we'll see the sun come up again, we'll climb higher than we've been

There had been an intense fire that had ravaged the territory. Astiar somewhat knew of this. He had, after all, been in the midst of hunting for a tree to eat when the fire had reached him. He had escaped being burned other than his gums and mandibles, but such a pain was swiftly ignored. It had led to him standing amidst a battle that he could not even begin to understand the reasoning for. It had confused him heavily and so he had stood there amidst the chaos. Unharmed, though, his disgruntlement over his meal having been buried at the time. Now it had returned. Now hunger was biting into him furiously. It demanded for him to eat, and Astiar could not refuse. Hunting for a massive tree to eat amidst a burnt jungle was near impossible. What was not ash was already burnt of it's nutritional values. He had resorted to trying to dig up roots to munch on, but they were buried beneath ash. It was terrible. The insect had never felt such a firm form of hunger before.

Hunger made creatures irritable. Astiar was no exception. Usually the dragon was incredibly laid back, not doing much other than being a buzzing and curious creature who occasionally lugged trees into camp. When hunger struck him, though, he grew much more active. Searching, disappearing in his attempts to find some part of the jungle that had not been burned and still had sustenance for him to sort through. He was digging in the dirt near a burnt tree, mandibles snapping up whatever greenery that he could grab. It was not enough to sustain him, small roots - things that would sustain him if he were to be as small as a regular cicada. He'd even tried asking a few remaining insects about where he could go. Nothing would work for his size. There weren't any big trees left that had not already been robbed of their nutrients. Huffing, the dragon sat back. The energy had been expelled, and he did not have any means to replace it. Irritable, Astiar lumbered on back to the camp, whatever remained of it after the raid. The post-raid setting mattered little to a creature bound firmly to it's instincts. He plopped down, mandibles clicking furiously in a way that ever assured his fury towards his hunger.

There was a fresh kill pile, though. Astiar had never even considered eating flesh before. It left him befuddled, watching others eat things that his deepest processes deemed a predator. They were smaller than him now. He was bigger. Did that change the tables? Did that make him the predator in this situation? He rolled a little, hunger still jabbing at him. If he did not move, he would starve. It was self preservation that allowed for him to understand that he would have to do something, try something different. There weren't enough trees to sustain him here. He tucked away the notion that there were other places with trees for the time being, like where he had kidnapped that child not too long ago. Astiar knew he likely didn't have the energy to make that trip. He snagged a piece of prey with his talons, lumbering back to where he had been sprawled out previously. He stood over the deceased prey item that he had chosen, unsure how to go about eating it. Saliva dribbled from his mandibles, mind telling him that he had to eat, but equally as unsure as to how. The dragon rumbled, head lowering, staring at the food with a look of sheer bewilderment present on his face. Hunger was strong, but it did not outweigh how an instinct bound creature was befuddled by a sudden and new development.

we've got a fire that burns within, we are the dragon hearted