Black Orchid

(ooc: July 10th. Open only to Perdita and the hero dalmatian pups.)

She was tired. It was the only way Perdita could truly describe how she felt after everything that had befallen her and her family. Pups were falling victim to the war one after another, some had betrayed the family and were scattered across the land in places far from the Pridelands, Pongo was gone, and Perdita was slowly starting to lose hope. She had never felt so empty and lonely before. Sleep had eluded the elegant female for days, for it seemed every time she closed her eyes she would see what wasn't really there, and she seemed to have lost some of her resolve to even stay in the war at all. It would have been so much simpler to go back home to Anita and Nanny and forget the whole war had happened. Yet, she couldn't do that. She'd be leaving her pups to die if she did, and she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she did that.

But what is there for me to do? I feel so lost... so hopeless...

Perdita, at that current moment, was aimlessly walking about camp with her head down and eyes half open. If she was being openly honest about her feelings at that moment, she would have confessed that she didn't even know if there was anything left for her in the war. A part of her knew that to be false, as her pups were still present in the war, but she didn't know if she could take any more losses.

Eventually Perdita stopped walking and sat down beside a tent she presumed was unoccupied. Even if she appeared to want to be left alone on the outside, inside she was hoping for someone to find her. Even if she did continue to doubt her reasoning for being there, she wanted someone to tell her there was something worth fighting for.

Jewel, meanwhile, was resting on a cot inside her tent. Not sleeping, only benefitting from what seemed to be about the closest thing she would be able to get of it. Black-earred pup hadn't slept very well ever since she had arrived in the Pridelands. It was hard to fall asleep knowing that any day could easily be your ticket to the other side. Young canine rolled onto her other dide for what seemed like the fiftieth time, opening her droopy brown eyes too tired to even attempt to doze off. She let out a small huff. Don't worry, Jewel, she told herself, you'll get used to it. Everything will be alright.

But at that moment, the scent of another being wafted over her nose. She became still. She knew that scent...in fact, it was one of the very first she had come to know. And it was far too nostalgic for words to describe. Her heart skipped a beat and, seeming to momentarily forget about her tiredness, the dalmatian jumped down from her bed and creeped towards the tent entrance to see if her nose really wasn't fooling her.

And at that moment, Jewel was filled with immense joy, for there sat her very own mother, right outside her own tent! Fur and flesh and very much alive! Without thinking twice the female rocketed from her sleeping quarters towards Perdita. She halted to a slow stop right in front of the equally slender dal, and her eyes brimmed with happiness and other mixed emotions. "Mom!!!" she exclaimed, her throat growing hoarse. "It's really...I mean it's really you! I came here for you! I came here for you all!" Then the spotted puppy threw herself at her mother and nuzzled her face into the older dog's front legs, feeling almost perfectly safe and secure in Perdita's paws. She had finally been reunited with her remaining parent again. Everything would be alright now. Mom would make everything better, just like she had always used to do.

But the jewel-patterened pup's happiness ebbed slightly as she noticed something odd. What was that feeling she sensed eminating from her mother...sadness? She looked up at Perdita and tilted her head a little. "Mom..?" she said hesitantly. "Are you...are you alright?"

Just about at the same time Jewel aked her question, another little spotted being approached the scene- Same pitch black ears as her adopted sister and their father had, which could have even dove others to believe they were related, but startling blue eyes like no other. A deeper blue than those of other dalmatians on their big family, but not quiet as dark not to be recognized as blue- Actually, the perfect combination of an ocean blue and a sky blue. Cassie had been just goofing around for a long while around camp, but when she saw what looked like and older spotted being, she decided to follow- She had seen Perdy before around camp, but hadn't actually personally adressed her adoptive mother. She just had been feeling a little... not so much like her and pongo's adoptive daughter, actually.

She'd been a little too busy being a singer. A small, happy, spotted dog singer. Pup was glad she had got to meet Mr. Cash, as he taught her just how much potential she had as a singer. Without him, she would probably never had even attempted to howl, so she was happy to know him. After that short time she got to spent with him, she could swore she was more attatched to the hound that she would ever be to her adoptive parents, but that was probably due to Pongo and Perdy rarely paying attention to her, since she didn't exactly stand out on that sea of spots she called home.

