Cotan stepped up to the small rock, sitting atop it to watch the sunrise. He sighed happily, thinking about all the times he had been here before, laughing, sharing jokes and breakfast with his friends. If he thought for a moment, he could almost see them again.
He smiled, though a hint of sadness tinged the gesture, and continued to view the sunrise.
* * *
Cotan turned away from the battle. After watching the sunrise, he had begun to walk through the tall-grasses of the plains where he and his charges resided. He hadn't expected a pack of Skakdi to jump up and attack him, though. These were no normal Skakdi, either. They were feral, barely more than the Muakas one might find stalking a dikapi or mahi through the plains.
"Ah, well," he muttered to himself, wiping clean the blade of his axe. "What happens happens. No way to stop it, really." He shook his head, continuing on back to the village, where one of his last friends lived. He smiled as he watched the Matoran farmers at work. They were always so happy just to get out and do something, he couldn't help but be happy for them.
He stepped through the walls of the small town, waving to the guards posted there. They smiled back, and raised their spears in greeting, as Cotan stepped into the small market. The Toa of Fire strode leisurely up to a small fruit stand, and pulled out a small bag of widgets.
"Good morning, Zhellek," he said to the Le-Matoran who was there, sleeping. The lazy Matoran started, and looked out from under his hat. He then smiled, pulling out a few fruit for Cotan to look at.
"You know what I always speak-say," Zhellek said. "Best fruit on the island, and nobody can cross-speak that." He smiled up at Cotan. "What are you going to buy, fire-spitter?"
Cotan smiled down at Zhellek. Time for the old game. "Well, that depends, good friend," Cotan said skeptically, looking down at the fruit on the table. He picked one up, and tapped it a few times. "I don't know why, but these fruit seem awfully similar to the ones from yesterday, don't you think?"
"My fruit are all grown from the same stock of trees, Cotan. Don't you think they'd look similar?" The Le-Matoran asked sarcastically, though his grin grew wider. "You can have a full basket, forty-five good-sized fruit, for sixty widgets."
"Sixty?" Cotan exclaimed, feigning astonishment. "I can't take such a high price for fruit such as these. I'll give you twenty widgets." He managed to keep a straight face as he spoke, compared to Zhellek.
"Twenty!" Zhellek said, throwing his hands in the air. "Twenty widgets, for fruit such as these? I can't believe you, Cotan, a Toa trying to rob a matoran blind..." Zhellek shook his head, before looking back up. "Fine, fine, if you want it that way, forty-five widgets. One for each fruit." He then raised his eyebrows when Cotan carried on.
"Forty-five?" Cotan said. "Forty-five widgets? I'd still say that's a ripoff, Zhellek, and you know it. Come down to forty and we'll have a deal." Cotan had already grabbed the fruit basket, leaving forty-five widgets on the table, just to tip his friend a bit.
"For-oh, fine, take it your way!" Zhellek yelled at the departing Toa of Fire, "But when I'm reduced to living on the streets, scraping trash out of a gutter just to live, you'll know who's to blame!" He then laughed slightly, turning over to the next customer by him as Cotan smiled.
* * *
Cotan stepped through the Koro, eating one of his fruit. He had dropped the rest off at his home, but he'd been kind of hungry, so he snacked on one of the things as he went to his friend's home. He loved oranges...couldn't get enough of them. Most other Toa thought this odd, but everybody had their quirks, so...
He smiled as he found himself in front of his friend's door. Then he looked around-he would have sworn he was still a few blocks away. "Odd..." he muttered, then he shrugged. He was getting on in age, close to where most Toa became Turaga. That probably explained his lapse in memory.
"Oi! Alshen!" He called, catching the Vortixx's attention. The tinkerer quickly ran and opened the door, ushering Cotan inside quickly. The Toa of Fire coughed once-the dust really was getting thicker in the house.
"Good, good, you came," the nervous Alshen said, wiping grease off of his hands with a small rag. "Please, sit, sit," as the Vortixx pulled out a chair for Cotan at the table.
"What's wrong with you today, Alshen?" Cotan laughed. "You certainly seem to be in an odd mood today, don't you?" He looked around at the walls. Everything appeared indistinct for a moment, before coming back into view. Must just be the dust clouding his eyes.
"Nothing, nothing," the Vortixx said quietly, looking nervously around the room. "Please, please, let us eat," he said after a moment, pulling out some fruits and vegetables.
* * *
Cotan grinned as he went to lay down in his bed-he'd had a long day, helping Alshen with his inventions. He couldn't even remember what he'd been working on all day, so engrossed was he in his work. He opened up his bedroom window, breathing some fresh air.
Then he stopped, feeling something touch his shoulder. He turned, but everything went hazy again. "What on earth?" He said groggily, feeling his limbs grow heavy. A Garai or a Toa of Gravity, most likely. His vision flickered into view, and he thought he saw a Toa he had known, named Vokil. He shrugged, turning around back towards his bed-
-Only to see a sword flash through him quickly, it's blood-stained tip punching out of his back armour. "That's for abandoning us," a familiar voice said, as Cotan looked up to the face. It was a heavily mangled Kakama, the purple colouration on it barely visible. Cotan gasped as he recognized who it was...Vokil, his second in command. His vision grew hazy again, as he slid backwards off his friend's sword.
* * *
Cotan awoke with a start, and looked up at the sky. It was about noon, just the time he should head back to the village. He shook his head, cleared his mind, and began the trek back. He found himself rubbing his stomach, though he didn't really know why.
Edited by Kal Grochi, Mar 31 2012 - 10:02 PM.
