BIONICLE: Chronicles of Krahiki

[Wrinkledlion X]

Originally posted on BZPower on July 17, 2006.

BIONICLE

CHRONICLES OF KRAHIKI

BOOK 1- The Beginning


Chapter 1- Lost in the Dark

Great, thought Jala, I’m lost again. Really, how many tunnels can you get lost in? In three hours? Mata Nui!

Jala had been sent to Onu-Koro by Turaga Vakama. He was supposedly retrieving a recently mined load of protodermis ore, but as usual, he just couldn’t find a way out of those tunnels. With each passing day, the Onu-Matoran seemed to be losing more and more of their resources, and seemed to be becoming more and more conservative with their lightstone placement and signage. Seeing the many visible glow-weeds, he became sure that he was far off the beaten path.

Of all people, why did he choose me to go? I may be good with my throwing discs, and I could survive a rahi-attack, but I’m supposed to be formulating defense tactics for the guard! Any other guard could’ve gone in my place!

It was then that he spotted two chartreuse lights moving swiftly down the tunnel. Could it be a taxi crab? Or better yet, a taxi crab with a rider?

“Hey! Come over here! Who is it? Can you show me to Onu-Koro?” Jala shouted.

As it came closer, Jala saw that it did not have a rider. Whether it was a taxi crab or a wild crab was soon to be decided. Either way, Jala knew all ussals were friendly, so he attempted to get it to come towards him.
“Hey little ussal, come ‘ere… You’re a good ussal if you come here! Yes, very good ussal…” Jala said, beckoning to the ussal with his hand, “Come on! Do you have a home?”

The ussal seemed hesitant at first, but soon scuttled closer. Jala picked a small glow-weed in order to see more clearly. It was a very nice-looking ussal, with quite a rare color combination. It was mainly black with a secondary color of dark gray. It also had silver rims around its chartreuse eyes and the chartreuse circles on its claws. It was very dirty and had scarring all over its back.

As Jala reached out to touch it, it backed up and immediately began scuttling away. Because it looked domesticated, yet didn’t appear to be cared for, Jala assumed that it was a feral ussal. He concluded that it most likely lived in Onu-Koro. He began running after the ussal, which slipped into a dark tunnel. Jala hesitated to go in, as it was completely unlit and seemed not to have been used for some time. Eventually, however, his frustration got the better of him, and he rushed into the tunnel, stumbling over unseen stones and running into darkened walls.

He was giving in to hysteria, and running round and round blindly. He felt the ground disappear underneath him, and he realized he was falling into a pit. He felt that he should have been going black, yet there was nothing he could see but black anyways. As his consciousness ebbed away toward dreams, a figure walked, unnoticed, towards the fallen matoran…




Respond here.[/b]

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 2- Meeting Krahiki

“Hey. Wake up. Hey- Anonymous person! Wake up!”

A strong voice jolted Jala awake. He began to raise his head when the firm voice spoke again:

“Hey, stop! You’re gonna hit your head on that stalactite! Here, I’ll help you.”

Jala felt a pair of hands wrap around his ankles. Expecting a gentle tug at most, Jala relaxed. What he didn’t expect was to be yanked roughly across the uneven stone floor. Of course, that’s just what happened.

“YAAHHH!” Jala shouted as the rocks and pebbles dug into his back.

“Ssshhh! You’re gonna wake up everyone and everything in Onu-Koro! If you know what’s good for you, you won’t wake up the Kofo-Jaga!”

Opening his eyes, Jala saw the vague outline of an Onu-Matoran with green eyes and a green heartlight, illuminated slightly by the glow-weeds in the far corner of the cave. Beside him Jala could just make out the shape of an ussal crab with chartreuse eyes.

“Who- who are you? Where am I?” asked Jala. He wasn’t sure what to make of this situation. He had apparently been rescued, but by whom he was not sure. Where could he be? It was clearly not Onu-Koro.

“You’re in Deep Mining shaft #42. It’s… Kind of abandoned,” the stranger replied awkwardly.

“…And why am I hiding out in an abandoned mine shaft?” Jala inquired.

“Well, it’s kind of a long story… Perhaps a visual aid would help? Pretty much everyone on Mata Nui has at least heard a description of me…”

Jala could just make out the image of the mysterious matoran fishing through his pack and finally pulling out a lightstone. As the lightstone illuminated the scene, Jala saw many things. He saw the ussal he had followed earlier, he saw the discarded brown pack of the matoran lying on the ground, its contents scattered, he saw a variety of rusted mining equipment, but most of all, he saw the matoran.

The matoran frightened him far more than any of the rest, but for a reason he could not at once identify. The matoran himself was not revolting in any way, actually. He just looked like an average tohunga. He wore a dark gray Ruru, had a black body, and feet to match his mask. His eyes were of a shade of green common in Onu-Matoran, and he looked perfectly calm and friendly.

What upset Jala most was something else on his face. It was a long, vaguely luminescent green scar underneath his left eye. Why this disturbed him so, Jala did not understand.

Suddenly it dawned on him. MATA NUI! He thought, Krahiki! They say he still hasn’t been found, even for all these years!

“Yes, I’m Krahiki. And this is my ussal crab, Kuriko. Please don’t go, though. At least let me tell you the truth-“

“I know the truth! You’re that insane matoran who tried to murder Turaga Whenua! You- You piraka!”

“There’s no need for name-calling...”

“Mata Nui! I’ve got to get away from this monster!”

At this point Kuriko broke down and started whimpering. Krahiki bent down to comfort Kuriko, though in-between affectionate words and petting, Krahiki looked up to glare sternly at Jala. Slowly standing up, Krahiki began to speak.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t scare Kuriko that way,” said Krahiki through gritted teeth, in a voice that he forced calm, “He becomes hysterical when he sees people yelling that way. Now if you’d please sit down and listen to the truth.”

Feeling threatened, Jala didn’t sit down, however he did listen. Krahiki looked slightly relieved that he had finally calmed down, and began to speak once again.

“It all began when I was young, long before anything I remember. At least, that’s what Matau and Whenua have told me. I had been living in Onu-Koro with my parents, when something horrible happened. A swarm of infected Kofo-Jaga began tunneling through the roof of the main cavern, causing a massive cave-in. They don’t know how it happened, but somehow a young Kuriko managed to protect me and carry me out, at the cost of all the scarring on his back.”

As if on cue, Kuriko seemed to swell with pride and make a small chirping sound.

“Yes, you did a very good job, Kuriko. Anyhow, I lived out most of my childhood in Le-Koro, before eventually moving back to Onu-Koro. Whenua welcomed me, as apparently he had liked my parents quite a bit. I eventually had the honor of being Whenua’s assistant, his right hand. Onepu was his left. But one day it all changed. We had just struck a rich protodermis vein when… Somebody tried to assassinate Whenua.”

“Yeah,” said Jala, “You.”

“No, not me! I would never do something like that! Whenua was like a father to me! It was someone else. I still haven’t caught them, but once I do, I’ll once again become a normal matoran! I was blamed unjustly for a crime I did not commit! I’ve been forced to live in these abandoned mines since then!”

Throughout his long stream of shouting, Jala had been slowly inching away from Krahiki in the direction of the wall. This was a horrible mistake, for Jala backed into a lever attached to the massive pipe system of the cave. A slow whine of pressure was heard, and then the sound of bursting pipes. A steady stream of liquid rock began pouring out of the wall.

Molten magma was filling the room.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 3- Escaping the Lava Flow

“Mata Nui! Look at what you’ve done!” shouted an enraged and frightened Krahiki, “We’ve got to get out of here!”

The magma had already seeped its way to the main exit, completely blocking it off. Blasts of steam and superheated spray erupted from any glow-weeds or pipes that touched the deadly ooze. Kuriko quickly ran sideways up the wall in a frantic attempt to survive, ending up on the ceiling.

Watching the mining equipment disintegrate, Krahiki fully realized the graveness of the situation. He had finally found someone to tell his story to, and now he wondered if his attempts were in vain. Would he ever see Whenua again? Would Whenua ever know the truth? Or would Krahiki die before that was possible?

No, Krahiki thought to himself, I need to live. I will live.

After what felt like an eternity, Krahiki jumped forward and grabbed one of Kuriko’s claws. Swinging himself around so he faced forward on the upside-down crab, Krahiki held on to Kuriko with his arms but let his legs dangle. He began to steer Kuriko closer to Jala.

He saw a horrified Jala standing on a partially submerged drilling machine, with the magma growing ever higher. After a moment’s hesitation, Krahiki tried to cry out to him, yet something seemed to interrupt him.

“Jala! I’m comin-“ was all that Jala heard before Krahiki was interrupted. ‘Interrupted’ is an odd word to use for what happened, however it comes closest to the actual meaning. What happened was this: For a brief moment, Krahiki’s normally cool-green eyes lit up with a bright red, along with his heartlight and his scar. For several seconds it sounded as if Krahiki was bickering with himself unintelligibly. He seemed to be having an intense mental struggle.

After several seconds of this, he returned to normal and held out his leg to Jala whilst shouting, “Jala! Grab on!”

Jala jumped forth as far as possible, and began hanging by Krahiki’s ankle. Jala’s feet came perilously close to skimming the lava, and only Kuriko’s tight grip to the ceiling prevented Jala from having his feet incinerated.

As they entered the exit tunnel, one thing plagued Jala’s mind: What happened back there…? His eyes just turned red and he went kinda crazy. I wonder if-
“Hey, you! Watch out!” shouted Krahiki, “Stalagmite!”

Jala looked down, only to see a massive and sharp rock jutting out of the magma. He was going to hit it! Jala took a dangerous gamble- Hit the rock and most likely perish, or try to jump over it… And most likely perish. It was a difficult decision, but he made it in a split second:

Jump.

Touching down briefly on the rock with his feet, Jala pushed off as hard as he could. The jump sent him flying over the rock, yet his hands slipped off of Krahiki’s ankles. He was hurtling towards a stream of lava!

He was absolutely sure he was going to die when he felt a hand grab his leg. Krahiki was pulling him to the ceiling! With only one hand holding Kuriko, Krahiki had caught Jala’s leg! The downside, however, was that now Jala’s face was dragging mere inches above the lava. Each passing wave threatened to end his life! And worse yet, the noxious black fumes and smoke seemed to be getting to Kuriko, and his grip was loosening. He couldn’t hold two hanging matoran for much longer…

“Kuriko! Run to where I’m pointing my leg!” shouted Krahiki, pointing his leg toward a tall, flat rock, “I need that mining equipment!”

Kuriko approached the rock, albeit slowly due to his exhaustion. Jala managed to move into an upright position, though he singed a small black burn into the corner of his foot in the process.

“YOWW!” he shouted in pain.

Once above the rock, Kuriko dropped from the ceiling in exhaustion, temporarily falling on top of Krahiki. Krahiki quickly shoved him off and ran towards some of the abandoned mining equipment. Grabbing a long-discarded protodermis access panel, he quickly began bending the corners of the pliable metal rectangle.

“What are you doing?” inquired Jala as he hopped around on his unburned foot, “What are you making?”

After muttering something about symmetry, Krahiki looked up and replied, “A makeshift lava board. Pretty spiffy, huh?”

“I… Guess…”

“Rhetorical question. It’s not that spiffy,” he replied, “Now where’s that pump…?”

Krahiki got up and looked around. He seemed to see something and frowned. He looked frustrated, but looked determined as well.

“What’s wrong?” asked Jala carefully.

“I’ve got to get rid of this lava before it reaches Onu-Koro- and the only pump I can use to do that is beyond that big trench you fell into. You know, the one you fell unconscious in.”

“So?”

“Well… I’ll just try to jump across the six-bio wide trench, then.”

Throwing his makeshift board onto the lava, Krahiki kicked off of the rocks. He realized, as he sailed over the magma, that he had yet another problem. The lava had not yet reached the deep trench he was attempting to jump. He couldn’t surf over rock! He would have to buy himself more time. Sharply turning left, Krahiki tilted and nearly fell off. There were only a couple seconds left until the magma would splash over the edge of the pit. Taking advantage of this and riding the wave, Krahiki turned once again and burst over the gap, with droplets of liquid rock showering the area behind him.

Landing finally on the solid ground, Krahiki sprinted towards the control panel with all of its blinking lights, levers, and tubes. After pressing a variety of buttons, he began to look hesitant. He seemed to think for some time, and he then proceeded to press buttons. He pulled a lever, and that was that. The whine of steam was heard, and the magma slowly began to recede.

After some time, Jala road Kuriko over to the pressure control panel. The ride was quite uncomfortable for both Jala and the ussal, as Kuriko was forced to constantly hop to avoid being burnt by the still-hot ground. When they did get to Krahiki, Kuriko immediately ran towards him and toppled him over as he licked him with his big silvery tongue.

“Ahh! Calm down!” he said in an amused tone of voice.

“Krahiki, that was amazing! You saved my life! How’d you get rid of the lava?” exclaimed Jala.

“Well…” Krahiki responded, “I didn’t ‘get rid of’ it exactly…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… First I equalized the pressure, so no more came out… Then… I slowly drained it. And now it’s emptying into the lightstone mines…” he responded slowly.

“What? Well- At least they’re trained to deal with this sort of thing, right?” Jala asked worriedly.

“They’d better be.”

“Well… Thanks for saving me. Thanks very much. How can I repay you?” Jala asked.

“Well… Could you pick me up a lightstone, a disk, a new scythe for collecting food, and a pack?” he requested.

“Sure. Well, I’m off to collect that protodermis for Vakama. Should I tell him what happened?”

“No- I’ll need proof of my innocence, like who framed me, for example,” he responded in a voice that sounded a tad disappointed.

“Well… Bye. Thanks for saving me. I’ll be back in a day or two with supplies. Maybe I’ll get you some ruki-fish from Ga-Koro…” Jala said as he started off down the tunnel. Wow. I never would have thought that Krahiki could be a good person… thought Jala, He saved me, a complete stranger, and risked his life to save the village that wants him dead more than anything. But… What happened when his eyes went all red? All Jala knew was that he was walking off with more questions than answers…

Meanwhile, in the tunnel behind Jala, Kuriko cowered in fear. His master Krahiki was doing something. His eyes, his scar, and his heartlight flashed between the cool-green which was normal and the terrible blood red, which was so terribly and horribly abnormal.

“No! He's just a matoran! There is nothing wrong with him!” Krahiki’s voice cried out in one of the flashes of green.

"Matoran,” said a horrid voice, “Inherently have something wrong with them. They are spineless, worthless beings who merely live to work and serve in the hot sun until they drop dead!"

This voice was emitted by Krahiki’s mouth during the changes to red. It was a grotesquely alien, rasping, whispery voice which spoke in a hiss akin to that of the Doom Viper.

“You’re wrong. That is nothing like a matoran! He just wants to help me!”

No he doesn’t. You poor freak, he will lead the matoran to you, and you will be captured and killed. You will be murdered. Torn limb from limb… You must kill him. We can work together, or I can enslave your body once again…

“I won’t hurt him! I trust him to keep me a secret! I just hope he can…”

You are such a fool…

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 4- Leaving Ta-Koro

It had been two days since Krahiki had saved Jala, and Jala still hadn’t gone back with supplies as he had promised. While it all was happening, it seemed like a wonderful thing… However now it seemed to Jala like a curse.

For Jala could not remove the image from his mind of the red-eyed Krahiki whispering to himself. Something about it’s strangeness greatly disturbed him.

Meanwhile, however, he had other things to attend to. They had entirely lost contact with Ga-Koro, and a rahi attack was assumed the cause. Ever since the incident at the Tren Krom, the rahi attacks had been steadily growing in frequency and organization. If they continued improving at this rate, an attack on Ta-Koro would be nearly unavoidable.

Jala had however heard rumors of canisters sighted out at sea by Ga-Matoran fishing boats. According to Turaga Vakama, it was possible that these were canisters belonging to the legendary Toa. If this were true, Jala would have to completely redo his current defense strategy to include those six mighty guardians.

Moving towards the three-dimensional map of Mata Nui in the center of the room, Jala’s mind once again drifted off to Krahiki. He tried in vain to concentrate on the topic at hand, gripping the pins he used to mark the defense posts on his map. After frustrating himself with his inability to concentrate, he threw the pins, scattering them all over the map.

Why can’t I just think? Jala asked himself angrily, I can’t come up with strategies in a state like this! I need to know what’s wrong with Krahiki!

Out of the room and down the flight of stairs Jala walked, afterwards proceeding across the colossal drawbridge. He then walked towards the rear of the fortress, towards the various stands owned by merchants. He purchased a scythe crafted in Le-Koro, a backpack made of the toughest maha-hide, a bamboo disk with sharpened edges, some gourmet ruki-fish, and a polished lightstone from the deepest mineshafts of Onu-Wahi. Krahiki’s supplies were obtained, and there was only one thing left to do.

After this, Jala proceeded towards Turaga Vakama’s stone dwelling. Upon knocking on the door, Jala heard a mild commotion and shuffling from the inside, followed by a reassuring, “Just a minute!” When the door opened a startled-looking Vakama emerged.

“Oh, Jala, come in, come in…” he quickly said in an attempt to look amiable, “What’s the news?”

Jala stepped inside, briefly noticing a large leaf placed hastily over a tablet. All Jala could make out of the writing underneath was “Metru Nui was” and the words “Turaga Dume.” Jala did not know what these meant, but didn’t bother asking, as Vakama quickly sat down in front of it, trying very purposefully to obscure it from view.

“Umm… Well, Turaga… I had… Errr… I had heard that the tunnel to Le-Koro wasn’t being completed very efficiently because of a shortage in light stones. I was thinking that… Well, since Whenua recently mined out a bunch of protodermis for Ta-Koro to use in the guard… I figured that we should repay them with some lightstones. I wanted to know if I could go there today and drop ‘em off.” Jala stammered.

“Oh, yes! Very fine idea, very fine idea indeed! You go along now and do that!” Vakama said hurriedly as he practically pushed Jala out the door.

“Bye.”

“Goodbye,” the Turaga said as he shut the door to the hut.

Although Vakama's secretiveness intrigued him, Jala didn't stop to think much about it. While Vakama had his tantalizing secrets, Krahiki had his, and Krahiki’s interested Jala far more at the moment. Jala knew that the Turaga Council’s secrets would always be revealed another day, yet Krahiki’s would have to be found out.

Grabbing his trusty double-sided knife, Jala set out to Onu-Koro. This time he knew where he was going: Deep Mining Shaft #42. He decided to take the surface-roads to Onu-Koro this time, as it greatly diminished the possibility of getting lost. The strong winds of the Ta-Wahi highlands bitterly assaulted Jala’s eyes, yet he had become used to it over time.

Crawling through the gnarled crags of volcanic rock, Jala noticed something amiss… The rocks up ahead seemed unusually shaped, looking almost like a living thing.

By the time Jala got to it, it was already too late. For he had stumbled onto no boulder- He had stumbled onto a ranama fire-frog!

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 5- Into the Charred Forest

Jala leapt back in surprise. The fire frog’s tongue darted out of its mouth, showering Jala in saliva. The tongue just barely missed Jala’s head, nearly grazing his mask. Had it hit him he surely would have fallen to his death among the jagged lava rocks. Jala quickly withdrew his knife from his pack, and readied himself for the coming attack.

The ranama jumped towards Jala with all the force it could muster. The matoran, however, ducked at the last minute, sending the beast flying over him and tumbling into a ditch filled with rocks. Wounded and enraged, the frog climbed onto all four feet again.

Jala felt that he needed a better weapon. Something long-ranged. Reaching into his pack again, Jala felt around for the disk that he was to give to Krahiki. He hadn’t enough time to look for it, so he grabbed the first projectile he felt. A ruki-fish.

“Aww, jeese.”

He threw the dead fish as hard as he could towards his assailant. It appeared to provide sufficient distraction for him to get away. Jala began racing through the lava field, knife in hand, until he reached the edge of the Charred Forest. He didn’t know if he dared to go in.

Well, I suppose it has to be better than staying out here, thought Jala, If it tries to jump in there it’ll crash into the dense trees, and it would have to walk. But those things walk slowly and awkwardly. I could easily outrun it in there! Now just to-

“Aaahhh!”

Jala snapped out of it. The ranama had just knocked Jala down with its tongue. It was about to deliver a deadly blow with its front legs when Jala rolled to the side, missed by mere inches. He got up and ran into the forest, the sound of trees snapping like twigs behind him. The fire frog was trying to chase him, but was clearly falling behind.

Hours passed. Jala began to slow his pace. He seemed to have been running for quite some time now. In this densely forested region he could barely see light, and the sounds of the fire frog were far away now. Too far to hear. Jala wasn’t too sure, but he thought he may have been lost. Actually, he was sure. He grabbed his lightstone and continued to walk.

To keep track of where he was, he began scratching bark off of trees with his knife. He thought that they may come in handy as markers. He eventually came to a river of lava. He thought that it must be part of one of the lava falls, but he couldn’t tell which. He couldn’t see the falls on either end.

He cautiously climbed over a deteriorating wooden catwalk that bridged the opposite sides of the stream. It was rickety and very old, and Jala wasn’t sure he wanted to use it, but nevertheless he did.

The sun was setting, and Jala began to wonder about the situation he was trapped in.

What if the rahi come out for food? Jala worried, Or… What if they already did?

Jala vaguely remembered hearing about an entrance to the Onu-Koro Highway somewhere in the Charred Forest, though it supposedly is no longer used. He decided to use it… If he could find it. Perhaps then he’d be able to reach Krahiki.

Suddenly he heard what sounded like a small explosion! Jala instantly recognized the sound. Turning to his left, Jala spied the dark silhouette of a hunched figure slowly walking towards him…

“Mata Nui, you’re flatulent, Kapura! What are you doing out here all alone!?” exclaimed Jala.

“I’m practicing.”

