"It's a Verdant Flammable Device," Sabine muttered.
"There's someone at the top of the waterfall, sending a signal," Quigley added.
"Yes," Violet said, "but who?"
"Maybe it's a volunteer, who escaped from the fire," Klaus said. "They're signaling to see if there are any other volunteers nearby."
"Or it could be a trap," Quigley said. "They could be luring volunteers up to the peak in order to ambush them. Remember, the codes of V.F.D. are used by both sides of the schism."
"It hardly seems like a code," Violet said. "We know that someone is communicating, but we don't have the faintest idea who they are, or what they're saying."
"This is what it must be like," Klaus said thoughtfully, "when Sunny talks to people who don't know her very well."
Everyone was silent for a moment as they gazed up at the odd green smoke. Something was nagging at the back of Sabine's head, and it took her a moment to figure out what it was. "What if Sunny is up there?" she finally gasped.
Violet's eyes widened. "It could be her."
"Let's signal back," Klaus said. "Do we have any Verdant Flammable Devices?"
"Of course," Quigley said, taking a box of the green tubes out of his backpack, "but Bruce saw my matches and confiscated them, because children shouldn't play with matches."
"Confiscated them?" Klaus said. "Do you think he's an enemy of V.F.D.?"
"If everyone who said that children shouldn't play with matches was an enemy of V.F.D.," Violet said with a smile, "then we wouldn't have a chance of survival."
"But how are we going to light these without matches?" Quigley asked.
Violet reached into her pocket. It was a bit tricky to tie her hair up in a ribbon, as all four drafts in the Valley of Four Drafts were blowing hard, but at last her hair was out of her eyes, and the gears and levers of her inventing mind began to move as she gazed up at the mysterious signal.
"The scientific principles of the convergence and refraction of light," she finally said.
"What?" Sabine asked.
"The scientific principles of the convergence and refraction of light," Violet repeated. "We can use the light from the sun that's glinting off the frozen waterfall and..." She dug through her pockets for a moment and pulled out a small hand mirror. "And this hand mirror to light the Verdant Flammable Device."
"Just like on Lake Lachrymose," Klaus nodded.
"Exactly," Violet agreed. She took one of the green tubes out of the box Quigley was holding and walked over to a spot where the sun was shining through the collapsing walls of the headquarters. She angled the mirror so it would catch the light, and in a few moments the tube in her hand caught flame and started emitting green smoke, just like the smoke at the top of the mountain. After a few moments though, the smoke on the mountain disappeared.
"Someone put out the Verdant Flammable Device," Quigley said, holding the green tube to one side so he wouldn't smell the smoke. "What do you think that means?"
"I don't know," Violet said, and sighed. "This isn't working."
"Of course it's working," Klaus said. "It's working perfectly. You noticed that the afternoon sun was reflecting off the frozen waterfall, and it gave you the idea to use the scientific principles of the convergence and refraction of light – just like you did on Lake Lachrymose, when we were battling the leeches. So you used Colette's hand mirror to catch the sun's rays and reflect them onto the end of the Verdant Flammable Device, so we could light it and send a signal."
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𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕨𝕠 ℂ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤 (ASOUE)
Fanfiction"Shh, don't cry, Sabine," Quigley whispered in her ear. "It's okay, don't cry." His hand slid down her arm, then gently landed in her palm. He slowly spread his fingers out, then carefully entwined them with hers, as if he were savoring every sweet...
