BZPRPG: Ko-Wahi

IC: Esao (Ice Howl Inn, Ko-Koro)"This isn't about her," Esao said quietly before falling into a deep quiet for several seconds. He finished restitching the leather on his armor before standing up and slinging his bow over his back."I'll think it over and get back to you here," he said, plucking his kukri from the table and spinning it around his hand before slamming it into its sheath on his thigh, amethyst pointing skyward. "That's the most you're getting out of me."And then he was out the door.-Teezy

IC:But Quoribay sprinted over and parried ravage's attack with his dirks, leaving Grata unharmed -and with a chance to counterattack ravage.

IC - Sucogu - InnSucogu put a hand on Esao's shoulder, holding him for a second. His face was full of disdain, and it was obvious he thought little of the archer's attitude."Do as you will, but know that I'm not going to wait for you. You are, as most of us, replaceable. I'm not going to sit around while you think over the offer."His hand was shrugged off as the Toa exited the inn. Almost as if on cue, Riversong entered."Just in time. My offer is simple. Leave all ties from the past behind you and join us, or, as Esao has considered, stay to the ties and remain shackled to the past. The choice is yours."

IC: Sideways:The sound of buzzsaws filled the air all of a sudden, as the Shuriken suspended in the air around him started to spin, very quickly. Suddenly, they flew out from around him at the two attackers, rocketing towards them with strange precision, cutting through the winter air like a hot knife through butter.

IC: Riversong (Ice Howl Inn)The Toa of Water shrugged, saying, "I don't really have any "ties to the past" except for a distant cousin that I haven't seen for a long time now. Besides, I came to Ko-Koro looking for a change of pace, and it seems like I've found that in your group."

IC (Ice Howl Inn, Ko-Koro):Nova forsook the inn's lukewarm air for the chilly breeze outside.Esao stood out there, hands crossed over his chest, looking toward the city square. He didn't react much as Nova approached cautiously."I..." It seemed words weren't willing to cooperate with Nova today. He inhaled and tried again. "...I think you should give the group a chance. You can't shut yourself away just because you made a mistake. I, um, tried that myself; it didn't work." The unintentional joke fell painfully flat; he grimaced to himself. "Besides, how can letting someone watch your six be a bad thing?"He exhaled. There. He had said it. He acutely felt Esao's gaze on him and stiffened a little.

IC: Esao (Inn, Ko-Koro)Esao was quiet for several long seconds; his deep amethyst gaze seemed to examine Nova's soul, and, after a small amount of time, the purple irises seemed to be pleased with what they found there and softened a bit. "It's Nova, right?" he asked the other Toa of Fire.The student nodded. Esao leaned against the inn and bit his lip in thought. The chilly winter air seemed to hit both Toa of Fire with all of its gale, blowing on them, trying to make them move, but both Esao and Nova stood resolute against the ice gnawing away at their bones."A couple years ago," he finally said, "my family owned one of the biggest beverage companies on Mata Nui. One day, a rival got greedy and one of his assassins poisoned my uncle: it took him a week to die, painfully and lonely, and after he finally went, my grandfather followed with a broken heart. I was the heir to the family throne which, naturally, wasn't the greatest move according to some other family confidantes. I have a bit of a...checkerboard past, mind you. Anyway, I built this bow in the space of a week, made the armor myself, crafted the kukri, shined the gem, trained my body to deal with any terrain, opponent, or change in weapon style. And I did all this for one reason: so that no one, ever, had to bear the burden I had to bear on my shoulders ever again.""Have I succeeded? I don't know. It's been two years, and everywhere, people suffer and die because there aren't enough people ready to fight the good fight. I can't just sit by idly as part of some team and take out a couple targets every month. That's never been my MO. I don't think it ever will be. But this...cause that I'm working for, this fight that I'm taking on for the ones that won't...I'm willing to die for that. Even if I have to do so alone."-Teezy

IC (outside Ice Howl Inn, Ko-Koro):Nova hesitated. In some ways, he could understand what Esao had gone through; in other ways, the other Toa's situation was alien. But -- "We're both Toa," he said finally, stepping forward. "We're brothers -- er, not familially..." He sighed. "You know what I mean. The point is, should Toa turn their backs on other Toa just to avoid the risk? We'd gladly bear your burden if it meant serving with you for however long. That's... what Toa do, isn't it?"Nova's question was only half-rhetorical, as if he wasn't sure himself what Toa did. He made an effort to meet Esao's gaze; this was not a time for him to act coy.