“Oh, yeah… Right. That thing” began Jala, “So… Do you know how to get out of here?”

“I can get out quickly once I have practiced enough. I will know how to move very fast by moving very slowly.”

“You still haven’t really answered my question.”

“I know not how to get to Ta-Koro,” Kapura droned on, “I know how to get to Onu-Koro.”

This was just what Jala had been waiting for. He could finally reach civilization and unravel the mystery of Krahiki. He just needed to know where it was.

“Well…?”

“It is right beside you.”

Jala looked to his side. In a clearing where the trees had been burned away, a gaping hole yawned, reaching deep into the ground.

He had just come one step closer to solving the mysteries plaguing his mind. He just hoped he could survive the answers.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 6- Vitara, the Inner Demon

I am telling you, foolish tohunga, that your secret is not safe with him! hissed a voice in Krahiki’s head, I do not see why you insist on staying in this cavern! You will pay for your decisions when you are caught!

“No amount of therapy is gonna get rid of you, is it?” Krahiki said sarcastically.

I am not a mere fear or phobia to be exorcized, Krahiki. I existed in flesh and armor before Artahka, Karzahni, Metru Nui, Nuro Vata, or Tesquiri Nui were even ideas! Yes, matoran, before the Makuta or Mata Nui. I have been degraded to a mere thought in your mind, yet I am not to be pushed to the back of it! I can speak with your own tongue and use your body when I desire!

“I didn’t catch all that- What’s a Metru Vata again?”

To any outsider, this exchange would merely give the impression of insanity, especially so, as the second mind behind Krahiki’s mask chose not to speak out loud, instead speaking in whispers in the matoran’s mind. What matoran would speak to himself in that manner?

Yet to Krahiki, a matoran who had put up with this for the last thousand years he could remember, this was nothing new. Vitara, the “Inner Demon,” constantly seemed to delight in teasing him with tantalizing references to words which often stirred up vague, fleeting familiarities in his mind. Metru Nui, Nuro Vata, and many more nagged at his mind as he struggled to remember their meanings.

In turn, Krahiki teased Vitara- not with horrible, mind-blasting secrets of eon-dead island crypts- but with humorous insults and sarcasm.

Krahiki sometimes wondered if he was insane. He tended to see things that others did not, most prominently a skeletal being, always peering, gargoyle-like, from some rocky crag high above his head. He would see it out of the corner of his eye, and when he glanced back there would be nothing.

Matoran- Do you hear that? The sound of footsteps? The breathing of a tohunga? I do. It is just behind the rock walls. That person- Jala- he has told them of us. They are here to capture you… And to kill us.

“You’re just trying to scare me. I don’t believe you,” Krahiki said, yet his voice wavered. Deep down, he wondered if it had been right to let Jala go free.

“You are careless. That shall be your undoing. You must go. Run. Now,” Vitara said, now speaking out loud. Krahiki’s mouth curled into a smile, under Vitara’s control. He seemed to relish the echoes his voice produced. It had been so long since he had last felt a mouth move at his command… So long since he had heard his own voice.

“So… It doesn’t occur to you that if there is someone there then they’ll hear you speaking? Your carelessness may be both our undoing if you don’t shut up.”

“Silence! Do you know how much my kind has suffered at the hands of yours!? More than you could imagine… Perhaps you could learn what it’s like!” shouted the Inner Demon.

“Mata Nui, do you have to rant so loud? Keep in mind, you’re just babbling about things I don’t know about…”

* * *

Jala stood, his face as close to the decaying wooden door as possible. He had heard enough. He wanted to know what was going on. He heard an argument inside of the abandoned mine. It started out as merely indistinct talking, which Jala had assumed was being spoken to Kuriko. He soon heard shouting, though, in a strange hiss-like voice he had never heard before.

Mustering up the will to enter and face the unknown, Jala opened the door. He expected to see complete and total chaos, yet all he saw was Kuriko sitting nervously on a stone slab and a tense-looking Krahiki standing in the shadows of a cave corner. Jala cautiously walked in further, lightstone in hand.

Krahiki seemed to be calming himself down and regaining his composure as he turned around and walked towards Jala.

“So… Any… Supplies…?” Krahiki said absentmindedly.

“Yes. But first- What was all that shouting? I’m not deaf, you know.”

Krahiki looked ready to speak when his eyes, scar, and heartlight began to change from a dark green to a horrible blood-red. When he spoke, it was in a voice that was not his own. It was in a voice that seemed to remind Jala of the primal fears all matoran knew in their dreams, a voice that hissed, and seemed repellant and horrid, a voice that could only be identified with Vitara.

“So, Jala, captain of the Guard. You have heard me speak to my host. There is now so little reason for him not to tell you his secret. Yet I know he does not want to. So I may help him. I was once a being of shape and form, like yourself. I was an agent of destruction, much like the Makuta may seem to you, yet… So very different. Due to a curse of the matoran, I was bound in the body of Krahiki, a matoran far ahead of my time… I haunt his mind, a second entity in one. If-“

“Yep. And he’s a pain in the…”

“Silence, you fool! And you must know, Jala, that if he is seen speaking to himself, it is not to him, but to me. Mad matoran speak to themselves. Krahiki is not mad. Yet.”

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 7- A New Home- A New Hero

Jala was stunned. He wanted to think that the matoran in front of him was insane, yet he couldn’t. Something about him seemed so eerie- So real.

It wasn’t only the change in eye-color that confirmed his honesty- But also the terrifying associations he had with that voice. Jala had never heard it, yet it seemed spine-tinglingly familiar nonetheless.

Krahiki- or Krahik’s will at least, seemed to attempt full control at his body. His eyes quickly faded to a cool green again, yet his expression was far from a cool one. He seemed panicked, as if he were struggling to find something to say.

Finally, he spoke, “Uhh… Hi, Jala. That was just a temporary bout of, umm… Insanity. Seriously. That’s all it was. Can I have my supplies now?”

Krahiki noticed immediately after speaking how futile his attempt was. No one would fail to see through this lie.

“Krahiki…? Can you… Explain?” Jala inquired hesitantly.

“Fine… I’m assuming you don’t believe my story about insanity,” he began, “Well… He’s sorta always been with me. His name is Vitara. He claims to just ‘inhabit’ me, but he sometimes controls me. I… Don’t know how to get rid of him.”

“I think I’m beginning to believe your first story,” Jala mumbled.

Krahiki merely glared at him and began speaking again, “He always talks about strange things, and likes confusing me. He just said something before you came in… Nuro Nui… Squiri Vata… Vata Metru… Metru Nui! That’s one of ‘em…”

“Metru Nui?!” Jala shouted before he could stop himself. He had seen that word in Turaga Vakama’s hut. “What… What’s a Metru Nui?”

“I dunno. I gave up asking Vitara stuff like this a long time ago. He always just says ‘the answers will be revealed in due time,’ or something like that.” Krahiki responded with a smile.

Perhaps he’s starting to believe me, thought Krahiki hopefully.

“So why all the enthusiasm?” asked Krahiki.

“What?”

“Why were you so excited when I mentioned Metru Nui? Do you know what it is or something?”

“Umm… No reason…”

Jala now felt that Krahiki couldn’t possibly be insane. Whether he knew what it was or not, Krahiki had heard of Metru Nui. Jala had assumed that only the Turaga knew of Metru Nui- Whatever it was- But if Vitara knew of it, he was certainly not a figment of Krahiki’s imagination. He decided to trust Krahiki- For now.

“So… Should we find you a new home? You know, one that isn’t filled with hardened lava?” asked Jala.

“That’s probably a very good idea. Let’s go. Kuriko! Get over here!”

Kuriko jumped to his feet in anticipation and scuttled towards Krahiki. Krahiki mounted him and gestured for Jala to join him. He did, and the two set off for the exit into the Charred Forest.

* * *

Jala was glad to have learned more about and helped Krahiki, yet his mind was still filled with questions. Jala had helped Krahiki block off the entrances to his new home, given him his supplies, and Krahiki was busy building himself a hut to live in. Jala, however, had not come back to Ta-Koro through the forest. He had taken the longer route through the tunnels. If he wanted to visit Krahiki often, he’d have to learn the direct route through the forest.

It was then that Jala realized how he could find out. If he could get Kapura to lead them to where he was “practicing” for a supposed rahi-hunting expedition, he could learn where the entrance was. He decided to ask Vakama for permission.

Immediately after Jala began knocking, the door to the hut was opened by Vakama, who looked nervous. Jala gave the Turaga a quick bow and began.

“Uh, Turaga? I’ve been thinking… After the fall of Tren Krom, I realized that we need security within our borders as well as beyond them. I just got an idea. We should stock up on food supplies in case the rahi attack and isolate us. I request permission to go on a rahi hunting expedition tonight. In the forest.”

“Why tonight?” asked the Village Elder, clearly relieved that Jala hadn’t asked about what he saw Vakama reading.

“I don’t know… Better sooner than later…?” his voice trailed off. The truth was that he didn’t know why anyone would want to that night. He couldn’t tell the truth about Krahiki, so he thought up a lie.

“I suppose it’s a good idea. Gather some tohunga and supplies for a trap.”

“Yes, Turaga Vakama,” Jala said. He then bowed and walked away from the Sacred Fire.

Jala walked out of the hut and towards the drawbridge engine room. Stepping inside, he saw Agni walking around in his just-polished crimson Miru.

“Hey, Agni! You’re going to want to put on a different mask. We’re going rahi hunting in the Charred Forest. Remember when Nuhrii got his mask batted off by that ash bear? We had to replace it. You don’t want that shiny thing getting ruined, do you?”

“I take great pride in my mask. I’ll put on my work-mask,” he said, grabbing an old red Kakama.

“Come on. We’re going to go get Maglya.” Jala muttered, grabbing some Ta-Koro Guard Ensigns.

The two matoran walked up a stone staircase. Sleeping on his lava board at the top was Maglya.

“Hey! Wake up. It’s not late enough to sleep,” Jala said, jabbing the resting matoran with his fingers.

“Unghh…” groaned Maglya as he sat up, “What is it? …Jala?”

“You’re going rahi hunting with us,” Jala said firmly.

“What? I’m not a member of the guard!” he said angrily.

“You are now,” Jala said, shoving an ensign into the drowsy matoran’s hands.

The trio began marching down the stairs to find Kapura, with Maglya lagging behind several steps. As they reached the bottom, Jala ordered them to spread out and find Kapura. Agni ended up finding him as he “practiced” by the Suva.

Kapura then led them into the dark and foggy forest. They walked for quite some time until they reached the area where Kapura claimed to have been. Kapura, however, insisted that they were in the wrong place, as he couldn’t find the tunnel entrance. Krahiki and Jala had covered it over earlier by brush and old logs so that travelers wouldn’t find it. Only a hidden hatch of wood could be used to enter.

“We are lost. We are in the wrong place,” said Kapura, “This place will not work.”

“It’s fine. I set up red marking flags on the way to make sure that we don’t get lost. Let’s put together our rahi-trap,” Jala responded confidently. He knew that what they were doing next was completely unimportant, as the point of this trip was to learn his way to Krahiki’s home. But none the less, he pretended to be very serious about this job.

After setting up the trap, the four matoran walked quietly away, and across several rises. They could no longer see the trap, and they hid behind a fallen log. They would have to rely on the sound the rahi made to catch it. Jala, of course, didn’t care about catching rahi, by sight or by sound.

* * *

Krahiki opened the hatch in the ground and crawled out. He and Kuriko had heard the matoran walk by overhead, set up a trap, and walk back.

Krahiki remembered Jala mentioning his idea of how to find his way to Krahiki’s home, and he wanted to see the trap for himself. He began inspecting the trap. It appeared quite capable of holding a rahi. The bait was a fresh ruki-fish.

Krahiki suddenly got the feeling that he was being watched. He looked up and around, until he saw, in the shadows of some trees, a pair of orange eyes peering at him.

Instinctively, Krahiki grabbed his scythe. It was all he had to protect himself. The creature took this as a threat, and lunged towards him, eyes blazing.

It was tall, vaguely tohunga-shaped, and wore crimson armor. It wore a red Kanohi Hau, and wielded a flaming sword. As it ran at him, it realized all too late that it was caught in a rahi-trap.

Meanwhile, Jala heard a twig snap. He narrowed his eyes, trying to see where it had come from. He assumed that it came from Krahiki observing the trap, though he couldn’t be sure.

Voosh! Jala heard from behind him. He saw a small jet of flame shoot up into the air behind him. His eyes widened as he turned around to see Kapura with his hand over his mouth, wisps of smoke still rising from his rear end. Maglya shook his head in disgust. Jala shushed him and turned around just in time to see a tall red figure get caught in the trap.

The creature’s sword ignited in a burst of flame, and with ease he cut the cage apart in one stroke. The matoran hopped up onto the log. Two thoughts ran through their minds that moment: ‘What is it?’ and ‘Do we attack it?’ Jala looked at Maglya, and Maglya looked at Jala. Maglya shrugged.

They ran towards it, and the tall “rahi” looked at them and prepared his battle stance. At that very moment, Vakama’s voice rang through the trees.

“STOP!”

Everybody stopped and glanced at him. Jala wondered what he was doing here- Was he following him? Perhaps he didn’t fully believe Jala’s reason for going there. If he didn’t earlier, he certainly did now.

Vakama walked over to the towering, armored creature- And bowed. It was then that the matoran realized what it was. They couldn’t contain themselves. They began yelling and cheering, jumping for joy, and raising their weapons in salute.

The toa had come.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 8- Krahiki’s Mission

“Okay… So you’ve lost communications with Ga-Koro,” said Krahiki.

“Yes.”

“Okay… And it was most likely a rahi attack.”

“Yes.”

“And you want me to sail to Ga-Koro through deadly shark-infested waters to find out what happened.”

“That’s basically the gist of it.”

Krahiki frowned. Jala had come all the way to Krahiki’s home, deep in the Charred Forest, to tell him about two things: Toa Tahu’s arrival, which he already knew of, and had witnessed first-hand- And this.

So Jala wants me to be his little scout, eh? thought Krahiki, Well why should I? He’s practically got an army under his control- the Ta-Koro Guard.

“Why me? Why not someone from the Guard?” Krahiki asked irritably.

“Toa are arriving in many villages, and Tahu has already come to Ta-Koro. The Guard is very busy… Well… Guarding. Now that the Toa are here, the rahi will try with all their might to destroy them. I fear the ferocity of their attacks will now greatly increase. Perhaps the fall of Tren-Krom had-“

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Krahiki interrupted, “So they’re too busy guarding. So that means I sail through shark-infested waters.”

“Well,” began Jala, “You could always take the overland route. That way it wouldn’t be takea and tarakava- It would be nui-jaga and sand tarakava.”

“Oh, yes. That’s much better…” Krahiki mumbled sarcastically.

“Will you do it? Please, Krahiki- the fate of all those matoran may rest in your hands,” Jala said

Krahiki furrowed his brow. He knew that he couldn’t save Ga-Koro himself- if indeed it did need saving- but he knew of someone who could. The Toa were new to Mata Nui, and probably didn’t know of Krahiki yet.

“What’s the name of the toa of water?”

“I’m not quite sure. I think Vakama said it was Gali. That sounds right,” Jala said hesitantly.

“Hmmm… I’ll try to find Gali. She could probably take a couple of tarakava down, right?”

“I hope so. Are you taking the overland or water route?”

“I don’t know. Whichever one’s closest, I guess.”

Krahiki walked over to the cave wall and grabbed his pack. He strapped his throwing disk and his new scythe to his back with the same sort of sash the Ussalry used. Picking up his lightstone, he moved towards the cave exit, whistling once. The whistle attracted Kuriko’s attention, and he happily scuttled in Krahiki’s direction. Krahiki mounted the ussal, and the two began climbing through the hatch to the surface. Jala followed.

“Hey. I’ve got to go back to Ta-Koro. The Guard needs leadership. May Tahu protect you, Krahiki,” said Jala as he stopped walking, “I’ll… Go back now.”

“See you. With luck I’ll be back soon. Hopefully. Without luck I might not be back at all!” he said with a nervous chuckle, “Giddy up, Kuriko.”

Kuriko immediately began moving slowly into the blackness of the forest.

* * *

“Well, Kuriko… It’s just you and me now,” Krahiki said for the seventh time on this trip.

Just like the past six times, Kuriko merely stared blankly. He continued his steady movement through the swamp of Le-Wahi.

“You know, I’ve wanted someone to talk to for years- ever since someone framed me. Well, I could’ve talked to Vitara more, but he’s not very fun.”

Silence! hissed Vitara in the back of Krahiki’s mind.

“Anyhow, now I’ve finally found someone, and he’s sending me on reconnaissance missions… So I’m back to talking to you, Kuriko. Not that you seem to notice. You’re just a crab.”

Kuriko remained silent.

Krahiki sighed. He had been traveling around in a swamp to the east of the Fau for about a day, and the only voices he had heard were his own, and those of the chattering and shrieking brakas. He had also heard Vitara’s voice in his mind several seconds ago, but hearing that was hardly enjoyable.

Krahiki didn’t know how he had done it. He had lived alone with Kuriko for hundreds of years with nobody but Vitara to talk to. It had seemed so easy at the time, but now that he had met another matoran, it seemed as if he couldn’t stand to stop talking.

Krahiki’s eyes narrowed. He could have sworn he had seen something move behind the dense trees. Normally this wouldn’t bother him, as he had spent much of his younger days in Le-Koro and Le-Wahi. Yet this seemed far larger than any brakas or kewa. He knew of the many terrible Makuta-Beasts that roamed the land and served their master’s will, and this hardly comforted him.

All of the chirping birds and shrieking brakas immediately fell silent as a pair of blades shot forth from the tangled vines in front of Krahiki. Surprised, Krahiki stumbled off of Kuriko and onto the swampy, muddy, soil. Luckily, because of this, Krahiki moved out of the way of the blades, missed by mere inches. The blades snapped back, and Krahiki’s attacker scuttled into view.

It was a colossal insect, many times the size of the toa Krahiki had encountered. It appeared at first to be a Mata Nui Mantis, before Krahiki realized how much bigger it was. He recalled boasts and tales spun by matoran and Turaga who claimed to have encountered beasts like these. Krahiki remembered Whenua mention their name once before. They were called Krytara-Nui mantises.

For a creature so huge, it shocked Krahiki to see how fast it moved. Its six legs sped along in unison as it rushed towards him. Its mouth, filled with teeth, opened to bellow a high-pitched screech. Krahiki grabbed two weapons. He threw his disk with all his might, yet it bounced harmlessly off of the mantis’ verdant armor.

One of the creature’s forelegs lurched forward again, grabbing hold of Krahiki’s scythe, and flinging it away into the air. Krahiki ran and grabbed a length of bamboo. Turning around and facing the Krytara-Nui, Krahiki jabbed the bamboo in its mouth. The beast chomped its mouth down on the pole, and splintered it right down the middle.

Meanwhile, Kuriko watched his master as he was attacked. The ussal was afraid, but he pulled himself together and climbed up a tree. Just as the insect attempted to stab Krahiki, Kuriko jumped and landed on its head. The Krytara-Nui mantis became enraged, and began thrashing about, trying to knock off Kuriko.

What happened next was quite unexpected. Krahiki felt a tug in the back of his mind, which immediately developed into a strong pull. He felt a familiar feeling, and his eyes pulsed red. Vitara had, once again, taken over.

“Beast!” commanded the voice of Vitara, “Cease your attack!”

The mantis’ antennae crackled with crimson energy, and its eyes flashed red. It seemed puzzled for a brief moment before it stopped and stood still.

“Step aside, and reveal to us that which you are guarding!”

The mantis stepped aside, and Krahiki (or Vitara) walked forward, Kuriko trailing hesitantly behind. They soon walked up some crumbling stone steps, only to find a small suva-like structure. Krahiki’s fingers pressed a series of symbols in a strange order, and the top dome rolled upside down, revealing a protodermis disk. Vitara released his control over Krahiki’s body, and Krahiki picked up the disk. He examined the strange pattern on the disk, which was weathered and faded. He could just make out the matoran numbers “685.”

“What is this?” Krahiki asked himself, “And how did you call off that mantis? How did you know it was guarding something?”

“Telepathy. I have a mental link to all of their kind.” Vitara said matter-of-factly, "And that is a kanoka disk of teleportation. I myself placed it there.”

“How would you place it there? What’s a kanoka disk? Why do you have a mental link with those things?”

“As always, there will be a time for you to learn the answers you seek. But that time is not now.”

Frustrated, Krahiki walked back to pick up his other disk and his scythe. He was sure that if Vitara had a mouth, he’d be smiling broadly as he annoyed Krahiki. The matoran trudged on through the swamp, Kuriko following behind. He still had to get to Ga-Koro.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Please delete.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 9- Saving Ga-Koro

It was afternoon, and a cool sea breeze blew over Krahiki’s mask. He was walking on the Ta-Wahi beach, towards a shiny glint of metal that caught his eye when he was further back. It now appeared to be a protodermis cylinder with a sort of suva-shaped lid lying off to the side.

Krahiki examined the lid. A ring of elliptical ridges encircled the top dome. Exhaust vents maybe? Krahiki pushed on one and it gave way revealing a vent. He slid it back into position and stepped inside of the canister. There were vents and controls scattered on the circular walls.

What is this? Krahiki wondered, The top looks like the Onu-Suva back in Onu-Koro. Maybe a toa rode in this…

Krahiki looked around and smiled. Kuriko was peering at a small sand crab that had taken up residence on the bottom of the lid. He was staring intently at it.

Krahiki looked around once again. Where could he find a boat? He remembered the way to Ga-Koro from here all too well. Once on the way to Ga-Koro while he was younger he fell out of the boat and ended up face-to-face with a takea shark. If it weren’t for the helpful intervention of Nuparu he may have ended up rahi-bones.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement in the distance. It appeared to be a frantic Ga-Matoran hastily docking her boat. Krahiki squinted his eyes to see if he could recognize who she was. She appeared to wear a blue Noble Huna.

