One Destiny   von Aqua111
                                  (Bionicle)
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           Kapitel 16: Chapter 16: United we stand - divided we fall
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Chapter 16: United we stand – divided we fall

The very next day they prepared to break up.
“Do you really think you’re ready for that?”, Tahu asked as he visited his
green angel.
The emerald Toa looked for any damage on his armour before putting it on.
“Yes, I do. Don’t bother me with that. I know what I’m doing.”
His head still hurt and he felt sick after every sudden movement but he didn’t
want to show his weakness. They had been in this village for too long. If the
Piraka or the Ikuta came here on their search for the last Guardian it would be
his fault as he believed, because he slowed his friends down. He felt like a
weakling after all, no matter what Tahu kept on saying.
The ruby Toa sighed. He could feel that Lewa was worrying about something but he
couldn’t help him as long as he kept it his secret.
“We still can stay here for some more time… Gali’s armour was destroyed
and I don’t think it can be repaired during that short time we still have.”
“No way, Tahu. I’ve talked to her. Tupua has offered her to use one of the
armours he collected in his hut over the years. There’s nothing to say against
our journey any more.”
He went over to the door and turned back for a last time. “Thanks for worrying
about me, but I don’t need it. I’m fine.” Then he walked out of the room.
The Toa of fire desperately sighed. Why did Lewa have to be so stubborn?

~~~***~~~

“Where do you have them all from?”, Gali asked.
She and Tupua were wandering through a room that lied under the Spectre’s
hut.
“From Toa who didn’t need them any more”, was his answer and he added
quickly, “Not the ones who had fallen … they take their armour with them
into eternity. I mean the Toa who had become Turaga. You can take this one. It
would fit you perfect. Trust me, I made this kind of armoury and I have an eye
for what fits and protects you perfect and what not. Wait, I can still take a
look over there, but I don’t think I will find anything better.”
He walked behind some shelves.
Meanwhile Gali surveyed the chest armour on the wall. Tupua could have been
right. It looked like made for her.
She took it off when a piece of paper that was stuck behind it fell down, but
she was able to catch it in the air. It showed a nearly perfect drawing of Gali
as Toa Mata and something was written on the side: Whanaungatanga.
Whanaungatanga? It sounded like the old language of Mata Nui but she couldn’t
translate it. Only the Turaga still spoke it.
When Tupua returned she quickly put the drawing on a shelf.
“Useless, I knew it. Take this one”, the Spectre said. “And now we have to
get out, doing the last preparations.”

~~~***~~~

“Why on Aro Nui must you two come with us?”, Tahu muttered, “The last
thing we need are Matoran on our journey.”
Tupua glared at him. “Sasha and me we’re Guardians. Have you forgotten
Koli-head? The Ikuta hunt us not you.”
The others just sighed or shook their heads. They were just a few minutes away
from the village and they started their little battle yet again.
“Oh can’t you just shut up?”, Kopaka got between them. “We don’t have
the time for foolish fights.”
The two shared a last glare then walked as far away from each other as possible
without loosing contact to the group. Now Tahu walked with Lewa, Tupua beside
Gali.
“You must know”, Gali tried to explain her colleagues behaviour, “normally
we’re fighters but since the day we’d came here on Aro Nui it seems like
we’re running away from everything. I know, that this is better… But Tahu is
a fighter from the bottom of his heart. And now he feels like there’s no use
for him any more. That makes him more aggressive than he normally is…”
‘Even if he’s unpredictable enough without those facts’, she thought.

