(A/N): We've had a lot of heavy stuff these last few chapters, so how about some lighthearted fun to break things up, huh?
There's also an important note about the upload schedule at the end of this chapter, so make sure to stick around all the way to the end! And enjoy!
"Kick with your hips, not your knees…bring your shoulders back to reduce your drag…okay, now take a deep breath and blow for as long as you can!"
Penny gasped and squeezed her eyes shut as she stuck her face into the water, hands squeezing tightly to Hahli's as a deluge of bubbles spilled out of puffy cheeks. Takua watched from the sidelines, sitting on one of the massive lily pads and dangling his legs into the bay. He raised his arm to block the occasional splashes from the half-floating Huntress, chuckling as the human girl spent a solid fifteen seconds blowing bubbles underwater before throwing her head back and shrieking for air.
"Not bad, not bad," praised Hahli. "Now do it again."
The freckled human made some sort of gurgled groan.
"Repeating the exercise is the only way you'll get good at it. Come on."
With another wail of fatigue she nonetheless took another breath and blew more bubbles, kicking through the shallows of Lake Naho and gliding across the surface alongside Hahli. Even though she was in the water and he wasn't, Takua was still well within the "buffer zone" that existed around Penny, so he wasn't worried about her heart suddenly stopping without his presence. His yellow gaze was half-amused, half-pensive, and his mind wandered as he watched the human flail and flounder around.
It must be tough, not having any mechanical joints to augment the organic ones, he thought to himself. Then he frowned beneath his mask. Then again...according to what Ruby said before she left, mechanical joints used to be all she had...what kind of world was Remnant that they'd even build their machines to look like humans?
"I see the swimming lessons are going well."
Takua looked up at the source of the wise voice from behind him, unsurprised to see that it belonged to Turaga Nokama. With a bow of respect Takua shuffled over to make a seat for the village elder, who nodded in return and sat beside him. Nokama lifted up the hem of her sapphire robes and dipped her armored feet into the water, shuddering for a moment before sighing in relief. Then she folded her hands in her lap, setting her trident down behind her for easy reach.
"They're going about as well as they can for someone with those proportions," laughed Takua. "Seriously, how can anyone even stand with legs that long? You'd think she'd just topple over with every step."
Penny gasped as she got her feet under her, standing in the shallow water until the waves lapped at her waist. "I happen to like my very long legs, thank you very much!"
"Ignore him, he's just salty that you can lift him up without even trying," said Hahli with a chuckle as she treaded water. "And that he's so tiny."
Takua raised an eyebrow. "Who you calling tiny, tiny? In case you haven't noticed, us Matoran are all the same size."
"Which just makes having a tall new friend sting even more, doesn't it?" The Ga-Matoran grinned under her mask. "Alright Penny, now practice what we talked about on your own. Without me holding onto you."
The freckled human whimpered slightly, but nevertheless took a deep breath as she stretched out in the water, kicking and splashing frantically amidst a cloud of burbling grunts. She managed to keep herself afloat for all of ten seconds before she started sinking, disappearing under the surface with a pathetic little bloop. Hahli sighed and ducked under to grab Penny by the shoulders, bringing her face back above the water a moment later and leaning to avoid the spray of seafoam as her student coughed to clear her throat.
"You know," grunted the Ga-Matoran as she paddled backwards with Penny in tow, "I'm starting to think you're just doing this on purpose now."
"I am not, honest!" gasped Penny. "It is - achoo! - extraordinarily painful!"
"Well then let me introduce you to a very advanced and high-level diving technique," huffed Hahli, "it's called closing your mouth underwater."
"How ironic," intoned Nokama from the sidelines with a wry smile under her mask. "I seem to recall seeing you struggle with the very same concept, little one. If memory serves, Amaya had to stuff your mask port with seaweed just to keep you from breathing in whenever you dove..."
Hahli suddenly looked quite flustered and embarrassed. "Turaga, please! Don't humiliate me in front of my student with such slander!"
"It's no slander!" called another Ga-Matoran from a nearby hut. "I also remember those days!"
"Shut up Amaya no you don't you're not helping!"
The elder gave a soft laugh, which Takua joined in with a chuckle of his own. He watched as Penny rolled back over with quivering lips, repeating the set of lessons once more. As he observed Penny dip her face back in the water and blow long chains of bubbles, his mind began to wander back to the constant questions that plagued him. Questions that had only intensified after rescuing Ga-Koro, and it took a few pensive moments before he finally found the words to voice them.
"Turaga Nokama…" he said after an uncomfortably long silence. "...who am I?"
She looked at him with a curious tilt of her head. "Hmm? Why ask me? You know your name."
"Yeah, but that's about all I know," said Takua with a long sigh, "You didn't seem all that surprised to see me when I showed up alongside Ruby and Penny, and the other Ga-Matoran all…look at me, like I'm someone they recognize. Some of them are intimidated by me. Others refuse to even speak to me. They all seem to remember who I was before…well, all of this. I just wish I could do the same."
He looked back over to Penny. "And…something tells me that if it was any other Matoran that found her…she wouldn't be alive right now. No one else could do what I did to bring her back to life...and I don't even know what I did. So I'm just wondering…why me? What makes me so special? And why can't I remember what it is?"
Nokama was silent for a moment, looking at the waves and watching Penny attempt to swim with wise amber eyes. The great sapphire sea lapped at their legs with each gentle bob and lull. Takua wasn't sure if she was putting on a show of ignorance, as Vakama had done, or if she was just as clueless as he was. Either way, if anyone could give him some proper answers, he felt like it would be the so-called wisest of the Turaga.
