BL10 - Boomerangs

Gali hit the ground hard, and not for the first time. By now, her muscles ached, her armor was cracked in a few places, and her Mask of Power had already been knocked off half a dozen times. She was tired, she was irritated, and she still couldn’t see the point of any of this.

“I’m a Toa of Water,” she grumbled as she got to her feet. “So what am I doing here?”

Her trainer, Hydraxon, shook his head. “You’re a Toa of Water. That’s true. So naturally your foes will be sure to attack you only when there’s plenty of water around… that’s false.”

Faster than her eye could follow, he whipped a boomerang at her. It swooped low and struck her in the legs, knocking her off her feet again.

Hydraxon gestured at the landscape around them. It was a barren desert for as far as the eye could see. The humidity in the air was close to zero. “If you want water, you’re going to have to make it yourself,” he said. “Provided I don’t carve you up before you get the chance.”

Gali sprang up this time and charged Hydraxon, swinging the hooked tools she carried. He caught one on his armored wrist, grabbed her arm with his free hand, and tossed her over his hip. She landed flat on her back.

“I could do this all day,” Hydraxon said, smiling. “And if you keep thinking with your heart, not your head, I’ll probably have to.”

Gali scrambled to her feet, but this time she didn’t attack. Instead, she took a few steps backward, keeping her eyes trained on Hydraxon’s hands. If he was going to toss another blade or boomerang, this time she would be ready.

[...]

By the time Gali made it back to the Toa’s shelter, she was exhausted and sore. “Mask of Water Breathing,” she sighed. “Big help when there’s no water anywhere around.”

Pohatu laughed. “I thought I’d be able to outrun the little beast with my mask, but darn thing never gives up. Ran so fast I fused some of the sand to glass, and Spinax still caught me the second I slowed down. Kopaka’s the only one who passed that test.”

Gali turned to the Toa of Ice. “What did you do?”

Kopaka shrugged. “I froze him.”

“You didn’t!”

“He did,” said Lewa. The Toa of Air was floating halfway off the floor. Determined to master his Mask of Levitation, his feet were almost never on the ground anymore.

“So what happened?” asked Gali.

“Nothing,” muttered Kopaka.

“Nothing?” Onua chuckled. “Hydraxon commended him on his original thinking.”

“And then knocked him flat,” Tahu added. “Was it six times or eight times in a row, brother?”

“I didn’t see you do any better, Toa of Ashes,” bristled Kopaka.

“I guess a Mask of Shielding doesn’t help much when the boomerangs keep hitting you from behind, huh, Tahu?” said Lewa.

Onua glanced at Tahu and Kopaka and saw neither one was laughing. “Well, we all need to do better,” said the Toa of Earth. “Someday, it won’t be a trainer we’ll be up against, but the real thing.”

“That cannot be soon enough for me,” said Kopaka. “Perhaps then there will be less talking.”

Lewa drifted back down to the ground, landing beside Gali. “Friendly sort, isn’t he?” he whispered.

“He’s a loner, but one who’s smart enough to know he can’t succeed alone,” Gali replied. “It makes him angry, but he tries to keep it all frozen inside.”

“While Tahu keeps fanning the flames between them, like he’s trying to prove something,” said Lewa. “Maybe we better stick together, sister. Those two could get us killed.”


- BIONICLE Legends 10: Swamp of Secrets, Interlude 2