Hahli’s head jerked up when she heard the sudden request. She was sitting on her knees in her side-garden as her head turned to see Gavla leaning heavy against the bamboo gate. The small Boggarak took advantage of this distraction to tug the rest of her rope toy out of the Toa’s grip, retreating with it to a more darkly clustered group of plants.
It had been just over a week since Gavla had started coming over to Ga-Koro nearly everyday. By now, the Toa felt mostly comfortable enough to leave her to her own devices here and occasionally checked in on her. This however, was the first time the Av-Matoran approached the water Toa on her own accord, which Hahli was quick to mentally note. Already she was feeling excited over Gavla’s progress so far, but she attempted to keep her voice from sounding too eager.
“Of course. You can ask me anything,” Hahli replied.
Idly, Gavla glanced at a plant growing by the base of the gate.
“Well, everyone here mentioned that you’re close friends with some fire Toa.” She threw out in a rather straightforward manner.
Caught off guard with that remark, Hahli hoped her mask was blocking any hints of color on her face. While she was realistic enough to know that as a Toa her village would be talking about such private things, she still very much wished that they wouldn’t.
“Um… yes…” Hahli coughed and tried not to look away. “They’re probably referring to my friend Jaller, my team leader. He and I have been good friends since we were Matoran.” She explained, trying to be appropriately open and honest.
Gavla listened, she then reached down and started to slowly tear off small pieces of leaf from the nearby plant. “So then… how do you know if it’s real?”
The Toa paused.
“...What?” Hahli asked, unsure of where this was going.
The Av-Matoran began tearing off bigger pieces. “I mean, how do you know that he’s really your friend? How do you know he’s not pretending and faking it?”
This puzzled the water user; but she did her best to give a genuine answer. “I guess the best I can describe it… you see it’s sorta something you both know and feel in a way… Like I’ve said, I’ve known Jaller for a long while and we’ve been through a lot together, just like I have with my other friends-”
“But how do you know for sure? That they aren’t just doing it to get back at you later?” Gavla insisted as she shredded the last parts of the plant’s stem.
Hahli looked on at the Matoran perplexed. “...Gavla,” she said finally as she shifted and stood up. “Is there a reason you’re asking me all this?”
Absently, Gavla continued to snap apart the now pulled up roots. For a few moments she was quiet before she uttered a strong “No.” Pushing herself from off the gate, she then quickly trotted down the walkway back towards the center of Ga-Koro.
The Toa watched carefully till the Matoran was out of sight. She then began to ponder if Gavla had been asking anyone else those same questions.
~~~~~~~~~~~
“You guys can quit it!”
Hahli turned around as she heard Gavla’s accosting voice. It had been hours since she last saw the Av-Matoran and she was just in the middle of returning home with a bag full of fish.
“Gavla, what are you talking about?” The Toa asked.
“This stupid game of your’s and everyone elses here! It may be funny to you, but I already had it drilled into me before, I don’t need it again.” The Matoran growled.
Hahli just felt more confused. “Really Gavla, I don’t know what you mean-”
“Don’t play dumb!” Gavla nearly shouted. “I know you and everyone here is just pretending to be nice for now… I already know that I can’t have friends, I don’t need you to set me and rub it in again!”
“That’s not true,” Hahli immediately responded back, feeling troubled by the accusations. “Believe me, no one is trying to trick you.”
“No, stop it!” The Av-Matoran’s bat-wings started to twitch and fidget heavily.
Increasingly concerned, Hahli quickly dropped her bag and slowly began to approach the girl. “Gavla,” she said, her voice level. “Calm down, there’s nothing going on…”
“I said stop it! Stop pretending!” Gavla yelled as she backed away from the Toa.
“Gavla…”
“I’m not going to let you hurt me!”
“Gavla-”
“I’m not letting you do that again!”
“Gavla, stop.” Hahli interrupted with a loud stern voice as she grabbed the Matoran’s shoulders, keeping her still. Once Gavla’s sudden silence assured her attention, the water Toa bent down so she could be at eye level.
“No one here is going to hurt you,” Hahli relayed in a softer tone. “I promise you that you’re safe.”