Onua suddenly stopped. “Uh-oh … I think I hear something coming…”
“Spread up”, Tahu ordered, “In the jungle a single Toa is harder to find
than a whole group.”

~~~***~~~

The two creatures that were walking by looked more like Toa than anyone would
have expected. They looked stronger … and taller, about a half time taller
than a Toa, but all in all it was like strong built black-beige and white Toa
with strange looking Kanohi and tails were wandering around followed by a group
of Nektann.

“Those are two of the Piraka”, Tupua whispered to Kopaka and Gali who were
hiding near him under some Harakeke plants.
“Those?” Both Toa shared a surprised gaze.
“I know, they don’t look much like danger and, well, when they and the
hundred more Nektann they took with them came here, they really weren’t much
danger to us…”

The black-beige Piraka looked around. “Really, Thok, there was something.
I’ve heard them and I can still feel them.”
“They’re gone, Reidak, give it up. At least they were no Guardians”, Thok
answered. “You’ve heard Lhikuta. They need them rather than new slaves.”
“How can you be sure that there were no Guardians? I felt very many different
kinds of energies. It’s possible that a sense of Guardian was hiding there
too.”

Another figure was coming closer.
“Hey, who’s there?”, Thok shouted.
“Just me, just Avak”, the brown Piraka answered. “I bring news from the
Ikuta. They found a new source of energy. Something where they don’t need the
last Guardian any more… Only if they finally need a little bit of revenge…
But I can’t tell anything more than this right now. It’s better to get back
to our lair first.”

“They have found what?”, was Rui’s first thing to say after the Piraka had
disappeared and the Toa and the two Matoran came together again. “But … how
is this possible?”
“It may be a trick”, Sasha said.
“And if not?”, Tahu asked. “They didn’t know that we were here too. It
looked like they met Avak accidentally. What would you think?”
“In my opinion”, Pohatu answered, “it’s maybe better to find that
Emerald thingy before the Ikuta do and protect it directly. But I’m not a
Guardian …”
Tupua looked into Gali’s direction as if he wanted to see her reaction first
and as he saw consent, he nodded too. “Just to be on the safe side. The Ikuta
have the powers of the others and are now on their way for sure, so I think on
our side … it only needs me to reveal our way for us.”
He closed his eyes for a few seconds then he nodded again.
“Yeah, I can feel it. Follow me. And prepare for a hard journey…”

~~~***~~~

Their first day consisted of walking and a few little fights against weaker
Nektann. They had passed the jungle long time ago, wandered through knee-high
grass and after several hours the surrounding slowly changed once more. Now the
plants got rare, therefore there was now a landscape made of sand and rocks. If
they had been still on Mata Nui, they would have said they were in Po-Wahi now.

The night had fallen and they took a rest between some rocks. Sasha, Tupua,
Kopaka and Onua were the only ones who had thought about taking victuals with
them and now shared them with the others.
Gali looked a bit embarrassed. “I could kick myself for that I haven’t
thought about that. Cause Toa normally don’t need those things to survive, but
they too get a bad feeling if they don’t eat from time to time…”
“Take mine!”, Kopaka and Tupua had shot out the same time, now sharing a
surprised gaze at each other.
Tahu avoided everything brought by the Spectre. Instead he started again, “Is
that all? Walking all the day? And this is what you called a hard journey…”
“Don’t jump off the rocks until you know how high they are, fire spitter. It
was just our first day. Next morning we’re heading the tunnels to Ga Aro and
Onu Aro. They’re like a giant maze and you can never know, what’s lurking in
the sadows.”
“Oh, very impressive your little goodnight-horror-story”, Tahu mocked.
“I don’t think any of the two towns is still existing”, Tupua continued
unswerving, “we have to head for Onu Aro, I think, then take one of the next
tunnels there until we come to an ancient tomb looking like …”
“Hell, I haven’t asked you to describe me the whole way. I just wanted to
know if there would be anything more interesting.”

“My legs hurt”, Lewa muttered between and got back answers from two
different sides.
“Whiner.” (Kopaka)
“Need a massage?” (Tahu)

~~~***~~~

It was too less sleep for real recreation. Next day they all felt like they had
a hang-over … if they knew alcohol…
Lewa now nearly got used to feeling sick and an aching head.

Slowly Tahu shook his head. “This travel got harder earlier than I presumed…
I don’t think I would be able to walk all day long.”
“But you’ll have to if you want to get anywhere before the Ikuta do”,
Tupua answered.
The emerald Toa let out a bright laugh even if he regretted it afterwards
because it felt like it made his head exploding. “Hey, you have to walk, but I
can fly.”
“And why haven’t you done it yesterday?”, Kopaka sneered.
“Well …”, Lewa shrugged grinning, “It had a good thing … Otherwise
there would have been no need for a massage…”

