ULTIMATE BIONICLE

Chapter 16: Are You Evil or Not?

It was a dark and stormy night. Gali paced back and forth inside her hut in Ga-Koro. Her home was fairly large and lit by a single light stone. It was fairly empty, it a few pieces of furniture and some supplies here and there for various needs. Her weapons lay rested against the wall.

She was severely stressed at the current dilemma the island was facing. The Bohrok and the remaining Rahkshi were still at large. There were strange and apparently evil Toa running amok all over the island, with some strange, obsessive, law-enforcing creatures chasing them. To top it all off, there is some new Rahkshi on the loose, killing everything, that can apparently steal the powers of masks.

Gali sat down on a stool and grasped her head in frustration. There was a flash of lightning which made her weapons glisten. "This doesn't make sense. What are we supposed to do against all of them?" She said lowly.

Gali looked up to the noise of someone banging on the door of her hut. "I wonder who could be coming to see me so late in such horrid weather." She said to herself. The person banged on the door harder this time. "I'm coming!" Gali yelled as she approached the door.

She opened the door and to her surprise, Takanuva stood on the other side. "Takanuva!" She said. "Where have you been?"

"You know…around." He answered, chuckling uncomfortably. "I hope I haven't come at a bad time."

"No, not at all." Gali said with a friendly smile. "Come in out of the rain. So where have you been-" As she let him in an expression of shock appeared on her face. She had not seen it in the dark of the storm but now she could see that he had someone large slung over his shoulder. Whoever it was, he was bleeding all over Takanuva.

"Who the heck is that!" Gali yelled in astonishment. Could that be one of the evil Toa, she thought to herself.

"Put down something for me to rest him on please." Takanuva requested.

"Is he even alive?" Gali asked.

"Yes, now please put something down for him to rest on." Takanuva repeated.

Gali obliged by laying down some soft leaves and a pillow. Takanuva rested the black Toa down. Gali looked at the wound on his body. It looked like something had blasted right through him. His left arm was also broken and everywhere else looked really beat up.

Takanuva sat on the floor and let out and exhausted sigh. "Man, that guy was pretty heavy." He said laughing. "Have you got any Bulla berries?"

"Oh, yeah." Gali responded, snapping from her distraction of inspecting the injuries.

She got up and grabbed a small bag off of a table. She crouched next to him and took a berry out and squeezed the juices into the Toa's mouth.

"I should probably bandage him up to." Gali got up and gathered some dressing and wrapped up his belly and arm as best she could. She then inspected his head and noticed a fair amount of blood. She removed his mask and wrapped up part of his head as well.

There was a flash of lighting, followed by the loud rumble of thunder. Takanuva and Gali sat on either side of the injured Toa. Neither of them said anything for a while until Gali broke the ice. "So where did you find him anyway?"

"I found him up against a tree in Le-Wahi. There was a hole through the tree he was up against as well. Something got him, and got him bad." Takanuva explained.

"Maybe it was that new Rahkshi…" Gali thought to herself. "If it were one of those Vahki they would have taken him, and he's already killed one of the regular Rahkshi so it couldn't be them. There's nothing else I can think of."

"Why did you come all this way just to bring him to me anyways?" Gali wondered. All the other villages would have been more than capable of tending to him. Why her?

"Well that's simple Gali, I'm surprised you wouldn't know." Takanuva started. "If I had given him to any other Toa they would probably just kill him." He said with a smirk.

Gali gave an uncomfortable laugh. Takanuva stood and headed for the door. "Where are you going?" Gali asked. He was thinking of leaving her alone with him was he?

"I'm going to get the other Toa Nuva of course. See you tomorrow." He said before leaving her hut. "But you can't just…oh well." She sighed.

The bandaged Toa started to stir. Her attention immediately turned to him. His eyes were wincing and he moved his head back and forth uncomfortably. "Vorak…" He murmured.

Gali spoke quietly to herself. "So the new Rahkshi must be called Vorak." She sat at his side and waited for a while to see if he were to say anything else. The Toa said nothing else, so Gali decided to go to sleep.

&&&&&&&&

"I don't like this." Onewa said with concern. He was standing with Nuju, at the mouth of the cave, staring out at the storm. "Whenua should have been back by now, and there's no sign of Nokama either, and she can usually find us pretty easily with her 'gift'."

Tehutti, Vhisola and Ehrye approached them. "We can't see the stars tonight Nuju." Ehrye said, looking at the sky. "No my friend, we can't."

Nuju was not concerning himself with the stars however. He had not stop thinking about the blue Toa. Never in his life had his mind been more consumed with the thoughts of one thing before. He had a longing to be with her, without even knowing her. He trusted this feeling as much as he did the premonitions that he studied in the night sky. Nuju hoped that she was no enemy to them.

