Walk | "Talk" | think

Rudy had thought about the trouble they would get into if their mom’s found out.  Rudy had considered it might be dangerous outside pack lands without their mom’s or another pack member to protect them.  Unfortunately, he also thought of what a challenge it would be to slip out without getting caught and the notion of danger turned into the thrill of adventure, and who knew what there was to see outside the packland?

Doing something dangerous alone was of course a bad idea.  Taking a friend along, or in this case, his brother would make it less bad.  Not so much that two pups against a dangerous predator would be much different than one, only that companionship helped one avoid thoughts of danger.  Besides, Arty was pretty tough, right?  Not as tough as Rudy obviously, but still tough.

So it was he had worked Arty over with his charm.  He had told Art of the really cool things he’d heard other wolves talk about of things beyond the pack land.  There was a place to the south with lots of trees and some wolves hunted over there.  The trees were somehow different there and that also made him want to see it.  So to Art, he mentioned how amazing the place was supposed to be, and that he’d heard it was a place great for learning how to fight better.  Maybe he mentioned that with all the tree’s they probably had a wide variety of perfect sticks to choose from.  Maybe he mentioned plenty of wildlife to keep an eye on and it would be better to have two sets of eyes to not be surprised.

It had been super fun all the way up to the pack borderline.  He would never admit to the knot in his stomach as the pup did the unthinkable and stepped over it.  Hmm, nothing happened.  Not yet.  Glancing about he looked to see if anyone was watching.  He had tried to find a spot no one would catch them sneaking out but it was hard to avoid everyone.  Would any wolf or companion jump on him right away or would they run or fly off to tell mom or momma?  Oh well, it wouldn’t do to look uncertain with Art there.  

“This is gonna be so cool,” Rudy whispered after they were a full minute away from the pack official boundary line, “the place is supposed to be so amazing.  You’ll be the best fighter ever with the stick and training we can find for you.  The moment I heard about it I figured you’d be interested in those sticks.”  How long did they have before someone caught on? Could they be gone for an hour or two and make it back without anyone realizing it?

With the strange trees coming into sight Rudy’s mind quit worrying so much about being caught.  The trees were super strange! “Wow, look at that.”  

Artorias couldn't help the twinge of nervousness twisting up his stomach the closer he and Rudyard got to the boundaries of the Hallows lands. Acting out against his parents' rules was not something he had done in the past—at least not deliberately. This, though... this was different. When Rudy had approached him and asked him to come explore a cool new land just beyond the borders, Artorias was immediately interested and concerned. That gnawing drive to wander and explore had him on his feet in a second, but the cautionary side of him weighed in just enough to make him hesitate. Disobeying his parents in such a blatant manner had never crossed his mind before; they were the adults, so obviously they knew best, right? But the prospect of these unexplored lands... What if he missed some great opportunity to see something incredible? Or worse, what if Rudyard got hurt while he was gone? A wolf pup out on his own without any protection was a very vulnerable creature. But two wolf pups... and maybe if one was armed with a whacking stick...

So with trepidation, Artorias accompanied Rudyard to the southern border, passing by the hot springs as surreptitiously as the two could. It wasn't easy avoiding detection, especially with how vigilant Mom's and Mama's pets were. But somehow they slipped away, and now the black and blue boy found himself staring off into the dense willow forest, right at the threshold of their home. This was it. One more step and Artorias would be out on his own. His stomach did a flip, a turn, and he swallowed hard. No, he had to be brave for Rudy. His monochromatic brother was brash, crossing the line without a second thought, and although not quite as rash as he was, Artorias took an equally bold step forward. No alarms went off, no howls signaling their crime as they ventured out into the woods. Artorias' ears pricked up to catch any sounds around them, glancing to and fro, but finding nothing alarming or any adults rushing to pull them back. Maybe this was all going to be okay after all!

Fully walking his little body out of the Hallows, Artorias beamed at the wide world around him, studying every tree and plant and rock and stream they passed by. Everything was so different and unique and new! The strange trees that hung long, thin, gangly branches down to the water around them created a foliage veil. A cool autumn breeze chilled the air beneath the dense canopy, and stray rays of bright sunlight filtered down around them like tiny spotlights. The mellifluous babbling of the streams that ran off of the hot springs kept the world from being silent, and the honking of geese making their voyage south for the coming winter could be heard somewhere overhead. Oh wow...! Maybe Rudy was right... the boy thought to himself, taking in his surroundings as if he'd stepped forth into an alien world. Rudy's excited whispers spurred him on, and with quickening steps, Artorias followed his brother further and further away from home. How long could they get away with this before someone noticed? Could they get away with it entirely if they were sneaky enough?

