quakeandpals

[quakeandpals]

Who would you say is your closest friend among the dark hunters?

I would have to say Charger, as of recently. He’s just got this pure, no fucks given attitude that I find really helpful to be around. Plus he’s a surprisingly good listener who actually gives some some decent advice if you listen to him long enough. He’s also the only one here I can spar with and really not have to worry about holding back.

Bedrock was someone I considered a very close friend as well. He really understood a lot of my problems and I some of his. Unfortunately, I have no idea where he is.

[quakeandpals]

what was, in your opinion, the most disastrous mission in the history of the dark hunters?

I would be remiss not to mention Thok’s attempt to kidnap Turaga Dume, in the years prior to the war in Metru Nui. That mission was a comedy of errors, and I can hardly believe Thok managed to return to Odina in one piece. But that will be a story for another day, because it is only the second most disastrous mission. That honor goes to Subterranean’s negotiations with the frostelus.

I took note of the frostelus when Ancient watched them besiege the Makoki Fortress. They were vicious and unpredictable warriors, who seemed to shrug off any physical attack. Any creature that can so effortlessly destroy Toa is a creature I want on my side.

During the war with the Brotherhood, I was in need of all the allies I could get. Koradak begged me to let him negotiate, but I doubted the frostelus would respect his genteel, mild-mannered affect. After all, they were Rahi, and ugly ones at that – possibly mutated by hordika venom. I decided to send Subterranean in his stead, in the hopes that the frostelus would see some common ground between them.

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[quakeandpals]

Oh yeah, Makuta Bamboozling! Those were great times! I remember when Quake and I got a turn and we basically reinvented whack-a-mole.

She had caught this crab Rahi that throws sand in the air to distract or blind predators before escaping. Don’t remember where she got it from. She had the idea that we coat its shell in lightstone dust to make it stand out before putting it in Vamprah’s path. When he spotted the dust’s shine and swooped in, the crab would throw up the sand and I would pull it underground with my earth powers.

You ever see a Makuta sit on dirt for a few seconds, trying to comprehend how a shiny crustacean managed to vanish in front of him? We have. It’s magical.

When Vamprah flew off, we’d move the Rahi and repeat the process. He swooped in at least four times before he gave up. At that point our sides were killing us.

- Bedrock

Vamprah was the Makuta assigned to Odina, were there ever any interactions with him?

To describe Vamprah as an absent ruler would be putting it lightly. The Makuta had no love for conversation, diplomacy, or politics of any kind… which, I presume, is why he was assigned to a collection of wild islands with no known civilizations.

The most dangerous thing about Vamprah was his love of hunting. His goal was to design the perfect Rahi to hunt, and he spent millennia creating such quarries and releasing them into our province. Let me tell you, we ate well for many years off of Vamprah’s big game.

However, there was always the threat that Vamprah might come to Odina on a hunt, and stumble across our hidden enterprise. My solution was to make Odina a dismal, unpleasant place for him to hunt. Whenever Minion detected his approach, I would assign several Dark Hunters to hide among the wilderness and sabotage Vamprah’s day out. We would do our very best to make his hunts either so easy they were unsatisfying, or so punishingly difficult that he walked away with nothing.

Despite my operatives’ best efforts, Vamprah was never one to give up. Once I realized he wouldn’t stop coming to Odina, we shifted gears and changed our goals: instead of ruining his hunts, the Dark Hunters just had to keep him directed away from the hidden fortress. Naturally, they still tried their hardest to ruin his day. Towards the end of our time on Odina, “Makuta-hunting” became a widely known and enjoyed pastime, and I had to actually regulate taking turns on the duty.

[quakeandpals]

Salas waited for what felt like a long time. True to the Ghost’s words, the snowfall and fog vanished and the skies cleared in a matter of minutes. Drawing a haggard breath, she reached into her bag and begun looking for a Kanoka to heal her and Kaksos’ frostbites.

“Lucky I begun looking into these things back in New Atero,” the glatorian muttered, drawing a healing Kanoka. “The idea of hitting things with over-sized metal plates to fix them is dumb, but whatever works, works, I guess...”

...

The iron tribal gingerly stretched her fingers as the healing energy slowly dissipated. Aside from being cold, her frostbites were completely gone, just like Kaksos’ were. The spikit, meanwhile, wagged its stubby tail while it happily paced around the glatorian, glad that it’s injuries were gone.

“So, that just leaves...” Salas glanced over to the frozen Toa, and sighed. “The idiot.”

Part of her considered heeding the Ghost’s words, just leave him and walk off with Kaksos and the Baranus, even if he’d try to chase after her in rage. But, to tell the truth... life as a bandit has been boring. And if the Dark Hunters were going to be destroyed soon anyway, so what? Might as well, right?

She put her thoughts aside and trudged over the melting snow, pulling out a weaken disk from her pack. Red and level seven. That should be enough. Loading the launcher with a click, she took aim from point-blank and fired, shattering the ice into pieces.

“-it from some edgy wannabe with a fake mask-!” Bedrock sputtered, before realizing the Ghost and the storm were both gone. “...what?”

“I froze you with a Kanoka and the Ice-Toa left,” Salas sighed as Bedrock turned his head towards her before dragging himself up. “You know, because all that took us from getting out of the situation was for you to shut your m-”

“You let him get away?” He seethed, stumbling a bit on his bad leg.

The glatorian stared at him blankly, then flabbergasted as the words register. “I... I’m sorry, what?”

“You heard me,” Bedrock leveled his hand at the mace on the ground, floating it to his hand and sheathing it. “You just let him walk off like that?”

“I- e- as opposed to what, attacking him??” Her eyes widened, in disbelief at his audacity. “That would’ve been suicide!”

“And then I could’ve blinded him with shadow so he couldn’t see what he was doing!” The Toa shoved past her, stumbling again towards the Baranus. “Now, he knows we’re Hunters and will probably spread our appearances to everyone!”

“Or, he would’ve snapped his fingers, turned us into ice statues, smash us into bits and walk off to spread our deaths to everyone!” The glatorian countered. The spikit glanced between the two, whining slightly.

“Not if we beat him before he could!” He flipped the vehicle over onto its wheels.

“Oh my f- you know what, whatever,” she rolled her eyes, and walked up to get the bags and other items scattered during the skirmish. “I don’t have the energy to deal with you right now...” Kaksos looked between her and Bedrock before it trotted up and followed after her.

In a moment, the chariot was ready, Bedrock’s more critical wounds were fixed and the spikit pulled the two silently sulking Hunters towards Creep Canyon over the melting drifts of snow.

Hunters in the Drifts

“I’m surprised you never asked about the whole Shadow thing.”

Salas glances over to him. “What do you mean?”

Bedrock blinks, swiveling his head at her as the Baranus Chariot rolled forwards, Kaksos trotting down the woodland road at a casual running pace. “What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“…yeah? What do you?” Salas asks, puzzled. “Is that not normal?”

“Oh, god no,” Bedrock shakes his head. “Controlling more than one element is pretty much impossible unless it’s because of some experiment or forced fusion with another Toa - controlling Shadow is the most blatant sign that someone is evil. Only ones who can do that are Makuta, some Rahkshi, and Toa of Shadow.”

Salas doesn’t say anything, staring at Bedrock expectantly.

“…right, not from our world,” he says. “I forgot.” Bedrock glances at the road in front of them absentmindedly. Nothing ahead. “So in summation, Toa of Shadow are Toa who lost their inner light. Inner light, in turn, is one half of the being’s moral balance between good and bad - the other one being inner shadow. Obviously, most people lean towards one of them, but it’s theorized that there is some way to forcibly topple the balance when the being is significantly more of the one or the other. When that happens, that person supposedly gains access to the element that’s more prominent and his personality changes to reflect that.”

The Glatorian nods in understanding. “And I’m gonna assume that Shadow is more prominent since it’s easier to be bad.” Bedrock nods. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“I read about it,” he shrugs. “I got interested in it on account of my abilities, so… you know.”

“Alright then. So how is that done?”

“That’s the thing,” the Toa of Earth explains: “no one knows how it’s done. Just that they’re confident that it can be done. Beings other than Makuta who can control Shadow are known to have existed in the past, but nobody has the faintest clue as to how they got into that state. Beings controlling Light have never been known to exist, but it’s commonly accepted that they can be if the same requirements are met, as well as th-”

“Hold on,” Salas interrupts. “What about you?”

Bedrock glances at her.

“How do you control both Shadow and Earth, and top of it not just one of those?”

Soft, hungry chirping rings behind Bedrock’s ear. The woodland around the chariot darkens, transforming into a̵ da͜ŗk͡ ͝c̶a̸ve̶ ͜fu͜ll o̶f̸ h͠iś d̵èaḑ ͘brothers҉ it͜’͘ś yo̧u̸r̴ ͞fa͢u͏lt͡ y̢͍o̸̙̱̟̮̱͗u̟͆ͮ̓̉̔ͦć̙͉͂̿̅̔ö̸́͒͛̋ͥú̳̰͍̮l̴̟͚̗͖͈̲ͮͭd̢͈̳̱͒͒ͯ̃v͋̊ͧ̓̈ͩ͜ẹͪͤ̆̚s̺̪͖͙̭̃͗̇̎͗ͭ͒a̸̤̠̟̖̻̝͕͋v̯͕̝̫̩̈́̓͐͑ͪͧȩ͙̞ďͭ̎̿͏͓t̾͊hͭ̊͑ͮ͗ͣ̍͏͎̹ͅe̸̦̹̔̅̂̍ͧ̆́m͔͚͓̭̙͂͊̿̄̓̀͘ȁ̟̪̽̓ǹ̩̗̜̤͎̿̂d̢̥̼̣͚̐ͣ̈́ͩ͆ͧy̨̖̰̝͎̺̙̑͑͑̾ͮo͙ͥͪ͐̒̔u̔ͮ̔̾͝d̞̰̗̩̾ͦ͑̒ͥi̛̼̻͚͙̦͌͂ͫd̦̦̂́̃̀̚͞n̗ͮ̈́ͨ̂t̙̘̣͖̥̥͑̒ͫ͐͒͢ ť̴̛̻͉̞͚̤̺ͦ̄͊̍ͧh̳̮̪̪̭ͤ̐ë̡̘̻̇̆̄͑̒̌͜͠y͔̬̥̲͙̩̒͂͘l̬̙̰̈́̈́ͣͤ͋̓̎̍͂͢ó̸͖̞̗͎͓̀ͮ̀̊͟v̧̠̬̀͋e͚̤̰͎̳̥ͦͦͧ̂͗̊͑̕͢d̢̰͈̩͒ͤ̅͞ẙͬ̀҉̛̫̝̟o̹̫̟̱̩̮̦͗ͩ́̔̆̉̕͢͟u̷̮̪ͣ́̚ă̡͕̗̋ͮ͛͗̆ͨ̊͜ṋ̵̡̗̜̐̿̎͟d̴̹͓͍̮͎̍̽̏̍ͭ̓͟ŷ͙͍͓̪̽ͮͦ̔͒ͬ̂͡o͈ͦ̐̐̄ͥͭ̍̐úͫ̉ͥ͊̐͊͌͏̡̺̗k̴̰̞ͤ̐ͭͮͩͬ̏ͨ͜ȋ̴͕̩̮̪̮̂̑̆ͫ̅̄̀l̟̥͔͓͓͕̹̞͔ͮ̈́̅ͨ̚l̵̘̪͚͙̹̣̒̈́͂̚͟͞ȩ̨͇̝͙̞̖̳̩͆̍̊ḑ̤̗̰͖̦̟̺ͬ̔͆͒t͉̼̋͜͞ȟ̷̜̞̻̗͉̩͑͗̉͋̐̌̓̚ḙ̢̘̟̜̙͔͚̭́̀ͪ̒ͦ̎ͫ̀m̨̢͍͈̝ͭ̏͂ͪ̈̑̚̕a͚͉͚̪͆ͧ́͘l̸̢̥͓͙̮̹̲̗̫͓̆̂̎͐͊̌l̠̥̯̫̪͉̰͛̆͋̉̅̍̍͜ a̸̺͔̞̽͗ͨö̵̫̱̈́̄ͥ͟å͔̘̆̊̍̋̇̇o̫̝ͣ̅́̂͒͒ͭ͝͡£͇̬̭̰̤̖̗͚ͪͭ̂̓ͮ̿̄͒́ £ͧ̉̋̏̏̽̊͗͌ͮ͐̈ͮ̎ͣ̍ͤ̿҉͔̱̤͕̳͖͚̤̗͖͍͓͈̹̮̦́͡£̶̼͙͙̼̮̟̓ͬ̓ͭͮ̓͛̔̈́ͨ̊͋̓ͫ͋́̚̚͡€̵̨̬̙͓̼͕ͣͮͯ̿̀̈ͣ̆̎̓̔͐͛£̧̙̻͓̗̥̪̩̃̀͑ͣ̎̓̇ͪͬ̌́͊͆̄̇͐͗̉́͠͝€̵͎̳̗̜̫̝̮͔̖̮͈͎̗̥̗̊͋̽ͤ̎͑ͨ͊ͦ́̕£̢̯̥̺̺͚͈͔͗̒̍̋̄ͩͥ̀̕͢ͅ$̛̮̻̪͔͉̺̯̺̙̹̫̠̺̍̀ͧ̈̅ͩ̿́ͥͤ͟£̡̹̮̜͉̦̙̙̄̂͋ͪ̋͗ͣͩͬͭ͐ͬ͑̎ͨͥ͡ͅ€̴͆̎̅͗ͯ͆̆̈̄̌̔̿̅ͨ̚͟͝͏̘̭̼̖͕̟̗̪̲͎£̸̴͊̿͋͊͑̌́́͏͇̘͙͔̞̗$̷̨͚̰̹̯̥̬̮͖͔̫̩̎̽̑ͦ̈́̍̆̍͆̏̍͂̄̆ͧ͗̌̈͢͡ͅ£̢̮͙̱̂̊̍ͯ͑͒ͧͮ̿͜͟͡€ͤ͑̐ͤ̍̋̅͊̑͐ͭͦ҉̶́͝҉̼͉̪͔̪̥̪̬͓̖͎̳͓̩̹͖̳£̧ͩ̇ͣͥ̔ͮͧ̓ͦ͡͏̦͇͙̤͉̲̭̜͙̰̳̱̠͓̬̞͝$͍̠̪̦͖̯̜͇͈̣̤͈̥̤ͦͩͦ̐̀ͦ̊̕͢͞͝£͕̖͔̩͙̐ͧ̔ͥ̑̒́̏͆̕͢͢ͅ€̧̏̃̄̔̔̆̒̓̒͒͗ͪ̑͏̷̭̮̲̫̬̙͎̤͈͜-̷̛̫̖͍̟̲̼͖͕̪̮͖̭̝̬͚̥̓̋̉̊ͭͭͩ́͜͠

���I don’t know,” Bedrock answers. “I just… found out I could one day, but it was very long time ago.”

