Ember was a great big ball of conflicted feelings. Her adolescent months had been a tumultuous time for her trying to navigate the choppy waters of emotional changes, friction between the beliefs and ideals of herself and her father, and the blossoming new world of romances and relationships she was being thrust into rather unceremoniously. With all the changes that came with growing up, Ember had never felt more unstable than she did now. Someday she might look back at herself during this time and realize that instability often came with great changes, but living in the moment, it just felt uncomfortable and she hated it. She couldn't talk to her father without starting some sort of an argument (and she was still pretty miffed at him too), she'd already talked to her grandmother about some of her problems and gotten Tamsyn's sage advice on the subjects, but there was still one wolf in the Hallows she really wanted to talk to—the one wolf she knew she could always turn to when she needed to help set her head and her heart straight.

Following her mother's scent through the halls of Hearthstone, Ember tracked Briar down to the wine cellars beneath the castle. Her mother must have been casking some new wines or doing some management of their stocks or something. To be honest, she didn't know much about her mother's work with the Hallows' wine production, but she had always been curious ever since their culinary lesson together. She knew coming down into the wine cellars was off limits to them as younglings, but she was practically an adult by now. She was certainly facing adult issues at the very least... "Mom?" Ember called out as she descended the staircase from the kitchen into the cellars, peeking around the rows of wine racks and massive casks and barrels. "Mom, are you down here?"

"Ember"

Briar grunted softly as she shoved the stopper into the front of the cask she had just finished cleaning out, a fresh row of corked bottles lining the shelf behind her. "There," she said softly to herself with a finality, reaching for a rag to wipe off her paws. Bottling day was always a lot of work, but it meant that they would continue to have plenty of wine both for their own enjoyment and for trade with other packs. This particular batch had been aging for quite a while so she was very interested to see how it turned out. Perhaps she'd have to take a bottle back up with her to share with Artorias later... Just as she was turning to start prepping a new batch of fruit to refill the cask with, she heard her daughter's voice calling for her from the direction of the stairs.

Her ears perked at the sound and she stepped out from behind the keg she had been working at just in time to see Ember peeking around the racks and barrels for her. "Over here, sweetheart," she called from the other side of the room, waving her over with her paw as she gave Ember a smile. Artorias had, of course, lamented to her endlessly about the cold shoulder he was getting from their daughter and she knew how much it was eating at her husband, but she hadn't tried to approach Ember about it yet in the hopes that when Ember was ready to talk she would come to her instead. "Is everything alright?" she asked curiously with a little tilt of her head, wondering if the rift between her and her father was what she was seeking her out about or if it was something else entirely.

"Briar Carpathius"

Ember heard her mother's voice calling out to her from down one of the rows of bottle racks and casks, pausing her in her tracks. She spied her mother's tawny form down one of the rows waving to her and Ember instantly felt a wave of relief come over her. Just being near Briar was therapeutic in itself. Moms really did have some magical way of making everything feel better. Smiling and waving back, Ember briskly trotted down the row of bottles until she got to her mother, taking a moment to inspect the scene she'd walked up on. The sweet scent of fruits mixed with the bitterness of alcohol filled her nose. Her mother was busy prepping fresh wines to be fermented and aged. And judging by the rows of bottles stacked up neatly to one side waiting for a home, she guessed Briar had just finished bottling a fresh batch too. Winemaking was such a fascinating thing to the young Carpathian...

Briar's voice pulled Ember from her mental dwelling and brought her attention back to her mother. "Oh, yeah! I mean, no. I mean... kinda? Ugh!" Ember groaned and heaved a sigh, her shoulders slumping as she gave a dramatic roll of her head. Why was it so hard just saying something clearly too?! Why did everything about being a teen have to be hard? "Mom, can I talk to you about something?" she asked, starting over from the top. "...Actually, it's kinda like... a bunch of things." Em flashed Briar a sheepish smile, ears folding back shyly. There wasn't just one thing weighing on Ember's mind; it was a conglomeration of all sorts of troubles and frustrations. Her father, Erik, her fight and kiss with Aylin, her own self... everything. How much time did Briar have to listen? Although maybe if she was making wine, Em might have her mother as a captive audience for longer than she expected.