When she finally spoke, he could easily see why she held that title.
"I think…someone has plans for you," said Nokama carefully, "Plans that are greater than your stature would suggest. Perhaps you are to be a hero like the Toa, or a warrior like the Huntresses who have graced our shores. I do not know. There is much that is unknown, especially in these dark days."
She shook her head sadly. "The Matoran have forgotten much of themselves. Their culture, their civilization, their achievements…it has all been lost to them, like a dark cloud that hangs over their memories. Your forgetfulness is not uncommon, merely more severe than that of others - which is nothing to feel shame about. Not even the Turaga have full records of all that came before, and with each passing year a little more of our legend is worn away."
The Turaga gestured to the water. "But the ocean remembers. Like history, the water holds many secrets in its forbidden depths. It surrounds Mata Nui and covers it, guarding the island as the Great Spirit slumbers. It caught the Toa gently as they fell, and delivered them to us after a thousand years of patient prayer. Even the humans, outsiders from another world cast out by circumstances beyond their control, were granted reprieve and safe passage to our shores by its grace and mercy. It is both our legacy and our charge, giving both the storms that destroy us and the rains that nourish us. And when we are long gone, it will remain to tell our stories, just as it did for those who came before."
Takua felt Nokama's hand rest on his mask, rocking it back and forth in what was clearly an affectionate gesture.
"You, like the ocean, are an absolute in these uncertain times. Your past is forgotten, and your future is an empty book. I cannot tell you what your Destiny is, Takua - you must find it for yourself."
He sat on the pad in silence, pondering the elder's words as he watched his friend splash around in the water. So the other Turaga were just as clueless about his true nature as he was. In a way, that was oddly comforting - as was being compared to something as huge and unknowable as the ocean itself. While it had been their enemy the other day, now it was nothing but gentle and soothing, giving them a calm after the storm and nursing their wounded souls. He also didn't doubt Nokama's claims that it remembered the past, even if he didn't believe it was a thinking entity. The odd little Matoran knew that even now it was watching, listening, and remembering everything that happened on this island, recording the events with its waves and storing them in its depths.
Am I the same way? Takua wondered to himself as he kicked his tiny little yellow legs. Is that what my Destiny is? To be there for important events, and bear witness to them? To remember them, for when others forget? And is that why Vakama didn't tell me what I did, because it's a story I need to find for myself?
His musings were interrupted by the sound of splashing without gasping. He looked over to his odd friend, who was kicking and moving her arms to stay afloat even as her face stayed in the water. She didn't move very far and she didn't do it for very long, but it made him smile all the same.
After a few seconds of near-frantic paddling Penny gasped as she finally threw her head back and pushed it out of the water. Her hair was soaked and her eyes were red and puffy, but she still had a big triumphant smile on her face.
"I did it," she panted joyfully. "I did it! Takua, did you see that? Did you see me? I! Was! Swimming! I was actually swimming!"
"For about four seconds," clarified Hahli. "But hey, that's still four seconds longer than you could before!"
"Only because I had such an excellent teacher! Thank you so much, friend! I knew there was a reason Ruby spoke so highly of you!"
Penny scooped Hahli up out of the water and hugged her close, oblivious to the Ga-Matoran's squirming and wriggling. Takua laughed at the antics in front of him, yet even in his happy pride there was something else in his mind.
Resolve.
I may not know what my past is…but right now, my future is with her.
And in that moment, Takua swore that he would do everything possible to give Penny Polendina the best life he could.
The morning jungle air was silent and still.
Okay, that wasn't technically true - the jungle was never truly silent, and it never stayed still for very long. But Emerald couldn't think of any other way to describe the wind around her as she silently leapt from branch to branch, following the green-and-teal figures that guided her on either side. The mint-haired thief kept her breathing even and her bare arms close to her sides, keeping herself in an alert and agile mindset as she raced across the jungle canopy.
Despite her initial reluctance to learn how to "leaf-run," she couldn't deny how good it felt to lose herself in the parkour-like movements and moments as she slid down sturdy branches and swung across vines. She also couldn't deny just how quickly she'd picked up the basics, and how skilled she'd grown over the course of a single day. Part of it, she reasoned, came from her own naturally honed agility - after all, the life of both a thief and a Huntress with a hit-and-run combat style required her to be quick, sure-footed, and reactive. But the rest of it had to come from her teachers.
Matau was right. Tamaru, despite his eccentricities and fear of heights, quickly proved why he was considered the best leaf-runner in Le-Koro. The green-masked Matoran practically flowed from branch to vine to trunk and back again, often too fast for even her eyes to follow. Her other instructor, sweet little Radka, wasn't quite as adept as Tamaru, but she was still quicker and more agile than Emerald herself, and when the thieving teenager did slip and fall, it was Radka more often than not who caught her. While Tamaru had focused more on the practical side - which vines were sturdy enough to swing on, which branches had enough moss to slide across, et cetera - Radka was more of a spiritual coach, seemingly in tune with the natural rhythm of the jungle and instructing her to do the same.
"The trick to leaf-running is to be keen-aware of your surroundings," Tamaru had told her. "The branches and vines form natural way-paths within the jungle, flowing into each other like the great web of a Fikou-spider. If you're quick-fast and clear-eyed these connections will reveal themselves - often even as you move-swing and leap-dash! A master leaf-runner like myself can travel uptree for kios without ever touching ground-floor…which is just as well, because that is where the Makuta's Rahi-beasts most commonly lurk."