Krahiki dashed inside of the canister. If the Ga-Matoran saw him he might end up captured. Krahiki searched the many control panels, and found one that was loose. He pulled it off, revealing a variety of complex circuits and panels. He grabbed one just long enough for him to lie down on, and ran out and behind the canister. He dropped it into a shallow pool of water, but as he expected, it didn’t float particularly well. It did somewhat, however, and Krahiki assumed that it was made of lightweight airstone.

Krahiki looked around. Lying several feet below the surface of the water, he spied some washed-up and uprooted kelp and some shells to the side of it. He thought for a moment, and then waded into the warm water, closing his eyes. His head soon disappeared beneath the waves. Krahiki reached down and felt for the kelp. Grasping it, he dragged it on shore. He then plunged back in and sought out the two biggest shells he could find.

He dropped them on the shore next and emptied them of water. He tied them to the airstone panel with the kelp. The air in the kelp and the air trapped in the shells was enough to keep the panel afloat. If Kuriko sat on top of it and used his legs as paddles, and Krahiki sat atop him, it could work as a makeshift boat.

Krahiki stood back and admired his work. Then he remembered he had to sail it. Over waves… And water. Krahiki groaned.

“Kuriko! Come ‘ere, boy,” Krahiki said.

His faithful ussal crab immediately scuttled up to him. Krahiki guided him on top of the makeshift boat and tied him to it with some spare kelp. Then he mounted him, and Kuriko began walking towards the water. Once they reached the waves, the crab understood that he was supposed to paddle. He began, and they were off.

Hours passed. Wave after salty wave crashed on Krahiki. Kuriko didn’t care, but Krahiki’s eyes burned with salt. He knew it wouldn’t be much longer until he arrived there, and he had it all planned out: He would wear his grey Mahiki that he always carried as a disguise, he would talk to a Ga-Matoran and ask where Gali was, and he’d fetch her. The problem was that he didn’t know how to find a Ga-Matoran, as they had lost communications with Ga-Koro. For all he knew they could be dead.

Though it seemed to take forever, he eventually reached a sandy shore. There was lush foliage lining the coast, leading up to a great stone Kaukau, with three streams of water cascading down the cliff face. Krahiki merely glanced at this, however, and instead turned his gaze to Ga-Koro’s gate.

The gate was sealed fast, and the stones used to open it were scattered all about, some lying in the water. Beyond the gate Ga-Koro was in ruins, steadily billowing forth a stream of smoke. Instead of seeking out each stone, Krahiki walked into the vegetation and with one hack cut a long stick of bamboo with his scythe. He switched his mask to a grey Mahiki, and placed the bamboo stick to his mouth like a snorkel. He commanded Kuriko to wait where he was, and Krahiki waded into the water until his head disappeared from sight. The bamboo stick still protruded far above the surface, however.

Krahiki slowly trudged along through the soaked sand, sea anemones clutching feebly at his feet as he did so. He had planned to swim to the surface, but that was only until he spotted a hut in the distance. Though the saltwater stung his eyes, he thought he could see a Turaga or matoran banging their arms on a window.

Krahiki grabbed a rock and plucked a leaf off of some seaweed. He carefully etched the words
“”
into the plant. He walked a bit further, and saw that it was Nokama in the window, looking like she was experiencing a strange combination of desperation, surprise, and relief. He pressed the leaf against the window, and using her staff, Nokama wrote the words
“”
into a leaf she plucked from the organic walls of the hut.

Krahiki nodded and began walking back. When he arrived at the shore, he discarded the bamboo stick and took a breath of fresh air.

“I wonder how their hut sank… Maybe the pump was damaged. Lucky they hid in that hut. It’s pretty much their only one with glass windows,” Krahiki said to himself as he mounted Kuriko. He steered him towards the Hura Mafa, which Krahiki knew emptied into Naho Bay. He proceeded along the bank.

Either I find the toa and send her back to save Ga-Koro, thought Krahiki, Or I don’t find her, and she swims out of the Hura Mafa and into Ga-Koro. They’re practically right next to each other.

* * *

It was about halfway down the river that Krahiki spotted her. She was a tall blue figure, who appeared similar to the fire-toa Krahiki met earlier. She leapt out of the churning waters of the river holding a grey object, apparently a mask, high above her head in triumph. She placed it on her mask, and it instantly became blue. A huge tarakava lurched out of the water, which she batted away with one hand- with ease.

She switched her mask back to normal and was about to dive before Krahiki began shouting.

“HEY! TOA! Little help, please! HELP!”

Krahiki knew a better way to make her notice him. He picked up the roundest, flattest stone he could and skipped it at her with all his might. It hit her in the back, and she immediately took notice. He expected her to react angrily, as the other toa had, and she began to swim towards him.

Krahiki cringed. What if he had just condemned himself to death? What if this toa was as easily angered as the other he had met?

All these questions were answered as the toa stepped onto the beach. Her body was covered in various shades of blue. Her armor was slightly sleeker than the fire-toa’s, but basically the same. She wielded a pair of wickedly curved hooks.

“Why… Why did you throw a rock at me, little one? I was busy collecting my Kanohi-mask of strength,” she said, surprisingly calmly.

“You’re not gonna kill me or something, are you? ‘Cause that would be boring and repetitive. The fire-toa already tried.”

“Did he, now? That sounds like Tahu, alright. But you have not answered my question.”

“I am… Kuriko,” Krahiki lied, “And I’ve been sent to inform you that the entirety of Ga-Koro is trapped in a sunken, steadily leaking hut. You ought to help them.”

“Mata Nui! How did that happen, Kuriko?” (At this, the ussal Kuriko looked confused and disgruntled.)

“I don’t know… Rahi or something, probably. You’d better get crackin’ on that.”

“Thanks, tohunga. Your generosity may yet save Ga-Koro!” she said, diving into the river and swimming away.

“Yeah… Whatever. Come on, Kuriko.”

* * *

A collection of bubbles rose before the hut broke the surface of the bay. The door was pushed open and the Ga-Matoran joyously ran out of the structure. Their smiles and cheers faded, however, as an enormous tarakava reared out of the bay, water dribbling from its fangs.

It was then that a tall blue figure leapt out of the water, light shining on her visor, and landed in between the defenseless matoran and the fierce rahi. Enraged, the rahi shrieked an attack-cry, and immediately began to punch with its powerful arms.

Gali evaded a pair of powerful blows, though more were to come. A second attack ensued, which she dodged by jumping above the beast’s fists. The monster’s punch struck the hut, punching a pair of holes into the wall.

Gali leapt over the tarakava. She calculated the jump perfectly so as to land on its back. Surprised, the infected beast sped forward on its tread, sending both beneath the waves.

Each second they were underwater dragged on for what seemed like years. Finally, the tarakava emerged- and fell on its side to reveal Gali standing triumphantly, dangling an infected Ruru from her hook.

To all the matoran involved, it would have seemed that only Takua and Gali had really done much to save Ga-Koro. According to Gali, she had been helped by Kuriko. This was Krahiki’s first great mistake. Had he not disguised his name for Gali, she would have no doubt told Turaga Nokama that Krahiki had saved Ga-Koro. With no matoran named Kuriko to be found, Krahiki could not be rewarded. He had an opportunity to be redeemed in the eyes of the Turaga, but he had wasted it.

He would just have to keep trying.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 10- On the Slopes of Mount Ihu

Krahiki’s feet made an unpleasant squishing sound as he stepped over the boggy ground. He had hated the trip to Ga-Koro by sea, and was going back instead on the bank of the Hura Mafa River.

It had been an hour or so since Gali had left for Ga-Koro, and he was sure that the Ga-Koronans were already sending out squads of the Naho Marine to patrol the bay and the rivers connected to it. He was hoping to pass the river entirely before any boats reached it and spotted him. He was unsure of how they would react.

Krahiki hacked away at some annoyingly dense harakake plants with his scythe. He was tempted to use his “teleportation kanoka” to get rid of them, but he wasn’t sure if the disk would teleport away with the plants, so he didn’t dare try.

“Lucky you Kuriko, you get to walk behind me and wait until I’ve already cut down the plants,” muttered Krahiki, “Slacker.”

Kuriko half-heartedly snipped a stem growing next to him in half with his claw.

“Pfff. That’s some hard work you’re doin’ there, Kuriko. I should rent you out for mining,” Krahiki joked.

Krahiki cut down a few plants again and looked to his left at the river. He could see a boat full of tohunga sailing towards him. On the prow he could just make out the matoran Hahli, who was watching the shores closely with a spyglass. It took Krahiki a moment to realize that she was looking directly at him.

Krahiki took off at a run, Kuriko following closely behind. Had he been spotted? Were they going to come after him? And if they captured him- What was the punishment for attempted murder?

Breathing quickly, he ran past the small shrubs and bushes and into a denser, lightly forested area. He ran for quite a while, until he arrived at a clearing. The ground became steeper, and led over several hills, each one taller than the last. If Krahiki remembered correctly, this was the base of Mount Ihu. Perhaps if he climbed to the very top he could walk straight into the Charred Forest, and towards his hut.

He hesitated for a moment and looked at the colossal mountain before him. He had never climbed up something like this before. It unnerved him to think he would have to.

Am I gonna wind up climbing jagged, vertical rocks, wondered Krahiki, or falling off them?

He shook the thought from his mind and began walking up the base.

* * *

After an hour or two, he was still nowhere near the top. He estimated himself at about the halfway point, though the majority of the mountain still loomed ahead of him. The treacherous rock slope was steadily becoming steeper and steeper, and if it continued this way Krahiki feared that he may not reach the top.

Krahiki then decided that, rather than climb straight to the top, he would climb diagonally up the mountain. This would provide the added benefit of crossing the North March sooner, and thus reaching the Charred Forest more easily.

He shifted his position and began walking carefully along a small ledge. Kuriko scuttled along sideways effortlessly, his many legs gripping the rough stone. He easily passed Krahiki, not noticing how difficult this was for him.

“I envy you,” Krahiki said blandly.

Krahiki continued climbing. As he reached higher and higher, it became colder and windier. He could now feel a thin, slippery layer of frost coating the rocks. Even Kuriko had slowed down, now testing every step he made to insure his safety. Had a single rock budged, either may have plunged to their doom.

Many times Krahiki would reach a flat area, only to find that it was not the top, but a ledge. Gradually a light snow began to fall. Small speckles of white began to appear on Krahiki’s mask and armor. He was unbelievably high, and what had been a slope before was now a frustratingly smooth and slippery wall, entirely coated in ice.

He rested momentarily on a rock which jutted out from the cliff face, and began rooting through his pack. He removed the teleportation disk and wondered momentarily if he would arrive faster by using this.

Then, from the back of his mind he heard a voice mutter, Don’t even try. You never know where you’ll end up.

Krahiki grudgingly returned it to his pack and resumed his climb.

He was nearing the top when he heard Kuriko cry out in fear. A roar followed, and Kuriko raced down the cliff-side and cowered next to Krahiki.

“What is it, boy? What’s up there?” he asked worriedly.

Another roar was heard, and then the screams of and shouts of what sounded like five matoran. A colossal kane-ra bull fell from the edge of the mountain, nearly scraping off Krahiki and Kuriko. Trailing behind it was a rope to which a screaming Ta-Matoran was caught by the ankle. Krahiki reached out to save him, but the poor tohunga fell too fast, and soon disappeared from view into a cloudy haze. Krahiki could only hope that the matoran might land on a ledge, though the chances were slim.

A sickening cackle reverberated in Krahiki’s mind. Vitara was laughing.

“This’ll shut you up,” Krahiki muttered, and banged his head against a rock. He rubbed his head afterwards. It had hurt him, but better, it had hurt Vitara.

After waiting for a minute or so, Krahiki was sure it was safe to go up to the top. (As evidenced by the lack of bloodcurdling screams.) He ascended the last bio of rock and stepped onto, or rather into, the snow. Krahiki’s entire legs sank into the snow, and with great difficulty he marched towards an icy cluster of huts. Black smoke was billowing from several huts, and several dead matoran lied in the snow. A high-pitched, whistle-like wind blew threw the camp, making the scene all the more eerie. Propped up against a crumbling hut was a Ta-Koro Guard ensign with unusual white edges. In place of the word “ ,” it read, “ .”

Krahiki had heard of the North March before. It was said to be an icy pass between Ta- and Ko-Wahi. He had never visited it before, but he knew that it was protected by a small outpost of the Ta-Koro Guard.

Krahiki’s eyes wandered and spotted a dark shape lying in the snow. He knelt down to pick it up. It was a roughly hewn, disgusting Kanohi Hau. It was covered in rust and was heavily pitted, as if it had been sitting in a Po-Wahi sandstorm for too long. Krahiki threw it to the ground in horror right as a greenish ooze that he preferred not to try to identify began to swirl under its eye.

This mask has been tainted by the Makuta! Thought Krahiki, It must be from that kane-ra that was pushed over the edge… Wait, wasn’t it wearing both masks?

Krahiki strained his ears. Was that a growl he had just heard? It was said that kane-ra often were often paired with muaka tigers. Could there be a half-crazed (as it’s only wearing one infected mask) muaka lurking behind a hut?

Krahiki mounted Kuriko and had him slowly walk around the camp. Perhaps Krahiki’s eyes were playing tricks on him, but he thought he could just make out a huddled mass behind the hut nearest to him. Or perhaps they weren’t.

With blinding speed, a colossal paw swiped at him, throwing him into the snow two bios away! He landed with a thud, and a splash of snow flew up around him. A colossal muaka clambered into view, opening its jaws and preparing to pounce…

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 11- The Kanoka Disk

Krahiki raised his head from beneath the snow in a daze. The left half of his torso ached, and his mask laid in the drift a bio away. Without his mask, his vision was blurry and his body weak.

But not so blurry that he couldn’t see the colossal muaka-tiger crouching, preparing to pounce. He reached to his side and grabbed his scythe. As the muaka jumped, he swung it over his head, holding it upright above him.

Realizing it was about to land on a sharpened blade, the huge cat performed a peculiar acrobatic twist in midair, sending it careening sideways. It landed on its feet, snarled, and leapt once more in Krahiki’s direction. It landed two bios beyond Krahiki, and he scampered through the snow back to his mask. He swiftly put it on and immediately felt his strength return to him. He then switched his Ruru with his Mahiki to make sure his normal mask didn’t get damaged.

“Hey! Maha-dung Makuta-beast! Turn your tailfeathers and fight!” Krahiki taunted in the Treespeak he picked up from Le-Koro.

The beast turned around and roared, extending its neck high into the air. Its gaping jaws then shot forward, and would have crushed him had he not ducked into the snow. He stood up again and ran towards Kuriko, jumping on top of his ussal. The monster turned its neck around and glared furiously at the matoran.

“Has the Makuta-madness made you and your kane-ra pal bogfooted? At least your friend is no longer cliffbound!” Krahiki shouted as he grabbed his bamboo disk.

He tossed it, nearly knocking off the rahi’s one infected mask, but it ducked slightly, and the mask instead skimmed over its shoulder. Cursing, Krahiki backed up. That was his last disk (besides his kanoka) and he only had a scythe to spare, which was hardly effective for fighting from afar.

“Aah! Quickdodge and lowduck! Think that will helpsave you, eh?” Krahiki said, trying his best not to show any fear or weakness.

Muaka, however, can smell fear. It instantly realized Krahiki was running out of defenses, and it seemed to smirk almost. It crouched and leapt high into the air, nearly landing on Krahiki and Kuriko. Luckily, though, Kuriko had just barely managed to hop back away in time.

Kuriko whimpered helplessly for several seconds before knocking Krahiki off his back. He stood in front of Krahiki and began clanking his pinchers together threateningly. The muaka lowered its head down and snorted out of its huge nostrils at him, seemingly daring him to defend himself.

Kuriko pinched its nostril.

The muaka roared in anger and slammed its claws into the ground, sending up a spray of snow that was forceful enough to throw Kuriko back. Obscured from the rahi’s view by all the snow, Krahiki snuck towards the North March camp. He hurriedly rooted through piles upon piles of snow that had been sprayed up in the battle until he found what he wanted: A bamboo disk. He flung it at the back of the creature’s neck as hard as he could, and the tiger turned around and jumped on top of him so that Krahiki was directly under its head.

Kuriko quickly scuttled over next to him and raised his claws in an attempt to look frightening. The tiger opened its mouth and prepared to strike. Thinking fast, Krahiki grabbed his kanoka-disk and tossed it straight upwards at the rahi’s head. There was a blinding flash of light and the beast had disappeared.

But naturally the disk had to fall back down, and when it did, it landed directly in Krahiki’s free hand. (The other was holding Kuriko.) The impact of the fall activated the disk’s power and with a flash of light Kuriko and Krahiki, still holding the disk, teleported away and appeared two bios up in the air. They fell to the sandy ground with a thud, and all went black.

* * *

Krahiki’s first thoughts when he awoke were Why is the ground moving? and Why is it so hot in Ko-Wahi?

He opened his eyes and saw that he was not in Ko-Wahi, but rather laying down on a bench in a wagon being pulled by maha. They were rolling through Po-Wahi, and a variety of Po-Matoran were sitting around discussing the economy.

“See those eight maha up there, Bour? Well that’s proof the maha-market has gone down in the last two months. Guess what I bought ‘em for.”

“I dunno… Five husi?”

“Nope. Three.”

Krahiki heard some gasps from the matoran behind him.

“No, it’s true. I swear by Mata Nui. I bought ‘em from Golyo. He’s sellin’ ‘em dirt-cheap.”

“Dang, Pekka… An’ I thought that deal with those husi pecking-birds was good…” the matoran sighed. “So… Whatcha figure this silvery disk is? Looks like proto’. It sure ain’t bamboo.”

Krahiki’s heart began beating faster. They had the disk. What if one of them teleported themselves away on accident? Krahiki felt his mask with his hand. He was still wearing his Mahiki. At least they didn’t know who he was.

“You know, I’m pretty curious ‘bout that tohunga, too. What happened to him? I mean, we find an Onu-Koronan lyin’ in a puddle with some sorta proto-disk next to him and a black ussal crab. Surspicious, ain’t it? I wonder where the water came from…”

The head of a matoran wearing a brown Kakama emerged from behind a boarded railing facing Krahiki. He took a good look at Krahiki and shouted to the other Po-Matoran, “Hey! The stranger’s awake!”

The matoran threw his black feet over the railing and walked forward. The others clambered over and introduced themselves.

“Hiyah,” said a matoran in a brown Hau, “I’m Pekka. And this here is Bour,” he continued, gesturing to a matoran in a brown Akaku.

“Yep. An’ I’m Kopau,” added the matoran who first noticed that Krahiki was awake, “And yer ridin’ with the Motara Guard.”

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 12- The Desert Sands

“So… How’d yeh get here? What’s your name?” asked Bour, still holding the kanoka.

“My name is… Kuriko,” Krahiki lied, “And I… Well… I’m not entirely sure myself, really. I just woke up. What happened?”

“I dunno. That’s why I’m askin’ you,” replied the Po-Matoran.

“Yeah,” added Kopau, “We just found you lyin’ in a puddle. …In just about the driest part o’ Po-Wahi. We siphoned the water, too, so we could grow crops. Crops ain’t growin’ too well this season…”

“And there was that ussal, too. Nasty lil’ crab if I ever saw one… And just ‘bout the darn strangest disk I ever saw,” Bour said.

“Kuriko… Where’s Kuriko?” inquired Krahiki.

“Kuriko? That the crab’s name? I thought you were Kuriko,” Kopau said awkwardly.

“Umm… We’re both named Kuriko,” Krahiki said lamely.

“Uh… Huh… Anyway, he doesn’t seem to like us. We tried to hitch him up with the maha, and he got darn angered and cut the reins with them claws o’ his. He doesn’t like to work, I figure,” Kopau said.

“Yeah,” Pekka added, “An’ now he’s dragging behind us on a leash. Teach him a lesson, it will.”

“What?! You imbeciles! That’s rahi-abuse, I tell you!” Krahiki shouted, running towards the back of the wagon.

Sure enough, Kuriko could be seen, his claws tied together with a flax rope tied over him. His crab-legs were barely visible for the deep, soft sand. He was being dragged along, looking weary and exhausted.

“It was Pekka’s idea…” muttered Kopau.

“What? Carpenters aren’t supposed to be clever…” Pekka said in an embarrassed tone of voice.

Krahiki resisted the urge to strike Pekka, and then said, “You disgust me. Stop the wagon! I’m going down to get Kuriko!”

Kopau shrugged and ordered a tohunga with an orange-brown Huna to stop the wagon. He jerked on the reins and the wagon came to an abrupt halt.

Krahiki climbed down a ladder on the rear of the covered caravan and trudged through the deep sand towards the angry ussal crab. He untied the rope and petted the panting crab, speaking reassuring words as he did so.

With great effort, Kuriko stood up and scuttled uncomfortably towards the ladder. Mustering up all the strength he had left, he crawled up and over the wall. Krahiki followed, and the wagon then proceeded further across the desert.

For the following three hours, Krahiki mainly took care of Kuriko. He fed and watered his pet, all the while making sure to use only Pekka’s water rations. He still wore his Mahiki for the risk of being caught and brought to the Turaga if he was recognized as Krahiki.

Once Kuriko was back in good health, Krahiki left the irritated crustacean to his own business and walked out of the cloth-covered area and to the front, where he took to observing the maha. The rahi were kicking up a great deal of dust, but Krahiki could still clearly see that they were passing through a patch of towering rock formations and mesas.

The stone walls cast great shadows upon the desert sands, and in the shade Krahiki began to spot small patches of vegetation and moss.

