Ahkmou

Just trying to fix what's broken

[toa-ahkmou]

OOC: I think we're actually done this time.

Hello, everyone. I am @toaarcan, the writer behind both this blog, and @ghost-of-destiny. If you were a reader of either of these blogs, then you've probably noticed that everything has been very quiet for a while now.

I know some people are still enjoying what we did, because every day I get likes on some of the threads we did. And, unfortunately, I doubt there will be any more.

There's been a general decline in interest from all parties, in fact, I was one of the last ones consistently posting, as most other people just weren't around anymore. For some, Life Stuff just became too much of an obstacle. For others, the overall story was shifting in a different direction to what they'd been interested in. For some, it was just the sheer difficulty of being caught up on a story spread across a dozen blogs on a website that's actively hostile to searches.

That last one's pretty ironic considering that we were writing fanfic for a series that died because its story got too convoluted and hard to follow.

There's also another thing.

There was a D&D game. It went badly.

Actually, that's an oversimplification, but what happened was that a bunch of the most active and plot-critical players in what we referred to as "Tumblrverse" banded together to play D&D. We mostly used D&D-ified versions of our Bionicle characters and played by post on Discord. I will not be naming any names here besides my own, because I don't want this to feel like I'm airing other people's dirty laundry... but given that I have to make this disclaimer, you can probably tell that things went sideways.

At first, it worked really well! But we made one mistake right from the off: The chat was always running. It was always online. 24/7 D&D. If the DM wasn't around to make the bad guys do things, we were still active in there, chatting, shooting the breeze, and arguing. And for most of us, it took pretty much all of our creative juices.

The game, Ruins and Rahi, ran for about two years, of constant play, and things fell apart majorly toward the end, and a lot of those cracks first formed early on.

Fitting for a D&D game played by Tumblr people, there was a very "Yes, and" approach to things, and that translated to "Any player can introduce lore and suggest plot twists for their character, and everyone else just has to roll with it." We also made the critical mistake of not having a Session 0, and not establishing safety tools, so if one of these elements was an issue for someone else in the group... well, I'm sure you can figure out the rest.

Very early on, I basically introduced voluntary PvP into the game, as one of my characters had a freak-out and turned into a villain. I wanted to redeem this character, and I wanted it to be a slow, painful thing where she had to come to turns with her own morality and maybe backslide a few times. This did not work out. It mainly didn't work out because... well, I did kill another player character.

Now, this death was something the player chose to do, and was approved by the DM, and only then was it actually pitched to me. In terms of the chain of responsibility for that one, I was a solid third place of three people. Buuuut that didn't mean that it didn't become basically My Fault for the rest of the game.

This resulted in a lot of arguments, that ran for hours on end, and that's a problem in D&D because of character bleed.

In any D&D game, the player's personality and morality will bleed into their character. You've got to be real damn good to avoid it. This is why almost none of my evil characters stay evil. I just can't do it for long periods of time. And this means that, if you start having arguments in-character about the actions those characters took, eventually... you're just yelling at your friends. Often for things that either weren't entirely their fault, or weren't their fault at all.

By the time the game staggered to a close, everyone was kinda mad at each other, and there was no way to save it. The bad choices we'd all made without really talking to each other about it in advance finally became too heavy to ignore. Three of us dipped in quick succession and it collapsed in on itself.

And when you've spent several months wallowing in bitterness and half-sniping at each other, another collaborative writing project is somewhat hard to jump back into. Especially when you then make the collective decision to partake in a dedicated Discord channel for... oversharing and it immediately devolves into more sniping, this time without any veneer of roleplaying as someone else.

This is, in part, an open apology for the things I said and did during those few months, because I don't like the version of myself I became during that time. We were having fun with it until suddenly we weren't and it went too far. And it's left a bunch of us with irreconcilable differences and a few scars that mean that some of us just can't or won't talk to each other anymore. Like there are those among our number that literally can't be in the same space as each other anymore, and I've had to talk about R&R with my therapist, because as much as I'm still attached to some of the characters and some of the narrative, the way things fell apart is something that I dread a repeat of, both on my end, and on others'.

We made a few more attempts to get things rolling again on here after that. In fact, the False Flag megathread was entirely post-R&R, if I'm remembering right. But the life had gone out of it. False Flag was basically the only thread happening, and it slowed and slowed and slowed until it wasn't updating anymore either. I suggested maybe retooling the ending to turn it into more of a conclusion, but nothing more was done.

The Discord channel we used to use to plan stuff has been dead since May. We weren't talking about new threads, but about why the whole thing fell apart and what we could do to replace it. No suggestions for the latter stuck.

I think we're done. Not just me, but everyone else too.

ToaArcan, player of Ahkmou and Matoro, signing off.

[ardminde]

some Ahkmou memes (with art made specifically for them)

[ask-toa-hahli]

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

Hahli’s posture began to relax again, relieved that Ahkmou chose to to pick up on the new subject instead of pressing her feelings more.

“I don’t think a lot of us consider how much Makuta upended your lives, just as it upended ours.” The water Toa tried replying thoughtfully. “You and Gavla were basically at their mercy as everyone else was, only it was harder to see the effects of what it was doing to you both.”

She then hesitated a little as she contemplated her thoughts and words on the Av-Matoran. “If I’m being honest though, I’m not sure how much of a life Gavla really had, before what was even done to her…”

“She was… isolated. The weird thing was that it was by her own choice, rather than circumstance, that led to that,” Ahkmou’s eyes misted over slightly as he spoke. “Besides me, it seemed like the only other person she was close to was Tanma, and they’d barely said a word to each other since she got cured. I never quite got to the heart of why she thought the way she did about her fellow Matoran, I had to talk in circles all the time to maintain my cover and being direct would’ve just ticked her off, so… I did what I could to help her see Shadow corruption for what it really does to us, but… well…”

Ahkmou’s hands clenched, and the steering wheel warped slightly, the stones around the vehicle spiking up slightly, not enough to impede the journey, but enough to make the ride a little bumpier for a moment.

“Did you ever encounter one of Teridax’s poisoned Takanuva doubles during the Reign of Shadows?”

“Takanuva’s doubles? I think I heard Taka mention something about having some sort of shadow clones or some strange doppelgangers, but I don’t recall ever meeting any myself.” Hahli replied. Her mind then started to fill with the callback to that time period, uneasiness quickly coming back.

“But then there’s not really… everything around the time my team had to infiltrate the Skakdi… it’s hazy.” The Toa of water unconsciously admitted, head already making her feel like she was in a thick fog that she could hardly breathe. She tried to think away, before any haunting sparkles of gold could glimmer in the mists and pull her deeper into the discomfort that always threatened to drag her back to those scattered pale fragments of memories of that possessed experience…

Now it was just beginning to feel like motion sickness setting in, which definitely wasn’t helped by the rougher rocky ride going. Thankfully her visor was good at masking any paleness that could be going on. Hahli attempted to ignore the dizzy sickness that was growing. “Why the interest in Takanuva’s doubles? I know you’re friends with him, but surely you don’t want five of him all at once?”

“Teridax used them as his… elite enforcers, I suppose. Didn’t have time to make good Rahkshi, but Tridax had provided him with a whole army of corrupted versions of the Toa of Light, and he made the most of them… and I met them quite a few times…”

“Teridax had told me, early in my ‘reign,’ that when he sent Icarax to Metru Nui with a Shadow Leech, he wanted it to be used on me. However, Icarax opted to use it on Takanuva instead.” Ahkmou elaborated. “It’s funny, but for all that Teridax looked down on his brother, thought of him as a fool who was only good at fighting… I think Icarax had the smarter idea. From the Brotherhood’s perspective, using the Leech on someone who was already a Toa was much more practical than using it on a Matoran without a Toa Stone to take the next step. And taking the only Toa of your own elemental weakness off the board in the same move? Icarax was smarter than Teridax gave him credit for…”

“Still, when Teridax told me this, he framed it as… my destiny being stolen from me. That he’d wanted me to be his champion, a powerful Toa of Shadows, a black knight to strike fear and awe into the hearts of all my enemies… but that’s not what a Toa of Shadow is.”

“Those Shadow Leeches suck out elemental and… ‘moral’ light from you, and they leave you with nothing. Shadow isn’t an element in the traditional sense, it’s… an absence. A void. An emptiness that can’t be filled until the barrier is broken and the light can return. Those Shadow Takanuva, they weren’t anything like what Teridax promised me… they were hollow shells of Toa, trapped in their own misery and turning that pain outwards. And if it could do that to the greatest of Toa… imagine what it’d be like for a Matoran.”

“Mata Nui…” Hahli breathed, shaking her head as she did try to imagine it. “And Gavla really thought that she was better off staying like that. The Makuta really had no shame in using others deep insecurities and just warping everything around them for their own gain. It makes me sick-”

A sudden row of bumps in the road jolted the Toa of water and nearly did threaten to make her physically sick. Till the road once again smoothed out to a more comfortable ride.

Hahli regained her composure, her stomach resettling back to stable. “Still is somewhat ironic, Makuta wanted you to be a shadow Toa for him and you end up becoming a real Toa hero yourself.”

[toa-ahkmou]

“The irony is not lost on me,” He smiled. “And the approval is greatly appreciated. It means a lot, coming from one of the Toa Mahri.”

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would actually happen. Nor that I’d end up being the one to kill him. It’s strange... Doesn’t quite feel real yet. Maybe it never will. But as a first step... it’s a hell of a start.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

toa-ahkmou​:

Ahkmou frowned a little. He wasn’t remotely sure how to help someone with team issues, when he didn’t even have a team of his own.

“Well… it seems like every Toa team runs into this kind of issue at some point in their lives. And I’m guessing you feel like it’s your responsibility to fix it, right?” He prompted. “After all, that’s what Gali and Nokama both did for their teams. The way Kopeke recorded it, Jaller deliberately tried to avoid falling into the same traps that Tahu and Vakama stumbled through. You’re also comparing yourself to your forebears, but in a different way. He tried to avoid being like them, but you want to live up to their example. Am I right?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, the question more rhetorical than anything. “Truth is, the Toa Mahri are very different to the Nuva and Metru. When the former arrived on the island, they’d all forgotten who they were and what their purpose was, and as such they squabbled like children. Tahu couldn’t control his temper, Lewa kept wandering off, Pohatu was too nice to tell anyone what they needed to hear, Kopaka let his fear of attachment come off as a superiority complex, Onua never offered his very valuable insight because he was afraid of appearing big-headed, and Gali did try to offer her similar thoughts but was completely unable to convince them. She didn’t fix her brothers with words alone, it took them experiencing the consequences of working alone, and several near-death experiences that would’ve been easily avoided if they had even one comrade nearby for them to finally decide to try that “Unity” thing the Turaga kept yapping about.”

“And the Metru… Yeesh, their story was told by Vakama himself and he still made himself and his friends sound like the most toxic and self-destructive Toa team to ever grace the Great Spirit Robot. A full third of them couldn’t look past the wounds left over from the Civil War until their Duty was nearly done. They had no idea what they were doing and Lhikan got his Turaga mindset on early by being unnecessarily cryptic and sending them all running after him instead of their actual objective. And even when they did complete that, hey! Guess who got left behind. Accident? Yes. Destroyed my life and directly contributed to the catastrophe of a person currently operating this vehicle? Also yes.”

“But the Mahri? You all knew what you were doing, mostly, you all volunteered together, you all worked as a team, and you won. Unfortunately that came with a terrible price and the result of that is lasting trauma that… affects all of you in different ways, and is going to take time to heal. And you didn’t have a lot of time to process it all before the Order showed up and started, well, ordering you all around, and then Teridax turned the world upside-down.”

“I can’t fix this problem like I do with sculptures that go wrong. And I don’t know much about being part of a team. But I do know a lot about mental damage, and the scars that trauma leaves. Maybe next time you feel the urge to compare yourself negatively to Gali and Nokama, remember that they had to go through a lot of bickering Gukko-fights before they managed to solve those issues, and often needed help to do so. They weren’t perfect. They still aren’t. And they’ve had far more practice than you at filling that role. Also consider that… maybe making your team work shouldn’t fall solely on the shoulders of one member. Because I can guarantee you that it didn’t work that way with the others either,” He suggested, then grinned a little. “Or just compare yourself to Helryx and Tuyet instead. Just sayin’, but as far as Ga-Toa go, you could be doing so much worse.”

The water user let out another slow sigh, that felt far longer than it actually was. “Easier said than done…” She said plainly, her overwelming thoughts and feelings were a stagnet pile that had been sitting for months, that she kept putting off addressing.

Hahli tilted her head and rested it against the side window, surprisingly the glass was somewhat cool to the touch even with her mask on. “It’s not just with how our teams have turned out…”

She didn’t know why she was starting admit this, some of this wasn’t even stuff she had been ready to fully confide in Jaller yet. Maybe it was the fatigue setting in that was clouding her mind, it could have been the strange comradery that had now formed between the two of them recently or even a combination of both. But like a small stream leaking through cracks of a dam, once the water flow started it kept rushing through stronger, before long becoming unable to be contained and breaking the barrier in a flooded burst.

