#kirop

[toa-arania]

I think about the 08 shadow matoran a lot. Gavla the transgender icon. Radiak who went full Klingon fighting his friends because it was fun. Kirop getting demoted to Starscream because I guess Gavla was a bit cuntier? I want them to go on adventures together. What if they were taken away from the Makuta but there was no way to bring their light back? What if they just had to adapt and re-integrate with all the Opinions everyone would have about them? What if they became Toa somehow and had to deal with that? When I'm done writing Visions I'm definitely writing something with these three. I love them.

[nameshifter]

Really old picture of an AU I had

Once upon a time I wanted to make story about a bunch of Av-matoran that never got to expand their characters. One of the ideas was that the matoran in question would at least be partially influenced by Makuta Teridax, as the villain of the story would've been Mutran.

The story didn't get anywhere... hopefully that changes soon

[randomwriteronline]

welcome back to humanized bionicles today the menu has Creepers from the Deepers (yet to be creepified), unwilling inhabitants of Australia-But-Worse's Atlantis, and flying kids who beat the shit out of each other in the heart of God

i once again used up too much space in the tags so here i am makin notes again bc im stupid

the Barraki were canonically handsome before getting locked down in Underwater Fort Knox so thats why they look like that (hopefully) look vaguely attractive

Ehlek has Big Pupils bc he has animal-like eyes (very little visible sclera) and his hair is more like lil spikes or fins he can pull up

the philosophy for Pridak was "Sidorak WISHES he was him"

i know the Mahri Nui matoran are always in bubbles but fuck it floaty hair babeyyyy

much like Voya Nui matoran they have scars from Karzhani

unlike all other matoran the Av-Matoran do share somatic traits: long noses, arched upper lips, thin eyes with flat lower eyelids, and very curly hair. they also all have a strand of hair braided

all of these traits are based on Takua/Takanuva's design here

[nattarthetimedragon]

Tanma, Photok, Radiak, Kirop, Solek, and Gavla

[radioshackraider]

Sets I need to rebuild

Full Sets Ackar Stronius Kiina Gelu Malum Zesk Tarduk Raanu Mazeka Takanuva 08 Toa Mata Nui Axonn Vezon (Kardas Dragon) Lewa Phantoka Kopaka Phantoka Pohatu Phantoka Antroz Vamprah Chiroz Krikka Gorast Onua Mistika Tahu Mistika Axalara T9 Jetrax T6 Boxor Tahu G2 1 Onua G2 1 Fire Protector Water Protector Earth Protector Stone Protector Ice Protector Jungle Protector Vultraz Gavla Kirop Radiak Hewkii Inika Kalmah Pridak Garan Balta Delu Kazi Norrik Rahaga Iruni Rahaga Pouks Rahaga Vezon and Fenrahk

Incomplete Sets Berix Skrall Tarix Vorox Onua Mata Pohatu Mata Kopaka Mata Gali Mata Lewa Mata Tahu Nuva Jaller Inika Hahli Inika Thok Zaktan Reidak Avak Nokama Hordika Takadox Carapar Roodaka Sidorak Umbra Takua and Pewku Missing Sets All Matoran pre 2004 All Turaga (Not Dume) All 01 Rahi Exo Toa Tahnok Gahlok Bohrok Queens Tahnok Kal (May have parts) Nuhvok Kal (May have parts) Jaller and Guuko Lhikan and Kikanalo Matau Hordika Kongu Inika All Toa Mahri Ehlek Nocturn Lesovik Karzahni Hydraxon Gadunka Maxilos and Spinax Dekar Icarax Mutran Toa Ignika Rockoh T3 Bitil Gresh Vastus Strakk Tuma Fero and Skirmax Skrall Agori Metus Rahkshi Stars Takanuva Stars Gresh Stars Piraka Stars Skrall Stars Built Sets: Tahu Mata Gali Nuva Onua Nuva Pohatu Nuva Lewa Nuva Kopaka Nuva Lehvak Pahrak Kohrak Nuhvok Lehvak Kal Pahrak Kal Kohrak Kal Gahlok Kal All 6 Rahski Makuta Teridax Takanuva All 6 Toa Metru All 6 Vahki Le Matoran Ko Matoran Nivawk and Dume Krekka Nidihki All 6 Visorak Vakama Hordika Whenua Hordika Nuju Hordik Onewa Hordika Keetongu Bomonga Rahaga Gaaki Rahaga Kualus Rahaga Norrik Hagah Iruni Hagah Velika Piruk Matoro Inika Nuparu Inika Vezok Haakan Brutaka Kardas Dragon Mantax Defilak Tanma Photok Solek Gali Mistika Mata Nui (Glatorian) I might be missing sets on any given list, and haven't included any duplicates I haven't got built/won't build

[deepsearahi]

What hurts worse, watching the world collapse into entropy or being doomed to survive in the aftermath?

