Settling back into the Hallows hurt a little more than she had expected it to. It was in one of these guest rooms where her dad had tricked them into saying goodbye to their mum. They hadn’t known it was goodbye at the time, and she had wasted her time whining about her sister getting things she hadn’t.

She didn’t give herself much time to settle in, she was too keyed up, and didn’t want to spend much time in the room. So she made her way out into the courtyard, sniffing about for her big sister. She didn’t immediately see the older woman, and she shuffled her paws a little in thought before deciding it was okay to disturb Briar. After all, she was here to see her sister. She raised her head and called out for the Queen of the Hallows.


"Speech"

The days leading up to the birth of their second litter were packed with activity. If she had learned anything from the first, it was that the time between their arrival and when she was actually able to get back to her usual, daily tasks was longer than she had expected. The recovery really hadn't taken all that long, but five rambunctious little ones always getting into trouble did eat up a lot of time. Besides, she had wanted to give them even more of her time than she had even been able to so the more preparation she could do now the better. Of course, the arrival of her sisters had been an exciting distraction and she was more than willing to let herself be pulled away from her work for them. Having her family be so far away was a constant, lingering ache on her heart so having Andromeda and Kite back at the castle made her very happy.

The call from Kite so soon after they had parted ways so that the girls and their escort could settle in was surprising, but Briar easily put down what she was working on to immediately walk out of the greenhouse and around the corner of the castle to find Kyanite waiting for her in the castle garden. With a smile lingering on her lips, she walked over to join her younger sister with a slight waddle to her steps. "Settled in already?" she questioned with a chuckle as she leaned in to affectionately nuzzle Kite's cheek before she led her sister over to a shade tree and settled down onto her haunches with a sigh. "I was due for a break anyway," she added, her tail brushing softly against the grass behind her.

"Briar Carpathius"

Kite listened to the sound of a wolf’s approach. Lioness sat between her two front paws, and gave one of them a pat. The signal that the wolf she had called was the one approaching. She perked up, smiling in the direction of the tawny wolf. As Briar nuzzled her, Kite wrapped her paws around the other wolf. She frowned, her senses telling her that the shape of Briar had changed a little. Had she gotten fat? It didn’t seem like a good time to mention it.

“I didn’t bring much” She explained, and she was far too antsy to care about arranging things in any specific way. She wasn’t even sure if she would be spending that much time in the Hallows… she felt Briar move, and let her sister lead her. Here, she heard the older wolf settle down, and Kite did the same. Feeling around until she felt Briar’s forepaws, and propping her head up on one of them. “That’s good. I’m glad you let us visit you” Kite said, trying to go for polite small talk, but she could feel her impatience bubbling up. “I actually wanted to talk to you about something really important. Just you and me, sister-talk. Is that okay?”


"Speech"

Briar chuckled softly as Kite insisted that she hadn't brought much as an explanation for how swiftly she had gotten settled in. "Fair point!" she replied as they went to get settled in she shade. When she noticed her sister reaching toward her and patting the ground, she moved her forepaws into her path so that she could find them and smiled as Kyanite leaned her head onto them. Of course she remembered her sister's trouble with her vision from her time here as a younger pup and she while she was more than confident that Kite was capable and adaptable, she was more than happy to try and anticipate what it was that she wanted or was looking for.

Her head tilted a bit when Kite said that she was glad that she had let them visit. Briar knew that Kite likely just meant that she was glad that she had been able to come, but Briar still didn't like the implication that she would ever turn her siblings away. She curled one of her paws around Kite's and gave it a gentle squeeze as she replied, "Of course! You and all of our family are always welcome. I miss all of you so much. You never need permission to visit and I'm glad you're here too." As soon as Kite moved on to say how she wanted to talk about something important that was just sister talk between the two of them, it certainly got Briar's attention and she looked to her younger sister with a curious, raised brow. "Oh really? That's definitely okay with me. What's on your mind?"

"Briar Carpathius"

She leaned against her older sister. Thinking about how different she was from Briar. The tawny wolf was a successful leader of a pack, a Queen. One that had kids of her own now, a life away from the Fatalis family. She had even taken on a different name. Their dad seemed so determined to keep them all close, so she did wonder how much trouble Briar might have had at the start. “That’s good, I like visiting you” She said. It was good to get away.

