Getting Well - Anthro Rudolph/Blitzen

[BikermousefromMars]

(written by sNeEzY on sneezefurs, allowed to repost it since he couldn't log on for some reason)

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One week had gone off since the conclusion of Christmas. The entire world had been given gifts of all shapes and sizes, no matter the person. For some, it wasn't about the gift itself, but the gift of love - from one family to another, to ring in the new year with a special kind of magic to get them through another year. No doubt about it, Santa Clause managed to pull off a great run with his reindeer - Blitzen, Donner, you know the rest - and it was time to call it a day before the next year.

Those on the Good List got their new toys and games, and those on the bad list had gotten their fair share of coal. Needless to say, the big jolly man himself was rather impressed that the list of those on the naughty list had been much shorter than he expected. For the longest time said list had actually been much longer; was this an expected turnaround? Who knew? But it was an improvement, and for that, he laughed a hearty laugh on those who were turning themselves around. If this picked up, maybe come next year, there'll be more good people to give toys too - after all, his elves in the workshop could only improve on their own skills to give out the best toys they could make.

With Santa and Mrs. Clause enjoying a holiday of their own in the Bermuda to celebrate the end of the year as husband and wife, the Reindeer and the Elves themselves had been given duty to look over their base of operations. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the most famous one of the nine group, had been taken down from being the head-in-charge due to concerns which others had not speculated about yet -- putting Cupid in his place. Comet and Vixen took care of helping manage the elves in the workshop, while the other three: Prancer, Dancer, and Dasher, held up something akin to security duty of the sorts. This usually consisted of patrolling most of the homes, the cabins behind his home in which most of the reindeer shared dorm room sentiments. It wasn't so much a job, and seemed almost pointless, with the sole exception being snowmen who wanted to sneak at gifts before they were do!

Not too many folks, at least, according to legend, were aware that the reindeer had their own cabin - much like the elves had their own home in a small village farther down the North Pole were it wasn't too ridiculously cold. Rooms for all, with plenty of food, beds for warmth, games to play, among other things. Rather than a den where they were kept in their own stable, it felt like the living quarters for the common person-- one would be surprised that the elves or anyone else Santa knew as a friend had used it!

The reason for this was because the reindeers themselves each had their own kind of magic. True, they were four-legged riders of the sky, an animal which guided the sled every night for one night in a year and in such record time. But, this magic was a powerful one - it allowed them to take the form of an anthropormophic version of themselves. It wasn't the only gift they could get, for example, Dancer was given the gift of controlling the storm and blizzard of the cold... though not to a big extent. Comet's gift was the ability to make a wish on a falling star, provided he was lucky to be near one while out on his own, and it would automatically come true. Blitzen, who boldly liked to claim that he didn't need his much, used his to pick up speed - rivaling Rudolph to some degree - in case of emergencies.

However, the spell to become nearly human-like was a good ability, in which they could not only do things on their own - but work at a pace that they couldn't do originally. To walk on two feet, use two hands, and do things they normally couldn't do otherwise, they treated this ability well and, obviously, never wished to lose this honor.

With their duties around the North Pole excised and cleared due to little to non-existant worry, the reindeers on this last day of 2011 finally were set free to do as they wished with the exception of Vixen, who continued helping the elves as best she could. Some went to begin preparing dinner, or stick around in their rooms to enjoy the night as the winter haze continued to form through the outside. Rudolph, who was later revealed to have come unfortunately quite sick the last few days, was being tended to by Blitzen.

Blitzen was an average-sized anthropormophic reindeer, his antlers one of the biggest of the group, though he looked rather lean for his size. He wasn't masculine, but the way he liked to carry things around meant that he might have well been on his way to keeping in good shape. The reindeer often cited this as an enjoyment to being on his own two feet to make sure Santa got the best ride enjoyable up in the sky without problems.

Rudolph, unfortunately, was rather thin. He was also the shortest of them all (Prancer being the tallest). With his rather weak-souding voice that may have very well been somewhat feminine, he began coughing suddenly before covering himself in the blankets he was drenched in. His nose was faded now, not shining as much as it usually was, but there were moments in which it did - covering about as much light as a lamp in it's own right.

