Bzprpg - Ta-Wahi

[Makuta of Time]

IC: Flaredrick and Lavist(Ta-Koro Bar)

 

"...And that is why I cared deeply for the Turaga. He was the one who kept me in line."

 

Lavist looks at him with grief and despair.

 

"I'm sorry for the lose of your team. I never knew."

 

"Thanks, at least your starting to understand me." He drinks his shot.

 

"Hey, want to become a Toa team?

 

"What!" He looks at him puzzled.

 

"I always wanted to be in a team; I dream of it my whole life."

 

"Look, I ain't going to be in another team after that incident."

 

"Aw, c'mon. Please do it for me, for Vakama."

 

"Well, alright, fine. But I call the shots okay."

 

OOC: Flaredrick and Lavist are open for interaction.

[Light]

IC: Erif shrugged. "You aren't bothering me. We could always do something peaceful."IC: Tomar sighed and sat down across from Ripley. "Each of those people saved my life multiple times, and I theirs. Except her." Tomar pointed to the Iden wearer. "She was younger than the rest of us, and well liked by everyone." The Ta-Toa grimaced. "She always owed me one life. It used to be a joke that she would never get out of debt.""She never did."

[25K Now!]

IC: [Elysi]

 

Despite having managed to clean herself up, there was still an odour of blood on Elysi's body, as well as the weapons she had stolen from her fallen enemy. It didn't matter to her too much, but she doubted the villagers would merely leave her be, especially after all that chaos back at the bar. She would instantly be recognised, so she would have to lay low for a while.

 

She yawned, bandaging the cuts she had gotten during the fight. Ko-koro seemed to be a good place to stay while all the chaos died down, especially when some of her acquaintances lived there.

 

"Time to visit Zongu again, I suppose," she muttered, getting up and heading out the door towards the village of ice.

 

OOC: Elysi to Ko-wahi.

[HamboneKablooey]

IC: Ripley

 

Ripley smiled, remembering the fond times she had had with her old allies.

 

"Chess and Ace were Toa of Gravity, twins but for their Kanohi, and their personalities. Chess was always floating around, playing pranks on us with his Volitak, while Ace sat quietly in the corner, always to insecure to be the hero he really was. We lost Chess when he disappeared with his old teacher, Other. Nobody's heard from him since, and Marda gave Ace her boat so he could sail the Endless Ocean. He'd always wanted to sail, ever since he saw her boat." she closed her eyes, trying to remember the others.

 

"Jinx...she was a Toa of Sonics, a musician at heart, always more comfortable with her sitar than with a sword. She was murdered during a trip through Onu-Wahi, and we never found her killer. Ven used to be a crew member on the boat. He always made sure there was a good wind blowing in our favor. Poor boy, we didn't know he couldn't swim. He went overboard during a pirate attack and drowned before we could save him." she sighed.

 

"Silica was a common criminal, attacking travellers in the desert to survive, until he attacked Marda. She took him in, and he cleaned himself up. He was killed by one of the people he attacked three weeks later. Cyber, she was a Vortixx, but not a whole one. She had cybernetic implants, always affected her health. It's why we called her Cyber. We never knew her name until the day she died. Just before the sickness took her, she told me. It was Tamia." she sighed.

 

"Enough of this sad talk. We're still alive to carry on their memories, and as long as we are, as long as they stay with us, they'll never truly be dead." she said, and smiled. "I say we don't let the past ruin our future. They lived and died friends, and that's all that matters in the end. The friends you had. The friends you have." she said, smiling at the old Toa of Fire.

[Dapper-Sama]

[iC] [Akamaru]

The slender, green warrior surveyed the molten landscape. Not much occurred here, yet there were many of Makuta's puppets to be dispatched. How shameful. Dark Forces all throughout this blessed island, yet I can only fight them here.

[Elemental Ussal]

I.C. Kranuka had a keen eye for Metalic objects. Spotting armor in a forest wasn't very hard for him. A crimson glint flashing from the Axeron as he darted behind another tree was a piece of cake to identify.

No ninja should ever wear bright red.

The trouble for Kranuka wasn't seeing him, but catching him. Matoran had shorter legs than toa, but even with the same height, Axeron would have still been faster. On top of that, the Fe-Matoran typically wore heavy armor.

 

I.C. Kotahk's glare into the ruined trees would have frightened a Muaka if one had been there. The toa of ice knew he was unable to even challenge Axeron due to his elemental advantage. But that didn't matter to him. He had... Teammates... Not his favorite way to win a battle, but they would help.

Any toa attacking a whole group of toa had their head messed up. Or they were in possession of superior power. The former was likelier than the latter, so Kotahk had won the battle before it had begun.

 

He knew footprints would be an irritating impediment to someone attempting to remain stealthy, so he blasted snow upon the vicinity of the floor of the battle field. It would soon melt into slush, but by then, he could add another layer.

