The Broken Knight

She grinned happily when he agreed to take her on some hikes with him and show her some of his favorite places as well, her tail wagging and brushing his thigh again. Even if she wasn't quite the explorer and adventurer he was, she still liked seeing the pretty landscapes of Boreas and Auster and ultimately just wanted any excuse to spend some time alone with him. Venturing out into the unpopulated portions of Auster for a couple of days just the two of them sounded like exactly what she wanted and needed. His response to her question about whether or not his mother had talked to him or not wasn't really surprising, but it was disappointing. Her father had promised her that they would do something way back at the end of summer and that had never taken place. Then her mother had done the same thing in the fall when she had heard that nothing had been done for their birthday in her absence and yet that had fallen through as well. It was just more and more broken promises and failed expectations from her parents and she sorely wished that this disappointment wasn't so familiar.

As the conversation was turned away from her and onto the events that had landed Artorias bed ridden in the infirmary, she saw him begin to struggle and debate with himself. Her brows pulled together as she watched him even though he turned his amber gaze away from her, her paws still wrapped around his foreleg while she quietly waited to see if he'd tell her. Just as she was about to reassure him that he didn't have to tell her right now if he really didn't want to he finally began to speak. It started about how she had expected. Bowen had told her how he had gone after a wolf that had attacked their sister, but she hadn't heard the details. Her ears flicked with a frown when Artorias explained what this brute had done to Gwynevere. She had gotten to spend more time with Gwyn just by virtue of staying with Artorias in the infirmary and helping with his recovery and it made her blood boil to know that anyone would do something so awful to someone so gentle and quiet. Her mind flashed to Lia and the man that she had rescued her handmaiden from and her ears flicked at the thought. She was silently grateful that at the very least it sounded like Gwynevere hadn't been attacked physically like that.

When he said how this man had been wearing Resin's skin in Gwyn's tale of what had happened her eyes went wide with shock and horror, her paws gently squeezing his foreleg. Her ears folded back at the thought blinking with realization when she remembered that Resin had been buried here on the castle grounds. He had come here, within their pack lands, and had done this horrible thing to their mother and Briar was just stunned at the horrendous audacity of this man that declared himself Artorias' adopted brother through Resin. He sounded like an absolute nutcase or worse. She understood what drove Artorias to go after this man and he was completely justified in wanting to kill him because of what he had done, but that didn't mean she agreed with how he went about it. Now wasn't the time for her to argue that with him though - for now she remained quiet and simply nodded when he gave her his description and warned her to run for help if she ever happened to cross paths with him.

The description of the fight he had challenged this bastard to was harder to listen to as Artorias detailed how this Oxx character had beaten him with ruthless fighting he hadn't been able to match. The same sort of possessive, protective fear that had gripped her when she had been told that he was injured crept up on her as he talked about the fight and how hard he had struggled even just to stay alive, but when he described how Oxx hadn't wanted to kill him, but instead wanted to show how helpless he was, and described what came next her brows pulled together with confusion. It took a moment for the realization to click in her mind, the memory of the position she had found Lia in with her attacker coming to mind again. That sudden realization crossed her features, her ears folding back against her head again with sympathy in her turquoise gaze. She could see the absolute shame on his face and she gave his foreleg another gentle squeeze, leaning into him lightly as she tried to give her silent comfort while he rounded out the rest of the awful story.

Her jaw tensed with worry as he talked about how he had been beaten more when it was over and then tossed in the Rio Grande, somehow still terrified for him even though he was laying here alive and well enough beside her. Honestly, from this story, she was amazed that he was still alive or at the very least not in worse shape. The fact that he was able to be walking again so soon afterward, that he hadn't broken a bone, that he didn't end up drowning... It was all such a miracle and she was simply grateful to have him here. When he explained how Corbin had been sent for help and had ended up returning with Bowen her ear flicked and a slight frown twitched at her lips. She obviously couldn't control or judge what his raven did or where he had chosen to go, but if he had been on Obsidian Beach she would have been much closer to him than Bowen would have been. Hell, she probably could have made it to where he was by the Rio Grande before it even got that far. Corbin could have come to the Armada to get her and she could have come running with her father and Mortis in tow... but it was too late for that now. It was in the past and she couldn't change the fact that she hadn't been able to help, no matter how much that fact stung.

He continued on about what Bowen had done for him and her own slight jealousy wove its way in among her worry and her overwhelming relief that he was still alive after all of that. Briar was still trying to navigate her way through this new reality that she had allowed and even though it felt about as silly and petty as thinking about her missed birthday celebration she couldn't quite shake the possessive flare of jealousy that snuck up on her as she listened to how Bowen had been there to keep him alive until the others could get there to help get him home. Strangely she felt less jealous at the idea that he had feelings for her and was attracted to her than she was about the fact that Bowen had been able to be here when he needed her. She mentally shook herself, shoving those thoughts away. That had to be in the past. She couldn't keep dwelling on it without risking wrecking this new open relationship she was trying to give him. That was a topic for another time and another place. That wasn't what what she wanted to talk about right now after he gave her every gory detail of the fight that had ended with him battered, bruised, torn apart, and raped.

When he turned his gaze back toward hers she looked at him with a strange mix of relief and worry and love, still holding onto his foreleg as if he might suddenly disappear if she let go. She did end up lifting one paw just so she could cup his cheek and guide his muzzle to hers. She kissed him deeply with every grateful emotion and every ounce of love she could manage. Her eyes slipped closed for a moment as she just savored the feeling of his lips moving passionately against hers, the scent of him, and the feel of his fur under her paw pads. She had already known that his wounds had been severe and saw the condition he had been in when she got here to see him, but hearing the story behind these wounds and knowing how close she had actually been to losing him made her that much more grateful that she could give him this kiss, that she could do things like sneak him out of the infirmary and worry about stupid things like the fact that Bowen had helped him and not her. When her lips eventually broke away from his with a quiet gasp, she blinked open her eyes to find his again and gently brushed the side of his muzzle against his. "I'm so grateful you're here," she said softly, emotion thick on her voice. "I... I can't tell you how happy I am that you're here. There's just... There's just not enough words to say how much."

"Briar Zeitgeist Fatalis"