The world was still and silent. There was no breeze blowing through the trees. No far distant sounds of cars driving down the road. Not even the panicked breathing of the girl in front of her or the one behind her. Everything was still, even herself. She would move her eyes, but she didn't. They were still fixated on the instrument of her death, a small red hole in the center of her body. It had already begun to grow, tearing her apart. She could feel the shocking pain coursing through her. If allowed to increase its size any farther, it would surely kill her. Whatever the reason, it had stopped, and the whole world seemingly with it.

"I hope you're ready for what is to come."

Cranberry looked up at the girl in front of her. No... it couldn't be her speaking. The voice was masculine; deep and old. "Who's there?"

"I am your creator."

That didn't sound right, accurate, or believable. That this being had even stated such an implausible claim told her that he could not be reasoned with. She let out a small laugh. "Creator or not, I am clearly at your mercy. So tell me then, what is to come?"

"I've recently taken to these experiments. You're going to be my next test subject."

That didn't sound good. "What kind of experiment?"

"You are going to be reborn into a new world. One where you, a godless murderer, must learn to put your faith in me in order to survive."

That sounded even worse. "Now, wait just a second!"

"You have had quite enough seconds. It is done."

The next instant, Cranberry felt a strange sensation like a red hot pop, and everything was black.

Cranberry's senses slowly came back to her.

That didn't seem right. Dead people can't feel the damp cold stone underneath them. Dead people can't smell the stale air. They can't hear the slow lapping of some liquid not quite as fluid as water against the side of a rock pool. They certainly can't open their eyes and look up to see the ceiling of a dark cave. It felt, smelled, sounded, and looked to her that all this was happening, so Cranberry knew she must not have been dead. The question was how.

Everything felt hazy on top of it being very dark, like a smokey green fog dancing at the corners of her vision. She could barely see as it was, but she had no difficulty getting up. The air was thick, and it felt almost like she had to swim over to the edge of the pool. She looked down into the dark silvery liquid, expecting to faintly see her reflection in the darkness. The silver surface only showed black, gray, and a very slight hint of dark green. She took that as her own reflection, considering the conditions, and began to look for a way out of the cave.

It didn't take long to find a way out. A tunnel that led her up, hopefully towards the surface. The silvery pool's dark reflection wasn't enough for her. She wanted to see herself as she remembered she looked. To look in clear blue water and see her sunlit reflection. Only after she had done that would she look to see where she was. To figure out what to do next. And as she saw the sunlight at the end of the tunnel, she saw the green haze fade from the edges of her sight. Her skin crawled and she reached out into the light for the first time in this new place.

Cranberry stood on an untouched sandy beach littered with stones small and large, at the mouth of a cave, the sea breeze blowing through her hair and clothes. She took a deep breath, feeling the salty air enter her lungs. This place was grand, for sure more than she had expected. She looked up at the bright sun, shielding her eyes from the light now beating down on her. No... there were two suns.

"It's too bright."

She had just come out of a cave. It made sense that the light was hurting her eyes more than usual. She decided the best course of action was not to look directly at the source of the light. Looking out across the sea, she couldn't spot any other landmasses on the distant horizon, so she would have to search the one she was on in order to find a way to survive. Turning away from the sea, Cranberry suddenly started to feel faint. She shook it off, pushing past it and making her way inland.

Luckily, the island wasn't as barren as the beach. It was large enough that she couldn't see all of it, but not so much that she couldn't see the water on the horizon across the island. She'd easily be able to trek across the island in one day. There would be no real point to it though, and she could see other things of more interest. Most of the island looked to be open plains, except for the far side which was covered in the thick green of a forest, and on the point farthest to her left there looked to be a fortress. There was movement at the stone structure, but it was too far away to tell what she was seeing. It was probably not a good idea to stroll up to a fortress in an unfamiliar world, but if she could get close enough to see what was happening...

Cranberry looked down at the fortress. She could see the layout now, below her as she began to fall. The open courtyard, the walls and turrets, the two towers on the seaward walls, people moving around on the walls sending blasts of different-colored energy back and forth, and a veritable horde at the gates, climbing the walls, the sinister sound of a thousand serpents hissing reaching her ears from below. And she was falling into the middle of it all. What an improper way to die.

Today was a bad day.

