Artorias knew the reputation he carried, as did many of his warriors within the Hallows. Bold knights-errant who armed themselves with steel weapons and practiced unorthodox combat styles. The art of the blade was a commonly taught technique and style amongst his fighters and was something he was quite proud of, having been the pioneering mind behind it. To date, he had trained a number of wolves on this unusual yet highly effective martial art, and it seemed he would continue to spread that knowledge to the next generation of Carpathians as not only had his own offspring shown an aptitude for combat, but his nieces and nephews had as well. Caladia had begun requesting training with blades after seeing the demonstrations he and Fern had put on, and at the behest of her mother, the Aegis had obliged to teach her the basics. He had little doubt his apprentice would have been able to instruct her daughter on the basics of armed combat, but he was loathe to deny a request for his expertise. If Callie wanted to be trained by him too, then he would gladly train her.

Though the warmth of spring had arrived, Auster was still very much a mucky quagmire from all the rains and raised water levels from the wet winter they had had. While this wouldn't dissuade an experienced warrior from training out in the yard, Artorias did not want Callie's first experience with a sword to be riddled with pitfalls and environmental hazards that could have been avoided. So he had chosen to use the indoor dojo for their first lesson. Training dummies were set up around the padded ring and the Aegis had procured a couple of blunted sparring swords for the wolves to use. Step one would be getting Callie used to the weight of the steel as a part of her fighting techniques. The rest they could branch out from once she had the basics down. With everything set up and ready to go, Artorias issued a call for Callie, his howl echoing through Hearthstone for his niece's presence.

"Artorias Carpathius"

Since the day that Art and Fern had given the pups a fighting lesson that involved swords, the hodgepodge colored girl had doggedly pestered her mother any and every question she think of about the weapons. Callie is eager to learn the art of the sword and already has decided to dedicate her life to pestering her mom until she teaches her. Finally, when Fern had answered all her questions three times over, the haggard woman had turned to Artorias and asked that he show her daughter the basics of swordplay.

Callie paces Hearthstone’s halls, waiting for the call that her mother promised would come for her. Excitement wars with nervousness in her stomach until it causes the girl a painful tummy ache but still, she waits as time seems to stretch on forever. Finally, the call arrives and Callie races to answer it, speeding into the dojo and nearly bowls a training dummy over as she skids to a stop near her uncle. Mismatched eyes look up at Art and a huge smile rests on her lips, the girl’s tail wags happily behind her while she presents herself to her uncle. Cheerfully, the girl says, “Hi uncle Art! I’m here and ready to learn!”

Of course, he can see that she is here since she is, in fact, standing right in front of him but, Callie is so eager to learn from her sword master uncle, that she decides he needs to know just how much to learn. Enthusiastically, she looks up at Artorias, ready to learn how to wield a sword.


"Caladia Carpathius"

In a flurry of activity, Artorias soon is no longer the sole occupant of the room. Paws thud and clatter across the stone floor as his niece comes charging into the dojo like a bat out of hell, almost colliding with one of the training dummies on her way up to him. Her enthusiasm is infectious and brings a toothy grin to the master swordsman's face, a hearty chuckle rumbling in the dire brute's chest. "Indeed you are! Welcome to the dojo, Callie! Here, we mold aspiring young wolves like yourself into fierce Knights with a mastery of armed combat." Turning a knowing grin to his niece, the Aegis asked, "Are you ready to begin your training, young Knight?"

Not waiting for Callie's response since he already knew what her eager answer would be, Artorias bent down to gather up the two wooden swords and passed one towards Caladia. The weight of the wood sword would likely be a surprise to her if she had been training with a wooden sword with Fern. This would help Artorias gauge just how much experience Callie had and where he had to start with her. Once Callie had taken the training weapon from him, Art picked up his own, holding it aloft easily from his years of experience. If anything, the wooden blade felt exceptionally light compared to the heft of Embershard! "Tell me what training you and your mother have been doing so far," he asked the mottled young fae, ready to get right into her training.

"Artorias Carpathius"

Bright, excited eyes stare up at her uncle as a loving smile curling her lips and Callie wags fiercely. At his question about being ready to train, the girl happily barks, “Yes!” She has waited for the day to formally begin her training and, while Fern has taught many of the basics, her mother was somewhat reluctant to allow her to train with an actually sword and the girl has started to feel too old for that wooden training one that she uses. As he asks about what her mother has taught her, the girl’s head tilts to the side as she ponders the question.

Mismatched eyes hold Art’s gaze and she slowly muses, “Well, she taught me how to hold a sword, how to speak with it in my mouth, and the basic stances to use. Like this.” While she does not have a sword with her, the girl spreads her weight and crouches low, lips pulling away and mouth opening slightly as she imagines the wooden object that usually rests between her teeth. Head curls to the side and she suddenly stands, bring her head up in a sharp, diagonal snap that would have had a sword cutting through the through the air in a basic, but strong, attack.

Mouth closes as Callie looks up at her uncle, hope burning brightly in her youthful gaze as she excitedly waits to see what Artorias is going to teach her.


"Caladia Carpathius"

Caladia wasted no time expressing her enthusiasm to begin her training lessons with him, and Artorias beamed at the young girl with delight, his bushy tail wagging in shared excitement. He listened while his niece explained what Fern had taught him so far—the basics stances mostly—and nods his head. So he had his work cut out for him, it seemed. That was fine; in some ways, it was easier to work with a blank canvas when molding his students into skilled warriors. "Then it sounds like we'd better get started. We've got a lot of work to do to hone you into a fearsome swordswolf," he said, taking up one of the two blunted sparring swords and setting it down at Callie's paws. He then kicked his sparring sword upright with a bit of flair, catching the hilt in his jaws midair and bringing the sword up to bear. "Pick up your sword, Callie. We're going to learn how to use real steel today."

Artorias led Caladia over to one of the training dummies, standing with his pupil before the dummy as he let her get used to holding the weight of an actual steel sword in her jaws. "Take a moment and get used to that. The heft, the balance, it's worlds different from that wooden sword, isn't it?" Art tipped his head in the direction of the training dummy. "Show me what you've learned so far." Taking a single step back to give Callie some space to maneuver as she pleased, the Aegis began to observe and study his niece's skills she'd developed so far.

"Artorias Carpathius"