Second to none

Try as she might to hide it, a father always knew when something was bothering his child. Artorias could see the slight sulk to Dusk's demeanor, hear the way her inflection changed in her terse response. It almost felt like she thought he was testing her or challenging her, looking for her to prove something instead of just wanting to spend time with his eldest daughter. But he held his tongue on his thoughts for now, letting Dusk showcase what all of her training had accomplished so far. Taking a step back to give Dusk as much room to maneuver as she needed, he watched while his daughter's long prehensile tail unfurled to reveal Whisper attached neatly to her tail. Seeing those shimmering Carpathian steel blades dangling from the end of her tail like lethal crystals brought a little proud smirk to the Aegis' lips. He said nothing while Dusk demonstrated how effective her weapon was when coupled with her tail, scoring and tearing into the dummies with deadly precision and nimble agility. The blades of Whisper almost seemed to resonate and whistle in the air as they cut through their marks with ease.

The proud smile on Artorias' face grew and he clapped his forepaws together at his daughter's impressive display. "Bine! I dare someone to try and mess with our family when you're around, Little Shadow." Artorias chuckled and beamed with love and pride at his little soot sprite girl. But in her matching fire opal eyes, the sire wolf could see the lingering bit of doubt and resentment, almost as if Dusk had shown off to try and prove a point to him. "You're mastering control of Whisper and your tail beautifully, Dusk. Watching you fight is like watching a work of art come to life," he remarked, closing the distance between himself and her once more. Although not a small wolf by any means, Dusk was still a solid foot shorter than he was, which made it easy for her father to crane his neck down to plant an affectionate lick across the teenage girl's crown.

"But I sense some tension in your form. Your body moves without flaw, but your heart and mind seem weighed down by something, Little Shadow." Art put a slight tilt in his head as he considered Dusk, then motioned to the dummies and said, "Go again. See if you can take any of their heads off." Artorias knew something was bothering Dusk, he just didn't know what. He knew it wasn't anybody bothering her, at the least. Between all three of his daughters, Dusk was the one he trusted the most to handle herself. If someone was upsetting her, there was no doubt in the Carpathian patriarch's mind that she would have beat the stuffing out of them on her own. The thought made him smile a little more. Stepping around to the side so he could watch Dusk in action, Artorias waited until his daughter had begun lashing out at the dummy before asking, "Do you want to tell me what's on your mind, or do you want me to help you forget about it, Dusky?" They could have a heart-to-heart while practicing together or he could help distract her with their training if she didn't want to talk about it. He left the choice up to his daughter.

"Artorias" | "Carpathian"