“Well,” Kite said, and scrunched up her nose. This was it, the moment that lots of planning had led to. What if she didn’t get the words right? What if she stuffed it up? “How old were you when you left the Armada? When you and Art got together. It seems like you managed to build your own life. I want to do that, too. In the Armada, it’s like there's a certain expectation for everyone, from everyone. Especially with Azure, and --” She paused, no she didn’t want to tell her sister about that. “And, well. I don’t want to just be ‘that blind Fatalis’ anymore. I want to build my own life too. So how did you do it?” She wished she could see her sister’s expression.


"Speech"

Briar waited with interest for Kite to share what was on her mind and only grew more curious as her younger sister seemed to hesitate and choose her words carefully. As the truth and the questions finally started to come to light, she felt a bit like she was listening to a much younger version of herself once upon a time. It made a little, wistful smile of understanding tug at her lips, but she stayed quiet and let Kite continue telling her about the expectations she felt in the Armada from her older brother and from perhaps from somewhere else that she decided not to share. There was a pause, but Briar could tell that she wasn't quite done so she waited and sure enough she continued on, but what she added next made her chest ache for her sister. It reminded her too much of the conversations she had with Ophelia once upon a time. As much as she adored her family and their father, she knew it was difficult for anyone that fell slightly outside of the mold.

Briar shifted one of her forepaws, resting it over Kite's and giving it a gentle squeeze. "First of all, I don't want to hear you ever referring to yourself like that. You are more capable and talented than some wolves that have their full sight. There is no qualifiers. You are a Fatalis and a strong one at that." With that aside she went on to add, "I moved to the Hallows full time after my second birthday, though I did visit quite a bit before then. Art's mother was very sick at the time so I came to be with him and check on him often. That was before the Armada moved to the north though so the trip was much shorter. Art also came to live in the Armada for a season to train with Dad when we were younger." Even though it was more information than Kite had really asked for, the context felt important to show all of the things that led up to her moving out when she did. She hadn't simply decided to leave one day and she hadn't been granted permission to do so out of the blue. A lot of experience and trust had led to that moment.

It was her turn to pause as she considered how she wanted to phrase her answer to how she had 'built her own life'. She had a hard time believing she had done anything drastic or revolutionary, but she did understand what her sister meant in her line of questioning. She understood the pressure that came with the high ideals and expectations of their family and what that could do to someone. "I didn't leave the Armada because I wanted to build my own life," she explained after a moment. "I left because I love Artorias and I felt the most complete at his side and he just so happened to be the heir to the Hallows. I left because I felt like I found a bigger purpose here in the Hallows. Whatever life I've built out of those things is just a result of following my heart and doing everything I can to honor our family and the family I've married into." She smiled a little bit and squeezed Kite's paw again. "I felt the same way you did when I was your age. I wanted to get away from the Armada, away from our father... There was a lot going on back then, a lot of things happened that made it very hard to want to stay... But it was worth staying and seeing it through until it was the right time to leave. Does that make sense?"

"Briar Carpathius"

Kite huffed with annoyance. She was trying to be on her best behaviour, but her nature was prickly. It had to be. She needed a prickly defence to get through her life, and her family. I know that, but they don’t” She muttered, half under her breath the words getting away from her, even though she knew it was the wrong time to be snarky.

Briar moved when she was two but that was so far away! She wanted out, now. despite how frustrating that was, she listened. She was surprised to hear all the ways their family had connected. Maybe she could ask if Beru could train in the Armada for a little while, or vice versa? It added more thought to the fire, so to speak. She kept her silence as she worked through everything Briar had said.

“I guess…” she said as Briar finished. “It’s just… It sounds like a lot of waiting. I want to do things now. Not wait for later, and later, and what if later never comes? What if he doesn't wait for me--” She clamped her mouth shut. Luckily Briar couldn't see her eyes, because they had gone full glare. Dammit! he was supposed to be a secret. She hadn’t meant to let anything slip.


"Speech"

"Then show them," she replied with a little smirk as Kite insisted that she already knew all of the things that Briar reaffirmed about her, but that the rest of their family didn't. She wasn't bothered by Kite's snark or fire in the least. In fact, it encouraged her and told her that her sister would be just fine even if this time right now felt hard for her. She worried far less about her siblings that had their family's drive and fire in them than she did the ones that seemed lost. "You've already found your own unique way of doing so many things. Keep doing that and keep proving them wrong. Keep finding the things that anyone says you can't do and find your own way to do them. I know you can and you know you can. Whoever says that you can't is just jealous of the fact that you can do it all better than they can without a disability." She chuckled softly, hoping that her being the cheerleader that she had always longed for would help steer Kite in the right direction.

