BZPRPG: Ta-Wahi

IC: VailThe Toa of Fire was struggling to take everything in. After following Crasaro down to the beach, Voulge appeared to be conversing with three other beings. Vail identified the cloaked Toa from Ga-Koro. Though it was the being adjacent to him who spoke...."but could I direct your attention to the burning buildings in the Koro, maybe we should do something, like now."Wait what? A fire?An explosion resounded from across the Koro. Vail whirled around. Red flames licked the rooftops, spreading slowly outwards as more buildings began to succumb to their hunger. The Ta-Toa's legs moved by themselves, propelling his body back the way he had came. The heat waves that beat off his Kanohi were even more powerful than he expected. Of course, to him their warmth was comforting, but they would overwhelm your average Matoran. Who knew how many beings could be trapped under rubble, choking on smoke.Vail ran faster. What had happened? Was it an accident, or was it caused by a someone in order to kill someone else? He charged past the disoriented guards and ducked his head down as he charged down a side street. Fear had completely taken over countless villagers, who scrambled in all directions to escape the catastrophe. Vail had to shove his way against the flow of bodies that threatened to sweep him off his feet. He managed to keep his footing, however, eyes fixated on the burning buildings that lay ahead. Finally, as he neared the flames, the crowd subsided. At this point he didn't have to ask himself what needed to be done, for the answer was as clear to him as the peak of Mount Ihu was on a nice day.His arms shot out and instantly began absorbing the fire that surrounded him, siphoning it into his body. The furious frenzy slowly began to subside, transferring its boundless energy into the Toa of Fire.He closed his eyes and concentrated.Raw power surged through his limbs, spreading throughout his being and building within him. His heartlight glowed brighter, almost searing his chest with its growing heat. "Focus, Vail," he murmured to himself. "Don't bite off more than you can chew."Now even his armor began to heat up, glowing softly like the embers of a hearth. Just a little more...In one last desperate effort, Vail sucked in a breath along with as much more of his element he could handle. The intense brightness suddenly diminished, as if the light of the world had be swallowed whole. Now only a few dying flames remained burning, but lacked the strength to spread much further. A wave of nausea flooded through Vail, and he fell to his knees. He had taken in too much power at once, and the inevitable tunnel of darkness now began to enclose him in its tight embrace. At least no innocent lives would be taken by the element for which they stood.He flopped to the ground as unconsciousness took over.

IC: Crasaro

Vail had ran off into the fire. He ran into the burning city, to save the innocent people trapped there.

Crasaro wasn't going to just stand by and watch. shortly after Vail took off, Crasaro turned to the others, and said, "I'll be back," and followed his teammate into the inferno.

It was far, far too hot for Crasaro. But he pressed on, into the oppressive heat. Through the smoke, he saw Vail taking in the fire all around, diminishing the raging blazes. It most likely would not be enough. And yet, Vail had absorbed most of the fire. There were a few tiny flames, the smaller ones Crasaro stomped out, and he turned to his teammate. He seemed to have fallen unconscious, probably because of all the energy he absorbed. Crasaro reached down to help Vail back to the beach, but jerked his hand away. Vail's armor was radiating heat, far too much to even think about touching him. "What am I supposed to do, then?" Crasaro thought to himself.

And idea struck him. A brilliantly stupid idea. Crasaro began forming a crystal around his hands, a crystal that could withstand the heat. He grabbed hold of Vail's arm, and started to drag the Toa out from the wreckage.

Crasaro's head still hurt.

IC: Tivanu

Tivanu merely nods as he hears this

"We do... but we also can't risk any more harm to him."

OOC:

IC (Oreius) (Inu)

 

Oreius was silent for a moment, his face the very picture of bemusement, then he shrugged and picked up his left knight, placing it in front of his bishop's pawn.

 

"You came a long way for a game of chess, brother."

IC: Two more rounds. His pawn presses my first.

(4. b3.)

I meet the challenge.

"We came a long way to kill Makuta."

