Don’t look down. Whatever you do, don’t look down.
Tamaru squeezed his eyes shut as he sat on the back of a Gukko bird, holding on tightly to the reins of his saddle. Of course, it was more for his own support than to actually guide the Gukko as it slowly flew through the trees of Le-Wahi; that distinction went to the green-armored Le-Matoran sitting in front of him.
“Good, good,” Orkahm said soothingly to the Gukko as he coaxed it through its flight. “You’re doing ever-great. Just don’t look down.”
Tamaru frowned as he opened one eye. “Are you talking to me or the Gukko?”
Orkahm glanced back at him. “The Gukko,” he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Why would I be speak-talking to you?”
“Because you’re telling it to not look down.”
“Kee here developed an ever-bad fear of heights ever since she took a nasty fall during the Bohrok Invasion,” Orkahm explained, stroking the side of the Rahi bird’s head. “I’ve been working to get her back into good-shape.”
“A Gukko with a fear of heights,” Tamaru said. “That’s a new one on me.”
“Is it any different than a Le-Matoran with a fear of heights?” Orkahm shot back.
“That’s different,” Tamaru muttered, closing his eyes again. “Besides, you agreed to help me get over my own bad-fear by taking me on your flights.”
“I know. Though it’s pretty convenient that you approached me and not Kongu. I’m sure he would have much-loved to take you out on a flight on Ka.”
“Kongu flies too ever-fast.”
“Well, if you have any hopes of joining the Gukko Force, you’re going to have to get used to flying ever-fast. Kee here is the exception at the moment, rather than the rule.”
“I know that,” said Tamaru. “I’m just… I’m just going about this one small-step at a time. That’s what Turaga Matau suggested to me; start off slow, then—”
“Whoa,” Orkahm said.
With his eyes still closed, Tamaru said, “’Whoa’ what? What are you saying ‘whoa’ too?”
“There’s… something down there. Something scary-bad.”
Tamaru tightened his grip on his own set of reins. “How scary-bad are we talking? It’s not the Bohrok again, is it? Or the Bohrok-Kal? I thought the Toa Nuva just defeated them.”
“No, it’s not the Bohrok-Kal. It’s—”
“Let me guess, it’s a new type of Bohrok, isn’t it? I bet they have gold armor plating instead of silver this time and are at least ten times more ever-powerful than—”
“Relax, it’s not any kind of Bohrok.” Though he couldn’t see him, Tamaru could tell Orkahm was rolling his eyes. “It’s just some Rahi-beast.”
“We see Rahi-beasts all the time though,” Tamaru said. “We’re riding one right now. What sort of Rahi-beast could have possibly get you to say ‘whoa?’”
“I don’t know. It looks like some sort of Ash Bear but… not. Can’t say I’ve ever spot-seen something like it before.”
A part of Tamaru wanted to open his eyes, but he knew he would have regretted it. Another part of him was wondering if Orkahm was trying to pull a prank on him. However, Orkahm was a lot more responsible and careful than most Le-Matoran were. It wouldn’t exactly have been in his character to do something like that.
“Could you perhaps describe-explain it to me?” Tamaru asked.
Orkahm was silent for a moment, most likely trying to get a good enough look at the mysterious Rahi in question to describe it. “Well,” he started to say, “it’s silver and red, with brown claws and teeth. Great-big claws and teeth at that. It’s standing on its hind legs and….”
“And?” Tamaru asked when the other Le-Matoran trailed off.
“And I think it’s spot-seen us.” Orkahm’s voice was awfully quiet now. He usually was — another thing which made him atypical of most Matoran of Air — but something was off about it this time. Tamaru dared say that he almost sounded… fearful.
“Maybe we should quick-turn back,” Tamaru suggested, his mouth suddenly feeling dry. “Tell Turaga Matau about this.”
"I agree. Let me—”
Whatever else Orkahm was about to say was drown out by an ear-splitting roar. The Gukko which the two Le-Matoran was riding on let out a startled squawk and started to fly quickly and haphazardly through the forest. Caught off-guard by this sudden motion, Tamaru’s reins slipped from his hands and he fell off of the Rahi bird’s back, plummeting towards the ground below as Orkahm cried out his name.
Never once during his fall did Tamaru open his eyes. Even though there was no chance of him surviving it, he still did not want to see the fast-approaching ground and be faced with the inevitability of his death.
Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Don’t look down.
Suddenly, there was a strong gust of wind and Tamaru felt his body slow in its plummet. The wind softly carried him along to the ground, allowing him to straighten up as his feet gently touched grass. He sucked in and released a deep breath of relief before finally opening his eyes.
He immediately wished he hadn’t.
Standing before him was a creature that exactly matched the description Orkahm had given it. Covered from head-to-toe in silver and scarlet armor plating, the strange Rahi had a fearsome maw and a pair of claws that were larger than any he had seen from a Rahi before. The biomechanical beast stood on its hind legs, something which he usually only saw Ash Bears do when they were trying to intimidate or preparing to attack. But this one was standing on its legs as if it was normal for it to do. Tamaru could not think of any Rahi that stood on two legs like a Matoran or a Toa or a Turaga.
