#roodaka: (catches feelings)

[randomwriteronline]

I care if an au or not, Sidorak/Roodaka where the duo are like an evil couple but Roodaka actually likes that dumbass.

The plan was very, very simple.

At the right time: get rid of the fool.

That was it.

Couldn't have been any easier. Truly, it was kind of embarrassing - for him of course, because he was so insignificant in the grand scheme of things that the end of his life was little more than a footnote in her plans, but also for her, because for a Vortixx of her cunning this lack of strategy was frankly laughable.

But she didn't want to expend her energies on coming up with something more complex when she was already so many steps ahead of him; and so she had endured the stupid arrogance with which he tried (failing) to hide his fearful respect of her and his yakking about having played such an important part in her schemes, and she had pretended to enjoy his talks of joining his side much closer as queen of the Visorak like she hadn't been unofficially covering that role ever since the Makuta had first assigned the horde to the two of them, and had faked the slightest interest and deference just so that silly little infatuation he couldn't disguise from her keen eyes would keep on blinding him to her machinations even just a little more.

At the very least, despite being a disastrous egocentric attention hog, he did have enough sense in him to recognize her as the one superior in brawn and brain between the two of them.

And yes, it was... Pleasant, to know he was attracted to her.

It made her sound so disgustingly shallow - like the specter of a lagoon half drained by toxic waste. But it wasn't as though Vortixx were very keen on paying attention to something as trivial as their bodies, with how similar they all looked! It was just not a detail one ever expected to draw any attention!

But that idiot had met plenty of her kind already and would very much keep seeing plenty more, and still continued to stammer specifically when she traced the edge of her chin with a finger when deep in thought, staring intently while holding his breath like he was being subjected to some new kind of torture. And it would have been a lie to say that it didn't make her feel... A little pleased. Mayeb even a little proud.

A little flustered.

Bah. No way. How perfectly foolish.

If she went down this line of thinking she'd risk turning too soft to get him out of the picture.

Which was never going to happen, of course.

Because she was the Visorak queen.

And Sidorak's.

Technically.

Not yet.

Formalities and whatnot.

She always kept that nonsensical notion at a distance, but there was no harm in indulging in the absurd picture it painted - giving her access to whatever chambers the Steltian had previously had all to himself without arousing any suspicion, permitting so many new and exciting ways to get him out of her path to total control... She had no need to disguise it either, since she would have inherited the power from him anyways, but what lousy excuse for an assassination doesn't have a subterfuge or two?

And while she indulged in these silly thoughts, Sidorak presented her plans as proudly as if he'd made them himself (which he always did), but slowly forgot to put his name in front of hers to get as much of the merit as possible.

Oh, he still included himself in her schemings of course. He had to look good, as a king and all.

He was still arrogant, and egocentric, and pompous, and a perfect imbecile; but Roodaka found him a little less eager to throw her under the Ussal crab, and ever more infatuated.

His offers for her to occupy a throne by his own were getting less formal, almost hopeful. He'd started to heat up when she grasped his snout in her hands (why'd she start to do that, by the way? Because seeing his eyes widen and a dopey grin spread lopsidedly on his face was somewhat endearing?) and she'd started to enjoy his renewed attentions and more vocal appreciation of her cunning brilliance.

By now she had him twisted around her claw. She was still planning to get rid of him, of course, but new possibilities had opened up: smitten as he was she could have easily puppeted him around to do her bidding without her needing to lift a finger, and she could have used him as bait or perhaps a distraction in case some hotheaded idiot thought of taking the horde from them... She could have laid back in total safety, pulling the strings from behind him without ever having to worry for her safety! He was so confused by his attraction that he had even agreed to let her do most of planning in his stead, since she was such a tactical genius, and he would have posed in the front to carry out her instructions just like a devoted king should...

Hm.

Hm!

Well. In the end, he might have been more useful alive than dead.

Roodaka came to that satisfactory conclusion with a pleased hum and a big smile, snuggling her snout further into Sidorak's neck. The Steltian hummed back fondly in his sleep as his arms gently tightened around her, which caused a flustered buzz to flutter within her heartlight.

She stared into the dark for a few more minutes.

Ah, cripes.

Turns out infatuation is a two-way street.

