ToaNoah_Wafflemeister, now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a looong time…
Casually tips back chair and sips apple-juice.
Jokes aside, this seems neat, I’ll have to get around to making a World Builder account so I can give it a full read.
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Appears from the desert winds in a wide-brimmed hat and trench coat…
“You ready to hear it once more?”
They’ve got some wacky stuff on there, it’s a super fun website I wish I discovered earlier
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Is this a reference to Cad Bane in The Book of Boba Fett?
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”I’d be careful where I was sticking my nose if I were you…”
It is if you want it to be
or a Book of Dreams reference your choice
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CHAPTER 1, “DUTY”
Part 1 - "THE STORM"
The waves lapped at the old wood of the boat, wiping away bits of sand that had gotten wedged between its planks. It was a small boat and a few decades older than either of the Matoran operating it, but it was just as dependable as the day it had been made.
One of the Matoran held in his hand a wooden shaft, which he used to guide the fish until their shadows fell above where he knew the nets to be. The other would then pull up the net, hauling in a dozen or so silvery delights to take back to the village. It was how they did it every single day. It was tradition. It was tedious. It was like home.
”I’ve been thinking,“ the brother said, leaning the shaft against the ocean floor. It was shallow here.
”That’s never a good sign,” said his sister with a wink, the bobber attached to the net resting in her lap.
The brother ignored her. “What if we went out to the reef? There’re a lot more fish.” He pointed outwards, to the crystalline waves of the ocean.
“We don’t have any nets out there,” protested the sister.
”We can use spears! Or lines! Like they used to!” the brother said.
”Nuh-uh, Kido,” the sister said. “You know Jiina hates finding hooks in his fish. He says the customers pay less.”
”Yeah,” Kido said softly, his gaze drooping. “Yeah, I know…”
He thought of the story Kaidi always told around campfires in Mako Village. Once, when she was swimming a little too close to the reef, she had been caught in a rip current. As she was pulled away, she claimed to have been saved by a Matoran with golden armor.
Kido always thought he’d look good in gold.
”Look,” his sister said, remembering the story herself, "You want some adventure. I get it. I know you think fishing is often boring and pointless, but you don’t have to be a warrior to be a hero. We may not be great soldiers, but we still save lives with something far greater than swords and spears.”
”Like what, Neida?”
”Fish!” she laughed, holding up an especially plump specimen from their most recent catch.
Kido shook his head, but could hardly suppress a smile.
”Great quests aren’t what makes an adventurer, Kido,” Neida said. “Anyone can be a hero. Even a fisherman.”
Kido was too distracted to hear her words. He was thinking of himself, plated in gold and white, a great sword in his hand. It took him a few moments before he noticed the jagged fin rising out of the waves, approaching the vessel. “Takea Shark!” he screamed, swiping at it with the shaft.
The wooden pole splashed uselessly against the water, but it sparked a shrill, “Ah-ah-ah!” from the creature before the fin ducked underneath the water and swam rapidly away. It definitely didn’t sound like a shark…
Neida burst out into laughter, crying, “You really showed that dolphin, Kido!” She took a moment to draw a glowing tear from her eye. “Seems to me like you have enough adventure already!”
As the dolphin dashed for its life, it suddenly was confronted by two glowing eyes in the water belonging to a great fish - an actual Takea Shark. It stealthily swam at the ocean bed, ignoring the frantically retreated dolphin. It stopped close to the shore to peer up, its great eyes surveying the village built on the shore. Seeming pleased with its scan, it sank back below the waves and darted back out to the ocean, its mighty tail brushing the sand at the ocean floor. As the sand is shifted aside, the silver shape of a mask is uncovered.
The rest of the day, Kido dreamt. He dreamt of wielding a great blade, fending off great monsters around all of Moda Nui. First in Mako Village, then in the Fauna Jungle, and finally in Aero City. Once he had saved the entire island from threats, he looked out to the ocean. He boarded a boat - a real, mighty ship, not a tiny dinghy - and set out into the unknown, letting the waves carry him out to where no Matoran in Moda Nui had ever been.
When they pulled back into shore, many of the other boats had already pulled back in.
“Catch anything good?” asked old Hoffa. He held a pail of sardines in one hand, a fishing rod in the other. He just fished for himself, and somehow had fun doing it. Kido would never understand the old Matoran.
“Yeah, we did!” said Neida, waving a massive tuna in front of Hoffa.
The old man’s eyes widened. “A real beaut’!”
Neida and Hoffa proceeded to enjoy a tiring conversation about fishing tips and strategies that Kido could not force himself to listen to. He just sat in the back of the boat, staring out over the open water. What mysteries could be out there, unknown to the world? There were stories about other islands and creatures, but never first-hand accounts. If Kido had a boat of his own and a crew to follow him, there would be nothing keeping him from seizing the horizon in his grasp, and pulling himself into the stars…
But, no, he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t leave Neida behind, could he? And could he even do it?
He looked back at the ocean. Kido could feel its call, its pull. It was so alluring, blazing with a vivid wildfire as the star rested over its foaming waves. He dipped his hand into the water. Right now, in this moment, his hand was sharing the ocean with every dolphin, Takea Shark, adventurer, pirate, and Golden Matoran in these seas. He was so close to finding adventure, he just needed to leap out and claim it.
“Kido!” Neida called, snapping him out of the daydream. “Let’s go!”
The two walked to Jiina’s diner, exchanging greetings with Hetiru and Kaidi, Jirita and Bayola. Neida did the talking for Kido.
“Well, well, ya really pulled it off,” Jiina said with a sneer, examining the catch. “We’re gonna have a great breakfast rush tomorrow!”
Jiina fisted over a dozen coins and sent the siblings home. Kido and Neida returned to their little hut of palm wood and leaf, exhausted from the events of the day. They shared a small dinner of seaweed stalks and kokonut milk, and each retired to their bunks.
Kido’s actual dreams weren’t anything like his imagined stories of heroism. Instead, he was out in the dinghy again, but this time alone. Clouds drowned out the star, enveloping the ocean with darkness. Lightning and hail began to rain down upon the sea. Waves tossed up and down, but Kido stood firmly in his boat, looking up at the great storm. He watched as the clouds rippled out to reveal a pair of flaming red eyes, and he heard a voice all around him, like the thunder;
“Kidoma…”
Kido woke up in a sweat, falling from his bed and onto his face.
”Finally,” sighed Neida, relieved. “I was about to pour this bucket of seaweed on your head.”
Starlight pierced through the light curtains. It must have been late morning, already. Despite the sudden awakening, Kido had still slept in.
”There was a bad storm last night,” Neida said. “Really bad. Kaidi lost her roof, and Henhi’s boat got totally smashed. The whole village is getting together to repair everything.”
Kido streamed out of bed, passing his breakfast of grasses and nuts on his way to the doorway.
”Where are you going?” Neida wondered.
”Out,” is all Kido said.
Neida frowned. “Kido, our people need our help.”
”They don’t need mine,” Kido grunted before leaving his disappointed sister alone in the hut.
Minutes later, Kido was alone on the beach. He kicked at sand as he walked, causing little explosions of dust. Every so often, he’d find a shell, which he’d pick up and throw out to sea. The image from his dream played out again and again in his mind.
I dream about a storm, and then wake up to find out that a storm actually happened. That was probably just a coincidence. Storms were pretty common. Even still, why didn’t he wake up to the lightning and thunder? Sure, he slept in a lot, but he never took himself for a heavy sleeper.
I should go back, he thought. I need to apologize to Neida. I probably freaked her out. Just then, his foot clanged against something. Another shell. He reached down to pick it up and fling it into the water, but something stopped him. The shell was unbelievably shiny, and its design - it wasn’t a shell at all. It was gloriously beautiful, and beautifully glorious… It was like nothing Kido had ever seen before, but somehow, holding it, he felt a familiarity to it. It was a mask, brilliantly silver, covered in intricate runes. Kido stood, admiring it, and as he did, he heard:
“Kidoma… Toa Kidoma…”
Part 2 - "THE MASK"
Saane was the Elder of Mako Village. He had been for the past thirty years or so, and frankly, he was a little tired of it. He was always expected to act a certain way in public, to be the source of wisdom and guidance to his (quite needy) village, and whenever a difficult decision needed to be made, it was up to him to make it. And they weren’t even interesting decisions, either. The amount of times Elder Saane had to pick which precise shade of blue to repaint the town center that year was shocking, especially since his old eyes weren’t able to even register a difference. But, this was his job, and the town looked up to him, so he would make the best of it while he could.
At starset, he would sit outside his hut and wave to the workers as they retired into their homes for the day. He knew each one by name, and always asked them how their days were, and if he could do anything to help. There wasn’t much he could do to help them, but the gesture was appreciated by the townsfolk, so he kept doing it.
Tonight, it took extra long for everyone to make it back inside - they had only just finished patching up poor young Kaidi’s roof - so when he finally stepped inside his door, the only illumination his hut had was that of the small fire he was boiling his stew over. He reached over for the ladle, stroking his woven scarf (Laani had sewn it for him, it was rather nice), and lifted the utensil to get a sip of it. Just as the steam began to fog up his cobalt plating, he sensed a dark shape behind him.
Saane whipped around, his ladle’s amount of soup thrust through the air and landing in the face of a tall and mysterious stranger.
“Aah!” the intruder yelped.
“Who are you?” Saane asked gruffly. “What do you want with me?” He began to reach for his staff propped up against his cot, a sturdy thin shape wrapped in taught blue silk and orange cord. He held the staff at the figure’s shape.
The intruder must have been twice as tall as Saane, though the old Matoran’s posture didn’t help the comparison. Their form was athletic, but in no ways bulky. They were lean and supple, thin but not quite lanky. They were dressed in bright aquamarine plating - no, it was more like armor… Inscribed into it were strange symbols and runes that almost reminded Saane of… And then the figure pulled his hands away from their face, and Saane saw it.