Stunned, Gavla stared back at the Toa, her breathing starting to come down. “But everyone being nice…”
“Is because they want to be nice and because they probably want to genuinely get to know you.” Hahli finished with reassurance as she relaxed her hold.
Gavla hesitated as her wings finally stopped their sporadic movements. “...Are you sure…”
“You have my word as a Toa,” the water user responded affirmingly.
The sounds of the village now seemed to amplify around them as the Av-Matoran became quiet, her eyes were still locked on the Toa.
“Look, I know it’s hard, but I’ve known these Ga-Matoran my whole life.” Hahli continued on with sympathy. “If there’s one thing you can ever trust me on it’s this, no one in this community would ever do something so horrible and cruel like that… They- we just want to help you.”
Gavla remained quiet, her breathing returning to inaudible levels again. “...Okay,” she let out in barely a whisper.
Taking her hands off the Matoran’s shoulders, Hahli gave the girl a warm smile. “Okay then.” As Gavla continued to stand still, the Toa added “I’m glad you’re here by the way, I just want you to know that.”
The Av- Matoran gave half a nod as she turned to look back at the center of the village, Hahli didn’t move from her side, but left her to think over whatever she needed to for several minutes.
Then gently as she could, Hahli brought it up. “Gavla, if there’s anything you need to talk about… if there’s anything that you’ve gone through or want to go over-”
Instantly Gavla tensed and she shot a glare back at the Toa.
“-I don’t mean now, whenever you’re ready to,” Hahli interjected quickly. “I’m just letting you know that I’m here if you ever want to talk.”
Galva settled back down a little, her gaze turned toward the ground. She mumbled, “... I probably should be heading back home now.”
“If that’s what you want,” Hahli replied. “But you’re also more than welcome to stay a little longer if you’d like.”
Slowly, Gavla looked back up towards the center of the village, where giggling and laughing Ga-Matoran were getting on with their chores and talking about the day's events. She then eyed the entrance that led up down the beach. After some indecisiveness, her wings flapped and she headed in the direction of the gathered Ga-Matoran.
Hahli watched as Kai waved over to Gavla eagerly, bringing her into the group.
Satisfied, the Toa got back up and returned to the front of her hut to address the current issue of Iara pulling the still live fish all out of her bag on the ground.
She hummed a light tune as she started the task at hand, even as a spark of fire burned within her.
Mata Nui, whoever hurt that girl better pray that I never come across them!
Hahli was getting rather anxious as the morning hours wore on, worrying that her waiting and patience would all be in vain. Would this work, would she even bother coming? By noon it was all beginning to all build up on her, that is until she spotted a blue winged being just arriving in front of the village.
“Gavla!” The water Toa shouted as she rushed over to greet the Matoran, but forced herself into a slower pace as she approached, not wanting to come off as overwhelming. “Welcome to Ga-Koro, I’m so glad you came over.”
“Hmph, well it’s not like I had anything better to do today.” Gavla remarked with little enthusiasm.
“Still, it’s good to have you here,” Hahli replied pleasantly. “I really think that you’ll-”
HHHSSSSSSSS
A sharp hiss abruptly interrupted the Toa. The young Boggarak growled from the water user’s shoulder at the Av-Matoran. With another vocal hiss, the spider then turned away and crawled behind the Toa’s back, retreating to the welcoming shade between her wing-fins.
“Um, that was just Iara, you don’t have to mind her.” Hahli tried to pick herself back up as Gavla just continued to stare with little impression. To her own chagrin, she had forgotten that the Visorak had practically glued onto her for the day. “She really won’t bother you at all. It’s nothing against you, little one is just sensitive and just isn’t fond of feeling light elements…”
“Yeah, well I don’t like them either.” Gavla somewhat muttered under her breath, Hahli had to keep herself from frowning.
The Toa decided to return to the original subject. “I know you just got here, but what do you think so far?”
Gavla kicked a tuft of sand. “It’s sandy.”
“Well, we are on a beach.”
The Matoran squinted as she turned her head to look around. “It’s bright.”
“Like I said, we’re on a beach.”
Without missing a beat Gavla added. “It’s loud.”
“That’s just the sound of the waves, many find it rather calming.” Hahli said, keeping her composure.
“Well I don’t,” Gavla said as she crossed her arms.
Hahli took a deep breath. “How about… we go in and I show you around.”
