One of the first orders of business Artorias had after the birthday celebrations for his children had wound down was setting up training schedules with his pups so they could be appropriately taught how to use their new gifts safely and effectively. Thorn and Ciaran were easy enough—this was not his first rodeo teaching others how to use swords—but Dusk would be his true test. The sire wolf was eager to begin training his daughter and excited to see how she utilized her unique new weapon. Whisper was a true work of art, something he was incredibly proud of and proud of Dusk for treating it with such reverence. Today, they would see just how capable it was as a weapon in the paws (or tail) of the little shadow Carpathius.

After getting some training dummies set up in his dojo so they could escape the cold dreary winter weather outside, Artorias lifted his muzzle and issued a call for Dusk to come meet him for her first training lesson. The Aegis had Embershard with him, but chose to forego his armor for their training session, valuing mobility in these initial lessons. With preparations made, Artorias waited for his little soot sprite to come join him with her treasured weapon, ready and eager to see what she was capable of.

"Artorias" | "Carpathian"

Dusk had been practicing constantly with Whisper. Every spare moment that she had, the girl was off with the cat-o-nines strapped to her tail. It was rare that she was ever without it, so when her father called, Dusk entered the castle and made her way towards the area from where his call had rang out.

Blood orange eyes adjusted to the change in lighting between inside and outside as she made her way towards the dojo. By the time she was there, her sight was right as rain. The girl flashed her father a smile. "Hi, dad. You wanted me for something?" One brow arched and the girl's lightly antlered head cocked in question.

"Dusk Carpathius"

Not long after his call for his daughter, Artorias heard the clinking of metal chains dragging across the stone floors of the castle halls. He turned in time to see Dusk walking into the dojo, Whisper already strapped to her tail as she had been doing since the day she received it. She smiled and Artorias smiled back at his little girl. "Hello, little shadow," he greeted her in turn with his pet name for her. "I figured it's high time we got some training in with your new weapon and saw just how effective it is. Feel up to some training with your old man?" The dire wolf flashed a toothy grin to the soot sprite girl before motioning with his head to the training dummies set up around the dojo ring.

Artorias led the way up into the ring and sat himself slightly off center while he let Dusk come in and get herself ready. "Have you done much practicing with Whisper already?" He knew Dusk kept her weapon with her at all times, but this would be their first formal training session today. He needed to gauge just how much his daughter knew already. "How about you show me what you know how to do on one of these targets?" Artorias gestured to any of the dummies, letting Dusk make her choice. The Aegis did not leave the ring, however; he trusted Dusk not to strike him accidentally, and this was as great a show of trust he could give her. Plus it would be far easier to observe her form and movements up close.

"Artorias" | "Carpathian"

The girl was a little sulky, but she tried not to let it show. Inside, Dusk was a little mad at her parents. They were having more kids. She'd talked with her mother about it and Briar had been able to assuage the negative feelings somewhat, but those were just her mother's views. What did her father think about having more pups? Was he trying to replace them? Were they not good enough for him? As the thoughts ran through her head, the girl scowled. She just couldn't help herself.

Artorias instructed her to use Whisper on the targets up ahead and Dusk nodded. "I practice every day," she informed him. The obsidian child's long tail unfurled, the metal and leather weapon rested upon it like a second skin. Inhaling deeply, Dusk dove towards the closest target, planting her front paws and, with a graceful twist of her spine, brought the cat-o-nines around where the barbed metal sliced furrows in the target. Without wasting a moment, Dusk spun once more, her tail flicking out so that her weapon left scores across the second closest target. She was pleased with herself, but with all of the practice that she put in, it made sense that she was so skilled.

Out in the Gods Garden, the trees were littered with scratches and slices. There was a particular grove where the grass was nearly gone due to her practiced pawsteps. She'd hurt Thorn by not having control. She had rectified that. Now she had complete control. So much so, that with all of the practice, she'd begun to develop unnatural control of her tail. So far, she didn't know of anyone else that could move their tail like she could.

Turning fire opal eyes to her sire, Dusk lifted a brow, silently asking if that was good enough.

