Chapter 24: Council of the Highest

Later, Misty was being pushed through the forest by a meerkat holding a stick. "Chop, chop!" it exclaimed.
"For the last time!" Campbell cried, hearing the meerkat, "we are not your prisoners! We came along willingly!"
"You have the right to remain silent!" snapped the stick-holding meerkat.
"Kubwa, I think I should be the one to poke them with the stick," the other meerkat replied.
"It's my stick, Mgumu! Besides, I'm way tougher than you are," the stick-holding meerkat snorted.
"Oh like heck you are! I should be the one to poke our prisoners!"
"We are not prisoners!" Sidew growled. "Like Campbell said. We came willingly."
Kubwa and Mgumu ignored them. "Take this, wimp!" Mgumu cried, tackling Kubwa.
"Ow! Not cool!" Kubwa screeched, kicking Mgumu.
"Hey!" Mgumu protested, and soon they were rolling on the ground, punching and kicking wildly.
"Please just let us go!" Glory cried.
Koro came over and separated the two. "Alright. Can we go to your camp or not?"
"You don't give the orders, prisoner!" Mgumu snapped. He took Kubwa's stick and poked Koro. "Now follow us!"
"Gimme my stick back!" Kubwa protested, snatching the stick from Mgumu.
Misty sighed as everyone kept walking along. Misty had been tackled by a meerkat earlier. It was easy getting the meerkat off her, but he had called backup, aka Kubwa, who came out with a stick. They had asked the group what they were doing, and Lephos had explained they were looking for The Bending Tower. The meerkats accused them of being spies and told them to follow back to their camp. Everyone agreed to it, hoping to find a way back to The Bending Tower from the Meerkat Clan's camp, but so far things weren't looking too hopeful.
"Do you find it strange that Tiggerpaka is nowhere to be found?" Rhett hissed to Misty.
Misty frowned, realizing Rhett was right - Tiggerpaka was missing. "He's got to know these meerkats somehow. I'm positive."
"Yeah. But he's bound to show up sometime, with some lame excuse," Rhett snorted.
Suddenly, they were at the edge of the forest. A long field was before them, and in the middle of it was a huge tree. It was the biggest tree Misty had ever seen, with a lot of branches and plenty of leaves on the top. "Wow," Misty murmured.
"No talking! Move along!" Kubwa exclaimed, poking Misty again.
"Okay, okay!" Misty protested, moving along.
They walked through the field, and Misty tripped over something. "Gah!" she cried, trying to steady herself.
"Don't step in the burrows!" Kubwa growled, poking her.
"The burrows?" Bracken echoed.
"Are you stupid?" Mgumu snorted. "The burrows. It's our way of moving around the territory, with a few closely guarded entrances and exits. Quite amazing if you ask me." Mgumu smirked.
"Yeah! The Meerkat Clan is the best in the land," Kubwa exclaimed. "No one dares attack us!"
As they got close to the tree, Misty could see meerkats hanging on some of the branches above, and others at the base.
"Aha! Prisoners!" one sneered.
"Rot in the dungeon!" another cried.
"Meerkat Clan for the win!"
"I already hate this place," Campbell growled.
There was a door in the tree, and Kubwa and Mgumu lead the group inside the tree.
Misty looked around. There was a staircase spinning around around, further up the inside. There were lots of doors alongside the stairs, which Misty assumed lead to rooms; but the doors were meerkat size, so it'd be impossible for her to fit through. The stairs ended at the very top of the inside of the tree, where two huge doors were. Nearby that was a balcony, which Misty wondered what it was for. The roof was decorated with hanging vines and moss, and there was an opening at the top where Misty could see the stars.
A rotting stench reached Misty's nose and she grimaced. A brown meerkat with fish scales on his shoulders approached. "Hail, brothers!" he greeted Kubwa and Mgumu. "Found some intruders?"
