Kia was nearing his first year of age, and much of his life had been a series of preparing himself for the rank he wanted with all of his heart. He didn't know exactly when he had decided he wanted to be just like his dad, the knowledge had always been there. A sword-wielding protector of his family.

The young pup took his training sword to the dummy again, feeling the satisfying whack of wood to wood. He kept at it for a little while, working up a sweat as demolished the training dummy bit by bit.

When he was done he looked at the carnage and grinned, rolling his shoulders. He cleaned up the mess and made a decision. It was time to show his father what he had learned. He raised his head and called to Sire, before sitting back on his hunches and watching the training door with anticipation.

Always keeping himself busy in some manner, Artorias had been in the castle armory tending to the upkeep of the pack's weapons and armor. He rubbed the oil-soaked rag in his paw across the surface of a leather cuirass, rehydrating the leather to keep it supple and to buff out any imperfections in the armor when his son's call reached his ears. Black auds perked up and his head lifted. It wasn't a call for danger, so he could only assume it was something Ciaran wanted his attention for. Setting his work aside, the Aegis headed out of the armory, no longer feeling the need to lock it as his children were less than half a season from turning to adolescents, and followed the call.

Artorias found his son in his dojo, training sword in his jaws and a scene of absolute carnage and bedlam strewn around him. It made the father's brows raise in surprise, impressed by what he saw. Ciaran reminded him much of himself when he was the boy's age. Eager to please his parents, following his own unorthodox path, and honing his skills to make himself the best he could be. A crooked smile pulled at the sire's cheeks as he regarded his child, stepping into the room to inspect the desecrated remains of one of the dummies. "Buna. Foarte buna. Your training is serving you well, Kea!" he applauded his son, who now stood almost as tall as he did and had very obviously gotten most of his father's genes. A mischievous gleam passed through the Aegis' eyes as he looked from the destroyed dummies back to his son. "But how good are you when facing something that strikes back?"

With his cryptic little challenge issued, Artorias gestured to the wrecked dojo. "Clear out the ring and set a dummy up in the center. We're going to do a special kind of exercise together." With his instructions given, Artorias exited the dojo once more and crossed Hearthstone to get back to the armory. He returned a few minutes later with two sets of basic leather cuirasses used for sparring and two sparring swords. But these swords were different. Padding over to his son, Art handed Kea a cuirass to put on as well as one of the swords. "Let's try a real world exercise. You're going to defend that dummy, and I'm going to try to destroy it. Your job is to stop me and protect your charge." Drawing his sparring sword, Artorias held the blade carefully between his paws as he showed it to Ciaran. These edges were not dulled. "We're going to be practicing with edged blades today, Kea. I want you to get familiar with fighting with an actual weapon. You must be very careful. Remember that we can cut each other, but more importantly, that an accidental mis-swing could harm your friends as well." He looked to the dummy to emphasize his point. A reckless swing from Ciaran could be as dangerous as a deliberate one from Artorias.

Once he had put on his armor, Artorias took his sword up and stepped out of the ring, circling it slowly like a shark intimidating its prey. This was not an exercise he had shared with any of his other children yet; Ciaran would be the first to receive it. "The point of this exercise is to get you familiar with maneuvering and fighting around a noncombatant. Practice restraint, but do not hold back. One day you could be the only thing between someone else's life or death. Try to aim for blocking or countering my attacks only. We aren't here to maim each other, and your mother would actually kill me if you lose part of your ear too." Chuckling to himself, Artorias stood at the ready. "Take your stance. When you're ready, we'll begin."

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Eira" | "Argent"

Kea had made some efforts to clean up, but his father clearly saw enough of what remained as soon as he entered the room. He preened at the compliment his far doled out. As his father mentioned an opponent that struck back, he grinned. He had called his father here in the hopes of showing off what he had learned - it seemed that he was going to get his wish. Nerves fluttered in his stomach, and he was quick to comply. “You got it, dad!” He said as he scrambled to clean up the rest of the mess.

Grabbing a dummy, he hauled it over to where his father had requested. That done, he could only wait as his dad headed back out of the armoury again. He was curious enough to burst, but he contained it. Trying to put on an air of maturity as he waited for the Aegis to return.

He returned with swords. Shiny, wonderful swords. He put on the Cuirass as he was bid to, and listened to what his father had to say. It seemed the lesson was going to be a lot different than he expected - but there was a certain level of excitement attached to the new.