After she had given her answers and recommendations around building her own life, she wasn't surprised to hear Kite lamenting about how long that stretch of time seemed to be. She knew just how long that year felt. Being a yearling felt like being in limbo where you were adult enough to start having responsibilities and expectations and have some freedoms, but not being adult enough to fully have any of those things. There were still limitations and rules that had to be followed. She was just about to ask what was so difficult to wait for when her sister let slip something right before she cut herself off. What if he doesn't wait for her. She smiled with understanding and sighed softly, taking both of her paws in hers for a moment. "Kite... If he truly cares about you, if it's really meant to be, then he will. If he is worthy of you, if he really wants a place in your life... he will wait and it will be worth it. Rushing into something never makes it better. Slow down, take your time. There are plenty of ways for you to see one another in the mean time and you can still be building your relationship to make sure that when the time comes it's really what you want to do." As a big sister she felt like it was her place to give the sage advice when it was needed, but of course sometimes she just wanted to be the fun sister that gossiped about boys. A little grin found its way onto her muzzle as she asked, "What's his name?"

"Briar Carpathius"

Kite nodded her head rapidly at that, almost dislodging her eye mask, which would have been a disaster. To steady herself by leaning into Briar’s fur, she said with some relief. “That’s why I’m going to challenge Azure for Champion.” Because no one would think she could. It didn’t matter to her if she actually intended to stick around for the position or not. In fact, beating Azure and then telling him ‘so long!’ sounded like the most satisfying thing she would or could ever do in her life.

At her slip on Beru, she felt Briar take both her paws. She let her sister do so, feeling the warmth of the Queen's fur on hers. She expected a lecture on her age, so she was surprised when Briar spoke instead on what made a boy worthy. She tilted her head, her blinded eyes dancing over nothing. She trusted Briar a little more for that, so when she asked after his name, she found herself actually giving it, instead of denying everything. “Burūberu, and he lives in Tojo-Kai” she said. The admission came with some relief. “Do you know what dad thinks about the Tojo-kai?” she hadn’t had anyone to ask.

"Speech"

Briar was surprised when Kite admitted that she was going to challenge Azure for his spot as Champion of the Armada, but she couldn't have been more proud of the confidence that the young woman had in herself. She leaned a little closer as if she was going to tell Kite a secret and told her quietly, "I can't wait for you to knock our brother down a few pegs," with an amused giggle. She still had yet to have an actual conversation with her older brother and had only ever seen him in passing at various events, but she knew that he had rubbed Artorias quite the wrong way at their wedding and in general he seemed to have an attitude that she didn't agree with so she sincerely hoped that Kite was able to at the very least give him a run for his money. Gods knew he needed a bit of humbling.

As the topic shifted to that of the boy that had her in such a hurry to part with her family, Briar did hope that Kite would be willing to share. She had no intention of sharing the information with their father or anything like that unless she found it to be someone genuinely dangerous, but it was obvious that her sister hadn't really intended on sharing that much today. Luckily it seemed like she did something right in building that trust with her younger sister and she gave her the boy's name, someone named Burūberu that hailed from Tojo-kai. She hummed with thought at the question of what their father thought of the reclusive pack. "Ah, well, that is a slightly tricky question to answer," she said with a chuckle. "The pack's leader, Hanzō, used to be the husband of the Ashen Empress, which of course Dad is very protective and fond of. Hanzō broke up their marriage and started his own pack which is now Tojo-kai. From what I've seen it seems like the Empress has moved on to much greener pastures with her new mate and I imagine Father probably has a fairly neutral stance toward the pack now, but I haven't asked him about them. They're pretty reclusive so I haven't spoken to any of their members myself."

"Briar Carpathius"

Kite couldn’t help but giggle back at Briar with that. It seems she wasn’t the only one who would get rather a bit of satisfaction seeming him land on his rump. But it was more than that. It would be losing to her that would do it. There was no finer way to prove him wrong.

Briar turned out to be a wealth of information on where the Armada stood with Tojo-Kai. She should have realised that, since Briar was a Queen and had a hand at running a pack. Political events were probably less of a surprise to Briar as they were to Kite. She listened with interest as Briar explained the dynamics between their packs. “That doesn't sound… too awful, right? As far as pack loyalties go? Can you think of any way to organise for Beru to train in the Armada, like Art had done?’ She asked next, her voice making it clear she thought Briar had all the answers. She hadn’t expected this to be so informative! Or for Briar’s words to help her form new plans.

