BZPRPG: Po-Wahi

IC: Akura

 

"A murder suspect equals dangerous. Do you think they though if they just strolled up to me and said you're under arrest that there wasn't a possibility I would kill them there and then. They knew that if they didn't strike hard and fast that they wouldn't have a chance at bringing in a supposed murderer. Think about it. All I can do is move fast and jump. I don't kill if I don't think its necessary so I wasn't going to defend myself. But i'm sure not going to prison because some guy used ice to kill some innkeeper. So I ran."

IC: The Sergeant stared at him. "What.

"You don't understand how we work at all, do you, lad?"

IC: Akura

"You know what sergeant, I've been putting on this bumbling, idiotic facade for too long. It is obvious that you aren't buying anything i'm saying. But it's also obvious that you aren't going to get anything out of me."

IC: The Sergeant eyed him. "Right. You'll be staying here until we're ready for trial. Until then, I'd start preparing your defense if I were you."

IC: Akura

"Of course, but don't disregard all I have said. Half-truths are still partly true, after all....." He was going to say something, but decided against it.

IC: Athiel

Athiel is sitting on the floor, planning an escape in the possibility he and his friends aren't cleared of they accusations. "There's only one way our of this cell, out the door. I cant melt a hole in it without calling attention to me. Qyntar could crush it, but again, noise. I could just melt the hinges, or the lock. So many choices", he thought to himself. He was enjoying this.

IC: Vrina

Vrina sat almost meditatively on the bench of the jailcell. To most it may seem like she was sleeping but she knew better. She had been listening to everything. She just felt it was better not to waste energy on useless conversation.

IC: (Larikon Torchbearer/Blackrock)

"Have you any ideas to destroy it?" Larikon was thinking of ways, but it was best to consult Dryken first.

IC: Athiel

Athiel sighed. "How are you guys holding up", he asked. He stood up and leaned against the wall. "We could easily escape but I guess we should wait it out for a while." Vrina appeared to be sleeping. He knew it would help pass time, but he prefered to stay awake in case something happened.

IC: Korru (Sentinel HQ)

"I heard that"

IC: Vrina

Vrina opened one of her eyes slowly and peered at Athiel

"I am actually holding up quite well.. Doing something productive unlike you two."

IC: Athiel

"Well, some people can't just sit idly by and let things happen. Also, I can't think if I'm sleeping and if you can, good for you." He was extremely irritated now. "Sorry, didn't notice you there."

OOC : I seriously thought we were alone. Oh well.

IC: Vrina

Vrina smiled softly

"You have never heard of meditation have you athiel?"

IC: Athiel

"Of course I have, but to discipline your mind you must be clear of thought and transcend. But perhaps your right. Calmness of mind leads to rationality." He sits down, moving his body into a meditative form, and starts to clear his mind. Silence. Stillness. He thought not of these thing, but instead embodied them.

IC: Vrina

Vrina smiled softly as she looked at Athiel

"This is all we can really do right now athiel.. We are temporary prisoners and it is best to just cooperate and keep our mind sharp."

NPC: Dr. Praxton / Po-Koro Hospital

 

"At the moment, nothing" the doctor replied, his heavy voice betraying no emotion, as he turned to study the bed-ridden Po-Matoran. "He should be waking up soon, and if all goes well, it will be into a world less conducive to bouts of terror-induced destruction..."

 

Praxton faced his cowed companion, and for the first time since he'd been informed of the Saran boy's awakening, spoke to him without contempt bubbling in his voice. "Release his bonds."

 

The metal bracelets around the Matoran's wrists and ankles melted off of him on command, growing solid just as they made contact with the stone floor, where they hit with a tinkling crash. After that, the only sound was the repetitive rasp of Lux's breathing.

 

They all watched and waited.

 

-Void

IC: Melna (Po-Koro Hospital)

Melna would soon learn that the worst kind of silence wasn't complete silence, but the one that was interrupted by just a single, weak noise that continued, and continued on for Mata Nui knows how long. Lux's breath, rasping and coarse, was a constant reminder of the grave situation at hand.

