Here’s part one if you want to read that first: Origins of the Whirlwind, Part One: The Rivalry
When Tyrrahn returned to where he had left Khaita, they were nowhere to be seen. Instead, Tyrrahn was met by the rest of the rivals, looking concerned. As soon as Hoari spotted Tyrrahn approaching, she drew her sword and started stomping toward him. Cyprus, realizing what was going on, quickly placed himself between the two of them, putting a hand out in both of their directions.
“How could you do this to Khaita!” Hoari shouted. “They deserve a real answer” Hoari tried to shove Cyprus out of the way, but Pūkaha started pulling her back. Cyprus looked between Hoari and Tyrrahn and said “calm down, Hoari, Tyrrahn is allowed turn Khaita down, just as anyone else can”
“That’s not the problem here!” Hoari said, fighting both against Cyprus’ arm and Pūkaha’s grapple, trying to get closer to Tyrrahn. “You can’t just run away from a question like that Tyrrahn, you need to give them a real answer! Don’t you care that you hurt them?” Tyrrahn stuttered, then sighed shakily.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt them, it’s just complicated” Tyrrahn said finally. “Besides, it’s all better now, the complication has been removed, I can say yes now!” At this, Hoari stopped struggling, then she scoffed.
“Oh I think you’ve just made it a whole lot more complicated now” Hoari told him, putting her weapon away and taking a step back. Tyrrahn looked confused, and Cyprus gave him a sympathetic look.
“I know you analysts don’t do a lot of socializing, so maybe this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I agree that what you’ve done makes it more complicated.” Cyprus said kindly. “Khaita was really hurt by what you did, and I don’t know if they’ll forgive you, so I think it’s best if you don’t talk to them for a bit.” Just then, the ships intercom sounded, and Captain Kohua’s voice came through.
“Tyrrahn, Pūkaha, Hoari, Cyprus, and Khaita, please report to the bridge. Thank you” After hearing this, Tyrrahn began jogging towards the launch bay, a place Khaita often visited when they were sulking. Hoari tried to run after him, but Cyprus stopped her, shaking his head.
“Tyrrahn clearly needs to see on his own what he did, let him learn the hard way” Cyprus told her, steering her towards the bridge. When Tyrrahn reached the launch bay, he saw Khaita cleaning their solar sailer, the Comet’s Tail. Tyrrahn cleared his voicebox and approached Khaita.
“H…hey, I just wanted to apologize for earlier, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just…” Khaita put a hand up, interrupting Tyrrahn’s thought.
“It’s okay, I get it, you don’t feel that way about me, it’s fine” Khaita said coldly, not looking up from their work.
“N… no, it’s not that, it’s just…” Khaita cut him off again.
“I don’t need your sympathy. Besides, we have a meeting with the captain to get to, don’t want to keep him waiting.” After that, Khaita put their solar sailer back on its dock, threw the cloth they were using to clean it into a bucket, then started for the bridge. Tyrrahn just stuttered “o… okay” and followed them.
Kohua welcomed Hoari, Cyprus, and Pūkaha into the bridge, smirking slightly when he noticed Tyrrahn and Khaita were missing. Pūkaha and Cyprus looked slightly nervous, having never been in the bridge before, but Hoari just looked angry, her fist resting on her hip. “Where are the other two?” Kohua inquired.
“They sh-should be on their way, I think” Cyprus spoke up nervously. Kohua nodded and said “good”. After a few minutes of awkward silence the door opened again, and Khaita and Tyrrahn walked in, an awkward silence between them as well. Tyrrahn seemed stressed, fidgeting with his hands and looking like he wanted to say something, while Khaita looked serious, almost emotionless. Kohua’s smile faded, and he turned to address the group.
“Now, I’m sure you’re all wondering why you’re here, and I can assure you that it is nothing to be worried about. In fact, it is a moment of celebration, as we have completed our mission and delivered all of the toa aboard this ship. Which means, that the next generation of toa will be chosen. As captain of this mothership, the Roaming Star, I have been selected to take a team of matoran to Ultra Magna to take the Toa examination together to be part of this next generation. I have chosen you five to become Toa. So folks, it looks like your race is nearing an end.”
Despite the sour mood of the five matoran all of their faces lit up, and even Tyrrahn looked pleasantly surprised. Khaita just smirked. they would finally prove themselves worthy…
As the Roaming Star traveled to Ultra Magna, the five rivals began training again, spending most of their time doing so as they were no longer needed at their jobs. Kohua also joined them, and they used his personal training center that was purpose made to train future toa. After a several year trip, the Roaming Star docked alongside the other to carrier ships at Hub’s Toa training center, where the disembarked and headed for the Toa examination room. One by one, the six of them were taken into a room very similar to the Kohua’s training center where they showed off their unique abilities that they had developed by training together.
