“I’m surprised you never asked about the whole Shadow thing.”
Salas glances over to him. “What do you mean?”
Bedrock blinks, swiveling his head at her as the Baranus Chariot rolled forwards, Kaksos trotting down the woodland road at a casual running pace. “What do you mean, what do I mean?”
“…yeah? What do you?” Salas asks, puzzled. “Is that not normal?”
“Oh, god no,” Bedrock shakes his head. “Controlling more than one element is pretty much impossible unless it’s because of some experiment or forced fusion with another Toa - controlling Shadow is the most blatant sign that someone is evil. Only ones who can do that are Makuta, some Rahkshi, and Toa of Shadow.”
Salas doesn’t say anything, staring at Bedrock expectantly.
“…right, not from our world,” he says. “I forgot.” Bedrock glances at the road in front of them absentmindedly. Nothing ahead. “So in summation, Toa of Shadow are Toa who lost their inner light. Inner light, in turn, is one half of the being’s moral balance between good and bad - the other one being inner shadow. Obviously, most people lean towards one of them, but it’s theorized that there is some way to forcibly topple the balance when the being is significantly more of the one or the other. When that happens, that person supposedly gains access to the element that’s more prominent and his personality changes to reflect that.”
The Glatorian nods in understanding. “And I’m gonna assume that Shadow is more prominent since it’s easier to be bad.” Bedrock nods. “How do you know all this stuff?”
“I read about it,” he shrugs. “I got interested in it on account of my abilities, so… you know.”
“Alright then. So how is that done?”
“That’s the thing,” the Toa of Earth explains: “no one knows how it’s done. Just that they’re confident that it can be done. Beings other than Makuta who can control Shadow are known to have existed in the past, but nobody has the faintest clue as to how they got into that state. Beings controlling Light have never been known to exist, but it’s commonly accepted that they can be if the same requirements are met, as well as th-”
“Hold on,” Salas interrupts. “What about you?”
“How do you control both Shadow and Earth, and top of it not just one of those?”
Soft, hungry chirping rings behind Bedrock’s ear. The woodland around the chariot darkens, transforming into a̵
da͜ŗk͡ ͝c̶a̸ve̶ ͜fu͜ll o̶f̸
h͠iś d̵èaḑ ͘brothers҉
it͜’͘ś yo̧u̸r̴ ͞fa͢u͏lt͡
