Chapter Six

As he wandered along the Le-Wahi jungle floor, he thought back to Jala, Captain of the Guard at Ta-Koro. When he had last been to the village, Jala had had a very detailed map of the island, one which surely could point the way to any other villages on the island. The Chronicler was sure he could get there quickly, too, for when Takua had observed the map of the Onu-Wahi tunnels, he had seen a flame symbol which he’d since assumed to represent Ta-Koro. Electing to save the flute and the Kewa for later, Takua sought out Puku, and with her he rapidly made his way to Ta-Koro.

When Takua found the Captain in his quarters, his expression was grim. “Stranger, have you heard?” he asked as the Chronicler arrived. “We’re falling back. And the Toa have completely disappeared.”

Jala turned again to his great map. “My scouts delivered reports from the other villages today. The news is not good. The Rahi are closing on all sides, and their numbers are too great to count. After the fall of Tren Krom I completely lost contact with the North March. But we will not go quietly into the shadow of Makuta, as long as the light and heat of the great Mangai still blazes! I know of one maneuver that none will expect. I only hope Vakama and the others will listen.”

“What maneuver?” Takua inquired.

“It is imperative that the villages build fortifications and prepare for a final defense,” Jala confided. “I expect many Rahi to threaten the villages very soon. Vakama says the Toa are gathering at the Kini-Nui, at the center of the island. We must try to protect them while they fulfill their mission. The Turaga must each send heroes to help the Toa at Kini-Nui. The Makuta will not expect it.”

“What news from the other villages?” Takua asked.

“You, at least, have seen some small victories, but Makuta’s evil infection is still spreading throughout Mata Nui,” Jala said. “The other villages are holding on while they can. Onepu is so hard pressed; he can’t spare me even one Ussalry regiment! Not a single regiment!”

The Captain paced impatiently. “I am devising a strategy that may yet save us, but I must know what happened to North March,” he brooded. “I have no warriors to spare, and you have proven resourceful and true. So I ask you: will you join the Guard?”

Takua hesitated. It was not the first time Jala had asked, and now even more responsibility rested on the Chronicler’s shoulders. But in this time, and given what Jala had said, could he afford to refuse? “I will join the Guard,” Takua replied finally. “What do you need me to do?”

“It warms me that you have chosen to accept our trust,” began Jala. “Vakama will be pleased. The North March is an icy pass where Ta-Wahi meets Ko-Wahi. The Ko-Matoran have been seen little during the past months, and heard from even less. But it may not be that they are troubled; silence has always been their way.”

As he spoke, he pointed a path along his map. “The Guard has a small outpost there, only reachable by cablecar. They watch against Rahi from the frozen heights. They also keep watch on Ko-Matoran. I fear the servants of Makuta have taken all my scouts. Take this Ensign and show it to the sentry at the cablecar. He will let you through. Then, make contact with our scouts in North March and get a report for me on the Makuta’s efforts in the mountains.”

Takua nodded. “Goodbye.”

“Good luck, traveler.”

✴        ✴        ✴

The cablecar could be found at the perimeter of Ta-Koro by ascending the many steps along the outer wall.

“Only guards may pass,” the sentry informed him as he came into view. Takua presented the Ensign. “You may pass,” the guard permitted. Ta-Koro guards, it seemed, were not exactly known for their stimulating conversation.

Takua climbed onto the cablecar and it whisked him up the mountain. It was quite a contrast in temperature as he moved from the fiery lava of Ta-Koro to the snowy clime of Ko-Wahi.

At the top of the cablecar run, Takua discovered a small hut appearing to be an abandoned outpost. Within the hut was a Heatstone. Feeling foolish for not having thought to bring one himself, Takua picked it up and placed it in his backpack.

Outside the hut, there were footprints in the snow leading up the mountain. With no other directions to Ko-Koro, Takua decided to follow them through the drifts.

He soon came across an astonishing sight. Some poor villager has been encased in ice! Perhaps he was not too late. He took out the Heatstone to see if he could melt the villager out of the ice.

The villager quickly revived. He was startled to see Takua, and, to the traveler’s shock, ran away. The Chronicler hurried after him. The villager appeared trapped at the base of a large drift when suddenly a door opened revealing an icy tunnel. He disappeared down the tunnel, and Takua followed him once more.

