There was very little worse in the world than waking up to a chilly rain, Fool's Gold thought. Warm days were best by far, when the sun reached the ground without the hindrance of clouds or wind soaking up the heat before it could get to his dark pelt and shiny scales. Winter days with snow weren't his favorite, but at least he could shake off the snow and even use it to stay warm if he found an old den hollowed out by someone else that had moved on. But rain soaked him to the bone. Rain made his hooves muddy. Cold rain, however, was the absolute worst. It soaked, it chilled, it got him dirty and grumpy. There was nothing good about it. It even killed off the flowers and buds if it was borderline freezing as it had a tendency to be in the spring.Today was turning out to be a pretty awful one. Fool's Gold had woken up to - you guessed it - cold rain. It wasn't even a misty drizzle, it was steady and heavy. Not quite a downpour and there was no thunder and lightning to go with it, so he had no reason not to go out into it other than he didn't feel like it. He tried to wait it out but eventually his stomach demanded he get up to find something to eat.
So here he was, munching on cold grass, standing in cold mud, cold. And wet, of course. Cold and went and not very happy about it. He lifted his head, his golden horn sending the water it was collecting right down to his forehead. He grimaced as the cold water trickled down his fur and he gave himself a shake to try to rid himself of the water. It was no use, though.
Grumbling softly, Fool's Gold set off to try to find a denser area of the woods to eat in. At least there the trees would be so thick that it would block most of the rain. He walked for a good hour, the wet slowly turning to damp and slowly, finally ending up dry. The walk had allowed his shorter fur to lose most of the water, but his mane was still heavy with it. Hopefully the rain would end by the time he was done eating so he wouldn't have to go back to his home soggy.
The spot he picked had a few low bushes with tasty looking berries on it, so Fool's Gold tucked in. It was a fairly bright spot in his day so far and he savored each and every one he ate among the leaves and scrub that he lowered his head to eat. The day had started off terrible but maybe now it was salvageable. Who knew berries could be so good?
After eating his fill, Fool's Gold was pleased to find he was mostly dry. The warmer air in the forest had fluffed up his mane to ridiculous volumes but it was helping it dry, and at worst he figured it was just a bit damp down by his skin. He wasn't cold anymore which was a plus, and from the way the area was slowly brightening he figured the storm must have passed. Curious to see if his den had gotten any mud or water in it, Fool's Gold turned to head back the way he'd come from a few hours prior. Hopefully he wouldn't have to find a dry place to sleep tonight.
WC: 589
