Roleplay-24th of December

John and Petal follow Mischka, careful not to step on the pups and not inflict injury on the four.

John stood by his lady Velmarie and watched the entrance, eagerly awaiting the pups to come out for the first time.

Petal also watches, eager.

Root was still with Comet, giving the poor male a much needed grooming session. There were so many ticks and fleas on the poor male. How did he even endure all this? He was unaware of Linda and Ninja's litter emerging for the first time.

*Velmarie smiled at John excitedly. She loved how the group was so supportive of everyone, especially the pups.*

Tyson reaches the entrance and looks away, blinded by the brightness. He taps Ninji. You go first.

Ninji willingly accepts the offer. She walks confidently to the burrow entrance, squeaking in distress as the sun's bright, hot light hit her eyes. Ow! I can't see! What is this!? She staggers back into the darkness, taken aback a bit by the mysterious hot light that surrounded her.

Watching Ninji and her reaction makes Phoebe even more nervous. She hung back, becoming too scared to go outside now. She trembled slightly.

*Velmarie churred to the pups, sending words of encouragement.*
Velmarie: "Don't worry, the light is the sun and it is good."

Sunning herself in the sun, Josephine watched the excited adults around the burrow but refrained herself from closely investigating the emergence of Linda and Ninja's pups.

Aliya, Suri and Emzio watch the burrow entrnace, eager to see the pups emergance

Ninja nods reassuringly at his children, agreeing with Velmarie The sun is a friend to the meerkat. We use its light to warm up every morning. It won't hurt you. Just don't look directly at the sun as it will hurt your eyes. Ninja is bathed in the sun's rays, along with the rest of the adults. By seeing that, he knows his children will be convinced the sun's light is safe to be in.

Ninji tips her head to the side, intrigued. So, the source of where this strange light comes from is called the sun, daddy? Cool! It makes her feel at ease learning about where the light comes from and that it won't do any damage when her litter steps out into the blazing sunshine for the first time. Her confidance and courage restored, she eagerly steps into the sun's pleasant rays, purring with pleasure when she's bathed in its warmth. She scampers up the incline with ease. When she reaches the top, she glances around in awe at the beautiful landscape. Wow! The outside looks so fantastic....and big! She squints her eyes as she takes in the beauty of the land, not used to the bright light after spending all her short life in darkness. Eventually, her eyes will adjust to the change in light.

Mischka grins proudly at Ninji when he sees her conqour the burrow slope and bravely investigate the landscape. He's now on high alert. The pups will be extremely vulnerable once they're all above ground. He's determined to ensure they remain safe. He knows their defenseless appearance could attract predators so he proceeds keeping watch.

Saffron smiles proudly as she witnesses Ninji conqour the burrow slope without difficulty. She stands ready to help the other pups if she sees any of them having trouble getting up the steep incline.

Conker is helping Root clean up Comet, so is unaware of Ninja and Linda's pups' first emergance.

Duke watches too with a happy smile.

Tyson watches. With his sister's response and the entire mob crowding around the burrow entrance, Tyson gets confidence to try himself. After being gently nudged by his mother, Tyson slowly leaves the burrow, squinting and pawing at his eyes as the first direct sun rays beat down on his little head peering out of the burrow's darkness. After about a minute of adjusting to the near-blinding light he slowly climbs up the slope, his entire body in sunlight now. He stumbles and slides down a little, but gets back up and continues until he's over the slope and on flat land. He looks at the adults, their features more clear in the light, and slips past them to see the endless Kalahari landscape. He looks around in awe, too amazed for words. The trees, the shrubs, the endless blue sky. He's never been so impressed in his short life.

Linda watches with a proud smile. She's been waiting a long day for this, and along with their birth, this is a milestone for her just as much as them.

Hearing her brother and sister excited chrrs and such, Phoebe feels her fear fading and replaced it with confidence. She gulps for a second, but she boldly goes up the slope. The light stung her eyes. She closed her eyes, enduring it rather than fleeing. She opened her eyes more slowly, the landscape becoming clearer. Her eyes opened wide as she saw the beauty of the area. W... It... its beautiful! All her fear was long gone. For the first time, she wasn't afraid. Giggling, she ran over to join her siblings. The sky... The sun... Everything! She couldn't wait to learn more about their land. But... she'd also learn the dangers of this beautiful land.

John and Petal looked happy as the pups began to emerge, one at a time. Now only Dellie had to come out.

Ninja watches Ninji, Tyson and Pheobe conquor the burrow slope on their own with a proud grin. As he watches his children admire the gorgious, vast landscape, he feels grateful to Fate for letting him see this exciting day. There were moments when he was close to death he doubted he'd live to see his children emerge for the first time. But he didn't let being life threateningly injured dampen his will to survive. Wanting to see his pups surface drove him to live. Because of his strong determination, he pulled through the week and got to witness his children accomplish their first big mile stone. Since his strong will to survive helped aide him live to see this day, he's more determined than ever to witness the days they begin foraging and start learning their survival skills. Ninja faces the burrow, awaiting his daughter, Dellie's, appearance.

Mischka's eyes light up with a proud gleam when he sees Ninji, Tyson and Pheobe ascend the burrow slope on their own. He was thinking of embarking on a roving excursion this morning but he's glad he decided against it because he would've missed witnessing this awesome moment.

