It's a quiet morning in Kuku territory. The morning dew is collecting on the plants surrounding the main burrow. Willow is the first to pop her head out. "C'mon guys! Wake up, it's too late to be just waking up!" exclaimed Willow. It was time to forage for breakfast Willow called for her mate Acacia inside the burrow to wake up the rest of the meerkats.
“Everybody up!” Acacia said, poking the other males. “Get to your posts, sentinels. Let’s get patrolling!”
Acorn rose and gazed at her sleeping mob, bumping her head on the low ceiling of the den. What a beautiful family. Sleeping so beautifully. So peacefully. And they were all hers.
She opened her mouth, puffed out her chest, and let out her characteristic bellow. “RISE AND SHINE FLUFFS FOR BRAINS, IT'S FAR TOO LATE TO BE SLEEPING! GET OUT NOW AND GET INTO THE SUNSHINE!” She gave the nearest meerkats some nice kicks in the kidneys for good measure.
“BUT DON’T STAY TOO LONG, I KNOW SOME OF YOU NEED TO HELP WITH THE DEN EXPANSION!”
Wadi hadn’t been kicked in the kidney, but he still yipped like he was on pain. It was a rude, though common awakening. He didn’t enjoy disappointing people.
“Right away, boss,” he said, saluting the back of Acorn’s head as though she cared about the movements of such a lowly male. He walked to the nearest exit and thrust himself into the savannah. He was greeted by sunrise and birdsong.
Well. No sign of any predators. Now, to wait.
Cody joined Wadi his brother to start partoling. "Hey let's go to Kuku territory and get some eggs hopefully Acorn won't notice that we're gone for too long!"
Fluffy's mob has already gotten up way earlier. They are waiting on the other side of the river for their only other male Hari to come back from his quest to find a mate. In the meantime they're foraging for some scorpions.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea…” Wadi said, scratching his temple. “We should be patrolling, not sneaking eggs.” He put a paw on Cody’s shoulder. “Stay here, brother. Talk awhile. Though some eggs does sound delicious…” Wadi imagined eating a goey, delicious egg. Then he imagined the consequences. He shuddered. “Those Kuku guys would kill us.” Time to switch topics.
“So? How does it feel living under a communist regime?”
Hari slunk back across the river, trying to reenter the mob without causing much commotion.
None of the hot girls in Kuku had awoken yet.
Later during their conversation, Cody was slightly disappointed but he decided to "patrol" near the berry bush. He was eating the berries delightfully until he noticed a ready made delicacy of eggs under the bush. Cody delightfully ate all 5 eggs and failed to mention it to his brother.
“Well, I have to say, I don’t mind living under communism, which is good, because if I did, life would be sucky for me,” Wadi concluded. He realized he didn’t have an audience. This was normal. He often spoke without an audience. But where had his brother gone? He went on patrol, eventually catching up with his brother, who was standing near a bush.
He wandered up to his brother. A delicious smell rose from his lips and paws. He put his paws on his hips. “Hey! Did you eat eggs without me? That’s not being a good little communist, you know. Sharing is caring, you know.” He punched Cody’s shoulder.
“You know, I’ve been thinking. Acorn wouldn’t be impressed if we slacked on our duties, but she would be impressed if we pulled a heist on Kuku territory. But she would be annoyed with us slacking. She would be more than annoyed, actually. Too bad. I fear the wrath of Acorn more than I love anything, even eggs.”
"Ow!" Cody rubbed his shoulder in pain. He was tempted to punch Wadi back, but he just decided to listen to Wadi. He walked over to his sister Chestnut for some real entertainment.
Twyla had been up for awhile going over the territory. She stopped when she thought she heard unfamiliar Meerkats up ahead. She got down low and snuck over. Trying to blend in with her surroundings, she spotted the Meerkats, and it looked like they had been eating eggs. "Oh, they're going to get it." She thought to herself grudgingly.
Distracted by watching over the youngsters, making sure they didn't get into too much trouble, Chestnut jumped when she noticed Cody approaching. "What do you need?" She asked with a sigh, tired from taking care of the young and expecting to get asked to do even more work. She would never admit it to any meerkats higher than her, but she hated what she did. All Chestnut wanted to do was explore, but she was stuck with the tiny, playful little babies.
"ROLL CALL!" shouted Willow. She wanted to make sure every meerkat was accounted for she didn't want to lose any meerkats or if any were pregnant. "C'mon Twyla," said Bloom "Mom is so stubborn I told her none of us were pregnant!"
"Wanna play at the watering hole?!" asked Cody "Wadi's kinda being a square today."
"Don't you see I'm busy!?" Chestnut snapped, a little louder and fiercer than she intended. Her whiskers twitched, and her face softened. "I guess..." She glanced around at the young meerkats. "Sure."
"Yay!" exclaimed Cody. Cody needed to wash off the egg scent off of himself anyway. Cody and Chestnut played til the sun started to set. "Time to go back home!" said Cody until the mother of the eggs he found under the bush approached him. She was a 1,000 ib (453 kg) Nile Crocodile!
"Cody," Chestnut whispered in a panic. "Cody, we have to move quickly quickly." The crocodile hissed and thrashed her humongous tail, snapping her jaws. "CODY, RUN!" Chestnut yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping some of the other meerkats would hear and come to help.
Azul heard the shriek of Chestnut! He rushed in to help. "Is it a bird? Is it a snake?" Azul asked Cody. "No much larger!" exclaimed Cody "A crocodile!" Cody zoomed by Azul toward the burrow. Azul saw a very much paralyzed Chestnut in front of a humongous crocodile. Azul stood up to make himself bigger and to distract the crocodile. "GO!" said Azul "GO!"
"No, I- I can't just leave you here! What if it bites you!? Or eats you!? I'll stay! I'll fight it! If I go back, it could follow me to the burrow! What if it eats all the babies!? No way, I'm staying here to fight!" Chestnut yelled bravely, although her whole body was shaking.
"Nut, I have an idea! Lets lead her into the pond!" Azul did a few distracting "Yelps" and led the crocodile into the watering hole. The crocodile seemed to enjoy the water, but Azul knew that wouldn't last for long. "Now let's go!" said Azul.
Chestnut let Azul run to the burrow first, then scampered after him. "THERE'S A CROCODILE IN THE WATERING HOLE!" Chestnut yelled as soon as she got into the burrow. "Are any meerkats at or near the watering hole!? Is everyone safe!?"
"No, not that we know of. We don't care about the Kukus remember?" Cody said. Azul let the little ones inside to be fed by their mother.
Twyla rolled her eyes and laughed. "Like that'd ever happen." she said and ran towards Willow's call.
"Of course we don't!" Chestnut snapped. "I was talking about our meerkats!" She followed Azul to watch over the pups, still slightly scared from the crocodile incident.
Wadi, who had entered the den to report that everything was all clear, stared at Chestnut with wide eyes. “W-what did Cody do this time, Chestnut?”
“What in the dung hill is going on?” Acorn asked, loping bulkily through the tunnel. “There’s a CROCODILE??? Azul, figure out if anyone is by the watering hole and get them out. Watch that animal. Take a sentry with you. Try not to die for me. I’ll take care of the homebodies.” She wound her fist.
Chestnut turned to Wadi and Acorn, breathing heavily. "Yeah, there's a crocodile. A big one. I think- I think Cody ate her eggs. She's probably angry now. Azul led her to the watering hole, but she might still come back."
“Cody ate her eggs? Well, why would he eat her eggs? Why would he do something so stupid?” Wadi asked, not wanting to pick up on the fact that Cody didn’t know they belonged to a crocodile and that he would have done the same thing, as he was still bitter about Cody not sharing.
“You have to admire his nerve,” Acorn said. “BUT HE IS IN BIG TROUBLE!” She took a deep breath and barreled through the tunnel, yelling at whatever meerkats happened to be in the adjoining tunnels. “EVERYBODY! Do NOT go near the watering hole! There is an angry mother crocodile, and it is forbidden to go near the area. In fact, I highly recommend not leaving the proximity of our dens. Chestnut is moving anyone who remains in the danger zone. Wait.”
She turned her head and called over her shoulder. “CHESTNUT, IF YOU’RE STILL THERE, MOVE YOUR BUTT OR YOU’RE COBRA EGGS!”