OOC: I'm going to assume Tangrua and Ning are also present, because NStephenH hasn't posted in a while.IC: With the team assembled. Dekuna led them into the wreck and started picking metal pieces out of a shredded armchair so that he could sit down. "Allright team" he began, standing up to address the gathering, "We came here to retrieve a few things and set up our Ko-wahi base. As you can see, those plans have been... disrupted. With Zealokan's support, I have decided on a new course of action. We are going to hunt down whoever is responsible and bring them to justice, not only for this house, but for the rest of Ko-koro, because I have a feeling that the two are linked.Now, we don't have a lot to go on at this stage, but I'll lay out my suspicions. A lot of this damage looks to have been done with a mace, just like another house I've been in recently. I'm not sure how many of you have heard this story, but I'll tell it anyway, just so we're all on the same page. The Hau Karda was formed in Ga-koro on Zealokan's asking, but before that many of the founding members were travelling together as an unofficial team. Havon, Miha, Me and a few others were in Le-koro searching for Miha's missing uncle - Zealokan and Payiges, you met him in Ga-koro - so we went to search around his hut. We found a note saying that he was safe and in Ga-koro, but the inside of his hut had been trashed with his maces, just like this, except the damage was less severe. As we puzzled over who might have wanted to ransack the hut of an old psychologist, the criminal revealed himself. It was a toa of air named Xxeth, who was working for Makuta. He was an old enemy of Havon's and also of Skyra, for whom we were searching.Appearing suddenly, Xxeth kidnapped Mimira (who was Skyra's younger sister and close to Havon) and used her to force Havon into duelling him. The agreement was that if Havon lost, he would reveal all that we knew of Skyra's location. Xxeth was on the point of killing Havon for refusing to tell when I intervened, telling him that we were on our way to see Skyra in Po-koro, when if fact we knew him to be in Ta-koro. He bought the lie, allowing the rest of us enough time to bring both Havon and Mimira to a doctor in Ta-koro who was Miha's adoptive father. He followed us there, however, having discovered my deception. There, threatened to kill me, but eventually left without a fight.To put it bluntly, Xxeth had the means and the motive to cause this damage, and he had already threatened violence against me. As of now, he is my prime suspect."Dekuna sat down again, his speech concluded. "Does anyone else have something to say?"

[iC: Rannin]Rannin leaned against a wall, awaiting Bruntoa's reawakening.

IC: Zealokan'As a matter of fact, I do,' he said, standing up. 'No doubt you will have all noticed, my companion Payiges here is still unconscious, and therefore, out of action. I suggest that until we are in such a position to be ready, we clean up and fortify this place as best as we can, should another attack on the village occur.' He absentmindedly unsheathed a blade and ran his finger along it, testing its edge. 'This could use a sharpening....' he muttered.

IC: Team Winged Dagger, CedilYerith pulled a picture out of his satchel. It was of four people. One had his back turned, one was Tirzan with a red X over his head, and the other two were Vortixx. One had only one arm."That is Quoren Zakhaev," he said, pointing to the one-armed Vortixx. "And his son Wal-El, head of their field forces. We know where he is, but not his father.""Ah," Cedil said, figuring out the plan. "And the little punk will know how to find Quoren.""The sins of our fathers," Gaz chuckled."Ain't it a Brakas," Cedil replied, patting his new comrade on the back.Pordal smiled. They were having a good time, but soon they'd have to get moving. They had to end this.

OOC: I'm going to assume Tangrua and Ning are also present, because NStephenH hasn't posted in a while.

OOC: Thanks. I was away on vacation.IC: Tangrua"Where do you think he could have gone?" Tangrua inquired.

IC (outside Ice Howl Inn, Ko-Koro):Nova hesitated. In some ways, he could understand what Esao had gone through; in other ways, the other Toa's situation was alien. But -- "We're both Toa," he said finally, stepping forward. "We're brothers -- er, not familially..." He sighed. "You know what I mean. The point is, should Toa turn their backs on other Toa just to avoid the risk? We'd gladly bear your burden if it meant serving with you for however long. That's... what Toa do, isn't it?"Nova's question was only half-rhetorical, as if he wasn't sure himself what Toa did. He made an effort to meet Esao's gaze; this was not a time for him to act coy.

