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.
It is a slow day at the Sun burrow and Psyche is finding it a bit hard to stay awake. Her family had gone to find food earlier in the day and it would still be a while before they came home. For Pysche this is no problem, she is capable of producing milk for her mother’s pups and had just given them a feed recently. Now she is just sitting here, waiting for something to happen. A little bit of excitement would make the day go by faster.
With a turn of her head, Psyche spots trouble and immediately becomes alarmed. In the distance is a group of meerkats and she can tell that there is more there than should be. This is not her family and now both she and the pups are in danger. What should she do? There is no way that Psyche can stand against the whole of the Valentine on her own, they could easily kill her and will definitely try to kill the pups. So far the rivals don’t seem to notice her or the burrow. Perhaps she could fetch the family back in time to save the little ones. Psyche makes her choice and runs off in the opposite direction.
The Valentine could turn back at any time, yet they keep on coming and soon the burrow is discovered. The scent is fresh, proof that this burrow is in current use. If the litter can stay quiet then there is a chance that they might make it out alive.
While Himeros keeps watch with Phobos and Deimos and Ares is busy scent-marking, Aphrodite decides to check things out and enters the burrow at once. However, two members of the family are distracted and that is Eros and Anteros. With everyone else busy, both Eros and Anteros take the chance to slip away unnoticed. The Valentine should be able to carry on without them for a while.
By the time Psyche locates her family and brings them home, it is too late. The Valentine have already gone back to their own burrow and the pups are all dead. Circe is crushed by the blow, but she seems to understand that her daughter is not at fault here. Had Psyche stayed behind, then she probably would’ve been killed as well. As is the case of most animals, the Sun decides to not linger at the burrow any longer. Circe gathers her family and leads them to a new place.
When the Valentine Mob wake up the next morning, they are down by two members. Eros and Anteros did not return home last night and the group seems only mildly concerned by it, except that Himeros and Hermaphroditus seem to realize that they might be missing out on the fun. They slip away when their parents aren’t looking and are able to track down their older brothers eventually.
Roving can be a dangerous pastime, yet it is also quite a rewarding experience when one gets lucky. With four males in this coalition, the Valentine boys could potentially migrate into an established group (kicking out the resident males in the process) or form a new group with evicted females.
Settled into their new burrow, the Sun Mob are taking it easy this morning. The loss of Circe’s recent litter has shaken everyone and the group is taking the opportunity to strengthen the bonds that are holding their little society together. Penelope is back in the family fold and looking at her and Circe as they groom, one could never have guessed that just a week ago there had been bad blood between them. The connections that hold a meerkat group together can be strong, but they are also fragile. Just one little change could cause everything to come crashing down.
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