~~~~~~~~~
She took the Av-Matoran up and down the floating walkways, pointing out different huts, explaining things that were going on and introducing her to several residents. So far despite the efforts, Gavla was still showing little interest in everything there. It was certainly getting frustrating, but Hahli wanted to maintain her optimism. Besides… It’s not like I have any other better ideas...
When they were by the boats, Gavla wasn’t even paying attention as Kotu was explaining needing different fishing techniques for different types of fish. It seemed like nothing would fascinate the girl. Running out of ideas off the top of her head, Hahli worriedly looked around trying to swiftly find something else that could be engaging. Maybe if she introduced someone else?
Quickly, she chose the next Matoran that she could easily spot. “Gavla, have I introduced you yet to- to um…. Vhisola!?”
The Toa dragged her guest up to the Ga-Matoran, who just so happened to be standing by the side of a hut sharpening a hatchet blade.
“Vhisola, this here is Gavla-”
“Uh huh, you already told us about her last night, so I already assumed that’s who she was.” Vhisola rebuffed, she gazed up from her work and casually scanned over the Matoran presented before her. “So, wings, huh?”
Gavla’s bat-wings twitched before folding back. “Yeah, so what?” The Av-Matoran briskly responded in a defensive manner.
“Well, why the wings?” Vhisola put bluntly.
“Vhisola,” Hahli intercepted. “You know very well how they got like that.”
“Yeah Hahli, I know ‘how’ like everyone does, but that’s not what I was asking.” Vhisola rolled her eyes. “I’m asking what’s the point of them.”
“What do you mean, what’s the point?” Gavla asked suspiciously.
“I mean, what does it have to do with having minor shadow energy?” She went on explaining. “All Matoran abilities are related to their element type, Ga-Matoran can hold their breath longer underwater and excel at swimming and such. So what exactly does having vulnerable wings to fly have to do with relation to the shadow element?”
“Vhisola!” Hahli snapped. “This is not appropriate right now!”
“It’s a legitimate question, Hahli,” Vhisola said as she continued sharpening her blade. “Some of us like being curious and knowledgeable.”
Gavla appeared to struggle with the question Vhisola had thrown out, her bat wings gave an aggressive flap. “I- I don’t know why… But what’s so special about being able to sit in water and swim a little better anyways?” The Av-Matoran threw back.
“Excuse me, the Ga-Matoran abilities are very important. It helps us connect and interact with our element, and you don’t even seem to know how your form functions with your past element.” Vhisola ended her chided lecture on a self satisfied note.
“Vhisola!” Hahli interjected through nearly gritted teeth.
Vhisola stopped sharpening her tool’s blade and glared back at Hahli. “Oh come on Hahli. It’s not everyday that a physically unique Matoran comes in, of course I want to know how it works.”
The winged Matoran just stared at Vhisola taken aback, a surprised expression behind her mask. “Unique…” she breathed out quietly.
Hahli was entirely regretting bringing these two into close proximity. She physically put herself between them, attempting to keep things from escalating further. “Vhisola… don’t you have something better you could be doing right now with your… Mata Nui, why do you even have that right now?” She added in response to the hatchet the Matoran was still holding
“Because Hahli,” Vhisola replied. “If you bothered to notice, we have an excess of bamboo and it needs to get chopped down.”
“Wait, you guys still get to chop things up here?” Gavla piped in.
The water Toa was surprised when the other Matoran spoke up, and was even more surprised to hear a pique of interest in her voice for the first time.
“Well yeah, of course we do,” Vhisola said. “What can you not or something?”
“No, not since we started living in New Atero.” Gavla stated. “At least not publicly.”
“Now that’s just restrictive,” the Ga-Matoran put plainly.
As unorthodox as this was starting to become, Hahli decided to at least try and go with it.
“Gavla, would you be interested in helping Vhisola with her chore?” She asked Gavla gently, though she gave a stern look at the water Matoran in turn.
Vhisola shrugged. “I guess I could show her how it’s properly done, but she needs her own hatchet.”
The former shadow Matoran raised her claws. “I think I’m good there.”
“Hmph, well, we’ll see how they hold up,” Vhisola lightly scoffed, though it really didn’t sound antagonistic.
