Almost adults

Briar couldn't help the loving grin that lingered on her muzzle as she watched their children greet their father, her tail wagging gently behind her from the joy and excitement in the room. There was nothing in the world she loved more than having her little–or maybe not so little, depending on who was asked–family all together and seeing them all so happy. She had always known that Artorias was going to be a wonderful father, but he had undoubtedly proven that tenfold over the last year. Sitting next to Artorias as he began their little birthday song in Carpathian, she giggled and joined in, adding her softer, more lyrical voice to Artorias' and his ravens up above. ""La mulți ani Thorn, Ciaran, Dusk, Talyssa, și Bramble! La mulți ani pentru tine!"" Somewhere at the back of the hall she heard Marigold giving her own cheers as well along with the other companions in the rafters. They were all here to celebrate such a huge milestone for their wonderful pups.

Artorias was always one for doing things with a bit of flare and dramatics so as he went on to introduce their gifts and begin passing them out to each of the pups, she smiled and lingered beside them, watching their reactions eagerly. As Talyssa was presented with her custom necklace that held a pendant that represented their family, she grinned and leaned over to press a kiss to her daughter's cheek. "Arată frumos la tine, dragă. La mulți ani." She looked over in time to see Artorias presenting the next box to Dusk, revealing the very specialized weapon that was tucked inside. Artorias handled the warning to be careful so she didn't feel the need to do it again, though she did give Dusk a pointed look to make sure she got the message. Then she smiled, chuckling softly as leaned in to nuzzle the top of Dusk's head between her gradually growing little antlers. "Happy birthday, my love. I hope you have fun with them... maybe not too much fun through." Of course she had to make at least a little bit of a teasing comment as the over protective mother she was. After chuckling and giving their little soot sprite a kiss on the cheek she lifted her gaze to see the next gift.

As Artorias moved to the first sword of the pile, she turned her attention to Ciaran as the blue-tinted blade was revealed and the sunlight streaming through the windows caught on the faceted sapphires. It really was a beautiful weapon and she was again impressed with the craftsmanship behind all of their gifts. Yes, they had spoiled them all a little bit, but they were worth it. She didn't know a lot about the weapons that Artorias presented them with since fighting with those kinds of things had never really been her style, but she could definitely appreciate their beauty, the work that went into them, and the fact that they would help keep their children safe. She stepped over to Ciaran after Art had given him his gift and gave him a proud smile, tipping her muzzle up to give his cheek a kiss as well. How had they already gotten so tall?! "Enjoy it, but be safe," she warned. No one was going to escape a mother's worry with very sharp things now in their paws! "Happy birthday, Kea."

Artorias pulled her attention again as he slid the next gift over to her to present and her ears perked with interest, giving him a smile before she turned her attention to Bramble. She nodded with agreement at her mate's explanation of her excitement to make this particular gift. She wasn't well versed in weapons, but when it came to coming up with ideas for Talyssa's necklace or thinking up something unique for Bramble she had been very eager to play a role in their gifts. Briar placed the polished box in front of Bramble as she said, "Happy birthday, darling. I hope you like it." Once the box was opened, she would find a metal cuff made from the same Carpathian steel as the rest of her sibling's gifts, made to be able to open and clasp around the base of her tail, the metal is polished to bring out the natural pattern of the unique material. Three ribbons trail off of the cuff, two of them green and one of them blue to match her markings, and along the length of the ribbons hang delicate fringe of sparking, glass beads, spaced out along the ribbons so that once they are graded around her tail they can peak out among the fur of her tail to catch the light. It was certainly a more unusual gift, but she just knew it would match Bramble's style. She had to lean up to kiss her daughter's cheek as well, still marveling at how big they had gotten already.

Last but not least was Thorn who undoubtedly had the largest gift of the bunch. Somehow the massive sword made her even more nervous than the very sharp tail blades that Dusk had been presented with, but she trusted Artorias' judgement on the matter and if he was confident that Thorn could handle such a weapon then she would agree. She felt like she did a pretty good job of hiding her reservations as Artorias helped their son with getting the great sword from its scabbard for the first time to present the beautiful sword to their boy, giving him a proud, loving smile as well and eventually leaning in to nuzzle Thorn's cheek happily once Art was done with presenting him his gift. "Happy birthday, Thorn. I can't wait to see you master your sword just like your father." At the very least she knew that they all had the best teacher possible in Artorias so at least they would all know how to wield these dangerous weapons well.

She sat back at Artorias' side now that all of their gifts were given out, every one of them now holding a piece of the special steel that Artorias was so proud to outfit his family in. She nodded with agreement as Artorias expressed how they truly were their their greatest treasures. "Gifts are really never enough to show how much we love all of you, but we at least wanted you all to have something to remind you of home no matter where life takes you," she added, giving them all a smile as she tried her best not too get too emotional over how fast they had all grown. As Art began to question them on names for their new weapons, what ranks they might want to pursue, and mentioning the new spaces that they would get to start claiming as their own it really did drive home that they weren't really their pups any more, but nearly full grown adults and it all felt very bitter sweet. "Well, while you hash out all those details, I'll go get our birthday breakfast together," she said with a chuckle, beginning to slip away to go over to the kitchen and begin whipping up something special for them. "Go ahead and get seated at the table, darlings, I'll be right back!"

"Carpathius Family"