Kora: Mata Nui
Chapter Seventeen:
Spirits that Fall
"Okay," Kora Storm spoke up from her spot in front the lounging Onua where the Kora was pacing restlessly. She was unable to sit still since Tala and Deni had returned, Telem was the same way, the other two Kora to a lesser degree, as they had been farthest away from any of the mutated Rahi. "When it comes down to it, our- as in Kora in general, talents outside of the elemental thing is to track down corruption. Makuta's shadows that infected creatures, as well as corking holes in space."
"Cork?" Tahu echoed the core, English, word not the Bionicle suffix fallowing it.
"A plug, a seal," Tala translated from her perch, holding the digits of one hand in an open circle and used her other hand to cover over it.
"Ah." Tahu inclined of his head to show he understood the strange word.
"It seems that way," Telem sighed, blowing at her bangs before frowning, and then turning to her Turaga, "Why was this so hard to explain back in Po-Koro?" She demanded.
"Because child we didn't have all the information at the Koros, not individually." Onewa rapped his staff on the ground, in a way that had a few, including his own sister Nokama leaning away from the irritable elder. "It took much looking through our archives, and secured messengers before coming here and then conferring while the lot of you were frolicking and finding new threats to the island."
Had it been possible, Onewa might have jutted out a lower lip as he first waved his staff in a general manor, then pointed at the nearest Toa.
"Wise one, the threat would have come if we had discovered it or not." Onua said, the normally thunder deep voice of the earth giant was kept soft while inside this chamber of the great temple. The black Toa was very much alert, though had shifted to a reclined position in a way to stretch out his back.
It was Vakama that inserted himself in before his brother could ruffle up, "True, and this time we have better advanced warning." The elder looked to Lewa, then his tri-colored eyes turned to Kopaka and back to Onua, "Though not too long of a time, you Toa had a much look, no, an examination of these rahi creatures."
"One that we didn't get with the Bhorak at first." Kopaka's smooth voice put in, one hand rested on the nearest wall perching Kora. Lee tilted her head back, the younger elemental smiling at the soft attention from Kopaka as he moved to the cooler part of the chamber without really realizing it. "The remains are in Rahi storage below, a more careful examination will be wise."
"I will assist." Whenua announced, tapping a thoughtful finger on his staff. "Lewa, you said these rahi bleed red blood?" He blinked blue and green eyes as the attention of almost all the Kora was on him.
"Yes, it was an ever strangeweird thing Turaga." Lewa sat up dropping and using the Toa graze to avoid Jaller and Takua, he knelt down in the open center of the chamber and pulled one sword out of subspace, planting it in a creak in the stone. Then the green Bionicle took out a plant fiber made cloth he had used to clean his other sword, the red still semi bright on the touch cloth but glistened on the blade itself.
Storm came over with the earth Turaga, she touched a small dribble with two fingers, looking carefully before sniffing, "I can't be Bionicle. Bot being red, we have purple blood." She looking up and over to where Tala was perching, meeting the more natural Bionicle eye color mix, and seeing her sister's worry. Something was needling at both their minds but the reason wasn't presenting itself fully.
"Indeed." Turaga Whenua said as he examined the two offerings as well, frowning as Nokama came up beside him to take Storm's place.
"These Rahi creatures, mutants, are not very strong physically, even with that strange metal armor." Tahu snorted, flexing his claws as the Toa growled lowly. He was aware of Turaga Vakama eyeing him in semi disaprovel, but also the intent gazing of a few others. His Kora, as well as the Ta-Matoran. Thanks to Jaller the Ta-Koro Guard was now very much aware of their Toa's movements, both known and subconscious to better react to possible threats.
Lewa snorted next, pointing to the semi visible bite mark on Gali's wrist, "But a grouppack? These rahi are not to be underestimate if the darkbad one sent them from Shadows my firespitting Ta-Tu. Matoran must not be bitten, the venom will harm them, you." He added turning to the representatives of the villages, and pointed looking at Takua as well. "Chronicler, you must warn the Korohomes in your pathfinding, and any other traveling Matoran."
The green Toa rose to his full twenty foot hight, taking authority as only a Toa could, aware of all, even his brother and sister Toa and Kora watching and listening intently to Lewa's words. Tree speech or not, he was still an elemental guardian and a Nuva,
"The drubs of Ga-Koro must beatpulse long into the darknight. All the darknight. Warn out island home, Pohatu brother, would you run a few venom sacks to Le-Kora?" Lewa turned to his stone brother.
"That's brilliant Lewa," Onua sat up fully, catching Hali as she slid off his crest to the cradle of his arms with a chirp at the unexpected movement. "With both the healing Koros working on an anti toxin, we might head off a possible crisis!"
"I think we're going to have to break out the energy stone cash to charge the equipment." Hali muttered softly, looking to her elder, and then pretended not to notice the baffled look on Toa Tahu and some of the Kora. If she didn't, the Ga-Matoran was sure she'd start laughing or giggling and she didn't want to imply disrespect to Tahu of all the Toa.
The pale form of Kopaka shifted to the foreground as Lewa and Pohatu moved to start picking their careful way to fetch the intact venom in the rahi remains. "Now that we also know how to trigger the change in the Kora, we must do so for the others," Kopaka inclined his head to the remaining four human-disguised Kora, his voice never loosing the smooth quality. "Turaga, do you have an idea of the rate the Kora will grow?"
Kopaka looked pointedly at Tala, then at Dani where hi was sitting beside Gali's side, exactly the same size of the average Matoran at five feet. His own Kora wasn't much bigger.