Safely within the confines of the tunnel, the villager saw no need to continue running. He was examining himself in the reflection on the ice as Takua approached him. “…” He regarded the traveler silently. “…”

“Who are you?” Takua asked, uncomfortable with the silence.

“Kopeke,” he answered.

Given the urgency of his mission, Takua got straight to the point. “What happened to the Ta-Matoran Guard?”

“The Makuta led them into the ice, and I fear they will not return,” Kopeke answered. “Had you not come and saved me, I would be facing a similar fate.”

“Where am I?” Takua asked.

“I do not wish to be questioned,” said Kopeke briskly. “If you seek answers, do so in Ko-Koro. There you will find meditation and contemplation. It is Turaga Nuju’s way to think on all things, and from his Sanctum on Ihu’s peak one can see far ahead and far behind.”

Without looking at Takua, he continued. “In Ko-Koro, we respect knowledge above all things. You must have great knowledge even to step foot within it. You are the one who seeks to chronicle this era, and so you will doubtless travel the icy drifts in search of answers. But true sight reveals many things, and knowing the future can be dangerous. That is your choice. Wisdom is ever the burden of the Turaga. I do not expect it from you.”

Kopeke returned to looking at the icy reflections on the wall. Takua realized that the frosty Matoran was not looking at himself. Rather, from his vantage point he could see both the cablecar and the hut. Perhaps he was a sentry, guarding this tunnel entrance.

“Goodbye,” Takua said, making one final effort at courtesy.

“…”

Takua had been left free to continue on to Ko-Koro, so he continued to head farther into the tunnel. His progress was soon stopped however when he came to a locked gate.

The lock appears to be controlled by the carved blocks of ice scattered about on the floor. Each block displays an image of a mask. He recognized a few: Toa Lewa’s mask, Turaga Matau’s mask, and Toa Pohatu’s mask. He also noted the symbols at the bottom of each column.

Takua was clearly supposed to place the icy blocks into the slots of the columns. At first, he was not certain which blocks went where. But once he recognized the pattern, he slid the blocks into place, and the gate opened up to reveal the steps beyond. He continued on his way to Ko-Koro.

✴        ✴        ✴

The path was precarious, what with all of the ice and snow and blowing wind. He was not alone out here however. Two guards stood duty outside the main entrance, caked in ice and snow. They shook off the drifts as they greeted me.

Takua entered what appears to be the main building of Ko-Koro. There was a large pot over a fire in the center. A large mask overlooked the well-lit room. There were several villagers here. They appeared to be studying the writing on the wall. Takua interrupted the villager nearest to me.

“Welcome, traveler, to the Sanctum,” he said. “You may join us in our meditation if you wish. Nuju honors all wise Matoran that they may join in the Seeking. If you wish to speak with our Turaga, you must wait for Matoro to return. He is the only one that can translate Nuju’s wisdom. Is there anything you wish to know?”

“What is the Seeking?” Takua asked.

“Written upon these walls and tablets are the great Prophecies,” he told Takua. “To understand even a fraction of what they speak takes years of meditation and patient decryption.”

Takua did not have years. He needed answers now. “Who is Nuju?”

“Nuju is the Turaga of Ko-Koro. His mediations reach into the past and into the future, and he has deciphered much of the ancient Prophecies. He has Visions. He does very little that is not significant in some way to the future of Mata Nui, and the Kanohi Matatu gives him the power to move objects by sheer force of will.”

Perhaps Nuju could give Takua the answers he sought. But it sounded like he would need Matoro to speak to the Turaga. “Where is Matoro?” Takua asked.

“Matoro is alone, hunting Rahi in the Drifts,” the meditator replied. “You may seek him if you wish, but be warned: Ihu is not merciful, even to the Ko-Matoran.”

The meditator tapped on the wall and it gave way, revealing another icy tunnel.

“Take this passageway to enter into the Drifts,” the Ko-Matoran explained. “Matoro often leaves behind signal flags so that he does not get lost. If you follow them you may come to him.”

Takua thanked the villager, said, “Goodbye,” and headed once more down an icy tunnel. When he arrived at the other end, he discovered one of Matoro’s signal flags and his footprints in the snow. Takua followed them as the snow began to fall heavily.

