Role Play- 8th of December

After seeing Tank pass his judgment with Pesto, Ashtail decides to relax. While Tank wasn't the dominate male, she still respected him and if he felt comfortable, she would too. Moving herself from the entrance, she still continued to look around for any signs of predators. Even if the situation was calm now, it could still go wrong at anytime.

Pesto smiled and got up , he nodded at Tank and began to submissively groom Ashtail

Mozart smiled and relaxed , she pawed playfully at Tank and moved closer to cuddle with him

Tank returns the play and gently swats Mozart back. He's let down his gaurd a little now that a tranquil atmosphere has replaced the tense one. With Ashtail on gaurd, he trusts she'll let them know in time if danger rears its ugly head.

Damien sighs and continues to limp along towards the nearest bolt hole.

Lancaster spots a bolt hole located 10 feet from a large camel thorn tree. He briskly walks towards it while keeping Damien supported.

Damien drags himself into the bolt hole and curls in a ball, licking and cleaning his wound silently

Snicker smiles at his sister and playfully swats at her.

Meg manages a small smile back at Damien and watches him go below ground. He was going to survive... wasn't he...?

Jackie looks around, making sure no threats would take advantage of their distractions.

Snowflake sits on his haunches and looks around, glumly.

Buckeye watches Damien go into the bolthole. If he was too weak to follow the group home, she would get the group to sleep there tonight.

Damien, too weak to move, closes his eyes. His breathing is slow & uneven. He is now asleep

Ashtail relaxes a bit as Pesto grooms her. She returns the grooming as well. He seemed trustworthy. If he had been a partner with Ghost, the sneaky rover would of showed up by now. While grooming, she still did look about for danger once in a while.

Lancaster watches Damien drag himself into the bolt hole fraught with worry. His condition is deteriorating so alarmingly fast he's afraid that the noble male may not survive the night. He looks down at the ground feeling gloomy.

Triscuit giggles delightfully and gently body slams her brother to the ground. She playfully nips at his ear.

Tank chuckles amused as he watches his children play. He could spend hours watching this cute scene. Not only is their rough housing meant to be fun but his children are also building up their fighting skills that which will prove useful to them when it comes to battles with rival groups.

Bravo stands sentry.

Damien's breathing is raspy and uneven. He twitches, flinches, and winces in his sleep. he makes small chirps and peeps as he dreams. His sleep and dreams are filled with pain and worry and uneasiness.

Snicker rolls over when Triscuit body slams him. He giggles and allows her to nibble on his ear. He paws at her chest.

Meg stays above ground, not wanting to desterb Damien, but worried about his condition.

Jackie scans the area, worried.

Snowflake looks around.

Buckeye also scans the area.

Truscuit giggles and playfully taps Snicker's face with her paws.

Tank smiles adoringly at his children. Occassionally, he glances up at the sky and scans the horizon for danger. He can't afford to get too complacent, especially too soon after Ghost attempted to kill his children. Not only could predators catch them by surprise but that murderous male could too if he sees the babysitters distracted if he happens to cross the burrow again.

Lancaster stands gaurd outside the bolt hole, blocking the entrance from being infiltrated by predators. Like Meg, he doesn't want to intrude on Damien just yet. He makes occassional worried glances at the entrance, concerned about how bad Damien's condition has gotten or if he's dead.

Damien's breathing stops. For several, agonizingly long moments, there is silence. Then he coughs and looks around hastily. He scents Lancaster and Meg at the entrance to the bolthole and he sighs

Ashtail suddenly saw some bushes moving. Was it Ghost? As she got ready, what came out was just a harmless warthog, possibly a teenager, given it wasn't as big as most. She blinks, never seeing the creature before. She titled her head, watching the warthog began to dig around in the ground with its snout, seeming not to care about the meerkats nearby, or didn't even notice them yet. As far as Ashtail knew, it didn't pose a threat. But this creature had to be the most unusual she had seen besides the prickly porcupine before.

Lancaster peers into the bolt hole, a little panic striken, when he hears Damien cough. He briskly crawls through the tunnel and when he reaches Damien he's relieved to see he's still alive but he's far from out of the woods. He looks miserable and his prognosis is uncertain. Lancaster trusts Damien will stay strong and conquor the ill effects of the puff adder bite.

Tank tenses up when he sees the movement in the bushes. He pulls his pups over to him, shielding them protectively, ready to lay down his life for them if it's Ghost making a murderous return. When he sees that it's a worthog, he relaxes a little but remains on gaurd. He's never seen this tusk headed creature before either and has no knowledge of what it's capable of.

Triscuit watches the worthog warily but curiously. She's never that strange looking animal before.

Damien coughs a little blood then looks up at Lancaster, starting to regain his strength. He churrs raspily.

Ashtail bravely approaches the warthog, to determine if it was a threat or not. The tusked beast finally took notice of Ashtail and stares at her, seeming as curious as she was about it. For a bit, the two merely starred at each other. Finally, the warthog makes a move and nudges Ashtail a bit. She bristled her fur, but otherwise, did nothing else. So far, it showed no signs of being a threat. But that could change in a split second, and until she was sure this animal meant no harm, she wasn't ready to lower her guard.

Damien trembles and looks at Lancaster. He churrs to tell him he needs water. But he wants to find it himself. He is asking Lancaster to come with him and possibaly help him if needed.

Tank stays by the pups. He's tempted to follow Ashtail to investigate the worthog but opts not to. Someone has to keep the pups suprervised so they won't be left vulnerable to predators. He watches, muscles tensed, as Ashtail and the worthog interact. So far so good. There's no sign of aggression. Suddenly, he springs up, fur bristled, when it nudges Ashtail but then he relaxes seeing that the worthog was only being curious itself. Tank remains on high alert. There's telling what this intimedating looking creature could do next.

Triscuit stares at the worthog, intrigued. She tries to slip out of her father's protective embrace so she can check out this beast up close but she feels herself get pulled towards her father. He doesn't feel comfortable with letting her get near the worthog. It could be too dangerous and he's deciding not to take any chances. Triscuit glances up at her father and nods obidiently. She understands and will heed his concern. She's still a fragile pup. If she were to be caght by surprise by an aggressive response, she may not be fast enough to evade being injured. Her still healing broken leg prevents her from swiftly dodging an assault.

Lancaster nods, willing to help Damien in his water search. He strongly disapproves of him heading out alone. It'd be too risky. If a predator were to attack him, he wouldn't stand a chance. Lancaster warns Damien to move slowly so as to not speed up the venom which is pumping through his body. He offers his shoulder to Damien incase he needs help getting around.

Damien accepts the offer, and staggers out of the bolt hole.

Tyler smiles atDamien

Lancaster helps Damien out of the burrow. He then glances around. He remembers seeing a source of water somewhere close to the burrow a few days ago but can't remember which direction it was in.

Ashtail soon calms and re approaches the warthog, putting her paws on its snout, stand on her hind legs to get a better look at the creature's tusks and face. The warthog eventually snorts, causing Ashtail to jump back, bristling her fur again. She blinks when the warthog began making noises as if laughing.

((OOC: I find the whole idea of the warthog toying with Ashtail far more amusing than I should, and she's just utterly confused. xD)