hiraeth

five

v. Peter

He doesn't know how he ended up here.

One minute Peter was standing next to his siblings, discussing the best way to support the kingdom of Narnia after the war, and the next minute, there were screams and a blinding flash of light. When he woke up, he was on the floor of a restroom and walked out to discover he was in a shiny restaurant with rows of tables and the smell of fried potatoes in the air.

"Excuse me?" Peter had gone up to a lady standing behind the counter, punching numbers into a cash register. He heard a ding, and she pulled out stacks of money from the tray attached.

The lady had pursed her lips and looked him up and down. "Hi, welcome to Chili's. How can I help you?"

Peter frowned and examined his clothing, then around the so-called "Chili's." He forgot his outfit didn't exactly match what everyone else was wearing, an entire plate of armor still strapped to his midsection. His sword was at his hip. "Uh, where am I?"

"A restaurant." The lady raised an eyebrow. "You cosplaying as someone?"

Peter assumed cosplaying meant dressing up, but he ignored it. "No. I mean, yes, I know, but where is this restaurant located?"

The lady looked like she was on the verge of strangling him. "Are you joking? Look, kid-"

"I'm twenty-"

"-if you're not going to order something, I'm going to need you to move along. You're holding up the line."

Behind him, a customer tapped their foot impatiently.

Brushing strands of hair out of his face, Peter winced. "Sorry, um, I'll be off then."

Later, Peter learned from asking around and looking at signs that he was in the United States, and more specifically, in Los Angeles, California. When he checked the date in a flyaway newspaper outside a gas station, the date read March 10, 2017.

Alright, he thought, this definitely isn't 1940s London.

Peter wasn't a stranger to other dimensions and ending up in random places, so he at least had that going for him. But he also wasn't stupid and remained cautious. He suspected this may not be his real world, but someone else's.

Four months. Four months have passed and he doesn't know where his family is.

It's July now. Peter has been searching high and low for his siblings, using his skills to swipe food and pickpocket money from unassuming passerbys. He camps outside in the streets - sometimes in the woods when he happens upon them. It makes him feel at home, sleeping in the open and watching the night sky.

"I'll find you," he whispers, though he knows they can't hear him anyways.

The thing bothering him the most is he can't remember the exact details of how the war went down against Prince Caspian. All he remembers is making some sort of alliance with a noble family, but it doesn't seem likely they were able to fight effectively, even with a grandiose plan.

Pieces of the puzzle are missing. It's a gut feeling, a nagging in the back of his conscience. He just doesn't understand how to solve the game.

~~~

The first monster he encounters seems manageable enough. That is, until three more gang up on him in a parking lot. Sure, he's familiar with mountain children and shadowalkers, but he isn't as prepared for the fight as he initially thought, and within ten seconds, he's hauling ass to the woods.

"Holy shit, holy shit." Peter darts between two trees, leaves crunching under his boots as the colossal black dogs with red glowing eyes bound after him, knocking down whole tree trunks and howling the entire way. "I was just trying to steal a car!"

Peter doesn't know what to call the monsters. What confuses him, however, is how no one batted an eyelash as they hunted him down the road earlier. The sword Father Christmas gifted him, Rhindon, seems useless now; he grips it nonetheless, praying for a distraction.

The wind whistles in his ears. His throat burns and his calves are aching. Spotting a cliff with a steep descent, he changes direction in an attempt to lose his pursuers. But just as he thinks he's put sufficient distance between him and the monsters, one of the weirdos charges out of bloody nowhere to his left. Peter jumps off the edge of the rock face, tucks into a roll, and lets gravity take him down.

Please don't let me hit concrete, please don't let me hit concrete. Anything but concrete.

Ice cold water smacks him in the face and absorbs his entire body, taking him a couple feet under. Peter forces himself to stay covered for a few seconds, battling the current and hoping the monsters won't go for a swim. When nothing happens, he kicks his legs and lets the undertow sweep him away, not caring where he washes up.

He doesn't know how long he swims for, or what direction he's going in, but eventually, the river spits him into a small pond.

Peter gasps for air and pulls himself to shore on his stomach. He lays there for an eternity, cheek pressed against the cool earth. Rhindon is clutched in his hand. He's just about to push himself up, when suddenly, a yellow sneaker with dirty laces materializes in his periphery, followed by a click of the tongue.

"Hey, Jason!" the person yells, her voice smooth as butter. "There's someone here."

More footsteps approach. "Yo, who's that? Is he okay? He looks rough."

The girl groans. "Leo, where's Jason? I thought you two were together!"

"I don't know, Piper! I thought he was with you!"

Peter scrambles to his feet, blade jutted out towards the newcomers.

The girl named Piper spares a gander at his weapon with amusement, twirling a piece of choppy brown hair around her finger. Her kaleidoscopic eyes stare him down dangerously. "What, are you going to stab us?" she queries.

"Please, be my guest," mocks Leo, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.

"N-no, I wasn't..." Peter coughs. "Who are you guys?

Far off, howls ring out somewhere behind the group. A crack of lighting rips through the sky. Piper and Leo catch each other's eye and frown.

"The real question," Piper retorts, tilting her head at Peter, "is who are you?"

~~~

A/N: we stan Peter