Manon looked at the array of practice weapons, they were all... so huge and she was not. But she wasn't about to let that stop her! Grabbing one of the sticks... "Oof!" Apparently it was weighted... She tried to heft it in her jaws like she had seen dad and her bigger, older siblings do.

Her short legs trembled under the added weight and her neck sagged as she locked her joints and tried to drag the tip of the practice dagger sword off the ground. She was never gonna be a fighter if she couldn't even pick up a weapon, and her brows drew down in determination. She could do it! And she would!

"speech"

coded by NachoMumma

I'm

Humming a happy tune to herself, Ember pranced down the corridors of Hearthstone in the direction of the dojo. A warm breeze rippled through the halls from the many open windows in the castle to allow the mild spring air to help chase out some of the stuffiness built up over the cold winter and freshen their home up. With the weather on the upswing, Ember had taken to doing more outdoor drills and training, but all the sparring weapons and training equipment was kept in the dojo, so off she went to collect what she needed for the day. Rounding the doorway into the dojo, Em stopped mid-stride when she spied the ultra tiny form of her littlest sister doing... actually, what the heck was she doing? Head cocked and brows furrowed, Ember took a couple slow, silent steps closer into the dojo.

Manon was in here on her own and she was... trying to lift a wooden dagger? The sight of this tiny puppy trying to lift a piece of equipment almost as big as she was nearly had Ember bursting out in giggles, but the older princess held her humor back while she quietly watched Manon put all her might into trying to lift the sparring dagger. After a few more enthusiastic attempts that yielded no results, Em decided to show her little sister some mercy and help her out. "Yeeeah, they're heavier than they look," she remarked with a lopsided grin, very akin to her father's mannerisms.

Em walked over to join Manon, looking down at the heavy training dagger with consideration in her oceanic blue eyes. "Y'know, if you wanna learn how to use a weapon, we could practice the way Dad did when he was a pup. Has he ever told you those stories, Manon?" A little knowing smirk sat on Ember's lips. Had their father told the youngest Carpathians about his escapades as a stick knight in his childhood yet?

"Ember Carpathius" | "Carpathian"

Needle like puppy teeth were making way for adult teeth, and their lack of stability didn't help her grip at all. Someone walked in behind her, and she held on, glaring stubbornly at her big sister. Manon wasn't going to let her size hold her back! She would pick up the heavy stick! Until it slipped from her mouth, taking a milk tooth with it.

The shock alone had her blinking, a coppery tang filling her mouth briefly, she touched the hole with her tongue and flinched. It didn't hurt, it just felt... weird.

Finally she turned her attention back to her sister, mulling over the comment about them being heavy, "But it was the smallest stick I could find." Her head canted, and her rump hit the ground with a huff. How was she meant to practice if she couldn't even pick up the weapons to practice with? Her tail started to tap on the ground when Em asked her if Dad had told her stories. Probably, but she loved stories, and it wouldn't hurt her to hear it again. "I can't remember..." she wheedled, eyes widening in a silent plea. Anything to take her mind off the hole where her puppy tooth had just been.

"speech"

coded by NachoMumma

Ember didn't want to intervene in Manon's display of fortitude and might, so she simply let her baby sister continue to try her hardest to lift the wooden dagger in her tiny muzzle. What was the worst that could happen? Well, turns out that would be popping a tooth from her mouth. Em blinked in surprise and stared down at the milk tooth as it bounced across the padded floor of the dojo a couple times before coming to rest like a piece of puppy shrapnel in between them. Oh shoot. Fortunately, Manon didn't seem hurt by the sudden loss of a puppy tooth, just slightly perturbed and uncomfortable. She recovered quickly and mentioned this being the smallest training weapon she could find. And yeah, she wasn't wrong per se, but it was still much too big for her to handle as a one season old puppy.

A soft, slightly amused exhale escaped Ember as she looked at her much smaller sister with endearment. Oh yeah, she was a Carpathius all right! Indomitable spirit, refusal to back down from a challenge, small but mighty. She reminded Em a lot of how headstrong she had been as a wee pup. When asked if she'd heard the stories of how their father had learned how to wield his legendary sword, Manon simply said she couldn't remember. With a chuckle and a nod of her head for Manon to follow her, Ember began to lead the pup back out of the dojo. "Come on, belea. Let your big sis show you."

Leading Manon down the corridor and out the front doors to the sunny spring garden, she began to recount their father's history with her. "Tati didn't actually touch a sword until he was a yearling, y'know. Before he and our aunts, uncles, and Granny Tam moved here from Boreas, there were no swords, no weapons. So how did Tati learn how to fight with them?" Stepping down the terrace to the rows of blossoming wisteria trees, Em led Manon over to the closest one and snapped a thin stick off the end of one front, showing it off to her sister. "He used other things instead to learn. He started off with sticks he could pick up, getting used to how they felt to hold and swing. Then he moved up to the training swords. Then real swords." Ember set the stick down at Manon's paws, gifting her sister the first "stick sword" to use. Then she snapped off another for herself to use. "And voila! Now you have your own 'weapon' you can start practicing with!"

Ember shot Manon a playful grin, eyes flashing with lighthearted challenge as she lowered her body down to her smaller sister's level, rump in the air and braided tail wagging wildly to and fro. "Wanna practice fighting with me, Manon? I promise I'll go easy on you if you ask nicely." Yeah, Em was trying to push Manon's buttons. She wanted to rile up her feisty sibling and let her have fun learning together.

"Ember Carpathius" | "Carpathian"