Kal the Guardian

IC: Sorilax Life Seeker - Aspect of Light and Silence

Location - Aqua Sphere, Giant Tower, Top Penthouse

With - Mahrika, Ollem, Kas

While Sorilax became glad at the Ga-Matoran’s willingness to help him, he quickly realized she was the opposite of who he truly wanted to help him. Who knew what devious and underhanded Aspect was behind her actions. He could not trust anything she said or did. Which was a shame, because she seemed very nice.

Perhaps she was Desecrated by Aspects he could trust to be themselves, like All-Seeker or Apex. But it could just as likely be that she was Desecrated by someone who kept their true dark goals close to their chests either through choice or by separation, like Ulkarr or the Eldest. Yes, it was best to be as cautious as possible, even if that meant he had to force himself not to illuminate the others here to the true dubious nature of his species.

Sorilax looked around. The Toa was still near all the papers, but the other Matoran was still gone. Did he have a Kraata too? Perhaps Illusion or Chameleon? Sorilax Sensed his element of Light, feeling as it shone through the glass of the windows and feeling it bounce around the room as it provided optics the ability to perceive the world around them. Sorilax mentally frowned, seeing as he could not physically. There was a spot where Light was warping around an empty gap in the air, almost exactly like he had been doing earlier. Did the Matoran have an element?

Well, perhaps it was technology. Apparently technology could do a lot more than he thought possible.

Sorilax responded to the Ga-Matoran’s final statement, “I know not how much use I would be trying to kill a technology spirit, but I shall endeavor not to be a liability.”

He turned to Kas, awaiting instruction. It seemed like the Toa of Fire was both the one who knew what to do and the one in charge here. At least the Toa did not seem Desecrated as of yet. He claimed to be a being of death, but based on the state of the room, a battle had been fought here some time past. If the Toa of Fire were involved, then that might be guilt talking more than a boast about killing others. Sorilax would not tolerate a murderer, but partaking in a war muddied those moral waters and he still mused occasionally on how war aligned with his idea of moral Light. He was not sure if he had ever come up with an answer he liked regarding the topic.
 

OOC: @Harvali @Unreliable Narrator

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning, Mind Reading and Quick Healing

Location - Outside the Fire Ruins

With - Whira

Cravious looked at the two masks he had forged, wishing he could figure out what their powers were. They were from the Kanoka he had yet to figure out. The base ones that seemed to do nothing when they struck things. All the other ones were easy to figure out. One created ice. One shrunk things. One enlarged things. But these two, they eluded him.

Perhaps they had beneficial powers, but he had no idea how to test that. Yet, anyway. He was sure he would figure something out soon enough.

He set aside the masks and grabbed a flat piece of metal, setting down a Kanoka atop it and tracing out the shape. He then grabbed his laser cutter and cut out several pieces of metal designed for holding Kanoka, heating them and shaping them, eventually adding on a spring loaded attachment that allowed the Kanoka to be exchanged.

In the midst of the monotonous project as he made several of these pieces, his optics scanned the volcano, noting Yumiwak’s ship was still there. He stopped his immediate work and moved over to Whira, who was sitting in front of a large screen that acted as a fake window. The screen was a feed from a camera on the outside of the Cube being played live on the large cathode-ray tube television. Cravious’ inherent power had allowed the screen to be basically flat instead of the insides taking up a lot of space.

There were a couple of these fake windows around the perimeter of the Cube’s interior, mostly as a convenient way to see what was outside without going to the monitoring station, but also as a way not to feel quite so claustrophobic inside the large protosteel vehicle. Although Cravious would never add a design flaw to his creation such as an actual window.

Whira looked up at him with a silent question and he shook his head no, telling her they still couldn’t be on their way. Cravious sat down, joining her, as he wiped down what appeared to be some kind of miniature engine. He inclined his head in the direction of the volcano, “You know, Yumiwak, the one creating all those Kaiju, she too seeks power.” He let the statement sink in, “Although I doubt she would see the wisdom of joining us, we probably should create some kind of plan to deal with her, either trying to subjugate her or remove her from the equation entirely if we can’t avoid her. Otherwise she might become very annoying until you finish your Grand Wish.”

OOC: @~Xemnas~

IC: Sorilax Life Seeker - Aspect of Light and Silence

Location - Aqua Sphere, Giant Tower, Top Penthouse

With - Mahrika, Ollem, Kas

“You remember my name? Hummm…” Sorilax thought hard, forgotten memories trying to surface but clogged by the choking fog in his mind. Mi-Kiri sounded so familiar. “Well, my memories have been tampered with and I cannot recall much of anything before the arrival of the Skakdi, just vague feelings. So I know not what an AI is. But that is beside the point. Well met, Kas of Mi-Kiri, master of finance and bringer of death. Thank you for your salutations.”

Sorilax paused before continuing. He did not want to reveal too much before the Ga-Matoran. Then again, he did not know too much about what he was looking for in the first place. “As for what I am searching for, as I said, I know not for certain. All I know is that I must figure out how to create life without utilizing Taboos. This Aqua Sphere, Mi-Kiri, as you say, used to rain water down on Zakaz below for thousands of years. Everything the rain touched de-aged and reverted to its early existence. I feel that unique property hints at even more secrets being hidden up here and that I might be able to find something to fulfill my next step among them.”

Sorilax paused again and the Matoran with the sword spoke up. He listened and considered, then replied.

“I know not if I would be able to bring back those lost. Perhaps in tandem with an Aspect of Spirit, Soul, or Time. I will not know for sure until I have achieved my Grand Wish.”

As Mahrika spoke of the list and its possible tie in to the island vanishing, a horrible realization came over him. That list, it sounded far too familiar. He conjured a golden hardlight chair and sat down, trying to think of some other possibility. But no, he knew he was right. He had interviewed enough Aspects to recognize the steps of a Grand Wish when he heard them.

Sorilax was not sure about the riteborn, but Artakha, Sala had said that was a legendary being of Creation. The Krom Sphere sounded very important, and Mangaia… for some reason the name reminded of the doorway that had almost killed him. The Krom Sphere must be an object of great power that took great risk to fill. And the Makoki Stone, it represented validating reality and a pathway to Tren Krom himself if Nuju were to be believed. And viewing the Red Star as a final step? It sounded like this Aspect created something for itself, powered it, made it real, and then charted a destination.

Sorilax knew of only one being that could fit that description: Mata-Nui. He had ridden the stars with his own universe inside him, powered by what had to be the Krom Sphere. What had gone wrong to cause him to come crashing down?

Sorilax looked to the Ga-Matoran, “I fear that that list has no relation to the disappearance of the island and that we are no closer to solving how to fix it. Hopefully I am wrong. But what I do know is the steps of a Grand Wish when I hear them. And it is my guess that that Grand Wish has already been completed. I believe that is the Grand Wish of Mata-Nui, the Great Spirit whose head now sinks off the western coast. I have been told that he is a Great Spirit of Death, which would make him my rival were he not a being far above my current physical state and so impossible to currently fight against.”

Sorilax stood, hardlight chair disappearing. Suddenly everything felt much more urgent to accomplish. “I believe it would do us well to continue on in our quests, both to kill this AI device and learn the secrets of this place. How can I be of assistance?”

OOC: @Unreliable Narrator @Harvali

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Stannis, Caedast, Grime, Miserix, Life creation Muaka

Viltia hadn’t stopped looking at Grime. Eventually she couldn’t take it any more and spoke again, “Is- is that a no? I apologize if that question was rude.”
 