[bionicle-ramblings]

Little kid me: I like Vakama. I don't know why, but I do. He's my favorite

High-school me: Yeah, Vakama's my favorite. I relate to how he feels about himself. He's not whiny, he's just seeing what everyone else is doing and is upset he's not getting it like they did. Call him whiny again, and you'll catch these hands

Present me: Vakama’s a character with so much depth and his anxiety and insecurities are a part of him, but don't define him. He is a leader, but it's a role he has to grow into, both in that he needs to accept himself as a leader and then learn how to lead effectively without pushing his team around. He once lived a very content life, and that changed when he became a Toa, though he still makes the Mask of Time, because it's something that calms him. He doubts himself, but he still steps up and he's determined to do what's right, being as duty-bound as he is, though later his goal to protect the Matoran also blends with the guilt and grief of Lhikan's death. He hward that he'd made his idol and possible friend proud and he soon puts immeasurable pressure on himself, much to the point that he becomes reckless and lashes out at his own teammates. His lowest point is during the Hordika arc, where he gets himself and his team mutated and nearly killed and the hopelessness of the situation is so much that when he and the other Toa learn they weren't even MEANT to be Toa, it ultimately breaks Vakama, not in a breakdown kind of way, but a way that essentially leaves him.and the others in more unrest than ever. And with the hordika venom and the events making them all hosgile towards each other, Vakama does need to walk away and clear his head and contemplates trying to save the Matoran on his own before he realizes he can't. He's pushed over the edge when he's captured by Roodaka and is told he can save the Matoran without the other Toa Metru if he becomes the leader of the Visorak. He hears what he wants to hear and is given the resources to achieve his goal, but he loses sight of the values he's had ingrained in him for his entire life, much to the point that he almost kills his friend, though he is pulled out of it and he returns and the Toa's leader, being stronger than ever in the end, as seen in Time Trap when he holds the Vahi(and all of reality) hostage to keep everyone safe. He goes through a journey that many couldn't even imagine and in the end he is a leader that many people look up to. Is he perfect? No, of course not. Some of his decisions could have been better. Is he a bad person? No, not when he learned from what he did and is better for it. Vakama is an insanely well written, complex character that people, myself included, more or less find something new to learn about/from him like how to be a leader or how your insecurities or anxiety don't stop you from being the strongest you have to or need to be when the time comes for it to happen

[catsafari25]

A/N: Hello again, and with this I think (?) I may have succeeded in writing enough bionicle fic to get it out of my system (unless another plot bunny hits me like a cannonball, but... eh, we'll see) and thus, here is the companion piece to the Vakama & Roodaka oneshot.

This time, exploring the scene where Vakama entered the Great Temple, from his side of things! This was also partially inspired by the scene in Challenge of the Hordika where Nokama is almost physically repulsed in trying to enter the Great Temple :)

x

In the tunnels beneath the temple, Vakama must stoop.

At first he shuffles, mutated arm tucked against him and his sole hand brushing only briefly along the floor to steady himself, but the passages are dark and deep and lined with creatures which seek out the weak. The eyes that watch him are not hungry. They keep their bellies too full for that.

In the end, it is easier quicker to drop to all fours, to share the weight between claw and tool that feet alone cannot. His altered form folds into the new stance with frightening familiarity. It's comfortable.

Natural.

The crown of his mask grazes the tunnel's ceiling, but only in passing. His gait is sure. Well. Surer than the ungainly slouch it had been before.

It was said – back when Matoran were awake to say such things – that even the strongest swimmers of Ga-Metru would hesitate before plunging into the depths of the protodermis sea. Not because the creatures there had any fondness for the taste of Matoran. In truth, it was thought that the rahi actively disliked the flavour. No, it was because the way Matoran swam was indistinguishable from the rahi's usual prey. Only when they had sunk tooth and jaw into their meal would they realise their mistake.

It was an annoying, if harmless mistake for the rahi.

Matoran couldn't say the same.

Vakama's early crawl through the passage had been like that of a Matoran swimmer: functional, but slow and indiscernible from wounded prey. Creatures drag themselves down into these depths to die, in hopes that they will be devoured only when they are too far gone to feel it. The eyes are patient. They will wait to see if this newcomer is similarly inclined.

And so when Vakama drops to his haunches, the eyes blink. Reassess. He moves less like the hunted and more like the hunter now, more predator than prey, and the eyes – and teeth – keep their distance after that.

The path Vakama stalks through was once a protodermis pipe, made obsolete even before the cataclysm. Newer conduits had been built, more efficient, more resilient, and this one had been disconnected but never dismantled. When he reaches its origin, it takes some effort – and his blazer claw – to break the seal across the hatchway, but when he does, one of the temple's protodermis purification chambers looms above him.

The room beyond is quiet.

Unmarked.

He doesn't realise he's stopped until the chittering of his audience draws closer. The snarl he throws back echoes off the pipe's walls, and the eyes retreat, but do not leave.

