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

The sky is blue and cloudless, the sunlight is bright, and a cool wind blows from the northwest. In the forest, the wind rustles the bright green leaves of trees and bushes and carries Bellsprout pollen, downy seeds, and the fragrance of wildflowers along with it. While at the coast, the ocean is a deep cool blue today, the waves lapping at the coast gently under the warm yellow sun.

Bright colors, sweetness, and light! Candylion-springtimes! (We're saved!)

Dakota has arrived.

This is Spring. Swaying trees, rustled grass, sunlight so sharp it stings the eyes. The world practically sparkles in the weather today, for as far as the eye can see the golden rays of the sun reflect off of green and brown and blue. The day is still young, so perhaps the five puppies inside the Assasi Barn won't be too disappointed that they're not out there experiencing it first-hand; after all, dad's still out hunting, and no doubt mom would pull out all her fur if she had to keep an eye on all five of the puppies alone when there aren't the reliable boundaries of the barn wall. Peppy slept in this morning, so he hasn't been gone for long... but given how easily he gets distracted in good weather, he might not be back for a while yet. Way to care about others, Pepster!

The sun blazes overhead in the clear blue sky.

While Peppy enjoys the delights of Spring outside, Aurora is currently doing her best to enjoy them inside, and keep her attention on five rather active and restless puppies. The good weather seems to have got to most of them, and even if they're not dashing out of the door in order to make the most of the sunshine, they are definitely making it a little difficult for their mother to keep track of them. Puppies dash around from straw pile to straw pile, playing a hectic game of tag, and forcing Aurora to turn her head from side to side several times a minute. It's making her quite dizzy, too, as is apparent from her rather confused, <Don't leave the barn... ah, that's better,> followed by a low mutter of, <Why is the room spinning?>

Dakota is happily playing right along with the rest of them, completely ignorant of the fact that they are confuzzling and dizzying their mother. Giving a puppy giggle, she leaps off of a bale of hay, trying to take down her brother Briska. She'll probably miss, as all this running in circles is making her dizzy too, but it doesn't really matter. It's something to do that gets rid of all her puppy energy.

How ironic it is that it's so hectic and frantic inside, and yet, so peaceful and tranquil outside! Peppy will certainly not be home to help poor Aurora out for a few hours yet. It's right as Dakota springs off of the hay, however, that Peppy crashes his side into the door and squeezes through the crack. He's got something in his mouth, but it has neither fur nor feathers, nor blood, nor eyes to keep shut. What is this strange thing? The puppies don't know, but Aurora might, if she can remember far back enough into her time as a trained pokemon. The object Peppy carries is a rather large paper bag, stuffed with something that the Growlithe is obviously very excited over. Whether or not whatever's in the bag is enough to feed a whole family isn't clear, but one thing is - Peppy's home far earlier than usual today. The puppies are scampering across the barn when the adult Growlithe first enters, and Peppy's cheerful face falters slightly as the bag hangs from his jaw. So -this- is how excited they are when he's out hunting?

<Hey, s-slow down...> Aurora stutters, now dizzier than ever. Briska bounds past her and turns quickly, almost falling head over paws as he races back in the opposite direction. His mother blinks, steps forward, trips over her rather unsteady forepaws and falls on her face. Jaw pressed against the ground, she sighs and closes her eyes, muttering, <I never thought I'd do that again.> Peppy's reappearence goes unnoticed by his dizzy mate, who's content just to lie there and not look at the madly dashing puppies.

Dakota misses Briska, and rolls into another nearby bale of hay. For a moment she has a confused look on her face, as her head tries to stop spinning. Then, she gives a small bark, and bursts into a puppy grin, upon seeing her father. She, shakily at first, gets to all four paws, and then rushes over to Dad. She starts sniffing at the bag in her father's jaws. Now what couls this be?

Zip! Boing! Kapwing! The world inside the barn is lively and energetic with the playing puppies, and Peppy hardly knows what to do. He smiles softly as one of the puppies trips over her front paws... until it snaps into his head that the Growlithe who tripped is no puppy - that's Aurora! His first reaction is to rush over to her to make sure she's okay, but little Dakota has already approached him, and is sniffing at what just might be lunch. He peers down at the bag, lowers his head enough to give eye contact to Dakota, and sets the bag down on the ground. <Don't eat it yet, okay, hon?> He doesn't even wait for a reply - with a spring and a jump, Peppy (making sure to not step on poor Dakota) bounces over to Aurora, his pace slowing as he approaches her. <I saw what happened,> he woofs to her, partially in humor, partially in concern. Needless to say, his voice sounds rather odd right now. <Are you all right?> Should Aurora attempt to get up and not shy away, Peppy will attempt to stuck his muzzle right under Aurora, not lifting her up by her muzzle or anything, but at least guiding her up a bit. Maybe he just wants an excuse to half-nuzzle, who knows.