“Nokama has been our leader and guide for over a thousand years, she was the one that kept us all going during the darkest times times on our island. She was the one singular point in our lives that both kept us safe and taught us the knowledge of our culture, we wouldn’t be the same Ga-Matoran without her. Even with the revealed deceptions of the Turaga and the disfunction of the Toa Metru in Vakama’s stories, she’s still the one we turn to for wisdom and insight when we need it, the one authority out of all of them that we trust the most. No one in our village wants to disappoint her and she’s such a big important part of our community… Mata Nui, she’s so hard to live up to… And Gali, Gali… We were basically worshiping her hundreds of years before she even arrived. All of us were thriving on the stories Nokama told us of her when times got hard, we made art and shrines dedicated to her while we waited for her to eventually show up like the other Matoran did for their awaited Toa. Now when the Toa Mata did eventually came, they weren’t exactly everything the Turaga first built them up to be; Tahu was more brash than expected, Kopaka was more aloof and cold than even the Ko-Matoran found acceptable and Pohatu didn’t actually care about anyone skipping shifts like Onewa said he would.

But Gali?

She was practically everything Nokama said she’d be! Wise, powerful and kind… All the things a water Toa should embody. I know it’s dangerous to think of Gali as perfect and she certainly isn’t… but she really nearly is. To be frank, most of the girls don’t even understand how she isn’t leader of her team, they… I mean we all love her…”

Hahli paused for a brief moment, almost if to regather her own thoughts before considering continuing. “And look… I’ve already long accepted that I’ll never be as good or as competent as her, that’s just a fact. I know for girls I’m just a placeholder for Gali and they’d much rather have her given the chance and I don’t blame them, I like her better to… But it doesn’t help that… If Macku or Kotu had been made into Toa instead, no one would have been surprised, in fact it would have been pretty much expected. Jaller even told me once that he even considered Macku first before choosing me to help look for the Toa Nuva… With me though… It still sometimes feels like when I got first selected for the Kohlii team, no one can figure out why the unimportant shy thing got the spot… My fractured team just doesn’t help with that, in fact it just underscores that I’m not good at this job and I feel like everyone at home knows that…”

“Did Macku hitch a ride on the Ussanui into Mangaia? Oh wait, that was you.” Ahkmou glanced over at her. “I don’t know if you remember meeting me in Po-Koro when you did your own trip around the island, but I never forget a customer. And when you walked into that village, you had the exact same energy that Takua did when he turned up a few months before. Had I still been up to no good, I would’ve been terrified.”

“Forgive me if this sounds a little rude, but I find the notion that you can never be as good as Gali… a little ridiculous. That’s not to disparage her, in many ways, she is the ideal Toa, but… you already succeeded where she failed.” The Stone Toa answered flatly. “Please… stop comparing yourself to your forebears negatively. You don’t need to be them, the only person you need to be… is you. And if that person isn’t a carbon copy of Gali or Nokama… that’s okay. But if you try to force yourself to be something you’re not… yeah, you’ll only ever be a pale imitation of whatever mold you’re trying to fit into.”

“Maybe you’re not the ideal Toa material, but… how many of them were? Sure, some of them were so obviously destined to be Toa that they might as well have had lightstone signs announcing it, Matau, Jaller, Kongu, yeah, I get it. But some of the others? Vakama couldn’t have been less like the archetypal Toa of Fire if he tried. Onewa was an artist with an attitude problem. Nokama was a teacher. Our very own Toa of Light was the Matoran noted for being irresponsible and lazy. The Toa that saved us all was a translator.”

“Hell, look at me, did anyone see this coming?” Ahkmou gestured to his massive stature. “I’m pretty sure Toa are chosen less on personality and skillset, and more on vibes. And even if they weren’t, you’d still be in with a good shot, considering that you were a Chronicler, and, oh yeah, you won that tournament Kotu didn’t get picked for. Any doubts as to why you were chosen should’ve disappeared at exactly the moment you beat Hewkii at his own game. Literally.”

“And, because it bears repeating, if Toa were judged by how well they handled their first big break, you’d still be beating both your predecessors by a country mile.”

At first, Hahli didn’t say anything in response to Ahkmou. She closed her eyes for a contemplative moment, as if she was just trying to absorb his words, but there was a noted tense strain in her form that clenched her muscles and made them unable to relax. Wearily she opened her eyes again, somehow managing to look more exhausted than before.

“Thank you, Ahkmou… I appreciate what you’re trying to do and I really do mean it. But-” She paused mid-way, almost struggling with words.

“If I’m being honest though… on some level part of me knows that what you’re saying is true. It’s just that… it’s all really hard to hear and take in for some reason that I can’t explain; and the longer that I do feel like this, it gets even harder to hear these things. I know that I’ve changed and have accomplished stuff, but it’s just gotten more difficult to find any value or pride in them. The other things that have happened, the worse things, they weigh so much heavier and have become more prominent in my mind for nearly everything I do. It feels like no matter what, my thoughts will go back to Nuparu leaving or Makuta infiltrating my village, or getting controlled by The Gold Skinned being or even Mator-”

The water stopped again, her gaze cast downward to the somewhat clean floor of the vehicle. She re-adjusted herself again in her seat, finding her position uncomfortable again.

“You know, back in the pit,” Hahli picked up again quietly. “When Matoro was making the run with the mask, the rest of us five were holding off the Barraki so he could get it done. We were all prepared to die then and there to ensure that he saved everyone, all of us knew since the beginning down our quest to Voya Nui that we might not all make it back and in those moments we were okay with it. At the time it seemed more than fair; our lives for Matoro and the rest of the universe… Then when… after Matoro saved us and died instead, suddenly it wasn’t fair to us anymore. It’s crazy isn’t it? One life for the price of a million others should be more than acceptable, should be even better than what we thought we’d loose. Yet somehow, it still doesn’t feel quite right. A small part of me, if I think on it too hard, even believes that I didn’t and still don’t deserve his sacrifice…”

Her voice trailed off, becoming more self conscious of the morose mood that she had unintentionally drawn the conversation to. Suddenly she wished she hadn’t shared so much and had just let the thoughts and feelings drift back down to the deep of herself like they usually eventually did. Why did she let everything get stirred up like that?

Attempting not to be too obviously awkward about it, Hahli decided to divert to a new subject. Picking up from Ahkmou’s input that wasn’t too heavy, she tried looking out the window again to clear her head. “You know back when I first walked into your shop in Po-Koro, I had no idea that you were actually that Matoran. You had the same energy of any other Po-Matoran and I didn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary. It was only later after that when Hewkii told me who you actually were, which he mentioned just because he wanted my help in keeping Macku busy after someone let slip your address to her.”

[toa-ahkmou]

“I did my best to keep my head down, be as normal as possible after I got brought back to the village,” he chuckled. “A lot of people think me becoming Teridax’s fake Turaga meant that I secretly kept serving him on the down-low, but… no, I think that was just him choosing the one Matoran people knew had served him before. Him choosing a Shadow-Triber might’ve rumbled the whole thing, and I guess he still wanted plausible deniability for them. Even when he’d won, he couldn’t stop making backup plans. Paranoia and scheming must’ve been in his nature.”

“Really, I just wanted a normal, Matoran life. It’s all I ever wanted, once the desire for vengeance abated. Both Teridax and the Turaga were liars, but at least the Turaga were trying to protect us. If they could’ve told us and known we wouldn’t try to go back without the Toa to defeat Teridax, I think they would. Certainly, I think Onewa, abrasive as he is, actually appreciated having someone else in the village that he could talk to about Metru Nui, if he couldn’t make the journey to Ga-Koro to discuss it with Nokama. We never saw eye-to-eye, but… at least we both knew.”

“I’m not surprised I had the same energy as the others… without Teridax’s influence, that’s all I ever was,” Ahkmou shrugged. His fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “The only thing that separated me from the rest of our people was that I had the misfortune to be the one in the pod that fell off the boat.”

“I’ve heard it said that some are born great, some strive for greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Well, I think evil is much the same.” He mused, eyes fixing on the horizon. “Creatures like the Rahkshi are born of evil intent. The Makuta and the Barraki chose their paths, for varying reasons, they became what they are now of their own volition. But then, people like me and Gavla, like a lot of the Dark Hunters, we didn’t get a choice. It was made for us, by beings of far greater power and importance, and once they were dealt with, we had to pick up the pieces… or not do so.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

Hahli’s posture began to relax again, relieved that Ahkmou chose to to pick up on the new subject instead of pressing her feelings more.

“I don’t think a lot of us consider how much Makuta upended your lives, just as it upended ours.” The water Toa tried replying thoughtfully. “You and Gavla were basically at their mercy as everyone else was, only it was harder to see the effects of what it was doing to you both.”

She then hesitated a little as she contemplated her thaughts and words on the Av-Matoran. “If I’m being honest though, I’m not sure how much of a life Gavla really had, before what was even done to her…”

[toa-ahkmou]

“She was… isolated. The weird thing was that it was by her own choice, rather than circumstance, that led to that,” Ahkmou’s eyes misted over slightly as he spoke. “Besides me, it seemed like the only other person she was close to was Tanma, and they’d barely said a word to each other since she got cured. I never quite got to the heart of why she thought the way she did about her fellow Matoran, I had to talk in circles all the time to maintain my cover and being direct would’ve just ticked her off, so… I did what I could to help her see Shadow corruption for what it really does to us, but… well…”

Ahkmou’s hands clenched, and the steering wheel warped slightly, the stones around the vehicle spiking up slightly, not enough to impede the journey, but enough to make the ride a little bumpier for a moment.

“Did you ever encounter one of Teridax’s poisoned Takanuva doubles during the Reign of Shadows?”

[ask-toa-hahli]

“Takanuva’s doubles? I think I heard Taka mention something about having some sort of shadow clones or some strange doppelgangers, but I don’t recall ever meeting any myself.” Hahli replied. Her mind then started to fill with the callback to that time period, uneasiness quickly coming back.

“But then there’s not really… everything around the time my team had to infiltrate the Skakdi… it’s hazy.” The Toa of water unconsciously admitted, head already making her feel like she was in a thick fog that she could hardly breathe. She tried to think away, before any haunting sparkles of gold could glimmer in the mists and pull her deeper into the discomfort that always threatened to drag her back to those scattered pale fragments of memories of that possessed experience…

Now it was just beginning to feel like motion sickness setting in, which definetly wasn’t helped by the rougher rocky ride going. Thankfully her visor was good at masking any paleness that could be going on. Hahli attempted to ignore the dizzy sickness that was growing. “Why the interest in Takanuva’s doubles? I know you’re friends with him, but surely you don’t want five of him all at once?”

[toa-ahkmou]

“Teridax used them as his... elite enforcers, I suppose. Didn’t have time to make good Rahkshi, but Tridax had provided him with a whole army of corrupted versions of the Toa of Light, and he made the most of them... and I met them quite a few times...”

“Teridax had told me, early in my ‘reign,’ that when he sent Icarax to Metru Nui with a Shadow Leech, he wanted it to be used on me. However, Icarax opted to use it on Takanuva instead.” Ahkmou elaborated. “It’s funny, but for all that Teridax looked down on his brother, thought of him as a fool who was only good at fighting... I think Icarax had the smarter idea. From the Brotherhood’s perspective, using the Leech on someone who was already a Toa was much more practical than using it on a Matoran without a Toa Stone to take the next step. And taking the only Toa of your own elemental weakness off the board in the same move? Icarax was smarter than Teridax gave him credit for...”

“Still, when Teridax told me this, he framed it as... my destiny being stolen from me. That he’d wanted me to be his champion, a powerful Toa of Shadows, a black knight to strike fear and awe into the hearts of all my enemies... but that’s not what a Toa of Shadow is.”

“Those Shadow Leeches suck out elemental and... ‘moral’ light from you, and they leave you with nothing. Shadow isn’t an element in the traditional sense, it’s... an absence. A void. An emptiness that can’t be filled until the barrier is broken and the light can return. Those Shadow Takanuva, they weren’t anything like what Teridax promised me... they were hollow shells of Toa, trapped in their own misery and turning that pain outwards. And if it could do that to the greatest of Toa... imagine what it’d be like for a Matoran.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

toa-ahkmou​:

Ahkmou frowned a little. He wasn’t remotely sure how to help someone with team issues, when he didn’t even have a team of his own.

