Six Ways, Book 1: Unity

by the_bioXpony_guy

Chapter 6 Watch Him As He Goes

The rest of that day was nothing more than the simple allegiance of pieces. One piece after another, Tahu’s true form gradually grew more and more apparent to the austere unicorn.

With time, she found herself face-to-face with an almost beastly creature.

In his true form, Tahu stood at least three times taller than Kapura. Even if she was to stand up and meet his gaze on her hind legs, Lyra would still prove shorter than him.

But wait a minute. “Aren’t you missing something?” asked Lyra, staring deep into Tahu’s eyes.

“I think so,” Tahu sighed. “I’m so exhausted!”

Lyra snorted in disbelief. “You—tired?” Those were the only words to keep her from breaking out laughing. “Says the person who didn’t have to go through countless random pieces just to put together a machine nearly twice her size!”

After catching her breath, she continued with a chuckle, “Exhausted, my flank!”

“Well, I don’t know,” grunted Tahu. “I just feel—heavy: like I can’t support my own weight.”

That was when it hit Lyra. That was when she realized there was something different about Tahu’s face—as opposed to Kapura’s. It was as if something had been removed from Tahu’s face. Was it vital for him to have this missing piece? Or could he go on without it?

As Lyra thought these things over, Tahu stood by in wait. His own two legs felt like they were going to break if they continued to hold the mass of protodermis above them. The notion of it all made his patience slowly vanish.

The hilt of his sword remained just that: a hilt. There was no blade, no laser, nothing at all; just a mass of empty air. But even with it being just a hilt, why did it feel so empty? Why did Tahu have to put so much stress on his fingers just to make sure it didn’t hit the ground? I should not have to do this.

With the sun on the verge of falling beneath the horizon, finding this one last piece would only become more and more difficult as time progressed.

“Come on,” murmured Lyra, “Where is it?” She only grew more frantic as time went on. She used all four of her hooves to search around for it in the sand, but found nothing. She poked into the capsule, but found nothing. She turned the capsule over, but found nothing.

After pushing that heavy load, Lyra needed a moment to breathe. Panting, she glared over at the sun, watching as it waved off its final goodbye for the night. Shoot. Her ears folded against her head as she let out a sigh.

Then—as if out of nowhere—a miracle! Drifting within the barely-lit waters of the ocean was what looked like a tipped boat. “Is that it?” she asked Tahu, not even daring to look back at him.

At first Tahu was confused. “Hm?” Squinting his pink eyes, he peered off into the distance—and through Makuta’s cloak, he witnessed the last piece to his incomplete body. “That’s it!” he cried. “Get it! Quick!”

Her heart leaping into her throat, Lyra flinched, gained some of her composure, and dashed out into the water. The cool liquid embraced her entire body in a matter of seconds, filling her mouth and nose with a horribly salty essence. Water threatened to swamp over the unicorn—to turn her attempts into a disaster. No! she thought with a growl. I will not let a little water get the best of me! Keeping this thought in mind, the pony pushed on to this last piece. Much like a dog would do, she started kicking her legs in the pursuit toward Tahu's final piece.

Growling and struggling to hold her breath, she soon found the last piece floating right under her nose. Seizing her opportunity, she swallowed her pride and grabbed the mask with her teeth. It was immediately after doing so when she started kicking herself back.

Strange, she thought while heading back to Tahu. This piece is neither a body part—nor is it a rod nor gear. On the contrary, this piece felt somewhat flat and round and more spread-out than the others. But all that she knew from feeling; she knew hardly anything about what this piece looked like.

It wasn’t until splashing up to the shore when Lyra finally caught a glimpse at what she had just caught. “I got it,” she coughed, spitting the piece out of her mouth. Like the majority of Tahu's body, the piece was red and shiny. However, it also seemed to resemble a face. After taking a moment to observe it, she looked up at Tahu and, panting, asked, “This is what you wanted—right?”

A spark of recognition shone in Tahu’s eyes when he nodded and said, “Yes.” As that one word filled the air, the biomechanical creature took a knee and bent down to the piece before him. His metal body nearly gave in to the weight as his knee touched the sandy ground, his fingers bristling under the final piece to his unfinished body. While wet, this last piece was just what he was looking for.

“What is that?” wondered Lyra, her mane soaking wet.

“It’s my mask,” replied Tahu, his tone warmer than usual. “This is what we’ve been trying to find.”

“Are you sure?” What am I saying? she thought, somewhat ashamed of herself. If this isn’t it, that means I might have to go and risk my life just to find one missing piece. She dreaded such a thought. Just thinking about it made her want to roll over and bury her face in the wet sand.

But Tahu wasn’t listening; Lyra may as well been made of thin air.

Everything seemed to happen within that one second. The scorching, yet comforting feel of flame permeated from the mask through Tahu’s body. It was as if somebody had wrapped him up in a warm blanket. The mask's coming in contact with his face summoned a great round of strength and energy—which rapidly spread into his body. Had he any blood, it would have been rushing with pure adrenaline.

No longer did he feel heavy, unable to hold himself up; simply standing was no longer a chore. And while it still held some weight to it, the hilt in his hand no longer held a burden on his fingers.

Lyra wasn’t for sure, but Tahu seemed to glow a heavier shade of color than before. Every little color on his body appeared more vibrant and luminous in the pony’s eyes. But she didn’t mention anything of it. She merely stood by and let Tahu enjoy his newfound strength. Glad I could help.

Without warning, Tahu’s hilt started glowing a bright orange color. A sea of embers seemed to reside within the hilt—before suddenly summoning a lick of flame.

