23906 replies to this topic

[Nohiki]

IC: Tohi

 

"A smith. Of course you would." Tohi remarked, wondering how on the world she didn't think of that. "Though the other half of your job seems fancy." she smiled, loosening up a little bit and forcing more of the food down her throat. "Can't say i would enjoy smithing. In fact, the fires would drive me crazy. The Asher at the stall was spooking me enough." she shuddered at the thought, her skin feeling itchy all of the sudden. "I could use some heavy weight to lift in a few days time though." she pointed out, not imagining better workout than hauling several tons of metal from place A to place B, save for carrying stone instead. "And hey," she pointed an accusing finger at Mila, "don't shun sleeping on a floating device until you tried. Water is soothing element." she continued, lowering her voice to whisper, "It regenerates and cleans the body, calms the mind from it's turmoil of thoughts, allowing it to slip away from reality into the dream..." Tohi finished with a yawn. "Just thinking about it makes me want to sleep some hundred years more."

 

She was suddenly too dumbfounded by the tiredness that she didn't notice either the fireworks, or the commotion near the bigger hut on the far side of one of the bridges.

Edited by Nohiki, Dec 30 2012 - 04:43 PM.

[Dallas Winston]

IC: Dorian (Ga-Koro)

 

"Well, I've been in town about two or three days now. I was looking for an ancient undersea civilization in the Naho Bay - which, for the record, I found in 150 seconds - and...you're not buying it."

 

I rolled my eyes and leaned against the lemonade stand, searching Ky's expressionless - would it kill this girl to crack a smile? She used to be the perkiest little parrot you ever did see - face for something that, to be honest, I wasn't even sure existed. Affection. For me.

 

"I came to see you," I sighed.

 

"Why?"

 

A glimmer of offense. Same Kynaera. All business.

 

"I can't just stop to see you because I love you? Maybe because I miss having you in my life?"

 

-Tyler

[Floridian Citrus]

IC: Embok

 

The Toa of Plasma felt the snap of his armored collar breaking, the sound almost symbolic as his last defenses against the “Arete” were shattered. His heart seemed to stop as the Skakdi walked out of the hut with Nokama's Noble Rau, the Kanohi damaged heavily by some kind of acid. Embok's eyes widened. No...

 

No.

 

NO!

 

For a moment, he almost lost control. He almost disregarded the fact that it would be impossible for him to break out of Anthyn's superior strength. He almost gave into his rage. He almost broke. He wanted to burn the Skakdi for killing Nokama. He wanted to burn the angelic being forcing him into the air and up against the wall of the very hut he was sworn to protect. He wanted to burn the traitorous Toa of Air grasping Hahli's mouth, preventing the Marine to make any sound. He wanted to kill them.

 

The very thought stunned him, the realization slicing through his white-hot anger like a heated blade through soft earth. At that moment, Embok had been prepared to kill. To break the Code. To avenge Nokama. A sense of calm replaced the rage. The anger was still there, but now ice-cold rather than red-hot. Forced and directed by his analytical mind. His ice-blue eyes fixed themselves on Anthyn's Mahiki, their gaze seeming to pierce through the Mask of Illusion and into the mind hidden by the Kanohi. Embok felt the Valkyr's clawed grip tighten around his neck, further cutting off his ability to breath. The remains of the one thing that had protected him, his collar, dug deep into his neck. He was not afraid. Or was he?

 

He could do it.

 

He should do it.

 

But he would die.

 

He could see it quite clearly.

 

Even if he won, he died. Embok would die. Killed by the very beings who killed his Turaga. Even if he killed them first. Embok would die. His body would remain, but the spirit known as Embok would die. He would cease to exist, replaced by another. In order to kill them, he had to first kill himself.

 

Was he prepared to do so?

 

The Toa of Plasma's gaze flicked towards Nokama's damaged Kanohi, before returning to the beautiful Angel of Darkness that held him there. He didn't say a word, and his eye took on a distant appearance. A single tear slipped down his Kanohi. A tear that held within it the pain that he felt for losing Nokama, the rage of the Arete's betrayal, the hope that had deserted him for the final time, and the one thing that kept him there.

 

His fear.

 

Yes, he was prepared.

 

He closed his eyes once, a deep knot forming within himself. He inhaled, the knot becoming more substantial. He released the breath, the knot melting away to nothingness. Embok opened his eyes, his distant expression once again fixed on Anthyn.

[GBV]

IC: Nuurikan
 
Turaga Nuurikan had finally made it to Ga-Koro. His journeying had taken him across the island, from the charred forest to the Onu-koro Highway. He had seen many Rahi along the way, he had faced many dangers. Now he wondered what he would face here.
 
OOC: My first BZPRPG post. Correct me if I am doing something wrong.

Edited by Great being Velika, Dec 30 2012 - 10:29 PM.

[Legolover-361]

IC: Kynaera
Midday
Ga-Koro

Kynaera held her breath for a second. Exhaled. Her eyes remained locked with Dor's, but her stare had lost some of its strength.

"Yeah," she said for lack of anything better to say. "I... well, I feel the same way. Sometimes. I mean-- I miss you, too. Uh..."

She paused, biting her lower lip in an unwonted expression of uncertainty and looking at the ground. Her gut felt empty. Her chest felt empty. Her tongue refused to respond to her commands. She didn't like the sensation.

Edited by Legolover-361, Dec 30 2012 - 06:37 PM.

[EmperorWhenua]

Ic: Anthyn looked back at Embok with a mixture of curiosity and sinister. "You didn't talk back. Good," she murmured. Her fist was still tightly wound around the broken collar Embok wore and still pressed his jugular against the wall of the hut with frightening steady force. "I think I will be merciful to you, just this once, Embok. I won't kill you."

 

Her other hand came into Embok's view, claws sharp and shiny in the flashing lights of fireworks. Her eyes flared of bright orange and illuminated Embok's face with his own colours; they were so close. Embok glanced at the claw as it slowly moved towards his mouth. He wanted to scream -- but that meant certain death. As Lust's knifelike digits touched his lips he tried to turn away but found it impossible to evade them. He clenched his mouth shut with all his ability, but the amount of power Lust could direct even in her fingers overwhelmed his jaw like a tidal wave washing over an atoll.

 

"Instead," Anthyn said in her smooth, silky voice, "I will show you who I truly am, so that you may know..." She leaned in even closer, putting his mouth directly next to Embok's ear and she whispered, "... And feeearrrr." Her fingers seized Embok's tongue and tore into it like an eel assaulted by a dozen filed canines.

