Nokama gazed down at the bizarre mask lying in her hands.
It was gray and cold. It was cold, even though she had left in lying in the sun, it wasn't in the slightest warm.
That wasn't the only odd thing about it. A day ago, Nokama could've sworn that the markings on the mask had been different. She didn't dare put it on, she didn't feel like having an early death, thank you.
She was still trying to figure out what type of mask it was in the first place. Heck, she didn't know why she bothered. Even Vakama couldn't figure out what type of mask it was. And he had been a mask maker for most of his life. That was what bothered her.
Nothing seemed right about this mask. It changed design, it never got warm, and nobody knew what kind of mask it was. It also was colorless. Again, odd, because every mask that she had known, even if they weren't on a face, had at least a faded color on them. This one was just….gray, lifeless.
So why had Gaaki given it to her? Nothing about it made sense, so why give it to her? What was it she had said? 'Be careful with that mask, it came do more harm than it seems'? Well it was something along those lines. But, as odd as the mask seemed, it didn't appear dangerous at all. 'Looks can be deceiving.' She reminded herself.
But what about this mask was so dangerous? She wondered. The Vahi of Time could stop, fast forward, and as far as she knew rewind time, if you had enough will power.
THAT was dangerous, but Nokama doubted that this mask could do anything like that.
Irritation built up in her until she finally put the mask away in her hut and walked off hoping to calm herself down. Geeze, this mask was a real mystery.
She walked along the white sanded beach of their new home. It didn't seem much of a home at first, but now, Nokama couldn't imagine a better place. It seemed so peaceful, and the island fit all of the matorns' needs perfectly. But that ended up also that it was almost a complete geographic disaster.
Nokama shook her head to clear the confusing thoughts from her mind and continued her walk down the beach, admiring the bright blue sea, which seemed so different from Metru Nui's. But somehow, she didn't miss the destroyed city. Perhaps, deep in her heart she had realized that she couldn't live there anymore, and that they needed to move somewhere.
"Nokama!" A loud voice called her from behind.
Nokama turned to see a familiar brown figure rushing towards her.
"Onewa!" She called back smiling at her brother as he rushed up to her.
He skidded to a stop in front of her, then leaning over to catch his breath. "Nokama, fire spitters callin' some meetin' of sorts back there." Her stone brother gestured back behind him.
Sure enough, Nokama could make out two bright dots of color down the strip of beach already there.
"You comin' or what?" He asked her, now recovered from his sprint.
"Yes, of course I am." Nokama said laughing, for no apparent reason.
She walked next to her brother as they started back to join the meeting of toa.
"So how goes your work?" Nokama asked, meaning his village and whatever else he had been working on. The large toa shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"Well enough Nokama. But….well, it's probably nothing'." He said, brushing off what he said. "What?" Nokama asked, worried. "Ah, it's nothin' tah worry bout Sister." Onewa said gruffly.
Nokama sighed. Sometimes Onewa really got on her nerves when he did this. He would mention something, then say it was nothing and change the subject.
Finally the two toa reached the gathering of Toa. So far, Vakama, Whenua and Matau were here.
"Where is he?" Whenua rumbled, meaning the missing member of their party, the Toa of Ice.
"Perhaps he has something to take care of." Nokama suggested, surprising Matau, who had somehow not noticed her presence.
"Water sister!" He exclaimed and reached out to hug her.
Nokama sidestepped him, and splashed him with cold water.
"Matau would you knock it off?" She sighed in irritation.
Geeze, it had been what, a month and he was trying to jump on her. Mata Nui, it hadn't been that long since she had seen him, their villages were the closest together, much to his joy and her irritation. Honestly, Matau was a great Toa, but it got REALLY irritating when he kept flirting with her.
"Matau knock it off." Onewa said sharply, and Nokama threw him a grateful glance.
Onewa had been chasing Matau off of her for awhile now. He was so much like a big brother to her. Matau threw Onewa a hurt and annoyed glance. Vakama glared at the two of them.
"So WHY are we here in the first place?" Onewa drawled.
"I'll explain once Nuju gets here." Vakama replied, looking out for their Ice brother.
Nokama walked over to him.
"So… how goes your village?" She asked not certain what to say.
She mentally kicked herself. She just couldn't say anything right around him anymore. When ever she got near him, she got butterflies in her stomach.
