Although their family trip up to the north had been intended as a means of relaxation and spending time with the in-laws, Artorias would have been remiss if he let his routine of honing and sharpening his skills in combat be laid to the side for an extended period of time. As Aegis, he was responsible not only for the protection of his family, but also for every wolf in his pack and the lands the Hallows claimed. That meant constant dedication to keeping his skills sharp and ready when he needed them. It could be someone's life on the line relying on them one day. As such, Artorias had snuck a pair of sparring swords up in the wagon with them so he could practice either solo or with anyone who wanted a lesson in armed combat from the veteran warrior.

Artorias rose early in the morning as he usually did, slipping from the bed of wam furs while doing his best not to wake Briar. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead before taking up Embershard and silently slipping out of the cave, following the winding tunnels from their guest room out to the communal area amidst the rising peaks. It was dawn, but the morning sun hadn't crested the mountain range yet, leaving the open space cloaked in shadow, only the ever-burning campfire casting a warm glow around the area. Artorias padded over to the fire and sat down before it, gazing into the flickering flames and bathing in the warmth while he closed his eyes and began his morning meditation. This had been a staple in his morning routine since Sirius had shown him the way almost his entire lifetime ago.

Once he had finished his meditation and found his center, Artorias' fire-kissed eyes flashed open and the alpha wolf rose to his paws. He padded to the open space between the fire and the obelisk, shifting into his combat stance and setting his paws firmly on the ground. The Aegis reached for the sword on his back, taking the hilt in his teeth and drawing it smoothly with the soft rasp of steel on leather. Then he began his practice, moving with practiced flourishes and smooth footwork about the open space. He turned and twisted, bringing his head about to and fro to swing the sword from side to side, slicing at imaginary enemies and deflecting phantom attacks. The way he moved almost looked like dancing, his moved were rehearsed with such finesse and grace. They had been performed and perfected over the wolf's lifetime—a testament to his life's dedication and his commitment to his role in life and his mother's teachings.

"Artorias Carpathius"

Zephyr had known from the day he'd been rescued of his father's strange habit of fighting with sharpened sticks of steel. It was not a hobby that made much sense to him, but Artorias was his hero and for him, Zephyrus would accept the oddities he and the others of his kind occasionally indulged in. If his father did not judge him for his childhood of following around chefs and roosting in unlit fireplaces, who was Zeph to say that the knightly wolf could not be allowed to bash shiny things together and enjoy the satisfying sounds it made?

He had caught sight of the training weapons in the wagon on their trip (while scavenging travel rations that he still believed nobody noticed missing) and now, seeing Artorias dancing in the 'courtyard' of the Col, ran to retrieve them. It was an odd feeling, grasping finely chiselled wood in his talons. It made hopping difficult, and so until he made it to a decent elevation the bird was forced to juggle them both precariously in his beak. Thankfully the Col was as high as it was expansive beneath, offering multiple out of the way staircases generously carved for ease of use up into various patrol points that overlooked the valley below. The pack who resided here had clearly worked hard to tailor it to their needs - and to Zeph's needs, as a sneaky ninja bird. Creeping slowly across the stone and upwards, he found himself a point from which he could glide. It took some care to shuffle the tools from his beak back into each talon and more effort still to perch himself upon the stone without full use of his feet for balance. Spreading his wings and wobbling slightly, he tipped his body down off the cliff and entered the air with what he liked to think was style.

Once aloft it was much easier to control his momentum, and while the noticeable weight in his talons was something Zeph needed to account for, he found it was not as hard to fly with the swords as he'd anticipated it being. Swooping down toward the obelisk and his father, the raptor cawed out his signature 'look out, here I come' cry, extending his talons and the weaponry within them out in front. As he neared Artorias and his dance, Zephyr pulled his wings back and gave them three heavy beats, slowing himself just enough that he felt he might be able to lock swords with the man on his roundabout swing.

