The Iron Toa

2010. It was the end (besides the following serials), and the Battle of Bara Magna would have been awesome in a movie. The Legend Reborn led up to it, but had no movie sequel. If they had put more effort into showing their amazing ending, it would not have felt so rushed.

Some of my characters' names are just random combinations, others are based on real words. A few are direct translations (according to Google) from other languages. I've noticed that generally (but not always) characters that have a major role in my story have names with meaningless backgrounds, while others have names coming from real words. For example I don't think I had anything in mind when I named Morok, other than that it had the same ending as Siok. But when I named two minor (at the time) characters from the same village, which was in the jungle, I named them Dykatte and Lidon, which is a pun on dicotyledon.That's probably because I need a little help coming up with names for minor characters on the spot. When this isn't the case, it's probably because the minor characters have become more important, or I needed a quick name for a major character, or I thought it sounded cool and/or obscure enough even though it actually means something. For example I named a Toa of Ice Zima, which means Winter in Slavic languages, and he's at least moderately important in the story. I neglected to name him for a while, came up with something quick, and thought it suited him well enough.

Yes. But I'd rather not give any of it away, so I'll leave it without the descriptions.

End of YrentaChapter Thirteen==Lands West of Yrenta, Northern Continent, Matoran Universe==~536 AGC~ The Toa had made it. That was, they were beyond where the borders of Yrenta had ever been. That did not, however, mean they were safe. They stumbled upon a Visorak patrol, and though they eliminated all of the bug soldiers, this proved that the Makuta forces had a presence this far west. They turned more towards the south, heading in the direction of the region just west of the southwestern hills they had failed to cross. The Mask of Speed only affected the one wearing it, but Vilam was able to put it to good use by scouting ahead for the team. Paqyar did not like letting her go ahead alone, but she was doing fine, reporting the position of enemies ahead so the Toa could change their course. Still, all three of them agreed Paqyar had the best vision, and so he persuaded her to let him use the mask for a time.The land he scouted was not particularly fertile, but it was less barren than the hills at the southern border. The Toa meandered slightly east and mostly west to avoid Visorak and soldiers. The Brotherhood patrols Paqyar saw could not catch him when he had his Mask of Speed activated, and he made sure he was never followed as he returned to his friends. That evening, Paqyar saw the glimmer of water on the horizon. He went to investigate and found a small Ga-Matoran village beside a pond. He stayed far enough away to avoid the Matoran from noticing him, then went to tell his friends what he had seen. The Toa debated whether to stop at the village. It was getting late, and their only shelter was what they carried with them. Also, any information the Ga-Matoran could give would be useful. On the other hand, they still wanted to keep their existence as secret as they could, and did not wish to put the Matoran in danger by taking refuge in their homes.In the end, they decided to have one of them go ahead and speak to the Matoran alone. Imlen was chosen, as he was technically their leader, though he did not always act like it. He was also the most charismatic of them, which was a major reason he had been leader of that band of Matoran rebels and later Toa in the first place. Paqyar gave Imlen the mask of speed, and the two of them promised Vilam they would give it back when Imlen was done with it. Paqyar indicated the direction as Imlen put on the mask, and the Toa of Plasma ran off. The other two Toa waited, taking turns standing guard while the other sat and rested. Imlen soon came to the edge of the village and stopped. Several Matoran saw him, and ran off to gather the others. They all looked very excited, but Imlen could not tell if they were excited in a good way or a bad way. He continued towards the village center, and a small crowd that seemed to be the village's entire population formed in front of him. The one Matoran in the front and center spoke.“Toa of Plasma,” she greeted him with a miniscule bow. “Come inside, quickly, before they see you.”“I'm sorry if my presence puts you in danger,” he said he was led into the one hut in the village big enough for him to stand up in.“We're already in enough danger,” said the Matoran once they were inside. “We're lucky to be allowed to live here, but once in a while the Brotherhood recruits us for labor, and less of us return each time. And they also help themselves to the pond, letting their beasts of war pollute it. That's probably why they let us stay – so we can clean the water for next time they arrive. We're more fortunate than most others around, but I'm happy to see a sign of coming change.”“I'm not sure how I can help,” said Imlen. “I cannot fight an army, and showing resistance would just get you all enslaved or killed.”“Perhaps, but perhaps if we cause them enough trouble they will decide it's not worth it and leave the others alone,” said the Ga-Matoran.“Or torment them in retribution after slaughtering you,” argued Imlen. “Something must be done, but... but it's not time for Matoran to stand up yet. In fact, I need to keep a low profile. Actually... I have two friends waiting for me.”“Well, go get them,” said the Matoran. “I would like to speak with all of you at once. But make sure you are not seen!”Imlen left and ran back to his friends. He gave the Mask of Speed back to Vilam, and she put it away. Without the Kanohi Kakama the trek back took two hours, and it was late at night when the three of them arrived. To their relief, none of them had seen any Makuta forces on the way. Still, they quickly scurried into the large hut and shut the flap door behind them when they arrived. The Ga-Matoran Imlen had spoken to, who seemed to be the village leader, was waiting for them.“Greetings Toa,” she said, standing up as they entered. “Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Ikemisu, spokeswoman for the village council.”“I am Imlen, and this is Vilam, and this is Paqyar,” Imlen introduced them. “You say there is a council, but there are so few of you here.”“The council is only three members, plus me,” she explained. “We choose new leaders every three years. And don't worry, I cannot make important decisions for the others, but I do have authority to grant sanctuary to strangers, at least for a short time.”“You are still taking a big risk by housing us,” said Vilam. “Even though we did not see any enemies around.”“Yes, and we really should get to the point,” said Imlen. “We are searching for a tribe of De-Matoran that disappeared from our homeland. Do you know of any in this area?”“I have heard of some, in fact,” said Ikemisu. “Now, none of us have ever met them, mind you, but once a Matoran trader, all too eager to tell tales of his travels, mentioned a hidden De-Matoran village to the west. At the time, we scolded him for revealing the secrets of others, but I could not help but be curious, and so I still remember after all these years.”“What did he say about it?” asked Paqyar.“Only that it was almost directly west and a little north of here, and that it was hidden,” she said, and chuckled softly. “We stopped him from saying any more. But don't worry, if you get close enough, the Matoran of Sonics will hear you, and welcome you if they will.”“Good point,” said Vilam. “Can you tell us anything about the terrain there, or any landmarks?”“I've never been there, so I can't tell you what the landmarks look like. But several kio in that direction the land grows more lush,” said Ikemisu. “I've heard there are ravines hidden among the forests there. Sounds like a good place to hide a village to me.”“It does,” said Imlen. “Now, we have been traveling all day, and I don't mean to trouble you...”“Say no more,” said Ikemisu. “You may rest here for the night, as long as you are careful to not lead enemies to us.”The Toa gratefully accepted. They unpacked their bedrolls on the hut floor and went to sleep. ----- Makuta Teskor listened to the report and dismissed the messenger. Zima had apprehended the enemy Toa, but had been interrupted by Dark Hunters in the attempt. The Toa of Ice and his Rahkshi companions had defeated the Dark Hunters, but failed to kill them all, and had allowed the survivors to escape with the unconscious Toa rebels. Technically, he had been unsuccessful in his mission, at least so far, but the Makuta would not punish him. Zima was too valuable to harm for one failure, and Teskor knew he already did his duties to the utmost of his abilities. Besides, Zima's quarry had been captured by the Dark Hunters instead. If the unfortunate Toa were not executed, they would probably be locked up in Kara-Naja. The Dark Hunters would perhaps ransom them, but that would take time, even if the pathetic villagers were able to scrounge up enough money to satisfy the Hunters. Regardless, the Toa had been forced to run, and in doing so had run right into the arms of another enemy. Teskor decided he had been worried for nothing. These Toa were irrelevant.Still, if there were Toa prisoners at Kara-Naja – prisoners that could escape, or be released – that was one more reason to retake the fortress. Better reasons included that Brotherhood forces were divided with Dark Hunters controlling that area, and that by retaking it, the Makuta could turn the tables and make things even harder for the small force of Dark Hunters. A better reason still was the rumor that a leader among the Dark Hunters, one called Bulwark, had taken the fort as his base of operations. That he, a leader of thugs with delusions of military discipline, would set up a permanent base in Makuta property indicated his boldness. The fact that in the weeks since, Teskor's forces had failed to recapture the fortress indicated his skill and that of his subordinates. Teskor allowed himself to feel impressed. Mere centuries ago, he would never have admitted that to himself, but now he did not mind at all when an opponent gave him such a feeling. He found it made defeating them much more satisfying in the end.He would need help, however. He expected if he kept throwing his forces against the fortress, eventually the Dark Hunters would be killed one by one. But that would be a waste, and if losing a fortress to the Dark Hunters had not been noticed enough to damage his reputation among his brothers, wasting an army to retake it surely would be. Instead, he saw the opportunity to turn it into a glorious victory. He would need to borrow the aid of his fellow Makuta, but he was confident that, if he played carefully, he could take most of the credit. That credit would be worth a lot when it was Zima who led the charge and defeated Bulwark personally. A Toa achieving such a victory for the Brotherhood would make for very good publicity, Teskor decided as he teleported to Destral. ----- The next morning the Toa got up and prepared to leave immediately. They thanked Ikemisu and the other Ga-Matoran for their hospitality, and she reminded them to be wary of falling in ravines in the location they planned to search. She told them that area was known to be dangerous to travelers, because of both the terrain and wildlife. The Toa thanked her once again for the advice, and they left. In the morning daylight, they could see for kio in all directions, and saw nobody else, except the Matoran of the pond village they were leaving behind. By early afternoon, they could see a large forest on the horizon, or perhaps several small forests, each less than a kio apart. They headed for the northern half of the forests as Ikemisu had advised, and a few hours later they were walking under the treetops. The Toa breathed the fresh air deeply. They could not tell exactly how they could sense it, but this land felt refreshingly free of corruption.That did not mean it was free of danger, however. After walking through the woods for almost two hours, they were attacked by a troop of some sort of Rahi apes. As the Rahi descended upon them from the trees, Vilam shocked them in an attempt to convince the beasts to leave them alone, but still the Rahi attacked. Some remained in the branches to hurl fruit, while the rest attempted to maul the Toa. Vilam and Imlen fended them off in melee combat, and Paqyar decided this would be a good opportunity for target practice. He took out his bow. A well-aimed blunt arrow would knock them out of the trees. These Rahi were too tough to be injured by such a fall, but it could knock them out, or at least daze them. Paqyar's first shot missed, but his second hit. The arrow bounced off the ape's armor uselessly and fell to the ground.Paqyar glanced over to where the arrow had landed, wondering if he could reuse it, and he felt a strange sensation coming from his mask. He concentrated, and the arrow flew off the ground and into his outstretched hand. He tried again, drawing the arrow farther back this time. This time it hit hard enough to fragment on impact and dented the Rahi's armor, causing it to tumble out of the tree. Paqyar tried to use his mask to retrieve the pieces of the arrow, and found he was only able to retrieve one piece. He tried to pull the other fragments to him, but that did not work. Next he tried it with a rock, knocking another ape down with a quick, hard throw. He focused on the stone when it hit the ground and found he was able to retrieve it telekinetically as well. He launched a few more volleys of arrows, then decided to finish the easy way. At his command, the tree branches moved, throwing the remaining Rahi apes off of them.“I figured this mask out, Vilam,” Paqyar announced when the battle was over. “It allows the user to retrieve projectiles telekinetically, but only ones you've already launched, and only one at a time. You don't use projectiles, so that must be why you never learned how to use it.”“That would explain it,” said Vilam.“It does make sense. Honestly, I expected you to learn how to use the masks first, as you're the smartest of us,” Paqyar said, and Vilam laughed modestly. “Say, do you mind if I keep it? You can use keep the Mask of Fusion in exchange, of course.”“Certainly. My old mask won't be much use to me, but it sounds perfect for you,” said Vilam.The Toa continued their trek, leaving a troop of sore and unconscious apes behind. A little later, Paqyar barked a warning and held his arms in front of his companions. He pointed out where there was a sudden drop nearly hidden by overhanging vegetation. The Toa had found the first of the ravines Ikemisu had mentioned. They descended carefully, and found it was much more spacious at the bottom than the view from above indicated. Still, it was too small to hide a community of Matoran. They climbed out and searched the surrounding area, including another, larger ravine. This one was also devoid of Matoran presence. They searched the rest of the forest, climbing into and out of ravines and glens, until it was late at night, but decided to not stop yet. They were not yet tired enough to want to stop, and they had the feeling the Matoran they were looking for were not far.But then they were forced to rely on their lightstones for illumination, which attracted predators and Rahi that were annoyed by the light. After fighting off a few different kinds of beasts, they decided it was a good time to stop. None of them wanted to sleep, but during their lives as Matoran renegades, they had trained themselves to sleep whenever the time for it came. In a life on the run, one often could not choose when it was time to rest and when it was time to act. They found a small area that had no signs of dangerous Rahi inhabiting it, and took shelter between the roots of a large tree. As usual, they took turns guarding the other two as they slept.There were undisturbed the whole time. In fact, each of them noticed that it was eerily silent. No birds or insects or any other Rahi made a sound throughout the night. The Toa discussed that fact in the morning and concluded that they were indeed close. De-Matoran always chose to live in quiet places, because of their sensitive hearing. The Matoran of Sonics living in Yrenta had chosen to dwell in an open plain so they could see and hear any approaching threats. The bottom of a narrow valley would be a very different place to live, but times were different now. The Toa had never seen a place such as this, so verdant and yet scarred with numerous chasms that did not appear to be the work of erosion. Vilam and Paqyar were just discussing how oddly broken the ground was when the ground gave way under Imlen and he fell.Review

I thought those descriptions counted since they can give some of the story away. If you don't want me using the tags for that, I'll just remove the descriptions.

That is so cool. I noticed the island over Mata Nui's leg in the concept art, maybe they were recycling that concept for Bara Magna's Knee Island? And seeing what would become Voya Nui, Mahri Nui, and Karda Nui (though they were later moved to be on top of each other), including the leak flooding the core... that was awesome.

