Leaving behind the chill of winter in the northern continent had been a bittersweet blessing. On the one hand, it meant returning to summer-like weather in the south. On the other, it meant leaving behind Briar, and leaving the Armada in a rough situation. Leaving had been a true struggle he'd grappled with, but he knew he had to go home to support his family and his pack. He had vowed to send supplies up to assist their allies in the north, but it still felt like he hadn't done enough.

Crossing the Bïfrost, blue and black paws crunched across the rocky shores up into Auster, the familiar trees and bushes of the Wildberry Grove welcoming him to recognizable lands. Amber eyes danced over the luscious fruits, the bright sun warming his coat while he meandered through the trees, ruminating on the past season and everything he'd learned and experienced. Artorias had left a yearling and returned a more worldly adult, his eyes opened to fresh perspectives and wise to ways of the world. He was anxious to see his family and friends again, wondering what their reactions would be when he walked through those gates. The thoughts brought a small smile to his face, and as he emerged from the northern woods, he gazed out across the wide plains surrounding an iconic castle by the sea. Artorias' heart swelled; he was home.

As the Hallowed wolf crossed the border into his homelands once more, he tipped his muzzle to the sky and let out a howl announcing his arrival, his voice carrying clear and far through the calm air. Who's going to come running out first? he wondered as he started the walk up toward the castle, stepping happily through the soft grasses of the Starlit Plains.

"Artorias Sirius Carpathius" | "Corbin" | "Argent"

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
____________________

It always felt like when it rained it poured in her life. She went from one high to a deep low and back up again so many times over the tail end of the fall season that she didn't really know how to keep up. One one hand she had Kane who she had taken such a huge step with by moving him into her room so they could live together permanently and admitting their love to one another in addition to Bowen finally returning home safe and putting together another missing piece of their family. On the other she had the situation with Sirius that never should have happened to begin with and Rudyard who still had yet to wake up from the coma he was in and Gwynevere getting attacked by someone claiming to be Resin's son. Her children always worried her the most of anything else in her life so for so much to be happening with them had frayed her a bit, but she was still counting the days until Artorias finally came home. The weather had begun to warm which for Auster meant that winter was here they would avoid the ice age that had gripped them this time last year.

She was lingering near the infirmary as she tended to do in her spare time these days when she heard the familiar voice of her son calling from outside the castle and her head popped up in response, wasting not a second to turn and run out of the main castle doors and through the courtyard so she could make her way out toward the plains that would put her in the direction of Boreas. A grin pulled across her lips when she saw him, relief washing over her now that he was finally home. It had been a very long season without him and she still hadn't been fully convinced that Sirius wouldn't try to keep him there or try to convince him to stay so the fact that he was back without issue made her very happy. She ran right up to him, skidding to a stop just in time to not go toppling into him as she pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh I'm so glad you're home!" she said, giving her son the kind of bear hug only a mother could give, laughing lightly while her tail wagged gently behind her.

Tamsyn Carpathius

Artorias hadn't made it more than halfway across the plains before he saw a streak of jet black lightning come bolting out of the castle gates bound for him. Amber eyes lit up and a wide smile split his face as Tamsyn sprinted toward him, his heart lifting to see his mother once more. He'd missed her; he'd missed his entire family. Artorias picked up the pace to a steady trot to intercept her, throwing his forelegs open to catch his mother in an equally tight hug when she flung herself at him, making the young wolf laugh happily. He was home.

He very nearly lifted Tam off of her paws as he scooped her up and embraced her, his form growing those defined muscles of a young adult now that he had reached his full height. With only two seasons until he reached maturity, it was becoming more and more clear what Artorias would look like as an adult. Much of his lanky adolescent form was already beginning to be replaced, though the youthfulness in his face and bright eyes had a long way to go before that faded.

