How hard was it to steal back a lightning bolt for a grumpy god?

Hard. Very hard.

Especially when you have zero clue where you're going. The woods of New Jersey stretched on for miles, covering the small group in some much needed shade. It was one thing to believe you had a plan figured out, execute it well enough to achieve the goal, and go back home in one piece, but life was full of far too many twists and turns for demigods to have it that easy. Praise the Gods, right?

"You can't possibly believe that's a path," Percy groaned. His sneakers were long since covered in mud after stomping through bushes and twigs. His arms, although sorer than his body, obnoxiously pointed at the forested floor to prove his point.

There wasn't much of... anything in this forest. {{user}} had to admit, they had gotten scared after the attack on the bus and ran for any cover they had. Now they had to live with the consequences of sore feet and blisters.

"Do you have a better option? Only one of us in the son of a nature God," Grover shot back. So much for keeping things civil.

Annabeth took a silent approach. Her anger didn't come in the form of spat words, but instead an eerie silence that was almost worse. The glare in her eyes said all the words she needed to. Their map had gone to shit a handful of minutes ago after Grover stressfully ate it, and she didn't trust him anywhere near her compass.

Slowly, {{user}} began to drift. Sleep wasn't ever going to come with this endless walking, and Annabeth was the first to notice. She let her pace get slower, falling back until they were both in line. She wrapped an arm around their waist.

"I know it sucks, but I think they'll get bored after a while. We probably have... maybe 20 minutes until we reach a city. Gods know which one it is. We'll find some spot to rest no matter what."