Book 1 Unity: Ga Koro

[Avnuva]

Leverage

Ta Koran nights were always inhospitable, especially on the northern side of the island. The region’s lack of precipitation and cool winds leaves nothing but golden grass carpeting the flatland of the north. Occasionally the flatland would be interrupted by a hill, mountain, or volcano, but for the most part the entire regions coated in golden blades of grass. That is until the sun sets. Once the sun sets, the grass’s beauty devolves into a muted tan. The region’s relative peace is interrupted by faint humming. The humming trail led to a fire, with two individuals hunched over it. Nidhiki had been humming to his heart’s content while cooking some grasses over the campfire. Krika had been hunching towards the fire to protect him from Ta Koro’s cold arid winds.

Nidhiki: “Ta da, dinner is served!”

Nidhiki passes to Krika three cooked blades of grass. Krika did not look amused.

Nidhiki: “Made them just the way you wanted.”

Krika looks insulted.

Krika: “Just the way anyone would have wanted, Nidhiki. No one likes eating burnt blades of grass.”

Nidhiki looks to his side, seeing all the blades of grass which he burnt black from previous attempts at trying to cook them. Nidhiki feels bad for the burnt blades of grass. They were cut from their roots so that they could be eaten by him, and now they lay on the floor, burnt and useless, completely inedible, or at least, completely inedible to Krika, whose word was always final. Nidhiki associates feelings with the dead blades, as if they felt bad for not being eaten as their intended duty. Food wasted, was food without a purpose, and to Nidhiki, anything without a purpose was sad. He felt like the burnt blades of grass were jealous of the perfectly cooked ones that they were gonna be eaten, which was a feeling that made Nidhiki feel bad for the burnt blades. As a result, Nidhiki throws away his perfectly edible blades of grass and picks up the ones that had been burnt from previous attempts at cooking.

Nidhiki: “Oh yeah. Well I like them.”

Nidhiki takes a bite out of a wad of burnt grass and instantly regrets it.

Krika: “Still like them?”

Nidhiki: “Yes.”

Krika: “Sure you don’t want any of my golden licious blades?”

Nidhiki: “No.”

Krika: “Good, Because I wouldn’t have given you any.”

Nidhiki sits in a position where Krika can’t see him clearly through the fire, and spits out all black crunchy pieces of grass in his mouth. He then goes out to find the good pieces of grass he threw away. Nidhiki tries to bring up a new conversation in order to avoid Krika saying ‘I told you so’.

Nidhiki: “Hey Krika?”

Krika: “What is it?”

Nidhiki: “Why aren’t we back on makuta nui, to you know, regroup and plan things out.

Krika begins to stand.

Krika: “Plan what out? We failed, or more specifically, you failed, but no one’s gonna see it that way when we get back home, so that’s why we’re here.”

Nidhiki: “You sure we can’t just go back for a little bit?

Krika: “We can, but why would we do that? Icarax is gonna kill us if we do that.”

Nidhiki: “To me it sounded like he was joking.”

Krika: “With Icarax, a joke could be a threat, promise, lie, or even an actual joke. Talking to him is like talking to the barrel of a zamor launcher. It doesn’t care about what you say and it goes off whenever you least expect it. Mata Nui, what would you know? You’ve lived in a clocktower your whole life.”

Nidhiki:” 'Makuta don’t kill Makuta, it’s against makuta code’ Teridax told me that.”

Krika: “Icarax isn’t Teridax, and both of them would question that code if they heard we lost to a couple of matoran and a toa.

Krika sighs.

Krika: “And I won too. That makes it worse. They’ll think I failed, but I didn’t. I did my part. Why couldn’t you do yours! What happened to you again? Mutated to having normal hands?”

Nidhiki: “That was scary.”

Krika: “Uh huh, and look at yourself now, claws and everything. That mask didn’t even permanently scar you, all it did was temporarily disfigure you, before returning you your normal claws. That mask did nothing to you and you came running to me crying!”

Nidhiki stays silent.

Krika: “Why? Why is this happening? To me, of all makuta. It’s like one day I’m just minding my own business, then ding dong, ‘you’ve been assigned to navy duty’. So I do it, then a massive light bursts into the sky, I find out the Ignika’s real, I get paired with some physically and mentally handicaped makuta rahi thing, then get sent here, beat the living protodermis out of a toa, and now I can’t go home!”

Krika lays down on the floor and begins to weep.

Krika: “Oh how I’ll miss rahi duty, the wrestling matches with Antroz, even the pranks from Gorast I’ll miss. It all went by so fast and I took it all for gran-”

Nidhiki slaps Krika across the face with one of his massive claws. Krika stops weeping and falls back in shock, he’s surprised that Nidhiki would do such a thing. Nidhiki also falls back and is startled. Not only is he shocked at what he was able to bring himself to do, but he’s also afraid that Krika would retaliate in some way. Nidhiki’s going through fight or flight, and he chooses to fight.

Nidhiki: “Umm… ok. You need to cut out your cry baby crap right now and listen. Our lives aren’t over, and even if they are, I won’t allow it. Someone’s gotta be the leader around here, and when it’s not you, it’s going to be me.

Krika, for once, swallows his superiority complex and actually listens to Nidhiki. He somewhat respects Nidhiki being tough. Nidhiki still hesitates a little before speaking.

Nidhiki: “Back home, at the clock tower, I have drawings of the mask of life all over my room. Teridax showed me an image of it in my dreams and I never forgot the way it looked after that night. So I drew it every day, melding it into the fringes of my mind. And from what I saw at that volcano, I can assure you that that mask those matoran have is incomplete. We still have a shot at stealing the mask before it’s too late. From what I saw, It looked halfway finished. Now, From what you told me, these matoran first uncovered the mask in Le Koro. And from what I saw, they got a second piece of the mask here in Ta Koro. From that we can assume that the next two pieces are either in Ga Koro or Onu Koro.”

Krika: “Congratulations! You found out something I already theorized. Don’t give me false hope.”

Nidhiki: “C’mon work with me here. You’re the brains between the two of us, think! Where would they be headed?”

Krika gives in and starts helping Nidhiki out with the plan. He looks up to the stars and thinks.

Krika: “Ga Koro’s farther, but Onu Koro’s more dangerous. From what I know, there’s only two paths to Onu Koro from which our matoran friends can go. Path A, through Makuta Nui, which they’re not gonna do, or path B, sail through Mata Nui and fight the ocean currents to Onu Koro. Technically, that would make Ga Koro easier to travel to, despite how it’s technically farther away. So Ga Koro, that’s where they’ll be heading.”

Nidhiki: “See, we have a framework to work off of. We can do this.”

Krika: “I wouldn’t be so optimistic. If you don’t recall, we left our only form of transportation way up north, deep into Icarax’s sphere of influence.”

Nidhiki: “Ever heard of stealing a boat? We just follow the beaches south and steal a boat. Those matoran won’t know what hit them.”

Nidhiki gestures to his head.

Nidhiki: “See this mask? It’s the kanohi mahiki, mask of illusion. Perfect for sabotage.”

Krika: “That’s a mask? The mahiki? That sure doesn’t look like any mahiki I’ve seen.”

Nidhiki: “Yeah, yeah that’s besides the point. Also, I’m planning everything this time.”

Krika: “No.”

Nidhiki: “Yes. Look, your plan of divide and conquer didn’t work, let’s be real.”

Krika: “That’s only because you didn’t do your part.”

Nidhiki: “If we worked together, that room for error diminishes. I know this is gonna sound crazy to you, but we should actually work together. This separation crap isn’t gonna cut it. Back at the volcano, the matoran I chased after stuck together, all of them solely dedicated to protecting the bearer of the mask of life, and overall it was an effective way for them to stall my chase after them. Perhaps we should do the same. Perhaps, we’re stronger together. You know, all that unity stuff.”

Krika: “That’s the most taraga prep talk I’ve ever heard in my entire life. Are you hearing the words that are coming out of your mouth right now? Icarax would skin you for saying such words.”

Nidhiki: “Our plan earlier today didn’t work, their plan did.”

Krika: “They weren’t united.”

Nidhiki: “Oh yes they were. Only the toa went solo, and look what that brought him.”

Krika: “I did get him good didn’t I”

Nidhiki: “The matoran who fought your rahi could not have won without cohesion. On average, one rahi is worth five matoran, yet they won. Why? Probably because they worked together to kill each rahi. I know every cell in your makuta body is telling you to say ‘no’, but I implore you to do the opposite. Besides, have you got any better ideas?”

Krika thinks hard, but inevitably gives up.

Krika: “No.”

Nidhiki: “We have no rahi and almost no resources, so we’re doing things subley this time, no big battles. Instead of making a dramatic entrance and fighting for glory, we do things smart. We get them when they least expect it, isolate the mask of life so we don’t have to fight anyone to get it.”

Krika: “What do we do if this doesn’t work, hmm. We just gonna come back home empty handed?”

Nidhiki: “No, we come back home with leverage.”

Note: This is the first chapter of the third part of book 1. So far, I’m looking forward to this part being my favorite to write out of all the parts. Unlike Le Koro and Ta Koro, this part has a lot more planning and overall feels more focused compared to those previous parts. The themes are more defined, character conflicts are more interesting, and the mysteries become more numerous. If book 1 was structured like a movie, late Ta Koro, all of Ga Koro, and early Onu Koro; would be like the second act. The act where the most happens.

[Rukah]

Ah here’s the third part. Nice job, I like the interactions with Krika and Nidhiki.

[Avnuva]

@Rukah

I like the interactions with Krika and Nidhiki.

I tried my best to make their interactions entertaining to read. So far I’m really trying to hammer in how Nidhiki has a very compassionate and open personality, while Krika has a more rigid and pessimistic personality. Their personalities are very different and due to that, they learn a lot from each other.