"I don't think anyone is there!" Chestnut called back. "And geez, you really don't have to scream so loudly." She muttered quietly, in disgust. Just in case, though, she cautiously crept out of the burrow and scanned the perimeters of the watering hole.
When she came back to the burrow, she looked perplexed. "The crocodile is, uh... gone." She said nervously. "None of you happened to... see it anywhere, did you?"
"Argh!" Shouts Bloom. The crocodile thrashed her teeth at her Bloom. Cody had no idea who she was so he dove back into the water to save her. "You ok?!" asked Cody. Then he smelled it, this meerkat was part of the Kuku mob! Cody couldn't let go of her you can say it was true love. He snapped out of it once he saw approaching meerkats from his mob and dropped her. Bloom stared at Cody as he ran to his mob in shock. . .
Chestnut ran over to Cody, thinking he had been bitten. "Cody! Are you OK? Did it bite you!? What happened!?" She asked, grabbing her brother by the paws.
"I'm fine, I was just a little spooked." Cody said. Cody yanked his paws from his sister; he wasn't acting like his regular playful self. "Let's get some sleep, Acorn probably wants to see us."
Chestnut gave Cody a worried look, but nodded. "Yeah- yeah, you're right." She said.
As they were walking back to the burrow, Chestnut asked, "You didn't happen to see the crocodile again, did you? I heard you scream." she said, thinking Bloom's yell belonged to Cody.
While everyone was distracted with the crocodile incident, Tiny snuck out of the burrow and crept towards the commotion. She tip-toed around all the other meerkats and sniffed around the water.
She raised her nose curiously higher into the air, catching a faint smell of meerkat... but not her meerkats... no, this was something else, something different. Tiny had never been outside of the burrows before, so she didn't know what this smell was, exactly. She stood on her little back feet and tried to sniff higher into the air, but the smell got even fainter. When she lowered back down, she found that the smell was coming from... inside the water?
Still curious and slightly confused, she lowered down even farther, then waded a few steps into the watering hole. For a moment she got distracted- she had never been in such deep water! It felt so... weird! And then she caught the smell again, and remembered what she had been taught by the big meerkats- there were other meerkats from different 'mobs'! Maybe there was a meerkat from a different mob in the water!
Tiny waded a few more steps into the watering hole. The smell was getting so strong now, Tiny didn't see where she was going... the watering hole suddenly deepened... Tiny let out a cry of dismay as she started sinking. How was she supposed to swim!? She tried splashing. Of course, she just kept sinking. As she was almost fully submerged into the water, she let out a loud yell as she saw the huge shape of a crocodile.
Rose crouched with the pups in the burrow. It seemed that some of the other females had conveniently forgotten their duties, which she wished she had done as well.
Acorn exited the burrow and looked at the approaching Chestnut and Cody. She stood tall, arms crossed over her somewhat pregnant belly. “So, where’s the crocodile, then?”
Wadi watched as his siblings Cody and Chestnut returned.
Cody looked a little less chipper than usual. “Hey Cody,” he breathed, too quietly for anybody to hear. “What’s up?”
“Hey, quiet down.” Rose said as the pups started to chatter behind her. She turned around and gave them a stern look. Wait.. Rose started counting. Dang it! One of them’s missing!
“Hey! Someone come down here.” She called out to the rest of the family.
"Uh, yeah I saw the crocodile. She hissed at me that's why I screamed. . . like a girl." Cody walked into the burrow with a worried expression.
"In t-the water hole. . ." Cody said in a worried tone. He didn't know what Acorn was going to do to him. Cody proceeded to walk inside the burrow just wandering aimlessly thinking about Bloom.
Cody walked past Wadi and ignored him. He had too much to think about. Then he thought about Bloom again. "No! It can't be!" Cody said to himself. "I can't betray my family by becoming a . . . jock!" Cody sat in his corner thinking to himself. "I would get free bird eggs if I were to enter Kuku territory!" He said with a smile. But, he noticed something Meelo and Almond were upset; crying. "What's wrong guys?" said Cody
"Tiny went to the watering hole!" said Almond in tears "I told her not to go outside but she didn't listen! She said 'You Scaredy Kats can stay under the sweet protection of the burrow while I go explore!' She wasn't listening to me!" cried Almond
"Guys!" Screamed Cody "Tiny went outside the burrow!"
“Why didn’t you just say that,” grumbled Rose, already starting to leave the burrow. “CODY!” She shouted back, “DON’T LEAVE THE PUPS!”
Rose stood up high outside the burrow, looking for any signs of Tiny. Seeing nothing nearby, she headed quickly towards the watering hole.
“Why didn’t you just say that,” grumbled Rose, already starting to leave the burrow. “CODY!” She shouted back, “DON’T LEAVE THE PUPS!”
Rose stood up high outside the burrow, looking for any signs of Tiny. Seeing nothing nearby, she headed quickly towards the watering hole
"Got it Rose!" said Cody with his ears down. Cody sat and watched the two pups assuring that Rose would find Tiny for them.
I can’t believe that worked, Rose thought as she got nearer and nearer to the watering hole. Normally the lookouts would just tell her to stay put, but she supposed that some, like Cody, would do anything if it was said in a commanding voice.
Rose stopped several feet from the edge of the watering hole and looked around, mainly focusing on the water. Where was the crocodile? Or was it an alligator? Who knows, who cares, she thought, looking suspiciously at what seemed to be a log, floating near what looked like…
“TINY! Get over here!”
“What is with him?” Acorn muttered. “He’s always been a wet blanket, but he didn’t even M’am me or e-nun-ciate.”
Rose streaked by. What was that kat doing? She was supposed to be watching the kits! Why was she running straight towards the watering hole? Acorn barreled after her.
Wadi waited outside the den, standing tall, the epitome of obedient meerkat lookout. He glanced back at the hole his brother had gone through. A moment. Two moments. Acorn was gone. There was his chance. Time to seek drama. Drama was Wadi’s weakness. He didn’t seek trouble though. If two meerkats ran off in the direction of the treacherous watering whole, that was their business, at least until they returned. Then he made it his business.
Wadi dove through the hole and scrambled through the tunnel slippery as an eel. He sidled up to Cody and put his claw on his shoulder.
“So, Cody, you saw the crocodile? What was that like? How big was it? Wait, what are you doing here with these kits?”
"Rose told me to . . . wait! Rose can't tell me to do anything! Let's go! She just wants to do the saving without us!" Cody finally came to his senses and made an alarm "yelp" and grabbed Tiny. Cody growled at Rose knowing how she took advantage of his confusion to try to be the hero.
Wadi held on to the kits as Cody t e l e p o r t e d just so he could steal Rose’s glory.
“Well that happened.” he said, staring at the nearest pup.
Rose jumped out of the way as Cody suddenly appeared, flew into the water, grabbed Tiny straight out of the crocodile’s jaws, and teleported back to shore, all under 2 seconds. “Dangit,” she said grumpily, wishing she had thought of doing whatever that was. She turned around, saw Acorn, and decided to try and pull a Cody. However, Rose found that she sadly was unable to teleport, so walked up to Acorn, defeated. “Sorry for leaving the pups, ma’am.”
"This family is so weird. . ." said Almond. She was so confused she wasn't crying anymore. Meelo tried to imitate Cody and smashed into Wadi.
“Yes, you ought to be,” Acorn, punching her in the face as if a crocodile infested waterhole was the perfect environment for punishment. Which it was. The more unsavory environment, the better.
“And what’s more, I want to know how she got away from the den in the first place. WHY WOULD YOU LET MY CHILD ALMOST GET KILLED? And I’d also like to know who named her Tiny, and why Tinies are all so problematic and shrimpy and troublesome in every story… oh, that was m…well she is a shrimp. But anyways, nice bravery in the rescuing… WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY OTHER CHILDREN?”
Rose accepted the punishment obediently, though inside she was seething. Should’ve expected this. She reminded herself. “That little brat— I mean, brave pup was able to sneak away during the commotion. The other.. babysitters.. weren’t around.”
Rose looked down. “Cody was supposed to be watching the pups.” She mumbled.