"Each tree-limb and branch-vine has its own beating heart-root," Radka had added. "Let your feet follow that heart-song, and they shall never steer you wrong."
Sure enough, Emerald found herself lost in the zone as a path through the canopy all but revealed itself to her, like a leyline guiding her through a world of clutter. A sturdy vine reached just far enough to let her leap onto an outstretched branch, which doubled as a springboard to further her jump. She pooled Aura around her feet to reduce the friction as she slid down a thick mossy branch, releasing the stored energy to propel herself at the branch's end. Her hands grabbed an outstretched tree limb and swung on it like monkey bars, her feet kicked off of vertical trunks to build up speed, and her body twisted in mid-air to squeeze through gaps in the foliage and grab the vine hidden from sight. Despite the danger of falling, and the fatigue building up alongside the friction burns on her fingers, a strange sensation came over her - and it took her a solid minute to realize what it was.
She was enjoying herself.
A grin spread across her face at the realization. When was the last time she did something fun for herself? Sure, messing with people at Cinder's command had been fun - or at least, she'd been conditioned to think so - but that was stuff she'd done under orders, to try and please a woman who she now realized never truly cared about her. The jungle was there, though, like a salve to her broken heart, and while Emerald's first venture had been miserable, she understood now that the hardship came from fighting against the growth and foliage instead of leaning into it and using it to guide her.
She still hated the bugs, though, who seemed to see her sweaty skin as free real estate. At least swatting them was almost instinctual at this point.
The massive tree that served as the foundation of Le-Koro loomed in her peripheral vision, which told her that her training was almost complete. Tamaru and Radka started triangle-jumping between parallel tree trunks to gain height; Emerald followed their lead and trailed behind them as they scaled over low-hanging branches and swung from overhead vines. She tumbled off a weakened perch with a yelp as she started falling, but she managed to catch herself with a reflexive throw of Thief's Respite. The hooked chain dug into the sturdy branch of a great tree, doubling as an anchor that let her swing and run along the side of its massive trunk.
"Flower-friend!" Radka called in alarm. "Are you alive-well?"
Emerald's grin brightened, and she let out a whoop of delight as she jumped at the apex of her improvised move.
"Suppose that answers that, then," said the Le-Matoran, pride in her voice.
The chain of Thief's Respite retracted and lashed out again and again, hooking into sturdy trees and giving her more height with each swing. Emerald let out another delighted laugh as she combined the leaf-running techniques with her own Huntress training, creating a new art of parkour on the spot that was truly and entirely hers. She soon caught up to Tamaru and Radka just as they leapt from their branches and landed with flips on Le-Koro's central platform; she joined them a moment later, rolling to absorb the impact and coming out in a three-point landing that made her halt.
Le-Koro erupted into cheers.
Emerald gasped as her breath struggled to catch up with the rest of her, wiping her brow and shaking off the sweat. Her heart threatened to burst out of her chest, but not from exertion - rather, it was practically swelling with pride and excitement. She looked at Matau, who nodded in approval. Then she looked at Radka and Tamaru, the former of whom was already darting over to hug her leg. Finally, she looked at Lewa, who had a grin that mirrored her own as he approached.
"Good work, sprout-leaf," said the Toa of Air with a proud laugh, reaching down and ruffling her hair. She made a show of wincing and pushing the green gauntlet away, but secretly she was pleased.
"So what's the plan now?" Emerald asked, doing her best to smooth out her mint-green hair and shake the affectionate little Le-Matoran off her leg.
Again, Lewa chuckled. "Plan? The plan is to seek-find the masks, defeat Makuta, and save Mata Nui." He suddenly frowned and cast a dirty look over to Matau. "Although the old mud-stick here says we should find the other Toa first…so much for the 'bringer of party-cheer.'"
The Turaga matched his taller counterpart's expression. "Your skill and strength are not in question, great Toa-Hero…but even with Emerald at your side, that may not be enough. I only urge you to meet-see your brothers, the ones with which you will awaken-save Mata Nui. It is your Destiny, after all - and you cannot leaf-run or wind-fly from that."
Lewa huffed. "Watch me. Come, sprout-leaf. Show me what you've learned - our time-stay here has ended."
With that pithy remark, the Toa of Air leapt off the platform and disappeared into the canopy. After casting an apologetic look at the Turaga - and giving a thankful bow to Radka and Tamaru - Emerald followed suit. It wasn't hard to follow Lewa, thanks to what she knew now…but she had a feeling that her larger friend wasn't too thrilled at the prospect of working with people other than her.
His pride and confidence are as big as the trees around here, she mused to herself. Let's just hope they don't come crashing down around him - or us.
Weiss Schnee gave another frustrated sigh as she paced the length of the Sanctum a fourth time, bare arms folded over her chest and heeled boots clicking and echoing through the icy chamber. After their battle in the Place of Far-Seeing, she and Kopaka had decided to come back to Ko-Koro, both to get some much-needed rest and to reconvene with Turaga Nuju. The sleep had been nice - except for all the times the white-haired Huntress dreamed of being with Ruby in romantic situations, which were only slightly less nerve-wracking than the nightmares of screaming and dying innocents - but morning had brought a new vision for the village elder, one that he saw fit to share with the Toa of Ice immediately. What frustrated Weiss was that Nuju wanted to speak to Kopaka and only Kopaka, and what she assumed would be a quick two-minute conversation was stretching into hours at this point.
Which brought her to where she was now: wandering around the Sanctum of Ko-Koro completely and utterly bored out of her mind.
