Though the amenities were quite dull, Zephyrus was beginning to enjoy his home. It was dark and tightly enclosed, with soot-lined walls that if he pressed up against too tightly would further darken his spotty grey plumage. Each night the owl who'd hatched him would depart through a hole the floor itself and the chick would wait excitedly for when the heart shaped face would return to push through the broken damper with a fat vole in her beak. As his body began to grow so did his courage, and soon Zeph was peeking his own beak down into the firebox and imagining his own first exploration from the nest.

The frantic sound of wing beats broke the boy from his dreaming, his empty stomach churning in early anticipation of the coming meal. It was not a noise he was used to - as his surrogate mother typically flew very silently - and it drew his curiosity. He hopped toward the hole in the ground, curving his talons along the hard stone and struggling to squeeze his head further down into the firebox for a closer look. Feathers were strewn about the floor below, though the lintel blocked most of the chick's view of the scene unraveling before him. There was a pained cry, and the fluttering of wings quieted abruptly.

Zephyr blinked in confusion, unkempt head tilting to the side. The barn owl had not yet poked her head back into the smoke shelf where his nest lay - had she been unsuccessful in her hunt? His stomach protested loudly against the injustice and his talons squeezed tighter upon the stone, his heart pounding hard as he looked down at the drop below. There was always the chance that his mother had decided her hunger came first, and that just a few feet away he'd find her ripping pieces of meat from his meal, and the thought was enough to steel the chick's heart and hop down into the firebox.

He found himself caught in a windstorm of soot, ash and bits of charred wood before his young body even hit the ground. It obscured his vision, filled his lungs, and brought an indignant croak from his burning throat. Desperate to get out of the cloud of ash, he hop stepped forward bashing into the inner hearth's walls until finally he'd found himself tumbling out of the fireplace entirely. Bits of cobweb clung to his face and hung off his beak and he lifted his stubby wing lifting to bat angrily at it. So overwhelmed was the chick by the newness of it all, that he hardly noticed the other presence in the room.

The harpy eagle had pulled away from the long-undisturbed bones in the corner and turned it's curved beak toward the chick. The slow clicking of talons across the hard floor was an early alarm to the boy, who'd in expectant hunger whirled on the noise to see that this was not his mother-owl. There was a change in the wind as the eagle took to the air, rushing across the room with talons extended toward him. Zephyr squeaked in alarm, waddling backwards and bringing from the eagle a shrill scream that reverberated so deep within his breast that he thought his heart might burst.

Panicked the chick panic-hopped across the floor toward the only form of protection he could immediately identify. A decrepit, broken down chunk of something vaguely wood-ish, with a space beneath that he could only pray would fit his growing body. A wave of pain crossed the crown of his head followed by a chill of cold, the growing tuft of feathers there torn by the much-too-close swipe of a fly-by talon. He squeezed himself beneath the bed before the eagle could turn and readjust - streaking blood across the underside of the mattress as he did so - and shoving himself as far back as he could. Again and again the talons reached in after him, closing in so narrowly that they fluttered the soft down upon his face. "HELP!" Zephyr cried out, his small form shrinking with fear. "I DON'T WANT TO BE EATEN!"
 
Word Count: 689
"Zephyr"

It was out of the ordinary for Artorias to be anywhere up in the castle tower on his own. Usually the only time he came up this way was when he was with Briar, taking his lover to the top of the tower for an intimate moment for themselves, but this time, he had a purpose. While everyone was down in the lower levels of the castle beginning the process of cleaning out the dust bunnies from the winter in preparations for spring, the Aegis himself headed up to the aptly named Goose Room of the tower. No one had set foot in the room since Askan's disappearance (and ultimate demise) thanks mostly due to his hyper aggressive goose and its territorial habits. It wasn't until long after the frantic, frenzied honking had stopped did Artorias determine the poor bastard was dead—and that had been a year ago. Since then, no wolf had a need to go in there. Some believed it to be cursed, telling ghost stories of haunted, manic honking coming from the room in the dead of night. Thankfully, Artorias wasn't nearly as superstitious as some others. The solitary tower room didn't scare him.