"When in trouble: keep calm and DFTBA" Melna reminded herself, and proceeded to inhale and exhale deeply and slowly. She listened, noticing how Day's cold stillness only made things worse at this point. She knew now that something was burning like mad within, something that, if left to its own devices could spell great pain for those around him, not to mention himself. Given the support he'd been willing to give her, she decided to return the favor.

"Day," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, "breathe with me"

IC: Qyntar

Qyntar sat by one of the walls, trying to focus on his dream. What could it mean? Sure, dreams were always a bit weird, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something different about this one... something important.

IC: Day

"Day,"

I felt a hand gently press itself against my shoulder, snapping me out of my daze and veering my attention to Melna, who'd begun taking long, deep breaths. Not that I was ever truly adept at hiding my feelings but somehow, she knew, discovered a hint of the bubbling fury boiling inside of me. Her sympathetic eyes peered into my own, bitter gateways into my soul and for the briefest of moments, I felt exposed.

"breathe with me."

Whether it was out of kindness or fear, she clearly intended to pacify me. Honestly, I didn't want her to, however turning her down didn't seem the appropriate thing to do. So I started breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale Exhale.

Nothing changed. It was pointless, I knew it would never work. My anger was stubborn, I was stubborn and deep down inside, I wasn't ready to give it up. Some people could let it go, easy as pie but for those like me, that was impossible. No, we had to expel our rage through action, with violence, it was the only way. Allowing pent up emotions we've suppressed and harbored for far too long to simply walk away, even for just a minute, didn’t feel right.

It wasn't satisfying.

A moment later, I realized this only served to fuel the fire. So I stopped. No more long, deep breaths. If I was going to calm down, I’d do it my way. Just not now, not in the hospital anyways. Still, Melna wasn’t to worry about me. In a forced effort, the tension in my shoulders slowly ebbed away, my posture grew less static and my expression softened, regardless of my emotions. Had I really wanted to, I could have fit an utterly convincing smile into the package but it wasn’t necessary. I appeared tame enough, for now.

“Thanks.”

IC: Melna (Po-Koro Hospital)

“Thanks.”

Did it work?

It seemed that way, but Day had only half-heartedly obliged to her request, before stopping completely and retreating within his enigmatic self again. Still, he appeared appreciative enough, Melna figured maybe he'd discovered his own method.

"Hey, I owed you one" Melna replied, not her usual bubbly self, but no longer the whimpering, sheltered little Hapaka from when she'd used Day's chest as a pillow.

"You know, for earlier" she said, her cheeks heating up slightly again.

IC: Day

At first, I didn't quite understand what she meant, not until I saw the steady of flow of red flushing into her cheeks. Then and there, I felt awkward, unsure how to respond and considering the circumstances, it seemed a little absurd.

"Oh." I began, rather stupidly. "It was nothing." In a way, it was the truth. I had never intended for my arm to slip around the way it did, or did I? Thinking about it felt stupid, Lux was what was important, not some little...fling, or however you call it.

I coughed.

IC: Melna (Po-Koro Hospital)

"No, really" Melna replied "you would've done the same for me"

Hang on, what? That came out wrong, at what point would Day be sobbing against her chest?

The flush of embrassment piled onto the flush she already carried because of Day, until Melna's mask could've been carved out of a giant ruby. She blinked and looked away to hide it.

This really was getting awkward.

IC: Prei

I plonk down onto a chair, lightly drumming my fingers against my arm as I wait for the vendor to pop out from behind the counter. I was not disappointed, for seconds later, he materialised with a smile.

As usual, he goes off to prepare my order. I have been visiting this stall for a long time. Everything is second nature now.

I look around. The marketis not as busy as it was. With the sun setting, there is less need for shops to open at this time.

OOC: open for interaction.

