1x3 Agression Rising

Zaphora's lost her youngest son in a brutal battle with a rival mob, and is angrier than ever. But, it appears that her bully daughter Gwen has fallen pregnant from an illegal liaison with a mystery male, probably a rover from a neighbor group. Zaphora is grumpy, but that's not the only problem inside the Currents.

Meet The Currents
Zaphora, The Dominant Female
Walker, Her Partner and Dominant Male
Gwen, Rebellious
Adalla, Loyal
Thing One and Thing Two, The Twins
And the curious pups

Two days ago the Currents family fought a brutal battle with their sneaky and traitorous neighbors, The Skeletons. The Currents emerged victorious in the end, but with the winning of new territory, Zaphora lost her youngest son emerged from the burrow, Willer.
The battle has had its effects on every member of the family. Willer's litter mates Cally and Snowdrift have not been very active lately. they tend to sulk around in each other's comfort away from the rest of the family.
Zaphora is furious. She clearly wants to tear out the throats of every member in the Skeletons, but knows her mob is too weak to challenge them to avenge the seven month old male's tragic death. Zaphora is still limping from a heavy bite to the leg she received. Walker has a gash in his face that's healing over, but has made it difficult for him to eat the last few days. Many other members have received painful injures that would make it almost impossible to fight these evil neighbors again. But, the Skeletons are probably in to condition to challenge or fight away the Currents again. But it is only a matter of time before more blood is spilled between these two families.
But the loss of Willer isn't the only anger on Zaphora's mind. Her rebel daughter Gwen is pregnant. It is barley noticeable, but it's there. She's the first of her litter of four females to fall pregnant. Usually Zaphora evicts the females and allows them back in, only to kill the pups, but Zaphora is more worried this time. Gwen is a vicious little female- Zaphora's worried she might actually challenge her Mother. Gwen wouldn't need a new mate by her side. Walker isn't her Father. The pups over two years old are fathered by the original Currents dominant male Sparky, who disappeared two years ago, leaving a clear way for Walker to step up.
Walker is at ease with Zaphora again, so they must have mated in the two day span since we haven't been following them. That doesn't mean she's pregnant, but Walker is much more laid back now than he was after their recent litter reached one year of age.
Thing One and Thing Two are sticking together again like super glue, even though they were already two peas in a pod before. After the brutal battle that left their brother dead they refuse to leave each others sides.
Quail and Qwen, Gwen's littermates, are terrified of their sister. Gwen has always bullied them around, but now that she's pregnant they can only tell her behavior will go from bad to worse in a sudden flash.
Adalla is also wary of Gwen. She's been picked on too, even if she's the oldest female int he group besides her Mother. A lot of the females agree on one thing- Gwen must go before her hormones kick in. But it might already be too late.
Zaphora is still angry, and targets her pergnant daughter to take out the anger on. She hipslams her roughly, then pins her to the sandy earth. She snaps at her face and scent marks her before backing off of Gwen. She's putting her in her place, but it's unknown how long her normal hissy attitude will last before the pregnant Gwen emerges from the vicious subordinate.
Zaphora issues lead calls, still eager to start the day. She's going back to the Skeletons border, where her mob will forage in peace for once. She knows the Skeletons will be watching with hate. She's going to enjoy mocking them for a while. Both mobs are too injured to fight each other for a while. peace will stay on that side of the territory, but the Currents might fight with some other neighbors soon.
Walker stands sentry first, but is greeted with an unwelcome site. Not too far off, trying to stay discreet in a bush is infamous rover Rick. He's from another one of the Currents's neighboring groups, The Arrows. The Arrows are known for their laid back but still vicious attitude. Rick is a large male, and is known around the patch for his roving skills. He's the only rover the Currents seem to ever encounter, which means there is a good chance he's Gwen's litter's father.
