BZPRPG - Onu-Wahi

[Shadow Destroyer]

IC: Gallan

 

Gallan nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

 

He sighed quietly and scratched his forehead with his fist. "Rahkshi... it's been a while since I've seen one... much less fought one." He paused before gesturing to the red spear that was hoisted on his back. "I can fight them, mind you, and I would love to. I have my personal reasons for wanting those vile creatures eliminated, and I would love to help with your mission if you'll have me."

 

The Toa of Fire pointed to an empty chair a few yards away. "Mind if I pull up a seat?" He asked. 

[Toa Fanixe]

IC:

 

Ezrak nodded slowly and gestured for Gallan to bring the chair over. 

 

Why here Onu? he wrote, pointing at Gallan.

[Shadow Destroyer]

IC: Gallan

 

Gallan brought the chair over and fell heavily into his seat. He looked up quickly as he noticed the barkeep walking over with the drink he had ordered, and he thanked the worker before paying him the credits owed.

 

The Toa of Fire took a sip of the drink. He didn't know what it was, but it was sweet and sour and slightly frothy. He took another swig, and was happy to see that he had lucked out this time. It was delicious. He set down the cup on the table, and looked at Ezrak.

 

"I'm looking for someone." He stated hesitantly. "I haven't seen him in a long time. A Toa by the name of Serith. You haven't seen him have you?"

[Toa Fanixe]

IC:

 

Ezrak shook his head. 

 

He didn't leave the Wahi much, or meet many people. It was kinda hard when you couldn't have a normal conversation.

 

Serith? he wrote, wondering what Gollan wanted with this other Toa. 

[Junior Shark]

IC (Nokula):

 

Serith? "I'm afraid I'm in the same boat as Ezrak- the name Serith doesn't ring any bells." It was a big island, with a lot of different beings. If this "Serith" was a lot like Gallan here, odds were he was laying in some Ko-Koro backalley dumpster. 

[Shadow Destroyer]

IC: Gallan

 

"It's alright, I didn't expect you to know." The Toa of Fire replied wearily. "Him and I have a bit of a... shared history. It's difficult to explain. Been years since I've seen him."

 

Gallan took another drink, and finished the glass, before moving onto the second portion the barkeep had brought. He raised the glass in his hand, but set it back onto the table before sipping it. He nodded towards the booth's third occupant.

 

"Onto more recent matters: I don't believe this being and I have been formally introduced." 

Edited May 12, 2016 by Shadow Destroyer

[Junior Shark]

IC (Nokula):

 

"Join the club."

[Timageness]

OOC: Seems I've got a bit of catching up to do...

 

IC: Dhalgira - Onu-Koro Outskirts (Tavern)

 

Stepping into the tavern alongside her companion, Dhalgira couldn't help but take a relatively uneasy glance at the establishment's various other inhabitants. While she had faith that she was skilled enough to keep herself out of trouble (or, at the very least, get herself out of it should the need arise for her to do so), one could probably tell without much difficulty that she had felt much more at home in the wilderness than within the confines of this region's village. Most of this concern had stemmed from the fact that, at least to her, Rahi were much easier to read than beings of higher intelligence, as the reasons for their actions nearly always stemmed from their instinct to survive rather than emotions or desires that could be changed on a whim. Where those accustomed to so-called "civilised" life saw only other customers looking for a quick drink and a hot meal, the Tiokaha viewed them all as potential threats, just waiting for her to let her guard down long enough for one of them to attempt to plant a knife between her ribs.

While she did not share the same reliance upon technology that Ezrak did, understanding his reasoning behind its use was not entirely lost upon her; a good third of the beings inside were at least three times his size, not to mention sporting various elemental abilities, Kanohi or Vision Powers, and even some other strange devices that could potentially put his machine to the test themselves. So understandably, his willingness to eagerly shed himself of the contraption in their presence came as a bit of a surprise to her, but she continued to hold her tongue and said nothing, simply sliding herself and her scythe across the remaining seat of the booth.

Preparing to answer the smith's question as she watched him finish his drawing and gestures, the duo were suddenly interrupted by what appeared to be a Le-Matoran... who had somehow remained oblivious to her existence, despite Dhalgira being slightly taller than most Toa and of a somewhat bulkier build. Watching on as the focus of the discussion had shifted soley between the other two beings, the Tiokaha silently reached for one of the drinks when their attention was eventually diverted elsewhere and began to nurse it. She wasn't one to usually partake in such beverages during her rare appearances within the more inhabited areas of the island, but she didn't want to appear ungrateful after Ezrak had gotten it for her either. Figuring that she might as well try to get a read on the new arrival while they talked, she continued to remain silent, falling back on her own instincts as she tried to draw as little attention to herself as possible. Sure, the majority of the conversation was entirely one-sided, considering that the Onu-Matoran didn't speak and everything he was trying to convey was now in a language she couldn't read, but what managed to draw her focus for the time being was actually their facial expressions, so she could wait to be filled in on the rest later. The words Makuta and Rahkshi were soon spoken shortly afterwards, the first she remembered being a figure of their mythology, but the second managed to elude her, though its mere mention seemed to cause a fair amount of noticible distress.

