Kora: Mata Nui
Chapter Nine:
A changing spirit
"Not good, not good, not fragging good!" Talra, or rather Tala as she was being called lately, yelled as she dodge the claws of a big...big, big, big Rahi-thingy-mah-bobber. Scrambling in the snow the human formed Kora yelped as her footing gave way, unexpectedly saving her as she slid back the way she just came and between the legs of the now startled Rahi. Even as she thought 'what do I do?' reflexes Tala didn't know she had kicked in and she rolled backwards, avoided the lashing tail and half jumping, half running she took off to the lake.
The iced over lake that is, it was also away from the small group of Matoran...who had said that the iced over lake had thin ice. Tala was betting (praying) that with her being lighter than the Rahi-thingy-mah-bobber (oh! Muaka!) would mean that she could go farther out.
The thing that was huge, four legged and definitely feline like in body shape, like that of a big cat such as a tiger or cougar. Only thing was that this creature wasn't made of flesh and blood like a tiger or cougar, at least not that could be easily be seen. A type of metal half made up and half covered the beast, including two sizable tusk like fangs and some smaller but still relatively large (and sharp!) teeth.
It was also an apparently hungry Muaka.
"Dat's it! Over here! GEYEAH! ...missed me!" It probably wasn't the best of idea to taunt something that outweighed you by a ton or two, but taunting the Muaka kept its attention on Tala and not the group of five Matoran. "Dat's it, fallow me-ah! Claws! This was such a bad idea-what the hell am I doin'?"
The oldest of the Kora on the island dodged low and scrambled onto the frozen lake, hearing growling and the all too clear sound of something snapping of jaws behind her. The Muaka braced its hind legs and lunged forward, but luck was with the Kora. Well...if it was good luck or bad luck Tala was exactly sure seeing as she slipped on the thin layer of snow on the ice, thus forcing her to fall into the splits.
"Ow." Tala muttered, feeling tears of pain form at the corners of her eyes. This wasn't the first time she had done the splits, but it had been around two months, give or take. So it hurt, just a little, and Tala didn't quite move right as she tried to scramble away again.
The Muaka slipped awkwardly itself, one foot sinking through the ice but only to its claws, the resulting broken ice let Tala get the toe hold with her left foot and pushed off. She hopped awkwardly and then had as much traction as she was going to get. Tala had to skid and slide to stop once she thought she was out far enough, using instinct of someone who had went ice fishing all her life with her grandfathers. It would, hopefully, hold her weight. The Muaka growled softly as it slowly became aware of what it was standing on. Yet it could clearly see Tala walking out backwards farther out onto the lack making a 'come on' motion with both hands.
"Dat's it, come on ya big kitty-kitty... I know ya can see me. See? No armor, ya know ya want it..." Tala said, voice taking a more lyrical lilt not really cooing as if to a house cat. She just wanted to distract it. The large Rahi lowered its head in response, still growling as it started after the Kora one careful step at a time. Fallowing and watching intently, unlike Tala it's claws were giving it better traction, and it knew this fact.
Every other step backwards one of Tala's feet would slid a half inch or inch, her own eyes just as fixed on the Muaka. So she saw the tensing and yelping skated to the left, ducking low under far too large.
A clear and recognizable crack was heard behind the Kora at the same time she saw movement to her far right, white on white down the slope that led to the lake. No time to think about that seeing as the ice was failing under her feet!
"This was such a bad idea!" Tala yelled, feeling the ice start to give under her feet as her hurried plain not only succeeded but backfired at the same time. Acting on those same instincts from before as well as those that had been guiding Tala all her life, the Kora ducked low again and lunged forward onto her stomach spreading out her arms and legs to spread out her weight instead of letting it be centered in one spot. It was an old trick that her grandfathers' own many, many (many) great grandfathers had learned from the polar bears.
After a long, quiet few moments Tala cracked open an eye and then both, warily looking around and shuffling forward, still sliding forward on her front. Once confident of what was under her she rolled over onto her back and looked back to see a jagged opening with sloshing water and mix-matched chucks of ice.
