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Description
Even though there was little light in Onu-Koro, the villagers were positively glowing with excitement-a trait that the Toa of Air always appreciated. During these dark times, a bit of enthusiasm now and then was always helpful. He and Onua watched as miners and guardsmen alike carted crates full of rare and exotic minerals, as tireless as they were at the start of the day.

“How about rubbing some of that life-lust onto grouchy Ice-brother?” Lewa joked, nudging Onua’s elbow. The Toa of Earth grinned. Lewa’s visits were always welcome.

“It is humble, but hardy work that we do here,” Onua said, playfully slapping his brother’s arm away. “As Turaga Whenua says, small things done well-and done together-can lead to wondrous things.”

“Earth-Elder always speaks clever-wise,” Lewa happily concurred. “I neve realised how much labour-work goes on here in deep-low village!”

“Not always work, believe me,” Onua corrected. “We have our fair share of fun; the annual Ussal Race, Koli, the usual sort.”

As Onua finished his sentence, he began to survey the scene before him again. Onepu and the soldiers of the Ussalry were here, as were most of the miners but-

“Something bad-wrong, brother?” Lewa asked.

The Toa of Earth scratched his head. “Odd. I don’t see Nuparu around here.”

“Nuparu?”

“Private First Class, Technician’s Corps. One of our finest engineers. He’s a good friend of mine but…” Onua said, in a sort of half-sigh. “It seems he’s disappeared again.”

Lewa laughed. “Perhaps our little friend is hard-labouring on some hush-secret project!”

“Perhaps. But nowadays, he’ll just vanish for days at a time. I wonder if he’s alright.”

As if the Great Spirit himself responded to Onua’s last statement, a loud bang caused the startled Toa to turn to the source. One of the village huts had seemingly exploded open, leaving a pillar of smoke from the hole on the roof. Onua was horrified to see that there was something-someone-flying out of the wreckage.

Except that someone wasn’t flying. He was headed straight for the ground.

The villager shrieked, and the Onu-Matoran gathered could only watch in horror. Onua felt himself start forward, but Lewa was faster. Even underground, the wind obeyed the whims of the Toa of Air, and he deftly leaped above the huts and caught the villager. In a manner of seconds, Lewa and the Matoran were safely back on the ground, to the relieved cheers of the Onu-Matoran.

“Thank you, Mighty Lewa.” The villager, an orange masked Matoran covered in soot and burn marks, managed to stutter. His friends in the Ussalry helped the villager to steady himself as he spoke.

Onua shook his head. “Nuparu! What happened?”

Nuparu gestured to the smoking wreckage behind him. A closer inspection revealed that his new ‘invention’ was a pair of steam pistons-the same kind used for their Excavators-welded together into some sort of backpack. All that was left, however, was a mangled wreck. Nuparu could not bring himself to turn around.

Now that their friend was safely back on the ground, a handful of Onu-Matoran erupted into a wave of chuckles until Onepu, the Ussalry Commander, barked at them to return to their posts.

“You could have hurt yourself worse than the last time, my friend,” Onua gently chided. “I’m starting to fear that you’re becoming a bit-“

“Obsessed?” Nuparu muttered, sorely.

“Reckless,” Onua corrected, placing a hand on Nuparu’s head. “You know that we’re all worried about your safety.”

“I know,” the engineer said, sadly. “I was so close. So very close.”

“Pardon my quick-intrusion,” Lewa chimed in. “What exactly was our fixer-friend doing?”

“I was trying to fly.”

“Wind-Fly? Like a Gukko-Bird?”

Onua turned to Lewa. “Nuparu was quite taken by our last visit to Le-Koro. He hasn’t stopped talking about the Gukko birds since we returned.” At this, Onua affectionately patted the top of Nuparu’s head.

Nuparu spoke up, now in longer sentences. “I just wanted to see what it was like. I have seen Le-Matoran perform wondrous things in the air. Much like you do, Toa Lewa.”

Lewa could levitate, that was true, but only his control of the Wind could carry him where he chose to go. There was very little ‘flying’ involved, but that did not seem like the point-Nuparu had caught a glimpse of liberation from the ground. Lewa was, for a lack of a better term, deeply touched.

The Toa of Air walked over to the remains of the jet-backpack thing and turned a component over in his hands. He turned to Nuparu.

“Some fancy air-moves, fixer-friend. Impressive. Would you say that your study-research is incomplete?”

“A little, yes.”

Lewa stood up and clapped his hands. “Ah! Then Nuparu can join-follow me to sunny Le-Koro. Perhaps your machine-work could benefit from test-flight with Gukko Force!”

As Lewa said this, Onua studied Nuparu’s features. The Onu-Matoran looked about ready to faint.

“Me? Ride a Kahu?” Nuparu said to no one in particular.

“True-surely!” Lewa happily exclaimed. “That is, if Onua and Earth-Elder don’t mind.”

Onua smiled. “I don’t see why not. I’ll speak to Turaga Whenua when he returns. I trust that you and the Le-Matoran will take care of my friend.”

“Pray, no need for all the bad-doubt!” Lewa laughed.

Onua could not remember the last time he had seen Nuparu so pleased. Most days he looked either dejected or like he didn’t get enough sleep. Now that someone had taken a keen interest, and even an understanding, of his bold ideas, the engineer seemed to forget that he was in any danger a moment ago.

And all it took was one person.

The Toa of Earth watched happily as Nuparu led Lewa into his workshop; likely to show the Toa of Air his progress. As they laughed and chatted between themselves, Onua realised that a Toa’s duty went beyond just protecting the Matoran.