 

Embok's eyes went wide as he realized what Anthyn was doing. His tongue was tugged, and not gently, by the angel's anchored fingers. He wanted to scream, he wanted to wail in pain if not in terror, as she yanked it out as if it were a banana in a basket, but all he could do was gargle the blood that suddenly gushed in his mouth. Unable to swallow it quickly enough due to his neck still being held ironclad, the maroon fluid flowed quickly like a waterfall over his bottom lip. Anthyn held the tongue out in front of his eyes and leaned back with satisfaction. Embok breathed quickly through his nose, hyperventilating from the strain and fear that coursed through his system.

 

"Consider it a gift," she said, and gave a wicked grin of satisfaction. She squeezed the muscle in her fist and mashed it to pulp before Ambok's eyes. When she dropped it into the dusk-lit water of the bay it was little more than a jumble of tissue unfit for anything but being stuffed into a sausage. "I will never have to kill you for saying... well, anything, really." She laughed lightly at this, quiet and congenial, expected at a noblewoman's book and tea forum with lace and porcelain, not a bloody torture to a once-hero in Ga-Koro.

 

And then, suddenly, Embok saw Anthyn for what she truly was: Not the virtuous angel of hope and spiritual power but a lustful and dark being of warped sin. Her wings fanned out and multiplied and he beheld six enormous alabaster appendages, shrouded in glorious plumage, and Anthyn's mask glowed gold but dripped vermillion from its eyes and mouth as if she had gorged on Embok's soul with nihilistic fury. A smile permeated through the stain with vicious delight, a reminder of the pleasure she basked in from the event, and she spoke, her voice coming from all directions in Embok's mind, a cacophonous thunder of eight voices of all pitches that assaulted Embok's psyche. He could barely understand her as she said, "Behold the monster that will awaken should you ever trespass the foyer I have forbidden you. Say nothing of what you know, live in agony for what you see, or I will rend you and those you share it with from this life until the next."

 

She released Embok and dropped him to his feet. He threw up the lake of blood in his mouth and cast it into the bay and coughed hysterically. As he looked at the reflection, he could still see Lust's nightmarish form, a visage that would chase him forever more. And then he felt her hand touch his back as he still tried to regain himself. Bright sparks of light from a nearby firework burst out and Lust blinked out of view for but a millisecond.

 

He looked again and he saw Anthyn as she was to everyone else around him, to all who were still celebrating, and to any who looked. Only two people saw and heard what she projected, only two men beheld the monstrosity: Embok and Ketan, the victim and the witness. "Are you alright, Embok?" she asked like a representative from heaven itself, caring and gentle. "Are you hurt?"

 

Embok was faced with a gruesome reality, however: It was this, the kind image he beheld, that was the illusion.

 

 

Ooc: To clarify for anyone else who reads this because the ending may be misleading: The presentation of her appearance in her profile is how she is. Her six-winged demonic representation was caused by her Mahiki; I mentioned it to be her true form because, beyond her flesh and armor, that is how she looks in her soul. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say. The eight voices are, in reality, the echoes of the souls of the people she absorbed when she came into existence long ago in-game; they are the voices of people like Salvinn, Krayn, Savina, Cersei, etc. I haven't really done much with this darker side of her so I felt they deserved some notice here.

 

And yes, this torture of Embok and the injuries he suffered were approved by Gravity. : D

Edited by Littlefinger, Dec 30 2012 - 09:50 PM.

[Dallas Winston]

OOC: The following Cylund post was supplied by Dov, who has a computer with intentions almost as black and vile as Anthyn's soul(s).

 

IC: Dorian (Ga-Koro)

 

 

Cylund, who had been watching this little exchange for an extended period of time, calmly sipping on a kiwi milkshake, tossed the milkshake aside and nudged Kynaera by the elbow much more familiarly than she would've liked.

 

"Okay, now, you two are obviously incapable of communicating openly without building up some sort of wall around yourselves that makes the other forget the parts that they don't want to hear. So here, let me break down that wall, thereby fixing your relationship, you two. Here's what you should do. Kiss. Kiss already and let's go grab some beers instead of this charade you're doing right now."

 

I watched Cylund nudge Kynaera, do his drunken extreme sports stoner spiel in front of Kynaera, watched as she observed him as though he were a giant piece of chewed gum who had risen up from the Naho Bay, slapped her around a couple times, sucker punched me in the stones, and then ripped in half and jumped underneath both our shoes: my stomach began to sink as the list of predictions for what Ky would do to my one-time drinking buddy - none of which, by the way, were remotely pretty - grew larger and larger.

 

Kiss. Kiss already.

 

Cheech Marin was right. I had to go for it.

 

Party music played loudly, obnoxiously, even moreso than five minutes ago, and suddenly the note that I had written Ky felt small and inconsequential in a fist that suddenly felt small and inconsequential. Uncertainty, reflected in two sets of eyes. Cylund, wobbling around and smelling of alcohol even though common sense told me that he was actually still sober - don't even get me started on the sheer idiocy of that one - and finally, I grabbed Kynaera by the wrist and pulled her into a side alley. The Arete had a thing for decorating, it seemed: even the formerly shady side alleys and backstreets of Ga-Koro were inviting, warm, and I was greeted by the smell of some kind of fruit as we stood there, her pressed against the wall.

 

"Turaga Vakama is dead," I admitted after making sure no one could hear me. "If not by now, in a matter of minutes. I came...I came because I'm not sure when, if ever, I'm gonna see you again, and I need to get everything out now while I can."

 

This moment, Ky's response, one way or the other it would change my life again.

 

She hesitated, a thousand questions clearly on her lips. "What do you mean? Why do you need to get out? Who's after you? Are you alone? Do you need protection--?"

 

"No, I don't need to get out of anywhere. I need you to listen to me. I forgive you, Kynaera. For everything."

 

-Tyler

 

[GBV]

IC: Nuurikan

 

Nuurikan thought this place was strange. He wondered why there would be houses floating in Naho Bay instead of the beach. He then decided to not care about what he saw and just enjoy his time with the ladies.

[Draezeth]

IC: Naro
The coral carver had just finished watching a family of sea horses have dinner when he noticed the seabed growing murky beneath the Turaga's hut. He swam a little closer and tealized it was shaking. Popping out of the wather, he witnessed an interesting scene. Hahli was being held quiet by a Le-Toa who had his back turned, and the unmistakeable profile of Anthyn was holding Embok against the wall of the Turaga's hut.

His eyes widened at the display, which soon went from interesting to horrifying when a Skakdi emerged with a piece of the Turaga's mask. A tear silently rolled down his face as his mouth hung wide open, shocked into silence. If his mind were in any working condition, he would have found a reason not to scream, but as he was, his voice had simply vanished.

OOC: Sorry for popping in like this. Rest assured he's too much of a coward to do anything about it.

