Roleplay- 16th of December

Tank makes eye contact with Mozart, stifiling his tears. She's right. He needs to move on to care for the remaining pups in his litter. Snicker and Triscuit wouldn't want him to ball his eyes out for days or even weeks. They'd want him to be strong for their siblings and to go on raising them to adulthood and keep them safe. He knows Snicker and Triscuit are in a better place now. He should be happy their flourishing in the Heavens where they'll forever be living in peace. Some day, he'll reunite with them in the land of eternal life.

Saja's crying wanes a little as Molly comforts her. She feels like half her heart was ripped out of her chest. It's going to be tough emerging from the burrow in the mornings from now on. Triscuit and Snicker won't be there to give a greeting or greet, they won't participate in exciting games and they won't attend foraging trips anymore. Saja sighs glumly. Their precious lives were taken from the Willows WAY too soon by someone with a heart as cold as ice. She snarls in anger. Ghost WILL be executed for this heinous crime!

Ariel has buried her face into her mother's fur, grieved by the loss of Snicker now as well.

Meanwhile, at the burrow, Lancaster is nervously pacing around, twitching his tail in a frantic way. It's dusk. The Willows should've been home a few hours ago. What's taking them so long? He sighs with worry, fearing some kind of cataclysm has befallen the mob.

Buckeye cuddles Ariel, also trying her best to avoid tears. Even though Snicker and Triscuit were not her pups, they were still part of the Willows and always had the positive outlook on life, even though Triscuit was permanently crippled. They had brought a happiness to the group that would now be gone. She doubted some of her pups, especially Meg would come out of this without being traumatized.

Jackie also lowers her head in sadness. The loss of a member was always tragic, especially when they were pups.

Snowflake also appears solemn as he looks around.

Meg stays where she is and looks around unhappily. She wished that this was all over. That none of this ever happened. If she could, she would do anything to change this. Sadly she could not rewrite the past.

Ashtail sighed sadly. She looks at Tank. We should give Snicker and Triscuit a proper burial.. We want their souls to be able to be at ease in the afterlife. She was a strong believer in this kind of thing. A spirit or soul would not be at ease until the body was buried and given a burial. Snicker and Triscuit especially deserved this. It was the least the group could do for the deceased pups, and as a final act of love for the two pups.

Molly looked around at everyone, frowning. The deaths of these two pups... It seemed to be a bigger blow to them than most she had seen. She listened to Ashtail and nodded in agreement.

Tank also heard Ashtail and willingly agrees. Triscuit and Snicker deserve a respectful and loving burial. He too believes by burrying their bodies, it'll ensure their spirits will be able to rest in peace. He loves Snicker and Triscuit dearly and wants them to go up to Heaven with much love. However, he prefers they burry them on burrow grounds rather than under a camel thorn tree or bush in the center of Willow territory.

As Saja gazes at Snicker's deceased form, she wonders what death is like. What happens when all the life force seeps out of a body? Do you emerge as a spirit and wander the scorching Kalahari land ? Or do you embark on a trip to an amazingly beautiful place? It'll be a VERY long time when she experiences what happens after death.

Bravo follows.

Realising that Tank would rather bury his children in burrow grounds, Buckeye makes lead calls and heads home.

Jackie, Snowflake and Meg follow, their heads hanging low.

Tank follows at the front of the mob, trudging briskly. He's desperate to making it to the safty of the burrow before the scent of blood lures a predator to the Willow's location.

Saja trots alongside her father, glancing at Snicker's deceased form occassionally with a sorrowful look.

Mozart trotted briskly alongside Tank,still holding Triscuit gently in her jaws, she looks at Tank and nuzzles him before looking around.

Ashtail followed Tank, making sure Meg was keeping up with everyone.

Tank nuzzles Mozart back, then proceeds looking ahead, hoping the burrow comes into view soon.

Bravo picks up Ariel and walks hastily. It's nearly nightime.

Molly also follows.

Back at the burrow, Lancaster has stopped pacing around the perimeter of the burrow and is now sitting in front of the entrance, fidgetting with a pebble as he anxiously waits for the Willows to appear on the horizon. His thoughts on Luna's deceased pup which is still in the burrow, he exhales a gloomy sigh, reluctant to inform the Willows of its murder. He still feels it's his fault the innocent, defenseless little died. When the Willows find out his irresponsibility cost a pup their life, he fears they may shun him.

Once Buckeye sees the burrow, her pace increases, relieved to be home.

Jackie and Snowflake also walk faster, relieved to be home.

Meg is also relieved. She was worried that they'd never get home.

Ashtail sees the familiar surroundings and feels complete relief. Home at long last... Now, Triscuit and Snicker can be given their loving and proper burial.

A wave of relief travels through Tank's blood stream when he sees the burrow. Finally, they're home. hurried to put his deceased children to rest before the pitch black of night fully immerses the Kalahari, he elevates his trot to a canter.

Saja sighs in relief when she sees the burrow off in the distance. She bounds ahead of the mob, in a hurry to get below their safe shelter before a predator detects their easily noticable movement in the open.

Lancaster spots dotted figures off in the distance. Could it be the Willows returning from their foraging expedition? He really hopes so. He keeps his eyes trained on the figures, his gaurd up, incase these mystery creatures turn out to be rivals or a pack of predators prowling the land.

Carmella knows her siblings died and feels sympathy, slightly traumatized by the event... She begins to wander off, half being the mentally disturbed meerkat she is, half of it being the fact that she was feeling a little down...

Clover followed the group, eager to help...

Grace stayed near her littermates.

Molly looks around as they came closer to her new home. So, this would be her new territory... A whole new place to explore and adapt to. She didn't mind though. While she would miss her old mob, she was in a new one now, and had new family members to become closer with.

Tank can see his brother sitting within a close perimeter of the burrow entrance. He slightly picks up the pace, anxious to know how things went on his shift as care giver. Did he have a tranquil shift or did something terrible occur while they were out risking their lives on Midnights land? Little does he know, the Willows are in for more tragic news...

Saja is surprised by how fast her father is moving on his feet. She starts straggle from her father. She's unaware of her sister Carmella straying from the mob.

Buckeye reaches the burrow and looks at Lancaster with relief, still trying to hid the sadness in her eyes. She'd unaware of the bad news that will soon be delivered to her. (I wasn't reading many of the posts during the figth. What happened?)

Jackie is also relieved to reach the burrow. She stands up and looks around, glumly. She is also unaware that more bad news that will soon be delivered to them.

Snowflake is also relieved. He sits by Jackie and continues looking around.

Meg reaches the burrow, physically and mentally exhausted. She really hoped from here onwards things would get better. Unfortunately that wouldn't be happining yet, with more bad news on the way.

Mozart closed her eyes and gently placed Triscuit on the sand, she looked at Tank, what next?

ooc: Saja is Maylene's pup too? O.o Since when did she have another litter??? Carmella is from the same litter as Triscuit, Snicker, ect...

I'll be dispersing Grace, btw. And several other characters...