The rising of the sun provided warmth and nourishment to the inhabitants of Spherus Magna. The land was smattered with agaori and matoran establishments alike. Homes and huts side by side, the primitive mixing with the contemporary in a complex display of rural fighting against the future. As the sun rose higher above the Norin mountain ranges they began to cast their shadows on the separate sectors. While some were provided with light in the mornings, others suppressed by shade.
One such sector fortunate enough to receive the first of the early rays of light was the infamous Isle of light. Not more than three kilometers from the mainland was a small bay, surrounded by pine trees and coated in small woodland grasses and flowers growing along the sandline. The smell of wild mint could be observed along the coast where it grew naturally.
A lone toa sat on a lump of driftwood, listening to the shore line lap forward before receding. Music to the ears. This island had been a medley to the senses and a haven for his people. The Av-matoran were one of the first to take action in carving out a patch of land for themselves, much to the chargin of the turaga. Where the Turaga saw the Av-matoran as another congregation of matoran under the same virtues as themselves, the Av-matoran saw themselves as their own separate entity. They had survived the dangers of Karda Nui alone, and they would provide for themselves on their own.
Takanuva did not wholly disagree with where they were coming from. Had it been his own Ta-koro facing the same situation he could expect them to be just as stubborn, if not more so. Though his duty as a Toa bound him to the same three virtues as it did every Toa, and it started with Unity. It had been a tense couple of months and a transition the Toa of Light was still not quite settled into. Having loyalty to both the people of Ta-koro and a duty to protect the beings of Av-koro was a tall order. And Takanuva was tired.
He found peace on this beach, he found peace on this little island. An island no larger than the old Ta-koro had been, he found the temperate climate pleasing. He had lived in many places and weathered many seasons in each region of the old island of Mata Nui. But he had never lived anywhere where in one place the seasons actually changed on their own. For several months it would be sunny and pleasant where in the next few it felt like the slopes of old Ko-koro had moved in and would never move on. Until they did and birds that had fled the cold returned again to nest among the pine trees once more.
Takanuva inhaled deeply and let out a long sigh. It had been nice to get away from it all, even for a moment. Av-matoran were a persistent bunch, once they got an idea in their heads they liked to move forward, sometimes before thinking of the consequences. they were a more free floating and wild bunch, like Takua had been. Not wild in the sense that they were unhinged or flew off at the drop of a hat, but rather that they were free floating, ideas could be made plans drawn, then half way through changed at the drop of a hat. He chuckled to himself that, among other things, is what had made the inhabitants of Ta-koro and Av-koro clash in the first place.
Shifting his neck from side to side he felt a relaxing pop before taking a sip of his warm drink. Hearing footsteps behind him, Takanuva turned to see a lone matoran making his way towards him. Solek was a kind of matoran, apparently before he had been kidnapped and his mind erased, the two of them had been thick as thieves. Two sides of the same coin in a sense, and he could see why. Had he been Takua, thought the toa, he might not have been as lonely as he often was in his matoran days.
After descending the steep slope he ran towards his friend spilling the drink he carried in the process, after he had been so careful getting down. Oh yes, Takanuva could not deny that these two would have been friends back in the day.
The matoran hopped up onto the log next to his Toa compatriot, shaking his hands free of the spilled drink. "Have you been waiting long" the matoran inquired? The Toa shook his head, though he had gotten here long before Solek, he didn't let the little matoran know that. Sometimes one just needed a little time to themselves.
"I love these early mornings, the smell of the trees, the songs of the rahi birds," he took a sip of his drink and shivered in delight "the way it always tastes better in the morning out here". Takanuva couldn't deny that, he let out a yawn. "ha still not awake yet I see" Solek let out a yawn too, "looks like I'm not either", turning to look at the scene before them.
Before them lay a beautiful sun speckled water whose shores gave way to the mainland of Onu-metru. A composite of mountains whose interiors had been hollowed out and turned into the vast network of cobble stoned paved roadways leading to a bustling mining operation led by none other than Whenua himself. As the sun hit the mountains Taka let out a little sigh and leaned back, he liked his life here, the matoran of light was kind to him and he would never want to do anything to endanger that. Though the terms he had left the other Toa on, especially Tahu and Jaller, had been far less than ideal.
But it was moments like this that helped him to forget what lay ahead in the future and focus in the present moment. moments like this where there appeared to be only calm and no calm before the storm. A sort of -
"Takanuva"! A shout rang out from amongst the trees. Both he and his compatriot turned to see a green and gold matoran standing atop the slope Solek had descended not that long ago. Takanuva offered a sleepy smile and raised his glass in a greeting. "Good morning Tanma," he called out "care to join us"?