Dusk fell across the lake and glistened on its surface. Stars started to substitute the blue sky and bright sun.

Xiao Man was sitting on the bench on the front porch when the rarely lit beacon flared brightly amidst the mountains.

“Ahh,” Xiao Man yelled. She dropped her apple on the floor.

“What? Did you cut yourself?” Apple inquired from inside their lodge.

No answer from Xiao Man. She sat there, dazed from the fire that danced on the mountain tops. Maybe it was an illusion. Xiao Man blinked a few times, rubbed her eyes, and pinched herself. The fire was still there. Xiao Man picked up her apple. Dirt and dust clung to the skin of the apple and Xiao Man threw the apple away in the garbage.

Apple pitched her aquamarine out at Xiao Man, but Xiao Man rejected it. She batted the gem away and screamed a second time.

“What is it? Apple appeared at the doorway. She dropped the apple she was also eating.

Xiao Man yelled at the top of her lungs, “Xiao Go is in an emergency!” Apple covered her ears. Xiao Man had an advantage: to yell long distances to people who were far away, but there had been cases when her yelling ended resulted in people deaf because they were in range. Xiao Man continued, “Everyone come here NOW!”

Xiao Man and Apple heard a rustle of leaves and Xiao Man's echo. It boomed around the mountain tops and touched every surface it made contact to. A few plants wilted. Within a few seconds, Da Ya appeared from her kung fu practice place in the middle of the forest. She was drenched in a coat of sweat.

“I heard you all the way from the heart of the forest,” Da Ya exhaled.

The door squeaked from behind them. Gui Gui emerged, still in her pajamas. She called her naps her time to rest her spirit. Gui Gui yawned and spoke, “Xiao Man, what's wrong?”

Gui Gui's eyes took some time to adjust, but as they did, she spotted the blaring beacon of flame. opened to the shape of a tennis ball.

A short while later, the rest of the group joins Xiao Man, Apple, Da Ya, and Gui Gui.

Tong Tong had ran back from her walk in the mountains for herbs when she heard the signal. Her hair was disheveled and she had leaves and twigs in her hair.

Ya Tou was cleaning her knives at the lake when a echo of sound rushed past her. She almost lost one of her precious knives in the deep waters.

Xiao Xun had been training her pet snake by the border of the forest. The pet snake still reacted to Xiao Man's voice like it was the voice of a predator, and started to go ballistic. Xiao Xun had a few wounds that Tong Tong hastily tended to.

Mei Mei reported shortly after, her curse book still in hand. She had been practicing a new curse on a flower nearby.

“Sorry I'm late,” Xiao Jie apologized. She stumbled down the slope and brushed her clothes, “I found a new ditch and tried it out. There's quicksand in it. A good trap,” Xiao Jie giggled. Xiao Jie arrived just in time, the girls were preparing to take off, “Whoa, what's happening?”

In front of her, she found her friends fully equipped in their gear. She hadn't seen them dress in their attire since the dark times.

“Xiao Go,” the girls replied in unison. They waited patiently as Xiao Jie hurried inside.

Xiao Jie quickly got her equipment ready, although there wasn't much. Just a few flares and traps. Xiao Jie looked around at her friends, who looked way more over dressed than she. Correction, she was way under dressed. Well, whatever, she thought. I can say I'm the brains in a tactical situation. Xiao Jie smiled as she comforted herself. Her coordination was not comparable to others.

The road towards the mountain was intense and the silence was heavy. All the girls were wondering what happened.

Gui Gui broke the tension. She sensed she would have gone crazy with her thoughts, “Well, an adventure, how exciting,” Gui Gui ran and jumped across a valley. The others followed suit.

“They haven't called us in so long, I forgot my job,” Xiao Xun sighed.

“But, in a way, that's a good thing,” Mei Mei commented. “That means that they were safe.”

As Hey Girl reached the mountains they started sprinting. Another beacon shone brightly in the meadows before them. The grass swayed and fire and grass mingled. The sky was pitch-dark now, but the fire warned them that Xiao Go was in grave danger.

“Oh, I have a bad feeling about this,” Xiao Jie worried.

The girls traveled in silence through the eerie darkness. By dawn, the giant fortress of Xiao Go welcomed them, and they were all too ready to enter.

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Thanks for waiting, guys! I updated and I'm back on track. Tomorrow I have to compete in a sewing contest, so wish me luck! I just counted, and I found out I had 31 people. That's a LOT. Anyways, PLEASE COMMENT! And, HURRAY, LONGEST CHAPTER YET! Though I still think it's short. I'll try to make them longer