one

While Briar did fully trust her daughter and knew that Talyssa was a smart, responsible girl, it was the rest of the world that she didn't trust. Between her and Artorias' companions they had just enough between the two of them to have one of their various birds or foxes following the pups to keep an eye on them pretty much at all times which was certainly the case today as it was every day–especially after the run in Talyssa had with the purple-hued boy. Willow had been watching over the young girl when she found the boney pup on the shore by the castle and had immediately turned and flew as fast as the falcon's wings could carry it to fetch Briar.

Briar had of course dropped everything immediately and came sprinting out from the castle gardens to bound down the slope to the beach with Willow as her guide, hearing Talyssa's cries for help just as her paws hit the sand. "Talyssa?!" she gasped as she ran over to join her daughter, slowing to a stop as she reached her side, her turquoise gaze landing on the tiny scrap of a pup that was clearly the source of Talyssa's concerns. "Oh my..." she whispered worriedly and she reached out a gentle paw to lightly press to the pup's neck, holding her breath for a moment to wait to feel a pulse. It was weak, but she did feel it and that's all she needed to know.

She immediately helped Talyssa finish what she had begun with digging the pup free of the sand that had surrounded it with the washing of the waves and oh so carefully slipped her paw under the pup's rib cage to lift it. All she could feel was their bones and it broke her heart to even see a pup in such a state as she lifted the pup to her chest. She was afraid to carry the pup on her back the way she usually would her own children and the pup's skin felt so thin and frail that she was almost afraid she would hurt them just by carrying them by the scruff. She frantically looked around for a moment before she spotted a few large leaves from the near by tropical plant life. That would have to do. "Talyssa, grab a couple of those leaves for me," she instructed as she started to rub her paw along the pup's back to start warming them up as she held them against her chest to share some of her own warmth, patting gently with the hope that they might cough up whatever water might be hung up in their lungs.

"Briar Carpathius"