Lost Creek Hollow I've got no-one but myself to blame.

Dread wasn't exactly the word she'd use to describe how she was feeling right now, sulking through the still-too-strange forest, scouring the terrain for signs of her father's scent. She wasn't looking for him; the woman who had become important enough to replace her mother, who was probably hanging out wherever he'd built their shared den, that was the target of Ibis' investigations. She didn't really want to meet her. It was an awful little thought, but it was the truth. Not knowing what to expect (regardless of what she'd been told), little Ibis knew in her heart of hearts that it wasn't fair to judge the person before meeting them — but she was skeptical, and could have easily made up her mind about this pretender. 

It was by sheer luck that she came upon a path leading for the den. Ibis was not skilled in tracking (as her record would show: she'd gotten lost while trying to hunt down her father in the first place, and again while heading to the Hollow on her own despite multiple previous trips). The girl was hopeless, witless, when it came to her own sense of direction. In short, she completely lacked one. After being turned around a few times, Ibis emerged from off the beaten path and was smacked in the face by a myriad of sensations.

First, the overwhelmingly pungent scent of her father along with the mostly-foreign intertwining scent of (who she presumed to be) @Treason; simultaneous to this smell she had to hastily duck and weave around a series of young trees surrounded by brambles and marsh; lastly, as she settled on to some proper terra firma again, the yucky feeling of mud all over her paws - all the way up to her chest. She looked frightfully unkempt. There was no way Ibis could meet her step-mom (??!) looking like this.

Regardless of all her feelings, and the thundering of her little heart after she'd narrowly avoided further disaster on her route, she came face-to-face with the mostly obscured den mouth, and certainly the commotion of her arrival would arouse some kind of response whether she was prepared for it or not.

Keeping off her feet became more of a good thing.  It was boring as all hell, but at least in her den she could lay and stretch and not be pestered -- that was a thing that hadn't been much of an issue until she heard that Ibis was here, and now she was just... Not sure what to do about that.  If she stayed put, then at least she wouldn't run across her by accident.  And considering Treason's forced inactivity and resulting grumpiness, that was probably a good thing.

She stretched out as far as she could, trying to give a break to her spine, but ugh.  For the most part it just seemed like she'd just have to deal with it.  Was it too soon to start counting down the days?  Not that she knew where the end date was.  Sigh.  And hell, settle down in there, please.  Which, we'll see if it happens in the other thread, but it was entirely possible she'd skipped telling Terance what she'd thought was indigestion was more likely small feet trying to dig their way out like this was Alien.  It was a particularly odd sensation.  If it didn't happen in the other thread, then that was probably what she was laying there pondering.

Or was until distant noises seemed to be moving her way.  As far as she knew, if anyone wanted to talk to her, they knew the way to the den.  She didn't think it was particularly hard to find, but then again, she'd pretty well mapped most of the territory in her mind.  There were few places left unexplored.  It didn't sound like it was just passing by, so with a sigh Treason hauled herself to her feet and headed out the tunnel to the world outside.  She was expecting to find some sort of lost creature -- maybe a fox or a deer, something not familiar with the territory -- but what was standing out there was a small muddy youth.  Ibis, probably?  She shared enough coloration with Seabreeze that it was likely.  So, she'd tried to avoid an accidental stumbling and instead she stumbled across Treason instead.  Guess this was happening.  Treason canted her head slightly, speaking in her normal neutral way,  Can I help you?

She had just started shaking off all the mud when a shape took form in the darkness, and then the stranger's head emerged, followed by a burly - one might say rotund - body. Ibis' vision was swimming a little bit as she stopped, her coat falling back in to place across her petite figure, and she was absolutely dumb-founded as the stranger drifted closer. Well, maybe waddled. They were very plump, curiously plump, although Ibis had been taught not to think ill of anyone or comment on their appearance - that would be rude! But she couldn't help herself and stared in silence as the wolf got closer - outright gawking at them, which neither of her mothers would approve of.

