Contents:
Streetwind
Obvious exits:
North <N> leads to Overgrown Lands - Route 11: Off the Route.

The sky is cloudless and brilliant blue. The northwest wind is icy, blowing snow across the landscape in swirling white gusts. In the forest, blowing snow drifts against the trunks of the trees, clinging to their windward sides. While at the coast, the sea sparkles brilliantly under the sun, the waves rolling crisply against the shore in a light froth of white.

Gosh. It's freezing cold, the wind is blowing like a hurricaine... and it's the best weather the island has seen in weeks. One would think that with the sun as bright as it is this afternoon that it would be warm outside, but no - it's still another one of those days to spend huddling up inside. That, at least, is what Peppy the Growlithe is doing. Sleeping away in his little corner, snuggled up close to his mate, Peppy isn't drooling (for once), but the look on his face still appears pretty happy. One would think he's been sleeping since Saturday night - but he's actually been out and about for hours, hunting for Rattatas that haven't taken shelter inside the barn. Hey, life isn't supposed to be easy when you've got five helpless puppies. Make that helpless, loud puppies... most pokemon are making sure to give the Growlithe family their room, just in case one of the kids wakes up and fusses.

Sleep, oh yes, wonderful sleep. Peppy's had real concurrence in those last two days. It might be just a shabby barn, and it might contain nothing but a bit of straw to settle down on, but compared to the world outside, it's a paradise. It's likely that Streetwind didn't even notice the time passing, or she'd have been really upset about appearing too weak.

Who knows? Maybe cold weather has some magical, sleep-inducing quality about it that mysteriously makes Growlithes want to snore the winter away. Or maybe they're just in hibernation. Whatever the case, there's little movement coming from Peppy and Aurora's corner of the barn... that is, until Streetwind disrupts the silence with a sneeze. Peppy starts up, causing a little growl of protest from Aurora as he yanks his muzzle out from under hers. He doesn't seem to notice, however - narrowing his eyes, the canine pokemon searches the barn. So what if he's colorblind? It's still not easy for him to see in the dark. A few of the other pokemon of the barn shift a bit, but none take quite as much concern towards a simple sneeze as Peppy does. <Who's out there?> woofs the orange-red pup, squinting even further to make something out of the mass of darkness set before him. He's instantly met with a reply: <Sheddup, we're tryin' to sleep!> Spearows - always cranky, aren't they?

Flicker, flicker go her ears. Streetwind paws her nose once or twice - quiet, you! - and then streeeeeeetches. Crack. Aaaah. What follows is a thorough shaking of herself. The one narrow beam of sunlight that reaches intot he barn through the nearly-closed door plays over her frame while she's doing so, creating a blinking reflection here and there, originating from something undertermined. Maybe the sunlight will help Peppy a bit in trying to see something. After that, while absently sorting her tails (you have no idea what happens to nine tails if you sleep long enough!), she ponders her options... well, she could eat that Spearow, to start off. But for that, she'd have to get all the way up there into the rafters. The Ninetales is pretty sure that challenging the bird to get down where she is and repeat his statement would have little effect. Spearows stay Spearows.

Well, Peppy isn't really going on much. One minute he's lying there all nice and warm and snuggling, next minute there are squawking Spearows and sneezing somethings. When it's totally dark around, sneezing somethings are sorta scary. As much as the Growlithe really just wants to plop back onto the floor, nuzzle up against Aurora again, and just go back to sleep, he really can't. And so, very, -very- apprehensively, the canine pokemon makes his way up to all four paws, peering into the darkness. Atta boy, Peppy - stare at nothing long enough, and it'll become something! Sure enough, it does. As the pokemon's eyes adjust to darkness (the beam of light Streetwind's stretching in helps, of course), he spots the familiar pokemon. Peppy takes a couple steps forward - creak, creak, creak - but doesn't say anything. He only looks sleepily at her, hidden in the shadows. Creepy!

