Lost Creek Hollow Does your mother know that you're out?

Ibis had been making regular trips to visit her father, but she always had @Okeanos in tow. For the first little while they had an adult to accompany them too, but today was different. She didn't tell anyone that she was going to make the trip - and feeling bold about her choice, Ibis forgot to let her best friend know. Without her brother with her she was a lost cause when it came to directions. It took longer than it should have, but eventually Ibis made her way to the outskirts of the Hollow.

Typically when she made these visits, they were short. A few hours maybe - or an overnight stay, so that @Terance could tell the kids more about the stars. Things looked vastly different in the spring daylight. When Ibis finally found an area that looked sort-of familiar, the sun was just beginning to set. The stars wouldn't be visible for a few hours yet, but that's not why she was here.

The girl was a little antsy as she waited there at the border. She hadn't called for anyone yet; usually it was the escort that did all the communicating, and the kids deferred to whomever was with them, but she had to figure it out herself. So with a little ahem, some throat clearing, a warm up trill --- she cast back her chin and sang to the trees.

it was always exciting when his children decided to pay a visit to the hollow, sometimes surprising even. this evening was one of those surprising times. terance felt like his daughter was just in town... and here she was, again. he certainly wasn’t disappointed, just a little surprised,

ibis, purled the leader as he approached, padding closer to nudge his daughter on the cheek, pulling her close with a forelimb, what brings you here’s today? 

inwardly, terance has a few comments stirring around in his head, but he held them in.

She wasn't sure what to do once her little song played out. When she'd come here before and was in the company of adults they would keep her mind off of the wait, and be there to deal with anyone that came to the borders (in case they were new to the ranks and didn't know of the arrangements between their packs). This time she didn't have to wait long; Ibis was thankful for that and further, she was elated upon spotting her father as he approached.

In the days since the siblings' first visit Ibis had gotten a little bit more comfortable with the thought of her father living elsewhere. She needed someone to lean on, someone to be supportive, since she couldn't seem to make sense of her mother right now. First Seabreeze had been asleep - there had been nothing Ibis could do about that - and then things around the pack seemed to change, little by little. The various parties, the visits by strangers. Lily getting bigger and bigger (and nobody explaining exactly why to Ibis).

It felt like she had outgrown their little home. So, she was here. Her father welcomed her with some affection and followed up with questions, to which she - in no uncertain terms - stated, I wanna stay with you. Ibis spoke clearly, her voice unaffected by emotion and her expression utterly innocent. She'd tried living with mom, and now it was dad's turn.

there was nothing but clear surprise (and excitement!) written across terance's features as the little -- not even so little anymore! -- girl spoke. she spoke so certainly. terance wondered if she'd learned that from seabreeze, who had gotten exponentially more sure of herself the moment she'd left sunspire -- the moment she'd left them. terance too, he supposed. either way, the way she spoke brought a warm smile to his face, brows raised still in surprise. "you are welcome to stay here, ibis, i would love to have you," he told her earnestly, reaching to nudge her cheek gently. 

"i guess i need to tell you a few important things beforehand, though, for transparency sake," he added with a gentle shrug, "okay?"

He was surprised; maybe in the coming hours she would be surprised at herself too for making this happen. She had doubts. Ibis wasn't as certain as she appeared but it seemed only fair to try and connect with her dad. If it didn't work out, mom and Okeanos were close - they would understand why she felt compelled to try. She entered in to this decision as unbiased as she could be. Worried a little, sure, but innocent and willing to try. 

Then he said something about transparency - a big word she had never heard before - and Ibis felt a little bit of that doubt fight back within her. Okay... Murmured the girl, watching him and waiting for whatever super-serious bomb he was going to drop.

"they're good things," terrance tried to reassure her as he noted the bit of uncertainty that wavered through her expression, despite her confident demeanor from moments ago. "treason and i are mates now," he told her with a flick of his ears, a small smile pressed to his scarred maw, "and.. you're going to have new siblings in the next few weeks." 

he was suddenly nervous now that ibis would reject his new family. but it extended to her and okeanos as well. it was only growing. but he hoped and prayed she'd take the news well enough to stay still.

