The fact that someone had been hanging around with his sister most certainly hadn't gone unnoticed and his father wasn't the only one keeping an eye on this guy that was spending almost every day with Lillith. Of course he had been a little preoccupied with healing up after being injured by the saber cat and then even more preoccupied with Syanna so he hadn't actually found a time to talk with him yet, but... He was going to change that today. He walked out into the castle grounds and went to hunt down this stranger - Romulus he thought he had heard him called. If he was going to be spending all this time with his sister then he was going to make sure he was good for her!

Ezra trotted out around the castle and eventually found the steel blue-hued man near the green house and he immediately went toward him, wearing a friendly grin. He wasn't going to let this Romulus guy off easy, but he wasn't going to be all extra hard right off the bat like he was sure his father was. "Hey!" he greeted simply, slowing to a stop in front of him. "I'm Ezra - Lilith's brother. You're Romulus, right? Nice to meet you!" He had already decided how he was going to test out this new guy. After all, if he was going to be going places with Lilith then he better be able to protect her at least! He nodded toward the training fields and added. "I was just thinking about finding someone for a spar... Are you interested?"

Ezra Adravendi

Romulus had been spending almost every day since he'd arrived in the Hallows with Lillith, not intentionally, it just seemed that the two shared similar interests and were becoming close friends. Ever since he'd met Lil out in the gardens beyond Hallowed lands, they'd been inseparable. He was trying to help her as a way of repaying her kindness; she'd gotten him a temporary home in a foreign land, shown him friendship, made him feel important. In turn, he helped her with her physical therapy, fight training, and healing practice. He was not unawares of the sideways looks he got from Ulric or some big spotted brunette wolf he assumed had some sort of relation to Lillith, since he hadn't come and kicked his ass as her boyfriend yet. A brother, maybe? It didn't matter that much to the aloof Armada lad.

Today was a healing training day, so Romulus was out in the greenhouse collecting herbs to mix into powders, salves, and decoctions with Lillith and Gwynevere when the big spotted boy found him. He greeted him friendly enough, and Roman just looked at the boy with a neutral stare until he could uncover what the larger wolf's intentions were. He introduced himself as Ezra, Lillith's brother. Ah, so he had been right, the brother! "Yeah, I'm Romulus. Or Roman, I answer to both," he said, flashing a confident smile to Ezra and nodding his head in simple greeting. "Nice to meet you too." As soon as the introductions were out of the way, Ezra invited him over for some sparring, Romulus' silver eyes following Ezra's over to the training fields. He had a suspicion that Ezra was just inviting him to have an excuse to rough him up a little bit as some sort of "Stay away from my sister" tactic, but it sounded like fun all the same, so why not humor him?

"Sure, I'm down for a spar." Roman tucked the herbs he'd gathered into the satchel he'd borrowed from the infirmary and followed Ezra over to the training fields. He slipped off the satchel and hung it from a training dummy before stepping into the nearest ring and waiting for Ezra to join him. He stretched his back, rolling his neck and shoulders to limber himself up. "So how many rounds is it gonna take to make you feel better about your sister wanting to be hang out with me every second of every day?" he asked, shooting Ezra a knowing, wry glance. Roman wasn't a dumb wolf. He knew what was up and would rather speak plainly with Ezra than dance around the subject for the sake of civility or whatever the fuck the reason was.

"Romulus Armada"

Ezra wasn't really sure what to make of Roman's cool aloofness, but he ended up just ignoring it. He wanted to have a positive outlook on this for Lillith's sake. He hadn't seen her out and about this much in pretty much their entire lives and he had no doubt that however she felt for this guy was a contributing factor of that. If he made her happy and it was encouraging her to get out and keep improving then who was he to complain? He followed Romulus over to the training field, walking over to one of the sparring rings while the steel blue man put down the bag of herbs he had been collecting. Meanwhile he rolled his shoulders and readjusted his armor so that it sat correctly against his body once more. When Artorias got back from his training he was going to have to ask him to help with fixing up his armor to fit a bit better now that he was starting to fill out some more.

