Disclaimer: I don't Bionicle.
As they trekked toward the village, they came across some Ko-Matoran working on an ice bridge. Takua recognized one of them as Kopeke and trotted as best as he could in the snow to greet his friend. When he introduced Kit, the white Matoran simply nodded his head. Picking up his tools, Kopeke motioned for the group to follow him to the village. Eventually, Kit wrapped her arms around herself to try to keep warm; it was starting to get really chilly and she was beginning to wish she had a coat. "Just out of curiosity, what were you and your friends doing on that bridge, Kopeke?" she asked.
"Repairs," he simply answered. Before Kit could say anything else, Kopeke stopped. "We're here."
She looked ahead to see what looked like an entrance gate carved into an ice wall—the entrance to Ko-Koro. They followed their Ko-Matoran guide inside where it was slightly warmer. "I see you're no more used to the cold than I am," Takua remarked, and Kit replied with a small smile. Hearing the clicking of something tapping the ground, they looked to see Turaga Nuju and Matoro, his translator, coming toward them. Kopeke bowed to his village elder.
"They have arrived, Turaga."
Nuju nodded and addressed Kit with a series of clicks and whistles. Matoro translated, "The Turaga welcomes both you and the Chronicler to our village, Kit." He paused to translate the rest of Nuju's greeting, "And he has temporary lodgings set up for you." Kit just nodded when she suddenly heard the soft crunching sound of feet walking on the snow and turned around. Before her stood the tall, white form of Kopaka, the Toa of Ice.
"I'll take it that this female is the one I've been informed about, Turaga?" he asked in a low voice, and Nuju nodded.
As Kopaka activated his scope, causing it to whir and spin, Kit felt like he was trying to examine every little detail about her, from her height and width, to the very pupils of her eyes. 'He's probably trying to get some kind of x-ray diagram of me right now,' she thought a bit uncomfortably as the Toa continued to scrutinize her with his scope. Finally, the scope returned to its normal state and Kopaka nodded to the girl.
"Welcome," he greeted, and he walked off.
After that, the Turaga had Kit and Takua shown to the huts where they would be staying. Shortly afterwards, Takua offered to show Kit around the village. Later, he politely excused himself to see if any of his Ko-Matoran friends were in as much of a talkative mood as he could manage to get them, leaving Kit to do some exploring of her own. It was then that she realized how quiet Ko-Koro was compared to the other three koro she visited. Everyone was either quietly working or meditating and the most she ever got from any of the residents was either a wave or a quiet "hello."
'Then again, I didn't really expect them to be the sociable types,' she said to herself, remembering that the residents of Ko-Koro usually liked to keep to themselves.
Despite this, however, she could sense that they were just as interested in her as the Onu-Matoran and Le-Matoran were.
That night, Nuju and Matoro were heading to their respective huts when they noticed a light in the hall that housed the Wall of Prophecy. They were rather confused because they thought everyone had turned in for the night. When they entered to investigate, they discovered that Kit was responsible for the light. At the moment, she was observing the Matoran writing on the wall. Their entrance was so quiet, she didn't even know they were there until Nuju conversed in whistles and clicks. Matoro translated, "The Turaga wishes to know what you're doing here at this hour."
"Just looking; I figured since for all we know I could be staying here for a while, I might as well try to learn Matoran writing, and I thought this wall would be the perfect place to start. I'm not in trouble, am I?"
Nuju's response was a shrill whistle that Kit guessed was some form of a chuckle, followed with a shake of his head and more clicks and hand gestures. Matoro translated, "No, Kit, you're not in any trouble, but you really should get some sleep."
Kit stretched her arms into the air and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "I guess you're right," and she walked out the hallway as she waved good night to Nuju and Matoro.
As they exited, the Turaga whistled and clicked away at his interpreter. He had a plan.
The next morning, Kit and Takua caught Kopeke and some of his friends in a game of Huai Snowball Sling and joined in. Kit managed to get a few opponents real good in the face. After the game, Matoro approached Kit and asked her to come with him. She followed him to Nuju's hut, where the Turaga was waiting for them and he began to whistle. Matoro translated, "The Turaga says that if you wish to learn what you can of our written circle language in the few days you have left, he'd be willing to teach you."
"For real?"
