A/N: Hey everyone (who bothers to read my stories)... Sorry it took so long. I've been dealing with school and crap.
But I did get my Acceptance letter to College. YAY! *does a happy/touchdown dance*
But enough about me. Thanks to Andonexus Knight of the Damned for reveiwing. So happy to see that somebody actually is reading my story. Feed back is greatly appreciated.
Oh yeah, Spell check wasn't working so there might be a bunch of typos.
Anyways, Please read.
Solek and Tanma waited at the base of the mountain of rubble, Tanma sitting on a boulder, arms crossed, eyes closed, his irritation growing. The cause of his irritation was Solek. The White Av-Matoran was pacing frantically below him. Tanma grew more and more upset, gritting his teeth while Solek muttered to himself. Finally the Green Matoran had enough.
"Will you stop that?" He hissed at Solek, who looked up at him.
"Stop what, Tanma?"
"The pacing! It's getting on my nerves."
"Sorry, I'm just worried. What if something happened to her? She could get hurt, and we wouldn't know about it." Solek was wringing his hands, and staring at the mountain of rubble as if his gaze would cause the yellow-wearing teen to appear at the top.
Tanma sighed. "Solek, I seriously doubt that she would get hurt fighting an Ash-Bear. She obviously has good deal of power, and she seemed to think that the screams were from one of the 'others' she kept talking about. And besides, she left that bag of hers here. She's gonna have to come back to get it. She seemed rather protective of it."
Solek looked at him, as if he still did not believe Tanma. Both Matoran were quiet, lost in their own thoughts.
A moment later, there was the sound of falling rocks. The two Matoren looked up. Sliding and leaping her way down was Lizzy, followed by another girl, wearing blue. Lizzy leapt down from about eight feet up, landing on her feet, while the other girl, found her way to the bottom; both girls looked frightened.
"Hi guys. Um we need to go… like now." Lizzy panted.
"Yeah I don't think this pile of rocks will hold it for long."
Solek and Tanma stared at the Girl, who seemed wary of them herself.
"Ah yes. Solek, Tanma, this is Katie; Katie, these are the friends I told you about. The white one is Solek and the green one is Tanma. They are Av-Matoren. I know I said I would explain but now is not the best time. As soon as we…"
"Av-Matoren? Really? As in Bionicle?" Katie asked, incredulous.
"Um… Yeah, we are Bionicles." Tanma said.
"Really?"
"Yes Really."
"Real.." "Yes Katie, really. I'll explain later but we really need to go."
"Why?" Asked Solek. Behind them came a roar, and the sound of more falling stones.
"That's why." Lizzy said, grabbing her bag and Tanma's arm, dragging him along as she started running.
"ASH-BEAR!" Solek yelled. Katie grabbed his arm and started running herself.
"You so owe me, Solek. I told you it was an Ash-Bear!" Called Tanma, running beside Lizzy now. Lizzy groaned to herself. "Can we focus on getting away from her first?" she panted. Tanma grunted affirmative, his short Matoran sized legs struggling to keep up with Lizzy's longer human legs. The four turned, first down this street, then this, effectively losing the Rahi. When they finally came to a stop, they collectively collapsed, exhausted.
Lizzy looked at Katie, wondering just how much this girl knew about the Bionicle world. The other girl was warily watching Tanma and Solek, as if they were wild animals that would attack her. Lizzy, a bit miffed at her reaction, got shakily to her feet.
"Ok, I know you are all really tired, but we really need to get off the streets before nightfall." Lizzy said. "Solek tells me that since we are on our own, we are probably really susceptible to Makuta showing up and messing with our heads." Tanma merely groaned and got to his feet, while Solek stood next to Lizzy, nodding his head so hard that Lizzy was worried that it would fly off. Katie just sat there.
"I'm not moving until I get some explanation about what the hell is going on." She snapped. Lizzy rolled her eyes; now she remembered this girl. Lizzy had met her once, when the Orphanage had taken a trip to the beach. Lizzy had told the younger kids about Gali, Nokama, Hali and the Ga-Matoren that day. She remembered another girl (not part of the Orphanage) come over and listen with a bored expression. At the end of that day, just before Lizzy left, the girl had come up and introduced herself as Katie Sailor. She had also wanted to say thanks to Lizzy for the stories that "kept me from being completely and utterly bored while my parents ignored me." Lizzy had given Katie a look and said, "Thanks… I think." Katie had then turned on her heel and walked away. Lizzy had watched her leave, then climbed onto the bus shaking her head.
Back in the present, Lizzy looked at Katie. Around her neck was a necklace similar to the one that had attached itself to Lizzy's neck.
"Did the Toa tell you anything when you came through the portal?" She asked.
Katie looked at her, surprised. "You mean the big blue robot that I saw? Yeah, it – I mean she said something about water and power and then there was this disembodied voice that kept talking about duty and destiny. I didn't get it. Oh and then the blue one told me something about others and how the "Light" knew stuff and would tell me, then she asked about my necklace. Apparently she liked it or something. She said it held power, her power. That just confused me. I mean it's just a necklace… right?" Katie rambled on, then looked at Lizzy questioningly. Lizzy just rolled her eyes again, then shook her head.
