In the wake of her numerous encounters with Sephiran, Talyssa had asked Artorias to teach her some ways to protect herself whenever she was out of Hallowed lands without her parents nearby. While initially hesitant, Artorias had eventually conceded to the wisdom in his daughter's request. Even if she was never a born and bred fighter like her siblings, Taly would someday soon be a fully grown wolf exploring the world on her own, and she had a right to the means of keeping herself safe. And so the Aegis had put together a special lesson just for his young daughter, tailored to her skills, her physical attributes, and her desires to be protected without becoming a warrior like her brothers were. Art had put a lot of thought and planning into what he wanted to teach her and techniques to show her. He just hoped that she would never find herself in a situation where she needed to use them.

It was a milder winter day in Auster, but gray clouds hung heavy in the sky, blotting out the sun and chilling the wind that whipped around the coastal lands. The giant ebony and azure alpha stood in the outdoor training rings, setting up a couple of practice dummies he'd made to be approximately the height of himself and one the size of Sephiran. It felt fitting given the nature of the lessons they were going to be having. On each, he had painted red marks at specific spots on the dummy's face, neck, and underside. Artorias had pointedly made sure to bring no weapons or armor with him to this lesson; Taly had wanted to learn means of self defense without the need to be carrying around weaponry like her brothers' swords or Dusk's tail blades. Pleased with the setup, Artorias sat on his haunches and called for Talyssa to meet him, hoping she would find these lessons to her liking and beneficial.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Eira" | "Argent"

As the chill of winter had nestled into Auster, and had made its intentions of staying very clear- Talyssa had been spending more time in Hearthstone’s greenhouse. Not only did she enjoy interacting with the variety of flowers and helping some of her more plant-oriented pack mates tend to them, the near-translucent structure did a wonderful job of trapping the sun's warmth within its walls. Even on dreary days like today, all the greenery remained safely untouched by the cold. She had spent roughly all morning going through the array of tasks she was familiar with, only coming to a close as the day transitioned into the afternoon. Though, just as she was leaving to go back inside, she was met with a summons by her father- one that left her a little confused, but pleasantly interested all the same. Without any hesitation, she hurried to where his voice had resonated from.

Much to her surprise, she found him in the training rings. He was situated across from a couple of training dummies in assorted sizes, all had been marked up with various points of interest. Talyssa shot an amused glance toward her father before continuing her examination of the practice targets, all the while, casually closing the distance to where the Aegis was seated. “What is all this, Tati?” She inquired in a tone of excited anticipation. Once she felt she had seen all there was to see at surface level, she skewed herself to face her sire with an expectant look covering her features. Was today the day they were going to start her lessons in self-defense?

"Talyssa Carpathius"

Artorias was not kept waiting for long by his little golden girl, Talyssa showing her usual punctuality by arriving to the outdoor training arena promptly after being summoned. The look of bewilderment on her face was enough to earn a lopsided smirk from her oversized sire, who looked upon his yearling daughter with all the love and pride of a father. Talyssa had grown so much, bearing the colors of her mother as well as all her beauty, and at her near-adult height, she was quickly shaping up into the wolf she would become. Artorias waited and watched patiently while Taly observed the scene before her, assessing things with her sharp, attentive mind before asking him what this was for. "Îmi țin promisiunea, comoara mea," he answered her curiosity, gesturing with a tip of his head towards the training dummies. "When we spoke last, you told me that you wished to learn ways to protect yourself as you get older and become more independent. I realize that you are right, and as much as I would like to be with you to keep you safe as your father, I know that's an unreasonable desire. So I'll do the next best thing: prepare you for whatever may come."