This chapter is an outlier between Krika and Nidhiki’s relationship. Usually Krika’s the competent one out of the two and is more logical, while Nidhiki’s follows him around and usually the incompetent one out of the two. In this chapter, after the disastrous events from Ta Koro, the roles reverse when Krika truly challenged. Nidhiki’s rare moment of competence and leadership in this chapter is meant to make Krika gain more respect for Nidhiki and potentially see him as an equal in the future.

[Avnuva]

Seeing Red

At the center of the Ga Koran archipelago, lies an island larger than the rest. Smaller than Ta Koro, but large enough for the island to have a swampy rural inland. Unlike the other islands across the Mata Nui realm, Ga Koro comprises over 10,000 islands and including water area, rivals the size of Le Koro. Its largest island, Ga Nui, is the center of Ga Koro’s culture, economy, and population. It’s a city island, where its metropolis lines the entire coastline. It only contains a small rural swamp at the center of the island, with most of it being reserved as a national park. Unlike Ta Koro, the cities of Ga Koro don’t clash with nature. It’s a place that seems very mature with its industrialization. A place where ga matoran citizens learned to industrialize without hurting the land and ocean around them.

On the island of Ga Nui, a familiar ship arrives on its many docks. It lifts a ramp onto the floor, where Tahu and Lewa make their entrance to Ga Koro. Tahu speed walks across the ramp and onto the city’s streets, not wasting any time.

Tahu: “Ok, here’s the plan. The most prestigious university on this rock is Gaki University, we go there, get the best geographer we can find, somewhere along the way get toa Nokama involved, journey to whatever mountain or cavern leads us to the second mask piece, get the piece, become heroes, leave this place, and journey to Onu Koro to get the final mask piece. You got that Lewa?”

Tahu gets no response, so he looks behind to see no one following him.

Tahu: “Lewa?”

Tahu looks around until he finally finds Lewa, relaxing on the beaches of Ga Koro. Tahu sees him hula hooping with the local ga matoran, wearing flower necklaces, dancing with the ga matoran, chugging tropical drinks, and overall having a very touristy time. Tahu walks to the beach, finding him laying down on a hammock, wearing a flower necklace, sunglasses, and a straw hat.

Lewa: “This place is nice, wouldn’t you agree Tahu?”

Tahu brings his hand up and slaps Lewa across the face. His slap is so strong to the point where it spins the hammock around in a circular motion before dropping Lewa on the hot sandy ground. Lewa gets back up with pain all over his body.

Lewa: “Hey! What was that for?”

Tahu: “Look at you, with that cute necklace and straw hat. Give me that!”

Tahu grabs the straw hat from Lewa’s head, throws it on the ground, and proceeds to step on it multiple times. He then does the same to Lewa’s sunglasses and yanks the flower necklace off Lewa’s neck.

Tahu: “You remember why we’re here Lewa? It’s to save Mata Nui, not t0 play tourist.”

Lewa: “Having fun is good once in a while.”

Tahu: “No it ain’t, not when your actions directly consequence every matoran in the universe.”

Lewa: “That still doesn’t constitute the need to slap me across the face.”

Tahu: “Oh yes it does, violence is the ultimate authority. Matoran aren’t built with moral character, Lewa. It’s learned through punishment, and punishment my friend is violence. Something which you clearly do not understand.”

Lewa’s optimistic carefree personality is shattered. Lewa begins to see Tahu less as a friend, and more of an undue burden, like a dreaded date on a calendar. Lewa wished that after he left Le Koro, he’d never have to deal with Kongu’s taunts of responsibility, yet he faces them again, this time with Tahu. In just a few words, Tahu goes from being a friend to a critic. He begins to see the negative traits of fire spitter culture: the honor, stubbornness, self responsibility, apathy, competitiveness, violence, value in skill rather than character, and the overall need to focus on the bigger picture; all traits which Lewa despises. Lewa’s mood is instantly ruined and he becomes more reclusive as he follows Tahu’s plan. Maybe, the ga matoran will be nicer.

Note: This chapter is meant to emphasis how much Lewa hates the feeling of responsibility. Lewa and Tahu’s friendship strain.

Inspirations: This entire chapter was inspired off of two things. One, the Spongebob theme Nostalgic Hawaii, and two, dialogue from Starship troopers. Two very different things I know (lol), but those were the two things running my mind while writing this chapter. Also, the geography of Ga Koro is heavily inspired off the Philippines.

[Avnuva]

Chapter 1: What is Geography?

Outside of classroom 161, murmuring can be heard. A lecture is going on by one of the many ga matoran professors at Gaki University. She’s skinny, short, and dawns the kanohi kau kau.

Gali: “Geography. it is the study of what?”

A student raises his hand.

Gali: “You.”

Tamu: “It’s the study of land, climate, stuff like that.”

Gali: “No… Well technically yes, but no. Geography includes those subjects, but I prefer to see geography as the study of conditioning. Anyone ever heard of conditioning? To put it in simple terms, conditioning is the process of molding another matoran to behave in a certain way. Whether you live on land or next to the sea, dry climate vs wet climate, mountain vs flatland, desert vs jungle, no matter where you live, you’re being conditioned. Geography conditions us, and that’s what we’ll be studying in this classroom.”

Gali is interrupted by a staff member. They mumble to each other while the students watch in confusion. The staff member then leaves as Gali proceeds to instruct her class. Gali looks back at the class with a massive smile.

Gali: “Due to national security reasons, class will be dismissed. Take that information as you please. Professor Ganu will be answering any question across the hall, and make sure to complete your chapter 1 notes for tomorrow.”

All the students leave, murmuring rumors among themselves on what’s going on. As soon as the entire classrooms are empty, two familiar matoran enter the room. A frowning Tahu and red headed googly eyed Lewa. Lewa has trouble walking as he approaches Gali. His mind begins playing the most romanticized music he knows. She was dreamy, perfect for Lewa. Lewa felt like most ga matoran tried too hard to impress. Lewa was never fond of the pink makeup ga matoran would use on their face and fingernails, or the artificial enlargement of body parts through thick clothing; so he was especially attracted to see Gali, a ga matoran who seemed impervious to her genders insecurities. Lewa also found her slim, but natural body, very attractive. He could tell that she took good care of her health. The jewel of Gali’s appearance however, was her kanohi kau kau. The attractiveness a matoran has towards a mask is subjective, but to Lewa, there is no mask more attractive than the kau kau. Despite how Lewa never spoke or knew anything about Gali before, he can’t help but feel an unexplainable attraction between him and her. He thinks it’s perhaps due to appearance. He thinks that maybe, there’s something from the way she looks, which makes her feel relatable to him. An unexplainable bond which makes Lewa feel like she’s his type.

Tahu: “Good morni-”

Lewa: “Hiiii.”

Gali: “Good morning to you both, I’ve been expecting both of you. Lewa and… who are you?”

In his head, Lewa goes crazy over the fact that Gali knows his name.

Tahu: “Tahu, one of the many commanders of the Ta Koran armed forces.”

Lewa leans forward on a desk to get closer to Gali.

Lewa: “How’d you know my name?”

Gali: “Well, who doesn’t? Your name is everywhere. The news, billboards, anything that matoran read. Day in, day out, they milk your name constantly, it’s insane.”

Lewa stands up in a prestigious position, trying to look exclusive.

Lewa: “It’s hard being a celebrity you know, hard looking good for the media.”

Gali: “Good? Have you seen the papers written on you? They’re clowning on you so hard, I almost feel bad. Gravestone pre orders rose 72% here in Ga Koro, just because of how confident matoran are that you’ll fail.”

Tahu and Gali burst out laughing as Lewa watches uncomfortably.

Tahu: “He can be a little incompitant sometimes. No offense.”

Lewa: “None taken haha.”

Gali: “Anyways, can I see that Ignika?”

Lewa holds the half assembled Ignika directly in front of his face so that Gali can see the mask. Through one of Ignika’s eye holes, Lewa sees Gali smiling. For a second, he thinks she’s smiling at him.

Gali: “It’s even more beautiful in person.”

Gali holds her fist up so Lewa can fist bump her.

Gali: “You did great work, don’t listen to what the news tells you”

Lewa returns the fist bump and begins looking like a ta matoran with how red his face gets.

Tahu: “Let’s cut to the chase, we’re here so you can give us information on where this next piece of the Ignika could be.”

Gali: “And what help would I give?”

Tahu: “You’re a geographer, perhaps you can help us find the most probable location for this piece. You knew this, so why’d you ask?”

Gali chuckles.

Gali: “Wanted to hear it from your own lips, nothing feels better than self gratification.”

Tahu: “Can you help us?”

Gali: “I need information, fire spitter. spill it.”

Tahu gets slightly aggravated by Gali’s dominant demeanor, but controls himself anyway.

Tahu: “In Le Koro, the piece was found in a mountain. In Ta Koro, the piece was found in a volcano. Each of the places were relatively remote locations on both of the islands. Know any places like that?”

Gali: “Hmm, from that information I’d say you’re a little screwed. Most islands in Ga Koro are below sea level, and the highest peak out of all the islands is 50 meters above sea level.”

Tahu: “Ain’t there at least someplace remote?”

Gali: “Nope, every island in Ga Koro is inhabited. Wait, no, actually there’s about… 3 islands with no matoran, but those islands are so tiny, that you’d be lucky to find a twig on them. Other than those islands, the most remote places in Ga Koro are national parks, which are constantly overrun by families on vacation.”

As the two discuss where the second piece could be, the words breeze through Lewa’s ears. All he could think of was Gali. The way she talked with her hands, her witty responses, She was the girl of Lewa’s dreams.

Lewa: “Hey Gali.”

Gali: “Yes Lewa.”

Lewa takes the biggest gulp of his life and lets the words come out.

