The Zarrak Project
Chapter Four
Foretelling.
Turaga Nokama stood on Tomichi point, overlooking Gali's bay, staring avidly off into the sunset.
" Hey, Old One!" Gali called jovially from the shore, " Come one! You want to miss the opening game of the Kolhii season? Le-Koro's hosting, and it's sure to be a treat!"
The Turaga did not reply, so Gali assumed it must be because the old one had not heard her..
With hardly a break in stride, the lithe and powerful Toa Nuva of Water scaled the rocky point until she was standing next to the Village elder of Ga-Koro.
" It's a beautiful sunset." Nokama said distantly.
" Yes," Gali said, " But we have to go!"
Nokama turned, and gave Gali a look, and Gali felt a little guilty. The Toa was never normally this short, or impatient. 'I guess some of Tahu has rubbed off on me.' She thought, and put a hand on Nokama's shoulders.
" What troubles you, my friend?" Gali asked in a soft voice.
The Turaga looked Gali in the eye, and Gali was rather surprised and unnerved to find that there was pain and sorrow in her friends eyes.
" What in Mata Nui's name is the matter, Turaga?" Gali wanted to know, " What sorrows you on such a joyous eye?"
Nokama leaned heavily on her Makuta-bone trident and said, " He is coming."
And then she fainted dead away.
Still hundreds of thousands of Kio's away from Mata Nui, Zarrak encountered the Grear Barrier.
It rose proud and strong out of the sea, wide and foreboding, without words challenging the lone figure that sped towards it.
Zarrak slowed himself, glad that he had finally gotten the hang of slowing down in his flight. He looked at the Great Barrier with a mixture of awe and spite at the sweeping expanse of rock and earth. Half of him wanted to turn back, but the other half wanted for him to press on.
'What shall I do?' Muttered Zarrak to himself, emotions chasing each other around in his mind, ' Never before have I seen something so great and terrible as this thing, or as tempting, and in need of being knocked down.'
Somewhere in Zarrak's being, he knew that if he really put his mind to it, he could knock this great wall down. He was flying, for goodness sake. Over the Ocean.
He could do anything. After all, he was Zarrak.
Zarrak hung motionless in space, still undecided. Then he looked up, on a random impulse. He looked up at the twin suns, sending their great and brilliant rays over the water, glaring at the Ocean, and causing Zarrak to wince at it's great fire. Somehow as he eered at the two balls of burning fire, he heard a voice in his mind-NO!
Zarrak shrugged. NO matter to him. The Barrier thing wasn't the thing that kept dragging him on, anyway. It was something else. Something more. Something beyond the Great Barrier. An Zarrak had no clue what it was.
" I am full of mysteries!" He muttered to himself, " Is this Destiny? Where is Unity? And what, in the name of there suns, is my Duty?"
He asked these things, because when Zarrak had looked into those great speres of fire, those three words had hopped into his still churning brain.
Gali Nuva paced anxiously in front of the waterside cave where Nokama was lying, Hahlii and Makku treating her.
" Any idea what happened?" Pohatu asked.
Gali gave a sigh, and closed her eyes. For the past half hour her conversation with her brothers had been going around in circle.
" The Turaga fainted, and I managed to catch her before she fell into the bay. Even after she was out of it, she kept murmuring things about something called a 'Zarrak.' I do no know what a 'Zarrak' is, but if it has caused harm to my friend….I shall punch it in the face:
Kopaka looked carefully at his sister. That was the one time that he-or any of them- had ever heard Gali suggeset any act of violence. In that moment, seeing his normally so calm sister very flustered and upset, Kopaka decided to return unbelievable action with unbelievable action by putting an arm around Gali's shoulder, " My sister, peace. Things will be alright."
Tahu coughed softly, " Well, brother, I hate to break up this tender moment, but I fear that the match may have to be cancelled, or at least moved to a different date."
" Yes, that seems reasonable," Kopaka intoned in a voice that really said, " No, DUH!"
Onua recognized the early signs of a, 'Kopaka vs. Tahu' spat as the two brother Toa glared daggers at each other, and stopped them from going further by saying in an even tone, " Kopaka! Tahu! How dies the next Full Moon sound?"
"But-" Lewa began.
For the first time in several minutes, Gali smiled, " Yes, brother, we are aware that at the night of every full moon you and your Matoran celebrate with a feast, and much dancing. May we not have the honor of having our Matoran, and ourselves joining you?"
"Yes!" Pohatu said, " I'd like to see that, 'Dance of the Ashbear' Hawku keeps talking about."
Lewa looked pleased, " Anything to oblige my ToaBrother. But we Moondance Treehigh on that night. There is no Ashbear Dance. Not yet."
Kopaka looked annoyed, probably at the idea of feasting and joy, " Not that I want to interrupt this, but don't we have more pressing matters at hand?"
Gali spun around, " Oh….Nokama-"
"Will be alright." A strong, warm voice said.
Everyone turned, and got a look at Turaga Vakama, leaning heavily on his firestaff, but still looking like the solid rock of good sense that they had come to know.
" Nokama….Will she be…." Gali could not bring herself to finish the sentence.
" Our wavesister will be alright." Matau said, coming out of the waterside cave,
" You know that Nokama is more sensitive of the darksecret things to come, and what happened was one of her visions."
" You also know," Onewas said, " That Vakama still has these visions. He and Nokama hav been discussing what she has seen."
" And…." Onua looked patient.
At that moment Nuju let out a stream of whistles and clicks that lasted quite a long time. The Toa and the Turaga glanced at each other.
" OH dear." Whenua said, " In his hurry from Ko-Koro, he must not have remembered to have Matoror, his interpreter, come along. I have no idea what he's saying to us."
" I don't either." A familiar voice said, " So I can tell you myself."
Nokama was up and out of the waterside cave, walking, but still looking unsteady.
" Nokama!" Everyone murmured.
Gali walked foreward, " My friend, my dear, dear, friend! What have you seen? What?"
Nokama gave a small sigh, and almost seemed to teeter again. Gali took a protective step foreward, but Vakama waved him away.
" Zarraj us coming to Mata Nui." Nokama said, " Here. May the Great Spirit have mercy upon us all."
The Toa all glanced quizzically at each other.
There it is. The end of chapter four. I hope that answers a few questions, and raises a few more.
BY, KURAI TASOGARE.