“Ahem. Cody was? Since when was that Cody’s job? Cody did his job. Why don’t you do yours?” She paused her “telling off” in order to congratulate Cody. “Cody, excellent job saving Tiny’s life. I’ve really never seen anything like it. Never. You’ll have to show me sometime. It was beautiful. You never hesitated. You were very brave, risking your life for the tribe. Such an excellent young lookout, and such an asset to our mob.” If she had thought he was a wet blanket minutes before, she never showed it. She nodded gratefully.
She wheeled and turned back to Rose. “Did you say the other babysitters weren’t around?”
Rose thought moodily. She nodded in response to Acorn’s final question, wisely deciding not to answer the other ones, which were probably rhetorical. “Chestnut left the burrow before the crocodile was sighted.”
“Oh she did, didn’t she?” Acorn’s growled. Chestnut did leave. It was okay to leave, of course, as long as you left another babysitter in charge, since Acorn always advocated for her mob getting adequate water and nutrition, but now, leaving at a time that wasn’t convenient for everybody? Ugh. Annoying but understandable. Additionally, Acorn sent her on a mission with Cody. She simply was not available. “Well that makes sense.” She sighed and gently slugged Rose’s shoulder. “Nice try saving Tiny’s life. Next time, just don’t let my daughter out of your sight!”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rose said. She grabbed Tiny and steered her firmly back towards the burrows.
Tiny let out an angry squeak. "But the meerkat!" She said loudly. She pointed outside the burrows. "Meerkat is in the water!"
Rose looked back. She didn’t see anything. “C’mon, kid,” she said, continuing to lead her away from the watering hole.
"NO!" Tiny tried to wriggle away from Rose's grip, but wasn't strong enough and gave up. "Meerkat is in water!" She said again, still pointing. "Different meerkat!"
Chestnut gave Tiny a weird look and stared at Rose, confused.
Skye ran up to Acorn and looked around, ``Should I stay on guard for the crocodile? Do you think it'll come back? Maybe everyone should stay on guard?`` He blurted, much too fast to understand. As he spoke his head swiveled from side to side, on alert.
Rose gripped the wriggly pup tighter. “Listen, kid, that’s called a crocodile. Not a meerkat.” She explained.
"NO! NO! NO! IT'S MEERKAT!" She screamed, kicking and wriggling even harder. "IT'S A MEERKAT FROM A DIFFERENT MOB! SAVE HER!"
Rose sighed and leaned down, grabbing Tiny by the scruff. She trotted quickly away to the burrow, convinced that the pup was spouting nonsense.
Tiny squeaked again and finally stopped moving, tired from her adventure.
Chestnut followed Rose into the burrow to do her job and help watch over the young. She hadn't eaten a single thing ALL day, but she didn't say anything because Acorn was probably already angry with her, and she really didn't want to make matters worse. She also didn't want to eat any eggs, after the whole crocodile incident.
“Yes,” Acorn said. She nodded and walked back to the den.
Acorn walked back to the den, grabbing and eating an incredibly stupid lizard that decided to crawl into her path. When she entered the den, she didn’t say anything to anybody, just watched Rose and Chestnut caring for her young.
Rose cast a sidelong glance at Chestnut. She hoped that Chestnut wouldn’t hold any grudge towards her for telling Acorn what had happened. She didn’t blame her fellow pup-watcher for leaving, but she wasn’t going to cover for her to the alpha.
Chestnut caught Rose's glance and frowned slightly, then looked away. Chestnut (thought) she knew exactly what that look meant. Chestnut thought Rose was angry at her for leaving the young. A feeling of anger rose like a fireball in her chest, about to explode out. It was partly because she thought Rose disliked her right now, but also because she was angry at herself. Miraculously, everyone survived, but what if they didn't, all because Chestnut went to play at the watering hole with her brother? What if something happened to Tiny, or Cody, or ANYONE else!?
"Okay!" Skye said. He followed Acorn a few steps, then stopped to lookout for the crocodile. Shortly after Acorn walked away, Skye squinted at a small shape in the distance. But it couldn't be a crocodile... could it? Cautiously, he stepped forward. The shape was coming closer... and it definitely wasn't a crocodile. Skye let out a small gasp as he saw the figure getting nearer. It was... another meerkat. He filled with a feeling of great relief, but at the same time, he was partly worried. Why would a meerkat be out at this time? And this wasn't another lookout... he gasped again. It was a meerkat from Kuku territory! "HEY!" Skye yelled. "What do you think you're doing here?"
The mystery meerkat stopped in her tracks.
"What's your name?" Skye called.
"Scorpion." Said the Kuku meerkat.
"Why are you here!? This is Mwindaji Mwepesi territory!"
Scorpion looked into the air and stroked her chin, as if contemplating the question. After a moment, she asked, "Oh, is it?" and turned back.
``Hang on- wait!`` Skye yelled after her, but Scorpion had already walked away.
Skye ran to the burrows to deliver the news. "Acorn- there- is- er, was- another- meerkat - from- Kuku- named- Scorpion!" He panted.
Rose, not being the talkative type, looked away from Chestnut and focused back on the pups, putting most of her attention on that little bra— er, cheeky pup, Tiny.
Acorn put her paws on her hips. “Well did you chase her away?”
Tiny looked up at Rose and hmphed. Still angry at Rose for carrying her away, she turned around and crossed her arms.
"She just walked away." Skye said. "I told her that this is Mwindaji Mwepesi territory and she said, `Oh, is it?` or something, and then she walked away."
“That was some nerve she had!” Acorn said, bristling at the hackles. “But if she doesn’t come back I wouldn’t worry about it.” Unless… she was here for one of the boys. She’d better not be.
"Guys, it's getting late." Azul said tiredly. "C'mon guys, we'll deal with Scorpion tomorrow the pups have stayed up too late."
Chestnut didn't hesitate and ran into the sleeping chamber. Skye popped his head out of the burrow to make sure Scorpion or any other meerkats from a different mob didn't come back, then turned around and followed Chestnut. Tiny curled up into the corner of the burrow, giving the other meerkats a hard look until she shut her eyes.
Wadi went to sleep in his little den.
Acorn watched everyone settle down, then clicked her tongue in satisfaction. She curled up beside Azul.
Some time later in Kuku territory, Willow is calling for Bloom it was getting dark and she was getting worried. "Where's Bloom!?" barked Willow.
Twyla sniffed the ground. "She can't be too far." Twyla assured, then second guessed herself, "Can she?"
"Guys!" Bloom shrieked she was out of breath. "Where have you been?!" barked Willow. "The watering hole . . . crocodile . . at . . . the watering hole." said Bloom
Twyla stopped. "Did you clean it's teeth?" Twyla randomly asked.
"What?! No. Someone saved me and-"
"Save your breath" interrupted Willow "It's late, we'll deal with the crocodile problem later. Get some sleep!" Bloom sulked to the burrow with her tail behind her legs.
"You too Twyla!" she screamed.
Willow shouted into the air. "How did mom take care of the mob better than me?! I don't understand crocodiles, my kids wandering off, the watering hole war?! How could this happen?! Maybe I'm not as good as being a leader as I thought." Willow cried herself to sleep she was very confused.
Twyla cocked her head listening. "There's worst things out there." She whispered to herself thinking.
When Tiny opened her eyes the next morning, the sun had just started to come up above the horizon. She rubbed her eyes and stretched, then looked around at the other meerkats. She didn't see any awake, so she decided to explore outside a bit. She didn't care about the crocodile incident- she thought she could easily take down a crocodile (which she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried), and even if she couldn't, she was sure that one of the other meerkats would come help her.
She poked her head out of the burrow and sniffed the morning air. She decided she should find something other than insects for breakfast, as she despised the taste of them. She stretched once again, then set out, alone.
She was walking for quite a while, looking behind her every so often to make sure none of the adult meerkats were following her, when she ran right into a thorny bush. She let out a squeak of dismay, which turned into a squeak of happiness. Right there, sitting in front of her, was a big berry bush (or it seemed big, to Tiny).
She sat there, happily munching on the berries, for what must have been an hour, until she had a terrifying jolt of realization. What if the adult meerkats were looking for her, seeing she had disappeared again!? What would her mother think of her? What if she became an outcast!? Quickly shoving a few more berries into her mouth, she ran off in the direction of the burrow.
