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The reflection of the lake surface caught Nadia's eye as she approached high above. She held on tightly as her gryphon began its steep descent toward the edge of the lake. The gryphon landed just short of a flight master's outpost and approached on foot. Upon stopping, Nadia climbed off and hoisted up her pack. She took a deep breath and sighed watching the cold puff of mist disperse into the air. "I should have dressed more warmly for this."

She began walking North heading toward the gorge.

Nadia stood up in place. Doing an about face, she backed away from the tree and readied her sword. She backed up turning to continue running toward the North. As she moved, she dropped a slight swirl of air onto the snow as a trap for her follower. Nadia watched the area behind her hoping to catch a glimpse of her pursuer.

Turning and running, Nadia attempted to speed up her trek toward the edge of the forest. The cold was starting to become biting but she could still move well enough. She sheathed her sword to free her hands, then folded her arms in a failed attempt to keep warm. Small clouds of air came with every word from her mouth, "S-should r-really have d-dressst m-more warm-mly for th-this." Well at least it isn't a blizzard, and the library should be visible soon.

It was cold, to say the least.
"Goddamn freezing," Dustin thought bitterly, teeth chattering as he furiously rubbed his exposed arms, "I really should've taken the long way around. I'll never get there if I freeze to death."
He gazed into the sky, watching puffy gray clouds form, spilling their load of fluffy precipitation onto the world below. Dustin glared at them. They were laughing, laughing at his misery, stirring the waters...
There was a lake up ahead. Dustin at first did not notice it; completely frozen over, the ice was so clear that it blended in perfectly with the snow around it. As Dustin approached he accidentally stepped on an outlying chunk of ice. It cracked under his weight, revealing a small trickle of crystal water as blue as the sky on a clear summer day. He bent down, examining the liquid carefully. What if it had been cursed? Tempting travelers into drinking from the lake, then killing those minutes later with a hidden poison?
Dustin shuddered and backed away hurriedly. If it was one thing he hated it was magic. Magic was the reason he was traveling...why he was traveling alone.
Mainly that he was traveling through the Air kingdom. And if it was one thing that Dustin loathed, it was heights. God, he hated heights. And flying.
But it was either that or risk another two days of traveling around the coastline, which was where he was attacked last time. Dustin knew his safest bet was to go inland where there was cover; but now that didn't seem like such a good idea, as seen in his frozen skin and runny nose. He was going to die of a fever within the hour, he was sure of it.
Until then, Dustin needed to rest. He was getting oddly tired from walking all day. Perhaps hiking up the steep mountain trails had finally taken its toll. Whatever the reason, Dustin was not picky in choosing his place to rest. A nearby tree, frozen to the core, proved a comfy place to curl up and recuperate.
And he was so tired...
Dustin closed his eyes, body slowly relaxing as he gave up against the cold.

His eyes were closed for what seemed like only a minute. As his fever intensified in the cold, time seemed to play funny tricks.
However long it had been, Dustin’s eyes fluttered open to the sound of crushing snow and a scolding feminine voice. Logic sat in the back of his mind, telling him that the girl was right—what the heck was he doing, sleeping out here in this weather?—but Delirium, which had a nice comfy chair propped up at the front of Dustin’s consciousness, quickly took over the situation.
As soon as his numbed limbs would allow, Dustin sat up in the snow. A wide frown crossed his face; his cheeks and nose were stained red, brought on by his growing temperature. His eyes were weary and slit, showing his exhaustion.
Quick as lightning, Dustin reached back and unsheathed his broadsword, joints snapping in place as he thrust the pointed tip just short of the girl’s throat.
”Back away!” he hissed furiously, ”I’ll kill you! I swear I will!”
A few tentative moments passed as Dustin held his position, hand shivering madly. Then, with one last sigh of fatigue, his emerald eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell, unconscious, in a heap on the frozen soil.

Everything turned into a blur. Dustin was aware of bits and pieces; being dragged through the snow, the sun glaring annoyingly against the blanket of white; trees suddenly blocking out the sky, branches heavy with precipitation; then the transition into a place with no sky at all...
The girl had left when Dustin awoke.
Head pounding, body weighted in place from exhaustion, he didn't bother moving. He wouldn't have been able to go very far anyways. But already, as Dustin examined the cave walls and the small pile of drool collected on the ground by his head, he knew exactly what he had to do.
He had to get out of here. There was a chance that she was attempting to keep him safe, by why risk it? Dustin knew that even the good-natured could not be trusted in the long run.
The desire to leave quickly vanished, however, when he realized how much warmer it was in the cave than outside. Dustin closed his eyes, mouth twitching to a feverish smile. He would escape later.
And he was out like a light once again.

((Sorry...can't do much else when you can't really move. xDD If you get stuck I can try to edit something...?))

((OOOH! *catches on with own idea* Improvision is fun stuff! 8D
...Although, Dustin is kinda knocked out again...am I allowed to add in something random? xD ))

Lily's suspicions were most likely right. For one, in this kind of environment, a cave so conveniently located surely would be inhabited by now? And the straw bedding that Dustin found so comfortable did not make its way in there by itself, did it?
We won't even get started about the "sticks" near the back of the cave. Hidden in the darkness was a large, picked-clean corpse of what was probably (at some point) a horse. However, due to its location, it would most likely not be seen unless a fire was lit...

((I'll change this if you had something else in mind. ^^; ))