IC: Esao (Ice Howl Inn, Ko-Koro)Esao was quiet, his fingers still dancing around the amethyst on his kukri, his purple gaze still staring through Nova's head as if fixed with laser beams."I need some air. I'm going to take a walk," he said, turning away and walking into the Koro itself. "I'll meet you here with my answer."-Teezy

IC (outside Ice Howl Inn, Ko-Koro):Stalemate.Nova watched Esao go. At least a stalemate was better than nothing. And Esao had said he would think about it...Self-consciously, Nova remembered he was standing alone in the cold air. He looked about himself once more, cast a glance in Esao's direction of departure, and reentered the Ice Howl Inn.

IC: Bruntoa - Inn, Ko-koro -Bruntoa snored loudly.

IC: Esao (Inn, Ko-Koro)How long Esao had been walking aimlessly, trudging through the wreckage of the once-proud village of Ko-Koro, he had no idea. At first, he assumed he'd been out for mere minutes, but then he realized that it had to have been at least an hour, maybe more. Sighing, he leaned against a hut about four blocks away from Flyssa's grave, leaning against it and closing his eyes. He had long ago been taught by his uncle how to blot out the rest of the world and let only the sounds of nature bring themselves to the forefront of one's psyche.A bird chirped. Maybe Nova was right. This crusade was only liable to get him killed - not that Esao minded that particular outcome, but the sooner he died the less lives he could help touch - and maybe a team would be able to help him do the good he'd been as of yet unable to do alone. Or, maybe, he could redouble his efforts. He was a shadow. He came as dust: he left as dust. That was how he worked, and so far, that particular MO had done him a lot of good.Icicles whistled against the wind, creating a light, musical sound that twinkled in Esao's thoughts. Flyssa would have adored that sound.And then there was Flyssa. The Toa of Lightning hadn't been his girlfriend by any stretch, and yet, Esao had been attached to her, moreso than he'd been attached to any living being since his uncle died. She had been so normal, with her love of music, the outdoors, and fun. The way her spring green eyes had sparkled when she first saw Naho Bay was a memory Esao would never - could never - forget, and it was one he would now never see again. Maybe that was symbolic in a way, as well: now that Flyssa was dead, so was any sense of normalcy that had reared its head in his life. This was what he was supposed to do. He couldn't stop. He would never stop.A battle resounded in the distance.Wait. What?Esao snapped out of his reverie and activated his Volitak, moving towards the sound of the fight.-Teezy

IC: Team Winged Dagger, Cedil, Wal-ElPordal sat up in the guard tower of the makeshift checkpoint they had made along the trail they were sure Wal-El would come down."Good thing you're up here," Cedil chuckled. "Cause you look nothing like a Vortixx."Wal-El sat back as his Ussal convoy carried him through the snows of Ko-Koro. It felt almost like home. Hm, it seemed that his people had set up those checkpoints he had asked for. Good."I'm walking in front of his vehicle," Gaz announced to the rest of the team.Probably just a security measure for their commander.Then Gaz muttered an insult.Wal-El ducked as several disks were launched his way."He's kicking the Ussal!" Yerith yelled. "Karz, he's going to ram the tower. Soap, Cedil, watch out!"Wal-El rammed the tower, bringing it crashing down. He rolled out of the way as his Ussal was crushed. Two strange Toa toppled from the top, stunned. He looked the Toa of Fire in the eye before dashing off.Pordal grunted and brought himself to his feet, already chasing their target."Right, Soap, Cedil, you go after Wal-El," Yerith commanded. "We'll be right behind you!"It didn't matter what he said; Pordal was already on the move.

IC:Rewera was slightly surprised by her opponents actions, but not by much. Those of the Skakdi we're as predictable as the snow in these mountains. Their first instinct was always to hit and shoot it seemed and it was an easy dodge to move her head out of the way of the laservision, while Ravage took on the brute. But the Toa. He really was foolish enough to attempt an attack while she had her blade right on his neck. Then again, watching them moments before her attack, she had mentally gone through all conceivable counter-attacks the two could come up with. This one included. It had been the main-reason why she had decided to sneak up on him in the first place. He was either a hostage or a shield for her. And sending the shuriken after both her and Ravage meant half of those were now converging on her location and by extent, his. Rewera waited for the last possible moment before the Shuriken would hit their target, then dropped down suddenly, hooking her fingers into the armor of his waist to stop him from jumping out of the way. Either he stopped his attack immediately or he would give himself holes in his body where he didn't need any.