9/10 of Sentries. Built with Stud.io

[mocsbylexan]

Matoran Morphology Section 2: The Av-Matoran of Karda Nui

The av-matoran of Karda Nui were the matoran prototypes: the first matoran ever to be created by the Great Beings. As such, they are not only a living glimpse into the origins of the matoran race, they are also completely unique, possessing many features that simply aren’t present in other matoran. Some of these unique quirks are a result of their element, but some are a result of their unique bodies.

Form: Av-matoran have among the largest of matoran form factors, towering over their fellow matoran at almost a bio (see fig. 9 for a height comparison with a diminished matoran). They are almost identical in appearance, size, and structure to an armored agori (see fig. 6-8 for a side-by-side comparison of a Karda-Nui matoran and an Ice-Tribe agori); indeed, it appears that in order to create the av-matoran, the great beings simply made agori-styled suits of armor and added servos and muscles to the inside to animate them, folding the matoran’s inner bodies into the chest cavity. The only immediately apparent differences between an armored agori and an av-matoran are the jetpack unit on the matoran’s back and, of course, the head, which wears a kanohi mask. The matoran’s neck also juts out at an angle that agori and other matoran might consider strange, but it hasn’t been known to affect the matoran’s functionality. The most striking feature of the Karda Nui body is its eyeglow, although calling it eyeglow is a bit of an understatement. The matoran’s entire head is made of a glassy substance that radiates light in a very distinct yellowish green. Rest assured, however, that the head is not one gigantic eye; it’s been confirmed that av-matoran cannot see outside of the normal matoran field of vision. Although it can sometimes be difficult to parse which of the av-matoran’s stranger quirks are a result of their element or not, this unique feature appears to be due instead to their body’s construction.

Functionality: Compared to later and more common form factors, the av-matoran body is durable, reliable, and well-suited to handle a wide range of activities and environments. Karda-Nui matoran can take more bodily damage before entering emergency mode than other matoran, and they seem to age and wear out slower than other matoran as well. The tradeoff for all of this is that the Karda-Nui form is harder to modify than other matoran bodies and is also expensive; it takes a lot of time and material to produce and requires a lot of energy to operate, a drawback which is somewhat mitigated by the av-matoran’s high energy element. Due both the excellent functionality and the lack of modularity, it seems that the av-matoran have only made one adjustment to their body form in all the thousands of years of their existence: the addition of a jetpack on their back. This grants most of the Karda-Nui matoran the ability of flight. The Karda-Nui matoran also have access to some active elemental powers, unlike matoran of other elements: they can emit light from their bodies, fire bolts of concentrated elemental energy, and change the color of their armor at will. These abilities seem to be due to the element, rather than the body; av-matoran with different body builds have been shown to have the elemental powers within them, but their bodies are intentionally designed to suppress them so that they are difficult to access consciously. One special feature that does appear to be due solely to the Karda-Nui form is the ability to create an energy link with a toa; Karda-Nui matoran in physical contact with a toa can share memories, communicate mentally and boost both their own and the toa’s elemental powers. The only consistent functional complaint from matoran of this body type is of stiff elbow and knee joints. When at rest, the joints tend to return involuntarily to bending at a specific angle. In extreme cases, some av-matoran almost look like they are squatting when they are standing in place (see fig. 1, 4, and 5). However, the joints are perfectly flexible when muscular force is applied, so the perceived stiffness doesn’t actually hinder the matoran’s movement.

