Episode Nine: Growing Strong

Meet the Kakapos,

Yuki: The dominant female

Tybalt: her Dominant male

Sunny: the sentry

caring Sunset

Missing Miracle and

The mean Terrors clan.

The next day the Kakapos are lined up in the morning light. They aren't doing the morning chores which is unusual, they seem to be more alert now. But it's more like they're waiting.

The meerkats must be waiting for Miracle to return, or hoping that she managed to find them during the night, but the dawn has revealed no sign of the missing girl. For the Kakapos it's a horrible loss, Miracle was a young mother and heroine, and she'll be greatly missed.

But Yuki knows that they can't brood forever, the Kalahari doesn't give second chances and when one life dies, another emerges and perhaps this will be true for them.

Leaving Miracle's mother Velvet to watch the pups, the rest of the Kakapos head out but they're more wary and alert today. There shouldn't be any problems now, the group's new burrow is deep in their land and not in easy reach, but you can never tell.

However, while the Kakapos are doing well so far, at their counterpart mob the Terrors things are very cheery. The Terrors are already out foraging and they have made a distrubing discovery. On a tree stump is a Tsunami scent marker, and in the distance Moonrise sees the owners digging around on her mobs' land.

But there's little that she can do. The Tsunamis outnumber her little group so a battle is to be avoided at all costs, already her forces have wounds still healing. In irritation Moonrise quickly leads her group away unnoticed.

With this sudden move by the Tsunami clan this may mean bad things in store for the Kakapos. Though the concerns of the Terrors isn't none of their concerns, It is when the fact that the Terrors are offly close to their border if the Tsunamis keep going then the Terrors might start trying to make a living on Kakapo soil.

The Terrors have settled at their new burrow but it's in the middle of a dry river bed. It's very exposed and may not be the best place for Moonrise to raise her litter of pups. But Moonrise knows of this situation and she must a way to make ends meet for her little band.

Desperate to be helpful, Cielo (Spanish for sky) decides to go see if there is any good, free land for the mob. It's a risky move but worth the struggle if Moonrise's pups are to live, the Terrors are very low at only eight meerkats.

When Cielo returns there is good knews, the female has found a piece of untouched land that the Tsunamis haven't used, they may of well forgotten it was their land. But with this chance Moonrise follows the young female and it isn't long before the Terrors have found a new land.

For the Kakapos things seem to be good for now. There is no signs of any other meerkats, and no sign of Miracle. The group seems to have taken her for dead but a few keep a eye out for her.

For Velvet things seem slow and empty. Velvet was the only surviving pup of her litter when Cassie from the Tsunamis had killed the other pups, but every once and a while she goes belowground and cuddles Yuki's pups.

The idea of lossing her only daughter to the claws of her big sister makes Velvet want revenge, revenge for the loss of the only thing in life that gave her so much meaning. But could fate be possibly giving her another chance?

While Velvet is tending the pups, a unexpected visitor has appeared at the burrow. The meerkat is Tiresias, a large six year old male from a unknown mob. He's quite a charmer with the ladies, with more expirience than Corbin at the art of roving.

Tiresias sits by the burrow entrance just waiting. From what he smells he knows a female is below ground and he's going to wait for her to notice. Velvet soon appears and immediately spots the intruder, she growls at him, but Tiresias only leans foreward and begins grooming her.

Velvet knows she shouldn't do this after last time, but she's desperate now after the possible lost of Miracle. And ignoring her head once more, she follows the strange male into the bushes.