I came up with these little short scenes; not enough to be full fanfics, but (hopefully) interesting enough to be worth posting.
Identification
“It seems we all have found our mask powers,” Nokama observed, and the others nodded.
“Everyone but me.” Vakama muttered under his breath, staring at his reflection in one of the Vahki Transport’s chrome plates. Being a mask maker, he had of course almost instantly identified the shape as a Great Huna, the mask of Concealment.
It should have been fairly simple, were it not for another fact - while there were generally agreed-upon standards in volume and shape for each known mask type, it was not uncommon for a mask to be forged in a shape completely different from their Kanoka disk combination; sometimes for practice with limited available Kanoka, and sometimes to fill special orders. It was common enough that Vakama was hesitant to jump to conclusions concerning his.
It would be a lie to say he hadn’t wondered about it as a Matoran; once he’d had a train of thought that led to him pondering if it could perhaps be one of the amoral masks, such as a Tryna or Avsa - He’d quickly abandoned the horrifying notion, and felt jumpy around the Vahki for the rest of the day. Now that he was a Toa, though, it seemed nothing had changed - in the rare moments of peace they’d had so far, he’d tried and strained to somehow activate it, but nothing worked. That, among many other things as of late, made him feel a fraud, like he was still just a matoran wearing Toa armour.
Vakama closed his eyes and rested his head on the Transport’s cool metal hull, though almost instantly shot back upright as the sound of Vahki echoed down the tunnel. Regardless of whether or not he was the right being for the job, they had to get out of here.
Research, Development, and Presentation
“So why have you called me here?” Pridak stood at the enterance to the cave, arms crossed and wearing a rather impatient expression. Kalmah regarded him cooly, but after a moment, beckoned him in. A large squid resting in one corner of the cavern swam closer, ready to restrain the Barraki leader if he lost control and began eating the hatchlings.
“I have engineered a new strain,” Kalmah explained, crouching down beside a bowl-shaped rock. Within, several small squids were emerging from their pearl-like eggs. Pridak did his best to restrain his disgust, and thorougly failed. Picking one up by a tentacle, he held it out in the water before him.
It was sleek and bullet-like, with a long cone for a head, and ten tentacles emerging from its base; eight of normal length, and two slightly longer, with barbed appendages at the end. Hidden within the bundle of writhing limbs, he knew, there was a small beak lined with special fangs that would allow it to drain a victim’s energy. There was really only one notable difference, as far as he could tell - “So it glows green instead of yellow. Fascinating.” Releasing the squid, he watched it drift back down to the nest. “But what does it do?”
Kalmah smirked. “The barbs on the feeding tentacles’ club ends are filled with a strong sedative poison - the squid is immune, but a small injection is enough to disable one of Ehlek’s eels, and make a Zyglak too disoriented to fight.”
Standing up, Kalmah scooped up several of the oldest-hatched squids and carried them outside the cave; Pridak drifted behind. After loosing them to the current, Kalmah unhooked his Director from his back, and began swimming eastward, using the tool to light rocks or coral to ensure the hatchlings would follow. “You’ll notice that I also set them to follow a different light signature than that of the standard breed; I felt there may be some situations when one would want to choose one over the other.” Pridak nodded, seeing the logic in that; there was no need to bring a Rhotuka Spinner to a Kanoka fight, after all.
Soon they arrived at their destination, a yawning cave entrance at the base of the Cord. The Barraki didn’t have to wait long for the water to carry their scent inward, and rather quickly, a trio of towering Zyglak emerged, hissing and spitting as their arms swung about. Pridak instantly unsheathed his swords, growling a challenge in return, but Kalmah rested a hand upon his shoulder. “Just watch.”
Aiming his Director at the leading Zyglak, he pulled the trigger, and a bright green dot appeared in the center of the being’s bony beak. Kalmah adjusted his aim, the light squiggling about before settling on a gap in the shoulder armour; it wasn’t long before the school of squids descended on the spot, rabidly attacking every inch of exposed flesh they could find. It took a few moments, but the charging Zyglak suddenly faltered, made a feeble attempt to grab its attackers away, then fell still, eyes closing as it slipped into unconsciousness.
The other two Zyglak stopped upon seeing what had happened to their packmate. One began to back away, then swam swiftly into the cave, but the other simply screeched and rushed forth. Pridak jumped atop a rock, but Kalmah had already directed his swarm to the new foe. This second Zyglak was more sturdy, taking longer to be effected and killing several squid with wild blows, but it soon fell into twitching spasms - enough for Pridak to dive forward and behead it with a flourish.
“I prefer my way, but these are good. Make more.” Was all he had to say as he swam away. Kalmah nodded - all told, today had been a strong success.
So, yeah.
I’m glad you like it!