BZPRPG: Ga-Wahi

IC Sorox

"With any luck, it won't go there."

He strode out as casual as you could manage when your hopes and dreams were calling you an idiot. The Ga-Matoran had been replaced with a Ta-Matoran who looked as if he had been well-informed of the two. He cast a suspicious glare as the two entered the lobby.

IC: (Datrox)

The Toa of Fire smiled and waved at the Ta-Matoran, who just glared at him even harder. "What was his problem?" Datrox asked once they were outside.

IC Sorox

"Dunno." Sorox said, desperately trying to avoid the question.

IC:

 

"I know because I must know, in order to do my job." The Matoran held up a finger, as if quieting the Dashi preemptively. "Before you accuse me of being mysterious, that's the best answer I can give, Explaining how would take more time and faith than you have, You know, and I know, that knowing your name should be impossible. And that's the point. Opening with the impossible will make what comes next a little easier to swallow."

 

"Did you know the Matoran have their own version of the Three Virtues? Your people, the Dasaka, have Order, Power, and Honor. We have Unity, Duty, and Destiny. The latter is what I am focused on today."

IC: Soraya [The Great Takea]

She stifled a snort.  She was getting a virtues lecture? The guy was either a religious wackjob or a member of some politican's goon squad.  "Destiny, huh? I sincerely hope that's not shorthand for 'know your place and like it'.  But if it is, hey, congrats! It took us 'Order' and 'Honor' to get that across, so you'd all be winning on word count at least." 

IC:

Soraph rubbed her knuckles, relaxing the taut joints as they'd been clenched nervously the past half hour as she'd walked around the submarine, finally deciding to go the Commodore's cabin and ask her about her decision. 

The submarine had grown claustrophobic to the Menti that grown up either in the jungle or the vastness of the sea. There were too many walls, too many corners, and every hallway eventually led back to itself. And while Ga-Koro was nice, it felt too much like home. Like much of the archipelago water was in sight everywhere, and the primitive village reminded Soraph of the fishing clans that dotted the Empire's more bountiful coasts.

No, the Vilda princess had come to Mata-Nui to set her eyes on sights no Dasaka had seen before, and that meant venturing out across the island.

She saw Vilda Mako walking in her direction, away from the Commodore's office.

"Everything all right?" she asked her clan's elder. 

IC ( Rhow):

 

"You must brew one karz of a lager then." The Skakdi replied with a grin.

IC (Akimoto)

"That we do," Aki laughed. "Although I don't get to taste the best stuff much. I'm only a Ringti, after all."

Hold on—did the Mountain know what a Ringti was? Probably not.

"Uh- I mean, I'm a smith," she explained. "And all craftspeople are part of the Ringti caste, which is the third caste in our society."

IC:Cyramar

Cyramar thought hard in response. Seemed it had helped. He thought back as hard as he could.

...

Nothing. Like before, trying to think back before waking up, there was nothing. At all. Not a trace of anything.

"Nope. Nothing. Blank. This entire landmass is new to me."

IC (Rhow):

The Skakdi harrumphed, taking another sip of her drink. The Dasaka sounded...she didn't quite know. Unhappy about her lot or merely stating facts?

"Who's first?" She asked.

 

IC:

 

Whitehot considered that for a second. It was clear she hadn't thought her reassurances through.

 

"Well...the berries and stuff, right? Nobody likes hot fruit."

 

-Tyler

 

IC:

 

"... do you guys have hot fruit?" I asked. "Is ... is that a thing here? Not to sound ignorant or anything ... just that I'd be willing to believe in anything existing here by now."

 

The image of me digging a very deep hole for myself suddenly sprung to mind.

 

-Void

 

IC:

Whitehot was now visibly chagrined.

"No, we don't have hot fruit."

-Tyler

IC: (Datrox)

​"Whatever. Let's just find a place to eat. I'd prefer not to go to another bar but if it comes down to it..."
After they walked a bit, Datrox stopped and pointed at a building.
​"...the Great Takea? Never seen that place before."

IC (Akimoto)

Aki sipped at her drink, running her thoughts over in her head. The caste system was as familiar as the back of her hand, but obviously the Mata-Nuians wouldn't have any idea how it worked. She didn't want to confuse people by assuming they could follow along.

"The first caste is the Menti. Most of them are warriors, but it also includes the Toroshu —they're the leaders of each clan. It takes a lot of discipline and training to be a Menti, so it's the most honourable caste."

IC Sorox

"The-"

It was a pretty obvious feature. The dusty building blended into the other buildings in the area, but it still stuck out like a sore thumb. However, it appeared to have opened - or, perhaps, reopened - rather recently. Two conspicuous figures were taking directly outside of it.

"Not a bad choice. Let's see what the place is like."

IC: (Datrox)

​The Toa of Fire walked over to the Great Takea, pulling his hood back over his head as he passed the two figures. He opened the door and motioned for Sorox to go in.
​"After you."

IC (Rhow):

"So,Warlords and their hordes then. I gotcha. Makes sense too."