She cast another gaze around the chamber, at the Ko-Matoran who sat reading the walls in complete silence. If she was being disruptive with her angry pacing, they hid it extremely well - they were all too busy poring over countless rows of circular letters, clearly understanding the words but not the meaning. This only added to Weiss's frustration; she was in a place where there were possibly miles of written word, likely the only such place that existed on Mata Nui, and she couldn't read any of it.
Maybe I should fix that, she thought to herself after another lap around the Sanctum. After all…if I'm going to be stuck here for however long the boys are talking, I might as well do something useful.
With her mind made up she spun on her heel and approached one of the gray-masked scribes, one that seemed familiar to her. "Excuse me. Sonya, was it?"
"...shall one day journey to the daggers of death, and challenge the - hmm?" The Ko-Matoran looked away from her section of the wall and stared up at Weiss, head tilting for a moment before she blinked in recognition. "Oh, hello. You're the Huntress that travels with Kopaka. I remember you…how can I help you?"
"Well, if you don't mind, and if you're not too terribly busy…" The white-haired Huntress pulled out her Scroll and expanded it, opening a note-taking program on the multi-functional device. "I was wondering if it would be possible to learn the Matoran language. Or at the very least, learn how to read it. If it's not too much trouble, of course."
Sonya blinked again, then laughed softly. "It's no trouble at all, traveler. I suppose such knowledge would be useful to you…and you won't find a better teacher than a scribe, nor a better medium for learning than the Wall of Prophecy."
"That's kind of what I was thinking," said Weiss with a smile of her own. She pointed to one section. "Let's start here, with this sentence you were reading earlier. We can use it to start with the translation."
The scribe hummed, then blinked. "Ah, an excellent passage. It has every letter we use in our alphabet - all twenty-six of them."
The heiress grinned. "What a coincidence. Ours has twenty-six as well. Can you tell me what it says?"
Sonya nodded. "Of course. It says, 'Six brave Matoran, of quick mind and zealous spirit, shall one day journey to the daggers of death and challenge the puppets of Makuta with energy from a star.'"
Weiss tilted her head. "Well, that sounds ominous. What does it mean?"
"I have no idea," admitted Sonya. "Nuju's visions are often…fragmented, and unclear. Much of our time here in the Sanctum is spent studying them, so that we may better understand what is to come…and how to prepare for it."
"Doesn't that sound a little…self-defeating, though?" mused Weiss. "If you know something bad is going to happen, wouldn't you rather not know about it, so you don't have time to dread it? And wouldn't trying to prevent that bad thing just make it happen anyways?"
"Possibly," said the scribe with a shrug. "But knowing that there is a future after a troubling event is comforting, in its own way. And avoiding Destiny is never the intention - we only seek to understand it, so that we may do what is necessary to accomplish it. Regardless, I think this passage should suit our needs for learning the language. What words do you wish to learn first?"
Weiss hummed, then pointed at the first word. "Let's start from the top. You said this means 'six, right? So then…this must be an S…"
The next few hours were spent carefully translating and repeating, with Weiss drawing circular runes onto her Scroll and typing the corresponding letter underneath them. Most of the letters followed a similar pattern of shapes within a circle, such as an A being represented by a dot in the lower hemisphere of the circle while an X featured two crossing lines within the orb. Some letters were quite similar to each other, like how Bs were drawn with two vertical dots while an S had those same dots at an angle. Others were more esoteric and strange, - a pair of vertical lines with two dots between them formed an H, and Vs were drawn like Xs with one extra dot above the intersecting lines. Weiss noticed that if she squinted, she could almost make out what most of the letters said just based on their shape, though she still had to consult her notes for most of the consonants.
So the language everyone speaks is mostly like ours, and only the proper names and titles are in a language I don't understand, she thought to herself. I wonder why that is. Do they not remember enough Matoran to speak it fluently? Is it similar to how most of the old Atlesian languages fell out of use, and only really get used for naming things?
Anthropology-related musings aside, she finally looked down at her completed "cheat sheet" with pride. She turned to Sonya for permission to put it into practice, who nodded with a smile behind her mask. The heiress rose to her feet and started pacing along the walls, looking for passages to translate and humming as she kept consulting her notes. Punctuation and sentence structure mostly seemed to follow her own language's rules, and while there wasn't any physical distinction between uppercase and lowercase, proper names and the starts of sentences had circles that were slightly larger than the ones on either side.
"Okay, pretty sure I've got it now," she said after another hour or so. Weiss looked at the wall, then to her newly-drawn cipher. "I think this one says…'beware the Bohrok.' And that one says 'fear the mask of Time.'" Her smile faded as she kept reading. "...and this one says that ruin will come to the city under the sea, besieged by the fearsome okay seriously does this stupid wall ever have any good news?!"
Sonya laughed aloud, smiling under her mask. "Here. Read this one, I think you'll enjoy it. Nuju had this vision just yesterday - I transcribed it myself."
The former heiress peered at the section of text that the scribe pointed out, expecting to read something about a giant dragon eating the world. But after translating the newly-carved string of circles, her heart warmed.
The Huntresses shall find each other safe under the guard of the mighty Toa, and reunite with love and warmth in their hearts.
"...he saw us?" Weiss asked, faintly blushing.
"The future holds many things, both good and ill," intoned Sonya. "It's easy to see only shadows on the horizon…but if you search deeply enough, you will always find light when you need it most."
