Six Ways, Book 2: Duty

by the_bioXpony_guy

Chapter 6: Fresh Life

Three hours passed in the span of two days—or so it had felt to Norik, who had spent the whole night awake, waiting for the storm to blow over. Three hours he spent listening to his mental clock tick and tock, twiddling his thumbs back and forth, making himself appear anxious and—above all-vulnerable. A few times he caught himself peeking out the nearest door, only to find a blast of freezing protodermis splash against his face. When will the storm end?

Not too far away, Gaaki had trouble translating some of the stone slabs upon her desk—not because of translation difficulty, but because of what she called translators’ block. Thoughts of new Toa filled her with excitement, anxiety, and confusion; neither emotion helped in overcoming her supposed block.

Having watched her from behind many times during their days as Toa, Norik felt a hint of nostalgia as he sat back and listened to her mumble translations under her breath. He hardly managed to make out her words, yet he found it a pleasant experience to truly listen to her murmuring voice for the first time in what felt like a thousand years.

In meeting the Toa Hordika, the Rahaga felt as if they had breathed life to the next wave of Toa—as if the Hordika were their children. In meeting these alien creatures, they will have given life to their illegitimate grandchildren.

At any moment we will find out who they are, thought Norik. And when we finally do find out about them, Mata Nui give us strength!

From the trapdoor up above, a loud squeak echoed down to Norik and Gaaki, making the two of them flinch. “Norik!” a voice called; it sounded like Kualus. “Norik—Gaaki—everyone! It’s over!”

Norik flinched. Is it really?

Kualus shouted once more: “It’s over; let’s go see them!”

Hardly even caring where she now was in her translation, Gaaki immediately set aside her stone slab and made her way to the door. Norik grabbed his staff and followed close behind, feeling as if he were the most eager out of all the Rahaga to see the new Toa.

Gaaki shoved the door open and witnessed the early sunrise just barely looming over the sea of protodermis. And to her left, the very same six crystals still rooted to the ground. They reminded her of Toa stones—but unlike Toa stones, only these were all the same shade of white. Simply witnessing them caused her to halt right where she was.

Norik, on the other hand, saw no reason to stop; instead he made his way around Gaaki. Oh, thank Mata Nui! he thought, a hopeful smile showing on his face as he moved forward. He zipped toward the stones in an instant, surprising all the other Rahaga with his previously untapped speed.

And there he stood, utterly shocked by the stones’ beauty. Their appearance was nothing short of majestic—as if the Great Spirit himself had crafted these crystals with his own hands millennia ago. The rays of the two rising suns of Metru Nui added a shade of light to the otherwise shadowed gems.

In seconds, the crystals almost completely absorbed the suns' gathered light, making it harder to get a glimpse of the figures residing within each one. Each one shined bright white into the Rahaga's eyes; a couple of them had to shield their eyes just to keep from being temporarily blinded.

"The Toa," whispered Norik, taking a small step forward. He didn’t seem to be too affected by the shining light. “After so long—”

But before Norik could finish, Iruni rushed in front of him, bringing a gust of wind as he ran. “Oh my—this is just—just—I can’t believe it!” The Rahaga of Air came inches from pressing his head against the front of one of the crystals, as if immune to the intense brightness. “It’s amazing how—oh!”

In the midst of speaking his thoughts, Iruni looked past the large stone before him and noticed a smaller one—this one not quite as blindingly bright as the others—sticking out of the ground. The thought of such a thing made him scratch his head. Turning his gaze toward the others, he grinned and asked, “Baby Toa?”

Almost willing to actually laugh at that joke, Norik took a step toward Iruni—finding the supposed “Baby Toa” stone sitting behind one of the larger ones. So as not to offend Pouks, Norik silently uttered, It’s likely a new Toa of Stone.

But even as the thought crossed his mind, he couldn’t help but notice a river of cracks drawn along the side of this crystal. Did it get hit on the way here? wondered Norik.

As seconds ticked on by, the crack grew larger and larger; eventually it became enough to make Iruni take a few paces back. Like an egg, the tiniest crystal of the bunch started quivering in its spot as awe-inspiring surges of energy seeped from its imperfections. Meanwhile, the relatively dim light from the crystal started growing brighter and brighter in heartbeats, soon rivalling the brightness of the other stones.

