Stormclouds
The dark room spun before his eyes, blurring in and out of focus like a bad camera. Grillon, was that his name? He was so numb he could hardly remember, gave out a hoarse groan as the thing, Dyn, was it?, impaled him and sapped the energy from him for the… he’d lost count.
His body burned and ached all over, but it was merely background noise now, insignificant in the chaos of his thoughts.
A cacophony of discordant echoing voices - shouts, screams, laughter - filled his ears, which finally calmed as his vision started to come into focus once more to reveal his father: Namiken.
“How dare you! You would dishonor not only your family, but the entire Tayru nation!”
“If we don’t stop the war, there won’t be anyone left to be honored! Why can’t you understand that?”
“You are a disgrace! Get out of my house!”
Grillon blinked away the dream, feeling the small pricks of pain that meant they were torturing him again, trying to make him reveal what his friends were planning that had sent him into the Spine.
“Hah, as if. Planning something? That coward was just running away again.” Strange… there was no way Namiken could be here, and yet this voice echoed through Grillon’s head. “He’s never been a hero, not once. Just a boy who didn’t have the heart to fight and kill, so he fled into his books and medicines. Even when turned into a Toa, all he could bring himself to do was run.”
Run.
Run.
Runrunrunrunrunrun-
“AAAAAAAH!” Grillon screamed out as a blade plunged into his arm, before slowly sinking back into the mist of pain. Before his sight was completely veiled, he thought he saw a familiar white figure hiding in the shadows… but no.
It couldn’t be.
The sun was high in the sky by the time Briata really awoke. She had stirred many times during the night, even seemed aware of her surroundings once or twice. But she hadn’t said anything since the night before.
“Fri?” The Toa was quick to crouch next to her sister, who was uncurling herself in the shadow of a stone. “Fri, where are we?” She struggled to push herself upright, and Friana helped her prop herself up against the rock.
“Do you remember anything?” Friana asked quietly. “Anything from the past few days?” Briata’s eyes narrowed under her mask.
“Well, I remember a weird dream. Stuff about Pops sending me off to find you, and then I think I was fighting you, and then I think I woke up and you were there-” She stopped abruptly, and Friana could see her little sister putting the pieces together. “That wasn’t a dream, was it?” she whispered hoarsely. In lieu of answering, the Toa presented her sister with a canteen of water. Briata took it, but didn’t drink. “Friana?” The Toa took a deep breath. There was no avoiding this.
“No. You… you tried to attack me last night.” Friana couldn’t meet her sister’s eyes. It didn’t stop her from hearing the gasp her news received. From feeling her own guilt at letting this happen. “It wasn’t your fault! You weren’t yourself. There’s something going on, Briata. Something behind the war, something bigger than it.” She paused, struggling to find the words. Friana could see her sister out of the corner of her eye, finally drinking the water, her gaze unwavering. “It’s, there’s… I, I need you to tell me what you remember, Bri. From your dream. It’s really important.” The sisters finally met each other’s eyes. Briata looked back at the sand, thinking.
“Well, like I said, I remember fighting you. It… it was really important. Brahn told me to.” Friana nodded encouragingly as her sister trailed off.
“Go on,” she said simply. Whatever her sister remembered, it wouldn’t do to distract her from it.
“It… it seemed so important at the time. I know that. But I can’t remember why. I, well, I think the fact that he told me to was enough for me. But I know he said something else. I… I think I remember telling you.” Briata’s eyes searched Friana’s imploringly. “Do you remember? Because if I said it, then you would know, right?”
“You… you called me bradker.” Briata’s face exploded in shock.
“But Fri! That can’t be! There’s no way that’s true! It… it isn’t true, is it?” Briata looked desperate, needing to know that she had been wrong. Friana shook her head, and her sister’s relief could almost be felt in the hot desert air. “Well surely I would’ve known that. Pops, too.”
“There’s something big going on,” Friana repeated, not wanting to believe the picture Briata was already starting to paint. “It’s why I need you to remember. I need you to tell me anything else you can think of. Do you know who gave Pops the idea that I was bradker? Did you see him talking to the Pan, maybe?” Briata’s face fell immediately.