He cringed as the elemental energies coursed into the hot air. It was much harder to make snow in this climate than he had surmised.

[Geardirector]

IC: Butra

 

Butra heard a low whistle ring through the air, but he couldn't see anything as he tried to detect the source of the noise.

 

He turned his head... and promptly felt a stinging pain in his right upper eye, followed by his vision blurring incessantly.

 

Butra took to his mask, to find his fingers brush against a cold metal object lodged into the upper lense on his mask. The little weapon had effectively damaged the scope beyond useability.

 

Butra looked to where the knife came from, and could make out the stranger's silhouette. The trees meant nothing to his eyes. While he could no longer zoom in or out, he could still see through everything, effectively he was staring at a completely empty landscape in which a single, solitary silhouette stood out in glaring contrast.

 

Butra decided on a subtler approach, and start slowly nudging the old, whithered trees towards Axeron, slowly packing together in a tight circle around him.

[Palm]

IC: Tank/Manatu - Ta-Koro PrisonTank gave a tilt of the head, "You don't seem surprised to see me," his smile was starting to fade now, the form of his lips becoming more neutral now, "But I am surprised you are still alive. Following that Dark Toa seemed about as smart as staying at the temple, even if your, er, friends were there."Tuara slammed open the door to her home before realizing just how hard she had hit it. She looked around before calmly closing it up again, locking it. She shook the door carefully to make sure the locking was successful. On her heel she turned, all three bags over her shoulder. Tuara walked through the streets of Ta-Koro, moving to the gates. Upon reaching them, she nodded to the guards in the wench room. Upon recognizing her, they started to call up the bridge."Business?""Business in Le-Wahi. I'm going to be collecting a couple things I need. In addition to one last thing as a member of the Ta-Koro Guard," the Guardsman raised an eyebrow as Tuara stepped forwards onto the bridge, gripping one of the three bags, "Destroying the tools Joske stole from us."A flick of the wrist, and down fell the bag, weighed down by it's contents. After a brief moment, there was a soft splash of lava as it enveloped the bag. With two remaining bags slung over her shoulders, she continued on her way down the bridge.

[Visaru]

IC- Dorgath - Ta-Koro guard training center

Dorgath had stood, facing the few doors that led into the large room with his bamboo staff in hand, waiting for the cause of the alarms to come tearing into the room until his arms had started cramping.

 

The alarms had died away long ago and the sounds of violence and shouting had dissipated even sooner. He was now just standing there defensively out of nervous tension and worry. Finally, he realized that standing in a ready position, tensed, got sort of painful after such a long time, he relaxed and stood back, his heartbeat slowing. Had he ever even been in a life or death situation? Was this what it was like?

 

The matoran looked back at the doors again, thanking the Makuta that he hadn't had to fight. Dorgath could smash his staff into logs, but couldn't fight real people very well. (Could he? He hadn't really tried). He was glad he hadn't had to test his skills alone.

 

He looked around, spun his staff, and went back to bashing a stone dummy of a matoran, still not calm. He nerves were expressed by increasingly violent hacks, cutting surprisingly deep gashes into the rock.

 

He just had to wait for Flay and her team. Not too hard, was it?

[Geardirector]

IC: Axeron

 

The 'Defender's incessant chatter was already being registered by the Assassin hidden in the shadows. While the Defenders had gone forth in search of a test, Axeron had instead cleverly decided to be the followers. Instead of waiting, he would follow them. And so, when the group of Toa finally arrived in the Charred Forest.....

 

Axeron was nowhere to be seen.

 

But he could see the Defenders, and the moment Fehron spoke, Axeron threw a small compact throwing knife.

 

Straight at the Toa's face. While other Toa may have creeds about killing, for Axeron, he's ditched that for quite some time. If these so called Defenders failed in even living....well, who are they to defend?

 

Completely ignoring whether it hit or not, by the time the Defenders caught wind of the direction of the throwing knife, he was already gone, Calix granted abilities propelling away from his old spot, landing perfectly with no sound of impact.

 

OOC: Dracalx, we need you to respond to this

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"Friends, implying two or more beings with a mutual trust, respect, and loyalty towards each other?" I asked clinically, a charmed smirk on my face as my head slid into a tilt to stare at Tank. Here was the Toa of Sand that I'd truly, honestly gotten so tired of that I had shot him in the side of the head for fun, playing games with me, trying to make jokes that were as pathetic as they were unexpected, and if it weren't for his "Mrahmrahmraaaah I'm such a tortured soul" look (which, for the record, is uncannily similar to his "Oh, look, it's Tuesday! It must be pizza night in the prison cafeteria!" look) I could have almost convinced myself that it was a totally different Toa than the ex-Mark Bearer of Pain.

