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

Aurora has connected.

Fair weather clouds drift through the blue sky from the west, along with the wind. The sunlight on the snow is dazzling, and it gleams on the ice. In the forest, blowing snow drifts against the trunks of the trees. While at the coast, the sea is bright but cruel and cold looking in the sunlight, the waves gentle and the whitecaps small.

Sunlight rips across the land as far as the eye can see. Granted, that's not far - the white snow is blinding, and the sharp glare hinders sight, no matter how keen. Still, even against the constant force of powerful winds, most pokemon are glad for a day like this. A day when it's no longer snowing, a day where the weather is forgiving, a day where stopping to shake oneself dry ever five steps is no longer a requirement. That might very well be the reason that Peppy the Growlithe is taking a little longer to get home today. Actually, given Peppy, it could be any number of things. Maybe he's too busy enjoying the weather to remember to hunt. Maybe he's meeting a new friend. Maybe he's fast asleep in the sunniest spot around. ... Yeah, that sounds like Peppy all right. With any luck, he'll be home soon - with five rapidly growing puppies and the mother who has to take care of the bundles of energy, he'd better make it snappy.

Back in the barn, Aurora seems to be enjoying the storm-free day in the way she knows best - the Growlithe is drowsing, her eyes shut, while some of the pups play in the straw nearby. Only some, mind you - Dusk is curled up and resting against her mother's back, snoring softly, and Flame is over on the other side of his mother, grubbing around in another patch of straw by himself, and scratching at the ground with his small dewclaws. On an ordinary day, Aurora would be awake and watching over her brood, but now the storm's gone... she's taking the opportunity to get some rest.

The sun shines overhead, bracketed by puffy fair weather clouds.

The sun is high in the sky, and the blue sky rolls across the land and meets with the white in the distance, forming a thin black line. Should somebody care to step outside of the barn, they'll notice a long weaving track of little prints in the ground, starting at the peak of one of the hills on the layered terrain. Heading up and down the bumpy landscape is the track's creator - Peppy himself. His pace is rather hurried, far quicker than the speed he took when he initially started hunting. It's not long before he pops into the rustic barn, his nose struggling to take in enough air to keep himself from panting; after all, he has a Rattata in his mouth. ... But that's not all. He's also got... three sticks. Branches from a tree, to be most accurate. Tail still wagging, eyes bouncing around the farm, Peppy finally settles upon Aurora and grins a little despite the bundle in his mouth, but he doesn't move.

Since she's asleep - or close enough to sleep that not much apart from another storm is going to get a reaction - Aurora misses her mate's heroic entry, but Dakota spots it. Leaving the game she and her siblings are having of "run around and pounce on each other's tails", she bounds up towards the door, stopping a few metres short of Peppy and barking a few times, eyes bright as she looks at the Rattata, and tail thumping as hard as it can without falling off.

When Dakota bounces towards him, that "I'm going to tackle ya!" look ever so prevalent on her face, the larger Growlithe's eyes widen, and he tries to protest! "Grrrrrrrrrthrlthhh!" he manages, taking a wary step back. If she tries to play with him now, his entire bounty will end up a scattered heap on the floor! Thankfully, she comes to a stop before him, and Peppy rolls his eyes to the ceiling in relief. Nodding very slightly to his daughter (any more and he risks dropping the treasure!), Peppy pads his way across the wooden floor to his sleeping mate. Some of the less predatory pokemon look on with disgust, as usual, but Peppy does a great job of ignoring them. And so, once the Growlithe is close to the female, he glances at her, then at Dusk, back at Aurora... then just sort of lets the stuff drop from his mouth anyway. Instead of greeting her, however, he quickly makes work of collecting the three branches and arranging them into a neat little pile - no easy task when all he can use is his mouth, but he does it quickly enough.

