Kazi had never been sure how to feel about Velika. Ever since the two Matoran had met on Voya Nui, Kazi had been annoyed by Velika. The Po-Matoran could never say anything normal, always speaking in riddles and vague sayings. Kazi was always very straightforward – he said what he meant, in as few words as possible, and got his point across. He hated when he had to figure out what other people were saying – and that was a constant for Velika.
But then something happened. Something bad, but also good.
After years of being stranded on the island of Voya Nui, never encountering anyone from the outside world, Toa came to the rescue. Except they weren’t Toa. The invaders claimed to be Toa, to get all the Matoran on their side. When the Matoran began to suspect that something was up, the invaders turned on them and used mysterious spheres to control the minds of all the Matoran. Only 6 Matoran remained free, among them Kazi and Velika.
When Velika was just one of the couple dozen Matoran on the island, it was easy to avoid him. When he was one of the five other Matoran who were fighting back against invaders who had taken over the island, that wasn’t so true. And Kazi hated it. Even in the face of total hopelessness, Velika refused to speak a normal sentence. Kazi was a Ko-Matoran. Ko-Matoran were known for their calm demeanors. And Kazi often had to resist the urge to snap at Velika.
And yet… Kazi discovered something different about Velika. Behind his vague words, Velika had a great wisdom, rivaling that of any Turaga Kazi had ever met. And he was brave, courageous, selfless. In the final days of the resistance against the invaders, when the Matoran resistance members were freeing their friends, one of the invaders attacked. And it was on that day that Velika stepped into an attack to protect Kazi, and Kazi realized something hard to admit: Velika was braver than he was.
Kazi still hated Velika’s way of talking. He still couldn’t stand having to figure out what the Po-Matoran was saying. But now he felt that maybe it was worth the effort to figure out.
“Something’s up with him,” Balta said.
Four of the members of the Voya Nui resistance team were gathered in a hut, in the forests of Spherus Magna. The time of Voya Nui was long gone; the Piraka hadn’t been seen in months. But the six members of the resistance had grown closer since those days. They were a team now. The only members of the group who weren’t present were Garan, whose duties leading the Voya Nui Matoran kept him busy these days, and Velika, who was today’s topic of discussion.
“He’s been acting weird lately,” Dalu agreed.
“He’s always weird,” Piruk said dismissively, though he sounded like he wasn’t sure of what he was saying.
“Weirder than usual,” Balta countered. “He’s been keeping to himself a lot lately. He’s usually so outgoing.”
“Maybe he’s just tired of seeing us all the time,” Piruk put forth.
“Or perhaps he’s working on something,” Balta suggested. “He is an inventor, you know.”
Kazi shook his head. “His hut’s clean. He hasn’t been working on anything lately.” Like many tinkerers, Velika tended to be a bit messy whenever he set up a workshop. The Voya Nui Matoran had been in this new world for a little over a week, long enough for Velika to turn his hut into his usual mess.
“We should ask him if everything’s all right,” Dalu suggested.
Kazi sighed. He knew what Velika would say to that. He’d say something about how happiness was like a warm Gafna or something such, whether he was fine or not. But that wasn’t why Kazi sighed. He sighed because he knew that he was going to ask anyway. He had to.
“I’ll talk to him,” Kazi said. “Or at least, try to.”
Eight days had passed since Mata Nui had brought all of the Matoran to this new world. Currently, Matoran society was in chaos, with all the Matoran from the old Matoran Universe gathered in one small area on the world of Spherus Magna, using the parts of the Great Spirit Robot to make shelters, figuring out what how to deal with the Glatorian and Agori who were native to this world. Eventually, they’d all figure out where everyone was going to be, but for now everything was in chaos. Kazi wandered through huts and other types of shelters built by Matoran from Metru Nui, Stelt, the Northern Continent, the Southern Continent, Voya Nui, Xia, and all the other islands… plus many other species as well, Vortixx, Steltians, many others Kazi didn’t know the names of, some he’d never seen before.
Kazi had no idea where all of the Voya Nui Matoran were, but he had memorized where all the members of the Voya Nui resistance had set up residence at the moment. The maze of Matoran residences changed every day, but Kazi had memorized the location of Velika’s little hut. It was on the outer edge of the chaos, as if Velika wanted to be as far away from people as it was possible to be in the current conditions. Kazi could understand wanting to be away from people – he was a Ko-Matoran, after all – but he’d never known Velika to be antisocial.
Kazi approached Velika’s hut and knocked on the door. There was no answer, but Kazi heard the sounds of Velika’s Power Carvers from somewhere inside. Figuring that the Po-Matoran couldn’t hear him knocking, Kazi let himself in.
Velika’s hut had not changed since the last time Kazi saw it. It was still too clean, too organized. Sure, Velika had a disorganized pile of tools on a table in the corner, but Kazi had seen Velika’s workshops with stuff scattered all over the floor, with a few paths through the mess.
Velika was somewhere in the back, working on something from the sound of it. Kazi was tempted to just leave and tell the others that Velika was back to his old self, but he still felt obligated to make sure Velika was okay. He was his friend, after all.
Kazi wandered toward the back room, and finally found Velika. The Po-Matoran tinkerer was working on… something. It looked like one of the blasting devices Onu-Matoran sometimes used in mining. Kazi wasn’t sure why Velika would be making one of those… then again, he wasn’t sure that’s even what it was.
“Hey, Velika,” Kazi said. The Po-Matoran didn’t seem to hear him. He was intently focused on whatever he was working on.
Velika looked up abruptly and saw Kazi. He powered down his power carvers, but didn’t say anything.
“Hey, Velika,” Kazi said. “Uh, what are you working on there?”
Velika didn’t answer. Instead, he walked over to a nearby wall. There was a row of weapons hanging on it, and Velika grabbed one of them. Kazi recognized it – it was a Zamor Sphere launcher, like one of the weapons the Piraka had used to enslave all the Matoran of Voya Nui.
Before Kazi could react, Velika pointed the launcher at him… and fired.
“Well, Velika’s back to his old self,” Kazi told the other three Matoran. “He’s working on some odd invention, and he seems content with whatever he’s doing.”
“What’s he working on?” Piruk asked.
Kazi paused in thought for a moment. He felt like there was something about what Velika had been working on… but then it was gone. “I don’t know,” he replied. “Some weird invention. Typical Velika.”
Dalu nodded. “Typical Velika.”
Kazi nodded back. Everything was fine with Velika.
Everything was fine.
