//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Strange Kohlii Balls // Story: Six Ways, Book 2: Duty // by the_bioXpony_guy //------------------------------// Stay quiet—and stay still, he told himself, keeping the kohlii balls still in his arms. The thought of being with this creature in a nearly-perfect stone ring of a wall didn’t help his state of urgency. Maybe this is one of those rahi that can’t see you when you stay still. Lyra raised an eyebrow and took a step forward. “Uh—hello?” asked she. “I can see you, you know.” Drat! the defenseless Po-Matoran swore. So I guess this is what this rahi’s eyes are supposed to look like; it hasn’t been sprayed by the Nui-Jaga. But what kind of rahi has eyes that big, unless it’s a Nui-Rama? In his panic, thought up a diversion. He pointed over Lyra’s shoulder and cried, “W-what on Mata Nui is that?” What were earlier unshed tears of misery soon became tears of laughter when Lyra burst out laughing and snorted, “You honestly think I’m going to fall for that?” The Po-Matoran felt tempted to respond, but instead found himself dumbstruck with a horrific epiphany. Wait a minute…oh no—have I got the plague now? It would explain why this bright cyan-colored, foreign, talking rahi now stood within his field of view. Nothing like this can possibly exist, right? It can’t exist—but who’s gonna help me now? Half of Po-Koro is already infected with the plague! Noticing how obviously the Matoran had fallen into his own silent monologue, Lyra rolled her eyes and brought herself down to his eye-level. Her yellow eyes stared deep into his, yet the Po-Matoran remained completely oblivious to the outside world—that was until the unicorn cleared her throat and brought him back to reality. “Gah!” he exclaimed, dropping one of the balls. “Sorry, uh—but I’ve gotta go! Have lots of kohlii balls to sell!” And with that, he began making his way back to Po-Koro. “Why not sell one to me?” said Lyra, stepping forward and smirking as the Matoran turned his back on her. “Unless you’re lying to me and you’re not really a businessman. Is that it?” “Just don’t listen to it,” the Matoran murmured. “It’s not real—it’s just a figment of your imagination—it’s not real—it’s just a figment of your imagination—it’s not real—it’s just a figment of your imagination—!” The more he went on, the louder his words became. “Hey!” called Lyra. “Mr. Lying-Businessman?” At that, the Po-Matoran faced Lyra once again. “Nobody calls Ahkmou a liar!” For the first time during their confrontation, Lyra legitimately felt a little afraid of the angry Matoran. Had she not undergone the torment of living under Onepu’s suppressed thumb, she would have done to this Po-Matoran what she had done to the red-and-blue Matoran she met on the beach. Instead, all she could do now was stand by and watch as Ahkmou left all but one stony ball on the ground and made his way back up to Lyra. “So you want to buy one of the kohlii balls, huh?” he asked, walking a circle around Lyra. “Usually I would give my customers a discount—or even a freebie—for their first ball.” He chuckled as he stared down at his ball. “But I’m afraid I have an attitude fee—something I don’t think you would understand. I don’t care if you come from the Southern Islands or wherever; the attitude fee applies to all I see fit.” Just as Ahkmou opened his mouth to continue his explanation, Lyra nabbed the ball out of his hand with her front hooves and asked, “So is this thing a ball or a rock?” The Po-Matoran’s temper flared when he replied, “It’s a ball, it’s a rock, it’s whatever you want it to be. But just remember to play well whenever kohlii season starts!” Lyra merely nodded her head, resisting to ask the Matoran questions about kohlii—questions which would have likely resulted in another near-fit-of-rage from the little man of stone. “So,” Ahkmou continued. “With that being said—this kohlii ball comes to you at the price of only ten widgets!” “Ten what’s-its?” “That’s it.” Ahkmou rubbed his temples with his free hand. “Never mind! You’re not worth my time.” Frustration overcame the Po-Matoran as he went over and started picking up the balls he’d set on the ground. And as he struggled to keep himself from throwing a full-on tantrum, Lyra—still holding the ball in her hooves—wondered, “Um…don’t you want the ball back?” “No!” said the Matoran. “Just keep it. You’re not worth my time!” Once he managed to retrieve the kohlii balls he’d earlier dropped, he continued on his way back over to Po-Koro, hoping to sell all his specialty-branded balls by nightfall. Oh well, thought Ahkmou. Maybe that dumb rahi will manage to get this plague going a little faster. The idea made him chuckle. Unless, of course, that thing really is a figment of my imagination and I’m coming down with the plague, as well. The idea made him cringe. From behind the pony, a familiar voice said, “He’s a rude one, isn’t he?” A flinch zipped through Lyra’s body as she looked over her shoulder. “Pewku! I didn’t even know you were there,” she said with a sigh. “You scared the wits out of me! How’ve you been?” The crab chuckled. “I suppose I’ve been alright, though nothing much has changed. I haven’t really heard anything about that journey of yours. Did you do what you wanted to?” “You’d better believe I did! I built and met four other people like Tahu—and in four different environments. I’m only guessing that now there’s one more I have to find here.” An almost nostalgic smile crossed Lyra’s face. “Well, I’m sorry to be going, but—” “Where are you going?” Pewku interrupted. “I’m sure you’re busy trying to find the sixth one, but feels like I haven’t seen you in moons!” Lyra blinked before sighing, “I know we haven’t seen each other in a while, but I need to find the sixth Toa so I can build him. The only problem is that this desert is so huge and confusing and whenever I think I’ve found the one they call the ‘Toa of Stone,’ turns out it’s just another giant rock.” “So you’re lost, is it?” wondered Pewku. “Well yes,” replied Lyra, feeling a light amount of sweat coating her