A chunk of the crystal’s top shattered like glass and whisked away like dust in the wind. Before the Rahaga’s eyes, another chunk dissipated—and then another! Mere milliseconds came to pass when, at last, the small crystal’s peak completely disappeared, letting free the creature inside. Those watching turned around and covered their faces, so as not to be hit in the face by shattering, flying debris.

A small storm seemed to rage for a good ten seconds before finally calming down. Once the littlest crystal of the bunch finally shattered, the surrounding stones all dramatically dimmed down, becoming more transparent than white. Certain that the crystal’s fit of energy had come to an end, the Rahaga uncovered their gazes and took a look at the results.

A foreign creature, tiny enough to fit in with the Matoran, lied flat on the ground. It looked very much like a Ta-Matoran, but peeping around the more armored parts of his body were what seemed to be random splotches of scaly mauve—the origin of which none of the Rahaga could even begin to explain.

Nothing but the sound of the pushing and pulling ocean waves filled the air when—much to the Rahaga’s surprise—the crimson-and-mauve creature began pushing himself off the ground. He must still have some energy left in him yet! commented Norik, surprised that any regular Matoran could have withheld so much strength after being battered about by the recent storm.

The standing-by Rahaga kept their distance as the supposed Ta-Matoran lifted himself up at last. His head spun as he first pick himself up on his feet, but after a while the Firespitter managed to take a glimpse of his surroundings. The stranger rubbed his eyes and blinked once, twice, then violently shook his head. “Oh, man,” he muttered to himself. “I must’ve had too much of Applejack’s cider again. It always gives me weird dreams.”

“N-now wait a minute there, little one!” exclaimed Norik.

The Ta-Matoran froze right where he was. “Y-you can talk?”

As much as Norik wanted to sympathize with the little person, he couldn’t help but chuckle at his reaction. “Well, I am a Rahaga, young one,” he began. “Not necessarily a rahi, not exactly a Turaga, but—I would say I’m about halfway in between.”

A pause came between the two as the Matoran shook his head once more. “I—uh—are you sure I’m not dreaming?”

Growing impatient, Pouks cut in: “Boy, the only one dreaming around here is the Great Spirit and your Toa friends over there!” As he said this, the Rahaga of stone pointed toward the unshattered crystals upon the beach.

The boy raised an eyebrow. “My…what friends?” The Matoran took a look over his shoulder, noticing the crystalline towers sitting in the ground. For a brief moment they looked like nothing more than rocks; with further inspection, his heart leapt into his throat. “Oh no!” Realizing the horrific truth, he rushed over to the nearest crystal—the likes of which imprisoned his nearest and dearest friend. It all came too quickly for him to grasp what was happening. A trembling hand came up to the unicorn’s silhouetted face, touching the glass which now encased it. “Twilight?”

The mysterious Matoran couldn’t believe, didn’t want to believe his eyes. More than anything, he dared to dream that all of this was nothing more than a hallucination. Over and over he told himself, It’s just the cider—it’s just the cider, but no matter how hard he clung to that belief, thoughts of dread simply wouldn’t leave his mind. Her crystal may as well have been a block of ice—for the longer he touched it, the colder his skin became.

The longer he stood there in agony, the more he started noticing how much he himself had changed since his last waking days in Equestria.

With a flinch, the Matoran pulled himself away from the crystal and took a look down at his hands. Whereas before his hand was purple and scaly, a bionic layer of bright red covered up large chunks of the foreigner’s natural purple skin. Skin and bones was he no more—instead now he was covered up in metallic skin, pins, and axels.

If this was the case for the newcoming Matoran, what of his imprisoned friends? “Twilight?” he wondered, barely managing to suppress his tears. “What is happening to me? What—what’s happened to you?”

His friend did not respond.

Feeling as though he might have already known the answer, Norik stepped forward and asked, “I assume this isn’t what you and your friends normally look like?”

A nearly powerless, “No,” escaped the young one’s lips as he pressed his back against the crystal, covering his eyes with his forearm so as not to let the Rahaga see his tears.

Without a second thought, Gaaki made her way to the Ta-Matoran’s side and set a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, little one,” she assured. “They’re crystalized just as you were a moment ago; give it some time and they’ll escape, too!”

