Looking for the Daylight

Briar's gaze softened and a little smile tugged at her lips as Andromeda assured her that she was beautiful and that the reminder that she gave and the resemblance that she held to their mother wasn't a bad thing. She nodded with understanding as Andy explained how she missed her, Briar simply replying, "I know." She didn't hold it against any of her siblings or family that they saw their mother in her. Out of the many children that their parents had, she was one of the few that had heavily carried on their mother's appearance and that was no fault of her own and she knew that any of them that saw their mother in her didn't mean it in a hurtful way. She was happy to carry a part of their mother with her always, but she did wish she could keep from reminding them of her so easily when they were still hurting.

She continued to hug her sister while she attempted to frame everything that was happening in a way that might help her understand or at least soften even a little bit of the grief. She couldn't be sure how successful she was being, but it felt like more than she had ever gotten when she was Andromeda's age so she was happy for that. She listened and internally lamented over Andromeda beginning up how difficult their father was making all of this. She was glad that her sister was enjoying her time here in The Hallows despite everything that was going on around her, but she completely understood what Andy meant about their dad. Briar sighed as Andy mentioned how she felt like she lost both of her parents, the feeling resonating far deeper than Andy probably knew. She gave her sister another gentle squeeze, her ears folding back. She didn't want to tell Andy all of the details of what had happened during her first experience with her father's grief, but she could at least sympathize. "Dad... doesn't handle grief well," she agreed, gently rubbing Andromeda's shoulder. "His grief turns into anger and he wants to have a point of vengeance, something to take his anger out on, but when there is no physical target, when the thing he's actually angry at is death... It's hard."

It was quiet for a while and Briar held Andy agains there side, letting the purple-hued girl lean into her and sort through her thoughts for as long as she needed. She had no reason to rush back to the castle and she was happy to give Andy the time she needed. The statement she made that broke the silence probably wasn't as surprising as Andy might have expected to be. Still, it hurt her heart to know what she would have to send her back to somewhere that she didn't want to be. When she was going through the first loss of their mother, The Hallows had been her escape more than once, but she had been a bit older than Andy was now. Andy was still so young, even if the recent events maybe made her feel older than she was. "I'm sorry," she said softly after a moment, bringing her other foreleg around her and pulling her into a full embrace as she dipped her head to kiss the top of Andy's crown. "I know how it feels and I wish I could keep you here if this is where you are happy, but Dad needs you. At least for a while longer. I know it might not feel like it, but I promise that he does. But you're always welcome to visit and whenever you need me I'll come to see you too. Just send a bird and I'll be there as soon as I can, okay? And when you're older then there will be a place here for you if you still want to move here."

"Briar Carpathius"