OOC: @Unreliable Narrator @Crimson Jester @EmperorWhenua @Gecko Greavesy

IC: Sorilax Life Seeker - Aspect of Light and Silence

Location - Aqua Sphere, Giant Tower, Top Penthouse

With - Mahrika, Ollem, Kas

Sorilax waited until the Ga-Matoran had finished speaking, then answered her in order of her statements.

“It would seem so, that time is indeed changing. Though I know not whether for better or for worse. It seems to be unraveling uncontrollably more so than under the influence of someone.

“The island does indeed seem to be vanishing, that is correct. Based on my previous observations, it is not merely erosion that is affecting the land. Large chunks are simply gone. And that does not even begin to explain how the island is also smaller.

“But thank you for welcoming me and inviting me to stay. I too know not of these machines of which you speak. Perhaps I saw some earlier, however. They were not like any other form of life I have seen before. I saw them only from a distance and I avoided them as I did not wish to discover if they would be hostile towards myself or not, so I do not have much to share about them, other than that they can switch from walking on two to four feet.”

This time a golden hardlight hand formed to scratch at his Rahkhi’s chin, “This Admin you talk of, though. I cannot remember if I have heard their name before. And I know nothing of this projection of which you speak, unless it functions like Aspect possession, perhaps. However, I would be willing to aid you should you need support. While I do fear that time might be drawing short and I must quickly be on my way to accomplishing my Grand Wish, I am always willing to offer help where it is needed.”

Sorilax was intrigued to hear she had uncovered something that could even remotely be construed to the island vanishing. Was this not some unforeseen disaster?

And then her question about his Grand Wish. Was she really Desecrated or an Aspect and this was her trying to subvert or derail his progress? As he had for many millennia around his brothers and sisters, he needed to trod with a light step.

“I am the Aspect of Life. Specifically the creation and sustaining of it. My Grand Wish will hopefully allow me to make Zakaz less of a desolate and mutated wasteland.”

Despite the yearning to tell the others there all he knew of Aspects and the species’ dangers so that they might be protected going forward, he could not chance another Aspect putting two and two together and realizing his Grand Wish would change all Aspects going forward and then trying to stop him.
 

OOC: @Harvali @Unreliable Narrator

IC: Sorilax Life Seeker - Aspect of Light and Silence

Location - Aqua Sphere, Giant Tower, Top Penthouse

With - Mahrika, Ollem, Kas

The Matoran’s question brought Sorilax from his incredulity as her body shifted in the light. The other Matoran had disappeared somehow. He focused upon the one he could see. The one that had stepped back inside the room from the balcony. His many millennia of studying life gave him insights even into beings he had not studied extensively yet, and she was… pathetic. Sorilax’s soul yearned to rejuvenate her. She looked worn down and malnourished and as if she had been that way for a few thousand years at least. Sorilax studied her body, trying to see if there was some cause other than prolonged lack of decent nutrition that he might be able to help with.

Actually, she was holding her large sword fairly well. Perfectly balanced, if he had to guess, which he had to because he was no swordsman. Sorilax studied her form with an even greater scrutiny. Had her optics just shifted? And before, had that not just been a trick of the light when he saw her body shift? Sorilax thought through possibilities and was suddenly suspicious of a Kraata of Adaption being in play as he narrowed things down in his mind. Although he could not see such a Kraata adorning her neck, that did not mean she could not have one elsewhere on her. Or in her, he supposed.

Best to be cautious, then. No need to reveal more than was needed in front of another Aspect or Aspect proxy. He replied in order of the questions, “Greetings, and apologies for the intrusion. I am Sorilax, an Aspect. I am not lost in location so much as in time. Either forward or backwards, I am not sure, though I suspect backwards. It was just past noon when I was outside the room, yet when I stepped in, suddenly the sun shifted back to early morning and you three appeared quite unexpectedly.”

His left hand stroked where the chin would be on his Rahkshi had the head not ended with the upper mouth piece, “I had heard from my friends that this phenomenon was happening when others left and returned to their village. Sometimes days or weeks would happen on either end, only for the other side to have a single day transpire. Time seems to be falling apart on Zakaz just as quickly as this island is disappearing.”

Sorilax shook his Rahkshi head in thought, then refocused, “But that is a problem for later. Currently I am scouring this Aqua Sphere in search of something I suspect is here that will help me on my way to achieving my Grand Wish. Unfortunately, that is all I have to go off of, a feeling that I will find what I need here. I know not what I am looking for, nor where exactly I should search.”

He looked around the room and then back at the Ga-Matoran with the sword, “I really did not mean to intrude. I simply came up here for the view, to see if I could spot anything important looking below. Would you prefer if I left?”

OOC: @Harvali @Unreliable Narrator

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Stannis, Caedast, Grime, Miserix, Life creation Muaka

“Prayer and creation…” Viltia mumbled to herself. Suvas weren’t just about holding stuff? She felt so ignorant. She had so much to learn! Hopefully the key would be her second step, Grime seemed to be her first.

Grime asked about a location of great faith and she shook her head no. She spoke up, squirming as she did so. Her emotions were plain to all before her as her tethers squirmed with her, she was dying to ask way more but was holding herself back, “What do you mean by faith and prayer? I never prayed even when we were all in Mata-Nui. If it’s not too much to ask, could you tell us of your faith and what it means to have faith on this island?”

OOC: @Unreliable Narrator @Crimson Jester @Gecko Greavesy @EmperorWhenua

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Stannis (kind of), Caedast, Grime, Miserix, Life creation Muaka

"The food is good, thank you Viltia. I couldn't absorb any more if I wanted to," the Matoran replied, filling Viltia with joy. It was always good to get away from the mushroom stew that made up her meals half the time and enjoy some luxuries. Even if she could literally just make them wherever she wanted. She still enjoyed the simplicity and honest nature of gardening.

Viltia finished her food as he spoke, setting it aside. Whisper mentioned the keys were called codexes, which made everything said before make at least slightly more sense.

The Matoran continued.

"Please call me Grime. I am a simple storyteller now, carrying the legacy of the Builders, hoping for a better world. Before Irnakk I was a forgemaster, practicing at the temple of the Heartsflame. That's all gone now. You'll want to place your codex in the Suva where you work your craft. You are a smith, aren't you? I see soot in your joints."

Viltia was instantly hooked as Grime spoke, “Yes! Yes! I am. And I absolutely love it! Although I only just started learning recently. You should see where I forge some time. Maybe we could make something together! Although right now I only know how to make Kanoka and Kanohi.”

She tilted her head, “But what do you mean by ‘the Suva where I work my craft’? I don’t work at a Suva, just a normal protosteel forge. Do you mean the Elemental Suva where I input all my Kanohi?”

OOC: @Unreliable Narrator @EmperorWhenua @Crimson Jester @Gecko Greavesy

IC: Sorilax Life Seeker - Aspect of Light and Silence

Location - Aqua Sphere, Giant Tower, Top Penthouse

With - Mahrika, Ollem, Kas

Sorialx’s ascent up the tower had gone by unhindered in the light of the noon day sun. The sunlight being cast reminding him of all the time he had wasted getting side-tracked. At least it lit the interior of the Aqua Sphere with beautiful splendor despite the unwashed outer glass.

At the top of the tower, he found a singular doorway. Based on the scrape marks on the door jam, it must have been forced open recently. Sorilax peered inside the penthouse, but there was no one visible. There were more signs of activity, though. Physical maps and other papers were strewn about the room, still being slid by the wind from the broken windows and open door to the balcony. Electrical box things were spread out without dust situated on them, all of them hooked up to what Sorilax believed to be a creator of energy he had seen Skakdi use in the past.

What had been so important to have caused someone to recently come here? No! That did not matter. He saw no evidence of what he needed and so did not need to learn more about the room. Perhaps this tower had been a dead end all along. But perchance the view from this height might allow him to see a location more important than this.

