#powerhouses i love them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

randomwriteronline · 5 months

Text

What did Kopaka remember?

Quiet in the mountains. Chaos. Endless seas. Clanging of metal. Chills of adrenaline in battle.

Warmth in his chest.

The last one was puzzling.

The first three he could see; the second two he could imagine from a glorious past as a proud Toa, a warrior, a hero - the clear shape of it forgotten, but its meaning still there.

The last one, though.

The last one was puzzling.

He was a Toa of Ice. A being forged in endless blizzards, as unrelenting as the avalanche, the snowstorm, the glaciers - as impenetrable as the permafrost that freezes the roots on their path.

He was not supposed to feel warm in his chest.

He was not supposed to be clumsy or get lost easily, either.

Who had ever heard of that? A hero who could not find his path? Did that mean he would not have recognized his own destiny if the elder had not assigned a Protector to guide him? That he would have wandered aimlessly, confused, if not rescued and merely left to his own devices? That he could have been swayed by the minions of Makuta and turned into a foe of his own siblings with ease? That it could have taken as little as a step in the wrong direction to turn him to evil?

He tried not to dwell on that.

He tried desperately not to dwell on that.

He turned his thoughts to Pohatu.

It always helped, to turn his thoughts to Pohatu.

Pohatu was... Well.

Pohatu was perfect.

He was powerful, stalwart, dutiful. He did not speak unless needed, sometimes not even then. He remained serious, stoic, focused in the face of danger. Nothing could have made him crumble, nothing could have made him doubt or flinch. He was smart, and steady, and strong: he was above them all.

He was a proper hero.

The only one out of all the Toa who Kopaka could truly look up to, aspire to be like.

Tahu was too loud, obnoxious, bossy, Gali too neurotic and self-certain; Onua was kind, but slow to wits and hardly capable of dosing his power; Lewa refused to listen to anyone but himself.

And Kopaka, though try as he might to seem so, was far from perfect.

Pohatu was perfect.

He envied him. He adored him.

So what if he was aloof, what if he seemed to hate them? What if a Scorpio or two got him once? What if he got nervous in the dark, and needed a shoulder to lean on to steady his breathing again? Happens to the best of us.

Of course Kopaka would protect him.

Of course he would jump to his defense.

It was an honor.

A way to show him.

See? I am like you. I am a true warrior like you. I am a proper ally to you. I am worth your time.

What self-centered things to think.

But he could not help it.

Pohatu was perfect.

He truly was.

Kopaka watched him as he slept, warmed by a fire Tahu had set up, instead of focusing on the surroundings of the camp. He watched him safe from judgement, as all the others too were asleep - he could hear their breaths and snores, could tell them apart from those alone. He watched him: he slept sitting up, curled in on himself, hands clamped around his arms, knees pulled to his chest, head dangerously leaning forward always about to fall. The glow barely escaping the sliver between his eyelids was dim. Something in the way they were shut gave the impression he was frowning fiercely beneath his mask.

He looked so strangely small.

He never looked happy.

Why did that hurt?

That was just how he was. Never happy. Never overtly, maybe never at all. Always more concerned with something else.

Why did that hurt?

It was a phantom pain, behind his nape.

He could not place it, could not figure it out.

It must have been something, one of the many things he could not remember, not fully, not completely. Something shapeless, but still there.

What did Kopaka remember?

Quiet in the mountains. Chaos. Endless seas. Clanging of metal. Chills of adrenaline in battle.

Warmth in his chest.

Dark.

Mlexqr?

Mlexqr!

Pohatu was looking at him.

It scared him briefly.

His hand had somehow gone, all on its own, to find and hold the Toa of Stone's.

He hadn't even noticed he'd moved closer to him.

He hadn't even noticed he'd woken him up.

He hadn't even noticed he'd held his hand.

Pohatu was looking at him.

Kopaka looked back, silently, stupidly, because he could not have explained himself if he had wanted - and he wanted, stars above knew he wanted.

