Disclaimer: I don't own Bionicle, the original line or the reboot. They both belong to LEGO. This is a preview of a fanfiction meant to take place centuries after the short-lived reboot.

More than two days had passed, but it felt like forever. After departing the City of the Mask Makers, the six Toa split into pairs and traveled across the eastern half of Okoto. It had been Voriki's idea, though Kaze doubted and suspected the motive behind it.

Speaking of Kaze, his patience wore thin while the Toa of Air landed atop the tip of the thousandth tree. From there, he surveyed the Jungle Region's green rooftop that stretched for miles. He searched high and low for any sign of this so-called Forbidden Mask. Of course, the fragment of jungle was hard to find in trees, grass, and vines. Not to mention, keeping the search a secret was hard when it meant running into a few scouts and making up some story about being on patrol every five minutes.

"Hey there!"

And then, there was her.

After dispelling an energy arrow, Kaze relaxed his posture and cautiously eyed Zala rising from under the shade of his branch. The Toa of Shadow's sudden appearance made him draw his bow, but he didn't fire. That had been fortunate for Zala as she cheerfully jumped on the branch next to his. "Weeeell, you're probably wondering why I'm here…" Zala said and Kaze kept quiet. "No? Well, I think I might have a lead."

Kaze decided to humor her. "And?"

"I heard rumors from the scouts. They said something about a temple north of us. There have been a lot of creatures moving away from it. And I…" Zala stopped herself, glanced around the empty roof and sky, then she whispered to Kaze, "... I think it might be related to what we're looking for."

Kaze doubted that. Zala didn't seem like the Toa to find answers, or do anything important other than stay in the shadows. Kaze hid his skepticism and looked away. "Did you ask the scouts?"

"I, uh, tried to. They wouldn't answer so I listened nearby… They were nice though."

"You were in shadows I presume."

"Yes… but not literally." Kaze rose a long eyebrow in surprise while Zala continued on in a quiet tone. "Some of these shadows… they're not right… I can't really move around like I want to… it's like they're hiding from me."

"I suppose you know that the best," Kaze murmured.

"Hmm, I guess I do!" Zala giggled, not taking the hint as she leaped through the treetops.

While flying behind Zala on his bow, Kaze begged for silence. Even a gust of wind he sent at Zala couldn't stop her from prattling on about the Jungle Tribesmen she had met. She even went on about that crazed recluse, Okil, and described how "strangely nice" he was. Then again, Zala probably saw Ruka's brother as a kindred spirit who loved darkness and was oblivious of the treachery and mad schemes behind Okil's smiling eyes.

"How much farther?" Kaze asked.

Landing on another branch, Zala stopped her babbling to answer, "Just around here! We should be getting closer!" Her eyes glanced down, and she pulled out her scythe. "Oh, wait a minute!"

Kaze, stopping and floating, blinked to find Zala had disappeared. Had she found something? If so, where did she go?

"Ah, there you are!" Kaze heard Zala from below, and he flew down to find her.

After flying several feet down to the bottom, Kaze was disappointed by what he found. Instead of Zala discovering any artifact, she knelt by a crooked branch holding onto a tree by a thread. On it, a tiny, wingless insect barely dangled on with one leg. "Hey there, little guy. Here, let me help you out," Zala cooed at the tiny insect. She held out her scythe, catching the insect on the S-shaped rod.

"We don't have time for this," Kaze growled as he landed, annoyed to have his time wasted by something so mundane.

"Just a second. There!" Kaze rolled his eyes at Zala, who had delivered the insect safely onto another tree trunk that it could call home. "See! It didn't take long-"

Kaze's hand covered Zala's mask to silence her. Something was off. Kaze felt that and peering at jungle surrounding him and Zala with narrow eyes.

The Shadow Toa perked hers up in confusion and spoke blatantly through Kaze's hand. "There's nothing there." Zala almost jumped when Kaze whirled his crimson stare at her. "Uh, I mean, I don't think so..." she said while trying not to make eye contact.

Reluctantly, Kaze lowered his hand and turned away with a curious Zala following after him. "Why don't you say much?" Kaze said nothing, so she continued. "It would help you know. We are all in this together. It's like Rhem said, we're all Toa on a mission."

That struck a chord. Kaze remembered when they met, when that fool Voriki boldly proclaimed they should unite, and most importantly, when Protector Ferra showed them all her fragment of the Forbidden Mask. Kaze particularly recalled what a certain Toa of Iron had said when she saw it, "Amazing… and to think I was about to use my hammer on it."

"Don't lump me with the rest of you," Kaze told Zala. "Once this mission is over, things will go back to the way they were. There's no point in saying a thing."

Zala's pink eyes remained perked up. "Why not? It might help if we know each other a bit more. Besides, I think the two of us are a little alike in some way-"

ZAP!

Kaze's energy arrow went past Zala and went for a green Skull Spider. It avoided the shot and jumped at Zala, who closed her eyes and gripped her shadowy scythe. Another arrow struck the Skull Spider dead center, putting an end to it.

Opening, Zala's eyes turned from the smoking spider to the glaring Kaze, who lowered his bow and growled. "Let me make one thing clear: you are nothing like me. If you were, you would have noticed that spider following us and used your shadows to stop it."

"I-it doesn't work like that!" Zala defended herself with a quiver in her voice. "Like I said, the shadows are-"

"And I don't believe it." The edge in Kaze's voice made Zala winced. "You were able to move in the shadows before… only when you were hiding of course."

"I wasn't hiding!"

Kaze held in a snort but not his mocking tone. "You were when we first met. You were willing to let everyone fight your battles for you. I wonder why you were even sent to watch me."

"That's not true! Voriki sent us because-"

"He doesn't trust me. Not after what happened, and I can understand that," Kaze peered closer at Zala, "... but why use you? All I've seen you do is talk and hide. You didn't join your 'fellow' Toa of Light back then to defend your 'friend.' You weren't willing to do what needed to be done."

Zala stood up for herself. "You mean like what you were going to do to Rhem?!"

"Better than his powers falling into someone else's hands. But I guess you wouldn't know about anything about that, now would you?"

That caused a reaction. As Zala's tiny body shook, her shadow danced wildly in the grass. She gripped her scythe close to her body, unable to hold back against the swelling emotions. "I… I… Why are you acting like this? You don't even know me!"

"But I do. Your Toa of Time might not remember anything, but I certainly remember you." Kaze sneered. "You, hiding in the dark corners with your eyes shut, so no one else could hurt you."

Zala's feet took a few steps back to a tree trunk. "... I… I…"

"For all the power you possess, you were too scared to do anything." Kaze's red eyes blazed down at Zala. "You're no hunter. You're a coward."

And with that last blow, Zala retreated into the shadows of the trunk.

Kaze rested his bow on his shoulder. "Good riddance," he muttered and went on his way.

AN: Just a little preview for my current Bionicle fanfiction, New Legends, New Heroes: A Bionicle G2 Sequel. Hopefully, the actual product will live up to the hype.

Raika out.