Dakota looks disappointed when her father won't play, or even tell her what the strange things are that he's carrying with their dinner. However, she trots along beside him as he moves over to Aurora, and when he stops, she pauses and peers at her mother. Then she keeps going, until she's right next to Aurora's muzzle - and then she takes a few steps back, crouches and then dashes into her mother's side, startling Aurora and making her wake up with a yelped, <What? What's going on?>

Peppy is far too busy arranging his little sticks to notice what in the world Dakota is doing (obviously ignoring her in the process), so when she rams into Aurora and elicits a yelp from the adult, the Growlithe himself jumps back with a surprised bark. He pauses in this tense position for a moment, head high, tail erect, peering down at Aurora for a few seconds. He eventually relaxes, though under his white fur he blushes slightly at his jumpiness. <I... I brought home dinner!> he woofs cheerfully, gesturing to the limp Rattata at his front paw. He nudges it, watching Aurora for her reaction. <And... um...> His eyes flicker to the sticks. His mouth remains open, but no sound comes out. He snaps it shut, grins uneasily, and shifts his weight to the other paws.

Aurora's still a little groggy from her nap, and disorientated by being slammed awake by a puppy to the back of the neck, but the sight of food does quite a lot to wake her up. <Well done,> she replies, grinning as she looks the Rattata over. <That was quick... what's that?> she asks, pointing with her nose at the small pile of sticks. <They don't have any berries on them...> She thinks for a few moments, and then grins a little. <Are we going to throw them for the pups to catch? Karen used to do that with me sometimes.>

Uh oh! The Rockets are scheming! Better save than sorry! (Saving)

Fair weather clouds drift through the blue sky from the west, along with the wind. The sunlight on the snow is dazzling, and it gleams on the ice.

Peppy's grin gets a little wider, and, submissively, he turns his head to the side, giving the ever-so-interesting ceiling his gaze. <Those... um... No, those are for you.> That's sure to spark an eyebrow lift or two. <See, um, um, when I was out hunting, I met a human.> His head is slowly rotating back to face his mate. After his statement, however, he practically snaps it back to her, quickly adding, <But don't worry, she didn't make me sad or depressed!> The blush intensifies. The Growlithe crouches a little lower to the ground, almost as if he wants to lie down, but his rump stays in the air. Indeed, he's only getting in position to be able to touch the sticks with either his paws or his muzzle. <She... um... she told me there was something coming up called... called...> At this, the crouching pup's face scrunches up, and he looks thoughtfully up to his head. <Called... uh... Furdsnap Day. And you're supposed to get people chucklats and Furdsnap Day curds and... and she said flowers, too!> Obviously, his memory isn't worth much - even if poor Aurora knows what he's talking about, she might not get it from his horrid mispronunciations. At least he can say flowers correctly.

The new words puzzle Aurora a bit, and she frowns as she looks at the sticks. <...Chucklats and curds and flowers...> she mutters, and then recognition seems to dawn. <Oh, I remember chucklats, I think... my trainer liked them. She got them from shops, though, and not from other people. I don't know what curds are, though...> Her tail wags a little as she adds, <She let me have a little bit of chucklat once. It was very, very sweet, and I couldn't eat much of it, but she said she liked it a lot...> She peers at the sticks, and then back at Peppy. <So is that what those are? Chucklat and curds?>

The Growlithe stretches out his front limbs so that he's standing straight. Once again, Peppy gives Aurora a nervous grin, and he shifts his weight onto the other legs. No longer does he look or feel like Mr. Tough Mate; he's more like a little boy asking his crush to the prom, so unsteady is his stance, so red his white-furred face. <N... No, these are just sticks.> How romantic. <I... um, I didn't know what chuklats and curds were... but, um, but!> He raises his eyes to the ceiling again for a few moments, keeping his breath controlled, before readjusting them on the female Growlithe. <But she said... um, she said you only give them to people you really like a lot. But, um, um... it's really snowy outside, and there aren't any flowers, but I looked as hard as I could to find something... but all I could find were these. But... uh.> Weight shift, tail flick, ceiling glance. <... I couldn't think of anybody who I would have rather given these to... Um, because I like you more than anybody- uh, anything else... Maybe... we can pretend they're flowers?> His voice is almost pleading, because he knows he's going to get laughed at, or peered at, or eyerolled at. After all, they are just sticks.