This was no heroic behaviour. This was no behaviour at all, period.

What would the other think of someone like that? Someone who moves closer to a sleeping person and holds their hand like that, for no reason, waking them up out of nowhere and not offering a single explanation for the trouble?

He was annoyed, certainly. He had to be. He had to hate him by now, for such an incomprehensible inane action.

What was he doing?

He couldn't even answer himself.

He kept holding his hand.

He should have stopped.

He kept holding his hand.

Pohatu was looking at him.

He did not let go of Kopaka's hand.

The shape of his eyes seemed less furrowed. Slightly, only slightly. But it really did seem a little less furrowed.

Tenderly, comfortingly, uselessly, Kopaka caressed the other's knuckles with his thumb.

Pohatu let him.

They remained like that for a while.

A long while.

Kopaka watched intently as the other Toa's face, what little he could see of it, mellowed out until it was calm. He watched as his breathing turned deeper, more tranquil. As his body unclenched.

It reminded him of that moment as they walked underground, looking for a way back to the surface, before they'd emerged from the empty tomb into the city's cemetery - when Pohatu had suddenly leaned on him, silently, and had seemed to be soothed immensely by his mere presence.

Maybe Lewa had been right. Maybe he was afraid of the dark.

No wonder he had looked so terribly unhappy as he slept. There was nary a light in the sky. Even stars would have barely done anything to help.

He had nothing to worry about now, Kopaka's hand said with a gentle dead seriousness through the gentle chill that it emitted as he kept caressing Pohatu's knuckles with his thumb. He was there with him. He was not letting go of him.

The phantom pain behind his nape cried.

They did not say anything.

But Pohatu's dim eyes took a strange shape, a softer shape. A shape Kopaka recognized.

Beneath his mask, he was smiling.

Smiling.

Warmth in his chest.

So sweet and sudden that it burnt and singed and scarred him beneath his armor, potent enough to make his heart stutter and shake with a violence he wasn't sure anything else could replicate.

Kopaka tightened his hold a tad more.

Pohatu smiled.

Just a little, but he smiled.

Warmth in his chest.

The phantom pain behind his nape wailed.

Pohatu's head laid on his knees, maybe not too comfortable, but no longer at risk of slamming onto them. His hand was slack in Kopaka's, though it held on: it felt like a stone left under the sun, radiating pleasant heat upon a chilly palm.

He had fallen asleep again.

Kopaka continued caressing his knuckles for a moment more, just to make sure he wouldn't wake up immediately.

He looked into the fire, into the night. He should have let go, at some point: certainly the Toa of Stone wouldn't have enjoyed being made fun of by Lewa for needing his hand held throughout the night. Certainly he would have glared at him viciously, yanking himself away from his fingers with a hissed warning of never doing that ever again.

Or maybe he would have said nothing, and only hated him in silence.

Or maybe he would have said nothing, and held onto him still.

He thought back to the shape of his eyes when smiling.

Such a familiar shape.

A familiar look.

A warm look.

Warmth in his chest.

When Gali took over guard duty and allowed him to rest, Kopaka forgot to let go.

#bionicle #bionicle 2015 #kopaka #pohatu #random writing #this is a sequel(?) to my other bionicle 2015 fic #some sweet commenter asked for a part 2 and i was like lol how would i even do a part 2. and now i wrote the part 2 #kohatu #taggin that bc idk if this could come off as non-romantic somehow. if it can and you prefer to read it that way: go for it #anyways i love overthinking 2015 pohatu and kopaka. the magnificent dynamic that they simply Do Not Have bc the series Barely Exists #i wrote kopaka as idolizing pohatu bc in his character spot description it says that 'he strives to be perfect'#and since pohatu is 1) a stoic ass unyielding shitbrick of a powerhouse and 2) without immediately visible flaws #hes THE model for someone who wants to be both unbreakable shield and unbreakable lance to look up to. like the archetype of the perfect to #which he isnt ofc bc he is just a guy with severe acluophobia #this is like. kopaka realizing that. and remembering vaguely how pohatu used to be and hurting for how much he changed and hurts now #you will have to try prying tenderness between them (platonic or not) from my Cold Dead Fucking Hands and you Will Fail