brow. “But I think that—well, maybe—” Try as she might, the empty-hoofed, frustrated foreigner couldn’t come up with a logical rebuttal to the crab’s question. Her face started to scrunch up as she turned around and huffed, “Just—let me figure things out for myself, okay?” The crab blinked, but didn’t seem to feel at all disturbed by the pony’s anger. After a small pause, she blinked once more and replied, “Okay.” “It’s just so dumb,” muttered Lyra as she started walking around in circles. “No matter where I go, I always seem to end up in the same place. Just when I think I have the answer, something goes wrong!” She knew this wasn’t entirely true, but perhaps the stress of finding and building these Toa had gotten to her head. She loved building and setting things in the way they were supposed to be, but doing so with hooves nearly drove Lyra mad. Whenever she built a Toa, over half the time she’d pick up a piece and it would fall right out of her hoof. In addition, every time she went to build one of those biomechanical giants, she’d receive vague directions from the talking Toa heads. Some of them got impatient with her mistakes, whilst others merely sat by. Her worst experience in building came to her when she had to build Lewa—who always found a way to make fun out of telling her the wrong instructions. Part of her wished she had let that jerk remain a pile of pieces in the wilderness. Frustration rolled over itself as Lyra thought these things over. As she continued walking around and around in circles, she eventually stopped in front of the lone kohlii ball. The little rock seemed stared up at her as she stared down, wondering what the kohlii ball was thinking of her. If she looked hard enough, she could see Ahkmou’s stupid face looking back at her—as if to say he had won. The more she thought about it, the more Lyra wished she had actually done the proper when she first saw that black mask of his. “Can’t anything just go right for once?!” All her pent-up frustrations trailed down into her hoof. She pulled her leg back—then let it swing forward, firing the ball over a rocky wall, toward the sky as she did so. Surprisingly, the impact didn’t hurt her hoof at all; it seemed to hurt the ball more. Lyra then took a moment to catch her breath. Pewku wondered if it would even be appropriate to talk at that moment. Surely, Lyra would snap at her—yet the crab went ahead and asked, “Do you feel…okay?” Her teeth clenched, the pony turned to face the crab once more. The piercing look in her yellow eyes suggested an angry rebuttal—but Lyra’s agitation finally seemed to plateau when she replied, “I guess. I just…need a moment to breathe.” But just as those words escaped her, a loud explosion sounded from the other side of the stone wall. Lyra found herself jolting off her four hooves as the sound hit her eardrums. Even Pewku crab found herself in a state of panic; she wanted to sink into her shell. “What’s going on?!” she wondered. “Is Onepu coming?” At that, Lyra’s ear twitched in confusion. “Um…does Onepu have explosives?” “Who knows? Onepu will do anything to get his ussal crabs back after they’ve been lost! After all, he’s the kind of person who would sell his best friend just to win the annual competition. Just think about what he—” “Pewku!” Lyra interrupted, resisting the urge to giggle. “Relax! I’m not sure, but I think I have a good idea of what’s happening.” Almost instantly, Pewku’s state of panic subsided. “You do?” Lyra nodded. “I’ve heard that noise five other times before. My best guess is—” But right as the thought crossed her mind, she heard as the little individual pieces pattered about. That noise—it’s the same noise that the others' pieces made when they rolled on the ground. With hardly any warning, she ran off, making her way around the rocky wall separating her and Pewku from what just might have been the sixth Toa. “Hey, wait!” cried Pewku as Lyra escaped the confining barriers. “I can’t run that fast!” But Lyra didn’t listen—didn’t seem to remember that Pewku even existed. Instead she rushed toward the explosion site, curious to know whom she would meet next. It was at that point when she remembered how close she was to the ocean; just a few steps closer and she picked up the sound of waves tugging back and forth at a sandy shore. A few steps later her pursuit persisted—but shortly thereafter, she came to an immediate halt. It’s just as I thought; a sixth one! Already she began making images of what this character might have looked like. She imagined he would have a similar appearance to Tahu—but that was before she saw the triangular mask. And the lack of a sword. And the stone boots. "Oh my goodness!" cried Pewku from behind. "So that metal thing over there is what exploded?" Lyra turned her head toward the canister's torso and witnessed the little bit of red highlighted along its rim. Whenever the metal made contact with water, a little bit of steam rose through the dry desert air. Thankfully, not a single part of this biomechanical being's body managed to get trapped within the ocean's constantly-casting net—which relieved the pony more than anything. While Lyra felt, at worst, a little worried as to how she would build this creature, Pewku felt nothing but horror ebbing through her mind. She could just feel herself shaking like a rattlesnake tail. Lyra noticed this and raised an eyebrow, wanting to ask what was wrong when Pewku shrieked, "That Matoran blew himself up!" As much as she would have liked that to happen, Lyra had to disagree. Humored and annoyed at the same time, she replied, “Don’t worry, Pewku. I think this is the sixth Toa.” At that point, silence fell upon the desert. Pewku stopped trembling and merely blinked at the pony. She took a deep breath before asking, “Y-you do?” Lyra nodded before turning her gaze toward the pieces once more. Already she could feel her mind processing what this creature would become by the time its construction completed. Whether or not her mind gave an accurate portrayal was to be seen; there was only one way to find out for sure.