Chapter 8: Foothold for Darkness
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!
Matoro groaned in annoyance as his sleep was invaded by the pesky, repeating noise, his hand reaching out blindly to slap at whatever had decided to become his personal alarm clock this morning. He certainly didn't have a REAL alarm clock to wake him up this way.
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chir - EEEE!
Fwhump!
The screech of surprise and the sound of impact following it told him his hand had met its mark. The corner of his mouth curled up the tiniest amount and he sighed deeply, beginning to settle back down to sleep some more. This really was comfy...
His alarm clock, however, had other ideas.
Now Matoro felt whatever had decided to wake him up tugging on the covers he was currently tangled in. It was making only a tiny amount of progress with each tug, that was true, but it was tugging repeatedly enough for the progress to add up quickly. He emitted a sleepy whine, then buried his face deeper in the crook of Hahli's neck, effectively stating, "Want sleep." But whatever was tugging ignored this and continued tugging... to the point where Matoro found himself falling out of bed, still tangled in the sheets.
This had put him in quite the difficult predicament. Since he had been so snuggled up to Hahli, part of his armor had snagged onto hers and dragged her down on top of him. She, somehow, was still asleep, and had actually now ended up with her head snuggled into the crook of his neck. To put it simply... this was... rather... awkward.
He glimpsed a moving blur of white out of the corner of his eye, and turned to see that Zephyr had been the one guilty of dragging him out of bed, evident in the fact that the small Kewa still had a corner of the sheets held in his beak. Matoro glared at the guilty bird, making it plain that he was unamused. The Kewa simply seemed to smirk and then let go of the sheet and galumphed out of the room.
The Great Spirit rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh, then began trying to wriggle himself out from under his sleeping teammate without disturbing her, propping himself up on his elbows and scooting backwards in an effort to make it so his legs were no longer tangled and stuck atop the mattress. The only problem was that, as he did this, Hahli must have felt it, for she suddenly subconsciously circled her arms around him and held on tight, mumbling something in faint complaint. Her head was no longer tucked under his chin, that was true... It's just that now it was resting cheek to cheek on his, angled in just such a way that the tips of their noses touched.
At that point, anyone watching would have thought that Matoro had become a fire Toa due to the intensity of his blushing.
The ice-Toa-turned-Great-Spirit's mind was in a full-blown panic now, with no idea how to get out of this situation with his dignity intact. For several minutes he lay there, petrified... And as he did, he couldn't help but admit that this felt... Somewhat nice. Hahli din't really weigh that much, and she had ended up in a position where none of her armor was digging into him... And the pulsing of her heartlight so close to his was... Rather comforting, all things considered. A hint of a smile found its way onto his mask, and now his efforts at repositioning himself were in order to keep Hahli from waking out of discomfort.
Right as he finished moving himself, unfortunately, a wave of pain bolted up his arms from a spot in his chest right near his heartlight.
His eyes widened in shock as he looked down at where the pain had come from, mind going back to the nightmare from last night... Roodaka raising that crystal dagger and plunging it into his chest... Right where the pain had just come from...
Was it possible that the wound was... Actually there?
He shook his head to rid it of these negative thoughts, now resting his back against the wall and wrapping his wings around Hahli to keep her warm. He was still tired, and Zephyr seemed to have decided to stop annoying him... So... He might as well fall asleep again, right?
Before his eyes once again closed, he realized that Hahli was clutching something shiny in one of her hands, something with a metal chain of neon green dangling from it... But he would wonder about that later. For now, he wanted sleep.
••••••••
Zephyr grinned and chirrup-laughed to himself. He knew that would work to bring them together! Now he just needed to figure out what the next step would be...
CLANG.
Wait. What had that been?
He turned and pitter-patted down the stairs, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever had made that odd noise. It wasn't until he reached the foot of the stairs that he saw the perpetrator. When he did, he could only stare.
Searching the drawers of a small, overturned side table was another Kewa. At first Zephyr was stuck wondering how the heck this other Kewa got in, then he wondered what the heck it was searching for, and, finally, he wondered why the heck it looked the way it did. You see, it was much like the reverse-replica Matoro had seen of himself in his nightmare the previous night, only this was a reverse-replica of Zephyr instead. Its plumage was pure black, its helm more jagged and barbed, its wings razor-edged. He could see fresh bloodstains on its metal talons, and he silently shuddered, never having been fond of feeling messy after a meal. Its feathers even looked oily! Ick...
