Shattered

Briar jolted awake along with Artorias, though more groggy and uncertain about what she had heard than he was. She gave her head a little shake as she worked on fully waking up while Artorias moved toward the door. By the time he pulled it open to reveal Bowen sobbing on the other side Briar had just sat up in bed and shrugged off the fur that had been draped over her. Her brow creased with concern as she tried to make heads or tails of what was going on. She stepped down from the bed as Artorias was trying to comfort Bowen who seemed upset to an extreme degree and he brought her into their room so he could close the door and shut the rest of the castle away, settling on the furs by the fire place with her.

Artorias glanced up to where she was standing by the bed and Briar hovered uncertainly while Artorias continued to comfort Bowen. Briar was stuck not really knowing what to do. She glanced toward the door, wondering if she should just go, but a small, stubborn part of herself didn’t want to be kicked out of her own bedroom in the middle of the night. She fought with herself for a moment, feeling guilty for even thinking about her own feelings in this, but her and Bowen were still only on mildly friendly terms. She felt awkward and as if she shouldn’t be there as Artorias held Bowen, but she also didn’t feel like she should be the one to have to leave.

Doing her best to swallow her pride, Briar stepped a bit closer, trying not to look at Bowen too much as she quietly asked Artorias, "Should I go get Gwyn?” At least then maybe she would be leaving with a purpose and would be doing something to help. She certainly couldn’t imagine Bowen would want her around and maybe the healer would be able to get Bowen something to help her calm down.

"Briar Fatalis"