Dig, pull, scrape, push. Dig, pull, scrape, push

Onua fell into comfortable rhythm as he scooped out a new tunnel. When he had noticed the tunnel entrance and swiftly embraced the pleasant darkness, he felt much better. He was happy to be underground.
But he still felt uneasy. Aside from his name, he didn’t know anything about who or where he was. And he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was somehow missing something – missing a piece of himself.
But he didn’t exactly feel home. He knew nothing aside from his name, not where he is, nor who he is. Moreover, he couldn’t do away with the thought that something was amiss – something that’s part of him.

This is only due to the lack of knowledge, he thought to himself, as he shoveled another clump of dirt from the evergrowing tunnel. It is understandable that I’m feeling strange, I don’t even know who or what I am.

He pushed the thought aside, continuing his work. There was no sense in wasting energy fretting over what he couldn’t control. All he could do was control what he could, like the digging. But why is he digging? Onua stopped and frowned. Something had made him start this tunnel. Though why, what is his goal?

… the knowing will come too…

The thought surprised Onua. Was he the one thinking it? It almost felt like it had come from outside, like those dim, distressing dreams he remembered from the time before he awakened…

“No matter,” he murmured, reaching out for another clump of earth. “Knowledge won’t come when we’re waiting for it with our arms crossed.”

He forced himself back to work. It was easy to shove aside the questions, and it was easy to submerge in the joy of working with earth. Deep within his consciousness, though, the questions remained, heavy, thick and solid with mysteriousness. Soon he had already dug at least a hundred lengths through the solid earth. His eyes, which could see weakly and faintly on the surface, could easily adapt down here, allowing him to see well in the dark of the tunnel. But why is he digging?

Onua powered his huge hand forward through a rocky section of the tunnel wall. It met empty air instead of earth and rock. Interesting. Pushing through with a shower of stones and clay, he found himself in a small cavern and was then immediately rendered blind, accompanied by a high-pitched screaming .

Rarity awoke quite suddenly, gasping and letting slip a yelp. For the longest moment the unicorn had the strangest feeling of a lack of sensation, but then with a snort she realised.

No, dear, not a lack of sensation, a lack of sight she nodded to herself even as she lit up her horn with a simple illumination spell, realising with a sinking feeling that she was in a dark, dank, cave…

“Oh sweet Luna” she muttered absentmindedly, looking around and quickly coming to the realisation that the cave was little more than a sealed cavity in the earth, barely even big enough for her to walk in a circle “Oh Pinkie, darling, what have you gotten us into this time?” very quickly any displeasure about the dirt was replaced by the realisation that she was stuck in a very small space, likely deep underground, which meant a limited supply of air of an unknown supply, based on the fact she had already been breathing it in.

Rarity forced her mind to calm itself and view things from an objective perspective, as if watching from the outside, a little trick she learnt when faced with particularly stressful situations. She didn’t even dare voice her thoughts so as to save however much air remained in here

Rarities teleportation capabilities were limited at best, that is to say in addition to her rather average thaumic reserves her range was determined solely by her line of sight, perhaps Twilight might have the power and knowledge to conjure some spell to find the closest path to the surface and blindly teleport in that direction, but if magic classes in school had taught the alabaster unicorn anything, it was that if she were to attempt a blind teleport there was a high risk of her ending up in solid earth with no air.

It was an altogether unglamourous end and on balance Rarity would have much preferred to go out peacefully in this cavern, as grim as that thought was.

She did, however, have one option available to her.

A unicorn’s magic is as intrinsic a part of them as a pegasus’ wing or an earth pony’s sensitivity to nature, which meant, with a little practice, a unicorn could learn to feel using their magic like a rudimentary form of sonar. It was a trick that blind unicorns, with a little practice and building of ones endurance, could use to walk without the use of a cane.

“Fret not, Rarity dear` she thought, nodding to herself with new resolve, standing up and making her way to the edge of the cavity, guided by the faintest of glows from her magic `down does not mean out`

She rested a hoof on the wall and was just about to send out a thaumic pulse when she paused.

She could hear something.

Confused more than anything, Rarity hesitantly placed an ear against the earthy wall and listened. She could distinctly hear the sound of digging, what’s more it sounded to be getting closer by the second. Why, it almost sounded close enough to-

Rarity leapt back on instinct, her horn flaring in readiness for a threat, as a large three-clawed hand shot through the wall, which soon gave way to reveal something which made Rarity freeze.

