An African wild dog wandered the grassy plains, scents filling his nostrils as a void opened in his stomach. Resilient had a nose for tracking and a talent for stalking, it’s why his leader assigned him as a spy. As he sniffed around a group of shrubs, he caught a scent. Another dog with a trace of milk, the scent a few days old. _That’s strange,_ he thought to himself, _there’s no pack around here. Who could live without a pack when it smells as if there’s pups? _Ears perked with interest, he tracked the scent to the source. Branches poked at his intruding head as he pushed through bushes.

There he found it. A small, rough den with a pup sitting inside. The little brown thing was at the entrance, looking back with fear in her gray-blue eyes at the racket Resilient caused. The dog was small, nutrietion clearly neglected. Her small paws too big for her legs stood on the dry soils of the den, some leaves lazily thrown in for bedding. But Resilient recognised this pup, she had the same round face and ears, her tail shorter than most. This was his leader’s offspring. The one he left when his mate fell pregnant, dedicating his loyalty to his pack instead of an outsider. But now his daughter was clearly abandoned, an opportunity for a new member of the pack. With his head low to look non threatening, Resilient stepped into the cramped den, thorns from the shrubs tangled in his gray fur, “You should come with me. I have food where I live.”

The small canine nodded and that was all. Resilient moved out the entrance of the den, the little pup hopping in his paw prints. The leader would be happy to see this. Resilient would offer to train the pup, make her a useful member. He’d make his leader proud.