Edited by Draezeth, Dec 30 2012 - 11:18 PM.

[GBV]

After looking around the village for a while, Nuurikan decided to leave and explore Ga-Wahi. He bid farewell to Gali, packed his bags and was off.

[Mr. Peanuts]

IC: Wrath had just finished putting down the riot when he heard a whimper and turned. His gaze narrowed to focus on a particular scene. A matoran stood there with tear dripping from one eye, looking at the turaga's hut. 

 

Perhaps an altruist in his place would be concerned for the well-being of his fellow man and try to console the saddened being. Perhaps a sluggard would offer a shrug of the shoulders and just go back to watching clouds. Many kind of people wouldn't care much about the depressed being or try to resolve his plight in a pacific manner.

 

Yet Wrath wasn't one of those people. His philosophy was forged in the fire of strife, his eyes ones that had seen both literal and figurative fields of battle. He had been broken and reborn. Sadness was not in him, only the permanent smoke of miasma and blazing retribution. He was not a machine, though he was conversely without mercy. He was the fire of rage that fought against its scarred state and denied iron indifference. Simply, he was without comparison in belief and action.

 

So he rejected these alternatives of traditional kindness and ignorance. His solution was of the same fire as he. Striding forth to the producer of the offending sound, he commanded in his rasp: "Silence. Do not dampen celebration with your depression; it is your Duty to keep Unity alive by stoking its embers with joy when others are similarly in jubilation, not mourning to counter their happiness."

Edited by Norman Efiks, Dec 30 2012 - 11:16 PM.

[Draezeth]

IC: Naro
The Ga-Matoran stared up at the harsh Toa as he glared down at him. He shakily nodded, wanting to point out that he hadn't made a sound. Was he in on it too? Had he helped kill the Turaga? Not wanting to think about it, he let go of the pad, sinking into the water, curling into the fetal position, willing the things he had seen to go away.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a Takea shark biting at a meager couple of bloody scraps in the water. Fearing the worst, the Matoran swam near.

A bubble escaped his mouth as he saw the noble Embok vomiting copious amounts of blood into the water. The Matoran felt his stomach heave at the sight, and he swam away violently, pulling himself up onto a lillypad in a random part of town. Turning around, his cheeks ballooned as the stress of the last couple of minutes churned in slide him before violently forcing their way out of his mouth. There went the fruit he had eaten a moment before.

[Mr. Peanuts]

IC: He had admonished successfully and left the target of said admonition in flight. The coward left to express his sadness elsewhere. But as Wrath gazed out across the village of Water, he came to see the coward retch in plain view of the others and knew his work was not yet done in that moment.

 

Ta detested the ways of the fearful ones slinking in shadows as much as he did the idealistic ones of the light. In his eyes, they were one and the same. Fear to acknowledge reality was little different from fear to fight it. This matoran was clearly of the single camp. His rage was only furthered by thought of the fool's deeds.  His heart burned with righteous fury for those Unenlightened who, warned by him once and scolded for their misdemeanor, yet stayed in their sinful ways. And so many Unenlightened displaying their woeful ineptitude and lack of knowledge in one day had already set him on the path of vengeance. He would follow it through to its end.

 

The thing on his back sent him images. Blood spattered the kanohi of the craven one, his hand flying to punish the matoran, and he silently acquiesced.

 

He looked again to his enemy. His eyes' fiery gaze scorched the matoran's body. Then they closed.

 

RELEASE.

 

He was in the water and speeding to the other lilypad in a matter of milliseconds. He leaped forth for a moment, wrapping arms around his enemy in a mocking bear hug with one hand over the mouth. Then Wrath fell back in and torpedoed off to the Ga-Wahi jungle.

[Floridian Citrus]

IC: Embok

The Toa of Plasma clamped his mouth shut. His heartlight was flashing at an incredible speed, but in irregular beats. His hands were shaking. His head spun. Embok's once noble features were twisted and warped. His eyes were wide with shock, and not from what had just happened. It was from what he had seen. The image of Anthyn had been burned into his mind, forever there and never leaving. A cold sensation clawed its way into his soul, slipping into the darkest corners of his being, smothering everything else like the coldest Ko-Wahi night. It was fear, but not fear as he had ever felt. It was a fear that few experienced. A fear that would have killed a lesser man outright. It was primal, instinctual.  It wasn't fear of injury or death, it was fear of something completely alien in nature.  Fear of the unknown.

 

It made him want to run, hide away in the darkest portion of the island, in a place where none could ever hope to follow, let alone find.  But even that wouldn't be enough.  He no longer saw a beautiful angelic being before him, but rather the twisted, soul-eating monster that had been branded onto his memory.  Everything had been fake.  An illusion.  The Arete.  Anthyn.  His hope.  All of it.  Embok barely registered the Valkyr's -now kind- words, and started towards her, fully intent on striking her.  Making her hurt as he now did.

 

Embok barely managed to take a step towards the monster before stopping: frozen in a fear that should have killed him.  He opened his mouth, but even if it were possible for him to speak, no words came out.  Not a sound.  His golden armor was now covered in maroon blood, almost black in the twilight.  His eyes were still wide, no longer hard and piercing, and completely fixed upon Anthyn.  No matter how much he wanted to, Embok was unable to look away.

 

The pain was beginning to register completely.  The armor cutting into his neck.  The burning in his mouth that rapidly became unbearable.  The problem was, he had been through worse pain.  Physical pain, that is, so it wasn't enough to knock him senseless.  Embok was forced to suffer through.  There would be no relief from it.

[A billion cats]

IC: Savina - Ga-koro -

 

Savina strolled through the mostly empty docks of Ga-koro, as most of the people were celebrating the return of Nokama in the Square. She preferred it this way, the less people around the better. Occasionally she'd walk past one or two beings, often very shady looking, though surprisingly she didn't find this bothered her at all. It might of been because she had her bow drawn and ready to shoot at a moment's notice. Her usually timid demeanor was mysteriously absent, all the same, she'd most likely fire an arrow at anyone who approached her or tried anything funny. 

 

The docks brought back memories of when she had seen Anthyn battle Dorian, the fight had been intense, but in the end Anthyn had own, like Savina knew she would. Savina then began to climb up on of the many hut's it was rather easy to do, since they were all made out of plantlife. She simply created vines for her to climb up, no different than climbing the tall trees of the Le-Wahi jungle. 

 

From up her on her perch, she could survey much more of the village. From here she could see the fireworks shooting off into the night sky, lighting up the celebration with every explosion of color. Savina had never seen such a thing before, and was pretty astonished, though she disliked how loud it was. The village seemed to be crowded around a hut that was larger than most, and seemed to be fortified to prevent a break in, or possibly a break out... 