Bright colors, sweetness, and light! Candylion-springtimes! (We're saved!)

Aurora burbles incoherently for a few seconds, still nose-down in the dirt. She scrabbles at the ground with her paws, attempting to get her balance back, and then Peppy thrusts his muzzle under hers, giving her some help up and a bit of a push. <Oh, I'm fine...> she mumbles as she gets shakily to her feet, taking a few seconds to check her balance before adding, <It's okay, I was just watching the puppies. They were running so fast that I got dizzy, and fell over my paws just like when I was a pup...> Aurora blushes under her fur, and looks down at her paws. <I haven't done that for some time.>

Dakota yips happily, as her father puts down the bag. Obviously, Dad wants her to get into it! Yay! She 'obediently' stuffs her snout in, and starts sniffing at the contents. Hmm... Smells kind of like berries... And meat... But just a little different. Not bad, but different. She wants to dig in, but Dad did say something about not yet... She "mrrfs" unhappily, and pulls her nose back out, and waits impatiently for Peppy to let her eat.

Well, Peppy isn't laughing at poor Aurora's misfortune - that has to be worth something, right? <It's okay,> he comforts her rather softly after her muzzle is no longer on top of his. <The most important thing is that you weren't hurt! Besides, I still trip over my paws all t...> He stops in mid-sentence, his mouth hanging open. Maybe his innate clumsiness is not one of the things he wants to admit not only to his mate but any puppies within hearing distance. Shaking his head, he quickly and none-too-deftly changes the subject. <But you're not hurt, right? I found a trainer today! But she was really nice, and she had lots of food but she didn't like it and she gave me some!>

Blinking a few times, Aurora looks at Peppy with a small grin, and replies, <Thank you for the help. And... oh, so is that what you brought back from the hunt?> She turns her attention to the bag that Dakota's now investigating, and her ears prick up in interest as she sniffs at the air in that direction. <What sort of food was it? Do you think the puppies will be able to eat it?> she asks once she's sampled the air. <It smells like food, but the smell's not very strong, if you know what I mean.>

The sky is blue and cloudless, the sunlight is bright, and a cool wind blows from the northwest.

Dakota sits there for at least a few more minutes, staring with big puppy eyes at her dad, before just giving up. She shrugs, makes sure that the parents aren't looking and... Spreads everything everywhere across the floor. She goes and picks up one of the meat sandwiches, and drags it behind a bale of hay, where she is in complete sight, but can pretend she's not. There she tries, without any success of course, to rip open the bag and get to the food inside.

Peppy nods his head excitedly numerous times, bobbling so hard it's bound to fall off. <Yeah! Isn't it great?> His tail shakes back and forth quickly as he watches Dakota play around with the sandwich bag. He doesn't seem miffed that she ignored her; likely he would have done the same himself. <I didn't have to kill a Rattata -or- risk hurting myself!> Hey, Peppy of all pokemon couldn't turn down a free lunch. Is his lazy of him, or smart of him? Maybe it's both. <Patch fed me one a really long time ago. It's called a... a... what do you call it...> Pressing the right side of his chin against the lower part of his shoulder, as if he was looking behind himself, he stares at the ground, struggling to come up with the word. <Sa... uh... samirch? Samich?> He can't hit those "Growl"s and "Lithe"s right, but if Aurora's heard the word, perhaps she could pick it up. <It tasted a tiny little bit like a burger, because it was the same soft things, but the hard thing in the middle wasn't hard.> Brilliance. He takes a quick glance at Dakota struggling to tear open the bag, and cocks his head slightly, though doesn't say anything.

Aurora nods as Peppy tries to explain what he's brought back, and replies, <Oh, I think I remember those. Samwitches, or something, weren't they? Karen - my trainer, Karen,> she adds hastily, in case Peppy starts to wonder why one of their puppies has been finding food for her parents already, <used to give bits of hers to me. They had soft bits on the outside, and the inside was sweet, like berries. Or sometimes it tasted a bit like Rattata. But she had problems getting to them sometimes, because they were in a hard shell that wasn't easy to open, or they were in a sort of slippery peel that didn't come off easily.> She pauses, blinks, and then looks at Peppy. <Did the trainer who gave you those take them out of their shells or their peel, do you know?>

Dakota finishes trying to open the sandwich, sets it down, and just starts frowning at it. Food isn't supposed to be so hard to eat! So she tries to learn it some manners, by sitting there and growling at it, with a couple of barks thrown in for good measure.