He tried to lessen the blow, but when he touched upon the subject of having a new wife Ibis did not know how to react. It had been a while since her parents were together, and Seabreeze had Olive, so... It made sense Terance would have someone too. She wanted to feel happy for him. Then he mentioned they would be having more kids -- and that's where her mind stuttered.

More? Like Ibby and Okee? He had left them, and now he wanted more? But. 
What about them? If Ibis had wanted more siblings she would have stayed home; this news was met with a blank stare as she tried to sort out what to say, control her reaction at least a little bit, but in the end she succumbed to the shock.

Ibis just watched her dad, blinking those doe eyes, and murmured: Oh. Ok.

As soon as she felt her own voice in her throat she felt a little better. The entire concept that Terance wanted to replace his kids vanished in to her mind, and there it was locked away. He seemed happy - what did it matter how she felt about it? What did she feel? Ibis refused to delve deeply in to her thoughts and followed after her dad, forcing herself in to the role of the dutiful daughter whether he wanted it or not.

he wished she would maybe speak her concerns to him... but then again, maybe it was best that she didn't. terance was so bad at expressing his own feelings, so bad at putting together his own sentences... maybe it was good that he didn't have to stutter over his own words in an effort to tell his daughter that he was happy and he wanted her to be happy too. with them. altogether. 

ah, but, here was a moment terance was trying to be a good parent. a good parent? maybe a good parent -- take the harder route over the easier one. he figured that was... maybe was parenting was about. not that he had much of an option to learn what parenting was with seabreeze so far away. 

his ears flicked forwards, head tilting gently to one side. he looked at his daughter quietly for a moment before saying. "do you wanna talk about it, little bird?"

They didn't get far before he tried to broach the subject again, to which she made a point to ignore the question. Maybe it was rude. Certainly her mothers raised her better than that; Ibis imagined Lily rolling her eyes too, but did not engage regardless.

She tried to maneuver the conversation to something more palatable and said, You live in a forest like us -- um, like mom and Okeanos, it looked different, smelled different, but she would rather face the strange forest than deal with her feelings right now. Do you have a favorite place? I found one in the willows and it was secret, but then Eleuthera found me and I had to share it, the memory had been a negative one up till this point, and Ibis felt a pang of regret, missing the familiarity of her friend. She looked at her dad expectantly after that, finally giving him a moment to speak.

she made a point to ignore it, something terance might've done when he was younger and pettier, not to say he couldn't be petty now. he wondered if she'd picked that up from seabreeze, but something in him churned and he tried to remind himself not to place blame... though he desperately wanted to. "let me know if you change your mind," he commented anyway, and then cleared his throat as she chose to move on. 

"oh, for sure," rumbled the boulder, who's maw was held in a warm smile now, "a little place upstream from my den. the rocks are big and flat in the water, but tall enough to stay mostly dry. it's very pretty and calming... good for naps, too." an eyebrow quirked, his white-tipped tail flicking. "do you want me to show you -- eleuthera can't find you here." who was that, again? olive's kid? terance couldn't quite remember.

He made it sound idyllic. What was it about this place that was better than the Willows, though? He offered to take her on a tour of his hideaway and on any other day maybe she would have gone willingly, but for now Ibis shook her head and nonchalantly said, I'll find it later. Sounds pretty though, and fell away to silence. She had a lot to think about and wasn't as equipped to handle all of it at once.

When the pair of them came to a more obvious border line with a strong scent (maybe what Terance or one of his underlings had been fortifying prior to her arrival) she paused over it, and then carefully side stepped around it as she pranced through the wood; her steps were cautious, like she anticipated something bad happening for her being here despite the acceptance. When nothing happened, she gave the patch one last glance and was back to normal again.

Ibis watched the trees swaying, breathed deeply of their scents, and tried to imagine what sort of magic lay in wait within the Hollow for her to find.