Feeling the fire as it came a millimeter from her hoof, Lyra released a gasp and took a step back. “Be careful with that thing, Tahu!”

Tahu merely chuckled at the pony’s caution toward the heat.

“A flame sword!” he exclaimed, admiring its graceful tongue and elegant hilt. A simple swing of his arm brought forth an arc of flame—the likes of which flew toward and sizzled against the ocean. “It’s nothing but steam:” chuckled Tahu, “hot air—as they say.”

As Lyra stood by, transfixed by his strength, she wondered, “So—what are you gonna do now?’

With a sigh, Tahu responded, “I don’t know.”

It was at that moment when he shot a look toward a volcano in the distance. He witnessed its cone-like shape, imagined the unbearable temperatures emanating from the crater on top. A blurry haze seemed to accompany the volcano’s only impurity. He could see home right in the volcano itself.

It’s amazing, he thought. I must go there—just to see what it is.

“What are you looking at?” asked Lyra, breaking her new friend out of his trance.

Nearly flinching at the sound of her words, Tahu flicked his gaze downward to Lyra.

The little pony, confused, stared into his eyes when she asked once again, “What are you looking at?”

Slightly startled, Tahu cleared his throat, shook his head, and responded, “Um—I just—” He wasn’t sure what to say. How was he to say this—while at the same time avoiding any awkwardness between him and Lyra?

Choking on his words, the nervous robot finally admitted, “That mountain—it’s calling out to me.”

Raising an eyebrow, Lyra turned her head toward this so-called mountain. “You mean the volcano?” she asked while looking back up at Tahu.

After giving quick nod of his head, Tahu headed out toward the volcano. “It spits fire—just like me,” he murmured. “It’s like my natural habitat. I feel like I was born there—but I’ve never been in it before, have I?”

“If you wanna go in there, be my guest,” stated Lyra, unsure whether or not that would have been a wise choice. I just had somebody near there try to kill me, she remembered. But Tahu—I guess he should be able to take them down without a problem!

As these thoughts echoed against the walls of her head, Tahu started trailing off toward the Makuta-infested forest—his feet leaving deep prints within the moist sand.

Lyra blinked. He’s really gonna go for it!

Almost as if she had heard her thoughts, Tahu paused and took a look over his shoulder. The metallic creature, while innocent and practically a tourist in this world, looked ready to kill. Had Lyra not known any better, she would have been frightened by such a sight—to the point of evacuating.

In spite of this, Lyra couldn't help but smile over at Tahu. Thank you, his pink eyes seemed to say. Only a heartbeat passed when he continued on his way toward the forest.

That’s one down, thought Lyra with a sleepy grin, and five more to go.

While anxious to build five more biomechanical beings, Lyra couldn’t help but release a huge yawn. Her hoof covering her gaping maw, the sleepy pony asked herself, Now—where am I going to find a place to sleep?

She pondered the thought for a moment.

I probably shouldn’t sleep by the ocean unless I want to get soaked. She glanced at the dead forest and shuddered. There’s no way I’m going back in there—that’s for sure! “Hmm.”

Little did Lyra know, a red-and-blue Matoran had been wandering around and about the whole day. The whole time he had slowly walked behind Lyra—until he finally tripped and went tumbling head-over-heels toward Lyra—before finally hitting his head to her leg.

Feeling a slightly sharp pain course up her limb, Lyra yowled, “Hey! What are—?” only to stop when she realized who had just run into her. “Kapura?” wondered she, taking notice of the Matoran’s red body.

With a grunt, the Matoran picked himself up on his feet, revealing his light blue mask. That’s not Kapura, Lyra realized. His face shape is the same, but not the color. Was this Kapura’s brother?

With a flinch, the Matoran’s eyes shot up toward the pony. He took a heartbeat to stare into her eyes—before jumping in surprise.

Pulling out a disk and slowly walking backward, the blue-masked Matoran stammered, “A—a rahi!”

Oh no—not this again! Resisting the urge to growl, Lyra asked, “What?”

In retaliation to Lyra’s growl, the blue-faced Matoran used all his strength to hurtle his disk at her.

With barely enough time to retaliate, Lyra ducked out of the way—the Matoran’s disk only an inch above her horn. Without a target, the disk went flying off into the distance—before splashing into the water.

Her spine tingling, Lyra recovered from her duck and took a look up at the Matoran. An uncontrollable temper got the better of her when she screamed, “You little brat!” Her eyes red with fury, Lyra swiftly turned around so that her hind legs faced him.

It was then when the Matoran’s mask made contact with the unicorn’s rear hooves. Smack! Such an impact sent the Matoran flying toward the forest hiding behind the beach. Boom!

It felt good to finally let her rage out. But—as the pony knew—rage was not something to be proud of. As a result of making such a realization, she paused right where she was. What just happened? thought Lyra, her anger suddenly vanishing.

Feeling a bit sorry for the Matoran, she galloped over to where he had just landed. She witnessed as ferns and leaves of dark green covered the Matoran up, blanketing him in their natural beauty. A moan escaped his mouth—so at least he was still alive, just out cold. He'll be alright, I guess.

Her conscience cleared, Lyra found herself distracted by the leaves covering the Matoran's face. The plants here are the same, she noted before taking a look up at the sky. And so are the sky and clouds. The people and animals here might be different, but everything else is the same.

Sitting beside the Matoran's head was what looked like a giant face. Lyra watched as it stared into her eyes—asking her to take a look inside its mystery. Its mouth was shaped in a perfect circle—just big enough for the unconscious Matoran to squeeze through.

What is that? wondered Lyra, almost completely forgetting about the Matoran and plants. Oh, me and my short attention span—I swear.