And unless someone quick-saved him now, he would never see another Rahi — or a Matoran, Toa, or Turaga — ever again.
The beast, whatever it was, was slowly stepping towards him, a low growl rumbling from its throat as it flexed its claws. Fear rooted Tamaru’s feet to the ground, preventing him from making an attempt to escape. Of course, if this Rahi was some strange Ash Bear variant, then running would likely simply provoke it and solidify his chances of dying.
Thus, all Tamaru could do was do what he did best: Squeeze his eyes shut and prepare for the worst.
The next few seconds passed in a tense silence, save for the guttural sounds coming from the beast. To Tamaru, they felt almost like an eternity. Then, he heard another gust of wind followed by what sounded like something — or someone — landing between him and the Rahi, accompanied by the sound of blades being unsheathed.
“I’m sorry, foul-creature, but Matoran are not on the menu today.”
Once again, Tamaru dared to open his eyes and couldn’t help but let out a gasp. Standing before him, tall and proud as the sun gleamed off of his emerald and silver armor, was Toa Lewa. The Toa Nuva of Air gripped his Air Katana in both hands as he boldly stared down the monstrous Rahi, a grin threatening to split open across his Kanohi Miru Nuva.
“If you would like, I have something else that you might like to eat-try. I like to call it… dirt!”
He made a gesture with his Air Katana, summoning a blast of wind which kicked up a cloud of dust and dirt in the Rahi’s face. The creature roared in annoyance as it backed away, coughing as it staggered back on its feet. It quickly recovered before lunging at Lewa, swinging one of its claws at the Toa Nuva of Air. Lewa crossed his swords together to block the attack; when the beast reeled back for another strike, he seized on the opening it provided him and released another powerful gust of wind, blasting the Rahi back. It landed a couple of bios away from the Toa Nuva and the Le-Matoran he was protecting, before quickly getting back onto its feet.
“Hmm,” Lewa Nuva mused aloud. “This is certainly unlike any Rahi-monster we’ve faced before. Another one of Makuta’s minions perhaps?”
“I don’t see an infected Kanohi anywhere on it,” Tamaru pointed out, hoping to be helpful. “Maybe it’s just lost or confused.”
“Then let us quick-relieve it of its confusion!” Lewa declared. Before Tamaru’s eyes, the Toa Nuva of Air’s mask morphed from the shape of a Miru Nuva into that of a Kakama Nuva. The Mask of Speed glowed to life as Lewa shot forward, kicking up dirt and dust in Tamaru’s face, getting in his eyes and causing him to cough. He wiped the dirt from his mask just in time to see the speeding Lewa collide into the Rahi and create a powerful impact that sent the beast flying through the air and into the trees. The Toa Nuva of Air continued to run after it, disappearing into the forest and leaving Tamaru alone.
“Need an up-lift?”
Tamaru looked up to see Orkahm descending from above, still riding atop Kee. The Gukko still looked incredibly unsettled at what had just happened and even Orkahm seemed somewhat perturbed. Great Spirit knew how the Le-Matoran had managed to stay on the acrophobic Gukko as it wildly flew through Le-Wahi, let alone calm it down enough to be able to control it.
As Orkahm lowered himself down, he extended a hand to Tamaru. The other Le-Matoran moved to take it only to hesitate.
“What’s wrong?” asked Orkahm. “Come on, that nasty-bad Rahi could be back at any minute and Toa Lewa will have to worry about protecting two Le-Matoran instead of none.”
“I just….” Tamaru swallowed hard, fear once again causing him to freeze in place. “I don’t want to drop-fall again.”
Orkahm frowned and looked as if he was about to say something when Toa Lewa suddenly burst out of the foliage of the forest, moving at top speed as if he had just been thrown by a powerful force. He collided into Orkahm, knocking the Matoran off of Ke and onto the ground. The Gukko let out a terrified squawk but did not take off, instead buzzing around in circles as it chirped madly.
As Tamaru stood there, frozen in shock, the monstrous Rahi emerged from the shadows of the forest. Treading on its large hind legs, it once again set its sights on the Le-Matoran and began to approach him, its eyes glowing with hunger. Tamaru had no idea how the beast had been able to repel Lewa with such might, yet alone return to this spot so quickly. All he knew was that it did not matter, because he was about to die.
The Rahi started to close in on him, its teeth and claws bared. Tamaru started to close his eyes, bracing for the end.
Then he heard Kee let out a squawk. He looked over at the Gukko, watching it continue to spin around in circles. It took him a moment to realize that the Rahi bird was looking straight at him, chirping loudly whenever it made eye contact with him. He then looked back to the monster and noticed that it too was glancing at the Gukko, growling in annoyance.
