Mortis Fatalis

Mortis wasn’t sure what he thought about today. Sirius had sought him out and explained that Art’s arrival was early - he wasn't ready for their training programme yet. The other wolves had not arrived. His Warlord had told the Heir that he needed to take responsibility over Art and Briar’s training in the meanwhile. Get the two of them working together, and occupied until the others arrived.

He had taken on Briar’s training almost accidentally, but Art? The boy might be younger than him, but he felt older the Mort. older, like Venom and Azure had to him. Responsible, put together. He swallowed down the empty ache in his chest at the thought of his brother, and rolled back his shoulders. He could do this.

He raised his head and howled for Art and Briar to join him down at the training ring on the beach.


"Speech"

Artorias had gotten settled into the Armada without much incident. After Sirius had welcomed him in for his stay and showed him around, the Hallowed wolf retired to the barracks to unpack and learn his temporary new home. He stowed his sword away, opting instead to carry one of the wooden sparring swords he had brought with him from the castle. Shortly before Outlaw had left the pack for his own journeys, he had shown Artorias how to craft the swords so he could replace all the old rotten ones with more sturdy ones. Sirius had told him the training program would focus on each wolf's individual strengths, and Art's happened to be utilizing weapons, so the swords came with him.

The boy had been wandering around Armada territory to get a lay of the land with Corbin floating lazily in the air around him when Mortis' call came out for him. Head snapped up and alert amber eyes glanced out towards the nearby sea. Mortis needed him down on the beach? Curious, but okay. Giving a shrug to Corbin who also shot him a confused glance, Artorias made his way down to the shore. He showed up still dressed in his armor with a sparring sword on his back, a small smile on his lips the moment his feet touched the soft sand and the sound of lapping waves filled his ears. Artorias loved the beach and the ocean; he'd always been drawn to it, even as a pup.

It wasn't hard to find Mortis, the massive winged wolf at the training ring on the beach. He padded up to his host and greeted him with a tip of his head. "Mortis," he began, the coastal wind tousling his fur in the warm breeze. "I'm guessing you've got something fun planned, huh?"



"Artorias Carpathius"

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.
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Briar had left for a few days after her training session with Mortis and after they fought off those saber cats, eager to put her skills to the test more and more. She tried to tell herself she was trying to make herself better just for her own benefit or for her family's benefit or for the pack's benefit, but that wasn't the truth. She purely wanted to prove herself wrong and prove that she could in fact make herself feel worthy of being with Artorias. She spent a handful of days just moving through the Battlefield, camping out near by, finding fights and predators and anything else to distract herself from her emotions and build up her skills so that she might be able to build up her confidence to face Artorias again and face the damage her own self deprecation had caused.

Of course, unknown to her, while she was gone Artorias had arrived in the Armada. She had just gotten back her new home with Mortis the night before and was resting up near their den when she heard her older brother's howl calling for her. Her ears perked curiously at the call, but she quickly got to her paws, pulling on her armor since it sounded like he was calling from the direction of the Sea's Plain. She certainly wasn't going to turn down another training lesson with him, but she was going to have her armor ready to go this time! With Marigold at her heels and Willow soaring through the air above her she made her way to meet him - only to stop dead in her tracks when she saw who was with him.

Artorias was facing away from her so she was left staring wide eyed at his back, but she knew exactly who it was even without him turning toward her. Her ears flicked back nervously. She wasn't ready. She hadn't finished training yet. But would she ever really feel ready? Seeing him now, feeling how her chest squeezed painfully with heartache and guilt, she realized that maybe no amount of training and preparation would really restore her confidence. Drawing in a breath, she forced herself to walk forward to stand beside Artorias in front of Mortis, giving the Carpathius boy a small, uncertain glance before focusing her attention on her brother.

"Briar Fatalis"

Mortis Fatalis

He grinned at Art as the blue wolf appeared - the barracks were right by the sea’s plains, so it wasn’t a far walk for the other wolf. “Not so sure about fun, but Dad asked me to get you guys started, just waiting for… ah, there she is” he said, seeing Briar appear behind Artorias.

Briar had paused, and he frowned at her - clueless idiot that he was - before she seemed to take a breath and join them. Standing besides Art at an equal height to the other wolf. Mortis fought the urge to shuffle. Instead, he kept his posture tall and still. Trying to emanate his father when he was giving his kids a lesson.