Vakama curls his hand around the lip of the hatch, and then falters.

Something is wrong.

It's not a pain, because the feeling does not hurt as it ought, but something is undeniably, fundamentally wrong. It causes his breath to catch, his hand to flinch, and it would be so easy, so easy, to turn and walk away, only...

Only he came here for a reason.

The wrongness flares, amplified for a moment, and then he pulls himself up. The eyes watch, but do not follow. Do they feel it too? Can even such base creatures sense the innate malice the temple exudes?

He clambers out of the purification chamber – empty and abandoned now – and stumbles upon his landing. He catches himself, but does not rise back to his feet.

Wrong.

This is wrong.

And at the edge of the wrongness there is a strange sort of terror. It dreads the same way the fire fears the sea, the same way the prey fears the predator; it is the meeting of two primally antithetical forces where only one can survive. It whispers turn back through his mind.

He moves into the next room.

It's one he knows well. Light filters down from the rot-stained windows, centering – as it had the day he'd first seen it – on the suva, and casting long sentinel shadows of the columns standing to attention around it. A crack mars the suva, its stone dome now split cleanly in two from the quakes, and – drawn by some desire he cannot identify (instinct, curiosity... nostalgia?) – he approaches.

It seems so small now. Even bowed and altered in his Hordika form, he looms over the Ta-Metru symbol he'd once had to stretch to reach.

Unbidden, his hand moves to the niche where once he'd placed a Toa Stone – where once he had though himself chosen, duty-bound, destiny-gifted – and falters a breath from the stone.

The wrongness spikes.

Screams.

And with a twist of something he will not call horror, he understands it is not originating from himself.

But from the temple.

It is repulsion. It's alienation. It's recognising him, but as other, as rahi.

It's disgust that a monster would dare enter its sanctuary.

In the Ta-Metru carving, stone once polished to the point of fragmented reflection, he sees a glimmer of his own face. Neither Toa nor Matoran. Nothing blessed by Mata Nui.

Vakama recoils.

And then a wave of his own disgust, propelled by that fury that runs so close to the surface now, rolls through him. If you didn't want us as the Toa, you should've stopped Makuta from choosing us, he thinks, and digs his claws into the stonework.

The wrongness sings.

But he knows it for what it is now, and his morphed, clawed hand gorges scars through the carving. The stone is soft. Its makers had never imagined someone would take a blade to it.

There comes a tapping from across the room, echoing brazenly off the ancient stone walls, and Vakama retreats instinctively into the shadows. A Rahaga enters.

Norik?

No, this Rahaga's armour is more akin to a Po-Matoran than a Ta-Matoran's, the colour of dust and stone. Vakama tries to recall the Rahaga's name – and then dismisses the attempt.

It won't matter, in the end.

The Rahaga walks as he always has, stooped and slow, but clearly unhindered by the temple. He passes by the suva and runs one gnarled hand across the stonework, his movements marred by curiosity rather than reverence.

The rage arrives a fully-formed creation. It drowns out the wrongness, floods the apprehension, and he is moving before he's decided that this is the path he wants.

It is not pain, for it does not hurt as it ought.

But it does still hurt.

x

Whatever the Rahaga might once have been, they are old and weak now. Four are captured before Vakama's rage has a chance to cool, but the ire is no less dangerous when it does.

(That's the thing about Ta-Metru; it's not a place of fire so much as it is of magma. And magma doesn't extinguish with the cold; it sets. It moors itself into place, an unmovable, burning force.)

The rage settles, solidifies around his heart and lungs and carves a home between his breaths.

(Magma is not fire. It does not leap blindly from one source to the next. Instead it advances. Slowly. Steadily. It finds a channel, a destination, and it engulfs all in its path until it reaches it.)

He finds the last two remaining Rahaga, pathetically ignorant to their brothers' fates and still scavenging the temple for answers. He hears the way Norik appraises his sister's translation, relief clear in his voice that they are one step further on this wild rahi chase. Relief, surely, that the Rahaga are one step closer to regaining their Toa form.

(And Vakama's anger has found its destination.)

He does not descend on the Rahaga's leader the way he has the others. No. Norik will know what's coming for him first. He gets to fear. Vakama waits until Gaaki has gone, until Norik is alone, and then he circles. The wrongness thrums in his veins, weighing him down and labouring his breaths. It doesn't matter. Let Norik hear his approach.

