To untrained eyes, the lonesome lightning bolt fell quickly from the sky. In a split-second, it cut through snowflakes and burned the cold air. Within the same width of time, it would either strike the rocky cliff or the Toa of Time standing on it. Voriki, watching each tiny spark ionize the air, hoped it would be the former.

The split second passed. Charred rocks flew off Okoto's Great Divide, either flinging to more rocks or to the Regions of Ice and Water lying right next to each other. "Woah!" Rhem shouted after barely dodging the bolt.

Voriki frowned. "Again!" he called and raised his spear to summon another bolt.

For the umpteenth time today, Rhem dodged the bolt a second quicker. It had been faster than previous days, when Voriki had to make sure his attacks didn't hit the younger Toa. Still, Rhem rarely used his power to slow or freeze time. Not once did he even warp away, like how he did when fighting the Stone Guardian. Voriki hoped to see something like that soon enough… if he could get Rhem to control the basics first.

"Can… we… stop?!" Rhem asked, dodging Voriki's attacks once, twice, and thrice.

"You tell me! You can control time!" Voriki called back with more bolts.

Rhem rolled to the side, letting more bits of rock fall on him instead of lightning. His spear crackling, Voriki twirled it and aimed. Rhem barely sat up when another bolt lanced towards him again. In the briefest of seconds, Voriki saw the fear and surprise in Rhem's eyes. There was something else; Voriki swore Rhem's very being blurred to match the incoming bolt.

It wasn't a trick of the eye. The lightning was Rhem's sole focus. And with nothing else around to distract him, Rhem could try to match the lightning's speed, if not surpass it. He just had to move a little more and…

ZAP!

A green arrow intercepted the attack. Electricity scattered all over, forcing Rhem back. "Yeow!" he cried under the shower of sparks.

Standing at a safe distance, Voriki looked up to Kaze swooping in. "Nice of you to join us," Voriki said to the Toa of Air who landed in the space between him and Rhem. "Mind explaining why you interrupted our training."

"Your lightning was getting everywhere," Kaze almost growled. "I could barely fly when you were causing a storm."

"Point taken, but what were you doing?"

"Hunting."

"Out here?" Rhem said and received another red-eyed glare. "Um, never mind… By the way you have some ice on-"

"Yeah, he knows," Voriki told Rhem, as Kaze brushed the flaky remnants of an ice blast off his shoulder. "I guess you had some trouble with the locals."

While Kaze gave a soft "hrm," Rhem stood up to speak again. "Well, they're kinda on edge since Kaze attacked their home and-"

"That wasn't me," Kaze snapped to a sudden swirl of cold air.

Holding in a sigh, Voriki told Rhem, "Can you give us a second?"

Unsure and hesitant, Rhem slowly agreed and shifted his feet further and further down the Great Divide. After making sure Rhem was out of earshot, Voriki quietly told Kaze, "I thought you would've gone after Keela and make sure her piece was secure."

"That's not the problem," Kaze said. "Finding this mastermind is."

"You're sure this isn't for personal reasons?" Kaze glared, and Voriki frowned back. "I guess not. Probably doesn't matter anyway."

"Uh, you done yet?!" Rhem called from far away.

Voriki responded by slamming the butt-end of his spear down and calling down another bolt. Rhem jumped away, and more of the cliff cracked instead of him. "Still not there," Voriki sighed, then he called back, "Keep training!"

Seeing Rhem get up again, Kaze shook his head. "Why are you bothering with him?" he asked Voriki.

"You know why," Voriki said calmly, but the next bolt he fired at Rhem shook irritably. Kaze stayed quiet, so Voriki went on. "If you have nothing else, you might as well go. Meet up with Keela and figure out what's going on."

A faint roar caught the attention of all three Toa. "That's probably her now," Voriki said, a finger pointed to an airship flying in the distance. "No doubt, she's looking into the Forbidden Mask… it may help tracking down this Uram."