“Today, we are going to see how you guys do in a team, working together. Leadership isn’t about one person, it's about a group of people working as a team. I want the two of you to melee against me. Are you ready?”


"Speech"

The curious boy that he was, Artorias was even more intrigued when Mortis grinned and confessed to his plans of being less fun and more business. He glanced to the fighting arena. If their plans involved fighting, he didn't see how it couldn't be fun! Mort mentioned waiting for someone else, and at first he thought that perhaps some of the other trainees had shown up—until Mortis said there she was. Artorias turned his head a fraction of an inch, following Mortis' gaze to find Briar slinking up to them, coming to a stop beside him. Amber eyes burned with a darker fire when he saw her, the ache in his chest impossible to ignore, but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing how badly she'd hurt him when she'd ripped their relationship apart. He spared Briar only the briefest of glances when she'd approached, then refused to look at her again. All traces of mirth had left his expression. He was now silent and serious.

Mortis explained the purpose for them here today: a tag team fight against the bigger Fatalis wolf. The corner of Artorias' lip quivered as he resisted the reflex to snarl or to scowl or maybe both. Any other day he would have been thrilled to take on such an adversary! Being paired with her though... Artorias briefly considered just getting up and walking away, but that would have been so callous and rude to his host. Seer had obviously put Mortis up to this, and bless his heart, he was trying. He wouldn't crush him just to spite Briar.

"One moment," said Artorias, then stepped over to the arena. He ran his paw across the sand, feeling the terrain, lifting some of the coarse earth and letting it slip through his digits, studying it, getting a feel for the land. It was rougher than the sands down in Auster, with larger, grittier grains. Footing would be easier, but still a damn sight harder than solid ground. Nodding to himself, Artorias glanced up as Corbin circled overhead. "Okay, ready."

Artorias still didn't look at Briar while he took his position in the ring, teeth finding the hilt of the training sword and drawing it from across his back. It didn't matter if he was being forced to work with Briar or with anyone else. Faced with a challenge, Art would rise to it time and time again, and he could set aside his emotions to complete a task with her. That's all this was: learning and accomplishing a goal. Clenching his weapon securely in his jaws, he waited for Briar to find her position and get ready, then for Mortis to give them the signal to start.

"Artorias Carpathius"

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.
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Briar could feel the anger in that glance, no matter how brief it was and she grit her teeth to force herself to keep it together and continue standing there in front of her brother. She wanted to turn and leave, but that clearly hadn't helped anything the first time. She had given up and made that mistake once and it had only hurt her more instead of helping anything. The feeling that he would be better off without her still lingered in the dark recesses of her mind, but seeing him here, standing beside him again... She wanted to be selfish. She wanted to take back every single word she said. She wanted to lean on him instead of pushing him away. But now the damage had been done and she could feel the hatred rolling off of him in waves. Mortis told them they would be working together, forcing them to be a team to take them down.

Internally she groaned with dread at the thought of having to fight right now, especially with Artorias. While Artorias checked the terrain, she readjusted her armor, glancing at Marigold and sharing a knowing glance with the antlered fox. She'd need her companion to keep her on track today. Willow swooped back and forth over head - the falcon far newer to her than Marigold, but she trusted the falcon all the same. Once Artorias came back and said he was ready, pulling out his wooden sword, Briar nodded in agreement as well. She didn't trust her voice to not waver so she left it to non-verbal responses for now, silently lowering herself into a fighting stance. She tried to pull from the anger she had felt that night, the frustration she had been feeling for ages, drawing on that instead of focusing on the heartache and the sadness.

"Briar Fatalis"

Mortis frowned as he looked from Art to Briar. The amusement falling off the formers face, and the weariness that Briar kept about her as she adjusted her armor. [I] But that's not going to be happening any more... [\i] he thought, mirroring Briars earlier words in regards to Art. He wondered if his father knew about this friction between the two when he sent him off to start their training. Knowing that old brute, he wouldn't put it past him. Was Mortis supposed to fix this and turn them into a cohesive unit, or was Mortis reading too much into his father's intentions?