"Hi, Mama!" he said, his voice somewhat muffled as he nuzzled into the side of her neck and shoulder. Behind him, his tail fanned over the lush grass with energetic wags. "I'm glad to be home too. I missed you all so much." While he had loved his time in the Armada and learning at the feet of its Warlord, there was no place like home. Here is where he belonged, and he was ready to return to the normal life he had known. Artorias drew back to place an affectionate lick and nuzzle to Tamsyn's cheek, releasing her after a moment. "So what'd I miss?" he asked with that easy grin of his.

"Artorias Sirius Carpathius" | "Corbin" | "Argent"

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
____________________

Tamsyn laughed as Artorias hugged her back just as enthusiastically, absolutely adoring the bond she shared with her children. She had always done her best to keep as good of a relationship as she could with each of her children and even though she wasn't sure she was always successful in that it was moments like this that reminded her of that love they shared. She returned the lick to his cheek as he drew back, still grinning and wagging her tail as they released each other and settled back onto their haunches. She had no doubt that Artorias enjoyed his time with the Armada if for no other reason than getting to spend time with Briar, but she was so glad that he was home.

When he asked what he had missed her grin faded a bit and she sighed softly. "Well... it wouldn't be a season in The Hallows without something bad happening, would it?" she asked half jokingly. It did seem like every season there had been something that happened or some tragedy that struck and just as they were getting over the last something else blindsided them. "Where to even start... Well, on a brighter note, Bowen is back," she said with a brighter smile. That was most certainly the highlight of the entire fall season. Any time a piece of her little family was put back together it certainly warmed her heart and made her feel more whole.

Unfortunately that was all she could really report to him as far as good news went. She was sure he wouldn't think her moving in with Kane was good news and it was a small thing in comparison to everything else. "Rudy... He got into a bad tangle with a bear," she admitted after a moment, her ears flicking back. "Before you go rushing off anywhere - he's stable. He's in the infirmary, but... he's in a coma. His head got hit pretty badly against a tree before Kane and I could get there. I killed the bear and we got him back to the castle. Gwyn, Syanna, and Kane have been keeping him cared for, but he's still just... asleep. They've told me all we can do is wait and let his brain heal." She knew that wouldn't sit with him any better than it did with her, but that's really all they could do right now.

Tamsyn Carpathius

Artorias had expected some mundane reports from his mother about what happened while he was away. Maybe a new pack member or two, maybe some mischief Rudy had gotten into, or some other innocuous nonsense. After all, he had only been gone for a season, and the Hallows had been quiet since his mother's passing. Maybe they were finally getting a bit of a breather? Nope. Despite his expectations, Tamsyn began with a sigh and explained that they'd had some tragedies. Immediately, Artorias' smile was wiped from his face. The only thing keeping him from panicking straight away was how calm his mother was, her serenity giving him the grace to remain balanced and not go from zero to a hundred in the blink of an eye.

He waited for the other shoe to drop, but Tam threw him a curveball by giving him good news first. Bowen was back! Artorias' expression cracked, shock and awe painted across his visage. Bowen...? Back...?! His lips twitched as a smile slowly grew and his eyes lit up. His little sister was back! Oh, thank the gods! "Is she really?!" he asked, his voice overwhelmed with joy, almost not believing what he was hearing. "Where has she been?! Has she said anything yet? Is she healthy?" So many questions ran through his mind, and already Artorias was itching to get back to the castle to wrap his sister up in his arms and welcome her back home.

But then came the bad news. Rudy had lost a fight with a bear. He was stable, but badly injured and in a coma. The smile fell from the young brute's face again and a look of worry and horror replaced it. He immediately looked to the castle, feeling the urge to bolt up to the infirmary pulling strong. His brother was in a coma?! No no no no no! No, that couldn't be! Rudy was reckless and brash, but he wasn't stupid! Anxiousness made his heart race, the boy only barely paying attention to the words his mother said, already too busy thinking about his brother lying comatose in a hospital bed, fighting for his life. Tam finished speaking, and Artorias simply looked dumbly back at her. He had so many questions, but knew he'd have to ask Gwyn them. She was the Seneschal, after all.