 

The prison bars cooled my forehead as I leaned against the door; small wisps of wind brushed against the maskless skin of my face. Tank rolled his eyes slightly, and I shrugged, smirking a bit wider; it was fairly obvious to both of us that we would have never considered each other friends. Being alike - being part of the same group - didn't make you comrades; only camaraderie could do that. None of the Bearers had it: it's why I couldn't trust any of them, and it's why I never, ever stuck around unless I had a reason to. Having a knife or a broadsword (or God forbid, a katana!) buried in my back? Not on my Top 100 Ways to Die list.

 

"Besides. You know how I get around a pretty face."

 

-Tyler

Edited January 29, 2013 by Marlon Brando

[Dralcax]

OOC: Whoops.

IC Fehron

Just as he finished his sentence, a throwing knife whizzed right past his face, lodging itself in Butra's mask. Instinctively, Fehron turned towards the direction from which the knife had come. Spotting a moving figure, Fehron quickly used his powers to extract the knife and send it back at where he saw their attacker. But the knife simply lodged itself in a tree trunk, as Axeron was long gone.

[Dapper-Sama]

[iC] Akamaru silently observed the sprawling, jagged terrain of Ta-Wahi, for any sign of trouble.

 

[OOC] Evil-Doers, make thyselves known! (Or, Akamaru open for interaction.)

[Friar Tuck]

OOC: from Kini-Nui

 

IC

 

[Ta-Wahi beach; night]

 

I raced under the stars, a trail of sand the only marking of my passage. I ran towards the Great Telescope, towards the stone stairs, where there was another ancient place of importance, massive stone cliffs on my left, the ocean to my right. I ran towards that location, knowing that the Crystals I had gathered were guiding me to that spot. I ran because that was the only possible way I might be able to get to her in time. I ran against the clock, hoping and praying the Great Spirit that I wasn't too late.

 

I was running to save Cael's life.

 

I'm coming love... I'm coming... just... hang on. Hang on.

 

Please. Hang on.

 

A trek down a beach would normally be a laborious affair, but my Kanohi Kakama took care of that. Despite my speed the surface felt flat and smooth, my feet able to grip as if solid earth instead of a porous, shifting substance.

 

Hang on.

 

I ran because I had no where else to go. At one time I ran for the thrill, for the sport, for the adventure. Kohlii was my life, my love, my one desire and ambition... selfish ambition. It was all about me and what I could achieve. She had changed all that.

 

Cael...

 

Through her I found a new purpose. Through her I realized just how self-centered, how self-absorbent I was... and how to let go. How egotistic, prideful, and greedy I'd become... and how to give. That there was more to life than just Kohlii... there were people and feelings too. Winning was the only thing I desired... and then she replaced it.

 

I love you.

 

I fought back tears as I ran, gritting my teeth against the wind I generated, my fists clenched. I had found love, true love, someone to be with and care for, someone that superseded even my own personal dreams and desires. My world had become hers, and through that my eyes had been opened to something far greater, far grander than any stadium. I had found something worth fighting for, something that transcended even Duty. Something better than Destiny. Something that made Unity more than just a virtue. Something and someone that I could hold and cherish for centuries to come, a life and hope that I had been so ignorant to in my blindness.

 

And now in an instant all that had been ripped from me. So I ran, clinging to the one shred of hope, my iron determination and stubborn refusal to give up fueling my desperation. I, Joske Nimil, the fastest Toa on Mata-Nui, was afraid; afraid of being too slow. So I ran like I never ran before.

 

I ran to save the life of the one I loved.

 

My chest heaved as I come to a stop on the top of the stairwell, my body shuddering at the sudden change in momentum and direction. Ignoring the pain I turned left, my back to the Great Telescope, following the compulsion of the crystals to the small dais of statues that was up before me. It was as if I being controlled by another force, my actions on automatic as I strode the last several stairs to the top. Here I had the greatest sense of compulsion... and then nothing. I was released. The gems faded, and I was left standing amongst the statues.

 

To say it wasn't creepy would be a lie.

 

I was at the edge of the circular platform, before me the two greatest rocks of legends: the Makuta Stone, a shard of the blackest protodermis, menacing and angular, and the Mata-Nui Stone, a perfect tan oval, serene and welcoming. Surrounding these two rocks were six stones, long been assumed to represent the Toa Mata, come to awake the Great Spirit and defeat Makuta, all cast in a dark, shadowy hue. These eight rocks were the foundation of almost all our legends, our hopes, our dreams, stories in which the turaga would gather and tell, these stones the physical representation of those characters. But Mata-Nui was still asleep. The Toa Mata had failed. The Makuta still reigned. And here I was.

 

So much for the original legend.

