A week later, Vakama and Matau stood near the gate to Ta-Koro, a compliment of Ta-Matoran and Le-Matoran with them. Vamkoda and Malohi were among them. Malohi had really done it this time. He had actually gone into the Sanctum of Ko-Koro and defaced the Wall of Prophecy with childish graffiti. The Turaga of Ko-Koro, Nuju, was reportedly furious. Rumor had it that he had demolished an entire glacier in his rage. He had demanded a meeting with Matau and Vakama to sort out this debacle.
Vamkoda glanced over at Jala. He stood at stiff attention, eager to impress with his professionalism. Standing next to Matau was the Captain of the Le-Koro Gukko Force, Kongu. He looked rather unconcerned about the whole affair, like Malohi and their Turaga. It infuriated Vamkoda to no end.
“Ever-wonder where Nuju is,” began Matau. He was preparing to deliver his eighth joke in half as many minutes. “Perhaps he got way-lost in his own backyard.”
Vakama gave the smallest of smiles. “I believe we should prepare for Nuju’s arrival in as serious a manner as we can manage, brother.”
Vamkoda frowned. He was not at all impressed with Matau. And why did Vakama tolerate him, and refer to him in such familial terms? Didn’t he see what an inter-village disaster this was? And it was all Malohi’s fault, and by extension Matau’s for not keeping an eye on him.
“The Turaga of Ice approaches!” called a guard from on top of the wall. “The Turaga of Ice approaches!”
Vamkoda matched Jala’s posture as did the rest of the Guard. Even some of the Le-Matoran stood a little straighter. Vakama and Matau looked as if they were about to meet an old friend. That’s when Nuju, Turaga of Ice, leader of Ko-Koro, entered the gates, followed by a dozen Ko-Matoran and wearing features chiseled out of ice. His very presence seemed to suck the heat out of the village. And he was not happy. Not in the slightest.
Vamkoda wasn’t sure what he pictured Nuju to sound like, but it certainly wasn’t what came out of his mouth. As soon as Nuju was a few bio from the other Turaga, he began speaking in a flurry of whistles and clicks, hands flying all over the place in complex gestures. A Ko-Matoran with a sand blue Akaku behind him nodded as he paid attention to what Nuju was saying. Vamkoda was completely taken aback by this. He guessed this must be some odd language Nuju spoke, gestures included, although he was pretty sure some of the gestures were not part of the actual language and just rude interjections. Vakama and Matau did not seem surprised by this outburst, but they did shrink a little from it, and Matau certainly wasn’t enjoying himself anymore.
Once Nuju finished, the Matoran with the Akaku spoke. “Turaga Nuju says that he has never seen such base behavior in his life. A section of the Wall of Prophecy has been ruined. You ignore the future at your own peril. He says Turaga Matau should be ashamed of himself, letting his Matoran have their run of the island like a bunch of deranged Brakas.”
“In my defense,” began Matau, “Malohi here is ever-hard to keep a Kahu-eye on. He is always quick-running around and—”
Nuju cut him off with a string of more bizarre noises and hand movements. Vamkoda expected the interpreter to have to translate Matau back to Nuju but it seemed he understood the other Turaga just fine. “Turaga Nuju says that you are making excuses, Turaga Matau,” said the interpreter. “He expects more out of you, even if you are just a Gukko-riding, foolhardy, glory-seeking pilot.”
Matau scowled and looked like he was going to say something but Nuju turned his attention to Vakama. He gave three short whistles and waited for the translation. “Turaga Nuju doesn’t want you to think you’re blameless in this situation, Turaga Vakama.” Nuju continued and the interpreter said, “Turaga Nuju demands to know why a Le-Matoran was able to access the cable cars with no questions asked. They should be restricted to authorized personnel.”
“You are correct, Nuju,” said Vakama. “We should have had that in place, but to be fair, we’ve never had an incident quite like this. Not all outcomes can be predicted.”
Nuju scoffed and made another incomprehensible reply. “Turaga Nuju says that’s the excuse those who don’t take the future seriously make,” said the translator.
“Well, don’t worry, that particular oversight will be amended going further,” said Vakama. “And I have complete faith in your ability to restore the Wall of Prophecy. If you require any of our help, we shall be willing to give it, even if that is just staying out of your way. And I believe there is one more thing that needs to be said. Matau?”
The Turaga of Air was still scowling and turned to look at Malohi. “Yes. Malohi, you should apologize and ever-promise you will never do anything like that again.”
Malohi considered it. “Sorry I guess. And I promise I’ll never do anything like that again… until I do it again.” He then took off running.
Matau shrugged. “I think that’s the ever-best you can hope for.”
Vamkoda seethed at Malohi’s impertinence. Then he saw him run to a trader and jump on one of his Husi. “I’m borrowing this, okay? Yah!” He spurred the bird and took off out of the village.
“That slimy, arrogant—!” cried Vamkoda before he ran to the trader, jumping on one of his other Husi.
“Hey, what are you doing?” asked the trader. “Not you too!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll bring back your other Husi along with that criminal hogtied,” said Vamkoda.
“Vamkoda, no!” shouted Vakama. “It’s almost nightfall, it’s too dangerous!”