Lewa: “Would you like to go on a date with me?”

Tahu: “Lewa!”

Lewa: “Sorry…”

At first, Gali is stunned, but then she lets out a cute smile. A smile from someone who clearly never been asked that question before. It was a smile which conveyed the phrase ‘I really needed that’. A smile, which felt as if she thought the whole situation was cute. A smile that made Lewa feel like he got this one in the bag. She opens her mouth.

Gali: “Umm… Lewa, I appreciate that you asked me that, trust me, I really do, you have no idea. But, I don’t know you Lewa. Sure, you’re a sweet guy and all, but we’re not compatible, you know what I mean. I don’t know how to say this, but we’re just not a couple, we don’t fit I don’t think. Besides, what we have going on is strictly business, and entangling that with connections like this can hurt that process. Mata Nui first is what I say.”

Lewa’s standing, but mentaly, he’s on the floor, stunned from what he just heard. He couldn’t believe that the words he just heard came out from such a sweet and misleading smile. It was by far the most sociopathic scenario Lewa had ever seen. Holding in all the tears he can, he looks over to Tahu to seek comfort. That’s until he tells him the least comforting words a heart broken matoran could ever hear.

Tahu: “She’s right, you know. Mata Nui first.”

Tahu and Gali go back to discussing plans on obtaining the third mask piece. Lewa watches, feeling like an outsider to his own adventure. A pawn in their game. Nothing but an object to save Mata Nui. Lewa begins to remember what Tahu said back on the boat ride to Ga Koro, how the ga matoran were spoiled. Perhaps he was right, any matoran with the nerve to reject another matorans date offer with that little regard for emotion is spoiled. But Lewa doesn’t want to believe that, he’d hate for Tahu to be right about something like that, devaluing an entire culture of matoran to a single trait. Lewa preferred to view matoran as complex, because that’s how he wished to be seen. So many negative emotions and pessimistic ideas rush through Lewa’s head. Lewa begins to slowly distance himself from Tahu and Gali. Before anyone notices, Lewa has completely left the campus.

Gali: “Hey, you know where Lewa went?”

Tahu looks around the room fearing the worst.

Tahu: “Mother of Mata nui, not this crap again!”

Tahu rushes out the campus with Gali following him. They get stuck at a school pep rally trying to find Lewa.

Tahu: “Lewa!”

Lewa’s nowhere to be found.

Note: Gali is finally in the story! It’s about time. Everyone who’s been reading this fanfiction has probably noticed a trend by now.

Inspirations: The scene which inspired this chapter the most, was a scene in Breaking Bad where Walter White explains what chemistry is to an uninterested audience of students. That scene was really cool since Walter’s lecture foreshadowed how he was going to transform in the future. In this chapter, Gali’s lecture forshadows the future character conflicts of this part.

[Rukah]

Ah so love is canon in this universe?

Also nice job.

[Avnuva]

Yes, love is canon in this universe, but I won’t be getting into the details on how that works in the story, because it makes 0 sense. Overall the matoran in this universe are much more humanoid than orignial G1; they can eat food, drink water, and other human-like things that they weren’t able to do in original G1. Even though love exists in this universe, it will never be the focus. Love is only in this universe to make the matoran more relatable and act as a plot device. Original G1 bionicle never needed love to make it an interesting story, and I’ll be using that same logic when making this story.

[Avnuva]

Red vs Blue

The officer leans forward.

“Where was the last time you saw him?”

Gali: “Gaki University.”

The officer writes that down.

“Okay we’ll be classifying this as a code red situation. All cops across the island will be active in the search for Lewa, curfews will be enacted island wide, and we’ll be blockading the entire island just in case things go sour. So let’s recap; Wearing Kanohi Miru, holding mask of life, colored green and lime green, is there anything else you’d like us to add in description?”

Gali: “That’ll be it officer,what can we do to help?”

“You and your fire friend can hold these up.”

The officer hands Gali missing Lewa posters. Tahu takes notice of the officers lack of armament.

Tahu: “Where’s your weapon?”

“Pardon me?”

Tahu: “Spears, bows, not even a knife?”

“Sir, we don’t do that here.”

Tahu: “I mean, since you ga matoran don’t have any standin army, i’d assume that at least you’re cops be armed.”

Gali begins brushing her head and avoiding eye contact. Tahu tries to justify his condescending and entitled behavior.

Tahu: “Back at Ta Koro, me and Lewa were surprised by two makuta while trying to find the second piece of the Ignika.”

Gali: “That’s Ta Koro. You could probably walk 3 meters north before running into Makuta territory.”

Tahu: “True, but you never know what these makuta are capable of. Officer, do you and your colleagues have what it takes to deal with that?”

The officer, trying to appease Tahu, responds in a respectful tone.

“Indeed we do.”

For a second, Tahu fears that his prejudices towards ga matoran could possibly be overturned. But he’s reassured when he sees the officer take out a pathetic looking can.

“We got this bad boy. Bet you fire spitters don’t have this.”

Tahu: “What is that?”

“Pepper spray, genius isn’t it. You see, back in the day, we had a big police brutality problem, so we invented pepper spray. Instead of impaling our criminals with potentially life threatening arrows, now we just spray them with thai devious chemicals. Remarkable.”

Gali, noticing Tahu trying to hold back his laughter, tries to diffuse the situation.

Gali: “Thank you officer, have a wonderful day.”

Gali pulls Tahu out of the police department and onto the street. Once outside, Tahu can’t control his laughter.

Tahu: “Oh we’re dead for sure, we’re so dead.”

Gali: “What is your problem? Degrading our police officers based on hypotheticals.”

Tahu: “That ain’t no police officer, that’s a caterer. Ain’t ever seen a ‘My I take your order’ police officer, only in Ga Koro.”

Gali: “At least we don’t break your jaw for selling psychedelic cucu leaves, or bring the army to a bank robbery”

Tahu: “That’s discipline, Gali. What if your officers ever needed to stop criminals who have actual weapons?”

Gali: “Never needed to, the last time a crime involving weapons happened about ten years ago.”

Tahu: “Oh I forgot, It’s because y’all are so perfect.”

Tahu turns his back on Gali.

Gali: “Definitely better than Ta Koro.”

Tahu’s eyes flare, he can’t stand leaving the conversation finished. He turns around, words blazing.

Tahu: “Of course you are, and since you are a geography professor, let me prove that to you, geography style. First off, your island, or should I say islands, is located thousands of miles away from Makuta Nui, farther than any other island nation from Makuta Nui might I add. Situated between Le Koro, Onu Koro, and Mata Nui. Le Koro, an tropical island nation, filled to the brim with food, so that your hungry ga matoran friends can eat. Onu Koro, an mountainous island nation, filled to the brim with natural resources other than food, so that you and your tummy filled ga matoran friends can create new inventions, healthy cities, a stable economy, a powerful navy, a viable education system, etc. And then there’s Mata Nui, an island where you and your friends can spread your culture, ideas, and products. ‘Better than Ta Koro?’, yeah I’d say so, but I wouldn’t be proud of it.”

Gali immediately comes back with her own.

Gali: “You think we have it so easy? Playing the guilt card aren’t we? I guess it’s expected from you fire spitters, to guilt us ga matoran. You know, other than geography, I also have a PhD in psychology. And you know what I saw when I interviewed ga matoran in your so-called, ‘honorable military’. I saw matoran with bruises and rampant with fear, scranny ga matoran soldiers who could barely stand-”

Tahu: “Hours in the military are rough and rahi are the ones who cause such bruises as you say.”

Gali: “Indeed, your work conditions are rough, which deserves its own tangent in itself. but I’ll leave it be, as you fire spitters always say, ‘it’s the best we can do’. Anyways, that’s besides the point. Those bruises aren’t caused by rahi, Tahu. The mortality rate from injuries sustained by rahi in the battlefield is incredibly low. What I found was that the overwhelming majority of ga matoran that I interviewed had significant others, the majority of whom were ta matoran such as yourself.”

Tahu: “What are you implying? I hate it when you ga matoran use them dog whistle phrases. Just say what you mean.”

Gali: “Let me finish Tahu, I let you finish when you were off on your tangent, now let me finish mine. A few of the ga matoran which I interviewed, did straight up say what they were going through. They were abused, Tahu. Beaten by their own boyfriends, your supposed ‘good boys’.”

Tahu: “I don’t condone that kind of behavior in my military! at least not with the matoran under my command. Wait, you were the one who started that scandal?”

Gali: “I didn’t start it Tahu, I simply uncovered it. And as you remember, the fire spitters who were rat’d out by their girlfriends ended up behind bars. You’d probably think that justice was property served on that day, But there were more, other ga matoran’s who were too afraid to speak out. And at first, I didn’t understand why. Why would they permit the system to keep taking advantage of them? That was until I came back t0 Ta Koro, only to find the abusive fire spitters back on the battlefield. What was the rationale again? ‘We need every matoran we can get’”

Tahu: “We do need every matoran we can get. Do you have any idea how many lives we lose fighting the makuta? So that matoran like you are safe from a makuta dominated world.”

Gali: “Tahu, I don’t respect that thinking. I don’t care how disadvantaged Ta Koro is, or how hard you fire spitters try to keep everyone ‘safe’, because that rationale gives you no credence for the truly terrible things that happen on your island.”

Tahu: “For matoran who promote inclusivity and acceptance, you ga matoran sure have a hard time learning how to understand others.”

Gali: “For matoran who value respect, you fire spitters sure have a hard time showing it.”

Both Tahu and Gali feel like they aren’t getting their points across to one another. In their minds, the right answer seems so simple, so they can’t fathom how the other doesn’t compute. They forgot how they started fighting in the first place. They both eventually come to a truce as they notice the sun set. The entire afternoon had passed without either of them hanging a single missing Lewa poster.

