How I Know You

[Pepper]

(Day three for canine characters but mostly Pepper and Flash)

"Hellooooooo!" Pepper called out, crying out into the wilderness. She was cold, wet from rain and scared because it was so dark. "Hellooooo!" Prince would have called her dumb for shouting out like that but she needed to know if anyone was there, if anyone was with her in this darkness. She couldn't believe she wasn't in the pridelands any longer. She padded up to a river and lapped up some water.

A shake in the bushes starled her. Tail between her legs she gasped and called out. "Who-who's there?"

[Flash]

Flash shivered, sending a small spray of water up into the air. Her white fur was soaked through - it had just been her bad luck to fall into the river when trying to find somewhere to shelter from the rain earlier. For a long time, she had just waited amongst the bushes, hoping that either someone she knew would show up or she would wake up and find this was nothing but a nightmare, but neither seemed to be happening any time soon. She had just been preparing to lie down when the voice had rung out, causing the dalmatian-cross to start, shaking the bushes and spilling more water onto her already soaking fur.

Shivering from the most recent douse of water, Flash emerged from the bushes, looking to see who had shouted, and her eyes fell on another pup, who looked strangely like mom. Curious in spite of herself, the part-dal tilted her head to one side to better look at this other pup. "Who're you?" she asked, forgetting, in her curiosity, that Pepper had asked first.

[Pepper]

"WHO AM I? WHAT?!" Ears perked, eyes widened. Flash didn't recognize her? It was insane! What was going on? Was this world stranger than she thought it was? Did it make people forget their backgrounds? Everyone except for her? Her ears pinned back and she growled at Flash.

"Flash, you dolt!" Pepper shouted, "You know who I am! Pepper, you know? Your half sister? Is Patch's DNA messing up your brain?"She snorted in laughter.

[Flash]

Flash could only stare, rendered speechless. What on earth was this pup talking about? 'Half-sister'; she didn't have any of those. Unless mom and Uncle Scamp had mated before they split up, but this 'Pepper' didn't look old enough for that. And anyway, the dal-cross had never heard of Uncle Scamp having any other kids, let alone mom's.

After a few moments, however, Flash's voice returned, and she glowered at Pepper. "I don't have any half-sisters." the gold-spotted pup retorted, her brow furrowing in confusion. "An' what's wrong with dad's DNA, anyway?" she added defensively, cerulean eyes - a startling mirror of the other girl's - narrowing.

[Pepper]

Ears pinned back violently as the female pup stared at her half sister. Why didn't Flash know who she was? This was getting weird. She decided to humor the girl. "You know, Flash," she said, "Your dad stole our mom from my dad. Duh." She rolled her eyes.

"Come on Flash, this isn't funny," she said, sitting on her rear and scratching behind her ear, "But I guess you are better than nobody. Come on, we have to find Mom and our dads."

[Flash]

"No, I don't know!" Flash insisted, getting more and more confused and distressed by the minute. "Blizzard* was the only pup mom had before us, and dad was his dad too. Dad never stole mom from any - " Flash trailed off, deciding - perhaps against her better judgement - to voice her suspicion. After all, she only knew one dog who would claim Patch had stolen mom...

"Unless your dad is Uncle Scamp?" she suggested. It was, after all, the only plausible explanation she could think of.

*(OOC: For the record, Blizzard only existed in the angstverse, not DWoW, and he belongs to Fang.)

[Jinx]

(Figured it would be fine to throw yet another Angel pup in here... XD)

That scent.

Jinx nose twitched iritably, but there was no mistaking it. That was the same scent she, Misten, and that pathetic Irina girl carried around. A scent she'd trained herself so well to recognise that even the rain couldn't hide it from her nose.

Mother's scent.

Her muzzle twisted. The same mother who'd abandoned her. If any of her spawn were here, they, like Irina, would regret being born to her. Cresting a minor hill, Jinx smirked as she looked down at the two girls. One looked so much like mother that she wouldn't even have needed the scent to tell they were related, and the other one - aside from being soaked through to the skin - seemed to be the result of a cross between mother and a dalmatian.

"Well, girlies," she began, her voice echoing so that it wasn't entirely obvious where it was coming from. "Mommy abandon you out here all alone?"

[Pepper]

"Scamp? Dad's best friend from the war?" Ears pinned back as the pup gave a weird look. "Flash you're acting way too weird today. What's wrong? Didja eat something bad?" Eyes widened as the pup gave a look to the familiar spotted pom cross. "My dad's Mooch remember?"

She saw the pup come across the path and her fur bristled. Eyes narrowed and she growled. "Who're you?"