"Zephyr"

Artorias had been so focused on his training regiment that he hadn't noticed Zephyrus scurrying over to the cart from the caves off to the side to retrieve his weapons. He hadn't noticed his ward climbing up the rocky face of the mountains to reach a higher elevation. He didn't even notice when Zephyr took flight. He did notice the avian cry that rang out suddenly in the otherwise still morning. Art's head snapped up, keen amber eyes finding his raptor son swooping down towards him with the sparring swords clutched in his talons, aimed right for him.

Two thoughts went through Artorias' mind very quickly: oh shit, Zeph's gonna crash into me and OH SHIT, ZEPH'S GONNA CRASH INTO MY SWORD! The wolf's heart missed a beat in panic and he was swift to slide his paws across the smooth rocky ground, dropping to his belly mid-turn just as Zeph swooped down to where he had been standing a second before. He could feel the gust of air pass over him as Zeph slowed himself with his powerful wings, the wooden swords clutched in his talons passing harmlessly over his head. It had been anticlimactic, but at least he hadn't inadvertently skewered his son! Crisis averted.

"Zephyrus! What do you think you're doing?!" Artorias snapped from between jaws clenched around his sword, turning his cross gaze up to his airborne son. A lifetime of speaking with a sword in his teeth had taught him to speak relatively uninhibited, though some of his words did come out a bit muffled. "That was very foolish swooping down at me when I'm holding my sword. You could've gotten seriously hurt! What if I hadn't stopped myself in time?" Breathing a sigh of relief that his ward hadn't been injured, Art rose to his paws and slid his sword back into its scabbard. Then he focused on Zeph, looking between the bird's battle-ready expression and the two sparring swords in his talons. An eyebrow raised above his curious gaze.

"How did you find those?" Well, he supposed he hadn't really been hiding them super well, just tucked beneath the alpaca blankets on the ride up here. Zephyr had spent most of the trip riding in the wagon, so it made sense he'd find them. "Er... don't tell your mother about them, okay?" Briar had wanted this trip to be about relaxing and spending time with family. Somehow he didn't think he'd be able to convince her that trying to teach the wolves of the Armada how to handle weapons would qualify as "spending family time" with them.

"Artorias Carpathius"

Zephyrus was not why he expected anything other than the exact turn of events that had just transpired, but against logic and reason .. he was disappointed. Next time no battle cry. He told himself for at least the fourth time in his life. Swooping anticlimactically above his father's head and steel edged sword, Zephyr came in for a careful landing beside the large standing obelisk. It was odd how one could glide off the walls of a mountain and end up in such an odd, shallow valley. Peering around, Zephyr took sight of the multitude of cavern entrances that dotted both the northern and southern mountain teeth. The wind had lessened too, and now that he was between the two massive walls of stone he barely felt cold at all. Was it the adrenaline, or the location? Grasping the training swords so hard made standing uncomfortable, and so while he let one talon rest upon his curled toes, he angled the other so that the butt of the other sword would bear the rest of his weight.

Artorias was clearly upset by his antics, but the excitable bird took it on the shoulder with ease. He nodded as he was lectured, waiting for the muffled anger to pass and for his turn to speak to come, and when it did, exploded with enthusiasm. "Yeah, yeah, I know, but DID YOU SEE ME? Wasn't it cool!!?" It hardly hit home that the potential for danger was there at all - yes, Zephyr knew of (and had watched) Artorias's ability to decapitate large flighted birds specifically, but he also knew that his father was skilled in the craft. There was no risk to himself, Zephyr felt it in his feathers. Surely Artorias knew it too. "I want to do it again! Please? I won't tell mom as long as you show me how!" On a normal day the avian child would not dare to bribe or blackmail his father, but it was hard to remember how one should act to be proper on the back of so much thrill and adrenaline. Flapping his wings with renewed energy, he attempted to take to the air from a standing start, so he might be able to swing the swords around again.