Sorilax stepped into the room and back in time. In an instant the world shifted, like he was back in the Far Shore as the timelines converged around him. Three beings stood before him, two Matoran and a Toa. The papers were being gone through by the Toa. The electronic boxes were stacked up. One of the Matoran was on the balcony. But most disorienting of all, the sunlight was back to being early in the morning.

The change was so sudden, so out of the blue, that Sorilax lost all concentration, becoming both visible and his field of Silence dropping so that only his passive bodily Silence remained. Not that it mattered, as he exclaimed out loud, “Great jumping Mahi! I say, I say by jove, how in the name of time did I end up now?”

The good beings of Le-Metru Nuva were right. Time was indeed falling apart.
 

OOC: @Harvali @Unreliable Narrator

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Stannis (dead, but also void touched), Caedast, Grime, Miserix, Life creation Muaka

As Stannis spoke of Fort Nektann and his time there, fond memories of Nektann and his scallywag friends filled her mind. Nektann had gotten up to a lot of trouble in his day. Of course, his friends truly were despicable and she would no doubt try to kill them if she saw them because of her insider information on what they had done, but like in a maybe they could be redeemed like Nektann was inside the Tahtorak kind of way. It was interesting to hear that Stannis had placated them and spent time among them. Although he was an Aspect, she supposed. And they all seemed so different from one another. So who knew what he was able to do to fit in with them.

The mention of the Far Shore portal also piqued her interest. After Sidra went to check it out and also after hearing of Sorilax’s adventure there, she wanted to check it out too and see what was going on there. It filled her with curiosity, though it certainly didn’t supersede her other priorities.

As Korruhn replied, Viltia conjured more wood for the fire, stoking it as she would the forge back home. Thankfully the firepit wasn’t designed to hold in heat, otherwise the temperature would have risen to uncomfortable levels.

Stannis asked something about talismans and then the Matoran answered with something about codexes. Codexes were like books, right? Kind of like Sorilax’s scrolls, but different. She couldn’t exactly remember what. Thoughts of the library back in her old universe filled her mind until the Matoran nodded in gratitude towards her. Viltia beamed in response and gave him a thumbs up. She was so glad at least one other being was enjoying her idea. It really did feel like home now.

Viltia absorbed a piece of pineapple and watched her Muaka scarf down the fruit in its bowl as if another predator was waiting to steal it from him. His eating noises were kind of distracting now that she thought about them. He was so loud!

She tuned back into the conversation as the Matoran spoke again with the same type of tone as Beruv used when teaching Sidra and her about forging.

“What you handed over is probably inscribed with your constellation or identity. A Codex of Absolution, for instance, would describe the constellation of one of your kind and reveal the truth of your purpose. It’s like a map to the spiritual self, the true self that exists beyond the veil. Once presented, you can be read and seen by our temples. It’s like,” he paused, “a form of registration, or a key of sorts. All of us Builders are known to our temples. They are a part of us, and we are a part of our creations. But the aspects of ourselves that we cut away, the unnecessary and evil parts of us, well, those are difficult to identify. Actually, I am not sure we’ve met. What did you say your names were? I know Korruhn, and I know you,” The Matoran nodded in Stannis’ direction, “but you two and your children are new to me. If you would, I would be honored to learn your names in this place of shadows."

All that stuff sounded way out there and since she didn’t understand it immediately and wasn’t that interested in the first place, it went over her head and she didn’t even try to make heads or tails of it.

Whisper responded first, which let Viltia get back to eating. She turned off her Fire Resistance for a moment to truly feel the warmth of the fire. It felt so good. The contrast between the cold of the mists behind her and the heat of the flames in front somehow enhanced the taste of the food.

After a bit, Viltia noticed no one was talking. She looked up from her food and noticed the Matoran was awaiting her, face expectant of her answer. She adjusted her sitting position to be at attention and smiled, “I’m Viltia.” She leaned over and patted her Muaka on the head, “And this is Muaka. I don’t know him well enough yet to give him his true name. What about you? What’s your name? Do you need anything else to eat? Or anything else at all?”

OOC: @Unreliable Narrator @Gecko Greavesy @EmperorWhenua @Crimson Jester

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Stannis (dead), Caedast, Grime, Miserix, Life creation Muaka

Viltia idly looked out into the mists, the dark of night combined with the water vapor obscuring most, if not all, of the landscape surrounding them. She could sense small Rahi moving about. Mice and various bugs that scurried here and there. Every so often a silent and moderately sized predator carefully graced the edges of her senses, quickly slipping away, deterred by the light of the fire.

Stannis’ sharing his story made her think of the many quiet evenings she had spent around a mostly concealed fire up in Le-Metru Nuva, enjoying dinner with her new friends and old friends, all of which had at this point become equally as near and dear to her.

Thinking of Le-Metru Nuva stirred feelings of patronage toward the assembled group in the here and now as they all enjoyed the light and warmth of the fire as the orange tongues of flame licked at the sweet scented Birch logs. With a slight movement that quickly increased tenfold, the logs shifted and fell in upon each other, thudding into the ash beneath them and sending up a few sparks that danced in the air for a few precious moments. Viltia got an idea as she watched the fire before her.

Exchanging her mask of Growth for her mask of Time Duplication, Viltia focused on the power of the mask in her mind. Her Muaka sat to her right, looking a little sleepy after such a long day. To her left, she spent roughly fifteen seconds summoning and dismissing past Viltias until she found one that looked like she was in the middle of eating. This way Viltia knew for sure past Viltia had quick access to healing in the village in case anything happened in the present.

The past Viltia, who was in the sitting position with no chair under her any longer, started to fall for a moment before her tethers caught her. She started to say, “Wha-” but was cut off by Viltia, who put a finger to her mouth. Viltia leaned in close and whispered in past Viltia’s audio receptor. Past Viltia looked around at the group and nodded in understanding.

Viltia turned to listen back in on the conversation and focused on keeping her mask activated as past Viltia got to work.

And work past Viltia did. She grew five small brown tables made of solid oak bark so as to give them fire resistance should an accident occur. Then she cupped her hands together and pictured a bowl from the shape, producing six large mahogany bowls on one of the tables. She then made a circle with her pointer finger and thumb and imagined it running as a cylinder all the way down from her hand to the table, capped on one end. Five cups formed next to the bowls, each one weaving together as it formed from wood strands and smoothed out to be soothing to touch.

With a practiced twist of her arm in an upwards motion, past Viltia had a vine spring forth from the basalt ground. The vine was actually a collection of all different types of plants spiraling around each other. The many vine grew to elbow height and then veered towards past Viltia and over the small, personal tables she had made. Viltia closed her hand into a fist, closed her optics in concentration, then slowly opened her hand. As she did, seven different types of fruit grew from the many plants twisted together. There was pineapple, watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, apple, orange, and strawberry. Every time she plucked one, another would rapidly grow in its place.

With what were very clearly well practiced motions, past Viltia mentally sliced and chopped up the fruit, filling up the bowls set before her with a colorful assortment of perfectly ripe food that glistened in the fire light. Her hands moved with a precision born of her forging mastery, her fingers danced as she exerted the Green to cut up the fruit into small, easily chewable chunks for those who preferred not to absorb food through their hands.

Food all ready  in each bowl and set on each individual table, past Viltia drew a circle in the air. A coconut fell from the sky, as if it had just fallen from a tree to strike some poor unfortunate being below it. One of past Viltia’s tethers snatched it from the air and presented it to her hands. She traced a circle on the coconut and pulled away a bit of the shell. Then she poured the liquid inside into the assembled cups. Surprisingly, despite pouring much more liquid than a coconut could hold, the coconut water kept on flowing smoothly and evenly until all the cups were filled.

