Night And Day

[Nuile the Paracosmic Tulpa]

"Did anyone see him?""Yes, Toa--ah--what did you say your name was?""Sunaj.""Well, Toa Sunaj, one Matoran saw Pillager murder one of our villagers.""Did he get a good look?""He says the image of his face in the torchlight will be burned forever in his memory.""Was he hurt?""No. Only terribly frightened.""May I speak with him?""If your intent is to find this villain and put a stop to his ransacking, we will be only too glad to do anything we can to aid you. The Matoran I mentioned is talking to the Turaga. I'll take you to him now."A witness at last! For months I had been tracking this outlaw, following his wake of destruction through village after village. He was known only as Pillager. His attacks always took place at night, and up until now, he had not been identified. But according to rumor he was a Toa with eyes that glowed as bright a red as his flames. Not only was he giving Toa a bad name, but he was given Fire a bad name. My element. And his first attack had been upon the village I protected. This quest for justice was personal.I had begun to lose hope that I would ever find him. But here at last, in this small, secluded Koro, pitifully ravaged, he had been seen. Now, with luck, I would be getting somewhere.The Captain of the Guard led me to a large structure at the center of the village. He was an Onu-Matoran himself, but inside he introduced me to a Turaga of Water and a wide-eyed Le-Matoran."Ah, a Toa!" said the Turaga. "Welcome! It is great fortune that you have arrived here. We are in dire need of your----""Y-you!" the Le-Matoran interrupted. His voice was a gasp, hardly more than a whisper."Me?" I stared at the Le-Matoran. "Have we met?""He's the one! He's the pillager who attacked us last night!"The Turaga took a step back. "Are you certain?""I'll never forget the Miru I saw last night! I can't explain his eyes--b-but that's him, I'm sure of it!""Raise the alarm," the Turaga ordered the captain calmly. As he rushed out of the chamber, she glared defiantly at me. "I don't know what you want, Toa, or why you were foolish enough to return, but you will pay for what you have done.""I have obviously been misidentified," said I. "I don't know how this Matoran recognizes me, but it's clearly a mistake.""Indeed, Toa, it was a mistake to return here with the idea that you would not be recognized.""I mean no disprespect, but are you going to accept the word of this Matoran over mine? I assure you, I have never been to this village before."The Turaga ignored me. The Le-Matoran was cowering in a corner. I decided it was time to depart. But as soon as I set foot outside I found myself surrounded by an approaching fleet of Matoran of varying elements. They brandished spears, swords, maces, bludgeons, disks and all manner of weaponry."I'm not going to fight you, villagers. I defend Matoran. I don't harm them.""You didn't seem to have any scruples about that last night!" And there was a ripple of shouted agreements among the guards."Don't move, or you'll regret it, Toa," snarled one Ce-Matoran."No," said the Captain of the Guard gravely, "he's done enough to regret. He's too dangerous to be allowed to live."My mind raced. I was outnumbered, but the Matoran were greatly outclassed. I could probably escape . . . but not without hurting them."Ready!" ordered the Onu-Matoran. "Aim!""Sorry, but I'm not going to stand by and allow such impudence, whatever your qualms."I looked around. Who had said that? But there any Matoran, save the guards, had fled indoors. I could see nobody who might have spoken. Then I saw red.The captain opened his mouth to give the final order, but before the words escaped him, my foot swung out, catching him under the chin. He went sprawling. There were several cries from other guards of "Fire!" as a wall of that precisely sprang up round me. Activating my mask I rose into the air to dodge the volley of javelins and arrows. I hovered over the Matoran's heads and landed on the other side of the ring they formed.And yet, I had not done any of that. I could not move. My body was moving for me.Further bombardment and a stampede of little feet pursued me as I sprinted away. An arrow imbedded itself in my shoulder and I winced as I ducked down a side street.I stopped in my tracks. On either side ran an ubroken wall of houses, and at the end of the street, a wall of Matoran stood before me, spears poised, bowstrings taut."Which way now, Toa?"Yeah, which way now? I asked my body. You seem to be in control now. You come up with a brilliant plan. Which way do we go?And then I heard the voice again. But I realized I was not hearing it--not, at least, externally. Straight through.No--no, you can't! But he did.He hurled--I hurled--two simultaneous blasts of flames in either direction. Each group of Matoran sprang apart to avoid the blaze. Though a clear path now lay ahead of us, and the edge of the village was in sight, it was to the rear we ran.Where are you going?These Matoran need to be taught a lesson.No! The battle's over!But the depredation has only just begun!Seeing our approach one guard fired an arrow, but we caught it in one hand and plunged it into the dirt. We snapped a hurled javelin like a twig and kicked a bludgeon out of an attacker's hand.We raised one hand to our shoulder and extracted the arrow. Towering over the Matoran sprawled at our feet, he raised the arrow above our head, the glinting tip angled downward. I heard my voice, with a harshness and malice that shocked me, growl, "You scratch my back . . . I scratch yours."I felt my sinews prepare for the lunge.No! I won't allow this!Every muscle in my body strained, shaking to protest the conflict. At the same time I was trying to bring my arms down and up, at the same time trying to stand firm and walk away. It felt as if I was trying to tear my body in two. My head shrilled with the pain. At last I unclasped my fingers, one by one, releasing the arrow, which fell to glance harmlessly off the Matoran's body.You--won't--use--me--for--this!The guard stared in some confusion as I lurched awkwardly away. But the wall of Matoran ahead had regrouped and were now waiting with weapons at the ready.Now we were of a like mind, as it were. Our conflict ended, dodging the barrage was effortless. In perfect synchronism we ducked and rolled and swerved. Scaling the façade of one of the side buildings was a simple matter of leaping from the ground to the first windowsill to the archway to the second sill and to the eaves and then up onto the roof.We crossed the housetops to the edge of the village and Levitated safely to the ground. And we ran. Though the Matoran were still in pursuit, together we ran with the speed of two Toa, leaving the guards and the village far behind. And we ran into the hills until, panting only slightly, we came to a rest beside a lazily gurgling brook.And there at last it crashed down upon me with all its weight. My knees buckled and I collapsed beside the brook, face-to-face with the red eyes mirrored in its undulating surface. Transfixed, I whispered only, "Hello, Pillager. . . ."

~ THE END ~

Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts on any or all stories, whether you liked them or not. Instructive compliments, constructive criticism; it's all welcome here!

From the desk of Nuile: Lunatic Wordsmith

[Noble Tehurye]

Wow! This is terrific!Once again, an enjoyable tale from a gifted author. The story held me in suspense the whole time, and was very intriguing throughout.This storyline sounds very reminiscent of an RPG or an epic. It pleads for a continuation, I would highly recommend crafting this work into the prelude for an Epic!Wonderful work.................... yet again.................

[Toa Sonis]

An interesting exploration of inner conflict...or perhaps something else taking over him? I couldn't tell, but either way makes for a brilliant plot.The only criticism I have follows:

There were several cries from other guards of "Fire!" as a wall of that precisely sprang up round me.

I suggest changing "that precisely" to "precisely that"; it just flows better.