School’s making it difficult for me to find ‘quality writing time’ like I did over break, but writing time I have nonetheless, and no shortage of story still to cover. That and I’m still having a good time exploring the relations between all these characters and their views.
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Chapter 18
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By the end of the afternoon, everything in Kopaka’s chest was looking solid again, if far from pristine. All that was required now was for Jaller to weld the protective mesh shut and then to sow the covering muscle back together.
“So, feeling better?” I asked Kopaka.
“Yes,” he said without much excitement.
“We’ll get started on your leg tonight, I’m sure.”
“At last.” Clearly, Kopaka didn’t much fancy staying here for very long. I think he’d expected to be on his way already.
“Well, good afternoon,” a voice from behind surprised me. I turned to see Hewkii’s black and yellow form filling most of the doorway. “I was told we had guests,” he explained as he entered. “Sorry I didn’t get to meet you yesterday. I’m Hewkii.” He extended a hand towards me.
“Lis,” I introduced myself.
“A pleasure,” Hewkii replied, then turned his attention to the Toa of Ice in the bed. “Well, well. One has to see to believe it.”
“Hello, Hewkii.” Kopaka greeted him flatly.
“So, you’re back after all these years.”
“Only temporarily.”
“And it looks like you took a few knocks up there. That’s looking pretty beat up.” Hewkii pointed at Kopaka’s leg.
“Muaka.”
“No kidding, huh. Some people never change,” Hewkii smiled.
“Some…” Kopaka said with a dour undertone.
“So, you’re staying for long?”
“No.”
“Ah… well, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of stories to tell over dinner.” Hewkii turned to me. “And what about you?”
“I’m kind of keeping an eye on him,” I explained.
“In case he tries to run away?” Hewkii joked, apparently unaware that that was actually a possibility.
“Kind of,” I smiled.
“Well, Macku said dinner will be ready in half an hour or so,” Hewkii informed us, “and she’s insisting that we should all be there to make it a ‘family dinner.’” He rolled his eyes, clearly not as committed to the idea of a family dinner as Macku. Wasn’t that something Agori did, since they actually had… families? “Looks like you’re not in any condition to move, though.” Hewkii pointed at Kopaka’s open chest.
“It appears so,” Kopaka said. I sensed a degree of relief in him; perhaps he realized his open chest was a great way to avoid sitting with a bunch of people conversing at a dinner table. However, I was quite curious to actually hear what kind of stories would surface with Kopaka around, so I decided not to let him pass on the opportunity.
“Get Jaller up here and he’ll be ready,” I assured Hewkii. “Everything in there’s fixed, we just need him to close it properly.”
“Works for me,” Hewkii said as he turned to head back out and downstairs. “See you downstairs in a bit.”
Kopaka seemed somewhat agitated, but he didn’t comment. It wasn’t long before Jaller appeared.
“Hewkii said I had to do some welding.” I noticed he was still in what amounted to full combat gear, minus his sword.
“They are done with my lungs,” Kopaka said, to my surprise, “and apparently it is important that you close this quickly.” He lifted up the mesh flap, revealing the cleaned-up chest cavity below.
“Gali’s not here?” Jaller looked around.
“She’s resting, but she’ll need your help on the leg later,” I explained.
“Fine…” Jaller sighed as he positioned himself beside the bed. “This might sting a little,” he added as he looked into Kopaka’s chest, then lined up the edges of the mesh flap with those of the gap. Without stopping to ask Kopaka whether he was good to start, he proceeded to slowly run his fingers along the cut lines, heating up and pinching the metal threads to weld them together. I could tell the process was painful for Kopaka, but he didn’t so much as blink, rigidly maintaining control over his reflexes in the way that I was becoming so familiar with. I watched, intrigued by how Jaller quickly maneuvered his fingers to grab two tiny metal strands and weld them into one in a matter of seconds. He repeated the process over and over, making his way along the seam at a fair pace; clearly, it was a well-practiced routine.
“You’ve done this before, I’m guessing?” I asked quietly as to not disturb Jaller too much.
“On Tahu, lots of times,” Jaller answered slowly as he concentrated.
