Oh yeah, I forgot about him. He was still evil for a bit until he got suspicious of Teridax
Right, but in the end he still tried to do good.
Anyways, what’s your thoughts on Salis, the Toa of Plasma?
He seems slightly shady, but he seems like a generally good guy. Also I like that you used Lightning and Plasma, as they aren’t used often! In my storyline there is a Toa of every element, so yeah.
My main six Toa in Karhi Nui are the normal elements. But every now and then it’s fun to throw in a Toa with a rare element, like Plasma. They can add to the story.
So if he’s shady, how do you trust him to be a good guy? I mean, he kills people!
Yeah, but sometimes you have no choice. That’s the way it is in my storyline
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Alright, time for the next chapter.
Chapter 5
Sure enough, Salis’s grin had much truth in it. During the middle of the night, someone woke me up. As I turned in my restricting cuffs to see who it was, I saw the fiery eyes of Furtaan, leaning over my body with his back rounded and his arms supporting his upper body as he crouched.
“Wake up,” he whispered, “I must tell you what is really going on.”
He helped me up and lead me through the iron bar door. He silently closes the door to prevent Salis from waking up. However, as I watch the door come to a complete stop, Salis brought a very minute but noticeable flinch. He was awake.
Furtaan took me through the long hallway in which the cave connected the temporary base to the outside world. We came out onto the beach. Nobody was there. Viatra must’ve been taken by some villagers, I presumed.
Furtaan sat on a rock and ordered me to sit in the sand. I obeyed. I didn’t really have a choice. One wrong step and this guy could suck the life out of me. Not a pleasant thing to think about.
Furtaan’s glowing antidermis shone through the cracks of his armor, giving a little bit of light on the beach. The glow reflected off of his armor, giving it a light orange tint. It kinda acted like a fire, as it was warm. Furtaan raised his arms a bit as he began to speak.
“I made quite a show, didn’t I, Matoran?” Furtaan asked, “I must’ve made myself look like the villain, didn’t I?” I nodded in agreement, hoping to get this “talk” done and over with. “Good. Well, I’m here to tell you, Fa- That’s what they call you, right? I’m here to tell you that I’m not trying to ruin this island. I want to preserve it, as I told you before.”
I spoke up. “How do you preserve life when you take away it’s only way to live?”
Furtaan sighed. “You just don’t get it. You think the beauty of nature is something we need to stop and look at. You want to preserve your plants and animals by barely touching it, yes?” I nod. “Well, Fa, Matoran were simply not made for such a thing. You were made to work. And if you didn’t have that mask here, you wouldn’t care much about the plantlife or the luscious forests. I can understand your new love for such life. It is indeed such a beautiful thing. But Fatorak, we have more important things to deal with than preserving a bunch of plants.”
“And those things are to have an advantage at war?” I ask with a scoffing tone.
“No, Fatorak. Those things are to stop the greatest war that the universe will ever see.” Furtaan closes his eyes and leans back, using his arms to support him. His wings twitch as he gathers his thoughts. “The time is coming when Matoran will no longer be as free as you are right now. I’ve seen it. Mata Nui has given me… Visions.”
I stopped him right there. “Visions? Why would a Makuta ever get visions? I thought that was something only a Matoran or Toa could get.”
“That’s what I wondered at first, too,” Furtaan replied as he leaned forward again, “until more came upon me. I had no idea why. I stopped my usual activities of creating rahi and went to studying on why I got these visions and what they meant. Eventually I came across a strange Turaga named Tah. He told me the visions were a gift from Mata Nui, something that I needed to use in order to enact his will.”
Furtaan took a short break to let me soak in the facts. “Eventually I realized my destiny was to serve Mata Nui for a purpose I still needed to find out about. But eventually I uncovered a plot set up by the Makuta. They were going to make an empire. And once they got that empire, they were going to take over the whole universe using a mask of great power, one I discovered was going to be the Kanohi Karhi. I needed to get the mask somewhere else before it was too late.”
“Why not keep it at Karhi Nui?” I asked, “nobody has taken it from here for thousands of years.”
“Nobody yet,” Furtaan pointed out, “but many people know that it is here. And they want the mask. I managed to get tabs with the Order of Mata Nui to help me secure the mask once I retrieved it. But then I realized the mission was doomed from the start.” Furtaan looks directly at me.
I shuddered as his glowing orange eyes looked directly at me. His face showed no emotion, but that was enough to show me that he was concerned about something. Then he looked away out of disapproval.
I thought about what was going wrong. Then it hit me. “Toa Salis?”
Furtaan nodded calmly. “I knew what you talked about in the cell. He wanted to escape. I would have stopped him, but another vision came my way. If only you hadn’t temporarily trusted him, perhaps you would have grown suspicious enough to stop him. I simply don’t have the power to mess with the destiny of others.”
I became curious. “These visions tell you the destiny of others?”
Furtaan leaned forward, using his legs for support on his arms, in which his chin rested on. “Not always, but this time, yes. His destiny relied on escaping, and that’s what he’s about to do. Knowing what is to come, and knowing what is about to happen to you, and there’s no way of stopping it is one of the most terrifying things you can encounter, Fa. And that’s coming from a Makuta.”
