Down At the Coast

[Aleu]

Aleu's eyes glittered in happiness as she was praised. Was she really that good? And would the spirits really come just for her?Without warning she gave the old goose a big hug with her paws. "Thank you so much!" she said graciously. But there was one thing confused her. She pulled away and tilted her head to the side.

"Uncle Boris?" she asked. "What's a wolf?" She had heard the humans in town always whisper that word to each other whenever they saw her. Sometimes they said it when her dad was there too. But what exactly was a 'wolf'? And what did it mean? Her mom would never tell her and her siblings didn't know either.

[Dakota]

Finally, another reddish figure appeared from behind rock. She had gotten something sticky in her paw and it had taken a while to make it go away. "Just for HER?" The husky asked the goose in an upset tone, "Just because she looks like daddy it doesn't make her any better than us!" she snorted childishly. "Papa ALWAYS favorites her out of us all." She angrily said, raising up to her paws, head held high with dignity, blue orbs shut tight. Spoiled puppy looked spoiled, though she was not. It just made her feel so underrated.

Creamy white paws carried the pup off and closer to the sea, eyeing Dingo while leaving. The red husy say down numbly, sitting just before the sea. "He'll never love us as much as Aleu. He'll never love ME as much as HER. Just because I do look normal. I will never be Papa's favorite girl." The puppy had to hold some tears back at her own thoughs, and she decided to just walk and sit beside her mom, not holding her gaze.

((Sorry if this is a little OOCish, but I guess Dakota used to be more childish when a pup ^^"))

[Boris]

Boris smiled as Aleu hugged him, his wing came up behind her and patted her on the back. Her next question surprised the old goose a little. Though he did not show it, he was nervous. Should I tell her? he thought. She's bound to find out sooner or later. Should I? No. If anyone should tell them, it would be their father. Yes that's about right. "A wolf..." he began "Wolves are majestic and powerful creatures. Not unlike you dogs. They hunt in packs bringing down large prey, such as moose and musk ox. They are very friendly to their pack members and will risk their lives for eachother. The tend to howl at the moon alot." There! He thought. That should be all she needs to know!
Then another voice caught goose's attention, and he instantly recognised it to be Dakota. "That's right Dakota! Your papa shoudlnt favourite Aleu. Fathers shouldn't do that!" he pretended to look around once more and leaned in closer to Dakota. "If your father ever favourites her again, you come to old uncle Boris, and I'll give him a good hard spanking, and a long telling off. He may have authority over you, but I've got authority over him!" or so he thought. Then he answerd Dakotas question about the spritis. "No. Not just for her, the spirits come to each and every one of us at atleast one point in our lives, bestowing gifts and talents upon us. My gift was finding your father. Yours daddy's gift was meeting your mommy! And your mothers is her wonderful family! This world through which we wander, is wonderful and strange, the only thing we can be sure of, is that everything will change! Small things become big. Winter turns to spring. One thing always changes into another!" he said, in an attempt to cheer Dakota up.
(Shame on those that don't get the references)

[Aleu]

Aleu's eyes widened as she listened. Wow... Then being called a wolf must be such a priviledge! That must of made her daddy one of the most respected dogs in town! The light-brown pup turned around at the sound of Dakota's voice. She rolled her eyes. She was always jealous of her. "You're just jealous 'cause I can howl better than you!" she yelled at her sister as she ran off.

She turned back around muttering to herself. She just wants to look like a wolf, just like me... She thought. She looked back up at Boris. "I know! I'll go tell my siblings what a wolf is!" she said excitedly. "They'll be so impressed!" With that the little pup jumped off the driftwood and raced back towards the rest of her family.

[Dakota]

Dakota's ears perked up and her little tail waggedas her uncle Boris spoke. He always knew what to say! The pup ran towards her goose uncle and attempted to jump on him. "I'll tell you uncle Boris!" She stated, smiling and licking his cheek. Her head titled with curiosity as the goose talked about the spirits. "Talents and... gifts? I want to have a talent, uncle Boris!" She exlaimed in joy, "I want to know what my talent is!" she stated with a few jolly jumps around her uncle.

And just then, Aleu had to ruin it. The husky-like pup growled and approached her grey-pelted sister, fur bristling up. "I don't need to howl to be better than you!" the pup spoke up, "You are jealous of me because I look normal! The pup yelled in anger, letting out a small snort, and then walked back to uncle Boris with a frown.

[Aleu]

Aleu spun around towards the red pup. Her eyes blazed with blue fire. "What. Did. You. Say?" she said through gritted teeth. She hated it when her siblings mentioned her appearance. She herself was fine with it, feeling it made her special. But when she was made fun of because of her looks...

She shoved her face nose to nose with her sister, her fur bristling. "Take it back!" she snarled. "At least I have talent!"

[Dakota]

"I said, I DO look normal!" The pup said with a growl, not fearing her qolf-like sister, "I won't take it back! It is the truth! You don't look like a dog, Aleu! And you say you are better than all of us just because of it! Dingo is nicer than you! Kodi is faster than you! Kiona is funnier than you!" she yipped out, blue orbs narrowed at her sister. "You should take back everytime you mention how you are better than us! Everytime you shove in our faces how awesome you think you are! But do you ever take it back? NO!!!"