Just as the Tiokaha was getting used to bouncing her eyes between the duo, however, a Ta-Toa with a purple mask resembling a Pakari had decided to make his way over to their table immediately after making a large spectacle of himself, and she was suddenly thrust back into the conversation again.

So much for blending in...

"Dhalgira," she eventually said, slouching backwards and finally establishing eye contact with the newcomers as she swirled her drink around in her hand. "Tiokaha of the Mark Roth."

She then proceeded to down the entire glass in one shot, hoping that, by doing so, the situation would become just a little less awkward.

[Shadow Destroyer]

IC: Gallan

 

Gallan enjoyed this new being's introduction, and he smiled in response before taking a drink of his own beverage. However, he was confused by her response, and decided he would try to clarify.

 

"Mark Roth? I am unfamiliar with this term. The name of your people, I assume?" Gallan asked inquisitively.

 

The Toa of Fire was never able to keep up with the most current news on his travels.

[Timageness]

IC: Dhalgira - Onu-Koro Outskirts (Tavern)

 

Realising the being misunderstood her, Dhalgira shook her head in response.

"Tiokaha are the people; Marks signify individual abilities," she said, figuring that not every being on the island would be well-versed in the ways of her species.

Pausing for a moment as she attempted to find the words to properly explain herself, preferably without resorting to a demonstration while others where in the process of eating, she eventually proceeded to continue in a manner that purposefully excluded the functioning aspect of her powers.

"In my case, I can increase my stamina, produce weaponry from my body, and can track the movements of other beings within a limited area; qualities found within bearers of the Mark Roth."

[Shadow Destroyer]

IC: Gallan

 

"Wow, that's certainly impressive," the Toa of Fire replied while smiling, "thank you for the explanation. I am but an ignorant Toa."

 

Gallan laughed and brought the drink to his lips, finishing it with a gulp and a belch. He furrowed his brow, and piped up again to ask Dhalgira one more question.

 

"If I may ask, how did you come to meet Ezrak?"

[sunflower]

IC: Leli

 

She was, all things considered, eternally grateful that Tarnok had stepped in when he had, speaking his mind with the unapologetic honesty that she had grown to more than just appreciate. There was that, and she was not entirely confident in her ability to form words at the moment.

 

It had been merely hours since they had left her dwelling, and yet she still couldn't keep it together long enough to make it through a day. For Mata Nui's sake all it had taken was the slightest push, an offhand comment by some raving mystic of a stranger who she'd just met, and everything came crashing down.

the mightiest Toa

She couldn't-

 

She had to stop, though her mind kept picking through the the matoran's spiel, pausing to reconcile every note that was even remotely... disturbing to her psyche. And now he was going on about Destiny. Her, Destiny.

 

A plan. 

 

How was this part of anyone's plan, let alone some deity that had abandoned them to the nonexistent mercy of a dark god that had nearly destroyed the villages of the island more than a few times over.

can't stand thi-

"What's your point?"

 

She was getting impatient, enough to solidify a single portion of the mess that was her current thought process to get that out. Standing around just thinking wasn't doing her any good, and the Ussalry was the last place she wanted to visibly lose it completely. It was beginning to become hard enough just to keep the facade of intent interest going, breathing steady and eyes focused on the stranger. "No more riddles, what do you want?"

[Krayzikk]

IC:

"I need you both to go to the Keeping Place. Near the Kini-Nui. It won't be on a map, but you'll know it when you see it. That will have the answers you're looking for, and that's where I need you to be."

[sunflower]

IC: Leli

 

"Yeah, that's specific."

 

She looked over at Tarnok, who returned a weary expression that said it all, before giving her a slight nod.

 

So what if he was telling the truth? Theoretically, Onu-Koro was still dealing with the influx of refugees from the village of Ice with no plans to mount an offensive against the Followers of Makuta as far as she was aware. Besides, she could use some downtime after the understandably stressful experience in the Darkwalk. If this could in some bizarre way help the island at all, it was worth a shot, right? Not like two matoran could make things any worse than they were already.

 

And if the matoran was just running his mouth, blabbering stories and prophecies into the air, then she would just end up spending some time with Tarnok.

 

"Alright... fine. Anything else monumental we should be aware of?"

[Krayzikk]

IC:

"Nothing you aren't already." The Matoran said easily, smile widening a fraction of an inch while he turned and began to leave. Just before he passed by the quartermaster, rounding the corner and disappearing, he said over his shoulder; "Best of luck to you."