Nuju nodded and communicated through some clicks and hand gestures, which Matoro translated, "But, you're going to have to practice real hard."
"I will," said Kit, "You can count on me."
And so, Kit's education in Matoran writing and numbers began. It was a bit of a challenge at first—remembering all of the patterns for every letter and number—but she was determined to succeed; she didn't want Nuju to regret ever agreeing to teach her. That's why she even worked on writing some sentences and equations in Matoran into the night. By the third day, Turaga Nuju declared that she mastered the Matoran alphabet and number system. "The Turaga's impressed," Matoro translated, "You've done very well in your studies."
"Well, it wasn't that difficult once I got the hang of it."
"Still, this is saying something," then he whispered to her, "Turaga Nuju's not that easy to impress, and I should know."
'Yeah, I bet you would know,' Kit said to herself.
The next day, it was time for Kit and Takua to move on. Kit thanked Nuju for the writing lessons and left after she and Takua bade farewell to the Ko-Matoran. After being guided to the tunnel that they were told would be the best route to their next stop, Takua thanked their Ko-Matoran escort and walked inside.
Three days passed by before the group made it to the underground village of Onu-Koro. They were enthusiastically welcomed by Turaga Whenua, Onua, and a few Onu-Matoran. At the request of the Turaga, Onepu showed them where they would be staying; Takua would be an honored guest at Onepu's hut, while Kit would have a spare one to herself. Later, when all of the miners started coming in for the day, Takua introduced Kit to some other Onu-Matoran friends of his. After that, Kit was so exhausted she politely excused herself from the group to turn in for the night. She was out like a light within seconds after she lay down on the cot.
The next few days were quite interesting. In between diggings, Onua gave Kit her first official tour of the village. When she wasn't being given tours, she hung out with Takua, Turaga Whenua, Onepu, and/or Taipu. It was on her first full day she met Nuparu, the Onu-Matoran engineer. She was passing by a hut when she heard a crash inside. Rushing through the door, she spotted and gasped when before her stood a Bohrok. At least, she thought it was a Bohrok at first. Upon closer inspection, she discovered it was actually a Boxor. Next to it, sprawled on the floor and lost in a pile of what looked like boxes and chairs, was Nuparu struggling to get up. "Are you ok?" she asked as she walked in.
"Yeah, I think so," he replied.
He reached out for a helping hand, which Kit provided, and she pulled him out of the pile onto his feet. That's when he got a good look at her.
"Oh, it's you."
"Me?"
"The one Whenua calls Kit."
"Oh, right. I am."
"My name's Nuparu, by the way."
"Nice to meet you. So, what exactly were you doing down there, Nuparu?"
"I was trying to work on this Boxor here, only the spot that needs working on is at the very top, so I made a make-shift ladder with whatever I could find. As you can see, it didn't work as well as I thought it would."
Kit looked at the Boxor, then at the Onu-Matoran, and back at the Boxor again. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Nuparu thought for a moment. "If you could give me a boost up to the top of its helmet that would be great." Kit placed her hands under the Matoran's arms and gently placed him onto her shoulders, and he got to work on the Boxor's trouble spot. Within minutes, he was finished and he thanked Kit for her assistance.
The next few days seemed to pass by really quickly and, before Kit knew it, she and Takua were on their way again. "Next stop—Po-Koro," the Chronicler announced, and led the way. At first, Kit was a bit nervous about traveling through a tunnel again; the last two times were not very pleasant. Thankfully, however, that was not the case at all this time. She didn't hear or feel anything unnatural and was quite relieved.
The traveling trio trekked through the maze of caves for about two days until they entered the Po-Wahi desert. Takua and Kit found themselves having to shield their eyes until they got used to the bright sunlight. 'Now I know how those Onu-Matoran feel when they have to come out of their little holes,' Kit thought. The air was so hot compared to what she was used to, she felt like she was suffocating for a minute. Given a few moments, her breathing adjusted to the humidity, and so did the rest of her body. Almost immediately she felt like she was in a semi hot oven, and the breeze that blew in her face was not as cool as she would've liked. Still, it was nice to be out in the light and open space again. As she scoped out their surroundings, she noticed that to their right laid a crevass.
"That's the northern end of the Tiro Canyon," Takua announced, "We're close to the village."