IC: Esao (Ko-Koro)Rewera need not have worried about Sideways stopping his attack: two arrows, crafted from pure flame that radiated nothing but heat in the icy Ko-Koro climate, went whizzing through the air and stuck firmly in the holes in the center of the shuriken, pinning them to a hut wall. Esao snapped his fingers, and the other four arrows in his bow disappeared, allowing him to sling the weapon over his back and draw his kukri. The Volitak deactivated, revealing a tall, good-looking, but dark Toa of Fire, wearing an expectant smirk and an amethyst gaze that seemed to pierce the souls of those in the battle."You really should learn to throw faster," he said to Sideways. "It might save your life one day."-Teezy

IC: Team Winged Dagger, Cedil, Wal-ElPordal dashed along the trail with the gates to Ko-Koro just ahead."He's gonna try to lose us in there," Cedil stated the obvious.Pordal kept running, his disk launcher ever in his hands.Wal-El looked behind him. Those two pesky Toa were still behind him. He pulled out his Xian assault rifle and fired a few blind shots.Cedil swore jumping around, trying to dodge the projectiles.Pordal kept running, aiming forward for a leg shot."We need him alive!" Yerith called a few meters behind him. "Do not shoot."Wal-El continued to fire behind until he ran out of ammo. He threw the rifle to the ground and kept running through the streets, pushing anyone out of his way. There was an inn a few stories high. He zigzagged, trying to throw off his pursuers before entering."In the building!" Gaz yelled. "Go, go, go!"Pordal rushed in, ignoring the Matoran at the front desk, dashing upstairs."He's on the roof!" Cedil called from outside.Pordal climbed stair after stair until the team burst out on the roof themselves. Their target had stepped on to one corner, precariously perched so that two more steps and he would fall to his death."I can put one in his leg, sir," Cedil said."We can't risk it," Yerith snapped. "We need him unharmed. Soap, go and restrain him."Pordal stepped forward, now masterful at shrugging off that nickname. He put his disk launcher away.Wal-El watched the Toa of Fire carefully. When he got close, Wal-El pulled out his Xian machine pistol. He stepped up onto the barrier of the roof, the weapon pointed at his chin."NO!" Gaz yelled, stepping forward.Wal-El felt the cold metal against his chin and pulled the trigger.Pordal was just three steps away, feeling so disappointed in himself. The blood splattered into the air as Wal-El fell off the roof. There was collective swearing coming from behind him."His son was our only lead, sir," Gaz sighed in frustration, swearing some more."Forget it," Yerith said, brushing it off. "I know the Vortixx. He won't let this go unanswered."

IC: Sideways:​Rook melted into Crosswise, the armor collapsing upon itself until Crosswise appeared, "Grata, I think it might be a good idea to let our new friend go, and head back to our friends."Sideways automatically generated a adverse magnetic field, making his armor repulse any other metal objects around him.Suminaxe dropped down from the top of a ruin, ready to fight if needed.

IC: RavageRavage gave a feral grin. "I'd get your friend Grata some medical attention. He has some pretty potent poison coursing through his veins. In fact, I'd say he should be losing muscle control in about a minute or two."

IC: Sideways:The partially mute Toa of Magnetism simply hissed at Ravage."We leave, and you don't chase us then?" Crosswise asked, "Besides, we have arangements elsewhere to keep, right Suminaxe?"The Toa of Fire glared at Sideways/Crosswise for mentioning his name to these strangers, but he nodded.

IC: Team Winged Dagger, Cedil, QuorenQuoren Zakhaev stood in the war room of his base, looking at his fellow Vortixx comrades."Our so-called leaders sold us out to the North," he said to them. "Destroyed our culture, our economies, our honor. Our blood has been spilled on their soil. My blood, on their hands. All aggressive Toa forces will leave Ko-Wahi immediately. Or suffer the consequences.""Okay, either we get moving or we don't recognize the island tomorrow," Yerith said. "His troops are converging on an ice bridge here. We stop them there, Quoren will come out of hiding to finish this."Pordal headed out with the rest of the team it didn't take all that long to reach the bridge, but when they did, they saw the one-armed Vortixx standing there.Gaz muttered a few insults, drawing his disk launcher."I don't think we can win this," Cedil mumbled. "It's us against his army.""Walk out onto the bridge... slowly," Yerith commanded.Pordal crept up, ready to launch his disk, his finger itching to pull the trigger.Quoren smiled, signalling for his Vortixx to fire. Several different types of projectiles flew into the air, shattering the bridge behind the team. There was no going back.Pordal ran forward as the projectiles rained down. Half of the bridge had been shattered, Yerith and Gaz had been hit and a disoriented Pordal was being dragged along by Cedil.Cedil had been the only one to come out without a scratch. He put Pordal in a safe spot before pulling out his disk launcher and fending off the crowd a moment before he was shot in the head.Gaz looked back to see the Marine die before looking up at Quoren's pistol. There was a bang and it was all over.Pordal wanted to scream. Gaz and Cedil were dead. He looked back to Yerith who was struggling to pull something from his pack.Yerith finally freed it. It was the disk Pordal had made from the iron used to kill Tirzan. He slid it to the Sergeant.Pordal smoothly grabbed it and placed it in his launcher. He zeroed in on Quoren's head and pulled the trigger.Quoren looked from the body of the Toa he had just killed to another Toa who had just launched a high velocity disk at his head. There was no time to dodge as it crushed his skull. He fell lifeless to the ground.Pordal lay back, hopeless. It was over. He would die here with Yerith and the others. He began to close his eyes. Then the flapping of Gukko wings. Kemrof! The Matoran landed his Gukko and placed him on the bird telling him he would be all right. Pordal looked down as someone was trying to revive Yerith. They banged on his chest, but stopped after a while, shaking their head. A tear fell from Pordal's eye as he was lifted away from that horrible place.OOC: Pordal to Ga-Wahi.