I decided to sit down, with no objection from Furtaan. He simply stayed in his relaxed position. What kind of things did Furtaan face? From what I could tell, he was depressed, worried, anxious. These visions must haunt him instead of do good things for him. It’s a common thought that Makuta live in darkness and fear, thriving in it. They re-surge within the dark forces. But those assumptions are so contrary to the truth. Makuta dread the darkness. They only live in it to face their fears, and take away their worries and regrets for any evil they have done. But secretly, the darkness torments them. Maybe that’s why there are Makuta like Tagah and Furtaan.
I turned back the conversation to the point of Salis. “You could always go and stop him now. I’m sure history isn’t pre-determined.”
“Could I?” Furtaan looked at me for a brief moment, and then we turned to make way to the cave. As we entered, we found Furtaan’s loyal Toa on the ground, groaning from the agonizing pain. Furtaans brow lowered along with his eyes. The bars of the cell he stayed at were melted, and heat on the ground near the cave showed that he already sped past us while we talked.
As I aided the badly injured Nakina, he stood behind me and looked at his injured Toa Hagah. “I don’t have the will,” Furtaan stated as his back rounded while he looked at his fallen ally. “I can’t stop him from fulfilling his destiny.”
I turned my head to look back at him. “Then how can you live with yourself?”
Furtaan shrugged. “I can’t.”
I stood back up and turned to him. “Then what do you want me to do?”
“We can’t do anything, Fa. We can’t do anything.”
I rubbed my chin as I thought. “Yes… We can. The Turaga always talk about how the prophecies change. Can’t history do the same?”
Furtaan nodded. “It could, but it never has in any case I’ve seen. I have to live with seeing everything I wish to stop happen in the first place. Something you will never understand.”
“Then it’s time to break that pattern,” I told him, while packing my stuff. “Besides, if you knew it was destined to fail, then why come at all?”
Furtaan’s eyes stared at the floor. “I guess because there was a spark hope in me.”
“Then let that spark become a raging fire.”
My thoughts are that just because Salis escaped doesn’t mean he’s evil, but I do like how the Makuta is good.
Oh, you’ll see more about Salis when it comes. As for Furtaan, that idea came around to me when I was talking to someone in order to help me with my plot for the story. Initially, Furtaan was set to be the bad guy. But the guy told me: “Makuta are overused as villains. Why don’t you use this rogue Toa of Plasma as the villain?” I thought it was a wonderful idea.
So I re-developed Furtaan into a good Makuta, but haunted by these visions of the future.
Yeah, that is a pretty unique thing to do.
That’s what I like about Furtaan. He’s so out-of-place for his character. If anything, he seems like he should have been a Toa but he really isn’t. We’ll see more into what he’s about later.
Now I’ll need to type up Chapter 6 sooner or later. We’ll start to see the characters develop in the story as the plot progresses. Meanwhile, what’s your overall thoughts on my story so far?
It’s good, lot’s of detail and secrecy. I also like that it’s from the perspective of a Matoran. Toa are overused even though my character is a Toa, so having a Matoran perspective makes it unique!
That’s what I want to hear. I always love it when we the reader doesn’t know much, so it influences them to keep reading!
Yeah, I felt that would change it up a bit. Honestly, I’ve always been a fan of Matoran-centered stories in BIONICLE (which is probably why I like Mask of Light and MNOG).
I always felt that a Toa usually wouldn’t tell the story unless they become a Turaga, because Toa don’t have time to sit down and tell their tale. Meanwhile, a Matoran would often boast about their adventure, and because Fatorak is a Chronicler, he’s supposed to tell his tale. Plus, it’s fun when he can work with characters more powerful than him.
Also, what’s your opinion on the legends told of the Kanohi Karhi?
Kanohi Karhi=OP MLG 360 ladder no scope crossmap headshot
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It’s pretty powerful. But the secrets of the mask are yet to be revealed. >:)
Chapter 6
I spread out a map on the ground, utilizing a lightstone to not only see but also use as a weight in order to keep the map from rolling up. Furtaan and his Toa Hagah loomed over my shoulder as I inspected the old map of Karhi Nui.
“Right, so we will probably need the fastest way to get to Ko-Karhi.”
“Where would the mask be located?” asked Furtaan.
I pointed to a specific mountain on the map. “Somewhere on this mountain. The map doesn’t include the passage way, but it does show all the roads to get there.”
“Alright,” Furtaan said with a nod, his eyes scanning the piece of paper. “Looks like going through a passage in Onu-Karhi seems to be the fastest route.”
“Not really,” I replied. “Onu-Karhi’s highways usually have traffic in them. The best route would probably be this road in Po-Karhi. It may be a bit longer than the main route through to the capitol, but the capitol will be unusually busy as the carving markets happen this week. Therefore, we should take this road that goes through several smaller villages. If we walk fast enough, we should get to the end of the road pretty fast.”
Furtaan stood straight again with his chin up, pondering my decision. “Seems like the most reasonable route. I’m glad it was destined that I would meet you here, Chronicler. You may have more useful things as we make this great trek, being the guide.”