Norik doesn't try to run. Vakama will give him that much. (A wise choice. Vakama intends for this encounter to last, but if Norik runs, Vakama cannot be sure he won't chase.) Instead, the malformed once-Toa calls out and actually tries to approach him. Stupid. Doesn't he know that he won't win any fight, transformed as he is? As both of them are? No, instead, he tries to talk. As if they are equals, as if Norik has done anything to deserve his respect rather than his scorn. As if he has earned the temple's forgiveness for his trespassing.

Even when Vakama raises the fate of Norik's fellow Rahaga, Norik attempts to sway him with the illusion of reason, talking of duty and unity, as if he's not using the other Toa Hordika to chase after a rahi myth for his own desires. As if their roles are in any way comparable, both Toa of Fire once, both leaders, it's true, but Vakama hasn't forgone his duty to chase after selfish needs.

And it stops now.

Vakama circles closer, and Norik is still talking, unease in his voice, but not fear. Still searching for the right words to turn Vakama to his bidding as he has the other Toa Hordika. Ever the voice of two-faced logic.

Why won't he just shut up?

Does Norik think him to be as gullible as the others? As quick to desert his duty as them?

And Vakama knows he wants – needs – to shake that assurance, that arrogance out of Norik. Needs to see that facade of self-righteous wisdom crumble into the terror of his situation.

The growl begins deep in his chest and, unleashed, it becomes a roar. He rears out of the darkness, into the weak sphere of light surrounding Norik – and there, there he finally sees true fear fill the old fool's eyes.

Something slams into Vakama and he reels, his roar cut short. His hand reaches automatically, defensively, to his mask. He finds only water there. It clings to him, imbued with some sort of power – he can feel something other in it – but otherwise impotent.

"Leave my brother alone," Gaaki snarls. She stands in the doorway, small and hopelessly overpowered, but her shoulders are tensed with a stubborness Vakama recognises. Already, her spinner is powering up for another shot.

Well. Two can play at that game.

Vakama's rhotuka fires into motion, but the water has seeped into the mechanism, and dowses the fire before it has a chance to catch. He gives it a withering look, before turning the expression onto Gaaki. "Very clever."

Another water spinner hits him, but this time he is braced for it and all it does is wash harmlessly off him.

"Is that all you have?" he asks. His blazer claw splutters, but the claws on his hand flex. After all, there's more than one way to defang a muaka...

Gaaki steps back. Good. She knows she's outmatched. "It's a devastating attack underwater," she offers, and her words are strong but there is a cracked edge to them.

"Then you'd better start finding a puddle," Vakama growls, "before my claws find you," and he drops into a run, feet pounding and fangs bared and that ever-present wrongness humming about him.

She doesn't flee. Just like Norik, she stands her ground, gnarled fingers wrapped tight around her staff. Her eyes are hard, but he sees the way her hands shake.

How long will her resolve last, Vakama wonders. Before or after the claws find their mark?

He never finds out.

He's knocked off his feet before he reaches her, and when he hits the ground, ropes of energy pin him to the earth, like a water-bound rahi caught in a net.

What–

Norik.

He'd forgotten Norik.

He thrashes against the restraints, but they hold strong – for now. His blazer claw splutters again, but it does nothing to the energy that binds him.

He stills as he hears footsteps approach.

The two Rahaga hobble into his line of sight. Gaaki is breathing hard, as if only now is she allowing herself to feel the fear. "You left that late, Norik," she says, and even the breath that follows sounds more like a shaken wheeze than a nervous laugh. "Almost too late."

"I only had the one shot. I couldn't afford to miss," Norik replies. "He's got our brothers. Gaaki, go find–"

"I'm not leaving you alone with him," she retorts. "I only went for a moment before, and look what would have happened if I hadn't returned."

Vakama tilts his head as well as the energy net will allow. He grins at the Rahaga, anger curdling it into a sneer. "Yes, Gaaki, you're very good bait, congratulations." He shifts his gaze to Norik. "But you've always been so good at getting others to do your dirty work, haven't you, Norik?"

Norik doesn't even have the decency of guilt. Instead, he simply looks tired. "Whatever you think you know–"

"I know the truth! You don't care about the Matoran, you only care about yourselves!" He strains against the ropes, and although they do not break, there's a little more give in them than before. He slumps back to the ground, breathing hard. "You might have the other Toa fooled. You might even have the temple fooled, but not me," he growls, and the temple's hatred presses down on him, straining his last words.

Gaaki places a frail hand on her brother's arm. "Norik," she says, and there is such unbearable sorrow in her voice. "He looks in pain."

"It's not my doing," Norik assures her softly. "My snare spinner only binds."

Vakama snarls. "I don't need pity from the likes of you. I know what you are."

