After dinner, all of the kids had gone back outside. It was nighttime now, the moon shone bright, and the stars twinkled above them. Hakim snapped his fingers and a few campfires lit for them. Leo had gone and tried to figure out the blind spots of the camp, when he had accidentally bumped into someone "Oh! Sorry again!" Emma's voice said from the darkness. Leo waved it off "It's alright, I couldn't see right." He told her. A small light made it's way above them, and to Leo's surprise, the light was a small jar of Fireflies.
"Hey, would you wanna hang out with us?" She asked. Leo's eyes turned towards the forest, and then back to her. He knew he would be hindering his own escape plan if he went with her...but she did seem nice, even if things were weird at this camp. He shrugged. "Alright" he said. Emma smiled and grabbed his hand and ran over to a campfire pit. What Leo didn't see however, was that the jar of Fireflies was Hakim in disguise. He chuckled as he saw the kids run to the Fire pit before he snapped his fingers and disappeared.
When the two of them got closer to the campfire, Leo could see more children around it, one of which was the blue haired boy from the mess hall. "Leo, this is Yuri, Haoyu, Cass, Claris, Elliott, Will, and Helen" Emma introduced. Elliott smiled "Hey! I remember you from the mess hall!" He said. Leo looked confused, until he remembered that he was the one that called Chef Saltbaker. "I remember you too!" Leo said, shaking Elliott's hand. "Let me guess, First night?" Haoyu asked, roasting a marshmallow.
The blonde haired boy slowly nodded "Yeah, I'm actually gonna leave in a week." He said. Cass looked a bit disappointed "You wanna leave?" She asked. Leo nodded "Yeah...It's just a bit...much for me." He told her "I mean, the Counselors, the kids, the whole 'camp is in another world' thing." He explained. "Yeah, but hey, it beats being stuck at home with a sour singing instructor." Claris said "Or being ignore by everyone in summer school." Yuri said. Will looked up at him "We have been coming here for a while, like 4 years."
He said. Leo was in shock, they've been coming here for 4 years? "Really? But Balan told me that some of the kids tried to leave. " He said. Cass chuckled "Oh! Some have, you aren't the only camper here ya know." She said. "Gregory, Shay, and Tyler had tried to hide in the woods up until the end of summer. They lasted a good 2 weeks until Moondrop and NiGHTS found them." Helen explained. Leo pondered. Maybe if he hid in the woods long enough, he could get a way back! But how could he stay out that long without anyone noticing him, since the Counselors weren't exactly human?
A growling voice snapped him out of his thoughts "It's Bedtime Children, Time to sleep, Don't be Naughty..." Another robot said. He shared a resemblance to Sundrop, only he had a blue paint job, as well as a star patterned night cap and pants...and had glowing. Red. Eyes...
The robot had begun to get closer to the children, but they didn't see the robot due to their backs being turned. Leo began to grab Emma's hand and tried to pull her to somewhere else. "Leo! What are you doing?" She asked "We gotta go! Terrifying robot closing in!" Leo told her. Elliott looked behind him, and saw the robot standing above him "Oh! Hey Counselor Moondrop!" He said cheerfully.
Leo stopped pulling Emma's arm to process what Elliott just said. "Did you say...COUNSELOR Moondrop?" He asked. Yuri nodded "Yep! He stands guard of the camp while Balan sleeps." She said "And it's time for you to get some sleep as well..." Moondrop growled. Haoyu nodded "Alright, We're going." He said, taking a bucket of water, and dumping it into the pit, dousing the flames.
"Alright! See you in the morning!" Helen said cheerfully. "OK! Good night!" Everyone chirped before heading off to the cabins, go sleep for the night. Leo watched as they all walked off "That means you too...new Camper..." Moondrop said from behind him. The blonde boy jumped back, terrified of how fast Moondrop could move...without him hearing. "A-Alright, I'm going...where do I go?" He asked The robot. Moondrop pointed in the direction the kids went. Leo gave a nervous smile and carefully ran away from him
When he was far enough away, Leo grimaced, if Moondrop was on patrol, how could he get into the woods?