Note: This chapter feels a lot more political compared to the other chapters. This is because both Tahu and Gali are very representative of the island nations they come from. This chapter tackles sexism, spousal abuse, culture clashing, police brutality, and privilege. Very heavy topics for an adventure fantasy story. Personally, I do lean towards one side of the political spectrum, but I really tried my best to be neutral in this chapter. The point I was trying to make through Gali and Tahu’s conflict, is that they are both correct; Tahu and Gali are justified in their thinking and both make valid points. However, what they’re arguing about is irrelevant to the bigger picture. Their arguing gets in the way of finding Lewa, which is something that is actually important. They both think that the makuta are the ultimate villains against the matoran and that the makuta are the main reason why Mata Nui’s asleep, yet they don’t realize that conflict among themselves is just as detrimental to Mata Nui’s reawakening.

[Rukah]

very nice.

[Avnuva]

Jail (Let it all out…)

The island of Ga Nui is predominantly flat, but further inland, small rolling hills covered in trees lay on the fringes of Ga Nui’s coastal urbanization. One of those hills contains a familiar matoran. Lewa watches as the sun sets over Ga Nui. As the sunlight finally drowns beneath the horizon, Lewa walks the opposite direction, losing himself to the more rural interior of Ga Nui.

As straddles the country, he comes across a small lake. Lewa looks at the Ignika, making an annoyed squinty face. He then throws the mask into the lake, walks off, and tries to forget the last few days. However, he hears the sound of waves. Lewa looks back to see roots bursting from the surface of the water, bring the Ignika with them. As the roots submerge under the water again. Lily pads clump together and carry the mask to shore. Right next to Lewa’s feet.

Lewa gets furious, runs to another corner of wilderness, and begins digging with his bare hands. He ends up creating a massive barrial, where he ends up tossing the mask, filling the hole, and leaves it be. That’s until tree roots begin bursting out the ground again, handing Lewa the mask once again.

Lewa has enough of it and begins losing his mind. He takes a rock, slamming it against Ignika’s golden metal; it doesn’t even make a dent. Lewa picks up the Ignika and starts slamming it on the ground; once again, no dent. Lewa slams it against every surface he sees before throwing it off in the sky, not even caring if he gets caught by matoran searching for him. He falls backwards onto the floor, teary eyed. For a second, he feels relieved of the mask; until he starts hearing moving organic matter, something touching his right hand, and a golden glow coming from where his right hand would be.

Lewa: “Dannn it…”

Lewa begins crying.

Lewa: “It all happened so fast.”

Lewa holds the half complete mask above his head.

Lewa: “Why me? I’m no commander or professor, I couldn’t even get my flying license. How do you expect me to take care of you when I can’t even take care of myself? Kongu told me I was right for this, but am I, or was he saying that to make me feel better? Tahu thinks I’m not, this whole Island doesn’t think I’m right. All I ever wanted was a simple Le Koro life; go to work, play kohli, listen to guitar, play in the rain,with friends, that’s all I ever wanted. And instead, all I got was you. Why?”

Lewa noticed the mask glow a little when he said ‘friends’, he took that glow as a rebuttal.

Lewa: “Who? Tahu, Kongu, Gali? Those aren’t friends, those are matoran trying to disguise themselves as friends, who really just want me to get the job done. They don’t actually care about me, they just want me because of you. They’re the type of matoran that would respond to my feelings with ‘Mata Nui first’”

The Ignika then uses the roots of nearby trees to create a hand, pointing at itself. The Ignika begins blinking.

Lewa: “You? Nah, no way. All you do is give me nightmares on boat trips and give me unwanted responsibility.”

The Ignika manipulates the tree roots to create words that Lewa could read.

Ignika: ‘I’m sorry, give second chance, please. All I want, protect you. I like you, you have what it take, definitely.’

Lewa: “Oh Mata Nui, you’re so creepy.”

The mask begins writing with roots again.

Ignika: ‘That what Gali think you.’

Lewa: “You leech!”

Ignika: ‘Friend don’t lie.’

Lewa: “I guess not, but they also don’t wreck their ho-”

Lewa’s sight turns dark, he finds himself in a burlap sack, with the only source of light being the Ignika.

Nidhiki: "I got him Krika! I got the vine swinger!”

Krika emerges from behind a tree to see a hyped up Nidhiki holding one of his claws up.

Nidhiki: “Come on man, hit me.”

Nidhiki gestures to his hand, implying that he wants a high five. Krika tries to control himself from acting animalistic, but he can’t help his instincts. He high fives Krika.

Krika: “Yeah, Let’s go!”

Krika begins to respect Nidhiki more. His plan worked, and without a single rahi casualty. He looks over to the burlap sack and begins speaking to Lewa.

Krika: “Great performance you had out here, really. Loved it especially when you fell onto the floor, perfect for us to sweep in and sack ya. Come on Nidhiki, let’s go home.”

The burlap sack then begins to glow gold. Roots fly out at Krika and Nidhiki.

Nidhiki: “What the?”

The roots try to grab Nidhiki and Krika. However, due to their sharp limbs, they manage to cut off any roots which try to touch them.

Krika: “Give up mask, you’ve lost.”

The roots calm down and go back to their submissive positions.

Nidhiki: “Pfh, stupid mask. It gave up that easil-”

Tons of roots begin coming out of the ground. All the trees around come together, combining into one gigantic beast of a tree. A tree so massive that it engulfs the more inland urban areas of Ga Nui. From one side of the island, to the other, any matoran with eyes could see its supernatural growth. Cops begin flooding in from the city to see what’s going on. Nidhiki begins hitting the burlap sack against the floor.

Nidhiki: “Tell that thing to stop!!!”

By the time the tree stops growing, it’s already too late. An army of cops have arrived.

“Freeze!”

Every cop holds up a can of pepper spray towards the two makuta. Nidhiki begins laughing.

Nidhiki: “What is that?”

Krika: “Nidhiki, don’t be stupid.”

“Don’t move!”

Nidhiki: “Yeah I know, ‘don’t underestimate things you don’t understand’. But seriously what is this, that thing can’t even hurt a rahi.”

Nidhiki gets closer to the matoran, getting ready to kill them. He pulls one by the leg and holds it over his face, taunting it. The frightened matoran sprays his whole can into Nidhiki.

Nidhiki: “Aahhh! It burns! I can’t see!”

Nidhiki drops the matoran, but holds on to the burlap sack as if it were a stress ball.

“Get them!”

Krika: “Oh no.”

Nidhiki doesn’t know where to go, he’s completely blind. Krika has to hand over one of his arms so they can escape.

Nidhiki: “I think I’m dying Krika.”

Krika: “That’s what you get for being stupid! What were you thinking? Weren’t you the one who told me to not underestimate these guys?”

Nidhiki: “I never said that!”

Krika: “You implied it.”

Nidhiki: “What are we going to do?”

The pace of the cops was significantly faster than Krika guiding Nidhiki’s way through the forest. Krika knows that if they kept running, they’d eventually get captured. Krika thinks fast and comes up with an idea. Krika begins analyzing the weather, biome, and environment.

Krika: “Humidity, not too hot, not too cold, temperate, forest biome, flat land, urban coastline, abundant rahi.”

Nidhiki: “What are you talking about!”

Krika: “I think we can make it out of this. You know how makuta are assigned to create rahi from certain climate types, biomes, and geography’s? And how those rahi are forever bound to the will of their creator?”

Nidhiki: “Get to the point!”

Krika: “I got good news.”

Meanwhile, back towards the coast. Gali and Tahu continue putting up posters on the street for Lewa. They suddenly see massive tree grow from the interior of the island.

Gali: “You think that could be Lewa?”

Tahu: “It’s gotta be. I mean, unless it’s normal for giant trees to grow off into the distance in Ga Nui.”

Gali: “It isn’t.”

Tahu: “Then it’s gotta be Lewa, let’s go.”

Tahu and Gali run off further into the outskirts of the city, until they see a spinax dog creepily standing in the middle of the street, blocking their way to the outskirts of the city. Tahu stops while Gali keeps going forward. She notices and looks back.

Gali: “What’s wrong?”

Tahu: “What is a dog doing there?”

Gali: “I don’t know, It’s probably someone’s pet.”

Tahu: “I still don’t understand that concept.”

Gali: “Well does it have a collar?”

Gali looks back at the spinax dog and sees it has a collar.

Gali: “Yeah it has one, we’re safe.”

Tahu: “Are you sure?”

The dog begins to slowly walk towards them, with slobber drooling from its mouth.

Gali: “Now that you mention it, it does look a little strange.”

They begin to hear screaming from the neighborhood around them. On one side of the street, a ga matoran rushes out of her home screaming that her pet Kewa, a bird-like rahi, gouged out her boyfriend’s eyes. On the other side of the street, they see blood splatter onto a window.

Tahu: “You remember what happened at Le Koro a few weeks back?”

Gali: “Yeah.”

Tahu looks at Gali with a paralyzing stare.

Tahu: “Well it’s about to get a whole lot worse.”

The spinax dog starts barking and rushing towards them, with a clear intention to kill.

Tahu: “Run!”

Inspirations: There are a lot of inspirations for this chapter, almost too many to list. If I’d have to list movies and TV shows, they would have to be Raging Bull, My Neighbor Totoro, Breaking Bad, and Stranger Things.


These are the rahi mentioned in this chapter of the story.

[Rukah]

Oh gosh things are gonna get really bad really quickly. Nice job tho

[Avnuva]

¡No Hay Nokama!

The spinax dog charges directly at Gali and Tahu. They find a house with fencing around its back yard. They rush to it, jumping the fence for dear life.

Tahu: “This fence won’t hold it long, and there’s no way we’ll be able to outrun a spinax dog.”