Walker watches the male for a while. He doesn't do anything. Rick seems to be unaware that the Currents are nearby, but Walker knows he's there. Maybe Rick is watching another group. His back is turned to Walker. Walker can't tell, but he knows Rick is looking at the Currents border with a much smaller and newer family called the Greens.
Walker looks down and catches Saturn's eye. Saturn is not Walker's son, but has respected the dominant male as his father since Sparky vanished. Walker points his head to Rick's bush, telling his adoptive son to investigate. Saturn nods and approaches Rick softly.
Saturn decides that he wants to rove for a while. He's been a useful addition to his family, but is getting tired of family life. Instead of seeing what Rick is up to Saturn decides to sit next to the infamous rover. He wants to learn from him.
Rick turns his large head to face the Currents male. He chirps softly, and seems to get that Saturn isn't here to chase him off. Saturn follows Rick's gaze and sees what he was eying up- The Greens family is foraging close to the border. There is only about ten or so members to the Greens. Most of those members are female, as well. The Greens are a constant target for rovers, but the two males in the mob, brothers Tick and Tack are successful is chasing off most of them. But they are sibilings to the Greens Dominant Female Paula, and cannot mate with her. this might be the rovers' lucky day. Saturn has never roved before, and doesn't know Rick well. But his litter mate brother Pluto has roved many times before. Saturn heads back to his foraging family and catches Pluto's attention. He's just finished gobbling up breakfast, a juicy gecko.
Pluto grins and follows his brother. The two males return to Rick's outlook bush and sit beside him. They continue to watch the Greens. Paula is surrounded by Tick and Tack, so she's out of the rover's possibilities for the moment. But, foraging away from the group, very close to the three males' bush is Paula's sister Latisha. Latisha was the starting dominant female of the Greens, but was overthrown by her litter mate. Ricky is the largest, but he still has eyes for Paula, even if it's almost impossible to get to her. Saturn wants to try, but wants to watch a more experienced male try it first.
Pluto decides to test out Latisha's desires to mate. He steps boldly out of the bush and takes a few steps towards Latisha. She still hasn't noticed the rover. Pluto takes a few more bold steps and coos to her. Latisha looks up. He doesn't do anything, but stares at Pluto. She backs away and heads to her foraging family. Pluto hisses is frustration and returns to the stakeout bush.
Rick is still watching Paula. He doesn't seem to want to accept it's difficult to get to her. But now Saturn knows what to do. The only problem is all of the eight females are foraging under the eyes of Tick and Tack now. Now all the males can do is wait for a female to wander away again.
the sun continues its journey across the sky. The Currents are foraging in peace. The three rovers, two from Currents Saturn and Pluto, and a male from the Arrows Rick are watching the Greens. They are a small family, consisting of only ten members and two males, Tick and Tack. They are both related to the dominant female Paula, and thus cannot mate with her. The males are waiting for a female to stray away from her family so the males can rove safely. After what seems like hours, a female finally does.
Once again it's Latisha, Paula's litter mate. She had strayed from the group a while before, but Pluto failed to seduce her. She's foraging again. Rick still has his eyes on Paula, but she's still under guard by Tick and Tack. Pluto fears she might recognize him, and has no desire to try to seduce Latisha again. that leaves Saturn. He's a first time rover, but is still eager to get his first mate, even if he might never see her again.
Saturn approaches Latisha. His approach might be a little too bold though. He might just blow it all. Latisha hears him approach her clumsily through the brush and lifts her head, but doesn't calmly walk away like last time. Instead she continues to watch him intently. Saturn makes a few more steps, but goes no further. Latisha is already there, chirping to him. Even though Saturn knows just a little about roving, he knows they can't meet each other out in the open. She heads to bush, hoping she will follow.
Back at the Currents the family is already at home and getting and early start to the night. They had an uneventful day out foraging, and are now sitting above ground grooming.
It has been a peaceful day.

