Briar blinked open her eyes early in the morning after she and Artorias rebuilt their relationship and a smile pulled across her lips as she nuzzled more into his chest. While he continued to sleep she thought back through the day before, thinking backwards from this moment. Eventually her memories reached her running away from the beach after she asked Artorias to meet her here at the falls and she thought of Mortis running after her, trying to stop her, but she had pushed him away, telling him to let her go as she fled to the falls to hide away. Guilt tugged at her then now that she was thinking clearly and her emotions weren't running so high. She had shoved everyone away, her brother included, as she let herself self destruct so that she could put herself back together again.

After waking Artorias up and sharing a little breakfast with him, they went back to the plains and she parted ways with him, requesting a bit of time to go talk to her brother alone first. She wanted a redo of the lesson she had ruined with her wayward emotions, but she wanted to apologize first. She had apologized to Art and while she hadn't treated Mortis nearly as badly as she had treated Artorias she felt like she still needed to make things right. He hadn't deserved for her to treat him that way - the same way Artorias hadn't deserved for her to break things off between them because of her own self doubts.

She went looking for her brother through the plains and the second she saw him she smiled and ran up to him, jumping up to throw her forelegs around his neck and hug him tight. "I'm so sorry, Mortis. I didn't mean to ruin your training and I didn't mean to hurt your feelings and run away. I'm so, so, so sorry." She knew that she was a completely different wolf than she had been the day before, but as she leaned back enough to be able to find his gaze with her own she hoped he could understand why. She gave him a hopeful smile, adding, "Can you forgive me?"

"Briar Fatalis"

His first training session had gone awry. He had sought to turn Briar and Art into a team, and instead he had made a mess of it. It had fallen apart before it had even begun, with his sister storming away. He had moved to chase after her, and her words had cut him like a knife “Not now Mortis! ”

She had wanted nothing to do with him, after his heavy handed counseling attempt had gone so wrong. His father was furious at him. He had told Sirius how he had not been able to keep the two wolves in line to listen to his teaching. Art and Briar were angels in his eyes, and therefore the fault had lay entirely in Mortis. He wasn’t ready to lead, he was a mess.

He was trying to be strong, to turn a new leaf. To be here for his family and the Armada, but sometimes that seemed like such an impossible thing to ask of himself.

Briar had returned to their den, and he fretted at where his sister might have gone. He rose early, patrolling along the border for any sign of his sister. Then, suddenly, she was there. Leaping at him and putting her paws about his neck. It was such a turn about from before that he blinked in shock, and pulled away a little. Still stung, but her rebuke, Arts rebuke, and Seers rebuke.

He rubbed his neck awkwardly with a paw.

“Of course Briar. It’s not your fault, it's fine.”

he promised.

"Speech"

She really did love her brother. He was the most gentle and understanding of them all. She smiled as he rubbed her neck and assured her that it was fine and it wasn't her fault, but her gaze was still apologetic as she affectionately booped her nose gently against his before letting her paws slip away from his neck and she came to sit back on her haunches in front of him. "But it is my fault," she insisted mater of factly. She wanted to take responsibility for what she had done. She appreciated him trying to lessen her guilt or comfort her, but she wouldn't allow that this time. She fully understood what she had done now and she didn't want anything less than expressing how much guilt she felt over it. "I pushed Art away and I pushed you away. I pushed everyone away. I know you were just trying to help. I... I didn't mean to take it out on either of you so... I really am sorry."

She smiled again, her expression a little more shy this time as she grinned up at him. "Art and I made up last night. I um... I wanted to thank you also for making us talk. I don't know how long it would have been before I got up the courage to talk to him otherwise. I know it probably didn't seem like it helped at the time, but... I really owe this to you so... thank you." She watched his expressions curiously, genuinely hoping that he could forgive her and that she could make it up to him somehow. She'd do whatever it took to repair her relationship with her brother. He and Asla were the only siblings she had that she actually felt close to so the thought that she might have messed up their relationship hung heavy over her.

"Briar Fatalis"

She stuck to her guns, insisting that the fault lay with her. His insecurities didn’t agree with her, but… she was sincere and her bright eyes asked him to listen. So he didn’t interject, and let her speak her peace. As she spoke, he felt himself slowly start to unwind a little. His posture was no longer so stiff. Maybe it hadn’t been a complete failure, then…

“I’m glad the two of you worked it out. I like seeing you happy, Briar.” He admitted, offering her a slight smile. “Why did you push him away, Briar?” he wanted to know. Wanted to understand what had hurt her. He wanted to know his sister, and wouldn’t let himself duck his head and forget the important things. He wanted to keep being a part of her life.