~~~***~~~

The suns were glowing hotter than an eruption of the Mangai could have ever been
and as if that wasn’t enough the sand reflected it.
Gali and Kopaka had to fight the most while Tahu and Pohatu seemed to be immune
against it.
Lewa was less affected too because he was floating several centimetres over the
floor so that his feet never came into direct connections with the hot sand. But
also he felt weaker than normal although he should have been used to that. The
jungle was hot too but in the jungle there was more humidity.
“Isn’t that tunnel showing up soon or shall we let Onua dig one for you?”,
the icy Toa growled. He remained close to Gali trying to cool her and himself
down a bit but failed because everything he created was melted away
immediately.
“Maybe we should try rain dances”, the emerald one suggested and started
dancing in the air like an Indian around the fire..
Tahu nearly felt relieved now. At least his love hadn’t lost all of his old
playful self. But there was still something to worry about. The Lewa’s
personality changed rapidly within the past few days. Where was the carefree
Lewa he once had known?
“Oh please, stop acting like a fool”, Kopaka sighed annoyed.
“How about you both stop acting like fools?”, Tupua snarled in between.
“Only a few more hours and we’ve reached our first destiny”, he then added
calmly, talking more to Gali than to anyone else. “So keep a stiff upper lip
… and your friends away from killing each other because in their heads there
doesn’t seem to be anything more left than steam, hot air…”

~~~***~~~

“Maybe it’s better to take those with you.”
Every time they passed a lightstone the Spectre took it off the wall.
“They will get less if we get deeper into the caves until they’re completely
gone. Originally this was a protection measure against enemies but I think the
Ikuta must have found other ways to get to Onu Aro.”
Only Onua didn’t take one because of his ability to see in the dark.

“Hell, and if they have?”, Tahu asked, “That could mean they’re already
awaiting us somewhere in there.”
“Nothing’s for sure. We have to take the risk.” Tupua walked into the
first tunnel.
“Right, we won’t know anything if we don’t try it, and so let’s just
give it a try!”, Lewa called out with a big grin, gave the ruby Toa a
rollicking kiss and ran after the Spectre.
A slight smile twitched over Tahu’s face. Old Lewa was coming back again…

~~~***~~~

The deeper they got and the more corridors they had seen the more unsure Tupua
seemed to be. He had never been to this place. First his instincts told him
where to go but this was now slowly fading.
“Great job, Matoran”, Tahu sneered, “Looks like we’re lost now.”
“I would still be able to sense the Emerald if somebody wouldn’t repeatedly
disturb me in my concentration”, was the counter.
He was now standing at another crossroad and had to decide between three other
directions.
“Tupua?”, Sasha started carefully, “Maybe … we should form three groups
so that we can explore everything and maybe we too find out what other ways the
Ikuta have taken and … yes … “
He looked at her kinda thankfully. “Yeah, a faster way …”
“But if one group finds something, how should the others know?”, Gali
argued.
“You know, I can still change locations so I could teleport from group to
group…”, Tupua suggested still sounding very unsure which was really
unlikely for him.

Lewa’s head shot around. He flinched because of the pain that still hadn’t
disappeared fully but tried to ignore it again. Now there was something of
greater importance.
“Guys, my sixth sense tells me there’s something groundpath dark … I mean,
something’s hiding somewhere in the dark.”
The other’s looked around too but not even Onua noticed something strange.
“Maybe you’ve just erred”, Tahu shrugged but wasn’t convinced himself.
Lewa’s sixth sense never was wrong. “I think it’s better the Guardians
each take a different way. If someone’s there … it’s more likely they’re
after them, so our enemies have to split up too.”
So it came that Gali, Kopaka and Sasha headed for the first corridor, Pohatu,
Onua and Tupua left for the second one and Lewa, Tahu and Rui took the last.
But no one of them noticed that only a few meters behind several pairs of eyes
flashed up, following every move they made, every step they took.

~~~***~~~

Correct me if I’m wrong but … it’s getting hotter in here.”
Gali’s eyes wandered around but there was no sign they had walked around in a
circle and now came back to the desert.

“Hey, I think … I know this way”, Sasha remembered. “I’ve been here
several years ago. We’ll come to another little corridor on the left side. It
leads us pass the lava rivers of Ta Aro. Although the volcano is inactive, the
lava is still flowing in the underground. After that we’ll have to go up for
some time and then we come out near Ko Aro. If we take the straight way we’d
just come to Ta Aro.” She shivered. “The last place where I want to go
now…. That means our friends have taken the ways to Onu and Ga Aro.”

The left corridor was existing, and so did the rivers. The three were just about
to start their way up to Ko Aro when Gali suddenly stopped.
“I … I think someone else is here … “

To their left and right side the ground was falling down sharp, ending in lava.
Whoever was here too could only come from front or back.

“Fear the darkness?”, a voice whispered before Lhikuta, followed by a red
Piraka stepped out of the shadows into the shine of their lightstones. “You
should, because it’s the last thing you’d ever see.”
“Not you again”, Kopaka moaned, “You annoy us.”
“We’re deeply sorry. But if you just had the kindness to tell us where the
last Guardian…”
“Then you’ve taken the wrong corridor”, Sasha interrupted, “And by the
way, why do you still need him? I thought, you’ve found another way to the
Emerald where you don’t need Tupua.”
“Have we? Can’t remember… But now after you’d been so friendly to show
up we’ll have the pleasure to kill you … or maybe we need you for something
else but I’ll have to think that over first… Hakann, I think our little
guests want to play a bit before they leave.”