"Zephyr"

Zephyrus seemed unfazed by his stern response while Artorias chided his adopted son's reckless and risky behavior. Really, did he expect any less though? Zeph was a headstrong young lad—so much so it reminded the Aegis of another young black and blue pup from long before. Like father, like bird son... Realizing he wasn't getting anywhere, Art breathed a heavy sigh, simply relieved that Zephyrus hadn't been harmed at all. His son's enthusiastic cheers caused the Aegis to both balk and feel a swell of pride for his child who was following his passions for armed combat. The words he spoke reminded Artorias of a much younger version of himself, the same pup who would pick up sticks to swing at small prey animals in an attempt to replicate fantasy combat. In the argentavis, he saw that same small pup that one day wanted to be a knight.

Artorias had just begun to relax from his tense state when Zeph told him—not ask, told him—that he wanted to have a go at armed combat again. The Aegis wasn't given even a moment to consider it before his avian child resorted to threats to get what he wanted, dropping the ultimatum of telling Briar he'd snuck his sparring swords up with him. Art flashed shocked amber eyes up to his son, giving him a hard stare for a moment. After a moment, Artorias gave a sigh and slid his sword back into its scabbard, then slid the weapon from off of his back, moving toward the obelisk to rest it up against one of the smooth sides. Now disarmed of his lethal weapon, Art turned toward Zeph and motioned for one of the sparring swords. "All right, but give your kind and very forgiving father one of those swords so we can have a fair match," he said, waiting for Zephyr to hand one of them over before taking the mock weapon in his jaws.

The obsidian and azure wolf took a couple steps away from the obelisk, putting a couple meters of space between him and his adopted son, then turned to square up against Zeph. "I'm going to give you ten seconds to get in the air, then I'm coming for you," he challenged his child, a playful and wicked gleam in his fiery eyes. Zeph wanted sword fighting lessons? The Aegis would give him what he wanted—while teaching him the valuable lesson of why you don't resort to threats unless you can back them up. Sure, maybe he should've taught the avian some of the basics to make it a fairer fight, but there'd be plenty of time for that—after he smacked Zephyr's butt a few times with the wooden sword to remind him of his manners.

Artorias vs Zephyrus for Spar (Learn some manners, boy!)
Round 0/?
Age: 1+ years
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Medium
Offensive Battle Accessory: Damascus steel sword
Defensive Battle Accessory: Reinforced leather cuirass
Companion 1: Common raven, Male - Flying - Boosted
Companion 2: Silver cross fox - Battle - Boosted
*Companion 3: Common raven, Female - Flying
Mutation 1: Stronger teeth and jaws - Offensive
Mutation 2: Thicker fur - Defensive
Mutation 3: Enhanced vision - Perception
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Navigator
Specialty: Knight or Fleet-footed

"Artorias Carpathius"

Zephyr watched the multitude of emotions flicker across his father's face, blatantly ignoring the negative ones that would make him feel guilty for his manipulative tactics, and focusing instead on the eventual acceptance of his request, no matter how reluctant it had been. He threw the wooded sword frantically from his talon like it had bit him, beating his oversized wings hard and pushing off the grass floor to try and get into the air in the allotted time period. It was a wildly different thing, going from a standing start into the sky in the narrow space between mountains. The wind at times seemed to tunnel through it, but at other times it felt there was no shape to the air at all. While his initial takeoff was messy and his talons a bit flailing as he struggled to right himself and find his center, Zephyr managed. Then it was a matter of the sword still in his talon.

Which side did he hold it in? Still flapping, the raptor passed it between talons and gave a shake of each to feel the weight of it, trying to determine which talon he'd be more comfortable swinging with. Which way was it supposed to be pointed? Rotating his talon this way and that, he visualised the oncoming combat and where the two wood swords might meet on a downswing. Seconds were ticking by quickly, and Zephyr was forced to hurry in his decision. Going off mostly instinct, he prepared himself and angled the sword diagonally before him in anticipation. With the battle pose hastily decided upon, he beat his wings hard to shuffle slightly backwards - away from the obselisk that stood strong between the mountains, and moving toward where the space between the two mountain ranges was widest with the eastern woods to his back, to allow him to be as mobile as possible and not risk banging into anyone or being forced into a corner.