IC:

The glinting of light off of Rahkshi armour had turned to the burning of a million stars in a midnight sky, and I watched it all as I fell from those inky heights. I was back in my own body - or at least as much of it that I could possess in an astral plane - and as I plummeted, I felt the winds whip past my skin and a heavy weight cling relentlessly to my back. The stars flashed by me, becoming nothing more than streaks of light zooming upwards to a single point of vanishing, turning the world into a three-dimensional optical illusion.

"Are all these lines straight, or do they curve? Look closer folks, the answer's right in front of your face!"

I tried to turn around, tried to see my final destination - badum tss! - but the weight on my back kept me from facing anywhere but upwards while it pulled me downwards, down, down. Like an anchor, it kept me fixed and immobile, preventing me from even seeing my future grave. All I could do was watch the pretty stars while they burned above me, beyond interest from their lofty seats in heaven.

But heaven had angels, and they swooped down from the sky to save me, save me, save me! Legionnaires and lieutenants, Toa and Vortixx, they all seemed to just step out of the space between the stars as easily as if they were walking out onto a street. They reached out to me, Toa with too many arms and Vortixx with too few legs, their relative positions shifting every time I blinked until they were within arms reach. So close, so close...

I reached out, my hand clumsily grasping the first angel, but there was never contact. Our forms were nothing but smoke to each other; we passed through each other like air flowing through air.

I could hear the whistle of winds as my death approached.

"CONTACT!" they would yell when I hit the ground, a final dirty joke before the celestial curtains closed for the night's show.

I groped madly in the dark, trying to find salvation. The Toa and the Vortixx flickered like television signals during a thunderstorm, Day's form blew away like smoke when I reached for him, and Melna's crumbled to dust as soon as our hands met.

All the while, my personal anchor was dragging me down.

One by one, my angels vanished, until I was all alone.

Contact in five.

The anchor kept pulling me down, and I knew I was about to die and that I wanted to die full of life and struggle. A voice echoed in my head that "You must be the whole, Lux, not the half." Was it mine? I couldn't be sure, but I knew it was the truth, and the whole truth at that, and oh god that joke was painful to listen to.

(Q & A: What's scarier, my impending demise, or my puns?)

I tried to spin around, fighting the inertia pulling me downwards and the weight keeping me there. My hands ran along my back, roughly tracing the outline of the thing clinging to it, and I gripped it until my fingers felt like they were going to pop off my knuckles, straining my arms to gain the strength they needed to wrench this anchor free.

Contact in four.

I could almost hear the grind of pearly gates opening up for me. Or, maybe it was the sound of a boat being docked at the river Styx. Hard to tell when you're falling god nows how fast.

Do or die.

Success or sacrifice.

Contact in three.

I pulled.

With a suction cup-like pop I felt the weight being lifted from my shoulders. Drunk on joy, I tossed the shape aside and used the force of the throw to turn in mid-air. I was suddenly, facetiously, inexplicably curious to test my newfound freedom, and curious to see my former anchor with my own eyes before I died. Exuberant with relief, my lungs expanding just a little more than usual--

--and they tensed when I looked down.

Before me, under me, whatever; I saw a crude caricature of myself in free fall. It was a watercolour painting that had been left in the rain; my grin was too wide, too smug, too toothy; my eyes were a dull, blind green; my arms and legs were stretched abnormally long; and a misshapen crown of silver sat perched on my head at the jauntiest of angles.

The other me opened his mouth, started talking, but no sounds came; or maybe they did, but were lost to the roar of the winds. For a moment, though, I swore I could see the words that poured from my - his - maw. I watched as the words "hero" and "lover" and "worthy" escaped his mouth and caught the wind, fluttering through the night sky like scraps of paper, ghostly yet coherent.

I watched as each and every one of them caught fire.

They burned down to ashes. The ashes of ashes. Nothing but memories.

And I don't have memories anymore, do I?

I wanted to retch, as if that might save me now. I wanted to weep, to scream, to run and hide, but that wasn't about to happen. Numb with shock and horror, I almost didn't realize when the other me reached out, his face contorted into a mask of ... well, of shock and horror, I suppose.