“Well… it seems like every Toa team runs into this kind of issue at some point in their lives. And I’m guessing you feel like it’s your responsibility to fix it, right?” He prompted. “After all, that’s what Gali and Nokama both did for their teams. The way Kopeke recorded it, Jaller deliberately tried to avoid falling into the same traps that Tahu and Vakama stumbled through. You’re also comparing yourself to your forebears, but in a different way. He tried to avoid being like them, but you want to live up to their example. Am I right?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, the question more rhetorical than anything. “Truth is, the Toa Mahri are very different to the Nuva and Metru. When the former arrived on the island, they’d all forgotten who they were and what their purpose was, and as such they squabbled like children. Tahu couldn’t control his temper, Lewa kept wandering off, Pohatu was too nice to tell anyone what they needed to hear, Kopaka let his fear of attachment come off as a superiority complex, Onua never offered his very valuable insight because he was afraid of appearing big-headed, and Gali did try to offer her similar thoughts but was completely unable to convince them. She didn’t fix her brothers with words alone, it took them experiencing the consequences of working alone, and several near-death experiences that would’ve been easily avoided if they had even one comrade nearby for them to finally decide to try that “Unity” thing the Turaga kept yapping about.”

“And the Metru… Yeesh, their story was told by Vakama himself and he still made himself and his friends sound like the most toxic and self-destructive Toa team to ever grace the Great Spirit Robot. A full third of them couldn’t look past the wounds left over from the Civil War until their Duty was nearly done. They had no idea what they were doing and Lhikan got his Turaga mindset on early by being unnecessarily cryptic and sending them all running after him instead of their actual objective. And even when they did complete that, hey! Guess who got left behind. Accident? Yes. Destroyed my life and directly contributed to the catastrophe of a person currently operating this vehicle? Also yes.”

“But the Mahri? You all knew what you were doing, mostly, you all volunteered together, you all worked as a team, and you won. Unfortunately that came with a terrible price and the result of that is lasting trauma that… affects all of you in different ways, and is going to take time to heal. And you didn’t have a lot of time to process it all before the Order showed up and started, well, ordering you all around, and then Teridax turned the world upside-down.”

“I can’t fix this problem like I do with sculptures that go wrong. And I don’t know much about being part of a team. But I do know a lot about mental damage, and the scars that trauma leaves. Maybe next time you feel the urge to compare yourself negatively to Gali and Nokama, remember that they had to go through a lot of bickering Gukko-fights before they managed to solve those issues, and often needed help to do so. They weren’t perfect. They still aren’t. And they’ve had far more practice than you at filling that role. Also consider that… maybe making your team work shouldn’t fall solely on the shoulders of one member. Because I can guarantee you that it didn’t work that way with the others either,” He suggested, then grinned a little. “Or just compare yourself to Helryx and Tuyet instead. Just sayin’, but as far as Ga-Toa go, you could be doing so much worse.”

The water user let out another slow sigh, that felt far longer than it actually was. “Easier said than done…” She said plainly, her overwelming thoughts and feelings were a stagnet pile that had been sitting for months, that she kept putting off addressing.

Hahli tilted her head and rested it against the side window, surprisingly the glass was somewhat cool to the touch even with her mask on. “It’s not just with how our teams have turned out…”

She didn’t know why she was starting admit this, some of this wasn’t even stuff she had been ready to fully confide in Jaller yet. Maybe it was the fatigue setting in that was clouding her mind, it could have been the strange comradery that had now formed between the two of them recently or even a combination of both. But like a small stream leaking through cracks of a dam, once the water flow started it kept rushing through stronger, before long becoming unable to be contained and breaking the barrier in a flooded burst.

“Nokama has been our leader and guide for over a thousand years, she was the one that kept us all going during the darkest times times on our island. She was the one singular point in our lives that both kept us safe and taught us the knowledge of our culture, we wouldn’t be the same Ga-Matoran without her. Even with the revealed deceptions of the Turaga and the disfunction of the Toa Metru in Vakama’s stories, she’s still the one we turn to for wisdom and insight when we need it, the one authority out of all of them that we trust the most. No one in our village wants to disappoint her and she’s such a big important part of our community… Mata Nui, she’s so hard to live up to… And Gali, Gali… We were basically worshiping her hundreds of years before she even arrived. All of us were thriving on the stories Nokama told us of her when times got hard, we made art and shrines dedicated to her while we waited for her to eventually show up like the other Matoran did for their awaited Toa. Now when the Toa Mata did eventually came, they weren’t exactly everything the Turaga first built them up to be; Tahu was more brash than expected, Kopaka was more aloof and cold than even the Ko-Matoran found acceptable and Pohatu didn’t actually care about anyone skipping shifts like Onewa said he would.

But Gali?

She was practically everything Nokama said she’d be! Wise, powerful and kind… All the things a water Toa should embody. I know it’s dangerous to think of Gali as perfect and she certainly isn’t… but she really nearly is. To be frank, most of the girls don’t even understand how she isn’t leader of her team, they… I mean we all love her…”

Hahli paused for a brief moment, almost if to regather her own thoughts before considering continuing. “And look… I’ve already long accepted that I’ll never be as good or as competent as her, that’s just a fact. I know for girls I’m just a placeholder for Gali and they’d much rather have her given the chance and I don’t blame them, I like her better to… But it doesn’t help that… If Macku or Kotu had been made into Toa instead, no one would have been surprised, in fact it would have been pretty much expected. Jaller even told me once that he even considered Macku first before choosing me to help look for the Toa Nuva… With me though… It still sometimes feels like when I got first selected for the Kohlii team, no one can figure out why the unimportant shy thing got the spot… My fractured team just doesn’t help with that, in fact it just underscores that I’m not good at this job and I feel like everyone at home knows that…”

“Did Macku hitch a ride on the Ussanui into Mangaia? Oh wait, that was you.” Ahkmou glanced over at her. “I don’t know if you remember meeting me in Po-Koro when you did your own trip around the island, but I never forget a customer. And when you walked into that village, you had the exact same energy that Takua did when he turned up a few months before. Had I still been up to no good, I would’ve been terrified.”

“Forgive me if this sounds a little rude, but I find the notion that you can never be as good as Gali… a little ridiculous. That’s not to disparage her, in many ways, she is the ideal Toa, but… you already succeeded where she failed.” The Stone Toa answered flatly. “Please… stop comparing yourself to your forebears negatively. You don’t need to be them, the only person you need to be… is you. And if that person isn’t a carbon copy of Gali or Nokama… that’s okay. But if you try to force yourself to be something you’re not… yeah, you’ll only ever be a pale imitation of whatever mold you’re trying to fit into.”

“Maybe you’re not the ideal Toa material, but… how many of them were? Sure, some of them were so obviously destined to be Toa that they might as well have had lightstone signs announcing it, Matau, Jaller, Kongu, yeah, I get it. But some of the others? Vakama couldn’t have been less like the archetypal Toa of Fire if he tried. Onewa was an artist with an attitude problem. Nokama was a teacher. Our very own Toa of Light was the Matoran noted for being irresponsible and lazy. The Toa that saved us all was a translator.”

“Hell, look at me, did anyone see this coming?” Ahkmou gestured to his massive stature. “I’m pretty sure Toa are chosen less on personality and skillset, and more on vibes. And even if they weren’t, you’d still be in with a good shot, considering that you were a Chronicler, and, oh yeah, you won that tournament Kotu didn’t get picked for. Any doubts as to why you were chosen should’ve disappeared at exactly the moment you beat Hewkii at his own game. Literally.”

“And, because it bears repeating, if Toa were judged by how well they handled their first big break, you’d still be beating both your predecessors by a country mile.”

At first, Hahli didn’t say anything in response to Ahkmou. She closed her eyes for a contemplative moment, as if she was just trying to absorb his words, but there was a noted tense strain in her form that clenched her muscles and made them unable to relax. Wearily she opened her eyes again, somehow managing to look more exhausted than before.

“Thank you, Ahkmou… I appreciate what you’re trying to do and I really do mean it. But-” She paused mid-way, almost struggling with words.

“If I’m being honest though… on some level part of me knows that what you’re saying is true. It’s just that… it’s all really hard to hear and take in for some reason that I can’t explain; and the longer that I do feel like this, it gets even harder to hear these things. I know that I’ve changed and have accomplished stuff, but it’s just gotten more difficult to find any value or pride in them. The other things that have happened, the worse things, they weigh so much heavier and have become more prominent in my mind for nearly everything I do. It feels like no matter what, my thoughts will go back to Nuparu leaving or Makuta infiltrating my village, or getting controlled by The Gold Skinned being or even Mator-”

The water stopped again, her gaze cast downward to the somewhat clean floor of the vehicle. She re-adjusted herself again in her seat, finding her position uncomfortable again.

“You know, back in the pit,” Hahli picked up again quietly. “When Matoro was making the run with the mask, the rest of us five were holding off the Barraki so he could get it done. We were all prepared to die then and there to ensure that he saved everyone, all of us knew since the beginning down our quest to Voya Nui that we might not all make it back and in those moments we were okay with it. At the time it seemed more than fair; our lives for Matoro and the rest of the universe… Then when… after Matoro saved us and died instead, suddenly it wasn’t fair to us anymore. It’s crazy isn’t it? One life for the price of a million others should be more than acceptable, should be even better than what we thought we’d loose. Yet somehow, it still doesn’t feel quite right. A small part of me, if I think on it too hard, even believes that I didn’t and still don’t deserve his sacrifice…”

Her voice trailed off, becoming more self conscious of the morose mood that she had unintentionally drawn the conversation to. Suddenly she wished she hadn’t shared so much and had just let the thoughts and feelings drift back down to the deep of herself like they usually eventually did. Why did she let everything get stirred up like that?

Attempting not to be too obviously awkward about it, Hahli decided to divert to a new subject. Picking up from Ahkmou’s input that wasn’t too heavy, she tried looking out the window again to clear her head. “You know back when I first walked into your shop in Po-Koro, I had no idea that you were actually that Matoran. You had the same energy of any other Po-Matoran and I didn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary. It was only later after that when Hewkii told me who you actually were, which he mentioned just because he wanted my help in keeping Macku busy after someone let slip your address to her.”

[toa-ahkmou]

“I did my best to keep my head down, be as normal as possible after I got brought back to the village,” he chuckled. “A lot of people think me becoming Teridax’s fake Turaga meant that I secretly kept serving him on the down-low, but… no, I think that was just him choosing the one Matoran people knew had served him before. Him choosing a Shadow-Triber might’ve rumbled the whole thing, and I guess he still wanted plausible deniability for them. Even when he’d won, he couldn’t stop making backup plans. Paranoia and scheming must’ve been in his nature.”

“Really, I just wanted a normal, Matoran life. It’s all I ever wanted, once the desire for vengeance abated. Both Teridax and the Turaga were liars, but at least the Turaga were trying to protect us. If they could’ve told us and known we wouldn’t try to go back without the Toa to defeat Teridax, I think they would. Certainly, I think Onewa, abrasive as he is, actually appreciated having someone else in the village that he could talk to about Metru Nui, if he couldn’t make the journey to Ga-Koro to discuss it with Nokama. We never saw eye-to-eye, but… at least we both knew.”

“I’m not surprised I had the same energy as the others… without Teridax’s influence, that’s all I ever was,” Ahkmou shrugged. His fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “The only thing that separated me from the rest of our people was that I had the misfortune to be the one in the pod that fell off the boat.”

“I’ve heard it said that some are born great, some strive for greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Well, I think evil is much the same.” He mused, eyes fixing on the horizon. “Creatures like the Rahkshi are born of evil intent. The Makuta and the Barraki chose their paths, for varying reasons, they became what they are now of their own volition. But then, people like me and Gavla, like a lot of the Dark Hunters, we didn’t get a choice. It was made for us, by beings of far greater power and importance, and once they were dealt with, we had to pick up the pieces… or not do so.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

Hahli’s posture began to relax again, relieved that Ahkmou chose to to pick up on the new subject instead of pressing her feelings more.

“I don’t think a lot of us consider how much Makuta upended your lives, just as it upended ours.” The water Toa tried replying thoughtfully. “You and Gavla were basically at their mercy as everyone else was, only it was harder to see the effects of what it was doing to you both.”

She then hesitated a little as she contemplated her thaughts and words on the Av-Matoran. “If I’m being honest though, I’m not sure how much of a life Gavla really had, before what was even done to her…”

[toa-ahkmou]

“She was... isolated. The weird thing was that it was by her own choice, rather than circumstance, that led to that,” Ahkmou’s eyes misted over slightly as he spoke. “Besides me, it seemed like the only other person she was close to was Tanma, and they’d barely said a word to each other since she got cured. I never quite got to the heart of why she thought the way she did about her fellow Matoran, I had to talk in circles all the time to maintain my cover and being direct would’ve just ticked her off, so... I did what I could to help her see Shadow corruption for what it really does to us, but... well...”

Ahkmou’s hands clenched, and the steering wheel warped slightly, the stones around the vehicle spiking up slightly, not enough to impede the journey, but enough to make the ride a little bumpier for a moment.

“Did you ever encounter one of Teridax’s poisoned Takanuva doubles during the Reign of Shadows?”

[toa-ahkmou]

Season’s Greasons

Happy naming day. 

May next year be kinder to us all than this one.

[toa-ahkmou]

Ehrye: I’m going to start a false crime podcast where I explain crimes that never actually happened.

Ahkmou: I’m going to do the crimes you explain, forcing you into having a true crime podcast.