"Speech"

Ah, that was the question, wasn't it? She gave him a sad smile as her gaze shifted down to look at the ground between them, her ears flicking as he asked why she had pushed Art away. She no longer felt the pain and dread she once had when she thought about her reasoning for her foolish actions, but she was still slightly ashamed of how she had acted and how she had thought. It was a self doubt and an internal struggle that she was still working through and finding her own answers for, but she knew now that she could get there with Artorias' help. With Mortis' and Asla's help too.

"I broke up with him because I love him," she told him softly, honestly revealing the flaws in her logic with a soft smile. "I kept losing all my fights and I continued to struggle with figuring out what I could do to contribute or what I was good at... After I lost in the first round of the Ashen tournament that kind of felt like the last straw. I thought I had failed the pack and our family and... and I just thought that there was no way I could possibly be worthy of being with Artorias and helping him lead the Hallows one day. I thought he deserved to be with someone who could be his equal and a partner and I didn't think I could be that for him. I knew he wouldn't agree and he wouldn't leave me on his own so... I broke up with him to save him from me."

Briar lifted her gaze to look up at Mortis again, her expression brightening once again. "I know that was stupid now... I know that just loving someone and making them happy is just as important as anything else. I was just too caught up in my own short comings to see that." It was all hard to explain and she wondered if it would make any sense to her brother. Even if it didn't, she had begun to move past all of that now and now she could just look forward to being with Artorias and building back their relationship even more strongly than before because they both knew what it was like to lose one another and neither of them wanted that to happen again.

"Briar Fatalis"

That feeling of constantly falling down, like nothing you did got you to where you wanted to be - he could understand that feeling. He hadn’t realised Briar had gone through like it with her relationship with Art. Briar was young, but she had always struck him as being level headed and positive. He supposed he should know better than seeing just the surface of someone.

“I’m glad you came to that relation Briar. Hunting yourself because you think it's better for the ones you love? That just hurts them, too.” He said softly, lifting up a wing and draping it gently over her shoulder. Pulling her close with his winged appendage. “So, you and Art, eh?” he teased gently, feeling it was safe to do so now that she had admitted that the two of them had made up.

"Speech"

She nodded and smiled as Mortis reinforced what she had already learned, saying how hurting herself ended up hurting the ones she loved too. It was a lesson she wished she had learned before she had nearly ruined her chances with Artorias, but what had been done was done and now she just had to focus on making it up to him and making their relationship even stronger. She grinned as his wing draped around her and she leaned into him, thinking again how grateful she was that her older brother was back in her life. She loved all of her siblings so much and the fact that most of them were distant at best hurt her more than she ever wanted to admit. She had gotten closer with Asla, Mortis was back with her, so now she just needed to find Indigo again and spend more time with him. She wouldn't be able to reconnect with Azure now, but... That wasn't something she even had a choice of fixing right now.

He questioned her and Art and she gave him a shy grin, her face flushing as she nudged him with her shoulder and chuckled, glancing away bashfully. "Yeeeeeah, me and Art," she agreed, giggling with her tail brushing the ground as it swished happily. "We've kinda been together for a while... I mean we've known each other forever, but really I guess after Resin started getting sick and after we found out about mom and Azure. He really helped with getting through all of that and I helped him through the stuff with Resin so... We've been really close since then." She peeked up at him, adding, "Maaaaaybe don't mention it to dad just yet though... I know he knows me and Art are close, but I don't know if he knows like how close so... I'd rather him not try to kill Art while he's here." She grinned and chuckled at the thought. They both knew how protective and possessive their father was so navigating that mine field was going to be tricky.

"Briar Fatalis"

He hugged his younger sister close to him, and listened as she told him the story of what had brought her and Art so close. Art was a good guy, or at least his interactions with the blue wolf so far had been positive. Was he good enough for his baby sister? Well, time would tell. He’d just have to ensure Briar knew he would always be a shoulder if she needed it.

“I won't, I promise” he said, and meant it, offering her a sideway grin at the thought of what their father would say if he knew. Lessening his grip on the tawny wolf, he looked down at her and grinned. “Did you want to hang out for the rest of the day?” he suggested. He was sure his chores could wait.

"Speech"