Then the figure was looming over her; Ibis felt the difference in their sizes most acutely now. It was like some unseen force was trying to test her resolve — and the woman spoke in that blunt manner that Terance had described, her gaze boring in to little Ibis as she queried: Can I help you?

Um.

She really had no idea what to say. Terance had said she was the kind of person that always knew what she wanted, which made her sound strong - but pairing that with having her right here, Ibis was suddenly overwhelmed by how intimidating she appeared. She didn't want the woman to dislike her and so she tried to calm her racing mind to respond in a way that might appeal.

Thus, Ibis blurted:
My dad said you could probably kick his butt, please don't kick his butt.

Pause.  Her lips curved into a subdued laugh -- it would have been absolutely impossible for her to prevent it entirely.  It was just too perfect.  Treason was a wolf who probably would have quite agreed with Miachiavelli, so the girl seeming to be so out of sorts by having found Treason here quite amused her.  Fear was a sort of power.  Still, it wasn't like there was maniacal cackling going on here, just a bit of amusement to break her cool exterior.  Mm. I don't know, might be a little late on that, depending on how you're counting.  She (probably) won that spar, and she wasn't exactly one to downplay victories.  A spar would be an amazing distraction right about now, if she didn't feel like she had this giant weight tied around her midsection.  Then again, maybe she should clarify because if Ibis was fumbling that much over proper conversation, maybe she'd miss the joke, Just a spar, if it worries you.  Wouldn't mind another when I'm able.  I like a good challenge.  And with a catlike flick of her tail, she shifted gears to first stretch and then take a seat.  Standing around was the worst of all options right now.

But yeah, that was definitely Ibis then.  But uh.  Now what?  Did she actually want something?  So you're Ibis.  If you didn't mean to wander this way, that's fine.  I can point you where you wanted to go, and you can put it off speaking to me 'til another time.  Or something.  Sounded reasonable enough.  It wasn't like Treason was an especially good conversationalist either, so it was probably a bad idea to attempt to drag out a conversation that the youth might not want to have.  It was just not worth anyone's effort.

As a child of pacifists, of maidens fair and soft, Ibis did not know the word spar. Contextually speaking she could glean something of Treason's statement, yet her understanding was limited as her own worldly experience was limited. The casual - almost humored - manner in which the woman spoke made Ibis feel intensely out of place; as if she were missing some key piece of a great joke. She did not want to appear stupid. Perhaps it was unavoidable.

She was about to speak again when Treason sat down, and then when the matron's words struck Ibis' ears, the girl heard a different message. It felt like she was being dismissed. Subtle and between-the-lines as it was, Ibis could think of no other reason why her step-mother would say such a thing so soon after meeting. Unless she was unimpressed with her - disinterested. Um, she floundered a little, I was looking for my dad, fibbed the girl, but added hastily: but it was good to meet you.

She smiled as peaceably as she could, emulating her mother's perfect mask.

Treason's humor slowly ebbed to neutral again.  But neutral was better than grumpy, and since grumpy was starting to be more and more common, it was probably a good idea to just accept "neutral."  And Ibis' words seemed to confirm that this was accidental.  Treason didn't see any particular reason to believe otherwise -- her outburst had seemed particularly unprepared.  Ah.  Well, I'd expect he'd be back here by the evening.  But that was kind of awkward to just leave it there.  If Ibis had something more important to tell Terance, then certainly Treason could be more useful than that.  

Honestly, though, Treason hadn't really done anything at all so far today.  Going for a walk might not be a half bad idea -- she could at least do some of her duties.  Moving was above standing in comfort level, after all.  I suspect I know about where he'd be patrolling about now, assuming nothing's come up.  I wouldn't be against joining him, if you'd like me to guide you there.  Though it didn't end in a question mark, she did tilt her head inquisitively.  It didn't seem like a huge leap that Ibis was still getting her bearings in the territory -- it'd probably be faster for her to have Treason take the best path to where he'd likely be.  Especially if she came crashing through the underbrush and muddy melt and ended up at the den instead.