Stepping up over to the dire-sized dummy, Artorias clapped a large sapphire paw on the straw-filled mannequin's shoulder as he looked back to Talyssa. "These dummies represent my greatest fear in life—wolves who would want to do harm to you. And while I would take great delight in thrashing each and every one of them, I can't. Those times, it's going to be up to you to do what you can to stay safe and stay alive." Artorias then moved over to the smaller of the two, the one he had intentionally sized to match his violet nemesis' size. "This one represents Sephiran. The other, the largest potential opponent you might face. While not overly common, dire wolves are not exactly a rarity in Boreas or Auster anymore, and it's important to know how to hold your ground against all of them." Sitting down between both of the dummies, Art invited Talyssa closer to inspect her adversaries for their first lesson. He waited to see what she would observe, how she would interpret these imaginary threats if they were real. "You've likely noticed I've marked some spots on them already. Do you have a guess why?" he asked, raising a brow to his intelligent daughter while he let her brief herself and piece together what he would be teaching her today.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Eira" | "Argent"

Talyssa never doubted for a moment that her request would be met. But the sudden surprise of it certainly aided in heightening her excitement. As her father began, he pretty well reiterated what they had already talked about. The tawny fae nodded along with enthusiasm as he introduced the lesson. Her attention was unwavering as she watched the Aegis approach one of the preset dummies. When he mentioned that he would take great delight in thrashing each and every one of them’ she couldn’t help the amused grin that tugged at her lips- though it quickly faded with the next sentiment. It would be up to her to keep herself alive. He was right, and it was a conclusion that she herself had come to herself. She needed to be able to keep herself alive in a time of desperate measures.

As he moved around to the smaller of the two dummies, he introduced it to be a representation of Sephiran Saxe. Lyss’ ears flicked back out of uncertainty in reflex. There was no denying the sudden pang of anxiety she felt in her chest, though, she did her best to push any of those feelings aside so she could follow along with the lesson. Talyssa immediately understood the logic in what was being described of her as far as opponent size went. While she might not be of dire-size herself, she had a number of relatives that were … she couldn’t count them all they were so common. Obviously, it wasn’t her relatives that she would be defending herself against, but her father’s point definitely landed.

It was then that he invited her to approach the dummies. The girl lingered in place for a few moments longer, before hesitantly closing the distance for herself. As she glanced between the two for closer inspection, he then prompted her for a moment of critical thinking. She felt that it was relatively easy to come up with a conclusion as to why the training dummies would be marked up the way that they were. Her father obviously wanted her to pay special attention to those specific spots. If this was a self-defense lesson, then it would only make sense to her that those would be the optimal places to target for her to adequately defend herself. “Would they be points of weakness?” Talyssa asked inquisitively, shifting her attention from the dummies back to her father as she awaited the correct answer.

"Talyssa Carpathius"

Artorias saw the nervousness creep into Talyssa's expression the further he went into his explanation of their lesson and goals. He knew why it was there; she was still gathering herself from her last encounter with the purple bastard. This would be an important lesson for her on keeping herself safe, but this would also be a chance for Taly to empower herself to take back the control he had tried to deprive her of. She hesitated when he invited her closer, and Artorias offered his child a gentle reassuring smile. "Don't worry, they don't bite," he teased playfully, rapping a paw against the straw head of the dire-sized dummy. "They might be as empty-headed as that brute, but they're harmless." Waiting while Talyssa took her time inspecting the training dummies, Artorias waited for his daughter's keen response, and she proved to be as astute as ever. Weak points; exposed vitals and critical targets.

"Correct, Taly. These are the most common and vulnerable weak points on a wolf's body. When you're fighting someone—truly fighting them with the intention to do harm—these are the best points to aim for to inflict the most debilitating damage." Artorias began to slowly maneuver around the dummy, lifting a blue paw to point out each one as he addressed them. He started with the face. "The eyes are every wolf's most vital weak point that isn't fatal. If you manage to wound an eye, you will successfully disable nearly any opponent and put the odds of survival squarely in your corner. No wolf wants to test an opponent who is trying to blind them." He pointed to the throat next. "This is the most obvious. Our throats are our most vulnerable parts beside our underbellies. The skin that covers our veins and arteries is thin compared to the rest of the body, and it is easy enough to deal a mortal wound to a persisted foe with just your claws and teeth. Of course, with enough pressure, you can also subdue or knock out a foe without killing them." Next would come some of the lesser considered weak points. Art moved to point out the marks on the wolf's knees on each of its legs. "Although not always achievable, if you can land a strong blow to your enemy's legs at the joint, you can send them crumpling to the ground, or even dislocate or break their leg, giving you ample opportunity to put space between you and them. This technique is usually for the most nimble and agile of fighters—someone like you." Art gave his athletic little girl a proud wink. Lastly, he moved to the dummy's haunches and ducked his head, pointing out the mark between the dummy's thighs. "And lastly, if your enemy happens to be a male, never underestimate how effective a well placed kick to the balls is. It's like a total system reset for most brutes. It's also the technique I used when I bested your grandfather, the Warlord."