"We're allies, Vakama," Norik says, in that insufferably reasonable way of his. "Friends."

"You're frauds," Vakama snaps. He twists against his restraints. They slacken, just a touch. "Liars. You don't deserve to walk these floors."

And the Rahaga stand there, unburdened by the temple's hate, strangers to this land, to Metru Nui, and yet it is Vakama the temple repulses? After everything he has forgone, the life he's abandoned, the friendships he's lost, Mata Nui punishes him?

His rhotuka fires off a fire spinner, and it goes wide, cracks a wall. Norik and Gaaki stumble back, Norik preparing another snare shot, but the energy net holding Vakama snaps. Vakama lurches forward, suddenly free, and slams into Norik.

The snare spinner wraps itself around a column. It lights up the room with crackling energy.

A blast of water grazes past his shoulder, too shy of hitting Norik to commit to taking the easy shot, and Vakama reels towards Gaaki. He fires with a snarl, but hears the snare spinner coming again and ducks at the last moment.

Again his own attack misses and the shot cleaves clean through a wall. Something on the other side begins to smoulder.

Then it begins to rumble.

It's a low sound at first, as deep as the earth and just as vast. Almost like a distant growl. But then the cracks begin to spiral out across the roof, along the columns, and the room buckles.

The light flickers. The frames of the high windows above collapse.

The world becomes fragmented, filled with flickering images. Falling masonry and toppling pillars and dust – but the sounds never relent. Even in the depths of the passing darkness, the thunder continues.

And when the dust settles, so does an awful silence.

Vakama straightens, or does his best approximation of it. Fragments of cracked protodermis fall from his shoulders, his head, his back. He withdraws the hand which has somehow found itself raised above Gaaki, knocking aside the stone slab caught against his arm.

Where's Norik?

Both Hordika and Rahaga stand side by side, that quietness disturbed only by the skittering of stone shards settling. There is wrongness in his breath, his head, and it's impossible to separate where the temple's ends and his begins. But any moment now, Norik will reappear from the wreckage, bearing that ever-same holier-than-thou look, and the anger will rise anew in Vakama.

Any.

Moment.

Now.

"You've killed him," Gaaki says, and her voice breaks that terrible stillness. She draws in a half-breath that cracks into a sob. "You've... oh, Norik..."

No.

No, it was an accident. He hadn't meant to– Norik had simply been in the wrong place. It wasn't as if he'd taken a blazer claw to Norik, or hit him directly with a fire spinner. He'd only meant to... what? What had he only meant to do?

Something swings towards him and he grabs the staff before he even registers what it is.

"He's not dead," Vakama says, and maybe if he says it, he might even believe it. He snaps his gaze to Gaaki, as if her grief is bringing it to pass. "He's not. He's not as easy to kill as that. When the others– when the Toa find him, he'll be fine. Fools like him always find a way to survive."

Gaaki attempts to pull her staff free, but her strength is no match for Vakama's. He wretches it out of her grasp and tosses it aside.

"Stop that."

She doesn't listen to him, only steps back and charges up her rhotuka. The grief in her eyes fogs into hatred.

The water spinner hits him but does little more than rock him.

"Stop."

Gaaki screams, a sound of rage and anguish, and releases a volley of spinners as ineffectual as the first.

Vakama's patience – or whatever had held him in place until now – snaps. He lunges forward. His claws close around the joints of Gaaki's rhotuka and pins the mechanisms harmlessly into place, in the same manner one might pick up a baby ussal crab by the widest edge of its shell. She thrashes, but Vakama's grip holds.

"I said, stop," he snarls.

She's breathing hard, her gasps sharp-edged with agony. "You killed him," she says, voice hoarse and hateful.

His insides twist, and – Gaaki hauled by his side – he starts the ascent to where the rest of the Rahaga are trapped. He doesn't look back to the rubble. Doesn't glance for one last glimpse of Norik's resting place.

He's not dead. He's not dead he's not dead he's not

The wrongness, the hatred, has woven so deep into him, it's almost a part of him now.

Toa don't kill. Vakama can't remember who taught him that (he recalls, briefly, the flash of a gold mask, but it comes with pain – grief – and he pushes it aside before it can take root) but it gnaws at him like a trapped stone rat. Toa don't kill.

But he was never meant to be one.

And if the Great Temple – if Mata Nui – thinks a mistake was made in Vakama's destiny....

Well. That's somebody else's problem.

x

The Hordika that returns to Roodaka is different from the one she sent out. There's something new in his eyes... or perhaps something lost.

