Author's note: Soooo. I failed at getting those chapters out every week. I'm not going to make a promise about chapter updates for now because I hate breaking promises. I will try to get the next chapter out sometime next week though. This chapter is a bit longer than most chapters though and features Kopaka being a jerk. Yeah, this chapter only has Pohatu and Kopaka in it. Lewa will show up in the next chapter I have planned.
No content in this chapter has been taken from other sources.
Italics=Kopaka's thoughts
Chapter 10
As soon as he heard that the team was splitting up once again, Kopaka began walking away. He was eager to be away from the noise and tension that was teamwork. He was also irritable from the pain in his back. He had almost reached the main, more easily traveled tunnels when he head a familiar voice call after him.
"Hey! Wait up!"
Kopaka groaned inwardly as the Toa of Stone bounded up to him. He glared at the earth-toned Toa. "Isn't Po-Koro that way?" he asked icily, pointing down the opposite end of the tunnel, not even ceasing his travel.
Pohatu shrugged, smiling and obviously unaffected by his fellow Toa's attitude. "Yeah, it is," he admitted, "but with the Mask of Speed, it becomes a very short trip. So, I decided to go with you at least to the end of the tunnel, but you sure do move fast. I guess it's 'cause you're so much smaller than me. I was a bit worried about using my Kakama in such a small space, but it worked fine."
The Toa of Stone continued jabbering as the two walked down the tunnel. Kopaka continued ignoring him. Both Lewa and Pohatu talk far too much. At least Lewa talks at me, not with me, he thought as Pohatu unsuccessfully tried once more to bring him into the conversation. Each try was met with awkward silence which Pohatu would eventually have to break on his own.
"Couldn't you have traveled with someone else?" Kopaka finally snapped, the first words he said since the two began walking together.
Pohatu gave him a look of hurt and shut up. They walked in silence the rest of the way. Kopaka began to feel guilty about his harsh words. He has done me no wrong, he mused. Then he frowned. Then again, all he has done is bury me in a landslide.
Soon, they reached the mouth of the cave overlooking Ko-Wahi. The sparkling, fresh snow spread before him began melting the stress that had been building in Kopaka.
"Well, bye," he heard Pohatu murmur.
Kopaka spun around to say something, anything, but all he saw was Pohatu's back before he vanished in a brown blur. He stood there for a moment, mulling over the mystery that was Pohatu. The stubborn Toa had probably given up on him by now. Good. He is foolish to spend so much energy on his ideal of teamwork.
He turned back to his realm, worn out from the day's activities. He was physically tired out from the day's battles and quests. He surmised that it would not be wise to try to make it back to Ko-Koro until he rested. Even though his newfound Ruru could pierce the night, he did not have the energy to keep up the constant Kanohi use. He found a suitable spot next to the mountain, placed a shield of ice around him, and shut his eyes. He did not even have to try to slumber.
The rising sun woke the Toa of Ice. Well, the rising sun and the dripping ice woke him up. He was not entirely in his realm yet. The night was cool enough to preserve his ice shield, but the sun reminded him that he was still in Onu-Wahi. Kopaka melted his shield and watched the new day come. The sun was rising off to the side, the dawn's rays filtering over the mountains.
Kopaka rose and sighed. It was a new day for questing. He began traveling to his village. While he did not look forward to Nuju's "help," he wanted to complete his destiny. He wanted to bring Makuta down. He kept on the alert for any danger as he travelled. He recalled how Makuta used not only the animals but also the very elements the Toa controlled to distract them from their quest. Just try using my element against me, Kopaka challenged his enemy. We will see who is the true master of ice.
The roar of a Muaka riding the wind brought Kopaka out of his thoughts. He focused his Akaku in the direction of the sound. He frowned in irritation at what he saw. Then he heard a rumbling from behind. An avalanche of snow this time was heading down the next slope toward the Rahi and the brown Toa.
Pohatu. What's he doing here? Kopaka wondered as he raced the avalanche. The Rahi kept Pohatu from getting to safety. Pointing his sword behind him, Kopaka concentrated. He could create ice from his sword, no problem there. But now he needed to produce it fast enough to propel him ahead of the avalanche. It worked better than he had anticipated, rocketing him forward. Now he was in front of the roaring white mass, and it was almost upon him.
