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Ilizi was tired. Well... that was sort of an understatement. Exhausted came closer to what he was actually feeling, but that still didn't seem to be right. It was a feeling he was unfortunately rather used to, just like he was used to the sickening, gnawing feeling of hunger roiling around in his belly. Though, anyone looking at him could guess he was no stranger to either of them. His eyes were fatigued and half-closed as he sat in a nest of grass in the middle of a small clearing, and his ribs protruded from his sides, his entire body painfully thin. The white fur of his mane and tail were greyed, and bits of dirt, and burrs and leaves clung to the long hairs. He was not in the best of conditions, and he hadn't been for quite a long time.

But even though he was obviously tired, he wouldn't let himself sleep, not until it was physically impossible to stay conscious any longer. He'd only just arrived here. There was movement all round, the grass rustled every few minutes. Of course it could be the wind, but he wasn't going to bet on it. He'd learned the hard way not to risk it, as a few times before he'd almost been hurt by bigger animals because he wasn't wary enough. He'd stay awake for as long as possible, to try and figure out if there was anyone around. When he finally trusted there wasn't anyone nearby, he'd let himself sleep. But likely his body would force rest upon him before he felt safe enough to close his eyes himself.

Ilizi's entire body - what there was of it, at least - went stiff. His ears stood up straight, straining toward the sound. What was it? His bright blue eyes widened in the direction he believed Ibada to be coming from (well, he was actually a few feet off to the left, but hey, he was tired and he was a pup), and his heartrate sped up. He had to get out of here, now. This place wasn't safe. He had to go before someone tried to hurt him again. The exhaustion weighing on his mind was forgotten as though it never existed in the face of his fear, and he pushed himself to his feet, ready to make a hasty retreat.

Unfortunately, though, his body still remembered well how fatigued he was, and he only managed a few steps on trembling, wobbly legs before he dropped back down again. His muscles protested the idea of walking, and they had seized up painfully with each step he took. He couldn't have run for anything, though he'd wanted to, badly. It was physically impossible for him now, and he knew it, and that made him even more afraid of what would happen to him.

With a pitiful whine, a wordless plea for mercy, he curled into a ball where he lay and tucked his head under his paws, his fright making his tiny body shake.

Something was definitely coming closer. He knew it was really a something now; he could quite distinctly hear it sniffing him out to gobble him up. His dingy tail curled tighter around him and he buried his nose and face deeper in the fur, as though that would make him less visible to the predator out to get him. Or perhaps he wanted to seem even smaller than he was (which was painfully small), so that he was all the more unappetising and not worth bothering to eat.

He froze - even his shaking stopped - when he heard Ibada's 'eek'. It wasn't the menacing, earth-shaking growl he'd been expecting, but it still announced that whoever or whatever was here to hurt him had arrived, because the sound was very close. He knew the predator was within his little clearing.

His trembling began anew, fiercer than before, once the shock had passed, and another whine, quieter but more desperate, the very last plea to remain unscathed, came from the little bundle of brown and white-ish fur.

Ilizi twitched with nerves as Ibada spoke. Oh, what was taking this animal so long to either move away or finish him off? Waiting to be eaten was worse than worrying about being eaten, he thought. The wait was, well... torturous, and more agonising than the suspense leading up to the thing finding his scent and then finding him.

Cautiously, he opened one eye, then blinked with surprise. It was another pup! Bigger than him, of course, but still not that much older. His surprise was so great, in fact, that he lifted his head properly from where it had been buried in his tail to better look at Ibada.

But he had no words for the other pup. How was he to explain how frightened he was all the time, how alone? Just by looking at Ibada, it was clear the other male had someone to take care of him. He was well-fed, he was clean; he looked like he wanted for nothing. How was Ilizi supposed to talk of his life and have Ibada understand what he went through each day? He didn't have a clue where to start, and so he just looked at Ibada sort of helplessly, his mouth slightly open on the verge of words, though he couldn't find the right ones to say.

Ilizi was not currently concerned about whether or not Ibada was being considerate of his situation. What worried the scrawny young pup was the fact that Ibada seemed to be getting impatient with him, and impatience led to anger, which led to danger for Ilizi. Sure, Ibada might only be not all that much bigger than him, but Ilizi was in no condition to lift even a paw in defence of himself... and after all he'd been through, with animals young and old trying to harm him, he didn't quite trust that another pup wouldn't have a go.

As Ibada demanded he speak, he flinched and buried his head back in his tail, curling into a tight ball once more. And muffled by his fur, his voice came, high and cracked with misuse, saying, "L-leave me al-lone! Please!"

He noticed when Ibada moved closer, and he shrunk further in on himself. He just wanted this pup to go away so he could crawl and try to find some other hidey-hole that might be safer than this one. The other pup might be small compared to other things that could try to hurt him, but Ilizi did not trust Ibada in the slightest yet.

He mustered up what was left of his courage (of which he had very little, and wouldn't deny it) and opened one eye to peer at Ibada. "Everything!" he said quietly, his voice still high and somewhat hoarse - minor dehydration. "E-everything's scary!" His confession was hushed, as though admitting that so much frightened him would bring it all crashing down upon his head if he said it too loud. And still he didn't offer his name.

Ilizi would probably feel the same as Ibada about comfort and safety. He couldn't remember very much about being looked after by his mother, but one of the things he couldn't remember was whether he had ever felt safe and content and warm. He wouldn't know what it felt like to be protected and cared for and to not have to look over his shoulder all the time for the next threat. How different these two pups were.

"You k-keep... r-raising your v-voice..." That's what made Ibada threatening to Ilizi. He was so used to being shouted at, to being jeered and sneered at on the occasions he got desperate enough for food that he tried to steal little scraps from another's kill. He hated it when voices were raised.

But because Ibada spoke quieter than he had before, Ilizi let his head lift a little bit more so that both of his bright blue eyes peeked out from his white tail fur.