[ask-toa-hahli]

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

toa-ahkmou​:

Ahkmou frowned a little. He wasn’t remotely sure how to help someone with team issues, when he didn’t even have a team of his own.

“Well… it seems like every Toa team runs into this kind of issue at some point in their lives. And I’m guessing you feel like it’s your responsibility to fix it, right?” He prompted. “After all, that’s what Gali and Nokama both did for their teams. The way Kopeke recorded it, Jaller deliberately tried to avoid falling into the same traps that Tahu and Vakama stumbled through. You’re also comparing yourself to your forebears, but in a different way. He tried to avoid being like them, but you want to live up to their example. Am I right?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, the question more rhetorical than anything. “Truth is, the Toa Mahri are very different to the Nuva and Metru. When the former arrived on the island, they’d all forgotten who they were and what their purpose was, and as such they squabbled like children. Tahu couldn’t control his temper, Lewa kept wandering off, Pohatu was too nice to tell anyone what they needed to hear, Kopaka let his fear of attachment come off as a superiority complex, Onua never offered his very valuable insight because he was afraid of appearing big-headed, and Gali did try to offer her similar thoughts but was completely unable to convince them. She didn’t fix her brothers with words alone, it took them experiencing the consequences of working alone, and several near-death experiences that would’ve been easily avoided if they had even one comrade nearby for them to finally decide to try that “Unity” thing the Turaga kept yapping about.”

“And the Metru… Yeesh, their story was told by Vakama himself and he still made himself and his friends sound like the most toxic and self-destructive Toa team to ever grace the Great Spirit Robot. A full third of them couldn’t look past the wounds left over from the Civil War until their Duty was nearly done. They had no idea what they were doing and Lhikan got his Turaga mindset on early by being unnecessarily cryptic and sending them all running after him instead of their actual objective. And even when they did complete that, hey! Guess who got left behind. Accident? Yes. Destroyed my life and directly contributed to the catastrophe of a person currently operating this vehicle? Also yes.”

“But the Mahri? You all knew what you were doing, mostly, you all volunteered together, you all worked as a team, and you won. Unfortunately that came with a terrible price and the result of that is lasting trauma that… affects all of you in different ways, and is going to take time to heal. And you didn’t have a lot of time to process it all before the Order showed up and started, well, ordering you all around, and then Teridax turned the world upside-down.”

“I can’t fix this problem like I do with sculptures that go wrong. And I don’t know much about being part of a team. But I do know a lot about mental damage, and the scars that trauma leaves. Maybe next time you feel the urge to compare yourself negatively to Gali and Nokama, remember that they had to go through a lot of bickering Gukko-fights before they managed to solve those issues, and often needed help to do so. They weren’t perfect. They still aren’t. And they’ve had far more practice than you at filling that role. Also consider that… maybe making your team work shouldn’t fall solely on the shoulders of one member. Because I can guarantee you that it didn’t work that way with the others either,” He suggested, then grinned a little. “Or just compare yourself to Helryx and Tuyet instead. Just sayin’, but as far as Ga-Toa go, you could be doing so much worse.”

The water user let out another slow sigh, that felt far longer than it actually was. “Easier said than done…” She said plainly, her overwelming thoughts and feelings were a stagnet pile that had been sitting for months, that she kept putting off addressing.

Hahli tilted her head and rested it against the side window, surprisingly the glass was somewhat cool to the touch even with her mask on. “It’s not just with how our teams have turned out…”

She didn’t know why she was starting admit this, some of this wasn’t even stuff she had been ready to fully confide in Jaller yet. Maybe it was the fatigue setting in that was clouding her mind, it could have been the strange comradery that had now formed between the two of them recently or even a combination of both. But like a small stream leaking through cracks of a dam, once the water flow started it kept rushing through stronger, before long becoming unable to be contained and breaking the barrier in a flooded burst.

“Nokama has been our leader and guide for over a thousand years, she was the one that kept us all going during the darkest times times on our island. She was the one singular point in our lives that both kept us safe and taught us the knowledge of our culture, we wouldn’t be the same Ga-Matoran without her. Even with the revealed deceptions of the Turaga and the disfunction of the Toa Metru in Vakama’s stories, she’s still the one we turn to for wisdom and insight when we need it, the one authority out of all of them that we trust the most. No one in our village wants to disappoint her and she’s such a big important part of our community… Mata Nui, she’s so hard to live up to… And Gali, Gali… We were basically worshiping her hundreds of years before she even arrived. All of us were thriving on the stories Nokama told us of her when times got hard, we made art and shrines dedicated to her while we waited for her to eventually show up like the other Matoran did for their awaited Toa. Now when the Toa Mata did eventually came, they weren’t exactly everything the Turaga first built them up to be; Tahu was more brash than expected, Kopaka was more aloof and cold than even the Ko-Matoran found acceptable and Pohatu didn’t actually care about anyone skipping shifts like Onewa said he would.

But Gali?

She was practically everything Nokama said she’d be! Wise, powerful and kind… All the things a water Toa should embody. I know it’s dangerous to think of Gali as perfect and she certainly isn’t… but she really nearly is. To be frank, most of the girls don’t even understand how she isn’t leader of her team, they… I mean we all love her…”

Hahli paused for a brief moment, almost if to regather her own thoughts before considering continuing. “And look… I’ve already long accepted that I’ll never be as good or as competent as her, that’s just a fact. I know for girls I’m just a placeholder for Gali and they’d much rather have her given the chance and I don’t blame them, I like her better to… But it doesn’t help that… If Macku or Kotu had been made into Toa instead, no one would have been surprised, in fact it would have been pretty much expected. Jaller even told me once that he even considered Macku first before choosing me to help look for the Toa Nuva… With me though… It still sometimes feels like when I got first selected for the Kohlii team, no one can figure out why the unimportant shy thing got the spot… My fractured team just doesn’t help with that, in fact it just underscores that I’m not good at this job and I feel like everyone at home knows that…”

“Did Macku hitch a ride on the Ussanui into Mangaia? Oh wait, that was you.” Ahkmou glanced over at her. “I don’t know if you remember meeting me in Po-Koro when you did your own trip around the island, but I never forget a customer. And when you walked into that village, you had the exact same energy that Takua did when he turned up a few months before. Had I still been up to no good, I would’ve been terrified.”

“Forgive me if this sounds a little rude, but I find the notion that you can never be as good as Gali… a little ridiculous. That’s not to disparage her, in many ways, she is the ideal Toa, but… you already succeeded where she failed.” The Stone Toa answered flatly. “Please… stop comparing yourself to your forebears negatively. You don’t need to be them, the only person you need to be… is you. And if that person isn’t a carbon copy of Gali or Nokama… that’s okay. But if you try to force yourself to be something you’re not… yeah, you’ll only ever be a pale imitation of whatever mold you’re trying to fit into.”

“Maybe you’re not the ideal Toa material, but… how many of them were? Sure, some of them were so obviously destined to be Toa that they might as well have had lightstone signs announcing it, Matau, Jaller, Kongu, yeah, I get it. But some of the others? Vakama couldn’t have been less like the archetypal Toa of Fire if he tried. Onewa was an artist with an attitude problem. Nokama was a teacher. Our very own Toa of Light was the Matoran noted for being irresponsible and lazy. The Toa that saved us all was a translator.”

“Hell, look at me, did anyone see this coming?” Ahkmou gestured to his massive stature. “I’m pretty sure Toa are chosen less on personality and skillset, and more on vibes. And even if they weren’t, you’d still be in with a good shot, considering that you were a Chronicler, and, oh yeah, you won that tournament Kotu didn’t get picked for. Any doubts as to why you were chosen should’ve disappeared at exactly the moment you beat Hewkii at his own game. Literally.”

“And, because it bears repeating, if Toa were judged by how well they handled their first big break, you’d still be beating both your predecessors by a country mile.”

At first, Hahli didn’t say anything in response to Ahkmou. She closed her eyes for a contemplative moment, as if she was just trying to absorb his words, but there was a noted tense strain in her form that clenched her muscles and made them unable to relax. Wearily she opened her eyes again, somehow managing to look more exhausted than before.

“Thank you, Ahkmou… I appreciate what you’re trying to do and I really do mean it. But-” She paused mid-way, almost struggling with words.

“If I’m being honest though… on some level part of me knows that what you’re saying is true. It’s just that… it’s all really hard to hear and take in for some reason that I can’t explain; and the longer that I do feel like this, it gets even harder to hear these things. I know that I’ve changed and have accomplished stuff, but it’s just gotten more difficult to find any value or pride in them. The other things that have happened, the worse things, they weigh so much heavier and have become more prominent in my mind for nearly everything I do. It feels like no matter what, my thoughts will go back to Nuparu leaving or Makuta infiltrating my village, or getting controlled by The Gold Skinned being or even Mator-”

The water stopped again, her gaze cast downward to the somewhat clean floor of the vehicle. She re-adjusted herself again in her seat, finding her position uncomfortable again.

“You know, back in the pit,” Hahli picked up again quietly. “When Matoro was making the run with the mask, the rest of us five were holding off the Barraki so he could get it done. We were all prepared to die then and there to ensure that he saved everyone, all of us knew since the beginning down our quest to Voya Nui that we might not all make it back and in those moments we were okay with it. At the time it seemed more than fair; our lives for Matoro and the rest of the universe… Then when… after Matoro saved us and died instead, suddenly it wasn’t fair to us anymore. It’s crazy isn’t it? One life for the price of a million others should be more than acceptable, should be even better than what we thought we’d loose. Yet somehow, it still doesn’t feel quite right. A small part of me, if I think on it too hard, even believes that I didn’t and still don’t deserve his sacrifice…”

Her voice trailed off, becoming more self conscious of the morose mood that she had unintentionally drawn the conversation to. Suddenly she wished she hadn’t shared so much and had just let the thoughts and feelings drift back down to the deep of herself like they usually eventually did. Why did she let everything get stirred up like that?

Attempting not to be too obviously awkward about it, Hahli decided to divert to a new subject. Picking up from Ahkmou’s input that wasn’t too heavy, she tried looking out the window again to clear her head. “You know back when I first walked into your shop in Po-Koro, I had no idea that you were actually that Matoran. You had the same energy of any other Po-Matoran and I didn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary. It was only later after that when Hewkii told me who you actually were, which he mentioned just because he wanted my help in keeping Macku busy after someone let slip your address to her.”

[toa-ahkmou]

“I did my best to keep my head down, be as normal as possible after I got brought back to the village,” he chuckled. “A lot of people think me becoming Teridax’s fake Turaga meant that I secretly kept serving him on the down-low, but... no, I think that was just him choosing the one Matoran people knew had served him before. Him choosing a Shadow-Triber might’ve rumbled the whole thing, and I guess he still wanted plausible deniability for them. Even when he’d won, he couldn’t stop making backup plans. Paranoia and scheming must’ve been in his nature.”

“Really, I just wanted a normal, Matoran life. It’s all I ever wanted, once the desire for vengeance abated. Both Teridax and the Turaga were liars, but at least the Turaga were trying to protect us. If they could’ve told us and known we wouldn’t try to go back without the Toa to defeat Teridax, I think they would. Certainly, I think Onewa, abrasive as he is, actually appreciated having someone else in the village that he could talk to about Metru Nui, if he couldn’t make the journey to Ga-Koro to discuss it with Nokama. We never saw eye-to-eye, but... at least we both knew.”

“I’m not surprised I had the same energy as the others... without Teridax’s influence, that’s all I ever was,” Ahkmou shrugged. His fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “The only thing that separated me from the rest of our people was that I had the misfortune to be the one in the pod that fell off the boat.”

“I’ve heard it said that some are born great, some strive for greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Well, I think evil is much the same.” He mused, eyes fixing on the horizon. “Creatures like the Rahkshi are born of evil intent. The Makuta and the Barraki chose their paths, for varying reasons, they became what they are now of their own volition. But then, people like me and Gavla, like a lot of the Dark Hunters, we didn’t get a choice. It was made for us, by beings of far greater power and importance, and once they were dealt with, we had to pick up the pieces... or not do so.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

The Toa of water nodded along as she continued to watch out the passenger window.

“The Turaga made the right choice for you in the end,”she said in agreement. Decidedly, she opted to omit that at the time when the Turaga had made their lenient decision, no Matoran had agreed with it. Such a detail didn’t need to be spoken out loud right now. But even then, Hahli couldn’t argue against the results of Ahkmou’s transformation.

After a moment of silence herself, deep in brief thaught, Hahli picked up again. “Now that you’ve gotten better, I think it would also be good for you to try reconciling with those you’ve wronged. Maybe start with the Po-Matoran first? I’m sure Hewkii would likely forgive you if you just talk to him, I’ve not known him to hold grudges and many Po-Matoran would probably consider following along if he’s doing it. Plus, another stone Toa would probably help you with powers better than I could…”

Hahli could feel the prickly nudge of guilt at her again. She had still had not gotten any word back from Hewkii or had any contact with her other Toa-brothers.

