I woke up from a strange vision in the Archives. I'm not sure how I got here, but perhaps it is the will of Mata Nui.
I have met four other Toa. They seem to be new Toa as well, although I'm sure all of us will grow with experience.
I believe one of them is a Toa of Magnetism. Our powers combined may prove formidable.
Another is a Toa of Ice. He is level-headed and seems very intelligent, although a bit cold.
The first one I met, Neelh, is a Toa of Psionics. She doesn't seem to enjoy combat, but I feel her powers could be terrifyingly effective if she wanted them to be.
The final Toa is a Toa of Sonics. I know this only because of the mental information Neelh provided. I should probably build some earplugs.
They have mentioned the location of a seafaring ship. I hope it does not need any major repair. It is not safe in these tunnels and finding parts could prove difficult if the rest of Metru Nui looks this bad.
Rauta checked his map. By his judgement, he was a long way from his destination.
He felt a little exhausted: the first time since he had gained basic control over his new form. His concentration faltered, causing him to drop the map. As he picked the tablet back up, it began breaking apart, eventually becoming sand at his feet. He felt his armor getting heavier. He tried to regain control, but with no success. Rauta fell to his knees. The more he tried to get back up, the heavier his armor felt. His vision blurred. He tried to scream, but no sound escaped his lips.
"Is this the end of me?" he thought, "Is this really my end?"
He gave up: the weight of his armor was too great for him to bear. He lay on the hard ground, wishing the horrible feeling would go away. He blinked once, twice, and slowly blacked out.
He felt weightless, as if immersed in liquid. He looked down. It was dark, but he could barely make out the outline of his armor. Rauta lifted his hands to his face, feeling fluid flow under his armor as he moved. Yes, he was definitely in some sort of liquid. Rauta felt himself being pushed up. Eventually he broke the surface. Expecting his armor to weigh him down, Rauta attempted to brace himself, but soon realized he could not feel the metal pulling him down. Standing up, he found himself to be in a dark void, ankle-deep in water. In the distance, a small glimmer of light was visible.
And it was getting bigger, fast.
The light grew and grew, getting closer to Rauta. The sudden brightness hurt his eyes, but he could not close them or look away. The light provided a certain warmth, and all at once, Rauta didn't feel alone anymore. The solitude he had felt while in hiding was gone. He could feel the ground he was standing on, the water dripping from his armor, the energy flowing within himself.
The light occupied most of his view by now. He could make out the silhouettes of three figures against the light. They were standing, holding hands, as if united as one. Rauta felt a bond with these three figures. He wanted to run to them, to find out who they were, to talk to them and battle with them and protect them, but he could not move. He willed with all of his might, but his legs would not obey. In dismay, he looked down, expecting some binding to be holding him back, but there was none. Looking back up, he noticed the center one's eyes glowing with a strong blue color. He felt pulled by their gaze, as if by some invisible force he could not fight. Looking directly at Rauta, the figure spoke.
"Find us."
Rauta was stunned, but relieved the figures did not seem hostile. Many questions raced through his mind, but only one was important.
"Who are you?" Rauta replied.
"Find us and you shall find the answer you seek," the figure said. The voice was charismatic, continuing to pull at Rauta.
A light touch. Rauta looked down to see a Matoran holding on to his hand. The Matoran wore an orange Komau. His arms were a metallic grey, the rest of him was the same shade of orange as his mask. The memories fooded Rauta's mind. The Matoran next to him was his old friend, Kuuma. Kuuma was pulling on his arm, pointing at something behind Rauta. Turning around, Rauta saw the eyes of the Fe-Matoran he used to work, laugh, and study with. He saw the Matoran he had known while studying in Metru Nui. In front of the group of Matoran was his late Turaga. The emotion in Rauta swelled up. He tried to hold back tears, but the feeling was overwhelming. The water collected in small bubbles on his mask, rolling down the ridges when they grey too heavy. He dearly missed his friends. He wanted to run to them, to hug them, to laugh with them, to recall and cherish every last memory with them, but he once again found he could not move. The old Turaga smiled, and Rauta could feel he felt the same. The Turaga's face delivered a message no words would have been able to express. Rauta nodded, understanding what he needed to do. He turned around to look at the three figures and smiled. Whoever they were, he knew he could trust them.
And as quickly as it had appeared, the light retreated, leaving Rauta in the void of darkness.
When he awoke, he was not where he had been. slowly opening his eyes, Rauta found himself in a stone room, illuminated by a teal glow from a source he could not see. His first attempt to move was much easier than he expected: it seemed he had regained full control of his armor. Sitting up, he looked around.
