The Warrior and his Ward

Artorias had been so focused on his training regiment that he hadn't noticed Zephyrus scurrying over to the cart from the caves off to the side to retrieve his weapons. He hadn't noticed his ward climbing up the rocky face of the mountains to reach a higher elevation. He didn't even notice when Zephyr took flight. He did notice the avian cry that rang out suddenly in the otherwise still morning. Art's head snapped up, keen amber eyes finding his raptor son swooping down towards him with the sparring swords clutched in his talons, aimed right for him.

Two thoughts went through Artorias' mind very quickly: oh shit, Zeph's gonna crash into me and OH SHIT, ZEPH'S GONNA CRASH INTO MY SWORD! The wolf's heart missed a beat in panic and he was swift to slide his paws across the smooth rocky ground, dropping to his belly mid-turn just as Zeph swooped down to where he had been standing a second before. He could feel the gust of air pass over him as Zeph slowed himself with his powerful wings, the wooden swords clutched in his talons passing harmlessly over his head. It had been anticlimactic, but at least he hadn't inadvertently skewered his son! Crisis averted.

"Zephyrus! What do you think you're doing?!" Artorias snapped from between jaws clenched around his sword, turning his cross gaze up to his airborne son. A lifetime of speaking with a sword in his teeth had taught him to speak relatively uninhibited, though some of his words did come out a bit muffled. "That was very foolish swooping down at me when I'm holding my sword. You could've gotten seriously hurt! What if I hadn't stopped myself in time?" Breathing a sigh of relief that his ward hadn't been injured, Art rose to his paws and slid his sword back into its scabbard. Then he focused on Zeph, looking between the bird's battle-ready expression and the two sparring swords in his talons. An eyebrow raised above his curious gaze.

"How did you find those?" Well, he supposed he hadn't really been hiding them super well, just tucked beneath the alpaca blankets on the ride up here. Zephyr had spent most of the trip riding in the wagon, so it made sense he'd find them. "Er... don't tell your mother about them, okay?" Briar had wanted this trip to be about relaxing and spending time with family. Somehow he didn't think he'd be able to convince her that trying to teach the wolves of the Armada how to handle weapons would qualify as "spending family time" with them.

"Artorias Carpathius"