Roleplay - 14th February

Jumaa

Current season: Wet (Summer)

Ages of those under a year old:
Root........ Now over a year
Ajia, Dahoma........... 5 months 22 days
Cactus, Conker,......3 months 22 days
Akita..........3 months 12 days
Saffi...... 1 month 20 days
Sunchip.......1 month 1 day
McCormick, Celia, Daniella......... 27 days

Due dates
None

Aliya emerges. Her mood has been approved somewhat. Her surviving pups, looking as if they would die, had managed to somehow pull through. Though... she realizes they had some kind of defects. Poor McCormick appeared to be weaker, and no doubt, he was the runt. Celia didn't act normally... No doubt she had some form of brain damage... And Daniella... She wasn't sure. She seemed to be okay... But who knows, maybe something was wrong... However, she loved her three pups, no matter what disabilities they had. She cursed Teetsie, the Midnight Dominant... It was her fault her litter ended up like this... Kratos, it seemed... was never coming back. But she wasn't too sad... No, she had taken interest in Scott, one of the newer males who had been accepted into the mob. He seemed very nice and sorta reminded her of Duke.

Celia was attempting to emerge. Now old enough to do so, but for her, getting outside was a chore. Due to her brain damage, she had a hard time walking. It seemed like the part of her brain that controlled her limps was the part that was damaged. Walking, running and even digging was awkward. She also made awkward noises too, not normal meerkat noises. It always sounded like she was in pain or gargling glass.

Kaimana was still asleep inside, happy to finally be in a mob. Life was good for him.

Conker was about to emerge, but noticed his sister struggling. He frowns and deciding to help, pushes her from behind and helps her emerge. His injury had long healed and now he could go out and play again. Once Celia was emerged, he emerges himself.

Root couldn't believe it... he was now a year old. He frowns, thinking about his sister... She'd be a year too. How was she doing, he wondered?

Scott was enjoying life with the Jumaa. Such a loving and kind mob. He felt right at home. Now he didn't have to worry about getting hurt, due to his limited sight. He, like Aliya, had taken an interest in the dominant female. It appeared there was no dominant male, and no other male was stepping up. He's interested in becoming the dominant male, if that would be allowed.

Cactus was still in the burrow, asleep.

Eliza emerged from the den as well. Sunchip was still asleep and would wake sooner or later, yet her pup had already been growing so fast! She was relieved to feel at home in a group who automatically accepted their background.

Hurrying to emerge onto the surface, Chocolatine pleased as punch with herself smirked with delight as she dashed though the network of tunnels. She had awoken early and groomed her fur eager to make good impressions on the one of the newer male member of the family Kaimana. Since Aliya hadn't chosen him for her mate maybe lady love had sent him her way.
Turning a corner, she spotted a familiar face up ahead and chirped a warm greeting to Root. Something about him was different today too but she couldn't quite put her foot on it, had someone beaten her to grooming him already today??

McCormick hadn't emerged with the rest of the litter.  He was still weak and had just barely learned how to crawl.  He can't walk upright yet.  For now he's resting.

Akita woke early, making her way above ground. She found a spot beside Conker and his sister before churring a greeting then sitting down.

Romeo trudged out of the burrow and gave a heavy yawn. Slouching against a small rock, he did his best to keep his eyes open.

In the burrow, Ajia was curled up by her cousin Safi. Over the past few days the two had grown very close. Ajia was always keeping an eye on her crippled younger cousin and helping her out. There were no words for the immense gratitude Safi felt for Ajia. She felt lucky to be a part of such a loving family and to have such a good friend in her cousin.

Kumi came to the surface and began grooming herself.

Scott notices Aliya and walks over to her, starting to gently groom her. He was getting closer to becoming a full time DM, no other males were stepping up or were too young. For now, he was sorta like a... part time DM. But this other male, Kratos, looked as if he was not coming back. Hopefully, if Aliya does accept him, they could mate to produce more pups to keep the mob growing.

Cactus stirs and slowly awakens, yawning.

Little Daniella rises late. She's calm, taking in the beauty of the world she's now a part of, as she has been every morning since she emerged for the first time. She's very attentive to detail. She stumbles over to Scott, who she believes is her father, and paws at his tail. She wants to play with someone, but isn't sure who. Her older brother Dahoma and his littermates are too big- they're almost six months old! Daniella, however, did not come away unscathed from the womb, but none of it has shown just yet, for it's all mental...

Kamaria smiles as her most recent nieces and nephews come spilling out of the burrow. The future of the Jumaa was looking brighter than it was three weeks ago. She approves of Scott, who may become her new brother-in-law. He's sweet and loyal, and to her, would make an excellent dominant male.

Dahoma suns himself. He's enjoying the new responsibilities that come with his growing up. The bigger he gets, the more useful he becomes, and the young male likes it. He's going to dedicate his efforts to raising his new brothers and sisters how he was- in a large, safe family environment, because they deserve it. With Scott in the picture Dahoma might not even have to put forth as much effort- he believes the Jumaa may just have a new dominant male.

Aliya notices Scott and lightly smiles a bit, returning his grooming. She has grown rather fond of Scott. He wasn't Duke, but he was close. She was more than happy to accept him as her mate, and not only that, since her newest litter was able to emerge, she needed to keep reproducing. Little does she know, Scott shared the same idea.