“Maybe…” He said. “In truth, while I’ve been… saying that I’d return to meet justice once I was done… in reality I can’t really execute the next phase of my plan without meeting at least the Turaga. But at the same time… I still don’t know if I can face them. My people, I mean. Or how to do so. Until now my response has nearly always been to excise myself from the lives of the people I hurt, because, well, they’d be better off without me. I don’t really know how to rebuild the metaphorical bridges that I’ve burned. Twice.”

“Well, keeping yourself cut-off and distance isn’t going to make things better anytime soon.” Hahli was surprised with how almost snappy that came out. The Toa then realized much pent-up frustration with Nuparu’s departure was still there tagging along with her, and the added reminder of the distance of her other teammates wasn’t helping to calm it down.

Awkward silence fell briefly again between them, as the vehicle’s wheels crunched over some bumps in their path. Sighing, Hahli turned away from the window.

“Look, I get that it’s not going to be easy, far from it. Especially with your… history. And obviously not everyone is going to be forgiving…” The water Toa started to say, trying to find the words and keep her own back emotions down. “But things are different. This isn’t something you have take on your own as a lone Matoran anymore. You’re a Toa that just fought Makuta, The Toa of light is friends with you and so is Nuparu. You don’t have to go in as ‘Ahkmou the known traitor’ any longer, you’ve got other things built now that can help support you. If you need it to, you even have me as an... -ally, to help back you up.”

The last part sounded unusual and unnatural to her when she said it herself, knowing well the association between the concept and Ahkmou wasn’t something she was used to yet. Still, it was a change she needed to get used to.

Ahkmou smiled.

“Thank you. It should be easier to deal with, thinking about it in those terms,” He smiled. “And I’ll give Nuparu a nudge in your direction when I see him. Filthy rich coming from me, but… yeah, that needs sorting out. But I think you’ll be able to work it out.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that. I really do.” Hahli replied, but then it soon followed with a sigh. Her eyes glanced back out the window again. “…I’m just not sure how much it’s going to help at this point with Nuparu. I really don’t know what we’re going to do about him or the others…” She didn’t mean to let the last part slip out, admittedly Kongu and Hewkii’s weren’t as dramatic as their earth brother, but their absence were still very visibly felt. 

The subject of her teammates was certainly putting her in a gloomier mood which was not helped with her body’s current fatigue. It seemed like the only other Toa Mahri she could get to stay around was Jaller… Mata Nui, was she bad at her job…

[toa-ahkmou]

Ahkmou frowned a little. He wasn’t remotely sure how to help someone with team issues, when he didn’t even have a team of his own.

“Well… it seems like every Toa team runs into this kind of issue at some point in their lives. And I’m guessing you feel like it’s your responsibility to fix it, right?” He prompted. “After all, that’s what Gali and Nokama both did for their teams. The way Kopeke recorded it, Jaller deliberately tried to avoid falling into the same traps that Tahu and Vakama stumbled through. You’re also comparing yourself to your forebears, but in a different way. He tried to avoid being like them, but you want to live up to their example. Am I right?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, the question more rhetorical than anything. “Truth is, the Toa Mahri are very different to the Nuva and Metru. When the former arrived on the island, they’d all forgotten who they were and what their purpose was, and as such they squabbled like children. Tahu couldn’t control his temper, Lewa kept wandering off, Pohatu was too nice to tell anyone what they needed to hear, Kopaka let his fear of attachment come off as a superiority complex, Onua never offered his very valuable insight because he was afraid of appearing big-headed, and Gali did try to offer her similar thoughts but was completely unable to convince them. She didn’t fix her brothers with words alone, it took them experiencing the consequences of working alone, and several near-death experiences that would’ve been easily avoided if they had even one comrade nearby for them to finally decide to try that “Unity” thing the Turaga kept yapping about.”

“And the Metru… Yeesh, their story was told by Vakama himself and he still made himself and his friends sound like the most toxic and self-destructive Toa team to ever grace the Great Spirit Robot. A full third of them couldn’t look past the wounds left over from the Civil War until their Duty was nearly done. They had no idea what they were doing and Lhikan got his Turaga mindset on early by being unnecessarily cryptic and sending them all running after him instead of their actual objective. And even when they did complete that, hey! Guess who got left behind. Accident? Yes. Destroyed my life and directly contributed to the catastrophe of a person currently operating this vehicle? Also yes.”

“But the Mahri? You all knew what you were doing, mostly, you all volunteered together, you all worked as a team, and you won. Unfortunately that came with a terrible price and the result of that is lasting trauma that… affects all of you in different ways, and is going to take time to heal. And you didn’t have a lot of time to process it all before the Order showed up and started, well, ordering you all around, and then Teridax turned the world upside-down.”

“I can’t fix this problem like I do with sculptures that go wrong. And I don’t know much about being part of a team. But I do know a lot about mental damage, and the scars that trauma leaves. Maybe next time you feel the urge to compare yourself negatively to Gali and Nokama, remember that they had to go through a lot of bickering Gukko-fights before they managed to solve those issues, and often needed help to do so. They weren’t perfect. They still aren’t. And they’ve had far more practice than you at filling that role. Also consider that… maybe making your team work shouldn’t fall solely on the shoulders of one member. Because I can guarantee you that it didn’t work that way with the others either,” He suggested, then grinned a little. “Or just compare yourself to Helryx and Tuyet instead. Just sayin’, but as far as Ga-Toa go, you could be doing so much worse.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

The water user let out another slow sigh, that felt far longer than it actually was. “Easier said than done…” She said plainly, her overwelming thoughts and feelings were a stagnet pile that had been sitting for months, that she kept putting off addressing.

Hahli tilted her head and rested it against the side window, surprisingly the glass was somewhat cool to the touch even with her mask on. “It’s not just with how our teams have turned out…”

She didn’t know why she was starting admit this, some of this wasn’t even stuff she had been ready to fully confide in Jaller yet. Maybe it was the fatigue setting in that was clouding her mind, it could have been the strange comradery that had now formed between the two of them recently or even a combination of both. But like a small stream leaking through cracks of a dam, once the water flow started it kept rushing through stronger, before long becoming unable to be contained and breaking the barrier in a flooded burst.

“Nokama has been our leader and guide for over a thousand years, she was the one that kept us all going during the darkest times times on our island. She was the one singular point in our lives that both kept us safe and taught us the knowledge of our culture, we wouldn’t be the same Ga-Matoran without her. Even with the revealed deceptions of the Turaga and the disfunction of the Toa Metru in Vakama’s stories, she’s still the one we turn to for wisdom and insight when we need it, the one authority out of all of them that we trust the most. No one in our village wants to disappoint her and she’s such a big important part of our community… Mata Nui, she’s so hard to live up to… And Gali, Gali… We were basically worshiping her hundreds of years before she even arrived. All of us were thriving on the stories Nokama told us of her when times got hard, we made art and shrines dedicated to her while we waited for her to eventually show up like the other Matoran did for their awaited Toa. Now when the Toa Mata did eventually came, they weren’t exactly everything the Turaga first built them up to be; Tahu was more brash than expected, Kopaka was more aloof and cold than even the Ko-Matoran found acceptable and Pohatu didn’t actually care about anyone skipping shifts like Onewa said he would.

But Gali?

She was practically everything Nokama said she’d be! Wise, powerful and kind… All the things a water Toa should embody. I know it’s dangerous to think of Gali as perfect and she certainly isn’t… but she really nearly is. To be frank, most of the girls don’t even understand how she isn’t leader of her team, they… I mean we all love her…”

Hahli paused for a brief moment, almost if to regather her own thoughts before considering continuing. “And look… I’ve already long accepted that I’ll never be as good or as competent as her, that’s just a fact. I know for girls I’m just a placeholder for Gali and they’d much rather have her given the chance and I don’t blame them, I like her better to… But it doesn’t help that… If Macku or Kotu had been made into Toa instead, no one would have been surprised, in fact it would have been pretty much expected. Jaller even told me once that he even considered Macku first before choosing me to help look for the Toa Nuva… With me though… It still sometimes feels like when I got first selected for the Kohlii team, no one can figure out why the unimportant shy thing got the spot… My fractured team just doesn’t help with that, in fact it just underscores that I’m not good at this job and I feel like everyone at home knows that…”

[toa-ahkmou]

“Did Macku hitch a ride on the Ussanui into Mangaia? Oh wait, that was you.” Ahkmou glanced over at her. “I don’t know if you remember meeting me in Po-Koro when you did your own trip around the island, but I never forget a customer. And when you walked into that village, you had the exact same energy that Takua did when he turned up a few months before. Had I still been up to no good, I would’ve been terrified.”

“Forgive me if this sounds a little rude, but I find the notion that you can never be as good as Gali... a little ridiculous. That’s not to disparage her, in many ways, she is the ideal Toa, but... you already succeeded where she failed.” The Stone Toa answered flatly. “Please... stop comparing yourself to your forebears negatively. You don’t need to be them, the only person you need to be... is you. And if that person isn’t a carbon copy of Gali or Nokama... that’s okay. But if you try to force yourself to be something you’re not... yeah, you’ll only ever be a pale imitation of whatever mold you’re trying to fit into.”

“Maybe you’re not the ideal Toa material, but... how many of them were? Sure, some of them were so obviously destined to be Toa that they might as well have had lightstone signs announcing it, Matau, Jaller, Kongu, yeah, I get it. But some of the others? Vakama couldn’t have been less like the archetypal Toa of Fire if he tried. Onewa was an artist with an attitude problem. Nokama was a teacher. Our very own Toa of Light was the Matoran noted for being irresponsible and lazy. The Toa that saved us all was a translator.”

“Hell, look at me, did anyone see this coming?” Ahkmou gestured to his massive stature. “I’m pretty sure Toa are chosen less on personality and skillset, and more on vibes. And even if they weren’t, you’d still be in with a good shot, considering that you were a Chronicler, and, oh yeah, you won that tournament Kotu didn’t get picked for. Any doubts as to why you were chosen should’ve disappeared at exactly the moment you beat Hewkii at his own game. Literally.”

“And, because it bears repeating, if Toa were judged by how well they handled their first big break, you’d still be beating both your predecessors by a country mile.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

The Toa of water nodded along as she continued to watch out the passenger window.

“The Turaga made the right choice for you in the end,”she said in agreement. Decidedly, she opted to omit that at the time when the Turaga had made their lenient decision, no Matoran had agreed with it. Such a detail didn’t need to be spoken out loud right now. But even then, Hahli couldn’t argue against the results of Ahkmou’s transformation.

After a moment of silence herself, deep in brief thaught, Hahli picked up again. “Now that you’ve gotten better, I think it would also be good for you to try reconciling with those you’ve wronged. Maybe start with the Po-Matoran first? I’m sure Hewkii would likely forgive you if you just talk to him, I’ve not known him to hold grudges and many Po-Matoran would probably consider following along if he’s doing it. Plus, another stone Toa would probably help you with powers better than I could…”

Hahli could feel the prickly nudge of guilt at her again. She had still had not gotten any word back from Hewkii or had any contact with her other Toa-brothers.

“Maybe…” He said. “In truth, while I’ve been… saying that I’d return to meet justice once I was done… in reality I can’t really execute the next phase of my plan without meeting at least the Turaga. But at the same time… I still don’t know if I can face them. My people, I mean. Or how to do so. Until now my response has nearly always been to excise myself from the lives of the people I hurt, because, well, they’d be better off without me. I don’t really know how to rebuild the metaphorical bridges that I’ve burned. Twice.”

“Well, keeping yourself cut-off and distance isn’t going to make things better anytime soon.” Hahli was surprised with how almost snappy that came out. The Toa then realized much pent-up frustration with Nuparu’s departure was still there tagging along with her, and the added reminder of the distance of her other teammates wasn’t helping to calm it down.

Awkward silence fell briefly again between them, as the vehicle’s wheels crunched over some bumps in their path. Sighing, Hahli turned away from the window.

“Look, I get that it’s not going to be easy, far from it. Especially with your… history. And obviously not everyone is going to be forgiving…” The water Toa started to say, trying to find the words and keep her own back emotions down. “But things are different. This isn’t something you have take on your own as a lone Matoran anymore. You’re a Toa that just fought Makuta, The Toa of light is friends with you and so is Nuparu. You don’t have to go in as ‘Ahkmou the known traitor’ any longer, you’ve got other things built now that can help support you. If you need it to, you even have me as an... -ally, to help back you up.”

The last part sounded unusual and unnatural to her when she said it herself, knowing well the association between the concept and Ahkmou wasn’t something she was used to yet. Still, it was a change she needed to get used to.

Ahkmou smiled.

“Thank you. It should be easier to deal with, thinking about it in those terms,” He smiled. “And I’ll give Nuparu a nudge in your direction when I see him. Filthy rich coming from me, but… yeah, that needs sorting out. But I think you’ll be able to work it out.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that. I really do.” Hahli replied, but then it soon followed with a sigh. Her eyes glanced back out the window again. “…I’m just not sure how much it’s going to help at this point with Nuparu. I really don’t know what we’re going to do about him or the others…” She didn’t mean to let the last part slip out, admittedly Kongu and Hewkii’s weren’t as dramatic as their earth brother, but their absence were still very visibly felt. 

