Message #42113

[Rakoua]

The newly returned Toa Hagah go find someone. Big deal.

-=Chapter 1=-
Toa Bomonga tightened his headlock on the Tahtorak and tried to wrestle the beast to the ground. Bomonga's Mask of Growth allowed him to reach almost the size of the creature, but he could not match the Tahtorak in sheer strength. Still, he knew a few things about leverage and pressure points that the Rahi did not.

With a roar, the Tahtorak lost its footing and slammed hard into the ground of Xia. What was left of the island city trembled from the impact. "Now stay down," Bomonga growled, even as Toa Pouks used his power to create bonds of solid stone for the monster.

After a long battle, the Tahtorak had battered the Kanohi Dragon enough that Toa Norik's spinners had been able to slow it down, while Toa Kualus' ice attack finished it off. It now lay unconscious, sprawled across much of the southern district of the city. Toa Iruini had taken the advice of a Vortixx and made sure to move the creature's leg away from The Mountain, so it wouldn't end up a big snack for that hungry landmark.

Only Toa Gaaki stood off to the side, her eyes fixed on the ocean but unseeing. The Toa Hagah had seen her like this before. She was focused inward, using the power of her Mask of Clairvoyance to see things they could not. Now she stiffened, cried out, and turned toward the others.

"They're coming," she said. "Hundreds of them."

"Hundreds of who?" asked Iruini. He considered Gaaki a good friend, but her vague predictions did have a way of getting on his nerves at times.

"Seekers of shadows," Gaaki muttered. "Slayers of the dark ... ready for war ... Vortixx cannot stand ..."

Norik walked up beside her and gently eased Gaaki to a seat on a rock. He knelt in front of her and talked to her in a whisper. Now and then she would nod her head. After a few minutes, he gestured to Kualus.

Although the Toa of Ice was no longer a Rahaga, he had not lost his bond with flying Rahi or his ability to communicate with them. Now he signaled to a smoke hawk up above and spoke rapidly in a language none of the others understood. A moment later, the hawk flew off to the west.

"How is she?" Pouks asked Norik.

"It's been a long time since she used her power," answered the Toa Hagah of Fire. "Or, rather, since it used her. It's never easy."

"What she said – seekers of shadows – what do you think it means?"

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Bomonga, shrinking down to his normal height. "Seekers of shadows – Dark Hunters."

The smoke hawk picked that moment to return, flying in tight circles above the island and cawing loudly. Kualus nodded twice and rushed over to his fellow Toa.

"Bomonga is right, from the sound of it," he said. "My winged ally sees ships coming, so many they blot out the waves. And the crews are armed, my friends ... it's a battle fleet."

Iruini had climbed up the top of one of the few spires still standing in the city. "Score one for the birdie," he yelled down. "We have company. I'm going to check them out!"

"Iruini, wait --" began Norik.

"Wait for what?" the Toa of Air said, smiling. "I spent thousands of years as a Rahaga – now I'm back in action, and I love it!"

An instant later, the Toa of Air used his Mask of Quick Travel to teleport from the spire to the flagship of the oncoming fleet. He found himself standing on the deck, facing two powerful looking figures. A handful of armed warriors immediately moved to surround him.

"Who are you?" asked Iruini. "What's your business in these waters?"

"My business?" asked one of the figures. "My business is profit, and that profit has been strangled for too long. And who are you?"

"I am Toa Iruini. My friends and I have just completed a mission on Vortixx. That island was half-levelled in the process, and let me guess – you're here to level the other half."

"My name is The Shadowed One," came the reply, "leader of the Dark Hunters. Standing beside me is my loyal lieutenant, Ancient. Standing in front of me is a very foolish Toa if he thinks he can get between me and my goal."

Iruini ignored the jab. "If you're looking to loot Xia, there's precious little left to steal."

"Loot?" repeated The Shadowed One, in mock surprise. "Steal? How little you think of me. Would I muster a fleet for petty thievery? No, Toa, I have made a bargain this day with a power I never knew existed – and my new allies have asked to me to insure that Xia provides no more weapons to the enemy. They wish me to blockade or occupy the island, but I do not believe in half-measures."

The Shadowed One smiled, an expression as cold as one of Kualus' ice blasts. "So I am going to destroy Xia, and every last living thing on it. And if your friends are unfortunate enough to be there when I arrive ... well, perhaps I will be merciful, and leave enough of them to bury."

Iruini raised his Cyclone Spear. Weapons were suddenly aimed at him from a dozen different directions.