First up was Kohua, whom the others were allowed to watch as “inspiration.” Though he wasn’t fast, he was indomitable, and his armor was tough. He used his large axe and claw arm to shield his vulnerable parts from attack, then hit his enemies back with brute force and strength. He was quick thinking and clever, clearing the course with ease and claiming his toa stone, then leaving through a door at the back of the course. In the back room, his stone activated, and he became a toa of stone, wielding a tremor trident and a great Kanohi Hau, mask of shielding
Next, they called in Hoari, who walked in confidently. To compensate for having a single arm, Hoari had developed a quick aggressive fighting strategy, striking before her enemies even had a chance and with enough force to take them out in a single blow. This style allowed her to finish the course (which changed drastically between contestants) with incredible speed, being on of the quickest times the great beings had ever seen. When she transformed into a toa of fire, she was given the magma cleaver, a large sword that would make her blows even deadlier, especially paired with her Kanohi Pakari, great mask of strength.
Cyprus went third, and his strategy was to take out enemies from afar, and duck behind cover to avoid enemy fire. He was slower than the other two had been, but his approach was methodical, and the results were undeniably. He claimed his toa stone completely unscathed, and as he transformed into a toa of poison, he was granted a serpent bow and quiver. His choice of mask was an easy one; the Kanohi Sonak, great mask of accuracy.
fun fact
While I’m not sure if this counts as an illegal connection, I connected Cyprus’ head to his body using a ball joint that broke off of a limb piece. The piece was not broken on purpose or anything, it broke on its own I just decided to take advantage of a bad situation. Plus, there is totally a purist way to make it, so it’s not really a big deal.
Pūkaha was called on next, and was nervous, nearly backing out. However, Tyrrahn and Khaita assured him that he’d do well. So he went in and began the examination. His hesitance carried into the examination, and it looked like he might not complete it. Finally, he managed to get into a choke point using the terrain, and fighting one-on-one with each enemy was much easier, for him. He continued to use the terrain to his advantage, and he even used other things around the arena, including defeated enemies, to make it to the end, grabbing his toa stone and transforming into a toa of water. With his new mercury blade and Kanohi Suletu, great mask of telepathy, equipped, he joined the others.
Next up, was Khaita, who was finally ready to prove that they were no coward, and that scouts could be great toa. They started by using their shield and sword to fight their way up to a high point in the arena, which made it clear that fighting outright like this was not going to work for Khaita. But, just when it seemed like Khaita might not make it through the examination, they made it to the top of the high point. That’s when Khaita smiled, threw down their shield, then hopped on and started sliding down on their shield. In an instant the flow of battle changed, and it was clear who would win. Khaita slid down the incline, easily dispatching enemies using their momentum, doing tricks around the arena, and then reaching the toa stone. They transformed into a toa of air, wielding a wind cleaver and a jungle shield and wearing a Kanohi Kualsi, great mask of quick travel, a perfect match for their high-speed combat style. They then joined the others in a waiting room of sorts, where the others congratulated them for completing the examination.
fun fact
That’s right y’all, I made a younger version of my self moc! Also though, I absolutely hate it. There’s a lot of cool ideas in this version, but I didn’t do them very well, and feel like I could have done a lot better. Might try and rework it eventually, not sure though. I’m very proud of the shield though, no complaints there.
Finally, it was time for Tyrrahn to go, and he surprised the onlookers, as he carried no weapon. Instead, he waited, and watched his enemies, until finally he stepped out… and used his enemies to fight for him. He lined up melee enemies with ranged enemy attacks and then dodge the ranged attack so it hit the melee enemy. He moved as though he could predict every move of his enemies, and he used all their weaknesses against them. By the time he claimed his toa stone, it was clear why he didn’t take a weapon, because he didn’t need one. He transformed into a toa of shadow, which came as a surprise to everyone, and he claimed a jet axe and slicer hooks for weapons, once again surprising everyone. Finally he chose his mask, a Kanohi mahiki, great mask of illusion, and joined the others. As he walked into their waiting room, he said “guess I lost the race” and everyone burst out laughing. Accept for Khaita, who just put a hand on his shoulder.
“Great work out there” they said then turned to leave.
“Yes, great work to everyone!” Kohua added. They then walked out together, and were greeted by the great being Hub.
“Congratulations to our six newest toa heroes” they said in their deep grumbly voice. “Do you have a team name in mind? And of course there is the matter of team leader.” The six toa looked at each other, then Khaita spoke up.
“I vote Kohua be our leader, as he has the most experience. As for a name, what do you all think of the toa Kaha?” The others all agreed, and Hub smirked.
“The toa Kaha, led by Kohua, toa of stone eh? Let’s see if you can live up such a lofty title, follow me to your pods” and with that, the toa Kaha were born, but the journey ahead was still a whirlwind
To be continued…
fun fact
The word Kaha (according to google translate of course) means “great” or “mighty” in the Māori language.
Hope y’all are enjoying the story, yes I do have more planned. There is likely going to be two more entries into the story, hopefully there will be less time between those anyway, have a good day!