It was impossible to mistake it for a normal mask. It was beautifully crafted of a wondrous material, gleaming in even the dimmest of light. It was stunning to behold its ancient work, yet it was without scratch or tarnish. It seemed not to have been painted, but to have been made that brilliant ocean blue which matched the armor. On the figure, it almost didn’t even look like a mask, but as a face which they had always worn.
“Unbelievable…” Saane said, dumbfounded.
The being coughed and sputtered. “Elder Saane, please, I need your help-” His voice was louder and richer than Saane was used to it being, but he could immediately recognize its hurried tone.
“My, my, Kido…” the Elder said, smiling. “I did not expect this from you.”
“I didn’t expect this from me either!” the transformed Kido panicked. “It was an accident, I promise! I just found this mask on the beach, and then suddenly I was really tall, and-” He froze for a moment. “No, I missed a part.” He fell to a squat, mask buried in his hands. “There was this… This voice…”
The Elder rubbed the smooth metal of his chin. “A voice, you say?”
“Yeah.”
“What did this voice tell you?”
“Nothing,” Kido said. “It didn’t tell me anything, it just said something, a name.” He raised his head enough to expose the glowing amber eyes from behind his head. “‘Kidoma,’ it said. ‘Toa Kidoma.’ I don’t know, some nonsense or-”
Saane placed the end of his staff on the silver shoulder of the terrified young man. The light of his own eyes quivered with unexpected tears. “I don’t know what is harder to believe… That the Toa have finally returned, or that… That you have been chosen as one of them!”
“Me… chosen as… a Toa?” Kido gasped, his mouth agape behind the mask.
“You have found a Kanohi mask, my boy,” Saane began to say, not in his usual loud and pronounced voice when he was narrating a story, but in a much more hushed, awed voice. “It has chosen you as its bearer. What I am about to tell you is a tale I have kept secret for many, many years, as the Elder before me did, and as the Elder before him did as well. It is one which I have never told another living being in the entirety of my time knowing it. Are you prepared to hear it?”
Kido sat on the floor, legs kicked out, holding himself up with his arms. He would likely be here for a while. “Yeah, sure, I guess,” he said.
Saane leaned upon his staff and began to speak softly, “Long ago, back when before we came here to Moda Nui, before the trees were given shadows, the Toa existed. They were-”
“Six elemental warriors chosen by a mysterious great entity to defend the innocent and fight back the darkness?” Kido guessed.
An excited and curious look crossed Saane’s face. “How did you know that? Did the Kanohi tell you just now?”
“No,” Kido said plainly, blinking. “You did. During one of your stories. You were all hyped up on kokonut milk you talked about them, we thought you had gone crazy for a second.”
Saane’s eagerness melted into disappointment. “Oh. Must have slipped.”
“Yeah, sorry,” Kido said. "I don’t know the rest, though! Can you skip to the part where I get changed back?"
Saane’s disappointment twisted into bewilderment. “Change back?”
Kido looked around the room quizzically. “Yeah, that’s what I said.”
“No, no, no!” Saane cried. “This mask appeared for a reason! If the Toa have returned, then Moda Nui must have some need of you!”
“Moda Nui needs a fisherman?” Kido asked.
“A fisherman? No! We need a Toa!”
“What for? Everything’s fine. There hasn’t been so much as a lost shell cat in the last fifteen years! What would we need a Toa for?”
“Look, Kido, I understand. This is a big step-up in responsibility for you, and you don’t know if you’re ready to handle all the perils out there…”
Kido shot to his feet - an action which he did not very easily accomplish, as his new height was still unfamiliar to him. “Wait, perils? What do you mean?”
Saane frowned. "Well, you didn’t let me finish the story. Surely you understand that being a Toa won’t be without its challenges. In the past, the Toa fought great threats to their worlds. Evil kings, warlords, mind-controlled monsters, four-legged spiders - twice, actually - And yet, trial after trial, they pulled through. Whoever the enemy, whatever the odds, they fought, and they won." He lowered his staff and looked at it tenderly. “I once knew a young Matoran who wanted nothing more than to be out in the world. Exploring. Helping people.” His eyes darted back to the confused Kido. “Being a hero. You made a wish on a red star, Kido. It came true. You have that chance now.”
For a long moment, Kido thought. “That was just a dream, Saane. The dream of a fisherman who was bored of catching fish. It was just something to fantasize about, nothing more. I can’t be a Toa. I wouldn’t even make it past tryouts. I just want to know how to go back to my normal, lovable Matoran self.”
Saane sighed. “Have you tried taking the mask off?”
“Not really,” Kido admitted. He lifted his hands to the piece, and removed it with ease. A flash of blue, and Kido returned to his natural form. The mask’s color faded back to its original silver. “Oh.”
“So,” groaned Saane, “you walk on the beach, find a strange mask that calls you a ‘Toa,’ put the strange mask on - and then wait all the way until nightfall when I’m alone so that you can ask me how to take it off without… taking it off first?”
“I technically don’t even really remember putting the mask on, but I -” Kido said. “Yeah. I’m sorry for wasting your time, Elder. If there’s truly going to be a Toa in Moda Nui, it won’t be me.” He picked himself up and looked at the Kanohi mask in his hand. He thought about leaving it for a moment, but then decided to take it with him. He’d put it back on the beach, where he found it, and then the person who was supposed to find it there, would. And he could move on with his life, pretending this day never happened.
He solemnly stalked out the door, stepping off of the porch and onto the sand. The sounds of the waves were so constant to him that he hardly even noticed them anymore.
“Anyone can wear that mask, Kido!” Saane said.
“But not everyone should,” replied the fisherman. He just hoped they hadn’t woken anyone up.
Saane grunted, and then returned to his soup. This is going to make an excellent story one day, he told himself.
Part 3 - "THE THIEF"
Kido tried counting the steps as he left the village. How many was it again? The star had already set, the whole beach was dark now. The palms of trees looked like strange monster hands, creeping at the night sky, grasping for something. Kido shivered, and kept moving.
1,052, 1,053, 1,054… Kido paused to look behind him. The short wooden huts looked so small from here… Well, small er, more like it. Here’s good, he thought to himself. I probably found the mask around here. He took one quick glance around. Well, a few more steps wouldn’t hurt…
The Great White Shores, though their name may suggest otherwise, were certainly not that great. Only a few dozen or so meters of sand between the big blue ocean and the palm jungles that surrounded Moda Nui’s western border. Not much to write Aero City about. But it was here that a group of Matoran decided to build Mako Village, so it was here that Kido came to be. He had walked these not-so-great shores for every year of his life.
Kido set the mask down on a sand pile, half-covering it like it had been when he had found it washed up. He admired his handiwork, at the expense of looking into the Kanohi’s admirable shape and its eyes - eye holes.
“I’m sorry,” he said to it. It should have felt weird talking to this mask, but this was the least weird moment he had had since picking it up. “You’re better off without me, anyways. You’ll find some great warrior and give him whatever destiny you have in store. You’ll be happy together. And it’d really be rather selfish of me to take that from this other Matoran. Me, a fisherman! You’re not mine. You were never meant to be.”
The mask stared back.
“Don’t look at me like that!” Kido shouted at it. “It’s better this way. For both of us.”
Toa Kidoma… a voice in his ear whispered.
Frustrated, Kido turned on his heel, almost colliding with a looming shadow behind him.
In a moment of pure instinct and adrenaline, Kido leaped back, looking down as a curved blade narrowly missed him. He landed back in the sand, taking in his attacker.
The foe was a tall and slender figure, with lengthy arms and a hunched posture. Whatever he was, it wasn’t a Matoran. His spiked armor, extreme height, and clicking metallic mandibles gave that away. One of his eyes glowed a gruesome yellow. The other didn’t glow at all.
“Who are you?” Kido asked, stunned.
The attacker cackled. “Doesn’t matter!” he said in a croaking voice, like the creaking of the wooden planks every time Kido tried to sneak out of the hut at night to stargaze. Neida always caught him. The foe pointed one of the twin scimitars in his hand at the Matoran. “Unless you’ve got treasure. Have you got any treasure?”
“No,” denied Kido. “I catch fish for a living!” His eyes flicked to the silver mask in the sand.
“My,” the fiend said, eyeing the artifact. “That’s some fish!”
Kido plucked it from the ground and fit the Kanohi under his arm. Okay, maybe I’m not supposed to have you, but he definitely isn’t either!
“Hey! Give it here!” said the foe. He threw a sword into the ground and flung a wave of sand at Kido’s face, blinding his eyes for a second. He shot into the air, flailing his blades downwards, and grazing the blue color of the Matoran’s plating.
Kido ducked under another blade, and jumped over another. The attacks were ruthless and quick, but they had a simplicity to them. There was a pattern, and patterns could be predicted. Seeing an opening as the fiend missed an overhand slash, Kido thrust his hand out in a strike of his own, hitting the face of the attacker with the Kanohi.
The foe went reeling back, distancing himself from the Matoran for a second.
“Not bad!” the creature growled, spinning the scimitars in his fingers. “You’re a brave kid!” He lunged forwards again, and Kido had to hold the mask up to deflect the strike. The swords clanged without effect against its fierce silver, prompting a satisfying ring.
For a moment, Kido began to fear that he had damaged the Kanohi mask. He flipped it around and studied it - Huh. Not so much as a scuff in its brilliant shine.
“Ha! You took your eye off of your opponent!” the foe said, thrusting the hilt of the blade over the back of Kido’s metal skull.
Kido sank into the sand, his head throbbing in sudden pain. He spat out bits of dust from his mouth, but his vision was much harder to fix. The world leaned left and right as he struggled to keep consciousness.
“Another win for the Scarlet Sails!” cheered the being as he bent over to pick up the mask.
No… Kido groaned in his mind. Don’t let him… Don’t let him win… He couldn’t move, he could barely see. That twinkle, right there, was that the Kanohi? Could he even grab it in time? Come on, arm! Reach for it! Reach it!
His hand touched something metal. Was it…? Yes, it was! He threw his arm back, clutching onto the mask tightly, and he gently, tiredly placed the Kanohi mask on his face.