The idea of defending someone thrilled him. He picked up the sword cautiously, and gave it a few swings. Getting accustomed to the feel of the weight in his mouth. It was much heavier than the wood he was accustomed to. He stretched out, testing his reach with it, and tapped it to the ground once. Okay, that was about as much familiarity he could squeeze in before this started.

“Don’t worry, Princess, I’ll protect you.” He solemnly told the training dummy, before taking a stance across from Artorias. Watching his father carefully for whatever moves the other wolf might do. He was positioned far enough away from the dummy that he could swing his sword without hitting it. But was - hopefully - close enough to block his fathers attack. It was all a balance, right?


"Ciaran Carpathius"

Seeing Ciaran's enthusiasm and zeal for getting to practice and spar in live demonstrations of their swordsmanship reminded Artorias of a younger version of himself, when he had been little more than a bright-eyed and determined yearling with nothing more than a wooden sword strapped to his back and a dream. Seeing his children share in that same passion as him sparked a warm love and appreciation for who his pups were turning into as they grew up. He was such an overtly proud father and it showed in how he regarded and interacted with his offspring. With the arena now cleared of debris and the dummy set up as a mock target, the stage was set for the two Carpathians to test one another's mettle. Art gave Kea all the time he needed to get used to the heft of the actual steel sword in his jaws, weightier and stronger than his wooden training sword. It would take some growing accustomed to, but the journey of a thousand miles started with that first step.

Once Ciaran was ready and the rules had been explained, Artorias chuckled as he overheard his noble son's declaration to protect the fair "princess" in his charge. Well, it seemed like his boy would be the same kind of red-blooded male he had been in his youth too! No doubt Kea would be a bit of a heartthrob amongst the new generation of Boreal and Austral nobility. "I hope you have what it takes to keep that promise," he remarked with a playful wink to his boy, beginning a slow circling motion around the perimeter of the arena, like a predator stalking its prey. "Pregateste-te, Ciaran. Vin după prințesa ta!" A sudden shift of Artorias' stance turned his paws from their circling motion in towards his son and the dummy, the dire wolf lunging forward in a blue flash as he aimed to dart past Kea, going straight for the dummy. All the while he kept his eyes laser focused on his son and his sword, watching to see how Kea might intercept him and preparing to block any incoming blows headed his way.

"Artorias" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Eira" | "Argent"

“Only one way to find out” Kea said, full of bluster and excitement for the match. He was trying to balance a level of seriousness for the engagement with his playful enthusiasm. The end result was… well, bluster. He turned slowly, keeping his stalker father within his sights, moving just enough to keep himself between his dad and the ‘Princess’ he was protecting.

"Nu dacă am ceva de spus despre asta!" was his battle cry as Artorias suddenly came for him. He brought his sword up, taking one step forward as he sought to block his fathers attempt to get around him. Bringing both a paw around to meet is fathers right leg, and moving his raised sword in the vicinity of his fathers shoulder. To his surprise, he met his mark. The heavy sword connecting with his fathers. Luckily, he had pushed his weight forward to meet the attack, or the sudden weight of metal on metal may have caused him to stagger. As it was, it did take him a moment to adjust to the sensation. He felt the vibration across his teeth and gums.

"Ciaran Carpathius"

Artorias would have been disappointed in his son if Ciaran had let such an easy feint attack get by his defenses, so it came as no surprise and a bit of a delight when his boy stepped in to intercept his assault, bringing his blade up to collide with Artorias'. The Aegis didn't hold back on the clash, letting Kea get a true taste of what armed combat was like as steel crashed into steel, the metallic clang ringing throughout the dojo. Their weapons shook in their jaws, and while Artorias had no difficulty managing his recoil, the look of surprise on Ciaran's face betrayed how much his son hadn't been expecting the feel of force. Still, it was a good block, one worthy of praise.

The Aegis nimbly sidestepped around Kea's reaching paw, a bit of a pirouette in his step as he rounded about a couple paces back from his opponent, the two dire-sized males squaring off again. "Bine! Now let's see you maintain your defense," Art said, giving Kea credit while lining up his next attack. Keeping his gaze fixed on Ciaran, watching his son's movements, Artorias began to maneuver himself sideways, looking like he was going to resume circling Kea and his princess, but instead pivoted and rushed his son, bringing his sword around in a wide horizontal slash with the flat side of the blade aimed for Kea's head. It was an obvious move, one Art fully expected his son to parry, but the intention behind his strike was to use Kea's block to deflect his blade up and allow the Aegis to bring it back down, aiming to conk his child with the sword so as only to stun him and maybe rattle his skull a bit.

"Artorias" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Eira" | "Argent"