"Did the 'big blue robot' have a name?" She asked. "Vizshola" Katie said, "Why?"
"Just curious."
" Well that's helpful." Katie muttered. Lizzy laughed quietly, then looked at the sky.
"I estimate that we have about two hours before the suns go down. We should at least try to get out of Ga-Metru before then. Tanma? What's the next Metru over?"
"Po-Metru."
"Mostly desert, if memory serves." Lizzy said thoughtfully. "I do think that an open area would be safer for us." Tanma looked at her as if she was insane. "I have my reasons."
Katie got to her feet, hefting her backpack. Lizzy quirked an eyebrow at the other girl.
"Well let's get to where ever it is we are going. I really don't care at this point. I have the feeling that this isn't home and that I'm going to be here for a while, so I'd rather go somewhere rather than worry about stuff." Katie scoffed at Lizzy's expression. Katie spun on her heel and headed in the direction that Lizzy had indicated they travel. As they walked, silently, Lizzy took the chance to study the other girl, not realizing that Katie was doing the same to her.
Lizzy noted that Katie was short, compared at least to her 5' 8", perhaps about 5' 4" or 5' 5". Where Lizzy had brown hair with natural gold highlights, Katie was a platinum blond with blue edging and Lizzy's gold/copper eyes contrasted with Katie's startlingly blue. Katie had a slight figure, slim and compact, but under the thick layers the girl had, Lizzy could see an inner strength and stubbornness.
Katie studied Lizzy from behind the safety of her blue fringed bangs that covered more than half her face. She was impressed by the strength that Lizzy had bottled inside her, but shone out through her eyes. Katie found that she was a little jealous of the other girl, who had a well defined and well muscled figure, but attempted to hide it. If I had a body like that, I wouldn't cover it up, Katie thought to herself.
Both girls studied each other, like opponantes sizing up the competition. Solek was oblivious to it, staring owlishly around at the destruction wrought throughout Ga-Metru. Tamna, on the other hand, watched the two girls wondering who would break the silence first.
Around the small group, the buildings, wreakage, waterways and walkways and overall humidity of the water district of the city slowly gave way to arid skies and sandy wastes of Po-Metru. All four beings, two bio-mechanical, two organic lost In their own thoughts continued walking, unaware of another presence following behind them.
Lizzy eventually came out of her reverie and began looking around for a good place to camp. In the distance, she spied a couple of sand dunes near an small oasis. Perfect she thought and called the attention of the others, directing them to the tiny pond of fresh cool water. Upon reaching the area, the two Av-Matoren took it upon themselves to collect the odd shaped fruits that hung from the trees and piled them up, ready to eat. Solek took out a small spear and began hunting the small lizards that swarmed the deserts. Early on, when the Av-Matoren had first arrived at Metru Nui with the Toa Nuva, they had found that the small lizards were good for eating, something that the previous inhabitants (the Matoren and Turaga) had not realized before.
Lizzy focused on gathering up fallen branches and dead leaves for a fire, stacking as much as she could, unsure how much would be used for the night. She then set about building a fire pit and starting a fire. She could not figure out how to start the fire, even with Solek and Tanma's help with light bursts to assist. Growling to herself about her own stupidity for not bringing a lighter or even matches in her bag, she went in search of Katie, who was down by the oasis. Lizzy found the other girl standing near the water, hands cupped around a perfectly round orb of water, the necklace/heartlight around her neck, glowing with a calm blue light.
"Katie?" called Lizzy.
Katie jumped and lashed out, sending the orb of water at Lizzy's head, where it spashed and drenched the light powered teen.
"I'm so sorry!" Katie said, horrified that she had probably just ticked of the only other person in the strange world she found herself in. To her surprise, Lizzy began laughing.
"Well, I guess I won't have to wash my face later." Lizzy joked.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to." Katie repeated.
"It's alright. Kinda spooked ya, didn't I? So it was deserved."
Katie gave a wary smile, to which Lizzy returned a full grin.
"Actually I was looking for you, Katie. I wanted to know if you had any ideas on how to start the fire. I don't have any matches for some reason." Lizzy laughed, sheepishly scratching the back of her head. Katie looked at her. "Come on." Lizzy smiled again, encouragingly this time and led the way back to camp. Katie looked wistfully at the still waters of the oasis then followed Lizzy to the campsite.
"So you control water? That would make you the Water Toa, like Gali, Hali and Nokama, remember? From those stories?" Lizzy asked, folding her legs and sitting on the ground. Katie nodded, thoughtful.
"What about you? What can you do?" The water powered girl asked, tilting her head curiously.
"Light… I control light." Lizzy said.
"Really…hmmm… then you should be able to start the fire by yourself."
"Yeah—wait what? How?"
"Focus a beam of light, like really focus it. It works like when you bend light through a magnifying glass. The heat from the focused light should start a flame." Katie explained. Lizzy looked at her like she was brilliant.
"That's genious!" Lizzy cried.