Gali: “What do we do?”

Tahu: “Search the yard. Find weapons or bikes, anything!”

The two of them search the yard vigorously.

Gali: “You think a hatchet is good enough?”

Tahu sees the spinax dog trying hard to break through the fence.

Tahu: “Jump.”

Gali: “What?”

Tahu: “Jump to the other yard and don’t make a noise.”

The spinax dog smashes his head into the fence, breaking into the back yard. It’s shocked to find nobody. It lurks around, trying to find any signs of life. Gali and Tahu become idle, parlyzed in a grounded position at a neighboring backyard. All of a sudden, a window breaks. It gets the attention of the spinax dog and it starts mashing its head against the fence again. Gali and Tahu jump off the ground, trying to make an escape. However, Tahu’s leg gets tangled by a bog snake. The snake coils itself around Tahu’s body, trying to suffocate him. Gali uses the hatchet she finds earlier to chop off the head of the bog snake. Tahu gets up like nothing happened.

Tahu: “You matoran keep bog snakes as pets!”

Gali: “Okay, so I save your life, and you’re worried about the kind of pets we have around here.”

The spinax dog breaks through the fence. Gali and Tahu run to the front of the house, where they find bikes. They both hop on and barely manage to get away.

Tahu: “Thought you ga matoran were too good for bikes?”

Gali: “Thought you fire spitters were too tough to be saved by a ga matoran.”

Tahu: “I’ll thank you later, but right now, we need to get off this rock.”

Both of them head to the coast.

Tahu: “Where’s the boats?!”

Gali: “I don’t know.”

Tahu: “You’re telling me that you matoran are the seafarers of all matoran, and you don’t have boats!”

Gali: “This is weird, we usually hav-”

Two rahi burst from the sea. A parakrekks, an amphibious lizard-like rahi with two large claws; and a tarakava, a boxer-like rahi native to Ga Koro.

Tahu: “Where’s your toa when we need one?!”

With its claws, the parakrekks grabs Gali’s leg and hangs her close to it’s face.

Gali: “Help me!”

A quick slashing noise, Gali drops. The parakrekk’s claw falls off and it lets out a gigantic roar. The tarakava throws a punch, which was then blocked by a trident.

Gali: “Nokama!”

Tahu: “Finally we gotta toa on our side.”

Nokama charges her trident directly at the parakrekk’s other claw, but it thinks fast, and grabs her trident. Then throwing her off into the ocean kilometers off shore.

Tahu: “You can not be serious! This can’t be real.”

Tahu and Gali run run back to the city until their stopped by aggressive ussal crabs.

Tahu: “This is it, this is the end!”

Gali: “Not quite.”

Gali points towards the sea, a gigantic tsunami sized wave raged towards the coast. The entire horizon was covered by a gigantic wave. The only visible figure in it being a blue toa riding her trident as a surfboard. As the wave curved and prepared to crash, rahi rapidly started seeking shelter. Even the most amphibious rahi, couldn’t withstand something so massive.

Tahu: “We’re still going to die!”

Gali: “Just watch.”

As the wave crashed onto the island, it acted as if it were organic, moving like a rahi, carefully weaving between structures and matoran, only smashing into rahi. As the land became flooded, The water started pulling back, pulling all the rahi back into the ocean. In one fell swoop, Nokama had rid the island of all its aggressive rahi.

Gali: “Could Vakama do that?”

Tahu: “What just happened? Where’d she go?”

Nokama slowly rises from the sea and walks on water back to shore.

Nokama: “Sorry I was late.”

Gali: “Fashionably late, that was amazing, Nokama!”

Nokama: “Still no excuse for my absence.”

Tahu snaps from his shock and goes back to normal.

Tahu: “Absolutely no excuse, Vakama wouldn’t have been late.”

Nokama: “And who are you supposed to be?”

Tahu: “Tahu, nice to meet you.”

He shakes Nokama’s hand.

Tahu: “I’m sure you’re aware of our current situation?”

Nokama: “Indeed, and it’s not good. Bad news, your friend Lewa got messed up with some pretty nasty visitor’s, and now he’s captured by two makuta.”

Tahu: “What did they look like?”

Nokama: “One was red and white and the other was green.”

Tahu thinks to himself for a bit.

Tahu: “I know them, they ambushed us back in Ta Koro.”

Gali: “What’s the good news?”

Nokama: “Good news that there’s no way they’re leaving this island.”

She looks at Tahu.

Nokama: “Those makuta ‘friends’ weren’t too bright and headed inland. Boats full of Ta Koran soldiers will be arriving here in less than a day, and when they arrive, they’ll pressure the island from all sides, squeezing those makuta into a corner. And even if they manage to reach the coast, escape’s almost impossible since the entire island’s going to be blockaded till they surrender. The blockade’s even massacring whale’s just in case those two makuta get any ideas of escape.”

Gali: “What do we do now?”

Nokama: “For now, we look for Lewa.”

Tahu: “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Just one of them was strong enough to overpower Vakama.”

Nokama: “Well I’m not Vakama. Look, I don’t know what you two did to make him go off exploring like he did, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t at least a bit apprehensive about us saving him, so prepare your apologies.”

Nokama looks away from them and starts walking inland.

Tahu and Gali: “What did we even do?!”

Summary: This is the first chapter where Nokama makes an appearance. At by the end of this chapter Tahu, Gali, and Nokama are trying to find Lewa.

Note: I’m back! I know I haven’t been working on this fanfiction in a while, and I’m pretty sorry about that, but hopefully I’ll find time to complete this project. I got a lot of stuff planned, I just gotta find time to execute it.

[Rukah]

ooh very nice.

[Avnuva]

Losers

Two figures trudge the middle of a swamp.

Nidhiki: “Where are we Krika?”

The pepper spray on Nidhiki’s eyes had finally begun to wear out.

Krika: “I don’t know.”

Nidhiki: “When will we be back home?”

Krika: “Once again, don’t know.”

A mocking voice comes from the burlap sack.

Lewa: “You guys are so lost.”

Krika: “Shut up, vine swinger. Nidhiki, throw him to against the ground.”

Nidhiki throws the burlap sack to the ground, smashing Lewa to the floor. But then, right next to Nidhiki, a root grows from the ground and slaps him in the face.

Lewa and Nidhiki, “Ow!”

Krika: “Shut up, both of you. Someone’s going to hear us.”

Nidhiki: “Sorry Krika, it’s just that I can’t hit him without his mask friend slapping hitting me too.”

Krika: “That mask doesn’t make any sense, if it truly wanted to help… What’s your name?”

Lewa: “Lewa.”

Krika: “Lewa, then it would have just cut the bag open with one of the many branches lying around here or trapped us in roots by now. Is that mask towing with us?”

Krika grabs onto the burlap sack and starts taking to Lewa directly.

Krika: “Is that mask towing with us?”

Lewa thinks to himself, he never thought about it, but it was indeed very strange how the mask had behaved.

Lewa: “I don’t know.”

Krika gets frustrated and kicks the mud around him.

Nidhiki: “Do we even know where we’re going?”

Krika: “We’re going home.”

Nidhiki: “But how?”

Krika: “I… I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”

Lewa laughs.

Lewa: “You guys are so screwed.”

Krika: “Shut up, let me think of something.”

Krika uses his telepathic connection to rahi in order to get in the mind of a local kahu, a large bird like rahi. He manipulates it to look around the island to see what’s going on. He sees new boats, filled to the brim with soldier matoran Ta Koro. Every bit of coast was covered with quickly constructed watch towers and small armies. As he took the kahu further out to the ocean, he sees the circumference of the entire island covered in a line of boats, that was until a spear-like object flew directly at Krika’s view, and everything became dark. The kahu was probably shot down by a soldier.

Nidhiki: “What’d you see?”

Krika takes a while to respond.

Krika: “The entire island’s on lockdown, there’s no way we’re leaving here alive…”

Nidhiki: “Are you serious?”

Krika: “Yup, we’re dead makuta.”

Nidhiki starts moving around a lot, like he’s in denial.

Nidhiki: “This can’t be, there’s gotta be a way.”

Krika: “There is no way man, we’re dead.”

Krika and Nidhiki start panicking.

Lewa: “Excuse me, hello? Don’t mean to intervene on your fear of dying crisis, but can’t you just, I don’t know, make a really big flying bird or dragon rahi? That can carry all of us and take us back to your guy’s home island? I mean, why do you guys always use whales?

Nidhiki points at the burlap sack.

Nidhiki: “He’s got a point. You’re the makuta here, make a flying dragon or something, or maybe control something big which could fly us home. C’mon, give us something?

Krika: “No.”

Nidhiki: “Why not?”

Krika: “First of all, I need liquid protodermis to make something like that. Secondly, have you seen any big flying rahi on this island? No? You wanna know why? Because Giant flying rahi became extinct after the war, because the matoran smartly thought that makuta like us would use them to escape their islands if we ever so happened to have the chance to land on their stupid rocks. And to answer your question vine swinger, the deep blue’s far more elusive than the sky. So fun facts for everybody.”

Krika falls on the floor, as if he had given up.

Nidhiki: “Well, I’m not giving up.”

Nidhiki continues walking towards the center of the island with Lewa.

Krika: “Why? You’re only prolonging the inevitable.”

Nidhiki: “We have a job, and even if we fail, it’d be better if we at least tried.”

Krika: “Ughhhh.”

Krika get’s back up and follows Nidhiki. Lewa notices again notices the mask becoming brighter.

They eventually get to the center of Ga Nui. It was a very swampy place, covered in fog.

Nidhiki: “See, I knew walking inland was a good idea. This fog’s perfect for evasion.”

Krika: “Just because it’s foggy doesn’t change anything. Fog goes away, and it only buys us time from the inevitable.

Nidhiki barely sees something through the fog in the distance.

