The importance of preparation

Artorias was not kept waiting for long by his little golden girl, Talyssa showing her usual punctuality by arriving to the outdoor training arena promptly after being summoned. The look of bewilderment on her face was enough to earn a lopsided smirk from her oversized sire, who looked upon his yearling daughter with all the love and pride of a father. Talyssa had grown so much, bearing the colors of her mother as well as all her beauty, and at her near-adult height, she was quickly shaping up into the wolf she would become. Artorias waited and watched patiently while Taly observed the scene before her, assessing things with her sharp, attentive mind before asking him what this was for. "Îmi țin promisiunea, comoara mea," he answered her curiosity, gesturing with a tip of his head towards the training dummies. "When we spoke last, you told me that you wished to learn ways to protect yourself as you get older and become more independent. I realize that you are right, and as much as I would like to be with you to keep you safe as your father, I know that's an unreasonable desire. So I'll do the next best thing: prepare you for whatever may come."

Stepping up over to the dire-sized dummy, Artorias clapped a large sapphire paw on the straw-filled mannequin's shoulder as he looked back to Talyssa. "These dummies represent my greatest fear in life—wolves who would want to do harm to you. And while I would take great delight in thrashing each and every one of them, I can't. Those times, it's going to be up to you to do what you can to stay safe and stay alive." Artorias then moved over to the smaller of the two, the one he had intentionally sized to match his violet nemesis' size. "This one represents Sephiran. The other, the largest potential opponent you might face. While not overly common, dire wolves are not exactly a rarity in Boreas or Auster anymore, and it's important to know how to hold your ground against all of them." Sitting down between both of the dummies, Art invited Talyssa closer to inspect her adversaries for their first lesson. He waited to see what she would observe, how she would interpret these imaginary threats if they were real. "You've likely noticed I've marked some spots on them already. Do you have a guess why?" he asked, raising a brow to his intelligent daughter while he let her brief herself and piece together what he would be teaching her today.

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