Trudging up the stairs with an empty sack and bucket of water to begin cleaning the room and washing the floors, Artorias neared the fourth level bedroom—only to hear some sort of cacophony of calamity within. Crashes and shrieks of a bird of prey caught his attention and made the brute furrow his brow in confusion. What the fuck was happening in there? As he neared the door on high alert, the next sound he heard made his heart stop and his blood turn to ice in his veins. A desperate cry for help. Not another second was wasted as Art nearly broke the door down rushing in. The room was cooler than the rest of the castle, having not had any heat in it for over a year, and everything was covered in a layer of dust. Particles hung in the air, dancing in the sunlight filtering from the large windows like static in the air. Old bones picked clean of meat and sinew were strewn about the room, a familiar goose skull amongst them, as well as a fresh corpse of an owl covered in blood. But what caught the Aegis' attention was the massive eagle clawing frantically at the old bed in the corner of the room, ripping at the wood and mattress trying to reach something.

Again Artorias heard the terrified cries coming from the bed and reacted without thinking, hurling the bucket of water towards the eagle, which reacted to the sudden splash of its feathers by jerking away from the bed in a flurry of wings and feathers. The raptor screeched in fury while Artorias dropped the sack and ran at the bird, leaping off an old table in the middle of the room to lunge for the attacking bird. The eagle deftly dodged the wolf's teeth and claws, then responded in turn by diving at Artorias' face, its talons seeking the wolf's eyes. Artorias reacted quicker, dropping to a roll and dodging out of the way, getting scratched and clawed along his back instead. The obsidian and azure wolf snarled at the eagle, chomping at the air to try and drive it back out the broken window it had come in from, but the eagle was not about to leave its roost so easily. For a while the two apex predators scuffled with one another, moving back and forth around the room trying to land strikes against the other. At one point, Artorias had managed to get a good bite on one of the eagle's talons, biting down hard enough to crush cartilage between his teeth and drawing a pained screech from the eagle.

The harpy eagle redoubled its efforts, using its good talon and beak to try and peck and claw at every soft part of the wolf it could find. Artorias snarled and flinched away, earning a few cuts while he tried to swat the bothersome bird out of his face with sharp claws. The eagle was persistent and refused to give up. It began to drive Artorias back, aiming for his amber eyes and trying to blind the wolf. Artorias leapt away, crawling beneath the table to take cover while he sought a way to bring down the bird. The answer laid on the wall of the room. A pair of decorative swords hung behind a rusty coat of arms. Though not the most ideal weapon, they would do. Artorias waited until he'd heard the eagle back off and return to the bed before he ran to grab one of the swords by the hilt, yanking it off the wall and rounding on the eagle. The raptor saw the wolf emerge once more and screeched in rage, flying across the room with a few strong flaps of its wings aiming straight for Art.

A flash of silver steel was the last thing the eagle saw as Artorias timed his strike to near perfection. As the eagle came within reach, Artorias was already bringing his sword in an upward swing, catching the eagle between the wing and breast. Since the sword hadn't been sharpened, it didn't cleave the way he wanted it to, but it did send the eagle careening out of control to crash into the stone wall hard. The eagle fell to the ground in a crumple of tawny feathers, giving confused, dazed cries while it tried to right itself. Artorias didn't give it the chance. The Aegis brought the point of the sword down hard into the bird's chest, piercing its breast and crushing hollow bones with ease while he shoved the sword down like a cleaver to split the eagle almost in two. It was sloppy and far from how clean he wanted the kill to be, but it got the job done. The eagle struggled for only a few moments, and then it died in a mess of feathers, blood, and gore.

With his enemy vanquished, Artorias left the sword lodged in the raptor's chest cavity and stepped back, breathing hard to catch his breath from the sudden unexpected brawl he'd found in his own home. Blood dripped from the cuts the eagle had left on him, but they weren't anything serious. He wasn't done yet however. Amber eyes slid over to spy the old bed, torn to shreds by the enraged eagle. The curiosity in the alpha grew with every step he took closer to it, pausing near the edge and ever so slowly peeking down beneath it. He hadn't know what to expect under there—but the baby bird he saw beneath the mattress would have been the farthest thing from any guess he made. "Hi, little guy," he called to the cowering chick, lowering himself to his belly to make himself seem as least threatening as he could. "It's okay, the bad bird is gone. You can come out now. It's safe, I promise." Artorias reached an azure paw out for the chick, warm amber eyes pleading for him to come out so he could see to his injuries.

WC: 1202
Total: 1891 / 1500

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian"

From beyond his safe nook below the bed Zephyr could hear the escalation of sound, his ear slits squeezing shut against the violent discord raging within the room. The only movement upon the young bird's body was his breast rising and falling with his unsteady, panicked breaths. From beneath the bed he could see the rapid movement of black paws, a flash of rusted steel, the occasional wingtip and talon as the killer bird fought to it's last breath. His talons quaked upon the hard stone floor, occasionally shuffling audibly as his nervousness peaked. The sounds of combat had stopped with a rather sudden wet squish and silence fell upon the abandoned room.

