I'm not lost....

Aliana didn't know where she was. She told Kitty to go to the Music Room, but maybe Kitty thought this was a faster route. Needless to say, Aliana was lost, and Kitty was no help. The St. Bernard, laid down on Aliana's feet and refused to get up. "Kitty!" Aliana snapped, "Please, just take me to the music room!" Kitty didn't budge. The blind girl sighed and sat down, Kitty still on her feet, "If we die out here, it's all your fault."

Adan just couldn't stay away from the woods, could he? The boy walked along with his many blueprints at hand, whistling a tune from some old sitcom from the 50s. He was just about ready to build when he spotted a girl speaking to a St. Bernard. "Kitty", she had called it. It was quite a peculiar name for such a...dog. Adan frowned and kept his distance. What? The guy stood at 6'2", had more than a few piercings, and a couple of tattoos. Any person in their right mind would be freaked if they saw some guy looking like an escaped convict with luscious locks approach them in the middle of the woods. However, the girl looked fairly lost.
"Are...Are you alright?" He called from where he was, a good twenty or thirty feet away.

Alaina jumped at the sound of another's persons voice. "Uh," she replied "not really, I was sorta going to go to the music room. Kitty here messed up." She pat Kitty's head. Aliana probably wasn't the smartest telling a random person she was lost in the woods, she had heard Little Red Riding Hood enough to know that people will take advantage of a innocent girl. She didn't mention it though, because Kitty would protect her, maybe.

"I could, um, help you if you'd like." Adan suggested, walking towards the girl slowly. When he reached her, he was still a few feet away.
"Only if you want me to. I'm not too creepy." An attempt to lighten the mood could be either taken as just that or a threat that caused this girl to pull out a whistle and pepper-spray him. And, trust him. Being maced was no fun at all. He offered a smile just in case she thought that he was a creeper. Then, he noticed something. Why hadn't she looked at him? Why did she need the dog to help...Ooooh. Duh.

Aliana sighed "I guess I'll have to take your word on that." She stood up "I'm Alaina. This is Kitty." She said pointing to her dog " if you try anything she'll take a bite out of your leg. I usually don't accept help from strangers, but since Kitty's being difficult, I guess I'll have to take you up on that offer." Kitty stood up next to Alaina, she said Kitty's name, and if Kitty is good, Kitty gets treats.

Adan smiled awkwardly at the dog. He loved animals, you see? But normally animals didn't like him.
"Adan Lightfoot. I only really have one good one. She can bite all she wants." Adan's tone was joking, but his face was serious. He could still remember that car crushing his leg. He could hear the snap...Ugh. Not a good memory at all. He rolled up his blueprints and stuck them into the back pocket of his faded jeans. He looked at the dog for a moment, awkwardly, and pointed while he walked forward.
"Uh...This way, Kitty and Aliana."

Aliana gripped Kitty's harness and let her lead. "So." Aliana started, "Just to save you the trouble for asking. I am completely blind. I was born with Leber's congenital amaurosis. I do not see in my dreams. I am happy being blind. I can read braille. Et cetera, et cetera." Aliana knew that people were afraid to ask questions, as if she would burst out crying at the first mention of her blindness, "So. What do you like to do?" she asked.

Thank the gods Aliana answered these unspoken questions to spare Adan the trouble. He probably would've never asked, thinking that it was rude, but now at least he had some incentive. Adan continued walking while he thought of an answer to her question. Well, there were a lot of answers for such a simple inquiry. What did Adan like to do?
"I like building things. Oh, and pranking, racing, and working." He shrugged. These activities pretty much describe him in a nutshell.

Aliana grinned, "I can honestly say I have not tried any of those. Then again, most of those required sight." Aliana fiddled with Kitty's harness. "I play the violin." she said finally. After all, it was only fair that Aliana share something about herself... well apart from being blind. Aliana didn't want people to only see her blindness. It's not like that's the only quality about her.

