The Feral Plains/Volume V

The Feral Plains: Volume V is the fifth part of The Feral Plains. It was first written in four episodes (one in two parts) by CaptainLandr0ver on the Lego.com Gallery, with CaptainLandr0ver working under the alias "tomatopaste101". It was later proofread, edited, and combined into a volume to be released onto the Custom Bionicle Wiki.

This volume adds onto the character arcs introduced in Volume IV and adds onto it, while hinting toward the increase of Keelo's power.

Aqueduct
It was a very bright day for the late Winter season. The snow was beginning its retreat from the white sun, and for once in a long time the shadows were tinted gold rather than blue.

Toa Detras and the colonist Ga-Matoran Shensii had walked up the muddied, yet still empty Desolation River for around a week. Detras had received a transmitted thought from Lewok to tell him where they should go.

"Far up the Desolation River," Lewok's thought had said, "Turaga Maroona, Corduk, Salvina and Arvos are hiding out. Tell them I've been captured by the invaders, but don't send a rescue yet..."

Finally, Detras spotted a red dot in the midst of the melting snow, with spindly arms and legs. It was undoubtedly the Ta-Matoran Arvos, and Detras was excited to see someone he knew after he escaped the colonists.

After joyously following Arvos up a small incline, he was met with the sight of a broken aqueduct composed of corrugated metal. Thick, dead foliage were bent into floors and rooms, and a meeting room had been constructed, with the Shrine of Salvation sitting atop an improvised boulder table. Arvos led him to the end near the hill, and he greeted his friends whom he hadn't seen in awhile. Shensii awkwardly smiled and stayed behind.

"Who have you brought with you?" question Maroona to Detras, pointing to Shensii.

Shensii looked up at Detras, expecting him to introduce her, but the Toa did no such thing.

"I'm Shensii, pleased to meet you." she said. "I escaped from the colony with Detras... I couldn't stand what was going on down there.”

"Well, Shensii, I hope you enjoy staying with us. And Detras, I need to discuss some things with you and the other Toa, now that you're here."

Detras climbed up to the meeting area, sitting with Maroona and his brother and sister Corduk and Salvina.

"You said you had some information you got from Lewok?" said Maroona.

"Yes," said Detras, "I know that he's been captured by the colonists."

"That explains why he's been stationary all this time," said Salvina. She had been using her mask, the Mask of Tracking, to check where Lewok was. “I mean, he’s quiet, but he’s not that still at all.”

"Well, now that we know where he is," said Corduk, "we should go rescue him."

"Not yet," Detras quickly replied.

“What? Why not?” said Corduk.

“He told me himself not to send help.” Detras replied. “I don’t know why, but I trust him enough,”

"And is that all you know?" said Maroona, and Detras nodded. "Right, now that you're here, and because you're the leader of the Toa, we should figure out how the leadership is going to change."

"I vote that Detras should continue leading us," said Corduk.

Salvina looked at him quizzically. "I thought you wanted to be the leader? You already were leading us while Detras was gone."

Maroona agreed with Corduk, and so did Detras, although he did so reluctantly. "I think Corduk would make a fine second-in-command, though," he said. Salvina decided to accept it all. She was then reminded of something relating to Detras.

"Here, I've been waiting to give this back to you," she said, handing Detras' bright shield over to it's owner. Detras thanked her and inspected it. It had been heavily damaged from his attempts to escape Keelo, and had lost it after awhile. Apparently the rest of his team had found it, and had repaired it greatly. “It got boring waiting for you,” Salvina said, “so I decided to fix it for you."

Detras then asked Maroona, "Is there any way we can use the Shrine of Salvation?" He figured it could be of some use, seeing as they had possession of it. Anything they had was something they should use.

"Possibly," said Maroona.

"What do you mean?" said Detras.

"Despite what you may think," said Maroona, "I still know little about this device other than it's capabilities for transportation."

"Then it'll be fine." said Detras. "Salvina, have you found where Navahko and Wreshi are?"

"Yes," Salvina answered, "They're in the Shade Forest."

“The… Shade Forest?” Detras asked confusedly.

“Well, they’re in a forest right now.” Salvina explained. “Being the navigator and all, you tend to subconsciously give things names that nobody else understands. It’s just a forest east of here.”

