Interlude - Cast Update

 This is the current list of mobs in the area where our story takes place.

Chapter Seven

 We can’t tell what a meerkat might be thinking, and sometimes they do something that we would not expect. The year has been long and harsh, but winter is almost over and the rumble of thunder is a sign that the good times will be upon us. The desert is ready to celebrate, but trouble is never far away. Even in the middle of paradise. 

The first rains had fallen during the night and the meerkat groups all woke up to a glorious new day. The Sun Mob are at their burrow, waiting for their leader to emerge. It is unusual that Psyche would be late, but Eros looks around and notices that Diona is missing as well. Suddenly there is a squeal from the burrow and the younger female appears with a pup in her mouth. She goes off a little way and proceeds to kill it and then consume the body. With her jaws now stained red, Diona makes her way back to the burrow and is clearly intent on finishing the job that she’d started. 

Psyche suddenly comes rushing out of the burrow and the normally calm and gentle meerkat is clearly furious! She wastes no time and tears into her younger sister, with Eritha joining in to help evict Diona from the group. Diona has no choice but to make a run for it and gets the whole of the group on her tail. Once Psyche is sure that the message has been well received, she returns to the burrow and goes to check on her litter. Eros follows and is introduced to his one surviving pup, Hedone.

As much as it pains Psyche to leave her baby, she has to eat in order to produce milk. Hedone will be left in safe hands, with Eritha choosing to stay behind to babysit. Good thing she is on duty because Diona does try sneaking back in and Eritha is quick to send her packing.

Now that she is alone, Diona is quick to realize the situation that she is in. Her pups will be born soon but will not survive without the help of a group. She could wait and see if Psyche will let her back in later, but who knows how that will end?

It is time for Diona to start thinking of plan B and she begins looking around, making sure to stay under cover as much as possible and taking time to look for food. The dry season is a good time for rovers since litters conceived will then be born once the rains come. Meerkats can usually breed at any time of the year, but most are done during the summer. 

Diona’s hard work pays off, for now. She spots a familiar pair of male meerkats, which just so happens to be Phobos and Deimos. They are still connected to the Valentine, but this may not last for much longer.

For all the blessings that Aphrodite and her family have received, they are now going through some seriously hard times. Disease has taken most of the younger members and both Aphrodite and Ares are not getting any younger, and both appear to be infected with the illness known as TB which can easily wipe out an entire mob.

Roving males and evicted females often join up to create new groups, but there is no guarantee that the pair will stick around. Diona is already pregnant and so she can’t mate with either brother. They might grow bored and leave her to find better opportunities elsewhere. For now, Diona will take what she can get and deal with the rest in time.

Following the incident with her littermate, Eritha has no further trouble. She goes down to check on Hedone often, grooming the pup and feeding her until Psyche can return to take over. The family comes home around midday and Psyche immediately goes to check on her daughter. The rest of the group takes a siesta and nobody seems to have noticed that Diona is not lurking around.

To be honest, none in the group has ever really liked her. Diona made a name for herself by often stealing food from others and would bully the other females when Psyche was not paying attention. Her dream of power was poorly hidden and keeping the young female around could surely have been inviting further problems.

Chapter Six

 It is a big moment in Psyche’s life. Not only has she led the Sun Mob for several months now, but has kept all the younger generations alive and they are growing fast. She has now found a breeding partner and is pregnant with her first-ever litter. The group’s future is now secured. 

If only it was as easy as that.

Diona and Hermaphroditus have been keeping their heads down, even more since it is clear that their mating has bore fruit. Diona is young for motherhood, yet Psyche should not assume that she is entirely harmless. Diona has proven to be a bit of a troublemaker in the past and jealousy can make her willing to do whatever it takes to give her pups a better future, even if it means killing her older sister’s pups.

The Sun is out in the field today, looking for food while also keeping an eye out for the presence of enemy mobs. Their territory here shares a border with that of Cassiphone’s. It is a good thing that they are being alert because there is the former splinter group that has grown by several members. Psyche’s first instinct is to run, but when the other group keeps on coming then she knows that now is the time to stand and fight or be driven from their territory. The Sun regroups under a low tree, then charge and the fight that follows is intense.