For a moment, nothing occurred. Kido remained in his Matoran form, and the mask remained its neutral silver. Then, light began to stream from the adornment, a bright gray and blue light that waved and pulled and twisted around Kido’s body. He felt it elongating and growing, reshaping the stout Matoran into the tall, lean athletic shape Saane had labeled a “Toa.”
“W-w-what?!” the opponent said, dropping the blades.
Kido, now transformed, looked down at the pirate, the mask now an aquamarine. “Don’t even think about coming back here,” he boomed, his voice as strong and flowing as a tidal wave.
He ran at the foe, now equal in height, and grabbed him by the chest. Glowing water rippled up his arm, pooling around his hand where he grasped his foe. As he hoisted the villain up, preparing to throw him, he felt a surge of strength coursing through his entire being, like nothing he had ever felt before. It was powerful, but only when pointed in the right direction. Only when the flow was followed. Kido used this strength to power his arm as he swung, and the pirate was sent soaring back into the waves with astonishing speed. When Kido looked back down at his hands, the water had dried.
Kido removed the mask, reverting to his familiar form, and took another long look at the mask.
“Anyone can wear that mask,” Elder Saane had said. Kido had ignored the comment then, but what he just did… He couldn’t even understand it. Whatever had just happened, it was far, far bigger than a fisherman.
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Ooh very nice. The writing style in particular is great.
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Hey, thanks!
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Wow! I can’t wait to see the rest of your story!
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Thanks! Did you read it all the way through?
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Yes, I did. It was great!
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Awesome! Thank you so much, that means a lot to me! My primary purpose was to create a story that is accessible to new potential fans as well as nostalgic and familiar to fans of the original Bionicle line, so I’m hoping I achieved that.
You certainly have me hooked!
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I’ve read all three parts so far, and I gotta echo the statements of others here- I’m hooked!
Well, on that I’d say you’re succeeding so far. I’m digging this setting- what we’ve seen of it so far as well as what you’ve alluded to- and I also find the characters enjoyable. And the call-backs and references you’ve worked in made me smile.
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Thanks! I’m really glad you enjoy it!
Part 4 - "THE DINER"
The Scarlet Misery had an impressive silhouette. Its deep black wood gave it the appearance of shadows, especially threatening at night when it sulked through the darkness with almost perfect invisibility. The bold crimson sails had grown infamous in much of the outer reaches, becoming the inspiration for the name of the gang which crewed the ship and its neighboring fleet, the Scarlet Sails.
Much of the crew were diverse and unique, ranging in appearance, size, form, builds, experience, and intelligence. The smartest and most experienced of the crew got to be captain. That was how it worked. That was how it always worked. But, oh!, how badly each of the more ambitious pirates yearned for the title. To be captain was to be the man or woman behind the greatest pirate vessel on the Nine Oceans! To be captain was to rule the seas.
However, the current captain was indisputably the greatest among the crew. No one had performed as many heists, sailed through as many storms, or escaped as many prisons as Captain Crau. Once a great warrior from the island of Visk, Crau yearned for more than just battle to satisfy his unceasing thirst for excitement. After establishing himself as the greatest warrior on Visk, he did the most sensible thing. He climbed aboard the next pirate ship to dock in town, challenged the captain of the time, threw him overboard, and placed the captain’s hat upon his own crustacean head. Since then, the Scarlet Sails have been unstoppable in its lengthy streak of robberies.
As he sat in his cabin, Captain Crau had his back turned to his five lieutenants, choosing to examine the wall of trophies he had surmounted over his years as captain rather than the mixture of confusion and jealousy that stunned the faces of his chosen council.
“Do you know why I collect trophies from all my former rivals?” Crau asked his associates.
The lieutenants each winced from the sound of his grating voice, which put the taste of salt water in their mouths/mandibles. No one dared to speak up. Even when asking a question, the captain often snapped at anyone who interrupted his monologuing.
“No one?” Crau said, faking amusement. “Well, it’s to remind myself of where I’ve been, of who I am.” He thumbed a glittery golden harpoon mounted on a wooden plaque. “This reminds me of how I struck fear into the supposed “Fearless Fenosta,” General of the 1,000 Nawadan Unit.”
He turned his attention to a rusted helmet on a stand. “This reminds me of the time I laid waste to the Aornia Wildlands. Its villagers were so proud of the wealth their farms had brought them - until I burned their fields to ash and soot.”
Finally, he stared in self-awe at the Visk halberd held at the center of his collection. “And finally, the weapon of my brother, whom I exiled to the Acid Lakes after defeating him in combat.”
He turned to face his audience, his dark beady eyes and swimming antennae glaring beneath his cap. “I have proven time and time again my worth. I have proven that I didn’t need a part in those disgraceful oceanic warlords’ little team-up to amount to something great. I am the king of the Nine Oceans! Me! Captain Crau!” His claws clicked as they raised up beneath his cloak magnificently. “So, you might be able to imagine my… frustration when I hear that there is some sort of pretender going around, commanding the waves as if they belonged to him. Did I hear that right, Pinchy?”
The mandibled marauder nodded his head swiftly. “With one fist, he summoned the power of a tidal wave! It was as if he used the ocean to throw me!”
“How trivial I will prove this fraud to be…” Crau smirked, clasping his hands behind his back. "I can already see my victory over him. My swift, painless triumph over this water wizard."
“Well, now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure he didn’t control the waves by himself…” Pinchy interjected.
Crau whipped around, coming so close to Pinchy that his antennae stroked the pirate’s face. “Please, elaborate…”
Pinchy gulped. “He had some sort of tool, shaped almost like a… Like a mask?”
The captain’s eyes narrowed, the intensity of his glare causing all five of his lieutenants to shiver. “What… mask?”
Gotta find Elder, Gotta find Elder…
Kido’s mind raced as he sprinted across Mako Village. It was early morning, now, just as the starrise was happening on the other side of Moda Nui. It was dark, but that didn’t keep the villagers from getting up and about at this hour. It was prime fishing time, when the gilled things were still a bit groggy, though Kido saw his and Neida’s boat still docked. His sister must be sleeping in, or something. She probably deserved it. He felt a twinge of guilt thinking about Neida. He had ditched her an entire day ago, and she still had no idea where he was…
But that didn’t hinder his pace to find Saane. Right now, the Elder was likely at Jiina’s Dine-In Delights, feasting upon a #7 special - the Breakfast Barracuda Burrito. Man, I could really go for one of those right now… His stomach chamber buzzed in agreement.
“Kido, where are you running?” Rida asked as Kido zipped past the old farmer.
“Hey, Kido!” called the town artist, Bayola. “Neida was looking for you last night! Did you see her?”
“Kido, where’s the fire?” teased Hetiru, the baker.
The frantic Matoran dashed past them all. He even ignored a puzzled Kaidi as he pushed towards the diner.
Jiina’s Dine-In Delights was the most well-built establishment in Mako Village, beating the town center by a mile. Its wood wasn’t the flimsy palm trunks used to form the village huts, no, this was real, imported Fauna Jungle oak. Jiina had insisted upon it himself. The roof was tall and proper, built three layers deep so that not even the ocean storms could pound a leak into its reinforced frame.
Kido skidded up to the double doors, Kanohi mask pressed against his back. He was pretty sure no one in Mako Village would have any clue what it was, but he still felt like it was something he should keep secret. As he plunged through the double doors, he came face-to-face with the stout, shark-eyed chef owner of the diner, Jiina himself.
“Well, well, well, Kido,” he grunted, waving a fish-smelling cleaver in the frightened Matoran’s face. “I give you and yar sista the day off, and you spent it skippin’ town like ya ain’t got nothin’ ta do?”
“I’ve actually got something really important to do right now…” Kido said, scanning the tables for Saane.
“Well, it bettar be findin’ me some ripe fish fer tonight’s dinner rush,” Jiina said. “‘Cause ya ain’t gettin’ two days off.”
“Please, I need to talk to-”
“Fifteen big ones,” Jiina snarled, tapping Kido’s chest with the blunt end of the cleaver. “By tonigh’.”
“Yes, sir,” said Kido.
“Good.”
The moment the chef turned away, Kido scanned the restaurant. It was almost entirely empty this early in the morning, save for one frequent customer who always got up with the star to prepare for a long day ahead. Kido made a beeline for the elder, who had taken a window seat and was just finished up his burrito special, licking the last bits of seaweed from his thumb.
“Elder Saane!” cried Kido, thrusting the Kanohi onto the table.
“Whoa, Kido!” Saane chuckled, raising his hands into the air. “What’s the hurry?” He glanced at the mask. “My boy, I’m not taking this mask, now…”
“No, I’m not giving it away,” promised Kido. “I’m keeping it.”
The Elder’s eyes narrowed. “You mean, you’re-”
“Yeah!” said Kido. “I’m going to try it. For a little bit, I mean. Just because… I don’t know… Maybe I was too scared before. Maybe I can really be a… a…”
“A Toa?” asked Saane.
Kido’s excitement wavered now that he had given himself a moment to think about it. “No, never mind. It’s crazy. I mean, I just… I don’t know…”
“My boy, slow down for a minute,” Saane pleaded, pushing his plate to the side. “Breathe, okay?”
Kido hadn’t realized how quickly he was panting.
“Last night, you told me you didn’t want anything to do with the Toa. You were so certain that you were nothing more than a fisherman. Now, here you are, telling me the opposite. What happened in the last eight hours that’s completely turned you around on this?”
“After we talked,” Kido began to say, “I went out to put the mask back where I had found it. I didn’t want it, like, at all. But while I was doing that, someone attacked me, someone not from Moda Nui.”
Saane leaned in, taking a swig of his kokonut shake.
“He was some sort of treasure hunter, or pirate, or something,” Kido recalled. "He said something about an… a "Scarlett Sail… "
Mid-sip, the Elder’s eyes widened as he went deathly still.
“What? Does that mean something to you?” asked Kido, intrigued.