No doubt about it, he was going through some nasty chills. Blitzen found it always amusing to catch a cold, out here in the literal cold, but kept his jokes to himself as the poor thing snuggled up as much as he could. Littered all over the place and on the bed, the couch, and the TV - empty bowls of soup, plenty of used tissues, and plenty of medicine. Oddly enough, the most famous reindeer in song and film, lore, and so forth, hadn't gone near the medicine. For whatever reason, Rudolph had a fear of it - the taste, naturally. Because of this, Blitzen would have to find other means at trying to look after their sick friend.

"Rudie," said the more empowering reindeer amongst the two, sitting on a chair beside the famous reindeer as the television played whatever was good on TV at the time - notably coverage for the end of the year, obviously, "...You sure you don't want to try Mrs. Claus' special soup? There's a lot of healing herbs in it!"

The frail Rudolph, huddled up sweetly in his blankets, let out a short cough, before his nose began to glow again.

Unfortunately, this was not a mere signs of getting stronger. While the faded red meant that Rudolph may have been visibly tired, wounded, or exhausted-- only a very bright, as in lighting up the room-like bright, meant that he was back in good spirits and health. However, this one was a mere, softened red. Somewhere in the middle. When in instances like this, that could only mean one thing: a sneezy, sickly reindeer on the preparations for a sneeze.

A common joke around the dorm was to poke fun at each other's sneezes, and Rudolph never got the end of it for his own. While it wasn't merely spectacular, much less big, there was a certain kind of charm to it - it was Comet who had the one which sounded as if he was shouting "CHOO!" through a megaphone, enough to keep anyone awake into the morningfall.

"Hhh---..."

The small reindeer gently pulled himself out of the covers and his eyes flinched. His nose began to light up, just as it would when about to sneeze, before taking subtle, light hitching breaths. Rudolph, or 'Rudie', began to shudder during this-- Blitzen could only watch with a small crack of amusement.

"Hhhg--hhii'sskkshu!"

A pause, followed by another, more audible sneeze. "H'iiikshewugh--- *ssnnkrrrr*--- Hhheehh---ehh---hhiiiikshoo!"

Rudolph grunted. His nose gave off a squeaking nose, and a little bit of grunting came out as he shuffled to his left and the right in search of a tissue. Finding none, the small one huddled back into his blankets, hurriedly snuggling up back into them as if he was going to die within a few hours -- another sigh, and he moaned in irritation.

"Guess not," offered Blitzen, with a wince, chuckling a small bit. "... well, I'll leave it here if you need it. It's designed to stay fresh no matter how long you leave it, so..."

"Yeab," replied his smaller companion, his voice stuffy, a lot of his words distorted for the cold, "I know'b wherb it dis... jusb leabbet dere, I'll geb to et."

The two remained in silence again, before Rudolph carried himself out of the covers. By a small chance of pure luck, he found a stray tissue that he had wiped his red nose from earlier, and - much to his chagrin on using what he already used up - was forced to use it again. Having to use the tissue that was already moist from before was not pretty, to him at least, so that left him to try and find a dry spot on it. While only a little when he found it, he made do with it, and rubbed his big nose with it.

"Hhee---ehh----HI'EEEHHSHUkkkk....hhhhnng---....hii...hiiiihh... heeehhssSHKUO!"

Blitzen sighed.

"You've been like this for some time now," said the strong reindeer to Rudolph, "We can't keep a sick reindeer around, especially one that's been avoiding all of the duties that Clause gave us."

The smaller one looked at him, cocking his head to the side. "Bub I'm bnot fakeng et...! I'm sthick!"

"I know you're not, but you'll have to at least try and get better, kiddo. You're lucky we're done with that large haul a week ago, but you can't just stay in bed forever, y'know. . . . . . At least -try- to get something out of that thing Mrs. Clause left us, will yeah? It's not really all that bad, it tastes like---"

"Suub, I knoob," came a whiny huff beneath the blankets. Although not audiable, Rudolph made an exagerrated intake to build up another sneeze, before letting out a rather loud one beneath the blankets. From underneath, it looked like a small puff of air from the impending result puffed it up on the inside, almost like a scene from a cartoon when a character inflated something. "....gugh..."

Blitzen didn't like the look of that puff, but spoke nothing of it.

"Suit yourself," he said, with another huff.

[blackrose]

how did we all miss this! what a cute story!

[megacycle]

I can't believe I forgot to comment on this awesome story.

One of my favorites featuring a sick little reindeer named Rudolph.