Kit continued to scan the area as they continued on their way. All around there were sand mounds and dunes as well as mesas where Takua explained was where the desert villagers got the stone they used for carving and building. 'Might want to try climbing those sometime,' she said to herself. Every now and then, the group stopped to rest and cool down a bit in whatever shade they could find. During one of these breaks, Pewku spied a little bug and started using her claws to turn it over end over end. Takua and Kit, realizing she was teasing the insect as a form of entertainment, couldn't help but laugh as the crab enjoyed herself. Later, they spotted a group of fusa on a nearby dune. For a moment, one fusa eyed them curiously, then hopped off to rejoin its herd. As the sun continued to descend, the temperature began to drop and Kit could feel her body cooling down. On a rock pillar ahead of them, they saw a small figure. At first, Kit thought it was some kind of Rahi until Takua recognized it as a familiar mask. "It's Hafu," he proclaimed with excitement.
"C'mon," Kit nudged, and trotted away.
Takua didn't need anymore prompting; he hopped onto Pewku's back and followed the girl.
"Hafu!" the Po-Matoran heard someone call.
Looking down, he spotted his friend, Takua, his pet crab, and another creature that he never saw before run up to him. Carefully, he climbed down from his latest masterpiece and greeted the group. "Takua, how've you been?"
"I've been good, thanks. How about you?"
"Great. So, who's your companion?"
"This is Kit, a human girl who I've been showing around the island."
Hafu's eyes widened.
"So you're the Kit that Turaga Onewa informed the village about."
"Yep."
"In that case, allow me to escort you the rest of the way to Po-Koro."
With Hafu in the lead, they continued on their way. After walking for another hour, up ahead Kit could see what looked like two columns of stone faces. "Is that the Path of Prophecies?" she asked Hafu.
"Yes," he answered, "Carved each statue all by myself."
"They're awesome, Hafu. You should be proud of yourself."
"Thank you and I am. Wait . . . 'awesome' is a good thing, right?"
Kit chuckled and replied, "Yes," as she patted the little carver's head, who she could sense was smiling.
As the sun neared the horizon, they reached the gate that led into the village and they were allowed in. There were goat-like Mahi pulling carts and Matoran either chatting with friends, trading, or calling out from their market stands all over the place. Kit admitted that, even though it wasn't Le-Koro, Po-Koro was still full of activity. Although, it was because of this activity that she found it a bit difficult to keep up with Takua and Hafu, let alone keep track of them. Somehow, though, she was able to follow them through the crowd toward a hut, where Hafu knocked. A hunched over figure walked through the doorway—Turaga Onewa. After Onewa welcomed them to the village, Kit and Takua were given a chance to visit with Hafu and Hewkii for the few hours of daylight they had left. Afterwards, they were so exhausted they decided to get some sleep; it had been a long, hot day, at least for Kit.
The next morning, Takua offered to show Kit around the marketplace. Matoran traders were selling or trading just about anything from kohlii balls and carving tools to food. As they left the marketplace, they came across some pens where some mahi were kept. One particular mahi came right up to the gate, where Kit gently scratched its head. When she stopped to continue following Takua, she felt something tug on her leg. It was the mahi holding onto a piece of her jean leg in its mouth. "Let go, you silly Rahi," she chided gently, and she managed to tug herself free. Shortly after, they found themselves at the kohlii field where Hewkii was kicking around a ball.
"Hi Hewkii, how are you doing?" asked Takua.
"Hi Takua, Kit. Doing fine, thanks."
"What are you up to here, Hewkii?" asked Kit.
"I like to come here to practice when it's a bit cooler outside."
Hewkii, with precision born of experience, kicked the ball into a goal like it was nothing. Kit and Takua decided to watch him practice for a little while. "Kind of reminds me of hockey," Kit commented, noting the kohlii stick Hewkii was using.
"Hockey?"
"It's a game from my world. You use a flat stick to guide a little flat disc-thing called a puck around the court, and you move around the court on either ice-skates or rollerblades depending on whether you're playing on the ice or the ground."
"Why would you want to wear blades on your feet?"
"No, no, no, not that kind of blade" she laughed, "Think of them like shoes with wheels on them."
"Wheels?"
