Mamba never liked traveling the sea. Desperation had forced her and her sister Reiki to sell the little property they owned to find a place aboard a ship that was carrying them, along with many other fugitives from the disaster, to their new world. The ship was heavily overladen and the crowded refugees spent most of their first weeks on board in a one of the small storage areas; water and food was passed among the travelers to prevent their moving around from disturbing the sailors in their busy routine. When Mamba last climbed down to her spot, she had a final look at the sun, slightly covered by a growing number of dark clouds. She had an unexpected feeling of foreboding and of parting with something she had always taken for granted.

Perhaps an hour later, the storm began. Like a mighty foe attacking the ship, it struck with a sudden series of squalls--of lightning accompanied by hollow thunder and the pitching of the ship as it was driven up and down the waves, finally, pulling Mamba away from consciousness clutching the hands of Reiki, her elder sister.

When she slowly regained her senses, she had no idea what had happened. In her arms she held a large piece of driftwood, which she mindlessly examined until she noticed the two shadows it cast to the sand below her. She looked up, rubbing her eyes to a sky with two suns; indeed she must have reached a new world.