 

Walking slowly I took the time to closely observe the statues, using my element to bring light to what I could not see, my eyes sharp and perceptive this things not normally seen. My diligence paid off as I spotted the discrepancy: these stones each had an empty slot in them. Upon further inspection I could make out the symbols of the Virtues and the various Kohlii Skills carved onto the face of the stones. Bending down I took a finger and scratched away the centuries of dirt and moss; yes, this was the place. Only if one had taken the time to gather the Charms and Crystals would he be able to understand the carvings. The Skills were consistent with the Virtue and Crystal they represented, further accented by the Toa that represented that Koro. It was here that the secret of the stones would be revealed, and its connection to Heuani and the Keeping place. One by one I placed the respective Crystals into the slots, one by one causing the stones to emit a bright glow. As I did so I thought and meditated over each one, remembering the lesson that each temple brought. What it took to gather each charm. The work, pain, and change required personally to complete this quest.

 

It was odd. After all the struggle, after all the self-searching, the sacrifice and tears, this was the easy part. Place and go. Put in and find out. It was almost anti-climatic. Then again, the journey to this point was incredible. Without the stones, the lessons learned, this part would be impossible, simple as that. There was no need for some final soul-searching. There was no need for a final lesson, or task, or even riddle. The task wasn't this - it was acquiring the crystals. It's not the mountaintop; it was the climb.

 

The climb I made with Cael.

 

As I placed the final Crystal in the corresponding slot, my thoughts consumed with my love, the entire dais glowed with infinite energy as the six toa statues shone brilliantly against the night. Arcs of power formed between each one, bouncing back and forth until a frenzied climax was reached, in which two bolts shot forth, one to the Makuta Stone, the other to the Mata-Nui Stone. The two shook violently as they were imbued with power, and I felt myself being lifted off the ground. In this moment a small slice of the universe was opened to me, a plethora of knowledge presented to my mind. The secret of the stones was not a singular purpose, but one of many, depending on the destiny of the bearer. I could have been granted great power, or ancient knowledge... but instead I was given another: transport. A gate. As the energies of the statues focused in on me, I found out one of the secrets: It would teleport me to Kini-Nui. But not to the temple - no, directly to the Keeping Place. A place where no mortal can normally go. A place that is hidden from view. A location that is well-protected and fortified from evil. A place that the only way through was to prove yourself worthy.

 

I was about to be teleported there, past the shield, past the defenses, from which I could open from the inside out.

 

I was about to accomplish the first part of my destiny.

 

If I wasn't so distraught over Cael, my heart would have leaped for joy.

 

There was a final flash of light, and in a burst of power I was gone, only a wisp of smoke to mark the trail of my passage.

 

OOC: back to Kini-Nui

Edited January 30, 2013 by Friar Tuck

[Geardirector]

OOC: Whoops.

IC Fehron

Just as he finished his sentence, a throwing knife whizzed right past his face, lodging itself in Butra's mask. Instinctively, Fehron turned towards the direction from which the knife had come. Spotting a moving figure, Fehron quickly used his powers to extract the knife and send it back at where he saw their attacker. But the knife simply lodged itself in a tree trunk, as Axeron was long gone.

 

OOC: *sigh* it'll have to do.

[Dapper-Sama]

[iC] Akamaru was situated on a face of rock between Ta-Koro and the sea. He had been watching the city of fire long enough. He turned around just in time to see a sizeable flash of light on the beach. ​Evil or not, this deserves investigation. About 15 minutes later, he wandered over to the beach where he saw the flash. Nothing, just those old, potentially meaningless stones, and some smoke. He noticed a slight shine, a sparkle on one of the stones, the smaller green one. Eh, just a coincidence. He returned to his watching rock.

[Light]

OOC:: Sorry for how late this was. I was waiting on nohiki but he's not been around.IC: Tomar sighed. "Words of wisdom." His melancholy expression shifted into a grin.

[Elemental Ussal]

I.C. Kranuka

Even from the charred forest, he could feel the energy ripple from the mountain of the great telescope, and see the brilliant spectacle of light in the sky from a distance. He seemed worried... He had no idea if this was good, or bad. An omen to the light finally piercing the darkness and the end of Makuta, or something else... He had only a split second to contemplate. Axeron was on the move.

[Palm]

IC: Tank - Ta-Koro Prison"I expected such a reaction."Tank tilted his head, scowling very slightly, "Which seems odd. Considering all your charm, yet despite your affinity for being crazy, you didn't seem to make any real connections to any of us. Even when others attempted to connect to you, of course, I was not one of them. But I'm very observant," the tilt increased in degrees, and Tank's shoulders slumped, "I've been here ever since the incident at that temple, and I've had a lot of time to think," Dorian gave him a glance. Tank pulled away from the bars before sitting down again in the same spot, his knees against the metal poles.Tuara stepped off the edge of the bridge, waving off to the Guards at the other side to lower it again. She gave one last hanging look to her village before slinging the two remaining bags over her shoulder."I never could realize what it was that you really wanted. I knew what everybody else did. Utu, Yuru, even Reaver of all people. But you," Tank pointed at Dorian, pausing, "You were just too haywire. But I think I started to notice a pattern. Namely, no pattern at all. There was no consistency with you. Except for a single thing," Tank gripped the bars, speaking plainly, "You never left us entirely. At least, not until the very end there. Something always made you come back. And I don't think it was out of obligation for the mark on your arm. You don't seem to be the kind of guy that would bound himself to obligations."

