Stay Alive

Artorias had never been the wolf who had needed to be saved before. He had always been the family protector, the rock that someone could lean on when they came apart. Even when he'd been injured in battle, he got back up and kept going. This was the first time the young brute ever felt truly broken. Body, mind, spirit... If it wasn't for Bowen right now, he was sure he would perish on this frigid beach. Her body felt wonderful against him, warm and soft where numbness hadn't dulled his sensation of touch. She begged him not to leave her, to save his strength and stay with her. "I'm not... going anywhere..." he said between shivers and heavy breaths, trying to give her a reassuring smile.

Even now, lingering somewhere on the fringe between life and death, Artorias only thought of her. He wanted to comfort her and wipe away her tears, trying to will himself to recovery so he could assuage her fears. She was his little sister and he loved her, far deeper than he'd ever expected himself to. He loved all of his family, but Bowen was special. She'd always been special, someone so much closer to him than their other littermates—it had just taken her absence in his life for him to realize just how deep those emotions ran.

The two lay with her wrapping herself around him to shield his freezing body from the biting wind until he felt her warmth begin to wane and felt her body shiver against his as well. She spoke again, her voice sounding like that of an angel in his ears. A fire. Yes, that sounded heavenly. He didn't respond verbally, but nodded his head between shivers to let her know he'd heard her. Her kisses covered his face, and Artorias wished he had the capacity to catch those lips with his own, to share how he felt with her if this was to be his last moments. Fighting against the pull of his weary body to give in, Artorias clung to life as tenaciously as he could while Bowen set about gathering supplies. He promised he would stay with her, and he would. An army of devils couldn't drag him away from her now.

Time seemed to pass by so slowly with her gone from his side. He could hear her collecting and preparing the wood, turning his head just enough to watch her struggle to produce the fire. He saw the relentless frustration in her eyes as she worked to start the fire, refusing to give up. You can do it, Bowen... You can do this... he thought, willing the wood to catch. After a few moments of struggling, the kindling caught fire, and the small campfire emitted a lovely warming glow that bathed over him. Pride lit up Artorias' dim eyes, a ghost of a smile touching his lips while Bowen came back to lie against his back again. Artorias pushed his body back to snuggle into Bowen's smaller frame some more, doing what little he could to reassure her that he was holding on for her. He wouldn't give up, not now that they were together again. She had come to save him, just as he had done everything he could to find her. No gods nor demons could take Artorias from her now.

"I'm sorry," he apologized in a voice rough with dehydration and from the strangulation he'd received at the paws of Oxx. "I failed... He almost killed me..." His claws raked at the sand beneath him, digging small trenches in the beach out of anger. The heat of the fire and the warmth of Bowen's body began to bring life back into the young brute, finally managing to turn his head to peer up at the little fae who was keeping him alive. Stay alive... "Bowen..." He waited until she looked at him and he was gazing into those rich emerald pools. I love you more than you know... "Thank you for coming for me."

"Artorias" | "Corbin" | "Argent"