Gali looked around worriedly as she fumbled with her battle hooks. They were trapped, and now there was no way out. It was only a matter of time until the barricades would be broken down, and then they would be overrun by the Visorak horde. As it was, Mihkoro had worked himself to the point of nearly collapsing, trying to buy enough time to get everybody out before the arachnid Rahi could break through the hastily built barricades, and he absolutely refused to rest until he could be sure that everyone would be safe. Gali could hear him arguing about this with a young sounding woman in one of the adjoining rooms, and as she looked at Pohatu, she could tell that he was worried as well.
"Think he'll ever get it into his head?" The Toa of Stone asked quietly. Gali sighed.
"I hope so…He's just killing himself by doing all of this…Think Kajuni or Bakuma would know?" The fifteen year old shook his head.
"Kajuni's out trying to find Tahu, and Bakuma gives me the creeps. He's decent, yeah, but there's just something about looking kinda like Nidihki that really creeps me out…Could try and find Norik though."
"Not really." Gali replied solemnly. "He's trying to hide Matoro in case the Visorak break in." An eerie silence swept over the pair after she said this, both knowing that it was only a matter of time before the Rahi raiding party would be upon them. Gali found herself with tears rolling down her face as she whimpered. "We're doomed, aren't we…" She was surprised when someone other than Pohatu answered her highly pessimistic question.
"You're starting to sound like Mihkoro, little one. He's sure we're going down as well, even if he doesn't show it." Both teenagers turned, eyes widening somewhat when they looked the being over. He was tall and handsome for the most part, his forest green eyes reflecting a sense of calmness. His hair was darker green than his eyes were, was relatively messy, and chin length. Like most other Toa and Matoran of Plantlife, his ears were a little longer than usual when compared to others, and were pointed. Dark, richly colored green moss was growing in patches on his arms and muscular torso, and emerald green, tribal looking patterns decorated his sharply featured face. However, none of this was quiet as freakish or strange as his lower torso and legs. For instead of having normal, bi-pedal features…
Bakuma was a quadruped, mutated to bear the features of a Visorak or some other bug-like Rahi. Gali had always been afraid to know what'd caused such horrific changes, and thus terrified to ask the twenty-eight year old about it. And now here he was, looking down at the two Toa Mata with obvious amusement. Finally finding her voice, Gali asked nervously.
"He doesn't think we're going to escape either?" Bakuma shook his head.
"Mihkoro is a first-class pessimist. If something can go wrong, he'd be the first to point it out. Please, for the sake of everyone else here, try to believe we'll escape. Besides, we've got something that the Visorak don't have."
"Oh?" Pohatu asked. "What's that?" The Mutant grinned as the boy asked this.
"Well, other than the fact we're way better looking, we have Mata Nui on our side, and a lot of luck to go with it as well." Gali couldn't help but giggle at that statement.
"You've got a point. Okay, I'll believe you. Just…don't let me down, okay?" Bakuma laughed.
"Wouldn't dream of it." That was when Mihkoro came into view, adjusting his jet black, slayer-style jacket and seeming ready for a fight. Bakuma and the other two Toa Mata looked over at him with curiosity, all three wondering what was going on.
"I'm going to send you to the Archives once I have enough strength to do it. I need you to find anything you can about the Visorak, and how to stop them." Pohatu blinked.
"What about you?" He asked with obvious concern. Mihkoro gave a grim smile.
"I'm going to stay here and help fight the Visorak off. With any luck I'll be able to buy some time for the others to escape. Just focus on what you're doing, and I'll focus on what I'm doing. We'll make it out okay if we do that." Bakuma raised an eyebrow, seeming amused.
"Just don't kill yourself." He teased. "Hera would murder you if you did." Mihkoro gave a faint laugh.
"I see what you did there. Don't worry about me though. All you have to do is behave for these two Toa." Bakuma's jovial laugh was cut short as a resounding bang echoed through the Great Temple, shaking dust off of various surfaces around them. The siege had begun. Gali shivered as she looked around nervously, watching as a tall, darkly tanned woman with pearly white hair hurried past, a look of grim determination on her face.
"Hera sure looks cranky right now…" Bakuma said quietly. "Mihkoro, are you sure you don't want her to go with these two instead?" The dark Toa shook his head grimly.
"I tried to convince her to do that, but she refused. Said that leaving Norik on his own with…" He was cut off by another resounding bang, and scowled.
"Come on, they're going to need help holding up the barricade. I'll send you off once I've got enough energy stored up to do so." Giving a slight nod, Bakuma headed off for the main entry with Mihkoro, Pohatu and Gali close behind. AS they went, Pohatu asked.
"Who doesn't she want Norik alone with?" Though he couldn't see it, the Toa of Stone was positive that the dark Toa was frowning.
"I'll tell you later. For now just stay focussed. We can't let those abominations get in here without a serious fight for it!" Pohatu nodded slightly.
"That works for me." Again the crashing noise rang out, and a disgruntled voice shouted.
"Quick-hurry up! I can't keep this shot-stopped all day!" Rounding a corner, they came within view of the main doors, which were being held shut with piled up debris, old furniture, and heavy looking wooden posts that were most likely torn off of some other building or other structure in or near the Temple. It was by one of these beams that Gali and Pohatu saw a highly strange looking being. His skin was an odd, dusty-green color with green, iridescent scales on his lower arms, and his clawed hands. His eyes were lemon yellow with cat-like pupils, and protruding from his back was a set of dragonfly-like wings, though they folded down like a damsel fly's wings. Mihkoro frowned further as he ran to help put the post back in place.
"Pipe down, Iruni." He grunted. "You'll just add to the stress, and we both know how irritable certain people get when there's a high stress level." Iruni rolled his eyes as his wings spread a little.
"She's always irritable these days, and you know it. It's a wonder-miracle that she isn't mask-cracked yet." The dark Toa shot him a scowl, anger obvious in his eyes.
"Are you saying that my wife is borderline insane?" Bakuma spoke up as he, Gali and Pohatu moved closer.
"That's enough, both of you. Stress is affecting all of us, whether we like admitting to it or not. Just stay focussed and we'll be okay. We're Toa, not Matoran. There's no need to freak out about what's going on." That was when, with another crashing noise, part of the door broke, leaving a hole that was almost large enough for a Visorak to fit through. Pohatu swallowed.
"Now can we stress out?" Bakuma shivered.
"Y-yeah…you can stress out now."
