I'm not leading you astray

There was a deafening silence that finally made her lift her eyes enough to peek at him while she waited on his answer, but the careful, measured way he left out a breath before he turned his head toward her made her fear a reality. Her eyes fell back to the sand even before he began to speak, flinching slightly as if he had hit her when he told her that he couldn't. She almost hated the way he kept everything so contained, perfect, and well spoken. She felt like a floundering mess, trembling under the weight of her own emotions, and somehow he was able to say what he needed to say without searching for a word or letting a crack form in his composure. She grit her teeth and tried to find even a scrap of that calm in herself and couldn't do it. She wanted to prove herself wrong and make herself believe that she could be the proud, graceful warrior that he deserved to have at his side, but she didn't know how. She hated how she was, she hated the pressure that she put on herself, she hated that her mind picked herself apart at every turn, but she didn't know how to do anything else.

She was quiet for a moment, her mind reeling, her heart threading to beat out of her chest. That determination that had driven her harder into her training than she had ever done before - it had all been because of him. He made her want to be better. Without him she lost her meaning and her purpose. She couldn't lose him. Even if she didn't win him back now, she couldn't give up. "I shouldn't have compared myself to your success," she said softly after a while, her brow creasing with thought, a frown pulling at her lips. "Everything just keeps crumbling and I keep failing I just... I got overwhelmed. And that's not fair to you... and I'm sorry." She gave a shaky sigh, drawing in a breath as she forced herself to look at him. Seeing his amber gaze very nearly broke her again. She clung to the shattered pieces of herself, internally squeezing them together just long enough to get the words out of her mouth.

"I've been training hard since I saw you last. Mortis has been helping me. It's... It's the first time I've really had someone teach me. I went to the Battlefield with Marigold. We camped out there for several days and I did a lot of spars. I'm... I'm still not great, but I'm getting better." She had always tried to wear such a bravado, her namesake and her lineage holding such a weight that she felt like she had to. She had to be proud of who and what she was and not let any of that weakness or inexperience show. She didn't want the world to know how she had spent so much of her time growing up with only Marigold and Dandelion, her companions keeping her company, the antlered fox giving her lessons and training. She never wanted to admit how alone she had felt before she had Artorias, how he was her only friend.

She bit back more tears, managing to tell him in a wavering voice before she broke, "Come to the falls tonight? Please?" She didn't wait for an answer, instead turning and running into the plains, Marigold and Willow following close behind. She felt bad for abandoning Mortis' training, but she couldn't stand there in front of him any more. She didn't want him or Mortis to see her cry. She wanted to run and lick her wounds and figure out a plan - and let herself cry and piece herself back together.

"Briar Fatalis"