It did sound like she wouldn’t be escaping to Tojo-Kai in the next few days, Andy was like to be overjoyed at that news. It was annoying, but a setback didn’t get in the way of Kite’s plans. She just needed to do more thinking.


"Speech"

Briar gave a little shake of her head to the feeling that the relations between Tojo-kai and Armada were not the worst that they could be before she remembered that Kite wouldn't see her reaction. "Yes, I wouldn't say they were the worst off when it comes to a relationship. I've certainly seen worse." She chuckled softly at that before she began to consider how they might go about arranging something like the training that Art had done with their father. "That might be a little more tricky... Art's family and ours have always been very close so it wasn't a stretch at all for Art to ask to train with dad before be became an alpha. So we would just need to figure out a why for Beru..." She hummed with thought, tossing the idea back and forth for a moment. "Well, if you could have Beru express an interest to his alpha about wanting to get some outside training or perspective on things like fighting or raids or something like that maybe it could be easy enough to make his own suggestion of the Armada. It would all depend on how agreeable Hanzō is I suppose." Her held tilted a bit with thought as she added, "Though I guess, if worse comes to worse, Beru could come train here instead. The Hallows is well known as a place that's open to students and we're not far from Tojo-kai so it would be much less of a stretch and you could tell Dad that you want to train here with Art as well... and if you just so happened to be training here at the same time..."

"Briar Carpathius"

Kite all but vibrated with that, trembling a little with excitement at briar’s paws. “You would do that for me?” she whispered, as she offered for the Hallows to be a neutral ground in which herself and Beru could train together. They could meet up not in secret, they could spend their days together. Training, patrolling, whatever Art asked of them. She wouldn’t care so long as she could do it with Beru.

She got suddenly to her paws, almost falling over again as a wave of vertigo came over her. Moving quickly blindfolded could do that sometimes. She grabbed Briar’s paw and tugged at it. “Come on!” She said, before pausing, realising she needed Briar to take the lead. “Can you take me somewhere I can see?” she asked, explaining what she was looking for.


"Speech"

As she was brainstorming and spitballing ideas for how Kite might be able to work around her father's rules to spend some time with this boy she cared about, she noticed the visible excitement that radiated from her younger sister. Her expression softened with a warm, understanding smile at the whisper Kite gave, questioning if she would do all of that for her. Briar chuckled softly and replied, "I know how protective and... controlling Dad can be sometimes. I'm happy to give you a little get away if you need it." Secretly, she was also just glad that she would be able to keep an eye on Kite and Beru here as well. She wouldn't be as interfering and strict as her father, but she could still step in if things went too far or got out of hand and that made her feel better than the possibility that Kite might run off with this boy on her own.

All of the sudden Kite hopped to her paws, swaying a bit before she caught herself. "Kite?" she questioned with a concerned frown, but then her younger sister was tugging at her paw, telling her to come on. Before she could ask where they were going, Kite asked her to take her somewhere she could see and Briar's face immediately smoothed again and she smiled as she hoisted herself to her paws with a bit of effort. "Of course," she agreed and immediately began to walk toward the castle. She lead her sister in through the large front doors of the castle, but she worried that the large windows above them might still make it too bright, so she led her into the side corridor that would lead them to the infirmary and the guest rooms where it was more shadowed. "How's that?" she asked as she turned to face Kite again.

"Briar Carpathius"

Briar was very agreeable, leading her back to the castle - or at least, Kite assumed it was the castle- she felt the change in the earth beneath her paws as it gave way to cobblestone, then the castle floor. She knew that the castle's windows were big and open, so it was no surprise to her that Briar led her a little further before she stopped them.

Cautiously, Kite peeked out from under her eye mask. When no pain followed she grew more bold, pulling it away until it was bunched at her ears. She turned to find Briar, her eyes blinking and adjusting. “Thanks! I just wanted to… Oh, wow, you got fat! ” She blurted out in surprise when she ‘saw’ Briar for the first time in this visit.


