The night terrors were gone. Zee has returned to him, and dreams that plagued his night time had been laid to rest. He awoke in his den before the first rays of morning and smiled down at the familiar figure in his arms. Her elegant neck was curved backwards, draped across his paw. Her antlers tickled at the base of his throat. Beautiful. Dangerous. He risked skewering his throat for a kiss and leaned forward. Feeling nothing when he pushed past where they should have touched him. He wanted only a kiss, but when he reached her, she was gone.

He blinked for a moment, fear clawing its way down his spine when she spoke. She had simply moved to the doorway. He let out a relieved sigh and smiled at her. "Sirius, baby, you need an apprentice. I was thinking Art, he's already your godchild and it's time he learned our ways. Briar is smitten with him, it would make her happy. It would make me happy. Won't you do this for me?"

And that was why his morning had been spent taking the path to the Hallows, why he stood and its borders and howled not for it'd Alpha, but for Art.

A couple of days following Ashen's summer festival, Artorias was still riding the high of having gotten to intermix with wolves from all across Boreas. He had met with alphas, made friends and acquaintances with others his age, fought in the tournament, and even witnessed a lovely wedding ceremony, the first he had ever attended! To say he was more than a little beat after returning home would have been an understatement. Returning to his normal routines was a good way to unwind and settle back in, although something had been troubling him. Ever since the festival, his mother had become withdrawn and melancholy, looking depressed as she went about her days. Something had happened to her during the festival, but he hadn't gotten a chance to talk with her to find out what. It seemed like every time he looked at Tamsyn, something else was bringing her down...

This morning, Artorias had been in the courtyard practicing with Ezra. The Adravendi boy had become something of his apprentice and personal project, and Artorias was determined to mold his friend into an exemplar of the Knights. A sudden howl from him in a deep recognizable voice caught Artorias' ears alert, the boy's gaze turning beyond the castle walls. Sirius was here? Calling for him? But why?

Artorias ended his training session with Ezra early, not bothering to remove his armor or his weapon as he hurried for the border where Sirius had called from. The warlord's large dark form was easily spotted amongst the green fields, and as Artorias approached, he regarded his mentor and family friend with a warm smile. With everything going on at the festival, he hadn't really gotten a chance to talk to Seer while up in Boreas, so whatever the occasion was, he was happy to receive his godfather. "Sirius, welcome back!" he greeted the Warlord with a respectful tip of his head, coming up to the dire wolf and embrace him in a hug. "You know you don't have to call. You're family, you're always welcome in Hallowed lands! Did you want me to go find Ulric, or my mom?" He didn't know what brought the Warlord all the way down to Auster again, but he was sure Seer's intentions would be made known shortly. The Fatalis patriarch did not mince words when it came to business, a quality he respected.


"Artorias" | Thoughts | "Corbin"

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.
____________________

Art greeted him with an easy joy, and Sirius smiled back at him. It was surprisingly easy to do. Who knew madness was so easy? But he would give anything for Zee, to see her again. His sanity was a small price to pay. He would do anything for his wife, anything to make her stay. He smiled wider at Art, although he was caught off guard when the younger wolf stepped forward and enveloped him in a hug.

He blinked, taking a moment before reacting. When he did, it was to fold a paw over Art, and to bring him in close as well. Zee might wish him to join the Armada, but honestly Sirius wanted that as well. He was a good kid, with a lot of potential. Sirius wanted to see him flourish. He just needed to convince Art that the best place to do that was the Armada.

“Actually, it was you I came here to see. I was thinking of starting up a programme, taking on a couple promising wolves from allying packs and training them together. You could bring the best of what you know from the Hallows, and learn the best of what another trainee knows about their pack. Would you be interested in joining such a group? It would be loan-style, so you wouldn’t have to give up your position in the Hallows” he explained.


"Speech"

During their embrace, Sirius began to explain the reason for his visit. A smirk touched Artorias' lips; yep, straight to business, that was the Sirius he knew. He pulled back to allow the Warlord some personal space while he sat on his haunches and listened to Seer's proposal. It was an interesting concept, for sure! A group of young wolves that showed a flair for what they were passionate about or what they specialized in all coming together to learn from one another. Artorias' eyes went wide at the prospect that could mean. He was already being tasked with learning from Ulric how to lead, and he knew his mother had mentioned Sirius would be a good candidate to learn from as well. Hell, anything he could do to learn and mold himself into being the most effective leader he could be! After all, there was a lot of responsibility and expectation for him to live up to now. The pressure was a real weight he could feel now.

A smile passed over Artorias' face as he gave a vigorous nod to Seer. "Yes please, that sounds like a great opportunity! Anything I can learn to help make me a better leader for my pack!" he said with excitement, tail wagging behind him a mile a minute. He wanted so badly to live up to the legacy his mother had left behind. A sudden realization hit him, dampening his enthusiasm for only but a moment. "Oh, I should definitely get permission from Ulric first though. He'd need someone to take over my duties training the Knights while I'm away." Yes, he would have to see about getting permission from his alpha first. Even if the program was just for a short loaned period, Ulric would need to know how long he'd be without his second in command.

A follow-up question raised in his head a moment later. "How long are you planning the program to run for? Oh, and I'm assuming this is all gonna be in the Armada, right? Just so I know what to tell Ulric when I talk to him and when he can expect me back." It was no secret that not everyone had agreed with him being named the Baron of the Hallows, and he didn't want to leave any openings for someone to challenge him on a lack of duty to the pack.