Salas squints. “How old are you?”

“…I… we, actually… are really old,” Bedrock words awkwardly, anticipating that Salas has never heard of any events that have happened inside the Great Spirit Robot. “I honestly don’t know by exact, since I never celebrated naming day.”

“What is-”

Salas interrupts herself with a sneeze. Cursing under her breath, she notices her gauntlet and the chariot looking oddly… frosted?

She looks down at herself, and her gunmetal grey armor is the same, paling as cold creeps onto it. Bedrock notices it on his hands too and runs a finger across the side of the modified Garai he’s wearing, gathering up a small concentration of frost on his finger tip. Around them, the trees and their leafs are wilting and the wind has picked up the pace - and as if on cue, the chariot leaves the forest and enters an open field - which is covered in snow raining down on from the dark sky, their Spikit shaking and whining quietly from the cold and eyeing the landscape for shelter with it’s heads.

The two stare at each other, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, before either of them can say anything, the wind violently picks up and the chariot is toppled, throwing both Dark Hunters and Kaksos into the snow.

@ghost-of-destiny

[quakeandpals]

[quakeandpals]

“I don’t take sh-” Bedrock glowered, before the Ghost threw the mace at his chest. He raised his arm to catch the weapon but was too slow - it smashed into his chest with a loud crunch, creating a large crack across his chest plate. The Dark Hunter staggered backwards with a cry of pain and fell into the snow.

“O-oh, g-god d-damn it,” Salas seethed, fumbling with the disks to reload her launcher again.

Groaning, Bedrock failed to pull himself up from the ground - the frozen arm effectively rendered him monoplegic and his bad leg hurt like hell whenever he moved it. His eyes flickering red, he raised the free hand at the Toa of Ice.

“I said, I don’t take sh-”

A disk shattered into the side of Bedrock’s head and his entire body was flash-frozen under a thick sheet of ice.

“O-okay, th-the i-i-idiot is d-down,” Salas turned to level the empty Kanoka launcher at Ghost while leaning against the still downed but alive Kaksos, her teeth chattering. “P-please s-st-stop th-the s-sto-storm b-b-bef-before we fr-fre-fr-freeze-ze to d-d-death.”

Hunters in the Drifts

“I’m surprised you never asked about the whole Shadow thing.”

Salas glances over to him. “What do you mean?”

Bedrock blinks, swiveling his head at her as the Baranus Chariot rolled forwards, Kaksos trotting down the woodland road at a casual running pace. “What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“…yeah? What do you?” Salas asks, puzzled. “Is that not normal?”

“Oh, god no,” Bedrock shakes his head. “Controlling more than one element is pretty much impossible unless it’s because of some experiment or forced fusion with another Toa - controlling Shadow is the most blatant sign that someone is evil. Only ones who can do that are Makuta, some Rahkshi, and Toa of Shadow.”

Salas doesn’t say anything, staring at Bedrock expectantly.

“…right, not from our world,” he says. “I forgot.” Bedrock glances at the road in front of them absentmindedly. Nothing ahead. “So in summation, Toa of Shadow are Toa who lost their inner light. Inner light, in turn, is one half of the being’s moral balance between good and bad - the other one being inner shadow. Obviously, most people lean towards one of them, but it’s theorized that there is some way to forcibly topple the balance when the being is significantly more of the one or the other. When that happens, that person supposedly gains access to the element that’s more prominent and his personality changes to reflect that.”

The Glatorian nods in understanding. “And I’m gonna assume that Shadow is more prominent since it’s easier to be bad.” Bedrock nods. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“I read about it,” he shrugs. “I got interested in it on account of my abilities, so… you know.”

“Alright then. So how is that done?”

“That’s the thing,” the Toa of Earth explains: “no one knows how it’s done. Just that they’re confident that it can be done. Beings other than Makuta who can control Shadow are known to have existed in the past, but nobody has the faintest clue as to how they got into that state. Beings controlling Light have never been known to exist, but it’s commonly accepted that they can be if the same requirements are met, as well as th-”

“Hold on,” Salas interrupts. “What about you?”

Bedrock glances at her.

“How do you control both Shadow and Earth, and top of it not just one of those?”

Soft, hungry chirping rings behind Bedrock’s ear. The woodland around the chariot darkens, transforming into a̵ da͜ŗk͡ ͝c̶a̸ve̶ ͜fu͜ll o̶f̸ h͠iś d̵èaḑ ͘brothers҉ it͜’͘ś yo̧u̸r̴ ͞fa͢u͏lt͡ y̢͍o̸̙̱̟̮̱͗u̟͆ͮ̓̉̔ͦć̙͉͂̿̅̔ö̸́͒͛̋ͥú̳̰͍̮l̴̟͚̗͖͈̲ͮͭd̢͈̳̱͒͒ͯ̃v͋̊ͧ̓̈ͩ͜ẹͪͤ̆̚s̺̪͖͙̭̃͗̇̎͗ͭ͒a̸̤̠̟̖̻̝͕͋v̯͕̝̫̩̈́̓͐͑ͪͧȩ͙̞ďͭ̎̿͏͓t̾͊hͭ̊͑ͮ͗ͣ̍͏͎̹ͅe̸̦̹̔̅̂̍ͧ̆́m͔͚͓̭̙͂͊̿̄̓̀͘ȁ̟̪̽̓ǹ̩̗̜̤͎̿̂d̢̥̼̣͚̐ͣ̈́ͩ͆ͧy̨̖̰̝͎̺̙̑͑͑̾ͮo͙ͥͪ͐̒̔u̔ͮ̔̾͝d̞̰̗̩̾ͦ͑̒ͥi̛̼̻͚͙̦͌͂ͫd̦̦̂́̃̀̚͞n̗ͮ̈́ͨ̂t̙̘̣͖̥̥͑̒ͫ͐͒͢ ť̴̛̻͉̞͚̤̺ͦ̄͊̍ͧh̳̮̪̪̭ͤ̐ë̡̘̻̇̆̄͑̒̌͜͠y͔̬̥̲͙̩̒͂͘l̬̙̰̈́̈́ͣͤ͋̓̎̍͂͢ó̸͖̞̗͎͓̀ͮ̀̊͟v̧̠̬̀͋e͚̤̰͎̳̥ͦͦͧ̂͗̊͑̕͢d̢̰͈̩͒ͤ̅͞ẙͬ̀҉̛̫̝̟o̹̫̟̱̩̮̦͗ͩ́̔̆̉̕͢͟u̷̮̪ͣ́̚ă̡͕̗̋ͮ͛͗̆ͨ̊͜ṋ̵̡̗̜̐̿̎͟d̴̹͓͍̮͎̍̽̏̍ͭ̓͟ŷ͙͍͓̪̽ͮͦ̔͒ͬ̂͡o͈ͦ̐̐̄ͥͭ̍̐úͫ̉ͥ͊̐͊͌͏̡̺̗k̴̰̞ͤ̐ͭͮͩͬ̏ͨ͜ȋ̴͕̩̮̪̮̂̑̆ͫ̅̄̀l̟̥͔͓͓͕̹̞͔ͮ̈́̅ͨ̚l̵̘̪͚͙̹̣̒̈́͂̚͟͞ȩ̨͇̝͙̞̖̳̩͆̍̊ḑ̤̗̰͖̦̟̺ͬ̔͆͒t͉̼̋͜͞ȟ̷̜̞̻̗͉̩͑͗̉͋̐̌̓̚ḙ̢̘̟̜̙͔͚̭́̀ͪ̒ͦ̎ͫ̀m̨̢͍͈̝ͭ̏͂ͪ̈̑̚̕a͚͉͚̪͆ͧ́͘l̸̢̥͓͙̮̹̲̗̫͓̆̂̎͐͊̌l̠̥̯̫̪͉̰͛̆͋̉̅̍̍͜ a̸̺͔̞̽͗ͨö̵̫̱̈́̄ͥ͟å͔̘̆̊̍̋̇̇o̫̝ͣ̅́̂͒͒ͭ͝͡£͇̬̭̰̤̖̗͚ͪͭ̂̓ͮ̿̄͒́ £ͧ̉̋̏̏̽̊͗͌ͮ͐̈ͮ̎ͣ̍ͤ̿҉͔̱̤͕̳͖͚̤̗͖͍͓͈̹̮̦́͡£̶̼͙͙̼̮̟̓ͬ̓ͭͮ̓͛̔̈́ͨ̊͋̓ͫ͋́̚̚͡€̵̨̬̙͓̼͕ͣͮͯ̿̀̈ͣ̆̎̓̔͐͛£̧̙̻͓̗̥̪̩̃̀͑ͣ̎̓̇ͪͬ̌́͊͆̄̇͐͗̉́͠͝€̵͎̳̗̜̫̝̮͔̖̮͈͎̗̥̗̊͋̽ͤ̎͑ͨ͊ͦ́̕£̢̯̥̺̺͚͈͔͗̒̍̋̄ͩͥ̀̕͢ͅ$̛̮̻̪͔͉̺̯̺̙̹̫̠̺̍̀ͧ̈̅ͩ̿́ͥͤ͟£̡̹̮̜͉̦̙̙̄̂͋ͪ̋͗ͣͩͬͭ͐ͬ͑̎ͨͥ͡ͅ€̴͆̎̅͗ͯ͆̆̈̄̌̔̿̅ͨ̚͟͝͏̘̭̼̖͕̟̗̪̲͎£̸̴͊̿͋͊͑̌́́͏͇̘͙͔̞̗$̷̨͚̰̹̯̥̬̮͖͔̫̩̎̽̑ͦ̈́̍̆̍͆̏̍͂̄̆ͧ͗̌̈͢͡ͅ£̢̮͙̱̂̊̍ͯ͑͒ͧͮ̿͜͟͡€ͤ͑̐ͤ̍̋̅͊̑͐ͭͦ҉̶́͝҉̼͉̪͔̪̥̪̬͓̖͎̳͓̩̹͖̳£̧ͩ̇ͣͥ̔ͮͧ̓ͦ͡͏̦͇͙̤͉̲̭̜͙̰̳̱̠͓̬̞͝$͍̠̪̦͖̯̜͇͈̣̤͈̥̤ͦͩͦ̐̀ͦ̊̕͢͞͝£͕̖͔̩͙̐ͧ̔ͥ̑̒́̏͆̕͢͢ͅ€̧̏̃̄̔̔̆̒̓̒͒͗ͪ̑͏̷̭̮̲̫̬̙͎̤͈͜-̷̛̫̖͍̟̲̼͖͕̪̮͖̭̝̬͚̥̓̋̉̊ͭͭͩ́͜͠

“I don’t know,” Bedrock answers. “I just… found out I could one day, but it was very long time ago.”

Salas squints. “How old are you?”

“…I… we, actually… are really old,” Bedrock words awkwardly, anticipating that Salas has never heard of any events that have happened inside the Great Spirit Robot. “I honestly don’t know by exact, since I never celebrated naming day.”

“What is-”

Salas interrupts herself with a sneeze. Cursing under her breath, she notices her gauntlet and the chariot looking oddly… frosted?

She looks down at herself, and her gunmetal grey armor is the same, paling as cold creeps onto it. Bedrock notices it on his hands too and runs a finger across the side of the modified Garai he’s wearing, gathering up a small concentration of frost on his finger tip. Around them, the trees and their leafs are wilting and the wind has picked up the pace - and as if on cue, the chariot leaves the forest and enters an open field - which is covered in snow raining down on from the dark sky, their Spikit shaking and whining quietly from the cold and eyeing the landscape for shelter with it’s heads.

The two stare at each other, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, before either of them can say anything, the wind violently picks up and the chariot is toppled, throwing both Dark Hunters and Kaksos into the snow.

@ghost-of-destiny

[quakeandpals]

Bedrock turned to Ghost, eyes hazy and unfocused as the Toa of Ice spoke something he didn’t register. He gripped the mace in his hand as his mouth contorting into a grimace.

“N-nobody,” he rasped, “makes a fool of-”

The beam of ice shot out of Ghost’s palm and struck Bedrock in the shoulder, coating the left side of his body in chilling ice. With a furious cry, he threw the Protosteel weapon at Ghost as hard as he could, only for it to miss by an arm’s length... and as Bedrock raised a hand, the weapon spun backwards at the Toa’s head.

Hunters in the Drifts

“I’m surprised you never asked about the whole Shadow thing.”

Salas glances over to him. “What do you mean?”

Bedrock blinks, swiveling his head at her as the Baranus Chariot rolled forwards, Kaksos trotting down the woodland road at a casual running pace. “What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“…yeah? What do you?” Salas asks, puzzled. “Is that not normal?”

“Oh, god no,” Bedrock shakes his head. “Controlling more than one element is pretty much impossible unless it’s because of some experiment or forced fusion with another Toa - controlling Shadow is the most blatant sign that someone is evil. Only ones who can do that are Makuta, some Rahkshi, and Toa of Shadow.”

Salas doesn’t say anything, staring at Bedrock expectantly.

“…right, not from our world,” he says. “I forgot.” Bedrock glances at the road in front of them absentmindedly. Nothing ahead. “So in summation, Toa of Shadow are Toa who lost their inner light. Inner light, in turn, is one half of the being’s moral balance between good and bad - the other one being inner shadow. Obviously, most people lean towards one of them, but it’s theorized that there is some way to forcibly topple the balance when the being is significantly more of the one or the other. When that happens, that person supposedly gains access to the element that’s more prominent and his personality changes to reflect that.”

