Beach Battle

Artorias did have to admire how Rudyard always seemed to keep his spirits up, no matter how grim or melancholy the situation was. His brother always saw silver linings, always was the ray of sunshine through the clouds. Himself, he was more prone to brooding, anger, and dour thoughts, his mood much more wild than his brother's was. In his life, Artorias had tried to surround himself with wolves that helped keep him grounded and stable. Briar, Rudy, Sirius, Tamsyn, they all kept him even-keeled. Rudy brought up the conversation they'd had recently about who would win in another beach spar, and a roguish grin slowly crept its way across Artorias' muzzle, putting two and two together before Rudy even finished speaking. Ah, so that's why he'd called him down to the beach... Very clever, Rudy, very clever.

Rudyard set the terms of the fight: no weapons, no armor, no pets. Just the two of them, their own fangs and claws, the will of the gods, and the skills they'd developed. Secretly, Artorias was glad that this was what Rudy wanted. He had been concerned he was about to have another heavy conversation with his little brother, one he was not ready to have. Maybe someday... but not today. He cocked a wry smirk at Rudy's taunting of how much of a chance Art would have without his sword. Shooting Rudy a playful glare, Artorias gave a short howl for Corbin. The large raven came fluttering down to land on Artorias' back, cocking his head curiously. "We're going to have a fight, just ourselves. Take a break," he said. Corbin bobbed his head in a nod, then flapped away with a "Good luck, Master Artorias!"

Once Corbin had settled in a nearby tree, Artorias got to his paws and took a couple steps away from Rudyard. He unfastened the strap for Embershard's scabbard, unslinging the sword from his body and tossing it carefully to the soft sand. He began to unsnap each buckle on his armor, shrugging it off and slipping it over his head to land on the beach beside his weapon. Now naked and unarmed, Artorias gave his fur a tousle to fluff it out and turned back to face Rudy with a challenging grin and fiery eyes. "Y'know, as the one in charge of training you as a Knight, I'm very proud of your confidence," he commented to his mottled gray brother, spreading his paws to settle into his fighting stance. "But as your brother, I'm gonna warn you that I'm gonna kick your ass, Rudy. Come at me!" Amber eyes narrowed, white fangs bared, Artorias prepared for Rudy to get ready and for their beach brawl to start.

"Artorias" | "Corbin"