With a smile, Kit rolled her eyes; this was just one of those times that Takua was just full of questions relating to the wonders of her world.
"Think of them like discs that roll around on their sides."
The Ta-Matoran nodded in understanding, then explained the rules of kohlii to Kit. "Heads up!" Hewkii shouted, and they turned their attention just in time to see the ball heading for them. Having little time to think of anything else, Kit got on her feet in a flash and kicked the ball into a goal in the field down below. Takua and Hewkii looked at her, stunned. "Where did you learn that?" Hewkii took the question right out of Takua's mouth.
"Soccer."
"Soccer?" asked Takua, puzzled.
"It's a sport from my world that I used to play."
"And from what I just saw, you're quite an athlete," a booming voice spoke from behind them.
Whirling around, Kit and Takua came face to face with Pohatu, the Toa of Stone. "Sorry if I startled you and that I missed you two last night."
"No problem, Toa Pohatu," Takua greeted.
"That was an impressive kick, Kit," the Toa commented.
"Thanks; I guess I really do still have it."
As Takua and Pohatu walked off, Hewkii, who had joined them a minute before, tapped on Kit's arm.
"Hey, Kit, you interested in learning how to play kohlii?"
"You bet."
"Then I'll tell you what—you teach me a thing or two about these games you call soccer and hockey and I'll teach you a thing or two about kohlii."
"Deal," and Kit extended her hand to shake Hewkii's, an agreement gesture that she ended up having to explain to the kohlii player.
For the rest of the cool morning hours, Kit did her best to explain what she knew of the games of soccer and hockey to the village's star kohlii player. Afterwards, they decided to ask around for Matoran to play a round with them the next morning. While she was looking for Takua, Pohatu asked her if she'd like to go climbing on a small mountain later in the day, and she agreed. Finally, she found the Ta-Matoran Chronicler, who, after Kit did some coaxing, relented to play a friendly little round of the popular sport.
"Just to let you know—I'm not that good."
"That's ok; this is just to help me understand the game better."
Later, after doing some solo exploring around the village and visiting with Onewa, Kit ran to the front gate where Pohatu was waiting for her. From there, she hopped onto his back and, using his mask power, they dashed toward the mountain Pohatu had in mind. Even though she was expecting this, it still felt weird to her that in less than a minute they covered a distance that would've normally taken about three hours. "So, what do you think?" asked Pohatu. She glanced up to the peak of the mountain. It was tall, but not as tall as the other mountains she saw that were scattered all over the desert.
Turning to the Toa of Stone, she asked, "Where do we start?"
"Right there," he pointed to the wall straight ahead of them.
"Don't I need some climbing equipment or something?"
"Not unless you want it, but it's not absolutely necessary."
Pohatu walked up to the wall with Kit behind him. Now that she had a closer look at the rock face, she saw that it was littered with cracks and ridges that she could easily use as hand and footholds. Still, the idea of free-climbing scared her. What if she slipped and fell? What if something else went wrong? She suddenly became aware of Pohatu's voice.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
"I was asking if you want to go back to the village."
'He must've have noticed that I was nervous,' she said to herself. She willed herself to calm down. There really wasn't any reason to be scared; if anything did happen, Pohatu would take care of her. In fact, the only way this climbing gig was going to work was for she to trust him as much as he trusted her.
"We don't need to turn back; I'm ready."
"Alright then, let's get started," the Toa smiled brightly and he lifted her up to help her onto the rock face.
She made sure the hand and footholds would support her weight, and she began climbing. Shortly after, she heard the clang of metal digging into rock—Pohatu was using his climbing claws and was right behind her. Slowly, but surely, Kit made her way up the wall while Pohatu patiently kept pace with her. Thankfully, it was that time in the day when it started to cool down, so she didn't have to worry overheating. When they were halfway up, Kit couldn't reach a handhold and couldn't find any other ridges or cracks to grab or step on to get to it. Pohatu noticed.
"Need a boost to reach that?"
"Please?"
The Stone Toa put out his hand, Kit placed her foot in the center of his palm, he lifted her up, and she grabbed the handhold. Pohatu kept hold of Kit's foot until she managed to locate some footholds and they continued up the mountain. The sun was very close to the horizon when they reached the top. Fingers and feet aching, her arms and legs feeling like lead, Kit hauled herself over the flat surface. Pohatu's claws showed up right after her and she grabbed hold of the Toa's hand to help him up.