He calmly aimed his white blade. The sword is but the focus. The power is within me. In the blink of an eye, everything was still again, with the exception of the struggle behind him. The snow and even ice covered rocks had stopped, some midair. Kopaka hated to admit it how much it awed him to know that he had such power over his element. A new rattling noise made Kopaka look down. His arm was shaking from the strain. Everyone has a limit, I suppose. But I don't believe this is mine.
He released the avalanche. Now without its momentum, the snow settled in a few seconds. Kopaka turned to see how Pohatu was doing. The Toa of Stone gave the giant cat a kick in the ribs and sent it sprawling. The Rahi looked beat, but it rose again to attack. Kopaka began scanning the area instinctively.
Ah. So that is why Pohatu will not leave it.
The Toa of Ice fast-froze the infected Rahi, giving Pohatu a chance to catch his breath. The Stone Toa turned to Kopaka, smiling and waving. "Hello!" the ever-friendly Toa called up to him in greeting.
His cheerful attitude surprised Kopaka. While friendliness seemed as natural on Pohatu as the colors of stone, Kopaka did not expect him to be so welcoming after last night's ill treatment. He must have unfathomable trust in his fellow Toa. Or he's just an idiot. Either way, he is a danger to Ko-Wahi. He glanced at the defeated avalanche, Pohatu's blunder, before briskly walking to Pohatu's position.
The Toa of Stone was intently staring at the Muaka, scratching his Kanohi from time to time in puzzlement. Kopaka glanced at the Rahi again. It was curious. But he doubted that he wanted to know how this came to pass. I'm not even going to ask.
"Um," Pohatu began sheepishly. "You aren't going to believe this, but that Muaka ate my Akaku."
Yes, yes it did. How talented of you. Without acknowledging Pohatu's statement, he walked up to the Rahi and began the removal of its infected Kanohi. Once the Kanohi were off, he began thawing the beast. He ignored Pohatu's protests.
The Rahi shook itself as though just waking from slumber. It snarled defensively at the two Toa and looked ready to make a run for it. Suddenly, it began hacking. It was as Kopaka had hoped. If Matoran were not able to handle Great Kanohi for long, then a Rahi certainly was not supposed to ingest one. Upon puking the Kanohi and some organic matter, it fled.
The Toa of Stone cringed before gingerly picking up the messy mask. He proceeded to use the snow around to wash it off. "Nasty, nasty," he muttered, making a face.
Not half as nasty as you smearing that muck on my snow.
Discovering that the snow wasn't being a good solvent, Pohatu just shrugged and put the half-cleaned mask on. Kopaka looked away in disgust. He heard the familiar whir of the Akaku being activated.
"Whoa," Pohatu exclaimed, flipping through the different levels of vision provided repeatedly. "This is cool. So this is how you see the world. Do you like looking through things like this, Kopaka?"
There was that awkward silence again, as though Pohatu actually expected his friend to respond. Instead, Kopaka wordlessly began walking away.
"Wait!" Pohatu yelled after him, switching back to his clean Kakama. Kopaka glared at the brown Toa as more snow was dislodged by his unconventionally loud voice. The Toa of Stone looked confused with Kopaka's harsh attitude. "What? What did I do?"
Kopaka turned back around and continued on his way. He ignored Pohatu's shouts, ignored the dislodged snow plopping, but he could not ignore the feeling that he should not have treated Pohatu like that. But his pride would not let him look back to see whether the Toa of Stone was still there or not. The wind had picked up, drowning out the Toa of Stone's voice.
In moments, however, Kopaka was sprawled on his front and cursing his inattentiveness. How something as large and noisy as a Kane-Ra snuck up on him was an embarrassment. He had hoped that past experiences had taught him better. But there was no time to collect his thoughts as the bull rammed him up against the rocky wall behind him. The Rahi was relentless. Kopaka could not reach his sword. He could not concentrate. He could not breathe either, which was proving to be a problem as his strength rapidly melted with his vision.
