Kora: Mata Nui
Chapter Fifteen:
A growing spirit
"Kharzani..." Tahu muttered as he looked down at the struggling Rahi creature, Lewa had tangled the creature neatly and securely in a hastily constructed vine-net before fetching his brothers. The fire Toa glanced to his left at the second Rahi, a still and limp Corbrii that was the result of his air-brother's earlier hunt. It was a common grazing beast that had more flesh then metal, and was the equivalent of the bison on earth... only with six legs, three horns on the head and a sail down the back and tail.
The Toa returned his attention to the caught, live and new Rahi.
"Mata Nui, what is it?" Pohatu crouched down behind the creature, reaching out with his claws to poke it in the back, getting a hiss and an attempted swipe with an extended blade arm.
The... creature was like most other biomechanical life forms beings of their island world, but despite the black armor it had a more organic look on the outside rather than a mechanical, more than the Corbrii really. And for that matter...
Kopaka pulled his stone brother back and stepped forward. He extended one of his swords with a quick burst of elemental energy, the pale Toa froze the Rahi and part of vine made netting that it had been trapped in. Kopaka waited a moment with his brothers to be sure the incasing ice was holding before moving closer for a better look with Onua.
"The armor isn't really integrated like that of a Matoran's." The earth giant commented, rapping one of his claws on the black colored armor, reaching out with his other hand to pull Gali closer, "Look here, on the edge, the organic matter is burned as well as fused to the metal."
"It is metal," Kopaka said stepping back, "Just metal with no Protodurmus."
"Not very strong then," Tahu put in from behind Pohatu, crossing his arms as the three examined the Rahi. They had learned from the Bohrok to take a chance to examine new creatures like this when they showed up. The last thing the island needed was a new kind of swarm unexpectedly popping up with little to no warning.
"Not necessarily," Onua looked up at his brothers, "Just because it's plan metal doesn't mean it's weak. This is a kind I've never come across before."
"I might have," Kopaka hmmed thoughtfully as his fallowed the plated armor along the Rahi's spine. The body of the thing was a bit long, as well as the arms that curved into spikes on the forearms, folding back not unlike how a praying mantis' claws work. At the bend of that main claw, there were two smaller ones framing the one larger claw, allowing some added grip but no real dexterity like a Bionicle's hands.
The hind legs were a little more normal looking, except for the feet that had been elongated as well, and grasping toes that spread out in three main digits forwards and two on ether side. "Could griptight on much with those," Lewa spoke up again, pointing one of his air blades at the feet. He nudged Tahu and pointed next to the stumped, fleshy tail. "Does that lookseem wrong to you too firespitter?"
"To short." Tahu grunted as Gali said the same.
"It's positioned all wrong," The water spirit said as she moved to examine the front, the neck was a little short to match up with the long body and the head was angular like a reptile...but there was just something very wrong about the whole thing.
"Look like da' result of someone mix and matchin'."
Lewa, Pohatu and Tahu spun around, reflexively going on the defensive but halted as the human formed Kora rocked back, startled at the weapons aimed at her, as well as the charge of elemental energy.
"Ack! No wait- its me, I mean, Kora o' Ice here!" Tala lifted her arms, accent thickening a bit in alarm, dropping her bag as the Kora did so as she herself could drop into a defensive crouch, making less of a target.
"Tala," Kopaka said, reaching back to slap Pohatu's nearer leg, sending a jolt of his element in the slight blow to get him to lower his claws. Too bad it wasn't Tahu that was closer... the older ice spirit looked back over at Tala, "Do you have that knife on you?"
Tala hesitated, eying the group because the Toa where very big after all, "Yes…?" She tilted her head as Kopaka motioned her over. Rolling her eyes the woman started over with a muttered, "Oy."
"Deepfelt sorry little icesister," Lewa said as he slid his swords onto his back and dropped into a low crouch to be at Tala's level as the Kora came by him, "You startled your Toabothers. Forgive?"
Much to the surprise of all, except Kopaka who knew the Kora best so far, Tala stepped closer and lightly thumbed her head against Lewa's. Though she didn't have a Kanohi mask yet, the motion was still the same, the Bionicle equivalent of a kiss. "No worries, I did fallow the lot o' ya' without tellin'." Tala said in her strange accent.
"Tala." Kopaka said as if mildly annoyed, though inwardly enjoying the flabbergasted looks on Tahu and Pohatu.
"Hold your horses," Tala said, stooping to pull out the knife in her left boot, as she stood back up the Kora flipped the Matoran sized blade to her other hand. Grasping it by the blunted blade, Tala threw the thing at Kopaka, and was impressive that he caught it. You know, without losing it in his hand or something...
"What are 'horses?'" Pohatu asked tilting his head as Kopaka examined the small blade.
"An organic Rahi from the human world, Magna," Tala explained, "Used for a bunch o' different things. Like ridin', pack-creatures to carry, pull. Stuff like that before more modern vehicles were made." She eyed the creature Lewa had caught the whole time she was speaking. The Kora was tensing up, though the Toa that noticed assumed it was just from the sight of this new Rahi.
"Onua," Kopaka handed over Tala's knife to the earth giant, "This seems like the same metal that's on the Rahi."
"It does, wrong color but," Onua held the blade between two fingers and tapped the human made metal on his left forearm, listening to the clink-clink that resulted. "What is this little sister?"
"Titanium." Tala said, turning her head to the Toa though her eyes remained on the Rahi, "One o' da' stronger metals on the human Magna." She added squinting a bit. Did that's thing's eyes move under the ice? For that matter its eyes weren't anything like the native Rahi or the Matoran's, most all having bioluminescence and had two or three colors. This was almost like... like... no it couldn't be.
