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| - Golly. What a few days that was. Still in charge of Hewkii-Macku stuffed toy duty, I clamber out of the train, taking care to not bump the top of my head on the Agori-sized door. With the rest of my team trailing, we make good time to Haven’s residential area. It’ll be great to feel our usual mattresses after the trip. Falling onto your own bed after a vacation is an irreplaceable feeling. It’s like diving into a tub of whipped cream. Simply exquisite. Then you roll around a bit. Get that feeling all over you. And then its lost. Finally, you wish you hadn’t rolled around so much and regret ever hitting the sack. Anyways. The townspeople of Haven all part before us, giving us cheerful waves or nods, happy to have their Toa back. We, in turn, send them our greetings. Except for Tsukumi. Typical grumpy-Water-Toa behaviour. The afternoon sun blinds us as we head out from the relatively shaded station out into the open. It’s nowhere near as hot as the tropical Faxis Beach, but you could feel the summer heat pound on you. Time for the long walk home. Haven’s streets are like potatoes. Why, might you ask? Well. You know how a potato is a staple food source for a lot of people? Well. It’s kind of like that. These roads are a vital part of life- Ok, I’ll stop. Yellow brick roads, lined with iconic shops selling everything from the bare necessities to the bizarre and wondrous. I believe this is… I crane my neck back a bit… Mata Boulevard. Oh, and there were a lot of little people. Some were browsing the shops, having a blast with some new fad called “window shopping”. It was getting really popular amongst the Ga- and Vo- and the few Ce-Matoran here on Xeno Nui. The female Agori, too. Some were napping on the benches spaced at even intervals all along the road, the sun’s gentle warmth lulling them into a deep sleep. Still others were wandering around, doing whatever it was villagers do. Jaywalking, picking their noses, that sort of thing. And there was one final contingent of townsmen who didn’t fall into any of those categories. Those would be the many tens of townspeople cheering as my group of Toa return to Haven. To home. Truth be told, reactions were mixed in our group. Anzix and Kaixin were loving it. They elbowed themselves in front of me and waved back, cheering along with the Matoran and Agori. Amea hung near the back, a slightly sour look on her mask, clearly annoyed by all the noise. And Tsukumi, “Mary”, and I? Eh. Well. We could take or leave it, all this attention. And now Anzix was giving out autographs, signing everything from slips of paper to foreheads. Ridiculous. We’re Toa, not movie stars. Let people like Thom Sail handle this sort of fame. “C’mere, Anzix, move alon- Oh? Who do we have here?” “Xaedan, let’s go,” Tsukumi moans with a lengthy yawn. “I haven’t slept a wink last night or on the train and I’m so tired, I want to throw up.” When Tsukumi threatens to eject bodily fluids, man, oh man, you know you’ve got an emergency on your hands. “Ok, fine, fine. You guys go on without me. Don’t spill it, Tsukumi. You’re a big girl, now.” With a wave of my hand, I dismiss my team. “Don’t take long now, Xae,” “Mary” quips with a twitch of her tail as she turns away and follows the others as they head down Emerald Avenue. “So,” I begin anew. “Who do we have here?” Well, allow me to answer my own question. There’s a petite Ga-Matoran wearing a Pakari. And she’s familiar. I can’t quite put my finger on where I’ve seen her before… but I know this isn’t the first time we’ve met. Jeez, the little people all look so similar. “Uh, I was the Matoran who gave you that flower… Name’s Seras? Remember me...?” “Aha! She speaks! I’ll have you know, I still have that rose. It’s a bit wilted, sure, but I kept it.” The Ga-Matoran smiles broadly. “That’s great to know. Say, Toa, mind helping me out with something?” I sigh with a hint of a wry grin on mask. Taking a page out of Tsukumi’s book, yes, I’m just as tired as she is. But, at the end of the day, Toa are Toa and Matoran are Matoran. We live to serve. “Of course, Seras, fire away. No pun intended.” “Ok, so, so, a bunch of my friends went to the south Poplar Forest Hills for a camp. Great place, by the way. Found all sorts of thing, like, um… There was a deciduous fox’s den… Yeah, and we found a Earth Gafna… and a pile of Muaka droppings...” “Yes?” I gently motion for the Matoran to get back on track. She clears her throat. “Anyways. Yeah. I left something really important there, and it’d be great if I could have some assistance with that. You know, find it.” Understandable. I’ve