Aie! Peppy and Aurora's puppies are headed for the database! Better save! (Saving)

The one betting on Peppy remaining unheard would get pretty awesome quotes for that - not that he'd win. As soon as Streetwind recognizes the pokemon that has such big troubles with walking at a normal level of sound, she turns around and jumps towards him. Peppy is just what she needed right now! If anyone here knows what she wants to ask, then Peppy. And so, Streetwind lands beside Peppy rather abpruptly, needing only one single leap to cross the distance. <Hi, Peppy!>, she asks out of the blue, fully aware that the nervous pup would be clinging to the lighting fixture by now, if there was one. Hehehehe... <What's the easiest way to get food in this place?>

The sky is cloudless and brilliant blue. The northwest wind is icy, blowing snow across the landscape in swirling white gusts.

No, Peppy doesn't cling to the light fixture, but he does clear about three feet as he leaps into the air, letting loose a loud bark as he does (which is immediately responded to with a <Take it outside if ya wanna talk!> from a grumpy Squirtle). His heart racing like a caffienated Rapidash, his fur standing on end, his eyes wide, Peppy looks downright shocked. <How did... where... how... you... how... I...> And so on and so forth, with more incoherent, untranslatable whimpers and growls. The first thing Peppy woofs that actually makes sense has to do - of course - with food. Halting his babbling for a moment to swallow, the pup gestures with his head to the barn door, still peering at the Ninetales with his green eyes as big as eggs. <... Uh... out... outside, I think.> I think? Two choices, inside or outside, and inside isn't an option. And he's still not certain.

The Ninetales smirks. <Wonderful. I'm sure you can show me. Let's not disturb all those that want to sleep...> She makes a motion to the barn door, a motion that says 'go ahead'. Obviously, she's expecting Peppy to show her around. Let's hope that the Growlithe at least subconsciously got the message carried by the sweetness in the Ninetales' voice: That's an order, little boy. Looks like she doesn't care much about the weather being crystal-clear-cold and very windy. So if Peppy doesn't move on his own, Streetwind will 'help' him a bit. She has got more questions, but for the moment waits until they're outside.

The grin Peppy gives the female is innocent, cute - and very, very nervous. Needless to say, Streetwind -does- need to "help" Peppy out the door, and it'll probably take a lot of shoving/nudging/tackling/punting to get him there, too. The wind works as something of a cup of coffee for the pup, however. The Growlithe takes a blink, opens his eyes wide once again - except it's no longer a horrified and shocked kind of stare, more like a 'Dude, where the heck am I, am I still asleep?' kind of look. Turning his head, Peppy spots Streetwind, and whether still inside the barn or coming out, gives her a naive little woof. <... What are we doing out here?> Earth to Peppy? Hellooo, Peppy?

<What we're doing?>, Streetwind says while stepping out into the gusts of wind that push the snow across the landscape. <Getting food, remember? You said you knew where we'd find some.> Hmmm, wind. Even if it's cold, it feels good to have something ruffle her long winter fur again after two days of still air in the barn. <Have you been here long? What are you doing here anyway? Didn't you and your girlfriend have a den, over at Celadon?> Has the Ninetales been taking lessons with Naiad? Nah, it's probably just a bit accumulated energy. While she waits for an answer, Streetwind sniffs about the place again, more carefully than she did when she arrived two days earlier.

Now, we all know how good with questions Peppy is. The Growlithe can answer two questions every approximately three hours, and his replies tend to be very vague and never entirely answer the question. The fact that the pup is halfway asleep and extremely confused doesn't help in the slightest, and this is what justifies the slightly confused, almost interested look he gives the Ninetales. <Food?> Wag, wag, wag goes his tail. <I like food a lot. I was dreaming about food until I came out here.> Intelligence is not exactly Peppy's middle name. There's a little pause. <And we came here before the snow started falling, but I remember it was snowing when the puppies came so that wasn't very long ago.> Another pause. Peppy's face creases into an odd-looking frown. <What was your other question?>

Blink. Blink. Streetwind stops sniffing. Did she just hear... <Puppies? You? And Aurora? ...Not really?> It's one of the few moments in time where you can see the stray totally baffled. She was expecting to hear a lot, but not /that/. Out of all the pokemon she knows, this clumsy little chewing machine has puppies? He can't be earnest. There's a lot of disbelief on Streetwind's face and in her voice when she asks, <How'd /you/ bring them up?> Let's hope Peppy is naive enough not to be insulted.

