Obvious exits:
South <S> leads to Pokemon Haven: Assisi Farm.
North <N> leads to Field and Streams - Route 11: Farmlands.

Aurora has arrived.

Everything is grey, veiled by mist. It's chilly and the air feels damp. There is no wind. In the forest, only the nearest tree branches, half-bereft of leaves, show their full color; more distant trees and branches are colorless and indistinct in the pallid grey fog, looking ghostly and not quite real. While at the coast, the sea is sluggish and grey as fog lays on its surface like a thick wet blanket.

Blech. This year's autumn is bad and getting worse by the day. Tack on the fact that spring was worse than normal and summer was just plain miserable, and it doesn't take a pessimist to see that this is not going to be a fun winter. However, even with this thought in mind, how does the perpetually optimist think? That if it's bad and getting worse, the best idea is to get out there now and enjoy what little you can! Needless to say, Peppy and Aurora (whether through believing this optimistic assertion or just needing to get away from the puppies for a few hours) have crept out of the house, leaving Soki in charge while they go out and have fun. No matter what his mate thinks about this walk, however, Peppy is finding himself -not- having fun. The bitter cold, the hanging chill, and that muggy sticky wetness hanging in the air makes this walk far from enjoyable, but thankfully enough, Peppy manages to keep his griping down to a minimum, making only the occasional annoyed growled here and there that easily gets muffled in the mist.

There are some things that Aurora is prepared to endure when necessary, such as fog, winds and chilly autumn weather. And then, there are things which can get altogether too tiring - such as watching over five very active and sometimes incredibly demanding pups. Which is why Aurora is, rather uncharacteristically, outside in such poor weather - and it's also why, even more uncharacteristically, she appears to be fairly happy. Her tail's wagging as she walks along beside her mate, and even though she stops to shake herself and spray her surroundings with water every so often (and presumably gets equally soaked by her mate doing the same), she's not complaining. In fact, this Growlithe seems almost joyful. Can caring for pups be that tiring?

Yes, of course poor Aurora gets soaked by Peppy's shaking, which he probably does more often than his partner does; after all, she's a little more preoccupied with enjoying herself, while Peppy is just thinking to himself about how cold it is, how wet he is (shake, shake), how tired he is, how he misses being home, how hungry he is, how wet he still is (shake, shake)... At one point, Peppy opens his mouth to speak, and when he does, he enunciates very, very clearly. <It sure is cold out here!> It's delivered with his normal cheer, but the underlying almost whiney Aurora-I'm-really-really-cold-can-we-please-go-home-now? tone is easy to recognize. Subtlety is not exactly one of Peppy's stronger traits.

Everything is grey, veiled by mist. It's chilly and the air feels damp. There is no wind.

Trick or treat! Ash's mom drops a database into your goody bag! (Saving)

It's true that it is rather wet outside, and the weather's not good, and it's cold, and it's not inside the safe warm barn... But the cheerfulness and relief in Aurora's voice as she replies, <Yes, but it's not too cold... after all, not all the leaves have fallen yet.> imply that the 'nice warm barn' has its own problems. Such as puppies demanding food, and insisting that the hapless parent watching them joins in their rather complicated and exhausting game, not to mention having to make sure that Flame doesn't try to wreak revenge on his siblings for any insults or slights they might have given him. A chance to be free of this, if only for an hour or so, is what's made Aurora so cheerful, even in the face of so much nasty autumnal weather. Still, Peppy's not-so-cheerful tone is evident, and she does glance at him and ask in a slightly more subdued tone, <Do you want to go back now, then? I'm sure Soki's caring well for the pups...>

The fog is grey-white in the light of mid-day.

Peppy thankfully manages to keep from groaning or rolling his eyes at Aurora's response (which isn't, as he had hoped, '<Yes, it is. Let's go home!>'), probably because she sounds like she's having such a nice time and her voice is so charming that Peppy couldn't dare to bring her down. Aww. Now, we do have to keep in mind that since Peppy usually does the hunting, which is almost like a long break of just walking and searching, he's not nearly so jumping and anxious to free himself from the pups as his poor mate (who has to watch them during that long break!). <What?> Peppy woofs quickly, snapping his head up as his thoughts are distracted. <Oh, um, no, no! Of course not! I like walking with you!> Methinks he doth protest too much. However, at least he's acting in Aurora's best interest, which has to count for something. Look, he even gives Aurora a reassuring, if not cheesy, grin and a little tail wag.