Doing her best to keep a stiff upper lip, Weiss saved the notes and switched to the image gallery on her Scroll, pulling up a photo she'd gazed at so many times: team RWBY on the docks of Vale, tired from stopping Roman Torchwick's latest plot yet triumphant all the same. The setting sun bathed the girls (and the corgi) in warm amber light, dust and rubble clung to their clothes, and the gentle waters lapped softly at the pier. She stared at the picture for a good long moment, letting the memory wash over her as a single tear slipped down her cheek.
You will always find light when you need it most.
She hugged her own little light to her chest, eagerly waiting for the promised reunion.
"That's it, big guy! Keep your hands up just like that! Don't let me move 'em!"
Sweat clung to Yang's forehead as she pounded her fists against Tahu's outstretched palms, the massive red gauntlet on the Toa's left hand forming a perfect focus mitt for the blond brawler. She threw a rapid flurry of jabs and hooks against the trapezoid of metal, then finished with an overhead cross that nearly made her sparring partner buckle under the force. Servos whined in protest as they fought against her, but Tahu kept his stance wide and his gauntlet steady under her relentless assault. The morning sun shone on them both as they sparred in the rolling grasslands of inland Ga-Wahi, ephemeral dew still clinging to long blades of green in the early hours.
"Nice, nice," praised the Huntress even as she kept up the barrage of punches. "Good form, good stance. Keep at it!"
Tahu raised an eyebrow under his mask. "I still fail to see what the purpose of this exercise is," he said in a voice that burned like the flames he commanded. "How does this benefit either of us?"
"It builds up muscle mass," panted Yang, throwing a tricky three-hit combo of jabs and uppercuts. "You might have the Mask of Strength now, but there's no substitute for getting stronger the old-fashioned way. Plus, it helps me keep in form, too. So really, we both win in this situation. I get better at punching, you get better at blocking."
"Perhaps," intoned Tahu as he moved his hand-shield to intercept the wild hooks. "Would it not be more efficient to use the Mask of Shielding, though?"
"Can't protect you from everything." Yang kept beating her fists against the gauntlet. "Remember how you got grabbed yesterday? One of those Hikaki snuck around and struck you from behind… like this!"
The blonde brawler suddenly leapt to the side and rolled around her opponent's flank, rising to her feet and flowing into a powerful uppercut. Tahu spun around and crossed his arms just in time, absorbing the impact of the metal gauntlet with little more than a grunt of discomfort. Then the Toa of Fire swung his arms back out and smacked her in the face, sending her flying across the grassy knoll and crashing against the side of the hill.
Ow.
"Little flame! Are you well?"
Yang grinned as she looked back at the worried Toa. "Hah, see? You're getting faster and stronger already! And 'little flame,' huh? Is that a nickname I heard from you? A term of endearment?"
Tahu's momentary concern faded from his crimson eyes, and irritation replaced it. "...I was merely caught off guard, is all. It would be…a burden on future fights if you were injured during training."
With a soft laugh she rolled out of the Yang-shaped outline in the tall grass, crossing her legs and resting her chin in her hands. "Aww, that's so cute! The big bad Tahu does care about me!"
"I said no such thing."
"C'moooon, admit it! You're warming up to me!"
"I refuse."
"No need to get so heated, big guy!"
"This conversation is over."
Laughing to herself again, Yang rolled her head to the side and spotted a natural waterfall flowing into a clear spring. Her grin widened at the sight of a body of water that wasn't from the sea - her hair hated salt water. She wasn't sure how long it had been since her last bath, only that it had been far too long.
"...I'm gonna go for a dip under those falls over there," she said, eyes lighting up. "Care to join me?"
Tahu followed her gaze and stared at the pool with a frown behind his mask. "Go ahead, but I will pass. The water and I have…disagreements."
Yang shrugged and ran full tilt at the fresh spring, shedding most of her clothes with reckless abandon and plunging into the cool waters. In contrast to the grimy seas and its salt, the spring felt clean and pure and it welcomed her into its depths as she swam down on a single breath. When she reached the bottom she curled up into a ball and smiled to herself, feeling the tickle of bubbles rushing past her as her golden hair floated around her like wings.
It was a wonderful feeling, especially after the stifling heat of Ta-Koro.
She just wished Blake was there to share it with her.
I wish Yang was here. Or anyone, really.
That was all Blake could think to herself as she slashed at another trio of tiny little scorpions, the cleaver-sheath of Gambol Shroud easily slicing through red-orange metallic chitin. The Rahi attacking them - the Kofo-Jaga, according to Whenua - weren't a threat when they attacked alone, as their small size and tiny stingers couldn't do much against something as large as her. No, what made them dangerous was just how many there were, and how easily they swarmed over anything that moved. One Kofo-Jaga sting left a searing burn even through her Aura. A dozen made her skin start to sizzle. And a hundred? Blake wasn't sure she wanted to find out, but she could only imagine it would feel like burning alive.
Still, the feline Faunus managed as best she could.
She held a small chunk of Ice Dust in her palm as she pulsed her Semblance, leaving behind a frozen copy of herself that the Kofo-Jaga began swarming. When enough of them began attacking the decoy she pooled her Aura into her blade, swinging it and sending a slash of pure energy flying from the sharpened edge. The wave of violet crashed into the statue, shattering it into a storm of icy shrapnel and sending scorpions showering everywhere. While many of the tiny fiery bugs fell, even more came to replace them; Blake grit her teeth and loosed a few more Aura Slashes to keep them at bay, keeping one eye on her Scroll to monitor her reserves.
