You'll never expect this!

Artorias snickered while Rudy vehemently defended his losses against Fern as sneak attacks. Ironic, coming from the wolf who enjoyed leaping out at him from the shadows for his own advantage. At the mention of pups, however, the mood turned a touch more serious as Rudy considered the idea and mentioned both Briar and Fern being good moms. "Of that, I have no doubt," replied Art with a smile, swirling the wine in his goblet while thoughts ran freely through his mind. The idea of being a parent, a father to a litter of little tiny wriggly wolves, it seemed like such a strange and foreign concept to the young adult. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized it wasn't so farfetched. He and his littermates were adults now, and it was the next big milestone step in his relationship after their marriage. Still, the idea made him anxious. His train of thought was the same as Rudy's: they'd grown up without knowing their father. No male presence to model after, no father figure to emulate. Resin did her best filling in that role, but there had always been questions and something missing. It made Art wonder if that meant he would be a terrible father, or a great one, doing everything he could to fill what he had been missing in his life? Rudyard asked him if he was ready to be a dad and the young Aegis just smirked, taking a sip of his wine as he mulled the notion over in his head. "Maybe I am..."

When questioned about his plans for this extended vacation he and Fern were planning, Rudyard had an off-the-cuff response just as he always did. But this time, it wasn't a joke; Rudy actually had some solid plans in place to help supplement the lack of his two master hunters. They would help train the rest of the pack to be more efficient hunters, show them how to set traps and catch fish too. Artorias pursed his lips and nodded, impressed by his brother's show of forethought this time around. "I agree, everyone in the pack should know the basics of hunting, just in case. We can't rely on you and Fern to provide for the entirety of the Hallows all the time. That isn't fair to you two." Artorias took another slow sip of wine while he pondered the matter at hand. Then he nodded and set his goblet down on the table, fixing his brother with an approving smile. "You've clearly put a lot of thought into this, Rudy. I'm impressed! So here's the deal I'll make you: if you, Fern, and Ezra help train the rest of the pack to master the basics of hunting, I'll let you both go enjoy your vacation without any fuss." It was a fair tradeoff; spend the season preparing the pack, then enjoy a season off together. Artorias gave his mottled gray brother a half smile and raised a paw for Rudy to bump. "Do we have a deal?"

After the deal had been offered, Rudy playfully asked how many of Artorias' future children would be coming to him for hunting lessons. The blue wolf snickered and smirked. "All of them," he remarked with a grin. "I'd want all of them to at least know how to keep themselves fed. If any of them want to pursue hunting as their passions after, then for sure you'd have a few little apprentices shadowing you for a while." Of all his hunters, Artorias valued Rudyard's expertise the most. He'd seen the efforts his brother had put into honing his skills, and while he'd never put down Fern or Ezra, there was a bit of bias towards that fraternal bond the two boys shared. Artorias gave a barking laugh when Rudy mentioned him not staying as sharp once he had kids and the Aegis shook his head with a wide smile. "I think if anything, I'd be even more alert if I have some tiny wolf nuggets running around for me to keep my eyes on! Can't let them get into too much trouble, right?" He shot Rudy a wink, a subtle allusion to the adventures and trouble they'd shared as pups themselves. How many gray hairs had they given their mothers with their antics? Karma would surely have penance in store for him!

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