Walk | "Talk" | think

Rudy did love Artorias.  His brother was surely the best brother ever to exist.  This was all the more true right now as the injured motley grey wolf headed back to the castle with his brother.  Art was bringing the Okapi corpse along for which Rudy was grateful.  To have worked so hard to hunt the thing then risk his life defending it would have made it rather bitter to not be able to bring it home.  

Earlier when journeying back Rudy had felt like prancing in pride and yet the limp in his leg had refused to let him have his way.  On top of that, his body was tired and he had to shake his head at times as the gashes over his eye did actually hurt the longer they walked and the more the fighting adrenaline died down.  The eye below the gash was managing to remain partway open at this point but as they’d moved more blood had slid down to get in his way again, still it was better than it had been.  

“Thanks Art, for bringing it along.” His brother by now would have heard the story of how the hunt had gone on their trip back.  The early-on excitement was gone.  It was true Rudy had been tired from the hunt, then adding on the fighting and the trek back this was one of those rare moments where he was less chatty.  Rudy was actually tired, though there was still a brightness in the fully opened eye as he imagined showing off the kill.  Still, his head was lower than he normally carried it, as it just felt like too much effort to raise it up high.  The desire to show off the kill kept him traveling instead of suggesting they just sleep out in the open.  Which really wouldn’t have been a good idea with a corpse that could still attract more predators and the two of them injured but, he really was tired!

When they got close to the castle he howled for mom, sharing that they were coming back with a prize she should see.  How far Art would have to help him haul the carcass versus when mom would show up would depend on how far back mom was.  After they showed it off he was going to sleep.  Good deep sleep and probably need to see a healer after he slept, maybe before.  Could Gwyn patch him up while he slept?  Rudy was pretty sure he’d be able to sleep through a lot right now.  Though he’d have to tell her about all the excitement.

Let it never be said that Artorias didn't move heaven and earth for his family. The dark-furred boy had dragged the hulking okapi corpse all the way across the plains from the Wildberry Grove, as evidenced from the spattery blood trail running through the snow, and had done so without complaint. Rudy was so proud of his kill and having defended it, there was no way Art wasn't going to help him bring it back. He had been concerned that his brother might collapse under his injuries on the way home, but so far he seemed to be handling himself okay. It was a tough task dragging the heavy corpse through the snow and ice, but somehow he was managing. Artorias could feel his muscles aching and straining with the effort it took. He was so thankful for all the training he'd been doing to help develop his body for a just such an occasion.

With his mouth full of okapi fur, all Artorias could do to reply to his brother's thanks was give a muffled grunt in response. He would glance at Rudy from time to time, his normally chatty brother uncharacteristically quiet as they drew nearer to the castle. He chalked it up to the adrenaline dying down in both of them, but he still wanted to make sure Rudy was okay and wasn't about to pass out on the way home. Although he had joked about it, Artorias was ready to abandon the okapi kill and snatch Rudy up and carry him home if his brother did collapse in the snow. No amount of prey was more important than his brother's life. Fortunately, that didn't seem to happen as the high walls of the castle came closer and closer with every step.

Rudy's howl for their parents felt like the chime of a relieving bell signaling the end of his struggle. They were almost home, and that meant someone could help Rudy get patched up and get this stupidly big thing into their larder to be butchered and eaten later. All Artorias wanted to do right now was get a drink and a nap. Between the fight and carrying hundreds of pounds of meat across a barren winter tundra, he was knackered. This whole damn season had the young wolf exhausted. Summer couldn't come fast enough...

"Speech" | Thoughts | ”Corbin"

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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The castle was always noticeably quieter whenever her boys weren't around - especially in regard to Rudyard - and she had just begun to wonder and worry about where they might be when she heard a howl calling for her, with a promise of a prize to be shown. That certainly got her attention and she was quick to trot out of the sitting area outside of their rooms and made her way down and out of the castle to greet him. She wasn't really sure what to expect since just hearing that there was something to show her didn't really say a lot, but she certainly hadn't been expecting the sight that greeted her. Her mint eyes landed on Artorias dragging along the corpse of an okapi along side his brother who was noticeably injured with blood staining half of his face.

Being the worried mother she was, her heart immediately jumped into her throat and he darted forward to check on her boys with a concerned whine. "Rudyard! Artorias! Are you okay? What happened?" she questioned as she started buzzing around the boys who were now easily as tall or taller than her, searching them for wounds and injuries. Even though she was sure it would be much to Rudyard's chagrin, she didn't pay much attention to the okapi at first as she started poking and prodding him to find any cuts and bites. In the middle of all her fussing she let out a howl of her own, calling for Gwynevere so their sister could come get a head start on treating them.