[Toa Fanixe]

IC:

 

Sick rahi. Mercy kill Ezrak wrote down on the slate.

 

He had seen what war did to people. He had seen the worst that any being could fall, and Ezrak knew that no innocent creature deserved such a fate. The rahi had been diseased, in pain with no resolution in sight. And more than that, if the Rahi had been allowed to live it would have affected the rest of the herd.

 

Ezrak could not allow that. But before he had been able to deal with situation, the Tiokaha had arrived and done what was needed. 

 

Time soon he wrote. There were too many Rahkshi alive on Mata-Nui, and no Matoran was safe as long they lingered. Ezrak would make sure they didn't linger any more. 

[Krayzikk]

IC:

"Well, that wasn't quite our normal day." The Ussalmatoran commented, watching the unknown Matoran retreat into the depths of the Ussalry's headquarters. He glanced in Leli's direction, raising his eyebrows questionably. "You feeling okay?"

[Void Emissary]

IC: Rungui

 

Rungui only looked on with silent amusement, making no effort to hide it on his face. 

 

"If they find me a ride, I'll make sure to drop by and show it to you," he chuckled, following Dal. "Until then, I'm stuck in the lab treating athlete's foot and a bunch of other stuff you don't want to hear about."

 

IC:

 

"Sounds delightful," Dad Stratos deadpanned, arms crossed over a broad chest. "Well, feel free to drop round here any time, doc. The sight of an honest cop in these parts is always a welcome one, won't deny it."

 

Then, his gaze lingered on the other Ussalman in the room, and he added, quieter than before, "You too, Dalrin. If ever you want to visit or ... or anything, I suppose ... well, you know that our door's always open, you hear?"

 

And it seemed as though all the silence in the world suddenly converged on that spot.

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

"Yeah, Dad," Dalrin Stratos said, the ghost of a smile on his lips and he faked a salute. "I'll keep that in mind. See ya 'round. Say hi to Mom for me, right?"

 

"Like she'd let me forget it otherwise."

 

A joint chuckle.

 

"So, uh, Pink-Eye," Dal began, "you ready to get going?"

 

IC: Akiri Nuparu (Onu-Koro, streets)

 

IC:

 

Libero's ... no, Krayn's eyepatch hung limply in Rynekk's clenched fist.

 

"Our team managed to extract some information from one of Echelon's lesser associates," he said, careful to keep the Commander's name out of the darker parts of this mess until he was forced to. "He told us something of the Legacy's current capabilities. Looks like they're sitting on a pile of advanced technology over there, but it's hard to say exactly what they have.

 

"They've also got something called Antidermis. Apparently it gives some pretty unusual abilities, but our informant wasn't too fond of it. Something suspicious about it, I'm guessing, beyond just ... y'know. Echelon having his bony hands on it. They've got a derivative, too. Made by this Turaga styling himself as the Elder or something like that. It's supposed to unlock a Matoran's elemental powers, but it's incredibly addictive, not to mention dangerous in large doses. Ambages learned that the hard way when he tried to negotiate with the Big Bad himself. I hear he wasn't in any good way when one of Echelon's lackeys finally finished him off."

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Rungui

 

"Yeah, I'm ready." the doctor confirmed, giving Dalrin's father one last wave. "It was nice meeting you guys. See you around."

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"Come on 'round anytime, doc," said the elder Stratos, matching the wave and adding a weary smile. Their conversation evidently ending with Dal finding inordinate fascination in studying his knife belt and his father apparently hearing some otherwise-unhearable siren song to return to the kitchen, the front room became silent once again.. After that, the two Ussalmen walked outside.

 

"Well," the younger Stratos said, taking a breath of the city air. "That was fun."

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Rungui

 

"It was." Rungui said in between a yawn and a stretch. "Almost thought you'd pop an aneurysm in there."

 

He paused mid stretch.

 

"You know what an aneurysm is, right?"

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"I'm not an idiot, doc," Dal drawled. "It's a ... brain ... thing."

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Rungui

 

"Are you...having a...stroke...Dalrin?"

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"I ... hate ... you ... too, buddy."

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Rungui

 

"Dal, your face is drooping."

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"And I'm yet I'm still better looking than you."

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Rungui

 

"Is your self-esteem really that low?"

[Shadow Destroyer]

IC:

 

Sick rahi. Mercy kill Ezrak wrote down on the slate.

 

He had seen what war did to people. He had seen the worst that any being could fall, and Ezrak knew that no innocent creature deserved such a fate. The rahi had been diseased, in pain with no resolution in sight. And more than that, if the Rahi had been allowed to live it would have affected the rest of the herd.

 

Ezrak could not allow that. But before he had been able to deal with situation, the Tiokaha had arrived and done what was needed. 