The subject of her teammates was certainly putting her in a gloomier mood which was not helped with her body’s current fatigue. It seemed like the only other Toa Mahri she could get to stay around was Jaller… Mata Nui, was she bad at her job…

[toa-ahkmou]

Ahkmou frowned a little. He wasn’t remotely sure how to help someone with team issues, when he didn’t even have a team of his own.

“Well... it seems like every Toa team runs into this kind of issue at some point in their lives. And I’m guessing you feel like it’s your responsibility to fix it, right?” He prompted. “After all, that’s what Gali and Nokama both did for their teams. The way Kopeke recorded it, Jaller deliberately tried to avoid falling into the same traps that Tahu and Vakama stumbled through. You’re also comparing yourself to your forebears, but in a different way. He tried to avoid being like them, but you want to live up to their example. Am I right?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, the question more rhetorical than anything. “Truth is, the Toa Mahri are very different to the Nuva and Metru. When the former arrived on the island, they’d all forgotten who they were and what their purpose was, and as such they squabbled like children. Tahu couldn’t control his temper, Lewa kept wandering off, Pohatu was too nice to tell anyone what they needed to hear, Kopaka let his fear of attachment come off as a superiority complex, Onua never offered his very valuable insight because he was afraid of appearing big-headed, and Gali did try to offer her similar thoughts but was completely unable to convince them. She didn’t fix her brothers with words alone, it took them experiencing the consequences of working alone, and several near-death experiences that would’ve been easily avoided if they had even one comrade nearby for them to finally decide to try that “Unity” thing the Turaga kept yapping about.”

“And the Metru... Yeesh, their story was told by Vakama himself and he still made himself and his friends sound like the most toxic and self-destructive Toa team to ever grace the Great Spirit Robot. A full third of them couldn’t look past the wounds left over from the Civil War until their Duty was nearly done. They had no idea what they were doing and Lhikan got his Turaga mindset on early by being unnecessarily cryptic and sending them all running after him instead of their actual objective. And even when they did complete that, hey! Guess who got left behind. Accident? Yes. Destroyed my life and directly contributed to the catastrophe of a person currently operating this vehicle? Also yes.”

“But the Mahri? You all knew what you were doing, mostly, you all volunteered together, you all worked as a team, and you won. Unfortunately that came with a terrible price and the result of that is lasting trauma that... affects all of you in different ways, and is going to take time to heal. And you didn’t have a lot of time to process it all before the Order showed up and started, well, ordering you all around, and then Teridax turned the world upside-down.”

“I can’t fix this problem like I do with sculptures that go wrong. And I don’t know much about being part of a team. But I do know a lot about mental damage, and the scars that trauma leaves. Maybe next time you feel the urge to compare yourself negatively to Gali and Nokama, remember that they had to go through a lot of bickering Gukko-fights before they managed to solve those issues, and often needed help to do so. They weren’t perfect. They still aren’t. And they’ve had far more practice than you at filling that role. Also consider that... maybe making your team work shouldn’t fall solely on the shoulders of one member. Because I can guarantee you that it didn’t work that way with the others either,” He suggested, then grinned a little. “Or just compare yourself to Helryx and Tuyet instead. Just sayin’, but as far as Ga-Toa go, you could be doing so much worse.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

Oh… Hahli paused, she wasn’t exactly prepared for that and already felt out of her depth. This was definitely something best suited to be handled better by the Takanuva or Gali and she was most certainly neither. The Toa tried to think quickly, to come up with something comforting and contemplative, but then she began to worry that she was being quiet on the subject for too long and spiraled into feeling awkward. Pressure building like an awaiting geyser of water, she tried answering with the first things that went through her mind.

“…You know, sometimes when a Razor whale gets sick or is dying and the rahi beaches itself on the shore, the whole pod will follow suit as well. They all stay till the one passes away, it’s dangerous for the pod, but it’s thaught they risk it just so that the whale doesn’t die alone.”

Really? Dying whales? Why? Hahli inwardly cringed at herself and almost slid down in her seat for the abrupt mention. Ardently the Toa attempted to cover it over.

“-Forget all that. What I mean to say is… you at least know now to talk to Nuparu and Takanuva before doing something dangerous like this again. Friendship is supposed to be a mutual thing; if they care about you, than you need to be aware how much harming yourself could also hurt them.”

Ahkmou blinked a little, an eyebrow quirking as he glanced at Hahli during her Razor Whale anecdote. Before he could reply, the same thought from before crawled into his head, the same memory of what Hahli had lost a few years before.

“Yes, I… I think I understand,” He said, returning his full attention to the driving. “It’s almost funny… how quickly everything’s turned around. Feels like just weeks ago, I’d have never been in any danger, and nobody would care if I was… But I think this is better. Thank you.”

Hahli relaxed a little, relieved with Ahkmou’s positive response to her words and that she didn’t awkwardly fumble this as bad as she initially thaught.

“Yeah, things have certainly changed quickly… A few weeks ago if I was told that I would actually be helping you now, I don’t think I would have even found the suggestion of it funny.” The water Toa replied mildly as her eyes casually shifted to look out at the passing landscape. “But we accomplished a lot together and I’m actually glad that you brought me along for this. I was finally able to put some things to rest that I thaught would never go away… and it felt good to be finally useful against Makuta. So, thank you for that.”

“You are more than welcome,” He smiled, falling silent for a moment. “And now that the… unpleasantries are over, I can stop defining myself by him, and start trying to live up to the examples set by you and yours.”

“Well, I suppose I have to draw up the list of everyone in the cult and make sure they’re… dealt with? How does one deal with cultists, exactly? I assume therapy? Though I imagine the waiting list for that is longer than Mata Nui was tall… Nevermind, I’ll probably leave it up to the Turaga. I can at least rely on them to handle it fairly, after all… they did for me.”

The Toa of water nodded along as she continued to watch out the passenger window.

“The Turaga made the right choice for you in the end,”she said in agreement. Decidedly, she opted to omit that at the time when the Turaga had made their lenient decision, no Matoran had agreed with it. Such a detail didn’t need to be spoken out loud right now. But even then, Hahli couldn’t argue against the results of Ahkmou’s transformation.

After a moment of silence herself, deep in brief thaught, Hahli picked up again. “Now that you’ve gotten better, I think it would also be good for you to try reconciling with those you’ve wronged. Maybe start with the Po-Matoran first? I’m sure Hewkii would likely forgive you if you just talk to him, I’ve not known him to hold grudges and many Po-Matoran would probably consider following along if he’s doing it. Plus, another stone Toa would probably help you with powers better than I could…”

Hahli could feel the prickly nudge of guilt at her again. She had still had not gotten any word back from Hewkii or had any contact with her other Toa-brothers.

[toa-ahkmou]

“Maybe…” He said. “In truth, while I’ve been… saying that I’d return to meet justice once I was done… in reality I can’t really execute the next phase of my plan without meeting at least the Turaga. But at the same time… I still don’t know if I can face them. My people, I mean. Or how to do so. Until now my response has nearly always been to excise myself from the lives of the people I hurt, because, well, they’d be better off without me. I don’t really know how to rebuild the metaphorical bridges that I’ve burned. Twice.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

“Well, keeping yourself cut-off and distance isn’t going to make things better anytime soon.” Hahli was surprised with how almost snappy that came out. The Toa then realized much pent-up frustration with Nuparu’s departure was still there tagging along with her, and the added reminder of the distance of her other teammates wasn’t helping to calm it down.

Awkward silence fell briefly again between them, as the vehicle’s wheels crunched over some bumps in their path. Sighing, Hahli turned away from the window.

“Look, I get that it’s not going to be easy, far from it. Especially with your… history. And obviously not everyone is going to be forgiving…” The water Toa started to say, trying to find the words and keep her own back emotions down. “But things are different. This isn’t something you have take on your own as a lone Matoran anymore. You’re a Toa that just fought Makuta, The Toa of light is friends with you and so is Nuparu. You don’t have to go in as ‘Ahkmou the known traitor’ any longer, you’ve got other things built now that can help support you. If you need it to, you even have me as an... -ally, to help back you up.”

The last part sounded unusual and unnatural to her when she said it herself, knowing well the association between the concept and Ahkmou wasn’t something she was used to yet. Still, it was a change she needed to get used to.

[toa-ahkmou]

Ahkmou smiled.

“Thank you. It should be easier to deal with, thinking about it in those terms,” He smiled. “And I’ll give Nuparu a nudge in your direction when I see him. Filthy rich coming from me, but... yeah, that needs sorting out. But I think you’ll be able to work it out.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

Oh… Hahli paused, she wasn’t exactly prepared for that and already felt out of her depth. This was definitely something best suited to be handled better by the Takanuva or Gali and she was most certainly neither. The Toa tried to think quickly, to come up with something comforting and contemplative, but then she began to worry that she was being quiet on the subject for too long and spiraled into feeling awkward. Pressure building like an awaiting geyser of water, she tried answering with the first things that went through her mind.

“…You know, sometimes when a Razor whale gets sick or is dying and the rahi beaches itself on the shore, the whole pod will follow suit as well. They all stay till the one passes away, it’s dangerous for the pod, but it’s thaught they risk it just so that the whale doesn’t die alone.”

Really? Dying whales? Why? Hahli inwardly cringed at herself and almost slid down in her seat for the abrupt mention. Ardently the Toa attempted to cover it over.

“-Forget all that. What I mean to say is… you at least know now to talk to Nuparu and Takanuva before doing something dangerous like this again. Friendship is supposed to be a mutual thing; if they care about you, than you need to be aware how much harming yourself could also hurt them.”

Ahkmou blinked a little, an eyebrow quirking as he glanced at Hahli during her Razor Whale anecdote. Before he could reply, the same thought from before crawled into his head, the same memory of what Hahli had lost a few years before.

“Yes, I… I think I understand,” He said, returning his full attention to the driving. “It’s almost funny… how quickly everything’s turned around. Feels like just weeks ago, I’d have never been in any danger, and nobody would care if I was… But I think this is better. Thank you.”

Hahli relaxed a little, relieved with Ahkmou’s positive response to her words and that she didn’t awkwardly fumble this as bad as she initially thaught.

“Yeah, things have certainly changed quickly… A few weeks ago if I was told that I would actually be helping you now, I don’t think I would have even found the suggestion of it funny.” The water Toa replied mildly as her eyes casually shifted to look out at the passing landscape. “But we accomplished a lot together and I’m actually glad that you brought me along for this. I was finally able to put some things to rest that I thaught would never go away… and it felt good to be finally useful against Makuta. So, thank you for that.”

“You are more than welcome,” He smiled, falling silent for a moment. “And now that the… unpleasantries are over, I can stop defining myself by him, and start trying to live up to the examples set by you and yours.”

“Well, I suppose I have to draw up the list of everyone in the cult and make sure they’re… dealt with? How does one deal with cultists, exactly? I assume therapy? Though I imagine the waiting list for that is longer than Mata Nui was tall… Nevermind, I’ll probably leave it up to the Turaga. I can at least rely on them to handle it fairly, after all… they did for me.”

The Toa of water nodded along as she continued to watch out the passenger window.

“The Turaga made the right choice for you in the end,”she said in agreement. Decidedly, she opted to omit that at the time when the Turaga had made their lenient decision, no Matoran had agreed with it. Such a detail didn’t need to be spoken out loud right now. But even then, Hahli couldn’t argue against the results of Ahkmou’s transformation.

After a moment of silence herself, deep in brief thaught, Hahli picked up again. “Now that you’ve gotten better, I think it would also be good for you to try reconciling with those you’ve wronged. Maybe start with the Po-Matoran first? I’m sure Hewkii would likely forgive you if you just talk to him, I’ve not known him to hold grudges and many Po-Matoran would probably consider following along if he’s doing it. Plus, another stone Toa would probably help you with powers better than I could…”

Hahli could feel the prickly nudge of guilt at her again. She had still had not gotten any word back from Hewkii or had any contact with her other Toa-brothers.

[toa-ahkmou]

“Maybe...” He said. “In truth, while I’ve been... saying that I’d return to meet justice once I was done... in reality I can’t really execute the next phase of my plan without meeting at least the Turaga. But at the same time... I still don’t know if I can face them. My people, I mean. Or how to do so. Until now my response has nearly always been to excise myself from the lives of the people I hurt, because, well, they’d be better off without me. I don’t really know how to rebuild the metaphorical bridges that I’ve burned. Twice.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

toa-ahkmou​:

“Hm, how appropriate,” Ahkmou noted, shielding his eyes against the glare. “We slay the Master of Shadows, and cue the dawn. If we were still in the robot, I’d say Mata Nui himself noticed.”

After a quick stop to dump the empty shell into the back of his vehicle, the two Toa returned to the village to get Ahkmou’s arm fixed and make sure the local Agori knew they were safe, now.