Saane blinked. “No, I’ve just been trying to come up with a band name, and I was picturing that on a poster.” He noticed Kido’s obvious disapproval. “It’s not a good name, don’t worry.”
“Yeah, okay,” said Kido. “So, anyways, he almost had me beat, but then I put on the mask, 'cause I thought, ‘maybe this’ll help,’ I don’t know, it was pretty spontaneous, and I… and I threw him! Just with my arm, but it was like the water helped me do it! He just went flying, it was amazing! I’d never felt anything like that before! I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but I just feel like this power… It’ll help me, in some way. Maybe… Maybe I am supposed to have this mask.”
“Excellent,” said Saane, a trace of a smile across his face.
Kido waited. “…So? What do I do now?”
“Go home, get some rest. Eat some food.”
“What? But I just sort of decided that I might possibly become a Toa, you know, sometime in the future! I can’t just… ‘go home’!”
“Look at you, you’ve been up all night.”
Kido felt his face, noting the lack of heat stemming from it. He hadn’t noticed just how exhausted he was until now. “But… What if they come back?”
“They won’t,” said Saane. “I promise. You showed them what would happen if they did.” He nodded towards the Kanohi on the table.
“Jiina just gave me an order…”
“I’ll talk with Jiina. But you should rest.” Saane then bowed over the table, nearing Kido as he whispered, “You’re going to need it.”
Kido grinned a little. “Okay.” He picked up the mask and got up from the table. He gave one last aching look at the Elder before he ran off, and Jiina arrived to take Saane’s plate and complain about an overly tense spot on his back.
By order of its captain, the Scarlet Misery turned its crooked figurehead towards its next destination, a small island by the name of “Moda Nui.”
Part 5 - "THE CAPTAIN"
The door creaked as Kido pushed it open. The hut would be empty by now, so Kido wouldn’t have to worry about-
"Where have you been?"
Neida was sitting on her stool, positioned so that she would be watching the door. She was waiting for him, perhaps this entire time.
Kido froze. “Out.”
Neida’s eyes sharpened into a glare. "Well, obviously." She gave Kido a chance to say more, but when he didn’t, she said, “I have been wondering where on Moda Nui you might be for over twenty-four hours, Kido! You ran off without saying a word - right when I needed your help, which was not cool - and then you vanish for an entire day? Nobody knew where you were! I asked Jiina, I asked Kaidi, I even asked old man Hoffa, for some reason. But no one had any clue! You had just vanished off of the face of Moda Nui, and I was starting to doubt I would ever see your stupid face or hear about your stupid dreams again!”
Shamefully, Kido bowed his head.
“Mom made me promise, promise that I would be there for you when you needed me, just like Dad made you promise you would be there for me when I needed you, remember?” Neida continued. “Well, I’m here. I’m here, as I always have been. So stop running from me, and tell me what’s going on with you!”
Kido allowed a second of tense silence to pass. He wanted to just explain everything, but his sister was upset, and deservedly so. He had decided to turn to the town Elder over his own sister when he was confused and needed guidance. Just because it turned out to be a good choice didn’t make it right.
“Last morning,” he began, “I was upset. I had a strange nightmare. A ‘stupid dream’, and it scared me. It still does.”
“Okay,” said his sister skeptically. “What about?”
Kido had to think for a minute. The dream felt so long ago, almost faded. Had it truly only been two nights ago that he had had it?
“It was about a storm,” he said. “And I was in the middle of it. There were these… red eyes in the clouds, staring at me. And then there was this voice…”
Neida crossed her arms. She was not impressed.
“Well, look, I’ll just-” He revealed the Kanohi, which he had hidden behind his back. “This is why I was gone for so long.”
“A mask?”
“No, not just a mask. A Kanohi mask. Elder Saane told me about it.”
“You were with Elder Saane?”
“No, not at first. I found the mask, and then I went to talk to him after it got dark.”
“Kido, are you sick? You sound like you’re not well.”
“I’m fine, I just-”
"Then why on Moda Nui was your first thought to bring this to Elder Saane?"
“Well, he knows a lot about weird things, so I thought-” Kido stopped himself. I’ll just show her. He lifted the mask up to his face and rested it upon his head. A shine of blue and gray poured from the Kanohi, encasing him in its power as it began to reshape his body. In an instant, he became the tall, athletic being he was slowly getting used to.
“See? Weird,” he said, his voice mighty.
Neida’s jaw plummeted, her eyes as large as seashells. “What…?”
“It’s taken some getting used to,” Kido said. “I’m still not 100% confident this is supposed to be for me, but some pretty wild stuff has happened already, so maybe… Maybe I’ll try it on for a while.” He kneeled to come mask-to-face with the stunned Neida. “Hey, I’m sorry. For everything I’ve done this past twenty-four hours and more. Still siblings?” He held out his arms for a hug.
“Take th-the thing of-off,” stuttered Neida.
Kido did as she asked, and was reverted to his Matoran self.
Neida slowly nodded, still processing what had just occured. “Okay. Yeah. Still s-siblings.” Rather than a hug, she gave him a friendly handshake, though her hand did most of the shaking. “S-so, what are you going to do with that th-thing?”
“I’m… actually not sure yet…” Kido said. “Elder Saane says that the wielders of these masks protected people, and, honestly, I don’t see a whole lot of people who need protecting right now.”
As if invited by the words themselves, a shout echoed from the beach, crying, “Someone, help us! Save us!”
Kido went still, startled.
“Well? Go! Put it back on!” ordered Neida, waving him back out the door.
“We will talk later,” said Kido. “I promise.”
“Go!” repeated Neida.
Outside, the citizens of Mako Village were caught in intense chaos. They swarmed the sands, arms in the air, trying to find shelter from the sudden appearance of invaders. A series of nearly a dozen ships, each made up of a dreadful black wood and fitted with dark crimson sails. Their very sight induced fear upon the lowly villagers. They were terrible.
Fishing boats rapidly pulled into the docks, their captains not even bothering with the tethers. The waves rose as the shadowy vessels neared the shore. The sounds of jeering and guffaws roared from the passengers. The tips of blades, harpoons, and hooks danced above the gunnels of the ship. It was clear to anyone who caught sight of these monstrous vessels: these were pirates.
A few villagers grabbed fishing equipment such as spears and ran to face the boats, stepping out onto the beach and waiting defensively. Their arms quaked and trembled in obvious fear.
The main ship, a huge, five-masted boat with a bent figurehead of dark silver, seemed to roar as it approached the sands. It chewed up the docks and several small dinghies as it ripped through their weaker material and finally came to a rest against the beach. The villagers began to whimper. One even dropped his spear and sprinted to his hut.
At the head, a cloaked figure emerged, an impressive tri-corner hat perched across his crustacean face. His claw hands clicked in a mini applause of delight as his eyes feasted upon the sight of his latest territory. This strange island, with its odd people, would fall before him. Just as they all had.
“Do not tremble before me, my new subjects!” he bellowed down to the scattered crowd of Matoran. “You may cower, and perhaps grovel, or at the very least kneel, but trembling is absolutely horrible! How can I see the faces of all my new underlings if they are shaking constantly?”
The plea did little to soothe the quivering villagers.
“Very well,” said the man. “You will soon come to respect the command of Captain Crau. But, as is reasonable, that will take time. However, until then, I do not intend any harm upon any of you. However, I would like to see this ‘Warrior of the Waves’ my lieutenant tells me about. Is he around here, by any chance?”
The villagers looked at one another in confusion. Warrior of the Waves?
“He’s supposed to be fairly tall, wields water as some sort of tool?” Crau continued to question. “No?”
“He was one of them!” cried one of the passengers. Pinchy scuttled up to his captain’s side. “He gave the illusion of being one of them! And then he… he transformed!”
Crau frowned. “Very well. Let’s see if we can draw him out.” He suddenly jumped from the stern, his cape following after him as he fell nearly three stories before crashing into the sands, his tremendous strength catching him. From his side, he pulled a large, jagged cutlass, which he pointed at one of the villagers. He tapped the end of the spear with the blade, and the wooden weapon was immediately broken free from their feeble hands. The poor Matoran rattled as the Captain’s crustacean antennae reached forwards and gently brushed his face.
“Now, now,” Crau said in an unexpectedly soothing voice. He then grabbed the Matoran in his free claw and hoisted him over his head, roaring, “Does no one lay claim over this people?! Will no one stand up to their oppressor?”
“I will,” a triumphant voice said over the cackling of the crew. From the crowd of villagers emerged a great, heroic-looking figure in bright blue armor. A collective gasp murmured throughout the Matoran, as they were each filled with wonder. From the outskirts of the town, Elder Saane smiled.
“Ah… So you’re this legendary adversary I’ve heard so little about!” said the captain as he lowered his catch. “It seems there has been a bit of a misunderstanding. I am the ruler of the seas, which means that any and all mysterious items related to them belong to me. If you want to be the King of the Nine Oceans, you must earn it, as I have, instead of cowering here with a bunch of Matoran lowlifes.” He threw his captive onto the ground, who immediately scrambled away from the captain.
Kido’s fists clenched. “Who are you?”
“I’m Captain Crau,” said the pirate with a bow. “And I have traveled every ocean, sought out every adventure, stared down every horizon. My quest has been long and brutal, but it’s rewarded me in ways you’d never imagine. I hope you understand how much of an honor it is for you for me to even consider you a rival.”
“You’ve… you’ve been out there? You’ve been… that far?” Kido said in awe, pointing to the very end of the ocean. He knew this was a bad guy, but… it had been his dream for so long…
“And farther,” said Crau. “Do you wish to know what my many, many journeys have taught me? They taught me that everything worth having in life is also worth taking . Your mask, for instance. Whatever it does, it seems to pose some kind of threat to my rule. So, I would allow you to just hand it over, and I could just adopt your people into my domain peacefully, but I genuinely believe you might be some sort of threat. Do you know what the seas taught me about how to best deal with threats?”
Kido didn’t care to answer.
“Stamp them out,” growled Crau and immediately pounced forwards with his blade.