The cups prepared, past Viltia moved them to their individual tables. The meal now finished, she then picked up each small table one by one and set it next to each being around the fire, excepting the Muaka. Grime’s table was especially short to accommodate his height.

Whisper was given one as well, since surely her Kraata had to eat, even if she couldn’t.

Viltia’s Muaka just got a large bowl set in front of it without any table. It perked up from its sleepy state, glad to eat anything after the day it had had.

Finally Viltia got her own table. She quietly thanked her past self and gave herself a thumbs up. Past her smiled and returned the thumbs up. Then Viltia dismissed past Viltia and turned to her own bowl of food. Now she felt much more at home. Hopefully the others did as well.

She reached out a hand and absorbed a strawberry. Wow. It tasted really good after all the stuff that she had just gone through.

OOC: @Crimson Jester @EmperorWhenua @Gecko Greavesy

IC: Sorilax Life Seeker - Aspect of Light and Silence

Location - Aqua Sphere, Giant Tower, Ascending

Sorilax shook his Rahkshi head in thought as he scoured yet another room that held little to no information for him that helped him along his way. What was he doing? Why was he dawdling so? He needed to get moving not just for his sake, but the sake of all life. He needed to keep going for Sala, for Sidra, for the residents of Le-Metru Nuva. For all of life that suffered under the current conditions of this universe.

As he reinvigorated himself and cleared his mind, Sorilax once more felt that block of knowledge in his Taboo ocean mindscape that remained hidden to him. Not only did he need to figure out how to connect himself more to life, but he needed to decipher what that hidden knowledge was and why it had been slowly accumulating with the more Taboos he learned.

Yes, he realized now, taking so long in this tower had been a mistake. A trap of his own making. He needed to be moving, to be discovering selectively, not broadly.

Sorilax left the room he was in and headed for the stairs, this time not caring as his invisible steps Silently splashed up water and startled several amphibians. He started up the stairs, keeping watch for something blatantly related to his goal, but not letting himself get distracted. He would keep going until he reached the top, and then if he saw a location that looked important, he would go there.
 

OOC: @Unreliable Narrator

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Stannis, Caedast, Grime, Life creation Muaka

The night was eerily quiet, even with the conversation and gentle crackling and popping of the fire as it finished up the gathered logs. Without the noise of several dozen Rahi and giant insects screaming in pain, dominance, or declaration of territory, the air felt empty and like anything dark and unknown could be lurking out there, waiting to strike, unseen and unheard. Viltia grew somewhat concerned upon realizing this.

Her Life Kraata gave her consolation, though, and she tried her best to put her worried thoughts from her mind. She was going to enjoy this small respite. Sidra and her had learned that lesson well from all the forging they had done.

She put her axe on her back and key in her satchel, momentarily checking to make sure her book and the Great Disc of Levitation were still inside. They were, thankfully. She secured the strap of her satchel and checked her pouches for her masks. They were all still there too. Good.

Viltia held out her hands and focused on her element. A white log with black markings formed in front of her. It looked as if it were the middle section of a tree, cut off on top and on the bottom. She mentally cut the log, making a swiping motion with her hand to help her visual the effect she wanted to manifest. The log split into two, revealing a light tan inner wood. Then those two halves were split as well.

This last part kind of hurt her a little, but she knew it was for the best. She drained the life from the wood, watching as it dried up and feeling as it hardened. Then her tethers neatly stacked the four pieces of wood onto the already existing and almost used up logs. With her Kraata of Fire Resistance, the flames had no effect on her as her tethers stirred up the embers to stoke the fire. It stuttered for a moment, then caught on the new wood.

As the birch started to burn, a sweet scent filled the air from it. It soothed Viltia’s mind even more. Now she could really feel her concerns slipping away. The relative quiet of the night was now a peaceful friend, not something to be afraid of.
 

OOC: @Crimson Jester @Gecko Greavesy @EmperorWhenua

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Stannis, Caedast, Grime, Life creation Muaka

Viltia gracefully floated over, her many tethers moving her expertly, as if she had always had them. Several of them bulked up beneath her to form a sort of cylinder which she sat cross-legged on. Her half-sized Muaka... well, kind of half-sized. It was made from a larger than normal Muaka so it was kind of larger than just half-sized had it been created from a normal Muaka. Her Muaka came and sat beside her, large optics glinting in the fire light.

Despite once again hearing that made up word “child” and having yet someone else not realize she was a Toa, she looked excited to hear what Stannis had to say. She turned to Whisper, “Actually, I think I’ll stick around too, Stannis did say for all of us to talk. And I doubt you can beat my mask of Teleportation. Plus, those riteborn he just mentioned. Besides, I like this, it feels cozy. Like back when I was a Matoran and we used to have these great big bonfires on celebration days, with crisp air and hot drinks.” She looked around at the assembled group, “Though I have far more friends now than I did then.” She turned to look at Stannis expectantly.

OOC: @EmperorWhenua @Gecko Greavesy @Crimson Jester

IC: Sorilax Life Seeker - Aspect of Light and Silence

Location - Aqua Sphere, Giant Tower, Slowly Ascending

The feeling passed, and so too did the rest of the rooms below the main level. Sorilax Silently ascended up one more flight of stairs, sidestepping the Rahi that couldn’t see him. Sometimes even having to patiently wait for a roaming one to pass by. He had sort of lost his sense of urgency after the wealth of knowledge he was gleaning from this place, carefully plucking details from each room to piece together a larger whole. As always, it was completely fascinating and filled his thoughts with happiness. It felt so good to be studying something once more.

Minutes walked by like seconds and faded into the distance as he slowly worked his way up the tower, unknowingly allowing the others above to finish their business here long before he would ever reach them.

Still, his focus on his Light bending technique kept him from spending more than ten minutes in each room. Thoughts of accomplishing his Grand Wish were always at the back of his mind, whispering to him every so often, urging him to find what he was truly looking for in the waterlogged city.

He would find it soon enough, he hoped. So far there hadn’t been much to discover regarding his next step.
 

OOC: @Unreliable Narrator

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Stannis, Caedast, Grime, Life creation Muaka

Viltia beamed as Whisper grew… only four tendrils? Viltia had upwards of twenty something poking out of the many places her armor had been ruptured in Nektann’s Tahtorak hand. It was weird to see such a low number sprout from her new friend. Whisper thanked her and you could hear Viltia’s smile as she responded, “Oh you’re very welcome! I hope it helps.” Her one tether lowered to cover up the Taboo symbol before anyone else could see.

Suddenly an Aspect popped into existence within the range of her Life Kraata’s senses, dangerously close. In a moment her tethers raised her up and her already drawn crossbow was aimed at… the creepy, kind cloak Toa? Her tethers deposited herself back on the ground and she sheepishly grimaced as she started to talk to Stannis, “Sorry about the reaction, I had no idea you were an Aspect. You freaked me out by teleporting in out of nowhere. I got this Life Kraata from Sorilax and it lets me sense all forms of Life nearby. Oh! Hey, you’ll never guess where we just were. We opened a door, fought a Rahkshi, then met this Aspect named Icarax. It was super dark wherever we were. And he was pretty nice. We have to go put that stone thing,” She pointed to the stone Korruhn was holding, “Someplace in Kini-Nui. He also- Oh, uh. Hey bad news. Apparently the world is going to end.”

