Disclaimer: I don't own Bionicle or the scene from the movie novelization that takes place in this chapter.
Riding behind the Toa of Fire with her hands to his sides, Kit looked around, trying to stay awake. However, there wasn't much to look at but an open plain with mesas, cliffs, and trees scattered here and there. Without realizing it, her eyelids were beginning to get very heavy when, all of a sudden, she thought she heard a growling sound and her eyes snapped open, now fully awake. She unconsciously stiffened, her heart racing with anxiety and her senses on the alert. Vakama noticed, "What's wrong?"
"Didn't you just hear something?" she asked in a low voice.
Just then, the Kikanalo stopped and looked this way and that; they could sense something was out there, something dangerous. "Hey, what are we halt-stopping for?" Matau asked the Rahi and a brown blur pounced on him, knocking him off of his Kikanalo and pinning him to the ground. It appeared to be reptilian, moved on two powerful legs that were meant for speed and jumping, and had a hungry look in its eyes.
"Rock raptors!" exclaimed Vakama before he heard some snarling on the hills next to them.
It was more raptors, a whole pack of them, and they were moving in for the attack. Meanwhile, Matau struggled to get free from the Rahi. The raptor reared its head, intending to deliver a killing bite to the Toa's throat. Moving quickly, the Toa of Air grabbed his aero slicer, which the Rahi ended up biting into instead, and he flipped the beast off of him. The Kikanalo tried to protect both themselves and their allies from the predators, but it wasn't easy. At one point, Kit lost her hold and fell, sliding down a nearby dune. When she looked up, she found one rock raptor waiting at the top. She ran, and the Rahi and two more of its companions gave chase. Kit knew there was no way she could hope to outrun the beasts, so she let loose some energy balls whenever she could in an attempt to impede their progress. Thankfully, it seemed to be working; however, she found herself heading for a deep and wide dried up river bed, forcing her to skid to a halt. She turned back around to face the raptors, who, as they slowly advanced, seemed to curve their mouths into wicked smiles. Suddenly, the edge collapsed under her weight and she fell with a thud. Groaning, she got up and was not at all surprised to find the three raptors looking down at her, although, just when she was sure they were going to jump in after her, they stopped and sniffed the air and, with scared sounding hisses, left. 'What could they be so scared of?' Kit wondered as she brushed herself off. As if in answer, she heard growling behind her and, at first, thought there were more raptors, but realized an instant later that these growls sounded different. She looked to find a group of wolf-like creatures had spotted her. "Not again," she said and ran, hearing the Rahi's howls as they pursued her. Kit called out to the Toa as she moved and used the same technique on the Rahi as she did on the raptors. Unfortunately, she tripped over a rock and fell. Spotting their chance, the Rahi pack surrounded her, forcing her against the wall. In desperation, Kit fired more energy balls close to their feet, hoping to scare them away. But, all she succeeded in doing was making them angry and they inched closer. Just when they were getting ready to pounce, a loud crash was heard from above and they looked up, as did Kit. A large shape soared over her and placed itself between the girl and the wolves. The Kikanalo snorted and growled, and some of the wolves, including the leader of the pack, backed away a bit. One of the more foolhardy wolves, though, spotted Vakama on the Kikanalo's back and ran, intending to jump him. The Toa of Fire, however, was ready and launched a fireball at its feet. That made it think twice and one of its friends decided to try its luck and leapt for Kit, but the Kikanalo blocked it in mid-air with its muzzle and threw it back, then let loose a sonic roar that blew some of the wolves away. Yelping, the pack retreated with the Kikanalo roaring after them.
"Are you alright, Kit?" asked the Fire Toa.
Kit nodded and asked as Vakama helped her onto the Rahi's back, "What were those things?"
"Kavinika," Vakama answered, "vicious beasts."
'No kidding,' the girl thought, remembering that they looked like they were ready to tear her apart. It was no wonder those three raptors backed off; there was no way they would stand a chance against a pack that size. Within minutes, hers and Vakama's Kikanalo caught up to Nokama and Matau and they got back on course.
The few remaining hours of the night passed, and Kit found herself stirring on the Kikanalo's back. She had just settled herself behind Vakama when Matau whooped excitedly. "Only a great Toa-rider could tame a wild Kikanalo-beast," said the Air Toa, only to have his Kikanalo ride buck him off. The next thing he knew, he was hanging upside down due to his foot being caught in the Rahi's vertebrae cables. With the Rahi still walking, he couldn't pull himself up.
Kit couldn't help but laugh at the sight, "Looks more to me like a great Toa-rider just got tamed."
Nokama chuckled in response, Vakama smiled, and the Kikanalo groaned in a way that sounded like it was laughing. Matau, however, was not amused. "Very funny. Very, very funny," he said with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Vahki," the Toa of Air gasped at the sight below him, "hundreds of them." The group had finally arrived at their destination and was surveying the bottom of a canyon from the cliff above. Rows upon rows of Vahki Zadakh were lined up, guarding a doorway that was carved in the shape of a mask.