~~~***~~~

Gali tried an attack against Lhikuta but the Rahkshi-like creature slammed his
staff into her stomach sending her flying back and hitting the ground hard.

“Gali!” Kopaka ran towards her but was stopped by Hakann. “Get out of my
way, you monster!”
“Monster? Aw, that really hurt my feelings. Now I’m gonna have to hurt
yours”, the Piraka taunted.
The icy Toa jumped at him but was stopped and slammed down too.
He tried to get up but Hakann was sitting on his back, leaned his head down and
whispered, “I actually feel sorry for you. You have to lay here and watch your
girlfriend suffer, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Doesn’t that
just suck?” He chuckled.
Kopaka struggled and tried his best to throw Hakann off of him.
“Damn you …! Gali! Wake up, please!”, he cried.
The blue Toa remained motionless as Lhikuta approached her.

“GALI!”

Amber eyes snapped open and an axe was brought up to defend against Lhikuta’s
attack. Gali winced as pain began to flair through her back.
“What’s the matter little Toa? You hurt? Let me check.”
Gali’s eyes widened and she gave a cry of pain as the creature’s foot
smashed into her side.

“No!”
Kopaka finally managed to throw Hakann off his back, trying to freeze him but
was only able to create a weak wall of ice.
‘Damn! The lava…’
He had no time for Hakann right now. He ran over to Lhikuta, slammed his sword
against his armour now causing the enemy to stumble back and helped Gali up to
her feet.

Everything Sasha could do was watch. She didn’t have the abilities Tupua had.
Besides he was the only Guardian with Toa-like abilities. All others had been
normal Matoran like her.

The two Toa rushed up to her.
“It’s senseless!”, Kopaka yelled, “But we can’t go forward or back.
They will follow us. There’s only one way. Hold on tight and trust me…”

He grabbed the girls around their waists and dragged them with him over the
cliffs, creating an icy platform under him that was melted away immediately. But
nearly the same time he created another one a bit deeper and so on. Everything
real fast. It looked like they were gliding down an invisible slide.

“Not with me, Toa!”
Lhikuta threw his staff like a spear after them. Kopaka hissed as it slashed
through his right shoulder. But not only that… He could feel Lhikuta’s
poison rushing through his veins. His sight got blurry. He just could see
another rocky platform some meters under him, still too high to jump on it but
everything was better now than falling into the lava.
“Prepare to jump!”, he shouted to Gali and Sasha.
The last thing he felt was his body falling down then everything got dark.

~~~***~~~~

The other two teams had the same problems of fleeing from enemies.
Pohatu and Tupua were lucky to have Onua’s night vision so they left their
lightstones behind and the Toa of earth led them through the tunnels. The
Nektann were unable to find them again.

~~~***~~~

“Why do we have the most stupid way?”, Tahu shouted.
They were half climbing, half hanging on a rocky wall, several meters under
their feet the roaring river, trying to get away from the following Nektann
swarm.
“Why the hell water? Can’t it be lava?”

Rui looked back. “They’re closing up!”
As spider-like creatures they had it easy to follow them over the wall.
“There’s just one way left …” The ruby Toa looked down.
“But … Tahu, you can’t swim”, Lewa tried to reason him.
“I can, I only have problems with salty water.” He grabbed his love’s hand
and shouted over to Rui, “If I say it, we all jump off, right?”
Rui only nodded.
“Then … Let go!”

~~~***~~~

‘Salty!’
The first thing that shot through Lewa’s mind after he connected with the
water.
Tahu’s hand was torn out of his. He wanted to catch it again but the stream
dragged him deeper. As Toa of air he wouldn’t drown that easily but Tahu
could. Now panic was rushing through him. His love was in danger but no matter
how hard he tried to get back to the surface he still was torn deeper down.
Suddenly he felt something … an arm was closing around his waist. He tried to
struggle free but the same time it was like his power was sucked out of his
body.
“You’ve lost, little exotic”, Reikuta’s voice was echoed in his mind.

I see your face before my eyes
I’m falling into darkness
Why must I fight to stay alive
Heroes falling
Wake me, can you hear me calling
Out of darkness they come crawling
Creeping in my soul


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