"Ember" | "Carpathian"

As Ember struggled to answer whether or not everything was okay, Briar put aside the rag she had been cleaning her paws with while she looked to her daughter with a raised brow, having to fight off a smirk at how dramatically Ember reacted to her own struggle of words. Briar remembered how hard everything had felt when she was her age, how dramatically she had reacted to every set back or inconvenience. Granted, she had faced a few hardships and events that probably justified those kind of reactions, but the head roll and slumped shoulders were still a little amusing. Ember asked if she could talk to her about something–a bunch of things, in fact–and Briar chuckled with a little smile. "Of course you can, my love. I'm all ears." There was a beat of consideration before she added, "Do you want me to walk with you while you talk? Or would you rather I keep working and just listen?" She knew sometimes it was easier to talk while she was doing something else or when whoever she was talking do wasn't looking directly at her when it was more difficult topics to talk about so she wanted to do whatever would make it easier on her daughter. She didn't know what all exactly was on Ember's mind, but it sounded like it was quite a lot of things so she imagined they would probably be talking for a while.

"Briar Carpathius"

Briar was always so patient and open with her and Ember appreciated that the most about her mother. She never felt like she was pestering or bothering her with any of her adolescent problems, even when it was just griping her mother was there to lean on and confide in. Ember truly did have the best mom in the whole wide world. When Briar chuckled at her dramatics and assured Em that she could always talk to her about anything, the younger Carpathian fae immediately felt the relief wash over her, her mother’s love and presence comforting her like being swaddled in a warm blanket. "Thanks, Mom. I think I’d like to talk while you work if that’s cool? Or maybe I could help you out?" While she might not have been old enough to drink the wine yet, Ember was still fascinated by the fermenting process and if she could lend a paw while they talked.

As Briar returned to her winemaking work, Ember followed alongside her mother, curious blue and turquoise eyes drinking in everything her mother’s talented paws did with an eager fascination. "So… I’ve kinda been thinking a lot about… like, relationships and stuff," Ember began, pausing every so often as she struggled to find the right words she wanted. "I mean, like, liking other wolves, y’know? How, um…" Ember thought for a bit longer, trying to phrase her question in her mind before finally asking, "How did you know you liked Dad? Like liked Dad?" Sussing out her feelings and emotions was turning out to be a bigger hurdle than Ember had realized it was going to be…

"Ember" | "Carpathian"

Briar nodded when Ember decided she'd rather talk while she worked and she gave her a smile of understanding. She often did her best thinking and had an easier time talking through things when her paws were busy too. "Of course you can help," she agreed and gestured for Ember to follow her over to where she had already begun to gather up some fruits for their next batch of wines. Being in the height of Auster's summer they had no shortage of ripe berries to pick from and she had her first harvest of grapes from some vines she had transplanted from the grapevine cathedral to play with too. She began to divide some of the fruits and berries into separate buckets for pairings that she knew worked well and a couple of more experimental ones while Ember began to explain what was on her mind.

First up was none other than the classic teenage struggle of figuring out feelings and emotions about other wolves. Relationships seemed to be the bane of every young wolf's existence, especially for her emotional girls. Briar couldn't help the little smirk that pulled at her lips as Ember danced around how to ask her question about liking someone. She always loved talking about relationships with her children. It was endlessly adorable in their own awkward way. Besides, she simply loved love and wanted nothing more for all of them to find the partnership and companionship she had found with Artorias. Eventually Ember asked how she knew she like-liked Artorias and Briar chuckled while plucking grapes off of vines and hanging a couple of bunches to Ember so she could do the same.

"You know... It's kind of hard to remember exactly what moment made me shift from just liking to like liking your dad," she said with a bit of amusement. "I've known him since we were very little and it kind of feels like he's always been a part of my life, but... There was a period time where your grandmother Resin was very sick and shortly after she passed my father found evidence that made him think my mother had been killed." It was kind of a somber subject that shifted away from the silliness of the real topic at hand, but she knew she'd have to set the scene for it to make sense. "I was living in the Armada at the time, of course, since we were both too young to move away from our families, but we still visited each other all of the time through that whole period. It really made be realize what they mean in wedding vows when they talk about being together though the best and worst times. He was–and is–my best friend and he helped me become the best version of myself." She grinned a little to lighten the mood again, adding, "And I like to think I improved him a bit too."

"Briar Carpathius"

Ember followed Briar over to where she had bushels of fresh fruits all gathered to begin making the next batch of wines, the sweet sugary scent of ripened summer berries and grapes hitting her nose full force. She watched while her mother began to divide out the fruits into different combinations; the different flavors and varieties of wines the Hallows made. Then the two Carpathian ladies began the methodical process of removing the grapes from their stems, Ember taking the bunch that Briar handed over to her and following her mother's lead with fascinated eyes. While they worked, Briar explained how it was hard for her to pinpoint the exact moment she had fallen in love with Artorias, rationalizing that because they had known each other their whole lives it was difficult to pick one specific instance. She did tell a story about grandma Resin, how when she passed and it was believed that grandma Zee had passed too, the pair leaned on each other for support in their darkest times. It was a heartwarming story that had Ember smiling up at her mother, a little shine in her eyes. Em was a hopeless romantic like her mother was too.