"That must be where Toa Lhikan is," said Nokama. "What should we do? How do we get in there?"
"I have a plan," answered Vakama and he explained it to his friends.
Nokama, riding the Chief Kikanalo, moved in, trying her best not to feel too nervous. Vakama's plan was to divide the Vahki, get them to go in different directions and draw them away from their posts. A simple idea, but timing was going to be everything. A small squad of the enforcers spotted her and she dared them to chase her, which they were more than happy to oblige when her ride started moving. A little way's away, Matau did the same with another small squad, and it was finally Vakama's and Kit's turn. Getting the remaining group to follow them, they led them into a boxed part of the canyon and waited as the Vahki advanced, certain that the fugitives were cornered. Once they were close enough, four Kikanalo leaped down between the Toa and girl and the Vahki. For a moment, the Vahki just stood there, as if confused. Why would these Rahi wish to protect these two? Before they could do anything about it, the Kikanalo used their sonic roars to send the Vahki packing while causing Kit and Vakama to cover their ears from the loud echo. 'Guess that's why they call it the Place of Unending Whispers,' thought Kit. 'My ears will be ringing for a week.'
Hopping onto their Kikanalo, the Toa of Fire and human girl met up with Nokama and dismounted at the doorway, where Matau met up with them. "Hey, Kikanalo," said the green Toa as he jumped off, "whose your mas--". The Rahi growled at him, making him think twice, "I mean, who's your partner?" Liking that term much better, the Kikanalo gave the Air Toa an approving lick, much to Matau's disgust.
Kit smiled and gently patted and stroked her and Vakama's Kikanalo, who rumbled contentedly; they all made a good team. The Chief roared, which Nokama translated, "The Chief said 'Not bad—for 'flat-walkers'.' They will cover our herd tracks." Vakama turned to the Kikanalo and informed them that Toa Lhikan would be indebted to them and joined the others. Once they were inside, the Kikanalo used their roars to create an avalanche of boulders and rocks. Unbeknownst to them, Nivawk was spying on them and flew to relay the news to his master.
At the Coliseum, a small red figure was smiling to himself. Everything was going perfectly, all that remained were a few more things and his plan would be complete. Just then, Nivawk swooped in and told the figure in his own chittering dialogue of what he witnessed. "Excellent," the figure confirmed, then turned his attention to a mask that reflected his Kraahkan. Makuta smirked, "Dume's mask has been very useful. Now for its final task. The future will be mine, evenwithout the Mask of Time."
Meanwhile, Kit and the Toa continued making their way down the tunnel when they heard voices. Matau volunteered to scout ahead, but Nokama voiced her concern that it could be Vahki. "Exactly," the Toa of Air smiled mischievously, and used his new-found mask power to change into a Vahki, a Rorzakh to be exact.
"Cool," Kit said with approval.
The Air Toa saluted and went ahead of them. As he got closer, he realized he recognized the voices, his brother Toa, and he was about to go greet them when a better, and more fun, idea crossed his mind. Instead, he charged right at Whenua, who was in the lead, tackled him to the ground, and laughed at his friend's fright. "Hey, turn out the bright-light," he said as a light shone in his face, and surprised the heck out of the other Toa.
"Matau?" questioned the Toa of Earth; he thought he recognized that voice.
Laughing, the Air Toa reverted back to normal, "Toa Matau to you, Whenua."
The other Toa couldn't believe it; Matau could shapeshift and Nokama could translate both written texts as well as spoken languages. But, Vakama still had yet to discover his mask power and felt left out. "How did you know we would be here?" asked Nuju.
"To tell you the truth, we didn't," answered Kit. "We came looking for Toa Lhikan so we could free you."
"He's not here," Onewa shrugged, then turned to the sound of the Turaga's chuckling.
"Well, not exactly," and he removed the helmet, revealing a mask that all of the Toa Metru knew all too well.
"Toa Lhikan?" asked Vakama.
"No, Vakama, you are Toa. I am Turaga Lhikan," Lhikan responded. Then, he turned his attention to Kit and spoke before the girl could. "You must be the one called Kit. Toa Nuju, Onewa, and Whenua told me a lot about you."
The girl blushed as she slightly smiled. Finally, Whenua took the question out of his brothers' mouths, "Why didn't you tell us who you were?"
"Your task was to discover who you are," the new Turaga explained. "Only with such knowledge would your powers reveal themselves."
"Hold on," said Kit as a thought crossed her mind. "If you're a Turaga now, where did your Toa power go?"
"It lives on in Vakama and the others," Lhikan answered and turned to the Toa of Fire, asking him if the 'heart of the city' was safe. The Fire Toa looked at him uncertainly, then answered that they were saving him now. "Oh, you are so misguided," the Turaga sighed sadly. "I am not Metru Nui's heart. The Matoran are."
Though there was no anger in those words, they still hit everyone, especially Vakama, like a ton of bricks. All of this time, they thought they were doing what their predecessor asked of them, when it now turned out they misunderstood. "Then I failed you," Vakama said despondently, then he turned to Nokama. "I told you. I'm a crossed-wired freak, chasing my dreams, wasting everyone's time. I'll never be a real Toa," and he walked away.
