To say he was stunned when he was declared the winner in his final tournament battle with Artorias was an understatement. He never really believed he could ever beat Artorias in a fight anyway, but to beat him in a tournament and win the whole thing?! He stood there during the award ceremony with a look of disbelief on his face, a toothy grin feeling like a permanent fixture on his lips. He tried to do his best at sitting properly, being polite, all of those things through the whole pomp and circumstances that followed, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't glad when it was all over. He felt much more comfortable when he got back to the cluster of Hallows wolves that gathered around to congratulate him, eventually having to shove his father off of him with a laugh when the Ageis wouldn't stop squeezing him in a tight hug and going on and on about how proud he was.

Afterward he just tried to enjoy the rest of the festival, eating and drinking with every body and trying really, really hard to not make a fool of himself in the process. He didn't really hang around many of the wolves in his own pack that often, much less interacting with a bunch of wolves from other packs. It was really nice when anyone came over to talk to them or congratulate them on a job well done in the tournament - not just him, but several of the other wolves from The Hallows that had fought well also - but he really just wanted to get back to Auster and go back to his hunts with Aquila and patrolling and all the other normal every day stuff he was used to. He wasn't used to all this fancy stuff, even though it was a nice change. When his father started gathering everyone up to head back home, he stood and gave his fur a shake, lingering around the edge of the group while the others started taking count of everyone to make sure they weren't going to be leaving anyone behind, his pale blue gaze looking curiously around the pale trees one last time.

Ezra Adravendi

Shuriken had enjoyed seeing her brother move on but it would have been a big fat lie to say she wasn’t jealous and disappointed in herself for not doing better. She’d beat him once, but the streak wasn’t good enough to continue. He didn’t go on to win the big prize either, which kinda sucked even more. Ike tried not to wallow, it wasn’t befitting a princess like both mother and father said. She downplayed the hurt of her loss as the festivities went on and the winners were announced and then the whole festival was coming to a close.

She watched Ikigai enviously as she congratulated the winners, and Shuriken tried very hard to do the same, but as soon as she opened her mouth nothing came out. Ike stood awkwardly for far too long before she was finally able to close her mouth. She blushed much of the night, the red tinge making her pink fur flush. Kiyohime really screwed up and made an absolute fool of herself. So when everything died down and she managed to get her tongue back under control she raced towards the Hallows wolves. She wanted to try and tell the yearling boy congratulations. She wouldn’t have fought with him to begin with but while she was watching him she had far too many similarities. He had been the underdog and the look on his face made it obvious that he hadn’t expected his win.

The tall leggy princess wanted to try and rectify her earlier foolishness and she sprinted towards the Hallows wolves as their alpha gathered them together to begin their journey home. ”Wait!” She exclaimed, fully aware it wasn’t very princess-like. ”I…” Now that she was in his presence she was again struck dumb, but she didn’t have everyone watching her and unlike many warriors his expression was almost sweet. ”I wanted to say congratulations.” She finished bashfully as she came to a complete stop. ”I um… was tongue tied before.” She explained innocently with another blush to her pale fur.

The group of Hallows wolves started to move toward the border as they gathered everyone to leave. He hung toward the back of the group, partially because he was a bit worn out from talking to so many wolves today and so he could be a bit of a guard for the back of the group. He didn't expect them to run into any trouble on the way home, but with all the saber cats running around he felt like they couldn't be too careful. Just as the group began to shift and move he heard a voice behind him, calling and asking for him to wait. His ears perked with surprise and he turned to look over his shoulder, his pale blue gaze landing on one of the young ladies that had been beside Venom when they arrived. the pattern of her fur and the two toned antlers beginning to grow from her head were pretty distinct so she was hard to forget. Really, if he was being honest, all of the Empress' children were pretty memorable. They were all beautiful or handsome in their own way even if they were still very young.

He glanced back at the group who had continued on without him, but he could easily catch up. They weren't in any hurry after all. He looked back down at the Princess with interest, curious to see what she had hurried over for so urgently. He gave her a little smile when she stumbled over her words a bit, waiting patiently for her to explain how she had wanted to congratulate him, but that she had been tongue-tied before. Ezra gave her a friendly, toothy grin in response as he said, "Oh, that's alright. Talking around that many wolves is kinda hard anyway. But thank you, I appreciate it." He gave her a little dip of his head as he thanked her, making himself remember the manners he had been taught. Even if he was tired and ready to go hide out in the woods for a while to recuperate from all this socializing, he couldn't be rude to her. Her shyness was really endearing anyway and he could easily sympathize with how hard it was to talk to others even if she had wanted to.

Ezra Adravendi

All of the Hallows fighters had been impressive, and Ike kind of felt like she would never be like the older wolves who participated in the tournament. She was too ungraceful to even think of moving like some of the wolves she had seen. Ezra seemed a lot like her though, never really considering himself just as capable as his opponent. Artorias had fought valiantly as well, but she thought of him like Kuroki, naturally talented and far surpassing her skill level.

Her bravery was rewarded in the form of his attention. Ike looked up at him with big bashful dual toned eyes, but he wasn’t looking down at her despite her age she was very nearly eye level. He was just barely bigger than her growing brothers. He was just as friendly as she thought he would be too, he gave her a wide grin as she stumbled over her words. He didn’t give her the sense of him laughing at her, it felt more encouraging than anything.

Her innocent features brightened and she grinned back even through her stuttered speech. ”You’re welcome!” She told him sweetly. ”You just… I don’t know. You didn’t look like you expected to win. I wanted you to know I admired your victory.” She tried to keep her own manners at the forefront of her mind as she bowed her head slightly and tried to keep all of her long legs and bg paws tucked safely beneath her.

”I’m sorry, I shouldn’t keep you.” She spoke again and backed away, giving him one last glance when she lifted her head. Ike paused there, smiling up at the valiant warrior. The princess gave him a warm and genuine grin before she turned heel and raced back towards the white trees.

-exit unless stopped-

"Kiyohime Shuriken Ōritsu Abraxas"

Ezra chuckled softly and gave the Princess a bashful grin of his own when she mentioned how he looked like he hadn't expected to win, glancing shyly at the ground as he nudged a rock with his paw. "Yeah... That's pretty true. Artorias has always been the best fighter growing up and he's been my mentor for a while so... I especially didn't think I'd beat him. It was pretty cool to win though." Accepting the praise and the attention had only brought out more of his awkward, less than social tendencies, but it was still pretty flattering he supposed. He still didn't really believe that he was as good of a fighter as Artorias even though he had won the tournament, but it at the very least told him that all their training had been paying off.

He glanced back up at her again when she mentioned that she shouldn't be keeping him, giving her another smile. "It's alright, it was nice to meet you." he insisted. He returned her grin as she turned away and looked back at him over her shoulder for a moment, standing there as she ran back toward the trees. He chuckled softly to himself and turned away as well, picking up into a trot so he could catch up with The Hallows wolves that were just a shape of wolves in the distance now. It wasn't until the pale trees of the Ashen's lands were well behind him that he realized he hadn't gotten her name or even introduced himself and he kicked himself for almost remembering all his manners. Ah well, maybe he'd meet her again sometime so he'd get another chance.

Ezra Adravendi