Guide. What a wonderful term. More like the guy who is practically doing most of the work right now. I hoped Furtaan wasn’t reading my thoughts at that moment.
“Anyways,” I say to continue the planning, “we’ll need to go through a small patch of Le-Karhi, and then head our way around Mount Viluu through the forests. Once we’re past the forest, we should get to the Ko-Karhi mountains. It may take a few days or more, but eventually we’ll get there. The hardest part will be the drifts of Ko-Karhi, especially on the road. We’ll make it if we don’t get caught in a blizzard.”
~~
After the planning with the map of Karhi Nui, we decided that we needed to go quickly in order to retrieve the mask. I turned my head to Furtaan as we walked upon a road that was leading us to Po-Karhi. “One of the best advantages for us is that Salis doesn’t know where the mask is. In fact, I don’t know why you want us to hurry.”
“Salis is crafty in his ways, Matoran,” Furtaan warned. “He’ll find his way. He may shadows us, or get his information elsewhere. He took advantage of my commitment to destinies. No doubt he’ll take advantage of you.”
I shrugged this off as we continued down the road. Eventually we came toward a sign on the road, written in Matoran. It signified that we were entering Po-Karhi now.
“Well, I guess we’re here,” I said calmly. I pulled out the map and looked at the roads. There was a split in the road in a mile or two. I looked ahead, and saw plenty of sand dunes but also black rocks sticking out from the sand, and towering piles of earth that we simply called “monuments.” Yes, it was Po-Karhi alright.
“It’s pretty hot here,” Husli stated, “is there anything we can do about this heat?”
“Just deal with it,” I replied back. “It’s hotter in Ta-Karhi, and we’ll need to go through there after we’re finished here.”
Unfortunately, we headed down the Po-Karhi roads at the wrong time of the year. Because a few miles in, a terrible sand-storm had come. We tried to cover our eyes as the storm passed through, but the Toa Hagah that came with me and Furtaan couldn’t take it. Suddenly, the storm blew me over, and I tumbled over some of the dunes.
As the winds pushed on, my body crashed into the hard dunes over and over again. In one of the gusts, I slammed by head into one of the dunes. My mask popped off and was lifted by the winds into the distance. I was then slammed again into a much larger dune and sunk into it’s sand as the wind pressured me.
I could barely look up when I noticed Furtaan shifting in the winds with his wings. Swooped down, but suddenly as he positioned his arms forward, the winds changed and he was drifted to the side. He spun out of control and smacked onto a dune, looking like a fly after it swat. His wings even twitched, adding to the effect.
Then I saw Toa Husli walking in the storm. Her legs were flexed and driven hard into the ground. Her yellow Kiril had small specks of sand in them, and she squinted to prevents sand getting into her eyes. Then she rose her arm with one of her hooks. The wind began to slow down, and after a few brief moments, disappeared entirely.
Husli relaxed her body and lowered her arms. She looked toward my direction. “Where’s your mask?”
I reached for it, but it wasn’t there. I panic. Where did my mask go? I hope it wasn’t blown away too far in the storm!
“I’ll help you find your mask,” Husli said to me. “After all, Matoran like you need it, otherwise you’ll die.”
I tried to get up, but my legs wobbled as I tried to use them to stand. Once I let go of the ground, I fall back onto my back. I was too week to go anywhere.
Furtaan managed to straighten his back again after slamming into a dune. Although his bat-like wing twitched, he seemed to be alright. He walked over to me and sat down. He looked closely at me and noticed that my arm was injured. I didn’t even realize it since I went numb due to loosing my mask. He lifted up my limp left arm and called for Husli. Husli turned around from on top of a dune in the distance.
“Husli, his arm. It’s injured.”
“Well, someone needs to look for his mask.”
“Nakina can search for the mask. Just come here and use your Kiril to restore his arm.”
Husli rushed over, kicking sand back with each step as she stumbled down the dunes. She soon arrived, standing tall over me and a bent over Furtaan. “His left arm is injured. Your Kiril can help him, right?”
“I can try,” Husli said, “but Kirils usually fix inanimate objects, not living ones.”
“You need to try,” Furtaan said.
Husli tried to focus her mask’s energy in order to heal my arm, but she was right. The Kiril wouldn’t fix my arm. Furtaan told me to hold my hand as he would search for my mask. He stood up and started to run, flap his wings, and took up. Husli bent down to comfort me.
“You’re going to be okay, Fa.”
I tried to look at her, but my eyes began to grow heavy, and it was getting harder to move.
“Furtaan or Nakina need to hurry. I’m getting into a state of paralysis.” I tried to hold my left arm, but my right arm gave up. They drooped down to my sides.
Minutes began to feel longer and longer as Furtaan and Nakina looked for my masks. Sitting in the sand paralyzed wasn’t fun. It wasn’t so much boring as it was worrying. What would happen if my mask was gone for good? My anxiety rose, and it didn’t help that time seemed to slow down. Time became the villain in this situation. I had heard of Toa who were held captive by Dark Hunters and were slowly tortured to death. It felt the same, except without the pain and more of the feeling of constriction by this paralysis.
