Author's Notes: …Christmas vacation's only half-over, yet I'm already feeling the dreaded grasp of exams. Ugh. I actually cracked open my science binder today, and was dismayed to find that I didn't get anything. Oh boy.

So… yeah. Still thinking of dropping this, but I already had this chapter half-written, and decided to finish it out of lack of anything better to do. Hey, it was already half-done, so might as well, huh?

Disclaimer: Don't own W.I.T.C.H. or Bionicle.

Toa Kopaka Nuva peered out from behind the energized antidermis bars of the cell he and his fellow Toa Nuva shared. A most curious usage of antidermis, to be sure, and it was something Avak thought up only a few days ago.

Kopaka scowled at the sneering blue and gold Titan, Brutaka, who seemed to find it amusing. A bit further back, Zaktan was sitting on a chair and leaning on a table, engraving something Kopaka couldn't see into it. Zaktan paid no attention to the Toa.

Behind him, Kopaka heard the voices of the other Toa Nuva as they quietly discussed. He caught a few words.

"Tahu, we're weak… stand a chance… wouldn't make it far…" said Onua.

Tahu snapped back at him. "Well, would you rather we sit here and do nothing?" he flared.

Pohatu sighed and held him back, and Gali tried to calm him down.

"Tahu, please, don't blame Onua, he speaks the truth."

The Fire Toa muttered something Kopaka didn't catch.

The Toa of Ice squinted at Brutaka before turning around and walking back to join the other Toa. "Tahu! Where do you get off being so reckless?"

The other Toa glared back at him. "Oh, so now all of a sudden you care about what we're saying? Why don't you go back into your little corner and stare at Brutaka, Kopaka? You seem to be spending a lot of time doing that lately!"

Kopaka was taken aback for a moment, but he wasn't going to let Tahu better him. Hotheaded idiot… "What are you implying, Tahu? It's not like you've found some way to get us out of here!"

Tahu shook off Gali who had grabbed his arm, afraid that he would try something he might later regret. "Well, at least I'm trying! You're just staring at the enemy! And I have formulated a plan! Just that Onua here won't agree with me!"

The Earth Toa blinked a few times. "But-"

"My, my, not planning an escape, are we?"

Kopaka, along with the other Toa, turned around to find Brutaka sniggering at them. They had also attracted unwanted attention from Zaktan, who had paused his writing on the table to raise an interested eyebrow at them. The Piraka looked puzzled.

The Titan, however, was just laughing at them.

Kopaka frowned disapprovingly at this. He didn't like being laughed at; no one did. Except this time, he wasn't in any situation to object. Instead, he turned his back and retreated to one of the far corners of the room and sat down.

Tahu had followed his every movement. The Toa of Ice gazed at him coolly with calm pale blue eyes, challenging him to say something first. He almost managed to, as Tahu took a step towards him and opened his mouth to retort, when Gali put her hand on his shoulder. "Tahu. Now's not the time for this. You can sort out your differences later."

He hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly stepped back. Dismissing Kopaka from him mind, he walked over to rejoin his brothers and started to talk to Onua in a low tone.

Gali, relived that Tahu had actually listened to her, then turned to Kopaka. "I really wouldn't get on his nerves if I were you. He's been… different lately."

Kopaka shook his head. "Of course. We're being caged like Rahi, Gali."

"…You don't think he'll… nevermind."

Kopaka wouldn't let her off the hook so easily though. "What? What were you going to say?"

"Just… when you mentioned Rahi, it made me think of Vakama and, well, what happened to him. You don't think Tahu's… losing it, do you?" she asked uncertainly, her deep yellow eyes filled with concern.

Concern for him. Kopaka sank within his shell, giving her a hard, cold stare before looking the opposite direction, not answering her question.

If Gali was hurt or discontented in any way, she didn't comment about it. She stalked away silently, leaving Kopaka alone in his corner. Alone. He always seemed to end up alone. Maybe it was his fault for pushing everyone away. A part of him had hoped Gali would have stayed with him. He shook away the thought. Whatever.

