The pace of the group was quick, which was weird as everyone was getting nervous about the upcoming battles. You could feel the heavy weight in the air, almost suffocating you. You glance up at the sky, knowing that it wouldn't be very long before you reached the Rage Kingdom. After finally escaping it, all of the years of hell in this kingdom, you were now just going to walk back in.

"(Y/n), are you alright?"

You snap out of your state, looking back down from the sky and at Sollux. That's when you noticed you had stopped walking.

"Oh, I'm sorry," you smile, "I just got lost in thought."

Sollux gives you a crooked smile, patting your back, "alright, let's keep going."

You nod and continue to walk; you glance over at Eridan, who was at the front of the group. He hasn't even looked at you since last night. You roll your shoulders, continuing onward. You just wanted to hide in a cave, but it was too late for that now. Now you had to keep going forward, you couldn't leave these guys here.

~~~

Your feet freeze, ceasing you from moving another step forward. Just ahead of you the grassy ground changed into destroyed, grey rubble. Everything that sat upon the rubble was destroyed; trees were lying on their sides, rotting and buildings had long crumbled into ruin.

Your hand grips onto your bracelet, fiddling with the crystal as you take a deep breath, stepping forward. As soon as your feet hit the grey earth, you shiver. Just knowing what has happened here makes you sick.

You nearly jump from your skin when you feel something touch your hand. You look down, seeing a hand gripping yours; you look up to see Feferi smiling.

"It'll be alright!" she tries to cheer you up.

"Thank you, Fef." You squeeze her hand in return.

You decide to pull your staff out, wanting to be prepared for anything that comes. Although everything was dead or knocked down, there were still boulders and ruins that someone could hide in.

"Do you think anyone'll notice our presence?" Karkat wonders aloud.

"Oh, most definitely." You sigh.

You look to right, noticing something hanging from a branch on a fallen tree. You detour to have a look at whatever had caught your eye. As you get closer, you notice that it was a necklace. It was quite small and the charm was a little bear. So you assumed it was for a child. You brush your fingers against the cool silver, but you decide to leave it. Turning back and catching up with your group.

You continue to follow along, not knowing what to expect.

"So, (y/n)," Karkat begins, "do you know the way?"

"Well, I haven't steered us wrong yet," you shrug, "but I rarely ever got to leave the castle."

For the past 20 minutes you had been wandering in this kingdom, you had not once seen any life. No plants, no people and no animals.

But then you heard it, what sounded like growling. It was low and hard to hear, but it was there.

"Guys, stop." You whisper.

Everyone does as you say and stop walking. The growling turns into something that sounds more like a raspy laughter.

You bite your bottom lip, almost hard enough to make it bleed. You crouch slightly as you walk forward, peaking around a large pile of rocks. You let out a strangled gasp, gripping your staff.

"Oh god."