Vakama sat in front of their fire, while Orkham and Matau played a strange game Matau had made up with some pebbles.

Onewa looked down at Tehutti and Vhisola, who were holding hands. "Whenua will come back won't he Onewa?" Tehutti asked, staring out at the rain. "And Nokama?" Vhisola asked.

"Don't worry, we will see them again. I am sure of it." Onewa assured.

"Matau," Vakama said. "Come here." Matau came over. "What is it boss?" He said sarcastically.

"When morning comes I want you to go out and find Whenua. You're the only one who can fly so you can cover more ground." Vakama instructed. "What about Nokama?" Matau asked.

"No. I have a feeling that she may have been captured. Otherwise she would have found us no problem."

&&&&&&&&

Gali awoke from a restful sleep in her soft bed. It was right next to the window which had a view of the ocean. It was clear and sunny now and she breathed in deeply the fresh salty air. She could here the sound of the seabirds cawing.

Gali got out of her bed and saw the Toa still lying asleep on the floor. "How did he survive that?" She whispered to herself. She walked over to the table and grabbed another Bulla berry. Gali knelt next to the Toa.

She held her hand over his mouth, about to squeeze more of the juice into his mouth when his arm snapped up and snatched Gali's hand.

His vision was hazy and he was not sure who was kneeling over him or what they were trying to feed him. "Nokama?" He thought for a second as his vision started to clear, but when his sight returned he could see it was someone else.

Gali pulled her hand away and shot up to her feet. Whenua rested his arm again and sighed. She knelt down and tried to give him the berry again. "What is that?" Whenua asked suspiciously, staring at the berry. "This is a Bulla berry. It will help you to recover." Gali said sympathetically. She gestured to his wounds.

Whenua ripped off the bandages. His injuries were almost completely healed. He ripped the rest off. "Give me my mask please." Gali handed it to him.

Whenua started to get up, but fell forward. Gali caught him in time before he hit the floor. "I thought you said it helped me to recover?" He said with confusion.

"Sorry." Gali said with a small smile. "It only heals the body, it does not restore strength. You must get that back with rest."

Whenua sighed in disappointment. "Well I guess I have no choice." He said as Gali helped him to lie back down. She gave him the berry and he ate it quickly.

"I noticed that when you woke up you said the name 'Nokama'…" Gali started. "What of it?" Whenua asked, closing his eyes. "Well I was just wondering how you know the Turaga of our village." Gali continued. Whenua opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"The Turaga of our village Ga-Koro is named Nokama." Gali explained. "Well that's very odd…can I meet her?" Whenua asked with curiosity. "I'm afraid not. She is out of the village, with the other five Turaga." Gali explained.

"What are their names?" Whenua asked. As Gali said all the names, a look of shock and confusion appeared on his face. "How can that be?" Whenua said in awe. "What the hell are the odds that we would all have the same names?"

"I'm not sure. I will have to ask her when she gets back." Gali responded.

"By the way, my name is Gali, Toa Nuva of Water." She asked politely. "My name is Whenua, Toa Metru of Earth." He responded.

There was silence for a time while Whenua rested, when he suddenly asked her a question, "Gali, why are you helping me? We are enemies after all aren't we?" Whenua questioned.

Gali froze for second, not sure how to respond. Why had she been looking after him? She had never really thought about it when Takanuva brought him in the night before. She just naturally felt the need to help him. Something about him…just didn't seem all that bad.

Whenua noticed that the question made her feel awkward. "Forget about it. Thanks anyways." Whenua rolled over, no longer facing her.

"My brothers and I have spoken to the Vahki." Gali said. She felt the need to bring this up, to see his response. Whenua so far did not move. "They told us that the Nokama that you know has been taken into custody."

Whenua still didn't move. He closed his eyes and he sighed deeply. "Damn…"

"And we have agreed to turn any of you in if we capture you." Gali said nervously.

Whenua quickly faced her. "Why did you do that?" Whenua said angrily.

Gali quickly retorted, "But when my brothers get here we will discuss what we want to do, and I will try my best to help you."

Whenua calmed down. "What kind of Toa are you?" He asked her.

"What do you mean?" Gali asked. She wondered why he would ask such a weird question.

Whenua stared at the ceiling, resting his hands on his chest. "Before coming here, we were told that there were evil Toa on this island, and that they would try to kill us. We accepted that warning and came here anyways. When I first encountered your earth brother it was painfully clear to me that the person named Atukam was right about you. And yet, in my most vulnerable state, I am being looked after by their sister of water." Whenua's gaze drifted towards Gali. "So, are you an evil Toa or not?"