End of YrentaChapter Twelve==Yrenta Region, Northern Continent, Matoran Universe==~536 AGC~ Imlen awoke as he bounced roughly. He found he was being carried over someone's shoulder, and his hands were tied. Whoever was carrying him seemed to be a rather large being. Imlen's first instinct was to struggle, but he forced himself to go limp and wait. His captors were speaking among themselves.“What do you mean, we're not taking them back to base with us?” the being carrying Imlen was saying.“I mean we're going to get them to a safe place and let them go,” said a voice that seemed familiar to Imlen somehow.“Are you mad?” said the first being. “Letting Toa roam free? If he found out, Bulwark would...”Imlen suppressed the urge to shudder. He had heard whispers of that name. Allegedly, Bulwark was the Dark Hunter in charge of operations against the Makuta in the area. As his code name implied, he was said to be like a walking one-being fortress. Rumors claimed Bulwark was three bio tall and clad in red armor, which he may have painted to attract attention to himself. Imlen did not know if the massacre at Kara-Naja had been at his direct order, but would not be surprised if that was the case. Either way, he was not eager to meet him.“They'll do more damage to our enemies than to us,” insisted the familiar voice.“Maybe at first,” said the other.“Do you think it would be wiser to bring them alive into the center of our operations? They are beaten and bound for now, but Toa are never easy to keep as prisoners. In fact, the one you are carrying is awake right now,” the second being pointed out, and Imlen caught his breath.“Bulwark has the highest authority here,” said the Dark Hunter carrying Imlen, apparently not caring that the Toa of Plasma was awake. “Something like Toa running around in the middle of our war is something he needs to make a judgment on personally.”“Yet I outrank you. You're not even really an operative, which is why you don't have a code name, Tehen. You're just a mercenary. A grunt. Cannon-fodder. And I say we will let them go, once we get out of Makuta territory. That is my order, and I will accept responsibility for it.”“Fine,” growled Tehen. “When Bulwark executes you for your blunder, maybe I'll get your job. Then we'll see who's the grunt. Of course, it won't be you either, because you'll be dead.”“I think he'll understand,” said the other Dark Hunter, sighing at Tehen's poor attempt at humor. “Do you have any complaints, Boramfi?”There was silence. Imlen risked looking around, and saw the Dark Hunter leader carrying Paqyar. He realized why that Hunter had sounded familiar. It was the Vortixx they had encountered earlier. The one that must have been Boramfi was carrying Vilam. He stared ahead silently, ignoring the Vortixx.“Boramfi, answer me when I address you,” said the Vortixx.“You're the boss, can't argue with that,” said Boramfi finally. “However, I just came up with a third option.”Imlen heard a sudden whoosh and saw a white blur. Boramfi was running back the way they had come with supernatural speed. The other two Hunters shouted and attacked him, throwing knives and launching Kanoka, but he was already far out of range. In seconds, he was kio away. Imlen realized at once what had happened. Boramfi had betrayed his companions in hopes of getting a reward from the Brotherhood for turning Vilam in. It was bold to betray the Dark Hunters only to depend on the generosity – and the mercy – of the Makuta, but Imlen could admit that if the deserter was rewarded well, it would encourage others to do the same. That could easily solve the Brotherhood's Toa problem. Of course, he had no intention of allowing the double-crossing mercenary to deliver Vilam. He kicked Tehen to get his attention and spoke up.“If you're planning to let us go, now's a good time,” he said.“To save your friend?” said the Vortixx, and he laughed bitterly. “Too late for that, even if you have a Mask of Speed of your own.”“I need to try,” said Imlen firmly.“Alright,” sighed the Vortixx. “I was hoping you'd do more damage to the Brotherhood instead of just running off to die, but at least if you do die, Tehen will stop bothering me about it.”“How about you come along?” offered Imlen. He wasn't eager to work with these thugs, but he would need all the help he could get.“No thanks. You may have noticed all but three of us were killed trying to take out Zima,” said the Vortixx as he woke Paqyar and set him down. “I don't feel like rushing back there. Besides, there's a good chance the Brotherhood's already executed your Toa of Lightning on the spot.”“What?” mumbled Paqyar sleepily. “Where – executed Vilam? What's going on?”“The Dark Hunters... saved us,” said Imlen, hesitating to admit the strange fact.Tehen threw him to the ground roughly, and Imlen attempted to melt through his bonds. The linked cords were somehow resistant to his power, but Tehen sliced them apart for him. The Vortixx did the same for Paqyar.“But one of the mercs decided he'd get paid better for turning Vilam in to the Makuta,” continued Imlen as he yanked Paqyar over for emphasis. “These two curs won't help, so it's up to us.”“You're throwing your lives away,” called the Vortixx even as Imlen and Paqyar jogged away after Boramfi. “She's probably already dead.”“Don't pretend to care about our lives,” replied Imlen, and his eyes burned fiercely. “But if she's dead, then this will be for revenge. On the Brotherhood, and especially on your 'friend'.” ----- Vilam woke up and saw the ground moving in a blur under her. Her wrists were tied together and someone was carrying her over her shoulder. She looked and saw it was a white and black-armored being with a crested head. He was bringing her somewhere quickly, and she wanted some answers before they arrived. She decided a quick shock would get the point across quickly enough. She directed her hands at her captor and released a blast of lightning, but her bonds absorbed the electricity harmlessly. She tried releasing it through the whole of her body, to the same effect. She yelled in her abductor's ear and kicked and struggled, but as she expected that did not even slow whomever was carrying her.“No use struggling, Toa,” he said. “In a few seconds you'll be with the Brotherhood.”It was foolish of him to declare that. Vilam had suspected from the moment she had awoken that she was going somewhere she did not want to be, and he had just confirmed it. This time instead of pounding on his armor and squirming uselessly, she kicked hard at his face, throwing her momentum behind the blow. His mask went flying off, and immediately they began to slow to a normal running place. Her captor growled and threw her down, and she twisted and jumped to her feet. The white-armored being probably regretted not tying her ankles too. But it looked like he was planning for it to not matter, as he leveled a projectile launcher of some sort at Vilam. She dodged a colored sphere that hit the ground behind her and turned into a splash of liquid. He fired again and again Vilam dodged. He snarled and tackled her, and she did her best to get away with her hands still tied. Even without a Kanohi, her opponent was still strong, but she managed to twist out from underneath him before he could harm her.“I'm sure they'd rather have me bring you in alive,” he said as he aimed his launcher and took out a sword. “But they'd probably kill you anyway, and I think bringing your corpse in as proof of my deed will be good enough for them.”“You're not a Brotherhood servant,” she deduced. “What makes you think they won't lock up or execute you too?”The crested being didn't answer, but all Vilam wanted was to distract him. It worked, and as he hesitated for a fraction of a second, Vilam looked around for something to help her. Her gaze fell upon his Mask of Speed, which had fallen to the ground about five bio away. She ran towards it, dodging the salvo of spheres he fired in her direction. She figured that she could move her hands enough to put it on. But she had not learned to use Masks of Power yet. She allowed that doubt to slow her for just too long, and one of the spheres struck her. Its shell faded as it impacted, splashing an orange liquid over her. Instantly she felt weak, as if her physical strength had been drained. Vilam endeavored to keep running, and a thought occurred to her. She wondered if she had not learned to use her Kanohi simply because it was only useful in a situation she had not yet been in. That idea gave her strength, and she made it to the mask.Just then she heard the approach of flying Rahkshi. Quickly, she bent over and picked it up, then held it up to her face and used it to push her original mask off. She held onto that mask and willed the Mask of Speed to activate. For a moment, nothing happened, and she narrowly dodged another sphere of liquid. She heard the Rahkshi land next to her abductor, and just then she felt the power of the mask surge through her. She ran faster than she ever had before, speeding away from the one who had captured her and leaving him at the mercy of the Rahkshi. She did not expect them to show him any, as he had nothing to offer them and had no other excuse for being in Brotherhood territory. But that was his problem. He should have thought of that before trying to keep a Toa prisoner. He had not even done a good job of securing her, and Vilam was curious about that. She could not guess why, but was grateful for it. Suddenly she paused. Everything was a blur to her as she ran, but she thought she had seen a green and an orange blur on the horizon. Then she saw she was correct, as she spotted Paqyar and Imlen waving to her.“Vilam! You're alive,” said Paqyar happily, helping her free her hands and giving her an affectionate fist-bump.“Fortunately, I am,” said Vilam, laughing lightly with relief. “Who was that guy, and how did you get here?”“The surviving Dark Hunters from that battle with the Rahkshi and the Toa of Ice captured us. One of them decided he'd get a better deal for delivering you to the Makuta, and he bolted. Hey, is that his mask? Looks like his method of speedy delivery backfired on him.”“Right, and congratulations on figuring out the mask,” said Paqyar.“Thanks, I still don't know how I did it though. And I can't get this one to work,” she said, holding up her original mask.“How about I try wearing it for a while?” offered Paqyar. “Maybe I'll find out what it's for.”“Sure, no problem,” said Vilam, handing over the mask. “But how did you escape the other Dark Hunters?”“That's the weird part...” began Imlen as Paqyar gave Vilam his Mask of Fusion. “They let us go.”“Let you go?” repeated Vilam incredulously.“That's right,” said Paqyar. “And one of them was that Vortixx we met at Kara-Naja.”“Strange. There's more to him than he reveals, and I'm not talking about concealed weaponry,” said Vilam.“I know what you mean,” said Imlen. “But what we need to figure out now is: where are we?”The Toa looked around and got their bearings. They found they were in former Matoran of Plasma territory at the western end of the mountains, where the ridge turned into a series of hills. In fact, they were not far from Kara-Naja and Yotvis's Home, where they had started their fateful trek south a couple of weeks ago. The Dark Hunters had been taking them away from Makuta territory, which meant that the Hunters must have still occupied the fortress, or completely razed it. In any case, the Brotherhood did not have a presence in this land, but the Dark Hunters likely did. Vilam did not expect the rest of them to be as helpful as the Vortixx. They considered heading back to the jungle, but decided to head southwest instead. Perhaps from the north they would make it into the land to the west, and find if Vibrak or the De-Matoran had gone that way. Vilam put on the Mask of Fusion and managed to stuff the Mask of Speed with her carried belongings. Then the Toa oriented themselves and traveled away from the hills and towards the border of Yrenta.There were hills at the border in the north too, but they were smaller and less desolate than the ones in the south. Their terrain was also more well-known, as the Ta-Matoran had lived beyond them in the northwest, near a volcano. The Matoran of Fire lived in isolation, but they had been a part of the greater community of Yrenta until about two and a half millennia ago. The Toa considered visiting them, and decided that maybe they would, depending on how far south they had to go to get away from the Dark Hunters. The Dark Hunter force was much smaller than the Brotherhood's, and the Toa saw none of them as they traveled. But they knew the Hunters were keeping this land free of the Makuta's minions. Vilam wondered if there was any particular reason the Dark Hunters were here, besides attacking their enemy the Brotherhood of Makuta. Rumors she had heard said they wanted to punish the Makuta for some transgression, and it was possible the Matoran of Yrenta had just been unlucky enough to have their homeland chosen as a battleground.She could not see what the Makuta wanted with this land either. The Makuta of the region – Teskor, his name was, she remembered – had been around for a while, but she did not know why. There were many Matoran laborers for the taking, she supposed. The Northern Continent was the most populated island she could think of, though it was not as technologically developed as Xia or Metru Nui. The island capital of the universe had been cut off from the rest of the world since the year of the Great Cataclysm, making a bad era even worse. But Yrenta had declined technologically over thousands of years, and so the lack of imports from Metru Nui were no great loss. And this made Vilam wonder. She did not know what the Makuta were planning, but wondered why the Brotherhood did not simply amass their forces and conquer Xia, Nynrah, and other vital locations. With exclusive access to Xian and Nynrah technology, consequent conquest of the universe would be that much easier for them.Vilam realized why the Brotherhood had not done so millennia ago. It was benevolence, or more likely, the pretense of it. They had long been considered loyal servants of Mata Nui. She was not sure how much of that had been true, but now the Makuta had openly expressed their malice and ambition. Vilam and her friends had not thought of it much, but she realized that their quest to free their home was a conflict with a universe-spanning organization, and before or after that quest was complete, they would be drawn into a larger conflict against it for the fate of that universe.Review

Thanks, Toa Sonis. The scene with the Rahkshi was actually the seed of it all, and I came up with other jokes on top of it. I pretty much just wrote like it was an epic, but much shorter and full of silliness. I hope that post isn't too big. But the whole story's just that one post, so I guess it's probably no longer than average in the end.