Adan frowned. He wasn't comfortable with so much talk having to do with disabilities. He was happy when the subject changed quickly to her being able to play a violin.
"Ah! Violin! You know, the last time I tried to play a violin, the thing spontaneously combusted." Adan sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, my sister has a sick sense of humor. It's a good thing I'm fireproof, though."

Aliana laughed, "I'm sure that made you blazing mad." then she paused, "Oh my god, that was a horrible joke. I am so sorry you had to witness that" People always told Aliana that she wasn't funny. They were right. At least she didn't say 'If its not Baroque, don't fix it' That would've been a nightmare. Maybe she just ought to stay with playing the violin. At least that didn't cause people pain.

Adan was pleased when she laughed at his little story. You know, not many people appreciated his short tales nowadays. He was even happier when the laughter was followed by a cheesy joke.
"I was more than blazing mad. I was steamed." Adan said casually with his hands in his pockets. His favorite type of humor, yes. Good quality old-fashioned jokes were hard to come by.

Aliana smiled, "My father uses puns like crazy. I don't understand why other people groaned when they heard one, I thought they were funny. Though he always said they were punny." Aliana missed her father at times, he always seemed to look at the bright side of things, no matter how dark. She also missed Maine, and the smell of spring, and her old room. She was in a better place now, safer, Aliana knew that. Yet there was still that yearn for home, where she could be with her father and step-mother. Aliana realized that she had zoned out, and quickly diverted her attention back to the present, hoping her companion didn't notice.

"Hey, look on the bright side. They got you to laugh. That's all that matters, right?" Adan explained as he walked along a natural path that was a shortcut to the cabin courtyard. Once there, the Music Room would be easier to get to. He whistled his favorite song while he walked in a steady rhythm. He loved thinking about positive things---Especially in times like this. All of this kidnapping and killing could really hurt a guy that has seen a little bit too much of the real world. Now as the song Carry On ended in his mind, Imagine appeared. Imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you try... His sister used to sing this very song to him during times of struggle. He found comfort in it. Soon, his reminiscence session ended in order to listen to his newly found acquaintance.

"Exactly." Aliana said, and heard him start to whistle, "What song is that? I'm not familiar with it. Then again, I'm not that familiar with many songs from this century, and a good chunk of the last." Aliana never really listened to Pop or Hip hop, Rap, Rock. She preferred classical, Bararoque and Romantic. Mozart, Bach, and Beetoven. Also Vivaldi, Hellendaal and many others. That was just the way she was, a blind classical geek, to use the term loosely.

He smiled, appreciating her knowledge of the classical genre in the back of his mind. His main priority, however, was busy concentrating on how to answer her question. He could always just say the title. That's what he normally would have done, being bland and pointblank. It was his usual. Or he could also describe the story behind the song. Not the one necessarily connected to his life, but the actual theme the band had in mind. He thought it better to focus in on her question's context: She was asking the title.
"Carry On by Fun. It's my favorite song." Adan sighed and trudged along the path. Usually most of the campers around here stepped with easy, quiet steps. Then there was Adan, who seemed to find every twig, dead leaf, or any other natural object that creates a loud racket. It wasn't that the son of Hephaestus was incredibly clumsy. He just wasn't afraid of anything that was attracted to the ruckus.

Aliana heard the crunching of leaves and snap of twigs, something that was not rare when Kitty was near. St. Bernard's aren't known for their quietness. "I feel like I've asked you so many questions, and you don't know all that much about me except for the..." Aliana motioned to her eyes. "So, have at it."

"Oh! Um..." Adan's dark eyes (it was still summer) darted around awkwardly. Asking questions was something he specifically learned not to do, as it was a waste of precious time. Considering that his life was full of criminal activity and running from the feds? Nope. Questions, bad. Silence, good. But if she was asking for him to participate in whatever game this was then...what was he to do? Throw pocket sand in her face then try to run as her horse/dog attacks him?
"Uh...favorite color?"

"My, that's a tough one." Aliana paused for a moment, "Honestly? I'm going to have to go with Lavender. Mainly because of the name, plus, I've smelt lavender before." Aliana took a deep breath. She could remember the smell of lavender, the way the leaves felt. If she had to describe it, she could. It was like walking in the rain. It was strong. It was humble. That was lavender.