The Glatorian nods in understanding. “And I’m gonna assume that Shadow is more prominent since it’s easier to be bad.” Bedrock nods. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“I read about it,” he shrugs. “I got interested in it on account of my abilities, so… you know.”

“Alright then. So how is that done?”

“That’s the thing,” the Toa of Earth explains: “no one knows how it’s done. Just that they’re confident that it can be done. Beings other than Makuta who can control Shadow are known to have existed in the past, but nobody has the faintest clue as to how they got into that state. Beings controlling Light have never been known to exist, but it’s commonly accepted that they can be if the same requirements are met, as well as th-”

“Hold on,” Salas interrupts. “What about you?”

Bedrock glances at her.

“How do you control both Shadow and Earth, and top of it not just one of those?”

Soft, hungry chirping rings behind Bedrock’s ear. The woodland around the chariot darkens, transforming into a̵ da͜ŗk͡ ͝c̶a̸ve̶ ͜fu͜ll o̶f̸ h͠iś d̵èaḑ ͘brothers҉ it͜’͘ś yo̧u̸r̴ ͞fa͢u͏lt͡ y̢͍o̸̙̱̟̮̱͗u̟͆ͮ̓̉̔ͦć̙͉͂̿̅̔ö̸́͒͛̋ͥú̳̰͍̮l̴̟͚̗͖͈̲ͮͭd̢͈̳̱͒͒ͯ̃v͋̊ͧ̓̈ͩ͜ẹͪͤ̆̚s̺̪͖͙̭̃͗̇̎͗ͭ͒a̸̤̠̟̖̻̝͕͋v̯͕̝̫̩̈́̓͐͑ͪͧȩ͙̞ďͭ̎̿͏͓t̾͊hͭ̊͑ͮ͗ͣ̍͏͎̹ͅe̸̦̹̔̅̂̍ͧ̆́m͔͚͓̭̙͂͊̿̄̓̀͘ȁ̟̪̽̓ǹ̩̗̜̤͎̿̂d̢̥̼̣͚̐ͣ̈́ͩ͆ͧy̨̖̰̝͎̺̙̑͑͑̾ͮo͙ͥͪ͐̒̔u̔ͮ̔̾͝d̞̰̗̩̾ͦ͑̒ͥi̛̼̻͚͙̦͌͂ͫd̦̦̂́̃̀̚͞n̗ͮ̈́ͨ̂t̙̘̣͖̥̥͑̒ͫ͐͒͢ ť̴̛̻͉̞͚̤̺ͦ̄͊̍ͧh̳̮̪̪̭ͤ̐ë̡̘̻̇̆̄͑̒̌͜͠y͔̬̥̲͙̩̒͂͘l̬̙̰̈́̈́ͣͤ͋̓̎̍͂͢ó̸͖̞̗͎͓̀ͮ̀̊͟v̧̠̬̀͋e͚̤̰͎̳̥ͦͦͧ̂͗̊͑̕͢d̢̰͈̩͒ͤ̅͞ẙͬ̀҉̛̫̝̟o̹̫̟̱̩̮̦͗ͩ́̔̆̉̕͢͟u̷̮̪ͣ́̚ă̡͕̗̋ͮ͛͗̆ͨ̊͜ṋ̵̡̗̜̐̿̎͟d̴̹͓͍̮͎̍̽̏̍ͭ̓͟ŷ͙͍͓̪̽ͮͦ̔͒ͬ̂͡o͈ͦ̐̐̄ͥͭ̍̐úͫ̉ͥ͊̐͊͌͏̡̺̗k̴̰̞ͤ̐ͭͮͩͬ̏ͨ͜ȋ̴͕̩̮̪̮̂̑̆ͫ̅̄̀l̟̥͔͓͓͕̹̞͔ͮ̈́̅ͨ̚l̵̘̪͚͙̹̣̒̈́͂̚͟͞ȩ̨͇̝͙̞̖̳̩͆̍̊ḑ̤̗̰͖̦̟̺ͬ̔͆͒t͉̼̋͜͞ȟ̷̜̞̻̗͉̩͑͗̉͋̐̌̓̚ḙ̢̘̟̜̙͔͚̭́̀ͪ̒ͦ̎ͫ̀m̨̢͍͈̝ͭ̏͂ͪ̈̑̚̕a͚͉͚̪͆ͧ́͘l̸̢̥͓͙̮̹̲̗̫͓̆̂̎͐͊̌l̠̥̯̫̪͉̰͛̆͋̉̅̍̍͜ a̸̺͔̞̽͗ͨö̵̫̱̈́̄ͥ͟å͔̘̆̊̍̋̇̇o̫̝ͣ̅́̂͒͒ͭ͝͡£͇̬̭̰̤̖̗͚ͪͭ̂̓ͮ̿̄͒́ £ͧ̉̋̏̏̽̊͗͌ͮ͐̈ͮ̎ͣ̍ͤ̿҉͔̱̤͕̳͖͚̤̗͖͍͓͈̹̮̦́͡£̶̼͙͙̼̮̟̓ͬ̓ͭͮ̓͛̔̈́ͨ̊͋̓ͫ͋́̚̚͡€̵̨̬̙͓̼͕ͣͮͯ̿̀̈ͣ̆̎̓̔͐͛£̧̙̻͓̗̥̪̩̃̀͑ͣ̎̓̇ͪͬ̌́͊͆̄̇͐͗̉́͠͝€̵͎̳̗̜̫̝̮͔̖̮͈͎̗̥̗̊͋̽ͤ̎͑ͨ͊ͦ́̕£̢̯̥̺̺͚͈͔͗̒̍̋̄ͩͥ̀̕͢ͅ$̛̮̻̪͔͉̺̯̺̙̹̫̠̺̍̀ͧ̈̅ͩ̿́ͥͤ͟£̡̹̮̜͉̦̙̙̄̂͋ͪ̋͗ͣͩͬͭ͐ͬ͑̎ͨͥ͡ͅ€̴͆̎̅͗ͯ͆̆̈̄̌̔̿̅ͨ̚͟͝͏̘̭̼̖͕̟̗̪̲͎£̸̴͊̿͋͊͑̌́́͏͇̘͙͔̞̗$̷̨͚̰̹̯̥̬̮͖͔̫̩̎̽̑ͦ̈́̍̆̍͆̏̍͂̄̆ͧ͗̌̈͢͡ͅ£̢̮͙̱̂̊̍ͯ͑͒ͧͮ̿͜͟͡€ͤ͑̐ͤ̍̋̅͊̑͐ͭͦ҉̶́͝҉̼͉̪͔̪̥̪̬͓̖͎̳͓̩̹͖̳£̧ͩ̇ͣͥ̔ͮͧ̓ͦ͡͏̦͇͙̤͉̲̭̜͙̰̳̱̠͓̬̞͝$͍̠̪̦͖̯̜͇͈̣̤͈̥̤ͦͩͦ̐̀ͦ̊̕͢͞͝£͕̖͔̩͙̐ͧ̔ͥ̑̒́̏͆̕͢͢ͅ€̧̏̃̄̔̔̆̒̓̒͒͗ͪ̑͏̷̭̮̲̫̬̙͎̤͈͜-̷̛̫̖͍̟̲̼͖͕̪̮͖̭̝̬͚̥̓̋̉̊ͭͭͩ́͜͠

“I don’t know,” Bedrock answers. “I just… found out I could one day, but it was very long time ago.”

Salas squints. “How old are you?”

“…I… we, actually… are really old,” Bedrock words awkwardly, anticipating that Salas has never heard of any events that have happened inside the Great Spirit Robot. “I honestly don’t know by exact, since I never celebrated naming day.”

“What is-”

Salas interrupts herself with a sneeze. Cursing under her breath, she notices her gauntlet and the chariot looking oddly… frosted?

She looks down at herself, and her gunmetal grey armor is the same, paling as cold creeps onto it. Bedrock notices it on his hands too and runs a finger across the side of the modified Garai he’s wearing, gathering up a small concentration of frost on his finger tip. Around them, the trees and their leafs are wilting and the wind has picked up the pace - and as if on cue, the chariot leaves the forest and enters an open field - which is covered in snow raining down on from the dark sky, their Spikit shaking and whining quietly from the cold and eyeing the landscape for shelter with it’s heads.

The two stare at each other, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, before either of them can say anything, the wind violently picks up and the chariot is toppled, throwing both Dark Hunters and Kaksos into the snow.

@ghost-of-destiny

[quakeandpals]

Dark Hunters: Gladiator

Gladiator’s species once lived a peaceful existence, until they were rounded up by the nobles of Stelt and confined to fight in brutal arena matches for the rest of their days. In other words, business as usual on Stelt. Over many centuries, Gladiator saw more and more of his kind butchered before his eyes or devoured by Rahi. To avoid meeting that same fate, he learned to crush his opponents; he learned to please a crowd; and he learned to love doing it. For many more centuries, he let his bloodlust and the crowd’s adoration mask his feelings of resentment and anger towards the authorities… but in a match against Koradak, the face of the noble class which had imprisoned and condemned him, Gladiator could no longer hide it. He went berserk.

After my operatives sprung him from prison, Gladiator was understandably hesitant to agree to fight for another being’s profit. So I allowed him to go free, relocating him to an island far from Stelt and covering his expenses. He came crawling back before a year was up. Having developed a taste for blood, he now found a life of peace, alone with only his thoughts and memories, absolutely torturous. I welcomed him to my employ, promising that he could fight and kill in my name - and this time, he would be amply compensated for his work.

Gladiator has undertaken many missions and always excelled at them, not just the combat-oriented. He especially enjoys missions where he goes up against the propagators and profiteers of the slave trade. Gladiator extends this hatred to the Overseer, and has tried to kill her on multiple occasions. However, he has struck up a friendly camaraderie with Devastator, another brawny titan with an eye for elegant, showy takedowns. The two of them like to advertise a match between them, encourage the other operatives to place bets, then fix the match to turn a great profit. I’m so very proud of them.

POWERS: None. Gladiator is built rather like an enormous, metal tree, complete with root-like tendril-claws that anchor him to the ground. If he gets solid footing, he is practically immovable from his position. His upper arms end in titanic talons, capable of raking through stone and armor with ease, but absolutely useless for any mundane task. He uses his more reasonably sized lower arms for daily life, but has also been known to carry weapons in them to accentuate the whirling death-blades from above. Foes who mistake him for a being of sheer bulk and brawn, however, have made a critical misjudgment: Gladiator has a mind almost as sharp as his claws, and a surprising amount of subtlety. As he puts it, he wouldn’t have lived so long without a bit of cunning.

STATUS: Active. Gladiator has recently learned about the Glatorian tradition of arena combat on Bara Magna, which both intrigues and unnerves him. He has a great deal of respect for the Glatorian, but abject disdain for their prohibition of killing and maiming. Now that Bara Magna is verdant again, the Agori see no further use for the arena system, but Gladiator sees potential for a thriving entertainment industry, and Dark Hunters, Inc. is eager to capitalize on it.

[quakeandpals]

@quakeandpals

Open asks and RPs, but prefers RP threads

Associated with canon and tumblrverse

Open to AU’s and possibly crossovers

OC’s welcome

[quakeandpals]

Bedrock had managed to raise his weapon to strike before the blizzard intensified, blinding him, followed immediately by a barrage of ice buffeting his body. Several hailstones dented his armor, while the few icicles chipped and smashed against it - one of the smaller ones even sunk into his leg and tore at the organic matter, colder than a thousand snowstorms.

Kaksos and Salas, however, were far worse off on account of their more organic nature. The glatorian’s shaking hands kept botching the reload until she buckled to her knees and resorted to beating the ice with a Weaken Disk, which... much to her surprise, shattered both in a flash of light. Kaksos finally managed to break free, but it’s paws frostbitten and it slumped in front of her with a pathetic squeal.

“BEDROCK!” Salas shouted through the storm, throwing the false-name-basis out of the window. “CONCEIT ALREADY, WE CAN’T WIN HERE!”

The Toa of Earth shot a glare at her for not using his alias, attempting to form a shield of earth to guard himself, only for it to freeze over and break apart from the repeated barrage of ice and snow. A few more hailstones hit the back of his head, leaving him dazed and breaking his concentration on the Ghost.

Hunters in the Drifts

“I’m surprised you never asked about the whole Shadow thing.”

Salas glances over to him. “What do you mean?”

Bedrock blinks, swiveling his head at her as the Baranus Chariot rolled forwards, Kaksos trotting down the woodland road at a casual running pace. “What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“…yeah? What do you?” Salas asks, puzzled. “Is that not normal?”

“Oh, god no,” Bedrock shakes his head. “Controlling more than one element is pretty much impossible unless it’s because of some experiment or forced fusion with another Toa - controlling Shadow is the most blatant sign that someone is evil. Only ones who can do that are Makuta, some Rahkshi, and Toa of Shadow.”

Salas doesn’t say anything, staring at Bedrock expectantly.

“…right, not from our world,” he says. “I forgot.” Bedrock glances at the road in front of them absentmindedly. Nothing ahead. “So in summation, Toa of Shadow are Toa who lost their inner light. Inner light, in turn, is one half of the being’s moral balance between good and bad - the other one being inner shadow. Obviously, most people lean towards one of them, but it’s theorized that there is some way to forcibly topple the balance when the being is significantly more of the one or the other. When that happens, that person supposedly gains access to the element that’s more prominent and his personality changes to reflect that.”

The Glatorian nods in understanding. “And I’m gonna assume that Shadow is more prominent since it’s easier to be bad.” Bedrock nods. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“I read about it,” he shrugs. “I got interested in it on account of my abilities, so… you know.”

“Alright then. So how is that done?”

“That’s the thing,” the Toa of Earth explains: “no one knows how it’s done. Just that they’re confident that it can be done. Beings other than Makuta who can control Shadow are known to have existed in the past, but nobody has the faintest clue as to how they got into that state. Beings controlling Light have never been known to exist, but it’s commonly accepted that they can be if the same requirements are met, as well as th-”

“Hold on,” Salas interrupts. “What about you?”

Bedrock glances at her.

“How do you control both Shadow and Earth, and top of it not just one of those?”