"I would like the two of you to take a moment to talk tactics before you start. Briar has fought me before and has some idea of how I fight. I want the two of you to discuss this, consider tactics thay would work against it, and then utilize them as a team against me. You have five minutes, begin." He ordered. Keeping his voice steady, as he folded in his wings and turned away from the two wolves. Walking a short distance away to give them privacy to discuss taking him down outside of his hearing. He did however watch them out of the corner of his eye, reading their body language. He considered spying on them, but he wasn't their father. He wouldn't go that far.

Briar took her position without a word, and Artorias readied himself for the fight. Muscles tensed, nerves buzzing with energy, ready to burst forth. But where he had been expecting the call for the fight to begin, instead Mortis relaxed and told them to talk out their tactics to take him down. Artorias' shoulders slumped while he leered at the dire wolf, internally raging that he couldn't just get to the action and now had to deal with Briar. He wanted to roll his eyes, to huff and groan, to grump, but instead he relaxed and stood up straight again, turning to pace his way to the edge of the ring with his back turned to Mortis. He didn't want to be doing this. This felt extortionate.

Driving his sword into the sand so the blade stood upright on his own, Artorias waited, staring blankly out across the expanse of beach and the grasslands beyond while he took slow, focused breaths of the salty sea air. He waited until he heard Briar approach, but he would not turn to look at her, instead speaking from the side while he raked his claws idly through the sand and adjusted his armor around his neck, his body still growing and filling out in his armor more and more every day. Five minutes. Five fucking minutes of sitting here forcing chit chat with Briar.

"How do you want to do this?" he spoke low and hard once she'd gotten closer, his eyes gazing off at the horizon, doing everything he could to avoid as much contact with her as possible. If it were up to him, he would just stay out of her way and she would stay out of his, neither of them interacting. A split focus would work on Mortis too, and then neither of them would have to think, work, or communicate with the other. It would be like Mortis being forced to fight two different battles at once.

"Artorias Carpathius"

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.
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Briar was ready to just fight and get this over with so she could stop struggling against her own thoughts and emotions - but of course Mortis wouldn't just make this easy on them. She gaped at her brother with a pleading look when he declared they would have to discuss strategy for five minutes, saying how she had fought him before so she would know how they should take him on. He wanted her to talk with Artorias? Fighting beside him felt difficult enough, but trying to talk and discuss things? She watched Mortis walk off while Artorias walked off in another direction, the two males leaving her in the middle of the ring for a moment. She swallowed hard around a lump in her throat and looked down at the thin bangle that hung around her ankle, her ears folding back against her head. She had taken it off after she forced him away, running away from any traces of him while she went crazy with her training, but when she returned from the Battlefield the night before she had broken down and put it back on, feeling like it was a reminder of what she was working toward.

Now that she could feel the furry radiating from Artorias the bracelet felt heavy on her leg and seeing it felt like a dagger was stabbing her in her chest. Drawing in a shaky breath she forced herself to turn toward Artorias and walk across the short distance where he was standing with his back to her, pointedly looking away from her, his voice hard and cold. Five minutes. She had five minutes. Her jaw tensed as she searched for words - about the fight they were supposed to prepare for or otherwise - and struggled to think of a single thing. Northing felt right. Nothing was going to make it right. She considered just sticking to the fight as she stood just behind his shoulder, watching the profile of his face while he refused to look at her, but she couldn't.

"Artorias," she said quietly, trying to keep the pained waver from her voice and ultimately failing. "I'm sorry. I... I didn't mean what I said. I was hurt and upset and... I shouldn't have said those things." Her gaze dropped to the sand in front of her feet, her jaw tensing as she struggled against herself, fighting to keep her emotions from running rampant, desperately trying to keep the pieces of herself together. The fight was long forgotten at this point, her eyes shifting to her bracelet again, trying to focus on how the light glinted off of the amber stones instead of how her heart was hammering with panic against her chest.

She still wasn't sure she deserved him. She still didn't feel like wolf that could be his equal. But she wanted to be. She wanted to be so fucking badly and she missed him like her lungs missed air. "I wanted better for you than me. I pushed you away because I wanted you to be with someone that could lead with you and support you because I... I..." she added, her voice breaking and her eyes blinking away frustrated tears. "But not being with you hurts so much. Please, can we just...? Is there any way...?" She wanted to forget it ever happened. She wanted to have a second chance. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him. She wanted him to hold her again. A deep, painful fear formed in her heart, a fear that she might never get to have that chance. "Can I have another chance?" She didn't even ask for forgiveness, only a chance to earn it, for him to not ignore her like this.

