I Got a Pocketful of Sunshine

(April 2nd. Open to All)

"Well will yah lookit that..."

Bubbha hadn't been in the outlands long. But the male had taken to the dark. Sure he couldn't see too well but he was a hunter, he'd adapted. However, it was as if the sky had woken up. It had cracked, yawned and taken a roll towards daylight. Everyone was asleep at the time and he'd been biting and scrounging up scraps when he saw the sun.

Well...someone had to tell everyone.

"EEEEYYYYYYY Y'ALLLLLL WAKE UP! SUN'S A POKIN' THROUGH!!!" He yelled, like he would yell for his pack. Everyone had to know. The sun was going through. THE SUN WAS BACK.

The nimble medic walked out from her nest in the medical bay, she'd woken when a loud yell resonated through the tunnel and cave system that made up the outlands camp. At first Dyani couldn't make out what all the commotion was about, but it didn't take the deer long to notice the one thing that she'd been longing for many months.
The sun was shining again.

The doe smiled as the rays warmed her grey fur, blue eyes sparkling in the light that everyone had gone so long without. She walked forward until she was completely free from the shadows of the caves, and bathed in the warmth. It was almost like a dream, and if it was, she hoped to never wake from it.

The twang of the raptor’s voice ripped through the inky blackness of the demon bear’s sleep. Grumbling, the bear rose to his feet ready to swipe Bubbha’s head clean off for interrupting its sleep. The sun…Mor’du; one burning orange eye widened in shock. The sun had returned.

A low grumble of joy echoed through the bear’s chest as he emerged out of the cave. Rearing up on his hind legs, he sat watching the sun rise. A moment later the bear let out a loud roar that deafened the raptor’s attempt at awakening his fellow soldiers.

"The sun" Nelleke whispered, her one remaining eye turned to look at the sunrise in all it’s glory. Tipping her massive head back, the meat-eater let out a roar alerting the others of the sun’s return.

"It's back!"

A joyous rumbling roar left the Carnotaurs gaping maw. Again her huge head swung around behind her towards the termite mound where the other soldiers were sleeping peacefully. Nelleke felt a sharp pain go through her chest, Vasaka should have been here to the sunshine, but… Just like her beloved, he was gone. Swallowing the lump in her throat, the meat-eater moved towards where some of the child soldiers were sleeping. Her height would no doubt give them a great view of the sunrise.

Clarice had been sleeping on a branch which was attached to an old and dead tree, one which had died long ago. She was contently dreaming of being surrounded by mountainous piles of food, which was given to her by hundreds of males who simply stared at her with complete and utter adoration. They weren't aware of what she planned to do. But much like any other dream, the best part was often short-lived, or ruined by being woken up. Which is exactly what happened to Clarice; she was about to start eating, but a yell about the Sun coming back had woken her up, as well as a few other unfamiliar creatures by the look of it. "Just when I was about to get to the good part as well!" The vulture indignantly muttered under her breath, as sleepy green eyes looked down to see who had woke her up from her slumber. Oh, it was Bubbha, or whatever his name was, Clarice didn't bother or care to learn his name or to make friends/allies with any of the other creatures that would eat her without hesitation, except Zira, though that was a different story. Wait, what was it that the Raptor yelled out? The sun had come back? Yeah right, after being gone for a month or so, it shows up now? He must be going crazy if he thinks the Sun is back. The female snidely mused to herself while more and more creatures arrived, unaware that some of her feathers were being warmed up.      

As Mor'du roared, she winced, it was much louder than Bubbha's yell. An incredibly rare annoyed scowl had appeared on Clarice's face as she continued silently to watch the scene play out in front of her. Must everyone here have to be so needlessly loud? Normally, they would not act like this. Maybe the Sun really has returned...She lifted her head up and was met with the sight of a sunrise, it was beautiful. She gasped out of surprise and shock, unintentionally alerting the others to her presence. It really is back...Then the realisation hit her, she had to tell Zira about this immediately, it was her job as Majordomo to do so. The Queen would like to hear about this. Clarice thought as she flapped her wings and took off from her perch, however she didn't get far enough from where the other creatures were and she certainly wasn't far away enough from Nelleke's extremely loud roars. Why must this place be so noisy? The Jungle was never this bad. Clarice sighed as she continued to search for the tan lioness. If I was the Queen of the Outlands, where would I be? Hmm....                               

