'Alright everyone! We are gathered here today to witness... A game. That game I hear you ask? A good ol' version of twenty-one questions!' Choco smiled brightly, causing Brandon to roll his arms as the others all cheered 'Pete, why don't you go first?'

'Fine. Okay, Mitch,' The Canadian perked up at the sound of his name, before shrinking back as he saw all eyes on him, 'How the fudge did you do that clock thing back in the caves?'

Mitch narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what he did until he shrugged 'To be honest? I don't know. I think I just panicked, but it's incredibly ironic; I can't tell the time'

Vik let out a splutter, with Kenny thumping his back a few times as the dark-skinned boy stared at his friend 'And when were you going to tell us?!' He choked out, and the brunet lifted his hands in a surrendering position 'I told you about three years ago, but alright... Choco, this question's for you. Why do you live in a tree?'

'I prefer being high up, being a bird hybrid - I think that's my reason anyway. Lachlan, are you paying attention to the game?' The youngest of the group flinched when he heard his name, smiling awkwardly and leaning back on his hands 'Uh... What?' He asked, blushing slightly as his friends stifled laughs 'Well that answers my question, then. Your turn!'

'Preston, my dear Sir - Do I have permission to kill a certain family member?' The lava mob snorted, crossing his legs and leaning forwards as Rob sent the Aussie a warning glance 'Granted. Okay, time to switch it up a bit - Kenny, why the fudge were you guys in a cave during a horde?'

'Ah, that. Well, it's a long story, but to cut it short - We got lost' Kenny replied lamely, and Vik rolled his multi-coloured eyes before answering properly for him 'Our friend Mat dared us to check out his village on the outskirts of the Glitched Lands. We got caught while escaping, I ended up with a brick slamming into my skull, and when we escaped we passed the barrier without even noticing. Then we got attacked by a Caterkiller, and on our way back home we, indeed, got lost'

+++

The game went on for about an hour, with all of the boys actually getting to know eachother. After a while, when they were finally starting to get comfortable around one another, a female voice started to call up to them 'Boys! Are you up there?'

Preston stiffened, and Rob growled lowly while Lachlan turned from Oh-Hey-I'm-A-Friendly-Guy to I'm-Going-To-Murder-Someone within five seconds. Jerome narrowed his eyes, and Pete and Choco exchanged worried glances. Kenny, Mitch and Vik on the other hand? They had no idea what was going on, but were concerned about how quickly the mood had changed.

'Is Preston with you? I need to see my Son!' The hybrid began to shake his head rapidly, skin dulling as he crawled backwards until his back met the wall. His werewolf friend crouched by his side, placing an arm around the teen whilst glaring at the entrance to the large treehouse 'What the Nether is she doing here?' He asked quietly, a practically murderous undertone lacing his voice while Lachlan clenched his fists.

'I'm going to stab her' The blond threatened darkly, and Jerome had to hold him back before he could jump down and fulfil his words. It suddenly clicked between the human trio, and Kenny's eyes were wide as he looked at Choco 'Is that Preston's Mom?'

'Unfortunately, yes. Jerome, Pete, come with me - We're going to tell her a little story. Everyone else, stay here if not go higher in the tree. Don't let Kenny, Vik or Mitch go down, and especially not Preston' The golden bird ordered, jumping from the exit and flying down while Pete simply fell. Jerome looked at his lava-skinned friend, giving a silent nod before sliding down the tree trunk.

The treehouse fell into silence, save for Preston's muffled whimpers and quiet death threats coming from Lachlan's direction. Vik carefully peeked out of the opening to see the three boys talking to a woman - Who he assumed was Preston's Mother - and pointing in the opposite direction to the treehouse. The female had a cold expression on her face, but before he could make any more observations Vik began to hear the voice again.

It sounded oddly familiar this time, and was far louder, making the mocha-skinned boy wince and cover his ears in an attempt to make it stop. Of course, since the voice was in his head it didn't work, but Mitch saw what he was doing and walked over 'Vik, you alright?' The Canadian asked, with the shorter boy shaking his head while grabbing fistfuls of black hair 'No, I've got this stupid voice in my head that won't shut the Nether up!' He hissed, letting out a quiet gasp as a different voice joined in.

"What the Nether's going on?!" He thought, hearing an almost silent yelp from his right. One of the voices, the first, stopped for a while, before sending out a clear message; Who is this?. Removing his hands and glancing around the room, Vik couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but the voices finally quietened down as he shook his head 'Ugh... Well, that confused the heck out of me' The Brit muttered, leaning against a post while Mitch raised an eyebrow 'Bro, are you okay? You've gone seriously pale'

'To be honest, I don't know, but I found out that I can communicate with the voices in my head so that's fun'

'You what?'

'Nevermind. Hey, I think they're coming back up' Stepping back to give the three some space, Choco was the first to fly through the square hole 'I'm going to slap her so hard, I swear to-'

'Choco, cool it. She won't come back here, and I'm quite sure Lachlan's already bagsied killing her or something. Right, we told her that Preston ran off too... Where did we say?' Jerome crossed his arms and stared out of the hole, a distant look in his eyes before he sighed 'We said that Preston had run away, and was no longer in the mountains,' He said, making his way over to his lava-skinned friend and kneeling at his side, 'Hey Preston, you okay? She won't find you anymore'

The Texan let out a small sigh of relief at the words, loosening up a bit while Rob stood and brushed any dirt off of his trousers 'Hey Lachlan, you Dad has a vast expanse of weapons doesn't he? D'you think he would notice if a few went missing?'

'Nah, what about potions? I think I've got some invis' splashes left over from when we covered Pete's house in snow-'

'That was you?!'

"-so all we need now is a time' The Australian finished, seemingly distracted by something as Preston gave a quiet laugh 'Guys, you don't need to kill her... But I've got an idea, and it includes a ton of water'. Choco rolled his eyes at his friends' behaviour, turning back to Kenny with an awkward look in his eyes 'Sorry about them, they're just... Seriously annoyed'

'To be honest I would be too. Like honestly, who does that?!' The blond raged, and the bird covered his beak with his wings to try and hide his laugh before shaking his head 'I think you're going to fit in just fine...' He smiled, before he remembered what him and his slimey friend had been talking about that morning, 'Oh! Pete, should I take them to Harvey's Mom? She might be able to explain what's going on at the moment'

The slime turned to face his friend, doubt flickering in his eyes for a second before he shrugged slightly 'Be careful, okay? Don't let them be seen' He warned, with his younger friend nodding and turning to the entrance 'Stay close to me, and keep your heads down, alright? Let's go!'