Kido shot into the air, flipping over the captain and landing on the other side.
“Impressive,” said Crau as he struck again.
The masked Matoran ducked under the swipe, and made a kick at the foe’s legs, only for his attack to bounce uselessly against Crau’s armor.
“Hah!” the captain cheered. “Real Havorian steel! Armor fit for a king such as I!”
Kido jumped out of Captain Crau’s range and thought to himself, Come on, water. Do the thing. He rushed at the captain, heart pounding, fear racing through his body as he threw a fist forwards, and-
His hand clanged against the steel chest plate, and nothing happened.
No!
“Did you miss the part about the Havorian steel?” said Crau, almost disappointed. “Oh, that’s right. You weaklings have likely never been off your pointless rock-of-an-island.”
He bent down to swipe at Kido, who reached into the ocean and splashed a handful of water at the captain’s face. It irritated the pirate, but did nothing remarkable.
Do something, Kanohi! Kido tried to scream at the mask. It didn’t seem to respond. He looked up at the exasperated Crau and flinched as the captain lifted up his cutlass to bring down upon him.
Just before the Captain made the move, something swung against his head. Crau slowly turned around to see a little Matoran carrying nothing but a wooden shaft.
“Hello, little girl.” A terrible grin spread across Crau’s crustacean face.
“Neida!” shouted Kido. “No!”
“Don’t you dare lay a… a claw on him!” Neida screamed at the pirate.
Crau stepped near her. She took a step back.
“Oh, I wasn’t dreaming of touching you poor hero, girly!” said Crau. “I was simply going to… use my blade to pry the mask from his head! No physical contact required!”
Neida held up the staff, its point at the captain’s chest. “We don’t have anything valuable to you here. We have no money, no gems…”
“I already have money,” said the pirate, taking another step. “I already have gems. What I don’t have is a mask that would allow me to control the very waves on which my ships travel. And I think I would rather like one of those, so unless you can find me another one…”
Kido sprang up from the sand and began running at the captain. Just before reaching him, an orb of flame was shot down at him, exploding the moment it touched the ground. Kido was sent flying, far beyond Mako Village and into the palm tree jungles beyond.
Crau looked up at his ship. From the deck, Pinchy held a smoking cannon, pointed at the spot where Kido had just stood.
“Why… in the Nine Oceans did you just do that?!” roared the captain, his voice hissing with fury.
“He was about to get you, Cap’n!” Pinchy said, saluting.
“Moron!” shouted Crau, turning to the Matoran before him. He reached down and plucked her up, ignored her strikes with what to him was a wooden stick. He sheathed his cutlass and stared at the girl.
“Would you like us to gather a search party?” asked Lieutenant Leefy.
“Don’t bother with one,” said the captain with a smirk. “We’ll lead the hero to us.” He looked around at the village. “Gather up anyone you can find. We’re taking the Matoran for a little trip offshore.”
“But, Sir!” called Lieutenant Urcha. “He’ll likely be stronger out there! The ocean is his element!”
“As it is mine,” said Captain Crau as he took one last look at the trees the masked hero had vanished into. "I shall await our next encounter with eager anticipation, hero…"
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Part 6 - "THE FAILURE"
The shouting didn’t stop until about noon.
By that time, Kido’s joints had stopped hurting when he moved. It was remarkable, the mask. It seemed to take his injuries and unwind them, fixing the gears, wiring, even down to the dents in the plating. Where pain once was, there simply wasn’t anymore. But what it could not fix was the heaviness he felt in his core. It pulled deep in his chest, wanting to just give into gravity, seep out of his body, and pour out onto the ground.
Kido couldn’t bring himself to leave the crater he had made when he fell. He belonged in here, sitting in the dust of his failure. His village, his people, had depended on him. Saane had said that Toa were meant to protect the innocent. This was Kido’s first attempt at actually protecting, and it was a catastrophe. Whatever Captain Crau was doing to his people now was his fault. He was responsible.
Kido lifted the mask up from his face, reverting to Matoran form. He held the mask up, turning it as if he was putting it on the sky.
“You belong to a hero,” he told it. “That was never going to be me.”
The star winked through the eye hole of the mask.
Kidoma…
"What does that mean?" Kido screamed as he threw the mask out of the crater. “I don’t understand! I don’t get it! Why in all of Moda Nui was I the one you chose? What makes me special?”
Kido heard the shuffling of sand, and suddenly the Kanohi mask was sliding down the lip of the crater, riding the dust until it hit his feet.
What…?
“Ah, there you are!” a voice called down. Above, Kido saw the shape of Elder Saane peering into the hole with intrigue, staff in hand. “Care to join me for a walk, or are you too busy sulking yourself into sponge pudding?”
“I failed them, Saane,” Kido said. “I had a chance to help them, and I couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything.”
“Well, sitting in a crater isn’t doing anything to fix that,” said Saane.
“At least I can’t hurt them in here.”
“That’s remarkably untrue. Crau has taken half the village aboard his ships. He’s holding them as hostages, all to lure you into a fight.”
“I guess I’ll just have to disappoint an evil pirate captain, then.”
Saane laughed a little. “And your sister. She was the first one he took.”
Kido launched himself to his feet. “What?! He took Neida?”
Nodding, Saane said, “You left her behind when you decided this pit was a more appealing position than by her side.”
“That’s not fair, I was hit by a fireball!” Kido shouted. “Wait, how did you escape?”
“If there’s one thing pirates are good at,” said Saane, “it’s leaving their work unfinished. Well, that and making the most melodious of sea shanties!”
Kido thought of his sister. Neida had jumped into the battle to defend him, even without any special mask abilities. Demoralized, he slumped to the ground again. “I guess I’m no better at being a brother than I am at not being shot by fireballs, or using Toa powers, or being a hero. I’m an all-around failure.”
“You’re a good fisherman,” Saane said.
“I’m not even so sure of that, anymore.” Kido’s stomach felt limp inside of him.
After a minute of shared silence, Saane finally began saying, “I remember this old story of three mountain climbers, each one attempting the Obsidian Peak Summit, the most treacherous and exerting climb in Moda Nui. The first climber clawed and fought his way up the mountain side, but could not make it more than a few feet off of the ground. He tried and tried again, but could not make it. He eventually gave up, sat down in a hill of snow and felt bad for himself for the rest of his days. The second one tried the same thing, only this time, she never gave up. She tried, and tried again, and tried again, and-”
“And eventually, she made it to the top,” said Kido, his voice barely above a grumble.
“Absolutely not!” the Elder said.
Kido tilted his head in interest.
“She tried and tried the same thing again and again, and for the rest of her days could not make it up that mountain,” said Saane. “Now the third one, he struggled the same way the first two did, but he stopped for a moment and thought. Then, he went to the nearest convenience store, rented some mountain climbing equipment-”
“Pretty sure they don’t have mountain climbing equipment at a convenience store-”
“Well, in this fictional world, they do! Anyway, he returned to the mountain with his tools, and, through some hard work and physical strain, he did what the other two never would - he made it to the top.” Saane leaned down and prodded the Kanohi with his staff. “All he needed were the right tools.”
“But I had the mask before,” said Kido. “It didn’t work. I couldn’t use my powers.”
“When you tried to use the Kanohi, what were you thinking about?” asked Saane.
Kido shut his eyes as he attempted to remember. “I was… I was afraid.”
“Of what?” the Elder continued. “Of the big, mean Captain Crau? Of losing your sister?”
“No,” said Kido. “I was scared… I was scared I wouldn’t be able to do it. I was scared that I couldn’t be a Toa.”
Saane was silent for a moment, but then broke into hysterical laughter.
“What?” Kido asked. “What did I say?”
When Saane had calmed down, he cleared his throat and then said, "So, you expected to fail, and then were surprised when you failed. That is something I believe is funny. While Captain Crau’s confidence has turned him into a self-absorbed villain, your lack of it has brought you to a crater of apathy. Kido, you were chosen for this task. Not because you are special, but, I believe, because you are not."
Ouch… thought Kido.
“You are the first Toa to be found in centuries. The first Toa in all of Moda Nui! That achievement could have belonged to anyone, like the President of Aero City, or the Supreme Major of the Flickering Wastelands!”
“Yeah! And maybe it should!” said Kido. “That’s what I’ve been trying to say this whole-”
“And yet, it came into your hands,” the Elder said. "That must mean something. Anyone can wear the mask. But not just any body."
“What does that even mean?” scoffed Kido.
“No idea,” said Saane. “But you’re not going to find out in that dismal pit you’ve put yourself in.” He held out his hand for Kido to take. “It’s time to come out, Kido. It’s time to fulfill your duty as Toa Kidoma, Master of the Ocean.”
Kido took the hand, though hesitantly. He picked up the Kanohi, and let himself be pulled from the crater. As he rose above its lip, he was now longer surrounded by walls of ash and dust, but now by swaying palm trees and soothing sand dunes.
“I do believe it is time to provide you with your tools,” Saane said and gestured to the mask in Kido’s hand.
“Are you going to teach me how to use it?” wondered Kido, excitement flavoring his words.
Saane nodded once.
“Do you know how?” Kido asked.
Saane shrugged. “I have a few hunches.”
“But you don’t… you don’t know for sure?”
“Did you forget the part where I said you were the first Toa seen in centuries?” growled Saane. “I’m old, my boy, but certainly not that old. No, I don’t know how to train you to the powers of the Kanohi mask. But that’s going to be part of the fun, isn’t it?” He placed a hand on the young Matoran’s back, leading him away from the pit, and towards the beach. Towards his duty.
The lower deck of the Scarlet Misery was nowhere near as well-kept as the upper deck, or the Captain’s quarters. Crau let his crew run it however they chose, much to the detriment of… well, the crew. The berth was marked by cots and sheets lazily thrown about, food crumbs and emptied mugs dashed across the floor.