Tala sighed, but at the same her relief fizzled into regret. Did the Muaka need to breath? The Matoran did and they were just as biomechanical as most of all the Rahi. Remembering the movement she saw Tala twisted around propping up on her elbows.
Kopaka was just stopping by the Matoran. Wait, where did he come from? When the Toa's gaze, a red optic and glowing blue and aqua eye, turned to her Tala gave a half smile before looking away back to the opening in the ice. Better safe than sorry, she flattened out and started to shuffle back to the shore.
There was an explosion of sorts, everything happed so fast that sound warped or delayed or something because to wasn't right. The bright world, with the sun reflecting off of the snow was abruptly gone, replaced with biting, mind numbing pain that was so cold it burned.
The ice gave out!
But...but...how?
It sung like a wasp ten times over, all over, but Tala opened her eyes to see the Muaka clawing at the edges of the hole.
Despite hearing both her own voice of reason and the memory of her grandfather's voice repeating the words don't panic- don't panic- do not panic…! Tala panicked, for the first time in several years she truly panicked. An overwhelming fear were her heart seemed to contract in on itself and a tingling sensation spread throughout her body as Tala jerk. An uncontrolled blast of ice energy came from the young elemental as a result of the panic attack, freezing the Muaka with its upper body half out of the water as the elder spirit of ice slid onto the scene.
Deftly avoiding the thrashing Rahi, Kopaka stared a moment at the sealed over whole, not as pretty as before but it had a layer of solid ice now, thicker than before. The Toa was as surprised at this as much as the ice wasn't clear, but only for a moment. His Kanohi Akaku Nuva, the great mask of power that let him see through things like an portably x-ray, the mask started to glow giving it a faint aqua shade as it was activated with a mental command.
"Oh no," Kopaka was already moving as he spoke, hocking his wide shield on his back at the same time dropping down on his knees. He broke his weapon into two, slamming one blade as deep into the ice as his strength would let him.
By Mata Nui's witness, Kopaka had never lost a charge. Not to crazed shadow-driven Rahi, predators, avalanche, blizzard, Bohrok, Bohrok Kal and certainly not now to his own element. Not to a mere arm's length of ice and water! That inward declaration didn't stop the Toa from seeing the human formed Kora stop moving as he worked to both absorb the ice as well as brake it away.
The scary thing, or one of them technically, wasn't so much the dim light under water that illuminated disturbed crystalline ice forms. Or the cold for that matter, it had by now numbed the feeling away. What was both the scariest thing and not, was that it was so...calm. A world of interact ice crystals hanging from above, the only sounds were the dulling double thumps of a human heart and the sharper cracks from above.
Tala had been here before, not in this lake on the island but back home. A long time ago when she was still just a kid, Tala remembered that time and it over lapped what she was seeing now. That was what made the Kora stop moving as she struggled with the lack of oxygen as well as dividing past from present.
Taru had saved her all those years ago, he broke thought the ice. No the ice was braking now- wait, what the?
The human formed Kora's heart stopped as a long white arm reached down, clawed fingers wrapping around the younger elemental. Kopaka pulled up, holding Tala with one arm against him and his blades joined over one shoulder he back up away from the new hole and stood from his half sprawl only when he was sure it was safe by reinforcing the ice.
"Tala?" Kopaka asked looking down at a cough.
"Oy…put me down." Tala choked out after coughing again, more than a little worried that she had to spit out water. When there was no vocal answer, not too surprising Tala found much to her annoyance that Kopaka was far from the talkative kind of persons, she twisted and almost bit a muscle cored. "Kopaka!"
A low growl came from within the Toa's chest as he knelt down, the Matoran group already coming over, whatever was about to be said was put on a back burner as Kopaka saw what was wrong. He kept one hand around the Kora, feeling that he was being a support, "Your skin..."
It was gray, not tanned.
But that wasn't what had Tala's attention, and the attention of the Matoran. Matoro stepped forward and reached out to touch something that Tala was. The translators looked up at Kopaka and turned the Kora around so the Toa could see the heart light that was pulsing in a steady, tri 'beat' rhythm.
"Cool…" Tala muttered staring at her new addiction.