Suddenly Nakina rose from one of the dunes, holding a pearl-gold Kakama. My mask!
She stumbled down in the same fashion as Husli earlier and gave the mask to Husli. Husli took it without hesitation. She placed the mask softly on my face, letting it magnetically attach to my face. Suddenly, a stream of energy flowed throughout my limbs and my body, and I was able to move again! But the joy of moving again ended quickly as I felt the pain of my left arm again. I must’ve broken it.
The plans had to change because of my broken arm. We back down the road to where we started in order to successfully make it toward the city of Guro-Wahi, named after an ancient legend of a Toa of Stone named Guro that had worked with Toa Paranu (another legendary Toa) in order to stop a horde of Visorak from destroying parts of Cartrax.
When we entered the city, it was busy, as usual. The hammers of Po-Matoran struck against metal in order to create statues made of stone with a chisel. Le-Matoran yelling as they offer up trades to passing by Matoran. The sounds of Rahi around the markets also added to the ambiance. And the crowds of people touched from both sides of the street, making it difficult to get through.
“Out of the way!” Husli barked as she tried to push her way through. “This Matoran here is injured!”
Some Matoran looked at the strange Toa, then Furtaan, and then me. They were confused as to what happened, and started to ask questions. But the constant chatter was hard to answer to as everyone asked different questions as to what was going on, who were the Toa and Makuta, and why I was injured. Nakina and Husli kept pushing as Furtaan asked me for directions for a hospital.
It took a good amount of time, but eventually we made it past the crowds. I was led to a hospital, where Ko-Matoran doctors treated my arm. Then they cast it up and told me to get some rest. As I grew tired as I laid in the hospital bed, Nakina sat by me while Furtaan and Husli talked.
While being a bit disfigured, she still had a delicate touch as she rubbed my good, right arm. She also had more of a raspy voice, possibly from being a more older Toa than normal. She leaned forward as she decided to talk to me as I drifted asleep.
“You know, Fatorak,” said Nakina as she looked toward me with her bright, green eyes under her Kaukau, “I was once a Matoran chronicler like you.”
That got my attention. “You did?”
“Yes, I was. For quite a long time, on a small island north west of here. It was since disbanded, but it was a beautiful city. However, once the Barraki began to conquer most of the universe, my island home was taken under hostage, and I managed to escape with one Toa.”
“What happened next?” I asked in a quite voice.
“We ended up in the island of Nynrah, where the Toa was shot by some Steltians trying to buy weapons. The Toa gave me a Toa Stone he made and told me to use it on a nearby suva. At the Suva on Nynrah, I became a Toa. Unfortunately, the Nynrah Ghosts discovered my presence and used me as a test subject for one of their malicious experiments. They had captured the Kanohi Karhi, and wanted to figure out what it did to Toa.”
Nakina’s eyes stared into the distance as she described what it was like. “It was a dark room, in order for others not to see what was going on well. The only light was the Kanohi Karhi. The Matoran had injected an odd formula to make my body go numb, so I couldn’t feel any pain that might occur. Of course, when they forced my hand to touch the mask, I felt all of the pain from it. The mask is just that powerful. It deformed my body, making my back hunch and distorting armor and muscle. After the Nynrah ghosts saw the terrible consequences, they put the mask back where it belonged. I was a freak. Nobody wanted my protection. Especially when I had powers over ice and water.”
“Mm. So how’d you find Furtaan.”
“I was only the island of Xia at the time when I first met him. Furtaan was actually friends with Tagah at this time. You see, they came for negotiations to the Queen of Xia, but it went sour and they ended up turning into criminals. I happened to be on the island, when they made a bounty for them. Me and a Toa of fire who wore a Kanohi Lekma happened to come across them, and decided that this would be a way of testing our skills for some money.”
“I went after Furtaan, who wore his current mask, the Avsa, and tried to use it on me. But it had been weeks since I was mutated, so I was filled with so much power. It over-whelmed Furtaan, and he managed to be defeated. I captured him while my other Toa friend attacked Tagah. Tagah managed to escape and later saved the queen from an assassination attempt, taking away his charges. Afterwords he ransomed Furtaan, but instead of returning back to Destral with Tagah, Furtaan was more interested in me. This somehow led to Tagah not liking Furtaan anymore, and they became enemies. Furtaan returned for me and offered me to be a Toa Hagah for him. I then accepted.”
I was getting close to going into complete slumber, but I still managed to ask a question with a yawn. “So how’d you get here?”
“It’s a long story. I’ll save that for another time. Meanwhile, you need to rest while that arm heals.”
“Right,” I said meekly in agreement.
My eyes were too heavy to keep open, and I gave up struggling with them. Besides, it was soothing to keep them closed. Why should I awaken?
“Fatorak!” cried Furtaan.
I jumped awake out of being startled. “What?!”
“You need to see this. The Hall of Chronicles… It’s been destroyed.”
Do Matoran actually die without their masks? other than that, great chapter! Those were som nasty sandstorms!
