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

Towering white clouds drift slowly through the blue sky. It's hazy and hot, and the glare of the sun seems to drain the color from the landscape. In the forest, the shade under the deep green leaves of the trees is welcome relief from the hot glare of the sun. While at the coast, the sea sparkles in the brilliant sunlight, the waves rolling merrily against the shore.

Peppy has connected.

It's another day of dreams on the Pokemon Island. Blue sky meets green earth in the distance, and the temperature of the air is nothing short of perfect. Summer is almost upon the world, and pokemon across the world - including some with a brand new litter to care for - have started to preparing accordingly. Inside the run-down but trustworthy Assisi Barn, however, a couple families still linger about, hesitant to rush out into the world to build dens and homes and nests. One of these groups of pokemon is missing a father, as he's decided to take advantage of the weather and went out hunting. It's gotten more hot and hazy, and the world is more like a sauna than anything else out there, and no doubt Peppy's uncomfortable. ... But then, unless they're all knocked out and fast asleep from the heat, who has time to worry about the guy when puppies are romping around the barn... and there's only one parent for all five of them?

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

It's not any cooler inside the barn than out, and even with her winter coat mostly shed, Aurora's still feeling the heat of early summer. At least the hot weather is making the puppies drowsy, though, and keeping them from being too much of a pawful... although little yawns and the prodding of various limbs into Aurora's stomach are a sure sign that the pups, curled up next to her, are starting to wake up. Karen blinks her eyes open and yawns widely, followed by Dakota's even wider yawn, and the two female pups start to stretch their limbs in preparation for playing a game. Briska, too, wakes up, blinking as he looks around, then frowning as he notices that his father happens to have disappeared without telling him.

And no doubt Peppy considers himself lucky to sneak out of the barn without Briska finding out! Peppy can only stand being pushed back and hearing <No no no no!> yapped into his ears so many times before he starts to get mildly annoyed. Time passes, and the day lingers on. If Aurora happens to be looking out through the rather large crack between the door and the wall, she may notice around the time that Briska wakes up that her mate is just now approaching the barn with something big and purple in his mouth. Looks like the hunt was successful! ... However, if she does notice and expects Peppy to barge in through the door at any second, she's going to be rather confused when he doesn't come inside. And indeed, Peppy isn't injured or sleeping on his paws or preoccupied with something outside - no, he just stands there right in front of the door, idly looking up, down, left, right, and all the while thinking to himself, Rattata still clutched in his jaw. ... Now why the heck doesn't he come in?

Luckily for Peppy, Briska's not awake enough to go to the door and yell at his father for leaving - in fact, he doesn't seem to have noticed Peppy there at all. Unluckily for Aurora, however, he has noticed that Peppy doesn't seem to be inside, and is starting to mutter under his breath about how Peppy shouldn't go out. At least, it starts as muttering, but the volume and pitch increases, and Flame stirs and grumbles something semi-incoherent about puppies who won't shut up. Even Dusk, who's on the other side of her mother to Briska, whines quietly, her eyes still shut as though she's trying to sleep, but can't. Aurora sighs a little, and looks towards the door, although her rather bleary gaze doesn't pass over the crack where the door is open.

A port in a storm, a home away from home. We're (saved)!

Finally, Peppy is ready. He inhales deeply through his nose, cracks his head left, cracks his head right, up, down, and back to center. He exhales, and, with an air of expecting the worst, steps up to the door, presses his cheek into it, and pushes, slowly creaking the door open bit by bit. When it's just wide enough for him and his Rattata to get through, he slips in, immediately whirling around to close the door before one of the puppies can sense an opportunity and scamper outside. This is nothing new; every time Peppy's come home in the past few weeks, he's done just that. What is different, however, is under normal circumstances, he'd march on over to his corner, plunk the Rattata down, and proceed to play with the kids; today, instead, he stands there, forehead against the door, peering down at the ground with the Rattata still lodged in his teeth. Something's got him down - but he doesn't look apparently disappointed or depressed, just like he's expecting bad to happen any second now.

Towering white clouds drift slowly through the blue sky. It's hazy and hot, and the glare of the sun seems to drain the color from the landscape.

Peppy may be quick (well, as quick as he usually is), but Briska's not too slow, either. The pup's eyes widen as he sees his father sneak through the door, and then he frowns and trots over to Peppy, yapping loudly as he moves. What exactly he's saying is unclear, but he does sound rather annoyed with his father for sneaking off like that. Aurora, meanwhile, smiles in relief and nods to Peppy, woofing quietly, <Glad to see you're back safely.> Karen and Dakota, their limbs now stretched and ready to play, bound up to their father and clamour for attention and food.

