Alder shifted as yet another gust of wind beat against his golden scales. His pale wings curled inwards as the cold crawled under his scales. Even his tail remained tucked to his side. Needless to say, Alder had given up flying a long time ago. The Sandwing wasn't use to such fridge temperatures. Then again, what should he have expected out of the Jade Mountains range? For it not to be so cold? Well, that was partly correct. Yes, he did expect this weather, yet he didn't believe the others when they said it would be so blistering.
Thankfully, the Jade mountain wasn't his final destination. The rocky, barren land was no place to live. Alder would not eat one more piece of bark, which was the only foodlike substance he had found. The rare goat was a treasure. His final destination was a patch of land near the temperate Rainforest kingdom and out of the mountain range. A tall order for the small Sandwing. One he wasn't sure if he could fulfill.
Alder had no guts. Nothing gave him a reason to fight. Most of the training his parents tried with him ended with Alder flopped down into the sand, pinned under his opponent. His parents once mentioned his flight or fight instincts were broken to be only flight. Even if the statement was true, it hurt. It stung the Sandwing, but he accepted it as fact. He would rather talk or run than fight. It was certainly safer and promised a longer life. While others may have a death wish running into this blasted war, Alder was going to stray far, far away from it.
This time, he had drive. If he had to crawl over a mountain to get away from the fighting, he would. Freezing to death sounded a lot better than being cut into ribbons.Just as he thought this, he heard the telltale signs of something big approaching. Considering he hadn't heard anything larger than a goat for miles, he was startled and then panicking as the noises increased volume.
Rocks were his only cover. The Sandwing had nothing but scales in various shades of gold. Gold did not blend well with shades of brown or shades of grey. Alder let something out that sounded like a mix between a wheeze and gasp. He was done for. The best he could could up with was squeezing himself in between two boulders and hoping whoever or whatever was coming would ignore him. It hurt, but he managed to tuck himself in a crevice.
(Sorry this took ten years to come up with.
lozi )