User blog:UsagiTaicho/Still don't know what to call it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

From the private journal of Dr. L Eskner:

The prototype worked marvelously, walking and talking all on its own. His motor skills seem to shut down when he accesses his memories, but it takes less and less time for him to regain mobility after each remembrance. I don’t believe it will be a serious issue. I have the elemental formula finished. I am waiting for my order to come in, when it gets here he should be able to use the upgrades I gave him.

End.

Takanuva stood among several teams of Toa. He had already sent three teams to find the Toa Inika, each of them had a Toa of Psionics on the team. He also sent three more to search for the weapons in all different places. Many of them have already activated their masks, and a few had even activated their elemental abilities. Still, most others could not activate their abilities without their weapons. Takanuva wondered what sort of great being would design such a diverse people. He also wondered what could be taking the Toa Inika so long, and the Toa Mangai, did they retrieve the weapons?

Are the Toa going to survive?

Suddenly, he heard a shout. Turning, he beheld the Toa Mangai, carrying as many silver objects as they could. He realized that they must have completed their mission. Toa Lhikan led the group, waving a great sword around, with two more strapped to his back. Takanuva stared at them, but the rest of the Toa around him ran towards the group.

Lhikan dropped most of the weapons, and ran towards Takanuva.

“Mission, complete. Go and find your weapon.” He collapsed to his knees out of exhaustion.

Tuyet walked calmly towards Takanuva, wielding a deadly short sword. “I can return to my former duties now, or do you wish me to send runners to the others?”

Takanuva turned to look at her. “Do what you wish.” He said, strolling forward to pick up a spear. He hefted it, and determined its weight; Perfect.

At that moment, the most imperfect thing happened: the wall opened.

Seeing the wall opening inward meant one thing to Takanuva, danger. He shouted over the crowd to pick up what they could and run. The Toa scattered, never before had they been so wary. They rushed under the nearest plateau, edging as far back away from the giants who were coming from behind the wall.

The giants shouted in surprise, and Takanuva thought all was lost.

The giants rushed over to the dead one, either ignoring or not seeing the Toa hiding under the plateaus. Takanuva sighed in relief, but knew he wasn’t out of the water yet. The Toa around him were wary, and he had no idea if they could make it to the cave in time. He had no idea if the other Toa had made it to safety or not. He had to act.

Quietly, he got the Toa’s attention. He made motions to signify that he wanted them to sneak over to the cave. Most seemed to understand, and everyone else caught on to the plan by following their movements. Takanuva hoped that the giants would leave soon, and the rest of the Toa could escape with them.

While they were moving, Takanuva kept one eye on the giants. He couldn’t understand their language at all. He wondered what that meant. Could the giant, who he believed to be their creator, have made them to speak a separate language? Or perhaps the Toa’s ears simply didn’t register the shear volume of the giants’ voices. He decided to ponder this later. His people looked to him as a leader, and he needed to lead them.

At the end of the plateau, the Toa stopped. He assigned two teams to watch the giants while the rest sneaked away. About half the Toa had left the plateau when Takanuva saw movement across the way. It was Axxon and Brutaka’s teams, sneaking away from where they had been before the giants came. Takanuva sent one Toa over to them, to tell them the plan and ask them if they knew where the other missing teams were. He then watched the same Toa sneak back over.

“What did they say?” Takanuva asked in a whisper.

“That they didn’t know. They saw one Toa team over in the far corner, but it looks like any movement they make might give them away.” he replied in a hushed tone.

“Very good Kopeke. Go to the cave.”

“Of course.” and with that, the Toa of Ice Kopeke left.

Takanuva set a steady line of Toa to escape when Axxon and Brutaka’s group had ascended the scaffolding. He went to the back, where the Toa Nuva stood waiting.

“We have to save our brethren. If even one of us is left behind, then our people are lost.”

“Agreed.” came the gruff reply of Tahu. The others nodded in agreement.

