Things are found most often, right after you stop looking.
Nico was finally ready to admit it. He was lost, and had been for an hour. He leaned against a tree, rubbing his eyes and groaning. Why did Chiron have to pair him with Percy? Why did they even have to start this stupid amped up scavenger hunt anyways? Something rustled and he brought his hand to his side where his stygian iron sword was sheathed. He paused, not even daring to breathe. A twig snapped, somewhere off to his right, and with the hiss of metal sliding against metal, he drew the wicked blade.
You know how in the horror films, the victim always calls out, "Who's there?", right before the bad guy jumps them and they die a brutal death? That was exactly the kind of scene he was trying to avoid. He crept around the tree and saw… nothing.
He was beginning to think that he had imagined it, when the hairs stood up on the back of his neck and he turned around in time to see a giant bird like, thing coming towards him, fangs bared, claws aimed for his heart. He managed to move out of the way just enough for it to miss, scoring a deep cut down his arm with its razor sharp talons. Luckily, it was his left arm. Not-so-luckily, his arm went limp, a red tinge forming around his vision. Nico hissed in pain and shook it off, diving out of the way of another aerial attack. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, chasing away the pain, and he brought up his sword, lashing out at the monster. He hit it, barely. It squawked angrily and made a dive for his head.
Nico swiped several more times, but it kept dodging. One random thought made its way through his mind. A bird wouldn't step on, and break, a twig. Before he could ponder this further, an attack made it perilously close to his left eye. He stumbled backwards, and ran into a tree. Not good. On one side there was a ravine, on the other there was a boulder. Funny, he didn't think he had moved that much. Today was full of surprises.
He raised his sword defensively and prepared for it to swoop, when a big black mass of fur jumped out and tackled the bird creature. Nico just stood there, holding a sword, mouth agape, as Percy climbed down from Mrs. O' Leary.
"Not such a bad partner now, am I?" Percy asked teasingly. Nico put his sword down and rolled his eyes.
"I never said you were." Nico replied innocently. Then he added under his breath, "I may have thought it though." If Percy heard that, he didn't respond, and since Percy isn't that tactful, we must assume that he didn't hear it. Instead he took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it, squinting to make out the ancient greek letters.
"So now that's over, we need to get an apple." Percy read off of the list. Nico snorted.
"Seriously? If it's that easy can't we just sneak into the kitchen and…" He trailed off. Percy looked at him.
"If you decide to take a trip, I had no way of stopping you." Percy said meaningfully. Nico smiled and let himself be pulled into the shadows. The kitchens were empty. Everyone was in the forest after all. Nico crept up and grabbed an apple out of one of the crates and shadow traveled back. Well he tried to. About halfway there, it felt like someone snatched him up and tossed him away, and he was falling like a meteor towards the earth, still in complete soul-sucking darkness. He was fine with the darkness, but the falling, not so much. Color and light returned with a vengeance, leaving him blinking and momentarily blind. He heard voices murmuring in excitement and… fear?
The first thing he saw, was the apple he was holding. He was standing, amazingly enough, in a large room, that was actually quite dimly lit. Nico blinked and looked around.
"We're not in Kansas anymore." Nico muttered under his breath.