Nidhiki: “What’s that?”

Krika looks the same way he is.

Krika: “Probably a rock.”

Nidhiki: “A big rock in the middle of a swamp?”

He runs toward it to inspect it. The mask begins glowing like crazy. To the point where the burlap sack begins looking yellow.

Nidhiki: “It’s a cave!”

Krika: “What the?”

Krika runs towards Nidhiki’s direction. It was a large rocky structure which peered out the ground with an opening leading deeper into the earth. It’s entrance was pitch black.

Krika: “A cave just popping out of the swamp like this?”

Nidhiki: “Weird.”

They both look at a sign just outside of the cave’s entrance, with the words ‘do not enter’.

Nidhiki: “You think the matoran will be looking for us if we go in there?”

Krika: “I don’t know. I’m sure they don’t want anyone to enter for a reason.”

Krika notices the burlap sack glowing.

Krika: “Why is it doing that?”

Nidhiki looks at the sack and begins shaking it.

Nidhiki: “Hey, Lewa. Why’s that mask glowing?”

No response.

Krika: “Throw him against the ground.”

Nidhiki: “I can’t, what if the mask hurts me.”

Lewa: “Wha-?”

Nidhiki: “Why’s your bag glowing?”

Lewa: “Oh, sorry. I was sleeping.”

Krika: “This guy.”

Nidhiki: “Tell us what’s going on, or I’ll slam you onto the ground again.”

Krika: “Or maybe, we’ll torture you.”

Krika gets closer to the bag, as if he were trying to spook Lewa.

Krika: “The mask won’t let you die, huh. That’d make the torture so much worse.”

Lewa: “What? Oh, yeah the mask glows when it’s either uses its powers or is close to another mask piece.”

Nidhiki and Krika look at each other confused, they did not expect to get that information that easily.

Krika: “Are you lucid? Because no matoran with half a brain would have done what you did.”

Lewa: “Done what?”

Krika: “Why aren’t you even trying to be adversarial?”

Lewa: “To be honest, I don’t care. You have any idea what kind of antics these matoran put me through? All because I’m some kinda ‘chosen one’, to makuta with them. I hate how all these matoran be judging me all the time, like I’m some kinda object, like I’m the Ignika.”

Nidhiki and Krika look at each other suspiciously.

Nidhiki: “Want me to unbag him?”

Krika: “What the? I’ll bag you if you. What’s wrong with you?”

Nidhiki: “Seems like he doesn’t like his own people, maybe he’s willing to betray them.”

Krika slaps him.

Krika: “Rule number 146, never trust a matoran.”

Nidhiki: “Is that an actual rule.”

Krika: “No, but… are you actually this stupid?”

Nidhiki genuinely looks like he doesn’t know what Krika’s talking about.

Krika: “No, we aren’t unbagging him, even if what he’s saying is true. It’s better to keep him in the bag just in case.”

They both look at the cave again.

Krika: “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

Nidhiki: “Yup, but what if what you said is true, that it’s too dangerous.”

Krika: “We only have two options, option one we stay out here and definitely get killed or caught by matoran, super humiliating and definite chance of failure. Or option two, test our luck. Maybe find a second piece to the mask of life and maybe make it back home.”

Nidhiki: “I like option two.”

They both enter the cave.

Inspirational Image

The swamp location in the Neverending Story inspired this chapter.

Note: This chapter was surprisingly fun to write. The chemistry between Krika, Nidhiki, and Lewa was pretty awesome. This chapter also sets up some of the most important plot threads in the entire fanfiction.

[Rukah]

oho might they be on the trail towards the third mask piece?

Anyways very nice.

[Avnuva]

Down

The islands of Ga Koro were, despite being as south as Le Koro, were significantly cooler, due to the mediating temperatures of the oceans. However, the interior of the islands were often hotter and often swampy, the same was true for Ga Nui. As Nokama traversed pathways and small neighborhoods, she finds a destroyed bridge over a river.

Nokama: “This way.”

No answer.

Nokama: “Hello?”

She looks back to see what was going on. It turned out that Tahu and Gali weren’t even at the bridge, instead they were a few meters back and arguing. Nokama runs to their position and slaps both of them in the face.

Gali: “Ow! What was that for?”

Nokama: “Are you two even trying to find Lewa?”

Tahu: “Yeah, but we were discussing whether the rahi on this island should be killed off, it could maybe help in finding Lewa.”

Gali: “Please, how does extincting species of rahi help in finding Lewa?”

Nokama: “Shut up! Both of you.”

Gali: “Why are you taking his side?”

Nokama: “I’m not, I think he’s being irrational.”

Tahu: “Irrational? Am I the only matoran here who cares that there’s makuta on the island! With the snap of a finger, those monsters can turn the rahi on this island into a killing machine, and you want us to preserve them?”

Nokama: “Tahu, I agree we need to definitely eliminate the dangerous and numerous rahi off this island, but there are plenty of endangered rahi who can’t harm anyone. Why should they be penalized for behavior they cannot control.”

Gali looks at Tahu with the smuggest smile he had ever seen.

Tahu: “Well what-”

Nokama: “Didn’t ask, don’t care. We’re wasting precious time we could be using to find Lewa, now let’s go!”

They get back to the destroyed bridge Nokama was at earlier.

Nokama: “I believe our makuta visitors traveled this way. They’d be the only ones who would do something like this and it leads straight towards the interior.”

Tahu notices country houses beside the road. It’s so bizarre to him, because everyone had told him that where they were at and onward was considered the less populated parts of the island.

Tahu: “Less populated? How did no ga matoran catch them crossing the bridge? There’s houses everywhere.”

Gali: “Just because we said less populated, doesn’t mean not populated.”

Tahu: “But that’s stupid, because then how come no one spot them? You don’t exactly miss a gigantic green spider or a red and white makuta?”

Nokama: “They were probably more distracted by the fact that their pets and the wilderness around them was trying to kill them.”

Tahu: “Pets.”

Tahu laughs.

Tahu: “Sorry it’s just that that concept’s just so weird to me. Why are we even heading inland anyway, how would that help the makuta, besides being less populated?

Nokama: “There’s a wildlife reservation inland, it protects an inland swamp which contains the island’s most beautiful wildlife. Now there, there’s no matoran, which makes it the perfect hiding place for those makuta to hide.”

Tahu: “Wildlife reservations?!”

Gali: “Here we go again.”

Tahu: “Is this place tryin-”

Nokama jumps in the river and swims across it. Tahu’s stunned at how much she doesn’t care. She then reaches to the other side.

Nokama: “Ah, refreshing. C’mon, what you two waiting for?! Swim, the waters calm!”

Gali: “Coming.”

Gali jumps into the river and swims across. Tahu’s the only one not on the other side.

Nokama: “Tahu! Are you coming or not?”

Tahu’s silent, he then dips his foot into the water then takes it back out.

Tahu: “I can’t!”

Nokama: “What?! Why?!”

Tahu takes a bit of time to respond.

Tahu: “What if a rahi eats me?! You never know when a makuta scrambles a rahi’s mind, ya know?!”

Gali: “Oh my, does he not know how to swim?

Gali looks at Nokama.

Nokama: “It’s about time he learns.”

Nokama faces back at Tahu.

Nokama: “No I don’t know! Get in the water, time is of the essence!”

Gali: “Let’s just leave him.”

Nokama: “No, I want him to learn how to swim.”

Gali: “Didn’t you just say time’s of the essence?”

Nokama: “Yes, but first of all we need him and second I want to see him try something new for once.”

Tahu: “Can’t you part the river so I could walk through it! I think that’d make things a lot easier!”

Nokama: “Are you too chicken to get in or what?!”

Nokama couldn’t see Tahu’s face, but his demeanor said it all.

Tahu: “What’d you call me?!”

Nokama: “Got 'em. If you don’t swim across this river, me and Gali will tell the whole island that you can’t swim, that fire spitters as a whole can’t swim!”

Gali: “Everyone already thinks th-”

Tahu jumps into the water without hesitation, making large splashes and making minimal progress reaching Gali and Nokama.

Gali: “He doesn’t know how to swim, I knew it. He looks so stupid.”

Nokama: “The effort’s good enough, at least he’s not drowning.”

Tahu makes it about three fourths of the way through the river before he finally starts panicking.

Tahu: “I’m too heavy! I can’t breathe! Help! Nokama!”

Tahu’s head submerged beneath the surface, that’s when the entire river parts and Tahu falls face first onto the riverbed. He was so close to shore that where he had drowned was only a few centimeters deeper than Tahu’s full height. Gali begins laughing hysterically.

Nokama: “Congratulations! You did better than I expected.”

Tahu: “To makuta with you!”

Tahu sits on the riverbed silent, not making eye contact with anyone.

Nokama: “So what do you say?”

Tahu: “Thank you f0r saving me, toa Nokama”

Nokama: “Not what I was thinking off.”

Tahu looks at Nokama angrily.

Tahu: “What! What do you want?”

Nokama gives him a look, a look that implies he knows what she wants.

Tahu: “Nothing you do is ever going to make me think that ga matorans are better than ta matorans.”

Nokama: “I don’t want that either. What I want you to learn is that we’re different, and that’s okay, there’s good and bad with both of our differences. Some of us are excellent swimmers, some of us aren’t. Some of us are excellent warriors, and some of us aren’t. Not a single matoran’s perfect and we all have different perspectives and ideas. What is bad is when we can’t accept others’ differences, and that goes for you too Gali!”

Gali: “What?”

Nokama: “Now I don’t mean to sound like taraga Helyrx, but a big problem with us is how we think of the elements separately, we think of each other as incompatible, because we have grown to learn that opposites don’t attract. But what we often forget is that we all came from one origin, Mata Nui. The original matoran weren’t elemental beings divided by island nations, but instead one unified body.”