The wolf's sudden appearance caused the chick to leap, his head thunking hard against the broken frame which had shielded him. 'Hi, little guy,' the creature spoke, Zephyr's feathered brow furrowing in confusion. Within the beast's mouth were dozens and dozens of beaks! Pointy, long, sharp beaks. He shrunk further, his juvenile feathers pulling tight against his body in fear. 'It's okay, the bad bird is gone. You can come out now. It's safe, I promise.' Bad bird? Well, that was a bad bird, and if this beast had killed it then he obviously couldn't be too terrible a beast, either.

Zephyr eyed the outstretched paw suspiciously, scooted himself to align sideways with the stranger, and then reached out his closest talon to poke lightly at the obsidian fur. "Do you have feathers on your legs so they don't get cold?" He peeped softly, bright eyes of cyan roaming the oddly shaped foot. Having sufficiently poked the paw, he shifted his leg so that one curved talon tip could hook behind the wolf's claw, using the weight of the beast to pull himself hesitantly closer.

"Zephyr"

His abrupt appearance had startled the very young fledgling and caused him to hit his head on the underside of the bed frame, drawing a sympathetic wince from Artorias. The poor thing was genuinely terrified for its life, and if he had to hazard a guess, he assumed the dead owl he saw had been caring for the chick. The child and surrogate mother had been attacked by the harpy eagle, and the mother had died in the fight. Artorias had interrupted the eagle having a second meal in the nick of time. The bird beneath the bed eyed his outstretched paw warily, and the Aegis couldn't blame the poor soul's trepidation. After what had just occurred, he'd be cautious, if not traumatized, as well. But Artorias was patient, giving the young chick a gentle smile and all the time he needed to trust.

Eventually, his patience was rewarded when the bird reached a talon out towards him and poked at the dark fur on his foreleg. Artorias chuckled softly and replied, "Something like that. My whole body is covered in it to keep me warm. It's called fur." Eyes of calm fire held the cautious gaze of cyan gazing back out at him from under the bed like little blue spotlights. He held his paw out while the chick examined his foot, letting him do all the testing he needed. Finally, Artorias felt a smooth clawed talon hook behind his claw, taking ahold of his paw and beginning to pull himself out. Artorias' encouraging smile brightened some. Though it was easy for him to keep his weight settled for the bird to use him for leverage, he was still amazed at the strength this chick possessed already in his stout, fluffy body.

"There we go, that's better. You're very brave," Artorias spoke softly to encourage the fledgling on. The closer the chick came, the clearer he could smell the metallic tang of blood from where he'd hit his head. "Here, come on out and let me take a look at your head. I'll keep you safe, I promise." He waited, allowing the young raptor to slowly work himself out from under the bed if he wished. If he got him to emerge, Artorias would need to try to keep him distracted from the carnage in the room. No one that young should be exposed to gruesome acts like this. "My name is Artorias. What's your name? Have you been living in here all this time?" he asked, trying to keep the child talking and build up that assurance that he was safe now. Nothing was going to harm him here.

"Artorias Carpathius"

The creature's response somehow managed to confuse Zephyr even further. Fur? Mice had fur, voles had fur, everything he ate had what was called 'fur' - but this man was too big to eat, and too powerful even for the harpy eagle who'd dueled him to eat. He was intelligent enough for speech, too, which he was told prey animals were too stupid to talk. If this beast was a predator, where were his feathers. Curiosity compelled Zeph closer as he was bid, peeking his beak, head, neck, and then shoulders from beneath the bed (in that order, slowly) to carefully consider the giant before him.. though he was careful to skirt past the very dangerous and beak-filled smile.

"My name is Zephyrus." He offered, watching the wolf's maw as he spoke and imagining how each individual sharp beak might open up to eat something. "My nest is in there -" With one stubby wing he gestured across the room to the dusty fireplace, gaze roaming over the feathers and carnage until they landed upon the half-severed raptor. His eyes grew wide, his beak clacking shut audibly. Death was something he'd seen before, his mother-owl had shown him the insides of many a creature but never had she managed to cut one in half! Flipping his head back swiftly to the beast, his beak tentatively opened once more. "- ... Sir." Whatever this creature was capable of, it was quite clearly well beyond Zephyr's wildest imagination. Thankfully, the sight of the slain eagle was jarring enough that the chick did not look closer to see the much-less-noticeable cluster of feathers that once was the barn owl.

