BZPRPG: Onu-Wahi

IC: UnknownThe manic smile didn't falter. "Either way, you don't get the information you want. How 'bout that? I win."

IC: Krell"No, you don't," I said, suddenly realising something. The box, the broken Kanohi. The Matoran that gave it to Zuria would have to know who sent these two. I was on a hunt."You loose."With that I brought my fist up into his jaw, quite probably knocking the mask-less Toa unconscious.

IC: ZurianaZuria watched him fall limp to the ground and sighed. "Well at least you didn't kill him. Poor guy." she added, directing her gaze at the fallen assailant. "Let's just get to the Koro."

IC: Krell"Sounds good," I replied, once again hauling the unconscious Toa up. No way I was going to leave him here. He knew something, something that I wanted to know."Lets go."

IC: A slight sigh echoed through the crystal. Its clear liquid reverbrated in response.Gyn Kirsug sat before his hut's window and sipped on a glass of vodka. He did not typically ingest alcohol, having seen himself the full extent of damage it could wreak on the body. But its taste was enough to qualify it as a treat. 'Everything in moderation', he liked to say, and so it was with drink; in small amounts providing pleasure and in large providing addiction and death. The rare happenstance was not arranged to coincide with any great event. But his rejoicing might as well have been. His endeavors thus far had been successful. Onu-Koro's atmosphere was rapidly becoming less favorable to the other villages' 'heroes'. Arkom himself was right where he wanted him. Everything was playing in his favor.Salvation is on the horizon, Gyn reflected. But first...First, he would gather. His operations called for information, forces, and innumerable other resources. A man was only as powerful as he chose to be. Scientia est potentia, Kirsug knew, and he would play accordingly in this grand game. Indeed, knowledge was foremost--information broke bonds of ignorance and provided 'card advantage' over those without it. Which was why his first order to his new pair of mercenaries was to gather information. Anonymous skakdi were powerful in a fight and knew how to move with stealth. A unit of two was small enough to slip through most systems of detection, but great of a weapon enough to fight out of that same system. But primarily the pair was expendable. Most of island's skakdi population was shunned and thus turned to mercenary work underground as a way to make a living, becoming masters of battle and clandestine operations out of necessity. Gyn could easily rehire as needed. That was not likely, of course, this pair having a very unique set of skills and abilities setting them apart from the typical mercenary. Each brought powers and weapons to the table unlike any other skakdi.But then again, didn't they all? The ultimate irony of mercenaries was that none was typical, all striving to set them apart from the others in skill and reliability to succeed in their competitive environment. And that was the beauty of it all. In a quest to become remarkably unique, each mercenary had become uniquely unremarkable. Gyn laughed slightly. Then he took another sip.Rejoice, Mata Nui. Your saviors have appeared.

OOC: I'll do that whenever there's a space between our posts. Not right now, for instance. IC: Tirus, Onu-Koro (Hospital, Reception)"I've never heard of a biography being given away for a cent." Tirus said with a twist of the mouth that could, if one had the imagination, be taken as a smirk. "But I'll try my best." He said with a resigned grunt, and began to speak.A few seconds later, he was finished, having given Tajeh a paragraph-sized summary of his thoughts; Reflections on a hard, cruel past, and a future most likely the same. The Fe-Toa wasn't the most positive of beings, but perhaps an ounce of hope could be heard in his voice, a hope for days to come that would not contain as many dissapointments.OOC: No longer will Tirus's sentences end with 'lad'. Totally new style of speech.

OOC: .......I have my reasons for wanting us to quote each other. Many of them end in "will die."IC(Tajeh): Tajeh wasn't sure what to say to a situation like this. He asked for his thoughts and got his life. Funny how that works. Unless his life was his thoughts. Maybe his thoughts were his life. Maybe.....Tajeh needed to say something. "Oh."

IC: Tirus, Onu-KoroTirus sighed. "Sorry for rambling on; I'm just angry." He said, pulling his hat's brim down again. "I didn't mean to continue on like that." He said no more, sitting quietly, his eyes almost glazed as he continued to think.

IC: Tarnok"Do you have a place to stay?" Tarnok asked suddenly, glancing back over at Ulyism.

IC: [uyism]"Tunnels."

IC: Tarnok"...... Are you okay with that? I have a spare room, if you need a place to stay." He shrugged. 'But I don't know the customs of your race. Maybe you just prefer sleeping in the tunnels."

IC: [uyism]"Hole. Sufficient shelter."

IC: Tarnok"That's not what I was asking. I was asking if you would prefer it to staying in a house."

IC: [uyism]"Yes."

IC: Tarnok"Alright then."

IC: [uyism]"Orders?"

IC: Tarnok"I don't think I outrank you."

IC: [uyism]"Am not officially protector."

IC: Tarnok"Then I really have no authority over you." The Matoran shrugged. "I'll probably do some training. I haven't put in my daily workout for almost a week."

