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Journey of the New Mask Maker


Karios

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Hello! Before you read this, three things:

 

1) This is a spinoff of a series of stories written by "Ursus Weilder Pahrak" by the title of "Okoto 0579". The stories preceeding this one can be found here: http://www.bzpower.com/board/blog/90/entry-134095-the-okoto-579-collection/

I suggest you read them first, as none of this will make sense without them.

 

2) This is the first part. The rest will be uploaded later in segments ( to this same topic )

 

3) I worked closely with Ursus Weilder Pahrak, so it is not just some fan-written thing I made up.

 

Enjoy!

 

-------------------------

 

CLANG!

 

Just one more, and…

 

CLANG!

 

The Mask Maker looked over the mask he had just made and put it in a bag with the others.

 

Well, that’s the last one. Time to pack up? Yeah, yeah….

 

Max looked up for a moment to think.

 

Should I say goodbye to my friends before I leave? I don’t think I have time… do I? Maybe. Dunno. May be a close call… I have work to do… Eh, why not try. I owe them for a lot.

 

Max had grown to sometimes enjoy talking to himself while making masks. While it sometimes slows down the process, he believes that he sort of needs it.

 

It had been a few long, progressive months since Ekimu, the Mask Maker had stayed at Max’s home and discovered his ability and talent for making Masks of Power. It wasn’t long after he revealed his ability to make masks that Max’s shop had become overrun with customers. While most came in search of masks, enough noticed his other works for him to nearly sell out. He had decided that it was his obligation as the new Mask Maker of the Island of Okoto to distribute masks amongst the villagers of the entire island, and along the way spread his name and become a legend, just as he had always dreamed. His best friend, who was a messenger and also delivered him the materials he uses in his work, had offered to help him transport his masks across the six regions of Okoto on his trade route.

 

Better not be late, he thought. Turak leaves just before sunrise.

 

Max rushed up the stairs of of his basement out of his forge and into his old trade-shop living room. He had been offered better places to live or even a simple renovation, but he turned them down. This was his home. He lived and grew here for years and he wasn’t giving it up. Max got his armored canine, Red, ready and hefted his cargo-load of masks through the door. Turak was standing close by, making sure the armored beasts that would be pulling the cargo of this long journey were comfortable. Turak then noticed Max and waved.

 

“Hey! Where have you been?”

 

“Just finishing up some masks,” Max responded “Hey, do you mind making a few extra stops around the village?”

 

“Sure” Turak answered, chuckling as the tired mask maker flopped himself in a cart. His rear sank in and his limbs stuck out because of the deep square shape of the cart. “Might I ask why?”

 

“Eh, I talked to myself for a bit, and I decided on ‘why not’

 

Turak raised a finger and opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a brief “Don’t ask, because I’m too tired to explain.”

 

Turak eyed Max again as he dangled his limbs out the sides of the cart. “Oh, and those carts are for cargo only, not your lazy self. You have to walk.”

 

He chuckled again as he heard the silver-armored Mask Maker let out an irritated “UGHHHHHHHHH”

Max then tried to pull himself out of the cart, but didn’t get too far. “Um… little’ help?”

 

 

4] ***

"Farewell, and good luck on your journey, great Mask Maker."

 

"Just call me Max.” Max responded to the guard.

 

As soon as Max and Turak, as well as the large creatures carrying the cargo, passed the gate, Max looked over at Turak and asked “Why are they always so formal around me?”

 

“Well, you are the new Mask Maker. That’s a pretty big title.” Turak replied, occasionally glancing at the large animals beside him.

 

“Yeah, but I know that guard. I’ve known him for a while now.”

 

Turak shrugged. “Maybe his boss is watching or something?”

 

“Oh, I almost forgot, I have something for you”. Max reached into one of the carts behind him. He dug around for a bit, and then pulled out a mask that very much resembled the one worn by Kopaka, the Toa of Ice. It had the same triangle-shaped binocular gimmick, but was much less intimidating. The mask was rounder and flatter, so the flat curved piece at the top didn’t stick out nearly as much as on the actual Mask of Ice. The color stuck out a bit, but not enough to conflict with the attire Turak already wore- it was a dark grey-blue.

 

“Oh, thank you.” Turak replied. He had been without a mask for a long time due to the absence of their creators, and Max thought that it was about time that he got a new one.

 

The two remained silent for a while, and then Max had a question.

 

“Hey, which region are we heading through first?”

 

“Region of Water”

 

“Any particular reason?”

 

“Yeah,” Turak gave Max an irritated look. “I have packages to deliver?”

 

“Oh yeah…”

 

“And you’re not my only friend, you know. I’ve met a lot of people on my travels.

 

“Like who?” Max decided to use a trick he knew, just for fun. He had learned that acting like you knew something was up could eventually lead to the person you’re talking to getting nervous and revealing a secret. Max began with a smug look on his face.

 

“Like a lot of people.”

 

“Who?” Max pushed.

 

“Hmm… I’ve met Korgot a few times, there are some other people I receive packages from…”

 

Okay, Max thought, there is nothing interesting-

 

“...and there’s my girlfriend, who lives in the Region of Stone.”

 

Max froze for a moment. “What.”

 

Tural stopped. “What?” Max gave Turak a look that said. “Wa- When- how-”

 

“Oh! I never told you, did I?” Turak continued.

 

Max unfroze. “Well, congratulations on finding ‘the one’, I guess!” It was all he could think to say.

 

The two remained silent for a few minutes, neither of them knowing what to say. Then something occurred to the Mask Maker. “Hey… may I suggest a quick place to stop in the region of Water?”

 

“Sure. Where?”

 

“Oh, I think you know very well where”

 

“No, I don’t think I-” Max raised his eyebrows twice suggestively, and put on a creepy beam beneath his mask

 

“Oh, no.”