Artorias gave Talyssa a cheeky little grin as he wrapped up his lesson on the locations and effectiveness of a wolf's weak points. Talyssa was not a trained warrior the way some of her siblings were, but with these points and techniques she wouldn't need to be in order to be a reason for some degenerate to think twice about fucking with her. Moving back to stand beside Talyssa in front of the dummy, Art looked down at his daughter, then motioned back to the dummy. "Now that we know where we can aim on our enemy, can you think of some ways you might be able to land strikes on these points if you need to?" He left the question open, allowing Lyssa to approach the dummy and demonstrate as she saw fit. Of course, he had plans to teach her some techniques of his own too, but this was a paws-on lesson. Best for her to feel things out on her own as well with his guidance.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Eira" | "Argent"

It wasn’t that she was afraid of the dummies so to speak. It was the threshold that she had been standing at, looking through an open door of opportunity that she had never considered stepping through before … or at least, not until now. Everything up until now had always been talk, but as they grew closer and closer to execution, it was hard for her not to balk a little. But rather than try to explain her feelings at the moment, she offered her father a light grin in acknowledgment of his reassurance that the dummies were harmless. While she suddenly felt unprepared, she quickly recognized that she would likely never be prepared. But the only possible way to progress was forward.

Her conclusion that the preemptively marked locations on the dummies were points of vulnerability was correct. Of course, through context and logic, there wasn’t much surprise there. Though the lesson as to why these locations were considered weaknesses was interesting. All of which made clear and concise sense to her, just topics she had never previously given much thought to. Talyssa watched as her father moved around the training dummies until he came to a stance at the head of one- indicating towards its eyes. Of course, her mind immediately went to what damaging someone’s eyes could possibly mean. Did she have it in her to blind someone? The idea of the act alone was so unforgiving. Though, if it were her life or someone’s eyes … she would have to.

Vitals were easy- something that she wasn’t completely unfamiliar with. While she wasn’t an apt huntress by nature. If left to her own devices, she could care for herself, and could certainly help support others. When her father said it was the most obvious, she had to agree. Though again, the discussion of theory was all fine and dandy- it was something that she enjoyed and was always invested in. However, the follow-through- the practical application, was something else entirely. When her father’s attention lowered to the dummy's legs, as did her’s. When he explained that it had potential to be a difficult maneuver, but could also be an effective measure at buying her space- the girl couldn’t help but perk up a bit. It still sounded harsh in practice, but didn’t seem to have the severity that she felt some of the other targets had. When he pointed out that it was most easily practiced by an individual who had a more agile body type- specifically someone like her. She was immediately flooded with recognition and a flicker of confidence in the subject. Taly was a lot of things, and fairly quick on her paws happened to be one of them- or so she believed.

The last potential target was given with an anecdote- and an amusing one at that. She had only met her maternal grandfather a couple of times in her lifetime. The brute was massive, imposing, and seemed fairly stoic. So it was very difficult for her to imagine the encounter that was described to her. Though, paired with the brazen grin from her father as the story was delivered- she couldn’t help the quiet chuckle that escaped her lips. Talyssa lightly capped the end of her muzzle with the back of her paw, pale gaze twinkling with hilarity.

