Disclaimer: Bionicle belongs to LEGO, not me.
Zala, once speeding across the Stone Region's desert, stopped short by the cave in the rocky overgrowth. Hanu first led her here to meet with Keela. Now, her attention was on the cave instead of her tired body. It had been in her best interests to avoid the shadows, and one stood before her, open wide like a devouring mouth.
Zala backed slightly after seeing Hanu's tiny figure step out of said mouth. "Um, you wanted to see me?" she asked, holding the new scythe in both hands. Hanu turned back around and led Zala into the cave after she stopped briefly. "W-wait!"
Contrary to what Zala initially thought, several crystals eased her worries in a soft purple light. Inside, Hanu's thudding, and almost seething, steps stopped when he turned to the Toa of Shadows. Looking at him, Zala's gaze followed Hanu's finger pointing to the scythe on her back.
"Oh, this?" she said, drawing the weapon out and letting Hanu take it. "Um, the… the two blades were Keela's idea. I hope you don't mind..."
Hanu's eyes were more on the weapon, even as he went down the tunnel. Watching from behind, Zala felt uneasy when Hanu held the S-shaped handle. Each hand twisted and pulled the scythe into two halves, confusing the Protector. "I… I asked Keela for that… Last time taught me I'm not as good with large swipes as you," Zala tried to explain.
Swinging each half, Hanu seemingly agreed with Zala's assessment. One arc almost grazed by the Toa of Shadow. With an "eep!", she stepped back from Hanu who put the two halves back together. When he held out the whole scythe, Zala gulped and reached for it. "Um, thank you-"
Hanu pulled it away before she could grab it. Zala blinked once, then she reached again. She blinked twice and thrice after Hanu pulled the scythe each time. "Hey, give it back!"
Zala regretted her words as she bent backwards under the thrusting scythe. She would've fallen if she hadn't grabbed the scythe. Twisting it, Zala pulled the top half and herself away from Hanu to stare at him. Was this a Protector venting on a Toa who couldn't protect his grandson? Did he want to prove how weak she was?
When Hanu relaxed, the Toa of Shadows met the Protector's disappointed gaze. "You… you were testing me?" she asked, and again, her eyes followed Hanu's pointing finger. This time, he pointed at her feet.
Feet standing on the edge of Hanu's shadow.
Hanu denied Zala the chance to step out of it. He held his scythe right or left, to keep the Toa of Shadows where she was. She didn't want to be in or near any shadow, and being boxed into Hanu's didn't help. "Stop that!" Zala yelled and at last swiped at the Protector.
Taking a step back, Hanu followed up his block with a grapple, hooking the two blades together. Though Zala drew on all the strength her arms had, Hanu pulled first and with enough force to make her stumble. Leaning forward, she pulled back at the sight of hers and Hanu's combined shadow lingering on the rocky floor.
She didn't pull free. She couldn't. A sleight of Hanu's hand locked the two tinier scythes good. "Okay, okay! You win! Just please… let me go," she said, her voice pleading at the end.
Hanu's eyes met Zala's shaky gaze. Then, he disengaged and returned the other half of the scythe to its owner. Zala hesitated before she took it. She still shrunk Hanu's stare. He was like a disappointed parent, or grandparent in his case. "Why?" Hanu all but asked, but the words creeped by Zala whilst she was in his shadow. "Why didn't you use your powers, now? Why not then?"
"I…" The other words stopped in Zala's throat. Could she explain? Her powers were of the shadow, of what it held. It was a domain belonging only to her, once.
Hanu's feet inched closer, and his hand gripped Zala's wrist. The Toa, looking down at the old Protector, heard him rumble in her mind: "What are you afraid of?"
Out of all the answers she had, Zala hated the one for that question. "It's what's inside," she said, her voice trembling like her body. "Last time, I saw him in it and he… he made me see things. Things I didn't want to…"
Zala couldn't get the rest out. What she did get out convinced Hanu to let go of her wrist. The freed Toa of Shadows watched him go briefly until she followed, trailing an inch behind his long shadow.
As the walk continued, Zala glanced around her whenever the tunnel dimmed even by the tiniest fraction before the light returned at full strength. She tried, and failed, to pretend her surroundings didn't matter when Hanu looked over his shoulder to catch her obvious jumpiness. She was so focused on it she hadn't wondered where Hanu was taking her.
