Roleplay- 23rd October

Duke decides to help out with sentry duty. He stands where he is and scans the area for danger. They've lucked out by not encountering predators today. It better stay that way.

Ninja feels more reassured when Duke goes on sentry. With more eyes on the skies and horizon the better the chance either of the sentries have in being able to spot danger before it could get a chance to strike.

Mischka spralls out under neath the bush and starts to doze off.

Duke keeps a steady watch, oblivious that the pups might be in danger, as well as the fact that a rover has visited the burrow.

Ninja changes direction to keep watch towards the north. It proves usefull and it's reassuring to the group when all directions are being scanned for danger.

Mischka dozes off, oblivious and careless about what's going on around him.

Duke swivels his head as he makes a 360 degree watch of the area. He keeps watch for predators and rovers alike.

Ninja lowers his head as he moves on to scanning the tall grass. As a rover himself, he knows that rovers will most likely favor hiding in the tall grass or desert scrub as they attempt to make an approach towards a ladykat. Now that he's part of a group, not only can he still rove but he can also help with chasing away other males.

Duke watches the grass too. His roving days are over, but he still remembers the techniques. He also watches the skies and other areas as well, as predators are ever active.

Whilst watching out for rovers, Ninja also keeps his eyes peeled for ground predators.

ooc: Yep, Suri's the other babysitter.

bic: Aliya eats a millepede as quickly as she can.

Little Boy eats a skink quickly.

Emzio forages, but is evidently struggling.

Duke sees Emzio struggling. He gets down from his post and starts looking around for something to feed the hungry pup.

Ninja raises back up on his hind legs and looks to the east for any signs of danger. All he sees is a herd of eland but nothing else. Ninja smiles relieved to see that everything is tranquil for mean time anyway.

Duke digs up a worm and gives it to Emzio. A growing pup needs to eat, and she's not old enough to be entirely self-sufficient.

Ninja swivels his head to the west. Nothing but rolling sand dunes and patches of dried desert vegetation for miles.

Duke lets Emzio have the worm and stands back up on guard duty. Keeping the mob free of intruders, meerkat or not, is one of his duties as Dominant Male, and he takes the job very seriously.

Suddenly Ninja spots a swift movement in the grass and sounds a low urgency alarm call for the group to be on gaurd. It could be a predator or possibly a rover(s) looking to snatch a Jumaa female.

Duke hears the alarm and sees the movement within the grass as well. If it is a predator, they'll need to act fast. He spots a bolthole. That should be good for them if it's a predator. It may also be a rover. He barks, telling the males to stay alert and make sure no female is missing.

Mischka jerks awake as he hears the alarm. He leaps onto all 4s and frantically looks around thinking it could be a predator. Instinctively he glances around for the nearest bothole and spots the one Duke has his eyes on just incase. He stands poised ready to make a mad dash for it at the sound of a predator alarm.

Ninja spots the familiar head of a meerkat in the tall grass. He's relieved to see that it isn't predator but becomes annoyed when he sees that it's a rover. He looks over the group to make sure all the Jumaa females are staying close to the Jumaa males then sounds the alarm for rover.

ooc- Who is it?

ic- Duke sees it's a rover. More annoyed now than worried after learning it's just a rover, Duke starts scent marking the surrounding area, letting this male know he's not welcome.

ooc: Its just a wild rover.

Ninja carefully makes his way down from his sentry post then breaks into a wardance after the wild rover. From experiance he knows the rover will make an attempt to sneak around the group through the tall grass to try to confuse the sentries so he can try to entice a female away from the group. Before the wild male could get a chance to do that, Ninja makes a B line straight for where he spotted the wild male in the tall grass determined to terminate his mission.

The wild rover realizes he's been spotted and takes off. He won't get any luck here today.

Mischka hears the alarm for rover and stands up on his hind legs. He scans the area looking for this rover but doesn't see him. He's unaware that the rover has already been chased off.

Duke follows right behind Ninja in the chase until the rover's out of sight. He then returns to the others and gets back to sentry duty.

Once the rover was out of sight, Ninja resumes to looking out for danger but this time stays on the ground to perform sentry duty.

Mischka notes that the group didn't rush for the safty of the bolthole and calms down. Perhaps it was just a false alarm. Meerkat groups do tend to be nervous at this time of year. Mischka shrugs at the short lived excitement and rejoins the group in foraging. He feels much better after that afternoon nap and is feeling strong enough to resume foraging for much needed food.

Kamaria heads below to check on Aliya's litter again.

ooc: If they live, can we go ahead and ask for one?

Duke keeps a steady watch, on the edge after the encounter with the rover. It just goes to show that in the Kalahari, anything can happen at any time.

Ninja sees Mischka looking much better and smiles. It seemed all he needed was nap after all.

Mischka digs into the ground with more strength and energy than he had 4 days ago. He feels like he can tear up huge chunks of the earth for a long time.

Duke scans the horizon. They should head home soon. The afternoon is starting to give way to evening, and their shadows begin to stretch across the Kalahari sands.