Foresta raised her head and looked to the skies. The moon was peering through the thick clouds high above her and as the eerie light touched the sand all around her, she shivered. Her stomach growled loudly and it was then she realised what a horrible position she had put her family in. After they split apart from the rest of the group, they had wandered for days trying to find a suitable place for them to live. They had all realised by now that they would probably never reunite with the group, and their hopes were running thin. All around her, Foresta’s small splinter group huddled together and tried to settle into there new surroundings. Foresta gazed sadly upon her friends and family. It was after all her own fault that they had split from the main group. Foresta spun round as there was a rustling from the bushes around their new home. Her heart beating furiously in against her chest, Foresta ran to her small group and together they stood in a group protecting their pups and their burrow. The small group let out warning calls to the intruder and as the calls were answered with the familiar voice of a member of their group, Faible who had been out searching for their original group. Foresta ran to Faible and as she got to the edge of the clearing, she stopped still in her tracks. She gasped in horror and as she was joined by her younger siblings, Pretiee and Littlas, Faible collapsed in front of them. For on Faible’s cheek was a deep gash that was heavily bleeding. The three sisters ran towards their young friend and lifted his weary head. His fur was a deep red and he was shaking horribly. The rest of the group ran towards them and together they lifted Faible to his feet and helped him to the edge of the burrow. Faible lay down heavily in the soft sand and as the blood ran down his cheek he closed his heavy eyes and heaved a great sigh.

Foresta sat by her friend and shared what little body warmth she had left. The rest of the group settled down once more so as not to disturb the pups and Foresta began to groom the gruesome wound. Faible was the only non related in the group. Without him, the group would have little chance of gaining strength and their numbers would be reduced to just seven. Foresta knew Faible more than any of the others in the group and she knew with all her heart that he was a fighter.

Foresta was roused from her thoughts as Faible lifted his head and gazed into her eyes.

‘It’s okay Faible, reserve your strength… We will look after you…’ she whispered soothingly nuzzling his damp fur.

He nodded slightly and took a deep breath. ’Has Plato returned yet?’ he wheezed.

‘Yes, he is below ground… He returned not too long before you shaken and tired. He has multiple cuts to his chest, but none as bad as the one there on your cheek. He wanted to stay above with the rest of us and await your return, but he is too young to handle such wounds without rest… He is safe and you no longer need to worry about him Faible…’

‘But I do worry about him… I always have, he is like a brother to me and I love him dearly… I must go underground to check on him…’ He winced, talking was obviously difficult for him.

Foresta nodded her head and helped Faible to his feet. Together they were swallowed by the darkness of their underground home. Faible’s breathing was faint, and as they wandered the many tunnels to get to the sleeping chamber, they spoke no words. Words were not needed at a time like this, they could communicate with their eyes and their body language, words were just a waste of breath.

Eventually the two meerkats reached the chambers and as their eyes fell on a single figure lying soundly before them in the sand. Faible padded silently over to Plato. He wrapped his body around the sleeping figure and shut his eyes tight. Foresta turned and padded up and out of the burrow and returned to the rest of the group. They were her responsibility now and she would do everything she could to make them trust her at least for a little while, as their dominant. As she emerged from the darkness, she was surrounded by the two youngest of the group, Justar and Rhen. It was only their second foraging trip when they had been separated from their mother and they missed her terribly. They had turned to Foresta as their surrogate mother as she was their aunt. They felt closer to her than to any other member of the group and confided all of their worries with her. Foresta was glad that she was trusted by the two youngest, but she still knew that she had to persuade the other members that she was a leader before they could live together harmoniously. The moon was once more covered up by the clouds and the small family of meerkats were cloaked by darkness once more. There was a swooping from above and all the meerkats huddled close together around the pups. Foresta crept slowly forwards as the moonlight began to seep back through the clouds. The rest of the meerkats waited in silence as Foresta searched the night sky for any signs of predators. The pups were enclosed by the group, sitting stark still in amongst a bustle of small bodies. Yet again there was more sweeping from above and the small group of meerkats quickly bolted into the mass of tunnels underground. But suddenly there was a shrieking from outside the warmth of the burrow and one by one they began to realise that there were two family members missing. Foresta and Justar. The screeching that had been heard from above however was not that of a meerkats or of a pup, but that of a large bird of prey. The screeching and flapping continued from above and as a tiny shape tumbled into the burrow all of the meerkats jumped back suspiciously. But as the tiny body began to shuffle in the soft sand and with it came the familiar cries of Justar the small group began to edge forwards to the entrance to the burrow. Suddenly there was a swooping and an additional screech before Foresta slowly padded almost breathlessly into the burrow. Justar ran to her and nuzzled his cold wet nose into her chest.

‘Thank you… How did you manage to fight him off? He was huge! But thank you for what you did, Foresta… You are in a way like mother… Not only because you are her sister, but-’ whispered Justar.

Foresta’s body tightened with the mention of her sister and as all the meerkats raised there eyes and looked at Foresta they let out a horrified gasp. Her eyes had been covered in an eerie mist and as she stood there each meerkats could see memories from their childhood. And as each memory was pulled back each meerkats slunk to the back of the den where Faible and Plato now slept soundly only stirring slightly when they dreamt. After every meerkats, even the two pups Justar and Zhen had been swallowed by the deep darkness of their underground home, Foresta’s eyes shut tightly and she collapsed at the den mouth. Her head became bent at a peculiar angle and as her mouth slowly opened and her breathing became steady once more, there was yet another low swooping above the den.

The bird was perched in a tree not far from them. He had failed to replenish his hunger that night, but after the feast of meerkats that he and his young family had had not that long ago still lay in their stomachs and he slept soundly in his nest surrounded by his mate and their five young chicks. They were lucky to have nested in such a rich feeding spot, and they were even more lucky that ever since Youlgth had taken command, that all the meerkats colonies within their area had split and fled in utter terror. The bird snuggled into his mate and as they too slept with the moon shining high above them, there was the distant cry of a group of mourning meerkats. And as one by one the cry subsided silence once more threw itself over the desert.

The sun rose and as it stretched its sleepy rays over the desert, all manners of life began to emerge from their peaceful slumber. The young birds began to sing and of the little flowers there was, they bloomed into life.

There was a shuffling from underground and as the tiny figure of Foresta emerged from her den and took a wary look around. Confident that at least for now she was safe, she let out a great yawn and lifted herself onto her rear and began to warm her small skeletal body. She was clearly shaking from the stress of her new role in the group but it was made even more apparent by the fact that almost every bone in her body was jutting out of her naturally petite body. The suns rays stretched further and as they touched even more of the desert more and more heads began appearing on the soft orange sands. Still Foresta sat, her stomach to the sun collecting what warmth she could while all around her there was a bustling of bodies as they arose from their sleep. Foresta was aroused from her thoughts as a tiny body thrust itself into a tight hug around her waste. She looked down and there, peering up at her was the tiny shape of Justar. She smiled and as Justar unattached himself she slipped away and began searching for Faible and Plato amongst the small bony bodies of her family. She searched for what seemed like and age before she finally saw the small weary figure of Faible standing alone with his back to the sun. She padded softly up to him and as she reached him she could tell that he was extremely upset, and almost immediately she knew what it was about. She lowered her head and as they huddled together to share their body heat, she could feel that he was heavy with grief. A tear ran down his cheek and as it landed on Foresta’s soft fur, she stood up and padded away from him and away from the burrow. She began to run as she passed through the tall