This is Toa Falment Solas, made for @Cordax’s collab.
Lore
To cut a Matoran from his native element is to cut him from himself. A Le-Matoran who must live in a cave is more in bonds than one tied to the top of a tree; a Ta-Matoran stuck at the peak of a mountain will feel colder than any other; and an Av-Matoran who lives in darkness will shrivel and dessicate as a plant would.
Solas does not live in darkness, but would he tell you his story, you’d think he did. During the Great Cataclysm, an injury to his head blinded him for life. In desperation, he sought out a Kanohi Arthron, hoping he could train himself to use its power to navigate; but this failed him. Unable to see or navigate, he grew reliant on his peers, to the point where he was unable to leave his home stalactite, lest he fall off its edge. Miraculously, he survived for millennia off the generosity of his friends–but though he survived, he could not truly be said to live.
Unable to perceive light, Solas grew bitter, and his health deteriorated with his spirits. He longed to see again, to know what colors his friends had chosen to wear without having to ask, to don a rocket booster and fly as his caretakers did, to change his own armor’s color, or even know what color he was…but these humblest of pleasures never came to him, however hard the village healers worked to restore his vision.
Even more insulting to him was his dependence on others. Once, he was an accomplished fighter and athlete, but now, he couldn’t do those few jobs he knew how to do. He grudgingly taught himself to read by feeling the grooves carved into a tablet, but the Matoran script’s uniform geometry made this an agonizing task which nobody really needed from him.
The arrival of the Toa Nuva and Takanuva in Karda Nui brought hope to some, but not Solas, who learned that Takua–that strange lad relocated to Metru Nui so long ago–was now the world’s first Toa of Light. Such a thing was unprecedented, and now Solas couldn’t even see how Takua had changed, what a Toa even looked like. Being whisked out of Karda Nui meant nothing to him when Mata Nui awoke. Teridax’s takeover frightened him, but his disability left him stuck at home when his friends fought to defend themselves against invading Rahkshi. When Teridax fell at last and his people relocated to Spherus Magna, he perceived no change. It was all the same dark void to him, just with sand under his feet and new voices to ooze pity for him.
But fate has a strange taste in heroes.
Spherus Magna needed more Toa. That much was clear to the 50-ish Toa still alive. So, after much deliberation, a Suva was built, and several Toa Stones created to bring new Toa into existence. Solas didn’t understand why he, of all Av-Matoran, was chosen. The Agori who delivered his summons to the new Suva said something of a vision by a Turaga whose name Solas couldn’t be bothered to remember. All he knew was that he now had a Toa Stone and a mission, and in time, he felt his body warp until he was the size of a Toa–and, to his astonishment, his Arthron activated for the first time.
Solas wept when he first used his mask power and could walk on his own with no guide, no walking stick, no risk of getting hurt. He didn’t need help anymore; he was the one others would rely on, and he relished in this. Yet he quickly realized that his blindness would still impair him, as he couldn’t see his own element. Much as this realization wounded him, he also found a silver lining: he could discharge as much elemental power as he liked without blinding himself, letting him rob enemies of their sight completely, free of consequence.
Thus did Solas finally strike out on his own, despite the insistence of his fellow Toa that he train under Takanuva to master his power. For a time, he became proficient, disorienting his foes and disarming or tripping them with his bill while they couldn’t see; but his refusal to get help from others and stick his neck out for everyone he could finally came back to bite him when he found himself outnumbered by a rogue band of Skrall after vowing to defend a village from their attacks.
Fortune smiled upon the Toa of Light that day, for the Toa Falment, heeding the same call as Solas, came to his rescue and turned the fight in his favor. After this encounter, Solas begrudgingly agreed to join their ranks. Since then, he has acted as their scout, but his teammates have learned to keep an eye on him at all times, given his tendency to forsake teamwork in favor of independence out of pride and, to some extent, shame from having lived so long as a liability to others.
Credit to KhingK for the “standard” Arthron.