Captain Crau growled in disgust as he marched down the passageway, towards the brig. Slobs… Do they not realize who they serve under? Surely they don’t think so little of the great Captain Crau as to keep my ship so… so filthy! The crew members lived as animals before Crau had found them. He had offered up a place on his ship to them, and this is how they treated his generosity? Perhaps he should return them to their miserable former lives. They seemed better suited for it, anyway.
He pushed open a door and entered the brig. Rows of cells lined the walls, filled to capacity with blue-painted creatures that barely reached his shoulder in height. Matoran… Crau hated Matoran, though he himself wasn’t entirely certain as to why. It was likely that he just enjoyed the feeling of hating Matoran than anything else.
“Sir, please!” one cried, at his knees. “We need food! We’re starving!”
“I’m sorry,” said Crau, feigning remorse. “My crew and I are quite low on food ourselves.” The great feast of roasted birds and fruits went over quite well with the pirate staff. “I would offer you some, but I’m not convinced we’d even make it to our next destination with our current supply.” Lieutenant Anglir had an entire cargo room dedicated to grapes alone. “If I am going to be able to feed you, it will need to be provided to me from your village.”
“Please, you took everything we have!” the Matoran pleaded. “Sir, please!”
But Crau had moved on, leaving the begging Matoran in his cell.
“Where is the one who defended the hero?” Crau questioned. “Where is the girl?”
The prisoners shuffled, revealing the Matoran girl who had attacked Crau with the wooden shaft.
“Ah. Hello, again,” said Crau. He crouched down to reach eye level with the girl.
The Matoran glared at him with her yellow eyes. “What do you want with us?”
“Please, let us not ignore our manners, girly.” A sinister grin appeared on the Captain’s crustacean face, his antennae snaking out and wrapping around the rusted iron bars.
“Oh, of course,” snarled the Matoran. “Formalities.”
“As you undoubtedly know by now,” said Crau, unbothered by the sarcasm, “I am Captain Crau, King of the Nine Oceans. If you’d like, you can just refer to me as ‘Crau’. You’ve earned that much of my respect.”
“Okay, lobster-face.”
The Captain held a claw over his heart before turning it outward towards the Matoran. “Would you do me the honors of providing your name? I’ve been rather hospitable and courteous to you.”
She looked him up and down. “Neida,” she said curtly.
The grin reappeared on the Captain’s face. “Excellent, Neida. It is very wonderful to meet you. In response to your earlier question, I actually don’t want anything from you. You are simply my assurance. Now that I have answered your query, would you care to answer one of mine?”
Neida crossed her arms. She appeared to be waiting.
“What is your connection to the masked hero at the beach?” Crau asked.
The defensive image the Matoran girl had created broke for a second.
“Oh, it’s no mystery to me that you two are somehow related, the way you tried to defend him. Valiant effort, by the way, even if it was meaningless in the end,” said the Captain. “But I would like to know, who is he?”
Neida paused for a moment before answering, “He’s my brother.”
There was a collective expression of shock in both the Captain and the overhearing Matoran crowd.
“Kido?”
“Surely not…”
“He’s just a fisherman!”
Crau ignored them. “I refuse to believe that a great warrior such as he and a humble villager like you descend from the same lineage. Who is he?”
“I don’t know,” said Neida, showing a hint of sorrow. “At least, not anymore. But he used to be my brother, like I said.”
“Interesting,” said Crau as he raised his claw to stroke his antennae. His beady eyes glimmered in the torchlight. “Perhaps he’s not as special as I originally believed. Thank you for speaking with me, Neida. I hope you get to become acquainted with your so-called ‘brother’ soon.” As he rose, he adjusted his cloak. He picked at something in his pocket and removed an entire loaf of slightly stale bread. Leftovers, from last night’s feast. “For your compliance.” The Captain tossed it to Neida and began stomping away. “Good-bye, for now, honored guests!” he called before finally leaving the Matoran alone in their cell.
A few prisoners tried reaching for Neida’s treat, but she held it away.
“Just wait,” she told them, breaking the bread apart. “Share.” Neida handed out the pieces of bread, hoping there was enough for everyone to get at least a little as she struggled to hold onto her hope. Come on, Kido… she prayed. Please, don’t let us down…
Part 7 - "THE STAFF"
“It’s not doing anything…”
“You must be quiet.”
“…”
“…”
“It’s still not-”
“Quiet. You must focus to meditate.”
“…”
“Are you focusing?”
Kido lunged to his feet and kicked up sand as he stomped against it. “No, I’m not focusing!”
Saane opened an eye. “Then you will not succeed.”
After he flailed his fists in his fury, Kido said, "My sister - and half of my village - have all been taken by some madman who thinks he rules the ocean, and are probably locked in some cell, hoping that someone is on their way to save them, and here I am, sitting cross-legged on a beach and trying to move water with my mind!"
Saane lifted his shoulders. “Makes sense to me.”
Kido’s frustration declined. It was hard to be angry with someone as constantly untroubled as Saane. The old Matoran’s easygoing response to yelling seemed to show how pointless yelling actually was.
“How do you expect me to focus right now?” Kido asked with genuine hope for an answer. In the distance, Crau’s ships loomed, a terrifying reminder of his responsibility.
“You may find this hard to believe,” Saane said, “but it is your sister that you must focus upon.”
Kido frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Our families are trapped, we are practically alone, and the only way to stop that villain is for you to master your power over the waves. Does that not inspire you, Kido?” asked Saane. “Are you not filled with determined, untapped emotion? Focus, right now, on your sister. Let her become your motivation, your driving force. Control that emotion, and reform it. Let it become the power with which you manipulate the waters. Don’t detach yourself from it. Make sense?”
“I guess…” Kido said with a sigh.
Using his staff to prop himself up, Saane gestured to the edge of the water. “Stand there,” he said.
Kido did as he was commanded, setting his massive Toa feet in the water. The waves came up and lapped his ankles, seeming to glow brightly as it touched the aquamarine metal.
“Now, I want you to reach out with your mind,” Saane said. He lifted his staff up, pointing out to the horizon. The star was close to setting, but the ocean and sky shared a brilliant, vivid blue. “Feel the ocean, Kido. Seek out its waves, feel the life it holds within.”
Kido shut his eyes, and in the darkness he saw a mass of watery blue, swirling and spiraling in every direction. He reached out, and felt its shape. He saw shapes, shapes of creatures, of boats. He grabbed a shape and followed it, racing across the blue. He trailed rivers and streams, exploring all of Moda Nui, from the Iron Mountains to the Rimelands, from Aero City to the Fauna Jungle… And then more! He saw outwards, to islands and formations he had never witnessed before, beautiful reefs where life rampaged, and chasms where light could not descend. He could feel the weight of a hundred ships on his back, and still managed to carry them dozens of miles from the ocean floor. He found the ships just off the beach, crimson sails blowing before him… And if he could just reach inside, he would find…
The vision collapsed, splashing back into the tumult of waves and foam. Kido felt light-headed, as if he had just inhaled a bucket of saltwater and spit his stomach chamber out. Wow, I can’t do that a ton.
“Well, that didn’t work,” said Saane with a scowl.
“No, it did!” Kido said, coughing. “I felt it, Saane! I felt the entire ocean! It was… actually really terrifying, now that I think about it.”
Saane smirked.
“Okay, I’m ready.” Kido positioned his feet shoulder-width, his knees bent slightly. He could feel the waves at his ankles again, grounding him to the present, here and now. He wouldn’t drift his vision off of Moda Nui, as before, but he still wanted to tap into that power. He breathed in and out, matching his breath with the push and pull of the waves at his feet. It was an amazing moment of peace in the midst of all that was happening right now.
Focus…
His mind drifted to Neida. He thought how she laughed whenever he made a fool of himself. He thought of her encouragement when he felt low. He thought of her determination to protect him during his fight with Crau.
“Mom made me promise, promise I would be there for you when you needed me.” Neida’s voice said in his memory. “Well, I’m here, as I always have been.”
Kido smiled, as he felt his eye drop a glowing orange tear down his mask. How he wished she was here now, to tell him what he needed to hear! He needed her.
No. Neida needs you now.
It didn’t feel right. She was supposed to be the one to rescue him, not the other way around! And certainly not from pirates!
He thought of Captain Crau. The crustacean-faced crook was out there, sitting on his boat, waiting for his challenge. Well, Kido would give him one, if he could.
Kido reached out with his hands, palms towards the ocean, and drew them back. He channeled his emotion, his energy, and his fear into the motion, wishing to pull the water with them… but, as he expected, the water just continued its usual pattern of raising and lowering.
Elder Saane noticed his attempt. “Still no luck…” He looked at his staff.
“No, Elder,” Kido said, sulking. “I know I have to. I know she needs me. But how do I… How do I just… become a Toa? Like you said, it’s been centuries! There isn’t anything of the Toa left.”
“That’s not necessarily true,” said Saane, holding out the rod in both hands. “Take it.”
In Kido’s hands, the staff raised to about his chin in height. It was partly covered in a fine blue silk kept there by an orange cord than snaked around its thin frame. He spun it around in his hand. It felt well-balanced. Natural.
“This,” the Elder said, “is the old instrument of the Toa of Water before you, so I’m told. It was used to harness their focus and imagination, acting as the driver of their powers.” He examined it in Kido’s grasp. It fit him. “Either that, or it’s an old fishing shaft I redecorated for my own purposes,” he added with a wink.
“But it’s the first one, right?” Kido asked.
Saane smiled.
“Right?”
“You are only able to accomplish what you allow yourself to accomplish, Kido,” the Elder said. “You must stop focusing so much on what you can and can’t do. If you rely on your own strength, I’m sorry to say, but you will fail. You will only gain control by relinquishing it.”
Kido groaned. “What does that even mean?”
Saane just pointed out to the water. “Use the staff. Shape the waves. Save your people.”
Rolling his eyes, Kido turned the stick to the ocean and focused again. This time, he didn’t focus on what he thought he could or couldn’t do. He shut his eyes and found that sliver of determination and honed it into a blade. Something sharp, with both precision and utility… He forgot his anxieties and failures, anything that wasn’t simply, " Save Neida."