Nokama looks at Tahu.

Nokama: “If we don’t learn to think like our enemy, see them equal mindedly, or effectively work together with our brothers and sisters, then we’ll never beat the makuta’s.”

She then looks at Gali.

Nokama: “If we don’t challenge our thoughts, seek new perspectives, or humble ourselves, then knowledge becomes diluted and stale.”

She then looks back at them both.

Nokama: “If we focus on our different failures, rather than our different strengths, then we’ll never find Lewa.”

Nokama sighes.

Nokama: “Do you two still remember toa Matau?”

Both nod their heads.

Nokama: “Till this day, I still don’t know why he left us. But I do know this, that if we worked better as a team and if we were better at communicating our problems. Then maybe, just maybe, Matau wouldn’t have left us all those years ago.”

What Nokama said to them was enlightening, they finally began to realize a potential motive, as to why Lewa had abandoned them. It was because they didn’t see him as a matoran, someone else other than an obstacle in reawakening Mata Nui. If only they saw him for the matoran he was

They continued their travels across Ga Nui, eventually reaching the wildlife reservation. Tahu sees a rocky structure in the distance.

Tahu: “What’s that?”

They all run towards it. It was a cave, with a sign reading ‘Do not enter’.

Tahu: “Okay yeah, the makuta’s definitely entered here.”

Tahu begins walking into the cave, but notices that no one else’s following him.

Tahu: “What now?”

Gali: “This cave’s dangerous, like, so dangerous that it’s famous.”

Nokama: “It’s one of those never ending caves found all over the Mata Nui universe. No one who enters that cave comes back out. Back in my matoran days, an onu matoran by the name of Valika was famous for traversing caverns, and one day he decided to do one of these never ending caves, and never made it to tell the tale.”

Tahu: “Well, what else are we supposed to do? All that’s out here is swamp, it’s not like those makuta got anywhere else to hide.”

Gali thinks for a bit and then looks over at Nokama.

Gali: “He does have a point.”

Tahu: “Besides, we got you, it’s not like we’re going into this defenseless.”

Nokama talks to herself as she thinks of what to do.

Nokama: “Okay Nokama, if I go in there and never come back, which is a high possibility. Then Ga Koro won’t have a toa anymore; bad, not a good option. But If I stay out here, then the Ignika could possibly be lost forever and I’ll be putting the whole universe at risk… Fine, let’s go.”

They enter the darkness.

Note: This chapter might seem a little useless, but in reality it’s very important. It explores concepts that will be forever important throughout book 1 and spoiler alert, a lot of the dialogue in this section will be reincorporated and further developed later one, specifically with the stuff involving Velika and Matau. A lot of mystery is starting to show and that will only continue in the next chapter.

[Rukah]

Nice job. I wonder where those caves could go? A robot, perhaps?

[Avnuva]

I wonder where Velika ended up ?

[Avnuva]

Friends?

The caverns were rocky and wet, but the deeper they ran, more and more tunnels appeared. Deep into the caverns, water began to puddle and stalactites flattened. There was eventually a point where the stone walls turned metallic and the caverns became more circular, like traveling inside a metallic vein. It would separate into hundreds of potential pathways, which led to massive rooms that would also lead to hundreds of potential pathways.

Nidhiki: “Do you know where we’re going Krika?”

Krika continues speaking to himself.

Krika: “Okay so the last pathway had a triangle shaped crack, which means that this cavern must lead back to room 3!”

Krika runs down the cavern, to find out that it splits into two different pathways instead of leading back to the room Krika was expecting.

Krika: “Shoot.”

Nidhiki: “I’m guessing that means no?”

Krika: “Yeah I have no clue.”

Krika gets an idea.

Krika: “Maybe the third mask piece could give us a direction. Hey, Lewa? What does the mask tell us?”

Lewa: “Walk somewhere.”

Nidhiki enters a bit into the right tunnel. The bag’s glow deafens a bit.

Lewa: “Well, it’s not that direction.”

Nidhiki then enters a bit into the left tunnel.

Lewa: “Whatever you’re going, keep doing that.”

Krika: “C’mon Nidhiki, let’s go.”

Krika and Nidhiki start running down the tunnel. However, as they run down the hall, Nidhiki stops to look at something.

Krika: “What are you doing?”

Nidhiki: “Looking at this door, it looks funny.”

Krika: “Nidhiki, I’m not in the mood to play these games.”

Nidhiki: “No seriously, look.”

Nidhiki points to a plack right next to the door. At the top, was a circular symbol, with a vertical oval inside and a horizontal line cutting it through the middle. Above that center line, was a circle enclosed by the oval around it, and beneath that line were multiple horizontal lines equally spaced from one another enclosed by the oval. Beneath the symbol it read,

‘Here lies the Bohrok,

Mata Nui’s wrath.

Nor Jungle or rock,

nor rahi or warpath,

Nothing can stop the Bohrok.’

Nidhiki: “What’s Bohrok?”

Krika: “The Bohrok are machine-like creatures that basically destroy the universe when Mata Nui awakens. Pretty elementary stuff, now let’s move, we gotta mask piece waiting for us.”

Nidhiki stands in place.

Nidhiki: “Leverage!”

Krika: “What now?!”

Nidhiki: “Leverage, remember what we talked about back at Ta Koro? This can be our leverage. If we get back home, and if our brothers and sisters want to execute us. We can tell them about the Bohrok.”

Krika: “How does that change anything?”

Nidhiki points to the poem.

Nidhiki: “‘nor warpath’, that means that the Bohrok could end the war!”

Krika: “Nidhiki, the writer of that poem probably wrote it that way to make it rhyme.”

Nidhiki: “Still. We might have lost to matoran and failed at retrieving the Ignika, but we found a way to win the war! We come back as war heroes, and then all our loses are forgiven. I’m getting warm and fuzzy thinking about it.”

Nidhiki tries opening the door, but Krika immediately shuts it back.

Nidhiki: “Hey! What was that for?”

Krika: “You seriously think that other makuta haven’t thought of that? Key word ‘universe’, the Bohrok destroy the universe, that includes Makuta Nui! There’s tunnels just like this under Makuta Nui, Awakening the Bohrok is basically homeland suicide.”

Nidhiki: “Okay okay, just sayin. It’s not like we’re making progress any time soon.”

Krika: “You know what’s our leverage? That.”

Krika points to the burlap sack.

Krika: “If we somehow return home, with a three fourths completed Ignika. That’s how we alleviate death sentences. Now, where to next, vine swinger?”

Lewa: “Keep going in the direction you were going.”

As they entered deeper and deeper into the caverns. Nidhiki’s stomach begins to growl.

Nidhiki: “I’m hungry, Krika.”

Krika: “Does this look like a restaurant to you?”

Nidhiki: “No.”

Krika: “We’ll eat once-”

Krika’s stomach begins growling too.

Krika: “Nevermind.”

Nidhiki: “What are we going to eat?”

Lewa: “I might have a solution, but you guys are going to have to free me first.

Krika: “In what world, to you think, that we’ll be stupid enough t-”

Nidhiki frees Lewa from the Burlap sack. Krika stares at Nidhiki, mouth gaped.

Nidhiki: “What, I’m hungry.”

Krika: “That’s it!”

Krika lunges at Nidhiki, takling him to the ground. While Krika’s busy beating Nidhiki, Lewa scraps off some of the algae from the walls of the cavern. As Krika chokes Nidhiki on the ground,

Lewa: “Done.”

Three dishes of gourmet algae were served, with the Ignika acting as a camp fire with its heat and humidity. Both Nidhiki and Krika watch as in aw.

Krika: “Ho- how’d you know he wouldn’t run off?”

Nidhiki raises his shoulders, as if he didn’t know if Lewa was going to escape.

Lewa: “Like I said, I don’t care. Besides, you two are hilarious, so how could I?”

Krika and Nidhiki sit down to eat.

Krika: “This better not be poisoned.”

Nidhiki: “Mmm mmm mmm, you gotta try this Krika. It’s tastes like… garbage, but good garbage, better than those blades of grass back at Ta Koro.”

Krika reluctantly picks up some algae and stuffs his mouth with it.

Krika: “I miss ussal crab meat.”

Nidhiki: “So why’d you betray your fellow matoran?”

Lewa: “I didn’t betray them.”

Nidhiki: “Really? Because you’ve helped us more than any makuta we’ve met, right Krika?”

Krika: “In some ways, but why? Don’t you think we’re monsters or something? Heard a bit too many Icarax horror stories?”

Lewa: “Yes, but it’s not like we’re any better. Do you have any idea how many rahi species we’ve extinct? Not to mention how closed minded we are. Everyone’s just so impersonal, it’s sick. Everyone tells me how ‘honored’ I am for being Ignika’s messenger, but from my experience it’s more of a curse. I have never been treated more like an object, ever since I got that thing. Besides, I have this strange feeling that the Ignika likes you guys. If it truly thought you guys were enemies, it would’ve kicked your butts ages ago, and if it does like you guys, than maybe you all aren’t so bad after all.”

Nidhiki’s eyes begin to water. Krika nudges Nidhiki as if he were trying to get him to act more serious. He then whispers something to Nidhiki.

Krika: “That’s because we’re the good guys actually.”

Nidhiki: “Very good.”

Krika: “It’s because our cause is right.”

Lewa starts paying attention.

Lewa: “Wait a minute, what is your cause? It’s been so long that I hardly remember.”

Krika’s a little confused by what Lewa’s saying.

Krika: “Umm, It’s because… You know how all the makuta’s used to come from one Makuta, and how that one Makuta was brothers with Mat Nui?”

Lewa: “Yeah.”