Viltia shrugged and looked a little sad but quickly perked back up, “But hey he gave me this key thing.” She passed off the key to one of her tethers and it extended towards Stannis to show him, though it held on tightly to the object. “Although I have no idea where it goes… so it doesn’t really help me out. I-”

Actually, she sensed yet another Aspect. Where was that coming from? It was kind of masked, like it was on top of another form of life. She looked around the group, trying to figure out where it was coming from. She ended with her head facing Korruhn, “Hey, um, Korruhn, was it? Yeah, just so you know, you have an Aspect like, inside you. I don’t know if that’s very healthy.”

OOC: @Gecko Greavesy @EmperorWhenua @Crimson Jester

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Grime, Life creation Muaka

Viltia’s mouth hung open and her voice was incredulous, “You don’t know how it feels?” Her mind raced. Feeling the emotions and thoughts of the being you were merged with was one of the best feelings she had ever had. You felt life more abundantly than you could ever imagine before. Whisper not even being able to feel her own life blew Viltia’s mind. She absolutely couldn’t let that stand.

She pushed aside the large tendril that grew from the spot on her thigh, revealing the three squiggly lines engraved into the silver glowing patch where she had been bitten by Untethered Wing. “We have to fix this, then.” She started whispering like Sidra could hear her, “Just don’t tell Sidra I taught you this. I don’t want to upset her. She hasn’t been quite the same since getting NUVA.”

OOC: @Gecko Greavesy

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Grime, Life creation Muaka

Viltia instinctively reached for her thigh where the symbol of her Taboo lay as if to protect it. Warnings flashed in her mind. But they weren’t from Sorilax. “I don’t know…” she said hesitantly, “Sidra said these tethers might be connected to those undead things, or even Mata-Nui, and that I shouldn’t merge in front of other beings. I don’t know if it would be right to teach it to you. After all, my mind did change a little bit since I learned it. Others have noticed, though apparently I’m mostly the same. I also wouldn’t want that to happen to you when you’ve been so nice.”

OOC: @Gecko Greavesy

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning, Mind Reading and Quick Healing

Location - Outside the Fire Ruins

With - Whira

Whira and Cravious exited the Fire Ruins, ascending up and out into the grim light that fell on the Ash Barrens. Cravious turned west and used his Telescopic and X-Ray Vision in tandem to cut through the blackened husks of trees and see that Yumiwak’s ship still floated over the entrance into Irnakk’s Tooth.

Cravious turned to Whira and shook his head, then made his way to the Cube. He had no way to know how long the wait would be, but he was going to utilize the time he had. Perhaps he would start making more Kanohi to practice. Maybe one of the Kanoka he had yet to figure out the power of.

He stepped up and into the waiting door of the Cube to work and to wait.

OOC: @~Xemnas~

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Kumu Peninsula

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Grime, Life creation Muaka

The Green jumped back into Viltia’s mind as they were returned to the real world. She could even feel the dead wood as the burning remnants were slowly converted into heat. She looked down in her hand, the one not holding her Axe/Crossbow, and noticed a strange key with a hammer striking an anvil on it. It immediately made her think of her forge back home in Le-Metru Nuva, which then made her a little homesick. Not to mention it made her want to whip up another Kanohi.

Wait… Kanohi. “Hey, wait!” Viltia called out to the non-existent Icarax as she turned about. Though she could no longer sense him, she still continued, “How do I make Golden Masks?!”

When silence and the crackling fire were all that greeted her, she frowned. Eventually she sighed, then smiled as she turned to Whisper, “Well, thanks so much for helping me out. We should get somewhere I can recognize so I can teleport and get your payment.” She looked at the stone Korruhn held, then back at Whisper, “After that, I suppose we can save the universe, or whatever it is Icarax told us to do. You ready to go?”

OOC: @Gecko Greavesy @Crimson Jester

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning, Mind Reading and Quick Healing

Location - Fire Ruins

With - Whira

The ziggurat slowly came into view, a reprieve from the monotony of ash and charcoal trees. It was weathered, even in this barren place, and piles of ash sat on it like defiled snow banks. The Cube approached and nestled down in much the same place as it had a month prior, this time a side door opening instead of the large garage ramp.

Whira followed along behind Cravious as he scanned the ruin with his X-Ray Vision. Once more, this weird field of stars blocked him from seeing any further. The pair made their way inside.

They entered through the great hallway feeling a dry heat and smelling sulfur. Their footsteps didn’t echo, something dampened the sound further down. The hallway led downward in a straight line. After about a minute both of them shivered involuntarily as they felt a tingle run up their spines. At last they reached an open chamber. Whira and Cravious stood in a grand circular room about fifty paces in diameter. Light came not from the hallway, but from the glittering starlight dancing on the dark ceiling. In the center was a round pool of magma about five paces in diameter, bubbling and sizzling. Hieroglyphs of a kind only Whira understood covered the walls. On the far side of the chamber stood a portion of wall with a glowing portal shaped like a door.

Cravious decided to explore the space further and moved about, inspecting the pool of magma and the walls, finally deciding to take the portal after nothing interesting presented itself.

As they passed through the glowing portal into the next space, they felt the sweltering heat of continue. Despite the small nature of the portal, they beheld a massive complex strewn before them, alive with fire and brooding embers. They stood within a massive lit forge.

Cravious inspected the mechanics of the place, confused by their seemingly puzzling nature. You didn’t just make something this complicated unless you didn’t want the average Skakdi figuring it out.

Beyond, Whira and Cravious found a corridor lined by more pipes, leading into a large, hexagonal chamber. The floor was covered in black, pumice gravel, the walls were mostly unadorned protodermis and rose seemingly endless above them, appearing to vanish at a point where the light became too intense to keep looking up.

At the center of the chamber rose a pedestal, and from the pedestal a contraption, not unlike a Matoran telescope. But instead of a lens crystal, there was a receptacle for what could only be a Kanoka disk. Inscribed into the base of the pedestal was a numeric sequence: 1-5-9.

And on the far side of the contraption, written in the wall in large, Matoran letters was a single word:

NUVA

Cravious leaned down and ran his fingers over the numbers. This machine looked like it could be for Kanoka, and he had figured out how to make a ninth level of power with Whira’s help. Could the numbers mean something? Maybe a specific power and flight pattern? He needed to figure out how to figure those out. He needed to visit one of the refugee settlements and pry the answers from them.

What he really needed most, though, was a way to make Great Discs on his own, apart from Whira. And he needed a way to get more EP, and a way far easier than having to deal with Icarax. Then maybe he could figure out what this Kanoka receiver did and if he could exploit it for widgets.

Whira pointed out an adjoining room and Cravious inspected it. Looking through the open triangular doorway he could see a large circular room with a domed ceiling of stars and a round sand pit at its center. A small flight of stairs led down to the stone floor, which was warm underfoot. There were two tiers of tan sandstone bleachers ringing the perimeter of the space, providing ample room for a small village to hide during an emergency. Set next to the Amaja circle was an open chest with five carved gemstones of different colors. A sixth stone of porous igneous rock carved in a different and more angular style than the gemstones already rested in the center of the Amaja circle. It glowed with a red hot flame.

Cravious picked up the diamond, inspecting it. It seemed to be just a normal diamond. He shrugged to Whira and tossed it into the Amaja circle just to be rid of it. It landed with a soft thud in the sand as he turned to leave, “Well this ruin seems secure enough if things go wrong. Let’s go wait and see how long it takes Yumiwak to finish up. Then we can make your Zivon. After that, I do have a few things I need to check up on.”

OOC: @~Xemnas~ Whira bunnied with permission.

Descriptions of the Fire Ruins pulled from SK:R GM posts.

