Chapter Eight: Collision

The two had decided to scale Gamaruss Ridge shortly after it was opened to the public, primarily out of competition but also out of a desire to get to know each other a little more. The first attempt was, predictably, a failure, but it had only motivated them to try harder. Over and over again, they had tried to reach the thing's summit, only to collapse due to a loose rock or a Scarabax attack or whatnot; at one point, they were a hair's-breadth away from the top but dramatically fell after a deep booming voice had startled them. When they finally did reach it, they had been surprised to find a strange warrior, evidently a Toa like Mata Nui. The even more surprising thing was that the Toa had been sitting there, cross-legged, deep in thought. How could he not be enjoying himself, Kiina had thought? The guy had been able to scale a treacherous landform all by himself, with no apparent support. That had to count for something.

Seemingly, it didn't. When Gresh walked up to the Toa and inquired him on his position, he had found that the being was thinking about something. On what, he had inquired. Kiina remembered sighing, pushing her rival away, and sitting down with the warrior to find out what was wrong. It took a bit of pushing, especially on her part, but they had eventually found that the Toa's kardin had recently left him. Boyfriend, Kiina had realized. She had gotten a bit uppity at that until the Toa, Lewa as he called himself, had assured her that there was nothing to worry about; his partner had only gone off to survey something mysterious, he recalled to them with a smile. That was one thing the Tajunan didn't understand about her friend, the smiles. Smirks, grins, beams, they were always there, sometimes lurking in the distance but more often than not straight in the foreground. How could he remain so cheerful? The concept was enigmatic to the both of them.

Back to the story, Kiina heard. She grumbled and thought on. Lewa had sighed, smiled a bit, and invited them to join him in meditation; what better way to unwind after exertion with some rest, he had supposed? They had accepted his request and sat down on either side of the Toa, but the two quickly became uneasy and restless. Lewa had laughed, a sound that she'd constantly remembered, made a funny joke, and had offered to take them back to his hut for a snack. So they went.

The experience became somewhat of a routine; they would climb the ridge, meet the Toa, meditate together, and head to Lewa's hut to eat. Over time, the Glatorian quickly overcame her fear of the man, as she was sure he had. Eventually, he had decided to stop 'cut-cheating' (he had apparently been flying up to the top with mask powers, something which Kiina still could not comprehend,) and had wanted to accompany them on their treks, a request with Gresh was happy to provide. He had begun getting close to Lewa… a little too close, she remembered with a grumble, as he soon started using tree-speak, air beings' preferred method of speech. To say it was annoying was an understatement, but her otherworldly friend had persuaded her to deal with it, saying it was for his own good.

Time wore on, and the three began to bond fairly well. Lewa began relating his life story to them, as did Gresh; Kiina was reluctant, but eventually did so as well. They started hanging out at towns, mainly New Atero and Tajun but sometimes Tesara, and the Glatorian taught him to fight in their style. "Confusing," he had said, "but ever-fun." Kiina hated to admit it, but he had taught them something as well; it was cliché, but the Toa had somehow managed to thaw the holes in their hearts. It had to have been that optimism, Kiina gagged.

A time soon came when the group was inseparable. They went together, talked together, and did everything together, except those times when either species needed to tend to its own duties. Lewa began calling the rivals his "Glatorian-brother and sister," which Gresh had extrapolated to be a sign that he considered them friends. She had had to smile at that. It was sweet. What was even sweeter, Kiina knew, were those times when the Toa had poured himself out to them, let his usual emotions drop and talked at length about his personal issues. Normally, at that. The Glatorian started to joke about why that was, but stopped when she realized she couldn't talk; it had taken her a few weeks to open up to him. He seemed to be rather accepting of her past, but she still felt ashamed to have acted so stupidly; whether he thought anything of this, Lewa did not show it. He trusted them; a bit too quickly, Kiina realized, but she had been very happy to have had a Toa other than Mata Nui, who could not really be considered one, in her line of friends. In her mind, they would've remained so forever.