"I need to see him." There was no question or request for permission in his words. "Do we know if he's going to pull through this? He has to, right? That's why he's got such a thick skull, right?" Artorias was desperate, grasping at straws for any threads of good news. His brother... he couldn't lose his brother! "I need to go talk to Gwyn. I need some answers that hopefully she can provide."There was a pause, a hesitance, and then he drew in a breath and asked, "...Was there anything else?"

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Corbin" | "Argent"

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
____________________

She knew Artorias would be upset by the news and understandably so. She knew he and Rudyard had always been close and even if they hadn't been all that close it was still news that was hard to hear about a sibling. When he asked about Rudy pulling through, insisting that he had to and that was why he had such a thick skull she wanted to be positive and reassure him that he would, but it was hard. She didn't want to lie to him, but she really didn't know what the future would hold at this point. "They seem confident that he will," she finally settled on even if she wasn't a hundred percent convinced herself. It wasn't a reality that she was willing to face, but as the days ticked by with him still locked deep in an endless sleep it began to feel more and more hopeless.

She nodded when he insisted that he would need to see Rudyard. She wasn't going to fight him on that and had already expected for Artorias to go see his brother in the infirmary, she just hadn't wanted him to feel like he needed to sprint off to see him immediately since there was nothing that he could do right in that moment. When he brought up Gwynevere, saying how he needed to go ask her some questions, her expression darkened slightly, her ears folding back again as he asked if there was anything else. "There's one other thing... It's about Gwyn," she said quietly. "Gwyn was attacked by a man while she was out of the pack lands collecting herbs... Nothing sexual, thank goodness, but he gave her a pretty bad bite on her back leg and shook her up pretty badly. She refused to give me any details about it. From what Ulric told me she did give him a basic physical description, but that's it. Ulric and Ezra went searching for the man and didn't have any luck." She sighed, her jaw tightening. "Will you talk to her about it, Art? She won't tell me anything about the man that did this or what he did to her, but she hasn't been herself since then and hasn't been doing well since it happened."

Tamsyn Carpathius

Artorias knew Tamsyn was trying to keep him calm and reassure him, and he appreciated her efforts, but this wasn't something that could be so easily calmed. His little brother had been attacked, savaged by a bear, and now he wasn't waking up. Nothing about that was okay or warranted calmness. At least she was able to tell him that Gwyn and Kane believed that Rudy would recover. That was good. Artorias had lost too much of his family as it was. He didn't abandon his mother's company to go rushing back to the castle, however. He walked with her, albeit at a sightly faster pace, eager to get to the castle infirmary to check on Rudyard and hear Gwyn's diagnosis from her directly. He knew how devastating a head injury could be from the time the extra dire wolf had slammed his skull into the ground.

He honestly hadn't expected even more bad news to follow the first, but apparently when it rained, it poured in the Hallows. Tamsyn quietly mentioned that something had happened to Gwynevere as well. That got the young wolf to stop dead in his tracks, startled and panicked eyes boring holes into his mother's face while he waited for her to explain what had happened. Gwyn had been attacked by some strange man while gathering herbs outside the borders. Artorias' eyes narrowed to deadly points as a familiar swell of anger began to rise in his chest, the heat a comforting friend while he tried to listen to everything Tam was telling him without flipping out. He'd been gone for a season—one season! And now both of his siblings had been attacked in his absence. Gods, he never should have left the Hallows!

It made him frown to learn that Gwyn wasn't talking about what had happened. His poor sweet little sister was probably traumatized after being jumped and attacked in the woods. The only silver lining he found on this black cloud was the fact that she hadn't been raped and that she was still alive. He glanced away from his mother back up to the castle they were quickly approaching. His paws picked up a bit as the panic and anger grew inside of him. "I'll go talk to her right now and see what I can do," he said and pressed a reassuring smooch to his mother's cheek. "It's okay, Mom. I'm home now. I'm going to make things right again, I promise." Furious fires burning in amber eyes, Artorias picked up his pace to an energetic canter, closing as much distance between himself and the castle as he could without leaving Tamsyn behind. He would find the prick that did this to his sister and bring him to justice.


"Artorias Carpathius" | "Corbin" | "Argent"

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
____________________