If they’re injured badly, yes. Other than that, they enter a state of paralysis and then shut off until their mask is retrieved.
Huh, didn’t know that!
Chapter 7
My feet were planted heavy in the sand as I saw the Hall of Chronicles, ablaze with smoke billowing out and to the north. All that work, all that history. Everything I worked on throughout my whole life on Karhi Nui. All destroyed by one singular Toa of Plasma.
I fell to my knees and hands. “That maniac!” I cried, looking at the ground. “He blew it up!”
Nakina bent down to comfort me. “It’s alright Fatorak. Only one person was in there. They’ve been injured, but they’re okay.”
“All my life’s work is gone. All of it. Destroyed by that fool, Salis.”
Furtaan exited the burning building. “Looks like an attack by the Ballacka, actually. But what were they looking for? And why destroy the place?”
“Darn them,” I said to myself. “Darn them all to Karzahni.”
Husli also exited the wreckage. “Whatever they looked for, they probably found, and then burnt the place to make sure nobody can follow their trail.” Husli looked down to me as I wept bitterly. She showed a bit of discomfort seeing me in such a sorrowful state, but she needed to talk to Furtaan more than anything.
Furtaan rubbed his chin. “And yet, Ballacka can’t use this much fire power. Most of the building is destroyed, in ruins to be precise. Sure, the Ballacka could have used explosives, but the building only seems to be damaged with fire.”
Husli turned her head from me to Furtaan. “Unless Salis managed to meet up with the Ballacka and destroy this place.”
“But why?” Furtaan asked. “All Salis wanted was freedom. Why would he want to stay here?”
“Perhaps he’s after the mask?” Husli suggested. She shrugged. “Just a possibility.”
Furtaan looked down at me. “If that’s the case, and Salis did do this, there’s only one thing he’s after: The Mask of Power. What else would he be here for than information?” He paused, and then extended his arm out and opened his hand. I grabbed the arm and he pulled me back up to my feet.
“We need to get going. Salis is after the mask. Why else would he burn this place to the ground?”
Husli placed her arm on Furtaan’s shoulder, and then leaned forward to him. “We’ll never be able to make it in time. Salis wears a Mask of Speed. He’ll make it to the villages in Ko-Karhi before our whole team could catch up.”
Furtaan’s bright orange eyes looked down at me, and then at his Toa Hagah. He needed to make a decision. His eyes turned around to see me again, but he halted in place. As seconds began to pass, his eyes grew wider and wider.
“It is his destiny…” Furtaan whispered to himself. Eventually he left the trance and took his eyes off of me. “I know what we need to do.”
“And what is that?” asked Nakina.
“You two will need to stay here. Go to the Turaga here and warn him about Salis. The only way to beat Salis is for me to fly over to the mountains.”
“But that’s on the other side of the island!” I interjected. “You’ll never make it in time!”
“I know, Fatorak. But it’s better than lagging behind with a whole group of people, isn’t it? Besides, I don’t even think Salis knows where he is going. Whatever he found here, he either kept it or burned it up. He’s going to investigate further, and if he does any damage, he’ll need to slow down and make it so it seems like Ballacka rebels had done the damage.”
“Right,” I said in agreement. “We also have the advantage of me knowing where to go, so that’ll probably help.”
“I just hope nothing urgent comes up,” Husli said. “Like another injury or something catastrophic happening.”
“That’s why this island has Toa,” Furtaan pointed out as he picked me up. Husli was about to speak up again, but Furtaan began to run and raise up his wings that stuck out on his back. Soon, the air flowed underneath his silver and blue wings, and it picked us up. The ground went further and further from us, and things like other Matoran and buildings began to shrink.
The wind’s pressure took effect once Furtaan was successfully gliding. The wind blew between the holes in my Kakama, making me have to squint my eyes in order to keep some of the particles from my eyes. But the view was amazing. I could even see other small villages across the plateau of Po-Karhi. It was beautiful.
“Enjoying the view, Fatorak?” Furtaan said. He didn’t look down at me, of course, but he was still curious.
“I’ll tell you this, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
“That’s good. Say, Fatorak, after we make it out of this plateau, where are we heading off into?”
“Well, that small black hill range is where the main parts of Onu-Karhi are. And then after you pass that, we’ll be in Le-Karhi. In the center of Le-Karhi is an enormous volcano, named Mount Viluu. It’s where the capital of Karhi Nui is, as well as most of Ta-Karhi.”
“Intriguing,” Furtaan said with his neck flexed and firm as he looked forward as he flew. His arms were stronger than they looked, as they appeared scrawny. “Too bad we won’t be doing any sightseeing.”
“Maybe after we stop Salis we can look around. The Turaga here are wonderful, and you could always see Tagah here. I heard you once knew him.”
Furtaan didn’t respond. He looked straightforward. He seemed to be thinking of something else. I didn’t know what. Perhaps the name of Tagah triggered him?
“Tagah was an old friend of mine,” he said. “Just like you learned from Nakina, we had a disagreement on whether we should stay partnered. I guess since you’re a chronicler, you’re probably interested in this.”
