Sun Mote Copse Grace just hold me in your arms and let this moment linger

Niamh and Bronco had both not dealt with the situation well at all. It had coloured their views of Elfie in a very unfavourable way. Bronco took after his mother in that he was quick to angry, and held a grudge for much longer than he ought to do so, and Niamh had yet to intervene and correct the boy's behavior. As the incident offended them both, it had been impossible for a wolf as close-minded as Niamh to take the higher ground and try to fathom why Elfie had done such a thing. She was quick to take her son's side, as the matter involved Colt, and though the act had been done by nothing but a moody teenager who hadn't even really known the man well- nor had he known his own mother- Niamh had seen it as somewhat of an indicative sign that the boy harboured bad spirits. Any child who would disrespect the grave of his mother- and then defend their stance- obviously had some issues, and she was absolutely sure that he didn't inherit those traits from either of his parents. She'd come to the conclusion, on her own, that Elfie was simply a 'bad egg' and than she wouldn't have much to do with him. He'd had potential- he'd been a good kid, and had showed promise while hunting- but he'd wrecked his reputation in Niamh's eyes, by tossing the flowers off the graves, and then trying to rationalize why leaving a tribute was stupid. It made Niamh feel irritated to even think about it. 

And Niamh was the sort of wolf who was fairly short-sighted, and struggled with putting herself in someone else's feet. She was proud and naive- a terrible combination- so when Wraen agreed that Elfie had been wrong to do what he'd done, she nodded firmly, glad that her leader took her point of view. Niamh often took offense when others disagreed with her- so she huffed lightly at Wraen's next comment, which conflicted with Niamh's decree that Elfie- the son of one of the gentlest and sweetest wolves to ever walk the earth- was simply a bad egg. "We'll see." She mumbled ingraciously, still set in her views that nothing really good could become of Elfie. She caught Wraen's gaze in her peripheral vision, and thought she saw something of a question there. Was she trying to make Niamh think about her own mistakes and blunders? Yes, Niamh had done things she regretted- but the stubborn hen still thought that she'd been right, most of the time, for making those choices. She, of course, wasn't thinking hard enough, to recall the many instances which would put her to shame and force her to agree with Wraen. She didn't want to flaunt her arrogance, so she sighed, and nodded. Best to agree with her leader. Maybe Wraen was right. Niamh didn't think so- but she'd have to give her the benefit of the doubt. Elfie would be out of her hair shortly enough anyway. 

And then he'd be Towhee's problem. She did have to admit she felt the slightest bit of optimism creep into her mind, knowing that Towhee wouldn't allow any of his bullshit. Eljay was too soft and gentle to correct the boy's ways. He'd simply let his son run around and run the show, and grow into a menace. But under Towhee's watch, there could be a better outcome for the boy. Regardless, Niamh was glad to have the boy going somewhere where he could go through that change without having to force him into it herself. 

She pitied the boy, having grown up without a mother. Maybe that was why he wasn't terribly gentle, she thought, for a moment- but then she remembered exactly how hot-headed and hostile her own son could be, and he had a mother. Not a gentle, sweet one, though. And Bronco was growing up without a Dad, so both boys were definitely experiencing a great deal of trouble as they tried to learn and cope with life as a child being raised by a single parent. Bronco had been trouble even before Colt had died- but a different kind of trouble than he was now. Before Colt had died, Bronco had been childish, tempermental and sassy- but he'd been so little then, too...No one could really blame a child for being childish, could they? 

She blinked hard and faltered slightly, turning a concerned gaze to Wraen when she mentioned that Elfie firmly believed that death was a choice. She felt angered and beligerent that the boy would think such a thing. As if Colt had simply decided to die. And surely he couldn't have gotten the notion that Wildfire had simply decided to die, not from anyone in the pack. "Where the hell did the kid get the idea that we choose to die?" She asked coarsely. It didn't sound like something that would come from Eljay. No- she knew that Eljay had wished that Wildfire had been able to fight. Eljay wouldn't have simply let Wildfire choose to die. Heck- he was the medic. He was basically in charge of making sure other wolves could recover from illness and injury so that they didn't die. There was no way any of this made sense to Niamh. There was empathy in Wraen's voice when she mentioned decorating graves, but to Niamh, it made perfect sense to do so. Obviously, Eljay wasn't quite himself- if he hadn't been able to intervene and explain things to his son. He'd probably been avoiding the topic with the kids completely...And to be fair, she hadn't done much better. But her kids had been a bit older when their father had passed away. The two situations could be compared a bit- but they were still very different. 

Niamh wasn't completely content with the way that Wraen summarized Elfie up, and in part it was because she was judging him not as a boy, raised by a grieving, single father in a pack- but as she might judge an adult wolf, who had some bad things in their past that they hadn't dealt with. Elfie was at a point in his life where he could turn things around- but Niamh wouldn't be too quick to believe he had, nor would she so quickly forgive him for the ay he'd spoken to Bronco. Niamh was having a hard enough time trying to keep Bronco from busting a fuse without having to worry about Elfie pushing him over the edge. "Well, Towhee'll knock some sense into him. She knows what loss is like; both she and Phox do," She said, softly. "And she'll keep the kid busy..." She said, and sighed, finally allowing some of the pent up tension to slip away. "I think it'll be really good for him to go there." She concurred, finally.