That particular day, however, Cassie had decided to drop by and greet Perdy, to at least aknowledge her mother. Blue-eyed pup approached Jewel and her biological mother and sat in from of them, not actually realizing that Perdy was feeling down, as she wasn't the analytic kind of pup. "Hey, mum." She greeted happily, orbs beaming up at her. "Hey, jewel." She aknowledged the pup.

A little 'oh!' of surprise came from Perdita as Jewel came forward from within the tent and began to nuzzle her legs. Perdita had been almost certain she had come upon an unoccupied tent, but she supposed that she had been mistaken with her current hazy thoughts. Admittedly, she was happy to see one of her pups again. Her gaze met Jewel's and a slight smile appeared on her face as if she was trying to reassure her that she was okay. Deep down, though, Perdita knew that wasn't the truth. The sadness radiating from her probably would have given that away in a millisecond. Despite that, she wanted to answer Jewel's question.

"I wish I could say I was, Jewel. Things have just been... difficult recently." Perdita said. She wondered if she could have worded her thoughts a little better, but decided not to worry about it for the moment. She lifted one paw from the ground and let it rest against Jewel's back, almost like she was trying to encourage her to come closer, before letting a little sigh get past her defenses. "I honestly haven't quite been feeling like myself recently. I didn't want to worry you pups, though. That's why I've been so... distant, I suppose." she explained.

The presence of a second pup, Cassie, hadn't escaped Perdita's attention. A slightly larger smile than before appeared on the adult's face before she motioned for Cassie to come closer. "Hello, dear." Perdita greeted. She did feel just a little better knowing that at least one of her many pups was happy. Somehow it was helping to make her feel better about her current situation.

Just then a sad one eared pup walked in . She took a deep breath when she saw her mom. She couldn't show any unhappiness at all to her mom or to her sisters. Shejust had to pretend everything was Okay. For Perdita , for Cass, For Jewel but mostly for herself. She walks up trying to give what looked like a Happy Smile. But, instead it looked to forced. It looked to much like she was trying to pretend everything was all Hunky Dory. But, in her mind absolutely nothing had been "Hunky Dory" For quite some time now.

Cadpig took one more deep breath and walked over to her mom still with that forced smile on her face just trying to show that she was doing Okay , even though she really wasn't . She couldn't even make eye contact with her mom because she was so worried that she would start crying if she did.

"Hi, Mommy" Cadpig said in a voice that was once again supposed to sound Brave /Confident/Happy and once again her voice sounded more Lost then "Happy" "Hi, Jewel , Hi, Cassie" She said with a very weak smile.

Unaware of the little family reunion that was going on in the camp, Penelope wandered around with her head held high and a smile on her face. A small, not so sunny smile as one would hope, but a smile nonetheless. Then, a familiar scent drifted into her nose. The little dalmatian almost fell from her feet when she could name the scent - it was a certain dalmatian who was very dear to her, her mom!

Penelope sped up her pace and soon got a sight of a black and white bunch of dogs.
"Mom!", she yipped enthusiastically while running towards the dalmatian gathering. "Mom, is it really you?!"
She came to a halt beside other dogs and wagged her tail wildly.
"I am so happy to see you, mom! And you all!", she barked happily like she didn't have a care in the world. She wasn't sure if the others remembered her at all - especially the blue eyed one with black ears, who was apparently one of the adopted puppies and Penelope didn't know her very well. She had to admit shamefully that she couldn't recall her name.

Fidget had been sitting around camp, still a bit upset about the events that happened a few days earlier. His ears then perked up at the sight of his mother, Jewel, Cadpig, another adopted pup he wasn't familar with, and Penelope?

"Hey g-guys!" Fidget greeted his fellow siblings. "And h-hey M-Mom how are y-you doing?" he asked happily trying to lighten the mood. He turned to Penelope. "Penelope is t-that y-you?" the jittery pup asked his biological sister.

(Fail post is fail.)

So many puppies! Perdita had almost forgotten what it was like to be surrounded by them, especially since she had been trying to keep her distance so they wouldn't become too concerned about her current state of being. Joy from the little gathering was slowly beginning to fill Perdita's being, and it was becoming easier to say that she was feeling better. "Oh, my darlings... I'm glad to see you're all all right. You have no idea how glad I am." Perdita said. With the recent deaths of Pepper and Pongo, Perdita had almost forgotten her real reason for being there at all. She had wanted to protect her puppies alongside Pongo. Now that he was gone, she would have to do that on her own. Despite that, she was happy knowing she still had pups to protect.

