The days spent planning were long and taxing for the Toa Metru, and Whenua didn't need anyone to point out that it was putting tension on the lot of them. Onewa and Matau had nearly gotten into three fights on the first day alone, and Nuju even took a swing at Matau for commenting on Vakama in a bad light. In all fairness, Matau honestly had it coming, but all the same the fighting really had to stop. They had a mythical rahi to find, a tyrant to get rid of, and two over-adventurous four year olds to juggle; they couldn't afford to be wasting time arguing with each other, especially if their returning to normal was becoming a gradually smaller chance. As it was, Norik had – with much concern – already speculated that Vakama's time had already run out, and the last thing any of them needed was for anyone else to run out of chances.
But at least they finally had a plan made. It was going to be a risky gamble to split the party, this Whenua knew for certain, but Vakama had been adamantly sure that his plan would work, and when no other really good ideas came up, it was practically the only thing to build off of. It was simple enough at a glance; the Toa Metru would assault the Coliseum, the Toa Mata would search for Keetongu, and Hlahlu and Oohnorak would stay at the Great Temple with Takua, Jaller, and Hahli, the latter of the three being the least likely to cause a problem and the most likely to actually do what she was told. The tricky part would be orchestrating the timing in which the teams would set off. With no real way of knowing how long it would take to find Keetongu, there wasn't a solid method for discerning when would be the safest time to attack the Coliseum. Whenua had to admit to himself that the plan seemed like the sketchiest suicide run he'd ever heard of, but with no other ways to make the plan safer, what choice did they have?
"Hey Whenua, I gotta ask you something." It was Onewa who had spoken, and as he drew closer there would be no missing his skeptical expression.
Whenua braced himself for an onslaught of doubt to crash down. "What did you need, Onewa?"
"Your opinion, actually." The Stone Toa replied. "Do you really think Vakama's idea is going to work? Even in the slightest?"
The mildly older Toa let out a heavy sigh he'd hoped he wouldn't actually exhale. "Are you on about that again? Really? I thought we were done with this by now."
Onewa huffed in annoyance. "Yes I'm on about it again. This is a serious issue!"
"Getting into a debate over which room you wanted was apparently a big deal as well."
The twenty-two year old scowled. "That was a territorial Hordika thing! This is life and death!"
Whenua groaned. Of all the ways he had hoped to unwind before their desperate plan was brought to fruition, bickering with Onewa didn't even make it to the 'honorable mentions' category. "And what answer are you trying to find, Onewa? Do you want me to say it's the worst plan ever and that we should all just find some hole to hide in and hope it all blows over? Is that what you want? Because I'm not saying it!"
Enough was enough, he had decided, and if it meant going on a rant, by Mata Nui, he would do so. "Yes it's a dangerous mission, our most dangerous yet, in fact, but if we take forever trying to figure out what would keep everyone safe, we may as well just throw the proverbial towel and let Roodaka with without a fight. I don't know about you, but I want to go down fighting like a Toa instead of cowering like an animal!"
"But Vakama-"
"Don't even think of pulling the 'but Vakama' card on me! Our doubting and blaming him is what drove him to the brink to begin with, and while we didn't make him go insane we certainly didn't help keep him away from doing so! I'm tired of doubt! Especially about Vakama! He got everyone together again, he rescued Hlahlu and Jaller, and he's taken all of our flak without argument, even when he could have and probably should have defended himself! If that isn't proof enough that we can trust him, you're thicker than you look! Now unless you have something intelligent or useful to say, leave me alone!"
Judging by the dumbstruck and mildly affronted expression on Onewa's face, Whenua got what he was hoping for, and – satisfied utterly – as such he turned and walked away, quite happy to leave his younger team member to splutter to himself in the hallway. However, as he walked, he eventually heard Vakama's voice from a side room. "I... I honestly didn't expect you to defend me."
Whenua jumped and turned to look over. "You, uh... you heard that, huh?"
Vakama gave an awkward laugh. "I'm pretty sure everyone in the Great Temple heard that. But regardless of volume, thank you for sticking up for me." He hesitated for a moment, and then continued. "I am curious though; what do you really think of the plan? I... I'm not really as confident about it as I seemed earlier. What's your view?"
