Spirit Shadows: Destinies

Destinies is a part of Spirit Shadows' Act 2.

Story
The thorns bit into what skin was not armored, even as the cold wind blew into his face. The black cloth that made his hood, which he had received to replace his old one after it was destroyed during the events in Talis and Verius, was already beginning to be torn away. He had not even needed to come here — in fact, one of the Matoran that he was trying to help had offered to do it instead of him. And he got nothing, save more pain and some clothing damage.

Cutting through the branches with the knife he always carried with him, he made it outside the tangle of plantlife, and found himself staring out over the snow-covered mountains of Ko-Erkelon. Thornbush simply should not grow in regions below freezing, he thought. But whatever the case was, he had completed his mission. He handed the ball to the closest Matoran, who carried it back to the playing field.

Karznav, the Matoran who was lord over this stretch of frozen land, watched Jetera, the thorn-covered and tattered-cloak wearing Master of Storms with amusement. “I am surprised at your choices,” he said with a smile. “Other Matoran made it through the thornbush in half your time, and with less scratches than you do. What was your point?”

“Because I could?” Jetera muttered.

“Well now,” Karznav said. “Perhaps you ought to get inside. I am not sure yet which is more serious, frostbite or bleeding to death in the cold.”

Ignoring the Matoran’s dark sense of humor, Jetera set out past the younger villagers’ playing field, and headed back for Adrilea, the villages of Ko-Erkelon. When he arrived there, he found it rather crowded on the villages’ narrow streets. Seeing that most of the houses were built for people less than half his size, he saw that, as long as he treaded carefully, he could make it back to the Vihagu’s lodging by crossing the rooftops. With a jump, he grabbed hold of a stone wall and hoisted himself upward. Crossing the rooftops was not difficult - although there were a few times that he almost took a short dive onto a street below. Soon he was above the entrance to a larger stone structure in which the Toa Vihagu were staying during their business in Ko-Erkelon. He looked around, to make sure no one was in his way when he leaped down. There was - the iron-clad figure of Emekal, staring back at him.

“Have you seen Zerkah?” he asked.

Jetera looked over the snow-covered rooftops and streets. He could dimly make out the dark red hue of Zerkah’s garments in a corner behind another set of houses. Straining his eyes, he observed the leader of the Vihagu walking about in a seemingly aimless manner being

“Found him”, he said matter-of-factly. He dropped down from his perch, bracing his landing in both his feet and his left arm, and led Emekal to Zerkah’s location.

“Zerkah!” the elder Toa said. “Is abandoning your place during a conversation of importance really necessary?”

“It is,” Zerkah replied. “I have reason to believe… I have spoken with Therina.”

Jetera, who had stayed out of Zerkah’s line of sight and was slowly attempting to leave the scene, paused. Therina, Master of Spirit and one of Zerkah’s most trusted allies, had virtually disappeared from Erkelon two months prior. Zerkah, who had come to rely on Therina’s aid and foresight, was one of those most greatly affected by her absence. And if the Master of Fire had indeed found her, Jetera wanted to hear what had happened. So, he pulled himself up on to another roof just above where Emekal and Zerkah stood, and listened.

“I thought I had recognized her,” Zerkah said as Jetera tuned back in But from the tone of her voice and what she spoke of I almost could not recognize her.”

“And yet you are still sure if was her?” Emekal asked.

“How many female Masters are there walking around Erkelon?” the voice of Karznav pitched in.

“Very true, Karznav,” Emekal chuckled. “And what did she say?”

“You know as well as I that Therina speaks in riddles, especially in matters of importance.” Zerkah explained. “She said something of the branches of fate dividing and her being forced upon the lonely road. I fear we are about to lose her for good."

“And you consider yourself good at understanding prophecy?” Karznav scoffed.

Emekal seemed unamused. “Since her arrival she has always had a hand outside of the Vihagu. She already had a destiny before her before she became one of your team. Perhaps she is seeking it out right now.”

“Still,” Zerkah returned. “I would like to believe if that were the case, she would have told us of such things. But as it was. One moment she was fighting with all she had alongside us. Then she was gone, never to be seen until now."

“Perhaps it was a calling, quick and sudden,” Emekal suggested.

“Perhaps,” Zerkah said, clearly not believing. “But from what I have gathered. It may have been a prior mission that instantly and unrelentingly returned to take her."

The two Toa and Matoran lord stood in silence, each pondering the idea that Therina was alone in a war against some unknown forces. Jetera could almost visualize it. One of the first things he could visualize when he arrived on Erkelon - an image of something that looked like him in a field of carnage - but where Therina now stood, tied to a pathway she had not chosen and that all her strength in prophecy could not take her out of.

"Well,” Karznav spoke assuringly, “Whatever the case. She has stock with us, for and without finishing her mission with us her duty will not be fulfilled. But I cannot say what time that will be. Remember. Your hope and your purpose are separate from hers.”

“Yes,” Zerkah said. “And now that I think about it. She said that the lonely road would only be walked for a while. And someday our destinies will be tied together again. …now then. What were we talking about?”

Jetera breathed a sigh of relief from his vantage point. Seeing that he had learned all he needed to know — and all he didn’t —, Jetera crawled to the opposite edge of the roof, looked down, and jumped.

Cast

 * Jetera
 * Zerkah
 * Emekal
 * Lord Karznav