Tuara had never planned anything this far ahead before. Nor had she prepared for something that she wasn't even sure was going to happen. There were too many variables to properly eliminate possible outcomes. And for once, Tuara was going to plan for all of them. She was sick of coming up short, or being unprepared. Especially for the things she herself caused. A sigh and little flip of the toes of one foot, Tuara turned again, walking away into the charred forests of Ta-Wahi, kicking up ashes with each step.Tank's green eyes narrowed, "Why?"OOC:Tuara to Le-Wahi

Edited January 30, 2013 by snoip lion

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

I never gave him enough credit.

 

Of course, I'd never liked Tank; much like I'd loathed most of the other Mark Bearers - Nikarra for her clingy, obsessive nature, Yuru for his pre-pubescent antics, Labelle for her pathetic resistance against my charm and mind games and her taking the moniker sadist and dirtying it, Freiza for giving Labelle a reason to exist - I had given him passing respect for the power he had the potential to wield, but I hadn't ever shown anything worthy of being called affection to the Toa of Sand. But, that said, he was smart.

 

Not me smart, not even Praggos smart. But he was up there, moreso than I'd been able - or maybe more than I'd been willing - to accept. Suddenly, prison was looking a bit sunnier, and not just because of the fact that a prisoner down the hall may have just immolated himself to avoid another day in this giant zoo of the worst Mata Nui had to offer.

 

"You really wanna know, Tank?" I asked curiously, pressing up as close as I possibly could to try and get a glimpse of the Toa's leafy eyes with my ocean blues. "You really want in on the diabolical master plan?"

 

A guarded nod, laced with a leery scorn that was supposed to look like curiosity; the emotion was one I could see through nonetheless. I smirked.

 

"Then wait for Deputy Dynamo to show up tomorrow, see what you can piece together. You're a big boy now, so please, stick around - oh, wait, I forgot. Neither of us is going anywhere."

 

A chuckle.

 

"Howdy, neighbor."

 

-Tyler

[Palm]

IC: Tank - Ta-Koro Prison"You seem to think that I enjoy playing games now."Tank raised an amused eyebrow, "But perhaps I will wait and see," Tank looked downwards, "Have you heard anything about Utu or the others since you left?"

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"I saw Praggos; fixed me up after a street fight gone wrong a couple days back. Nothing from the others," I replied, plopping down on the bunk and obscuring part of my face and body with the shadows. Tank looked like he wasn't sure how to process that, but after a second or so I continued on anyway, slightly more quietly.

 

"To be honest...I thought you guys were all dead."

 

-Tyler

[Palm]

IC: Tank - Ta-Koro PrisonTank didn't move away from his bars. He stayed in place, speaking in a manner that might be included when talking about the weather, "I'm not even sure that many of us survived. The only people I know of are myself, Praggos, as you said, and Utu. Tuara told me he never got pulled into the temple," Tank gripped the bars, twisting his hands around the smooth metal, reminded of his own staff, "She said he commanded the darkness inside to stop, and it did," he gripped the bar harder. It wasn't fair that Utu was still out there. Not for anybody, "I guess I was wrong about him. A lot of things actually."Tank sort of "fell" from his cross legged position, his head landing on a bar in front of him, "I'm surprised Tuara is still able to function," Tank released the bars with a drawn out breath before dropping his head into his hands, burying his face into his palms. He didn't say much more for a while. He sort of wiped his face, letting out a light sigh, "I know you had protested the whole Tarn thing, and I don't expect you to agree with me, but it was my only chance at looking into my Mark. I had fought for my entire known life to find out who I was. And when you're desperate you do things you shouldn't," he shook his head, a soft chuckle filled the silent room. His face became suddenly sullen.Tank leaned back, "After we killed Tarn, and replaced him; stopping the torture I refused to acknowledge, I thought she would be alright. As though bringing her back would fix everything," Tank didn't say anything for a while, nor did he remove his gaze from the ground."She was so broken. Before we replaced Tarn, there was a point where she would awake as Tuara. She used to want us to kill her. Or she would try to do it herself. But eventually she just stopped caring."He rubbed the back of his head, "If it weren't for Angelus, she would've killed herself first chance she got I think."Tank finally looked up at Dorian, "I was wrong. And now she won't let me say sorry."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"You should have listened to me."