"Come here Tiny," said Azul softly grabbing her with his mouth. "Eatin' berries huh?" said Azul "Don't worry we'll clean you up if the watering hole's safe. Acorn will let us know."
When Wadi awoke, he awoke early. He left the den to find some lizards.
Acorn woke up and sniffed for her resting offspring across the den. Her two more obedient children were slumbering beside Rose, but Tiny was nowhere to be found.
How could Tiny get out again less than a day later?
"AZUL?" Her mate was not to be found in the den. She went over the top and found Tiny blundering into Azul's jaws.
"Oh, good, I see she's already been found. I was just going to get all the sentinels on her trail. Bring her back to the den. I see there are some serious matters that have to be dealt with," Acorn growled.
Acacia awoke and watched the slumbering Willow. The night before, she'd been lamenting her snowballing responsibilities. She probably needed an encouraging word. A reminder that they were living their dream, and that she was competent and capable. With all things considered, he licked Willow's ear. "Wake up, dear," he said. "It's a new day, and everything is ours."
"Ugh." Willow whined. She just woke up from crying. She awoke to the sight of her mate and gave him a kiss. "Hi, honey." She sighed. She sulked to the bug tree and ate some mayflies her least favorite kind of food.
“Well, no need to punish yourself,” said Acacia. He handed her a lizard. “I know how much you hate mayflies.”
Rose burst out of the burrow, looking around wildly. “Where’s that little—”
Rose saw Tiny, stopped shouting, sighed and sat back down on the sand.
She smiled and started to feel better. And ate the lizard cheerfully. She then started to order the sentinels to posts. "Alright boys! Let's get busy today! I have a plan to end this crisis about the watering hole. . ."
Acorn entered the burrow and waited for Azul to enter.
“Okay,” Acacia said.
Azul entered the burrow with Tiny in his mouth and was greeted by a sleeping Cody and pups and placed her there.
"We need to take the Mgonjwa river for ourselves. Crescent, you act as a jock to distract Mgonjwa. And Acacia you and the boys will take the trip around the watering hole to the other side of the territory and make the surprise attack."
“Ok, Tiny,” Acorn said, putting her paw on Tiny’s small and disobedient shoulder and looking her dead in the eyes. Acorn didn’t look most meerkats in the eyes when she was telling them off. If Acorn looked you in the eye, you were in big trouble. “Lately, there’s been a lot of occurrences where you’ve escaped the den. That is wrong. My den, my rules. By escaping, you’ve not only put yourself, but also numerous members of the mob in danger. You are a hazard for our mob. You might feel like you are big enough to go foraging outside, and perhaps you are. But you have just proven yourself to be an irresponsible rat. If you had asked for supervision, with your siblings, then you might receive. I would have thought being in a crocodile’s jaws would teach you enough, but clearly not.”
As Azul was left the burrow he spotted some unfamiliar meerkats from afar. He sped to the burrow to tell the news to Acorn his mate. "ACORN!" shouted Azul "Unfamiliar meerkats on the premises spotted! Orders?!"
Tiny let out a little squeak and sat down. "But it's booooooooooring here," she whined. "But, fine. Sooooory." She said, holding her little paws out innocently, but her eyes were shining and she could barley hide a smile. Of course she was going to go out into the world again! Without supervision! It was the best thing Tiny had ever experienced! She wouldn't take this threat seriously, never!
Without waiting for orders, Skye popped his head out of the burrow, scanning the area. "What in the world...?" He said out loud, looking around at the other meerkats.
On the opposite side of her mob, Scorpion watched from a distance with slight amusement. What were the silly Kukus even doing? She was glad she was considered an outcast- she would probably have been forced to do things like this. It was so much better to be out on her own
“This isn’t over, Tiny!” Acorn said, shoving her back.
“We must force them out. Fight them, teach them a lesson. Show them what happens to intruders on Mwindaji Mwepesi territory.”
She went up to through the top of the den.
"I don't think they're approaching us," Said Skye, squinting at the meerkats in the distance. "What mob are they from? Maybe Mgonjwa? I think they're heading that way."
Tiny waited a moment for Acorn to exit, then easily squeezed out of a small hole on the other side of the burrow. She hoped she hadn't been seen. She would be in even bigger trouble. Her plan was to find out what the other meerkats were doing, perhaps follow them, than go back to the burrow like she had been there all that time. She hoped Rose wouldn't count the pups again and tell Acorn that she was missing. But she would only be gone a short time... surely no one would notice.
She prowled, quietly as the day of the crocodile, around the burrow, then made a run for the meerkats in the distance. She sprinted as fast as her little legs could carry her to a thick canopy of dried bushes, and caught her breath there for a moment. She didn't look back. She wouldn't dare. If Acorn saw her... she didn't even know what would happen. She didn't want to cause trouble- didn't want to keep making her mob keep having to search for her- she just wanted to have some fun, discover new things.
Finally, Tiny shook herself and kept running
Rose popped up out of the burrow. “Can I come?” She asked excitedly. “Cody’s agreed to watch the pups.” Of course. Cody hadn’t actually agreed, but he was asleep in the burrow with all the pups and probably wouldn’t leave them alone when he woke up.. right?
“Of course not,” said Acorn. “Cody ought to come with us. Get Cody. You stay here with the pups.”
“Go up there with the other sentinels and ask them what they want,” Acorn told Cody.
"Wait," Chestnut suddenly poked her head out of the burrow. "I'll watch the pups. Why don't you let Rose go?" She suggested, still thinking Rose was angry at her from the night before. Of course, she didn't want to watch the young, but she wanted to feel like she could at least talk to Rose again.
“Fine,” Chesnut said, waving her paw. She didn’t know why Rose was so eager to meet her enemy, but if she reeeally wanted to.
“You better not get hurt,” she growled to Rose. “I don’t want to have to rescue you.”
"I should come, right?" Skye asked, talking fast. "Or- no, wait, or should I make sure they don't come to the burrow? Wait, how are we going to fight them? Like, we're not going to, like... injure them that badly, right?" He looked up, staring at the other faraway meerkats.
“Yes we are,” said Acorn. “Just like I did to Sandy.” The damage Acorn had inflicted upon the previous mob leader was well known by all but the youngest Mwindaji Mwepesi.
Sandy’s eye had been totally destroyed. Her ears were torn. Acorn’s long claws left deep scratches on her throat. It couldn’t be told whether she would survive when Acorn forced her away, bleeding and one-eyed, to walk alone at the mercy of the terrible African savannah.
Acorn had looked beautiful that day. Glorious. She fought athletically and she’d fought bravely. With her powerful claws, acute fangs, keen reflexes, and mighty sinews she toppled Mamba’s regime and started her own.
With her roundish, pregnant belly Acorn posed a less intimidating figure, but muscles still rippled in her powerful shoulders. She hadn’t lost her edge, or at least, not much of it.
“But only if they try fighting back.”
Skye winced as she said Sandy's name and looked up at the rising sun, not wanting to even glance at the Kuku mob and think about what he might be doing to them in just a moment. Skye hated violence, but he had to obey Acorn's every command, or else... he shook his head vigorously, forcing his brain to move on to a different train of thought. Please don't fight back, please don't fight back.
He hoped they wouldn't. He really, really did. He hoped he and Acorn would sit at the entrance of the burrow long enough for them to pass. To Skye, at least, it didn't look like they cared about Mwindaji Mwepesi right now. It seemed like they were going a different direction.
Maybe I can try stalling Acorn.
He knew, right as he thought it, that it was a terrible idea. From what Skye had seen of her, she didn't seem like one to be stalled. But maybe it was worth a shot.
He looked around, rubbing his eyes from looking at the bright sun for so long. But what would even cause a distraction? He looked down, hopeless.
"Do I- do I have to fight?" He asked, his tone slower and more emotionless than he usually talked. "Can I... stay behind?" He knew what the answer would be. But he had to try.
Rose glanced at Chestnut, surprised. As she walked past her fellow pup-sitter, she leaned towards her. “Thanks, I owe you one.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rose said. What she didn’t know was that she definitely going to get hurt if the fighting got serious. Other than light sparring with her siblings, Rose hadn’t been in a real fight.
“Of course not. You are a sentinel. That is your job. Now stop with this nonsense,” Acorn snapped.
"Okay... right, right, sorry." Skye said, trying to avoid meeting Acorn's eyes.