Gelish was used to fighting enemies who had a sense of self-preservation. She hated Rahkshi because they charged with very little care for their own safety. It made it hard to drive them away without having to destroy every single one. They had been expecting the Dark Hunters that were camped out in the forest to make a move today, not knowing that the Brotherhood of Makuta also had their eye on the fortress of Talaki. They shouldn't have been surprised, shouldn't have been caught off guard, but they were. She was ashamed to admit they had been caught with their masks off. Now they were paying for it.

A trio of maroon-colored Rahkshi climbed over the wall next to her. She would have fought them, but the last thing she needed right now was for her team to be fighting with a dozing leader. She turned and leaped down off the wall, opening her wings and gliding down the rest of the way, putting further distance between her and the enemy. Turning and landing on her back, she lifted her Kanoka launcher and aimed for the top of the wall where the three serpents had breached the defenses, firing before she even had time to aim properly.

Gelish was able to focus better after firing the disc, and as it was still in the air she could guide it, adjusting its trajectory so that it wouldn't simply fly into the sky. It struck the lead Rahkshi, exploding in bright orange flames and throwing its target off the wall. The other two were knocked back as well, but managed to stay on the wall. Thankfully, her attack had drawn her allies' attention to the breach and two more of her team targeted them from the top of the tower, blowing one apart with a Cordak blaster and melting through the other with a Rhotuka spinner.

Breathing a breath of relief, Gelish took a couple seconds to rest on her back and stare up at the sky.

There was a distant flash of light far above them, and then she could see something up there, a small speck in the bright blue. A person, falling towards them. That wasn't a good thing, either for the defenders of Talaki or for the unfortunate soul with the ground rapidly approaching. Getting up, it occurred to her that some of the Rahkshi could teleport themselves or their victims. It could be one of her team, or of the other teams defending the fortress.

"Valkyries, is anyone missing?"

There was a brief delay, probably while her team counted. Then the answer came, shouted from the top of the tower. "All Toa defenders accounted for! The Rahkshi are making a surge on the North wall!"

Gelish looked along the walls for one of her fellow team leaders. Her eye caught on the jet black armor of a Toa of Earth. "Grad! Reinforce the North wall!" The older Toa nodded to her, then rushed around the wall while shouting out orders to his team.

Looking back up, Gelish saw the mysterious newcomer was still falling. If it wasn't a Toa that had been teleported by one of the Rahkshi, then it could have been a Rahkshi itself, or one of the Dark Hunters getting a little too adventurous. There were many other possibilities, but all of them had the same answer. She had to meet it before it reached the ground. Wings spread, Gelish took to the air and flew up to meet whatever it was.

The two collided in the air, Gelish catching Cranberry into her waiting arms.

Gelish looked over the strange being in her arms, trying to determine if it was some sort of Makuta trick. Cranberry, for her part, had passed out. Gelish read the lettering that came up on her mask's heads-up, soaking in everything she could about this creature. Her Mask of Knowledge only reached so far, but it was sufficient for her to get the idea of what she was holding. It was like her, like Most beings, only its armor was nothing more than a thin cloth. Woefully inadequate, but it was a living being. She had sworn an oath to protect life. Gelish turned and dived back into the courtyard, pulling up and landing softly next to the door to the tower. She kicked open the door, walked inside, and placed Cranberry on the floor inside.

"We'll find out where you come from later."

The moment she was out of the tower, closing the door behind her, Cranberry's eyes shot open. The shock of falling had caused her to pass out, a lethal mistake, but now she was alive and on a solid floor. How had she gotten... here? Pushing herself up to her feet, Cranberry spotted the door and shoved it open, which was easy despite its size and weight. Outside, she found herself in the courtyard of the fortress, and there was battle raging around her. Lightning, fire, ice and lasers, mixed with countless other projectiles filled the air. She could see the defenders on the wall, tall armored beings, sheer titans running around in a panic as they fought an enemy she couldn't see.

Cranberry was on top of the wall. This had to stop. But now that she was there, she might as well look around. She peered over the edge of the wall to see what was outside, and her breath was stolen away. A Rahkshi, orange and black armor like some Halloween nightmare, crawled over the wall in front of her. It glared at her, then turned away. Suddenly she could breathe again. She saw it moving towards several of the defenders, stalking towards them like a tiger hunting its prey.

"There's one over here! It's on the wall!"