A matoran by the name of Epena commanded the caravan to stop and rest in the cool shade. Immediately the many Po-Koronans began tending to their maha and staking out the area. The maha seemed strangely unnerved, but nobody could be quite sure of why.

There were actually two reasons, and the first was discovered with a shout.

“Hey!” cried out a matoran who had climbed to the top of a rock formation, “I’ve spotted a sandstorm! It’s heading northwest- Right towards us! It’s huge!”

“Mata Nui save us…” muttered Bour grimly, “The thing’s comin’ right towards us?”

“What is it? Sandstorms aren’t that bad. I’ve been in one before,” Krahiki said, raising the permanently raised eyebrow of his Mahiki even higher.

“You musta never been in a real Motara storm. They kill people, they do,” said Pekka fearfully, “You musta been in one on the edge o’ Po- an’ Onu-Wahi. They ain’t nothing. Yeh can walk through them.”

Krahiki tried not to show it, but he was concerned. He quickly scaled the rock formation, and indeed- in the distance- He could see a massive swirl of sand, like a plague of Kirikori Nui preparing to feast.

Of course, as was mentioned earlier, there were two reasons for the maha to be nervous. One is that, like all rahi, maha have a strange ability to detect impending natural disasters. The other is that another rahi was lurking very nearby, underneath a pile of rocks.

This rahi was also hiding from the impending natural disaster, though it was much more armored and ready to deal with such a sandstorm. Perhaps the matoran were just not ready to deal with it.

As Krahiki climbed back down the stones, he passed over a group of loosely packed boulders. He thought nothing at all of it until they erupted beneath him.

Stone flew in every direction as Krahiki was tossed like a rag doll to the side. When the dust cleared, a nui-jaga stood poised for attack, its stinger quivering with rage. Its purple and black exoskeleton was still covered in pebbles and sand, which it didn’t even bother to shake off. Instead of wearing a pair of roughly-hewn purple Pakaris on its claws, though, it wore a pair of disgusting, corroded, infected masks.

Krahiki stood and backed away. His mask had nearly been knocked off from the impact, though it had luckily managed somehow to stay fastened. A group of several Po-Matoran raced to his side, disks and koli balls at the ready.

The rahi’s beady eyes gleamed with madness as it stared at the tohunga it considered prey. It clicked its mandibles hungrily for a moment before lashing its tail forward, landing a blow square on Pekka’s chest. Pekka let out a shocked gasp before falling to the ground with a thud.

The scorpion emitted a high-pitched shriek and scuttled closer, the rocks quaking beneath its feet. Many matoran scattered and many others grabbed their weapons. Krahiki was among the latter, and immediately grabbed his scythe.

The nui-jaga’s puny rahi brain told it to single out the unusual matoran, and it did so. The only Onu-Matoran there was Krahiki, and so it attacked him first. Its tail struck and landed a blow on the top of his mask, cleanly knocking it off.

Krahiki was immediately overwhelmed by the sudden weakness spreading through him, and dropped to his knees. He began looking around, feeling for his mask. When finally he did find it, he realized that it had cracked right down the middle. It was worthless. It could no longer provide the energy to keep him alive and healthy, and if he remained without a mask for long he would be reduced to a comatose state.

He dropped the Mahiki to the ground and walked unsteadily back to the caravan. He hoped they carried spares with them. Behind him monster and matoran alike shrieked in pain or rage, and Krahiki was actually glad to have escaped early. He was sure that at least one matoran would die that day.

The battle raged on for half of an hour until the beast was finally subdued. Krahiki felt weaker than ever as he sat in the covered caravan, and he felt himself nearly drifting off to sleep several times. He fought this urge, though, for he didn’t know if he would ever wake back up.

Finally Kopau staggered in. He was scraped all over and had a horrible-looking gash in the muscle tissue on his left shoulder. He was followed by Bour, who looked exhausted. One of the lenses on his Akaku was shattered, and one of the scopes was damaged. His mask, however, appeared to still be in working order.

“Unghh… Hiyah, Kuriko…” Bour said to Krahiki, “Yeh got yer mask broken…?”

“Yes…” Krahiki muttered quietly.

“Oh… Sorry, but we don’t have no spares. I hope you can stay outta a coma long enough fer us to get to Po-Koro,” Bour sighed.

This was something Krahiki dreaded, because he did have a spare, but it was his Ruru. The news had been carried all over Mata Nui when he was framed for murder, along with his description. If he wore his grey Ruru, the mask, his colors, and his green scar would obviously give away who he was, and he’d be arrested.

But on the other hand, he would go into a coma without it. He thought about it for a moment before jumping back into the conversation.

“Well… I know where a spare mask is,” Krahiki said, “But first I’ll need that protodermis disk.”

Bour cocked an eyebrow, which was difficult because he had a scope over his eye. “Okay, I guess I’ll be goin’ an’ gettin’ it…” he said as he walked outside of the covered area and onto the deck.

Krahiki began rooting through his pack until he found his Kanohi. He held it behind his back until Bour got back. When he did, he was carrying the kanoka. He handed it to Krahiki, who put it into his pack.

“So… Where’s yer spare mask? Yeh’d better put it on,” Bour said calmly.

“Okay… Here goes…” Krahiki said as he put on his Ruru. For several seconds Bour just stared. Could it be that he had forgotten the descriptions of Krahiki? Could Krahiki have been safe after all? Krahiki’s heart leapt, and then immediately sank back down as Bour’s mask contorted into an expression of confusion.

“Hey… Yeh look familiar. Scar… Ruru… Yeh look like… Yeh look like Krahiki! Hey! THERE’S A PIRAKA IN HERE!”

Several tohunga raced in. The sight of Krahiki standing in front an injured Kopau while Bour shouted “piraka” was enough for most matoran. They immediately grabbed weapons and went into defensive stances. One rushed at Krahiki holding a chain. Krahiki ducked expecting to be attacked, but instead the matoran wrapped their chain around Krahiki’s hands, forming makeshift handcuffs.

Krahiki thought of how to get out for a second when an idea struck him like a miner’s pickaxe. He whistled loudly several times and then called out, “Kuriko! Come here, Kuriko!”

Outside, Kuriko heard his owner calling and rushed through the cloth door and right into a group of very angry matoran. Surprised, he accidentally knocked several over. In the ensuing clamor, many matoran began cursing and shouting various orders.

“Get the caravan movin’ fast! He can’t jump off that way!”

“Ahh! Darn piraka!”

“Kill it!”

“I told yeh it was a nasty crab!”

Kuriko spotted Krahiki and angrily snipped the chain binding his arms. The two ran outside, only to find that the first order shouted out had been obeyed. The wagon was moving, and already picking up speed. The deadly sandstorm was also approaching, already nearly enveloping the rock formation where they had battled the nui-jaga.

When Krahiki and his pet had already raced outside and had prepared to jump off the caravan, Kopau staggered with great effort out of the wagon.

“Don’t jump, Krahiki! You’ll never outrun that sandstorm!” he shouted with a look of mingled fear and regret in his eyes.

“I’ll take my chances!” he shouted back, jumping from the wagon and onto the sandy ground. Kuriko followed closely behind, struggling against the wind.

“NO! Come back!” Kopau shouted as Krahiki and Kuriko disappeared into the swirling mass of dust and sand.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 13- The Beach’s Prophecy

Krahiki stumbled forward through the powerful winds, sand and small debris striking him endlessly. He couldn’t see even half a bio ahead of him, but he managed somehow to stay next to Kuriko, or possibly vice versa.

Those matoran were right… Thought Krahiki wearily, This is a lot worse than I expected…

He desperately wanted to get out of that horrible storm, and was willing to take any risk, as long as it held the possibility of safety. Krahiki wondered briefly whether or not to use the kanoka. He had, after all, just gone through quite some trouble to retrieve it, and he figured that he might as well make use of it.

He reached into his pack and withdrew the disk, not taking into account the shape of the disk and ferocity of the wind. After all, who would? But as he did so, another powerful blast of wind caught the disk and sent it flying into the swirl of sand. There was a brief flash of open air, entirely devoid of sand where it struck. Krahiki was thankful that the strange disk teleported objects, for the brief clearness in the air marked where it had landed.

Krahiki made his way, eyes closed or squinted, towards where he believed the disk to be. He felt along the ground for it, but it was strangely nowhere to be found. Krahiki felt strangely insulted that the kanoka might as well have been three bios away from him, and yet he couldn’t see it for the sandy veil enveloping everything.

In the opaque atmosphere Krahiki realized that he couldn’t see Kuriko any longer. He briefly called out to him, and then returned to his searching. He finally felt the disk with the tips of his fingers, and snatched it up from the ground. He now had the disk, but he didn’t have Kuriko!

“KURIKO!” he shouted, his voice barely audible over the roar of the wind and sand, “KURIKO!”

Krahiki stopped calling after realizing that he could barely even hear himself. He wondered if perhaps a visual signal would work better, and he grabbed his lightstone out of his pack. He raised it as high as he could and waved it whilst shouting, “KURIKO! KURIKOOOO!”

Kuriko, with much effort, managed to crawl forward through the storm towards his matoran master. With each step he plunged his pointy limbs into the ground like anchors, and even they only slightly prevented him from being blown backward.

When he finally reached Krahiki, Krahiki grabbed the ussal’s shell and struck himself with the disk. There was a bright flash, and the two were gone.

* * *

Krahiki still had his eyes closed during the teleportation due to the storm, and when he arrived at his next destination, he still felt sand under his feet. Did the teleportation fail? No, it hadn’t. Krahiki no longer felt a powerful, violent wind, but instead a cool breeze.

He hesitantly opened his eyes and looked around. It was a beach for as far as he could see to his left, and behind him was a sheer cliff of volcanic rock. To his right he could make out a steep cliff, carved into a sliver by the sea, jutting out over the water. A bridge connected a cylindrical rock to the main cliff. If he stared rather hard, Krahiki could just make out a green shimmer on the peak of it.

He recognized it as the famous Ta-Wahi Beach telescope. Apparently he had materialized just north of Ta-Koro. Perhaps it was time to pay Jala another visit, and to revisit his hut in the Charred Forest.

He gestured for Kuriko to follow him, and the two began to walk through the white sand. Sea shells dotted the flat landscape, and the waves peacefully crashed. Despite the peace and tranquility, however, Krahiki could not seem to shake off the eeriness that clung to that beach.

He could not explain it, but the Ta-Wahi Beach always sent shivers down his spine. It seemed to have an aura of mystery that hung over it like a bad odor, and no matter how much water washed over it, it could never be cleansed of it.

Vitara appeared to sense this strange revulsion in Krahiki, and responded to it in the darkest corner of his mind. Yes, tohunga, there is a reason for these feelings you have uncovered. For this is the beach upon which I first stepped, in the time before time, onto this island. I had fled the evil which exterminated my race, and I bore with me the curse which had been placed upon the Ancient Ones. It remains here, as a marker to the sensitive of all that has been lost due to foolishness.

Though Krahiki understood none of what Vitara had just implied, he nonetheless felt subtly disturbed by the Inner Demon’s statement. Based on his previous hints and ramblings, Krahiki had long ago come to the conclusion that Vitara once had a form, but he knew nothing else of it. He now knew that Ta-Wahi Beach was a cursed place, and that the cause of the curse was “foolishness.”

But who’s foolishness…? Krahiki shuddered and continued to walk across the sand. Approximately a half-hour passed until he reached the cliff on which rested the great telescope.

Though he did not understand why, the telescope had always fascinated him. Perhaps it was the mysterious, lost technological principles on which it was built, or its ancient carvings and complex digital coordinates. Nevertheless, however, Krahiki knew of astrology and the methods with which it was prophesized, for the Ga-Matoran Nixie had taught him before he was forced into hiding.

He decided to check the stars, and began to ascend the worn stone steps to the top. Step after step he climbed, with Kuriko always trailing right behind him.

When he reached the top, he walked across the uneven rocks and up a second flight of stairs towards the telescope. He climbed over the ten-sided carven pedestal and peered into the eyepiece.

Though the Red Star was still inside of a constellation representing the dark times (Which was, according to the telescope, in the region numbered 1006405053), it had changed its position ever so slightly. It appeared to be heading in the direction of the constellation Valtiu, whose name means, in an ancient Matoran dialect “Cursed Ones” or “Ancient Ones.” It looked something like this:

Though the meaning of this prophecy is unclear, it is usually attributed to dark and evil things of legend. Krahiki wondered about its name. The term “Ancient One” could refer to many things, but did Vitara not just mention the “Ancient Ones?”

Krahiki took a last look at this omen, and began to walk unsteadily across the cliff. Krahiki could hear, in his own mind, a horrible phrase being uttered.

When the stars align...

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 14- Return to Ta-Koro

Krahiki and Kuriko, after several hours of walking, had reached the fiery, volcanic region of Ta-Wahi. Pillars of smoke rose from the deep craters and fissures in the earth.

In the distance, Krahiki could just make out the lights of Ta-Koro, and to both its left and right, the Charred Forest. He walked across the rugged terrain towards it, but he stopped himself, remembering that he had lost his spare mask in Po-Wahi. He walked around the drawbridge control tower and the outside wall to the right. He made sure to avoid the eyes of any guards at the gate, and before long, he had reached the Guard’s planning room, where Jala normally spent his time.

He thought for a moment about how to communicate with Jala without being found by the guards, and he immediately got an idea. He looked around on the ground for a small rock, and when he found a good one, he picked it up and threw it into the window of Jala’s tower. He heard a loud thunk and waited. Several seconds later, Jala poked his head out the window and looked around. When he spotted Krahiki, Krahiki gave a small nervous grin, but Jala retained his usual serious demeanor.

Krahiki watched as Jala descended the stone staircase, and he craned his neck to the side to see Jala talking to the pair of guards in front of the gates of Ta-Koro.

“Agni! Maglya! I’ll pay you an entire month’s earnings if you go to the Ta-Wahi Beach and, uh… Polish Toa Tahu’s canister,” Jala said commandingly.

“Why? Those seabirds are just gonna dirty it up again,” inquired Agni.

“Because I told you to. Is that a good enough reason?”

“Okay… I’ll be right back,” he said as he began walking over the drawbridge and towards the village.

“Where are you going?” asked Jala impatiently.

“I’m getting a spare mask. I just polished my Miru and I don’t want those darn seabirds messing it up!”

He walked into the village and soon after emerged, wearing a dull red Kakama. He walked over to Maglya, who said to him, “Why do you always wear a mask just like mine? Y’know, if you want to look like me, just ask for my Kakama.”

The two walked off, and once they were out of sight, Krahiki and Kuriko walked over to Jala. The trio walked up the stairs and into Jala’s planning room. They sat down on some carven stone chairs and began to speak.

“Krahiki? What are you doing here? Where have you been for the past several days?” Jala asked excitedly. Krahiki could tell that he’d been wondering for quite a while.

“I’ve been all over. The Charred Forest, Le-Wahi, Naho Bay, Ga-Koro, the Hura Mafa River, Mount Ihu, the North March, the Motara Desert, Ta-Wahi Beach… As I said, all over. I’ve been pretty busy,” Krahiki responded in a somewhat rambling fashion.

“In that order? How’d that you move so fast?”

“Two words, firespitter: Kanoka disk,” he said, extracting that strange protodermis disk from his pack, “I don’t know what it is, but Vitara does. I found it when I was attacked by a Krytara-Nui mantis. All Vitara had to do was tell it to stop, and it stopped! Apparently it was guarding this disk.”

“What does it have to do with how fast you’ve been going, though? I don’t get it…” Jala inquired.

“It teleports things. I’ll show you,” Krahiki said, picking up the rock he had thrown into the tower. He struck it with the disk, and in a flash of light, it disappeared.

“That’s… Interesting. How does it do that?”

“How in Karzahni am I supposed to know?”

“What’s Karzahni?” Jala asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Karzahni is the place that Whenua says bad matoran go to,” said Krahiki, “But what does it matter to you? It’s not like you’ll ever wind up there.”

“Yeah, probably… Anyways, thanks for saving Ga-Koro. You and Takua saved hundreds of lives back there.”

“How do you know I saved it?”

“Turaga Nokama asked all the villages to find an Onu-Matoran named Kuriko. She wanted to give him an award. And who else would pretend his name was Kuriko?”

“I suppose you have a point there.”

This conversation went on for some time like this, and all seemed to be going well. Jala had even given Krahiki a new spare mask, this time a red Pakari.

As dusk began to fall, and matoran began to quit their lava farming and go back home, Krahiki bid his farewell to Jala. He planned to go back to his hut and get a good night’s sleep.

As he walked Kuriko down the charcoal grey steps, Krahiki heard voices. At first he assumed that the guards were merely standing near the gate, but as he listened, they appeared to get louder and louder. The guards were not at the gate- They were coming upstairs to visit Jala!

Krahiki and Kuriko scrambled upstairs and ran past Jala and into the drawbridge control room, with its many gears and levers. Startled, Jala began to speak, but Krahiki shushed him. Maglya entered the room, holding a towel and a can of Onu-Koro Ussal Wax.

“We’re done polishing the canister, captain. It’s shinier than ever. An airstone panel is missing, though,” Maglya said dully, “Is my shift over?”

“I suppose it can be over. You’re free to go,” Jala said, glancing nervously at Krahiki’s hiding place.

“Didn’t you say that Agni and I could have our month’s pay of goods?”

“Oh, yeah…” Jala muttered as he jotted down a message on a dried leaf from Le-Koro. “Take this to Turaga Vakama. He’ll get your payment straightened out.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Kuriko, who was shoved into the corner so that he wouldn’t be seen, was very irritated. He was uncomfortable, and all his legs were tangled together. As Krahiki pushed him further out of sight, Kuriko made an angry chirping noise and pinched him.

“What was that?” asked Maglya.

“I’m sure it’s nothing. Go take that note to Vakama.”

“It’s okay, captain. It may not be my shift, but I still want you to be safe. I’ll go check.”

As Jala reached out to stop him, Maglya swiftly walked toward the door. He peeked his head inside and, seeing Krahiki, he shouted, “MURDERER! TRYING TO ASSASSINATE JALA! SOUND THE ALARM!” Apparently some of the guards patrolling the turrets heard this, and started blowing into their trumpet-like alarms. Agni raced up the stairs to “come to Jala’s aid.” He grabbed a guard staff and pointed it at Krahiki’s head.

Many more members of the Guard (and many farmers, merchants, and artisans, too) raced inside, most wielding a weapon. Krahiki and Kuriko had been backed up against the wall, and the only way they could escape was through the window, which would be a sheer drop into a lake of lava.

Krahiki withdrew a lightstone and dropped his pack to the ground. He inched slowly to his left, toward the window, while shouting, “Don’t come any closer! Not one bit closer! I’ll fight you! All of you!”

In reality, Krahiki was only saying this to provide a distraction as he slowly pushed Kuriko onto a ledge outside the window. Kuriko’s crustacean legs could hold on to vertical surfaces, and Krahiki intended to make good use of that ability.

“I’m an earth matoran, as I’m sure you know, and you’re all fire matoran- But you know what they say? They say ‘fight fire with fire,’ and that’s exactly what I plan to do!”

With this, Krahiki chucked the lightstone as hard as he could at a torch hanging above the door. The flaming torch fell into the crowd, and everyone jumped out of the way. In the chaos that ensued, Krahiki managed to grab onto Kuriko, and the crab climbed up the inside walls of the Lake of Fire.

From his vantage point, Krahiki could see into the fortress of Ta-Koro. Ta-Koronans were pointing up at the ceiling of the cavern at Krahiki, murmuring and chattering in excitement. He tried to convince himself not to look down, but he couldn’t help it. He was glad that he had been raised in Le-Koro and not Onu-Koro, for if it had been the latter he would still have that natural Onu-Matoran fear of heights.

* * *

Jala rushed out of the planning room and down the staircase, carrying with him Krahiki’s pack and his kanoka. He then ran across the rocks and up to the volcanic rock-carven stairs which lead to the cablecars. If he had guessed correctly based on the direction of Kuriko’s climb, Krahiki should have been emerging on the northeast side of the crater in which Ta-Koro lies.

When he reached the cablecar, he remembered that a portion of the stairs had collapsed and broken off recently. Though it would take longer than he had hoped for, he continued on his way. He carefully descended the gap, feeling for footholds along the way. When he came to a flat spot in the middle of the gap, he tossed the pack to the top and climbed up it.

He began to run to make up for lost time, and, in a minute or two, he reached the top. He spotted Krahiki scrambling down the slope with Kuriko, and called out to him.

“Hey! Krahiki! Stop! I have your pack here for you!”

Krahiki stopped running and turned around. “Toss it on down here!” he shouted.

Jala began running down the slope, and while running, he tossed the pack to him. He caught it, but Jala continued running until he stood next to Krahiki. He stopped to catch his breath, and, after a moment, began to speak. “Don’t go this way! They know you’re here! See that old bridge?” he said, pointing to a stone bridge reaching from one side of the lake to the other, “Cross that bridge, and go into the Charred Forest. Go south into Le-Wahi, and I’ll tell them that you ran north! They’ll never know where you went!”

“Okay… I’ll go. Thanks for helping me out. I owe you one.”

“Thanks for helping Ga-Koro out! Everyone on Mata Nui owes you one!” corrected Jala with a smile.

“Well… Bye,” Krahiki said as he began to walk towards the bridge.

“May Tahu protect you.”

Once they had said goodbye, Krahiki began to run across the bridge. He turned in a southerly direction and disappeared into the woods with Kuriko just as the mob of Ta-Matoran emerged from beyond the crater. They ran eagerly down the slopes toward Jala.

“Come on, fellow matoran! He went that way!” Jala shouted, pointing to the north.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 15- To Le-Koro!