History: The Karda-Nui body is a living glimpse into the past and the creation of the matoran race. As it is essentially the matoran prototype, we can glean many facts from its form about the Great Beings’ intent in creating the matoran and the development of matoran form over time. For instance, we can determine that the Great Beings did in fact base the matoran heavily on the agori when they were first created. It’s likely that the Av-Matoran are so different from other matoran because the Great Beings decided to abandon their original design (and many of its more interesting powers) in favor of something more compact, specialized, and economical to mass-produce. In the early history of Mata-Nui’s universe, all av-matoran had this body type. However, at one point the order of Mata Nui relocated several av-matoran throughout the universe, in the process modifying their bodies to disguise them as matoran of other types. It was supposedly common practice for both the Order of Mata Nui and the Brotherhood of Makuta to upgrade their matoran agents with a body based on this form. Unconfirmed reports have been made of matoran of other elements with this body type being sighted across Bara Magna, which seems to support this rumor.

Acknowledgments: Our volunteer models for this section were Kirop, Av-Leader Karda and former member of the New Atero Council (fig. 1-3, 6-9); Radiak, Av-Warrior Karda (fig. 1, 4-5); and Kaparis of the Ice Tribe (fig. 6-8).

Chronicler’s notes:

Turaga Giiku has told me that I need to apologize for the “Unnecessary and disrespectful comments” I made about Toa Lexan in this morning’s update post. He said I “disrespected the toa of Meki-Nui by posting such disparaging comments about one of them to the dataweb, shunned [my] duty as a chronicler by using a scholarly websuva for personal gossip, and broke trust with [my] turaga by publicising the contents of a private conversation had in confidence with [me] as a chronicler.” So here it is. I apologize for recording a teaching I received directly from our wise and noble turaga about the mental stability of our brave and powerful toa-hero.

Chronicler Zada

[downtofragglerock]

It would be cool if post-canon, the av-matoran started getting straight wacky with their color schemes. I mean they can change color at will, what’s stopping some of them from doing it?

[bobthedoctor27]

Kirop

Leader of the Av-Matoran. A wise and just orator known to have rallied hope in the dark times. He led the Matoran of Karda Nui in lieu of a Turaga and guided them for many centuries. By the Invasion of Karda Nui, he had a decorated career as a political leader and philosopher. 

Canon suggests that he wore a noble Pakari. I took issue with that.

The hands were modeled off a design that I’ve seen floating around a few different places. Haven’t been able to determine whether or not they’re considered the intellectual property of a particular MOCist or if they’re considered fair use. Either way, they just seemed to fit. 

[maskofprime-moved-3-18-2018]

The fact that the Av-Matoran ride on the Phantoka’s backs is hecka cute though

It’s like carrying a baby or something

AND THEN WE GOT KRA-MATORAN RIDING THE MAKUTA’S BACKS AND IT REMINDS ME OF BATS CARRYING THEIR BABIES AROUND WHEN FLYING

Also I’m not gonna get over the fact that Kirop kinda looks like a Spectacled Flying Fox

[drunk-on-starlight]

Apparently the Makuta actually replaced Raidak, Gavla and Kirop's masks when they were corrupted and I'm wondering how? Did they bring specially made masks that look like theirs? Did they make them after?

[nameshifter]

Wipping Away (feat. Toa Kirop) I was thinking of posting this as a part of another gif showcase, like the one I did for Matoro and the other one for Cassy way back when, but another idea struck my mind, and it's going to take a very long time to execute. So I'm going to break stuff down to WIPs.

[ankutnui]

Aesthetics of the Makuta

From the Chronicles of a Toa Ankut: “The armor worn by the members of the Brother of Makuta is one with a great potential of artistic insight into the cultures of the Matoran Universe. One Makuta could honor the lands they watch over by stylising their plating to the likes of the covering worn by the Oropi of that region. But in order to understand which motifs belong to those cultures, we first need to determine the aspects that originate from the very aesthetic of the Brotherhood. Throughout my study I have found a couple of similar patterns shared by various pieces of equipment related to the aforementioned group, which could potentially link to the mentioned design language.

