The next morning, Arianna was splayed out on the cave floor, having rolled around several times in the sleep she'd drifted in and out restlessly all night. As the light from the rising sun filtered into the cave, her eyes fluttered open and awoke with a groan, which deepened as she took in her surroundings and the dirt and mud now smeared all over herself.
"Oh gods, I was hoping it was all a nightmare," she moaned. Taking a few moments to breathe deeply and suppress the tears forming at the corners of her eyes, the princess composed herself as best she could and got back to her feet. Walking out of the cave, she took a look around and tried to remember which way she came from, so she wouldn't end up going in a circle. But it was impossible to tell; everything looked exactly the same, and it had been dark when she'd arrived at the cave.
"Damn it all," Arianna spat, before taking another calming breath, "Okay, okay, it doesn't matter. There have to be people looking for me by now - I was supposed to get home last night, after all. Father must have sent out search parties, and offered a huge reward for my return. I'm sure if I keep going, I'm bound to run into someone who will help me."
A sudden rumbling interrupted Arianna's hopeful musings, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since midday the day before.
"And maybe I can finally find some food along the way," she added with a mutter. With that, she picked a random direction and started walking, trying to hold onto the confident hope that she'd find anything that could help her.
And this time, surprisingly, she was right. For soon, Arianna came across...