“I guess we will,” Gavla replied mildly as she began to follow the other blue being who was now leading to a bamboo grove that had not been managed for a while.
Hahli watched the two closely as they walked away, her wing-fins began to tense. “If you have any trouble or you need something feel free to come get me,” she called out quickly, but the Matoran kept their pace, appearing to chat with one another and not once looking back at the Toa.
Slowly, Hahli’s wing-fins started to relax and after a little longer she began to feel comfortable enough to get to move on to attending to other things.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Near the end of the day, Hahli gave her goodbyes to Gavla and told her that she hoped to see her again tomorrow. The response she got back was an uninterested “We’ll see,” but she remained rather hopeful as the Matoran left for home that they would be returning the next day.
Later as the night was drawing in and the Ga-Matoran were busy cleaning up, finishing their tasks in the dwindling light and beginning to light lanterns. Hahli was caught up in the middle of assisting Pelagia and Kai, lifting and holding up the side of a boat on the dock so the two could make repairs where they normally couldn’t reach. She wanted them to be wrapping their job up soon. Already she could feel Iara crawling all over her armor, getting antsy and hungry.
“Hey Hahli!”
The Toa looked over to see which Matoran was addressing her. “What is it, Vhisola?”
Vhisola walked up to her, not seeming to care that the Toa was already in the middle of something. “So, about Gavla…”
“What about her?” There was a slight inflection of warning in her question. After the earlier near confrontation from today, Hahli was not in the mood for any of Vhisola’s complaints.
The Matoran was not concerned at all with the Toa’s tone. “Look I know you said she has a lot of problems-”
“I never said that-”
“Either way, she kinda said some things while she was here,” Vhisola went on.
Hahli let out a deep sigh, nearly resting her head against the boat side she was still holding.The Toa was already regretting introducing those two. “Can this wait? We can take this to my hut and- ”
“This is important.” Vhisola retorted with a correctional attitude, she continued before Hahli could protest again.
“We were talking about our old villages initially at first, talked about other stuff, eventually we got to the subject of who we admired.” The Ga-Matoran explained, she beamed a little with what she said next. “Naturally, I mentioned Nokama.”
It took some self control from Hahli to not groan, already she was making guesses at what sort of remark Vhisola would construed as disparaging or insulting over this. She wasn’t sure how much more patience she’d have left here. “So what did she say then?”
“That’s the thing, after I told mine, Gavla said who she admired…” Vhisola paused briefly. “...Which just so happened to be a Makuta…”
The water Toa nearly dropped the boat. “What?”
“And yes before you ask, that is exactly what she said.” Vhisola stated clearly enough.
Both Pelagia and Kai halted their work, a few other Ga-Matoran who had been walking by had stopped and looked over, some having overheard and others having sensed that something was disrupted.
The attention made Hahli feel more unnerved by the reveal. She recalled what Kirop told her about Gavla making disturbing remarks… but she had never guessed that involved actually idolizing… Images of that handmade monstrous figure that sat on Gavla’s nightstand right next to the bed crept into her head, making her suddenly feel cold and gross...
Hahli tried to say something at the moment. “That’s- That’s…”
“Yeah, it’s kinda messed up.” Vhisola willingly filled in.
“Mata Nui, please tell me that you didn’t say that to Gavla’s face?” The Toa hoped things weren’t made any worse.
“Of course I didn’t,” Vhisola said.“I just told her it was weird.”
“For Mata Nui’s sake, Vhisola.” Hahli flared.
“What? It was the mildest way to put it, she even mentioned that was the best thing anybody has said about it so far.” Vhisola defended.
A loose crowd was beginning to form around the area, murmurs and whispers were being spread through everyone, and Hahli didn’t need to hear them to know exactly who they were about. Her entire plan to help was now on the brink of backfiring completely on the first day
“Look,” Hahli said aloud, making sure everyone could hear her. “I know how… unsettling this all sounds and it’s definitely something to be uncomfortable about. But Gavla has also been through some terrible things and has had a rough time getting through them, she’s definitely hurting and really needs some sort of help. So if we could just give a chance that she desperately needs…”
The Ga-Matoran were silent
“Hahli’s completely right.” Kai moved over from her position where she had been working on the boat and stood up. “We need to at least give her a chance and try to help. I don’t think any of us can continue to say we’re upholding the virtues, especially the virtue of unity, if we decide that we should give up on a Matoran so easily.”