"How was the temple, Vakama?" she asks when it's just the two of them.

He looks to her. Beneath the anger, beneath the rahi, there's almost a haunted look to those eyes. It vanishes a moment later, but Roodaka never doubts her own eyes.

"Unwelcoming," he replies, and Roodaka smiles. She could have suggested Vakama pick the Rahaga off one by one in the chaos of Metru Nui, outside where her Visorak could have been an aid... but the temple had been too good an opportunity to miss.

"Good." She sets a hand on his shoulder. "You owe no loyalty to Mata Nui, Vakama. Not anymore."

He rolls his shoulder, but not sharp enough to dislodge Roodaka's hand.

"One thing I do not understand," she says. "What happened to the sixth Rahaga?"

The Toa growls. It is a gutteral sound, rooted deep in the chest and at home in a way it wasn't before. "You wanted a message left for the other Toa. I needed a messenger."

"Alive?"

Vakama shrugs his shoulder again, and this time she lets him roll her hand loose. "Does it matter, so long as they understand?" he growls.

No, Roodaka concedes as she surveys the remains of the Toa before her. She supposes not.

[a-bio-hero-writer]

Okay here’s an idea, headcanon with Sidorak x female!reader. Where reader is his Queen instead of Roodaka, pre-Web of Shadows mainly.

I had no idea how to start this, but when I finally sat down it went quite smoothly - well�� except for the gif but that’s normal. Hope you will enjoy despite the far-too-long of a delay :))

Fairly sure he met the, at the time, crush while trying to get a position at among the Dark Hunters

The said crush must’ve impressed him with a unique fighting style

He might or might not have got distracted during his training leading him to fail faster

But hey, he got to meet the one and only from his dreams, so he wasn’t exactly feeling let down

Simp

His darling wants something? It’s already purchased

“Is there anything that catches your eyes dear?”

“I was thinking about a gem from that material.” 

Cue the love interest pointing at the literal seal in which Teridax is trapped 

“Okay, now how big do you want the gem to be?”

“Big.”

“Alright, that can be arranged.”

Next day the thing is already delivered fully polished to the doorstep

For a person with so much power, he’s pretty much touch-starved 

He definitely enjoys hugs, but at the same time is sorta unwilling to ask for them, because reputation

That is unless he’s desperate

And let’s be fair, that can happen quite often actually

Fights rarely occur, but the horde is twice as careful when they, in fact, do happen

Here’s an actual conversation after the two had a fight, and so he reaches out to Vakama for help

“How do you lose a woman?!”

“You forget to cherish her.”

“Excuse you you little spiriah, you dare say I didn’t cherish her? ME?!”

“Did you?” 

He said it more as a joke but hey, that’s Sidorak we’re considering in this scenario, Vakama should’ve known better

“… Oh no, you’re right, I'm such a horrible person-”

Apologises with gifts but also pours his heart out into poems

A true hopeless romantic

He once legitimately cried after waking up from a dream

“Si, what’s wrong?”

“I had a dream I chose a different woman over you I’m sorry-”

He just loves with his whole heart and he doesn’t want anything to change

[bionicle-ramblings]

You know how in the Web of Shadows book, Vakama ultimately switches sides and all that? As fun as that was, remember how while Roodaka was talking to him he had the notion of, "The others won't miss me if I'm left behind."

Imagine if Vakama didn't switch sides, but instead tried playing a game of his own, as he's unintentionally got Roodaka thinking he's putty in her hands. In his mind, he's trying to keep his friends safe even if he thinks they want nothing to do with him and vice versa, like that feeling of, "I hope this person os doing alright, but I never want to see them again."

Rather than "capture" the Rahaga, he leads them out of the Great Temple and explains as much as he can about his plan, how he needs to make it look like he captured them and needs to bring them to Sidorak and Roodaka to gain their trust further. The only one not captured in still Norik, but while Norik is surprised and defensive because he knows Vakama did something, Vakama immediately reveals he didn't do anything to the other Rahaga and is going to ensure nothing happens to them. Norik asks if Vakama's doing what he's doing because of Roodaka, knowing how coniving she can be, but Vakama admits he just wants to save the Matoran and hopefully save his friends too; he screwed them over once and doesn't want to do it again

After some more back and forth that progressively gets more emotional, Vakama ultimately leaves, promising Norik that he won't lose his brothers and sister, thanking him for his help, and asking him to tell the other Toa that for all he's put them through and how he treated them, he's truly sorry for everything and to find Keetongu and stay away from the Coliseum and the Visorak, even asking Norik to tell them not to bother coming back for him when they're cured and have rescued the Matoran