always lost all sorts of things as a Matoran. Thank Mata Nui “Mary” has long-term memory. I nod. “Sure, I can help. Or, better yet, I’ll grab the rest of the team. After all, we’re all wide-awake and rarin’ to go!” I stifle a yawn. “Great” the Matoran replied brightly. “Be on the lookout for a stick.” Suddenly, I feel the urge to barf. “A… stick?” I can only imagine the look of disgust on my mask right now. “No, hear me out!” Seras laughs. “Do you know what a walking stick is?” I immediately think of the cane that old Po-Matoran was using. With a quick glance at this sprightly Ga-Matoran, I eject that image from my head. That couldn’t be right. “Maybe you know them as trekking poles? But walking stick sounds so much better,” the Ga-Matoran continues. “Uh. Then, I’m guessing a trekking pole is something you’d use to help yourself walk during a tough trail?” “Yeah! Exactly. I had mine carved with the names of all my buddies and I’d hate to lose it. We spent almost a week up there and that’s really the only thing I can bring home. I forgot my camera at home, sadly.” “Yeah, sure. I’ll wake up the other guys and we can be on our way.” Seras raises a finger. “Didn’t you say you were, I quote, rarin’ to go? And why would the others be sleeping? It’s noon.” I laugh. “Some of us, apparently, need sleep to control their digestive systems.” File:Tsukumisig.png “Up! Up and at ‘em! Come on, Bubbles! Leeeettt’s go!” Stop. There are several things wrong with this scene. Ok. Let’s take a step back here. A big step back. First. I’m snuggled deep beneath a mountain of quilts sleeping. After just fifteen minutes of shut-eye, I’m yelled at to get up. That’s the first issue. Second. It’s Xaedan who’s yelling at me. Tremendous problem, will be rectified shortly. Third. He isn’t just screaming from outside the front door. No. He’s at my bedroom window, hollering at the top of his lungs. I don’t know how he got that high, and I really, really don’t care. He’s gonna have to prepare for a long fall when I get over there. And fourth. “What did you just call me, maggot?” “Nothing, Zucchini. Step it up, we’ve got places to be.” That fire-spitter. That maggot. He is so dead. Fumbling around with eyes still resolutely shut, I grab the closest thing I can wrap my fingers around and hurl it, hopefully towards the window. There is a bit of silence after my throw. Did I do it? Did I hit Xaedan? I didn’t hear any thumps or grunts of pain... “Kaixin was right. Winston is pretty cute.” Super ultra great delicious wonderful crap. I jump to my feet. “Give him back! Gimme Winston back!” “Will you come with us if I do?” I grunt. “I won’t kill you if you give him back.” Xaedan drops my teddy bear as if it were a red-hot bar of iron. I scuttle over and inspect Winston. No bits of fluff missing, check. No broken stitches, check. “Count yourself lucky, maggot,” I grumble at him with narrowed eyes. “If even one, just one, thread was outta place, I’d have killed you a hundred times over by now.” Xaedan just cocks his head. “You’re an interesting person, Tsukumi.” I stop cuddling Winston and look up. “What?” “Well, I mean, one minute you’re like a kid, begging for a stuffed toy. Then you threaten to murder me.” With a huff, I knock him off his feet with a well-aimed blast of water. And this time around, I give a satisfied nod as I hear the thud when he landed on the ground below. Well, I am wide awake now, no point in going back to bed. Might as well go along with whatever stupid thing Xaedan’s cooked up. Gingerly, I replace Winston on my bedside table, where he sits proudly, flanked by Hewkii and Macku. Mmmm. They’re just so adorable. File:Xaedansig.png Tsukumi kicks the door close with the heel of her foot, only to immediately dive back inside her house. I peer inside to find her leaving out a day’s worth of food for Margaret, who magically reappeared back in Haven. The Swamp Stalker’s combined lunch and dinner consisted of several two-by-four planks of lumber, a dead Husi, and what appeared to be rocks. Yes, rocks. You’ve got to give credit where it’s due; that Rahi’s stomach could handle anything. The real question is, would all that last long enough? Margaret's already inhaling her… ah… food, if that stuff really could be called edible. “Ready! Let’s go. Xaedan, pull that on me again and you’ll fall not onto the ground, but into the underworld.” Tsukumi finally steps out of her home while securely tying the strikingly blue sash around her waist. “Yes, yes, I’ve learned my lesson.” I throw a wink at “Mary" who grins widely back at me. Since she’s the tallest of us, I simply stood on her shoulders to I