Gali felt enlightened from this new perspective. But Whenua had to understand hers. "When my brother first fought you Whenua, you attacked him first. He had no idea who you were or where you came from. Then suddenly a group of law-enforcers tell us that you are all fugitives on the run from their law, and that you are all dangerous criminals. And here I am looking after an enemy, who is strangely respectful and kind. So you should tell me then Whenua, are you an evil Toa, or not?"

&&&&&&&&

Jala sat trembling in fear at the site he saw before him. His original intention was for him and his guard to take on the new Rahkshi themselves, after hearing about the death of Arkam. This was an error more fatal than he could have ever imagined.

Jala's wound was painful; large slashes on his shoulder. The pain crippled his arm, making him useless to help his comrades. This Rahkshi was ruthless, slaughtering them one after another. It ripped the last one in half and smashed the halves to the ground.

Jala was frozen. He had failed to help his guard, to protect his village and now he was going to die. The Rahkshi crouched in front of him. Jala closed his eyes, awaiting the blow that would end his life. But it didn't come. He opened his eyes.

The Rahkshi was just staring at him. "What drove you to come after me little Matoran? Was it bravery? Valor? Pride? Or just plain stupidity?" Vorak asked, not taking his eyes off of Jala. Jala sat there trembling. "Answer the question!"

Jala snapped to attention. He couldn't just sit here and tremble like a coward! He must go down with honor and bravery, just like Tahu would!

"Hope…" Jala answered. "We searched for you because we believed that we could bring hope to our village! That we could keep them safe again!"

"And look what your 'hope' has brought you." Vorak said, gesturing to his dead comrades. He picked up Jala by the neck. "Matoran shouldn't play Toa. They could get hurt." He said with a devilish grin.

Vorak's gaze traveled to Jala's mask. "That's an interesting mask you've got there little fire-spitter." He said, observing the gold coloured Hau. "I think I'll take it."

Vorak grasped Jala's mask and took it off. "Hey! That's mine!" Jala yelled, struggling to break free. Vorak threw Jala against a rock face. "Give…that…back…" Jala murmured.

"GGGGGAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Vorak yelled in pain. He fell to his knees, energy from the mask surging into his body, causing every nerve to writhe in pain. He threw the mask away. He breathed hard from the strain. "What the hell was that?" Vorak said panting. "I don't understand. I've absorbed a Hau before. Why not this one?"

Vorak got to his feet and brushed himself off. "That's a special mask you've got there Matoran." He said, turning away. "Destiny protects it." Vorak left, leaving Jala alive to wallow in shame.

&&&&&&&&

Whenua still lay on the mat that Gali set for him. She was outside now, talking with her brothers. He trusted in Gali, but knew that her influence could only go so far. It was only a matter of time before they would turn him in. Whenua had to get out of there somehow. The only problem was, he could barely move.

Whenua looked at the window. "I can escape through there." He got up slowly and managed to stay on his feet. He trudged slowly over to where his drills lay. Whenua picked them up and slowly made his way towards the window.

"Hey Whenua!" Matau yelled, poking his head in the window. Whenua fell to the floor in surprise. "What the hell are you doing here?" Whenua asked, angry from the shock.

"Here to save you of course. Did you find Nokama?" Whenua stared at Matau with an aggravated expression. "Does it look like I did Matau?"

"Uh, no." Matau scratched the back of his head and laughed. Whenua climbed out of the window and onto a small ledge between the wall of hut and the surface of the water. Matau grabbed Whenua's shoulders. "Let's get out of here."

Onua and Kopaka burst into the hut and saw them trying to escape. "Fly Matau! Fly!" Whenua yelled. Matau took off towards the shore.

"Get back here!" Onua yelled. They ran back out of the hut and started to chase them.

"Go up Matau! Up!" Whenua said urgently. "I'm waiting for a gust of wind." Matau said. "Wind? Make some you dolt!" Whenua yelled, seeing the Toa Nuva gaining on them. "Yeah I know. I was only playing around." Matau rose into the air, out of reach of the Toa Nuva.

They flew past the beach and ascended high above the bright green canopy.

Whenua looked back down at the Toa Nuva. He could see Gali waving at him. Whenua gave a friendly wave back.

Matau whistled. "Wow, looks like you made a new 'friend' eh Whenua?" Matau said with a grin.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Whenua said with a hard tone. "So you don't have an eye out for her?" Matau asked expectantly. "Nope." Whenua replied simply.

"Do you even like anybody?" Matau asked. Whenua responded, "Hmm." "Come on! There isn't at least one Ga-Matoran that you liked back home?" Whenua still said nothing.

"So uh…" Matau said with a huge grin. "What do you think my chances are with her?" He said with great enthusiasm.

Whenua shook his head. "Slim to none."

Author's Notes: Thus concludes chapter 16. Thank you for reading, please review.