Little lords and ladies

As soon as the doors were open, Artorias watched all five of his eager little fuzzballs go tumbling out into the expansive hallway of the castle for the first time. Dusk howled her joy and off they went, yipping and yapping while they rushed down the hall and out of sight. Art chuckled and followed after his children, seeing that only Talyssa had stopped to wait for him and Briar. She was such a sweetheart. The dire wolf approached his little girl and craned his neck down to nuzzle her forehead, giving her rump a little tap with his paw to encourage her forward. "Go on, Taly! I'm right behind you. " From up ahead, the sound of some sort of calamity coming from the stairs caught Artorias' attention. Concern furrowed the wolf's brow, keen ears picking up the sounds of tumbling, followed by the distinct lack of excited puppy voices. Oh boy... he thought with a heavy sigh. What had his children gotten up to already?

Making his way down the hall, the Aegis turned the corner to find Bramble waiting at the top of the stairs, gazing down them with a look of shock and worry on her face. Amber eyes rolling, Artorias came up to his second daughter's side and peered down the steps. At the bottom, Briar was already getting Thorn and Dusk up while Ciaran just zipped past them. At least he had taken the stairs properly. Art softened his gaze while he looked down at his sweet Bramble, a flick of his head motioning her down the stairs. "C'mon, we'll go down together," he reassured her. He let his daughters take their time navigating the wide staircase down to the bottom, following at their side with each step they conquered. If they were to stumble or fall, he would be there to catch them before they ended up like their siblings at the bottom.

Once they had made it down, Artorias turned a stern gaze down to Thorn and Dusk. He didn't know which of the two had disobeyed his one rule first, but it didn't matter. The two had been each other's instigators since the day they were born. "Too late," Artorias remarked when Briar tried to usher their pups along before he got there. Turning his pointed gaze from one pup to the other. "Don't make me have to keep you two in time out while the others play." Art wanted to afford his children all the freedoms and liberties to explore their home and learn as much as he could, but he was not afraid to lay down the law and be the strict parent if he needed to be, and gods knew Dusk and Thorn tested him sometimes. "Now no more roughhousing near stairs. Any stairs. Understood?"

"Carpathius Family"