“Let us go, we need to find them and lead them to safety.”

The Toa Nuva set off under the plateau. The seven of them snuck around the long way to the far plateau, avoiding the giants. Takanuva figured that they were lamenting the loss of a comrade, much in the way he would. But he knew his duty. He would lament, and then carry their body on to wherever his people were destined.

Tahu signaled a stop. Two more giants, entered the place from the same spot as the first. These ones carried a bunch of stuff, and they weren’t acting the same as the others. They seemed more focused on their task. The Toa Nuva watched in silence. One of the new comers escorted the other two original giants away. The last giant pulled something out of his case, a black thing. While his back was to the Toa, Tahu signaled a sprint to the next cover.

The Toa Nuva reached the next batch of relative safety safely. Takanuva sighed, and waited for Kopaka to get done scanning for the first group. His excellent eyesight and mask of vision grants him the ability to see almost everything. He pointed the Toa Furon out to Tahu, and the Toa Nuva were off again.

By the time they reached the plateau, the other giant returned. He knelt next to his friend, and then helped him lift up the body of the dead giant and put it in the black thing. The two then lifted it up and carried it out.

Takanuva saw the Toa Furon and the other teams jump off the plateaus from their hiding places. They took off at a dead run towards the cave. Tahu signaled for the Toa Nuva to follow, and Takanuva ran. Eventually they made it to the cave, bounding up into the opening together. Takanuva saw Takua of the Toa Inika come before him. He was holding a hammer.

“The Toa Inika have found a way out. Follow us.”

“Very well.” Takanuva’s reply was heavy. He had a lot to think about when they found their new home.

The Toa Inika led them through the maze of tunnels, seemingly at random. Takanuva wondered if Takua had led the team through the first time. He had no discernable pattern. The three hundred Toa marched on, talking amongst themselves and showing off their weapons.

Takanuva saw Lhikan and Vakama speaking to each other. He also saw that the rest of the Toa Mangai were silent, walking together. Nidhiki would occasionally say something to Krekka, but otherwise kept silent. The air was heavy among the Toa, they all wondered about the giants. The Toa would occasionally walk over a grate, below them would be the giants.

Takanuva saw more than one Toa pause and stare. But, like their brothers and sisters, they would eventually carry on, following the Toa Inika to wherever they were taking them. Takanuva saw that Takuta would stare at them longer than most, as if mesmerized by their movements. Tierdax would puzzle over them too.

Takanuva did not want to see any more giants. He had enough earlier with the four living ones so close. Eventually the Toa came to a vertical shaft, which the Toa Inika led them up. Reaching the top, they walked on, occasionally hearing a strange noise that Takua assured them was ok.

When Takanuva rounded the last corner, he beheld the spinning blade. The gust of air pushed against the Toa, but many of the Toa of Air diverted it with their own powers. They cheered at the use of their powers, which prompted the Toa of Iron and Magnetism to use their powers to stop the spinning blade. Takanuva and the rest of the Toa ran past it, out to the opening Takua had made earlier.

Takanuva stared out into the open. He had no idea that so much open area could exist. His memories only offered vague images of buildings deep below the ground. The world above was impressive, massive. The world of the giants. Toa did not belong here, that much was certain. The Toa, grateful to be out of such cramped quarters, spread out. A few approached him, looking for direction. Takua motioned for him to come see something.

The other Toa of Light pointed to below the Toa’s position. Large things of multiple colors and sizes race past each other. Takanuva saw some giants get into one. The thing sped away, going at speeds even Toa Pohatu couldn’t match. Takanuva was unsure what they were, but he figured that the giants used them for transportation.

He turned to the Toa, seeing them waiting patiently for new orders before him. He thought on all that had transpired earlier. Their awakening and gathering. The various exploratory missions his brothers and sisters under took. The realization of Lhikan that they had weapons. The retrieval of those weapons, and the intrusion of the giants. Their exodus through the metal cave, led by the Toa Inika. And now his brethren expected him to speak about what to do next.

