Edit: 11/24/2014
'italics'=thoughts
Chapter 8
(Chapter Sources: Tale of the Toa by C.A. Hapka; Bionicle Comic #3)
He shook himself mentally, ordering himself to wake up, but the darkness remained. Suddenly, he was assaulted by a bird's eye view of the island. Before he could comprehend this shift, he fell straight to the heart of the island and halted just above a magnificent stone temple. But it wasn't him, his body wasn't there. Panicked, he wondered what was going on. He felt an unnatural heat that did not fit with this picture. He had enough presence of mind to figure out that he was still in the lava pool. This vision was putting him in danger. He redoubled his efforts to wake up. A strange voice joined the unwelcome vision, but its message became mangled by Kopaka's efforts to get back to reality.
"Welcome, Toa of Ice," he heard. "Do not be…your mind can journey to…behold the future of…you and the others shall…all the Great Masks of Power…together and defeat…three shall become…path of wisdom…myself, Akamai…of the warrior…only by uniting…farewell…"
With that, Kopaka was painfully jerked back to the lava pool. He stood up, quickly assessing the worsening situation. Dread filled him. The iceberg was not going to make it to shore. It probably would not have made it even before the accident. He could only hope that the Pakari would give him the strength he needed to make it out alive. He continued to paddle until the ice block threatened to sink beneath his weight. He prepared to jump, but lava had already begun to swarm the surface, burning his feet. His leap was weakened by the poor footing.
'The Great Mask of Levitation would come in awfully handy right now,' he thought bleakly as the heat of the lava drew nearer. He discovered too late that his sword was too warm to channel his power. On top of that, his power was too drained by the heat to do anything else without it. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the imminent agony.
Suddenly, he heard his name shouted. His eyes snapped open and he glimpsed a flash of green before he was propelled up and away from the lava by a powerful wind. He yelled in surprise as he was slammed mask first into the hot but solid ground. His sword clattered to the ground next to him, bouncing a few times before stopping to lazily spin out the rest of the momentum.
"Sorry-oops, brother," the Toa of Air's familiar voice came from above. Kopaka looked up to see him perched on a boulder with a bright green Pakari on his own face. "I didn't have thought-time to plan a softer landing."
"Ugh," he groaned, rolling onto his back. He picked up his sword and looked it over. It was still in good shape. His whole body ached, but aside from his feet, he had gotten out of it alive and not burnt. "It's alright, brother Lewa," he said, gingerly standing up. "I owe you one. I shall not forget this."
Lewa grinned brightly. "Anytime, brother. And at least I see you got a mask out of it." He tipped his head back, laughing. "You wouldn't be in this volcano-heat if it weren't for a mask-quest."
Kopaka nodded absently, touching a hand to his new Kanohi. His mind was preoccupied with the vision. 'What does it mean? A prophecy? A warning?' He shook his head. 'Whatever it was, it nearly got me boiled. Isn't that the best evidence that it must have come from Makuta?'
The thought that the Master of Shadows could communicate with him that easily troubled him. He paid little attention to Lewa's animated storytelling relaying how he retrieved his own Mask of Strength. It wasn't like he missed much. The Toa of Air burdened his tales with far too many details. Kopaka wanted to leave this place, but he owed Lewa for saving his life. Even if he had a low opinion of the excitable Toa, the Toa of Ice had his honor.
"Had to fight a nasty-ugly Rahi to get it too," Lew said, puffing his chest out with a smug look. "But I suppose it was worth it. Gave that quick-breeze I save-sent you some extra oomph."
Kopaka hid his irritation and nodded in agreement. After minutes of listening to the green Toa's strange talk, all the useful information was condensed to a few sentences at the end of the story. "These Rahi, they seem to stop at nothing to guard these masks," he observed, hoping he could prod useful information out of Lewa.
"Oh, this fellow quick-stopped as soon as I knocked off its own Mask," Lewa told him, swinging his arms back and forth. "It panic-fled into the depths of the tunnels ever-quick."
The Toa of Ice muttered under his breath about what a waste this was. "My thanks to you again, brother Lewa," he said louder, giving him a formal little bow. "Now I must take my leave and continue my search."
He turned, so ready to leave the inferno, when Lewa exclaimed, "Oh!" He slapped his head, saying, "I almost mind-lost why I came looking for you in the first place." Kopaka turned back to him, glaring. "I just lucky-met Onua and Pohatu down-mountain. Onua has called a meeting."
Kopaka frowned, anxious. Just how far were the others in their search? Had he fallen behind? Was he the only one still working on the quest? "But I haven't found all my masks yet," he said slowly.
"Yeah, but none of us have," Lewa responded with a shrug. "We're all learn-finding that this search-quest is trickier than we thought. That is why Onua wants to get together. I'm not one for group-working, but I think he may be right. We need to compare notes, do some team-planning."
Relieved that his fears were wrong, Kopaka was now annoyed by the prospect of another meeting. He was about to argue against it, but thought of how difficult the quest for his Pakari had been. Working alone, he wasted hours and almost died. If Lewa had not been there, he most likely would have been melted by the lava. In fact, if any of the other Toa were with him, he would have retrieved the Kanohi in mere minutes. These facts could not be denied.
"All right," Kopaka said at last with a reluctant and resigned sigh. "Let's go."
As the two traveled to the designated area, Kopaka thought less and less about the debt he owed Lewa and more and more about freezing him solid and carrying him instead. The Toa of Air would not stop talking. His energy had no end as he continually begged Kopaka to walk faster. Sometimes, Lewa would run ahead, fall on the ground, and lay there moaning about being bored until Kopaka caught up. Sometimes, he would run ahead, trip, and then lay there moaning about the horrors of "ground-walking" until Kopaka caught up.
Both Toa were thankful when they reached the meeting spot at the foot of the giant volcano that marked the center of Mata Nui. Lewa gleefully leaped into the trees, and Kopaka was grateful that everyone was already there. Tahu wore his usual scowl; Pohatu and Gali greeted both the newcomers; Onua told Lewa to sit down, an order which was obeyed partially as the green Toa sat on a branch swinging his legs and squirming.
"I felt it was time we met again," the Toa of Earth began. "This place holds dangers we never dreamed of – maybe more than any one of us can handle alone."
Kopaka agreed mentally, trying to ignore Tahu muttering about how that was his idea and no one respected him. He wished he hadn't stood next to the Toa of Fire, but he couldn't move now without drawing unnecessary attention.
Gali nodded, saying, "We need to learn to work together. Our future depends on it."
"I don't know," Lewa said from the trees, shaking his head. "I'm still not much for teaming up."
They were interrupted by the loud eruption of Mt. Mangaia. Smoke poured out and up as lava swiftly streamed down in their direction. The rumbling of the erupting volcano was joined with the cacophony of hordes of infected Rahi as they surrounded the Toa.
"Then again, there's nothing like a little togetherness," the Toa of Air yelled over the noise with a short laugh. Onua grabbed him and bulldozed past the Rahi towards the rapidly advancing lava.
Kopaka's mind worked as he processed the number and types of Rahi facing them. But he found himself suddenly alone as the other three Toa began attacking without him. He shook his head. 'Now is not the time for plans.' He batted a diving Nui-Rama away with his sword. 'It's time to see what these new masks can do – what we can do.'