The Earth Hordika saw no reason to lie. "I think it's a suicide run with very little hope of success." He replied simply, shrugging as though the topic was something as mundane as the weather forecast, and smiled afterwards. "But hey, that's the kind of crazy stuff we live for, right? Daring adventures and half-baked plans that pull through in the end."
Vakama cringed slightly. "I'm not quite sure how I should take that comment."
Whenua laughed. "I mean we shouldn't worry ourselves silly about it. All through history, Toa have been known to pull off crazy stunts and achieve grand victories when all hope seemed lost. Little known secret is that a vast majority of those victories came from uncertain plans and 'suicide run' ideas. Even Toa Lhikan had a few times where he had to throw caution to the wind and hope he had the skill and luck to pull through. Some of my favorite stories in the Archives were about those moments, in fact."
There was no chance to miss Vakama's steadily growing curiosity now; his expression was showing his ever-growing desire to know more. "You wouldn't happen to know any of these stories, would you? Enough to tell me one, at least?"
Now this was more like Whenua's plan to relax. Nothing quite said fun – to him at least – like settling down somewhere and basking in the wonders of recorded history, and getting to share that knowledge only made it more enjoyable. "Do I know one?" He repeated with a chuckle. "I memorized as many of them as I could. Let's find somewhere more comfortable and I'll tell you one of these grand recounts."
It wasn't long before Whenua and Vakama were settled in a nearby room, Vakama eagerly watching as his younger comrade fussed with the folded up blanket he was sitting on. "So," Whenua inquired once he was comfortable. "what sort of grand adventure did you want to hear?"
The red-scaled Hordika contemplated this for a moment or two, eventually just shrugging and replying. "How about your personal favorite? Those are always the easiest to tell."
Whenua grinned. "My favorite? Well now, that is an interesting one. This particular tale took place in Po-Metru. But first, do you recall hearing about the ruining of an entire set of Toa Mangai statues?"
"You mean when they collapsed and diverted a kikanalo stampede from running through part of the city? I thought that was a carefully sorted out plan."
The twenty-three year old simply grinned even more. "Let me tell you what really happened..."
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^
"Uhrg... Remind me why we're out here? There's nothing going on!"
Lhikan sighed as he turned his gaze from the canyon before him, to the disgruntled Air Toa behind him. "We're out here because there have been rumors of Dark Hunter activity, and it has several Matoran spooked. It's not my fault we haven't seen anything yet."
"We haven't seen anything because nothing is even going to happen, just like the last three scares people claimed they had." The green-clad warrior grumbled hotly. "We'd be better off doing something else."
"Like what?" A Water Toa – located nearby – inquired, her tone bland and as bored as could be. "Preening in front of a mirror like you usually do? Stop whining, Nidhiki; at least we have something to investigate."
Lhikan resisted the urge to tell them he'd handle the job alone if it meant peace and quiet. "Tuyet, you aren't really helping the situation. You are aware of that, right?"
The woman huffed in annoyance. "You can't honestly say I'm wrong, Lhikan; Nidhiki's been whining since we started keeping watch."
"And you grumping at him is only making it worse. Now can you please stay focused for once?"
Tuyet was about to argue back, but – much to Lhikan's relief – Nidhiki spoke first, his gaze fixed on something down below them. "Hey look! Who do you think those are?"
Instantly the Toa of Fire was watching the canyon bottom, pulling out a pair of binoculars so he could take a closer look. "Whoever they are, they're armored." He said grimly, not liking what he was seeing at all. "And by the looks of it there are three of them."
"Good; one for each of us." Tuyet remarked, peering into the canyon as well. "An easy win for us if these are actually the Dark Hunters we keep being told about. What say we go investigate?"
"No." Lhikan replied, frowning as he continued to watch the goings on down below. "Not until we've taken stock of who and what we're dealing with. For all we know this could be a trap, and even if it isn't, caution never hurt anyone. Regardless of who is down there, we need to be careful."
