Styrxvent 2019: A Case of The Winter Sniffles

Nixis Pov

Nixis and Sordes were out together, Nixis had quickly noticed how the brown tyto was acting weird around her, however she thought nothing of it. The two of them were walking through the snow filled landscape, frost and snow crunched under each step and icicles hung from the bare branches of trees. The world was decorated in a large expanse of white and light blue from the ice and snow. Nixis was fine out at this time of year due to her thicker and silky feathers, however she did notice that Sordes was shivering. The male tyto was looking around while shivering and had all his feathers fluffed up, Nixis could easily tell that he was cold. So once she spotted a shallow cave that should be big enough for them both to sit in she would nudge him towards it. What she didn’t expect was for the brown tyto to get even more puffed up, he seemed weirdly clumsy and shy around her, she didn’t know why. However that didn’t matter right now, all that did was that he needed to get warmed up so she practically forced him into the cave. Nixis would then snuggled up to her companion and used her wings to try and shelter him from the cold, she didn’t understand why he was shying away from her as if he was embarrassed. Nixis was about to ask him why when she heard heavy footsteps approaching and what sounded like sniffling.

Sordes Pov

Sordes was quite glad that his feathers were hiding how flustered he must have seemed right now, being so close to Nixis was overwhelming and his mind seemed to get all fogged up. So when he heard sniffling and approaching footsteps he was glad to have a distraction from how hot his face felt and how fogged his mind was. Sordes would look out the entrance of the cave to see a  lycan which towered over the two stryxes, it was mostly white and blue except for a fiery streak above one side of it. It seemed as though it was sweating on that side and it’s sniffling made Sordes guess that it was sick. Sordes doubted that the lycan would do well out in the snow like that and knowing his companion he wasn’t surprised when she asked who they were and if they wanted to join them in the shelter. He just tilted his head when the lycan replied with Cold Sweat, that seemed like quite the odd name. Was it even a name? Did the lycan even understand them? Either way the large bat-like dragon would drag himself into the cave and out from the cold and icy environment outside. Sordes felt Nixis press against him to make room for the giant lycan, it seemed that Cold Sweat wasn’t the only one feeling hot now, however Sordes was sure he wasn’t sick.

Nixis Pov

Nixis would watch as the obviously sick lycan laid down across from them, she flinched as a sneeze shuddered harshly through the poor thing’s body. Her head perked slightly as the lycan seemed to wheeze out some sort of thank you for helping them, she just told them that it was no problem. Even though it was squishy there was definitely enough room for all three of them in here and it’s not like she minded being this close to Sordes. However he didn’t seem to be liking it all that much, he was now avoiding the mostly white feathered tyto’s gaze. Odd. The lycan let out another sneeze and seemed to curl up in on themselves, Nixis shot them a sympathetic look. They seemed obviously sick from how they were sneezing and coughing, their appearance also indicated that they were sick.

Cold Sweat Pov

Cold Sweat really didn’t enjoy winter at all, it seemed as though they got sick every time the colder season rolled around. They had been left to wander through the endless expanse of snow hoping for shelter while sick and had definitely lucked out on finding a cave with two cuddling tytos. They did find it amusing how cute and snuggled up the two seemed and was very appreciative of them for allowing the lycan to share their shelter. Shudders of cold and hot were making their way through his body and he was sore all over, being sick was definitely not an enjoyable experience. However thanks to these two kind tytos it seemed that it would be a slightly less horrible experience from here on in. Once he had dragged himself into the cave with the last of his energy he would quickly curl up in an attempt to stop himself from shivering. However he quickly overheated and attempted to stretch out a bit without touching the two tytos, this ended up backfiring as his tail swiped across the brown one who jumped back. Cold Sweat expected some angry shouting from the tyto with how uncomfortable he seemed however he didn’t make a sound and just ruffled up his feathers and shot the lycan a death glare. They weren’t sure if they preferred this silent anger to the usual more vocal anger other’s tended to have. After staying with the two tytos for a while Cold Sweat eventually noticed them both drift off into sleep while snuggled up against one another, not long after they fell asleep the sick lycan did as well. After all they do say the best medicine is rest.