When he opened his eyes again, he saw his staff dipped into the water. As he removed it, some of the water clung to the tip. He pulled the stick free, a sharpened diamond of water shaped on its end. The repurposed water was turquoise in color and glowed with a brilliance reminiscent of the Kanohi. As he moved the staff, the point delayed a little, giving the appearance of a large paintbrush, its smooth tip following close behind. But Kido knew he hadn’t made a paintbrush. As he felt out the tickle that occupied a portion of his thought for as long as he kept this tool intact, he realized exactly what it was: a magnificent spear, formed of wood and water.
“Great Nui!” Saane gasped. “You actually did it!”
“You didn’t believe I could?” Kido wondered.
Saane crossed his arms. “I thought you might be able to do something… Can you do anything else?”
“Let’s find out,” Kido said with a grin.
He thrust the spear forwards, pointed out to the water, and felt a surge of energy launch forth, a ripple shooting down the water as if an invisible projectile was skimming its surface. He waved the spear to the right, and the water followed, a large pool shaping the curve of a mound. He pulled the spear back to the left, and the water obeyed. He transferred the water in circles, then down into a whirlpool, and then up into an aquatic explosion.
“Well done!” said Saane, giving Kido a kind pat on his back. “You’re making it look easy all of a sudden!”
“Watch this,” Kido said, smirking. He jutted the spear outward, and then swung it over his head. A spray of water launched from the waves up into the air, arching around them, and then splashed onto the beach. Saane watched the display in awe as the water began to make its way back to the ocean.
“How have you learned it so fast?” Saane asked.
“I’m not sure,” said Kido. “Actually, I am. It’s exactly like you said. I just had to relinquish control. No one can control the ocean. You have to fight with it, not against.” He began to spin the spear in his hands, painting a glowing blue ring before him. The water began to follow its spin, directed into a whirling tunnel large enough to walk through. Kido kept the spin going and began to walk towards it.
“Um…” Saane reached out his hand. “Kido, I wouldn’t be so overly confident as to-”
Kido stepped out onto the water, and, amazingly, it held his weight. As he walked, the water beneath his feet lifted up to form glowing blue stepping points, lifting him into the tunnel. Kido walked into the center and began waving the spear around in all directions, closing the back end of the tunnel and encasing him in a cocoon of water. As he continued, the water began to lift, reaching towards the sky as he led it. Finally, touching the roof of the chamber, the creation sprayed out in a miraculous rainfall upon the beach, leaving a very drenched Saane and a completely dry Kido.
“Incredible, Kido,” Saane said as sea water dripped into his grin. “I believe we truly have a fighting chance, now.”
Kido nodded in agreement. He held the spear by his side, its blunt end wedged into the sand. The Elder wouldn’t mention it, but now, as he gazed upon this heroic-looking figure, power and confidence emanating from his form and circling his mask… This was exactly how he imagined the Toa to appear.
Towards the horizon, Kido and Saane watched Crau’s ships, crimson sails ablaze with light from the star. There, was their destination.
“Thank you, Kido,” said the Elder.
“For what?” asked Kido. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You inspired hope in us once more.”
“‘Us’? What do you-”
From behind him, Kido heard rustling. He quickly snapped his spear towards the jungle and scanned for enemies.
Instead emerged the old, wild-eyed Matoran, Hoffa.
“I was wonderin’ when you would figure it out. Quite an impressive show!” he said, clapping.
Alongside Hoffa were as many as fifteen other Mako Villagers, friends and neighbors Kido had lived alongside since he came into the world. Now, they were here, to take back the village Crau had taken from them.
Saane said, “I gathered all the remainders I could find. They’ve been watching, though I asked them not to interfere while you were still… uncertain of your duty.”
“Wow,” gawked Kido. “Creepy, but cool.”
“You think we can really do it?” asked Bayola.
“Are you kidding? Did you see what the kid just did?” Laani snapped.
“Don’t think this means yer off the hook at the Diner,” growled Jiina. “But we’re here for ya, if ya’ll have us.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Kido said with a respectful nod. “I’m going to need you all for this. I can’t thank you guys enough for your bravery, but I… I’m still new at this whole hero thing. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to pull this off.”
“We are,” said Kaidi with a gentle smile. “We believe in you, Kido. What you just did… I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Not even in your story?” asked Kido. “The one about the Golden Matoran?”
“Oh, yeah.” Kaidi looked a little embarrassed. “I forgot I made up that old story…”
Kido’s amber eyes narrowed behind his mask in both surprise and irritation. "Wait, what?"
“I apologize for interrupting this riveting conversation,” said Saane, no amount of remorse present in his tone, “but I believe we are all wanting to return our friends and families to their homes as soon as we are able, so if we may…”
“Oh, yeah, of course,” Kido said. He turned to the crowd. “People of Mako Village, I call you to my side, not in desire of battle or war, but as our duty. Our friends, our neighbors, our loved ones are under the wrath of a lunatic pirate captain who claims the ocean is his. I say we show him and his crew what power the ocean really has!”
As his audience cheered, the Toa lifted his spear into the air. A blast of water followed it into the sky, a brilliant display of the Kanohi’s power as the star began to sink into the horizon, forming the stage of the battle which was to come.
These got too long to put in a single post, ha
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Ooh very nice! I really like how you wrote it and I’m excited to see what happens next!
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Saane is quickly becoming my favorite character in this story.
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Because he’s the best
Part 8 - "THE HERO"
“Captain!” Pinchy called from his ship, the Lazy Knot. “Something’s happening!”
“I understand something’s happening,” said Crau, standing on the bow of the Scarlet Misery. “I want to know what is happening!”
“Captain says he wants to know what is happening!” Pinchy shouted to the next ship over. A few moments later, the answer was telephoned back to him. “Lieutenant Sting says Lieutenant Urcha says Lieutenant Angler says Lieutenant Leefy says that there’s a boat out on the water!”
“Is that so?” Crau said in disbelief.
“Hey!” yelled Pinchy. “Hey, Sting! Crau asks, ‘Is that so?’”
Crau spent the minute he waited for a response grumbling to himself. The sky was beginning to light in a warm fire as the star began to dip into the distant ocean line. Crau had positioned his ships in a line, Leefy’s nearest to the beach, so that he could keep his ship as far from harm’s way as he could, should the masked warrior return stronger than in their last fight.
“Yes, it’s so!” said Pinchy. “Oh, there’s a few more boats! Small ones, filled with little blue people!”
“So the Matoran wish to try their fate,” the Captain said, greatly amused. “Fan out! Target the crafts! I don’t care how you get that mask, but I want it in my grasp by stardown!”
The pirates cheered in unison, pumping their weapons in the air as the sails were unfurled.
“Today, we show these ocean villagers who their king is!” cried Crau, holding his cutlass aloft. “And I claim that which deserves to be mine.”
The wicked vessels lurched into attack positions.
Kido barely even felt like he was moving, he propelled his boat forwards so quickly. He held his staff to the side, using it to create a wake of waves that helped push along the line of rowboats full of villagers to either side of him. They surged with daring speed, moving ever closer to their destination.
Mako Village didn’t have much in the way of weapons, so they had armed themselves with staffs, wooden spears, harpoons, and fishing rods. Farmer Rida had even grabbed her second favorite pitchfork, worried that her first favorite might get broken. Regardless of their lack of armaments, Kido was glad to have them. He wasn’t going into this fight alone, and that meant a lot.
“I need you all to search each boat!” he called over the whipping breeze. “We don’t know which one our people are in, so we’re going to need to look in every one!”
“Aye, aye, commander!” said Jiina in affirmation, twin cleavers in hand. He wore a greasy headband and an apron, which certainly were not typical battle gear, but seemed to fill the cook with unrivaled exhilaration.
“You’re going to make a fine Toa!” shouted Saane in the back of Kido’s boat. He held a twisted tree branch like a sword, a satisfactory substitute as he worked on picking out a new staff.
Kido grinned. “Thanks!” But he wasn’t thinking about being a Toa right now. His only focus was on helping his sister. Well, her and the other villagers.
“Look out!” shouted Bayola from underneath her straw hat. The looming ships had launched a volley of flaming spheres at the rapidly approaching boats.
Kido pushed the staff out in front of him. “Hold on!” The waves that carried them slid underneath the rafts and burst out before them in a protective wall of water. The fireballs slammed into the wave, drenching a few of the villagers but dissipating upon contact.
“Excellent!” complimented Elder Saane. “You are really getting a hang of your powers!”
“Hey, the water’s doing all the work!” said Kido. It wasn’t necessarily a joke, even. Kido would simply picture in his mind what he wanted the water to do, and the mask would “communicate” it to the ocean. Using mental force would just drain him of energy; all he had to do was just imagine, and the water would listen.
The shadow of a great scarlet sail crossed over Kido’s face. They had arrived.
“Get ready!” Kido said, thrusting his staff high. Around the boats, pools of water began to circle, before erupting in a series of blasts, launching the boats into the air. The villagers held fast to the wooden crafts, and landed upon the pirate vessels with speed and ease.
Jiina was the first to lumber out of the boat. “Attack!” He drew his two cleavers and went for the nearest pirate. The crew of rogues stared at the Matoran with open jaws and wide eyes, making them simple targets for the eager villagers.
As the battle began, Kido watched, inspired by the bravery of the Matoran. He had lived with them for years, and had never known they had it in them to charge into a fleet of pirates with nothing but sticks and stones.
“It’s because of you, you know,” said Saane. Beside him, Rida successfully pushed a pirate overboard with her pitchfork, cheered, and jumped back into the fray.
Kido shook his head. “No, it can’t be. Like I said, I’m just a fisherman. Or, well, I was. I’ve lived my entire life in search of adventure, and the first moment I stepped into one, I broke down. In fact, it only took me a few more steps before I had a second breakdown. I feel like every two minutes since I found this mask, I’ve been falling apart.”
“Is this an adventure?” Saane asked, pointing with his stick at the dueling Matoran and pirates.
