Roleplay-8th of January

ooc: Nothing is really happening here. The mob had just emerged and are engaging in sunbathing and playfighting.

ooc- Anyone want to cover Aliya?

Also, I suddenly remembered today is planned for the big plot with Linda.

ic- Duke watches his mate with concern. He fears there may be complications with her pregnancy.

Linda stands at Ninja's side, watching their pups play with a sense of accomplishment. The remaining pups of their litter are thriving, and she wants to keep it that way. She can't help but think about the two that were lost. She's been thinking deeply the past week, and now feels she's ready to risk a second litter despite Aliya's advancing pregnancy. She is, unaware however, that she will be the victim of the next tragedy her little family within the mob will face.

((OOC: Well, I'm still covering Aliya. Unless you wanted someone else to do it?))

Aliya shook her head, still attempting to ignore the pain. But slowly, it went away, which she sighed in relief.

John yawns a bit, hoping to go forging soon.

Root continued sunning himself.

Petal watches everyone, but stays with Comet, taking a fancy to the other male.

(Since SpiritRider is inactive again, I'll resume control of Phoebe, if no one else minds?)

Phoebe watched the other pups play, partly tempted to join in. But she stays next to her parents for now, deciding to wait and see if she really wanted to join in the playing.

ooc: Yeah, we have no idea where Spirit has gotten to so feel free to cover Pheobe =3 She'll surely appreciate it.

The sensations circulating through Ninja as he watches his and Linda's little ones play games are pride, euphoria and fondness. They sure are growing up fast. It feels like yesterday when Linda was delivering them into the world. Before they know it, they'll be supervising and mentoring the Jumaa's next generations, taking up gaurd duty and thinking about establishing families of their own. Considering what they've been through during their first few weeks of life, it's remarkable they made it this far. It's a terrible shame 2 of their little ones can't be here to grow up with their surviving siblings but at least they're in a place where no harm can ever become of them. Much like his mate, Ninja has been considering having another litter but knows it may pose a risk if they decide to mate while Aliya is still pregnant. While she's a very kind-hearted and maternal dominant, one can't be too sure. The instinct to do whatever you can to ensure your own litter has a better chance of survival could kick in at any time and some times it's just so overwhelming that you can't resist resorting to ejecting the potential threat from the mob. Aliya has never sentenced a subordinate female to life in solitude out in the perilous Kalahari wilderness so Ninja trusts she never will. He feels it'd be fine for himself and Linda to have another litter. Why not go for it? Everything will be fine.

Ninji sees Pheobe and Ponda sitting on the sidelines of their games and peeps for them to come join in on the fun. It isn't as much fun if not every kid is involved.

ooc- Sorry, I wasn't aware that Aliya's substitute owner was still active. You can keep playing her, but I would like them to head out soon.

ic- Duke remains loyally by his mate. He waits for her to make lead calls, if she can even lead them to a foraging patch that is.

Linda waits patiently as well. Weaning her pups is a slow process, as she still provides them milk as they become adapted to solid food. The extra energy she spends feeding them makes her still hungrier than normal, but day by day she's returning to her normal eating behaviors.

Tyson sits by his parents, absorbing the scene around him with timid curiousity.

((OOC: Its fine, I should be apologizing. I'll have her do that now.))

Once the pain is completely gone, Aliya gives out the very wanted calls to go forging before walking off.

Finally, time for food! John follows the matriarch eagerly.

Root follows as well, looking forward to eating.

Petal follows as well, walking with Comet.

ooc: It's okay Night =3

Ninja diverts his attention from his kids when he hears Aliya emitting lead vocalizations. He follows the departing mob enthusiastically, eager to find sustenance.

Ninji ceases playing with her siblings and eagerly follows the adults out into the Kalahari wilderness, excitement developing inside her. She can't wait to see what kind of adventure today will bring.

Akita's attention totally abandoned the game as soon as her small ears caught sound of lead calls being made, her tiny hazel brown orbs flashing at the adults beginning to arouse. She shook her short pelt free of sand and began eagerly following them, churring at someone's heels about how exciting this was going to be- Yet they were probably paying no mind, she still kept on.

Phoebe follows her parents and siblings, ensuring Ponda was with her. She still rarely left her half brother's side.

Ninji chrrs in agreement with Akita. Then again, every day is exciting for a meerkat pup as they are learning more and more about their sublime but perilous environment.

Ninja is in a high state of alert, conscientiously scanning the vicinity for threats as he walks beside his beloved mate. He's very protective of his family and will defend them at any cost if their lives are imperiled by a threat.

Aliya continues leading, hoping the stomach pains wouldn't kick in while she walked.

John scans the area as everyone walked.

Root was looking up ahead.

Petal had matched her walking pace to Comet's, ensuring she was by his side.

ooc: have to keep this active, ive just come back but i dont think anything majors happened:)

Kinkajou emerges late, she spots Aliya heading out and she quickly runs after, not even bothering to warm herself up.