The first pattern I have observed came from the similarity between the arrow-like shape engraved into the mask worn by the Kra-Matoran Kirop and the symbol seen on the Kraata slug in its first stage of evolution. Another engraving that could potentially be an example of this motif can be found on the armor of Makuta Teridax himself, though in a quite modified form. And speaking of his equipment, one of the depictions of the Kanohi Kraahkan (apart from also possibly resembling an arrow) features what is in my opinion the next essential pattern: a series of triangular cuts, quite similar to those seen on Rahkshi armor. It is important to remember that the body of a Rahkshi is made from a Kraata slug, which features triangular patterns as well. In conclusion we can suppose that said creatures, being of the most natural origin, are the original source of inspiration to all of those motifs. Another finding worth mentioning here is one of the portrayals of Toa Matoro’s Kanohi Tryna, which surprisingly features the same style of cuts as the Rahkshi armor. The mask grants abilities that are considered immoral by many, and thus is associated with the Makuta, who favor Kanohi with dark powers. Could it be that this depiction of Ko-Toa’s mask was meant to symbolize its nature? Or perhaps the motif came from the very work of the Kanohi Ignika, whose creative secrets are still a great unknown. This is but a brief entry to the subject, identifying some key aspects that could work as a basis for future findings. I see there being much more to learn from those artifacts, as well as from what we know of Makuta’s role in the universe. There is always more to learn, for this is the way of Ankut Nui.”

[bonkle]

Some Bionicle Names Etymology

Right I’ll just make a whole post about this. I’ve had a lot of linguistic revelations about some of the names from the Ignition trilogy lately, in that members of the same groups seem to share thematic origins for their names. Figured I’d share them and look for some additional input, Biosector and other wikis don’t seem to note a lot of these. 

Some locations and also the Kanohi Ignika: These are probably the most obvious that most people know, but I’m putting them here anyway since I only realized Karda Nui’s and the Ignika’s etymology recently.

Mata Nui: “Mata” seems like one of the Māori words that got used early on, which means “surface,” which is fitting for an island. Though it  apparently also can mean “face,” which, wow, that foreshadowing.

I am aware “Kanohi” also means face in Māori.

Coincidentally, “Mata” does sound like “matter,” which thematically works with... *waves hands vaguely.* Matter, existence, Great Being, yknow...stuff.

Metru/Voya/Mahri/Karda Nui: Metro/voyage/marine/cardiac.

Bara/Aqua/Bota Magna: All terms relating to their states as a desert, ocean, and jungle. “Magna” is literally just Latin for “great” as well.

Ignika: Ignite (should’ve realized this earlier, considering its whole plotline is called the Ignition Trilogy).

The Barraki: Most of them have names based off their associated marine animal. Also pretty obvious, save for some exceptions.

Carapar: Crabs/carapace.

Ehlek: Eels/electricity.

Kalmah: Squids, calamari.

Mantax: Manta rays.

Pridak: Okay I thought this was derived from “a pride of sharks” but turns out a pride is a group of lions. So I actually have no idea, other than I guess Pridak is a prideful being or whatever.

Takadox: Weirdly, Takadox is associated with bugs. My best guess is that his name might be based from “tacklebox?” Cause bugs -> bait -> fishing.

The Karda Nui Makuta: Generally nasty names. The Mistika Makuta have a bug theme, but also maybe a spooky theme (spirits of the mist, after all).

Antroz: Antagonist? “Ant-” as that general negative prefix, at any rate.

Chirox: No idea. Google says “chiro-” is a prefix referring to the hands (like “chiropractor”), but I don’t think that relates to his character at all.

Mutran: Mutate, as our resident mad scientist (okay I guess all the Makuta are technically mad scientists, but you know what I mean).

Vamprah: Vampire.

Bitil: Beetle.

Krika: Cricket? I’m not sure he really looks like a cricket though. Maybe from “creak,” to fit in with the spooky mistika theme.

Gorast: Wasp for bug theme? Gore/ghast for spooky theme?

The Karda Nui Av-Matoran: Seem to have names all related to light and energy, surprise surprise.

Gavla: Galvanize. Fun fact, this is one of those words that isn’t from a Greek/Latin root or whatever, but some guy’s name, Luigi Galvani, the father of bioelectromagnetics. Particularly relevant considering Karda Nui’s thematics.

Kirop: No idea. Sounds like “corrupt” which is thematically relevant to his character, but that doesn’t fit with the overall naming theme of light. My other best guess is like...a backwards “spark” (symbolically reflecting his state as a shadow matoran?...).

Photok: Photon.

Radiak: Radiate.

Solek: Sol.

Tanma: ...Gamma? Like gamma radiation? This one is a bit of a stretch, I’ll admit.

Vican (Ok I know Vican isn’t an Av-Matoran but I’m putting him here since he’s still a 2008 Matoran): A shortening of Victor Frankenstein maybe, as befitting of his role as Mutran’s assistant.