I rolled a 1d6 and got a 6, which I took as a being able to choose the stone I wished to place. The diamond is placed in the Fire Ruins Amaja Circle. All riteborn within the hex of the Fire Ruins and one hex outside (Kini-Nui, Irnakk's Tooth, the remains of the Rig, and the Fire Suva) are forced to flee.

IC: Sorilax Life Seeker - Aspect of Light and Silence

Location - Aqua Sphere, Giant Tower, Inside a closed off room

Dew sparkled like a drop of starlight as it rolled down and dripped off of a large and lush Elephant Bush leaf to plop into the aqua colored puddle below it. The droplet sent ripples through the puddle that sat nestled between the roots of a small banyan tree that filled the room, causing a lone lily pad to undulate due to the disturbance. Sorilax watched as a frog peeked its head out from underneath the lily pad. It opened its mouth, probably croaking at him were his field of Silence not active.

So far his searching had been fruitless other than learning more about the life here. Perhaps the top of the tower would hold the secrets he so fervently sought out. He was close to finishing up checking all the lower rooms. Just a few more and he could start his ascent in full.

He went to reactivate his Light warping technique and teleport out of the barely cracked door when something stirred both within him and without. He was not sure what the feeling was, nor what the feeling described in full, but in the vaguest sense he felt like he had just lost a great something to something else.

It sort of felt like the power behind Taboos, but it was not a cold and crushing feeling that washed over and in him, rather a warm and embracing feeling. Like something he should know but had yet to fully understand.

He pondered for some time what it could mean.
 

IC: Two - Rahkshi of Fragmentation and Life 

Location - Le-Metru Nuva

Two watched attentively as he fed his kin. The Kraata’s tiny mouths devoured the Life duplication Rahi he had made as fast as they could, as if they had been starving for over a month. Two could understand that, though his hunger was inconsequential. He would not die from starvation, nor anything else that normal life needed to survive. So while he did eat regularly, he knew he didn’t need to.

He glanced over at Three and his father’s empty vessel. Though father hadn’t been gone long, it sure felt like it. He hoped for a speedy return so that he might be able to directly help out in his father’s purposes.

The green Toa pushed aside the woven reed door with a bustle of small wooden clinking noises and stuck her head into his father’s hut, “Alright, we should be good here for a while. I want you to go out on a deep patrol, looking for anything that might be cause for concern should it head for us. I’m talking mutations and defiled energized protodermis transformations of plants, Rahi, and insects. Be back by nightfall.”

Two nodded in compliance. He was glad to be of use, and getting to explore this swamp and experience new life was a bonus.

The Toa went to leave but paused, “And be careful. We don’t know what else might be out there. More Untethered. Or even Skakdi or Aspects. When in doubt, just come back and we’ll try to figure out how to have you communicate what you saw.”

Two hissed affirmative.

The Toa looked confused.

Two hesitantly lifted a hand and rolled up his fingers into a fist, sticking up his thumb. He had seen the Vortixx do it earlier.

The Toa closed her optics and sighed, “I never realized how annoying Spark could be until a few days ago. Now it never ends.” She shook her head and walked away into the dim light of the under canopy.

Two went back to finishing up feeding the Kraata. Once completed, he grabbed his silver staff from his back and strode from the hut. He wove through the many platforms, bridges, and stairways to the hidden branch path, past patrolling guards and Matoran busy with their days. The Fau Swamp was in the full swing of the day cycle, horrendous screeches and roars being tossed to and fro as giant and deadly Rahi fought for dominance or the chance at one last meal before being eviscerated themselves. He was starting to learn which calls belonged to which Rahi.

Two gripped his staff of Teleportation, mentally focusing on the power. He felt the power wash through him, filling his being. It was almost the same sensation as when father possessed him. It was great.

He spotted a suitable spot to teleport to in the crook of a gnarled tree draped with dark green moss and disappeared.
 

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning, Mind Reading and Quick Healing

Location - Irnakk’s Tooth, Lava flow away from the entrance

With - Whira

"Our next objective is to create a Zivon," the Aspect said. 

Cravious groaned and closed his optics as he tried to process this. Another Zivon? Not only would this keep him from being able to kill Whira in the future should he need to, but now how was he ever going to fight a riteborn monster? He was quickly running out of friends and enemies both, so he couldn’t just make his own. He needed a way, on his own, to deal with riteborn that wasn’t so… universally destructive to money-making.

Once again he thought of Whira’s Heartlight Forging Taboo. Maybe if he could figure out how to do something similar or just slightly lesser, he could forge weapons that could damage riteborn. There had to be some way.

He had a horrible thought. Irnakk had held the secrets of Heartlight Forging... perhaps he held secrets for other methods as well. Cravious’ stomach dropped as he imagined traversing through the volcano again. But if he was going to have to create the Zivon anyway, he might as well do all he can while there so he would never have to go there again.

He opened his optics.

Whira continued. "The Rite of the Zivon is simple enough, but our main concerns are finding a sacrifice for the Rite, and..." she paused, looking towards the volcano. "...waiting until the area is safe."

Cravious looked towards the volcano with her, Yumiwak’s ship hidden on the other side of the craggy rock, then he looked at his Cube some distance away to make sure no one was listening in. “That’s no concern. We can sacrifice Voracious. With the Rig and most of its inhabitants destroyed, I don’t need him anymore. Plus I don’t trust him anyway. I’ll just need to figure out an excuse to get him to join us inside.” Several ideas immediately came to mind.

“As for waiting for the area to be safe, I know someplace we can lay low in until things pass over. The ziggurat where I met you, actually.”

Whira nodded in remembrance and motioned for Cravious to lead the way.

Cravious did so. After giving one last look to make sure he hadn’t forgotten any of his equipment, he equipped his ACR and dragged the body of the Kaita inside. He would strip it for parts later.

With a quiet whirr, the Cube powered to full and walked away, giving the entrance to the volcano a wide berth as it traveled east.

OOC: @~Xemnas~

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Somewhere

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Grime, Icarax, Life creation Muaka

This time Viltia could tell Icarax had focused on her, which was great because otherwise she would have missed his question. He even used her name, which helped a lot too. How he knew she was Desecrated by Sorilax she had no idea. But that probably didn’t matter.

She nudged her Muaka away and it sat beside her. Glad to be rid of the weight of its head, Viltia readjusted on her tether chair. She sounded excited as she replied, “Okay, so, since coming to Zakaz and becoming a Toa, I started making Kanoka and Kanohi. I know, I didn’t think I would like it at first, either, but I absolutely loved it. Anyway, I’ve managed to do a ton of stuff others haven’t been able to back in our old universe. This island is full of possibilities. Eventually I was at a Suva when I remembered a crazy legend I heard a long time ago. I remember being told of mysterious Silver and Golden Kanohi that were actually several Kanohi in one. After spending most of my time making Kanohi since I learned how to, I knew I needed to figure out how to do that and get it for myself.

“But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t figure it out on my own. It sure seems like a Suva should be able to do it with its whole space thing, but I just had no idea how to make it work. Cue the Admin. Or, well, the Administrator. It lets me call it the Admin.

“So I was in an Elemental Ruin, asking the Admin a ton of questions and feeling a little unsure about its character. If an electronic, techno-thingy can even have character. I have no idea.” Viltia shrugged, “Anyway, the Admin tells me that Golden masks are possible! Which is super great and gets me pumped. Buuuuuut, apparently it won’t just let me upgrade a Suva easy peasy. Nooope. Apparently I have to learn how I can teach it how to learn Taboos. Like, ugh. But I really want Golden masks, so I start working on figuring out how to do this.

“Next thing I know, the Admin sends me to Irnakk. He’s actually pretty nice. But he wanted me to steal something really important from the kind of shady Toa I met this morning. Now, I’m not going to steal anything, ever, so I knew I couldn’t get the information for the Admin from Irnakk. Which kind of stinks, since Irnakk was so nice.