IC: Toa Azthran

"Sure." he said to Hile. As he walked in, he saw Xaron talking to someone. "Hey Xaron, what's going on?"

IC Viima

(Ta-Koro, Inn):

"How do you suggest we move him?" Viima asked. "Maybe a lightening gravity blast?"

IC: Tivanu

Tivanu nods very slowly as he hears this though seems to consider something

"Problem is my bursts only last two minutes at a most... i could try carrying him in my arms though you would have to make sure the paths are cleared."

IC: Stronin

"I'm sorry, but is it just me, or is business booming?"

IC Viima

(Ta-Koro, Inn):

"I'll do that."

IC: Tivanu

Tivanu nods slowly and he rises towards orderin though he does seem to be dripping his own bit of blood on the ground from his makeshift bandage

"Well... i guess we get this done and over with."

IC Viima

(Ta-Koro, Inn):

"We owe him that much. At least I do."

IC: Tivanu

Tivanu bent down slightly to slowly pick orderin up in his arms. With orderin now in his arms he moved toward the door and motioned for Viima to open it.

"Hey Viima.. you will have to tell me how you and Orderin met anyway."

IC Viima

(Ta-Koro, Inn):

"Oh, yeah, I guess we never told you", Viima said, opening doors for Tivanu while talking. "Well, I was hunting in the jungle one day when I saw Orderin there, apparently talking to thin air. Turned out he was actually looking for a both invisible and silent murderer. A Toa of Sonics with a Huna. I really hate that combination. Anyway, I volunteered to help him, but then Surina got me involved in that ploy of hers... but after she was caught and sentenced to death I returned to Le-Koro to help Orderin again. We went to Ko-Koro in search of clues and we met you. Though I knew you already at that point."

IC: Tivanu

Tivanu smirked as he hears this and yet he still carried orderin out that door though he eventually looked down at Viima

"Ah yeah... i will not forget that.. Though that brings up another point.. didn't that matoran who was being attack.. well didn't she seem a bit.. um familiar?"

He then proceeded to carefully carry orderin down the stairs

IC Viima

(Ta-Koro, Inn):

"Familiar?" Viima repeated. "You mean how?"

IC: Tivanu

Tivanu shrugged slightly as they finnally made it out to the streets of Ta-koro

"Well.. i don't know.. i was mainly noting how Kive-phu was acting.. She seemed like she recognized the scent but then again i hardly understand how she can sort out all the different scents. But i also noticed the exact coloration and shading of her armor seemed quite similar."

IC: Voulge

Voulge sighed as he saw his companions run off towards the village and turned back to Wanderer

"You know what this has proved fruitless.. I can tell you will not be happy till i say i am going to help you which i can not since i owe more to the Toa sarsi and as such must get my leader's permission first. And cloaky do not let this dissuade you from asking me for further assistance in the future.. just remember i am part of a team and a team must act as one."

IC: "The Wanderer"

Beneath his dark cloth hood, he scowled at Voulge and violently pointed. With his other hand, he manipulated the last remaining bits of photothermic powder and formed some new words, which wavered in the fiery wind from the burning village.

"Your brothers are already putting their lives on the line for the journey that was my doing. I am sorry for that. But someone has just torched a quarter of the village, yet you are content with simply watching as other Toa combat this threat? I have watched things for a long time, but I know that at times, one must act."

With these caligraphy-words, he launched himself into the air and sped towards where the flames seemed to be thickest and where they appeared to have originated. It took him a few moments, but through the smoke and dust, he could see an armored figure fighting of elements of both the Ta-Koro guard and other beings. He considered activating his Huna, but it'd really just be a waste of energy, so he instead zipped closer, before looping around from whence he came. During his brief reconnaissance, he was able to identify one thing. There was a very big, blue, bad Skakdi in town.

IC: Voulge

Voulge rolled his eyes a bit

"And if my allies were smart they would realize that while there was a flash of fire it has subsided for the buildings of ta-koro were built to withstand fire.. part of the reason they are made of stone.. My allies are merely wasting their elemental energy combating a fire that is no longer there."