Chestnut just nodded slightly and walked back to the burrow.
“Azul!” said Acorn. “Take your sentinels to ask the strangers what they are doing here!”
“Everybody up!” Acacia said, poking the other males. “Get to your posts, sentinels. Let’s get patrolling!”
Acorn rose and gazed at her sleeping mob, bumping her head on the low ceiling of the den. What a beautiful family. Sleeping so beautifully. So peacefully. And they were all hers.
She opened her mouth, puffed out her chest, and let out her characteristic bellow. “RISE AND SHINE FLUFFS FOR BRAINS, IT'S FAR TOO LATE TO BE SLEEPING! GET OUT NOW AND GET INTO THE SUNSHINE!” She gave the nearest meerkats some nice kicks in the kidneys for good measure.
“BUT DON’T STAY TOO LONG, I KNOW SOME OF YOU NEED TO HELP WITH THE DEN EXPANSION!”
Wadi hadn’t been kicked in the kidney, but he still yipped like he was on pain. It was a rude, though common awakening. He didn’t enjoy disappointing people.
“Right away, boss,” he said, saluting the back of Acorn’s head as though she cared about the movements of such a lowly male. He walked to the nearest exit and thrust himself into the savannah. He was greeted by sunrise and birdsong.
Well. No sign of any predators. Now, to wait.
Cody joined Wadi his brother to start partoling. "Hey let's go to Kuku territory and get some eggs hopefully Acorn won't notice that we're gone for too long!"
Fluffy's mob has already gotten up way earlier. They are waiting on the other side of the river for their only other male Hari to come back from his quest to find a mate. In the meantime they're foraging for some scorpions.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea…” Wadi said, scratching his temple. “We should be patrolling, not sneaking eggs.” He put a paw on Cody’s shoulder. “Stay here, brother. Talk awhile. Though some eggs does sound delicious…” Wadi imagined eating a goey, delicious egg. Then he imagined the consequences. He shuddered. “Those Kuku guys would kill us.” Time to switch topics.
“So? How does it feel living under a communist regime?”
Hari slunk back across the river, trying to reenter the mob without causing much commotion.
None of the hot girls in Kuku had awoken yet.
Later during their conversation, Cody was slightly disappointed but he decided to "patrol" near the berry bush. He was eating the berries delightfully until he noticed a ready made delicacy of eggs under the bush. Cody delightfully ate all 5 eggs and failed to mention it to his brother.
“Well, I have to say, I don’t mind living under communism, which is good, because if I did, life would be sucky for me,” Wadi concluded. He realized he didn’t have an audience. This was normal. He often spoke without an audience. But where had his brother gone? He went on patrol, eventually catching up with his brother, who was standing near a bush.
He wandered up to his brother. A delicious smell rose from his lips and paws. He put his paws on his hips. “Hey! Did you eat eggs without me? That’s not being a good little communist, you know. Sharing is caring, you know.” He punched Cody’s shoulder.
“You know, I’ve been thinking. Acorn wouldn’t be impressed if we slacked on our duties, but she would be impressed if we pulled a heist on Kuku territory. But she would be annoyed with us slacking. She would be more than annoyed, actually. Too bad. I fear the wrath of Acorn more than I love anything, even eggs.”
"Ow!" Cody rubbed his shoulder in pain. He was tempted to punch Wadi back, but he just decided to listen to Wadi. He walked over to his sister Chestnut for some real entertainment.
Twyla had been up for awhile going over the territory. She stopped when she thought she heard unfamiliar Meerkats up ahead. She got down low and snuck over. Trying to blend in with her surroundings, she spotted the Meerkats, and it looked like they had been eating eggs. "Oh, they're going to get it." She thought to herself grudgingly.
Distracted by watching over the youngsters, making sure they didn't get into too much trouble, Chestnut jumped when she noticed Cody approaching. "What do you need?" She asked with a sigh, tired from taking care of the young and expecting to get asked to do even more work. She would never admit it to any meerkats higher than her, but she hated what she did. All Chestnut wanted to do was explore, but she was stuck with the tiny, playful little babies.
"ROLL CALL!" shouted Willow. She wanted to make sure every meerkat was accounted for she didn't want to lose any meerkats or if any were pregnant. "C'mon Twyla," said Bloom "Mom is so stubborn I told her none of us were pregnant!"
"Wanna play at the watering hole?!" asked Cody "Wadi's kinda being a square today."
"Don't you see I'm busy!?" Chestnut snapped, a little louder and fiercer than she intended. Her whiskers twitched, and her face softened. "I guess..." She glanced around at the young meerkats. "Sure."
"Yay!" exclaimed Cody. Cody needed to wash off the egg scent off of himself anyway. Cody and Chestnut played til the sun started to set. "Time to go back home!" said Cody until the mother of the eggs he found under the bush approached him. She was a 1,000 ib (453 kg) Nile Crocodile!
"Cody," Chestnut whispered in a panic. "Cody, we have to move quickly quickly." The crocodile hissed and thrashed her humongous tail, snapping her jaws. "CODY, RUN!" Chestnut yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping some of the other meerkats would hear and come to help.
Azul heard the shriek of Chestnut! He rushed in to help. "Is it a bird? Is it a snake?" Azul asked Cody. "No much larger!" exclaimed Cody "A crocodile!" Cody zoomed by Azul toward the burrow. Azul saw a very much paralyzed Chestnut in front of a humongous crocodile. Azul stood up to make himself bigger and to distract the crocodile. "GO!" said Azul "GO!"
"No, I- I can't just leave you here! What if it bites you!? Or eats you!? I'll stay! I'll fight it! If I go back, it could follow me to the burrow! What if it eats all the babies!? No way, I'm staying here to fight!" Chestnut yelled bravely, although her whole body was shaking.
"Nut, I have an idea! Lets lead her into the pond!" Azul did a few distracting "Yelps" and led the crocodile into the watering hole. The crocodile seemed to enjoy the water, but Azul knew that wouldn't last for long. "Now let's go!" said Azul.
Chestnut let Azul run to the burrow first, then scampered after him. "THERE'S A CROCODILE IN THE WATERING HOLE!" Chestnut yelled as soon as she got into the burrow. "Are any meerkats at or near the watering hole!? Is everyone safe!?"
"No, not that we know of. We don't care about the Kukus remember?" Cody said. Azul let the little ones inside to be fed by their mother.
Twyla rolled her eyes and laughed. "Like that'd ever happen." she said and ran towards Willow's call.
"Of course we don't!" Chestnut snapped. "I was talking about our meerkats!" She followed Azul to watch over the pups, still slightly scared from the crocodile incident.
Wadi, who had entered the den to report that everything was all clear, stared at Chestnut with wide eyes. “W-what did Cody do this time, Chestnut?”
“What in the dung hill is going on?” Acorn asked, loping bulkily through the tunnel. “There’s a CROCODILE??? Azul, figure out if anyone is by the watering hole and get them out. Watch that animal. Take a sentry with you. Try not to die for me. I’ll take care of the homebodies.” She wound her fist.
Chestnut turned to Wadi and Acorn, breathing heavily. "Yeah, there's a crocodile. A big one. I think- I think Cody ate her eggs. She's probably angry now. Azul led her to the watering hole, but she might still come back."
“Cody ate her eggs? Well, why would he eat her eggs? Why would he do something so stupid?” Wadi asked, not wanting to pick up on the fact that Cody didn’t know they belonged to a crocodile and that he would have done the same thing, as he was still bitter about Cody not sharing.
“You have to admire his nerve,” Acorn said. “BUT HE IS IN BIG TROUBLE!” She took a deep breath and barreled through the tunnel, yelling at whatever meerkats happened to be in the adjoining tunnels. “EVERYBODY! Do NOT go near the watering hole! There is an angry mother crocodile, and it is forbidden to go near the area. In fact, I highly recommend not leaving the proximity of our dens. Chestnut is moving anyone who remains in the danger zone. Wait.”
She turned her head and called over her shoulder. “CHESTNUT, IF YOU’RE STILL THERE, MOVE YOUR BUTT OR YOU’RE COBRA EGGS!”
"I don't think anyone is there!" Chestnut called back. "And geez, you really don't have to scream so loudly." She muttered quietly, in disgust. Just in case, though, she cautiously crept out of the burrow and scanned the perimeters of the watering hole.