"This is my war," The Shadowed One said softly, "and welcome to it."

-=Chapter 2=-
At times like this, Iruini looked back fondly on his days as a Rahaga. It wasn't so bad, being short and twisted and spending all your time chasing after Brakas monkeys. At least you didn't have to stand on rolling decks, staring at the crazed leader of the Dark Hunters as he prepared to slaughter an entire island full of ... well, not so innocent Vortixx.

"You know I can't let you do this," Toa Iruini said.

"I know you can't stop me," The Shadowed One replied, smiling. "My new partner suggested I occupy Xia but I must have misheard. I could have sworn she said 'destroy.'"

Iruini was about to make a smart comeback when the seas started to churn and heave. The next moment, a tidal wave big enough to swamp the entire Dark Hunter fleet rose from the ocean depths. It towered hundreds of feet in the air ... and just stayed there, looming over the ships like the shadow of doom.

"Is that enough water to clean out your ears?"

Iruini turned. Standing on the bow of the ship was a Toa of Water he did not recognize, carrying a spiked mace and a shield. She was flanked by a warrior in golden armor and a four-armed giant with two long horns coming out of his head. He alone was heavy enough to almost swamp the ship. He carried a multi-bladed axe and a small object covered in a cloth.

The female Toa stepped down to the deck and marched up to The Shadowed One. Although he was taller than she, her bearing made her seem to dominate everyone on board.

"I hired the Dark Hunters for a simple task," she said, her voice as quiet as a dying breath. "If you can't do it ..." She held the mace aloft. The tidal wave suddenly rushed forward toward the ships, almost colliding with the flagship. It stopped dead again as she lowered her weapon.

"I'll find someone who can," she finished.

Iruini looked from the Toa to the obviously concerned Shadowed One, and back again. "Nice," he said. "What do you do for an encore?"

The Toa nodded and the golden warrior vanished. He reappeared an instant later with the other five Toa Hagah in tow. They arrived to see The Shadowed One in intense whispered conversation with the Toa of Water. It ended when the Toa blasted three nearby Dark Hunters into the sea as casually as someone else might swat a gnat. Then she turned to the assembled Toa Hagah.

"Ah. Good," she said. "I have a mission for the six of you."

"Wait a minute!" snapped Norik. "Who are you? What's going on here?"

"And we don't take requests from anybody wearing a mask," said Kualus. Then he turned to Norik and added, "Do we?"

Norik shook his head.

"My name is Helryx," said the Toa of Water. "I run an organization you never heard of called the Order of Mata Nui. We are at war – and you've just been drafted."

"And if we say no?" asked Toa Bomonga.

Helryx gave a slight smile. Her eyes darted toward the ocean off the starboard side, where the three Dark Hunters were desperately trying to tread water. Then she looked back at the Toa Hagah. "Yes, you don't take requests, as I understand it – good thing I'm not making one."

"What is it you want us to do?" asked Toa Pouks. Seeing Iruini's glare, he said, "Well, it doesn't hurt to ask."

Helryx took a few steps closer and lowered her voice so the Dark Hunters could not overhear. "We are mounting an attack on the Brotherhood of Makuta, but their leader eludes us. Our best information is that he was last known to be inside a Maxilos robot near Mahri Nui, but where he may have gone to since then is unknown. We need Makuta Teridax found."

"Why us?" asked Iruini.

"You've fought him before. You've beaten him before," Helryx replied.

"And we all remember how well that turned out," muttered Iruini.

Helryx ignored him. "If I am right, Teridax has gone somewhere no one else has ever dared to venture. Left free, he could do untold damage."

"And just how are we supposed to track him down?" asked Bomonga. "Knock on the doors at Destral and ask if he can come out to play?"

Helryx chuckled. "There may not be doors left to knock on soon ... but that's another story. You will have a guide – someone who has generously offered to work with you in exchange for his freedom."

The four-armed giant took a step forward, and at first they thought Helryx meant him. But instead he took the cloth off the object he carried, which was revealed to be a globe filled with water, and something else ... what looked like a green sea snake with hate-filled crimson eyes.

"His name is Zaktan," said Helryx. "He's not as friendly as he looks. If he acts up, just haul him out of the tank and let him gasp for air a few times. That's what I always do. And now I think it's time you got started."

The Toa Hagah looked at each other. One by one, each of them nodded ... all except Gaaki. She was backing away, shaking her head, hands up to the sides of her mask. "Death," she whispered. "All around ... we are going to place of death ... and one of us will not return!"