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"Drang it," Meerkat muttered under her breath when the distant Hydra informed her that the puppies she heard would still be too little even a month from now. She didn't really feel anger, just disappointment, but she playfully balled her fist and smacked it on the ground. Her body then stilled as she listened to the remainder of the message.

Turning toward Towhee, she saw that her older brother was already filling her in on Hydra's request. Their faces both looked drawn as they exchanged the news about the missing youth. -"I wonder what pack?"- Meerkat saw her mother sign, although it seemed a rhetorical question. In any case, Fig didn't have an answer.

Catching the pup's eye, the Regent said, -"Ask her if the terrace would work instead. If not..."- She trailed off for several beats before seeming to arrive at a decision. -"We can meet her at the glen."- By then, Meerkat would be almost indistinguishable from an adult in size and certainly physically capable of the trek.

There would be plenty more logistics to sort out by then, like the fact that Towhee wanted one or maybe two additional escorts. Perhaps she wouldn't feel that way when the time came. For now, she flicked her snout, encouraging the girl to howl this latest message. Meerkat quickly obliged, the conversation thus coming to a close.

There was no reason to linger, save for the youth's curiosity. Towhee indulged her a little by hanging out a little longer before she and Fig ushered her back to the safety of the copse, an added spring in Meerkat's step the whole journey home.