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[Jowm]

The Chronicles of Karzahni book one:

Duel of Destiny

Karzahni stood on a hill, observing his vast realm. He shook with anger with the memory of the events of the day before.

He and his brother, Artakha, had been informed by the Great Being Angonce that they were to do battle over a Kanohi mask of great power. He had been shocked, as had Artakha, that the Great Beings would ever ask that they fight, but the mask was apparently a prize worth combat, and the winner would receive it.

So he and Artakha had readied themselves for battle, both prepared to prove that they were the better of the two, and to achieve the coveted Mask of Creation. The battle was ferocious, with both himself and his brother hesitant at first, then going at each other with all they had. Karzahni himself had been the one to strike first, though not physically, he had activated his mask power, and given Artakha a vision of losing the battle, with Karzahni as the victor, and Artakha left behind in shame. After the vision had reached the point where the Matoran respected and trusted Karzahni and despised Artakha, however, Karzahni wasn’t sure what would come next, and the vision became less and less believable.

It wasn’t long after that before Artakha realized the illusion, and returned his mind to reality. Then, the fight was on. Karzahni began swinging his flaming chains, while Artakha charged, swinging with his blunt, yet powerful and threatening warhammer. Karzahni at first managed to dodge a few of Artakha’s swings, managing to strike Artakha with his chains when he had the opportunity, but Artakha had become tired of this, and now began swinging with deadly accuracy. Karzahni knew that he could not match his brother in physical strength, so he tried even more desperately to evade Artakha’s attacks, and weaken him by slashing him with his chains. Karzahni’s desperate tactics were unsuccessful, however, and Artakha quickly closed the gap between them, finally landing a hard blow on Karzahni’s leg as Karzahni tried to dodge.

This was the beginning of the end of the fight. Karzahni spun around and put up a furious resistance, but it was over, Artakha struck again and again, with Karzahni on the ground, trying to roll out of the way, and failing. Karzahni had taken some serious damage, but wasn’t ready to give up that mask yet, he kicked Artakha’s legs out from beneath him and slashed Artakha’s face with his chain while returning to his feet. Karzahni began furiously hacking at his brother with his chains, the fight was personal now, it was no longer just about the mask, it was about him, and Artakha, Karzahni wasn’t going to let Artakha leave when he surrendered, he was going to kill him.

Artakha saw the look of madness filling Karzahni’s eyes as Karzahni relentlessly struck again and again with his chains. Artakha knew that Karzahni was angry, furious, and he knew that he had to save himself, he wondered if he would be able to beat Karzahni when he was like this. Artakha also worried that, in order to win, he might have to kill Karzahni. Karzahni was blindly slashing and hacking now, roaring insanely. Artakha wasn’t sure what had driven him to such an uncontrollable state of rage, but now that this was happening, he needed to fight back.

Karzahni, on the other hand, wasn’t thinking about any of this, he was just thinking about how Artakha had been privileged with creative talent and abilities, while he was gifted with nothing. He was thinking about how Artakha was stronger than he, and surely the Great Beings must have known this. They had wanted Artakha to win, he was sure. Now, Artakha had gotten him onto the ground, rolling around in the dirt, trying to dodge his hammer, he wouldn’t stand for it! With these thoughts of anger, hatred and fury swirling around in his mind, Karzahni ripped and tore at Artakha with his claws and chains, reaching out with the power of his mask to terrorize Artakha with the most nightmarish vision his mind would allow, and his mind would allow for some pretty freaky things.

Artakha fought back, resisting the vision and using his advantage of strength to force Karzahni back, so that Artakha would have room to return to his feet. Karzahni began screaming with rage, at this, and increased his attack with his chains, and with his mind. Karzahni’s mental attack, now, was so strong that for Artakha it was entwined with reality, making it difficult to focus, to understand what was going on, and to fight.

Artakha took a desperate swipe with his hammer, and the hammer impacted Karzahni’s torso, sending him flying a few feet back. Artakha returned to his feet just in time to be able to defend against Karzahni’s attack, as Karzahni charged forward once again, claws slashing, chains flailing. Artakha deflected his attack, then kicked him back, as Karzahni came charging once again, Artakha performed one of his most devastating maneuvers, he did a full 360 degree spin for momentum, and brought his hammer up as he reached the point where he was facing Karzahni once more. The hammer connected with Karzahni’s jaw in one of the most powerful uppercuts ever to be performed in the Matoran universe. Karzahni was sent flying upward and a few feet back. Karzahni landed with a thud in the dirt, and before he could stand, Artakha ran forward and performed another move, similar to the one he had just used, but this time, he brought the hammer down on Karzahni versus bringing it up toward his chin. Karzahni crashed to the ground, struck by Artakha’s hammer, just as he was beginning to stand. Karzahni,managed to move into a sitting position, his rage now entwined with fear, and Artakha struck him in the chest with the hammer, sending him flying. Karzahni scooted himself back, trying to escape his brother’s hammer. Karzahni was now shouting at Artakha,

“Stop! No! Aaaggg-ugh. I surrender, I surrender!” Artakha stopped, hammer held over his head in preparation for another strike. Angonce walked over from where he had been watching a couple hundred feet away. He held out the Mask of Creation to Artakha, and announced, “

You are the victor, and have fairly won the Mask of Creation and the right to wear it. Take it, and use it wisely.” Artakha held out his hand and received the Kanohi. Angonce then turned to Karzahni and spoke, “You have lost, you may now honorably return to you realm.” With that, Angonce walked away, and that was the last of him Karzahni ever saw.

