ten

                                    

                                          
NOT AGAIN
Ariana woke up suddenly, the sun shining profoundly on her face. She the early morning sun shining through the trees, making its way towards her face. 
She stretched and yawned, still feeling tired and sore from the long day (or days? She hadn't been keeping track of time) of walking. 
The forest was still and peaceful around her, no sign that she was even in a dangerous place yet. 
As she slowly got up, groaning a little when her joints protested the movement, her eyes scanned the area. 
There didn't seem to be anything of note in the direction she had previously been traveling, so she set off in the opposite direction instead.
As she started walking in the opposite direction, she saw a slight change in the texture of the ground up ahead. 
Instead of the hard earth and damp leaves she had been walking on, it was much softer and there was a hint of moisture in the air.
Ariana walked for a little longer, her head turning back and forth as she kept a lookout for potential threats. 
As she turned her head, she caught a small glimpse of something in the understory of the forest. It was quick, but it definitely looked like something moving. 
"Huh?" Mumbled Ariana under her breath, looking around the area.
The seventeen year old slowed to a stop and peered ahead, her eyes narrowing to try and see whatever it was that had caught her eye. Then, she heard a rustling from somewhere nearby.
Ariana heard another rustling, and she quickly turned to look in the direction it came from. Her eyes widened when she realized that the source was Skye, her pet hellhound, emerging from the undergrowth. 
Her eyes lighted up as she saw her. Ariana hadn't seen her friend since she had left her at Camp Jupiter before her, Frank, Percy and Hazel boarded the Argo II.
Skye was a birthday present from her father (one of the best gifts she had ever received), she loved the hellhound even if she constantly stole her shoes.
"Skye, come here girl."
The hellhound gladly agreed, wagging her tail as she pounced on over. Ariana knelt to the ground, storming her soft fur. 
The girl had no idea why her hellhound was in the middle of a potentially dangerous forest, Ariana hadn't the slightest idea.
As she looked down, Ariana noticed something, dangling from her hellhound collar (that had been sparkled, thanks to Drew) a letter.
Eyes furrowed, Ariana unclasped the letter from the collar. Opening it up it read:
CAVE.
As her eyes scanned the contents of the letter, one word that was written in there caused her heart to skip a beat.
Ariana's eyes widened. What did this mean? She folded letter back up again, slipping it into her pocket as she looked up at Skye.
"Who gave you this?" She spoke softly, as if asking a toddler a question.
Skye titled her head before turning around and running into the shadows. Ariana sighed, not knowing what to do.
Unsurprisingly, she didn't know what the letter meant nor who it was from. CAVE. In all capitals, nearly printed so it was easy to read.
Anxiousness was the only way Ariana could possibly describe her feelings. She felt stupid, like   she should've already found the stupid rod her father had so stupidly lost.