At that, the Ta-Matoran regained some composure. “Really?” he asked, looking up to face the blue Rahaga. The sight of her animal-like appearance made him want to cringe, but he could not bring himself so low after this creature had just helped him to see a bright, glimmering speck of hope.

“Give it some time, boy,” said Kualus as he stepped forward. “They should be out by the time the sun reaches its peak. For now, though—let’s just wait.”

The Ta-Matoran sniffled and wiped his remaining tears away. “Alright.” And with that, the little one took a good look at his surroundings, taking note of the metallic stalagmites, the silver ocean, the two suns peaked over the horizon. Never in his homeland had he witnessed such alien features; had the black, bionic woman transported him and his friends to another land, another planet, another dimension?

“You look confused,” stated Norik. “I take it you’re not from here?”

“No,” replied the Matoran, shaking his head. “This place—I’ve never seen anything like it!”

With a chuckle, Norik nodded his head and explained: “You are on Metru Nui: city of legends—once a populous island with all sorts of Matoran like yourself.”

Matoran?

“There was once a time when the Great Spirit Mata Nui watched over us all with great care. In His waking days, we were the Great Spirit’s servants. The city of Metru Nui was prosperous until Makuta took a hold of everything the Matoran and Toa once held dear to their hearts. It was an event we now refer to as the Great Cataclysm."

The Great Cataclysm? Wait a moment—wasn't Twilight talking about that?

Norik continued. "The Matoran counted on their Toa to protect them, but even the Toa couldn't prevent the Great Cataclysm. All the Matoran were removed from this place by a group of six Toa. Since then, we, the Rahaga, have been searching for Turaga Dume."

Gaaki sighed and shook her head. "It took us a few months to get any idea where Makuta put Dume." She looked up at the small tower behind their Ta- Matoran visitor. "We just recently found that tower filled with documents and scriptures; one of them said you and your friends would come."

Surprised, the Ta-Matoran took a glimpse over at the small tower, then back at the Rahaga. Someone predicted we would come? But—it was just an accident, wasn’t it?

In the midst of the stranger’s thoughts, Norik broke from the topic and asked, “Do you mind telling us your name, little one? The scriptures never said anything about the names of you and your friends, I’m afraid. They’re strange like that.” He chuckled.

“Oh,” replied the Matoran. “My name’s Spike.”

“And I assume you’re from Mata Nui?” continued Norik. “That’s where all the Matoran are these days.”

Spike raised an eyebrow and replied, “N-no—I’ve never even been to Mata Nui. I’m actually from a town called Ponyville.”

At that, Iruni broke out in a fit of laughter. “Ha!” he wheezed. “Ponyville—next thing you know, there’ll be a Muakaville, Ramaville, and—”

“Iruni!” shouted the five other Rahaga.

At that, Iruni shrunk down and looked away from his comrades.

As much as Norik wanted to whack Iruni right on the top of his head, he merely grunted and glared at him before turning back to Spike. “I’m sorry about that, Spike. Iruni can be—well, a little rude at times.”

As much as Iruni wanted to object, he hadn’t the nerve to argue with his leader at this point in time.

Noticing the red and purple parts covering up Spike’s body, Bomonga commented, “That’s an interesting color pattern you’ve got there, Firespitter.”

The creature’s idiom caught Spike off-guard. “Firespitter?” he wondered. “I mean—I spit fire, but—”

Before Spike could even begin to ask where such a term came from, the surrounding crystals started rumbling against the ground, just as Spike’s had earlier—only this time, the crystals shook and cracked even moreso than Spike’s. Time almost came to complete halt as the capsules grew brighter and brighter, eventually forcing Spike and the Rahaga to cover their eyes. A part of him felt like running away, but the dragon boy knew not to retreat from his best friends.

Six explosions ignited before the audience of seven, sending forth chunks of glass-like shards toward those watching. A raid of fireworks shimmered from whence the crystals once stood. Surely this was not the work of Makuta.

Nor was it the work of the Great Spirit.

Comments

[Rainbow87dash]

Mata Nui?
Makuta?

Is this..Bionicle crossover!?

[Toa Coy]

6317412 check the featured in box it is not alone

[the_bioXpony_guy]

6317412 Yes indeed ;)