Soft, hungry chirping rings behind Bedrock’s ear. The woodland around the chariot darkens, transforming into a̵ da͜ŗk͡ ͝c̶a̸ve̶ ͜fu͜ll o̶f̸ h͠iś d̵èaḑ ͘brothers҉ it͜’͘ś yo̧u̸r̴ ͞fa͢u͏lt͡ y̢͍o̸̙̱̟̮̱͗u̟͆ͮ̓̉̔ͦć̙͉͂̿̅̔ö̸́͒͛̋ͥú̳̰͍̮l̴̟͚̗͖͈̲ͮͭd̢͈̳̱͒͒ͯ̃v͋̊ͧ̓̈ͩ͜ẹͪͤ̆̚s̺̪͖͙̭̃͗̇̎͗ͭ͒a̸̤̠̟̖̻̝͕͋v̯͕̝̫̩̈́̓͐͑ͪͧȩ͙̞ďͭ̎̿͏͓t̾͊hͭ̊͑ͮ͗ͣ̍͏͎̹ͅe̸̦̹̔̅̂̍ͧ̆́m͔͚͓̭̙͂͊̿̄̓̀͘ȁ̟̪̽̓ǹ̩̗̜̤͎̿̂d̢̥̼̣͚̐ͣ̈́ͩ͆ͧy̨̖̰̝͎̺̙̑͑͑̾ͮo͙ͥͪ͐̒̔u̔ͮ̔̾͝d̞̰̗̩̾ͦ͑̒ͥi̛̼̻͚͙̦͌͂ͫd̦̦̂́̃̀̚͞n̗ͮ̈́ͨ̂t̙̘̣͖̥̥͑̒ͫ͐͒͢ ť̴̛̻͉̞͚̤̺ͦ̄͊̍ͧh̳̮̪̪̭ͤ̐ë̡̘̻̇̆̄͑̒̌͜͠y͔̬̥̲͙̩̒͂͘l̬̙̰̈́̈́ͣͤ͋̓̎̍͂͢ó̸͖̞̗͎͓̀ͮ̀̊͟v̧̠̬̀͋e͚̤̰͎̳̥ͦͦͧ̂͗̊͑̕͢d̢̰͈̩͒ͤ̅͞ẙͬ̀҉̛̫̝̟o̹̫̟̱̩̮̦͗ͩ́̔̆̉̕͢͟u̷̮̪ͣ́̚ă̡͕̗̋ͮ͛͗̆ͨ̊͜ṋ̵̡̗̜̐̿̎͟d̴̹͓͍̮͎̍̽̏̍ͭ̓͟ŷ͙͍͓̪̽ͮͦ̔͒ͬ̂͡o͈ͦ̐̐̄ͥͭ̍̐úͫ̉ͥ͊̐͊͌͏̡̺̗k̴̰̞ͤ̐ͭͮͩͬ̏ͨ͜ȋ̴͕̩̮̪̮̂̑̆ͫ̅̄̀l̟̥͔͓͓͕̹̞͔ͮ̈́̅ͨ̚l̵̘̪͚͙̹̣̒̈́͂̚͟͞ȩ̨͇̝͙̞̖̳̩͆̍̊ḑ̤̗̰͖̦̟̺ͬ̔͆͒t͉̼̋͜͞ȟ̷̜̞̻̗͉̩͑͗̉͋̐̌̓̚ḙ̢̘̟̜̙͔͚̭́̀ͪ̒ͦ̎ͫ̀m̨̢͍͈̝ͭ̏͂ͪ̈̑̚̕a͚͉͚̪͆ͧ́͘l̸̢̥͓͙̮̹̲̗̫͓̆̂̎͐͊̌l̠̥̯̫̪͉̰͛̆͋̉̅̍̍͜ a̸̺͔̞̽͗ͨö̵̫̱̈́̄ͥ͟å͔̘̆̊̍̋̇̇o̫̝ͣ̅́̂͒͒ͭ͝͡£͇̬̭̰̤̖̗͚ͪͭ̂̓ͮ̿̄͒́ £ͧ̉̋̏̏̽̊͗͌ͮ͐̈ͮ̎ͣ̍ͤ̿҉͔̱̤͕̳͖͚̤̗͖͍͓͈̹̮̦́͡£̶̼͙͙̼̮̟̓ͬ̓ͭͮ̓͛̔̈́ͨ̊͋̓ͫ͋́̚̚͡€̵̨̬̙͓̼͕ͣͮͯ̿̀̈ͣ̆̎̓̔͐͛£̧̙̻͓̗̥̪̩̃̀͑ͣ̎̓̇ͪͬ̌́͊͆̄̇͐͗̉́͠͝€̵͎̳̗̜̫̝̮͔̖̮͈͎̗̥̗̊͋̽ͤ̎͑ͨ͊ͦ́̕£̢̯̥̺̺͚͈͔͗̒̍̋̄ͩͥ̀̕͢ͅ$̛̮̻̪͔͉̺̯̺̙̹̫̠̺̍̀ͧ̈̅ͩ̿́ͥͤ͟£̡̹̮̜͉̦̙̙̄̂͋ͪ̋͗ͣͩͬͭ͐ͬ͑̎ͨͥ͡ͅ€̴͆̎̅͗ͯ͆̆̈̄̌̔̿̅ͨ̚͟͝͏̘̭̼̖͕̟̗̪̲͎£̸̴͊̿͋͊͑̌́́͏͇̘͙͔̞̗$̷̨͚̰̹̯̥̬̮͖͔̫̩̎̽̑ͦ̈́̍̆̍͆̏̍͂̄̆ͧ͗̌̈͢͡ͅ£̢̮͙̱̂̊̍ͯ͑͒ͧͮ̿͜͟͡€ͤ͑̐ͤ̍̋̅͊̑͐ͭͦ҉̶́͝҉̼͉̪͔̪̥̪̬͓̖͎̳͓̩̹͖̳£̧ͩ̇ͣͥ̔ͮͧ̓ͦ͡͏̦͇͙̤͉̲̭̜͙̰̳̱̠͓̬̞͝$͍̠̪̦͖̯̜͇͈̣̤͈̥̤ͦͩͦ̐̀ͦ̊̕͢͞͝£͕̖͔̩͙̐ͧ̔ͥ̑̒́̏͆̕͢͢ͅ€̧̏̃̄̔̔̆̒̓̒͒͗ͪ̑͏̷̭̮̲̫̬̙͎̤͈͜-̷̛̫̖͍̟̲̼͖͕̪̮͖̭̝̬͚̥̓̋̉̊ͭͭͩ́͜͠

“I don’t know,” Bedrock answers. “I just… found out I could one day, but it was very long time ago.”

Salas squints. “How old are you?”

“…I… we, actually… are really old,” Bedrock words awkwardly, anticipating that Salas has never heard of any events that have happened inside the Great Spirit Robot. “I honestly don’t know by exact, since I never celebrated naming day.”

“What is-”

Salas interrupts herself with a sneeze. Cursing under her breath, she notices her gauntlet and the chariot looking oddly… frosted?

She looks down at herself, and her gunmetal grey armor is the same, paling as cold creeps onto it. Bedrock notices it on his hands too and runs a finger across the side of the modified Garai he’s wearing, gathering up a small concentration of frost on his finger tip. Around them, the trees and their leafs are wilting and the wind has picked up the pace - and as if on cue, the chariot leaves the forest and enters an open field - which is covered in snow raining down on from the dark sky, their Spikit shaking and whining quietly from the cold and eyeing the landscape for shelter with it’s heads.

The two stare at each other, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, before either of them can say anything, the wind violently picks up and the chariot is toppled, throwing both Dark Hunters and Kaksos into the snow.

@ghost-of-destiny

[quakeandpals]

“Oh come on, that’s cheATING-!” Bedrock yelped as he raised the mace in a hasty guard - and vanished as a disk of teleportation suddenly hit him, moving him dozen feet behind Ghost.

Down in the snow, Salas had fallen back down and managed to load a disk before making a hasty shot from the ground.

Bedrock took a second to reorient, blinking. Then he spotted the glatorian with her launcher aimed at where he had stood. He mouthed a ‘good job’ and gave her a quick thumbs up before turning back to the Ghost, Garai glowing to increase the Ko-Toa’s weight and slam him into the ground.

“...I was aiming at the other guy,” Salas muttered under her breath. She got up with some difficulty, having fallen on her side, and made her way towards Kaksos while reloading the launcher with a weaken disk. The spikit was having difficulty freeing itself from the ice.

Hunters in the Drifts

“I’m surprised you never asked about the whole Shadow thing.”

Salas glances over to him. “What do you mean?”

Bedrock blinks, swiveling his head at her as the Baranus Chariot rolled forwards, Kaksos trotting down the woodland road at a casual running pace. “What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“…yeah? What do you?” Salas asks, puzzled. “Is that not normal?”

“Oh, god no,” Bedrock shakes his head. “Controlling more than one element is pretty much impossible unless it’s because of some experiment or forced fusion with another Toa - controlling Shadow is the most blatant sign that someone is evil. Only ones who can do that are Makuta, some Rahkshi, and Toa of Shadow.”

Salas doesn’t say anything, staring at Bedrock expectantly.

“…right, not from our world,” he says. “I forgot.” Bedrock glances at the road in front of them absentmindedly. Nothing ahead. “So in summation, Toa of Shadow are Toa who lost their inner light. Inner light, in turn, is one half of the being’s moral balance between good and bad - the other one being inner shadow. Obviously, most people lean towards one of them, but it’s theorized that there is some way to forcibly topple the balance when the being is significantly more of the one or the other. When that happens, that person supposedly gains access to the element that’s more prominent and his personality changes to reflect that.”

The Glatorian nods in understanding. “And I’m gonna assume that Shadow is more prominent since it’s easier to be bad.” Bedrock nods. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“I read about it,” he shrugs. “I got interested in it on account of my abilities, so… you know.”

“Alright then. So how is that done?”

“That’s the thing,” the Toa of Earth explains: “no one knows how it’s done. Just that they’re confident that it can be done. Beings other than Makuta who can control Shadow are known to have existed in the past, but nobody has the faintest clue as to how they got into that state. Beings controlling Light have never been known to exist, but it’s commonly accepted that they can be if the same requirements are met, as well as th-”

“Hold on,” Salas interrupts. “What about you?”

Bedrock glances at her.

“How do you control both Shadow and Earth, and top of it not just one of those?”

Soft, hungry chirping rings behind Bedrock’s ear. The woodland around the chariot darkens, transforming into a̵ da͜ŗk͡ ͝c̶a̸ve̶ ͜fu͜ll o̶f̸ h͠iś d̵èaḑ ͘brothers҉ it͜’͘ś yo̧u̸r̴ ͞fa͢u͏lt͡ y̢͍o̸̙̱̟̮̱͗u̟͆ͮ̓̉̔ͦć̙͉͂̿̅̔ö̸́͒͛̋ͥú̳̰͍̮l̴̟͚̗͖͈̲ͮͭd̢͈̳̱͒͒ͯ̃v͋̊ͧ̓̈ͩ͜ẹͪͤ̆̚s̺̪͖͙̭̃͗̇̎͗ͭ͒a̸̤̠̟̖̻̝͕͋v̯͕̝̫̩̈́̓͐͑ͪͧȩ͙̞ďͭ̎̿͏͓t̾͊hͭ̊͑ͮ͗ͣ̍͏͎̹ͅe̸̦̹̔̅̂̍ͧ̆́m͔͚͓̭̙͂͊̿̄̓̀͘ȁ̟̪̽̓ǹ̩̗̜̤͎̿̂d̢̥̼̣͚̐ͣ̈́ͩ͆ͧy̨̖̰̝͎̺̙̑͑͑̾ͮo͙ͥͪ͐̒̔u̔ͮ̔̾͝d̞̰̗̩̾ͦ͑̒ͥi̛̼̻͚͙̦͌͂ͫd̦̦̂́̃̀̚͞n̗ͮ̈́ͨ̂t̙̘̣͖̥̥͑̒ͫ͐͒͢ ť̴̛̻͉̞͚̤̺ͦ̄͊̍ͧh̳̮̪̪̭ͤ̐ë̡̘̻̇̆̄͑̒̌͜͠y͔̬̥̲͙̩̒͂͘l̬̙̰̈́̈́ͣͤ͋̓̎̍͂͢ó̸͖̞̗͎͓̀ͮ̀̊͟v̧̠̬̀͋e͚̤̰͎̳̥ͦͦͧ̂͗̊͑̕͢d̢̰͈̩͒ͤ̅͞ẙͬ̀҉̛̫̝̟o̹̫̟̱̩̮̦͗ͩ́̔̆̉̕͢͟u̷̮̪ͣ́̚ă̡͕̗̋ͮ͛͗̆ͨ̊͜ṋ̵̡̗̜̐̿̎͟d̴̹͓͍̮͎̍̽̏̍ͭ̓͟ŷ͙͍͓̪̽ͮͦ̔͒ͬ̂͡o͈ͦ̐̐̄ͥͭ̍̐úͫ̉ͥ͊̐͊͌͏̡̺̗k̴̰̞ͤ̐ͭͮͩͬ̏ͨ͜ȋ̴͕̩̮̪̮̂̑̆ͫ̅̄̀l̟̥͔͓͓͕̹̞͔ͮ̈́̅ͨ̚l̵̘̪͚͙̹̣̒̈́͂̚͟͞ȩ̨͇̝͙̞̖̳̩͆̍̊ḑ̤̗̰͖̦̟̺ͬ̔͆͒t͉̼̋͜͞ȟ̷̜̞̻̗͉̩͑͗̉͋̐̌̓̚ḙ̢̘̟̜̙͔͚̭́̀ͪ̒ͦ̎ͫ̀m̨̢͍͈̝ͭ̏͂ͪ̈̑̚̕a͚͉͚̪͆ͧ́͘l̸̢̥͓͙̮̹̲̗̫͓̆̂̎͐͊̌l̠̥̯̫̪͉̰͛̆͋̉̅̍̍͜ a̸̺͔̞̽͗ͨö̵̫̱̈́̄ͥ͟å͔̘̆̊̍̋̇̇o̫̝ͣ̅́̂͒͒ͭ͝͡£͇̬̭̰̤̖̗͚ͪͭ̂̓ͮ̿̄͒́ £ͧ̉̋̏̏̽̊͗͌ͮ͐̈ͮ̎ͣ̍ͤ̿҉͔̱̤͕̳͖͚̤̗͖͍͓͈̹̮̦́͡£̶̼͙͙̼̮̟̓ͬ̓ͭͮ̓͛̔̈́ͨ̊͋̓ͫ͋́̚̚͡€̵̨̬̙͓̼͕ͣͮͯ̿̀̈ͣ̆̎̓̔͐͛£̧̙̻͓̗̥̪̩̃̀͑ͣ̎̓̇ͪͬ̌́͊͆̄̇͐͗̉́͠͝€̵͎̳̗̜̫̝̮͔̖̮͈͎̗̥̗̊͋̽ͤ̎͑ͨ͊ͦ́̕£̢̯̥̺̺͚͈͔͗̒̍̋̄ͩͥ̀̕͢ͅ$̛̮̻̪͔͉̺̯̺̙̹̫̠̺̍̀ͧ̈̅ͩ̿́ͥͤ͟£̡̹̮̜͉̦̙̙̄̂͋ͪ̋͗ͣͩͬͭ͐ͬ͑̎ͨͥ͡ͅ€̴͆̎̅͗ͯ͆̆̈̄̌̔̿̅ͨ̚͟͝͏̘̭̼̖͕̟̗̪̲͎£̸̴͊̿͋͊͑̌́́͏͇̘͙͔̞̗$̷̨͚̰̹̯̥̬̮͖͔̫̩̎̽̑ͦ̈́̍̆̍͆̏̍͂̄̆ͧ͗̌̈͢͡ͅ£̢̮͙̱̂̊̍ͯ͑͒ͧͮ̿͜͟͡€ͤ͑̐ͤ̍̋̅͊̑͐ͭͦ҉̶́͝҉̼͉̪͔̪̥̪̬͓̖͎̳͓̩̹͖̳£̧ͩ̇ͣͥ̔ͮͧ̓ͦ͡͏̦͇͙̤͉̲̭̜͙̰̳̱̠͓̬̞͝$͍̠̪̦͖̯̜͇͈̣̤͈̥̤ͦͩͦ̐̀ͦ̊̕͢͞͝£͕̖͔̩͙̐ͧ̔ͥ̑̒́̏͆̕͢͢ͅ€̧̏̃̄̔̔̆̒̓̒͒͗ͪ̑͏̷̭̮̲̫̬̙͎̤͈͜-̷̛̫̖͍̟̲̼͖͕̪̮͖̭̝̬͚̥̓̋̉̊ͭͭͩ́͜͠