Several of the Ga-Matoran nodded in agreement, others talked with each other among themselves but seemed to come to the same agreement. A few left remained wary, but were willing enough to see how things went with the Av-Matoran first. The gathered Matoran then began to slowly disperse, returning to their normal tasks at hand.
“Thank you so much, Kai,” Hahli said gratefully. Relief washing over the Toa. “I really wasn’t sure how that was going to go.”
“Not a problem, Hahli.” Kai replied casually, “I just didn’t think it would be really fair to Gavla if we threw her away so easily.”
“No, it absolutely wouldn’t,” the Toa said as she shot a look at Vhisola.
The Komau wearer just shrugged. “I figured you’d be more upset if I didn’t mention it.”
Hahli was about to say something to reprimand Vhisola, when Kai spoke up again.
“Hey, if you want you can send Gavla my way anytime, I won’t mind if she hangs around while I work. I can take her boating as well if she’d like.”
“-Oh that would be great,” Hahli exclaimed, delighted by this sudden development. “That would be very helpful, if we could just get her to feel safe and comfortable here I think she’ll start to relax and be well… less abrasive and maybe open herself up to people.”
Pelagia had finished the last repair and got up, finally allowing Hahli to gently place the boat back down, while Vhisola rolled her eyes and walked off, but the Toa didn’t care as much about the Matoran’s behavior anymore.
“I mean it, I can’t thank you enough,” Hahli told Kai.
Kai smiled. “Like I told you Hahli, not a problem.”
Toa and Matoran then exchanged their goodnights and departed towards their huts, much as the rest of the village settled in for the evening. The sun finished its descent and with it the clear waters surrounding the Koro plunged into murky darkness.
The water Toa had almost completely passed by it before she spotted it. Quickly, she took a few steps back and looked over the newly painted but still somehow already fading sign. After reading it, Hahli adjusted her directions and started heading towards her corrected destination.
She didn’t come to New Atero often, so the streets were still a maze to navigate to her, they were also louder and even more crowded than any of the days that she had to go into Tajun. It didn’t help either that the city was still expanding, there seemed to be some construction going on everyday, trying to keep up with accommodating the ever growing populace of organic and biomech. More than once a stranger would push past her without comment or notice.
This was far from her ideal place, but she needed to put with it all today. Takanuva would be keeping his part of the agreement and help Nuparu, so she had to keep up her end.
Finally she spotted another sign, this one pointing directly to the Av-Matoran quarter of the city. Within a few minutes, she was walking right into the district.
Hahli quickly took note how different the place was from the rest of the city. The area looked more like a mix between an avenue and a park, more natural and open. Moss grew between the stepping stones on the street, appearing as if the green was cushioning the rock. Lining the sidewalks on either side were columns of tall crystals, with light-vines wrapped around them, sunlight reflected off the exposed parts of the crystals surface making everything around brighter.
The Toa of Water was partially thankful that she didn't bring along her pet for the trip. Little one would have hated it here, she thought.
A beam of light suddenly flashed by her right side. Abruptly she pulled back from it as three Av-Matoran ran past her.
“Dullstone, you almost hit someone!”
“They weren’t hit, they’re fine.”
Those lines seemed to end their extent of concern for Hahli, as their attentions all focused on the discarded box the beam had hit which was now a different color.
“My apologies for that Toa.” Hahli’s head turned to her left to see a bat-winged black Matoran approach her. “Some of us get caught up in our games. The beam probably wouldn’t have hurt you, though.”
“Ah... that’s all right, no harm done here.” Hahli replied as she took a glance back at the group who were now in the middle of debating how many points the color teal was worth.
Her wing-fins gave a brief flutter, drawing the black Matoran’s attention.
“Wait a minute. You're Toa Hahli, aren’t you?”
“Oh, you know who I am,” she still wasn’t used to being recognized by strangers, feeling somewhat awkward.
“Takanuva told us about you and mentioned that you might be coming by. I just didn’t think you’d be over so soon,” the Matoran gave a quick head bow. “I’m Kirop. On behalf of the Av-Matoran, we are more than happy to have a Toa Mahri visit here.”