Karzahni had returned to his realm, and that’s where he stood now. He sighed, he knew it was pointless to constantly remember things of the past that brought only hatred and anger to his mind, but still, he thought, someday, I will have my revenge, and my brother shall pay. Karzahni turned away, and began stepping down the hill, the time for his revenge was not yet, and he knew that it may be a long time before he could have his vengeance, and in the meantime, he had made his realm a place for Matoran to come to be repaired, so repair them he would, and he would do so to the best of his ability for the thousands of years to come until he could have his revenge.
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Comments, critisizm, and such all greatly appreciated.

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Edited by Jowm, Oct 28 2012 - 12:59 AM.

[Jowm]

Chronicles of Karzahni book two:

Matoran Arrive

Pacing in his chamber, Karzahni contemplated ways to gain the favor of the great beings. His brother, Artakha, had been chosen to take part in the construction of the Toa Mata, a team of six Toa intended to one day assist Mata Nui if necessary.

Karzahni, however, had remained alone in his realm, uncontacted by anyone since the duel between himself and his brother over possession of the powerful mask of creation. Karzahni knew, of course, that it made perfect sense for the great beings to include his brother in the creation of the Toa Mata, since Artakha wore the mask of creation. His bitterness towards Artakha and the Great Beings caused him to disregard what did and didn’t make sense. The Matoran who were to occupy the Universe had been created, Karzahni knew, as a few had already come to his realm. He had not begun repairing them, however, because one of the Matoran who had come to his realm had told him that The Great Beings had chosen Artakha to assist in the creation of the Toa Mata. It was yesterday that that Matoran had arrived and given him the news, and now Karzahni hadn’t come any closer to an answer of his troubling question; how to gain the Great Beings favor? But the Matoran here hadn’t come without reason, he needed to repair them, and he couldn’t put it off any longer. Karzahni sighed and strode outside.

He found four Matoran there, having conversation with one another.

“Alright,” he announced, “I am ready to repair you now.” The Matoran all began to request that they be repaired first, and Karzahni raised his hand for silence, declaring, “The first to arrive here for my assistance shall be the first to receive it, the second shall be the second, the third the third and so on.” Karzahni led the first Matoran to arrive at his realm, a Ta-Matoran, to a small dome-shaped building nearby.

He instructed the Ta-Matoran to lay down on a table in the center of the room, and the matoran obeyed. Karzahni looked him over to find the cause of his visit. It took only a glance for him to notice exactly what the problem was, the Matoran’s left arm and the left side of his torso were missing pieces of armor, and those pieces that remained were blackened and burned, melted into slag. His organic material was visible, charred and burned, much of it gone.

“What did you do to get like that?” Karzahni inquired.

“I’m a lava miner in a village in the northern continent,” Answered the Matoran, “a vat of lava was being hauled up a mine shaft, and I helped attach the vat to the lift cables, so I was below when one of the lift cables stopped working, but the one on the opposite side of the vat didn’t. I didn’t even know it was happening until one of the other miners shouted a warning, and looked up, but by then it was too late, the vat had been tipped and the lava was already spilling down toward me.”

“That sounds, painful.” Karzahni responded, unused to small talk after hundreds of years alone. He chose to give words to try to reassure the matoran, and to try to convince the matoran of his magnificence. “Fear not, matoran, I am the mighty Karzahni, and there is no wound that I cannot heal.” The matoran gave a smile, trusting that this great being, brother of Artahka, would be able to heal him completely.

Karzahni began his work in silence, opening a drawer to his right and retrieving two tools. He looked at the matoran for a moment and determined that things would go better if the matoran was unconscious while he worked. He decided not to ask for the matoran’s permission, instead giving the matoran a vision of being sleepy and falling asleep right there on the table. He ended the vision a minute later, and the matoran had fallen asleep, as his mind had thought it was tired and sleepy. Good, He thought, now where to start?

He started pushing things around with his tools, moving this, turning that, occasionally switching out tools. He worked with the victim’s burned organic material, trying to scrape off some of the charred, dead substance. He tried to work gently, but found that the matoran occasionally winced and jerked in his sleep, and twice he used his mask to deepen his patient’s sleep.

