| The
four travellers stepped out into the desert once more.
“Desolate
place isn’t it…” mused Kaiwera.
“Yes… but
it is beautiful,” replied Kikia.
The wind was
starting to pick up slightly… swirling the sand around their ankles.
“The dunes,
they used to change every day. They were very pretty. One day
I remember there was one that looked very much like a Tohunga.
All the Po-Koronans came to see it. Then we let the younger ones
sledge down it – it was such fun to watch their smiling faces.
Little did we know the peril that awaited us under the sand…”
Kikia put
his hand to his mask.
“It was a
giant Rahi ambush… they leapt out of the sand at us, with no warning.
Sand Tarakava, and Vaku… most of us managed to get away, the gate
was only a few hundred meters from where we were. But the young
ones… they were not used to attack, they had no idea where to
run or who to follow… They huddled together in a group, and as
I looked back I saw the Rahi forming a ring around them. Then
a giant wind swept up… and the sand obscured our view of them.
We called and cried, and trudged through the sand all day, looking,
hoping. But we never found them. All we did find was one of their
masks… scratched and pitted, with a giant dent in the forehead.
We could only assume the worst…” Kikia trailed off.
The Chosen
looked at him, Moana’s amber eyes shining, Pirihi’s cold gaze
penetrating, and Kaiwera’s red eyes flaming.
“Yes… Kikia,
that is why we must continue our quest. For all those who died,
or were taken too early. For the structures and beauty that were
and still are being destroyed every day. For comradeship. For
Unity,” said Kaiwera.
“For Duty,”
said Moana.
“For Destiny!”
they all cried. The sun seemed to shimmer at them.
“There’s something
I’ve been meaning to ask you Kaiwera…” said Kikia, “You’ve been
to more places and seen more things than I have… Do you think
we’ll ever be able to awaken Mata Nui?”
“I do not
know Kikia. There is a legend in Ta-Koro that speaks of a being
that will one day come and rid us of the darkness… But Turaga
Vakama does not tell us everything. I’m not entirely certain he
knows himself. Come, we must go comrades, the sand is beginning
to irritate me.”
Panuhu sat. He was good at sitting. He wasn’t much good at anything
else, except taking care of his Ussal. He loved her, her name
was Puku. She was one of the fasted and most intelligent Ussals
in all of Onu-Koro. The only problem was… she was growing. Soon
she would be too big to venture off the main tunnels of Onu-Koro.
Panuhu needed to find her someone to take care of her. As he thought
this, she stirred. The sunlight glittered on her shell. She got
up, little gears whirring. She wined and pointed her head at the
entrance to the little alcove they were sitting in.
“Hear someone
girl? Hmmm…”
Voices could
be heard.
“…but what
if we don’t get the right one again? The Master was not very happy
about that at all… “
“…yes… and
he didn’t even let us eat it! It was good meat… He punished us
too much…”
“Yes. It was
horrible. Horrible. Quiet now… we might come near to another…”
“And then
we can eats it’s flesh… hurr hurr hurrrrr…”
The voices
were louder. Suddenly Panuhu saw two giants of Nui Rama come over
the wall of the alcove. He yelped.
“Waiti! There’s
another!”
“Hmm… black…
fierce green eyes… Does he have a sword?!”
“DO YOU HAVE
A SWORD?” cried Waiti at the cowering Panuhu.
Panuhu shook
his head, too petrified to speak.
“No… but we
do.”
The two Rama
whipped round to see four Tohunga standing behind them. At the
front was-
“YOU! YOU…
you… you fiend! You HURT us… yes you did…”
“And I’m about
to hurt you again. Back off!” said Kaiwera.
“Not so fast
little Tohunga… you should be more polite to beings more powerful
than you!”
“Yeah. I should.
Shame your not really, innit?” He stood there, his eyes two pinpricks
of light in his snarling Hau. He stealthily brought back his sword
and thrust it into the air at them. The air shimmered and the
image of the Nui Rama shimmered too. Kaiwera’s sword glowed orange,
yellow, then white. As it changed the Rama squirmed more, until
they both screamed.
“Had enough?!”
cried Kaiwera from below them.
“Yes yes yes!
Please… stooooppp!” they wailed.
Kaiwera turned
down the intensity of his sword.
“WHAT have
you done with Rellka?!”
“Who is Rellka?!
Who?!”
“Rellka was
the cablecar guard at Ta-Koro, and a good friend. Where is he?!”
“We… we do
not know…”
They screamed
as the sword changed back to white.
“He… is… with
Master…”
“Master? Who
is Master? ANSWER ME!”
“He… HE IS
OUR MASTER! We must… n’t… tell…”
“Kaiwera!
Stop! They’re… melting…”
And indeed
they were. Their skin started to bubble, their wings started to
buzz slower and began to loose altitude.
Pirihi jumped
onto Kaiwera, and they both tumbled over, the firesword was pushed
into the sand where it turned it to liquid.
Waiti and
Tehetit flew away as fast as their wings would take them.
“GREAT! What
in Mata Nui did you do that for Pirihi?! They were about to crack!”
“They were
about to DIE Kaiwera, they were MELTING. You need to calm down
and keep a cool head.”
“Don’t you
talk to me like that you weakling – you were the first to go!”
Everyone stopped
and stared at Kaiwera.
“Sorry? First
to go where? And I’m not a weakling, Ta-Koronan,” said Pirihi.
Kaiwera didn’t
answer him.
“Now they’re
going to fly back to…their Master, and tell them all about us!
I’ve got a feeling Master is Makuta… and he will now know that
we are more powerful than he thought! Curse you Pirihi, they would
have been better off DEAD! They took my friend! He’s probably
lying in some dank cave somewhere… starving. And it’s all your
fault that his captors got away! Who knows who they might abduct
next!”
“Kaiwera…
it was not those Rama that took your friend, it was Makuta. They
are under his influence. Pirihi was stopping you from killing
two innocent Rahi,” said Moana, looking very upset. “Please don’t
fight…”
“They are
not innocent. They are wicked, wicked animals. They do not deserve
life.”
“Some things
that are alive deserve to die. And some things that are dead deserve
life. Unless you can bring back those who have fallen Kaiwera,
be wary on who and what you deal out death to,” said Pirihi, his
back turned. As he spoke he seemed to grow taller and more grey.
“Someone very great said that once. I suggest you heed it.”
Kaiwera snarled
and stood up.
“Onu-Koronan,
we want to get to Onu-Koro. How do we get there?”
“You can t-take…
Puku…” he said shaking, pointing to the still cowering crab. “How
can I ever r-repay y-“
“Whatever,”
said Kaiwera, and jumped onto the crab, and the rest of the Chosen
clambered on after him. They disappeared into the tunnel.
“Well… I’ll
be. That’s enough excitement for me for one d-day!” Panuhu said
to himself. He went into his small wooden shack next to the tunnel
entrance, laid down on the mattress and quietly fainted.
Kaiwera was still in a bad mood when they arrived in Onu-Koro.
He leapt off the crab and walked straight for the biggest hut
in the village, shoving the guards who blocked his path out of
the way. Moana came running after him, apologising to the guards
who were lying dazed on the ground.
Kaiwera stormed
in through the door. Whenua was sitting at a small table next
to a wall.
“Ah Kaiwera,
do sit down. You like crystal coffee?” he said, gesturing towards
a small pile of the blue crystals.
The rest of
the Chosen entered the hut.
“Ah-ha! They
are all well and sparky. This is very good news. Come, all of
you take a seat. I want to hear everything…” |