“The Pan… he passed, Friana. While you were gone.” Friana hung her head in silent mourning. His death was not unexpected, though she wouldn’t doubt for a second that Clove or the Gwasdyn had something to do with it.
“So Pops…?” Friana began, seeing where this was going.
“He stepped in,” Briata confirmed solemnly. “He… there was a speech. Something about moving on in the Pan’s honor. He… he had everyone whipped into a frenzy, as if the rest of the island was somehow responsible.” Friana grimaced. She had hoped her father would somehow be clever enough to break through Clove’s poison. Hard to be sharp of wit with a poisoned mind, she supposed.
“He… he has everyone preparing for war.” Briata continued. “Not just the soldiers, everyone. I… I think I remember seeing Mom getting ready as I was leaving.” Friana’s blood ran cold. Pops, her little sister… now her mother too? She was going to have a long conversation with that sadistic mass of cellulose sometime soon. But first it was time for a chat with dear old dad.
“Frind?” Yeela breathed, scarcely daring to speak.
“Yeela, it is you!” Frind jumped up from where he’d been sitting, and running forward to welcome her into his house. Yeela had to duck her head to fit inside, as it was notably smaller and more cramped than the forge.
“Good to see you Frind, it’s been too long.” Yeela said, smiling as she took a seat cross legged on the floor.
Frind’s response was cut off as a small child poked her head out from another room.
“Who’s here, Papa?”
“You can come on out Mera, this is Yeela, an old friend of mine.” Yeela smiled warmly as the child cautiously moved into the main room, noting that she couldn’t be older than four.
Katta was right, I have been avoiding them for far too long.
“You’re name’s Mera? It’s very pretty.” Mera beamed happily at the compliment.
“It’s short for EMERALD,” she proudly proclaimed, pointing to a streak of green running through her shoulder armor (Yeela decided not to point out that it was jade, not emerald.)
“Well that’s wonderful.” Out of the corner of her eye, Yeela saw Frind looking at Mera sadly. “What is it, Frind?” Yeela asked, gently shooing Mera away.
“Hm? Oh, it’s nothing. A shame you can’t meet my wife Yana, you’d definitely like her, but she’s at the barracks today.”
“She’s in the army?”
“Yeela, everyone’s in the army now. Everyone above the age of thirteen is officially conscripted. Apparently there’s a big offensive coming soon.”
“I-I see. I think… I think I need to go.” Yeela got up and walked out the door, heading back towards the shop. Katta glared at her as she approached.
“So, you heard about the conscription?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you going to do something about it?”
“What’s the point?”
“Are you kidding me? You’re the Toa of Earth, the Puppet Sword Knight! You could totally do something!”
“You overestimate us Toa.”
Finally, Katta snapped, screaming at Yeela, “What is wrong with you Yeela!? After everything! Frind: your friend, a husband, a father - you’re just going to leave him to die?! How dare you be so selfish, how dare you hide away and go into some kind of rage over your family, and then just leave my brother to die! What happened to you Yeela? Where’s that burning fury everyone on the frontlines feared you for? I’d take even that over this! When did you become such a coward!?”
“WHEN I HAD NOTHING LEFT TO GIVE!” Yeela shouted back, cutting Katta off completely, “…I just… after nothing but hate and vengeance for five years, I-I was given this… spark of hope, I guess. I could move on from what I’d been, I could be better, I could… rise above just getting revenge by doing worse to the enemy, and stop anyone from going through what I did - ever again. But then it was just snatched away, in an instant… and now I just… I can’t do it anymore…”
“W-what?”
“You heard me. Don’t you get it? My flame is out. It’s over. Maybe you should try and solve your own problems for once–”
A heavy metal bucket hit her in the side of the head. “Ow!” She snarled at Katta. “What the he-”
“How dare you!” Katta fumed, spitting out every word. “You think, after all you’ve done, you can just quit? You’re the Toa, destiny’s chosen hero! And destiny didn’t choose you to go sulk in this shop. So life snatched away your ‘spark of hope’? Then be the Toa of Earth you were supposed to be, and snatch it back!”