"Zephyr"

It took some patience and coaxing, but gradually the bird beneath the bed began to inch his way closer to the edge, looking at the Aegis with so much bewilderment that Artorias didn't exactly know what to say or how to address it right away. When the raptor chick finally began to emerge, Artorias was able to get a better look at him. The fledgling was covered in puffy, soft down feathers all over, showing just how young he really was, likely no more than a couple of weeks to a month at the oldest. Though smaller than himself, the boy was large for a fledgling, and no doubt would be a large bird of prey like the harpy eagle had been. But Artorias didn't recognize the kind of bird Zephyrus was. Maybe he'd ask Rudy if he could identify him, being a hunter and all.

The fledgling introduced himself as Zephyrus, keeping a close eye on Artorias' maw that the wolf noticed. Were his teeth frightening the lad? He could certainly understand why, especially given that he'd almost been eaten by another raptor. Zephyrus gestured to show him where he'd been nesting—inside of the room's chimney—and then gazed in awe at the carnage left about the room, as well as the bisected eagle. Artorias flinched a little when he heard the clack of Zeph's beak shutting in a hurry, seeing the wide-eyed shock on the youngling's face. He supposed there was no hiding the evidence of battle, but Zephyrus didn't seem too perturbed by it. "You don't have to call me that, Zephyrus. You can call me Artorias, or Art," he offered, rising back to his paws to make his way over to the fireplace.

Artorias poked his head in the fireplace, gazing up the dark shaft to the light of day up above, wondering just where and how he managed to fit in such a tight space or where one would even build a nest in here. With no real way to investigate further, the wolf withdrew and turned back to face the soot and blood covered chick. He considered the small creature before him, then glanced back up to the slaughtered eagle and murdered owl. If left alone without care, Zephyrus would certainly die. In his mind, there was only one real option. "Are you hungry, Zephyrus? I have food downstairs. We can get you something to eat, then see about those scrapes on your head and getting your feathers cleaned up."

He walked back over to the bird that had now fallen under his care and protection, lowering himself back to the ground to he was level with Zeph and gave him a gentle smile and empathetic eyes. Whether the boy realized his adoptive mother was dead yet or not, he would eventually. As someone who had lost his own mother in a horrific way, Artorias knew what feelings the boy would likely begin to feel as he processed everything. And if Zephyrus truly had nothing left, then Artorias would give him back what he'd lost. "I know you're probably still scared, Zephyrus. I know you don't know me and I'm a stranger. But I'd like to take care of you, just for a little bit. Would that be okay?" Of course, Artorias knew the truth. He'd be caring for Zeph for far longer than a little bit, but he'd let the child's mind process that in time. Right now, he just wanted to get the boy away from the bloodbath, get his wounds treated, and get some food in his belly.

"Artorias Carpathius"

Artorias followed the gesture of his wing toward the fireplace, squeezing his massive head up into it to investigate. Zeph reinflated slightly in the absence of the frightening teeth, watching with curiosity as the bulk of the wolf's form was shown to him. "What are you?" He ventured, squeezing the reminder of his dust-ridden body out from beneath the broken down bed. His tail looked closer to that of a squirrel then a bird or a mouse, yet no squirrel he'd seen could boast such a large size.

At the mention of food his hunger was reignited, his stubby wings coming down to hold his churning stomach. "I'm sooo hungry." Bright eyes grew alit with excitement and anticipation, his talons tapping against the ground as he marched in place. The rest of the wolf's offer of medical care and cleaning was easily ignored with the reminder of food, and suddenly the beast was much less frightening. He hopped forward towards Artorias, tipping his beak up to gaze into the creature's face. "I'm not scared." Zeph ventured bravely, puffing his chest up to make himself look bigger. "And if you have food you're not really a stranger, right?" After all, his mother owl had started out as a stranger bearing food, too.

The chick's head swung around, surveying the room with renewed interest and hunger. Where was 'downstairs' and how would he manage to get there, where the food was? Food usually came to him, but he was willing to work with Artorias' customs. There was only one difference the chick could pin from how the room was prior to his arrival (aside from the bisected eagle, of course) and that was the open door. Wobble-hopping unevenly toward it with wings outspread for balance, the ravenous raptor began his hunt for the promised meal. "You don't have to call me Zephyrus." He stated as he waddled across the floor. "That's just for when I'm in trouble, I think."  


