Author: Goldenrod
Title: Unknown
Rating: K+ (or PG)
Publisher: Feline Freak
Genre: Action/Adventure/General

Note: When Goldenrod PMed me this story, I had to face the fact that during the PM it had been all bunched up and that it was hard to understand where a paragraph ended and where one began. Luckily, Goldenrod has a clean, easily readable style, and it took me only fifteen minutes to turn it in what you can read here. This is the only story where I had to directly edit something, but it was worth it. Another action-filled Metru Nuian story from Goldenrod, written in perfect Bionicle style that could be used for the official books. Though the title DID get lost, in the end, the story is still here. Read and enjoy it! And hope that Goldenrod will remember the forgotten title.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bionicle.

Chaos. Everywhere he looked, his fellow Matoran were panicking, screaming and running for cover. 'This is insane,' he thought to himself. The day had started out simple enough: he woke up and got right to work on a carving that was due in a few days. No more than what must've been an hour and a half later, he suddenly heard a commotion going on outside—and it got louder. Within minutes, an entire crowd was rushing past his hut. "What's going on?" he asked a Matoran whose arm he managed to grab.

"Rock raptors!" the Po-Matoran exclaimed breathlessly.

Both Matoran turned at the sound of a loud hiss—apparently, the raptors were closing in. Both Matoran found themselves running with the crowd, trying to put as much distance between them and the Rahi as possible. Though far more than one Matoran found themselves stumbling to the ground, some of their brethren would help them to their feet before they got too badly trampled. Thankfully, soon after, the local Vahki arrived. While the law enforcers tried to subdue the animals, the Matoran headed for a location up on the cliffs where they would be safe and out of the way. When he got up to the top, Onewa noticed more Matoran running across the bridge and were being directed by two Vahki Zadakh. The clash between the Rahi and Vahki down below was actually so intense it rose up a dust cloud so thick that the other side of the canyon could not be seen. Suddenly, two more raptors appeared, and their eyes were on the congregated Matoran. The Vahki noticed and moved in to interceptthe Rahi.

"Help!" a voice called from the vicinity of the bridge. "Somebody help me!" Onewa didn't need his eyes to now know that someone was in trouble.

"No one's paying attention," he said to himself as he noticed that, because they were busy with the raptors, the Vahki didn't seem to notice the cry. That left only thing to do—go himself.

Steeling himself, he sprinted toward the bridge, ignoring the Vahki's snarls which he guessed were orders to come back, and disappeared into the dust cloud. Onewa walked slowly, keeping his ears open and noting that the call he heard a moment before seemed to come from near the half point of the bridge. A few moments passed, which felt like hours to him, and Onewa didn't hear any further calls for help. In fact, he hadn't heard anything other than the clashing between the Vahki and Rahi. He was just wondering about the possibility that he was just hearing things when his foot caught on something. He let out a startled yelp as he fell forward. Looking behind him, he found what he had tripped on was a taut length of cable. "Is somebody there?" a voice asked.

Judging from the proximity, Onewa guessed that it came from somewhere over the edge, "Hello down there."

"Hello?" the voice inquired.

The dust cleared up a bit and Onewa could barely see a figure and the shape of a Kanohi Huna. It was a Ta-Matoran, and he was hanging upside down with the cable tangled around his ankle. There was a mixture of fear and hope in his eyes when he spotted Onewa. "Please, help me," the Ta-Matoran pleaded.

"Hang on, I'll pull you up," Onewa replied, and he started pulling while the Matoran tried to remain perfectly still.

However, the task proved to be more difficult than Onewa thought; already his arms ached with the effort, but he was determined and kept pulling. 'Almost there,' he said to himself, noticing that the Matoran was nearing the edge. On the other end, the Ta-Matoran, Vakama, felt relief for a brief moment before noticing something that caught his breath in his throat. There was a tear in the cable and it was going to break. Before he could warn the Po-Matoran, the tear snapped. For a split second, Vakama felt himself falling, when his body came to an abrupt halt, feeling like his heart had fallen into his throat. Wildly looking around, he was amazed to find that he was not dead. Still upside down, but not dead. Glancing up, he found that the Po-Matoran who pulled him up was now clasping his ankle. "Gotcha," he said, trying to smile even though it was taking every ounce of strength he had left to hold on.