 

Time soon he wrote. There were too many Rahkshi alive on Mata-Nui, and no Matoran was safe as long they lingered. Ezrak would make sure they didn't linger any more. 

 

IC: Gallan

 

"I see..." Gallan sighed as he leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, when are you looking at leaving? I got nothing on my schedule for the next...." He furrowed his brow.

 

"Yeah, I got nothing. My schedule's empty."

[sunflower]

IC: Leli

 

"I'm. Fine," she enunciated, just enough to cover the deep breaths she was taking. It felt as though a weight had been lifted off of her once the mysterious matoran was out of sight. And out of mind. The world around no longer appeared to be smothering her, which was a definite improvement. Her heartrate had yet to slow, and if it weren't for the fact that she was still desperately attempting to keep up appearances, she probably would've been shaking. The mechanical wall beside her helped with that somewhat.

 

"What do you think about this?" Leli asked, shifting the focus away from her own condition. "Do we head over to the second creepiest place on the island or...?"

[Void Emissary]

IC: Rungui

 

"Is your self-esteem really that low?"

 

IC:

 

"Hey man, you're the one who looks worse than a stroke victim here."

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Rungui

 

"I don't know if you're aware of this, you little ####," Rungui began, clearly unimpressed. "But attractive people who boast about their looks at the expense of others? No one likes them."

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"You think I'm attractive?"

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Rungui

 

"You think I'm ugly?"

[Timageness]

IC: Dhalgira - Onu-Koro Outskirts (Tavern)

 

Dhalgira merely resumed her silence as she reflected upon what was going on.

From what she was able to gather by listening to Nokula and Gallan's side of the conversation, Ezrak, the silent Matoran she had encountered earlier, was seeking to organise a party in an effort to hunt Rahkshi. While the Tiokaha had never actually encountered one personally, she had heard tales of them during her time on the island, and according to legend, they were supposedly the children of Makuta, this island's spirit of darkness and destruction. Being one who was taught to respect the ways of nature, she had originally harbored no plans to seek them out or to infringe upon their territory, as actions such as those would've likely incurred their wrath upon herself and everything around her.

Seeing as how the others were determined to do so, however, she eventually made up her mind, choosing to accompany them in their journey and announcing her decision with a simple nod in Ezrak's direction. While she was initially reluctant, the simple truth was that the more hunters he had by his side, the higher his chances of survival would be, and since he had previously aided her in a task of her own, the least she could do was repay the favor. As for her other two, her opinion of them remained neutral for the time being, as she had a tendency to value actions over words, though their eagerness to assist did not go unnoticed. Should they remain true to their intentions when the time eventually arose, she imagined that they would get along just fine.

Nagging at the back of her mind, though, was a sense of anticipation for the encounters to come. While she had the utmost faith in her own skills, she couldn't help but wonder how they would fare in comparison to beings said to have the distinction of being the island's most dangerous hunters.

Edited June 25, 2016 by Timageness

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"There's a lot of ways my answer can go here, and some of them could get pretty hot. Are you ready?"

 

-Void

[Wade.]

IC: Rungui

 

"Are you ready to get a broken nose?"

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"I'm being serious, buddy," I said, hands above my head. "All my jokes aside, you're not a bad-looking fellow."

 

-Void

[25K Now!]

IC: Uyism

 

Uyism, of course, was evidently confused.

[Wade.]

IC: Rungui

 

"Thank you." Rungui said, mildly surprised. "You're uh...not bad-looking either."

[Krayzikk]

IC:

"Difficult question." The Onu-Matoran responded, mulling his answer over a few times in his head. When he began speaking, it was carefully and with great consideration. He did not express such opinions very often, and this time had the potential for great ramifications. Whether the unknown Matoran was truthful or not. "I am not one inclined to leaps of faith. And this is definitely a leap of faith. What we're considering. We have no proof of who he was, what he said, or what his intentions were. Matters of Destiny tend to be latched onto by the mentally unstable, far too often for me to be entirely comfortable."

 

"But he spoke a lot of truth." Tarnok paused, crossing his arms unconsciously. The encounter had left him a little rattled, but he wasn't one inclined to wear his heart on his sleeve. But this was different. The Matoran's comments had cut, very cleanly, to the core of who he was. What he believed. Things only a handful had ever had the chance to see. "What he said about what I believe... About Uyism, too. Only she and I were in Le-Wahi for that conversation, and I've never told anyone else about it."

 

"I don't believe in Destiny. Not really. I think that maybe there's a plan, but I can't believe that everything follows it. I can't believe that the this world, the way things are, was what Mata Nui planned." He looked over at Leli, taking his eyes off the space in front of him for the first time, and gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I don't believe I can ignore the intent, either. If there's something we're meant to do, I don't think we can afford to ignore it."