“Huh,” said Detras, and he thought for a little bit. “I know you’re all excited that I’m back, but… without those two, I’m afraid that we still can’t do very much.”

“So what are we going to do in the meantime?” asked Corduk.

“Well, I don’t know about you,” Detras said with a timely yawn, “but I’m pretty tired from hiking up mud for a week, so I’m going to go get some shut-eye.” With that, he walked into the aqueduct and found a resting place. Corduk and Salvina looked at each other with a confused look. They had anticipated much more from a leader as strong and brave as Detras when he returned.

Wake Up
Mornings were never fun on Powai Nui. First came a heavy downpour, which kept the lighter sleepers awake for some time, and then loud Rahi howling. Then, Arvos woke everybody because he apparently saw strange figures. Maroona, thinking that it was the invaders, sent the tired Toa to investigate, although they had serious doubts that the invaders would attack this early in the morning. But, worst of all...

"Maroona was right!" Detras yelled to his team. As he deflected a swipe from Vandir, he raised his shield to protect himself from Toa Merdana's incoming fire. Corduk had been hit, but his determination had him recovering immediately.

"Salvina, go take care of Merdana; you're a good counter to her element!" Detras yelled, "Corduk, I'll need some help with this guy!" Corduk can running in and distracted Vandir so that Detras could strike a blow on the corrupted Toa of Air.

As Salvina charged towards Merdana, the Toa of Stone quickly aimed her blaster and fired. Taking advantage of her enemy's crude aim, Salvina quickly transitioned into sliding across the mud, narrowly missing the laser. She sent a jet of water rocketing into Merdana's blaster, sending it arcing into the mire.

Merdana quickly leaped back and grabbed her Dual Hook-knives from her side holster. As Salvina made a swift swing at her, she flung her left knife up, catching the blade and twisting it out of her way. She then sent a flurry of swipes at the Toa of Water, all of which she narrowly dodged, save it for one which struck her shoulder, tearing into her armor and reaching her flesh.

Salvina leaped back to cover her wound, allowing Merdana to send a blast of sand hurdling at her. The Toa of Water reacted quickly and shot a jet of water out of her hand, soaking the sand. Merdana continued to throw the ball of what was now mud at her opponent, however Salvina manipulated the water in the mud, forcing it away from her. She and Merdana vigorously used their powers to push the mud, and the floating sphere began to flatten from the pressure. However, Salvina's experience in using her powers allowed her to push the mud with more force, forcing Merdana to give up. Subsequently the plate of mud, now steaming from pressure and friction, shot at her, flying apart and knocking her onto the ground.

Salvina readied her weapon and charged at Merdana. However, the Toa of Stone quickly lashed out and kicked Salvina back into a puddle of dirty water. As Merdana stood up crookedly, Salvina activated her weapon. The blade on the end of it split in two, and each half pivoted down to form a propeller shape. It began to spin incredibly fast, bringing a smile to Salvina’s face. She lowered it into the water, and a white blurry stream of pressurized water shot out in a helix pattern, striking Merdana and sending her flying into a puddle.

Hastily, Salvina shut her weapon and ran forward, devising how to keep Merdana there. As her opponent got on her feet and began to run forward, Salvina sensed the water in the puddle and forced it all down. Merdana tripped from the sudden change in current. Then, the Toa of Water forced the water up and down, and back and forth, in little circles, and it was beginning to get muddier and muddier. Merdana's feet were quickly sinking into the near-liquefied sediment, and she began falling down.

Putting her arm in the mud did stop her sinking, however now her hand (and her weapon) was stuck in the mud, and the sheer suction forbade her from moving in any direction except down. With a near-constant current in the puddle, Salvina knew it would take several minutes for the sediment at the bottom to become solid enough for stable footing. However, Merdana was still able to force a wet stone at Salvina, knocking her back quickly.

Meanwhile nearby, Corduk slammed his battle axe into the ground, sending a volley of fractures forward. His target, Vandir, swiftly used his Air powers to launch himself up and backwards, jumping over the incoming breakage. He leaped to the left to distance himself from Toa Detras, who was charging up his welding staff to fire a quick blast of heat.

