It was a strange feeling having his mind so calm. Tahu knew this was how he was supposed to be, but even after such a comparatively short stint of being poisoned and driven to blind rage it felt almost foreign to be peaceful. Part of him was unsettled by it; where was the voice in the back of his mind telling him what was wrong and why he should be angry? Had it really only existed there since the rahkshi attack? How strongly had he been poisoned that it had so readily convinced him of such anger being part of who he was? He knew he was a hothead already, but that… he never wanted to feel that kind of anger again. There was no way any being could naturally burn with such irrational hate. By the time he was barricaded into Onua's house – he truthfully was somewhat scared to find out how much damage he'd done in there – he could barely even recognize Pohatu and Gali, two people he had grown up with, fought alongside, and enjoyed many triumphs with. If he couldn't even properly identify them…

He shuddered at the thought. If he had fully fallen to the poison any sooner than he had, the whole battle could have ended very differently. For all he knew, Onu-Koro could have been destroyed, among other grievous possibilities. There were too many terrible thoughts and concepts for the outcome that could have been, and even as he lay there staring almost blankly at the ceiling he swore he would never let such a thing happen again, to him or anyone else. Now that they knew what the green-shelled rahkshi were capable of, they could combat it accordingly. Nobody would commit the same crimes Tahu nearly did. But even as he thought it over, a new question plagued his mind; how much was this encounter similar to what Mihkoro experienced was the shadows overcame him? Sure there were blatant differences, as there was still a vague indication that the Shadow Toa's true self was somewhere in his severely addled and intoxicated mind, but how much of what Tahu felt could be related to? Was there blinding rage? Unwanted voices? A sense of being hopelessly unable to stop the maddening descent? Or was it all so familiar that Mihkoro barely felt it until it was too late? Had growing up in darkness poisoned him so severely that dominating him was as easy as flipping a switch? The fact Mihkoro was still somehow alive astounded Tahu to no end, and even though Onua had told him about it shortly after he'd first woken up the concept was a daunting one.

Especially if it meant that had to fight him later. Tahu had witnessed Mihkoro's sheer ferocity and skill in battle before, and thirteen years was plenty of time to make those abilities even more deadly. The very idea of having to cross weapons with him, even with the other Toa Nuva present, was as much a nightmare to him as the poison had been. Fighting a friend was one thing; fighting a friend and former mentor with eleven more years of experience and a potent psychotic streak was quite another. If and when Mihkoro joined the fight, Tahu wasn't sure if they could stop him.

"You okay over there?"

Pohatu was sitting upright on his bed now and watching his Brother curiously.

"No." Tahu answered, the twenty-eight year old grimacing as he shifted and slowly sat up. "But I am myself again, so I'll call it a win." He hesitated as he noted the bandage rapped around Pohatu's head. "Did I…?" He asked tentatively, gesturing vaguely to it and hoping he was wrong.

"Oh, this? Nah. Worst you did to any of us was scorch Onua's hoodie, as far as I know." The Stone Toa grinned. "I got clocked by a rahkshi sometime after Kopaka dummied you with his shield. How's your head?"

"Quiet." Tahu confessed, a faint snort escaping him at the mention of Kopaka. Somehow he had a feeling his paler Brother subtly enjoyed his part in bringing Tahu down. "I'm both happy with and unnerved by the peace." He paused. "You're sure I didn't hurt anyone?"

"If you did, Onua never mentioned it."

"Likely never will either." Some days it was annoying how quiet the oldest Toa Nuva could be. He was good at keeping peace in the group, but sometimes it came at the cost of not telling all the details. Never anything crucially important, but still occasionally a nuisance. Perhaps that was part of why Onua was such a good friend though; he knew when information was and was not necessary. "I take it everyone else is done recovering?"

Pohatu grinned. "Kinda? Whenua needed Onua for something and Kopaka went to talk to Gali about a topic he really should have brought up years ago."

Tahu blinked. "He's finally asking her out? Now, of all times?"

"You knew?"

