Hey, Sharshar here, sorry for not updating, had exams. >.< lame excuse, but here you go. I recently re-found out that Lollipop split, but they'll still be together in here. =G Hope you like it!

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A rush of wind swept through the hallways as Xiao Jie (boy) and Ah Ben competed. They flew into the double doors and their impact threw the doors off their hinges. It seemed they were fast enough to fly.

“I beat you.” Ah Ben laughed.

“You had a head start.” Xiao Jie pouted.

“Let's race again. To that building across the river.” Ah Ben pointed to a building that contrasted Xiao Go's majestic look. The other building looked mysterious and the atmosphere around was just gloomy.

“Sure, and... Go.”

Soon both of them reached the borders of the other building. But Ah Ben tripped Xiao Jie, and sent him flying into the building at full speed.

Crack!

The noise shook the building, and a rumbling answered. There were guards rushing to the two boys.

“What brings you delinquents to Da Go?”

“We're not delinquents, well, I'm not. I'm a guard of the Gem of Secrets.”

“There's another school?”

A lady bared her teeth at the two boys. It seemed her teeth consisted of individual daggers.

“What does that petty Bahren want from our school?” She hissed with venom.

“We were just going to retrieve the gem...” Ah Ben informed her, “We'll leave right now.”

They began to run away when they were stopped.

“How DARE you leave on this mission without contribution from OUR school?” A lady shrieked in fury, “After all, DA GO HAS A PLACE IN PROTECTING THE GEM OF SECRETS TOO!”

She pushed Ah Ben and Xiao Jie (boy) down. “What.. did your school do this time?”

“I'm not---” Ah Ben started.

“The gem is in the hands of F4.”

“WHAT?!” She howled, “How DARE your school lose the gem to a band of bandits! Run back and tell precious Bahren that I'll be sending my best over in five minutes.”

The two boys were glad to obey, and ran away back to the school, where they could just see some people gathering at the front. They didn't even race this time, they were trembling.

The principal looked up and found Ah Ben and Xiao Jie, both panting.

“Da Go's sending their people in five minutes.” Ah Ben told the principal.

“What? They are attacking us?” He asked.

“No, they heard we lost the gem...” Xiao Jie replied.

“You did WHAT?” the principal shook his head, “Fine, okay, Pelouren is going to give me an earful.” He said to himself. “I guess that means I need my best, too.”

“Aren't we already your best?” Lollipop appeared behind the principal.

“No, but you are not students. It states in our rules that missions require students from both schools...”

He stopped talking, and hurried back into the school.

Lollipopp, Hey Girl, and Rogues stood there, anticipating who will also join their trip.

“God, we already have to travel with you guys,” Rong Jia sneered, “But now we have to travel with untrained and cocky students?”

“I think YOU'RE the most cocky one here.” Gui Gui argued.

Rong Jia continued, “And with the MASSIVE group of people traveling through the barrens makes us an even BIGGER target for danger.”

“Tch, what kind of danger are you talking about?” Gui Gui wasn't fazed.

“Two-faced dragons and spirit eaters.”

“You're looking at a major spirit fighter right here. If they come across my path,” Gui Gui snapped her fingers, “They'll surely die.”

“But you're surely not strong enough to defeat the dragons.”

“Who said I could? Well, my team can defeat them,” Gui Gui nods to Hey Girl, and they roll their eyes.

“Stop fighting, you guys. They'll think we're unprofessional.” Wang Zi spoke.

“Who says you are professional?” Xiao Ma butted. Wang Zi gave him a cold glare.

A horn sounded and a rumble shook the earth.

“There's probably a lot of people...” Xiao Jie (girl) observed.

As they peered over the ridge, four females appeared.

“WHERE IS BAHREN!?” The eldest of the four screeched.

“Right in front of you.” The principal appeared out of nowhere with four boys, “Greetings, Pelouren...” The principal bowed.

“Don't say my name in front of my students!” She yelled.

Ah Ben whispered, “Are you sure this isn't your mom, Xiao Man?”

“SHE IS NOT MY MOM!” Xiao Man bellowed.

“How dare you call me your mom!?” Pelouren's voice boomed, “I'm too young to be her mom!”

“Pelouren,” The principal started.

“DON'T call me that! I sent my best students here, let me introduce you to them.”