Knew there was a reason I stopped using these, she thought with a frown as the green bar under her picture faded to yellow. They're powerful but inefficient, and not really necessary when a bullet does the same thing. But I don't have the other half of Gambol Shroud right now - so if I want to use ranged attacks, I'll just have to tough it out and watch my Aura levels.
She backflipped to avoid another surge of brave little Kofo-Jaga, dropping another Shadow in her wake. Her eyes darted over to Onua, who was using his massive claws to sweep away huge crowds of scorpions with mighty swipes. The Toa of Earth's metallic frame protected him from the worst of the stings, but even he seemed to buckle and hiss despite his attempts to hide the pain. Whatever venom the Rahi were using, it was clearly taking its toll on him.
"You holding up okay over there?" Blake called as she sliced a leaping scorpion in half.
Onua let out a rumbling chuckle, slamming another creature into the dirt. "I am well, for now. What about you?"
"Doing alright," she said simply with another slash. "Might be tough if a few more show up, though."
A column of rising earth erupted in front of the Toa, crushing a few Kofo-Jaga against the ceiling. "Then let us hope that their numbers are running thin. I would hate to make this trip a bother for - eugh!"
"Onua!"
Too late, the Faunus watched as a half-dozen of the mechanical menaces dropped from the roof of the tunnel and latched onto the Toa's back, driving their stingers and pinchers into the vulnerable gearbox of his shoulders. He dropped to his knees in a loud groan, trying to grab the stinging monsters and failing. The swarm seemed to chitter and chatter in delight, moving to converge on the downed Toa of Earth as the green light in his eyes flickered and dulled.
"Oh no you don't! Hold on, Onua!"
Blake took off at a full sprint and leapt to assist, summoning a Shadow underfoot to use as both a stepping stone and a springboard. The swarm pivoted to attack the ephemeral decoy, giving her enough time to deal with the latchers. She took out two of the little bugs in a single spinning slash, bounced off another copy of herself to grab onto Onua's backplate, and kicked off another pair of scorpions as they hissed and screeched. Her free hand grabbed a Kofo-Jaga and pried it off before flinging it away; the last Rahi had just enough time to snap at her before its stinger was lopped off with one swift cleave, along with its claws, its legs, and its head.
"Onua? Onua! Come on, wake up! The fight's not over yet!"
To her immense relief, the Toa of Earth's eyes flared back to life and he rose to his feet with a mechanical groan, steam hissing through the side vents of his mask. With a nod of thanks to the Huntress on his shoulders he reared back both his arms, letting out a guttural roar as he slammed his fists against the ground. Immediately a seismic tremor went through the entire tunnel, shaking the walls and ceiling and every single Kofo-Jaga that chittered in sudden terror. After a moment of rumbling and quaking the stone finally collapsed, raining down rocks and rubble on the scorpions and crushing them under several tons of falling stone.
When the dust finally settled, the only sounds that echoed through the tunnels were the heavy breathing of the Toa and the Huntress as they inspected their wounds.
Onua was the first to find his voice after a moment of panting. "Thank you, Blake."
"Don't mention it," she replied with a tight nod. Then she cast her amber eyes over the caved-in length of tunnel. "Well…guess we won't be going back that way."
"Perhaps it is for the best," sighed the Toa of Earth. "I see now why the Matoran abandoned this road…wild Ussal crabs and Peka cave bats were one thing, but the Kofo-Jaga are a threat even to us. Doubly so, under Makuta's influence." He frowned under his mask. "To think that the people of Onu-Koro - my people - have suffered constant attacks from these monsters in my absence…"
Blake hummed and put a hand on her companion's shoulder. "To quote a very important friend of mine…that's why we're here. To make it better."
Onua chuckled softly, his smile returning. "Yes…yes, that is correct. Your friend must be quite wise indeed."
"She has her moments," answered Blake with a small smile of her own. She checked the map on her Scroll, making a little mark on the screen with her finger. "Kini-Nui's not far now. The tunnel exit should be just around the corner."
The Toa of Earth nodded and moved to set her down, before stopping when she hissed in pain.
"Blake?"
She clutched her burning ankle, sucking in air through her teeth as her nerves felt like they were bursting into flames. One of those damn scorpions must have gotten a lucky sting through her Aura, and it was only when she tried putting pressure on the leg did she realize the wound was there.
"I'm fine," she lied, just before another wave of pain proved her wrong. "Er…I will be, soon as my Aura heals the sting. It's a little low right now, but it should come back as I'm walking. Just gotta…just gotta tough it out."
Blake made it all of four stumbling steps before falling to her knees in another sharp cry. Dammit! She was so close to the temple…so close to seeing the others…so close to seeing her…she just had to keep going. Had to power through this stupid wound…
She was just about to rise to her feet again when she felt a pair of claws gently scoop her up and lift her into the air. Blake looked up and saw Onua staring down at her, catching a glimpse of a gentle smile shining through his mask. The massive mechanical hands - which she'd seen tear apart Kofo-Jaga mere moments before - handled her with the utmost care as the Toa of Earth cradled her in his arms, just like her own father had done when she was little more than a kitten.
Looks like some things are universal, she thought to herself.
"Please, do not put undue stress on yourself. Allow me to walk for both of us," he said, and his tone of voice made it clear this plan was not up for debate.
Blake made a show of rolling her eyes and huffing, but nevertheless settled in for the ride as the Toa of Earth began trekking through the tunnels once more. It wasn't the most comfortable trip, what with Onua being made of more metal than muscle, but it was less painful than walking on her own - not to mention how safe she felt in the grasp of her giant armored ally.
