Rahi getting too and from Mata Nui?

[slifer3000]

Did we ever get told how the Rahi got from Metru Nui to Mata Nui? I always assumed that along the walls of Metru Nui's domes were the tunnels that took you up to Mata Nui, which would require airships or boats to utilize since it involves crossing a sea. But the Rahi wouldn't be able to use that technology. I assume that the Bohrok more or less corralled the Rahi up and drove them underground, but this still doesn't explain how they got back to Metru Nui. Anyone have any interesting theories on this? 

[Toa of Italy]

To begin with, let's specify that we're talking about land Rahi. Flying Rahi wouldn't have had problems (at the most they would have had to force themselves to fly into the tunnels linking Metru Nui to Mata Nui); as for water Rahi, we know they reached Mata Nui via the same waterway used by the Toa Metru. That waterway was sealed, so we don't know how they made their journey back, but then again we can't be sure they even did; they might well have chosen to escape into the Endless Ocean (Aqua Magna) rather than returning to the Matoran Universe.

 

As for land Rahi, there might be a number of explanations. One is simply that, terrified as they were of the Visorak (and later, presumably, of the Bohrok), many of them managed to swim the Silver Sea, even though they wouldn't normally have been capable of doing so. Another is that they somehow found some underwater chutes that were still working (we know there were some and Nokama once theorized that the Visorak themselves got to Metru Nui via underwater chute). Once inside, the chute takes you along even if you're not a sentient being.

 

However, I've thought about this issue for some time and came up with another theory. We know that there were Bohrok Nests below Metru Nui, since the Onu-Matoran found some over the centuries. However, the Bohrok were meant to cleanse Mata Nui, not Metru Nui, so it doesn't make sense for them to be under that city.

Unless... well, unless there were tunnels extending out from the Metru Nui nests to the cave network linking the Metru Nui dome to Mata Nui (the Maze of Shadows), which was designed to allow the Bohrok to ascend to Mata Nui.

In other words, I'm saying that there were tunnels under the Silver Sea's bottom, initially meant for the Metru Nui Bohrok to pass through in order to reach Mata Nui. The Matoran never found them, but when the Visorak came, the Rahi, desperate to escape, did. When the Toa Nuva reawoke the Bohrok, they went in the other direction.

The problem with this theory is that, with the Bohrok awake, these tunnels should have been full of Bohrok as well. However, we can explain this by remembering that, in the course of the Matoran Universe's history, the Bohrok swarms were deployed several times, whenever Mata Nui landed to study a planet. However, the Metru Nui Matoran never noticed any Bohrok activity below Metru Nui. Consequently, I'd guess that the Metru Nui Bohrok might have served as backups and were not awakened unless necessary; the tunnels below the Silver Sea might therefore have still been free when the Rahi made their crossing.

[TERIDAX941]

A good explanation Toa of Italy. My only note would be it appears in Destiny War, once Krakua woke up the Bohrok that were beneath Metru Nui, they immediately came to the surface of the island, and then headed towards Mata Nui. I would think that if there were tunnels under the city and the silver sea that they'd use those once awoken, but Vakama was pretty sure that if they woke the Bohrok then and there, they'd appear on the surface of Metru Nui and help against the Rahkshi invaders.

 

But then, not all the Bohrok can swim either (the only one confirmed to is the Gahlok) so then it lead us to believe that there has to be a way from the shore of Metru Nui to the Great Barrier that one can easily find (if you're a Rahi or Bohrok) and use to travel to Mata Nui.