"Wow, this place is so different from home...! The trees are all weird-looking!" Artorias responded, small amber eyes following the endless sea of leaves and branches over their heads. "Where did you hear about this place?" The mention of sticks came up and the pup's ears bolted upright, tail wagging a mile a minute on his little butt. Of course his affinity for fighting with the only weapon he could semi-gracefully hold had been the brunt of many a joke, but it hadn't phased the blue-furred boy. Artorias was suddenly very curious to see what other types of weapons he could get his paws on. In a world as vast as this, surely it had to have a tremendous array of weapons to go along with it. "I do like my whacking sticks!" he declared with a laugh and ran off after Rudyard. He stared up at the willow tree with his brother, cocking his head to one side, then the other, considering the strange tree. "What do you think makes them be all bendy like that?"

A snap of a twig behind them made Artorias jump and turn around, assuming a battle stance with a tiny growl. His eyes narrowed into thin amber slits as he scanned the glade for any signs of a threat. Whatever it was, he would protect his brother. What he saw instead was a brown squirrel quickly take off up a nearby tree, chipping noisily at the two pups. Artorias watched the creature for a moment while he relaxed, snapping his jaws and barking back up at the varmint critter. "False alarm! Let's keep going! I wanna see everything!" Artorias started off toward one of the smaller streams, stopping at the banks to stare down at his rippling reflection in the clear water. He had always felt drawn to the water—perhaps a side effect of their upbringing in such an aquatic land—and just generally loved being near it. A grin slowly appeared on his reflection's face, and Artorias realized it was coming from his own face as well. If he and Rudy were already breaking one rule, what was one more going to do to them?

With an excited yap, Artorias jumped forward, landing in the shallow edge of the stream with a splash. Despite coming from the springs, the water was much cooler here, a pleasant chill washing over his paws as he splashed around. "Look, Rudy, we can go in the water on our own now!" he called over to his brother, splashing the water with his paws again for emphasis.

"Speech" | Thoughts

Walk | "Talk" | think

(Assuming they've all met already at the puppy play date!)

She wasn't technically breaking the rules if she stayed juuuuuust behind the pack's borders, right? Some of the willow trees were just close enough to the border that she could kind of reach the long, wiggly branches from where she was standing, but she kept eyeing the other trees out of reach curiously. Were they all this wiggly and bendy? How would she know if she didn't go and test them out? She looked back over her shoulder, trying to see if her father's vulture friend was lurking near by so she'd know if he was going to go tell on her if she left, but she didn't see him. He was awfully hard to spot though...

Just as she was contemplating the possibilities of her getting in trouble, she heard a couple of voices coming from further into the willow tree forest and her ears perked to listen, turquoise eyes turning back to peek through the branches to see who it was. A little flash of blue finally came into view and her mouth fell open with surprise. Artorias was breaking the rules?! It sounded like his brother was with him too... Well if they could go out of their pack when why couldn't she? Emboldened with the idea that if they got in trouble then at least they'd get in trouble together, Briar trotted forward to go find the two boys.

They were pretty easy to spot with Art's blue fur and Rudy's speckled, spotted fur. Well, that and the fact that they were making an awful lot of noise and splashing around in the stream. A little look around told her that they were indeed here alone and she couldn't help but look at them questioningly. "Are you supposed to be out here? Aren't you breaking the rules?"

Walk | "Talk" | think

This place was amazing! The tree’s were beyond anything he imagined when he heard wolves talking, one talking about liking the tree’s and the other saying how they didn’t like them.  It seemed an odd thing to discuss liking or disliking a tree, shade and visibility, and stuff.  That wasn’t all he knew about though, he’d heard about other things that could happen outside of pack lands.  Things that sounded dangerous though he had no image in his mind to go with the threat.  Some great beasts called ‘bears’ that were dangerous even to two adult wolves.  It was great to imagine these monstrous creatures as things to spy in awe but it was less pleasant of an idea now that they were out here alone.