Description
Even though there was little light in Onu-Koro, the villagers were positively glowing with excitement-a trait that the Toa of Air always appreciated. During these dark times, a bit of enthusiasm now and then was always helpful. He and Onua watched as miners and guardsmen alike carted crates full of rare and exotic minerals, as tireless as they were at the start of the day.

“How about rubbing some of that life-lust onto grouchy Ice-brother?” Lewa joked, nudging Onua’s elbow. The Toa of Earth grinned. Lewa’s visits were always welcome.

“It is humble, but hardy work that we do here,” Onua said, playfully slapping his brother’s arm away. “As Turaga Whenua says, small things done well-and done together-can lead to wondrous things.”

“Earth-Elder always speaks clever-wise,” Lewa happily concurred. “I neve realised how much labour-work goes on here in deep-low village!”

“Not always work, believe me,” Onua corrected. “We have our fair share of fun; the annual Ussal Race, Koli, the usual sort.”

As Onua finished his sentence, he began to survey the scene before him again. Onepu and the soldiers of the Ussalry were here, as were most of the miners but-

“Something bad-wrong, brother?” Lewa asked.

The Toa of Earth scratched his head. “Odd. I don’t see Nuparu around here.”

“Nuparu?”

“Private First Class, Technician’s Corps. One of our finest engineers. He’s a good friend of mine but…” Onua said, in a sort of half-sigh. “It seems he’s disappeared again.”

Lewa laughed. “Perhaps our little friend is hard-labouring on some hush-secret project!”

“Perhaps. But nowadays, he’ll just vanish for days at a time. I wonder if he’s alright.”

As if the Great Spirit himself responded to Onua’s last statement, a loud bang caused the startled Toa to turn to the source. One of the village huts had seemingly exploded open, leaving a pillar of smoke from the hole on the roof. Onua was horrified to see that there was something-someone-flying out of the wreckage.

Except that someone wasn’t flying. He was headed straight for the ground.

The villager shrieked, and the Onu-Matoran gathered could only watch in horror. Onua felt himself start forward, but Lewa was faster. Even underground, the wind obeyed the whims of the Toa of Air, and he deftly leaped above the huts and caught the villager. In a manner of seconds, Lewa and the Matoran were safely back on the ground, to the relieved cheers of the Onu-Matoran.

“Thank you, Mighty Lewa.” The villager, an orange masked Matoran covered in soot and burn marks, managed to stutter. His friends in the Ussalry helped the villager to steady himself as he spoke.

Onua shook his head. “Nuparu! What happened?”

Nuparu gestured to the smoking wreckage behind him. A closer inspection revealed that his new ‘invention’ was a pair of steam pistons-the same kind used for their Excavators-welded together into some sort of backpack. All that was left, however, was a mangled wreck. Nuparu could not bring himself to turn around.

Now that their friend was safely back on the ground, a handful of Onu-Matoran erupted into a wave of chuckles until Onepu, the Ussalry Commander, barked at them to return to their posts.

“You could have hurt yourself worse than the last time, my friend,” Onua gently chided. “I’m starting to fear that you’re becoming a bit-“

“Obsessed?” Nuparu muttered, sorely.

“Reckless,” Onua corrected, placing a hand on Nuparu’s head. “You know that we’re all worried about your safety.”

“I know,” the engineer said, sadly. “I was so close. So very close.”

“Pardon my quick-intrusion,” Lewa chimed in. “What exactly was our fixer-friend doing?”

“I was trying to fly.”

“Wind-Fly? Like a Gukko-Bird?”

Onua turned to Lewa. “Nuparu was quite taken by our last visit to Le-Koro. He hasn’t stopped talking about the Gukko birds since we returned.” At this, Onua affectionately patted the top of Nuparu’s head.

Nuparu spoke up, now in longer sentences. “I just wanted to see what it was like. I have seen Le-Matoran perform wondrous things in the air. Much like you do, Toa Lewa.”

Lewa could levitate, that was true, but only his control of the Wind could carry him where he chose to go. There was very little ‘flying’ involved, but that did not seem like the point-Nuparu had caught a glimpse of liberation from the ground. Lewa was, for a lack of a better term, deeply touched.

The Toa of Air walked over to the remains of the jet-backpack thing and turned a component over in his hands. He turned to Nuparu.

“Some fancy air-moves, fixer-friend. Impressive. Would you say that your study-research is incomplete?”

“A little, yes.”

Lewa stood up and clapped his hands. “Ah! Then Nuparu can join-follow me to sunny Le-Koro. Perhaps your machine-work could benefit from test-flight with Gukko Force!”

As Lewa said this, Onua studied Nuparu’s features. The Onu-Matoran looked about ready to faint.

“Me? Ride a Kahu?” Nuparu said to no one in particular.

“True-surely!” Lewa happily exclaimed. “That is, if Onua and Earth-Elder don’t mind.”

Onua smiled. “I don’t see why not. I’ll speak to Turaga Whenua when he returns. I trust that you and the Le-Matoran will take care of my friend.”

“Pray, no need for all the bad-doubt!” Lewa laughed.

Onua could not remember the last time he had seen Nuparu so pleased. Most days he looked either dejected or like he didn’t get enough sleep. Now that someone had taken a keen interest, and even an understanding, of his bold ideas, the engineer seemed to forget that he was in any danger a moment ago.

And all it took was one person.

The Toa of Earth watched happily as Nuparu led Lewa into his workshop; likely to show the Toa of Air his progress. As they laughed and chatted between themselves, Onua realised that a Toa’s duty went beyond just protecting the Matoran.