After escaping from Ta-Koro, Krahiki and Kuriko fled through the Charred Forest. They ran for many hours, and once Krahiki was sure the Guard wouldn’t find him, he and his ussal sat down at the base of a tall tree. He rested, and soon fell asleep. His dreams were a phantasmagoria of sights; first a mob of Ta-Matoran, who changed into Turaga Whenua, who held a Kanoka disk, who changed into the Makuta stone, which changed finally into a horrid, cackling skeletal creature.

He slept until about nine o’clock the next day, and when he woke up, he was fully rested, if not a little sore. After lying on the sooty ground for about twenty minutes in an attempt to keep his eyes open, he got up and stretched briefly. He was hungry for a decent breakfast, but the dead trees bore no fruit, and he decided to walk southwest towards Le-Wahi. The jungles there were filled with food, from fish in the ponds and streams to fruits in the high trees.

The hike through the Charred Forest was fairly uneventful, and by ten o’clock Krahiki had reached the edge nearest the Tren Krom Break. He walked through its borders and into the jungle, where the humidity immediately increased tenfold. The flies buzzed incessantly around the adventurer and his crab, and he was quick to get to work on swatting them. His efforts were futile.

After quite some time, the two had reached Lake Pala, and with it, a large grove of trees filled with bula berries. Krahiki climbed the tree and nestled his pack in between two branches. He picked many berries and held them in his spare mask, using it as a dish. When he felt that he had sufficient food, he placed his mask back in his pack, put the pack on, and climbed down.

Krahiki fed Kuriko a pile of berries and began to walk across the bank of Lake Pala, carrying his share of berries in his Pakari. As he walked, he began to speak to Kuriko again.

“Well, Kuriko, I’d really like to get out of this mess.”

Kuriko remained silent.

“You know, I’m not sure how, but someday I’ll catch whoever framed me. I’m tired of living in hiding.”

He was just about to continue this one-sided conversation when a blur of color swooped down over his head, swinging on a vine. The brakas grabbed his berries and continued swinging away. Krahiki was startled by this, but even more surprised by the silence of this brakas. Brakas normally never shut up, always either chattering or screeching their distinctive “kaukaukaukaukau” call.

Though Krahiki felt that its behavior was odd, he nonetheless chased after it, yelling and cursing all the way. After being chased about 300 bios, the unusual brakas stopped, merely hanging from the vines. Krahiki cocked an eyebrow and ran over to get a better look.

What he saw disturbed him. The brakas slowly turned its head to look at Krahiki, but its horrific face clearly did not belong to a brakas. It was a pale white, skeletal face, devoid of tissue, with a pair of small horns to either side. But Mata Nui, the way it smiled! It had a pair of jaws brimming with dagger-like teeth, contorted into a sinister grimace.

The creature lost its brakas-like appearance in a wisp of smoke, revealing a skeleton-body, with sharp claws capable of rending protodermis, by the looks of it. It reached out a claw and dropped the bula berries to the ground, and with that it was gone, disappearing in a wisp of smoke.

Krahiki shuddered. He had caught fleeting glimpses of that horrific creature before, lurking in the shadows, and it had appeared in his dreams the night before, cackling demonically. And sure enough, Krahiki could hear demonic cackling, though it took him a moment to realize that this laughter came from within his head, from Vitara.

Though the creature had dropped the bula berries to the ground, Krahiki did not bother to pick them back up. He had lost his appetite. He continued to walk, but this time he looked over his shoulder wherever he went.

* * *

Krahiki was confused about what he was supposed to be doing there. Jala had told him to go to Le-Wahi, but what was he supposed to do once he reached it? Sit there and hide? No! Krahiki wouldn’t allow that. By the time he reached Lake Kanae, though, it became clear to him that there was much to be done in Le-Wahi, whether Jala knew about it or not.

For across the lake, Krahiki could see a pillar of smoke bleeding across the sky, right from the very spot where Le-Koro was. Krahiki wondered with alarm what could have happened. He had, after all, been raised there, and he felt a certain amount of worry about any harm being done to it.

He hopped onto Kuriko, and they took off swiftly. They traveled around the lake in good time, and when they finally arrived at Le-Koro, they saw that the fire which had created all the smoke had been extinguished, but the village was still in disrepair. Everything appeared to be deserted until Krahiki spotted a Ta-Matoran with a blue Pakari walking down the trail towards the village.

Krahiki ducked behind some bushes and peered at the tohunga. He clambered into a leafy elevator and flipped up three levers. The elevator ascended higher and higher into the treetops. Krahiki strained his ears, and he soon heard the elevator come to a stop. Several seconds later he heard several notes played on a Le-Koronan flute, and the shuffling of many matoran feet. Then he heard speech.

“Traveler beware! Darktime come. Matau stolen, Lewa gone! Le-Koronans prepare for battleflight!”

Battleflight? Thought Krahiki, Well that’s just great.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 16- Rama Swarm!

Krahiki stared upwards at the tall tree in which Le-Koro was situated. In its branches hung many pod-like huts, each made of woven vines, twigs, and every other variety of plant fiber imaginable.

He stomped through the underbrush and onto the floating lily pads at the base of the tree. Perhaps “base of the tree” is a poor choice of words, though. Perhaps “base of the roots” would be better, as even the roots towered over Krahiki, and the thinnest of the roots were four bios in diameter!

Krahiki hopped into one of the leafy elevators and, after instructing Kuriko to stay below, pushed all three levers up and began to swiftly ascend into the treetops.

He ducked beneath the window when he reached the top so as not to be seen. The matoran continued talking for a while, and once they were done, Krahiki peered out the window. The group was walking steadily up a branch, in the direction of the many gukko, kahu, and kewa birds.

Krahiki carefully snuck out of the elevator and walked towards the center of the village. He spotted a matoran in a green Kakama walking back down the branch, and, not wanting to be seen, he dove into one of the huts. The inside of the hut was quite disorganized, and Krahiki could tell from the objects inside of the hut that whoever lived there must have been a member of the Le-Koro Band.

Several stringed instruments and a tuba were hanging from the walls on nails, along with a copper mask in the shape of a Pakari. A keyboard-type instrument was propped up against a table. It appeared to have been being tuned just when the Nui-Rama attacked.

Krahiki suddenly felt a strange urge to examine this instrument more thoroughly. He didn’t know why he should’ve, for he had seen instruments like this many times before. It was hardly unique. He walked over to it, though, and felt himself, against his will, counting the keys.

Uhhh... Not enough notes. Vitara hissed in the back of Krahiki’s mind.

“Ummm… What? Do you want to join the Le-Koro Band or something?” Krahiki asked, raising an eyebrow.

No, tohunga. I do not wish to do that. I wish to free the restless souls of the Ancient Ones from their earthen crypts, bound in the ruins of their once-great bodies, and take back that which is rightfully ours!

“Uh, yeah… You do that.”

Krahiki didn’t even bother asking. Vitara would just respond with another “you’ll see” or “time will reveal all.” These conversations were never particularly engaging. Krahiki got up and looked out the window and was about to walk out of the hut when he heard Kongu’s voice shout, “RAMA SWARM! Scramble!”

The matoran in the Kakama ran back up the tree branch to his fellow pilots. Evidently he had heard Kongu’s shouting, too. He was running so quickly that Krahiki doubted whether he would have noticed him, even if he was standing outside of the hut. Once he had passed by, Krahiki scrambled out the door and ran up the tree limb and onto the gukko platform. He hid on the edge of the platform, waiting and making sure the pilot matoran were absorbed enough in their work to let him sneak past.

He took a moment to look at the swirling cloud of Nui-Rama, which was churning and spinning in a manner not unlike that of the sandstorm he had escaped earlier. As it came closer, Krahiki was sure he could hear a faint buzzing.

He soon heard the Gukko Force as they began to blow into their horns, fashioned from the shells of Hamaka snails. The sound they produced was used as an alarm, for it sounded like an air raid siren.

Krahiki paused for a moment, thinking. Le-Koro had been his home for many years, and he knew the Le-Koronans very well. Though he didn’t want to fly a kahu around inside a Nui-Rama swarm, he felt as if it were his duty to protect the matoran at all costs.

Fine, then. I’ll wait for them to leave, and then I’ll follow, thought Krahiki, Hmm… There had better be some birds left for me to fly…

He watched them leave in large clusters of flapping wings, and soon saw that there were two pilots left. They were the acrophobic Tamaru and the commander, Kongu. He watched with vague jealousy as Takua was offered the place of Kongu’s second. How he would have loved to do that one more time! It had once been his job to launch disks off of Ka’s (Kongu’s Goko-Kahu) back, and he truly despised whoever or whatever had framed him, for they had robbed him of this.

A matoran stood at the front of the take-off strip, waving a pair of lightstones in the air. At this signal, Ka’s magnificent wingspread was illuminated with crackling green energy, and the colossal bird raced off of the platform, propelling itself high into the air.

Krahiki watched as the matoran dropped the lightstones and raced over to Tamaru, who was still struggling to mount his Kewa bird. He began trying to help him, and Krahiki took advantage of his distraction to find a gukko for himself. Either the Goko-Kahu or Kewa variety would be sufficient, and it didn’t matter to him which kind he got to ride.

He quickly reached the hut where the birds were kept, and he raced in. Only a handful of Kewa were present, and Krahiki quickly sorted out the one that seemed strongest and healthiest. It was a tall one, covered in red, brown, and dark grey plumage. Its feathers were sleek and pressed tightly against its armor, as if it were agitated by the sound of the Nui-Rama swarm.

Krahiki tied a harness to it and walked it out of its stall and into an aisle dividing the hut in two. (Attached to the harness was a leather pouch full of bamboo disks.) He checked the door to the Kewa’s stall right after walking him out of it. It read, “.” Evidently this was the bird’s name.

Kuriko will be pretty angry if he finds out I’m riding another rahi-beast, thought Krahiki with a grin, Too bad for him.

The aisle they were standing in had a large, wide doorway at one end, just wide enough for a Kewa to fly out of. Krahiki mounted Aki and tried to convince him to fly. It had been some time since he had last flown, and he was no longer accustomed to it. After several brief attempts at convincing Aki to fly, the Kewa gave in and got off to a running start.

The bird burst out of the hut, spreading its wings and swooping down in a majestic, inverted arch. Krahiki struggled to hold onto the bird during this acrobatic maneuver, and miraculously succeeded. After a moment or two, the bird leveled off and began flying more steadily.

Krahiki could just make out the Gukko Force disappearing in the distance, and he directed the bird to fly in their direction. Aki turned gracefully and smoothly, and began ascending higher until they were about equal with the birds ahead of them. Aki then accelerated, shooting through the air like a dart.

As they flew by, Krahiki would catch occasional glimpses of Nui-Rama emerging from the treetops, buzzing furiously. They were coming closer, and Krahiki would soon join the battleflight against them. He withdrew a disk from the pouch on Aki’s harness, taking care to hold on tight to his steed all the while.

All went well for several minutes, but as he got closer to the Gukko Force up ahead a clique of Nui-Rama darted out from a low-lying cloud, slashing at the Kewa’s wings with their blade-like claws! Surprised, Aki began to stall and lose altitude! Luckily, though, much to Krahiki’s pleasure, the bird managed to right himself and regain his previous composure.

“Ha ha! Cloudsneaking Rama isn’t happycheer anymore, is he!?” Krahiki taunted in Treespeak.

Enraged at the bird and its rider, a daring green Nui-Rama with colossal mandibles lurched out directly underneath them, attempting to sting the Kewa’s unprotected underbelly. Krahiki pulled hard on the reins, though, pulling the bird to a near-complete stall before flying over the insect.

Now that the Nui-Rama was no longer covered by Aki’s wingspread, its slender abdomen pointed upwards, completely unprotected. Krahiki took advantage of this and flung a disk at it, mortally wounding it at the joint between its abdomen and thorax. It fell from the sky with an ear-piercing screech, it’s wings trailing above it.

Krahiki continued flying Aki, knocking off the masks of Nui-Rama for around ten minutes. He was certainly gaining on the Gukko Force, with a mere one or two kios between them. With his sharp eyes he spotted them make a steep upwards movement, disappearing into the dense cloud layer. Krahiki made a more gradual movement, wanting to gain both gain on them and gain altitude.

Once they entered the clouds, a bitter, wet, freezing cold overcame Krahiki. After passing through a dense, opaque fog he reached a thinner, warmer layer through which he could see the sun, appearing to rise over the sun as if it were the sea.

He soon passed the clouds entirely, and emerged in an intensely bright, thin-aired void. The light burned Krahiki’s flesh and protodermis, and all he seemed to see was light. It was as if he had reached Paradise itself, from which the Great Spirit Mata Nui had descended in the Time Before Time!

His eyes slowly- And only slightly! - adjusted to the light, and he spotted the Gukko Force ahead, closer than ever before to Krahiki. Krahiki was just about to shout in the triumph he felt from reaching the Gukko Force when he heard a quiet buzzing, nearly impossible to hear in such a thin-aired environment.

Krahiki whirled around and spotted a vicious-looking Nui-Rama descending upon him! He pulled hard on the reins to turn around, but it was too late. The deadly insect swatted him off of his steed, sending him plunging thousands of bios to the ground…

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 17- Back On Task

Krahiki stared in horror at the thick layer of clouds as it rushed up at him. He plunged into the moist and unpleasant sea of vapor and fell out of the bottom, like a stone falling from Mount Ihu.

His mind raced. He searched frantically for a way to get out of this situation. His Kewa bird was being attacked by Nui-Rama many, many bios above him, and he carried nothing at all like a parachute in his bag.

This wasn’t turning out to be a very good day.

Krahiki looked around and spotted, nearly invisible above the background of green trees, a small dot buzzing around three-hundred to four-hundred bios below him. He squinted his eyes just enough to make out the features of a large green Nui-Rama and decided to attract its attention. Perhaps he could use it to cushion his fall.

Krahiki twisted around and grabbed his pack. He hurriedly searched through it until he found the ruki fish he had been given, which was beginning to smell a bit unpleasant. As he fell through the air, ever closer to the Nui-Rama below, he searched through his pack some more and then withdrew both the ruki and his scythe. He turned his head downward to check on the Nui-Rama, which was now a mere fifty bios below him and ten to his right.

He tossed the ruki at it, aiming for the insect’s face. It hit, but only confused it. Irritated, the insect scanned the sky above it until it spotted Krahiki, and it flew toward him, buzzing furiously.

Krahiki, grasping his scythe even as he spun dangerously through the air, was unprepared for the force of the Nui-Rama’s impact. He was tossed flailing through the air like a ragdoll away from the Nui-Rama, which was once again making a beeline straight towards him, stinger at the ready.

Krahiki was ready for this, however, and he quickly pointed the blade of his scythe at the approaching insect. He held the weapon as firmly as he could, hoping that the Nui-Rama’s own speed would work against it. The creature rammed into him, seemingly not noticing the blade until it was too late. It struck the scythe with the exposed underside of its abdomen, plunging the blade into itself. In its shock, the insect didn’t attack any further with his stinger, and it opened up its mouthparts and emitted a terrible screech of pain.

Krahiki hung onto the scythe, which in turn hung from the abdomen of the Nui-Rama as it tried to fly away, each stroke of its wings bringing it pain. It was losing altitude and its breathing was slowing.

This thing better keep flying for a while before it falls, thought Krahiki, or I’ll be dropping again…

Krahiki strained his eyes to look ahead of him. He had just spotted a group of yet more Nui-Rama approaching and they didn’t give an impression of happiness. They had apparently spotted the injured one he was hanging from, too, for they suddenly sped up and darted through the air in his direction.

Once they arrived, they surrounded Krahiki and the Nui-Rama. They hovered and stared emotionlessly at him, buzzing loudly. Krahiki hoped for a moment that they were here to help the injured Nui-Rama, but in a minute he was proved wrong.

Krahiki heard a rapid fwapfwapfwap-sound behind him and he turned around in time to see an enormous infected Rama propelling itself towards him! It rammed into the smaller injured one, sending it plummeting to the ground with Krahiki atop it!

It crashed into the tree canopy far below, and Krahiki was flung off of the insect and into a tangle of tree branches. The group of infected Nui-Rama descended upon the helpless one lying on the ground, voraciously attacking it.

Krahiki stared at the injured one as it was devoured alive, disgusted. In a mere two or three minutes it was entirely devoured, and the Nui-Rama’s antennae began to quiver as if detecting something in the air. Krahiki hoped that it wasn’t the scent of a matoran that they detected.

Suddenly one of the Nui-Rama (The one which had earlier attacked him and knocked him to the ground, in fact) began emitting a series of rapid clicks, and it turned its head in the direction of the tree in which Krahiki was hiding. It screeched and darted through the air like a throwing disk towards the tree!

Luckily Krahiki was hiding in a gap between two branches, and the Nui-Rama bashed repeatedly against them, unable to fit between them. Several more fluttered up to the tree and began to ram into it and splinter the branches with their claws.

The tree shook violently, and Krahiki struggled to hold on to a mass of vines. Suddenly one of the Rama that was attacking the tree succeeded in tearing one of the branches off, and Krahiki fell to the ground screaming.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

Krahiki hit the ground and began running from the Nui-Rama. Krahiki, like all matoran and sentient creatures, still had the ancient, primal instincts of survival, such as fight and flight. These instincts, however, were nowhere near as ancient and primal as Vitara, and his tactics for survival were much more effective.

Therefore, as Krahiki was running, his eyes, scar, and heartlight began to glow blood-red. Vitara continued running, but at the same time began calling to the monsters of the jungle which he commanded.

The Nui-Rama giving chase perked their antennae up, as if detecting the telepathic messages flowing through the air. This stalled and surprised them for a moment, but they immediately began their chase again.

Vitara soon found, to his dissatisfaction, that matoran bodies aren’t meant for running. Krahiki’s body was tiring, and the Nui-Rama were closing in…

Suddenly a massive shadow fell over the Nui-Rama, and a colossal mantis dropped to the ground. Its wing folded up and were withdrawn beneath a pair of protodermis wing cases. It was a Krytara-Nui Mantis, just like the one which had attacked earlier. Its long antennae crackled with red energy, showing that it was under Vitara’s control.

Its claws shot out, grabbing two Nui-Rama and snipping them cleanly in two! It dropped them and reached out again, this time grabbing only one. It repeated this, killing all but a few. The Krytara-Nui roared and shrieked in victory as the few survivors flew off into the sky, quite shaken.

Vitara was ready to hand bodily control back over to Krahiki, so he made sure that the Krytara-Nui was as far away as possible. He walked over to it and hissed in as commanding a voice as possible, “Go away. As far away as possible.”

It seemed to understand his words, and it grabbed the pile of dead Nui-Rama and flew away. Once he deemed it sufficiently far away, he released his hold on Krahiki and receded to the back of his mind.

“That was… A very interesting display, Vitara.” Krahiki said in an impressed tone of voice, “How did you do that?”

Why would I tell you? Do you tell me your secrets? Vitara replied coldly.

“No, but can’t you read my mind in there? I don’t need to tell you them.”

Exactly. Now cease harassing me! he replied.

Krahiki rolled his eyes and began to think. He wanted to help Le-Koro, but how could he get there now? His Kewa had either fled, died, or was still fighting up above the clouds, there were no Nui-Rama to try and fly, and Kuriko was back at the base of Le-Koro, patiently awaiting his master’s return.

Krahiki walked over to a nearby tree and searched for hand- and foot-holds. After finding some branches that would work, he climbed to the top of the tree and looked around. Le-Koro had fallen into the distance, and the immense Nui-Rama hive emerged from the jungle not too far away. It was perhaps a kio and a half from him, but the dense jungle wouldn’t allow him to walk there in anything less than four or five hours, by which time the battle might already be over. Plus, if he did walk, he would be forced to climb up the side of it, with orange worker-Rama attacking from every direction.

No, he wouldn’t walk. Perhaps he could signal for help, and a Kewa or Kahu could pick him up. He thought for approximately ten minutes before he realized that he had absolutely no way to catch their attention due to how high up they were flying. Unless, of course, he started a fire, but that would do a lot more harm than it would do good.

He searched through his bag and withdrew his Kanoka disk. He stared at it, wondering where it would take him if he used it right now…

No! thought Krahiki suddenly. It’s a million to one chance that it’ll take me where I need to go.

He placed it back in his pack and closed it. He sat down against a tree-trunk and said to himself, “Why am I even considering the Kanoka? Ungh… I probably didn’t have enough to eat this morning. Maybe I should’ve eaten those Bula berries even after that… skeleton-thing… appeared…”

Perhaps teleportation is the right idea, Krahiki. Maybe just not from the Kanoka. Your reasons for not eating those Bula berries gives me an idea… Vitara muttered in the back of his mind.

“What? My reasons for… What about the skeleton-thing?” Krahiki asked, now becoming somewhat alarmed.

Vitara didn’t respond, but Krahiki felt a sensation similar to when Vitara communicated with a Krytara-Nui, as if he was reaching out with his mind.

“Vitara? Vitara? Vitara! What are you doing?!” Krahiki exclaimed.

Suddenly Krahiki heard a sound like steam being let out of an Onu-Koro pipe, and Vitara immediately began to laugh, almost maniacally. Krahiki looked around for the source of the steam-like sound, but it wasn’t anywhere around him. Slowly he looked upwards, and perched in the tree, wreathed in a strange, lingering smoke, was the horrid skeletal creature he had earlier encountered.

Krahiki screamed and shouted as the skeleton-creature dropped from the tree mutely and grabbed Krahiki in its razor-like claws. It closed its eyes briefly, and in a wisp of smoke, the screaming Krahiki, the cackling Vitara, and the silent skeletal creature were gone.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 18- Into the Hive!

