Lost Creek Hollow I'm not gonna try and change your mind.

She knew what she said was a low blow, and that they'd worked through that drama already. She knew it was wrong of her to dredge it up even before the hurt entered his expression and burned in his voice, and Ibis felt familiar twists of guilt in her gut and fled from them by letting her emotions get the better of her — that was the easiest part, giving over the practised stability taught to her by her mothers. The girl's hurt wasn't truly aimed at her father but she had no way to decipher it, to weild it, so she erupted in these childish fits.

I'm sorry daddy, she sighed her reply, unable to look at him because of how terrible she felt. I didn't mean that. Sure, she wasn't so great with words, but usually Ibis was polite and controlled. Her father didn't say the right thing but she couldn't blame him for that — in the end she didn't really know him and he didn't know her, so they were bound to have a rocky relationship even if effort was put forth to fix it. He had a new litter to care about now anyway; she couldn't help but frown at that thought, mirroring his expression subconciously.

Look — I, I do love you daddy. I'm sorry for what I said, but, I... I left mom to get to know you better, and maybe that was a mistake. Maybe her parents had seperated for a good reason? Maybe — and this was a brand new thought that was flavored by this lick of sorrow deep inside of her — maybe he never wanted her or Okeanos to begin with. What other conclusion could she draw from her experience within the Hollow? Now you have kids you actually want, and Okeanos and I — we don't belong here any more than we belong in Elysium. So we'll go and you can have the family you've always wanted.

She didn't know what she was saying but could intuit that the Hollow just wasn't home anymore.