&&&

Onua shrank back uncertainly from the fuming Tahu. The Toa of Fire slumped down against the wall and grunted. His vibrant red eyes glared at no one in particular. Onua's gaze dropped to the ground until Gali rejoined them.

Tahu then spoke. "So, Onua, if you won't tunnel us out of here, what do you propose we do?" The Toa of Earth could see that their leader was struggling to remain calm. He had a dangerous edge in his voice.

Onua hesitated before saying, "Well, Tahu, I… I'm not really sure, but trying to tunnel out of here isn't… the brightest idea you've ever had. No offense, really, just that-"

"So you're on Kopaka's side?"

Onua winced and his gaze momentarily strayed to the Ice Toa, sitting in a corner staring at the wall. "Well, no Tahu-"

"What then?" Tahu spat. Then, he shook his head. "Never mind Onua. You don't have to pretend to agree with me or anything." He turned to the other Toa, who were visibly as uncomfortable as Onua. "And you guys?"

Lewa chuckled sheepishly. "Well, firespitter understand if Toa-hero Lewa quickspeed disagree… right?"

Pohatu nudged him roughly. "Idiot…"

Lewa protested. "Lewa only truthsay! Pohatu-friend doesn't need to hit-hurt!"

Tahu sighed miserably and turned to Gali, who was standing over his shoulder. "You?"

The Toa of Water seemed uneasy and hesitated, trying to find some way to word what she was really thinking. "Tahu, you have to understand-"

Tahu cut her off by standing up abruptly. "I understand. Side with Kopaka, will you? Fine."

The Toa of Earth fidgeted. "Tahu, look, your plan seems a bit… inefficient."

The Toa of Fire spun around vividly. "Inefficient? Why don't you just say it, Onua? My plan seems stupid to you!"

"Well, when you calculatethink of riskdanger then, yeah, firespitter's plan badstupid."

"Lewa!" Pohatu groaned, exasperated.

The Toa of Air shrugged. "Lewa truthsay."

&&&

Zaktan frowned at the Toa, five of whom were arguing quietly in a corner, and the Toa of Ice was muttering quietly to himself in the opposite corner.

The Air Piraka had always found their behavior strange. How the Ice Piraka always seemed isolated reminded him of Thok. He wondered where he'd run off to. All the other Piraka seemed to have disappeared somewhere.

He turned back to the table, on which words written in the Matoran tongue could be seen. He fingered the sharp rock in his hand for a moment, before using it to cross out everything he had written. Like that would ever work.

Brutaka laughed harshly. Zaktan snarled. He didn't like the Titan, but he had offered to help them. He didn't like any of the other Piraka either, for that matter, but he tolerated them. To a certain extent, anyways.

&&&

Gali sighed. Lewa was so childish sometimes. Still, he did have a point, though she wished he wouldn't say it in such a hurtful way.

She was reminded of Brutaka's presence when he laughed. It sounded more like he was choking, but she'd gotten used to hearing that sound. Brutaka watched them night and day, most of the time accompanied with one of the Piraka. But he was always there, not as a jailer, but for his own entertainment. She felt his eyes on the back of her head, and did her best to ignore him.

"Leave Lewa alone, Pohatu! He's telling me the truth, and that's what I want to hear. Not these sugar-coated words of comfort you all give me!" raged Tahu, swinging his arms around wildly for emphasis.

Lewa crossed his arms smugly.

Kopaka's voice, icy cold, reached them. "What is it, Tahu? You think you could scream any louder?"

The Toa of Water flinched. "Tahu, don't listen to him…" she muttered.

The Toa of Fire didn't react to her comment, however, and simply leaned on the wall, staring at Kopaka. "Maybe."

Brutaka prevented what might have been a heated fight between the two by cutting in. "Hey! What's your name? Yeah, you there, the red one."

Tahu narrowed his eyes. "What's it to you?"