8 notes · View notes

puppy-the-mask · 11 months

Text

Couldn't decide if i wanted to keep my initial idea of having her only have purple legs or if i wanted her to be fully purple since the outfit washes her out. Either way this is what she'd look like if Cas got caught by the Spider Queen! She is now 'Recluse*' the experiment. {* Name has since been changed to 'Fiddle')

{THE COLORS LOOK WAY DARKER ON MY PHONE- on my comp the purple looked more lavender. I don’t wanna edit it rn though cause I put my comp away :/ I’ll see about color picking from a different ref or something idk}

She isn't treated the best by the spider crew since she doesn't want to help them take over the world, constantly using her brain to figure out loopholes in the Queen's orders. Her personality is very casual despite her situation, constantly making jokes and teasing the others. If she wasn't so good at her job then spider queen would've gotten rid of her ages ago- the two have a very strained relationship because recluse will call SQ out when she thinks her plans are bad and find any way to challenge her that she's able. Despite this she's actually pretty nice towards the other spiders!

She has a love-hate relationship with Syntax. He finds her really annoying and thinks she's stupid- like the queen's own personal jester- she never takes anything seriously and it bugs him. Meanwhile Fiddle finds his insults funny and informative and actually likes his company- he's the one who she spends the most time with since he's trying to fix the venom she was injected with, constantly running tests and keeping her close in his lab. When it's later revealed that the venom is actually working as intended and she's been acting this whole time he's floored. He thinks his data is off or the tests got tampered with because there's no way that she could have been playing them this whole time. When she confirms this he suddenly sees her in a new light- drawn to intelligence he wants to know how smart and crafty she Really is. She becomes a puzzle he wants to solve. Fiddle is more open to letting hints of her true self slip in front of him because she relates to him, she wants to save him from the queen and help him lead a normal life again. She also just thinks its funny to see his face when she corrects him or adds onto a theory when he's thinking out loud- especially when she's Right.

Goliath is her buddy, her favorite spider of the bunch. He's the only one who goes out of his way to visit her in her little corner of the lab since she is/is going to be part of the group soon. He wants to make her assimilation into the group easy so they can work together flawlessly. Where with Syntax she purposely drops hints, with Goliath she legitimately is slipping up and letting her walls down. She talks about her past and hobbies and anything under the sun when they're having their private chats. They also work out together- both being brawlers they share tips and their routines. He's the only one of the group she'll sing for- though it's just small jingles or a couple lines whenever a song gets stuck in her head. He's the only one who can get close when she's going berserk- physical proof that she's starting to trust/care for him. He helps her look after her cat since she's cooped up in the lab almost 24/7. He gives me big bro of the group vibes- strong and silent but when he talks he can definitely talk some shit/sass. I feel like he'd make quiet offhanded comments when Syntax and Huntsman are bickering that Fiddle would pick up on and laugh with him about.

Huntsman is interesting because they don't have much to do with each other at first. He doesn't really interact with Fiddle unless he has to and finds her to be a waste of time and resources. An opinion he Loves to share with Syntax and hold over him since the new venom and experiment fall under his responsibility (Queen got tired of dealing with her even though the venom is supposed to be Her thing while Syntax is computers- she figures he's smart he'll figure it out) Though when the two actually talk he finds it kind of hard to keep an aggressive or mocking attitude, either his jabs roll off her like they're nothing and they end up having a semi-normal conversation after she steers him away from insults and into an actual topic. Or she's so weirdly positive that it infuriates him, he's not used to people reacting to him with kindness and positivity- especially when he's Trying to be Mean. He ends up leaving in a huff and sulking that He's the angry one now or finding something else to do to distract himself. After his encounter with Sandy is when things start calming down with him- he's nicer to her cat and even offers to look after it when Goliath can't. She still infuriates him but now it just reminds him of how Sandy was acting and gets him thinking about their encounter again... he kinda ignores her to avoid thinking about it too hard. But it'd start keeping him up and so he ends up coming to her to ask some questions and share some thoughts. She's completely blindsided that somehow Huntsman of all people has been sent down a redemption arc/is becoming self aware but wholeheartedly supports it and encourages him to come back and talk to her ("or this new person who's got you thinking- no? ok ok i don't mind the conversation anyways!"). She becomes something of a confidant to him since he feels he can't share this with the others and it's not like Fiddle would call treason considering her position, plus nobody would ever believe her if she tried!

