Lewa took Takua and Jaller as high up Mt. Ihu as was safe for the gukko he borrowed, dropping the two teens at the second of four outposts and bidding them farewell before heading back to Le-Koro. The boys put on their winter jackets and gloves in record time, Jaller fussing with his hat a bit before taking the lead and setting off up the path. "Do you think anyone knows we're coming?"

Takua shrugged as he plodded along after his friend. "Maybe? Not sure they would unless the stars told them of an oncoming disaster."

Jaller couldn't help but laugh. "Are you saying we're a problem waiting to happen? Because that almost seems accurate."

"Only almost?" Takua asked with a laugh of his own. "You forget that I was fondly dubbed a 'disturber of the peace'. The only one who thinks I'm sane up there is Navak, and he's almost as strange as I am."

"I would argue that point but at the moment I don't actually care."

The suddenness of a new voice right behind them caused the pair to jump, Takua yelping quietly and Jaller outright drawing his dagger on pure reflex as they turned around…

And found themselves staring up at the impressive and very mildly amused figure of Kopaka. "Jaller I thought Vakama told you not to pull a knife on people who try to help you out."

Jaller's face flushed scarlet as he hastily put his dagger away. "T-Toa Kopaka, I… uh…"

Takua erupted in a fit of laughter. "We were just wondering if anybody knew we were on our way! Looks like someone got forewarning after all!"

"In a sense." Kopaka admitted, idly shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "Nuju expressed a sense of foreboding and I took it as a good reason to get out of town. He's been in a mood since yesterday morning."

"Sounds pretty big if he's bad enough to drive you out of your own village." Jaller observed, hurriedly composing himself after his rather awkward fail. "What's been going on?"

The Toa of Ice grimaced at the question as he started heading up the path, a very mild limp notable in his gait. "Funny you should ask. I have a feeling it's something you'll be particularly interested in." He glanced at the pair a moment before his gaze settled on Jaller specifically. "There has been a development that changes the possible reasons for a multiple of incidents over the last several years."

Takua blinked once. "Like… what? Natural disasters, turaga harassing each other…?"

"Environmental hazards and disasters. The turaga bothering each other isn't new or unpredicted." Kopaka's expression almost seemed stern as he focused on the path ahead. "It's become a possibility that at least some of the more dangerous accidents weren't accidental; someone was very likely starting them on purpose."

This news came as a definite shock to both the matoran. "Somebody would deliberately go out of their way to start disasters?" Jaller repeated. "Why would anyone want to do something like that?"

The toa's frown deepened. "Likely the same reason someone tried to kill me last night. He would have succeeded too, had Pohatu not tracked me down."

This information did little to encourage or relieve either of them. "Did you get to see who it was?" Takua asked tentatively.

"No. But I have a good guess on who it was. And like I said, it changes a lot of things."

"Do we know who he is?"

Kopaka didn't answer, not at first. When he did finally speak, it wasn't a direct response. "We will discuss him later. I have a feeling both of you will know him by the time this is over."

Takua frowned, unsatisfied with the answer he got. "You're hiding something." He remarked. "Something big."

"And?"

"You should tell us. We're trying to find the Seventh Toa! Jaller's the herald! We have a right to know big stuff."

Kopaka stopped walking, letting an eerie silence hover about them for a moment before turning and fixing Takua with a harsh and very stern look. "I don't care what you're doing or what titles you carry. You could be Mata Nui himself and I would not care." He leaned over just enough that his posture left him looming over the Chronicler. "My job is to protect this island, not bow to the whims of a self-entitled trouble-maker with a lucky streak. Do I make myself clear?"

By the time Kopaka finished, Takua had shrunk back and cringed so much he was nearly hiding his face in his jacket. "C-crystal…"

"Good."

With that settled, Kopaka turned again and continued up the path, Jaller shuddering before almost hesitantly following. "Takua?" He said after a moment or two, during which the Chronicler had managed to recover enough to catch up with him. "Never use me as an attempt to pull rank again? I nearly had heart failure and he wasn't even talking to me."

"H-how do you think it felt to be the focus?" Takua practically whispered, shivering for reasons other than being cold. "How can Tahu tank a shot like that?"

Jaller shrugged, just as confused by the concept as his friend. "Either thick skin or a thick skull I guess. Maybe both." He thought on it for a moment. "… Probably both."

The remainder of the trek was made in general silence, broken only by the occasional murmur between the teenagers about the landscape or their theories on the closer-looming talk with Turaga Nuju. Neither of them dared to try and speak with Kopaka, something that seemed to put the Ice Toa more or less at ease. Clearly he had about as much interest in talking to them as they did to him. Eventually though, the white and grey structures of Ko-Koro became visible, a steady and small plume of smoke rising from some unseen building on the opposite side of the village. Jaller stared at the smoke in confused alarm. "Something's burning!"

"There's no screaming." Kopaka pointed out matter-of-factly. "Navak clearly isn't doing anything too crazy yet."

"Navak… Takua mentioned him earlier. You have a Ko-Matoran pyromaniac? How does that even work?"

"He's a forger, not a pyromaniac." The Toa of Ice corrected. "A remarkably good one at that. It's thanks to his unusual preferences that Ko-Koro's hunters are well equipped, among other things."