 

Tank looked up to me, some sort of grim typical Tankish look on his face, to see that my face was tight, hands clasped and upright in front of my knees, thumbs holding up my chin. My gaze wasn't on the other Bearer, it was in the wall beside the prison door, boring into it, tunneling like an Onu-Matoran miner. Maybe, if I'd stared long enough, I could have cut out a large enough chunk of the wall that I could've busted outta here; not only would that be a disservice to Tuara, though, it'd be a disservice to myself.

 

Jeez. That was a depressing thought.

 

"I mean, I hate to break your balls about it - okay, I don't really, but I'm more uncomfortable about it than I would be most other people - but that judgement call took away any real moral standing you had in the eyes of the others. Taking someone like Tuara, bending her, breaking her will...you can't just do that to someone and expect to get away with it, Tank, and I would've assumed you knew that. Have you talked to her lately? Gotten a good look at her?"

 

Tank kind of did a shoulder spasm, like his muscles collectively did jumping jacks; it was his way of giving an uncomfortable "here and there" sort of cop-out answer.

 

"There's pain, brah. She's chock full of it, from her eyes to the way she walks. The way I kept calling you out on it, kept trying to grab that journal...sometimes, about five to ten percent of the time, there is a method to my madness. For once, I was trying to help. I told you, man...I wasn't the bad guy in the whole Bearer debacle. I wasn't a good guy, alright, granted, but I wasn't any sort of villain. I was the anti-hero that drove things along, the guy who hopped in to steer the course of events, and it worked...except for the one event I couldn't really steer. Now that event is visiting my cell daily - not because I'm a bad guy, or because she wants to make sure I'm gonna break out. Because she needs me, and she knows it. She needs me to show her that she can make it through this. Consider it cleaning up your mess once again, just like I did with Yuru - no need to thank me."

 

I smirked, and for once it wasn't vindictive, wasn't charming; it was just a neutral half-grin.

 

"You may not want to believe it, Tank, but the reason I never actually laid a finger on her, never killed Angelus even though I had chance and chance again to end that pesky little jungle rat? It's because, at heart, I care about Tuara; I care about what happens to her, much more than you or Utu or any of the other Mark Bearers. You were all so caught up in yourselves, in Arekule, in the tattoos...you forgot that she - and, come to think of it, the rest of the island - even existed. Me, I didn't. I had vision; I saw the big picture. And I saw, believe it or not, that this -" and here I gestured to the prison at large "- would probably end up happening once you decided to use Tuara as your mental WMD. That's why I'm cool with it."

 

Still, Tank said nothing.

 

"I don't care what you've figured out about the other Bearers, or think you've figured out about me, though I'm sure we'll discuss it at length anyway. But here's your insight into Dor's soul for one day: I care about Tuara. Ta-daaaaaaa."

 

At least, I want to.

 

-Tyler

[- JL -]

OOC: Here, have some juice.

 

IC: Axeron

 

He spoke out loud.

 

"So, Defenders. Tell me, each and every one of you, your truth. Your ideals. Show it to me, before I show mine to you."

 

The sound seemed to come from everywhere, alongside the creaking of tree banches. They couldn't pinpoint exactly where Axeron was, due to him heating up the branches, causing them to simply break, snap, squeak, make noises.

 

For now, he wanted to see.

 

OOC: Cya in about 2 days. If I don't respond by 48 hours after this post, feel very free to PM me.

 

That or I probably broke a foot.

[Elemental Ussal]

I.C. Kotahk was silent... This was getting weird...

 

I.C. Kranuka thought for a moment... He thought this could be some kind of trick to get everyone to stand still for one of Axeron's throwing knives, but he warily spoke. Hoping to enlighten the challenger. "Truth? Makuta has taken over a land that was not his own. It's our job to protect the island from him in any way we can... I am an explorer at heart. I can't sit still. I am restless. My life is pointless unless I point it in the right direction; helping others is how I re-channel my energy. It's far more worthwhile than anything else I have applied myself to. Making and selling weapons for example... One of my passions that just doesn't carry any weight."

[Palm]

IC: Tank - Ta-Koro Prison"I cared about her too," Tank ground some rocks with his fist, "But when you're as desperate as I was, you'd be willing to do anything too."Tank looked up, a frustrated look on his face, "And don't pretend like you guided any of us to do anything. Utu died. I'm sure that was not part of your "driving plan"," Tank chuckled, "And Yuru was doomed anyways. If you weren't at the temple, Utu would've killed him just the same. I know what I did was wrong: I understand that now. Karz, I might've understood it before. But don't make up lies to put you on the other side of my morals."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"Hey, I don't have to tell lies to talk cark about your morals," I said innocently. "All I've gotta do is remind you what happened."

