I got bored and decided to write a one-shot, because I'm working on writing Rick's characters better. Just a little one-shot of when Annabeth realizes Percy is missing. Please, it would be amazingly awesome if you could give me some pointers on what the characters might do. Constructive critisism is highly appreciated. Oh, and tell me what character I should do next. Flames roast my marshmallows! Read on! I hope you like it.(It's short, I know)

When Annabeth woke up that frosty morning, her gut was tying itself in knots. Apprehension clamped down on her throat like a crocodile's jaws. Which, in turn, gave her a bad ache at the base of her neck. Pulling herself from her silver-gray bedsheets, Annabeth couldn't shake the ghost of foreboding breathing down her neck.

Her long jeans ruffled the glittering fall leaves on the ground, and her gray Nikes crunched the icy, brittle twigs. A fast, cold wind whistled past the cabins, and Annabeth snuggled into her black Polartec jacket. Despite being beaten up and worn down, the daughter of Athena found comfort in her old jacket. The less logical half of her mind imagined Drew Tanaka's face if anybody suggested she wear the jacket.

Quickly tip-toeing up the Big House's creaky wooden steps, she slipped into the sky-blue building and silenty forced the door closed. Most everybody- excluding the Apollo Cabin- would be asleep right now. Even the rest of the Athena Cabin was asleep. Annabeth was always an early bird, and she was having trouble concentrating, as she was being haunted by her instincts.

Yet, Annabeth had a trick up her sleeve that might calm her inner turmoil- hot chocolate. Hot chocolate just felt right at the moment, given the time of year. As she focused on making her chocolatey treat- stealing some of Chiron's secret stash- her bone chilling sense of utter loss dissipated like fog under a hot sun. It
remained in the darkest places, but was pushed away from the forefront of her mind by the sun's silky rays. Which, Annabeth liked a lot more.

The old screen door creaked, and Annabeth could hear muffled voices and laughter.

"Brings back good 'ole memories, doesn't it, Grover?" Annabeth quickly, almost instantly, identified her voice as Thalia's.

A boy, who had to be Grover, chuckled. "Remember Hoover Dam?" Annabeth felt a pang of jealousy that her friends had gone to a personal favorite of hers while she wasn't there. On a quest to save her, no less.

"I still want a dam t-shirt," Thalia's tone was shrill with amusement, as if that was a happy memory. The pair erupted into guffaws of laughter.

"Hey," Annabeth walked into the room, hugging her mug to her chest.

Grover's mouth dropped lower than goatly possible. "I want some!" He bleated.

"Grover, I didn't exactly plan for you." She sighed.

"Not cool!" He whined.

"Here." Thalia pulled a cookie from the jar on the table and tossed it like a frisbee. Grover hadn't being paying attention, so it hit him sqaure in the nose and the poor satyr was so startled he fell on his furry rump.

"Perfectly executed, my friend." Annabeth high-fived Thalia, who looked proud at
her random exhibition of skill. She plopped down on the couch right next to the daughter of Zeus.

"So, uh..." Awkwardly, Grover brushed off his remnants of his lost battle with a chocolate chip cookie.

"Now, Annabeth, shouldn't you be daydreaming about Jackson?" Thalia teased, poking my side. Her face suddenly felt hotter than humanly possible, and Grover must have caught how flustered she felt, because he was soon doubled over with insane laughter. Insane to hear, anyway, because it was a really odd barnyard animal sound.

Annabeth's earlier apprehension clung to the corners of her mind, but it no longer occupied her train of thought. Beautiful memories flashed by her eyes like speeding cars on a highway. To fast to recognize every detail, but slow enough for her heart to melt. Time sped by as her nostalgic conversation with two life-long friends turned her insides warm and fuzzy.

"Hey, shouldn't Percy be up by now?" Thalia asked.

"Lazy Seaweed Brain." Annabeth muttered. Checking the clock, it was about 10:03. Percy relied on his friends to wake him up, because he had a major malfunction with his alarm clock. Annabeth bought him one once, but it startled himso much in the mornings he sliced it in half. He may be the most oblivious guy alive, but he had deadly fast reflexes. Not that she'd ever tell him as much.

The three of them walked into the buzzing Camp Half-Blood pavilion. Exasperated from dodging and ultimately crashing into hurried campers, Thalia tapped her silver bracelet and Aegis spiraled into it's terrifying form. The crowds parted like the red sea, tripping over themselves. At last, they made it to Cabin 3.

For one of the Big Three, and an Olympian god, it was a modest cabin. It was built long and low, and it looked like it had been carved from the sea. If you listened closely, you could hear the salt water spring gushing. Whenever you opened the door, a rushing sea breeze greeted you. It was beautiful in it's own modest way, even if Annabeth preffered the Athena Cabin.

The haunting notion of something wrong, something misplaced or lost, sprang at her like a hunting lion looking for blood. A straightjacket of her own apprehensive instincts formed around her chest, only getting tighter.

And as the door swung open on a perfectly clean cabin, Annabeth doesn't recall falling to the ground, she doesn't recall her friends desperate expressions, or the orders sweeping from her tongue. The only thing she recognizes is the primal force of need, taking the place of her thoughts. Determination surged through her veins rather than her blood. Suddenly life was a violent hurricane, and a tidal wave swept her to the abyss.

Annabeth Chase searched the far corners of the U.S., riding the hurricane on a midnight black pegasus and living on a fault line that the son of the Earthshaker created.