thanks. Is that your bird?"
The Matoran nodded his head, "This is Ka," and he patted the bird's neck before getting onto its back with ease. "Want a ride?" he asked with a cock of his head toward the second's seat behind him. Kit let out a nervous laugh, but came closer when Kongu insisted.
"You sure I won't be too heavy for him, or anything?"
"Muchsure."
Taking Kongu's word for it, Kit swung a leg over Ka's back, sat down, and grabbed hold of Kongu's shoulders. Kongu then signaled to a Matoran up ahead who started moving a pair of green stones in all different directions, and Ka started flapping his wings. Finally, the signal was given, and, with wings spread out and a running start, Ka, Kongu, and Kit took off into the sky. The mount's beating wings produced a loud humming sound, but the experience was exhilarating none the less. Kongu had Ka perform all sorts of wide and sharp turns, almost as if they were moving through an invisible obstacle course in the air. After what seemed like only a few minutes, Kongu had Ka come in for a landing on the same platform where they left Tamaru, who was patiently waiting for them.
"Thanks for the ride, Kongu."
"You're muchwelcome."
Ka cocked his head at the girl in a friendly and curious manner, and she gave the bird a gentle stroke on the beak, from which the bird started cooing softly. "Kit," said Kongu, "would you be interested to learn how to windfly a Gukko bird tomorrow?"
The question took Kit totally by surprise; of course she was interested. Before she knew what she was thinking, she replied, "Sure."
"Good, I'll see you at morningdawn then."
Kit thanked him for the ride again and rejoined Tamaru.
That night, Matau found Kit sitting on the edge of a platform, her legs dangling over and staring off in the distance.
"Hello."
"Hi."
"Mind if I join you?"
"Join the crowd."
Matau took a seat next to the teenager and looked at her. He recognized the look on her face and in her eyes.
"What are you deepthinking about?"
"Home. I'm betting my family's worried about me by now."
Matau nodded in understanding, and placed a hand across her shoulder, "We'll wayfind a way to get you home." Kit nodded, and politely excused herself to turn in for the night.
"Thanks for the hut, Turaga."
"No problem, and goodnight, Kit."
Inside the hut where she was staying, Kit took off her shoes and lied down on the cot. In her mind, Matau's promise repeated itself, and though she wasn't that worried about finding a way back just yet, she did wish there was some way she could at least contact her family to let them know she was ok. Before she knew it, her eyelids were closing by themselves.
Next time--
All of this time Kit sat, shaking badly, though she wasn't sure whether it was out of intense excitement or terror and decided it was probably a little bit of both. Daring to chance a look out the window, she spotted a Matoran and his second fighting a Nui Rama. The second struck the bug with a disc and, injured, the flying Rahi retreated. However, the victory was short lived when another Rama attacked them from behind, causing the bird and its riders to fall.