Anyway if anyone has any other thoughts or examples, I’d love to hear them!

[gavla-the-shadow]

Kirop: you're not a bad person gavla, just different. Look at takanuva, he's different. But ultimately I'm slowly convincing the toa that you aren't bad. Heck nitrax wouldn't hang out with you if she didn't see something in you. If you want to know what cruelty is, just remember gorast. Me and the other shadow matoran are here for you no matter what.

"I'd rather not look at Takanuva, I'm rather unfond of him." She poured some tea into the cup and passed it to Kirop. Hoping it would quiet them.

"Save yourself the effort. I'd rather Toa not think about me at all, Kirop. I know it's in your coding to help those that were under your care, but you aren't my leader anymore."

She stifled a laugh at the thought of Gorast.

[ask-toa-hahli]

Noctilio

Part 2: The Visit 

Hahli was getting rather anxious as the morning hours wore on, worrying that her waiting and patience would all be in vain. Would this work, would she even bother coming? By noon it was all beginning to all build up on her, that is until she spotted a blue winged being just arriving in front of the village.

“Gavla!” The water Toa shouted as she rushed over to greet the Matoran, but forced herself into a slower pace as she approached, not wanting to come off as overwhelming. “Welcome to Ga-Koro, I’m so glad you came over.”

“Hmph, well it’s not like I had anything better to do today.” Gavla remarked with little enthusiasm.

“Still, it’s good to have you here,” Hahli replied pleasantly. “I really think that you’ll-”

HHHSSSSSSSS

A sharp hiss abruptly interrupted the Toa. The young Boggarak growled from the water user’s shoulder at the Av-Matoran. With another vocal hiss, the spider then turned away and crawled behind the Toa’s back, retreating to the welcoming shade between her wing-fins.

“Um, that was just Iara, you don’t have to mind her.” Hahli tried to pick herself back up as Gavla just continued to stare with little impression. To her own chagrin, she had forgotten that the Visorak had practically glued onto her for the day. “She really won’t bother you at all. It’s nothing against you, little one is just sensitive and just isn’t fond of feeling light elements…”

“Yeah, well I don’t like them either.” Gavla somewhat muttered under her breath, Hahli had to keep herself from frowning.

The Toa decided to return to the original subject. “I know you just got here, but what do you think so far?”

Gavla kicked a tuft of sand. “It’s sandy.”

“Well, we are on a beach.”

The Matoran squinted as she turned her head to look around. “It’s bright.”

“Like I said, we’re on a beach.”

Without missing a beat Gavla added. “It’s loud.”

“That’s just the sound of the waves, many find it rather calming.” Hahli said, keeping her composure.

“Well I don’t,” Gavla said as she crossed her arms.