The room was of decent size, he estimated about 25 bios on each wall and 3 bios too the ceiling. From where he sat, Rauta could see lightvines growing around the perimeter of the room. The glow was more than enough to confirm that no other beings were in the room with him. Cautiously, Rauta rose to his feet. Was this a prison? Turning around to look at the rest of the room, he could see nothing of interest.
Except for one thing.
It was large, almost the height of the room. It was hexagonal, divided into six equal sections by shallow grooves. He felt he had seen this design before. It had a certain familiarity about it.
Snapping off a piece of a lightvine that had grown towards the center of the room, Rauta approached the strange shape. He touched the grooves, discovering it was made of metal.
"A very strong metal," he thought. From his experience, he knew this variant of metal was used mainly for structures which needed to withstand great force, typically for keeping some unwanted being out.
Or in...
And then it hit him. There were only a few memories, but Rauta could clearly recall where he had seen this before. The Archives. The Onu-Matoran had needed massive doors to contain Rahi and other soon-to-be-exhibits while their stasis tubes were prepared. He had studied the process of creating the doors during his time in Metru Nui.
Placing his hand on the middle of the door, Rauta gave a strong push. He knew the doors were heavy, but that had been when he only had the strength of a Matoran. The door submitted to the Toa pushing it out of the way, then stopped after opening about a quarter of a Bio: not enough for Rauta to squeeze through. He could see some rubble though the opening. His heart sank. Was he in the forbidden lower levels? The horror stories he had heard had not been pleasant. He knew he would have a difficult time finding his way out of the Archives, if that was even possible at such a depth. Still, he was a Toa. He needed to push on for his friends, his Turaga, and for the three figures he had seen.
Closing his eyes, Rauta focused on the problem at hand. Now that he was a Toa, he had to have some kind of elemental power. Surely, his energy had not changed to another form during his transformation. He thought about the door, and how nice it would be if it could bend around the obstruction holding it partway closed. A foolish whim, though. Even the blow from a Tarakava couldn't bend such a thick door.
When he opened his eyes he was pleasantly surprised. The opening before him was much wider. Looking at the door, he saw it had warped and moulded around whatever was blocking it. Stepping around the rubble, Rauta inspected the new shape. It was impossible, metal did not bend like that normally. Even the weakest of metals would have not bent in such a manner. He saw the door to his room had been held in place by a similar door, which appeared to have fallen from its original hinges. Examining the rest of the area, his previous realizations were confirmed.
He was in the Archives, but not the Archives he remembered. It looked like all Karzahni had been unleashed. Almost all of the containment chambers had been damaged or destroyed. Water dripped from the ceiling, forming standing puddles where the rubble allowed. A few small streams of water flowed from scattered holes and a source he could not determine. Much of the tunnel had collapsed, but enough was still standing to give him an idea of where he was. He was not in the sub-levels. Relieved at this discovery, Rauta looked up and down the tunnel to determine which way was out. A wrecked cart with a broken stasis tube told him he should head in the direction in must have came from. Climbing over rubble and the occasional standing water.
Rauta's Journal:
I had a strange vision today. I saw my friends, my Turaga, but most importantly, I saw three figures. I believe I am to encounter them in the near future. I do not know if they are other Toa, but I only hope they are truly friendly. One of them told me to find them, but where do I look?
Upon my awakening, I found myself in the Archives. I do not know how I am here, but it appears as though the place has gone to the stone rats. I should be careful, as there may be dangerous rahi on the loose. I do not believe I am too deep, but I will find out soon enough.
I am possibly 1/4th of the way across the continent by now. However, I keep feeling I should deviate from the course the map provides. I feel as if I may be needed elsewhere. Is this what it means to be Toa?
On a different note, I have been able to somehow ease the weight of my armor on my body. I can now walk at a normal pace with minor difficulty, though I hope I do not encounter those who would wish to harm me, as I do not feel I could dodge such an attack.
I have made land on the Southern Continent, but it seems my map has changed. I appear to need to head north to Metru Nui. It has been a while. I wonder how my friends are doing.
I have been spending countless hours figuring out my armor. It seems I am able to control it if I focus on moving it, though this is very tedious for once simple tasks.
Based on the charts I found, I should be close to what seems to be known as the "Southern Continent". I do not know what awaits me there.
I experimented a bit more with my armor, today. I believe it may be controlled by thoughts, but I am unsure how. If only I could find someone with the answers to my questions.