End of YrentaChapter Eleven==Yrenta Region, Northern Continent, Matoran Universe==~536 AGC~ The cavern was half-collapsed, and the rest of it had various slabs of stone and piles of earth scattered throughout it. To the surprise of the Toa, one stone lay near a large carcass that belonged to a giant being they did not recognize. The Toa approached and found the body was merely an empty suit of armor. Before they could ponder that for long, they gasped, for a smaller body was nearby, pinned under a larger rock. It was a dead Toa, and as they inspected the corpse, they identified it as the remains of their lost Toa Lidon.“So, this is what happened,” said Imlen. “During the confrontation, this titan and Toa Lidon perished in the quake. But what happened to Vibrak and Spiileus?”“Let's find out,” said Vilam. “We're depending on you and your mask for that, Imlen.”Out of curiosity, Imlen first scanned the enormous suit of armor. As he concentrated on it, his consciousness was transported into an inferno. What he saw was a realm of fire and lava, but strange creatures thrived in it, perfectly comfortable in the heat. Of course, Imlen was not actually there, so he could not be harmed, but the shock of it was enough to cause him to lose his grip on the vision and return to the present.“Did you see where this came from?” asked Paqyar, indicating the hollow colossus.“I... I think so,” said Imlen. “I've never seen anything like it. A place of fire and lava, where it seemed nothing could survive, not even any of the lava-dwelling creatures I know of. And yet there was life thriving there.”“I've never heard of such a place,” said Vilam.“Nor have I,” said Paqyar. “But let's find out what happened to the Toa.”Imlen attempted for hours to revisit that fateful day while the others searched for clues. Paqyar and Vilam had no success, as any traces the previous Toa had left had been wiped out by the Cataclysm or the lava, or other unknown factors. Finally, as Imlen activated his mask while touching a fallen stone, he saw the cavern floor turn into molten lava. The fire giant lay on the ground, flames gushing from a wound in its head. Soon it would leave nothing but its dead armor. The sight of Lidon being crushed to death next jarred Imlen, and he maintained his focus just long enough to see the remaining Toa crawl away into a side tunnel, which was promptly sealed by the collapse. Snapping back to the present, he told his friends what he had seen. Immediately, they decided to follow. Imlen called upon his power to create a burst of plasma hot enough to melt a path through the collapsed half of the cavern, towards the tunnel he had seen. After waiting for the tunnel he had formed to cool, he led his team into it. Holding their lightstones in front of them as they crawled, the Toa soon found the tunnel Vibrak and Spiileus had escaped into.“This is fascinating,” said Paqyar. “The damage in this tunnel does not seem to be as bad, they may have even made it!”“Something still happened to them, or they would have returned to us,” pointed out Vilam.Vilam was soon proven correct. After they had crawled through the tunnel for a short distance, it became large enough to stand up in. Not far from that point, the Toa found a small chamber branching off from the tunnel. Peering inside, they saw another dead body, one that seemed strangely familiar despite them not recognizing it immediately. The Toa entered the chamber, and examined the corpse. It was a small, hunched figure in black and gray armor, but clearly not a cave goblin. It seemed to have been hastily buried, and mostly uncovered somehow, perhaps by a tremor. The Toa lifted it and found themselves staring into dark, dead eyes through the holes of the corpse's mask. It was a Turaga. Vilam found a small stone with letters carved into it behind the body, and picked it up.“'Spiileus, a more selfless hero than I could ever hope to be. – Vibrak'” she read aloud.“Spiileus became a Turaga, then died?” said Imlen quizzically.“That's what it looks like,” said Paqyar. “But you're the one who can look into the past. How about you find out?”Imlen agreed. He attempted to do just that. He tried many times and still failed to find out what had happened, but he was determined to keep trying until he had the answer. If Vibrak had not died in the cavern with Lidon and the giant, and had not died here with Spiileus, could he still be alive? And had Vibrak been referring to any specific event when he called his brother a more selfless hero than him? Imlen felt he had to know the answers, even if it took him days of scanning the chamber's past. However, he had not gotten even an hour to do so when sounds echoed outside the chamber. His breath caught in his throat. He and the others were hearing footsteps. He quickly looked around the room. There was nowhere to hide.“Run,” he whispered.He and the others dashed out of the chamber. Just as they did, energy bolts shot towards them from both directions of the tunnel. They pulled back into the chamber entrance and glanced from side to side. There were Rahkshi, two on each side. Imlen cursed in his mind as he remembered the Brotherhood soldiers they had tied up. He had forgotten about them, and that had been days ago. But even if those had not reported the Toa upon being freed, it was only a matter of time until the Makuta started to search every corner of Yrenta for them. From their defensive position on the threshold, the three Toa retaliated at the Rahkshi. But the machines expertly dodged or endured all of their attacks, and were now running towards them. In a few seconds, they would be at the chamber.“Paqyar!” said Imlen as the Toa retreated into the chamber. “Can you use your mask – help us merge?”“I'll try,” said Paqyar just as the four Rahkshi entered.Paqyar overcame his panic and concentrated. His green Mask of Fusion glowed, facilitating the amalgamation of the Toa into Samruna. The Kaita had to crouch to fit in the chamber. As he tried awkwardly to position himself, the Rahkshi pounded him with attacks. He resisted and retaliated, but again the Rahkshi were also unaffected. Samruna decided he was outmatched, and it was time to escape. He half crawled, half lunged into the tunnel, knocking over one Rahkshi and forcing the rest to dodge. While they were distracted, he created a barrier of plants over the chamber entrance, then allowed himself to separate into the three Toa. The Toa paused for a moment, recovering from the ordeal of merging, then realized what was happening and ran. Imlen twisted to the side as he ran to melt the ground behind him. The Toa had only gotten ahead a few bio when the Rahkshi burst into the tunnel, went into flight mode, and hovered after the Toa over the molten ground.The Toa kept running, though the Rahkshi were gaining on them. Vilam called out to Imlen, and he looked ahead to see another cave-in blocking the tunnel. He released a blast of plasma at it, and the Toa winced as they skipped over the resulting magma. They turned the corner and stopped to confront the Rahkshi as they followed around the bend. A moment later the Rahkshi came around, and the Toa released sudden elemental blasts. That slowed the Rahkshi a little, and the Toa turned and continued to flee. Now they felt hope mingled with dread, for they could see sunlight ahead, but more Rahkshi were coming through from that entrance. With a primal battle cry, the Toa charged, releasing an even more powerful elemental barrage at the Rahkshi ahead. The Rahkshi on both sides attacked back, and Paqyar failed to dodge one of their attacks. He was frozen in a stasis field. Imlen shouted and reached over to grab Paqyar's hand, but found his own hand stuck as it entered the field. Vilam tried zapping the stasis field to dissipate it. At first, the electricity stopped as it entered the field, then it seemed to move slightly.Vilam increased the intensity, and the field was overloaded trying to freeze the lightning. As it faded, Vilam was struck by an attack that left her moving in slow motion. Paqyar and Imlen grabbed her and dragged her behind them. The Toa almost reached the exit, but the Rahkshi in front of them barred their escape. The pursuing Rahkshi were directly behind, and so the Toa were surrounded. Bolts of energy whizzed past and hit the ground at their feet and the tunnel sides next to them. Lashing out in desperation, Imlen and Vilam created an electrified cloud of plasma as intense as they could manage. The Rahkshi jumped back, and continued to launch bolts at the Toa, but much less accurately this time as the Toa were concealed. Some of their attacks dissipated in the plasma. Imlen concentrated on maintaining the cloud as they ran forward, still dragging Vilam. They made it outside and let the plasma disperse. The Rahkshi emerged immediately after them.“Too bad they don't seem to be offering the chance to surrender,” said Imlen as they dodged and parried attacks. “At least then we'd have time to come up with a plan.”“How can get rid of this slowness effect?” said Vilam slowly.“I think it'll wear off... eventually,” said Imlen.“That's not soon enough,” said Paqyar. “Let's try merging again.”Again, Paqyar used his mask to guide them through the rapid process of merging into Samruna. The Toa Kaita stood to his full height and began to unleash his combined elemental powers on the assembled Rahkshi. But he was about to learn that Rahkshi knew that trick, too. The mechanical creatures stood together, and in a flash of light six of the seven combined into two Rahkshi Kaita. One of the Rahkshi Kaita leveled its weapon at Samruna, and he was pressed against the ground by overwhelming artificial gravity. The other Rahkshi fusion pointed its weapon at the sky, and a thunderstorm formed on the mountainside. The remaining lone Rahkshi fired twin laser beams from its eyes, searing a hole in Samruna's armor. The Toa Kaita struggled against the gravity, and deflected the Rahkshi of Laser Vision's next attack. The first Rahkshi Kaita blasted him with a sonic wave. He endured it and retaliated with a hail of arrows that sprouted into grasping roots and crushing vines.The Rahkshi of Laser Vision took to the air to avoid the attack, and the second Rahkshi Kaita burned the plants away with blasts of plasma. Samruna stretched out with Imlen's power and took control of the Rahkshi's plasma, turning it back on the source. The Rahkshi Kaita shook with annoyance, and the two of them pounced. Samruna fended off their brutal assault of physical blows and supernatural powers, and countered with his own. This continued for a short while, but not long. Merging into a Kaita had not changed the fact that the Toa were hopelessly outmatched. The Kaita with the gravity powers seized an opening in Samruna's defense to send the him high into the air, then reversed its power. Samruna bellowed as he hit the ground hard enough to crack it. Samruna's will to stay conscious and whole was intense, but perhaps it would have not been enough were it not for the Mask of Fusion whose power was one part of the triple-use Kanohi he wore.He knew he had to escape. Getting to his feet slowly and unsteadily, he unleashed as powerful a blast of lightning as he could muster, and prepared to bound out of range and flee. But he was stopped by the arrival of more enemies. Three more Rahkshi had arrived and merged upon seeing him, and this Kaita gripped Samruna in a magnetic force. As his armor began to buckle and crush him, Samruna released a surge of electrified plasma at the Kaita, and as he planned, it was attracted to the magnetic field in the direction of the Rahkshi. The magnetic force stopped as the plasma shocked the Rahkshi Kaita controlling it and almost melted its weapon. Now released, Samruna ran as the three Rahkshi Kaita and the Rahkshi of Laser Vision unleashed their combined powers. But the Rahkshi's Slow power struck again, rendering his great strides so sluggish he may as well have been shuffling away. He attempted to defend himself, but in a few mere seconds he fell before the terrible onslaught of ten different Rahkshi powers. He dissolved into three semiconscious Toa.The Toa rolled out of the way feebly as the Rahkshi continued to concentrate on them. Then something changed. The Rahkshi of Laser Vision and two of the Kaita stopped their attack and turned. With a surge of sudden hope, the Toa jumped up and got ready to run. Then they froze, metaphorically then literally. For as they got up they looked upon a Toa of Ice. He was clad in extravagant but soiled white and silver armor. He carried a spear, with which he cast a blast of cold that encased Imlen, Paqyar, and Vilam in a layer of ice. The attack had seemed almost effortless, but he did not have time to follow up on it. The Toa could not move, but they could just barely see what had him so occupied. A new side had entered the battle. Judging by their appearance, they were Dark Hunters. The Toa of Ice jumped into the air, somersaulting and landing in the midst of the regrouping Rahkshi, which remained fused into Kaita. Imlen, Paqyar, and Vilam now had the Rahkshi and the enemy Toa on one side and the Dark Hunters on the other.“We've got you this time, Zima,” said one of the Dark Hunters, addressing the Toa of Ice.“This is a waste,” said Zima monotonously. “But you are irreparably defective and must be scrapped. Know that your remains will be put to better uses.”“We're not going to end up as experiment material for your Makuta, you freak!” retorted another Hunter, and the battle between the factions began.Imlen and his friends were beaten and exhausted, but he knew that the arrival of the Dark Hunters had given them another chance. He stretched out with his elemental power and with it he encompassed the ice entrapping the three of them. In milliseconds, the ice melted, then boiled, then ionized. He gathered the water plasma around his staff and launched it at the face of the nearest Rahkshi Kaita. His companions supported him. Paqyar entangled the Rahkshi of Laser Vision long enough for a Dark Hunter to destroy it. Vilam shocked another Kaita, and as Dark Hunter attacks pounded it, it stumbled and reformed into three individual Rahkshi. One more of these was promptly taken out by the Dark Hunters, but the Hunters' victory was not assured. Zima, if that was the Toa of Ice's name, had managed to block or evade every attack. One Dark Hunter knocked an entire Rahkshi Kaita aside and charged him, but the Toa of Ice calmly leveled his spear and froze him in his tracks. Then his spearhead vibrated and released a sonic blast. The intense sound waves shattered the frozen warrior into pieces, ice, armor, and all.The other three Toa decided that they had lingered for too long. As they attempted to flee, Zima turned to them and released another blast of cold. Imlen countered, and for a moment there was a deadlock between heat and cold. Then Zima overpowered Imlen, and ice began to envelope the Toa. But they were ready this time, and broke free. The Rahkshi of Magnetism seized the Toa again, but was interrupted by a Dark Hunter while another three Dark Hunters engaged Zima. These Dark Hunters were skilled, but there were only seven of them, plus the eighth that had been killed by Zima. Soon another Hunter fell, drained to death by a Rahkshi of Hunger. By now a second Kaita had split apart and one of the Rahkshi forming it had been destroyed. As the battle raged, the Toa fled. Just as they thought they would make it, one of the Rahkshi noticed them and attacked unnoticed from behind. A wave of energy from its staff washed over the Toa, sending them into a deep sleep. It seemed they were not fated to escape.Review

Except the incognito Great Being is alive, and Tren Krom is dead, or at least seems to be. I guess it's possible that he survived being blown up and one of the chunks he left behind is crawling around carrying out his plots. But then I also think it was said that the GB was in a biomechanical body, and TK is completely biological.But even if most of us think it's Velika, Greg's already decided the answer and just not revealed it, right? I wish he could spare a little time to answer this and the other Big Questions, even if he has to wrap the serials up early.

End of YrentaChapter Ten==Yrenta Region, Northern Continent, Matoran Universe==~536 AGC~ “Don't feel too bad,” Turaga Morok consoled the Toa. “At least you're alive.”“That's what I told them,” said Imlen. “But the Makuta knows about us now. The Brotherhood warriors are searching the plains of De-Wahi for us. I hope they don't attack the jungle or the Ga-Matoran in an attempt to find us.”“I hoped your existence would stay secret for a while,” said Morok. “But that was an impractical thing to hope. There is much open space and untamed wilderness in these lands, but you cannot hide in the wild forever. You will need to confront your enemies, and aid your friends.”“I still don't think we should meet the Matoran. The Makuta probably hasn't told them, and we're not ready to protect them yet,” said Vilam.“I agree,” said Imlen. “We were on the run most of the time. We can't have the Matoran expect us to lead them to battle.”“True, none of us are ready for that yet,” said the Turaga. “But that time is coming. By your account, Paqyar learned to use his Kanohi, you formed a Kaita, and together the three of you defeated eight Rahkshi. Even a few at a time, that number is still impressive.”“The first three nearly defeated us, but the others put up much less of a fight,” said Imlen thoughtfully.“I'm not clear on the details, but I've heard that Kraata and/or Rahkshi have levels of maturity that determine their power and intelligence,” explained Morok. “And as living creatures, the Kraata that see more combat experience will generally be more formidable than other Kraata of the same strength. But do not underestimate any Rahkshi. I mean, do not underestimate anybody or anything. But don't let that make you too fearful to do what you must. Don't underestimate yourselves either. Now, you should rest. I also have something that might be of use to you.”“How did you get that?” asked Paqyar, indicating the healing and armor repair kit Morok showed them.“I persuaded some Brakas to steal it from the village,” said Morok. “I regret having to resort to theft, but I'm sure if our people knew what it was for they would have gladly donated this.”“We need it, but I still don't like this,” said Imlen tentatively. “It doesn't feel right to let them suffer while we hide right outside their homes and wait, and stealing from them makes it worse.”“We've already agreed about the present need for secrecy,” said Turaga Morok. “But as for this village, they are not suffering nearly as much as the others. The Makuta's corruption spreads, but my friends and I are doing a pretty good job of keeping the Matoran here safe from it.”“If they're so well protected, we should be able to let them know the truth,” argued Imlen.“But...” Morok tried to protest.“The Brotherhood already knows of us, the news will spread quickly,” Vilam supported Imlen.“The times are changing, and my people – your people – deserve to know this,” said Paqyar.“The village is not completely isolated. There are traders and such, and Makuta enforcers,” Morok pointed out. “But you make good points. Very well, how about a compromise: I will arrange to meet with trusted Matoran from the village in secret. Over time, more will know, but we will try to restrict the knowledge. By the time it is public, you will be ready for the next stage of your quest.”“That sounds fair,” said Vilam.“I agree,” said Imlen.“Me too,” said Paqyar.“Now, you really should treat your wounds and armor,” said Morok. “If it makes you feel better, I will make it up to the village somehow. If you don't consider keeping them safe from the spreading shadow and mentoring their next heroes to be enough, that is.”The Toa accepted the healing kit, and spent the next few hours treating their contusions and patching their armor. Then they slept for a long time. ----- “You found three Toa and you... let... them... go?” demanded Makuta Teskor, drawing the last words out threateningly.“L-let them go? N-no, they escaped,” said the sniveling lieutenant. “They destroyed seven Rahkshi and badly damaged an eighth – ”“You allowed them to escape,” interrupted the Makuta. “I realize that you did not do so deliberately, and that you personally never got close enough to fire a shot or make one swing of your sword. But you were the commanding officer, and it was under your poor leadership that our forces let the Toa slip through their fingers. In addition, you did not send messages as per regulation. Other platoons only found about it from the light and noise you made while letting the Toa escape.”“But it was – ” the lieutenant was interrupted by a magnetic force closing his throat and lifting him into the air.As in many other places, Visorak made up the majority of the Brotherhood's forces in Yrenta, but they also hired beings of many species as soldiers. They especially relied on these for low to medium-ranking leadership positions, as they were more replaceable than Rahkshi, more intelligent than Visorak, and more adaptable and versatile than both. At least, that was the concept. In practice, they were mostly arrogant sycophants, pompous, ambitious beings that instantly became unbearably flustered and obsequious when threatened. Upper-class Steltians, such as this particular specimen, tended to be the worst. Teskor couldn't figure out what the other Makuta saw in them. He guessed this one would begin to take irreversible damage from lack of air in a few seconds. Savoring the last moment for as long as he could, he released the lieutenant. The Steltian fell to the floor, nearly unconscious, and gasped for breath. Makuta Teskor jolted him awake with a blast of electricity.“You will... assist me in the lab,” he said, and the lieutenant nodded helplessly. “You will think of what you did wrong, and when I judge you fit to return to service, you shall.”The Steltian looked even more terrified now than when he was being choked. Apparently, he knew that the Makuta's 'lab assistants' never failed to end up as experiments themselves. But there was nothing he could do about it, and he knew that. Teskor was looking forward to his service, but he had other things to consider first. The Toa had been found in the south, heading west from where the De-Matoran used to live to the hills at the border of Yrenta. It was possible they had arrived by sea, but in that case they could have sailed south of the hills to reach their destination. Discounting the possibility that they had encountered trouble at sea, it was more likely they were Toa from this land. Either way, they were trouble. But if they were from Yrenta, that would make things interesting. Regardless, he would let his minions – his most capable minions – deal with them. Since Makuta Teridax's plan had succeeded in putting Mata Nui to sleep, Makuta Teskor had outgrown his petty feud with the Toa and Matoran of Yrenta.He was above that now. Matoran were his subjects, and Toa were usually his enemies, though not always. A shining exception was one of those capable minions, a Toa of Ice named Zima. The last of Teskor's Toa Hagah, Zima was a Makuta's ideal Toa: loyal, competent, ruthless, and unambitious. The Toa guardians of the Makuta had long been deceived and diverted to prevent them from learning their masters' true intentions. And yet, when the time had come to purge the Hagah, Zima had been one of the few who remained loyal to the Makuta. Teskor's faith in him had been substantiated when the Toa of Ice had eliminated every one of his teammates. The rest of Teskor's Hagah had attempted to resist the purge, but unfortunately for them their most formidable member had remained unwaveringly loyal to the Makuta. Of course, Zima had not battled them all at once. He seemed naive, almost mindless sometimes, but had been clever enough to pick off his former comrades one or two at a time.This sort of naivety made him an excellent servant. He truly believed the Makuta were the rightful rulers of the universe. His personality was more like that of a robot than a person, and he seemed to think his nearly emotionless manner was the proper way to act, with behavior not completely grounded in cold logic being flawed. Teskor had to downplay his emotions and the role they played in his schemes while dealing with Zima, and conceal some of his thoughts from the Toa's Mask of Telepathy, lest he conclude that the Makuta were also 'malfunctioning'. But that inconvenience was greatly outweighed by the benefits of employing him. His only personal agenda was an ordered, functional universe under the rule of the Makuta. He knew that the universe was being damaged in the attempt, but placed that blame on those who resisted what he considered the inevitable inheritance of his masters.Unlike the Makuta and the mercenaries they hired, Zima only cared for his own well-being so that he could serve what he believed was the greater good. As his teammates had learned when he turned on them, the closest thing to friendship he understood was the concept of working together towards a common goal. On the subject of mercy, he did not distinguish between living and nonliving beings. If the death of someone was the most efficient way of achieving his goal, he would kill without empathy or remorse, for Teskor had long ago convinced him that the Toa Code was obsolete. These qualities all made him Teskor's best enforcer, and so he had summoned him to his chamber for a very important mission.“I am here, Master,” he said in his nearly monotonous voice as he entered.“Satisfactory punctuality, Zima,” said Teskor. “I have a special mission for you now. Enemy Toa have been sighted in Yrenta, and I need you to eliminate them.”“Of course, Master. Where must I go?”“Hmm, unfortunately they have eluded us,” said Teskor thoughtfully. “They were seen in the south, attempting to cross the western border, and were forced to flee to the east. After that, we lost track of them. They could have gone in any direction. You and your team will lead the mission to find and eliminate them.”“Yes, Master,” said the Toa of Ice as he noticed but ignored the Steltian cowering in the corner. “I will prepare at once.”Teskor summoned the rest of Zima's new team – his ten most disciplined and powerful Rahkshi – and the eleven of them departed together. ----- The Toa traveled north along the river. Since they had failed to pass into the lands to the west, they had decided to investigate a different mystery. When Toa Vibrak and his team were lost during the Great Cataclysm, whatever danger they had been confronting had also disappeared. Imlen, Paqyar, and Vilam's new goal was to find out what had happened there that day, and with diligence, Imlen's mask would reveal the answer. Up ahead the riverbank rose into high cliffs, and beyond that the river ended in a desert canyon. But the Toa were not going there. At the point where the riverbank became too steep to walk down, they turned slightly to the west. The plan was to move west just south of the mountains, hidden among the foothills, until they found an entrance to the underground realm where the Onu-Matoran lived.Turaga Morok and the Toa had done their best to calculate the safest path, but it would still be a risky journey. The mountains and hills were home to most of the fortresses and outposts, some of which they would need to pass uncomfortably close to. But they had a better chance there than walking on the open plains. When they came to the foothills they first went north between them and the mountains, then south to walk among the hills, then slightly north again later, and so on. In this fashion they weaved among the hills, staying as concealed as they could and avoiding territory the Brotherhood prowled. They were in luck when they came near the fortress that was hardest to avoid, for the Makuta forces occupying it had another concern. The fortress was under attack by a small but elite Dark Hunter force. The Toa feared for the Matoran forced to labor within, but did not dare to intervene, not yet. They moved on.Soon before they arrived at the tunnel entrance, they encountered a small Brotherhood patrol. The Toa took them out easily and quietly, but were then faced with a dilemma. The soldiers were unconscious and no threat at the moment, but they would awaken later and report the presence of the Toa. Killing them would prevent that, but they were helpless prisoners. After wondering if it was worse to execute prisoners or to put their mission, and by extension the Matoran, in danger, the Toa compromised with themselves. They smashed the Kanohi of any of the soldiers that were wearing them, destroyed their weapons, and Paqyar summoned constrictive, leafy vines to bind and gag them. They would be trapped until they were found and freed, and only then would they be able to report what they had seen. Another possibility was that wild Rahi would eat them first, but the former scenario was more likely in this area.The main entrance to the underground realm was well-guarded of course, but a quarter-kio beyond it was an unwatched side entrance, formerly used for transporting ore. The Toa had to hunch over to walk through this shaft, until they reached another tunnel. This one was wider and also empty. The Toa knew that the Onu-Matoran and Fe-Matoran population living here had declined and been forced into a smaller area over the past millennia, leaving many tunnels abandoned. But they did not know exactly which tunnels were rarely used, which were completely abandoned, and which ones were forgotten completely or collapsed. Also, they had only a general idea of where in the vast network of tunnels and caverns the previous Toa had gone. They expected to be underground for a long time. They had prepared for that by packing enough supplies, but could only hope that few Brotherhood forces prowled down there.They wandered the tunnel for hours before encountering other living beings. They stumbled upon a tribe of cave Ukzokth, stunted, black-armored goblins that were like degenerate Onu-Matoran. In the past, the Toa and Matoran had been forced to slay Ukzokth by the dozen. But they were not at war with these creatures, and so the Toa could not bring themselves to deliberately kill them. But the Ukzokth attacked, heedless of how outmatched they were, and a few of them were mortally injured in the fight. Several more were struck down but not slain, and the rest fled shrieking into the dark. Though the goblins had apparently served Makuta Teskor, it was unlikely that these savages, isolated in abandoned tunnels, were in contact with the Brotherhood. Still, the encounter set the Toa on edge. Their presence underground was now known.It took the Toa days to search the subterranean domain. They encountered a few more groups of Ukzokth during that time, and each time they tired too much to move on, they made camp and slept. Many times they had to dig or blast their way through cave-ins that had happened hundreds of years earlier. Once they passed close to what remained of Matoran territory, and an Onu-Matoran had caught a quick glimpse of them. The Toa had quickly hidden and hoped that would not cause any problems for them in the future. Finally, the Toa found a conspicuous trail of igneous rock leading through caverns and large tunnels that appeared to have been melted long ago. The Toa followed it, and found the frozen flow led consistently downwards, as additional tunnels and caverns below intersected the magma's path, and magma had melted through the floor and poured down into them. The Toa scrambled down each of these former cascades of molten rock and continued to follow the path.For the most part, the resolidified stone was smooth, but in many places the ceiling had collapsed, cracking the stone and nearly blocking the large tunnels. At one point, the way was completely blocked by a large cave-in. The Toa did not turn back here. Imlen melted half of the rock away, while Paqyar created tough roots that crushed and ripped the other half apart. The Toa stepped over the broken stones and clods of earth. A short distance ahead the tunnel opened up into a large cavern. The Toa entered, and found what they had been looking for.Review