Hahli took a deep breath. “How about… we go in and I show you around.”

~~~~~~~~~

She took the Av-Matoran up and down the floating walkways, pointing out different huts, explaining things that were going on and introducing her to several residents. So far despite the efforts, Gavla was still showing little interest in everything there. It was certainly getting frustrating, but Hahli wanted to maintain her optimism. Besides… It’s not like I have any other better ideas...

When they were by the boats, Gavla wasn’t even paying attention as Kotu was explaining needing different fishing techniques for different types of fish. It seemed like nothing would fascinate the girl. Running out of ideas off the top of her head, Hahli worriedly looked around  trying to swiftly find something else that could be engaging. Maybe if she introduced someone else?

Quickly, she chose the next Matoran that she could easily spot. “Gavla, have I introduced you yet to- to um…. Vhisola!?”

The Toa dragged her guest up to the Ga-Matoran, who just so happened to be standing by the side of a hut sharpening a hatchet blade.

“Vhisola, this here is Gavla-”

“Uh huh, you already told us about her last night, so I already assumed that’s who she was.” Vhisola rebuffed, she gazed up from her work and casually scanned over the Matoran presented before her. “So, wings, huh?”

Gavla’s bat-wings twitched before folding back. “Yeah, so what?” The Av-Matoran briskly responded in a defensive manner.

“Well, why the wings?” Vhisola put bluntly.

“Vhisola,” Hahli intercepted. “You know very well how they got like that.”

“Yeah Hahli, I know ‘how’ like everyone does, but that’s not what I was asking.” Vhisola rolled her eyes. “I’m asking what’s the point of them.”

“What do you mean, what’s the point?” Gavla asked suspiciously.

“I mean, what does it have to do with having minor shadow energy?” She went on explaining. “All Matoran abilities are related to their element type, Ga-Matoran can hold their breath longer underwater and excel at swimming and such. So what exactly does having vulnerable wings to fly have to do with relation to the shadow element?”

“Vhisola!” Hahli snapped. “This is not appropriate right now!”

“It’s a legitimate question, Hahli,” Vhisola said as she continued sharpening her blade. “Some of us like being curious and knowledgeable.”

Gavla appeared to struggle with the question Vhisola had thrown out, her bat wings gave an aggressive flap. “I- I don’t know why… But what’s so special about being able to sit in water and swim a little better anyways?” The Av-Matoran threw back.

“Excuse me, the Ga-Matoran abilities are very important. It helps us connect and interact with our element, and you don’t even seem to know how your form functions with your past element.” Vhisola ended her chided lecture on a self satisfied note.

“Vhisola!” Hahli interjected through nearly gritted teeth.

Vhisola stopped sharpening her tool’s blade and glared back at Hahli. “Oh come on Hahli. It’s not everyday that a physically unique Matoran comes in, of course I want to know how it works.”

The winged Matoran just stared at Vhisola taken aback, a surprised expression behind her mask. “Unique…” she breathed out quietly.

Hahli was entirely regretting bringing these two into close proximity. She physically put herself between them, attempting to keep things from escalating further. “Vhisola… don’t you have something better you could be doing right now with your… Mata Nui, why do you even have that right now?” She added in response to the hatchet the Matoran was still holding

“Because Hahli,” Vhisola replied. “If you bothered to notice, we have an excess of bamboo and it needs to get chopped down.”

“Wait, you guys still get to chop things up here?” Gavla piped in.

The water Toa was surprised when the other Matoran spoke up, and was even more surprised to hear a pique of interest in her voice for the first time.

“Well yeah, of course we do,” Vhisola said. “What can you not or something?”

“No, not since we started living in New Atero.” Gavla stated. “At least not publicly.”

“Now that’s just restrictive,” the Ga-Matoran put plainly.

As unorthodox as this was starting to become, Hahli decided to at least try and go with it.

“Gavla, would you be interested in helping Vhisola with her chore?” She asked Gavla gently, though she gave a stern look at the water Matoran in turn.

Vhisola shrugged. “I guess I could show her how it’s properly done, but she needs her own hatchet.”

The former shadow Matoran raised her claws. “I think I’m good there.”

“Hmph, well, we’ll see how they hold up,” Vhisola lightly scoffed, though it really didn’t sound antagonistic.

“I guess we will,” Gavla replied mildly as she began to follow the other blue being who was now leading to a bamboo grove that had not been managed for a while.

Hahli watched the two closely as they walked away, her wing-fins began to tense. “If you have any trouble or you need something feel free to come get me,” she called out quickly, but the Matoran kept their pace, appearing to chat with one another and not once looking back at the Toa.

Slowly, Hahli’s wing-fins started to relax and after a little longer she began to feel comfortable enough to get to move on to attending to other things.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Near the end of the day, Hahli gave her goodbyes to Gavla and told her that she hoped to see her again tomorrow. The response she got back was an uninterested “We’ll see,” but she remained rather hopeful as the Matoran left for home that they would be returning the next day.