Briar concluded by mentioning how the bits in wedding vows about being together in the best and worst of times was true, and how they each brought out the best in one another. Ember couldn't help the little giggle that escaped her. "So how did you make Dad the best version of himself then? And how did you and Dad... y'know, start being a couple? Did you just, like, have a chat and say 'Oh yeah, we're together now'?" she innocently probed a little deeper, wanting to know some of the intricacies of her parents' relationship so she could model her own after them. Her parents always seemed happy together, so why wouldn't she want to strive for the same kind of love they had? It also made her think about Erik; how the pair of them had known each other since they were puppies, how he'd snuck into the castle to see her, how she was trying to cure his illness, how seeing him made her feel. She also thought about how much it stung that he had been gone for seasons at a time, not even turning up to let her know he was okay. Was that the same kind of thing her parents had once upon a time?

"Ember" | "Carpathian"

Briar laughed lightly at Ember's follow up questions about her and Artorias' relationship while they continued to prepare the grapes and fruits for the wine together. Even though Ember took after her father in many ways, there were some things that obviously came from her like the interests in cooking and wine making and the obvious infatuation with love and relationships. "Well, your father wasn't always the levelheaded, wise leader he is now," she said with amusement, her tone obviously teasing and poking fun at her own husband since he still very much had his moments where that old temper of his still came to the surface. "He always encouraged me to speak my mind and stand up for myself while I helped him see other perspectives and talk through things before he jumped into action. He helped me find ways to still keep some of my battle ready Fatalis roots while encouraging my more soft and feminine traits while I helped him find a balance between work and enjoyment. We really balance each other out in so many ways," she replied with a wistful grin.

"As for when we became a couple... I don't think there was ever a moment where we sat down and agreed that we were dating. We certainly admitted that we had feelings for one another at some point so maybe that was when we became 'official' in a way? But, in truth, I had only ever been with your father and knew very early on that he was the one I wanted to be with forever," she admitted with a grin, her braided tail sweeping against the cellar floor. "There was his proposal though. It was during the first bonfire festival. After all the festivities were starting to wind down, he brought me up to the tower, gave me this–" she said, holding up her foreleg for a moment to point out the white gold, diamond studded bangle that sat among her other bracelets. "after a very sweet and very loving speech about our love and then he asked me to marry him. Which, of course, I said yes to," she added, laughing and smiling at the memory as she went back to preparing grapes. "I'm sure some wolves have a more distinct courting or dating story, but for us we just... kind of always were."

"Briar Carpathius"

Ember couldn't stop herself from giving a disbelieving snort when Briar called her father a "levelheaded, wise leader". With the recent decisions their fearless leader had made, she didn't think she'd call him levelheaded or wise even now. Maybe those disgruntled thoughts showed in Ember's snarky roll of her eyes, but it was quickly replaced with genuine interest for what her mother had to tell her as she continued to tell the story of their love. Em did so love hearing love stories, and her parents' was probably her favorite one of all. Mom and Dad always looked like the perfect couple when she saw them together, always smiling at each other when they were talking and interacting. That was the kind of relationship she wanted. Hearing how her father had helped her mother keep in touch with the roots of who she was while also blossoming and growing into the amazing fae and Lady of Cinder she was today brought a beaming smile to the adolescent fae's face.

Listening to Briar explain how she and Artorias had just kind of naturally fallen into a relationship together that developed over time was also a really sweet story. Her mother's comment about how she had only ever been with Artorias at that time did make Ember feel a twinge of guilt as she thought about the conversation she'd had with her grandmother, how that sentiment seemed contradictory to the free love mentality Tamsyn imparted on her. Did that mean she wouldn't have the same kind of love her parents shared if she was with more than one wolf? She still smiled when Briar said she just knew she wanted to be with Artorias forever very early on in her life, Ember's own braided tail mimicking the older fae's as it wagged gently behind her. Her mom was such a romantic, just like she was. That's probably why talking to her about relationships and love felt so easy.

Ember continued to help Briar collecting the grapes and fruits for the wines while her mother regaled her with the story of her parents' proposal. That had Em's attention in an instant. Listening with fascination in her blue eyes while Briar told her how Artorias had brought her up to the top of Hearthstone's tower and presented her with her diamond bangle. Em's eyes shone with wonder; her mother's engagement bangle had always been one of Em's favorite pieces that she wore. "Aww, that's a really cute story, Mom! I had no idea Dad was such a romantic like that," she remarked with a little giggle. "I hope I can find a relationship like you and Dad have one day." Ember released a wistful sigh as she imagined herself in a love like her parents'. Would she be with someone who looked at her the way her father looked at her mother? It was nice to daydream about at the very least...

"Ember" | "Carpathian"