Prompt: "See? You're warm now."
Fandom: Creatures of Sonaria
Characters: Blitz [Fellisio], Ash [Arsonos]
Date Published: 08/19/2023
TW: Pregnancy, near starvation, implied stillborn babies, offscreen birth (the mess from after is described vaguely though), blood

Title from Nintendo 64 by Alex G
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-- starts out very improper, and overall i didnt really mean to write this. lol. oops.

BLITZ and ash were.. ah. definitely not originally going to be together. they met and tried to kill each other (blitz was starving and pregnant, ash was decidedly NOT giving up his prey and/or dying)
eventually, blitz had to fly up, above the little area ash called home, but not quite a point where he could. reach her.

it took a long fuckin while but a very uneasy truce formed. blitz was the sky cover, and ash the ground. also blitz could swim. kinda. not super well right now. but so long as they didnt encroach much and try to kill the ither, they left the other to their business
(by a long while i mean like 2 weeks. possibly 3)

the only time either broke that unspoken rule was when blitz dropped down into ashe's territory once.
it was the dead middle of a freeze, and while the beast of ash and flame was plenty warm in his little cavern, the winged one up above was less so. with most of her energy going to making sure the kit didnt die inside of her, she curled up in a snow filled cavern and shivered.

eventually, she had to get out. she needed food. she hadnt had enough to do a short hibernation like she normally would, so she pulled herself up, trembling, and jumped down. she tumbled into the snow, wings hardly able to break her fall with how long it took for her to open them. ash was decidedly very startled by the sudden loud THUDTHUdthudpomf outside his metaphorical door, and stepped outside to investigate, because, um, what the fuck

he was not happy to see the felli outside. less so when she noticed him approachinf and started hissing, a low sound that seemed to shake her entire body. She scampered back, hissing and trying to rip long frozen clams from a rock, straining her entire very weak body and still failing horribly. the arsonos watched, unmoving, a little bit dumbfounded. was she stupid? those clams were inedible this time of year.
When she inevitably gave up, collapsing into the snow for a moment and breathinf heavily, the arsonos moved. Silent. Deadly.

He stood over the visibly weakened felli. he knew he should kill her. he'd need the food soon. he knew that.
She flailed when she felt teeth start to close around her neck, snarling and desperate to escape, only to go limp when shes picked up, scruffed like a young kit. she blinks.

what.

meanwhile, the arsonos drags the felli into his den, screaming silently the entire time. what the fuck was he doing!!!!!

gently, he dropped her in the middle of a nest made of stones and moss gathered in the warmer seasons. she blinked, still tense and scared, eyes darting around the small area.
rocks decorated most of the little cave the arsonos had dug out, most the same dark colouration as the volcano she knew existed several days travel away. it was warm, cozy. amongst the rocks were plants, various glowing fruits and flowers, though she wasnt sure why they were there. she flinched, wings drawing in close to her back as the arsonos flopped heavily beside her with a loud sigh, stretching his claws out in front of him. He was warm.

she stared at him, eyes wide and more than a little bit confused and terrified. her stomach ached.

he stared right back at her for a moment, seeming.. pensive.
he exhaled, loud and grumbly as ever.

"i'm not going to kill you."

She perked up, ears twitching. she hadnt heard him speak before. it was... nice. low and rumbling, like thunder, or a rock fall. still, she narrowed her eyes, distrusting.

he grumbled, shuffling a bit before seeming to deflate, eyes sliding shut.
she blinked
oh.

"..."

slowly, she layed back down, at first a good foot away from the arsonos, way off the nest, tense and anxious.
cold.
she shuffled closer. it- he was so warm. and as she shivered, it became harder to think clearly. to stay away from him
eventually, she curled up directly next to him, fur rubbing against his rocky exterior. he cracked an eye open, humming lowly.

"see?" he murmured, watching her feathers raise, and then lower once more. "youre warm now."