Two peas in a pod, two sides of a mirror, ain't we just?

He's falling. I'm falling. We're both falling.

Together.

I thought that I should hate him, fear him, be repulsed by him ... but, but, but I couldn't. Just couldn't. Despite it all, despite him weighing me down, crushing my hopes, mocking my very being, all I saw was a scared guy who was about to die, and knew it all too well.

A guy who needed a protector.

I reached out to him.

Our hands clasped together, solid as the earth and safe as houses, and before our eyes the world exploded into a sea of white light.

"If you two are quite done..."

...

I woke up.

"... and if you're not, maybe go fetch me a bucket before you decide to continue this nonsense."

It was the same bed as before, but my limbs were free. I turned my head, trying my very best to ignore the weight on my back, pulling me down; tried to keep the tears and the shakes back.

(Don't think about the slug, think about the guy you helped)

"Uhhhh, hey guys," I said, trying to be non-chalant about the whole "getting infected with a parasite and going into a two-day long acid dream coma" thingamajig. "What's uuuuuu..."

Oh boy.

"######, could someone g-get me a bucket to-oo--"

-Void

IC: (Larikon Torchbearer/Blackrock)

 

"Have you any ideas to destroy it?" Larikon was thinking of ways, but it was best to consult Dryken first.

IC: Dryken

Dryken shook his head.

"In all my years, I have never seen such desecration. No, Grandmaster, I do not know how to destroy it."

OOC: A Wotz is never late, nor is he early. He posts precisely when he means to.

Except in this instance, and for that I apologise.

IC: Zuriana

"...Sorry, I..." How do I say something like this out loud? It's always been there, always haunting me, always overhanging with its pain. But now to say it aloud, it feels like I'm downgrading it, like it doesn't matter as much when it's in the simple forms of mortal speech. Perhaps that's why I've never told anyone before... Not even Krell. Or maybe I didn't tell him because he filled the gap, fitted the emotional keyhole.

"Ferron," I croak at last. "I have a son."

XXXXXXXXXX

The pair of them paced down the highway under what could best be described as cover of darkness, although the phrase loses considerable meaning in an underground city. As Onu-Koro slept, they slipped out through one of the lesser-used passages out of the village.

From the moment they had left her door, Zuria couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. It constantly felt like some thief or killer had their sights locked on them. Every dancing shadow and flickering flame was a threat, and not a soul could be trusted. They walked in silence, making things all the more uncomfortable for her in particular.

However, Zuriana's paranoia was far from poorly founded. In fact, they had been followed right from the exit. Kuhrin's assassins daren't have entered the village for fear of persecution and had tucked themselves away in the blackness of lesser-used tunnels, of which's use they had foreseen.

Thanks to his padded shoes, Drenduin's feet made barely a sound louder than bat's wings as he crept up behind Ferron, knife at the ready and matt-black armour rendering him virtually invisible. After Ferron and Zuriana turned a corner, he slipped forth and grabbed the Toa of iron by the shoulder, making to stab his prey.

OOC: I'm just glad to have you back, buddy.

IC: Ferron (Po-Wahi Wastes)

Ferron's gaze shot right back to Zuriana like a stone from a slingshot, his constantly altering perspective on the impending showdown with Kuhrin fading into the back of his mind just as his conscious self was overtaken by contemplating this sudden revelation.

"I... I just... I didn't... why am I surprised?" was the stuttering answer he finally managed to force out of his mouth.

But honestly, why was he? Zuriana seemed like the pitch-perfect mother figure, always putting the needs of others before her own. If anything, Ferron imagined there were plenty of mothers who could learn a thing or two from the chubby Onu-Matoran by his side.

And maybe that was the precise reason why. Zuriana had extended her motherly attitude to both Krell and himself, and a lot of other people too, Ferron imagined. It was as if her quota for giving such care wasn't met otherwise, like if she was an actual mother.

Nonetheless, Ferron felt a sense of gratitude towards her, feeling accepted by her divulging this apparently very sensitive fact.