 

From her current view she had a pretty good view of the front of the hut, she could almost make out a couple figures in the distance, though it was difficult to see them in the dark, especially from how far away she was. Her eyes widened slightly as an exploding firework gave it light. Has she seen wings? She wasn't sure...but now she had to check it out. 

 

Summoning the power of her Kanohi Faxon, she began to make incredibly long leaps from rooftop to rooftop. Having the ability to leap like a Kirikori Nui was useful indeed. 

 

She kept on leaping until she was on top of Nokama's hut itself, she'd watched the fireworks carefully, and timed last jump onto the hut in order to avoid being seen by the firework's light. Despite the small thud that she made as she landed no one seemed to hear it, she'd expected Anthyn of all people to have noticed. She silently crawled toward the edge of the roof, not making a sound. Her yellow eyes poked over the edge to see Anthyn, a Toa of Plasma in her grasp. 

 

The things she saw after that made her feel sick to her stomach. She didn't dare move and inch as Anthyn tormented the Toa, who's tongue she pulled out as if she had been plucking a fruit from a vine. Savina made a note to never give the Valkyr a reason to do that to her. 

 

The Toa of Plasma began to gargle, much blood spilling from his mouth, for a long while at that. Eventually this stopped, and the Toa just stared at Anthyn, frozen in fear. 

 

Savina decided she was quite done spying, and leaped down from the hut, landing between the two beings. Surprisingly she didn't say anything, her face looked rather impassive, she felt pity for the Toa, but there wasn't anything that could be done about it now, he probably shouldn't of done whatever he did to make Anthyn do that in the first place. 

 

"...well, I'm back." She said finally. 

Edited by Snelly, Dec 31 2012 - 03:41 PM.

[Constructman: Black Knight]

IC Dakan
I continued to paint my picture of the parade, the image of the procession branded in my mind, even as the festivities dispersed. A grand procession, a train of triumphant individuals, with Nokama at the head. Satisfied with my crude sketch of the parade, I immediately took to painting the surrounding scenery.

That was when something caught my eye. A matoran, apparently a diver of some sorts, had climbed up to a lilypad in plain view of the whole village, and started throwing up. Moments later, a red (or a similar color) blur appeared, jumped into the water, grabbed what appeared to be the matoran, and hurtled off towards the jungle. Confused, I noted the direction they had gone in and began teleporting from building to building, following them. From the looks of it, they were going into the jungle...

Edited by Constructman, Dec 31 2012 - 12:52 AM.

[Dallas Winston]

IC: Venedico (Ga-Koro)

 

Boom. Right in the line of fire.

 

Right as Dakan neared the treeline, moving through the air to follow Wrath and his prey, a long whip extended out of seemingly nowhere and yanked the Toa of Gravity backwards just as his Kualsi deactivated, pulling him back about six feet and slamming him into the ground in front of a Toa of Plantlife with a sigh evident on his face and eyes already rolling. Long, thorny vines extended in a crown that doubled as a gag, catching in Dakan's mouth and encircling the back of his head.

 

"I wouldn't talk if I were you," Envy said, crouching down next to his prey and wrapping him up with a long, thick rope made out of various plant fibers. "Any sudden movements above the neck, and you might wiggle those thorns. You know how many poisons one of those babies are tipped with? Enough to make you have seizures in so many directions your body parts actually separate from each other and wiggle throughout the Koro, that's how many."

 

-Tyler

[Ilyusha Blokfase]

IC-Mila:

 

Right. Fireworks. A commotion. People running around, one Skakdi walking out of the Turaga's hut with what looks suspiciously like Nokama's mask, but slightly damaged...One Toa running, another a Matoran, being attacked by one of the Arete, and then a second Toa being attacked by yet another Arete...and Tohi is nearly asleep, but she's finished her noodles, at least. Bless her innocent soul.

 

"Great," he muttered to himself. "We're back to this insanity." He stood up, stepped over to the obviously tired Tohi, picking her up to carry her bridal style.

 

"Right, Tohi," he said, beginning to walk further down the street, opposite from the others, "I'm going to teach you a rather important lesson, one that you've likely heard many times before. It is purely this: you must choose your battles carefully. Don't be brash, running in to every battle you can find-that's dangerous. Very dangerous. And ofttimes deadly. For example, look at that one Toa who must have seen something he shouldn't have, and now it looks like he has no tongue." He shrugged, seemingly not caring about all of this.

 

"Or that Matoran being chased by another of the Arete. He likely decided to get just a bit too curious, and he is now suffering the price, wouldn't you say?" He continued to walk, his pace never changing, outwardly carrying the appearance of the perfect diplomat: perfectly calm. Sometimes, he was amazed by his ability to maintain such an appearance, despite however turbulent his core might be.

 

"Or, now, that Toa with the Kualsi who is currently trapped by a third Arete. He, as well, seems to be being just a little too curious, having rushed into this without thinking. Sure, he may not have thought he was choosing a battle, but he was, and he chose very, very badly. You and I, however, are going to go to a house, get a good night's sleep, and think over all of this, again, in the morning." He continued to walk, as the sun proceeded to fall towards the horizon, the village beginning to fall into evening's warm embrace, the colours of the sunset already beginning to appear on the clouds.

 

Mila, however, did not look at this-he unlocked the door to his home, which was a bit larger than all the huts in the rest of the Koro, moving quickly to a room near the back. He nudged it open with his foot, carrying Tohi in, showing little strain from the fact that he carried her, nonstop, walking at a rather slow pace, for about half a mile. A moment later he set her down, tossing a blanket over her so that she wouldn't get cold, before he proceeded to grab a latter and go up onto his roof.

 

Ah, the sunset. How beautiful, especially in Ga-Wahi. And to think, just half a Koro away, this sunset was likely being disturbed by the sound of battle. Still, in this part of Ga-Koro, things were still calm. He still had a measure of peace, at least until morning came.

[Constructman: Black Knight]

IC Dakan
It was my turn to roll my eyes. This toa thought he could contain me? A hardened assasin, trained by the best, including in getaways? Fortunately, the mandible like protrusions of the Kualsi made sure that my head was at an angle so that I wasn't staring completely facedown at the ground. Straining my eyes to look as sideways as possible, I concentrated on the farthest away location possible, and slightly raising the gravity of me and the thorns (just in case they carried over; I'm not sure) so that I wouldn't smack hard onto a rooftop.Right at that moment, I teleported, and I was suddenly hovering above a Ga-Koro rooftop. Rinse, repeat, and in the space of 3 seconds, I was hovering above the village gate. "To Ta-Koro," I thought as I teleported one last time. That didn't even take five seconds! And for those who are wondering, I hadn't shook the thorns because kinetic energy doesn't carry over through teleport.