Rudy’s tail was wagging though as he watched with joy at how much Art was enjoying himself in the strange land.  Rudy grabbed a branch end in his mouth, leaning back to pull on it as far as it would go.  The branch seemed thin and flimsy to bend so much, but it looked like farther up near the trunk it was stronger.  It was fun just testing how far he could pull it.

He let go of the branch as he spotted Arty taking up a battle stance.  The branch whipped back, even as Rudy’s hackles went up and he moved to walk to his brother but stopped after a step when they spotted the threat.  This brought Rudy’s head down low as he laughed, “you gonna defend us from a squirrel Art?”  The tail wagged gleefully, it was so much fun being out here!  It was about then he thought to respond to Art’s questions and he quit laughing, though he still had a grin on his face, “oh, just two wolves talking about what they thought about things here.  As to sticks, we might have to try one of the tree roots, or find a big branch that tore away farther up, the end of the sticks seems pretty flexible.”   Rudy tried to sound confident and matter-of-fact as if he really had experience in these matters. He didn’t know why they were so flexible but maybe suggesting where to get the best sticks would let Art not notice he had withheld answering that question.

Rudy started to join Art in the water when he heard another sound, and swung his head around, squatting into his own defensive stance.  Art might be the gallant knight protecting his brother but Rudyard was the brother who had chosen to lead him here and thus responsible for his safety.  What if it was a bear?  How fast did bear-creatures run?  

Then Briar showed up!  Where the heck did she come from?  Did she have to remind them of the rules? Rudyard cast a side glance at Art hoping it didn’t kill the fun and confidence he was showing about being out here.  “Hey Briar.  Nope, we aren’t, and yes we are breaking rules. “  No deceit there, let her know exactly what was going on.  “Mmm, what about you? Where are your parents?”  He emphasized the ‘your’ in parents, to point out his assumption she was disobeying just as much. “Want to help us find a really good stick for whacking other wolves with? Art could use one, um and puddles are good for splashing in also.”  

The squirrel might have been a false alarm, but when the sound of rustling grass beneath feet came from nearby again, Artorias had his guard up again in a heartbeat. He saw Rudy do the same and put himself between his brother and the noise, ears folded flat to his skull and tiny razor-like teeth bared, ready to face off against... Oh, come ooooon...! Artorias' posture relaxed and he rolled his eyes when he spied Briar coming out into the open. Of all the wolves in the world it could have been, of course it had to be Briar... The antlered girl approached them with the same air of superiority she held herself with the last time they'd met at the playdate their parents had arranged. Artorias flopped back on his haunches in the shallow water with a little splash, eyeing Briar warily when she interrogated them on their intentions. Of course the little princess was going to be a blabbermouth and tell on them. Last time they'd "played" together, she'd all but run crying to her daddy when the boy had teased her back. Clearly she hadn't had many wolves talk back to her before, and a lifetime with Rudyard had prepared him for any verbal spar with an arsenal of sarcasm.

"What are you doing out here, Briar?" Artorias asked with a drone of annoyance in his voice. Although they'd only met for a short time, he already knew Briar Fatalis was going to be a problem for them. When she asked if they were supposed to be there, he simply quipped back with, "Are you supposed to be out here?" A triumphant smirk crossed the pup's face when Rudy asked the same question about her own parents, glad that he and his brother were on the same page and had each other's backs. Much to Artorias' chagrin, Rudy invited Briar to hang out with them, the blue boy doing little to hide the sigh or the eye roll he made. Okay, so he'd only spent a little time with Briar, maybe he should give her a second chance to have fun.

"Rudy! Don't tell her about my secret technique!" remarked Artorias when his brother began to talk of sticks for whacking wolves. That was going to be a special trademarked Artorias fighting style! Now Briar was going to steal it! "Ugh, fine, she can stay," he agreed after a moment, standing back up and walking back out of the water, letting the excess drip and run from his matted fur, "but only if she doesn't whine about getting dirty or tell on us. And only if she promises not to steal my secret technique!"

"Speech" | Thoughts

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
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Walk | "Talk" | think

She probably should have expected the boys to quip back at her about her being out of the pack lands and breaking the rules too, but she hadn't so when they questioned her she gave them both a pouty glare in response. "Nope! I'm not breaking the rules!" she confidently declared with a little toss of her head even though it was a complete lie. They didn't need to know that though. "My parents let us go on adventures outside of the pack on our own cause we're so good at fighting already! As long as we stay where we can hear them if they call us then I can go where ever I want." More lies, but she didn't show a trace of it on her features and she puffed her chest out proudly at this fact she had created.

