BIONICLE RETOLD
Chapter 3
I do love the trees. Lush, green… and excellent for staying well away from the ground. The ground is boring, and a lot of it is water. I hate water.
This jungle is nice, though. I can test my agility, my apparent control over the air… if only I could control the plants as well; wouldn’t that be nice? I could just leap into a clearing, and instantly cause a tree to grow to catch me! Wouldn’t that be something? Meh… I like the challenge of managing my acrobatics among those trees already here. I bet nothing can catch me here: I am king of the forest. It’d be nice to know what forest this is though, or what I’m supposed to be doing in it.
Lewa, Mystery-King of Know-nothingness, that’s me.
I stop on a tree-branch in one of the tallest trees around; it allows me to see over the canopy for kios around. To the north, a large mountain rises ominously, a small dark smoke plume rising from its tip. To the south, more jungle and then, eventually, ocean. The same goes for the east, where I came from. To the west, I only see jungle, but given my current luck there’s probably more ocean that way too. Smoke-mountain is probably a good thing to stay away from, so I guess I’ll head in the direction that offers the greatest distance before I run into water: west.
Skydive!
I leap down, grab a vine hanging from a tree below, and let my momentum swing me around the branch it hangs from. By the time I let go, I’ve already located the next vine to aim for, grab a hold of it mid-air, and swing around again. This even beats leaping from branch to branch. Do I hear a buzzing sound?
Wham!
A sudden impact from the right knocks me off-course and sends me tumbling towards a different tree than the one I was aiming for. I take a moment to reorient myself, conjure up a howling gale into my face to slow down, and manage to land on one of its branches. What was that!? I look around, scanning my surroundings for whatever was making the buzzing sound. Hang on… is that it? A large… shape, living creature of some kind, is flying in circles above me. It’s definitely making the buzzing sound with those fast-beating wings, and… is it diving for me again? It is!
Shoo! Get away, you weird buzz-beast!
Another blast of air sends the creature tumbling away from me, now struggling to catch its balance, but it manages to do so. For a moment, twenty or so bio apart, we lock eyes on each other; me standing on my tree branch, and it hovering in the air. It’s got talons, and a needle-like protrusion by its mouth. It’s wearing masks, too, not unlike mine, but they look rusted and old… I wouldn’t dare be seen in such a thing; they’re hideous. Maybe this creature is angry about its ugly Kanohi, in which case I wholeheartedly sympathize, but it still tried to make me crash, and that won’t do. Apparently, the buzz-beast agrees, ‘cause it turns and flies away to the south. Good riddance. Time to get moving again.
“Excuse me?” a voice says from behind me. I turn quickly to find someone standing on another branch of this tree. He’s wearing a mask like me, though his is blue and a different shape, as are his feet. And he’s tiny compared to me. “I-I’m Tamaru,” he introduces himself. “Who are you?”
“Err… Lewa. Lewa the buzz-beast slayer!” I reply jokingly. My new companion looks slightly confused, but then smiles.
“Toa Lewa? The one legends spoke of?” he enquires.
“I know not of your legends,” I replied, “but if your legends spoke of a tall guy with an axe, that’s me.”
“They might…” Tamaru admits. “I can check. Would you mind coming with me?”
“No,” I begin as I rear back and leap over to the branch he’s currently occupying, landing right next to him. For a moment, Tamaru looks terrified, but I reach down, grab him, and set him on my back. “Now, you’re going to have to hold on,” I explain, “and tell me which direction to go.”