"Thank you."
"Well, now we're even."
Their climb to the top behind them, they took a break to look in the direction of the sunset. The sky was a bright orange which seemed to reflect onto the desert sand, with ribbons of gold as far as the eye could see. A short way into the distance, the shadow of Po-Koro could be seen. "This is so cool," Kit commented.
"Are you cold?"
"Huh? Oh no, it's just an expression."
Pohatu nodded. "Well, it's going to be dark soon. What do you say we head back to the village before Onewa starts to worry?" As much as she wanted to stay a little longer, Kit had to agree; it was time to head back. Still tired from her climb up, Pohatu let her hold onto his back as they descended. Once they got back to the village, she retreated to her hut and did a few stretches with the hope that it would prevent her from feeling too sore the next day.
The next morning, Kit found her way to the kohlii field. Hewkii was already there working with a ball.
"Good morning, Hewkii."
"Good morning, Kit. Ready to play some kohlii?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
"So, how was your climb with Toa Pohatu yesterday?"
"It was great! I just hope I'm going to have the chance to come back and spend the night on that mountain."
Hewkii smiled and kicked the ball into one of the goals. "So, who did you get to be your teammate today?" asked Kit.
"Hafu should be here in any minute," Hewkii replied. "In fact, here he comes now and it looks like Takua's with him, too." Sure enough, Hafu and Takua were approaching the southern end of the field. With everyone present, Hafu, Takua, and Kit grabbed some kohlii sticks and guard shields and met with Hewkii on the field. While Hafu and Hewkii got in position on their side of the field, Kit and Takua agreed to take turns on defense and offense. Takua went to meet Hewkii at the center of the field and Kit took her position in the goal. The two Matoran touched sticks, the ball was released, and the game was on.
It took a few tries, but once she got a feel for the game and started keeping her eyes on the ball, Hewkii could barely get another score past Kit. As she watched the Matoran do their stuff, she thought to herself that Hewkii and the other Po-Matoran kohlii players would give Earth's best hockey and soccer players a run for their money. They played like this for about half an hour, then she and Takua switched places. Kit proved to be just as formidable of a player on the field as she was in the goal; it was taking all of Hewkii's skill to try to keep the ball away from her long enough to try to make a goal. At one point in the game, Hewkii was dribbling the ball towards Takua when Kit surprised him by stealing it and he ended up having to chase her to get it back. Hafu tensed, ready to block Kit's attempt. When she was close enough, Kit stopped the ball, positioned it quickly, and struck it with a golf swing of her stick. As the ball flew, Hafu leaped to block it—and missed by a centimeter. It ricocheted within the tubular walls of the goal. Kit and Takua lifted their sticks into the air as they cheered; the game was over and the score had just tied. Both teams touched sticks and congratulated each other on a good game when they heard clapping. It was Turaga Onewa and Toa Pohatu. "Turaga, what are you doing here?" asked Hewkii.
"I never miss a good game of kohlii, if I can help it," the Turaga simply replied.
As she put her stick away, Hewkii admitted to Kit that he was impressed with her; he hadn't had a good challenge like that in a long time. She slightly blushed.
Later that day and the next morning, Kit, Takua, Hewkii, and Hafu continued their little game of kohlii, each time picking up the score where they left it. That afternoon, Kit found herself thinking about her last stop on the island—Ta-Koro, the Village of Fire. 'But then, where do I go from there?' she asked herself. Were the Turaga going to arrange some place on the island for her to stay, or would they find a way to get her back home? As night fell, the Po-Matoran gathered around a campfire at the center of the village. Kit, wondering what was going on, decided to join them. Shortly after, Onewa appeared in front of a statue and raised his hand in the air for silence. Once the crowd had quieted down, he began to share a story about one of the many adventures of the Toa. The crowd, especially Kit, listened with intent and wonder. When Onewa was done storytelling, everyone headed to their huts to call it a night.
Next time--
The clouds were now as black as night and had a very threatening feel to them. 'I've got a very, very bad feeling about this,' she thought, then a shriek was heard near the gate. She heard another shriek up above and looked just in time to spot a large winged form camouflaged against the black clouds.