Beach Battle

In the days that had followed Resin's funeral, Artorias had become quiet and withdrawn, brooding and moody without saying much to anyone. Briar had come for the funeral and stayed with him to help keep him grounded while the swirling vortex that his life had been the last couple seasons finally began to settle into a dreary state of normalcy. Now that his mother had passed, the world seemed to be getting back to the way it was, proceeding as if nothing had even changed. As if one of the greatest wolves to ever live hadn't been suddenly and violently ripped from it. But he noticed; he felt the loss deeply. In his life, he had never dwelled much on what came after death. It wasn't a topic their parents had ever broached, nor did he ever think to consider it in his young life. Now he was forced to face that dark reality. What came after death?

Artorias was sitting in the great hall all by himself in the quiet room, staring blankly at the empty chair Resin had once occupied—the chair Ulric now occupied with his family at the head of the pack. His lip curled upward. While he respected the Adravendi man as his alpha, it felt wrong seeing him sit where Resin had been only months ago, like a slap to the face and a constant reminder of what his family had been forced to endure. His right shoulder ached with the healing muscle Resin had torn into in her final battle, the pinkish skin scarring over. Now both he and Tamsyn would bear marks of Resin's final slip into insanity for the rest of their lives. How fitting... The wolf he had looked up to, aspired to be, leaving him with her mark just before she left him.

A howl for him in his brother's voice broke him out of his brooding. It sounded distant, and to the west. Was Rudy at the beach? Curious, Artorias left the great hall with a final parting glance at the Aegis' seat, leaving the castle grounds bound for the shore. It wasn't hard to spot the gray and white form of his brother amongst the golden sands, and he approached with a raised brow and cocked head. "Rudy," he regarded his brother while he came closer, taking a seat next to his sibling and staring out over the ocean shimmering in the bright, warm summer sun. A gentle coastal breeze fluttered his fur while he waited to hear what Rudy had on his mind.

"Artorias" | "Corbin"