"I suspect it will be a rapid growl from the old data pads." Nokama said slowly, then paused as a shrill whistle of Nuju butting in at last sounded. The water village's elder held a head up to Matoro, listening the complicated rhythm of clicks and other sounds. "Yes brother," Nokama nodded, "For the first few eight-days you Toa will be hunting more than you would normally do for the villages."
"Proteins for growth?" Telem asked, speaking up again.
"Proteins, minerals and protodurmus." Turaga Whenua rapped his staff on the ground firmly. "The Matoran will ad in the gathering of minerals, and Onu-Kora has a splinted vain of the powdered protodurmus. Now that the Makuta sickness his no lingering holding you, young Telem, you will need to grow, and have think armor like the Toa Mata did when they first arrived. The Island of Mata Nui is our paradise," Whenua lifted his arms to indicate the whole island before his green and blue gaze swept over all, "But it far from a tamed Metru, these are our wild Wahi lands. And you Kora, you will be facing things we of the Koros just can not, our defenders."
"So drink you milk, and stay on your toes." Kara, the Kora of earth spoke up, her own voice normally soft clearly heard after that. She saw Lee, Storm and Telem grinning at the first, human reference and words.
Yet to the side, and above, Tala was scowling down at the stone sphere under her feet, her perch, eyeing the 'ground' suspiciously. As if the stone was the reason she was swaying a bit ever few minutes, and as if it was the cause of her suddenly questionable balance. Up until now, Tala had never really had a problem with her sense of balance as far as she could remember. If anything it had been uncanny in the human world, and then here- home, it was improving by leaps and bounds with every long day on the island. The Kora shifted again, squinting her eyes at the glaring sun beams and then looking around at those around her. She was aware of someone speaking, but could only hear the tone, no words filtered into her fuzzing awareness.
"Um..." Tala lifted a hand, trying to find the big white blur that would be the elder ice spirit.
Kopaka saw the raised arm out of the corner of his eye, and lifted his own hand to stop the discussion. He had ignored Tala one too many times already today and that had resulted in him being pounced on and then lying paralyzed for a while by these new Rahi.
Understandably, he wasn't going to take that chance again, not with the Matoran and Turaga here.
"Wait," Kopaka said to Onua, his brother stopping his detailed description of the new Rahi to a group of Nokama, Matua and Takua, as Kopaka stood up again, "What is it Tala?"
"...I donna... feel so well Ko-Tu..." Tala muttered before her eyes dimmed, the Kora tilted to the side and her knees gave out, collapsing off her spot. Thudding down on the steps as the Ga-Matoran in that section scattered so not to be landed on, before hurrying forward again, beating the Toa to the fallen elemental.
"Kora!"
"Tala!"
"What happened?" Onewa demanded, pausing mid step, eyes widening as it hit him. The Turaga would have kicked himself if he wasn't rushing over, but then the Turaga of Po-Koro halted.
The Ga-Matora were two steps ahead of their elders, of everyone really, already pulling Tala to lay flat on her back. Macku hovered over the Kora's head, hesitating as she lifted her hands. Not because this was a brand new mask, given to her by her most favorite person on the island, but to make sure she still had her old one on her. Macku pulled the new Rue off as Turaga Nokama pushed her way through her villagers, and then pressed the Kanohi onto the Kora's unmasked face.
It took a moment, than Macku felt the mask shifted and reform slightly as it linked with Tala's system. The elemental's multi colored eyes snapped open, Tala sucked in a breath as the Kanohi integrated. Then in turn her own elemental and Toa energies triggered the mask itself to activate. The physical change showed next, Tala's armor bleached out from it's dark color to stark white, with under tones of a now lighter shade of grey in the parts of exposed hide.
Tala let out a protesting, "Aaahh!" Back arching and then jerked up into a sitting position. She stared wide-eyed at Nokama, "Ow." She informed the water village's elder before flopping back down with a groan, hand to her new mask with claws clicking against it.
"What happened?" Macku worried, having never seen that reaction in Matoran without Kanohi, they normally just woke up or came back to consciousness slowly depending on how long they were without a mask. The Ga-Matoran fetched her old mask out of her sub space pocket, reminded to do so by her fellows and fitted it on before any heaviness could settle on her own limbs.
"The Kanohi is no longer dormant," Nokama said, resting a hand over Tala's heartlight, feeling the tri-pulse grow reassuringly stronger under her fingers with each passing click. Movement beside her had the female Turaga looking up, "Brother?" she asked watching Vakama hurriedly hobbling away, reaching back into his own subspace.
The fire elder threw the mask, the first one he could grab, to Gali, "Quickly, give that too Deni!"
Gali caught the Kanohi and turned to her Kora, understanding now the threat. Her Kora had changed into his Bionicle body not long after Tala, so reasonably he was about the have the same reaction. Deni was normally so quiet, and Gali felt guilt grip her stomachs and creep up into her chest as she fitted the blank, newly crafted mask to the water Kora's bare face. He didn't really move, red and gold eyes all but closed and dimmed low.
"Deni, brother?" Gali asked, her voice coxing and soft, allowing Turaga Whenua to examine the younger water spirit just before he yelped and jumped up. Deni's own grey armor paling than shifting to the blue of a water elemental. The Kora, with wide eyes automatic attached himself to Gali's side, shivering from the new flow of elemental energy like his ice sister was.
"I didn't do it- Talra did!" The young male yipped.
"Oy!" Tala protested, turning to glare with that seemingly ingrained chilled annoyance all ice Toa could muster even if she didn't use it nearly as often as some. "I only did the ninja thing." She was pointing in the general direction of Deni's voice, "Hang on, I got to pass out here." She added as the world was already fuzzing out to shadowy darkness, voices going semi-distant and tinny.
Kharzani this was going to be a long day...