“I have to do this, Turaga! No one else will!” Vamkoda spurred the Husi and took off after Malohi. Within a couple of minutes, Vamkoda found his prey. The Le-Matoran wasn’t going particularly fast, apparently waiting for Vamkoda to catch up. “You’re not getting out of this one this time, Malohi!” he shouted. “They all saw you! I’m going to haul you into prison where you belong!”
Malohi turned around and gave a taunting look. “You have to catch me first!” He put the speed on and began to pull away from Vamkoda.
The Ta-Matoran was not going to give up that easily. He dogged Malohi relentlessly, chasing him all the way to the far end of the burnt and destroyed forest. Slowly but surely, Vamkoda was gaining on Malohi. Only a few more bio and he would have him. Once his Husi was right behind Malohi’s, Vamkoda stood up and leaped at the Le-Matoran. Malohi let out a loud screech as he was tackled off his mount and the two rolled around in the dirt. Vamkoda ended up on top of the scuffle and punched Malohi square in the face. The green-armored Matoran let out a cry of pain and surprise as he held his face. Vamkoda smiled at his victory.
Malohi lowered his hands and for the first time, Vamkoda saw anger in his eyes. He was suddenly not feeling like he was the one in control. Malohi brought up his feet and kicked Vamkoda off of him. The Ta-Matoran crashed back into a tree and slumped to the ground. He shook his head and could just barely make out Malohi running away in the darkness. He would not escape this time. Vamkoda jumped to his feet and chased Malohi. The Le-Matoran seemed to be carefree again, skipping as if he had all the time in the world. He let out a whoop of joy with a particularly big skip. Vamkoda was going to make sure he never had anything to skip about ever again. Malohi was going to be pining for the old days when he—
Suddenly Vamkoda’s feet were above the void. Malohi’s big skip hadn’t been random, he had seen a giant fissure and jumped over it. But Vamkoda, in a mixture of the lowlight and his single-minded pursuit of Malohi, missed it. And now he was going to plunge to his death. All of this shot through his mind in an instant.
He slammed into the opposite side of the fissure, his bident slipping off his back and falling into the abyss below. He dug his fingers into the soil but they didn’t even offer a shred of resistance to gravity. He watched in horror as his fingers slid through the dirt and inched ever closer to the edge and certain death. It was literally a visual representation of how much longer he had to live. Vamkoda’s hands slipped off the ground and for a second he was suspended in space, the full weight of the situation sinking into his mind.
Then something gripped his arm. He looked up to see Malohi holding onto him, heartlight flashing rapidly. “Hang on, Vamkoda, I’ll pull you up!”
Vamkoda couldn’t understand what was happening. But he forced those thoughts aside and focused on more innate ones, such as survival. He planted his feet on the chasm wall and managed to climb up with Malohi’s help. Back on solid ground, Vamkoda took a long time to say anything, simply catching his breath and watching as his life flashed before his eyes over and over, paying particular attention to the last few months. Malohi said nothing either, just watching the moon rising through trees with uncharacteristic calmness.
“Why did you save me?” Vamkoda finally managed.
Malohi looked at him with a genuinely shocked expression. It was an odd sight to see such sincerity from him. “Because we’re friends.”
“We’re… friends?”
“Of course. We spend so much time together, how could we be anything but friends?”
“But… but…” Vamkoda was too shocked and ashamed to say anything else.
“I’ll always be there to make sure you don’t fall,” Malohi continued. “And you’ll do the same for me. You help me and I’ll help you. United we stand, divided we fall. Right?”
Vamkoda stared at Malohi for a long time before he replied. “R-Right.” He stood up and held out his hand. “Come on, let’s go back to Ta-Koro. I’m sure Turaga Matau is worried about you.”
Malohi gave a big smile and took Vamkoda’s hand.
1,005 AGC
“And ever since then,” Vamkoda said, “we’ve been good friends. Malohi helped me to learn to trust the other villages, something that I believe was vital to our survival against Makuta.”
“So did he stop harassing you after that?” asked Nidhiki.
Vamkoda laughed. “Are you kidding? I think he did it even more. But I took Turaga Vakama’s advice, I stopped taking life so seriously. Sure, Malohi still annoys the Karzahni out of me sometimes—a lot of times really—but I’ve never questioned his heart after that night. I think he might have one of the purest hearts I’ve ever seen.”
“That’s a truly great story, Vamkoda,” said Lhikan. “I can tell he really is a friend.”
“He’s my best friend,” said Vamkoda, realizing that for the first time. “And I’ll always be there to back him up, no matter what.” He suddenly realized something else. “I guess… it’s kind of like you and Nidhiki. Maybe all hearts are not what they appear to be at first.”
Lhikan smiled at his brother Toa. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”
Nidhiki returned the smile. “Well, I don’t think we’re going to find anything else on your nephews today, Lhikan. How about we help Vamkoda round up Malohi?”
“Sounds like a plan. Come on, Vamkoda. Let’s go find your friend.”
“Okay. Can’t wait to see the look on his face when I tell him he’ll be scrubbing that graffiti off that building tomorrow.”
The End