Their victory in the maze had boosted Ahkmou’s confidence by a wide margin, and he took advantage of his own ability to spin a tale to give the villagers a rough account of what had happened: They’d found the monster in the depths of the springs, and dealt with it. Normalcy would resume in time, and they’d be taking the remains of the creature away to dispose of them. Mostly true, but without the need to explain who Teridax was or how he’d survived his battle with Mata Nui. 

After that, it was a relatively simple matter to get Ahkmou’s arm seen-to. The wound was patched up, and the arm fitted with a mechanical brace to keep it working normally. It was a bit of a kludge to get the tech designed for organic beings to work with a biomech, but it would do the job for the drive back to Ga-Koro.

“Hope you don’t mind, but I’ll be taking the return trip a little slower, now that we aren’t pressed for time,” He announced, as they returned to the car.

Hahli had remained rather quiet the whole time as Ahkmou had recounted their adventure to the locals. She had never really liked relating her own deeds, nor did she approve of boasting; but she let him narrate without any injections or corrections. When anyone bothered to come up to her, either having questions or wanting more details, she simply referred them over to the stone Toa. His confidence after their victory had given him more far more energy than she currently had to offer for the task or even now.

“That’s fine.” Hahli said, trying not to sound too eager and relieved at the prospect that Ahkmou wasn’t going to be driving like a half mad Gukko bird. Hopefully that meant that the trip back would be far smoother and comfortable ride for her this time.

“Just as long as we still get home in a couple of hours or so… I told Macku to get in touch with Jaller or the Turaga if I didn’t come back by today. So I don’t want her to get worried the later it gets.” The water Toa added casually, remembering the interaction as she got in the passenger seat.

“Not to worry, if we go even half the speed we did on the way here, we’ll still end up back there by sundown,” Ahkmou said, taking his own seat and turning the engine on. He stared out of the window for a few seconds as he began to drive, then glanced back toward her.

“You know… I didn’t make a plan like that. A “what if we fail” contingency. I guess I was just… so used to not having anyone to worry about that I didn’t consider that I actually do now…” He said, focusing back on the road ahead as he pressed down the accelerator and began to drive, still quick, but not the breakneck pace of before. “What’s it like?”

The question caught Hahli nonplussed. She had been sorta quietly hoping to herself that the smoother ride would mean chance for some rest and maybe doze off for bit till they reached home. After their long battle, she hadn’t expected Ahkmou to want to be particularly talkative, let alone to throw her such inquires. Part of her immediately wondered if he wanted to just talk to stay awake and that started to worry her again on how “safe” their drive would actually be.

Then it came to her that Ahkmou just probably simply had questions. The role of being any kind of protector was most likely new to him and with now suddenly being a Toa he wanted some sort of answers and guidance. Compared to Gali, her own teammates or even the Turaga; Hahli didn’t really believe that she was the right person to go to for such shared snippets of wisdom. But Ahkmou had more than proven himself down in those tunnels and for that, she could at least try…

Hahli straighten herself in her seat, trying to think of how to even approach this. “…Are you asking for ‘what it’s like knowing that others depend on you to protect them?’ Or do you mean, ‘what’s it like knowing that you have a lot of people to worry about?’ Unless I’m missing something here?” 

[toa-ahkmou]

“Yes and no, I guess. Those are certainly concerns, but I meant… more like, well…” He glanced down at his own hands, gripping the steering wheel, then back up to the “road” ahead. “Before… all of this, I didn’t have any friends that I could remember. Well, there was one, but… well…”

“I rushed into this without thinking to tell Nuparu or Takanuva, even though I considered my own death a genuine, even likely possibility. I’m just… so used to not having anybody that would care that… well, it slipped my mind.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

Oh… Hahli paused, she wasn’t exactly prepared for that and already felt out of her depth. This was definitely something best suited to be handled better by the Takanuva or Gali and she was most certainly neither. The Toa tried to think quickly, to come up with something comforting and contemplative, but then she began to worry that she was being quiet on the subject for too long and spiraled into feeling awkward. Pressure building like an awaiting geyser of water, she tried answering with the first things that went through her mind.

“…You know, sometimes when a Razor whale gets sick or is dying and the rahi beaches itself on the shore, the whole pod will follow suit as well. They all stay till the one passes away, it’s dangerous for the pod, but it’s thaught they risk it just so that the whale doesn’t die alone.”

Really? Dying whales? Why? Hahli inwardly cringed at herself and almost slid down in her seat for the abrupt mention. Ardently the Toa attempted to cover it over.

“-Forget all that. What I mean to say is… you at least know now to talk to Nuparu and Takanuva before doing something dangerous like this again. Friendship is supposed to be a mutual thing; if they care about you, than you need to be aware how much harming yourself could also hurt them.”

[toa-ahkmou]

Ahkmou blinked a little, an eyebrow quirking as he glanced at Hahli during her Razor Whale anecdote. Before he could reply, the same thought from before crawled into his head, the same memory of what Hahli had lost a few years before.

“Yes, I… I think I understand,” He said, returning his full attention to the driving. “It’s almost funny… how quickly everything’s turned around. Feels like just weeks ago, I’d have never been in any danger, and nobody would care if I was… But I think this is better. Thank you.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

Hahli relaxed a little, relieved with Ahkmou’s positive response to her words and that she didn’t awkwardly fumble this as bad as she initially thaught.

“Yeah, things have certainly changed quickly… A few weeks ago if I was told that I would actually be helping you now, I don’t think I would have even found the suggestion of it funny.” The water Toa replied mildly as her eyes casually shifted to look out at the passing landscape. “But we accomplished a lot together and I’m actually glad that you brought me along for this. I was finally able to put some things to rest that I thaught would never go away… and it felt good to be finally useful against Makuta. So, thank you for that.”

[toa-ahkmou]

“You are more than welcome,” He smiled, falling silent for a moment. “And now that the... unpleasantries are over, I can stop defining myself by him, and start trying to live up to the examples set by you and yours.”

“Well, I suppose I have to draw up the list of everyone in the cult and make sure they’re... dealt with? How does one deal with cultists, exactly? I assume therapy? Though I imagine the waiting list for that is longer than Mata Nui was tall... Nevermind, I’ll probably leave it up to the Turaga. I can at least rely on them to handle it fairly, after all... they did for me.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

toa-ahkmou​:

“Hm, how appropriate,” Ahkmou noted, shielding his eyes against the glare. “We slay the Master of Shadows, and cue the dawn. If we were still in the robot, I’d say Mata Nui himself noticed.”

After a quick stop to dump the empty shell into the back of his vehicle, the two Toa returned to the village to get Ahkmou’s arm fixed and make sure the local Agori knew they were safe, now.

Their victory in the maze had boosted Ahkmou’s confidence by a wide margin, and he took advantage of his own ability to spin a tale to give the villagers a rough account of what had happened: They’d found the monster in the depths of the springs, and dealt with it. Normalcy would resume in time, and they’d be taking the remains of the creature away to dispose of them. Mostly true, but without the need to explain who Teridax was or how he’d survived his battle with Mata Nui. 

After that, it was a relatively simple matter to get Ahkmou’s arm seen-to. The wound was patched up, and the arm fitted with a mechanical brace to keep it working normally. It was a bit of a kludge to get the tech designed for organic beings to work with a biomech, but it would do the job for the drive back to Ga-Koro.

“Hope you don’t mind, but I’ll be taking the return trip a little slower, now that we aren’t pressed for time,” He announced, as they returned to the car.

Hahli had remained rather quiet the whole time as Ahkmou had recounted their adventure to the locals. She had never really liked relating her own deeds, nor did she approve of boasting; but she let him narrate without any injections or corrections. When anyone bothered to come up to her, either having questions or wanting more details, she simply referred them over to the stone Toa. His confidence after their victory had given him more far more energy than she currently had to offer for the task or even now.

“That’s fine.” Hahli said, trying not to sound too eager and relieved at the prospect that Ahkmou wasn’t going to be driving like a half mad Gukko bird. Hopefully that meant that the trip back would be far smoother and comfortable ride for her this time.

“Just as long as we still get home in a couple of hours or so… I told Macku to get in touch with Jaller or the Turaga if I didn’t come back by today. So I don’t want her to get worried the later it gets.” The water Toa added casually, remembering the interaction as she got in the passenger seat.

“Not to worry, if we go even half the speed we did on the way here, we’ll still end up back there by sundown,” Ahkmou said, taking his own seat and turning the engine on. He stared out of the window for a few seconds as he began to drive, then glanced back toward her.

“You know… I didn’t make a plan like that. A “what if we fail” contingency. I guess I was just… so used to not having anyone to worry about that I didn’t consider that I actually do now…” He said, focusing back on the road ahead as he pressed down the accelerator and began to drive, still quick, but not the breakneck pace of before. “What’s it like?”

The question caught Hahli nonplussed. She had been sorta quietly hoping to herself that the smoother ride would mean chance for some rest and maybe doze off for bit till they reached home. After their long battle, she hadn’t expected Ahkmou to want to be particularly talkative, let alone to throw her such inquires. Part of her immediately wondered if he wanted to just talk to stay awake and that started to worry her again on how “safe” their drive would actually be.

Then it came to her that Ahkmou just probably simply had questions. The role of being any kind of protector was most likely new to him and with now suddenly being a Toa he wanted some sort of answers and guidance. Compared to Gali, her own teammates or even the Turaga; Hahli didn’t really believe that she was the right person to go to for such shared snippets of wisdom. But Ahkmou had more than proven himself down in those tunnels and for that, she could at least try…

Hahli straighten herself in her seat, trying to think of how to even approach this. “…Are you asking for ‘what it’s like knowing that others depend on you to protect them?’ Or do you mean, ‘what’s it like knowing that you have a lot of people to worry about?’ Unless I’m missing something here?” 

[toa-ahkmou]

“Yes and no, I guess. Those are certainly concerns, but I meant… more like, well…” He glanced down at his own hands, gripping the steering wheel, then back up to the “road” ahead. “Before… all of this, I didn’t have any friends that I could remember. Well, there was one, but… well…”

“I rushed into this without thinking to tell Nuparu or Takanuva, even though I considered my own death a genuine, even likely possibility. I’m just… so used to not having anybody that would care that… well, it slipped my mind.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

Oh… Hahli paused, she wasn’t exactly prepared for that and already felt out of her depth. This was definitely something best suited to be handled better by the Takanuva or Gali and she was most certainly neither. The Toa tried to think quickly, to come up with something comforting and contemplative, but then she began to worry that she was being quiet on the subject for too long and spiraled into feeling awkward. Pressure building like an awaiting geyser of water, she tried answering with the first things that went through her mind.

“…You know, sometimes when a Razor whale gets sick or is dying and the rahi beaches itself on the shore, the whole pod will follow suit as well. They all stay till the one passes away, it’s dangerous for the pod, but it’s thaught they risk it just so that the whale doesn’t die alone.”

Really? Dying whales? Why? Hahli inwardly cringed at herself and almost slid down in her seat for the abrupt mention. Ardently the Toa attempted to cover it over.

“-Forget all that. What I mean to say is… you at least know now to talk to Nuparu and Takanuva before doing something dangerous like this again. Friendship is supposed to be a mutual thing; if they care about you, than you need to be aware how much harming yourself could also hurt them.”

[toa-ahkmou]

Ahkmou blinked a little, an eyebrow quirking as he glanced at Hahli during her Razor Whale anecdote. Before he could reply, the same thought from before crawled into his head, the same memory of what Hahli had lost a few years before.

“Yes, I... I think I understand,” He said, returning his full attention to the driving. “It’s almost funny... how quickly everything’s turned around. Feels like just weeks ago, I’d have never been in any danger, and nobody would care if I was... But I think this is better. Thank you.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

toa-ahkmou​:

“Hm, how appropriate,” Ahkmou noted, shielding his eyes against the glare. “We slay the Master of Shadows, and cue the dawn. If we were still in the robot, I’d say Mata Nui himself noticed.”

After a quick stop to dump the empty shell into the back of his vehicle, the two Toa returned to the village to get Ahkmou’s arm fixed and make sure the local Agori knew they were safe, now.

Their victory in the maze had boosted Ahkmou’s confidence by a wide margin, and he took advantage of his own ability to spin a tale to give the villagers a rough account of what had happened: They’d found the monster in the depths of the springs, and dealt with it. Normalcy would resume in time, and they’d be taking the remains of the creature away to dispose of them. Mostly true, but without the need to explain who Teridax was or how he’d survived his battle with Mata Nui. 

After that, it was a relatively simple matter to get Ahkmou’s arm seen-to. The wound was patched up, and the arm fitted with a mechanical brace to keep it working normally. It was a bit of a kludge to get the tech designed for organic beings to work with a biomech, but it would do the job for the drive back to Ga-Koro.

“Hope you don’t mind, but I’ll be taking the return trip a little slower, now that we aren’t pressed for time,” He announced, as they returned to the car.

