ambitions

Avantika's request perked Art's ears up atop his head and his eyes alit like a bonfire. A spar, eh? Of course he would entertain her with a spar! But a spar with two other wolves—a melee—that was an experience he hadn't had yet. The idea intrigued him, and it was definitely something he was interested in! He glanced back and forth between Tika and Ezra for a moment, gauging the other boy's reactions to see if he was into it as well. Surprisingly, he was! Ezra had always seemed like the self-imposed outcast of the pack, avoiding all of their training regiments and pack activities like a leper. He did feel bad for the boy; with the disappearance of his mother and sister, that had to be a lot to process. But Ezra seemed to be shunning the help and comfort of his pack mates entirely in favor of isolation. Artorias was glad to see he was at least willing to participate with them this time—but it didn't mean he was going to go easy on him. Ezra was the biggest of them, and he could deal with whatever came his way. Call it a dose of reality for scorning his training.

"All right, let's do this," Artorias remarked, taking a couple paces back to give them all some space to start. Corbin gracefully dove down to land on the boy's back, turning his head curiously. "We're doing a melee," he told the avian. "Keep an eye out, just like we practiced."

Corbin nodded. "Understood, Master Artorias." With a strong flap of his wings, the raven took to the skies once more, circling low overhead of the three wolves so he could observe the fight, the terrain, and the opponents and keep Artorias alert and prepared. Corbin croaked in surprise when the giant eagle zoomed in front of him, barely able to slow himself with a few flaps of his wings to prevent from crashing into the bigger bird. "Well, excuse YOU, you dolt! Not enough room in the sky for you?" he snapped back at Aquila with a click of his beak before resuming his circling pattern.

Artorias briefly considered whether or not to use his sword in their fight. Resin had told him to always fight fair with his siblings... but with Ezra in the mix, that changed things, right? Besides, if this was a real melee fight against two other wolves, there would be no limits, no holds barred. This would make for a good practice scenario. Grabbing the hilt of his sword in his jaws, Artorias drew his sword, aligning his head with his spine and spreading his feet to assume his battle stance, tail tucking out of the way between his legs and eyes narrowed to focus on his opponents. From there, he waited for Ezra and Avantika to get ready as well. This was still a spar, after all; some rules of decorum had to be observed. Once they were ready, however, it would be a free-for-all. May the best wolf win.