OOC: Ok if anyone cared to read the news page for the BZPRPG page they would realized there was no mass fire as it is being described.. at most there is scorched buildings but no real fire.. so yeah i am rping it as that

IC: "The Forerunner"

"Now, if you would you please direct your attention to the fact the the skakdi that is creating this mess is blue. Doesn't that say anything. Like multi-elemental. Or Ability-cloning. Nearly forgot Body-jumping, or invisible toa, or some other force. Before I would do anything, I would try to find a pattern."

NPC IC: Sign

This one was put onto a message board just outside of the town hall. It was formed of strange characters of Skakdi. It was clearly some message to Skakdi, if the author wrote it in that language, and not the more commonly spoken language of Matoran.

SKAKDI OF MATA NUI

DO YOU FEEL OPPRESSED OR CONTROLLED?

ARE YOU SICK OF THE KOROS BEING ON THE BRINK OF WAR?

DO YOU WANT TO GET AWAY FROM THE KOROS?

MY NAME IS VHOHAN, AND I HAVE A SOLUTION.

BE A PART OF A GLORIOUS NEW KORO FOR SKAKDI.

FOR THE PROTECTION OF OUR PEOPLE, AND THIS ISLAND.

COME TO 567 WEST USSAL STREET IN ONU-KORO FOR MORE.

IC (Stralix)

A certain Skakdi strode through the streets of Ta-Koro - an interesting but not unfamiliar sight to its inhabitants. The inventor of the eponymous 'Stralix Powder' was quite clearly an engineer; bandoleers, belts and pouches were slung over much of his body, carrying various canisters, tools and so forth (not to mention the large foreign-looking flamethrower gripped firmly in his hands). Relatively new to his appearance was the red badge of the Ta-Koro Guard affixed on his shoulder.

He paused briefly as a poster caught his eye, calling on the 'Skakdi of Mata Nui' to shake off 'oppression' and 'control' and form a 'glorious new Koro for Skakdi' et cetera. After a moment's perusal, he snorted, shook his head, and went on his way.

His route took him down several streets until he reached what he'd been looking for - the sight of a blue Skakdi on a nearby rooftop, facing off against one of his colleagues-in-arms, Loren. Whether the De-Toa had it handled, he didn't know; however, he'd been informed that several civilians had already confronted the unidentified Skakdi, to disastrous result. So Stralix prudently stayed back, checking his arsenal of tech and grenades, while ready to step into the fray at a moment's notice should his assistance be required.

Life was rarely dull in Ta-Koro these days.

IC: Voulge

Voulge sighed a bit as he noticed the look he received and as he turned his back on 'Wanderer' he utters one final comment

"I do not have time for this.. i have allies to get out of this trouble for this is suppose to purely be an investigative mission.. But remember this 'The Ussal move through the darkness yet is blind to it's path.'"

And with that he began to walk back towards Ta-koro to gather his allies one way or another

IC: Xaron

Oh, look, some other guy wants my business. And he said this was a forge.

"Well, I knew it was a forge. There's also weapons on the walls, and I was wondering if there were any premade daggers. Preferably sharp, pointy ones. those are the best."

Eh, even if I couldn't talk to Stronin, I could at least get a good dagger out of this.

IC: Crasaro

Crasaro was still dragging the prone form of Vail behind him when Voulge came up. Crasaro might have asked for help, but it was fine. He could drag Vail around just fine. Still, it was silly how Vail ran into the fire and absorbed it all. Not that the Koro was on fire, not even a large section, just a small area.

Voulge ran into Crasaro and Vail just a few feet from the scorched buildings.

"Hey Voulge, I got him."

IC:
Few things irritated Zaktan so promptly as flies.