Hahli had remained rather quiet the whole time as Ahkmou had recounted their adventure to the locals. She had never really liked relating her own deeds, nor did she approve of boasting; but she let him narrate without any injections or corrections. When anyone bothered to come up to her, either having questions or wanting more details, she simply referred them over to the stone Toa. His confidence after their victory had given him more far more energy than she currently had to offer for the task or even now.

“That’s fine.” Hahli said, trying not to sound too eager and relieved at the prospect that Ahkmou wasn’t going to be driving like a half mad Gukko bird. Hopefully that meant that the trip back would be far smoother and comfortable ride for her this time.

“Just as long as we still get home in a couple of hours or so… I told Macku to get in touch with Jaller or the Turaga if I didn’t come back by today. So I don’t want her to get worried the later it gets.” The water Toa added casually, remembering the interaction as she got in the passenger seat.

“Not to worry, if we go even half the speed we did on the way here, we’ll still end up back there by sundown,” Ahkmou said, taking his own seat and turning the engine on. He stared out of the window for a few seconds as he began to drive, then glanced back toward her.

“You know… I didn’t make a plan like that. A “what if we fail” contingency. I guess I was just… so used to not having anyone to worry about that I didn’t consider that I actually do now…” He said, focusing back on the road ahead as he pressed down the accelerator and began to drive, still quick, but not the breakneck pace of before. “What’s it like?”

The question caught Hahli nonplussed. She had been sorta quietly hoping to herself that the smoother ride would mean chance for some rest and maybe doze off for bit till they reached home. After their long battle, she hadn’t expected Ahkmou to want to be particularly talkative, let alone to throw her such inquires. Part of her immediately wondered if he wanted to just talk to stay awake and that started to worry her again on how “safe” their drive would actually be.

Then it came to her that Ahkmou just probably simply had questions. The role of being any kind of protector was most likely new to him and with now suddenly being a Toa he wanted some sort of answers and guidance. Compared to Gali, her own teammates or even the Turaga; Hahli didn’t really believe that she was the right person to go to for such shared snippets of wisdom. But Ahkmou had more than proven himself down in those tunnels and for that, she could at least try…

Hahli straighten herself in her seat, trying to think of how to even approach this. “…Are you asking for ‘what it’s like knowing that others depend on you to protect them?’ Or do you mean, ‘what’s it like knowing that you have a lot of people to worry about?’ Unless I’m missing something here?” 

[toa-ahkmou]

“Yes and no, I guess. Those are certainly concerns, but I meant... more like, well...” He glanced down at his own hands, gripping the steering wheel, then back up to the “road” ahead. “Before... all of this, I didn’t have any friends that I could remember. Well, there was one, but... well...”

“I rushed into this without thinking to tell Nuparu or Takanuva, even though I considered my own death a genuine, even likely possibility. I’m just... so used to not having anybody that would care that... well, it slipped my mind.”

[ask-toa-hahli]

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

toa-ahkmou​:

“I’ll try not to,” He said. “And likewise.”

Ahkmou then turned his attention to the husk on the ground. He crouched next to it, examining the exit wounds carefully. 

“You’re not wrong. His greatest, most terrifying ability has always been his refusal to die… but that’s why I chose these weapons. No grey areas, no chances to escape: A blade that could pierce his armour and a blast of pure light to fire into the wound. Hard to get more thorough than that.”

“We also thought getting hit with a moon was a sure thing once to,” Hahli murmured numbly. She really didn’t like being pessimistic, but it all felt… Mata Nui, she wasn’t sure if this all was too easy or if everything was just too overwhelming right now.

Slowly, Hahli could feel some semblance of strength returning to her knees and she started to get up. Legs still held onto some precarious balancing as she stood again, but managed to keep her from collapsing. The water Toa’s eyes were still fixed on the shapeless mass Ahkmou was examining, as the cautious part of herself silently demanded that they leave.

“True, but when you think about it, the moon ‘death’ was just a bigger version of the door ‘death’. We’ve seen him survive being crushed under enormous weights before, we haven’t seen him, or any Makuta, withstand taking a direct attack from their elemental weakness, straight into their soul…” Ahkmou shrugged.

“Still… maybe it would be wise to keep an eye out. Keep track of the Bohrok’s movements, watch for any Rahkshi sightings that don’t look like wild examples, and so on,” He pondered aloud for a moment. “I still intend to dismantle the Shadow Tribe, at the very least. But for now… I’m confident in saying that we did it…”

Taking a deep breath, he picked up the empty husk, holding it carefully to avoid breaking any more bits off, as well as he could with only one and a half arms.

“Let’s get out of here. I need to get my arm looked at before I drive again, and we should dispose of this somewhere else.”

An all too familiar sting of guilt clawed and dug into Hahli with the offhand mention of the stone Toa’s injury. It certainly wouldn’t have happened if she’d gotten there earlier! Entangled with that was the weight that she still hadn’t figured out how to heal others with her element like Gali could, making her rather useless in helping to alleviate Ahkmou. A rather easy target for Makuta, which she assumed he was very intentionally mocking her for earlier after forcing her brother to take the brunt of damage-

She paused in the middle of her self-deprecating cloud, realizing shockingly that this was the second time now today that she’d unintentionally viewed Ahkmou as her Toa brother…

Hahli forcefully pushed the thought aside, along with the discomfort and uncertainty that surrounded the corpsed armor.

“Yes, lets leave,” she agreed flatly.

~~~

After sometime traversing back through the winding tunnels in silence, the two Toa emerged from gapping entrance. They came out to a darkened misty outside, a glimpse of sun edging along the horizon in the distance.

Out in the open again, the Toa Mahri of water gently pried her electric bug companion off of her lightstone. “Thank you for your help, little one.”

The flashing insect buzzed and crawled around in her open palm before finally taking off, the dot of light flying back to amongst the trees.

Hahli allowed herself a deep breath, feeling the cold moister hanging in the air. Her first reprieve since she entered those tunnels. She took in a moment to stare up at the open sky, letting herself settle and her tension fall. Calmness started to slip in, as she readjusted she began to realize that what she had first assumed to be the sunset, was actually the early rise of morning.

[toa-ahkmou]

“Hm, how appropriate,” Ahkmou noted, shielding his eyes against the glare. “We slay the Master of Shadows, and cue the dawn. If we were still in the robot, I’d say Mata Nui himself noticed.”

After a quick stop to dump the empty shell into the back of his vehicle, the two Toa returned to the village to get Ahkmou’s arm fixed and make sure the local Agori knew they were safe, now.

Their victory in the maze had boosted Ahkmou’s confidence by a wide margin, and he took advantage of his own ability to spin a tale to give the villagers a rough account of what had happened: They’d found the monster in the depths of the springs, and dealt with it. Normalcy would resume in time, and they’d be taking the remains of the creature away to dispose of them. Mostly true, but without the need to explain who Teridax was or how he’d survived his battle with Mata Nui. 

After that, it was a relatively simple matter to get Ahkmou’s arm seen-to. The wound was patched up, and the arm fitted with a mechanical brace to keep it working normally. It was a bit of a kludge to get the tech designed for organic beings to work with a biomech, but it would do the job for the drive back to Ga-Koro.

“Hope you don’t mind, but I’ll be taking the return trip a little slower, now that we aren’t pressed for time,” He announced, as they returned to the car.

[ask-toa-hahli]

Hahli had remained rather quiet the whole time as Ahkmou had recounted their adventure to the locals. She had never really liked relating her own deeds, nor did she approve of boasting; but she let him narrate without any injections or corrections. When anyone bothered to come up to her, either having questions or wanting more details, she simply referred them over to the stone Toa. His confidence after their victory had given him more far more energy than she currently had to offer for the task or even now.

“That’s fine.” Hahli said, trying not to sound too eager and relieved at the prospect that Ahkmou wasn’t going to be driving like a half mad Gukko bird. Hopefully that meant that the trip back would be far smoother and comfortable ride for her this time.

“Just as long as we still get home in a couple of hours or so… I told Macku to get in touch with Jaller or the Turaga if I didn’t come back by today. So I don’t want her to get worried the later it gets.” The water Toa added casually, remembering the interaction she got in the passenger seat.

[toa-ahkmou]

“Not to worry, if we go even half the speed we did on the way here, we’ll still end up back there by sundown,” Ahkmou said, taking his own seat and turning the engine on. He stared out of the window for a few seconds as he began to drive, then glanced back toward her.

“You know... I didn’t make a plan like that. A “what if we fail” contingency. I guess I was just... so used to not having anyone to worry about that I didn’t consider that I actually do now...” He said, focusing back on the road ahead as he pressed down the accelerator and began to drive, still quick, but not the breakneck pace of before. “What’s it like?”

[ask-toa-hahli]

toa-ahkmou​:

ask-toa-hahli​:

toa-ahkmou​:

“I’ll try not to,” He said. “And likewise.”

Ahkmou then turned his attention to the husk on the ground. He crouched next to it, examining the exit wounds carefully. 

“You’re not wrong. His greatest, most terrifying ability has always been his refusal to die… but that’s why I chose these weapons. No grey areas, no chances to escape: A blade that could pierce his armour and a blast of pure light to fire into the wound. Hard to get more thorough than that.”

“We also thought getting hit with a moon was a sure thing once to,” Hahli murmured numbly. She really didn’t like being pessimistic, but it all felt… Mata Nui, she wasn’t sure if this all was too easy or if everything was just too overwhelming right now.

Slowly, Hahli could feel some semblance of strength returning to her knees and she started to get up. Legs still held onto some precarious balancing as she stood again, but managed to keep her from collapsing. The water Toa’s eyes were still fixed on the shapeless mass Ahkmou was examining, as the cautious part of herself silently demanded that they leave.

“True, but when you think about it, the moon ‘death’ was just a bigger version of the door ‘death’. We’ve seen him survive being crushed under enormous weights before, we haven’t seen him, or any Makuta, withstand taking a direct attack from their elemental weakness, straight into their soul…” Ahkmou shrugged.

“Still… maybe it would be wise to keep an eye out. Keep track of the Bohrok’s movements, watch for any Rahkshi sightings that don’t look like wild examples, and so on,” He pondered aloud for a moment. “I still intend to dismantle the Shadow Tribe, at the very least. But for now… I’m confident in saying that we did it…”

Taking a deep breath, he picked up the empty husk, holding it carefully to avoid breaking any more bits off, as well as he could with only one and a half arms.

“Let’s get out of here. I need to get my arm looked at before I drive again, and we should dispose of this somewhere else.”

An all too familiar sting of guilt clawed and dug into Hahli with the offhand mention of the stone Toa’s injury. It certainly wouldn’t have happened if she’d gotten there earlier! Entangled with that was the weight that she still hadn’t figured out how to heal others with her element like Gali could, making her rather useless in helping to alleviate Ahkmou. A rather easy target for Makuta, which she assumed he was very intentionally mocking her for earlier after forcing her brother to take the brunt of damage-

She paused in the middle of her self-deprecating cloud, realizing shockingly that this was the second time now today that she’d unintentionally viewed Ahkmou as her Toa brother…

Hahli forcefully pushed the thought aside, along with the discomfort and uncertainty that surrounded the corpsed armor.

“Yes, lets leave,” she agreed flatly.

~~~

After sometime traversing back through the winding tunnels in silence, the two Toa emerged from gapping entrance. They came out to a darkened misty outside, a glimpse of sun edging along the horizon in the distance.

Out in the open again, the Toa Mahri of water gently pried her electric bug companion off of her lightstone. “Thank you for your help, little one.”

The flashing insect buzzed and crawled around in her open palm before finally taking off, the dot of light flying back to amongst the trees.

Hahli allowed herself a deep breath, feeling the cold moister hanging in the air. Her first reprieve since she entered those tunnels. She took in a moment to stare up at the open sky, letting herself settle and her tension fall. Calmness started to slip in, as she readjusted she began to realize that what she had first assumed to be the sunset, was actually the early rise of morning.

[toa-ahkmou]

“Hm, how appropriate,” Ahkmou noted, shielding his eyes against the glare. “We slay the Master of Shadows, and cue the dawn. If we were still in the robot, I’d say Mata Nui himself noticed.”

After a quick stop to dump the empty shell into the back of his vehicle, the two Toa returned to the village to get Ahkmou’s arm fixed and make sure the local Agori knew they were safe, now.

Their victory in the maze had boosted Ahkmou’s confidence by a wide margin, and he took advantage of his own ability to spin a tale to give the villagers a rough account of what had happened: They’d found the monster in the depths of the springs, and dealt with it. Normalcy would resume in time, and they’d be taking the remains of the creature away to dispose of them. Mostly true, but without the need to explain who Teridax was or how he’d survived his battle with Mata Nui. 

After that, it was a relatively simple matter to get Ahkmou’s arm seen-to. The wound was patched up, and the arm fitted with a mechanical brace to keep it working normally. It was a bit of a kludge to get the tech designed for organic beings to work with a biomech, but it would do the job for the drive back to Ga-Koro.

“Hope you don’t mind, but I’ll be taking the return trip a little slower, now that we aren’t pressed for time,” He announced, as they returned to the car.