Hi, with the posting of my first comedy and also first non-epic, I've decided to finally start a story collection topic. And so here I present to you my stories. First, my epics. I call this the Yrenta Saga:Tale of Yrenta -- Review Topic -- Finished with 32 Chapters Wartime Journal of a Toa (Not set in Yrenta, but an interlude) -- Review Topic -- Finished with 21 Entries Fate of Yrenta -- Review Topic -- Finished with 24 ChaptersEnd of Yrenta -- Review Topic -- In progress, currently at 55 ChaptersAnd so far I have posted one comedy:Story of Pehkui Nui -- Finished, one post long.Also, I have made custom Bionicle models of many characters in my epics. I'm not particularly talented at it, and most of them are nothing special, but I think some turned out kind of cool. And you might want to see the characters as I visualize them. To see these, along with other Bionicle models I have made, and some my brother made, take a look at my Brickshelf gallery.I hope you enjoy my stories. Please, let me know what you think.

Ahem. This is my first comedy story. While brainstorming for my epics, I came up with some things that seemed really funny to me at the time, and so that night (the night I post this) I decided to take a break from the epics to write (that is, type) it. I decided I wanted it to actually have a coherent (though not groundbreaking) plot and not be mostly dialogue. I hope you find it funny too (and I hope the comments in parentheses are not too much. I don't usually do that). If you like this, please, try reading my epics, they're sort of like this but with less silliness. Anyway, here I present to you: Story of Pehkui Nui A long time ago (though not the Time before Time, as that would be very hard to tell a decent story about) there was a particular small island somewhere in the Matoran Universe. This island was called Pehkui Nui (meaning Great Diminishment) for some reason. On that island lived a diverse group of Matoran, who were content with their long, peaceful lives, except for one thing. There was a legend that told of treasure hidden on the island, and everyone was curious about it. It was allegedly concealed in a large metal dome in the center of the island. The Matoran did not pay much attention to what went on in their lives, and so had no memory of how the dome came to be. After thousands of years, the Matoran finally got around to studying the dome, and found it said something about unlocking it with the Lost Stones. Unfortunately, whoever had marked it had had terrible handwriting, and also had not engraved the letters deep enough, so that the millennia had worn most of it away.It was another few thousand years before six Matoran located the stones. In a remarkable coincidence (read: Destiny!) they each found one stone individually, one by one, all within the span of two days. They considered waiting a few years before finding what they were for, but all six of them felt impatient, and so that same day they all traveled to the middle of their little island and met each other at the dome. To their joy, the stones fit in six slots in the dome perfectly. To their dismay, the treasure was not riches or power. Well, actually it was power, as well as increased size, and everything else that went with being a Toa. Along with the great responsibility to protect the Matoran.That is, they would have had that responsibility if there was anything to protect the Matoran from. The little half-kio by half-kio (0.425 mile/0.685 km by 0.425 mile/0.685 km) island had no enemies on it to threaten the Matoran. That was Destined to one day change, or else their lives would tell a much less interesting story. The Toa and Matoran lived in peace for some more millennia, until one day disaster struck. In a horrible earthquake, every hut on the island was flattened. Luckily no one was hurt, but everyone was frustrated, especially the Matoran who had been working on a five-story tall house of cards, and afraid, for they had never suffered such a devastating quake before. Blame was quickly placed upon the strong metal shoulders of the Toa, as they were the only ones on the island with supernatural powers (that card house was the product of simple hard work!), and again, the Matoran had never experienced such a disaster before.The fact that none of the six Toa were Toa of Earth did not matter to the Matoran. They banished the Toa to the other side of the island, and the Toa were kind enough to oblige and not slaughter them all for their impudence. They did not know much about being Toa, but were pretty sure Toa were not supposed to do such things. Their exile was a great hardship, as they were restricted to a 100 square bio area (do the conversion yourself if you want) and even this seemed rather pointless, as the island was so small the Matoran would still see them almost every day. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) for them, this would not last forever. Before getting to what happens next, however, proper introductions for the Toa are very overdue. So...The leader of the team, by virtue of “I call being leader!”, was a Toa of Gravity named Vallend. His second of command, naturally by virtue of “Hey, that's not fair!”, was a Toa of Fire named Brandend. The other four were Risweel, Toa of Iron, Wiidi, Toa of the Green, Shrinnc, Toa of Psionics, and Alternator, Toa of Magnetism. There were no weapons on Pehkui Nui, but the Toa had been carrying common tools with them when they were transformed from Matoran, which had transformed with them. And so, Vallend wielded a mighty Gravity Fishing Rod, Brandend wielded a Flaming Torch, Risweel wielded an Iron Hammer (he was the lucky one), Wiidi wielded a Plant Rake, Shrinnc wielded a Mental Writing Chisel, and Alternator wielded a large and unfortunately-redundant Magnetism Magnet. Of course they wore Great Kanohi too, but none of them had disciplined their minds enough to activate them.Their exile would not last long, for important things were happening in the universe around them, especially in the Universe contained within Mata Nui's body. The things happening there were especially important to them. The earthquake they had felt was of course the Great Cataclysm, and in the wake of the Cataclysm war erupted between the Dark Hunters and the Brotherhood of Makuta, and many Makuta made sudden grabs for power. One of these Makuta was the Makuta in charge of the region that included Pehkui Nui. His name was Vilanix, and he was affectionately called Villie by those who knew him, though he hated the nickname. He terrorized the land under his control, except one little place that escaped his notice for centuries: Pehkui Nui. Six hundred and eighty seven years, three months, a week, and two days after the Cataclysm, he noticed the little speck on his map and the tiny text that labeled it.“Oh dear,” Vilanix said to himself. “I've left those poor fellows out. I must make myself known to them, and make sure they know I mean business.”Over the next decade, the Makuta formulated a plan. First, he considered sending enslaved Rahi against the inhabitants, but decided it would be too easy to stop that by removing their infected masks. Next, he tried to find out if there was an ancient horde slumbering under the island that he could awaken. To his frustration, he found nothing on the subject. Finally, he decided to just send Rahkshi against them. Nothing said “there's a Makuta around and he means business” than unleashing Rahkshi. Conveniently, there was a pool of Energized Protodermis in Vilanix's lair. He knew there were five Toa (poor Wiidi had since died of exposure), and so he picked up five Kraata and hurled them into the pool.“Darn!” he said as the slimy creatures plopped into the pool.He had realized too late that he had not selected Kraata, but rather the five specimens of Rahi slug he had been perfecting. As they were not Kraata at all, what came out of the pool was anything but Rahkshi. Three of the slugs were instantly destroyed by the liquid, as they were not Destined to transform. The other two were mutated in unforeseeable (unless you have foresight) ways by the mysterious liquid. One of them became an enormous, monstrous slug-beast that cracked the ceiling of Vilanix's chamber. The other became a small, pretty butterfly Rahi that had the wondrous power to grant a wish to anyone that performed a deed of kindness to it. The giant slug was the first to be kind to it, by allowing it to perch on its massive mantle, and so a few seconds later the slug was teleported into its own personal giant slug paradise. Vilanix shrugged and blasted the remaining hideous mutant into oblivion before it could make a mess of his lab.Then he went and got some actual Kraata, a whole pile this time, and tossed them in. He cackled as the Kraata died and were transformed into empty suits of Rahkshi armor. Still cackling, he left the room and reentered with another pile of Kraata, for piloting the machines. As gaseous beings, Makuta did not need to breathe, so he was able to continue cackling as the Kraata slithered into the Rahkshi and activated them. Then he stopped, considered for a moment, and spoke as poetically as he could.“Ah, a Rahkshi of Plasma. Yes, Plasma will burn and melt away... their, um, what were the Three Virtues? Ah yes, Plasma shall burn away their Truth, Stasis Field will... put their Justice in stasis, and Cyclone will blow them away from the Matoran Way... wait, that's not it.”He began again, starting with another set of Rahkshi.“Accuracy shall strike down their Unity, Molecular Disruption shall... disrupt... the molecules... of their Duty, and Ice Resistance shall, um, resist ice at their Destiny. But there are more virtues than that. What about Patience? Ah, Elasticity shall... stretch – I guess – their Patience, Sonics shall be loud... at their Kindness, Teleportation shall... teleport away their Cleanliness, Quick Healing shall... quickly heal at their... Chastity. Wait, that one doesn't make any sense in this setting. Forget that one. Now, Adaptation shall adapt to counter their Honesty, Electricity shall zap their Mercy, Mind Reading shall...”He went on in this manner for quite a while. Finally, he decided that he should stick to five Rahkshi, for five Toa. It was only fair. He thought for a while about which five were the best to send, then decided to pick at random.“Wazzy, wizzy, lazzy, zeel,” he chanted. “Catch a Muaka by the wheel...”The five Toa sat miserably that day. It was a gray day, maybe rainy, but probably not, because it probably doesn't officially rain in the Matoran Universe. Regardless, it was cold, and a miserable day to be confined to a small section of land without any decent shelter. Risweel had tried many times to make them a shack of metal, but he was no good at building. Before he had died, Wiidi had attempted the same thing with plants, but they were obviously not enough. None of the Toa were any good at controlling their element anyway, although they practiced on each other once in a while. In fact, in addition to the exposure to the elements (meaning weather), exposure to the Toa elements in training sessions had also played a part in Wiidi's death.As for the cold, Brandend had tried to keep himself and the others warm, but he was no better at controlling his element than the others. After nearly burning to death, the five of them agreed it was better to endure the dank day. For once, however, they had more to worry about than their own incompetence and unpleasant weather. For they heard screams, and could see five creatures smashing the island's huts. They waited for a Matoran to run past and suspend their exile, then they went to save the day. They came to the center of the village and faced their foes. They did not know why, but they could remember what these monsters were.They were called Protocairns. There was much devastation, but soon the Protocairn invasion was over, despite the fact that the Toa had utterly failed to stop them. For the Protocairns had a peculiar life cycle in which they would drop dead soon after attacking an island, and fuse together into a new landmass, conveniently patching the damage they had done to the landscape. With the invading creatures conveniently self-disposed of, the Toa's exile was officially ended, and they were allowed to roam the entire island. The next day was pleasant and warm in contrast to the last, but this day would also be interrupted by an attack.Wiidi's grave was a shallow one, and his corpse was starting to become uncovered and stink up the island. The Toa were just discussing how he had been dead for almost two centuries and was due for a proper grave when that next attack came. This time it was actually the Rahkshi. Vilanix had ended up sending a Rahkshi of Limited Invulnerability, a Rahkshi of Fire Resistance, a Rahkshi of Illusion, a Rahkshi of Mind Reading, and a Rahkshi of Power Scream. As soon as the Rahkshi came to the island, and smashed up their hut, the Toa knew they were Destined to do battle with these invaders. The Matoran saw the teams of five each face each other and hoped with all their heartlights that Rahkshi also died after invading.The Rahkshi made the first move, with the Rahkshi of Mind Reading reading the Toa's minds. It determined that the Toa were planning to attack, and the five Rahkshi adopted a defensive stance. The Toa countered, Brandend choosing at random to attack the aquamarine-colored one. Unfortunately for him, that was the Rahkshi of Fire Resistance, and he spent much of the battle trying in vain to burn it or melt it until it was defeated. Shrinnc attempted to assail the minds of the Rahkshi, but recoiled when her mental powers revealed that they were controlled by disgusting slug-like creatures. Risweel charged and attacked the Rahkshi of Limited Invulnerability with his hammer. Its invulnerability was limited, but enough to protect it from his clumsy attacks. Then the Rahkshi of Illusion created an illusion of a hundred Rahkshi, and the Toa panicked.“We need to get out of here!” cried Vallend. “We'll fly!”The Toa of Gravity used his powers to negate the effects of gravity on himself and his team. However, that did not grant them the ability to fly, instead they merely floated helplessly. Vallend realized this and stopped applying his power, causing them to fall to the ground. Luckily for the Toa, Vilanix had always been too lazy to properly devote himself to creating and caring for Kraata, so these ones and the Rahkshi they controlled were the weakest, most pathetic of all Kraata and Rahkshi. Had any other Makuta's Rahkshi been sent, the Toa and Matoran would have been dead in seconds. These Rahkshi only whacked the Toa feebly with their staffs, failing to prevent them from standing up and attempting to battle again. The Illusion Rahkshi had forgotten about its illusion and let it fade.The Rahkshi of Power Scream decided to end this. It let out its mightiest roar, which knocked the Toa over and was loud enough to nearly deafen everyone on the island. Toa and Matoran alike rose up and demolished that horrible mechanical creature before it could utter another dreadful sound. With one of the Rahkshi now destroyed, the Toa were winning. That would probably not last for long. Alternator made his move then, planning to use magnetism to fuse the Rahkshi into a helpless ball, or even crush them utterly. However, he accidentally included Risweel in his attack, and caused the magnetic force to pull them all to him. At the same moment, Risweel conjured a large block of metal to smash his opponent with. Alternator ended up crushed beneath three of the Rahkshi, Risweel, and Risweel's block of metal.Vallend and Shrinnc screamed Alternator's name and attempted to free him from the pile. With his powers over gravity and her telekinesis, they lifted the tangled Rahkshi, the Toa of Iron, and the metal block. Then they lost their mental focus and dropped the pile, causing Risweel to be smashed by his own summoned block. They tried again, and messed up again. Crushed three times, Alternator was now quite dead, and Risweel would soon follow if they did not change tactics. Vallend and Shrinnc decided to let it be, and Risweel and the Rahkshi got up by themselves. Risweel was quite angry now, and in his anger he shot metal spikes all around him. One of these punctured Brandend's foot and another pierced the head of the Rahkshi of Mind Reading, killing the Kraata within. The Toa now had one of their number down, but were in the lead again.Brandend swore in pain and lashed out wildly with his arms and unpinned foot. The Rahkshi of Fire Resistance was struck hard and staggered back. Brandend realized at that moment that his opponent was vulnerable to any attack other than fire, and attempted to hit it again. But the Rahkshi had backed away out of his reach, and he was stuck where he was with the spike in his foot. He instead pivoted on the spike and released a blast of fire at the Rahkshi of Illusion, or so he thought. That Rahkshi had remembered what it was supposed to do, and had used is power to swap appearances with Risweel. Brandend did not notice the cries of a Toa, normally quite distinctive from those of a Rahkshi, and kept attacking. Then Vallend noticed what he thought was Risweel just standing around in the middle of a fight and smacked 'him' for that.That broke the Rahkshi's concentration, and that illusion vanished. Brandend discovered he was burning Risweel, but continued to in revenge for having his foot impaled. Just then he ran out of elemental energy, as he had of course wasted most of it against the Rahkshi of Fire Resistance. Out of power and pinned in place, he was effectively out of the fight. He was even more pinned when Vallend crushed the Rahkshi of Fire Resistance to the ground, of course accidentally crushing Brandend to the ground too. Meanwhile Shrinnc was combating her fear of slimy things and the Rahkshi as she unleashed a mental assault against the Rahkshi of Illusion. The Kraata of Illusion was befuddled by her attack, and created a series of bizarre apparitions at random.Shrinnc found herself in battle with a Ghekula, a pile of coconuts, giant, upside-down copies of herself, and other bizarre things the Kraata's addled mind conjured. Then she found herself surrounded by fish. As one who had been exiled and forced to eat nothing but slimy fish (and was not a Ga-Matoran) for over six hundred years, her reaction to that was quite strong. A terrific mental blast nearly knocked everyone on the island unconscious. The Rahkshi of Illusion was knocked out, and as the illusion faded, Shrinnc ran to the machine in a rage and viciously dismantled it with her Mental Writing Chisel. The battered Kraata slithered out weakly, and she screamed in disgust and stomped it flat. Meanwhile, the other Toa had destroyed the Rahkshi of Fire Resistance and only knocked one of their number, Vallend, out in the process. The battle was nearly won, but the Rahkshi of Limited Invulnerability would not go down quickly.On the other hand, its attacks were equally ineffective. After a few hours of fighting too pathetic to be worth describing in detail, it was destroyed. The battle was over, but it was not a happy ending. The team had lost another, though at least this one had the dignity of dying in battle, if being accidentally crushed to death by himself and his incompetent teammates could be a death with any dignity. Shrinnc and Risweel woke Vallend and pulled the spike out of Brandend's foot. After a brief scuffle about the friendly fire that had occurred, the Toa gathered around Alternator's corpse to mourn. Then they decided to bury him, and properly this time, for the smell would be an issue here at the center of the village. Just then, a strange small insect Rahi fluttered by.“That's a pretty butterfly,” commented Vallend.“I guess it is,” said Shrinnc.Just then, Alternator got up, suddenly alive. The Toa rejoiced, for they were heartlight-broken at his death. Not Wiidi's, however. They did not really care for him. And this wondrous resurrection had been born of Vallend's subconscious wish. For the insect that the Toa had showed kindness to by complimenting offhandedly was none other than the accidentally-transformed experimental slug, whose mysterious powers had saved it from Vilanix's thoughtless attempt to destroy it. Unfortunately for those who wished to take advantage of its enormous potential, this was the end of the butterfly's natural lifespan, and it fell to the ground and died. So don't go looking for it. You'll be wasting your time, seriously. And speaking of Makuta Vilanix, he found out about the failure of his Rahkshi, but decided the tiny island wasn't worth the effort. He went back to gleefully terrorizing his subjects, and so everyone had a happy ending. Or so it seemed (ignoring the terrorized subjects).The giant, mutant slug lounged happily. It feasted on giant plants grown by its loyal Matoran servants and was surrounded by beautiful/handsome fellow giant slugs (slugs are both male and female). Wait, it was a Rahi. Forget that part. Anyway, its happiness sadly came to an end. For Shrinnc had complimented the butterfly too, and as you should recall, she hated slimy creatures. The slug and all its slug-friends in their slug-paradise died that day, for later wishes overrode earlier ones. And so, this story ends on a bittersweet note. The End

