Akiko lifted her right paw, a surge of energy rushing through her as she felt her muscles move her slightly as the stick was thrown again. She seemed to have a hard time resisting chasing after the stick again herself. She figured it was Arven's turn however, and so she turned to watch as the lapine dashed off after it. For perhaps the first time since her meeting with the herbivores, she felt a more serene grin pull across her face. It was as if she could sense the freedom Arvens was experiencing, running with the wind in your fur...and not out of fear either. She often ran with fear herself, be it from aggressive animals or humans. To simply run free for the pure joy of being so was something she felt everyone should experiance, and to see her new friend do just that made her tail sway with happiness. As he returned she had to fight away a snicker, hovering a paw over his head to twhap him softly, "that's okay! We can find another to play with later!" she assured him. Turning to Stripetail she felt her stomach lurch with hunger and excitement at the same time, she leapt after him as if she were trying to keep up with his graceful jumps as he sailed through the trees, somehow she appeared to admire and almost envy him for this, "Yea, food! Lead the way!" She exclaimed happily, following quickly after him.
As they reach the large oak tree, the wolf allowed her instincts to lead her. Sniffing at the trunk with intense interest, her tail swayed to and fro. Her eyes got huge as she talked outloud, "Hey, I know him! I know him too! They've all been here! I saw her the other day, her scent I know!" she muttered outloud to herself, although she probably made little sense to the others. Her strong sense of smell told her every creature that had traveled this area recently. If they had leaned against the tree, she was sure to pick up their scent marking. It was the interest of food that finally swayed her from her investigating. As Stripetail led Arvens in and told her to wait outside, she felt her ears flatten against her head. "I wanna come in too!" she let a soft whimper escape. Forepaws on either side of her face, she lay with her eyes locked on the den, that was far too little for her to enter. Her expression and position seemed to give a new meaning to 'a wolf at the door'. Perhaps anyone near would assume she had chased them in, and now was attempting to frighten them out again. Hearing the squirrel's words she lifted her head, jaws parting again, "Acorns!" she gave a grin at this, cautiously sniffing at the little nest in a vain attempt to try and sneak a peak in...or at least sniff a peak. "Those make great chewers too!" and with that strange word she meant simply, chew toys. She sat there occasionally pawing at them to hurry out again.
It wasn't until something caught her eye that she paused and turned her attention from the others in the tree, ears twitching...she was sure she had seen something...maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her, and with Arvens sitting so close she would merely that the scent of rabbit that would travel across the forest was from him. Still, something or someone was giving her an uneasy feeling and she shifted her gaze to Arvens and Stripetail, "Hey, do you guys get the feeling that...someone's watching us...?" she muttered in a low tone, now she could care less who saw her...however, her question may concern Arvens though, who would surely not want to be seen interacting with a predator so openly. Even Stripetail, although she wasn't quite sure on what sorts of 'packs' the squirrels traveled among. "I think someone's out here guys..." she gave a nervous bark/growl, huddling closer to the den entrance as if she looked to the little herbivores for back up and protection from this unseen danger. Tilting her head she would allow her tongue to lash out across her muzzle to clean the scraps of acorn from her face as her eyes scanned the horizon for any sign of this stranger. It was Stripetail's voice that caused her to finally lock her eyes on the raven coated lapine. Giving a friendly grin, her tail swaying, she glanced towards her.