“Thank you, it’s good to finally see one of Takanuva’s more frequented places,” Hahli said sincerely. She then paused before continuing “Ah... he wouldn’t have happened to mention to you why he wanted me over, did he?”
Kirop’s eyes turned to the ground. He quickly sucked in air through his mask. “Yes... he did.”
“Oh...” The water Toa could sense some uncertainty radiating off his form. Whether it had to do with the Toa of light’s plan, her involvement or the situation in general, she didn’t know.
“...Well, would you mind telling me a bit more about this? I was given the basics, but I want to make sure I have a full grasp of everything.” Hahli asked, not wanting to be quiet for too long.
“Of course not, if you’ll come along and walk with me.” Kirop’s small wings began flapping, bringing him a few feet off the ground and moving slowly forward. Hahli walked beside him as they started down the street.
“So..” She began, her companion now hovering around close to her eye level now. “Tell me about Gavla.”
The Matoran gave a deep sigh. “Gavla has never been easy to work with and she was never really social, anyone here can tell you that... But ever since the move from Karda Nui she’s gotten more difficult and since the move to Spherus she’s gotten even worse.”
They passed by many different colored Matoran going about their own business, some with wings and some without.
“I take it from what I’ve been told before this, that this isn’t just a result of some form of homesickness.” Hahli commented.
“Doubtfully,” Kirop replied. “I’m assuming you already know about the shadow leeches?”
Hahli nodded.
“Good,” Kirop went on. “Gala was the first of us to get infected and the last to be cured, so I don’t know if having it longer has affected her in some way or not. Takanuva offered to give her the cure again to see if it would make her feel any better and... she didn’t take the suggestion very well.”
“I see.” Hearing that, Hahli went with what first came to her mind. “So you think she’s still partially infected?”
Kirop sighed again. “That would be the easiest answer, but like I’ve said we don’t know.” He made it sound like he had personally debated this more than once.
Hahli thought this over. The two had to stop momentarily as in front of them a group of Matoran came out of a shop that advertised rocket booster repair. They took up their pace again once the group passed.
“Tell me, what exact problems has she been causing?” Hahli picked up again.
“Gavla’s not been getting along with anyone, which isn’t unusual for her. Still she’s been lashing out more and getting into fights.”
“Anything... violent?” The water Toa had to ask and she needed to know.
“No, thankfully.” His tone gave an impression that he wasn’t sure how long that would last. “Still, her behavior is upsetting a lot of us.”
“How so?” Hahli inquired.
Kirop stopped his forward momentum, his wings kept beating, holding his position in the air. The Toa halted in her own tracks besides him.
“Toa Hahli, there’s something I want you to understand first.” He looked straight at her, a sober face behind his mask. “As you’ve probably noticed, a good many of us got afflicted in Karda Nui... But we don’t put the blame on any of our own for everything that happened. We all know that was forced upon us and we understand that none of us were truly ourselves when we did the things we did...”
His gaze drifted down and considered his own claws before returning to Hahli.
“We regret what went on, but we also forgive it. This is why Gavla’s... she makes comments and remarks about what happened that are rather disturbing and imply that she has no remorse over any of it. Which is rather unsettling on its own and has rubbed several here the wrong way.”
“Um, that’s...ah-”
“Yeah, I know.” Kirop shook his head. “I’ve had a few Matoran come to me and throw around the idea of kicking her out, but it doesn’t sit well with me to evict someone for being unpleasant. Yet I don’t want anything to escalate. Takanuva’s been trying to warm himself up to her for months and she’s remained hostile. He was at least confident that you could help, though he didn’t say how.”
In fairness, I’m not exactly sure how I can either. Hahli started to wonder if she was in over her head. It was clear this was heavier than what she first assumed. Regardless, she had told Takanuva that she’d help in any way she could and she wouldn’t let herself back down from her word given to a friend.
“I understand how serious this all is,” she tried to keep her voice level and confident. “Even so, I’ll do whatever I can for Galva.”
“Speaking of the Makuta himself,” Kirop let himself land back on the ground. He then pointed his claw in the direction of a blue colored bat-winged Matoran carrying a paper bag and walking on the other side of the street. Others on their path were obviously trying to purposely avoid them.