✴        ✴        ✴

Soon, Takua was headed up the slippery, snow-covered slopes of Mount Ihu, following Matoro’s trail of red signal flags. Although cold and windy with falling snow, the path was not too difficult to follow at first.

Then all at once, it struck — a blinding whiteout of a blizzard! Takua could hardly see his own hand in front of his face. Everywhere he turned, he could only see the white of the blowing snowstorm. Reluctantly, he pressed on in the hopes of finding Matoro.

He was so cold, and he was beginning to tire from trudging through the thick drifts of snow. Have he seen that rock before? Was he going in circles? Miraculously, he spotted another signal flag up ahead… if he could just reach it.

He was thrilled to finally reach the bright red signal flag flapping vigorously in the wind. But where was Matoro? Which way did he go now? The victory was short-lived. He had to continue searching for Matoro in the blinding snow.

At first his spirits lifted, as the signal flags were now easier to find. He moved from one to another, each time thinking that the next would be the one that brought him to Matoro. But each time he was disappointed.

And then, the signal flags were gone. On the horizon, an object could be seen, and as Takua approached it he realized it was a path marker with some writing scratched into the base. Takua cleared the snow covering the carving, and the markings read “Beware the Swarm.”

Takua pressed on. There was nothing to see but snow, snow, and more snow. He was very tired now. So sleepy. At least he was not cold anymore. He felt a warm sensation all over. He decided to take a brief rest in the snow, for it was so comfortable…

✴        ✴        ✴

The blinding white of his vision faded completely to black. Words floated through his head, racing away from him. They were the same mysterious words he read on the path marker: “Beware the Swarm.” And then a symbol floated before him. It grew larger as it came closer to him. Closer, closer, closer.

Before he could figure out what the symbol meant, it disappeared and he heard someone speaking to him. “Energy…” the speaker offered, handing him a Vuata Maca Tree Fruit. Vaguely, Takua was conscious of taking it. “Rest…” the stranger said. Takua closed his eyes once more.

When he awoke, he was in a cave. Matoro was nearby, a signal flag close at hand. Before Takua could speak, one of the tripwires rang. Perhaps he had trapped a Rahi. Matoro left the cave, and Takua could only muster enough strength to stagger to the cave mouth and watch.

A tall stranger was barely visible on the horizon. Matoro was about to signal him, but something slammed into him from behind, throwing him forward. The Ko-Matoran whirled to find a towering Rahi behind him.

Matoro was caught off-guard, but raised his pickaxe to protect himself. It does not help much, however, as the Rahi easily swats him into a snowbank. All appears lost for Matoro as the Rahi moves in for the kill.

The Rahi lunges forward for the fatal strike, but its head was knocked to the side by a blast of snow. The blizzard itself seemed to clear, and the tall stranger now stood between the Matoran and the Rahi. Armed with a sword and shield, he now blocked the Rahi’s path.

The Rahi lashed out at the stranger, but too late. The stranger had already moved away.

As he turned to face the beast, the stranger’s mask changed shape and, instantly, he was gone. The Rahi looked about for the stranger, confused by his disappearance. Soon, the sound of a sword striking Rahi armor echoed around us.

The stranger retreated and circled around invisibly for another attack. His footprints in the snow gave him away however, and the Rahi struck. The stranger was caught within the jaws of the beast, shaken, and thrown into a drift.

The stranger reappeared from the drift. His mask changed again. As it did so, two more versions of the stranger appeared, looking exactly like the first.

Now even more befuddled, the Rahi looked first from one stranger, then to the next, and then to the next as they backed it onto the overhang of a cliff. The three strangers drew their swords together. Apparently surrounded with no chance of escape, the Rahi chose its target and struck.

Unfortunately for the Rahi, it had chosen incorrectly. The stranger he attacked was but an illusion who merely shimmered and disappeared after the assault. The remaining two strangers appeared to thrust their swords into the ground, and the overhang cracked and broke off the cliff. The roar of the Rahi echoed mournfully as it plummeted downward into the swirling mists of snow.

Matoro, having regained his feet, walked up next to the stranger and gazed over the cliff. The Ice Toa’s mask returned to its original form and the doppelganger vanished.