It was tall and grey-skinned, with rippling muscles that looked powerful enough to put a minotaur to shame, it also appeared to possess some kind of black metal armour, offset with points dotted throughout its body that glowed an eerie green. And to top it all off a pair of glowing green eyes squinted at her.

Rarity stared at this being for all of two seconds, before lifting her head back and letting out the biggest scream possible, any thoughts of conserving air now flung into the back of her mind.

Onua held his hands up to cover his ears, attempting to block out the awful noise, though he had no memory of interacting with an intelligent being, judging from the manner of the harsh shrieks assaulting his ears he felt this was an intelligent being, albeit one that was frightened. Nevertheless, the sound distracted his thoughts and chipped away at his usually rock solid patience, and he quickly sought to bring an end to it.

“Enough!” he bellowed, slamming a fist against a solid portion of the earthen wall, and steeling himself he squinted enough to gain only the faintest image of just what he was facing, from his perspective it was as if he were facing a beacon of light pure. They weren’t shrieking now, at least. “I mean you no harm, creature, now if you could kindly-”

“Creature!?” the being, female it seemed, shrieked once more, but this time in a tone of indignation “I will have you know that I am a lady, you big brute, and you will address me as such!” Onua felt his patient being chipped away just that little bit more.

“Lady, then. My apologies” he corrected “but if you would be so kind as to cease whatever is making so much light, it is making it difficult for me to even see” he heard a gasp of shock.

“Oh, how rude of me! I imagine a creature of the underground such as yourself would not be used to light”

whoever this is they take offence to being called a creature, yet just as easily refer to me as such Onua found himself thinking with a snort, then to his surprise the light diminished greatly, accompanied by a shimmering sound not unlike that of flowing water diminishing in volume also, now he could at least see the being in front of him.

She was of a daily plain form, that much was true, she stood on four legs, much like a rahi, with a coat that was as white as the clouds though it was now mared with dirt, strangely enough she appeared to possess the likeness of three crystals upon her hips. Onua also took note that the light was emanating from some sort of horn sprouting from the top of her head, he quickly guessed that perhaps it could do other things. Last of all he noted that she possessed some kind of purple plumage, or hair perhaps, sprouting from the top of her head and from her back end.

In all she was certainly the strangest creature Onua had ever encountered, but then again he hadn’t yet encountered that many individuals at all, so who was he to comment?

“Is that alright dear?” she asked “I must confess I can hardly see a thing” now that he listened she actually had a rather refined voice, pleasant even.

“It is fine, I can see quite clearly now” he said “I apologise for startling you, I did not expect to stumble upon anyone within these dark depths”

“Speaking of, you, wouldn’t by any chance happen to know a way out, would you, mr…?” it took a moment for Onua to realise that she was searching for a name.

“Oh, I am Onua” he said “and you would be?”

“Of course, how rude of me!” she said “My name is Rarity”

“Well then, Rarity, to answer your question, the way out, presuming you mean outside, is the way in which I came” he explained “as for me, I’m digging deeper, of course you’re welcome to follow”

“I’m afraid I have to decline” Rarity said “I’m afraid the dirt and me don’t get on so well, Celestia knows how long it’ll take to wash it out, not to mention I have some dear friends who I must be finding” at this Onua bowed, showing her his kindest smile.

“Then, Lady Rarity, this is where we shall part ways” he said “I wish you the best of luck in finding your friends”

“And I wish you the best of luck...digging” Rarity replied, still unsure about the creature, though all the same she began making her way back up the way the creature had come, she had barely walked for a minute when she found herself stopping, she could feel something deep in her gut compelling her to turn back. She knew she would find her friends quicker if she took the fastest route to the surface, but at the same time something deep inside her told her that she would learn a great deal more if she followed this Onua.

“I must be going mad with the dark” she muttered, steeling herself with the stamp of a hoof and turning, not to find the exit, but back towards Onua. It was another two minutes before she caught back up to him, this time he appeared to have stumbled upon some sort of pre-made walkway “Not to question your sense of direction, darling, but might I suggest you might have inadvertently dug back on yourself?” it was only now that she noticed what he was gazing upon some sort of carving in the bedrock, too entranced to have paid much attention to her.

