one

As Briar held the tiny scrap of a pup and rubbed its back, they began to cough and sputter, clearing at least some of the saltwater they had undoubtedly breathed in. “There you go, good. Get it all out,” she encouraged softly even though she wasn’t certain that they were conscious enough to hear or understand her. She didn’t mind the coughed up brine splattering across her foreleg in the process. That would be easy enough to clean off later.

She looked up to Talyssa then as her daughter returned with the collection of fronds she had gathered and Briar began to lay a few of the larger ones out with her free paw. The pup was so small that holding it to her chest with one foreleg was easy enough. “I think I can use these like a sling to carry them back to the infirmary,” she explained as she carefully laid the pup on the new bed of leaves. “Help me gather up the edges?” she asked, lifting up one side as Talyssa lifted the other and once they met in the middle Briar took the makeshift sling between her teeth and lifted the pup from the ground.

Now that she had a way to carry them she didn’t want to waste any time getting them back to the castle and in turn to Gwyn so she gave Talyssa a little nod to follow and started hurrying up the slope toward their home. As they reached the various doorways she waited for her daughter to open them for her so she wouldn’t jostle the poor thing too much. She honestly wasn’t sure what could be done for the shipwrecked pup in terms of healing outside of just getting them water and food, but she fully trusted her sister in law’s judgement and wanted her opinion regardless. Stepping into the infirmary, she gently placed their bundle on one of the cots just as Gwyn came out to greet them, the leaves unfurling to reveal the emaciated scrap of a wolf inside.

"Briar Carpathius"