Cedrak dove to one side, narrowly avoiding the Shivri-turned-Steltian's fist. As the shape shifter approached, Cedrak quickly took stock of the other's situations.

Zorkek was locked in a duel with a Ga-Matoran who moved with all the deadly grace of a trained assassin. The two daggers she wielded seemed more than enough to fend off Zorkek's claws. Trell, lacking any effective melee weapon, had been forced to use his disk launcher to defend himself from the Le-Matoran who had attacked him. Redizic had pulled a pair of armored gauntlets seeming out of nowhere and was fending off the Cuartan whose only strategy seemed to be rushing the lithe creature and hoping one of his four fists would hit.

Cedrak took in all this in a matter of seconds and dodged behind Redizic's desk. He notched three arrows to his bow and waited. As soon as he heard the desk move slightly, he leapt up and released the arrows at the Shivri. The being howled in pain as Cedrak rushed past him. He leapt at Trell, grabbed the Matoran, and tucked into a roll, throwing up a force field as he went.

He let go of the Matoran and said, "Any ideas, Trell?"

Trell replied, "If you can keep them all away from me, I can probably end this."

Cedrak looked surprised. "You think so?"

Trell nodded. "After hanging around Zorkek for a few hundred years, you learn new ways to protect yourself."

"Alright." In one fluid, Cedrak dropped the force field and grabbed the Le-Matoran that was trying to get through. He hurled him at the nearest wall and pinned him there with a few well placed arrows. Too late, he turned and saw the Shivri's fist aimed at his head. He flew through the air and landed hard, sprawling out on the ground. He looked up and saw the Shivri closing in, when suddenly, he froze solid.

Cedrak looked back at Trell just in time to see him catch a Kanoka disk. The Skakdi looked around; all four of their assailants were frozen in large chunks of ice.

He got up and walked over to the others. "Are you guys alright?" he asked.

Redizic nodded, "Yeah, thanks to your friend here. He shot one disk, and they all froze up."

Cedrak turned to the Ko-Matoran as he picked up a still scared Tahlis. "You only used one disk?"

"Yes, I did," Trell replied. "I shot it so it would ricochet between them and then fly back to me."

"He's a whiz with the launcher," said Zorkek. "There was one time we were "

"Tell me later," said Cedrak. "We need to get going." He turned to Redizic. "Thanks again," he said.

"No thank you, my friend," said the Aquaton. "If it weren't for you, they woulda caught me."

"I hope I'll see you soon," said Cedrak, extending his fist.

Redizic returned the gesture. "Same here."

The Skakdi and Matoran rushed out into the street.

"Why are we running?" asked Zorkek.

"Lestra's getting on a ship," said Cedrak, "and it's about to leave. We need to hurry."

Lestra stood on the stern of the ship, The Northern Star, gazing back at the city of Zeriger. So now at last, she was going home; home to Tedra Nui.

"It seems like forever," she said to herself. She had had many adventures in her search for her teammates, but she had lost so much in return. When she disappeared from Tedra Nui, she lost her home and her friends. As she had wondered the world, she had slowly lost hope that she would ever find her brothers. But when she had finally found them, she had lost that which she cherished the most: love.

"Cedrak," she whispered, "I wish things could have been different. I wish we had met some other time, some other way."

Cedrak rushed through the streets, quickly outstripping his companions.

She turned, her eyes downcast, as she heard the ship's horn sound a long deep note. "Maybe things could have been different; maybe you'd still be alive."

He pushed past a group of Vortixx, desperation filling his eyes.

The crew raised the gangplank as the ship began to move. "I know you would not want me to stay and grieve."

He saw the ship and sprinted even faster, his lungs exploding in his chest.

The ship left the dock and headed for the open ocean. "You'd want me to be happy, to move on."

He ran down the dock, knocking over a pile of boxes.

Lestra made her way to the ship's bow. "I love you, Cedrak, but I need to accept that you're gone."

His breath wheezing from his lungs, he reached the end of the dock.

The ship reached the end of the harbor and moved into the open ocean. "Goodbye, Cedrak. Goodbye."

Cedrak stood at the end of the dock, his breaths coming in heavy gasps. He reached out with his hand, "Lestra "

He stared at the ship as it left the harbor, carrying Lestra with it. His lip began to tremble, and his knees gave way beneath him. As he began to choke on the tears that sprung from his eyes, he buried his face in his hands.

Trell and Zorkek ran up to him, panting as they came. "Cedrak?" asked Trell. "What happened?"

"She's gone," he sobbed. "She's gone."

"Let 'im rest, you two," said Redizic. "He needs to be alone for a bit."

"Thanks for letting us stay, Redizic," said Trell as the three of them made their way to the Burrowing Burnak's great room.

"Hey, it's the least I can do after what you three did for me."

"What happened to those creeps anyway?" asked Zorkek.

"Turns out they're a troop of traveling entertainers called the Flying Foursome. They travel all over and rip off the people they entertain. Guess they somehow heard about my abilities and were going to blackmail me in order for them to keep quiet."

"Good thing we were here to help," said Trell as they all sat at one of the table.

"So, would someone mind telling me who this Lestra is that Cedrak keeps talking about is?" asked Zorkek.

The Aquaton and Ko-Matoran both explained what had happened to their Skakdi friend over the past few weeks.

"Wow," said Zorkek as they finished the story, "and all this time, I thought they'd just gotten separated or something."

"So, what now?" asked Trell. "I want to help him, but, if we don't even know where they're going "

Redizic replied, "Well, when I was in Cedrak's head, I saw that they were going to an island called Tedra Nui."

"Yeah," said Zorkek, "but we don't know where that is."

"That's why they invented maps," Redizic replied.