"Briar Fatalis"

Amber eyes snapped shut when Briar spoke his name, his face wincing as if he were in physical pain. He hated how his name sounded in her voice and the way it twisted his heart in his chest. The hurt in her voice was as clear as day as she immediately launched into a broken and upset apology. Artorias was silent while Briar emptied the contents of her heart to him, laying bare all the feelings and turmoil she'd put herself in by breaking them apart. All the things she said were the same words he'd heard before when she'd ended their budding relationship before it had a chance to blossom. When she'd pushed him away, both figuratively and literally. When she'd broken his heart. She didn't feel good enough for him, she wanted better for him, he needed someone to match him. It was all the same stuff; nothing had changed.

But Briar wasn't understanding. She still didn't seem to get it. She was still disregarding him and his perspective and emotions. It appeared she hadn't learned anything in their time apart, she just wanted an end to the pain. She was still the same insecure and uncertain wolf that had pushed him away—the only difference now was that she was overcome by pain and not rage. Deep down, Artorias knew if he gave in to his aching soul, it would just be a matter of time before something set Briar off again and they repeated the same song and dance. But he wasn't about to go through that pain fresh. Gods, it still hurt him, but time had allowed some of the pain to dull and simmer into bitterness. He had no desire to rip that wound open again.

Sucking in a deep breath, Artorias held it in his lungs until he felt like they would burst, then released it in a slow exhale. His eyes flickered open, fire peering from beneath black lids while he slowly turned his head towards Briar. He finally allowed himself to look at her. He saw the pain written across her face, the fear reflected in her eyes, begging him to undo the mistake she had made. But it didn't make a difference. He couldn't trust Briar wouldn't do this to him again. She hadn't gotten right with herself, she was just looking for a painkiller. As much as he wanted to forgive her and reverse time to before they fell apart, it wasn't something he could do. He'd given so much of himself to her, opened up his heart and bore his soul to her, only to have her crush him out of some misguided sense of being worthy. That wasn't something he could just forget—and it wasn't something he could readily forgive.

Artorias' eyes dimmed, no longer burning with a cold fire, but neither did they hold the life and passion that once burned for the Fatalis princess in them. He slowly shook his head, taking another deep breath to steady himself so he could say what had to be said without wavering or breaking down like he had after she'd left him on Ashen shores. "I can't, Briar..." His words came out barely above a murmur, afraid if he spoke any softer his voice might break and if he spoke louder that Mortis might hear. This was a private affair between the two wolves. "Whether you meant what you said or not, there was enough truth to your words for you to say them. I can't just ignore what you said or what you did. You wanted me to leave, to push me away and make sure we weren't together... You can't just undo all that." He was trying very, very carefully to not let his emotions hijack him or let the pain and bitterness boil over into anger. He didn't want to hurt Briar intentionally—even though that was exactly what she had wanted to do to him, and had succeeded in doing.

"Artorias Carpathius"

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.
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There was a deafening silence that finally made her lift her eyes enough to peek at him while she waited on his answer, but the careful, measured way he left out a breath before he turned his head toward her made her fear a reality. Her eyes fell back to the sand even before he began to speak, flinching slightly as if he had hit her when he told her that he couldn't. She almost hated the way he kept everything so contained, perfect, and well spoken. She felt like a floundering mess, trembling under the weight of her own emotions, and somehow he was able to say what he needed to say without searching for a word or letting a crack form in his composure. She grit her teeth and tried to find even a scrap of that calm in herself and couldn't do it. She wanted to prove herself wrong and make herself believe that she could be the proud, graceful warrior that he deserved to have at his side, but she didn't know how. She hated how she was, she hated the pressure that she put on herself, she hated that her mind picked herself apart at every turn, but she didn't know how to do anything else.