"So manufactured not natural or a byproduct of a Toa's elemental usage." Onua hummed thoughtfully himself now.
"Er…" Tala started swallowing as the Rahi's eye moved to stare ahead, at her.
"How would the beast get this 'titanium,'" Gali stood, saying the new word slowly so not to garble it as she broke the vines with one of her water axes. Intending to take the frozen Rahi to the Turaga to see if the elders knew what it was, they had known of the Bohrok after all, "Let alone having the alloy apart of it in such away?"
"Could it be made?" Pohatu asked, twitching his claws and exchanging looks with Tahu, who didn't seem to like that idea any more than he did.
Tala lifted her hand for attention as she watched the Rahi's gaze shift again to her right, where no one was standing. Her other hand lifted with two fingers pressing just behind her ear, Tala the Kora finally tore her gaze away to scan around.
"The Makuta?" Lewa growled lightly, "As if the darkbad one did not get the Toamessage the last few times." The green Toa's claws dug into the earth under him. "This is our islandhome, and we will protect it and the Matoran alwaysforever!"
"Well said brother." Onua phrased.
"Hit the deck!" Tala's yelled suddenly, dropping down to the ground and covering her head. Too bad the Toa didn't know that phrase. Tala waited a beat as there was a flurry of movement all around and several crashes, the ground itself trembling in a micro bio-quake as both Onua and Pohatu fell. There was a screech that was echo by other voices, the sound of braking glass and ice before Tala lifter her head, peering up between her arms as she watched more of the formally trapped Rahi breaking their pack mate out and into freedom.
Others were clinging to the Toa, Tahu roaring in protest at the one on his back as it used its long fore-claws, alternating between hanging on and jabbing at the exposed bits of hide in joints and between armor. Another was attempting to trip the red elemental up as it attached itself to his legs. Tahu wasn't the only one being assaulted by the creatures, Lewa was leaping and rolling, trying to knock off his unwelcome passengers, unable to reach them. Gali was having less luck as she staggered in mid motion, about to swing her axe to keep one of the Rahi off and away from Onua's exposed neck.
"Brother!" Gali yelled, twisting to use the flat of one of her axes to hit the creature trying to cling to her back. There was a satisfying scruuunk sound before it fell off. "Onua? Pohatu? Kopaka?" She swatted at another on her earth brother, looking to the side in time to see Tahu drop kicking one Rahi before diving at the cluster on their pale brother.
They are like insects, The water elemental realized. An individual wasn't overly strong but a group... far more than just an annoyance.
"Why are our Toabrother's not rising?" Lewa demanded as he charged over to defend Pohatu.
"I do not know-ah!" Gali yelped, dropping one axe to grasp and yank one of the creatures off her arm, "Beware brothers… they…bite."
Oh look, they had venom too.
Gali felt her body lock up and then go limp, falling over so she was half on Onua, half beside him. On the up side now she knew what was happening to her brothers. On the down side she found out the hard way. The Toa of water looked up to see one of the Rahi climbing over Onua, the other Toa jerked as his feeling started to come back to his body, thankfully proving the effects were temporary.
The Rahi that was about to bite Gali again found itself being tackled, not by a Toa, but Kora Tala and they rolled away from the Toa. The Rahi was almost twice as big as the Kora but that didn't stop her, after all Bionicle were stronger then they looked. Matoran proved that every day, and although Tala looked human, she wasn't.
Actually, as Tahu looked over he had to do a double take, for seeing an un-masked Matoran like form wasn't what he was expecting to see. Not that Tahu knew what to expect... Tala grasped the creature's arms, its claws scrapping the shield like board on her back but not gaining a hold as she headbutted it. "Ta-rota maree!"
"Watch your language!" Tahu snapped reflexively as he shrugged himself free at last, "Lewa, firestorm!" The Nuva leader ordered as he loosened his elemental energy, fire flickered and formed before crawling freely over his armor and on the ground around him.
The open flames were caught up and fed as Lewa added his own elemental energy to Tahu, the two going back to back as the very air crackled. Eyes glower brighter the two built up until a miniature tornado formed with Tahu's fire.
The heat and flames burned at the undergrowth, over the twitching forms of their brothers and the now yipping Rahi. The creatures scrambled away, whining in pain as they fled as fast as their mutated bodies would let them.
It took a visible effort to tame down the firestorm and for Tahu to re-absorb the flames. Lewa hopped away from the other elemental as the protective heat shield protecting them died, glancing back to see the heat waves rolling off Tahu. Lewa looked around, scanning for the creatures but they seemed to have been scared off, or charred. A momentary pang of regret flashed through his heartlight at the pocket of burnt destruction, but his concern for his fellow Toa won out.
"Brother?" Lewa asked kneeling down but a muttering Kopaka. Movement had him and Tahu both lifting their swords before Lewa moved forward, over Kopaka and Onua to lift the stiff, burnt Rahi off Tala. "Icesister?"
"...ow." the unmasked Kora muttered wincing, what exposed grey hide was dried out and uncomfortable against the now just as exposed grey armor. Tala sat up, looking at her claw tipped hand, flexing the fingers, "Well, looks like I figured out how we get out o' the human forms... adrenaline an' the 'oh Mata Nui save me' reaction."
Lewa chuckled softly as he rubbed the Kora's back, pulling on some of his healing energies to ease the dry-stiffness of the hide by fire, he knew (thanks to Kopaka) was more painful for ice elementals.