When she came back to the burrow, she looked perplexed. "The crocodile is, uh... gone." She said nervously. "None of you happened to... see it anywhere, did you?"
"Argh!" Shouts Bloom. The crocodile thrashed her teeth at her Bloom. Cody had no idea who she was so he dove back into the water to save her. "You ok?!" asked Cody. Then he smelled it, this meerkat was part of the Kuku mob! Cody couldn't let go of her you can say it was true love. He snapped out of it once he saw approaching meerkats from his mob and dropped her. Bloom stared at Cody as he ran to his mob in shock. . .
Chestnut ran over to Cody, thinking he had been bitten. "Cody! Are you OK? Did it bite you!? What happened!?" She asked, grabbing her brother by the paws.
"I'm fine, I was just a little spooked." Cody said. Cody yanked his paws from his sister; he wasn't acting like his regular playful self. "Let's get some sleep, Acorn probably wants to see us."
Chestnut gave Cody a worried look, but nodded. "Yeah- yeah, you're right." She said.
As they were walking back to the burrow, Chestnut asked, "You didn't happen to see the crocodile again, did you? I heard you scream." she said, thinking Bloom's yell belonged to Cody.
While everyone was distracted with the crocodile incident, Tiny snuck out of the burrow and crept towards the commotion. She tip-toed around all the other meerkats and sniffed around the water.
She raised her nose curiously higher into the air, catching a faint smell of meerkat... but not her meerkats... no, this was something else, something different. Tiny had never been outside of the burrows before, so she didn't know what this smell was, exactly. She stood on her little back feet and tried to sniff higher into the air, but the smell got even fainter. When she lowered back down, she found that the smell was coming from... inside the water?
Still curious and slightly confused, she lowered down even farther, then waded a few steps into the watering hole. For a moment she got distracted- she had never been in such deep water! It felt so... weird! And then she caught the smell again, and remembered what she had been taught by the big meerkats- there were other meerkats from different 'mobs'! Maybe there was a meerkat from a different mob in the water!
Tiny waded a few more steps into the watering hole. The smell was getting so strong now, Tiny didn't see where she was going... the watering hole suddenly deepened... Tiny let out a cry of dismay as she started sinking. How was she supposed to swim!? She tried splashing. Of course, she just kept sinking. As she was almost fully submerged into the water, she let out a loud yell as she saw the huge shape of a crocodile.
Rose crouched with the pups in the burrow. It seemed that some of the other females had conveniently forgotten their duties, which she wished she had done as well.
Acorn exited the burrow and looked at the approaching Chestnut and Cody. She stood tall, arms crossed over her somewhat pregnant belly. “So, where’s the crocodile, then?”
Wadi watched as his siblings Cody and Chestnut returned.
Cody looked a little less chipper than usual. “Hey Cody,” he breathed, too quietly for anybody to hear. “What’s up?”
“Hey, quiet down.” Rose said as the pups started to chatter behind her. She turned around and gave them a stern look. Wait.. Rose started counting. Dang it! One of them’s missing!
“Hey! Someone come down here.” She called out to the rest of the family.
"Uh, yeah I saw the crocodile. She hissed at me that's why I screamed. . . like a girl." Cody walked into the burrow with a worried expression.
"In t-the water hole. . ." Cody said in a worried tone. He didn't know what Acorn was going to do to him. Cody proceeded to walk inside the burrow just wandering aimlessly thinking about Bloom.
Cody walked past Wadi and ignored him. He had too much to think about. Then he thought about Bloom again. "No! It can't be!" Cody said to himself. "I can't betray my family by becoming a . . . jock!" Cody sat in his corner thinking to himself. "I would get free bird eggs if I were to enter Kuku territory!" He said with a smile. But, he noticed something Meelo and Almond were upset; crying. "What's wrong guys?" said Cody
"Tiny went to the watering hole!" said Almond in tears "I told her not to go outside but she didn't listen! She said 'You Scaredy Kats can stay under the sweet protection of the burrow while I go explore!' She wasn't listening to me!" cried Almond
"Guys!" Screamed Cody "Tiny went outside the burrow!"
“Why didn’t you just say that,” grumbled Rose, already starting to leave the burrow. “CODY!” She shouted back, “DON’T LEAVE THE PUPS!”
Rose stood up high outside the burrow, looking for any signs of Tiny. Seeing nothing nearby, she headed quickly towards the watering hole.
“Why didn’t you just say that,” grumbled Rose, already starting to leave the burrow. “CODY!” She shouted back, “DON’T LEAVE THE PUPS!”
Rose stood up high outside the burrow, looking for any signs of Tiny. Seeing nothing nearby, she headed quickly towards the watering hole
"Got it Rose!" said Cody with his ears down. Cody sat and watched the two pups assuring that Rose would find Tiny for them.
I can’t believe that worked, Rose thought as she got nearer and nearer to the watering hole. Normally the lookouts would just tell her to stay put, but she supposed that some, like Cody, would do anything if it was said in a commanding voice.
Rose stopped several feet from the edge of the watering hole and looked around, mainly focusing on the water. Where was the crocodile? Or was it an alligator? Who knows, who cares, she thought, looking suspiciously at what seemed to be a log, floating near what looked like…
“TINY! Get over here!”
“What is with him?” Acorn muttered. “He’s always been a wet blanket, but he didn’t even M’am me or e-nun-ciate.”
Rose streaked by. What was that kat doing? She was supposed to be watching the kits! Why was she running straight towards the watering hole? Acorn barreled after her.
Wadi waited outside the den, standing tall, the epitome of obedient meerkat lookout. He glanced back at the hole his brother had gone through. A moment. Two moments. Acorn was gone. There was his chance. Time to seek drama. Drama was Wadi’s weakness. He didn’t seek trouble though. If two meerkats ran off in the direction of the treacherous watering whole, that was their business, at least until they returned. Then he made it his business.
Wadi dove through the hole and scrambled through the tunnel slippery as an eel. He sidled up to Cody and put his claw on his shoulder.
“So, Cody, you saw the crocodile? What was that like? How big was it? Wait, what are you doing here with these kits?”
"Rose told me to . . . wait! Rose can't tell me to do anything! Let's go! She just wants to do the saving without us!" Cody finally came to his senses and made an alarm "yelp" and grabbed Tiny. Cody growled at Rose knowing how she took advantage of his confusion to try to be the hero.
Wadi held on to the kits as Cody t e l e p o r t e d just so he could steal Rose’s glory.
“Well that happened.” he said, staring at the nearest pup.
Rose jumped out of the way as Cody suddenly appeared, flew into the water, grabbed Tiny straight out of the crocodile’s jaws, and teleported back to shore, all under 2 seconds. “Dangit,” she said grumpily, wishing she had thought of doing whatever that was. She turned around, saw Acorn, and decided to try and pull a Cody. However, Rose found that she sadly was unable to teleport, so walked up to Acorn, defeated. “Sorry for leaving the pups, ma’am.”
"This family is so weird. . ." said Almond. She was so confused she wasn't crying anymore. Meelo tried to imitate Cody and smashed into Wadi.
“Yes, you ought to be,” Acorn, punching her in the face as if a crocodile infested waterhole was the perfect environment for punishment. Which it was. The more unsavory environment, the better.
“And what’s more, I want to know how she got away from the den in the first place. WHY WOULD YOU LET MY CHILD ALMOST GET KILLED? And I’d also like to know who named her Tiny, and why Tinies are all so problematic and shrimpy and troublesome in every story… oh, that was m…well she is a shrimp. But anyways, nice bravery in the rescuing… WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY OTHER CHILDREN?”
Rose accepted the punishment obediently, though inside she was seething. Should’ve expected this. She reminded herself. “That little brat— I mean, brave pup was able to sneak away during the commotion. The other.. babysitters.. weren’t around.”
Rose looked down. “Cody was supposed to be watching the pups.” She mumbled.
“Ahem. Cody was? Since when was that Cody’s job? Cody did his job. Why don’t you do yours?” She paused her “telling off” in order to congratulate Cody. “Cody, excellent job saving Tiny’s life. I’ve really never seen anything like it. Never. You’ll have to show me sometime. It was beautiful. You never hesitated. You were very brave, risking your life for the tribe. Such an excellent young lookout, and such an asset to our mob.” If she had thought he was a wet blanket minutes before, she never showed it. She nodded gratefully.