As the Aegis finished his tour around their practice targets, he prompted her with another question. How could some of these techniques be implemented? Another critical thinking question- that shouldn’t be too difficult. After a few moments of hesitance, Talyssa finished closing in the distance between her and the largest dummy. She looked it over, before settling on the indicated spot over its eyes. Toe to toe with it, it stood a good bit taller than herself. But this was self-defense. That would imply it was doing the attacking of her. “If it tried to grab me … almost anywhere really but my back, that would bring its face within my reach. I could get its eyes then? Right?” She asked, with a clear tone of question in her voice- looking back to him for direction. Again, theorizing what could happen was the easy part. Could she physically do it was something entirely different. But then another thought came to mind. “Or if someone was trying to force me to the ground, would that be a good time to go for a joint in their leg? I mean, obviously, the ground is not where I want to be. But maybe if I could at least set them off balance …” Lys trailed off as she looked back at the training dummies standing before her. In the end, she supposed it would just depend on how she was being wrestled to the ground …

"Talyssa Carpathius"

All the while Artorias was giving his lessons to Talyssa, he was glad to see how seriously his daughter was taking this. The experience out in the woods might have rattled her, but any other wolf might have just counted their lucky stars and continued about their lives as if nothing had changed. Talyssa was no such wolf. She was better, keenly intelligent and adaptive. Artorias was very proud of his little girl and who she was becoming as she matured. Artorias took note of Taly's facial expressions and body language while they covered each section of the self-defense lesson, drawing from her unspoken language what she seemed most interested and comfortable with. Teaching her the techniques and giving her the tools to defend herself was merely one step of the process of arming her to keep herself safe—just as importantly, she would need to have the fortitude and wherewithal to use them when she needed to. She had to be comfortable with the idea of protecting herself.

Once the anatomical tour of combat had concluded and he had posed Talyssa with his followup question, the Aegis waited patiently while his daughter examined the dummy and considered her options. She began to think out loud, describing a scenario where she would be able to use the eyes as a target. Artorias nodded his head, looking back to the dummy as he lifted a large paw and placed it on the side of the dummy's head, flexing his toes so his claws began to bite into the burlap where the eyes would be. "Yes, if an enemy is attacking from the front, or somehow manages to get you down underneath them, this is a good place to target. You can reach up with your forelegs, place your paws on either side of their face, and dig your claws into their eyes." The details were gristly, but combat was never a clean nor kind subject.

Talyssa posed another scenario, someone attempting to force her to the ground, and how she would get out of that. Artorias nodded again. "If someone is above you and trying to force you down, you're already beneath them, which is less than ideal, but it does put you in a spot to steal the advantage back. It puts you closer to their body, meaning it's easier to strike out at the places you want to hit, like those leg joints. Just be careful you don't send a larger opponent crashing down on top of you, or that might end up pinning you instead of setting you free."

Talyssa had demonstrated a good apt for critical thinking with her newfound knowledge and had proven to Artorias that she was retaining the information he was giving her, so now they could move on to the next part of their lesson. "Good work, Taly. These are some of the basic areas and techniques to remember for getting yourself out of a fight. Additionally, always try to keep your enemies in front of you and at a distance. If you can see them, you can more easily maneuver around and dodge them, and it gives them less of an opportunity to try and grab you or pin you down."

Artorias returned to standing beside the dummy. "Now for something a little more advanced. Something your aunt Gwyn taught me." Art wore a wry smirk; Gwynevere was probably the most docile of all the Carpathians, but her medical and anatomical knowledge of a wolf's body was second to none and had elucidated some very handy information for their fighters. "On every wolf's body, there are certain spots called pressure points. These areas are highly sensitive to blows, and can be used to incapacitate wolves in a nonlethal manner." Artorias pointed out spots at the base of the throat, the bridge of the nose, and where each limb connected to the body. "If you're in close quarters with no way to slip out, striking these points can numb an enemy, stun them long enough to get away, or even knock them out cold. They're usually found where one body part connects to another, like the neck to the chest, or the legs to the torso."

After giving Talyssa a few moments to process those new techniques, Artorias moved back to the center of the sparring ring. It was time for Talyssa to put her new theoretical knowledge into practice. "Come, Taly. Let's see you use some of these moves to keep yourself safe." Artorias rolled his head to stretch his neck, then flexed his body to get into his battle stance. "We're going to run a drill now. I'm going to try to get you off your paws and pinned down. Your goal is to stop me by any means necessary. Use any of the techniques you've learned today—but maybe please don't kick my balls if you don't mind." Art flashed his daughter a little grin, then waited for her to get set before he rushed for her, starting their training off with an aggressive charge aiming to knock her off of her paws with his sheer size and weight advantage.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Eira" | "Argent"