"Zephyr"

The mere mention of food seemed to reignite a hunger within Zephyrus, and the chick was left clutching his stomach with stubby wings while lamenting how hungry he was. Artorias wore a crooked smile while he chuckled and watched the fledgling of some bird species he didn't recognize march about with determination. "Well, let's get you some food then," he replied. Before they left, Zeph marched right up to the larger wolf, gazing up at him and declaring he wasn't scared. In his blue eyes, Artorias saw the sincerity of those words. Zephyrus wasn't afraid—not of him, not of his circumstances, not of the loss of his surrogate parent. Zeph reminded him a lot of himself when he was a pup. "I can see that. Courage is not an easy thing to have. Keep it close to your heart," said Art, then laughed when he was declared not a stranger because of his promise of food.

Before Artorias could say or do anything else, the bold bird was already tottering his way toward the open door, waddling with a strange uneven gait for the corridor and the stairs. Artorias smirked and shook his head with incredulity at how headstrong and independent the baby bird was. "Here, climb on my back," Artorias offered as he moved to lie down next to Zephyrus again, allowing the chick to clamber up onto him like a mount. At the rate Zeph was moving, it would take them all day to get down to the first floor, not to mention he didn't want to risk the chick tumbling down all those stairs. Once he was on, the dire wolf stood up and made for the door, stepping past the remains of the eagle and walking smoothly out to the hall and down the spiraling stairs to the third level, then to the second, then the first all in a few minutes. "Hmm, how about Zeph or Zephyr then? Do you like either of those?" he asked when Zephyrus said he didn't have to use his full name unless he was in trouble.

Carrying Zephyr through the wide expansive halls of the castle, Artorias headed from the grand foyer to the great hall, crossing the cavernous room kept warm by the fire in the great hearth. "This is all the rest of the castle. You were up in the tower, one of the highest rooms of all," he explained to his companion as they passed from area to area. Entering the kitchen, Artorias deposited Zephyrus safely onto one of the countertops. "Wait here." His instructions given, Artorias headed down into the cellars to the larders. He didn't know what baby birds ate, but Zeph looked like a bird of prey, so he assumed meat would be good. He found some fresh venison and ripped a few manageable chunks off of a tenderloin, carrying them back up to place beside the hungry child. While he let Zeph eat, he found a washcloth and dipped it into the small spring in the kitchen, dampening it with clean water before returning to go and wipe the blood and soot from the bird.

"I'm a wolf," he explained while he tended to the child, answering the young raptor's earlier question. "A wolf is a large canine, an apex predator, just like you. We can't fly, so we don't have feathers. Instead, we have fur, so we can hunt all year round, even in the coldest winters." As he cleaned Zephyrus off, Art tipped his head back and called for Briar. As Queen, she needed to be aware of their new ward and what had happened up in the tower.

"Artorias Carpathius"

Briar lifted her head away from the work she was doing in their bedroom where she was rearranging a few things with Lia's help when she heard Artorias call for her from downstairs. It wasn't all that often that he'd need her in the middle of the day like this so it certainly got her curious. She gave Lia a few little things she wanted to get done so that her handmaiden could continue working without her and she walked out of the bedroom to pass down the corridor to the stairs. Oblivious to the odd encounter her fiancé found himself in, she followed his scent down through the main hall to the kitchen. "Artorias? You called for-" she began to say as she stepped through the door, only to stop with her eyes widening, blinking with surprise at the gray, fluffy, baby bird that was perched on the counter. Well... calling it a baby bird felt not quite right. He had all the hallmarks of a baby bird with downy feathers and clumsy movements, but he was much larger than any other baby bird she had ever seen.

"Um... who's this?" she asked as she walked over to stand beside Artorias, a bit uncertain as she glanced between Art and the young raptor. The only thing that she could think of was that Artorias had managed to find himself yet another companion, but that didn't really answer the question of where this bird came from or why he was here on their kitchen counter. She waited for him to explain while looking at the young bird curiously, a little smile tugging at her lips at how wobbly and unsteady the little thing was.

"Briar Fatalis"

Artorias came up along behind him as the chick moved to conquer the stairwell, offering instead his own back for the small raptor to ride upon. As the beast lowered himself, Zephyr came forward and closed his beak upon the thick dark fur. With one talon scraping across the wolf's side seeking purchase, he hauled with his beak and eventually found himself at new heights. Zephyrus did his best to stand, holding upon the wolf with both talon and beak and riding him along toward the stairs. "It's like flying!" His words were mumbled from the scruff-fur in his mouth, but his wings were extended and catching the air as Artorias began to move out from the room and down.