1x2 A Final Breath

The day starts normal, the sun rising, the members of the Currents family one by one emerging to enjoy the new day of the harsh Kalahari desert. But all is not well, and by the end of the day, the family will be without one of them.

Meet The Currents
Zaphora, Dominant Female
Walker, her partner and Dominant Male
Gwen, rebellious,
Adalla, Loyal
Thing one and Thing Two, the Twins
And the curious pups

Walker and Zaphora are busy grooming, or sharing affections in the rising golden sun of the desert. A week has passed since the first visit to the family- Zaphora's three pups, Azura, Acacia, and Marley are growing strong below. Marley is the only male and by far the largest of the litter. Acacia is quite and weak. Zaphora is worried she won't survive much longer. One pup already died in this litter, Zaphora doesn't want to loose another.
Adalla is loosing weight quickly. She's often staying behind to provide milk for the three new pups below ground. She is lactating from a litter she had concieved a little bite over two weeks ago, which her Mother killed, being so close to the birth of her own precious pups.
Willer stands sentry. He is the youngest member of the group, only seven months, with his sisters Cally, Snowdrift, and Silver. He's still making a strong reputation as a good sentry, but he's thin and not very fast.
Zaphora stands and suns herself after the morning grooming session with her partner. She lets the sun warm her slender belly before issuing lead calls, ordering her family to head out for breakfast. She heads out into the desert, her family following in a straight line, Adalla included. Trixie and Silver will babysit today.
Walker is facing problems of his own- Zaphora is able to mate again, and he wants those pups to be fathered by him. He's stuck at the back of the foraging line. he can't get anywhere near his mate. He trusts some of the older males to defend her if he can;t be there to do so, but it doesn;t put his nerves to ease. He doesn't know that he shouldn't be worrying about being the Father of her next pups today.
Meanwhile, straight ahead of the fastly moving Currents is one of their many neighbors, the Skeletons. This mob is a large mob, larger than the Currents. The Currents don't often visit this border, which gives the Skeletons way to the territory. The Skeletons are thick skulled and sly. They will sneak away territory for themselves any chance they get.
Dominant Female Lalidia watches the area closely. She's thinking of taking it for herself and her family. Her stomach is slightly bulged, a sign that she's pregnant again. Every meerkat in this mob besides her mate and Dominant Male Jackson are her children. Lalidia's sly and greedy mob has been around for much longer than the Currents. They have a larger territory and more members.
Zaphora stops at a foraging patch that she seems to like. It's filled with flowers of the wet season. The greenery doesn't tower over the foot tall family, which gives them a good advantage point to scan the area for danger. Zaphora drops and finds a spot to dig. She starts to work her front paws furiously, working at something delicious tucked in the dirt. The group instinctively start to fan out around her to find breakfast for themselves. Zaphora is foraging right in the middle. A relief for Walker, who shouldn't need to worry about rovers when his mate was right in the center of the group.
Pluto stands sentry on a fallen log. He's known for having the eye of a sentry. He stands on his back legs and scans the surrounding desert. he doesn't see anything unusual until he looks to the border with the Skeletons. He issues loud and urgent alarm calls, alerting his family that their rivals are lurking inside Currents territory. And it seems like they mean business.
Many heads bob up at once from the foraging meerkats below. They all bunch their mussels, preparing to bolt if a threat is nearby. but soon it becomes clear that it's a threat they should be able to handle- the Skeletons.
Zaphora's furious. She's had enough of these rowdy neighbors. They've had many fights with them recently, and have lost territory with these rascals. She barks, telling her group not to run. She's arrogantly determined to teach this mob a lesson. She begins to wardance, but stops after about five yards, waiting to see what the Skeletons will do next. Walker hisses beside his mate. He doesn't want to loose sight of her if they go into battle. Even though most of them will be fighting, a male might take his chance from the rival group...
Suddenly the Skeletons start to wardance back. they stop after their own display and acrobatics and wait for Zaphora to make her move. The hot headed female doesn't wait, and charges straight for the larger mob.
The two rival families plow right into each other. Meerkats tackle each other, jaws snap, claws slash, all hell breaks loose. This is a fight for territory. Whoever wins this fight will get a great stretch of the territory. The Currents are smaller than their tricky neighbors, but are feisty and more hot headed than the Skeltons, who are greedy and secretive. Walker slams into Jackson, who was already busy fighting off Pluto and Saturn. Pluto whimpered and darted away from the larger male, his cheek gushing blood. Saturn snarled and bit Jackson's cheek before Walker barreled the male away from his son's grip, sending the male's blood rocketing through he air.
The fighting goes on. Zaphora beat up one of Liadila's daughters pretty bad. She shouldn't have been fighting. He belly was swollen almost to the bursting point.
Seemingly just as quick as it had begun, the battle was over. The Skeletons retreated, defeated. They headed back. Liandila's pregnancy might be endangered if they kept fighting the violent battle, and many others of her mob had suffered painful wounds. Zaphora barked with victory and scent marked the new land. Walker joined his mate, and soon the territory officially belonged to them. Zaphora, proud, issued more lead calls. It was getting late, and she needed to get home to feed her week old pups.
Upon returning the injured mob is greeted by the shocked babysitters. It was an uneventful day at the birthing burrow, but it had clearly been violent for the rest of the family. The Currents sit and begin to groom each other while Zaphora heads below to feed Azura, Acacia, and Marley. Walker sits off to the side, quietly looking over everyone, checking to make sure everyone was accounted for. the victory had come at a price. Back at the battle field lay Willer, only seven months old, dead. Slain in his first battle.