IC: [uyism]"I see."

IC:Rewera nodded slowly. Ravage was right of course; her question more aimed at how her companion perceived the world around him, rather than how much she could trust upon his statement being true. It was true for the rest of the universe. She could not remember ever coming through any pocket of civilization anywhere, where nobody was either trying to get an unfair advantage through backroom deals, or where integrity and morals could not be bought for the right amount of widgets."Wisdom is experience plus time..." the female Toa mumbled, to herself, as they walked through Onu-Koro's streets, two outsiders in their own little social bubble. The people they passed did not pay much attention to them. The streets might as well have been empty, the way the two of them went unnoticed by most. Which was one of the reasons Rewera was an Aitua. And in Ravage, she saw a lot of what she shared with her brothers."You are a wise man, Ravage." she complimented him."I don't know about you, but I feel like we shouldn't linger for too long while the trail becomes colder. Which way to the great mine?"--------------------------------OOC: Kehua and Kaimaen from Po-Wahi.IC:It had not been easy for the shadow to follow the two Toa unnoticed though the open plains of Po-Wahi. The dark shade, ethereal in its form, had mostly snuck from rock to rock, where those were available, but when they weren't it had been forced to join the shadows of its game. And that was a risk, it knew. Kehua, massive being that he was, did perhaps not look like the brightest star in the skies above, but behind the brawn there was a brain; and not a slow one. Honed over centuries, he was not to be underestimated. More than once, the Toa had looked over his shoulder, the feeling of being watched creeping up his spine, making his neck tingle. And the shade would have surely been discovered, had it not been for the fact that the Makuta was rooted so deeply in the land, diminishing the effect of the Aitua's unusualy sixth sense.So when they had reached the tunnel of the highway leading west, to the underground realm of Onu-Wahi, the shade had been more than happy to be free to move about again, following the two into the deep roads, until the gloom ahead signaled their arrival at the village of Onu-Koro itself. Kehua, next to Kaimaen, walked with heavy, sure steps, radiating confidence. Irritated, the shadow slipped away, knowing the two Toa would not leave the village too soon. It had to make a report that was eagerly awaited.When they reached the opening of the tunnel leading into the cavern holding the underground village, Kehua took the time to look around, though continuing to walk at a steady pace. "Nice place." he commented on the way the light of lightstones and torches created a warm mood, despite everything around being cold rock. It definitely was a nice change from the blue-ish twilight of the algae-lit tunnels they had been in for the past hours."I'd say, we better go and talk to the guards again. They seem to at least have an ear on the ground."

IC: RavageRavage blinked, mildly surprised by the compliment. He gestured toward one street, running almost perpendicular with the one they were on. "This way."The bestial Toa walked quickly but calmly down the specified route, keeping his eyes open for the Ussalry. The two walked for several minutes, the number of people around them dwindling the closer they got to the mine. Once they were within eyesight of it, Ravage cursed. "Go figure. They set up guards to keep people out."IC: TarnokTarnok was quiet a moment. "What do you think you'll be doing?"

IC-Kaimaen:"Logical," Kaimaen commented. "Especially after Po-Koro...and the Ussalry is a bit less...excitable than the Po-Koro guards are these days." He shrugged."After that, we might check out the Great Mine. I heard it was flooded, and I wouldn't mind seeing the extent of the damage."

IC: Tirus, Onu-KoroTirus sighed. "Sorry for rambling on; I'm just angry." He said, pulling his hat's brim down again. "I didn't mean to continue on like that." He said no more, sitting quietly, his eyes almost glazed as he continued to think.

IC(Tajeh): "It's...." Fine? Okay? A really bad idea? "....okay."

IC: GravityI suddenly woke with a start. I hadn't realised I'd fallen asleep. Not that I was surprized, seeing how tired I was feeling before, and, despite being in a chair, it was the best I'd slept in a while.I glanced around at my surroundings, making sure that everything was as it was before I had passed out. Fortunately, nothing had changed, atleast, nothing that I could see so far. Satisfied I leaned forward, resting my head in my hands while my elbows rested on my knees, and watched Hajia.

IC: Tirus, Onu-Koro"Heh." Tirus said, his grin of chipped teeth and rough, coarse lips reappearing for a moment. "You were never that good at lying, were you?"IC: Hajia, Onu-KoroHajia wasn't sleeping, only staring at the ceiling quietly, thinking back, considering and reviewing her life as all the others of Hound and Company had been doing recently. They had all feared the day when they were going to have to destroy or be destroyed by Onyx, and now they day had passed... They all had their lives to live, without fear of an impending doom.When Gravity leaned forward, Hajia turned her head to smile at him, her stormy, light blue, almost grey eyes twinkling. No words needed to be said, the smile said it all; She was happy. So utterly happy. Even the scars from the torture chambers of the Catacombs could not remove the euphoria she was feeling.

