"Storm Eagle has gone Maverick!" The words spilled out of my mouth the moment Lark's connection cut out. Right after that, Eagle's connection was also cut. Weren't you the best of friends? Lark never did anything to you... or did he?

"Say what?" The reactions from the 00th and 10th units flooded in. "We're following that traitor!"

"We can't. At last half of our numbers have been severely wounded."

"Help!"

"Dammit Ray, get back here! You okay? Go get the rest of the Shinobi unit Cedar, we gotta tell Signas!"

"Roger that, Commander Zero. Wait, where's Lieutenant Cress? Oh my goodness was he with-"

"I'm right here! Thanks for the heads-up Lila. Could you teleport us back?"

After the teleporter started up, the lights on the control panel faded out, signaling that both units were disconnected. I just sat there, taking time to just process what happened. Did Lark know too much? Did Storm Eagle think he went Maverick? There were a few possibilities...

"Something troubles you Lila." I turned my head to see Maya leaning against the doorway. "Do you want to tell me?"

"Did you hear about Storm Eagle?" I felt like Maya wanted to roll her eyes, but she couldn't. In the the place of eyes, she just had a ring around her head acting as a sensor. Even so, I could hear a bit of snark in her voice.

"Half the base heard your little warning." She informed me. "Now is not the time to overthink things. If what I heard was right, there are plenty of wounded Reploids coming back."

"That's true..."

"Maya, could you tell us a story?" Ray was sitting up in the healing pod, looking hopefully at the blind Reploid. Maya put down the gun parts she was attempting to assemble, and turned to him.

I, personally, always enjoyed Maya's stories. Due to her nature as an incomplete Reploid, a glitch in her system caused her to sound rather emotionless, unless said emotions are very strong. Even then, you could just barely hear them. One of the times you could hear the emotion in her voice was when she was telling stories.

"Well, which one this time?" She asked.

I'm pretty sure there was a small conversation after that, but I wasn't quite listening. Whatever explosion the 00th unit got themselves into today, it was... considerably worse than most. Ray must have been in close proximity to it. On some places on his arms and legs, the metal exterior was ripped away completely, revealing the wire framework underneath. Ray could be out of commission for quite some time. My thought were interrupted by Maya beginning her story. It was a new story, to my surprise.

"Once there was a human named Winter-"

"Seems like a strange name for a human." I pointed out.

"That's not the point. She was the guardian of a place, which was a haven for those who wanted to get away from the fighting. It was hidden, tucked away from the rest of civilization..."

"How did she find it?" Ray asked.

Maya paused, and muttered under her breath "Didn't think about that..."

"Maybe Winter had the Water Gift." I turned my head, startled. Zero was standing by the door (Maybe to check on Ray), presumably listening to the story.

"The what?" Maya asked.

"Doctor Cain told me about it once..." I turned around somewhat uncomfortably. It just felt so odd to hear his name not said in mourning after what happened to Abel City. Zero continued. "It's pretty much where someone has a Y-shaped stick, and walks around with one end pointing outwards. When the stick pulls down, that's where a well of water would be."

"Did it actually work?" I questioned. "It sounds like something that could easily be faked."

"According to Doctor Cain, some people were faking it, others were't. It's a strange phenomenon."

Maya tilted her head. "And that relates to Ray's question how? ...Oh! Winter was using the Gift on day, for the well in her own small village had dried up. She wandered and wandered, not finding anything. But one day, she accidentally fell into a cave. She didn't know the way out, and the stick was miraculously not broken, so she continued her quest. Eventually, she came to a tunnel that seemed to be headed downwards, but it was covered by a large stone. However, just as Winter walked over it, the stick pulled downwards. It took quite a few hours of pushing, but Winter eventually managed to make an opening just big enough for her to crawl down through. Many rock formations composed a natural stairway, leading down. Sure enough, at the bottom was an underground spring." Somehow, Maya was telling the whole story while still assembling the gun as she was beforehand.

"Winter managed to retrace her steps, back to the sinkhole she'd fallen through. By that time, the sinkhole had only grown bigger, with enough rubble lying about to let her climb back up. However, when she got back to the village, a terrible surprise awaited her."

Maya paused, and I held my breath, anticipating what was next. "There had been an ambush, and the village's already small numbers were reduced to just eight. The village itself was almost burnt to the ground."

Ray let out a small gasp. "So, did they go to the spring?" He asked.

Maya nodded. "It was the only choice they had. Of course they did. Winter named the caverns Moonstone Alley after they had settled, because of the way the moonlight from the sinkhole reflected off the caves walls." Moonstone Alley. That sounds nice.