y̢͍o̸̙̱̟̮̱͗u̟͆ͮ̓̉̔ͦć̙͉͂̿̅̔ö̸́͒͛̋ͥú̳̰͍̮l̴̟͚̗͖͈̲ͮͭd̢͈̳̱͒͒ͯ̃v͋̊ͧ̓̈ͩ͜ẹͪͤ̆̚s̺̪͖͙̭̃͗̇̎͗ͭ͒a̸̤̠̟̖̻̝͕͋v̯͕̝̫̩̈́̓͐͑ͪͧȩ͙̞ďͭ̎̿͏͓t̾͊hͭ̊͑ͮ͗ͣ̍͏͎̹ͅe̸̦̹̔̅̂̍ͧ̆́m͔͚͓̭̙͂͊̿̄̓̀͘ȁ̟̪̽̓ǹ̩̗̜̤͎̿̂d̢̥̼̣͚̐ͣ̈́ͩ͆ͧy̨̖̰̝͎̺̙̑͑͑̾ͮo͙ͥͪ͐̒̔u̔ͮ̔̾͝d̞̰̗̩̾ͦ͑̒ͥi̛̼̻͚͙̦͌͂ͫd̦̦̂́̃̀̚͞n̗ͮ̈́ͨ̂t̙̘̣͖̥̥͑̒ͫ͐͒͢
ť̴̛̻͉̞͚̤̺ͦ̄͊̍ͧh̳̮̪̪̭ͤ̐ë̡̘̻̇̆̄͑̒̌͜͠y͔̬̥̲͙̩̒͂͘l̬̙̰̈́̈́ͣͤ͋̓̎̍͂͢ó̸͖̞̗͎͓̀ͮ̀̊͟v̧̠̬̀͋e͚̤̰͎̳̥ͦͦͧ̂͗̊͑̕͢d̢̰͈̩͒ͤ̅͞ẙͬ̀҉̛̫̝̟o̹̫̟̱̩̮̦͗ͩ́̔̆̉̕͢͟u̷̮̪ͣ́̚ă̡͕̗̋ͮ͛͗̆ͨ̊͜ṋ̵̡̗̜̐̿̎͟d̴̹͓͍̮͎̍̽̏̍ͭ̓͟ŷ͙͍͓̪̽ͮͦ̔͒ͬ̂͡o͈ͦ̐̐̄ͥͭ̍̐úͫ̉ͥ͊̐͊͌͏̡̺̗k̴̰̞ͤ̐ͭͮͩͬ̏ͨ͜ȋ̴͕̩̮̪̮̂̑̆ͫ̅̄̀l̟̥͔͓͓͕̹̞͔ͮ̈́̅ͨ̚l̵̘̪͚͙̹̣̒̈́͂̚͟͞ȩ̨͇̝͙̞̖̳̩͆̍̊ḑ̤̗̰͖̦̟̺ͬ̔͆͒t͉̼̋͜͞ȟ̷̜̞̻̗͉̩͑͗̉͋̐̌̓̚ḙ̢̘̟̜̙͔͚̭́̀ͪ̒ͦ̎ͫ̀m̨̢͍͈̝ͭ̏͂ͪ̈̑̚̕a͚͉͚̪͆ͧ́͘l̸̢̥͓͙̮̹̲̗̫͓̆̂̎͐͊̌l̠̥̯̫̪͉̰͛̆͋̉̅̍̍͜
a̸̺͔̞̽͗ͨö̵̫̱̈́̄ͥ͟å͔̘̆̊̍̋̇̇o̫̝ͣ̅́̂͒͒ͭ͝͡£͇̬̭̰̤̖̗͚ͪͭ̂̓ͮ̿̄͒́ £ͧ̉̋̏̏̽̊͗͌ͮ͐̈ͮ̎ͣ̍ͤ̿҉͔̱̤͕̳͖͚̤̗͖͍͓͈̹̮̦́͡£̶̼͙͙̼̮̟̓ͬ̓ͭͮ̓͛̔̈́ͨ̊͋̓ͫ͋́̚̚͡€̵̨̬̙͓̼͕ͣͮͯ̿̀̈ͣ̆̎̓̔͐͛£̧̙̻͓̗̥̪̩̃̀͑ͣ̎̓̇ͪͬ̌́͊͆̄̇͐͗̉́͠͝€̵͎̳̗̜̫̝̮͔̖̮͈͎̗̥̗̊͋̽ͤ̎͑ͨ͊ͦ́̕£̢̯̥̺̺͚͈͔͗̒̍̋̄ͩͥ̀̕͢ͅ$̛̮̻̪͔͉̺̯̺̙̹̫̠̺̍̀ͧ̈̅ͩ̿́ͥͤ͟£̡̹̮̜͉̦̙̙̄̂͋ͪ̋͗ͣͩͬͭ͐ͬ͑̎ͨͥ͡ͅ€̴͆̎̅͗ͯ͆̆̈̄̌̔̿̅ͨ̚͟͝͏̘̭̼̖͕̟̗̪̲͎£̸̴͊̿͋͊͑̌́́͏͇̘͙͔̞̗$̷̨͚̰̹̯̥̬̮͖͔̫̩̎̽̑ͦ̈́̍̆̍͆̏̍͂̄̆ͧ͗̌̈͢͡ͅ£̢̮͙̱̂̊̍ͯ͑͒ͧͮ̿͜͟͡€ͤ͑̐ͤ̍̋̅͊̑͐ͭͦ҉̶́͝҉̼͉̪͔̪̥̪̬͓̖͎̳͓̩̹͖̳£̧ͩ̇ͣͥ̔ͮͧ̓ͦ͡͏̦͇͙̤͉̲̭̜͙̰̳̱̠͓̬̞͝$͍̠̪̦͖̯̜͇͈̣̤͈̥̤ͦͩͦ̐̀ͦ̊̕͢͞͝£͕̖͔̩͙̐ͧ̔ͥ̑̒́̏͆̕͢͢ͅ€̧̏̃̄̔̔̆̒̓̒͒͗ͪ̑͏̷̭̮̲̫̬̙͎̤͈͜-̷̛̫̖͍̟̲̼͖͕̪̮͖̭̝̬͚̥̓̋̉̊ͭͭͩ́͜͠
“I don’t know,” Bedrock answers. “I just… found out I could one day, but it was very long time ago.”
Salas squints. “How old are you?”
“…I… we, actually… are really old,” Bedrock words awkwardly, anticipating that Salas has never heard of any events that have happened inside the Great Spirit Robot. “I honestly don’t know by exact, since I never celebrated naming day.”
Salas interrupts herself with a sneeze. Cursing under her breath, she notices her gauntlet and the chariot looking oddly… frosted?
She looks down at herself, and her gunmetal grey armor is the same, paling as cold creeps onto it. Bedrock notices it on his hands too and runs a finger across the side of the modified Garai he’s wearing, gathering up a small concentration of frost on his finger tip. Around them, the trees and their leafs are wilting and the wind has picked up the pace - and as if on cue, the chariot leaves the forest and enters an open field - which is covered in snow raining down on from the dark sky, their Spikit shaking and whining quietly from the cold and eyeing the landscape for shelter with it’s heads.
The two stare at each other, wide-eyed.
Suddenly, before either of them can say anything, the wind violently picks up and the chariot is toppled, throwing both Dark Hunters and Kaksos into the snow.