"Yes, and they shall be put in the dungeon!" Kubwa cried, poking Bracken with his stick.
"Please don't hurt me," Bracken whimpered.
"Aw, it's okay Bracken," Misty assured her friend.
"Come! We shall take you to the Council of the Highest!" Mgumu exclaimed.
"Council of the Highest. Sounds important," Sidew said sarcastically.
"Indeed it is, prisoner! I'm not surprised you're shaking in your pelt!" Kubwa smirked.
"I'm not shaking in my pelt," Sidew grumbled.
Kubwa and Mgumu lead the group up the stairs. As they got higher and higher, Misty looked down below as meerkats walked aroud on the floor, passing each other and looking busy as some left the tree, while others dived into tunnels, which Misty assumed led to the burrows.
They walked through the big doors, leading to a rather big room. It had a balcony overlooking the outside, and there were three leaves on the ground which Misty assumed served as places to sleep. There were two mini torches on the walls. In the middle of the room three meerkats were yelling at each other.
"No, it will be raining tomorrow!" one of them screeched.
"You idiot! It's obviously going to be SUNNY OUT!" hollered another.
"Both of you, shut up! It's going to snow tomorrow!" the third exclaimed.
"Oh, you stupid--!" one of the meerkats tackled the other, punching him. The tackled one kicked at his attacker, and the third yelled and jumped on top of them both, hitting them with his elbow. They became a ball of fur rolling around the room.
"Council of the Highest! We bring prisoners!" Kubwa said.
The ball of meerkats froze into place and all three of them looked up. "Come again?" one of them asked.
"Prisoners," Mgumu insisted.
They all broke up and dusted themselves off. "Good job, Kubwa and Mgumu," said one of the meerkats. "Help yourself to some grubs.
"Oh, shut up Tatu! Don't let them get some grubs, I say we let them get us grubs!" snorted the other.
"Fair point!" Tatu exclaimed. He turned to Kubwa and Mgumu. "Fetch us grubs!"
Kubwa and Mgumu exited the room, muttering to themselves.
"What shall we do with them?" one of the meerkats asked Tatu and the other.
"Duh, Moja! The dungeon!" exclaimed a meerkat.
"Let's ask the Clan of their punishment, Mbili! Get some good ideas!" Moja said.
"Fine," Mbili grumbled.
"Prisoners, stay here!" Tatu ordered. "We must address our warriors!"
The three meerkats went to the balcony.
"Meerkat Clan!" Tatu exclaimed.
Misty could hear the sound of pawsteps scurrying on the floor.
"We have prisoners!" Mbili said.
"Hey, I wanted to say that!" Moja protested.
"Oh quit whining," Mbili snorted.
"No, you took my line!" Moja growled.
"Shut up, both of you!" Tatu yelled.
"Make us!" snapped Mbili and Moja.
Misty got closer, looking at the crowd below. Tons of meerkats were gathered. Some wore flowers, other wore the repulsive fish armor, while others had sticks over their shoulders.
"This is not a time to fight," Tatu insisted, "we are addressing our Clan!"
"Coward!" sneered Moja.
"Alright, moron!" snarled Tatu, jumping and tackling Moja.
"OFF OF HIM!" yelled Mbili, punching Tatu.
The crowd all blinked at the leaders, then began cheering. "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!""
"Oh boy..." Campbell grumbled.
Suddenly, the door slammed open. "Council of the Highest!" came a voice.
Misty watched as two meerkats threw another meerkat to the ground. With a scowl, the fallen meerkat got up.
"TIGGERPAKA!?" the leaders exclaimed in alarm.

Author's Note:
Ah, so the leaders know Tiggerpaka. OuO
Anyway, I am willing to link story blogs, so if you want yours linked don't hesitate to ask!
You can see the Meerkat Clan on the Meet the Benders page, and you can sign up a meerkat character on the sign-ups page. c:
And I can't think of any other announcements, so yeah... :/