Then the Great Beings had come into play, however. One, in fact. Velika, supervisor of the Matoran Universe Robot's Biological Sector, had once taken over a Matoran's body to see inside the thing for himself. When the robot had broken down, destroyed after having its head smashed open by Mata Nui in a prototype robot wielding a piece of the planet, he had gone insane, wishing to destroy the new "invaders" and reshape the universe. In an attempt to destroy a large source of power, he had gathered some members of a strange organization, the Order of Mata Nui, a literal god named Artakha, and a… Piraka named Vezon in a fortress and blown it up; he had also called upon assassins to kill some unscrupulous people. To make mattes worse, Marendar, a failsafe created by the Great Beings (seriously, how many failsafes did they need?) to kill off any rogue creations, had activated and gone on a rampage. It had taken the efforts of many Glatoran, Matoran, Agori, and Toa to take care of them both, among them Lewa; Kiina had known he was injured, but not to a degree where Tahu would not let him go outside all together. She groaned at the Toa of Fire's stubbornness.

The Glatoran sighed and took Lewa's head in her hands. "You okay, kiddo?"

He gawked at this before looking down and nodding.

She quickly picked him up, smiling at his imperiled laughs. "No, buddy, you're not. Gresh n' I are gonna do something about it, just you wait."

The Toa giggled. "Not… something you can quick-resolve… I'm sure…" It was all he could get out before she began to tickle him and he exploded. Smirking, she began walking to a cave opening and beckoned Gresh to follow her.

The Jungle Glatorian rushed up beside them and pouted. "What can we do, Kiina? He said it himself, and I can confirm it. Tahu is very, very strict. I'm not sure you'll be able to cajole him."

The Tajunan grinned as her helmet became obscured by darkness. "I'm sure, and I can, too. Watch and wait, Gresh. I've got this all under control."

"Whatever you say, sister," Gresh deadpanned before frowning as he too was swallowed up.

"The noble six," Nuju started before a particularly vocal Skakdi began booing him. Ackar attempted to calm him, but he was acting too rowdy to be controlled. That is, until…

"Shut up!" Nuju called, speaking regularly again. "Thank you." He coughed again.

"The noble six are at are at an end to their path,

Harshness and restraint tear it apart.

Need not despair, as despite all this

An unfound treasure heralds a new start.

The threads remain treacherous, filled with danger and spite

Yet also the virtues, with illustrious sheen

The hands of fate play a tumultuous game

One that is surely beneficial in means."

The Turaga was about to sit down but was interrupted by tumultuous applause. Beside him, Whenua groaned. One of the things that the Bionicle just did not get about their new comrades was the constant reward of actions- reward for succeeding in battle, reward for the sealing of an important deal, reward for killing a rogue Jungle Bull, even! It wasn't very logical to them; weren't these kind of things done out of sense? Ackar had convinced them to accept it, despite the lack of comprehension, so Nuju stood still and bowed a little bit. When the cheering died down, he sat for real.

Vakama piped up again. "That is all that we have heard. I have been able to decipher most of the prophecy's intended meaning, but I believe the more perceptive of you may have had different ideas." He gestured to the crowd. "Anyone?"

A green Av-Matoran with a Noble Miru raised his hand. "Could be about that League of Six Kingdoms thing," he commented.

"No," Vakama replied with a chuckle, "I would not think so. They have no reason to start their path over again. It would not work well for us or them."

"D'you think," a Sister Skrall asked, "it has somethin' to do with another team? Not these… New-vuh as we're all thinkin'?"

Nokama fielded the question "We are not aware of any other teams of six that fit such a prophecy." She froze then turned to Vakama. "Could it not be the Toa Hagah? Or Inika?"

"Never. They would not squabble the way the Toa Nuva have."

"Could it be a bunch of slag?" an old but creaky voice commented.

All heads in the room shot to its source, which appeared to be a senior Agori chief. "Ain't me!" He scowled at them and held up a cane in retaliation.

The voice laughed at this. "Up here," he mocked. The heads and the Agori tilted themselves up a bit, staring at the gigantic video screen.

"You are all fools," it chuckled. "All this time arguing, and you have yet to give us the one thing we want."

"The resources?" an Onu-Matoran inquired.

"The book you just ordered?" a Glatorian asked.

"The d-"

"SILENCE!" the voice boomed. "I cannot believe this. Surely you of all people have heard of the alien lifeform?"

"Yes," Vakama said. "But it does not seem to be doing any harm. Surely you have not been able to capture it yourselves?"

The voice groaned. "We cannot. The damn thing killed one of our men! It has the power to wipe out a whole city block!"

"Yet it has not kill-destroyed here-planet, no?"

"It could! It very well could!" It sighed. "You have just not seen it in action. Maybe seeing it will put things in perspective. Also, you talk funny."

