Contents:
Aurora
Obvious exits:
Northeast <NE> leads to Commerce Road - Route 7: Trader Way.
Southwest <SW> leads to Celadon City: Eastern Entrance. A light rain falls from a grey sky. It's warm and there's a slight wind from the southeast. In the forest, raindrops patter against the leaves, and glisten like silver beads on their deep green surfaces. The wet tree trunks have darkened from grey to brown. While at the coast, the rain dances on the surface of the playful blue ocean gently.

Well, the weather outside isn't really holding up. The rain's been more intense on certain days of the past few weeks, but that doesn't mean that the light drizzling can't get on the nerves of particular fire-types. Though not grouchy, grumpy, or grumbly, Peppy - strolling his way across the muddy path and giving the occasional glance at the sky to see if it's going to clear up - is certainly a little annoyed by the weather. At least he's not hungry (for once) - that makes the weather outside almost - almost! - tolerable.

Peppy's not the only fire-type who's irritated by the almost constant rain - in the dug out den near the bushes, Aurora is shivering, her fur beaded with rainwater, and her expression more than a little sour. Every so often a quiet sneeze can be heard from the direction of the den, followed by a muttered comment of, <Stupid rain...>

A Meowth kitten starts to chew on the database -- better save, quick! (Saving)

Peppy pauses in his walk for a moment, taking a few seconds to shake himself dry - as though it'll actually help. <Wish the weather was nicer,> he mutters to himself, not for the first time today. <I'd-> He hushes almost immediately as his ear perks up. Though he lightly flinches constantly as rain dribbles into his eyes and onto his nose, his head stays pretty much in the same position. Did he just hear something? It takes the pup a moment or two to realize that it sounded like a sneeze, but he couldn't catch what pokemon it was. Without stopping to think for even a second that it could be a Bulbasaur or a Jynx or an Arcanine or a Katerwaul that's sneezing, Peppy howls a rather low, <Hello?> A pause. <Is somebody out there?> He hasn't yet realized that he's so close to Aurora's den - though judging by the way he's sniffing the air and listening for Aurora's possible reply, he most likely will very soon.

There's another sneeze, then a muffled, <It's me, Aurora,> followed by another sneeze. The Growlithe shifts within her den, shaking herself lightly so as not to spatter the walls with water, but not managing to remove much of the rain from her fur. <Peppy? If it's you, you can come in. There's space in the den.>

Peppy's getting more cold, wet, and tired by the second. The fur that makes up the tuft on his head has started to slink down, and he can't see three feet in front of him because it's blocking his eyesight. Thankfully, that doesn't stop him from hearing Aurora speak, and with a soft smile (and the slightest little bit of relief... it's not a Charizard sneezing!), Peppy splashes his way through puddles, mud, grass, and rocks - blind all the way because of his soaking wet tuft - and moments later ends up somewhere in the vicinity of Aurora's den. The pup shakes his head, sending that big mass of wet fur flinging to one side - before he glances at Aurora, his eyebrows narrowing slightly. <Are you all right?> he asks, worried, getting more and more wet by the second. <I heard you sneeze, and sneezing means you might be sick.> Wonderful observation!

<I'm *achooo* fine,> Aurora replies shortly, sniffing as she finishes the sentence. <Just tired, and hungry, and sneezing...> The last one is made clear as she does it again several times in succession, then shakes her head and sinks down onto her paws. <And I can't get dry, either. There's not enough space here to shake, and if I go out I'll get even more wet...>

Peppy's ears press against the sides of his head as he glances at the other poor pup, all tired, hungry, and sneezing. <Are you sure you're okay?> Peppy woofs again, this time very quietly, almost as if he's taking the blame for causing the rain, Aurora's sneezing, and the Growlithe's hunger. <... If you want, I can get you some food... It's, uh, not really raining that hard.> Shifting his position, Peppy takes a glance up at the sky. Yes, it is raining that hard. Looking all miserable and wet, the pup tries his best to smile at Aurora. After a moment's pause, he adds, <Or I can stay here and talk or something, but I can see if you don't want me to, because you're hungry...> Peppy's digging himself into a hole now.

Aurora looks up at the other puppy, hope in her eyes. <Could you, please? I know it's horrible weather, and I suppose if I'm not going outside because it's raining, then I really shouldn't make you get wet, but-> A loud gurgling sound from her stomach cuts Aurora off, and she looks at Peppy with a sheepish grin on her face, sneezing again before she adds, <Well, you see. I am a bit hungry.>

Peppy gives Aurora the best grin he can, trying his absolute hardest to suggest to the female that he's actually looking forward to stumbling out into the storm to get food for her. It's definitely not something he'll be happy to do, of course - but hey, he'll do it, and that's what matters most. <Don't worry about it,> Peppy assures Aurora, taking one last glance up at the sky. He has to squint heavily as rain drops drip right into his eyes. <I think it'll clear up soon, anyway. I'll bet that by the time I'm back, it'll have stopped!> If anything, the weather's going to get even worse as the day progresses, but that doesn't stop an optimistic puppy! Giving Aurora a tiny little nod, Peppy heads off to the right, supposing Aurora shouldn't say or do anything to stop him. Who knows how long he'll be gone? Weeks? Months? Years? Heck, knowing Peppy, he'll just fall asleep and forget!