1x1 A Family Stirs

Below ground two figures remain curled up. One of them is the Dominant Female, Zapora. Beside her are three little pups. They are her fifth litter of pups to ever give birth to and survive the first week. They were born a week ago, but Zaphora still stays in late to make sure nothing happens to her pups.

Meet The Currents
Zaphora, The Dominant Female
Walker, Her Partner and Dominant Male
Gwen, rebellious
Adalla, Loyal
Thing One and Thing Two, the twins
And the curious pups

Zaphora's litter is the first litter of the year. They have bumped the numbers up again after the death of the last litter. The most recent pups are over seven months old.
The three pups are named Azura, Acacia, and Marley. The three had a sibling, but he was stillborn. A sad event for Zaphora, but life goes on. She's determined to make sure these pups make it to adulthood, one way or another.
Below ground as well is Quail, one of Zaphora's oldest daughters. She's the shy one, who is often bullied by her litter mate sister, Gwen. Gwen tends to bully everyone though- Zaphora is on the edge of evicting the rebellious female for good.
Zaphora stirs and emerges, getting a late start to the day. The group is eagerly waiting for her to lead them out, but Zaphora needs to warm herself up first. Her mate and partner in leadership Walker stand next to her and suns himself. He's on the small side for males, but packs a lot of bite in. He's loyal and compassionate, but has much more fight in him than one might think. Rovers think the Currents are an easy mob to rove at when they see the size of the head male, but they end up regretting being so confident.
Off to the corner of the sunning group is Thing One and Thing Two. They are the two surviving pups of Zaphora's third surviving litter. there were three more, but they were all killed by a neighboring group in a burrow raid. Since then the two survivors stuck together like glue, and that's where the names came from.
Zaphora is finally warmed up, so she issues lead calls and heads out. Her group follows her, anxious to get to foraging. It's just a normal day in the mob.
Walker stands sentry first on an old tree stump, scanning the desert before him. It's the middle of the wet season in the Kalahari, and this year has been abnormally wet. The grass is greener and higher than usual, and thus opposes some problems for sentries. They have to climb higher to be able to successfully watch for danger, and it's harder to spot their foot tall group members when the need for an alarm arises.
One of Zaphora's brothers who helped found the group was taken by a hawk earlier this season due to the sentry not being able to see due to the high grass. A few pups have also wandered off under the watch of lazy babysitters and were never found. But all the rain makes food plentiful, and the meerkats are having no trouble getting filled up.
Gwen and Quail have stayed behind to babysit today. This is going to make babysitting interesting for Gwen- mainly because the last time she babysat a litter, which belonged to Quail, the two pups wandered off and were never heard from again. Most likely killed by predators. Quail was devastated, and now she's in no mood to let Gwen be responsible for more unneeded death.
Gwen is not trying to make Quail submit to her this morning, mainly because Zaphora evicted her from the group a little over two weeks ago for insubordination. Gwen was lucky enough to be accepted back in, but recently her rebellious personality has calmed a little. She has had a taste of life outside, and didn't like it.
The day passes uneventfully. The group returns home with everyone accounted for. After a little evening grooming from Walker and a few subordinate females, Zaphora heads below to feed her pups. She's gotten plenty to eat today, mainly from stealing from others, and now needs to feed her three hungry pups.
Adalla stays out the latest of them all- she's trying to stay away from Zaphora. Adalla is heavily pregnant, and could be evicted any day. She finally heads below ground nervously, but does not reappear. She's safe for now.