She wheeled and turned back to Rose. “Did you say the other babysitters weren’t around?”
Rose thought moodily. She nodded in response to Acorn’s final question, wisely deciding not to answer the other ones, which were probably rhetorical. “Chestnut left the burrow before the crocodile was sighted.”
“Oh she did, didn’t she?” Acorn’s growled. Chestnut did leave. It was okay to leave, of course, as long as you left another babysitter in charge, since Acorn always advocated for her mob getting adequate water and nutrition, but now, leaving at a time that wasn’t convenient for everybody? Ugh. Annoying but understandable. Additionally, Acorn sent her on a mission with Cody. She simply was not available. “Well that makes sense.” She sighed and gently slugged Rose’s shoulder. “Nice try saving Tiny’s life. Next time, just don’t let my daughter out of your sight!”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rose said. She grabbed Tiny and steered her firmly back towards the burrows.
Tiny let out an angry squeak. "But the meerkat!" She said loudly. She pointed outside the burrows. "Meerkat is in the water!"
Rose looked back. She didn’t see anything. “C’mon, kid,” she said, continuing to lead her away from the watering hole.
"NO!" Tiny tried to wriggle away from Rose's grip, but wasn't strong enough and gave up. "Meerkat is in water!" She said again, still pointing. "Different meerkat!"
Chestnut gave Tiny a weird look and stared at Rose, confused.
Skye ran up to Acorn and looked around, ``Should I stay on guard for the crocodile? Do you think it'll come back? Maybe everyone should stay on guard?`` He blurted, much too fast to understand. As he spoke his head swiveled from side to side, on alert.
Rose gripped the wriggly pup tighter. “Listen, kid, that’s called a crocodile. Not a meerkat.” She explained.
"NO! NO! NO! IT'S MEERKAT!" She screamed, kicking and wriggling even harder. "IT'S A MEERKAT FROM A DIFFERENT MOB! SAVE HER!"
Rose sighed and leaned down, grabbing Tiny by the scruff. She trotted quickly away to the burrow, convinced that the pup was spouting nonsense.
Tiny squeaked again and finally stopped moving, tired from her adventure.
Chestnut followed Rose into the burrow to do her job and help watch over the young. She hadn't eaten a single thing ALL day, but she didn't say anything because Acorn was probably already angry with her, and she really didn't want to make matters worse. She also didn't want to eat any eggs, after the whole crocodile incident.
“Yes,” Acorn said. She nodded and walked back to the den.
Acorn walked back to the den, grabbing and eating an incredibly stupid lizard that decided to crawl into her path. When she entered the den, she didn’t say anything to anybody, just watched Rose and Chestnut caring for her young.
Rose cast a sidelong glance at Chestnut. She hoped that Chestnut wouldn’t hold any grudge towards her for telling Acorn what had happened. She didn’t blame her fellow pup-watcher for leaving, but she wasn’t going to cover for her to the alpha.
Chestnut caught Rose's glance and frowned slightly, then looked away. Chestnut (thought) she knew exactly what that look meant. Chestnut thought Rose was angry at her for leaving the young. A feeling of anger rose like a fireball in her chest, about to explode out. It was partly because she thought Rose disliked her right now, but also because she was angry at herself. Miraculously, everyone survived, but what if they didn't, all because Chestnut went to play at the watering hole with her brother? What if something happened to Tiny, or Cody, or ANYONE else!?
"Okay!" Skye said. He followed Acorn a few steps, then stopped to lookout for the crocodile. Shortly after Acorn walked away, Skye squinted at a small shape in the distance. But it couldn't be a crocodile... could it? Cautiously, he stepped forward. The shape was coming closer... and it definitely wasn't a crocodile. Skye let out a small gasp as he saw the figure getting nearer. It was... another meerkat. He filled with a feeling of great relief, but at the same time, he was partly worried. Why would a meerkat be out at this time? And this wasn't another lookout... he gasped again. It was a meerkat from Kuku territory! "HEY!" Skye yelled. "What do you think you're doing here?"
The mystery meerkat stopped in her tracks.
"What's your name?" Skye called.
"Scorpion." Said the Kuku meerkat.
"Why are you here!? This is Mwindaji Mwepesi territory!"
Scorpion looked into the air and stroked her chin, as if contemplating the question. After a moment, she asked, "Oh, is it?" and turned back.
``Hang on- wait!`` Skye yelled after her, but Scorpion had already walked away.
Skye ran to the burrows to deliver the news. "Acorn- there- is- er, was- another- meerkat - from- Kuku- named- Scorpion!" He panted.
Rose, not being the talkative type, looked away from Chestnut and focused back on the pups, putting most of her attention on that little bra— er, cheeky pup, Tiny.
Acorn put her paws on her hips. “Well did you chase her away?”
Tiny looked up at Rose and hmphed. Still angry at Rose for carrying her away, she turned around and crossed her arms.
"She just walked away." Skye said. "I told her that this is Mwindaji Mwepesi territory and she said, `Oh, is it?` or something, and then she walked away."
“That was some nerve she had!” Acorn said, bristling at the hackles. “But if she doesn’t come back I wouldn’t worry about it.” Unless… she was here for one of the boys. She’d better not be.
"Guys, it's getting late." Azul said tiredly. "C'mon guys, we'll deal with Scorpion tomorrow the pups have stayed up too late."
Chestnut didn't hesitate and ran into the sleeping chamber. Skye popped his head out of the burrow to make sure Scorpion or any other meerkats from a different mob didn't come back, then turned around and followed Chestnut. Tiny curled up into the corner of the burrow, giving the other meerkats a hard look until she shut her eyes.
Wadi went to sleep in his little den.
Acorn watched everyone settle down, then clicked her tongue in satisfaction. She curled up beside Azul.
Some time later in Kuku territory, Willow is calling for Bloom it was getting dark and she was getting worried. "Where's Bloom!?" barked Willow.
Twyla sniffed the ground. "She can't be too far." Twyla assured, then second guessed herself, "Can she?"
"Guys!" Bloom shrieked she was out of breath. "Where have you been?!" barked Willow. "The watering hole . . . crocodile . . at . . . the watering hole." said Bloom
Twyla stopped. "Did you clean it's teeth?" Twyla randomly asked.
"What?! No. Someone saved me and-"
"Save your breath" interrupted Willow "It's late, we'll deal with the crocodile problem later. Get some sleep!" Bloom sulked to the burrow with her tail behind her legs.
"You too Twyla!" she screamed.
Willow shouted into the air. "How did mom take care of the mob better than me?! I don't understand crocodiles, my kids wandering off, the watering hole war?! How could this happen?! Maybe I'm not as good as being a leader as I thought." Willow cried herself to sleep she was very confused.
Twyla cocked her head listening. "There's worst things out there." She whispered to herself thinking.
When Tiny opened her eyes the next morning, the sun had just started to come up above the horizon. She rubbed her eyes and stretched, then looked around at the other meerkats. She didn't see any awake, so she decided to explore outside a bit. She didn't care about the crocodile incident- she thought she could easily take down a crocodile (which she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried), and even if she couldn't, she was sure that one of the other meerkats would come help her.
She poked her head out of the burrow and sniffed the morning air. She decided she should find something other than insects for breakfast, as she despised the taste of them. She stretched once again, then set out, alone.
She was walking for quite a while, looking behind her every so often to make sure none of the adult meerkats were following her, when she ran right into a thorny bush. She let out a squeak of dismay, which turned into a squeak of happiness. Right there, sitting in front of her, was a big berry bush (or it seemed big, to Tiny).
She sat there, happily munching on the berries, for what must have been an hour, until she had a terrifying jolt of realization. What if the adult meerkats were looking for her, seeing she had disappeared again!? What would her mother think of her? What if she became an outcast!? Quickly shoving a few more berries into her mouth, she ran off in the direction of the burrow.
"Come here Tiny," said Azul softly grabbing her with his mouth. "Eatin' berries huh?" said Azul "Don't worry we'll clean you up if the watering hole's safe. Acorn will let us know."
When Wadi awoke, he awoke early. He left the den to find some lizards.
