BIONICLE RETOLD
CHAPTER 1
I awoke and was blinded by sunlight. I squinted and lifted up my right hand to shield my eyes. Where am I? Using my hand to keep the sun out, I looked around and realised I was trapped in a metal sphere. Sunlight continued to flood in from a small circular window about less than a bio in front of my face. How do I get out of here? I looked around the sphere. Keeping a hand near my face to block the light; I found a small handle just below the window. Maybe I can get out if I pull it. Without a second thought I pulled on the handle. It didn’t move. What if I twist it? I pushed it to the right. I heard a metallic click and then a hiss. The top half of the sphere slowly slid upwards. I struggled to climb out of the sphere. I suddenly felt a tug on my left arm. A thin tube was attached to it. Now that I had noticed it, I could feel it buried inside my skin. I pulled the tube out; feeling some mild pain as I did. I took a good look around my new surroundings. So this is a beach. Wow. But how did I get here?
The beach was lined with steep cliffs. There’s no way I can climb that. I looked down the beach on my left. There was a large silver canister in the distance. I started running towards the canister. Maybe there’s someone inside. Trapped like I was.
The canister was much bigger than the sphere I was trapped in. It was at least two bios long and had a large circular opening facing the beach. There was a set footprints leading away from the vessel. I looked for a moment at the tracks. And then turned to the empty cannister, which was beginning to give off an ominous feeling. I think I’ll check if anyone’s home first. I peered into the opening.
“Hello?” I called.
No response. No one’s home. The tracks it is! I quickly started to follow them. Wonder where this thing came from? Maybe whoever came out isn’t even a person. Just some nameless creature carrying out the orders of whoever sent it. I stopped walking at the thought. Wait.. What’s my name?
-
Everything was still. Luckily for me, that didn’t last long. Suddenly but expectantly, the armored skull of a tarakava rose just above the water. Racing to its destination. A blue matoran shouted from her bamboo watch tower in front of the bridge we had been defending.
“It’s another tarakava!”
The rest of the rahi rose from the water and sped up the beach. Revealing a ten foot tall, skinny, lizard like rahi with a sharp set of teeth. And arms, that when swung, were like cannons. Lowering my spear I began to charge.
“Don’t worry! This one’s mine!” I called out to every matoran within earshot.
It’s glowing orange eyes bore into me with determination. Determination to kill. Its thin, but long arm rocketed towards me. I dived to my right, expecting the attack and began circling it. It turned to keep up before letting loose a punch with the other arm. I threw my momentum and jumped back to avoid the oncoming attack. Keeping my feet parallel to the monster’s arms, I propelled myself forwards with my back foot. Stabbing it. Yes! The tarakava let out a shriek. The monster fell over sideways and bled onto the sand. Breathing heavily, I stuck my spear into the sand. I leaned on it as I tried to regain some strength. That makes.. eleven. Tarakava had been surfacing all morning. Determined to make it to the bridge that connects Ga-Koro and Ga-koro beach. And I’ve been keeping them back. With some help. Our leader, Turaga Nokama had organised a party to defend the village. And so far. I have the best kill count. I looked back to the bamboo watch tower. Maharatia, a friend of mine, had been posted there. Making sure to warn us of any oncoming invaders.
“Hey, Tia!” I called.
“Yeah?!”
“When- when does the next party come in?” I asked in between breaths.
“Kotu told me that Nokama already told the next party to start prepping! They should be here soon!”
I rose my hand up and stuck out my thumb to show I understood. I examined my latest achievement. No one could explain the rahi’s recent behavior. It all started a week ago when a tarakava and a takea shark took out a fishing boat, and the matoran aboard. Ever since then, rahi have become more aggressive. Turaga Nokama, our village leader, gathered matoran with experience fending off rahi. Ga-Koro never had an organised military like Ta or Onu-koro. Many matoran had to be asked to help despite their limited experience. Some hadn’t fought anything more dangerous than a large fish for dinner.
“Hey Macku!” Tia called from her watchtower.
“Yeah?!” I called back.
“The next party is here!”
“Great!”
“Also. Nixie wants you guys bring the tarakava into the village!”
I looked back at the tarakava with annoyance.
“Agh, for Mata Nui..” I said quietly. “Alright! We’ll take care of it!”
With a groan, I waved my fellow party members over to the dead rahi.
“C’mon. Let’s get this over with.”
-
I followed the tracks out of the beach and into a forest that looked like a fire charred every piece of it. The tracks ended there, so I decided to explore. Hopefully I’ll run into someone. Maybe some food too. The whole forest smelled of smoke and ash, and was filled with a smoky fog. There wasn’t much in the way of landmarks. Just more and more burnt trees and the occasional fireflyer or fikou spider. I wandered aimlessly, hoping to run into someone eventually. I had been walking for what seemed like a while, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw through the fog a small burst of yellow light. I turned to its direction and saw it again through the burnt trees and fog. It was like someone was starting a fire and putting it out, over and over again. I navigated my way through the trees. As I got closer, I could hear someone shouting. My pace broke into run. I made it into a clearing. I saw five Ta-matoran on my left. Each armed with a short-sword. And a bio away from the matoran stood a toa of fire, his sword ignited in flames. A trio of hotos lay on the ground next to him, charred and smoking. I realised they were all staring at me.
“Uh hi.” I said as politely as I could manage. “Can someone tell me where I am?”