His savior's speech broke thorough the bird's enjoyment-driven-selective-deafness and his wings drooped. "Hm?" He mused into the fur. "Dunno. Like 'em both." What others called him was very low on Zephyr's list of priorities, which now included flying on the backs of wolves on top of the number-one priority, food. Artorias explained the castle as he walked, and while the chick glanced about in curiosity, he found it all looked very much the same and very boring. The fire on the wall of the room was interesting, but he could investigate that later when his hunger had been satiated.

Deposited upon a flat surface, Zeph scrabbled into a seated position to wait. His beak swirled about, surveying the sweetly smelling room and all of it's clutter. He could not name a single item upon the countertops and shelves, but it only further cemented in his mind how lucky he'd been to be found by such world-travelled and intelligent beasts. Artorias returned with the promised meal, and Zephyr began to beak the chunks, throw back his head, and swallow them whole.

"A wolf." He mimicked, having finished the meat and begun his dusting. "What's winter?" The chick's head tilted, his train of thought falling upon the easiest to verbalize question. "And without fur, how will I do winter?"

Suddenly the man tipped his head back, his soft voice becoming something more intense and powerful, with a deep reverberation Zephyr felt in his small breast. Sharp aqua eyes grew wide in shock and awe, locking with the soft fire of the wolf's as his head tipped back down from his song. He stood there dumbfounded - rocking slightly upon unbalanced talons as he was cleaned - until the other arrived, her voice a welcome softness behind the wolf's song. Zephyr's fluffy head turned sharply toward the horned female, then back at Artorias, then back to the horns. Horns? "Wolf?" He chirped in confusion.

"Zephyr"

Artorias had never really put a lot of thought into himself as the parental type, yet here he was, caring for this fledgling barely beyond being a chick, amused smile on his features from how dang adorable and innocent the bird was. From the way he'd enjoyed his ride on his back, equating it to flying, to his juvenile wonder and questions whenever the Aegis gave him an answer, it was like watching the child discover the world for the first time—which he was! Artorias had to remind himself that up until now, the only life Zephyrus had known was the inside of that chimney. Zephyr asked what winter was and how he would survive it without fur. Art chuckled and responded, "Winter is a season. There are four of them: spring, summer, fall, and winter. As time goes by, our world goes through changes, just like we do as we grow. Winter is the coldest and wettest season." He carefully ran the damp cloth through Zephyr's downy feathers, just enough to clean them off without soaking the fledgling. "You don't need fur to survive winter, Zephyr. You have feathers, and as you grow up, they'll become denser, hardier, more resilient to the cold and weather. Plus you have this big castle to keep you dry and warm." Artorias didn't know what he would ultimately do with Zephyrus yet, but he knew he would keep him in the Hallows until he came of age to make his own decisions. A ward to the Aegis.

The shock and awe on Zephyr's face following his call for his fiancée was enough to draw a lighthearted laugh from the dire wolf, who finished cleaning the fledgling off, and then began to pat him dry with a dry cloth. Now that he was clean, Art could see the scrape on the raptor's head wasn't anything serious. Likely nothing more than a scab and a bad memory with a bit of time. He'd luckily avoided the eagle's talons and escaped mostly unscathed. He didn't get long to inspect the bird before he heard Briar come into the kitchen, her words trailing off the closer she came. Artorias knew she was looking at Zephyrus without even needing to look her way. "This is Zephyrus, but he likes Zeph or Zephyr," explained Artorias, setting the cloth down once he'd finished drying the fledgling, using his large paws to help keep the baby raptor stable while he wobbled unevenly on juvenile talons. "I found him up in the tower. He was fending off an eagle all on his own." Artorias then turned darkened amber eyes to Briar, the morbid look in them begging her not to ask further questions and to understand the implication he said those words with. Zephyr's parents were dead, his adoptive parent was dead, and now he was an orphan. Orphaned—but not alone.

The look of curiosity and confusion on Zephyrus' face while he studied Briar was given a voice when he asked a clarifying question to Art in a single word. Artorias looked back to Briar, following the raptor's oceanic eyes to the horns atop his love's crown. "That's right. Wolf," he answered the child, snickering a little while he added, "A little bit funny looking, but still all wolf. Briar, come introduce yourself. Zephyr's going to be staying with us." He would discuss this with her further at a later time and in private, but there was no way he wasn't raising this child to adulthood or condemning him to death. Zephyrus would grow up as a Hallowed bird, afforded all the same opportunities, protections, and lifestyle any of his wolves were given.

