CHAPTER 6 - The Awakening

*VWOOOM!*

A wave of light exploded from the staff, spreading outward through the rest of the room! Crystal was thrust back by the energy and fell to the ground. In the next instant, the cave came alive: Behind the Suva, the eyes of the Rahkshi and the Bohrok flashed. They stirred, stretched, and shrieked! In terror, Crystal scrambled to her feet and fled behind one of the smaller containers. She expected the creatures to be curious about their surroundings and investigate, but instead they merely looked at one another for a moment, then instantly flew away out of the cave!

Next, the Vahki stirred, but they did not flee as the Bohrok and Rahkshi had. They clicked and twittered at each other, tossing their heads anxiously. One looked about the room with the curiosity Crystal had expected in the Rahkshi and the Bohrok, then all five suddenly got a look of recognition in their eyes.

Then...

*POP hissssss* 

*POP hissss* *POP hissss* *POP hisssss* *POP hissss*

....One by one, the containers burst open! 

Smoke and steam billowed forth from them. The Vahki didn't seem phased by this, though Crystal definitely was. She recoiled from the one that she was hiding behind and retreated into the furthest corner she could find. The largest Vahki, a dark blue one, reared and headed toward the smaller containers with the other four in pursuit. She saw each bend down it's head at various containers to sniff them, but only did this one or twice before finding the one it was looking for and standing beside it. Slowly, the smoke cleared. Crystal squinted to see what lay inside, then stifled a gasp: They were Matoran!

Two Ta-Matoran, two Le-Matoran, two Po-Matoran, one Onu-Matoran, a set of Ga and Ko-Matoran. The four youngest members of the group were greeted cheerfully by the Vahki that stood next to them.

'How strange!' Crystal thought, 'They treat them like friends..' 

The noises from the Vahki caused the Matoran to stir, drowsily opening their eyes and sitting up. Crystal's attention was briefly called to the fourth Vahki, standing loyally by the last container at the far end of the room. She assumed it had another young Matoran in it, but did not get a chance to be sure before the seven large canisters on the left burst open and grabbed her attention. As amazed as she had been to see Matoran in the containers, her amazement was quadrupled at the sight of what came up from the smoke of the canisters:

Toa. 

Seven Toa!

...Fire, ice, air, earth, stone, and water-- Just as the whisper said! The seventh was unfamiliar to her. She could not distinguish what element he was. His body was white, like an ice Toa, but his mask looked like it was made of pure gold, similar to Comet. Following the awakening of this last Toa, the energy exploded again from the staff, then vanished and all went quiet. Each Toa and every Matoran rubbed their heads and groaned, looking around in confusion.

"Where are we? What happened?" The water Toa asked.

"I don't know.. Can't remember." The fire Toa replied, swaying lightly and rubbing his head.

"Can anyone remember what happened?" One of the Ta-Matoran with a yellow mask asked, carefully crawling out of his container.

"Not a thing. It's a blur." A Po-Matoran replied. One of the Ga-Matoran seemed extremely eager to be by his side the second she realized he was there. In a single bound, she cleared the wall of her container and collapsed on the edge of his. He seemed quite startled by this, as did she. Her legs clearly hadn't worked the way she had intended. Glancing at the Po-Matoran, she chuckled awkwardly.

"Is everyone here?" The stone Toa asked, jumping from his canister and stumbling a little. It seemed to Crystal that all of them had almost forgotten how to walk, but none of them seemed aware of this until after trying. The other Toa followed the example of their companion, but at a steadier pace, testing their balance before giving full charge to their legs. Following the Toa's remark, the Matoran turned and began counting each other. 

"Perhaps we should quick-check." The air Toa replied, lifting his finger and pointing at each Matoran as he named them. "Prism, Hewkii. Hafu. Maku. Hahli. Amaya. Jaller. Kapura. Kongu. Sanso. Matoro. Kopeke. Taipu, and-- ...Sorry-second.. What is your name, wee one?"

Crystal jumped. The air Toa was staring right at her, his hand still suspended as if he had completely forgotten about it. Following his question, everyone in the room turned to see who he was addressing. She'd been seen!

Slowly, Crystal slipped into plain view just as the water Toa approached her. "Forgive us, we don't remember your name. What was it again?"

"I'm Crystal." Crystal replied.

"Crystal?.. Crystal.. No, it is still unfamiliar to me.." The water Toa looked at companions for some show of familiarity. All shook their heads. She then looked at Crystal apologetically. "I'm sorry. Our minds are foggy. I'm sure we will remember--"

"I'm not one of your Matoran." Crystal said quickly. It could have been wise to take advantage of their amnesia and play along until she was sure that she was safe, but Crystal didn't feel like she was in danger. Strangely, she felt safer than she ever had before. 

"Oh." The Toa replied, seemingly taken back.

"So, you are a native to this place?" The strange Toa asked, stepping forward. "Perhaps you can tell us where we are then.."

Crystal looked at him. "You are in The Mountain Of Whispers. I got lost from my friends and found this cave. You all woke up when I touched the staff." she explained honestly. 

There were glances and shrugs throughout the crowd as the strange Toa turned toward the Suva. "My staff?" he asked, gripping it tightly and pulling it from it's place. Crystal was surprised to see that the ball of light that had previously been on the top was gone now. It was just a regular staff. At the same time, she realized that the whisper had stopped as well. There was still heat and light in the cave, but she could see now that it was coming from the fire Toa and the strange Toa.

After looking his weapon over, the strange Toa turned to look at Crystal again. The Toa of water smiled. "Then we are as strange to you as all of this is to us. My name is Gali. These are my brothers.." She introduced, gesturing to each Toa in turn:

The fire Toa was called Tahu.
The ice Toa was Kopaka.
The air Toa was named Lewa.
The earth Toa was Onua.
The stone Toa was Pohatu.
And finally, the last Toa was introduced as Takanuva, the Toa of Light.

"Toa of Light? I've never heard of a Toa of Light before.." Crystal admitted.

"First and only." Takanuva chuckled sheepishly. Crystal smiled. It was strange, but of all her new acquaintances, she felt somewhat connected to this one-- As though she had known him, or should have known him, for a very long time....

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