The mention of a "secret technique" and whacking others with sticks was enough to get her interested and she gave the boys a curious look, her head tipping a bit to the side. She gave Artorias another glare and briefly stuck her tongue out at him when he said something about not whining at being dirty and then decided to just ignore him entirely as she focused her attention back onto Rudyard. "I'll help find sticks! What shape sticks are you looking for?"

Walk | "Talk" | think

Wow, Art sure had something against Briar.  Rudy wanted to ask what had happened but figured he’d wait and do that at some point when she wasn’t there with them. Rudy smirked in a bit of amusement as he and Art both challenged her authority to be out but at her response to having permission, he gave the pup a thoughtful look, taking an assessing eye.  

Whatever opinion he had decided was left unseen as Art caught his attention on the complaint on sharing his technique. “You know,” Rudy was about to add more about others in the pack not finding his style worthy of copying but decided to keep that quiet for now.  Briar wasn’t of their pack and for whatever reason Arty didn’t like her.  Besides that Rudy listened to a lot of wolves and their stories, a few of which actually hadn’t caught him at it since their focus had been elsewhere.  Rudy had also had to come up with his own concoction of excuses and blurring truths.  So he had no naivete in the fact others could do the same and he saw no logic in any pup being allowed out here alone.  The more he thought on it the more he had to acknowledge there was probably a good reason they shouldn’t be out here either.  However, he wasn’t going to call Briar out on that lie either.  Sometimes it was best to keep what you know the secret.  They were all small and weak, good fighting as a pup wouldn’t do much good against some of the creatures out here.  Running and hiding was their best option at this stage.  Unless Rudy was wrong, but he rarely questioned his deductions because of course, he was rarely wrong.  The pup was full to the brim on confidence, or arrogance whatever name it would go by.

“Don’t worry Arty, I can’t imagine Briar the sort to tattle,” Rudy offered cheerfully, lying as well.  She might tattle, but he didn’t see her bothering with this bit of information.  It was another thing he would tell Art when the girl wasn’t there.  Not that he minded her lying, it could be useful and Rudy was sure he’d catch any lie she tried to feed him.  He was too smart for her.

He’d let Rudy describe the stick shape and size, it was what he’d choose after all.  “I’m gonna check to the west a few paces but I won't get out of sight.  I saw some roots that might have been loose earlier.” Rudy wanted a bit of distance, not so far that he couldn’t hear them but far enough that he wouldn’t be expected to talk until ready or be watched for his reactions.  The little spy wanted to work on important things.

Artorias enjoyed the pout and glare Briar shot back at him and Rudyard, particularly so when she stuck her tongue out at him. It was too easy and entertaining to get under the girl's skin, as she apparently did not get that experience at home. Artorias silently wondered if anyone in her everyday life every challenged her to anything, or if the little stuck up princess was catered to hand and foot. He snorted as he stepped past Briar, but otherwise gave her no reaction. "She'd better not," he replied with a grumble to his little brother. Despite his displeasure, he wasn't going to let Briar's presence ruin his fun time with Rudy. The dappled grey pup had invited him out to explore and have a good time, and that's exactly what he planned to do! While he didn't trust Briar completely, he trusted Rudyard implicitly.

Briar asked about sticks, and when Artorias realized Rudy was letting him respond, he turned to her and said, "They need to be thin but long, like as long as your paw to your shoulder. Not too heavy, not too flimsy that they break." Yes, Artorias had indeed studied and discerned what types and sizes of sticks were the best for whacking and fighting with. It was shaping up to be something of a fine art, finding the right weapon for his arsenal. The stick had to be light enough for him to hold in his jaws without tiring him, but long enough to reach his enemies without leaving him exposed or vulnerable, and sturdy and strong enough to resist multiple blows without snapping. A stick that broke immediately was no good in a fight. No sooner had Artorias described his weapon of choice, Rudy started heading off on his own to search for one. Art turned to his brother, keen to warn him not to go off on his own, but the grey pup was already heading off. Shoot...! Don't leave me alone with her...! he thought with a cringe.

