The Toa and the Thief- Chp. 3

The Toa and the Thief- Chapter 3


Onua made his way to Po-Koro. Losing his own icon to the thief had made things bad enough, but the thought of his fellow Toa being at risk made him feel even worse. Pohatu’s icon had been stolen from Ta-Koro the previous night; he wanted to make sure that his friend was okay. Besides, Pohatu might need an extra hand protecting Lewa’s icon in the Po-Koro Suva. Two heads were always better than one.

Onua entered the gates of Po-Koro, nodding to the guards, who looked exhausted. No doubt they had all been putting in double shifts since receiving news of the first theft in Onu-Koro.
“Where is Toa Pohatu?” Onua asked one sleepy guard.
“He's been keeping watch over the shrine, Toa.” The guard answered. “He said he couldn't rest knowing we were working so hard for him.” Onua smiled.
“Stay strong, brothers.” He told them. “This threat will pass soon, and then we'll all be able to get some sleep.”

The guards raised their weapons in a salute, and Onua went on his way.
On arriving at the shrine, he found Pohatu slumped over the Suva, snoring. Onua thought of waking him, but he didn't want to disturb his brother. Besides, the Nuva symbol was safe. Pohatu was laying over the opening that held the icon, and when Onua peered past his brother’s shoulder, he could see that Lewa’s symbol was still there.
I'll leave him for a minute and check up on the Turaga. Then I'll come back and relieve him of his watch, Onua thought to himself. He silently left the shrine and headed towns the Turaga’s hut.

There was a light in the Turaga’s window.
"Turaga Onewa?" He asked, peering inside.
“Toa Onua! Please, come in!” Onewa answered, waving the Toa inside. The Turaga was sitting at his desk with tools and stone tablets piled around him.
"Pardon the appearance,” he said, “things have been a bit hectic the last few days, and I'm still recovering from that meeting two days ago."
“I think we're all still trying to recover from the shock of it." Onua replied, ducking his head to enter through the Turaga’s door.
“Yes, and on top of everything else, I just don't travel too well anymore. I'm afraid to say it, but I think may be getting old." Onewa laughed. “So what brings you here, Toa? Tell me, how is my brother holding up in Onu-koro?”
“Oh, he's furious. He still keeps telling everyone that we should have learned from our mistakes the first time and hidden the icons away completely.”
“Well that's my brother,” The Turaga said. “Always dwelling in the past, refusing to move on with the present.”
“Your guards look tired.” Onua observed.
“We're all tired.” Onewa said. “They keep telling me that I don't have to go out and keep watch with them, that I should get my rest, but I can't sleep with all of the problems going on.”  The Turaga gestured to the work piled on his desk, then let out a deep sigh. “It seems as though there's always something plaguing Po-Koro.”
“But pardon an old Turaga in his ramblings. I'm sure you didn't come here to hear me go on. How are you doing in all of this?” The Toa sighed.

“I'm upset, to be honest.” Onua admitted. “Turaga Whenua had complained that I spend too much time in the tunnels and away from the village. He said bad things happen when Toa go away for too long, and I guess he was right.”
Onewa shook his head.
“Trust me, I know you feel guilty for not being there, but it wasn't your fault. Things always have a habit of going wrong when you're not there to take care of them.”
“I just needed some time alone so I could think things over about the Bohrok Kal.” Onua said. “It's ironic, I was thinking about all of the things we could have done differently about the Kal, and all of the things we should do if it the Nuva Symbols were ever stolen again.” Onua paused, looking towards the ground. “Then I get back and find out that they were stolen again.”
Onewa walked over to the Toa of Earth and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“You are a thoughtful, hardworking Toa,” he said, “and sometimes you just need some time alone to think. Whenua used to be the same way. I'd tell him to hurry up and make a decision and he'd always complain I didn't give him enough time to think.” The Turaga smiled, looking off into the distance as if remembering something long past. Eventually he looked back to the Toa and continued.
“One thing’s for sure: Whenua is a wise old Turaga, but he will always find something to complain about. He's just as bad as Nuju,” Onewa laughed, “but don't tell anyone I said that.”
“I won’t.” Onua promised, joining the Turaga in laughter.
“So, out of curiosity,” Onewa said after a while, “what were some of the things you would do differently if the Bohrok Kal ever struck again?
“Spend less time arguing and more time looking out for each other.” Onua said. The Turaga nodded in approval.
“Onua, you are a wise Toa, and someday you will make an excellent Turaga.” He said.  
“I was thinking that I could send some of my villagers to Po-Koro to help keep watch at night. There isn't a Nuva symbol left to protect in Onu-Koro anyway.”
“Excellent idea, as long as they're alright with it.” The Turaga said. “We can use all the help we can get. Even Pohatu’s been keeping watch over the shrine so the guards could rest. Have you seen him?”
“I'm afraid he's fast asleep.” Onua said.  
“Is he then? Well, I'd better go keep watch over it myself.” The Turaga shuffled to the doorway.  
“No need, Turaga.” Onua stopped him. “I can do that much, at least, if you’ll let me.”
“Very well, then.” The Turaga said. “Send Pohatu over here when he gets up.”
“Yes, Turaga.” Onua said bowing, before excusing himself.

He left the Turaga’s hut and made his way back to the shrine. Onewa was always cheerful, even during the worst of times. His confidence was inspiring, and he always seemed to know exactly what to do, a trait that Onua envied. It always took the Toa of Earth so long to come up with a plan, while others seemed to know the best course of action in an instant.