How it happens is unknown, but Psyche wins the day. Yet this victory is not without some serious losses. There in the dirt lies three bodies: Cassiphone, Roma, and Telemachus. With the death of its two older females, the splinter group’s future is now uncertain. The Sun has also lost some other members. Anthousa, Hermaphroditus, Roxana, Erinna, Kleio, Damalis. Aikaterine. Alkibiades, and Auxesia have gone missing. They are later found to be together and somehow it is clear that they will not be going back home. While the females in the group would have been helpful with caring for her pups, Psyche still has the support of the subordinate females who remain. After scent-marking the area and mourning for the loss of Telemachus who had been a good father and a great dominant male, the Sun head for home and leave the desert to wipe itself clean. 

Chapter Five

 The Sun Mob is up early and there is a flurry of activity going on. Anthousa and Eritha are both absent, yet soon would be making an appearance. The activity stops when the sounds of pups come from the burrow entrance. Anthousa and Eritha have appeared and they work together to guide all the pups. One thing is definitely clear, there are a lot of pups here. Seventeen in total and they were born in a mixed litter. Both of the mothers take an active part in caring for the pups, and they do have the support of the other family members. Even Psyche often will suckle the pups in order to give her sisters a break. If things go well and all the pups survive then Aikaterine, Alkibiades, Anais, Aspasia, Auxesia, Daphnae, Kosta, Kyra, Lykaon, Lykinos, Mikkos, Odessa, Thaletas, Thyia, Timotheos, Xenia, and Zopheras raises the Sun’s numbers to twenty-six. This would make them the biggest group in the area, although both Aphrodite and Cassiphone have been busy. 

Today’s foraging party is small as several meerkats will be needed to care for all the pups. Anthousa and Eritha can’t babysit, and neither can Psyche. Telemachus steps up as one of today’s sitters, joined by Erinna, Kleio, and Roxana. Psyche, Anthousa, Eritha, Diona, and Damalis head off and only come home around midday. While the rest of the family relaxes, the two mothers care for their brood. But then comes trouble, Damalis spots danger and the group rushes for the burrow entrance. In the chaos, two pups get left behind outside. When the group finally gets the all-clear and comes out, they are surprised to find both Aspasia and Kosta waiting for them. The bird of prey must have not seen the pups and instead caught an unlucky ground squirrel.

Psyche looks around at her family and seems to realize that this burrow was not made to support so many pups at one time. The family will have to move. It can’t be soon because the kids are too young and haven’t even gone out to forage with the adults, but once they are capable of keeping up then the group will be kissing this home goodbye.

Chapter Four

 Life is a game of chance where sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. We all have to play regardless of whether we want to or not. Life is a game of chance where sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. We all have to play regardless of whether we want to or not. The rules might be set in stone, but sometimes can be bent or broken.

The odds of Telemachus and Pysche keeping all seven pups alive are low, the odds are that one pup in five does not make it to their first birthday. Yet Anthousa, Eritha, Diona, Roxana, Erinna, Kleio, and Damalis are all alive and well. They are weaned off milk and most can find their own meals, though it never hurts to try appealing to dad or Psyche for a free handout.

Surrounded by her family, Psyche could not be any happier. She has led the group through several encounters with both rival mobs and nobody has been badly hurt or killed. The only thing she has not done is found a mate. There is no shortage of suitors in the area who would love nothing more than to be a dominant male and have the right to breed with the boss. Telemachus may not be able to help his daughter in this area, but he will gladly see off any rover who gets too close. 

Today there are two boys in town who want to try their luck with the Sun Mob. Phobos and Deimos come from the Valentine gang and they have a reputation for being fierce, just like their dear old dad. Telemachus is on guard and begins the dance of hide and seek. These two are rather persistence and Deimos is bold enough to openly challenge Telemachus. As he gets his tail handed to him, Phobos slips in and guides young Anthousa away from her family. Meerkats are sexually mature between twelve months of age and one year. It is unlikely that anything will come from this mating, but at least he is getting some action today.