Norik does share that message, but warns the Toa that Vakama isn't really under the full Hordika venom yet, but he's losing himself

I want to iterate that Vakama still has his anger and he's got some mixed emotions of despair and sorrow and more emotions and thinks no one would miss him

And he also does help the Rahaga when Roodaka and Sidorak aren't looking, i.e. planning and trying to see how they can help the Toa and Norik with the horde and then get the Matoran out of Metru Nui without the interference of the Visorak

Weeeeell, bad news for him: the Toa have arrived to help him. He does use the, "You made a grave mistake coming here," line, but when Whenua argues that they came to save him, Vakama, at his wit's end from arguing with the Rahaga and mentally exhausted from his balancing act for Roodaka and Sidorak, snaps that he never wanted them to save him because he was trying to save them. It makes Vakama freeze and both Roodaka and Sidorak realize that, yep, they were never dealing with a Toa that switched sides

Vakama races to the Rahaga, who have been loosely restrained, and they break free, ready to catch him when he jumps off the balcony. Good thing because the Visorak swarm the Toa and pause when they see Vakama, as he was put in charge of them. Needless to say, it's a short fight as Vakama commands them all to go free, using Roodaka's words against her by reminding her that the Visorak know their leader is weak. Unlike either Sidorak or Roodaka, Vakama is not a tyrant and will only lead the Visorak if they choose to be led

And the Visorak choose by following Vakama's command and leave the Coliseum

An alternative is Vakama putting on a show of pretending to push the Toa away, but stops when he hears that they came to "save him," because he thought they hated him. He's proven wrong and even more astonished when he sees Keetongu, and when he gets a visit from Matau, i.e. the Toa Hordika of Air swinging in and grabbing Vakama before the two crash land at the top of the Coliseum. They do fight, but it's not Vakama trying to kill Matau. It's instead the two arguing as they fight, Vakama shouting that he told Norik to make sure the Toa Metru stayed away and got out of Metru Nui while Matau yells that the team isn't going anywhere without Vakama because, lest he forget, Vakama is their leader, their friend, and even their brother, and they're not leaving him behind

Eventually, the fight ends in something of a stalemate, Matau and Vakama worn out and exhausted, and Matau doubles down on what he said; Vakama screwed up, made some pretty big mistakes, but that's what happens when you have to makes big choices or decisions and think what you're doing is best. Basically, he gives his whole speech from the original Web of Shadows and reiterates that Vakama is the team's leader, that he's MATAU'S leader, and they have a job to do, one they have to do together, which is their destiny

It's a tear-jerker moment and it also breaks Vakama and gets him to snap back into action; he has a plan and they need to get to the other Toa to go through with it

Idk, villain!Vakama was kinda fun, but "I need to do this on my own, no one will miss me if I don't make it" Vakama is also fun

[bionicle-ramblings]

I've been listening to Gaeta's Lament too much, and now I'm imagining Vakama singing or humming at different points in the Metru Nui story:

In his forge, more to himself than anything because he's so used to hearing other people around him while he works

Humming to himself when the rest of the team is either walking ahead of him or resting/sleeping, binus points if one of them isn't fully asleep and has to PRETEND to be because hearing Vakama sing, being as quiet as he is, is very surreal

Alone, while on his way to Ta-Metru, Vakama sings when he hears how good the acoustics are. He even gets caught up in singing as he looks for Nuhrii, and the Great Disk and others hear him. They don't recognize his singing, just the song, because it's one that's "native" to Ta-Metru and is commonly sung among tool and mask-makers

In the archives in Onu-Metru, with Whenua leading the way and everyone a little nervous, Whenua asks for Vakama to sing or at least hum because everyone's freaked out and not helping him. When Vakama doesn't, because it's embarrassing to sing in front of people for him(he's not used to it), Whenua asks about the songs history, as a lot of Metrus have their songs and music, i.e. Ga-Metru, where Matroan study and learn to play, Po-Metru, where carvers, builders, and craftsman sing together to help get work done or make work go by faster, and Ta-Metru, where most of the music is more or less the echoes of different songs and the ringing of hammers on metal. Vakama gives as much of a history as he can and Whenua explains that Archivists study and keep record of music, but never really sing or play music, mainly because they can't afford the distractions; anything can kill them in the archives

After rescuing Lhikan and a handful of Matorn, while heading toward the Great Barrier and beyond it, Vakama doesn't fully sing as he finishes up the Mask of Time, only mouthing the words and singing under his breath