I nodded my head in response. “Very well. It was so long ago. Me and Tagah were both great soldiers in the Barraki-Makuta war. Me, him, a Makuta named Gorast and another named Mutran actually had raided Barraki Mantax’s hideout and captured him. Us for Makuta were declared war heroes and we became generals. It was such an honor.”
“What does this have to do with Xia?” I yelled. The wind was quite loud.
“Nothing really. Just providing some background. Anyways, eventually me and Tagah decided we needed to get further into Barraki territory and capture it, eventually trying to turn it to our side. We had robbed an Xian vessel and came to the island in order to stay undercover. The city was overflowing with Vortixx guards, and we needed to disguise ourselves. So we took some spare Toa armor we found and acted like Toa”
“It was when we snuck into the palace to kidnap the queen, Carika, when we happened to be shadowed by some Toa. One of them was Nakina, and another one was named Tolunga.”
“Tolunga?” I asked. “You mean… Tolunga worked for money as a Toa?”
“In the very beginning yes. Anyways, Tolunga had taken Tagah while I fought with Nakina. Eventually I was defeated and captured, while Tagah managed to escape and get the glory of saving the queen from assassination. While in prison, though, I learned the true wrath of the Xians: they, like Nynrah ghosts, loved to experiment. And unfortunately for me, they had captured one of Tagah’s most vile and disturbing creations, the Tarantulak-Nui. It’s powers included a bite that could literally change anyone into another creature, and a rhotuka that could turn the victims temporarily into stone. The unleashed the creature onto me."
“Eventually Tagah had gotten me out of there. But by that time I was sour. He had not come back to save me. And in the process, he also saved the life of the queen, while I went down in infamy. I didn’t care much afterwards, because my visions distracted me. They told me that I needed to get together a Toa Hagah team, so that’s what I did. Nakina was my first Toa, then Husli, and finally Salis. I had then joined the Order of Mata Nui, as they figured out my visions were warnings. And so now I’m here, flying you over to a icy mountain range to stop Salis from getting to the mask.”
I thought about this whole backstory. Some things didn’t make sense. Tolunga had a Arthron, not a Lekma, right? And I thought Husli was his first Toa? And I wanted to know more details on his torture. He seemed to gloss over on what happened afterward. But I didn’t have time to worry, as we had finally made it out of the plateau. Furtaan decided to land on one of the tops of the barren hills in Onu-Karhi, and take a rest there.
“Night-time is going to hit soon,” Furtaan stated. “We’ll rest here. It’s dangerous to be flying in the dark, especially over forests.”
“Because of Le-Matoran?” I asked.
“Not only them , but yes. Most of the time them. I dunno why, but they happen to enjoy hitting whatever they see that flies. Now we set up camp.”
I brought little supplies besides whatever was in my pack. I sat down on the fairly-flat ground while Furtaan scurried down the hill to find a tree. I took out my paper and pens and began to write about my journey so far. It was extensive, as I hadn’t been able to write for a whole two days. I wrote down what are reading here as of now. It is my hope that I can continue safely throughout the rest of my journey, dear reader. I’ve been writing for a few hours now, so I suppose I should be ending it here.
#Part 2
I start my writing of my adventure again, dear reader, at this point of time. Quite a lot has gone down since I left the dark hills of Onu-Karhi. I have decided to take my pen again and write down the past events of my journey with Furtaan as we pursued the Mask of Power.
I wish that these writings are preserved in a safe place after they are finished. As of now, I will continue to tell the tale in The Chronicles of Fa.
##Chapter 8
Furtaan shook me awake the next morning. I was tired because I had continued my writings further into the night time. That probably wasn’t the best idea, but I needed to remember what had gone down as it was still fresh in my mind. Furtaan continued to shake me until my eyes opened.
“Good, you’re awake,” Furtaan said in my face. “We must get going. Salis is ahead of us already. Pack up your things and get ready for flight.”
I did as he told me, and the next thing I knew, Furtaan picked me up by his arms while in flight, like a Nui Rama, and the next thing I knew the ground was far away from my feet.
But as we began to enter the area of Le-Karhi, we noticed smoke coming from multiple parts of Le-Karhi. “What in Mata Nui’s name is going on there?” asked Furtaan.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “It’s not any festive thing going on. Perhaps some lightning started a forest fire.”
“Impossible. It was clear all night, and it’s fairly cool out here. Someone must’ve started this fire.” Furtaan looked down to a Le-Karhi village. “I’ll drop you off on that landing pad myself. I need to investigate this. Salis is behind this, I am certain.”
“But why? Shouldn’t Salis be trying to race us to the mask? He should have all the information he needs at Ko-Karhi, and burning the forest accomplishes nothing.”
“Salis doesn’t know what’s in Ko-Karhi,” Furtaan told me as he glided down to the landing pad. He dropped me off and was about ready to fly away when he turned around to give me a warning. “Stay here. I need to investigate. I don’t know what Salis is doing exactly. Perhaps the Toa of this region knows.”
I did exactly what Furtaan told me to do. I sat down on a bench in the landing pad and waited for the return of Furtaan. A couple minutes of waiting in and some Le-Matoran with a strange Miru asked me what I was doing there.
