The day started off peaceful… Or as peaceful as it could get in a war-torn region. Apetrully was taking a walk along the lake's coast, as he sometimes did. The air felt strange, since he wasn't fully human it was stronger. It was the feeling where one might say: "I sure hope nothing bad happens!". Or something to that effect, and then the person turns around and is immediately backhanded by the cosmos. He was thinking, perhaps, he should go back into the base. However, before he could, he was grabbed by the back of his robes by a very large hand.

Turning his head, he saw a humanoid. It had horns that seemed like they touched the sky. Every piece of cloth on the figure was torn and tattered, occasionally with black stripes on a few. The other hand gripped an enormous club with spikes strewn about on one end. The humanoid breathed in a way that made it seem like they breathed fire. Its breath stank of booze and almost made the commander choke on his own.

The humanoid raised Apetrully to make them eye-level with one another. As it spoke, it's voice was deep and gravelly. "Tell me, bug, where are your people?" The commander was unable to find his words to answer. Apparently, fearful silence was not a good thing. The horned creature threw him back onto the ground. It hurt quite a bit, in fact his helmet cracked by the force. So much so, that the device on his head snapped.

It leaned down and spoke slowly and threateningly. "How about this," an unpleasant smirk grew. "get all of them to come to us." It wasn't until this moment that he saw hundreds of similar humanoids behind his captor. By some force of nature, both of the squads showed up at this exact moment. The commander's signaling mechanism broke, so how did they come here…

They were launch practicing today, weren't they. Both just happen to do it every Friday too.

That's… very convenient, actually.

Someone decided to hit the leading humanoid, and whoever thought that was a good idea was wrong. It was very clear that they were outnumbered. At first, a large chunk of both squads assumed they could win this fight… however, as they fought they had grown tired. The humanoids had raw strength that couldn't be matched. At this point, it was obvious on who would win the battle.

About an hour had passed when a strange, mangled war cry rang out. What followed it was a thick cloud of smoke. As quick as they had come, the humanoids vanished. Whatever this smoke was, was strong enough to make the current members from Big Green black out. As they were, anyone that had been facing east saw them take Alpha Girl from wherever they had come.

Hours passed, and despite the big cut on his back and arms, Kowloon paced. Everyone in the previous fight was in the control center. They were either looking in books about what and where the strange beings came from, or watching Kowloon. Sonia was one of the watchers. Both had a slightly similar question. That being as to why they took Alpha Girl. The other part was different. Kowloon wanted to know just the basic why. Sonia's was a bit more on the vain side. She had wanted to know why they only took the other woman, but not her.

Woo the Wise stepped in to the control room. He looked eager. "I have found out that the group is headed toward Hōkō Island." Mr. Nohands perked up at this. "So… they're all from that island or, that's their the watering-hole?" Woo nodded. He also brought out a world map. The island lay just beyond the tundra and snow-caps. The two ways to access it were by going south by water all the way; or, if someone had a shorter time gap, to go past Dog Castle and go through miles of cold. Upon seeing this everyone concluded that they should travel on the shorter route. "Since we're taking this route, we should have the Dog King come with us." The commander had spoke after the final decision. Mighty Ray raised his hand up. "Should we bring Wu Song, too?" Commander Apetruly thought for a moment before nodding. "Only if he would like."

???

Two more hours passed. All of the remainder of Second Squad watched as Kowloon paced again, only this time in their common room. He was antsy, and also annoyed. "I just don't understand!" This was probably the twentieth time he's said this since coming back to their dorms. "Why can't we go now, and fight for her back?!" Again, he's said this multiple times already. In different ways too.

This moment was might have been Husky's breaking point. The Liger King stood with all the height he could muster. "Maybe, just maybe, it's because if we go this instant we might get more hurt than we are now, or worse." At this point he was half flailing his arms. He was also growling a bit. "Even if we want to go now, I'm pretty sure she'd want us to get her not half-dead." If it had not been for the door opening, both liger and man would be at each other's throats.

Rosefinch stood there, confused and concerned. As she entered Archer Lee ran up to her. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I'm glad I did." The pilot looked down at the younger and patted his head. Husky sighed, a little puff of smoke coming with it. "Welp, I'm going to bed." The liger stomped to his room and slammed the door. Rosefinch looked at the older of the two Lee's who shrugged. When she asked what had happened, Kowloon answered immediately. The pilot was never an angry person, mostly strict, but never angry. Rosefinch crossed her arms over her chest and spoke slowly. "If I can, I'll ask to come with you guys." Everyone else in the room agreed.

???

It had been two weeks since and everyone had packed for the trip. While there was worry in the air, there was also anticipation. The Dog King got to visit his castle after two years of not being there. His brother hasn't been there yet either, so that's even better. The group was going to a place they hadn't been to as well. Hōkō Island was a mystery, and they could say the same for what lay beyond it. The island had people, sure, but no one has been there for about a century. It was unknown if people still lived there, but it was worth a shot.

The Commander was coming to see if he could make some kind of peaceful arrangement. Along with him were First and Second Squad. Rosefinch was in this group with Mano (somehow), too. Wu Song and the Dog King with the pack were also there. The only people who weren't going all the way were the Sailor Brothers and Sammo. They all said their respective farewells to the other members of Big Green and then they went off.


Sorry if this looks weird in any way. While I wrote this on my laptop, I'm posting on my phone.

I should probably write some other stories of everything that happens before and in between eventually. I might also post a time line and edit it as I go.

Hōkō Island is based of of a Japanese word for a Chinese creature called a Penghou. Please note that there are three different countries in this: Hidden Kingdom, Hōkō Island, and Yōkaishima.