 

I flicked a cigarette out of my sleeve - yeah, I smuggled one in, I'm that great - and flicked the tip hard and sudden against the cell wall, lighting it. I brought the cig to my lips and exhaled once, looking up at him and shaking my head disbelievingly with a mild chuckle, as though he'd just placed a bet against me on the upcoming Kolhii game.

 

"You didn't do anything out of morals, you did it out of desperation and self-deprication. You really think I would've done the things you did in the name of getting rid of the Marks? You think I would've taken an innocent girl with the whole world going for her and twisted her around until her brain could be lightly salted and passed off as a pretzel? You think I would have enjoyed making Tuara like me?"

 

I shook my head again, the chuckle disappearing into the cloud of smoke. The cigarette fumes made their way down to the cell floor, in a race against gravity with the fragments of the rocks Tank smashed. Both lay in a pool at our feet.

 

"Remember what I told you, a long time ago, about me not liking to kill people in cold blood? Just before I shot you in the head? Yeah, kinda ironic now that I think about it...anyway, I was actually telling the truth. I don't like killing people in cold blood. I do it. All the time, I'll do it...but I really don't like it, you know? So, when someone like Tuara - someone I care about - comes along, I won't do anything I know will deliberately put them in a possibly fatal position unless it has a large enough benefit to moi."

 

"What you did to Tuara? That's worse than death; you might as well have just killed her, because now she looks at herself in the mirror every day and sees me. I may not be the portrait of moral decency in your eyes...but do you really think I would have gone out of my way to turn Tuara into me? And then prolonged that torment while deliberately dangling the carrot of a normal life about twenty yards in front of her at all times?"

 

I put the joint out on the bed and flicked it at Tank; the balled up cigarette flew cleanly through the bars of both cells before bouncing off the section of cot right next to Tank's left thigh and tumbling to the ground.

 

"As for the driving plan...I always have a Plan B. And a Plan C. And a Plan D, and then...well, I'm sure you learned how the alphabet works at some point."

 

-Tyler

Edited January 31, 2013 by Marlon Brando

[Palm]

IC: Tank - Ta-Koro Prison"You don't have to lecture me on what I did to her, thank you very much," he eyed Dorian carefully, putting out what was left of the cigarette with his thumb, "She's not you. She's better than you. She's better than both of us."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"Yeah, granted. Problem with that is that now she's better than us, and she can't prove it to anyone because she's totally alone. She's quit her job, she's dumped her boyfriend, she's totally isolating herself...here's to you, Tank. You sure know how to treat a lady."

 

I faked the motion of lifting a shot glass and shook my head; when I looked up again, I noticed Tank was staring at me oddly, confusion evident.

 

"She pretty much confessed as much during my initial interrogation," I informed him. "She's on her own now. That's why I'm here."

 

"So what, you're Tuara's guardian angel because you noticed her by herself and saw a chance to flaunt yourself as the Patron Saint of Loneliness?"

 

"No. I'm her guardian angel because, thanks to you, I'm all she has left."

 

-Tyler

Edited January 31, 2013 by Marlon Brando

[Palm]

IC: Tank - Ta-Koro Prison"Which would probably be why you're in a prison cell now, and she's out there right?""Actually, she'll be coming in for daily visits."Tank picked himself up, walking over to his own bunk before falling onto it, his heavy frame causing it to shake as he landed, "I seriously doubt that she's broken up with Angelus.""She was drinking when I saw her. Looked pretty distraught.""Doesn't mean she's not having some other issues. A drink doesn't instantly add up to relationship issues. I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion- You know what? No, you weren't even there. Le-Wahi. She was so broken right? Didn't say anything. Didn't do anything. Out of the blue Angelus shows up, and in a couple words and a kiss, she's as good as new," Tank turned his head to look at Dorian, "She's not going to throw that kind of thing away."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"You'll be surprised."

 

"How are you so sure? What, you think she's like you?"

 

Here we go again with this whole line of questioning. Was it so hard to believe that maybe someone could understand me? Empathize with me? Care about--

 

"The fact that you think a couple words and a kiss made her good as new shows just how little you really know about what she's suffering through. She loved this job. Loved Angelus, too. You weren't there. You didn't stand there, look in her eyes through a viewing window, and see the loneliness in there. You can't even talk to her, can you?"

 

"Well, I--"

 

"No, you can't. I can tell from that guarded look n your eyes, just like I could tell from the the desperation in hers. The plea for someone to be there, and get it. You learn to recognize it after about forty years or so of looking at it in the mirror."

 

"Oh? You think I need something?"

 

"You need to be able to put yourself in her shoes right now. You need to know what it's like to lose the ability to trust your own mind, to lose everything and everyone that you ever dared hold sacred, and then you need to know what it's like to have to become a total tabula rasa. Restart everything, abandon everyone. Then you can get it. But for now, you're just gonna have to sit back, wallow in despair like you always do without making the best of it, and you need to let me bring back the real Tuara."

