Avantika was back to training. She hadn't really wanted to when she'd woken up that morning, but she hadn't been able to let herself do anything else. She'd woken up before sunrise and drawn herself out of bed, trying not to wake Audra. It had taken a couple of minutes, but it was more than worth it. She wanted to be alone.

She'd sprinted a good stretch around the border of the Hallows land, and now she stood, finally out of breath, and watched the sun rise in the distance. Her eyes narrowed. Where were those pirates? For a moment, she imagined running away from the Hallows that very moment and searching the world until she found them. She didn't know what she'd do when she got to them, but she would definitely do something.

Sighing, she walked in the direction of the castle. Maybe she'd find someone to spar or something.

"Speech"

It had been a few days since her official move to the castle and she decided to venture out through he pack on her own for a while. She couldn't remember a time when she was here and not spending time with Artorias besides a few short bits of time when he would need to handle some kind of pack related business so it was interesting walking through the corridors of the castle or through the courtyard completely on her own. She wanted to get to know more members of the pack and she didn't want to do it glued to Artorias' side. The last thing she wanted was to have them acting nice to her purely because she was with Artorias or because she was the new Queen so she didn't want that extra influence as she tried to acclimate herself to her new pack and its members.

She was walking out of the castle and through the grounds when her turquoise gaze landed on Avantika. She remembered the other woman pretty easily from the Ashen tournament since she was the one to knock her out of the running. There was no hard feelings though and if anything she was glad to get a chance to connect with one of Artorias' siblings—assuming she wanted the company. Briar smiled as she walked over to Avantika, meeting the Vanguard half way as she approached the castle. "Avantika! It's good to see you again," she said with a friendly smile. "How've you been?"

"Briar Fatalis"

Avantika didn't walk long before a woman approached her. This was... Briar, right? They'd fought once before in the Ashen tournament, a match Avantika had won. But that was quite a long time ago. Surely they'd both changed much since then. She wondered if Briar would be up for a spar, just to see. Avantika was in the mood for a fight. Something about the air that morning seemed to invite action. Or maybe that was just her own predictably volatile nerves.

"I've been well," she answered. "What's been up with you?" She knew that Briar and Art were dating, and it seemed she'd moved in. Avantika had no issue with that, but she figured it would be good to get to know her possible sister-in-law a bit better.

"Speech"

Briar gave Avantika a pleased nod when the other woman told her that she had been well. She didn't know if Tika would come out and say if anything was wrong to someone that was more or less just an acquaintance at this point even though she had made frequent visits to The Hallows over the last year, but either way it looked like she was physically well if nothing else. Briar smiled and gave a small shrug when Avantika asked what she had been up to in turn. "Just getting settled in here and getting to know everyone. I already know my way around pretty well so at least I don't have to question where to go, but there's still plenty of faces I don't know yet." She felt like her first order of business if she was going to be Queen of the Hallows had to be getting to know everyone she was going to be living with from here on out and she just hoped that she got along with everyone at least well enough.

She glanced around at the castle grounds around them, asking curiously, "Was I interrupting anything? I haven't gotten to do any patrols or training yet today... Would you like to join me for any of that?" It had been a good while since she had been in a proper spar. The closest she had gotten was the small demonstration she had done with Kione during her last lesson, but that certainly couldn't count for a fight. She didn't know what kind of mood Avantika was in, but she'd be up for a rematch if her future sister-in-law was.

"Briar Fatalis"

Briar answered that she was just settling in and that she didn't know many of the Hallows wolves yet. That was fair. She hadn't been  here long. Avantika would be plenty willing to introduce her to anyone and everyone, but Briar would have to ask. Avantika figured that it made sense and would be likely that Briar would want to introduce herself. It's what she would do, in her place. Probably. She hadn't had to introduce herself to any large group of wolves for a long time. Back then, she'd been appreciative of Rudy being there and showing her around, but somehow it felt a little puppyish to still need that now. Briar was about her age and seemed confident enough. She could ask on her own if she wanted or needed help.

Briar brought up patrols and training, asking if she could join in with Avantika. They could do some more patrols -- those were always important -- but there was another idea sprouting in her mind. "It's been a while since our last spar. Think you can beat me this time?" She grinned. "We can always patrol after. I just did a decent stretch."

