Family time

Briar blinked and looked up at Gossamer with surprise when her sister said that he seemed like she had excelled so much faster and how her and her other sisters had always been jealous. She looked at Gossamer with confusion and disbelief. She had never felt like she was someone to be jealous of and had certainly hadn't considered herself a good fighter by any means until very recently. Even now she felt like if she stopped working on her fighting and trying to improve for even a moment she'd slip back into the same mediocrity she had fought to get herself out of. She didn't know why they would have thought that their father favored her, but then again she was hardly ever around her siblings and the only times she could remember them all being together with their father once they got old enough to live on their own was at pack meetings and things like that. She was reminded of how Ophelia had talked about what the perception of her had been from Ophelia's point of view and it wasn't all that different from was Gossamer was saying now. It really made her realize how good she had been at hiding her problems from her family—to the point that she made herself look perfect when that was so far from the truth.

Briar frowned when Gossamer mentioned how she had been beaten by an older woman and how she had been knocked out of two tournaments. She wanted to relate with her sister and express how she had been through similar things, but she almost wasn't sure if Gossamer would believe her at this point and she didn't want Gossamer to feel like she was being patronizing. "I was knocked out of the first round of Ashen's tournament as well... by Artorias' sister no less," she told her, trying to give her a small, encouraging smile. "I didn't even go to Habari's tournament. I... I was too worried that the same thing would happen again." She looked away, watching the ground as it passed under her feet. "I'm sorry if I ever came off as if I was better than any of you or even that I was trying to be... Honestly, I was floundering for ages, but I was too prideful to ask for help. It was only after Mortis noticed and helped me train a bit that I started getting back on track. I felt so useless at healing that I gave it up entirely." She looked up at Gossamer again with a crease in her brow as she insisted, "You're not a lousy fighter. I've always looked up to you and your skills and tenacity. I know how much losing sucks... but don't give up. Next time I come to visit I want you to greet me as the Armada's lieutenant or general, okay?"

Briar Fatalis