And, judging by the look on his face, that's precisely what Peppy's regretting to face. The moment Briska opens his mouth to yap, Peppy cringes visibly, squeezing his eyes shut as he pushes his head into the wall so hard he just may go through it. Though his words are unclear due to the Rattata in his mouth, he mumbles something along the lines of <Glad to see you too, son> in a not-very-happy voice. His eyes widen a little in joy when he first sees Aurora, and, stepping around or over Briska, he approaches her, giving each of the puppies he passes on the way little grunts of a greeting, barely discernable over the panicked yapping of little Briska. Dropping the Rattata on the floor, Peppy goes for a nuzzle with Aurora, and, if successful, he'll proceed to ask her, while rubbing his furry cheek against hers, <They didn't give you problems, did they?> He's referring most specifically, of course, to the usually docile Briska.

Aurora gladly returns the nuzzle, sighing a little as Briska continues to yap, though she ignores it for a minute or two as the other puppies greet their father and then home in on the Rattata and start their meal. Her answer to Peppy's question is a quiet and rather cheerful, <No, they were all asleep until a few minutes ago. I think it's the warm weather.> After a little pause, she adds, <Though Briska wasn't happy when he saw that you were gone, and he made enough noise to wake Dusk and Flame up.> And speaking of Briska... Aurora looks over at the pup, who's still yapping loudly, and says in a low but firm voice, <Look, you can see your dad's back now, and he's safe. Now, please be quiet. The other pups, and the other pokemon in the barn, aren't happy when you're loud.> Having said this, she hesitates for a bit, uncertainty about whether she might have been too harsh almost visible in her expression, and then she adds with a smile, <Now go and have some food.>

By the time Aurora has started to speak, Peppy has already retreated his head back a little, and he nods in accordance to her words, idly glancing up at the ceiling when she mentions the poor weather. Perhaps he hasn't noticed just how muggy it is both inside and outside of the Assisi Barn; after all, he's kind of ignorant like that. As Aurora mentions Briska's name, Peppy's face visibly falls into a kind of half-frown, and he nods slowly, turning to face his son but letting Aurora do all the motherly scolding. He gets a glare from Briska, not a particularly menacing or threatening one, just an "I told you so! You don't know what you're doing!" before he waddles over to the Rattata, thankfully snapping his mouth shut. <Finally,> Peppy woofs softly under his breath, shaking his head as he watches his son walk away. <Wish I knew what it was that's made him so... ....> Peppy trails off into nothing, searching for the appropriate word but not quite finding it.

A port in a storm, a home away from home. We're (saved)!

It's certainly a relief when Briska decides to be quiet, and Aurora's soft sigh indicates as much. <I think he's worried about you when you go out hunting,> she comments to Peppy, watching Briska as he starts to dig his teeth into the Rattata's flesh. Dusk, still by her mother's side, climbs to her feet and trots hesitantly over to the Rattata, waiting for one of her bigger siblings to move aside and give her a chance at eating. Aurora smiles as she sees this, and then says to Peppy, <Maybe you should tell him that you'll be okay when you hunt. That you're strong enough to catch a Rattata without it hurting you much.> She glances over at Briska, who's eating eagerly, and sighs, shaking her head. <Or maybe the heat's just making him irritable.>

Aurora gets a soft, distracted <Oh> as a reply from Peppy when she speaks. Peppy pauses for a moment, and his head freezes in place. Even though he's looking away from her, Aurora may be able to suggest that Peppy's blinking, apparently caught off guard by this suggestion. <Really?> he asks, turning back to glance at Aurora curiously. <You think he's worried about me?> He now speaks with a sense of wonder, as though he never guessed that at home, it's not just his mate worried about him, but his kids, too! If anything, it gives the dog a sense of feeling wanted, and he grins toothily, flashing those pearl whites at Aurora. But Aurora seems to be interested in something else, and he glances over at the Rattata just in time to see Dusk nudging at Karen's side, struggling to stick her head in there and tear off a chunk. <Yeah... or maybe I... aw, lookit her.> He's pointing out Dusk, who, bumped back from the Rattata corpse by both of her sisters, irritably bounces around until little Briska finally gives her a way in. Peppy smiles warmly at the sight, before leaning back to continue speaking to his mate. <Um, as I was saying, maybe I should take him out there first. So he knows it's not as bad as it look... well, supposing he'll actually agree to going.>

Dusk's attempts to get to her food make Aurora smile as well, and she comments, <I remember doing that when I was young... I think I tripped over my paws a lot more when I was trying to get to the food, though.> She grins, and adds, <It wasn't too easy when there were four or five of us, and my big brother liked to tease me and stop me from getting to food until my mother whapped him with her forepaw.> She glances at Briska, who's still eating and seems to have calmed down considerably. <You could tell him that if he goes out hunting with you, he'll see that you don't get hurt or anything when you hunt,> she muses. <Maybe that'd convince him.>