✴        ✴        ✴

The stranger, whom Matoro explained to be Kopaka, did not linger. Matoro quickly navigated the pair safely back in the Sanctum.Matoro quickly took Turaga Nuju’s side, and Takua approached them both.

“I will translate Nuju’s words for you, traveler,” said Matoro. “He has been watching you for a long time. Your role in Mata Nui’s destiny is more important than you know. Mata Nui sleeps, but you, like the Toa, shall be an agent of his awakening. Nuju knows that you wish to ask questions of him and he will answer them. When you are done, he wishes to ask a question of you. What questions do you wish to ask Nuju, traveler?”

“Where are the Toa?” Takua asked Nuju.

Nuju erupted in a string of beeps, clicks, and whistles. Matoro listened intently, then turned to translate.

“The Toa will unite and find more power in the joining,” he explained. “They shall merge their skills, their knowledge, their wills to become Wisdom and Valor, named in prophecy Wairuha and Akamai. In these forms, they are the Toa Kaita. The Toa Kaita will, at last, confront the Makuta. During their absence, the people of Mata Nui must work together to protect their homes and all that they know. They will need great courage, for the Toa will not be here to protect them.”

“What will happen to Mata Nui?” Takua wondered aloud.

There were more clicks and whistles, and then Matoro continued. “Nuju says that you must understand this: that in creation, there is destruction. In destruction, there is rebirth. There is no such thing as void; all things are in flux. If the Toa triumph, Mata Nui will know great joy… and great change. The darkness will be dispelled, but we will have to guard our island well to ensure no other evil rises to take its place.”

Takua contemplated this for a while. Realizing neither Nuju nor Matoro were speaking, he realized they were waiting to see if he was finished, “What question?” he asked reluctantly.

“You are the one that will guide the Matoran,” Matoro translated after Nuju’s flurry of sounds. “But only if you have learned what was necessary to learn during your travels. With the Toa Kaita beneath the earth, the Matoran must fortify their villages and brace for a great battle. There must also be created an alliance, a small group assembled from whomever the Turaga can spare, to help the Toa on their final quest. Nuju’s question is this: To what place shall you lead the alliance?”

Takua had not anticipated this question. He had thought Nuju would ask him to do something. Instead, he was telling Takua what he was to do — testing him to see if he was up to the task.

The Chronicler rested his hand on the map. “If I lead them to Ta-Koro, then they can reinforce Jala’s Guard and double their speed in repelling the Rahi. But Ga-Koro’s defenses lie more in the ocean, and it may be defenseless on land. And yet… Onu-Koro isn’t defended on their surface, which could expose a vulnerability.”

As Takua mused, Nuju wore a thin smile. As Takua was pondering Po-Koro, Ko-Koro, and Le-Koro, his gestures and Matoro’s voice cut him off.

“Nuju disagrees, traveler. He asks that you learn more of Mata Nui’s looming fate, and then return to answer the question again…”

Takua nodded, the feeling setting in that he had let the Turaga down. As he was saying, “Goodbye,” Matoro looked at him sympathetically and added, “Nuju asks that you learn more of strategy and of Mata Nui, and then return to answer the question again.”

Strategy! Unexpectedly, Jala’s words floated back. “Vakama says the Toa are gathering at the Kini-Nui, at the center of the island. We must try to protect them while they fulfill their mission. The Turaga must each send heroes to help the Toa at Kini-Nui. The Makuta will not expect it.”

Like that, Takua knew where they would have to go. “Kini-Nui,” he told Turaga Nuju.

The Turaga nodded his head in the affirmative. “So be it,” said Matoro. “Nuju believes that you are the one who can accomplish this task. Take this message to all the Turaga of the villages, and they can begin their fateful preparations. Nuju believes in you, adventurer.”

As much as he welcomed Nuju’s beeps, clicks, and whistles of trust in me, Takua was not nearly as confident.

Seeing Takua’s hesitation, Matoro said again, “Please take that message to all the Turaga of the villages, so that they can begin their fateful journey.”

With that, the Matoran told each other, “Goodbye.” Taking the message, Takua set out on this final task. As the Chronicler left, Matoro’s voice followed him. “You should carry that message to all the Turaga, Chronicler, and quickly — no one can say how much time remains.”