"Speech"

Briar's ears perked at the mention of a spar and a grin crossed her face in return. It certainly had been quite a while since their spar during the Ashen tournament and she knew that she personally had done a lot to train and hone her skills and she could only assume that Avantika had been doing the same. Still she was curious to see if the Carpathius woman could beat her for a second time. "Alright! Lets do it!" she said with a chuckle before nodding toward the training grounds around the corner of the castle and starting to lead the way that direction. She didn't have any of her armor or things with her, but that didn't really matter, not when it was just a quick spar like this. It felt almost like they were recreating that spar they had back during the tournament all over again, but for far less exciting stakes.

She took a spot across from Avantika, taking a second to roll her shoulders and stretch her limbs a bit before settling into a comfortable fighting stance with her ears folded back, her head and neck even with her back, and her paws set firmly and evenly under her. "I'm ready when you are!" she said eagerly, opening the floor for Avantika to make the first move.

"Briar Fatalis"

Briar was immediately acting excited at the idea of a spar. Avantika was enthusiastic about the idea as well. She'd trained and grown a lot since the tournament where they'd last sparred, and presumably the other woman had too. It would be a match of skill for the both of them. But there was another motive than simple fun competition and curiosity. If Art and Briar were serious about their relationship, then presumably Briar would be staying in the Hallows for at least a while. That meant that she, as a fighter, would be part of the Hallows' defense. Avantika, who took her duty as a Hallows wolf and Templar very seriously, always wanted more good fighters in the defense team.

She followed Briar to the training grounds. Neither of them had armor, it seemed. It didn't matter much. Neither of them were going to hurt the other and winning didn't really matter. It was only a playful little spar. Avantika got into her fighting stance, already warmed up from her patrol running. Briar offered her the chance to make the first move, so she began stalking slow as a crawl in a curve towards Briar's left side. When she was a few feet away, she faked right and then quickly would attempt to nip the side of Briar's neck where it connected with her shoulder before moving back if she could.

Avantika vs Briar for Spar
Round 1/x
Age: Over 1 year
Size: Large
Build: Medium
Companion 1: Sharp-shinned hawk, Female - Flying
Companion 2: Black-thighed falconet, Male - Flying
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Intellectual
Specialty: Tactician

"Speech"

Briar stayed in a defensive stance as Avantika started stalking closer and Briar slowly shifted as the Carpathius woman started to circle her a bit so that she would remain facing her opponent as she drew closer. She flinched a bit as she started to duck away from Avantika when she faked to the right, but instead Avantika doubled back and leapt in toward her neck. Briar dodged back, but didn't fully avoid the nip that Avantika left at the base of her neck. Quickly resetting her stance, Briar tried to jump forward to catch Avantika before she could back away too much and aimed to hit her left shoulder into Tika's, just wanting to shove her and not intending to try and leave too much bruising in the process. She tried to hop back again after that, but not before trying to hook her left foreleg around Avantika's ankle in an attempt to pull it out from under her as she jumped back away from the other fighter.

Briar vs Avantika for Spar
Round 1/2
Age: Over 1 Year
Size: Extra large
Build: Light
Companion 1: Prairie falcon, Female - Battle - Boosted
Companion 2: Fox with antlers, Female - Battle
Mutation 1: Antlers (small) - Offensive
Mutation 2: Feline claws - Offensive
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Intellectual
Specialty: NA

"Briar Fatalis"

Avantika landed her hit, but Briar was quick to respond, shoving their left shoulders together and knocking her back a step. Avantika lifted her paws to avoid her ankle being hooked and would attempt to wrap her forearms around the back of Briar's neck in order to pull her down to the ground. It was a risky move and would leave her off balance for the duration of the attempt, but she couldn't think of anything else to do in the moment. She was a worrier most of the time, but when sparring you had to make quick, instinctual decisions. There wasn't any time for worry or regret, only moving forward. It was one of the things she liked about fighting.

Avantika vs Briar for Spar
Round 2/2
Age: Over 1 year
Size: Large
Build: Medium
Companion 1: Sharp-shinned hawk, Female - Flying
Companion 2: Black-thighed falconet, Male - Flying
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Intellectual
Specialty: Tactician

"Speech"