Suddenly, Vakama noticed a shadow appear behind the Po-Matoran, "Look out!"

Onewa looked over his shoulder and saw a creature that he never in all of his life imagined he would have the 'privilege' to see face-to-face—a live Rahkshi. The creature held up its staff, preparing to strike the Matoran, and there was nothing Onewa could do. Just when it looked like it was all over for the two Matoran, the Rahkshi got struck by a blast of fire. Looking to their right, Onewa and Vakama saw a figure surfing through the air—Toa Lhikan. While the Toa chased off the Rahkshi, Onewa set himself up, Vakama reached out his hand, and Onewa pulled him up. Though Onewa was tired, he couldn't rest yet. The Rahkshi was too close for comfort; he and the Ta-Matoran had to get away from there. Following the Ta-Matoran, he raced across the bridge to safety.

After an hour, the raptors were gone and, though the Vahki weren't as successful with the Rahkshi, they did manage to chase it away. Personally, Onewa was relieved that he didn't have to worry about being reprimanded by the Vahki for disobeying orders. Apparently, Toa Lhikan put in a good word for him to the order enforcers. As he left the Assembler's Village, the Toa of Fire made note of the Po-Matoran builder's courage. Meanwhile, at the Village, with the danger passed, the Matoran had gone back to their daily routines: Onewa tried to make up for lost time on his carving and Vakama had to get back to Ta-Metru. While miles apart, the two Matoran realized the same thought at around the end of the day, 'I never got his name!' After getting across the bridge, the two lost each other in the crowd. Whereas Onewa just shrugged his shoulders, deciding that knowing he helped someone in trouble was good enough, Vakama made a personal note that if he ever either learned that Po-Matoran's name, or saw him, he would thank him.

A month later, both Onewa and Vakama found themselves at the Great Temple, along with four other Matoran, one from each metru. Vakama thought the Po-Matoran looked familiar, but wasn't sure why. The next thing they all knew, after placing the Toa stones Toa Lhikan gave them and receiving a message from the Toa himself, they were transformed into Toa Metru, the new guardians of Metru Nui. Soon after, Vakama had a vision about the impending fall of Metru Nui and, though some were skeptical, the decision was made that they were to find the Great Disks and bring them to Turaga Dume. Once Nokama, the new Toa of Water, read off the clues to the locations of the Great Disks, the group split up. Suddenly, it hit Vakama and he quickly caught Onewa's arm, "Wait!"

"What?" the Toa of Stone asked with a slight glare.

"You're him, aren't you?" asked the Fire Toa.

Onewa's response was an odd look, not too different from the one he had when Vakama told him and the others about his vision.

"A month ago, I was in Po-Metru, making a delivery. The Assembler's Village came under attack by a pack of rock raptors and a Rahkshi. My foot got caught in a cable and I stumbled and fell off a bridge. I called, but no one seemed to hear me. Then, I felt the cable quiver, I saw a Po-Matoran looking down at me, and he pulled me back up. That was you, wasn't it?"

Onewa's eyes widened in recognition, "Yeah, it was."

Smiling, Vakama held out his hand, "I never got a chance to, at least, thank you."

Onewa looked at the hand, then at Vakama, and grinned as he grasped it. "It was nothing," he said as he firmly, yet gently, shook the Toa of Fire's hand, "but this doesn't change a thing about what I think about your little 'vision'."

The Toa of Stone then left, leaving Vakama to roll his eyes and shake his head with a slight smile. He guessed, for now, it was too much to ask for Onewa and the others to believe he really did have a vision. With that resolved, he departed in the direction of Ta-Metru to find his Great Disk in the 'root of fire'.