"Dusk"

Try as she might to hide it, a father always knew when something was bothering his child. Artorias could see the slight sulk to Dusk's demeanor, hear the way her inflection changed in her terse response. It almost felt like she thought he was testing her or challenging her, looking for her to prove something instead of just wanting to spend time with his eldest daughter. But he held his tongue on his thoughts for now, letting Dusk showcase what all of her training had accomplished so far. Taking a step back to give Dusk as much room to maneuver as she needed, he watched while his daughter's long prehensile tail unfurled to reveal Whisper attached neatly to her tail. Seeing those shimmering Carpathian steel blades dangling from the end of her tail like lethal crystals brought a little proud smirk to the Aegis' lips. He said nothing while Dusk demonstrated how effective her weapon was when coupled with her tail, scoring and tearing into the dummies with deadly precision and nimble agility. The blades of Whisper almost seemed to resonate and whistle in the air as they cut through their marks with ease.

The proud smile on Artorias' face grew and he clapped his forepaws together at his daughter's impressive display. "Bine! I dare someone to try and mess with our family when you're around, Little Shadow." Artorias chuckled and beamed with love and pride at his little soot sprite girl. But in her matching fire opal eyes, the sire wolf could see the lingering bit of doubt and resentment, almost as if Dusk had shown off to try and prove a point to him. "You're mastering control of Whisper and your tail beautifully, Dusk. Watching you fight is like watching a work of art come to life," he remarked, closing the distance between himself and her once more. Although not a small wolf by any means, Dusk was still a solid foot shorter than he was, which made it easy for her father to crane his neck down to plant an affectionate lick across the teenage girl's crown.

"But I sense some tension in your form. Your body moves without flaw, but your heart and mind seem weighed down by something, Little Shadow." Art put a slight tilt in his head as he considered Dusk, then motioned to the dummies and said, "Go again. See if you can take any of their heads off." Artorias knew something was bothering Dusk, he just didn't know what. He knew it wasn't anybody bothering her, at the least. Between all three of his daughters, Dusk was the one he trusted the most to handle herself. If someone was upsetting her, there was no doubt in the Carpathian patriarch's mind that she would have beat the stuffing out of them on her own. The thought made him smile a little more. Stepping around to the side so he could watch Dusk in action, Artorias waited until his daughter had begun lashing out at the dummy before asking, "Do you want to tell me what's on your mind, or do you want me to help you forget about it, Dusky?" They could have a heart-to-heart while practicing together or he could help distract her with their training if she didn't want to talk about it. He left the choice up to his daughter.

"Artorias" | "Carpathian"

Compliments were given and Dusk accepted them. She knew that she was good with Whisper. She was damn good. Never had she heard of another using a weapon as she used so there was no real basis for comparison, but she could hit the targets every time with precision and that was enough for her. Artorias asked her to hit the target again, specifically to remove it's head. He also brought up the fact that her mood was off and asked if she wanted to talk about it. Dusk took a deep breath.

Leaping forward, the dark girl planted her front paws on the mat and lifted her back legs off of the ground like a bucking bronco. Her spine curled, taking her tail with it. With frightening accuracy, Dusk separated the training dummy from its head, the inanimate object clattering to the ground. With barely a breath, Dusk turned and fixed her father with her fiery gaze. "Why do you need more puppies? Aren't we good enough? It feels like you're trying to replace us." One paw rose to wipe at her cheek. "I try and try to be the perfect Carpathius, learning my weapon, not getting into trouble, learning what needs to be learned to rule a kingdom, and now it feels like it's all been a waste. Why try if I'm just going to be replaced?" Another deep breath was taken. The mental machinations of the young weren't always on par, but it was obvious that the girl was quite bothered by the prospect of having new siblings.

"Dusk"

Dusk was headstrong, stubborn, withdrawn—a lot like her father in many frustrating regards. Artorias knew where she got all those traits from; he recognized himself in his little shadow girl so many times over. It also meant he knew how to read her best, even when she was trying to pass off her emotions as nothing. He saw through her. So when he asked her what was on her mind, he knew his daughter wouldn't deny him the answer. But the truth was not something he had been expecting to hear. Dusk lopped off the head of the nearest training dummy with the accuracy of a sniper, bringing a swell of pride to the Aegis' chest—only for her response to deflate that happiness when he fully grasped the pain Dusk was in. Fiery eyes met between sire and daughter, Artorias' blazing gaze softening under the intensity of his child's as she demanded an explanation to why they were having more puppies, accusing him of trying to replace her.