“I don’t know,” Bedrock answers. “I just… found out I could one day, but it was very long time ago.”

Salas squints. “How old are you?”

“…I… we, actually… are really old,” Bedrock words awkwardly, anticipating that Salas has never heard of any events that have happened inside the Great Spirit Robot. “I honestly don’t know by exact, since I never celebrated naming day.”

“What is-”

Salas interrupts herself with a sneeze. Cursing under her breath, she notices her gauntlet and the chariot looking oddly… frosted?

She looks down at herself, and her gunmetal grey armor is the same, paling as cold creeps onto it. Bedrock notices it on his hands too and runs a finger across the side of the modified Garai he’s wearing, gathering up a small concentration of frost on his finger tip. Around them, the trees and their leafs are wilting and the wind has picked up the pace - and as if on cue, the chariot leaves the forest and enters an open field - which is covered in snow raining down on from the dark sky, their Spikit shaking and whining quietly from the cold and eyeing the landscape for shelter with it’s heads.

The two stare at each other, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, before either of them can say anything, the wind violently picks up and the chariot is toppled, throwing both Dark Hunters and Kaksos into the snow.

@ghost-of-destiny

[quakeandpals]

Kaksos hit the ice wall head-on and let out a pitiful yelp as ice froze it’s paws over. Salas cursed as she attempted to reload her launcher, backing away from the Ghost’s attack only to lose her footing on account of the icy ground. Before she fell, she suddenly flew - or rather, dropped - into the air, over the wave of ice and snow.

Bedrock’s Garai stopped glowing as the tower he created crumbled beneath him as the glacier smashed through it. The Toa of Earth crashed into the snow, but quickly dragged himself onto his feet.

“Do you really expect me to believe that you’re wearing the Mask of Life? HAH!” He scoffed, attempting to reassure himself. “Not even the Toa destined to use it’s power could wear it half as long as you have!”

He drew and raised his mace in one motion, and a small pillar of earth rose from the earth. With a powerful swing, he smashed it back into the ground, sending a quake towards Ghost.

Hunters in the Drifts

“I’m surprised you never asked about the whole Shadow thing.”

Salas glances over to him. “What do you mean?”

Bedrock blinks, swiveling his head at her as the Baranus Chariot rolled forwards, Kaksos trotting down the woodland road at a casual running pace. “What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“…yeah? What do you?” Salas asks, puzzled. “Is that not normal?”

“Oh, god no,” Bedrock shakes his head. “Controlling more than one element is pretty much impossible unless it’s because of some experiment or forced fusion with another Toa - controlling Shadow is the most blatant sign that someone is evil. Only ones who can do that are Makuta, some Rahkshi, and Toa of Shadow.”

Salas doesn’t say anything, staring at Bedrock expectantly.

“…right, not from our world,” he says. “I forgot.” Bedrock glances at the road in front of them absentmindedly. Nothing ahead. “So in summation, Toa of Shadow are Toa who lost their inner light. Inner light, in turn, is one half of the being’s moral balance between good and bad - the other one being inner shadow. Obviously, most people lean towards one of them, but it’s theorized that there is some way to forcibly topple the balance when the being is significantly more of the one or the other. When that happens, that person supposedly gains access to the element that’s more prominent and his personality changes to reflect that.”

The Glatorian nods in understanding. “And I’m gonna assume that Shadow is more prominent since it’s easier to be bad.” Bedrock nods. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“I read about it,” he shrugs. “I got interested in it on account of my abilities, so… you know.”

“Alright then. So how is that done?”

“That’s the thing,” the Toa of Earth explains: “no one knows how it’s done. Just that they’re confident that it can be done. Beings other than Makuta who can control Shadow are known to have existed in the past, but nobody has the faintest clue as to how they got into that state. Beings controlling Light have never been known to exist, but it’s commonly accepted that they can be if the same requirements are met, as well as th-”

“Hold on,” Salas interrupts. “What about you?”

Bedrock glances at her.

“How do you control both Shadow and Earth, and top of it not just one of those?”

Soft, hungry chirping rings behind Bedrock’s ear. The woodland around the chariot darkens, transforming into a̵ da͜ŗk͡ ͝c̶a̸ve̶ ͜fu͜ll o̶f̸ h͠iś d̵èaḑ ͘brothers҉ it͜’͘ś yo̧u̸r̴ ͞fa͢u͏lt͡ y̢͍o̸̙̱̟̮̱͗u̟͆ͮ̓̉̔ͦć̙͉͂̿̅̔ö̸́͒͛̋ͥú̳̰͍̮l̴̟͚̗͖͈̲ͮͭd̢͈̳̱͒͒ͯ̃v͋̊ͧ̓̈ͩ͜ẹͪͤ̆̚s̺̪͖͙̭̃͗̇̎͗ͭ͒a̸̤̠̟̖̻̝͕͋v̯͕̝̫̩̈́̓͐͑ͪͧȩ͙̞ďͭ̎̿͏͓t̾͊hͭ̊͑ͮ͗ͣ̍͏͎̹ͅe̸̦̹̔̅̂̍ͧ̆́m͔͚͓̭̙͂͊̿̄̓̀͘ȁ̟̪̽̓ǹ̩̗̜̤͎̿̂d̢̥̼̣͚̐ͣ̈́ͩ͆ͧy̨̖̰̝͎̺̙̑͑͑̾ͮo͙ͥͪ͐̒̔u̔ͮ̔̾͝d̞̰̗̩̾ͦ͑̒ͥi̛̼̻͚͙̦͌͂ͫd̦̦̂́̃̀̚͞n̗ͮ̈́ͨ̂t̙̘̣͖̥̥͑̒ͫ͐͒͢ ť̴̛̻͉̞͚̤̺ͦ̄͊̍ͧh̳̮̪̪̭ͤ̐ë̡̘̻̇̆̄͑̒̌͜͠y͔̬̥̲͙̩̒͂͘l̬̙̰̈́̈́ͣͤ͋̓̎̍͂͢ó̸͖̞̗͎͓̀ͮ̀̊͟v̧̠̬̀͋e͚̤̰͎̳̥ͦͦͧ̂͗̊͑̕͢d̢̰͈̩͒ͤ̅͞ẙͬ̀҉̛̫̝̟o̹̫̟̱̩̮̦͗ͩ́̔̆̉̕͢͟u̷̮̪ͣ́̚ă̡͕̗̋ͮ͛͗̆ͨ̊͜ṋ̵̡̗̜̐̿̎͟d̴̹͓͍̮͎̍̽̏̍ͭ̓͟ŷ͙͍͓̪̽ͮͦ̔͒ͬ̂͡o͈ͦ̐̐̄ͥͭ̍̐úͫ̉ͥ͊̐͊͌͏̡̺̗k̴̰̞ͤ̐ͭͮͩͬ̏ͨ͜ȋ̴͕̩̮̪̮̂̑̆ͫ̅̄̀l̟̥͔͓͓͕̹̞͔ͮ̈́̅ͨ̚l̵̘̪͚͙̹̣̒̈́͂̚͟͞ȩ̨͇̝͙̞̖̳̩͆̍̊ḑ̤̗̰͖̦̟̺ͬ̔͆͒t͉̼̋͜͞ȟ̷̜̞̻̗͉̩͑͗̉͋̐̌̓̚ḙ̢̘̟̜̙͔͚̭́̀ͪ̒ͦ̎ͫ̀m̨̢͍͈̝ͭ̏͂ͪ̈̑̚̕a͚͉͚̪͆ͧ́͘l̸̢̥͓͙̮̹̲̗̫͓̆̂̎͐͊̌l̠̥̯̫̪͉̰͛̆͋̉̅̍̍͜ a̸̺͔̞̽͗ͨö̵̫̱̈́̄ͥ͟å͔̘̆̊̍̋̇̇o̫̝ͣ̅́̂͒͒ͭ͝͡£͇̬̭̰̤̖̗͚ͪͭ̂̓ͮ̿̄͒́ £ͧ̉̋̏̏̽̊͗͌ͮ͐̈ͮ̎ͣ̍ͤ̿҉͔̱̤͕̳͖͚̤̗͖͍͓͈̹̮̦́͡£̶̼͙͙̼̮̟̓ͬ̓ͭͮ̓͛̔̈́ͨ̊͋̓ͫ͋́̚̚͡€̵̨̬̙͓̼͕ͣͮͯ̿̀̈ͣ̆̎̓̔͐͛£̧̙̻͓̗̥̪̩̃̀͑ͣ̎̓̇ͪͬ̌́͊͆̄̇͐͗̉́͠͝€̵͎̳̗̜̫̝̮͔̖̮͈͎̗̥̗̊͋̽ͤ̎͑ͨ͊ͦ́̕£̢̯̥̺̺͚͈͔͗̒̍̋̄ͩͥ̀̕͢ͅ$̛̮̻̪͔͉̺̯̺̙̹̫̠̺̍̀ͧ̈̅ͩ̿́ͥͤ͟£̡̹̮̜͉̦̙̙̄̂͋ͪ̋͗ͣͩͬͭ͐ͬ͑̎ͨͥ͡ͅ€̴͆̎̅͗ͯ͆̆̈̄̌̔̿̅ͨ̚͟͝͏̘̭̼̖͕̟̗̪̲͎£̸̴͊̿͋͊͑̌́́͏͇̘͙͔̞̗$̷̨͚̰̹̯̥̬̮͖͔̫̩̎̽̑ͦ̈́̍̆̍͆̏̍͂̄̆ͧ͗̌̈͢͡ͅ£̢̮͙̱̂̊̍ͯ͑͒ͧͮ̿͜͟͡€ͤ͑̐ͤ̍̋̅͊̑͐ͭͦ҉̶́͝҉̼͉̪͔̪̥̪̬͓̖͎̳͓̩̹͖̳£̧ͩ̇ͣͥ̔ͮͧ̓ͦ͡͏̦͇͙̤͉̲̭̜͙̰̳̱̠͓̬̞͝$͍̠̪̦͖̯̜͇͈̣̤͈̥̤ͦͩͦ̐̀ͦ̊̕͢͞͝£͕̖͔̩͙̐ͧ̔ͥ̑̒́̏͆̕͢͢ͅ€̧̏̃̄̔̔̆̒̓̒͒͗ͪ̑͏̷̭̮̲̫̬̙͎̤͈͜-̷̛̫̖͍̟̲̼͖͕̪̮͖̭̝̬͚̥̓̋̉̊ͭͭͩ́͜͠

“I don’t know,” Bedrock answers. “I just… found out I could one day, but it was very long time ago.”

Salas squints. “How old are you?”

“…I… we, actually… are really old,” Bedrock words awkwardly, anticipating that Salas has never heard of any events that have happened inside the Great Spirit Robot. “I honestly don’t know by exact, since I never celebrated naming day.”

“What is-”

Salas interrupts herself with a sneeze. Cursing under her breath, she notices her gauntlet and the chariot looking oddly… frosted?

She looks down at herself, and her gunmetal grey armor is the same, paling as cold creeps onto it. Bedrock notices it on his hands too and runs a finger across the side of the modified Garai he’s wearing, gathering up a small concentration of frost on his finger tip. Around them, the trees and their leafs are wilting and the wind has picked up the pace - and as if on cue, the chariot leaves the forest and enters an open field - which is covered in snow raining down on from the dark sky, their Spikit shaking and whining quietly from the cold and eyeing the landscape for shelter with it’s heads.

The two stare at each other, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, before either of them can say anything, the wind violently picks up and the chariot is toppled, throwing both Dark Hunters and Kaksos into the snow.

@ghost-of-destiny

[quakeandpals]

Bedrock’s face contorted into a furious scowl the second he felt and saw his feet freeze up... followed by a horrified realization upon recognizing the Kanohi that the Toa of Ice wore.

