Queen's Notes: This chapter was co-written with In The Light
Fire From The Past
"Okay, time for a break!" Takua announced and he rapped his knuckles on Pewku's shell, getting the Rahi to slow and then stop before he hopped off, stretching out his limbs.
Lhikan and the others jumped off as well. The Ta-Matoran stretched his legs gratefully. "So how much ground have we covered do you think?"
Tamaru was doing odd seeming stretches himself, and blinked up at Lhikan from his hand-stand position. He paused and looked thoughtful, still upside down even as he shrugged... somehow.
"Probably about a third of the way," Takua said as he flopped down on his back, tapping his feet on his Rahi's claws in a sort of game.
Lhikan blinked from watching Tamaru for a moment before shrugging himself and sitting down in a patch of sunlight, craning his neck slightly to face the natural heat. He hummed in thought before saying, "Strange how one day you're working away and the next you find yourself on a quest."
"All things considering," Macku said as she flopped down and stretched out on the grassy patch on her front, one hand propping up her head as she picked at the grass blades with the other, "This seems a much nicer quest then my fist one."
Takua winced.
"Hmm?" Lhikan tipped his head and raised a mask ridge, catching the wince. Well this seemed interesting. "What happened on your first quest?"
"It was just before the Toa came, but the infected Rahi found Ga-Koro," Macku sighed, "They trapped the rest of the village and I got away, I had to go find help." She smiled then and rolled over to rest her head on Takua's middle, "I found Takua here, and he and I helped the village, but Toa Gali saved us all."
The other Ta-Matoran smiled lightly as he watched. "And the Makuta used infected Rahi?" Lhikan asked, still un-used to the fact that Makuta were evil here, unlike at home.
"Infected Kanohi." Takua said, tapping the side his blue mask with a soft tink, tink, "He did it to some Matoran too. The Turaga saved whoever we caught but... some are still missing." Takua sighed, looking away from the group.
"Don't worry Takua." Macku sat up to moved close to hug the story keeper and press her mask to the side of his. "I'm sure Tumi is okay, we'll find her just like the others!"
"Perhaps we'll find some of them," Lhikan suggested helpfully, though on the inside he was disgusted. Infected Kanohi? How could anyone do such a horrible thing to living creatures? Were the Makuta that dark now? What if this was going on back home, at this moment? He should be there...
'No,' the more reasonable side of the Matoran caught up with him. 'They are all fine. Remember, this place does seem to be... alternate than home. Or is it?'
Tamaru was rubbing his mask from where the Le-Matoran was now laying down on his side. "Not a greatfrun time..." He shook himself and pulled out a pack from subspace and opened it. Taking a handful of berries he offered it to the others.
"What's your island like Lhikan?" Macku asked, "Is there a Ga-Koro? Or any other female Matoran? Turaga Nokama says that there's female Matoran of plasma and a few other elements."
Lhikan swallowed a berry before answering, "There is, though I don't think it's anywhere near as nice as the one here. Not with the natural beauty I've seen already... and there're Ga-Matoran, yes. I used to be close with one, her name was Naho. But she left quite some time ago."
"Like the lakehome of our watersisters?" Tamaru tilted his head.
"You'll see her again," Takua said with assurance, nodded as he munched on a handful of berries.
"I hope to Mata Nui I will," Lhikan sighed. "There were rumors that she was called away to become... a Toa."
"Become?" Takua sat up, "...yeah, I remember reading that in the on the wall of destiny in Ko-Koro."
"Wall of destiny?" Lhikan echoed.
"Yeah, it's like the 'walls' of history in each Koro as well as the more detailed one that Takua takes care of and updates." Macku said, playing with her barriers more than eating them. "The Ko-Matoran, and Turaga Nuju, write down their prophecies, like some of the older Ga-Matoran do too."
"That's interesting," Lhikan started to look upward at the tree canopy, kind of dilly-dallying in thought. Well hey, he should enjoy the rest from work after all.
"The walls of history are another reason why I travel." Takua said, chuckling as he started to arrange the berries with Macku, "I have to update them in each Koro."
The gold-masked Matoran glanced at him with a smile. "You must get a lot of interesting stories, being the Chronicler."
"And I end up in the middle of many too." The story keeper laughed, "I just have that kind of luck is seems. Probably why the Turaga made me Chronicler."
"I can't wait to see the wall of history, then," Lhikan grinned, "As well as the rest of Ta-Koro."
"Here!" Macku said, giggling as she and Takua displayed what they had done, using the berries to make a sort of map.
"Sort of," Takua grinned as Tamaru laughed.
A map made of berries, that was new. Lhikan grinned some more as he came closer to take a peek at the berry-made map.
"This is the outer wall." Takua said motioning, "It spans around the area of Ta-Koro, but the village itself is here, and this is where the Guard train. The Ta-Kini here, and the Ta-Suva is actually just outside of the village proper above. It's where Tahu and Storm stay, or in the Kini."
"Storm?" Lhikan looked up from 'reading' the map on the ground. "Is that the Kora of Fire?" He was still very much interested in the Kora.
"yes," Takua nodded, "She's the third oldest of the Kora Nata, and likes water balls." He couldn't help but added.
"Water balls, huh?" Lhikan said, smirking. It was a bit ironic for a fire elemental to like water. "By the way, Kora Tala mentioned that they were all once stationed on 'the human world.' How much of that do you know of?"
"Not as much as the Kora, but I did go there!" Takua grinned.
Lhikan blinked. "You went to the... human world?"
"Yeah," The Chronicler nodded, "I was with the Kora, and Tala's human family mostly before going to seeing the Toa there." He paused, glancing around, "They are huge!"
