Look out for number one

She went from an expression filled with all the horror in the world as the oversized blueberry threatened to fart on her to a look of deep satisfaction when her bite sent him flying away from her so fast she'd almost believe he'd sprouted wings. Hah! Echo could think of no one who deserved a swift chomp on the rear than this guy. Unfortunately the roller coaster wasn't stopping here.

The slate man who'd arrived approached with a spark of interest in his eyes; a look Echo had the sinking feeling meant she was not going to be going anywhere anytime soon now that she'd caught this man's attention. Damn the blueberry straight to hell! As the slate man approached, she noted he had similar facial markings to her most recent captor. Great, so they were probably related? That meant there might be more of them lurking nearby. As she shrank back from the newer, more present threat to her well-being, she kept a running tally of the increasing number of obstacles between her and freedom.

Cropped ears flat against her head, bushy tail tucked tight between her legs, Echo was the picture of submission while her golden eyes darted around, always returning to Valentine before she spoke up in a soft voice, "W-what? Nothing. Not one thing, blueberry there's crazy, I don't know anything about any slavers, he misheard me and drug me halfway across the continent... I swear, I can't help you" she stammered, doing her best to look entirely confused and innocent. Normally she might have spilled her guts the second someone approached with that menacing look on their face, but  considering all she'd already been through... Echo was torn. If she didn't admit to knowing anything, she wasn't positive that she'd be able to fully convince this guy that she was being truthful. A thief tried to not get caught in the first place, so lying her way out of a bad situation was not at the top of her list of skills. On the other paw, if she did tell them everything... what happened when they went after the slavers. Would it be discovered that she helped them? That sounded like a great way to have the wolves she'd only just escaped on her trail again.

Ultimately her main focus was always surviving the next few minutes, but time spent as a captive had her thinking a little further ahead than she used to and there was a lingering sense of paranoia in her mind as she continued to silently fret over what trouble telling this man the things he wanted to know might bring to her.