Ulric strode down to the cleared out area set aside for fighting and sparing with his armor on and a little grin on his lips. After his talk with Azariah he was feeling much better about things. He had a renewed energy about the pack and his duties here, but he was still a father at the end of the day and had a deep love for all things puppies. He had noticed that quite a few of the pups - especially from Tamsyn and Resin's litter - were shaping up to be strong little fighters and he was curious to see them in action. Deciding that there was a perfect opportunity to have his duties as a father and a pack member intersect, he went down to the sparring range with his sights set on some training today.

After taking a few moments to clear away a few stray branches and even out some larger clumps of snow from the clearing, he lifted his head to howl for all the young, aspiring fighters in the pack. Of course any of the other fighters that wanted to participate would be welcome, but with how many pups there currently were it was going to be important that they get started with their training early so they all had equal chance to get as much practice in as possible. He found a spot near the edge of the clearing and sat on his haunches to wait for them to arrive, smiling softly to himself and searching the tree line in the mean time. It was a bright, clear day even though it was still very cold so at least it was a pleasant enough day to spar.

Walk | "Talk" | think

When the howl for young fighting-inclined pups came, Avantika knew exactly who would go with her. Rudyard. Her best friend in the whole wide world. She grinned, thinking of the grayscale pup's constant hyperbole. Maybe it came from his age, or maybe he'd never grow out of the stupid naivete that made him so entertaining yet so irritating to be around. It was nice to know that some people still lived in a world that was perfect. It was reassuring. As expected, Rudy had been adamant that they had to go. Avantika was secretly glad. She didn't really know why she'd acted like she was against it. Maybe just so that she'd know he wanted to go with her and it wasn't just because she was around. The wolf who'd let out the call wasn't one she'd seen before, so she decided she'd have to introduce herself. They were the first ones there. Avantika couldn't decide if that was a good thing. "Hey. I'm Avantika." Her speech was coming along in leaps and bounds, now that she was hearing people talk all the time. She waited for a response, a familiar prickle of nerves racing up her spine. She would be fine, right? Her friend was here, and he wouldn't let her come to any harm. She tried to relax, just as she always did. "speak"

During his daily aerobics exercises, Artorias had spotted Ulric heading past him down to the hot springs at the base of the falls. He hadn't paid much attention to the brute, especially since they hadn't had much reason to interact. He knew of his kids, he'd seen them around the pack and played games with them every so often, but never had more interaction with the man than a passing "good morning, sir". Today, it seemed would be different. Art was halfway down the falls for another lap when Ulric's howl summoning the pups to the springs. The boy's black ears flicked to catch the call and veered off his path towards the adult's summon, Corbin gliding gracefully overhead to follow the little pup until they both arrived at the training grounds. Corbin alighted upon the branch of a nearby tree, looking over Ulric and Avantika from his perch. Artorias strode up to the two, still dressed in his leather armor with his sword strapped to his back. He glanced between Avantika and Ulric briefly before coming to sit and present himself before the mammoth-sized male.

"Hello, Mister Ulric," Artorias greeted his elder with a bow of his head. Ulric was one of the council members of their pack, and was established within their little community. If he had called the children together, it could only be for important things, and usually the adults only gathered them when it was time for some sort of lesson. His amber eyes drifted over to Rudy and Avantika. He had no doubts his brother would attend every call, but it was strange to see Avantika here. She had always kept to herself, only seen hanging around Rudy and hiding away in their den. Artorias had never interacted with her, not out of any malicious intent, but because neither had made the first effort. In his mind, Avantika had been another pup his parents had collected, like Grimshaw. They weren't his family. You couldn't just scoop someone up out in the wild and just call them family. That wasn't how family worked. He hadn't accepted her nor Grimshaw yet. But that didn't matter right now. Ulric had called them all for some reason. Hopefully they'd find out soon enough.

"Speech" | Thoughts | "Corbin"

Walk | "Talk" | think

Rudy had been returning from a round of hunt training when he had heard Ulric’s howl.  One side of his coat had a layer of dirt on it, though against his grey coat it didn’t stand out too horribly much.  He had almost turned to run straight towards the howl but instead ran to Tika and convinced her to go with him.  This would fit well into his plan of fixing the nervous little pup.  She needed to be social with other members of the pack and learn fighting skills from more knowledgeable members.  This was a chance not to be missed!

So here he was showing up with Tika, bumping her shoulder in a friendly sort of way, “you’ll enjoy this, I’m sure of it.” The tone was purely confident and friendly.  Rudy would have to work to make sure that would happen.  She could get nervous and shy in an environment Rudy had less control over.  Rudy would need to try and learn from Ulric, do whatever exercises the lessons came with and make sure Tika was getting the most from it.

The boy grinned spying Arty with no surprise.  There was no way on this earth that his brother would miss out on a single fight lesson.  “Art, if this becomes a spar you better not lose to anyone but me.”  If Art could beat him then that should mean Art could beat anyone and thus Rudy could still have high enough standing.  

Ulric got a cheery look and grin, “Are we fighting?” Fighting was always fun and the more fights the better.  

Daphne had been poking around the healers area, asking Luta what each bundle of herbs was and what it was used for, and how did you use it? Her head was swirling with the possibilities already. Swirling so much she almost felt like going a little cross-eyed. She was saved from herself when Ulric howled, her eyes lighting up and tail wagging. She offered the woman a big smile and a "Gotta go!" as she spun on the spot and ran out towards where the other pup were gathering (hey, it was important to warm up).

She wasn’t the first to arrive, but that didn’t bother her too much. She stood alongside the other pups, her tail waving enthusiastically. She was really growing to love learning how to fight!

"speech".

have a little faith in me

Of course he heard his father's howl and he knew he should attend the training, but... did he want to. That was the question. He was having so much fun playing hide and seek with Aquila and learning how to communicate with him better. Plus they were learning how to hunt and fight together and that seemed way more exciting than the training his father would do. Plus... He just knew his dad was going to be expecting a bunch from him and he just didn't want to do that today. But at the same time he knew if he missed the training he'd never hear the end of it when he went back to their den that night.

With a sigh he did finally turn and run off to go to the training area, but by the time he arrived he quickly realized that he was the last one there and he could feel from the look he got from his father that they had been waiting on him. His ears flicked uncomfortably, but it was too late for him to escape this now. He found a spot behind a couple of the other pups and sat down on his haunches, pointedly looking at the ground off to the side so that he wasn't actually looking at his dad... though he did keep an ear turned toward him to listen.

Walk | "Talk" | think