Kopaka, Toa of Ice and defender of Ko-Koro, vanquisher of the Rahi horde and one of the six champions of Mata Nui, had always considered himself patient. It wasn't arrogance; compared to some of the other Toa, Kopaka supposed he sometimes seemed cold or detached. To him, though, it was only common sense. The Toa of Ice had yet to find a problem for which haste or impatience would be an appropriate course of action.

The current situation, however, was nearly enough to make him reconsider. Wearily closing his eyes behind his mask, the white-armored Toa turned away as yet another resounding crash rang through the wasteland, the force of impact sending ripples through the few plants hardy enough to grow nearby. You've kicked it twenty-seven times now, Kopaka thought. By all means, try again. Perhaps, just this once, your efforts will amuse the Great Spirit and his distant laughter will blow the door open.

Kopaka's ire was lost on its intended target, a brown figure who stood tall on the barren, rocky terrain. The Toa of Ice wouldn't have elected to travel with this particular one of his counterparts – in fact, he wouldn't have elected to travel with any of his counterparts – but as usual, he hadn't been given any choice in the matter. Still, Kopaka begrudgingly admitted that it made sense. They were in the desert of Po-Wahi, his ally's homeland, and past events had shown Kopaka not to underestimate the Toa of Stone. The other Toa's body radiated physical power, and he turned with a roll of the shoulders to cast Kopaka a sheepish glance.

"Maybe it's time to give up that angle of attack, huh," said Pohatu, scratching his neck. The kicks barely seemed to have tired him at all, though just the same could be said of the door. It was an old, ponderous entryway, carved into the desert mountainside – and thoroughly reinforced with metal, Pohatu had discerned when they'd arrived. Kopaka could have predicted that his fellow Toa's strength would be useless, but without a better plan, he'd been content to let the Toa of Stone pound away.

Now, though, it had started to wear thin. "I agree," Kopaka replied, turning his gaze back to the massive door. It only took a moment of concentration to draw upon the Kanohi Akaku, the mask of vision Kopaka bore. True to Pohatu's word, the great stone panels were laced through with a foreign substance, metallic and rigid. "Brute force is not the answer here."

"Figures," said the Toa of Stone, taking a step back and peering up at the top of the great entryway. "Do you think it might open if we just ask politely?"

Kopaka didn't bother responding. He turned his thoughts to the door's origin, stepping the stone barrier backward in time with his mind. It had endured years of the Po-Koro desert wind, stood tall against the beating sun and sparse rain, and certainly resisted the efforts of a few too-curious Rahi and Matoran. ...But, Kopaka thought with a cold grin, he doubted this barrier had ever faced the combined efforts of two Toa. There was a way to succeed. They just needed to figure it out. "Tell me about the stone surrounding the door," he commanded, stepping closer to the door and reaching out to touch the worn surface.

With a puzzled frown, Pohatu shrugged and closed his eyes in concentration. "It's fairly typical," he said after a few moments. "Not too strong, not too weak. Thick, though. It'd take a while to go around the door rather than through it."

That wasn't what Kopaka had in mind. Summoning the power of vision another time, he gave the rocky crags around the doorway a piercing gaze. Whoever had built these doors must have made some way to open them, and the Toa of Ice was determined to find it. He swept over all four sides of the entrance, seeking out anything mechanical inside the dull stone. Much to the Toa's surprise, however, he found nothing at all hinging the door to the stone around it.

Unless, Kopaka suddenly realized, it wasn't a door in the normal sense. "Pohatu," he said abruptly, grabbing the other Toa's attention, "think about this door. Look at the design." Kopaka gave his ally a few moments to comply before continuing. "Is it meant to keep us out...?"

"...Or to keep something in?" Pohatu finished, eyes widening as he realized. "This isn't a door meant for things to pass through. It's some sort of seal."

The Toa of Ice showed his agreement with a curt nod. "Whoever built this didn't want it to ever be opened again." That still left too many unanswered questions for Kopaka's taste. If the mysterious builder of this barrier hadn't wanted it opened, why would he leave a gap in the mountainside, showing off his creation to any passing Rahi beast? Kopaka suddenly had an uneasy feeling that the worn-away stone seal used to carry a very important message. Trudging through the sand until he stood the same distance away from the seal that Pohatu did, the white-armored Toa reconsidered his options.

He didn't have time to reconsider for long. After a few seconds, Kopaka's thoughts were disturbed by a faint tremor in the ground. Digging his feet into the uneven sand, Kopaka readied himself for battle in an instant. "What's this?" he called quickly to Pohatu. "Your doing, or something else?"

The Toa of Stone shook his head, not having any trouble riding the quake. "It's not me. I think..." Pohatu trailed off, narrowing his eyes again and peering at the sand as if looking through it. He knelt, one powerful leg going behind him, and scooped a bit of it up, letting the grains fall between his fingers. "If Onua were here, he could say for certain, but..."

Kopaka kept silent, letting his ally concentrate as the shaking in the ground continued. It seemed to be growing in magnitude, enough that the Toa of Ice began preparing an elemental blast in case the source of the tremors revealed itself. The moment dragged on, and tiny flakes of frost crystallized in the air around Kopaka's blade, melting quickly in the desert sun as they drifted away on the warm, sand-scattering breeze.

There was no time to react to what happened next. Pohatu tensed, his head snapping up to the seal, and with a wordless cry launched himself towards Kopaka. Moving with incredible speed, the brown-armored Toa brought his ally to the ground in a reckless tackle. The pair slammed into the sand a fair distance away. Kopaka struggled, writhing against Pohatu's loose grip, and opened his mouth to interject.

He was cut off by a tremendous roar as the stone seal exploded outwards. Shards of ancient rock scattered from the blast as a thrumming shockwave rippled through the sand. The bulk of the debris flew over the heads of the few Toa, and although Kopaka felt a small barrage of pebbles impact his shield, he also noticed Pohatu's weight shudder from a few stray rock-strikes.

It was over as quickly as it had begun. Ears still ringing from the deafening boom, Kopaka loosely pushed Pohatu to the side and stood, shaking grains of sand from his equipment. The area in front of the entryway had been flattened, and fragments of stone dotted the white sand like tossed daggers. If it hadn't been for Pohatu's reflexes... Kopaka shook his head, driving the thoughts away. It was better not to linger on what might have happened.

A faint groan came from where the Toa of Stone lay sprawled on the ground. "Some... welcome, huh...?" Much to Kopaka's relief, his ally didn't sound wounded – especially if he was still in a condition to make wisecracks. Pohatu pushed himself to his feet, wiping away the bits of the desert that clung to his armor, and cast a worried look at Kopaka. "Are you okay? I nearly didn't realize until it was too late."

"Don't worry about me," Kopaka replied, turning to look into the newly-opened cavern. The hot Po-Wahi sun barely penetrated into the murk and gloom within, and a tunnel led down into the mountainside at a vicious angle. It looked carved, the floor meeting the walls in near-perfect corners, rather than eroded or weathered away. There was no sign of the cause of the blast; in fact, the seal seemed to have been perfectly destroyed, leaving the outer stone untouched. Frowning, the Toa of Ice glanced back at his counterpart. "We shouldn't waste time. The sooner we leave this place, the better."

Pohatu nodded in agreement, walking towards the tunnel. "You're not kidding," he quipped, shrugging casually as he looked at the dark path. "I already feel like it's trying to kill us."

Kopaka turned away. He, too, had a grim feeling about this cavern. But rather than reply, the white-armored Toa silently gripped his ice blade and took the first steps into the darkness.