Ah… Summer truly is the best. Eyes closed and head raised to the sky, Fiadh simply stands, enjoying the heat of the sun on her face. She remains this way for a while, but she’s not one to stay still for too long, mostly through nervous habit than anything else. Eyes cracking open, she turns her muzzle away from the sun’s glorious rays and continues on in the direction she’d been headed.

Her frame is still thin, for it had been a rather difficult Winter, but she’s not as skinny as she had been back then. Prey is plentiful out in the wilds, where most of the city dogs seemed to avoid, so she’d been able to feed herself without too much interference. With the boom of an excellent Spring, she’d been able to put on a few pounds. Now if only she could get enough fat to conceal her ribs…

Fiadh’s musings are cut short, though, when a howl splits the peaceful hush that had hung around the area she’s in. Starting in shock, the fleethound female snaps her head in the direction that the howl had come from. Another dog?? The howl had sounded panicked to her and when listening intently, she could just barely make out words on the wind.

“Help! Please, help me! I’m trapped! In the stadium!”

Another howl shivers out across the slight breeze, sending a small shudder through the Saluki’s body. Someone calls out for help. So desperate, it sounds. Teeth snapping uneasily at the air, Fiadh gives herself one good shake. If it is a ploy to lure prey in… then it is a good one. Sighing, but decision already made, she begins to trot over to the crumbling building that is all that’s left of the stadium. I can always run… always. She has yet to find a dog in the city who could match her in speed, so thus far she’s been able to keep herself out of any serious fighting. But that was partially from her being too cautious to go into enclosed spaces. Yet this time, if she is to help, she will need to do just that.

Falling into an easy mile eating lope, it’s in no time that Fiadh reaches the looming structure that the cry for help had come from. Swallowing her anxiety, the long legged canine steps carefully up the stadium stairs. Having a roof over her head invokes within her feelings of unease and familiarity. Not the same, not the same, she chants over and over in her head, shoving memories of her youth to the back of her mind.

Eventually, she’s once again under the powder blue sky. A soft sigh escaping her, she silently steps up to the edge of the seating area and cautiously peers over. In the arena down below is a small male dog. Head tilting slightly to the side, Fiadh watches as he paces. Glancing around the area he’s in, she realizes that he is indeed good and trapped. How did he get down there in the first place?

He’s yet to notice her, and even though she’s made it this far, she’s unsure how to proceed. Usually, she’s running away from other dogs, not going to them. Even if he’d called for help, she doesn’t know how she can. It’s not like she can jump down there, pick him up in her teeth and leap back up with the both of them. He’s too big and she’s too weak for that. The stadium door is shut tight; else wise he’d of left by now.

She’s here, but there’s nothing that she can do. At least nothing that she can think of. Standing still, she stares down at the unknown male, lost in thought and unaware that her shadow stretches long onto the packed dirt below.


Fiadh