Love Like Wildfire

Artorias returned Briar's gentle kiss with one of his own, smiling at her like a lovestruck puppy while he watched her saunter gracefully around the thick nest of tangled tree limbs. While she hopped up onto the thick roots and gripped them with her signature Fatalis feline claws, Art watched the way the sunlight seemed to sparkle off of her body almost like she were in a spotlight. She was breathtaking and magical to him, and all the time they spent together only made him fall more and more madly in love with her. Eventually, Artorias had to tear his gaze away from his girlfriend long enough to get his bearings and look around the ancient oak forest once more. While walking across soft grasses and beds of ivy along the ground, Artorias studied the scorch marks along some of the trees, amazed at the resilience the oakwood had to even the most volatile of nature's elements, like lightning.

Dipping into one of the hollows in the base of a tree to investigate it, Artorias emerged from within a moment later. It was fascinating to consider being inside a living tree like that, and he quietly wondered how many wandering lone wolves used this place as shelter when they passed through. Though judging by the lack of any scents, stale or fresh, there hadn't been a traveler through these parts in at least a few days. All around them, clusters of wildflowers bloomed on bushes and on vines climbing up the sides of the thick trunks. They were gorgeous, even though the Aegis couldn't name a single one of them. Flowers and plants were never his strong suit anyways.

Artorias padded his way through the undergrowth back over towards Briar, letting his eyes look up over her once more. "How, uh... How're you feeling?" he asked in reference to her heat. While Artorias did all he could to keep his love satisfied, the surprise news of Romulus and Lillith's unexpected pregnancy did have him a bit concerned. He trusted Briar to maintain her contraception, but even that had failed his pack mates. Her scent still held strong this far into summer, however, so it seemed more like misfortune on their end, whereas he and Briar had managed to get almost out of her season without conceiving a litter.

"Artorias Carpathius"