Stay Alive

The cries of the seafaring birds waiting for him to perish to fill their bellies on his remains didn't even register in his ears. Artorias was only barely hanging on to consciousness by a thread, drifting back and forth in and out of darkness. The flow of blood from his neck wasn't rapid or grave, but the wounds would clearly need professional attention to close properly, leaving him losing a slow yet steady amount of blood. His head was pounding like his brain was trying to burst out of his skull. It was just one more thing that hurt, and soon all of the pain just blended together. His body tried to shake and shiver in the freezing air, damp fur crisping with ice crystals as water droplets froze to his coat, but his muscles were too weak to even attempt the most basic efforts to keep himself alive. Stay alive... Stay alive... The mantra repeated in his head over and over. The spirit fought where the body did not. Ever the fighter, Artorias was.

Amber eyes closed, welcoming darkness back into his world while the birds landed around him, their cries drowned out by the tinnitus and washing of the waves. What he did notice though was the distinctly lupine snarling near him, his brain registering the sound and trying to rouse him back to alertness. A gentle pressure touched his side, and dulled amber eyes slowly flickered open just enough to peer up at the familiar face of Bowen. The first thought he had was confusion. Was this a specter of his own mind comforting him in his dying moments? No, the pressure of her paws on his side was too real. Bowen was here.

"Bowen..." Artorias spoke her name with a husky rasp. She tried to wrap her body around his, her smaller frame covering only a portion of him, but it was enough for him to feel her warmth chasing the frigid chill of death away from his body. His brain was still trying to play catchup, swirling and spinning in a dizzying way. He tried to move, to lift a paw up and touch her, but all his weak limbs could do was stretch a leg out across the sand. She'd come to his rescue. When he needed the help, she'd come for him. Her soft lips flitted across his forehead while she comforted and kept him warm. Artorias felt that tingling warmth trying to grow in him again from the close contact with Bowen, but right now his body was more interested in keeping him alive than it was anything else.

"I'm here... I'm still here..." he said to her frightened whispers once he felt enough strength to speak. He couldn't die now. He didn't want to die in front of Bowen. They had so much time to make up for, so many things he hadn't said to her. He had to stay alive. "Bowen..." he whispered her name again, straining to keep his vision from blacking out again. No doubt he had a concussion from the number of blows he'd taken to his head. "Bowen, I... I l-..." His words failed on his tongue, as if his mouth just gave up working. His body began to give violent shivers as Bowen put enough warmth back into his frozen muscles for them to realize he was actually nearly hypothermic. Slowly, Bowen was bringing him back to life.

"Artorias" | "Corbin" | "Argent"