“Ah… He gets cut up a lot, I bet.” I’d forgotten about Tahu; Mata Nui only knew what his insides looked like after a couple thousand years of fighting.
“That he does.” Jaller said in a grim tone. “Nothing compared to what he does to his opponents.”
“Murder.” Kopaka said. For a second or two, no one answered.
“Pretty much,” Jaller agreed, though he seemed somewhat more indifferent to it than Kopaka.
“We saw the match against Stronius,” I added. “It was brutal…”
“Hahli told me about it,” Jaller said. “A shame how our brother has fallen.” I got a distinct feeling of bitterness from him, but it wasn’t just directed towards Tahu.
“Worse is that he is not alone,” Kopaka added. “Much has changed since I was last here.”
Jaller nodded in agreement. “Last of the old guard, that’s what we are, apparently.”
“Quite literally, in your case,” I smiled, trying to add a little humor to the distinctly dour conversation.
Jaller looked at me; he wasn’t amused. “The city guard, you mean?” He sighed again. “That was all of us once.”
“Did Kongu and Nuparu leave?” Kopaka asked.
“More or less,” Jaller said. “They’re off doing their own thing and don’t visit this city much, but they’d help if they were called upon. Hewkii would pick up arms, too. As for Hahli…”
“I doubt she would be capable of lifting them,” Kopaka asserted.
“Not in her current form,” Jaller said, sounding rather dismayed. “Our sister has forsaken her ability to protect those who need us in favor of the wishes of a few grumpy Agori.”
“Truly shameful,” Kopaka agreed.
“I think she’s fine,” I interrupted. The two Toa turned to me.
“Go on,” Jaller invited.
“I mean, she’s different, yes,” I continued, “but she really didn’t have a choice if she wanted to keep her job. And being a journalist, she’s got a lot of power to call attention to those who need help. There’s something to be said for that when it comes to helping those in need.” Really, I felt both Jaller and Kopaka were being very short-sighted in their approach to their duty. The old guard they may have been, but the world and the Toa had moved on, something that Kopaka in particular seemed to have a hard time coming to grips with.
“So she keeps telling me,” Jaller said, turning his attention back to welding. “Insists that the pen is mightier than the sword, and that the camera and microphone have the pen beaten in turn. Personally, I’ll take a sword any day; pens, cameras, and microphones would have done nothing to deter the Piraka or the Barraki’s legions.” Kopaka gave a nod in agreement. I shrugged. “What did you tell her, by the way?” Jaller asked Kopaka. “She was very cross with you when I got home.”
“The truth,” Kopaka answered.
Jaller looked up at him. “The truth?”
“He told her she looks like a Glatorian doll,” I explained, “and that she’s responsible for Gali’s… situation.”
Jaller stopped welding again and turned to Kopaka. “Is that true?” he asked with a distinct edge to his voice.
“As I said, the truth,” Kopaka asserted.
“On the doll thing, you may have a point,” the Toa of Fire admitted, “but if you blame her for Gali’s size, we’re going to have a problem. She has nothing to do with that.”
“She seems quite eager to give her whatever she wants,” Kopaka argued.
“And she’s been trying for years to get Gali off of that couch,” Jaller pointed out. “Hahli’s worked day and night to find things for her to do, to try and help her out of the hole you all threw her into. I keep telling her it’s a lost cause, but she won’t give up on it. Say what you will, but Hahli’s the one person who’s doing anything to help your sister. We clear on that?”
“Clear,” Kopaka said coldly, but I could tell he didn’t really believe what Jaller was saying. That idea of Gali being so far gone that even with Hahli’s help she’d failed to get herself together just didn’t make sense to him. That wasn’t the Gali he knew… yet I remembered seeing Gali’s breakdown at the end of that last meeting. Jaller was right; the other Toa, Kopaka included, really had broken her. Jaller continued welding for a bit longer before calling it good.
“Looks like I’m done,” He concluded. “I’m guessing you’ve got it from here?”
“Yes, I do.” Kopaka answered, already starting to re-connect various muscle strands over the newly repaired mesh.
“Good.” Jaller leant back, then watched as Kopaka crudely tied together some of the muscle strands. “That won’t hold long,” he pointed out.