Zephyrus vs Artorias for Spar
Round 0/2
Age: under 1 year
Size: Paleo species
Build: Light
Offensive Battle Accessory: Battle claws
Defensive Battle Accessory: Face shield
Companion 1: Cottonmouth Snake, Male - Battle
Companion 2: Binturong, Female - Battle
*Companion 3: Honey badger, Male - Battle
Mutation 1: Thick feather shafts and barbs - Defensive
Mutation 2: Reinforced bones - Defensive
Mutation 3: Keratin strengthened talons - Offensive
Skills: Advanced Fighter & Expert Navigator

"Zephyr"

Artorias gave Zephyrus the grace of a few moments of preparation to get used to the feel of fighting airborne with a weapon in his talons. Of course, Artorias did not expect his son to be anywhere near proficient in his skills given this was his first real fight while armed, but that was sort of the point of this lesson. An exercise in humility, so to speak. As soon as Zeph kicked off the ground into a clumsy flurry of wings to reposition himself, the wolf was in motion, pacing in a semicircle with slow, methodical steps of practiced paws to keep himself positioned front and center with his gargantuan avian child. Zeph looked like he was struggling to figure out how to hold the sword, but oh well, that was going to be a problem for them to address later.

Giving his ward no further quarter, Artorias lunged forward with a fearsome growl, using deft footwork to get in close while feinting to Zephyrus' side opposite of where he'd chosen to hold his sword, turning his head to bring the wooded blade in an upward slicing arc towards the bird's thigh, aiming to deliver a good smack to his ward's thigh, not enough to do any real harm, but definitely aiming to sting.

Artorias vs Zephyrus for Spar (Learn some manners, boy!)
Round 1/2
Age: 1+ years
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Medium
Offensive Battle Accessory: Damascus steel sword
Defensive Battle Accessory: Reinforced leather cuirass
Companion 1: Common raven, Male - Flying - Boosted
Companion 2: Silver cross fox - Battle - Boosted
*Companion 3: Common raven, Female - Flying
Mutation 1: Stronger teeth and jaws - Offensive
Mutation 2: Thicker fur - Defensive
Mutation 3: Enhanced vision - Perception
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Navigator
Specialty: Knight or Fleet-footed

"Artorias Carpathius"

It was a lot to focus on, his positioning, his flapping, the wolf before him, the sword in his talons, and then not just defending blows but giving back hits of his own? How did anyone do this? Zephyr gave a heavy beat of his wings as Artorias darted forward, timing it so they would be flung back behind him as the sword-wielding wolf came into close quarters. He did not want to risk losing or breaking any feathers today.

At the same time he brought his talons up - instantly hating the absence of a sword in the other, and wobbling off-balance for it - in a panicked attempt to block the sword's strike. Artorias was coming from the wrong damn side for him to meet (wooden) blade to blade, and all Zeph could think to do was to rotate his wrist to fix the positioning. Twisting his talon abruptly to the side, he managed to catch the wood upon his blade... and then promptly lost hold of the hilt against the force of the blow. Artorias' strike moved through it, whacking him on the limb and interrupting his instinctual attempt to grab the falling thing mid-air. Damnit.

Recoiling his leg back in pain, he threw the opposite wing forward and down. Risking his feathers this time, he aimed to flap the thing right into Artorias' face as he recovered from his strike, hoping to blind him just long enough that he could retrieve the sword before it hit dirt.

Zephyrus vs Artorias for Spar
Round 1/2
Age: over 1 year
Size: Paleo species
Build: Light
Offensive Battle Accessory: Battle claws
Defensive Battle Accessory: Face shield
Companion 1: Cottonmouth Snake, Male - Battle
Companion 2: Binturong, Female - Battle
*Companion 3: Honey badger, Male - Battle
Mutation 1: Thick feather shafts and barbs - Defensive
Mutation 2: Reinforced bones - Defensive
Mutation 3: Keratin strengthened talons - Offensive
Skills: Advanced Fighter & Master Navigator
Specialty: Fleet-footed

"Zephyr"

Artorias' strike was rewarded with the smack of hard wood on flesh as his blade made contact with Zephyrus' leg. It surprised the more seasoned swordsman that he hadn't felt the impact of wood on wood, until he noticed Zeph had somehow dropped his last remaining sword whilst trying to block the wolf's incoming attack. Hmm... unfortunate. But this was a training spar and a lesson. Mercy was only granted so far, and Zeph needed a little dose of humility if he was going to learn to get better and pick his fights more wisely.

