Sun Mote Copse To walk where the wooly mammoth have

Back-dated to like...Feb 3? Somewhere around there?

Niamh had come across a carcass left behind by another predator across the river near the mountain range, and had managed to salvage an entire haunch and leg from it without irritating the creature which had brought the deer down. She carried it back to the pack with her, glad to at least have something to appease her daughter as she would undoubtedly have to share the news with her. 

Once she tracked her daughter down, she approached, huffing lightly from having to drag the deer's haunch this far with her, and dropped it on the ground, nudging it toward @Nellie. "Found it. Something- cougar prolly- left an unprotected, half-eaten deer so I stole this. I figure we'll all be goin' out for a proper deer hunt pretty soon, an' I want you to have as much energy as possible," She said.

The girl had been hunting, tracking and stalking - mostly to keep her mind off of Phox and her mom. She was frustrated with everything she did, the only one able to keep her in a stable state of mind seemed to be Figment. She felt at ease when she spent time with him - he was funny and treated her with kindness and he DIDN'T BACK STAB HER BY BANGING HER CRUSH.

She was moping around in the heart of the territory when Niamh went to look for her. Oh, hey. She greeted casually, tone just slightly off. Cool, thanks. She said in the same manner when Niamh was done explaining why she was carrying a huge lump of meat with her. Wasn't that bad for your back? Also wow mom, what a role model; stealing. She gave her mom a look that said 'anything else', cause if this was everything she might as well go take a nap to get rid of her headache - yes, still the same headache she'd gotten from her fall down the hill.

After their last meeting, which had been far more awkward than anything else, she knew that she had to sort things out with her daughter. She still wondered if Nellie had indeed meant Phox- but she couldn't address that, it would be too much, especially when her primary news involved her engagement to him. She'd already spoken to Bronco and he had taken the news better than she had expected him to, which gave her some hope for Nellie...But then again, things with Nellie were more difficult. And the last time things had gotten difficult for Nellie, she'd run away. 

"Listen kiddo, we need to have a bit of a talk," She said, though she tried not to sound too stern, and she didn't allow the air between them to hang with tension for very long before she spoke again. "You probably noticed, but...Phox and I have been spending a fair amount of time together, and we've...Decided to be together." She said, flicking her ears forward slowly to gauge her daughter's reaction.

We do? Was her harsh response to her mother's inquiry, looking the other way on purpose. She felt it coming, in the bottom of her stomach; the ultimate reveal that would tear her world down and paint her mother as the villain. The anticipation and dread leading up to that moment were excruciating, and she gritted her teeth quietly.

Only two things haunted her thoughts the second her mom was done talking about Phox and her; her dad, and that she should've stayed far away from the Firebirds to begin with. Her guilt had given her nothing but pain and she was better off presumed dead, living her life to the fullest without all of this gnawing at her. She glared at her mother then, finally meeting her gaze, vibrant eyes lit up by anger. You've decided ya're gonna replace dad cus you wanna bang again. Yeah, no, it hadn't been a great idea telling her about mating right before hooking up with Phox. If she hadn't known about it, Nellie would've presumed her mother was lonely without dad - she still would've been mad at her, yes, but to a lesser extent.

Well, I won't accept him inta our family, so ya either have a daughter or a new screwmate!

Nellie was bristling and charged with negative energy from the get-go, but she was nearly an adult- and needed to learn how to take news with grace. Unfortunately, Niamh was probably the worst option for a teacher or role model, given how long it had taken for her to learn how to be less explosive...And truth be told, she wasn't done learning herself yet, either. But she couldn't coddle or baby her children; Bronco, her headstrong, rebellious little brat of a son had already taken the news and accepted it. Given the fact that Nellie had been raised at least in part by the Frosthawks, Niamh didn't feel entirely to blame for Nellie's negative reaction. 

Her response was emotional and immature and frankly, it surprised Niamh to see her daughter already throwing around slang given the fact that she'd only just had the talk a couple weeks ago. Niamh snorted and rolled her eyes in response. "You know it isn't that, Nellie," She said, disappointed that her daughter felt Niamh's feelings for Colt were so trivial. But Niamh simply told herself that if Nellie hadn't decided to run away, she might've gotten to actually know her mother better. 

She raised a skeptical eyebrow at her daughter's ultimatum. She shook her head. "I'll always have a daughter," She answered. "And I'm allowed to have a mate too. You need to reconsider things, Nellie- and rethink how you're speaking to me right now." She warned gently.