Father and Son talk - Teach me?

Artorias raised a curious brow while he listened to Thorn's eager explanation of the stick sword he and Fern had made together. It didn't come as any surprise to the swordsman that his children showed an enthusiasm for weapons and armed combat when they had their father to act as a paragon for the art. "Oh did she now?" Artorias remarked with a chuckle under his breath, allowing Thorn to explain how his aunt had made it for him to practice with until he was old enough to use one of the real practice swords. Watching his eldest son's demonstration with the "sword", Art chuckled again and couldn't resist the affectionate smile tugging at his lips. Seeing Thorn swing the stick wildly around reminded him of himself at the boy's age. How many sticks had he broken over Rudy's head during their spars as pups at the Sunset Falls?

When Thorn ended his demonstration and asked if he could have lessons with this until he was old enough to use a proper training sword, Artorias pursed his lips as he contemplated his son's offer. Looking from the azure pup down to the stick sword, the dire wolf tapped his chin with a paw. "Let me have a look at that." The sire reached down and picked up the "sword" in his jaws, then opened the dojo doors to allow both wolves to enter. He led Thorn inside, carrying his son's practice weapon until they were both in the center of the dojo's padded arena. Artorias tested the light weight of the sticks, then began a graceful display of swinging the "sword" back and forth through the air a couple of times. As he tested the sword, he decided to put in a little bit of flair for his son's amusement, tossing the stick up in the air during an uppercut before swiftly sliding his paws across the floor to about face and catch the stick as it fell towards him and giving a few more swings.

Satisfied with himself, Artorias dropped the stick sword into one of his open paws and tested its weight and balance with his paw. "This is very nicely made, Thorn," he commented, then added with a bit of a laugh, "Far nicer than the sticks I used to carry at your age!" Smiling to his son, Art set the stick down at Thorn's paws and nodded. "Until you're old enough to handle a proper training sword, you can use this to begin practicing moving around with a weapon in your mouth. This will get you used to navigating and moving while having your weapon move as a part of you." While a stick would only go so far to replicate the experience of carrying a real weapon, there was no harm in getting his children started in their training early. If they were as passionate about learning the way of the blade as they appeared to be, Artorias would be all too glad to teach them.

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