Sorry for the wait, but here is the rewrite of chapter one!

The hissing of cicadas and the chirping of the birds darting through the trees above echoed all around. Hues of luscious greens and deep browns seemed to merge together with subtle spots of soft and bright colors reflecting off the flowers that grew on the forest floor. Rays of sunlight peeked through the treetops, adding a golden glow to the life of the forest. It would have been easy for anyone to fall into a dreamy haze in such a place, all except for three teens because of one certain problem...

"What does it take to get a signal out here?!"

They were lost.

Miko swayed in every direction, holding up her cellphone high, hoping to see at least one bar to show up on the screen. She threw her phone to the rocky ground when the message: "No Signal" yet again popped up. With an aggravated sigh, the young girl plopped down onto a nearby and rather large rock. "At this rate, we'll never be found!" she cried as she streaked her fingers through her bangs.

"Maybe-"

"What?!" Miko snapped at the youngest in their little group, Raf. The boy was quick to hide behind Jack, the eldest of them, when Miko vented out a quick burst of her frustration at him. Pale blues eyes darted over to the die-hard punk girl with a disapproving glare. At first, it seemed that she was the least bit phased by the look Jack gave her, but a frown found its way etched into her face. "Sorry, Raf...What were you going to say?"

Said boy peeked out from behind his supposed shield and glanced at Miko. "I-I n-noticed that the area has be-become m-more ro-rocky. We must be h-heading up a mou-mountain...Maybe if we tr-travel further up-upwards, our c-cellphones could get a s-signal..."

Miko and Jack shared a glanced at each other before looking down at Rafael with smiles. The little guy was a genius, but they figured he already knew that. "Well then," Jack began. "Let's go."

Once again, Miko held out her phone at arm's length ahead of her as she, Jack, and Raf continued their way upwards. Trees began to grow shorter and the soil around seemed to turn dry and dense with pebbles. No signs of the path they had left sometime ago came in sight; only the growth of number large boulders lining their way caught their vision.

"Any signal yet, Miko?" Jack asked as the said girl paced herself ahead of them, before stopping and waving her phone around. Miko in reply huffed and shook her head, shoving her phone into her pocket.

"How much higher do we have to go?!" she hollered, stomping her foot hard on the ground. Suddenly, pierce cracking echoed from below Miko. The boys answer in reply to their friend were drowned out by her screams as the rocky ground beneath her crumbled. All that now was left in her place was a dark hole, down into the depths of the mountain.

"Ow..." Miko groaned as she rubbed the back of her head. Her eyes slowly opened, blinking as the light from the hole above filled her sight. Turning her gaze away from the light, she squinted into the darkness of the cavern. As her eyes strained to see amidst the shadows, she could make out large, bulbous shapes. Great, more rocks, she thought.

Grunting, she got up onto her knees before heaving herself to stand. Though, she heaved herself up too quickly and she lost her balance. She reached out in front of her and clung to something, much to her surprise, rather smooth and cold. "That's weird..." she rasped.

Withdrawing a hand, she felt the gritting feeling of dirt soiled upon her palm and digging under her fingernails. With her other hand, she gave the round object a tap. The sound echoed similar to something metal. Curiously, she moved her hand further upward and she gave it a slight tap again, now sounding similar to when someone tapped glass.

"What is this thing?" she wondered, swiping her withdraw hand across to what she assumed was glass. Her eyes widened as they fell upon the sight of a small form, curled up with its...eyes closed, as if it were asleep. "Whoa..."

"Miko? Miko?! Are you okay?"

"Yeah! But, dudes, come down here! You are not going to believe this!"

I am terribly sorry for such a long wait for this chapter, especially since it is a bit on the short side. I had planned this to be posted way back in February, but something - for the lack of a better word- bad happened to me that month. I became very emotionally unstable and had to constantly battle with my parents over a lot of things. And so, I never found the time for much - especially writing, except for roleplaying; which really helped me from becoming more stressed.

Now that things have become a little more stable in my life, I am going to try to make updates more often. Thank you all for being so patient!