"I don't care how many times I've said it; you're a freaking psychopath!"

"Tahu, if you don't stop saying that, I'll give you a reason to believe your words. Will you please just be quiet, even if it's only for a little while? I'm trying to concentrate on what we're doing." Tahu rolled his eyes, but didn't respond. Presently, he and Frigus were stuck going to the Great Temple on foot thanks to the numerous Visorak patrols that were now keeping watch on the sky for any signs of something that 'didn't belong'. After a while, Frigus said quietly.

"Okay kid, here's the plan; you keep heading for the Great Temple. I'm going to cause a distraction that should give you enough cover to make it there and get inside. If all works according to plan, which it should, I'll join you shortly afterwards. Any questions?"

"Yeah." Tahu replied quietly. "What if you don't get there?" The Hordika grinned, stretching his wings a bit.

"Then I'll drag some of the little devils down with me. Either way kid, one of us is making it to the Great Temple, and I'm going to make sure it's you."

"But…"

"No buts. Kajuni's probably on the lookout for us as it is. When I lift off, I expect to see you moving like you had an angry Muaka cat after you, got it?" Tahu wanted to argue that the idea was ludicrous, but spending seven years around Kopaka had taught him that Toa of Ice had a habit of being overly and exceedingly stubborn, especially about tactics and strategies. Sighing in defeat, the Toa of Fire grumbled.

"Fine, just don't die, okay?" The Hordika laughed quietly, ruffling Tahu's already disastrous hair a bit.

"I'll be fine. Just don't look back to check. Eyes on the prize and all that. There is no shame in continuing on if you can't save someone."

"Wait, what?" But Tahu's question came too late. Frigus had already taken off and was hurtling upwards, toward the webs that hung overhead. Deciding he'd ask Frigus when he got to the Great Temple, the Toa Mata took off running, eyes fixed on the damaged walkway beneath him. The last thing he needed was to slip and fall into the murky water on either side.

"He'd better not get himself killed…" Tahu muttered quietly as he clambered over a chunk of broken pathway. "Because if I get lost I'm going to need all the help I can get." By now he could hear a chorus of clicks and screeches above him, and for a split second he considered looking up to check on the winged man that'd brought him this far. However, this thought was shaken from his mind as he tripped, landing on a slanted piece of walkway and rolling into the water. Gurgling out a scream as he sunk, Tahu tried in vain to get back to the surface, though his energy was being sapped away faster than he could force his rapidly cooling body to move.

"I can't make it!" He thought, panicking even more as his legs began to go numb from the cold. "I'm going to drown!" Memories of the other Toa Mata Flashed through his mind as Tahu lost all use of his legs, causing him to sink even faster. "I failed them all…and now I can't even say I'm sorry! Some Toa I turned out to be…" By now the fifteen year old was losing feeling in his fingers, and starting to give up all hope.

"It's over…"

However, that was when something grabbed onto his wrist, jerking him up towards the surface. Wincing as he opened his eyes, Tahu was startled to see a humanoid figure pulling him upwards. Within moments they broke the surface, and the strange creature had hauled Tahu back onto the walkway. Coughing and gasping for much needed air, the Toa of Fire looked his savior over with alarm.

Her skin was covered in sea blue, fish-like scales, her long, light blue hair pulled back in a fishtail braid. Her feet, from what Tahu could see of them, were webbed and resembled swimming flippers. She wore a navy blue, skin-tight outfit quite similar to a swimsuit, as well as a silver charm bracelet on her right wrist. But these features weren't the most alarming, nor were the gills on her neck. The most alarming feature was her face. Gentle and caring, despite the scales, there was no denying just who the orange-eyed fish woman was.

"T-Toa Nokama? Is that you?" She nodded, giving a saddened smile as she responded.

"Yes Tahu. It's me…my goodness you look different. Six years can do a lot I guess." Tahu shivered, half from being cold and wet, and half because of the alarming changes that'd happened to her.

"Yeah…" He said awkwardly. "I noticed…Toa Nokama, what happened to you? Were you Hordika-fied as well?" She sighed quietly and nodded.