"Artorias Carpathius"

Luckily Artorias quickly introduced the fledgling and gave a brief explanation for his presence here so she wasn't left wondering long. Her gaze shifted to his as he glanced back at her, noting the look in his eyes that explained more than he was saying. The poor bird was alone then and true to Artorias' kind, caring nature he was looking after the youngling. "That's certainly very brave of you, Zephyr!" she said with a sweet smile as she looked back to the unsteady, wide eyed bird. Before she could say anything else though, Artorias' feathered friend asked a short, simple question, just saying 'wolf?' as he looked at her. For a moment she was confused until she noticed his eyes tipped upward and she put the pieces together as Artorias confirmed she was indeed a wolf and started to snicker.

She gave Artorias a playful glare and grinned as he said that she was still a wolf even though she did look a bit funny. She nudged his shoulder with her own as she came to stand closer to the counter as well. "Hey hey hey, wolves come in lots of shapes and sizes... and sometimes they have horns!" she said with a light laugh. She settled back on her haunches beside Artorias, giving Zephyr another smile. "It's nice to meet you, Zephyr. I'm Briar. I'm Artorias' partner so I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other." She wasn't sure if Zephyr would understand what a 'fiancé' or a 'Queen' was since he didn't even know that she was still a wolf even though she had antlers so she tried to keep it as simple as possible for the fledgling. He really was very cute and her tail brushed across the floor behind her while she lifted her paw to gently smooth some ruffled up downy feathers on Zephyr's chest.

"Briar Fatalis"

Zephyr's education was advancing quickly, though it was difficult to focus upon the answers when he had just so many questions! Winter was still a confusing thought - and he felt like they circled back to 'then why do you have fur if feathers protect you fine!', in discussing the different coverings upon their bodies - but Briar's presence brought forward new lines of questioning that were much more important.

Artorias explained to the female who he was and where he'd been found, and the chick's chest puffed up proudly at the mention of his battle with the eagle and how brave he was to stand against it. "Artorias cut him in half!" The chick explained matter-of-factly to the tawny female, sharing the praise between them. As Briar stepped closer and introduced herself, Zephyr struggled to focus upon anything but the antlers protruding from her skull. Her coloring was so much different than the male's was and her tail was long enough that Zeph was sure if he stood on it, it could drag him along the floor with her. She'd explained that wolves came in lots of shapes and sizes and he nodded, blinking slowly in wonder and confusion. What else could a wolf look like?

Her introduction was polite and Zephyr mimicked it with a shy "It's nice to meet you too," glancing back to Artorias for approval and confirmation that they would be seeing a lot of each other. "Do you live in the castle?" He asked, using the word Artorias had given him moments before. It was a huge castle, it made sense that more than one wolf lived within it.

Her paw came up to smooth his chest and his body shuddered happily against the gentle touch. "Are we family now?" The raptor asked softly, blinking up at the wolves. Zeph's barn owl mother had preened his feathers for him each day and it was the greatest gesture of affection the young chick knew - something reserved for parents and their chicks, or mates when a bird grew older. Wolves did not have the beaks necessary for properly aligning the feathered barbs, but it did not lessen the impact of the gesture to the young raptor.

"Zephyr"

The small, almost fatherly smile Artorias had been wearing while caring for Zephyrus returned when Briar immediately set to talking enthusiastically with the young raptor. She commended Zephyr's bravery, then glared at him with a smirk when he called her a funny-looking wolf. He chuckled again as Briar came closer and bumped his shoulder playfully in retaliation as she explained to Zephyr that wolves came in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and kinds, some even having mutations like horns and antlers. From the side, Art watched while Briar started to smooth and preen the young bird's downy feathers with a wag of her tail, widening the smile on his lips to watch his fiancée interact with their newest member of the Hallows. He was so glad they were getting along—not that he really had any doubts with how sweet and loving Briar was. But the only experience either of them had with birds was their companions, and Zephyrus was a far cry from either of them! This was all strange and unknown territory to the Aegis and Queen.