This one, an exceptionally loud specimen, had been bouncing off the ceiling of the dark bungalow for the last few minutes. Since flitting in through an open porthole, the insect had explored the Piraka’s seaside shanty, darting about its various rooms – Avak’s cluttered workshop, the arsenal filled with Jitter crates and Zamor Launchers, and the oft-abused lounge, to name a few – on an erratic and meaningless route. On its impromptu tour, the fly’s kaleidoscope eyes had seen everything: the hodgepodge walls, which were part submarine, part driftwood, and part corrugated metal; Reidak’s collection of mounted Rahi heads, frequently vandalized and used for target practice; the couches, torn up and battered from countless altercations; the piles of stolen goods; the corner full of cracked mirrors.

All the while, the fly had buzzed and whined. As it zoomed hither and thither about the bungalow, the insect’s persistent buzz fluctuated from high to low, near to far; yet all frequencies were of equal aggravation to Zaktan. Every separate particle of his being felt the drone of the fly like an itch, a maddeningly tiny – and for this, keenly felt – shiver across his body. Zaktan was particularly sensitive to sound, he had been ever since the change; this was the only thing he disliked about his unique condition.

The Piraka’s leader sat on a stool in the middle of the lounge, elbows resting on his knees as he leaned forward and tried to ignore the noise. His form, as always, was subtly flickering, as if captured behind a finely woven, shivering screen; the minuscule Protodites that composed his body were always moving – barely, but perceptibly enough to be off-putting – even when composed into their default arrangement. In a static position like the one he currently occupied, Zaktan was never still. This was part of the reason the other Piraka treated him with caution; they could never anticipate his attacks, because he was always moving.

As the fly’s random trajectory brought it especially close to Zaktan – the bug passed only a few inches from the back of his head – the Skakdi’s body lurched with particular violence, all the Protodites that composed it reacting to the aggravating hum simultaneously. One of Zaktan’s clawed hands swung back at the sound of the fly with the speed of a striking cobra, but to no avail; Zaktan was fast, but his foe was irregular. The fly dodged his swat with seeming ease – and, infuriatingly, seeming ambivalence – to continue roaming about the room. It was taunting him.

“Oh no,” fretted a voice from a corner of the room behind Zaktan. Though it spoke with a semblance of earnest concern, the molten sarcasm beneath its words was shamelessly audible. Hakann, leaning against the wall, was picking at his teeth in one of the cracked mirrors, pausing every now and again to flash his reflection what he doubtless imagined was a charming smile. He kept watching Zaktan through the mirror as he spoke again. “I guess I was wrong about you… Turns out you would hurt a fly. Or, excuse me, try to… after all, intent and achievement are two very different things.”

“You would know,” called Avak snidely from his adjacent workshop. The next of his words were punctuated by the ringing noises of a hammer onto a piece of plate metal. “After all, you’ve. Never. Achieved. Anything.”

“So harsh, so mean.” Hakann shot back, melodramatically raising a hand to his brow. “See me cry, see me weep. You have stung me too deeply this time, oh the tragedy, I could die.”

“You’re wrong, Avak,” Thok said from the couch. His flat feet were crossed on the table, tapping absently. His teeth were bared in their habitual grin, and his sharp fingers were clasped lazily over his reclining belly. “Hakann has achieved something: unprecedented levels of idiocy.”

“Now now, Thok,” Hakann sneered, angling his bone toothpick into the next gap. “Credit where credit is due. Reidak won that plaque. He sleeps with it under his pillow.”

Reidak responded by chucking the hefty dumbbell he’d been curling at the back of Hakann’s head. The Skakdi of Fire, though, saw the weaponized weight coming in the mirror and ducked below it. The dumbbell hit one of the few untouched mirrors, promptly shattering it. Hakann whirled about, growling at Reidak, who growled back.

“Reidak, you’ve killed him!” Thok gasped over the animal rumbles, sitting up as his grin widened evermore. “Murder! You’ve killed Hakann’s only love: his reflection!”

That elicited a muffled snigger from Avak; Reidak chuckled darkly, and Hakann scowled. Zaktan, meanwhile, was acutely aware of the fly’s return to the room. He would not be humiliated again by a failed attempt at the insect’s life; he would be better served by turning the insect into an example. A serpentine sneer, etched in lines of calculation, manifested slickly on Zaktan’s lips.