He smiled a little as he asked a more coherent question.

"And what's he like?"

XXXXXXXXXX

If Zuriana was worried, then Ferron was prepared, ready to spring into action at the slightest provocation, and the unexpected grip on his shoulder was definitely provocative.

Ferron had been aware of Drenduin's presence for a while, in fact. His inert metal sense had detected the metallic components in the Toa's body, giving him the image of a Toa-sized being creeping up behind him.

And it was this that allowed him to twist around and grab onto Drenduin's hand holding the knife, his own, prosthetic, three-fingered clamp cluthing it like the vice it might as well have been.

His other, regular, hand was free, but not idle. It was tense, the fingertips spread, almost vibrating. Drenduin would soon find that all the metallic components in his body were humming with the same power, ready to obey Ferron's command and wring him inside out.

"Listen closely, assassin" Ferron said, his voice rumbling with the roar of a hot furnace.

"I did not kill Kuhrin, your master is still alive. Begone, or else"

IC: Zuriana

I shrug, the corners of my mouth incapable of staying flat at Ferron's question. "Well, he's a Le-Matoran for starters," I relay from the blurred images in my mind. "Y'know, with the teal and green... He wears a Kakama, or he did the last time I saw him. I named him Kaman, or Whakamanawa, meaning 'blessing'. He was impossible as a child, always dashing off, always curious. But he was beautiful. He was my son."

It's hard, when you're telling someone these things, to leave out the ugly parts. But it can be pleasant just to remember the good times, because those memories are often the only thing with the power to keep the dark ones from hurting you.

Still, we walked on.

XXXXXXXXXX

"You speak the truth, Toa," Drenduin hissed, his blackened teeth on show through parched lips. "Kuhrin's mortal form was destroyed, but he lives on- Through us!"

Suddenly, a spiralling column of water erupted from the ground beneath Ferron with enough force to send him flying into the tunnel ceiling.

IC: Ferron (Po-Wahi Wastes)

Ferron felt a strong dash of familiarity upon hearing the way Zuria described Kaman. How many times had he not himself held his old teammates (Tarika in particular) on a similar rose-tinted pedestal when he walked down memory lane. He himself had said that precise thing to Tuli back when he first met her, more or less.

He was, however, somewhat confused by the revelaton that Kaman was a Le-Matoran. How could an Onu-Matoran mother a Le-Matoran? Was his father's genes just very persistent?

Unless...

"Was he... was he your biological son?" Ferron asked.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ferron did not utter a single sound as he was slammed into the murky floor of the cave, only to be dropped to the ground again like a used ragdoll. He was not going to show weakness in the face of these... these abominations.

Besides, he was probably going to kill Kuhrin anyway, so he might as well just off them now and be done with it. Did he have regrets about his choice? Possibly, but he had long since left the Toa Code behind, it wasn't time to start following regulations again now.

He got up, crossbow in hand, and stomped.

His feelers extended, the metal in his opponents whispering to him, revealing their numbers and locations. Ferron looked at Drenduin, the apparent leader of the group, even as he could sense Zuriana covering behind him.

"No," he said, "Kuhrin is literally alive and well, his mortal form still functions, it still breathes, thinks and acts. He is still, completely, 100% alive."

Ferron raised his crossbow, pointing at Drenduin.

"Then again," he said flatly, "I'll probably end up killing him anyway."

IC: Zuriana

He might as well have been - it feels like he was. I shake my head. "He was adopted - I never could quite grasp relationships and all that," I reflect. "But when I first saw him... He might as well have been my own flesh and blood. It was like he had always been there, waiting for his lost mother."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Then kill me too," Drenduin demanded, holding his arms out to his sides. "Prove what kind of man you are, that I might die for what I believe in, and you would kill."

Zuria backed away, wishing there was something she could do to help. Before anything crossed her mind, she was silently snatched from behind, her mouth covered and a knife to her throat.

IC: Ferron (Po-Wahi Wastes)

"I see" Ferron said. That was a lie.