Too late. Now it was just Artorias and Briar. Doing his best to ignore the antlered wolf with him, Artorias resigned himself to searching along the banks of the streams for any sticks that may have fallen from the weird dangly trees and washed downstream. The hanging branches of the strange trees were interesting, but he ultimately concluded would be no good as weapons. They were waaaaay too wiggly, and although he'd bet they'd hurt if smacked with one hard enough, they weren't what he was looking for. So Artorias continued to sniff along the stream, making sure he could always keep Rudy in his line of sight in case his brother needed him for anything. He found a couple of smaller sticks similar to what he was looking for, just lacking in size. "Look foh uhns lahk dis!" he shouted out to Rudy and Briar—mostly to Rudy—while holding one of the sticks up in his teeth. The boy then tried to snap the stick in two with one clean bite, but his puppy jaws lacked the raw strength needed to do so, and ended up just awkwardly gnawing at it in a desperate attempt to break it. Oh... Oh no... Mistake, mistake...! he thought, trying to pry his teeth from the wood and spit the stick out before anyone, especially Briar, saw him.

"Speech" | Thoughts

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
____________________

Walk | "Talk" | think

Briar was trying to ignore the lanky, blue boy, but when Rudy passed it back over to his brother to explain the stick size and shape they would be hunting for, she had no choice but to look back in his direction. She gave him a skeptical glance for no real reason than because she wanted to irritate him some more. She still paid attention, but she just wanted to give him a hard time since he always seemed to give her one in return. Before she could respond though, Rudyard commented about going to check on some loose roots and wandered off on his own. Briar glanced back at her chosen nemesis and grinned a little to herself when she saw how he watched Rudy go with some very obvious displeasure at his new situation. Clearly he was only cringing because he was alone with her since that was the only new element in their situation which she found particularly funny. She liked how easy it was to get under his skin... even though he always found a way to dish it back at her.

"Don't worry! I'll look after Art!" she called to Rudy as he walked off, smirking as she glanced toward Artorias with a little, confident toss of her head. With that she refocused on their mission to find the best sticks to whack one another with and she followed him as he began to search along the streams. She split off from him occasionally to look around the trunks of the willow trees as well, but for the most part she stuck by where Art was looking. She was looking off in another direction when Art gave them a muffled instruction which she deciphered to mean "Look for ones like this!" and when she turned to look at him she saw him struggling to either break the stick in half or... did he get his teeth stuck in it? She grinned and giggled wildly at the silly blue boy and the situation he had gotten himself into. She gave him a knowing, teasing look and said, "I'm no expert in your "secret technique" or anything, but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to get stuck to your stick!"

Tamsyn usually did a patrol around the pack's lands around the middle of the day since Ulric would do one first thing in the morning and she wanted to be back in the den with the pups before it began to get dark so she left the later patrols to the other fighters in the pack. At least, that's what she would usually be doing around this time if it hadn't been for Blue coming to tell her that her boys had gone off on an adventure on their own. The lemur's speech was something they had been working on for a while now and it was still fairly rudimentary, but he had at least learned enough to let her know if something was wrong. She completely abandoned the patrol right away when she heard and took off after the wayward pups. Their scents were fairly easy to follow and she came across them in the next land over from the hot springs, the familiar landscape of the Weeping Woods coming into view shortly after leaving The Hallow's lands behind. As soon as she spotted Artorias' blue coloring from a distance she relaxed a bit since it was pretty clear that neither of them were hurt, but she was still irritated that they were here in the first place. To her surprise, the boys weren't the only ones that had gone for a stroll where they shouldn't be. She spotted Briar there with them as well and had to resist the urge to call the girl "Zeelet" thanks to her father. She cleared her throat to get their attention as she trotted over to them, give them each a stern look. Briar wasn't hers, but she might as well have been in that moment. "Interesting how you're out here without an adult in sight," she commented, fixing her boys in particular with a hard stare since she knew they knew better and still broke the rules anyway. She didn't know exactly what Sirius and Zee had decided for the rules when it came to their children, but she was fairly certain that it at least involved staying in the pack's borders. "Briar, go home before I call your parents out here," she commented with a glance toward the Zee look-alike. If the Armada's borders weren't literally feet from where they were standing she would have personally walked the girl home, but as it was she could probably watch her cross over the border from here. "Speech"

Walk | "Talk" | think

Rudy had already been given good advice from Resin on how to remain hidden so that made him pretty clever at this point, at least in his mind.  She was attempting to irritate his brother, and by the look of things, it was going to keep working.  This wouldn’t do. Rudy looked up at the numerous tree’s but didn’t see any that screamed to be plausible for any wolf, big or small, to climb up.  The ground was soft and as long as he avoided the water he should be able to walk quietly.  Resin had warned him about staying downwind, that had been his mistake when trying to sneak up on her.  His eyes skimmed the terrain and all of the numerous hiding spots.  The willows were great at providing pockets that would be hard to see through, except when the stupid wind blew them aside.