The burn mark on Vandir's thigh showed that Detras' accuracy was nothing to laugh at. The Toa of Air activated his Great Mask of Perfection, which would enhance him to the point where his next action would be executed without failure. Detras fired a bolt of fire at Vandir, but the Toa flawlessly dodged it.

Detras realized that careful shots would prove unsuccessful while battling an Air Toa. As he and his adversary circled around each other, he signaled for Corduk to stand his ground. Whatever he was about to do was going to make a fiery mess, and he didn't want his brother to get caught in the crossfire.

Vandir, seizing the opportunity, launched himself at Corduk without warning, and kicked him square in the chest. The robust Toa did not fly back very far, but was shocked by the sudden attack. Detras flanked Vandir, intending for a surprise attack, and prepared to send a volley of fire at him. Vandir quickly sent a whip-like current of air at him, knocking his staff upwards just before it launched a powerful beam of heat and smoke. Steam began to rise from the mud around the Toa of Fire.

Elsewhere, the sound of feet trudging through water could be heard, followed by a violent-sounding clashing of metal and rocks. Detras noticed a Toa Salvina painfully slam into a ditch in the mud. She yelled in anger as a couple more rocks flew past her.

Vandir flipped up and over Detras, intending to strike a blow on his head, but his blade collided with a large shield. Detras jumped at an angle and pushed Vandir further away. Vandir quickly recovered and sent a blast of wind hurdling at Detras. The Toa of Fire avoided this, but barely expected for Vandir to charge at him. Just in time, he brought up his shield to deflect. The two swung at each other, with Vandir trying to twist the weapon out of Detras' hand. When Vandir firmly gripped the shield and began tearing it away, Detras quickly heated it up, leaving Vandir with a burnt hand.

Detras realized that Vandir was much more of an up-close fighter, and thought of something utilizing his mask power. When he got far enough away from his enemy, he activated his mask. Rather than charging, Vandir watched in confusion as dark, jagged bristles grew between the cracks in the Toa of Fire's armor.

"What are those?" he grunted. "What did your mask do?"

"Mask of Evolution," said Detras with confidence. "Mutates my body to fit the current situation. Right now it's caused me to grow urticating hairs."

"Urticating hairs?" replied Vandir. Detras rushed at him, and as he was about to block, a flurry of hairs flew into his armor, causing him great irritation and pain. He gritted his teeth as he tried to shake the hairs out of his armor, with no success.

Behind Detras, Merdana was lining up a shot with her blaster. She knew that she had only one chance at this. As she lined up the shot, she remembered her training with Vandir, and the sight of her own destroyed home. Pull slowly, and let the blaster fire when it wants to. Nothing could stop her now. Completely focused, she did not notice Salvina holler at Detras.

"Detras, duck! Now!" Heeding his sister's words, Detras got down, just in time for Merdana's blaster to fire. The blast whizzed over Detras' head and hit Vandir in the chest instead, sending him flying back. As she stood up and stared in shock of what she'd done, her three adversaries gathered around her. She turned around and looked at them fiercely. The three Toa expected her to charge, but she simply stood, as if she were waiting for something to happen.

“What do we do now, Detras?” said Corduk, awaiting commands.

“Do what they have done,” said Detras, “show no mercy."

As Salvina conjured up a ball of water, Corduk charged his axe with elemental energy and preceded to throw it. It hurdled toward Merdana in a slow but powerful arch. Merdana did nothing but stare at it with a grin, confusing her enemies. Her mask began to glow, and the axe’s path was curved backwards at a faster speed. Stunned, Detras thought only to try and block, although it would ultimately be futile. The axe struck his shield, and a shock-wave of energy blew out of it. Corduk toppled over into a puddle, Salvina nearly tumbled into the bushes, and Detras was buried underneath a pile of mud.

Merdana turned around, suspended Vandir on her shoulder and walked away.

Morally Wrong
Toa Keelo stood in the shade of his lair. He looked outwards, contemplating about his upcoming sermon to the Matoran. If life could be entirely his way, he wouldn't have to do such speeches. That is why, of course, he plans to make life his way.

A chill ran down his spine, a feeling that any being knew all too well while working with a Makuta.

"Still thinking?" muttered Hysterix.

"Yes." Keelo replied.

"Well, when are you going to stop thinking and start practicing?" said Hysterix.