OOC Dakan to Ta-Wahi

Edited by Constructman, Dec 31 2012 - 01:20 AM.

[Holden Caulfield]

IC (Ketan)

 

In an instant, Ketan beheld an Anthyn different than the one he had come to know. The beautiful winged Toa was replaced by a vast, dark power, infinitely black and dripping with lust and hate and a terrible, thirsting greed, one that the Toa of Air recognized as a similar hunger to the one that snarled in the depths of his own heart.

 

But she was still beautiful. Her beauty was cold alabaster and immortal constellations burning out of the void of night, alluring and dangerous as molten gold. And, even as the Toa was briefly repulsed by this otherworldly terror, he felt her pull to him, coaxing him closer, closer, even as she drew Embok closer and engulfed him, destroying the golden Toa's ability to speak.

 

As Embok dropped to the ground and poured his life's blood into the ocean, Ketan blinked back the illusion, shaking himself free of the terrible and beautiful Valkyr, her true form, for a moment, made known to him.

 

This was Lust. Not Anthyn, the winged Toa, but the infinite, blasphemous Valkyr with a thirst for blood as deep as time.

 

The Toa of Air finally shook off the last cobwebby traces of Anthyn's thrall, bringing himself back to the situation at hand. Nokama was dead; the Skakdi still had her mask; the Arete had finally shown their true colours to a few, and, if action wasn't taken, the rest of the village would follow.

 

Ketan had always been good at thinking on his feet, but that was rarely necessary. His plans were nestled inside of greater plans, with backup schemes and strategies in reserve. His next move had already been planned out.

 

Unslinging his scythe from his back, Ketan twirled the deadly weapon through the air to hold it in an aggressive stance, the dying sunlight gleaming off the razor-sharp blade.

 

“Murderer!” he shouted. “Ga-Koro, to me! To me! The Skakdi has murdered our Turaga!”

[Nuju Metru]

IC:

I'm smart, certainly enough to know that it's the right thing to do to leave the scene of the job as subtly and quickly as possible; otherwise, all kinds of annoyances can, will, do, arise... So without much ado, except a last smile at Birdie, whereupon I dropped the mask fragment at her feet, I was gone. By the time the Toa of Air tried (not without reason, I'll admit) to frame me for the murder of the Turaga and he yelled into the crowd, though, it was already too late; I'd slipped into the blind masses, assumed their own confusion with ease, leaving all the suckers behind me, and walking towards a whole heap of dough ahead of me.

 

OOC: Grokk out of region.

Edited by Nuju Metru, Dec 31 2012 - 01:25 AM.

[Dallas Winston]

NPC: Hahli (Nokama's Hut, Ga-Koro)

 

The Skakdi was gone, then, disappeared into the crowd. Hahli felt loathing, a pure, disgusting hatred, rising up inside her throat like bile, as she watched the killer slip away like a fish swims away from an oil tanker after it is slicked with crude, like a bar of soap slides out of a child's hand as it bathes. Grokk was disappearing without consequences, and after the brutish display she had just watched performed on Embok, she knew the Arete would suffer none, either.

 

With a choked, dry sobbing sound, she leaped into the water, let the waves envelop her as she ducked and weaved with the flow of the tide; the Ga-Matoran finally let tears stream down her face and blend with the saltwater as she swam, kicking desperately as though every inch she moved forward, she was sending her heel into the Skakdi's jaw, into the traitorous throats of Ketan and Anthyn and the Arete, those traitorous throats which had dared to spill words that filled Ga-Koro with hope, false hope...

 

Hahli finally beached, despairing like a whale as it stumbles ashore, and sat up straight, watching the tide as the night crawled on, seeming to last forever. After a certain point, her forehead dropped onto her knees, and the Marine would sleep until the sun crawled up over the horizon once again. And even while she slept, even while she considered herself safe in her dreams, still the tears fell down her face, sliding down her legs like raindrops.

 

Turaga Nokama had loved the rain.

 

-Tyler

Edited by Tyler Durden, Dec 31 2012 - 01:41 AM.

[Draezeth]

IC: Haro
The coral carver's head already spun from voiding his stomach. His mind was numb due to the horrors he had witnessed. To say nothing of his stomach itself.

He had thought he was out of sight when he went to vomit... But then again, how could he tell?

And now, as a thick arm collided with his side, his head whipped to the side, popping loudly and sending a stab of discomfort and soreness through his back. His stomach churned, but it had nothing left to expel. Nonetheless, it did an admirable effort in clenching up and sending nearly all of the Matoran's blood to his head, giving him a splitting headache to top it all off.

He didn't have the willpower or physical or mental strength left to even get a look at who had tackled him, or to take a guess. The same went for the place he was now being taken to.

His mind was kind enough to black out before he had completely cleared Ga-Koro.

[Nohiki]

IC: Tohi

 

The toa of water suddenly found herself in Mila's arms. She wanted to object, but he started speaking. She was hoping he was just sharing general bits of common sense with her and wanted to slap him momentarily. She might have forgotten how to speak, but that didn't make her stupid. Then her head turned, and chills were sent down her spine.

 

It was all happening. Betrayal. Treachery. Just behind the matoran's back, the little people oblivious to the fact that their protectors were monsters in disguise. She squirmed at the sight of the toa of plasma coughing up blood and turned her head away. The Toa of iron was right. There was no way to win even if they had the numbers to engage them. The whole village would be on them, thinking them as the offenders.

 

And suddenly, she understood what was rotten on this island. It wasn't the ruling class. It wasn't the Toa, or religious groups. It was the people. Matoran themselves were corrupted here. Those she sworn to lay down her life for. "This is not true... Say it isn't so..." she whispered as her beliefs shattered like glass.

 

Little did she know that was just the taste of what was to come. Mila carried her to a room. The air in the house felt searing hot, but it wasn't until her back laid on the bed. And then it awoke. A Phantom of pain that should have been long gone. She felt like she was being incinerated alive. "Make it stop!" she yelled and ran out of the room, screaming in agony.

 

Stumbling out of the house to the humid air out in the street, she fell to her knees as her tired, hurting legs couldn't carry her anymore. Behind her laid pieces of metal, as the old armor gave in to her trashing and bits of it flown off everywhere, leaving her just in a leather undersuit that left little to be imagined about her curves. Her fingers instinctively reached to her back where the catsuit was tightened by a piece of string, tearing it up, desperate to let her burning skin free of it's grip, the suit sliding off her back.