“Anyway, I head back to the Grand Temple Ruins and ask the Admin if there is any other way to learn what I need to. Thankfully, it said that I might be able to find the information I need in the Kumu Peninsula. So I spent over half of today racing around in the mists. Eventually, I find this broken down temple with a door. When I touch the door, it teleports me someplace else. Then I see a symbol I don’t know, so I figure I need to find an Aspect to help me unlock it.

“So I find Whisper and she helps me unlock the door. And by the way, your Rahkshi was super angry for some reason. He just attacked us immediately. But anywho, then I ended up here.

“I guess ultimately I want to be able to make Golden Masks, but if you can’t teach me that, then learning how I can be able to teach the Admin how to learn Taboos will have to do.”

Viltia smiled. “That’s what led me here I suppose. Thankfully it seems like you actually can help me out. Thanks in advance, by the way. It’s really nice of you.”

OOC: @Eyru @Gecko Greavesy @Crimson Jester

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Somewhere

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Grime, Icarax, Life creation Muaka

Viltia’s tethers thickened and grew longer before folding themselves under her to form a sort of glowing, crude, silver chair. She plopped down and her Muaka moved to put its head on her lap. She wasn’t ready for the weight of his head, but started patting him kindly anyway. “You’re a good Muaka, yes you are,” she whispered to him.

Icarax, who had a cool name that made Viltia like him even more, continued to talk about the end of the world and like some kind of cycles or something? She didn’t quite get it, but Whisper sure seemed attentive, so perhaps he was saying stuff that made sense to her friend. And Viltia was pretty sure Icarax was talking to Whisper and not to her. It was so hard to keep track.

Icarax continued to seem fairly nice, so that was good. He asked a question, but Viltia was pretty sure he was still talking to Whisper so she fought the urge to chime in and kept her mouth shut. Sure enough, Whisper responded.

Viltia tried her best to be patient. She felt like she was so close to getting Golden Masks. She couldn’t wait to try them out!
 

OOC: @Eyru

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Somewhere

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Grime, Icarax, Life creation Muaka

Viltia listened to the Aspect as he spoke, getting more and more confused by the sentence. Stars, sons, whatever a “man” was, children? This Aspect spoke using words that made literally no sense with or without context. Not to mention that she had no way of knowing who he was talking to. It was just the darkness, the red glowing disk, and a voice from everywhere that spoke indiscriminately.

Whisper’s offering of advice to her was the only thing that made Viltia realize that she had been the one he was speaking to, at least partially? She tried to remember what he had just said. He wanted to tell her what she wanted to know. But she had to do something. Return a son?

Viltia scratched her mask with a single finger. “Return? I haven’t taken anything from you… Have I?” Her mind moved to the ironwood box one of her tethers clutched, “Unless you mean this Kraata?” Her tether extended across the gap to the orchid covered armor, gently setting down the box with a small clack. Viltia’s tether made a single wave motion as she exerted her element and the box opened on its own, allowing the Kraata to roam free once more.

As her tether retracted, she clarified, “And actually, I’m a Toa, not a star. The name’s Viltia. Nice to meet you.” Maybe this Aspect wasn’t so bad after all. Just like Sorilax. And Apex. And Whisper.

Actually, she hadn’t met a super bad Aspect yet. Either she was very lucky or Sorilax was overly cautious, which… well, okay he certainly was.

OOC: @Eyru @Gecko Greavesy @Crimson Jester

IC: Viltia - Toa of the Green

Location - Somewhere

With - Whisper, Korruhn, Grime, Icarax

Viltia’s Muaka passed through the doorway, suddenly ripped from Viltia’s side and finding himself utterly alone. He roared to try to abate his loneliness. He pawed the ground, senses gone blind in the utter dark. He needed to find his creator!

The Muaka put his nose to the ground and started wandering about, zig-zagging around and trying the best he could to find his creator once more. His search was ultimately fruitless and he growled at his failure after some time of finding nothing.

But then something caught his audio receptors in the distance. It was a soft, still noise. A noise like… something he had never experienced before. And whispering. He drew closer to the sounds, his cat optics noticing the red glowing disk off in the distance. He surged forward on his tread, eager to find his creator.

The sound of whispering increased as he neared the disc of light, though he didn’t hear his creator in the noise. He peered down and into the disk of red light. It almost smelled like she was right next to him. He raised his head to look and sure enough!

---------

Viltia took in her surroundings as her Life Kraata gave her info. Aspect, Aspect, Kraata, Toa, Matoran. The one Aspect with the Kraata was her friend. The Toa looked… dark. As if he had had his very essence drained and he was no longer who he had once been. The Matoran by his side was very… starry? Or something like it. And then there was the other Aspect. His armor was decrepit and its mask looked evil, or at least vicious. His body didn’t even look usable as it sat rusting on the ground. It was creepy. She already didn’t like him.

At least there were flowers on him, though. Viltia motioned with her hand and the plant life on the statue writhed about as if it had gained new life, growing bright green new strands as white orchids grew all over the form, ivy filling in the gaps until the armor could no longer be seen.

And then her Life Kraata informed her of another arrival by her side, her Muaka! “There you are!” She cheerily said to him as she pat his head as he rubbed up against her.

Then the other Aspect spoke, both from the armor and yet from all around her. "Welcome," he said with a very harsh and shadowy voice that made Viltia not like him even more. "Welcome to the end of the world."

Viltia looked around and spoke despite not liking the new guy, “That’s a weird name to call this place. It sure is dark here, though.” She suddenly remembered the whole reason why she was here, for answers! “Hey! Do you know how to teach the Administrator how to learn Taboos? Or can you point me in the right direction of where to go to get the information? Because it sure feels like I’ve been searching for this info for months now.”

OOC: @Eyru

IC: Sorilax Life Seeker - Aspect of Light and Silence

Location - Aqua Sphere, Giant Tower, Slowly Ascending

Comfortable in the sphere-like shroud of Silence he had spent much of his traveling time in on Zakaz over thousands of years, noise not just blocked off from the world but outside noise blocked off from reaching himself, Sorilax carefully walked up yet another flight of stairs still below the main level of the tower, diverging from his overall course to the top of the building to inspect the rooms on his current sub-level. His Light bending kept him from being seen as he peered into rooms and teleported through cracked doorways to inspect the insides of rooms. His methodical approach had him spending large amounts of time on each floor, far more time than when he had first gone down the stairs. He did not want to miss anything. Although as such, when he was inside rooms, he did let himself become visible so as to conserve elemental energy.

It would probably be a couple more hours before he finally reached the top of the overgrown and lush tower.
 

OOC: @Unreliable Narrator Sorilax is in a field of Silence around himself as stated in his previous post. I've been playing this field as blocking out sound from both sides, so it keeps Sorilax from being heard but also keeps him from hearing others. So he wouldn't hear Kas, Mahrika, or Ollem entering the building. Not to mention interacting with a GMNPC as well as a PC sounds like a time trap I might not be able to recover from seeing as it's already April. Sorilax is just fine exploring on his own.

IC: Two - Rahkshi of Fragmentation and Life 

Location - Le-Metru Nuva

The Toa, Wing, placed a cylinder onto the table the Vortixx, Spark, was sitting at. A mechanical box sat before the Vortixx, all wires with a large antenna. Two did not understand what was happening with the cylinder or the box. But he didn’t need to understand. Father had given him implicit instructions to defend Le-Metru Nuva and to listen to those in charge. This had mostly manifested itself with the Toa ordering him to constantly run dangerous errands or accomplish hazardous tasks.