When the jittery puppy arrived, a smile appeared on Penelope's face. She turned around to face her brother with her tail wagging excitedly. "Fidget?! Yeah, it's me! Oh Fidget, how are you?", the little dal yipped happily and jumped towards his brother to nuzzle his neck. Then she turned around to see the others, tail still wagging happily.
She smiled at her family and walked up to her mother and licked her neck. "I missed you so much... I missed you all." she murmured and sat down next to Perdita, taking a better look at her siblings.
"How are been doing, all?", she tilted her head sideways out of curiosity. Penelope wondered, what had her siblings been doing since she last saw them. A dark cloud of sorrowful thoughts appeared in her mind, but she pushed it aside and concentrated to the positive things. Her family was here, after all!

Cassie's white tail wagged eagerly as Perdy gestured for her to get closed, which she happily did, nuzzling her mother's paw lovingly and looking up at her with those bright blue eyes of her own. Truth be told, Cassie felt a bit akward to be the only adopted pup in the scene, but she didn't feel like making a remark on it. "Hey Cadpig, hey Penelope, hey Fidget." She aknowledged her adopted siblings happily. Cassie had always been good at remembering their names, particularly the names of the original fifteen, they were quite popular around the farm.

She let her tongue loll out of her mouth before answering Penelope's question. "I've been doing fine! I met a dog who taught me how to sing!" She said happily, her tail wagging behind her. "I didn't even know I could sing, but thanks to Mr. Cash now I know I have a pretty voice." The pup said eagerly, and a bit proudly, her chest puffing out a little. "I bet I am the only dalmatian on the family who can sing." She stated happily.

"I'm Sure all the pups on the farm know how to sing. You're just the only one who can sing VERY GOOD. " Cadpig said gently nuzzling Cassie's neck. "Hi, Penelope, "Cadpig said happily running over to her and gives her cheek a friendly little nuzzle. "I am so happy to see you" Cadpig said. Actually in all honesty she was so happy to see everyone. She then rubs her body against her mom's paw lovingly.

Fidget nuzzled Penelope back, more than estatic to see his sister again. "H-heh, I'm g-glad to s-see y-you too P-Penelope." Fidget replied with a smile. He then looked at Cassie. "W-wow, t-that's so c-cool! I b-bet y-you're the b-best singer o-on the f-farm, u-uh, what's y-you're name?" Fidget asked Cassie. Nothing personal of course, Fidget just struggled at times remembering the names of all the adopted pups, there were so many of them.

The little dal wagged her tail excitedly as she sat down to listen what Cassie was telling her. The black eared pup's words fascinated Penelope, and she smiled brightly at her adoptive sister. "A singer? Really? Whoah, that must be really great!", she said happy of Cassie's talent. It must be great to find a thing you're really good at, Penelope thought, and pondered, if she would ever see Cassie singing to a huge, cheering crowd.

When Cadpig came to nuzzle Penelope's cheek, she licked her sister's head and gave a small laugh. "I'm happy to see you too, sister." she said with a sweet smile. Then, her gaze turned to Fidget, secretly happy that he asked the name of the adopted puppy, because she wasn't sure if she was brave enough to ask it herself. The puppy then scratched her ear and when her paw landed on the ground, she continued to wag her tail, eager to find out more of her siblings' adventures, if they would be willing to share their stories.

Perdita's gaze softened as she listened to her daughters discuss singing and essentially having a good time amongst themselves. It was almost like they had forgotten she was present. Perdita didn't necessarily mind it, though. They were only pups, after all. She couldn't expect them to stay focused on what she had hoped would be the topic at hand. Even if that was the case, she couldn't say that she wasn't pleased to listen to them talking amongst themselves. It made her feel somewhat better knowing they would be able to talk among themselves like nothing was wrong.

"I'm sure you all could be wonderful singers. You all are young and still have time to learn." Perdita said. She didn't know how well her attempt at bringing herself back into the conversation would go, but she didn't think it would hurt to try.

"MummyMummyMummyMummy!" The whir of words flowed from the lips of a very hyperactive dalmatain pup. She rushed towards Perdita, sliding between her paws on her back, rolling her bottom and back up Perdita chest. She was curled in an odd position. "Huhahahaha," she giggled, "Oopsie!" She looked up at Perdita and frowned.

"Mommy why are you so sad?" she asked, "Why's everyone here? Is this a party?! Why wasn't I invited? I wanna party tooooooo!!!"