 

Tohi's eyes widened in shock, as her hand felt her back. Where she expected smooth skin were just scars, one over another. And where the one on her arms were looking like something she might have earned in battle, these were left by something much more terrible, and burning. Some of the scars were up to half an inch deep, charred and decomposing flesh in them. The burning sensation was going away as she laid herself flat on her belly, quietly sobbing at the pain. What she didn't know but was for everyone else out to see were the fact her tormentor gone through the trouble to leave a rectangular piece of her skin untouched, only to burn a warning into it. The scars formed a small verse, written in Matoran:

 

She is Akira the Paladin

she resisted in vain

and for their stubbornness

her brothers were slain.

Edited by Nohiki, Dec 31 2012 - 02:35 AM.

[Ilyusha Blokfase]

IC-Mila:

 

"Y'know, I should have known there was something off about her. Oh, wait, I did. I just didn't go looking." Mila jumped down from his roof, his knees easily absorbing the shock of the jump from the short home, as he quickly bound over to Tohi. A moment later he blushed-yep, there wasn't much armour there now.

 

Oi, keep moving. Don't stare or you'll just make things worse.

 

With that thought left on his mind he strode forwards, over to where Tohi was, looking down. Scars, with decomposing tissue, a short verse...decomposing tissue still left in.

 

"Well, Tohi," he said, using the name that she'd been left with, so far, "I'm afraid that I might just have to carry you again. Gangrene is a nasty business, and you're still tiny and slow. So, yeah..." he quickly reached down, hauling Tohi up to her feet and then wrapping his arms about her to carry her again, this time without going to the risk of touching any prominant scars.

 

A few minutes later, after travelling down the uninhabited street, he came to another hut, this one on the outskirts of the Koro. Having little else to knock with, he kicked the door about three times with his foot, leaving a small dent and a number of reverberations running through the hut.

 

"Hey, Liara, I've got somebody here I want you to take a look at. Fast."

[The Snark Knight]

IC:

 

Faint footsteps were audible from inside the hut, growing steadily louder as time went on. Moments after "knocking", the door was opened by a green armored Toa with a mask reminiscent of Miru. Her expression showed mild annoyance, clearly she had been in the middle of something.

 

"What is i-" She stopped short as she looked out the door, the scene before her finally registering. "Bring her in. There's a bed in the next room."

[Ilyusha Blokfase]

IC-Mila:

 

"I was already planning on that, but okay," Mila said, rolling his eyes. "Just so long as you can make sure she doesn't get gangrene. Or any scars worse than what she has. Or anything like that. I trust you can make the diagnosis yourself?" he asked after a moment, having by then already passed by Liara and set Akira/Tohi on the bed, on her stomach, the verse easily visible.

 

"Because if not, I see burn scars, and dead flesh, dead flesh, and more dead flesh. Oh, and they're kinda deep."

[The Snark Knight]

IC: Liara

 

"No, really?" Liara replied with more than a hint of sarcasm, she she practically flew to the cupboards, grabbing a wide variety of tubs and tubes, as well as a few rather sharp medical instruments. With a remarkable calm, she set them on the table next to the bed, and crouched down next to Tohi. 

 

"Hey. I'm Liara." Though her manners regarding onlookers were a bit caustic, her attitude toward patients was nothing less than stellar. She seemed at time to have an almost limitless patience.

[Parugi]

IC - Decaia - Ga-Koro Main Square: There were no words to be said. Even though he had known this was coming--in some way, shape, or form, even if he had not known the exact details--Decaia was still somewhat numb at what had just occurred before him. From his post on top of the buildings, he had seen it all--the Skakdi's 'alliance,' for lack of a better word, with Greed and Lust; the Skakdi's disappearance and reemergence, his dropping of the mask, his exit from the scene; Hahli's utter despair at the loss of Turaga Nokama--kind, wise Turaga Nokama, who had only just been returned to them.

 

Embok's mutilation. That was what had troubled him most. It had not sickened him, no... Only troubled.

 

Lust and Greed were busy now with the job of salvaging the Aretes' image, even though Decaia could tell that more beings had seen the truth than they knew. As the hurried away from the hut, leaving Embok to deal with his injury, leaving Hahli to swim away in some attempt to deal with her pain, the Toa of Water slid silently down the side of the hut, cautiously approaching the Toa of Plasma.

 

It wasn't so much pity for the Toa's pain that Decaia felt. It wasn't that he thought he could fool Embok with some sign of friendship--for, indeed, the Aretes' betrayal likely hung heavily on him already. It was pity for their loss. Despite the presence of his Dark Bloom sucking away what semblances of emotion he still held, despite his utter hatred for the Turaga, Decaia couldn't help but feel sorry for Embok, Hahli, and all the others who had truly loved Nokama. Perhaps it was some misplaced feeling of camaraderie; he did not know.

 

All he knew was that this was something he could help--one moment to at least alleviate the burn of betrayal, a pain that had haunted him for untold years.

 

The Toa of Water approached Embok from behind Nokama's hut with great caution, hood drawn and sticking to the shadows so as not to attract attention from the other Arete. He stopped several feet behind the Toa of Plasma, who continued to stare after Lust. Pausing for a moment, Decaia sighed.

 

"Such a horrible thing..." he said quietly, his 'Caidae' voice gone completely. While he now spoke with his natural monotone, there was still a certain sincerity to his words. "Embok, was it? Yes, I thought so... Can you walk?"

[Nohiki]

IC: Tohi

 

SHe felt someone pick her up. The Toa of iron, no doubt. But she didn't look, being too weak and shaken to even lift her head. Tohi hung loosely in his arms, the cool of his metal armor feeling actually good against her abused skin. She was being led somewhere, probably to a healer, but all she wanted was a grave. She put her head on the Iron toa's chest, many streams of tears left on her mask, reflecting the light of the stars that started to appear on the night sky.

 

Mila seemed to kick in a door on another hut, occupied by another toa. They walked her in and laid her on a bed. The green Toa spoke something to her, but she didn'T understand. "Just let me die!" she whined at the sight of what appeared to be preparation for a surgery. She was broken. More like destroyed. Long ago, somebody defeated her and did this. And defeated, she felt useless. Unable to protect the ones she sworn to protect, who were not even worth protecting anymore, willingly turning themselves to the darkness. She wished for it all to end, but the other two Toa seemed to think otherwise.

[The Snark Knight]

IC: Liara

 

Liara blinked. This Toa clearly didn't speak any language she knew, and that was going to make this a bit more difficult. But if she couldn't understand words, perhaps she could at least understand the tone behind them.

 

"Sssssh." The Le-Toa said soothingly. "It's going to be okay."