Rhow grinned. The strangers were fancy but it was nice to see the familiar structures underneath their crystal shiny exterior.

"Your caste - do they fight?"

IC: Viloz

Viloz nodded, passively eyeing the two Toa entering his bar. 

"How about you walk with me?" he said, shifting his attention back to the stranger. "I know we just met, but I've been through the whole amnesia thing too. I can help."

IC Sorox

Uncomfortable situations, here we come...

Sorox strode in, unsure of what he was actually doing, with a heavy, disgusted expression on his face. "You sure this is the place?" He said softly to his counterpart, yet still loud enough to be heard around. "We deserve better than this poor establishment."

For Datrox's eyes only, and possibly Viloz's if he was watching, he quickly winked before returning to glance at the setting.

IC (Akimoto)

Aki shook her head. "We're not trained. I mean, if I had to fight, I probably could, but it's not my place. Anyway, we haven't had a war in a long time. Our islands have been peaceful —well, mostly peaceful— for centuries."

IC:

 

Whitehot was now visibly chagrined.

 

"No, we don't have hot fruit."

 

-Tyler

IC:

And that was the moment that I was sure I'd offended the out of the Sarge and was doomed to failure and misery and--

"Fair enough. It was kind of a stupid question on my part."

--why are you still talking.

"So, uh ... what sort of fruit do you have here? Just out of curiousity. We can, uh, compare notes. Kentoku versus Mata Nui: Dawn of Greater Fruit Knowledge."

...

...

Why was I still talking?

-Void

IC:Cyramar

He thought for a moment. That sounded good, he certainly didn't know what to do with himself. Provided this guy secretly didn't want to kill him behind some shady establishment.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Lead the way." He nodded.

IC (Rhow):

Mostly peaceful. "Lucky sods..." The Skakdi mumbled. Peace was something she hadn't known in a long, long time. But what the not-Matoran-though-looking-like-one said made more sense now.

"Not your place, eh? Explains why you're third. My kind got craftsmen too, but they all fight. If you don't, you're dead meat walking, that needs protecting."

She shrugged. "But hey, it seems to work for you, so..."

IC (Akimoto)

"Hold on," Aki said, colouring slightly. "I didn't say I can't fight. I said I'm not trained. It's not like I have a choice in the matter."

IC: (Datrox)

​"What are you doing?" Datrox whispered. "Trying to get us thrown out before we've even gotten through the doorway?"

IC Sorox

The worn warrior rolled his eyes partially, not wanting to waste the time to answer that question. He strode up towards the counter, with a slightly forced undertone of disgust hanging in his eyebrows.

He looked around at the people who looked like they owned the place, although it was kinda hard to tell.

IC: Viloz

"Great," Viloz said, motioning for the stranger to follow him. "We're headed for the local healer. Got impaled the other day but we can talk about that after you're caught up to speed."

He looked over, offering a clawed hand. 

"I don't expect you to remember your name, but I'm Viloz."

IC: (Datrox)

​A confused Datrox attempted to ignore his companion.
​"Uh...what have you guys got to eat around here?"

IC:Cyramar

Of all things to remember, he remembered what that meant. And promptly shook his hand.

"I'm...Cyr...Cyram...Mar...Cyramar. Yeah, that...sounds right. I think."

...

Well, he had something to call himself now, even if it felt odd. Like the name wasn't explicitly his, but a broken up version of something else digging at the back of his mind.

Cyramar followed.

IC:

 

"Everything all right?" she asked her clan's elder. 

IC: Vilda Mako (Chisai Ryuu)

"I guess you could argue that, but I'm afraid Kama at least would be inclined to disagree." I replied dryly, feeling more in a business-mood right now.

"Anyway, I wanted to see you. The Commodore has decided to grant your request, on a few conditions," I said, "she wants me and Dakte to come along as well, and that we all stick strictly to recon, and absolutely no entering the city proper."

"She understands that we do at least need to get more info on the Chaotic Six, but other than that, going into an unknown, dangerous area with just the three of us and a group of strangers is still far too dangerous."

IC: Viloz

"Cyramar, eh? At least you got that going for you."

As they walked, Viloz started to explain their immediate surroundings. The minutes that followed were more or less a general information dump on Ga-Koro, the rest of the island, its inhabitants, and so on. "Amnesia usually happens to people who wash up on the island. We don't really know where they come from or how they got here, and anyone who leaves the island in hopes of finding answers never comes back. Well, we might actually have a breakthrough on that front now that those foreigners showed up."

They arrived at a medium-sized hut, where a Ga-Toa and a few other doctors awaited them inside. Viloz instructed Cyramar to take a seat while the Ga-Toa took a look at him and used her mask of healing to seal his wound and accelerate his recovery. By the end of it, he was a little better for wear and after payment, they left the establishment.

His stomach grumbled.

"You hungry, Cyramar?"

IC: Cyramar

Well, for what it was worth, what this Viloz had told him made him feel a lot more comfortable with his surroundings. When they reached the building with the doctors, Cyramar made virtually no noise as he waited.

Viloz asked him something.

Hungry. Hungry. That was...that waas...yeah, he knew what that was.