The fly was fast, but it was stupid. And like all foes, it could be predicted.

At once, Zaktan stood from his stool, and the suddenness of his movement stopped the Piraka’s argument cold. For an instant, they thought that he was going to lash out, as he sometimes did unexpectedly; instead, he made his way over to the pile of stolen goods. A few moments’ silent rummaging, and Zaktan emerged again with a glass jar of Le-Koronan honey.

“What’re you doing with that?” Avak snarled from the doorway; the silence in the adjacent room had pulled him from his workshop. “That’s mine, I stole it fair and square!”

Zaktan didn’t deign to reply. His body noticeably quaked again; the fly had flown too close once more. But Zaktan did not let the insect faze him. He popped open the honey and stuck one of his fingers deep inside; when he pulled it out, viscous amber concentrate covered the green digit. Zaktan closed and set down the jar, then extended his clean hand to earth. His three-bladed scissor, which had been resting there, dissolved into its component Protodites and flew as a gold cloud to his hand. Zaktan raised his reformed blade into position and waited.

Hakann rudely broke the silence. “What’re you–“

Before Hakann could finish his query, Zaktan answered with action. The fly, attracted by the sweet aroma of the honey, approached the bait and, ceasing to buzz, alighted on Zaktan’s claw to gorge itself. The instant that it landed, Zaktan let his finger melt into Protodites, and the needle-sharp scissor blades held in his opposite hand nicked back and forth through the space his finger had just occupied. The next moment, he slowly lowered his blades, and his honeyed finger was dense again.

As the other Piraka gathered in a rough circle about him, Zaktan extended his finger languidly outwards and slowly turned in a circle, so that all could see what was stuck fast to the honey on his finger’s tip: the two discrete halves of a small insect. He stopped his rotation at Hakann, and made nonchalant eye contact with the Skakdi of Fire. Zaktan was the shorter one, but Hakann felt diminutive.

"Intent and achievement are as one for me,” Zaktan hissed. “I can hurt flies. I can hurt you. If I want to.” He looked down at his honeyed finger, then put it in his mouth and licked it clean, fly and all.

...

Zaktan had heard the insanity voice in his head ever since the submarine. It spoke again to him that night; it was as insubstantial, yet dominant, as ever. As though it was very far away, the voice wavered; as though it was rushed, it did not mince words.

Wake.

I am awake, Zaktan answered hastily in his mind. He wanted to seize the voice this time.

Power in Vault.

Tell me how to obtain it, and it shall be mine.

Abettor.

How do I overcome it?

Outside.

As unexpectedly as it had come, the voice was lost, like a thought straying on the tantalizing edge of recollection. For a still, panicked moment, Zaktan struggled to recall what the voice had said, but then he remembered: outside. He wasted no time; he sat up and exited the bungalow at quiet speed. It wouldn’t do for the others to follow him.

The rushing of the sea in the distance and the salt on the night air greeted him. The orb of the sky was dark at night; starlight peeked through the volcanic smog only in fleeting places. A red pinpoint was one of these, and this was positioned directly before Zaktan. He knew that he was to advance that way.

As he walked duck-footed through the dry, dead grass, Zaktan’s toe hit and gently kicked something that didn’t feel like grass. He knelt and sifted his fingers back and forth through the grass until his touch strayed upon what he discovered he sought. It was a small vial made of sturdy, hexagonal crystal, thinly wrought so that its contents were clearly visible even when lit by the black eye of the heavens.

Zaktan’s countenance rippled bizarrely, and his crimson eyes glowered; he recognized the black-green contents of the vial, which swirled of their own accord, at once.

Antidermis.

IC: "The Forerunner"

I watched as the others went along to the action, but something caught my eye. I turned to see that the shack on the other side of the beach was less than empty, noting the shear amount of noise coming from it.

"Say Kaunis, don't you just think that it is a little bit odd that our target shack is less than empty?"