“We have to go below ground.” Many of the Toa looked puzzled at this, so Takanuva explained, “It is obvious to me that the giants are dominate, at least in this part of the world. Earlier they showed many of the same mannerisms that I would’ve; lamenting the loss of a comrade and completing the mission.”

He went on: “So, I assume that if I feel comfortable out in the open, even if a little paranoid, that the giants would too. So we should go underground, at least for a while. Until we are ready to reveal ourselves, we should remain hidden.”

Some of the Toa nodded in agreement, but most of the Toa of Air did not. They liked it up here, and Takanuva did not blame them.

“Please my brothers, sisters. Let us argue about it later, for now we should flee to where we won’t be seen.”

“I agree.” The speaker was Takuta, a Toa of Twilight. His power flowed from him now, as it was twilight in the world of the giants. “We must remain hidden.” His Toa team backed up his word.

“Yes.” Came the agreement from Tierdax and several other Toa of Shadow and Earth.

Takanuva looked towards them. It was only natural that the Toa of Shadow and Earth would want to go underground. Takanuva needed the support from someone else.

Toa Helryx stepped forward “We must follow our brother, for he is right.”

Takanuva nodded towards her.

“We must find a safe passage down, and we must get below the ground.” He said. “Once we are below the ground, we can discuss our next move. But here, I feel exposed, to be discovered by the giants at any moment.”

Takanuva watched as Toa Lesovikk waved him over to see something.

Takanuva was impressed by Lesovikk’s discovery. A long shaft of metal, extending all the way to the ground below, perfect for Toa to descend. Takanuva had set up a line of Toa to go down the shaft. Axxon, Brutaka, Krekka and a few others stood away, too large to fit down the shaft. They were waiting for the right moment to slide down the outside of it.

Takanuva pondered at the role of the shaft. Like most of the giants’ creations, the shaft had no obvious job to do. He watched as the Toa spilled out of the shaft and took cover, hiding like they were told. The Toa of Light stood up high, with the rest of the Toa Nuva. He had sent the Toa Furon and Toa Nexus to try and locate an entrance to the underground from their position up high.

Toa Sentra from the Toa Furon ran up to him. “I think we found something.”

“What is it?”

“Across the street, where the large things roam, there is a rectangle of shadow. I have spotted two more parallel to the street. It is logical that they lead to the underground, as part of some sort of runoff system.”

Takanuva nodded. Suddenly, the purpose of the shaft was made clear. The giants used it to divert water to the ground, in an effort to keep the water from damaging their structures. It made sense, but why not just make the structures impervious to damage? Takanuva pondered this question while he sent Sentra down the drain shaft to investigate the shadowed area.

Sentra was very careful, staying out of sight until his teammate Kara gave the all-clear. He rushed towards the hole, then turned around disappeared. Takanuva felt a surge of panic. Sentra reappeared after a moment, rushing back to the other hidden Toa.

After all the Toa were sent down, Takanuva approached Sentra.

“There is a cave directly across from us. It is hidden from our view, but it leads down below.” he paused, looking at Brutaka, “I believe that we will all fit.”

Takanuva couldn’t believe their luck. It was as if the Great Spirit himself was making their way easier on them. “Well done. The Toa Furon shall lead us to our destination.”

Toa Sentra nodded and left.

Takanuva gestured for the Toa to remain hidden until it was their turn to go down the cave. Many hours passed, and the giants showed no sign of slowing in their travels. Takanuva began to wonder if they ever slept. He knew that he was beginning to tire, no doubt his brethren were too. Eventually, the large constructs began too have more and more time between them. Takanuva decided it was time to move, He set the Toa Inika as watchers, depending on them to give the all-clear for Toa to pass into the cave.

This continued for hours, until finally, the only Toa left were the Toa Nuva and Inika. Neither team wanted to leave the other behind, so they waited for total silence and ran together, disappearing into the dark.