Even though the Auster version of winter was far less pleasant than the warmer months in the southern continent, it was still starkly better than the heavy snows that she had experienced growing up in Boreas so she was still more than willing to take advantage of these mild winter days. She wanted to make sure she kept herself as active as possible until her pregnancy forced her to stop, even if it was just walks around the castle grounds or along the stream in the plains. The sky was gray and overcast, but the sun was able to peek out here and there and there didn't seem to be any rain on the horizon so she settled on a longer walk through the plains today.

Often she would simply walk on her own or perhaps with Artorias, but she had been wanting to talk to Dusk since the lesson she gave the pack so when she spotted her now yearling daughter that morning she asked for her to join her on her daily walk. Her pace was fairly slow and relaxed as she followed the stream through the plains along side Dusk, moving more at a slightly waddling stroll than with any kind of purpose. "You know, I've been wanting to tell you how well you did in the training you led," she mentioned, turning her turquoise gaze toward her daughter with a smile. "I think you have a real talent for teaching, my love. I've always enjoyed that sort of thing so if you ever wanted to work on honing those skills I'd be happy to help you!"

"Briar Carpathius"

Dusk was... grumpy. Her head hurt from the antlers that were growing in and she was feeling things that were dumb and stupid. Now, on top of all of it, her mom was going to have more puppies. Dusk wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that. Part of her wanted to talk to her mom about it. Part of her just wanted to sulk in her room. She didn't have that option today. Mom found her and asked for a walk together. Dusk couldn't deny her parents, especially something like this, no matter what mood she was in. So... they walked.

The pair made their way out onto the plains, mostly moving quietly as a bunch of things zipped back and forth through the girl's mind. Briar broke the silence, complimenting Dusk on her performance for the weapon training lesson. The dark child smiled and nodded in thanks. Her mother then went on to tell her that she would be willing to help her train if she wanted. Dusk sighed. There was her opening.

"You're having more puppies," the girl said sulkily. "You aren't supposed to do that sort of thing, right?" Pointed ears pulled back against her skull for a moment and her head dropped between her shoulders as she brooded. "Why do you need more puppies anyway? Aren't we good enough? Why are we being replaced?" Maybe Dusk and her siblings weren't what Briar and Artorias wanted. Maybe they were lacking in some area. The obsidian youngling couldn't imagine what they'd done wrong to be replaced like this.
"Dusk"

While her daughter's mood wasn't exactly difficult to miss, she had hoped that maybe some time together and some praise at her good work might help sway her little storm cloud into a better mood. However, the source of her grumpiness became more apparent when her daughter's response to her offer of helping her hone her skills in teaching was a pointed remark about her current pregnancy. Briar's brow lifted in response, but she didn't comment right away, instead letting Dusk continue as she doubted her ability to train in her current state and then questioned why they had needed more pups in the first place and making a sad frown cross her lips at the notion that she felt as if she was being replaced by her new siblings. Briar's ears folded back at the hurt her daughter's comments caused, but if nothing else she was glad that Dusk was telling her this now so that maybe she could reassure her now instead of letting all of this resentment fester.

"Being pregnant doesn't impact my ability to sit with you and discuss teaching strategies, silly," she began with a bit of humor before her tone grew more sincere and serious. "You and your siblings are not being replaced. There is no good enough or instead of." She came to a stop and rested her paw on Dusk's shoulder to get her to do the same, gently turning her to face her as she settled back on her haunches with a gentle smile. "Your father and I love being your parents more than anything else in the whole world. You and your siblings are by far my greatest accomplishments. That's why we wanted to do it all again. Not because any of you aren't enough or that we want to replace any of you. We want to add to our family, to give you even more siblings to terrorize and love, to have even more of you little fuzz balls to worry about and love unconditionally." She smiled hopefully and added, "My older sister is my greatest inspiration and was my biggest source of support when everything felt like it was going wrong. One day you'll get to be that for your new baby sisters and brothers. Don't you want to use your amazing teaching skills to help them learn too?"

"Briar Carpathius"