[Nohiki]

IC: Tohi

 

The toa of air seemed kind and genuine about this. Tohi didn't know how to respond, but she resorted to a simple head nod. The toa of water swallowed and pressed her jaws shut, expecting further pain to be done to her back, and then some more, but she understood it was to help. Hopefully. She grabbed the sides of the bed to stop her body from twitching. You are a Toa! She berated herself mentally. You don't give up. Not until the job is done. Stop feeling sorry for yourself! The world id tainted, so it is your job to cleanse it! she convinced herself. And she will. And if she is unable, she'll give birth to new warriors to continue the task, just like all that become Turaga before did. If she survives the night.

[Floridian Citrus]

IC: Embok

 

The pain had long since begun, but now Embok barely felt it.  Physical pain he could deal with.  Pain of the body could be ignored.  But pain of the spirit could not be.  Pain of betrayal.  Pain of loss.  The everlasting pain of knowladge.  These were things he couldn't run away from, he could hide from such things.  Despite this, there was always the part of Embok that was detached from the rest.  A part that he used to keep his temper in check, now served as his only way to think.  His thoughts offered no relief from the pain, but allowed him to focus elsewhere.  He couldn't close his eyes without seeing her.  The monstrous form wouldn't leave his mind.  It dominated his conscious thoughts, blanketing everything else in a dark cover of fear.  The fear.  It wouldn't go away.  It left him shaking.  It made him want nothing more than to just curl up and fade away from existance.

 

The only thing he could do was try and cover the images with other thoughts.  But even then, it would always return to his mind's eye.  Gone was his former rage at the Arete's betrayal, replaced with pain.  Hope was long since gone, melting away like ice at the focus of his power.  Hope in his role as Toa.  There were no "heroes" left.  The Arete had painfully proven that to him.  Gone were the days when Toa protected those who could not protect themselves without want or need of repayment.  Replaced with Toa who only worked towards personal gain.  They didn't even deserve the title of "Toa".  Those that weren't in it for themselves were under the sway of Makuta.  And that was no better.  The future of the island as a whole was bleak for the Toa of Plasma.  At that moment, no one could have blamed the once-noble Toa if he gave up then.  If he had severed all ties with his world, leaving him a defeated, broken, shell of a man.

 

But he couldn't.  Not from strength of will, no, his will had long since shattered under the stain of so much.  He endured from fear.  Fear of what would come after.  Fear of what had happened.  Fear of what he had seen.  His entire existance now revolved around fear.  Anthyn's demonic form once again forced its way through his mind, her form of shadows filled with the faint golden glow of lost souls.  She spoke, but it wasn't the the multitude of voices that had assulted him as before, but it was a light musical tone he had heard often.  It was a voice he loved.  A voice he cared for.  A voice he protected.  It was the voice of Nei, bubbly, carefree Ga-Matoran.  His daughter.

 

Behold the monster that will awaken should you ever trespass the foyer I have forbidden you. Say nothing of what you know, live in agony for what you see, or I will rend you and those you share it with from this life until the next.

 

His own fear tormented him even now.  It would not let him rest, just as it would not leave him.

 

The golden-armored Toa of Plasma turned at "Caidea"'s monotone words, no longer standing tall and proud, but bent and defeated.  Broken.  Shattered.  A ghost of the noble Toa that had once occupied the shining armor.  His eyes were empty, soulless and lost, staring distantly at a point only visiable to him.  His weapons now only served to weigh him down, no longer provind the sense of readiness and protection that they had before.  The ice-blue orbs turned their distant gaze upward towards the Toa of Water, focusing on the point behind him.  There was a moment of silence, a moment that would stretch for as long as Embok lived.  His voice was gone, torn away like his hope.  Eventually, the Toa of Plasma nodded slowly, the movement causing small droplets of a maroon liquid to run down from where his shatter armor was imbedded within his neck.  He could vaguely tell that it hurt.

 

But not as much as the other pain he felt.

[Ilyusha Blokfase]

IC-Mila:

 

"Tohi," Mila growled, forcing the Toa of Water to look up at him again by her own curiosity, "We aren't letting you die. No matter how screwy the world is, or how much pain you're in, it's still possible to be fixed, and you, my dear, still have a purpose to you." He knelt down beside Tohi, looking her intently in the eye.

 

Huh. Only about an hour after he'd met her and already he'd had to take her to a hospital.

 

"Now, Liara here doesn't quite understand the concept of painkillers, so this might sting. A lot. Please try to refrain from smacking her or me."

[The Snark Knight]

IC: Liara 

 

Liara glared at Mila, one eyebrow raised. ""Doesn't understand the concept of painkillers", huh?" The Le-Toa held up a small container of a greenish liquid, and shook it gently, as if to say Then what's this?

 

"Now be useful, instead of sitting there snarking. Translate."

[Ilyusha Blokfase]

IC-Mila:

 

"She said kill me. Now she doesn't want to die," Mila said, shrugging.

 

"And the last time I was here I didn't get any painkillers, and you had to literally tear that knife out of my arm. Then I got about one hundred or so stitches." He paused for a moment.

 

"And you did it slowly. Sadist."

[The Snark Knight]

IC: Liara

 

"Would you rather I rushed the job, and made a mistake?" The Le-Toa retorted, opening the small container, and spooning out a small amount of the liquid, dumping it into a cup. With a practiced ease, she stirred it, the painkiller dispersing quickly, tinting the water.

 

"Besides. You didn't need painkillers."

[Ilyusha Blokfase]

IC-Mila:

 

"Oh, shut up."

[Legolover-361]

IC: Kynaera
Midday
Ga-Koro

"You--?"

It took Kynaera a second to realize what Dorian had said. Suddenly she desired nothing but to be elsewhere: on another part of Mata Nui, in a boat, anywhere but pressed against a wall in an alley by a man she left to die. Twice.

Her survival instincts kicked in, tensing her muscles and urging her gaze to the outlets of the alley. No good -- Dorian was an expert in hand-to-hand combat. She shuddered, releasing breath she hadn't realized was pent within her lungs, and fought the urge to cover her face with her hands as her survival instincts raged inside her: She was going against every facet of her training, she wasn't supposed to let people this far inside her personal space, she had to gain distance, get out...

Was she seriously considering running away from forgiveness?

Ketan's calls of "Ga-Koro, to me! To me!" resolved into white noise in Kynaera's head.

She had failed Dorian once before; she had resolved never to allow herself the chance to do so again. So she had left him, and her guilt had waited and festered till it became the warden of her chest cavity, pumping her heart, expanding and contracting her lungs, and ensuring no feelings broke free. Maybe, all along, she had never wanted to be forgiven; maybe she had thought it would be easier to battle her guilt alone -- no, she hadn't wanted to do battle, but she had felt she deserved it.