Kaze grunted. "You want her to watch over me, don't you?"

"Somewhat," Voriki said honestly. "After what happened, we can't afford to split up."

"I doubt that's the reason," Kaze muttered. "So you know, I'm not the one you should be watching closely," he said, glancing to one specific Toa on the side.

Voriki held in the urge to punch Kaze. "That won't be a problem… And you don't need to worry about Rhem. He's one of us now, whether you like it or not."

Kaze's eyes blurred as he turned away. "There never was an 'us.' Not then and not now," he said lowly before he bent his legs and flew off to the airship in the distance.

In the puff of wind and snow, Voriki turned and called to the watchful Rhem, "Well… let's get back to training."


For Rhem, time passed quickly and slowly at the same time. On one hand, training went by without Rhem noticing a thing. Not hard under a constant barrage of lightning. On the other hand, the bolt itself felt very drawn out. It crawled like a long tentacle snaking its way. It had been a brief moment at first, but enough focus dragged the moment out until the lightning visibly crawled towards Rhem.

Inhaling sharply, Rhem stepped to the side and let the lightning pass in normal time. He exhaled after the bolt shattered the cliff behind him. "Yikes!" Rhem cried as more rocks fell on him.

"Better," Voriki called approvingly and let the electricity die from his spear.

Rhem took the praise and hunched over, his hands on his knees. "That… took… long enough…" he said between his pants. "Didn't think… it would be… this bad…"

"It's only like that at the beginning. The more you practice, the more you'll get used to it."

"No kidding…" Sighing, Rhem sat on the mountainous path. It was rocky and uncomfortable, but it was better than nothing. "So, uh what was that about? The conversation between you and Kaze."

"Just some talk," Voriki responded, stabbing the ground with his spear.

Rhem's gaze said he didn't buy the lie. "Okay, what's the big deal with you guys? I know I'm not welcomed, but what's going on now? Did you guys fight or something?"

Voriki shifted his feet uncomfortably. "It doesn't matter. What matters is getting this done… And for you, you need to work on your powers," he said and aimed his weapon at Rhem. "Well, go on. Take out your weapon."

Rhem did, his sickle out in one hand. "Uh, what am I supposed to do with-wait!" Voriki thrusted his spear, cutting off Rhem. Taking a step back, the younger Toa barely caught the spear in his sickle's inner curve with a long riiiing. "What are you-?!"

"Weapons practice," Voriki responded. "Most, if not all, Toa have a weapon that works for them. That weapon you hold is a conduit for your power. Mine harnesses my lightning."

Voriki's spear lit up to prove his point, shocking Rhem enough to break away. "Ow…" Rhem groaned, shaking sparks off one hand and holding his sickle in the other. "... well, I don't see how a weapon like this will help controlling time."

If Voriki had anything to say, a distant shout interrupted him. He and Rhem turned to find they weren't alone on the Great Divide, since there were two groups of Okotans facing each other. Of the two, Rhem easily recognized the crystalline spears of Ice Okotans from Izotor's Glacier. "Hunarr must really be ramping up security, huh?" Rhem thought aloud but Voriki walked over to the patrol. "Hey, wait up!"

Rhem lagged behind, his feet clumsily kicking up rocks. The closer he and Voriki got, the shouts grew clearer. "... must let us through! We haven't heard anything for days! We need to see what all the fuss is about!" said one of many Water Okotans.

"Keep to your side!" warned one icy Crystal Guard with a jab of her spear, careful to stay alongside her comrades.

Rhem, sprinting past Voriki with worry, shouted, "Hey! What's going on?!"

The two sides whirled, and one Water Okotan shouted, "Toa! Please help us!"

"Sure," Rhem said, "just tell me-"

"Toa," the same Okotan told Voriki, having ignored Rhem altogether, "Protector Torren sent up to investigate the Great Divide. However, these guards are refusing to let us pass!"