Onua caught sight of the shrine. He approached the entrance, planning to wake Pohatu and tell him the Turaga needed him, but he froze. The thief was there.



At this point, Tahu would have attacked and let out a war cry to summon the villagers to his aid. But quiet Onua, unnoticed by the thief, stayed where he was, taking the opportunity to observe the thief as he worked.

Tahu had said that the thief possessed some sort of telekinetic ability, able to lift objects without touching them. The thief had done precisely that with Pohatu, lifting the Toa’s sleeping form forward so he could access the Nuva Symbol behind him. Tahu hadn’t known whether the thief's ability came from a mask, but from watching his movements, it seemed more likely to Onua that the thief’s power was innate. That meant Onua could not disable him simply by knocking his mask off. He would have to take the thief down by force.

Knocking him out from behind seemed to be Onua’s best chance-- he had been afraid that the thief would be much larger than him, having been able to defeat the Toa of Fire. But the thief, though taller, was surprisingly skinny. Onua could tell from the shape of his body that he was not a Toa, thought it wasn't clear too clear what he was under his cloak.

The thief, picking up the Nuva symbol and inspecting it, finally set Pohatu down gently across the Suva, back in the position he had been lying in. Onua took note of the immense care the thief took in his work, and readied himself to grab the thief from behind.

"Toa!" a voice called from behind him. The thief spun around and Onua lunged forward, tackling the thief and knocking him back onto the Suva and Pohatu, who woke with a yelp. Onua had grabbed the thief around the chest, but in the fall the thief had somehow managed to break free. The Nuva symbol had been thrown from his arms by the force of Onua’s tackle, and the thief now scrambled to retrieve the icon. Pohatu, realizing what was going on, made a desperate grab for the thief's leg but missed. The thief scooped up the Nuva symbol and dodging past the two Toa, he made his way out of the shrine.

The thief ran through the main street of the village, past the guard that had unwittingly alerted him to Onua’s presence. Onua pulled Pohatu to his feet, half dragging him out of the shrine.

“Come on brother! We had a thief to catch!” Onua sprinted down the road, followed by Pohatu.
“Forgive me, Toa!” Cried the guard as the two Toa ran past him, realizing what he had done.
“Don't worry!” Onua called back as they bolted after thief.  “We’ll get him!”

The guards at the gate had thrown themselves at the thief's feet, tripping him up just long enough for Onua and Pohatu to catch sight of him as he ran out into the desert.
Pohatu activated his mask of speed and ran ahead, overshooting the thief and blocking his path. The thief used his own powers to lift Pohatu up psychically, but instead of setting him down with the care he had taken in the shrine, he threw the Toa violently into a rocky outcropping.

Onua lifted a wall of dust around the thief, slowing him down and sending him into a coughing fit. The move bought Onua enough time to run over to Pohatu and help him up.
“Brother, I've been having the worst dream!” Pohatu exclaimed.
“Don't worry.” Onua said. “He can't get away from both of us. Now help me block him in.”

The thief had made it through the dust cloud and was dashing towards the desert. Let's keep him here, Onua thought.

Working together, both Toa tapped into their elemental powers, raising a wall of rock and dirt several times taller than them around the outskirts of Po-Koro, blocking the thief’s escape into the desert. Then they raised similar walls on either side of the thief, boxing him in.

Onua shook the earth below them, causing the thief to stumble and drop the Nuva symbol. The icon flew out of his hands as he fell, and Onua turned the ground beneath him to mud, causing the thief to sink. Pohatu then turned the mud to stone, trapping the thief. The two Toa moved in to strike the final blow.

“No!” The thief cried out. With a psychic explosion, the rock and earth binding him flew away from his body. Clumps of dirt and stone struck the two Toa. The thief ran towards them and suddenly Onua found himself flying through the air before slamming into one of the stone walls he and Pohatu had erected.

As soon as he hit the ground, Onua pulled himself up to analyze the situation, ignoring the pain shooting through his body. Pohatu had been thrown aside as well and was struggling to rise to his feet after the second blow. The thief had retrieved the icon and doubled back towards Po-Koro, but the villagers weren't about to let him go by without a fight. The guards at the gate charged him, with others throwing rocks from the top of the village wall. The thief swerved away from the gates to avoid the guards, running along the side of Po-Koro and ducking his head in an attempt to protect himself from projectiles.

Onua and Pohatu bolted after the thief. Cheers arose from the villagers as the two toa ran by. They pursued the thief around to the back of the village, and down a trail through rocky formations. The landscape rapidly changed from desert to rocky cliff as they chased the thief down the path. A few times Pohatu tried raising short walls of rock to trip up the thief, but they seemed to work better on Onua than on anyone else, and Pohatu stopped trying.

Upon reaching the crest of a hill they saw a fork in the road. Pohatu stopped completely at the sight of it.

“Block the path on the right!” He yelled. Onua skidded to a halt, and summoning his own power, he helped Pohatu raise a solid wall, completely blocking the path. With no other direction to run, the thief turned left at the fork.
“Where does it lead?” Asked Onua, out of breath.
“To the unfinished bridge!” Pohatu answered him. “It’s a dead end! Come on!
Wasting no more time, Onua took off after his brother, confident that the thief would not escape.