ATLOP: Trial by Fire

The Hotel of Sandy Moons

Let me gift a little bit of fluff and happiness to make up for the major angst last chapter.

Come yell at me on tumblr: Percabeth4Life
Come chat with me on discord: https://discord.gg/3tGNJhu

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Grover jumped back, blinking at me.

"Um, you okay dude?"

"The truck stopped," hissed Annabeth, giving me a worried look. "We think they're coming to check on the animals. We need to hide."

I took a shaky breath as she vanished with her magic cap and disappeared.

The olive oil fighting the blood taste in my mouth grounded me, it was yuck.

Grover dove behind the feed sacks and I scrambled to follow him.

I was shaken from my dream, trembling slightly as I hid behind the sacks.

Grover shot me a worried look, but the trailer doors creaked open right then. Sunlight and fresh (if hot) air poured in.

"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his smushed nose. It looked like it had been broken five times too many. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes.

"You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, who snarled, then he splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face.

The lion roared in indignation.

Me and Grover tensed. My hand crept to my waterskin as my eyes narrowed.

I was still shaken by the scene the Pit Voice showed me, but I won't let them treat the animals like this. I could spend time considering the dream later.

The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra.

I noticed the taste of Olive Oil fade slightly.

"How ya doin' Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like doing magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"

My vision went red, how dare they.

Free me, Prince. Please!

I flicked the lid off my water skin, but a sudden loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer interrupted me.

The trucker inside with us yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"

A voice outside (probably Eddie) shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"

"What are you banging for?"

Knock, knock, knock

Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?"

I glowered at Maurice, he was a disgusting excuse of a human being. How dare he treat the animals like this.

He rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot. The taste of Olive oil returned.

So that was Annabeth .

She suddenly appeared next to me. "This transport business can't be legal."

"No kidding," Grover said. He paused for a moment, his head tilted. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!"

That's right , the zebra agreed.