Warmth

Toby Ferguson stumbled through the blinding cold snow, concentrating only on his slow footsteps. Next to him, his Blaziken was walking at Toby's pace, not wanting to lose his friend. Blaziken's furry body stopped most of the cold.
    Toby, on the other hand, was wearing a heavy winter parka, snow pants, and thick leather boots, and yet it was STILL freezing cold! He shivered, glad of his Blaziken. Blaziken let off a lot of body heat, which warmed Toby up a little bit.
    "Are you OK, Toby?" Blaziken asked, worried about the kid, who was slowing down. The snow was just too harsh! It felt like six inch long needles were hitting him in the face! Toby had slowed down, getting more and more tired.
    "I'm-" Toby started to say, but fell into a heavy snowdrift, his energy spent. He just couldn't keep going...
    "Toby, are you hurt?!" Blaziken asked, kneeling next to the collapsed Trainer. "We've got to get you somewhere warm, and fast!" He picked up Toby, who smiled at more of Blaziken's heat. Really warm feathers heated the back of his pants and his jacket.
    Blaziken looked around desperately, looking for a cave or at least an overhang, anything providing shelter from the waves of snow falling. He saw nothing. There had to be a way he could warm Toby up... Wait a minute! There was, but Toby didn't know about it. He might panic...
    "Toby! Toby! Can you hear me?!" Blaziken asked, noticing Toby's movements in his arms. "Look, I know a way I can warm you up, but you have to trust me on this, OK?"
    "OK," Toby moaned, wanting warmth. He was just barely conscious.
    Blaziken gathered up his strength, knowing that even though Toby trusted him, he was still going to panic. They always did. But Blaziken shoved these thoughts aside, and shoved Toby's boots into his mouth.
    Much to Blaziken's relief, Toby had passed out. He needed him to be unconscious for neither of them to be hurt. Ignoring the disgusting taste of the leather boots, Blaziken sucked his Trainer in farther, going in up to his knees. Toby's boots slowly slipped into Blaziken's throat, making him gag slightly.
    Blaziken gulped again, Toby sliding into Blaziken's mouth up to his waist, the leather boots popping into his stomach. Blaziken let out a sigh of relief and pleasure. He hoped that Toby would stay unconscious for a minute or two; That would make it a lot easier for both of them.
    Toby was unaware of what was going on. At least until he went in up to his chest. Blaziken's tongue rolled around the coat, making Blaziken grimace at the 'exotic' flavor. The tongue, however, woke up Toby.
    "Wha- Blaziken? What are you doing?" Toby moaned. "Hey, let go! Let me go!" He started to struggle, but very weakly, as the two days of nonstop traveling let him with very little stamina.
    "Toby, just trust me," Blaziken said as best he could. "Just relax. It'll be over soon." Another wet gulp and Toby's torso disappeared, Blaziken's mouth ringing Toby's neck.
   
Toby remembered falling into the snowdrift, and then passing out. He felt the heat of Blaziken's arms, and then passed out again. When he woke up, he saw his Blaziken was eating him! He had already gone in up to his chest.
    "Toby, just trust me," Blaziken had mumbled. "Just relax. It'll be over soon." Toby's mind refused to obey, even though his body didn't. Toby could barely move, let alone force Blaziken to spit him out. Despite the fact that he was going to die, he concentrated on the heat from the base of his neck on down. It was so warm! Especially from his waist to his feet!
    The weak Trainer fell asleep, only thinking about the warmth.

Blaziken relaxed when Toby fell asleep again. Even though Toby's kicks didn't hurt the Fire pokemon, it had sapped a lot of his energy, and Toby didn't have much of that anymore.
    Gently, Blaziken fit Toby's head into his mouth, the tongue ruffling the sandy brown hair. Blaziken was relieved to find out that the head didn't taste as bad as the boots or coat did, as the head had been covered with snow.
    Blaziken gulped, feeling Toby's head slid down his throat. He sighed with relief that he was finally done, hoping that he wouldn't have to do that again. Thanks to one of his special abilities, the expected bulge of the sleeping trainer didn't occur.
    Blaziken continued walking, his thoughts on just reaching some shelter. The cold was barely touching him, but he guessed that when Toby woke up, he'd want out, despite the warmth. Toby was stubborn; Even if he made a bad decision, he'd stick with it. Escpecially if it was for a bet.
    Blaziken was worried that Toby may not have survived, but a squirm or kick every now and then told him that he was fine.

Toby woke up, wet and sticky, but most importantly, WARM. It was so warm! But where was he? Wasn't he in a blizzard a few minutes ago? And why was it so wet and cramped where he was? Toby rubbed his throbbing forehead, thinking about the dream he'd been having. Blaziken was in the middle of a blizzard with him; Then Blaziken had eaten him! Good thing that didn't actually happen...
    Wait a mintue! Toby realized with a shock. That wasn't a dream! That had actually happened! He started punching at the walls, his fists just bouncing off the slick, wet flesh. Suddenly, one the walls was pressed harder against him, preventing any movement.
    "BLAZIKEN!" Toby shouted, his strength coming back to him. "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT, NOW!! LET ME OUT OF HERE, OR I'LL KICK YOUR ASS! YOU HEAR ME?!?!"
    "Toby, calm down," Blaziken said. "Just calm down."
    "NO, I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!!" Toby shouted. "NOW, SPIT ME OUT BEFORE I DIE! YOU HEAR ME?! SPIT ME OUT NOW!!!"
    "I will, but later. You don't want to go back out into the cold blizzard, do you?" Blaziken said, his words calming Toby down a little bit. "Look, you're perfectly safe in there. I've done this before. Don't you trust me?"
    "I... Umm... Well, I..." Toby said, apparently unable to say something intelligible. "Well, I just... I... Just want..." He shifted a little bit. And, after a minute of stammering, Toby could finally talk straight. "Are you sure I'll be safe? I mean, I'm in your-"
    "Yes, you'll be perfectly fine," Blaziken replied softly. "Now, do you want to go to sleep or something? I'm a few miles from town. The blizzard is still strong, and it's still picking up. I can survive in this, but you can't. Just stay there, where it's nice and warm."
    Toby felt a rocking sensation, probably Blaziken had started walking again. Now that Toby had been woken up and calmed down, he could just think. It was nice and warm, with loud drum beats from overhead. But right next to him was the unsettling sound of Blaziken's stomach digesting something else, maybe the berries that they had found right before the blizzard hit.
    "Thanks, Blaziken," Toby said softly. And with that, he drifted off to sleep.

END