The sound of crunching gravel beside him, however, was enough to tell the Fire Toa that Nidhiki had, again, decided he knew better than Lhikan did, and – predictably to the other two – had already started on his way down the canyon, neglecting – as he always did – the fact that he had a Kanohi Volitak at his disposal. "Nidhiki no!"
Tuyet huffed in annoyance, making sure her sword was properly in its sheathe before addressing Lhikan. "Well what did you expect? It's Nidhiki; if it's life threatening and stupid, he has to try it at least once. I'm surprised he hasn't gotten us killed yet."
"It's the 'yet' in your statement that worries me." Lhikan muttered, getting to his feet and starting to carefully make his way down the cliff side after their thrill-seeking comrade. "Come on; let's go potentially save him. Again."
Tuyet smirked as she followed him, glancing down at Nidhiki every now and then to make sure he hadn't fallen to his death. "Third time this week and it's only Tuesday?"
"Feels like it."
A resounding crack and a shower of dust betrayed that they had been seen by whoever was down below, and that they were now being shot at. Up above, Lhikan heard Tuyet cursing, huffing angrily before snapping. "Nidhiki I swear to Mata Nui that I will kill you if we make it out of this alive!"
"Oh lighten up Tuyet, we'll be- ACK!"
Judging by the loud crack of splitting stone that accompanied the Air Toa's outburst, he had nearly been shot. "Good." Tuyet grumbled. "Maybe they'll hit him next time and do us a favor."
Lhikan scowled. "Enough, Tuyet! As much as he is sometimes a headache we still need him, and he is still a member of this team!"
The descent into the canyon only got more dangerous as they grew closer to the bottom, and no sooner were they within a safe dropping distance than the three were under outright melee assault. Out of the corner of his eye, Lhikan could see Tuyet, her broadsword whirling as though it were little more than a child's toy, and judging by the small rushes of wind that occasionally gusted past, Nidhiki was already quite in the thick of his own battle. Three on three, just as Tuyet had said, and the Dark Hunters were all larger than the three Toa were. As it was, Lhikan barely had time to block his opponent, let alone get in any serious counter-attacks. Mind racing, he could hardly even focus a shred of attention on a victory plan, his attention almost solely on avoiding being attacked.
That was when the idea came to him. "Tuyet, your Kanohi! Use your Kanohi!"
The sudden yelp of surprise indicated that his plan had, thus far, worked, and the Dark Hunter's weapon had harmlessly sliced through the Water Toa's intangible body. Tuyet laughed as he tried again and again, failing each time and growing steadily more frustrated. Lhikan stole a quick moment to take a quick glance at Nidhiki to make sure he was alright, only to discover that the Toa of Air seemed to have utterly disappeared, an indication that he had – a bit late, perhaps – activated his mask. The problem was, with no Nidhiki there to help, there was one more Dark Hunter to contend with, and since Tuyet was presently incapable of being hit, Lhikan was the only logical target. It wasn't long before the Toa of Fire was virtually backed right up against the wall, barely able to defend himself, let alone make a decent attack of his own. To make matters worse, Tuyet was starting to feel the strain of maintaining her mask's activation, and there was no way of knowing just how much longer she would be able to rely on it.
"Where in Karzahni did that useless Air Toa go!?" The woman half snarled, half shouted through gritted teeth. "Because now would be a good time for him to actually do his job for once!"
While not really able to remark, Lhikan had to agree that Nidhiki's timing was utterly and thoroughly wretched. Not only was the battle against their favor, but the ground was now shaking and... wait.
The ground was shaking?
A rumbling swell of noise thundered ever louder, the three Dark Hunters seeming to know what was going on and fleeing without explanation. Lhikan coughed and doubled over as he fought to catch his breath, glancing at Tuyet and opening his mouth to speak. Before he could utter a sound, however, he quickly saw the real issue at hand, stampeding towards them with reckless abandon.
Tuyet groaned as she spotted the oncoming kikanalo herd. "You have got to be kidding me."