Celia makes one of her unusual sounds to Conker, thanking him for the help. She began to half walk, half wobble as she looked around.

Conker frowns at Celia's unusual sound but nods. He felt sorry for her... Sounding so unusual and everything. He growls quietly. Those Midnights did this! Not to just Celia... But also his little brother McCormick. If only he wasn't so little... He'd teach those Midnights a lesson!

Root notices Chocolatine and smiles at her. No, no one had groomed him. No... He was a full fledged adult now. His first birthday had come and passed, that also means his sister was also an adult if she was still alive. No... She was alive, somehow. He could feel it... Perhaps one day, he'll go out and seek her. Not bring her back but just go and see her... Had she been able to speak finally? Who knows..

Akita turned around, her front half warmed. Her eyes felt heavy and so her eyelids shut, only to quickly open again- she heard something move in the grass to her right, but made no alarm call- yet.

Damon crawled closer to the Jumaas sunning themselves above ground. He stood on his fours but stumbled and fell into some grass in front of him, making it rustle. "D*****," he cursed to himself quietly.

Eliza sat just outside the burrow now. She enjoyed sunning herself. Being a part of this group just felt so very welcoming to her. She was still a bit timid, but had learned to warm up a bit to the others.

Sunchip still remained below, sleeping away. Soon though, she would awaken and expect her mother to feed her.

Chocolatine smiled and playfully nudged Root offering her congratulations. A year was a big milestone that a quarter of pups never make but he was one of the lucky ones. Also sharing a thought for Petal somewhere in the desert, the smile on her face quickly dropped to a worried frown. Secretly she knew that one day he might want to leave the group, most males generally did searching for love or in Root's case he might travel to any length to find his sister. As they continued walking to the surface the usual heavy feeling on her heart dragged her pace down, she'd miss him terribly but she'd never have the heart to stop him following his dream.

McCormick is awake now, and crawling around.  As a developmentally and physically challenged pup, he doesn't get far.  Things should get better soon for the pup... They're almost old enough to forage with the group.  It could cause problems.

ooc- Eh, what's happened the past game day?

((OOC: Nothing much Meyerm. We've assumed Duke vanished, a new member briefly had a new DM take over but it didn't last long. So my niece is attempting to have a new DM unless you want to resume playing Duke and she said she'll step down if you do. The litter was born but all of them have problems. McCormick (Played by Pan) is slightly weaker, Celia (Played by me) has some brain damage and then Danielle (Played by Stormy) hasn't shown any signs yet but from what Stormy hinted in one of her posts, this pup has problems too but its all mental.))

ooc- Thanks. I'll just say he was somehow separated from the rest of the mob and disappeared. I've dispersed all other characters of mine here though. I don't know if Wilson's been replaced, but he can be removed.

((OOC: Yeah, there is a new male in the Midnights who has taken Wilson's place. Varjack is his name I believe and he's played by a member named Poops.))

Duke slowly walks in the direction of the burrow, granted his mob hasn't abandoned it. He remembers chasing a rover through the grass, and suddenly being ambushed by a wild mob that chased him deep into unknown land. He thought he'd never find his home again. He hopes his mate is okay. Their pups should have been born by now.

Kamaria pads over to her sister and offers some good morning grooming. The pups have emerged a few days ago, and although there's problems with them, at least she still has something to remember Duke by. She's currently unaware the old dominant male is returning to the Jumaa.

Dahoma suns himself a little, stretching his legs so he can see over the grass. He notices a few blades moving, as if a breeze is stirring them, but it is singled out into a specific area- it's no wind. He raises an eyebrow, but isn't sure what it is yet, so doesn't raise an alarm. He's no clue it's his long lost father.

Daniella waits for her siblings, eager to get some playfighting matches going. All of the other pups are too big to playfight with, despite her disappointment.

McCormick peeps.  He can't see any adults and he's confused.  Still having trouble walking, he wanders aimlessly around the burrow.

Aliya is unaware that Duke was approaching, still engrossed with the grooming session with Scott.

Root faintly hears McCormick from the burrow. He decides to go in and check on the weaker pup.

Celia notices her sister Danielle and does her unusual partial walking and partial wobbling toward her, wanting to play. Her brain damage may be known, but she still had some natural instincts in her, such as playing.

Conker watches his sisters, he's taken it upon himself to watch over his disabled siblings, although his little brother hadn't emerged yet. One day, those Midnights will pay for this though... He swears it!

Kaimana was outside sunning himself contently.

Watching Root turn away from her and descend back down into the burrow tunnel system, Chocolatine sighed and slowly padded up onto the surface. Once out in the sun she gloomily looked around observing the dominants, the pups and Kaimana. After the thoughts about Root leaving the group to find his sister one day, she had lost all interest in trying to impress the older male and flopped down alone to wait patiently for Root to surface. She couldn't even start her grooming ritual of the morning because she always groomed him first and it would be considered rude in her mind if she missed him out.

Duke soon sees the mob in the distance and hastens his approach. He wants to see Aliya most of all. He hopes their litter was born without complication.