During the Hordika arc, he doesn't sing. At all. The Toa notice it when they return to Metru Nui, moreso after their captured and mutated. The Toa fully realize it when they're resting for the night and hear nothing from Vakama when he's with them. They've gotten used to the sound of soft singing or humming and to no longer hear their friend/brother sing is a bit gutting because, as some may say the their respective Rahaga, Vakama indeed sang and sang well. Maybe Norik ends up temporarily losing Vakama and has to look for him and finds him in his old forge, looking for anything the Toa need, and hears him hum bits and pieces of a song. Norik, being a former Ta-Toa that was once a Ta-Matoran, quietly simgs the song as well, catching Vakama's attention because it's so odd to hear a song he sings be sung by another. Norik admits he'd nearly forgotten the words to the song, having never really been as confident in his singing, and Vakama states he sings to make noise and help him focus, though really it calms him down because he feels less alone when he hears himself singing a song that reminds him of home, even if that memory is painful. When Vakama is captured, he still doesn't sing, not while he's being manipulated by Roodaka and certainly not in front of her or Sidorak or even the captured Rahaga. After Roodaka's defeat and the Toa are cured, there still isn't a lot of singing, but there is the faintest hum from behind the Toa as Vakama carries one of the sleeping containers

During the events of Time Trap, in the false reality, after seeing his friends, dealing with a crazy new world, and realizing he can't form his team because Nuju got attacked by Vahki, Onewa is traumatized, and Matau is dead, Vakama needs a second to breathe, even running to get away from the false Nokama for a while. Outsode of the illusion, the Shadowed One, Sentrakh, and Teridax "find" Vakama in the remains of an empty building, recovering from a panic attack and taking a moment to collect himself. And they hear him sing. Teridax is admittedly annoyed to hear the same song again, but the Boggarak, still approaches, following an order from Teridax and disguised as Nokama. Vakama more or less sings his heart out, taking full advantage of the fact that, as far as he knows, he's alone, and is more or less letting go of A LOT of stree and turmoil. When he's done, in the illusion, he sees Nokama staring at him and asks her to pretend she didn't hear or see anything, testing her by saying he made the song up. "Nokama" scoffs and asks him what his plan is now, and the rest of the events of Time Trap occur, though Teridax does stipulate that if he hears Vakama sing one more time, the truce is IMMEDIATELY off

This is all headcanon, I just love the image of Vakama singing

[bionicle-ramblings]

This was going through my head before I fell asleep last night and now it's SENDING me

Imagine if Takua, Jaller, and Vakama became Toa together and all wound up getting mutated and captured together

Riodaka still mainly targets Vakama, but also tries manipulating Jaller and Takua as well

But Takua isn't having it, more focused on where they are and even being excited because he's never been in the room they are currently being held in

Roodaka still tries to manipulate them, but Takua keeps screwing it up, trying to break free, getting the other two's attention, joking that none of them can really talk at the moment on account of being tied up at the moment(HA!!), anything

He even starts a howl between all three of them, much to Roodaka's growing anger because she basically has three idiots to deal with

It gets worse when all three are released. Takua quickly gets a game of Tag going and the three chase each other to try and catch one another, Takua racing around to get Vakama to catch him while Jaller’s trying to just rein the two in

When Roodaka ultimately gets the three at the balcony and shows them Ta-Metru, more pulls Vakama away and talks to him about ruling Ta-Metru, leading the Horde, and siding with her, Jaller pulls Vakama aside for a small discussion; Ta-Metru is home to all three of them, so they should all have a say in what they do with it

They step away and basically come to the conclusion that Roodaka is icky and what she's offering isn't really going to help them; how is a horde of ecosystem destroying spiders going to help them save the Matoran?

When Vakama points out how she knows about how she knew what the others said, Takua reminds Vakama that THEY ALL said awful things to each other, and that includes Vakama

Neither is 100% blaming Vakama for what's happened to them, even admitting they should have stopped him when they reached Metru Nui

Realizing they don't want to stick around, but can't make it obvious, Takua abruptly thanks Roodaka for her offer, but tells none of them are interested and throws himself, Jaller, and Vakama off the edge, sending all three falling

He has a plan, though, having picked it up from the Rahaga: using his Rhotuka spinner to fly!

They do get back with the group and basically give the run-down of what happened, where they were, and what they now know

So it's back to fixing airships and looking for Keetongu, but being EXTRA careful of Visorak now do no one gets captured or killed

Idk, I feel like Jaller and Takua would have kept Vakama in check in the Hordika arc and Takua would be as insufferable as possible on purpose so he could keep Vakama or anyone else distracted, including himself