“Just waiting for a friend, that’s all,” I told him.
“You need to leave, then,” he replied. “The fires are drawing close to this village. Come, i’ll lead you out of here.”
“I need to stay put, actually,” I told the Matoran. “He told me to stay put. I’m sure he’ll come to get me.”
“There’s no time, chronicler. The fire is getting too close.” Just then, one of the trees touching the village suddenly came ablaze, which was odd, because none of the other trees nearby was on fire. Some of the Le-Matoran cried in terror as they took their gliding equipment as fast as they could and flew off the landing pad. “I advise we do the same, chronicler,” the Matoran told me.
I sighed. It was better to live and have Furtaan look for me than to die from the flames. I held the hang-glider that the Le-Matoran gave me and ran off the landing pad. The air flowed under the fabric of the glider, which allowed me to float downward to the ground. It’s a good thing I know how to fly one of these things, I thought to myself.
However, my flight was cut short. A stream of heat hit my glider, allowing the air to push up from it and led me to crash down to the ground. I wasn’t too far from the ground, but the impact of the crash still hurt. My head hit the ground first, then the rest of my body. I groaned as I laid flat on the ground. More of the trees began to go ablaze.
“Well, well. If it isn’t my friend, Fatorak.”
I opened my previously-closed eyes. From a sideways view I saw a orange and white figure walk toward me. It was Salis!
“I see you’re in pretty bad shape,” he observed as he bent over me.
“How did you know I’d be here?” I asked him.
“You’re incredibly predictable. Taking a road to Po-Karhi during sandstorm season was quite an idiotic choice, but any Matoran would do that. You made this a race, Fatorak, so I decided I needed to win it by cheating.”
“You have a Kakama, don’t you?” I asked him as I tried to get up using him arms and knees.
“Quite an incredible observation, chronicler. What else do you observe? My incredible stance? Or the orange color of my armor? You’re pathetic, but you already know that.”
“You still didn’t answer my question.”
“Which one? The one about the Kakama, or the one before hand? You’re being too vague.” Salis was getting quite annoying.
“You know which one I’m talking about.”
“Well, technically I didn’t finish answering. But I shouldn’t have to. I like to surprise my opponents, so I thought a few surprises would help me. Turns out burning your precious Hall of Chronicles and this forest helped out. Now I got you in my hands, and that’s all I need.”
“So you just burnt the place… Just to get us off track?”
“What else did you think? I have no time to study. I need to get the mask to my employer, the Shadowed One. I overheard your conversation with Furtaan, and I figured if I got you into my hands, you could just lead me to the mask.”
“Why would I help you? You’ve destroyed my life’s work. You might as well be shipped off to Karzahni.”
“You don’t think I haven’t?” the Toa of Plasma asked. His smile showed under his Kakama. The comment silenced me to listen to him some more. “In truth, Fatorak, you seem to only be helping Furtaan because he told you about a few premonitions he had. Really, he’s a crazy fellow, but he’s too afraid to change what has to happen.”
“His fear is not on his side like most Makuta,” he said with a upward clenched arm. His arms moved quite a lot when he monologues. “He’s scared. Afraid. Which is why I have you in my reach now. I fooled him and you, as well as the rest of your friends. Right now, some idiotic Toa of Air is trying to put out a wide spread fire all by himself. Your friend, the Toa of Water, tried to defend you, but she didn’t know the power of a Toa of Plasma. And now I’ve got you. You’re going to lead me to that mask, lest your friends and your island face any more troubles. Kapeesh?”
I nodded as I supported myself with my arms as I laid back a little. “What happens when you fail?”
“I won’t fail, Fatorak. Mata Nui ordains it.”
~~
Salis chained me up with electric chains as he led me through a forest of dark trees. It was still daytime, but the trees were so thick no one could tell. Salis stopped me for a moment as we reached a stream. He pushed me into it.
“You’re probably thirsty. Drink.”
I got up from the flat position I laid, and gave him a quick glance of hatred. Then I took my good right hand to collect the water and drank up. I had to use my elbow from my left hand in order to keep me up as Salis looked over me, mostly because of my cast. He was quite tall from where I was, like a mighty tower watching over my every move.
“Now that I’ve gotten you comfortable, I think it’s about time you start telling me about yourself.” Salis sat on a log and set his left calf upon his right thigh.
“What’s so important about myself?” I asked. “All you want is information.”
“Well, I thought we could be friends, just like you and Furtaan.”
“We are not friends. We are allies, people who help eachother out.”
“Friends, then.”
“Whatever. You won’t get my friendship, nor will anyone who is trying to steal the mask for their selfish ambitions. You won’t get a word out of me about the mask, either.”
Salis leaned forward. “Indeed I will.” He ignited his scythe and pointed it toward me. “Because if you don’t, nobody will find you or your precious mask.”
I sighed. “I guess I have no choice. But one question: have you been following me and Furtaan?”
“Why else would I know about your petty friendship? You think I was racing toward some icy village? You two are the only ones with information. As I said earlier, I sprang a trap by going back and forth. From you to a village, and back again. I believe I’ve explained this already.”