"Well enough." Vakama replied, glancing briefly at her.
Nokama sighed and took a step back. She just couldn't seem to reach him anymore. He would never talk to her the way they use to on Metru Nui. He barely spoke three words to her. Was he mad at her? What had she done? Nokama retreated back to Onewa, shoulders sagging slightly.
"Sister, could you get that mask the Rahaga gave you?" Whenua asked suddenly.
Nokama looked up at him, confused
"Why?" She asked.
The archivist shrugged slightly, as if not sure why he asked in the first place.
"I believe I might know what the mask is, but I can't be too sure." He replied finally.
Nokama nodded and turned around "I'll be back in a minute." She called over her shoulder, then broke into a run to retrieve the mysterious mask.
FINALLY she might be able to figure out what the mask was used for. She reached her hut and skidded to a stop. She opened the door and walked over to the cot she used. There, laying in the center was the cold gray mask. Nokama picked up, and stared at it. It now looked oddly familiar.
It then struck her that the mask resembled Vakama's. She blinked and stared down at it. In a twisted way, it resembled Vakama- to her- now. Cold, and different than he use to be.
"I wish that things were different than they are now." She murmured, gazing down at the mask.
Then she shook her head from her thoughts and walked out of the hut.
When she got back a few minutes later, Nuju had yet to arrive. Matau was getting impatient, Whenua and Onewa were chatting, and Vakama was looking out into space.
"Here. Got it." She handed the mask to Whenua.
Or she tried to. As soon as Whenua touched the edge of the mask, it glowed a violent dark gray/ smoky black. Whenua took a step back in alarm, And Nokama cried out in surprise and alarm.
"Let go of the Mask!" Vakama shouted to her.
Nokama uncurled her fingers around the mask, and tried to let it drop. To her shock, it remained suspended in the air, pulsing like a heart, its color now an ominous smoky black/gray.
"Get away from the mask Nokama!" Vakama ordered sharply.
She tried, but it seemed as if her legs were made of led. They wouldn't obey her. She stood rooted to the spot, unsure of what to do. She felt as if she were frozen.
The mask turned, and before she realized it, it covered her own mask.
She struggled to rip it off desperately. She felt as if she were being smothered, the air becoming thick and hot as she tried to breathe. She clawed at the mask, crying out. But to no avail, the mask was acting like a second skin, molding against her face.
Red spots blurred her vision slowly, and black rimmed her eye sight, she felt as if she were on fire.
She was dimly aware that she had fallen to her knees. She felt someone hold her, a hand tugging on the mask, shouting something.
"H-h-h e-e….l-l-p… m…e." She begged the figure.
"I can't get it off!" The figure shouted, panic clear in his voice.
She tugged feebly at the mask in a last attempt to get it off, to breathe the cool sea air. Nothing. She gasped out, needing, longing for a mouthful of clear air. She couldn't see. The world was spinning around her. She felt pure terror build up in her.
Someone was holding her, talking to her franticly. She tried to figure who it would be, but she couldn't think straight.
Vakama held his sister in one arm, the other tugging at the mask that had sealed itself on her face. She was clawing it feebly now, proving that she couldn't breathe. She was writhing around, making small noises of distress.
"Hold on Nokama!" He begged her, as he again tried to pull the gray mask off of her. It was no use, it was like it had glued itself to her face.
Suddenly, she went very still. Her chest stopped rising, her heart light dimmed from white to dark gray.
"Nokama!" He shouted, pure panic in his voice.
She wasn't breathing. She wasn't moving either. No, she wasn't. She couldn't be.
"Nokama, come on Nokama!" he called her urgently.
There was no response.
Suddenly, the mask stopped pulsing, and started to glow. The glow grew brighter and brighter, until Vakama couldn't make out anything but blinding light all around him. Then, gradually, it faded into nothing.
Vakama looked down. No. He looked franticly around. Whenua Onewa and Matau were there, they were still on Mata Nui.
"NO!" He shouted angrily, pounding one fist into the sand.
Everyone was fine, true. But there was no sign on Nokama. She had disappeared.
She was gone.
Ok. That was weird, and short, I know. Just leave me alone K? I tried. Plus this is only the prologue. So there. Like it? Hate it? Please review.
Shadowed ice