How do you do, fellow kid?

While the two wolves got situated in the dojo, Corbin watched Aquila with trepidation while the larger bird came up to land on the rafter beside him. He turned a curiously cocked head to the eagle when it chittered in a diplomatic manner, considering his unexpected roost mate. Corbin exhaled hard and rolled his eyes. Oh, why not? Switching from lupine to avian, the raven replied with an agreeable croak, accepting the olive branch. He then turned his pitch black eyes back down to watch the two wolves below closely.

Artorias couldn't resist a small smirk and low chuckle under his breath when his new training partner admitted to not knowing where to get started. That was fair, given that combat was more of an art than an exact science. Techniques could be taught, but the lessons would ultimately be left to the students to decide how they used them, like a painter selecting the right brush or pigments to craft their masterpiece. "Well, the basics are a good place to start. If you have your foundation down pat, everything else can be built up on them," he explained. "Everyone's fighting style will be different. You tailor your moves and strategies to match your body and your brain. Play to your advantages, defend your weaknesses."

Ezra mentioned learning how to block, dodge, and counter incoming attacks as a first lesson. The dark-furred boy nodded; that was as good a place as any to start. "Like I said, everyone has their own style that plays on their strengths. I'm smaller and lighter, so I try to keep moving and make myself a harder target. The counterattacks and dodges allow me to use my opponent's own strength against them so I don't have to be the biggest or strongest in the fight." Artorias turned and took up his sword in his teeth, turning back to Ezra to join the boy in the ring, whether Ezra had noticed he was standing in it or not. "See, the nice thing about these skills is you don't need a weapon to use them," he said. "Maybe you can't block the same way I can, but you can definitely dodge and counter all the same. It's all about watching your opponent's moves for openings, breaks, or chances to use their momentum against them."

Squaring off against Ezra, Artorias set his body into his fighting posture, clutching his sword tighter in his jaws. "Let's start with an easy drill: I'll swing at your legs, you just need to dodge them any way you can. Move, jump over it, rear back, anything you can do to stop me from knocking you over." Art shot the bigger boy a challenging smirk from around his training weapon. "Ready?" he asked, waiting for Ezra to prepare himself, and then as soon as he confirmed he was, Artorias came at him with unrelenting horizontal swings of his sword back and forth, aiming to sweep Ezra's legs out from underneath him and use the boy's size against him.


"Artorias" | Thoughts | "Corbin"