Zephyr suddenly realized that the intruder was turning around, and he hid in one of the fake plants nearby, dimming his eyes so that their light would not give away his presence. He could now see that even the intruder's beak was bloodstained, its eyes like those "dying stars" his Daddy had shown him pictures of - burning, not with light, but with what looked like rage, all pulsing red splotched with abysmal black. Now this intruder was moving on to his Daddy's desk and its shelves and drawers, tossing things aside and making quite a mess. He moved silently to another plant to continue spying, his gut churning with a sense of foreboding as he observed the stranger's behavior. In time, it had ransacked the kitchen and living room as well, now beginning to continue upstairs... Towards where Daddy, Aurora, and Aurora's mama were!
He knew, in his gut, that the stranger in no way meant well. So, he did what any faithful Kewa would do.
He protected his Daddy and friends.
With a screech of anger more akin to a banshee than a bird, he charged out of his hiding spot, talons flashing and beak agape, to intercept the intruder's path. In that moment, the home rang of metal on metal, wings beating the still air like an immense war drum, hisses and screams and screeches that sang a story of loyalty and bravery clashing against malice and evil. They clawed, they bit, they slashed, they headbutted! This was both battle and war at once, the err punished and the hatred eternal, so small an event in the world yet so large a brand in time. The carpet, tile, and hardwood they tumbled and careened over became dappled with blood, to forever hold the history of this kindling of the spark of the wildfire, this toppling of the first domino in line.
After a number of minutes, Zephyr realized that the fighting had positioned the two of them under a bowl sticking out over the edge of the table, and a desperate idea began to form in his mind. He knew he could not hold out against this enemy much longer. This plan may very well be his only chance of defeating it. So, when the intruder next tried to tackle him, he leapt upward (using the other's head to boost himself) and slapped the bowl's rim with one talon, trapping the enemy under it and using his own body to weigh it down.
At once, the home was silent, and Zephyr felt the adrenaline from his battle ebbing, pain rushing in to take its place. His lungs felt like they were straining against his ribs, wings and legs burning from slashing and being slashed. His throat had a nasty cut only a few millimeters away from his jugular, and one of his toes was almost completely torn off.
It didn't matter how hurt he was, though. What did matter was that Daddy was safe.
He felt exhaustion creeping in, and let out a shaky wheeze of a breath, letting his head rest upon the bowl beneath him. Everything began to blur, and he just faintly noticed Aurora screeching in panic after coming downstairs and seeing him, then charging back up with her fright echoing through the halls.
Wait... Was that... A light? He thought people always said that the light looked to be at the end of a dark tunnel when this happened... So why was the light he saw coming from another strange Kewa standing beside him...?
It is not your time to depart yet, young one... You must hold on... I am aware you are in pain, but you must not give in! You saved your friends from some harm, that is true, but they will feel even worse pain if you leave them. Your journey is not complete, Zephyr...
Zephyr... Zephyr...Zephyr...
"...Zephyr..."
Wait... Why had the kind Kewa's voice suddenly changed...?
"...c'mon, buddy, please... Wake up..."
That... That was Daddy's voice...
...And... And why didn't he feel the bowl beneath him any more...?
He opened his eyes... Even though it hurt... And looked around... He wasn't even inside the house any more... Daddy was holding him close, all wrapped in a bath towel... He had always liked this bath towel... Dark blue with white clouds and silver stars... So pretty... So soft... So fluffy... He could see the real clouds past Daddy's wings (they were wrapped around him)... Why were those clouds... moving, though? Or were they moving...? ...maybe they weren't... maybe Zephyr and his Daddy were the ones moving... Or being moved...
Daddy had started to smile... But he was crying, too... Smiling was a good feeling and crying was a sad feeling... Why would he be doing both at once? ... Toa never made sense... Well, maybe they did... It was just so rare...
But Daddy was doing that cool-down-the-hand thing... And putting his cold thumb to where Zephyr's neck was gashed... That... Felt nice...
He saw Aurora standing on a metal sideways rod... A little bit away from him... And Aurora's mama was holding onto the... Side of the weird metal pole-system thing... And up front... Up front... Up front was a weird fleshy-Toa... Glatorian, he remembered Daddy calling them... But this one seemed familiar... The one who had brought him to Daddy in the first place...!
But the bad Kewa... The one he fought... If they had taken him off of the top of the bowl, then it... It would have escaped... He should have warned them... But how...?
He turned and called out weakly, *Aurora...?*
*What is it, Zephyr?* she quickly replied.
