While Ashton didn't understand what Alex meant by saying it was a free country - weren't most countries free? - by that point, he was finished hearing this human's mouth. No one had talked to Ashton like that his whole life. Sure, some students at the school were foolish enough to be disrespectful, threatening, intimidating, but Ashton's instincts always flared up to fight back.
This case was no different. When Alex planted himself in the frozen sand, Ashton's temper snapped. If Alex liked the beach so much, Ashton would show him all of it and be damned the boundaries he was told to keep within the school grounds.
Charging forward with a snarl that flashed white rows of sharp teeth, Ashton's claws dug into the sand and his tail lashed for balance as his wings spread and he swooped forward, scooped Alex up, sand and all, and lifted off into the air, barely clearing the tips of the treeline.
The grip he had Alex in was precarious at best, the human dangling over the blur of snow covered trees with nothing between him and the ground but the roar of the wind. Ashton was not accustomed to carrying humans and had only ever carried a few before, but not like this. He had his talons wrapped around Alex, three fingers and a thumb, and while his wings beat to gain altitude and circle back towards the dark ocean, he shifted his grip, nearly dropping him.