He felt like he was drowning.
The air was wet and heavy and the air that stirred it seemed more like the current of a river than the life giving breath of wind he was so used to. The toothy, tongueless mountains seemed to snarl down at him, framed by the queerly lit sky.
Go home, son of the desert, they seemed to snarl down at him with a hiss of falling rock and gravel. His hooves, meant for finding purchase on soft sand, danced uneasily across the loose shale that threatened his footing her. His body hugged close to the side of the mountain. The molten gold of his coat was dimmed by dirt and darkened with sweat that had more to do with fear than heat.
He couldn't breathe.
The clouds rolled closer, robbing the sun of it's strength. Caged, boxed in, Vadim could hardly bring himself to move. Then, slowly, he felt the wind begin to rise. He could feel it first played with the thin strands of his tail. Then the cooling fingers as it brushed across his prespiration-damp body. The chill was welcome. Despite the water hanging heavy in the air the wind seemed to claw it's way into his mouth and nose, driving down his throat it thrust open his lung. Drawing a deep, gasping breath he surged forward along the trail.
Though the mountains were strangers to him, he was no fool when it came to dangerous weather. The wind could rip him from the precarious trail he traveled on as quickly as it had freed him from his paralysis. The sound of his hooves was almost lost in the wind. Then a shadow, darker than the storm clouds, drew his attention upward. Dark wings against dark clouds but a bright bodhy like a stray ray of light- whether moonlight or sunlight, Vadim didn't care. He followed the equine's flight path, descending unsteadily, until it dissappeared around the jagged curve of the mountain. Then he picked his way further along the path, head bowed against the treacherous wind and eyes fixed on his hooves.
A moment later he rounded a jut of rock and nearly found himself knocked from the ledge by the sudden backbeat of wings. He staggered, caught himself, and pressed close to the rock. He could just see around the pegasus' body to the narrow ledge and twisted stand of trees that offered some small windbreak.
"Is there enough shelter to share?" He called above the rising storm, casting a wary eyes up to the sky that had changed it's temperament so suddenly.
[@Valerian I hope that's okay!]
