Takua ran until his legs gave out and dropped him in a shivering heap on the ground, hands gripping Navak's lightstone so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Ragged and strangled gasps rattled from his mouth as he struggled to push himself back to his feet, the mere effort of moving causing his adrenaline-flooded body to scream in protest. Fighting for dominance against the instability of uncontrolled flight, the Chronicler finally managed to regain his bearings and stand, stumbling as he reached out to press a hand against the cold tunnel wall and lean on it. So much happened so swiftly, fast enough that he could barely make sense of it even now that he was somewhere quiet. One moment he was having a peaceful conversation with his friend, and the next a dead-man-walking was back from the grave to presumably make good on a previously made death threat. What was going to happen to Navak? And what about the rest of Ko-Koro? What about Jaller? Everything was a swirling and confused miasma of unanswered questions that there were next to no answers for, and the more he tried to make sense of it the worse it got. Too much confusion, too little coherent facts. Why was he the target when he didn't even have the Avohkii? And why did Mihkoro – whose very existence was an entirely different matter in and of itself – call him the 'true herald'? How did he know anything? He sent Takua to find the crown, not told him to be the next big hero and find some stray Toa nobody knew anything about! He didn't ask for this!
Unsteady feet moved with uneven steps as the youth shakily continued on his way down the passage, one hand on the wall and the other still clutching the lightstone. He had to reach Onu-Koro, had to tell someone that he was attacked and that Ko-Koro was in danger. The Toa could stop Mihkoro, right? Kopaka survived, so surely more than one Toa could easily handle the rogue shadow-user.
Navak's remark about relying too much on the Toa echoed in the back of his mind and made him shiver. What if the forgemaster was right? What if they couldn't actually handle whatever immense power Mihkoro could unleash? What if Takua had unintentionally brought about the destruction of a whole village simply by being there? What if it was all his fault?
Thoughts such as these plagued him with every step he took, doubt flooding Takua's mind as he continued to shakily trundle along. If he had ignored Mihkoro in the beginning and never heard about the Avohkii, he never would have been inclined to look for it, even if only subconsciously. He wouldn't have even gone in the volcano! … Well, okay, that wasn't necessarily true. He had wanted to explore in there for several days even without hearing the Shadow Toa's riddles. But he wouldn't have been half as interested in the totem the Avohkii was hidden in! … Okay, that was a lie as well. It had been so out of place that it just had to be important, and as the island's Chronicler he had no choice but to investigate! One way or another Takua would have found that kanohi, and everything would still be the way it was.
And Takua had pushed this mess onto Jaller's shoulders, abandoning him to carry a destiny that wasn't his to bear. If that wasn't bad enough, he couldn't even go back to try and make things right. For all he knew, his own selfish decisions had brought about the loss of two villages and the death of his best friend. He'd gone from foolhardy explorer to spineless coward faster than Tahu could lose his temper, and now he couldn't even try to go back and fix any of it.
"Some great friend I turned out to be…"
A sudden shuffling sound broke the still air, leading Takua to freeze mid-step and listen, trying to discern whatever thing was steadily drawing near. Was it a rahi? The Shadow Toa? A rahkshi? The Makuta himself? Tentative and trembling fingers held the lightstone a little higher in the hopes of extending his range of vision. "H-hello?"
"Eh?" A voice answered, sounding rather surprised to hear someone else in the tunnel. The shuffling sound quickened, and soon a figure came into the lightstone's range. Well-built and vertically challenged, the glasses-wearing man appeared to be clad mostly in black, his pants stained with dirt and his ragged old hoodie very clearly patched with deep green material in so many places it almost looked deliberate. Cloth strips wrapped snugly around his hands and wrists, tight enough to provide a little extra support but loose enough to allow easy movement. His hair was black and a little on the long side, long enough that he could – and did – keep it tied back in an almost tidy ponytail. "Takua?" He asked in blatant surprise. "What are you doing down here?"
"Onua!" The Chronicler breathed, relief washing over him so strongly that he outright forgot to use the honorific title he normally would have. "Th-thank goodness!" Shakily he stumbled closer, a few stray tears managing to escape him as he practically fell against the Toa of Earth. "Onua I've screwed up so bad! I-I think I doomed Ko-Koro, and Jaller, and-"
"Shh, slow down a bit." Onua urged soothingly, wrapping an arm around the youth in a hug that he so desperately seemed to need. "What do you mean?"
"Ko-Koro got attacked." Takua explained as calmly as he could, though his voice wavered strongly. "Jaller's supposed-to-be-dead dad showed up at Navak's forge and threatened to kill him if he didn't hand me over, but Navak made me escape through a trap door and attacked Jaller's dad so I could get away, a-and Jaller has the Avohkii and has no idea what happened, and now he's probably dead because I couldn't warn him and-"
"Kid, breathe okay?" Onua interrupted, though his gaze roamed along the tunnel Takua had come from. "I need you to breathe. No passing out allowed. The only way I'll be able to help anyone is if you don't swamp me with words, alright? Not the fastest thinker. Now… you said Mihkoro tried to kidnap you?" It was easy to tell by his tone that this news concerned him deeply, and the blatant lack of Jaller only made it worse. "I wouldn't worry too much about Jaller at the moment, not if his dad was specifically targeting you."
