Contents:
Aurora
Obvious exits:
Northeast <NE> leads to Commerce Road - Route 7: Gilded Path.
Southwest <SW> leads to Commerce Road - Route 7: Caravan Pass.

Snow flurries drift silently down from the pale grey sky. The air is damp and cold, and there is little wind. In the forest, snowflurries dust the bare branches of the broadleaves and the needles of the conifers. While at the coast, light snowflakes sprinkle the glossy, black, and calm surface of the ocean.

Christmas is right around the corner! Snowflakes drift from the skies slowly and gracefully, and the lack of wind makes for an absolutely wonderful scene. It's the kind of day to spend inside, nice and warm... Or outside freezing? Apparently, that's what somebody's doing. Peppy, Growlithe extraordinaire, plows through the snow, huffing, puffing, and thankfully not mumbling a word. Why, could that actually be a little smile on his face, too? ... Well... Maybe his jaws have just gotten so cold that they've frozen into a doggy grin. Whatever the case, the pup continues marching onward, occasionally stopping only to shake and send muddy snowflakes flinging around the vicinity.

Some pokemon are out in this freezing cold because they feel like taking a walk... and others are out because they can't find anywhere warmer to stay. For once, Aurora is not huddled under a bush, not after that last episode where she nearly got covered in snow. No, this time the Growlithe is stamping her paws at the side of the path, trying to keep warm in between attempts to dig herself a den. So far, she's dug a hole a foot or so deep - but only through the snow, and it's half-collapsed already. Nevertheless, the Growlithe soldiers on.

Through the drifting snowflakes, the translucent pale grey of the sky deepens.

While that fur coat isn't offering complete warmth or anything, Peppy can't complain as long as it's not windy, like it's been on a few too many occasions in the past. Trudge, trudge, trudge. Suddenly, the Growlithe comes to a stop, though this time it's not to hurl snow from his fur. No, this time it's to catch his breath. "Guh... rowl..." pants the Pokemon, his tongue hanging loosely from his from, his chest heaving in and out. Making your way through snow is hard work! <So tired... and...> The dog blinks as something catches his eye. Something is moving in the snow. But what is it? Five guesses pop into the canine's head. It could be a Katerwaul. It could be a Bulbasaur. Charizard. Horsea (yes, he considers Horsea). Or... worst of all... a Jynx. What to do? Run? Attack? Howl? And so Peppy stands, tongue limp, mind racing.

The evil Rockets are on the prowl. Save the data, watch them howl! (Saving)

Aurora stamps on the snow again, growling with annoyance as yet another chunk of her new den's roof caves in. "Llllithe..." A few more stamps on the snow, and then she gives up. Huffing in annoyance, Aurora walks away from her would-be den just as the last chunk of the roof crashes in. Spotting a slightly more likely area (under another tree, on the other side of the path), the Growlithe starts to walk across the road, completely missing Peppy in her quest to dig herself somewhere warm...

<OOC> Peppy grins. Aww, poor Aurora. :)

<OOC> Aurora grins. Stupid snow - always does that. :)

<OOC> Aurora winces at the snow. No! Go fall on somebody with a jacket on and a woolly hat! :)

<OOC> Peppy agrees wholeheartedly!

Peppy doesn't have an awful lot of time to contemplate his actions. The figure is moving! Lovely. If it's a Scarewulf (he's scared of those, too!), the dog might as well just fall over dead. The pup takes in a sharp breath, clamping his jaw shut. It's... it's... another Growlithe. A little smile crosses Peppy's face and he exhales a sigh of relief. Phew! No danger! ... It's about now that the puppy realizes that when he closed his mouth, he chomped down on his tongue. Hard enough to make him emit a sharp "Gro-owlithe!" of pain. Aurora's presence now only secondary to Peppy, the dog does the first thing that comes to his mind. He quickly lowers his fuzzy head to the snow and takes a big bite out of the snow, all the while whimpering like crazy. Ow! It hurts! So there stands Peppy, cheeks puffed out from the snow in his mouth, tail erect, eyes angry. The poor canine can only hope that maybe Aurora is deaf and didn't hear his cry of pain.

Darkness closes in early as thick grey clouds block the sun. A light snow is falling. There is scant wind.

Unfortunately for Peppy, Aurora's ears are fairly sharp, even when the falling snow is muffling sounds, and her head turns in the direction of the noise. She blinks as she sees what looks like... well, red and black fur, certainly, but its head isn't in the right place... With a curious "Grrrrow?", Aurora lopes over to investigate this strange headless Growlithe.

And so, Peppy lifts his muzzle up from out of the ground. Ahh! The instant relief his tongue gets causes a slight smile to form on the puppy's face, but this grin quickly turns into a somewhat horrified look. Ack! Ack! Thinking quickly (which isn't very fast), the Growlithe turns his face to the left, to the right, and finally... spits out the snow. His tongue begins to ache immediately, but his tries to hide his pain as best he can. Unfortunately, the dog has no other choice but to let his tongue lie limp out of his mouth as he speaks. "Glr-owluh!" is the horrid sound Peppy makes as he tries to greet Aurora. Lovely.