IC: GravityI smiled back at the Toa of Water as she turned towards me, my eyes fixed on her's. I liked it when she smiled, her face lit up, and her not-quite-grey eyes glowed. She didn't say anything, and I didn't say anything, her smile alone was enough for me. Now that Onyx was dead, I looked forward to just spending some time with Hajia, doing... whatever really, as long as she was there.

IC(Tajeh): Tajeh grinned slightly. "I try not to be good at it."

IC: ZurianaThe tunnels proved harder to navigate than previously thought, however; before long Zuria had given up. "This is it. We're lost. And I can't even see you." she felt along the ground and found a rock to sit and pout on. What a day.

IC: Krell [Tunnels... Lots and lots of tunnels]"I find that midly interesting," I said to Zura, my voice somewhat distant. "For I can see fine in these lighting conditions. Perhaps it has something to do with this."Raising my hand, palm up, I willed a small sphere of that black, light-sucking fire I seemed to be able to produce into existance. "What is this, anyway?" I asked, seeing as we were taking a break, "That being earlier, he shot electricity at me. I didn't realise at the time, but it came from his hands... What am I?"

IC: Zuriana"Why, you're a Toa of course!" Zuria exclaimed like it was obvious. How could anyone be so unaware of their own species? "You're memory's damaged even more than I thought. I've got no idea what that is, though. It looks like fire but I'm sure it isn't."

IC: Krell [Tunnels]"Hm," I agreed. It definately looked like fire... But no fire that I'd ever seen. Interested, I focused, imagining the fireball reshaping itself. Surprizingly, the orb responded to my commands, forming a halo of flames around my now curled fist. I didn't even feel the flames touch me. "Interesting still, I don't seem to be affected by them... A resistance of some kind, perhaps?"

IC: [uyism]"Do not know."

IC:Rewera nodded. "Reasonable, considering what happened...do you want to go and ask nicely or should we look for another way in?" she asked Ravage.---------------------"Good idea." Kehua told Kaimaen. The large Toa looked around as they walked, until he spotted a sign, reading 'Ussalry'. Satisfied that he did not need to ask for directions, the two Toa took a right turn and continued to walk toward the Onu-Koro guard HQ.OOC: Short post, it's 3am, I need sleep ^^

IC: Ravage"We look like creatures from Makuta's day dreams." Ravage commented, glancing both at Rewera and himself. "Dark, quite a few things in common with his creatures. Not to mention that if they aren't letting their own citizens, they certainly won't let us in."His eyes darted around, searching for an entrance. It only took him a few moments to spot a vent, the same one, ironically, used to sneak in and commit the attack. It was a bit too high for either of them to jump. "That could work. I could give you a boost, and then climb up myself."

IC: ZurianaZuria was astonished. Never had she heard someone describe the feeling of commanding their element like that before. She opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again and sat up as a faint light crawled into view at the end of a tunnel opposite her. "Krell, look..."OOC: This is the nostalgia trip part

OOC: Hahahahaha.... IC: Krell"What in the Karz?" I said, the flame surrounding my hand going out. I glanced down towards Zuria, and asked, "How close to the village are we?"Even without my memoeries, I knew we were too far away from the Koro of Earth.

IC: Zuriana"I have absolutely no idea..." Zuria murmured with a shrug. "But I'm almost certain we're nowhere near it. Call it an educated guess." she got to her feet and frowned. "What do you think it could be?"

IC: Tirus, Onu-Koro"That's good goal. Better than mine." Tirus said, pausing to grin at Tajeh, his eyes twinkling with humor. "Make it to the next cask of whiskey." He said truthful, pulling a rather large, silver cask out of the pocket of his trousers, taking a large swig of it, unaffected by the harsh liquid. "Goal accomplished, eh?" He joked, offering the whiskey to Tajeh.IC: Hajia, Onu-KoroGravity's smiling in return set Hajia's spirits soaring, her hopes of a semi-normal, peaceful life possible. But there's so much he doesn't know about me. She thought. He doesn't know all the torture I've went through. All the throats I've slit, all the torture I've preformed on others. He doesn't know about when I was a slave, or before that, and he wouldn't be smiling like this if he did. Doubt after doubt. Hajia smile remained on her face, but inside, the icy fingers of doubt were clawing at her, freezing her happiness and replacing it with cold, hollow sorrow.

IC: GravityI kept on smiling back for a while, oblivious to the thoughts going through the Toa of Water's head, before asking, "How are you feeling?"I felt good right now, really good, and I didn't think anything could change that.IC: Krell"Don't know, but lets go check it out," I said to the Matoran, interested to see what it was. Needless to say, a small ball of fire formed in my hand, as I prepared for the worst.

IC: Caige (Inn, Onu-Koro)"Ugh...what happened last night?"-Teezy