Dusk's words broke Artorias' heart, not because he was disappointed in her, but because he had so blindly assumed that all of his children would be on board with having little siblings. Never once had it crossed his mind that new siblings would bring forth jealously, self-doubt, and worry in his eldest litter. But now that he was having to face that very reality head on, it made him realize how short-sighted that belief had been. "Dusk... my beautiful, incredible little shadow... You are perfect," he said without hesitation as soon as he could speak without interjecting, sincerity and assurance in his deep tones. Art slowly approached his daughter, a loving smile on his lips all the while. "I'm sorry if your mother and I ever made you feel like we were trying to replace you. Sweetheart, it's just the opposite. We love you and your siblings so much and being your parents made us so proud and happy that we wanted to do it again. You five are the greatest good I will ever do in my time in this world, and it's because of how amazing you are that we wanted even more wonderful Carpathians to grow our family."

Artorias came to stop directly in front of Dusk, tilting his head to the side as he looked down at her with a fatherly smile, pride and love shining in his eyes. He lifted a giant azure paw and brought it to gently stroke her cheek, marveling at how grown up his daughter was becoming. He still remembered the days when she was a small ball of soot rolling around in their whelping bed and now here she was, almost a full grown wolf, beautiful and poised and ferocious. "Nu aș putea niciodată să te înlocuiesc, micuță umbră. Nor will I ever try to. I promise you this on my life." Letting his paw drop from her cheek, a wry smirk made its way across Artorias' lips as he added, "I was actually hoping you'd be willing to show off to your new brothers and sisters with your prowess with Whisper. I'm going to need help making sure they can keep up with you." He flashed Dusk a toothy grin. Was he flattering her? Maybe just a bit. But there was truth in his words. He hoped Dusk would be the kind of big sister her siblings idolized and looked up to. He certainly looked to her with honor.

"Artorias" | "Carpathian"

Her father explained, doing his best to be loving and supportive. At first, Dusk didn't want to hear it and it seemed like he was just making excuses as to why they needed more puppies. When he began to stroke her ego a bit... the proud girl softened some. Yeah... she was pretty awesome. It was no secret. Her younger siblings would look up to her because they wouldn't have a choice.

Artorias assured her that he could never replace her, doing so in the tongue of their lineage. Dusk's brow furrowed for a moment and she nodded. "I guess..." the girl sighed, a little defeated at admitting such weakness. "I guess I'm just worried that you won't have time for me anymore. What if you and mom like the new ones better?" The midnight child brought her fiery gaze up to meet her father's similar orbs and there were tears forming at the corners. "What if...I'm not your favorite soot sprite anymore?" It was entirely possible that they would produce a similar looking child. They'd done it once. How would Dusk be able to set herself apart from a newer, cuter model?

"Dusk Carpathius"

As he tried to reassure her, Artorias began to gradually see Dusk's sullen mood melt away. Not completely, but like water eroding away a hardened rock she began to soften bit by bit. Eventually she sighed and reluctantly agreed to his points. Then she explained her true worries to him. She was afraid that he wouldn't have time for her anymore, that he and Briar might like the new pups better or that she wouldn't be his favorite soot sprite anymore. Artorias put on an incredulous half-smirk and shook his head. Of course Dusk would dread such a hyper specific possibility—because he knew he would also be the kind of wolf to do the exact same thing in her shoes. Oh, the worries of a child...

Craning his neck down so he could gently rest his forehead against Dusk's and boop the end of her snoot with his own, Art nuzzled his headstrong daughter's crown and chuckled. "Well, in the rare case that your mother and I do somehow manage to make another sootball that looked exactly the same as you, antlers and tail and all, then I guess we'll just have to have a trial by combat to decide who's the real best soot sprite. I know a newborn puppy is an intimidating foe, but I think you can hold your own," he joked with her, eyes flashing with a bit of mischief in those fire opal eyes that matched his daughter's. He was hoping that perhaps his teasing would help Dusk realize just how silly that worry was and maybe make her crack a smile with how ridiculous he was being.

Then, without any warning, Artorias scooped up Dusk in his forelegs, pulling her into an embrace as he nuzzled her forehead again, looking her in the eye as he spoke so she would understand his words came straight from his heart. "No other soot sprite could ever be like you, Dusk Oolacile Carpathius. No other wolf could ever be like you. You're my one of a kind treasure. I'm grateful you're my daughter more than anything, and nothing can ever change that."

"Artorias" | "Carpathian"