Her eyes stung, and she realized she was close to tears. Whether they were from Dorian or her internal struggle, she couldn't tell. She pressed her tongue against the floor of her mouth and caged them just as she had incarcerated her emotions.

A voice in her head, her own: Breathe in.

She complied. Guilt screamed in protest.

Let it go.

She hesitated, but Dorian's eyes were pleading and the brightest she had seen them since...

Let. It. Go!

She exhaled. Expelled with the carbon dioxide in her lungs was her guilt.

Her heart felt like it was floating.

"I'm sorry," she said, suddenly the coy and sweet if somewhat socially awkward Kynaera of old again. "I -- I didn't think you could ever forgive me, because I've hurt you, and I don't think I'll ever fully forgive myself for that, but..." Her eyes were damp. Don't cry. Don't cry. You're not that weak. "I... never stopped loving you. I don't think that's how it works, anyway -- I mean love -- I mean, as in, it can't just disappear, like, you can't just stop loving someone -- but I, uh..."

Her breaths came deep and fast; her face tingled under Dorian's intense gaze. She hadn't thought things through, and now her emotions hung in the air between her and Dorian like mistletoe. Why did emotions have to make her feel so vulnerable?

She abruptly realized she had said forms of the word love three times in ten seconds.

"Sorry, I'm rambling -- I shouldn't..."

Edited by Legolover-361, Dec 31 2012 - 12:24 PM.

[CAPUA]

IC: Virin/Firion

 

They were too late.

 

Virin and Firion had been heading towards the beach, to speak with one of the Ga-Koro military commanders, Daylaria, but when they had nearly reached the beach, they were swept up in traffic. A moving crowd was cheering and the two men had realized that it was too late. The Turaga had already entered the village, protected by the Toa Arete and another powerful Toa that Virin didn’t know. His eyes narrowed as he saw the two Arete, smiling and waving to the people. One of them was their leader, Ketan, the Toa that he had spoken too earlier. He wore that same smile that he had shown to Virin earlier when he had first arrived in the village. Perhaps, it truly was genuine? Still, even if the Arete were the heroes they claimed to be, Virin felt he should be at their sides as a fellow hero of Ga-Koro. His eyes looked around at the people, though. Their eyes were glued to the Turaga, to the Arete and the other powerful guard. They were the true champions. Virin’s face seemed to darken as he was hit with a single fact. He was not needed her. He had returned to a village where the champions had already been chosen. The people had picked who they wanted to believe in and there was nothing Virin could do to change that. He would return to the Lighthouse.

 

Turning his back on the celebration and trying to block out the sound of cheer and joy from the Ga-Matoran, Virin continued on his way to the beach. However, someone tapped him on his back and he looked down, already knowing who it was. His new companion, the marine Firion, who had a look of skepticism planted on his Kanohi.  

 

“What’s wrong with you, big guy?” He asked Virin sarcastically.

 

Virin seemed to struggle to get the words out. “I… I.. do not belong her, friend. I appreciate you for your companionship, but the truth can no longer be avoided. I am not the hero Ga-Koro needs. I should’ve stayed away from this village, never returned to this place. For they already have their heroes… the Arete, that golden Toa and you for instance.” He told Firion, staring down at the smaller man, whose bravery seemed to dwarf Virin at this point.

 

Then the little Matoran did something that surprised him. With his incredible leg strength, Firion leapt into the air until his eyes met Virin’s eyes and he reeled back his head, slamming it into the other Toa’s Kanohi. This was impressive for two reasons. Virin was one of the tallest Toa on the island and Firion had just jumped high enough that the two could look into each other’s eyes. He had to have been some kind of… Super-Matoran to pull off such a feat. The other reason why it was so impressive is that the force of his head butt had sent Virin reeling back. The Toa now had a piercing headache that didn’t want to go away. He could now add that to his current list of troubles. Through gritted teeth, Virin shouted at the Matoran, “What did you do that for!?”

 

“To wake you up.” Firion told Virin, walking away from the Toa who now had a confused grimace on his face.

 

“What the karzahni does that mean?”

 

Firion glared at Virin, “It means that I’m disappointed. An hour after we meet, you’ve already given up and are ready to hop on a boat back home. That’s the reason why you’re not a hero; not because the people liking someone better than you. Being a hero isn’t about popularity or fans or anything like that. The problem is that you’re acting like a coward!” Firion roared at Virin, his words so loud that they only made Virin’s head hurt worse. But they also did something else.

 

It woke Virin up.

 

Everything Firion had just said was correct; he was acting like nothing but a coward, hiding behind the shadows of other Toa. His eyes seemed to intensify as he looked at Firion, not with hate or anything like that, but respect. Respect wasn’t something that he just gave away, either. He respected the Ga-Matoran for having the courage to tell him something like that, even though it hurt, it was the truth. He had to face that fact and stop running away so much. Gripping his trident, Virin realized that he wouldn’t be leaving this island anytime soon. There was work that needed to be done.

 

A smile had fallen on Firion’s face as he realized that Virin had come to his senses. Jokingly he says, “Now get yourself-“

 

“Murderer!” he shouted. “Ga-Koro, to me! To me! The Skakdi has murdered our Turaga!”

 

Before he could finish the sentence, a cry rang throughout the village. That was the voice of Ketan and although neither one of them could see past the chaos that now engulfed the village, his words had hit both of them rather hard.

 

The Turaga was dead.

 

Even though Virin hadn’t seen her in many years and his fondest memories of her were no doubt different from the woman she was now, Virin leapt into action. Although the swirling vortex of Ga-Matoran was an annoyance, Virin was a Toa. He wouldn’t let them slow him down. He pushed through the vortex and nothing would stop him from reaching that man. The Toa’s glare pushed him forward, he was so focused that he failed to see the Skakdi slip away from the scene, undetected. The true villain of this nightmare had escaped, but he wasn’t the object of Virin’s wrath. No, it was Ketan. That Toa had failed in his duty, even though Virin had warned him of what might happen.

 

“STOP! STOP!” Firion yelled, although his voice was lost amongst the cries of the other Ga-Matoran who were in a panicked state due to their fallen leader. He gritted his teeth, it was too late and there was no way he was going to stop Virin from doing what he planned too. Even though, it was an incredibly big mistake. One that he wasn’t quite sure he would live, through. The Toa Arete would get to him or the Ga-Matoran would. Either way, he most likely wasn’t going to make it past this.

 

Now that Virin had made his way through the crowd, he could finally see the emerald Toa, Ketan. “Ketan,” He growled, moving closer to the man. His fists were clenched tightly. “I tried to warn you of what might happen!”

 

The Toa of Water then tried to do the unthinkable. He swung at Ketan’s face, intending to break it into a thousand pieces…