What Peculiar Neighbors we Have

Artorias had been dealing with some troubled thoughts all day long. Earlier in the day, his raven Corbin had swooped in with worrying news that Talyssa was being accosted by a stranger on the nearby beach and the scene had not been a friendly one. In a moment of panic, Artorias had sprinted from Hearthstone down to the Shimmering Shore in the blink of an eye. Taly hadn’t called for help, but the Aegis knew how quickly a situation could turn from tense to bad and he wasn’t going to chance his daughter’s safety with some unknown wolf. However, by the time he’d hit the shore, he spotted Talyssa already walking away from a tall yet young wolf, looking not quite a yearling yet, but close. He was also covered in a concerning amount of blood that made the alpha’s gaze narrow to suspicious points. Fortunately for the aggressive-looking boy the shore was still neutral territory, and after watching from a distance to ensure Taly got back to Hallowed lands safe and sound, he left without confrontation. But now he had a serious conversation he needed to have with his daughter.

Despite how he was feeling, Artorias did not immediately go track down Talyssa to talk to him about the scene he’d partially witnessed and what Corbin had told him about the interaction. He didn’t want his child to feel like he was being overbearing or interrogating her. Instead, the inexperienced father wolf went about his day as normal, keeping an eye out for Taly to make sure he knew where she was at all times while mulling over how to best have this conversation with her. The last thing he ever wanted was to make his children feel like he didn’t trust them. Quite the opposite; he trusted them to be smart and make good decisions. It was the rest of the world the Aegis was wary of. He wore far too many scars and learned too many lessons to trust implicitly anymore.

As luck would have it, fate provided him an answer to his dilemma later that evening. As Artorias sat in the quiet of the family’s expansive bedchambers pouring over one of the castle’s many old books, Talyssa’s sweet voice pulled his attention away from the strange text he couldn’t yet decipher, amber eyes finding his little girl and brightening to see her. "Taly, hello!" he greeted her, all smiles as he always was to see any of his pups. She continued, telling him she had a question. Artorias cocked his head to one side, letting Lys continue with her train of thought. Artorias was prepared to answer something regarding that stranger on the beach. Maybe she had seen her father lurking around down there, watching them?

The question that followed was not at all what Artorias had expected! The ebony and sapphire brute blinked in surprise a couple of times as the name Tojo-kai fell from Talyssa’s lips. Turning to face her a little more, Art furrowed his brow in curiosity, his head still tilted to one side in comical canine confusion. "They are a pack that lives in the far south of Auster, down near the southern coast. Where did you hear about Tojo-kai from, Lyssie?" While he hadn’t done anything to hide the existence of their neighboring pack from his studious pups, the southern pack kept almost entirely to themselves, and had no relation to the Hallows. So how had Talyssa found out about a pack that did its best to remain hidden?

"Artorias Carpathius"