Little Brother had awoken, and could not believe his eyes. The Sun, The sun had really come back, and Little Bro could not be even more thrilled if he wanted too. I mean, the darkness was fine, but, Little Brother enjoyed the sunny weather a lot better. There was a lot more games to be played, a lot more fun to be had, in the sunny weather. He had to wonder who made the sun go away in the first place, but, on the other hand, he didn't really care. The good thing was that it came back, and Little Bro was hoping it would at some point.

Little Brother ran over to the small group and panted happily. "Hi, everyone! "Little Brother said happily.

Toulouse had heard the various cries about the sun being back, but he hadn't believed it at first. No, the adolescent feline had been convinced that the sun was never going to come back and he was adjusting to it. When he actually moved from where he had been and came to see, though, he saw the warm sunlight stretching across the land again. Green eyes grew a bit wider and his mouth opened partially. He didn't know what to even say at that point. All at once, his thoughts rushed together and he smiled. No more having to hunt in the darkness and relying on what little light they'd had. They could finally go back to how things had been before.

"Finally," Toulouse said. He walked past Little Brother and stepped into the sunlight that was present. As he did, he closed his eyes and allowed the warmth to wash over his fire-colored pelt. After everything that had happened to him and his family, it might have been thought impossible for him to express any sort of joy again. This wasn't the case, though. Toulouse was perfectly capable of smiling still. He had just chosen to hide it from the world and go forth on his path of... Whatever he was searching for before then.

He heard Little Brother's greeting, and he opened his eyes again to look at the small dog. It was difficult to be mad at anyone when something so wonderful had happened again, so for once in his life he decided to interact with the dog. What was the worst that could even happen?

"It's great, isn't it? The sun's finally back... Things might finally be going our way for once."

Little Brother's tail wagged happily as he saw Toulouse eager to make a new friend if possible.little brother was always the kind of pup who'd make friends with any animal. The fact that he had made besties with Lune and Kishan, who he thought as cats somewhat, it had made interacting with Toulouse easier.

"You said it, the darkness was Ok, for like extreme games of hide ank seek. But, there's a whole lot more fun to be had when the sun is up. My name is little brother, please call me little bro, or LB. any one of those work, what's your name"? Little bro asked the kitten happily.

"EEEEYYYYYYY Y'ALLLLLL WAKE UP! SUN'S A POKIN' THROUGH!!!"




DeSoto was lost in the shadow of a massive termite mound. He tilted his squinted, puzzled face upward. The sun—it wasn't a dream, he knew; for he could feel its warmth even from his place curled against the tower of dirt—caught his eye and he was forced to look away. His eyes were not yet re-accustomed to its intensity after so long squandering in the sudden eclipse that befell them what seemed like ages ago now.

Despite his lackluster vision, DeSoto observed the group of his fellow soldiers from afar. It briefly crossed his mind that they looked funny, gazing up at the big orb like it was some kind of godsend. Hell, maybe it was—but everything tended to be hi-larious when your only form of amusement was tearing people to shreds, and even that wasn't fun anymore when your sole two companions were God-knows-where.

This ain't the time to think about it, he told himself.

For once, DeSoto obeyed his brain rather than his gut instinct. His maw broke into a drawn-out yawn, thought dismissed for the time being. The sun was finally out, so he was going to make the best of it.

Rising to his paws, he stretched in typical canine fashion. It felt good, the sensation of his powerful muscles rippling under skin and fur. He rolled his tongue along his teeth as he let his paws carry him towards the ragtag group, satisfied with the way they pricked at the soft flesh as it brushed over lethal canines and premolars. Not a day duller, he mused. It was a damn shame he wasn't planning to bite anybody this particular morning.

He plopped on his rear a few strides away from the hick without so much as a 'hello'. DeSoto didn't care much for the redneck types, with their barn dances and moonshine and inability to nail anything other than each other. However, the dino-hick had an air about him that practically screamed ruthless murderer, and that in itself was good enough for DeSoto.