Episode One: First Came Simferopol

Life in a small mob is tough.

But life in a large mob, at least when you're the one at the bottom of the social ladder, can be unbearable.

As is the case for Sequoia, a young female meerkat of the Nebula mob, born not to dominant female Astrael, but to an equally low-ranked subordinate, Asiya. And in a local superpower like Nebula, birth is everything, making Sequoia not merely an unknown, but seemingly malevolent in the midst of Astrael's children, subject to evictions and beatings at the slightest wrong move. She has to be careful. Because death, and even worse, lies in her winding way.

And so can triumph that no meerkat born into an easy life can dream of.

her's is the Nebula mob!
Astrael, the strict dominant female,
Bone, her feeble-minded mate,
Sequoia, our understated heroine,
Asiya, an unpredictable wanderer,
Grace, a female who sorely lacks her namesake,
Onestep, Sequoia's devious brother,
Many others,
and the Odessa mob, problem-posing opponents!
this...is the Story of Sequoia!

Right now, however, the outlook for Sequoia's future is far from bright.

On an unusually hot spring morning, dominant female Astrael is already visibly pregnant with her next litter of pups as the Kalahari recovers from the harsh, dry, winter, and it's an invitation for the low ranking young female to sit far away from the rest of the mob, Other females take different tactics to insure their future within Nebula; those of higher rank groom their leader zealously, namely, Grace and her sister Malia, while others act as if Astrael's condition is nothing to sweat. Those of low standing, either with the mob or with their leader, tinge the outskirts of the burrow along with Sequoia, while pups and male meerkats go about their morning duties as usual.

Sequoia is yet to endear an eviction, as some of those surrounding her have, and probably because she was for long too young. Now, at six months old, mature, and quickly becoming the subject of interest for roving males, it looks like her perfect record won't last for long yet. Only the other day she was attacked viciously by Astrael after coming too close while foraging. Keeping far away from the dominant female works, but is a flawed tactic; at the edge of a foraging patch, she is more likely to be lured by a rover then deep within her mob, and if merely she returns to Nebula with the scent of another meerkat on her fur, she's guaranteed to at least spend the night alone. The young meerkat can't afford to not be careful, and her actions today determine whether or not she'll go hungry tomorrow.

However, she is completely ignorant to the "threat" of rovers, and as Nebula heads out to forage, is inattentive to other meerkats in the bush as she digs at the far corners of their current foraging patch, unlike her fellow low-ranking sisters, and ill-informed that she is to fight instinct and stay away. As a Odessa male, unnoticed by the meerkats of Nebula and thus not chased away, approaches her and the other low-status Nebula meerkats, all meerkats in the area flee but Sequoia, who naively stays in place, only raising her head to acknowledge him. It is Simferopol, an older meerkat, five years old, yet not slowed down by age and in fact aided by experience in the art of roving. He knows what to expect out of a young, ignorant like Sequoia. He expects her to be pregnant with his next litter of pups by the end of the night. And he doesn't care whether she survives her plausible pregnancy or not.

As she looks at him, he further approaches, calling deeply and quietly to the young meerkat. Sequoia responds not with hostility to the enemy male, but with high pitched crooning. Satisfied with her acceptance of his prescense, Simferopol runs to her side and starts grooming, still chirping quietly to her. Only a few minutes into his serenade, Sequoia leads him into the surrounding bush at her own will. The Odessa rover happily follows her into a bolt hole.

Not long later, they emerge, grooming each other again and going their own ways without so much as a glance. And when Sequoia makes her way through the bush, expecting to see her family Nebula busily digging for grubs, she finds the clearing to be completely empty, no trace of her mob in sight.

next time on, the Story of Sequoia, episode two: Then Came Riven
When Sequoia discovers Nebula split in two, she accidentally finds herself in a high place inside a leaderless faction...but when Astrael brings the mob together again, what will it mean for Sequoia and her unborn pups?