Who Wants Puppies?

[Kitsuneko]

The Gather was already in full swing by the time Aristide arrived, a large box propped awkwardly under one arm while the other kept a tight grip on Zexx's collar. He had to stoop down a bit--the canine was still young and not yet fully-grown, but between the canine beside him and the barks and howls coming from the box in his arms, it seemed the crowds were mostly avoiding the young man, which was fine with him. He directed Zexx toward the stall he had set up earlier that day with his father's help, and sighed with relief when Zexx stopped directly in front of it. He gratefully set the rather large box down on the booth and told Zexx to sit.

He wished this wasn't Zexx's first major job as his guide dog; he wished Aleksi was still alive. The mother of the litter had been getting on in years, true, but it still hit Aristide hard when she fell ill and died shortly after her pups were weaned. Between rearing the surviving five pups of a litter of seven, as well as training Zexx to take over his mother's job, it wasn't surprising he'd started to get attached to the pups and held off on giving them away until they were almost six months old. Unfortunately, there was no way a simple drudge like him could take care of all five of them, so today's event was a necessity.

With the stall he'd claimed already set up, the only thing left to do was to check the puppies and make sure none of them had slipped away during the journey from his quarters to the gather stall. Zexx was still obediently at his side--"heel" being one of the first things he'd learned--and Aristide reached a hand into the box. Each pup wore a leather collar around its neck which Aristide had made himself, and each collar sported a different number of braided knots around the band so he could easily tell the pups apart at a touch. Zexx's collar had five knots; the others ranged from one to four. He lightly stroked the rambling balls of fur, counting the knots silently.

The female with one knot in her collar largely ignored Aristide and her siblings, jumping up constantly to try to see over the top of the box to the crowds of people walking past. Aristide could hear the thump and skittering of her claws every time she landed, and she barked anxiously.

Her more sedate brother was less outgoing. In fact, so far as Aristide could tell, the male pup seemed to be asleep, completely unbothered by the noisy crowd and his rambunctious siblings. He wasn't normally a friendly canine at the best of times--Aristide just hoped he wasn't startled into snapping at someone once he was finally woken up from his nap.

The third and fourth pups were both female, and nearly the same in color, with black and white fur, from what Aristide had been told. While the pup with the three-knotted collar was wagging her tail and striking Aristide's hand repeatedly, the one with four knots was growling softly at her sister's attention. Clearly, she preferred to just be left alone, and the other pup wasn't having any of it.

Well, that was all of them. He supposed it was time to stop dawdling. With his own pup settled at his side, he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Canine pups being given away! Four of them!"

(OOC: First come, first served. Pick a number one through four. Naturally, each number corresponds to the number of knots in the pup's collar.)


Sample image is Zexx, the pup Aristide claimed. Not for adoption.

[twitchie]

Zi'axe slipped through the crowds, a frown on his face. He didn't like other people much. Not after his experiance with his father, and brother.
He froze all of a sudden, and turned back to where the sound came.
And for a moment, he smiled.
A puppy would be nice, Zi'axe.
Came the deep rumble of Zi'axe's bronze.
The tall 19 year old smiled, a hand ruffling through his hair.
His golden brown eyes looked over the clusmy puppies, his fine lips smiling.
And Zi'axe looked at Aristide, then at the puppies, then back to the man.
"Two."
He had a hard time remaining in the present, he mind wandered back to his youth days, romping all over with his band of wild pets.
Rallie mewed at Zi'axe's feet, and he knelt and stroked the mellow tom cat.
Nimae was still perched on his shoulder, her faceted eyes bright, her green tail twitching.

[Kitsuneko]

The soft sound of footfalls alerted Aristide to the fact that a person was approaching. This person wasn't the first to look over the pups, but the others had been content to watch and not take one. He hoped this person would be different--the pups needed homes, not just admirers.
He smiled wryly as a clearly masculine voice said one word. "I assume you want the second pup, and not two of them?" Aristide said as he reached his hand into the box to wake up the sleeping male pup with two knots on his collar. The pup snapped irritably at his hand after being startled awake, though Aristide barely noticed as the pup didn't even come close to making contact.
Once the pup was awake, though, he settled down and allowed himself to be picked up by Aristide. He sniffed curiously at Zi'axe, wagging his tail curiously as Aristide offered the pup to the rider. "Here you go."




Name: Up to you
Gender: Male
Age: 6 months
Color: Saddle-backed tan
Appearance: The largest pup in the litter, he is noticeably fatter and heavier than his siblings. Unlike the rest of the pups, his fur is a lighter, sandy brown color with black fur covering his muzzle and the area around his eyes. His ears are tipped in black, as is his tail, and there is a large "blanket" of black fur on his back, from his neck to the base of his tail and covering his sides all the way to the knees and elbows of his legs.
Personality: apathetic, lazy, and scared when alone
Going with: Zi'axe

[Akira]

Talian skipped along silently, just as she always does. It was surprising to see the young child without either one of her parents or her sister, so needless to say she turned quite a few heads. People had become so accustomed to seeing her with Inoria that every time they saw her they started looking around for the other young twin. After all, they weren’t always the innocent young girls their parents typically thought they were. She tilted her head and paused mid-skip when she saw a person at a stand handing a young puppy dog to another man. She bit her lip and tried to think of whether or not her parents would get mad at her if she decided to bring it home. She weighed the pros and cons of having a dog, and figured she could just butter up her parents if needed.