Well, after the question left his lips, Adan could have politely drowned himself in Zephyros Creek. "Suh-weet Hephaestus, that was a dumb question." He mumbled to himself. What kind of sicko would ask a blind person their favorite color? He had to recover in some way...He didn't know. Perhaps Aliana would change the subject or just pepper spray him to get this allover with.

Aliana laughed, "Okay, it sort of was. Just be glad that you're not my cousin. She asked if blindness effected my ability to drive a car. She was eighteen. She is quite possibly the most ignorant, irritating person I've ever met." Aliana sighed, part of her worried if she was talking too much. She couldn't tell if Adan thought if she was annoying, and she desperately hoped she wasn't.

OOC: We should add some drama :3

Adan let out a sheepish laugh, unable to determine whether or not he was getting under the girl's skin. The story of Aliana's cousin was actually pretty funny. However, her sigh seemed to be for more than just the tale. Did he cause that? If only he had more social skills. If only he could carry on a conversation without sounding like an idiot asking the obvious. "Yeah...wow." He cleared his throat before continuing, face slowly turning red. "So..."

Ooc: Drama, you say? Perhaps a monster attack? Or something similar to the sort?

OOC: A monster could work...

BIC:

Aliana akwardly swept away a strand of hair that had fallen in her face. She wasn't sure how to continue the conversation. It's not like she had much practice. She quickly went through conversational topics in her head, when all of a sudden Kitty stopped.
It wasn't like her to just randomly stop, unless they were at a cross walk or approaching a road. Aliana was fairly certain there weren't any roads in the forest.
Then, she heard a soft growl from Kitty. Aliana moved her hand to Kitty's head, where she could feel the ears flattened back.
"Crap." Aliana muttered. The only other time she heard Kitty get this upset, was the first time she was attacked by a monster.

Adan froze, his heart slowing then speeding up in anxiety like it had in the good ol' days. Though in the good ol' days his life was constantly in peril and he had to kill several baddies in order to have just a second of relaxation before the next came in and decided to destroy his life. Anyway. Adan looked at Aliana's dog--what was its name again? Kitty.--and took this time to register his surroundings just as Kitty had taken the time to do. He listened to her low growl and tried to focus his eyes on the same place Kitty's bore but saw nothing.

At first.

He smelled it before he could see it, that foul odor reaching is nose so suddenly that it brought tears to his eyes and made him gag. Now, Adan had a strong stomach. Anything that made him nearly throw up his breakfast, lunch, and dinner from yesterday had to seriously be bad news. However, this was not all. When Adan saw it his stomach yelped and left all together. A creature so vile and...cowlike. Something Adan had only seen in those old Greek stories lying around in the Camp library. He stared at the katobleps with blurred eyes, his heart rate beating faster than average. He glanced at his feet to see the roots of some strange plant wrapping around his sneakers. "Aliana," He gulped down what little courage he had left. "We need to run. Now."

The stench that the monster gave off made Aliana want to gag. She couldn't tell what kind of monster it was, all monsters looked the same to her. All she knew was that Adan sounded scared, and that was all she needed to know.

It took her a minute to get Kitty moving, mainly because Kitty seemed to think that growling would scare them off. But, after Aliana almost yelled, "Move!", Kitty broke into a trot. Aliana wasn't very comfortable running with a seeing eye dog, it was hard to keep a steady grip on the handle, along with having even less of an idea of where she was going. Aliana tried to grip the handle as hard as she could,  squeezing it hard enough to feel a pulse in her hand. Aliana didn't know if Adan was following her, she hoped he was.

All of a sudden, Aliana tripped on something, the harness ripping out of her hand. She tumbled down what seemed to be a very short hill, finally landing in a bed of leaves.

"Kitty?" Aliana called, her heart beating out of her chest. "Adan?" Aliana felt something wrap around her ankles, and the putrid smell growing stronger. Aliana pulled a small knife out of her belt loop, kept there for emergencies. She wasn't about to be left completely helpless.