All at once, everything clicked together in Tamaru’s head. Moving slowly so as to not provoke the monster, he walked over to the Gukko, which slowed down enough for him to grab onto its reins and pull himself onto its back.
“All right,” he murmured into Kee’s ear. “Let’s do this. Just whatever you do….”
The monster turned its large form to face them, coiling its body as it prepared to spring on them.
“Don’t look down.”
With a single lash of the reins, Kee took off into the air. She did not go up too high however; just enough out of the monster’s reach so that it could not strike them no matter how far it tried to jump. Then, the Gukko began to spin around. And around. And around. The monster spun with it, snarling with irritation as it swiped at them to no avail of bringing them down.
Tamaru could feel himself getting dizzy. He could only hope that the beast was starting to feel the same way; judging by the groans it started to utter, it already was.
Thankfully, the Matoran-Gukko team did not need to maintain this act for long. By this point, Toa Lewa had already managed to recover and was approaching the distracted beast, exchanging his current mask for a green Pakari Nuva, the Mask of Strength. Without a word, he grabbed the monstrous Rahi from behind and lifted him up with all of the strength the mask provided him. Tamaru and Kee moved out of the way in time as the Toa Nuva of Air hurled the beast into the air, adding another blast of wind to propel the creature. Judging by the direction Lewa had thrown the beast and the force he had put into his throw, it was likely that the creature would land somewhere in the Endless Ocean, far away from Le-Wahi or indeed anywhere on the island of Mata Nui.
It was not until Kee had safely landed that Tamaru allowed himself to let out a sigh of relief. He dismounted from the Gukko and set foot onto the ground, only to immediately fall mask-first onto the grass.
“Oh Great Spirit, I am never doing that again!” he exclaimed.
“You did great, my friend!” said Lewa, crouching down beside him. “That was ever-brave of you to face your fear in order to protect your friends.”
“He didn’t go up that high,” said Orkahm, coming up from behind the Toa Nuva of Air. “And that wasn’t really flying so much as spinning—”
“Nevertheless, it is a great-step towards conquering one’s fear,” Lewa insisted. “I am sure Turaga Matau will be ever-proud to hear of your feat.”
Tamaru lifted himself up to look up at the smiling Toa of Air. “Really?” he asked, his eyes wide while also still slightly crossed.
“I mean, if nothing else, I’m sure Kongu will be happy to hear about Kee,” said Orkahm, walking over to the Gukko in question. He patted her on the side to calm her down before climbing onto her back and grabbing her reins. He then looked over to Tamaru. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before that nasty-bad creature learns how to swim.”
Tamaru got up to his feet and stared at the Gukko and her pilot for a moment. He then looked up at Lewa Nuva, clearing his throat. “Do you… do you think you could wind-fly with us back to Le-Koro? Just to keep us company,” he hastily added. “No… no other reason.”
Lewa Nuva laughed. “Of course I can. I’ll do my best to keep up.”
“Oh, you won’t have any trouble with that,” Orkahm said dryly. “You’ll probably be plea-begging us to speed things up.”
“Whatever for?” asked Lewa, patting Tamaru on the shoulder. “Just gives me more time to spend with my friends.”
Tamaru beamed at him before walking over to join Orkahm atop Kee.
This time, as they took flight, he did not close his eyes.
Several kios away, the monstrous Rahi emerged from the Great Sea and stepped onto the shores of Kanae Bay. Water dripped down its armor as it stalked back into the forests of Le-Wahi, beginning its long journey back home.
The beast had accomplished what it had set out to do. With the Bohrok-Kal defeated, a new threat was needed to keep the Toa Nuva on their toes, lest they grow weak in complacency. While such weakness would make it easier to defeat them when the proper time came, it would have also been difficult to derive much pleasure from such a lack of challenge. Besides, as much as the beast hated to admit it, it needed the Toa Nuva alive in order to bring about that which it had planned. Should some other malevolent force that the beast had no control over come to threaten Mata Nui and the Toa failed to stop it, then everything the beast had done for the past several millennia would have been for naught.
The Toa Nuva needed to be ready for anything, and the beast already knew exactly what to throw at them next.
Willing the shadows to serve their master and mask the beast’s trek through the wilderness of Mata Nui, Makuta laughed softly to himself, eagerly anticipating whatever the future would bring.
FIN
Author’s notes:
I wrote this story to give a story role to the “Makuta Nui” combiner model from 2003, made from the Makuta, Jaller/Gukko, and Takua/Pewku sets. To this end, I kind of wrote it to serve as a hypothetical “advertisement” for the set, along the same lines of those mini-comics you would find in LEGO magazines for either Bionicle sets or sets from other LEGO themes; hence its simple story and Lewa’s somewhat-cliche lines while fighting the Makuta Nui.
The title for the story is also taken from the song “Don’t Look Down” by Cryoshell, a post-BIONICLE single they released a few years back.
Also, can I just say how hard it is to write Treespeak? I finally understand why Greg Farshtey dislikes writing Air-based characters.
Hope you enjoyed.