"You're fun to watch. The way you walk around arguing with the white one." answered the Titan.

"But he's stubborn too."

Vezok was standing at the doorway, an angry expression on his face. "I've been taking a walk when a Toa of Earth flew overhead. So I came here. Now, Tahu," he pronounced his name with such contempt, "I hope you have some answers for me."

Zaktan stood up suddenly, knocking over his chair. "What are you talking about, Vezok? Earth Toa don't fly!" he spat. "You've gone mad! Just like Vezon!"

Vezok's normally blue complexion turned into a faint shade of red. "Don't. You. Ever. Mention. Vezon. Again." he growled dangerously between gritted teeth.

Zaktan growled right back at him. "Why not? You jealous of Vezon because he's smarter than you?"

"That's my intelligence!"

"Well it's Vezon's now!"

"I told you to never mention him again!"

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Argh!" Vezon pounced on Zaktan, who exploded into billion of tiny green microbes. The Water Piraka caught nothing, as the protodites easily evaded him and instead he crashed face first into a wall. Behind him, the green protodites slowly fused together to form Zaktan's familiar form once more. The Air Piraka was laughing hysterically.

"Too slow, Vezok." he taunted.

&&&

The Titan was amused. And why wouldn't he be, with the entertainment provided by both the captive Toa and the enraged Piraka. But after a couple of minutes, even the snarling Piraka grew boring.

He stepped forward and placed a powerful hand on Vezok's weapon wielding arm, preventing him from striking Zaktan, whilst his other arm was placed in front of Zaktan to act as a barrier. "Stop fighting. This flying Earth Toa sounds most interesting. I want to hear about him."

Zaktan reluctantly backed down as Vezok's breathing slowed and eventually became steady and even.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Toa Nuva leaning forwards to hear the Water Piraka.

"Yeah, well, he was flying. Dark armor, just like that of a typical Onu-Toa. He had a Zamor Sphere Launcher hoisted on his shoulder. Don't ask me where he got it though, but it's certainly more advanced than the ones we have." He looked down at his Zamor Launcher, disgusted. "I should get Avak to build new ones," he muttered to himself.

"That all you have to say?" asked Brutaka.

"No, no. He was… taller than the Toa Nuva. Impressive actually. I bet he's strong enough to take Reidak on." he said with a sneer.

Zaktan growled. "Just who's side are you on?"

Vezok laughed. "Your's, of course. It was just a remark. Anyways, he had this really ugly looking mask on. He had a heavy looking weapon too. Makes the ones Avak built us look like toothpicks," he commented.

Brutaka smacked him over the back of his head. "Shut up about Avak, idiot. You're supposed to be talking about the Earth Toa. Did you get his name?"

"No, but he was looking down and said, 'You see anything Hewkii?'. I think he was talking to a companion or something of his."

&&&

From behind the threatening antidermis bars, Pohatu reeled back in shock. The other Toa Nuva turned to him, confused. Hewkii… what in Mata Nui is he doing here?

Onua frowned. "You okay, Pohatu? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

The Toa of Stone smiled nervously. "The Piraka did say Hewkii, right?" he asked, hoping he had heard wrong.

Onua averted his gaze. "Yes… and the chances of there being another Hewkii are very slim. It's your Kohlii Champion, Pohatu."

Kopaka walked over to them, shaking his head. "The Turaga told us that they wouldn't tell any of the Matoran that we were gone."

Gali shrugged. "On the other hand, they also said that they wouldn't tell us about Metru Nui, but they ended up doing so anyways. It's quite possible that everyone knows."

Pohatu nodded absently as Gali's words sunk in. It just might be a good thing if everyone knew. It meant that they could get help from the Matoran and this mysterious Earth Toa. Suddenly, things didn't look so bleak anymore.

Author's Notes: I give up trying to get you guys to review. No one listens to my pleading ANs anyhow. So yeah… but thanks to you guys who bothered to R&R. Mmhmm. ;)