"B-but Jaller-"
"Is the one person in the world that Mihkoro could never bring himself to attack." Onua persisted, cutting off Takua's protest before it could take off much further and shaking his head as he outright scooped the teen into his arms. "Even if the Makuta could make him attack anyone else on the island, his loyalty to his own son cannot and will not be contested. Anyone near Jaller is going to be fine, and that means my priority right now is getting you somewhere safe and as far away as Mihkoro as I can."
Takua pouted nervously at Onua, but offered no protest to being carried even as the Toa turned and headed back in the direction he'd come from. "How do you know he won't hurt Jaller? H-he seemed pretty inclined to hurt me and Navak earlier…"
Onua actually smiled, though it was sad and laced with grim reminiscence. "I know he won't because Jaller is the last grip on sanity he has left. The Makuta knows it too, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was trying to keep Jaller alive simply so he could keep Mihkoro under control." He made a face, not entirely pleasant and clearly recalling something from the past. "A being with nothing to lose answers to no-one, as there is no grounding point to give reasons for it. It's why some rahi go berserk when their mates die, and given current events it wouldn't surprise me if Jaller was the only thing keeping his father sane enough to manipulate. Sadly, this won't stop him from targeting you, and that means we need to get you back to the surface fast; it's a lot easier for dark and spooky things to slink around down here than it is up top." He thought a moment more before smiling a little. "Lucky for us, Pohatu is hanging around like a moth at a lightstone so we can easily get him to help out."
"But what about-"
"I will head to Ko-Koro and see what I can do to help after we get you to Pohatu and tell him what's going on." Onua assured, once more cutting Takua off so he couldn't get any further ramped up than he already was. "Right now there isn't much we can do other than getting you to Onu-Koro and situated with Pohatu, alright? Now just relax- we'll be there before you know it."
The Earth Toa wasn't wrong. In what felt like only a few minutes they were exiting the tunnel and stepping into a vast cavern, dotted with roughly carved buildings and torch-lined pathways. Wide bridges arched over the numerous creeks and shallow rivers that wove their way about the cave, flowing to parts unknown all over the island. It was a rugged village to say the least, not unwelcoming but speaking volumes about the Onu-Matoran way of life. There were no grandiose structures - save for the kohlii stadium at the far side, half-carved into the cavern wall - or meticulously decorated buildings. It was a simple place, relaxed in many ways and buzzing with activity in others. It was like the surface and its goings on was an entirely different and disconnected place altogether, attached only through the occasional trade caravan or inquisitive explorer.
It was like the threats of the surface simply didn't exist.
Takua couldn't help but smile a little as Onua set him down and led him into the village. Everything seemed so peaceful, so normal. It felt like everything was right in the world, with nothing to fear or be anxious about. "I always forget how nice it is here…" He said quietly. "It's like an entirely different world."
Onua chuckled faintly as he glanced at his companion. "You're not the first to say that." He confessed. "I think every one of my Siblings other than Lewa has expressed that exact sentiment before. They all liked it for various reasons, but it was mutually agreed that at least something here gave them a measure of peace. You'd be surprised how often one of them shows up to say hi." He laughed. "And to escape their turaga, on occasion. You wouldn't believe how many times Kopaka came down here. Stands out like a sore thumb but nobody really minds these days. Some of the matoran actually started to count days between visits to try and predict when he'd show up next."
Takua was admittedly surprised by this information. "Toa Kopaka comes here for peace? Doesn't he have an entire mountain to play on?"
Onua chuckled at the remark. "He does, but even he can get lonely sometimes. He may not talk much but that doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy having people around from time to time. How do you think he puts up with Pohatu?"
The Chronicler stifled a rather child-like giggle as he was reminded of the generally logic-defying friendship between the two Toa in question. "I never did understand how that even worked." He admitted. "I just thought it was dumb luck."
"Hah! That's what everyone else thinks too!" A familiar and boisterous voice said loudly, the Toa it belonged to grinning as he walked over. "Hey Takua! Did you misplace Jaller somewhere while exploring again?"
Takua bit his lip a little and shook his head as the gravity of life came back into focus. "No." He said quietly. "We… we got split up…"
"Mihkoro showed up at Navak's forge." Onua added grimly. "He was looking specifically for Takua, showed up while Jaller was elsewhere in Ko-Koro. Pohatu, can you get this one back to the surface while I go check on Kopaka and his village? The sooner he's somewhere with more light, the safer he'll be."
Pohatu grimaced, his own mirthful expression fading. "Would if I could, Onua. There's been a... development while you were out. A big one."
Both Takua and Onua stared at him, the former with unease and the latter with mild surprise. "A development?" The Earth Toa inquired, his confusion quite clear. "What kind of development?"
Pohatu rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well... Tahu and Gali showed up shortly after you left, and... we kind of barricaded Tahu in your house?"
"What? Why in Mata Nui's name would you do that?"
A resounding bang came from the aforementioned building, a large plume of smoke billowing from a new hole in the roof. Pohatu winced. "Let's... uh... let's deal with that first and explain it later. It's a long story."
Onua frowned as he set off toward his now-smoking home, his Brother and Takua close behind. "Pohatu?"
"Yeah?"
"You're fixing that later."