“It does not need to,” Kopaka noted. Before long, he asked me to hand over his chest plate, which he fitted solidly. Granted, the muscles were a mess underneath, and but at the very least he now looked presentable. Kopaka reached for his cane, but was hindered by the fact that the tied-together muscle strands couldn’t stretch to give him full range of motion.
“Here.” Jaller handed him the cane. Now equipped, Kopaka got out of the bed, standing somewhat unsteadily at first. For a moment, I was concerned, but the Toa of Ice quickly regained his bearings and started making his way to the hall. I could tell he wasn’t dealing with as much pain as he had been before; his step was quicker and there was a greater confidence, a calculated certainty to his movement. Granted, he still limped and it was more than obvious his body wasn’t in a good way, but he nevertheless seemed significantly stronger than before. Jaller and I followed him down the stairs and to the living room, where we found Hahli and Hewkii already at the table. Hewkii was talking about the preparations for some big upcoming game, but he fell silent for a moment when Kopaka appeared in the doorway.
“Welcome,” the Toa of Stone greeted, motioning to some of the open spots on the couches and chairs around the table. “Take a seat. Macku said things’ll be ready in a minute or two.” Behind his welcome I could detect concern; Hewkii hadn’t seen Kopaka standing until this point, and I don’t think he’d realized just how battered the old Toa was until now. Hahli nodded and feigned a smile but she didn’t seem to be in a particularly good mood. Cutlery and plates were already laid out on the table. We all took a seat. Jaller took a chair at the head of the table; something told me that was his usual spot. Kopaka took the chair next to him, while I sat down on the couch opposite the one that Hewkii and Hahli’d taken.
“So, as I was saying…” Hewkii continued telling of how he was coaching the Po-Matoran Kolhii team for their next big game, only days away. Apparently, they didn’t lack in spirit, but their technique was often sloppy, which led them to lose points more often than they should have. Nevertheless, Hewkii believed they would do well. Jaller noted the Ta-Matoran guard team had been practicing as well, though they were more proficient in wielding spears and thornax launchers than Kolhii staffs.
“…as they should be,” Jaller finished.
“How’s the Ga-Matoran team doing?” Hewkii turned to Hahli.
“I checked in on them last week, remember?” Hahli reminded him. “They’re hard at work, I’m sure. Kotu wants them to be ready to face you guys in the finals.”
The conversation was interrupted by the appearance of a slightly winded Gali. “Good evening,” she greeted us. We all kind of nodded in return as she made her way across the room. “May I?” she asked, pointing at the open spot next to me.
“Of course.” I smiled, thinking Gali was nothing if not polite. I mean, it was a two-person couch, after all, but it was nice of her to ask…
“Thanks.” Gali turned and carefully lowered her bulk onto the couch, taking up two-thirds of its seating space in the process. No one said anything, but even without psionic abilities it was obvious everyone was kind of uncomfortable. The awkward silence continued for a few more seconds until Hahli cleared her throat.
“Ahem,” she turned to Jaller. “So, did you get the mesh closed up?”
“Yes,” Jaller replied, “But the muscle’s another matter.” He turned to Gali. “You’ll have to stitch that back together.”
“Of course,” Gali agreed. “How are you feeling?” she asked Kopaka.
“Better,” he answered matter-of-factly.
“Good,” Gali nodded somewhat worriedly. “That’s… that’s good.” I could tell she was nervous among the company of her fellow Toa… or was she just dismayed by Kopaka’s indifferent reply? Either way, she was getting more uncomfortable by the second, not helped by the fact that everyone else pretended to be minding their own business; only Hahli’s expression showed any shared concern.
All spirits were lifted, however, by the arrival of Macku and dinner.
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#####author’s note: Jaller gets a bit more of the spotlight this time, as he sows shut Kopaka’s chest now that everything in there’s been fixed. Of all the Toa besides Kopaka, I think Jaller’s probably changed the least, and he is certainly proud of the tradition he upholds… No surprise that he and Kopaka share a few opinions, though Lis disagrees.
I’ll post more chapters as I finish them. Enjoy!