"Hey!" Matau yelled.

The screen flickered on, and what seemed to be security camera footage was shown. A reptilian being was walking up to a cage, poking and prodding a girl. He continuously asked her for food or sustenance, much to her chagrin. Eventually she grew tired of this, exploded in anger, and destroyed the room, cutting off the video.

The audience stared at the screen, not sure how to react. The voice sighed again.

"Perhaps you will react differently with my perspective," he screeched. "Guards!"

A squadron of reptiles like the one in the video marched into the view, firing guns that shot out ropes and using them to tie up random people. On the screen, a new video came into view, slowly darkening to reveal another reptile, grinning with glee.

"H'ssiah!" Ackar hissed.

"Ah, so you have heard of me, then? How so, Glatorian?"

"Word reached us," the Titan intoned. "Didn't seem to have reached you."

The lieutenant laughed. "Ah yes, so it has. Not. See what I did there?" Nuju began wheezing angrily, Macku too preoccupied to translate. "Oh shut up, crone. Nobody cares."

The Council gasped at this. H'ssiah smiled. "I have but one request, and one request only. Bring me the girl, and nothing more. If you do not?" He smirked, bringing a claw to his throat. "You know what will happen, I'm sure. What do you say?"

Everyone gaped, devoid of response. Finally, the seat behind the screen creaked a bit, the being occupying it getting up.

"I ain't sayin' nothing to you!" the Agori chief groused. Then he threw his cane to the screen.

SMASH!

It broke.

The sound of breaking glass exploded throughout the dome, and the screen sparked in damage. Again, nobody had much response to this. To utter silence, he walked around to the door and pulled a guard down to his helmet.

"Bomb what you may. I'm findin' the girl and keepin' her for myself. Any objections?"

The Gordanean panicked. "No, sir, not at all!"

He was quickly dropped. "Good, good, sonny," the chief cheered. "Now be a nice little lizard and clean up all this mess! I'll be waitin' for it when I get back." Then he left.

For the umpteenth time that night, none of the Councilmen had anything to say about this… except Nuju.

"What in Karzahni just happened?"

All had seemed well for Kory. She had planned to go out and greet the two men firmly, but a strong wind had ruined her intent. Then another man had flown in and begun talking to them, lime and apparently a good friend of the two. Then the blue man had picked the lime one up and walked with the green one into her cave. Squealing in fright, she shot up to the tunnel's ceiling, looking to find a way out of the thing that would not get her killed.

"Kiina-sister," Lewa managed to get out.

"Hmm?"

"Are we there yet?"

The Glatorian laughed at him. "Pff! Keep calm, dude. We'll be there in a moment."

"He has an amazing-point, Kiina," Gresh noted. "It has been a forever-time. Are you completely-sure you are not random-erratic in the wrong-direction?"

The Toa slapped him. "Glatorian-friend is ever-right, brother. You need to stop-speak my tongue-language. It does not fit-work with you."

"But…"

Kiina palmed herself then beamed. "Doesn't matter anyway. We're here!"

The three stopped to look at their destination. From its structure, it appeared to be a cupola of some sort. Stalactites and stalagmites dotted the floor and ceiling, both rough and ragged with erosion. The air was heavy and moist, with drops of water periodically pattering on the ground. Flickers of crystals could be seen in the walls. In the distance, a small carved-out 'window' revealed a view of what was seemingly Roxtus, a city that the Toa had not been able to see yet. He could not help but gape, jaw wide open.

"Kiina… this is… amazing!" In his excitement, he hugged his friend on her neck.

She laughed. "Hey, don't get too aroused yet. This isn't exactly why I brought you here."

Lewa frowned in confusion. "But this is pretty-nice! What else could there be?"

"Gresh," Kiina called. "Get me the creation."

The Toa thought about this for a moment. What could the two have created? They were Glatorian, warriors. There wasn't enough time for crafts in the arena."

His question was dispelled when the Tesaran returned, gingerly carrying a stone object. He sighed, embarrassed, and handed it over to Lewa before Kiina snatched it away.

"Check it out, Lewa," she breathed, feeling the thing. "We created this… abomination while you were recovering. Thought it'd make you feel better." Done examining the rock, she handed it to her friend, who immediately gasped in realization.