“If you want to start now, you could try an attempt.”
She wasn’t sure if he meant that as a challenge or not, but she was already here and she didn’t want to lose an opportunity.
Just talk to her.
The Toa of water took a deep breath and started heading towards the blue Av-Matoran. When she got closer, Hahli called out.
“Hello, are you Gavla? I would like to have a small chat with you. You see I’m-”
“I don’t care who you are and I don’t care to know!”
That abruptly stopped Hahli as Gavla kept on walking, not even bothering to look at the Toa.
Her wing finns twitched and then she turned back to Kirop who just shrugged back to her in turn. The full realization then hit her, this is what I have to work with.
Giving up easily still wasn’t an option.
Hahli hurried to try to catch up to Gavla. “Hey, if I could have a little of your time-”
“Not interested.”
“I only want to talk-”
“Still not interested.”
“Please, if we could just-”
“I’m not telling you again!”
They went on like that, traveling down the street, the Toa following the Av-Matoran. The later leading the other past turns and blocks that were beginning to look less maintained than it’s previous parts. Eventually coming to a more isolated smaller district, with Gavla and Hali as the only people out in the open.
Gavla stopped and looked at the lone street-crystal that stood in front of a compact building. As if on reflex she tore down the wrapped light-vine, throwing it to the ground. She then went straight to the entrance of the seen structure, before Hahli could voice another plea the Matoran had gone inside, slamming the door behind her.
Hahli let out a long sigh. Quietly she reminded herself again that she had promised Takanuva, before she tentatively approached the door. At first she softly knocked. With no answer, she knocked a little louder, still nothing came. She again knocked louder. Come on Gavla, I know you can hear me.
Waiting to hear of any sound of someone coming back to the entrance, she was surprised to notice that the door wasn’t actually locked. Hesitance pricked at her, feeling concern over being intrusive, but it was clear that Galva wasn't going to answer willingly and there were few options at hand. So gingerly, the water user opened the door and followed in.
Immediately it became clear that this place wasn’t built for Toa in mind. Hahli hunched down just to get in, the top of her wing-finns grazing the ceiling. Even without Toa though the place was rather tight, a rather basic unpainted one room, with no windows and only a few notable furniture. Everything about it gave a sense of gloominess.
“So Toa do break-ins now huh?”
Gavla sat at the table on the only chair in her home, unpacking her one bag.
Hahli looked over at the Av-Matoran. “My apologies, but you weren't answering and your door was left unlocked.” She tried to keep her voice in a gentle tone, not wanting anything to come off accusatory or anything.
“Wasn’t intentional. You can thank Kirop for that, thanks to him I’m not allowed to have any locks.” Gavla bitterly put out as she emptied the rest of the bag on the table.
Despite feeling off-put by the comment, Hahli decisively decided to not bother asking why Galva couldn’t have locks.
“...In anycase,” Hahli attempted again, this time imagining how Gali or Nokama would say her words. “I think you and I got off on the wrong boat before, my name is Hahli and-”
“Mata Nui, you Toa are all an obnoxious lot.” Gavla commented aloud as she started organizing things into small piles.
Hahli took in a deep breath. “As I was saying, I’m here because-”
“Yeah, I know. You’re the Toa Takanuva sent to make me better.” The Matoran tersely said, nearly sardonically spitting out the last sentence.
“Oh,” the water Toa felt a little take aback. “I wasn’t aware that Takanuva already told you…”
“Takanuva’s a loud mouth.” That was the only reply Gavla gave as she began doing some sort of work with the supplies on the table. Still not once had she bothered to even look back at Hahli.
This was now getting frustrating. Hahli took another deep breath, she tried to think of another way to approach all of this. Her eyes wandered around the room as she tried to come up with something, which was then when she noticed what else was in here. On the few shelves that lined the wall, small handmade figures of mostly wire and cloth were displayed. She moved closer, seeing the recognizable features of wings, claws and masks, it became clear that these were depictions of Av-Matoran or at least of ones that had been mutated…
“Did you make these?” She asked carefully as she turned back to the Gavla. The Matoran didn’t reply, either being too absorbed in her own work or was purposely ignoring the Toa; but Hahli got her answer as she saw strings of wires and other materials being used. Letting her own gaze wander again, Hahli tried to see if there were anymore of these things around the place and it turned out that there was only one that wasn’t among the shelves. A bigger figure was positioned right on the nightstand next to her bed; a blue creature with wings on it’s forearms, large fangs with a monstrous figure and pose. She didn’t know what it was offhand, but it definitely was not some Matoran.