Saffron smiles proudly when she sees the 3 brave little cadets accomplish getting up the burrow slope independently. It wasn't long ago when she took on this challenge. She wasn't as brave as they were nor did she have a large mob crowd around the burrow, eager to see her emergance. Infact, the only one watching was her evicted mother. She was born during her eviction and lived a very precarious life. She's happy these pups have the luxury of having a large family around to witness all of their mile stones and to keep them protected. She faces Dellie smiling encouragingly. Now it's her turn. She stands ready to help if the little pup needs any.

Ninji squeals with excitement when she sees her brother and sister appear on top of the burrow slope. She bounds over to them, nuzzling them proudly and bouncing in excitement. They no longer have to be confined to the boring ugly darkness of the tunnels! She proceeds admiring the landscape, immediately captivated by the beauty of the sky, vegetation and mountains. All of it looks so amazing! The endless land inspires her to travel. She wants to see ALL parts of the Kalahari. Eventually though, she'll learn it isn't a walk in a flower feild. The Kalahari is an extremely perilous place and has 1,000s of ways to kill.

It appears that there are no longer any ticks remaining on Comet's pelt, but he really just sits there... There isn't too much for him to do right now... The thought crosses his mind that maybe Root and Conker belong to a mob, but he's very pessimistic right now; they may want to chase him off, and Comet doesn't currently have the energy to run...

*Velmarie sat next to John, smiling as the young pups lived out an important milestone in their lives, and conquered it.*

Conker steps back from Comet, satisfied he and Root rid every tick and flea from his fur. What Comet needs now is a mob who would gladly provide him with comfort, protection and affection. He knows the Jumaa would be happy to oblige to provide him with all that. Conker motions to Comet to follow him and Root. He'll no longer have to worry about the challenges and dangers of living alone.

ooc- Who still needs to come up?

ooc: Dellie does. She's Stormy's character.

Dellie yawned. She saw the bright light and was ready for her trek above. She had always been ever so curious as to just what this light was. As she watched her other siblings climb out, she became a little scared. What if something was to go wrong? She would hear the encouraging chirps of her Mother and knew this was a step to becoming just like her Mother, her idol. Dellie took the first steps up the slope, sand cascading down from her little brown paws. The light kept getting brighter as she neared it. The sudden change in contrast was making her squint. She could hear her Mother calling to her. Would she finally see the group in better light? Dellie kept going up. Up was the way into the light, she had guessed. Dellie slipped just a little. The light that had seemed so close was now further away. Hissing in frustration, she began to climb again, determined as ever to emerge into the sunlight for the first time.

ooc: Dellie does. I forgot they hadn't emerged yet. So my first post was useless.

Linda watches as the last of their pups comes above ground and fully emerges herself, taking her place next to the pups exploring their new world.

Comet glances at Conker, a little nervous about the idea... But he nods and slowly follows...

Despite the fact the four pups were not his, John couldn't help but feel proud. They finally would get to see the world outside of the burrow. However... the pups also needed to learn of the more harsher ways of the Kalahari. Despite its beautiful landscape, it could be deadly at any given moment. He took a moment to scan the area, hoping nothing would come out and spoil this moment. To his relief, no predators or any threats were seen. He sighs in relief and looks back Linda and Ninja's pups, smiling at the fact they successfully emerged.

Root walks next to Comet in confidence. Despite not being with the mob for long, he felt that Duke would not deny Comet. The poor male needed a family! And having another male would increase the chances of rovers being chased off successfully. He feels that Duke would not hesitate to accept Comet and that this male can start on his own road to becoming healthy again.

Petal smiled, happy for the four pups. They can finally start to explore outside the burrow. Like John, she knew the pups would have to start learning about the harsher side of the Kalahari. One could never have their guard lowered for long. It would be costly. She could only imagine how proud Linda and, especially, Ninja, were of their pups finally able to be outside with their loving parents.

Ninja greets their last pup with a proud nuzzle, impressed all 4 conqoured the burrow slope independently. He sits by his mate's side, watching their litter proudly as they explored their new surroundings.

Mischka watches Dellie emerge with a proud smile. They all emerged under their own steam. He believes this litter will turn out to be successful when they're older.

Saffron emerges to join the rest of the group. She's proud of all 4 pups. They certainly have their father's bravery and determination and their mother's compassion and care. They're destined to grow up to be vaulable members of the Jumaa.

Conker happily leads Comet towards the Jumaa. He trusts his compassionate easygoing family will grant him acceptance into their society.

Mommy... Daddy... Its... so beautiful... I wanna see it all! Phoebe was still at a loss. A new part of her was awakening. She began to giggle happily, and began to skip around her siblings excitedly. So much to learn! And she couldn't wait to learn it all with her sisters and brother. Alongside her loving mother and father and the rest of the mob.

Dellie looked over and around at everything. The brightness at first was blinding, and it took the young pup aback, but as her eyes adjusted she saw the outside world for the first time and was swept away in the beauty. Her family was so large... she chirped as she saw her parents. Dellie felt proud. She stuck out her chest, trying to look bigger and tougher. I did Mommy! Look at me Daddy!