Prelude

The figure stared at the rapidly approaching island. His guide had given him a blindfold to wear, but the figure had vision capable of penetrating any object, unbeknownst to his Skakdi guide. As they got closer to the island, his guide removed his blindfold. Pretending to be relieved, the figure pretended to see the island of Odina for the first time. From its iced peaks to its beaches, it was a fortified castle of an organization feared by all but the Brotherhood of Makuta.

The figure's guide was a Red Skakdi with a flaming temper. As their boat landed, his guide commented, "Welcome to Nidhiki Beach, the only sight most unwanted visitors to the island get to see." The figure ignored the threat and marched up to the center of the island. All along the way, the island's inhabitants wondered who this was and whether or not he should be attacked. All that saw him thought twice after they saw the figure's aura of power.

Once at a large building in the island's center and to make sure he was unarmed, the figure was allowed into the island leader's sanctum. A creature approached him. "Our noble leader will see you shortly," he said and slithered off. "Noble," thought the figure. "From what I've seen of your 'noble leader', I find that hard to believe." The rest of this train of thought was cut off when the door ahead of him slid open. Two skakdi walked out, one white-armored and the other clad in brown. From the looks on their faces, their conversation with the leader had not gone well. The figure entered the island leader's inner sanctum.

The Shadowed One looked down from his throne at the figure. He knew who the figure was at once, but he was puzzled as why the figure was here. The Shadowed One dismissed his other servants from the room. For several long moments, the two beings stared each other down. "I could kill you on the spot just for coming here," the Dark Hunter leader said.

The Brotherhood of Makuta member spoke for the first time. "And I could kill you just as swift. But I have business here that is in both our interests."

"Both our interests? I find that hard to believe, seeing that our organizations have been at war for half a millennium. What could two great warring organizations have as a common goal?"

The Makuta smiled. "Why, the end of the Toa, of course. The Toa kept your army from conquering Metru Nui. They stole the Mask of Light from my people. They kept our leader and you from obtaining the Vahi."

"What are you suggesting?" The Shadowed One asked.

"I suggest a short truce to destroy the Toa, and perhaps even discuss ending this war to prevent further destruction."

The Shadowed One considered this for a moment. He well knew that the Brotherhood of Makuta could not be destroyed (even through warfare) for several more centuries. If the Toa could be eliminated quickly and precisely though, he thought, could he really pass upthis such an opportunity? "Alright," the Dark Hunter said. "I presume you have an idea on how to destroy these Toa."

The Makuta nodded. "A few centuries of our war has slowly whittled their numbers to around fifteen hundred. Interesting, considering at one time there were three thousand Toa."

As the Makuta outlined his plan for the destruction of the Toa, the Shadowed One smiled for the first time since the War had begun. He sanctioned the plan and even offered Dark Hunters to assist.

"Now, of course, we will have to continue fighting, lest we rouse the Toa's suspicion. We will have to just lower the fatality rate."

The Makuta agreed. "Yes, of course. But the key to the plan is hard to reach. How can we get past the first block?"

"That can be the easy part. Just have someone who appears their ally to tell them things other Toa wouldn't want to hear."

The Shadowed One stood up and turned away, no longer interested in the Brotherhood member. The Makuta walked out of the chamber silently, using his telepathy to tell another Makuta of his success. As he strode out of the building, a green Skakdi approached him. The Skadki asked, "Why are you here and why don't our guards cut you down?" The Makuta smiled, recognizing this Skakdi as the Piraka known as Zaktan. "Because, little insects, I am protecting both our interests for the future." As he walked off, Zaktan swore to find out what was going on and to make use of it.

The white Skakdi showed him to his boat and put the blindfold on him. Well aware that memory rhotuka would be used to erase his memory of the Dark Hunter's island location, the Makuta leaned back on part of the boat and started to chuckle. The Toa had no clue how soon their end was coming.

The Red Skakdi fired a rhotuka specially designed for eliminating memory of the island and its location. The figure's last thoughts before going unconscious was, "Who knew the Toa's downfall will be themselves?"