Her little fib had worked, kind-of. Treason seemed to be quite eager to help her find her father, and while that earned her some brownie points from Ibis, the girl wasn't actually so interested in spending the morning with her. So she tried to backpedal as best she could.
Oh, but -- but you should be resting, Ibis remarked, remembering how her mothers fawned over the women of Elysium.
What if you fall? Or, what if there's a -- a bear? In the forest? Or -- gosh, Ibis really should take a page out of Treason's playbook and be more direct. But she had dug this hole and couldn't stop. —What if they start coming out I don't know how to deliver kids, my moms do! I never -- I dunno!! Oh no! Now she was actually panicking; the very idea setting off a series of anxiety-driven tics.

Okay, it was a little funny that Ibis was freaking out over something so silly (to Treason).  It was (probably) a good idea to kind of stifle the humor a little -- she'd already been amused at Ibis's expense once already in the last few minutes.  So, maybe this would do.  Or not. Who knew.  Terance hadn't tried too hard to stop her from doing basically whatever she wanted, so maybe if she explained it a little, she'd do the same.  Or not.  Who knew. It'll be fine.  I'm a soldier.  If there's trouble, I can deal with it.  And I don't think that'll be happening right now -- I'll trust my instincts with that. Treason was definitely unflappable, she could hope it was contagious.

She continued, quite calmly, Let me worry about me, you should be worrying about settling in to the pack and anything associated with that. After all, it wasn't like she went and had made sure to have a midwife and a ton of checkups with a medic or something.  She was under her own care, and she was just making reasonable deductions.  So do you want to go find him or not?

She would've visibly paled if possible, but Ibis merely blinked wide-eyed at the woman a few times instead. How could she get out of this? She didn't want to lie; she didn't want to be rude either; if her moms were here, they'd tell her to do the right thing - even if it was awkward. But in the end she swallowed the lump in her throat and meekly croaked, Y-yes okay, lets find dad.

As she said that, Ibis went scampering by Treason very quickly. Thankfully the girl was nimble and small, so even if she bumped the pregnant woman there would be no harm down. However, she was very quick, and before Treason could turn around with her waddling and disproportionate body, Ibis hoped to have separated from her company and avoided the awkward hunt entirely.

Treason never put forward the effort to be quick outside of a hunt or battle on a normal day.  So of course, Ibis was practically sprinting out of the way while Treason turned and started moving with her usual prowl, no matter how awkward it was these days.  It wasn't really a contest, especially with one of the participants not accepting the race.

Heck, if Ibis got tangled up in the thornbush behind the den entrance, it was her own fault.  Treason was reasonably sure it didn't spread that far though -- wherever the hell she vanished to.  Treason wasn't even sure where it was she was thinking she was going.  Was it chosen at random because that certainly wasn't going to be the nice easy trail.  Ibis, she said loudly.  It'd be this way.  Her ears tipped forward to see if she'd hear any sort of response or if she was too busy fleeing the scene of the crime.

Honestly, Treason didn't much care or whatever, but she'd made the offer, and if the kid was going to be a twit about it, then it was just shrug emoji and she could just go bug Terance on her own. Whatever.  Maybe he'd make more sense of what had happened.

Unlucky for Ibis (or maybe not?) she was really bad with directions, so her sprint was actually meant to be in the right direction; yet it wasn't, as Treason pointed out. But all she heard was the woman shouting her name - and afterwards, whatever she said was lost to the woods. Ibis felt like she was in the clear as soon as she was out of ear-shot but she kept on sprinting. Her heart was racing; she felt like kind of a twit, but she'd done her best to be nice to the stranger who was replacing her mother and after all was said and done, she felt pretty good about it. Maybe she'd try again some other time, but for now she was happy to feel the wind on her face and lose track of herself within the dark of the Hollow.