If Zala had, she found her answer glowing bright at the end of the tunnel. Hanu entered the light, and Zala's eyes widened when she followed him into it. She stared at a large cavern lit by several stalks of glowing crystals, almost feeling like her old self.
"Wow," she uttered, relaxing by the lit stalactites and stalagmites. "What is this place?"
Hanu leading further into the cavern. Zala's wonder grew at the sound of rushing water and the sight of an underground river, of all things, lying ahead! And it was a river glowing a light purple in the cavern's light.
Zala, admittedly a little parched from walking, knelt down for a few sips. She let the water settle on her hand, watching it drip like a child would with a crystal lamp. She turned to Hanu standing beside her. "Oh, do you want some?" she asked. Hanu shook his head, rather pointing to a rather glowing part of the river in front. Zala, looking at it, said, "Yes, it looks really beautiful."
Hanu's eyes narrowed before he held onto Zala's hand and sunk it into the river. Zala's surprise grew when she felt something beneath all the light reflecting off and refracting in the cool currents. Her powers turning on, both her hand and Hanu's sunk into a dark portion.
Then, Hanu began to fall in it.
With a yelp, Zala yanked with both hands before the Protector either drowned or fell in the other realm waiting beneath. After she brought him onto the rocky bank, she immediately checked on him. "Are you okay?! You could've been hurt! You… you..." Zala asked and stopped when she met Hanu's grinning stare. "... you did that purpose?! W… Why?!"
Despite the water covering half of his old body, Hanu jabbed a finger repeatedly at the purple orb on Zala's chest armor. Then, he jabbed it at Zala's surprised mask. Hanu wanted to know her powers, Zala realized, so he tested her. Well, it worked, and he had her figuratively trapped in his web of questions.
Zala looked at her hands and answered the first of them. "My powers? They… they just don't let me go through places. Sometimes… I can see glimpses of things. Memories, but not really. More like, well, shadows. I was safe there before. Now, this Makuta…"
Hanu's eyes grew in surprise, then in bitter understanding. A tiny scoff left him, as if to berate himself for not realizing it. Zala, too late to stop, continued, "... I couldn't stop him. The things he made me see… I… I don't know how to face him… I don't know if I can ever go back…"
For a third time today, Hanu held Zala's hand. For a second time, he dipped it into the river's shadowy spot-after giving Zala an assured glance. For the first time, Zala saw something. A shadow of a memory, like she described to Hanu, where two young Okotans played in the river.
"Ha, I got you, Tira!"
"K-Kerac, stop splashing me! Father, please tell him!"
Zala turned to stare at a sad and nostalgic Hanu, who pulled her hand and herself back to reality. "Was that… from back then? From the invasion?" Zala asked and received a nod. She never fully understood, having only seen glimpses in her realm or overheard a word or two. "Why show that to me?"
Hanu's hand let go of Zala's to rest on his heart, gripping it to show pain. The fist it became revealed strength and a will to live. Zala looked from the hand to Hanu's mask mimicking that same strength and drive. "You… you went through a lot, didn't you? And you still keep going? Even now?" she said and Hanu's nodding surprised her.
Memories flashed in Zala's mind. Memories of Tira crying for her missing son, of Makuta attacking her, and of Kaze's glare and words reminding her of the past. "Coward," she still heard.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't-" Zala blurted but a rumble cut her off.
The rumble grew from a mighty groan, tumbling and shattering crystals. The sources of light were quickly replaced by two eyes. Specifically, the eyes of the Earth Guardian whose head emerged from the tunnel both Toa and Protector had entered earlier.
"Is there any way out?!" Zala yelled over the deep groan.
If there was one, a falling rock blocked Hanu's path like how the Earth Guardian blocked their entrance. The same Guardian approached, cracking the walls and ceilings in several places like it did at Korgot's Caverns. Zala swirled, looking for any other exit until her eyes fell on the river right by them.
She swirled back to the old Protector. "Close your eyes!" Hanu obeying, Zala held him tight and fell into the river. The following splash vanished as Zala's former home swarmed all around the two in its dark depths.
AN: Just a little preview for an upcoming chapter of my sequel Bionicle G2 sequel, New Legends, New Heroes. Hopefully, this should come out by the end of the week if I'm right, and I hope you will enjoy it then as I hope you have enjoyed it now. Until then, take care.
Raika out.