Spring had sprung! No, like, properly sprung. Vendrick didn’t know how he felt about it. The days were getting longer, and that was cool. More daylight meant more time he could spend outdoors. More time outdoors meant there was more he could do, more he could explore, more he could see. There was so much outdoors, after all. A ridiculous amount of outdoors, and he wanted to see it all. Experience it all. Explore it all. He wants to see everything that the world had to offer him, and that would start right in his own backyard. Even if he couldn’t leave the grounds quite yet, there was more than enough for him to see out here. Starting small? Well, at least he was starting at all, right? Vendrick was rather pleased with himself, at least. Pleased with himself. His head held high, his amber eyes burning bright. Everything is bright and splendid, in Vendrick’s mind. Heck, even he’s splendid! Splendid, that was a cool word. He couldn’t remember who he’d heard say it. From the context, though, he figured he was using it right. Even if he wasn’t, that didn’t matter. Who was going to fault a child? Well, at least he was pretty sure it was a good sort of word. Splendid is a splendid word. His head is wrapped up in words, in turn of phrase, as he wandered about in the spring sun. The warmth of the sun on his back, the scent of the earliest flowers starting to come in, it really was quite lovely. Vendrick finds himself drawn to the greenhouse in his exploration, thinking about how he and Meadow had winterized it. Now here it was, un-winterized. The wrappings pulled away, the sun filtering in, all of it was… lovely. Though the boy decidedly preferred the cold, it seemed that warmth was also alright. He wouldn’t complain, lest he be branded a whiner. No, he would simply take things as they came, even if he did prefer the colder days that winter had blessed them with. It’s around the side of the greenhouse that he spots something. Vendrick’s brow furrowed, a little wrinkle appearing between the two. Curiously, he takes a step forward. There was something moving through the grass, the likes of which were wildly unfamiliar to him. Something strange. It was moving quickly, and it was moving toward him. The creature seemed to be in a rush, but what strange creature was this? Nearly holding his breath, Ven stalked forward. His hackles went up, something prickling at the back of his neck. Why did he feel like this? What was his body trying to tell him, that the rest of him didn’t know yet? The boy’s pulse picked up pace in his chest. Why? From the grass, the creature struck out. It was a rather large snake, and Vendrick hadn’t seen it well enough to dodge it. A green that blended in with the grass, the only giveaway had been the movement. He yelped, stumbling backwards. The bite stung, and stung badly. His eyes went wide, already tearing up. Why? What was happening? Panic gripped him now. Fight? Flight? Freeze? He didn’t have time to think, and it was instinct that took over. Instinct to do… what exactly? The boy lunged back at the snake, his ears pinned cleanly to his skull. A snarl ripped from his chest, one that he couldn’t hold back. One that he couldn’t place. Lunging at the snake, the creature struck back at him again. This time, he’s quick enough to dodge out of the way. How does he fight something this low to the ground? How does he fight something that he doesn’t know the weaknesses of? How the hell does he go about this? Vendrick didn’t have time to analyze. Instead, he simply lunges at the predator, trying to pick it up in his jaws. His teeth graze the creature’s scales, the taste and texture both decidedly awful. The pup spits on the ground beside them, head tossing. But the snake is even faster to react. Another strike, this one landed on his ankle. This time, the snake does not seem to want to release him. Vendrick had ruined the predator’s day, as much as the predator had ruined his. He yelps once more, shaking his paw, trying to fling the serpent free. It was to no avail (and Vendrick isn’t entirely sure why he thought that would work), and he needs to make another move. He needs to make another move and fast. The snake wrapped its way around Ven’s leg, beginning to squeeze. The pup was starting to panic, and he could feel the tears as they started to fall. Reaching down with his jaws, he sinks his teeth into the serpent. It hisses, and Vendrick growls back. His hackles, up, bearing down despite the pain and the stress of the situation. The hissing turns to biting, the snake sinking its teeth into the soft flesh just before the boy’s ear. He yelps, and with another surge of adrenaline, he grits his teeth. Bearing down, and pulling back. Pulling, ripping, tearing, anything he can do to get the serpent to release him. At this point, Vendrick would beg it to let him go, if it asked. Alas, that wouldn’t be necessary. The snake went limp in his jaws, bleeding weakly from the various places Ven had bitten it. He untangles his leg from the creature, dropping the carcass in the grass. The bites were really starting to hurt, now that the fighting was done. He whimpered meekly, turning back toward the castle. The boy would go find someone to clean his wounds, to kiss it better. That would be good enough, right? His steps were shaky, and Vendrick felt a bit sick to his stomach. He’d just killed something. He’d killed something, and not to eat it. Wait, could he eat snakes? No, the boy was too upset about the whole thing to even try. Sniffling, he crossed the threshold back into the castle. Head hanging low, still crying, slowly bleeding from shallow wounds on his face and ankle, the boy calls out for his mother. “Momma?” It’s soft. If Briar isn’t the first one he finds, he hopes it’s someone just as gentle.

Briar hummed a quiet tune to herself as she went through the kitchen, cleaning up some messes here and there as she went. Now that their youngest pups were old enough to wander around the castle and the gardens on their own for short stretches of time she had begun to catch up on the work she had let slide while she was focusing all of her attention on them. Truthfully, she would just continue spending all of her time playing or teaching any one of them if she could, but unfortunately things continued to move around them and wouldn't simply pause because she wanted to be around her precious children every waking moment of the day. She couldn't quite convince herself to actually leave the area around the castle just yet or embark on any diplomatic journeys just yet, but cleaning up the kitchen and making some real meals was a good start.

She had just walked out of the kitchen, made her way across the spacious dining hall, and turned the corner that would lead her to the main corridor of the castle when she heard a quiet, familiar voice calling for her. Her attention immediately snapped toward the voice with her pleasant humming stopping immediately with a mother's worry as her turquoise gaze landed on Vendrick's visibly upset form. "Ven?" she questioned worriedly as she rushed over to him and as she got closer she noticed the sent of blood only a moment before she spotted the places where he had gotten hurt. Gently pulling him closer as she settled down beside him, she started looking over the small puncture wounds and carefully licking away some of the blood. "Are you okay, darling? What happened?"

"Briar Carpathius"