*What... What happened to the other falcon I... Trapped under the... Bowl...?*
*We didn't see another falcon. And the bowl was overturned when I led our parents back down... Maybe it escaped?*
The other falcon... Escaped... No... No.
*Zephyr? What is it? What happened down there that hurt you like this?* Aurora asked upon seeing his expression, worried.
He looked at her slowly, unsure whether to tell her the truth. But then again, if he couldn't tell her, then who could he tell?
*There... There was another Kewa... It looked like me... Yet didn't look like me... Like an evil twin. It... It ransacked Daddy's desk and kitchen... It was looking for something... It was going to hurt the three of you next... I had to stop it...!*
His Daddy began to place a hand over his back, trying to calm him down. But for the rest of the ride to Nuju's home, Zephyr remained awake, constantly worrying that his dark doppelgänger would try to attack again.
••••••••
Matoro sighed, finally certain that Zephyr would pull through. He had met with the Turaga, and, somewhat reluctantly, recounted his recent nightmare to them, doing his best to tend to Zephyr in the meantime. Now they were heading back, Zephyr insisting on standing on his shoulder instead of sleeping wrapped up in the hand towel he'd held the Kewa in on the first drive. Aurora, however, was determined to give Zephyr a good preening to get the blood off of his feathers, and thus had vacated her typical perch upon her own Toa's shoulder in favor of clinging to Matoro's upper arm to keep her albino friend in reach of her beak and, on rare occasion, talons. At last she seemed to deem her friend acceptably clean, and settled in the crook of Matoro's elbow to follow Zephyr's lead and sleep.
The Great Spirit looked around, noting how peaceful everything seemed in the city around them. No arguments breaking out, no crime (though, with Ehrye living here, that could change at any moment), no Makuta lurking in the shadows outside the city walls. He couldn't help but wonder how long it would last, and when the creature from his nightmare would draw his focus again.
Just then, Hahli climbed over to be closer to where Matoro was sitting, looking briefly at the two sleepy Kewa falcons he was trapped by, then turning her attention to him."Are you alright? You were pretty shaken up after that nightmare."
"I'm alright... for now."
She placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "You said yourself that Zephyr would pull through. So why are you so worried?"
He took a minute to think of a response. "That nightmare last night... it felt too real to just be a nightmare. I don't know why; it just seemed like nothing was actually surreal enough for it to be a dream. After everything Makuta put us all through, there was nothing in that dream that felt like it couldn't have actually occurred-guh!"
He had been gesturing to emphasize his point, and the self-interruption escaped him as a searing pain bolted up his arm just like it had this morning.
"Matoro, what's wrong?!"
"Nothing - it's nothing - ack!"
He had started using gestures again while reassuring Hahli he was fine, and the pain had disagreed, charging through his arm and now adding on a complementary lap of half his chest. He was vaguely aware of Ackar stopping their vehicle quickly as he felt a strange dark ice start to crust the edges of his mind, another voice chuckling at his struggle. In a panic, he shook his head, terrified at seeing his fingertips begin to darken. With that, the darkness retreated with a growl, and he became aware that Hahli was trying to bring him to his senses again.
Well, this is certainly... sudden... he thought, a blush erupting over his mask as he found himself with Hahli's face less than a foot from his. The natural "nurse" side each water Toa had was obviously in charge at the moment, for she failed to notice his embarrassment and instead began detaching a panel of his chest-armor, having seen him clutching that spot in pain. Ackar was still sitting at the wheel of their vehicle some number of meters away, and a few Tohunga and Agori had stopped in curiosity. He heard Hahli draw in a breath and turned his attention back to her.
Starting by the side of his heartlight and spiderwebbing outward over his semi-metal flesh was a splotch of dark, pulsing corruption. For now, it was small... but Matoro highly doubted it intended to stay that way.
••••••••
A/N:
(is currently surrounded by walls of sandbags and wearing carbon-fiber, mile-thick armor, pokes head out of shelter) Okay, before you all try to kill me for taking at least A YEAR to update, I can tell you why I took so long….
Writer's Block
First year in high school
Being on said school's Cross-Country/Track team
Plot bunnies that wanted to be written but not uploaded
Pokemon X, Luigi's Mansion:Dark Moon, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Getting addicted to a bunch of Let's Plays
…EEK! (ducks a boulder from the catapult Mazu and Reme are aiming at me) Don't kill me! Please! I'll go and upload a concept of Matty's plumage after this as extra apology!..