Later as the night was drawing in and the Ga-Matoran were busy cleaning up, finishing their tasks in the dwindling light and beginning to light lanterns. Hahli was caught up in the middle of assisting Pelagia and Kai, lifting and holding up the side of a boat on the dock so the two could make repairs where they normally couldn’t reach. She wanted them to be wrapping their job up soon. Already she could feel Iara crawling all over her armor, getting antsy and hungry.

“Hey Hahli!”

The Toa looked over to see which Matoran was addressing her. “What is it, Vhisola?”

Vhisola walked up to her, not seeming to care that the Toa was already in the middle of something. “So, about Gavla…”

“What about her?” There was a slight inflection of warning in her question. After the earlier near confrontation from today, Hahli was not in the mood for any of Vhisola’s complaints.

The Matoran was not concerned at all with the Toa’s tone. “Look I know you said she has a lot of problems-”

“I never said that-”

“Either way, she kinda said some things while she was here,” Vhisola went on.

Hahli let out a deep sigh, nearly resting her head against the boat side she was still holding.The Toa was already regretting introducing those two. “Can this wait? We can take this to my hut and- ”

“This is important.” Vhisola retorted with a correctional attitude, she continued before Hahli could protest again.

“We were talking about our old villages initially at first, talked about other stuff, eventually we got to the subject of who we admired.” The Ga-Matoran explained, she beamed a little with what she said next. “Naturally, I mentioned Nokama.”

It took some self control from Hahli to not groan, already she was making guesses at what sort of remark Vhisola would construed as disparaging or insulting over this. She wasn’t sure how much more patience she’d have left here. “So what did she say then?”

“That’s the thing, after I told mine, Gavla said who she admired…” Vhisola paused briefly. “...Which just so happened to be a Makuta…”

The water Toa nearly dropped the boat. “What?”

“And yes before you ask, that is exactly what she said.” Vhisola stated clearly enough.

Both Pelagia and Kai halted their work, a few other Ga-Matoran who had been walking by had stopped and looked over, some having overheard and others having sensed that something was disrupted.

The attention made Hahli feel more unnerved by the reveal. She recalled what Kirop told her about Gavla making disturbing remarks… but she had never guessed that involved actually idolizing… Images of that handmade monstrous figure that sat on Gavla’s nightstand right next to the bed crept into her head, making her suddenly feel cold and gross...

Hahli tried to say something at the moment. “That’s- That’s…”

“Yeah, it’s kinda messed up.” Vhisola willingly filled in.

“Mata Nui, please tell me that you didn’t say that to Gavla’s face?” The Toa hoped things weren’t made any worse.

“Of course I didn’t,” Vhisola said.“I just told her it was weird.”

“For Mata Nui’s sake, Vhisola.” Hahli flared.

“What? It was the mildest way to put it, she even mentioned that was the best thing anybody has said about it so far.” Vhisola defended.

A loose crowd was beginning to form around the area, murmurs and whispers were being spread through everyone, and Hahli didn’t need to hear them to know exactly who they were about. Her entire plan to help was now on the brink of backfiring completely on the first day  

“Look,” Hahli said aloud, making sure everyone could hear her. “I know how… unsettling this all sounds and it’s definitely something to be uncomfortable about. But Gavla has also been through some terrible things and has had a rough time getting through them, she’s definitely hurting and really needs some sort of help. So if we could just give a chance that she desperately needs…”

The Ga-Matoran were silent

“Hahli’s completely right.” Kai moved over from her position where she had been working on the boat and stood up. “We need to at least give her a chance and try to help. I don’t think any of us can continue to say we’re upholding the virtues, especially the virtue of unity,  if we decide that we should give up on a Matoran so easily.”

Several of the Ga-Matoran nodded in agreement, others talked with each other among themselves but seemed to come to the same agreement. A few left remained wary, but were willing enough to see how things went with the Av-Matoran first. The gathered Matoran then began to slowly disperse, returning to their normal tasks at hand.

“Thank you so much, Kai,” Hahli said gratefully. Relief washing over the Toa. “I really wasn’t sure how that was going to go.”

“Not a problem, Hahli.” Kai replied casually, “I just didn’t think it would be really fair to Gavla if we threw her away so easily.”

“No, it absolutely wouldn’t,” the Toa said as she shot a look at Vhisola.

The Komau wearer just shrugged. “I figured you’d be more upset if I didn’t mention it.”

Hahli was about to say something to reprimand Vhisola, when Kai spoke up again.

“Hey, if you want you can send Gavla my way anytime, I won’t mind if she hangs around while I work. I can take her boating as well if she’d like.”

“-Oh that would be great,” Hahli exclaimed, delighted by this sudden development. “That would be very helpful, if we could just get her to feel safe and comfortable here I think she’ll start to relax and be well… less abrasive and maybe open herself up to people.”

Pelagia had finished the last repair and got up, finally allowing Hahli to gently place the boat back down, while Vhisola rolled her eyes and walked off, but the Toa didn’t care as much about the Matoran’s behavior anymore.

“I mean it, I can’t thank you enough,” Hahli told Kai.

Kai smiled. “Like I told you Hahli, not a problem.”

Toa and Matoran then exchanged their goodnights and departed towards their huts, much as the rest of the village settled in for the evening. The sun finished its descent and with it the clear waters surrounding the Koro plunged into murky darkness.