"Yeah, kinda."

IC:

 

"And we have apples, and peaches, and awesome red grapes, and..."

.

-Tyler

IC:

"," I cut in -- not because I wasn't into listening to the Sarge's lovely, lovely voice, but I couldn't risk another moment for Goldie to try making me snort coffee out of my nostrils. "Actually sounds like we have pretty much the same crops over Kentoku-side. Crazy how much in common these two places have."

I gave Sinshi a cute eyebrow-raise.

"Minus, of course, a few things exclusive to this place."

-Void

IC:

"Like feminism!"

-Tyler

IC: The Seventh

"So tell me more about these aliens."

IC:

Arisaka bit into her bagel, wondering to herself what this 'feminism' was all about.

IC:

"I do not know much, just what little I've seen and heard about these foreigners..." Wraith began as they marched toward the docks. "But apparently that look a lot like Toa and Matoran...but they're all blue, and they wear strange crystalline armor. Even their submersible vessel is made out of these crystals."

 

IC:

 

"I know because I must know, in order to do my job." The Matoran held up a finger, as if quieting the Dashi preemptively. "Before you accuse me of being mysterious, that's the best answer I can give, Explaining how would take more time and faith than you have, You know, and I know, that knowing your name should be impossible. And that's the point. Opening with the impossible will make what comes next a little easier to swallow."

 

"Did you know the Matoran have their own version of the Three Virtues? Your people, the Dasaka, have Order, Power, and Honor. We have Unity, Duty, and Destiny. The latter is what I am focused on today."

 

IC: Soraya [The Great Takea]

 

She stifled a snort.  She was getting a virtues lecture? The guy was either a religious wackjob or a member of some politican's goon squad.  "Destiny, huh? I sincerely hope that's not shorthand for 'know your place and like it'.  But if it is, hey, congrats! It took us 'Order' and 'Honor' to get that across, so you'd all be winning on word count at least." 

 

IC:

"Why would I be telling you to know your place? Such sentiments would only fit on your own archipelago. Not here." The Matoran gave the faintest of frowns, leaning back in his seat and steepling his fingers. "To be honest with you, Ms. Soraya, this is difficult. I spoke with a Ga-Matoran just a few minutes ago, a very similar conversation to this one. That conversation was simple. We speak a common language, one that you and I do not have."

"Not a verbal language. You and I obviously speak the same there. A cultural one. When I spoke with Four, she and I both understood 'Mata Nui', 'Destiny', the Mata, all of these terms rooted deeply in our own culture and history. You and I, we don't have that. Mata Nui and Makuta find their analogues in your Zuto Nui and Zataka, but the meanings aren't the same. They can't be." He gestured, one more time, towards the open chair before he shrugged slightly. "Which means that I can't expect you to understand the concepts that I need you to understand. Not yet."

"So let's take a different tact. Do you believe in Zuto Nui? More importantly, do you believe that she can directly affect our lives?"

IC:

"Daijuno, I must remind you that I can still legally cause you harm." The Menti threatened, admittedly rather ineffectually given the slightly embarrassed smile that she was trying to stifle. "Bear that in mind."

"And no, I suppose we don't have that back home, White."

IC: Viloz

"Good, let's get some food in your stomach. My treat." 

The pain in Viloz's side had been reduced to a dull throb, and everything from his posture to his attitude had seemingly improved. He walked steadily now, feeling much better with his wound sealed, though he knew he still hadn't cleared the home stretch to a complete recovery. 

"One thing you'll notice in Ga-Koro," he started, leading him into a large tiki-styled hut. "Is that you'll never have a hard time finding somewhere with a patio, and eight times out of ten they'll have a nice view. The other two times, you'll be staring at someone's backyard." A hostess greeted them at the entrance, and led the two to a table sitting by the waterside where they sat down. When she left, Viloz started flipping through the menu.

"I know I've explained a lot but I probably missed some important stuff, so fire away if you have any questions. Even if they're about the menu."

IC:Cyramar

Cyramar stared at the menu for a moment.

...

He knew what exactly a whopping 0.00% of what the stuff on this was.

...

"What would you recommend?"

IC Kiriah Vale:

"I suppose I am glad for your company, then. Mata Nui only knows what mistakes I'll make on this journey; in a way, I suppose one might see you as a teacher, in the regard of adventuring. Or at least, someone with more firsthand knowledge than I."

IC:Neya

Neya giggled when Kiriah finished speaking.

"If you wish to call me so, feel free." She grinned. Traveling alone had its ups and downs, but traveling with company was probably just better. You had someone to talk to, and one always felt safer when there was someone else backing them up. Unless, of course, said person sprinted into the wilderness or stabbed you in the back at the first opportunity.

"Anyway. If we're leaving, where are we headed?"

IC: Viloz

Viloz hoped Cyramar liked seafood, because that's all there was on the menu. Mostly.

"Err well, you can't go wrong with the fish tacos or crab cakes." He scratched his head. "There's also Takea or Tarakava steak if you're looking for something heavy, which is what I'm thinking of getting."