While Roman stretched and warmed up he did the same until he was asked how many rounds it would take make him feel better about him spending so much time with Lillith. He raised a brow at his soon to be opponent and scoffed, grinning a little as he gave a shrug of his paldron capped shoulders. "Hey, my sister can do whatever she wants. If she's happy then I'm happy. I just want to make sure if something happens you'll be able to protect her, you know? Nothing against you in particular - I'd do the same to any guy that came sniffing around my sister." He chuckled with a slightly amused grin and started getting into a fighting stance, facing off with him as he added, "Can't a guy just have a spar randomly in the middle of a stranger for no reason?"

Ezra Adravendi

Ezra surprised him a bit with how cool and casually he was taking their interaction. Romulus had received such a frosty reception from Ulric between the greeting of growls and the hard stares that he just assumed the big brother of Lillith was being sent as a sort of enforcer to remind him to stay in line. Unfortunately for both Adravendi wolves, Roman had a double dose of confidence and snark, and he wouldn't be intimidated by the larger wolves whether they did it intentionally or not. Ezra's even-keeled response with just a little bit of sarcasm back his way did help disarm the Armada wolf some, and he found himself grinning back at Ezra. The boy wanted a friendly spar? All right, he was down for a bit of physical activity.

"Sounds fair. Though I don't know I'd call hanging out with a friend 'sniffing around' her. All right, Ezra, let's have a go at it," he replied to Ezra's comment about making sure he could protect Lillith if he had to. Once his stretches were out of the way, Romulus took his position in the ring against Ezra, head lowered to align with his spine, tail tucking in and ears folding back. He looked over Ezra, his larger more muscular form, his armor that covered his body, the eagle circling overhead. The odds couldn't be more stacked against him, but Roman enjoyed a good challenge. Flashing his teeth in an enthusiastic grin, he tensed his muscles in preparation to pounce straight into the heat of battle. "Ready when you are, Ez!"

"Romulus Armada"

Ezra gave Romulus a skeptical glance and chuckled when the man insisted that it was just "hanging out with a friend." Friends or not, he had a hard time believing that there wasn't more than that or that more wouldn't come of it at some point. Either way, he didn't question it and instead focused on the spar that he had challenged Roman to. He started getting into his fighting stance as well with his paws spaced evenly under him, his joints bent slightly to give him some more mobility, ears pinned back and head lowered to be even with his spine and cover his throat. He had briefly considered at least taking off his pauldrons to make their fight slightly more even, but from the grin Roman was giving him he had a feeling if he started "going easy" on him he'd never hear the end of it. He grinned back with a flash of spiked teeth when Roman confirmed he was ready, giving him a nod and immediately jumping into the fight.

He loped forward with long strides across the space between them, acting as if he was going to slam his chest into Roman's until the very last second. Right before he got close enough to collide with the slightly shorter man, he darted to his right, adapting a bit of the fancy footwork he had seen Artorias do time and time again. It wasn't his strong suit, but he knew it would be a surprise coming from someone as big as him. He lunged back in toward Roman's back left leg, reaching to bite near his ankle just hard enough to get a good grip and try and pull the leg out from under him while he pivoted his hip to slam it into Roman's shoulder, hoping to knock him to the ground.

Ezra Fortis Adravendi vs Romulus Armada for Spar
Round 1/2
Age: Over 1 Year
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Medium
Offensive Battle Accessory: Spiked pauldrons
Defensive Battle Accessory: Reinforced leather cuirass
Companion 1: Black-and-chesnut eagle, Male - Flying
Mutation 1: Serrated teeth - Offensive
Skills: Expert Fighter & Intermediate Hunter
Specialty: N/A

Ezra Adravendi

Romulus rolled his shoulders as he got prepared for Ezra's initial strike, his body tensed and ready to respond. The giant wolf came charging right for him, silvery eyes focused like a laser on his opponent as he came closer and closer. Roman flexed his paws, the springs in his muscles coiled and ready to burst as Ezra came closer. Then, at the last second, Ezra tried to dart to the side and strike from his left side, though his large size didn't lend nearly as much agility to his movements as he hoped. Romulus kicked off the ground, pivoting his hind legs just out of reach of Ezra's snapping jaws, he just hadn't moved fast enough to avoid the dire wolf's hips from knocking into his shoulder.