The only Kanohi that no one could wear.

“Th- the Ign-”

Kaksos had had enough and bolted at the Ghost faster than Salas could react, it’s charge slowed down by the snow and storm. Grimacing, she pulled up her Kanoka Launcher and fired a shrinking disk at the crystal to let Kaksos reach the Toa of Ice.

“You braindead idiot!” She barked at Bedrock. “All we had to do was let him leave!”

The Dark Hunter was too astonished by what he saw to register the words.

Hunters in the Drifts

“I’m surprised you never asked about the whole Shadow thing.”

Salas glances over to him. “What do you mean?”

Bedrock blinks, swiveling his head at her as the Baranus Chariot rolled forwards, Kaksos trotting down the woodland road at a casual running pace. “What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“…yeah? What do you?” Salas asks, puzzled. “Is that not normal?”

“Oh, god no,” Bedrock shakes his head. “Controlling more than one element is pretty much impossible unless it’s because of some experiment or forced fusion with another Toa - controlling Shadow is the most blatant sign that someone is evil. Only ones who can do that are Makuta, some Rahkshi, and Toa of Shadow.”

Salas doesn’t say anything, staring at Bedrock expectantly.

“…right, not from our world,” he says. “I forgot.” Bedrock glances at the road in front of them absentmindedly. Nothing ahead. “So in summation, Toa of Shadow are Toa who lost their inner light. Inner light, in turn, is one half of the being’s moral balance between good and bad - the other one being inner shadow. Obviously, most people lean towards one of them, but it’s theorized that there is some way to forcibly topple the balance when the being is significantly more of the one or the other. When that happens, that person supposedly gains access to the element that’s more prominent and his personality changes to reflect that.”

The Glatorian nods in understanding. “And I’m gonna assume that Shadow is more prominent since it’s easier to be bad.” Bedrock nods. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“I read about it,” he shrugs. “I got interested in it on account of my abilities, so… you know.”

“Alright then. So how is that done?”

“That’s the thing,” the Toa of Earth explains: “no one knows how it’s done. Just that they’re confident that it can be done. Beings other than Makuta who can control Shadow are known to have existed in the past, but nobody has the faintest clue as to how they got into that state. Beings controlling Light have never been known to exist, but it’s commonly accepted that they can be if the same requirements are met, as well as th-”

“Hold on,” Salas interrupts. “What about you?”

Bedrock glances at her.

“How do you control both Shadow and Earth, and top of it not just one of those?”

Soft, hungry chirping rings behind Bedrock’s ear. The woodland around the chariot darkens, transforming into a̵ da͜ŗk͡ ͝c̶a̸ve̶ ͜fu͜ll o̶f̸ h͠iś d̵èaḑ ͘brothers҉ it͜’͘ś yo̧u̸r̴ ͞fa͢u͏lt͡ y̢͍o̸̙̱̟̮̱͗u̟͆ͮ̓̉̔ͦć̙͉͂̿̅̔ö̸́͒͛̋ͥú̳̰͍̮l̴̟͚̗͖͈̲ͮͭd̢͈̳̱͒͒ͯ̃v͋̊ͧ̓̈ͩ͜ẹͪͤ̆̚s̺̪͖͙̭̃͗̇̎͗ͭ͒a̸̤̠̟̖̻̝͕͋v̯͕̝̫̩̈́̓͐͑ͪͧȩ͙̞ďͭ̎̿͏͓t̾͊hͭ̊͑ͮ͗ͣ̍͏͎̹ͅe̸̦̹̔̅̂̍ͧ̆́m͔͚͓̭̙͂͊̿̄̓̀͘ȁ̟̪̽̓ǹ̩̗̜̤͎̿̂d̢̥̼̣͚̐ͣ̈́ͩ͆ͧy̨̖̰̝͎̺̙̑͑͑̾ͮo͙ͥͪ͐̒̔u̔ͮ̔̾͝d̞̰̗̩̾ͦ͑̒ͥi̛̼̻͚͙̦͌͂ͫd̦̦̂́̃̀̚͞n̗ͮ̈́ͨ̂t̙̘̣͖̥̥͑̒ͫ͐͒͢ ť̴̛̻͉̞͚̤̺ͦ̄͊̍ͧh̳̮̪̪̭ͤ̐ë̡̘̻̇̆̄͑̒̌͜͠y͔̬̥̲͙̩̒͂͘l̬̙̰̈́̈́ͣͤ͋̓̎̍͂͢ó̸͖̞̗͎͓̀ͮ̀̊͟v̧̠̬̀͋e͚̤̰͎̳̥ͦͦͧ̂͗̊͑̕͢d̢̰͈̩͒ͤ̅͞ẙͬ̀҉̛̫̝̟o̹̫̟̱̩̮̦͗ͩ́̔̆̉̕͢͟u̷̮̪ͣ́̚ă̡͕̗̋ͮ͛͗̆ͨ̊͜ṋ̵̡̗̜̐̿̎͟d̴̹͓͍̮͎̍̽̏̍ͭ̓͟ŷ͙͍͓̪̽ͮͦ̔͒ͬ̂͡o͈ͦ̐̐̄ͥͭ̍̐úͫ̉ͥ͊̐͊͌͏̡̺̗k̴̰̞ͤ̐ͭͮͩͬ̏ͨ͜ȋ̴͕̩̮̪̮̂̑̆ͫ̅̄̀l̟̥͔͓͓͕̹̞͔ͮ̈́̅ͨ̚l̵̘̪͚͙̹̣̒̈́͂̚͟͞ȩ̨͇̝͙̞̖̳̩͆̍̊ḑ̤̗̰͖̦̟̺ͬ̔͆͒t͉̼̋͜͞ȟ̷̜̞̻̗͉̩͑͗̉͋̐̌̓̚ḙ̢̘̟̜̙͔͚̭́̀ͪ̒ͦ̎ͫ̀m̨̢͍͈̝ͭ̏͂ͪ̈̑̚̕a͚͉͚̪͆ͧ́͘l̸̢̥͓͙̮̹̲̗̫͓̆̂̎͐͊̌l̠̥̯̫̪͉̰͛̆͋̉̅̍̍͜ a̸̺͔̞̽͗ͨö̵̫̱̈́̄ͥ͟å͔̘̆̊̍̋̇̇o̫̝ͣ̅́̂͒͒ͭ͝͡£͇̬̭̰̤̖̗͚ͪͭ̂̓ͮ̿̄͒́ £ͧ̉̋̏̏̽̊͗͌ͮ͐̈ͮ̎ͣ̍ͤ̿҉͔̱̤͕̳͖͚̤̗͖͍͓͈̹̮̦́͡£̶̼͙͙̼̮̟̓ͬ̓ͭͮ̓͛̔̈́ͨ̊͋̓ͫ͋́̚̚͡€̵̨̬̙͓̼͕ͣͮͯ̿̀̈ͣ̆̎̓̔͐͛£̧̙̻͓̗̥̪̩̃̀͑ͣ̎̓̇ͪͬ̌́͊͆̄̇͐͗̉́͠͝€̵͎̳̗̜̫̝̮͔̖̮͈͎̗̥̗̊͋̽ͤ̎͑ͨ͊ͦ́̕£̢̯̥̺̺͚͈͔͗̒̍̋̄ͩͥ̀̕͢ͅ$̛̮̻̪͔͉̺̯̺̙̹̫̠̺̍̀ͧ̈̅ͩ̿́ͥͤ͟£̡̹̮̜͉̦̙̙̄̂͋ͪ̋͗ͣͩͬͭ͐ͬ͑̎ͨͥ͡ͅ€̴͆̎̅͗ͯ͆̆̈̄̌̔̿̅ͨ̚͟͝͏̘̭̼̖͕̟̗̪̲͎£̸̴͊̿͋͊͑̌́́͏͇̘͙͔̞̗$̷̨͚̰̹̯̥̬̮͖͔̫̩̎̽̑ͦ̈́̍̆̍͆̏̍͂̄̆ͧ͗̌̈͢͡ͅ£̢̮͙̱̂̊̍ͯ͑͒ͧͮ̿͜͟͡€ͤ͑̐ͤ̍̋̅͊̑͐ͭͦ҉̶́͝҉̼͉̪͔̪̥̪̬͓̖͎̳͓̩̹͖̳£̧ͩ̇ͣͥ̔ͮͧ̓ͦ͡͏̦͇͙̤͉̲̭̜͙̰̳̱̠͓̬̞͝$͍̠̪̦͖̯̜͇͈̣̤͈̥̤ͦͩͦ̐̀ͦ̊̕͢͞͝£͕̖͔̩͙̐ͧ̔ͥ̑̒́̏͆̕͢͢ͅ€̧̏̃̄̔̔̆̒̓̒͒͗ͪ̑͏̷̭̮̲̫̬̙͎̤͈͜-̷̛̫̖͍̟̲̼͖͕̪̮͖̭̝̬͚̥̓̋̉̊ͭͭͩ́͜͠

“I don’t know,” Bedrock answers. “I just… found out I could one day, but it was very long time ago.”

Salas squints. “How old are you?”

“…I… we, actually… are really old,” Bedrock words awkwardly, anticipating that Salas has never heard of any events that have happened inside the Great Spirit Robot. “I honestly don’t know by exact, since I never celebrated naming day.”

“What is-”

Salas interrupts herself with a sneeze. Cursing under her breath, she notices her gauntlet and the chariot looking oddly… frosted?

She looks down at herself, and her gunmetal grey armor is the same, paling as cold creeps onto it. Bedrock notices it on his hands too and runs a finger across the side of the modified Garai he’s wearing, gathering up a small concentration of frost on his finger tip. Around them, the trees and their leafs are wilting and the wind has picked up the pace - and as if on cue, the chariot leaves the forest and enters an open field - which is covered in snow raining down on from the dark sky, their Spikit shaking and whining quietly from the cold and eyeing the landscape for shelter with it’s heads.

The two stare at each other, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, before either of them can say anything, the wind violently picks up and the chariot is toppled, throwing both Dark Hunters and Kaksos into the snow.

@ghost-of-destiny

[quakeandpals]

Bedrock was momentarily blinded by the sudden brisk wind right into his eyes. Salas was too, nearly falling flat on her back.

“Are you seriously just-”

Kaksos’ bark stopped Bedrock, and the spikit darted towards the stranger as he turned his back - up until a pillar of earth rose in front of it and halted it’s charge.

On cue, another pillar of earth rose in front of the odd Toa, crudely formed words written on it:

HOLD        UP

“Okay, okay-” Bedrock begun with a twitchy eye as he raised a small path of earth to the Ko-Toa. “What was that for, exactly?”

Kaksos is about to circle around the pillar before Salas moved over and grabbed it by it’s harness. The spikit hissed but didn’t make an effort to run after the Toa again.

“Literally no reason for you to do that if this wasn’t a trap,” the Toa of Earth threw his arms in the air as he marched down the path. “There is no one else here, aside from us, save for your windfly-treespeak-neversee-nounverb-skyhero-foreverfriend helping you create a snowstorm for you to pounce us later, because no one in their right minds would spend so much energy for a dramatic exit!”

"Uh, Be- Savi,” Salas corrected herself, gripping the glaive. “I didn’t see anyone else out there, but I get the feeling that maybe we shouldn’t anger-”

The Toa sharply spun around and glared down at Salas, shutting both her and the growling Spikit up.

“Even if by some “Mata Nui is back” -esque miracle this isn’t a trap,” Bedrock turned back to the cloaked Toa as he subtly raised the path, his eyes burning with rage from the sheer audacity of this stranger, “it’d mean you really are so self-absorbed as to leave a duo of idiots in a snowstorm that you created for - for the rule of cool! You think I’m too scared of fancy elemental control to allow either!?”

He ducked down at the Toa’s face level with a furrowed brow, further accented and exaggerated by the Garai’s natural shape. “Who in Karzahni’s name do you think you are?”

Hunters in the Drifts

“I’m surprised you never asked about the whole Shadow thing.”

Salas glances over to him. “What do you mean?”

Bedrock blinks, swiveling his head at her as the Baranus Chariot rolled forwards, Kaksos trotting down the woodland road at a casual running pace. “What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“…yeah? What do you?” Salas asks, puzzled. “Is that not normal?”

“Oh, god no,” Bedrock shakes his head. “Controlling more than one element is pretty much impossible unless it’s because of some experiment or forced fusion with another Toa - controlling Shadow is the most blatant sign that someone is evil. Only ones who can do that are Makuta, some Rahkshi, and Toa of Shadow.”

Salas doesn’t say anything, staring at Bedrock expectantly.

“…right, not from our world,” he says. “I forgot.” Bedrock glances at the road in front of them absentmindedly. Nothing ahead. “So in summation, Toa of Shadow are Toa who lost their inner light. Inner light, in turn, is one half of the being’s moral balance between good and bad - the other one being inner shadow. Obviously, most people lean towards one of them, but it’s theorized that there is some way to forcibly topple the balance when the being is significantly more of the one or the other. When that happens, that person supposedly gains access to the element that’s more prominent and his personality changes to reflect that.”

The Glatorian nods in understanding. “And I’m gonna assume that Shadow is more prominent since it’s easier to be bad.” Bedrock nods. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“I read about it,” he shrugs. “I got interested in it on account of my abilities, so… you know.”

“Alright then. So how is that done?”

“That’s the thing,” the Toa of Earth explains: “no one knows how it’s done. Just that they’re confident that it can be done. Beings other than Makuta who can control Shadow are known to have existed in the past, but nobody has the faintest clue as to how they got into that state. Beings controlling Light have never been known to exist, but it’s commonly accepted that they can be if the same requirements are met, as well as th-”

“Hold on,” Salas interrupts. “What about you?”

Bedrock glances at her.

“How do you control both Shadow and Earth, and top of it not just one of those?”

