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The problem was that for some reason, Kush was unbelievably awkward in this stage of growth. He wasn't a foal anymore but he wasn't exactly fully grown, and none of his limbs seemed to be the right size or respond how he wanted them to. He was lucky if he only tripped over himself and face-planted five times in a day. And it was making his flying lessons incredibly difficult.

He'd asked his mom for advice, but he couldn't seem to put it into practice. She didn't seem overly concerned with his difficulty (aside from the distress it was causing him) and said he'd grow into his wings and everything would be fine. It was just... so... frustrating. 'Trei was doing so much better at it than he was, and Kush positively hated the idea of getting left behind when his brother got to go out on his first flying adventure. Most of the time they were pretty much inseparable...

So Kushanu had said he was going out for a bit (it wasn't too unusual for him to go out on brief excursions on his own) and wandered a ways off to practice his flight maneuvers on his own so he could figure out what it was he was doing wrong without anyone there to distract him. He'd heard there was going to be some bad weather that evening so he hadn't actually intended to take off, or fly out very far if he managed that... but when he found himself off the ground and not falling back down shortly after he was far too giddy to pay attention to how long he'd been up... or how far he'd gone out...

The storm winds caught him and blew him every which way, and it was all he could do to try and stay aloft and not smack into a tree, much less try to steer himself home. Eventually his untrained wings just gave out, however, and he tumbled to the ground. He would have stood up... but everything hurt, and the world wouldn't stop spinning...

He'd just stay put for now. He couldn't have been blown all that far from home, right? And one of the herd's guards would have been patrolling the area and seen him get blown away, surely. Someone would be out to get him in no time, and he'd see a healer, and his parents would worry over him and reprimand him and he was so not going out to do anything like this again without someone else there until he actually knew what he was doing and...

And his head really hurt.

"Not... dead..." he repeated softly, pausing for a moment before the rest of what she said really registered. "I... wasn't planning... just... I was flying..." Kush finished a bit plaintively, a little too disoriented from his ordeal to realize at first that this really was someone he didn't know at all. "First time... didn't get back down before the wind got me," he added by way of a more reasonable explanation.

Finally he managed to shift his legs under him and attemted to stand unsteadily, the action revealing his awkward, gangly mid-teen body and slightly over sized wings. The autumn colored male then blinked his silver eyes upon actually spotting Wolf... as much as her image was swimming at the moment he did realize he didn't know who she was. She didn't even look like anyone he was familiar with... just how far down the mountain had he been thrown? He was distracted from his musing by his legs trying to wobble out from under him and he sat down rather hard as opposed to falling down.

"I'm... Kushanu. Um. Where am I?" Peering around revealed that he didn't recognize the types of trees here, even... he couldn't really have been blown all the way off Islagiatt territory, could he? ...Right? The idea set his heart pounding nervously, which only made his head hurt more and caused him to wince at the pain. And the way his wing was throbbing he didn't think he even wanted to try and move it yet... though that was the only thing that felt like it might be broken so far. "Am I... am I still in the mountains?"

Kush would likely contest to his dying day that while trying to fly in the storm had been a dumb thing to do, it had never been his intention to get stuck in it in the first place! In fact he really hadn't believed he'd manage to get off the ground, much less stay in the air long enough for it to be an issue. It was bad that it happened, but it was unintentional, so it was Not His Fault. Or so he believed.

As it was Wolf didn't actually make any commentary on it and so trying to figure out how to articulate that when he wasn't entirely sure which direction his body thought up was had not become an issue. Trying to make this thoughts coherent when Wolf elaborated on where he was... that was a different matter entirely. For a long moment he just gawked with wide eyes at her, almost hoping she'd say she'd been teasing even though he was sure she wasn't. Then he groaned and all but collapsed in on himself. "Oh spirits..."

Certainly they had been on the lower slopes of the mountain, for the higher reaches where the majority of his family resided wasn't really safe for little ones. But to find that he'd somehow tumbled all the way out of the mountains... it would take a lot longer for anyone to find him than he'd thought. And what was he supposed to do in the mean time? He had no idea where he was, how to get home, or if it was even safe for him to try and move very far!

"The first time I manage to fly, I get stuck in a storm, and blown probably at least a day away from home. The one time I don't trip over myself and fall on my face I get kicked in the teeth by fate! AUGH!" He wanted to scream, or cry, or both, but neither would help right now. But what could he do? Nobody taught him about something like this! "I... do you...? Is there... any decent shelter around here?" Maybe he could walk, maybe, and at least get out of the storm. Maybe by then his head would feel better and he could try to think.

Now that the details of his situation had really hit home the only thing Kush could think to do was... well, try to figure out what to do. One thing that his uncle Ambroise had drilled into his head rather decidedly during training was that panic never did anything to help you in survival situations! The larger problem of how to get home wasn't something easily resolved, so the thing to do was... just take care of the little things of right now, like getting out of the wind and rain as soon as possible. He could do that, right?