Peppy's ear pricks up as Aurora speaks about her youth, and, narrowing his eyes a bit, Peppy glances back at her, an almost serious look on his face, and woofs an interested, <Really?> He pauses for a second, takes a quick glance back at the puppies, then looks back to Aurora, smiling a little. <But I'll bet it was kind of fun. I never had any siblings to compete with or anything.> Without so much as a blink, breath, or sigh, Peppy moves right on into the next topic, as though the two subjects are one and the same. <Briska did mention something about a... about a, um, a...> His head bobbles from one side to the next for a few moments, as though trying to recall the correct term. <A... uh... light? ... Shi... no, no, bright, bright hole? Something about a bright hole?> He pauses for a second longer, before nodding, certain that's the phrase Briska used. <"Bright hole no good", I think he said. Do you... um... know what he's talking about?> Peppy's tone of voice suggests he hasn't a clue.

Towering white clouds drift slowly through the blue sky. It's hazy and hot, and the glare of the sun seems to drain the color from the landscape.

<"Bright hole"?> Aurora repeats, sounding about as puzzled as her mate. <Hmm...> Brows furrowed, eyes intent, she's quiet for a good thirty seconds, staring at the ground as she thinks. And after the quiet period, it doesn't look like she's suddenly had a good idea... rather, she hesitantly says, <Maybe, um...>, and then looks at the door for a few seconds. Then, she adds, with slightly more confidence, <Maybe it's, er, something about the sun? The sun shining through the door?> She nods, looking more confident, and says, <I think that's it. The "bright hole" could be the open door, when the sun shines through.>

When Aurora seems perplexed by the problem of 'bright-hole', Peppy turns back to face Briska, a little surprised at the fact that his mate couldn't solve this problem. (Cut her some slack, Pep! Give her a little time!) When she does suggest finally suggest the sun, the Growlithe pauses for a second, leaning forward slightly as though to get a closer look at Briska, as if it'll help. <That might be it,> he tells her, as though he's not quite certain she's correct but thinks she probably is. <But... why would Briska be afraid of the sun? He's went outside before and was just fine. Why is it only now..?>

A port in a storm, a home away from home. We're (saved)!

With a shrug, Aurora replies quietly, <I don't know. Maybe it's one of those things that makes sense when you're young, but not when you're older and people have explained things to you. And it's hot in here, and they must be uncomfortable in winter fur...> She smiles as Dusk suddenly pops out of the mass of puppies around the Rattata, and wriggles her way back in. <I think all we can do is try to explain to them what's going on, so that they're not frightened of stuff that's happening, and ask Briska if there's anything we can do to help.>

Peppy does nod slowly, very slowly, as if he's not quite sure of what he's nodding for. After a few moments of this, he looks at Aurora again, no longer bobbling his head up and down. <We could try, but...> Peppy becomes obviously uncomfortable, and he rises to all four paws, whirls around, and moves a little closer to Aurora, no doubt because he doesn't want any of the pups to hear him. He plops back down, but does not continue speaking until he's sure all five of the puppies are occupied with the Rattata, not with their parents. His voice is low and deep, and, of course, just for Aurora's ears. <I've tried asking... but Briska... he... tries, but it's hard to convince him of anything. He tries, but... I don't... think he'd... understand.> The words come out choppy and almost stuttered, as though Peppy doesn't feel exactly 'right' speaking them. No doubt he regrets saying it anyway, but there the words are; no doubt Aurora's made the same observation.

Aurora blinks at Peppy's explanation of his attempts to try to talk to Briska, and then grins a little, looking partly worried and partly amused. <Um, I think I know what you mean,> she murmurs, her voice low so as to carry only as far as Peppy. <Like explaining something to a Caterpie?> Her gaze flicks over to Briska, still happily eating away, and then back to Peppy. <Just try to tell him why - and if that doesn't work, tell him that he doesn't have to worry. He looks up to you, you know, and if you say that it's okay, and you sound sure, he'll trust you.>

Now, Peppy hasn't quite had enough experience with Caterpies to warrant total agreement with Aurora's statement, but he does nod tentatively, as he's pretty certain that Aurora catches the general idea. On her next statement, he seems a little uncertain about her assertions, and he frowns a little, shifting the weight to the other side of his body nervously. <... Does he? He... I don't know, I guess sometimes I think I treat him bad. Like, I ignore him or tell him to hush or get annoyed...> He doesn't realize his voice is getting a little loud, and though none of the puppies are paying attention yet, if he doesn't catch himself, he might just yet. <... You know, but in a lot of ways, I think he's kind of like me. Like I was.> A quick pause. <.. Or am.> No doubt Peppy's realized by now that yes, his kids are supposed to act at least a little like him, but he speaks as though this is the first time he's really admitting it to Aurora, or, maybe, to himself.