“I’d say so.”
“And are you falling apart?”
Kido looked down at himself to make sure. “No,” he said with a smile, “No, I’m not.”
“And that’s inspiring,” said the Elder. “It wasn’t the fact that you were born courageous and heroic, but that you’re learning to be. You’ve got a long way to go in your journey, Kido, but you’ve also come a long way. Your friends are here to enjoy a part of it with you.”
In the center of the battlefield, Kaidi had just kicked a pirate into the mast, knocking him out. She looked up at Kido. “Did you see that?”
Kido nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! Yeah, I did! That was amazing!”
When he looked back at Saane, an amused grin had inflicted the old Matoran’s face.
“What?”
The Elder shook his head. “Nothing. Now, go! Show them some of that newfound courage you’ve learned!”
Taking a deep breath, Kido began to walk forwards. His walk broke into a run, then a gallop, and then suddenly he was sprinting - right off the edge of the boat.
“Where’d he go?” Hoffa asked, taking a break from prodding an octopus-headed pirate with his cane.
Kido shot up from the sea, riding a swirling snake of water like a surfboard. In the dimming light of the star, the watery serpent glistened like silver, a silver dragon that Kido had tamed and now guided. It was an impressive sight.
He streamed the water forwards, riding it until he was above the next ship. He swung himself upside-down and released his control over the water, which splashed down with him onto the deck, where a tempest of pirates were waiting for him, blades drawn.
Before the water began to leak through the cracks, Kido drew from it a slice of it to reform the radiating spear tip he had made on the beach. He swung it forth, the purposed water meeting the cutlass of an attacking fiend as if it was no less solid than it.
“How are ye-” the pirate stammered as Kido planted a firm kick into his bony insectoid rib cage. “Rah!” he cried as he was sent soaring.
A trio of thieves encircled the unwelcome passenger, who spun his spear in a warding arch.
“You wanna end up like him?” Kido asked, gesturing to the pirate who had just taken a tumble into the ocean.
The pirates each growled and dove at him.
“Apparently so!” Kido took his spear and whirled it around, forming a ribbon of water from the spear tip and slashing at all three in one swipe. They were thrown backwards, tumbling into a cabin.
From behind Kido, he heard a growl. Snapping his spear towards the foe, he faced an ugly fish-headed creature with a wormy extension growing from his scalp. A bulb hung from its end, emitting a faint pulse of light.
“Welcome to my world, shrimpling!” the creature said, its bulb dangling. Its lanky form balanced on top of the gunnel.
“Ah,” said Kido. “You must be the captain of this fine vessel!”
“Aye,” he confirmed. “Lieutenant Anglir at yer service!”
“Pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”
“The pleasure is mine!”
The two each bowed.
“Ha!” shouted Anglir, swinging his axe. “I tricked you into being polite!”
Kido pushed himself back, dodging the attack. “No you didn’t! I’m polite by nature!” He jumped forwards, ramming his shoulder into the fish-man, causing him to fall off the boat.
“Excuse me,” Kido said. He quickly shot over and descended the ladder to reach the lower decks, jumping down several steps at a time. He was immediately assaulted by an intense smell of fish and rotting fruits, so much so that he reached to cover his sensors before remembering that his mask was already covering them. He reeled a bit, but maintained his standing and began searching the mess hall for the Matoran prisoners.
“Don’t hurt us!” a voice cried to his right.
Kido spun around. Three pirates were standing in a cabin, hands raised. One had a towel wrapped around his head. None were carrying weapons.
“If we promise not to fight you,” a shark-jawed pirate said, “will you promise to let us go?”
“None of you guys want to fight?” asked Kido, pointing the spear at the towel-headed one and a single-eyed one.
They each shook their heads.
“Well, thanks for making my job easier,” Kido said, releasing the water at the tip of his staff. It splashed against the dark wooden planks, seeping through the planks back into the ocean below. “Do you know if there are any prisoners on board?”
The three shook their heads consecutively.
Kido was inclined to believe them. If they were lying, they were about to see what he could do. “Alright. You guys can go.”
“Really?” One-Eye said, clicking his mandibles.
“Yeah, of course,” said Kido. “Oh, um, you might wanna jump on your lifeboats, or something.”
“Oh, we um… we don’t have any,” said Towel.
“Yeah, Cap’n says we needed more room for the fire cannons!” said Shark-Jaw.
“Sorry for shootin’ those at yer,” said One-Eye with genuine shame.
Kido shrugged. “It’s alright, I guess. I blocked them.” He scanned the chamber, looking for something he could use, but it didn’t look like ragged cots and mugs filled with spoiled milk would help him with anything… The floor! He pulled some water that was dripping off his armor and fashioned a small glistening dagger in his hand. He sliced up the wood of the structure into three pirate-sized planks, which he then distributed to the surrendering party. The water cut through the material surprisingly easily, like a warm knife to seaweed sponge cake. Kido’s stomach chamber vibrated in excitement at the thought of that. How long had it been since he had eaten last?
“What 'er these for?” asked Shark-Jaw, examining his board.
“Floating,” said Kido, shoving his appetite back down. “Go up top, jump overboard, and rest on these planks. Oh, and you’d better let your friends on them, too. They’re probably getting tired of treading water by now.”
The three forced some quick nods and marched up the stairs.
“Thank you much, sir!” said Towel.
As they scurried away, Kido caught one say, “I liked him! He’s much nicer than Cap’n.”
How badly must these guys have it that they’re stuck in these terrible lives? Kido began to wonder how many of the pirates actually wanted to be pirates. He couldn’t blame 'em for not want to working under Crau. The dude was a bully. There was no better way to put it.
Kido looked down at his staff. Think later. Save Mako Village now.
He shut his eyes. Again, he pictured the colossal, writing mass of blue liquid, filled with the outlines of the astonishing diversity of sea creatures that inhabited it. When he reached out, he couldn’t quite touch it, so he tried to pull it towards him. He called with his mind, reaching with his hand, trying to get into contact with the ocean…
There! He felt its grip, its electrifying strength; it would be his to guide. He gripped the spear with both hands, holding it down at the floor, closest to the ocean. He coursed his power into the waves directly before him, feeling them bubble under his strength. He took the staff and jerked it upwards, taking the water with it. The wood creaked and groaned and then snap!, it was overcome by the force of the water beneath it. Sea water shot up from below, slamming into the ceiling and pouring into the innards of the ship.
“Ha!” exclaimed Kido. “You took my home from me, Crau. Now I’m taking yours.” He leaped around the artificial geyser, and repeated the process again a few steps further, and then again a bit further after that. He swung himself back around and raced for the stairs, his feet splashing in the growing water level.
He emerged back on the top deck, feeling his ship rapidly sinking.
“Kido!” he heard. Jirita, the spry little boat repairwoman, was standing on the crow’s nest of the other ship, waving to him. “We’ve cleared this one out! No sign of the prisoners!” When she finished her report, she leaped from the mast, holding a rope swing she had fashioned to sling her on to the third ship, where the other villagers were locked in an intense fight. She landed on top of a mantis-like pirate, shouting, “You may take the people out of the village, but you cannot take the village out of the people!” The villagers cheered. They liked that. Maybe she’d be a motivational speaker some day.
Kido ran up to the starboard side and turned to face the now empty vessel. He began to run, accelerating into a charge as he jumped off port side and plummeted towards the water. He yanked his staff up and caught himself with another tendril of water. He held the tendril with his hand and had it jerk upwards, flinging himself into the air, high above the ensuing battle. Another round of fireballs was shot at him, but he was too small a target to accurately track at this range. They all flew by without a hit, his sensors picking up their immense heat as they scorched past him. He dropped upon the emptied ship, rolling into a somersault to convert his momentum. He rolled a bit too far, however, and ended up slamming into the port side gunnel.
“Ugh,” he moaned, picking himself up. He immediately shook off the pain and got to work. Standing in the center of the boat, he reached out both hands, reaching for the water on either side of the boat. He summoned great tendrils to surround the vessel, feeling their roaring and twisting shapes creep up its sides. He tightened his hands into fists. He heard a powerful crack! as his watery appendages splintered the material, spraying chunks of wood outward. This ship, too, began to dip into its oceanic gravesite.
Just as he was admiring his work, a great and powerful voice suddenly cried out.
“Courageous warrior!” it said mockingly.
Kido turned to face it. Crau…
Standing proudly on the crooked figurehead of the flagship was the now-familiar Captain Crau. His cape blew behind him in the wind, his silver armor glimmered in the fading starlight, accented to his dull rusty orange carapace. In one claw, he gripped his jagged cutlass, its cruel shape not able to strike as much fear in Kido’s core as what lied in his other grip. Grappled in his terrible crustacean claw, flailing her arms against his hand to try to free herself, was Kido’s sister, Neida.
“You’ve fought bravely against my forces,” said Crau, his voice carrying over the sounds of fighting and the crackling and groaning of the two sinking vessels. “But I believe we both agree that this fight is really between you and me.”
Kido glanced at the other boat, the one the Mako villagers were battling on.
“Don’t worry 'bout us, kid!” said Jiina. “We’ve got this 'un!”
“Go!” shouted Kaidi. “Help her!”
He looked at Saane for his input, but he was busy striking his clam-headed opponent on the shell with such force the opponent dizzily stumbled back.
Neida…
I’m coming.
He broke into another run, this one filled with as much determination as he had left in him - maybe even more. He bounded over the edge of the ship and dove into the water. He swam like a jet, slipping underneath the waves with all the practice he had gathered over the years, and all the might of a Toa powered by rage and motivation. The water rumbled beneath him, and launched him up, throwing him back into the air with a spray of crystal droplets. He flew onto the flagship, repeating his roll, only this time he stopped himself by catching the deck with his hand and thrusting his feet onto it just after, skidding to a stop as he faced the captain of the Scarlet Sails. He held his staff at the ready. This time, he wouldn’t let his lack of confidence get to him. This time, he wouldn’t let Crau win. No matter what.
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