“I'm Selina Ren,” Selina bowed. She swung her spike a few times, “I think I recognize some of you.” Selina was staring at a boy, and the boy was staring back, dumbfounded.

A beautiful girl spoke, “I'm Hebe Tien.” Some guys appeared to be ogling her,“These chains can strangle you.”

“Hello, I'm.. Ella Chen.” The girl that looked manly peeped shyly. She also seemed to be looking at a student. Around her waist, there were coils of ropes. Like snakes.

“And if you like one of them, I will beat you up.” Pelouren seemed to aim the threat at the four guys standing idly in front of the principal.

“Our turn, I guess. I'm Jiro Wang..” He pretended to punch the air a bit. He seemed restless.

“Wu Chun.”

“Aaron Yan.”

“Calvin Chen.”

“That was way shorter...” Ah Wei pointed out.

“Okay, now done with the introductions and stare-offs, can we proceed in trekking through the dangerous grounds now?” Rong Jia impatiently interrupted.

“Fine, please take on the role to train our students.” Bahren looked at Lollipop and Hey Girl.

And with that, both the principals disappeared into thin air.

“So... which way do we head?” Wei Lian asked.

“This is going to be impossible, Rong Jia's right,” Rong Jia lifted her chin high, “How about we split into four groups?” Xiao Jie (girl) suggested. “So that each one of the bandits can lead the way.”

Da Ya added, “Aren't we stronger together as a group? Why do we need to split up?”

“I calculated, and it would be more efficient if we met up.”

“Are you sure they wouldn't lead us off somewhere?” Tong Tong asked.

“Try us,” Xiao Ma leaned in close to Tong Tong, “I wouldn't want to be in your group.”

Everybody proceeded to sit down. Xiao Jie (girl) took the role of leader and planner brought out a piece of paper.

“So, bandits stand up please,” She signaled for them to stand up.

“We prefer the term ROGUES.” Li Quan said as he stood up.

“Can you answer my questions?” Xiao Jie (girl) asked.

Xiao Ma stood taller, “Bring it.”

“What dangerous creatures do we have to look out for?”

“Spirit eaters, Two-headed dragons, Ghouls, and the rest are pretty much harmless.”

“Hmm, okay. Nothing we have to group together as a group for.” Xiao Jie (girl) noticed. She paused. She scribbled on her piece of paper.

“Here's the list I came up with. Don't try to change groups, because I tried to evenly spread according to skill.”

“What do you mean by that?” Rong Jia asked.

“Shut up.”

Xiao Jie (girl) continued, “I'll read them out. So, Li Quan's group. How about when I call your name you stand behind him.” Xiao Jie took a deep intake of breath, “Ao Quan, Da Ya, Selina, Jiro, Mei Mei.”

“Aw, I have to part with you guys,” Ao Quan dramatically hugged Lollipop.

Da Ya and Mei Mei hugged each other.

Selina and Jiro gave weird looks at each other. Their gazes were fixed on each other.

“Next, Ah Ben's group. Xiao Yu, Xiao Xun, Wang Zi, Calvin, Gui Gui, Xiao Man.”

In the next second, all that was heard was the screeching of Xiao Man, “Why do I have to be with that ugly face?”

“Not like I want to be with your loud voice! I'm sure going to get a headache, then I'll blame you for slowing us down!”

“Rong Jia's group. Ya Tou, Ella, Ah Wei, Wu Chun, and Apple.”

“Thank god, I don't have that spirit haunting me.” Rong Jia laughed.

“Hey, I heard that!” Gui Gui butted.

“Xiao Ma's group. Xiao Jie, Hebe, Wei Lian, Aaron, Tong Tong.”

“I'm in HIS group?” Tong Tong asked.

Xiao Ma groaned.

“Hey, wait. What about you?” Xiao Jie (boy) asked.

“Huh?” Xiao Jie (girl) took a second to comprehend, “Oh yeah, I guess I'll go in the last group I just called. Was that Xiao Ma's group?

“Sure, that works.” Xiao Jie (boy) confirmed.

“I think we should head out at sunrise.” Calvin pointed to the sun, “We should just camp out for the night.”

The sun was already setting. They had spent a lot of time discussing and dividing into groups.

“Who says I'm going to sleep with this person within limits of me?” Tong Tong asked.

“Tong, stop being dramatic. Live with it,” Da Ya told her.