BC1 - Shielding and Vision

Pohatu chuckled. “Okay,” he said. “So – where are we going, anyway? Should we start looking for masks, or seek the other Toa first?”

Kopaka pointed toward the peak rising just above them. Then he climbed on, not bothering to check whether Pohatu was following.

A few minutes later the two of them were standing at the peak of the mountain. Kopaka immediately spotted a mask lying in the snow.

Pohatu saw it, too. “Good work, brother,” he said. “Go ahead – claim your prize.”

Kopaka nodded. The new Kanohi looked gray and lifeless lying in the snow. Though it was the same size as his own mask, its shape was different – a helmetlike form with angled eyes and three slashes in each cheek.

The Kanohi Hau, Kopaka thought, remembering what the Turaga had told him. The Great Mask of Shielding.

Kopaka bent to pick up the mask. He stared at it for a moment, then carefully placed it over his own mask. Immediately, a strange feeling overwhelmed him. As if a cushion of strength had settled in around him, protecting him from all harm.

But what of his other powers? Did this new mask affect them? Kopaka called forth the power of his original mask, which gave him the ability to see through stone and snow to what lay beneath. Glancing down at the ground, he saw the icy snow… and then the raw, cold dirt underneath… and below that, a layer of rock crosscut with veins of minerals.

“The powers of the Mask of Vision are still mine to use.” He was pleased.

As he turned his gaze toward the south, his X -ray vision cut straight through the craggy bluffs to several bright spots of color far below in the foothills. Then he sighed. For a moment he was tempted to turn away, to ignore what he’d seen. But he realized he might as well face up to the inevitable.

“We have to go, ” he told Pohatu abruptly, hating the thought of what was to come but knowing there was no avoiding it. “Now.”

“Why?”

“No questions,” Kopaka was tired of all the conversation. “Just follow me.”

The two of them headed down the mountain, Pohatu skidding and slipping on the icy slopes. Kopaka forced himself to move slowly so the other Toa could keep up.


- BIONICLE Chronicles 1: Tale of the Toa, Chapter 6