Soft, hungry chirping rings behind Bedrock’s ear. The woodland around the chariot darkens, transforming into a̵ da͜ŗk͡ ͝c̶a̸ve̶ ͜fu͜ll o̶f̸ h͠iś d̵èaḑ ͘brothers҉ it͜’͘ś yo̧u̸r̴ ͞fa͢u͏lt͡ y̢͍o̸̙̱̟̮̱͗u̟͆ͮ̓̉̔ͦć̙͉͂̿̅̔ö̸́͒͛̋ͥú̳̰͍̮l̴̟͚̗͖͈̲ͮͭd̢͈̳̱͒͒ͯ̃v͋̊ͧ̓̈ͩ͜ẹͪͤ̆̚s̺̪͖͙̭̃͗̇̎͗ͭ͒a̸̤̠̟̖̻̝͕͋v̯͕̝̫̩̈́̓͐͑ͪͧȩ͙̞ďͭ̎̿͏͓t̾͊hͭ̊͑ͮ͗ͣ̍͏͎̹ͅe̸̦̹̔̅̂̍ͧ̆́m͔͚͓̭̙͂͊̿̄̓̀͘ȁ̟̪̽̓ǹ̩̗̜̤͎̿̂d̢̥̼̣͚̐ͣ̈́ͩ͆ͧy̨̖̰̝͎̺̙̑͑͑̾ͮo͙ͥͪ͐̒̔u̔ͮ̔̾͝d̞̰̗̩̾ͦ͑̒ͥi̛̼̻͚͙̦͌͂ͫd̦̦̂́̃̀̚͞n̗ͮ̈́ͨ̂t̙̘̣͖̥̥͑̒ͫ͐͒͢ ť̴̛̻͉̞͚̤̺ͦ̄͊̍ͧh̳̮̪̪̭ͤ̐ë̡̘̻̇̆̄͑̒̌͜͠y͔̬̥̲͙̩̒͂͘l̬̙̰̈́̈́ͣͤ͋̓̎̍͂͢ó̸͖̞̗͎͓̀ͮ̀̊͟v̧̠̬̀͋e͚̤̰͎̳̥ͦͦͧ̂͗̊͑̕͢d̢̰͈̩͒ͤ̅͞ẙͬ̀҉̛̫̝̟o̹̫̟̱̩̮̦͗ͩ́̔̆̉̕͢͟u̷̮̪ͣ́̚ă̡͕̗̋ͮ͛͗̆ͨ̊͜ṋ̵̡̗̜̐̿̎͟d̴̹͓͍̮͎̍̽̏̍ͭ̓͟ŷ͙͍͓̪̽ͮͦ̔͒ͬ̂͡o͈ͦ̐̐̄ͥͭ̍̐úͫ̉ͥ͊̐͊͌͏̡̺̗k̴̰̞ͤ̐ͭͮͩͬ̏ͨ͜ȋ̴͕̩̮̪̮̂̑̆ͫ̅̄̀l̟̥͔͓͓͕̹̞͔ͮ̈́̅ͨ̚l̵̘̪͚͙̹̣̒̈́͂̚͟͞ȩ̨͇̝͙̞̖̳̩͆̍̊ḑ̤̗̰͖̦̟̺ͬ̔͆͒t͉̼̋͜͞ȟ̷̜̞̻̗͉̩͑͗̉͋̐̌̓̚ḙ̢̘̟̜̙͔͚̭́̀ͪ̒ͦ̎ͫ̀m̨̢͍͈̝ͭ̏͂ͪ̈̑̚̕a͚͉͚̪͆ͧ́͘l̸̢̥͓͙̮̹̲̗̫͓̆̂̎͐͊̌l̠̥̯̫̪͉̰͛̆͋̉̅̍̍͜ a̸̺͔̞̽͗ͨö̵̫̱̈́̄ͥ͟å͔̘̆̊̍̋̇̇o̫̝ͣ̅́̂͒͒ͭ͝͡£͇̬̭̰̤̖̗͚ͪͭ̂̓ͮ̿̄͒́ £ͧ̉̋̏̏̽̊͗͌ͮ͐̈ͮ̎ͣ̍ͤ̿҉͔̱̤͕̳͖͚̤̗͖͍͓͈̹̮̦́͡£̶̼͙͙̼̮̟̓ͬ̓ͭͮ̓͛̔̈́ͨ̊͋̓ͫ͋́̚̚͡€̵̨̬̙͓̼͕ͣͮͯ̿̀̈ͣ̆̎̓̔͐͛£̧̙̻͓̗̥̪̩̃̀͑ͣ̎̓̇ͪͬ̌́͊͆̄̇͐͗̉́͠͝€̵͎̳̗̜̫̝̮͔̖̮͈͎̗̥̗̊͋̽ͤ̎͑ͨ͊ͦ́̕£̢̯̥̺̺͚͈͔͗̒̍̋̄ͩͥ̀̕͢ͅ$̛̮̻̪͔͉̺̯̺̙̹̫̠̺̍̀ͧ̈̅ͩ̿́ͥͤ͟£̡̹̮̜͉̦̙̙̄̂͋ͪ̋͗ͣͩͬͭ͐ͬ͑̎ͨͥ͡ͅ€̴͆̎̅͗ͯ͆̆̈̄̌̔̿̅ͨ̚͟͝͏̘̭̼̖͕̟̗̪̲͎£̸̴͊̿͋͊͑̌́́͏͇̘͙͔̞̗$̷̨͚̰̹̯̥̬̮͖͔̫̩̎̽̑ͦ̈́̍̆̍͆̏̍͂̄̆ͧ͗̌̈͢͡ͅ£̢̮͙̱̂̊̍ͯ͑͒ͧͮ̿͜͟͡€ͤ͑̐ͤ̍̋̅͊̑͐ͭͦ҉̶́͝҉̼͉̪͔̪̥̪̬͓̖͎̳͓̩̹͖̳£̧ͩ̇ͣͥ̔ͮͧ̓ͦ͡͏̦͇͙̤͉̲̭̜͙̰̳̱̠͓̬̞͝$͍̠̪̦͖̯̜͇͈̣̤͈̥̤ͦͩͦ̐̀ͦ̊̕͢͞͝£͕̖͔̩͙̐ͧ̔ͥ̑̒́̏͆̕͢͢ͅ€̧̏̃̄̔̔̆̒̓̒͒͗ͪ̑͏̷̭̮̲̫̬̙͎̤͈͜-̷̛̫̖͍̟̲̼͖͕̪̮͖̭̝̬͚̥̓̋̉̊ͭͭͩ́͜͠

“I don’t know,” Bedrock answers. “I just… found out I could one day, but it was very long time ago.”

Salas squints. “How old are you?”

“…I… we, actually… are really old,” Bedrock words awkwardly, anticipating that Salas has never heard of any events that have happened inside the Great Spirit Robot. “I honestly don’t know by exact, since I never celebrated naming day.”

“What is-”

Salas interrupts herself with a sneeze. Cursing under her breath, she notices her gauntlet and the chariot looking oddly… frosted?

She looks down at herself, and her gunmetal grey armor is the same, paling as cold creeps onto it. Bedrock notices it on his hands too and runs a finger across the side of the modified Garai he’s wearing, gathering up a small concentration of frost on his finger tip. Around them, the trees and their leafs are wilting and the wind has picked up the pace - and as if on cue, the chariot leaves the forest and enters an open field - which is covered in snow raining down on from the dark sky, their Spikit shaking and whining quietly from the cold and eyeing the landscape for shelter with it’s heads.

The two stare at each other, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, before either of them can say anything, the wind violently picks up and the chariot is toppled, throwing both Dark Hunters and Kaksos into the snow.

@ghost-of-destiny

[quakeandpals]

                REBLOG THIS IF YOU ARE A BIONICLE RP BLOG                            You will be added to the masterlist 

[quakeandpals]

Salas watched the wind die down and storm becoming a considerably more gentle snowfall as she clicked the Kanoka launcher onto her arm. She glanced around. No sign of anyone else, from a quick glance. Either there was a Toa of Air hiding in here somewhere who assisted in creating the storm and they’re about to get jumped or this was all the stranger’s doing.

She looked over to Bedrock and Kaksos as she got up with her glaive. The spikit was shivering, but kept it’s eyes on the odd Toa of Ice, ready to pounce.

Bedrock, meanwhile, grimaces as he looks about.

“...no,” he mutters, more to himself than to the Toa as he turns to him. “I don’t buy it. I know that Toa of Ice can create a snowstorm with a Toa of Air or a pre-existing storm helping him, but this is way too much of an effort to fend off organic wildlife, even with a partner...”

“...unless you’re Toa Kopaka or have powers like he does, but both I doubt,” he narrows his eyes at the cloaked man, taking a step backwards. “What are you planning here? And what do you mean, you don’t feel Mata Nui’s presence? He “fell asleep” after Makuta’s Fall...”

Hunters in the Drifts

“I’m surprised you never asked about the whole Shadow thing.”

Salas glances over to him. “What do you mean?”

Bedrock blinks, swiveling his head at her as the Baranus Chariot rolled forwards, Kaksos trotting down the woodland road at a casual running pace. “What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“…yeah? What do you?” Salas asks, puzzled. “Is that not normal?”

“Oh, god no,” Bedrock shakes his head. “Controlling more than one element is pretty much impossible unless it’s because of some experiment or forced fusion with another Toa - controlling Shadow is the most blatant sign that someone is evil. Only ones who can do that are Makuta, some Rahkshi, and Toa of Shadow.”

Salas doesn’t say anything, staring at Bedrock expectantly.

“…right, not from our world,” he says. “I forgot.” Bedrock glances at the road in front of them absentmindedly. Nothing ahead. “So in summation, Toa of Shadow are Toa who lost their inner light. Inner light, in turn, is one half of the being’s moral balance between good and bad - the other one being inner shadow. Obviously, most people lean towards one of them, but it’s theorized that there is some way to forcibly topple the balance when the being is significantly more of the one or the other. When that happens, that person supposedly gains access to the element that’s more prominent and his personality changes to reflect that.”

The Glatorian nods in understanding. “And I’m gonna assume that Shadow is more prominent since it’s easier to be bad.” Bedrock nods. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“I read about it,” he shrugs. “I got interested in it on account of my abilities, so… you know.”

“Alright then. So how is that done?”

“That’s the thing,” the Toa of Earth explains: “no one knows how it’s done. Just that they’re confident that it can be done. Beings other than Makuta who can control Shadow are known to have existed in the past, but nobody has the faintest clue as to how they got into that state. Beings controlling Light have never been known to exist, but it’s commonly accepted that they can be if the same requirements are met, as well as th-”

“Hold on,” Salas interrupts. “What about you?”

Bedrock glances at her.

“How do you control both Shadow and Earth, and top of it not just one of those?”

Soft, hungry chirping rings behind Bedrock’s ear. The woodland around the chariot darkens, transforming into a̵ da͜ŗk͡ ͝c̶a̸ve̶ ͜fu͜ll o̶f̸ h͠iś d̵èaḑ ͘brothers҉ it͜’͘ś yo̧u̸r̴ ͞fa͢u͏lt͡ y̢͍o̸̙̱̟̮̱͗u̟͆ͮ̓̉̔ͦć̙͉͂̿̅̔ö̸́͒͛̋ͥú̳̰͍̮l̴̟͚̗͖͈̲ͮͭd̢͈̳̱͒͒ͯ̃v͋̊ͧ̓̈ͩ͜ẹͪͤ̆̚s̺̪͖͙̭̃͗̇̎͗ͭ͒a̸̤̠̟̖̻̝͕͋v̯͕̝̫̩̈́̓͐͑ͪͧȩ͙̞ďͭ̎̿͏͓t̾͊hͭ̊͑ͮ͗ͣ̍͏͎̹ͅe̸̦̹̔̅̂̍ͧ̆́m͔͚͓̭̙͂͊̿̄̓̀͘ȁ̟̪̽̓ǹ̩̗̜̤͎̿̂d̢̥̼̣͚̐ͣ̈́ͩ͆ͧy̨̖̰̝͎̺̙̑͑͑̾ͮo͙ͥͪ͐̒̔u̔ͮ̔̾͝d̞̰̗̩̾ͦ͑̒ͥi̛̼̻͚͙̦͌͂ͫd̦̦̂́̃̀̚͞n̗ͮ̈́ͨ̂t̙̘̣͖̥̥͑̒ͫ͐͒͢ ť̴̛̻͉̞͚̤̺ͦ̄͊̍ͧh̳̮̪̪̭ͤ̐ë̡̘̻̇̆̄͑̒̌͜͠y͔̬̥̲͙̩̒͂͘l̬̙̰̈́̈́ͣͤ͋̓̎̍͂͢ó̸͖̞̗͎͓̀ͮ̀̊͟v̧̠̬̀͋e͚̤̰͎̳̥ͦͦͧ̂͗̊͑̕͢d̢̰͈̩͒ͤ̅͞ẙͬ̀҉̛̫̝̟o̹̫̟̱̩̮̦͗ͩ́̔̆̉̕͢͟u̷̮̪ͣ́̚ă̡͕̗̋ͮ͛͗̆ͨ̊͜ṋ̵̡̗̜̐̿̎͟d̴̹͓͍̮͎̍̽̏̍ͭ̓͟ŷ͙͍͓̪̽ͮͦ̔͒ͬ̂͡o͈ͦ̐̐̄ͥͭ̍̐úͫ̉ͥ͊̐͊͌͏̡̺̗k̴̰̞ͤ̐ͭͮͩͬ̏ͨ͜ȋ̴͕̩̮̪̮̂̑̆ͫ̅̄̀l̟̥͔͓͓͕̹̞͔ͮ̈́̅ͨ̚l̵̘̪͚͙̹̣̒̈́͂̚͟͞ȩ̨͇̝͙̞̖̳̩͆̍̊ḑ̤̗̰͖̦̟̺ͬ̔͆͒t͉̼̋͜͞ȟ̷̜̞̻̗͉̩͑͗̉͋̐̌̓̚ḙ̢̘̟̜̙͔͚̭́̀ͪ̒ͦ̎ͫ̀m̨̢͍͈̝ͭ̏͂ͪ̈̑̚̕a͚͉͚̪͆ͧ́͘l̸̢̥͓͙̮̹̲̗̫͓̆̂̎͐͊̌l̠̥̯̫̪͉̰͛̆͋̉̅̍̍͜ a̸̺͔̞̽͗ͨö̵̫̱̈́̄ͥ͟å͔̘̆̊̍̋̇̇o̫̝ͣ̅́̂͒͒ͭ͝͡£͇̬̭̰̤̖̗͚ͪͭ̂̓ͮ̿̄͒́ £ͧ̉̋̏̏̽̊͗͌ͮ͐̈ͮ̎ͣ̍ͤ̿҉͔̱̤͕̳͖͚̤̗͖͍͓͈̹̮̦́͡£̶̼͙͙̼̮̟̓ͬ̓ͭͮ̓͛̔̈́ͨ̊͋̓ͫ͋́̚̚͡€̵̨̬̙͓̼͕ͣͮͯ̿̀̈ͣ̆̎̓̔͐͛£̧̙̻͓̗̥̪̩̃̀͑ͣ̎̓̇ͪͬ̌́͊͆̄̇͐͗̉́͠͝€̵͎̳̗̜̫̝̮͔̖̮͈͎̗̥̗̊͋̽ͤ̎͑ͨ͊ͦ́̕£̢̯̥̺̺͚͈͔͗̒̍̋̄ͩͥ̀̕͢ͅ$̛̮̻̪͔͉̺̯̺̙̹̫̠̺̍̀ͧ̈̅ͩ̿́ͥͤ͟£̡̹̮̜͉̦̙̙̄̂͋ͪ̋͗ͣͩͬͭ͐ͬ͑̎ͨͥ͡ͅ€̴͆̎̅͗ͯ͆̆̈̄̌̔̿̅ͨ̚͟͝͏̘̭̼̖͕̟̗̪̲͎£̸̴͊̿͋͊͑̌́́͏͇̘͙͔̞̗$̷̨͚̰̹̯̥̬̮͖͔̫̩̎̽̑ͦ̈́̍̆̍͆̏̍͂̄̆ͧ͗̌̈͢͡ͅ£̢̮͙̱̂̊̍ͯ͑͒ͧͮ̿͜͟͡€ͤ͑̐ͤ̍̋̅͊̑͐ͭͦ҉̶́͝҉̼͉̪͔̪̥̪̬͓̖͎̳͓̩̹͖̳£̧ͩ̇ͣͥ̔ͮͧ̓ͦ͡͏̦͇͙̤͉̲̭̜͙̰̳̱̠͓̬̞͝$͍̠̪̦͖̯̜͇͈̣̤͈̥̤ͦͩͦ̐̀ͦ̊̕͢͞͝£͕̖͔̩͙̐ͧ̔ͥ̑̒́̏͆̕͢͢ͅ€̧̏̃̄̔̔̆̒̓̒͒͗ͪ̑͏̷̭̮̲̫̬̙͎̤͈͜-̷̛̫̖͍̟̲̼͖͕̪̮͖̭̝̬͚̥̓̋̉̊ͭͭͩ́͜͠