"Speeches take a lot of time, you know," said Keelo. "Plus, I don't see a great background of public speaking in you, so I could do without the distractions."

"Well, I suppose you're right," said the Makuta. "But I've found other things that need changing."

"Like what?"

"Such as the... implications it offers."

Keelo was startled. "I've had my speech in my head the whole time! I've never written it down... how were you able to realize it's 'implications' and such?"

"Let's just say I have... methods... of getting information."

"Like what?"

"Have you ever heard of Kraata?"

"...No."

"I thought so. That's beside the point. It's really bugging me in the second portion of it... talking about free will as a cause?"

"Well, I thought my speech would sound a bit morally drained if I didn't add something like that in."

"You see here," said Hysterix in a to-the-point tone of voice, "You're not trying to have any morality. This organization is built on power and longings, not 'free will' and other fantasies called 'virtues'."

"Then the Matoran will think we're corrupted."

"Hey, that's the word!"

"What?" Keelo was confused at Hysterix' sudden enthusiasm.

"'Corruption' is key, Toa." declared the Makuta. "Give me one trait of a personality that can be corrupted."

Keelo thought. It was such an odd question. "Uh… Self-confidence, maybe?"

Hysterix laughed. "I knew you'd say that. Now, confidence is most definitely corruptible. What does it become when it's corrupted?"

"That would be pride."

"You see, you implemented pride into your speech. Then, you take the glossy delusion of optimism and spread it all over, in a way that replaces all 'pride' with 'confidence'."

"Simple as that?"

"They'll eat it up, those Matoran!" Hysterix gave a vile chuckle. "They all need something to keep them going, some sense of self-worth, right? Just tell them to be confident."

"And then?"

"In later speeches, slowly transition to pride... they'll devour it like mad Muaka. If you base your 'empire' in pride, they'll learn to dwell in it!"

Keelo looked over Lake Faradi. He saw Vandir and Merdana, back home from their unsuccessful attack on the natives. "And if they realize this?"

"That's where your ideas come in." said Hysterix patronizingly

"You see," said the Makuta, "you're naturally a wrathful and arrogant character, right? So, then, you punish-

"Okay, stop here!" exclaimed Keelo. "You keep using these negative adjectives and morally wrong words to describe these things!"

"...And your point is?"

"You're implying that I'm wicked and corrupted! I'm just... forceful, not a mad tyrant!"

After a pregnant pause, Hysterix expelled an undoubtedly deranged laugh. This went on for longer than it should have.

Hysterix suddenly rammed Keelo up against the wall. "There’s no way to deny this, Keelo! You're evil, alright?! I gave you this, I gave you this empire, and this power, and this following, and I can take it back just as quickly! So, be ‘immoral’ with me, or else!"

“Or else what?” choked Keelo.

Hysterix struggled to think of a comeback.

“You can’t reveal yourself to these Matoran, can you?” Keelo added. “They’d never trust a Makuta, never! Especially not after what happened to their… home… island…”

Keelo suddenly had the strangest of headaches. His mind began to drift into to shadowy and dreadful thoughts, thoughts of his island, and of the numerous lives that were lost.

“This.” growled Hysterix in a merciless tone. “This is what I will do to you if you do not do what I tell you to. You will obey. They will obey. And I will win.”

Interlands
"Yes, that's him!" said Wreshi, looking at the Dark Hunter wading through the grass. They were in one of the Interlands, the areas between the regions of Powai Nui.

"I don't know why he would be approaching us like this in the open," said Navahko. "Seems terribly odd for someone like him."

"Well, I'm not taking any chances," said Wreshi, and he moved into a battle-ready stance. Navahko, his spear still lost, put his fists up in front of his face.

"Hold on..." said the Toa of Ice. "Is that Omakah?"

Navahko was right. The Po-Matoran realized his guardians' aggression and flailed his arms for them to stand down.

Minutes later, Navahko still couldn't quite put his finger on what Omakah was saying. "So you're telling me that 'Alchemist' here is a Toa?"

“Yep," replied Omakah. "He lost his memory, but I told him."

"Alchemist" stood there, looking around at the massive trees and tall greatgrass. He seemed to be regaining his sense of self awareness. His mechanical mind was attempting to receive some sort of revelation.

"Show them, Toa" said Omakah.

"What? Huh?" “Alchemist” confusedly said.

