Mercury had been assigned to the Queen for a trip she would be taking to the grapevine cathedral on an errand. He rose early, and assured he had everything he needed for the day. His leather braces were tightly strapped, and Solar sat heavily on his shoulders. Talis and Iris stuck closely to his heels as he made his way to the Queens quarters. Positioning himself outside the door as he waited for her to be ready.

He hadn’t spent much time yet with Briar, but he expected that to change with the new position he had taken. Training their little ones was a task he had already begun, and it seemed the Aegis would like him to assist in training other wolves to be prepared to take on the duty of Vanguard. He planned to make himself available for any who wished for the chance.


"Mercury"

Briar slipped her armor around her neck and reached back to connect the straps behind her front legs, readying herself for a bit of travel. She didn't expect to find anything too terribly troublesome on the brief jaunt down to the grapevine cathedral, but she didn't see any harm in being overly prepared either. She did at least leave her helmet behind, but her chest piece felt suitable enough. After she had that in place and her tail done up in a simple, but functional braid, she felt ready enough despite the early hour. She had gotten a bit more accustomed to getting up earlier now that she had children and family to tend to, but it was still not her preference by any stretch of the imagination. It would benefit them to get an early start though so that they could make it back before dinner time.

Once she decided she was as ready as she was going to be, Briar pulled open one of the large doors to her and Artorias' bedroom. When she stepped through into the hallway, she jumped a bit with surprise when she was suddenly face to face with Mercery. She sighed a bit with a chuckle as she relaxed again, giving their new and obviously very dutiful Vanguard a small grin. "Good morning, Mercury." She had known that he would be accompanying her today since Artorias would be staying behind with their children, but she hadn't expected him to be outside their room waiting on her. "Ready to get going, I see," she commented, giving him a small nod before turning to walk with him to the stairwell. "There's a small cart by the greenhouse. I figured we could bring that with us to make carrying the plants back a bit easier—and maybe a couple of baskets of grapes while we're at it."

"Briar Carpathius"

As the door to the royal's room opened, Mercury's gaze snapped towards it. Only for him to lower his head to hide a hint of amusement at the Queen’s surprise. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you” He apologised as he peeled himself off the wall beside the door. “Good morning, did you sleep well?” He asked, letting the small talk buy her time to adjust to her surprise.

“I’ll go grab that now, and meet you by the courtyard?” He suggested as she mentioned the cart. He wouldn’t dream of letting the Queen pull it. Of course, as her bodyguard, he needed his own paws free. But he knew the siblings would enjoy pulling the cart. He nodded towards Briar, excusing himself as he whistled for his foxes and left at a trot for the greenhouse.

"Mercury"

"I did, thank you for asking," she replied when he asked about how she had slept, chuckling softly mostly to herself. He was incredibly polite and prompt so she couldn't fault him for waiting for her to head out on their morning task, she just hadn't been expecting him there. She easily relaxed again though as they began to head out and she told him about the cart she wished to take with them. When he offered to go fetch the cart and meet her in the courtyard, Briar nodded with agreement and replied, "Sounds great. I'll grab a couple of bags and supplies then." They parted ways at the bottom of the stairs and she went toward the kitchens and supply closets while he broke off toward the greenhouse.

She didn't expect them to be gone too long or for them to really linger on their journey so she didn't expect that they would need much of a meal for the trip, but she at least grabbed a couple of waterskins and a couple of pieces of dried venison just in case. With that tucked in one sling-like bag and an extra, empty bag draped over her other side she began to make her way back outside to meet up with Mercury—after grabbing a quick bite of breakfast from the pantry. She had just finished eating her breakfast as she stepped out into the courtyard, licking her lips clean as she looked up and saw Mercery walking toward her with the cart that was being pulled by a pair of foxes. She chuckled and gave him a bit of a grin, telling him, "It seems your foxes are more willing to help than mine is. Marigold would never let me hear the end of it if I told her to pull a cart."

"Briar Carpathius"

Briar easily agreed, and the pair split up. The Queen to grab a few more supplies, and Mercury to grab the cart. The foxes found him before he arrived, and it took little coaxing to harness the two of them. He laughed at their boundless energy, and kept a careful eye to ensure the young creatures didn’t decide to go careening off with the Queens cart.

He found her in the courtyard, and by the time they arrived the foxes had gotten the hang of pulling it. If the shine wore off, he would take over. But until then, they would happily pull it. He grinned at Briar as she spoke. “These two rascals are in training, and it’ll do them good.” he gave Talis a fond rub on the head on his way past him. “Here, let me grab that My Lady” He said, reaching for the bag she held. “So, we are heading to the cathedral for the day, right?”


"Mercury"

Briar chuckled and nodded with understanding as Mercury explained how the pair of foxes were currently in training. "Ah, that's probably the biggest difference then. Marigold found me when I was just a pup so I'm pretty sure she trained me more than I trained her. Hopefully they turn out less troublesome than mine is." There was an obvious affection and fondness in her tone when she was talking about her long time companion despite how she made the partnership sound, similar to how one might talk about an annoying sibling. She knew that the relationship she had with her long time companion was a unique one, but Marigold had been like an older sister for most of her life so she wouldn't trade the antlered fox for anything–even when she was being an ornery little problem.

"Oh, thank you," she said as Mercury reached for the bag she was carrying, deciding to not put up a fuss and allow him to help with it since she had a feeling he wouldn't have taken no for an answer anyway. He very much reminded her of Artorias in that way where if there was something that could be done for her they would see to it. Nodding to confirm his assumptions for their plans, she replied, "That's right! I've put a lot of focus toward perfecting a few recipes for wines and mead made from the berries and honey that we can get from the grove, but a grape based wine still can't be beat sometimes." She turned and began to make her way with him in that direction, following the path that was well known by her at this point with all of the trips that she had made to gather grapes in the early days of her wine making ventures. She had done her best to cut down on the number of trips she had to make since it did take up almost an entire day to do it, but sometimes it just couldn't be helped.

As they walked, making their way through the wilds of Auster, she glanced toward Mercury among their general small talk and friendly banter to fill the time. "Oh, I don't think I ever got to properly congratulate you on your promotion to Vanguard. Well done," she mentioned, giving him a smile. "It feels like you've made quite an impact around The Hallows already in a fairly short time. It's impressive." She was always glad to see others succeed in their pack and to give those that had an ambition a place to target that energy and it seemed that Mercury had taken to that better than most. "What is your background like, if you don't mind me asking?" she questioned curiously. "I know how much my Warlord of a father and growing up in a pack like Armada effected my work ethic so I'm always curious when I see others that have similar drive."

"Briar Carpathius"