"None shall pass!" said another Crystal Guard. From his stature, he was the leader of the icy group. "This territory belongs to the Region of Ice!"

"Since when?!"

"Since Protector Hunaar ordered it! We are merely doing our jobs!"

"So are we!" cried another Water Okotan.

"Uh Voriki, a little help here?!" Rhem said over his shoulder. His fellow Toa stood there, studying the situation, so he looked back to the group. "Look, if this is about Uram, then-"

"Aha! So it is, true!" said another from the Water Okotans. Rhem regretted blabbing a word, moreso when the same Okotan faced the Crystal Guards. "You lot were just trying to hide it from us!"

The guard leader, remaining firm, shouted, "This is your last warning! If you do not leave, we will use force!"

"By Makuta's black heart, we will!" came from the Water side, now marching forward.

In that moment, Rhem noticed several things. The Crystal Guards lowered their spears now lit with ice energy. Across from them, a Water Okotan lugged with a gigantic barrel to her hip. Rhem would've asked where anyone would've gotten that from, but he put that aside when it lit up with its own elemental power. Voriki, having been idle for some reason, couldn't reach in time to stop it.

His own heart pounding against his chest, Rhem ran forward and shouted, "NO!"

With his shout came focus. And with that focus, everything changed. Rhem thought he tapped into his powers again, and he had. Yet, Rhem hadn't moved on his own legs. Everything else moved him instead.

In a flash, everything put him by the line of Crystal Guards, and his sickle sliced through their spears. He wasn't even sure if he hit them.

In another flash, Rhem was in front of the Water Okotans, kicking the gigantic barrel up and away from its targets. He barely noticed it, and the spears, firing until time resumed.

KABOOM!

"GAH!" Rhem shouted as one big explosion knocked him onto the Great Divide.

Groaning himself to full consciousness, a prone Rhem squinted through swarming icy particles. After the particles dispersed, he was surprised to find broken spears and a weaponized barrel partially sticking out of the rocky path. By them were every single Okotan, knocked off their feet but still alive.

Rhem stood up, not noticing Voriki or his slap on the shoulder. "That was something," Voriki congratulated Rhem. Then, he looked to the stunned group. "Is everyone alright?!"

"W-what the...?! What just happened?!" one Okotan shouted.

"Nothing for you to worry about! Now, I suggest you all go home! Report back to your Protectors..." Voriki pause to light up his spear, "... unless, anyone wants to have more trouble!"

That convinced everyone. Slowly and silently, the Okotans departed for their own homes. Soon, the two Toa were left alone on the Great Divide. Of them, a shocked Rhem spared a glance to Voriki and asked, "D-did I do…?"

"Yes, you did," Voriki said. "Do you know what happened?"

"I… I think so…" Rhem looked down at his hands. "Everyone... I just wanted them to stop... so I… well, you know."

"Well, try to do it again. Focus on that feeling while it's still fresh."

Closing his eyes, Rhem did that. It was like when he could slow down time, but this was different. With adrenaline coursing through his body, he could hear the seconds pass by in a quiet and constant thump-thump. He felt, if he just pushed, he could move through those seconds without one disappearing into the past.

So Rhem pushed. He pushed through the Great Divide, the snow, and Voriki. It all warped around his gentle suggestion, crawling over Rhem's very being. Instead of Rhem moving by everything, everything moved by him instead. Rocks slid under, snow grazed past, and Voriki's touch was long gone. Such a thing couldn't have been described so easily, and Rhem opened his eyes to do that.

What Rhem found was the Great Divide. However, he was back on the cliff, the very same spot he stood on minutes ago. A confused Rhem looked around to confirm new-or rather, old-surroundings. As he did, he found a familiar Toa walking through the snow.

"Now, we're getting somewhere," Voriki said, his eyes grinning at Rhem and his hand whirling his electrifying spear for another bout. "Let's try that again!"