PJO x Dream SMP- Starlight

A Very Sudden Bonfire

~~Annabeth's POV~~

I hugged my thin, gray jacket to my chest, a chill sweeping over Percy, Grover, and I. It hadn't been long since we cleared the border of the forest and were walking along an open field, though it seemed like forever. My gray eyes searched the horizon as lights peeked up over the line between the setting sun and grass.

"Over there!" I shouted, dashing forward. The lights seemed welcoming and warm, an orange glow just out of sight. Percy and Grover followed suit, their feet pounding steadily behind me, though, as we approached, something was off.

"What the-" Percy was the first to speak as we were met with curling, red vines that twisted and turned, seeming to lash out at our ankles. I crouched down and pulled a leaf from the vine, though it disintegrated as soon as it was removed. My brow furrowed with curiosity.

"Let's just keep moving," We walked for another ten minutes before we saw the next strangest thing, the thing being my alarm as the sound beneath my feet went from the soft shff shff of grass to the hard noise of converse on glass. The ground beneath the glass was just dirt until we walked a bit further, a huge crater that seemed to go on forever. We stopped in the middle, looking around in awe. Grover bleated nervously.

"I don't feel like we should be here," He pressed his hand against the splintering wood of a former home. The wreckage was all that was left here, that, and sadness. An almost too familiar sting of melancholy drifting lazily through the air, like relief, almost.

I shook my head, "Let's just set up camp in the most sturdy house we can find and then get lost in the morning," I said bitterly, tossing my backpack to the ground and laying, I was too tired to be cautious.

Grover looked to Percy with big, pleading eyes, but Percy sat next to me, "No, for once, I think Annabelle is right, maybe we could find someone to help us," Almost on cue, there were shouts in the distance, three figures being backlit over ten yards away.

"What the hell did you do," One of them yelled angrily. It appeared to be the tallest one, he had dark features, though it was hard to tell. The one next to him was blond, gold strands almost glowing in the strange light, the third was short with dark hair and seemingly fluffy ears.

"I-I don't know..." The blond admitted.

I'll be right back, I signed to Percy and Grover, slipping my Yankee's baseball cap onto my head and shuffling over there, trying to get a better read on their conversation.

"Listen, Tommy, it'll be alright... I'm sure he's changed, for the better this time!" The shorter one exclaimed, trying to cheer the blond up, his ear twitched in my direction. He spun around, lifting the brown hair out of his eyes to scan for me. I shuffled behind a fallen pillar.

"You guys don't get it, I was stuck in there with him for months! He hasn't changed at all, in fact, I think he may have gotten worse!" The blond, whom I assumed was Tommy, shouted, his arms flailing.

The brunette held up his hand, "Wait for a second, Toms," He scanned my general direction, I held my breath. He pulled a torch from his pocket and lit it against his belt, holding it up, "Who's there?" He yelled to me. He didn't seem hostile, in fact, he was hiding behind the tallest of the three. His face and hair in a black and white split, the tallest stood much, much taller than any person I had seen before, he looked over seven feet tall.

"Ranboo, will you go check for someone? Over there?" The shortest instructed the taller, pointing directly at my chest. The tallest, Ranboo, nodded, shuffling towards me. I had no time to shuffle away, I hadn't expected to be caught so soon. The tallest fumbled around for me for a second, giving me just enough time to land a punch on him, frazzling him.