[Flash]

"War? What war?" Flash stared at Pepper blankly. Maybe she was just being an idiot, but the other pup had completely lost her. White-furred girl shook her head, trying hopelessly to make some sense of all this. "Mooch? You mean Aunt Collette's mate? Why would he have pups with mom?"

At the new voice, Flash's head snapped around, but she couldn't imediately see where it was coming from until what looked like a miniature Doberman stepped forward. She involuntarily shuddered - something about the older girl didn't seem right somehow.

Jinx, on the other hand, just smirked unpleasantly. "I'm the person who's goin' ta make you wish you were never born." she leered, walking closer to the other two and stopping uncomfortably close behind the red-collared Dalmatian mix. Flash gritted her teeth and tried not to whimper, despite being scared by the dark canine.

[Pepper]

Pepper, using all of her father's boldness and her mother's spunk, barked loudly at the doberman cross. Her ears pinned back and she gave a snarl, bracing her paws and barking loudly. "Stay away from my sister!" She snarled, getting in the face of the older and bigger dog. How dumb it must have looked to see the pom mix approaching the doberman mix.

She didn't care how resentful she was of her half sister. How resentful she was of her mother's love for Flash. How much Flash didn't seem to remember her.

Flash was family. And family you protect.

[Jinx]

If anything, Jinx's smirk grew wider, but it had a bitter edge to it. "Oh, but girlie, I'm yer sister too." she sneered. Looking repulsed, Flash took a couple of steps towards Pepper as Jinx's putrid breath reached her nose, trying to stand firm at Pepper's side and not look intimidated, although it didn't it didn't look at all convincing from her. As though emboldened by Flash's retreat, Jinx pressed closer to the other two girls, circling them threateningly.

"I'm the mistake yer mommy never wanted, I'm the pup she adandoned, and fer that, I'm goin' ta make yer lives hell."

[Pepper]

Pepper lifted her head. At least Flash wasn't denying knowing her any longer but who was this dark doberman mix that was standing before her? Certainly her scent was the same as...her mother's...it was odd. Ears flicked upward, whimpering softly. The dog was bigger and looked like she had a 'tude a mile wide. She honestly reminded Pepper of Two-Tone's mate, her father had pointed Two-Tone and her mate out to Pepper many a times in order for the pup to stay away from the doberman.

"How can you be my sister?" Pepper asked, lifting a paw towards the bigger dog, "My mum only had me and my brothers before she had Flash and her family. You look like a doberman to me." She snorted, stepping in front of the pom-dal mix she was familiar with.

[Jinx]

Jinx snorted as though she found humour in that assertion. "You never knew yer precious mommy's past, did you?" she smirked, the expression only making her features look even more twisted. "How she was in Buster's gang--"

"I-I know it as well as anyone." Flash cut in, her eyes flashing with ill-concealed, although it was clear she was still intimidated by the larger dog. She may have been closer to dad, but no-one spoke badly of mom in her presence, either, without a very good reason. "Uncle Scamp got her out of there and Grandpa Tramp's pets took her--"

It was Jinx's turn to interupt. "An' no-one bothered ta tell you that she'd actually mated wit' Buster just before that? Mommy protectin' her little babies from the tru'th?" she scoffed condescendingly. "Face it, yer momma ain't as perfect as she wants yeh to think."

[Pepper]

Pepper gave a growl and stuck her big nose in Jinx' face. She growled again and gave a snap at the bigger dog's face. "Mother was a pup! She didn't have any pups before us! Before me and my brothers!" Eyes narrowed.

"Right Flash?" She asked, "Right? Mom would never mate with that mean old dog Buster!"

[Flash]

"...Right..." Flash agreed, although her voice lacked conviction. After all, before today she would have said that mom would never have mated with Mooch, either, but the evidence for that was right in front of her. Who was to say that the newcomer - no matter how unpleasant she was - mightn't be telling the truth as well?

Jinx's twisted grin had turned sour as the small dog snapped at her. She was not about to take being disrespected as such lightly, especially not by one of Angel's later bitches. As soon as Pepper turned to speak to Flash, the doberman/pomeranian lunged, siezing the dirty-golden furred canine's floppy ear and tugging it hard at such an angle that forced Pepper to either twist her neck painfully or risk losing the ear altogether. "If she told yeh that," she spat bitterly, the words coming out mangled as she maintained her grip, "Mommy's a bigger liar that I though'." Flecks of spittle dribbled down Pepper's ear as she spoke.

Flash was on her feet and snarling at Jinx in an instant. She may not have had a clue who Pepper was, but the girl had stood up for her, and she deserved a return of that favour, if nothing else, although Flash couldn't exactly see how to seperate her two supposed half-siblings without hurting Pepper more. "Leave her alone!" she barked at Jinx, not expecting the words to have much - if any - effect.