He must be eager to see his fellow Toa, she reasoned as she instinctively curled up in Onua's claws. Maybe even just as eager as I am to see the others.
The Faunus let out a silent sigh.
I just hope they all found a friend like I did, too.
"Are you ready back there, little one?"
The beautiful sapphire surface flowed and splashed against Gali's buoyant armored frame, a calm contrast to the golden-red sky that was bathed in fading daylight. She looked over her shoulder and watched as Ruby breathed slowly and deeply, tightening her grip on the Toa of Water as the pair floated on a gentle roll of the tide. She could tell that the silver-eyed Huntress was nervous about the coming experience, but did her best to keep the fear in check. While saving Ga-Koro had restored some of her confidence in herself, the human still feared the ocean on some instinctive level, shying away from its depths and letting out a nervous little whimper anytime a wave splashed too close.
It was Gali's hope that diving with Ruby in the open sea would dispel some of that anxiety.
"Y-yeah," said her passenger after a moment, shifting her bare arms slightly. "Ready as I'll ever be."
The Toa of Water nodded gently. "Take a deep breath. Fill first your lower lungs, then your chest. If you feel yourself running out of air, tap three times against my mask. I will return to the surface at once."
Ruby nodded with a small shudder, then did as instructed. Once she was done Gali activated the power of her mask, arched her body to push herself straight into the sea, and the pair disappeared under the surface with little more than a splash.
An endless expanse of blue opened up before them, extending an invitation that the cobalt-armored warrior could not turn down. Gali kicked with both her legs and dove downwards into the new world, setting her crystal-clear sights on a small section of seabed forty bios down that teemed with biomechanical life. The waters seemed to part for her as she surged forward, inviting her deeper into its depths even while she raced with blinding speed.
How fortunate I was to arrive with the Mask of Water-Breathing, she thought to herself as bubbles rushed through the gap between her face and her mask. I could not possibly imagine exploring the ocean's majesty without it.
"Mmmbl!"
A sudden sense of folly washed over Gali as she felt a tiny hand furiously rap its knuckles against her visor. She turned to see Ruby clutching her throat and shaking her head fervently, bubbles spilling out of her lips and nose as she squeezed her eyes shut. With an understanding nod the Toa held the Huntress close to her chest as she rapidly ascended, crossing the blue expanse in only a few seconds and breaching the surface just after turning off her mask power.
"Ruby?" Gali looked down at the human girl in her arms, who was coughing and gagging. "What happened?"
"Too fast," spat Ruby as she shook her head with a sputter. "You went down too fast and my head got all fuzzy, and I did that thing where I pinched my nose and blew until my ears popped but I almost lost my grip and I panicked and I just…ugh…I'm sorry…"
Gali laughed softly, raising her hand to block an incoming ocean wave. "That is quite alright. You have my apologies as well - I did not realize your kind were so sensitive to the rapidly-shifting depths. Clear your throat, and we will try again when you are ready. I will go slower this time, to give you time to acclimate to the pressure changes. Do you think you will have enough air to reach that shelf I saw?"
The silver-eyed Huntress ran her hand over her face, sputtering one final time. "I think so…yeah. Long as you're the one doing the swimming, I should be fine."
After taking a few more experimental breaths, Ruby inhaled deeply and gave another nod to the Toa of Water before they slipped underwater again.
When the clear blue seas greeted them once more Gali fought the urge to swim as fast as possible, instead pausing every few kicks to glance back at her passenger. At each stop Ruby pinched her nose shut with one hand and blew air out her ears, before flashing a thumbs-up to the Toa of Water to signal that she was ready. It took four such stops before the sea shelf finally came within reach…and then the Huntress frantically tapped her mask again, pointing up to the surface as a ripple of bubbles burst out of her lips.
"Okay…maybe not that slow," wheezed Ruby once they were floating with the waves once more. She looked down with a guilty expression. "Sorry…I'm terrible at this…"
The Toa of Water gave another soft laugh, her hand leaving the water to brush against Ruby's cheek. "You have nothing to apologize for, little one. This entire exercise is intended to make you comfortable in the water, not me. I know that you fear the ocean, and you have every reason to do so…but it is my wish to show you that it is full of life and wonder, as I see it. If you can make it to that sea shelf, I believe you will know this for yourself."
Ruby nuzzled into the blue metallic palm for a moment, before looking up and nodding determinedly. "I'm ready this time."
Gali nodded once more, and after the Huntress filled her lungs as deeply as she could the two women dove together once more.
This time, the open ocean seemed to beckon to them both. The Toa of Water's entire body kicked and flowed through her domain at a speed that she hoped would be comfortable for Ruby. A quick tap on her mask made her look back in concern, expecting to see the Huntress furiously signaling for air. What she saw instead was her friend doing that same equalization gesture, pinching her nose before giving a big happy smile. Gali smiled back, then continued diving down at that same pace, grateful to have found a happy medium for the little human on her back. She allowed Ruby to set the pace of their dive, pausing her kicks each time she felt a single knock on the left side of her visor and continuing when another one rang out on her right.
The sea shelf came into visual range a moment later, and a quick peek over her shoulder told Gali that sure enough, the little Huntress was utterly entranced.
She had to smile to herself as Ruby pulled away from her back to swim just a little bit closer, keeping one hand on the Toa of Water's wrist to stop herself from drifting away. The Huntress's other hand gripped the edge of the shelf, giving her enough leverage to lean until she was nearly face-to-face with the sea shelf's vibrant surface. It would seem that her earlier fears were almost entirely forgotten - not that Gali could blame her, for this elevated section of the ocean floor truly was a marvelous display.