It was his axe. Not his real axe, as that thing had been mutated by Energized Protodermis into his Air Katana, those later traded to Artakha for his Air Sabre, but a replica; who really cared, though? It was his axe. They had really taken the time to create such a painstakingly accurate thing just because they supposed it would raise his spirits. He beamed and hugged Kiina and Gresh again.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! This thing is great!"

Gresh chuckled. "Glad you… like it, even though it's so horribly forged…"

Lewa gasped in mock terror. "Really? I couldn't tell!" He began throwing the thing between his hands. "It's pretty damn faithful to the original. You guys go to someone for help?"

Kiina nervously laughed. "Eh… not really important who…"

The Toa pouted. "You had to've gone to someone. The only person I know of who knows its specs is Artakha, and he's not exactly here right now, I think… How did you find him?"

"Uh… What about…"

He smiled. "Onua?"

The Tajunan smirked. "Yeah."

"Awesome." Lewa backflipped off of Kiina's shoulders and began swinging his new axe around. "Wanna test this thing out? Looks awfully sturdy…"

"I don't know," Gresh commented. "We don't know what the Turaga will say, or the Toa…"

"Skrall em'." Kiina pulled out her trident. "Aw, why not? Sure. I'll take you on," she finished, getting into a fighting stance.

Lewa grinned. "Oh, I'm sure you can…"

"Wanna bet?"

His anger riled, Lewa ran up to the Glatorian and swung.

CLANG. JANG. TSEER.

The sounds of swordplay began reverberating in the distance. Koryand'r beamed. Finally, the men were doing something interesting! The exile began inching forward to the activity's location but stopped when she realized she still didn't want to be killed. Fearing for her head, she flew in silence, began perusing the ceiling, and finally a safe place to watch the beings and stay out of notice. The warrior grinned at the sight of the green and lime beings clashing their swords in ecstasy; these people knew how to fight!

A squadron of soldiers gathered on the side of a ridge. Banging noises were reverberating from the inside. H'ssiah had half a mind to do something about it, but his embarrassing loss to an Agori was still fresh in his thoughts. He recoiled at its very mentioning; a being like him, standing up to the Lieutenant and all but spitting in his face? It was demeaning. The monarchy would have to be informed…

After they captured the Rutan'gah, of course. H' called on his men to surround the ridge, hoping to catch of the glimpse of the Glatorian he had apparently been "warned" about.

CRCK.

Trident and axe collided together in an inscrutable symphony before breaking to thunderous praise.

"Heh," Lewa panted. "I'm surprised this thing keep-holds." He stopped to breathe before slashing at his friend. "It's only stone, isn't it?"

"'Only stone?'" Kiina gasped. "Lewa! This isn't no 'stone.'" She moved to block the Toa's harried attack. "We used our elemental powers and some of these crystals to harden it."

"Do I want to know how that works?"

Gresh charged at Lewa with his daggers. "Not really, no."

They had been fighting like this for a good twenty minutes. All were satisfied, but most of all Lewa. This was the first serious sparring he had done since the final attack on Marendar, and he lovedit. Kiina and Gresh were two very capable opponents, able to challenge the Toa without giving him too much of an issue. Lewa had been so enthused with them that he had become completely absorbed in the bout.

So absorbed, in fact, that he didn't notice a large shape falling off of a nearby stalactite…

X'hal! She was losing her grip!

Kory had been able to hang on to the stalactite for ten whole minutes. The exile thanked her father's physical exercises for that. Unfortunately, though, all good things must come to an end, and the surface of the protrusion had been so damp that her hands were beginning to fall off. She cursed to herself; didn't fate know that she didn't want to reveal herself to these warriors just yet?

Wait.

Why should fate care?

Fate was the only reason the Gordanians had invaded Tamaran in the first place. Fate was the only reason her sister had traded her to them for her safety. Fate was the only reason the aliens' experiments had given her powers. Fate was the only reason she had been able to escape… and fate was the only reason she was here, in one piece at that. It knew what it was doing.

Koryand'r decided to listen to fate and let her body fall off the stalactite.

Kiina snarled and lunged at Lewa, trident gleaming in the light of the moon. Reacting instantly, the Toa instinctively leaped back, raising his axe in protection. The two weapons met with a loud CLANG, and the Toa was thrown back by the force. He pulled his defence out again but felt a drop of water hit his mask and groaned.

