Verdant Basin Living your life cutthroat.

In response to his rejoinder, Towhee immediately opened her mouth to say, "No," and then probably something like, "that's not how any of this works." But before she could get out anything else, movement caught her attention. She turned her head to watch as the herd of deer suddenly began to trot along the water's edge. At first, she wondered if they'd detected the three wolves somehow, yet they didn't scatter nor appear particularly hurried. It was much more likely they were simply moving on from the watering hole.

It would've been a fool's errand to attempt to chase after them without a solid game plan, so Towhee could only watch as the herd cantered away. Her orange eyes did flick to the stranger, as if curious what he might do. There was no reason to refute his offer now, since the opportunity was gone. Really, there was no reason to linger, regardless of what he planned to do next. She, Elwood and X should get back to the plateau.

"No deal," Towhee finally said, expression cool. She shrugged. There was no malice intended. He knew as well as they did that their opening had closed here. Turning to Elwood, she said, "Let's head home."