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It had been a rather warm day and Rashida laid motionless among the tall grass feeling the dewy moisture of each blade press against her fur. She closed her eyes but remained awake.

Lately she had lost track of time, time since her last meal, time since her last full night's rest, time since she had seen anyone like herself, time since she had been told promises, lies, and whispers.

At first, it had been hard to readjust to being alone, but maybe she thought to herself, it might be better this way, at least this way she knew what to expect, and she found having low expectations hurt less than having dreams.

As she laid with her eyes closed, she thought she heard a sound nearby, and perked her head up above the grass to try to see what it was. It could be her next meal, or someone wanting to make her into their next meal. She sniffed the air, trying to discern where exactly the sound was coming from.

Following her nose, she rose to her feet, and made her way over to a large tree. "That sound must be on the other side of this tree." She thought to herself as she tilted her head with a suspicious caution. Not wanting to scare whatever it might be, she carefully crept closer to the tree and took a peek. Now she could see just who the intruder was, and she was surprised to see it was another wild dog, like herself.

She dropped low to the ground, letting out a soft yelp in surprise and clamped her paws over her muzzle, trying to hide shyly, not sure how she should react just yet.

Rashida took a few steps back quickly before raising off the ground. She stood cautiously with her feet apart and shoulders raised trying to make herself look larger, subconsciously as a defensive reaction.

Although the golden dog definitely did not appear to be a threat - there was no trace of hostility in his voice nor on his face, Rashida was still suspicious of others.

Her eyes stayed fixed to a spot on the ground, refusing to look at him as she spoke. She thought over her words... what was she hiding from? Bitterly she smiled as she drew her reply "I'm hiding from people like you." She muttered.

She was sure his next question would likely be "why" and she already had all her thoughts planned out for the lengthy response that would require. But for now a sarcastic, snarky 'you' would suffice she thought to herself as she finally relaxed her body positioning.

Rashida tilted her head, surprised at just how unassuming the golden dog appeared to be. "Hide and seek?" She asked; she had a general idea of how the game went, but had never played it before. Unconsciously she took a very small step forward as her curiosity about the rather goofy dog in front of her soared. She had assumed he would ask her to explain her previous response, but the dog who called himself Safi, seemed to not care or have any reservations at all. She smiled ruefully at him, feeling a bit jealous of his carefree nature, and painfully remembering another wild dog with the same naive personality. With a half smirk on her face, Rashida lifted her eyes to meet Safi's. "Name's Rashida... what are you doing here?"

"A family eh?" Rashida thought for a few moments, although she could definitely relate to losing a family as a puppy, she definitely could not even imagine having a family of her own now. "I guess the closest I've ever come to that was a pack at one time, but well they're gone now... So this family of yours... you got separated from them? Are they around here?" Rashida slowly began to speak more, little bit by little bit letting her guard down. Maybe it was Safi's friendly nature, or the fact that he was looking for something that she too hoped to find someday. She let out an audible sigh as she slumped her shoulders and shook her fur vigorously releasing her tension. "It can't be helped I guess... If you're lost or need help, then let's look for them together... you can't really afford to be playing hide and seek if your family is waiting for you. They need you so you should hurry up and find them quickly as possible."

Rashida smirked a little at her new eager companion. She kept her distance a few paces behind his, still slightly distrusting. As long as he was in front, she could keep an eye on what was going on. She was still unsure why she had offered to help in the first place, but it's not like she had anything else to do, being a rouge out on the pride lands.

"So where shall we start our search? Any ideas?" She asked Safi as she took an idle moment to clean her pink coat with some much needed grooming.

Rashida studied the back of her new found companion as they made their way north in the direction Safi was leading. After a brief pause, Rashida again shook her head and with a small sigh she quietly asked about Safi's family. "So, I was thinking... it might be helpful if you could tell me about your family so we know what we're looking for... What do they look like, what do they like to do --- etc... Anything at all so that we can try to figure out where they might have gone?"

Rashida felt a very small tinge of sadness listening to Safi's words. It was true that she felt bad for him and his loss, but she also thought to herself "Well at least he had a family, at least he knows what his family looked like, sounded like, smelled like... For Rashida, she could not remember any of these things since she was too small when she became a rouge wild dog. She felt both a connection and a distance in the comparison between their situations. And although she lacked what for most wild dogs was 2nd nature such as social skills and communication, she knew enough, instinctively, to know that she had better find some way to comfort her new friend; and as that thought, and word... friend.... entered into her mind, she felt both fearful and comforted at the same time. She looked over at Safi, tilting her head with a strangled smile and tried her best to mumble some words of encouragement. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find them. I'm sure they're also looking for you right now.... Now where shall we start the search?"