I forgot to mention this earlier: I also found how the canisters were inspired by coconuts to be intriguing.

Hi. I hope my breaking Rule #2 isn't a problem here, but I'm not sure exactly what I want. I'd like a banner for my stories, and would like some advice. I'm not sure where else to post this or who to PM, and I think you guys could come up with something I like if I can find out what that is. I understand if you're busy or will ignore this because it isn't a work request sheet, but I'd appreciate it if someone could chat with me a little and help me come up with an idea.

End of YrentaChapter Nine==Yrenta Region, Northern Continent, Matoran Universe==~536 AGC~ The Toa attacked immediately. Two of the Rahkshi seemed to vanish, while the third endured their assault and fired a ray of power from its staff. The Toa were caught in it, and were overcome by a feeling of disorientation. One of the other Rahkshi appeared back in the fight seemingly out of nowhere, and battered Paqyar to the ground with a supernaturally fast onslaught. In a daze, Vilam blasted everyone around her. Toa and Rahkshi alike staggered for a moment, and the Rahkshi of Confusion's hold over them was broken. Behind Imlen, the third Rahkshi's concealment was broken, but the Toa of Plasma did not see it in time. The end of that Rahkshi's staff dug into his back armor, and he fell forward. Vilam turned to protect him from a follow-up attack, but left herself open to another Confusion attack. This time, she refrained from lashing out with her power, and stood babbling meaninglessly.“Imlen!” Paqyar called.Imlen rolled out of the way as the stealthy Rahkshi tried to bring its staff down on him. Paqyar tried to snare the two Rahkshi attacking him and Imlen with a growth of vines. The quick-moving Rahkshi dodged, and the stealthy one was entangled just as it was changing colors to blend in with the environment. Imlen got up and prepared to take out the Chameleon Rahkshi while it was trapped, but the Rahkshi of Dodge leaped next to him in a flash and began forcing him back. Meanwhile, the Rahkshi of Confusion bashed Vilam in the face, knocking her mask off. Its hold on her was broken again, but she was greatly weakened without her mask, and stunned from the blow to the head. The Rahkshi followed up with a sweep at her legs, causing her to fall to the ground. She attempted to call forth a blast of lightning, but could not concentrate enough. The Rahkshi of Chameleon broke free of Paqyar's vines at that moment and disappeared.It reappeared a moment later to strike Paqyar, and retreated again before he could strike back. This process repeated over and over while the other two Toa battled their respective opponents. These Rahkshi only had one ranged attack between them, one which did not even do any direct damage, and yet they had the upper hand in the battle. They were much more skilled than the lone Rahkshi Mosori had defeated. Vilam could only weakly defend herself as the Confusion Rahkshi alternated between pummeling her and clouding her mind, and Imlen could barely fend off the rapid strikes of the dodging Rahkshi. Again, he attempted to call upon his element, only to be interrupted by a quick attack that broke his concentration. He tried something different. He feinted striking the Rahkshi's side, then brought his staff to the ground to melt the earth into lava. The Rahkshi was too quick, however, and his move backfired. He had just started to heat the ground when a mighty sweep of the Rahkshi's staff sent him flying back.A short distance away, Paqyar fell to his knees, battered from all sides. Then, the Toa had some success when Vilam managed to grab her opponent's staff, sending a weak electric attack through it. While that Rahkshi was dazed, she reached over and grabbed her mask. She felt power and clarity return to her, and when the Rahkshi recovered, it was hit by another, stronger bolt of lightning. Vilam moved towards Paqyar, but was struck midway by another confusion ray. Paqyar could not hit the Rahkshi that was attacking him, but snared the Confusion Rahkshi as it ran after Vilam. Imlen stood up and surrounded himself with a shroud of plasma, preventing the Dodge Rahkshi from approaching him without being blinded. Concentrating on maintaining that defense, he ran over to join the others. As he came closer, he saw the Chameleon Rahkshi striking Paqyar again, and blasted it. A moment later, the Toa stood together again, though Vilam was confused and all three were battered.“Vilam! Snap out of it, sister,” Imlen said as the Rahkshi resumed their attack.“Don't talk to the Brakas fish,” she mumbled incoherently, and was smacked to the ground by the Rahkshi of Dodge.“This isn't good – ow!” said Paqyar as the Rahkshi hit him next.Imlen blasted plasma all around the ground, giving Paqyar the time to help Vilam up. All three of them were sore and tired, but Paqyar was determined for them to get out alive. Just then, his mask glowed. As he reached out and pulled the Toa of Lightning to her feet, a glow embraced the two of them. The light lingered for a few seconds, and when it was gone, the two Toa stood fused into one being.“Fusion? That's your mask power?” said Imlen groggily as he was struck in the head by the Chameleon Rahkshi.“Y... yes,” said the fusion in Paqyar's voice after a moment. “Vilam's mind... struggles against mine due to the confusion, but the confusion... also makes her willpower... too weak to resist much. Now her mind is clearing.”As it spoke, the merged being lashed out at the startled Rahkshi. As its two minds began to cooperate, it became much more effective. The Rahkshi of Confusion was eliminated by a concentrated barrage of electricity, arrows, and plants. The other two Rahkshi nearly knocked Imlen's mask off, and the fusion caught him as he staggered back.“Fuse with us, Imlen,” said Paqyar. “It doesn't hurt.”Imlen allowed himself to be absorbed into the amalgam, and it glowed as it reformed into a new being. This fusion, instead of being controlled by Paqyar's mind, was a true Toa Kaita, with its own individual mind made of its component parts working in perfect unison. Like all Toa Kaita, he had his own name. His name was Samruna. He paused for a moment to consolidate the unification of his mind, and two remaining Rahkshi attacked while he was distracted. But their staffs could do little damage to the Kaita. With a sweeping kick, he sent the two machines flying back. A blast of electrified plasma destroyed the Rahkshi of Chameleon before it could rise. Next Samruna materialized a giant, primitive arrow – simply a tapered wooden shaft with leaves for flights – nocked it to his bow, and launched it at the Rahkshi of Dodge as it tried to flee. The projectile skewered the Rahkshi, pinning it to the ground, and at the Toa Kaita's command a tangle of branches burst from the wood. The plants tightened, crushing the Rahkshi and its Kraata.The battle was over. Exhausted, Samruna dropped down on his knees and broke into the three Toa that had formed him. The Toa lay on the ground for a moment, then more of the hungry insects swarmed over them. This time, Imlen dispersed them with a small application of his elemental power. Then the Toa rested for a short while, but they soon heard shouts and the screech of Visorak. More Makuta forces were on the way. The Toa were in no condition to fight them off. They were bruised, dented, tired, and low on elemental energy. Most of the enemy force was approaching to the west, so the Toa got up and traveled back the way they had come as quickly as they could. When they came to the steep valley slope, they stumbled down and landed in a dry thicket. A Brotherhood scout was there at the bottom just in front of them. Still lying in the bracken, Vilam shot a lightning bolt out of her sword. Imlen jumped up and finished the encounter with his staff, first knocking the scout's mask off, then knocking him unconscious, but not before the scout could shout.Imlen helped the other two Toa up, and they quickened their pace. The scout's cry had helped the approaching Brotherhood forces pinpoint their location, and they were closing in. The Toa made it to the bottom of the hills on the edge of the plains. They could hear the Brotherhood soldiers and Visorak on the hilltops behind them. Projectiles whizzed past, some exploding as they hit the ground or discharging into bursts of energy, others fragmenting or merely embedding themselves in the earth. One exploded next to the Toa, detonating with a surge of electricity, and blasted them off their feet. As they got up, they looked back and saw some of the faster Makuta units were chasing them, while ranged attackers rained fire down on them from the ridge. There were no more Rahkshi to be seen, but the Toa expected more to arrive at any time.“Any ideas?” said Paqyar, beginning to slow from fatigue.“We might need to just stop and make a stand,” said Imlen, shaking his head. “There's not a whole lot back there, no more than a platoon's worth including the Visorak. But I don't know how dangerous those warriors are.”“It might be better than exhausting ourselves running,” panted Vilam. “Paqyar, can you use your mask again?”“I'm not sure,” said Paqyar as they continued to run. “I'm tired, and can't focus. Wait – the grass is taller up ahead.”“It's still not enough to hide us,” said Imlen.“Maybe not. But good thing I'm a Toa of the Green,” said Paqyar.The Toa ducked as they reached the tall grass, then went down on their hands and knees, crawling as fast as they could. They were far out of range of the attackers on the hill by now, but hiding in the grass only slowed their remaining pursuers a little. More projectiles rained down around them, and shouts sounded not far behind. Paqyar considered the situation. He tried causing the grass a short distance away to rustle, tricking the Brotherhood forces into thinking the Toa were moving through there. The feint worked for a short time. Now the soldiers and Visorak were among the grasses. Silently, Paqyar animated the grass around him. He did not expend the energy to strengthen the plants, and they posed no threat to the enemy, but distracted them while the Toa moved away. Soon a few of them came too close, forcing Vilam and Imlen to blast them and give their position away again.There were only about five or six soldiers in the field now, but there were a dozen Visorak in the field too. Worse, the Toa could now hear the buzz of flying Rahkshi converging above. They dropped to the ground again, changing direction and crawling to the northwest. The grass seemed to actively hinder their passage now. They realized one of the Rahkshi must have been manipulating the plants, though the Rahkshi fortunately had not located them yet. The force on the ground was now passing them, and they ran into a lone Visorak at the northern edge of the group. With desperation and ferocity, the Toa fell upon it and slaughtered it before it could call for help. The Toa stopped and lay still in the cover of the grass. The soldiers and Visorak passed them, but the Rahkshi lingered. Several times they landed, searched on foot, then took to the sky again. The Toa stayed there and rested for a while.The Rahkshi remained, however, and the Makuta's forces resorted to a tactic they had used not long ago to flush out fugitives hiding in vegetation. If they were willing to burn a shrubland to get Matoran, torching an entire section of the plain to catch Toa was not very drastic in comparison. This region was less arid, so the fire did not spread as fast, but there was much more fuel to sustain and carry it. The edge of the tall grasses was not far, but the Toa would be exposed there. That would be better than burning to death, but the Toa had just nearly been defeated by three Rahkshi, and there were now at least five nearby. The Makuta-Sons were relatively uncommon in Yrenta even in this age, but the appearance of Toa probably justified sending all available Rahkshi to eliminate them.“If this is going to be a recurring tactic, we should start carrying buckets of water around,” quipped Vilam.“Can you put it out, Imlen?” asked Paqyar. “Absorb it or something?”“I don't think so. That's a job for a Toa of Fire, not Plasma.” said Imlen. “We'd better get out of here. On the count of three: one, t –”“Wait!” interrupted Paqyar.“What, Paqyar?” demanded Imlen impatiently, as the fire was now uncomfortably close.“I'll catch up, you'll know when to move!” said the Toa of the Green rapidly.Paqyar crawled as fast as he could away from his friends, and risked standing up when he was confident he would not get his friends in trouble too if the Rahkshi saw him. He knew the fire needed something to burn to spread. In this case that fuel was the grass. None of the Toa present were able to absorb or control the fire. But Paqyar could do just that to the fuel. He put his plan to the test. It took an effort, but he managed to convert a swath of grass into elemental energy and absorb it, creating a barren gap wide enough to stop the fire from reaching the area he stood in. Then he got down under the grass again. By then, the fire was almost upon Imlen and Vilam, and they got up and ran. So far, the smoke and flames covered their escape. Paqyar hoped that if the Rahkshi had noticed his diversion, they would come soon, for he was struggling to hold on to the absorbed power.Fortunately or unfortunately, one soon noticed the large patch of grass the fire had been prevented from reaching. The Kraata inside it reasoned that the Toa would surely be hiding in that small safe area, and called his brothers in for the attack. Paqyar saw them coming and gulped. He was taking a big risk for his friends. He did not plan to turn it into a sacrifice as Mosori had, but it would be a close call. This time, he had a slight edge in the form of the plant life he had absorbed. When he felt he could contain it no longer, he released it in a blast at the three Rahkshi landing nearby. The machines were caught by surprise, and one was instantly crippled. Paqyar ran before the other two could free themselves from the grasping vines and thorns. He sprinted wildly, and was pleased to see only more two Rahkshi, these ones following him from the air. No Rahkshi at all would be better, but they had a chance if they could take on the vile things one or two at a time. He saw his friends not far off, and soon caught up to them. The Rahkshi were right behind.“What was that about?” said Vilam as they prepared for battle.“A... plan...” Paqyar panted, and he coughed. “See, only... two... of them at a... time.”Imlen and Vilam got in front of Paqyar, allowing him to catch his breath as the Rahkshi attacked. One of them, a yellow Rahkshi, shot searing red beams from its eyes. This was probably the one that had ignited the plain. Its first attack missed and struck the ground. Fortunately, there was not enough grass here to start another wildfire. Imlen felt some of his elemental power had returned, and he wanted to end this quickly, so he stepped forth to unleash a devastating cloud of plasma. Before he could summon the power, however, the other Rahkshi hit him with a ray from its staff. Imlen was instantly sent into a deep sleep. Worried, Paqyar checked on him, confirmed he was only sleeping, and got out his bow. Vilam sent out a trio of quick bolts, one for each of the Rahkshi and a weak one to jolt Imlen awake.It worked, but he did not immediately shake the effect off. He stirred, and after a moment he got up drowsily just in time to be pushed away by Paqyar. The patch of grass he had been lying on was struck by the Heat Vision rays and burned to the ground. While he was waking up, Vilam had been preventing the maroon Rahkshi from putting any more of them to sleep while dodging the yellow Rahkshi's attacks. Paqyar stood back and peppered both Rahkshi with arrows. He got a lucky hit in the Rahkshi of Heat Vision's head. The Kraata inside was not dead, but hurt, and the machine stumbled. Imlen had woken up by then, and only needed to expend a small amount of energy to finish the yellow Rahkshi off. Alone, the maroon Rahkshi of Sleep did not last much longer. By this time, the other two Rahkshi were advancing quickly.Running to their prey instead of flying was their mistake. On the open plain, they made easy targets. Vilam took out one immediately with as powerful a bolt as she could summon. After a few attempts, Paqyar pierced the other one's knee with an arrow. What had once been one of the Makuta's most dreaded enforcers was reduced to a limping, broken machine. Paqyar prepared to finish it off, but before he could it let out a terrible scream, loud enough to make the ground shake. The Toa were deafened, though that did not save the Rahkshi. Paqyar caused rending vines to sprout from the arrow, tearing the Rahkshi apart. Imlen communicated through gestures which way the team should go next. They were safe for the moment, but would have to move quickly. This battle had been short, but they were even lower on elemental energy now, almost out. They would have to rest before fighting again, and more enemies would surely be on the way. Even if news of their presence had not already been spread, the fire and that Power Scream could be noticed from far away, and were a big indicator something was going on.“That could have gone better,” said Vilam later, when the Toa could hear again.“At least we're alive!” yelled Imlen. The Toa were traveling east, and had not encountered any enemies since defeating the Rahkshi.“You're yelling,” said Paqyar.“What?” asked Imlen loudly. Apparently, his hearing had not completely come back.“You're yelling!” repeated Paqyar, louder this time. “Wait for your hearing to come back!”“Sure, sorry,” Imlen whispered. Vilam chuckled.The southern plains were no longer safe with Brotherhood forces looking for them there and few places to hide. They doubted their chances of making it past the hills. And so, the Toa decided to return to the jungle in defeat.Review