Acorn woke up and sniffed for her resting offspring across the den. Her two more obedient children were slumbering beside Rose, but Tiny was nowhere to be found.
How could Tiny get out again less than a day later?
"AZUL?" Her mate was not to be found in the den. She went over the top and found Tiny blundering into Azul's jaws.
"Oh, good, I see she's already been found. I was just going to get all the sentinels on her trail. Bring her back to the den. I see there are some serious matters that have to be dealt with," Acorn growled.
Acacia awoke and watched the slumbering Willow. The night before, she'd been lamenting her snowballing responsibilities. She probably needed an encouraging word. A reminder that they were living their dream, and that she was competent and capable. With all things considered, he licked Willow's ear. "Wake up, dear," he said. "It's a new day, and everything is ours."
"Ugh." Willow whined. She just woke up from crying. She awoke to the sight of her mate and gave him a kiss. "Hi, honey." She sighed. She sulked to the bug tree and ate some mayflies her least favorite kind of food.
“Well, no need to punish yourself,” said Acacia. He handed her a lizard. “I know how much you hate mayflies.”
Rose burst out of the burrow, looking around wildly. “Where’s that little—”
Rose saw Tiny, stopped shouting, sighed and sat back down on the sand.
She smiled and started to feel better. And ate the lizard cheerfully. She then started to order the sentinels to posts. "Alright boys! Let's get busy today! I have a plan to end this crisis about the watering hole. . ."
Acorn entered the burrow and waited for Azul to enter.
“Okay,” Acacia said.
Azul entered the burrow with Tiny in his mouth and was greeted by a sleeping Cody and pups and placed her there.
"We need to take the Mgonjwa river for ourselves. Crescent, you act as a jock to distract Mgonjwa. And Acacia you and the boys will take the trip around the watering hole to the other side of the territory and make the surprise attack."
“Ok, Tiny,” Acorn said, putting her paw on Tiny’s small and disobedient shoulder and looking her dead in the eyes. Acorn didn’t look most meerkats in the eyes when she was telling them off. If Acorn looked you in the eye, you were in big trouble. “Lately, there’s been a lot of occurrences where you’ve escaped the den. That is wrong. My den, my rules. By escaping, you’ve not only put yourself, but also numerous members of the mob in danger. You are a hazard for our mob. You might feel like you are big enough to go foraging outside, and perhaps you are. But you have just proven yourself to be an irresponsible rat. If you had asked for supervision, with your siblings, then you might receive. I would have thought being in a crocodile’s jaws would teach you enough, but clearly not.”
As Azul was left the burrow he spotted some unfamiliar meerkats from afar. He sped to the burrow to tell the news to Acorn his mate. "ACORN!" shouted Azul "Unfamiliar meerkats on the premises spotted! Orders?!"
Tiny let out a little squeak and sat down. "But it's booooooooooring here," she whined. "But, fine. Sooooory." She said, holding her little paws out innocently, but her eyes were shining and she could barley hide a smile. Of course she was going to go out into the world again! Without supervision! It was the best thing Tiny had ever experienced! She wouldn't take this threat seriously, never!
Without waiting for orders, Skye popped his head out of the burrow, scanning the area. "What in the world...?" He said out loud, looking around at the other meerkats.
On the opposite side of her mob, Scorpion watched from a distance with slight amusement. What were the silly Kukus even doing? She was glad she was considered an outcast- she would probably have been forced to do things like this. It was so much better to be out on her own
“This isn’t over, Tiny!” Acorn said, shoving her back.
“We must force them out. Fight them, teach them a lesson. Show them what happens to intruders on Mwindaji Mwepesi territory.”
She went up to through the top of the den.
"I don't think they're approaching us," Said Skye, squinting at the meerkats in the distance. "What mob are they from? Maybe Mgonjwa? I think they're heading that way."
Tiny waited a moment for Acorn to exit, then easily squeezed out of a small hole on the other side of the burrow. She hoped she hadn't been seen. She would be in even bigger trouble. Her plan was to find out what the other meerkats were doing, perhaps follow them, than go back to the burrow like she had been there all that time. She hoped Rose wouldn't count the pups again and tell Acorn that she was missing. But she would only be gone a short time... surely no one would notice.
She prowled, quietly as the day of the crocodile, around the burrow, then made a run for the meerkats in the distance. She sprinted as fast as her little legs could carry her to a thick canopy of dried bushes, and caught her breath there for a moment. She didn't look back. She wouldn't dare. If Acorn saw her... she didn't even know what would happen. She didn't want to cause trouble- didn't want to keep making her mob keep having to search for her- she just wanted to have some fun, discover new things.
Finally, Tiny shook herself and kept running
Rose popped up out of the burrow. “Can I come?” She asked excitedly. “Cody’s agreed to watch the pups.” Of course. Cody hadn’t actually agreed, but he was asleep in the burrow with all the pups and probably wouldn’t leave them alone when he woke up.. right?
“Of course not,” said Acorn. “Cody ought to come with us. Get Cody. You stay here with the pups.”
“Go up there with the other sentinels and ask them what they want,” Acorn told Cody.
"Wait," Chestnut suddenly poked her head out of the burrow. "I'll watch the pups. Why don't you let Rose go?" She suggested, still thinking Rose was angry at her from the night before. Of course, she didn't want to watch the young, but she wanted to feel like she could at least talk to Rose again.
“Fine,” Chesnut said, waving her paw. She didn’t know why Rose was so eager to meet her enemy, but if she reeeally wanted to.
“You better not get hurt,” she growled to Rose. “I don’t want to have to rescue you.”
"I should come, right?" Skye asked, talking fast. "Or- no, wait, or should I make sure they don't come to the burrow? Wait, how are we going to fight them? Like, we're not going to, like... injure them that badly, right?" He looked up, staring at the other faraway meerkats.
“Yes we are,” said Acorn. “Just like I did to Sandy.” The damage Acorn had inflicted upon the previous mob leader was well known by all but the youngest Mwindaji Mwepesi.
Sandy’s eye had been totally destroyed. Her ears were torn. Acorn’s long claws left deep scratches on her throat. It couldn’t be told whether she would survive when Acorn forced her away, bleeding and one-eyed, to walk alone at the mercy of the terrible African savannah.
Acorn had looked beautiful that day. Glorious. She fought athletically and she’d fought bravely. With her powerful claws, acute fangs, keen reflexes, and mighty sinews she toppled Mamba’s regime and started her own.
With her roundish, pregnant belly Acorn posed a less intimidating figure, but muscles still rippled in her powerful shoulders. She hadn’t lost her edge, or at least, not much of it.
“But only if they try fighting back.”
Skye winced as she said Sandy's name and looked up at the rising sun, not wanting to even glance at the Kuku mob and think about what he might be doing to them in just a moment. Skye hated violence, but he had to obey Acorn's every command, or else... he shook his head vigorously, forcing his brain to move on to a different train of thought. Please don't fight back, please don't fight back.
He hoped they wouldn't. He really, really did. He hoped he and Acorn would sit at the entrance of the burrow long enough for them to pass. To Skye, at least, it didn't look like they cared about Mwindaji Mwepesi right now. It seemed like they were going a different direction.
Maybe I can try stalling Acorn.
He knew, right as he thought it, that it was a terrible idea. From what Skye had seen of her, she didn't seem like one to be stalled. But maybe it was worth a shot.
He looked around, rubbing his eyes from looking at the bright sun for so long. But what would even cause a distraction? He looked down, hopeless.
"Do I- do I have to fight?" He asked, his tone slower and more emotionless than he usually talked. "Can I... stay behind?" He knew what the answer would be. But he had to try.
Rose glanced at Chestnut, surprised. As she walked past her fellow pup-sitter, she leaned towards her. “Thanks, I owe you one.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rose said. What she didn’t know was that she definitely going to get hurt if the fighting got serious. Other than light sparring with her siblings, Rose hadn’t been in a real fight.
“Of course not. You are a sentinel. That is your job. Now stop with this nonsense,” Acorn snapped.
"Okay... right, right, sorry." Skye said, trying to avoid meeting Acorn's eyes.
Chestnut just nodded slightly and walked back to the burrow.
“Azul!” said Acorn. “Take your sentinels to ask the strangers what they are doing here!”