"We all were. The others were the first to change." She hesitated, bright orange eyes full of despair. "I can still hear their agonized screams ringing in my ears…the mutation was agony, b-but listening to them crying out, with no way to save them or stop it from happening to me was even worse…and then…then Vakama switched sides…" Tears began to stream down her face as she stared at the water, her expression betraying every ounce of her sorrow. "It's as though he's somebody completely different. I don't know what that woman did to him, but whatever she did destroyed one of the best Toa I knew. I'll never forgive her for what she's done to us…" Tahu raised an eyebrow, not fully understanding. He'd seen what happened to Vakama and his temperament, but he'd never really been told who was responsible.

"Who did this anyway? Why is she doing it?" Nokama shook her head sadly.

"Her name is Roodaka, and alongside her 'king', Sidorak, they've taken control of Metru Nui. However, that's not all she wanted to do. She wants to release her real king, and needs the power of six Toa to do it." The Toa of Fire had to think that over until, with great shock, he discovered the reason.

"S-she wants to release Teridax? Why!" Nokama sighed, shaking her head again as she responded.

"Wouldn't you do anything you could to get your wife, if you had one, out of a trap like that?" Tahu's jaw dropped.

"That psychopath is married? Please tell me they don't have kids…" The Hordika gave a weak smile.

"Thankfully they don't. Not that anyone knows of anyway. In any case, you need to find shelter as soon as possible, and get as far away from the Great Temple as you can." Tahu blinked.

"Why? Mihkoro told me to go there. Frigus is risking his neck so I can make it."

"It's not safe anymore. I heard Roodaka giving orders for a raiding party to go in and take anything that's still alive." Panic rushed through the Toa Mata like a flood. Gali was in there, as well as Nuju's family, and Pohatu! Mihkoro had teleported them directly into a trap!

"But Gali and the others are in there! Someone has to warn them!" An ear-splitting scream rang out from above, drawing the pair to both look up. Frigus had been hit, and was now dropping at an alarming rate, seeming as though he were unable to save himself. Tahu opened his mouth, but before he could make any noise Nokama covered his mouth, her gaze fixed on the webbing that'd seemed almost to shoot out of nowhere, attaching to the paralyzed Hordika and stopping his freefall. Within moments the Visorak were upon him, wrapping Frigus in a web cocoon and leaving him hanging from the strands they were on before moving in on the Great Temple itself.

By now Tahu was fighting to get away from Nokama, desperate to try and get to the Temple first in the hopes of warning the others. However, the Hordika was too strong for him to pull away from, and his strength being sapped by the water wasn't helping. "Tahu, listen to me…" She said urgently. "There's nothing you can do for them. I know it's hard to watch, but running in there would only be suicide. You can't save them now… please, just stop fighting me." Eventually he gave into her request, and leaned against the Hordika that'd saved his life, tears streaming down his face as he closed his eyes. Nokama wrapped an arm around him, holding him close and gently rubbing his back. Tahu could hardly believe what was going on. Now his only remaining 'family' was being taken from him, and he had no way to stop it. As he sat there, Frigus' last words to him echoed through his mind.

"There's no shame in continuing on if you can't save someone."

Thinking this through for a little while, he asked weakly. "A-are there any others that are still free? Anyone at all?" The Hordika nodded.

"The other three Toa Metru are free now. Thankfully Nuju and Whenua were able to devise a way for us all to escape without dropping to our deaths. I think they're all trying to find out what happened to Matau when his cocoon broke and fell off the web." Tahu blinked, swallowing quietly and already knowing that she'd left Vakama out of the count.

"Matau dropped? I-in a cocoon? Is there any chance that he's even still alive?" Nokama mustered a weak smile as she stood, gently pulling Tahu to his feet.

"If I can be certain of anything, it's that Matau is lucky enough to survive just about any hazard that could befall him. I have no doubts that he is still alive. All we have to do is track him down, and that's something we can pull off." Tahu managed to force a weak smile of his own.

"Let's do it."