"I never really got the hang of the whole relationship thing myself, either" Ferron admitted, kicking up a small spray of sand as he sighed.

"Did I ever tell you what happened to my comrades?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Was Drenduin trying to appeal to Ferron's Toa side? Probably, but that wouldn't save him.

Granted, Drenduin didn't seem like he expected to be saved, but even then it was clear that he was attempting to test Ferron. Was he the hero of the situation, or just another killer like them?

Bah. All the Toa Code had ever given him was misery and misfortune. Drenduin could preach all he wanted about his blood being on Ferron's hands, about the moral high ground he would be expected to maintain, it didn't matter. On this mission, on this final quest, Ferron was every bit a killer as them and he would make sure they knew it.

Two arrows, in rapid succession, fired from the repeating crossbow, surging right at Drenduin's face and chest.

IC: Korru (Po-Koro)

"Hey"

The Ba-Toa Sentinel would soon find a large shadow looming over him, he wouldn't need to look up to guess who it was.

"You don't mind, do you?" Korru asked as he sat down opposite of Prei. He immediately ordered a large order of donuts, stroking his belly in anticipation.

"I've had a rough day"

IC: Prei

"No," I reply. "I do not mind at all."

My doughnuts soon arrive, but Korru's words spark curiosity in me.

"What do you mean, rough?"

IC: Korru (Po-Koro)

"Where to start" Korru mumbled as he absent-mindedly helped himself to Prei's donughts without asking.

"Well, I ran across a crime scene where some stark raving mad Ko-Toa had frozen an innkeper to death, and I arrested three other Toa who where at the scene. Well, "brought them in", not arrested if you wanna get technical"

"And that was just in the morning"

IC: Prei

I move the box of doughnuts closer to me, carefully watching my colleague's hands. I will not let him take another. My life depended on it.

"What were the other three in for?"

IC: Korru (Po-Koro)

Korru snatched another Doughnut with his Matatu even as his own order arrived.

"They were at the crime scene, at the time the Ko-Toa was still on the loose and unknown, so I had to take them in on the off chance they had something to do with it"

"It reminded me a little of my own mercenary career, actually" he said.

IC: Prei

I need to stop him from taking my hard-earned doughnuts. "What was it like?"

IC: Korru (Po-Koro)

"In one word: exciting" Korru said as he stuffed his face with his own doughnuts.

"In many words: I've been a mercenary for a really long time, I was one of the first non-natives to the island, all the way back when the Toa Mata failed to defeat Makuta, so for about a century or so I was a mercenary"

"I had a partner, too. His name was Mar, we weren't anything special, but we got by, and we saw some pretty memorable sights"

"He died a few weeks before the Great Rahkshi Battle, and I barely survived that myself. After that, I decided to join the Sentinels, mainly out of boredom, but I've grown to like this job a great deal"

IC: Prei

I nod.

"Have you gotten used to the more peculiar unnoficial rules yet?"

IC: Qyntar

"Might as well pass the time." Qyntar said, and he began reciting a prophecy of old, slightly adding tune to it.

Oh in the depths of the isle

in the darkest reaches of the world

seen not again by the beholder's eyes

the heart of the earth shimmers in the dark.

A shining light in the shadows

a mighty glow in the depths

far in the reaches of the world

the heart of the earth shimmers in the dark.

IC: Korru (Po-Koro)

"What would those be?" Korru asked.

IC: Prei

I reach into my pack, pulling out a tablet, before smoothly sliding it across the table to him.

The first line on the tablet had been scratched out. I had seen it occur, and the apocalypse had yet to happen.

2. The janitor must be allowed to perform his exorcisms.

3. Spare knives can be found in the box outside Hewkii's office.

4. Do not attempt to clean the shrine.

There were several other unofficial rules, but they were too numerous for me to point out.

IC: Korru (Po-Koro)

Being that his hands were full, Korru lifted the tablet with his Matatu, squinting at the inscriptions.

"Ummm, what shrine?"

IC: Prei

"The Mata Nui Shrine."