When he was done with the inner organic material, he looked over his work. The soft material would need time to grow back, and would never be quite the same again. He decided to replace the matoran’s armor, so he opened a drawer and sifted through the plates of metal until he found an armor piece that appeared as though it would fit on the matoran’s ruined organics. After attempting to attach the armor to the matoran, he found that it didn’t fit with the armor the victim already wore, as it was made differently, and restricted the matoran’s movement. Frustrated, the mentally unstable being tried to force the armor together, but stopped, fuming, when his patient began to stir. In his growing anger, he recklessly used his mask to convince the matoran’s mind that it was completely exhausted and needed to sleep long and deeply to recover. Satisfied with his patient’s mental state, he returned to the dilemma of the matoran’s armor. Karzahni was becoming furious, this was his first patient and things had to work out against him this way.

He could just imagine Artakha laughing at his struggle. Undoubtedly his ‘superior’ brother could swiftly provide some brilliant solution to this problem. Karzanhi’s fury built. He imagined his brother, mocking him for his failure, every advantage at his disposal, the mask of creation, the favor of the Great Beings, and he with only his duty and this despicably valueless scrap of land. He began lividly to replace all the matoran’s armor. He discovered that he could leave pieces out and attach pieces that weren’t made to go together, which fit his patient’s deformed body better. Although the wounds were only on The Ta-Matoran’s left side, Karzahni proceeded to configure the armor on the right side of his body as if it, too, were incorrectly shaped. His fury overflowed now, he no longer restricted it, he forced the matoran’s body into the unfitting armor. If my brother can be worshipped for his ‘unequalled’ building skills, I can be glorified as well, for my own amazing healing abilities! I will show all that I can repair any matoran, heal any wound, and my patients will never have lasting effects. They will worship me above all when I show myself to be their savior from every affliction! I will never need the approval of my brother, and will gain the approval of the Great Beings for my fantastic talent! I will always be worshipped by every the matoran in the universe, who will love me and respect me before all others! His train of thought moved on, and his rage began to twist, altering to less enraged, but still insane, thoughts. But that will come later, so much later, I will fix many, many matoran before I reach that point. But eventually they will respect and honor me, and my brother will bow before me!

As he completed the matoran’s re-armoring, he found, unfortunately, that the matoran’s arm and torso were now disconfigured, short, and no longer very useful. He pondered this, Well, he can still do something of use, somewhere. And if he doesn’t he doesn’t deserve the repairs! After what I generously did to repair him, he has no reason to protest! Karzahni suddenly became frustrated, then angered, then enraged, as his furious train of thought ran through the warped railroad of his mind, twisted by the hatred he had harbored for years against his brother and the Great Beings. These matoran, so lazy, no doubt he will not even be grateful for what I have done for him! I repaired him magnificently, and he will awaken only to complain! He probably will live the rest of his life not working with the excuse that he can’t because I didn’t do an incredible job! How dare he insult my generous gift! Karzahni flung his tools to the ground, livid. He glared at the matoran, enraged but not sure how to act. He decided after a minute to create some means for the matoran to make up for his handicap. He sat in a chair, drumming his fingers on the ends of the armrests and tapping his right foot vigorously on the floor.

He contemplated what he could do to ensure that his patient would have no excuse not to work. Perhaps upgrades? No, that would be complicated, working with the organic and mechanical parts, and the wound. What about a specialized tool? That could work, what kind of tool? Karzahni recalled a concept his brother had thought of, an instrument for Toa that functioned both as a tool and a weapon, and channeled their elemental energies.

Unfortunately, the matoran had no elemental energies, and he loathed using any idea of his brother’s, but perhaps he could change the idea to make it his own, and overcome the matoran’s lack of elemental abilities. He began to alter his brother’s concept, knowing that he would have to make the tools on a smaller scale for the matoran. He realized also that he could design the tools to draw on the matorans’ internal energy, so their lack of elemental energy would be irrelevant. There, he thought triumphantly, my design far surpasses my brother’s. It doesn’t even require the user to possess elemental powers! Delighted, he stood and hurriedly began to construct his design.

He began by simply taking a set of twin tools, and making sure their weight wasn’t too much acceptable for a matoran to handle. Then, he worked hard, altering them so that when the user’s energy was funneled through them, they would release a powerful sonic blast. He was ridiculously proud of his creation when it was finished, and realized that he could use this design later on, perhaps even changing the powers of the tools in later designs. He quickly used his mask power to wake his patient. The matoran seemed horrified at his now distorted body, and Karzahni became furious. He explained the use of the tools to the matoran, who took them in shock. The matoran seemed to be struggling to realize what this meant, and Karzahni’s rage took hold of him once more. He would not allow this. He envisioned his brother, laughing once more, as Karzahni’s first patient was frightened and shocked by Karzahni’s work. The demented being, his rage fueled by his mental image of his hated brother, picked up the matoran by the neck and hurled him out of the tent, shouting, “I knew you would be ungrateful! You pitiful beings expect everything to be given to you so simply! And when I do give you an amazing new body and tools, you are horrified! You do not deserve what I have given you!”
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There's part two, longer than the first, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. All your comments and critisizm always welcome.

Edited by Jowm, Oct 28 2012 - 12:56 AM.