I see Fiddle as their gofer- since her upper body looks normal enough she can go into town and buy (or steal) things for them without much fuss. Of course she's heavily monitored through a tracker and surrounding cameras but she likes doing grocery runs since she gets to go outside and have a couple minutes to feel like a normal person again. She also takes over chores and some of the cooking since they can't reliably make her do anything else. Spider Queen would've made her into her handmaiden, but doesn't trust that she won't ruin her clothes or hair or Something just to spite her.

And then there's LBD, Fiddle doesn't trust her and the only time she gets openly serious or actually acts like a part of the group is when she isn't around. She's constantly trying to advise SQ against having her around, she can Sense the power in her and does not trust it for a second. She's spent lifetimes dealing with demons and there's no way someone with that much power is just here to help SQ of all people. She doesn't know who she is, the true extent of her power, nor her motive, but Fiddle avoids LBD like the plague. Once SQ finally gets wise to LBD's true nature Fiddle doesn't hesitate to tell her they should run- where Huntsman chokes Fiddle is standing up and saying it without a hint of fear for her queen. She may not like the woman but the venom compels her to do whatever it takes to keep her safe and there's no way they can take LBD on while still sharing the underground caverns. They need to get far away and regroup because she obviously wanted Something from them and the mech isn't complete yet. In this Au the spiders survive at the cost of Connie, Fiddle unleashes the full might of the consumption to hold LBD and the Mayor off so the others can get away and gets captured. idk if they needed SQ specifically or just a powerful demon's soul so i'm going with the latter in this one. There's specifics to what happens exactly for they to get connie without killing Fiddle- who ends up getting away thanks to a last act by Connie- but that'd be a bit graphic so lets just say the jacket used to have sleeves 6-6 anyways during the fight Fiddle gets to help by tapping into her connection with Connie- who was used to make the mech- and waking them up so to speak- having them help destroy the mech from the inside, then after LBD's defeat Fiddle reclaims the lost shards and her little sibling. Lots of character development could happen in the time they were apart, relationships could change and the spiders could become more of a closer knit group- maybe pull a DBK and chill out on the world conquering idk. this is just a base idea but a fun one to consider. i could just let lbd have sq but there's no way the others would let her get captured without dying first and the venom still affects Fiddle so she can't leave her either (even if she really wants to)

#my art #sketches #lmk oc #it me!#cas #i love Love LOVE the jacket- it's my favorite part!#idk if she'd stick around the spiders after things chilled out or if she'd move on and try to return to her normal life #just leave them her number and address in case anyone wants to visit #slowly work on their brainwashing from there #but also idk maybe having someone around to challenge her would make SQ think more and push her to be a better monarch #just a thought #since the venom still makes her loyal and have their best interest at heart- her arguments would be valid concerns that could offer another #point of view that SQ never thought of #idk i just miss the spiders- i wish they'd gotten their character development #The cat is Doomfanger ofc- since this is Me im gonna have my cat in lmk too #Huntsman is cornered by cat loving powerhouses that want to drag him up the road of self betterment #highkey Recluse would adore Sandy- it's so nice not being judged as one of the spider squad and instead as an individual seperated from-#their crimes #Sandy would give her calming tips and she'd be furiously writing everything he says because homegirl is DESPERATE #Fiddle (oc)#lmk oc Fiddle

6 notes · View notes