The evil Rockets are on the prowl. Save the data, watch them howl! (Saving)

Aurora sniffs the air, and frowns as she recognises a scent... it seems like she's met this Growlithe (now complete with head) before. <Hello? Do I know you?> she asks the other Growlithe. Wow, straight to the point.

The puppy's eyes widen. Yes. He remembers this other Growlithe. Maybe not her name, but her scent, her looks... Oh, this is great. "Gruhhh..." The dog makes an odd noise, fidgiting softly. His front paw idly starts to scratch the ground nervously. What does he say? First things first, he withdraws his tongue into his mouth, flinching and wincing like crazy as he does. Maybe Aurora's blind, and she doesn't notice. <I, er, I think we've met.> Peppy glances left. Glances right. And grins anxiously. His tongue still aches like heck, and when you have teeth that sharp, the pain's not going to go away for a while.

<OOC> Aurora hmms. Mind if I go soon? Should get to bed... zzz. :)

<OOC> Peppy should be heading to sleep soon too, but that's just fine. :)

<OOC> Peppy turns "but" into "so". His mind said "so". His paws disobeyed.

<OOC> Aurora aahs and baps Peppy's naughty paws. :)

<OOC> Peppy ows! Now he has hurt paws and a sore tongue! ;)

<OOC> Aurora snugs and kisses the paws better. :)

<OOC> Peppy feels much better. :)

<OOC> Aurora isn't going to attempt to do anything with the tongue, as that gets into the realms of naughtiness. :)

<OOC> Peppy will just suffer, then! No problem! ;)

<OOC> Aurora snugs again.

<OOC> Peppy snugs back. :)

The evil Rockets are on the prowl. Save the data, watch them howl! (Saving)

Aurora tilts her head to one side as she looks at the other Growlithe, and sniffs the air again. Then she nods, and says, <Yeah... I think I remember you... er, it was around here, wasn't it? When it was still snowing, some time ago. I don't remember much about it... it's been really cold since then.> Aurora shivers, as if to prove her point.

The sky is grey-black, without moon or stars. The air is cold and wet, and there is little wind. Snow flurries fall. It is easier to feel the flakes landing than it is to see them, in the darkness.

What is poor Peppy to do? His tongue's still aching, and he's already made a fool of himself in front of the female. His only chance is to redeem himself by using his irresistible charm and incredible wit! ... He's doomed. <I... er, I think it was. It was... a long time ago.> The puppy's gaze heads down to the ground. He hesitates softly, and glances back up into the other pup's eyes. <A... really long time ago.> How witty. Fortunately, Peppy has the sense to follow up with something else. <My name's, er, it's Peppy.> Bit by bit, his tongue is starting to hurt less, but it's still kind of hard to resist flinching occasionally.

<Mine's Aurora. Er...> Peppy's not the only one who seems to be lost for words - the other Growlithe isn't too hot on small talk, either. <Um... do you have a trainer, then? I mean, you don't look like you have a den near here or anything... do you?> The last two words are enthusiastic, and slightly desperate. When you've been hiding under bushes to get out of the snow, almost anything seems better.

Peppy glares at the snow softly, trying to tell his tongue to stop hurting so bad. The mouth-muscle replies by firing up, causing the puppy to tense right in front of Aurora. Lovely. Fortunately, the pain dies right back down, though Peppy is still left clutching the ground like a scared cat. He glances at the other Growlithe in front of him, and relaxes a little. Sore tongues are bad. Peppy stores that in his memory. <A trainer? I...> He turns his head to take a glance behind him, though Celadon City is not in sight. Well, Aurora asked first, so... <I, er, I do. Way back there.> A quick pause. <Why do you ask?> No, Peppy doesn't get it.

Aurora nods to the other Growlithe, and replies, <Well, I kinda left mine, and I miss her, but I don't know where she is... has that ever happened to you? You lose something, and you want to find it, but don't know where?>

The Growlithe flinches again, though this time it's not because of the pain in his mouth. His glance declines down to the snow on the ground, and his front right paw makes a small mark. <Um, yeah.> he mumbles, not looking at Aurora as he woofs. This is not exactly where he wanted the conversation to go, and, being about as subtle as he is intelligent, Peppy barely hides his discomfort. <I... I think I need to go,> he barks, this time glancing back up at Aurora. A small little smile is flashed, though this one is not very strong or reliable. He opens his mouth to ruff something else, but it doesn't come out. Peppy takes two steps backward, though he still hasn't turned his back on Aurora. Hey, he's not that rude.

<Uh... okay, then,> Aurora replies, looking a little (but not very) surprised. <I should go and look for a den... see you again, I suppose,> she adds with a smile of her own.

Aurora gets one last little grin from the other Growlithe before he whirls right around, trudging back to Celadon City and following the same path he paved getting here. The snow has started to cover up the tracks slightly, but it's still a heck of lot easier moving now than it was getting here in the first place. Peppy doesn't look back as he walks along... In fact, his gaze is mostly restricted to the ground. Weird.

<OOC> Aurora aahs and waves. See you again! :) <

OOC> Peppy smiles. Thanks for RPing with me, Aurora! I appreciate it.

<OOC> Aurora likes RPing with someone who's as good at it as you are. :)

<OOC> Peppy says "Wouldn't it be funny if that were true... I think you're better at it than I am. ;) Well, good night, Aurora! See you soon! :)"

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