Takua grinned. "I'm surprised the smoke trail is so thin. Usually it's twice that size!"

"Perhaps he was hiding from your noise while he worked. You aren't exactly subtle."

Jaller tuned out as the bantering continued, his mind straying back to the mysterious letter that turned up in Le-Koro. He couldn't recall seeing anyone go into that room, and even if someone had managed to sneak in they wouldn't have had an easy chance getting out without being caught. There was also the issue of the familiar handwriting on the envelope, as well as the seal. The only person he could think of was a dead man, and Jaller had seen more than enough to know that dead men can't write letters. Was it a trick devised to mess with him? Was it just a coincidence? Wishful thoughts projected by a stressed mind? The only way to know would be opening the letter and reading it, but did he really want Takua to find out and read it over his shoulder?

No. Not really.

Whoever had written the letter specifically addressed it to Jaller, not to both of them. That meant it was personal, for his eyes only, and no-one else's. Besides, he was still bothered about being unwillingly used as a means to try and demand information from Kopaka, inarguably the scariest Toa to tick off. At least, he was in Jaller's opinion. It wasn't like Kopaka went out of his way to be friendly with people, and the cool, restrained anger the Ice Toa was known for was always far more unnerving to him than Tahu's explosive temper ever had been.

"Finally some peace."

Jaller blinked back into attention and looked around, realizing that Takua was gone and that he was now on his own with Kopaka. "Uh… you didn't freeze and leave him somewhere, did you?"

The Ice Toa snorted a quiet laugh and shook his head. "It was tempting, but no. I found a much better use for him." The skeptical look he got from Jaller prompted further explanation from him. "I told him that visiting Navak might be beneficial for him to do. With any luck he'll burn some of his insufferable energy off so we can have a moment's peace whenever he does actually make his way back to us." He grimaced and thought for a few seconds before adding quietly. "That, and there are some things best spoken of privately before they are fully brought to light. I found something that I feel is best discussed behind closed doors for now, and Nuju agreed."

Jaller bit his lip at the statement. Whatever this was sounded like it was putting Kopaka and Nuju on edge, something that rarely happened without a very good reason, and if it was that big – which it had sounded to be given earlier discussion before Takua pushed too many buttons – it was more than likely a very serious issue. "Is this what you didn't want to tell Takua about?" He asked tentatively.

"Yes." The Toa replied. "I didn't want to tell you with him around, not right off. This isn't the kind of topic his energy is good for straight from the start. We'll tell him after, possibly on his own so he doesn't explode in an exuberant array of spazmatics that nobody needs or asked for."

"Just how big is this?"

"… life-changing."

Jaller was silent after that, his mind lost in trying to figure out what in the world could have been found up Mt. Ihu of all places that could even remotely link everything he'd been told so far as well as him, let alone be so profound that it would change his life. Just what was going on? Again his mind strayed to the mysterious letter he had yet to read. Was it connected to this somehow as well?

He was so lost in thought that he didn't even register that they had reached Nuju's house until they were heading through the front door, Jaller blinking in surprise as Kopaka ushered him inside. Were they that close already, or had he just zoned out that much?

"It is good to see you again, Jaller. We have something important to discuss."

If being surprised at a swift arrival hadn't jarred him, hearing Nuju speak anything beyond bird noises certainly did the trick. Without even realizing how blunt he was being, the Ta-Matoran blurted out. "Just how huge is this thing if it has you of all people speaking clearly?"

Kopaka actually laughed, earning him a small but blatant glare from Nuju before the turaga addressed his new guest. "It's big enough that none of us saw it coming, so you should sit down and listen better than your escort ever does."

Jaller found a seat at once, perching on the edge of the armchair and watching the former toa with blatant unease. It wasn't unusual for Kopaka and Nuju to take shots at each other – according to Takua, at least -, but the utter lack of levity was extremely concerning.

It only got worse when the turaga withdrew a large, very familiar knife from a pocket in his robe and set it on the coffee table. "Do you recognize this weapon?"

"Y-yeah." Jaller replied shakily, biting his lip a little as he reached out and picked up the revealed blade. "This is Dad's old boot knife. He used to show me how to sharpen sticks and do other stuff with it." Pink eyes lifted from the weapon to Nuju and Kopaka. "How did you end up with it?"

"Kopaka was stabbed with it." The turaga replied simply. "He was attacked by someone shortly before the kolhii tournament."

Jaller went rigid at this. Sure he'd been told Kopaka was attacked, but nobody should have had this blade in their possession; it was with Mihkoro at all times, and he doubted death would have changed that. But such a notion didn't explain anything, and quite clearly the blade had been taken; it wouldn't be here otherwise. "You said you thought you knew who attacked you?" Jaller asked, his guard training kicking in as he tried to organize an explanation in his mind.

"I did." Kopaka responded grimly. "And you aren't going to like it."

"Considering the evidence so far, I know I won't." The teen remarked with a frown. "Some freak stole the knife after Dad died." His unease grew as the two ice wielders exchanged grim looks. That wasn't promising.

Kopaka broke the small silence that had ensued. "The knife… wasn't stolen, Jaller."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"… Your father is alive. And he is the one who tried to kill me."