 

-Tyler

[Palm]

IC: Tank - Ta-Koro Prison"And what's the real Tuara look like to you?""The real Tuara is someone who looks into my eyes and doesn't see someone she can care about."Tank looked back up at the roof."She's better than me. Better than both of us."The Toa of sands didn't say anything. He simply looked up, taking in what was said, "You know. I got my memory back," he bit his lip, "My name was Manatu.""Was it worth it?""No."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

A beat or two of silence. More than anything, I found myself wishing that the fake shot I'd had in my hand earlier was real. I found myself wishing that maybe, things had been different, and that I had died somewhere along the line over the last eighteen months and I didn't have to feel guilty about anything, ever. More than anything, I found myself wishing that someone could know the truth about me - my personality quirks, my history, my occupation, my looks - and just accept me, anyway. I kind of wished, for a minute there, that I had forgotten who I was, and Tank had been in my place.

 

Kind of. And only for a minute.

 

I had meant to share this story with Tuara, but now seemed as good a time to get it off my chest as any.

 

"When I was out there, with Heuani," I said suddenly, causing Tank to snap to attention. "In the forest? It was so dark out there that you couldn't see your hand in front of you, could hardly tell where anything was unless you used frickin' bird calls as your natural compass. Heuani was so pitch black that you couldn't see him, you just knew that you had to keep following him. And then, all at once, he's trying to subdue you, make things easier on him down the road. It's so sudden that even when you know in the back of your head it could happen at any time, and even when you think you're prepared, you're so off guard that you hardly have a shot."

 

"And then I hurt him, and for a second I was a god. For a second, I was beyond Utu, beyond the Marks, beyond anything else on this island, because I'd hurt Heuani. And then I come to and I have my own sword run through my abdomen, bleeding out into the arms of someone you can barely even recognize because there's nothing running to your brain to make it work because it's all sliding down your chest and waist. You can't even recognize how fancy your clothes are, or make some kind of pun, because your heart is doing the work of all your organs, just pumping, pumping, pumping blood...and you don't even care. All you can do is just ask anyone who may be listening not to let you die the way you lived."

 

Cold. Alone.

 

Pathetically.

 

"And I had time to think, for that hour or so that I was dying," I finished, looking up with a neutral flip of one corner of my mouth. "And I want you to know that I'm sorry."

 

-Tyler

Edited January 31, 2013 by Marlon Brando

[Palm]

IC: Tank - Ta-Koro Prison"Yeah," Tank sighed, "Me too."

[Dralcax]

IC Geon

Ignoring the commotion, Geon concentrated. He knew their foe was creating interference in order to impede their senses. He felt a slight breeze, and he smiled at the realization. Axeron, however clever he may be, was still a Toa. It would be impossible for him to directly heat up the branches if he wanted to surround them adequately with the sounds, as the farthest branches would be out of reach. So, Axeron must be heating up the air and letting it diffuse outwards and creak the branches. Once the initial heat wave had passed them and the hot air surrounded them, it would be almost impossible to determine the source. Almost. The hot air was rising, and cooler air was blowing in and taking its place. And the hot air emanated from one source, Axeron. This meant that the wind would blow towards Axeron. Testing the direction of the faint breeze, Geon silently signaled the others to look in that direction.

[Geardirector]

IC: Butra

 

Butra looked in the direction Geon was gesturing, and his mask let him make out a silhouette.

 

"My ideal?" he asked out loud. "My ideal is that I have to help people. It's what gives me fulfillment, it's what gives me a sense of purpose. If I weren't allowed to be that, I wouldn't have a reason to accept the responsibility of these powers and this mask, I would still be a gardener."

[Elemental Ussal]

I.C. Kotahk thought he would choke to death on the hot air. He caught Geons signal. He wasn't able to do much about it. He was badly oppressed by the heat. His pakari enabled him the endurance to continue. Only that. He observed Axeron's hiding place, and looked at the proper set of footprints in the frost he had laid before. IDENTIFIED he thought.

[Dralcax]

IC Fehron

Enduring the heat, Fehron called out. "My ideal is a world without evil- without you!" Fehron created and hurled several shuriken in the direction of the wind.

[Makuta of Time]

OOC: Sorry for being late, but I had no interaction so I'll add something.

 

IC: Flaredrick and Lavist

 

"Yeah! I knew you would agree."

 

"Don't get overzealous just yet. What kind of a team has two people in it." He says taking another shot.

 

" Hmm...I never thought of that. Hey, maybe other Toa that we meet might join."

 

"Sounds like a plan." He drinks his 10th sot of the day.

OOC: Flaredrick and Lavist are open for interaction. Again.

Edited February 1, 2013 by Flaredrick: Forgotten One