Krahiki felt a sensation of falling, and all he saw was blackness. He felt the long, sharp fingers of the skeletal creature clamped powerfully over him. He didn’t know if he wanted to escape into the unknown territory of that black void or if he wanted to stay in the creature’s arms where his fate was certain. He felt dark shapes swirling around him, generating a deafening howl of wind, over which neither Krahiki’s screaming nor Vitara’s cackling could be heard.

After several horrid moments of this, the blackness began to brighten, and the swirling forms began to take on the shapes of trees, dirt, and other objects of the jungle. Krahiki fell a bio or two to the marshy ground with a thud. After several moments of laying there, Krahiki opened his eyes and looked around. There was a thin black smoke settling along the ground. Tall trees stretched far above him.

He stood up and took in his surroundings. A waterfall roared somewhere to his left, obscured by dense foliage. He knew of only one waterfall in Le-Wahi, that of Lake Kanae, which bordered Le-Koro. Had that horrible creature sent Krahiki back to Le-Koro, where he couldn’t help his fellow tohunga?

“Vitara?” he asked in an irritated tone. “Why would you send me back here?”

You’d die there. I don’t want you dead… Yet. he responded in his mind.

“Yet? That’s encouraging.”

Indeed it is.

Krahiki began walking back to Le-Koro to retrieve Kuriko when he spotted a tall, black, hunchbacked figure walking through a stand of trees. Krahiki jumped behind a tree trunk, not knowing what to expect from the creature.

The creature heard a sound, though, and felt a miniscule tremor in the earth. It began to walk through the trees towards Krahiki’s hiding place. Krahiki saw now that it was a toa, much like the two others he had met.

He wielded a Kanohi Pakari and a pair of massive, powerful claws. Krahiki hoped his temperament was more like the water-toa and less like the fire-toa, as it appeared that those claws could do a lot of damage.

The toa spotted Krahiki staring and came closer. Not wanting to provoke any attacks, Krahiki stood silently. He looked down at Krahiki and spoke.

“Hello, matoran. Do you come from my village?” he asked in a calm, somewhat quiet voice.

“At one point, yes,” Krahiki responded. “What’s your name?”

“Onua, of course. Have been living under a rock?”

“No, but I have been living under a grody old hidden wood door. Does that count?” he responded.

“You sound like Toa Lewa… He is why I come here, in fact. I have checked Le-Koro, and no one is there. Do you know where they might be?” Onua asked in a worried tone.

“Last I saw they were flying to the Rama-Hive to battle.”

“Rama-Hive? Where is this? And what is your name, as well?”

“I am… Kuriko. And the Rama-Hive is off in the jungle, several kios from Le-Koro. Too far to reach on foot.”

“For a matoran, perhaps, but not for a toa,” Onua said confidently. “If you help me find it, I’ll let you help battle the Nui-Rama.”

This was exactly what Krahiki had been hoping for. A toa could reach the hive in no time flat, where Krahiki could help free Le-Koro as he had hoped to do. Perhaps afterwards he could reveal his identity, thus proving that he was framed! Krahiki’s eyes lit up at this prospect, and his heartlight beat wildly!

“Yes, good idea,” Krahiki said ecstatically. “Come with me!”

Krahiki walked towards Le-Koro, Onua walking at his side. After several minutes, Krahiki scrambled into the leafy elevator, and Onua followed suit. It was a tight fit, but they nonetheless reached the top of the huge tree. Krahiki ran to the edge and pointed deep into the jungle at the tall hive.

“Is that it, Kuriko?” Onua asked.

“Yep, that’s it,” Krahiki said, walking towards the remaining birds.

“Where are you going? I’m ready to leave for the Rama-Hive,” Onua called to him.

“I’m getting us a kahu. How else will we get there? Walk?”

“Not walk, run.”

“What do you mean?” Krahiki asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I recently found a Great Kakama in Ga-Wahi. We can get there without the danger of Nui-Rama attacking using it. That and I don’t like heights. It’s bad enough up here.”

Krahiki walked over to him and the two descended in the elevator. It was once again an uncomfortable fit, but the elevator held up to it. Once upon the ground, Krahiki began searching for the real Kuriko. He soon found him, asleep, nestled in the roots of the tree. A large bubble was continuously growing and shrinking at his mouth, as is normal of sleeping ussals.

Krahiki woke him up and lead him over to where Onua was standing. Onua looked at Kuriko and asked, “Who is this ussal?”

“He’s Kuri… Dolas. Kuridolas,” Krahiki said, remembering that he was using the pseudonym Kuriko. “He’s my ussal crab.”

“I see. Well you and ‘Kuridolas’ can hang on my back as I run.”

“On your back?”

“I see no better way.”

Krahiki commanded Kuriko to climb up to Onua’s back, a feat which he accomplished with ease. He locked his legs in position, making it nigh on impossible for him to fall off, even at great speeds.

Krahiki followed suit, though with considerably more difficulty. He climbed up and grabbed hold of the toa’s neck, wrapping his arms tightly around it. He wedged his feet between two pistons on either side of Onua’s diaphragm, thus giving extra support.

After checking that his passengers were safely seated, Onua switched his mask, after a brief glow, with a Kakama. He began to sprint, and everything around him became a blur of colors, lights, and sounds. It was nearly as disorienting as the method of teleportation which had brought him there.

Onua darted between trees and vines with amazing ease. It seemed that both his speed and his perception of speed had accelerated. He was not in any way overwhelmed by this chaos. Krahiki, however, was quite overwhelmed. He was barely able to hold on to the toa’s neck, and the pistons he was using as footholds were now rapidly moving. He managed to hold on, though, possibly through sheer force of will.

After several minutes of this, they came to a halt. The sudden stop caused Krahiki to lurch forward, nearly being flung off. Had Onua not raised his head up high to prevent this, Krahiki would have flung head-on into a tree.

They were about twenty bios at most from the base of the hive. Krahiki was about to begin climbing up it when Onua interrupted him.

“Kuriko! What are you doing?”

At this, Kuriko scuttled up to him and seemed to pay attention. He stared up at Onua’s head as he looked at Krahiki, expecting him to talk to him.

“I’m climbing up the hive, of course.”

“We’re not going to do that, Kuriko. We’re going to go through the hive.”

At this, Kuriko looked around with a puzzled expression.

“Through it?”

“Yes, th- Oww!” Onua began. He was interrupted by Kuriko pinching his leg. He had heard his name called twice by this toa, but he hadn’t been talking to him. Kuriko was confused and was trying to remind Onua that he was supposedly talking to him.

“Kuriko, stop it!” called Krahiki.

“What? Are you talking to yourself?”

“What? No! I just, uhh… Got our names mixed up. He’s Kuridolas. Just Kuridolas,” Krahiki insisted. “Now what were you saying?”

“Well, I was saying that the earth which makes up the Rama-Hive’s walls is weak. It’s made of mostly soft, moist soil. We can tunnel through it quickly and easily. The floor of it is somewhat harder, made of rock. It is still fairly brittle, however, and I can break through it. Then we’ll engage in battle, and, if necessary, we can evacuate the matoran through the tunnel. Either that or on birds.”

“Good. So, uh… How do you know all that?”

“I’m a toa of earth, Kuriko. I know these things.”

Without asking for any more input, Onua walked over to the base of the hive. His claws were immediately put to use. He mined quickly through the outer wall, displacing a vast amount of soil, bit by bit. A large pile of dirt and rocks was developing outside of the tunnel, and Krahiki and Kuriko quickly raced inside before the entrance was completely obscured by the pile.

Kuriko as an ussal was naturally adept at mining and thus assisted Onua. Krahiki switched his mask with his red Pakari to avoid damaging his Ruru during both the mining operation and the battle to come.

After twenty minutes or so, Onua struck rock. This caused a tremor, and he paused until it ended. He then struck several more times until the rock exploded above him. An overpowering buzzing sound met his ears. He stood up fully and exhaled, taking in his surroundings.

He had burst out of the ground right between Lewa and a group of tohunga. The tohunga looked startled, but Lewa merely wore a vacant expression on his face. And worse; He wore an infected mask on his face.

Lewa leapt into the air towards Onua, hatchet at the ready. He hardly had time to block it with his Hau, but somehow he was lucky enough to switch masks in time.

The infected toa struck his shield and was propelled back through the air, hitting a cluster of hexagonal cells jutting out of the ground. His head hit first, providing a brief moment of lucidity.

“What… What’s happening to me?” He looked down at himself in disgust. “My body… not my own… My mind! Get out of MY MIND!”

This ended promptly, and he immediately swung his deadly hatchet at Onua. Onua ducked and the long weapon glided over his head harmlessly. Lewa used this momentum to leap into the air, and he fell back down forcefully, hitting Onua with his axe.

Onua fell backwards, but soon retaliated with a swipe of his claws, sending Lewa skidding across the floor. Lewa hopped back to his feet and lunged, knocking Onua to the ground.

* * *

Krahiki and Kuriko scrambled out of the hole now that nobody was looking. Krahiki ran into a sort of alleyway created by two brittle, waxy honeycombs and punched through a weaker one. A grotesque, pale green honey oozed out onto Krahiki’s arm, filling his nostrils with an acrid stench.

After cleaning the cell out, he peered through it like a window. He could hardly see the two toa battling, as they were in the shadows, but he could see them during brief flashes from a lightning bug buzzing about them.

It was difficult to tell who was winning, but he could tell that these bursts of light were hurting Onua’s eyes. He was at a major disadvantage whenever it flashed.

Krahiki, distracted by the battle, failed to see the lightning bug creeping up behind him out of the honeycomb. Though not deadly, lightning bugs can create a great deal of light, which can in turn attract Nui-Rama or Nui-Kopen, which frequently live in Nui-Rama’s hives.

The lightning bug crawled up and jolted Krahiki with a painful burst of electricity. Krahiki shouted in surprise and batted it away angrily. This cry of pain and burst of light attracted the attention of a Nui-Kopen perched atop the honeycomb. It screeched in the excitement of a chase and fluttered to the ground next to Krahiki.

Krahiki’s eyes bulged in surprise as he stared into the Nui-Kopen’s compound eyes for a moment. Its mouthparts opened up in anticipation, and in a split second Krahiki was running, Kuriko at his side.

Not wanting to lure it to the other matoran watching the toa, Krahiki turned and ran towards the tunnel. Kuriko suddenly began scuttling ahead, an idea developing in his simple mind. He scuttled up the wall of the tunnel and onto the ceiling. He immediately began digging into the roof of the tunnel, faster than the fastest mining crab.

Krahiki jumped into the tunnel, running as quickly as he could to the end of it, sealed by the pile of dirt outside. He withdrew his scythe, preparing for battle. After a moment’s delay (it couldn’t fit through the tunnel’s entrance), the Nui-Kopen crawled into the tunnel. Kuriko plunged his pinchers into the stones and dirt on the ceiling, burying the Nui-Kopen in an avalanche of rock. Both ends of the tunnel were now sealed, and all was pitch-black.

He fell from the ceiling as a part of the cascade, too, but soon afterwards extracted himself from the pile. He scuttled over to Krahiki’s side and sat down contently.

“I suppose it would be polite to thank you, but now we’re trapped. Both ends are sealed,” Krahiki muttered to him.

He felt through his pack blindly until he found the Kanoka disk. He thought for a moment about where it might take him, but he ignored the possible dangers and decided that anywhere was better than a Rama-Hive. He grabbed Kuriko firmly and struck himself with the disk.

In a flash of light the tunnel was empty.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 19- The Drifts

Krahiki fell through a layer of snow, followed by Kuriko, who fell on top. The ussal immediately scuttled off his owner, and Krahiki stood up, shook off the snow, and straightened his mask. He put the Kanoka back in his pack, and then looked around, observing their location.

He could see very little due to the dense snowfall all around him, but he could make out a few rock formations and some of the mountains surrounding Mount Ihu. Krahiki guessed that he was in the Drifts, just south of Ko-Koro. Wanting to reach civilization, he began to walk northward.

Several hours passed with no interesting developments. Krahiki eventually spotted a totem of Mata Nui, though, below which read “beware the swarm.” This sparked a short conversation between Krahiki and Vitara.

“Swarm? What swarm?” wondered Krahiki aloud. ”Nui-Rama? Kirikori-Nui? Kofo-Jaga?”

No, tohunga. Far more powerful and deadly. Legend says they sleep an endless sleep, awaiting the day when they are awakened… And on that day, they begin their mission: to make this island as it was in the Before-Time. They are guided by their parasitic brains, the Krana, in turn guided by the Bahrag.

“Uhh… That was a rhetorical question.”

I… See…

After this awkward exchange, Krahiki continued to walk, or rather trudge, through the snow. Many more hours passed, the time now being about five o’clock. The wind was whipping up, and it blew away most of the haze that obscured everything earlier. It seemed to carry with it a peculiar buzzing sound, too.

He continued his walk, eventually reaching a large hill covered in ice. It seemed that the strange buzzing sound was coming from the other side of the hill, which was facing a ledge.

All of a sudden, Krahiki heard a faint shout amongst the buzzing. Wanting to help, he ran through the snow and around the hill, Kuriko following closely behind.

Once on the other side, he spotted the opening to a cave on the hill. Icicles hung from the top of the entrance, some nearly touching the bottom. The interior of the cave seemed to be formed exclusively of ice, and the recently unobscured sun caused it to cast a rainbow of colors.

As Krahiki looked closer, he noticed that many of the icicles were shattered, indicating that something was most likely inside. Another shout and an intensified buzzing seemed to confirm this, and he raced over to the cave and peered inside.

The inside of the cave was strangely misty, and the floor sloped upwards, limiting what one could see from the entrance considerably.

Inside he saw a tall white figure with a sword and shield battling an unseen foe. He was a toa, and he wore a Great Akaku. His sword waved frantically above him, and he attempted to defend himself from something with his shield.

What he was fighting was immediately made apparent as a large orange Nui-Rama descended upon him, claws at the ready. He beat it back with his sword, but immediately a second green one attacked. He once again managed to parry the blow, but he was beginning to have difficulty.

He ran to the end of the cave, slipping now and then on the smooth floor. Krahiki craned his neck to see what the toa was doing, and he was surprised to see a Kaukau frozen into the wall. The toa aimed his sword at the mask, and the ice retreated from it.

He grabbed it and put it on, switching immediately back to his Akaku. Before he could even turn around, the large orange Nui-Rama struck the back of his head, knocking the mask off.

He fell to the ground and scampered over to the mask. He was about to put it on when one of the colossal insects batted at him again. He was flung into the icy wall, and a series of cracks began crawling up its glassy surface.

He picked up the mask and stood up. The green Nui-Rama now flew towards him, stinger at the ready. He aimed his blade and sent a stream of ice in its direction, knocking it down and encasing its thorax in a block of ice. It struggled vainly to break out of the ice, but with little success.

The toa now turned his substantially reduced amount of eyes to the other Nui-Rama, throwing his shield at it. It struck the creature’s abdomen, propelling it into the wall. As it hit, another cluster of cracks spider-webbed up the wall. They met with the earlier ones, and bits of the ceiling began to cave in.

The ice-toa began to run out of the cave, shards of ice raining down on him. As he ran, huge boulder-like chunks of ice began to separate from the cave, tumbling down after him. He ran out of the cave and down the hill just as Krahiki led Kuriko away from the cave opening.

An avalanche of ice and debris rolled down the mountainside, generating a deafening roar. Krahiki watched in surprise and confusion as the toa stopped at the ledge to calmly put his mask on. Was he out of his mind? Apparently not, for as the avalanche reached him, he swiveled around and tapped an ice-block with his sword. The entire icy cascade hovered in the air for a moment, until he tapped it again and everything fell to the ground harmlessly.

Krahiki began to run down the mountain towards the toa with a look of awe on his face. The toa observed every detail of him as he ran using his telescopic lenses. When Krahiki got to him, he said (perhaps a bit too loudly), “That was awesome!”

“Well that was undignified,” the toa responded coldly.

Krahiki looked somewhat taken aback by this response, having expected something a little less unfriendly.

“Well… I guess it was, but what does that have to do with anything? Anyways, my name is, uh, Kuriko. Kuriko’s my name. What’s yours?”

“Kopaka.”

“I see. Could you tell me where I am? I think I’m in the Drifts, but I’m not sure.”

“You’re in the Drifts.”

“Okay, good. Now- Hey, wait!” Krahiki said as Kopaka began to walk away. He started after him. “You’re not very polite, are you?”

“I find your antics highly unamusing,” the ice-toa responded.

“You’re pretty unamusing too, toa-hero. Now would you bring me closer to Ta-Koro, or at least some sorta civilization?”

“Fine, but on one condition…”

“What might that be?”

“That you shut up.”

“I can do that.”

“Good.”

And with that, Krahiki, Kopaka, and Kuriko began walking towards Ta-Koro. Unfortunately, a muaka-tiger had recognized Krahiki’s voice, carried by the wind. It was already making its way towards them, albeit from a distance. It wanted its would-be prey back.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 20- The Muaka

The three walked for an hour or two in complete silence. Krahiki was becoming irritated with this toa’s behavior, and often opened his mouth to speak before being silenced by Kopaka.

Mata Nui… What a stupid toa. Is he even going to tell me which civilization I’m going to? thought Krahiki with a scowl.

Tired of walking, he mounted Kuriko and rode him at the side of Kopaka.

* * *

Not too far away, a Muaka prowled around stealthily. It was sure it had heard the voice of the little tohunga that had taunted it in Treespeak. True, it had been half-dazed and was missing its mask when it had heard his voice, but its rahi-brain didn’t see any significance in that.

For quite a while it had heard nothing from the matoran, but it was confident that it could smell one fairly close-by. It stepped over a frosty string that smelled of matoran.

Out of the icy haze loomed a sharp cone of ice and snow. The smell emanated from this most strongly, and the grimalkin watched triumphantly as a circle of snow fell out from its base. It padded quietly around the cone and waited for Krahiki to emerge.

A small figure trudged outside, and from the perspective of the Muaka its colors could not be made out. The matoran stood there, staring into the distance. The colossal feline clambered up the back of the cone and pounced, landing directly in front of the matoran.

The matoran jumped back in surprise, and the Muaka saw that this was a different matoran. It was white and blue, with what looked like cylinders sticking out of its head.

Frustrated, the tiger extended its neck high into the air and let out a terrible roar. The tohunga was frightened by this, and held his pick-axe in a battle-stance. He was quickly batted away.

* * *

For the first time in a while, Kopaka spoke: “Kuriko? Did you hear that?”

“Kuriko can’t talk, toa- Oh, wait… Umm… Yes. I did hear it.”

Kopaka eyed him coldly and replied, “It sounds like a Muaka over this rise. Stay here and you won’t get hurt.”

Krahiki nodded and peered over the hill as Kopaka walked over it. The ussal began to follow him, but his master held him back. As Krahiki looked over the mound, he saw to his disappointment that Matoro was there. He frowned as he realized that he could no longer follow Kopaka without being discovered for who he was.

A gust of wind blew frost all around the Muaka, obscuring its view effectively. As the haze settled, Kopaka became visible standing calmly in front of the monster.

He withdrew his sword, and the rahi looked at him, as if to ask “who dares challenge me?” The enormous tiger extended its neck with great rapidity towards the toa, but its mouth was only buried with snow.

Kopaka had leapt out of the way and landed on the snow, which immediately compacted to smooth ice beneath his feet. He seemed to skate across it, and he turned around and began heading towards the beast.

As he slid over the glasslike surface, he activated his Noble Huna. He seemed to disappear, and footprints began to appear leading to the Muaka. For once the great cat looked frightened at the prospect of an invisible foe.

A large quantity of snow was flung into the air as Kopaka seemingly leapt towards the monster. The tiger was repeatedly struck, and the clank of protodermis on protodermis sounded throughout the Drifts. Only once did the Muaka get a hit in, and it sounded as if it were blocked with Kopaka’s shield, anyways.

A hole then appeared in a mound, suggesting that the toa had entered it. A burst of snow was blown out of the top, and Kopaka appeared, now visible.

He activated his Noble Mahiki, and two exact replicas of himself materialized around him. They began advancing on the Muaka, which began to look around at them frantically, confused and alarmed. The infected creature lunged at the middle one, which merely vibrated and dissipated with a buzzing sound.

The Muaka was now backed up against a ledge, and the two illusions and one toa raised their swords in unison. They plunged them into the ice, cutting it cleanly. With a horrified roar, the monstrous feline fell, still clutching the edge of the mountain.

As the two illusions disappeared, Krahiki ran towards the ledge closest to him.

“Haha! Now you are not cliffbound, just like your Kane-Ra friendbuddy!” he taunted in Treespeak for the last time.

He glanced around and realized that both Kopaka and Matoro were walking towards him. Not wanting to be recognized by Matoro, Krahiki emptied out his pack. He kept the more useful items, such as his scythe, spare mask, disks, and Kanoka, but emptied out the rest, arranging them so that some were on the ledge, some were in rocky crags on the side of the mountain, and some he threw off the mountain. He hung the pack itself on a lava rock jutting out of the side of the cliff.

He hoped that this would fool them into thinking he had fallen, and that they would not search for him as he escaped. He ran off and hid behind another mound, listening for their reaction.

He heard the voice of Matoro say, “So his name was Kuriko?”

“Yes,” responded a guilty-conscienced Kopaka.

“That was the same one who told Gali about the condition of Ga-Koro, and who told Onua about the Nui-Rama hive.”

“I… Suppose you’re right,” Kopaka said quietly.

The two walked away silently and solemnly. After they were far enough away, Krahiki emerged, a broad smile across his face. He mounted Kuriko and followed them from a distance.

“That was a close call, Kuriko,” Krahiki said. “But we didn’t get caught! If you had hands instead of claws, I’d high-five you right now.”

If I had hands I’d strangle you right now, added Vitara.

“Haha, you don’t have hands.”