"Bigger than a normal Toa?" Lhikan wondered. "Wow," He sat back slightly and glanced upward again. The forest above was looking back. Blending in alarmingly well, was the large form of a Bionicle. Toa Lewa had a half smile on his Kanohi as he was starched out sideways on his thick branch. Lhikan did a double take at first before smiling a bit sheepishly. How long had the Toa of Air been up there? ...listening to them? Lhikan nudged Takua and said, "Toa Lewa,"
"What?" The other Ta-Matoran craned his head back and brightened. "Toa! Come join us!"
"Highgood greatings!" Tamaru called, rolling over on to his back to wave. Lhikan grinned and waved up at the Toa of Air as well. It was neat to be able to meet Toa Lewa better, than what they had glimpsed of him the other night.
The Toa smiled before rolling over and falling... but not falling really. He landed lightly and gracefully beside the Matoran, "Heh, highgood greetings little ones." Lewa said as he shift down into a sitting pose and caught Macku as the Ga-Matoran rose to give him a hug.
The gold-masked Ta-Matoran's smile grew even more as he watched, moving a bit closer to the Toa, wondering if he'd remember him from last night...
Duh. He was the only other Matoran with a gold mask after all. "How long were you up there, Toa?" he asked.
Lewa shrugged, "This Toahero has been watching over you since you left the homeKoro." He put Macku down but almost at once Takua and Tamaru pounced, grinning the Toa of air didn't seemed to mind the attention at all.
The Ta-Matoran sat next to Lewa, happily watching his new friends interact with their Toa of Air. "And you plan on doing so until we reach Ta-Koro?"
"Maybe yes," Lewa said, reaching over to gently put his larger hand on Lhikan's head and giving him a pat, "You are a special one, little firespitter. My Korasisters and I all felt it. So we are making sure you don't get into too much trouble with these troublemagnets." That was directed in a mock-stern, but clearly affectionate look at the Chronicler and the other two.
In response, Lhikan's seemed to smile as well. It was very easy to like Toa Lewa, and the words he had said about him being special made him happy too. Perhaps he had a bigger, better destiny on this island? It certainly was a lovely thought.
"Thank you Toa," Lhikan half-laughed after the joke aimed at the others.
"You'll fit right in," Takua assured, "After all, you're on a quest! Even if the island's safety and future aren't, you know, in need of saving."
"No," Lhikan said, grinning. "That's your type of quest, Chronicler. I'll leave those ones to you," he teased.
"Leave those to the Toaheroes!" Lewa corrected, laughing, and then noticed the berry map and grinned at that.
"Takua and Macku were showing me Ta-Koro," Lhikan said with a smile.
"Interesting way."
"You don't leave the map behind this way." Macku giggled, for she and the others in the Chronicler's Company had made maps like this before.
Lhikan laughed quietly at that. "I suppose you've had to use this way many times before."
"It helped with the Bohrok and the mutated huminos." Tamaru shrugged, leaned forward and swiped the berries back into the pack, "And nothing left!"
"The Bohrok," Lhikan said, remembering the one that attacked him, er tried to. "Exactly where did those things come from?"
"From deepdown in a dark under the island." Lewa said, frowning a little, "Not far from Taridax' lair..." He shook his head.
Lhikan sighed, a bit heavily. "It still bothers me to think that all this time the Makuta were going dark. And we didn't even know about it." By 'we' he meant his island home.
"I heard wiseold Turaga Matau speak of one Makuta that didn't turn its back on the Bionicle way." Tamaru said as he sat down, on Lewa's foot.
"Really?" Lhikan's interest was captured. If there was anything else on the Makuta to add to his private thoughts, he wanted to know about it. "What did he say about this Makuta?"
"He said..." Tamaru frowned as he struggled to think, Lewa- who was interested in this as well, ran the backs of his claws down the Matoran's back. "He said it was before the sorrybad darktime... the last female Makuta..."
"Why did the Makuta turn their back on the Bionicle way in the first place?" Lhikan asked, storing this in his head.
"Taridix," Lewa spoke now, voice somehow sad and... something else at the same time, "Let his heart and deep spirit become consumed by darkgreed of his brother Mata Nui. He tainted the rest of the Makuta before they knew... and cast the Great Spirit into a deepsleep."
Lhikan tensed. There was no way that was true. If the Great Spirit was asleep, wouldn't they have felt something? "That... That can't be," he said. "There's no way... h-how long as he been asleep?"
"Turaga Vakama says over a thousand years." Takua said, his red and orange eyes had taken a keener edge to them as he watched Lhikan's reactions, even as the larger form of Lewa shifted to pick the other Ta-Matoran up.
"The Great Spirit may be deepsleeping, little firespiter, but he is still alive."
"That's good to know," Lhikan said, but he was distracted. "No, it doesn't seem right at all... Toa Lewa, there was nothing wrong with the Great Spirit or the Makuta when I left Miko Nui. All of this is new to my ears."
"...This is weird." Takua said slowly whiles the others, Toa included, blinked.
Lhikan didn't say anything for awhile, debating to himself whether what he was about to say would sound crazy or not. "I have my suspicions," he confessed, "ever since I started to hear about these things, I realized something wasn't right. I wonder if I am in an alternative reality?"
"It's possible..." Macku said softly, looking up at a thoughtful Lewa, wondering why he was so quite. "Toa Kopaka went to one once."
"Perhaps Turaga Vakama will know more," Lhikan said. "Didn't Turaga Matau say he had a... vision?"
Lewa shook his head, "The wiseold one of the homeKora doesn't get visions, at least non other then dreams."
Lhikan hummed in thought before shaking his head. "It's all too confusing to think about. I guess I'll just have to hope to find those stones Turaga Matau talked about."