It was just a peek

Briar hadn't told Lia, but she had directed Willow to keep an eye on her handmaiden whenever they weren't together. Even though they had begun some training since Artorias had brought her here, Briar was still worried for her if she were to venture out on her own. Lia had quickly become a close friend and beyond that she was a gift from Artorias which made her even more precious. She didn't want to just keep Lia cooped up or force her to just sit by while she threw herself into her training to distract herself from Art's absence though so she assigned her falcon to quietly follow Lia to make sure no harm came to her.

It gave her a little extra peace of mind so she could focus on other things. In a similar way to how she had put her all into her training when she broke up with Art, she did the same thing now with his absence that left a painful gap in her life. The two seasons she was now going to have to spend without him felt daunting and this felt like the only way she could distract herself. His visit here had been a taste of what their life would be like once they were finally able to live together permanently and it just made her long for it more.

She was at the training grounds by the sea practicing how she might make better use of the spiked helmet she had crafted when Willow came frantically flying in, pulling away her attention from he task at hand to tell her that Lia was in trouble. Her heart immediately leapt into her throat and she turned to race across the plains, following Willow out toward the Weeping Woods without a second thought or consideration. She didn't even wait to hear what kind of trouble her handmaiden was in. All she needed to know was that Lia needed help and was in some kind of danger and that was enough to get her dashing across the plains as fast as her legs could carry her.

It only took a moment for her to assess the scene she found once she followed Lia's trail out into the willows and immediately her blood boiled. This was exactly the kind of situation she had worried about and now her fears were realized and she was furious. Her hackles bristled and her lips pulled back in a snarl, but there was no hesitation or pause as she ran up to Lia's attacker that was still mounted over her. She bounded forward and latched her jaws onto the upper part of his foreleg, biting down hard and making sure to keep her antlers pointed toward his face to block him from trying to bite anywhere around her face or neck. She started pulling him off of Lia, shoving him to the ground so Lia could slip away and get to somewhere safe.

"Briar Fatalis"