"Tamsyn" | "Blue" | think

She just so happened to be in the middle of refreshing the supply of herbs in her satchel when she heard Rudyard calling for their mothers and she lifted her head curiously. Initially she wrote it off and assumed she would probably hear whatever story was tied to it later, but then a few minutes later she heard a call from her momma - for her this time. That certainly got her attention and she sprang to her paws, grabbing the satchel of supplies before darting out the door with Eilwen following closely behind. She didn't know what Rudyard had gotten himself into this time, but she had to assume some kind of injury was involved if she was being summoned as well. That was confirmed when she ran out of the castle and spotted her brothers with their mother hovering around them, Rudy more noticeably injured than Art.

She loped over to join them and even though she was certainly concerned about the number of bites that were all over Rudy's legs and the cut over his eye looked pretty deep, he was up and talking so she wasn't worried that any of it was life threatening. She knew there would be no consoling their worried mother, but she at least could give Rudyard a smirk that said "what have you gotten yourself into now?" She looked to Artorias, while Tamsyn continued to preen and fuss over their gray, marbled brother, asking him, "Are you alright? Anything that needs to be treated?" Eilwen came to land on the shoulder of the okapi the boys had brought home, tipping her head curiously at the odd prey animal.

"Gwynevere" | "Eilwen"

Rudyard doubted there were many brothers out there as great as Art.  If there were any.  Bringing the corpse along all this way was a pretty damn big achievement.  The thought was a bit diluted in his being so tired but it was still there.   When he saw mom coming he took it as a sign that he could drop into a sitting position and rest those weary paws.  The moment he sat Rudy saw the error in the plan.  Oh damn, at some point he’d have to get up and walk the rest of the way.  Oh well, it didn’t matter.  He had a great story to tell mom and that was bound to help him have enough energy to walk the rest of the way.  Rudy imagined how he wanted to start it again as she came close but then mom killed the whole story as she rushed to look over his injuries first.  C’mmon! He was a bit beat up but he’d walked all the way here! What about his story? “Uh, I’m ok.  Well, not really, but I mean I’ll be fine.  I just need to uh, well ok but can it wait?”  Was he fine? No, but surely it could wait a few moments.  Mom called for Gwyn and that worked out well enough, a bit of treatment brought to him and someone else to hear his story. “see that?” glancing at the corpse Tamsyn had surely seen, “I got it all by myself!  It was a long chase too!” mom was more interested in his bites than in his story! “Really, its ok.” Sort of, it would be,  “It would swing left and right and it tried to kick me, but it never got a hit in,” the last part got thrown out fast before mom had to worry about busted bones, “but I finally got its legs enough times that it went down.” Oh yeah, he was so proud of that! “Anyway….” More hedged now, “after I killed it a pack of coyotes showed up and thought I’d just let them have it.”  Now Kotori’s eyes glanced off with a soft hum sound, “sure is nice mom got me a hawk friend, right? It found Art and he came and beat em all soundly.  So, that’s how it all happened.”  A pause before adding, “I’m super tired,” it was true, talking was even tiring right now and that was what he was best at.  Hunting, fighting, traveling, the more he considered all he’d done the more it sapped his energy.  Oh, the blood too, there was that.  Had he really lost much or did it just seem like that considering it wanted to pool down around the eye, most annoying spot possible. Then came Gwyn who got a smirk right back at her for that face.  Why did they always seem to expect he’d get in trouble? Never mind actually.  “My head hurts, and my leg,” the more he stayed in one place the leg told him even more of how it disapproved of his traveling with it after getting bit up.  “but I killed that thing over there,” Rudy said proudly glancing at it and back at Gwyn.  No story this time, it would take too much effort to repeat.  Gwyn was going to take time to fix him up, great.  Rudy slid into a lying-down position with a large yawn, “You can do this while I sleep right? I’m tired, I’ll tell you all about how it happened when I wake up, k?”  They wouldn’t get away with no story.  He thought of mentioning again Art saving him, but resting for a moment had caught up with him too much.  Later would work. "Rudyard"

When Tamsyn cried out their names in horror and shock, Artorias just heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes. Of course Mama was going to get worried over their wellbeing, what had Rudy been thinking calling her like that? Oh well, no changing things now... Once their mother had all but thrown herself over them to make sure they were all right, Art dropped the okapi carcass and just reclined onto his haunches next to it, letting her briefly look over her while dismissing her concerns with a neutral, "I'm fine." He directed his mother's energy toward his bloodied brother with a tip of his head, and then sat back and watched the show as Tamsyn flittered around Rudyard like a hummingbird, lamenting his condition and all but ignoring his attempts to embellish his story. It was amusing and made the dark-furred boy smirk at his brother's misery, though all in good humor. He was still very worried for Rudy's health and was grateful when Tamsyn called for Gwynevere to come help.