IC:Rewera was flung backwards, sliding in the snow from the magnetism, but catching herself soon, stabilizing herself on both legs and one arm, the other holding her sword ready to strike behind her back. She glared at Sideways but didn't say anything. The situation had changed and she needed to see how the powers were balanced now. She just hoped Ravage's poison was as potent as he said.

IC: Esao (Ko-Koro)"Speaking from an outsider's point of view, you must not care about the guy that much if you're going to sit here and negotiate while the poison works its magic. This is the part where I would take a leap of faith. Y'know, if I were you."-Teezy

IC: Sideways:The Toa of Magnetism said something that sounded like "I'll be back" or something of the like, went over to Grata, picked him up, and started to head back towards the part of the Wahi that was undamaged. Sideways used his Mask of Illusions to create a fake snow-storm to cover his tracks, so that they wouldn't follow him.

IC (Grata):Grata began having muscle spasms, and it was not a pretty sight. It looked like a giant two year old.having a temper tantrum. It would be difficult for sideways to carry him, with flaling arms and legs.

IC:A snowstorm appearing out of nowhere...was definitely not umcommon in these parts of the Island. But not this fast. "Illusion. It confuses the eyes but I can still hear them walk." the Rewera said.

IC: Esao (Ko-Koro)Esao closed his eyes and listened."Northwest," he said quietly, his senses fine-tuned to a hair trigger. "Not exactly moving slowly, but easy enough to catch. You going after them?"-Teezy

IC:"Northwest, precisely." Rewera said. "I'm not going after them. But not on my own. I'm good, but I can't really get close to that Toa of magnetism."

IC: Ravage"I'm not going after them, unless I've got backup. I wanted to make them leave, they left. Good enough for me."

IC:"You got the Skakdi good. If we're lucky, he won't make it." Rewera said, coldly. "We should start helping the village deal with the damage. I was told this was a serene place. I'd like to see it that way."

IC: Sideways:The Toa of Magnetism brought Grata into the makeshift hospital dropping him on a bed.​"Is there a doctor available at the moment? Anyway, Grata, have you thought about losing a few pounds?"

"Wha-wha happened?"Savulg had been knocked down by one of the many attacks and was just now getting up. He seemed to be a bit confused as to what was going on...-Mef Man

OOC: AuRon, the hospital is gone. The only one is a temporary one in the inn, coincidentally the same place the forming team of do-gooders is. :evilgrin:IC: RavageRavage nodded. "Indeed."

IC: Suminaxe:The Toa of Fire thought he spied the people who they had fought in the inn... But he made no mention of it to Sideways. A confrontation here isn't what they needed.

IC: Yerith, OziYerith lay there, unconscious for hours. If one went through a thorough examination, they would have pronounced him dead. But his heartlight suddenly winked back to life and he opened his eyes, looking up. A Vortixx stood over him, smiling. Quoren? No, this one was much younger."Captain Yerith Price," Ozi Mekrof stated. "I knew you were alive. Now you're going to wish you weren't."The Vortixx picked him up and hauled him over to a Gukko."Welcome to Karzahni you Brakas," he spat, taking off.

IC (Grata):Grata was to busy spazzing from the poison to notice the remark. Luckily, he had earlier sucked some of the poison out, so if he got medical treatment quick, he would probably make it.