Where our Problems Began

Artorias was patient with his daughter. Talyssa had been through a monumentally challenging day, faced down repulsive things she never should have had to, and now she was grappling to wrap her young psyche around what had transpired. Such violence, death, and lasciviousness... None of it should have been shown to a child. But Talyssa had been exposed to it all, and Artorias was not naive enough to believe that she would walk away from that experience unscathed. It was more than likely that his daughter would forever be changed by it, a part of her youthful innocence stolen away by that bastard. Just thinking about Sephiran made the Aegis' blood boil and an uncharacteristic rage he hadn't felt since his youth burned in his heart. If it weren't for the desire to protect his family overruling that primal bloodlust, the dire brute might have started hunting down the fucker that tried to force himself upon his daughter. Sephiran had gotten off easy with an ass beating and a threatening. He would not be granted that mercy again.

But Artorias remained calm and collected as he spent time with Talyssa. The last thing he wanted to do was alert his little girl to the dark thoughts stewing in his brain. This was a time for them to come down from the adrenaline rush and heightened emotions, not to rekindle them again. Taly was quiet for the most part, but when prompted to pick a path for them to walk, she unknowingly picked his favorite. Artorias loved the sea, and it seemed that love had been passed on to his progeny as well. The father and daughter walked along the western path along the far edges of the plains, where the grasses sloped down steady hills to reach the golden sands below. He breathed deep the salty sea air in the cool morning, letting it fill his lungs and rejuvenate him. His shoulder and right foreleg still ached from the fight with Sephiran, but for the most part he had fortunately escaped unscathed. He would have to remember to give Corbin and Eira special treats for their swift aid.

Lyssa's abrupt apology caught her sire's attention with perked ears and empathetic eyes that almost glowed in the dim dawn light. Artorias would not interrupt, allowing Talyssa to explain herself at her own pace. She apologized for being out in the woods in the first place, for not coming home as it grew dark, for putting herself in that situation with Sephiran. Seeing his little girl so close to tears as she stammered out her apology in their mother tongue broke his heart, and Artorias stopped their patrol on the spot, turning to face his whimpering pup so he could reach down and wrap her up in his forelegs, embracing her against his giant form to offer her comfort and protection against her inner torment. Though she had grown so much, she was still a small nugget compared to her dire wolf sire, and in his heart she would forever be his little girl. "Shhh... Fetița mea dulce, nu plânge. You're safe and you're alive. That's all that matters to me right now." Art gently rubbed over Taly's back with one large blue paw allowing her to cry if she wished, but shielding her from all that would dare to hurt her so.

"Yesterday, you learned a lot of hard and scary lessons. You are still so young and there is much for you to experience and learn. But you also learned what that gut feeling of knowing when something is wrong and when you're in danger feels like. Now you'll remember that feeling for the rest of your life, and you know whenever you feel it, you need to get yourself out of that situation. I would have preferred you felt it long before it got to the point it did yesterday, but I'll take my small victories and silver linings where I can find them." For a while, Artorias just comforted and rubbed Talyssa's back, letting her release those turbulent emotions as she needed. He might not have been the kind of therapist Laeta was or the empath Gwyn was, but Artorias was still a highly emotional wolf. He encouraged his children to feel and vent those emotions when they needed to instead of keeping them tamped down inside to fester. But as understanding and gentle as Artorias was trying to be with his daughter, there was also a need for some firmness here too. The Aegis' gaze hardened a bit as he thought of the compromising situation he had found Taly in with the vagabond. "You are never allowed to be around that wolf again, Taly. If you see Sephiran Saxe again, you turn and you run. Do you understand?" He gave his pup a moment to respond, then added, "And if any wolf ever looks at you like that or touches you or makes you feel uncomfortable the way he did, you run and you tell me and your mother. No wolf is allowed to lay a paw on you or look at you the way he did."

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