He watched Gwyn arrive while he sat on the sidelines beside Rudy's kill in silence. By now, the bite on his foreleg had stopped bleeding and was just a little tender and raw; he would heal up in no time. When his sister looked his way, he simply met her curious look with a shrug of his shoulders and turned her toward Rudy just like he had their mother. Corbin flew down in a graceful spiral to take perch on the okapi next to Artorias, then backed away with a hop and flurry of inky wings when Eilwen joined him on the carcass. He shot her an irritated look with a harrumph, but gave no other reaction. Artorias sat quietly while Rudy recalled his tale for the ladies, though this telling was much more brief and less enthusiastic than he had heard on their way back. Fatigue and blood loss was taking a toll on Rudy, it seemed. When Rudy mentioned his showing up to fight off the coyotes, he gave a confirming nod to Tamsyn. He hadn't been there for the first part, but he had indeed kicked some coyote ass today.

Something Rudy said caught his attention right away, and Art snapped alert in the blink of an eye. He fixed Rudy with a concerned look, then peered at Gwyn and said in a stern voice, "Do not let him go to sleep." While he hadn't seen his brother take a direct head injury, all of the blood around his scalp did point to the possibility of one. As he had learned from his fight with the supreme dire wolf, head injuries were not to be taken lightly, and he doubted Gwyn would forget that either. If their brother was concussed, going to sleep right away would be a death sentence.

"Speech" | Thoughts | ”Corbin"

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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All of Rudy’s assurances that he would be fine didn’t really do much to relieve her worries. She was only really able to focus on what he was saying after Gwyn got there to start treating him, but she did try to take in what he was telling her about his battle with the Okapi since she was actually pretty proud that he had hunted such an interesting creature. ”Well done, darling,” she told him with a grin, nodding as she glanced over at the prey in question.

When he got to the part about the coyote pack her worry flared up again, but she reminded herself that both of the boys were here and mostly in one piece and with the prey they had defended to boot. She sighed a very “you boys are going to be the death of me” kind of sigh and just chuckled as she smiled at them both. She was very glad that Rudyard’s companion was able to find Artorias to help with the situation - but that didn’t stop her from wishing the whole situation hadn’t happened in the first place.

She took a couple of steps back from Rudy to give Gwyn space to work, coming over to stand beside Artorias instead while Rudy spoke with his sister about what was hurting him. She didn’t mean to smother them with worry, but she couldn’t keep herself from fussing over them at least a little bit. They were her children, what else was she supposed to do? She affectionately nosed Artorias’ cheek while Gwyn had Rudy’s attention and whispered, ”Thank you for looking out for him.” She knew Artorias would always take care of his siblings, but she was still grateful.

"Tamsyn" | "Blue" | think

Gwyn nodded as Rudyard listed off the things that were bothering him most. Nothing he listed really surprised her, but it did dawn on her that she'd want willow bark for his headache and she wasn't certain that she had any with her in her travel bag. She had just begun to open her bag to check when Rudy asked about sleeping while she treated him. She lifted her head to deny him that request when Artorias interjected the reminder to not let him go to sleep. She gave her blue-hued brother a "I know" kind of glance with a frown. She'd been the one to treat him when he got a concussion from that huge dire wolf he fought so it wasn't like she didn't know. Turning her attention back to Rudyard, she put a smile back on her face and gave him a little shake of her head. "No sleeping right now, I'm afraid. It's not good for your brain to go to sleep after you hurt your head like that. Lets get you patched up first and then maybe you can take a short nap. More time for you to tell me the story about that thing, right?" she reminded him, knowing how much he liked telling stories.

She returned to searching through the herbs in her bag for a moment. Just as she had suspected, willow bark wasn't something she had packed. However, she did have the stuff with her to at least get his wounds cleaned up a bit. She pulled out a couple strips of fabric and got one wrapped around her paw, sitting in front of him to start gently dabbing and wiping away some of the blood around his face so it would at least stay out of his eye and gave her a better look at what she was working with. "Well, I think you'll live to hunt another okapi at least," she joked with a smirk. "Whatever made this certainly got you good though. I'll have to get you back to my room - I don't have enough horsetail with me to seal this up. And that's not even including all the other bites you got. Plus you'll need some willow bark for your headache."

Gwyn pulled the cloth off of her paw once it was too bloody to be of much use any more. "Eilwen, will you carry this back to the castle for me?" she questioned, holding the rag out to her companion for the raven to take from her. Eilwen had been entertaining herself with sneaking closer to Corbin just to annoy her fellow raven and make him have to shift away from her again in response, amusement in the bird's blue gaze. She was quick to give up her little game when Gwyn called for her though, taking off from the perch she had made of the okapi corpse to catch the bloodied rag between her talons and swoop off towards Gwyn's room. Gwynevere dug though her bag again and eventually pulled out a little piece of ginseng root. She wouldn't normally have it in her travel bag, but she just so happened to find it recently and hadn't filed it away yet. "Here, go ahead and have this before we go to my room. It'll just help keep you from being so sleepy," she explained. "And before you ask, no, it doesn't taste good. None of them do."

"Gwynevere" | "Eilwen"