Nokama called to him as she and Kit went to catch up to him, but Lhikan stopped them. "We cannot help Vakama. He must learn to believe in himself. Only then will find his destiny." Kit looked on with an empathetic expression to the Toa of Fire.
Vakama looked at the ground, feeling like he had not only led the other Toa astray, but let his former Toa down, whose capture he felt responsible for. He laid a hand on one of the storage containers, only to react to a glow from within. The door slid open and the Fire Toa gasped at what was inside. "Vakama," Kit called as she ran to him, "what's wro--," and ended up taking a step back as she too gasped and widened her eyes in disbelief. "Turaga Dume?"
"The true Turaga Dume," Lhikan said as he and the others joined them. "As I feared, an imposter is posing as a mask we all trust." Vakama then had another vision. He saw red, eyes staring down at him, and a voice that, at first, sounded like Dume's, then it grew deeper, more menacing, and evil. And, the vision ended.
"If this is Turaga Dume," said Kit, "then who is--"
"You don't want to know whose really in control of Metru Nui," Vakama answered.
Suddenly, they heard a chorus of snarls coming their way; the Vahki had found them. Whenua led them into a room and closed the door, but it wouldn't hold them off for long. Then, as if things weren't bad enough, a hiss filled the cavern, and hundreds upon hundreds of three-foot long winged things swarmed around the group. "What are these things?" asked Kit as she tried to swat some of them away.
"Lohrak," Whenua replied. "whatever you do, don't let them get a hold of you."
Kit was about to ask why, when she soon found out for herself. One Lohrak took advantage of her distraction and coiled its tail around her torso and tightened. Almost instantly, she found it a little hard to breathe, but an energy blast, not powerful enough to kill it, just show it and the others she could fight back, made it let go. Her ears caught the sound of someone gasping harshly and she turned to find Nuju on the floor, his legs bound by two Lohrak while he tried to wrestle another one's tail off his neck. Rushing to him, she immediately grabbed hold, trying to help the Toa of Ice, but, the creature's grip was too strong and Nuju was fading fast. His struggling started to decrease and he was losing his grip as life slipped away from him. As much as she wanted to, Kit couldn't risk an energy blast, so, as her attempts to free the Ice Toa became more desperate, something clicked in her mind and she decided to give it a try.
Quickly locating the end of the Lohrak's tail, she carefully worked to bend it backwards, so as not to seriously injure the Rahi. Instantly, the Lohrak looked extremely uncomfortable and it and its companions fled while the Toa of Ice coughed for air. "Thanks," Nuju said in a raspy voice as Kit helped him to his feet.
"Just returning the favor," she replied with a smile.
For several minutes, it was nothing but pure chaos as the heroes ducked and dodged to avoid the winged serpents that swooped and dove all over the place. Onewa tried using his newfound mask power on the Rahi, but there were too many for him to focus on.
Then, Vakama came up with an idea, "You've discovered your mask powers, now remember your elemental ones." At first, the other Toa Metru were skeptical. How long did it take for their elemental powers to recharge? Then, seeing that they had no other choice, they went into action.
Whenua used his earthshock drills to make a crack in the wall; Onewa helped him widen it with his proto piton; Vakama herded the Lohrak swarm into the crack; and Nuju sealed it up with a translucent sheet of ice. Walking to the wall of ice to get a better look, Kit saw that the Lohrak were butting their heads against the ice, as if trying to get out. "You no-good little twerps," she frowned at them, and gave them the raspberry, only to have five of them snap their jaws at her, scaring the heck out of her.
She rejoined the group; now where could they go from here? Whenua pointed out that the only other exit they had was blocked off. Vakama looked around him. He and his friends were in danger and there was nowhere for them to run or hide. Then, a Vahki transport caught his eye, and he thought about what Lhikan said during the struggle with the Lohrak, "Someone must take charge."
"Then we make our own way out," he announced, "c'mon." Everyone hopped into the transport, Matau taking the wheel.
"What about Turaga Dume?" Onewa asked the Toa of Fire.
"He'll be safe until we return," Vakama assured him, and gave the word to move forward.
When they reached the cavern wall, Whenua revved up his earthshock drills, forming a tunnel to the surface for them. Behind them, the Vahki managed to break the door down just as they vanished into the new tunnel and pursued. Kit, Onewa, and Vakama, seeing them coming, slowed them down with energy powers, stone, and fire. They just turned the last remaining Vahki in the squad into a smoking pile of rubble when Matau told everyone to hold on tight. The transport leapt out of the ground and headed for the Coliseum.
Author's Note: I now know that the kavinika are native to Ga-Metru, but, at the time this story was written, I didn't have the resources to check on that and had to work from memory (I thought at the time that they were native to Po-Metru). Please, for the sake of this chapter, bear with me (I just don't have the heart to just go and delete a good part of it). As for the measurement of the lohrak, that's just a guess taken from how big the mutated one in 'Web of the Visorak' was.