"Artorias" | Thoughts | "Corbin"

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.
____________________

Sirius nodded his head to Art sharply, hiding the edge to his smile as Art mentioned becoming the best leader he could. “Working alongside the most promising from a few other packs would also serve to create companionship with those that could be in a position of power some day as well.” He pointed out to Art. Not that the wolf seemed to need any added flavouring to the bait.

“Yes, it’ll be in the Armada. I want to assess the recruits and see how quickly they progress before I set a date.” he offered in way of explanation - not to mention it was one of the things he hadn’t thought of yet. He suddenly had a lot to plan. It would be interesting to gather such a collection of wolves into the Armada. Wouldn’t they make such wonderful hostages? He shook away the errant thought.

“You're the first I'm approaching, so we’ll see together how open the other packs are to the idea.” There. That put Art into the planning stages, and the charismatic young wolf could help him draw it all together.


"Speech"

Though he wasn't too sure how Ulric would feel about losing his Baron indefinitely, it wasn't like the Armada was extremely far, and the two packs had such a close relationship anyway. If something urgent were to come up, it would be easy enough for him to return home to handle whatever happened. Artorias grinned and nodded to Sirius with an excitement in his expression. "This sounds like a great idea, Sirius! Whatever you need me to do to help, I'm happy to do!" His tail was wagging a mile a minute. All of a sudden, he had quite a lot to think about and wolves he had to talk to.

"Who else were you thinking of reaching out to for the program? And when is it starting?" He would need to do some preparations ahead of time, make sure all of his equipment was in tip-top shape and the Hallows was good to go without him for a bit, but he'd get it all done for Seer! Plus being in the Armada for an extended period would mean he'd get to see and hang out with Briar more regularly, though that was an additional perk he wasn't going to vocalize out loud. He didn't think the Warlord needed to know what his daughter and the Carpathius lad were up to when left alone.


"Artorias" | Thoughts | "Corbin"

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.
____________________

Art was very susceptible to the idea, the growing joy in the other wolf made Sirius desire himself to make it work. Not just for Zee, but for Art as well. “I was thinking Briar from the Armada, a pup from Ashen, another from Abaven, and possibly Habrai as well.” he wasn’t sure how well Recluse would take the idea, she had still held herself a little further apart from the cluster of alliances. He was pretty certain his older student Poem had some younger siblings now. He had met them once, but his memory of them was vague.

“Let’s say a week from now. That gives me time to reach out to the other packs.” he decided. Thinking now in earnest how to begin this programme. Maybe Zee had been onto something. A project like this was just the sort of thing to get the Warlords gears moving.


"Speech"

Visible excitement and glee came over Artorias' expression when Sirius mentioned bringing Briar into the program as well. It was no secret that the two wolves were courting one another by now, having spent almost all of the Ashen festival at one another's side. He was sure his mother and Seer had noticed them together at one point or another. Getting an opportunity to work alongside her just sweetened the deal all the more! He nodded to the mentions of Ashen and Abaven, having met both leaders and some of their wolves during his diplomacy trip with Ulric, though he still knew precious little about Habari. They were a reclusive pack, keeping to themselves. Perhaps this would be a good chance to get a little more insight into their lifestyle from one of their wolves.

A week. Artorias had a week to get prepared and be on his way to the Armada. "Okay, got it! I'll go talk to Ulric right away and let him know what's going on." Artorias gestured his a flick of his head toward the castle in the distance. "Did you want to come talk to him yourself, actually? You came all this way down here, the least we can offer you is some food and rest before you go back."


"Artorias" | Thoughts | "Corbin"

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.
____________________

He grinned at the boy's excitement and gave him a light nudge on the side of his shoulder with a paw. ”Alright, you do that” he agreed, already laying out his own plans. He would head to Ashen first, then Abaven, and then Habari. By that point he would have a more definite picture on who was attending and what it would look like. He could set up a house for them along the beach where they could eat and train and bond together. Perhaps this programme would be good for all of them.

At Art’s question he lost hold of his thoughts and blinked for a moment. “Ahhh… n, but thank you. I have a lot to organise.” h did not want to run the risk of running into Tamsyn. Hence why he had met Art at the borders. Tamsyn wouldn’t come on her own free will to see him right now.

"Speech"

Artorias was confused by the Warlord's hesitation to come into Hallowed land, but he shrugged it off as Seer having more important things to handle. He was running a pack all on his own, and now he had this program to set up and meet with potential candidates for. Casting a small smile back to him, Artorias simply nodded his head, then came back to nudge Sirius' chest with his forehead, just a couple inches shy of meeting the dire wolf's height. "All right, well, I guess I'll be seeing you in a week then! If Ulric lets me go, that is." He didn't think Ulric would have any qualms with him participating in something that would be beneficial for him, but he also didn't want to assume his alpha's consent. "Safe travels then, Warlord! We'll be meeting again soon!" With a wide smile, Artorias waited for Seer to begin heading out before he also turned and headed back for the castle, excitement abounding. He couldn't wait to tell Ulric and his mother about the opportunity that he had been given! They'd both be so proud of him!


"Artorias" | Thoughts | "Corbin"

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.
____________________