Lhikan grimaced as he slammed his blades together, latching them into a board shape and activating the levitation disks that had been fused into the handles. "Tuyet come on! Nidhiki will have to fend for himself!" Even as he said this he was getting onto his now-hoverboard, Tuyet getting on and holding tight as they blasted upward and out of the canyon. Ignoring Tuyet's disgruntled cursing of Nidhiki's name, Lhikan took a moment to contemplate the situation... and soon realized that the rampaging rahi were headed straight for the populated outskirts of Po-Metru, and if they weren't stopped somehow a lot more would be lost than just a trio of mercenaries. At once he surged forward, Tuyet holding on tighter as Lhikan raced to get ahead and stop otherwise certain catastrophe. But how exactly did one stop an entire herd of stampeding animals, or even just make them chance course?
There was nothing for it, Lhikan decided. There was one last ditch effort chance he could attempt. He just needed to hope and pray it would actually work. "Tuyet, we have to bring those statues down."
The woman squinted ahead and frowned. "You mean the ones of us? Do you have any idea how mad the Matoran will get?"
"Quite frankly, I don't care." Lhikan stated shortly, already flying towards the nearly finished carvings. "I would rather soothe angry Matoran than bury trampled ones."
"Suit yourself. So, what's your grand scheme?"
"Probably a stupid one."
It didn't take particularly long to set up, which was a very good thing given how little time they had to pull it off. Mere seconds passed before the rampaging creatures were coming into view, heading straight for the city outskirts. Lhikan grimaced, throwing all of his strength into lashing out on the last remaining statue support. "Tuyet, now!"
The sound of grinding and falling stone drowned out any answer she could have given, dust spraying into the air and clouding all attempts to see what was going on. Lhikan ducked back into an outpost building, eyes squeezed shut and hands over his mouth and nose to shield himself from the airborne grit.
It felt like an eternity for the shaking and noise to finally die away, and even once the silence had set in, the Toa of Fire was hesitant to move. What kind of scene would he behold when he got outside? Where was Tuyet? Were any Matoran harmed?
"Lhikan?!"
Tuyet's voice drew him to open his eyes, pushing himself to his feet and tentatively looking out the doorway. Dust coated absolutely everything, the ruins of several statues acting as a grim, immoveable backdrop to the trampled and cracking earth. Broken tools and scaffolds littered the ground, all telling of the danger that had passed. And yet, in spite of the utter destruction, there was no sign of death or injury, and the tracks left by the kikanalo indicated that they had, in fact, changed directions.
A sigh of relief rushed from Lhikan as he reveled in their success, moving fully from his hiding place and starting to search for Tuyet. It didn't take him long, given that she made her rather dusty presence known by racing over and hugging him.
"Never scare me like that again!" She scolded, anger and relief mingling in her voice. "Ever! Do you have any idea how bad it looked from my end?! I thought you got crushed!"
The Toa of Fire merely laughed – dazedly, perhaps, but still laughed – as he embraced her, letting her fuss, sputter, and grumble, as much as she deemed necessary. Lhikan's thoughts were elsewhere; where had the Dark Hunters ended up? And perhaps more pressing, where was Nidhiki?
"- and I never want to see that idiot Air Toa again!"
His smile grew. Perhaps he would just enjoy the moment for now. Tuyet's company was always more fun without Nidhiki anyway.
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^
By the time Whenua had finished his story, he could practically see the rekindled spirit within Vakama's eyes. It was a light he hadn't seen for quite some time, and he couldn't help but smile when he took note of it. "And there you have it; one of many stories where a Toa pulls together a purely improvised plan, without any way of really being sure of the outcome."
Vakama smiled back at him. "It's a good story. But what happened to Nidhiki?"
"Well," the younger Hordika explained. "it turned out he was the one who started the stampede. As I'm sure you can imagine, Tuyet was fit to strangle him for it later, but that is a story for another time." His smile grew into a small grin. "So, feel any better?"
"I do, yes. Not great, but definitely better. I... I think I might even be able to have a decent rest now, in fact." Vakama got up and moved to leave the room, though he paused at the doorway to turn and smile at his comrade again. "Thank you."
Whenua merely smiled back and nodded, watching the Fire Hordika leave before murmuring. "At least one of us can rest easier. Now we can only wait and hope it will be enough. And that Onewa can keep his mouth shut." He paused to deliberate on his last musing.
"... Mata Nui help us."