Salis stood up, but kept his Toa Tool pointed at me. “Now, then. Where do we find the Mask?”
I sighed. If I told him where the mask was, I would be a traitor to Furtaan and everyone on the island, as well as the Makuta Empire. If I didn’t, I would die. It was quite a tough choice at the time. But then I considered my chronicles. Most of them were destroyed anyways. But I remembered a specific chronicle I made years ago. It was the story of a Toa, a Toa named Kohata.
Kohata was a martyr. He had faced against the evils of the Barraki and preached that their rule was tyrannical and for their own kingdoms to betray them. Of course, Barraki Pridak captured him and killed him. But Kohata would not betray what he believed. What did I believe? I believed that Furtaan was ordained by Mata Nui to get the Mask of Power and keep if from the clutches of evil.
I stood up, weak and shuttering from so much pain I had gone through. I spoke up. “I won’t tell you.”
Salis pointed his scythe at me. “I guess you want to do this the hard way.” But the Toa of Plasma paused as he heard something rustling in the bushes around him. His eyes looked to the left, then to the right, an eyebrow raising out of curiosity.
Suddenly, he was attacked by a tall figure in dark green and lime armor, wearing a Kanohi Kualsi and bearing a staff and shield. It was the Toa of Air, Collerak! Collerak pounced on Salis from behind, pinning him to the ground. He turned Salis to lay on his back, and pointed his Staff of Acid at the Toa of Plasma.
“This is my forest, foreigner,” Collerak threatened. “You dare lay a hand on any more of these trees or any of the Matoran here, you will be sorry.”
Salis pushed Collerak off, and picked up his scythe. “What will you do, Toa of Air? You must follow the Toa Code. Unfortunately for you, I don’t.”
Salis tried to strike Collerak at the face, but Collerak’s ginormous shield blocked the attack, and pushed back the weapon. Then Collerak gave a good bash in the face to Salis with his shield. Salis stumbled over. Once again, the mighty Toa of Air pointed his staff at Salis.
“You need a Toa Code to tell you killing is bad? Couldn’t figure that out for yourself, huh?”
Salis got up and tried to run with the power of his Kakama. However, Collerak disappeared in a blast of green energy, and reappeared several biometers away. He laid down his staff in front of the unsuspecting Salis, running so fast that he didn’t notice Collerak until he was too late. Salis tripped and fell hard on his face.
The Toa of Plasma used his arms and knees to support himself as he rose. His head was lowered, while his back rounded. He groaned as Collerak stood before him.
“Leave the chronicler alone. He’s got his duty to take care of. I suggest you do the same.”
Salis rose his head, and smiled. Using the power of his Kakama, he grabbed his Scythe that was beside him, and used it to pull Collerak’s left leg. Collerak gasped in shock as he fell back, and immediately landed on his left arm. The two rose once more as they both got up from the ground in an equal amount of time. The battle was still on.
Salis gave a good swipe at Collerak’s mask, but Collerak blocked with the handle of his staff. Then the Toa of Air struck Salis in the gut with the edge of his shield. Salis stumbled back, but held his footing. The treacherous Toa of Plasma leaped forward with the dull end of the scythe’s blade, bashing Collerak on the head. Collerak ducked and stumbled forward as Salis’s blade swiped horizontally from the right, missing Collerak’s head.
The mighty Toa of Air jumped up and shot acid at Salis’s armor from his Acid Staff. Immediately, the ball of acid splattered across Salis’s right arm, and it began to steam up. He cried in agony as the acid burned through his armor, and then burned his skin. As that took place, Collerak raised his staff into the air, and a gust of wind came Salis’s way, blowing off the rest of the acid and leading Salis to let go of his weapon.
The terrifying Toa of Plasma clenched his arm as he dropped to his knees. Once again, Collerak showed that he had the upperhand.
“Surrender,” Collerak commanded, pointing his staff at Salis. “There will be no running from this.”
I made it slowly to the scene as I weakly stumbled in each step. Salis had noticed me out of the corner of his eye, and grinned.
“Well played, Toa of Air,” Salis answered. “But you’re forgetting one thing: I don’t play by the rules.”
Faster than even the speed of a Kakama, Salis made a blast of plasma energy from his hands toward Collerak, sending his flying through the trees of the forest. He went too far for me to see where he landed, but I knew Collerak was in bad shape.
Salis got up from his knees and picked up his weapon. He spotted me trying to flee from the scene, but he caught up to me and placed the handle of his scythe around my neck.
“Know that I got that over with, let’s continue.”
He pressed the handle further into my throat and pressed me against his body. His strength showed no limit, and I began having difficulties breathing as he pressed harder and harder. Everything began to darken as time went slower and slower and the pain intensified.
I tried to mutter through the strangling. “W-why are you… trying to kill me?”
“I’m not now. I’m trying to make you pass out. However, it isn’t out of the list of possibilities. Good night, chronicler.”
For some reason Salis knew this was the time I was going unconscious. My my eyes lowered and my body slumped down to the ground as I went into slumber.
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