The moon had just come up followed by a cool breeze that barely rustled my short brown hair. As it blew past, I gave a quick shake with my upper body, to try to counter the cold, which consisted of a serious face atop a tall yet scrawny, slightly tanned, frame.

"Everyone messes up," I said softly. Frowning in thought, I lifted a hand to brush away water coming from one of my dark brown eyes that was irritated by the passing wind.

Not even home yet I still knew I was going to be dead, even with my long strides I was taking could not change the fact that I was late. Giving the 'I-don't-give-a-flip-now-get-out-of-my-way' look that radiated off my posture I tried my best to hurry.

My casual dress, which fitted with my personal preferences, consisted of a pair of tan pants, slightly worn with small stains in several spots on the legs, with a gray fleece jacket left unzipped to reveal a dark t-shirt underneath. Moreover, it made me look a little tougher, or so I hoped. Nevertheless, all of that was nothing when faced with an angry mom who favored the term "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it". Being 16 and staying out longer then what your parents agreed to wasn't something I enjoyed doing often, not very good for my health either.

Stopping to tie a brown shoestring, which matched the boot it was on, that had somehow got untied I considered taking a different approach and sneaking in. I let out a sigh 'No don't do that' I told myself, 'that would be the coward's way out.'

Deciding I might as well, get it over with I got to my feet and starting to continue, but someone else had something different in mind for me. That someone was right in front of me.

"Whoa," I brought myself to a quick halt, barely avoiding a collision into the "thing" that was standing in front of me. "What are you?" I asked peering closely.

"Just a simple Toa who happens to be standing in front of you," The blue being spoke in a calm, innocent voice, "Why?"

"You can talk?" I jumped back a step

"Of course I can talk." Came the reply.

"Uh…your who?"

The being shifted in what looked like a sigh, "Always getting to the point," then looking up it answered, "I am Gali, Toa of Water."

The being spoke in a voice that made me decide it most be a she, or just have a female voice, the long blue fiber-like substances coming out of it's head could have confirmed my thought if it was hair, or was it? The bio-mechanical being was tall, well over two meters in height, slender, and had a calm, graceful air about "her".

"What are you?" I asked eyeing her closely.

"I already told you, I'm a Toa."

"Are you… Japanese?"

"What?" Its face, no… more like mask, put on a slightly confused look, "I'm not from this world if that's what you're asking."

"Where are you from?"

"An Island called Mata Nui in the Matoran Universe," She, Gali, answered simply, "And please don't ask me how I got here, it's rather a long story."

"What's the Matoran Universe?"

"The universe where I come from," she answered simple.

Trying to make sense of it, I stared in silence until I realized I could not make sense out of any of it and gave up. "Am I dreaming?" I asked to no one.

"I don't think so, but I can find out." With that, she reached over...

"Aw! What was that for?" I recoiled from the slap in the face she gave me.

"Nope, you're awake" She said smiling.

"That's not... oh never mind" I said as I rubbed the side of my face that had felt the blow. However, Gali just shrugged and said nothing.

"Do you have anything else to do besides stare me?" I asked with a hint of annoyance creeping into my voice. "And I need to be somewhere at the moment."

"Eh…what?" asked Gali, as if she just got out of deep thought. "Oh right, let's go."

"Ah . . . what do you mean 'let's go'? You go with me. Or I go with you?"

"I ..."

Just then, the sound of a fast moving vehicle reached my ears.

"Hide!" I cut her off as I whirled around towards the direction of the moving car I could see lights slowly getting brighter from around a curve in the road not far off. Realizing that standing out in the open by a road was probably not a good idea and might cause whoever was coming to have a start at seeing an eight-foot tall mechanical being just standing there, like she was out for an evening stroll while enjoying the fresh air.

But I didn't need to worry for a dark swirling mass appeared right in front me and a push from behind sent my already off balance self into it. Before I could cry out it was over and I landed with a grunt on my face.

Lifting my head off the grass, I stared about me wide eyed at a strange open field, trees a little ways off. The sun was bright over the clear blue sky as I slowly got to my feet. The smell of fresh spring air was everywhere and the sound of running water reached my ears.

"Enjoying it?" A familiar voice asked from behind me.

I whirled around and saw, once again, Gali standing right in front of me. "You mind telling me where you brought me?" my voice rising to the point of almost yelling.

"You're on Mata Nui," She said smiling.

"You…I'm… what?" I yelled at her.

She blinked in surprise. "You said hide, so I brought you here. What else do you want me to do?"

"Get me back to where I belong," I told her with a slight edge to my voice.

"Unfortunately I can't do that," was the reply.

"What? Then how did you get he…err…there in the first place?"

"With help, but I only had the power to get there and back once," she replied, "but that was all that was needed since I brought you back in one try." She finished with a smile.

"Wait, you were trying to get me here?" my glare turning into that of a confused look.

She gave a nod, "Turaga Vakama had a vision about you and asked me go get you and bring you to him."

"Who's Turaga Vakama? And why would he have a vision about me?" I was so confused that I could not even be angry anymore.

"Turaga Vakama is the leader of Ta-Koro, and his former Toa team as well," she replied, "but I don't know why he would have a vision about you, maybe you can ask when you see him."

"All right, I will," my voice taking on a less confused tune and replacing it with a slightly harder one, "Lead the way," I told her.

"As you wish," she gave a slight smile and started walking, motioning for me to follow.

Figuring it was the only way, I did. The whole time trying not to think of home and of the worried parents that where there.

If only getting home was the worst of my problems I was about to get into over the next two years of my time here in the Matoran Universe. The first coming quicker then Gali, or even Turaga Vakama, would have even guessed.

A pair of glowing red eyes watched as I moved away.

Chapter comments: After the much-needed improvement, this story is back up. A review would be good, an alert would be awesome, and giving me feedback would be amazing.

I will gladly answer any questions you may have concerning this story. But at the moment I go finish revising chapter 2. Cya

-Dave