Ouch. "Doo Heads". Glad that didn't last long. This is interesting, the three-finger island sounds like a cool idea, it may have been too much of a hint though, even if it wasn't called that in the story. Some of the mask designs look good, too. And it's nice to see another one of the people that made Bionicle talking about it online.

End of YrentaChapter Eight==Yrenta Region, Northern Continent, Matoran Universe==~536 AGC~ The Toa woke comfortably the next morning. The sun was already bright, and Morok appeared to be dozing. However, when the Toa got up, he immediately stood and bid them good morning. The Toa looked around, and after careful inspection noticed about a dozen small creatures watching them from the trees and vines. Morok smiled as he studied them, then he caught sight of the staff Imlen carried and stared.“That staff,” he said reverently, “that is Tanu's staff. My old friend's...”“Ah, yes,” said Imlen, suddenly embarrassed. “I hope you don't find it offensive.”“Offensive? No, I know Tanu would be proud to know that, in this way, the heroes of this time carry his legacy,” said the Turaga.“There's much more to his legacy than this,” said Imlen. “But I'm proud you think of it that way. Also, it's not like I broke into his tomb to retrieve it. I found this on the floor of the Ce-Kini.”“On the floor?” said Morok. “The temple was defiled, wasn't it?”“It was. Seemed like a long time ago,” said Vilam. “Probably not long after you visited it for the last time.”“Well, that is far from the worst of Teskor's crimes,” said Morok, shaking his head sadly. “But the time has come to put a stop to that. One careful step at a time, of course.”“Indeed,” said Imlen. “We noticed in your records you wrote that the De-Matoran had left their home mysteriously deserted. We considered investigating, but decided to find you first.”“It sounds like a good next step,” said Morok thoughtfully. “I do not wish to send you back north until you are ready. And if we can find the De-Matoran, we may gain allies that remain unknown to our enemies.”“You're sure they're not all dead?” asked Paqyar.“No, I'm not sure,” said the Turaga. “But when I looked, I saw no bodies, and no signs of a struggle. The walls appeared to have stopped the flood from doing any damage, and the land was damp, yet inhabitable when I investigated. And I did not dare to search for long, but in the short time I was there I saw no records explaining their disappearance.”“Did it look like they packed up and left?” asked Vilam. “I mean, did they leave things behind like they were in a hurry?”“I don't remember seeing much left behind,” said Morok. “But I don't remember their dwellings standing out as being exceptionally clean either. It was too long ago for me to be sure of the details.”“Sounds to me like they got going quickly, but not in a terrible rush,” said Imlen. “But we should go and look ourselves.”Before the Toa prepared to go, Morok gave them advice in combat techniques and the use of their powers. After a few hours of lessons and training, they packed their things. Before they left, Morok had some more advice to give them.“I will remain in the jungle. You know how to find me. Enter it, and my friends will inform me, and we will meet you. Remember, keep a low profile. Try to avoid being seen, by people and by Rahi. However, if you find the De-Matoran, it should be okay to reveal yourselves to them. Soon, we will advertise our presence to the rest, but not yet. For if you did, the news could spread to the Makuta and the Dark Hunters, and they would move against you. Or the Matoran might rise up against their enemies too soon, and be slaughtered. I must have you know this: your careers as Toa have begun in a more dangerous time than any before in this land. Remember that, and be careful.”“We will, Turaga,” said Imlen. “Farewell.”“Farewell, and may we meet again soon!” the Turaga said, and he retreated into the jungle, signaling it was time for the Toa to leave.By that afternoon, the Toa had made it to the western bank of the river. They walked across the land carefully, and were unmolested the entire way to the former region of the De-Matoran. Their fortress lay silent on the horizon, in the midst of a wide plain of tall grass. As the Toa approached, they noticed that though the fortress was whole, the effect of centuries of dereliction were clear. What were once sharp, clean corners had been eroded, and various mosses and ivies were growing on the walls. The main gate was left slightly open, and the Toa entered through it. In the fading light, the rows of empty stone buildings were eerie. A lone bird cawed and came down to roost on a nearby roof. Paqyar scrutinized it carefully, and was satisfied it was merely a wild Rahi, and not under the control of an enemy. He joined the others in searching the town.As with the exterior, the only visible damage was the result of the passage of time without maintenance. Any footprints the De-Matoran had left had faded long ago. The Toa searched the houses, and found they were left in a condition much like Morok had described. The few possessions that were left were large items, such as furniture, and were left in rather careless positions. It indicated a population that had time to leave, but not a long time, and only what they could carry. Imlen began to search the past of various objects while the other Toa looked for physical clues. They looked carefully for signs of a fight, but there were none. Imlen tried many times, and still failed to see the time the fortress had been abandoned. After a while, he took a break from that and helped his friends search. They spent the rest of the day examining the village, and Imlen studied the past of some more objects. Still, they found nothing more of use.That night, they entered a modest building that seemed to serve as a library, or a hall of records. The Toa studied the most recently written tablets. The accounts of the community's history were meticulous up to a line that told about Toa Vibrak going to meet with his brothers to end something that was threatening the Matoran living under the mountains. After that, the records ended abruptly. It seemed to Vilam that they were being blatantly secretive about their fate, deliberately teasing whomever might read their records. The library was quite cozy, and it was late, so the Toa decided to sleep there. Vilam offered to take the first night watch, and while the others slept, she searched the building some more. She wondered if there was more worth investigating than the fortress's recent history. Her efforts were rewarded when she found a few tablets with personal records engraved by Vibrak.By the time she had found them, it was Imlen's turn to watch. She wished to read what she had found, but knew she should get rest, so she handed them to Imlen. He noticed that Vibrak's entries were minimal and far between. Apparently, he had only written things that were very significant to him. The accounts were interesting, and one was quite disturbing – the one telling of the time he had been caught in an illusion and killed some Matoran – but to Imlen's frustration, his last entry was long before the time he had gone away. He had presumably died on that journey anyway, and the De-Matoran had not left until after that. Still, Imlen had been hoping to find some sort of clue. After many attempts, he managed to scry on the last time Vibrak or the De-Matoran had handled the tablet. As he expected, it had been put away for a long time before the De-Matoran had disappeared.Imlen growled in frustration and dropped the tablet. His mask power was incredibly useful, but it could also be so frustrating. Even if it found the time he was looking for, that did not guarantee there would be anything useful to be seen in that time. He realized that he should not have been using it at the time anyway, since he was supposed to be guarding his friends as they slept. As he spent his shift in silent contemplation, something else occurred to him. Since the Water village was not far to the east, and although there was much more space to live in seclusion to the north, the north was much more dangerous. So, if the De-Matoran had gone elsewhere, they had probably not gone north or east. That left south, which would mean leaving the continent entirely by sea, or west. If they had sailed away, it was unlikely they would be found. But Imlen decided that it would be worth the effort to search for them to the west.After Paqyar's shift, the Toa got ready to go. Vilam took the time to study Vibrak's journal herself. She found nothing of use in it, but decided to bring it with her. She hoped the De-Matoran would be grateful to have it returned to them. It was still dawn when they left the Fortress of Sonics, as they expected a long trek ahead of them that day. The plains stretched for many kio to the west before terminating at a ridge of hills, the unofficial western border of Yrenta. The official border, when there was one, had moved depending on the prosperity of the region, but throughout their history the hills had been explored little by the Matoran of Yrenta. They were not nearly as dangerous as the northern Wasteland, but were judged long ago to be unfit for colonization, and the Matoran living on either side of the ridge had little interest in getting acquainted. Imlen was not sure exactly what it was, but there was a reason the hills had been left alone, and he was sure they would be at their most dangerous in this era.The hills did not look particularly intimidating to the Toa when they were arrived. They were more barren and rocky than most of the terrain in southern Yrenta, but looked easy enough to navigate. The Toa reached the summit of the first hill just before noon. From that height, they could see why no Matoran lived here. There was a small valley before them, and more hills beyond that. All were desolate and windy. The Toa could see large Rahi moving all around, as well as swarms of voracious insects. They stopped to rest for a short time, then continued on. They did their best to stay out of sight, but the vegetation and rock formations were sparse in the valley. The three of them had just reached the bottom of the valley and were beginning to scramble up the steep opposite slope when they heard a sound like a row of glass bottles shattering.A pack of Nui-Jaga was upon them, calling out with that distinctive cry. There were eight of the scorpion-like Rahi, and they were rapidly scurrying down from the northwest. Before the Toa could retreat, they were surrounded. The Jaga advanced, and at that moment they learned the folly of attempting to prey on Toa. Vilam struck first, with bolts of lightning that knocked out three immediately. Imlen formed a glowing, electrically-charged fog around the rest while Paqyar attempted to subdue them. He found that it took more energy and concentration for him to call forth plants in a barren place, but managed to summon some dry scrub that entangled the Rahi. Imlen increased the temperature of his plasma, while Vilam poured more lightning into it. The plants holding the Nui-Jaga caught fire and burned away, allowing them to flee. The Toa congratulated each other and moved on.The western slope was difficult to climb at first, but gradually became more shallow as the Toa ascended. They heard a loud buzzing as below them a swarm of insects descended on the three unconscious Nui-Jaga. The large Rahi were devoured in seconds, and the swarm moved for the Toa next as the travelers stared in surprise. A quick blast of lightning sent several of the bugs to the ground and scattered the rest, and the Toa continued their hike. Soon, they were attacked by a group of spider-like Rahi they did not recognize. Again, the Rahi were easily defeated, but the Toa were becoming weary. Vilam hoped that there would be no more encounters for a while. Her wish was denied her, however, for Visorak scurried around the opposite side of that hill. Paqyar spotted them first, and urged his friends to take cover, but it was too late. The Visorak had seen them.The Visorak were fierce, strong, and battled to the death, but it was much easier for the three to beat them now that they were Toa. Still, these Rahi were far more of a challenge than the wild beasts they had fended off earlier. And they were followed by reinforcements. After a fierce battle, Vilam fried the last of them. Just then, the Toa heard a familiar hum. Three Rahkshi landed in front of them and brandished their staffs. They were obviously eager to fight, after all, they had never had the opportunity to fight Toa before.Review

The awkward name changes right after the beginning, and the clumsy attempt to justify it in-universe. I still don't get how the new names are less offensive if they're pronounced the same, anyway.Also, I thought the entire final battle against Makuta was awesome, but unfortunately they weren't able to properly convey the enormous scale of the robots. But it wasn't that big a deal for me.