Yes, the thought "Karen is bringing home sandwiches for the family? How come I didn't get one?" actually flickers in Peppy's head for a second or two until Aurora explains Karen. He nods a couple times, secretly just to try and falsely prove that he knew that Aurora was talking about her -trainer- Karen, not the puppy! <Right! Sweet li... berries?> Peppy's ears prick up at the thought of a soft outside, but they fall right back down when Aurora mentions something sweet lodged in between the bread exterior. Curious now, he turns his attention over to the bag, narrowing his eyes at it. <... They taste like berries now? I should try one!> Like he wasn't as is. As Aurora continues, Peppy glances back at her, every bit as curious. <Shell? Peel? You mean like...> Now he gestures over to Dakota, as she glares and growls at the plastic bag covering the sandwich. <... that?> Without even waiting for a reply, Peppy gets up to all four paws, gestures once again a little more lightly, and starts to march towards Dakota, presumably to help her out.

After she's looked over at Dakota and the problems the puppy is having with her plastic-bagged sandwiches (which, despite all her attempts to teach them a lesson, are steadfastly refusing to open up and yield the sandwich-y goodness), Aurora nods, and replies, <Like that, except wrapped more tightly.> She nods as Peppy goes to help his daughter, and then starts to walk towards the remains of the food bag, to stand some of the other puppies who are tugging and chewing at the sandwiches and chip bags. Dusk is having particular luck with one of the bags of chips, and has managed to tear a small hole out of one end and proceeded to lick what spills onto the floor. Judging by her occasional sniffs and whimpers, though, the chips were rather strongly flavoured, and the tangy smell of salt and vinegar starts to rise from the bag.

Bright colors, sweetness, and light! Candylion-springtimes! (We're saved!)

After a few minutes of the whole trying-to-scare-it-out-of-it's-bag thing, Dakota looks pleadingly toward her father. Who's on his way. She blinks in surprise at the fact that Dad seems to have read her mind, and is coming over to help, before smiling appreciatively. Dad's sure to be scary enough to get the food out of the bag! ... She hopes!

Peppy, as we all know by now, lives in a perpetual state of hunger. When he first entered the barn, he was perfectly prepared to let the other Growlithes eat their fill before he even started upon scavenging the leftovers. All this talk about bread and meat and even allusions to *slurp* burgers, however, have caused his stomach to rebel, and Peppy idly glances over at the big paper bag to see if there will be anything left for him. The task at hand, however, attracts his attention back quickly enough, and Dakota's smiling face is enough to keep his mind off of his tummy - at least, temporarily. <Having trouble there, Dakota?> he asks, turning his eyes down to the food. Quite frankly, he doesn't exactly know how to go about opening this either, so he ponders over it for a couple moments before - get this - Peppy gets an idea. <Here! You bite that side, and I'll bite this one, and we'll both pull!> It doesn't strike Peppy that Dakota might not understand every word he says, but maybe with a little luck, she'll follow his example as he clamps his teeth down on the bag, careful to not touch the treasure inside, and looks expectantly at her.

While Peppy and Dakota struggle with one sandwich, Aurora is petitioned by Karen and Briska, nudging at her forelegs, to come and help them get the food out of the bags. With a nod, and a <Just a moment...> to the two puppies, Aurora glances over at Peppy to see what approach he takes to the problem, and grins as a plan becomes clear. Looking at Karen first, she says, <I'll hold one side in my teeth, and you hold the other, then we'll pull away from each other. Then the food will come out! Okay?> Karen nods, and a few seconds after Aurora bites into the plastic on one side of the sandwich, the puppy follows suit, growling a little as if to dare the sandwich bag to fight back.

Dakota blinks for a moment, uncomprehending. What? Now Dad's trying to steal -her- lunch! And he was supposed to help her... She growls, and takes the other side in her teeth, pulling to try and get her meal back. Of course, if it wasn't for the fact that she's angry at her dad for stealing it in the first place, this would be a fun new game for the puppy... But even if her puppy mind -does- have trouble holding onto a grudge, she's not thinking about that! ...Much.

If Peppy knew that Aurora was borrowing an idea from him, he would be more nervous and more flattered than he's ever felt before. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?), his attention is focused on young Dakota, who gets the hint! She does seem to be tugging with quite a bit of vigor and vitality, almost as if she's angry or something... perhaps she just wants to show her father her strength? That's pretty much the only excuse Peppy can come up with. With the two Growlithes tugging, it's not long before the plastic rips. Unable to stop tugging in time, Peppy rears back his head as the plastic snaps off; likely, poor Dakota might stumble backwards. The sandwich bounces slightly into the air before tumbling onto the hard floor. The meat remains stuck to one side of the bread, but the other piece flops over in the dust. Spitting the piece of plastic onto the floor, Peppy beams, mostly to himself. <We did it!>