Rudy lowered his head appearing to be checking out some roots as he worked out his plan, brotherly revenge tactics.  There was one problem though, if he was too quick to save Art then his brother wouldn’t get a chance to prove he could stick up for himself.  It was just a bit of teasing but would Art be able to throw out the witticisms just as fast on his own?  She was pretty good at finding just the right spots to irk him.

Rudy was mulling over revenge and admitted part of this was just because it sounded fun.  The decision making came to an end when he heard his mom’s voice.  Busted.  Rudy’s other main flaw with being caught had been his tail and once again it acted on its own.  That sheepish guilty tail wag on spotting mom, the head partway lowered, and those big sad pup eyes looking up at her.  If you are going to be a troublemaker it's important to have an instinctive adorable guilty pup look.  Body a bit lower he slunk up to Tam, “I’m sorry mom, it's not Art’s fault though.  I tricked him into coming so I wouldn’t be alone.  So he wasn’t being bad, just me.” That questioning tone to see if she would graciously accept his explanation of guilt.

This was the wrong time to show it, but if he wasn’t working so hard on the guilty look he would have had a smug look on his face at Briar being called out.  Mom knew she wasn’t supposed to be out alone.  There went Briar’s little story of being allowed.  Now he had something to use against her if ever needed.  Did she want her parents to know she snuck off?

Low puppy growls rumbled in Artorias' chest  as he tried to pry his teeth off of the stick, his canines still sunk deep into the soft wood. Much to his chagrin, he heard the wild laughter of Briar behind him, obviously at his own expense. Little charcoal ears folded back against his head as he tugged at the trapped stick yet again, but he couldn't get the right leverage to release himself. "Oh giff int ah west, Bwiah," he muttered around the stick, grunting and growling while pulling and pulling with all his little puppy might. An embarrassed heat ran beneath his cheeks. Finally, with one extra strong pull, the stick finally snapped and fell to the ground in pieces. Artorias grimaced at the bitter taste the wood left in his mouth, audibly spitting out pieces of bark. Free at last, the boy turned to shoot a satisfied smirk at Briar. "There, see? Nothing to... it..." Artorias' words slowly trailed off, his amber eyes going wide as they slowly moved up from Briar to the much larger figure approaching them with fast, graceful strides. The smirk slipped from his face, and an expression of dread took its place as cold terror gripped his heart in its icy claws.

Oh crumbs... thought Artorias as Tamsyn approached the pups, her words spoken in her usual soft voice but with a sternness he was unfamiliar with. Artorias shrunk back on himself, tail curling underneath his body and ears folded flat to his skull. Oh boy, now they were gonna hear it... Before he could say anything though, Rudy came rushing over to his defense, apologizing and taking all of the blame. That perked Artorias back up, and he padded up closer to Tam as well, standing beside his brother until they were shoulder to shoulder. "No, Mama, it's my fault. I should have talked Rudy out of it. I knew it was wrong, but I didn't stop him," the boy interjected, putting on his best brave face. He wasn't going to let Rudy go down for something he was complicit in. He cast a quick glance back over his shoulder at Briar, realizing from Tamsyn's words that the little girl was also probably not supposed to be out here. Now he had a choice: did he just let Briar slink off and get away with sneaking out, or did he tell his mother that she claimed to have permission to be here. If that was a lie, she could get in serious trouble.

"Don't call Briar's parents, Mama. We invited her to hang out with us, and I didn't stop her either. It's not her fault," he added. It was a surprising turn, especially for him, to defend Briar. But the compulsive need to protect others was still at the forefront of his mind right now, and all Artorias could think to do was protect both Rudy and Briar. He looked back at the girl one more time, his eyes begging her to leave before Tamsyn sniffed out their lie. If she did was she was told and started to leave, he would turn his attention back to Tam, giving the best sad puppy eyes he could manage and pray that they didn't get punished too harshly.

"Speech" | Thoughts

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
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