As soon as his blow landed, Artorias was already turning his body and head to fluidly bring his sword back around towards his ward's legs once again, the few bits of the airborne Argentavis he could actually reach. However, Zephyrus seemed to be thinking outside the box now, because the next thing he knew, Artorias could only see thick gray and cyan plumage. He growled in annoyance, jerking his head back away from the wall of feathers as he attempted to clear his vision and find a path to striking Zeph that wouldn't result in damaging his feathers or causing any actual harm. He ducked his head down, sweeping low beneath the avian's wings, and then brought a swift uppercut of his sword straight up towards Zeph, aiming to catch the raptor in his thigh with enough force to send him off balance in the air.

Artorias vs Zephyrus for Spar (Learn some manners, boy!)
Round 2/2
Age: 1+ years
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Medium
Offensive Battle Accessory: Damascus steel sword
Defensive Battle Accessory: Reinforced leather cuirass
Companion 1: Common raven, Male - Flying - Boosted
Companion 2: Silver cross fox - Battle - Boosted
*Companion 3: Common raven, Female - Flying
Mutation 1: Stronger teeth and jaws - Offensive
Mutation 2: Thicker fur - Defensive
Mutation 3: Enhanced vision - Perception
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Navigator
Specialty: Knight or Fleet-footed

"Artorias Carpathius"

While his distraction attempt did not bother the wolf long, it was all Zephyr needed to recover himself and reach down to grab the sword off the ground. He held it tighter this time, angling it diagonally where it felt the most stable and less likely to be flung out from his grip. Artorias was moving quickly, swooping beneath his wing and aiming a cut upwards this time. Zephyr floated backwards and pulled back his wings to free both his own and Artorias' view, angling his own training sword down toward the strike as swiftly as he could manage in the hopes of catching his father's blow with the sword. Seeing as he had the height difference, he threw all of his weight into the counter strike, hoping that with enough force behind the blow he could force his father's head to the side to get himself a clear shot a a retaliatory swing.

Zephyrus vs Artorias for Spar
Round 2/2
Age: over 1 year
Size: Paleo species
Build: Light
Offensive Battle Accessory: Battle claws
Defensive Battle Accessory: Face shield
Companion 1: Cottonmouth Snake, Male - Battle
Companion 2: Binturong, Female - Battle
*Companion 3: Honey badger, Male - Battle
Mutation 1: Thick feather shafts and barbs - Defensive
Mutation 2: Reinforced bones - Defensive
Mutation 3: Keratin strengthened talons - Offensive
Skills: Advanced Fighter & Master Navigator
Specialty: Fleet-footed

"Zephyr"

And the winner is...

ZEPHYRUS

ARTORIAS must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Totals: ZEPHYRUS Attack Roll: 85 Defense Roll: 1 Critical fail! Agility Roll: 100 Critical dodge! Perception Roll: 69 Total: 255 Attack[85] + 60% Bonus[51.00]: 136.00 Defense[1] + 25% Bonus[0.25]: 1.25 Agility[100] + 60% Bonus[60.00]: 160.00 Perception[69] + 10% Bonus[6.90]: 75.90 Total[373.15] + 15% Bonus[55.97]: 429.12 ARTORIAS Attack Roll: 5 Defense Roll: 84 Agility Roll: 60 Perception Roll: 54 Total: 203 Attack[5] + 75% Bonus[3.75]: 8.75 Defense[84] + 20% Bonus[16.80]: 100.80 Agility[60] + 55% Bonus[33.00]: 93.00 Perception[54] + 20% Bonus[10.80]: 64.80 Total[267.35] + 25% Bonus[66.84]: 334.19