IC: Voulge

Voulge waved a slightly dissmissive hand at Crasaro and by extension Vail as he motioned for them to follow

"Good you grabbed him.. But it is time for us to go back to Ga-Koro.. Are 'Investigative' mission here is done."

IC: Crasaro"Really? So soon? We found the guy you were after..Ah well, you found the guy you were after. We did what we came to do." Crasaro shrugged, and looked around. "So, uh, how are we going to get him back to Ga-Koro?" He gestured to the still-unconscious and still somewhat-glowing Vail. "I mean, I can carry him, sure, but he might catch the lilypads on fire. Should we dunk him in the water to cool him off? Or just wait a bit?"

IC: Voulge

Voulge looked down at the prone form of Vail and considered him for a bit

"Hmm."

With a wave of his hand he activated his elemental powers of metal and lifted voulge up off the ground.. just barely but enough not to drag

"That should work then when we get closer to Ga-wahi we can dunk him to allow himself to cool off."

IC: Crasaro

"Sounds like a good idea, let's head back to Ga-Koro." Crasaro turned around, Vail's prone leg still in his grasp, dragging along towards the Koro Crasaro had just now begun calling 'Home'.

After all, that's where he had been for a while.

IC: Voulge

Voulge nodded as he kept his powers up on Vail all the way there.

OOC: Voulge and company to Ga-Wahi

IC Viima

(Ta-Koro):

"I dunno", Viima answered to Tivanu. "What does Kive-phu think? He's got more accute senses than we do."

IC Kaunis

(Ta-Wahi, Beach):

"I do find it strange", Kaunis nodded. She waited for a moment, then blinked in surprise. "Wait, our target? You never actually told very clearly what we're doing here... just to capture two Skakdi, right? What are we going to do with all the explosives and shiny shields?"

IC: Tivanu

Tivanu smirked as Kive-phu who had found her way to rest on his shoulder

"She.. Kive-phu is a she."

He turned to her and said in a very wierd and uncommon voice for him

"Isn't vat wright.. Yeah yours the only woman in my life."

Kive-phu surprising started to rub the side of her head against Tivanu in an affectionate way. Though Tivanu still held Orderin's limp form in his arms

IC Viima

(Ta-Koro):

"Ooooohkay...", Viima said, rolling his eyes.

IC: Tivanu

Tivanu turned to look at Viima and motioned to the fact they were coming up to the hospital

"Well looks like we are close."

IC Viima

(Ta-Koro, Hospital):

Indeed the trio was now approaching the hospital. The reception was very clean and neat with several chairs and stools for waiting and a large reception desk for arranging an appointment.

Tivanu and Viima had to do nothing to convince the staff that Orderin was in serious need of help. They immediately came up to the injured Toa and proceeded to take him to one of their rooms for treatment. They told Tivanu and Viima in a firm but polite manner to stay in the waiting room while they tended to the Toa of Air.

"I hope he'll be all right", Viima said as Orderin was taken to be cured. "Falling down with a burning roof is not exactly healthy."

IC: Tivanu

Tivanu turned to look at Viima as he considered this and instead he looks down at his golden watch and made sure to keep track of the time

"Oh i am sure he will be alright.. i imagine it will be quite hard to kill that geezer."

He offers in a kind but joking manner

IC Viima

(Ta-Koro, Hospital):

"Well, he's alrerady lived longer than either of us... I guess that's proof that he always finds a way to survive."

Viima sat on a chair and started swinging his legs - it was normal for a Le-Matoran to stay in constant motion.

"Truth or dare", he suddenly said, surprisingly.

IC: Tivanu

Tivanu looked down at Viima and arched his eyebrow

"What is Truth or dare? some kind if game or something? kind of like hide and seek?"

IC Viima

(Ta-Koro, Hospital):

"A game that brings out your inner self", Viima replied with a smirk. "If you choose truth, you'll have to answer truthfully whatever question I ask you. Choose dare and I'll give you a task you must complete. Then it's your turn to ask me to tell a truth or dare a task."