Aurora and Karen's tugging match takes a little longer than Peppy and Dakota's, but the outcome is much the same - the plastic suddenly rips, making Aurora stumble back and Karen tumble over, and sending the sandwich flying into the air. Thankfully, the slices of bread stay together, though the fruit filling starts to ooze out onto the floor. Aurora moves over to nudge and help Karen up, and once the puppy's back on her feet her mother woofs encouragingly, <Go on, have a taste of it.> She grins as Karen obligingly trots off to tackle the sandwich, and then turns to Briska, who's been mauling his sandwich bag a little while he waited for her attention. With a resigned little sigh, Aurora tells him, <Okay, you do what your sister did, and bite the end of the bag, and I'll bite the other end. Got that?>

Dakota is, for the second time today, dazed and on her back. When she regains some presence of mind, she looks over to see the fate of her sandwich, sure that her father has already eaten it all. And there's the empty bag! However, she has just gotten up all in a huff because her food is 'gone,' when Karen and Aurora open another sandwich. Dakota blinks for a moment, and then her eyes are drawn to the piece of bread with meat on it. Oh! That's what it is! But then, why didn't Dad eat it? She shrugs, and trots over to eat it herself. If Dad's playing some weird adult game that she doesn't understand, as long as she gets the sandwich, who cares?

Dakota doesn't seem to share Peppy's enthusiasm, but, quite likely, his joy at working together with his daughter -is- one of those "weird adult" things that puppies barely half a year old can understand. Peppy takes a couple steps back as Dakota tears into her food. He spots the other piece of bread on the ground. He marches towards it, leans over, and snatches it up in his mouth. Instead of eating it himself, however, he takes it over to Dakota, and deposits it right in front of her muzzle. There are teeth marks in it now, and a little drool drips off the side - though whether Dakota minds that or not is up to her. <Try it with both pieces!> he recommends with a nod, watching her for a few moments more before giving Aurora and Briska a little of his time.

It doesn't take too long before Briska's sandwich bag bursts, and the pup goes tumbling backwards, one of the bread slices landing on his chest as he falls on his back. Sniffing at the air, Briska attempts to lean forward and bite a chunk of the bread-and-meat, though as he moves his head forwards his body lifts, and so the bread slides down his chest and out of his reach. Aurora grins a little as she watches Briska concentrate hard and try to retrieve the ever-escaping piece of bread, and barks a <Well done, Briska!> when he finally manages to grab it.

Bright colors, sweetness, and light! Candylion-springtimes! (We're saved!)

By now, Dakota has forgiven her father for trying to steal her food, since he hadn't actually stolen it, and what she's eaten so far tastes so good! Plus, she's decided that that was pretty fun, trying to open the package, and is planning on going to play break-the-food-bag with her other siblings just as soon as she's finished eating this stuff. When Peppy drops another piece of bread near her, she 'Lithe!'s a thanks, and eats that next.

The sky is blue and cloudless, the sunlight is bright, and a cool wind blows from the northwest.

Peppy watches as Briska finally manages to set his teeth down on the piece of bread, and though he doesn't verbally congratulate his son, he does smile to himself as he turns back to Dakota. Now, Dakota is obviously showing traits from her dad. Peppy blinks once or twice when he realizes that, to his surprise, the sandwich half has already been consumed by Dakota. She can eat fast. <I guess you really do like it, then,> he mumbles good-naturedly, a nervous grin spreading onto his face. No doubt that if he could, he'd rub the back of his neck.

Well, most of the pups are already fed - Briska and Karen are happily munching on their sandwiches, Dusk is tentatively licking at the salty chips and occasionally crunching on the not-so-salty ones, and Flame appears to have managed to open another bag of chips by himself. The only people unfed are, surprisingly, the parents... as Aurora's stomach rather loudly reminds her. She glances at Peppy, grins hesitantly, and comments softly, <Shall we wait until they've eaten all they can?>

Finishing her sandwich up, Dakota looks around for someone to open another one with. ... Only to find that her parents are the only ones. She shrugs, and goes to pick up another sandwich bag anyways. She carries it over to mom, and shakes her head up and down, trying to get Aurora to help.

As Aurora speaks, Peppy's ear pricks up, and he glances over at her to listen. Instead of replying immediately, however, he instead scans over the puppies, from Dakota to Flame to the other three. <Wow,> he mumbles to himself, shaking his head slightly as though he can't believe his eyes. <If we don't take some now, we might not get any at all,> he comments. Dakota distracts him, however, and Peppy's eyes follow her as she makes her way over to another sandwich, which she brings over to Aurora. Though it seems like a sweet gesture, Peppy shakes his head, as though automatically assuming Dakota's only there to ask Aurora for help, not giving the sandwich as an offering. <See?> he doesn't speak with disappointment, just good humor.