Deimos sees the pair together and is determined to get lucky as well. He waits until Telemachus is distracted by some vultures circling in the distance, then moves in. Psyche is foraging at the edge of the group and being a dominant female means that she is the bigger prize. Deimos, unfortunately, won't get the chance to know her company. He is spotted by Eritha and would not be foolish enough to turn her down.

After the deed is done, Phobos and Deimos decide to call it a day. They slip off into the sunset and leave Anthousa and Eritha to return to the group, coated with the scent of unrelated males. The group gathers around them, with Telemachus stirred into a frenzy of scent-marking the area. Psyche is not pleased with either girl, but she only scent-marks them both and then takes the Sun home.

Chapter Three

 Two weeks have gone by and the Valentine pups are ready to make their debut. Everyone gathers around the burrow entrance and soon they are rewarded with the appearance of a tiny face. With her family there to encourage her, the pup crawls up the slope and gets her first look at the outside world. A few minutes later and another pup comes out to join her sister.  Two pups, both female. Aphrodite could not be any happier as in time they will grow up and help with future litters. Fitting given the strain that has been on Aphrodite and Harmonia to keep the pair fed. The Valentine can't stay around spoiling the pups forever, so Aphrodite turns the pups over to Harmonia and leads the family out to forage. 

There is a special place that lies between the territories of both the Valentine Mob and the Sun Mob. It is a water trough that is constantly filled with water so that wild animals can always quench their thirst, even in the middle of the dry season. Meerkats get most of their moisture from the foods they eat, but drinking plain water is something that none would be foolish enough to pass up. This makes the waterhole a very valuable spot, and fights to break out over it are not uncommon. In the past, the Valentine usually had the upper hand, but with four of their strongest members missing in action, the odds could go either way.

Chapter Two

 It has been a week since Circe and Aphrodite had given birth. Both litters are still too young to leave the safety of the burrow and so they are left in the care of babysitters. While the Valentine may have numbers on their side, they do have one problem. Harmonia is the only other adult female within the family and so only she and Aphrodite can feed the pups. Despite this, the pups are doing well and the Valentine has been venturing further afield in search of food. 

Today the group is foraging at the edge of their land, with one or two meerkats crossing the border into forbidden territory. Encounters with their sole neighbors have been few and far in between, often because Circe has seen that the odds would not be in their favor and chose to lead her family away.

The Valentine normally don’t linger for long, just enough to fill their bellies on stolen prey, and then will go home. Today Aphrodite is leading the group farther into the Sun’s territory and most of the group is on edge. Meerkats may be small, yet fights can turn deadly in the blink of an eye.

As the group carries on with their foraging, they are unaware that there is trouble lurking on the horizon.

Chapter One

In a corner of the vast desert, two groups of meerkats are locked in a daily struggle for survival. To the south lies the Valentine Mob, nine members strong and about to expand for the dominant female is clearly pregnant and will give birth soon. Her name is Aphrodite and like her namesake is considered by many in the area to be a rather lovely meerkat. Don't let her sweet looks fool you, however, for Aphrodite is not afraid to fight dirty in order to stay on top.

At her side stands this fierce-looking male who is named Ares, after the Greek God of War. Like his mate, he has definitely earned his name and has a reputation for being very aggressive when it comes to defending his family and territory from unwelcome visitors. With parents like these, one would expect that the rest of the Valentine is bad news. 

That couldn't be further from the truth.

This handsome fellow is Eros. He and Anteros were the first litter born to Ares and Aphrodite not long after their parents took dominance. It wasn't an easy childhood, but both boys survived to adulthood and turned out fine. At two years old, Eros and Anteros are old enough to help out around the house and this has allowed their mother to focus on more pressing matters.

Love and War: A Meerkat's Story - Cast

This is a love story about a pair of meerkats who defy the odds in order to be together.

Valentine Mob:

1. Aphrodite - Dominant Female
2. Ares - Dominant Male
   
3. Eros
4. Anteros
5. Harmonia
6. Himeros
7. Hermaphroditus - son of Hermes
8. Phobos
9. Deimos
10. Agnótita
11. Lagneía

Sun Mob:

1. Circe - Dominant Female
2. Telemachus - Dominant Male
3. Telegonus
4. Penelope
5. Cassiphone
6. Roma
7. Psyche