It portrayed a familiar powerful-looking figure with a wedge-shaped mask and large clawed hands. There were five other, similar figures surrounding him. Standing opposite the group was a horde of frightening creatures, enormous lizards, scorpions and a pair of formidable, crablike
monsters. What are these? And who are those figures standing around him?

Rarity watched with curiosity as he traced his fingers upon the carving, then gently rested his head against it, then without a word he lifted his head and began walking down the corridor, keeping one hand on the wall the entire time as if feeling his way, he only barely acknowledged Rarity’s presence with a nod and a hum before continuing on his way.

“Looks like I won’t be getting much in the way of answers from this one, at least” Rarity muttered. Following all the same through the twisting and turning tunnel, eventually coming to a stop beside Onua, her gaze no longer on the being beside her but unstead looking wide eyed at the sight in front of her

Dozens of stone columns stretched up to the high ceiling. Between these columns were paths made of cobblestones set into the earthen floor. Stone benches stood beside the paths, and a small, clear stream trickled hurriedly through the cavern, with graceful stone bridges arching above it here and there.

Rarity could tell immediately that this was some sort of part, though clearly not the type that she was used to, but even she could tell that whatever culture had built this had deliberately made an effort to make this space look pleasing to the eyes, and to provide a space in which to relax and calm one’s thoughts, perhaps once she knew a little more about the situation she would return here by herself.

Rarity found herself following Onua almost on autopilot as he made his way through the park, reaching a point where the stream emptied out into a little pond lined with pebbles, in the center of which she could see some type of instruction in a script she wasn’t sure of.

Rarity had just been about to ask Onua what it might mean, when suddenly he cried out, leaping forward and startling her.

“You there!” he called. “Hey! Hello!” Rarity trotted to catch up and found him addressing some kind of figure not all that unlike Onua in perhaps the same way an Alicorn could be considered similar to a common pony.

The figure glanced over his shoulder, then stopped short. “Oh!” he exclaimed. “Oh, oh!” Rarity watched the ensuing exchange in a rather bemused daze, having encountered two seemingly alien beings in only a little more than as many minutes.

“Hel-lo,” he said as slowly and clearly as he could. “I be Onua.” He put a hand to his chest, then gestured towards Rarity “This be Rarity” he then pointed to the stranger “You be who? You understand me?”

“Of course!” the small figure cried, and rushed toward him. He slid to a halt, bending into a sort of hurried bow. “Oh, Toa Onua, we have been waiting for you such a long time! And how long! Come, please, Turaga Whenua will want to see you right away.” he seemed to start, before stopping and turning back to address Rarity.

“The prophecies did not mention one such as yourself” he said, tapping a stumpy finger against his chin “Hmm, yes, you must come too, Turaga Whenua will perhaps know what to do with you too, it is his job to know these things” and with that he took off again, Rarity and Onua following close behind.

“I don’t suppose you know what a “Turaga Whenua” is, Onua?” Rarity asked, craning her neck up to the apparent Toa in an attempt to whisper as discreetly as possible.

“I’m afraid not, but I feel much of our questions will be answered soon, no doubt you have more than a few yourself” he said, the pair of them following the small being through an archway carved into the cave wall “Excuse me you know of my our names, but we do not know of yours”

“Oh! Forgive my rudeness, Toa. And Rarity” he said “My name is Onepu. I am a member of the Matoran of Onu-Koro.” Onepu led the way through a series of tunnels and caverns. Soon they reached another large cavern. On each wall, a series of carved-out dwellings climbed nearly to the ceiling.

“I see,” Onua replied. “Well, I have another question, Onepu. Why did you call me a Toa?”

“The Turaga will explain everything,” Onepu said in an excited tone. “This is too big a task for me, I’m just a humble Usslery captain, and besides, the matter is far too important and urgent. We have no time to lose.”

Onua and Rarity shrugged, both resigned to their apparent fate of meeting this “turaga” whoever that may be.

Onepu lead them across a row of tunnels and caves. Despite the darkness he moved with an ease borne from years of familiarity. Soon, they arrived at another giant cavern that was nearly as big as where they had discovered the park. Huts carved into stone lined all of the walls, almost reaching up to the ceiling.

Onua blinked, trying to take in all of these staggering sights. So Onepu and others like him really live down here? Suddenly all of this began to make sense. If he feels so much better deep under the earth, why couldn’t others feel the same way?

“Wait here, please, Toa, and Rarity” Onepu said, gesturing toward a large stone bench near the fountain. “I will fetch the Turaga.”