“I don’t know,” Bedrock answers. “I just… found out I could one day, but it was very long time ago.”

Salas squints. “How old are you?”

“…I… we, actually… are really old,” Bedrock words awkwardly, anticipating that Salas has never heard of any events that have happened inside the Great Spirit Robot. “I honestly don’t know by exact, since I never celebrated naming day.”

“What is-”

Salas interrupts herself with a sneeze. Cursing under her breath, she notices her gauntlet and the chariot looking oddly… frosted?

She looks down at herself, and her gunmetal grey armor is the same, paling as cold creeps onto it. Bedrock notices it on his hands too and runs a finger across the side of the modified Garai he’s wearing, gathering up a small concentration of frost on his finger tip. Around them, the trees and their leafs are wilting and the wind has picked up the pace - and as if on cue, the chariot leaves the forest and enters an open field - which is covered in snow raining down on from the dark sky, their Spikit shaking and whining quietly from the cold and eyeing the landscape for shelter with it’s heads.

The two stare at each other, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, before either of them can say anything, the wind violently picks up and the chariot is toppled, throwing both Dark Hunters and Kaksos into the snow.

@ghost-of-destiny

[quakeandpals]

Salas didn’t know how to react. Just a second ago she had fallen in at least two feet deep snow, and the next she was lying on dead grass and wilted flowers.

“...I... huh?”

She was snapped out of her reverie by Kaksos jumping over her and putting itself between the three, growling at the stranger.

“Down, boy,” Bedrock ordered, dragging himself up onto his feet, mask slightly askew as he scrutinized the stranger before them. A Toa of Ice, obviously. Can’t tell what kind of weapons he has nor the mask, covered by the cloak. Possibly a former Hagah on account of the silver?

“...I’m gonna guess you’re why the weather went this bad,” he fixes the filed-down Garai back on with his non-damaged arm. “Though you don’t look like you could create a whole storm by yourself... What’d you do that for?”

The glatorian glanced between Bedrock and the mysterious, cloaked Toa as she crawled back to the chariot and fetched her glaive and Kanoka Launcher. She had doubts that there was going to be a fight but she wasn’t planning on being defenseless if there was.

Hunters in the Drifts

“I’m surprised you never asked about the whole Shadow thing.”

Salas glances over to him. “What do you mean?”

Bedrock blinks, swiveling his head at her as the Baranus Chariot rolled forwards, Kaksos trotting down the woodland road at a casual running pace. “What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“…yeah? What do you?” Salas asks, puzzled. “Is that not normal?”

“Oh, god no,” Bedrock shakes his head. “Controlling more than one element is pretty much impossible unless it’s because of some experiment or forced fusion with another Toa - controlling Shadow is the most blatant sign that someone is evil. Only ones who can do that are Makuta, some Rahkshi, and Toa of Shadow.”

Salas doesn’t say anything, staring at Bedrock expectantly.

“…right, not from our world,” he says. “I forgot.” Bedrock glances at the road in front of them absentmindedly. Nothing ahead. “So in summation, Toa of Shadow are Toa who lost their inner light. Inner light, in turn, is one half of the being’s moral balance between good and bad - the other one being inner shadow. Obviously, most people lean towards one of them, but it’s theorized that there is some way to forcibly topple the balance when the being is significantly more of the one or the other. When that happens, that person supposedly gains access to the element that’s more prominent and his personality changes to reflect that.”

The Glatorian nods in understanding. “And I’m gonna assume that Shadow is more prominent since it’s easier to be bad.” Bedrock nods. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“I read about it,” he shrugs. “I got interested in it on account of my abilities, so… you know.”

“Alright then. So how is that done?”

“That’s the thing,” the Toa of Earth explains: “no one knows how it’s done. Just that they’re confident that it can be done. Beings other than Makuta who can control Shadow are known to have existed in the past, but nobody has the faintest clue as to how they got into that state. Beings controlling Light have never been known to exist, but it’s commonly accepted that they can be if the same requirements are met, as well as th-”

“Hold on,” Salas interrupts. “What about you?”

Bedrock glances at her.

“How do you control both Shadow and Earth, and top of it not just one of those?”

Soft, hungry chirping rings behind Bedrock’s ear. The woodland around the chariot darkens, transforming into a̵ da͜ŗk͡ ͝c̶a̸ve̶ ͜fu͜ll o̶f̸ h͠iś d̵èaḑ ͘brothers҉ it͜’͘ś yo̧u̸r̴ ͞fa͢u͏lt͡ y̢͍o̸̙̱̟̮̱͗u̟͆ͮ̓̉̔ͦć̙͉͂̿̅̔ö̸́͒͛̋ͥú̳̰͍̮l̴̟͚̗͖͈̲ͮͭd̢͈̳̱͒͒ͯ̃v͋̊ͧ̓̈ͩ͜ẹͪͤ̆̚s̺̪͖͙̭̃͗̇̎͗ͭ͒a̸̤̠̟̖̻̝͕͋v̯͕̝̫̩̈́̓͐͑ͪͧȩ͙̞ďͭ̎̿͏͓t̾͊hͭ̊͑ͮ͗ͣ̍͏͎̹ͅe̸̦̹̔̅̂̍ͧ̆́m͔͚͓̭̙͂͊̿̄̓̀͘ȁ̟̪̽̓ǹ̩̗̜̤͎̿̂d̢̥̼̣͚̐ͣ̈́ͩ͆ͧy̨̖̰̝͎̺̙̑͑͑̾ͮo͙ͥͪ͐̒̔u̔ͮ̔̾͝d̞̰̗̩̾ͦ͑̒ͥi̛̼̻͚͙̦͌͂ͫd̦̦̂́̃̀̚͞n̗ͮ̈́ͨ̂t̙̘̣͖̥̥͑̒ͫ͐͒͢ ť̴̛̻͉̞͚̤̺ͦ̄͊̍ͧh̳̮̪̪̭ͤ̐ë̡̘̻̇̆̄͑̒̌͜͠y͔̬̥̲͙̩̒͂͘l̬̙̰̈́̈́ͣͤ͋̓̎̍͂͢ó̸͖̞̗͎͓̀ͮ̀̊͟v̧̠̬̀͋e͚̤̰͎̳̥ͦͦͧ̂͗̊͑̕͢d̢̰͈̩͒ͤ̅͞ẙͬ̀҉̛̫̝̟o̹̫̟̱̩̮̦͗ͩ́̔̆̉̕͢͟u̷̮̪ͣ́̚ă̡͕̗̋ͮ͛͗̆ͨ̊͜ṋ̵̡̗̜̐̿̎͟d̴̹͓͍̮͎̍̽̏̍ͭ̓͟ŷ͙͍͓̪̽ͮͦ̔͒ͬ̂͡o͈ͦ̐̐̄ͥͭ̍̐úͫ̉ͥ͊̐͊͌͏̡̺̗k̴̰̞ͤ̐ͭͮͩͬ̏ͨ͜ȋ̴͕̩̮̪̮̂̑̆ͫ̅̄̀l̟̥͔͓͓͕̹̞͔ͮ̈́̅ͨ̚l̵̘̪͚͙̹̣̒̈́͂̚͟͞ȩ̨͇̝͙̞̖̳̩͆̍̊ḑ̤̗̰͖̦̟̺ͬ̔͆͒t͉̼̋͜͞ȟ̷̜̞̻̗͉̩͑͗̉͋̐̌̓̚ḙ̢̘̟̜̙͔͚̭́̀ͪ̒ͦ̎ͫ̀m̨̢͍͈̝ͭ̏͂ͪ̈̑̚̕a͚͉͚̪͆ͧ́͘l̸̢̥͓͙̮̹̲̗̫͓̆̂̎͐͊̌l̠̥̯̫̪͉̰͛̆͋̉̅̍̍͜ a̸̺͔̞̽͗ͨö̵̫̱̈́̄ͥ͟å͔̘̆̊̍̋̇̇o̫̝ͣ̅́̂͒͒ͭ͝͡£͇̬̭̰̤̖̗͚ͪͭ̂̓ͮ̿̄͒́ £ͧ̉̋̏̏̽̊͗͌ͮ͐̈ͮ̎ͣ̍ͤ̿҉͔̱̤͕̳͖͚̤̗͖͍͓͈̹̮̦́͡£̶̼͙͙̼̮̟̓ͬ̓ͭͮ̓͛̔̈́ͨ̊͋̓ͫ͋́̚̚͡€̵̨̬̙͓̼͕ͣͮͯ̿̀̈ͣ̆̎̓̔͐͛£̧̙̻͓̗̥̪̩̃̀͑ͣ̎̓̇ͪͬ̌́͊͆̄̇͐͗̉́͠͝€̵͎̳̗̜̫̝̮͔̖̮͈͎̗̥̗̊͋̽ͤ̎͑ͨ͊ͦ́̕£̢̯̥̺̺͚͈͔͗̒̍̋̄ͩͥ̀̕͢ͅ$̛̮̻̪͔͉̺̯̺̙̹̫̠̺̍̀ͧ̈̅ͩ̿́ͥͤ͟£̡̹̮̜͉̦̙̙̄̂͋ͪ̋͗ͣͩͬͭ͐ͬ͑̎ͨͥ͡ͅ€̴͆̎̅͗ͯ͆̆̈̄̌̔̿̅ͨ̚͟͝͏̘̭̼̖͕̟̗̪̲͎£̸̴͊̿͋͊͑̌́́͏͇̘͙͔̞̗$̷̨͚̰̹̯̥̬̮͖͔̫̩̎̽̑ͦ̈́̍̆̍͆̏̍͂̄̆ͧ͗̌̈͢͡ͅ£̢̮͙̱̂̊̍ͯ͑͒ͧͮ̿͜͟͡€ͤ͑̐ͤ̍̋̅͊̑͐ͭͦ҉̶́͝҉̼͉̪͔̪̥̪̬͓̖͎̳͓̩̹͖̳£̧ͩ̇ͣͥ̔ͮͧ̓ͦ͡͏̦͇͙̤͉̲̭̜͙̰̳̱̠͓̬̞͝$͍̠̪̦͖̯̜͇͈̣̤͈̥̤ͦͩͦ̐̀ͦ̊̕͢͞͝£͕̖͔̩͙̐ͧ̔ͥ̑̒́̏͆̕͢͢ͅ€̧̏̃̄̔̔̆̒̓̒͒͗ͪ̑͏̷̭̮̲̫̬̙͎̤͈͜-̷̛̫̖͍̟̲̼͖͕̪̮͖̭̝̬͚̥̓̋̉̊ͭͭͩ́͜͠

“I don’t know,” Bedrock answers. “I just… found out I could one day, but it was very long time ago.”

Salas squints. “How old are you?”

“…I… we, actually… are really old,” Bedrock words awkwardly, anticipating that Salas has never heard of any events that have happened inside the Great Spirit Robot. “I honestly don’t know by exact, since I never celebrated naming day.”

“What is-”

Salas interrupts herself with a sneeze. Cursing under her breath, she notices her gauntlet and the chariot looking oddly… frosted?

She looks down at herself, and her gunmetal grey armor is the same, paling as cold creeps onto it. Bedrock notices it on his hands too and runs a finger across the side of the modified Garai he’s wearing, gathering up a small concentration of frost on his finger tip. Around them, the trees and their leafs are wilting and the wind has picked up the pace - and as if on cue, the chariot leaves the forest and enters an open field - which is covered in snow raining down on from the dark sky, their Spikit shaking and whining quietly from the cold and eyeing the landscape for shelter with it’s heads.

The two stare at each other, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, before either of them can say anything, the wind violently picks up and the chariot is toppled, throwing both Dark Hunters and Kaksos into the snow.

@ghost-of-destiny