"Why do they even put these things here?" Lewa complained. "It's already-bad that Onua's koro-terrain is rough-dangerous, but the 'stalactices' I ever-see make that place look like Naho Bay. Not even kidding-"

He stared at Kiina and frowned. She didn't seem to be listening to him, eyes focused somewhere on the ceiling. "Hello? Kiina-sister?" The Toa waved his hands in her face. "You with me?"

"Mmhmm," she responded.

He turned to Gresh. "What's her listen-problem?"

"I think she's-" The Glatorian froze. "Look above you…"

Lewa tilted his head back, but couldn't seem to make out anything. He heard a small whoosh noise, though, like the wind was being pushed down- probably some odd new Rahi, now that he saw a black blob by it. Why was Kiina so engrossed in the thing, anyway?

"Don't think there's anything of interest up there-"

WHUMP.

Fate was merciful. She had landed on something hard and metallic-like, possibly-

It rose. Uh oh. They had all seen her!

Lewa groaned and got back up on his feet with Gresh's help. A dull throbbing pain emanated from his back, causing him to touch it tenderly.

"You okay, brother?" Kiina asked, concerned for his safety.

"Yeah, I think so." He began to rub his back where he felt the most discomfort, hoping to ease the hurting. "What was that, anyway? Some sort of strange-Rahi-"

His fingers brushed over something that was definitely new to him. It appeared to be organic, with thick squishy flesh prominently covered by some sort of fabric and armour. Its limbs felt firm, probably containing muscle and bone inside. If he brushed hard enough on them, he could sense tiny hairs growing out of them like trees, and moving his hands up an adequate distance, he began to feel a whole bushel of the filmy things- what was that called, again? It reminded the Toa of the body feature that Kiina hid under her helmet-

Oh. A MOP.

This was DEFINITELY a scare-Rahi.

He threw the creature off him, backflipped to reorient himself, pulled out his weapons, and SCREAMED.

They heard the scream as though it had been produced by the seasoned vibration cords of a professional Krogun singer who had been wailing at a loud volume with a megahorn right in front of their ears. It was loud, high pitched, screechy, and shrill. Positively revolting.

H'ssiah had every right mind to go up to the source of this foolishness and sockit in the mouth; Rutan'gah or not, such a torrid creature could not be allowed to remain alive any longer. Gordanians are usually trustful enough of others to bare their ears in full view, but when someone disrespects this trust by violating the organs, as the vermin had done right now, they have every right to tear the thing alive. He would not take this abomination's foolishness, especially after the thrashing he had just received from a Zorg-accursed Agori!

The Lieutenant trudged into the cave, ignorant of his fellow soldiers. They did not matter much, anyway. Being the seniormost member of the squadron, he had the right to deal with such offences himself. Besides, if the Rutan'gah did happen to be able to squeal like an actual girl, they would be better off waiting outside. No point in letting what took that one Private happen to them, no matter how stupid they were.

As he walked, the broken remains of his communicator transmitted a faint whisper of audio from the meeting he had hijacked. ssiah was too absorbed in his anger to pay much attention to it, but he kept one ear trained on it just in case.

"Do you think…Toa…wa...alright?"

"Yes…the fires of… wisdom…they know… worry…"

"But… new-str… how-do…quick-fast?"

"Cc…kck…ckck…."

"What…crone…"

"…ry…He thinks…oka…too."

"That's…courag…need…alarm!"

"…eah!"

"I… Vakama…"

"As…said. Le…fine. The…hands of fate…o…not fail."

Chapter Eight! Now we're gettin' to the good stuff!

1. I can't be the only one who thinks Lewa and Kiina would be good friends. They're both confident, headstrong, and don't let anything get in their way, but are also quite sweet at the same time. Starfire is the same, but she technically hasn't met them yet. :P

2. The Velika thing was extrapolated from information obtained in the serials and I'm not sure if the guy'd actually attempt to do this in canon. Certainly seemed like he was shooting for it at the end there.

3. The prophecy Nuju recites pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the story. Make of that what you will. (The section at the end's pretty important, too.)

4. That Agori is a freakin' hero. God bless.

5. The customs on Spherus Magna are weird and I don't expect the Bionicle will get them easily. The Great Beings programmed them to be completely flat, after all.

6. FACE-FIRST FIRST MEETING! That sounds dangerous. Also hey we get our first real Bionicle/TT character interaction how long has it been eight chapters?

Note: I don't plan to ship them. Unless you mean friendship, in which case come here, you. Read and review!