Verdant Basin Living your life cutthroat.

What began as a rather aimless meander—she left the plateau behind to see the sights due south—turned into an impromptu tracking endeavor. She didn't fancy herself a hunter, much less one specialized in sleuthing out quarry, yet the trail was so darn obvious that Towhee couldn't ignore it. She followed the bent grasses, hoof prints and strong scents until they led her over a gentle, rolling hillock that overlooked a blue basin below. The she-wolf paused there at the crest, blinking down at a herd of black-tailed deer milling on the shore. She then looked upward, lips curving into a smile when she saw X circling overhead.

There was no way she could attempt to hunt here all by herself, yet the Beta lowered her belly to the grass and simply observed them from afar. There were fourteen individuals in the herd: a buck, eight does of varying ages and five fawns well on their way to full size as summer carried them closer to autumn. One of the does appeared to be getting on in years, judging by the slow, careful way she moved herself, as well as her relative distance from the young. Towhee watched her particularly, wondering if it was worth sending X—who swooped down to crouch low beside her—back to the plateau to fetch some pack mates.