Mechanical fish wove through tangled growths of clear green seaweed and tube-like anemone, swimming in patterns no one but them understood. Huge stalks of verdant kelp stretched for kios to the distant seafloor below, with their seeds along the stalks faintly glowing with amber light. A steel-finned Takea shark stalked the waters with large bulbous eyes, recognizing the power of the Toa and swimming closer in curiosity. Ruby stared in wonder at the sleek predator as it approached, reaching out her hand and brushing her fingers against its dorsal fin for a moment before the shark suddenly darted away.
Silver eyes widened in delight as Ruby turned to face Gali, gripping both hands in her own as she bubbled and chattered excitedly. Her words may have been lost to the sea, but her excitement was clear all the same - as was the sudden embarrassment when she clutched her throat with a sheepish smile. With a grin of her own Gali kicked once again, pulling the silly little Huntress along as they ascended to the surface.
"Pwah! Ack!" Ruby sputtered with a slight cough, then her eyes went wide with excitement again. "Oh my gods that was so cool! Did you see how close that big one got? Did you see me touch it!? I actually touched the shark!"
"Indeed you did!" said Gali, still smiling behind her mask. "Well done, Ruby. It would seem to me that you have found the courage to face your fear of the seas, and conquer them. For this, I am glad - the ocean is a magnificent place, one where I could easily spend hours admiring its beauty. I am happy that you can see it the same way...though it is a shame that your kind cannot hold their breath for very long."
Ruby scoffed and spat out a mouthful of seafoam, though her smile still remained. "Well, gee, I'm sorry. We can't all be born with magic masks that let us breathe underwater, Gali," she said in mock exasperation.
She laughed in response. "True. But not all of us possess the ability to transform into petals and propel ourselves at high speed." The Toa of Water reached up and lightly tousled some of her Huntress's wet hair, earning a giggle and a playful push. "But do not worry about that. We all are given different gifts by the Great Spirits, all in service of the same goal. Unity fosters Duty, Duty leads to Destiny, and shared Destiny brings others together in Unity - all are intertwined."
"Makes sense to me!" Ruby beamed. "Although personally I think it'd be cooler if your mask let you send out a sonar pulse that doubled as a sonic attack. Or if it let you take on the different abilities of nearby sea creatures." Her eyes widened once again. "Ooh! Or if you could summon a huuuuuuge fish to attack on your command! That would be awesome!"
The Toa of Water tilted her head to the side. "Hmm? How would that work?"
The silver-eyed Huntress began animatedly splashing. "It'd be perfect. Just picture this - you're staring down Makuta and he's all like 'muahahahaha you cannot stop me! I rule this island and all its Rahi!' And then you trigger your mask, maybe saying something cool like 'Not all of them, you big creep! Come to me, fishy friend!' And the fish would come flying out of the water and be all 'BWOOOOAAAAAAGH' as it comes in for a massive belly flop! And Makuta would be all like 'ohhh noooooo please have mercyyyyyy aaaaahbleugughvhgluhhhhhh…"
Gali laughed as Ruby melodramatically sank back into the sea, rewarding her with another playful headpat once she kicked back up. "That certainly would be useful, and I do not doubt that masks with such powers exist elsewhere. Regardless, now that you are comfortable in the sea it would be best to seek out the Kanohi that we know for certain are here, and from there we can..."
The Toa of Water trailed off mid-sentence as a sudden and strange sensation came over her. Her head spun so fast it nearly flew off its joint as she snapped her gaze back to the island, her yellow-gold eyes suddenly flashing blue for a moment.
"Huh? Hey Gali, is everything okay?" Ruby asked, reaching forward to put a hand on her shoulder. "What is it?"
"I…do not know," she answered, as though her mind were elsewhere. "It feels as if…something calls to me. I sense an energy that is both familiar, yet foreign…but I cannot say for certain."
An image flashed across her eyes, one of a great temple carved out of beautiful sandstone with four large arches and a large central courtyard. She wasn't sure if it was a memory from the past, a glimpse of the future, or something in-between. All she knew was that she had to go there. Something in her compelled her to seek out the temple whose name floated within her mind.
"Kini-Nui…" she murmured. "We…we must go to Kini-Nui."
Ruby tilted her head as she stared across the horizon to Mata Nui's distant shores, then nodded and mounted her back again.
"Alright! To Kini-Nui, then! Although…I think I know a faster way to get there instead of swimming, if you're up for a little experimenting."
"Do tell, little one." Gali blinked and fought the urge to blindly dive.
"You can stand on the water's surface, right?" Ruby asked, to which the Toa of Water nodded.
"And you can control the waves of the sea?" Another nod.
The silver-eyed Huntress grinned. "What if you did both at the same time?"
Beneath her mask, Gali mirrored her friend's smile as she realized what she was proposing.
I knew there was a reason I was drawn to you, Ruby Rose.
(A/N): Hmm...now isn't that mysterious. Wonder what's going on at Kini-Nui?...
Anyways! I've mentioned that I've tried to keep a backlog of chapters for this story, so that I have something to post every week. Weeeeeelll...sadly, this is the last chapter of that backlog. Sorry! The next chapter is about 50% written at this point, but I've started to feel a little bit of burnout from writing almost nonstop for the last few months, so progress has been a lot slower than I thought it would be. I'll try to get it ready for release next Friday, but no promises!
In any case, thanks so much for reading, and I'll see you all next time! Stay safe, stay sane, and keep being awesome!