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 21- Planning

After several hours of travel, Krahiki watched Kopaka and Matoro (who was carrying an unconscious Ta-Matoran) descend into an icy tunnel that ran through a ridge. Not wanting to alert them to his presence, he walked up to the top of the ridge and looked at where they were heading.

The ridge surrounded a cluster of white buildings, which he took to be Ko-Koro. Krahiki had never been there before, and was intrigued by the glittery, prism-like walls of the central building connected to the ridge by the tunnel Kopaka and Matoro had entered. He assumed it to be the Sanctum, which he had heard about before from Turaga Whenua.

Krahiki looked beyond this to the ledge of the mountain. It appeared to have a ruined North March base, which from his point of view appeared to be the same one he had been to earlier. An old cablecar machine stood there, covered in gears and levers. A long cable hung from it, trailing into the mist below the mountain. He recalled that it lead to Ta-Koro, and he decided to make his way there.

A short hike later, Krahiki stood in the same ruined camp he had been in earlier. Someone had apparently cleaned up the dead guards, which he was quite thankful for. Wanting to see Jala, Krahiki searched through piles of junk until he found a North March Guard ensign.

Krahiki placed Kuriko on the cablecar-hook, which he locked his legs around. He sat in it, too, and pulled a lever. With a whine of steam, the gears pressed against each other and pushed them off the mountain.

Krahiki told himself repeatedly not to look down into the abyss below, but he couldn’t stop himself. Every several seconds another hundred bios opened up below him, hidden in a haze of fog.

After a little while he appeared over the Lake of Fire in Ta-Wahi, and realized that he was getting close. The heat was unbearable, but he had to put up with it. Knowing he was getting close, he put on his Pakari as a disguise.

He soon touched down on a ledge by the lake, where a guard stood waiting for him. He stepped off of the cablecar and showed his North March Ensign to the guard, who pointed down a flight of stone stairs.

After walking down them, Krahiki rounded the corner of the Ta-Koro Fortress and entered Jala’s planning room. He ascended another flight of stairs, ready to see the Captain of the Guard.

Jala was bent over a map of Mata Nui when Krahiki entered, his back facing him. He was so absorbed in his work that he didn’t notice the other matoran in the room.

“Hi Jala,” Krahiki said. “I’m back.”

Jala nearly jumped in surprise and turned around. At first he didn’t recognize Krahiki in his Pakari, but he then remembered the disguise he had given him and he smiled broadly.

“Krahiki! Where have you been? I heard you lead Onua to the Nui-Rama Hive!”

“I did. I flew in the Gukko Squad, too.”

“Really? What was that like?”

“It was a walk on old cloud nine. Or rather a ‘falling through’ old cloud nine.”

“Okay… Listen, I’ve got to warn you. Everyone knows that ‘Kuriko’ is you, now. Apparently a Po-Wahi caravan found you, and they’ve just recently begun warning everyone.”

“But isn’t that a good thing? Now everyone knows I helped save Le- and Ga-Koro.”

“Krahiki, the villages are biased against you. They think you lead Gali towards the Tarakava, and lead Onua towards Lewa. They think you’re working for the Makuta, just like that Koli-Ball Trader was.”

“Well, at least they think I’m dead.”

“What?”

“I tricked them into thinking I fell off of Mount Ihu.”

“Good job. Now, Krahiki, I have some plans to tell you. I expect many rahi to threaten the villages very soon, and we must build fortifications and prepare for a final defense.”

“Yeah, that seems obvious.”

“Indeed. Now Turaga Vakama says the Toa are gathering at the Kini-Nui to complete their mission. The Turaga must send heroes from each village to help protect them while they’re underground.”

“Will you be going?”

“No, I will stay here to guard the village.”

“Well how many matoran are we talking about, Jala? How many are going to be there?”

“One from each village. We can’t spare many, or-“

“Six matoran?! That’s not enough to defend Kini-Nui! They’ll be killed!”

“Well, seven matoran… We plan to have the Chronicler lead them. And, if you’d like, you could go with and make it eight…”

“Great, eight matoran. Against how many rahi? Probably hundreds. You’re sentencing those eight matoran to death!”

Jala was about to respond when he saw Krahiki’s eyes and heartlight begin to glow red. He backed away nervously and cringed as he heard Vitara’s horrible voice.

“For once I agree with Krahiki. I’m all for slaughtering tohunga, but that is not the way to defeat the Makuta. Makuta would never attack the Kini-Nui with only a few rahi. He’d go all-out, and you’d need more than eight matoran to kill off all of them.”

“And how do you know what the Makuta would do? I think he’d rather defeat the villages than trap some toa!”

“I worked for Makuta. I know how he thinks, and I know ways to destroy him!”

At this point Krahiki was able to suppress Vitara, and the red faded to a pale green. He gathered himself together and spoke again.

“Jala,” he began, “I know I probably can’t change your mind, but I’m going to go out there and fight at the Kini-Nui. Perhaps you’re fine with letting all those matoran die, but I’m not. I hope you send reinforcements, for my sake.”

Krahiki began to move to the door, but Jala stopped him.

“Krahiki, if it’ll help at all… You don’t have to go the long way to Kini-Nui. There’s a passageway under the Hura-Mafa Waterfall. Just follow the trail.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Krahiki said insincerely. “But if I die there, you tell the villages about how I was innocent. You tell them to find who framed me.”

“I will.”

“Good. Bye.”

With that, Krahiki walked Kuriko down the stone stairs and out of the room. Jala watched as he walked off and then turned his gaze to two matoran walking into Ta-Koro: Takua and Kapura. As they stepped onto the drawbridge, the Captain of the Guard moved towards the other window to watch them.

When he reached it, he felt a jolt of pain in the corner of his foot. He looked down to see what had caused it, and he saw that a pebble had just dug in to a small black burn.

He had received this burn when Krahiki saved him from the lava flow back in the mine. If it weren’t for Krahiki’s bravery, Jala would’ve died like this, burned to a charred, blackened crisp.

As he considered Krahiki fighting the rahi in a group of eight, only one thought filled his mind:

Am I really condemning him to death?

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 22- Ahead of the Chronicler’s Company

Krahiki trudged along through the sand on Ta-Wahi Beach, Kuriko at his side. Off in the distance he could make out what appeared to be the same boat he saw being docked on his way to Ga-Koro the first time.

He observed it carefully from afar, and determined that there were no matoran nearby. He was unsure of why it had been placed there, but he assumed it was used for free passage to neighboring villages.

He walked over to it swiftly and examined the many beams and rods holding it together. They were made of many materials, including protodermis and bamboo. It stayed afloat using several green pontoons on the underside.

Krahiki climbed into the not-too-comfortable chair and examined whatever appeared to be part of the controls. There was a steering wheel and a multitude of levers. Without any better ideas, he pulled the levers and he heard several propellers whir to life.

They began moving him along at a decent pace, and he steered the boat somewhat haphazardly with the wheel. He was beginning to get the hang of it.

The boat rounded the small peninsula on which the telescope was situated and pulled out into deeper water. The boat sped up, bobbing up and down as it went.

After a little while like this, Krahiki pulled the boat into Naho Bay and docked it in the reeds to the far right of Ga-Koro. He decided to dock it there and walk on the beach to the waterfall, rather than sail to it directly and risk detection.

Krahiki got out in the knee-deep water and walked slowly towards the waterfall, keeping his back to the plant-covered cliff. He spotted a pair of Ga-Matoran guarding the gate to the village, bamboo spears in hand. Not wanting to be noticed, he ducked into the tangled vines, obscuring his body for the most part.

After eluding them, Krahiki dashed towards the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. Not knowing of any other ways to get through it, he waded into the water cautiously, grasping the slick stones on his way.

Soon the water became too deep, and Krahiki swam slowly towards the roaring falls. Kuriko followed, crawling along the bottom. The salty water turned white with foam where the water hit, and he struggled to swim through the torrents of falling liquid.

Holding his breath, Krahiki dove beneath the surface and came out on the other side in a cave. This cave was filled with strange prismatic light, emanating from behind the falls. Its walls were sloped strangely, with stalactites and stalagmites poking up everywhere. The rounded nature of the cave multiplied the sound of the falls a hundredfold, and Krahiki felt as if his head would explode.

The matoran swam through this second pool and got out, putting his hands to his ears. Kuriko scuttled out of the water and stopped behind him. Krahiki resumed his walk, traveling through a tunnel filled with puddles. The walls and ceilings dripped cold water on him as he traveled.

After ten minutes or so, he emerged into the sunlight at a gorge. Another waterfall roared off to his right, and exotic jungle foliage dominated the area. A rustic and partially decomposed bridge spanned the gap, constructed of wood and dried vines.

Krahiki didn’t want to risk falling if the bridge collapsed, so he tried to think of an alternative. He couldn’t figure anything out, however, as he was lacking most of his supplies, after throwing them off Mount Ihu. In fact, he wouldn’t have been able to carry what little he had if it weren’t for his Ussalry disk-strap, as his pack was missing,

He decided to risk a walk across the bridge anyways, so he placed one foot on the bridge, then another. He slowly walked across the perilously swaying bridge, which groaned and creaked with each step.

After getting about halfway across, he gestured for Kuriko to follow. Kuriko marched carelessly across the bridge straight towards Krahiki. Krahiki had hoped that his pet would’ve moved as slowly and cautiously as he had, but he had no such luck. The combined weight of the two in the middle of the bridge caused it to sag, and it began to buckle as the vines tightened their nooses around the poles they were attached to.

Krahiki gestured for Kuriko to stay put and began to move. He got several steps further before a plank broke beneath his feet. He let out a gasp as he grabbed the vines to his side and pulled his foot out of the hole. Before resuming his walk, he took a glance down from the dizzying heights at the stream far below him, nearly obscured by spray from the waterfall.

Krahiki gulped, and, upon looking up, realized that now wasn’t the time. One of the dried vines behind him was visibly splitting under the strain of holding him and his crab. His eyes widened in surprise and he began to run, Kuriko following closely behind.

He was about six bios away from the end when it fully split, sending the bridge careening downward! Krahiki grabbed Kuriko with one hand as they fell, grabbing a piece of wood with the other. Kuriko let go of his owner and gripped the rock wall instead, giving Krahiki both hands to climb. The crab climbed to the top, waiting for him.

He gripped the wooden planks and climbed as quickly as he could, aware of the fact that the vines holding it up were stretching quickly and were ready to snap at any moment. There were three remaining vines supporting it, with one snapping every few seconds.

Krahiki had seven bios to climb now, which he scaled as quickly as he possibly could. He reduced that to five bios by the time the third vine snapped; and reduced that to three by the time the second snapped. By the time the final vine snapped, he was still a bio from the top.

He kicked off from the wooden plank as the bridge (or ladder) fell into the chasm. He reached his arms out, getting within a half of a bio of the top, but not touching his destination.

Krahiki closed his eyes and waited to feel the air rushing past him, but it never came. After a couple seconds of hanging in midair, he opened his eyes to see Kuriko clutching him by the Ussalry disk-strap. He hauled him up to the top and dropped him onto the ledge.

Panting, Krahiki laid down on the mossy stones for a moment to catch his breath. He patted Kuriko on the back as a way of saying thanks and, after a minute of rest, stood up.

He gestured for Kuriko to follow him, and the two walked into the foliage, continuing on their way to Kini-Nui.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 23- To Kini-Nui!

Krahiki continued to walk, this time through the jungle. Massive trees pointed to the sky, and snaking vines and roots threatened to trip him every step of the way. The light that filtered through the canopy was given a green tint by the thick layer of leaves overhead. Broad mushrooms grew at the bases of the trees, jutting out like disks.

Despite all this growth, Krahiki could tell that this wouldn’t be a long strip of jungle. The air wasn’t sufficiently humid, as he could feel a crisper, drier breeze coming down from above, in the mountains, perhaps.

His theory was proven correct after twenty minutes or so, when he emerged with Kuriko to find himself in a clearing. In front of them there was a large formation of tumbled down rock about twelve bios high. It formed a U-shape at the top, through which the dry air was blowing.

Krahiki at first tried to climb it, but found that the rocks were too slippery and there were too many gaps for him to cross safely. He looked back at Kuriko, who was busying himself by peering into a log at small insects. Krahiki whistled to get his attention, and Kuriko scuttled quickly over.

Krahiki mounted the ussal and directed him to travel up the rocks. He easily crawled to the top without slipping once, once again demonstrating his skill at climbing.

At the top, Krahiki took in his surroundings. There were no plants in sight, only bare rock. Patches of ice clung to the rocky crags, and not too far from him he could see actual snow. Although irritated by the prospect of more drifts, Krahiki proceeded nonetheless.

After a while of walking through the snow, the two reached a colossal statue of a Toa’s face, about twenty bios tall. There was a heavy stone door in its mouth which Krahiki couldn’t possibly lift, and it appeared to require a key.

Unable to travel through the intended path, Krahiki looked around for other possibilities. Walls of ice rose eighty bios into the air all around it, severely limiting possibilities.

He decided to go back and see if there were any less steep ways up to the top. Although he trusted Kuriko’s climbing abilities, he didn’t want to risk danger going up such a slick, vertical wall. He began to walk back to where he was earlier.

Krahiki was nearing the snowless area before he spotted a good place to climb from. Although it was steep and slippery, it wasn’t very high and it leveled out to form a ridge that lead over the statue. He removed his disk-strap and sorted through anything that could assist in climbing.

A couple of disks, a scythe, a spare mask, and his Kanoka were all he had. Little of it was useful in this situation, besides his scythe, which could be used as a pick. He briefly considered using his Kanoka, but he quickly decided against it.

Krahiki instructed Kuriko to climb up the ridge to test how slippery it was. Even with the ussal’s ability to stick to surfaces, he found it difficult. Though he managed to scramble to the top eventually, he slid downwards with each step. There was no way Krahiki could ride him up there.

Suddenly an idea struck Krahiki. He picked up his disk-strap and cut through the leather portion with his scythe, effectively turning it into a rope. He picked up a bamboo disk and punched a tiny hole through it with his scythe, and then sharpened the disk’s sides until they were razor-thin. He threaded his disk-strap through the hole and tied it on.

Krahiki threw the disk as hard as he could, and its sharp sides lodged into the ice. The disk-strap-rope hung down right above Krahiki, and he climbed up it after quickly testing the disk’s security.

Now that he and Kuriko were on top of the ridge, Krahiki began to walk in the direction of the statue. After a little while of walking, they stood on top of the eighty bio ice wall around the statue. At this point the ridge widened and became a hill.

They walked over this hill for a few minutes before it began to slope downwards towards a foothill of dark brown stone. They climbed down some rough rocks onto it.

There was a rock wall behind them, with the entrance to a tunnel. Krahiki assumed this was the other end of the statue’s pathway. In front of them stretched a massive valley, full of lush trees and plants. In the middle of it was a massive stone structure made up of tapering columns. It was one of the grandest spectacles Krahiki had ever seen in his life.

Krahiki scrambled down the hill towards the jungle and walked quickly through it. He paid little attention to the trees around him, wanting to have time to closely examine Kini-Nui before the Chronicler’s Company arrived.

He emerged into the clearing and ran up the ancient stone stairs. Between four pillars was a massive dome, which Krahiki recognized as the Suva Kaita, which he had heard about from the Turaga.

After a bit of sightseeing, Krahiki spotted a group of beings walking down a hill on the other side of the valley. At first he thought they were rahi and he became alarmed, but on closer inspection he could tell that they were Toa.

Not wanting to be seen, he rushed into the trees to hide. Although he didn’t look it, Krahiki was ecstatic. His heartlight blinking rapidly, he grinned and turned to Kuriko.

“Makuta’s tyranny is almost over!”

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 24- Rahi Attack!

Krahiki hid for about an hour as he observed the Toa. They did little, mostly talking and strategizing. The red toa seemed to be giving an encouraging speech to the others.

After that hour was over, a small group of seven tohunga marched down the mountain towards the Toa. Onua at first raised his claws in surprise, but quickly stopped himself from doing damage when he realized that they were matoran.

A Ta-Matoran with a blue Pakari began speaking with them and it appeared that they were once again strategizing. After a little while, the red Toa said something loudly and the six heroes began walking towards the temple.

They each walked up a separate staircase until they surrounded the Suva Kaita, and they looked at each other before concentrating for a moment. As they concentrated, their masks began to glow and change color to a luminescent gold!

They then each let go of a small stone. The stones levitated towards each other and interlocked, forming a glowing sphere. The sphere glowed brighter and brighter, and it occurred to Krahiki that they were some sort of key. This was proven as the stones the Toa stood on began to fall out beneath them, and they fell into the darkness below.

Once the Toa had descended, the matoran began to stand around Kini-Nui, guarding it. They held their disks at the ready. Krahiki watched them closely. Now and then, a rahi or two would appear and threaten them, but they’d manage to defeat them each time.

Where Krahiki was hiding (behind a rotting log), there were no rahi of interest. All he met with were Kuriko and some annoying fly-like rahi. The most excitement he experienced was batting away a centipede.

Perhaps Jala was right… Krahiki wondered to himself. Maybe Makuta is just attacking the villages…

That’s not how Makuta thinks, Tohunga. Vitara hissed to Krahiki. He’s a much better strategist than-

“Vitara, why do you always have to start thinking for me? I’d actually prefer if you spoke out loud… I prefer to keep my mind kind of… Private…”

Your mind’s not private while I’m living here!

“Fine, fine! Just be quiet for a while…”

Krahiki sat there for perhaps an hour before he heard what sounded like an explosion. He bolted upright and jumped to his feet in time to jump out of the way of a flying log. It struck where he had been moments before. It splintered, sending chunks of wood everywhere, like shrapnel.

Krahiki looked towards the source of the log, where an enormous Muaka stood, roaring angrily. Other rahi began to emerge from the jungle in horrifying amounts. Armies of Tarakava rolled towards the temple, followed by droves of hissing Nui-Jaga.

The skies darkened with swarms of Nui-Rama, blotting out the sun. A
deafening buzz filled the jungle which quickly developed into a roar.
The Chronicler’s Company stood behind the blue-masked Ta-Matoran, who held his disk ready to fight.

A Nui-Rama made the first move, lunging forward with its claws at the helpless matoran. Moments before he would’ve struck, something streaked by it, and the sound of rending protodermis was heard. The Nui-Rama collapsed to the ground, its masks sent flying.

Krahiki looked up at what had done this. It was blurred with speed, but it was clearly a Goko-Kahu. What it was doing there didn’t occur to him, until he heard one of the matoran shout.

“Kongu! It’s Kongu!”

Krahiki looked up to see more members of the Gukko Force fighting the Rama-Swarm. He heard another sudden explosion, this time closer. A hole had been blasted through the ground, out of which ussalry members were pouring, throwing disks and brandishing weapons.

Finally, most relieving of all, a horn sounded, and Krahiki turned to face it. Over the hill came hundreds of members of the Ta-Koro Guard, led by Jala! They began to throw their disks over the hill, raining down upon the rahi and knocking Rama out of the sky.

They began to charge down the hill, carrying a variety of weapons. Krahiki ran out of the way of their stampede, as they were heading straight through the trees where he was. As he ran, he threw disks, knocking down several Nui-Rama and disorienting even more. Even Kuriko managed to take a few down, as he ran beside Krahiki, snipping Kofo-Jaga in half with his claws.

Once out of the way of the Guard, Krahiki put on his spare mask and walked to the top of the hill, from which he observed the battle. The sheer numbers of the Nui-Rama seemed to be aiding them in their battle, but many rahi had already been defeated on land.

The Ussalry had hauled several trebuchets out of their tunnel, with which they were launching burning rubble at the Tarakava to drive them back, as they were vulnerable to high temperatures. The flame then attracted the swarms of Kofo-Jaga towards them, effectively burying them in the scorpions.

The Gukko Force had also dropped weighted nets on many Muaka and Kane-Ra, with Guard and Ussalry members pulling on it to collapse them. This unfortunately didn’t work well on the Nui-Jaga, due to their stingers and low stature. Most of them still ran amok catching matoran and grinding up the stones of the temple.

Krahiki now saw that the Gukko Force was dropping the nets up above the Rama-Swarm, entangling their wings and sending them falling to the ground helplessly, on occasion on top of the Nui-Jaga.

The tables seemed to have turned, so Krahiki hopped onto Kuriko and rode him down the hill towards Jala. On the way he knocked rahi out of the way with his scythe.

When Krahiki reached him he was pulling on a net in an attempt to hold down a Kane-Ra. When Jala spotted him he nearly let go of the rope.

“You’re alive!” he said with a grin.

“How observant!” Krahiki replied over the roar of battle.

“On our way here we saw the bridge had collapsed! We thought you went down with it!”

“I’m more interested in the fact that you’re here! Did you forget about the villages?”

“Fight now, talk later!”

Krahiki grabbed onto the rope and ordered Kuriko to pull. He did, and with his strength added to the group’s, the Kane-Ra collapsed to the ground. A matoran ran up and pried off its masks before everyone ran off to fight some more.

The battle was going superbly. Many unmasked rahi were ambling slowly away, and as more and more rahi were defeated, the number fighting on Makuta’s side was greatly diminished. What had started with a hundred was now down to the dozens. Finally, when there was no way for the rahi to win, they pulled out and fled quickly away.

The battle had been won, but the war was still to be decided.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 25- Through the Sundial

Though the area around the temple had suffered great damage in the battle, the temple itself remained intact. When the Toa were ready to come back, their exit would be open and waiting for them. The Matoran waited around the temple, treating the wounded as they anticipated another attack.

Now that the sounds of battle and the dangerous rahi were all gone, the harmless jungle rahi came out, and an occasional brakas shriek or bird call could be heard. Krahiki walked up to Jala wearing his Pakari and began to speak.

“So, Jala… I see you came to your senses. How’d you know to come?”