Roman stumbled sideways, regaining his balance just in time to lunge for Ezra's back end before he could pull it away. Now up close, the young Armada wolf aimed to grab Ezra's bushy tail near the base, hoping to get a good grip on the other wolf while keeping himself just out of reach of Ezra's wicked-looking teeth.

Romulus Quintus Armada vs Ezra Adravendi for Spar
Round 1/2
Age: 1+ years
Size: Extra large
Build: Medium
Skills: Novice Fighter & Intermediate Healer
Specialty: N/A

"Romulus Armada"

Ezra's teeth snapped closed onto thin air, but he felt his hip connect with Romulus' shoulder, shoving the slightly smaller young man to the side and making him stumble. Ezra went to pivot to face Romulus again, but before he could his opponent reached for the base of his tail and Ezra felt his jaws grip on to his tail before he could get away. He spent one second attempting to twist and reach of Roman while he was literally caught by the tail, but as soon as he saw the steel blue boy playing keep away to avoid his teeth he gave up on that plan. He scowled, giving a low growl as he tried to tug out of his grasp with little results. Instead, he turned a bit and attempted to give a hard kick with his back leg into Romulus' chest, hoping that would get the other man to let go.

Ezra Fortis Adravendi vs Romulus Armada for Spar
Round 2/2
Age: Over 1 Year
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Medium
Offensive Battle Accessory: Spiked pauldrons
Defensive Battle Accessory: Reinforced leather cuirass
Companion 1: Black-and-chesnut eagle, Male - Flying
Mutation 1: Serrated teeth - Offensive
Skills: Expert Fighter & Intermediate Hunter
Specialty: N/A

Ezra Adravendi

It brought Romulus more amusement than it probably should have to see his plan go over so smoothly and the annoyance on Ezra's face when the Armada boy grabbed onto his tail and was able to elude every one of Ezra's counterattacks. He had no intention of hurting the larger wolf, but he was having waaaaay too much fun irritating him to give up now! Snickering to himself, Romulus did everything he could do stay behind Ezra, even giving little tugs on his tail just to piss him off a little more each time. But Roman got cocky, and he wasn't paying attention when Ezra's powerful hind leg kicked out behind him like a bucking bronco and caught him square in the chest.

Romulus grunted as he was thrown from Ezra, the other boy's tail slipping from his jaws as he tumbled across the ground. Groaning while he got back to his paws with his chest aching (that'd leave a nice bruise later), Romulus fixed Ezra with smoldering steel-silver eyes. Unwilling to give up, Romulus growled and rushed for Ezra once again, this time throwing all caution to the wind and throwing himself at Ezra's neck, paws open wide in an attempt to grab the larger wolf and his jaws aimed to grab Ezra by the throat. He might not be able to get the boy down into a pin, but if he could get a secure hold on his throat, it would be an effective equivalent for sure.

Romulus Quintus Armada vs Ezra Adravendi for Spar
Round 2/2
Age: 1+ years
Size: Extra large
Build: Medium
Skills: Novice Fighter & Intermediate Healer
Specialty: N/A

"Romulus Armada"

And the winner is...

Ezra

Romulus must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Totals: Ezra : Attack Roll: 24 Defense Roll: 79 Agility Roll: 60 Perception Roll: 74 Total: 237 Attack[24] + 45% Bonus[10.80]: 34.80 Defense[79] + 10% Bonus[7.90]: 86.90 Agility[60] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 60.00 Perception[74] + 10% Bonus[7.40]: 81.40 Total[263.10] + 20% Bonus[52.62]: 315.72 Romulus : Attack Roll: 100 Critical attack! Defense Roll: 91 Agility Roll: 60 Perception Roll: 28 Total: 279 Attack[100] + 5% Bonus[5.00]: 105.00 Defense[91] + 15% Bonus[13.65]: 104.65 Agility[60] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 60.00 Perception[28] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 28.00 Total[297.65] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 297.65