Well, he hoped he could. When Wolf asked if he could walk all the smaller aches and pains of the rest of his bruised body made themselves known over the throbbing of his head and wing. In particular one knee and ankle hurt abominably, but they were both on the same leg, so that at least left him three to try and hobble around on. He stood and wobbled rather precariously, hissing and jerking in pain when he applied too much weight to the injured limb. The sudden movement sent his head spinning again and he was forced to close his eyes and grit his teeth through the moment before everything settled again.

Well one leg at least badly sprained, but the others seemed ok. He was probably incredibly lucky to be alive, much less in mostly one piece. He opened his eyes again, a determined look planting itself on his face that wasn't going to leave any time soon, and took one awkward hobble-hop forward. "...I can sort of walk?" He wasn't going to be able to do this on his own... he was also incredibly lucky someone had noticed him so soon, too, because he needed any help she was willing to offer right now. "Can you, maybe, walk with me over there? Everything keeps spinning..." Maybe he could at least avoid toppling over on top of her from dizziness on his own, but either way, he hoped she'd at least be willing to stick around a little longer.

Close contact with another body wasn't in the least bit foreign to Kush; he had a large family, even just among his parents and siblings, much less the rest, and he was used to a great deal of cuddles and playing and whatever else. It did feel a bit awkward given the situation and the fact that it was a stranger, but he was far to focused on moving forward to dwell on it for the moment.

It was a difficult, slow, and painful trip; all factors that made the distance traversed seem at least ten times farther than it actually was. He was forced to pause no few times to catch his breath and wait for things to stop spinning again, but they finally reached the rocks and he leaned against them gratefully for a while afterward. It was good to be out of the wind, but he'd probably ought to try and find a slightly less wet spot here as well. Even if that wasn't possible... at least he wasn't laying in the middle of a field somewhere now.

The dizzy spells seemed to be lessening as well, and it was easier to focus his vision and actually take a look around now. He could make out the outline of the mountains, not too distant but obviously much farther than he would have thought before his makeshift rescuer had explained where he was. Unfortunately... the distance also meant it might take a number of days before his family or any of the scouts found him, rather than hours.

"My herd... they'll send people out to look for me. They probably won't realize I went this far though..." He peered around to see if there was any sign of a more comfortable shelter anywhere around, but it was too dark and the rain too heavy to make out any real details for now. "It might be a few days before they find me..." Would she be willing to stick around and help for that long, or was he going to have to figure something else out? He didn't want to be a burden, but the idea of being stuck alone... especially at a time like this... was enough to make him want to have a nervous breakdown! Not that he was willing to show it, but, he couldn't hide it from himself even if he could hide it from her for the time being.

Kushanu wished he could take a good shake, but between the knowledge that he would shortly be drenched again and that he would likely just make himself collapse if he tried it, he found he was less than concerned with doing so. He also wished he could make himself act as alertly as she seemed to be, but he was doubly tired from trying to not crash in the storm and the long, awkward walk here. If he didn't have so many things hurting no matter how he tried to shift he would be finding it very difficult not to doze off.

Ears and soon his head swiveled to the sound of her voice. Her distant and off-handed attitude might have bothered him more if she hadn't seemed so keen on helping him. As it was he was sort of grateful in a way that he had run into someone so calmly practical in a situation like this. It was actually helping him to keep from panicking.

It took him a moment to realize what she was up to with the branch, but he offered a sincere, if pained, smile as she dragged it back. "Thank you..." When she released it above his back however, a stray offshoot branchlet jarred his injured wing. The shock of pain made him jerk away, which at the moment mostly meant downward, and he went down on his knees rather harder than he would have liked. He winced and gritted his teeth for a long moment before groaning and shaking his head. "I am... definitely not flying again any time soon..."

Since he was already down anyway and had already needed to rest he shifted his legs to a slightly more comfortable position and laid himself down on the ground. The branch wasn't blocking all of the rain, maybe not more than half of it, but it was still better than nothing. And the angle it was resting against the rock now that he'd shifted left some room beside him. "I think there's enough room down here, if you want to join me."

He was finding it even more difficult to keep himself awake now that he was off his feet. Still... circumstance and a throbbing wing kept him from actually dozing off for the most part. "Do you know if there are any... healers around here? I should... probably try to find one... after this lets up." For the most part, but his speech was a little broken and delayed now, an obvious sign that he was trying to fight off the urge to sleep.

Watch. Yes, someone should keep watch. He wouldn't have though any sensible creature would be out wandering around in this sort of weather, but then, normally he was sensible and he'd still managed to get himself into this mess, however unintentionally... and there was no guarantee everyone in the area was a sensible individual anyway, was there?

"Wake me... if you sense anything amiss. Or... if the storm lets up enough... for better travel. Try to find a healer... or a better place to shelter. And I can put markers out for search parties. They'll be... making plans to try and find me by now, at the least."

Whether she would wake him when the storm let up, or if the storm would even let up before morning, he had no idea. But he had a plan of sorts, and pain and exhaustion were impossible to fend off any longer. Kush slipped in a dark and somewhat fitful sleep.