She leaned forward and scooted herself closer to the fire pit. She then pointed her finger at a small pile of leaves, and closed her eyes, concentrating hard. Her necklace/heartlight flashed, and from her finger emminated a beam of golden light. At first it was a broad beam, more like a spotlight. Lizzy gasped and laughed, glancing at Katie who grinned at her. Lizzy then closed her eyes again, focusing on narrowing the beam. Slowly the light narrowed and became like a pinprick of light. With a puff of smoke and a flash of fire, the leaves caught fire. Both girls cheered, though Lizzy was visibly exhausted from the exercise. About ten minutes later, the two girls had the fire crackling merrily and the two Matoren had the food ready. Katie was a liitle wary of eating the strange lizards, but when she saw the way that Lizzy was chowing down on them, she tried them.
"!"
"I know right? The Epitome of 'Tastes just like Chicken" right?" Lizzy laughed. Katie nodded, savoring the flavor.
"So Katie, where are you from?" Lizzy asked, Solek suddenly hanging on the blue-dressed teen's every word.
"I'm from… well… a rather well off family. My dad is a prominent British business man, and My mom is a movie actress. " Said Katie, suddenly looking down. Lizzy opened her mouth to ask a question, but suddenly, behind them there was a roar.
Katie screamed, Tanma and Solek yelled with fright, while Lizzy swore loudly. It was the Ash-Bear. Lizzy leapt to her feet, pulling her energy sword out and lighting it up. The Ash-Bear roared again and charged. Tanma and Solek took off, trying to distract the maddened Rahi. Katie dove to the side as the Ash-Bear barreled past, Lizzy chasing it while her sword blazed like a beacon across the sands. Suddenly, the Ash-Bear came to a stop and turned towards the gold and white teen. Lizzy came to a halt, her battle cry dying in her throat as she caught sight of the Rahi's rage-maddened eyes. As the Ash-bear lumbered forward, Lizzy turned, and fled.
"Lizzy! Bring it closer to the Oasis!" Katie yelled, standing on the bank. Lizzy veered her course off towards the water. As the teen ran past, Katie took a deep breath and called on the power that she felt somewhere within her. The Ash-Bear, losing sight of Lizzy, changed paths and headed straight for the water powered teen. Katie waited, tense; then at the last possible moment, jumped to the side, allowing the Ash-Bear to rush past at full tilt into the water. Katie turned to the Rahi, now floundering in the semi-shallow pool, and swept her arms together, causing the water to swirl and splash against the Rahi, even as the two Matoren dive bombed it's head repeatedly, buzzing around like crazed Gukko birds. The Ash-Bear fought the current that Katie stirred up in hopes of tiring it out. Lizzy ran to the younger girls side and watched, as Tamna and Solek joined them, breathing heavily. Suddenly, with a mighty heave, the Ash-Bear reared out of the water and swiped a heavy metal paw at the group, sending them flying back. Lizzy rolled to a stop, dazed; her ears ringing from the blow. She faintly heard Katie screaming at her, Tamna and Solek yelling indistinctly. As she rolled over to see what was the matter, she found herself face to mask with the irate visage of the Ash-Bear. Lizzy gulped as the Ash-Bear raised a clawed paw. As the Rahi brought down it's deadly appendage, Lizzy flinched at the expected pain, but it never came. There was a rush of movement, the *Shinnnngg* of drawn steel, the rattle of a chain over stone, and the surprised grunt of the Rahi. Katie's eyes widened in surprise; Lizzy looked up to see another teenager standing near her, a pair of kamas connected together by a long chain tangled around the Ash-Bear's paw.
"Ah, ah, ah Mr. Nasty Robot Animal. Can't have you slicing up my friends, now can I?" a familiar (to Lizzy, at least) voice mocked. The new teen yanked on the chain and swung the surprised Rahi overhead and threw it to the ground with a thunderous crash. The Kamas disconnected with an expert flick and sailed back to the waiting hands of Lizzy's savior. The Ash-Bear rose shakily to its feet and with a final backward glance at the group, shuffled off, back towards Ga-Metru. The new teen let out a sigh of relief and spun around to face Lizzy.
"What's this now, the 18th time I've saved your butt from getting beaten by someone, or rather something, bigger than you?"
"Yeeah, something like that, I think… though I remember it being closer to like 12 or 13." Lizzy laughed, "And I'm surprised you are here."
"Well the rock I found in my backyard said somethin' about Bionicles so I figured 'Hey, I might see Lizzy again, if its Bionicle related and such.' So I packed a bag and jumped through. Got some awesome bling on the way over, too. From some guy named Amix, I think." The other teen laughed loudly, Lizzy chuckling along. Katie and the two Av-Matoren crept closer, curious.
"Hey, Lizzy? Um… Who's this?" Katie asked, softly standing next to the yellow wearing teen.
"Oh Yeah… Guys, I want you to meet a really good friend of mine. This is Brianne Carver."
The teen in question grinned and put up a mock salute.
"Hey Ya'll. Toa of Stone reporting for duty!"
Please, please tell me what you think. Ideas would be cool too.
Laters, people!