Peppy, sure enough, doesn't take it as an insult - why, he takes it pretty much as a compliment, almost as though it's something that makes him superior to Streetwind. Obviously, if something -does- make him superior, it's not his intelligence. <Yep!> he woofs happily, tail bursting back and forth even faster now, his green eyes now wide awake and sparkling with excitement. <I went out hunting a lot and made sure Aurora -always- had food and when there were puppies she was in a -lot- of pain but she's okay and now I have five of them except one of them is really back but he's still a Growlithe and... and...> And now Peppy has to stop for a bit. Lowering his head to the ground, the pup makes loud panting noises as he tries to catch his breath. Hey, it was a lot for him to arf on just one breath.

Aie! Peppy and Aurora's puppies are headed for the database! Better save! (Saving)

Peppy could had saved this speech of his; at least most of it. Streetwind's still hungry, and she wants to eat something rather than listening to some Growlithe's family tales. And one word fits perfectly together with 'food' and 'hunger'. <You went hunting? And caught something? I'm not going to believe that until I see it.> Would it be possible that Peppy actually /learned/ something she tried to teach him? Weel, teaching is maybe too strong a word, but she at least had helped him to get started. And later had dismissed him as a hopeless case. She nudges Peppy again, this time pushing him towards the open field. <Show me!> So that's the reason why she's putting up with Peppy - she wants someone to shove around! Well, she's got herself a nice target, then.

With a little "Lithe" of protest as he stumbles towards the field, propelled by Streetwind's light shove, the Growlithe whirls around - likely to the Ninetales's disappointment. When will he just shut up and start finding food? <But Aurora isn't hungry now!> protests the pup, a light sense of panic evident in his voice. <And I don't think the puppies are, either. Although maybe they are, but isn't it kind of cold?> There's an uncertain grin on the pup's face. If only Peppy's IQ exceeded that of an eggplant, he might be able to add that the human occasionally stops by the barn with a plate of food for hungry souls, but it seems as though the Growlithe's forgotten, despite how many months he's been at the barn. Dumb dog.

Poor Peppy, that was not a friendly request either. <Get moving, little hunter!>, Streetwind says and just continues pushing. <Show that you're worthy to be a father!> And when a seven-feet evolved pokemon pushes a little Growlithe, the said Growlithe doesn't have much of a chance. Well, at least Streetwind is just /nudging/ Peppy lightly at the moment. Her patience is not the best (in fact, it's one of the worst!)... <And don't worry, I'll eat it if no one else wants.> And if someone else wants, she'll eat them, too. And so, she directs Peppy away from the nice, warm, calm barn out into the open field, snow covered and wind-whipped on this wonderful sunny and awfully /cold/ afternoon.

Peppy's little whimpers of protest likely fall upon deaf ears. Half-struggling, half-going-with-the-flow, the Growlithe inches bit by bit towards the field, until presently, he simply succumbs to Streetwind's... ah... persuasions. <All right!> barks the pup, half-annoyed, but actually a little determined at that. Maybe the Ninetales hit a nerve with the "father" line. <But watch the puppies. Make sure Aurora's okay.> He takes a quick glance at the field. <Oh!> Whiplash back. <And if one of them bites another, don't let her bite him back or they'll all be fighting!> Ah, how experienced this three-year old dog. And with that, Peppy wanders out into the snow. Chances are he'll be home in five minutes, frozen from tail to muzzle, but who knows? Maybe he will find a Rattata lost in the cold. Only time will tell.