The pup gritted her teeth, another puppy growl escaping her in anger, "So now, why should I take my words back?"

[Aleu]

You don't look like a dog, Aleu!
The sandy-brown canine froze. Is this really how her sister felt about her? "I AM a dog! I AM normal! And I AM better than you!" she snapped back. "You are a nobody, Dakota! Sure, our brothers and sisters have their own talent, but what do you have? NOTHING." Aleu knew deep down that she regretted saying that, but she was too engulfed in anger to realize it.

[Jenna]

"Girls, stop it!" In less than the time it took her to utter the words, Jenna stepped in between her two pups. Her lips were pulled back into just enough of a snarl to intimidate the younger canines. This may have started as a peaceful day, but it was rapidly deteriorating, and the husky now wished that Balto was here as well. She fixed her steely gaze first on Dakota, then on Aleu, making sure they realised that she was their mother and therefore they had to obey her. "Dakota, it doesn't matter what Aleu looks like. Aleu, you shouldn't say things like that."

[Dakota]

Sure, our brothers and sisters have their own talent, but what do you have? NOTHING.

Nothing.

The pup let out another growl as she looked at her sister in anger "Well, I-" she was cut short by her mother, and her ears went down as the older dog spoke. "Sorry, mom." She apologized with a sigh, looking down to her paws with a frown of disappointment. She decided it was best to just walk away to avoid further trouble, so she looked at her mother with an apologizing pair of puppy eyes and went to sit over a nearby rock, just near enough to go back to her mother if she called her.

"Maybe she is right." The pup mumbled under her breath, speaking with herself, "Maybe you've got... nothing."

[Jenna]

Jenna glanced between her daughters, the snarl slipping from her maw. It would be true to say that the adult husky was a little torn between which sister to talk to first; she knew Aleu had been hurt by Dakota's words, and Dakota had been out of line to bring up her wolf-like sister's appearance, but that still didn't excuse the things she had said to the other pup. "Aleu, no matter what anyone might say about your appearance, you can't go around telling them things like that." she chided, with only limited sucess at keeping her voice gentle. Although she never regretted mating with Balto, sometimes it was hard raising a litter of part-wolves. "Everyone has a talent - your sister included - and I don't want to hear you telling her otherwise." Just as soon as she was sure Aleu had got her point, Jenna intended to leave her with Boris while she went after Dakota. She wasn't sure what sort of effect the girl's words had had on her red-furred sibling, and needed to make sure Dakota wasn't taking them too hard.

[Dakota]

Dakota's puppy ears flickered a little as her mother approached, still lookeing down at the floor. "Is it true?" The up bluntly asked, "Is what she said true?" she repeated, her gaze fixed at acertain spot in the ground. "If it wasn't, why does dad like her better than us? I look like him, too. Just my colors are different. Is it not right to... have this colors? Or is it because I can't howl? Or just because I have no talent for anything? He likes Aleu. He likes Kodi. But he never pays any attention to us. Uncle Boris is more of a father tan he is." She stated in a cold, yet depressing tone of voice for an usually cheerful pup.

[Aleu]

Aleu's ears flattened on the back of her head. She didn't like getting into trouble, even though it was like insticnt to her. "I'm sorry Mom..." she apologized, shuffling her paws in the sand. "Dakota just always...!" she trailed off as her mother left to see her sister. She pouted unhappily. Why did it seem like no one understood her? Her longing to run, bite, howl... It was even more than all her other siblings. Was Dakota right? Was she not normal afterall? She sighed and kicked the sand. This perfect day was starting to turn around.

[Balto]

"That's not true." A familiar voice said from behind Dakota. It was the voice of her father. He heard the pups arguing and decided it was best to take care of the situation. He didn't want his pups to hate eachother. "I don't think she's better than you. You're all special in your own way." Balto replied to the depressed pup. Her last sentence had hurt him. He had failed to be a good father if she honestly thought that about him. He didn't mean to make her feel that way. He never intended to. He loved all of his pups.

He had to cheer her up somehow. He didn't want Dakota to be upset. He lowered his head so he was face-level with the little pup. "Hey, why don't we have a race across the beach?" Balto asked with a smile.

[Jenna]

Jenna shook her head slightly as Balto beat her to reaching Dakota. While she was glad to see her mate, and would have reassured the pup of the same thing, the husky wouldn't have been quite so willing to overlook the red-furred girl's own wrongdoing. In a way, however, she supposed that Balto's way did have its merits, especially right now. Not entirely willingly, but sensing that her approach might do more harm than good rigth now, Jenna stepped back to allow Balto to comfort the more dog-looking of the two pups, while the husky returned her own attention to Aleu.

"I know your sister's not exactly free of wrongdoing herself." she replied, catching sight of the wolf-like pup's expression as she sat beside her. "The fact that you look and act different isn't a bad thing - you just take after your father at that age more than me." She gently nuzzled the top of the pup's grey-furred head reassuringly. "I do wish you wouldn't talk to your sister that way, though." she added tiredly.