Another deep chuckle left Artorias when Zephyr explained how he had cut the harpy eagle in half, having left quite an impression with the fledgling raptor, it seemed. "It had to be done. It wasn't gonna give up," he explained, gesturing to the scratches and talon cuts across his head and back. That eagle had been feral. "She does live in the castle. There's about twenty of us that live here," Artorias answered Zephyr's question, finishing patting the raptor's damp feathers dry and setting the cloth aside, inspecting his work. He was no healer like Gwyn was, but he'd at least managed to stop the bleeding. Maybe he'd have his sister look over the juvenile avian when she had a chance.

And then Zephyrus asked if they were family now, and Artorias' mouth opened—and he paused. He hadn't stopped to consider what would happen in the aftermath of the slaughter of Zephyr's surrogate mother. He exchanged a quick glance over to Briar, but he knew his mind had already been made up. He'd saved the young bird from certain death, he was responsible for all those under his care. Zephyrus would be his ward now, and he would raise him as a Hallowed... er, eagle-vulture-thing. "Yes, Zephyr, I believe we are now. Would you like to be a family with us?" Artorias smiled to the baby raptor and brought a large paw up to gently smooth the ruffled feathers atop Zephyrus' crown that he'd mussed up while cleaning him, feeling a growing connection to the small predator. Zephyrus was his to care for, to protect, and to teach. As unorthodox as it was, they were a family now.

"Artorias Carpathius"

Briar blinked with surprise and glanced toward Art when Zephyrus declared that Artorias had in fact cut the eagle in question in half and she couldn't help but laugh a little at how sudden and assuredly Zephyrus said it. "He's really good with his sword, isn't he?" she said, giving Art a grin. She nodded in understanding as he explained that the eagle had been relentless, but she hadn't really been bothered by it either way. She knew Art would only ever do what he needed to do and in this case she was glad he had protected the youngling they had here with them now. His gesturing to the cuts he got during the fight made her notice them for the first time now that she wasn't so thrown off by the sudden appearance of a young bird. She frowned a little and leaned forward to get a closer look, knowing that one of the healers would need to put something on them sooner rather than later to make sure they didn't get infected. She was no healer since she gave up the trade pretty early in her studies, but she at least retained some of the basics.

Her attention was once again pulled back to their newest resident as he asked if she lived in the castle, to which Artorias confirmed that she did and she followed up with a nod of her own. He really was a sweet, cute little thing. She grinned a little at how even just a little grooming to smooth the feathers on his chest made him so happy—which in turn made him question whether they were family now. She was taken aback by the question for only a moment, but after exchanging a glance with Art she already knew the answer. It was no uncommon thing to bring others in with either of their families and Zephyrus was in need of a family and a home. Artorias answered for them, saying that they were and asking if Zeph wanted to be family with them. Briar smiled warmly and gently pet Zeph's feathers again as well as she added, "Of course we're family as long as you want us to be." Adopting a lost baby bird didn't feel any different than adopting an orphaned pup as far as she was concerned other than not really knowing how to raise a bird, but they could figure that part out as they went.

"Briar Fatalis"

Everything was coming so quickly, and though the young raptor was doing his best to keep up, his mind moved much quicker than his beak could manage. "He is good with a sword." Zephyr nodded, clearly enthused. "Oh!" His head swirled back to the male, his talons resuming the rapid tapping that tended to come when his excitement would overthrow. "Can you teach me how to use a sword too?" Artorias had wielded his with his terrifying muzzle of beaks, but Zephyr's legs were capable of more range of motion then his neck must be - one day, he might be capable of the same skillful decapitation!

Confirmation was given that Briar lived in the castle as well, and the looks the wolves shared between each other only confirmed for him that they were indeed life partners. Zephyrus was young and adaptable and had already had to accept a surrogate parent in his young life, adding two others was as easy a decision as eating. He caught Artorias' hesitation, watching the wolf as he paused and gave a thoughtful glance to his mate. Zephyr followed the glance, looking between the pair with wide and hopeful eyes until they both affirmed his words. "Yes, I do!" Wolves could be silly sometimes, the raptor noted. Of course he wanted to stay with his rescuer and his rescuer's partner!

Remembering the meat chunks suddenly, his fragile attention diverted once more. Sliding down onto his rump and situating his talons on each side of the chunk, he began to pull from it pieces small enough to consume whole. While he worked, his adoring gaze would occasionally return to the wolves whom he'd adopted. "When is next food time?" The raptor asked as his pile began to run low, already considering how he might ration the chunks. Wolves must hunt much slower than his mother owl, seeing as they lacked wings and all. Belatedly, Zephyr wondered how much of an extra beak the pair was prepared to feed...

"Zephyr"