 

“OH, YES.”

 

***

 

“OH CRAAAAA-!”

 

Another bolt of blue energy struck the ground dangerously close to the speeding carts carrying the various masks of power. Max’s immature, burning curiosity had drawn the two villagers a little too close to the Ancient City, where an archer had spotted them. The archer was as tall as the Toa, and appeared to be rotting. From what they could see, its armor was very detailed, much more so than that of a villager. It had various images and molded details, and a multi-material base. It was all so different, Max was still curious even as they were being shot at.

 

“Why did we come here?!” Max screamed in panic.

 

“Because you made me!” Turak yelled back.

 

“SHUT UP!”

 

“What do we do?! How do we get it off our tail?!” Turak blurted out franticly. His attention flicked back and forth between the carts, ground, Max, and his animals. He had retained a startled look since the first shot had landed directly in front of him.

 

“Well, I’m out of ideas!” Max spared just a moment to look forward, just to get an idea of what it would take to escape. The clearing was long and wide, and there wasn’t any cover anywhere soon.

 

“It’s range is too far! It will turn these beasts of yours into a buffet line before we can escape!” Max was almost as frantic as Turak.

 

At this rate, all our stuff will be roasted, not to mention us!

 

“Well why don’t you do something, Mr. ‘my-family-has-magical-powers’!” Irritation towards Max had found its way into Turak’s mix of panic and adrenaline.

 

“Oh, right! Well, aren’t I an idiot!” Another bolt nearly blew Turak off his feet.

 

“JUST DO IT!” Turak screamed back at Max.

 

Max raised his hammer, and activated his mask of focus. He then deflected the next shot from the archer. He calmed down, centered his energy and focused on the source of the attack. He then sprinted at the figure, deflecting several more explosive shots as he ran. As he approached, he could make out the figure better- there were few solid plates, each broken up by what seemed to be flexible metal. The patterns on the chestplate were rather intriguing- but as he looked at it, a rather strange observation breached his focus;

 

It’s female. Huh.”

 

Max gave the pointless thought too much attention, and almost tripped, but quickly regained balance. The archer seemed to have terrible aim, and acted almost like a zombie.

 

Max suddenly realized that he didn’t know what he was going to do when he reached her, the moment now only, seconds away. A dumb thought (like many of his others) occurred to him: There was a fighting-move that he had imagined a while back, but never actually practiced it at all, because that would just be unnatural for him.

 

Mask of Focus, don’t fail me now”

 

The Mask Maker then performed a triple front-flip over the tall figure, hitting her hard in the back and sending her flying. Before she could get up again, the Mask Maker shot a beam of energy from his hammer to destroy the bow, and then (knowing now for sure that it was a zombie) cut off one of her arms with the longer of the two bars of the back of his hammer. Quickly, Max ripped a piece of the strange flexible material from the severed arm and sprinted back toward Turak with all his might.

 

“STOP!” the exhausted Mask Maker cried as his friend, who was unaware of the archer’s defeat, continued sprinting.

 

Turak noticed, and slowed down. “Did you get it it?” he asked, heavy breaths rushing in and out of his lungs.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I got her”

 

Her?

 

“Oh, right,” Max panted as he leaned over, even more exhausted than Turak. “It was a woman-archer-zombie thing. And it was the size of a Toa, but I think we knew that to begin with, right? I dunno. I’m out of breath, and tired.”

 

“By Ekimu’s Masks, Max, you’re such an idiot!” Turak yelled with a sudden change of tone

 

“What?” Max stood up.

 

“Yeah! You drag me off my fastest route onto what was by far the slowest one, and you nearly got me killed! Not to mention all the mail and packages that were destroyed!” The angered villager stopped for a moment to regain his breath. “I’m not just doing this for you! This is my job, what I do for a living!”

 

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t know-”

 

“YOU NEVER KNOW! You always do whatever the h*ll you want and then just apologize and continue on your merry way!”

 

“I-”

 

Turak was angry, tired, and overall cranky, and would do or say anything in an attempt to get his message through Max’s thick skull.

 

“You no-good, motherless, LONELY IMMATURE CHILD!” The silence that followed the outburst lasted only a moment, but to Max and Turak, it seemed like the world had stopped to observe their conflict, even with nobody around.

 

“....Whoa…….” Max’s tone had become soft and quiet in shock at what his friend had said. Turak stuttered in an attempt to apologize, and he and Max began to talk over one another.

 

“I- I know, I just-” Turak tried.

“That was seriously hurtful” Max didn’t know what to say.

“I know, it was uncalled for, I-” Turak tried to explain.

“No, no, I get it.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

 

“Look,” Turak finally said, “It’s just a pattern with you, and I didn’t know how else to get through to you. I’m sorry.”

 

“I understand. I just... sigh, didn’t know it- no, I was that bad.”

 

They both paused for another moment.

 

“Hey, how much mail did we lose to the explosions?” Turak was trying to change the subject.

 

“Uhhhh…” Max looked back at the smoldering pile far behind them. After seeing how much was there, he inhaled sharply through his teeth.

 

“What?” Turak became concerned again.

 

“Weeeeeeeell…” Max began slowly, “...it seems that we don’t have to make any more stops in this region, heh heh…”

 

Turak didn’t even need to voice what he felt. The tree branch he punched to bits in frustration did it for him.

***

Edited by Karios
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  • 1 month later...

......AHAHAH!!! HAHAHAHAHA, AHAHAHA, HEHAHAHAHAUHA!!! THAT ENDING! OMG THAT WAS PRIIIIIIIIIIIIIICELESS! Lord, do stand-up comedy!

HOLY-

 

where did you come from?! I didn't know anybody even looked over here...

 

and are you being sarcastic?

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