Sunbeam is at the burrow, shes too lazy to leave.

Orkid stays at the burrow with Sunbeam, she lies outside the burrow and yawns.

Katina is walking alongside Kinkajou, she had developed a bond with the younger female over the past few days.

Once at the forging patch, Aliya starts to forge.

John is about to forge, but something caught his eye. A figure was in the distance. C-Could it be... his love!? Distracted by this, John ran off after the figure as it ran off, thinking it was his long lost love Velmarie. However, he only distances himself further and further away from the Jumaa... Soon, he's gone completely...

Root and Petal begin to forge, oblivious to John's disappearance.

Once the Jumaa reach their designated foraging spot, Ninja and Ninji commence their search for sustenance, unaware of John's pursuit of a mysterious figure leading him far away from the mob.

Duke begins sentry duty once they arrive at their destination.

Linda does a quicks check around and begins to forage. Still needing to supply milk to her pups as the slow process of weaning them takes place, she needs to get a decent meal in. Afterwards, she plans to ask a serious question to her mate...

Tyson looks around curiously, not concerned with food at the moment. He wants to explore this world a little bit.

Ninja forages near his beloved lady, pausing every few moments to scan the sky and terrain for threats. He's always been very protective of his family and will do everything he can to ensure their safety.

Ninji extracts a camel spider from the sand and devours it quickly.

Akita stumbled persistently with the group, keeping up rather well despite her stubby pup legs. She paused, lifting her right foreleg while scanning the group quickly. Rising onto her back legs, Akita's head jerked up to the sky- Only clouds and blue met her orbs. She turned back to the mob, running into Ninja. A few begging churrs and poking at him signaled she wanted a bug. Now.

Akita's begging vocalizations and prodding prompts Ninja to increase his digging pace, hoping to find an insect to satisfy the little one's hunger. Soon enough, he extracts a camel spider from the ground and kindly offers it to Akita.

Aliya continues to forge.

Root finds a centipede and begins to eat.

Petal pauses from her forging and looks around for Comet.

Comet spots his friend, possibly more than that, Petal and limps over to her. Giving the sweet female a friendly nuzzle, he rests his head on her shoulder.

Linda is foraging near Ninja.

Duke scans the area for rovers and predators.

Suri scans the area beside the Jumaa dominant male.

Ponda is making loud begging calls. Due to his brain damage he falls over once or twice.

Ninja intially intended to consume the skink he just extracted from the ground until Ponda's begging vocalizations reach his ears. He kindly offers the skink to Ponda, before migrating to another location nearby to dig for insects.

Ninji is foraging near her mother, picking up the pace as the pungent scent of an unknown insect enters her nasal cavity, chirring excitedly the deeper she digs. Just a few more inches until she unveils her mystery prey. Wonder what it could be?

Alone in the Jumaa territory resting safely in a bolt hole to avoid the heat, Valmarie was conserving as much energy as she could to try and make it back to the burrow. A while ago whilst she was out foraging she had been separated from the group and since had been trying to find her way back to them and her beloved John. It has saddened her greatly that she had allowed herself to get lost in such a way that she had to seek shelter temporarily near another group outside the reserve but now she was back on course and could strongly smell their scent in the air.
There was no doubt that Aylia would allow her to return, the Jumaa dominant female was kind and warm hearted and she missed them as much as she missed John and oh the new pups that could be safely underground.
Finding her legs again, Valmarie shook her pelt and emerged excitedly out of the hole. She would make it home before nightfall and wouldn’t they all be surprised to see her again. Dashing off across the sand with a smile on her face, Valmarie was unaware that John was no longer with the Jumaa but out searching the vast Kalahari.

Aliya finds a gecko which she happily devours, unaware Valmarie was returning.

Petal smiles and nuzzles Comet affectionately.

Root was about to finish off his centipede until he notices Comet and Petal. He looked confused. What the..?

In the distance, John was searching. He had no idea how far he was from the Jumaa. And also unaware his lady was returning to the forging group. His golden orbs scan around. He had lost sight of what he saw. Now he had to figure out where the forging group was and fast, before a predator would get him.

Wiping the sand off a protrusion in the hole floor, Ninji squeals excitedly as she sees it's a medium sized millipede. Aww yeah, a scrumptious millipede, I absolutely love these things! Using her snout, she nudges the insect up to the surface and begins dragging it through the sand to expel the stomach irritating toxins from its shell. Once she feels it's good enough to eat, she happily feasts on her crunchy prey, unaware two last seen individuals, John and Velmarie, are about to make an astonishing return.

Ninja extracts a skink from the ground, bites it in half and kindly offers the upper torso to his lady. He'll wait for her eat her piece before consuming his, a chivalrous act he'd be glad to do no matter how hungry he is. Ninja is also unaware John and Velmarie are about to return.