could peek in Tsukumi’s second story. Also with me is Kaixin and Anzix. Kaixin, surprisingly, was still awake and answered my knocks on her door without too much of a fuss. Apparently, she’s hyperactive enough to not need sleep. Anzix was found passed out on the floor of his bedroom and no amount of shaking or punching could wake him up. In the end, Kaixin froze his head in a block of ice. And “Mary”, of course, is always with me. I had no need to find her. “And I assume this is Tsukumi?” Seras pokes her head from behind me. “Nice to meet you, Toa of Water.” “Likewise, uh…” “Seras.” “And who’s that behind you?” “Oh, this fellow? He’s a friend of mine.” Jata sidles out and waves a hand. “Happy-glad to see you all again.” Seras raises an eyebrow. “You know them?” “Yeah, sure. Had a happy-cheer time with the Toa-heroes recently. Lost of crash-bangs. Very fun.” Before Tsukumi even can open her mouth, Kaixin interjects. “Don’t worry, I’ve told Jata to keep his shenanigans to himself for today. He knows the southern hills better than any of us, we need his experience on this one. Plus, he was with Seras during her camping trip, he can help us on our search.” Anzix nods agreement. “Yeah. Jata’s not with any of the mercenaries this time. He’ll be a good boy.” “Then it’s settled.” I motion for everyone to follow. “Let’s go fetch Amea now.” “The library?” “Yeah, “Mary”. Anzix said that Amea already slept some on the train ride home so she decided to read for a bit.” The library. I seemed like it was only two days ago when Tsukumi and I put out the fire that ravaged the building. Oh, wait. It was. The townspeople worked fast. True, damage was minimal, but it was like the library had never been burnt at all. If anything, it looks newer and sturdier than ever. No trace of smoke lingered, only the musty smell of paper. The destroyed bookcases had been replaced by identical ones, but the books, or rather, lack thereof, themselves left a gaping cavity on the shelves. Knowledge was the only thing that the builders couldn’t replicate. “Jata, let go of my leg.” “B-but… that Toa-villain scares me!” “I assure you, she’s just as scary to me,” Anzix replies. “But we must be brave. We can’t let ourselves be defeated by the likes of her!” “By who, now?” The two stooges froze, already knowing full well whose voice that was. “Hey, Amea. Whatcha doin’?” Kaixin greets Amea with a fist clank. “Reading.” “Well… that was informative. What were you reading, then?” Atop the table Amea was at not a minute ago sat a thin, pelt-bound book with gold-trimmed pages, an antique, intricately carved lightstone stand, and a whole lot of dust. Amea simply shrugs. “Stuff. I just like reading.” “Uh, hi.” The Sonics Toa looks down to see a Ga-Matoran waving. Amea tentatively raises her arm in response. “Who’s this? Is she working for Anzix?” “Oh, heavens, no. Jata here has been telling me all about his wild journeys with Anzix, I’m really not cut out for that kind of work. I’m a biologist, not an adventurer. The name’s Seras.” “That’s a nice name. I’m Amea, Anzix’s wife. A pleasure meeting you, Seras.” Oh? Anzix and Amea have reached that level already? That was fast. “No she isn’t!” Anzix hollers back. “Trust nothing she says! She’s a witch, I tell you! A witch!” Jata chimes in. “It’s true, I can fact-prove it. One time, when the Boss was ever-quick stealth-sneaking into Kaixin’s house-” “Wooooahhh there, son. Let’s stop this before you or Anzix gets maimed by Amea,” I cut the Le-Matoran off, nipping off this awkward discussion’s bud before it could grow any further. Seras coughs nervously. “So, uh, Amea, ma’am. I was wondering if you could join along in the search for my walking stick. I know it sounds stupid, but, uh, it’s important to me. Xaedan and the rest of the your team have decided to go, too.” Seras seems just as scared as Anzix and Jata are of the Sonics Toa now. “But, I mean,” the Ga-Matoran hastily blurts, “If you don’t want to… that’s fine…” “Of course I’m going with you, I need to keep an eye… a close eye on Anzix.” Tsukumi claps her hands, bringing everyone’s gazes to settle on her. “Then it’s settled. We all go, with Seras and Jata leading the way.” “Mary” nods happily. “Never been. Should be a pleasant experience.” She grabs my hand and marches forward, falling into step behind the two Matoran. And the lot of us plod on, the hot, afternoon sun in our face, glaringly bright, the strong, summer heat wearing us down, and lack of sleep threatening to make a few of us throw up at any minute. Mata Nui help any old Po-Matoran that dares bar our way.
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