End of YrentaChapter Seven==Yrenta Region, Northern Continent, Matoran Universe==~536 AGC~ Paqyar shoved his friends out of the way just before the enormous feline Rahi's jaws closed around him. Vilam and Imlen shouted and retaliated together, forcing the beast to release Paqyar before he had been seriously hurt. Its extended neck retracted and it brought its entire body forward on rapidly-spinning treads. Imlen dodged raking claws as Vilam parried them. She delivered a painful shock from her sword, and the Muaka roared. It staggered, but resumed attacking even as Paqyar got up and began bombarding it with arrows and thorns. Imlen's plasma heated its armor until it glowed a dim orange, and still it battled them. Another swipe of its claws sent him flying into a nearby tree, a row of scratches across his breastplate. It extended its neck at him, and his friends focused their attack on that part, forcing it to retract it and come at them again.“Even a Muaka should have gone looking for easier prey by now,” said Paqyar.“I know,” said Imlen, getting back up and rejoining the fight. “We might need to just kill it.”“I'm trying,” said Vilam as she parried its claws and unleashed blasts of lightning. “Wait, there's something strange about its Kanohi.”The Muaka bore a dark Kanohi mask on each of its shoulders. Vilam summoned a forceful bolt and knocked one mask off, then the second. As the Kanohi clattered to the ground, the Muaka paused. It growled for a moment, sounding confused, then retreated into the foliage. The Toa picked up the masks it had left behind and examined them. The masks were rusty and scarred, and the Toa felt slightly nauseous from just holding them.“Infected masks,” said Imlen. “So corruption spreads among the beasts here, too.”“We've long noticed something wrong in the jungle,” Paqyar said. “But nothing so overt as this. We must be cautious.”The Toa began traveling quietly again. Still, they had several more encounters. A few more of the Rahi they battled also had infected masks. Each time the infected masks were removed, the Rahi would cease their attacks and disappear. Some had even seemed grateful to the Toa, but none had remained with them. They soon reached the other side of the jungle. They were dismayed by this, as they had found no trace of the Turaga. After traveling a short distance north, they reentered the jungle and began to search that area. They searched until dusk, and the Toa were weary. Paqyar said they should make for the eaves of the jungle again immediately. Not far into their journey back out, they were challenged by another Rahi. Paqyar caught his breath as it slithered out of the vegetation.“What's wrong, Paqyar?” said Imlen, noticing the Toa of the Green's concern. “It's just another Jivri.”“No, no,” he stammered. “Not just another Jivri. The Jivri Nui.”“What's a Jivri Nui?” asked Vilam, readying her weapon as the serpent coiled menacingly.“Not 'a' Jivri Nui,” said Paqyar as he grasped her shoulder and pulled her back. “The Jivri Nui, the King of Snakes. Get down!”Paqyar shoved Vilam to the ground as a Rhotuka spinner buzzed past. The snake Rahi lunged towards them, forced to stop just in time by a ball of plasma.“We beat four other Jivri today,” said Imlen. “I think we can take on this one.”“Maybe,” said Paqyar as he helped Vilam up and assumed a battle stance. “But it's a legendary, one-of-a-kind Rahi. If it's stayed alive this long...”His point was punctuated by the snake's next move. It ignored Vilam's sword as it bounced off its scales and twisted, scratching her with one of the seven blades on its dorsal surface. The Toa of Lightning cried out in surprise, then continued the fight. A moment later, the venom took effect. A feeling of numbness spread from the wound, slowing her. Her friends came forth, allowing her to retreat. The Jivri Nui coiled around Imlen's staff, apparently attempting to slither up it and bite him in the neck. As Imlen heated his staff, he realized too late it was a feint. The serpent dropped down and plunged its fangs into his foot before he could react. Imlen jumped back, clutching his foot, and the Rahi fired another Rhotuka from the launcher at the end of its tail. With remarkable accuracy, it struck Paqyar in the center of his chest. He screamed, not just from the pain of the poison burning into him, but also the fear of what would come next. Vilam had collapsed, her limbs paralyzed, and Imlen was on the ground too, his injured leg quickly numbing.“What... what does the venom do?” he asked fearfully.“The paralysis you feel will spread until you are unable to breathe,” said Paqyar, who had also fallen to the ground. “And you die. Don't worry, he'll wait until then before he starts eating us. Or so the stories say.”The Jivri Nui appeared to be in a hurry today, however. As Imlen found himself unable to move, the Rahi slithered to his vulnerable neck, bared its fangs, and... stopped just short of striking as a voice called out.“Not so fast, my old friend,” the voice said. The serpent hissed subserviently in reply. “I thank you for your concern, but we have nothing to fear from these three. Indeed,” continued Turaga Morok as he floated down from the treetops, “I think I have been waiting for them for a long, long time.”“Turaga Morok?” said Imlen in a mixture of disbelief and relief. He could not quite see for himself, for the venom was preventing him from raising his head.“That is me. I can tell you've been looking for me,” said the Turaga as his feet touched the ground and his mask turned off.“A little help here, please,” said Paqyar out of the side of his mouth. The paralysis was starting to affect his face, and Vilam could only mumble unintelligibly.“Oh, right. Don't worry, someone with a Toa's constitution should last about another fifteen minutes before the paralysis stops your lungs. But, luckily for you, the antidote is right here.”“Great. Could you hand it over – I mean, you'd better just pour it down our throats,” said Imlen awkwardly as his mouth began to numb.“You misunderstand. I don't have it. He does,” said Morok, pointing to the serpent. “If you'd be so kind, friend...”Morok took out a trio of small glass vials as the Jivri Nui slithered over. To the awe of the Toa, it raised its head before Morok, allowing him to squeeze the venom sacs at the base of its fangs. The poison dripped into the vials. When an adequate amount of the liquid was present in each vial, the Turaga thanked the snake and released it. Next, he cupped his hands and conjured a small amount of some sort of herb. After rummaging through his pack for a moment, he pulled out a pestle and mortar, and ground the herbs into a powder. He sprinkled a few pinches of the herb powder into each of the vials, then held them up triumphantly. Then he went about feeding it to the Toa. He started with Vilam first. At this point, she could not even open her mouth without help, so Morok lifted her mask, pulled her mouth open, and poured a vial of the potion into it. She gagged, and Morok strained to pull her upright.“I'm alright,” she said through a partially responsive mouth.Morok let her down and went to the others. Imlen was last, and he noticed the poison affecting his breathing by the time the cure was poured down his throat. Immediately, the effects ceased, and began to quickly reverse. Soon they were able to stand up, though they were tired and sore, and decided to remain seated. The whole time, the Jivri Nui stared at them. It looked as concerned as Morok had been for their health.“We're both very sorry about that,” said the Turaga. “Can't be too careful in these times. When we encounter three powerful strangers wandering through the jungle, we play it safe – safe for us, that is – and subdue them before talking to them. Or flee.”“How – ” Vilam began to say.“How did I befriend the legendary, ferocious, venomous, terrifying Jivri Nui?” Morok interrupted. “Why the same way we made friends back home, with a gift of pretty plants, friendly conversation, and helping with the chores. But no, really, not long after I began my exile, I found him injured. He had been in fight with one of the Makuta's creatures, and mortally wounded. He was... resistant to my help at first, but I managed to heal him before it was too late. And he has repaid the favor many times since. But you surely have many more questions than that, and I have some questions for you. So, let's get started then.”“Where do you live? Shouldn't we go there first?” asked Imlen.“Where do I live? I live in the jungle, silly!” laughed Morok. “I would not be very good at hiding if I stayed in one place for five hundred years, now, would I? And before you mention it, don't be too afraid. Most of the things you've encountered are my friends. Most of the rest aren't so bad either, but keep to themselves. Regardless, the only ones you have to fear now are the ones under the Makuta's dominion.”“One other thing, Turaga,” said Paqyar. “You said we were three strangers. We have not seen each other for a long time, so I can forgive you for not recognizing me.”“Oh, Paqyar! No hurt feelings, I hope, friend,” said the Turaga bashfully.“Not at all,” said Paqyar with a smile. “It's so good to see you again, after all these years.”“It is. It really is,” said Morok quietly. “But, now to business. There's a lot to talk about, and even more to do. First, I'd like to know what's going on, and how you became Toa.”The three Toa told their story to Turaga Morok. As they told him, he did what he could to tend their wounds. The venom did not damage organic tissue, only paralyzed it, but their armor had been badly corroded where they had been struck. Paqyar's chest armor was in especially bad shape. Morok did the best he could, instructing the Toa of the Green to temporarily reinforce the damaged metal with wood. Meanwhile, he responded to the details of their story. He knew of the war between the Dark Hunters and the Makuta, but was appalled by their account of how bad it had gotten. He listened excitedly to the tales of their several narrow escapes and sighed mournfully at the death of Rodas. The tale of Mosori's sacrifice thrilled him, but he also expressed sadness for his death. When they got to the part about how they became Toa, he stopped them. It was now late at night, but they did not end their discussion quite yet.“So, did I hear you correctly when you said there was a Toa working for the Makuta?” he asked.“Sadly so, and a ruthless one too, from what Rodas told us,” said Vilam.“How terrible,” said Morok with a sigh. “What could drive those who are supposed to be our heroes to do such things? I have known of such things happening before, but these days... trust and goodness are becoming rare. The Makuta's influence is everywhere. In fact, Makuta Teskor could be speaking to you at this very moment! Of course, I'm not Makuta Teskor. If I was, I would be able to do... this!”Morok stood up and held his hands in the air. Nothing unusual seemed to happen.“What was that?” said Imlen anxiously.“That was nothing, because, whatever it was, I couldn't do it,” chuckled the Turaga. “I am just Turaga Morok, and you have nothing to fear from me.”“You're... different than I remember,” said Paqyar hesitantly.“Oh? Stranger, you mean? More eccentric? Well, maybe it's because I've been a hermit for over five hundred years!”“Uh, right. Just to make sure you're not the Makuta,” said Vilam, “answer this: what did you do the last time you visited the Ce-Kini?”“Last time I... oh, well I went to deposit some records, and equipment for any traveler that happened upon them. But how could you know that?”“My mask lets me see the history of objects I touch,” explained Imlen. “While we searched the temple for clues, we figured that out, and eventually I saw you. From that, we found the items you had stashed.”“Ah, of course. The Mask of Psychometry. I've never seen one in action. On another note, I could tell you that it's said Makuta can read minds, but I'd better not. I don't want to worry you too much. Oh drat, I just said it, didn't I?”“Don't worry, Turaga, we trust you,” said Paqyar. “But I want to know why Imlen's figured out how to use his mask, and Vilam and I haven't.”“Oh, it will come to you,” said Morok. “In fact it's very unusual for one to learn that so soon after becoming a Toa. I call such things 'strange twists of fate' and I suggest you get used to them.”“So, anyway, we read the tablets you had written and came here to search for you,” Imlen briefly finished the story.“So, now what?” asked Vilam.“Now, we rest. It's the middle of the night, and there's much to do tomorrow. Don't worry, he's going to bed,” said Morok, pointing at the Jivri Nui hiding in the trees, “but more of my friends will come watch over us as we sleep.”“He's still here?” said Paqyar incredulously, staring at the serpent.“Not for long,” yawned Morok. “He's done more than his share of help today.”The Toa unpacked their belongings and went to bed on the jungle floor, trusting Morok's Rahi friends to watch over them.Review

End of YrentaChapter Six==Yrenta Region, Northern Continent, Matoran Universe==~536 AGC~ Again, Imlen saw a Turaga shuffle across the floor of the temple. He had seen this Turaga in the mask's previous visions, and although this Turaga had not been around for over five hundred years, Imlen instantly recognized him. It was Turaga Morok. This scene was different than the other visions of the Turaga he had seen. Morok was alone, and looked worse than Imlen had ever seen him. His armor was battered and dirty, and he looked sad. Not just said, Imlen noticed, but also worried. Or even afraid. Morok walked past Imlen's field of vision, and the Toa of Plasma carefully willed the mask to expand the scene. For a moment, he lost control, and feared he had broken the phantasm. But then the temple came back into focus. Morok was doing something to the Suva – Imlen couldn't tell what – and then the Turaga stepped back as a small secret compartment at the base of the dome opened. The sight of Morok depositing something in the compartment and closing it shocked Imlen out of the trance, and he snapped back to the present.“There's something in the Suva,” he said.“Something? I don't want to get near that thing again,” said Vilam.“I think it'll be alright – look,” said Paqyar.In transforming the Toa, the broken Suva had used its last energy. Its inner glow had died out, leaving it nothing but a cracked stone dome. Imlen approached and examined it. Halfway up the side of the dome, in a straight line from the middle of the room, was a large button. Imlen pressed it, and the Suva rumbled as something opened. It was not the compartment Morok had opened, however. The top section of the Suva rotated and split open, revealing a compartment that took up most of the dome's interior. It was empty except for half of a Kanohi and some fine metal dust. Imlen checked to make sure there was nothing more to that section, then pressed the button again. Thin sections of stone slid upward and together, resealing the Suva. Imlen beckoned to his friends, and they examined the exterior of the Suva carefully. Something near the bottom caught Paqyar's eye. He brushed it off, disturbing a large amount of dust.“I think... I found... something,” he announced between coughs.“What, what?” said Imlen eagerly.“Just a little writing – mostly illegible, but come see what you think.”“'Place the mask carefully' ...” read Imlen. “No... 'potential Toa' ... 'stone' … 'transform' ... 'Toa' … I don't see how this could help.”“Ah, the word 'open' is here,” said Vilam. “'Only' … 'only n' … 'natural elemental' … ah, it says 'only natural elemental energy can open' ….”“Now we're on to something,” said Imlen. “So, only a Toa or Turaga can open the compartment. But where is it? We can't just blast the Suva randomly.”“Maybe here. Something looks just out of place in this spot,” said Paqyar, indicating a small part of the Suva in front of him.“Worth a try. But be careful – we don't want to break anything.”Paqyar channeled a miniscule amount of elemental energy into the point he had noticed. To his surprise, instead of manifesting as plant life, it formed a glowing green vapor that was sucked into a widening crack in the stone. With a quiet thud, the compartment they had been searching for swung open. Paqyar beckoned his friends over as he held his lightstone into the small chamber. There were some more tablets within, as well as some small pieces of equipment such as a compass. There was also a strange mechanical contraption built into the walls of the compartment, made evident by the presence of moving metal parts.“Don't touch that,” Paqyar warned. “I think I can see what it does. See, it's supporting this stone block here, and keeping this valve closed. This trigger here will drop the block and open the valve.”“Ah, I get it,” said Imlen as he touched the valve very carefully. “Ouch, acid. It's designed to trigger if someone attempts to break in. Forcing this open will cause the contents to be crushed and dissolved. We're lucky it wasn't set off when the Suva was damaged.”“I didn't expect any of the old builders to have been so... crafty,” said Vilam.“I'm glad they were. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been the first to find these,” said Paqyar, retrieving the compartment's contents.The Toa of the Green placed the items on the floor where the three of them could look them over. There was a set of basic traveling equipment, including the compass. They were already well-equipped, but took the supplies as spares, just in case. Morok had even thought to include a pack of ageless ration canisters. These very rare canisters contained concentrated food energy, and would keep well indefinitely – even centuries had no effect, unless the containers were ruined. Hence, they were useful for placing in hidden caches for emergencies. But the most important find was a series of inscribed tablets. In a refreshing change, the letters in these were perfectly legible. None of the three Toa could recall what Morok's handwriting looked like, but it was obvious enough that this was his work. The Toa arranged the tablets in order and began to read.“As of the time of this writing, it has been four weeks since the disaster,” the engraved letters said. “That day, the earth cracked, buildings crumbled, and the sea rose up as far as the village of Sonics. The water is receding, and the Ga-Matoran were unharmed, but the De-Matoran have disappeared. Their fortress is intact, but deserted. We have not been able to investigate. On the day of the disaster, the Toa were below the mountains. There was great damage to Metaku's realm. Many were buried in the quake, and I fear the Toa were among them. In addition to the initial casualties, the disaster has had more dire consequences. Everything is dimmer, less vibrant. Even the air feels strangely listless. All these point to one thing: Mata Nui himself has been gravely hurt. Initially we feared he may have died, but if that had happened, we would have all died with him. Then we hoped he had merely been briefly stunned. But after weeks, it is clear to us that he is asleep. The universe still functions, but it has changed for the worse, and will not be restored until he wakes.“Though I fear what this portends, we have more current problems. Mere days after the disaster, the Ukzokth attacked in overwhelming force. Many small communities were eradicated or enslaved. Fortresses that should have been able to hold out for months were breached in days. Just as those bastions were overcome, a new side joined the war. At that time, many of the Ukzokth halted their attack. The others were slain. But though our people rejoiced, Siok and I were afraid. For the one who had 'saved' us was our old enemy, the Makuta Teskor. He claimed he had conquered the Ukzokth just in time to stop them from wiping us out. Now I see he has always been behind them, working behind the scenes all the time we had thought him dead. His lies were accepted by the Matoran all too readily. His past deeds forgotten, he has been accepted as a savior.“His influence is quickly spreading, and we are powerless to stop it. Already, those who speak against him have begun to disappear. Siok and I have refrained from publicly commenting. We have spread dissent quietly, but it has not been enough. It shames us, but we must hide. Siok and I will disappear until the time comes. We have done what we can to set the rise of our next Toa in motion. Two of the Toa Stones, the remaining two of a set we made long ago, are in the Ce-Kini. Only Vibrak knew where the others were hidden. Siok has spoken of leaving Yrenta to get help. It sounds like suicide to me. Perhaps we should not simply wait for heroes to arrive, but the lands beyond are dangerous. Who knows what has happened out there since the disaster? And Teskor would surely hunt us down. I hope Siok has abandoned that hopeless idea. I do not know where he will go. We have agreed to stay hidden, even from each other.“I can only hope that Siok finds refuge before Teskor finds him. As for myself, I do not need to go far from home. The jungle is not the most vast region of Yrenta, but there are many places to hide there. Even if enemies find me there, the jungle will protect me. My village has stood for millennia, and has only now been conquered through deception. But the plants and Rahi are not so easily swayed by deceitful words. They know things for what they are.”“I... I don't believe it,” muttered Paqyar, as he stood up. “All these years, and he has been hiding in the very same jungle.”“He made a good point about that, however,” said Vilam. “Even if you had been looking for him there, you might have never found him.”“I know, trust me. No one knows that better than us Green Matoran,” said Paqyar. “But it's just... if he was there the whole time, why didn't he tell us?”“You know how things are, Paqyar,” said Imlen. “Had he shared that secret, the word would have been spread, and the Makuta would have found out. You read it, the two Turaga did not even tell the other where he was hiding.”“What do you think of the rest of it?” asked Vilam. “I wonder if Turaga Siok did leave Yrenta.”“If he did, he did not succeed in bringing back help,” said Imlen grimly. “Now, I noticed something curious. If the fortress of Sonics was not destroyed in the Cataclysm, why did the De-Matoran disappear?”“Good question,” said Paqyar. “I had assumed they were wiped out, but then I never got the chance to actually look for myself.”“Me too. We all had other things to worry about. Their disappearance was just one more thing to add to the pile,” said Vilam.“Also, there is a possibility we must consider,” said Imlen. “Turaga Morok may have not made it back to the jungle after he deposited his recordings here.”“True,” sighed Paqyar. “I hope that's not the case, however. So, how about that fortress of Sonics? Should we investigate it? It's close, isn't it?”“It is close, but I think we should head to the jungle next. Morok should know of us as soon as possible, and we need guidance from him. Besides, something might have wiped the De-Matoran out. If it's still there, I'd like to get some combat experience first. We'd better not rush off to die.”“I concur,” said Vilam.“Me too,” said Paqyar. “Besides, I can't wait to get back home.”“Unfortunately, we'd better not reveal ourselves to the Matoran yet, for the same reason Morok did not,” said Vilam. “I'm sorry, Paqyar.”“You're right,” said Paqyar regretfully. “At least it will be good to see the jungle again. I have been away for years.”Their path clear for the moment, the Toa camped in the temple that night. The next morning, they packed their equipment and left. They headed directly east, towards the distant river. Their longer legs and heroic endurance let them travel at a much faster pace. Later that same day, they arrived at the banks of the river. Since the Cataclysm, the Ga-Matoran had relocated to a site not far away. The Toa were careful to keep their distance, and were only spotted by the occasional Rahi. The river was much wider and more wild than it had been in past ages, and the Toa had to travel a considerable distance to find a safe place to ford it. It was only early evening when they made it across the river and to the eaves of the jungle, but they set up camp there and went to bed early. Paqyar had insisted that the inexperienced should never travel the jungle at night, even Toa. Imlen and Vilam were nervous that night, spooked by the calls of unknown Rahi and intimidated by the vast, all-encompassing plants that lay before them. Paqyar, on the other hand, had trouble sleeping for the opposite reason. Returning to his homeland had invigorated him.Before his disappearance, Turaga Morok had confided his fears to Paqyar, along with a handful of other trusted Matoran. That same day, he had disappeared without announcing his departure. Even the village's best trackers had been unable to find him. In the following years, the spreading corruption had touched the jungle, but the village remained well-insulated. And so, about three hundred years ago, Paqyar had decided to travel the land and do what he could to improve the lives of his fellow Matoran. His situation became more dangerous as he regularly committed acts in opposition to Makuta Teskor's authority, and even more dangerous when the war against the Dark Hunters reached his homeland. Only by teaming up with the small band of heroes led by Imlen had he survived. Over the years, members of their team had died and new members had joined. Now he and the other two Toa were all that were left of that group.Early the next morning the Toa rose and entered the jungle. Paqyar guided them, keeping them to the safest path. He pointed out signs of wild Rahi, and which plants were dangerous. Imlen attempted to use his Kanohi to look for evidence of Morok's passing, but he found that the mask's power did not work on living targets. What bare rocks or patches of earth he could find showed nothing of any use. Soon the Toa figured that the best way to find the Turaga was to let him know they were looking for him. Unfortunately, that would also alert the local predators to their presence. They stopped traveling stealthily, and in the next few hours they encountered various aggressive Rahi. Most of these fled when given a taste of their elemental powers, and posed little threat to them, so the Toa had let their guard down when a Muaka pounced on them.Review