Peppy's blush is mirrored on Aurora's face, and she grins rather shyly as she replies, <It's okay... it doesn't matter if they're sticks, or if they're flowers. You got them because you like me more than... you like me most. That's the nicest thing about getting them.> Her voice trails off to a whisper, and as she glances around, trying to avoid looking at Peppy, she notices Dusk has woken up and is staring curiously at her, which makes her blush more. Hurriedly trying to cover up her embarrassment in front of her daughter, Aurora adds, <And you brought dinner, too!>

Peppy's exhale is totally audible as Aurora speaks, not with the tinge of anger or embarassment or humiliation in her voice, but actual surprise! And adoration! Sheesh - there's a reason Peppy loves her most, after all. <Thanks, Aurora...> he whispers in the silence following Aurora's compliments, and even though she's avoiding his gaze at him, he, quite ironically, is looking right at her, smiling softly. That crucial neuron fires in his brain to lean forward and give her a nuzzle, but Dusk's awakening distracts him. <Dinner! Right! Right, right, right, dinner, of course.> Following Aurora's hint to cover up the romance in front of the puppy (maybe he's actually catching onto this whole "subtle hint" thing after all?), he takes a few steps away from the Rattata, woofing a loud, <Come and get it, guys! Dinner time! Anybody hungry?> Dakota, as usual, is the first one to react. She dives upon the Rattata with the speed of a teleporting Abra, though hardly knows what to do next. Peppy only grins.

Uh oh! The Rockets are scheming! Better save than sorry! (Saving)

Dusk isn't too far behind her sister in getting to the Rattata, though her first attempt at trying to eat is actually vaguely successful. She doesn't quite manage to tear off any meat at her first attempt, but her tugging does leave the Rattata with a bald patch on its rear, and her with a large tuft of fur in her mouth. Briska and Karen also stop their play-fighting, and come bounding over to the source of food, while even Flame leaves his lonely meditation and deigns to grace his family with his presence. Aurora, meanwhile, blushes for a little longer, then takes a step away from the Rattata to allow all of the puppies to fit around it.

Peppy smiles as the little puppies bumble up to the Rattata, especially as Dakota seems to have more fun tugging on the rat than actually figuring out how to eat it. He does, however, look up when Aurora moves away, and, with a small smile, woofs a gentle, <Of course I like you best.> He struggles to make his voice sound like it's common sense, a no brainer, but it's easy to see in his eyes, in his face, in his meek stance as he watches her, that in his heart and soul, he likes to hear it and know it. A constant reminder is always good. Making sure not to step on a puppy in the process, the Growlithe slowly paces towards Aurora, only stripping his attention away from her to look first at the three sticks on the ground, then at the puppies. <And I always do, even when it's not Furdsnap Day.> Awww. And now, not caring whether the little ones are watching or not, Peppy leans out to touch his nose to Aurora's, locking his green eyes to hers, his body's stance rigid and tense supposing the female Growlithe doesn't move away.

Peppy's words, spoken with honesty, make Aurora blush a little again, and look down at the ground - but she doesn't actually move her muzzle, and thus she glances up just moments before Peppy touches his nose to hers. They make contact for a second or so, Aurora's eyes meeting her mate's, before she flinches a little and moves away. She herself is tense for a few moments, and then she moves away and to the side, stepping around the pups and the Rattata to make her way to Peppy's side, where - as long as he doesn't move before she gets there - she'll try to nuzzle his cheek with her own.

Fair weather clouds drift through the blue sky from the west, along with the wind. The sunlight on the snow is dazzling, and it gleams on the ice.

The male Growlithe's initial reaction is a look of near hurt as Aurora moves away, a frown slowly touching the edges of his mouth. Does she not want a nuzzle? Why is she moving away? Did he do something wrong? Hurt her feelings? And so he can only watch helplessly as his mate swiftly makes a circle around the children (-their- children) and comes around... to his side. Peppy inhales as he realizes what she's doing, and by the time he's started to breathe out, Aurora is already there, nuzzling at his side, once again reaffirming that she does still love him, he does still love her, and nothing could ever break that. His mind burbles with all sorts of things he could say. How he's glad she still likes him? How he's so glad he met her, or he loves how she's there for him, or that he couldn't imagine being without her? No - words are just words in a position such as this. She knows all this - he can feel it in her nuzzle. And so, Peppy finally settles upon the only words that would fit this occasion perfectly. <Aurora... I love you.> And that's all he needs to say.