Krika: “Well we believe that we were given the short end of the stick. While Mata Nui became the universe, with hundreds of living organisms worshiping him. Makuta split into hundreds of weaker makuta who are basically janitors for the Mata Nui universe, with their only purpose being to populate the universe with rahi. Is that what Teridax says?”

Nidhiki: “To the word.”

Krika: “Anyways, that’s why we’re good guys, because we have a sympathetic cause.”

Nidhiki: “Yeah, forget all the millions of matoran we’ve killed and enslaved, all the rahi we’ve used at their expense, or the universe slowly dying everyday because apparently it’s all a part of our plan. The ends will justify the means, I think. At least that’s what Krika says.”

Krika looks at Nidhiki with a face of disgust.

Nidhiki: “What?”

Nidhiki tries to place his claw over Krika’s shoulder as a gesture of friendliness.

Krika: “Don’t touch me.”

Krika then moves farther away from the group.

Nidhiki: “What’s his problem?”

Lewa: “I think it’s because you failed his plan to change me to your side.”

Nidhiki: “Ah what? I was just saying the facts, you can only join a cause if you know the good and the bad? Don’t wanna be misleading.”

Lewa: “Oh yeah, I completely agree, you should tell my matoran ‘friends’ that.”

Nidhiki: “You know, I don’t think your matoran friends are that bad.”

Lewa: “No, they’re bad trust me.”

Nidhiki: “Why are they so bad?”

Lewa: “I feel like a broken record at this point, they don’t understand me at all. They see me as a responsibility, not a matoran. They treat me like my entire existence is to fulfill a job, you know what I mean?”

Nidhiki: “No, but in some weird way, I kinda get what you mean.”

Lewa smiles.

Lewa: “You are one dense makuta.”

Nidhiki: “I get that a lot, kinda. Dense yes, technically not a Makuta though.”

Lewa: “You’re not a makuta?”

Nidhiki: “That’s the thing, I think I am, and you matoran think I am, but every makuta says otherwise .”

Lewa: “So are you a rahi, or something?”

Nidhiki: “Too intelligent for a rahi…”

Lewa: “Debatable. So what are you?”

Nidhiki: “Honestly, I don’t know. Guess I’m an abomination or something.”

Nidhiki laughs.

Lewa: “And that doesn’t bother you? Not knowing what you are?”

Nidhiki: “Not really, why? Is that important?”

Lewa: “Yes, very important, but also no, it’s complicated. For example, I’m a le matoran and that brings its own pros and cons. I love eating tacos and listening to my culture’s music, but I also dislike how it’s expected that we know how to fly gucko birds. Some of us dislike how we’re stereotypically weak, goofy, and carefree. Identity is, I’d argue, the most important thing about a matoran.”

Nidhiki: “Fascinating.”

Lewa: “I guess it’s kind of a big reason why I ran off, because to everyone I’m just a responsibility.”

Nidhiki: “Responsibility is good.”

Lewa: “Pffh, yeah right.”

Nidhiki: “Nah, I’m serious, it’s what gives the makuta purpose. I guess you could say that it defines us.”

Lewa: “And that doesn’t bother you?”

Nidhiki: “No, you just gotta think about it in a different way. Think of it less as a job and more as an experience. You can find joy and identity in your responsibility. It’s what makes you selfless, fighting for a cause bigger than yourself. That’s why it doesn’t bother me, because to me, the ends justify the means. You might think that your friends back on the surface don’t care about you, but believe me, you’re more important to them than they could possibly imagine. And once they see that, they’ll treat you the way you want to be treated.”

Lewa doesn’t speak, he thinks about what happened back at the university. He still believes that Tahu and Gali have wronged him, that the matoran as a whole have wronged him. But at the same time, he realizes that he only ever thinks about himself. He preached on and on how matoran were close minded and selfish, but he never realized that he was evidence to his claims; Putting his need above the universe itself.

Nidhiki: “Welp, we don’t got all day.”

Nidhiki gets up.

Nidhiki: “We got a third mask piece waiting for us.”

He then walks down the cavern. Lewa and Krika follow.

Lewa: “Interesting isn’t he?”

Krika: “If you consider incompetence interesting, then yes.”

Lewa: “Ahh, Don’t be like that. He looks up to you.”

Krika: “Of all makuta, it has to be him.”

Lewa: “Makuta? You consider him one? Interesting.”

Krika: “What else am I supposed to call him?”

Lewa: “True, but Nidhiki told me that you makuta don’t consider him one… Do you like him?”

Krika immediately answers.

Krika: “Ew no, we’re just coworkers.”

Lewa: “But isn’t he a huge burden? He basically failed your plan to convert me to your side.”

Krika: “What are you trying to say?”

Lewa: “I mean, wouldn’t it be easier to just ditch him? Since he’s such a problem and all? To me it seems like you like his presence.”

Krika: “I don’t, but it’s better to work with someone than be alone. Besides, he sometimes gets good ideas, huge emphasis on ‘sometimes.’”

Lewa: “I don’t know Krika, you seemed pretty content with him when capturing me, seems a little suspicious.”

Krika: “Look, when someone does a good job, you reward them, friend or not. It’s moral support, I don’t actually like Nidhiki, it’s just that certain mak-, individuals, need encouragement to do a good job.”

Lewa: “And Nidhiki is one of those individuals?”

Krika takes a while to respond.

Krika: “Yes.”

Lewa: “Mmhmm, hope that strategy doesn’t backfire.”

They continue walking forward, meeting back with Nidhiki. They continue deeper and deeper into the caverns. Lewa hummed the music from Le Koro. They enter new rooms and caverns until eventually the mask can’t get any brighter.

Krika: “You sure we’re on the spot?”

Lewa: “Yup, it’s gotta be here, moving back or forward results in the mask dimming.”

Krika: “This can’t be.”

Nidhiki: “Hey guys, look at this.”

Nidhiki points to the ground. It was covered in grooves, making a strange fragmented symbol.

Nidhiki: “It’s hard to tell, but it’s a trap door, looks like whoever hid this thing wanted to hide it in plain sight.”

They all jump into the trapdoor. The room was bright and blinding, very different from the other rooms, and at the center, was a pedestal with the third mask piece laying on it.

Krika: “Hurry up, I can’t see!”

Lewa rushes towards the pedestal and holds the two pieces together. Like an organism, its texture around the edges became softer and more mushy. The edges then weaved together like blades of grass. Once completed, all sides of the mask, except for the bottom left of it, filled in. All it needed now was the last piece. Lewa also noticed how strange the mask looked. At that point he could tell what it was going to look like when it was completed. It looked like the proportions of a toa, making a t-pose with its legs separated. Lewa snapped out of it, when the ground started to shake.

Nidhiki: “What’s going on?”

The trap door shuts. The room then begins to flood itself rapidly with water.

Nidhiki: “Oh no, oh no, oh no, Shoot! What are we going to do now?!

Krika jumps to the trap door above and tries to pry it open.

Krika: “It’s stuck.”

Lewa: “Don’t you guys have super powers?”

Nidhiki shoots his lasers at the walls, but it doesn’t do anything.

Krika: “These walls are made nearly impenetr-”

Krika has an idea. The water’s coming from holes on the walls of the room.

Krika: “You guys know what’s more powerful than lasers?”

Nidhiki: “What?”

Krika: “Pressure.”

Krika uses his kanohi to deflect the water back into the holes it came from.

Lewa: “Lame.”

Krika: “Shut up, I need full concentration in order for this to work.”

Krika sits down. The pressure from each individual hole mounts on his body like weights. Krika sweats and grits his teeth, as the pressure of each of the holes increases. The area around them begins to shake, as the water desperately tries to release somewhere. Krika breathes heavily, then starts screaming, and then suddenly, the walls around them explode. Krika uses the little energy he has, to have the debris not crash into them. Once it was all over, the hallway above them was open, and they climbed out. They were soaking wet with water.

Nidhiki: “Let’s go!”

Lewa: “A little overdramatic, but okay.”

Krika: “You guys aren’t even going to say thank you?”

Nidhiki and Lewa: “Thank you Krika.”

They then start to hear a sloshing sound coming from one of the ends of the cavern.

Lewa: “What? Is this place gonna try to drown us again?”

Instead lava starts pooling from the end of the cavern.

Nidhiki: “Run!”

Everyone runs as fast as they can, turning into separate caverns to run away from the lava. However, with each new hallway they entered, the lava would follow them. They come across a hallway with a dormant kanohi hau.

Lewa: “Hey, we’ve been here before!”

Krika: “So what!”

Lewa: “This tunnel leads to a massive cavern with a raven! If we get there, the lava would just fall into the raven! We just got to keep running!”

As they got closer and closer to the raven, other intersecting tunnels added more and more lava, making the lava chasing after them move faster and faster. When they finally arrived at the raven, they barely managed to get out of the lava’s way.

Nidhiki: “Pffh, I’ve never been more grateful to be alive! Yeah Mata Nui!”

Krika: “Lewa, let this be a lesson to you. Commentators’ curse applies to life or death situations. If it can get worse, it’ll get wor-”

At that moment all three of them were agape. In front of them were Tahu, Gali, and Vakama. They had tracked them with Nokama’s ability to trace a visual map in her head by using tiny streams of water apparent all over the caverns, and when they got wet from the drowning attempt, that only made things easier.

Krika: “Uh oh.”

Note: The Bohrok are here finally (kind of)! They will have very important roles in the future. This chapter might seem a bit boring, for similar reasons to the previous chapter, but it’s seriously one of the most important chapters in all of Book 1 Unity. The Bohrok are fully intoduced and semi explained, Nidhiki’s character is starting to realize the importance of identity, which will become crucial to his character in the future. Lewa starts taking more responsibility and becoming more selfless, and Krika’s relationship with Nidhiki’s becoming more fleshed out.

[Rukah]

Oooh cool! Surely the Bohrok will show up sometime…