Through muffled hearing, he heard the Kane-Ra bellow and felt his body fall to the ground. He lay there, gasping, as his vision returned. Feeling also returned to his body, making him wince. He focused on the scene before him and could not believe that the idiot had returned.
Pohatu made quick work of the Rahi. Kopaka could see now that the Rahi was uninfected and hence it did not have the killing lust of Makuta's creatures. With one last powerful kick from the Toa of Stone, the Rahi retreated.
Ignoring the pain as much as possible, Kopaka shakily stood up. He was angry, so very angry. He should not have been so vulnerable. And if he had not been distracted by thoughts of a certain obnoxiously insensible Toa, he would not have been caught off guard like that.
"Are you okay?"
The simple, concerned question was like the last straw. Kopaka just turned away from him and started walking. He did not care where he walked, as long as he got away from Pohatu, away from the shame of being rescued by another Toa. But he underestimated the damage done by the Rahi's attack. He was down on his hands and knees in a few steps, gasping in pain. He gripped his wounded chest, fearing that the injury was more than what could be seen. He was about to use a patch of ice as a mirror and use his Akaku to examine himself when he heard the familiar whir of an Akaku focusing. And it was not his Kanohi that made the sound.
Pohatu was kneeling next to him, surveying the white Toa's torso. "It doesn't look too bad," he murmured. He quickly added, "Well, I mean, I know it's probably really painful – it certainly looks that way – but I think it'll heal on its own. Hey, can you still stand? I can help you get back to Ko-Koro."
Kopaka growled, standing again. "I am fine," he snapped. "I do not require your help." He began limping off.
The Toa of Stone snorted. "You keep telling yourself that." Then he grabbed Kopaka's left arm and draped it over his shoulder. He seemed to have foreseen Kopaka proud struggles for he kept a tight hold on Kopaka's wrist. "I'm helping you and you can't stop me."
Kopaka was seething now. He just wanted Pohatu and his kindness to go burn in Po-Wahi. "Release me. Now."
"Hate to do this to you," he muttered quietly, almost unheard. Kopaka was about to demand he speak up or shut up when Pohatu turned to give him a very stern look. "You're behaving just like a certain red Toa I know." He smiled at Kopaka's stunned expression. "Ha, you two are so alike. Both of you throw the same temper tantrums."
"I am not having a temper tantrum!" Kopaka scoffed, indignant. He was not like that Toa in any way. And yet, as he thought about his behavior, he began to like the truth less and less.
"Yes. Yes, you are. Just like Tahu too. Now, you are going to let me help you back to your village, and you will stop behaving like a spoiled pet rock." Pohatu glanced at Kopaka. "Don't ask. It was a crazy encounter with one of my own villagers."
After a few moments of slow, silent travel, the Toa of Ice had calmed down. He was extremely embarrassed by his own lack of control. Pohatu had done nothing wrong, again, and Kopaka reacted very immaturely, again. He stopped walking, causing his escort to stop as well. "Here will do."
"What?"
Kopaka waved his hand at a natural shelter made by an overhanging rock and ice. "This will do for tonight," he stated. He pulled his arm away from Pohatu and began limping toward it. "I was not planning to return to Ko-Koro tonight.
"What? You don't stay in your own village?" he asked, disbelief on his Kanohi.
"No."
"Really?"
The Toa of Ice nodded, gingerly sitting down and scooting under the sheltering outcropping. He could not bring himself to look at Pohatu, so he glanced at the sun instead. "You should be able to make it out of Ko-Wahi before the sun sets."
"Yeah, I suppose I could, but – "
"You are going to go home," Kopaka stated sternly. He paused before adding a hurried, "Thank you." Then he closed the opening with a shield of ice.
"Hey!" came Pohatu's muffled voice. "Well, bye Kopaka. I'll see you later. Get some rest and watch out for bulls."
As Pohatu's footsteps faded, Kopaka beat himself up over the events of that day. I've shunned Pohatu several times, and what does he do? He saves my life. I might be dead if it were not for him – for teamwork, he admitted ruefully. He reinforced the ice shield before allowing himself to sleep. He was not going to be caught again.