---

it was... different, after that. a barrier had been shattered that night, and neither were sure they wanted to erect it again.

they fought less.

talked more.

sometimes, she snuck back into his den in the middle of  a freeze, shivering and half frozen, and he would gently drag her inside and plop her down in his nest, curling up beside her.

eventually, she stopped waiting, padding quietly into the den once it got cold.

eventually, she stopped leaving.

one night, she stayed in while he went to get food. her stomach had swollen noticeably in the past couple weeks, and judging by the mewls escaping her mouth, he knew what was happening. he left. he knew she would be safe until he came back with enough food for all of them.

he was right, of course.
by the time he came back, dragging the corpse of a larger creature behind him, he could hear the cries of a kit from outside the den. he dropped the body, lumbering inside at a.. notably faster pace. not thst he would admit to such a thing. absolutely not.
his nest was ruined. between the blood and the other various fluids, he knew hed have to replace the softer grass, at the very least. possibly the stones too.

he chuffs lowly, pressing his snout into his friends neck, ruffling wet fur with his breath. she lifted her head, purrinf and tiredly pressing her head against his in return. she went back to licking one of the kits.
there were three in total. one was completely white, with only a dark pink patch on the bridge of its tiny nose. the second a pretty pale pink with darker pinks mottling the fur. finally, the third looked the most like its mother, with dark pink patterning, though with a white tail and paws, and white splotches all around its body. he watched the three kits softly, sitting beside her as she continued to groom the white kit.
he stared at the other two for a moment, sobering up a bit when he realized they werent breathing. he glanced to the felli, nudging her gently, but urgently. she squinted, staring at him for a moment. she followed his gaze to the two still kits. her ears drooped a bit, and she sighed.

"they never started." she whispered, voice hoarse and wet sounding. he nodded solemnly, dipping his head and pressing it against her fur once more.
she returned to grooming their kit.

---

"what names were you thinking of?" he whispered into the night, glancing over at the fellisio beside him, her usual dark pinks and whites washed out by his flames.

"i hadnt decided." blitz murmurs in turn, curled up beside ash and happily soaking in his warmth, resting one paw against her swollen belly.

"i was thinking... ashlyn if its a girl, maybe..?" she glances up to her friend, feeling the heat steadily grow beside her. she laughs, a soft, chittering sound, and ash huffs.

"how creative." he mumbles, voice thick with a gutteral sound in the back of his throat..blitz laughs some more.

"mhmm.. im not sure for a boys name, though.."
Ash hums, resting his head on his paws.

"Spark, maybe?" he offers, and blitz glances up, delighted.

"Spark? Ohh, thats lovely.. ashlyn and spark.." she smiles wide, soft, expression terribly mushy.

"my little kits... how i wish to see you soon."

ash stays quiet, merely lifting his head and shifting a bit, gently pulling blitz closer to him and laying his head on her stomach. He wraps around her as much as he can, breath ruffling the soft fur of her belly.

"Mine." he huffs, and she lets out a breathy laugh, wrapping her wings around him.

"Yours." She agrees gently, nuzzling the armoured creature. "No ones going to get us, Ashy.",

He nods, staying firmly planted on top of blitz and her unborn kits. blitz sighed lightly, shaking her head.

"Are we sleeping like this, then?" A chuff. she nodded, humming softly as she stretches, curling up as much as she can with ash laying on her entire body. she manages, though, chest rumbling with a purr as her eyes slip shut, and she drifts off into sleep.

...

its quiet for a while aside from the soft sounds of breathing. ash cant seem to take his eyes off of the kits that never were, heart aching something strong over kits he never got to know. will never get the chance to.

"so.."

he tears his gaze away, instead look at blitz's tired face.

"what.. do we name them? we never planned for three." she murmurs, voice cracking at the end. ash almost wants to cry.

".. ashlyn. the pink one.. she.." she looks the most like she could be mine goes unsaid, a sentiment he plans to keep to himself until he dies. blitz nodd quietly, laying her head on ash's paws.

"yeah," she whispers, "she seems like an ashlyn." she glances to the dark pink kit before burrowing her face into ash's chest.

he grimaces, pressing his snout into her neck.

"...glaice?" he whispers into her fur, the only other sound being his crackling tail.

"he.. looks a lot like the tundra." he explains, unbidden, gesturing to the white kit in front of them as he sneezes. blitz doesnt move for a while.

"..yeah." she eventually agrees. "glaice."
its quiet for a moment.

".. which leaves spark for the little miss." she murmurs, gazing longingly at the too still kits nearer to her back paws.
ash chuffs, nuzzling glaice before moving to sleep in a more protective stance around the two.

blitz presses into him silently, ears pressed back against her head.
ash exhales.

"... I love them." he murmurs, laying his head against blitz as she breaks, a keening wail filling the small den.
"I love you" goes unsaid as he comforts her.

neither manage to sleep until the sun begins to peek above the horizon.