Wait a minute - an energy that grants mental powers, including telekinesis?It's the Force!

I don't see why Psionics couldn't be absorbed, it could have effects ranging from making the target forget their current thought to destroying their minds entirely. It was just decided for some reason that they couldn't. I think it's said they can do Nova Blasts though, which would consist of a mental attack that could make its targets stunned, unconscious, mindless, insane, or dead.

All the Elements 'worked' for me, but most of them weren't explored in the story enough.

End of YrentaChapter Five==Yrenta Region, Northern Continent, Matoran Universe==~536 AGC~ “Well, here we are, team,” said Imlen as they looked up at the gate. The remains of a giant stone mask loomed above a partially-collapsed entrance.“If anyone lives here,” said Vilam nervously, “I'm not sure I want to meet them."“What if it's one of our old heroes?” said Imlen.“Well, there's a chance of that,” Vilam admitted. “Alright, let's go.”It was dark inside the temple. The only light came from the entrance and a hole in the ceiling. The Matoran each took out a lightstone. The stones illuminated the walls, revealing scratched carvings and shredded tapestries. They were in the central chamber, which had a smaller room on each side. At the back of chamber was a damaged stone dome. A strange tingling feeling affected the Matoran as they came close to it. Suddenly a flash of right erupted from the cracks in the dome. Startled, the Matoran jumped back. Imlen's equipment spilled out of his pack, including a pouch that hit the floor with a clatter.“Isn't that Rodas's pouch?” asked Vilam as she picked it up.“Oh, yes,” said Imlen. “I had forgotten about it. I took it from Mosori's body before we buried him.”“It's taken a beating,” said Vilam, placing the bag's broken contents on the floor.“During the fight with the Rahkshi,” explained Imlen. “Let's take a look at it.”“Just like puzzle stones,” said Paqyar as the Matoran sat down and reassembled the fragmented tablets.“Keep at it,” said Imlen, glancing up from the pieces. “I think I saw something.”The room to the right had a small hole in it, letting a shaft of light inside. Something in the dim glow around the shaft caught Imlen's eye. He stood up and went to investigate. Holding his lightstone high, he looked upon the platform at the back of the room. It seemed to have writing and decorations on it, but had been defaced. As Imlen stepped closer to investigate, he almost tripped on something. It felt like a metal pole, but when his foot touched it, he felt an unfamiliar sensation. He turned and directed the lightstone along its length. As he saw what it was, his eyes brightened. He gasped.“Vilam! Paqyar!” he called excitedly. “Guys, come here!”“What, what is it?” said Paqyar and the two Matoran scurried into the room.“Look at this,” said Imlen, picking up the object with a grunt.“That's a Toa-sized weapon, alright,” said Vilam.“Not just any Toa tool,” explained Imlen. “This was the staff of Toa Tanu.”“Hm. He's buried in the north, but this must have been another memorial,” said Paqyar, examining the back of the room. “Someone's defiled it, too.”“Right, looks like the staff is meant to fit... here,” said Vilam, indicating a damaged frame on the platform. “Maybe it'll stay if we put it back carefully.”“Wait,” said Imlen. “Here, touch it. Feel that? What is that?”“I... don't know,” said Paqyar as he touched the staff carefully.“We should put it aw – wow, what is that?” said Vilam, fascinated by the sensation.“Maybe there are carvings around here that explain it,” suggested Imlen as he lowered the staff gently.The Matoran searched the room, but there was nothing legible left. All the engravings had been ruined by whatever had defiled the temple.“Hmm, I think I saw a picture of the head of this staff on Rodas's carvings,” Paqyar said when they finished searching.“Maybe there's something in the other chambers that can explain it,” said Vilam.“Worth a look,” said Imlen. “Here, help me bring it to the center.”The feeling the staff gave them when they touched it changed as they brought it to the central chamber. Somehow, it felt like it resonated with the dome in the back. The Matoran were curious, but they ignored that for the moment. They placed it on the ground next to them and looked over Rodas's carvings. The fragments of the carvings were small, and had been tossed around a lot during their travels. Each work took a rather long time to reassemble, and each one, while interesting, gave them no clear information they could use in this situation. At last, one of them, covered in both pictures and text, got their notice.“'And so the Turaga placed the two remaining' ...” Paqyar read. “... 'remaining' – can't read this next word – 'on the central Suva, where future heroes' … drat, I can't make out the – ”“Oh!” interrupted Imlen. “Of course, a Suva! That's what the dome there is. Both a memorial to Toa and something they use to store their masks in. But what did the Turaga put there?”“I'll go look,” offered Paqyar, and he stood up.“Paqyar, wait,” Vilam ran after him. “That thing could be dangerous.”“You're right,” said Paqyar, but he ran to the Suva anyway. Vilam followed him.“I don't like this,” said Vilam. “This feeling is almost overwhelming. Who knows what sort of energy is leaking out?”“Look, these must be what the Turaga left here,” said Paqyar, picking up two polished stones the size of his fist. “Weird, feels like Tanu's staff. Check it out, Vilam.”Vilam reached out and touched one of the stones. Imlen watched, and touched Tanu's staff curiously. The sensation was stronger than it had been, and seemed to be guiding him towards the Suva. He could not explain his reasoning as he picked up the staff and dragged it as he walked over to his friends. He was a few bio away from it when suddenly it erupted again. Bolts of energy flew wildly from the Suva, striking the Matoran. The stones Paqyar and Vilam held disintegrated. They screamed, until they realized they were not being harmed. The feeling was uncomfortable, but invigorating. The three Matoran stumbled and fell. Paqyar and Vilam tumbled down the small steps that the Suva rested on, and Imlen landed on his back, his hand grasping the staff tightly. Vilam cried out as Paqyar's foot shot into her face. Reflexively, she pushed it out of the way. The light had vanished, but the three of them were still dazzled. Vilam wondered how Paqyar's leg had reached so far when her sight returned, along with the others'. Though at first, they were sure their vision was still not working. For the appearance of their friends, and of themselves, was unfamiliar.“Us?” said Vilam in disbelief as she stood on her elongated legs. “We're Toa?”“Not what I was expecting to find, I admit,” said Imlen, holding the staff, which was now just the right size for him.“So, now what?” said Paqyar. “We save the Matoran?”“Not so fast,” cautioned Vilam. “We have plenty of enemies easily capable of killing Toa, and we're far more prominent targets now.”“You're right,” said Imlen. “And we need to learn to use our new abilities. I still feel dizzy in this new body.”“Right. Let's see what I can do,” said Paqyar.The new Toa of the Green called upon his elemental power, growing a small stem between his fingers. Before he could stop it, the power was flooding out of control, causing the stem to grow into a growth of vines that covered the room. The Toa sighed with relief when the growth stopped, but the plants remained.“We'd better save the testing for outside,” said Imlen. “Wait – your weapons, look!”Paqyar and Vilam checked the weapons strapped to their backs. They had changed to match their new bodies. Their masks gave off a strange feeling too, but the Toa failed to harness whatever new powers the Kanohi had been given. They decided to try again later, and to keep searching the temple for more information. In the chamber to the left of the entrance they found a broken sarcophagus. A scrap of golden armor and the letters 'lokk' were the only clues to who had been laid to rest there. The Toa did not recognize what that meant until they consulted Rodas's carvings. Searching through the carvings, they found one that referenced how the Toa of Yrenta were established. The engraved letters triggered long-dormant memories in their minds. The first Turaga of Yrenta, Turaga Varlokka, had been buried in this room. Whoever had defiled the temple had apparently taken her, too.“I've seen enough,” said Paqyar, as he stood up and left the room. “I just can't wait to get my hands on whoever did this.”“Paqyar, wait!” called Vilam. “We haven't thoroughly – ”“We'll come back and search more later,” Paqyar turned to reply. “I need some fresh air.”“I agree with him,” said Imlen. “I think we should also step outside for our first practice session.”“Good point,” conceded Vilam. “Alright, but let's be careful. We don't want to attract any attention out here – or kill each other.”The three novice Toa left the Ce-Kini interior. At the bottom of the front steps, they split up and began testing their powers individually. Imlen's first use of his elemental power summoned a large, formless cloud of plasma that was quickly dispersed by the wind. With concentration and practice, he managed to conjure smaller and larger masses of plasma, and keep them intact longer. After experimenting for about an hour, he tried something new. Aiming the tip of Tanu's staff – now his staff – at a chunk of rock about ten bio away, he channeled his powers through the weapon. Concentrating on it, he managed to keep a ball of plasma intact and rapidly launch it at the stone. He missed. He tried again, and hit this time, melting the rock. Meanwhile, Vilam and Paqyar had been testing their new powers. The Toa of the Green beckoned to his friends.“Hey, check this out,” he said, growing a small shaft of wood in his hands. “Now I just need to find out how to grow them pointed,” he added as he nocked the shaft on his bowstring, pulled it back, and released it.“Brilliant, Paqyar,” said Vilam. “What do you think of this?”Vilam spun around and swung her sword in swift, agile motions. Their physical transformations had made the Toa awkward at first, but their new forms were more lithe. Vilam was quickly becoming accustomed to the change and learning to harness her new gracefulness. She finished by shooting lighting out of her sword and causing it to arc back into her other hand. She soon found she could not hold the absorbed energy for long. She tested how long she could control it, and when she reached her limit, she released out of her sword again. But it did not blast out of the sword as she had expected. Curious, she inspected the hilt's capacitor and found it to be warm. She willed the stored electricity out of the capacitor, and this time it shot out of the blade.“Interesting,” she said to no one in particular. “I had expected the sword's battery and capacitor had been ruined in the transformation. But it seems it can still generate a little power on its own, and store a little extra power if I give it some.”“Alright, team,” said Imlen a little later. “Do you have a decent grasp of your element now?”“Well, I've learned a lot the past couple hours,” said Paqyar.“Me too, but we're far from being proficient,” said Vilam.“What I meant was, do you think we could duel without really hurting each other?” said Imlen.The Toa agreed that a mock-battle would be a good idea, if they were careful. They started with a free-for all. Forming a triangle formation five bio away from each other, they began. Paqyar tried to summon shafts of wood for arrows, but fumbled, instead creating misshapen chunks. Imlen checked Vilam's position, then blinded Paqyar with a bright cloud. He misjudged how long that would take, and was struck by Vilam's electrical attack. He composed himself and countered, summoning a shield of plasma to absorb the lightning. He and Vilam remained in a deadlock in this manner for a long moment, then suddenly vines pulled them off their feet. Paqyar chuckled and caused the vines to tighten around them. The entangled Toa released their elements unfocused through the whole of their bodies, burning the plants away. Vilam got back up faster, and after stunning Imlen with a quick jolt, ran after Paqyar. Paqyar managed to get some arrows off, but they did not slow her. He desperately released a burst of random plant growth from his off hand, which Vilam quickly hacked through. Paqyar staggered back – and was suddenly hit in the chest by a ball of plasma.“Hey, you stole my kill!” laughed Vilam.“Watch it, Imlen!” croaked Paqyar. “That actually hurt.”“Sorry,” said Imlen.Vilam offered to help Paqyar up, but he shook his head and they resumed the fight. After some more intense battling, they abandoned all pretense of competition and declared it a three-way tie. They were burnt and battered, but had been having more fun than they had had for a long time. Now the sun was dimming, and they remembered the seriousness of their situation. In a week, they had lost most of their closest friends. They had undergone an unexpected transformation that could one day lead to them saving their homeland, but now they were just high-profile fugitives. They were powerful, but that power was untamed, and they were alone. Imlen sighed and lead his friends back into the temple. At the stop of the stairs he paused and laid his hand against the broken gate, wondering what had transpired here.In a way he had never expected, he question was answered. He felt a strange sensation and turned to address his friends. But his friends were gone. Instead, he saw a team of Po-Matoran replacing broken flagstones in the road and repairing the stairs at his feet. The statues and totems were suddenly whole, as was the stone Kanohi Miru above him. Startled, he willed himself to concentrate on the vision, for he realized what he was seeing. He was glimpsing the temple's past. He tried to look at a different time, but could not control the power. A boulder in a dark quarry – the source of the stone he was touching – flashed before his eyes, then the phantom scene was gone. He heard his name being called.“Imlen?” Vilam repeated. “Are you alright?”“What happened?” asked Paqyar. “Your mask was glowing.”“It... it was?” Imlen touched his mask. “I guess I activated it somehow.”“Somehow?” said Paqyar. “How?”“I... I'm not sure. I just was wondering about the temple's past, and suddenly I was looking back in time. I saw the temple being repaired, and where the rock I was touching was dug up.”“The mask lets you see the past?” asked Vilam.“Of an object I touch, apparently,” amended Imlen. “I haven't figured out how to control what I see, or when it activates.”“What luck!” Paqyar exclaimed suddenly. “Don't you realize – with that power, you could learn... well, almost anything, but for a start, what happened inside the temple.”It was indeed an incredible stroke of good fortune. Yet that fortune seemed to fade as Imlen searched the temple again. Most of the time, he could not even get his mask to activate. When it did, he saw many scenes, most of which showed no one in the temple. A few showed people visiting, or repairing the structure. He once caught a glimpse of a new team of Toa being formed, but lost track of that vision too quickly. A few times, he saw Turaga, but what he saw was irrelevant to his current quest. Until, viewing the history of a random tile that had come loose from the floor, he saw their greatest clue yet.Review