Trick or treat! Ash's mom drops a database into your goody bag! (Saving)

Maybe it's the novelty of being outside and away from the pups, or maybe it's the effect of the fog dulling sound and sight. Or possibly it's just Aurora being a little dense. Whatever the reason, any visible or audible sounds that Peppy's less than satisfied with the trip outside and would, perhaps, like to be warm and indoors are totally ignored by Aurora, who blithely grins and nods as Peppy tells her that he's enjoying the walk. See, he even wagged his tail and grinned, so he must be having fun. Despite Aurora's happy grin and blissful forgetfulness of how bad the weather is, though, her reply to Peppy's comment is slow to come, and hesitantly delivered. <Um, Peppy?> she asks, glancing at her mate. <Would you... er, do you think... um... no, never mind.> She shakes her head, letting a shower of droplets spray the ground around her. <No, it's nothing.>

All right, so the walk will continue. Peppy will put up with a few more minutes of a walk if it'll make Aurora happy, and that thought alone gives him the energy to take a couple steps forward, already initializing a walk. No doubt this enthusiasm will die out quickly. He puts a few feet of distance between himself and the female Growlithe before she finally speaks up (or, rather, before he decides to start listening). His ear pricks up in response, and he turns his head in her direction curiously. She dismisses it as nothing, but Peppy, ever eager to hop on an excuse to not walk (never minding the fact that if anything, standing still will only make him feel *more* cold), responds with, <No, what's up?> Look, he even spins around and plops down on his rump, intent on listening to what she has to say.

Trick or treat! Ash's mom drops a database into your goody bag! (Saving)

<Well...> Aurora herself stops, and scuffs at the ground with her paw as she decides what to say. Once she does speak, though, it all comes out rather fast, possibly garbled in places. <Um, Peppy, would it be okay if I went out hunting a few times? I know I haven't been out very often, and I don't have as much experience as you have, but I know you spend a lot of time out in the bad weather, and I'm sure you'd like to spend time indoors in the warm, with the pups, and I think I could do fairly well with hunting...> She trails off, and looks down at the ground, a slightly embarrassed expression on her face. <If you don't think it's a good idea, it's okay. I just want to help out, and maybe...> This time she cuts off what she was going to say, and shakes her head vehemently. <No, it's probably a silly idea,> she adds, slightly more quietly and slowly. <After all, you know better how to hunt, and you'd be better at it.>

When Aurora speaks to him, Peppy squints his eyes slightly as one would if there was a breeze blowing. It's not a particularly skeptical nor disapproving look; Peppy, if anything, isn't what one would call a chauvenist. He doesn't, however, seem to hop right onto agreement, and he's silent for a few moments, watching his mate, quietly contemplating what to say. When he opens his mouth to speak, his tail starts to swish-swish slightly - though it could just be a sign of anxiety or nervousness, not necessarily of cheerful agreement. <Well,> he woofs, shifting his eyes to the grey sky for a moment or two. <I... well, it's...> Hm. He frowns a little at himself, takes another moment or two to think, and tries again. <I... I would be really scared for you, because sometimes it gets really, really bad and I think it's going to snow soon.> His ear flicks once, twice, three times, before he nods. <But, um, but if I'm going to take the puppies out in the cold to teach them to hunt, even though they're still kind of young, well, um, if they can, I guess that you can, too!> There's a cracky, unsettled tone in Peppy's voice that he can't hide, but at least he doesn't seem to disapprove. Aurora has a moment here to place on the table any input she may have.

Trick or treat! Ash's mom drops a database into your goody bag! (Saving)

Peppy raises most of the problems that could be mentioned about Aurora going out hunting - it'll be cold, the weather will just get worse, and finally there'll be snow. Still, Aurora nods and replies, her tail wagging slightly to indicate her small amount of confidence, though she's by no means totally sure of herself. <I know the weather will get bad, and when we get to snowy days I won't go out hunting. And I'd take one of the puppies out with me, if they wanted to go, so that we'd be more likely to catch stuff and so that they get used to the cold.> Ah, it all sounds so plausible and helpful... and then Aurora has to open her big mouth, and add in a mutter, <I just don't want to stay cooped up in the barn all winter... the pups make me so tired sometimes.>

