put the pieces back together

The stranger who had brought Bramble home told him in terse sentences of the bear that had attacked them. Artorias outwardly groaned with frustration and shook his head. These damned bears... What was it about Bramble that had the girl always chasing down bears?! She'd gotten lucky all the times before, but this time she hadn't won her coin toss with fate. Panic and dread gripped the father's heart as he hurried to get his injured child inside and to Gwynevere. He didn't give a damn about the details of the what, where, or why. Those could all be sorted out once he was sure Bramble wasn't going to die. As if reading his mind, Bramble's weak voice called out to him, the usual life and strength sapped from her words in a way that broke his heart. She asked if Gwyn could help her and Artorias' response was swift and certain, "Yes she can. You just need to hang on a little bit longer for me, Brammie, okay?" There was a bit of desperation behind the facade of certainty that the Aegis spoke with, the dire fear of a father watching his child dying.

Artorias led the boy past the gates of Hearthstone and across the garden courtyards, Were this any other circumstance, he would have leisurely led their guest around and given him a grand tour, but the urgent situation called for a certain lack of manners. The dire wolf gave a short howl to alert Gwyn to be prepared to receive them as he sprinted up the terrace stairs and into the castle. Bramble mumbled something incoherent about bears, then lifted her head with a smile as she introduced her savior as Tate—and as her boyfriend. Art cast a dubious look back at Bramble, then to the wolf named Tate, but ultimately just shook his head. His daughter was delirious, he didn't take her words to heart. "We can talk about that once you're feeling better, sweetheart. Right now I just need you to stay awake for me, okay?" Fire opal eyes turned to Tate next, glancing over the lad's head wound. "You too. Keep moving and stick close. We'll get you sorted."

Large paws thundered down the corridors of the castle as the Aegis led the way to the infirmary, not even pausing to open the door and instead throwing his shoulder into the doors to bash them inward. "Gwynevere! We've got an emergency!" he shouted out for his sister while not stopping his march to the closest cot to settle Bramble down into. Once he had his daughter nestled into the bed, he rushed over to the cabinets of supplies and began pulling out swaths of gauze and cloth, bringing them over to press to the wounds on Bramble's side in a frantic hurry to stem the blood loss. "Bear attack. She's lost a lot of blood. He's got a head wound." Art motioned to Tate. "Tate, come over here. Gwyn is my lead healer, let her take a look at you too."

"Artorias Carpathius"