The Fire Toa actually offered a small laugh. "Pohatu the whole island probably knew. Kopaka's crush on Gali is as much a secret as Matau being a sap. I wouldn't be surprised if the biggest money exchange in the history of the universe was about to take place."

For a few moments the Toa of Stone merely stared at him, though soon a broad grin was spread across his face. "You make any money or are you paying up?"

Tahu smirked. "Half of Ta-Koro now owes me; they all thought it'd never happen. Well, other than Kapura, but he's always been weird so it pays off for him in this case. Only other person who may have bet on it happening is Takua. Speaking of, where is he?"

"Whenua's place." Pohatu answered, getting to his feet and swaying a little as he moved toward the door. "Figure he'd probably appreciate seeing us. You coming?"

The Fire Toa laughed as he stood. "Of course; someone has to make sure you get there."

"Great! Because I can't see straight right now and no one's here to make me be intelligent. To Whenua's!"


Takua by now was too restless to sit still. Pacing back and forth much as Whenua had been before, it was all the Chronicler could do to not start spouting worries and fretting over whether or not Jaller was okay. Sure, Onua had been sent to find him, but that was hardly reassuring when there was no solid feedback to work with. For all they knew he was fine, or he was face-down dead and the Avohkii was gone. It didn't help that Whenua couldn't really offer any clear assurance despite the attempt to do so. Truthfully Takua appreciated the honesty; while it didn't settle his nerves it served to show that Whenua had no desire to try and offer false hope he didn't believe in. As the saying went; misery loved company.

At present Whenua was out in the village speaking with the matoran and trying to settle nerves, leaving Takua to his own devices for the time being and under strict orders not to run off. For once in his life, the seventeen year old was fully planning on listening. He'd had more than enough adventure for one lifetime, thank you very much, and knowing that he was destined for even more of it was too heavy a burden to bear, especially on his own. Maybe when Jaller arrived he could be brave enough to keep going. That had to be it; he could handle it all better if Jaller was around. That sounded like Unity, right? But what about his duty to the island? To everyone living on it? To Jaller? Sitting around waiting wouldn't accomplish anything. With every passing moment the situation was growing more and more dire; could he afford to wait when disaster was at their doorstep?

Even just the thought of his Destiny made Takua shiver. He'd seen the scars and struggles the Toa contended with, and he knew full-well just how often that had been nearly killed by… well, everything they'd clashed against. If they were consistently almost slain and had been Toa their whole lives, what could Takua even hope to stand a chance against? "Why couldn't it have been Jaller instead?" He mumbled to himself as he paced about. "He's the one with the proper training, the actual combat experience, and the backbone necessary to stand against whatever problem showed up and make it fully aware that it chose a very poor profession. What could I do that's any better than all that?" No matter how he sliced it, the Chronicler couldn't come up with anything he could do that could outclass his best friend, aside from maybe running faster and screaming louder. Not exactly helpful in the heat of battle.

Still, he had managed to conjure up a bolt of light and use it like a weapon. That was pretty cool, right? Maybe there was a little hope for him after all. He just had to practice it a bit and he'd be ahead of the game; as far as he knew no other Toa got the luxury of a 'trial run' before they were changed. A flicker of eager curiosity fluttered through him as he looked down at his hands and flexed his fingers. How had he done that again? Takua frowned as he tried to remember exactly what it was that'd gone through his head when he made light the first time. All he could really remember was panic and reflexive flailing; he had been too scared to fully comprehend his own thoughts at the time, let alone his actions. Frowning further, he held his hand out in front of himself and wiggled his fingers. Nothing happened. Predictable, but still a little bothersome. The seventeen year old eyed his hands thoughtfully, determinedly trying to remember exactly what all had gone through his mind during the attack. He could recall the rahkshi reaching for him, screeching angry threats in his face. He could remember lifting his hands and frantically willing… something, to happen. He almost thought he could hear someone's voice, like a memory he couldn't fully bring back to mind. It was a woman's voice, teaching him how to do something, though he wasn't sure what. He wasn't even sure on who, though some part of him felt like she had been important to him.