Peppy certainly didn't pick up on the hidden meaning behind Aurora's request, so when she mumbles softly about being tired, it comes as something of a shock to Peppy. No, he couldn't pick up on the obvious; it has to be spelled out for him. Poor Peppy can only watch Aurora for a few moments, eyes rather wide, mouth pulled back into a frown, his mind thinking in the worst-case-scenario. <... Are you sad, Aurora?> he asks, his voice practically a squeak. <I... I mean, I know they're really, um, they're really energetic, and they have so much energy that sometimes they can make you... us really tired...> He's doing his very best to keep his voice from shaking, trying to keep as calm as possible. Is he overreacting? Possibly, but you don't take something this important in a casual manner. <But... you're not, uh... ... not sad we had them, right?> His ears are drooping, his head is low, and his tail has stopped swishing. Poor Peppy. Heck, poor Aurora for having to put up with this guilt trip.

Trick or treat! Ash's mom drops a database into your goody bag! (Saving)

The question does cause Aurora some thought - after all, she's the one who had to through the not particularly enjoyable process of giving birth in the first place, for example - and after a short time of consideration she looks at Peppy with a pensive expression, and then shakes her head. <It's tiring to look after them, like I said, but it's still fun to see how they learn and grow up. And they're so energetic and full of life that it'd be unkind to them not to join in the games.> She grins a little. <Maybe I'm just getting a little old. And one at a time, the pups are so nice to talk to and play with. It's just that four or five of them at once can get rather hectic...> Peppy's shaking, worried voice hasn't escaped her attention this time, and she shakes her head again, this time more vehemently. <No, I'm not at all sad we had them. I love the pups very much. It's just that it's very tiring to watch them all day, even if it looks like I'm just sitting around. If you don't think I should hunt, that's okay, but I'd like to...>

Everything is grey, veiled by mist. It's chilly and the air feels damp. There is no wind.

Trick or treat! Ash's mom drops a database into your goody bag! (Saving)

Crisis averted. The exhale Peppy gives after Aurora finishes speaking causes his entire body to lurch forward slightly, head declined to the ground, like a tired marathon runner after crossing the finish line. The ridiculous aspects of the conversation sink in - of course Aurora still loves them! She's just tired, just like he is! How silly of Peppy to think even for a moment that Aurora was going to leave or something! <That's how I feel sometimes,> Peppy admits with a nod, his voice carrying on a little more confident and a little more good cheer. <But I think it's worth it.> He nods a couple times, now lifting his head up to make eye contact with Aurora, giving her a bright smile. <I... uh, you're probably going to have to give me some hints or something on how to watch the kids when you aren't there, though.> He pauses a little more. <And I'm going to have to make sure I don't fall asleep when I get bored.> Guess that's his consent right there.

Trick or treat! Ash's mom drops a database into your goody bag! (Saving)

Aurora stands and listens as Peppy replies, a little tense as she waits for his judgment on the matter. Will he agree to letting her go chase Rattatas and show the pups how it's done? Or will he feel so protective of her that he can't possibly let her get even a drop of snow on a whisker? The answer is a comforting one, and Aurora sighs with relief, though not quite as loudly as Peppy's similar sigh. <Well, I can help you with looking after them, of course,> she replies, now smiling as her brain works frantically to recall all the tidbits she's learnt from playing with and looking after the pups. <Dusk has a habit of curling up next to me and going to sleep while I'm watching them, so you'll have to make sure that she doesn't fall asleep on your feet. And Dakota and Briska like to play in the straw, but sometimes they're not too careful about where they spread it, so make sure they don't throw the whole stack over the barn, otherwise the man and some of the others there complain. And...> More instructions are added, and Peppy might not be able to remember them all... Taking care of puppies is a difficult business, after all. Why do you think Aurora's asking for a break from it?

Peppy grins slightly at Aurora's response, and starts to listen attentively once she starts talking about Dusk's particular habits, wide awake and ready to learn! ... And Dakota... Br... hm, that's funny, was that a gust of wind? ... It's hard to see the sky, wonder if it's dark? How far are they from the barn? Will it be harder to see when it gets dark if it isn't already? And so, Peppy's mind wanders, and he catches only slight bits and pieces here and there. He doesn't catch what's most important, like who sleeps most, who plays roughest, which puppies are close buddies and which are close rivals, etc. etc. After all, wondering aimlessly about the size of the moon is far more important, right! Once Aurora starts to come to close, Peppy will snap back to attention and nod enthusiastically, looking like he absorbed every single word she said! What a great guy!