Don't go breaking my heart

She was more than happy to lean into him as he pulled her close, resting her head against him with a content smile. She had missed this so much. She'd do whatever it took to keep her dad around. When he questioned her about what she had been up to, she struggled at first to think of anything to say. All she had really done since he had seen her last was hide, but she didn't want to say that to him. She didn't want to make him feel worse. Instead, she tried to spin things in a more positive way. "Well... I've been spending more time with Asla," she told him, which wasn't a lie. "I've been staying in her den so that's been nice. I don't think she's ever let us be around her this much before." She chuckled softly at the thought, remembering how much their older sister had avoided her and her siblings for the longest time. She actually liked Asla quite a lot though now that she was getting to know her better. She had a lot of the strength that Briar felt like she lacked.

"Of course I went to see Artorias and spent a few days there... I really like the castle. There's a tower way up at the top and you can see everything from up there. And we did some fighting practice and explored some around the near by lands since it's warmer now so exploring was more fun this time. Oh!" She grinned and lifted her front leg for her father to see the thin silver bangle that was studded with topaz gems that was dangling around her ankle. "Art gave me this for my birthday! Isn't it pretty?" She turned her leg side to side for a moment so the sun could catch on the glittering amber colored gems, her tail wagging against the ground.

She chuckled and put her leg down, obviously in better spirits now as she spoke about Artorias and her little vacation away from all of this. "I just got back a little bit ago and came right over to find you. I haven't even seen Marigold yet - I know she's going to be irritated with me for not taking her with me this time." The antlered fox had as much attitude as she did if not more, but that's kind of why she liked her companion. "I haven't broken the news to Marigold yet, but I don't know if I want to learn how to be a healer any more... I really like fighting, but healing doesn't really excite me as much. I saw Artorias' sister while I was there and she's really good at healing. I don't think I have the patience for it." She tipped her head inquisitively, adding, "Do you think we could go on some hunts sometime? I haven't really hunted much so I don't know if I'd like that more."

She could hear herself rambling, but she didn't really care. She smiled up at her father happily, just glad to have a calm moment with him for a little while.

"Briar" | "Marigold"