This is Ours Now

So lost had the boy been in his daydreaming that he didn't notice his mother or her lanky pet approaching until he saw her emerge through the open doors to the great hall, beaming at her with bright eyes and wide smile. "Hi Mama!" he greeted her, his little fluffy tail wagging like a feather duster against the aged seat behind him, giving dulled thunks whenever it hit the back of the chair. He was growing quickly, and although still small, he sat in the large chair as if he belonged, his tail hanging off the edge whenever it wasn't wagging. All of the pups were getting big as they headed towards nine months of age, and it was becoming clear that Artorias was going to be a fairly large wolf at this rate, despite his lanky puppy form and slight puppy chub around his developing muscles. He peered up at Blue who had perched himself atop one of the backrests of the chairs across the large table from him, still not exactly pleased with the presence of the screeching nuisance, although as they were getting older and being granted more freedoms to roam, the less he was annoyed by the primate. His head snapped back to look up at Tamsyn when she sat in the seat next to him, a happy giggle coming from the pup when she kissed him on his crown.

"I was exploring the castle. There's so much to see around here, everything is so big!" he explained, fiery gaze moving around the large hall that echoed like a cave with just the two of them in it. His mind began to fill the vacant hall with imaginary wolves and mental sounds of chatter and festivities, imagining a lively scene in place of the ghostly room. "I'm trying to imagine what living here will be like. Roaming the halls, checking all the rooms for secrets and treasures, all the meetings and feasts we can have in here..." His ears snapped up on top of his head as he turned back to his mother. "Oh! Can we have our own rooms, like our own dens? I found a reeeeeally neat one on one of the higher levels. It looks out over the sea and everything!" By now, Artorias' love of the water and the ocean was not a secret to anyone, the boy taking every opportunity he could seize to spent time out on the shore or by the rivers and falls when they had been living in Boreas. Despite his enthusiasm, Artorias was always thinking of others though, and with a curious tilt of his head, he fixed his gaze on Tamsyn's minty-green eyes as he asked her...

"Do you like our new home too, Mama?" followed closely by, "Why did we have to leave our other home anyway? Was there something wrong with it?"