Talian walked over to the man who she believed owned the puppies; after all, he was the one behind the stand. How she was gonna tell him what she wanted she wasn’t sure, which made her wonder if she should go get her sister, mother, or father to help her. She looked around and chewed on her lip as she tried to think. There had to be a way of letting him know that she wanted one of his puppies, but how? She couldn’t talk, so she couldn’t just tell him what she wanted. No, she needed to find a way to get her point across without words. That’s when she started to panic a little, she hadn’t seen this man before, and so she was fairly certain that he wouldn’t know what she was trying to tell him even if she could get his attention. That’s when she kicked the ground in frustration, and started to mimic her father when he got upset.

(((OOC: She will want number 1 please)))

[twitchie]

Zi'axe forced himself not to frown. This man, the young man, maybe his own age, was not going to be able to harm him.
With exceedingly gentle hands he cradled the pudgy pup, his eyes gleaming with almost child-like glee.
Due to his solo nature, his social interactions were rusty, robotic so to speak at times.
"Thank you. I hope the others get homes as well. This guy is fine with me."
Zi'axe's deep voice was softened by the almost chubby puppy in his arms. He was not normally so relaxed, so... Soft.
Animals, creatures of Pern were his comfort. He loved them with his heart. They never judged him, or hurt him, or called him vile things.
Nimae peered at the puppy, craning her neck to stare at the funny looking thing. Her scaly face was quizzical, and seemed to ask, 'What is that?'
Rallie stretched his body to peer at the little dog, leaning his front paws on Zi'axe's leg. He sniffed at the baby seriously, brows furrowed in confusion.
"Silly cat."
He chuckled, showing the dog to the cat.
And then Rallie was satified.
The young rider then nodded to himself. The pup would be named Montie.
Montie settled into Zi'axe's arms and seemed about ready to snooze again.

[Kitsuneko]

Aristide felt the man take the canine from his arms and grinned at his words. "Just take good care of him, alright?"

Zexx gave a little woof, stiffening beside him with ears perked, and before long, Aristide heard what sounded like the footsteps of a child approaching. The girl-or-boy did not say anything, though he waited, and he heard a dull thump as though they'd stomped a foot or something.

"You going to come over here and get a pup as well?" He spoke up once he grew tired of waiting--and hoped he wasn't talking to thin air. He'd feel silly if that was the case. "Err--you know I can't see you, right?"

Inside the box, the first pup had spied the person as well and whined excitedly. She placed her paws over the top of the box and nearly tipped it over with her weight as she barked suddenly. Clearly the one-knot pup had taken a liking to whoever it was.

[Wish]

Where was she? Where was she...oh Faranth she couldn't have gotten far.

Inoria looked around wide-eyed and danced to and fro as she wove through the crowd. Her mother had told her to watch Talian, not lose the older twin! Grumbling unhappily, the four turn old dashed around a couple and held onto a column that held up a tent. The stall's owner gave her a strange look, eying their wares as if the weyrbrat would steal them. It only made Inoria narrow her eyes in response and set off again. She didn't want any of that old man's stinky candle sticks!

Huffing out an exasperated breath, Inoria looked around again scanning the crowd for her mirror image. Talian had to be here somewhere, the girl just had to be. They had just been at the stall with the Wher and Firelizard eggs, and the older sister had taken off as soon as she had retrieved her egg. Sighing, Inoria sunk down to the ground and shook her head. Find Sissy, please. Her voice slithered through the Gather searching for the few dragons she trusted enough to talk to.

A small smile appeared on her face as a dark green shape rose from the Weyr Heights and circled the crowd once before sending her an image and settling back on the Heights once more. Thank you Lorendyth. The dragoness simply gave the child a gentle nudge before returning to her watch once more. Heading in the general area that Lorendyth had spotted Talian in, Inoria finally let out a happy sigh as she spotted the girl not far off. "Sissy, you stay with me. No running again, no!"

Scolding the older twin for heading off without her, Inoria almost didn't realize they were next to a cart of puppies. Her eyes wandered over the third puppy, wanting badly to take it for her own. If her sister could have pets why couldn't she? It wasn't fair, but then again she had something that her sister could never have, and that was a precious gift. Inoria didn't even think that it was her ability to talk to the dragons, her sister could do the same to flits after all. No, Inoria could actually talk to people where Talian could not, and for that she would give her sister anything to try and make it up to her.

"She likes puppy."