The Pair nodded, and the Matoran rushed off. Whilst Rarity took the moment to sit down for what was her first little breather since waking up in the small cavern, Onua instead took the opportunity to look around. At the center of the cavern was a fountain filled with crystalclear water. A sculpture arose from the pool, spouting water out of several spots.

Onua blinked. Was he going crazy? Or did that sculpture look an awful lot like him? As he watched his own statue, he pondered with a heavy heart what other kinds of strange surprises may await him in this new world.

He was still staring at the fountain when he heard Rarity clearing her throat. Turning, he looked past her and saw a figure much like Onepu, but a bit taller and with a different mask. The eyes behind that mask held patience, caution, and great wisdom.

“I am Whenua, Turaga of this village,” the stranger said, bowing. “Welcome, Toa Onua. We have been waiting for you.”

“Yes, so I’ve heard,” Onua replied. “And I’ve been awaiting some clue about who I am and what I’m doing here.”

“The legends said that would be the case,” Whenua said. “It was said that the members of the Toa, when they arrived, would remember very little beyond scraps of dreams and fragments of their goal.”

Onua took a deep breath. Dreams and fragments? How could the Turaga know about this?

“You said when ‘they’ arrived,” Onua said. “Does that mean there are others like me? And if I might ask, what of Rarity, here? I found her not long before finding this village, so far nothing I’ve seen has suggested of her presence being foretold, unlike myself” Whenua shook his head sadly, this time turning to address the unicorn directly.

“I’m afraid there is no mention of you in the legends, or indeed any mention of any being that matches your description, not even rahi beasts. In truth your form is strange to us, where we are made of metal, you are made of softer stuff. You are an anomaly to us, but we shall do what we can to make you as comfortable and welcome as possible” he said, Rarity nodded in understanding, and Whenua turned back to Onua “as for your other question, there are five others; each of you draws his power from a different element. Yours is the earth itself, which is perhaps the strongest of all. This underground world is your home, but even beyond these caves, you have the ability to melt earth with your will. Your purpose is to use that power to face and fight the mighty and evil Makuta.”

Though Onua wasn’t sure why, the name sent a chill through him. An image floated into his mind. Dark, empty eyes in an even darker face shrouded with gray smoke.

“Makuta?” Onua repeated as the image floated away. “Who or what is this Makuta?”

“He is the darkness, the essence of chaos and emptiness and fear, the spirit of destruction,” Whenua replied in a trembling voice. “His strength is unmatched, and it is said that only the Toa have the power to stand against him.”

“It is said?” Onua asked. “You don’t sound too certain about the success of this venture.”

Whenua shook his head sadly. “It serves no purpose to be false, for the earth cannot be deceived,” he said. “Nothing about your quest is certain, except that it is your duty to try. That is all that any of us can do in this life.” Onua nodded. The Turaga’s words rang true. Now he knew what he felt he had lacked: duty. But he didn’t feel so anymore.

“I will do what I can,” promised Onua solemnly. “But first, you must tell me all you know of these powers you say I have.”

“Of course, Toa,” Whenua said. “That is my responsibility. First, you should know that the power itself comes from within you, but it is focused through your mask. This is the Pakari, the Great Mask of Strength.”

“That’s my mask?” Onua touched his hand to his face, remembering the surge of strength and power when he’d first put it on.

Whenua nodded somberly. “The Pakari gives you power – great power,” he said. “But one mask will not be enough. There are five others to find, each of them are scattered through this island, and it is your task to go and find them” at this Rarity stepped forwards

“And I would be more than happy to help” she said “Whilst I wouldn’t want to be so rude as to interfere in prophesies and legends, it was not so long ago that myself and five others stopped a great evil on my world...well, more that one, really. If you would allow me, I would be more than happy to help you in your quest to find these masks, Onua”

“You are...a Toa?” Onua asked, frowning. Rarity shook her head.

“Oh no no no, nothing like that” she assured them “I am the Element of Generosity of the fabled elements of harmony. I certainly can’t do anything so literal as move the earth to my will, but I’d be glad to help out in any way I can” Whenua smiled.

“Well then, who are we to deny your generosity in offering your assistance” he said “especially if you have some experience in this sort of thing yourself”

Author's Note

a bit of a gap since the last chapter, the innitial hyperfocus faded and then life got in the way (ADHD's a real bitch, y'know)