“I didn’t,” said Jala. “We were attacked back at Ta-Koro, but it was only by very few rahi. We had expected an army, like what we fought here. I thought that you may have been in danger here, so I came. I felt kind of bad about endangering you after you saved my life…”

“Well thanks, I appreciate it. Any information on how the Toa are doing against Makuta?”

“No, but Onu-Koro believes they may have found another entrance to Makuta’s Lair.”

“Really?” Krahiki said, already thinking up an idea. “What do you know about it?”

“Onepu says it’s in the Great Mine. Apparently they recently dug to a new level, where they discovered a sundial. A while ago, Takua used a lightstone to cast a shadow on the four o’clock position, which opened it up. It was a protodermis shaft about ten to twenty bios deep. At the bottom was a strange… Projection of a Gold Hau. That projection has disappeared just now.”

“Interesting. What do they plan on doing with it?”

“I don’t know… Takua’s trying to get into Makuta’s lair with it, though. He’s trying to record the defeat of Makuta.”

Krahiki was about to respond when he heard a hideous chuckle inside his head. He wondered what it was about, and Vitara took his thoughts as a question to be answered. Krahiki’s eyes swelled into grotesque red ones, and Vitara’s voice spoke out of his mouth.

“How does he expect to survive that?”

Jala had braced himself for the voice, and he managed to avoid cringing. “Well it’s not like he’ll be battling the Makuta… Just watching the battle… He’ll take every precaution! He’s-“

“Wait, wait…” Krahiki interrupted. “How much danger is he going to be in? From what, exactly?”

“If Makuta sees him, he will definitely be killed on sight. He has a very important destiny ahead of him. He could also be used as a hostage by Makuta, which will undoubtedly be a crutch to the Toa’s efforts.”

“Would a diversion help this?” Krahiki proposed.

“Krahiki, what are talking abou-“

“It could. Makuta wouldn’t expect two matoran to make it to his lair… And I could easily hold his Manas off. I hold the same sway over them that I hold over the Krytara-Nui Mantises.”

“Krahiki, you aren’t considering going down there ahead of him!?”

“I am. It’ll clear my record, right?”

“I guess, but-“

“Then I’m going. When is he leaving?”

“He’s talking to Onepu about it right now. He’s probably leaving in a couple minutes.”

“’Kay then, I’m going now. Bye.”

“Good, uh, luck,” Jala said, somewhat puzzled by his abrupt departure.

Krahiki gestured for Kuriko to come, and he sat on top of him. He directed him towards the hole the Ussalry had burst out of, and he walked him down into it. It was a steep incline, and Kuriko half-climbed, half-tumbled into it.

The ussal’s eyes glowed like headlights, and he scuttled as fast as he possibly could, on his master’s command. The two whipped around corners, and Krahiki held on tightly. (Prior to Krahiki being framed, Kuriko had been a part-time racing crab.)

After twenty minutes or so of riding, the two emerged into a corner of Onu-Koro through a hastily made tunnel-opening. Although he didn’t see anyone (they were most likely barricaded into their huts), Krahiki kept on wearing his Pakari, just to be safe.

Krahiki walked through his old village, which had almost all of its exits stopped up with rock walls. He crossed the bridge over the little stream and walked past the Onu-Suva and Whenua’s large, luxurious hut. When he reached the entrance to the Great Mine, he spotted his old hut, the one closest to the Ta- and Le-Koro passageway.

He walked past a couple of miners who barely took any notice of him. He assumed that, in the low light, his Pakari appeared orange and he was mistaken for Nuparu.

He walked quickly through the tunnel, and soon reached the main antechamber to the Great Mine. Old machinery and carts were draped everywhere, and a shy ussal retreated into a crevice when they approached.

The massive mine shaft at the end was completely empty. It was far deeper and wider than when Krahiki had last seen it, and the silence and gaping blackness was very unsettling. He couldn’t see to the bottom.

They walked towards a brightly lit, but grimy, elevator. Krahiki stepped inside, followed by Kuriko. He pulled a red lever down, and the elevator shook briefly and began to descend. As they went down, the lightstones played strange tricks on the walls, casting strange shadows and reflecting off of gleaming stones.

When the elevator touched the bottom, Krahiki got out and nearly slipped on the smooth floor. He looked down at the ground. It was unmistakably protodermis, and the perfectly smooth layer looked oddly artificial in the stone shaft. Parts of it had rocks still encrusted to it.

Ahead of him, the opened sundial laid, light streaming out of it. It was surrounded by damaged machinery, ranging from a bent and crumpled drill to a splintered pickaxe. Krahiki approached the hole and stared down it at the shiny walls.

Knowing that Vitara once worked for the Makuta, he wondered if Makuta might know of him and spare him. For this reason, he removed his disguise and donned his Ruru again. As he did this he heard a shout somewhere up above him, and he looked around frantically.

“Hey, you!” shouted a gruff voice. “Stay where you are! You’re not escaping this time!”

Krahiki spotted him. An Onu-Koronan guard he didn’t recognize was standing up on a rocky ledge holding a disk at the ready. Krahiki began to move towards the sundial and was shouted at again.

“Don’t move, Krahiki! You’re not gonna be visiting your master while the Toa are down there!”

Great, thought Krahiki. They see me entering his lair and now they think I work for Makuta…

Krahiki put his hands up and slowly walked backwards with Kuriko. At the last moment he spun around and slid down the wall of the sundial, pulling Kuriko with him. Disks flew over his head and fell into the shaft, narrowly missing him. Down at the bottom he pushed in a plus-shaped rod on a pedestal in the middle of the room and the pedestal retracted into the floor, leaving no trace of its existence.

The floor began to rapidly fall, and the walls flew away in segments. The opening above him simply ceased to exist and all around him was a strange black emptiness that reminded him unpleasantly of teleporting with the skeleton-creature.

The floor was now a bright, protodermis pillar in the blackness, sinking into a stone floor hundreds of bios below. When it sank completely, it didn’t even leave a circle of protodermis where it landed. A thin layer of faintly luminescent mist clung to the floor.

Behind and above him laid the strange emptiness and ahead of him was a strange, smooth stone walkway that branched out to the side every thirty or so bios. Between each walkway was a depression filled densely with mist. It was filled with so much mist that it was difficult to tell how deep the depression was. It could’ve been anywhere between one and a million bios deep.

Out of the mists rose strange metal towers of varying height and width, most of which were torn up as if by giants. As he walked between the towers, he spotted unusual wreckage everywhere. It was made up mostly of strange green panels, dull metal tubes, and torn wiring.

Up ahead, Krahiki spotted movement. He crouched lower into the mist to hide as he watched. They were Toa! Relief filled Krahiki until he saw blasts of fire and ice flying between them. In fact, upon closer inspection, there were twice the amount there should’ve been.

Krahiki was about to sneak closer when Kuriko, to his right, began to panic. He tugged at his master and waved his claws wildly.

“What is it, boy? What’s wrong?” Krahiki whispered. Kuriko turned around in response and chattered frantically. Still kneeling, his owner turned around and gasped. A pair of beady yellow eyes stared coldly and mindlessly down at its prey a mere five bios behind them!

The enormous Manas snapped it jaws open and closed, drooling pale green saliva. It hissed loudly and punched at Krahiki, sending him careening far back into Kuriko. It shrieked in triumph and rolled over to them, but the ussal grabbed Krahiki and dragged him in between the massive treads.

Puzzled, it let out a roar and began grabbing at things randomly with its claws and probing through the mist with its feelers. Krahiki felt his body being taken over by Vitara again, and he was, for once, happy about it.

“Stop!” Vitara shouted with a surprisingly powerful voice.

Red energy crackled up the Manas’ feelers, and it stopped moving at once, waiting for Vitara’s orders. Vitara continued.

“Do not attack anyone who comes through here, even on Makuta’s orders. Now… Destroy ALL of the towers.”

The red energy ceased to crackle over the massive crustacean, and it rolled off and began tearing through the few remaining protodermis towers. Vitara returned bodily control to Krahiki, who felt quite shaken and a bit confused.

Krahiki lowered his body and ran through the mist past the fighting Toa. On his way past them, Krahiki observed the second, mysterious group. They were rusted and pitted, and each had a sickly, polluted sort of color to their armor.

Krahiki shuddered and ran up to a massive, circular door. Above it was a colossal stone carving of Makuta’s symbol. He walked hesitantly through it, into a cavern filled with red light. He realized now where he was.

He was in the heart of Makuta’s Lair.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 26- The Makuta

Krahiki nearly jumped with surprise and fright, and began to run back through the door which he had used to enter. An invisible barrier seemed to hold him back, and he fell to the smooth stone floor.

His heartlight flashing rapidly, he began feeling over the barrier for some sort of gap. There were none. He let out a sharp breath and turned around. Kuriko stood silently at his side staring upwards. Krahiki followed his gaze towards a swirling mass of dark objects, high up in the air.

They resembled the protodermic body parts of rahi and matoran, all of them covered in rust. They spun around in a spherical vortex about twenty bios in diameter, though from the sides it appeared much deeper, as if it was bigger on the inside than the outside.

An orangish pillar of light stretched from floor to ceiling, in which the vortex was situated. Despite this brightness, it barely illuminated the cavern, leaving much of it in total darkness. What lay beyond the pale light was unknown, though Krahiki imagined all variety of horrible creatures waiting in the shadows.

His uncomfortable thoughts were interrupted by a deep voice. It seemed to emanate from everywhere- The distant walls, the floor and ceiling, the vortex, and the very air itself.

“Matoran! How have you reached my lair? Where is the Other?” boomed the Makuta.

“I, I…“ Krahiki stuttered at first. “What other?”

“The Other!” the Master of Shadows bellowed. “The one destined to defeat me!”

“Do you… Expect him to come today?” the defenseless Tohunga choked.

“With you and the Toa!”

“Is it…… V-Vitara?”

“I do not know for sure yet who it is, but it is not Vitara! Vitara is dead! Since the fall of Nuro-Vata!”

Krahiki shut his eyes as he felt Vitara’s influence creeping over his body. He normally hated this sensation, but today it gave him a feeling of confidence. He felt that he would hold some sway over Makuta after this transformation.

“Not dead…” Vitara paused and then added, “Master. Merely dormant.”

Having lived with this demon in his head for as long as he could remember, Krahiki could see that this was false sincerity. As far as he could tell, the only one being betrayed was Makuta, but for what he couldn’t decide.

The massive power of the voice faltered a little as he spoke again. “Vitara… I am overjoyed to find that you are still alive. Do you know anything of the Other?”

“I have encountered him… But nothing can get past the Manas. Their fury was rekindled when I escaped them. They are currently destroying… Things.”

As Vitara finished his sentence, Krahiki could feel him get angry with himself, though he hid it from the Makuta very well. The Manas were, after all, destroying themselves by destroying those towers. If he didn’t want this “Other” to reach Makuta, he could’ve simply told them to stop him.

The Makuta was about to continue this conversation when he stopped himself and quickly said, “Hide yourself!” Vitara turned Krahiki’s head around to look towards the entrance, only to find that the Toa were walking towards the doorway.

Vitara ran to the left of the cavern, pulling Kuriko along behind him. At this point Krahiki regained control of his body and he crouched down low to conceal himself.

The six Toa stood before the vortex, ready to fight. The red Toa raised his sword boldly and shouted, “Makuta! We have come!” At this, Krahiki heard a shuffling in the darkness beyond the pillar of light. The Brother of Mata Nui was about to reveal himself.

Krahiki peered into the shadows from which he would emerge with a morbid curiosity. No creature that speaks had seen the Makuta and lived… The Matoran wondered about the rumors he had heard. Would he have three heads, as he had heard in his village? Would he have many forms that change?

A small figure walked into the light. At this, a few of the Toa began murmuring quietly, confused. The Fire-Toa even asked incredulously, “What?”

The small figure was a Matoran with sickly yellow eyes. Its protodermis armor was rusty and pitted, with flakes of metal peeling off here and there. It wore a decaying Hau carved without a moving mouth. Wherever muscle tissue should’ve been present, there was instead a putrid green energy.

“I have been waiting for you,” the Makuta said in his powerful voice.

“But, you- You are…” the Red Toa said nervously.

“I am that which you have sworn to protect,” the dark Tohunga said plainly, pointing a frail hand towards them.

“Tahu, it’s a trick… We must destroy him,” Kopaka said, cold as ever.

“Destroy me? You cannot destroy me. No more than you can destroy the sea, or the wind. Or… The Void,” the Makuta said emotionlessly, gesturing towards the vortex above him as he said the last word.

“You are like the sea?” Gali asked. “The sea bears life! The sea bore us!”

“I bore you. For I am Nothing,” Makuta explained. “And out of Nothing you came! And it is into Nothing that you will go… I stand with Mata Nui, side by side. I am his brother… The people of this world are builders, but look into their hearts… And you will find that they have also the power to destroy. I am that power. I am destruction… And I will destroy you.”

“But…” began Tahu. “You are but a Tohunga!”

“You expected something else?” Makuta asked, his eyes glowing brighter than ever before. “Something like… This!?”

As he uttered that last word, a cascade of black tendrils fell from the vortex and swooped up behind him, shattering his body! Grotesque body parts flew in every direction as the tentacles lifted the aged mask into the air ahead of the vortex.

Hundreds of tentacles erupted from all sides of the sphere, each reaching towards a Toa, which was quickly swatted like a rahi fly. Some Toa tried to dodge it or to shield themselves, while others stood and fought… All were decimated.

Krahiki ran away in a panic from the horrible black tentacles, but found that none came towards him. Makuta was quite preoccupied by the Toa. This was a good thing- Krahiki had just spotted a Ta-Matoran near the entrance, whom he recognized as Takua. Was he the “Other” they were talking about…?

His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp call from Toa Tahu. “Our only hope is to work together!” At this, he narrowed his eyes and swung his Firesword back, pointing it towards the vortex and Makuta. It blasted a great stream of flame at them and the vortex seemed to buckle on impact. The other Toa followed suit with their own elemental powers.

Makuta merely levitated high above the ground, inactive. Seeing this, Vitara began speaking to Krahiki in his mind. He won’t take much more of this without retaliation, Tohunga. If you care for your island do something now!

“What do I do?!”

This is a part of your destiny, not mine. I cannot solve it for you, as I don’t know what must be done!

Krahiki was about to respond when he got an idea. A smile that was more of a grimace spread across his mask, and he dropped to his knees after letting go of all the objects slung on his back. He picked up the object he was looking for and stared at it: The Kanoka Disk. He knew now why he had found it, and that he would have only one chance to use it.

“You cannot destroy me…” boomed the Makuta.

Krahiki aligned his hand with the vortex and steadied himself. He was shaking under the pressure. It was imperative for him to throw accurately… He swung his arm forward and flung the Kanoka with all his might into the swirl of protodermic pieces.

It streaked through the air and glided far into the depths of the vortex, out of Krahiki’s view. Suddenly a brilliant white light tore through the swirling madness, shining through the outside layer, and through Makuta’s mask. Makuta’s rusty Hau was sucked into the collapsing vortex as the outside layer collapsed and the inner layer seemed to implode in a brilliant burst of white light.

“For I am Nothing…”

Pieces of protodermis armor and machine-parts fell to the floor and the once-formidable tentacles fell to the ground in a massive heap. The Toa looked at each other, confused by their sudden victory. Krahiki was almost ready to jump out from under a pile of fallen tentacles and announce his involvement when a beam of light enveloped a Toa to the right. Other Toa followed, until none were left.

“What happened to them?!” Krahiki worried.

Makuta would not want his enemies in his lair while he’s gone… Wherever he is.

Right as Vitara finished this sentence, a pale green light flooded the cavern. A massive circular door with a strange symbol on it rose up ahead of him.

I think, Vitara hissed, He wants you to go in…

Krahiki was about to get up and go in when Takua walked by him, and he ducked again, pushing Kuriko down. Krahiki followed in a crouching walk, about fifty bios behind him. This cavern had no definite light source, but a pale green mist that sank to the floor illuminated the cavern with ambient light.

At the far side of the room was a massive honeycomb, reminiscent of those in a Nui-Rama hive. These, however, appeared to be made of protodermis, though each was covered in slime and caked with dirt and the filth of thousands of years. They each had a translucent dome, through which a faint light could be seen.

Takua walked somewhat carelessly up to one and peered through what was most likely once a glassy, clear surface, but was now nearly impossible to see through. As he put his face to it, a pair of bright red lights flickered to life inside the cell, and Takua ducked down as the surface of it began to bulge and bubble.

This surface then burst, and a spherical object blew out of it, trailing liquid behind it. It landed on the ground between the two horrified Matoran and began to unfold into a streamlined red-armored, beetle-like creature.

As it awakened, other eyes began to glow in each cell, and they began bursting with more rapidity, scattering these monsters all over the cavern. A deafening “chikt-chikt-chikt” filled the room as all of them began walking dutifully in Takua’s direction.

Krahiki watched Takua panic and run away towards a small pedestal in the mist. A stone sphere was situated on it, and Takua began rooting through his own bag for something. He soon pulled out a chisel or wedge and inserted it into the sphere.

A large grayish, transparent bubble immediately formed around him and rocketed upwards towards the ceiling, which was actually visible in this room. It entered through a circular tunnel and zoomed out of sight.

Although the strange creatures were now getting to work demolishing their hive rather than attacking, Krahiki didn’t want to be around when it came down, as it seemed to be attached to the ceiling. Krahiki directed Kuriko up the highly textured face of the hive and commanded him to climb up it as Krahiki looked down at the carnage below. The beasts were melting the bottom of their hive with their disk-like claws, which glowed red-hot.

“Vitara?” Krahiki asked unsurely. “What are those things?”

They are Bohrok, Krahiki. They will surely help my cause along…

Though he didn’t know what cause he was referring to, the Matoran was sure it couldn’t be good. He was convinced that the Bohrok would prove to be horrific creatures.

After quite a bit of climbing, Kuriko reached the ceiling, and his master was forced to hang on. The ussal crab reached the tunnel and began scuttling steadily down the polished hallway. As they walked, Krahiki reflected over what had happened recently. He had saved the island, made a friend in Jala, found a new home, seen the Makuta and lived...

As he thought, his mind gradually shifted to thoughts about Vitara’s conversation with the Makuta. What was this “Other?” Why did Vitara want him to survive? Krahiki realized that, in his tired state, Vitara might be more willing to explain to him.

“Vitara?”

What is it?

“Who is the Other?”

The Other is that clumsy Ta-Matoran who awakened the Bohrok…

“Takua?”

Yes.

“If he’s the ‘Other,’ who else… Is there-”

You, Krahiki. Makuta has you identified, but can’t have you killed because of the power he thinks you’re supposed to lead him to. After that, you are worthless to him.

“And you don’t want him to get this power because he wronged you in some way…?”

That is not why… The source of this power is immoral and cruel. It should not be exploited for personal gain!

Krahiki could tell that Vitara was getting irritable, so he decided to stop questioning him. He leaned back on Kuriko and enjoyed this relaxation he so desperately needed. After a time, they reached a dead end. He knew that Takua had come through here, so he did a quick search and found a button that would’ve been pressed inward when that sphere came through. He pressed it, and the stone rose above him. The early evening light poured in, and he saw that before him stretched the Ta-Wahi Beach.

He stepped out and spotted Takua lying on the sand, apparently unconscious from the rough landing. He looked fairly tended to, however, and Krahiki immediately dove behind a rock as he spotted Vakama standing a short way away, staring out over the Endless Sea…

Takua was coming to, and he slowly opened his eyes and got up drowsily, walking across the windy beach towards his wise, elderly Turaga…

[Wrinkledlion X]

Chapter 27- The Beach

A chill wind swept through the beach as Krahiki peered at Takua walking to Vakama. Next to him lay the Toa Canister, still missing its inner panel. Seaweed draped over the mysterious cylinder, ebbing slightly with the gentle waves.

Krahiki became aware of a somewhat bitter cold that had set over the ancient landscape, that had chilled the seabirds which were now flying to their nests for the night. Krahiki listened past their drowsy squawks to Vakama, who had begun to speak.

“So…” Said the aged wise one. “You have surprised us again, Chronicler. We feared your courage led you to a final adventure… But it seems you may have many more in the future.”

He paused and looked at Takua’s mask, hidden from Krahiki’s view. “You seem afraid. I know what you saw in that cave… Our prophecies said the Makuta’s defeat would end our troubles… But the prophecies have changed. Something yet darker looms ahead of us.

“But for now, put these thoughts from your mind. There are many reasons for the people of Mata Nui to rejoice! When we first met, and you found my mask and my Firestaff… And indeed fulfilled quests for all the Turaga… You were thought to be an outcast.

“No Matoran travels from village to village having adventures. The people of Ta-Koro did not trust you, and feared your adventurous ways. They were certain it would bring us ill luck. But you have proven us all wrong, Takua. You stand with the Toa, among Mata Nui’s greatest heroes! Come! Let us leave this windy beach and return to the light and heat of Ta-Koro… Many friends await you there!”

Krahiki watched them walk away, triumphantly… Though he felt a certain jealousy, he knew to feel happy for him. He knew that his own life was a tale like Takua’s, still in the making… In time, he would rejoice with the Matoran of Onu-Koro and once again speak to Whenua…

Krahiki sensed Vitara’s preoccupation with another part of the Turaga’s speech… He thought little of it, however, and looked to the sky, which was now alight with beautiful and exotic fireworks. In the back of his mind, Vitara muttered what he focused on…

Darker things loom ahead… Much darker indeed…

And as Krahiki watched the sky, he looked past the wondrous spectacles of light, to the stars high above. The Red Star had moved to the constellation of Valtiu, as he had predicted at the telescope…

But now was not the time to worry about these things. Now was a time to celebrate, even if alone was the only way he could. He watched the fireworks and lied down on the soft sand. After an hour he finally closed his eyes and fell to sleep…

THE END