"Well, you are a Toa, right?"

"Y-Yes, a Toa of Iron to be exact." said "Alchemist". Navahko put his hand in front of his mouth to stop himself from chuckling in disbelief.

"Alchemist" focused as hard as he could on being a Toa. With his mind, he felt metal, a feeling he hadn't felt in decades. He stared at Navahko, and slowly began mentally grasping his armor. The Ice Toa's hand began moving away from his mouth, and he was shocked, the smile leaving his face. He tried to pull it back, but his armor stopped him from doing so.

"Alchemist", who was straining himself, finally grunted, releasing his grip, and Navahko's hand was free again, although he did not put it back in place. His eyes were wide with a puzzled look.

"I... I guess he really is a Toa," said Wreshi to his brother. Navahko did not reply, he only looked down at his hand.

"Alchemist" started to feel himself regaining some sort of awareness, a sense of where he was, and who he was. He could finally do his job as a Toa. First off, he wanted revenge on Keelo, who he knew was the one who had put him in this beaten-up state. He was going to find him and give him what he deserved.

"No, you’re not." said a disturbed voice. The "Toa" looked around and saw nobody who could have said that.

''"I'm in your head you simpleton. Recognize my voice?" '' "Alchemist" recognized the voice. It belonged to Hysterix.

''“Look at yourself. Look at your left hand… or the lack of one. Any normal Toa would have bled out, but not you. You're a machine, a cold-blooded one. Just because you have these powers left in you doesn’t make you a Toa. Remember your calling. Do what you need to do.”''

Wreshi, struggling to keep up with the flow of time, quickly moved the rocks underneath Omakah. the Matoran fell down on his back, narrowly missing a blast from the Dark Hunter's Laser Harpoon. Navahko attempted to strike him from behind with a fistful of sharp ice, but the machine knocked him back into the grass.

As "Alchemist" aimed his weapon at Navahko's retreating body, Wreshi found a large, broken-off tree limb at least 20 times longer than his height. He activated his powerful Kanohi, and touched the limb, and it instantly sprung up, lifting "Alchemist" by the gut. He jostled the machine effortlessly by the gut, shaking a couple of loose parts off of his frame. "Alchemist" finally pushed off of the limb and fell onto the forest floor. Wreshi swung the limb down onto him, but the Dark Hunter raised up his fist and struck the limb with a swift punch. With this blow, the limb bursted in half, the resulting noise scattering several birds out of a tree. He grabbed the nearest half, raised it, and swung it Wreshi, who blocked it with his own limb.

As Wreshi prepared to swing again, “Alchemist” dropped his limb and pulled a bottle out of a container in his back. He threw it at Wreshi, and it’s contents burst all over him and the surrounding grass. Red flames began to rise up, causing Wreshi to panic as his body armor caught fire.

From the side, Navahko fired a blast of cold elemental energy at his brother, freezing the chemicals and putting out the fire. “Alchemist”, picked up his Laser Harpoon and rushed at the Toa of Ice. Predicting his opponent’s moves, Navahko stepped to the side, grabbed the harpoon and tripped the Dark Hunter, sending him rolling in the grass.

Wreshi conjured a stone to launch, but Navahko held up his hand, telling him to hold back. “We’ve wasted enough of our time with him.” He watched “Alchemist” slowly stumble away. “Now that we have Omakah, we need to find the rest of our team.”

Characters

 * Detras
 * Shensii
 * Arvos
 * Corduk
 * Maroona
 * Salvina
 * Lewok (mentioned)
 * Merdana
 * Vandir
 * Keelo
 * Hysterix
 * Wreshi
 * Navahko
 * "Alchemist"
 * Omakah

Trivia

 * Volume V was when the Lego.com Gallery's character limit took it's largest toll, as the episodes were left open-ended, gappy and with little detail. CaptainLandr0ver spent a grater amount of time adding details back in than with other volumes. For instance, at the end of Chapter 2 (Episode 19 on the Gallery), the episode ended after Merdana shot Vandir. More story was added after this to explain the later events.
 * This also marks the first time that Detras, Salvina, Vandir and Merdana have used their mask powers. Chapter 2 was essentially used as a way to show the full potential of some of the characters, as well as to flesh out Merdana's character a bit more.