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The rouge lands were dangerous. The rouge lands were filled with things that wanted to eat them or hurt them or steal them. That's what Haiba was always told. Stick close to Mother, stick close to Segurue, keep your brother and sisters in your sights at all times...boring. Boring, boring, boring! All they did was walk, Mother never told them where they were going...Haiba wanted to play! But playing was only for nighttime, according to Mother. Playtime should be all the time.

Which was why Haiba took his chances while they napped one hot day. Mother didn't want to walk during the heat, but Haiba didn't care. He crept away as his siblings and the two older cheetahs fell asleep, eager to see what was nearby. He tore across the open plains happily before hitting the breaks, something catching his eye. He crouched low as Mother had taught him, trying to blend in with the ground. What...what was that?

Haiba crept a bit closer to the black thing, eyes wide. It was alive, that was for sure. But it wasn't a cheetah. It wasn't even a lion or a leopard! What was it...

He froze as the black thing started to trot in his direction, ears flat against his head. Maybe if he didn't move it wouldn't see him...

Oh gods...it was getting closer! What should he do? Truth be told he was frozen to the spot and probably couldn't do anything even if he thought of something. The creature looked nothing like he had seen before and it was jet black with big, red eyes and...

"Y-you can talk?" he gasped, obviously surprised. His voice was horribly high and squeaky and he startled himself, his fur standing up along his spine and neck. Oh, its ears were so big...and its muzzle was really long and thin...and its tail was super fluffy...it was some kind of demon, he was sure.

"W-what are you? You're...you're not a demon, right?" he demanded, trying to sound brave as he lifted his head just a bit. Seem bigger, Haiba told himself. If he seemed bigger maybe the other creature wouldn't attack him. It didn't...seem terribly evil, though. It was just kind of standing there. And its voice sounded kind of nice. Female, maybe. Her?

"Are you a girl?"

It was a girl...and a jackal? What was a jackal? Obviously the thing standing before him. Haiba slowly got to his feet and circled the other animal slowly, picking out all the differences and similarities. She definitely was alive and solid, so that ruled out some kind of ghost. But she didn't smell like her Mother or siblings...huh...

"That's good to know," he said as he reached her front again and sat back down, keeping his distance. He wasn't sure what to do with the jackal now, other than talk to it. She didn't seem threatening at all, so maybe they could be friends!

"I'm a cheetah," he said after a few more moments of internal debate. "My name is Haiba. Do jackals have names?" He knew some animals he had tried to talk to on their long walk through the rouge lands - bugs, some tiny birds, dead prey animals - hadn't talked back, so who knew if jackals named themselves? He could see that she had pointy teeth, though, so he knew she wasn't prey. That was good. Hunters should stick together!

Haiba's ears perked up as she gave him her name. "Sahar," he echoed so he'd remember it. Good, things with names were generally safe. He knew his mother's name, his siblings names, and his mother's friends name that helped take care of them. Names were good things!

He rose to his feet now that he knew Sahar wasn't something dangerous. The thought never crossed his mind that her mother or father might be, or that he'd get into serious trouble for being away from his mother's side for so long. All he knew now was that he had a new friend to play with, and play he would!

"Do you like to play?" he asked hopefully. "I love to play but Mother has us walk all day to get to some pride she's heard of and we're not allowed to play except at night but then everyone is too tired to play and it's so boring and we're not allowed to play while we walk and I really want to play!" He took a huge breath after speaking, saying everything in one breath. He looked at the jackal hopefully, his tail swaying back and forth. Maybe they could play tag! Or try to pin each other down! She was about his size, if a bit heavier since he was so slim, but he was sure he could hold his own against her.

The jackal's response made Haiba leap into the air a few inches in joy. He was so full of energy and she seemed to be as well, so of course this was the playdate made in heaven. When she tagged his paw and took off, he nearly wept in joy. Tag! He loved tag! And his mother encouraged it, since it would help get the little legs of her cubs working as a proper cheetah's should.

He took off after Sahar, paws throwing up dust as he fought to find traction. Finally he succeeded and began to gain on her, panting heavily as he laughed. "I'm gonna get you!" he called out as he met her pace. She was quick, though, and he was surprised to find it was pretty hard to make up any ground. He was supposed to be a swift cheetah and she was beating his butt!

"You're fast!" he panted as he put on a bit more steam to try to catch her. "Are all jackals fast?"

Haiba ended up in a cloud of dust and nearly coughed up a lung as Sahar narrowly escaped being caught. Dang it! He took a moment to recover before starting off again, waiting until she paused for a moment to put on a burst of speed.

"I can!" he called back, answering the challenge with a burst of speed. He took a jump from a few feet away and landed on top of Sahar, laughing happily as he finally caught her. "I got you! I got you! Now you get me!" he said before zipping off the way they had come from, glad he had saved some energy. He zigged and zagged this way and that to try to trip Sahar up, panting heavily the whole time. Running was so much fun!

"C'mon, Sahar!' he called over his shoulder to see if he could spot her. "You're fast, you can do it!"

Haiba closed his eyes for a moment as he ran. Cheetahs were meant to run, after all, and going fast made him feel amazing. He was getting a lot of energy out, too, so he wouldn't be such a pain when walking again. Opening his eyes, he glanced behind him to find Sahar right behind him. Ack! When did she get there?!

"You're really fast!" he said as he took a sharp turn away from her, tail bouncing wildly to keep his balance. "Are you sure you're not some kind of weird cheetah?" He was hardly at the speed that adults could run, of course. He had seen his mother and her friend hunting and...wow. They were faster than he could keep track of. He hoped he'd be that fast someday, a blur on the savanna, the fear of all antelope and small prey animals.

But for now he was just a cub, and he knew he'd grow up and get faster as his legs got longer. He wanted to play and practice like this, though, to get faster and faster and the best at running.