"Speech"

Briar was glad when Kite lifted up her blindfold and didn't seem to be bothered by the low light that filtered in from other parts of the corridor and was smiling as Kite turned her gaze to face her–until Kite's words suddenly cut off with a shocked expression as she exclaimed how she had gotten fat. Briar's turquoise gaze went wide with surprise and she suddenly realized that she had never actually spoken out loud to her sister that she was pregnant and that she hadn't actually been somewhere with her that she would have been able to see her properly since she arrived. She sputtered with laughter and laughed hard enough that she had to sit back on her haunches, grinning at her sister as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Well, yes, that does tend to happen when you're pregnant with as many pups as I am," she explained between her giggles. She couldn't possibly be mad at the outburst–not when it was so outrageously funny. She was also extremely self aware of the fact that she was, in fact, very fat at this current moment. "I guess I should have told you," she said apologetically as her giggles subsided, giving Kite a warm smile.

"Briar Carpathius"

She was so startled at the sight, like someone had blown up Briar’s stomach with air. She was so round it looked rather uncomfortable. She hadn’t meant to make her outburst, and her cheeks went scarlet. Things had been going so well with her and Briar, had she thrown that progress away?

But her sister laughed, she laughed so hard she was crying, and after a moment Kite joined in. she didn’t laugh very often, and it felt strange and good. “Oh! Puppies, that makes sense. Sorry Briar, I wasn’t expecting it” She said, shuffling her paws. “Can I feel them?” She asked, leaning forward, closer to her sister.


"Speech"

Briar was quick to shake her head and dismiss Kite's apology with a wave of her paw as soon as she said it. "It's completely fine, don't worry about it." It wasn't that she didn't think about being pregnant–quiet the opposite, in fact–but it still had never occurred to her to share that information with Kite despite the fact that Kite had been blindfolded each time they were together since she arrived. When Kite asked to feel them Briar smiled and nodded motioning her closer. The many pups she was carrying had been fairly calm and peaceful for most of the day, but the excitement and laughter had woken them up so it was the perfect opportunity for her to do just that. She took one of Kite's paws and gently pressed it to her belly where she felt one of the pups giving some particularly hard kicks and she looked to her sister with a little grin for her reaction. "It won't be long before they're born," she added, letting go of Kite's paw, but letting her feel them for as long as she wanted. "Thank goodness, really... I don't think I could stand getting much fatter than this." She giggled at that which of course riled up the pups yet again and this time one of them decided to give her ribs a good kick, making her wince a bit with a grin and rub her paw over the spot.

"Briar Carpathius"

When Briar grabbed her paw, Kite let her guide it to her belly. Her eyes flitted to Briar’s face, and then her belly, grinning. It was nice to be able to see her sister. Nicer still to be sharing these moments with her. Having told Briar her secrets, she felt suddenly close and trusting of the older wolf.

“Oh!” She said as felt a little kick beneath her paw. “Hi little one, you're pretty active today” She giggled. She felt more movements and kicks, and after a moment, she came closer, pressing her ear to Briar’s belly. “Do you talk to them?” She asked curiously. She hadn’t really been around pregnant wolves before, but the whole idea of little lives beneath her ear seemed wild and strange, and a little cool. “Any fatter and Art would have to carry you!” She agreed cheekily, much of her natural hostility slipping away.


"Speech"

Briar grinned and chuckled at Kite's reaction to one of her nieces' or nephews' kicking against her paw, agreeing with a little nod that they were very active today. The closer she got to the end of her pregnancy and the bigger these pups got the more active they became. She loved when they moved to give her some kind of sign that they were doing well and growing strong in there, but she was certainly going to be thrilled when they were born and she didn't have to feel them kicking against her ribs any longer. Briar leaned back a bit and lifted one of her paws out of the way, letting Kite get closer to press her ear to her belly. She nodded to Kite's question over whether she spoke to them or not, replying, "I do. Art talks to them a lot–more than I do I think." She chuckled as she thought about all of the times throughout both of her pregnancies that Art would lay with her for hours, especially when she wasn't feeling well enough to be up and about, just talking to their unborn pups and telling them all about the world and the family they were about to join.

Briar laughed again at Kite's joke about Art having to carry her if she got any fatter, her long, braided tail sweeping against the stone floor behind her. "I don't think even Art could carry me at this point! He's very strong, but I think he'll need a cart to carry me with!" She loved these moments of being able to just giggle and joke with her sister. The first time her younger siblings came to stay the whole visit had been filled with heartache and mourning on top of having to navigate being a first time mother so it was such a relief and a joy to just relax and actually get to know her siblings that lived so far away. "I'm really glad you came to visit, Kite," she said genuinely after a moment, giving her sister a loving smile as she leaned in to nuzzle her cheek. "I really miss having our family around sometimes so it always makes me so happy when any of you come to visit."

"Briar Carpathius"