She was quiet for a moment, her mind reeling, her heart threading to beat out of her chest. That determination that had driven her harder into her training than she had ever done before - it had all been because of him. He made her want to be better. Without him she lost her meaning and her purpose. She couldn't lose him. Even if she didn't win him back now, she couldn't give up. "I shouldn't have compared myself to your success," she said softly after a while, her brow creasing with thought, a frown pulling at her lips. "Everything just keeps crumbling and I keep failing I just... I got overwhelmed. And that's not fair to you... and I'm sorry." She gave a shaky sigh, drawing in a breath as she forced herself to look at him. Seeing his amber gaze very nearly broke her again. She clung to the shattered pieces of herself, internally squeezing them together just long enough to get the words out of her mouth.

"I've been training hard since I saw you last. Mortis has been helping me. It's... It's the first time I've really had someone teach me. I went to the Battlefield with Marigold. We camped out there for several days and I did a lot of spars. I'm... I'm still not great, but I'm getting better." She had always tried to wear such a bravado, her namesake and her lineage holding such a weight that she felt like she had to. She had to be proud of who and what she was and not let any of that weakness or inexperience show. She didn't want the world to know how she had spent so much of her time growing up with only Marigold and Dandelion, her companions keeping her company, the antlered fox giving her lessons and training. She never wanted to admit how alone she had felt before she had Artorias, how he was her only friend.

She bit back more tears, managing to tell him in a wavering voice before she broke, "Come to the falls tonight? Please?" She didn't wait for an answer, instead turning and running into the plains, Marigold and Willow following close behind. She felt bad for abandoning Mortis' training, but she couldn't stand there in front of him any more. She didn't want him or Mortis to see her cry. She wanted to run and lick her wounds and figure out a plan - and let herself cry and piece herself back together.

"Briar Fatalis"

The winged heir watched silently as the two spoke. There was heat to their words, and he could immediately see they weren't talking about the upcoming spar. He planted his rump in the earth, and curved his wings slightly forward, casting a shadow over his paws. He hoped he had done the right thing, that getting them to face the lingering shadow between them would do them any good. It hadn't done him and Hana any good... but then, he had left it too long before approaching her.

There was vulnerability to Briar as her mouth moved to speak words he could not catch. Pain in her eyes. There was hardness to Art, snd then more sadness from Briar. He was starting to think he hadn't gone about this right, and then suddenly Briar was jumping to her feet, and fleeing. Mort jumped to his feet too, more in surprise then anything. He glared at Art. "You hurt my sister, hasn't she been through enough?" He snarled as brushed past the smaller wolf, his wing brushing against thr other boys paw as he pushed himself on, putting on a spur of speed as he raced after Briar.

"Briar, wait!"

Artorias remained calm and composed because if he didn't, he surely would have exploded. So much pain and confusion and anger had shattered his heart to pieces from how Briar had left him so abruptly that if he didn't contain it, he didn't know how he'd react. He remained quiet, content to let Briar say all that she needed to say. So she had been training with Mortis as well, and had gone off to do some more fights on her own. Artorias didn't know the outcome of those fights, but it didn't matter to him. It had never been about winning or losing, but it had been to her. That was where their conflict had come from: he and Briar had prioritized two very different importances to themselves.

Briar ended her monologue by asking him to come to the falls tonight, then before he could think of responding, Briar was running away from him again. Not walking, running. The tawny Fatalis girl bolted off without another word or explanation, just a cryptic invitation leaving the boy staring after her with a start. "Briar!" he called after her, but she was already gone, disappearing into the grasses. He didn't know if he should chase after her or not. He'd never felt so conflicted around interacting with Briar before. It used to be so easy, to just go with his gut and his heart when he was with her, but now his brain was all mixed up and his heart was broken. What did he have to guide him now?

In the end, Artorias stayed right where he was, just staring off in the direction that she'd fled. The greatest surprise came from Mortis when the giant wolf came back to him with a glare, snarling that he'd hurt his sister. He fixed Mortis with a bewildered look. He'd hurt Briar? Was he daft or just plain stupid? "I didn't-" Artorias' words were cut off when the larger wolf shoved his way brutishly past him to chase after his sister, Artorias pulling his paw away from Mort's wing as he went by. He growled after them once Mortis was gone. Fucking Fatalis wolves... Artorias didn't stick around for the family drama to unfold any more, grabbing his sparring sword and sheathing it on his back before setting off down the beach. He needed to take a walk to clear his head.

"Artorias Carpathius"

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.
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