A Meowth kitten starts to chew on the database -- better save, quick! (Saving)

Aurora nods, and still looks slightly concerned as Peppy moves off to get food. <Maybe I should go...> she murmurs, and cranes her neck out of the den slightly. She's about to move out a bit more when several raindrops plummet from a bush above to land on her neck, and with a small yelp she pulls her head back inside the den, shivering slightly.

<OOC> Peppy hmms and asks. I was planning to have had Peppy return in about... eh, ten, fifteen minutes. Would Aurora stay in the den that long? If not, I'll just pose coming back now.

<OOC> Aurora says "Aurora's not moving. I reckon that she's feeling hungry and tired, so her fear of rain has intensified to how it once was. She'll be in there for a while."

<OOC> Peppy nods. Sure, that works just fine. Thanks!

Minutes pass, and sure enough, the rain doesn't stop. Is Peppy okay? Is he lost? Hurt? Did he find some food but eat it himself? Hrm, that sounds pretty likely. Well, after about thirteen or fourteen minutes, Peppy comes around the bend, moving rather slowly, making huge splashes in the puddles he steps in. He's even more wet than before, and twice as muddy - and awfully miserable looking. However! Lo and behold, the quest was successful, and Peppy comes back carrying a vine with a fair number of berries on it! Wow, he's not totally incompetent after all! <I'm home,> the pup growls softly as his pace slows even further while he approaches the den. A pause. <I mean, back to -your- home.> Hey, it's hard to think when you're dumb, wet, tired, and carrying around delicious smelling food in your mouth that you can't eat.

Meanwhile, Aurora's been amusing herself by... staying inside the den, shivering and sneezing, and occasionally trying to shake water off her fur. Tired and cold as she is, though, the sound of Peppy returning - apparently with food - makes her ears perk up. Though she doesn't stand up, she lifts her head and shifts over in the den, her tail wagging as she makes space for Peppy to come in.

Though Peppy comes up to the den, he doesn't enter it quite yet - he knows he's dripping wet, and perhaps he doesn't want to get Aurora even more sick. Or maybe he just doesn't want to get all muddy from the dirt-sides of the den? <I could only find these,> he barks out of the side of his mouth, sounding (not to mention looking!) pretty silly with that giant stick clenched between his teeth. They're enough for a halfway decent meal - but, most likely because of Peppy's carelessness, some of the lower berries have a little mud and dirt on them. He now sets the branch down right in front of Aurora, and lifts his head, his tail wagging furious despite the terrible weather. <Are they enough?> he asks, glancing uncertainly in the same direction he came from. <Should I...> Audible gulp. <Go get some more?> The pup feels like a sponge right about now.

The berries may not be much, but they're certainly a pleasant sight to a hungry Growlithe - with a heartfelt, <Thank you,> Aurora bends her head down to tear at the branch of berries, occasionally tearing off bark as well by accident as she chews at the bunches of fruit.

Peppy watches for a few moments as the hungry Aurora munches upon the berries, feeling glad that his time spent drowning in the weather and crawling through the mud is making Aurora happy. Though he's not exactly sure if he's been invited inside the den, Peppy tries to squeeze in there anyway. He's dripping wet, of course, so Aurora might intentionally or just automatically scoot over a bit. He's very careful not to bump his head on the ceiling like he did before, and unless Aurora does something to stop him, he'll pop right into the den and make himself cozy. Yech - wet dog!

A Meowth kitten starts to chew on the database -- better save, quick! (Saving)

Still munching on the berries and branch, Aurora will move over slightly if Peppy's wet fur brushes against hers, but doesn't do anything to stop him from entering the den. Her voice muffled through her mouthful of berries and bark, she mumbles, <This is good! Thank you so much for it...>

A light rain falls from a grey sky. It's warm and there's a slight wind from the southeast.

While he nestles into a good resting place, Peppy thinks to himself how much of a -difference- being in this den is. He's still dripping wet, he's still freezing cold, he's still extremely tired - but he's no longer getting rained on, and he's no longer standing in the sloshy mud. <It's good?> Peppy repeats, as though Aurora's somewhat cheery tone, her thanks, and her '<This is good!>' comments just don't prove it enough. The pup lets his chin plop onto his paws, and exhales a somewhat relieved, <That's really nice to hear! I wanted to get you something more, but I also didn't want to take too long, because I knew you were really hungry...> With that, Peppy glances out of the den, up at the dripping wet sky, and waits for Aurora's reply to come... although he doesn't really expect one. She's got food to eat, and food > talking.

Aurora chews the last of the branch that's possibly edible - including most of the bark - then places it to one side and lets her head fall to rest on her paws. A few seconds of simply breathing lightly, then Aurora sneezes again, her head jerking back up. She shakes the water from her head with a slight scowl on her face, then sighs and turns to Peppy. <Thank you so much for the food. It was delicious.>

(At this point, Aurora unfortunately had to go. Rats!)