Takua squeezed his eyes shut and focused, not on the light he apparently could conjure but on the woman he was sure he knew. If he could just figure out who she was, maybe he could remember what she had been trying to teach him. If only he could recall! He could make out a hazy figure, her features blurry and refusing to become clearer. She seemed to be trying to say something, but he couldn't make out the words. It were as though the memory had been fragmented or partially erased, and his best efforts to bring it back were being utterly denied.

'You won't take my son away from me!'

The voice became so clear so suddenly that Takua actually jumped, eyes opening wide as a hazy image blurred through his mind. He could see her, her hands glowing bright as she fought against some form of construct, struggling to reach wherever Takua was. It was as though the Chronicler was watching through a small window, the whole of the battle beyond seeming muted. It all ended as suddenly as he had recalled it, but it at least gave him an explanation as to who the woman was. It also told him that he wasn't the only one who could conjure light, or at the very least he wasn't just a fluke; he had inherited it from his mother. But how did she use it? How had he triggered it? Was it a matter of circumstance or was it a matter of will? Sapphire eyes roamed to his hand again. If he could do it once he could do it again, one way or another! Once more he held his hand out, poised much like it had been during his fight with the rahkshi. Maybe if he willed something to happen…

A flash and shattering sound later, Takua found himself staring awkwardly at the clay jar he had just accidentally smashed.

"… I… uh… I found it like that."

He considered the pieces for a moment before a grin slowly spread across his face. "I did it… I actually did it!" The thrill of his discovery was immense, and as he considered what he had achieved he swiftly began to wonder what else he could do. Was he restricted to blasts of light or were there other things he could do too? Should he keep playing around or should he clean up the broken jar and hope nobody noticed? The responsible thing would be to clean up and tell Whenua that he accidentally made a mess, but Whenua wasn't back yet and surely there wasn't a serious rush to tidy it up yet. Maybe he should practice more, learn a few more tricks and clean after. That at least would save him some work if he just waited; no sense in tidying if he was going to make even more possible chaos.

Even still, he would have to keep a better eye on where he was pointing his hands. The last thing he needed was to accidentally break something else that didn't belong to him, especially when he was in the turaga's house. Maybe if he poked around he could find some sort of target he could try to practice on. Whenua had to keep in shape somehow, right? Deciding this was the best plan of action, Takua moved to start picking up the shattered pieces of the jar, though even as he did he caught sight of a crumpled note in the wreckage that he was sure hadn't been there before. True to his nature, Takua's curiosity got the better of him, careful fingers uncurling the page and looking it over. It was short and straight to the point, but the words were enough to chill him to the core.

'If you want to see Jaller alive again, come to Kini Nui. Come alone; I'll know if you bring a friend.'

Takua read the note three times more, his face growing more and more pale with each round made. He couldn't recognize the writing but that hardly mattered; Jaller was in danger and by the sounds of it would more than likely be killed if anyone but Takua showed up. But giving the slip to not only Whenua but also four Toa – one of whom fully capable of seeing through walls – would not be easy, especially once someone showed up to check on him. If he waited around until someone came back Jaller might be doomed! There was simply nothing for it.

He would have to run.

Casting a quick glance around and picking up a kohlii stick – he wasn't sure who owned it but he could replace it later - , the Chronicler quickly left the building and hurried off down a side street, leaving the note behind and not daring to look back. Nobody said he couldn't leave a paper trail to follow, after all, and if things were as bad as they sounded there very likely would not be a chance to try and run for help once he was at Kini Nui. Late backup was better than none at all.

Soon he was leaving Onu-Koro and racing up the tunnel, never once paying heed to the fact that the light with which he navigated was emanating from his hands. Destiny was calling, drawing him to speed up and utterly disregard any further attempt at stealth. At this point it hardly mattered; he was already out of town and there was no time to waste. Besides, the more distance he could put between himself and the Toa the better; he had no desire to be caught before he could get to Kini Nui. They'd understand once they found the note, right? Yeah, they would understand. They wouldn't get angry.

"Hang in there Jaller! I'm coming!"

He just hoped he wasn't already too late…