Hahli thought it better to bring her attention back to what was solely on the shelves and spoke up again. “You know these are quite good.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
The water Toa tried to ignore Gavla’s remarks. “The other Av-Matoran would probably like these to, it would probably make them happy if you gave a few-”
“I don’t make these for them!” Gavla nearly yelled as she finally turned to glare back at Hahli. “I’m not giving them anything more ever again, not after thousands of years of giving and getting nothing in return.”
“-Gavla, please that’s not what I meant here.” Hahli said hurriedly, attempting to salvage this.
“I don’t care! I’m tired of this, I’m tired of you, just- just leave already!” She hissed back at the Toa before she switched back facing away from her. Gavla stared at her craft in progress before speaking again in a quieter voice. “Go- just leave me alone and let me be.”
Already Hahli could feel a pit forming in her stomach, her hopefulness of the situation from earlier falling away. It was clear that in such a short time that she had only made things worse. Takanuva had put his faith in the wrong Toa’s hands, she’d never be as convincing as her predecessors and now he and his Av-Matoran were going to be let down. Hahli felt even worse for Gavla, she didn’t want to leave the girl like this. Not in the state she was in and certainly not in a place like this; what else could anyone be expected to feel in such a drewery detrimentally pernicious environment…
The Toa’s current stream of thoughts stopped as a realization came to her in a sudden break, which then flowed and formed into an idea.
“Gavla,” Hahli addressed again, more confidence weaved into her voice.
“Why are you still even here?” Gavla grumbled from the table.
“How would you like to come to Ga-Koro?” The Toa offered.
The particular question seemed to catch the Matoran off guard. Slowly she turned back around in her chair staring at the Toa with a puzzled expression. “What?”
“I’m asking if you like to come visit my home, Ga-Koro.” Hahli repeated again calmly.
“Hmph, and what’s exactly so special about it?” Gavla snidely asked.
“Well, it’s on a beach, with the ocean and sand. It’s very beautiful and calming, with lot’s of Ga-Matoran-”
“Yeah the Ga-Matoran in Metru Nui didn’t exactly impress me.” The Av-Matoran interrupted with a snarky remark, which appeared to bristle her opponent a little.
“It was a rather short span there, with a lot going on. I highly doubt that you had the time to get to know anyone very well then.” Hahli countered pointedly, but then she saw Gavla tense at her words for some reason, she even thought she spotted a glimpse of discomfort with her. So the Toa tried to pivot quickly. “Besides, it could be a fun trip. If nothing else, since you don’t seem to like it here that much, it gives you an excuse to get out for a day.”
The Matoran suddenly took up a defensive tone. “Excuse me, I can leave anytime I want.”
“And yet, you’re still here.” Hahli stated back firmly.
The water Toa instantly worried if she pushed too far, as Gavla sent an icy glare back at her, but she then decided not to back down from it.
“Please,” Hahli added reasonably. “Just come over tomorrow and see how it is, that’s all I’m asking.”
Gavla continued her cold glare at the Toa, her body still tense. After a while, finally her own standoff broke as she uttered one word. “Fine.”
Then Galva turned back around to face her work on the table and away from the Toa. “If it will get you to leave, I’ll go over to your stupid Koro.”
“That’s- That’s great!” Hahli almost couldn’t believe this small accomplishment, she couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved and happy. “If you need some directions-”
“I’ll figure it out.”
“I’d recommend going directly to Tajun first and from there you can ask easily on where to go from there, it’s basically just heading towards the ocean from there… I guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow then, Gavla.” When no other comment came back from the Av-Matoran, Hahli decided that it was probably the right time for her to leave. She gave out one last goodbye at the doorway, with no reply in return following as she closed the door behind her.
Back outside in the open, she immediately straightened up and stretched out her wing-finns, trying to rid the discomfort from that small space. Once she felt better, Hahli set her sights on going straight home. She’d need to explain to everyone about their upcoming guest.