He loved it.

Doing something others couldn’t and having the end result help accomplish his purpose felt amazing. Right now he held eight more cylinders just like the first, four in each arm, his staff on his back. Both he and the Toa were covered in muck after risking a walk on the swamp floor.

The Vortixx tightened something in the box until the metal groaned and looked up at the Toa, smiling, “Ah! So they do work. Good job, Wing, Two. I was pretty sure they would work, especially after seeing how well mud was able to contain it.”

The Toa glared at the Vortixx after his last comment about the mud.

The Vortixx either didn’t notice or perhaps just ignored the look, taking the Toa’s cylinder in his hands and inspecting it. He gave it a sharp rap of his knuckles and handed it back to the Toa, “It looks good. Go ahead and take them to the hut we set aside for them. I think I’ve finally got this working,” he motioned to the box, “I’ll be up in the lookout.”

The Toa plucked the cylinder from the Vortixx’s hands, “Very well. Tell us if you hear anything important.” She motioned for Two to follow her and he obliged, leaving behind the Vortixx to finish up the mechanical box of wires, knobs, and antennas.

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning, Mind Reading and Quick Healing

Location - Irnakk’s Tooth, Lava flow away from the entrance

With - Whira

Whira jumped at the Kaita in a swift move that surprised Cravious. She latched onto the Kaita's chest, sinking her claws into its heartlight, much to the shock of Cravious. Weren’t Kaita supposed to be super powerful? Why would she kill one when it was under her thrall? Whira ripped out Credence's heartlight. The Aspect dropped to the ground.

"Thank you, Credence," Whira said.

Cravious’ arms froze from being unfolded as he tried to process what had just happened. So his assumptions were correct. Whira was willing to do whatever it took to achieve her Grand Wish and he was far too valuable to kill off.

Although, he felt a surge of power as Whira achieved yet another of her Grand Wish steps. His mind felt… clearer, his body tensed and ready to dodge any attacks that came his way. His Mind Reading Kraata was getting close to its name. He wasn’t sure how his Quick Healing Kraata had upgraded, but he bet it was better than growing back stagnant organic protodermis muscle.

Whira would have a hard time betraying him now. Although, he now needed a little bit more offensive power for himself in case he had to get rid of her. He wondered how he might be able to make what Whira had called Great Discs, on his own without her. The things that her Heartlight Forging Taboo could make equivalent items of. Being called Great Discs probably meant they were the level nine Kanoka that he couldn’t seem to make.

Welp, time to see what Whira’s next step was. Cravious pulled out his Heartlight briefcase, snapped it open to reveal his ACR’s Heartlight key already inside and three empty and waiting slots, and offered its velvet interior to Whira, so she could store the Kaita’s Heartlight and keep it beating. “So, that one fell into our laps. What’s next on the agenda?”

OOC:  @~Xemnas~

IC: Credence - Skakdi Kaita of Water, Ice, Earth, and Cyclone

Location - Irnakk’s Tooth

Credence looked down in shock at the gaping hole in their chest, all three unified minds forced to stay bound together in their final moments. They had been going to be strong, to survive in this harsh life. For the first time, they were going to be happy. Going to be content with what they were able to wrestle for themselves from the uncaring clutches of a cruel world.

All of that was lost in a single moment of betrayal.

They fell to the warm obsidian with a lifeless thud, optics gone out before hitting the ground.

OOC: @~Xemnas~ You have served your purpose, Crucia and friends. Farewell.
 

IC: Cravious - Skakdi of Lightning, Mind Reading and Quick Healing

Location - Irnakk’s Tooth, Lava flow away from the entrance

With - Whira

Cravious finished reinstalling the last of the forge and purification machine. He wiped grease off of his hands and tossed the rag away. The ground rumbled, mostly absorbed by the Cube’s shocks. Cravious, curious, stepped outside down the garage ramp. Was it… warmer outside?

Irnakk’s Tooth erupted, but it wasn’t just a surge of lava that spewed forth, no. It was something far worse. Cravious watched as a Tahtorak climbed down the mountain, thankfully choosing to take the other side. And then another beast arose. Chills ran through his frills.

A Zivon.

Those idiots. Did someone on Yumiwak’s crew not know what they were doing? You don’t go creating Zivons, ever. If the creator dies, they are next to impossible to get rid of. And they ruin sleep. And they steal you into other dimensions. At least with Tahtoraks you can see them coming and have an honest fight with a Tahtorak of your own.

Cravious may not have been around for thousands of years and seen the full history of Kaiju on Zakaz, but he wasn’t a complete and total imbecil like whoever was inside the volcano right now. He squirmed as he thought of the volcano and Irnakk inside. Whira thankfully took him away from his thoughts. 

"Cravious," Whira said to the Skakdi. "An opportunity has presented itself to us. One of my Desecrated has formed a Kaita and will be joining us soon."

Cravious squinted, “That’s… convenient. A little too convenient.” He crossed his arms, “Well, be prepared for anything.”

OOC: @~Xemnas~

IC: Credence - Skakdi Kaita of Water, Ice, Earth, and Cyclone

Location - Ash Barrens

Irnakk’s Tooth was perfect. It would be a short walk. Though they hoped the news of Cravious’ continued existence had been exaggerated.

Credence reached the shore, their first few steps uneasy as they tried to adjust to solid ground. They slung Silver over their shoulder and carefully trudged through the sand, almost falling several times. Stairs of packed earth rose to get them over the grass covered sand dune and revealed the Ash Barrens that lay beyond. It was a gray and barren wasteland, full of blackened husks of trees and the whispers of the dead.

It was just another piece of home.

Credence walked towards the most prominent feature of the horizon, towards the menacing visage of Irnakk’s Tooth. Their journey was quick and uneventful, though filled with many stops to rest. It seemed their long term endurance was not what it could be.

The great rolling dunes of ash and charcoal ground passed in a blur, their mind occupied with thoughts of what Kraata they might ask for. Something that cemented their power and took them even further above others. Perhaps Whira would know best what to choose.

Once they drew close to the pathway that adorned Irnakk’s Tooth, Whira directed them aside and around the mountain, out of view of the entrance to the volcano. Amidst the heat of the lava streams and obsidian rock they noticed a large metallic box. His name popped into their head immediately: Cravious.

So he had escaped the destruction of the Rig as well. That figured. No doubt he was already making widgets off of the event. But if he was with Whira, perhaps he had set himself straight.

The black form of the Aspect was like a drop of liquid shadow even with the obsidian backdrop behind her. Truly stunning. And Cravious was indeed there as well, his deep blue and white form standing off to the side with arms crossed. Credence strode over to her Desecrator and dropped to one knee, unslinging Silver from their back. The Ko-Skakdi started swearing non-stop, torso thrashing like a reeled in fish. Credence spoke over her, “Whira, grant me a Kraata that increases my power to even greater heights.”

OOC: @~Xemnas~ @Sparticus147
 

IC: Credence - Skakdi Kaita of Water, Ice, Earth, and Cyclone

Location - Eastern Sea

A frozen, tilted, mostly destroyed deck met Credence’s optics. This vessel of Crucia’s was beyond hope. It was their past. And their past was over. Their future survival lay with Whira and getting more Kraata.

They bound Silver in one of Crucia’s nets and strode off, a path of Ice forming as they walked towards land in large strides.

As they did, their collective mind touched the mental connection to Whira that they felt in their mind.

Whira, they thought to the Aspect, I have become more than just Crucia. I am Credence, Skakdi Kaita of Survival. I have a beating Heartlight and wish to be Desecrated once more. What is your location so that I may come to you?
 

OOC: @~Xemnas~ @Sparticus147