Walk the lands we seek to call home

Artorias wasn't left to wait long for others of his pack to show up. The first came in the form of his growing raptor son, who the Aegis hadn't even noticed was airborne until he heard the shrill cry of the avian from behind and above him. Brows furrowing in confusion, Artorias turned around—and saw the massive shadowy form of Zephyrus swooping down towards him from a steady glide just overhead. Were he a slower wolf, he would have easily been tackled by the divebombing bird, but thanks in part to his training and to his sharper eyes, Artorias' reflexes had been honed to wicked sharpness. He dropped low to his belly on the soft summer grasses while Zephyr swooped over his head, a look of panic on his face while he careened out of control as the raptor attempted to stop himself midair, only to find his brakes in the form of a dense raspberry bush.

The crashing and crushing of foliage was heard behind him, and Artorias quickly rose to his paws to hurry to check on Zephyrus. The sight he found was as adorable as it was hilarious! The Aegis found his son hanging lopsided in the brush, suspended up like it were a plush leafy cushion, the bush very obviously squished beneath the giant bird's weight and size. Zeph looked as startled and confused as he felt, but as worried as he'd been that Zephyrus might have been hurt, he was put at ease by his son's casual greeting and enthusiastic declaration of finding berries. A wide smile slowly split Artorias' lips, a chuckle starting in his throat that turned into a full belly laugh at the ridiculousness of his ward. "Almost got me this time, Zeph! But you're gonna have to be quicker than that to catch your dad off guard." Artorias padded closer to offer his ward an affectionate nuzzle. He was still teaching Zephyrus a lot of wolf customs and culture, such as nuzzling to show affection, but the young raptor had been learning everything so quickly and he was very impressed.

Fern's voice caught his attention, followed by Syanna's, and he greeted both women with a smile and nod of his head. Syanna asked what they were doing and the Aegis would explain. "We're going to be walking the grove today, mapping out the land and making note of what we can see, any special features of the land. We're going to be claiming the grove for the Hallows and we need to know everything about the newest land in our home. We can all take a look around together as a group," he explained, then added with a teasing grin, "Once we get Zeph out of the bush, that is." Artorias moved towards the raspberry bush and leaned into it, using his weight to help bend the bush to lower the giant raptor back to the ground.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Eira" | "Argent"