[Akira]

Talian jumped slightly when she heard her sister’s voice, and frowned sadly when she heard Inoria scolding her. She gave the younger twin a look that clearly said, “I’m sorry, and it won’t happen again.” She felt bad for running off like that, and hadn’t actually meant to cause trouble for Inoria, but her spirits lifted when she heard her sister tell the man she liked his puppy, and turned to face him and the little puppy that was trying to climb out the box that Aristide had them in. Hopefully he would let her have the little puppy, especially since the puppy seemed like it liked her too. She was already thinking of all the fun that she could have with a puppy, then an idea popped into her head, and she looked at her sister excitedly. She wanted to tell her sister to get one as well.

Talian could already picture the two of them with their own puppies, running around the Weyr having all sorts of fun. She tried to beg her sister, but whether or not that would work was beyond her. But she knew that they could easily deal with their parents if needed, though their mother would be a little more difficult to convince. But she had a feeling that once they already had the puppies, Inali wouldn’t make them take them back. After all, the canines could be trained to protect the two little girls, and she was sure that was something her parents would really look forward to. But first things first, they had to get the puppies, well, she hoped her sister would get a puppy with her. Otherwise she would have to share hers, and even though she didn’t mind that all that much, she was still begging her sister to get one.

[Kitsuneko]

A shouted warning heralded the appearance of another child, a young girl by the sound of her voice. Apparently she was the sister of the mysterious other child, who still had not said a word. He frowned, wondering exactly how old these kids were, and where their parents were. Oh well, if they were old enough to wander off on their own, they were old enough to take care of a puppy, as far as Aristide was concerned.

The excited female pup was still standing with her front paws draped over the side of the box, sniffing curiously at the children, and the other two remaining pups had taken an interest in the two strangers as well. Aristide smiled in the general direction of the girl. "Yeah, they seem to like you too. Why don't you and your...sister? Come over here and pick out whichever one you want. Or two, if you prefer."

[Wish]

Inoria's eye's widened as the man talked to them. So he was going to let them take one home, wait no he was letting them both have one! She nodded her head vigorously, only then realizing that she could actually speak. The little pup that was making such a scene trying to get to her sister was obviously the one that she had wanted, and from closer inspection, Inoria saw that it had only one knot on its collar.

Wait! The puppies had different knots, oh that was like mommy and daddy and all their friends too! Rocking on her heels, Inoria clasped her hands together, excited that for once she wouldn't feel guilty about taking something she wanted. "Sissy no speak. She no able. I speak for Sissy, okay? She point to puppy, I say." The girl looked at her older twin, waiting for the girl to motion to one, though she was sure she already knew which. Responding instantly after ward to whatever her sister motioned to, Inoria looked at the two left over pups.

Which one, well that puppy had gotten her attention. Nodding, she pointed to the puppy she had seen before, and then looked at her sister for a moment before counting the number of knots on her or his collar. "I take three knot puppy Mister?"

[Akira]

Talian almost jumped out of her skin in joy when the man said they could each take a puppy. OH HAPPY DAY HAPPY DAY!!!!!! Talian clapped her hands excitedly and looked over at her sister. She calmed down a little when she heard Inoria explain that she couldn’t talk, and that her sister had to talk for her. And she didn’t even wait for her younger twin to finish speaking before excitedly pointing to the puppy with one knot. She had wanted that puppy since she saw it jump up on the side of the box. Then she heard her sister tell the man which puppy she wanted, and then pick one out for herself. She looked over and beamed happily at her sister. The look she gave Inoria is pretty much the same as a kid on Christmas day opening the biggest present there was.

[Kitsuneko]

Aristide nodded thoughtfully as the girl explained. So her sister was mute? That certainly explained why she had been so quiet. It was extremely fortunate that she had her sister here to translate, or else they would have had a really hard time communicating.

He was unsurprised when the first girl chose the pup with one knot--the female canine seemed to think the two of them were made for each other already. Fearing the box would tip over before too much longer, he grabbed the pup and lifted her out of the box and set her on the ground so she could greet her new owner herself. Her feet had barely touched the ground before she was rushing over to the girl with her tail wagging.

Then he turned his attention back to the speaker. Apparently she was interested in the one with three knots, and he reached into the box to grab her. The pup was compliant in his arms and whined anxiously as she was taken away from her sister, but she perked up quickly at the sight of Inoria.


Talian's:



Name: Up to you
Gender: Female
Age: 6 months
Color: Black and tan w/ white
Appearance: This pup is one of the larger ones in the litter, though not the largest. Her base fur color is black, with chocolate-brown markings on her muzzle, chin and throat, and belly. The lower half of all four legs are also chocolate brown. On top of the brown, she has a thin strip of white reaching up the top of her muzzle toward her eyes, as well as white forepaws and a white tailtip.
Personality: fond of meeting new people, obedient, and a worrier
Going with: Talian


Inoria's:



Name: Up to you
Gender: Female
Age: 6 months
Color: Black w/ white
Appearance: This is a medium-sized pup with pitch black fur, aside from her white markings, and those rather sparse. Large sections of her lower neck, chest and belly are white, as are her front legs to about halfway up, and to the ankles on her back legs. She also has a white tailtip.
Personality: trusting, outgoing, and downright dumb
Going with: Inoria